Pretty Uglies

That picture of myself on the last post is freaking me out, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. That's really the only reason I'm writing. I still need to post the already written Mexico/Cali post, but I have yet to get my computer to load all of the pictures I want onto it. I do have the pictures from Becca now, but with all of the testing going on in my life right now, I can't make myself dedicate too much time to it (my mac has a weird way of dealing with things like pictures, and for some reason it doesn't like these ones).

Anyway, spring break is coming up soon, and I am so looking forward to sleeping in every day. And reading books of leasure. Plus it's getting warm, so who knows, maybe I'll throw open the doors to my garage and throw some stuff on my pottery wheel as well. I think I may start to plan my summer too. Semi Fun Week part 2 has to take place, and tickets to Germany bought, and possible sky diving? I will have work, but it's so nice to not have to go in till 2.

I still have one day of school to go though, and probably the worst test yet in blood bank. I am feeling good though, because I did well on the last test in this class, so if I do relatively well on this one I think I'll be alright. Today was my last blood bank lab, which is good and bad. I actually liked the lab, though the lecture is easy to get behind in, and we always did interesting tests to see whose blood could be crossmatched with whose (for the record, Steven can give me his blood, but mine would kill him--we crossmatched our serum and blood to each other). I found this simplistic drawing of a lamp and mirror to test for agglutination in test tubes, which is what we did all year. Cute, huh?
I also have my last day of my micro practical exam tomorrow. I've done much better on this exam than the last one (meaning I had no anxiety attacks in the middle of class), and for this one we were dealing with the identifications of upwards of 10 different organisms instead of the 3 we had last time. I spent the first day doing gram stains and innoculations for about 2 and a half hours, the second day doing just about everything I could in the 4 hours it took me to do it (2 of said hours entirely dedicated to additional gram stains) as well as subculturing organisms and finding my anaerobe, yesterday I spent about the same amount of time setting up enteric batteries, and tests for coagulase, CAMP, reverse CAMP, Bile Esculin, Flo, Tech, broths for motility at different temperatures, catalase, oxidase, anaerobics on Egg Yolk Agar, A discs, P discs, 0129 discs, an X and V selective test... I'm kind of tiring of it all, yet at the same time I think I'll miss it. "It" being that particular class's lab. Of course during this week alone I've managed to burn myself with a wire loop streaking plates, had part of my microscope just fall off another, broke numerous slides...but all in all it's been a fun lab to be in. I'm actually surprised to see that I know what I'm doing in there most of the time, which is nice. Also, it's all been open book (including during practicals), which makes an otherwise impossible task doable. I also like my teacher in there best, though I'm not so sure about how much she likes me. Regardless though, she's fair, sympathetic (she changes test dates for us all of the time, and gives the most helpful reviews outlining everything we need to know for tests), and I've learned a lot. Plus it's just interesting stuff to begin with. Although we did have a pretty gross lecture today with a lot of chancre and genital warts pictures. I think I'll include much prettier pictures than I was subjected to today in the form of all of the organisms I've been dealing with/performing tests on this week.


Note the delightful metallic sheen that is Pseudomonas. It's always nice to get stuff like this, because you know just looking at it what it is, and then you just have to prove it by doing follow up tests.






Morganella morganii has this nice orange tint when grown on sheep's blood, and most things are only white/gray/clear on sheep's blood agar






Escherichia coli; a nice dry colony that happens to be the second highest bacteria present in our digestive tract





You have to love Proteus. Other than that they ruin your DNAse tests when they swarm all over the place. You'll note the lovely purple swarming on this plate, reminiscent of ripples in water. Also an unmistakable i.d. just by looking at it




Clostridium is anaerobic, and therefore I couldn't culture it till I discovered it in my TCBS broth 2 days in. On the left of this egg yolk agar is Clostridium difficile, which is oily because it's lipase positive, and on the right is Clostridium perfringenes, which is milky because it is lecithinase positive.


