I'd Love to Chat But...

I have like a 1000 things to do. Needless to say, I'm getting married on Saturday. I finished my last day of work today. It was sad. MB cried. I miss it already. Though I could use a break. Not one to pack up my house and move five hours away but a break would be nice.

The ghost of wedding dresses past OR how to keep your fiancé and cats away from the dress till Saturday!

We might have to deal with geese during the wedding.

Handsome boy!

A certain corgi either is a lush or doesn't approve of our liquor purchases.

Mr. Montique relaxing on the bed in the air conditioning with the fan.

I made yard sale signs!!

A Thousand Things

Ugh.
Where have I been?
Busy. That's where.

Where to start?
Horses-the ponies are doing okay. Very healthy as compared to everyone else at the farm. I think they had an outbreak of flu and one horse died. Not very drama free.

Other pets-doing well. Nothing else needs to be said.

So the weekend before last, Joe and I went to Greenville. Have I mentioned that I found a job? Maybe not. Anyway, I'm going to be an associate at the Greenville Veterinary Clinic in Greenville, Pennsylvania. Its on the Ohio border so I needed to get an Ohio license. This was not easy or cheap and required a background check. The practice is very similar to ours-mainly dairy with a good Amish/Mennonite client base. Anyway, Joe and I went to look for a place to live. We didn't have many leads but ended up looking at more than anticipated. I had a long discussion with the owners of this house. They were nice and we went and looked at the house. The problem is that the pictures of the barn (at least) were like 10 years old. The barn was a wreck. Stating that it needed to be gutted may not be nessacarily true but close. The owners didn't know what they wanted to do. It became rapidly clear thought that renting it to us wasn't going to happen. We eventually looked at this house in Greenville and applied for it. I need to call the owner back though. It was a long quick trip. I got told Happy Mother's Day at Perkin's. Not cool.

Our wedding date is rapidly approaching. VERY RAPIDLY. Its kind of frightening. I think I have most everything figured out. The reception hall seems to be taken care of. The flowers are too even though the woman that was planning my wedding flowers no longer works at the florist. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I felt pushed into things with her but now I can have the other person do the things I really want. Like putting lillies into my bouquet. The cake is taken care of short of me needing to bake cupcakes on Friday morning. I need to contact the horse carriage people and the Borough of Newville. I need to go look at the mill to figure out the chair set up-which has been paid for. The DJ is still MIA. The photographer is pretty okay. The caterer is waiting on a floorplan change (that they don't know about) and a meeting. As well as a final number. The officiant is MIA too. I bought a bunch of wedding things today to finish some of the details. I now just need to make table numbers, seating charts, name place tags...Its going well enough I suppose. We got our rings which are beautiful! And today, final dress fitting-I ripped the zipper and the eyehook.

I'm having a yard sale this Saturday. I'm super excited. We probably won't make much nor will we get rid of much but I'm still excited. I've got the urge to purge.

So the week before last, on Wednesday, I noticed that my tooth hurt. Its one of the little decidious molars that I still have. On Thursday, I noticed that it looked gray which is what a recent dog's tooth with an abscess looked like. On Friday, I decided to go to the dentist. However, dentists don't work on Fridays. Aren't they lucky? Saturday, I told my boss that I wouldn't be into work on either Tuesday or Wednesday morning because I was going to the dentist. He okayed it but suggested I take some Clavamox (an antibiotic) I declined since it makes my stomach hurt. Sunday night I was in total pain. My lymph nodes were swelling. Monday, I called the dentist and they got me in for Wednesday. By that night, with the exception of the sore lymph node, I felt pretty awesome. My tooth didn't hurt any more. Wednesday, I went to the dentist and the tooth didn't look any different on x-ray but they said they could pull it. So they numbed me up and yanked it out! I ate lunch with TS and then went to work mid-afternoon for SA appointments.

I was on call this weekend. With the exception of a weird nervous ketosis on Friday night, it was perfectly quiet. Saturday morning, I castrated a donkey and cut a mass off of another donkey's nose. We went to the dairy lunch after that.

