Tour de Trinity

I finally decided to splurge on a new bicycle (pictured below). Some may say that cycling is in my blood. When I was a baby my mother had a contraption that attached to her bicycle that allowed me to sit behind her when she was riding around town, once my sister and I were toddlers my parents purchased a trailer that would carry me and my sister around behind the bike. My mother's father also is a cycling enthusiast who used to ride 60 miles to the coast of California from his home every weekend, and also participated in many rides across the state of Iowa. I have been a running frequently at the trinity trails that are about a mile from my house by the Trinity River. I would run the two mile loop and every time a biker flew past me as I was struggling to breathe I thought man I wish I was that guy. Well now I am.
Yesterday was my first ride I woke up at 6am to hit the trails early since I had class from 8-4 and wanted to make it to church that night in Highland Village. I mapped out my plan on Google pedometer and it was 8 miles. I thought to myself I better plan in an escape route in case I am about to die out there. I got to the 4 mile marker no problem and thought I am sure I can make it all 8 miles. When I circled back through the zoo I hit the hill of death. I switched down to the lowest gear and stood up to start peddling. I think I might have actually been going backwards when the runner passed me (oh the irony). I decided to dismount take a drink of water and walk the bike up the rest of the hill and then ride back to my house.

This morning my friend EJ and I decided to meet up and do the 8 mile track again. He has been riding quite a bit longer than I have so he attached his trailer to his bike and pulled his son along to that I could keep up. After about 7 miles we parted ways and I headed back to the hill of death. I tried to conserve as much energy as possible, because I was going to make it up this time no matter what. Well I did.....barely and this time I actually passed to runners. Luckily the rest of the way was downhill and I coasted back home.

1/2 Doctor = Doc

Its official I passed my last exam in my second year of medical school and am about to begin the treacherous road of what is board study. I decided that I needed at least one day off before I begin tomorrow morning. So what did I do to celebrate this achievement?

First, an unofficial man day, generally my roommate JO and I have Saturday man days but on this rare occasion it was not possible since he would be at "work." What is the man day? Working in the yard, yep you heard me correctly! I bought my first home a year ago and now take tremendous pleasure in the stuff I hated and kid: Pulling weeds, Mowing, Weed-eating, and most of all watering the heck out it.

Second, MH, BM, JP and I decided an astounding cupcake fro the local joint, (that has cause my latest increase in 10lbs) The Cupcake Cottage. People always tell me they love sprinkles in Dallas and I suppose that is the "cool" thing to do but there is nothing like a local couple making fresh cupcakes every morning and knowing me by name when I come in. They always ask us how school is going ask me how I am enjoying the house etc. Maybe that is the small town kid in me coming out but I sure do enjoy it.

Third, our class rented out the Rahr Brewery today for some post-test inhibition of our ADH. Yes I am 23 years old and still have yet to finish a beer in my life, in fact I don’t think I have ever had more than 3oz, just one of those things that doesn't taste good to me. So why would I be excited about this? Well, I went to be supportive and celebrate with the fellow classmates. But upon entering I received a free commemorative glass so that I could drink all the beer I wanted for free, once again why would I care? Well I decided that today would be the day that i drank an entire beer. I ordered the blonde, I know its girly but I figured if I was going to be able to finish one it was that one. Turns out I was wrong, after three small sips I poured into to my buddy’s glass and just tried to look cool holding the empty glass.

Let the Board-Studying Begin!

burntout?

Today I sat through 3 hours of horrendous lecture about alcohol abuse and the treatment thereof. This happens to be one of my favorite subject but today everything I have learned from undergraduate and at the library last night was taught completely wrong. Boy was I excited that my 6hrs of sleep was rewarded with this.

My senior year of college I decided I wanted to participate in some research, mainly so that I could boost my not so stellar CV to get into medical school. I browsed through some web pages that UT had for students who were interested in research and stumbled upon a professor (Dr. Duvauchelle) who was looking for an undergraduate research assistant in her behavioral addiction lab. She stated that they worked with cocaine in lab rats. This seemed interesting to me, (everyone else would think I was cool at least) so I sucked up read a recently published article of hers, which I did not understand at all and somehow I go the role. Without being too technical the project I was involved with addicted lab rats to cocaine over a 16 day period and then on the last day we injected another drug into their brain to see the effects of it on the learned behaviors of the rats. I say the best part was that I was able to surgically put a catheter into the jugular veins of these rats so they could self-administer the cocaine i.v. style. None the less after a year of this I fell in love with the research.

In order to make myself happy BG, MH and I decided to make a run to our favorite hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurant, Rice-n-Noodle. Sha sha knew our order immediately MH and I gave her the head nod to which she smiled and wrote down our orders. I enjoyed my beef Thia rice, level two spicy, egg roll and ranch salad and both MH and BG enjoyed their chicken pad Thia level two spicy, egg roll and peanut sauce.

I returned to my favorite study room in the library with my fellow classmates. In order to be productive I left my computer and decided to go downstairs to read my book over sleep disorders on the comfy leather couches and an hour later I woke up to the same page. Irony? Pherhaps. Burntout? Definitely!

unique just like everyone else

Today I decided to become unique just like the rest of the world and take ownership in part of the world wide web, so I started this blog (the second option was get a tattoo). I am a complete type A, non-creative, non-imaginative person, who couldn't make an A in a writing class if my life depended on it. So I hope this can bring out some of those characteristics in me and give the rest of you creative bloggers the taste of a square trying to fit into the blogoSPHERE.