Serratia marcescens is one of my other favorites because it has a red pigment, not to be mistaken with the hot pink that is produced on MAC agar by lactose fermentors. The background is clear, yet the colony is red (a lactose fermentor still has a light pinkish background, which is the plates natural color). Here it looks orange.




Streptococcus pneumoniae is a very wet looking thing. You can imagine what it looks like inside of you.






This is a beta hemolytic species of Strep. Beta meaning that when the organism consumes the nutrient rich sheep blood agar, it lyses the blood cells entirely and consumes them to get this lovely yellow color that you can see your fingers through if you're holding them behind it. Alpha hemolytic, on the other hand, is a yucky green background under the colonies.

Bacillus cereus is pretty self-explanatory when it comes to how cool looking it is. Sadly I had Listeria this week instead, which makes up for that fact only because it's microscopic movement at room temperature is just plain adorable.


So I have all of my organisms identified this week except for two at this point, due to my coag and enterics battery not turning out (I think I innoculated the wrong thing on the latter, considering my LIA lacked a characteristic bordeau color and I'm positive I have a Proteus species because of all the spreading happening on my sheep's blood agar plate).

Sun 11:01 PM

Oh, I'm so awesome at updating this when I need to be doing homework. And I REALLY need to do homework right now. I wish I had donuts right about now. I also wish I didn't have school tomorrow, more than the donuts. And that blood bank wasn't such a hard class for me as far as taking tests go. I can't seem to get her style of question asking down. So I discovered the most delightful thing about my mac today, which is that not only do I have a photo booth thing on there that takes pictures via the little lens at the top of my laptop monitor(?), but that it has all sorts of effects on it too. I had a little too much fun with it, which will translate to less fun later when I'm failing out of school because I was playing around on my computer when I should have been studying. I have loads of pictures and things to say on here later from this weekend, but I haven't the time, and the guilt trip I verbalized just now for myself (without actual verbalization) is starting to take an actual effect on me.

Sad times, regular times...

So this week has been interesting. Surprisingly I've been worse, but it's still sucked. Tonight our shark died. It's kind of amazing none of our fish have died up to this point (Butch doesn't really count because we only had him a few days and he was so tiny and unliked by the other fish), what with us not knowing the slightest thing about keeping fish alive. Walsh is still going strong, even though we bought Butch in anticipation of Walsh dying. That shark really was my favorite though, and he will be missed.



In Loving Memory of Our Lil' Guy:

sometime many months ago-2/28/2008


"We gave you a name, but forgot it because we never used it, and always just called you 'Shark' instead. You will be missed."

So that happened, I have 4 major tests next week, one comprehensive I need to do well in or else, I have a meeting with my professor/advisor tomorrow, I sat in the middle of two (very nice) couples cuddling on a couch today (I mean it, they're lovely people, but I'm going to kill Eric for this, because it was not my idea of not being awkward, even though did I mention they were very nice?), and I work tomorrow for the better Melissa, which means I'm stuck working with Stevie Boy and Serg instead of Brockley and Jon (Don't get me wrong, I love Stevie Boy as a big brother, and I'll get to work with Cole as well, but neither of them sing like Brock, and neither of them are as randomly funny and quiet but liberal all the while fibbing as though it were just breathing like Jon). Also it's one in the morning and I have yet to go to bed because the movie got started late, so I hope I have a desire to get up tomorrow morning.