So work hasn't been going that well. I've had some mystery cases lately. Some that were easily diagnosed-such as my lymphoma dog. Some dogs that died unexpectedly-Cheyenne. I'll always remember Cheyenne because I was the one that figured out how to make her grow hair! (She had a low thyroid that I got figured out.) Cats that I had to euthanize. A HBC dog that had more traumatic injuries than I believed and ended up getting euthanized when it went to the ER clinic. A dog with hypema and enlarged lymph nodes that I am treating for tick borne diseases but am not really sure what is going on. The hypoglycemic cat. These cases, in particular the ones that go poorly, are stressing me out. I need a vacation. A good vacation. That I won't get.

Along the lines of having found another job, I randomly have been getting solicited by other vets in the area. I got a text message from the woman that owns the barn where I board the ponies. She had talked to her vet about me and they were interested. Then one of the receptionist told me they had got a call from a vet about me but either didn't know or didn't say who. Then Saturday, I had a missed call from one of the local vets. I called him back in case it was about a mutual case-even though it was on my private cell phone. He was wondering if I had found a job and if I hadn't (or it didn't work out) to let him know. Crazy. I think it speaks volumes about the type of vet I am and about the training I have had. (Obviously, its been good.)

Today, I've been busy. I had the dress fitting then ran all my errands. Then did some sewing while watching Twilight. (I know). Then I ran to the grocery store where I forgot lots of things then finally made dinner! We had squeak beans, Bang Bang Shirmp,  Kimchi Fried Rice and egg rolls. Yum!

Montie was a bad cat and put himself in the corner.

Honest Craigslist Posting

You can't always trust what you read on Craigslist. People don't always tell the truth. Items are dirtier than advertised, penises are smaller...

Last October, I found an ad for a cat that I wished I could have. This is the ad (minus the original picture):

Crotchety Barn Cat Seeks Loving Forever Home (sounds good and promising now)

"Cougar Kitty' is a 6-year-old neutered male barn cat in need of a loving forever home. He has no redeeming qualities, no beautiful coat pattern, and is blessed with the personality of a bridge troll. (Haha!)You won't have to put up with him for his whole life at least, as he is already 6 years down that path. Barn cats live notoriously short lives (an average of 5 years) but we don't live close enough to the road for that particular "out" to have worked for us.

Cougar hates, abhors, detests with a determined vengeance, (someone has a thesaurus, don't they!) all other cats, though he has promised not to kill our dog. He will bite small children, though older children who can run faster, would be pretty safe. (What about children or adults that can't run fast.) We would have had him declawed, but that would still have left the teeth, wouldn't it? (Indeed.) Cougar is, through necessity, up to date on his rabies vaccines. (Good. AND responsible.)

If you have problems with an overabundance of mice, rats, or moles, this is not the cat for you. However, you will find him an enormous help should you need to curb a wayward population of beautiful songbirds.

Sadly, Cougar is not a shy, stand-offish, fainting-flower type of cat. He greatly enjoys stalking people, especially unsuspecting guests and toddlers. He will rub and purr for your affections. Unfortunately, a sever personality disorder will cause him to bite anyone who tries to pet him. I insert here that I hold the record of 15 (fifteen) pets in before attack sequence was deployed. This could be your challenge. (I'll accept that.)

Due to public interaction on our farm, and the high probability of a law suit, we need to relocate this kitty. Having him dispatched through the usual "early out" veterinary-approved system seems like cheating, so is not an option for us. (I respect that.) We feel Cougar would do well with a lone biker type that who hates cats, or possibly the folks at Lake Tobias (local wildlife park) might take him on as an exhibit. They say there is someone for everyone. The gauntlet has been thrown. Help us out here.

At this point, I googled pictures of orange cats but couldn't find one suitable to fit this cat's description. I wish I could have got him. I surely would have gotten 16 or 17 pets in. I am a professional afterall.

On January 10th, I posted a recipe for dirty lentils. Here's a picture. You should consider pinning it.

