the DVM life - Doctor of Veterinary Medicine

I just got done with my "intro to clinics" and spent some time in the exotics ward today. I have a slight interest in exotics, but only specific exotics. I love rabbits, GPs, gerbils, rats and mice. I don't like birds, snakes, lizards, turtles, or most wildlife. Not that I don't enjoy them, I just don't find it rewarding to work with them. I don't really connect with them and the time I spent at a Wildlife shelter negatively influenced me with those animals. I do like ducks still though.

What did I get to do, you ask? Well! It was very interesting! I got to trim Budgie feathers. I learned the difference between primary and secondary feathers, and more importantly learned how to hold a small bird. I didn't quite get the hang of it at first and the Budgie bit me. It hurt as bad as getting your finger stuck in a stapler. Painful in an annoying way that could potentially
get worse. One of my classmates works in the ward and it was cool of her to show us the birds. The head tech did a fantastic job and I'm totally impressed with her. She can handle eagles. How many people can say that?

I also saw 2 types of eagles, several kinds of hawks, owls, and a kestrel. One reason I don't like working with birds is because they can really hurt you bad. Those talons man, they're nothing to mess with. Another reason I don't like working with birds (domestic or wildlife) is because I feel bad for them being stuck in those rooms. Really, they're quite nice rooms that are well maintained, large, and the birds are well cared for and fed. But I just feel so terrible that they cannot soar over the sky, as I feel they were meant to. It's, I know, a little awful to say but death seems better than never feeling your life's purpose.

I saw some goldfish radiographs and ultrasounds. Yes, there are people who will spend money to give their fish an ultrasound. Let me tell you: you can buy a whole lot of new fish for what that ultrasound would cost. So that was nice to see that people really go to those lengths. Mostly I am familiar with people whining and moaning over the cost of a vaccine and office call. But anyways, it was cool to see the swim bladder show up on the images.

I also saw some beak trims for some neat little brightly colored birds, and some nail trims as well. Oh, and there were also quite a few cute little squirrels there too! The one thing I do not enjoy about squirrels is how sharp their claws are. They can really dig into you, and they move very fast. So you can get real scratched up real fast. (From my experience handling several squirrels). Perhaps there is a better way, I'm sure there is. But I haven't learned it yet.

Last but not least was the rabbit with GI stasis. They were feeding him some critical care mixed with meds, followed with fluids. It was nice to see that the things I know are indeed practiced and useful knowledge. I am most experienced with rabbits (outside of cats and dogs) so it was neat to "talk some shop" about rabbits.

All in all it was interesting. It didn't quite rock my world, but I'd like to go back another time and check it out.

Anatomy exams came back today! I was pretty nervous about it - I did alright on the last one but really wanted to improve....and I DID!! The average was 83 and I got 85. Go me!! Not that the average matters, all that matters is passing. But I am proud of improving my score and demonstrating more anatomy knowledge.

But seriously, I was a little freaked out. The exam wasn't what I was expecting and I had to make some guesses. So I had the typical vet student worries that go a little something like this:

"Oh my god, what if I failed that test? And I can't make up for it on the final? And then I fail the class? They'll kick me out. And I'll have failed out of vet school in my first semester. What a looser! And I'll have moved over here and bought a trailer for nothing. And then I'll have to tell my family and they'll be so mad at me and think I suck. Then I'll get a job here since I'll be too ashamed to go back home, and I'll spend the rest of my life in this town working at the grocery store, living in a trailer. For ever. Man, this is not good."

Seriously, that ran through my mind a few times - though I really try to keep a positive attitude. And I know that some of my classmates had similar thoughts. And the school's psychologist says so too. Very common indeed. Aren't we just a lot of over-achieving nut cases?

Anyhoo, so I am very thankful to have done so well on the exam. Now I can breathe again. For a little while at least ;) the cell phys exam comes back in the next week supposedly and there's a histo exam Monday. But screw that. I'm HAPPY!!! And freakin proud of me. I can do it! I AM doing it! Woohoo!!! It's nice to get some positive validation. Thank you, universe. Seriously. Thank you!

See, if you've noticed, a lot of the time spent on this blog is agonizing over tests. Which is a pretty good representation of vet school itself. Have I mentioned animal handling? No. Because I don't even get to touch live animals for a few more years. Yes, years.

But I'm too happy to be grumpy about that now. Go me, I rock!

The title of the blog is accurate. As soon as I got my exam back, I was jumping up and down, yelling "I don't suck!! I don't suck!!"

Nothing like getting positive results for something you've put a lot of effort into. Pleased as punch. Pleased as punch, indeed.

Well, my internet has been broked for about a week+ so you've missed out on the oh so exciting details of my life. Ha.

Monday was an embryology exam. Embryology is a pain in the ass. Like prison style - not a good thing.

I had a cell phys exam Tuesday, which I hope went passably well. I think I did fine, but we shall see. I really liked the prof we had and his teaching style sunk into my brain well. Our upcoming prof for cell phys has a wicked fun sense of humor and I hope I enjoy her style. She seems to have a bit more complicated set of slides...

Anatomy exam. It was a hellish week. I was feeling really good but the test was way more on neural stuff than I had anticipated. Way more. Which is very unfortunate, since I rocked an the arteries. I'm so disappointed they didn't test more on that. I had so much more I wanted to show them that I knew!!

Many people weren't jazzed about that exam. I really, really, really hope I passed. Seeing how I passed the other one (with only colors, certainly not flying colors) I can't really afford to bomb one. Friday should be an exciting day, hopefully in a good way.

And then Histology is coming up. Agh. So right now, if you were to ask me about my feelings on vet school I would say: vet school sucks. I hate studying, I hate feeling stupid, I hate feeling inadequate even after hours of studying, and I hate thinking that I might feel this way for 4 years. I hate the lack of hands on activities, and I hate not working with real, live animals. Damn it.

On the bright side, my weekend kicked ass. It was Halloween but I didn't really celebrate it (did the vet school party the week before). My best friend visited and it was absolutely wonderful. I hadn't seen him since I left in August -- so around a full 2 months. Previous to that we'd only ever been apart 2 weeks max, so as you can guess I missed him like crazy.

He flew in early Friday afternoon and after I got un-stinky (from anatomy lab exam) we went out to dinner at the nice place in town. I actually got to dress up, which I hadn't done in forever. I had raspberry lemonade and tasty southwest chicken wraps. We spent the evening talking, and we fell asleep early since we were both exhausted.

