2012 in Review

January consisted mostly of wedding planning and veterinary medicine. I did a lot of sick cow work-more than in previous months apparently. I was in love with my cats. (As always!) We found Downton Abbey (It starts up again January 6th!) and enjoyed it so very  much.

February was exciting because it was my birthday! I had a great party! I also started posting lots of pictures as part of my mobile blogging plan. There was also plenty of wedding planning or procrastination about that.

March continued on with the wedding planning front-wedding rings were ordered, cake and officients were sorted out, RSVPs started to come in after being mailed at the beginning of the month. I began the exciting journey of finding a new job (in secret). Joe helped me with a calving and veterinary medicine was performed.

In April, we finally told our clients that we were no longer doing large animal medicine. I also told everyone at work that I was looking for a new job. Interviewing continued including a trip to Wisconsin and in Missouri. The Missouri interview was the absolute worst. I looked forward to finishing paying off my student loan. Wedding planning continued.

May had lots of pictures of my cats. I love my cats. We continued with wedding planning. Lots of last minute details. I found a job and looked for a place to live...which turned out not to be where we are living. I did veterinary medicine type things including pulling a premature hydrocephalic foal. I had an abscessed tooth which I ended up getting pulled. However now, I think I've got an issue with some bone or tooth remaining in the socket. I had a yard sale.

In June, Joe and I managed to pack a whole lifetime of experiences in one month. We got married, moved and I started a new job. Being that I've been a vet for two years now, I was on call the second night on the job. I ended up with at 3am calving that ended up with the fetatome coming out. It was just the beginning...

July was busy. I did a lot of dealing with emergencies and horses. I found a new place to board the ponies and moved them there in August. We went to a goatfest. It was hot. Joe and I went to Pittsburgh to see the new Batman movie and went to IKEA. I reiterated how much I hated the Olympics.

August brought a plaque of bees-we were attacked outside of our backdoor. We had several Pinterest attempts, projects and failures. Cats are cute. We went shopping which is always disappointing.

In September, I entered things in the Jamestown Community Fair. I didn't do as well as I would have liked unfortunately. There were plenty of recipes to be tried and sewing projects. I looked back over the large number of surgeries I was performing on a routine basis. I looked at the post office as being one of the most beautiful places in Greenville.

October centered around my brand new kitten (Herbie) as well as Halloween and dressing up the dogs and clinic cats. We didn't have heat towards the end of the month resulting in the replacement of our furnace in November. I did a lot of reading (I have decided to read one book from each shelf at the library. And ambitious and probably boring task.). Joe and I went to a fall festival at a creepy amusment park. I cut a foreign body (a corncob) from a dog after having dealt with him all weekend.

November was mostly a photo month. We bought furniture. I went to a CE conference. We shoehorned the vet truck into the garage. I was told I had really small hands.

In December, I showed you how to make my famous apple cake in step by step photos. I neutered Herbie. I went on a huge rant about how much it costs to have a dog. We also went back to Missouri for Christmas returning home to find 10" of snow. Yesterday, the dogs and I played in it after work. I would have played with them in it again today but fell asleep on the couch and nothing was getting me up.

Well, there's your year in review. Highlights: wedding planning, job search, wedding, cats, moving, new job, being a veterinarian, pictures of things, how to make pretty things.

On The Road-Christmas Edition

Last Friday, Joe and I set out for Missouri to visit our families for Christmas. We hadn't been home at Christmas together since moving to Pennsylvania. I had convinced Joe that driving was the way to go but unfortunately that was a terrible mistake realized about an hour in.
Friday morning, the beginning of a snow storm that had already dumped plenty of snow on St. Joe was just creeping into our area. Joe mistakenly went out to breakfast with his coworkers which is his normal Friday routine leaving me to fret and load the car on my own. Margie, the vet truck had already been returned to the office and tucked safely into her parking spot. Eventually, we'd get on the road-Joe in the back seat where in fifteen minutes he fell into a beer and benedryl induced coma and I driving through some light snow.
Into Ohio the roads weren't too bad but it was snowing. Joe would wake up, we'd eat McDonald's and then he'd take over driving. Much too late and after alternating driving several more times we arrived in St. Joe.
Saturday, we ate lunch with Joe's dad, visited with a friend's parents receiving a crapton of kitchen supplies and then Joe went to the bar with a bunch of friends. I bailed citing a stomachache and Joe came home babbling like a fool as he's prone to doing when I'm not there to keep him in check.
Sunday, Joe's kid came over with his sister and we opened Christmas presents.
Monday, we ate birthday cake for Joe's big 33 and went to the movies. We saw This Is 40 and it was hilarious!!! I highly recommend it though it was about 40 minutes too long. That night we left to spend the night in Columbia.
Tuesday was Christmas and we traveled to DeSoto, opened presents with my family, and drove around.
Wednesday, we hung out before going shopping and eating some amazing Thai food with my friends.
Today, we are driving back to Pennsylvania. Luckily, the blizzard is mostly over and the roads are cleared. I'm very glad for that. Not glad that I have to unload the car when we get home though. We have way more stuff than we started with.

