Cassandra's Writing Spot

My Aching Back!

2011-10-19T20:37:00.000-05:00

I thought I would write a little blog about my back. First I want to say thanks for the outpouring of concern for my well being.

My back trouble started when I was 18 and my brother Stephen got us into a pretty bad car accident totaling the car and initiating my low back trouble. Ever since then I have had intermittent pain and discomfort that got worse with over exertion. Over the years the pain waxed and waned but for the most part was completely manageable.

In the last year it has become manageable most of the time with meds and rest. My job wrestling with and lifting large dogs has not helped the situation any either. In the last month my pain has become unbearable. I am not able to sleep most nights without a handful of medications and working has become a new and exciting experience in pain. It has even affected my mood pretty drastically as chronic pain will do.

Lately I have had a pain radiating down the back of my right leg whether I stand or sit and it goes from dull and burning to sharp and stabbing. Change in position does little to help. So, as it was time for my yearly physical and TB test I thought it was high time I spoke with a doctor about my back pain. After listening to my story and hearing my symptoms he said it sounds like a herniated disc that has bulged out to pinch a nerve namely my sciatic nerve which is the largest nerve in the body and runs from your low back down the back of your leg to your foot.

The plan is to try to manage it with medications: steroids, an NSAID and some Prilosec to protect my tummy from the combination of these two meds and some crazy person drugs to counteract the hyperactivity that I experience when on steroids. I think this will be fun. He also wants me to have some physical therapy as well as continued weight loss. If these things fail to work then he wants me to have an MRI to identify exactly which disc it is and then possibly an injection of steroids in the disc space. If that still does not work then he wants me to possibly consider back surgery. Surgery is a long way off and he wants to avoid that at all costs, he says I am too young to have surgery.

At least now I am more sure of what I have been suspecting all along and have a plan of attack. Hopefully these things will bring me some relief and I can avoid surgery until I am at least 50. Thanks again for all of your love and concern.

My Big Ol' Butt!

2011-08-28T14:15:00.000-05:00

Okay so over the summer I have managed to gain 8 of the 50 pounds I had lost back. I am sure this has to do with my stress level and the fact that it is almost impossible to eat healthy on a budget! And once I start eating stuff that is not good for me I want to eat a bunch of stuff that is not good for me.
Anyway all of that is besides the point. The point is I feel yucky and it is really hard to get through a semester feeling yucky. So here is what I am proposing, I make myself accountable to all of my Facebook peeps. Every week on Sunday morning I will weigh myself and every Sunday I will post how much weight I have lost or gained....that way EVERYONE will know and it will help me to stay on track. Now, I am not going to post how much I weigh...no self respecting female would do that especially a female that is as fat as I am, but I will post how much I have lost or gained every week. I am looking forward to meeting this challenge, and you all can do me a favor. if you don't see my Sunday weigh in post by the time you go to bed on Sunday...let me know about it! Thanks in advance for all of your help and support you have all been wonderful so far! Here's to a smaller butt!

Stan Lee Attacked by Spider!

2011-08-22T10:46:00.001-05:00

So I thought this would be easier than trying to post this on Facebook. Stan started acutely vomiting early Friday morning and kept me up all night vomiting. For those of you that are not close to Stan you don't know that this is not an unusual occurrence with him. He eats weird things and has vomited up huge wads of stuff that usually contain hair, grass, pieces of stuff he has chewed etc. So I wasn't super worried about him as I was heading to work as soon as I got up anyway. We went to work and started him on IV fluids and some anti vomiting medication and started a barium series. This is a radiographic study where you make them drink this stuff that you can see on x-rays and follow through the GI tract. If he has eaten something it will stick to it and we can see it on the xrays. Shortly after starting this he started having jet propelled diarrhea and was looking more and more depressed. To make a long story short the doctors suspect that he had an anaphylactic reaction to a possible spider bite. He sloughed his entire GI tract and has been at the hospital on tons of meds to stop his allergic reaction and to keep him from dying while his body healed.

He is doing better this morning and I might be able to get him later this evening so he can enjoy vacation at home. He scared the crap out of me and taught me not to assume that he has eaten something ever again.

A Long Needed Night of Fun

2011-08-18T15:02:00.001-05:00

Yesterday marked a large milestone in my life. I finished my first year of the Radiography program. My second year in the program will be spent at a brand new campus in Downtown Fort Worth. Last night my classmates decided we need to go check out our new digs and then go out for a night of celebration in Downtown Fort Worth.

We started out at UNO, one of those ridiculously overpriced pizza, pasta type Italian places. I had a 9 dollar Cobb salad, it was good but no salad is worth 9 dollars, I could have made it myself for 5 and it probably would have been better. I also enjoyed 2 large glasses of Blue Moon, a great beer for hot summer days.

The whole gang...left to right, Jane, Chris, Michelle, Dennis, JP, Michelle, and Mark.

After dinner we headed off to my favorite place in Downtown Fort Worth, The Flying Saucer. I had a great beer there I really don't recall the name at this point. It was hot on the roof but we managed to have a good time.

Next we were off to Scat, this is a weird little place. You go down an alley and then take a random elevator( I can't remember if it goes up or down) to the club. It is a really dark cool little Jazz club. They had a band of Jazz players that were awesome. I haven't heard such good jazz since I left Long Beach. The drinks were really over priced but they were delicious and strong...I had a gin martini.

At this point my camera ran out of batteries...bummer. But we managed to continue having a great time. We tried to go to the Library but JP had pants that were too saggy? They didn't care at the jazz club. Anyway, the library is full of stupid college dorks anyway so we ended up at Dirty Murphy's where they serve tepid Guinness on tap and you can still smoke inside. We were there for last call and finished out our night of drinking. After that there was only only one place to go. Old South Pancake House off of University in Fort Worth. This place is the quintessential greasy spoon breakfast place and they have the best Belgian waffles in town, especially at 3 am after a night of drinking. I finally headed home at 4 am and fell into my bed where I stayed until noon today. I woke up with a head ache and am kind of tired but it was worth it. I had a great time with my class mates and blew off some steam.

School.....To Continue or Not To Continue

2011-08-12T12:00:00.000-05:00

As the last two semesters of my AAS degree are beginning soon, I am starting to look forward to the future. A future that seems blissfully easy after the hell I have put myself through for the last four years. Constant work, school, studying and very very little sleep. Not to mention no time to be social or spend time with my family. I have taken being a hermit to an entirely new level. I am also starting to think that my house may not come clean at all when it comes time to clean it. The dirt may be permanent. By this time next year I will be job hunting for a radiography position at a hospital. In the time that follows, I will be able to spend time on the weekends with family. I will be able to take vacations to California to see my friends and family there. I will be able to drink myself into oblivion with my friends and not feel guilty or have to sit in class with a colossal hangover the next day. I will be able to sit on the couch and read an entire book if I choose to do so. I can spend entire days at the dog park with my pooches. With these visions looming in my head, I am plagued by senioritis daily. So the thought right now of continuing on to my bachelors degree makes my skin crawl. However being the gigantic nerd that I am I can't help thinking about receiving more education. I have been skimming over jobs on the internet and many of them are looking for "multi-modal" technicians. This means that they want someone who is able to run at least an xray machine and a CT and possibly a MRI. So it seems silly to me not to at least get myself certified in CT. Midwestern State University here in Texas has a program for persons that already have an AAS in radiography. There are not many more classes I would have to take to complete the bachelors. All of the classes are online and you do not have to travel to the school at all. Many hospitals have tuition reimbursement programs for their employees so I might be able to go to school for free. I may have to be employed there for a year before I am eligible but a year off from school doesn't seem all that bad. I am plagued constantly by all of these options and so I thought I would write them down in my blog and see what everyone else thought about it.

It's Been Awhile

2011-07-07T11:18:00.000-05:00

Wow I was looking at my Blog for the first time in awhile and realized that I haven’t posted anything since September of last year when Lily was sick. Not much has gone on since then. Well, now that is untrue, plenty has gone on I have just observed it from the little hermit hole that is my life. Lily had to have another foreign body removed from her in January. We had a blizzard in Texas (which is weird in and of itself) the weekend Lily decided to get really sick. So I had to drive her in the snow to the hospital. This time we caught it before there was any major damage and she did great. She only spent 5 days in the hospital and since then I have fattened her up (she has put on 10 pounds) I am hoping that she will be full and not eat things that she is not supposed to. The rest of the pack is doing great.

I have finished my “first” year of the RT program and made it through. I am in the middle of the grueling summer portion of second year. We attend clinic four days a week, and I work the other three. Fun times. I am learning a lot in the hospital and I feel like I am becoming a real tech. My academic plan has changed yet again. When I am done with this program I will take the CT classes at TCC and then the registry for CT and then I may take a break. I want to get certified in MRI but that is another entire year of classes and clinic. The school that offers it is in Dallas. So we will see about that. I am just so tired of school right now. I have been going since the Fall semester of 08’ and I want some time to myself! I want my house and car to be clean and I want my yard to be nice. I want to blog everyday about cool intellectual crap. I want to spend an entire day on the couch reading and not feel guilty. I want to finish the million undone projects in my house. I want to spend time with my family here in Texas as well as have time to go to California and visit everyone there. It is almost done and I cannot wait!

I have a new little niece, Kinley Ann Haskins, born on June 25^th. She has had a rocky start but is now at home and doing well. I can’t wait to go see her and am planning a trip to San Francisco to see her in January.

Well I would love for this to be longer but guess what? My time here is up. I have to go get ready for school.

Update on Miss Lils

2010-09-09T22:54:00.000-05:00

I am happy to report that Miss Lily is doing great! She is 10 days post op and had her first full meal of her regular diet tonight. She ate all of it, a little slower than usual but she did finish it. She is still on pain medication and is still taking three different antibiotics as well as pepcid. She will be done with some of those meds by the end of the weekend.
Yesterday I removed her e-collar while I could watch her because she got her bone and wanted to chew on it, she can't chew it with the collar on and looked pretty pitiful when she couldn't. Today in the time it took me to go to the bathroom she was barking at someone outside, I of course rushed to get her back inside. I am sure whoever it was, was terrified of the silly looking dog with the satellite dish on her head! I am hoping she can have her staples out this weekend after she has her recheck with her doctor.
I am much more optimistic that she will do well now and am only mildly nervous and worried as opposed to terrified for her well being.
Thanks to all who have offered their love and support.

Labor Day Update on Lily.

