Double True.

25 things - Relationship Edition

2009-02-12T21:48:00.000-08:00

This is from Facebook. It was also posted on Beckie's blog and I thought I would share it here:

This is kind of like the 25 things - except there are pre-decided questions and it's about you and your spouse, not just you. Wanna play? Just copy this post into your own notes & change the answers!

♥ What are your middle names?
Mine is Christine
Sven is Cory

♥ How long have you been together?
7 years in July

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating?
we emailed back and forth for a few weeks before we met and had our first date

♥ Who asked who out?
Jason asked me

♥ How old are each of you?
I'm 27 and Jason is 33

♥ Whose siblings do/ did you see the most?
Jason's. His brother used to live with us and he now lives with their mother. My brother is pretty much always busy.

♥ Do you have any children together?
Not now. Not ever.

♥ What about pets?
Three dogs

♥ Did you go to the same school?
Nope

♥ Are you from the same home town?
Not exactly. He's from NoCo, I'm from St. Peters

♥ Who is the smartest?
I think we're pretty even. We just have different areas of expertise.

♥ Who is the most sensitive?
Definitely me.

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple?
Flat Branch, El Maguey

♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
New Orleans

♥ Who has the worst temper?
Him

♥ Who does the cooking?
Me, pretty much all the time

♥ Who is more social
Him

♥Who is the neat freak?
Him

♥ Who is the more stubborn?
Also him.

♥ Who wakes up earlier?
Weekdays, me. Weekends (when I don't have to work), him.

♥ Where was your first date?
Wiliker's in St. Charles

♥ Who has the bigger family?
Him by a long shot

♥ Do you get flowers often?
Occasionally. Usually as a surprise.

♥ How do you spend the holidays?
We spend a lot of time with his family. My family is tiny and we don't really do big holiday get-togethers.

♥ Who is more jealous?
Me

♥ Who sleeps more?
Me, if given the choice. I require a lot more than he does. Although I rarely get it.

♥ Who eats more?
Eh, it's pretty even.

♥ Who does/ did the laundry?
We share in the laundry, but he ends up doing it more often because he has fewer clothes.

♥ Who’s better with the computer?
He's the applications developer.

Opinions

2009-02-11T06:57:00.000-08:00

"But I do concede that everyone can have their own opinion(even if I think you're are wrong)."

I was just browsing through some of the comments on a recent Something Old, Something New blog post and found this odd.

If opinion is defined as "A subjective thought that a person has formed about a topic or issue ." How can it ever be wrong? Sure, you can disagree or have a different opinion, but it can't be wrong. Only facts and theories can be wrong.

But maybe that's just my opinion. ;)

Pet toxins alert!

2009-02-06T17:42:00.000-08:00

Wow, seriously? It's been over a month? Obviously, surgery rotation sucked my life away.

Now I'm on Emergency and Critical Care and it has come to my attention that there are several big-bad toxicities that owners are not aware of. In my opinion, I don't think anyone should feed anything to their pets without checking to make sure it isn't toxic first (even if we eat it, that doesn't mean they can), but I realize that not many people think to do that.

1) Grapes and raisins. Bad stuff, people. Even in very small quantities. "But, I give my dog a couple grapes all the time and have never had a problem. She's safe, right?" Wrong. Apparently it's not all grapes or all raisins. Unfortunately, we don't know what the exact toxic chemical it is in grapes/raisins and so we don't know which kinds have the toxin. Best to just stay away from now on. What can happen? Acute renal failure. Think kind of like anti-freeze toxicity only without an antidote. I've got a patient right now with this that's having to receive dialysis every hour because he ate a ton of raisins. Not good. I'm really pulling for him though!

2) Ibuprofen (Advil). Also best to stay away from Aleve or Tylenol or any other over-the-counter pain reliever. Sure, aspirin in small amounts can be ok, but what if your pet has to go in for surgery? Or gets hit by a car? Aspirin inhibits clotting. Best to stay away unless directed otherwise by your veterinarian. If your pet is in pain, suck it up and see the vet for something made for animals. The other meds can cause a myriad of other disorders including gastrointestinal ulceration and kidney damage.

3) Garlic and onions. Ok, so this one isn't necessarily drastically bad, but it does damage the red blood cells. Not a great thing. Best to just stay away.

4) Anti-freeze. Most people know about this one but it bears repeating. Anti-freeze that contains ethylene glycol will fry the kidneys. There are a couple of different treatments that block the breakdown of ethylene glycol into the toxic metabolites, but they have to be administered very soon after ingestion.

5) Chocolate. Another one most people already know about. Baking chocolate is the worst and white chocolate has hardly any of the toxic principle in it (but still best to keep it away from your pets). Again, if you know your pet just ate it within the past couple hours, get thee to thy vet immediately (or at least call for advisement). Other foods that cause similar signs to chocolate: coffee and anything else with caffeine.

6) Rodenticides. It makes me nervous to even have this stuff in the house. Supposedly it tastes quite good to our pets and it's horrible for them. The effects of most rodenticides out on the market won't be seen for a few days post-ingestion, but it's important to start treatment immediately. The products cause clotting disorders which will, in turn, cause hemorrhage into any part of the body (skin, abdomen, chest, brain, etc). Another big bad.

7) Avocados. Any part of them is toxic. No guac for the doggies.

8) Macademia nuts. These babies are tasty but can cause tremors, depression, and hyperthermia in our pets.

7) Xylitol. This is a fairly recent one. Xylitol, for those who don't know, is a sugar substitute found in many baked goods and sugar-free gum. Even a small amount can cause your pet to become dramatically hypoglycemic (low blood sugar). It also causes liver damage. The problem is that animals' bodies see xylitol as sugar and release a ton of insulin. The insulin then causes the "real" blood sugar to drop. Don't feed your pets anything that's artificially sweetened. My parents have a dog who LOVES gum, he only gets the kind with sugar in it. We figure he doesn't chew it anyway so cavities are not a concern. ;)

8) Some over the counter flea/tick meds. I don't have a list of which ones handy, but I know that several have been found to be extremely toxic. Same goes for flea collars, not just the topical spot on stuff. Extremely important: never put something labelled for dogs onto a cat. Cats have a unique sensitivity to permethrins that dogs are ok with. Honestly? Most of it is ineffective anyway so you're wasting your money. My suggestion: skip it altogether and get something from the vet. Money well spent.

For a more complete (and searchable!) toxin list visit: http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/

There's also a phone number on that site so you can call if you're ever worried about something (although they charge you for the call). Most vets will have a book of toxins that they can look up most things that you'd be concerned about, too.

Another important thing to know about toxins: it's not always the best idea to make your pet vomit even if they just ate something toxic five minutes ago. Sure, it's still in the stomach, but some things that are toxic going down are just as toxic coming back up. This is true of most household chemicals, for one. Also, if your pet vomits, they have a risk of aspirating (inhaling the vomit into their lungs) which will cause a whole new slew of issues. Best leave the vomit-inducing to the professionals unless otherwise directed.

If it's a topical toxin causing a skin reaction, Dawn soap works wonders, usually. Great thing to have on hand just in case. And saline solution (the kind for contacts) can be used to rinse eyes. Again, best to wait for advisement from a veterinarian prior to starting these treatments but if you have them on hand at home, it can help your pet get relief sooner as well as possibly decrease the damage.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T21:06:00.000-08:00

For all those who are getting to celebrate New Years, have fun!

Me? I'm on-call tonight until 8am tomorrow. Blech. But it has been giving me time to get some stuff done.

With the coming of the new year, I'm getting more and more freaked out about the whole finding a job situation. I would love more than anything to work at the clinic I just finished my preceptorship at, but I don't know if they're able to hire me so I'm stuck looking for other options.

I have no idea how to go about finding a job. Positions in this line of work aren't regularly advertised, most openings are discovered through word of mouth or randomly asking. Which, honestly, sucks. I would much rather be able to see who is willing to hire, do a little research, check out the clinic, and THEN decide if I want to apply. I would hate to call around asking or send out a ton of resumes and get calls back from clinics that I wouldn't be comfortable working at. I realize that's part of being a big kid and the whole job search thing, I just don't like it.

