Derby Food!

The quickest way to get a feel for the culture of a town has got to be at the local demolition derby.  With my brother and his wife in town to visit over the summer, we couldn’t pass up the derby and all the food, fun, and games that come with a local fair.

I had a deep fried 3 course meal.  The appetizer was deep fried oreo, dinner was cajun fried chicken on a stick, and for dessert…funnel cake! It was beautiful! Preslee just loved all the kids rides, and she and Jonah thought the pigs were pretty cool. 

 We all loved the demolition derby!  It was almost as fun to see the variety of people that came, than it was to see a 14 year old out there smashing cars and even holding his own! If you haven’t been to a demolition derby, I highly recommend it.

Eventhough we have three tests this week and finals the week after, Tam and I have some exciting stuff coming up.  Friday night, the SAA (club for spouses of students) is offering free babysitting so KCOM students with kids can go have a night out on the town!  We’re going to get together with some friends for a game night.

  Then on Saturday, Regina Spektor is coming to Truman, the undergraduate university here in Kirksville! So we set up a babysitter for that night as well.  Once again, the school and even the town of Kirksville have provided some awesome opprtunities for us to have a good time and for me to find a release from the constant push of school.

The Fam

Tam and the kids are in Utah right now having a blast visiting family.  It has been almost a week since they left and I miss them SO much.  We both felt like it was good timing since the 5th quarter is really starting to heat up with tests every Friday and Monday, I think til the end of the quarter, which is Thanksgiving break.  So while she has been gone, I’ve tried to take advantage of the extra time that I’d usually spend hanging out with my family and playing with the kids by studying my guts out.  I’m not sure how much of an advantage it has been.  I think I NEED that time each day to relax and forget about my studies. 

Jonah

I have realized how much I miss the little things about my family.  I miss our dinners together.  I miss walking into little Jonah’s room when he wakes up from a nap and he’s standing in his crib with the biggest smile.  I REALLY miss dancing with my little princess Preslee. (For the last month or so, as soon as we walk into the front door she sprints to her room and changes into her leotard so she can dance.)  Most of all, I miss having my wife to come home to. 

Preslee

One of my biggest concerns about starting medical school was if I would be able to keep my faith and family as my top priorities and still succeed in school.  I am so glad that the answer is, absolutely!

I believe that ATSU and the city of Kirksville create an environment that helps you keep that focus as well.  They provide so many activities and opportunities for families and spouses, you begin to realize that there actually is quite a bit to do in Kirksville.

For the next few posts I’ll find some pictures of the all the fun stuff that we have found to do while here in Kirksville.  Until then, wish me luck on my Pharmacology test tomorrow!

Today I woke up at 5:30 am threw on my basketball shorts grabbed my bag and was out the door in 2o minutes. 

6am - I got to the school’s gym, laced the sneakers, and enjoyed a good hour of basketball. We play every Tuesday and Thursday morning, I LOVE IT!

7:00-ish am – After basketball, I quickly showered there at the gym changed and was in a student government meeting within 15 minutes. We talked about clubs, the disco skate night this saturday that I definitely plan on attending, curriculum, and scheduling issues that are a big concern among our peers at the moment.

8am - Class starts with our first lecture in Pharm. I liked the lecture and am excited for that course.

8am-11pm - Pharm, Neuroscience, and OTM fill up my morning schedule. 

11pm - I decided to go home instead of stay for the Infectious Diseases class for two reasons.  One, I feel that I can effectively listen to that specific professor’s lectures online and get just as much out of it as I do when I’m in class.    Two, I was missing my wife and kids and just wanted a little break.

So, I went home had an early lunch and killed a spider via the classic WD-40 flame-thrower maneuver.  You know… take a match and spray it with the WD-40 and VOILA, you’ve got an instant death machine for insects invading your territory!  The spider had setup camp right in front of our garage door, it was completely self-defense.

Noon - Interview Day Tour Training – As an ambassador I will have the opportunity to give tours to the perspective students who come to interview.  Today they showed us the route and gave us tons of interesting factoids about our school.   For example, 80 miles of fiberoptic wiring was used to make the new multi-million dollar building on campus completely wireless.

1-4 pm- more class. Infectious Diseases, Pathology, and Principles of Medicine. The lectures take on a little bit of a different feel now that we’re having more and more physicians as lecturers.

4 pm – TENNIS INTRAMURALS! I love our intramural program here. I had no idea that we’d have enough people interested to put together football, basketball, volleyball, soccer, racquetball, ultimate frisbee, tennis and more.  My match was close but I was able to eake out a win! Tennis is at its best when you are able to find someone who is at your exact same level or even a little above you.  That was definitely the case today.

530 – 7 pm - I got home and played with my family: Tamara (beautiful wife), Preslee (cute 2 1/2 year old little girl), and Jonah (8 month old stud).

7 pm – My wife left for an SAA meeting. The SAA is the club for the spouses of the medical students. It’s an incredible club that creates a great support group and opportunity for the spouses to meet other people in their exact same situation.

7-8 pm – I played with Preslee and put her to bed.  That might sound like a quick and easy thing to do, but you wouldn’t believe the list of things that need to happen each night for a successful bedtime.

Snacks, brush teeth, read stories, make sure all the appropriate stuffed animals are on her bed, pray, read more stories, explain to her that she doesn’t need a third snack for the night, water bottle for her bedside for when she’s thirsty, kisses and hugs.  That’s our recipe for a perfect night.

830-930 pm - I play on the computer checking emails, facebook, and type this post.  Tamara gets home from her meeting, she helped with refreshments and I think they were a hit.

930 pm-’til I fall asleep at the computer - I study.