Anti-Buffet 3

Anti-Buffet 3
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Matt and I headed up to Smuggler's Notch last weekend for a running/ skiing weekend with the Hashers. This is an annual event that includes 3 days of skiing (if you can get up there early enough on Friday, which we didn't), a fun 3+ mile run, and a beer festival.

I ended up riding both Saturday and Sunday on the couple of trails they had open. It was great to be on my board, but boy am I out of shape for snowboarding!

It was a great unwinding weekend before final exams :)

Our Fabulous 3rd Place Prize

Team Janine gets 3rd place
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Janine and I got matching Nike wrist bands for all our hard efforts. Here we are sporting our fabulous prize!

I wonder if snazzy wrist bands worn earlier in the tournament would have improved our game...

Final win

Final win
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

We finally got pictures from the tennis tournament earlier in the semester. Here is a picture of Team Janine as we celebrate our last and final win. We ended up 3rd overall... and even got 3rd place prizes :)

Alumni Dinner Success!

I had this idea earlier in the year about having a group of recent MGH IHP alum come to the institute and talk to our class about their experiences. In undergrad I felt they were always having different speakers or various networking/ career building opportunities, and I thought it a shame that MGH didn't do something similar. So, what did I do? I asked for help from other students to help plan an alumni panel dinner here at the IHP. 5 students agreed that my idea was worth putting into action, and we were able to get 2 very enthusiastic alumni to agree to come.

There was a ton of planning for food, and other logistics and the typical last minute freaking out. I almost cancelled the event a week ago because I feared 2 alumni would not be enough. Boy was I wrong! They were very engaging and had great answers to our questions and suggestions on what we could do for career development.

I am now feeling very relieved and excited about it. Apparently the first year students want to keep this as something we do every semester. Perhaps in a couple of years I will be an alum at this semi-annual event!

Clinical Placement at Spaulding

I've been at Spaulding Rehab Hospital for 2 weeks now doing my neuro rotation on the brain injury floor. The first week was difficult as all my patients were younger than me: all in their late teens, early twenties. I talked to my advisor about it and apparently that is the demographic: males between the ages of 18 and 24. It's sad to see someone who was headed off to college one minute and then a freak accident caused them to loose it all. We have one patient now who has a poor prognosis and it is hard to look at all the pictures of him and his friends that he mom brought in, because he is no longer that guy in those pictures.

This is an area of PT that I applied to schools hoping to end up doing when I graduate. So far, I am really enjoying the work that I am doing, but I may have to develop a thicker skin if I'm going to go this route.

Sad News from VT

I got an email yesterday from my clinical instructor this summer telling me that a patient of ours passed away. He was a war veteran who saw us 3 times a week for treatment of chronic low back pain. At first he was difficult to work with, but by the time I left he was telling us how much he appreciated his time in therapy. He would thank me repeatedly for caring about him, something he felt not many people did these days.

According to Alison (my CI), he didn't show up for a couple of appointments and so she contacted his MD to find out what was going on with him(he didn't have a phone). The doctor's office informed her that there was a note in his file from the VT Committee on Temporary Shelter stating that he was found dead in his apartment 3 days earlier. I don't think she knows the cause of death.

The email was very matter of fact and kind of lighthearted to the end, when she wished me a happy halloween, and I didn't know how to take the information. I guess she has had 8 years to adjust to patients not getting better or even dying. Well, this is my first patient to pass away, and I'm still a bit shaken up about it. I guess that makes me human, right?

Well, I'm glad I was able to make him feel better about himself and about life (which he told me often towards the end of the summer) in his last months.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

So, my friends Vanessa and Lisa dressed up as Killer Bees for Halloween. Here they are in Nelly's kitchen showing off their weapons. I had a ton of with these gals, who were the first to arrive and last to leave! Anna and I got beer for the event earlier and Matt & I were in charge of the music. I think a fun time was had by all :)

Earlier in the day, I ran a Halloween Hustle 5K in the rain. Anna was supposed to run it with me, but injured her knee so she watched me under her umbrella. Despite the weather, I had a great race and placed 10th in my age category! (81 out of 377 overall)

10 81 23:15 Jessica Riggs 27 F Somerville MA

Not bad! My pace was 7:29, which was my goal. Crazy that I am running close to my highschool times these days!

Ultimate Wingman

Ultimate Wingman
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Poor Dave ended up talking to this girl for an hour because Steve thought her friend was cute. This woman was quite pissy and not a fun conversationalist, and of course Steve didn't even end up talking to the other girl.

Dave eventually had to whip out the wedding ring to get out of talking with her. You can tell how thrilled he is in this picture.

Would you like some cheese?

Would you like some cheese?
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Ok, so Matt and his friends have this game that they like to play when they head out to local bars. Someone remembers (or buys on the way to the bar) a single die. Initally, someone challenges another person in the group to a dare (in this instance, serve cheese to people in the bar) and picks a number before rolling. If they get their number, then you have to do the dare.

