Macie's Blog

My mom is the most influential woman in my life. She is very dear to me as she is independent, hard-working, and inspires me to be better as both a person and daughter. My favorite things about her are the way she always makes time for me and my extracurricular activities. An example of this would be driving me to school even when she’s late for her own work and leaving early in order to pick me up. Some advice I’ve gotten from her that I appreciate most is not hanging out with people who don’t like me.  My favorite memory I share with my mom is when I was in elementary school and we would listen to all kinds of music on the way there.

This week I worked on reading and writing about the chapter on the pharynx. Some examples of successes I had this week were reading through halfway through this chapter and designing my trifold which was not my main focus but it can’t hurt to get a head start. I have only made it to chapter 3 and wasn’t able to get any further than that but I will still be studying this topic in my free time. Some struggles I had this week were writing my blog and making it have a 150-word count. Since there is not much for me to do this deep into the project I did not make any adjustments other than just writing as much as I can possibly think of. Next week I will pick up on designing my trifold, picking photos for my trifold, creating my presentation, and figuring out how to present my project.

This month I read The Housemaid’s Secret by Frieda McFadden. This book follows the story of our protagonist, Millie. She is hired by the Garricks to clean their penthouse. On Millie’s first day Douglas Garrick, CEO of Coinstock, warns her about going to bother his sickly wife, Wendy. During Millie’s time working for them, she sees spots of blood on Wendy’s nightgown and hears her crying in the guest bedroom where she resides. Millie ignores Douglas’ order and checks on Wendy anyway and then decides to make it her goal to save Wendy from Douglas.

This book was an amazing addition to its series. One of the best things about this book, other than its smooth-flowing storyline and plot, is the imagery. Frieda McFadden perfectly captures the essence of the story and the characters. I especially love how the change of perspectives throughout the story piece together parts of the story to impact the plot greatly.

Wendy Garrick is my favorite character in this book. She was my favorite because I found her being unconcerned (and nonchalant) laughable. Some words that best describe Wendy are greedy, selfish, and egotistical. A quote that can prove this comes from page 210, “And I want them to see me wearing my new Prada dress, my auburn hair perfectly styled and highlighted, hanging off the arm of my handsome and impossibly wealthy fiancé, who will be wearing an Armani suit that hides the paunch in his abdomen.” Wendy and her fiancé, who she only engaged for money, are going to a party. She envisions how she and her fiancé will look when they arrive but Douglas Garrick is not prepared and hasn’t gotten ready to leave yet.

My favorite quote comes from page 11, “She’s not your mama! Amber scolds the baby.” In the beginning of the book Millie works for a woman named Amber. Her duties consisted of cleaning and taking care Amber’s home and babysitting. Amber’s baby, Olive, gets attached to Millie and calls her mama. The whole part when Olive calls her mama is a very chaotic scene and I found it funny.

During this project, I have read two chapters about the mouth and the nose. Some successes I experienced this week were finishing the chapter on the anatomy of the nose and highlighting and adding small notes beside the text. I was also to memorize the cranial nerves and the structure and functions of the nose. Some struggles I had this week were not being able to remember the names of different parts of the body and leaving my page of notes incomplete. Because these two aspects of this project went badly, I had to make changes and practice saying the words along with definitions, functions, and where things are located in the body. I will also write my notes as I read to improve my note-taking. Next week I will work on reading and writing about the chapter about the Pharynx and making flashcards of important words and the locations and examples of parts being used.

This week was amazing and I was able to read five pages from my textbook regarding the anatomy of the nose and made four pages worth of notes. I had little struggles here and there, but one of my major issues was summarizing the text in my notes. Because my note-taking gave me problems, I had to make changes and decided to break up my work into three parts. One day I will read everything I need to, the next I will write my summary of the text, and on the last day, I will go over and reread my notes to add any additional information I think will be helpful in my understanding of this material. Next week I will read four pages (maybe five if I have time) and summarize and explain my notes to other people which I strongly believe will help with my comprehension of this subject.

