Book Sale!

So my mom came to visit this weekend. She came in on Friday night and stayed till this morning (Tuesday). We didn't do much. Saturday, we went shopping. Sunday, we went to Lake Erie with Riley (she enjoyed it) and on Monday we just ran errands.

Part of Saturday was going to the library book sale. Until now, I was very skeptical about book sales. In my experience, when you go to book sales, especially the last days, you are left with worn out paperbacks by no name authors and nothing good. Luckily, Pennsylvania likes book sales as much as they like yard sales. Case in point, the one I went to in July where I made it out with five good books including three books by known authors (Jane Smiley and Kathy Reichs).
So Saturday was the last day of the book sale and you could buy a whole bag of books for $5. Now the downside of this was that it was super crowded. The upside was that there were still 100s of books including some really good ones. Mom and Joe bought big full bags. Mine was a lot less full. But here are the books I got:
Psychopath by Keith Ablow-you may recognize the name from another book that I read. See, I've read one book off of the first shelf from the library and now I found another author who's books I enjoy. I like the mystery-thrillers.
Any Place I Hang My Hat by Susan Isaacs-Mom actually picked out this book but gave it to me when we had our book party exchanging and looking at what everyone else bought. It looks good.
Bare Bones by Kathy Reichs-Yep, I might be obsessed no matter how much I complain about these books being sort of cheesy.
The First Paper Girl in Red Oak, Iowa by Elizabeth Stuckey-French-This is probably one of the books that I'm least excited about. But we'll see!
The Casual Vacancy by J. K.Rowling-I never read any Harry Potter books. I admit it. But this book seemed interesting and there it was, a new book ready to be picked up and read!
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver-This is another one that we'll see how interesting it is. I suppose I'm going to have to implement the 50, 100 page rule.
Shoe Addicts Anonymous by Beth Harbison-So I really liked one of this author's other books (When In Doubt Add Butter) so I'm pretty excited about this book.
Jemima J by Jane Green I decided a while ago that I liked chic lit. This is one of those. I'm sort of excited about this book.
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides Oprah book club, Pulitzer Prize...very exciting.
Midwives by Chris Bohjalian Oh, Oprah book club again!
The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand Another easy beach read. One perfect read for a cool fall day or a winter snow in.

Needless to say, I have a lot of books to read. I'm not sure when I'm going to get back to the library but since we don't have cable any more...or at least not much of cable (that was sort of a drama), I should have plenty of time. I need to dedicate myself fully to reading now.

Fearful

Well, you know by now that I'm a worrier. The what ifs and the should haves plague me. I'm always thinking about what I should have done and what if something else happens.

My future is particularly scary. The choices that I have to make regarding my future scare me even more.

I'm fine with the idea of the future containing children. I'm fine with the choices I have made so far.

What I'm not fine with is the fact that I want to buy a house. Well, I'm fine with that part of my future. But what starts making me worried and fearful is the what ifs....

What if...
-I have a baby and decide that I don't want to do large animal any more?
-I do want to do large animal and my clinic stops providing that service (again)?
-I buy a house and start hating my job?
-I make the wrong choice?

This would be a lot easier if I had fewer cats, fewer dogs, fewer husbands, fewer bills to pay, fewer responsibilities. But I have too much of all of those things. Its unfortunate.

My decisions don't just involve me. They involve Joe and potentially a little bundle of cells. My choices have to be right for them. And that's what I can't get over. That's what I can't stop worrying about.

All I want is a stable mixed animal job, a goat farm, a baby and less debt. Is that too much to ask?





I guess it is...

Fears Come To Life

If you've known me or been reading my blog long enough, you know that I'm a worrier. And not just a worrier but a paniker as well.
Veterinary medicine was probably a bad choice for me.
When it comes to my vet truck there are many fears and worries. What if I get stuck in 18" of snow and have to be pushed out by two Amish women? What if I break down? What if someone pulls into me when I'm going into a parking lot? What if I lock my keys in the truck? What if? What if? What if?
Well, those are all just really minor worries. My top three worries are:
What if I hit someone's pet while driving the vet truck?
What if I start the truck and there is a cat in the engine?
What if I leave a farm with a cat in the back of my vet box?
Well, let's just say I know what happens with the last one.
So funny story, today I went to the hospital after lunch to get some blood pulled. When I parked my truck, I thought I heard meowing. Actually, I thought it sounded like Frankie. Then remembered I hadn't had my truck home this weekend so how could it be Frankie? Then I thought there must be a stray cat around and decided to look for it because I'm crazy. Then for some reason, I decided to open my vet box and look inside. Yep, there was a cat in there all right. I'm sure if you were a fly on the way upon my discovery of the cat you would be laughing pretty hard. I was. So I scooped up the cat (a black tailless male) and put him in the cab and we went back to the office. He didn't seem any worse for wear (luckily it had been fairly cool this weekend) other than being somewhat dehydrated and very lonely.
On my way to the office, I called and had the receptionist call my farm call on Friday to see if they were missing their cat. No word from them yet. This cat seemed to be rather happy in the truck; he purred and sat on my lap or the console. He did get on the dashboard once but retreated quickly from that spot. (Thankfully!)
Once back in the office, I fed the cat and had the techs give him some fluids. He seems okay. He's BAR and eating. So now I just wait for the owners to call me. I can't think of anywhere else I went on Friday where I could have acquired a cat.
If all else fails, I'm going to name him Margie (after my truck) or Homer and he can live in our garage.

Book Review, Fair Winnings

I haven't been to the library for a little while. I was reading some of the books from the book sale. Normally, book sales aren't all that great but this on was. It was new books, well organized and popular authors were available.

I read Flash and Bones by Kathy Reichs, another Temperance Brennan book. Much like the previous books, there was some fictional name dropping and several overlapping stories. This book involved NASCAR, the disappearance of two teenagers ten years earlier, and several conspiracies about their death. People died, causes were found. The book was okay, but honestly, I like the TV show better.

Long Past Stopping by Oran Canfield was the next book I read. It was told in two parts about this guy's life and growing up. Part of the book was his adult life and battling drug addiction and the other part of the book was his childhood. It was good. 

I'm currently reading another one of the Irish Country Doctor books. It seems in these more recent books, the author has gotten away from the medical parts which is what I liked. The good doctor is still busy figuring out things in his town, he's planning his wedding and as usual he's going head to head with the local councilor. 

So a little, TMI---last month, I was told that after the Clomid that my estrogen and progesterone levels both went up but the progesterone wasn't high enough to suggest that I ovulated. It was decided to double my Clomid dose and try again. So that's where I'm at, I just finished my double Clomid dose and go for bloodwork twice this month. Fingers crossed. I don't know where we go next. I think some baseline testing to see if there is any other metabolic disease.

I have stopped drinking soda which is good but have not started doing some walking which is what I wanted to do as well. 

Joe just started a new job. This job is in Meadville and in a plastics factory. He likes plastics. He's getting a raise which is good and the BEST part is that its on second shift! Or maybe even first shift! So we're going to enjoy our time together. 

I entered things in both the Transfer Fair and Jamestown Fair. I did really well at Transfer earning many blue ribbons, even if they were tiny!

I entered an apron (3rd), wreath (2nd), stick horse (1st), marigolds (1st), apple cake (2nd), potato candy (1st), brown sugar caramel cake (1st) and pecan pie muffins (1st). 

I didn't do nearly as well as I would have liked to at Jamestown Fair. I entered 10 things and only placed with 8. Thirds with coconut cereal cookies and hard cider cupcakes as well as with two of my wreaths. Seconds with an apron, stuffed animal and a houseplant. My single first came from marigolds again!