Dave dared me to serve cheese to the patrons of Mahar's. I am quite the server with years of catering behind me, and was able to get rid of most of the leftover cheese. Too funny! I never got my roll, so no one did any of my dares :(

We'll have to see how well this game works in Boston...

Starting Bar

Starting Bar
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

I headed out to Albany last weekend to celebrate Matt's last weekend before the big move to Boston. A bunch of us met up at Mahar's, a bar that prides itself on its international beer selections, so I tried some Belgian, English and good old American ales before we headed to the Lionheart.

Notice the dice Matt is holding... more on that later

Partners Running Club

So, we have a health promotion project that we develop this semester at school. The project is supposed to serve a need in the community to promote health and wellness. There are 7 projects this year and we were all divided up based on interest earlier in the semester.

My group is working with the Partners Running Club. to develop an interactive program designed to improve performance, increase core stability, and prevent injury. We are going to start doing literature reviews to see what the experts say. Hopefully I'll learn a little bit myself and perhaps ward off any injuries :) I'll post anything interesting that we learn for those of you out there that run.

Of course without thinking about it, I was totally dressed the part yesterday. I was wearing my long sleeve shirt from the Tufts 10K and had on my track vest from highschool. Word to the wise: when you wear something from highschool, make sure it doesn't have a date on it! Mine read: Taft Track 1996. Yup, that was 10 years ago... way to date myself, huh?

Speaking of running, I did my first tempo run last night: 10 min warmup, 3 minutes fast followed by 2 minutes easy X 4, and then a 5 minute cool down. The fourth pick up was definitely painful as it ended up being half uphill. Oops, that's what I get for not planning my routes :)

Post AGM run

Post AGM run
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

OK, so this was how excited Anna looked after the run. In her defense, it was quite cold outside. Actually, her lips even turned purple at one point.

No worries, she was AOK at the end of the night and we both had a blast crashing a Freedom Trail Pub Crawl later on in the evening: they went to 19 bars along the freedom trail starting at noon. We only did the last 5... perhaps that is why I was ok enough to run 8 miles the following AM with Anna.

She has me running way too much these days... but if I can handle, it's good, right?

Before the Run

Before the Run
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

This weekend was the Boston Hash AGM run. We all started at Sissy K's in Fanueil Hall before going out for a decent 4-5 mile trail. This is definitely a picture from the start of the run because Anna & I are still smiling :) Actually the run was beautiful, and I was right up in front with the guys, which is a nice change.

I got the best compliment from Puffy before we headed out. He told me that the short hair suited me, that he didn't know what it was (the hair or something else), but that he had never seen me so happy. He was one of the guys who helped me move out of Brian's place back in March, so he has definitely seen me at lower points. I know that I generally feel healthier and happier these days, so I guess it shows!

The Grape UB

UB picking grapes
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

UB was by far our most proficient grape harvester due to his amazing reach. He also made a godo target from far away distances to throw rotten grapes at :)

Farmer Dan & his Migrant Workers

Farmer Dan
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Moriah and I headed up to VT this past weekend to help Dan's parents harvest their grapes this year. They have a small vineyard that has been in operation for a few years now and every year they offer a bottle of wine to anyone who will help with the harvest.

A free bottle of wine & time with friends in VT was enough to get Moriah and I up there. I even dressed the part in overalls. Of course while the rest of us were doing the back breaking work of picking all the grapes, Dan just rode the tractor around and picked up full buckets to be weighed.

It was a beautiful day, and I loved spending time with UB & CJ, but I had NO idea I'd be doing such hard labor for 5 hours!

At least the bottle of white wine was quite tasty!

Pictures from the Tufts 10K

Pictures from the Tufts 10K
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Check it out! Apparently they took a few pics of me during my run on Monday. At this point I am headed over the Mass Ave bridge back into Boston, and have about a mile and a half to go.

I think from this picture that you can tell why my IT band was so tight. I don't think my left leg could come in anymore! Yikes! Hopefully my form was a little better earlier in the race.

I just ran yesterday for the first time since, and it went well. 8 miles at a 9:30 pace (just chillin') :-)

Tufts 10K

So, Anna and I decided to celebrate Columbus Day by running in the Tufts 10K for Women. This is a huge race that starts and ends on the Boston Common, runs along Memorial Drive, and has over 7,000 participants. I ran this 5 years ago with Kate, and we were very excited to find out that we ran it in just under 9 minute miles. Now, I am in better shape this year and decided to try and beat that time.

It was an amazing day, although a tad warm, and I went out feeling pretty good. Anna encouraged me to go ahead of her as she is still recovering from an injury and felt our initial pace was a bit much (8:15 for the first mile). Well, apparently I got even faster as I finished it at a little over an 8 mile pace. Check out my results!