Highlight Reel

This past weekend-holiday party.

Everyone is pregnant at work...not I though.

I don't want to go to Missouri for Christmas.

LDAs suck, RDAs are suckier, RTAs are the suckiest.

Dog vs train-dog wins, dog vs Amish buggy-buggy wins. Go figure.

Dogs with two week old gun shot wounds to the leg can make great strides with good nursing care. Way to go owners!!

My suspect protein losing enteropathy dog was put down on Saturday after we had just submitted the biopsy earlier in the week. My report today: undergoing internal consult. Probably not good.

Do not procrastinate on homemade gifts.

Trying my hand at peanut brittle tomorrow...maybe.

Shower upstairs is leaking. Again. So back to the baby shower. I need to shave my legs more often but the shower makes it really hard to do.

I finally know what our landlords look like.

How mad would my mom be if we just brought the ponies back?

My student loan payment went up by several hundred dollars.

Goose in my freezer as additional Christmas present. Financial bonus-questionable. :(

Had craft day at work-huge success.

There's No Such Thing As A Free Lunch

Or puppy, or kitten.

'The best things in life are free.' But puppies and kittens are not one of them.

So it's often at this time of year that people feel its a good idea to give a puppy or kitten or even an adult animal as a present. Also at this time of year, we're reminded that there are millions of animals In shelters waiting for homes that they will never receive because someone choose to purchase a cute puppy or kitten from a pet store or breeder instead.
I have no problem with breeders if they are well prepared and educated; what I have a problem with is people that have no business owning animals breeding animals. I also have no problem getting what you want because dogs are still property. Love them, care for them, you still own them. And do your research and be prepared. Nothing in life is free.

So let's think about that 'free' puppy.
Well, first, you need some supplies-crate, pee pads, collars and leashes (several because its growing), food and water bowls, blankets/dog bed, brushes, toys, poo bags, treats, food, etc.
Then you have to take the puppy to the vet two or three times for vaccine visits and get its shots. And fecal exams. And dewormer because if its a free puppy, it probably hasn't been dewormed. And you should also get some flea protection and probably some heartworm preventative.
And don't forget it's microchip and dog license.
Then you have to get your puppy spayed or neutered.
And you picked a fluffy breed so off to the groomers. And you're going out of town so it will need to be boarded.
So by now we're probably closing in on a thousand dollars. Not free by any means.

And that's if all goes well in the first year.
Now your puppy isn't well behaved and you need to take it to obedience school.
And you thought you'd save some money and not do all the vaccines like your good doctor recommended. So your dog gets parvo. OR because your puppy is bad, you realize that the vomiting and diarrhea may be linked to the pair of underwear you're missing. Ugh. I feel for you. Now you have a $500 hospital stay or surgery.
I do feel for you. And I understand if you don't have money for fixing your dog. I would be hard pressed to find it without being late to pay some other bill.

So now let's assume your dog made it safely out of the first year. Yearly check ups and vaccines, flea and tick control and heartworm meds probably run a couple hundred for the year. And dog food. So probably like $500 a year for your free dog for the rest of its life. Like 10-15 years easily.

So now it has made it safely through its first year. I hope you're prepared for the simple things-vomiting/diarrhea, itchy skin, a laceration, just ADR. A sick visit can be anywhere from $50 for the exam and meds to several hundred with diagnostics and hospitalization.
And what if your dog continues its puppy habits of eating what it shouldn't? Or if it gets really sick? Or gets diabetes? Or has seizures? Or gets hit by a car? A buggy or a train? What if it needs its leg amputated? Are you prepared for that? I understand if you're not but do you at least have a plan? A couple hundred somewhere? Someone to borrow from? Something to sell? Can you make promises and follow through? Can you at least keep calm and understand where the vet may be coming from when they need some money because they are paying people just like you. If you don't pay, then they don't get paid.

Several times, I've seen people that have purchased some purebred animal and think, 'we'll let her have one litter to pay for herself and then have her spayed.' It doesn't work that way. The too young dog gets bred by the neighbors mutt, the owner waits and she never gets bred so at about 9 she develops a pyometra, she gets breast cancer, etc, etc.

So I come to today's story.
At about 4:30, one of the techs comes back and says someone is on the phone and has a boxer that had one dead puppy three hours prior. She's still straining. I tell the tech that the dog should come straight in and probably needs a c-section-$400-600. A few minutes later the tech returns, they don't have that sort of money. Okay, plan b would be for less than $50, I'll wave my emergency fee (there goes $50 from
my pocket) and we'll see if we can get her to have the pups on her own. They don't even have that. So now because these people don't have any money, this dog will suffer.
At this point, I jump to a lot of conclusions about these people. I understand if they don't have money for the c-section. But to own a dog and not even have $35 for the exam. Come on. So I instantly think that these people probably bred this dog for the money from the pups but unfortunately will be lucky if their dog even lives. And I think that they probably are on some government handout which I paid for and that their drugs, booze, cigarettes and tattoos are more important than saving for their dog's life.
Be responsible people. I might be in charge of your dog's health but I am not your financial advisor.

