Festival of the King and a Big Prayer

So tonight I went to my Church's Christmas production, "Festival of the King." Wow. It was VERY different from any Christmas production I have ever seen before. I hope Mimi, Tim, and Chris enjoyed it. I'm so glad I got to share it with them! It wouldn't do it justice for me to try to retell it, but I at least want to give you one mental picture. Imagine the setting of The Lion King. (Or if for some reason you haven't seen that, imagine African savannah.) Now imagine a large native tribe, around a blazing fire, with work-worn earth-tone garments and bare feet and occasional brightly colored accents. Everyone has come together as one and in unity. Why? Because the King, their Savior from themselves and the darkness of the world, is coming! And unlike other Kings, he lays aside his lofty stature to become one of them. What kind of King does that? This King. Because his first and greatest love is His people. Spears and torches and leafy long tree branches in hand, the people all gather and DANCE. They lift their voices in shouts and song. Young and old rejoice in community with reckless abandon. It nearly made me cry, as I thought "this must be what it was like when David danced before the Lord..." (2 Samuel 6:14) There is no snow, no decorated tree, no wrapping paper, no jolly man in a red suit - just The Festival of the King! He came for them, He came for you, He came for me, He came for all. Oh, that we might find our own way to dance for Him with holy, shameless abandon this Christmas! I know I want to!

A few days ago, Tim informed me of an article about the new Chronicles of Narnia movie. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,1657942,00.html This is NOT a friendly review. In fact, it nearly broke my heart to read it. Not because it tears apart a movie I'm really looking forward to seeing, and not because it decries a beloved book - because it speaks from an angryheart that totally misses the point of Jesus Christ. Here is one of the most soul-sinking parts:
"Of all the elements of Christianity, the most repugnant is the notion of the Christ who took our sins upon himself and sacrificed his body in agony to save our souls. Did we ask him to? Poor child Edmund, to blame for everything, must bear the full weight of a guilt only Christians know how to inflict, with a twisted knife to the heart."
I know this is a more common feeling about Christianity than most would like to admit. After all, how can one avoid the idea that guilt is inherent in Christianity, with it's list of "dos and don'ts" that so many Christians or psuedo-Christians shove at people? However, I think guilt is necessary - it helps you know you goofed up. Then, you can make change for the better and get past it. Now, do I think I should berate and punish myself and think I'm horrible for every little slip-up til I'm lost in a sea of guilt over the pain I'm causing Christ?! Of course not! That would be missing the entire purpose of Christ. He came to bring a means of FORGIVENESS!! No, we did not ask Him to. But He did it anyway! "Greater love has no man that this, that he would lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13) Isn't that something society, even a horribly secular one, looks upon with approval and joy? Don't we all love the story of people giving their all to unselfishly help others?! Why, then, should Christ's sacrifice be "repugnant"? Here's another key quote from the article (Aslan = the Christ/God character of Narnia):
"(Aslan's) divine presence is a way to avoid humans taking responsibility for everything here and now on earth, where no one is watching, no one is guiding, no one is judging and there is no other place yet to come. Without an Aslan, there is no one here but ourselves to suffer for our sins, no one to redeem us but ourselves: we are obliged to settle our own disputes and do what we can. We need no holy guide books, only a very human moral compass. Everyone needs ghosts, spirits, marvels and poetic imaginings, but we can do well without an Aslan."
For one, isn't a part of feeling guilty taking responsibility for what you've done? Secondly, God is ALWAYS watching! He's desperately wanting to be involved in our lives! Also, sin rarely "just affects me" and we don't HAVE to suffer from it (although life will still have its trials) if Christ has forgiven us. He didn't want us to be guilty anymore - He loves us too much! That's why he came and paid the ultimate price for us all. Also, we can't redeem ourselves, at least not in God's eyes. Only Christ can do that, if we let Him. Our human moral compass is completely broken, so Christ gives us His Spirit instead - its aim is true. That is what's really at work when we learn right from wrong. Nobody, EVER, can "do well" without "Aslan," or His Holy guide book - at least not at the things that matter, and matter eternally! It is my prayer that somehow this Christmas more people will come to realize all this and take a step towards the greatest Love known to mankind.

Alberta Clipper and a New Battery

For those who don't know what and Alberta Clipper is, it's some meteorology name for "Ridiculously Cold Weather Pattern." We've got one of those going through right now. Many of our classrooms have been 65 degrees or so. Cold enough to be quite distracting! So I have decided it snows in Iowa even when it's "too cold to snow". Not that I mind, as long as roads are okay. We've gotten at least 10 inches in the past week. It looks really beautiful! Tonight's fresh inch was especially sparkly in the lights of Ames.

So on Tuesday last week my car battery died again. (It also did this the previous Saturday at Ryan's.) This was very bad timing, as it was cold, snowy, and I had an exam to cram for. I bummed rides from my beloved roomie and dear classmates for a few days, then took the battery in to Napa. No surprise, it had a bad core. Never buying a Springfield Battery (aka cheap-inator) product again - it was supposed to last at least 6 more months. It was amusing explaining to the Napa guy that it was from Springfield, IL 'cause he'd "never seen this kind of battery before." So far so good with the new battery. Dad seemed shocked that me and Chris, a couple of girls (GASP!) could handle removal and installation of a new battery by ourselves. Luckily nobody got fried. ;-) Many thanks to Chris for her assistance.

I've learned something. Piano music while in the restroom is soothing. Blue Man Lobby Bathroom song while in the restroom is amusing. Random other person in there humming while in the bathroom is CREEPY!

The end is near - finals are fast approaching. Here's what I'm lookin' at (and why this won't be super-updated for awhile):
Wed 12/7 - Micro lab final
Th 12/8 - Case Studies final
Mon 12/12 - Parasitology final
Wed 12/14 - Pathology final and Mimi's birthday
Th 12/15 - The much-dreaded Micro lecture final

Still no grades on the last Parasit exam or Case Studies quiz. Today's path quiz was so-so. If things go as they have been the rest of the semester, I should be pleased with my GPA. However, Micro has been forecast (by the instructor) to go poorly for all... It's a lot of credits... Needing major prayers for that class especially. Thy will be done!

Then it's IL for the holidays!! Hooray!!

Long Time No Blog

I hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving!! I know mine went well. Break was definately a good thing. I'd really been bogged down with school, so it was nice to get away, get to sleep in, have home-cooked meals, etc. But more on that later, first the scholastic update from the week before break.

The Micro exam was evil. No nicer way to put it and be realistic in the representation. Even after looking at correct answers, I don't understand some of them. Needless to say, this one is my dropped score. That frustrates me, as I had really felt I knew the material and could do much better than the previous two exams, but there's not much I can do about it now. Just have to find some way to work even harder for the lab and lecture finals and hope that's enough. The path exam, however, was really nice. There were a few oddball questions, as we all expected, but overall I think it went rather well. No scores back on that one yet.

In other news, Dad gave me the final big NO on the Mongolia trip. Needless to say, I'm very disappointed that terrorism has made him that afraid of the world. Of course, I'm more upset that he lacks faith in God's protection and sovereignty, but that's a whole story in itself. However, I felt from the beginning that I shouldn't go unless I had parental permission. It's tough to let go, 'cause I was so excited about Mongolia, but I'm already looking forward to next year. I can't guarantee anything, but I wouldn't be surprised if I felt led to go regardless of what my parents think. (I found out Mom was for sure in favor of me going, although concerned, not that Dad will ever hear that.) I'm sure other stuff happened that week, but I don't remember it so it must not have been a huge deal.

The fun truly began on Friday around noon. Mimi, Tim, and I headed down to Des Moines for Christmas shopping, Cheesecake Factory, and Harry Potter 4. While the shopping wasn't terribly productive (we were at the "rich people" mall) all three events were still quite enjoyable. They had an Orange Julius!!! It had been soooooo long since I had one of those. MMmmmmmm! (For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, I'm sorry! You MUST try it should you come across one.) Saturday I headed home to Springfield, and while that ended up taking longer than expected (I forgot some stuff and had to turn back for it after driving for almost 20 minutes) it was a decent, although windy, trip. Sunday I tried on some of my old dresses to see if they'd fit for Winterfest in January. They were both rather snug, and my others were smaller or not in season for the event. This bummed me out a bit. Mandy and Chris came over for dinner on Sunday and I got to meet their new chihuahua, Naiome (aka Peanut). She is an atypical chihuahua and is very nice and well-mannered and obedient. (Who knows if she will be like that for a vet, though...) Monday I went Christmas shopping with Ashley. Man, it seems like forever since I saw her or talked with her, so it was nice to catch up a bit. Tuesday I think I didn't leave the house... Don't recall much about it, other than working on a paper for my ethics class (this paper has been a pain due to the picky nature of the instructor, but I decided to stop stressing and just do what I think is good and see what it gets me). Wednesday I had a dentist appointment - no cavities! Then I did a little more shopping and found a really pretty red dress that I became attached to. It seemed the perfect thing to wear to Winterfest, so I discussed it with Mom and then went back and bought it. It was on sale, so I felt rather good about it. The only problem with the dress is it's strapless, so I have arranged for Mom to add straps to it. Now I just have to be sure that Ryan can come for Winterfest... He has a strong possibility for a job in January. Mandy and Chris and the dog were back again Wednesday night for dinner. Thursday morning they all headed to Charleston for Thanksgiving with my uncle's family while I headed to Ryan's for Thanksgiving with his family. (It was supposed to be a non-Hawker year for Thanksgiving, but my cousin kinda messed up the rotation and I didn't find out til too late to change plans.) Many delighful items were eaten, chats were had, games were played, etc. On Friday, Ryan and I went to see Harry Potter 4 (he hadn't seen it yet). When we came out of the theater, there was SNOW all over! It looked really pretty, even if it made the roads slick. Karen had a surprise party for a friend, so the house was full of girls that night. Some guy friends found out and TP-ed the place, but got caught in the act. On Saturday, Ryan and I went to BestBuy for some Christmas items and were pleased to see it wasn't very crowded at all. My car was having battery issues, but Ryan's Dad hooked it up to his charger and that fixed it. Hopefully it doesn't give me any more trouble - there's still 6 mo left on the warantee. It had warmed up, so I didn't have to drive home to Ames in snow. Luckily Iowa hadn't gotten snow anyway.

