Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Week in the Life: Day 2

"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."
-Maya Angelou

Here is the story of Tuesday:

The clocks in our house are all set at different times, depending on whether Rob or I set them. His alarm clock is 10 minutes fast, while mine is right on; the microwave is just slightly fast, while my watch for some reason is two minutes slow. I have to constantly calculate throughout the morning to make sure that I'm not running behind. It's like living in a math word problem... "if the clock upstairs reads 7:15 but is seven minutes fast, what does the downstairs clock which is three minutes slow read?"
 

A few years ago I decided to challenge myself to make the bed every morning for 30 days. The habit stuck, and these days it's rare that I leave the house to an unmade bed. If I hit that last bit of my morning routine before 7:15, I know I'm on time. However, this morning I was already pushing 7:20. Knowing that I still needed to pack my snacks, put dinner in the crockpot, and take my daily WITL selfie before heading out the door, I decided there wasn't time to fold a load of clothes, too. That will just have to wait until the evening.


For dinner tonight I've planned pork chops in the slow cooker. I love the ease of the slow cooker, but using it means I've got to get my butt in gear to prepare it before I leave for work. I'm using a new recipe today, and as I gathered the ingredients, I realized I didn't have any brown sugar. Luckily a quick Google search told me I can substitute real sugar, or Splenda in this case. I set the timer for 6 hours, hoping the meat doesn't get too dry throughout the day. I always feel a little apprehensive leaving a hot electrical appliance on while I'm at work, so I said a little prayer that it neither burns the food nor burns the house down.

 

I always look forward to my drive to work... I relax in the routine. I try to wave to the crossing guard at the elementary school around the corner. I apply my lipstick and take one last look at myself in the mirror to make sure I'm put together. This morning I finished listening to Elise Cripe's latest podcast episode that I started last night while tidying up. I also listened to a song from Elise Barrett's new cd... I'm trying to learn the lyrics by playing the songs over and over again.


Tuesday afternoons are usually devoted to an OMM lab for the first year students. I spent some time this morning preparing for the lab, printing copies of the lab presentation for each faculty member. The closest printer to my office doesn't have a staple feature, so I have to manually collate and staple each packet. I also printed check-off worksheets for each student and then cut the full page sheets in half. Then I assigned doctors to proctor each room and went upstairs to tape the sign-in sheets on the door. I turned on the audiovisual system to make sure there weren't any issues to troubleshoot.


Mid-morning, Callie messaged me through Google Chat. I love that technology allows us to bridge the distance from Spartanburg to Shreveport. We can chat throughout the day and keep up with each other through the monumental and the mundane, through the silly and the serious. Today's conversation started when inspired by a Bible study she's working through, Callie asked me to give my "knee-jerk reaction" to the question, "Does God cause us to be in pain?" Coincidentally we are both reading books by Adam Hamilton and therefore bounced quotes and ideas off of each other before moving on to more lighthearted subjects.


On the days when labs are scheduled, lunch is provided. Today was chicken and wings from Fatz Cafe. The doctors are in the conference room as they reviewed the upcoming lab, but I took my plate back to my office to soak in a last few minutes of quiet before lab began at 1pm. 


A few minutes before lab I headed upstairs to meet the students and download the updated presentation. Today's lab was an introduction to osteopathic treatments of the cervical spine, one of the introductory concepts for the first year students. It seems like after sitting through these labs I should be able to do it myself, but that is far from reality. I'm doing good to recognize some of the terms.
Throughout both sessions of the lab (half the class at a time), I sat at the front of the main lab room to control the camera views as the presentation is simulcast to all of the other lab rooms. I tried to guess what to focus on and which views communicate better, but Dr. Williams was always quick to direct me to zoom in or show a different angle. I also recorded each clip, so the students can watch the videos as they study. While the students practiced the techniques, I was able to relax for a second... during these breaks today, I typed up the WITL stories on my phone.


I find it intriguing to consider the phases we seem to go through with our dinner choices. I'd be the first to admit that my picky palate is (and always will be) the limiting factor when it comes to our culinary adventures. However, I'm proud that I have expanded my tastes in the last few years. Tilapia (see yesterday), sweet potatoes, and roasted broccoli are now regulars in our meal rotation.


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