On the bright side, in between the two couples tonight, I was able to watch one of AFI's Greatest 100 Movies of All Time, "Bringing Up Baby." I felt like watching an old classic, but something that was happy because of our loss tonight. It was black and white, had Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, and was very amusing indead. I would recommend it to all. Also, I only have school till 10 am tomorrow, I'm going to a baby shower for Stevey Boy's baby Saturday, and I get to see most of my nieces and nephews on Sunday because my youngest is getting blessed. All of those are good things. Also, before Sharky died, and ironically, I went to the pet store to get a brush to clean our fish tank. I got that and a fish tank scraper (which worked beautifully), some water conditioner, more filters bags, a small algae eater (I've decided to name him Axel), and some plants. All good things with the health of our fishies in mind, but ultimately it was just too late. Randomly I had not my home teachers over tonight, but my ward missionaries? They weren't missionaries, but I think that's their calling. They just popped up on our doorstep looking for Meg, which is weird conisdering she's not even active, yet I am and they had no idea who I even was. Of course it makes since that given their calling they would come for her, but if she goes to church it will be up to her and theirs is a lost cause anyway. I'm not making any sense at this point, but they came in, chatted, and shared a message with me since she wasn't home and I'm all they had to work with. And even though I am active, they couldn't have known that since I used to work every other Sunday, and even when I didn't I rarely went to my ward. For all they knew, I could have been inactive. Oh well. It was a nice visit, now I know 2 more people in my ward, and hopefully I can make more friends now that all of mine are away, or might as well be.

I did get to hang out with Paige and Emmy yesterday, which was lovely, and it reminded me how much I've missed them. They really are two of the best, most uplifting to me, people I know, and it was fun to see them again. We watched Hairspray, because I hadn't, and I was surprised with how amusing it was. A lot of subtly dirty jokes--which I of course enjoyed, but which made me wonder if my 12 year old niece should be watching such things. It's too bad they live so far from me (relatively speaking), and that my life is so full of work and school now. Hopefully switching up my work schedule as I'm about to do will help things out. Here's to that.

Though it may not seem like it, I'm still sticking with my resolve to be more positive. I think I can do it, though it will take more time to be perfectly (or as much as possible) achieved. And with that I'm going to bed.

Just Thinking.

So I have a post already written from my recent trip, which should satiate both Berta and Kristen (the latter of which really shouldn't have been complaining to me at all considering she's been back from Greece for months and I still have yet to see/hear of any pictures or specific stories/experiences), but there were a lot of points during my trip where I didn't feel like taking pictures (pretty much a first for me, I know), and I just resolved to get copies from Becca and Heidi. Anyway, I figured I'd get all the trip pictures together before I posted anything, and that way I could post some of them too.
Today is day 5 of my "try to be more positive and happy" resolve. I actually had an excellent lesson at church today on just that, which I found to be pretty awesome given that I had made many of the same realizations we talked about at church a week ago, and am currently trying to implement them. We talked about how you have the agency to react to the situations around you in a positive way, and it doesn't matter what's happening as long as you're in the right spiritual mindset. With school and work I've lately let myself get sucked into a vortex of bad feelings and not too positive vibes, but even if things aren't perfectly the way I'd like them to currently be, I can at least choose to be happy--which is closer to the ideal way I'd like things to be than they would otherwise be. All in all I started out the day rather chipper, and it wasn't until the boredom of the weekend hit that the good mood faltered in any way. Sadly I failed at the no gossip part of my resolve (in regards to a guy and girl I work with who had a falling out), which never was a problem for me before this year, but that I've become quite good at. Not to justify the situation, but I didn't really GOSSIP so much as I happened to just COMMENT on truths told to me, but which were nevertheless not very nice things to say. I'm not saying they weren't necessarily true things, but after said "gossiping" me and Austen (the kid telling me the what's the what) started to talk about how we always feel bad AFTER gossiping, and that it really is better to try to see things from the perspectives of those you're talking about. When you think about it, most people are inately good--at least a little to some degree--and unless you're a serial killer or Hitler, in most cases that goodness is closer to the surface than others might expect.

So that's really all I have to say, but having written all of this I think there's a better chance of me now sticking to my guns, or at least my metaphorical guns as I don't own any real ones. I'm not particularly psyched about my test tomorrow, but I was able to study a decent amount this week, I socialized more at church today than I normally do--which was a nice change, and there was a cheesecake Mingle after church. I think someone up there must love me.

Jam tomorrow and yesterday, but today...packing.