So now I'm back. I still have a few more Christmas gifts to get, but I don't mind - I really like Christmas shopping! I have a Parasitology exam on Thursday, and then the final exam push begins. I'm sure I forgot stuff, but that's the gist, anyway.

P.S. - Thanks for the memories in my last post, guys!! They made me smile!

Dare I Ask?!

"If you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now, even if we don't speak often, even if we talk every day, please post a comment with a memory of you and me. It can be anything you want, either good or bad. When you're finished, post this little paragraph on your blog and be surprised (or mortified) about what people remember about you...This could be fun!"

Okay, so I don't expect you all to put this in your own blog, but I thought it'd be cool to see what people remember about me. (Besides, I posted on this in Jonell's blog, so I felt like I should try it too.)

Handwriting Analysis, etc.

So YAY GOD for answering prayers. The last portion of my Parasitology exam was enough to bring my grade up to one I am rather happy with. I survived my 4 quizzes this week, which I think were 50% rather good and 50% so-so but tolerable. Overall, I am pleased. Next week looks to be interesting. Two very large exams await me: Micro on Monday (which I REALLY need to do well on) and Path on Wednesday (which I need to be consistent on). These are both pretty extensive exams, so lots of prayers are needed.

So yesterday my class witnessed the wonder that is Dr. Ackermann's handwriting. If you ever thought you had sloppy handwriting, you should watch this guy write on an overhead projector. He's a secondary instructory for Pathology. Our usual instructor, Dr. Haynes, has some poor handwriting, but yesterday he was put entirely to shame. The whole class was literally laughing, because even though he had just said what he wrote, it was impossible to decipher the random ink markings... At one point he was talking about intervertebral disk rupture. He wrote "I D rupture" but it really looked more like "F U purture"... Hysterical, I tell you! (Yeah, I realize you probably had to be there, but we were VERY amused.) It got me thinking about hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills and such. I decided I would NOT want Dr. Ackermann operating on my pet if he has such poor control of his hands. Perhaps this is why they are pathologists - they deal with stuff that's already dead! :-P That, of course, led me to think about human doctors and how they have notoriously bad handwriting... I decided that if I ever need surgery, I would want to see a handwriting sample first to put my mind at ease. Granted, I would not expect them to write quickly and it be neat, but if then went nice and methodical and careful like they would in surgery (I hope) I would want to see clear, legible print. Well, that's my random thought. Haven't had one like that in awhile, so I hope you enjoyed it!

Stuff and Things

A mini-summary of things recently past and in the near future:

We got 2/3 of our Parasitology exams back. Nearly the whole class missed 3 questions, but somehow that wasn't evidence enough to drop them as bad questions. That meant I didn't do so well, 'cause there weren't many questions. Hoping the last 1/3 brings my grade up a lot whenever we get that back...
I went to visit Ryan this weekend! HOORAY!! It was so nice and relaxing!
I got in a nasty argument with my Dad on the phone. Boo... It literally made me feel ill. I will spare you all the details of that as it would just get me riled up again.
Mongolia is looking less and less likely to happen for me. The Dean was actually in Springfield on Saturday and wanted to chat with my parents, which I thought was incredibly generous, but Dad (who has a Mon-Fri job except for on very rare occasions) somehow found it necessary to go to work the whole day and Mom didn't want to do it alone. She sounds more in favor of it, while Dad sounds worse. He's now denying that he ever said the final decision was up to me. Guess my premonition on that one was well-founded.... So frustrating. Haven't cried on the phone/been on the verge like that in a long while, and it was so draining.

I have 4 quizzes this week. It was freaking me out a bit, but I'm feeling much better today.

Prayers, as always, are appreciated.

Busy Times

So I'm sure you were all checking this daily and bemoaning my lack of updates (like many of us do with Homestarrunner.com when they're delayed)... Well, I'm sure you can all understand that I was rather busy. I don't think I've ever had so many meetings to go to and various extra things to prepare for all within two weeks. Not that I'm complaining - it was good stuff like lunch meetings with good free food and CVF stuff and the usual class stuff and stuff with friends.

I haven't made much progress with my parents about Mongolia yet, but I'm working on it. The Dean of the vet school will be speaking to CVF at our potluck on Tuesday, and he's been there 4 times, so I've arranged to talk things through with him about it to get more info. I've been praying about it, and so far I don't feel that God is telling me not to go. I'd really feel better about it if they were behind me, though. I know Mom will be easier to convince - she told her small group about the trip and they just gushed about what an amazing opportunity it was, so she's feeling a bit better about it. Dad, however, will be tough. When I called to ask for questions to discuss with the Dean, he just went off about why he thought it was a bad idea all over again. It mostly sounded like he was scared of the unknown and not being in control, which is nothing new with him... I still have hope, though!

I'm a little frustrated with microbiology right now. I thought the exam had gone well, but I was wrong. I did a point worse than my first exam, which I was hoping to drop. I was also below the class average, which is below my personal standard of acceptable. I definately need some prayers for this! I really don't know what I should do differently in studying for that class. Here's hoping my good feelings about Tuesday's Parasitology exam were not equally ill-conceived... I'm not as worried about that class, though. Otherwise I think things are business as usual at school.

I'm looking forward to my little Halloween party on Monday. I'm excited to get pics of my buddies in their costumes. Hopefully we get more trick-or-treaters this year, too. Well, I should get to bed and enjoy the wonder that is "Fall Back".

Mongolian "Beef"

So I need some big prayers right now. My parents interrupted my studies for an hour tonight to tell me they were very much NOT in approval of me going to Mongolia over Spring Break. I was kinda expecting that all along, but the first few times it was discussed they seemed okay with it. Apparently things majorly changed. They think it's way too risky for various reasons (some of them founded and others a bit silly). Of course, nothing is finalized either way so far and they say it's still "up to me" (although I don't really believe that). So basically I need prayer that I can get more information to answer all their questions and quiet some of their fears. Mostly, I need to know if I really am supposed to go - what God's will is for that - and peace about the decision for all parties involved. I know I shouldn't be this upset 'cause they do this to me every time, but I really had my hopes up for this one to go smoothly... Thanks in advance for your support, gang!

Corny Thoughts

So thus far I have received MANY blessings with the exam grades. (Please don't take this as bragging - I'm just trying to say how awesome God has been to me.) I expected a C in Parasitology and got a B, expected a C in Pathology and got a B, expected a C- in Micro and got a C+. Most importantly, I was not below the class average on any of the exams, which I set as my minimum standard of acceptable scores. I have a lot of quizzes and another Micro exam next week, so this weekend will have to be very study-intensive.

So tonight we went to the Corn Maze along with the usual Movie Night fun. I must say it was a good time - even better than last year! I'm still confused about Maze #1... Not sure we really figured it out, but it seemed like we did. We definately got Maze #2, though. So before we went, I did a little procrastination by looking up some info on corn mazes. Apparently you can make a living at designing them for farmers. I found that quite interesting. ("So what do you do?" "Oh, I design corn mazes...") All this time I thought the farmers came up with them on their own. I suppose some still might. But apparently there's one guy who's pretty well known among certain people for his corn maze designs, and he designed the one here in Ames this year. It's more scientific than I though - they actually grid out the field and take great pains to make it into a specific design that looks cool from an aerial view. This one featured the sponsor's logo (a radio station) and the farm name (Dan-D Farms) with traditional maze lines intermingled in it. I just thought they did a rough sketch on graph paper to scale of a maze only, but apparently it's more sophisticated. Also, corn boxes are fun. Like a sandbox but filled with corn. Quite amusing and far less likely to have cat poo in it. Not reccomended for inhaling or putting in pockets or cell phones, though. Well, tis past my bedtime once again. Here's hoping the rabbit is quiet tonight! ;-)

A Fat Raccoon Crossed My Path...

... and I tried to swerve, but I still crushed the poor guy with both tires on the driver's side. Most disturbing. I hope I don't hear that noise in nightmares tonight! Yuck...

So I survived the Path exam on Wednesday, but it was not pretty. Not looking forward to getting that one back. Perhaps both God and Dr. Haynes will show mercy. That'd be great!