The next day we went to the next town over. My toothbrush, the electric kind, had broken and I wanted to get a new one from Costco. First we stopped by the farmers market and Co-op. We got some *delicious* chocolate cake. My friend loved it, and I was glad since he enjoys so few foods. Then onto Costco, snagging a new brush and some mass-quantity foods. We parked it at the Applebys there and he watched a football game. Then we made our way back, and got home to find out that my old toothbrush wasn't working only because my breaker threw a fuse. Ha. So then we decided to take a nap before heading out to dinner.

Dinner was at the new pizza joint in town. It was not good. At least what I had. He said the pizza was nice. The lasagna and shake were terrible. He had a great time catching another football game - which I even found a little interesting too. Afterwards we walked the shopping center and returned home to snooze early.

Daylight savings time was awesome! We woke early the next day and took the time to chat between falling asleep again. It was so good to talk to him. There's no one I'm familiar with out here -- and I have 8 years of history with him. It was so good to be with someone I've missed so much. For breakfast we went back for more chocolate cake and orange juice. No, I'm not 200 lbs.

We made our way back to Costco to return the toothbrush, on account of my being stupid. But at least I got to pick up some extra goods - frozen chicken breasts, artichoke hearts, frozen egg rolls.

By this time he was having some allergies from only the lord knows what. So I figured some fresh air would do him good. We went hiking at a nice place I discovered. It's a 3.5 mile loop with great views and it's a good climb but not too steep. His allergies cleared and he felt a lot better. We headed home for a shower and packing, after a little nap.

I won't see him for another 4 months, so I spent a little time crying today as I took him to the airport. I do hate crying -- it's not pretty on me. I get all red-eyed and my nose runs like crazy. I tried hard not to cry but I did anyways and he was very kind about it.

All in all, terrible week but the weekend more than made up for it. He encouraged me to get more hard-ass about school, as much as I'm disliking it at the moment. Plans are in the works for a trip together during spring break - perhaps Disneyland and southern California. I miss him already but we did have a great time together.

6 weeks left of semester 1. My goal: to really kick some ass. 6 weeks isn't that long, I can do it.

Yesterday was the vet school's annual Halloween party. Being a first year, I was curious and felt somewhat obligated to check it out.

I got dressed up as a type of horse white blood cell, very bright and full of histamine and heparin (I taped pink and purple balloons all over a large cardboard circle and wore it. People got a kick out of guessing which cell I was. I even had a sign with a picture of the slide)

There were many creative costumes: iPod commercial, Miss Diagnosed, Gumby, Poop & Pee, the cast of Hook, mythical creatures, red necks, cowboys, and many slutty girl costumes.

I for one failed to see the point of the slutty girl costumes. First, vet school is 85% female so your target audience is largely missing. Second, of the males around half of them are married. The other half are already taken, leaving a few straggler singles. So the game is already over. No one to get all gussied up for.

There was some music and dancing. The music was really oldschool, which I didn't really go for. Who listens to old school music? Old people. The 80's should be left in the 80's. At least the dancing was funny.

There were also some inebriated people, which I felt kind of bad for. We have many exams this week and no one needs a hangover. Not to mention some very, very bad hangovers probably experienced this morning. I personally don't drink (alcohol allergy) so I got to drive my friend, chat with some people and got a kick out of the costume/people watching. All in all, it was nice to go but my curiosity was satisfied and I doubt I'll be attending next year.

Go ahead, ask me. Where has my hand been today?

Up a cow's pooper. Yes, my friends, it is something I believe all veterinary students have to go through. Putting one's arm up the nether regions of a cow. At least they give you a huge up-to-your-armpits glove.

But wait, there's more! I also put my fingers up a cow's nose. And my both my hands were in its mouth. No gloves there. Just finger on mucous action. Fantastic.

As you may have guessed, today was bovine lab day. Hopefully the last time I'll have to work with cows for a long, long while. I'm small animals. That's where all of my training has been, that's what I'm probably going to end up doing. Perhaps exotics (I do love rabbits) and small ruminants. But that's it. No cows or horses for me.

So at this session we learned how to: pick up a cow's foot, examine a cervix via the rectum, put on a halter, use a nose ring thing, give a cow a pill, examine the mouth, and control a cow via the pressure point on the nose.

While it was a nice experience to have in my inventory I'm not looking to repeat it.

For those of you who want the details, here we go! For those of you who are grossed out by orifices, you should probably stop reading.

I started with the nose. The deal is you stick your index finger and thumb up the cow's nose holes. This is a natural pressure point and lets you control the head of the cow. It was warm and squishy and left lots of cow snotts all over my hand.

Then we used a nose ring sort of tool to do the same thing. After that we practiced untangling a halter and getting it on correctly. Next we had to stick our fists -- yes our entire fist - inside the cow's mouth and grab the tongue with the other hand. We had to pull the tongue to one side and examine the mouth and teeth (cows have 8 teeth on the bottom only!) Last but not least we did the same thing again, this time using a long special tube with a spring to insert a pill. That was hard, especially since the cow kept using her caudal tongue to push the piller the wrong way.

Ha! I felt accomplished after that and had my fill of cow. But the fun was just beginning. Time for ye olde butt exam glove. These gloves are thin plastic, a see-through pale blue, and extend up to one's shoulder. And that's how far my arm went in. All the way to my shoulder. Up a cow's arse. Great. At first it's hard to get in, but after the "vestibule" it's actually rather spacious. And warm. It was *almost* pleasant because I was cold from being outside. My first thought was "Hey, this is nice and warm!" Then I thought "NO. This is NOT nice."

To be nice to the cow, you use a very generous amount of lubrication. I'm used to dog/cat sized lubrication which can be anywhere from pea sized to several peas. This was a whole handful, poured from a gallon jug of lube. I thought it was great (as a girl myself) and was glad the cows have that common courtesy.

They said having a person's arm up a cow was like having a q-tip up a person. Not painful, but you can almost tell it's there. I disagree. Painful or not, I'd rather not have a Q-tip "up there". But if the cow was bothered by it, she didn't seem to show it.

The whole time you're palpating for the cervix you also have cow tail right next to your face. Contrary to your cute image of cows, real cows can have poo all around their tail. So there's a big, hairy poo tail in your face as you grope around for the cervix.

Finding the cervix is a feat in itself for a newbie like myself. It's not just a tunnel, it's quite vast in there. I could move my hand several inches in either direction. Vast! After a short wile I could feel 2-3 bumps that I thought were near the floor of the pelvis. Cervix land! Goal accomplished. Hand out of cow.

