Hi all,
well I am finishing up my last week here in Ohio. This week is kind of in a state of choas this week with the Class of 2006 finishing up their last week in clinics and the Class of 2007 starting up (this is at Ohio anyway). So upon my mom's suggesting I am going to take 2 personal days on Thursday and Friday to drive to Wisconsin. Nathan is flying into Columbus on Thursday. We are going to leave from their and drive to Pleasant Prairie. On Friday we are going to visit a few apartments:
http://www.gormancompany.com/rent_search/mitchell.htm
http://www.apartmentcities.com/wisconsin/d/hidden_oaks_WI.asp
http://www.riverwoodapts.com/
I really like the first one :-D How fun would it be to live somewhere that has all these art outlets :-D But we will see.
On Friday night we are going to run up to Neenah and see Nathan's family. Then on Saturday morning we head to Champaign to visit Grant and Sheryl (for Sheryl's b-day). Then Sunday we race back to Okalahoma and hopefully get back before the kennel closes so I can get my babies :-D. But Mason loves the kennel so much, I am sure he won't mind staying an extra night.
I think there is going to be 3 things I will miss about oklahoma.
1. Fresh brewed ice tea. You never have to ask a waitress/waiter if their ice tea is fresh brewed...it always is.
2. My scrapbook store. Not only do I like the products they offer (which are sold at reasonable prices), the great crops, but the owners are so friendly and took the extra mile to learn their customer's name
3. The kennel. Not only do they charge dirt cheap prices ($7 or so per night forMason), their facility is spot less, they know me by name and they go one and on about Mason and Oscar :-D. But the biggest thing is that they take Mason outside to play everyday (hence the reason he never wants to leave) and they cuddle with Oscar alot since he is one of the few cats who is taht friendly.
Anyway, I am procrastination, cleaning out my car and getting ready for the trip back to Oklahoma
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Books I want to Read - Version 1
This is a list of books on my books to read/listen to. As I read them I will highlight them on the list. All suggestions for good books are welcome
1. Saturday (Unabridged) -- Ian McEwan (CD Recording)
2. My Sister's Keeper (Unabridged) -- Jodi Picoult (Cd Recording)
3. Drowning Ruth (Unabridged)-- Christina Schwarz (CD Recording)
4. The Secret Life of Bees (Unabridged) -- Sue Monk Kidd (CD Recording)
5. The Greatest Speeches of All Time (Unabridged) (CD Recording)
6. The Millionaire Next Door (CD Recording)
7. Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most (Stone, Douglas) (CD Recording)
8. The Curious incident of the dog -- Mark Haddon
9. Until I Find You - John Irving
10. The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell, Dustin Thomason
11. A Child Called "It": One Child's Courage to Survive by Dave Pelzer
12. The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L. Friedman
13. The Shop on Blosson Street.
14. The Widow of the South
15. The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries
Marilyn Johnson
1. Saturday (Unabridged) -- Ian McEwan (CD Recording)
Saturday is a novel set within a single day in February 2003. Henry Perowne is a contented man — a successful neurosurgeon, happily married to a newspaper lawyer, and enjoying good relations with his children, who are young adults. Henry wakes to the relative comfort of his home on this, his day off. He is almost as comfortable here as he is in the operating room. Outside the hospital, the world is not so easy or predictable. There is an impending war against Iraq, and a general darkening and gathering pessimism since the New York and Washington attacks two years before and his children are now grown and making their way into this world as adults.
On this particular Saturday morning, Perowne's day moves through the ordinary to the extraordinary: from an unusual sighting in the early morning sky to his usual squash game, and from trying to avoid the hundreds of thousands of war protestors filling the streets of London, to a seemingly minor car accident.
2. My Sister's Keeper (Unabridged) -- Jodi Picoult (Cd Recording)
Conceived in vitro, 13-year-old Anna Fitzgerald has decided to sue her parents to stop them from using her as "spare parts" for her older sister, Kate, who suffers from leukemia. After years of having her bone marrow and blood used to keep Kate alive, Anna now refuses to donate a kidney and strives for her own personal freedom. She hires lawyer Campbell Alexander to represent her, even as her own mother, a former civil defense attorney, fights her in court.
3. Drowning Ruth (Unabridged)-- Christina Schwarz (CD Recording)
Winter, 1919. Amanda Starkey spends her days nursing soldiers wounded in the Great War. Finding herself suddenly overwhelmed, she flees Milwaukee and retreats to her family's farm on Nagawaukee Lake, seeking comfort with her younger sister, Mathilda, and three-year-old niece, Ruth. But very soon, Amanda comes to see that her old home is no refuge--she has carried her troubles with her. On one terrible night almost a year later, Amanda loses nearly everything that is dearest to her when her sister mysteriously disappears and is later found drowned beneath the ice that covers the lake. When Mathilda's husband comes home from the war, wounded and troubled himself, he finds that Amanda has taken charge of Ruth and the farm, assuming her responsibility with a frightening intensity. Wry and guarded, Amanda tells the story of her family in careful doses, as anxious to hide from herself as from us the secrets of her own past and of that night.
Ruth, haunted by her own memory of that fateful night, grows up under the watchful eye of her prickly and possessive aunt and gradually becomes aware of the odd events of her childhood. As she tells her own story with increasing clarity, she reveals the mounting toll that her aunt's secrets exact from her family and everyone around her, until the heartrending truth is uncovered.
Guiding us through the lives of the Starkey women, Christina Schwarz's first novel shows her compassion and a unique understanding of the American landscape and the people who live on it.
4. The Secret Life of Bees (Unabridged) -- Sue Monk Kidd (CD Recording)
Living on a peach farm in South Carolina with her harsh, unyielding father, Lily Owens has shaped her entire life around one devastating, blurred memory - the afternoon her mother was killed, when Lily was four. Since then, her only real companion has been the fierce-hearted, and sometimes just fierce, black woman Rosaleen, who acts as her "stand-in mother."
When Rosaleen insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily knows it's time to spring them both free. They take off in the only direction Lily can think of, toward a town called Tiburon, South Carolina - a name she found on the back of a picture amid the few possessions left by her mother.
There they are taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters named May, June, and August. Lily thinks of them as the calendar sisters and enters their mesmerizing secret world of bees and honey, and of the Black Madonna who presides over this household of strong, wise women. Maternal loss and betrayal, guilt and forgiveness entwine in a story that leads Lily to the single thing her heart longs for most.
5. The Greatest Speeches of All Time (Unabridged) (CD Recording)
Includes these famous speeches: John F. Kennedy: Inaugural, "Ich Bin Ein Berliner;" Rev, Martin Luther king, Jr.: "I Have a Dream;" Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Declaration of War; Robert F. Kennedy: Democratic Convention; Richard M. Nixon: Watergate Tapes, Resignation; Ronald Reagan; Evil Empire, Berlin Wall; Harry S. Truman: Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner; Gen. Douglas MacArthur: Farewell Address to Congress, Winston Churchill; First Radio Address as Prime Minister. Run time, 70:19 Also available as an Audio CD
6. The Millionaire Next Door (CD Recording)
In The Millionaire Next Door, read by Cotter Smith, Stanley (Marketing to the Affluent) and Danko (marketing, SUNY at Albany) summarize findings from their research into the key characteristics that explain how the elite club of millionaires have become "wealthy." Focusing on those with a net worth of at least $1 million, their surprising results reveal fundamental qualities of this group that are diametrically opposed to today's earn-and-consume culture, including living below their means, allocating funds efficiently in ways that build wealth, ignoring conspicuous consumption, being proficient in targeting marketing opportunities, and choosing the "right" occupation. It's evident that anyone can accumulate wealth, if they are disciplined enough, determined to persevere, and have the merest of luck. In The Millionaire Mind, an excellent follow-up to the highly successful first analysis of how ordinary folks can accumulate wealth, Stanley interviews many more participants in a much more comprehensive study of the characteristics of those in this economic situation. The author structures these deeper details into categories that include the key success factors that define this group, the relationship of education to their success, their approach to balancing risk, how they located themselves in their work, their choice of spouse, how they live their daily lives, and the significant differences in the truth about this group vs. the misplaced image of high spenders. Narrator Smith's solid, dead-on reading never fails to heighten the importance of these principles that most twentysomethings should be forced to listen to in toto.
7. Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most (Stone, Douglas) (CD Recording)
Nobody tells you how to discuss the hard things. You may learn from your parents how to "play fair." You're taught that if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all, and a few other gems. But how are you supposed to know what to say to a boss who undermines you in a big meeting? What do you do when you keep having the same, but increasingly annoying, argument with your spouse? How about (my personal favorite) dealing with the noisy neighbors? Sometimes these conversations happen in a fit of anger, in which case not much usually improves. Sometimes we plan strategically with friends. Their advice, and our own ideas about how to broach difficult matters, come from experience, which is nothing to be scoffed at. But often we fret in nervous anticipation, stumble through a conversation, come away frustrated or fail to get the desired results. We are left to wonder: If we'd approached the issue differently, could we be better satisfied with the outcome?
8. The Curious incident of the dog -- Mark Haddon
Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, Christopher is autistic. Everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning for him. Routine, order and predictability shelter him from the messy, wider world. Then, at fifteen, Christopher’s carefully constructed world falls apart when he finds his neighbor’s dog, Wellington, impaled on a garden fork, and he is initially blamed for the killing.
Christopher decides that he will track down the real killer and turns to his favorite fictional character, the impeccably logical Sherlock Holmes, for inspiration. But the investigation leads him down some unexpected paths and ultimately brings him face to face with the dissolution of his parents’ marriage. As he tries to deal with the crisis within his own family, we are drawn into the workings of Christopher’s mind.
