Finals coming....ugh

It seems like finals are starting so early this year.  We just got done with Thanksgiving and Ernie already has finals starting next week.  Seven finals in four days, YIKES!!!  I am so excited for this semester to be over, it seems like it has gone by so fast.   I'm not so sure I'm excited for next semester to start, I've heard it's a killer.

We do what we do though.  We've enjoyed having our daddy most nights this week but it's survival for the next two weeks for all of us.  Good luck to all who are going through finals as well.

Second Year Boards

I need to be a lot better about writing on this.  Sorry that I haven't kept up.  It's been a crazy semester.  I think this year has been a little bit busier than last.  The one big difference is that last year Ernie had every Monday off for tests so they were evenly spaced, and if he didn't have one he pretty much had the day off.  This year we experienced the "HELL WEEK" of midterms, which consisted of 6 tests in 4 days...My hubby didn't sleep more than 3 hours a night that week...poor guy.  He did awesome as usual so we are excited it paid off.

We have been thinking about boards already.  Ernie's got to take them by his 3rd year so we made the decision to leave him for Christmas and let him study for about 3 1/2 weeks and then he's going to miss the 1st week of school in January and take them.  I think this will be the best situation.  We can let him study in peace, and he won't feel guilty for not hanging out and the bonus is we'll get it out of the way  so we have the whole summer again. What's one Christmas right?  

Anyway, I can't believe that the semester is almost over.  We've got really only about a month left.  It's flown by (hallelujah!!)

I will try and post sooner and more frequent.  If you have any questions or topics you'd like to discuss by all means leave note.

Mel

Miss Daddy

My son has had a really hard time without Daddy home.  We were spoiled having him with us 24/7 for 6 weeks.  Everyday Roman asks "Daddy Go?" and everyday I have to tell him he's at school.  So we made a trip down to Ernie's school so Roman could actually see where he was going.  It has made all the difference.  Roman now says, "Daddy at school" "Daddy Dentist" I definitely recommend visiting Daddy at school every once in a while (for everyone's sake).  However...I feel bad he's eating the cafeteria food.

2nd Year

We're back from our extended vacation.  My husband got 6 weeks off in between years, which was AMAZING!!!  I forgot what it was like to have a second parent.  We took advantage of the time and went back to the west to spend time with family.  I have to say this was the best thing we could have done.

I was thinking about being in school and how hard it is but really and truly I think these are easy times as well.  I mean think about it, we don't work (at a place of employment), we don't have any huge bills, since we don't have anything the small things are even better and we can enjoy the simplicity.

I like being on the student schedule.  Christmas breaks off, spring breaks, holidays, and the break in the summer.  We won't have those once we are done.  So here's to another year!!!

My son is already asking when Daddy will be home...multiple times a day.  It's an adjustment but we'll get through it. We already signed up for swim lessons again, and lots of playdates coming up.  I've been bogged down with things to do, which is a direct correlation with being gone for so long.  BUT we're busy and that's always a good thing.

Good luck to all of you out there with another year...enjoy where you're at!!!

1st Year Down...2nd Here We Go

We've finally made it to 2nd year!!!!  YAY!!!!  I am so proud of my husband for doing so well his first year, as well as myself.  I was able to make it without any huge meltdowns (or so I think).  It was a lot harder than I thought but that might just be because my husband is so dedicated and actually goes to class as opposed to many other students.

Things I learned this year:

1. How to make girlfriends
2. How to entertain myself on the weekends
3. What Dartus and Craymaster are...you don't want to know
4. What formaldehyde smells like
5. More dental words than I know what to do with
6. How to live on a budget
7. How to say no to buying things I want
8. 4-6pm is the worst time of day for me and my little guy
9. How to go to sleep alone
10. How much I really love being with my husband

There were many more things I learned, and even though it was hard I'm so glad we are in dental school.  It will pay off one day. THREE MORE YEARS TO GO!!!

What to do...

So I've been asked by everyone what do I do all day since my husband is in school.  Pretty much I'm a single mom...I expected it when we first moved out here so I had the mind set of go out and make friends.  I am not a girl's girl and even though I am very talkative I never have been really good at going out of my way to make new friends.  I was able to find some other women who have children that are my son's age and started hanging out with them.  Some of them are wives of students, others are just stay at home moms.  I've been able to do a lot out here and I try and make it a point to at least get out of the house once a day, even if that is for a walk around the block, or to the grocery store.  Here are some of the other things that I've been able to do:


1.  We go to story time once a week at our local library
2.  We've been to the museums in DC (that's one nice thing that is here and it's FREE).
3.  I got a bike and have a trailer so we've been able to do bike rides
4.  We signed up for swim lessons over the winter
5.  Our rec center has a soft play room for kids that we've been to
6.  Playdates at our house and friends house (sometimes we'll do waffles, crepes, watch a movie while the kids play we even snuck in a board game once).  We've also made valentines for the daddies.
7.  We go on LOTS of walks
8.  We've gone to lots of parks and tot lots.
9.   On rainy days I've made my way to the mall and just walked around
10.  We've even been able to meet my husband for lunch a couple of times 


One idea that I had was to do a preschool swap with a couple other moms.  We are going to try and do it in the fall when our kids are a little bit older.  The idea is twice a week at set times we will have little lessons/acitivities for the kids at our houses and rotate.  That way we get a little break from our kids, the kids get to have something a little more structured and we can take turns teaching the lessons.  I'll let you know how it goes.


Anyway, there is a little about my life...I'd love to hear what you do, and if you have any ideas

Money Money Money....monnneeeyyyy

I'm not sure if others have had this problem of not being able to find money.  Due to the economy we have been struggling to find extra financial assistance to cover our living costs.  Our school only allots a certain amount to student whether they are single, married or have kids...which means if you are married and have a child it's not enough to live off of.  Over the winter break we looked for more funding.  The only other loans we were able to get was from Wells Fargo and the interest rate was 10% and it is ridiculous.  We called every bank and credit union we could find an NO ONE was lending money. 

I mean really, a dental student is one of the safest investments and I was so surprised that there was nothing out there for a professional student.  In the end we were able to find a private investor who will give us a loan.  I'm wondering what others are doing.  Are your parents paying for it?  As a spouse, are you working?  Let me know.

On a side note, if you aren't in dental school yet or aren't getting any government assistance, I advise you to do so.  I had a hard time with this situation and after much consideration we were able to get assistance for food and healthcare. It is a pain to apply but it is worth every penny that we are saving and the peace of mind that we do have health insurance.  I figure it's not going to be long term, we have already paid for it by paying our taxes and it's what it's there for.  

Dental Wife & Momma

1st Post

I tried to find a blog our some kind of informational forum for spouses of dental school students and I couldn't find anything, so this is my attempt to bring us spouses together and discuss dental school life from the other view.  I'm hoping this will help those people who are just barely applying, starting out, already in or leaving dental school to have a place to get some help with transitions, housing, home life ideas, what to expect etc.  Please feel free to contact me and to post comments.

A little about our story:

We are 1st year students living in Washington DC.  My husband is going to Howard University.  We live in the suburbs of Alexandria Virginia and moved out here from Orem Utah, so you can imagine how much life has changed for us.  We have a 16 month old son and I get to stay home with him while my husband goes to school.  It is quite a change from having a husband around.  I knew that I wasn't going to see my husband very much but I never thought it was going to be this bad.  He is studying NON STOP and even when he is spending time with us he is ALWAYS thinking about what he has to do next.

Hopefully in future posts I can explain a little more about our experience moving across country and what we did, and hopefully others can chime in and let me know your story also.  Hope to hear from someone out there.

Dental Wife and Mama