Apple Cake Recipe

I've posted this recipe before for my Apple Cake but now I'm going to do it with step by step picture instructions! So you have to pin it!

First-gather your ingredients!

You'll need: 4 cups diced apples, 2 cups sugar, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup oil, 2 tsp vanilla, 1 cup nuts, 2 cups flour, a dash of salt and 2 tsp cinnamon.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees or 325 degrees if you are using a pyrex pan.

Now grease your pan. I'm a shortening user. Then flour well. You're pan should be the 9x13 size pan, though this recipe seems to hold up for 9" rounds (2) and would for squares too, I assume. I've never used it for cupcakes though...maybe in the future.

Now chop your apples in uniform bits. I figure about 1 apple=1 cup if you nibble on them as you go. I was really conservative because these apples had bruises and got away with three apples=a short 4 cups.

This is the sad face of your dog when you don't give them apple slices. :(

Add your two cups of flour and mix well with the apples. It prevents them from browning. [EDIT-this should be sugar. 7/4/13.]

Add your two large eggs or whatever is the equivalent. I used 3 medium (?) eggs because my boss gave me like 3 dozen!

Add 1/2 cup vegetable oil.

Add two tsp vanilla. Action shot!

Add 1 cup walnuts.

Mix well.

Add 2 cups flour, a dash of salt and 2 tsp cinnamon.

Mix well.

Mix some more. At this point, you can add a little bit extra oil if it seems too dry. It gets wetter pretty fast though.

Spoon/pour into the prepared pan and into the oven for 45-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Yum!

Apple Walnut Cake

4 cups diced apples
2 cups sugar
2 eggs (well beaten)
½ cup oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup walnuts
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (325 for Pyrex). Grease and flour a 9x13 pan; set aside.
Mix sugar with apples in large bowl. Add eggs, oil, vanilla and nuts; mix well. Then add flour, cinnamon and salt.  (If batter is too dry, add 1 tablespoon additional oil.)
Pour into pan and bake for 45-60 minutes or until done-when a toothpick is inserted and removed clean.)

Yes, that's a deer tied to the roof of a Dodge Neon. Only in Pennsylvania...

Pin this right now!!
So in our living room which is a cat playground more than anything else, we have this really big, really ugly painting.
What to do with it?
I covered it in wrapping paper and am taping the Christmas cards we receive to it!!
I suggest measuring your picture and paper first. And using plenty of tape. After only a few days as a couple of cards, mine is getting saggy but still a great idea!!

Herbie all stretched out next to me enjoying a rainy afternoon on the couch. Little does he know that in mere moments, he's being kidnapped and shoved into a cat carrier and getting neutered.

Odd Compliments

The other day I got an odd complement. I'll get to it in a minute.
It made me think about another time that I got an odd compliment.

One summer, I was working in the garden center at Hy-Vee. I loved working there with only a few exceptions-days that were really, really hot, days that were wet/cold and days when my shoes got absolutely soaked. I spent my days rearranging plants, checking people out, pruning things, loading soil and learning to drive a forklift. (I wasn't very good as to be expected.) At the end of the summer, I was moved inside to GM. A much more boring job. Somehow one day, I was helping a man with tanning lotions. I asked him something like 'what exactly are you going for?' To which he responded that he wanted a tan like mine. I laughed because I know nothing about tanning except that sun + skin = tan. I told him that I had spent all summer working outside and that's how I got so tan. I do tan really, really well. I rarely ever wear sunscreen (I'm a bad person full of free radicals.) and rarely ever burn. If I do burn, its normally gone in a few days. My hair gets all these natural gold red highlights. My skin turns a rich golden brown. My tan lasts into the winter too as long as my skin doesn't get too dry.

Anyway, my odd complement came the other day at work. I was vaccinating two very large (humongous) cats for a woman that I had seen several times. Out of the blue, she says 'you have very little hands.' Now this has been said to me before but normally what follows it is a backhanded complement about how small and short my fingers are. (I have dwarf hands.) But this woman genuinely meant that my hands were small. I must have looked at her really funny because then she started on some long thing about how vets normally have these really big strong hands. I wanted to tell her that my hands looked small because I was handling her huge cats. (They weren't fat, just huge. The way I like them!) I went on to tell her that my hands were the typical woman's hand size (based on surgical gloves)-this link talks about surgical instruments being too big for women's hands, which I find to be true. But however, I have shorter fingers (which she disputed) and broader palms than many women. I compare my finger length to anyone that disputes my short fingers. My fingers are consistently one knuckle length (about 1/2") shorter. Unfortunately, my small hands and short fingers do provide a disadvantage. I'm not particularly nimble (a bad trait in a surgeon), I'm not particularly strong, and consistently, I can't feel a dog's prostate. Its a problem. I've been doing a lot of rectals lately in a search for a prostate that I can actually feel.