9. Until I Find You - John Irving
So begins John Irving's eleventh novel, Until I Find You — the story of the actor Jack Burns. His mother, Alice, is a Toronto tattoo artist. When Jack is four, he travels with Alice to several North Sea ports; they are trying to find Jack's missing father, William, a church organist who is addicted to being tattooed. But Alice is a mystery, and William can't be found. Even Jack's memories are subject to doubt.
Jack Burns goes to schools in Canada and New England, but what shapes him are his relationships with older women. John Irving renders Jack's life as an actor in Hollywood with the same richness of detail and range of emotions he uses to describe the tattoo parlors in those North Sea ports and the reverberating music Jack heard as a child in European churches.
10. The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell, Dustin Thomason
Princeton. Good Friday, 1999. On the eve of graduation, two students are a hairsbreadth from solving the mysteries of the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. Famous for its hypnotic power over those who study it, the five-hundred-year-old Hypnerotomachia may finally reveal its secrets -- to Tom Sullivan, whose father was obsessed with the book, and Paul Harris, whose future depends on it. As the deadline looms, research has stalled -- until an ancient diary surfaces. What Tom and Paul discover inside shocks even them: proof that the location of a hidden crypt has been ciphered within the pages of the obscure Renaissance text.
Armed with this final clue, the two friends delve into the bizarre world of the Hypnerotomachia -- a world of forgotten erudition, strange sexual appetites, and terrible violence. But just as they begin to realize the magnitude of their discovery, Princeton's snowy campus is rocked: a longtime student of the book is murdered, shot dead in the hushed halls of the history department.
11. A Child Called "It": One Child's Courage to Survive by Dave Pelzer
This book chronicles the unforgettable account of one of the most severe child abuse cases in California history. It is the story of Dave Pelzer, who was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother: a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games--games that left him nearly dead. He had to learn how to play his mother's games in order to survive because she no longer considered him a son, but a slave; and no longer a boy, but an "it."
Dave's bed was an old army cot in the basement, and his clothes were torn and raunchy. When his mother allowed him the luxury of food, it was nothing more than spoiled scraps that even the dogs refused to eat. The outside world knew nothing of his living nightmare. He had nothing or no one to turn to, but his dreams kept him alive--dreams of someone taking care of him, loving him and calling him their son.
12. The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L. Friedman
When scholars write the history of the world twenty years from now, and they come to the chapter "Y2K to March 2004," what will they say was most important? The attack on the World Trade Center and the Iraq war? Or the convergence of PCs, telecom and workflow softwares into a tipping point that allowed India to become part of the global supply chain for services the way China had become for manufacturing--creating an explosion of wealth in the middle classes of the world's two biggest nations (India and China), giving both nations a huge new stake in the success of globalization, but also flattening the world in a way that requires us all to run faster in order to stay in place? Has the world gotten too small, too fast, and too flat for human beings and their political systems to adjust in a stable manner?
13. The Shop on Blosson Street.
A Seattle knitting store brings together four very different women in this earnest tale about friendship and love. Lydia Hoffman, a two-time cancer survivor, opens the shop A Good Yarn as a symbol of the new life she plans to lead. She starts a weekly knitting class, hoping to improve business and make friends in the area. The initial class project is a baby blanket, and Macomber (Changing Habits), a knitter herself who offers tips about the craft and pithy observations from knitting professionals throughout the novel, includes the knitting pattern at the start of the book. Well-heeled Jacqueline Donovan, who chooses to ignore her empty marriage, disguises her disdain for her pregnant daughter-in-law by knitting a baby blanket. Carol Girard joins the group as an affirmation of her hopes to finally have a successful in vitro pregnancy. Alix Townsend, a high school dropout with an absentee father and a mother incarcerated for forging checks, uses the class to satisfy a court-ordered community service sentence for a drug-possession conviction for which her roommate is really responsible. Unfortunately, Macomber doesn't get much below the surface of her characters, and, although they all have interesting back stories, the arc of each individual happy ending is too predictable. The only surprise involves Alix's hapless, overweight roommate, Laurel, and even this smacks of plot-driven manipulation. Macomber is an adept storyteller overall, however, and many will be entertained by this well-paced story about four women finding happiness and fulfillment through their growing friendships. Agent, Irene Goodman. (May) Forecast: The religious overtones of Macomber's novel may throw some readers, but the author should attract her usual sizeable readership and pick up some fans of Chiaverini's Elm Creek Quilts series. Author tour. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
14. The Widow of the South
In 1894 Carrie McGavock is an old woman who has only her former slave to keep her company…and the almost 1,500 soldiers buried in her backyard. Years before, rather than let someone plow over the field where these young men had been buried, Carrie dug them up and reburied them in her own personal cemetery. Now, as she walks the rows of the dead, an old soldier appears. It is the man she met on the day of the battle that changed everything. The man who came to her house as a wounded soldier and left with her heart. He asks if the cemetery has room for one more.
In an extraordinary debut novel, based on a remarkable true story, Robert Hicks draws an unforgettable, panoramic portrait of a woman who, through love and loss, found a cause. Known throughout the country as "the Widow of the South," Carrie McGavock gave her heart first to a stranger, then to a tract of hallowed ground-and became a symbol of a nation's soul.
The novel flashes back thirty years to the afternoon of the Battle of Franklin, five of the bloodiest hours of the Civil War. There were 9,200 casualties that fateful day. Carrie's home -- the Carnton plantation -- was taken over by the Confederate army and turned into a hospital; four generals lay dead on her back porch; the pile of amputated limbs rose as tall as the smoke house. And when a wounded soldier named Zachariah Cashwell arrived and awakened feelings she had thought long dead, Carrie found herself inexplicably drawn to him despite the boundaries of class and decorum. The story that ensues between Carrie and Cashwell is just as unforgettable as the battle from which it is drawn.
15. The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries
Marilyn Johnson
The New York Times comes each morning and never fails to deliver news of the important dead. Every day is new; every day is fraught with significance. I arrange my cup of tea, prop up my slippers. Obituaries are history as it is happening. Whose time am I living in? Was he a success or a failure, lucky or doomed, older than I am or younger? Did she know how to live? I shake out the pages. Tell me the secret of a good life!
Where else can you celebrate the life of the pharmacist who moonlighted as a spy, the genius behind Sea Monkeys, the school lunch lady who spent her evenings as a ballroom hostess?
The Dead Beat is the story of how these stories get told
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Camelid conference
Hello,
This week I am attending the International Camelid conference being held at Ohio State. Yesterday I got to attend some of the labs and I wanted to share with you an incredible lecture I heard on Camelid Handling. Marty McGee, is a animal behavorlist who has spent her career understanding and teaching others about camelid behavior. Most of us (myself included) are under the misconception that a llama or alpaca's neck is a big handle that can be grasped easily when they are backed against a wall and held in place using your muscles. But I was blown away by how this instructor used her body language, the llama's body language, and very simple, discreet body motions to calmly handle these animals.
Her website is:
http://www.camelidynamics.com
If you ever had an interest in any sort of animal behavior, I highly suggest her book or one of her weekend clinics. You will be amazed on what a difference you can have on an animal's behavior by understanding how their minds work and gearing your handling around that. In case you didn't guess already, this lab got me really excited about llama/alpaca handling and behavior.
Anyway, today I spent all day listening to lectures and the majority of them were really interesting. I won't go too much into that ....Medicine stuff. But there is 3 more days of the conference, so I will be up-to-date on all the llama/alpaca information. :-D
Over and out
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Lots of Random things
I have several very unrelated items to cover so instead of trying to find an imaginative way to transition b/w them I am going to take the easy way out and just make a list (my very favorite way to organize my life).
1. Adam has outdone himself once again. The engineering college at Bucknell has a yearly intercollegiate competition b/w all the engineering departments. One of these categories is a film. So who else would take on the Electrical Engineering film other than Adam. It is his best film yet and due to the riots and rage that flared up when he came in second (b/c his department did not do as exceptional in the other competitions), the committee has decided to change the judging rules of the competition to include more emphasis on the film so that another such defeat will not occur. To view this video go to: http://apitel.no-ip.com/myfilms.html
The newest film is the last one listed.
2. Congrats to Holli and Jason! They are expecting a stork arrival on or around Oct 30, 2006.
3. Some of you may have noticed my blog is having some formatting issues. I am well aware of this but I have been unsuccessful in trying to correct it. If you want to offer your help I would be more than willing to accept :-).
4. I am still in Ohio. I will be here for 2 more weeks. I am doing my Food Animal (Llamas, Alpacas, goats, and sheep) rotation. They were kind of lacking on these types of cases this week and mainly we saw dairy cattle. But we did get a client who brought in their 3 pet camels. I took tons of pictures and I will put them up sometime next week. Next week is Ohio's Camelid Confrence, so I will be assisting in many of these labs.
This weekend I am visiting Logan, Kristin, and Anya in Ann Arbor, MI. Last night, despite getting loss getting out of Columbus, getting a speeding ticket on a side highway (where I realized Ohio's side-highway speed limit is 55mph and not 65mph) from a young guy whose hat barely fit on his head, then following a detour from an "old" detour sign they forgot to take down and ending up in the middle of no where, I was more than happy to end up in Ann Arbor. I will let you know how it goes. All I know is that it was very refreshing to get a good night's sleep.
1. Adam has outdone himself once again. The engineering college at Bucknell has a yearly intercollegiate competition b/w all the engineering departments. One of these categories is a film. So who else would take on the Electrical Engineering film other than Adam. It is his best film yet and due to the riots and rage that flared up when he came in second (b/c his department did not do as exceptional in the other competitions), the committee has decided to change the judging rules of the competition to include more emphasis on the film so that another such defeat will not occur. To view this video go to: http://apitel.no-ip.com/myfilms.html
The newest film is the last one listed.
