The Fall of Snow Days

I live in the Northeast, which means this winter we have experienced snow storm after snow storm.  Because most people (not students, 80-90% of med students live on campus) that don't live at my school must drive to get there, they were pretty liberal with snow days (especially because last year, several students got into car accidents on the way to our biochem mini board).  From what I can tell, the rule of thumb has been: if it is actively snowing, and the roads have snow on them- cancel school.  We get a delay if they think perhaps the extra time will allow the salt to work its magic.  I'm pretty sure the administration (or whoever makes the snow calls) is starting to regret their decision and has thus changed the snow day rules to something along the lines of: "If a four wheel drive vehicle can make it to school, everyone else must suck it up."  I drive a Honda Civic.   

Today it was actively snowing, all major roads had snow on them, and the weather was expected to get better in a couple hours.  Seems like a a 2 hour delay to me.  Right?  WRONG!!  I don't go to class, but we had a Community and Preventative Medicine Exam this morning at 9 so I got up early to study, and hoped that the snow would at least give me a couple more hours at home.  I held out for as long as I possibly could, convinced they would post a delay.  I left for school only when I knew I would have just enough time to de-snow my car and drive to school at a moderate pace (assuming the roads would be decent since we didn't have a delay).  Decent roads what not what greeted me.  I drove my butt to  school in full snow fall, rolling through stop signs on the hills out of fear that my car would not continue to move forward if I came to a complete stop. When I arrived at school (15 minutes late for the exam), I saw a herd of other commuters who were late as well.  You would think they would at least wait 15 minutes before starting the exam right?  NOPE!!  Or perhaps, recognize that the people walking in with snow in their boots and car keys still in hand might need say an extra 15 minutes for the exam (we only had 30 minutes to take the test).  WRONG AGAIN!!  I'm now convinced our CPM course director either lives in his office or teleports to school.

Recommitting to Yoga

Before my med student life, I was a dancer, avid yoga practitioner, and "yoga teacher" (I put this in quotes because while I did get certified and have taught classes, I did not commit to becoming a full time teacher before plunging into the world of medicine.)  Over the last almost two years, my physical activity has gone down the toilet.  Around this time last year, I decided to join a gym as cardio physiology had me convinced I needed to be doing more cardio (I HATE cardio), and I thought "maybe I can try to work up to training for a half marathon again."  Well, the result was spotty at best gym attendance.  I would have a week or two of going multiple times per week followed by a week or two of no attendance due to an encroaching exam followed by a week long shame spiral at the end of  which I finally managed to get my ass back to the gym.  The net gym attendance was about two weeks go consistent gym going followed by three weeks of being sedentary.  The result- my body continued to feel like crap, I went to a series of disappointing gym yoga classes, and I wasted about $70/month on my gym dues.

A couple weeks ago, I was craving a yoga class.  My body felt like ass and I was going stir crazy in my snow prison of an apartment.  Even though I was trained to teach yoga, I generally don't like giving myself yoga class unless I come up with it before hand.  Trying to come up with a sequence that will feel good and then remember the sequence while also practicing takes away from my ability to empty my mind and enjoy the moving meditation that is my yoga practice.  My solution was to turn to youtube.  The first class I found was ok.  It wasn't amazing, but was probably on par with any gym class I would take.  Two weeks later, I've found an iPhone app and a couple youtube channels that are pretty solid.  (I'll post my favorites at a later date).  I've managed to get between 20 minutes to an hour of yoga in each day and feel amazing.  My mind is clear, my body doesn't hurt, and I feel like I carve out a little wedge of me time every day.  I think the best part of rekindling my practice at home is that it sets me up to be more disciplined and conscious for the rest of the day.  I find that I procrastinate on the internet less, I'm more conscious of how I sit while studying, I make better choices in what I eat, and I tend to be in a nicer mood.

Grownup Clothes: On The Waist:Ass Problem and Being Poor

I realized recently that I would need to start stocking up on adult clothes so that by the time third year starts, I'll have more than one pair of work pants.

My problem is this: in all of my previous professions, I've never needed to wear "work" attire.  Let's take a look:
1) Medical assistant- scrubs
2) Yoga instructor- yoga pants (which I have worn as dress pants in a pinch)
3) Dancer- booty shorts, sports bra and tank top + sweat pants
4) Contortionist- whatever combination of costume/body paint/elaborate head piece I was supplied with

The first two years of med school, at least at my school, I could get away with wearing pretty much any of the items listed above (except for the contortion outfit… that would get some looks).  Because as a med student, I'm poor, buying work clothes has been a pretty low priority because they are expensive. If one is wearing business clothes, it's generally assumed that the wearer has a job and is not, in fact, making negative money.

My plan for next year is to buy a bunch of black pants, shirts that work with black pants, and a pair of black Dansko clogs.  This will streamline my ability to get dressed in the morning (which is going to be absolutely necessary during rotations where I'm expected to show up at work before the sun does.)

Yesterday I started this wardrobe mission by purchasing my first and only pair of work-appropriate black pants.  This was easier said than done.  I am thin and tall, but my ass is one size larger than my waist.  The ass problem is a direct result of over a decade of dancing/yogaing, and while I generally like my muscular booty, it hampers my ability to find pants.

I went to Express, Gap, and J.Crew with no luck.  Finally, I went to Banana Republic, defeated, almost ready to go up to the food court and eat my feelings (probably further contributing to the waist/ass ratio problem).  I walked in and told the sales associate what I needed: a pair of pants that would fit both my ass and waist, were a little stretchy, machine washable, and would work with a pair of Danskos.  She knew exactly what I needed: The Sloane Black Trousers.  Technically they are dry clean only, but in looking at the fabric content, I don't see why they can't be washed normally.  Great success!!

Beer O'Clock

It's the night before the night before an exam at about one in the morning.  My brain hurts- you know that feeling when you've been forcing yourself to learn for so long that you start to have a physical sensation inside your skull?  I'm not tired due to the cappuccino I made fore myself around 7.  The sum of this is that I'm too tired to study, but too awake to go to bed.  The solution? Beer.  Beer and maybe one more hour spent learning about the endocrine system is the answer.  Sometimes you just have to know when to indulge.