Greetings from the Morgue...

Yes. The Morgue. You read that correctly. I am currently typing this post from the Chief Medical Examiner's office of New Hampshire. I just started my rotation here on Monday and will be here for the next 4 weeks. So here is a typical day for me: I spend my mornings/afternoons til about 2 in the morgue performing autopsies with the medical examiner. There are usually 2 or 3 per day. What I've mostly seen so far are drug overdoses. Yay! It is really cool though. I really enjoy the anatomy and being able to visualize everything so well. So far this week I've been mostly observing or getting blood from different areas in the body but eventually I'll be doing more dissecting of the organs. (NERD ALERT. GEEKED OUT :D) So after autopsies I can either stick around, study/work on my big presentation I have to give at the end or go home. Depending on the time, I opt for going home :) Another cool thing about this rotation is that I get to go to the crime lab and see all the forensics behind it all AND I get to go on scene with detectives. So, if they find a body in the woods with maggots and who knows what else: I will be there. I'm basically living in a CSI/Law and Order episode for the next month. SO COOL. After this rotation, I only have two more and then: GRADUATION. I can't believe it's so close. SUMMARY of my life: So for those who are unaware of my PA [Physician Assistant] life, here is quick summary: I'm in my second (and last) year of school. During this year we have 9 clinical rotations in each area of medicine located all over NEW ENGLAND. Also, they are each 5 weeks long. So far this year I have lived in Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and am now in New Hampshire. I've done two family medicine rotations, and a rotation in the ER, Ob/GYN, general and vascular surgery, and pediatrics. I have internal medicine and pysch left (after my autopsy rotation is over). I'll be graduating December 15, 2012 (PARTY PARTY PARTY) and then the plan is to move back to Grand Rapids where I'll hopefully be finding a job! So that's it for now. I should get back to living my life like Dexter. Minus the whole serial killer thing.

Some Things You Didn't Know. (probably)

Although most or all of you have seen me perform in Cleveland, I would bet that you only have a vague idea of what my every day looks like, and what rehearsals entail.  Which is, essentially, MY JOB!  This is WORK for me --every day-- to go and get ready to perform for people like you.  So, here are some fun facts about rehearsal days.

Interesting Facts about dancing for a Professional Dance Company:

1) Just like a normal job, sometimes it's hard to pick out what to wear.

I have a lot of leotards.  I only consistently wear about 3/4 of them.  Maybe half.  Since my profession involves staring at myself in wall to wall floor length mirrors all day, it's important for me to feel good in what I'm wearing.  That means that it needs to flatter me, make me look skinnier, stronger, longer, leaner, taller, etc. etc. than what I really am...or at least lead me to BELIEVE I look *pick an adjective*  

Depending on the rep we are working on, I wear very different things.  Balletic work means a leotard always, and maybe some sort of tights, or more likely, shorts.  Contrary to popular belief, I do not wear pink tights every day and look like that bitch from the swan lake movie with my hair all did.  (Incidentally, I also don't eat half a grapefruit every morning cut for me by my mom, but that's beside the point.)  I actually hate pink tights, and only wear them if I'm forced to.  Like for a costume.  I also sometimes wear pointe shoes in class and/or rehearsal.  But not always.  We are a contemporary dance company, so *most* of our rep is not classical ballet.  There are a few exceptions.  And for these, I begrudgingly peel on pink tights and jam my feet into pointe shoes.  Some of our more modern and contemporary rep involves a lot of rolling on the floor or falling to the floor or sliding on the floor or on benches or other props.  When this is the case, it's important to have a pair of pants and sometimes a long sleeved T shirt to wear in rehearsal so that sliding and rolling are made easier, and you don't kill your limbs.  We also tend to wear socks for these pieces, although some are bare foot.  We also wear knee pads sometimes-even under costumes.

SO: the moral of this long fact is that...I have a lot of "dance clothes" and they tend to take over all of my clothes storage furniture.  

Is that really the moral?  I lost track.

2) We get 5 minute breaks every hour.  Like Kindergartners.

We usually have warm-up class at 10am, until 11:30am.  This is usually a ballet class taught by our rehearsal director Richard Dickenson, but at least once a week we have a modern or contemporary class.  This class is to set us up for the rest of the day, warm up our bodies and help us to get our heads in the game.  And to work on our technique, which can always get better.  THEN we get a half hour break until noon for lunch.  Most of the time no one eats big meals during the day because it's hard to dance on a full stomach.  Depending on how intense the rehearsal process is I will not eat much for lunch and then eat small amounts at each of our breaks during the rest of rehearsal.  But sometimes I am already hungry at lunch and then will drink my protein shake at lunch and refrain from eating during the breaks, or snack on fruit during breaks if I feel like my energy is waning.  