2. Congrats to Holli and Jason! They are expecting a stork arrival on or around Oct 30, 2006.
3. Some of you may have noticed my blog is having some formatting issues. I am well aware of this but I have been unsuccessful in trying to correct it. If you want to offer your help I would be more than willing to accept :-).
4. I am still in Ohio. I will be here for 2 more weeks. I am doing my Food Animal (Llamas, Alpacas, goats, and sheep) rotation. They were kind of lacking on these types of cases this week and mainly we saw dairy cattle. But we did get a client who brought in their 3 pet camels. I took tons of pictures and I will put them up sometime next week. Next week is Ohio's Camelid Confrence, so I will be assisting in many of these labs.
This weekend I am visiting Logan, Kristin, and Anya in Ann Arbor, MI. Last night, despite getting loss getting out of Columbus, getting a speeding ticket on a side highway (where I realized Ohio's side-highway speed limit is 55mph and not 65mph) from a young guy whose hat barely fit on his head, then following a detour from an "old" detour sign they forgot to take down and ending up in the middle of no where, I was more than happy to end up in Ann Arbor. I will let you know how it goes. All I know is that it was very refreshing to get a good night's sleep.
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Babies?
For those of you who asked if I was pregnant or if I was going to be pregnant soon, and yes there was more than a couple of you who addressed the question in the last week..... no, I am not pregnant and it isn't likely in the near future. Sorry for the disappointment. However we got news this week that my cousin Jenny is going to be having a girl. Congrats Jenny!
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Updates about Brooke
Hello ALL family and friends.
I guess you can call this a late holiday letter, a belated Valentine's hello, or just a late Saturday night in which I got some time to up date you all on what I have been up to since oh....Thanksgiving. This may be long, so grab some popcorn and a diet Dr. Pepper and lets get started :-D and go back to December.
Two days before my birthday I took one final test, what my whole veteriary education had lead up to. My national board exams. Yes is was a 10 hour trivial pursuit of veterinary medicine. I had questions from alligator vitamin deficiencies, to random pet bird disease, to the ever so common dilemma of putting a rapid cow into the food chain. I was patient for ther results for about a month but as the score report dates become more and more delayed the anxiety of me and my classmates began to rise. I had one vivid nightmare after another that I did not pass. The day had come that I had to start driving to my preceptorship in Madison, WI and I still didn't know my score. Well I am driving through the middle of Missori when my friend calls to tell me that the scores are in. After a little encouragement from Nathan over teh phone, I decided to pull off the highway at an "interesting" fireworks warehouse and gas station (not a combination I would think was particulary safe but anyway). I call and the lady told me I PASSED! After thanking her and telling her I love her ( I was slighly emotional), I called Nathan and started bawling. I had convinced myself I didn't pass and I just let out all my stress from the last 4 years or rather 26 years :). I next called my dad at work and told him and my mom (and yes, I was till crying). But it was an unbelievable feeling for the next 6 hours of driving I felt like I was walking in air.
I stopped to stay the night with Grant and Sheryl and was greeted with 2 dozen roses from Nathan, dinner at a Mexican restaurant treated by Grant and Sheryl, and a big bouquet of flowers from my parents.
For the past 3 weeks I got to go to Madison for a preceptorship at a small animal clinic. For the first 1 1/2 week I got to stay with my friend Tami and her husband Sean in their beautiful house. I was never lonely with their 3 cats, 2 labradors, and Weimerer puppy. Then I went to stay with Cameron and his roomies near the capitol. I think his apartment had the very best view in all of Madison. A direct view of the lake from one window and a direct view of the capitol building from the other window. Unfortunetly I couldn't get his roomie's Siameese cat to warm up to me despite the fact it spent one whole night staring at me.
While in Madison I worked at Truedall Animal Hospital. I was extremely impressed with how the hospital was run and the types of clients that it attracted. I decided to use this practice as my standard of the type of medicine I want to practice. They were nice enough to allow me to go out on interviews in the afternoon.
While I was there I sent out 30 resumes and I was suprised at the large percentage of responses I got. Of course with these responses I realized I was a little rusty on my Wisconsin geography because I had applied at a couple of places near Lake Superior. But I braved it and started my interviews in the Stephen's Point area. What to say about that? It was an interesting expience and I learned what I don't want from a practice, but I was also disappointed that there are people that practice medicine that way. I did end up canceling some other interviews in that area. Ok, let's cut ot the chase. On my second to last day in Wisconsin, we got a huge snow storm -- so severe that the University of Wisconsin canceled classes for the first time in 16 years. But I had a gut feeling about an interview in Pleasent Prairie. So I started out very slowly and I am glad I did. So I end up at what i think is the right clinic (2 hours early) and go in to introduce myself. All I get is blank looks, I verify that this is the Care Animal Hospital. But the docs I was suppose to interview with didn't work there. I said..."Well this is embarressing". They try to help me out but I am a bit confused myself. Luckily Nathan and his handy computer came to save the day. He finally figured out there is another Care Animal Hospital south of Milwaukee, owned by the docs I was suppose to interview with. Thankfully I was so early.
When I arrived at the night clinic I walked in and it was beautiful and they were busy despite the snow. The doc I was interviewing with was in surgery (an orthopedic one, which excited me). After the surgery I shadowed her around to appointments and loved the cliente (they were all professionals and no one bargained prices). The staff where certified techs and even after a very long day people were still having a good time.
Whew...I almost fell asleep while writing, so i had to take a sleep break. Anyway I am back now. Anyway our personalities really clicked and they offered me a job after looking for someone for almost a year. I officially accepted this week. So where is this place? It is in Pleasent Prairie, Wisconsin. It is right b/w Milwaukee and Chicago, 6 minutes from Gurnee Mills Shopping and Six Flags :-D, 40 minutes from O'Hare airport, 25 minutes from Milwaukee International Airport. A little history about pleasent prairie? Well it use to be a very blue collar area until many of the factories closed down 10-15 years ago. As these people moved away to find better jobs, more professionals started moving since it is so close to 2 big cities. Everything after that is history. The population is growing very rapidly. Want some more info on Pleasent Prairie? Go to: http://www.pleasantprairieonline.com/ Nathan and I plan on renting an apartment for a couple of months until we can find a nice house to buy. Of course it may be diffucult finding an apartment since many places don't allow dogs (but they do allow cats). Anyway, my start date is June 1st?
So what about Nathan? Nathan's company is making some major changes. They hired a new CEO who has lots of experience of taking small companies and turning them into $50 million dollar companies (at which point he moves on to a new small company). They just finished getting rid of some "extra bagagge" and are now in the process of hiring lots of people, a process in which Nathan has taken part in. But through many resumes and interviews Nathan was able to sift through the applicant pool to find people with good potential. Next month his company is moving into a new building in the Bricktown district in Oklahoma City
http://www.bricktownokc.com/ his companies url is: http://www.amcat.com/ . Nathan talked to his boss this week and he will continue to work for Amcat after we move via telacommuting (I think that is the right word). That way he won't feel pressured to take a job that may not suit him in Wisconsin.
Ok, so where am I now? I am in Ohio for the next 6 weeks. I am going a 3 week preceptorship with Dr. Dyce an orthopedic surgeron at Ohio State University. I am having a blast. I am learning how to do complete orthopedic exams, how to manage wound, and I get to watch some cool surgeries. My second 3 weeks here i am going over to food animal and I am going to do a preceptor with Dr. Anderson, the world renound alpaca man.
OH! let's not forget to boys. Mason is doing great. During my last rotation at Oklahoma state before heading up north, I got to do some more x-rays of him. He is looking great. He has a couple of small stones in his bladder but they don't seem to be bothering him at this point. While I am gone Nathan and Mason are bonding .... Nathan is enjoying teaching Mason how to sit and stay :-) (keeping mouth closed here..lol) and Nathan got a new pooper scooper so they can pick up poop together. Oscar is as good as ever. He has a new friend that will come over for play dates every so often. She hissed at him at first, but Oscar was patient and then they just hit it off and started playing. Harry is also doing well....although he doesn't appreciate Oscar using his cage as a back up litter box now that his cage is next to Oscar's real litter box. But we are working on htat.
Oh yes, I forgot one more thing. I found a Jack Russell dog for my parents. Kelsey is a 2 year old Jack Russell that was presented to Ohio State with a broken jaw. After a little investigation through radiographs and biopsies (to rule out cancer - which was negative). The owners did not have the money or didn't want to put the money into helping her so they surrendered her to the Humane Society. Well there was an intern who loves Jack Russells and immediately began to foster and nurse her until Dr. Dyce returned from England. She fed her by a syringe and took her everywhere. When Dr. Dyce got back he wanted to first see if it would heal well by herself. But this week he was not comfortable with the stability of the healing process and wants to put a plate in. He guarenteeed she would be normal after that. The intern would love to keep Kelsey but she said it is really hard to find places to live when you own more than one dog. So I have been keeping an eye on her this week to see if there is anything "wrong" with her. She loves to sit on your lap and to find warm places. Her favorite thing to do is be near people. She is house trained and loves the trick "Bang bang" where she rolls over and plays dead. She only barks when she has to go to the bathroom and will jump in your lap. She is otherwise very healthy and likes other dogs. So despite being a Jack Russell she is not spiteful and over engergetic like one. So she is going to become a Pitel. The surgery is going to be covered by the school and she will be having this week. So wish her luck :-D
Dad's building is really coming along. They started putting the steal beams up this week. Here is a link to some pictures: http://pitel.no-ip.com:8080/ira/main.php . The business is really booming and dad has had to rent some more space to handle all the orders. For those of you who don't know, he is building a new facility in Flemington, NJ that will be 22,000 sq feet (I think). We are all very proud of him. http://www.magna-power.com/ Website compliments of Adam and Grant.