2010-09-06T10:33:00.000-05:00

So Miss Lily got to come home last night. She ate when she got here, out of my hand I think she may be getting spoiled. This morning she ate out of her bowl. She is really happy to be at home. The dog pack is happy to be back together again. Suki gained some weight hanging out in the hospital with Lily all week so she is going to need some exercise. Lily got to sleep all night (well six hours, before she had to eat and take medicine) with no one bugging her, and she is brighter today because of it. She is still on a ton of meds, and she is not completely out of the woods but I am definitely more hopeful rather than scared (but still a little scared). I feel like I dodged a bullet with this. I managed to get sick since I have been not getting sleep and doing school and work. So tomorrow we will spend the day together. Here is a picture of her in her bed.

Update on Lily

2010-09-02T23:51:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to post a quick update on Lily. She looks a little brighter today and is happy to see me when I am there. She had to have a fresh frozen plasma transfusion early on Thursday morning to help with her low protein and it also has great anti-inflammatory qualities. She is still on three different types of fluids, three antibiotics, pepcid, and anti vomiting meds (all injectable). Her pain is finally well controlled and she has just started taking one oral medication. She has not had any vomiting but is still refusing to eat. Her prognosis is still guarded, and all is not perfect. I am still really scared and am trying to spend as much time with her as possible. I have had very minimal sleep and food but it is worth it to lay in the dog run and take little naps with my Lils. It was great today to wake up and rub her belly and feel her stretch with contentment. I will keep updating this so you all know what is going on. Thanks to all that have offered their love and support, it means alot.

You Need a Kleenex, but I Promise it's a Happy Ending(so far)

2010-09-01T12:23:00.000-05:00

So for the last couple of months Lily has been intermittently vomiting. Now at my house this is not a big deal nor a tragedy. Vomit happens when you have 4 dogs and 3 cats. The rules are: as long as the said vomiter continues to eat, acts normal, does not have diarrhea and the vomiting does not become excessive, little attention is paid to the vomiting.
Well Sunday night while I was at work Lily broke one of the rules; she was vomiting excessively. She vomited 8 times in a couple of hours. So she saw Dr. Turner, and had blood-work (normal) and radiographs (pretty normal), she got a couple of injections and instructions on oral meds and such. We went home and went to bed, I was exhausted after working all weekend and nervous about the Fall semester starting the next day. Monday morning I woke up and expected Lily to bounce out of the bed and come eat breakfast and be fine. None of that happened. She did not bounce and when I made her go outside, she just lay in front of the door and most alarming she had zero interest in eating anything. Worried, I headed off to my first day of school worried about my dog. I came home and she was very depressed, would hardly get up and as she came out of the office, she regurgitated water all over the floor at my feet.
Next step, back to the hospital. She saw Dr. Ramirez and at that time, had an elevated heart rate (180) and was showing a pain response upon abdominal palpation. Dr. Ramirez decided it was time to start her on IV fluids, anti-vomiting injections, acid reducers and antibiotics. She was also scheduled for a cardiac echo and abdominal ultrasound with Dr. Melmed on Tuesday. I helped get her started on all of this stuff and then went home to sleep as I had to start my clinical rotation at the hospital on Tuesday morning, (despite being very worried about Lily, I had a great time). I called and checked on her before I went to bed Monday night and she was basically the same if not more depressed. Tuesday morning before I went to clinic my phone inquiry turned up more of the same. As soon as I got home from clinic duty I called again, her echo had been done, her heart looked great however, her abdominal ultrasound was disturbingly inconclusive. Her stomach was dilated and had alot of fluid in it, she had an enlarged lymph node and several areas of her small intestines were dilated and had thick walls. Dr. Melmed didn't find any obvious tumors and no obvious foreign body. Lily was still very depressed but had not regurgitated anymore despite the manipulation during her ultrasound. Dr. Ramirez said that the next step was to do an abdominal exploratory (for the medically uninclined that is exactly what it sounds like, you open the abdomen and explore) or try conservative treatment for another 24 hours and see what happens. At this point she was worried about some kind of GI cancer that would be hard to see with the ultrasound or x-rays.
So here is what I was faced with at this point. Something had to be done, when I got to the hospital on Tuesday afternoon Lily was miserable. She would barely lift her head to say hello to me and was urinating where she lay. She was extremely depressed and painful. The last time Lily had general anesthesia she was unable to walk on her own for about 36 hours due to her myelopathy ( nerve disorder affecting her spinal cord, causing generalized weakness in her hind end that makes her gait awkward, lovingly so of course). Plus Lily is 11 years old, has chronic Ehrlichiosis that keeps her white blood cell (the cells that fix you when you are sick) count low, has had ACL repair (think football running backs) on both knees, back surgery and is allergic/sensitive to a bunch of drugs. Do I let her stay on treatment that isn't working so great and see what happens, leaving Lily to spend what could be her last day on this earth in a cage away from me? Do I cut her open, to see what is going on in her belly and possibly have to euthanize her on the surgery table if she has some sort of cancer? Do I let her go to surgery and if there is something bad wake her up and take her home and euthanize her there? This decision had to be made while I was hysterical with grief.
Luckily Dr. Turner was there for me to tell me what she would do if Lily were her dog (and also what Dr. Ramirez already told me she would do), and that was to take her to surgery, open her up and if there was something bad and unfix-able we would euthanize her on the table. So I took her into an exam room with her fluids, Suki and a bed for all of us. We lay there like three spoons in a drawer for 3 hours while we waited our turn for surgery saying goodbye to the best dog that ever was. Any dog owner will know how hard this is, and anyone who knows Lily and myself on a personal level knows how especially hard this was for me. I thought about all the times Lily was there for me when I was sad. I told her thank you for all the times she shared my joy and wallowed with me in misery, with her calm quiet wonderful demeanor.
I thought about the first time I laid my eyes on Lily, she was the ugliest/cutest thing I had ever seen. She was 6 weeks old, and had a dog bite wound on her face which was how I ended up with her. She had a giant pot belly that was so round and pink and soft. Her foot pads were pink with adorable black freckles on them. The dog bite wound on her face was swollen but her red freckled nose was adorable. She looked like a soft pink and white piglet. As we lay there, I promised her I would always remember when she was new.
I thought about and reminded Lily of our many adventures, like the time we drove cross country with My friend Martin and his two rottweilers Buddy and Lady, we spent 24 hours in a car three fun filled days in St. Louis (Martin and I into trouble and drunk and Lily diving and swimming in the pool with Buddy) then the 24 hour drive back. Martin had to leave his dogs in St. Louis which was sad and consequently, the reason for the trip. Lily kept him company all the way home while he was grieving. We used to go to the dog beach pretty regularly and sometimes the nude beach where Lily would catch her Frisbee for hours and enjoy her favorite past time, sunbathing. She kept me protected on my 2 mile walks to work every morning in Long Beach California as well as keeping me company at work all day. She tolerated countless foster dogs and cats over the years without complaint. She moved with me to Texas in an over crowded, noisy moving van (another 24 hour marathon no stop trip) also without complaint.
When it was our time to go to surgery I held her in a giant hug and tried not to be too upset because that freaks her out. I was pretty unsuccessful at that. I went into the kitchen at the hospital to wait for Lily's fate. about 30 minutes later I was told that she had a foreign body in her pylorus (the end of the stomach before it enters the small intestine) that extended to her duodenum (first part of the small intestine). It was a piece of a stupid rope bone that was thrown away a month ago. That's right my crazy stoic pit bull has had a fairly large piece of a rope bone stuck in her stomach for a month. This was exceptionally good news considering the circumstances. We were still unsure as to weather she would be able to walk and the site where the surgery was performed was pretty bad, lots of ulcerations. It will probably heal but we are no where near out of the woods yet.

After 4 hours of sleep I am here at the hospital sitting in the dog run with Lily, Suki, this laptop and my coffee typing out this blog. Lily is doing great so far. She got up on her own and walked outside, she is maintaining her temperature and seems as close to pain free as you can get after major abdominal surgery. The important thing is she is right here next to me and I can touch her anytime I want. She will have some blood-work later in the day and we will go from there. The hope is she just continues to improve and can go home this weekend. I will post updates here for all to see as well as on the facebook.

Looks pretty comfy right?

My Life as a Hermit

2010-08-17T16:01:00.000-05:00

Over the past couple of months I have really embraced my inner hermit. At first it just extended to my physical body not going anywhere, I quit going to the dog park, only go to the store if I have to, I get all my shopping done at the same time so that I don't have to leave the house more. I have been doing this for awhile now, and it seems to work for me. I get to have some rest and relaxation between school and work. Now it has become problematic, well maybe problematic, maybe not. Now I have stopped reaching out from the house at all, I don't talk on the phone, I don't write in my blog, I don't look at my Facebook or email unless I have to for professional reasons. I thought at first I might be depressed but after some careful soul searching I have decided I am not, I am perfectly content to be by myself 90% of the time. Being social is work, sometimes fun work but most of the time it requires showering and making sure you have clothes on. I have been living in this sleep shirt with the New York Rangers on it that is 20 years old, it is the most comfortable piece of clothing I own. I am reminded of the scene in Mr. Mom where Terry Garr tells Micheal Keaton his flannel shirt could stand up by itself. I am thinking that once this oppressive heat ends I will want to be out more and at least hit the dog park a couple times a week, but we will see. I am done worrying about my self confinement and am going to embrace it. Maybe I will find some more stuff to blog about but I don't know not much happening around here.

Revised Academic Plan

2010-06-23T12:33:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't been blogging (some of you may not care). I have been really busy with school and home and also have become a little like a hermit. I haven't wanted to go out, or talk to anyone on the phone, or leave the house at all really. I was beginning to become a little disturbed about this however, after some thought I ceased to worry about it. I think it is a defense mechanism. I feel a little overwhelmed with school and work so any minuscule amount of free time I want to spend that time on my couch in my pajamas relaxing. It takes a large amount of energy on my part to socialize so I am more relaxed keeping to myself and the company of the dogs and my TV.
Anyway, I have started my RT program at school and am already learning quite a bit about how to take care of humans and how the giant bureaucratic hospitals work. In the Fall I will start going to the hospital from 7:30am until 4 pm on Tuesday and Thursday and getting hands on training, I was really nervous about this at first but now I am kind of excited. I can't wait to meet some new people and learn about my newly chosen profession.
The title of this is "Revised Academic Plan" so I guess I will get to it. Part of one of my classes is learning about what is available to us after we get through these classes and become licensed radiographers. Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls Texas offers an online program to receive a Bachelors of Radiologic Sciences(BSRS). I already have many of the classes needed to go towards this degree and have decided to finish this out instead of getting a BA in biology. Because the classes are online I will be able to do my new job and whatever hours go along with that and get these done at the same time. Of course while this is going on I will be pursuing additional licencing requirements for Computed Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and possibly Cardiovascular Intervention (CV). MSU also offers a Master Degree in one of three disciplines that have to do with the Radiologic Sciences. Education, or the teaching of RT programs ,management of the RT's at a hospital (which I have no desire to do), and finally you can get a Master of Science in Radiologic Assistance, this is the one I want so I can become a Radiologist Assistant or RA. RA's get to do some really cool stuff like, perform fluoroscopic exams (this is real time x-ray), manage patients and make preliminary evaluations of images for the Radiologist. The coolest part of this plan? When I am done and I become "Cassandra Haskins M.S.R.A., RA, B.S.R.S. RT (R),(CT),(MR),(CV)" That is ALOT of letters behind my name, which in and of itself is pretty cool but the really great part is that RA's make on average 120,000 dollars a year. I could go for that.
The hard part is that the masters program for RA's is highly competitive and very limited. So I have to maintain my GPA as well as be a really good RT once I start and probably get on the good side of some of the Radiologists I will be working with so they can write letters of recommendation, and be a proctor for me if I do get in........should be a piece of cake right?