This leads me to another semi-related fun fact, which is that it's hard to plan out what you are eating and when so that you have energy but are not too full and bloated feeling...  The best is to feel like it's easy to hold your center, and not to feel "full"  but also not to feel hungry or weak.  This is a delicate balance and it's different for everyone.  We are pretty used to doing this during regular rehearsal days (although it took me several months to figure out my ideal eating patterns during the day when I joined the company 2 years ago and went through awful phases of having to poop and fart way too much during rehearsal because I had too much protein or fiber...and even this year I feel like I'm still figuring out whats best for me to eat for breakfast and lunch.)  HOWEVER the real time that this becomes a struggle is when we are in tech and dress rehearsals all day for a show, and even on show days, because we are not used to having to eat dinner and then dance, or eat all day long in such small spread out quantities.... it can get weird.  And there have been many a show where I've been burping all over the place on stage and waddling around with a full tummy because I ate too close to the curtain.  

WOOPS.

But back to the 5 minute breaks.  After lunch we rehearse for 4 hours, with a 5 minute break every hour on the hour (usually).  During these breaks we often drink massive amounts of water if the rep is hard, and/or eat a snack, and/or use the bathroom and also play on our phones.  Some people have a cigarette.  I do not.  I have discovered a necessity during these breaks that I call THE PREVENTATIVE PEE.  

Unless I am literally chugging water every hour, I do not always have to pee every hour on the hour.  HOWEVER...it is important that I force myself to pee every hour.  Because if I don't, odds are halfway through the next hour of rehearsal I will feel a full bladder coming on, which is not comfortable in a leotard while moving continuously.  Hence, the hourly preventative pee.  It never fails me.

3) Contrary to popular belief, dancers do not have pretty legs [up close].

Especially contemporary dancers.  Ballet dancers take the brunt of the disgusting disfigurement in their feet and toes.  Contemporary dancers such as myself, in addition to having somewhat gross feet, also have bruised, cut, rug burned, scratched, skinned and scarred ankles, legs, knees.  My knees may look perfectly normal from far away, but up close they are a roadmap of scars from sliding rolling and falling on and to and around the floor.  My feet and my coworkers' are *mostly* not the jumbled green grey mess of toenail and purple angry bunion callouses that are a typical ballerinas, but we have lots of callouses on the bottoms of our feet from dancing bare foot, and skinned tops of feet from rolling, and battered ankles, etc.  

So while you may see a dancer on stage and go *sigh* I wish I could have pretty legs like that, when you're at your friend's happy hour cocktail night with me, you will be happy to have your own unblemished gams.  And you will probably be wearing open-toed shoes.  And I will be in boots.

4) We get in childish fights and act like drama queens.  But not as much as in the movies.

Most of these fights center on partnering.  Working out lifts and timing can be a chore, but I am happy to report that I am drama-free.  Some of my coworkers on the other hand, are not.  And sometimes tthey stomp around like spoiled children, swear a lot, and say inappropriate things to each other and to our rehearsal director.  I find this extremely unprofessional.  But it happens some in every company.

Also, when you put a bunch of sweaty, horny, hormone-y gay men in a room together in tight clothes, there is bound to be drama.

......

FOR NOW, [mostly because it's my bed time and I'm tired] THAT IS ALL.  There may be more fun facts to come.  If any of you have more questions regarding a typical work day for me, LAY THEM ON ME.  But I'm guessing you were thinking about half way through this post that this is not an excuse for me to write a novel and that you don't care about my eating habits or my toes.

Too bad.  I'm posting it anyway, and now it's your turn to bore me with your life stories.  ;)  [just kidding, you're not boring.  I love life stories. ]

And I love you!

And I miss you all!

<3

Tales from the land of the old and decrepit

It's been a stinky kind of day. Today at work:

1. A cat was accidentally locked in my office and he pooped under my desk. 

2. A fish kamikazed itself out of the fish tank and onto my office floor.  I didn't find it until late this
     afternoon.

3. My residents were very concerned that I was flushing the fish down the toilet because "it might still
     be good"

Greetings from Ireland!

Well, I'm in Ireland. And it's pouring! I'm currently sitting in my new office with my new coworkers and we are eating "cheese gouda rolls." Yummy bread with melted gouda on it.  We are trying to "work" today, but only Molly really knows what to do. This was our first actual day, so there's a lot of transitioning from last year to this year.  Oh, Molly did the two-year contract so she was here last year.  And I was offered two years, but declined.  So they are now asking the other two newbies if they will consider staying to work as house director next year. So you only have one year to visit me! 