Nonetheless, I've been finishing up my resume and working on making postcards to send out with it so I can mass send them out in hopes of finding an interesting clinic that's looking to hire. I've found a couple online that seem like good options just based on their websites. It's nice to have a little something to go by, at least.

So.... if anyone knows of a clinic that is hiring or if you go to a super fabulous clinic (preferably within 30 miles of St. Charles, MO) please pass along the name. I have 3 weeks off at the end of February/early March so I could do visits and interviews then, which is why I'm trying to get on this now.

And, simply because I hate posting without a picture:

Hindsight

2008-12-14T17:55:00.000-08:00

It's so easy for us to pass judgment on the decisions that people make, especially when we see the result of said decision. But sometimes, I think we need to take a moment, step back, put yourself in their shoes. It's easy to say "that was a BAD choice" when we see the disastrous results or if we have another perspective with more information. Not fair.

I'll admit. I'm guilty of this. It took me quite awhile to see things from the other person's perspective.

I have a client at the hospital who came in for an extremely invasive surgery on an extremely geriatric cat. The end result being that the cat left the hospital looking worse than it came in. Sure, it will likely come back around with some physical rehab but 4 weeks of recovering is a lot when you're that freaking old. Everyone, including myself, were talking about why on earth someone would do that surgery in a cat that old. What a selfish choice that man made. But then I stopped to think about it and that judgment is very unfair.

He took a gamble. He knew it was a gamble. He also was told that if he didn't do the surgery, the cat would likely die within a couple weeks. With the surgery, the cat had a chance of several months. He loves that cat with all his heart and so that was a gamble he was willing to take. Also, I have a feeling, he may not have fully understood the options. Thirdly, no one could have predicted the outcome. This particular surgery could have caused any number of "side effects" from no change to coma. Again, this was the gamble he took to try to give his friend the best shot possible. And, of course, now he is second guessing his decision and feels guilty about it.

Would I have done it? No. But that's easy for me to say since I spent a week caring for the after-effects from this cat.

It's been awhile...

2008-12-14T08:58:00.000-08:00

I'm a horrible blogger, apparently. I can't believe it's been over a month since I've written anything! Ack!!!

In that time, I finished up my preceptorship and have come back to school. I'm on my surgery rotation now and I started off with neurology. Next Wednesday I switch to soft tissue surgery and I'm actually off for Christmas this year. Yippee!!!

First night that I came home to Columbia, I had to try on my wedding dress again. It's a sickness, I know. But, at least this time I remembered to take pictures! See? Even girls without traditional wedding dresses are obsessed with their dress. It's just so pretty and it's killing me that I have to wait to wear it out.

So without further adieu, the dress! (ignore the messy hair and lack of makeup, but check out the fabulous matching shoes!)

Needs some alterations: take in at the waist and pull up the straps. But I love it. Oh, that I could just wear it around the house everyday without fear of dog hair or muddy paws.

Next post: my Christmas plans/decor

Voting day

2008-11-04T05:29:00.000-08:00

Today is Tuesday, November 4th and for those of you who have managed to escape the millions of other reminders, it's election day.

Now there are millions of people who are urging you to vote and reminding you of how important it is but I want to add a little tidbit to that. Don't just vote blindly. Please, research the candidates individually and make your vote an educated vote. Blindly voting for parties or because of some other random characteristic or just based on an ad you heard on the radio is just as bad as not voting. I truly believe that if you don't know what you're voting for, you're actually doing more harm than if you were to not vote at all.

Unfortunately, I feel like this is the way a lot of Americans vote. They divide themselves into Democrat or Republican and then vote a straight ticket. Not good, folks. We need to keep the politicians in check because obviously no one else is going to do it. Look at voting records and see if they gel with what the candidates say they believe in. Read about what the individual candidates are standing for even if all you have time to do is go by their websites and peruse. It doesn't take long, I promise.

Please, don't just vote. Vote educated.

Oh and how lucky am I that I don't have to wait in those lines today?? Thank goodness for absentee ballots! Now I just have to hope the USPS doesn't let me down.

Spays and neuters and abscesses... oh my!

2008-11-03T21:48:00.000-08:00

I've been back in town for a little over a week now and it's fantastic. Not only is it great to be home with my sweetie but the preceptorship I'm doing is so incredibly fabulous!!!

I've already gotten to do quite a bit. I've done spays, neuters, abscesses, an abdominal hernia repair, a cystogram, ultrasound, and expressed several anal glands. Ok, so the anal glands part isn't necessarily fun but at least I'm getting to do stuff rather than just standing around all day. It's great.

This is the first general practice I've worked at that has had certified veterinary technicians. I think they're the greatest! I'm sold on having them. And the girls that work at this clinic are the sweetest. They are great at their jobs, do what needs to get done and no one has to prompt them to do stuff. That is such a relief for the doctors. Great technicians are priceless and extremely hard to come by.

Dr. H is super sweet and I love that she's not only letting me do quite a bit but she goes out of her way to get things for me to do. Fortunately, she does a lot of work with rescue groups so I've gotten to do several cat spays and neuters. She even brought in her own dog for me to neuter. Suh-weet!

I feel so lucky to be on this preceptorship for 5 weeks. I feel like I can learn quite a bit there.

Wine lip

2008-10-24T08:13:00.000-07:00

This morning, I woke up with a bad case of what I like to call "wine lip." The inside edges of both of my lips are stained with the delicious wine that we drank for dinner last night. I've tried cleaning it off with my toothbrush, I've tried hiding it under lip gloss. Nothing works for me. For all you oenophiles, how do you get rid of (or prevent) wine lip?

The wine we had last night was worth it though. It was Cynthiana from Heinrichhaus. Heinrichhaus is a Missouri winery owned by the most adorable German man. He looks like he's about 80 and when we went to the winery, he met us at the door in a mesh tank top and shorts with a giant panama hat. He immediately asked us what kind of wine we liked and warned us that "I don't make sweet wines." We said we like a little bit of everything but mostly dry reds. He seemed happy with that answer. So on to the tasting. They were all fantastic, although the Norton wasn't anything we'd want to drink a whole bottle of (not surprising, we don't generally like any of the Nortons). We walked out with a bottle of Traminette (J's new favorite white), Cynthiana (which we had last night), and a Chambourcin. The Cynthiana was very fruity with lots of raspberry notes and when you smell it, it smells like it's going to be a semi-sweet wine. It's not. It's definitely dry but Heinrich managed to make the fruitiness stand up to the tannins so it's exactly the kind of well-balanced, dry red I like to drink. Wonderful.

There had been rumors that Heinrich was going to be retiring but, as he told us, what would he drink then? He got into the winery business because he couldn't find good wine so he decided to make his own. Boy are we glad he did! Heinrichhaus winery is a little off the beaten path (especially if you follow the Google map directions and take a gravel dirt road for 20 minutes rather than the highway on the other side for about 2 minutes, silly Google maps). It's a small building with no A/C and a large German Shepherd will meet you at the door along with his mesh shirt-wearing owner, but it's fun and the wine is worth the drive. I highly recommend checking it out if you don't insist on drinking sweet wine. ;)

But I digress.... I still have no idea how to get this wine stain off my lip.

Our -1 year anniversary

2008-10-17T06:23:00.000-07:00

After being engaged for 4 years and together for 6, today is our -1 year anniversary. Is it sad that I'm ridiculously excited about this? Not only am I 1 year away from our wedding, but I'm almost 6 months away from graduating. Scary and exciting!

I tried to convince J to get married this year instead of next year but that was a no go. Something about "still in school" and "deposits already made for next year" and "blah blah blah".... I told him he never wants to do anything I want to do. lol

Besides, I still have several projects to complete and things to do before we get married. Here are a few of the things on my to-do list for the next year:

1. Cake: I've decided to go with several small cakes on different cake stands and one 2 tier cake for cutting and our topper. I have yet to find a bakery, but I'm definitely looking forward to some tastings in the future (J is more than willing to help with that part, too).