Nathan's mom also opened her new salon Salon DiAmici this past month and it is going better then ever expected. Clients who left the old salon they use to work at due to the poor attitudes of the owners are now returning to Jan's new salon. The vibe of the place has made a 180 degree turnaround. We are also proud of her success. www.salondiamici.com Webpage compliments of Nathan.
Grant received his Masters this past fall and is now working towards his PhD. Yea Grant! Adam is doing excellent in school and is getting a great reputation in the engineering school for his film making abilities. He made a very popular National Geographic type documentary on the behavior of the electrical engineer that I look forward to seeing on http://apitel.no-ip.com/myfilms.html very soon (hint hint).
Ok so I am about done here. I now I forgot things so sorry. But if you still haven't had enough of us... go to http://saturn49.dyndns.org:8008/gallery2/main.php
I guess you can call this a late holiday letter, a belated Valentine's hello, or just a late Saturday night in which I got some time to up date you all on what I have been up to since oh....Thanksgiving. This may be long, so grab some popcorn and a diet Dr. Pepper and lets get started :-D and go back to December.
Two days before my birthday I took one final test, what my whole veteriary education had lead up to. My national board exams. Yes is was a 10 hour trivial pursuit of veterinary medicine. I had questions from alligator vitamin deficiencies, to random pet bird disease, to the ever so common dilemma of putting a rapid cow into the food chain. I was patient for ther results for about a month but as the score report dates become more and more delayed the anxiety of me and my classmates began to rise. I had one vivid nightmare after another that I did not pass. The day had come that I had to start driving to my preceptorship in Madison, WI and I still didn't know my score. Well I am driving through the middle of Missori when my friend calls to tell me that the scores are in. After a little encouragement from Nathan over teh phone, I decided to pull off the highway at an "interesting" fireworks warehouse and gas station (not a combination I would think was particulary safe but anyway). I call and the lady told me I PASSED! After thanking her and telling her I love her ( I was slighly emotional), I called Nathan and started bawling. I had convinced myself I didn't pass and I just let out all my stress from the last 4 years or rather 26 years :). I next called my dad at work and told him and my mom (and yes, I was till crying). But it was an unbelievable feeling for the next 6 hours of driving I felt like I was walking in air.
I stopped to stay the night with Grant and Sheryl and was greeted with 2 dozen roses from Nathan, dinner at a Mexican restaurant treated by Grant and Sheryl, and a big bouquet of flowers from my parents.
For the past 3 weeks I got to go to Madison for a preceptorship at a small animal clinic. For the first 1 1/2 week I got to stay with my friend Tami and her husband Sean in their beautiful house. I was never lonely with their 3 cats, 2 labradors, and Weimerer puppy. Then I went to stay with Cameron and his roomies near the capitol. I think his apartment had the very best view in all of Madison. A direct view of the lake from one window and a direct view of the capitol building from the other window. Unfortunetly I couldn't get his roomie's Siameese cat to warm up to me despite the fact it spent one whole night staring at me.
While in Madison I worked at Truedall Animal Hospital. I was extremely impressed with how the hospital was run and the types of clients that it attracted. I decided to use this practice as my standard of the type of medicine I want to practice. They were nice enough to allow me to go out on interviews in the afternoon.
While I was there I sent out 30 resumes and I was suprised at the large percentage of responses I got. Of course with these responses I realized I was a little rusty on my Wisconsin geography because I had applied at a couple of places near Lake Superior. But I braved it and started my interviews in the Stephen's Point area. What to say about that? It was an interesting expience and I learned what I don't want from a practice, but I was also disappointed that there are people that practice medicine that way. I did end up canceling some other interviews in that area. Ok, let's cut ot the chase. On my second to last day in Wisconsin, we got a huge snow storm -- so severe that the University of Wisconsin canceled classes for the first time in 16 years. But I had a gut feeling about an interview in Pleasent Prairie. So I started out very slowly and I am glad I did. So I end up at what i think is the right clinic (2 hours early) and go in to introduce myself. All I get is blank looks, I verify that this is the Care Animal Hospital. But the docs I was suppose to interview with didn't work there. I said..."Well this is embarressing". They try to help me out but I am a bit confused myself. Luckily Nathan and his handy computer came to save the day. He finally figured out there is another Care Animal Hospital south of Milwaukee, owned by the docs I was suppose to interview with. Thankfully I was so early.
When I arrived at the night clinic I walked in and it was beautiful and they were busy despite the snow. The doc I was interviewing with was in surgery (an orthopedic one, which excited me). After the surgery I shadowed her around to appointments and loved the cliente (they were all professionals and no one bargained prices). The staff where certified techs and even after a very long day people were still having a good time.
Whew...I almost fell asleep while writing, so i had to take a sleep break. Anyway I am back now. Anyway our personalities really clicked and they offered me a job after looking for someone for almost a year. I officially accepted this week. So where is this place? It is in Pleasent Prairie, Wisconsin. It is right b/w Milwaukee and Chicago, 6 minutes from Gurnee Mills Shopping and Six Flags :-D, 40 minutes from O'Hare airport, 25 minutes from Milwaukee International Airport. A little history about pleasent prairie? Well it use to be a very blue collar area until many of the factories closed down 10-15 years ago. As these people moved away to find better jobs, more professionals started moving since it is so close to 2 big cities. Everything after that is history. The population is growing very rapidly. Want some more info on Pleasent Prairie? Go to: http://www.pleasantprairieonline.com/ Nathan and I plan on renting an apartment for a couple of months until we can find a nice house to buy. Of course it may be diffucult finding an apartment since many places don't allow dogs (but they do allow cats). Anyway, my start date is June 1st?
So what about Nathan? Nathan's company is making some major changes. They hired a new CEO who has lots of experience of taking small companies and turning them into $50 million dollar companies (at which point he moves on to a new small company). They just finished getting rid of some "extra bagagge" and are now in the process of hiring lots of people, a process in which Nathan has taken part in. But through many resumes and interviews Nathan was able to sift through the applicant pool to find people with good potential. Next month his company is moving into a new building in the Bricktown district in Oklahoma City
http://www.bricktownokc.com/ his companies url is: http://www.amcat.com/ . Nathan talked to his boss this week and he will continue to work for Amcat after we move via telacommuting (I think that is the right word). That way he won't feel pressured to take a job that may not suit him in Wisconsin.
Ok, so where am I now? I am in Ohio for the next 6 weeks. I am going a 3 week preceptorship with Dr. Dyce an orthopedic surgeron at Ohio State University. I am having a blast. I am learning how to do complete orthopedic exams, how to manage wound, and I get to watch some cool surgeries. My second 3 weeks here i am going over to food animal and I am going to do a preceptor with Dr. Anderson, the world renound alpaca man.
OH! let's not forget to boys. Mason is doing great. During my last rotation at Oklahoma state before heading up north, I got to do some more x-rays of him. He is looking great. He has a couple of small stones in his bladder but they don't seem to be bothering him at this point. While I am gone Nathan and Mason are bonding .... Nathan is enjoying teaching Mason how to sit and stay :-) (keeping mouth closed here..lol) and Nathan got a new pooper scooper so they can pick up poop together. Oscar is as good as ever. He has a new friend that will come over for play dates every so often. She hissed at him at first, but Oscar was patient and then they just hit it off and started playing. Harry is also doing well....although he doesn't appreciate Oscar using his cage as a back up litter box now that his cage is next to Oscar's real litter box. But we are working on htat.
Oh yes, I forgot one more thing. I found a Jack Russell dog for my parents. Kelsey is a 2 year old Jack Russell that was presented to Ohio State with a broken jaw. After a little investigation through radiographs and biopsies (to rule out cancer - which was negative). The owners did not have the money or didn't want to put the money into helping her so they surrendered her to the Humane Society. Well there was an intern who loves Jack Russells and immediately began to foster and nurse her until Dr. Dyce returned from England. She fed her by a syringe and took her everywhere. When Dr. Dyce got back he wanted to first see if it would heal well by herself. But this week he was not comfortable with the stability of the healing process and wants to put a plate in. He guarenteeed she would be normal after that. The intern would love to keep Kelsey but she said it is really hard to find places to live when you own more than one dog. So I have been keeping an eye on her this week to see if there is anything "wrong" with her. She loves to sit on your lap and to find warm places. Her favorite thing to do is be near people. She is house trained and loves the trick "Bang bang" where she rolls over and plays dead. She only barks when she has to go to the bathroom and will jump in your lap. She is otherwise very healthy and likes other dogs. So despite being a Jack Russell she is not spiteful and over engergetic like one. So she is going to become a Pitel. The surgery is going to be covered by the school and she will be having this week. So wish her luck :-D
Dad's building is really coming along. They started putting the steal beams up this week. Here is a link to some pictures: http://pitel.no-ip.com:8080/ira/main.php . The business is really booming and dad has had to rent some more space to handle all the orders. For those of you who don't know, he is building a new facility in Flemington, NJ that will be 22,000 sq feet (I think). We are all very proud of him. http://www.magna-power.com/ Website compliments of Adam and Grant.
Nathan's mom also opened her new salon Salon DiAmici this past month and it is going better then ever expected. Clients who left the old salon they use to work at due to the poor attitudes of the owners are now returning to Jan's new salon. The vibe of the place has made a 180 degree turnaround. We are also proud of her success. www.salondiamici.com Webpage compliments of Nathan.
Grant received his Masters this past fall and is now working towards his PhD. Yea Grant! Adam is doing excellent in school and is getting a great reputation in the engineering school for his film making abilities. He made a very popular National Geographic type documentary on the behavior of the electrical engineer that I look forward to seeing on http://apitel.no-ip.com/myfilms.html very soon (hint hint).