On to better news: I'm most likely going to MONGOLIA!! This is quite exciting, as I never thought I'd go ANYWHERE in Asia, let alone Mongolia. Why am I going? Well, that's the even cooler part: it's our intended destination for the Christian Veterinary Fellowship's annual mission trip. So please be praying for our plans and fundraising and such.

Ryan came to visit me this weeked! :-D Needless to say, that was quite the highlight of my week. We had fun with Tim and Chris at movie night (even though I made a mess in the kitchen). And I didn't die when we ran on the cross country field on Saturday (my lungs don't like working out with cold air). Hillarious Ryan quote of the weekend: while doing cool-down stretches - "THAT was a cold wedgie!" I made another mess in the kitchen while preparing dinner and burned my finger. We met up with Laurie (from U of I AnSci undergrad) and her husband Mike (also an Illini Alum) to go see "Serenity", which was better than we expected it would be, and then had ice cream afterwards at Hickory Park. It was good to see them again since it'd been over a semester. Sunday I made it through breakfast and lunch with no spills. I managed to nearly electrocute myself, though. Here's hoping that theme of clutziness has been zapped out of me. Then Ryan had to go home... Bummer... Didn't want him to go, of course.

And then it was back to the grind of studying. Boo. At least I don't have an exam to cram for this week. Here's hoping I'm super-productive with the time I have! Take care, all!

Technology is Great...

... when it works. It is currently very much NOT working at school. This is frustrating and very much blocking access to many helpful study materials. Not to mention, it takes a literal 20 minutes to log on and then you can't print. Very bad situation. Some tech support guys are facing a lynching if it's not fixed pronto!

At least my micro unknowns are looking like they've finally almost keyed out so I know what they are. We also got back Parasit exams Friday evening. I did way better than expected, so that is a good feeling.

The Hayride was excellent. I got lots of pictures of people passing us in no passing zones. We broke one of the tractors pulling us. (Yet another sign I need to lose weight.) So we hiked about a half mile before it got going again, but we still got there in time for food. I must say I now have yet another firm reason for why I don't go hang out at keggers regularly - way too much public urination. Even though there was a Port-a-Potty. I mean, I really don't like having to watch where I look (and walk) like that. Gross! Other than that, though, people weren't doing too many obnoxious drunk things. (Granted I left WAY before it was over.) It was really nice to go to the opposite side of the pond from everybody being loud with a few friends to chat and watch the stars. It should be mandatory for vet students (and most others) to go out to the sticks like that every few weeks - it's really relaxing. Well, tis bedtime.

The Joys of Fall

Ah, fall. When the air gets crisp, mornings are frosty, Halloween costumes and decor appear in stores (and quite often Christmas items... yuck! Too early!), and instructors lay the smack down with exams. Also, the time of year when the temperature in the vet school matches that of the outdoors in the evening. No, it doesn't get colder this time of year inside - it's ALWAYS that cold. This is why my friends tease me about constantly wearing the red IA State hoodie. I NEED it, okay?! (They really need to fix/update/do SOMETHING about the temperature control in that building!!)

I survived today's Micro exam. It was about ready to make me cry when the first two questions looked like a foreign language, but the next few were relatively easy. At least I felt that most of the answers I put for the fill-in-the-blank section was correct. I know multiple choice and true/false sounds like it would be easy, but trust me - when Dr/ Griffith's writes it, it's NOT. There were a number of questions that definately had me thinking "Was this concept ever even HINTED at in the notes/lectures/lab/anywhere?!" So we'll see how that went. At least I got a perfect score on the lab quiz to balance it out. (Although mu current lab "unknowns" are giving me fits.) We still haven't gotten our Parasit exams back. Seriously not sure why it takes over 10 days to give us back an exam when you're not even lecturing/leading lab for us for the last two weeks. Hopefully that's not a bad sign.

On the brighter side, I found myself a cheap and simple Halloween costume today! I'm going to be a bunny! (No, not a Playboy one - you should know that by now!) And not just ANY bunny, but one with BIG NASTY TEETH! Yes, I will be the attack rabbit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It should be fun. Not that I'm even certain of where I'm going to wear this costume quite yet. I'm hoping to have a small Halloween party at my place, though. Have to chat with Lisa about that still to be sure the timing isn't bad for her.

Well, tonight I'm off to the annual Hayride/Bonfire cookout the vet students have each year. Here's hoping it's a good time (I didn't go last year). Incidentally, the hayride ends up at Dr. Griffith's place for the cookout. Here's hoping nobody really has it in for him over the exam... Well, I'll let you know how it goes. Take care!

"Sanity" Saving

Well, I survived my exam and quizzes for the week. Not sure exactly how well any of them went thus far, but it wasn't a huge disaster as far as I can tell. The Lord was merciful once again, and I know I did just about as much studying as I could (without staying up later and getting so tired that it was negated anyway).

So I'm sure you're all aware by now that I'm a big nerd and I study all the time. The last couple days, however, I've really tried to take it easy a bit. I just really don't like it when I get so worn down that I'm grumpy and smart-aleck-ey about things, so I decided to do a bit of "sanity" saving (in quotes 'cause you all know I'm a little nuts anyway). Yesterday after my Parasitology exam I went and got a haircut (which I've needed for like a month), ran some simple errands, did laundry, and generally just relaxed. - Side note on the laundry: something in the closet ate my detergent, 'cause it's totally not there or anywhere else in the apartment... creepy... - Today after I got out of class early I did a little shopping (made sure to take my time in every store even though I wasn't going to buy much) and painted my tonails. One thing I've been trying to do for relaxation lately is to do my Quiet Time when I get home from class instead of leaving it for the last minute right before bed. My current devotional book can be a challenge for me sometimes. I don't always like the writer's style, and sometimes it annoys me a lot. However, every once in awhile there is a really good entry. I thought this one was cool, so I'd like to share it with you guys. - Side note on poetry: In general I like it, but not usually the kind where you have to dig really hard through the big words to find the meaning. This one is a bit of a "digger," but I liked it anyway. - Here you go, I hope you like it!

BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT
(Based on Matthew 5:3)

A beech tree in winter, white
Intricacies unconcealed
Against sky blue and billowed
Clouds, carries his emptiness.
Ripeness: sap ready to rise
On signal, buds alert to burst
To leaf. And then after a season
Of summer a lean ring to remember
The lush fulfilled promises.
Empty again in wise povert
That lets the reaching branches stretch
A millimeter more towards heaven,
The bole expands ever so slightly
And push roots into the firm
Foundation, lucky to be leafless:
Deciduous reminder to let it go.

- Eugene H. Peterson

(If you're having trouble with it like I did the first time through it, I'd suggest reading it again with no pauses at the ends of the lines - like a set of run-on sentences.) I just thought it was a great reminder of there being a purpose to every season of life. I especially liked the last three lines - sometimes the hardest and yet wisest thing to do is just "let go and let God!"

Quick prayer request before I go - my Mom is frustrated with her job again, so she's started looking around for some new possibilities. Please thank God that this job search isn't due to being laid off like the last few and ask Him to guide her search and help her to correctly approach her current job.

Busy Busy

Umm.... exam coming up on Tuesday in Parasitology. Then some quizzes in Pathology and Microbiology. Thus, I am not able to do a decent post for awhile. My appologies. Catch you on the flip side!

The Irony of being a Cyclone

So yeah, I know it's been a long wait for me to update this - I promise you it was bothering me to not keep up with my posting! However, I have good reasons for the delay: being out of town two weekends ago, having guests here last weekend, and being busy with class and meetings and studying in between. (Also, being sick recently has slowed things down. Darn first years bringing in their new germs!) Guess I'll procrastinate a bit by finally blogging.

I had a great time at the CVC (Central Veterinary Conference) a couple weekends ago. The convention center down there is sooo perfect for this type of event. Major props to the people who organized it - they made it so easy to get around that I never had to ask for help with finding any rooms. I got to listen to many excellent talks on topics from pregnant dogs to psittacines (parrots), to cats in respiratory distress. I also got loads of free stuff and food - we all seriously doubled our luggage with free junk. I didn't spend any money while I was there other than on the hotel stay. (It was a VERY nice hotel for the cost - were I the stealing type I would have pilfered the shower curtain. Yes, I'm wierd.) Now I was fully expecting to enjoy the conference, but Kansas City, MO surprised me. I did NOT expect to be so intrigued by anything in Missouri. (No offense.) But as we rode around the city on the free shuttle to and from the convention and our hotel, I liked a lot of what I saw. They had lots of big fountains (I really like those), beautifully lit horse-drawn carriages for hire (looked like something out of Cinderella), and I was just feet away from some other cool attractions. Alas, but our busy schedule didn't allow us to experience any of these things. I will have to go back there some day and make sure I have time for the sights! Good thing the CVC is there every year! (Don't get me wrong - I was not blind the the parts of the city that looked kinda slummy or to the wacky roads, but the nice parts were very appealing.) Of course, we all came back to news about the hurricane. It's been amazing to see how willing people here are to help out. It's also been disturbing to see the finger-pointing and slander and looting on the media. I will not get into details, but I've struggled with how to look at the whole situation. I found it very ironic to be an ISU Cyclone (Tropical Cyclone = Hurricane, I found out). Iowa recently took in its first refugees, and I hope they find it as friendly and welcoming as I did.