So I'm supposed to be packing for my trip to California/Mexico tonight. Of course I have school tomorrow, which means I can't put it off for too long because I have to sleep sometime tonight and our flight is tomorrow night. Man, I don't feel like packing yet though. It seems weird to me that everything just kind of snuck up on me. I was so busy with work and studying for tests this week that I forgot until Monday night that I was even going anywhere this weekend. I was super excited last week, but I think my crappy testing experiences this week and work being so boring yet frustrating might have sucked any good feelings out of me. I know I'll have fun, but I'll also have a week long practical starting Tuesday when I get back, a blood bank test that same day I believe, and a Micro exam that Friday. I hope I can get some relaxation in on this trip. And some motivation to do what I need to do, because right now I'm sure devoid of that. I think it's time for some tunes while I clean my room, pack, and do laundry.

In the meantime...me and friends discovered this at school this past week. Actually, it was already discovered by Sumie, but the rest of us finally understood where the crazy renditions of dancing and singing came from upon seeing this. I'm not sure which is worse/most amusing--the singing or the dancing, but it just gets funnier the more we watch it. It's from a movie rendition of Through The Looking Glass, and they really let Carol Channing have free reign as the White Queen. Spasmodic dancing: check. Crazy fake wig with a mind of it's own: check. Lips the size of Minneapolis: double check. A voice that changes in unpredictable and altogether unexpected ways: check, check, and CHECK.



I've concluded that she must have been drunk. We were in tears, and the 7 of us (Sumie, Jason, Jacob, Devin, Noelle, me and Steven) have had it in our heads all week. Of course the child actress doesn't need to be able to act in the magnificent shadow of the White Queen--we decided that they must have chosen Alice because she was the only child that didn't run away during the audition with Ms. Channing.

So this was written quite a while ago, and only now have I sorted out all the picture problems I was having. Enter: line of time.
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I had a rather adventurous weekend. I did no homework or studying. And since I have work this week and a test on Friday, along with 3-4 tests every week from now on (with a few exceptions), I'm really starting off to a good semester.

Amazingly enough, I managed to do as little of anything during this time that would cause displeasure to me in any way. I have yet to finish cleaning my room (which only makes my own life harder), I didn't clean out my car, I forgot to go to the bank, I did no laundry...I did go grocery shopping. I started the weekend in So Jo visiting my family, specifically my sister in Herriman. Only she wasn't home, my mom was at her house tending her 2 kids. I stayed and helped her for a while. Claire has turned into the happiest baby ever, and is the easiest child to take care of ever. Her older brother, on the other hand, is probably the reason God sent my sister such an easily pacifiable baby the second go around. He is crazy energetic, and is a downright menace. Oh, he's cute, smart and pretty funny, but he is undoubtably sheer trouble.Here is a picture of him at the baby shower I went to with my other nephew's airplane launcher. This picture is blurry, in case you're wondering, because it was taken at the exact moment when he launched said airplane and it hit me square in the face. After I decided I could no longer handle him jumping onto my spine one more time, I went to visit my sister Shelly and her twins. We went to the store to get a baby shower present for my step-neice while my sister's husband Mike cooked french toast, spicy hashbrowns and sausage for us. After I ate dinner with them I ended up going to a movie with her and my little sis. I enjoy watching chic flics with my sister's.


(Me, Aub and a terrible picture of Christy, haha.)









(The twins--cute, huh?)











(Kace with the camera I gave her, and Jessilee.)








(Churtis Jamames with Char, who is hilarious. I gave my sister Lee grief over letting her wear her Dora the Explorer costume shirt with fake backpack on the back, and this random orange skirt. She in turn wished on all of us a strong willed child. She is that for sure at only 2. Also, me and my sister just older than me Shelly. Is it any wonder I'm her favorite?)






The next day I was at my parent's pretty early in the morning, and waited around there till my family left from there to go to my oldest sister's house in Lindon for the shower. It was kind of cool to see my cousins and chill out with them for a while, and I got to watch some Planet Earth with my nephews, which awed them. It also helped build their creative abilities towards lying up names of all of the creatures that they talked too loud during the times when they were told the actual names. We left there at about 4, so by the time I got back and to Eric's there wasn't too much time left with light. However, we drove out to the Great Salt Lake anyway for our photo excursion. I learned that my camera does not have very many night capabilities, but it was still fun. Dusk is a pretty time out there.