Then a very nice cow was out for us to practice picking up its feet. Given that my group was the last group at this station, and I was the last of the group, the cow was not very happy. So picking up the rear hoof proved to be somewhat of a challenge for me. And the lovey 1500 lb beast managed to somewhat step on my boot. I'm fine, but that certainly wasn't the highlight of my day. It was annoying though, since they freely admitted we wouldn't be picking up any cow feet at all in reality. Mostly cows will try and kick you, so to look at feet the cows are on their side and restrained.

And the grand finale - using ropes to get a cow to lay down. To me, this looked kind of mean. But I understand that it's a useful way to get a cow into a position that will allow helpful medical work to be done - especially if the proper chutes aren't available. But the marshmallow in me just didn't like to see the cow brought down. Large animal medicine can seem to be a "tougher" kind of medicine. But for any animal rights sorts out there, let me just say that the cows are treated very well with the most respect, and all students are very thankful for the opportunity to learn from them. We treat our animals very, very, very well.

All in all, I'm definitely not going into the dairy field and I'm certainly not going into large animal work. But I've had my arm up a cow's arse, up a cow's nose, cow poo all over my shoes, and now have a fuller appreciation of large animal medicine. Props to anyone going into it.

I can name every artery in the front limb of the dog, starting clear from the aorta. I can name most of the major thoracic and abdominal arteries. I'm working on naming all the nerves in the arm and thoracic/abdominal area.

I can name all those arteries, a good handful of veins, but I cannot draw blood. I cannot run a CBC. I don't even know how to interpret the chemistry from a blood panel. But I can name the freakin vessels, tell you where they go and where they came from.

The lack of hands on work and practical application is bugging me. I am in my first year. I will have to wait until my third year to draw blood from real animals in a clinical setting. Agh. I want hands on work now!! Waiting for the good stuff is hard and disheartening.

And the exams coming up make me wonder if I should have gone to culinary school instead. (My other great passion: baked goods and desserts) But that's just my disgruntled self talking. I'm sure everything will be fine. I just need to keep my pants on, take a cold shower, and wait a few more ...SIGH.... years before I do anything "cool". Or useful.

Something neat though, I've trained my rabbit to do a trick. He has a little cardboard box house. He gets really excited for breakfast or dinner, so usually he's runs around like crazy and pounces on your hand as soon as you try to reach for his food bowl. He just bounces off me, but if it's anyone else he'll try to bite. He'll leap into the air and launch his whole body at your hand, teeth first. It usually scares the b'jezus out of most guests.

So I taught him to run around when he hears the food sound, then wait inside his cardboard house until I put the food in his bowl. It's working really well, I'm a little surprised how well he picked it up. He even is recognizing when I tap the box, it's time to go inside. Now I'm trying to link the behavior to the voice command "Box Box". So far it's starting to work. I'm impressed, the dude is a smart little cookie.

Today I went out for Draft Horse Club and....I GOT TO DRIVE THE WAGON!!!!

You see, that is really cool. Because it's not as easy as it looks. I'd only driven a few times before so I was a little .. oh what's the word here.. shocked, baffled, nervous... about driving the wagon. With people in it. A nice wagon too.

But we were on the track and they said the people with the least experience should just jump right in. Jump indeed. My honest response was "But I don't want to flip us over and kill everyone!"

So I got to sit up front, was handed the lines (not called reins) and away we went.

It. Was. AWESOME!!!! You have no idea how awesome it was.

The best part: I got to drive the wagon fast! Well, as fast as our horse goes which is a good trot. It was so exhilarating picking up the pace, actually feeling a little bit of the wind, hearing the sound of his hooves and the jangle of the wagon, watching stuff (relatively) fly by, and being in charge of it all by holding the lines. It's really quite a rush. Just as good as a chariot race for my beginner standards. Exactly as cool as the Western movies make it out to be. Except with less gunfights.

It was the coolest thing I've done in a long time. I'm glad I went - I was actually a bit nervous to go since I wasn't too stellar at pulling the harrow and I almost passed it up. But my most awesome lab partner easily convinced me and we had a good time. Before we got there, we were actually joking about how unlikely it'd be that we'd drive the wagon. We had a few good laughs on the way home : )

At the end I also got to pick his feet which are HUGE. He is a Clydesdale type after all. I'm pretty sure his one hoof is as big as my head. I was impressed that my little 120 lb self could pick up and clean the feet of a 2000 lb horse. I'm not very horse experienced so it's nice I'm getting to learn these things.

Moral of the story: don't be afraid to continue trying to learn something, even if you suck horribly at first.

So I found this supply closet. Full of goods! Scrubs, lab coats, coveralls, booties. And I've been eyeing it for a while. You can tell where this is going... I have "borrowed" a pair of scrubs which I will return in 4 years after I graduate.

Shame, you say? Shame on taking $15 worth of pale blue colored clothing? My logic is that my $17,000+ worth of yearly tuition should probably cover those scrubs. And the fact that I'm too poor to actually buy new scrubs (I can only get them from the used store). And I only have 3 pairs of scrubs. For a future doctor, 3 is a very poor amount of scrubs! Now I have 4 :)

I'm always slightly envious of the people well-off enough to have holiday themed scrubs. Christmas scrubs, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Easter, the 4th, and a cute top to go with it. In my 3+ years of working in a clinic I've had: the blue scrub top, the purple scrub top, the slightly less purple scrub top, and two pairs of pants. So wandering into a magical closet of supplies was nice indeed. Perhaps not as magical as a closet to Narnia, but it's as good as we mere regular folk get.

Oh, I passed my 2 other exams! Woohoo!!

For Histology (the one I spent a miserable weekend on and studied my buns off) I got a 94! YAY! And for cell physiology I got an 88.

We were notified late Sunday that exams were being returned and I drove in around midnight just to pick it up. Since no one was around I graced the mailbox area with my awesome (read: bad and embarrassing) dancing!

In the past weekend I also went home! I love home. It was nice to be back, comforting in a bone-deep sort of way. Fall is in full swing there but I managed to see it before all the leaves dropped into a wet, soggy mess. My Mom sent me home with more food than I can eat in a week, it is very appreciated by my hungry student tummy.

This weekend what do I have on tap? I'd like to get to understand the nerves/vessels/etc that we've gone over in anatomy, do some horse work, and finally maybe see a movie. I haven't seen a movie since Wall-e. But perhaps cleaning my kitchen would be a cheaper, more useful alternative.