After that was week two of class. I don't recall much of significance from that other than constantly being frustrated with how much I was NOT back in the study mode. I still survived my first two quizzes of the semester that week. (It was supposed to be 3, but one was moved to after Labor Day.) I spent much of my free time preparing for Ryan's arrival. He came over to visit Friday night thru Monday lunch. My parents also came Saturday afternoon thru Sunday afternoon and brought my grandparents with them from Rockford. Good times were had - we all went to see "March of the Penguins" together, and let me tell you it is an inspiring movie! I nearly cried at several points, but especially when they were talking about how the Emperor penguins make this long, arduous journey back to the place where every one of them was born. It really made me think about heaven, and how we're all God's creations struggling in our own ways to make it through life and back to heaven where He first formed us. I doubt that was what National Geographic was intending viewers to get out of it, but that's my take anyway. My only disappointment over the weekend was that it was REALLY hot on Sunday when we were all at the Reiman Gardens. I'm no plant/flower/garden buff, but I find ISU's Reiman Gardens to be a real delight. My grandpa is quite the gardener, so I was very excited about showing him ISU's jewel but it was too hot to really take it all in and be relaxed by it. Oh well, hopefully they can maintain their health (or even improve it) and come back next year to see it and there will be better weather. Ryan and I got to see "Madagascar" (my second time, his first) at the cheap theater. I really enjoy that movie. The penguins and lemurs just crack me up! It was generally wonderful to have time to relax and chat with my Ryan. We even got to go swimming twice in my apartment complex's pool (which I NEVER made it into last year). And as I have discovered the wonder of Banana Boat sunblock, we did not get burned. Lisa and Morgan were actually around for part of the weekend, so Ryan finally met them. 'Twas a nearly perfect long weekend, indeed.

And then I had to say goodbye and go study. Bummer. It took me several more days to get myself mostly back into the typical study mode. Two more quizzes down this past week. Also, first CVF meeting, first Morning Prayer, and first SCAVMA meeting (which was REALLY LONG, but had good info about vet roles in disasters like Katrina). The first CVF meeting (where we do more of an informative thing than our usual Bible study) went well, although I was disappointed with the number of no-shows we had (I'd be surprised if half of the people who signed up for the meeting actually came). Nobody new came to prayer the next morning, but there was a conflicting ZEW club meeting that I was tempted to go to as well. Please be praying for our first regular Bible study this Tuesday at noon, as we would really like the first years and other newcomers to feel welcome and get involved so that we can all work together to learn about God's will for us.

Ames had a tornado on Thursday at about 12:30pm. Sirens never went off. It didn't "officially" touch down, but there was a funnel cloud that got pretty darn close to it on main campus and some wind damage to houses (okay, mostly old trailers in the park by the vet school) and trees. Most vet students were unaware until much later in the day. Sometimes I guess it pays to be locked away in a school built like a bomb shelter...

Thursday night I had a tickle in my throat which escalated to a nasty sinus attack by Friday morning. I came home after morning class (didn't have anything to do in the afternoon lab) and went right back to bed. Didn't get up til 1:30 and that was to clean the bunny cage and brush Gwennie (she's shedding SOOOO bad) and trim her nails. Hopefully with ice cream (the Ruthi Remedy) and NyQuil (drug of champions) whatever I have will be gone ASAP. At least it doesn't appear to be Whooping Cough. That went around Ames last year, and currently a friend and classmate from Minnesota is the only member of her immediate family (who she believes were all vaccinated against it) to escape it. Yuck. Darned mutant strains! I'll take a first year germ over a 5-day quarrantine any day.

Hopefully the Hawkeyes and other crazy football fans will be, too. They all took over Ames this weekend for the Cy-Hawk rivalry's bitter duel at Jack Trice Stadium. This meant that my beloved third home (the vet school) was literally surrounded, since it's just south of the football field. I've got to hand it to those crazy Iowans - both teams' fans really know how to tailgate in full force! This of course meant the worst of the Ames drivers were out and about, so I stayed home to study (I would have needed a special clearance pass to even go to school to study). And yes, I did actually study some in the distraction-filled confines of my apartment. I'm gaining that ability a bit more this semester, which is a good thing because I'm usually home for at least part of every Thursday night to bake goodies for the CVF bake sales that happen every Friday. But I digress - Yay for the Cyclones beating the Hawkeyes today and Yay for the bad traffic and inebriated crowds going away. Well, this has been a long and successful procrastination sesstion. Hope you've enjoyed it! As for me, study mode calls again - three quizzes and at least that many meetings this week.

P.S. - Put this on your calendar, Illini: Feb 10&11 is Illini Club Hockey vs. Cyclone Hockey here in Ames. Unless my academic schedule is usually cruel, I'd love to have some visitors that weekend. I'll have more details next semester.

P.P.S. - I find it hard to carry on conversations at times when using acronyms. ISU here = IA State, while it meant IL State to me for so long. U of I means Illinois to me, but it means Iowa (eew... Hawkeyes...) to most people around here. For blog purposes, ISU means IA State and U of I means Illinois - and the "s" is SILENT!! :-p

Back At My Third? Home

So I have a lot of places I could consider home these days, but I guess the most permanent ones are: 1 - My parents' house in Springfield, 2 - My apartment in Ames, and 3 - Iowa State College of Veterinary Medicine. Just today one of my classmates was joking that I should have told my first-year contact I lived at "CVM" and another classmate teased me that I didn't really have a "home" because I'm studying at school all the time. I promised both that I did indeed eat and sleep and such in my apartment. And technically, tonight is the first night this semester that I've even come back to school to study. Monday night I had stuff I needed to do at home and no real homework, and yesterday I studied at home. I'm trying to ease into the semester so my brain isn't refusing to learn from the shock of it all. And now I'm done with studies for the night and therefore felt I should use the high-speed connection for an overdue update of ye olde blog. I can't update this weekend because I'll be in Kansas City for the Central Veterinary Conference, and who knows when the course work will really start piling on thick, so I'd best take the chance while I have it.

So where exactly did I leave off before all the moving interrupted things? I guess I had a decent last week at work - I briefly made it back into the surgery ward for a bit more suturing on one spay incision, but nothing more. I certainly had a better last week than Tim, who managed to get both hands mauled by an ill-tempered parvo dog who had not been vaccinated for anything (not even rabies) while attempting to put a muzzle on him. He's okay now, but he'll have some fancy scars. The dog died that night, so luckily I didn't have to deal with him, but we unfortunately had to send in a "sample" for a rabies check. If you really want to know what that entails, ask... They actually kept their word to have a going-away lunch party for me, which I was sure would go the way of my b-day party and be forgotten. I was ready to be done with work, though. Ryan and I celebrated my last day with a candle-lit frozen pizza and soup dinner followed by shopping and Ben and Jerry's.

The 13th was Bryan and Betsy's wedding in Wausau, WI. We had a fun time travelling to and from festivities with the ever-entertaining Josh Matz. The wedding was nice, and it's always fun to hang with the IV crew. Sunday I made my way back to Springfield with a brief stop in Bloomington to see my brother and the Kemps (the latter were coincidentallly on their way back north from downstate at the perfect time for meeting up on the way). Monday my parents and I went to the IL State Fair and had a good time even though it was raining most of the afternoon. Tuesday I headed back to Ames and had the pleasure of going 70 on I-80 since they upped the speed limit. Same on I-35. (Incidentally, they slow is down to 65 as usual around large cities like Iowa City and Des Moines, but Ames is not big enough to warrant the decrease in speed. Most amusing.)

The rest of the week was spent trying to get my stuff and room in order at the apartment. Let me tell you that I had SEVERAL instances of horrified shuddering as I perused the various piles of disarray I left myself to deal with from last year. It's a good thing Lisa was out of town, because I was taking over the whole living room with my assortment of junk for a few days. However, now I'm mostly organized, and I'm quite proud of it! Saturday was CVF's big rummage sale, which was a big exhausting success. (Forgive me if I'm ever reluctant to help people move, as I've gotten my fill of it for awhile now and will probably be doing this again the next few years...) Sunday was my last day of relaxing freedom.

Now I'm back into the daily grind of courses. I have a LOT of labs. Not sure I'm going to particularly dislike any of my classes, but also not sure any will be big favorites. We shall see. I'll post my schedule some time if people are really that interested. For now I should probably head home. To home #2, that is. ;-)

Who Knows...

So I have no clue when this blog will be truly updated next - I have too many things going on (most of them expected and okay) right now. Why must I want to do 8 things at once and only be capable of one or two? Not that you guys read this anyway. Did anybody notice that my last post was my hundredth? I didn't until today when blogger told me. Interesting. And now back to the whirl-wind tour that is my life.

Long Time Coming

So I guess there's a lot to tell you guys about - and that's also the reason I haven't updated in awhile: I've been really busy! It seems that every time I think "Oh, now I have a few free minutes to blog!" I end up running off to do something else and it still ends up not happening. But now I have some time, and even thought I'm using Ryan's computer at least I'm putting a new post up. However, I'm having trouble remembering where I left off and what all I've done, so bear with me.

Ryan and I went to Rockford on the 27th to visit my Grandparents. We had a really fun time chatting with them, looking through pictures, and taking things easy. It was a perfect day - nice and sunny and surprisingly cool. We even got them to come mini-putting with us! That ended up being quite entertaining. This course was always my favorite (at least as long as it's been around) becuase it's challenging, yet the hole design is very creative and nicely laid out. My Mom was shocked when she heard about her parents mini-putting - she doesn't recall them ever mini-putting before. Grandpa even had the winning score!