Finally!

2010-04-08T20:41:00.000-05:00

Well I finally did it! I am in the Radiologic Technologist program at TCC. I got my acceptance letter today. This has been a long journey and I am happy, and terrified that I finally did it. It started last summer with the scramble to get all of my pre-requisites done. I had to take Anatomy and Physiology I in the summer which was a huge undertaking in and of itself. In the Fall more Anatomy and Physiology among other classes. But they are all done and I start the program June 1st. I am elated and terrified at the same time. Elated that I actually got in and will finally start on the road I have been trying to get to soon. Terrified about the unknown future. I have been a Veterinary Technician for 15 years and it is part of who I am. I don't want to brag but I am really good at it. I only wish I could make enough money to be comfortable without having to work 60+ hours a week. It will be scary going to a field that I know some stuff about but not the most about. I am also a little scared of the humans, although I am sure I will be fine. I feel unsure about my other goals right now as well. I had planed on getting my BA in Biology and then on to a graduate degree in some discipline of biology but I am feeling a little overwhelmed right now and I am trying not to think about it. Starting this summer I will have to be in class at 7:30 am....I am already grumpy! I hope I don't have to sit next to a morning person in class. I haven't had to be up that early everyday in a long time. Anyway I thought I would post this monumental achievement as I am pretty proud of myself right now. I only wish my Daddy were here to see and celebrate. Thank you everyone that told me I needed to go back to school, everyone who put up with my grumpy butt because I was tired, my sister for getting and keeping me out of financial trouble and all of my friends and family that continue to give their encourage and support.

The Great Kitchen Debacle 2010

2010-03-19T12:18:00.003-05:00

Several months ago I noticed something amiss in my kitchen. The floor right in front of my sink had a little rise in it as it came up to the cabinet. I checked under the sink supposing there may be a leak….there wasn't. I being very busy and not all that savvy about things like this thought it was just the house shifting, my house was built in 1951 and on Texas soil, which moves around a lot. So I went about my busy life and ignored the floor in the kitchen until the corner in front of the cabinets became squishy and obviously full of water….damn, now what? I called the company that holds my home warranty out and the guy thinks that it is the aerator on my bathroom sink which just so happened to be shooting water down the back of the faucet, where I couldn't see it (brilliant design) he decided that was the leak that was going under my bathroom wall and kitchen cabinets ultimately causing the problem…I myself thought that was a long shot but went along with it anyway.

A couple of days later I talked my dear wonderful friend Jeff into coming over and taking a look at my floor that was by now badly damaged. He pulled up the linoleum to reveal 3 layers of linoleum and the actual wood floor underneath were all wet. He also pulled up the back board inside the cabinet to reveal that in fact the water was coming from across the wall from the bathroom and perhaps over quite a long time the water could have been coming from the sink faucet.

Here is what it looked like after the first time Jeff came over. I lived with it looking like this for 6 weeks.

It stayed like this for about a month. I put a fan on it to start drying it out so that the floor could get repaired and checked it every time I came and went to work. All was well for 2 days and then I came home and found that the floor that had been getting dry was in fact soaking wet again. I called the plumbers out again and the guy Joey is his name and he works for Recue Rooter Fort Worth, came turned on all the faucets in my bathroom at the same time and stood looking at the wall and inside the cabinet and decided that the water was coming from one of the things he had running in the bathroom and that the entire kitchen wall would have to be torn up to find out where the problem was coming from. Oh and they don't pay for access so not only was I going to have to pay to have my kitchen torn up so they could fix one little leak in the wall I was also going to have to replace my irreplaceable 1950's excellent condition cabinets and tile counter top. I asked if he would be able to better tell exactly where it was coming from if he took a look under the house. In the same "you're an idiot girl" tone he had been using for the entire conversation he told me that it didn't work that way and you can't see, I would have to tear up my kitchen.

After panicking for about 15 minutes I screwed my head on straight and decided to get a second opinion. I called Ernie's plumbing and Terry came out. Terry did something strange, he actually turned on the faucets in the bathroom one at a time and decided pretty quickly, after getting on his knees and actually looking that the water was coming from the faucet in the tub….now we were getting somewhere! He decided that it was the valve behind the hot water knob, since hot water was coming out in the kitchen. He gave me an estimate and then went to work fixing it. As soon as he took the faucet apart he realized that it wasn't the knob that was leaking. Then he did another strange thing. He put on some coveralls and actually crawled under my house, had me turn the water on and determined that the leak was coming from my tub spout. Terry then told me that he would have to knock out some of the tile in my bathroom to get to the tub spout to fix it but then he did another strange thing, when I suggested cutting a hole in the wall inside my kitchen cabinets where no one would see it he instantly told me how smart I was and what a good idea! Now he would have better access to the problem and wouldn't have to tear up my bathroom in the process. Terry fixed the leaking faucet, and after 586$ was on his way. He was an awesome nice guy and did a great job! Thanks Terry from Ernie's Plumbing!

So back went the fan to dry out the mess. After a month of drying out, the floor was ready to be replaced. So, I called Jeff and we talked about the plan. We decided that Spring Break was the time to do it. I was off of school for 3 days and we could tear up the floor and get it back down. I was optimistic Jeff however, has done things like this before and knows the kind of problems you run into along the way especially in 60 year old houses. We made the first of what was to be many trips to the Lowes to get the supplies we would need for the floor. I had to order the vinyl squares that I wanted online because apparently black and white checker board is not in style in Texas. When we went to Lowes we talked to some guy that I have now decided to call jerk face, and he said that we should use what he called floor leveler but what ultimately turned out to be concrete patch(more on this later in the story).

This is what it looked like after Jeff came over to "get some measurements" I lived with it like this for 10 days.

Day One:

Monday the 15^th of March we started on the journey. Jeff went to work tearing up the old wood floor that was damaged and I went about carrying it all outside. There was cutting, sawing and carrying of the wood outside. Then we had to go to Lowes again to get new tar paper to put between the subfloor and the new wood that the floor would go on eventually.

Once the tar paper was down the ¾ inch plywood went on top of it. Here is where it gets interesting. The so called Leveler was supposed to now go on the existing concrete floor in the utility room and was supposed to go over the wood in the kitchen to fill in the little imperfections in the plywood so that we couldn't see them in the finished floor. So we went about trying to do that and to make a long story a little shorter that is not what happened. The first batch was way too thick even though Jeff mixed it according to the label instructions and after we poured it down in the utility room and had a big mess on our hands we were a little more careful about mixing it for the Kitchen. We got that down and Jeff went home for the night, thinking that his stuff was going to be dry by the next morning and we were going to sand it a little and then be able to put the floor down. We were pretty excited and thinking that we might even be done the next day.

Day Two:

When Jeff arrived the next morning, the stuff wasn't dry….at all. So after discovering that the blow dryer made it dry faster we decided we needed a giant floor heater. We went to Lowes, got a few more things we discovered we needed and then went to Home Depot at the advice of the Lowes guy to rent a floor heater. Home Depot didn't have any floor heaters and sent us to Sunbelt rental to get one. We were in Luck they had one. We rented it and headed back to the House with our huge kerosene torpedo in tow. We got it going and got the kitchen up to about 100 degrees in 10 minutes and the floor dry in about 45 minutes.

Now here is where it gets interesting. While I was out on an errand for Jeff, he called me when I was half way home and says we need masks, I was a little scared but turned back to the CVS and got them anyway. When I got back to the house there was a huge dust cloud in the Kitchen that prevented me from seeing the other side. This was by far my favorite part of the project and where the original Lowes guy earned his name of Jerk face. Now everything in my house was covered with a layer of grey dust.

The dust layer in the kitchen...lucky me this is everywhere in the house...although this is by far the worst room.

On top of this we decided that the utility room floor could not be saved and Jeff came up with the idea of putting a wood floor on top of the concrete and then laying the new floor on that. So back to the Lowes we went to get more wood and now more molding and quarter round to finish off the utility room. Lucky for me my other friend Jeff showed up to visit with me and help a little with the floor.

The two Jeffs working together on the utility room floor.

At the end of day two we had both of the floors covered with wood, sanded and the seams filled in.

Day three:

We coated the floor with some kind of latex goo that was supposed to help the vinyl stick better, whatever I guess it did. Once that was dry we started putting the floor tiles down. That was fun in and of itself and seemed to be pretty satisfying after all of the toiling we did on the last two days. By the end of that day we realized that we were not going to be finished and that I would have to take a day off of work to get it done. So I called and got my shift covered and went to bed knowing that we were on the home stretch.

Picture of the moulding /floor goes here.

The molding without the caulk.

Day four:

Jeff slept in, and brought Lisa and Ava with him at about 3 pm.

Cute Baby Ava!!!!!

I had to make yet another trip to Lowes to get some more molding and stuff to finish out the utility room. Jeff worked hard the rest of the day to get the room finished out. Finally at about midnight he was applying the last of the caulk to the molding and it was time to load up the truck and trailer with the many tools he had brought over to do the job. I cannot extend enough thanks to Jeff for sticking through this job until the end. Never once did he get grouchy and kept a wonderful positive attitude through the whole thing. He is my hero! Thanks also to Lisa for doing without him for four days.

Jeff had to custom make some stuff to fit on the thresholds for both utility room doors as they are weird and not standard at all. He did a great job!

It is still not clean and I am out of time. I will post some pictures of it when it is cleaned up!

Chao!

