We decided to use the long weekend to go visit my family in Peoria, IL. My mom was passing through for a few days on her way to Florida. We just got a bunch of her love and attention when we visited her up in Wisconsin a few weeks ago, but I hate to ever miss an opportunity for a visit, no matter how brief. They're off to Europe for a month in a few weeks, and plans are uncertain past that...maybe Mexico for a while...I can never remember! Mom swares all the travel can get tiresome, and she is a homebody at heart, I know, but I still envy her! As usual when we go to Peoria, we stayed at my dad and step-mom's. This is our first time visiting in their new house, that they just finished building and moving in to. I knew going in that we we would be spending a lot of time helping unpack, move things, etc. This became more important when we found out that my dad hurt his back again (through moving,unpacking,etc.) We enjoyed being there none-the-less; it's been a long time since we've all been over for a visit, as they've been as busy as we have. So it was nice to hang out, and my mom cooked a nice dinner for my brother's birthday and had us all over too. It was good to have (nearly) the whole family together; my sister and her family couldn't come as she's been sick. It was the perfect weekend for hanging out and grilling out after all this hot weather we've been having!

Board exams are now right around the corner, and you can cut the "anticipation" in the air at Palmer with a knife. All of a sudden I've started to notice a whole lot less socializing during breaks in the classes, and a whole lot more noses in study books. Mine included. This time around I'm taking Part II and PT boards. Three days with 8 tests. It will be a full weekend. Luckily we have Wednesday and Thursday off of classes before the exams start Friday. We get Monday of the following week off as well, I presume to unwind after a full day of tests on Sunday! I'm sure I'll need, and appreciate it. I know I did after Part I boards! If all goes well I'll have only Part III to take next March, and Part IV in May. I'm hoping for no re-takes!!!

Clinic is going well; I'm now managing four patients, with a few more that I'll be taking on in the next couple weeks. This should ensure that I will be able to maximize the student patient limit of fifty adjustments this tri. That will put me in a good position starting next tri, with the transition into the main clinic. To clarify, there's no limit on the amount of care you can render to patients that are students; it's just that only 50 of those patient encounters can count towards one's credits to graduate. At any rate, I feel like so far I'm on track.

Well, gotta get to class!