My parents came up to visit me on Saturday the 30th. I showed them where I work and then we picked up Ryan and went out to dinner. Next, we headed downtown to see Blue Man Group. If you've never seen it, I'd highly recommend it. It's just a totally neat, totally different kind of show. I was the only one of the four of us who had seen the show before. It was mostly the same show, but I think the performers were different because everything had a slightly different flavor to it. My parents and Ryan really enjoyed the show. Ryan had an especially neat experience becuase he was one of only 2 people to get picked out of the audience to go up on stage!! It was really neat, especially since I knew more of what would happen to Ryan than he did. So if you hear me call him my Blue Man, that's why. ;-) Sunday I hung out with my parents and opened presents. I am now the proud owner of a 3-piece set of luggage - IN PURPLE!!

Monday and Tuesday (my birthday) were absolutely the worst days I've ever had at work. Monday was just nuts with tons of clients coming in non-stop and lots of them being cranky and bringing some very ill pets that they couldn't afford to treat. It was all just so complicated and frustrating. Tuesday was even more upsetting. We had at least 7 surgeries (no, I'm not exaggerating this time), one of which was a pyometra, and all that requires a tight ship to get done on time so the surgery doctor can help out during Wellness Hours at 2pm (when all the bazillions of cheap-skates come in to get vaccines for healthy pets and the office fee is waived). Then, to make matters worse we had a seemingly healthy cat (one who was dropped off for a healthy pet exam - not a surgery) stop breathing and go into cardiac arrest on us. We had to rush it into the surgery ward, delaying all the other surgeries, and the hospital basically revolved around reviving it for 2 hours. We got its heart beating, but it wasn't breathing on its own. After awhile of manually breathing for it, the lungs finally started to go on their own but the cat was still unresponsive otherwise. Then, when all seemed stable it arrested again and we couldn't get it back. I felt so awful for that owner - when you drop off a cat with nothing wrong, you expect it to come back home that way. Death, especially on my birthday, really got to me. Not that anybody at work remembered it was my birthday. That got to me too. I'd mentioned it a few times and it was written on the calendar. Dr. Narske said we should have a party and she would make me some monkey bread. But when the day came, there was no party for me. However, it's probably a good thing - we all worked through lunch (when we usually have b-day parties) on that poor cat, so there was no time for partying. After several more hours of insanity and sad cases, I arrived at the conclusion that it was 7pm, I had over an hour of notes to type, and I was not going to make it to my own birthday dinner (combined with Ryan's Mom's b-day dinner with their family) at 7:30pm. This was pretty upsetting, but Ryan helped me feel better by meeting me at Olive Garden (once I was finally home and changed) so I could still have dinner out and Chocolate Lasagna for dessert.

Things went much better that week from then on. I opened presents from Ryan and his family, got to go see the Tempel Lipizzans perform - thanks to Ryan for that and my other gifts (Lipizzans are some really interesting and talented horses/riders, if you don't know), had some better days at work, met up with good old Tom Phillips for a pleasant dinner out on Wednesday, and had a blast with Ryan at Six Flags Great America on Friday (half-price tickets courtesy of Eric F. - many thanks to him). The new water park is really nice and the lines for water slides and most of the big rides were really decent considering how busy the park was. We rode the majority of the slides/rides in both parks and rarely waited longer than 30 minutes for anything (technical difficulties with Superman aside). Best of all, we had all that fun in the sun without getting sunburns! Saturday work went okay and today Ryan and I relaxed, got some ColdStone Creamery yummies, and went mini-putting (I had no swing today, but it was still fun).

Well, it's way past my bedtime (good thing I had a nice nap this afternoon). Hope you guys can understand why I'm not posting so much on here lately after seeing all that I've been up to. Add all that to 40-ish hours of work per week and you've got one busy girl. At least I will have some overtime on my next paycheck to make up for work woes. Well, I'm off to bed. Take care!

I'm 23!

Okay, so I appologize for the lack of posts lately - I've been meaning to update, but it's just not been in the schedule for me to do so. Much update-age to come soon. Hopefully tomorrow. As for now, lets just say lots of stuff has been going on and I'm super-busy and my b-day did NOT go quite like I'd planned today.

Back in Surgery!!

So today was a really good day at work 'cause I was doing some exciting stuff back in surgery for once. You bums have to comment if you want to hear about it, though, 'cause I'm just not motivated enough otherwise with all this "silence".

Prayers

Hey guys - a couple prayer requests for you all to help me out with if you would.

Andy is going to be in the hospital on Friday for a kidney biopsy. Please pray for peace for he and his family and wisdom for the doctors. They think his condition is most likely something they don't know a ton about yet, so it's kinda scary. Pray that they will be able to treat him successfully.

Also, Ryan's Mom is going to the doctors tomorrow (Wednesday) for some female issues. Pray for strength and peace for the Heidners during this health problem.
- Update on 7/21/05 is that she has a pulled muscle, which is a bummer but at least nothing more serious or hard to treat. Pray that she is able to do what she needs to for healing up.

The Kemps, who I'm staying with this summer, just lost Mr. Kemp's dad this weekend after a long battle with Parkinson's. Pray for his wife as she deals with the loss and has to sort through the family assets, including the family farm. Ask God to provide comfort and help for the Kemps during their time of mourning.
- Update on 7/21/05 is that the Kemps are back home and seemed to have the desired closure and happy rememberances during the funeral. Mr. Kemp's Mom seems to be doing well, but continue to pray for her and for some lingering family tension.

Keep praying for my Dad's Aunt Eleanor, as well as that whole side of the family, as she continues to deal with what looks like metastasized liver/pancreatic cancer.

Thanks guys. Thanks most of all to God who hears, understands, and acts in our best interest no matter what.

The Inevitables

So many of you have probably seen "The Incredibles" (and the rest of you should do so, too!). Here is my spin-off: A list I'm calling "The Inevitables" - it's full of things that I've found are just bound to happen at Banfield, in every day life, etc. I hope you all enjoy it. If all goes as planned, I will add to this list on occasion as I am inspired to do so.

- Crabby Dr. Narske and angry kitties tend to go well together.
- The more the doctor is paying attention to the pulse oximeter reading, the less likely the darn thing is to actually work.
- A mildly upset animal (vocal only) will suddenly become violent when Dr. Giumento approaches it. She will be bit/scratched/or at least have a close call.
- I will remember something I was supposed to do at work approximately 2 hours after I return home.
- The pet's need for medical attention/total estimated cost of services will have an inverse relationship with the owner's willingness/ability to pay. Emergencies will show up with no money whatsoever.
- Such an emergency will arrive approximately 20 minutes before closing time.
- When an owner asks about the cause of a certain condition, the more certain the doctor is about their response the more the owner is likely to think it's incorrect.
- The first question the doctor asks you about the patient's history will be the one thing you forgot to ask the owner.
- Pam (hospital director) will be frazzled approximately 95% of the time at work, the rest of the time she is cuddling something cute and furry.
- The simpler the treatment options, the more likely the owner is to think you're joking. (For example, giving canned pumpkin for constipation.)
- When an owner hears something simple and true that they don't like (such as "Advantix works better than Hartz"), they will keep asking others (receptionists, other staff, etc.) why this is true even after a detailed explanation.
- If I actually manage to get up on time, I will forget to put my scrubs in the dryer and therefore barely leave on time because I'm waiting for them to finish drying.
- The level to which I'm trying to watch what I eat is inversely related to the sales/coupons on junk food.
- The more organized my checkbook is, the less up-to-date my online balance is so I can't check to see if it's right.
- If I have an unexpected day off work or I actually get home on time, Ryan will have a long list of things he needs to do for his Mom.
- Friends I haven't talked to in ages and really want to catch up with will be on AIM regularly, just not when I am.
- Those who you really want to know what they're up to will have a nondescript away message such as: "I'm away" or "BRB" that has been idle for 2 hours.
- The sooner you need a response, the longer you will play phone-tag.
- I will gripe about not getting comments on my blog, get a whole bunch of comments, and then go through a long dry spell. (Consider this a gripe. ;-) )
- The more we need God's grace, the more He gives it to us!
- On random occasions, things you've heard and written your whole life will suddenly seem wrong, like "the more"...