453 174/1530 F2029 51:39 50:29 8:08 Jessica Riggs 27 F 5636 Somerville MA

Crazy! I think I am a lot faster than I thought, since I didn't feel too bad when I finished and could probably have picked my pace up at some point. Hmmmm.... Anna is trying to convince me to really train for a 5K in a few weeks. Maybe I will do some speed workouts and see if I can run at a 7:30 pace. I would LOVE it if I could pull that off!

Team Janine's 1st Loss

So, my friend Sarah B set up a tennis tournament at school. She even came up with an acronym and everything: ACE (Amateur Tennis Players Competing & Exercising). Basically people of all (or in my case none) abilities could sign up to play tennis and you were randomly paired with someone for doubles to compete in a round robin tournament. We started with 8 teams total, played 3 matches of 6 games each where the object was to win as many matches as possible. The top 4 teams after these matches, determined by total number of games won, advanced to the semi finals.

Well, I got randomly paired with Janine who competed at UVM on the varsity team. Needless to say, our abilities were a bit uneven, and my strategy was to returm the ball and pray they hit it back to Janine. I also began referring to us as "Team Janine." Oddly enough, my strategy worked as we were the top team going into the semi-finals.

Unfortunately we lost today, as we had to play a real match with best 2 out of 3 sets of 6 games. We lost 7-6 and 6-3. Luckly we didn't make it into a 3rd set with Nicole and Matty G because we played for the entire hour and twenty minute lunch break.

It's been great to be outside getting exercise during lunch, and I think my tennis may actually be improving. Of course I finally saw Janine play to her ability (she's been down playing her skills) for the 1st time today, and I have a long way to go!

Matt's visit to Boston

Playing Around with the MacBook
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Matt was in Boston this weekend to spend time with his new roommate/ friend from college and to see a show downtown. My friend Lisa and I joined them at Avalon to see CSS & Ladytron. Very fun show, although I was surprised that more people weren't dancing. We then headed to a bar on Bolyston, and then to a club at the Park Plaza hotel. Somehow we managed to dance all night and stay out till after 3am!

This picture was from earlier in the day, when I was trying to convince him to get a new MacBook. He needs a new computer once he quits his job (they will most likely take back the laptop they gave him), and I think he should get a Mac. I was showing him the PhotoBooth program that takes a picture of you from the camera embedded above the screen. I can't remember if we were trying to look impressed or pensive. And why does he look better than me? Grrr...

I had a blast hanging out with Matt and Rob this weekend, and spent the better part of Sunday/Monday recovering from it! I can't wait until Matt is here full time. 4 weeks and counting...

A Little Dating Ego Boost

So, I told a friend of mine recently that he needed to establish more of a dating ego. What I maen to say is that he is highly confident in his athletic abilities, but seems to be lacking in confidence when in dating situations. I think we can all relate to this one, and I have definitely doubted my ability to attact a worthwhile mate.

I decided to post a blurb from an email I recently received that definitely helped to boast my dating ego. A little back story: while waiting for my fellow RTB team members at a local dive bar, I fended off some advances from the older patrons while a younger gentleman looked on. I tried to get this guys attention and sigmal that he should come save me, but he did not approach me until my friends showed up a bit later. We chatted a with him about our big race up in NH, and before leaving he gave me his business card and asked me to keep him posted on how we did. So, I wrote him last week to brag about how team One More Beer did, but also informed him that I was seeing someone (true at the time, although recent events have changed that). Here is part of his reply:

Well, I guess I could take a reprieve and say that I was not hitting on
you- though, it wouldn't be completely accurate. I was mostly saying
hello, as I was curious as to your reasoning for being at that place
alone at 5:30pm. So, my curiosity was going, and the catch of your smile
was lovely, so I took a chance at saying hello. No real intent on
anything other than making an acquiantance, though if you were absent a
boyfriend, then I certainly would be asking you out now. :) That's as
straightforward as I can make it. :)

That email is getting filed away for those days when I need a pick me up... kind of like my voicemail collection which includes 2 drunken calls from Wick & Grey telling me how much they miss me, and the recent addition of Matt telling me how F-ing cute I look with my new haircut :)

Scott & I at the finish

Last Leg!
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Here's a picture of Scott and I at the end of the race. Scott ran our last leg and definitely deserved the gatorade I brought him :)

Scott was one of the faster more competitive members of our team. JMo and he started a competition to see who could pass the most runners on their legs. Since JMo ran right before Scott, he would always tell him a number when he passed of the wrist band at the transition point and this would give Scott a goal to achieve. They referred to people passed on the road as "roadkill," and we kept an accurate tally for al team members in the van. Final score: Scott 88, JMo 69!

I was not really involved in the competition, but I was definitely proud of my 20 :)

My friend Matt was competing with them on another team... I don't remember his final tally though. I'm sure it was close. The 3 of them are crazy fast runners! Scott was never passed, and JMo was passed only once. I would love to have all 3 of them on my team next year!