2. Caterer: We're doing the BBQ thing but there are so many different options, I have no idea who to go with. My plan is to have a caterer-picking party where we order BBQ from several different places and vote. The party will be good for another task on my to do list:

3. Booze: Specifically, wine. Our venue only allows wine and beer, no hard alcohol. Which is a little sucky but also makes things easier for me (and cheaper). We're planning on getting a couple of kegs of beer (one from Schlafly or Trailhead most likely and one of Bud Light/Miller Lite caliber). But choosing the wine is going to be more tricky. Most people don't have the same taste as we do when it comes to wine plus I need to choose kinds that are going to be more affordable than what we generally drink. So my plan is to hit some wine shops for a few good options and have the party vote on those as well.

4. Officiant: Technically, I know who we want as an officiant but he'll have to get ordained online (assuming that's legal in MO) or we'll have to find someone else or the last option would be to get legally hitched at the courthouse and then have our wedding be more of a symbolic and meaningful ceremony. I like any of these options and honestly, I'd probably choose the courthouse over paying another officiant. They're just ridiculously expensive for what I want. J and I don't do the church thing so we don't have the hookup on officiants which means having to pay somewhere around $200 for one. This irritates me because J and I want to be in control of what goes down for our ceremony so it would be very little work for the officiant and I just don't think anyone would be worth $200.

5. Invitations: I have most of the materials to make these, it'll just be a matter of printing out the inserts and invite and putting it all together. Thankfully, I've opted to not do it entirely DIY. Yeah, it costed me a little more money to buy black A7 cards rather than cutting paper and folding them myself, but think of the time (and sanity) that will save. Totally worth it.

6. Table runners: Again, I have the materials, just need to get them sewn. I'm hoping to enlist the help of my future mom in law but that still leaves me at least 10 to do. Ew. Hopefully, they will take less time than I anticipate. I'm seriously considering cheating and just using the fabric tape rather than sewing them. They should hold up just fine and will go faster.

7. Rentals: I need to go somewhere to choose and rent tablecloths. Or so I think at this point. I'm not sure though, I'm trying to come up with different options that may save some money such as using butcher paper on the tables. We're doing a whole rusticy feel anyway, why use real tablecloths? I don't know. We'll see. J also insists on having a chocolate fountain which, I will admit, I'm not in a single way against. It's another case of do we just rent the fountain and do it up ourselves or pay to have someone come in and do it? I just don't know. Again, we'll see.

8. Save the dates: I have them already. Just need to cut out the magnets, attach them, and address the envelopes. I can't wait to send these out!

9. Clothes for J: This should take no time. He'll just be wearing dress pants, a dress shirt, and a tie. Easy peasy. In fact, J may already have a shirt that will work beautifully.

10. Write out our ceremony and do our vows. Thankfully, this again is something J will help me with but it's also what I'm most excited to do. This is what will make it all so real.

11. Music playlist: I already have a start but we need to track down all the music and put it together in a playlist. Shouldn't take much time at least.

12. Favors: My plan to have a popcorn bar is still in the works but with some tweaking. After checking out the pricing on buying a ton of gourmet popcorn, I've decided to do one or two types that I will portion out into the boxes and place on the tables rather than do a free for all. More cost effective and it adds a little something to the tables since we won't have dinnerware out.

And I think that's it for the moment. I'm sure I'm forgetting a ton, but I've got a year to figure that out. ;)

Crap.

2008-10-16T18:59:00.000-07:00

Clearly I haven't mastered the future posting option. Today is not our -1 year anniversary, it's tomorrow. Dern it.

The topic everyone is talking about...

2008-10-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

the election.

It seems like no matter where I go, people are talking talking talking about the upcoming presidential election. And it depresses me.

Why? Because I have no idea who I'm voting for.

I know that I cannot stand McCain. That much I know. But Obama? Eh. I'm not excited. There's just something about him that I don't dig. Something is too smooth, too weird. I don't know how to describe it. It's nothing logical. Nothing that anyone else has said. Nothing obvious. It's just a feeling that I have that is preventing me from voting for him.

Unfortunately, there are no other third party people that thrill me either. I've voted green party before, but McKinney doesn't float my boat. Most other third parties are kinda bananas to me.

So, last weekend I told J I was gonna vote for his guy: Bob Barr. For those who don't know, he's the libertarian candidate. Now, I'm not a libertarian. I don't think they're bad, it's just not my thing. J was so excited to hear that I might vote for Barr. He was less excited when I told him my reasoning: he won't win, even if he does win I don't think he'll screw things up too bad because congress isn't libertarian majority, but I'm willing to help a third party get the percentage they need to put up another candidate next time around.

I figure it's better than not voting at all, right?

THE dress???

2008-10-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

So I was browsing around AnnTaylor.com looking at dresses and found this little number for a bargain price of $39.99:

While looking around, I found this one too:

Super cute, just didn't know how great it would look on me. But given the $6 shipping, I decided to go for it. Plus, it was on sale so it was worth a shot.

Another one I found might just be my "THE dress". The colors are perfect, I just wasn't entirely convinced about the fit on me. Again, I figured worth a shot. Only $89.99, too. I've never been dress shopping for the wedding, and it may be WAY too soon but it looked so perfect....

Plus I already have the perfect shoes to go with. ;)

So they all arrived today and the blue dress is a little big, but can be taken in. The pink one-shoulder is a total no. Just no shape to it. Then I tried on the last dress. It's PERFECT! I love it. Now I just gotta get verification that it's perfect from mom. :) It needs to be taken in a smidge in the waist but otherwise it's good to go!

What do you all think? Big mistake buying the dress this far in advance? Should I return it or keep it?

Sold!

2008-09-30T20:58:00.000-07:00

I just sold my car! Wheeeeeee!!!!

About 2 1/2 weeks ago, my car went all shakey. I took it to a shop and it was going to cost me $1200 to fix only SOME of what's wrong with it. Ugh. Turned out to be a bad fuel injector, bad cylinder, and a clogged fuel filter. Of course, they so kindly found several other things wrong while giving it a thorough physical exam, but that's not included in the $1200. Ick. So given that we've now replaced the entire exhaust system and all the other things that are now wrong with it, I decided to get rid of it.

J was supposed to meet my dad to trade cars two Fridays ago. That morning, the car didn't start. This is my luck, folks. The battery was totally shot. Friday evening when I got home, we went to Auto Zone to pick up a new battery so Sentra could be passed along to St. Louis. While in line to pay for the battery, the guy behind us (trying to be helpful) tells us we should get an upgraded battery because it's worth the extra $$. We told him that we're just needing it to live long enough to sell and it turns out he's interested in buying! As of tonight, I have the cash and bill of sale and he has the keys and title. Whoo hoo!

So now I'm on the hunt for a new car which has turned out quite more difficult than I'd expected. Daily searches of craigslist, Autotrader, and CarSoup are yielding some promising ads but it appears that no one is actually intersted in selling their cars. We call, leave messages, email, etc. and they don't respond. WTF??? Did you post that ad just for fun or what?

Buying a car should not be this hard. I thought the hard part would be finding one that fit all of my criteria: less than 75000mi, power windows/locks, cruise, 4 doors, 4 cylinder (hopefully), and something from around 2000 or newer for less than $5000. Sounds like a tall order but there are several options out there, if the owners would ever call back. Not only that, but there are several scam ads on all of those sites. Ridiculous. You email them about the car and they give you some line about Ebay and an escrow service. A quick google search and you find out that the same ad is posted in multiple cities so it's obviously a scam. Horrible. So watch out for that if you ever are on a car hunt as well.

I saw a lovely car here, but unfortunately, I don't think Rhonda will take $5000 for that one and it doesn't really meet my 4 door requirement. ;)

Oh that I could afford this little beaut:

Drama-lama ding-dong.

2008-09-17T09:35:00.000-07:00

I love that the veterinary profession has recently (and by recently I mean over the course of the past 30 years) switched over to being female dominated. However, sometimes I think that is also a problem. Not really so much in the way that I think they aren't great veterinarians; I honestly think they're more compassionate and understanding and therefore better than most men (sorry guys). I mean in an interpersonal, have to work together with lots of different people type of way. There's always drama and pettiness and talking behind backs which is really irritating to me. Yes, unfortunately, I'm guilty of it too.