Anyway, after this weird complement, I started thinking about all the things that my hands do. To which, immediately, I had this Delta sink commercial stuck in my head. I was thinking that it sounded like The Count from Sesame Street, which it is.
There are so many things that my hands (no matter how short and stubby my fingers are) can do.
I can show affection with a pet of a cat's head, a rub of the dog's belly or stroking my husband's cheek.
I can provide comfort to a grieving client with a pat on the back or a hug.
I can alleviate suffering with a bandage, administration of pain medications or the injection of euthanasia solution.
I can prevent and treat illness.
I can perform surgery.
I can sew and be crafty.
I can provide nutrition by feeding my pets or making dinner for my husband.
I can provide entertainment by typing this blog.

So my hands are pretty awesome. They rank up there right next to my kidneys. Now to put some lotion on them and go to bed!

Tonight, it was sleeting on my way home. The wind had picked up.
Margie, the vet truck, wanted a warm place for the night so we literally squeezed her into the garage. We had to move a bench and put something up to let me know when I was in all the way. I cleared the garage door by 2"!
We're under a lake effect snow advisory! (2-4")

We had a small quiet thanksgiving dinner yesterday. Nothing exotic but it was nice.

Photoblog-a-thon!!
I bought some real furniture this week. I wanted to throw up like I did when we got engaged (just picking up the ring) or bought a washer and dryer. It gets delivered on Tuesday!

I got a present from a client today!!

I went to a CE meeting in Pittsburgh. I stayed in a fancy hotel and ordered room service. It would have been better if Joe was there.

In The Cold

Its been raining since Friday. That's when the cold front pushed through. I felt it in the afternoon. I wasn't feeling particularly hot and went home early from work but stopped back in to recheck a dog belonging to one of my crazy clients. Then I figured I should go see the ponies because of the impending hurricane. It was sunny then and by the afternoon it wasn't any more. It rained all weekend. And then the hurricane caught up with us Monday into Tuesday. Its still raining. Its going to continue to rain till Friday. Of course, Saturday, the first decent day, I'm going to be in Pittsburgh for a PVMA CE conference.
But anyway, Monday we realized that it was cold in the house. So I turned on the furnace and it didn't seem to get any warmer. So that night Joe messed around with it and it still wouldn't work. Then I let our landlords know. Tuesday, Joe managed to get the heater working but it seemed shortlived. Tuesday afternoon I stopped in after seeing a goat and found the repair man standing on the doorstep. He looked at the heater but it needed like a $600 repair. So now, the landlords are telling us that they are considering pulling the house off the market, putting it with a different realtor, weighing fixing vs repairing the furnace, wanting us to stay another year, wanting us to buy the house. Ugh. Its complicated and I'm not sure what to do. 1) I want them to sell this house because they are nice people. 2) I love this house but because its on any acreage, its not feasible for us to buy this house. Or really any for that matter. 3) I hate moving and finding a place that will allow our multiple animals will be very difficult. 4) I don't know what is going to happen in the spring. I think ultimately, we're going to continue to live in this house and have to buckle down and save money.
I don't have a chair any more. Joe's chair is very uncomfortable.
This lobster is cool.
Hurricane Sandy in her small category hurricane status still managed to create large amount of panic. Flooding, snow storms, fires, power outages, you name it it happened. A whole neighborhood in New York burned down. Its hard enough to see your house burn down but to see each house down the street burn in the pouring rain one after another...its heartbreaking. And there was absolutely nothing left afterwards.
Halloween-trick or treating was Saturday in the rain. We had three trick or treaters in two hours. It was sad. I left my light on tonight just in case. I have a bunch of candy that I am still eating. I'm taking it to work this week.
So the other day, I was hungry. I found some noodles in the cabinet. They are fantastic-Nongshim Spicy Kimchee. They are really spicy. I eat them with saltines-just because they curb the spiciness. You can't beat them for less than $1.25.

It's egg nog time! Or golden custard nog...

I mean seriously, these cats are fucking ridiculous.

Rapidly pissing off the office cats!

TMI

So normally I don't go to in depth with personal things. That's not really what this blog is about. I like to share various cute and interesting pictures of my animals, work related stuff, stuff that happens. Rarely do I ever get personal. And if I do, its generally not in depth. I might tell you I'm sick but not really go into details. Maybe I was up all night but not with what.
Anyway, I'm going to share some personal stuff right now. Mostly because I feel like I need to write it out to feel better about it. Not that its going to fix the problem but somehow voicing it might be better.
Its going to be TMI.
Its going to be about my sex life.
Well, not in detail.
Its still probably going to be TMI.
Especially when I get to the part about how babies are made (or not made). But luckily for you dear readers (all like three of you), it won't be in great detail.
But probably some.

Anyway, here we go.


