May Reflections

So May was a crazy busy month that put my brain and skills to the test. There are some key things I learned about myself and also somethings that hopefully will enlighten you all.

1. Dry ice burns like a mother....
I'm sure your thinking....duh, don't you know dry ice burns? Why yes i do, but you really don't get the full understanding until you actually burn yourself...which i did. Sad thing, i was really trying to be careful, i had gloves on, was digging through it with a metal spatula, trying to get to the goodies inside (lab supplies..of course) and didn't realized that while i was digging, my arm was getting burned-my arm below the gloves. To add insult to injury, i possibly may have overreacted to the severity of my burn (you're surprised right?!?) , but the Chinese research assistant reassured me it was fine, while he applied antiseptic and bandages to my cold, burnt arm. To my defense it did burn and sting for the next couple of hours and i had to wear jacket that day so no one would ask about my band aids. Good news though, my arm is fine and I just have a tiny mark to show for it that fades more each day. Hopefully this will be the last of my lab injuries....

2. The last 4 weeks of school is to working out like oil is to water
I was so proud of myself in March/April time--i was biking riding, running on the tread mill, kept up with my working out....I even road in my first biking event: the Fiesta Wildflower Ride http://www.fiestawildflower.com/ and road 25 miles in 2 hrs, 6 mins, a new record for me! Well the end of April, school got the best of me and my regular work out routine went out the window. I am still trying to get back into it, with a 20 mile ride with Colleen and Jeff 2 weekends ago--I survived it , but barely! So I"m hoping to get back into the game soon....very soon....

3. Maybe having a kid won't be soo bad....
After vicariously living through my sister having a baby and seeing that she survived and all is well, maybe better than well, i might be changing my mind about the whole baby thing....we'll see.

4. Negative feedback doesn't motivate me, it just upsets me
I am much better with constructive criticism....and i think there is a big difference. I got some feedback on one of my assignments that rubbed me the wrong way, i know this is my first year of graduate school and there is no way I'm going to be great at everything i do, i realize this, really i do, sometimes I'm too hard on myself. But i really don't like feeling like i let someone down, and trust me, i let myself down enough because i didn't do as well as a should have. I know they wanted me to take this feedback and learn from it and motivate me to do better, but it really didn't. But i did feel better after i approached them and asked for more feedback and talked to them face to face where i was told "it was good." Oh well, I'm just going to chalk it up to a first year blunder, and the fact that i tried my best is enough for me.

So I decided to end each blog with with a new vocabulary word, because for a PhD candidate my vocabulary sucks! So we'll all learn to be eloquent and use impressive words together!

http://dictionary.reference.com/wordoftheday/archive/2008/06/10.html
surfeit \SUR-fit\, noun:1. An excessive amount or supply.2. Overindulgence, as in food or drink.3. Disgust caused by overindulgence or excess.
transitive verb:1. To feed or supply to excess.
"My lack of working out and surfeit amount of sweets last week did not help my weight maintenance plan!" and oh was this so true.......