One of the more annoying things, I think, is the hypocrisy when it comes to sexist remarks. Now, I consider myself a feminist. I'm all for being anti-sexism and whatnot, but I also feel like it works both ways. If the men can't make sexist remarks about us then we shouldn't do that to them. And if we do make sexist remarks about men, even in jest, they should be allowed/expected to react the same way we would. But, no. The men are expected to take the sexist remarks in stride and not be the least bit bothered by it and even laugh about it. Believe me, though, if/when they they do, the ladies get PIIIIIIIIISSED and take it quite personally/seriously. Or, if we are simply joking with them (via sexist remarks) and they attempt joking back, it is taken very personally and the ladies have a tendency to get really mad.

I just don't get it.

Yes, I'm guilty of the jokingly sexist remarks but I like to believe that I can take a joke right back. I just don't feel like it's fair to hold the gentlemen to a higher standard than we hold ourselves.

On a happier note, this week's Weight Watchers plan has been going much smoother. I've added protein to my salads (ham, egg, or even tuna) and I've been enjoying delicious Progresso soups with lunch. Thanks all for the suggestions/support! I know part of the issue is just getting used to the smaller portions during the first week but it also helps to be eating the right foods that are points cost-effective. I was supposed to weigh-in today, but forgot this morning so I'll do it tomorrow morning. I would like to have lost at least 2 pounds, but we'll see. Any change will be progress (assuming it's change in the right direction). ;)

Back on the wagon

2008-09-09T21:56:00.000-07:00

So, after about a year off, I'm back on Weight Watchers starting yesterday. Good for me! Right? Not quite. What seemed so easy to start last year around this time has been a frickin biotch to get back on now. Why? I don't know. Maybe I was more adequately prepared for being hungry last time. Maybe I was more gung-ho because the doctor gave me the kick in the pants I needed. Who knows?

All I know is that it's Day #2 today and I've already cheated. Ugh...

What is wrong with me??? I tried supplementing my dinner with a giganto yummy salad that should have been sufficient. It wasn't. So at 11:30pm, I ate an entire box of those stupid Michelina's Buffalo Chicken Pizza Rolls. Not a HUGE deal, or so I thought. Little have I realized this entire time that I've been eating them that there are 2 servings in that box, not one. And at 190 calories a serving, that is NOT a reasonable cheat. I was ok with being over by 4 points because I could run on the treadmill tomorrow and catch back up. Being over by 8 though?? Not so much. Boo.

My first goal is 10 pounds by my birthday which is one month away. Doable, but not if I keep cheating like this. Apparently I need to go shopping tomorrow and stock my fridge with "safe" snacks. That or go to bed earlier so I don't get hungry so late at night.

Any words of wisdom to get me back motivated?

Clearly.

2008-07-30T12:35:00.000-07:00

So I'm sitting in frowning at my laptop screen and typing occasionally. Clearly, I'm busy. Or at least I THOUGHT it was that obvious. Apparently not. Apparently some people think that it's the perfect time to start talking to me about the most random crap that I could care less about.

Seriously, why do some people just not get a hint? I'm not engaging you in this conversation, it's one-sided and I'm clearly not paying attention hence my repeated "I didn't hear what you said." Ugh...

How on earth do you get more obvious than that short of saying "leave me the eff alone, you're insane and I don't want to talk to you"? Geez-a-loo!

I'm tired. I'm crabby. I smell (literally) like shit. And I just want to go home. Back off and entertain yourself in a less irritating manner.

Hiiiiiiii-YA!!!

2008-07-27T18:08:00.000-07:00

I did the chop today. My first whole day off in awhile, I slept in until one, got up, ate breakfast and headed to the mall. Since I am incapable of making an appointment anywhere with my schedule, I figured Regis would be the best option to get my hair done. I went in at 2:30, they had an opening at 3:00 so I got a few minutes to shop beforehand.

I got some cute shoes at Payless:

and a few tops at Maurices:

Then it was time for my appointment. I had her take 3" off the bottom to eliminate some of the layering. Then I had her do foils with a light brown/dark blond. It's not an obvious color change, but it's lighter and the foils look pretty natural, so I'm happy.

Without further ado.... my new look (pardon my make-uplessness):

Ok, ok. So it's not dramatic or anything, but I like it. Lots of weight gone from my head which feels fantastic.

I still wanna play with doing some looser, beachy kinda waves, adding more volume at the root, and maybe try straightening it too. But I'm happy.

Cha cha cha changes!

2008-07-25T09:37:00.000-07:00

So apparently I'm just in the mood to change things. Maybe it's because I feel like I've been in a boring rut the past few weeks. Maybe it's the weather. Maybe it's my despisal (is that a word?) of the clinical rotation I'm on right now. I dunno. All I know is I have this compulsion to change TONS of stuff. One thing, of course, is my hair. Another thing is my house.

I'm going insane trying to come up with a plan to change things up without having to purchase or get rid of too much furniture. I've gone through my closet room and bagged up a ton of clothes for Goodwill. I'm also sending Goodwill a blanket, set of sheets, two lamps, and a back-rest pillow thing. I Freecycled some Corningware dishes and my leftover plastic shoeboxes that have been taking up space in the back of my actual closet for the past 6 months. I've also cleared out a >75% of my notes from classes that I will either never go back and read or that I have in digital format on my new external hard drive.

I'm attempting a more streamlined, clutter-free existance. I want to be more minimalist. I just have WAY too much crap and no where to go with it. Come next May when I head back to St. Charles for good this will be fantastic, too because less crap=fewer trips with a moving truck=save on gas.

I'm also trying for a clean, relaxing kind of feel to my house. It started with my repainting the kitchen the lovely superpale blue color (which J said he thought was white, silly boy) and the living room is now a light cream color (although that may be taken a skosh darker just for better contrast with the furniture/trimwork). Now I want to rearrange furniture.

My latest plan (haven't measured anything to make sure this can happen) is to move the futon out of the office and into the closet room where I will open it up, slap an inflatable mattress on top and stage as a regular bed. Then I can move the treadmill and TV into the office along with the tall bookcase. Then the chest of drawers can move into my bedroom. And viola! I will have 2 bedrooms and 1 office/workout room rather than 1 bedroom, 1 closet room/workout room, and 1 office.

Hopefully I can be a good little blogger and take before and after pictures, but we'll see how well I remember to do that. ;)

I'm kinda hoping that by changing up the house it will change how tired and bored I've been feeling. I'm also hoping that my trip back home to St. Louis next weekend will be more entertaining than the past two weekends here have been. I seriously feel like the little whiny kid who, towards the end of summer, complains "I'm booooooored."

Time to make some cuts...

2008-07-21T21:42:00.000-07:00

to my hair. It's been forever since I had even a trim much less a change of style. I'm sick of it. It doesn't do anything anymore. So... inspired by Julia, I went to dailymakeover.com and tried on some looks.

A reminder of what I look like normally (yes, normally my hair is back these days because I'm annoyed by it.) Please ignore the sweaty forehead and pimples. :

Here are the ones I like best:

A couple with bang-like things:

Generally, it is my opinion that curly-haired girls shouldn't have bangs. I have pictures from 6th grade to support this theory (none to share, sorry). But I think if they're left long enough and designed to be more sweepy than straight down they may be ok.

Now, I realize that none of these pictures are of curly styles. Unfortunately, the site is seriously lacking in good curly styles. I found one look that I kinda like, but my hair isn't as naturally curly as this style would require:

Another option I looked into is cutting my hair a little shorter so that I can get rid of some of my layers. For some reason, whenever I go to a stylist and tell them that they need to cut the bottom layer about an inch shorter than they think they should they don't get it. See, the layers will look great when my hair is straight, but my hair is rarely straight and when it curls, the shorter the hair the more it curls. So... the bottom layers will curl much less than the top layers giving me a sort of funky mullet-ish look that I just don't dig.

So maybe if I get the layers chopped off and only minimally layering with VERY long layers, it may be ok to go shorter like this:

I just don't know if I'm prepared to go that short yet. Granted, I have over a year before I get married so if I want to grow it back out I can but my hair tends to take FOREVER to grow.

I'm seriously considering the last one though because of the layering issue as well as the need for a change. I'm also considering highlights which I've avoided because I don't want to deal with upkeep but I'll have time for a few months and when I get sick of them I can always go back dark.