Apple Cake Recipe

You're going to want to 'pin' this one. The picture doesn't sell it well enough. But, I've entered it in two county fairs and walked away with a second and third place ribbons. A blue ribbon still eludes me but I think the judges don't understand that this cake is more like a bread pudding in texture. BF suggested this summer that I keep practicing until I won the blue ribbon. This cake has never failed to be a winner with a crowd. Its a good cake in summer as its light enough but great for fall and winter because the apples and cinnamon add a lot of warmth and coziness to it if you can say that about a cake. My mom likes to pretend that this is a secret family recipe; she got it out of a railroading magazine in the early '80s.

Apple Cake
4 cups diced apples (generally about 3 1/2 average sized apples)
2 cups sugar
2 eggs-well beaten
1/2 cup oil plus a few additional teaspoons if needed
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup walnuts
2 cups flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees or 325 if you are using a pyrex pan. Grease and flour a 9x13x2" pan.
Mix together apples and sugar well. Then add eggs, oil, vanilla and nuts; mix well. Then add in flour, cinnamon and salt. The mix is going to be fairly dry but if it seems too dry, add a could of teaspoons of oil and mix well. Pour into pan and bake for about one hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.


Another reason I like this cake is that its a good way to get rid of apples. Don't hesitate to use bruised apples (cut out the bruises of course) or wrinkled ones. As long as the apples are in reasonable condition, feel free to use them.

Seriously, pin it!

Mary was quite happy at the return if original baby. Little does she know that I only gave her it because I plan on throwing it out and it still had a good squeaker.

An abandoned factory a few blocks from our house burned down earlier this week.

I Need A Vacation

It was about this time last year when Joe and I went on vacation. We had such a good time in Ocean City.

I wish that we could go on vacation again. I wish we could take a honeymoon or even more time off between jobs. Its just not going to happen because of time and money constraints.

I have been really stressed lately. Not that I don't have any reason not to be. I mean in a month, I am ending this job, getting married, moving five hours away and then starting a new job. No, I'm not stressed. The downside is that I am also feeling stressed about work. I feel that my stress from everything else is affecting my work and then subsuquently stressing me out because I feel guilty about things I did or didn't do, about things I can't change. I can't go back in time and convince the owner of a goat with a broken leg to call me so that when I did see the goat that the leg would be perfectly healed. I can't convince the goat owner to let me amputate the goat's leg when it costs $800 and I can't predict the outcome. Even knowing that there are things that I can't change, doesn't make it any better.

Last week, TH and BF were both on vacation. Three of the five days, I was on large animal. I had a handful of cases on Monday including pretty bluntly telling a farmer that his cow would die and probably that day. Tuesday, I ended up sitting on the couch for a long time till I got called out for a colic. While there, I looked at another horse and a dog. A big 'while you are here' call. Wednesday I was off. Thursday, I didn't do much so came home and was on my couch when Jody from the boarding barn called me. I always answer because I am worried that it might be something goin on with the ponies-a laceration, a broken leg, a colic that my veterinary skills need to be used for. So anyway, Jody was coming back from Harrisburg but had a call from the barn manager where they had found a mare with some placenta or something hanging out. I don't know why they called me versus their normal vet but I agreed to go out. I was hoping for something like a retained placenta from an aborting mare. (This mare wasn't due till August.) I got there and the mare seemed stable but indeed had about 6" of placenta hanging from her vulva. I sent someone out to the pasture to look for the fetus hoping that it wasn't in the mare. We positioned the mare so hopefully, I wouldn't get kicked. And I went in. And there was a tail and a rump and the foal sitting in breech position. I manipulated the foal and got both back legs up pretty easily. We pulled and the mare strained. There was some resistance around the hips and then even more resistance around the shoulders/head. I'd find out why momentarily. With one big heave, the foal came out. The foal was abnormal-it had hydrocephalus meaning that it had a large amount of fluid on the brain which causes the skull to form abnormally and not close. This foal likely died because of its severe disease. I managed to get all the placenta out and treated the mare. It went well over all. Here's a picture of the foal. Its sort of gruesome so be forwarned.