My favorite room in my home is my bedroom. My room is usually dark. It’s dimly lit with my LED lights and candles. My loft bed is across from my television and has a desk under it. The wall next to my bed is covered in posters and small objects I’ve hung up. I have my legos displayed on almost every surface of my room. These attributes of my room lead up to the first reason this is my favorite room. One of the things I love about my bedroom is the comfort it brings me when I’m able to collapse into my bed and bury myself in pillows and blankets. The second reason this is my favorite room is the sense of security. I can close the door, so I don’t have to worry about people bothering me. The last reason this is my favorite room is because of its placement in my home. My bedroom is close to the kitchen and is right next to the bathroom.

For my 20% project, I wanted to learn about anatomy and anesthesia. This is because I would like to be an anesthesiologist and I enjoy learning about how different tissues and muscles are affected by anesthesia. This week was great and I was able to read and take notes from the textbook Anatomy for Anesthesiologists. In addition to finding and looking through my research references, I was also able to memorize the five muscles of the soft palate and parts of the body that make up the mouth cavity. Other successes I had this week were teaching various family members and finding images and examples of how different tissues worked and looked. Fortunately, nothing went wrong this week but a slight change I would like to add is writing down information and definitions in order to be able to recognize words quicker. Next week I will be working on reading up to page six, along with creating notes for them.

During summer break I decided to go to Scotland. I wanted to visit Scotland to see for myself if it lived up to its great reputation. When I arrived, I chose a newly reformed hotel near a lake. This is where I would settle down whenever I wasn’t touring and admiring the country of Scotland. The first days of my trip went well and I enjoyed eating food,  hiking, and discovering cultures. It was the fourth day of my trip and I had just taken a bath and prepared to go to sleep, but before I crawled into bed I looked out the casement of my room. That was when I saw the Loch Ness Monster. In the blink of an eye, it disappeared. I looked out the casement astonished before deciding it must’ve been my imagination. I ignored it and got into bed so I could have a good rest of my trip.

This month I read The Housmaid by Frieda McFadden. This story is about a homeless woman, Millie, whose only employment option is working for a wealthy family as a housemaid. She begins living in the Winchesters’ attic, which is only locked from the outside. When she starts working for them she recognizes that Nina Winchester, her employer, is not acting quite like she imagined. She purposely leaves messes for her to clean up, gaslights her, etc. Millie starts to experience feelings for Nina’s husband, Andrew Winchester, which ends up backfiring horribly.

I suggest this book because of its unique plot and unexpected twists.  This book had my jaw on the floor as I started to piece the story together throughout the book. I also love how Frieda McFadden includes the concept of psychological abuse and was able to get the message of not judging a book by its cover across to the reader.

My favorite character is Enzo. Enzo is a man who works as a landscaper for the Winchesters. He’s my favorite character because he is the most unproblematic and caring character. A quote proving he’s caring comes to us from page 248, “I will find a way. I know some people. I will help.” Nina tells Enzo about the way Andrew treats her, but rather than allowing Enzo to kill him (like he offered), he helps Nina get a plane ticket and new identities for her and her daughter. This proves he’s caring because he wants to help Nina as best he can.

My favorite quote in this book is “Is it organic?” Millie had been cleaning Nina’s restroom before she started nosily looking through her medicine cabinet. Nina walks in and Millie pretends to have been cleaning the sink. Nina tells her she prefers organic cleaning products because they don’t carry as many chemicals. I liked this quote because it was funny and in Millie’s inner dialogue she comments about all the medication she takes and compares it to the chemicals.

There are so many people I would want to invite to dinner, but these are my top three: Yui Hasegawa, Lily Yohannes, and Marie Ringheim. Yui Hasegawa plays as a midfielder for Japan women’s soccer team. I would want to have dinner with her because she’s one of my favorite midfielders. She’s always in the right spot at the right time for her team and has actually helped lead her team to victory in the SheBelieves Cup recently. I would want to talk to her and understand how she thinks during her games. Lily Yohannes is a midfielder and plays for U.S. women’s national soccer team. I want to have dinner with her because she’s a great player who always knows what to do with the ball whenever she plays. The last person I would invite to dinner is Marie Ringheim. Marie Ringheim, also known as “girl in red”, is a music artist with over 13 million monthly listeners on Spotify. The reason I invited her is because she seems very nice and I would like to get to know her.