A friend of mine once told me to “keep your nose to the grindstone”. I have found, over the last several years that this is good advise indeed. Many times when I did not feel like tackling the things I needed to do those words have rung in my ears, encouraging me to be faithful, to be diligent, to do with cheerfulness the tasks that lay before me.

I just enjoyed a nice vacation from school; we were given Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off from school. This allowed me to travel home on Tuesday evening and then return on Sunday evening. I did really enjoy my time at home, but now that I am back in Memphis it is time to once again put my nose to the grindstone; to study heartily as to the Lord, to learn more about genetics and genetic disorders, to try to comprehend the way the nerves in our head work, to pursue a working knowledge of the respiratory system and what makes it work.

I mentioned that I enjoyed my recent break from school, in fact, I enjoyed it a great deal! I was able to work on a couple of projects, including the building that I have been trying to turn into a cabin. On Friday some friends came and helped me to lay the flooring in the building, and then my family (including Derick who was there because of the holiday) helped me to move my furniture into the building. I must say… it is nice to be this close to having my books unpacked and my “stuff” set up where I can use it again. It will also be nice to have an office area there at home that I can use to study etc.

I also enjoyed a lot off good food and fellowship during my break. We had a wonderful dinner on Thursday, complete with turkey and its fixin’s, a delicious pickle tray, and more pie than a body could want for desert. Just being with the family again, including Jesse and Heather who are temporarily home from Haiti was really a treat. Add to that the time that I got to spend with Bethany and it turned out to be a memoriable weekend of encouragement, joy, and fun.

On Saturday we went to the Grand Ole Oprey Hotel to see the gardens and the decorations. I had never been there before, so I was rather surprised to see the size of the indoor gardens. I was also amazed as I again marveled at the beauty and variety of God’s creation. I saw plants that I had never seen before, particularly I am not sure If I had ever seen orchids up close before. Once again it was a blessing to be able to relax. to enjoy the loveliness of what God has put here on earth.

Sunday continued to be a day of blessing; the meeting in the morning was a combination of worship, correction, instruction, and realizing God’s greatness and goodness. Lunch was delicious, and was accompanied with fellowship from several friends, some of whom I had not seen for some time. I spent the afternoon with Bethany, and then it was time…. That’s right, it was time to leave the turkey bones behind and stick to the grindstone.

I frequently find that time has a way of running off and leaving me sitting dazed in the dust wondering where it has run off to, only to be reminded that the only time we have is now, the point in eternity that we are currently touching. In any case, the days have a tendency to run into each other, and before I know it another week has passed by. In this case, I heard some f my classmates saying today that we only have 10 more lab meetings in Gross Anatomy. On one hand, that is nice to know; I will be glad to finish anatomy and it will be nice to move on to learning other things. Currently we are studying the head and neck in this class.

We are also studying a variety of things in the Molecular Basis of Disease class (MBOD); anything from bone growth regulation, blood coagulation, and shock absorption to the role of vitamin C in healthy cartilage formation and scurvy prevention. The professor that has been teaching this class the last few days has a lively sense of humor, and has been entertaining us by doing things like reading a “captains log” from the HMS MBOD (which we were informed set sail in 1649) in a British accent complete with a tail of the first mate trying to insult the sailors by insinuating that they had scurvy, the only problem is they really did have scurvy! Today he was talking about cancer cells and ended up on the tables in the room demonstrating how cancer cells metastasize and break through normally impermeable boundaries.

Physiology is a bit more tame, we have been investigating the cardiovascular system, blood pressure regulation, and cardiac function. It is interesting, and of course, quite important. After Thanksgiving we will be studying respiratory physiology.

As you may know I frequently spend my Saturday mornings in Memphis at a student run Hispanic Clinic called La Clinica Esperanza (The Clinic of Hope). This Saturday is to be the last day that we will be open until after the new year. I guess that is part of the consequence of having the clinic student run – when they have breaks etc. (first Thanksgiving break, then Christmas break several weeks later) there just is not enough staff available to keep the doors open. We plan to resume in January.

I think I am going to end this little note, and bid y’all a good day.

Just a short note, don’t be too dissapointed if you find my xanga blog but discover that there is not much there too look at… I am new to xanga, (at least to having my own blog) and have not had enough time to set everything up yet. I will try to work on it from time to time, and I hope to write little updates so y’all can have some idea of what is happening in my life.

So, relax, feel free to comment on what you would like to see or want me to post (at least if you are a friend who knows me ).

God bless,

Philip