I want to have kids.
Joe wants to have kids.
No one expects us to have kids right away. At least I don't think they do.
But the fact of the matter is, we've been together for seven years and I'm turning 30 in February.
I need to have kids.
We've been married since June putting us at just shy of starting our 6th month of marriage. I stopped taking birth control in August. I'm not pregnant. (At least I don't think I am...I'll get to that in a moment.)
Again, its not one of those things that just happens. Well, sometimes getting pregnant is but stopping  birth control in August and not being pregnant now doesn't mean something is wrong with me. It just means it didn't happen yet. I don't think I should be concerned. I'm not concerned. And I told myself I'm not going to go crazy taking my temperature and calculating out days till my next most fertile day until at least the spring. And even in the spring, I should give myself some time just to let it happen. Get drunk, go on vacation, come back with a bad sunburn and a bun in the oven. That would be fantastic.
Okay, but here's the deal. I have two deals actually.
1) I don't have a period in the winter. Now indirectly, I can surmise but can't guarantee that I'm not ovulating in the winter. I don't know how it works. I'm a DVM not an MD. All I know is that from August or September till February when I'm not on birth control I don't have a period. Its pretty cool. Unless you're trying to get pregnant, then you're just taking pregnancy tests every month and waiting till the next month.
AND 2) You  have to have sex to get pregnant. Or at least some really inappropriate behavior involving at least partial nudity and body parts in close approximation. I can count on one hand the number of times I have had sex since I stopped birth control. Yea. Its not cool. Joe claims he has a really low libido. I don't know what to do. Well, I know what to do its just actually getting a result that is frustrating. While I can't give you an exact figure, I figure a large percentage of men (I'm going to ballpark it at somewhere between 75-95% of men.) would jump at the chance and be naked before the end of the following sentence: "So I was thinking that we could [about now is when the men have left the room and are naked in bed] have sex tonight.' Not Joe. He kind of groans or begrudgingly says okay. Or makes up some excuse Or I make up an excuse. Which while not cool is acceptable because I'm the woman in this situation. Anyway, bottomline, its frustrating. And infuriating. There's very little that makes me more angry with Joe than the lack of sex. Before marriage, I threatened him that this was the one thing that would cause me to cheat on him.

Oh and then there's HP and SY at work talking about getting pregnant all the time. While it doesn't make me upset like it does TG (because I'm still working on the assumption that I can have babies) it is really annoying. Of all of us, I'm the one that is in a place to have a baby! Granted, HP is young and married but she just had a baby last year. Its my turn. I had 2013 already reserved!

So where we are:
1) I'm not pregnant and probably won't be till spring (making Halloween costume contest rigging with babies difficult).
2) Joe doesn't have sex with me in any consistent pattern. (Perhaps calling a need for core body temperature taking and predicting ovulation more imperative so I can get the biggest bang (hehe!) for my buck so to speak.
3) I really want to have kids.
4) An excuse to eat badly is an additional benefit.

[EDIT: I wasn't going to post this big I getting so upset that I need to actually post it. The pattern continues.]

Costume Contest Tips

As you may already know, I love to dress up my animals in costumes. Every year, I come up with some intricate costume and try to exicute it on my four legged friends.
This year, Mary and Sadie both got dressed up. Sadie was a cupcake and Mary was a chef.

I was a little skeptical on how well recieved these costumes would be. Honestly, I wasn't certain that they were cute enough. Apparently, I was right. We didn't even place. This was the first year that such a thing has happened. Every other year, we've done really, really well. Placing at least. Apparently, some of my rules as stated below really do apply.

Because of my history of costume contest entries, I have written some tips to help you out.

• Call ahead and double check times. I normally go to PetCo or PetSmart so individual stores may vary from what is posted on the national website. I will often visit the store and then call again a few days before. I'm sort of paranoid about this.
• Be prepared. This falls under the double checking times. But also be prepared in that you arrive early enough so that you actually make the judging and also early enough that you can get the animals dressed. Also make your costume far enough in advance that you aren't rushing around that morning. Normally, that is my failing. Its not costume contest time if I'm not finishing it the morning of. Or in the car. Both have happened.
• Use your dog's assets. Not having tails is actually a huge benefit for the corgis. It makes costumes much easiler to fit because I don't have to figure out the tail hole. This also refers to the cliched weiner dog dressed as a hot dog. While not original, the dog's natural length is used as an asset. Riley's corn costume was another good use of her natural length.
• Cute wins. End of story. A pom in a princess costume riding in a remote control car operated by two gay men will beat you every time. So will kids. This also means that things like princesses, fairies, etc will do much better than Freddie Kruger.
• Make sure you have enough people to handle your pets. One pet per person is a minimum.
• Bring survival supplies. In the past, I've brought thread, needles, fabric scraps. Not needed. Large safety pins and maybe masking tape (works really well for securing hats to heads) is all you really need.
• Be a good sport. If you can't be, save your bad mouthing for in the car or the internet. This is where I do it. Everyone appriciates your participation but not if you are a jerk.
• Don't wear out your welcome. This goes with being a good sport but also, if you've won for several years in a row, no matter how good your costumes are, people start to notice and you'll end up not winning.
• To dress up or not to dress up? Don't dress up. Especially if you are an adult. This is a pet costume contest. If you insist on dressing up, remember your dog is the main component. You dressing as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz and having your dog as Toto doesn't count. Now if you have a bunch of dogs dressed as Wizard of Oz characters and to complete it you dress as one, that's okay. Kids can get away with dressing up. While I sort of have something against dressing your kids up for the same reason as I'm against adults dressing up, next year, I plan on using our hypothetical baby to win the advantage.
• Groups are always a good idea but all the costumes have to be well made and fit into the theme well. Remember to have enough people
• Homemade costumes aways get more points from me than store bought ones.
• The devil is in the details. One of the reasons I think we do so well is because of the details. For Riley's little bo peep costume, it would be okay if she just wore a dress and hat but her costume had little lace trim, had flowers, had a shepard's hook. Such nice things.

