It's no secret these days...

...that I can't study during study week. I did really well yesterday, except I think I had a few too many coffees, which kept me up until 3 am, which meant I slept until noon, which means I have done absolutely nothing today. Oh well. Today was supposed to be Day 2 of Microbiology, and I already calculated that I can't Honor the class and it would be almost impossible to fail, so... I guess it doesn't matter if I don't know anything about fungi. Or viruses. (Hey, if you get a viral infection there's pretty much nothing we do for you anyway, so what does it matter if I know which virus gave you that cold?)

In other news, we got our first Christmas cards on Friday. Damn all you on-top-of-it people! I wrote my Christmas cards already, but we don't have any stamps, so I'll look more normal sending them out next week. We also got a Christmas tree last weekend and decorated it. How domestic. I'd put up pictures, but it IS study week and I really should be studying -- pictures take super-effort and a self-admission that I'm doing something I shouldn't be doing. The good news is, the cats don't seem too puzzled by the tree; they've pulled off a couple non-breakable ornaments, but they haven't tried to climb it yet or anything like that (whew!). (I'll put up pictures after Friday.)

Speaking of domestic, I noticed that our refrigerator is looking very grown-up these days. There's a birth announcement, a marriage announcement, a Save-the-Date for another wedding in March, and a picture of a baby we know sitting on Santa's lap. When did I become an adult and start receiving these things? It's kind of weird. In two years people are going to be calling me "Dr. Cummings" (!!) and I'm going to still feel like a 17-year-old.

If I can make it through this week, things will be golden. I'm really looking forward to winter break. We had originally booked tickets to PA for Christmas weekend only, but then I realized I have a lot more free time than that so I might as well go home to MD, too. The only problem was, we booked our tickets on a "real airline" (as opposed to Southwest), so exchanging the tickets was a real hassle. I was going to have to pay the difference in fares (fair) plus a $100 penalty (not fair), so it was going to cost me at least $200 to change my flight, depending on which one I picked. Instead, I booked a completely new round trip to BWI on Southwest for $150. I love Southwest. I canceled my Northwest flight and got a full credit, but when I try to use it to rebook later, I'm still going to have to pay that stupid $100 penalty. Argh. Sometimes I just don't understand the airlines. Even Southwest, as much as I love them, can be weird sometimes. Case in point: I can fly from Louisville to BWI non-stop (only an hour and a half -- I love it!), but to fly to Philly you have to go through Midway with a layover. Southwest just opened up service from Dulles and Reagan, also, but to fly Louisville to DC you also need to go through Midway. Why? If BWI is a non-stop flight, shouldn't Dulles be, also? Dulles is technically closer to Louisville than BWI, even... Whatever. Silly FAA. All I know is, I'm pretty close to earning my free roundtrip on Southwest. I'm flying home for winter break, then again for MLK weekend, then again in March -- two weeks in a row, actually! We're going to Philly the weekend of March 3 for a wedding, then I'm going home for spring break and a bridal shower the weekend of the 10th. I'd totally consider staying at home and missing a week of school to save the airfare, except that week in between is another study week, with a test on March 9. Can't miss that.

And while I'm on the topic of Southwest, I just want to officially endorse Ding!, their desktop application that alerts you to short-term, users-only fare deals. I love it. Since you can always refund your tickets on Southwest (not always for an actual cash refund, but always for a full credit for future use, with no penalty fees), I book tickets I know I need to book, like the ones for March, then watch for Ding! fares as the date draws nearer -- if one pops up, I cancel my original flight and use that credit to book the new, cheaper fare. If Southwest wanted to hire me to be their Ding! spokeswoman I would totally do it. Maybe I should let them know that in case they want to consider it...

And finally, three news stories of note:

You may have heard about the desegregation cases the Supreme Court is hearing right now. One of them was brought against the Louisville public school system, because they bus kids all over creation to meet racial quotas to keep their schools relatively diverse. The mother of a white boy is suing because her son was denied entry to the closest elementary school to their house because it already had enough white students and instead has to take a 90-minute bus ride to the school he was assigned to. When I moved here a year ago, I'd read stories regarding busing and have no idea what was going on. Do they bus because they're a big city with a poor, black, inner-city population? Philadelphia doesn't do that. Because they're in the pseudo-South? I haven't heard about other southern cities doing that. It's baffling to me. I haven't thought enough about the issue to debate it here, but my summary thought is that the whole situation basically sucks, and I'm interested to see how the court is going to rule.

The second story was in today's Courier Journal, from the Associated Press, about a high school in Eastern KY that has a Confederate guy as its mascot. One of the school board members suggested the school rethink the mascot, since it is a symbol of slavery and oppression, but of course, he got shot down. This sentence struck me: "Lorena Hall, principal at Allen Central, said every few years, someone like McGuire will "stir the pot" about the Confederate symbols. But her school won't budge." The students interviewed in the story say the Confederate flag doesn't represent "those things" to them, and I believe them -- they see it as some sort of misplaced pride. But it amazes me that they don't understand why everyone else is upset and don't understand that they need to change. The last few grafs are telling, also:

" Allen Central adopted its school flag and mascot in 1972, when it was established to consolidate four other schools.

Nearly 35 years later, the students proudly attend school competitions and events locally and statewide, sporting their rebel T-shirts, jackets, hats and, of course, the school flag.

The Allen County students interviewed said they've experienced a lot of stares and whispers at events, but no major confrontations.

"We just tell them we don't mean it that way," Owens said. "

My goodness. I would think if you noticed that everyone else stares, you might wonder why, and wonder if maybe YOU'RE the naked emperor and the one in the wrong? When I checked the C-J website for the link I gave you above, I noticed a reader comment that said the story had been edited from its original AP version. In the C-J story, Tiffany Owens the cheerleader says, "To us it's not about the hatred." In the full version, she goes on to say, "I have colored friends around here and they never say anything." YIKES! This, people, is why, when people ask me how I like living in Kentucky, I respond with, "I love Louisville. I don't know anything about the rest of the state."

And here's the last one, an editorial from the Washington Post printed in today's C-J about Mary Cheney's recently announced pregnancy. I think it's great that she and her partner are starting a family, I think it's bizarre that her father feels the way he does about gay rights, and I think it's GREAT that U.S. businesses are so far ahead of the politicians (read the story). Really, who cares if gay marriage is legitimized by the state or country as long as your employer recognizes your relationship for partner benefits? (Obviously, I think it's better if these relationships can be legalized, but you get my point.) That's where progress is going to be made: by the people, doing what they're doing.

And now, back to the books. Did you know that all babies get antibiotic eye drops at birth to protect them from gonorrheal and chlamydial eye infections? It's cheaper, quicker, and easier than testing the moms to see who's positive. Just treat everyone, even if they don't need it, and you'll save some of them from going blind. Same with the first dose of the Hep B shot. That's my idea of public health: save everyone, even if it's against their will -- it's for their own good. :)