Holiday and Such

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July! I went home to Springfield (Ryan came with) and visited with my parents, Ruthi, and Andy. It was good to see all of them. Ryan kicked Hawker butt at this new game they have called Blockus (it was a true display of Enginerd prowess). I managed to not win anything - not even Sequence - but had a great time anyway. My parents, Ruthi, Ryan and I all went to see "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" on the 3rd. Man, talk about a fun movie. I think we were all pleasantly surprised. And it even had the decency to point out how important honesty is in a relationship. (Afterwards Ryan and I made sure to tell each other we weren't living double lives or trying to kill one another... ;-) ) I was so glad that Ruthi could make it up to Springfield to visit since I haven't seen her in so long and she'll be off to Kansas State soon enough. I should be a meteorologist because I totally predicted the drought would end with rain on everybody's 4th of July picnics. We actually didn't mind the rain at all on the 4th - we needed it, plus we had a nice tent gazebo that we helped my parents put up to keep us dry. Besides, it kept Dad from making us do manual labor. What am I talking about, you may ask. Well, Dad made Ryan help him with changing my car's oil, rotating its tires, and chopping at a tree stump in our yard with an axe because the wood is so hard that the chain saw can't handle it. Oh well, Dad is funny like that sometimes. I think it was good for them to do a little male bonding. My Dad's cousin (my "Uncle") Chuck stopped by for brunch on the 4th. It was good to see him and chat. We haven't seen much of him since he left "Aunt" Jan for the town floosie. Yeah, I know that sounds harsh, but it's what happened. I'm still sorting out how I feel about the whole situation... Dad's maternal Aunt Eleanore (Chuck's mom) is in the hospital with what looks like malignant metastatic cancer (it's in the liver and pancreas for sure), so he was visiting with her and other family at the hospital the evening of the 4th. He got back a bit late, so we left for fireworks a bit late (it had stopped raining). Unfortunately, Springfield thought it was going to rain again soon, so they started the fireworks display about 20 minutes early. We could see them between buildings on the drive in. We never did make it to the Capitol lawn for the show, which is where we usually watch it. We ended up standing in an alley, but the 2/3 of the show we saw from there was pretty good. On the 5th we met Andy at a Thai restaurant in Springfield over his lunch hour, so it was nice to catch up with him. I was so excited to get some Thai sweet iced tea with cream. That's some good stuff! Ryan ordered his food spiciness "hot" (on a scale from mild to hot) and guzzled down about a gallon of water to eat it. Silly boy. We made lots of "pit stops" on the way back to the suburbs... Luckily we didn't get stuck in some nasty traffic, since we got to the north suburbs right at 5pm.

I had a good time on my break. My only regrets are that I didn't get to see my brother, Mandy, or Ashley, and I didn't get to talk to my Dad about some faith issues that have been on my heart for awhile. It's hard to go back to work after a nice break. Banfield has been quite busy since getting back, and I work all day all week. Needless to say, I'm a bit worn out, and my work week is only half over. Time to get some rest.

Please pray for Aunt Eleanore and Andy with their health issues and for me and my Dad's conversation(s) yet to come. Take care all!

New Skills and New Incapabilities

NOTE: Please forgive any typing errors in this post. I have an injured left index finger (I'll explain later), and it complicates the whole accuracy thing...

So the computer stuff at work finally "clicked" in my head on Wednesday and I can do appontment rooms by myself any time I'm needed now. Some days I wonder what they did before I could do rooms, 'cause I sure seem to do a lot of them. I mean, how were they getting anything done with all the appointments we see? My theory: now that I know how to do it, they are conveniently busy doing other things in the back and I'm asked to go instead. Doing rooms is kinda nice in the aspect that I don't feel as rushed and I can get things done from start to finish for the client with relatively few interruptions. That was never the case in the back treatment area - people are always asking you to do this and that and things can get a bit scrambled. Perhaps I should say "No, I need to finish this first" more often... The downside to rooms is also the downside to doing comprehensives and drop-offs in back: NOTES. I would like to say that while doing the SOAP format of medical notes is the most thorough and appropriate method (and also helps in legal matters), it can be a pain. I have NO clue how Dr. Hill in Springfield EVER remembered what was going on to finish her notes on files so many days later (her pile of charts "to do" was notorious for taking up a significant portion of a file rack and her desk). I have trouble remembering what we did with a partiular pet a few HOURS later. And I rarely get a chance to put much down on paper and/or in the computer before I'm whisked away on my next appointment or other assignment, so most of my notes are done later. Guess it'll help me fine-tune my memory skills, if nothing else. I get paid for the extra time I spend finishing notes once we're closed, so I can't complain there. I can complain, however, that it gets old having bunches of really sick pets come in at the last minute. I mean, how are we supposed to do a complete work-up for the pet if we close in 30 minutes? They'd be better off going to the emergency clinic (which opens before we close) and just getting it all taken care of there, 'cause we often send them there for overnight care once we get things started anyway. We don't enjoy being stuck there til 8pm and still not doing all that the pet needs. Oh well, everybody decides their pet is finally sick enough (after being ill for days) to see a vet AFTER they get home from work. That's just how it goes... :-p Hopefully I'll get back into the surgery ward one of these days. That is still my favorite thing to do.

So on Tuesday I got to go on a picnic with my Ryan! It was a really wonderful afternoon. First of all, I finally got to use my super-cute picnic basket. (Yes, it's purple and teal and blue.) It was about 90 degrees, but it didn't feel like it at all. It wasn't humid for the first time in days, there was a nice breeze, and we found a cozy little spot in the shade by a lake for our picnic blanket and our lunch. There weren't a ton of mosquitos or flies (although there were some other funny bugs, like a determined caterpillar and some spiders), and we could see and hear the ducks and swallows. We had some really good conversation about ourselves individually, our faith lives, our relationship, and things yet to come. It was just refreshing to get away from it all and talk for hours. I think it will always be a favorite memory. Afterwards we went back to Ryan's and threw the football around a bit. Ryan coached me on how to pass (I was doing okay with the catching). I improved my throw, and promptly forgot how to catch. That's how I hurt my finger - I botched a catch on a slightly short throw and totally jammed it, I guess. It's not crooked or anything, but it swelled up really big and turned purple. I've been icing it a lot and wrapping it in Vet Wrap (aka CoFlex), which seems to help, and luckily it doesn't hurt much unless I whack it on something. Oh well, such is my life as an accident-prone person!

Well, I'm off for a concert and dinner at Christ Church with the Heidners. Take care!

Quandries

So I am puzzling over some random things today, and thought I'd share them.
- Why do I feel guilty about buying shoes that I know will meet my needs and were on clearance? (I'm talking $55 shoes for only $22!)
- Why do I tend to go on these shopping sprees when Ryan is out of town?
- Why do I always manage to get myself stuck in rush hour traffic when I'm on said shopping sprees? I mean, I know what time rush hour is, and yet I'm always in the store too long and end up in the thick of it...
- Why does the price of gas jump up like 10 cents each time I need it, then go back down after I fill up?
- Why did VW re-design the Jetta? It was much cuter before!
- Why do Kodak moments seem to occur when I don't have my camera or when my formerly ready camera has gone into sleep mode?
- Why are there so many people out there who still think mutts are second-class dogs when they tend to be healthier and have better attitudes? (Show and breeding dogs aside - I'm talking about pets here.)
- Why do people trust groomers and breeders over a trained, tested, and licensed veterinarian?!
- Why did my car not want to start the other day (it sounded like it was chopping something up and took three tries to get going), but it was fine before and ever since (thankfully)?
- Why do people put such deep, important things in forward e-mails and blogs (for instance, confusions and frustrations about God and faith) but they never talk about it in person or express those needs openly?
- Why did they EVER make a VW Passat Waggon?! It's just wrong! Leave it as an adorable sedan, for the sake of us all!
- Why do I always start typing in my blog when I don't have much time to do so?
- Why does my elbow hurt? I don't remember doing anything to it. Plus, it only hurts for certain things - lifting is fine, but just bending it all the way with no weight or giving a massage to Ryan really hurts it.
- Why is my bunny so spastic compared to the sweet ones that come in at work?
- Why can't I take a cute kitty home with me?
- Why do people in SUVs and sports cars drive like lunatics? The type of car may change, rules of the road do NOT!
- Why is it bedtime already?!

So tomorrow I get to have a crash-course in handling appointment in exam rooms at Banfield. This is because I get to do them on my own on Friday for 3 hours because there's only one other Pet Nurse on the schedule to do rooms at the time, and all 3 doctors will be in. No surgery for me this week! Oh well. PLEASE be praying for my interactions with the computers at work. I'm so confused by the program they use and what to do when with it... Tomorrow's training bettered help a lot!

Daily Grind

So it looks like we had another record-setting week at work. It certainly seemed steadily busy, and at times we were drowning in clients and pets. Luckily we've had some better tempered pets for the most part. I did get bit by a lab (he was either scared or hurt or both) and I always get scratched by wiggly pets, but the evil cats we'd had a lot of were replaced by cute kittens and very tolerant (although sometimes growly) cats. They've switched my schedule for next week (and probably the rest of the summer) so that I work on Fridays instead of Thursdays. That way I can be in surgery with Dr. Narske, which I'm all for.

So I finally saw Star Wars: Episode III. If you haven't seen it, don't read this next part, as it would spoil the movie for you. While it had a better script than the first two, it still wasn't great, but still a decent movie. The fighting scenes were kinda disappointing - they zoomed in too much, so you saw the actors' faces a lot instead of neat light-saber swordsplay. I thought Padme's already weak character became even more blah, even though she had some better lines. It seemed very odd to me that they have all this advanced technology, and yet nobody knew she was having twins until she went into labor. I especially didn't like that she died because "she lost the will to live" - not due to any medical problem. I mean, seriously!! What a stupid wussy girl! Aren't twin babies a reason to live?! Just because your wacko husband (who you'd already witnessed being a jerk many times) went all evil doen't mean you just give up on life. Oh, and all that was enough to kill her in like a DAY. Sure, whatever. PLOT HOLE!! Oh, and when the bad guys assumed that Obe-Wan was dead because "Nobody could survive that fall" - um NO! He fell into DEEP WATER, people! Plus, he's a Jedi. Kinda resilient folk, ya know. Okay, enough ranting - it wasn't a terrible movie, I just didn't like those parts. There was a super-neat giant lizard creature, too. I'd ride one of those around like a horse, it looked fun.