So good luck! Next year, watch out for us! We're cheating with the use of a costumed baby!

We might need to trim back the ivy. Yes, this is in my basement.

My Favorite Clients

Last week, I got to meet two of my favorite types of clients.

On Friday, during appointments, I saw a lab that had been vomiting all night. He looked like he felt like shit, his back was slightly arched but showed no other signs of stomach pain and discomfort. He still wagged his tail. He was minorly dehydrated. Normally, I'm uber-conservative when it comes to GI upset. Dogs vomit. End of story. Being a lab, you know that it is possible that he ate something he shouldn't have though the owner didn't think so. Because of the dehydration, I admited him to the hospital for IV fluids and medication to stop the vomiting.
Saturday morning, the vomiting had stopped but the dog was regurgitating. So we took some x-rays and the only thing that looked abnormal was the fact that his stomach seemed a little large. His attitude was unchanged and he showed no more signs of discomfort than he did the day before. So I sent him home. (And I was out of injectable medications anyway.)
Sunday moring, I'm woken up by the owner calling. The dog did well overnight but now was regurgitating uncontrolably. So I met him at the clinic after an hour or so and readmitted the dog for fluids again. We took another x-ray and some things had changed slightly but nothing jumped out at me. Since we were out of injectable medications, I had to figure out how to get them. I called up the local human hospital's pharmacy and put in an order. Then I went and got the medications. Oddly enough, I was told to come in the back door because it would be easier. So I did. There was no security, no anyone and I snuck into the hospital and back out. By mid-day, I had pretty much decided after lots of consultations, that I needed to do a barium study. Barium studies are when you give a large volume of contrast (half a liter in this dog's case) and then take a series of x-rays over set amounts of time. My tech and I fought to give this dog the barium and at one point stopped for a chest x-ray because I wasn't sure the dog was actually swallowing the contrast. We finish and take the first couple of x-rays 15 minutes apart and sure enough things are looking good. The stomach is filled and already the contrast is moving into the small intestine. We take the third set and then an hour later (two hours after giving the barium) the fourth set. There was no change between the two sets. Hmm... I call the owners and let them know that in two hours, I'm repeating the rads and at that time they will need to make a decision about the next step. So repeat the rads in two hours. No change. Okay, now we go to surgery, keep the dog on fluids and cross our fingers or euthanize. They elect to keep the dog on fluids. The next morning, the dog hasn't changed. The x-ray show that the barium hasn't moved; if anything, its backed up into the stomach even more. Ugh. Now the decision is clear-surgery NOW or euthanasia.
So the owners, wanting to do everything possible for their dog, make the difficult decision to take the dog to surgery. We go to surgery and when we roll the dog over, he regurgs lime green fluid-barium and bile mixed together. When I start cutting, pretty much right away, I pull up small intestine with something in it. Eventually, we have it out-1 1/2 inch piece of corncob. I get the intestine closed and close up the dog. Yea! Everything looks good right now. I hope its going to keep going that way.
Oh, where was I going with this? Why do I love these clients? No questions (or minimally at least) asked, they did what they needed to do for their pet even when I couldn't make any promises that it would turn out okay.

On Friday night, after 9, I get a call from the office that an emergency is coming in. Its a dog with a puncture wound in its elbow. I take a look at the dog, make an estimate and tell the owners (two young guys) that I would need a good faith deposit of like $70-90. We x-ray the dog to make sure that the puncture hasn't broken anything. The tech goes up to get the deposit so we can sedate the dog and close up the wound. These guys ran out of the house with no money. They have $6. Ugh. We're probably not going to get paid anything I think. Can they call home and get a credit card number? Okay. No wait, that card doesn't have any money on it. We can do a held check we tell them. They tell us that we'll get paid tomorrow. Sure, I think. We work on the dog and then in the morning, we get a phone call. The owners want to know how much the bill is. We tell them and then they tell us that they will get the dog in the afternoon. One of the techs fell in love with the dog and found a bunch of half used rolls of bandages to give to the owners. In the afternoon, they owners came back in to pick up the dog. They had worked all day long to come up with the money for the dog. Unfortuately, it wasn't enough. They were about $20 short. But you know what? It didn't matter. They worked for what they owed. They didn't ask for credit. They didn't ask if they could do payments. They accepted that a service had been performed and now they owed for it. I figured that since they paid the bulk of the bill, we wouldn't see them again for the recheck nor would we see the $20 they owed us. Oh well, its almost worth it since they had paid for most of it. BUT NO! They came in this week, paid the balence and I guess, set up the recheck. I love people that can accept responsiblity.

Book Review

It may not come to a surprise to you that I like to read. I  have a Nook which I do routinely add new books to. The downside is that for some reason with the Nook, I don't hesitate to spend money on a new book. I've made some mistakes (Secretariat and Eat Pray Love) but for the most part I read a sample and then buy the book.