Ok so I am about done here. I now I forgot things so sorry. But if you still haven't had enough of us... go to http://saturn49.dyndns.org:8008/gallery2/main.php
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Things I am Thankful For
I know it is a couple of days after Thanksgiving but I still intend to remember the things I am thankful for. So here I go:
1. I am thankful for Nathan. No matter how frustrated or sad I have come home from school this year, he has always been patient and understanding through all my venting and sometimes even tears.
2. I am thankful for all my family. As my family continues to grow and we seem to spread out further and further, I am comforted to know that they are all healthy and safe. I am thankful for the memories they have all given me and I hope they all know how much I miss them.
3. I am thankful for my furry critters. Despite Mason's extrodinary age, he continues to offer love to all he comes in contact with. Him and Oscar have brought joy to so many in this town and they will not be easily forgotten. I am thankful that Harry was found after getting lost.
4. I am thankful for the fact I have made it so far in veterinary school when at one time the path seem endless. Now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
5. I am thankful that I have the opporutunity to do crafts. Without this outlet I fear intense burnout but instead get to express some of my own creative juices.
6. I am thankful that my time here in Oklahoma is almost comepleted. At times it has been a rough ride but I have learned some critial lessons on the importance of education, tolerance of others, and acceptance of those who may be different from you.
7. I am thankful for my own health. I am thankful for the gift to be able to walk with Nathan and Mason each night, to be able to see the world before me, and to ear everyday sounds.
8. I am thankful to live in a part of the country where I can express myself, have opinions, vote, and to have every door open to me.
Happy Thanksgiving!
1. I am thankful for Nathan. No matter how frustrated or sad I have come home from school this year, he has always been patient and understanding through all my venting and sometimes even tears.
2. I am thankful for all my family. As my family continues to grow and we seem to spread out further and further, I am comforted to know that they are all healthy and safe. I am thankful for the memories they have all given me and I hope they all know how much I miss them.
3. I am thankful for my furry critters. Despite Mason's extrodinary age, he continues to offer love to all he comes in contact with. Him and Oscar have brought joy to so many in this town and they will not be easily forgotten. I am thankful that Harry was found after getting lost.
4. I am thankful for the fact I have made it so far in veterinary school when at one time the path seem endless. Now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
5. I am thankful that I have the opporutunity to do crafts. Without this outlet I fear intense burnout but instead get to express some of my own creative juices.
6. I am thankful that my time here in Oklahoma is almost comepleted. At times it has been a rough ride but I have learned some critial lessons on the importance of education, tolerance of others, and acceptance of those who may be different from you.
7. I am thankful for my own health. I am thankful for the gift to be able to walk with Nathan and Mason each night, to be able to see the world before me, and to ear everyday sounds.
8. I am thankful to live in a part of the country where I can express myself, have opinions, vote, and to have every door open to me.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Saturday, November 05, 2005
Black Friday
Black Friday is just around the corner and so you know what that means!!!! SALES!
What is Black Friday? Historically, Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) refers to the busiest shopping day of the year and the "official" start of the holiday season. So why is just a glorious day have such a dark name? Well for most of the year, retailer's accounting books show no net profit and thus are marked in red. But it is on this day they cross the profit making line and thus their books now show black.
Want to know where you can get in on these sales? Keep an eye on
Black Friday 2005
What is Black Friday? Historically, Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) refers to the busiest shopping day of the year and the "official" start of the holiday season. So why is just a glorious day have such a dark name? Well for most of the year, retailer's accounting books show no net profit and thus are marked in red. But it is on this day they cross the profit making line and thus their books now show black.
Want to know where you can get in on these sales? Keep an eye on
Black Friday 2005
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Links to Pumpkin Carving Templates
Why is it that every year around this time we have the strong urge to take a sharp knife to a large round veggie inorder to gorge out its insides and carve holes into the outside to reveal image that can be illuminated during that one special night?
Why do we call it a Jack-O-Lantern? Well at the risk of plagerisim I will just give you a link. It is actually an interesting story involving Stingy Jack and the Devil.
History of the Pumpkin
How to find pumpkin tempalates?
The Pumpkin Lady
Pumpkin Glow
Jack-O-Patterns
Masterpiece Pumpkins
Halloween Pumpkins
Extreme Pumpkins
Spook Master
Zombie Pumpkin
HP Activity Center
Original Pumpkin Carving Patterns
Pumpkin Plans
The Pumpkin Farm
Pumpkin carving template for sports fans
Templates from Firebox
Templates from Windows
Templates from Hormel Foods
Notre Dame Templates
Bush Template
Well it is getting late...More updates later.. Don't forget to set your clocks back.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Laughing at the News
It is a little after 1am and I am trying to keep myself up so I can get on a night schedule for this week. Anyway, I just wanted to comment on a couple of articles in the news this week.
First let me escort you back to the first 2 words of this article. Oklahoma City. I have to say, this fact didn't surprise me. Of course it is a bit strange to pay homage to a member of a team that is oh..let's say 1000 miles away? Pay homage. Now let's remind ourselves what the definition is:
Ok. So let me get this straight. So Mr. Torpy wants to public declare his respect (or probably obsession) for Bird by serving 3 extra years for a PRISON sentence b/c he shot someone. Wouldn't 33 roses have accomplished the same thing? Lucky for Bird, this guy will be indisposed for the lucky 33 years.
Ok. The next article...well it really isn't an article it is just my reaction to a segment on CNN after the Washington bomb scare on Friday. The reporter explained a few of the following details:
He also mentioned something about how spiderman was after him and some other really off the wall stuff. Now what was really funny is that the reporter said it with a straight face. Not even a grimace. That is impressive, b/c I was laughing pretty hard.
Anyway, I think my brain is beginning to go into "sleep" mode so I am off to get a caffeinated product.
Until later.
Man sought to match Bird's No. 33
OKLAHOMA CITY -- A man got a prison term longer than prosecutors and defense attorneys had agreed to -- all because of Larry Bird.
The lawyers reached a plea agreement this week for a 30-year term for a man accused of shooting with an intent to kill and robbery. But Eric James Torpy wanted his prison term to match Bird's jersey number 33.
"He said if he was going to go down, he was going to go down in Larry Bird's jersey," Oklahoma County District Judge Ray Elliott said. "We accommodated his request and he was just as happy as he could be.
"I've never seen anything like this in 26 years in the courthouse. But, I know the DA is happy about it."
First let me escort you back to the first 2 words of this article. Oklahoma City. I have to say, this fact didn't surprise me. Of course it is a bit strange to pay homage to a member of a team that is oh..let's say 1000 miles away? Pay homage. Now let's remind ourselves what the definition is:
Homage is generally used in modern English to mean any public show of respect to someone to whom you feel indebted
Ok. So let me get this straight. So Mr. Torpy wants to public declare his respect (or probably obsession) for Bird by serving 3 extra years for a PRISON sentence b/c he shot someone. Wouldn't 33 roses have accomplished the same thing? Lucky for Bird, this guy will be indisposed for the lucky 33 years.
Ok. The next article...well it really isn't an article it is just my reaction to a segment on CNN after the Washington bomb scare on Friday. The reporter explained a few of the following details:
"claimed he was best friends with the president,"
He also mentioned something about how spiderman was after him and some other really off the wall stuff. Now what was really funny is that the reporter said it with a straight face. Not even a grimace. That is impressive, b/c I was laughing pretty hard.
Anyway, I think my brain is beginning to go into "sleep" mode so I am off to get a caffeinated product.
Until later.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Disney or the Caribbean !
You love to have fun, meet new people and things
like that... for you the trip must be really
fun!
Where should U go on vacation ?(with pics)
brought to you by Quizilla
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Acorns and ICU
Mason has been limping for a week and didn't seem to get any better. Historically, Mason isn't the most graceful dog and occasionally sprains something a limps for a few days. But I never saw him lick the top of his paw like he was now doing. I applied different types of pressures to his paw and moved it in all these directions and he elicited no pain...hmm, that was strange.
At school I brought this issue up and one of my classmate suggested that I really put my fingers up under his pads b/c goldens in Oklahoma tend to get things stuck up there. Ok. So when I got home after 12 that night I felt up in his pad and he tried to pull away as though it was painful. When I pulled my figure out I smelled a Staph. infection. So something was up, but I couldn't see with the light in the family room or without shaving.
The next night Nathan brought him up to school while I was on my ICU shift. We lifted him on the table and I shaved all the long airs off. I still couldn't see the problem. When I put a bright light up there I saw one of his pads was swelled and lacerated. I started pulled on the dried up pus and finally i pulled out 1/2 an acorn. How could he have fit 1/2 acorn up there is beyond me, but after we cleaned it up and wrapped it with bandages he was no longer limping and resumed being a happy doggie.
ICU Rotation
I am on my ICU rotation. What is that? Well all the small animal intensive care cases (the dogs on fluids, the hit by cars, the post-op dogs, the ashma cat...etc) go into ICU. They had this crazy schedule where you may work 7:30-4p one day and 12am-9am the next day, so my sleep schedule is totally wached. Nathan took this schedule a worked on it like a logic problem and ended up producing a really effecient schedule for future rotations...yea Nathan! Extra brownie points for me.
Anyway, I have learned quite a bit. I am practicing puting in catheters on legs. But I have gotten to put in a urinary catheter, a central venous catheter (in the neck), make up fluids, calculate fluid and drug dosages, etc etc. I think this is mainly a skills based rotation b/c in practice our techs will do most of this stuff but I guess we have to know how to do it so we can teach them.
One thing that has been sad is that we have had several animals who came in and were terminally ill. They were in pain, they were suffering, and their owners for one reason or another wouldn't put them down. I understand that isn't my decision to make and thus I can express my opinions in this format. Let's take Mason or Cody as an example. They have served as my devoted companions through thick and thin for over 11 years. No matter how busy I was or how long I was gone, they never questioned my love for them. They have stayed by my side. It would literally tear my insides out to have to watch my devoted companions, my loved ones die in such agony, to live in such an undignified matter, to sit there through their suffering being unable to help heal my own suffering.