What do y'all think? Should I go for it or keep looking for the right look for me?

Copying Yara

2008-07-12T14:01:00.000-07:00

Saw it on Yara's blog and I thought I'd give it a shot.

46

Created by OnePlusYou

Not bad. I think some of the colors that I missed are stupid though. WTF is "papaya whip"? Seriously....

Long day

2008-07-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

The only thing that I hate about oncology is giving people bad news. Usually by the time patients come to us at the school, they've already received the bad news and we offer them hope and time. But when things aren't getting better or we've reached the end of our rope as far as treatments go, it's not a fun day.

Today was one of those days.

Young dog with cancer that was being treated with chemotherapy until last week when he got sick. Today, still sick and doing worse. We did imaging and found a possible cause. We had to tell a couple that their dog's tumor was worse and impinging on the brain. Not good. Of course these things only happen to really great pets with really fantastic owners that we all love. It broke my heart.

And so, after 13 hours at the hospital today, I'm heading back there in half an hour to check on the baby. He's staying the night at the hospital and I couldn't stand the thought of him being up there without some love. He doesn't feel well and he's in a strange place with strange people. I think that part of healing is also to nurture how an animal feels. If they're happy, they're probably more likely to heal physically. I have no science or fact to back that up, but it makes sense to me. Give them motivation to fight and maybe they'll do better. Couldn't hurt at least, right? Besides, I know I would want someone to do the same if it was one of my babies up there.

And to lighten up an otherwise depressing post:

Here's to a better day tomorrow.

Wapango!

2008-07-06T20:04:00.000-07:00

For the second weekend in a row I was able to go home to St. Charles. I know J appreciates the break from driving. I honestly don't know how he puts up with it every week. Have I ever mentioned how much I adore him???

This weekend, we celebrated our 6 year anniversary. Yes, 6 years. Actually, our anniversary isn't until tomorrow, but we felt secure enough in our relationship that we would make it until then so we went ahead and celebrated early. ;)

He took me out to dinner at Wapango in Chesterfield. I'd never heard of it but he found it in Sauce magazine. He picked it because it sounded like something different. For those who don't know, Wapango is billed as a "pan-Latin experience." Wow, and experience, not just a restaurant. lol

We had reservations for 8pm but got there early. No problem, they were not busy at all Saturday night which was surprising to me. Maybe people were still barbecuing or something. Anyway, they seated us immediately and we promptly ordered a pitcher of blood-orange mojitos, yucca fries, and the Colombian corn cakes.

The mojitos were wonderful. We, being the classy couple that we are, stuck a straw in the pitcher to suck up every last drop and then sucked on the pieces of orange that were in the pitcher too. I've never eaten yucca before, but it was delicious! The fries were a similar texture to regular old potato fries but cruchier and they had a delicious seasoning on them. They were served with chimichurri and a chili aioli. I LOVED the chimichurri, it was right up my alley: lots and lots of garlic, oil, and parsley. Kinda like an extra garlicy, more liquidy pesto. Yum. J preferred the chili aioli (fancy name for spicy mayo). The corn cakes were fabulous. I could have just eaten those for my meal but of course, I didn't because I had to try something else.

I ordered the Slow-Roasted Pork and J had the Brazilian Seafood Stew. Both were fantastic. The stew had shrimp, which I don't eat but the calamari was delicious. The sauce in the stew was sooo good and seafoody. The pork was equally delicious. It's marinated and cooked in a banana leaf (which the server so helpfully told me most people don't eat as though I would be tempted). The pork was so tender and flavorful and not the least bit dry. I could have done without the tortillas it was served with but the golden rice was good.

We both had over half of our entrees leftover. The portions are huge and, particularly after sharing two appetizers, we wanted to save room for dessert.

The dessert tray was amazing! They had a key lime tart, blood-orange flan, tres leches cake, and chocolate fritters. We opted to split the chocolate fritters which were balls of chocolate cake that were fried and served with a caramel sauce and caramel ice cream from Serendipity. Yum-o. Little pieces of heaven. It was definitely a good choice to split them, though, they were filling!

I would totally go back there again. It's a little on the pricey side though. I'd probably be willing to go back more often for just mojitos, appetizers, and dessert which would make it more affordable.

My new (embarrassing) love

2008-06-24T20:05:00.000-07:00

While I realize that my time in the evenings could be better spent studying or reading something so I look like less of a retard come the crazy onslaught of DV's questions the next day, when I get home I just want to veg out.

Vegging last night consisted of watching my new found embarrassing TV show (otherwise known as Legally Blonde The Musical: The Search for Elle Woods). Yes, it's embarrassing, but I already love it. First, I love love love Legally Blonde (I and II). Throw in Broadway songs and some crazy cat fights and I'm all bout it bout it.

To me, Emma looks SO ridiculously much like Reese Witherspoon that I can't help but want her to win. Lauren's performance last night annoyed me. She was constantly doing this scrunchy nose thing that just got on my nerves. I find it interesting that, based on last night's episode, it seems they're weeding out the non-blondes. I love Autumn's hair, though. I wish mine was curlier so I could wear it shorter like that.

I never even knew the musical existed before this show. I totally want to see it now. Looks like it's coming to the Fox Theater January 20-February 1 of next year. I actually have a free block starting January 28th. Hmmmm... I'm seriously considering ordering tickets.

Wahoo

2008-06-24T19:29:00.000-07:00

Within the first week of my college career (undergrad) I emailed my parents to tell them what I had learned and what I was up to. My parents still crack up about me telling them I'd stuck my hand up a cow's wahoo (wahoo, not vajayjay).

Well, I've come full circle. More wahoo fun for me! Therio has been... painful in more ways than one. Not only is it painful to be grilled about a subject I don't care about and I didn't learn much about during our lecture class, but it's physically painful to rectally palpate cows. Those suckers can clamp down pretty tight when they want to. After one or two my arm is shot. I am definitely not cut out to do that every day for a living. Thank goodness this isn't my dream job.

On the upside, I've learned a lot. Despite being told by our instructor that we should all be shot yesterday, today was better. I think I may have answered >50% of questions correctly. Whoo hoo! Maybe something is sinking in. I just cannot bring myself to care too terribly much about helping animals reproduce.

I'm not interested in food animal practice and I don't think we should be helping horses, cats, or dogs reproduce. They seem to be doing that just fine on their own. In fact, I find it distasteful to be breeding these animals when there is such a surplus out in the world already. My theory is: if they need help to breed, they probably shouldn't be reproducing.

For example: why do we work so hard to make more english bulldogs? Yes, they're adorable. But they're genetic nightmares! They can't breathe, their bones are deformed, they cannot breed on their own, and they're unable to have babies naturally. Ugh... what have we done to these poor dogs???

We have to do a paper and presentation for this rotation on any theriogenology topic of our chosing. I'm opting to go with immunocontraception. It's an interested theory and it fits in with my lack of wanting to help things breed. Immunocontraception is still a work in progress, but I think it could be very interesting if it ever proves to be useful. If we can physiologically sterilize an animal and not have to do surgery, that would be fantastic. I love the idea of a vaccine that will help control overpopulation. Unfortunately, it hasn't made enough progress to be useful yet, but there's hope.

I just keep telling myself I only have one more week until my favorite rotation: oncology!!! Apparently you know you were meant to be an oncologist when you have a "favorite cancer." I have two (lymphoma and osteosarcoma, if you were wondering). Now if only I could convince myself to do an internship and residency to actually become a boarded oncologist...

More pups that need homes (sorry)

2008-06-18T18:30:00.000-07:00

I don't really know why these get sent out to us so frequently. Most vet students that can have pets already do (and are at max capacity, like me) and those that can't have pets will only be heartbroken after seeing these ads.

I suppose they're sent out in hopes that we have some kind of connection that would love to have another animal. So, this is my only form of advertisement.

The text is difficult to read so here it is:

All four of these very nice research dogs have been spayed or neutered and are vaccinated for DHPC and Rabies. “Benji” and “Evey” are 6 mos old and weigh approximately 25 lbs. “Shelby” is 2 yrs old and is petite. And “Wally” is 4 mos old.

They are in desperate need of good homes.