RTB team: One More Beer

RTB team One More Beer
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

The weekend before last I participated in one of the best athletic competitions: Reach the Beach. This is an event where 12 member teams run a 200 mile relay across New Hampshire (from Bretton Woods to Hampton Beach) in 24 hours time! There are 300 teams that register every year and each one starts on Friday according to their projected finish time. They try and plan it so most teams finish around the same time. We started at 10:40am.

Each runner is supposted to complete 3 legs total with varying start times. Because we were down a runner (my friend was injured last minute) and Anna was already injured, 4 of us ended up running 4 legs total. My total milage was 18.7 miles, with my longest leg being 6.9 miles @ 5 am Saturday morning. Oddly enough, despite a constant battle with my stomach, I felt great during my legs and even managed to pass 20 people total: 13 of those at 5am! My last leg was a bit painful and took a lot of willpower to finish.

Here is a picture of my team, although a few of us are hidden. We all wore the Boston HHH One More Beer T-shirt, which was our team name. We ended up finishing 78th out of 296 teams. My team was amazing, and I think we all had a great time. Enough to even consider doing it again next year...

Back to School

Yuck. So, I am now full fledged into the fall semester and I think I am keeping my head above water. I can't tell if this semester is easier, or if I care less at this point in the game. I definitely find the subject matter interesting as we are now doing spine and neuro. My clinical placement for this semester is Beth Israel Outpatient for 6 weeks than the Brain Injury Unit @ Spaulding for the 2nd 6 weeks. Much more involved patients, but I'm excited about it.

I guess the hardest thing right now is that I have been out of town every weekend since I came back from VT: the wedding in Upstate NY, Reach the Beach (which I plan to write more about when I have pictures), and now a random event in NH... next weekend I'm staying in Beantown, going to my favorite coffeeshop, and taking some time for me! Woo hoo, I like that plan!

After

After
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

So, I went to get my haircut today and it was long enough... so I let her cut it short in order to donate it. Hopefully someone will enjoy some nice golden locks while I get used to the cute new do. It definitely is an adjustment.

I think I may really be shocked tomorrow when I wake up and it is still gone!

Sara, you inspired me... hopefully I still like the decision in the morning :)

Before

Before
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

I decided to donate my hair back in the spring and it wasn't long enough then, so I've been growing it out since...

Farewell Hash

Farewell Hash
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

This is a picture from my farewell hash up in Burlington, VT. Heather took this picture of the two of us after I set a trail that made everyone run 5+ miles. Notice we are both still smiling, so it couldn't have been that bad!

I had so much fun running with them this summer, and I miss them all now that I am back in Boston. People here are in such a rush and they never seem to have smiles like these on there faces :(

My Mercedes

My Mercedes
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

The rental car company did not have my Dodge Neon as promised, but they did have a Mercedes at the same price. I got to arrive to the wedding in style! Hard to convince people you are a poor grad student when you roll up in this vehicle though...

I totally look like I am trying to sell this car, not like the owner. Perhaps I should work on that for the next premium car I get to drive.

An amazing ride!

Before the drive

Before the drive
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

I headed out to upstate NY for Igor and Ainsley wedding, and stopped off at a friend's place in Albany. I think he wanted to document my wearing makeup... it doesn't happen often :)

I am hoping to have actual pictures from the wedding to post, although people seem to be slow to get their pictures posted.

The wedding was beautiful. They got married up in the Thousand Islands and had the reception at her family's place on one of the islands. There was a boat taking guests over and everything. All the usual Brown CS guys were there and I had a blast with all of them. Makes me wish there was another wedding coming up soon...

Keeping warm by the campfire

Keeping warm by the campfire
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Dan tried to keep me warm by the fire, but I eventually needed a blanket. Below 65 is NOT August weather.

Waiting for our turn

Waiting for our turn
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Zack and I wait on shore for our turn on the boat. Greg has the cutest life vest for him and it has a handle. Greg then picks him up like a 6 pack and brings him on board.

How's the air up there?

How's the air up there?
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

After Derek told her it was not possible to take a good wakeboarding action shot, Logan whipped out her camera and captured Greg in action. I think she may have proved him wrong on that one.

There are no great action shots of me, but I'm still working on getting the board out of the water... maybe next year.

The Lake Sunapee Crew

The Lake Sunapee Crew
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

I went camping this weekend with Derek and a bunch of his friends up at Lake Sunapee. This is an annual gathering that consists of Lobster dinner Friday night, and wakeboading all day Saturday. And I added a new tradition of blueberry pancakes in the morning. Needless to say, I had a blast!

So, left to right starting at the bottom: Jake (dog), Emily, Greg, Zack (dog) & Dan. Logan, Derek, Jason, me, Nikki, and Sean.