Since moving to Greenville, I've utitilised the library a lot more than I did in Carlisle. Maybe somehow I have more time? Anyway, I've read a bunch of books recently so here are some reviews! Be forwarned there are major spoilers!

Emily and Einstein by Linda Francis Lee--Apparently, this is an Amazon bonus book so I suggest that for $10 you pick it up! This book is about Emily and Einstein, her dog. Einstein is more than a dog though. He is the reincarnation of her dead husband. Her husband intends on divorcing her but dies the night he plans on telling her this-he is pinned between two cars on a snowy night. Einstein (as a stray dog) is killed too. Then there is some 'Its A Wonderful Life' angel/ghost business regarding that if he wants to live, he has to do so as the dog and the dog has to change Emily's life. Emily's life does end up changing and Einstein dies. I cried while reading the first part of the book and Joe made fun of me. It was a good book though.

Recently, I've also got into 'chick lit' because its an easy, fast and fun read. There are some distinct problems with some of the books as I will address as needed.
I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella--So in this book, the main character is planning a huge wedding but loses her engagement ring (a family heirloom) and her cell phone. So she finds an alternative cell phone which happens to belong to a very important company. The cell phone was the former property of a recently quit assistant. The main character ends up causing lots of trouble as she balences the life of man who's assistant used to have the phone. Well, it also turns out that her fiance is horrible, there is a huge scandal at the really important company and ultimately the business man and her start dating. Its a good book.
When In Doubt, Add Butter by Beth Harbison--While I'm not certain it fully fits into the 'chick lit' genre, it was still a good book and an easy read. The main character is a personal chef just outside of DC. She has some pretty drama filled clients. She has a hookup and evenutally realizes that she's pregant. Then one of her clients (a single male lawyer who she never has met) turns out to be the baby's father! Happy ever after!
Something Blue by Emily Giffin--Okay, this is the 'chick lit' book that I have the most problem with. Here's the plot: A woman is planning her wedding and as the date draws near, she realizes that because she has been cheating on her fiance with one of his groomsmen that she should call it off. She goes to do so and he calls it quits. Its all good. Then she goes over to see her best friend who is less than sympathetic because she is sleeping with the former fiance! Approprately, the former bride is pissed. BUT the thing that I haven't told you is that she is the type of person you love to hate. She feels that she should get everything and anything she wants because how she looks and acts. She acts incessantly annoying questions. She wants it her way only. So now she has it all planned that she is going to marry the groomsman especially once she finds out she is pregnant. Originally, he's on board but then breaks up with her. She moves to England with a mutual friend (male), finds out she is having twins, dates the doctor and then ends up marrying the mutual friend. Her attitude luckily has improved by then. But you still sort of root against her.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand-I might have talked about this book before because it was so amazing. I just ordered it on CD to listen to while we went to Missouri for Christmas. Its the hard luck story of a WWII flyer that is shot down over the ocean and then his detention in a Japanese POW camp. His life wasn't easy to begin with but then he becomes a track star before joining the army. Its really an amazing tale of courage. I can't believe how awful the Japanese were to these POWs.

The Eighty Dollar Champion by Elizabeth Betts--This was the most amazing book. I read it entirely on my iPhone after downloading it to my Nook. It is well written in the style of Seabiscuit (by Laura Hillenbrand which might also by why Unbroken is so wonderful.). Even if you're not really a horse person, I suggest checking out this book. Anyway, the book is about an old plow horse that becomes an amazing jumper at the national level.

An Irish Country Doctory by Patrick Taylor--One of the blurbs on the back says "In a style joyously reminiscent of James Harriot...'. Well, that is entirely true because it is the MD version of any James Harriot book. So at first, I was like ugh, this story has been told before but now I'm really into it. There are apparently many books in this series but I think this is the first. I suggest checking it out. The characters are heartwarming and nice.

And finally, the books I love the most: Amish Fiction! Beverly Lewis is the only author whose books I have read. She is considered the founder of this genre. I am reading the Heritage of Lancaster County triliogy right now but its not that good. (It was her first ones.) I really liked Abram's Daughters better, which I wrote about here. I also read the The Seasons of Grace series. (I think.) Regardless, I really like these books. Full of conflict, easy to read, Amish.

Random Thought

When I was in grade school, they would hold bingo in the cafeteria of the building, which was the basement. You always knew bingo was the night before because the whole school would smell like cigarette smoke. Can you believe anyone would be allowed to smoke in a school?
And they would use little plastic discs as covers. About the size of a penny, they were red, clear. Finding them was a prize! Especially if they were green or had a metal rim!
Being a kid is weird.

Abandoned Amusement Park

Joe and I had the most amazing weekend this weekend. Saturday morning, we got up and went and ate at Perkins. I had some potato pancakes. Then we went for a drive and after that went to a Fall Festival. This festival was at Conneaut Lake Park.