Oh! And I've finally found my study place. I've very, very particular about where I study on campus. I need a room or area to myself that is dead silent. Dead silent. Also it must have lots of natural light, windows that open, and a large table. This was so hard to find, especially at this state school. I'm coming to realize just how pampered I was!

This place was hard to find. I went in every single building this half of campus. You have no idea how many places I've had to try. BUT all my wishes came true and I've managed to pick out a study spot that meets all my nerdy requirements! Praise the lord!

It is really dry here. As in: low relative humidity. My skin is dry, my hair is static, I get zapped all the time, and even my mouth feels dry. Looking further into the matter according to weather.com the humidity here is 38% and back home it's 65%. I want my 27% back.

Then when you bring the air into a building to heat it, the humidity drops even more.

So during break today I trekked over to the green house which is moist, above 70 and reminds me slightly of Hawaii. I love plants, it was great to be in there. My undergrad was in Horticulture/Environmental Science so plants are some of my favorite things. I have 6 good sized potted plants in my little trailer. It's just so good to be around things that grow. And of course, I love being around animals. I suppose I'm kind of an earthy person like that.

I got to look at their collection in the GH and got to really appreciate our collection back home. Wow, my old school sure had a bigger collection! But I did see a few of my favorites and that was a good feeling - you see the same species and it's like greeting an old friend. Ah Mimosa, there you are! How are you? They also had a very cute african Salix that I don't remember seeing before. Yes, I know Latin names. I will bore you to death if you take a walk with me on the west side with all our native plants.

School is well enough. I'm still antsy for my score. I'm having a difficult time processing the new info on the heart-- I'm not sure if that's because my brain is broken from the previous exams or if the material is just a bit more confusing. Either way, others are finding it more trying as well.

Tomorrow one of our lectures canceled so we get off blissfully early.

Oh yes, the 2 headed calf. We got to see one (well the conjoined heads of it) today in anatomy. Just the heads, mind you. The cow was no longer alive and we were presented with a Halloween themed treat - a double headed cow head. From embryology, I can tell you the double head formation is caused by imcomplete closing of the neural tube or something or other. Actually, I really dislike embryology. But it's along those lines.

I'm going to make some barley water now -- in Chinese medicine it is "cooling" and I'm hoping it will help me adjust to this weather.

Today is Monday, we had our Histology exam. I like to think I did alright, time will tell.

What I know is that I spent a very, very, very large portion of the weekend studying for it. Like Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday, and a few hours today. I went over all the notes, powerpoints, and labs. I made 200 + flash cards. I did each lab 3 times over the space of 3 days. So I like to think I did alright on the exam. Or at least good enough.

Now that I'm mulling things over, dense regular connective tissue might not have.... ah, need to stop thinking about it. Hopefully exams will be returned in a timely manner and I can stop doubting my self-worth and mental acuity.

For my future sanity, I'll be trying to make the flash cards on a weekly basis so I don't have a terrible marathon the weekend before. Too bad I didn't think of that several weeks ago! There is nothing else new to report, since all that happened between now and last was studying.

Thankfully, our exam strech is over for now and we have a week or so to breathe. I'm going to make some soup and clean my home. It got messy in my study-induced hermit lifestyle.

I really, really, really, really, REALLY want to know how I did. Really.

The farmer's market here is awesome. It's actually a good market where you can buy your veggies and meat for the week. It's all pretty much organic too! There are some arts and crafts, food vendors, and the best tomatoes ever. EVER. I've been buying 3 huge tomatoes a week, I never knew tomatoes could be so tasty. I'm going to be so very disappointed when we hit November and the market is done. I so enjoy getting out to go shopping there. It's so much more fun, exciting, and the produce really is that much better.

I got my anatomy exam back, and I passed! Woohoo!! Now I didn't exactly pass with flying colors like a lot of my classmates, but I didn't exactly give myself a coronary studying. So I'm content. I'd like to do a little better for the next exam, but I'm not going to kill myself. I did study for the first exam, but I didn't push myself hard-- I had a relaxed attitude. I've been not studying as much, instead getting out and enjoying my new town/country side.

I graduated at the tip top of my class. I was stressed out, getting sick, grumpy, and I really disliked my life. I'm done with striving for the top grades, that's really only satisfying to a point.

Many of my classmates made charts, drawings, and did flashcards every night. I make some charts a few days before the exam. On one hand it's nice to know I'm doing fine just how I am. On the other hand, my perfectionist self would like to kick ass in class rank. But I'm content with my lifestyle - I like to think my calm, peaceful approach has it's benefits. Many of my uber stressed classmates have gotten sick.

It rained today and it was nice to hear on the roof of the trailer. A few days ago before the clouds came I was able to get out at night. I drove out into the middle of wheat field nowhere and parked -- I got to see the whole entire sky. It was amazing. Back home, we have trees everywhere, you don't get the WHOLE ENTIRE sky. I had 360 degrees of wide open sky, so many stars, I could actually see the milky way, and I even got a shooting star.

Now I know I'll have to push myself for the histology exam coming up. Histo is a bit more detailed. In fact, I should get back to studying for that ......

So, I neglected to mention that on day 3 they taught us how to hold scalpels. Basically like holding a pencil. Yeah, that was cool. Could it get more cool? YES. Now we're in week 6 (or 7, it's all starting to blend together) and in anatomy we got to crack some ribs. It made my day. Sort of like on ER how they have to get through the ribs so they can massage the heart. Except we're using cadavers and it's much less intense than that. But still cool.

Today I got to see the heart, lungs, and all the good stuff in cardio-thoracic region. What I'm I saying! It's all good stuff!! I've be itching to see the heart since day one!

School is going well, I think. We have not gotten either of our 2 exams back yet >=( which I frown upon. I'm curious to know how I did but perhaps ignorance is bliss. Anatomy should be coming back tomorrow, and I think my cell phys prof should be a little embarassed if his isn't being returned either (it's been 2 weeks!)

We're preparing for our histo exam, so far this is being the most annoying one to prep for in my opinion. Cell phys sinks into my brain. Anatomy is great hands on. Histo is details, details, details. I'm getting a little grumpy, but I think I'll be fine. The review wasn't very structured so that made me grumbly. And the weather changed dramatically.

For the past few days it's been 80+, sunny, no clouds. Today it was low 70s, rainy, all clouds. And if you haven't caught on, I don't like fall. The VP debate is on tonight, however I don't have TV (I own one, I don't get any programming) so I'll continue my ingorance in current events.