So when is enough, enough? I have thought this many times myself and I asked a professor once who gave me an extremely insightful answer. Think of 3 things your animal LOVES to do. When your animal can no do these things then it may be time.
At school I brought this issue up and one of my classmate suggested that I really put my fingers up under his pads b/c goldens in Oklahoma tend to get things stuck up there. Ok. So when I got home after 12 that night I felt up in his pad and he tried to pull away as though it was painful. When I pulled my figure out I smelled a Staph. infection. So something was up, but I couldn't see with the light in the family room or without shaving.
The next night Nathan brought him up to school while I was on my ICU shift. We lifted him on the table and I shaved all the long airs off. I still couldn't see the problem. When I put a bright light up there I saw one of his pads was swelled and lacerated. I started pulled on the dried up pus and finally i pulled out 1/2 an acorn. How could he have fit 1/2 acorn up there is beyond me, but after we cleaned it up and wrapped it with bandages he was no longer limping and resumed being a happy doggie.
ICU Rotation
I am on my ICU rotation. What is that? Well all the small animal intensive care cases (the dogs on fluids, the hit by cars, the post-op dogs, the ashma cat...etc) go into ICU. They had this crazy schedule where you may work 7:30-4p one day and 12am-9am the next day, so my sleep schedule is totally wached. Nathan took this schedule a worked on it like a logic problem and ended up producing a really effecient schedule for future rotations...yea Nathan! Extra brownie points for me.
Anyway, I have learned quite a bit. I am practicing puting in catheters on legs. But I have gotten to put in a urinary catheter, a central venous catheter (in the neck), make up fluids, calculate fluid and drug dosages, etc etc. I think this is mainly a skills based rotation b/c in practice our techs will do most of this stuff but I guess we have to know how to do it so we can teach them.
One thing that has been sad is that we have had several animals who came in and were terminally ill. They were in pain, they were suffering, and their owners for one reason or another wouldn't put them down. I understand that isn't my decision to make and thus I can express my opinions in this format. Let's take Mason or Cody as an example. They have served as my devoted companions through thick and thin for over 11 years. No matter how busy I was or how long I was gone, they never questioned my love for them. They have stayed by my side. It would literally tear my insides out to have to watch my devoted companions, my loved ones die in such agony, to live in such an undignified matter, to sit there through their suffering being unable to help heal my own suffering.
So when is enough, enough? I have thought this many times myself and I asked a professor once who gave me an extremely insightful answer. Think of 3 things your animal LOVES to do. When your animal can no do these things then it may be time.
Podcasts
The other day (or rather the other week) I fired up my itunes program and for what seemed like the millionth time, the computer asked me to update my itunes software...........FINE!
After all was said and done, I notice this new menu..Podcast...what is that?
It seemed like a bunch of different internet radio shows that I could listen to on my own time without commercials. Cool!
So what has attracted me interest in the podcast world?
1. NPR's Story of the Day - this is a collection of stories about what many would think of as ordinary people and kind of gives a little insight about them.
2. Two Minute Photoshop Tricks : This is a great little podcast that allows you to tackle photoshop, one element at a time. I have been using Photoshop since about 2000 and I never new that CTRL + SHIFT + O opened a file brower menu where you could rename files in batches or add on copyright details to them.
3. Digital Photograph Tips From the Top Floor : I am not sure what i think about this yet. I may go back and listen to quiet a few of them when I have time to play with my camera (or when I get a new Digital Camera...hint, hint see Wish List ). There are alot of interviews with famous photographers. Let you know more about this later.
4. Mondays: What Sunday Threw up This is kind of has a Geek "Daily Show" feel to it. They talk about weird stuff you can buy off the internet (some of it you may actualyl find useful)and segments like "You are Dumber Than me" (one episode described a crack addict pulled over by a cop and his drug sniffing dog and how the addict tried to distract the dog by throwing dog treats out the window). But they have on a few occasions had to made public apologies for offending one group or another, so if you are easily offended I would not listen.
5. MuggleNet We all have dirty secrets...well I like Harry Potter and I have no problem listening to this 16 year old and 20 year old discuss HP. It is actually more insightful than you would think and they try to have intellegent answers to everyone's questions.
6.Purina Well since Purina is the greatest Pet food company, how could their podcast be any bad? This is acually taken from a radio show segment in St. Louis (Purina's headquarters) where they have a vet who answers questions and provides explainations for those ever present mysteries, like ...why do cats purr? I have actually learned a few things from him.
7. Newsweek on the Air This is a weekly program about various highlights in the news. Hard to say much about it, but if you are a CNN or MSNBC watching type of person you will probably enjoy this. I have enjoyed some of their stories (esecially about the Bird Flu)
8. Phone Taps, Romeo's Celebrity Crank Calls, Z100 Interviews, Adventures of Greg T the Frat Boy I grew up listening to NYC's Z100. And I just about flipped when I saw this on itunes. Nothing brings back more memories of the tri-state area then a pissed off Brooklyn, Italian, man who is being lead on by a loved one over the radio. Great stuff.
9. Science Friday Just because I don't have class doesn't mean I am not interested in learning a little science. The dog flu was especially interesting (and I hope will be helpful on my boards).
10. SCRAPcast I originally thought, how can you talk about scrapbooking with no visuals? Well this lady does a fantastic job about talking about her own experiences or describing projects. I learned a ton on how to organize my scrapstuff. One of my favorites.
11. Street Stories Everyone has an interesting story to tell and this cast tells it. Quite inspiring.
12. Genealogy Guys Here is my other secret...I am a genealogy buff. I love family history. I so wish this podcast aired more than once a week, I have learned a ton just from the few I have listened to. They talk about everything genealogy from DNA genealogy to Genealogy confrences. And if you have questions, they will try take them into consideration for future shows.
13. Who Said Are you a literature buff? Well test your knowledge. This caster will read an excerp from a book or poem and you have to think of who said it. She reveals the answer on the next pod cast.
Others - These are some new ones that I haven't really checked out yet but I am working on it.
Crafty Chica
Craft Pod
Enjoy!
After all was said and done, I notice this new menu..Podcast...what is that?
It seemed like a bunch of different internet radio shows that I could listen to on my own time without commercials. Cool!
So what has attracted me interest in the podcast world?
1. NPR's Story of the Day - this is a collection of stories about what many would think of as ordinary people and kind of gives a little insight about them.
2. Two Minute Photoshop Tricks : This is a great little podcast that allows you to tackle photoshop, one element at a time. I have been using Photoshop since about 2000 and I never new that CTRL + SHIFT + O opened a file brower menu where you could rename files in batches or add on copyright details to them.
3. Digital Photograph Tips From the Top Floor : I am not sure what i think about this yet. I may go back and listen to quiet a few of them when I have time to play with my camera (or when I get a new Digital Camera...hint, hint see Wish List ). There are alot of interviews with famous photographers. Let you know more about this later.
4. Mondays: What Sunday Threw up This is kind of has a Geek "Daily Show" feel to it. They talk about weird stuff you can buy off the internet (some of it you may actualyl find useful)and segments like "You are Dumber Than me" (one episode described a crack addict pulled over by a cop and his drug sniffing dog and how the addict tried to distract the dog by throwing dog treats out the window). But they have on a few occasions had to made public apologies for offending one group or another, so if you are easily offended I would not listen.
5. MuggleNet We all have dirty secrets...well I like Harry Potter and I have no problem listening to this 16 year old and 20 year old discuss HP. It is actually more insightful than you would think and they try to have intellegent answers to everyone's questions.
6.Purina Well since Purina is the greatest Pet food company, how could their podcast be any bad? This is acually taken from a radio show segment in St. Louis (Purina's headquarters) where they have a vet who answers questions and provides explainations for those ever present mysteries, like ...why do cats purr? I have actually learned a few things from him.
7. Newsweek on the Air This is a weekly program about various highlights in the news. Hard to say much about it, but if you are a CNN or MSNBC watching type of person you will probably enjoy this. I have enjoyed some of their stories (esecially about the Bird Flu)
8. Phone Taps, Romeo's Celebrity Crank Calls, Z100 Interviews, Adventures of Greg T the Frat Boy I grew up listening to NYC's Z100. And I just about flipped when I saw this on itunes. Nothing brings back more memories of the tri-state area then a pissed off Brooklyn, Italian, man who is being lead on by a loved one over the radio. Great stuff.
9. Science Friday Just because I don't have class doesn't mean I am not interested in learning a little science. The dog flu was especially interesting (and I hope will be helpful on my boards).
10. SCRAPcast I originally thought, how can you talk about scrapbooking with no visuals? Well this lady does a fantastic job about talking about her own experiences or describing projects. I learned a ton on how to organize my scrapstuff. One of my favorites.
11. Street Stories Everyone has an interesting story to tell and this cast tells it. Quite inspiring.
12. Genealogy Guys Here is my other secret...I am a genealogy buff. I love family history. I so wish this podcast aired more than once a week, I have learned a ton just from the few I have listened to. They talk about everything genealogy from DNA genealogy to Genealogy confrences. And if you have questions, they will try take them into consideration for future shows.
13. Who Said Are you a literature buff? Well test your knowledge. This caster will read an excerp from a book or poem and you have to think of who said it. She reveals the answer on the next pod cast.
Others - These are some new ones that I haven't really checked out yet but I am working on it.
Crafty Chica
Craft Pod
Enjoy!
