24. Simple Sunday lunch

Avocados and cilantro make everything delicious.

23. Party time!

Arts and crafts, and general hanging out, with friends.

21. Cary St. Gym and Field

Also, I passed my pedo competency today! Praise God. It was supposed to be easy since we've done a million of these tooth preparations this year and last year, but I kind of felt nervous during the test. Thankful.

19. Last bit of holiday cheer

Some of the only lights still up in late January.

18. MLK Day

The Age of Miracles. A miracle that I finished this subpar book.

17. Coast

One of the best parts about being from a coastal area is the accessibility to bodies of water, all year round. The beach during the winter is so underrated.

16. Eatin' good in the neighborhood

Ate every single bite of this plate. :)

15. Snowy morning

The day our school gets a 2 hour delay/10:00am school opening due to the weather is the ONE day that my classes start at 11:00am. -__-

But, the snow was pretty while it lasted!

In defense of working with kids (because yesterday I thought that I would not want to work in pedo): I was on orthodontics rotation this afternoon, and a bunch of my classmates and I were crowded around a computer screen as one of the residents was explaining something to us. All of a sudden, this little kid weaves through, pops up in the middle of our huddle, and tries to look at the screen with us. It was so cute and random.

14. Baby teeth

Me: Is it supposed to snow tomorrow?

Classmate: Have you been living under a rock?

Despite hearing rumors about possible snow tonight/tomorrow, weather.com told me it would be a sunny 40 degrees F tomorrow so I subconsciously haven't believed it. But, I've been proven wrong: it is steadily sleeting right now. There's no hope in it getting me out of school tomorrow (class unusually starts at 11am this Friday for me), so I'd rather it not fall on us, but oh well. 

Today, we had pedodontics lab, the first of two sessions. I'm pretty sure I do not want to be a pediatric dentist at this point, even though I love kids. It's the dealing with crazy parents, and kids' squirminess while I hold sharp/dangerous objects, that turn me off. 

13. Home sweet home

I can't wait until the day that I come home when it's legitimately light outside. Getting home at 4:30pm sometimes, while is a treat, doesn't count since darkness currently still falls around an hour later. Daylight savings come soon!

11. Rainy day

Perfect weather for books, movies, and tea under the covers.

Also, I need to learn how to take snap pictures that don't slant.

10. Banana run

On weekdays, the center of my breakfast revolves around bananas, and whatever else I have time to heat up, or make, is a bonus. They are extremely on-the-go friendly, which is helpful when I am rushing out of the door to make to it to class on time. Today, I made a quick trip to the grocery store to stock up for the week.

9. Soul food

My homies came to visit for the day! H and I ran five miles, and ate back all the calories we burned with soul food at Croaker's Spot. Which is appropriate, since spending time with friends is always food for the soul.

8. Sims

Prepped and restored a Class II DO amalgam #20 today. Not that it's visible. Oh well.

7. Twilight

Caught the last few rays of sunlight today.

6. Bleaching tray

One of the assignments for my Clinical Skills class this semester is to make a bleaching tray. Whitened teeth for the win, am I right? So I spent my afternoon finishing this up.

I somewhat feel like dental photos for my 365 project is a cop-out; one of the main points of doing this is so that I don't get tunnel vision and actually notice life outside of school. But, when I spend 10 hours a day in its confines, that's often where the action is. I suppose it's a matter of balance, as always.

5. The wonderful world of endodontics

Today was the first day of endo lab, among other classes. I spent my morning taking inventory of my supplies and sorting out the teeth that I've been collecting. Even though the course just started, I have a tiny connection to it since I used to assist in the endo clinic a couple of years ago. Looked at root canals, all day, everyday! Hoping my experience will help me this semester.

3. Poetry on Floyd St.

I hear and I forget
I see and I remember
I do and I understand

2. Reading

Vacations are when I get to catch up on reading, one of the persistent loves of my life. I usually have a book or two in the back of my mind that I intend to peruse, but when inspiration is lacking, I turn to best-seller lists and scour the internet/bookstores for any notable potential finds. Sometimes what I end up reading and liking is, for lack of better term, random. For example, Andre Agassi's Open, written by J.R. Moehringer. I won't make this a book review, but it was surprisingly captivating.

My rediscovery of books has carried over through winter break and into my spring semester. Schoolwork hasn't picked up full speed yet, thankfully, so I have the time to indulge a little more. Hence my trip to the neighborhood library this afternoon where, like an addict to the addiction, I got my fix. Yum.

1. First weekend of the year

Had good times catching up with my buddy C, who was in town today.

As a mini side project, I think I'm going to try to do a 365 blog yet again. Let's see how far I go..

Happy New Year!

A very happy new year to all!