Anyhoo, I'm now going to take a shower, have some dinner (wheat free vegetarian lasagna), watch one episode of star trek for relaxation, and study for a few more hours.

Today was a busy day. Anatomy exam! Woohoo!

I like to think I did well. There were a few I guessed on, but for the most part I felt confident. We will get scores back in a week so I should just be content for now. I like to think I showed that exam who's boss. And the boss was not anatomy.

The exam was in 2 parts. First we had an hour long written exam. That was alright, I finished with time to spare. Then we had the 2 hour practical part. The anatomy lab had been setup with 35 stations. Each station had either a bone, radiograph, or cadaver with multiple questions. There were a few that I had to hem and haw on, mostly I felt good. Again the results are really going to do the talking in a week.

The trickiest one was the blind box. Literally. There was a box with arm holes, you stuck your hands in and couldn't see. You had to be able to name which bone was in there and specifically the left or right side. After feeling the bone up for a while (heheh) I came to my conclusion and felt smugly satisfied.

Taking the exam was pretty cool, it was like playing with little puzzles. The room was silent, most people were in lab clothes, and we looked really intense. Great shot for a vet med school poster "Learning in Action". I thought to myself "Wow! I'm really in vet school!"

Some of my classmates were annoyingly grabby with the specimens. The proper etiquette is to wait for a person to finish with a cadaver before messing with it yourself. Some people tend to get so wrapped up, thinking they're the only ones taking the exam and will butt right in, moving the specimen while you're still looking at it. Shame on them I say. Shame shame. I believe they'll be the ones pushing people out of the way when it's fire drill time.

After classes were out I headed over to the draft horse club. We were going to start learning how to drive. Eventually when people get good enough they can drive the wagon - Oregon Trail style.

Today was my first time attempting to drive. Let me just say I'm not going to be plowing any trails or blazing the Oregon trail any time soon. Much harder than it looks! That, and the horse knew I hadn't driven before so he was really testing me to see who was boss. In the end (after some embarrassing getting stuck in a corner) and lots of encouragement from the senior members, I finally got him to Gee (turn right) and Haw (turn left) for a few good rounds. I still have a long, long way to go. We were just pulling the harrow for practice. Then we hitched him up to the wagon and cruised around the vet school.

Seriously though, it's much harder than it looks. I was secretly hoping I'd automatically be fantastic at it. I mean, chances are that in a past life I've had to at least driven a wagon, cart, or chariot. So shouldn't I have some innate skill? The answer is obviously NO. Sorry buddy. Sigh. I wish I was innately good at something but I'll have to settle for just learning my skills.

The horse kicked up a bit of dust and the harrow didn't exactly act as a spoiler. So it's off to the showers for me, followed by some needed sleep.

Today was a nice long day. Nice, because I got a lot accomplished. Long, because I was at school from 8AM to 8PM. Except for the lunch hour I got off campus, ate some Chinese food and then fell asleep in my car.

If anyone cares to know, here was the breakdown.

8am-10am: Anatomy Lab
10:00-12:30 Study Embryology
12:30-1:10 Embryology Quiz
1:10 - 2:00 Cell Physiology
2:10 - 3:00 Histology
(Note: 3:10 - 5:00 class canceled!)
3:00 - 4:00 eat/sleep
4:00 - 5:00 review Anatomy
5:00 - 8:00 PM Anatomy Lab

Oh yeah, life as a first year! WOot! But really, it was kind of fun with the exception of embryology which isn't my favorite. My awesome lab partner quized me on all the musles and I got really excited - it's like a game! But cooler because you sound pretty smart!

Then I got home (which is cold, it got COLD here!) took a walk, talked with my Mom and helped edit some personal statements for some pre-vet amigos.

Now it's 10:30 and I'm looking forward to a hot shower, a grapefruit, and a few more hours of anatomy. When a client complains of my fees, I will think back on the days I spend 12+ hours at school and feel justified. Skill doesn't come cheap.

Fall is here. My least favorite season. Why? Because it gets cold and I really dislike being cold. It also gets soggy and I also dislike being soggy. I really don't understand people who like fall. You just came from a wonderful warm sunny place where you didn't have to worry about freezing, all the yummy fruits are in season, and you can take walks, camp, and swim without worry -- and somehow, SOMEHOW people prefer to be cold, dark, and limited in activities and fruits. I'll never understand you people. I'm attributing it to a lack of vitamins during cranial development.

Anyhoo, school today was alright. Studying for the anatomy test and embryo quiz. Yesterday the cobbler turned out nicely, the eggplant was 5/10. Will I eat it? Yes. Will I imagine I'm eating something else. Probably.

There was a lunch seminar today for the Holistic Club. A few of the faculty here are certified veterinary acupuncturists. It's very interesting and I would like to get further training/info. I'm signed up for an indepth seminar in Nov. The official training is expensive and takes a while to complete but there are many benefits. As a 3/4 year you can get scholarships to attend the Chi Institute and I'd like to try out for that down the road.

And now to cram scientific knowledge into my poor brain.

So I'm in vet school. And my brain hurts. HURTS. Hurts bad. Mostly because of anatomy and the impending exam. We're going into week 5 tomorrow. In 4 weeks we've covered the front limb, hind limb, neck, thorasic muscles and more! Woohoo.

Now naming the muscles is getting easy. The harder part is origins and insertions. The Sternocephalicus originates from the manubrium - the first sternebra - and goes to the basihyoid bone or something equally wonderful. Its action is to move the head laterally. And that was my Saturday night.

But it's getting better. Yesterday I didn't know the O/I of the front leg. Today I struggled through it. Last week I didn't have the names down. So in theory, next week this will all be cake.

The exam is on Friday. I am eager for next Saturday! Yesterday was nice because I just finished my cell phys exam. Now the relaxation is halted for the upcoming exam. Agh. But it's all good. A good grasp of anatomy is imperative for being a good doctor.

Now I should get around to cooking dinner. Yesterday I went to the farmers market. I only wanted 1 eggplant, but the nice elderly gentleman insisted I take 3 for the same price ($1, and 3 for $1 is a steal!) Then he gave me back too much change and I told him so. He said I was a sweet heart and I should take a flat of peaches. So I got 3 eggplant and 15+ peaches for $1. Then I got some Italian plums for free because the other stall was closing for the day. Suffice it to say I have more fruit than I know what to do with and some kind of pie is on the way. Hopefully my oven with give birth to a beautiful eggplant lasange later tonight! Push oven, push!