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Humping Puppy
Last night, Nathan was playing around with the outside light. When he opened the door he saw this dog but ran off at the sight of him. A few minutes later, I saw Mason's tail in the backyard start to wag and I went outside again and saw the pup. The dog ran away again. A few minutes after that, I hear it whining and I got in the backyard and the pup has run around the duplexes to the back of the fence and was trying to get in to be with Mason. At this point I opened the fence and used Mason to try to get the pup to come back over to the front of the house and get into the gate, which he did. I quickely put Mason in the house so I could get closer to the dog. It looked like a border terrier mix, young (1yr), unneutered but it would come close to me. Nathan and I sat on the swing for a while but he wasn't interested. Nathan went back in and I decided to pat the space next to me...and POP, up came the dog onto my lap. He was a nudgy little thing too when I stopped petting him, and even gave me a little kiss. He didn't look like a stray, well fed and a very clean/shiny coat. But after he had his fill of petting he started humping my arm and then my leg. But at this point I had to go up to school to take a radiograph a ferret so, I left him outside and left. When I came back, Nathan said the pup had been crying and howling the whole time. Being too tired to deal with it, I just closed the blinds and hoped he would settle down outside and then today I would look for his owners. And after a little while he did quiet down. This morning I got up and he was gone. He had dug a little hole in the same place where Harry got out and left. I hope he found his way home.
Finding Harry
Ok, so I forgot to finish the epic of finding Harry. As the day went on Nathan finally called those guys on my cell phone and then his. Of course they stopped answering and we were rerouted to their voice mail. This guy is named Casey. At this point we just figured that they were druken fools.
Then next morning I get a call and a lady says..."I found your tortoise!" I was so excited. She gave me her address and I threw on some clothes (since I was still in my pjs) and ran over there. And so it happens, this lady and her husband (retirement aged) were moving into their new house, one street above us and they saw this tortoise walking up the street. She remembered seeing my signs hung up around the neighborhood and called. Nathan and I baked them brownies and got to meet their dog. So to make a long story short, Harry is back home.
Then next morning I get a call and a lady says..."I found your tortoise!" I was so excited. She gave me her address and I threw on some clothes (since I was still in my pjs) and ran over there. And so it happens, this lady and her husband (retirement aged) were moving into their new house, one street above us and they saw this tortoise walking up the street. She remembered seeing my signs hung up around the neighborhood and called. Nathan and I baked them brownies and got to meet their dog. So to make a long story short, Harry is back home.
Sunday, September 04, 2005
Lots to Talk about
Wow, it has been a long time since i have written (but isn't that how I start most of my blogs). Lots to talk about, so I will outline my thoughts in attempt to restore some order in my head.
1. It's Labor Day weekend. For a while now I have been thinking of getting Harry a wife b/c I really want to see if I could get them to breed. I have a few "wanted" ads out for a female (and another male or female for Adam). I was even going to build him a nice new cage this weekend. Well I let him outside with Mason, as I always do and when I went to get him at dusk, he was gone. We looked everywhere around the yard and he wasn't around. I only place I can think of that he got out was a small hole where the fence meets the house. But he never goes over to that area. Ok, so this morning I searched for him in the area behind the house. I made up Pet Lost signs and hung them up. I get a calla few hours later from some guy who says he found a tortoise and wanted me to ID him. For crying out loud, I had two pics of him on the flyer with a description of the breed. He then tells me he will have to call back later when I ask if I can take a look at him. I call an hour later and he says his friend is "on the can". Nathan has called 2 times. The guy is not advoiding us. What the really annoying part is, is that I have resucued so many pets while living in these duplexes. I clean them up, feed them, and find where they belong. So why do I deserve to get jacked by one of my low-life neighbors? I have his cell number and his first name and he lives in one if the duplexes around me.
I have more to say on other worldly events but I am too angry right now to go into it. Maybe later.
1. It's Labor Day weekend. For a while now I have been thinking of getting Harry a wife b/c I really want to see if I could get them to breed. I have a few "wanted" ads out for a female (and another male or female for Adam). I was even going to build him a nice new cage this weekend. Well I let him outside with Mason, as I always do and when I went to get him at dusk, he was gone. We looked everywhere around the yard and he wasn't around. I only place I can think of that he got out was a small hole where the fence meets the house. But he never goes over to that area. Ok, so this morning I searched for him in the area behind the house. I made up Pet Lost signs and hung them up. I get a calla few hours later from some guy who says he found a tortoise and wanted me to ID him. For crying out loud, I had two pics of him on the flyer with a description of the breed. He then tells me he will have to call back later when I ask if I can take a look at him. I call an hour later and he says his friend is "on the can". Nathan has called 2 times. The guy is not advoiding us. What the really annoying part is, is that I have resucued so many pets while living in these duplexes. I clean them up, feed them, and find where they belong. So why do I deserve to get jacked by one of my low-life neighbors? I have his cell number and his first name and he lives in one if the duplexes around me.
I have more to say on other worldly events but I am too angry right now to go into it. Maybe later.
Sunday, August 14, 2005
My Weekly Vent
Walmart has been good to us over the last 3 years. I mean they provide us with 90% of everything anyone could possibly want in a small southern town. But are people's lives really that slow that shopping at Wally World needs to be a family outing? It has gotten to the point that I despise going to WM on the weekend. On Sat afternoon, after church on Sundays, lazy Sunday after noons, it doesn't matter their they are parents and their gaggle of kids.
Now they aren't all the same. There are the kids who wonder in the middle of the aisles or in front of your cart clueless to the world here on earth. Then there are the hyperactive, sugar induced, boundless energy rockets who sprint from one thing to another or after each other. What is worst is when these kids get a hold of a cart. NO isn't cute where your little bundle of terror rams into anything stationary or moving. Let's not for get the emotionally charged children, who possess a unique talent of skipping the crying phase of discontent and go right into that bone-chilling, down your spine, nails on the chalkboard scream when they do not get their way. C'mon people, shopping will go MUCH faster if one parent/friend/sig other ---whatever, stays home with the kids while you do your shopping in a more effecient matter. If only there was this much parental participation at the library or in the park.
More Wally World complains from our lovely southern community. Parking. No matter what time of day you visit WM, there are going to be a fair amount of people there with you. Thus there is going to be a fairly large amount of cars in the parking lot. GO WITH THE FLOW PEOPLE! You are not going to melt if you have to walk 10 extra steps int he parking lot, heck most of you can use the extra steps. DON'T HOLD UP TRAFFIC WAITING for a close spot, when there is a free spot only a few steps down. ARG!
Ok, are you wondering why I am cranky? I came home from two wonderful days at a Scrapbook Convention in Tulsa (it was a blast), to a house that was 90 degrees. Nathan is at a customer site, so Mason and Oscar where home alone. Well sometime over the less then 48 hours I was gone, the a/c finally broke (we were waiting for it to die for a few weeks now). The a/c guy says he doesn't want to touch it while it is raining...and of course this is the weekend mother-nature decides to end our drought. So I have the windows open and the fans going. Our bedroom is missing a screen in the window, so I hot glued screen material to the window so I could attempt an airflow system with the fans. But I did not have much luck. Mason can't decide weather he wants to lay outside in the rain where it is cooler or inside where it is dry and hot. I had to lock the screen door since Oscar kept letting himself outside, so he could lay in the grass and graze it.
Ok, I am done ranting for the moment.
Now they aren't all the same. There are the kids who wonder in the middle of the aisles or in front of your cart clueless to the world here on earth. Then there are the hyperactive, sugar induced, boundless energy rockets who sprint from one thing to another or after each other. What is worst is when these kids get a hold of a cart. NO isn't cute where your little bundle of terror rams into anything stationary or moving. Let's not for get the emotionally charged children, who possess a unique talent of skipping the crying phase of discontent and go right into that bone-chilling, down your spine, nails on the chalkboard scream when they do not get their way. C'mon people, shopping will go MUCH faster if one parent/friend/sig other ---whatever, stays home with the kids while you do your shopping in a more effecient matter. If only there was this much parental participation at the library or in the park.
More Wally World complains from our lovely southern community. Parking. No matter what time of day you visit WM, there are going to be a fair amount of people there with you. Thus there is going to be a fairly large amount of cars in the parking lot. GO WITH THE FLOW PEOPLE! You are not going to melt if you have to walk 10 extra steps int he parking lot, heck most of you can use the extra steps. DON'T HOLD UP TRAFFIC WAITING for a close spot, when there is a free spot only a few steps down. ARG!
Ok, are you wondering why I am cranky? I came home from two wonderful days at a Scrapbook Convention in Tulsa (it was a blast), to a house that was 90 degrees. Nathan is at a customer site, so Mason and Oscar where home alone. Well sometime over the less then 48 hours I was gone, the a/c finally broke (we were waiting for it to die for a few weeks now). The a/c guy says he doesn't want to touch it while it is raining...and of course this is the weekend mother-nature decides to end our drought. So I have the windows open and the fans going. Our bedroom is missing a screen in the window, so I hot glued screen material to the window so I could attempt an airflow system with the fans. But I did not have much luck. Mason can't decide weather he wants to lay outside in the rain where it is cooler or inside where it is dry and hot. I had to lock the screen door since Oscar kept letting himself outside, so he could lay in the grass and graze it.
Ok, I am done ranting for the moment.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Man do I miss ice cream!
What is your Icecream Flavour?
Find out at Go Quiz
| Your Icecream Flavour is...Neopolitan! |
 You aren't satisfied with just one flavor. They say variety is the spice of life and this shines through in your Ice cream of choice! Just don't eat all the chocolate and leave the strawberry and vanilla behind! |
Find out at Go Quiz
Back of Rotations
On Monday I started back on my rotation schedule with Anesthesia. I am in it for the long haul now, but the 3 week rotations seem to go fast. I think of all the rotations I was most "unsure" (for lack of a better word) about starting Anesthesia. There are just so many combinations of chemicals that can be used depending on the animal, the age, the disposition, the health problems, the surgical procedure...etc, etc. But even though I have now been though Jr. Surgery and my Animal Shelter rotation where I was responsible for performing anesthesia, I still feel unconfident. I am hoping this will change at the next couple of weeks go on.