Only possible in VT

My roommate from Boston came up for a couple of nights to enjoy some fun outdoor activities, and I think we may have outdone ourselves. Orignially we talked about going on a nice hike, but then a friend up here was going out sailing on Saturday and was looking for a crew. Because Helen wanted to leave early on Sunday, we had a choice to make... and we decided to do both!

Because Jeff didn't plan to set sail till 3pm, we headed out to Camel's Hump for a 4 hour hike leaving Burlington at 8am and returning in time to shower, change and buy some food to bring on board. Jeff and another friend on board, Alex, both made Mojitos and we had a nice relaxing sail out to Juniper Island on Lake Champlain where we set anchor and swam for a bit before heading back to the docks. The lake was a bit on the cold side, but definitely refreshing.

We then hung out with some other sailors we know on shore at a bar called Breakwaters until after 10pm. I would like to tell you I then headed home for well needed rest, but unlike my older and sometimes wiser roommate, I decided to meet some of the crew out at a club later in the evening and stayed out dancing till 2am.

After a full day like that, I feel somewhat justified in staying in and doing laundry today. A slightly tamer, but still productive day, right?

Life at Fletcher Allen Aquatic

I have just finished my second week up here in Burlington at Fletcer Allen Aquatic, and I am loving it. Everyone here is really nice and helpful. It is a great learning environment and I am really starting to feel confident when treating patients. I now have my own caseload, and am treating 6 patients almost exclusively. In only a couple of weeks time, I have formed a good relationship with them and have helped a few progress. I can't say how great it is to have someone thank you for making them feel better.

Outside of clinic, I have managed to make a few friends and already have offers to go sailing, running, and kayaking. I LOVE living in a place where people fill their weekends with outdoors activities :) I am actually going camping this weekend with friends coming up from Boston, so I am hoping the weather holds out. I ended up biking in the rain to work multiple times this week, and could really use some drier days.

Updates from the Green Mountain State

I have moved up to Burlington, VT and am currently residing in the basement of my new roommate's townhouse. It is an interesting living situation for the next 2 weeks as the old roommate is still here, and they DO NOT get along. Of course both of them are super nice to me and constantly tell me how difficult the other person is as a roommate. I think they are both trying to win me over to their "side," and I am trying to lay low until the other girl moves out. Apparently I dodged a screaming match last night by going to bed early... I will have to continue to do that in the future.

Of course my 11 mile round trip bike ride, and my early hours should ensure that that happens most nights. I just biked to my clinic for the first time. The ride was 10 minutes quicker on the ride back because apparently I have a mainly uphill climb to get there. I just missed biking in 2 rain storms, and am wondering what my thunderstorm plan will be. There is a bus that goes almost to my clinic (within a mile), but that would still be a trek in the rain... oh well, I go right in the pool anyways most days.

Today I did not get into the pool as we did not see too many patients, since I had to do a lot of orientation type stuff. I have a list of patients that we will see tomorrow and I need to look up a few things in my notes to be prepared. She plans on me treating patients after a week or two, so I need to be prepared.

The weekend was nice. Derek and I walked around on Friday after he drove me up, and Matt and I went hiking on Sunday when he was here. I am hoping to spend my off hours outdoors enjoying the scenery here. I surprisingly have a lot of energy given my 2.5 mile run this morning, 11 mile bike ride, and 6 hour work day (it was short today). Well, let's see how I hold up after a full day tomorrow starting at 7:15, which means I have to be on my bike @ 6:30 AM.

Dark Moves on the Dancefloor Co-Host

Dark Moves on the Dancefloor Co-Host
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

After some arm twisiting, Matt finally got me to speak on air with him. Boy was it nerve racking! I mean, what do you say? Does anyone really care what you talk about? I don't know how he does it every week.

Although my radio career was brief, I think perhaps the audience enjoyed my banter with DJ Matthew C. I can tell you that I would definitely do it again if I had the chance, and perhaps this tiem would be less timid. :)

Oh, and I wasn't bored in the radio studio like the picture suggests. Matt & I thought it would be funny to take a staged photo where I pretend to be thoroughly uninterested in his show, which is not the case.

DJ Matthew C

DJ Matthew C
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Last Thursday I visited Matt in Albany and was able to sit in on his radio show at WRPI: Dark Moves on the Dancefloor. He gets to craft a set list and talk about his favorite bands for 2 hours every Thursday night. You got to love college radio stations! It was my first time at a radio studio, and it was cool to see how everything works. I'm very glad I was invited out there :)

Our new favorite accessory!

All about the ring pops
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Sara and I are now hooked on ring pops after Amy Mendel's faux engagement party where she handed them out at the door. So many people kept asking us if we were part of a bachelorette party because we bought the ones that flashed. I think we bought 20 of them, so we should be all set the next few times we go out!