Web Logging

2010-03-13T12:39:00.001-06:00

So I am off from school for spring break and thought I would do a web logging! Lucky you. School is going great this semester! I have A's in all of my classes so far and can forsee another 4.0 semester in my future. I love my Biology class and my Biology teacher Dr. Vise…she loves Biology as much as I do and makes it fun to learn, I will for sure take her for Bio II for Majors in the fall. My Comp class sis going great and I have finished 2 papers so far one of them is posted here for you to read and the other is just an annotated Bibliography, kind of a glorified works cited page. Pretty boring to write so I am sure it would be pretty boring to read. My philosophy class is pretty boring which just compounds my idea that I am a biologist and not a philosopher. My American Lit. class is really fun and my professor is great! I am learning a lot about one of my favorite subjects and that is history…I am getting excited about taking my history classes in the summer. I have submitted my application for the radiologic technology program and am nervously waiting to hear whether I got in. The cut off last year was 5.13…this is a weird point system they have where they take your GPA and add bonus points on top of it. As far as I can figure I have a little over 5 points but I am not sure if I am doing it right. I don't know what my competition will be this year so I am trying not to stress on it too much. I will have to just wait and see. I will hear at the end of March whether or not I made it. They choose the top 50 applicants, 30 get in and then the other 20 are alternates, so if someone decides they don't want to go or fail their drug test or background check they put alternates in. I hope I make it in and not on the alternates list. If I don't make it I will just keep plugging along at my AA degree and the core classes for my bachelors degree, get my GPA up through the fall and try again next year. I guess that is it for now, I hope you are all doing well and I will keep you posted on my progress.

House Cleaning Blues.

2010-03-05T14:00:00.000-06:00

I can clearly remember the days when my house used to be spotless all the time save for a few dog hairs here and there, and the hairy cat trees that got vacuumed once a month. It wasn't the kind of spotless that some people have, you know those folks that live in a house where you feel like you are in a museum and you can't sit on certain pieces of furniture, mine was the kind of place where you felt comfortable and might even put your feet on the coffee table and wouldn't be afraid to sit on the floor. Those were the days when I thought an un-vacuumed floor meant the house was REALLY dirty.

Then came school, my first semester I stressed about the state of cleanliness constantly and spent every spare moment scrubbing something. I felt so tired and stressed that semester...then I got comfortable in my dirty house. The hairballs in the corners became my friends and "I'll get to that later" became my mantra. When you have a schedule like mine something has to give and in my place the housework was it.

Now on my days off I go to school and or study all day so house work has definitely gone to the way side and the definition of a dirty house has been bent a little to say the least. These days to be considered filthy it must have vomit and or crap on it, those items get cleaned right away but the others can wait. The last time I managed to really clean my house was last Winter break and during that time I had a house guest so the cleaning wasn't nearly as intense as it has been this Winter and the dirt around here can definitely attest to that.

The last week of school as I was studying for my finals I remember taking short breaks and looking around at the mess that is my house and daydreaming about cleaning it. I even had dreams about vacuuming out corners and dusting the tables. My constant companion during my studying on the sofa was the filthy ceiling fan above me in the living room. That fan didn't seem so bad until it got cold enough to have to turn it off and only then did the real filth reveal itself. You see, when you have cats and humans for that matter with long hair the hair gets stuck on the leading edge of the fan as it turns and cools you off. Well you can imagine what one year worth of dirt looks like on the leading edge of a ceiling fan.

My last day of school was two weeks ago, I spent my first day off lazing on the sofa drifting in and out of sleep and watching movies I had saved on my DVR. Day two was more of the same, a trip to the dog park, a nap, some good snacks. Day three I felt rested and so in between TV, Face book and Farm Town I spent a little time picking up things and putting them where they belonged...putting my books away from the last semester, storing away notes and cleaning out my backpack. it felt great to transfer some of my things into an actual purse and not have to carry around the 100pound pack all the time.

Wednesday I actually went out and was social for a couple of hours and had fun having a couple of beers and some good laughs. Thursday morning is when it happened... I was sitting at the computer playing with the facebook and contemplating cleaning the bathroom, when it began, the systematic cleaning of the office. Everything off the desk, all the hairballs vacuumed from under the furniture, shelves dusted, uneeded clutter thrown away, ceiling fan cleaned and before i knew it I had a clean office. Not only does it smell better but it is so nice to relax in a clean space! I didn't want to go any where else in the house because it seemed that much worse. That day I had to go to work at 6pm and so I was finished for the week but now I have some momentum going.

This week I watched movies all day on Monday...I forgot what that was like...it is hard to relax when you feel like you have something to do all the time. It has taken me awhile to get used to the fact that I can lay on the couch for an entire day, not miss anything and not feel guilty. Tuesday I managed to get my bedroom cleaned up. The amount of dust in there was pretty amazing as well. I pulled my bed out from the wall and found many treasures including lip balms and a bunch of hair scrunchies...I wondered where those went...I had been blaming their disappearance on Stan but it seems he only ate about half of those I had originally assumed. I also remembered how much I shed...my hair was everywhere in my room. I got everything cleaned and dusted and I think I slept better in there last night than I have in a while. It is amazing how much better I feel when my house is clean. Like the air somehow circulates better.

Wednesday and now I am scrubbing the bathroom...I am ashamed at how dirty this room has become! it is the kind of mess my grandmother would see and say "Oh Cassandra!" I have decide that the bathroom would be much easier to clean if I had all of the hair lasered off of my body. My behemoth of a tub is really hard to scrub and I have to turn myself upside down to get to all the corners. It is soaking in a film of comet right now.

I know i am gross.

Will try harder this year to keep up chores.

Thank goodness for hard wood floors.

dog beds, more hair.

I must find a way to make sure I can do some chores while I am in school.

You may be wondering what the hell is going on there at the end well, funny thing, I found this unfinished blog while I was going through and organizing and decided to publish it just like it is. The first part is done and quite fabulously fantastic so I left it but the end is still in the beginning phases. I thought I would leave it alone so you could see how this happens, how I put these together. Most are not done this way, those ones about just regular stuff that don't need all that much creativity or thinking just get typed out, checked for errors and then published. The rest however, the good stuff, the ones that make you laugh or cry are done in this fashion. It starts with random thoughts blurted out on the computer screen, kind of like a list. Then I go through the list and put it in a more orderly fashion, then I write a paragraph about each list item, and then revise, leave and go do something else, come back revise, revise, revise, sleep for a night, come back revise and then publish it when I am satisfied. Apparently I slept and then forgot about this one, which is too bad because it looks like I was on a pretty good role...I make myself laugh anyway. Hope you enjoy it!

Essay One for Comp Class

2010-03-05T13:30:00.001-06:00

This is my first essay written for my Composition class. We were asked to take any short story from our text book and wind our own personal narrative in with relevant quotes from the authors story, as well as provide a summary. This seemed impossible when I started but once I got going it turned out to be pretty great. I am proud of this piece of writing as it is very personal and took some guts to get it out and onto paper. I am providing a link to the short story if you want to read it first. I highly recommend it, it is funny and wonderfully sarcastic.

"Happy Endings" by Margret Atwood

I Can and Will, Do Anything I Want

Margret Atwood’s “Happy Endings” gives us a satirical glimpse into the cliché Atwood thinks is the middle class life most of us muddle through on a daily basis. She starts with two characters appropriately named John and Mary, I believe Atwood uses these generic names to get her point across that society today continues to be quite stereotypical, sexist and unfair. She says “if you want a happy ending try A” (394). A describes the cliché of modern middle class life, or what it appears to be on the surface. “John and Mary fall in love” they get great jobs, buy a house, have kids that turn out great, they have a good sex life, great friends and vacations. Eventually they retire and get hobbies, and then they die, “This is the end of the story” (394). Atwood is giving us her interpretation of romantic fiction, which also, Atwood believes, happens to be the dream of a good portion of the modern middle class.

For a long time I thought this was my dream as well. Everyday I thought about having a husband and a house and possibly a kid or two. I looked on with envy as all of my friends and siblings got married and started their lives. What about me? I thought, why can’t I find a great guy? Why can’t I have that kind of relationship? What is wrong with me? Then when I really started looking through the cracks in the wonderful shell, I realized that these are not storybook romances, these are two real people struggling to keep it together. The more I look in the cracks in some of these relationships, the better a spinster’s life seems to me.

Several years ago I met a guy that I thought was perfect. We spent two and half happy years together and I thought one day we would get married. While I was reading “Happy Endings” I realized how close our relationship mirrored B. I met this guy and we fell in love. I always felt like I loved him more but that didn’t matter, I had found Mr. Right. He wasn’t perfect but he seemed to be a great guy and who is perfect really? I did many things to try and make him love me. I cooked great meals; didn’t at all mind doing his laundry and put up with his football addiction. Occasionally we went out to dinner I made him look good in public and in return he made me feel good about myself. Sometimes I would bring up marriage but he would always change the subject or tell me that his business wasn’t as great as he wanted it to be; all the same he kept me hoping.

As was with Mary, I too thought, he’ll come to depend on me and we will get married (394). I spent countless hours trying to make myself available for this man. I tried really hard to make him comfortable at my place. He even moved in for awhile but then after a year or so of this he told me he didn’t want to marry and didn’t want kids. We split up and had an on again off again, mostly sexual, relationship for another two years.

Eventually I found out that he had been seeing someone else throughout our entire relationship. My friends said he was “a rat, a pig, a dog, he isn’t good enough for her,” trying to make me feel better about myself, which is after all, what friends are supposed to do. I felt like such a doormat. Why didn’t I see what was going on? I kept thinking that I could change him. Atwood says it perfectly “Inside John, she thinks, is another John…This other John will emerge like a butterfly from a cocoon, a Jack from a box, a pit from a prune, if the first John is only squeezed enough” (394). How did I get to this place? I had always considered myself an independent, smart girl. I can only imagine that I got here with my incessant drive to live the middle class American dream. I was willing to put up with more and more crap to get what I wanted. I had lost sight of myself completely. Some of my friends had noticed early on that I was doing things I had never done before. Like eating poorly and spending more time alone, but I blew them off, I was happy dammit! How dare they try and ruin my happiness! They had their happy little lives, they had their husband and house and baby on the way. I finally had a great guy that thought I was pretty. I just knew he would come around and marry me someday, how foolish I was, how disillusioned I had become, and all for this dream of a life that really is just a cliché.

Atwood has Mary kill herself in the end and that is where my story differs from hers. I didn’t kill myself far from it, I threw that jerk out of my house followed by his stuff and told him to leave, never come back and don’t even think about calling me. Of course he has called however, all calls save one that I used to make him feel like a small piece of nothing, have been ignored.

Atwood then moves on to C. This is the married man and younger women scenario. I have never done this but have met people who have and it always seemed like a bad idea to me. The end of C rings truest for me, “Madge after a suitable period of mourning, marries an understanding man called Fred and everything continues as in A”(395) I am unsure as to how many women I have met that have a marriage, are unhappy, get divorced and then are dating and have an engagement ring on their finger six months later and divorce papers in their hand two years later. I wonder why they don’t figure out that they might be making bad choices. Why don’t they figure out that they don’t need a man to feel good about themselves? Of course that wasn’t so easy for me either.