Here are the bios of the people I'm living with...

Molly Mattingly, House Director

Molly graduated from Notre Dame in May 2011 with a Master’s of Sacred Music. Originally from outside Chicago, Molly completed her undergraduate degree in music education and music theory at Ithaca College. She has extensive experience in liturgical leadership positions, both at the Newman Center at Ithaca and as an assistant rector at Farley Hall. She was a key part Notre Dame Vision’s Band of St. Cecilia for two summers, serving as assistant music director her first summer and music director the next.

Emily Puscas

Emily is from Connecticut. She graduated from Saint Mary’s College in 2011 with a double major in French and Theatre and a minor in music. She loves everything having to do with theatre, from costumes to acting, as well as playing piano, any available percussion instruments, and singing. She has worked with the 5-Star program in South Bend and Notre Dame Vision, programs that help young people connect to each other and to their faith. Emily was a 5-year member of the Notre Dame Folk Choir, and worked after graduation as the Campus Ministry music intern at Notre Dame.

Nick Galasso

Nick comes to Teach Bhríde from Pennsylvania. He graduated from Notre Dame in May 2012 with a major in theology and minor in liturgical music. He was part of the Notre Dame Folk Choir for all four years of college, and served as the business manager for the choir for three years. His senior year, he also led a scripture prayer and discussion group for the Folk Choir. Nick also served as the music coordinator for his dorm’s chapel choir. He loved his experience leading small groups and being part of the Band of St. Cecilia at Notre Dame Vision for two summers. Nick’s love of Church life has led him into ongoing discernment of the priesthood.

Okay, I had to take a break from posting.  Now I'm at home in bed at about 11 pm...

Molly, Emily, and Nick are all very nice and fun people and I'm excited to live with them!  Our house is nice too! It was built 3 years ago for this organization and has a washer/dryer, dishwasher, 3 bathrooms, 4 bedrooms, a great big kitchen, and it's all so new looking!

So, we just got here last Wednesday, settled in.  Thursday and Friday were retreat/orientation days at a lovely retreat center on the beach where they filmed Saving Private Ryan.  Saturday and Sunday we relaxed and had a house meeting for about 4 hours and kept settling in.  Sunday night we went to a pub in Wexford town (a 2 mile walk from our house, we are kind of in the suburbs).  They had traditional Irish music and it was great fun! Today we went into work and then had a few people over for dinner and entertained them until recently.  

The next big thing is the ND football game in Dublin! We are going up to Dublin Friday morning and staying until Sunday afternoon! I can hardly wait! Friday there's a huge pep rally/event where Martin Short is telling jokes and a famous Irish group is singing with the ND folk choir, and it's being televised here.  But maybe not in the states? Not sure? Then Saturday we are singing for a Mass on the lawn of Dublin castle in the morning, going to the Temple Bar district to tailgate after the game, then going to the game and then shmoozing all night long! It will be so exciting to see the Irish people freak out at the mayhem! Our parish priest here was trying to find a room and couldn't find anything cheaper than 250 euro for a single bed for one night! So many people! Fun!

Anyway, not homesick yet.  Still love you all and am dying to hear about your lives! Still have free texting to apple products! Still have skype! And will be checking this blog!

Sorry if I rambled, let me know if I left anything out!

LOVE,

Nicole

http://www.visitwexford.ie/

http://www.houseofbrigid.org/ (this is the organization..we are forced to post on this blog twice a week)

Sad day. Let's fix it.

This blog is a sad, sad thing.

Do you want to know why?

Because no one posts on it.
Let's try this again (again).

Nicole is in Ireland, I am in Cleveland, Becca is in Kalamazoo, Lisa is in Lansing, Nora is in Massachusetts, Keith is in Philly, I don't even know where Sarah is.  A library?  SARAH!  WHERE ARE YOU?!

...and on and on....

SO ---->>> THE ONLY LOGICAL SOLUTION IS TO: 
A) Call each other every day to keep up on daily news.
B) Group Google+ chat.
C) Write in this damn blog.

The correct answer, is all of the above. Except I'll forgive you if you don't call me every day. In fact, please don't.

Nicole has promised to regale us with tales from the motherland. After she gets the ball rolling I expect FULL LIFE REPORTS from each and every contributor to this blog. And maybe even from some non contributors.

Like Baroque Obama.
And Oprah.
And Sponge Bob Square Pants.

THE END.