Only 11 Days Left

That's until the semester's over, not 'til I go sailing (sailing is 18
days away). At this point, it's hard to say which is more important to
me. I'm back to having no motivation to study. My latest thing is to
end up napping for a couple hours in the evening instead of the half
hour I intend to do. It couldn't be because I stay up late and get up
early; maybe it's an endocrine problem (if only I'd been studying, I
might know what it is). I'm hoping I'm just having another temporary
low point and that I'm also just ready for another break. I was
looking forward to this second half of this block and staying on top
of things, but somehow I'm doing worse with that than I was for the
first half of the block. I'm really grateful for my study group. I
hate showing up not knowing anything and not being able to contribute
to the group, and right now that's the only reason I've got a textbook
open in front of me instead of my laptop with the Lord of the Rings
movies playing (technically, I've got my iPhone in front of me to type
this, then the textbook on the table with my laptop behind that, but I
swear I just plan on looking at lecture notes, not movies. Hmm,
movies, that's a good idea - no, just kidding, I'm studying). I did
get a boost today - we had a review session for one of the smaller
courses for which we have the final next week and I was pretty
confident with the concepts. Every little bit helps.

A few days ago, I decided it was time to get back into physical
activity, so I did stairstepper at my apartment's workout area and
followed it by trying to work out my lats, but managed to strain my
brachiales on both sides (muscles that bend the elbows). I noticed
today that the soreness is pretty much gone, so after exercising for
the second time this week by running on the treadmill, I did
triceps and pecs. I felt pretty buff benching less than a third my
body weight. Oh, well. Gotta start somewhere.

In gloomier news, we heard about coping with patient death and
considerations regarding suicide for two hours in school yesterday.
Focusing on death for so long made me realize that I've never before
feared death because I had certainty of what would happen afterward and I
wasn't too focused on the things I wanted to in life. Now I do fear
death, since I have no idea what it will bring and there are so many
things I want to experience in life. I had a strong desire to run home, curl up on the couch
and watch all 12 hours of Lord of the Rings so I could connect with
Frodo's difficult journey. I'm better now without my professors
harping on the subject.

On that light note, I need to stop delaying and start reading. As I've
mentioned, finals are coming up. Indeed, the last simulated patient
interaction (an examination) for the semester is tomorrow. Anyway, I
may not post much until the titular 11 days have passed.

High winds and rough seas (for calm seas do not make a skilled sailor).

Scott