Today, was a great treat, as we had a rescued young lion from a local safari sancuary come in to get spayed. I got to be the student anesthesiologist. Even though she was still fairly young and still had most of her kitten we had to take lots of safety precausions. But she was beautiful and still had most of her spots! I never knew that African lions don't lose their spots until they are a couple of years old. The owner (and director of the park) was telling us that many people are trying to breed these lions in captivity (and with poor genetics) , which he didn't agree with, so hence the surgery. He mentioned that some people (not his facility) also gets their exotic cats declawed. I was really suprised at this, since these animals are still considered wild and thus dangerous. Removing their claws is not going to change fact or make them more "tame". Are these people worried about their big cats scratching the furniture? Anyway it was quite an experience and there are pictures on our photo website if you are interested.
Today, was a great treat, as we had a rescued young lion from a local safari sancuary come in to get spayed. I got to be the student anesthesiologist. Even though she was still fairly young and still had most of her kitten we had to take lots of safety precausions. But she was beautiful and still had most of her spots! I never knew that African lions don't lose their spots until they are a couple of years old. The owner (and director of the park) was telling us that many people are trying to breed these lions in captivity (and with poor genetics) , which he didn't agree with, so hence the surgery. He mentioned that some people (not his facility) also gets their exotic cats declawed. I was really suprised at this, since these animals are still considered wild and thus dangerous. Removing their claws is not going to change fact or make them more "tame". Are these people worried about their big cats scratching the furniture? Anyway it was quite an experience and there are pictures on our photo website if you are interested.
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Catching up
Well, it has been awhile (I think I always start my blogs out like that ) but I needed a break from putting my scrapbook projects together (sorry can't disclose the details about it right now). I just finished up my second week of vacation.
On Thursday, I went to a new doctor for a physical and to write some prescriptions for me (of which I already had my NJ doc mail over my medical records). I am sitting on the lovely tissue paper covered exam table when the nurse informs me, the doc won't write my prescriptions b/c he doesn't believe in them. Annoyed, my first thought was "only in Oklahoma", I said there was no point in me being here. Well she talked to another doc in the practice who will write those prescriptions and just happen to have an opening since he was only there for 1/2 a day. So I wait some more and get to see him. In talking I show him my mole on my tummy which had mutated into a 3-D, multi-color, glob (quite unsightly). The coversation went as follows:
Doc: Let's take it off
Me: Today? Here? (with panic in my voice, trying to construct a quick excuse in my head for I am NOT a good patient).
Doc: Sure'
Me: Are you sure? (yes, I know, I need to work on my quick witty answers)
Doc: Sure, why not?
And so I was led off, had the area numbed, and biosied, with 2 stiches to show for it. I told the doc I didn't need to come back to have them taken out...since i have suture scissors at home. But at least he wrote my prescriptions.
Yesterday, Nathan and I took Mason swimming at a rather large man-made ditch up the road. I was hoping to give Mason some theraputic exercise since he can't walk very far anymore. We tried to get him to fetch the sticks but he would go after them and only bring them back half way. At the very end he remembered how to play fetch and would bring the stick back on shore. It is sad to see him get old. I asked my professor once, when do you know it is time. His reply was, think of 3 things your dog loves to do and when he can't do it any longer without showing alot of pain or is no longer interested, then it is time. At least Mason still has great yearnings for his stuff animals and to be petted.
Oscar misses having Anya to play with and his toad seem to have disappeared while on vacation, so he has taken a great attachment to my chest and for 3-4 days after we got back from vacation he was pretty much attached to me. But he still has mini-duck butt. Which brings up a rather unusual situation. He carries around mini-duck butt by the scruff and talked to it. At night (and I mean everynight) he puts duck butt in the water bowl. Now is he trying to bathe it or drown it?
Over vacation, I have been trying to catch up with my books on CD. Here are my synopsis:
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (I actually read this while in Duluth): I enjoyed the alteration of Harry's attitude from angry adolescent to determined and at times horny teen. I think the whole love triangle b/w Ron and Herononie and the others was a bit over done but I guess that is the way it is with most teenagers. But the true question is: Is Snape really evil? Nathan seems to think Snape is really on the side of the Order and had previously worked out with Dumbledore to kill him it the situation arose. I think this makes more and more sense to me, but I will have to wait another 2 years for the answer.
Hiliary Clinton's Living History: Well written and appeared sincere. I still believe Hilary is a brillant, determined, woman who only seems to become stronger with each struggle she has faced in the public eye. I hope that she choses to run in 2008 for president, b/c if any woman had a chance at being elected to office, it would be her.
The Best American Non-Required Reading: A strange set of essays. I really didn't care for most of them. I did like Stuff and Saint Chola. Stuff talked about material belongings from the point of view of a young homeless addict girl/woman. It really makes you think about the things that hold you down and in some cases define who you are. Saint Chola was about a Muslim girl who became of age in today's age in a US jr high school and the strength she found within herself to be proud of her culture and where she came from.
An Unfinshed Life: A story mainly about a young 10 year old girl who has spent her life drifting from one abusive home to another with her mom, only to finally land back with her paternal grandfather who hates his daughter-in-law who was driving the night her husband (his son) died in a drunken car crash. It started off slow and took awhile to get a hold of all the characters but picked up in the middle when the two families back back together. Again, alot of themes about "stuff" and the material things that follow us around but also the search to find a "home" with people you love. A sweet, almost Oprah-ist like book.
The Great Fire: I think I am going to stop listening to this book. There really is no plot line and it is really hard to keep track of all the characters. The transitions from memories to present day is very weak and hard to follow. However, the time period is very interesting (which is why I rented the book in the first place). It takes place in post-war Hiroshima, Japan.
Next: Life of Pi.
Ok that is it for now.
On Thursday, I went to a new doctor for a physical and to write some prescriptions for me (of which I already had my NJ doc mail over my medical records). I am sitting on the lovely tissue paper covered exam table when the nurse informs me, the doc won't write my prescriptions b/c he doesn't believe in them. Annoyed, my first thought was "only in Oklahoma", I said there was no point in me being here. Well she talked to another doc in the practice who will write those prescriptions and just happen to have an opening since he was only there for 1/2 a day. So I wait some more and get to see him. In talking I show him my mole on my tummy which had mutated into a 3-D, multi-color, glob (quite unsightly). The coversation went as follows:
Doc: Let's take it off
Me: Today? Here? (with panic in my voice, trying to construct a quick excuse in my head for I am NOT a good patient).
Doc: Sure'
Me: Are you sure? (yes, I know, I need to work on my quick witty answers)
Doc: Sure, why not?
And so I was led off, had the area numbed, and biosied, with 2 stiches to show for it. I told the doc I didn't need to come back to have them taken out...since i have suture scissors at home. But at least he wrote my prescriptions.
Yesterday, Nathan and I took Mason swimming at a rather large man-made ditch up the road. I was hoping to give Mason some theraputic exercise since he can't walk very far anymore. We tried to get him to fetch the sticks but he would go after them and only bring them back half way. At the very end he remembered how to play fetch and would bring the stick back on shore. It is sad to see him get old. I asked my professor once, when do you know it is time. His reply was, think of 3 things your dog loves to do and when he can't do it any longer without showing alot of pain or is no longer interested, then it is time. At least Mason still has great yearnings for his stuff animals and to be petted.
Oscar misses having Anya to play with and his toad seem to have disappeared while on vacation, so he has taken a great attachment to my chest and for 3-4 days after we got back from vacation he was pretty much attached to me. But he still has mini-duck butt. Which brings up a rather unusual situation. He carries around mini-duck butt by the scruff and talked to it. At night (and I mean everynight) he puts duck butt in the water bowl. Now is he trying to bathe it or drown it?
Over vacation, I have been trying to catch up with my books on CD. Here are my synopsis:
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (I actually read this while in Duluth): I enjoyed the alteration of Harry's attitude from angry adolescent to determined and at times horny teen. I think the whole love triangle b/w Ron and Herononie and the others was a bit over done but I guess that is the way it is with most teenagers. But the true question is: Is Snape really evil? Nathan seems to think Snape is really on the side of the Order and had previously worked out with Dumbledore to kill him it the situation arose. I think this makes more and more sense to me, but I will have to wait another 2 years for the answer.
Hiliary Clinton's Living History: Well written and appeared sincere. I still believe Hilary is a brillant, determined, woman who only seems to become stronger with each struggle she has faced in the public eye. I hope that she choses to run in 2008 for president, b/c if any woman had a chance at being elected to office, it would be her.
The Best American Non-Required Reading: A strange set of essays. I really didn't care for most of them. I did like Stuff and Saint Chola. Stuff talked about material belongings from the point of view of a young homeless addict girl/woman. It really makes you think about the things that hold you down and in some cases define who you are. Saint Chola was about a Muslim girl who became of age in today's age in a US jr high school and the strength she found within herself to be proud of her culture and where she came from.
An Unfinshed Life: A story mainly about a young 10 year old girl who has spent her life drifting from one abusive home to another with her mom, only to finally land back with her paternal grandfather who hates his daughter-in-law who was driving the night her husband (his son) died in a drunken car crash. It started off slow and took awhile to get a hold of all the characters but picked up in the middle when the two families back back together. Again, alot of themes about "stuff" and the material things that follow us around but also the search to find a "home" with people you love. A sweet, almost Oprah-ist like book.
The Great Fire: I think I am going to stop listening to this book. There really is no plot line and it is really hard to keep track of all the characters. The transitions from memories to present day is very weak and hard to follow. However, the time period is very interesting (which is why I rented the book in the first place). It takes place in post-war Hiroshima, Japan.
Next: Life of Pi.
Ok that is it for now.
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