Day 118 - Anatahuh?

After last night's shenanigans, I decided to take this afternoon off from the J-O-B and do some studying for tonight's final exam in Anatomy. I'd like to say that I was super-productive at the J-O-B, but I can't lie. I got some stuff done, but was too anxious about the exam to really be gung-ho about working.
Once I got home, I had some lunch, a spoonful of Nutella, and then proceeded to basically type out my own study guide in Power Point. It sounds silly, but it gave me the opportunity to go back and forth with all of my resources to get the information I need and try to put it in a logical fashion. I guess you could say that "it works for me."


After nearly three hours of doing that, I was pretty tired. After a spoonful of Nutella and setting the alarm on my cellphone, I laid down on the couch and looked at my Power Point study guide in presentation mode and kinda sorta fell asleep for a little bit.
When my alarm woke me up about a half hour later, I made some cawfie, got some dinner, enjoyed a spoonful of Nutella, got ready, and went to school, getting there almost 40 minutes early.
Several classmates were studying, so I joined in, chiming in when needed.
Our instructor was late due to traffic, giving us more time to study. When she arrived, we did a little review. During this time the education director came in and explained to us that for the next few weeks, there will be security at the school for our safety - due to a former student (our former classmate) who may not be reacting well to a situation. It didn't take a genius to figure out exactly why we were on lock-down last night.
We finally took the exam. I think I did pretty well. At least a 90%, but we didn't get our grades. There were only a few questions that I kinda guessed at, but all-in-all, I confidently went right to the answer.
After I finished, I signed out and got home at a decent hour. Now...where's the Nutella?

Day 117 - On Lock-Down

In this evening's anatomy class, we reviewed some osteology (bone) and arthrology (joints) prior to our quiz, then took our quiz. I'm sure I did well.
While my classmates and I were relaxing and chatting in the student break room, the education director came in and informed us that due to a situation, we were on lock-down. No students could go outside as the doors were locked and there were police outside.
That was a little freaky.
Little?
Especially since most of my classmates and I had a theory about what the lock-down was all about...or who and why, despite administration's denials that it had nothing to do with a student.
During the next break while there were many students in the breakroom (which is full of windows), they told us to go back to our classrooms.
All the activity made it very difficult to be able to process the information on which the instructor was trying to lecture.
Tomorrow is the final exam. At this point, I'm a little freaked out about the whole lock-down thing and the exam. Maybe I need a mental health day from work. Or at least half a day.

Day 116 - Russian Final

I must have a memory shortage on the weekends because I neglected (forgot) to post anything about student clinic from this past Saturday. I had three clients and one student exchange, which gives me a total of seven actual real clients that I've given massages. Out of those seven, six have been men. What are the odds of that?
One of the men this past Saturday was a young man, I'd guess in his 20's, and he never had a massage before. Since he seemed athletic, I figured I'd practice some of my Russian Sports techniques on him. He seemed to like it and I was glad for the practice.
Speaking of Russian, we had our final exam (written and hands-on) tonight. 98 and 100%, respectively, thankyouverymuch.
Now...on to study for the anatomy final exam on Wednesday.

Day 115 - United Again

We had Russian tonight, combined with the other class again. We went over more stuff for the written and hands-on final, then practiced a 15 minute back protocol.
Then - oh glorious day - we went home a smidge early! I was home before 23:00! That's 11:00pm for those who don't read military time.
So I'm keeping this short so that I might be able to go to bed before 23:00.
It's a beautiful thing.
And a big deal.

Day 114 - Something Going On Up In This Joint

In last night's class, we studied Osteology bone. In tonight's class, we extended that study into Arthrology - the study of joints. I mean, bone just doesn't work as well without joints. Just ask anyone with degenerative disc disease. So, we learned what joints are made of, their function, and such.
We also tested the theory that yawning is contagious. I don't believe it was the subject matter, but our instructor yawned, then a student, and soon, the whole class seemed to be yawning at once.
It was magical.

Day 113 - Getting Under My Skin

I guess taking anatomy, physiology, and pathology are necessary evils in massage school, but this is really getting to me right now. I don't know if I'm having a 'don't care' attitude about it or if I'm having a hard time soaking in the information due to the pace or simple annoyance in the class.
We had to finish up the lecture on the integument system (skin) and such since we have been behind in the lectures, and then take the quiz. We then learned about bone and what it is.
I want to really learn this stuff, but I think the pace is a little too quick to be really learning it, especially for folks who have - you know - real full-time jobs and have no time to do homework or study.
Also, I have a pet peeve with the "text book." I've mentioned before about how the book has some information in it, but the rest is completed during the lecture.
When I was in elementary school, high school, and college, back when textbooks were chiseled into stone, the information was complete. We took notes based on the lecture, not to complete the textbook.
I guess it's done a little differently.
On another note, at my J-O-B, there is not a lot of actual work to be done and that's making me a little antsy because they just sent one of my fellow data entry co-workers to the Gaithersburg office for a project there. I'm hoping to find enough work to keep me busy so they don't decide to send me to G'burg. I'd love to see my friends in that office, but with my school schedule, it would cause major stress and hardship.
Six more months.

Day 112 - Take Your Time, Don't Be Russian

I must also apologize for not reporting on Clinic, Day 2, so I'll give a brief run-down. Or maybe not so brief.
It went much more smoothly than the first day and I was a lot less nervous. I had two clients, both men and wanted deeper work, and two student exchanges in which I gave massage. Previously, I had been a bit aprehesive about giving my "all" in deep tissue work to women with small frames, but I think have at least gotten over some of that. At least I know that I won't break them now. I practiced that on both my student exchanges.
My first client actually asked what was the difference between regular massage and Russian massage, and I was quite excited to tell him a little about it and even practice a little bit on him, incorporating some of what I'd learned so far.
One of the things that is highly stressed in massage class is to make sure we have good body mechanics to preserve our bodies and give us longevity. It's particularly important to the back. A massage therapist with good body mechanics may have sore hamstring and gluteal muscles, but not a sore back. I'm proud to report that after I had driven home after clinic, it wasn't my back that was sore. It was my hamstrings and glutes that were a little more stiff!
Yay for me!
On to tonight's class. We learned the rest of the segments in Russian after effleurage, wringing and petrissage: friction, vibration, and percussion.
No, it has nothing to do with bongos, The Beach Boys, or cowbells, unfortunately.
After a brief demo, we got to practice a little bit with all of the segments in the order they are performed. Since we had more lecture tonight, we'll get to practice a lot more on Thursday in class.