So Ryan and his family are gone for the next week on vacation to Washington, DC. That means I'll probably be around the Kemps and AIM and such a bit more often. We'll see. Take care.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all the Dads out there, especially mine! (Not that he reads this, but it's the thought that counts.)

Belated Post

Okay, so I dropped the ball on updating this like I said I would... Sorry! I was out of the house the last several nights so I didn't have a chance to blog - got home and went straight to bed.

My work schedule has stayed pretty much the same except for I go until 4 on Mondays now. This past week was insanely busy at work - we had our best-ever weekly revenue, total clients, and new clients, so you can imagine how busy that was. So I haven't gotten to scrub in again yet, but I did get to see an exploratory surgery and then take care of the dog the rest of the day (fluids, injections, discharge instructions to the owner, etc.). I wonder if they ever did his anesthesia notes, 'cause I was supposed to learn how to do that and then it was way too busy that day. We were hoping to find something stuck in his intestines and have to cut it out, but alas, it was already in the colon and he'll pass it on his own. Made the surgury a lot less expensive, though. He had some angry-looking intestines. Poor guy got a nasty razor burn when Palmira shaved his belly, too. Rey, the only co-worker I occasionally get annoyed with, got in trouble for sticking me with his menial labor while he hung out in surgery the other day, so hopefully that won't be going on much anymore. Not that I think his stuff is below me, I'd just rather be handling the animals! I paid my dues with 6 years of the cleaning and stuff already.

Other than work, I've done some reading (The Secret Life of Bees - it's good!), some shopping, a lot of dealing with Verizon, and a lot of spending time with the Heidners. I had to buy a wedding gift for Lauren and Isaac and an outfit to wear to the wedding, which is July 23rd. I also got some things for Ryan, as his 22nd birthday was June 6th. He finally got to open his graduation present - a big orange and blue road sign that says "Fighting Illini Avenue" with the Chief on it. I think he liked it! I also got him "The Aviator" (among other small things) for his birthday. I've been hassling with Verizon because my phone wasn't working well at all. (Dropping calls, turning itself off during calls, battery dying after 5 minutes of talking on a "full" battery.) I'm fairly sure it was just the battery, but they checked it and said it was fine, gave me a new phone with the same battery, and it still wasn't working. Uncle Jim was a big help in bargaining with them, so I eventually got a different type of phone for free (although I think my 2-year plan re-started, which is fine with me). I still have the same number, just a different phone that actually works. Now I have to hope the store I got the car charger from (in Iowa) will exchange it for me since a Kyocera charger won't quite fit a Samsung phone. Verizon won't exchange it 'cause it isn't a Verizon brand charger - it's generic. I've been eating dinner with the Heidners a lot, going to church with them, attending parties with them. This weekend we even got to play volleyball and Catch Phrase at a graduation party! Yay! Karen finished her sophomore year of high school on Wednesday and now she's working for the Park District this summer. Ryan and Josh and I went to see "The Longest Yard" on his birthday - it's very funny. When I'm around the house, I'm usually either chatting with the Kemps or playing with their Italian Greyhound, Carrson. He's my little buddy, probably because he knows I'll throw the ball for him and give him carrots and such. Today Ryan and I are going to see Star Wars Episode III (after we give our cars baths). Well, I should get going now. I'll try to do better with updating this now that I know people read it.

Squeaky Wheel?

Apparently I should whine about people not reading this more often, 'cause it got people to comment a lot. I appreciate it! Unfortunately, I don't have time this evening to realy put up a decent blog - that will have to wait for tomorrow night or Friday at the latest. However, I couldn't resist putting up a quick post that will show you all what a big vet school nerd I am. I GOT TO SCRUB IN AND ASSIST IN SURGERY TODAY!! I must say it was pretty neat, even though I was fairly clueless. I helped with a spay and a toe removal. Dr. Narske even wanted me to take the toe (which is about 2 in long - off a big standard poodle-ish dog) home with me... I didn't think the Kemps would appreciate having THAT in their freezer. So yeah, today was very exciting. I'll tell you more about what I've been up to lately in the next post, but that just had to be said now.

Grouchy

Today was an overall somewhat grouchy day. It makes me even more grouchy to see that nobody cares enough to read and post comments on this. Honestly, how can I stay in touch with you guys if nobody reads this or comments on it? Obviously other more involved forms of contact (e-mail, phone, visits, etc.) are not to be expected either. Grrrr!

As Promised, Some More Updates

Sorry about that. Baby (my computer) is finally hooked up to the DSL network here at the Kemps'. That means I should be updating more regularly from now on and you'll catch me on AIM pretty much daily.

Now to get back in chronological order, I should talk about Banfield. How do I beging to describe work to you guys?! First of all, my mentor Dr. Narske took me out to breakfast my first morning there. She seems fairly nice and pretty laid back. Over breakfast I found out that Tim, my classmate, would also be working there this summer. This was odd news, as he didn't tell me about it when I'd asked him what he'd be up to this summer. I was wondering if he somehow didn't know, so I called him. Oh he'd known for over a month, and Mimi knew too, they just didn't tell me! Silly people. All this time I'd felt kinda bad thinking I'd "stolen" Tim's job (I knew he'd wanted the same Banfield location I did) and it turned out he was headed there too! So I work with Tim a couple times a week. My schedule appears to be fixed like this each week:
Monday 8am to 1pm
Tuesday off
Wednesday 8am to 7pm
Thursday 8am to 7pm
Friday off
Saturday 9am to 6pm
Sunday the office is closed.
Lunch is from 1-2pm most days.
Usually, the clinic is fairly busy. We have three vets now (one just started this week), about 6 Pet Nurses, two Pet Nurse Assistants, about 4 Client Service Coordinators, plus the Hospital Director, me, and Tim. With all that staff (all of them are really friendly and good to work with), we can handle a lot of pets in a day. They do a lot of drop-off exams at Banfield, where people bring animals in the morning, we look at them during the day, and they pick them up in the evening. If all three vets are in, we can have one seeing out-patients (appointments in the rooms), one handling the in-patients (drop-offs), and another doing surgeries all at once. Two Pet Nurses rotate through the rooms, one or two help with surgery and dentals, and the rest handle in-patients. It's a well-oiled machine that works to care for a lot of animals very efficiently. So what do I, as a vet student summer worker, actually do? I'm still very much in training, but eventually I will be able to do what the other Pet Nurses/Assistants do - animal restraint, preliminary exams, IV and urinary catheters, surgery prep (sedation and such), blood work, dentals, lots of medical notes, bathing, radiology, etc. Things I've done so far that I find especially cool include: 1.5 dentals on only my second day (they showed me how to use the scaler on the first 0.5), several blood draws from day one, a urinary catheterization, and care of a parvo puppy in isolation. They're pretty good about teaching me whatever I'm unsure about and talking me through newer skills. I still have a lot to learn on the computer end of things - they do all their notes and ordering on Banfield's own PetWare system, and it's fairly complex and confusing at first. Once I know that part better, as well as go over the basic exam procedures with my mentor, I should be able to start doing appointments in the rooms. In short, this is an ideal summer job to learn a heck of a lot. Yes, Banfield has some standards that I'm not used to from typical private practice. No, they haven't brainwashed me to think everything they do is entirely necessary, although it doesn't cause any harm. I certainly like this job, though, and all that I'm getting out of it.

Where did I leave off before? Oh yeah, Karen's dance recital. I figured it would be neat, and it was even more fun than anticipated. They had tap, jazz, and pointe groups with the theme "My Generation" for the whole recital. They danced to songs from the 70's, 80's, 90's, and 00's, so I recognized all but two of the songs. The smallest kids were totally adorable, even if they only dance at MY level... ;-) The older kids were pretty talented - I especially liked the more advanced pointe and tap numbers. I have decided that Donna Lewis' song "I Love You Always, Forever" is stalking me, 'cause I keep hearing it wherever I go the past few months. It was one of the songs for the 90's. Karen's jazz group looked like a lot of fun - they did a funky hip-hop 90s mix of "Get Loud" and "Slam Dunk Da Funk" and Karen even did the worm! She will be working as a teacher/assistant for some of the younger groups this summer. After the recital we went to dinner at Max and Erma's restaurant. This cool balloon artist was there, and he made Karen and Kristin (her good friend) princess hats and me a monkey in a tree. It's cute, I'll show you pictures.

It's been nice having a couple days off each week. Thus far, I've spent them getting things settled in at my summer home as well as visiting with Ryan's family. On Tuesday this week I went to the Cuneo Estate (a historical local attraction that's not overly publicized, so most people haven't heard about it) with Ryan's mom. We had a very nice tour of the house, which is a very European-style mansion with lots of Catholic art and beautiful decor. The estate also happens to be where part of "My Best Friend's Wedding" was filmed. Tonight Ryan's Mom and I (and hopefully Karen) are going to see "Madagascar", so I should get going for that since I lost track of time, as usual.

Great News! (And a lot of other stuff.)