Sara & the boys

Sara & the boys
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Here Sara is with Matt and his roommate Erik. Logan did such a great job as the official photographer of BOOB. How cute are they!

Me & Matty G

Me & Matty G
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

A bunch of us went out for Sara's birthday, otherwise known as BOOB (Big Outrageous Outing for the Birthdays). My friend Matt from class came out and brought his roommate. We had so much fun tearing up the dance floor with the 2 of them. I think we may have to invite them out more often!

Bathing Beauty

Ok, so I just learned that I will be working in the Aquatic Rehab Center at Fletcher Allen this summer. Yup. My clinical instructor (CI) just emailed me to tell me my hours, and dress code: MWF 7:30-4pm, T 10-6:30 & Th 9-5:30, and no bikinis & I need sandals! Good thing I didn't purchase any more clinic clothes, because apparently I need to buy another bathing suit or 2!!

Actually I am quite excited about this placement, since part of my job will be to help instruct yoga on Tuesday afternoons. It seems like they take a more holistic approach to PT and I think I will learn quite a bit this summer. I have a few more weeks to prepare for clinical, so I might do some research on aquatic therapy and get an idea of what I am in for.

Would anyone like some peanuts?

Would anyone like some peanuts?
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

My dress definitely made me look like a flight attendant. Here I am striking a pose with my Albany host: Krusty the Meat Miser... you have to love the hash names people get!

We switched dresses at one point, and I have to say that we looked better in each other's dresses. :)

Albany Red Dress Run

Albany Red Dress Run
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

I went to Albany this weekend and ran with a bunch of hashers in the 3rd annual NURD (Northeastern Unofficial Red Dress run) through the streets and woods of upstate NY. Here we all are outside the bar before we were bussed to the start in Troy. I ran through streams, past little league fields, and through condo complexes in a red flight attendant dress.

Thankfully there was NO rain, and we all had a great time. Hashers came from Boston, other areas of NY, central MA, and Burlington VT.

I have to say that some of the guys looked better in dresses than the ladies!

Class of 2008

Class of 2008
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

One of our professors was diagnosed and successfully treated for breast cancer 10 years ago. A few weeks ago she found out the cancer had metastisized to her liver, and had part of her liver resected. They were able to remove the tumor successfully and she is receovering at home. Our class decided to show out support by purchasing the pink breast cancer awareness wrist bands and take a picture of us wearing them. I hope all of our similing faces cheered her up a bit.

Give me a kiss

Give me a kiss
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Anne, Chris & I pucker up for the camera at a pub crawl in New Orleans.

Liat biking through

Liat biking through
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

We biked around New Orleans on Saturday to get an idea of the damage done by Katrina. Here's Liat biking down a typical street on our way to the 9th ward. No one is living in these houses and FEMA is not allowing any body to return nor are any of the houses allowed to be torn down. Volunteer groups, such as Common Ground, are coming in and gutting the homes so owners can rebuild once they get the go ahead. Most people in this neighborhood owned their homes, but did not have flood insurance.

Alex

Alex
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Here's Alex fixing up a bike outside. We tried to do a lot of rebuilding outside when we could, because the weather was so nice.

Anne

Anne
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Here's Anne in the shop taking a coffee break.

Liat and I...

Liat and I... going crazy!
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Here's Liat showing us how excited she is to start fixing bikes.

Inside Plan B

Inside Plan B
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Here is the actual shop that we worked in. The 6 bike mechanics that I went down with helped to rebuild over 50 over the bikes that came down from Boston. This is obviously a shot taken before they started working :)

I'll post pictures of everyone who went on the trip (Alex, Anne, Chris, Abby, Dave, and Liat).

Unloading the bikes

Unloading the bikes
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Yeah! I finally have pictures from New Orleans. Thanks to Chris who sent me a CD of his photos, of course I still need to get pictures from the rest of the crew.. but it's a start.

Here's the container of bikes that was donated by Bikes Not Bombs, packed up in Boston, and shipped down to New Orleans in early March. We spend our first morning in New Orleans helping to unload 600+ bikes and organize them into piles outside of Plan B.

Karaoke at Derek's

Karaoke at Derek's
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Derek had a bunch of people up to his house this past Saturday for BBQ adn Karaoke. He actually managed to find a Karaoke machine at a garage sale for $5, and then set about finding CDs to work in it. He now has quite the collection from the 80s & 90s, and Logan and I rocked out to "Faith" & "Ice Ice Baby" to name a few. Sara is laughing at us on the couch. In fact, all 3 of us were laughing most of the time.

Thanks for another fun NH adventure Derek!

MS Walk Warm-up

Warm-up
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Last weekend, Derek joined me and 15 or so of my fellow classmates on the MS Walk in Boston. I think our team ended up raising over $1300, and most of us did the full 6 mile walk.

The weather was a bit cold, so Jaylynn, Derek and I warmed up beforehand with some aerobics.

