I know you won't believe this...

...but I think I may have lost the desire to bite my nails!

Altogether new

Yesterday my friends Carin and Conor (the really nice engaged couple from Davis, CA) took my friend Scott and me rock climbing in northern Mass. It was amazingly fun and un-scary...I wish that I'd taken advantage of all the people who climbed in Santa Fe. I only did a couple of the easy climbs, but I'm going to try to practice on the climbing wall here and make this into a hobby. It's such an enjoyable way to spend a day!
I'm going to be in Ohio for Thanksgiving (shout out to Ben and Julie, as always!) and the weekend before that, I'm going to New York to see Brock.
I really had such an enjoyable, stress-free weekend of reading for pleasure, drinking tea, walking in the woods (saw three amazing deer who walked right across my path), climbing cliffs, and thinking about how incredibly blessed my life is. Life is so good.
Still not sure what I'm going to do for field work term...Brock offered for me to stay with him, so my options now include Bennington (working for a professor in her lab), Ohio (doing who knows what) and New York (volunteering in Sloan-Kettering's integrative medicine center). If I'm in New York, you'll still have to come see me, Sam and Susie!

I can't believe it's actually today! (Part II)

Wow. Nice speech, Barack. I was one of the weepers last night. Congratulations, everybody...especially friends who worked for the campaign.

I can't believe it's actually today!

I want to take a moment to express, in the final moment, my excitement at the prospect of having a thoughtful, well-spoken president, and the first black president. I think that Barack will win today, and I know that when he does, the incredible, wonderful, almost laughable idealism of all of us who support him will turn into the realism of living with the consequences of the government's decisions for another four years.

But this morning, waking up to the last day of coffee and polls online, I feel truly hopeful that having an intelligent person running this country will make a difference here and internationally, and that electing a black president will make a difference in the way that American children see themselves and their opportunities. Anyway, I want to put it on the record that I am hopeful today.

Me too, me too!

I want to go to graduate school in the UK, too! Half the family lives there now, it seems. I don't think it is very practical for me to apply for a medical degree in the UK, but I may do it anyway.

I've been a little down the last couple of weeks. I miss the ex-boyfriend terribly and am trying not to focus on that...but it's difficult. On top of that, he and his sister have un-friended me on Facebook. I'm not sure why this upset me so much, but it has.

School is going well, but I have been more distracted this semester and am a teensy bit concerned about my ability to focus on chemistry. My microbiology and animal physiology classes are fascinating, and have been stealing my energy and attention away from chemistry.

Election election election. I'm planning for the best and ignoring the possibility that the worst could happen.

I still haven't been able to find a lab to work in during field work term. This is very upsetting, but not the end of the world. I'm going to have a lot of research experience from research projects I'm doing here for my microbiology and chemistry classes...so I guess I could spend field work term volunteering and studying for the MCAT.

I'm planning to take the MCAT on Wednesday, August 5th. I REALLY need to do well on this test. Never before have I been afraid of a standardized test. I am now. It really freaks me out that it is on a computer. I love the sensation of penciling in bubbles.

Also, I had to reassure Grandma Callahan that everyone really does love and appreciate her...maybe a certain sister of mine (not Jennie, who talked to her only a couple weeks ago) should send her an email?