We then made our way to Provo after a quick food break to hang out with Alex. We got self heating hot chocolate canisters, and Krispy Kream donuts. We also got some wooden crates from behind the Wal-Mart and some liquid fire starting magic and made our way up Provo Canyon. We found some small stone ampitheatre near the Sundance resort and started our fire in the middle of that (the snow was too deep toget to the actual fire pit). We drank our hot chocolate, roasted our donuts and burned our wood, and Eric found some long bendy orange pole he ended up hitting himself in the face with after launching it into the air pole vault style, then Alex headed off the main road after performing a few donuts to see what his jeep could do. It turns out it couldn't do much. The left side sunk and out came the machettis. I used to think that machettis could accomplish everything, but several small trees and one sign pole later we decided to walk to where people might be instead. We found ourselves at a resort called Aspen Groves where no one was out and about (it was 2 am or something), and everything was locked for the night, only the door to the lodge dining area opened when pushed upon. We found a courtesy phone and called the BYU police (because they were listed there), who transfered us to the Provo police, who transfered us to the Utah County Police. All this ended in us waiting in the dining area for quite some time until 2 cops in big ol' SUV's showed up, one the most jolly man I've ever encountered. They found a Sundance security guy, who felt he couldn't get us out without getting stuck himself. The jolly officer drove us home, I fell asleep on the way to Alex's, and it was 4 in the morning before we got there. We had a spendover on his roommate's mattresses, then woke up and got lumber from the Home Depot, a Handy Man's Farm Jack, and a shovel to get ourself out of the rut. With a little perserverence and thought we eventually managed to get ourselves out. Eric and I took some more daytime pictures of the mountains, then went back to Alex's and played some Mario Kart and Jurassic Park II Super Nintendo style before we headed back to the Valley.

Monday before my work week started Eric and I went to a matinee, followed by pizza and some more super nintendo. We played Jurassic park a little (because we've never been able to complete an entire level, to our everlasting frustration) before moving onto the games either my roommate's boyfriend or friend Libo had at our house. Ghost's and Ghouls was hilarious, but only one player, Ninja Turtles was enjoyable, Terminator sucked...we finally got very into Kirby, and may have passed off the whole game if I didn't have homework to attend to. Whoever came up with that went all out in the coming up of the second player. It's no more than black blob, only Kirby can open his mouth and suck you in, then throw you at other things as a weapon. Eric kept accidentally inhaling my guy, and then we switched because it was one too many times. But yeah, he's this pink glob, he inhales things with a humming sound and spits them out, and can float around and fly as long as there's nothing in his mouth. Who comes up with these things? I also learned how to play Mary Had a Little Lamb and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on the guitar Eric's lending me while I teach myself. Thanks Eric! And kudos self.

None

Kind of amazing the kinds of things you can do free online these days. I'm not really sure what's in it for them. I'm guessing soliciting email addresses for sites that send junk/spam mail, but as long as you have a legitimate email account, and one you use anytime you need to enter an email online (whether buying stuff or signing up for things) there's not that much of an inconvenience. That said, I saw this application on my sister-in-law's blog, and decided to try it out. I took some random pictures of my oldest sister's kids to play around with this application. They were from when she and her husband went out of town for a week, and I went to my parent's for those days to help watch all the kiddies, and there's one of her in there when she came to pick them up. My nephew Jessilee seriously has the cutest bond with his 2 year old lil' sis'. He's pretty much a punk (and thus my favorite), but she adores him and he's so sweet with her. She had trouble sleeping without her mom around, and so he got his ipod out and let her listen to it till she fell asleep, coaxing her to calm down. Then the next morning I walked downstairs to get them up for church, and they're asleep facing each other on the air mattress in the most adorable fashion. I took a picture. Obviously.

This appy might be something nice for my facebook account. For now it's good for wasting time that should be spent studying.