I love binders.

If it feels like I'm dragging out this whole "I'm starting vet school!" thing, then you have an inkling of how I feel.  We had yet another day of orientation yesterday and a day "off" today - classes start bright and early tomorrow morning and not a minute too soon!  The last day of orientation, once again, held a lot of administrative stuff to pound into our heads, but some of it was slightly more interesting.  We had a talk about rabies and infectious disease control (i.e. why you shouldn't pet raccoons) and some info about clubs and organizations.  And we also got an intro to the anatomy lab - how to properly handle instruments, make incisions, suture, and dissect.  Fun but a little overwhelming...still wonder how I'm going to learn everything I'm expected to.

Today I did a few errands and lounged around.  I went to the school to pick up my supplies and books along with my ID badge.  I actually ordered a pretty light load - only the dissection guide, coveralls, lab coats, dissection kit, and a pair of scrubs (no other textbooks!) - and it was still about $350 in total.  Oooooh well.  That's what my impending loans are for!

My first classes start tomorrow at 8:00; we're following a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday schedule this week to get started and are switching to normal next week.  Tomorrow is physiology, histology and lab, and anatomy and lab.  So, have you ever wondered exactly what a week of veterinary school entails?  Take a gander at this, which I'll be following this semester:

I'm definitely excited but wondering how the heck I'm going to physically make it through the days, let alone the WEEKS.  Plus, I don't have a caffeine addiction and don't plan to start one anytime soon.  I'll be making it through the torture au naturale.

On a personal note, I booked a flight to visit the boy in Pittsburgh the weekend of August 27th.  During his past weekend here I gathered all of the class syllabi, wrote them in my planners (yes, multiple), and we found weekends that are good for visits (meaning, I have no exams the next week).  I don't think I've explained our situation too much, but we've been dating/together for about 20 months and have been long-distance for 15 of those.  We were separated by a five hour drive this whole past year, and things were awesome between us; we're both excited about going into this next year despite being an eight hour drive or a flight away.  The really great thing is that his job gives him a ton of flexibility for (fully compensated!) travel, so his coming to see me should be really easy to accomodate.

I've always heard that med and vet schools are relationship killers, particularly long-distance relationships.  I think often about how we'll handle the next few years but I don't really worry about whether we'll be able to do it.  This past year was EASY and really worth it, so I have hope that we can stick to our planned visit schedule and make it work.  Long distance isn't ideal, but we don't really have a choice.  He has work, I have school, and until he goes back to school in two years, that situation isn't going to change.  We figure, sacrificing now when we're young will give us much more time to enjoy our lives when we're older.

Well, off to iron my lab coat, pack my lunch, and hit the hay!  Classes in 10 hours! :)