I was really proud of myself. Later that afternoon, I saw a goat that probably needs its leg amputated but I doubt the owners will go for it unless its out of sheer guilt. If they had called me when the goat had originally broke its leg (six weeks eariler), we wouldn't be in this position.

Yesterday, after I got off work, Joe and I went to Harrisburg so he could be fitted for a tux. Then we ate Chipotle. Its a rare and delicious treat! I miss having it whenever I want. Then we came back to Carlisle to go to the movies. We saw The Avengers. Joe liked it but I did not. Then Joe mowed the jungle of the lawn and I cleaned the living room. Today, I need to clean the rest of the house because someone is coming to see the house tomorrow.
Joe is off tomorrow. We have to meet with the coordinator at the venue and are getting our wedding license. In the morning, I have a dress fitting. Next week, on Monday, we'll be going to Greenville to look at apartments and get my background check for my Ohio license. That is if we have some places to look at. Short of winning the lottery for a house downpayment it will be very difficult for us to find a place to live. I haven't had any luck with google searches so far. Ugh. Maybe a realtor will have some better ideas of what we can or can't do.
The Ohio vet license is difficult. Short of waiting on the letter of good standings from PA ($15) and MO as well as my transcript ($10) to be sent, I think the only thing I need is the background check.

Wedding Present!

I bought Joe his wedding present on Wednesday after having a terrible day.
I had cashed in my cash back bonus from Discover card for Pier 1 gift cards and then bought Joe the giant spoon and giant fork. They were on sale so I got both for $36 after the gift cards were used.

Why was my day bad? Well, that morning, I went to the hair salon and had a trial run of my wedding hair. It looked good. Then I went to the grocery store. At the store, I was called a mom. There were two cashiers and they were talking about bath salts and their use as an illegal drug. One cashier turned to me and said that I should know about these things because I was a mom. SO not only do I look like a mom, but I look like a mom that has kids old enough to use drugs.
After that, I was feeling pretty down. I normally do on my days off because I miss human interaction. Then I got the gift cards and my day became awesome. Joe thought it was awesome too.

May Day, May Day!

It feels like I should be in a panic.
One month till our wedding. We had set the RSVP deadline for this date. There are still about 30 unaccounted for RSVPs. Mostly random family members that I feel it is safe to assume are not coming. But a few from random friends here and there-wildcards. And even a couple from friends that said the were coming but the lack of RSVP makes me question their sincerity. No RSVPs came in the mail today. I'll allow tomorrow but then I'll start cracking some skulls.
Tomorrow, I have a trial run of a hair appointment. I should probably print some pictures of the styles I like. I also plan on looking into tanning salons.
Let's see what other wedding fun. Joe has figured out the rehersal dinner. Finally! We have been working on wedding music and we have a day set up for going for our wedding license. Those are the big things.

This week, TH and BF are both on vacation. This leaves me on large animal three of four days. We're not doing herd healths, luckily. I've not been very busy though. Tomorrow, I'm off. No surgery this week.

My weekend on call went well. I mostly fielded lots of phone calls and no one wanted to spend any money. Last night, I saw a choked horse but it had relieved the choke itself by the time I got there.

Saturday, I went out with the girls from work after work. We went to Red Lobster. It was really good. It was also a pseudo bridal shower! I had a blast.

Friday, I was terribly sick. It was even questionable if I was going to make it through appointments. Towards the end of the morning, I wasn't feeling so well and by noon, my stomach hurt. I slept on the couch before eating a PJ&J and then going to work. During work, my stomach continued to hurt, I got dizzy and was sick to my stomach. I felt really cold at one point too. I had to excuse myself from a room because I knew I was going to be really sick. I didn't look good. I slept on the couch for a really long time that night and felt marginally better Saturday morning. Joe was sick on Sunday so I'm guessing that I gave him some sort of 24 hr bug.

Also, working on getting my Ohio vet license. I mailed it today. It wasn't easy. First, its expensive-$425!-as a cashier's check ($1). Then I needed a passport photo ($10). Then I had to have it notarized ($5). I still have to have MU send my transcript and have MO and PA send letters of good standing. AND the background check. We're looking at like $500. Ugh.