Can I just say that Wally is probably one of the most adorable dogs ever? He should be in commercials. Look at that face! Not that any of the others aren't totally adorable as well, but they've had ads posted around the school for Wally for at least a month now and everytime I pass a flier I can't help but say "awwww...." in my head.

So, as usual, if you know anyone or know anyone who knows someone who "needs" a dog, please pass this along.

Exhausting weekend

2008-06-08T20:40:00.000-07:00

I'm pooped. But, on the up side, I got a ton of stuff done. See? This is what happens when J doesn't come see me on the weekend. ;)

I'm a bad blogger and didn't take before pics (sorry) but I remembered to take after pictures at least! Here's what I did this weekend:

I painted the kitchen. It used to be a pale orangey-yellow color. Now it's a super pale gray-blue:

I painted the vanity cabinet white and replaced the top/sink. It used to be an oak color cabinet with a (very stained) white top. I painted the base white and changed out the top with a nice light beige solid surface from Home Depot:

A closer look at just the base. I didn't realize until AFTER I bought it that the top was predrilled for an 8" faucet so my 4" wouldn't fit. So, of course, I had to buy a new faucet and install it. Easy peasy:

I replaced the hideous ceiling fan in my closet-room (yes, I have a whole room that I use as a closet. Envy me.) It used to be a hideous dark wood with brass tiny (probably 42") fan with an ugly fluted edge light fixture on it. Ick. I found this beauty for cheap at, where else, Home Depot:

A closer look at the prettiness:

So that's all the stuff I did inside. Outside, I put in a couple shepherd's hooks and hung hostas outside my front window (sorry, no picture) and finally mowed the lawn. Sorry, neighbors. I know it was lookin hoosier and I apologize for my laziness.

I purchased some new solar landscape lights but I haven't put them in yet. When I get those in I'll take a picture and be sure to include the hostas (assuming they aren't already dead).

This is proof that Kristal's post is entirely correct about how to be a handywoman. I've never installed a faucet, vanity top, or ceiling fan but I did all three without too much trouble. The fan was easy because it was just a switch out. Same with the vanity. I looked at how everything was hooked up before I took it apart and then basically just put it back together with the new stuff. No problem, mon.

I hit a small snafu with the new vanity top because the new drain hung down lower than the old one but no big deal: I just used a hacksaw to cut off an inch of the PVC so the P-trap would line up correctly and viola! Problem solved!

The only problem I encountered with the ceiling fan was merely a matter of figuring out how to hold the fan up and hook things up with only two hand to work with. If I'd had a buddy to lend an extra hand or two it would have saved me some sweating and cursing.

Kristal is right: it's possible to do these things on your own, ladies! Don't be scared!

Celebrity Crush #1

2008-06-03T20:43:00.000-07:00

Celebrity Crush #1 was mentioned in my Flickr Game post.

Time for Celebrity Crush #2: Alton Brown.

Oh, how I heart Alton Brown! He gets the whole science thing while combining it with my other love: food. He has a thoroughly entertaining, yet informative, way of teaching. He has crazy spikey hair and glasses. Le sigh... How I love me some Alton Brown-ness.

He totally fits my whole funny-geek-with-a-twist tendency*.
(*See below)

Am I the only one who finds nerds totally hot? Perhaps it has something to do with my personal level of nerdiness.

5 days to go!

2008-05-27T18:31:00.000-07:00

In honor of my stlwed post:

I cannot believe it, I only have 5 more days left of my referral medicine elective. It's been fun. I haven't loved it as much as oncology, but I am learning a TON and the clinicians have all been great (even the one who I'd heard was scary).

I've, unfortunately, had 3 casualties though: 1 died on his own, 2 had to be euthanized. I've always heard that the day that stops bothering you, veterinary medicine should no longer be your profession. But I felt like crap. It was seriously everything I could do to not cry while euthanizing either of my patients.

J doesn't really get that but as I've explained to him: even though I only see most of these animals one time, it is SO easy to fall in love with an animal because they love unconditionally. One of my animals had been with us for a couple days, left the ICU looking fantastic, then came back a day later sick as all get out and not likely to ever recover. That was rough. Not only do I get attached to these animals, but I empathize with the owners. I completely understand having an incredible attachment to an animal and then having to make that super hard decision because I've been there not too terribly long ago.

It's so hard for me to see these people in pain and not give them a hug or something like that, but I understand that can make some people completely uncomfortable. So, instead, I spend a good amount of time painting the perfect clay footprint from their animal and trying to come up with something comforting to write in their sympathy card.

In case everyone is now getting the impression I'm somehow the angel of death, I've had many patients that have survived! Unfortunately, this rotation consists of all the super-tough (aka: bad news) cases that most vets in private practice can't/won't deal with so that means that many of my patients are very very sick and we're the last resort.

Next block: Ophthalmology, Theriogenology, and Oncology. Whoo hoo!

Referral Medicine

2008-05-17T06:52:00.000-07:00

Time for a post that is NOT about needing to find a home for some poor, unfortunate animal. But to update, Dude found a home. I saw him in the ICU yesterday recovering from the surgery to fix his leg. Hurray! I believe one of the technicians said that Stray Rescue paid the tab on the surgery. See? They really are an amazing rescue.

I'm back at school now. I was really nervous being that a) it had been forever since I was in a medicine frame of mind and b) as an elective student, they didn't share a whole lot of information with me because I was unable to attend the orientation.

Sooo... first day back was CRAZY! But I loved it. I had two patients: one I inherited from the previous group of students and one that was a first timer at the hospital. Both Shih-Tzus which was amusing to me. Am I destined to be just a Shih-Tzu doctor? They were both wonderful, though and I'm really glad I had them as patients. Day 1 back I was running my butt off around the hospital. I didn't even have time to breathe until rounds at 2:30 then it was back to running running running! Good thing I wore comfy shoes. ;)I sent one dog home for the night (he had to come back the second day) and my other patient stayed in the hospital overnight so we could monitor him in the ICU. Day 2 was much less busy. My ICU patient did fantastically overnight and we got him to eat so he was able to go home that evening. His owner was so sweet, it was nice that I got to meet her (sometimes we switch rotations and never get to meet the owners of some of our patients, we may only ever talk to them on the phone!).

The other dog came back that morning, had his procedure done, and we sent him home in the afternoon. His owners were hilarious! Cutest couple ever and man, did they love to tell stories about their baby! I absolutely love when clients do that. I know it's not efficient in the business sense to chit-chat with owners or listen to funny stories about their pets, but I like it and it seems to me that a lot of owners really enjoy telling stories about their animals. The minute I tell anyone I'm in vet school, out come all the funny/sad/weird stories about their pets (past or present) so I guess it's a good thing I like hearing them!

Today is my first emergency on-call shift for small animal. I'm kinda nervous, but the clinician on-duty is wonderful and so nice, I'm sure it'll be fine even if we get slammed.

Two in a row, sorry.

2008-05-14T17:12:00.000-07:00

I told you I get a lot of these.... one of the hazards of being a vet student, I guess. Here is another pup looking for a home! Email reads as follows:

sorry to flood your inboxes with yet another pup that needs a home....details are below but he appears to be responding well to supportive care and does not seem to be systemically ill like most HOD dogs can be...he may always have some thick carpi and tarsi (i think his rads are still available in radiology if you'd like to see them) but his good looks will surely make up for it...just let me or tammy know if you're interested...

have a great day!

Here are some pictures of a puppy looking for a good home. He was a stray and the person that brought him in could not care for him. We estimate him at about 5 months old. He came into our clinic a couple weeks ago unable to walk, all four limbs swollen at the carpus and tarsus. Now he is bouncing all over the place. We sent x-rays to the university and they believe that it is a very late stage of HOD. We would like to find him a home with someone that understands his condition and is able to care for him.

If you are interested or need any other info please let me know!

I apologize for the picture quality, I didn't take the pictures. ;)

Again, email me at kch9fb@yahoo.com if you're interested and I'll pass your name along.