D, E and F all explain different scenarios and F even gives us an intriguing relationship between “John a revolutionary and Mary a counterespionage agent” (396) in fact, no matter what you try and insert into the story the endings are all the same, you still end up with A. Atwood mentions that “though in between you may get a lustful brawling saga of passionate involvement” she also explains that “the endings are all the same however you slice it”. She warns that we shouldn’t “be deluded by any other endings, they’re all fake, either deliberately fake, with malicious intent … or just motivated by excessive optimism if not downright sentimentality.” (396). I learned after the break up with the long term man that my happiness is based solely on what I think it is, not on some contrived notion of the masses. Like Atwood mentions, “True connoisseurs … are known to favor the stretch in between, since it’s the hardest to do anything with” (396). I think she is telling us what I learned after my bad relationship that, we need to savor our time on this earth or the “stretch in between” if you will (396). I take time daily to look at the positive things in my life. I have a house, a car, matching silverware, my dog pack. I am grateful for the little things that make me happy, the smell outside after it rains, the way my dogs feet smell when they are clean, a romp at the dog park, the way my cats fur feels on my bare feet, the softness of flannel sheets, a good cup of coffee or a great book before bed. We shouldn’t be so worried about what others think or see as the perfect life. Your perfect life is the one you live for yourself not someone else. We shouldn’t just revel in the beginnings since “they are always more fun” or in fact go back to them when times get rough or things aren’t going our way (396). I think Atwood is correct in saying that the true connoisseurs of life are the ones that relish the time we have in the middle when we are young and can do anything.

Making my Butt Smaller

2010-03-05T12:51:00.004-06:00

On January 15^th I started keeping track of everything I eat on a website one of my friends showed me. It is called Livestrong and they have a feature on it called The Daily Plate. On this thing you input your age, height, activity level and how much weight you want to lose per week. It then calculates how many calories you need to achieve this goal. So I started it and have lost 12 pounds! I have been struggling with my weight my whole life and have never found anything so easy to stick to. The magic of it is you can eat whatever you want as long as you stay in your calorie goal. The other night I ate Girl Scout cookies, ice cream and Doritos for dinner. The program doesn't judge it doesn't say "are you supposed to be eating that?" or "that isn't diet food" I am pretty optimistic at this point that I will be able to stick to this program. Another great thing about it is it also keeps track of your fat, fiber and protein consumption among other things. I realized pretty quickly when I started logging that I was eating too much fat (a remnant from the low carb diets I have been trying to stick to for years) and not nearly enough fiber. I have adjusted and seemed to have made some great changes that have helped me not only lose weight but also be healthier. Of course now there are groupies that want to be healthy as well. I have started looking better and so people at work are asking me what I am doing so I explain the site and they are trying it too. It is pretty awesome I have to say. I decided to include some food pictures in this blog for you guys. I love to take pictures of my food and haven't really had an occasion to share them but now seems like a good time. I will also include a link to the website in case any of you want to check it out. Until later bon appétit!
The Site, www.livestrong.com/dailyplate

In-N-Out Double Double Animal Style 690 calories (and worth every one!)

New England Clam Chowder at Horatios in San Leandro Marina Ca. 557 calories.

Sourdough Bread Horatio's 110 calories

I am not even going to guess how many this had...but it was divine! And so rich. Crab Stuffed Mahi at Horatio's.

Jason's Deli California Club 826 calories

M&M's 240 calories

Shrimp Tacos I made, 660 calories for all three.

Gummy Bears 130 calories

Lucky for me coffee has almost no calories.

Strawberries covered in Splenda, 45 calories

He He He.

Orange 62 calories.

Update on School Progress

2010-02-27T01:13:00.000-06:00

I wanted to write a quick blog on what is happening at achool. Last Fall I droppped my Math 350 (Intermeadiale Algebra) because I was getting D's on exams and just not getting it. I think it was due to my instructor. He wasn't a bad teacher but he is a calculus intstructor at heart and teaches algebra like it is calculus...which is not good for me at all. Anyway, I went to the advisor in the health sciences department to find out some info and she informed me that I could not get accepted into the program without that class. She gave me an alternative which involved taking my placement test again to see if I could test out of that class. I have been studying weekly with my sister and thought I would do good on it but after taking the test this last Thursday, I realized that it was harder than I thought and I didn't test out of the class. I went to the Health Science office feeling pretty defeated but thought I would make sure there was nothing else I could possibly do to apply for the program this year. At first she told me, that no there was nothing I could do except take the class again in the fall and then wait until next year and apply again. As I was getting ready to cry, she remembered that they made a mistake in the catalog and for the RT program only, you only had to have Math 304 (Elementry Algebra) Which I have already taken and passed with a C. I gave her my application and she said that I would hear at the end of March whether I am in or not. So now I am not so patiently waiting to hear about my fate for the next couple of years. I am a little nervous because I looked at the stats for last year and 297 people applied and there are only 30 places in the class. The high score was 5.97 and the lowest was 5.13. I am going in with I think 5.0 points, but I am even unsure about that because the advisor told me that you get .1 points for every 13 credit hours you have taken which would give me 5.21 points. I am unsure what I will be up against this year but I guess we will find out. I will post again when I find out. If I don't get in this year then I will keep pluging away at my AA and BA degree for another year, get my GPA up another point and add some more credits onto my transcript to make my score higher. I will keep you posted.

Homeownership

2010-01-27T18:34:00.000-06:00

Some of you may have noticed the picture I posted on Facebook. Here is the explanation as to what happened.
Several months ago I noticed the linoleum in front of the sink was bowed slightly, fearing that water was leaking under the sink I checked under the cabinets expecting to find water.....there wasn't any so I just chalked it up to the house shifting. It is an old house, built in 1951, it has a pier and beam foundation and is sitting on North Texas soil so it moves a bunch all the time.
And so it was ignored for a long time. Then this last month during my cleaning frenzy I noticed that there was a ton of water under the bathroom vanity after I was running water during cleaning. I called a plumber and when he came to investigate the problem he discovered that the areator on my faucet was clogged with "old pipe junk" and was shooting water out the back of the faucet under the sink. Apparently this had been going on for some time unbeknownst to me. Well I guess the water had been leaking through the wall and under the cabinet in the kitchen and then under the floor. So lucky for me I have a good friend with the handiest husband on the earth. He came over and after tearing up a bunch of stuff with tools, discovered this mess.

Under the three layers of linoleum was a primordial ooze of water and 60 year old dirt. SO now my kitchen floor looks like this and will have to stay this way until it is dry. Lucky me, I get to have my kitchen cabinet and floor torn up until this dries out....probably a month or so and then I get to spend money I have in savings (that I wanted to use to go to Las Vegas next December) on fixing this little problem. Oh how I love having my own house!

On a good note I am lucky that Jeff is a great guy and is good at helping females in distress.

My Academic Plan

2010-01-27T10:18:00.000-06:00

Well some of you have been asking me what I am up to at school and since it is quite a long story I decided to post it here.

I am currently working towards getting into the Radiologic Technology program at the community college I am currently attending. I will be applying to the program next month and hopefully will get in. I have one more hurdle to jump before that can happen. I have to pass the Math portion of the placement testing to apply. I am currently stressing on this quite a bit. I have procrastinated and have one chance to take it and pass it. If I do get in I will receive an associates of applied sciences in Radiologic Technology. Once I have this degree then I take my state examination. Once I pass that then I will be able to work in hospitals taking xrays. Eventually I want to get certified to run the CT and MRI.

In addition to that degree I am also going to finish my Associates of Science at TCC. This should give me a seamless transition into the four year college. I am planning on going to University of Texas at Arlington to get a bachelors of Arts in Biology and then hopefully be accepted into their graduate program to get a masters in biology as well. Once I do that I want to go on to get a PhD. in some biology concentration (as yet to be decided) so that I can teach college biology when I am really old.

Well there you have it. I have a long road ahead of me but I can't think of doing anything better than learning stuff for the next 8 years or so.

Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants"

2010-01-25T18:32:00.000-06:00

Today in Comp two we analysed Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants". This is a short story that Hemingway wrote in the 20's. It is a very short story about one page total and although it is quite short, it packs a whollop! I think that Hemingway may become one of my favorite authors.

The story is set in Spain at a train station bar and has three characters total. A man simply referred to as "man" in the story, Jig his female companion, and the waitress that brings them their drinks. The story is basically an exchange of dialog between Jig and the man. The conversation they engage in is very tense and argumentative. Jig is sarcastic and antagonistic from the start in that sweet way only women have mastered. We, the audience are just bystanders watching this exchange and are not given access to what each is thinking in keeping with Hemingway's existential style.. This story has been analysed relentlessly since it was written and many people have many ideas as to what the meaning is. Only Hemingway can tell us and since he is 1) dead and 2) was quite insane, it is difficult to know with one hundred percent certainly what he really meant by the story. It is clear in the story that the couple is unmarried, and most would agree that the couple is talking about Jig having an abortion. She is unsure and he, being a typical unmarried man, does not want the responsibility of a wife and child. They have been traveling the country as is evidenced by the luggage they have with them. Many have discussed what they think the refrence to the white elephant is and there are several ideas, I maintain that Hemingway meant for it to be the "Elephant in the living room" It is there and it is big but everyone is talking around it. You read the short by yourself and leave me a comment on what you think about it.

"Hills Like White Elephants" By Ernest Hemingway
I promise it is short, and you will enjoy it. I have read it several times!

The First "Real" Book I Remember Reading

2010-01-24T12:37:00.001-06:00

This is the first homework assignment for my Comp II class. We are supposed to write about a piece of Literature that changed our thinking about Literature. I chose to write about the first real book I remember reading. I am sure there were others however, I read these until the covers fell off. Enjoy! Oh, and if you haven't seen the movie. You should.

The first real book I remember reading as a kid was “The Black Stallion” by Walter Farley. At that age, I thought reading anything that was considered a “book” a pretty big deal. Walter Farley wrote his first book titled “The Black Stallion” in 1941 at the age of 26 and it continues to be in print to this day. I didn’t concern myself with things like that as a child; the only part I concerned myself with, was the book had a horse on the cover. As a child and truthfully, into my teens, I was one of those horse crazy girls. I remember sitting in my room reading that book all day, every day until it was finished. Walter Farley easily transported me into the world of Alec Ramsey and his horse friend, The Black, and I had to tear myself away.

The story begins with Alec Ramsey, the main character, on a ship with his dad. Also on board is a mysterious horse that belongs to a crazy Arab man. The horse is unruly and causes quite a bit of commotion on the ship when he boards. Alec’s father gambles with worldly men to pass the time and returns to their cabin with many treasures. One of the treasures he decides Alec should have, a small metal statue of a horse. His father claims that the statue is of Bucephalus the big black horse that only Alexander the great can tame and ride. That night the boat catches on fire and sinks, Alec falls over board and the horse saves him. They end up on a desert island together and after many days the horse, shy at first, begins to trust Alec. They eventually become best friends and Alec calls him the Black.