Sorry to drop off so suddenly on that last post - it was taking longer than I thought (as usual) to tell you all about my busy little life and I lost track of time.

So I left off with the Chicago trip. The four of us (me, Mimi, her husband Ken, and Tim) were staying in a hotel less than a mile from the Rosemont CTA blue train line station (right by O'Hare), so we just took that into the city each morning. PACE busses got us around once we were there, so transportation was really easy. There was even a Denny's right next to the hotel for breakfast.

We went in Monday night to hang out in Wrigleyville during the Cubs game (we tried to get tickets awhile in advance, but none were available with seats all together). We ended up being glad we weren't at the actual game because it rained. A lot. Several times. Instead of getting soaked, we were dry in a nice sports bar where we could watch the game on the TVs. We still didn't see a lot of the game because we got tired of waiting for the rain delays to end and went back to the hotel.

Tuesday morning we wandered around Millenium Park for a bit until the Art Museum opened. Sadly, the Chagall windows weren't on display (they were being protected and restored during some construction), but there were some other neat things to look at, such as knigts' armor and weapons. We made a point of avoiding the Greek stuff, as I'd seen WAY too much of that in my classic civ course. **shudder** We went to Ed Debevick's (slogan - "Eat and Get Out") for lunch, which was entertaining. Our waiter really wasn't mean to us (he was from Iowa too!), but he regularly yelled at others around us. Another guy was ridiculously funny - he literally climbed over the walls between booths to yell at his table for being too demanding. The staff all regularly insulted each other over the PA system too. I think we did some shopping on the Magnificent Mile after that. We had dinner at a Chinese place - they put lychee in with the veggies for my sweet and sour pork!! YUMMMM!! If you've never had lychee, it's hard to explain, but it's like a fruit and a nut all at once, or something like that, and I really like them. Then we went to the Sears Tower just before sunset. It was a perfect evening for it - great visibility. Once the sun set we headed for bed.

Wednesday we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo. I enjoy a free zoo any day, and this one is very extensive. They've gotten a lot of bad press lately due to a mysteriously high mortality rate lately, but it's being looked into and I didn't see much that was unusual so I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt. In my opinion, it's just as likely that some nutty animal rights activist(s) - there were lots there protesting - killed them ("they're better off dead" mentality) than any other cause. I'll show you my strange camel picture if you want - it looked like it had mild obturator nerve damage! Yes, I am a vet school nerd. The primates and big cats were all very active for us - the male lion even climbed up on a big rock and roared for us. It was kinda cold, so his breath made steam in the air - it was a cool effect. Then we went to the Historical Society, which was unfortunately undergoing a lot of exhibit changes - it was free instead of $5 because over 75% of it wasn't open. We killed time in the gift shops before heading to dinner at Uno's. The evening's entertainment was Second City's performance of "Red Scare". It was a VERY funny show, not as offensive as I was afraid it would be, but still risque at many points. The six (I think) actors/actresses took on a multitude of roles in short sketches that often came back again later in the show. It's hard to describe, but they had a mix of lighter, more random humor and touchy political and social issue-based comedy all wrapped into a non-stop, side-splitting show. One of the men did a voice that sounded frighteningly like Harry from "3rd Rock" for most of his roles. They made fun of President Bush a lot, but then he is fairly easy to do that with. After their actual show, they did some straight improv with suggestions from the audience. Parts of it were amusing, but overall it wasn't as funny as other improv I've seen - they didn't seem to "click" quite right (two more actors were thrown into the mix, and one of them just seemed to throw everybody off instead of advance the humor). The evening overall was quite a riotous success, though. We got back VERY late from the show and crashed.

Thursday morning, Mimi's friend Sabrina joined us for the day. We went to the Museum of Science and Industry, where Tim was able to thoroughly engross himself in trains. (He is a member of a train enthusiast club at Iowa State.) Oddly enough, much of what I remembered from my last visit to the museum was in severe need of repairs. They had a cool new anatomy exhibit, but we'd all had enough anatomy for awhile, so we didn't go. We headed to Navy Pier for dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. We wandered around the Pier for quite awhile, especially in the stained glass displays. I hope my pictures of them turn out - they're still in my camera.

Friday we slept in and then headed back to our respective summer homes. Saturday morning I headed down to Champaign with Ryan's family for his graduation. It should be noted that none of us had any idea if he had actually graduated, since his grades weren't up. I think I was one of only a few who was certian he'd make it. After lunch at the Courier Cafe and helping Ryan pack for awhile, we met up with my Mom at Alexander's for dinner. I ended up staying with the Heidners in their hotel instead of at Ruthi's (they decided they had room at the last minute). Sunday morning we went to TCBC, and then to Urbana Garden for brunch. After that it was time for the big graduation ceremony (at least the speaker was funny) and then the Engineering ceremony. The latter was VERY long... Almost 1000 people read one by one! However, it's all worth it for my wonderful Enginerd. :-D Best of all, Ryan called last night (Sunday) to let us know that he DID officially graduate!! His GPA was well above the minimum. So HOORAY and YAY GOD!! We got back to the suburbs quite late, and most of us had to work the next morning (including me), and Ryan had to drive up to northern MI for Focus Week. Now that Focus Week is done, he's hanging out with Jeremy and Ditty at Ditty's house/cabin. He won't be back until May 31st.

I'll leave talking about my job and some other stuff for another post, as this one is already quite long and my hands are tired of typing. I'm still not on my computer, but a cable has been ordered so that we can finally get it hooked up soon. Hopefully I'll be back on AIM before the weekend. Take care!

Overdue Update

Well, I'm sure you've all been checking my blog incessantly, longing for a new post to read (yeah, right) - and the wait is finally over!

I guess I should tell you about the end of school first. I survived my finals, although they harmed my grade in most classes, as expected. However, I ended up with a 3.0 for the semester, which is my minimum standard for myself. While I would have preferred to increase my overall GPA, after a finals week like that I'm perfectly content to just take what I got and be happy with it.

The CVF rummage sale should be a huge success this August, because we had a TON of really good stuff donated to us. We filled an entire ~1.5-car garage from floor to celing plus a couple smaller storage sheds and still had to put a couple things in my garage. (All in a grand total of two mornings with 6 total people - what a work out!) Now we just have to pray for good weather and a good turn-out of buyers!

I moved in with the Kemps on Friday evening (May 6th) only to leave for Bloomington the next afternoon. I decided I should go home for Mother's Day, and Mom wanted to go to a dinner theater between Bloomington and Peoria on Saturday night, so we all met up at Chris and Mandy's new apartment first. We had a mini-Christmas in May, because our gifts from the California Hawkers finally arrived. Yay for more ducky bathroom decor and some cooling racks and a marble rolling pin! Guess I'll have yet another excuse to bake some stuff now. ;-) Then we headed out for the dinner theater, which was in a barn - it was really fun! The play was called "Squabbles" and it had a lot of really witty insults, like: "Last night I had the strangest dream... I saw this horse, but all it had was its front half. I kept wondering and wondering what happened to the back half. Then I met up with YOU and finally I knew..." After that, I went back to Springfield with my parents. Mom and I drove separate in my car so we could talk. She seemed to be concerned about me being in the suburbs with Ryan this summer. Can you believe I'm almost 23 and she's STILL giving me "the talk" about behaving properly around boys?! Oy...

I stayed with my parents until Monday morning, then I headed up to Schiller Park to meet Mimi, Ken, and Tim for our Chicago trip. We had such a great time! I'll tell you guys all about it later - for now I'm off to Karen's (Ryan's sister) dance recital. (Didn't realize it was so late already.)

Escape!!

So I survived the most intense finals week I've ever had. I don't know how well I fared yet, but here is my assesment of the exams:
Immunology - think it went well, a very fair exam. I probably kept my B.
Pathology - think it was the hardest exam I've ever taken and the whole class seems to think they failed it. Here's to a hopefully gigantic curve. No clue what to expect.
Anatomy - we got the tests back today, and without a curve I got a big fat D on the final, probably a C or a C+ overall. Most of us did very poorly, though, so we're hoping for a good curve. (It hasn't been calculated yet.) Don't know if it will be enough to give me a B or a B-, but here's hoping.
Vet in Society - wasn't great, but not as bad as the quizzes were all semester. I'm beyond caring about this class, but I probably got a B.
Neurobiology - leaving the exam I thought I'd done horribly on it, however once I compared answers it seems I did okay. Probably goodbye A in there, too. Hope to end up with a B in there, maybe a B+ if I'm really lucky.
Case Studies - had trouble caring about this final, too. I think it went okay, but not sure if it went well enough to keep my A.
Histophysiology - It was really hard to keep my brain functioning for this exam, after all the previous ones, and it seemed kinda tough overall. So goodbye A. Hopefully I can get a B+, we'll see. We were all so fried by this exam that we did the wave before they handed it out. There were also amusing instructions on the chalk board about how much lube to apply (by a pump bottle of large animal lube). My class is so funny!

Now, that may all sound rather gloomy, but I had much better grades going in to finals than I deserved in most things and it could have been a lot worse in most cases (Pathology excluded). In short, I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOO RELIEVED TO BE DONE!! Many thanks to the Lord for carrying my through this!! He is awesome!

So tomorrow I'm off to IL after the CVF rummage sale pick-up. That means I must pack now. I don't know when I'll blog again. Til then, take care!