I don't know if I can say anything too thrilling about this week. Except I made cinnamon rolls that turned out very well.

There's also something in the works about hiring me at the clinic hourly, which could be pretty cool. (I'm just there a lot during the summer, I show up like I work there. At the end they give me a nice money).

One of our retired Docs has come back for the summer. He is a lucky, lucky guy. He sold the clinic and headed off to Mexico/Europe via sailboat. Spending days on a Mexican beach, or skiing in the Alps is a good way to be retired. When he gets done living the awesome life, he comes back and does the DVM life for a few months. Which is noticeably less glam.

It's an interesting contrast between him (30+ years vet) and our newest doc. I can't laugh because I'll be the newbie soon enough.

Some interesting medical things that week: ear ablation. We had a student from a middle school observing at the clinic that day. It made her a little woozy. Cool surgery! And for some crazy reason, the power went out during it. We had really crappy power that week. 3rd time it went out. The Doc had to finish some stitches via flashlight. I got to hold that flashlight : D What can I say, vetmed it hardcore!

Also some emergency stuff - new strain of Parvo potentially. Big pain in the arse.

I had a delightful train ride over to visit my Grandparents. I really enjoy seeing them, even though they're not particularly fond of my choice of career. Oh well. It was my Grandma's 75th birthday and her church was having a potluck. I'm happy to report my chocolates safely made the trip there, no melting at all!

The train over was nice, it was a little confusing though since I'd never been on a train before. Turns out that the train pulls up, you hop on, grab a seat, and the conductor comes through to check your ticket/give you a seat marker. It was fairly crowded on the way over and I shared a seat duo with a sleeping guy. I got to see lots of cool scenery and it was CHEAPER THAN DRIVING - especially good since gas is just insane.

When I got to grandma's I got a yummy grilled cheese. Then I chatted with my grandma and helped make dinner. I really like the food she makes. Each day they eat something different and that just blows my mind. It's awesome! My mom has always cooked food en mass, so it's 1 dish for 5 days. Having something new each nice is pretty special I think.

The next day we had a great time gardening. I helped put in petunias (I hope they're doing alright) and some garden plants. She has a famous garden full of yummy things to eat come later in the summer. I hope I can garden like her someday.

I really enjoyed the pace we worked at. Mom is always doing work at a manic speed. Grandma takes time to appreciate stuff, grab a bite to eat, get out of the sun and read a book. It was one of the nicest days I've had so far. Then after dinner (special hot dogs just for me, since I dont' get to eat them at home) we went over pictures from their trip south.

The next day was Church and the potluck. I think my Grandparents enjoy taking me to church. I like it too, even though I may not subscribe to all their views. In any effect, "Peace be with you" is always a nice thing. Who couldn't use a bit more peace, eh?

The potluck was also yummy. My favorites were scalloped potatos and a strawberry salad. And the deviled eggs I made with Grandma the day before. I tried every dessert there, of course! During the potluck, they had posters up of each person who turned 75. They also read a life story of each of them.

I found it very interesting. That could be me in 52 years. I hope I do something cool between now and then!

When we got home and rested, I helped my Grandma more in the kitchen - making a cake for a relative's birthday. I asked her: if she had the chance to re-live a year of her life, which one would it be?

She said it would be a year right after she married Grandpa. They decided not to have kids right away, to just take time to get to know eachother. She said they had a lot of fun enjoyed those years very much. I thought that was neat.

After my nice long weekend I headed back home via train. This time it was much less crowded, I got my own seat. Leather seat, mind you. Since I understood the train routine this time (and also had seen the scenery already) I roamed around the train. I found the dining car and ordered an OK lasange. It was just ok, but since it was on a train it was cool. I walked through all the cars, took lots of pictures, and enjoyed the trip. Trains and grandparents get a thumbs up.

We had a small puppy in for a leg amputation. The leg was broken far beyond any repair. It was flopping around in such a way that grossed out the whole clinic (which is hard to do). So amputation was the only option (other than spending thousands of dollars with a specialist with marginal possible success or putting the puppy down).

Thankful to say that everything went exceedingly well! The leg was removed without significant blood loss. Very little in fact! The recovery temperature was nothing short of a miracle and afterwards the little one was resting peacefully. She's been through so much at such a young age!

I was also impressed with our lead tech, being able to put an IV into such a tiny tiny vein! That is true skill, which some day I hope I have!

On a different topic I got a very nice compliment. "Why isn't some guy dating you?!" A very sweet compliment. They went on to tell my how smart, nice, and pretty I am in addition to being a good baker. They also said that anyone who wanted to date me had better be a good guy. That was just really nice and made my day. I wish everyone got to hear nice things about themselves like that, it's quite a warm fuzzy that someone thinks highly of you.

I finished the chocolates! I made 164 pieces of peanut butter balls. Yum. Some is going to work, friends, neighbors, the rest is traveling with me to my Grandmas. I think they took a total of 5 hours which isn't too bad. Nothing to technically difficult - just time consuming. I learned not to freeze them. Since it's fairly warm here now I can't just stick them in the garage to cool and harden. Turns out the fridge, not the freezer, is the correct location. They are yummy anyways!

(post from yesterday I was too tired to write)

Everything was all pointy today. Every cat tried to paw at my neck. Not happy about that. Had like 7 nail trims that freaked out and tried to bite (chiuauas and dachshunds are terrible, along with pugs). So it was a very pointy scratchy day that didn't put me in a good mood. I got a little cranky towards the end which is a bit unusual for me.

Plus I ran into a few clients that rubbed me the wrong way - blaming their dog for poor behavior. That's no excuse for not being able to properly handle your animals ....grrr!

After I got home I had tom R&R and started making the chocolates I'm bringing to my Grandma. I'll be taking a short holiday to visit her and I'm looking forward to it!

Also my new sifter broke. Bah. It was just a weird day.

Today was a nice day at work. I was officially filling in for someone else so I had to get there early. The morning was hectic, as Tuesday mornings tend to be. We had a dental with some resorptive lesions. Poor little guy, those are fairly painful.

During lunch I went to the used store and got a nice used angel food cake pan, a used steamer set, a flower sifter from Wal*mart, and yellow cake mix + cupcake paper cups from the cheap-o mart. I could have gotten 1 regular priced baking pan or all that cool cheap stuff.