Being selfish?

I find myself wanting to know what Brian is up to, how he is doing, and wanting to tell him some of the things going on in my life. Then I realize that I have no right to intrude on his life, he doesn't want to hear from me, and it would be selfish for me to call in order to vent about problems or to seek advice. So instead I find myself trying to keep busy with school, friends, and random social events. Perhaps I will contact him over the summer when I am not as busy and we have both had time to adjust to not being together, but would that just be selfish of me? Perhaps it depends on my motives, which I am trying to be more conscious of these days.

Curling: a new spectator sport!

100_5642
Originally uploaded by mensworlds2006.

My friend Derek got me a ticket to the World Curling Championships being held in Lowell this week. So, instead of a boring Monday evening, I took the commuter rail up to Lowell and cheered on Team Fenson. Apparently in Curling teams are named according to who the skip is (basically the captain who always throws his rocks last.)

Check out the funny signs that Derek's friends came up with. I think the plan is to watch the finals on Friday afternoon. After chatting with the lead for Team Fenson (guy who throws first) for 20 minutes after they beat Scotland, I think Derek and I may become regualr fans of this new fascinating sport.

Helping out at Plan B

Helping out at Plan B
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Here's a picture that was taken of me the last day I helped out. Grey stopped by and was organizing tubes with me (a skill that we could easily master). You can see Alex working on a bike in the background. We usually had 6 stands up, one for each mechanic, and I helped out by finding parts they needed and changing tires, etc. Plan B was our home away from home :)

Interesting...

I just took the same personality test Kate did and my results I think may have been dead on: My Personality

Wishing I was still there...

So, I am back from what seems like a very long yet brief trip. Long in the sense that we did so much every day, and I slept maybe 3-5 hours a night. Brief in that I am now back and feel like my time flew by (that's what happens when you have fun, right?) I am at school now covering an early computer lab shift for the classmate who covered my Monday shift, and I am wishing that I was just waking up on Wick's couch getting my stuff together to head to EnVie for breakfast to meet up with the crew. Somehow we ended up setting up EnVie as base camp: where we would meet up every morning before heading over to Plan B to start the day's work. This seemed to work out nicely since you never quite knew where people would end up sleeping and there was only one set of keys to get in to the shop.

I have so much to say about this trip, and will try and post out each day or maybe group it by what we did... I don't know. If I had had internet access, I would have updated my blog every morning or evening so I didn't forget anything. I also don't have access to any of the pictures that people took yet, so those will come later as well. Everything about this trip seemed improvised, but it could not have turned out better. I can't wait to see the presentation in April. I think people are going to be amazed at everything we experienced in such a short time.

Helping out the local Coast Guard

Ok, so the title of this post is misleading, but an interesting segway nonetheless. I woke up at 5:45 this morning (EST) in order to make my 8 am flight to New Orleans via La Guardia. On my flight from La Guardia a young gentleman sits one seat away from me. I look over a couple of times and first see him put his dog tags on, and then place his wallet with his badge showing back into his back pocket. I am intrigued at this point and wonder if there is an issue with the flight I am on that would warrant having someone "official" on board. I was going to say something but he seemed busy flipping through every magazine in the pocket in front of him, and then held his head in his hands and looked like he was crying as we headed to the runway.

We then sat on the runway for 45 minutes and I started chatting with him and the flight attendant who was seated across the aisle from us. It turns out that he is deathly afraid to fly and has only ever been on a plane 2 times prior(a trip to Disney World that I learn about later), so I chat it up with him in hopes that it distracts him during takeoff. I asked why he was flying this time, and he told me that he was to be given an award that night in New Orleans for helping with the rooftop rescues following Katrina. It turns out his badge is an EMS badge, and he recently finished serving 4 years in the Coast Guard 3 months of which were in New Orleans. He flew down to New Orleans with many others via helicopter (which he is not afraid to fly in, strangely enough) and took part in the rooftop rescues in the days following Katrina. He told me that there were over 250 private and military aircrafts in a 20 mile radius all trying to get as many people as possible out of harm's way. He worked 12 hour shifts and evacuated close to 120 people a shift. His helicopter was shot at by people as they fly by to rescue others in need first and because his chopper was military equipped they fired warning shots back (no where near people). He even told me that they had to equip civilian choppers with guns in order to protect themselves as well. How crazy is that?

After rooftop rescue, which only lasted a couple of days for him, he was doing small boat "rescues." I unfortunately put that in quotes because according to Chris (coast guard I sat next to), at that point they were not recovering many people who were still alive. He said the devastation after hurricane Katrina was the worst thing he had ever seen, and he is currently working as an EMS supervisor in a bad neighborhood in Queens dealing mainly with gunshot and stab wounds.

It was really incredible to get a first person account of what happened down here, because like many people I was just sitting in front of the TV watching bits and pieces on CNN.

