End of First Semester!

One more day of Student Clinic and we are on a week-long break! We just completed our final week of First Semester (total 16 weeks of classes so far, whew!). One more "Semester" to go -- it's only six weeks long when we come back & I'm sure that will go fast.

Above you can see some flashcards that I made for Anatomy Class. On one side of the card, I drew a representation of the muscle we were studying, while on the other side I listed its actions, origins, and insertions. A must-know for Massage Therapists! :-) That really was the most artwork I've done for a while. We've been so busy with classes, tests, and final projects these past few weeks that I didn't even have a chance to blog.

Steve & I are headed out to Las Vegas for a couple of days this week. Vegas? Yep, Vegas. While I find grounding in nature & the mountains, I do like the contrast of visual input & people watching that Vegas has. I also have a thing for neon signs, go figure! Not so much the new stuff, but the "retro" signs, like on old Route 66. Love them! We saw the Cirque du Soleil show, "KA", last trip and really enjoyed it. Especially the rigging & costumes (rigging = climbing in my mind). We will probably see "Mystere" this time, which will also be interesting!

I think we will probably check out some trails near Lake Mead & Boulder, NV. Otherwise, perhaps we'll make a trip out to Red Rocks. There's a short but cool trail called "Calico Tanks" that leads up to a "tank" (pond in rocks). I hiked up above the tank last time I was there & there was a cool view of Las Vegas from the "top". Reminded me of Moss Eisley on the original Star Wars movie! Haha. Anyway, if we are not hiking out in the desert somewhere, we can usually be found hanging out in front of the Bellagio, watching people & the musical fountain they have in front of the hotel. Or maybe in Margaritaville or Bahama Breeze! Anyway, I'm looking forward to no homework for a week, woohoo!

Another thing I want to do this coming week is run. Although I prefer trail running, I've signed up for the "Flying Pig" Half Marathon in Cincinnati this May. Steve usually runs the marathon and I needed an excuse to get in shape during/after massage school. For me, I hope this leads to appropriate fitness to do some hiking & backpacking this summer and perhaps even a trail race at some point. I do not claim to be fast, so I guess I've gotta train for distance. I don't get that many fossil points, I'm only 47! Plus, people my age discover that running = endorphins, which overrides "normal" pain... so is that why there are so many long distance runners over the age of 40? :-) Wish me luck, especially with training here in Santa Fe. The streets & sidewalks are quite uneven, so I guess that is a lot like training on a rocky trail. You have to watch every step.

Hope everyone is having a good January. I've been kind of spoiled into thinking it's March already with the weather we have here. Have a great week!