Dude needs a home

2008-05-11T07:55:00.000-07:00

As a vet student, we commonly get mass emails about animals looking for homes. I've decided that the least I can do is post about them here in case someone, somewhere might be willing/able to give these guys another chance. Here's the email I received this morning:

While I was on emergency duty this weekend I saw a two month old Staffordshire terrier puppy with a broken femur. The owner could not afford treatment and left him with us. His name is Dude. He is healthy otherwise. He will be kept in A-ward until Monday. If he is not adopted by then he will unfortunately have to be put to sleep. If you or anyone you know might be interested please email me ASAP!

Dude thanks you.

Look at that face! Irresistible!

If anyone is interested in Dude, contact the University of Missouri Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital at (573)-882-7821 or email me at kch9fb@yahoo.com and I'll pass your email along to the girl who sent this out.

Flickr game

2008-05-09T17:53:00.000-07:00

Jessica posted this on her blog and I thought it was so great, I wanted to copy her.

1. Go to http://www.flickr.com/.

2. Type your answer to each question in the “search” box.

3. Using only the first page, pick an image.

4. Copy and paste the picture into your blog.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. What is your first name?

(it was this, a bunch of nekkid girls, or some creepy pig-dolls)

2. What is your favorite food?

3. What high school did you attend?

4. What is your favorite color?

5. Who is your celebrity crush?

6. What is your favorite drink?

7. What is your dream vacation?

8. What is your favorite dessert?

9. What do you want to be when you grow up?

10. What do you love most in life?

11. What is one word to describe you?

That was fun!

"Most important day of your life"

2008-05-06T23:29:00.000-07:00

This is the topic I eluded to in my previous post: the theory that your wedding day is the "most important day of your life."

I'm going to have to not only humbly disagree with that statement, but I also take some amount of offense to it.

The disagreement part: Personally, I have a lot of other things that will be equally, if not more important, that my wedding day. No offense to J but I have worked toward my schooling for a LOT longer than I've been with him or planned this wedding. The day I graduate vet school will be ONE OF the most important days of my life. Every day thereafter that I save an animal's life is pretty darn important too. I'd be willing to call it more important, in the grand scheme of things, than my wedding.

Not only that, but I take offense to this whole "most important" theory because of the way it is used. It's commonly used to, in my opinion, manipulate the engaged couple into spending too much money or doing things that they don't really want to do. I despise the fact that a large portion of the wedding industry seems geared toward taking as much of a young couple's money as possible. Anything "wedding" related seems to cost at least twice as much as the "regular" version. People chide you with remarks like "it's your special day, don't you want it to be perfect?" or "you don't want to regret not doing such and such a year from now."

Ugh. It's as though when I got engaged, not only did I receive a gorgeous ring but also a stamp on my forehead that says "IDIOT." Yes, I'm sure in one year from my wedding, I'll really give a crap about whether the DJ had a subwoofer or not. *insert my trademark eye roll that my mom loves so much*

This is why I refuse to have flowers, I refuse to wear a white (or any shade thereof) wedding dress, and I don't want some hokey officiant marrying us. Although, that's only part of the reason. It's also just not us. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing other people do these things. There are some really gorgeous white gowns out there, they just wouldn't be gorgeous on me because I wouldn't be comfortable in them.

So really, what this boils down to is, I think couples should plan the wedding they want. Not the wedding they're guilted/shamed/manipulated into having. And I also don't think people should put so much pressure on the wedding day. It's a wedding, not surgery. That amount of stress just isn't warranted. I will personally reserve that level of worry for any truly critical patients I may see in the future. ;)

Slapshot's Adventure

2008-05-02T22:08:00.000-07:00

What should I blog about today? Too many things on the brain to pick from. I'll start with a rant on recent events and do my rant on weddings another time. ;)

Thursday, I got absolutely nothing done. Instead of heading out to the outlet mall or Old Tyme Pottery as I had intended, I got to drive around the subdivision for over three and a half hours. Let me tell ya, the subdivision is big, but it ain't that big.

Why, oh, why would one choose to drive around a subdivision for over three hours? I'll tell you why. Because someone's dumbass renters can't be bothered/are too stupid to figure out how to close a friggin door. Thereby leaving the door ajar just enough for the wind to blow it completely open so that the dog (Slapshot in this case) can go for a leisurely jaunt about the neighborhood. Lovely.

These are the same dumbass renters who let the dogs outside and then proceed to leave for work without letting the dogs back in the house. I've come home twice now and found them outside, standing at the door, begging to come in. Ugh...

Now, I realize, these aren't their dogs and therefore not their responsibility. However, I consider it reasonable to expect someone to close a door properly. I also consider it reasonable that if you can't be bothered to "help out" with the dogs properly that you not do it at all. I've never asked/expected anyone else to take care of the dogs, so they have no reason to do so. I've seriously taken to locking the dogs in the bedroom when I leave the house because I can't trust that they'll be safe or around when I get home.

It's bad enough that I have to share a house with 4 (sometimes 5 if FBIL's girl stays over) people. When 2 of those people can't be bothered to act like normal, adult human beings, it's an even bigger problem for me. I don't deal well with living with other people. My home is my sanctuary and I like to be able to have peace and quiet when I want. I also enjoy not having to deal with other people's messes all the time. It's all I can do to tolerate their existence in the first place. Why do they do dumbass things like this???

I don't even know why the couple is still living here. Seriously? You both have good jobs. Move out. Get your own place. Grow the eff up.

FI puts up with them because the extra money is worth it to him. Unfortunately, I don't agree. Come next May when I graduate and move back to St. Chuck permanently, they're outta here.

One nice thing: I'm only here for another two weeks and then it's back to my house where it's just me, Greta, Slapshot, Ducky and J (when he visits on the weekends). *cue heavenly chorus*

It just sucks that coming to visit J means putting up with the renters.

***Ok, rant over. Promise. Sorry, but after 7 weeks with these people, if I didn't rant I'd explode.***

It's business time.

2008-04-27T20:02:00.000-07:00

Today I spent the day with some of my fellow vet students (including some soon to be grads!) at Spay Neuter Kansas City.

It was great! I got to neuter 2 dogs and spay 1 1/2 dogs. My friend L and I teamed up and took turns. We each got to do 2 neuters and 1 spay and then we split the last spay. Apparently, today was kind of a slow day for SNKC. But that was kind of ok. We weren't rushed which was good for her and I because this was our first time at one of those.

The whole thing is set up in Kansas City, Missouri. There were two vans of students that left COMO at 5am this morning. When we got to KC, they had about a dozen tables out for students to work at and all the SNKC volunteers were getting the dogs prepped and ready to go for surgery as fast as we could get them done. Amazing. It's so good to know that they have a program like that in Kansas City, I just wish we had one in St. Louis.

In honor of all the hard work the volunteers and the students did today (as well as the song that L and I got stuck in our heads while we were working) I present: Business Time by Flight of the Conchords.

We could NOT stop singing that once we got started. It was probably driving everyone else crazy. But it kept the mood light and made the work go faster for us.

Bonus of the day today: I got to hold some puppies while they were recovering after their surgeries.

Anti-bonus of the day: I got peed on by one of said puppies. Oh well. Coulda been something worse. ;)

Chef inspired

2008-04-21T14:39:00.000-07:00

Last week, I bought some Lean Gourmet frozen meals so I had something to eat for lunches that wasn't horribly bad for me. Today, I decided to try the pizza rolls. I pulled the package out of the freezer and read it and it actually said "chef inspired." Chef inspired pizza rolls? Are ya kiddin me? But no, no joke. Check out the package:

Wow.

Anyway, so today I did my "interview" at a local vet clinic to set up my preceptorship hours. I met with Dr. P and she said she didn't mind but she'd have to run it by the owner, Dr. G. Cool. I really hope they let me do more than I did on a previous preceptorship. I've heard that Dr. G is kinda tough but who knows how accurate that is. Plus, I figure if it's really that bad, it's only a couple weeks. I can handle ~~anything~~ most things for a couple weeks.

Ducky's ribbon for his collar came in today so I finally have a finished product:
Get it? His name is "Ducky" so he has little ducks on his collar. Ha ha! (I'm such a nerd.)