Anyhoo, after lunch we had an ACL surgery. After we got the epidural in (wicked long needle!) I got to help shave and prep the surgical site. Which was pretty cool since I don't usually get to do that! Then I got even cooler and promoted myself to surgical assistant since other people were busy.

I was able to help set up surgery, open packs, help gown up the doctor and do some monitoring of anesthesia. You know how the doctor is like "10 blade...Ok, now I'll need a large gelpie...how about some 3-0 PDS." I was the one getting all that stuff. First I felt pretty dang smart because I knew what all of that stuff was and where it was kept in the OR. And then....

I got to SCRUB IN!! : D Which pretty much made my day. The meniscus was compressed and so we levered the joint open to get a better look. That was my job. Holding a wicked looking instrument to keep the joint open so the doctor could get a better view. It was awesome.

Now you may be saying "Wow. That's lame." Or perhaps you may be saying "I have no idea what's going on. This blog is stupid." Let me simplify it for you: I probably won't get to do anything like that in vet school.

In vet school there are older students (3/4 years that get priority), interns and residents who all want a piece of the surgical action. If a cruciate was being done at school I wouldn't have a chance to actually assist. So it was cool indeed.

Later in the day I ran into one of my favorite client/owners. The sweet dog has kennel cough and is getting better! I'm glad, such a nice owner and dog.

At home (I had a 9.5 hr day) I took nice hot shower, took a walk around the sunny block, and had a great baked potato. Then I made a strawberry pie. I want to try strawberry bread too. You can tell we got a flat of strawberries. I also made a crust free fruit tart for my mom.

Wow, sure got a lot accomplished!

Memorial Day was always a day I could never enjoy. I've been in school for the last 17-18 years of my life. And when you're in school, MD is placed right before finals week. Which means you can never enjoy the holiday since you should be working on projects, papers, and studying for finals.

I always thought that when I was out of school I could finally enjoy the day. Oh yes, MD would rock. I would be on a boat, at some lake, staying at some cabin. Water skiing, jet skiing, getting the first tan of the summer, pulling out the hammock and making smores.

Well, that sure didn't happen. Sad to say but MD out of school wasn't quite as cool as I had hoped. For starters, I don't know anyone who has a boat or cabin anymore. Dang.

So I woke up late, made/ate some yummy sausages, did a very large pile of laundry, and cleaned my junk increasing room. A friend called and said c'mon over for s'mores at 7. Meanwhile I took my best buddy to the Home Depot to check out some windows. We get some (not good) pizza. And that's saying a lot for me because I'm usually quite pro-pizza.

Finally I get over to the s'mores location. Except there's no s'mores going on. Not at 7, not at 8:30, and not at 10:30pm. So I headed back home tired and smore-less. At least I got some laundry done. And I got to watch some Deadliest Catch. Now those guys could use a perfect Memorial Day more than I could.

And it's off to folding the laudry and getting some Z's. I'm filling in for someone at work tomorrow and need to be up early.

That's the Indiana Jones theme song, in case you were wondering. Go see that movie. Now!

Saw that movie today with my mom, loved it! I had a nice day with my mom. I'm glad we got to check out the new theatre - it's very, very nice! The Indiana Jones movie was FANTASTIC! I am a HUGE Indy fan and I loved it. Maybe some parts of the plot were a bit cheesy, but a good movie overall.

I have to hand it to Harrison Ford, that guy is doing great for 65. Not bad at all. I really hope there's another one. I mean there really should be. No excuse. It only kicked ass at the box office!

The new theatre was also FANTASTIC, had the qualities of a big city theatre. Yay for our town!

Afterwards we did some shopping and had a yummy dinner. I got to have fish, couscous, and more fish. The fish was 'delish and made quite the dish. It was nice to have some time with my mom, especially since she wasn't telling me to clean the house.

Then after house chores we kicked back with another movie. I don't remember the title, only that it has Ben Stiller and it was bad. But really, are there any good Ben Stiller movies? I don't think so.

After I write each post, I get all nostalgic about my day and want to do it over again. What a nice day.

It is only 91 days till vet school starts. Sigh. I am somewhat excited and somewhat not. I'm really enjoying this break!

Today was great! Sunny and 79. There was a lecture at the house so I packed up the dog, my best friend and we went swimming (after fixing some stuff around the house - broken towel holder). The dog got to go to the boat ramp for some fetch, then we headed to the river.

A great drive out, great drive back in. Absolutely perfect weather. We had some tasty sammiches and ended the day with a walk and a robot movie. Couldn't ask for more.

Today was a drama filled day. Well, a drama filled morning.

I missed most of it, I don't get to work until later. Apparently there was some stress between a doctor and the support staff. I really don't like drama. I can see both sides of it - this particular doctor likes things done a particular way. The support staff is busy, hardworking, and can't always do things a particular way. It gets done, just differently. Anyways, it was stressful.

I try and get along with everyone, makes life easier. I hate fighting, it reminds me of my parents separation. Which I'm sure has made me mental in some form or another. So fighting really makes me uncomfortable. Thus this morning at work was very...uncomfortable.

So I did the only thing I could do. I made brownies. Brownies are a good way of saying "Let's stop being cranky." I like to think it helped in it's own small way. Some people deal by getting mad, some deal by talking, drinking, shooting, writing, etc. I like to make something tasty.

I'm sure all clinics have drama. I feel fortunate that the drama levels here are usually quite low. So I'll just count this as an odd happening.

Anyhoo, medically: the usual clinic happenings for today. Diarrhea, ear infections, eye infections, abscess, toe nail trims, tons of vaccinations.

I have to take a moment to get on my soapbox here. The topic: large dogs.

People, if you're going to have a large dog learn how to control it - get some good training. Otherwise you're just screwing yourself over. And the poor support staff/doctors who have to treat your large dog. You need to be responsible enough to make sure your dog can handle normal situations without knocking everything/everyone over and becoming a very real bite hazard. It's not cute, it's not fun, it's a hazard. Off the soapbox now.

We wrapped up the day with a sad case. A dog was missing for a few days and came back home unable to walk - it dragged itself home with the remaining good legs. The owners brought him in and we took x-rays. We found some spinal damage - likely he was hit by a car. There was a small chance that with an MRI and a consult we could learn more to potentially improve the animal's situation. But this would be very costly and the odds weren't that great. The couple elected to put the animal down. Afterwards I was able to feel the damage to the spine; the back was indeed broken. It was the right thing to put him down - he wasn't going to get any better and now he won't suffer anymore.