Joe and I had passed this park sometime during the summer. At that time, from the road, all we could really see was a roller coaster near the highway. It looked moderately abandoned with peeling paint and rust. We thought too that it was abandoned in the vein of other abandoned amusment parks featured in Mental Floss or even Chernobyl. (That's right, I just likened it to Chernobyl.) 

Little did I know, that it wasn't abandoned but probably should be...
We wondered around the festival-some craft and food vendors and then around the park. We really couldn't believe what we were seeing. Is this place for real? Is it still open in the summer? Are the rides even safe? Who is bringing their kids here? Seriously, WTF? 

So we took some pictures.



This was across the street from the park. You can already tell the age of this place.



Me as Connie Otter!



I'm not really sure this ride really, fully captures the abandoned spirit of the place. I don't know when this ride came into the park but it really wouldn't surprise me if it was closer to 1892 (when the park was founded) than 2012.



   

This building (a bathroom) was set on fire in 2010. Its in the middle of 'Kiddie Land' (the enterance was creepy clowns). Why hasn't it been torn down?

Here I am with my hot cocoa. I'm trying to stay warm and not get creeped out by the idea that there might be a reflection of a ghost in the mirror behind me.

Oh, did I mention that the hotel might be haunted?

Crazy Cat Lady

It's widely known that I'm a cat person. I like fluffy cats; I like naked hairless cats. I like skinny sleek cats; I like fat cats. I like orange cats, black cats and tabby cats. I like calico cats and blur cats but not as much. I like big cats and small cats. I like nice cats. I like mean cats.
Actually, let me sum all that up-I LOVE CATS! A day of appointments heavy on cats is my best day. Getting to go into the cat room and having it full of cats is also pretty awesome. Especially when they are crying for me to pay attention to them.
I love my cats. Mr. Montique is my handsome prince and Bess is my princess. I pretty much give in to every wish they have. All they have to do is tolerate the occasional costume and a nearly perpetually dirty litter pan.
I love the clinic cats. Kinder is my boyfriend who shows up when he hears my voice. They say his fur and skin have never looked better. I think it's because of me.

So when this past week an orange kitten was dumped on us at the clinic, practicality be damned, I was going to take him home. Joe would just have to deal with it.
So enter...Herbert Hoover aka Herbie. Herbie is 12 weeks old. He is a orange classic tabby (as opposed to Montie who is a Mackerel tabby) with a white bib, belly and back feet. He had a giant abscess on the side of his head. He is very cute and sweet. Once you catch him (he's a little skeptical that you won't hurt him), he's nothing but purrs. He already has figured out sleeping with Joe.
The cutest thing that Herbie does is absolutely loves Mr. Montique. Ands tie returns it back. There are lots of nose touches, mutual grooming, rubbing on each other that goes on. Herbie is skeptical about eating unless Montie is close by. Bess is slowly warming up to the idea of a third cat.

New Kitten!

We had a kitten abandoned at work. He's cute!

Project-DIY-Quilting Picture

So like last year at some point, I decided that I was going to make quilted pictures of various pets. It was part applique, part quilting, part fabric stained glass. It was an ambitious project and when I finally got started on it again, it went pretty quickly. I learned a lot of things while doing it.

Step 1-select your pictures. I printed mine off as 8x10 color photos. It was expensive. 8x10 only allows you to make individual quilt squares OR potholders. Next time, I'm going to try printing the photos off to poster size to make a wall hanging.

Step 2- Buy your supplies. You'll need some fabric (I used fat quarters.) for every color in the photo. You can go pretty basic. Use some fun patterns. Its up to up. Also embrodery thread to match the fabric. Quilt padding, white fabric, sharpies (black and silver) and needles will be needed.

Step 3-Trace the picture where the colors change with sharpies-I used black and silver for dark areas. Then I traced over the picture onto paper and white cloth. I learned that you should use one really big piece of white cloth and not cut it down to just larger than 8x10. This will come in handy later.

Step 4- Label your areas with the appropriate color code. Then start cutting them out of the paper and fabric. You'll have to wait on some of the pieces that are really small or inside larger colors.

Step 5-Layer your white cloth and quilt backing. Pin it together. The light green fabric I have here I didn't use in the layering but quilted it on later. 

Step 6-Start sewing small pieces of fabric on. Pin them on like puzzle pieces and sew them with even stitches using an appropriately coordinated thread. Originally, I used a small embrodery hoop but abandoned it because it was interferring with the pins holding the whole thing together. It also was wrinkling the whole thing. I think using a bigger frame and larger white fabric and quilt backing pieces will prevent this.

Step 7-There were a few things that just needed to be embrodered versus having small fabric pieces. I also decided that the small pieces like the eyebrows and eyes needed to be added on top of the face rather than cut out. Because in this instance, it was going to be black on black, I highlighted the eyes by adding gray to the black thread.

Step 8-I pinned the fabric to the back and quilted it on. I don't know how to quilt. Originally, I was planning on going all the way through but it didn't look good with the pattern that I was using. I ended up going through the white cloth in the areas around the dog.

Step 9- I folded over the edge of the backing cloth into a neat pattern and sewed it on my machine.

Then ta-da! A beautiful potholder! Or whatever else you want it to make...