Eventually, they are rescued and taken back to New York and Alec’s mother is grateful to the Black for saving her son, but is also wary of the bad tempered black horse in her suburban backyard. The Black escapes from the yard and ends up in the stable of Henry Daly, a former race horse trainer. Alec wants to race the Black, but Henry tells him that would be impossible, the horse is wild and does not have the proper papers. Alec eventually talks Henry into it and they train the Black in secret, under the cover of darkness. They enter him into a match race with two great thoroughbred race horses which he wins as the mystery horse.

As a young girl I was enthralled with this story from start to finish and read every word many times. The book was made into a movie in 1979 which I saw for the first time much later. The movie carries the same title as the book and was produced by Francis Ford Coppola. This movie continues to be one of the most breathtaking movies I have ever seen. The imagery is incredible and some of the actors are well known. I am unsure as to who plays Alec; I have not seen him in any other movie since however, Henry Daly is played by Mickey Rooney and Alec’s mother is played by Terri Garr. The Black is played by Cass Ole, who was a very famous and prized Arabian horse.

Later I found out there was a series of Black Stallion novels that began with “The Black Stallion” and then went on to the “Black Stallion Returns” and “Son of the Black Stallion”. I think there was also a story about an island stallion, probably 5 or so in the series. I remember many a lazy summer spent in my room reading every one of these books from start to finish many times. I wanted to live in Alec’s world, to be him really. I still watch the Black Stallion movie occasionally, I always appreciate its beauty and I remember my wonder of it as a little girl.

Spring Semester 2010.

2010-01-21T16:19:00.000-06:00

Spring semester started this week for me on Tuesday. This should be a great semester for a couple of reasons 1) I don't have to take a math class this semester and 2) All of the classes I have are fun and intersting. I am taking English Compsition II on Monday and Wednesday from 12:20-1:40. I have the same instructor I had for comp I that I loved so it should be great. Also on Monday and Wednesday I have Intro to Philosophy from 1:50 to 3:10 pm. I didn't get to meet my Philosophy professor because we did not have class on Monday due to the MLK holiday and then on Wednesday I had to get my wisdom teeth removed at 3pm. I made the appointment months ago before I signed up for his class. Wisdom teeth removal was NOT fun let me tell you...I don't think my body has been so violated ever. I can't believe I have two giant holes in my head that I elected to have put there.
Anyway moving on. On Tuesday and Thursday I have Biology for Science Majors at 11am. This class will be great fun this time (see dropping biology blog April 2009) because I have an instructor who cares about whether or not we learn, and I am taking this class with a coworker/friend that is also super smart. After Biology on Tuesday I have my American Literature up to 1865....this would be really boring if it wern't for my super cool ex-hippie cigarette smoking professor! She is really cool and I think she will make this class super fun. Also on Tuesday I have my Biology lab with the same caring instructor as for lecture and my same super smart friend. So tuesday is the long day...starts at 11am and doesn't end until almost 5pm. It is Okay I will take snacks.
So far I think this semester will be great fun and possibly even relaxing. I think I will learn a fair amount of history in my Lit class and I get to write which is my favorite thing ever. I will post anything I write here for you guys to read...but I warn you it will be about Literature so you may have to do some reading of Lit to understand or care about it.
The only thing that I do not like so far is the parking.....but most of them will be weeded out by the next month and closer to the end of the semester I can pretty much park where I want.
As always thanks for reading.

San Fransisco Trip Part I

2010-01-18T20:03:00.003-06:00

Okay I know it has taken me forever to get around to this but I have been working every day since I returned and then there has been a problem with my photos of the trip. Some of these are still not what I wanted them to be but I am working on trying to get the rest of the pictures. There was a mishap with the pictures. My camera is fine but some of my pictures got left in San Fransisco. Kind of like a heart I guerss. So here is the best that I can do for now.

My trip was great and I had a blast! The trip started with the surprise visit from some old friends from LA! They came up when they heard I would be there. So Friday night was PARTY time! We drank and laughed and played Wii. Here are some pictures from that night.

My brother showing off the hat Joules made for him and his golf swing I guess.

Let the games begin! We amused ourselves with the Wii for awhile.

Nikki never puts down her beer...or spills it.

Fun Times.

The next day we woke up hungover but managed to get cleaned up and headed out for downtown San Fransisco.

Piled in the car on our way to the BART station. The BART is a metro rail that goes all over the bay area.

This pack of bike riders was cool.

My brother has to finish his smoke before we go down into the station.

Arrived at the BART now off to the train.

And so it begins.

Cool ceiling in the BART station.

I wonder why they didn't include defecating, urinating, bathing etc...

All of us waiting for the BART train.

The train finally got there.

Speeding past my brother and I.

Joules and John on the train ride into downtown.

Downtown San Fransisco. Union Square.

These guys were tap dancing in the square.

The architecture was AMAZING!

The architecture in SF was amazing. Most of the buildings are really old and the city seemed to have this layered look and feel to it. I felt like I could have walked around all day taking pictures of all the amazing buildings I saw (much to the dismay of my travel buddies).

Out the window of the greasy spoon place where we had breakfast.

After a few stops for drinks and food (we were a little lit at this point) we arrived in china town.

The gateway in.

Joules found a froggy golf buddy.

This place was packed and the store goods spilled out into the sidewalk.

This guy was playing traditional Chinese music on what looked like a tin can violin thing.

This cristian like church was in the middle of China Town ....I wonder why?

One of the best photos from the trip, China town light post, check, cool China Town building in the background, check, the name California, check, genuine Cali graffiti, check.

The Trans America building taken from the streets of China Town

We are boarding a bus to head off to fisherman's wharf. And this is where I leave you this time. I have tons more photos and will share them with you another time..hopefully in better shape than these are. I had an awesome time and San Fransisco comes highly recommended. Make sure you bring a back pack and good walking shoes!

Web Logging

2010-01-06T11:40:00.000-06:00

I thought I would kill some time before going to work on cleaning up the rest of the house and do a web logging. Today it is cold here in Texas and it is supposed to get even worse the next couple of days. The weather channel is calling it the Arctic Blast 2010!!!...you all know how dramatic they are! I wish It could have waited until after I left for California but whatever...it is fine, my feet and hands have been pretty much numb for a month now...so a couple more degrees won't make too much of a difference.
My vacation started for me at 12:15 am on Monday morning and I have been really enjoying it. I was awakned by the plumber on Monday morning at 8 am so only got to sleep for 4 hours but had plenty of time for a nap. The plumber says that the problem was the aerator on my faucet... apparently I have a really lame faucet and when the aerator gets clogged up or otherwise unhappy in any way it leaks down the faucet where I can't see it under the sink... I am sure some genius designed it. At least it is clean now. I am not really sure what to do about the water that has accumulated under the house because of it but whatever i need to do it will have to wait until I get back.
I have already surfed out where the In-n-Out burger is between my brother's place and the airport..I can't wait and I can taste it already. I can't wait to have my double double animal style with fries and a strawberry shake. In fact there will be multiple trips to In-n-Out, the burger place that, one who lives in Texas can only dream of when they are not here. A co-worker from San Pedro was feverishly trying to devise a plan for me to get one back to Texas, he was completely willing to eat it cold (they are OK that way)....we are still working in it.

I am also looking forward to getting some photos of San Francisco and me and my brother. If I don't post some photos of my mug soon my mom is going to bust a gasket! Love you mom! It is always nice to get pictures of yourself when you are looking your best and relaxed. I will miss my fur kids but I'm not worried about them...they will be in great hands while I am gone.

Well enough babbling on the blogosphere...I have to finish cleaning and packing for my awesome vacation. I want to say thanks to my brother John and my sister-in-law Joules for making this a possibility.

Thomas, the Human Kid in my Life

2010-01-04T09:14:00.018-06:00

So I was made to feel guilty yesterday by one of my co-workers because I have a million photos of my dogs but not any of my super adorable nephew Thomas. So I thought I would post some of his pictures. You see, it is not that I don't take pictures of him I do...I guess I just don't think to post them.

This is an old photo...taken in February 2007, Thomas is 5 years old here...this was a sad time for us as my father had just passed away. My dad passed away on February 9th, two days before Thomas' birthday. We all spent a considerable amount of energy smiling and trying to not to scare him while on the inside our hearts were broken with grief at the loss of my Father. I know Thomas helped me through that...he made undoubtedly realize that time marches on and so does life.

Thomas hard at work on some homework for school I am sure....he is a really smart kid.

Thomas May 09' Showing off his mad skateboarding skills.

Bike riding in March of 09' My brother in law Jade was playing with my new camera and got these shots, I am glad he did, these are great!

Probably wishing he could go back outside and ride his bike again.

I love these Photos of Thomas and his mom. Those blue eyes are really that blue...no touch ups with Photoshop! He is so cute and smart and I love him to death...I will try to be more diligent about posting pics of Thomas as I get them! Until then ENJOY!

2009 The Year in Review

2010-01-01T19:20:00.006-06:00

Well we made it through 2009...most of us anyway. The new year has always been a time for reflection and renewal for me. I have been walking around at work all day mulling over in my head what this year has been, where I have been, and where I am going. I thought I might share some of this with you my faithful blog readers.

This year has been a good one overall for me. My biggest accomplishment has been getting through my first year of school and starting my second one..with flying colors I might add. I have mostly A's (a few B's thrown in for good measure) and have managed to maintain a 3.8 GPA. It has been an awesome experience, going back to school. My sister Debra laughs to hear me say that because when we were growing up I hated school so much. She is amazed to hear me say that, not only do I love it, but that I want to continue on to get a masters and a PhD. I guess I figure "what the heck? I am not doing anything anyway". This year has been extremely busy for me and I have now come to enjoy my busyness...it makes the times when I can relax that much more enjoyable. I also know that someday it will be over and I will be a better person for having gone through it.

I had one rough spot with the pets and that was the loss of Violet in October. It was very sad and my house is very quiet now. I did however gain a new one in April and that was Stan Lee. He continues to be a joy and I am so glad I decided to keep him. He makes me laugh on a daily basis with his silly antics. Lily turned 11 in December and I gave a silent thank you for her making it to her 11th birthday. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2008 and wasn't supposed to make it 6 months let alone another year. She remains cancer free and is still running the pack and keeping up with the pups! Suki will turn 10 in February and she continues to be the healthiest dog I own. Her allergies get to her sometimes but generally she does well.

Enough about me and the animal kingdom...lets talk about some exciting things that happened in the world. The biggest news I can think of was the election of the first black man as president of the United States. My heart swelled with pride as I watched Barack Obama give his acceptance speech on Jan 20th and I had tears rolling down my face on and off as I watched him walk to the capital building for his inauguration. I can't help but be optimistic that things will change in this nation and that the new generation of people will be more tolerant than the last and that future generations will be even better. I hope I will be here to see a more peaceful nation and indeed a more tolerant world someday.