I finally got a picture of the three poopers on the bed together today, too (pardon the unmade bed):

(Yes, I'm crazy dog lady and I always take pictures of my dogs. Sorry. That's just how I am. )

Long weekend in COMO

2008-04-19T23:14:00.000-07:00

I'm back in COMO this weekend. It was time for a party that shall remain nameless that the 4th years put on. Fun times! I got a lot done this weekend too. But, I must admit, even though it's only been a couple days, I miss my honey. :(

I decided to play DD for Pie Throw since I live the furthest out and I didn't have anyone to drive me home. Which ended up being good, a few of my friends definitely took full advantage of the opportunity. We went to Taco Bell afterwards and they started pondering units of cheesiness. One even tried to ask the poor drive through guy about said units. Hilarious to us, but I'm sure he was confused...

Anyhow, as I said, I got a bunch of stuff done around the house here in COMO. I'm all caught up on laundry (there's been a HUGE pile of it in my closet room for awhile now). I ripped out the landscaping timbers from the planter in front of the house and raked out all the weeds and leaves. I planted some seeds and bulbs. I planted basil, parsley, bachelor buttons, cosmos, zinnias, clematis, and morning glories. I also planted sunflower seeds next to the shed to try to hide some of it's ugliness. It needs to be painted so badly, I just haven't gotten that far yet. Tomorrow, I'm going to plant the freesia bulbs I got in the front yard to fill in the iris planter bed.

I wanted to mow the grass while I was here, but with all the rain the yard is just too soggy and the grass is still wet.

I finished painting the bathroom. I really hate painting that bathroom. I swear, this has to be the last time I do it (this is the third time not including the primer I put on last time). It's just such a pain the ass with all the cut-in work. Not to mention the fact that the walls reject paint no matter what I do. I don't know why. I roll over one area and if I roll over it again, the paint is essentially "erased." Ugh... Tomorrow I'm gonna finally get the glass shelves up and move the towel bar up higher so the towels don't hang down over the toilet paper roll anymore. Whoever came up with that placement was NOT thinking.

I got some new patio furniture, too. I finally got the firepit I've been pining over and I purchased a new set of chairs to go around it (pictures to come). Whoo-hoo! Instead of a table, I bought a 36" round pine top to put over the fire pit when it's not in use because I figure I'll pretty much never want to use the two at the same time (pictures when I get that done).

Bonus: The bulbs I planted last year are coming back! At least, most of them. I have two that aren't so I planted some seeds to see what would happen.

So that's the exciting happenings from this weekend. I can't wait to go back home to see J tomorrow. It's just not home without him.

Wedding Schtuff

2008-04-17T20:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I think I'm very happy with the new color scheme I've concocted at this point. I refuse to do "fall colors" or do anything with pumpkins or any other kind of gourd because that's all I ever see every year around my birthday (also in October) and I just don't want that for my wedding. Besides, pumpkins and BBQ just don't mix. Of course, I will change my mind 50 times between now and next year, but whatever... Here are the colors I've put together along with some inspiration photos for the color combination:

Along with picking out a new color scheme, I threw together some invite ideas. I want to do a pocketfold with a disc enclosed with directions, menu, after-party plans, accomodations, etc. On the outside of the pocketfold, I want this:

Then on the inside I can have this:

plus the disc.

I've also come up with a monogram that J actually approves of:

(I have no idea why everytime I save the jpg from powerpoint it cuts off the tops of the L's)

But my question is: How do I list his parents' names on the invite? His mom and dad are divorced. His mom never remarried and has kept her married last name. His dad HAS remarried so I don't know if I should mention stepmom in the invite and program or not. FFIL didn't get remarried until a couple years ago so it's not like stepmom raised J at all, but still we go over there every other Sunday for family dinner with FFIL, stepmom, step brothers and their respective ladies. I don't want to piss off FMIL because I adore her, but I also don't want the stepmom to feel left out. So complex! Is it even necessary to mention his parents if they aren't paying for anything? That would eliminate the problem entirely!

Thank goodness I still have 18+ months to figure this all out. :)

He's here!

2008-04-14T10:25:00.000-07:00

We picked up Ducky on Saturday for a trial adoption. After a few minutes of the dogs hanging out together at the shelter, they seemed to be doing well enough to bring Ducky home. Here he is!

The ladies at the rescue said he didn't like crates, but he seems to love sleeping in Greta's crate. I don't know if it's just because we don't lock him in there or what but he hangs out in there with all the toys (as you can see).

He does have one small issue: he's got a cough which, at this point we've determined to be kennel cough, most likely. The first day of having him, I was afraid he had a collapsing trachea which can vary in severity. But, based on information from the rescue, it seems that it's more likely to be kennel cough which is something that will be much easier to take care of. I'm heading out to pick up some drugs for him shortly. The cough isn't really severe but I'm sure it's annoying and uncomfortable for him. Otherwise, he's healthy and there are no signs of pneumonia so I think we're just going to go with a cough suppressant/expectorant for the moment. I don't like to automatically jump to antibiotics because of all the resistance problems.

While I was taking pictures of Ducky, Greta was getting quite jealous so I had to take a couple pictures of her and Slapshot:

B-pics day!

2008-04-11T20:56:00.000-07:00

I had my b-pic session today with Alisha Clark. She was fantastic! I highly recommend her if you have the opportunity for a b-pic session with her. I felt totally comfortable even in my corset and heels sitting in a dusty warehouse. ;) It was really fun. I wasn't sure how many pics I'd get in an hour but I got TONS. I can't wait to see how all my pics came out!

So... since I'm on the topic of b-pics, I figured I'd share a recipe I just recently made up in an effort to make one of my favorite foods a little more figure friendly. It turned out a little more watery than I'd hoped, but maybe I just didn't drain the veggis well enough before putting them in. In any event, it tasted delicious and I didn't miss the pasta at all. Sorry, I didn't mess with calculating the nutritional values for here but from what I remember it was something around 300 calories for 1/8 of the lasagne.

Low-Carb Lasagne:

Ricotta cheese mixture:

1*15oz container Sargento Fat Free Ricotta Cheese

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp garlic powder

½ tsp pepper

8 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

¼ cup egg substitute

Spinach alfredo:

1*12oz can evaporated milk, skim

½ tsp pepper

½ tsp salt

2 tbsp corn starch

1*10oz package frozen chopped spinach, cooked and squeezed dry

1*28oz can Hunt’s Roasted Garlic and Onion spaghetti sauce

1*9oz package of Oscar Mayer shaved rotisserie chicken lunch meat

1*12oz package frozen California blend mixed vegetables, cooked and drained

1*8oz package Kraft 2% Milk Italian Cheese, shredded

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Ricotta cheese mixture: Mix ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, egg substitute, oregano, pepper, and garlic powder in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Spinach alfredo sauce: In a medium saucepan, stir cornstarch into evaporated milk until dissolved. Mix in salt and pepper. Put over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and simmer until thickened (approximately 2 minutes). Add spinach and mix thoroughly.

Layer into a 9x13 pan.

½ of the Hunt’s spaghetti sauce

½ of the chicken slices

Ricotta cheese mixture

Mixed vegetables

Spinach alfredo sauce

½ of the Kraft Italian Cheese shreds

½ of the chicken slices

½ of the Hunt’s spaghetti sauce

½ of the Kraft Italian Cheese shreds

Tent with aluminum foil and bake for 60 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes after removing from the oven.

Enjoy!!!

Looking forward to the weekend

2008-04-09T21:55:00.000-07:00

My first blog post. Yippee! And it's only fitting that my first post be a hopeful one about a possible new family member.

This Saturday, J and I will be in Columbia to take care of some yard work at the "Columbia house" AND to meet a little guy named Ducky.

I found him on Petfinder.com (aka: most evil site in the world) and fell in love. We're hoping he fits in with the two kids we already have. If not, there is another dog I have my eye on here in St. Louis but she wasn't around last weekend at PetCo and we won't be here this weekend so she's in second place. Besides, I think Greta would prefer to be the only girl. :)

Ducky!!!

http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=9936041

I'm also looking forward to hanging with some of my COMO peeps this weekend. I haven't seen them in forever! I'm enjoying my time off school, but I miss my friends.

So this should be a good weekend coming up, I'm very excited.

Not only that, but Friday I have my b-pics session with Alisha Clark. Hopefully they'll turn out as fantastic as the others I've seen. I'm excited and also nervous so we'll see!