I do believe they go to a better place. A big field with lots of room run and play, always enough tasty food to eat, good smells to smell, other puppies and kitties to play with, never too hot and never too cold, no one to cause any hurt or harm. And I'll end the post on that happy note.

Today was a first for me. It was the first time in 3 years that we've gotten a positive heartworm test. The dog was from the south and didn't have any preventative treatment, so we were sort of expecting it. But it was the first positive test that we got in the 3 summers that I've been here. I got to see the larvae on a slide, there were many of them and it was a little creepy.

For those of you not familiar with heartworm, the name is a give-away. It is a worm that will live in the heart and eventually the creature will die of heart problems. Just thinking of live worms burrowing around in a beating heart should make anyone creeped out.

So now the dog (bitey little guy) is on a treatment plan and should be just fine. Savin' lives is what we do!

I got to play with a very cute little pup who was in for a neuter. We rarely get ones that cute, and we see many animals. It was a mix of a Maltese and a shitzu. Come to think of it, he was kind of bitey too.

On a good note, my tire is ok. It had a nail and is now patched and ready to roll - pun is intended. I wanted to watch the Indy movie today but will watch it later with my mom. I am a HUGE Indy fan and can't wait to see him back in action.

I'm also working on cracking the recipe for Fisher's scones. Good stuff, hard to duplicate!

I wish there was some kind of chip they could put in your head so when you're doing something you don't want to do, you think you're actually in Hawaii. I would so buy one of those.

Today I worked my computer job. As a vet student I work at the animal hospital and have another job to stay a float. Not kidding - I'm hoping to god I can get on food stamps before vet school starts. I always work during school and I have 2 or more jobs in the summer. School is just so dang expensive.

Anyhoo, so it was a blah day on the computer job. And blah weather outside. Somehow, we went from 93 to 83 to 73 to 63, and just now my car told me it was 49. All within the span of 5 days.

And my tire has a leak. So I'll have to get that fixed tomorrow.

And I tried to budget out so that maybe I could take a little trip anywhere before school starts. My budget says it's probably not going to happen. My vacation trip is going to be the drive out to school. Sigh.

So I would really like one of those brain-vacation chips, please. Or at least some chips. I'll settle for some of those.

Today, as you guessed, was a full moon. Which means 1 of 2 things:

1) All hell breaks loose
2) Everything is quiet. Too quiet. All of the sudden ... (see #1)

This morning was surgery-o-rama. We had a ton of dentals, lump removals, ear cleanings and x-rays. It was chaotic, but everyone was working together and in a general good mood.

We had one dog that was a particular pain in the ass. Some people may think that all we do is play with puppies and kitties. Nope. As much as we'd like to, we get animals that are just a pain. I have respect for all life, but I certainly don't love all animals. Like ones that bite me in the face. Definitely don't love them.

Animal handling can be difficult and certainly no one is perfect. You have to be tough/confident or you will not be in control. And when you're not in control of the situation, animals/people can get hurt.

Which is why it really gets my goat when people take aggressive animal behavior and anthropomorph it. Growing, lunging, and snapping are not "cute" and does not mean your dog is "happy to see you." People, people, people..... sigh.

Anyhoo, in case anyone was wondering the cheesecake turned out very well! I should post some pictures up here later. I also used the left over crust to make a pretty fruit tart! Yum : )

As you can guess, we had a splenectomy today. I had no idea a spleen was quite that large. It was the size of perhaps 3/4 of a football. Then again, there was an attached mass and the spleen was enlarged due to use of narcotics. But it was interesting none the less.

Interesting thing: this particular animal is sick (cancer I believe?) and only had a few more weeks to live. Because of this surgery, it now has around 6 months to live. I wondered, if I were the owner, if I would have given the ok for the procedure. It cost approx $1,600 - in return for approx 6 more months with your animal. I wonder how many other people would have done the same.

During surgery I got to help setup suction and other misc stuff. I was pleased that I knew how to set up suction.

Also had a sad shape doxie come in - end stage lung problems. Poor thing was just skin and bones, horribly low temperature. We couldn't do anything for it except try to make it comfortable.

On the happy side, I met a really nice client. Cool lady, cancer survivor, makes awesome sculptures, got a real sweet dog from the pound. Those types of people make me happy. She just was happy to be there, happy to have a dog, and appreciated .. well .. life in general.

Now I'm off to make some cheesecake!

Today I helped at the shelter fundraiser again. It was a little better today, but still not as good as we hoped for. My job was taking care of the food for the volunteer staff. I love doing food stuff! I had a blast shopping for different lunch foods people would like. It turned out to be $100 for the weekend. I tried to budget my best and I think I got good deals.

I took my best friend along with me and he brought his dog. We later ended up at a state park, letting the dog swim. He threw dog-dish water at me and I punched him. He's always throwing water at me. It was a lovely green day, blue skies, nice and warm but not too hot. Only in the mid-70s. We took a long country road back, it's nice to see that so much of the area is still rural!

I've been thinking of taking a cake decorating class - finally I've gotten the details. It's $21 plus all the supplies you have to buy. I might get to do it for my birthday!

Tomorrow is back to work. . .

It was hot today. Real hot. Today hit 93. I did not appreciate it. Neither did my rabbit. I placed a big box fan next to him but he just seemed PO'd.

Yesterday was nice and in the upper 70's, low 80s, it was most enjoyable. One of my favorite things to do in the winter: turn on the heater to the 70's, grab a blanket, make a warm fort over the heater, then fall asleep when I finally get nice and warm. Yesterday was the perfect temperature that I seek with my blanket fort, except it was outside and wonderfully sunny. I was able to take a nice long walk about the block.

Everything smells good. It's amazing how different this place is winter vs. summer. Different smells, different sounds, completely different look. I'm really enjoying the smell. We got done with lush wet spring growing smell, now it's 'everything is happy and growing' smell. Next when it has truly gotten to summer, we will have 'now it's hot and everything is dried up' smell.

My favorite shelter had a fundraiser today. It did not go as well as we had hoped, partly because the weather was so nice/hot that we're thinking everyone had other things to do. Go boating. Find AC. Get otter pops. I could go for some otter pops. After the shelter fundraiser I went to my good buddy's house and got some dinner.

This week at work we've had an interesting mix. Including a power outage. You know you're practicing good medicine when not even a lack of power can stop you. Fortunately it was only for a few minutes, 15 max.

I'm thinking I will try to blog a little everyday. I want to remember each day so that when I'm in vet school, lonely and homesick I can re-read these posts and remember what it was like to be happy at home.