Things I learned this year include; not everyone is who they seem to be, most humans are pretty disappointing, keep your friends close and your enemies even closer, no one is perfect but perhaps there is someone perfect for you, ex boyfriends never completely disappear, and you don't need anything as badly as you think you do.

Things that continue to delight me (maybe some new ones too); the smell of clean dog feet, the air after a summer rain, a cold glass of Guiness, the laughter of children, my dogs faces when they are happy, trying a new bottle of wine, hot showers (even better when the window can be open), clean towels, flannel sheets, warm socks, a comfy couch, a great novel, my cats fur on my bare feet, a pile of clean laundry, sunny hot days, dog laughter, making new friends, learning new things, getting A's, writing something great in my blog, taking great photos, the way old things smell, snuggly blankets, hot coffee, iced coffee, diversity, great music and my all time favorite these days is a good nights sleep.

The new year is also a time to make some resolutions. I often start out with many and am pretty happy if I manage to still keep some of them at the end of the year. You see, if you make a whole bunch, then you are not destined to fail completely. Some of mine this year include; making my bed every day, not letting being busy serve as an excuse for a dirty house, actually trying to keep the house cleaner, flossing my teeth everyday instead of every other day and the old standby, trying to eat healthier and take better care of myself. We will see how well I do on these and I will get back to you later on how it goes.

I hope all of you have a great year!

Vacation Time!

2009-12-30T13:29:00.002-06:00

So as some of you have heard I am going on vacation to Northern California. I am really excited about it and can't wait to see my brother. I haven't been on a real vacation since he got married....I think that was 3 years ago? Not sure. Either way it was a long time ago. I am a little bummed and very excited at the same time. The bummed part is because I won't be visiting him in Southern California where it is really warm .... I have been freezing here for awhile now and it is pretty much the same temp in Northern California right now. The excited part is that i get to go to San Francisco! I am so excited to see this city as an adult. I promise to take a million pictures and post a blog with them when I get back. So far my vacation from school has been wonderful! I have been able to hang out with most of my friends that I haven't seen in forever and managed to spend a lot of time with my family for the holidays. My house is getting there and almost clean! You know it is bad when it takes this long to get it cleaned up. I can for sure see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have 4 days left next week before I leave for California on the 8th to get it ready for vacation. A friend is staying at my house with Daddy, Stan Lee, the cats and fish. Lily and Suki are going to stay with Lily's BFF Jayme Griffin. They will all be in great hands and I can enjoy myself while I am gone and not worry about any of them. Once I get back I have to go back to work the very next day and when my work weekend is over I have a Monday off and then right back to school and my crazy busy life. Better enjoy it while I can! I hope all of you had a great Holiday.

Texas Blizzard/ Christmas Photo Blog 2009

2009-12-26T12:56:00.036-06:00

Texas is a fickle place...when it comes to the weather here anyway. December 23rd the high was 77 degrees. On December 24th the temperature dropped steadily and by noon the snow started to fall. I spent my morning from 8am to 4 pm at work where we were steady but not crazy. After work I headed to my sisters house during the worst part of the storm, I never got above 35 miles an hour an the way. There was high winds and a BUNCH of snow came down! We got 3 inches in several hours. I hate being cold so I wasn't thrilled about this weather let alone driving in it. When I drove home from my sisters at 10 pm that night the roads were basically an ice skating rink. It took me 2 hours to drive 30 miles. This trip usually takes me 25 minutes. I only got stuck once and managed to get myself out of it. I am pretty proud of myself as this is the first time in my life I had to drive on ice and I did a really good job. I got me and my pooches home safely. Here are some pictures of the day and the festivities at my sisters...no Mom there are no pictures of me! I am always the one taking them. My brother in law Jade managed to get a picture of me and my dog pack so as soon as I get it I will post it!

The snow starting to accumulate, I think this was about 12:30 in the afternoon on the 24th.

I can't believe the day before this it was 77 degrees!

Snow Art!

I made it to my sisters despite the blizzard! The kids posing for me. From left to right; Thomas, Christopher, and Alanna.

My sisters tree is always beautiful this is hand blown glass.

All the stockings lined up on the mantle...my family made a stocking for me this year...it even has a little dog on it!

By the time 4:30 rolled around there was about 2 inches of snow and it was still coming down!

The dogs venture out into the snow...this was Daddy and Stan's first snowfall and the first good one for Lily and Suki in 6 years. There are no pictures of Daddy in the snow because he just stood on the porch looking pathetic the whole time. He did play in the snow but it was after it stopped falling. I guess he likes to get snowed on as much as he likes to get rained on. He is such a cream puff!

Suki making some "yellow" snow!

Lily checking it out.

Stan Loved it! He went tearing around the yard like a maniac!

A little break from running...Suki is almost up to her elbows!

Lily Loves the snow as well...she turned 11 this year and is still able to keep up with the puppy!

Stan getting a taste of the snow...Lily is getting cold already.

More romping around.

My brother-in-law Jade. I love this picture! I also took one of my sister and him together but it ended up being over exposed. I am learning alot about my camera and sometimes fail to get good shots. The real bummer is on the 2 inch preview screen it looks great and then I get it home and it looks really lame on the computer screen.

Lily is starting to get cold but it having too much fun...look at her face here.

Not too cold for one more romp around the yard with Stan Lee!

Stan was having so much fun he wouldn't come in the house even though he is freezing!

Alanna never puts the phone down.....ever.

My sister Debra working hard on our Holiday feast!

These were taken the next morning before I went to work...it was really pretty, the snow is so sparkly in the sunlight..if you look close you can see that in one of these.

Icicles on my patio overhang...so pretty but now they are gone, so is the snow. Now it is just muddy and cold. I am so happy I got to have some snow even though I complained about it the whole time and hated traveling in it. It was nice to have a "White Christmas". See you next year!

What is Christmas Anyway?

2009-12-26T11:04:00.006-06:00

Well here we are the day after Christmas. Most of us have full bellies and tired minds from the days and weeks spent shopping, cooking and traveling to see family and friends for your chosen holiday festivities. Kids and grownups alike are having fun with new toys and the remainder of the long winter is in front of us.

Last year I wrote a somewhat scathing blog about the Christmas season that pretty much summed up my opinion of it (See "How the Stupid People Stole Christmas" December 2008). This year I have been listening to NPR in my car as I traveled to and from work and family parties on Christmas eve and day. All week NPR has featured stories about the history of Christmas as we know it today. It seems that last year, sadly, I was wrong. I decided to set the record straight here and write not only a retraction to my last years sarcastic flogging of all things Christmas, but also comment on my new found knowledge of the history of the season.

This whole celebration we now call Christmas actually began during neolithic times when the humans celebrated the winter solstice...now why would people that starved and froze to death by the hundreds during this time want to celebrate? Well, they had an excess of meat lying around as they slaughtered all of their cows so they wouldn't have to feed them over the winter so there was a plethora of meat to be eaten. In addition, the beer and wine they had been fermenting all year was finally ready to be drunk so the mid winter celebration was the last big feast before the long winter started. The druids were also amazed that the conifers miraculously survived during the winter outside when everything else seemed to die so they brought them into their dwellings and decorated them...Does anyone else do this? The winter solstice also marks the reversal of the ebbing of the sun. It is the longest night of the year and so, everyday following the solstice the sun stays out longer and longer. Many cultures celebrated reversal rituals during the solstice. For example; Saturnalia, the holiday celebrated by the Romans to honor Saturn, the roman god of war, was introduced in 217 BC and was marked by the role reversals of masters and slaves, general revelry, and eating and drinking in excess. This holiday started on December 17 and lasted until December 23rd. Romans would eat, drink, gamble and celebrate for a week. Slaves were allowed to party with the masters and no one was punished during this time. Schools were closed and people made and exchanged little gifts. Does any of this sound familiar? Once the Christians took over Rome they appropriated much of this pagan holiday into what we now call Christmas so as to easier convert the pagans to Christianity. It apparently worked because we now have Christmas every year on December 25th the supposed birthday of Jesus according to the Christians of the times...the actual day of his birth is actually unknown.

I am really excited to learn about all of this as this explanation allows me the freedom to enjoy the holiday with the reckless abandon I did as a child. It seems after learning all of this, that I don't have to feel guilty about enjoying a religious holiday when I don't really believe in religion. I can enjoy it the way it was originally intended, the celebration of the middle of winter. I can revel in the fact that the sun will stay out longer each day instead of shorter. I can eat until I am going to pop and enjoy all the excess this time of year has to offer. I wonder how easy the role reversal part would be to pull off at work...

Anyway, I hope all of you had a safe and wonderful Holiday. Thank you for continuing to read the ramblings I post here and I hope you all had a happy "Saturnalia" and also a wonderful new year.

Fall Semester 2009.

2009-12-12T00:55:00.004-06:00

Finally! This school year is over and I am officially on Winter break! So far I have wasted several hours playing with my Farm on Facebook, started picking up the house a little in preparation for a serious scrubbing and caught up on a couple of my episodes of House that I had saved up on the DVR. This is my third blog post in two days which is pretty awesome. The semester went great and compared to my first Fall semester it was fantastic! I was reading my blog that I wrote pretty close to the end of the 2008 Fall semester and I am amused at how stressed I was (see "On Being Tired" Nov 2008). This semester seemed easier and went by faster even though I was taking much harder classes. Most of you know, I took Human Anatomy and Physiology II plus the lab, Computer science plus a lab, and U.S. Government. I also started with Intermediate Algebra but as some of you know I had to drop it because my instructor for that class was confusing the hell out of me. I ended up with A's in A&P and Computer science and a B in Government class. I am a little bummed about the B but I tried my hardest and a B is really not a tragedy (maybe a little one). My GPA is 3.7 which I think is pretty respectable and should get me a spot in the Radiology Tech. program. I am really looking forward to my time off from school and already have some fun stuff scheduled. I am going to sleep in everyday until I don't feel like sleeping anymore and I am hoping to finish my novel I have been reading; Fyodor Dostoevskys' "The Brothers Karamazov". My brother John is going to fly me out to the California Bay Area for a five or six days in January, one of my co-workers and hopefully soon to be buddy Stephanie, has planned for a couple nights out on the town for us, another work buddie wants me to take some engagement photos in downtown Fort Worth, and I want to go see my friend Lisa and her beautiful new daughter Ava. I am also spending some time with my sister and the kiddos on Christmas Eve and some time with the rest of the family in Texas on Christmas Day. I don't have plans for New Years Eve but I am looking for something to get into. I plan on resting a lot and doing pretty much what I want when I want to. I am already looking forward to the next semester but am really going to enjoy my time off...I won't get anymore until next Winter break. Keep your eyes peeled for new and exciting blog posts. Thanks for reading!

