I'm not sure where to start with this one

This picture is from the handicapped stall in the men's room at Wal-Mart. I find several things hilarious here: 1. They have a seat to strap your baby into while you take a dump. 2. They think you might need instructions on how to operate the device. 3. Somebody tagged it with a Sharpie.

Last week was Spring Break, and also my birthday. We took a mini-vacation to the Seattle area, where my brother-in-law lives. He was an excellent host, providing us with a bed, a car, and tons of food. It was only four days but it was extremely refreshing. We spent my birthday in downtown Seattle, first at the Space Needle and Science Fiction Museum and later at Pike Place Market. I got a coffee from the original Starbucks. It's not that big a deal, actually. I mean, it's a cool, urban Starbucks, but it didn't feel like sacred ground or anything.

I've been awake for 21 hours. I feel like a broken record at this point, with every Monday blog making mention of my crazy 6-night week. Anyway, I just took my exam so the rest of my day is wide open. I might take a nap, or I might stay up until six or seven or whenever Xander goes to sleep and just turn in early. Or a little of each.

The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is the greatest sporting event ever conceived. I love it. I love filling out brackets and rooting for Cinderellas and bragging when I pick it right and crying when Kansas loses in the second round and I have them in the championship game. Kansas, for the record, screws me every time. When I pick them to do well, they miss the Sweet 16 (i.e., 2006). When I say, "Not this time, Jayhawks!" and knock them out early, they win the national championship (i.e., 2008). So all you Jayhawk fans, you best hope I pick them for an early exit next year. I like your chances if I do.

The semester is halfway over. I get the sense that it's about to get a good deal harder. IOS 1 was a review of physiology. IOS 2 starts getting into specific systems and specific disease states and specific drugs for the treatment of those diseases. Bring it on. Oh, and the Interdisciplinary Ethics course starts next week. Woohoo.

The first regular season baseball game is two weeks from yesterday. Interesting baseball fact: Jason Marquis has played on a playoff team in each of his ten seasons in the major leagues. This year, Jason Marquis is playing for the ridiculously bad Washington Nationals. There's no way that trend can continue, is there? I'm guessing Marquis gets traded to a contender. We'll revisit in September.

OK, that's it for now. Thanks for stopping by.

Heartbreak and success, in equal measure

Of course, it's too soon to tell, but based on how I think my exams went today I have cause for both celebration and intense mourning. See, I had an exam in each of my major courses today (Principles of Drug Action and Integrated Organ Systems 1), but over the weekend I only studied for one (PDA), and foolishly chose the one that occurred later in the day. So I was immensely underprepared for my morning exam, and my score is certain to reflect that (unless I'm an extremely lucky guesser). On the other hand, I smoked the afternoon exam. It's almost guaranteed to be my highest test score of the semester, and it's certainly the best I've felt on the way out the door in some time. I'll let you know if my gut was right, but I can pretty much guarantee that the PDA score will be the higher of the two.

I interviewed for a pharmacist intern position at Kaiser a couple weeks ago, and they offered me the job. I wasn't really expecting that. I don't have pharmacy experience and I made a terrible mess of the first half of the interview. Then I let them know that my availability to attend orientation was restrictively limited by my vacation plans (going to Seattle over Spring Break to celebrate my birthday) and my school schedule (I can't skip classes on Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday). Also, I will still need to work my casino job three nights a week to pay the bills. Despite all that, they offered me the position, and even made it seem (in our phone conversation) that they wanted me pretty badly (not like they were settling to fill a spot). So I felt honored and validated by that, and accepted the offer. I'm not sure when I'll be able to start, but I'll finally get some experience in a pharmacy (which I desperately need).

My wife recovered most of the way from her illness. She's not 100% yet, but she's probably 80%, and that makes a big difference when you're caring for a toddler. In related news, I don't think my son caught the bug (knock on wood). It'll be a small miracle if he makes it through without incident, and reason to praise the Lord.

Speaking of reasons to praise the Lord, I'm constantly reminded of the many that I have. Last week I rode a bus with a man on crutches. He was using crutches because he only had one foot. I had to give a prayer of thanks when I saw that. I ride the bus to save money on gas and parking; many people ride the bus because they can't afford to or legally aren't allowed to drive. And I have full functionality in each of my limbs, and a working mind, and a healthy body. I got my cholesterol numbers on Wednesday, and they're all in or very close to the healthy range. My medication is definitely working. When I take stock of my life, I can't help but feel extraordinarily blessed.

That's all I've got today. Thanks for stopping by.