but with every state line...

It's crazy, I know, to count on this road, 

to give me what I need.

But with every state line,

somehow I find another part of me.

~Love and Theft, "Runaway"

I'll miss the Perryville Path. 

It's been a wild weekend. But first-- a quick recap of the end of my time at ORS. Dave was out of town Thursday and Friday, so I saw his patient schedule-- and I've decided that the fact that he let me do that while he wasn't even in the state told me more than any formal evaluation could have. It was busy, but rewarding. And as I was finishing up my last bit of documentation (and savoring every last minute of dictation, because I'm banking on having to write or type the rest of my notes), Kaitlin rolled in! I gave her a quick tour of the clinic and my place before we ordered off of the date menu at Granite City. 

And even though we seriously weren't hungry, she forced me to stop at Red Mango, a frozen yogurt joint I'd never been in across the street from the clinic. Best decision ever. I had some (surprisingly low-cal) pumpkin spice and Godiva fro-yo, topped with fresh kiwi, blackberries, cookie dough bites, gummy bears and little balls of passion fruit gel that explode in your mouth. We sat in the car in the garage eating it, because we couldn't bear to waste time walking inside to take a break from the pure deliciousness in front of us. I spent the rest of the night packing my car (which I managed to fit ALL of my stuff in, by the way), then Kaitlin and I both worked on our blogs. Cute. 

only one of my greatest playlists ever. requirement: I had to know
 every word to every song.

6:55 am wake up on Saturday. I finished packing and cleaning the condo, and we rolled out of Rockford at 8:15 (Kaitlin had to make the drive up to Fargo for her next clinical that night, hence the early departure). I managed to rock out the entire ride home (see my playlist), which probably wasn't good for my voice I'd just gotten back the day before, but it was worth it. I got home at 1, unloaded my car, and celebrated being back in MN by un-freezing my account at LA Fitness and working out. It is SO nice to be home. 

Alina and Carl's new pup Harvey--precious.

At this point, if you've read even a quarter of the blog entries I've written, you can probably guess how I chose to spend my first night home. (If you're struggling, click here for the answer.) Mackensie and I caught up at dinner at Bonfire, then headed to the X to watch my fav team barely lose to the Red Wings in OT. We got severely outshot and horribly outplayed, but our (back up) goalie stole the show. We then danced the night away with Kristy, because that's what one does when one goes out with Kristy. Great fun.

Today, I've attempted to organize my life (and by that I mean unpack/clean my room), but I'm leaving most of the work for my 3-day weekend. I also saw 3 of my 4 grandparents (one was out of town), picked up Super Tack, got a great workout in, and cooked French Onion soup for dinner. (Is it possible to screw up soup from a mix? Because if so, I think I did. It wasn't all that appetizing. Too much boiling and not enough simmering, I'm guessing.) Now, I'm sipping my delicious spiced red wine that Kaitlin's aunt Deb sent me, and watching the Vikes play the Bears, happy I don't have to show my face at ORS anymore in the case that they lose (which they are in the process of doing).

Tomorrow marks the start of chapter two in my journey through clinicals in this last year of grad school. I'm off to the brand new Children's Hospital of Minnesota clinic in Maple Grove (right next to Arbor Lakes. DANGEROUS.) to complete a 9-week pediatrics rotation. A lot of people ask what kinds of things I'll be treating-- and while I'll obviously be able to better answer this question in a few weeks, I believe it will be a lot of torticollis (which literally means "twisted neck"), cerebral palsy, toe walking, hypotonia (Down Syndrome, Fragile X, etc.), and developmental delays (premies, autism, etc.). One thing I am certain of, though-- it'll be a whole other world from ORS, one that involves quite a bit more creativity, bribery and patience. Let's see if I'm cut out for that...

My parting shot of Rockford. I liked the ♥--for Loves Park?