I was able to keep Chris's mind off of the flight, although he had worse time with the landing than the take off, and help get him to his hotel. Grey drove him to where he was staying and he said it was strange to be back there without being armed standing guard... When he returns back to NYC he plans to enlist in the army to be a medivac and he understands that he will most likely be stationed in Iraq. He just wants to be where he can do the most good, on the front line. I could never do it, but I wish him the best of luck!

Project New Orleans!

After packing up all of my things and moving into my 4th apartment in a little over a year, I have made my way down to New Orleans for the rest of my Spring Break to volunteer with my friend Liat at Plan B. Plan B is a group that is currently working to supply people affected by Katrina with cheap, energy efficient transportation (i.e. bikes) so that they can still get around town.

Grey drove me past the area where all the water damaged cars are currently being stored and it was unbelievable. Hundreds of broken down vehicles piled beneath a major underpass, and I don't believe there is any intention right now to move them. There just isn't any room and there are higher priorities for the city. Wick's street alone only has a very places that you can even live in, and the fact that he got mail today was something to celebrate. Apparently most people haven't gotten any mail for weeks.

Tomorrow at 7am I will be headed to Plan B to find out how I am helping out. Liat & her sister Abbie are experienced bike mechanics and will probably be assigned tasks quickly. Jess on the other hand will need to be taught a thing or two... or be stuck unloading boxes or something. Either way, I'm helping out and that is what I came here to do. Well, that and spend time with the 2 best gay men ever!

Free therapy?

I haven't been good about updating my blog, but perhaps that is because I've been busy, or that I haven't had much to say. I guess I figure that people don't really care to read about my random thoughts, but now that I don't have a boyfriend to listen to them perhaps I'll just type them out.

I spent my first Saturday night as a single gal lying on the couch, watching Law & Order SVU, and drinking diet cherry vanilla Dr. Pepper. Exciting, huh? Of course the caffeine just kept me up later so I watched a free on Demand movie as well. I could not motivate to do any school work (which I have tons of because mid-terms are upon us), and almost didn't make myself a PB&J sandwich because I thought it might require too much effort. I look around this apartment and can't even think about packing a box, or moving furniture out.

I have enlisted the help of the neighbor upstairs to help me pack on Friday. We spent this morning jump starting Brian's car so she could get hers out of the driveway and while we were waiting for AAA to come I told her the situation. And guess what? She and her husband are getting a divorce. They decided the same thing about their relationship at about the save time. The difference is that they have been married for 7 years, they are still good friends, and she isn't moving out till June. I would have never known that if Brian's car didn't start this morning, and both of us are glad to know that there is someone nearby going through the same thing, so we can chat about it. Her situation is of course worse in that she has to file for divorce and stay through the lease, but at least they are still friends and still care about each other. Whereas, Brian appears to never want to see me again. Hopefully those feelings are only temporary, but you never know...

Sad news

Brian and I broke up last weekend, so I am now moving out in the next week. I had hoped that we would still be friends but I think that will take time. I am trying to focus on the day to day, like getting through midterms, then packing and moving, then worrying about where I'll end up this summer. I've been toying with the idea of leaving Boston for my clinical and I think it would be a great time for me to clear my head and figure myself out. I also think it would give me something to look forward to, since these days there isn't a ton that does that for me. I know that the next few months are going to be difficult, but I think we will both be better off in the long run.

Happy to be eating @ Redbones!

Happy to be eating @ Redbones!
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

So, for Kate's last night of her recent trip to Boston, she decided to dine at Redbones. I was impressed that they were able to seat 12 of us (a regular Redbones miracle!) I don't know what was going on at the other half of the table, but I can tell you that Dasha, Zsolt, Sara, Brian & I were having a ball. Sara decided to take pictures to prove it, and she even sent them out within 12 hours: how very un-Meghna of her!

Dasha & Sara

Dasha & Sara
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

A couple of cuties out for a night on the town... actually Dasha & I took off at 8:30pm to head home and go to bed. Wow, I never thought I would be so lame @ 26! I could say that it was Sunday night, and I had to be up at 5:50am to open up the computer lab at school this morning... but those would just be lame excuses

Dasha and Zsolt's wedding

Dasha and Zsolt's wedding
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Here is a great picture of the newly weds on their wedding day, October 16 2005. I pleased to report that they just purchased a 3 bedroom place in Brookline, and I think our little bet that Dasha will be the first with kids will pay off in the next couple of years!

Congrats guys!

Daily Sudoku

I've added a daily Sudoku Puzzle for those interested in starting a new obsession... :) I realize that I haven't posted in a LONG while, but I chalk that up to grad school finals and then the need to do absolutely nothing that required thought (Sudoku puzzles excluded) during the break. I'm hoping to add some more to this blog soon. I have a nice picture from Dasha's wedding to put up... of course that was back in October. Boy, I'm behind!