Whirlwind

My life seems like it is moving at the speed of light! Last time I checked, it was mid-August and I was getting ready for my friend's wedding. Now, all of a sudden, the trees are shedding their yellow and red leaves and it's raining and chilly. How did this happen without my notice?

I have a lot to update, so I will do this in two parts. First, the yarn part. Next, the school/life part. Feel free to read the part of interest!
********************************************************
Fibers!First, some finished projects and new fibers! Two finished pairs of socks, courtesy of long hours of lecture at school... I sure have been knitting up a storm to stay awake! Also, some LOVELY Dicentra Designs silk/wool blend fibers to spin -- a gift from Erin from the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival that I was unable to attend. Now I really need a wheel!
Here are some of the "in-progress" projects. The first is a Noro Silk Garden scarf for my significant other's sister. It is really neat that the colors are mirroring each other where I joined the new ball of yarn! The second is the very beginning of a sweater made from the Blue Moon Fiber Arts "Twisted" yarn that I got from the fiber show in April (with the bottom cuff of Cascade 220).

I am also still spinning yarn from the purple and pink wool that Erin picked up for me at the last show, but since I masochistically decided to spin this spindle in "spider-web weight", it is going fairly slow... Oh well!

********************************************************
School and real life!

Just before school started, my friend got married and I was honored to be her maid of honor. The preparations were stressful, but the wedding was AMAZING. The bride looked like a fairytale princess, and the rest of us looked great as well. It was so worthwhile to see the groom's face when she walked down the aisle -- I think everyone's heart felt what he was feeling at that moment. Wow.

(For those that know me in real life, you would understand how strange I felt when they spend two hours on my hair at the salon, and another hairdresser walked by and asked the TWO that were doing my hair, "Wow! That's big hair... can I touch it??")

Second year of medical school hit like a ton of bricks, and it has been non-stop since we started over a month ago. We have had two final exams, and a lot of new experiences. One in particular, deserves mention. I learned how to draw blood from patients, and it was perhaps the most stressful thing I have encountered so far in school. I am not afraid of needles, nor of sticking them into people or animals -- but I have some deeply ingrained standards of ethical behavior that came head-to-head with my training that week. They had us learn first on each other, then put on a coat that had "Phlebotomy" embroidered on it -- and draw blood from patients in the outpaitent blood-draw clinic! The thing that was so difficult for me was that we were not supposed to identify that we were students unless we were asked, which felt very wrong to me. I felt as if I were "stealing" my training opportunity from patients that did not have a choice simply because they didn't know any better. Now I know that this will be a common occurance in my training, but I felt as if I COULD NOT make a mistake, since I was impersonating someone who was supposed to do it right. My adrenaline was sky-high, and it really wiped me out that week, but as far as I know I didn't hurt anyone. Whew. I feel like this was an opportunity to learn about how to respond to this level of stress and still maintain my sanity rather than a time to learn a technical skill.

A couple of weeks ago, I did the Run Wild 5K at NW Trek -- it was a great location to take a long walk! After the Seafair half-marathon (in July) walk and this, I feel like I really ought to sign up to walk the Seattle marathon half walk. It is becoming a huge challenge to get my excercise, but after studying lipids and diabetes, I feel like I have no choice!

I would love to update more, but sadly the Cardiovascular System (and Pharmacology) are calling my name. School never slows down for a second.