Cute Dog Photos

2009-12-10T14:39:00.011-06:00

Winter break is upon me so that means you guys get to be inundated with new blogs and the pictures I had time to take while I was in school. Here are some recent photos of the dogs!

Daddy is so cute I never tire of taking his picture!

Stan still has a puppy face!

Stan and Suki..they like to cuddle. I can't resist the cuteness.

Billy the cat...he thinks he is a dog. I think that counts.

Stan Lee's life is really hard...I don't know how he gets through the day.

Suki was a guinea pig for one of the new kennel techs at work...even after being man handled she still manages to look cute.

Daddy is like Mc Gyver he can make anything into a bed.

Wow these guys have a hard life...eat, sleep, sunbathe, drink, sleep, eat, sunbathe, sleep in one of a million beds in the house.... it goes on and on. ( I apologize for the quality on this pic...but it is taken through the kitchen window and screen...if I tried to go outside to get this shot they would all get up and move...I think it is cute anyway)

I posted this for all of those people (who shall remain nameless) that think it is dog abuse to put them all in the same kennel...they really do sleep that close together... and of their own free will.

Thanksgiving Photo Blog!

2009-11-27T12:42:00.024-06:00

Hey all you blog readers, I went to Krys and Alyx' Thanksgiving fiesta after work and had a blast!(as usual) It was 82 degrees in the house but we all managed to have fun anyway. I had to take the dog pack with me so they were there as well. After we stuffed ourselves we played "Scene It" Guys against Girls...of course the girls won. I had a really great time hanging out with these guys I hardly get to see them at all since my schedule is so crazy and they go to bed at 8:30 during the week. Here are some pics of the antics and drama! Hope you all enjoy!

Alyx and Christopher chillin on the sofa. I can't believe Alyx let me take her picture!

One of the few times Stan Lee wasn't moving...he was really good but he just hardly laid down or was still for that matter.

Alyx and her Brother Josh...they spent a lot of time looking at his phone...I am totally unsure as to why.

Still with the phone! As Alyx would say CHEAP!

Krys, cooking us up some LOVE!

Josh still on the phone...even Alyx gave up on it! The dogs really liked Josh...which I guess he didn't notice because at the end of the night he told me that daddy wouldn't come near him!

This was how Stan Lee spent most of the time I was there...the good thing was he slept for about 36 hours after!

Don't hate! The crust may be burnt but that was some awesome pie...I think because of all the love that was in it (I don't ever eat the crust anyway).

Alyx hates her picture taken...little did she know that I have others....

Lily likes to stay out of the way at holiday gatherings (insert sarcasm here)...I think she secretly wants to off us and get the Turkey....she was trying to trip us one at a time.

The Turkey emerges from the oven. That is Audrey's behind and Alyx in the Farve jersey (this jersey caused much testosterone exchange later in the evening)

A final basting...almost done.

Gotcha!

Taking a rest before he is devoured!

Daddy stayed out of the way like a good boy.

Alanna was texting the whole time...she said she wasn't texting Logan(who was in the same house) but we didn't believe her.

Suki made a new friend...Logan Audrey's daughter.

Oh look... Josh is still messing with the phone!

Josh finally got off the phone to come eat some turkey...he decided to eat the leg and after much toil he ended up with just a bone. (Krys and Alyx seem to be afraid of it)

Audrey doesn't want to eat that!

This was hilarious! Josh is so proud of himself!

Alanna and Logan BFF's

Of course everyone is still eating and Krys aka Felix Unger is cleaning like a mad person! (notice Logan has pie)

I had such a great time (I had to mention it again) I can't wait to hang out with these guys again at Christmas..hopefully there will be more antics and drama...with this bunch it is inevitable. Happy Thanksgiving all!

A Turkey Named Courage.

2009-11-25T14:55:00.002-06:00

This is the final paper due in my U.S.Government class this semester...thank goodness this class is over! It was my least favorite class so far out of any I have taken since starting this adventure last year. I am sure if I had a better teacher it would have been far more interesting but the professor I got stuck with was very boring and her grading made it nearly impossible to make an A. I am sure I will be stuck with a B in this class....B= Bummer. Anyway enjoy this last paper...thanks for reading and hopefully I will be able to blog about better stuff during the winter break.

I looked long and hard this week for an article that dealt with the Federal Government and today the Associated Press had as their top story, “President Obama’s first pardon: A turkey called ‘Courage’ Fowl is spared a ‘terrible and delicious fate,’ flown first class to Disneyland., A Presidents first pardon would normally would be big news. However he was pardoning a turkey he called Courage that would have made a great meal as he weighed 45 pounds. Apparently this is a long time tradition dating back to JFK. The article mentions that his daughters were there and that the president was joking about forgoing the tradition and eating his turkey as Presidents Eisenhower and Johnson did. He wished all service members a Happy Thanksgiving and spoke of the honor of being their Commander in Chief. He also spoke about Abraham Lincoln making Thanksgiving a holiday in the midst of the civil war when the future of our Union was doubtful. He mentioned giving thanks for what we have and giving back to those less fortunate. He then pardoned the turkey, Courage and said that he was going to live the rest of his life in Disneyland.
It is hard to form an opinion on such an article as I think it is pretty silly, not only that this was the top news story on every site I looked at but that this goes on at all. I was quite surprised to learn that this has been a time honored tradition since the days of President Kennedy and that President Lincoln also pardoned a turkey, however his turkey was slated for a Christmas meal instead of a Thanksgiving meal. I read several other articles on this subject and it seems that a lot of the facts are mixed up. Some of the articles I read including this one had other presidents as the first to start this tradition. This particular article mentions George H.W. Bush, however, others I read including an article specifically about who the first president was to pardon a turkey clears it all up and gives JFK the honors. I wanted to look more and find out why this started in the first place but then decided it was best left alone. The pickings on the news wire today were pretty slim and I want to chalk it up to the impending Holiday but it really reminds me of why I only look at the news sporadically.

Daddy's Big Day at the "Little Dog" Dog Park

2009-11-19T14:20:00.014-06:00

So I had this whole thing typed out about the dog park...think wonderful sarcastic humorous rantings about the folks and politics at the dog park....well Blogger just ate it.....Fing Blogger! so MAD!
Anyway here are some recent pics from Daddy's day at the dog park, he had fun and was a really good boy. I went several weeks ago and hung out with Elizabeth and Tess and Suki went as well. I had alot more explanations to why there are not any pictures of Suki that involved an old lawn chair and urine but Blogger ate it. So you guys can thank Blogger for destroying my creativity....I guess I learned my lesson....upload photos here and type in Word and then put it all together at the end. Hope you enjoy the photos!!!

Elizabeth's Dog Tess...she is mole hunting! Elizabeth said she actually dehoused one once! This is what Tess spent most of her time doing.

Daddy, running and being silly..he looks like such a dork here but he had such a good time.

Daddy smile!

These were some of his Dog Park buddies...he had fun chasing them, he doesn't want the ball...just wants to run!

Another contraband big dog on the little dog side.

He had such a good time! Hope you all enjoy...wish it could have been better but I don't have the time, energy or heart to rewrite what I I had already written and Blogger erased!

Fall Time Photo Blog

2009-11-12T14:46:00.018-06:00

Happy Fall time to all my readers. Although my time is sparse I have managed to get some photos of the Fall season. I have been wondering why everyone likes this season since I saw a poll on MSN that asked folks what their favorite season is and Fall was the overwhelming favorite. There were no reasons given in the poll just the fact that most people picked it. My personal favorite is Spring followed closely by Summer, Winter is my least favorite and although Fall is beautiful, for me it just signals the end of warm nights and sunny days. I suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) and so Winter is usually a down time for me. Texas isn't so bad in that we see many sunny days even in Winter here however I hate to be cold so when it is 40 degrees everyday I tend to get a little crabby. I hope all of you enjoy the photos I wish there were more but as I said my time is scarce so there are only a few. I want to say thanks to all who read this blog and if you could take a minute and leave a comment for me to let me know what your favorite season is and more importantly why. Enjoy!

This plant grows outside our back door at work. I cannot remember the name (it is something weird) but it is beautiful all year round.

One of the things I like about Texas is there are flowers that bloom in the Fall. This little purple flower is so cute!

These come in "real" not just fake plastic at Wal Mart .

Grasses bloom in the fall here...this one is purple!

The heavenly Bamboo really is Heavenly in the Fall.

This color show is everywhere here right now! It is nice to live in a place where there are seasons.

It is hard to believe that there are things this color in nature!

These tiny flowers are in the grass everywhere here in the Fall...they are only about an inch across and so cute!

Looking Up!

This silvery grass is so amazing.

Last one of the great red leaves...pretty soon they will all be gone and just the bare trees remain...my least favorite thing about Winter.

Well there you have it, the glory of Fall in Texas through my eyes. Don't forget to leave me a comment about which is your favorite season and WHY!!!

Calling all Math Nerds to the Rescue!

2009-11-04T16:06:00.001-06:00

Well I guess the Web Logging didn't work out all that great….I kind of figured it wouldn't with my schedule. Anyway, I did something really stupid and I need the assistance of all of my math nerd friends. I went to get my application at the Health Science office on Monday and after talking with the advisor there realized that the Math class that I just dropped is a requirement for acceptance into the RT program…Ouch I know. I was really upset about this until I spent some time thinking about what I did and my options. I was NOT going to pass that math class no way no how. So it was good that I dropped it, I think Dr. Martin would have just confused me further anyway. My other option is to take my ACCUPLACER test again and test out of MATH 0305 into College Algebra the advisor I spoke to on Monday said that after taking the math classes I have I should be able to pass it with the minimum score I need. So that is what I will do. Notice the WILL and not try here. I have to get into the program!!! I refuse to spend another year waiting. I am calling all of my math nerd buddies to help me with any tutoring you can. I am going to go to my sisters house (home of not one but two math nerds) on Mondays after class. I am going to make my first attempt as soon as I feel like I can and then I can take it every 30 days until I have to have my application in on March 1^st. If anyone else can help even if it is just websites with practice ACCUPLACER questions that would be great as well. I am determined to get this done! Thanks in advance for any help!

Web Logging

2009-10-30T14:02:00.000-05:00

So I decided to try web logging. I learned on NPR a couple of weeks ago that web logging is where the word blogging comes from. So I am going to try to write a little something everyday for a week and see how that goes

So my day started out pretty much the same as any other day except today is Friday which means I get to sleep until I don't feel like sleeping anymore OR Stan and Daddy need to pee which was the case today so with gentle urging from the boys, I get up and let the dogs out. I get some coffee and oatmeal, and snuggle on the couch to read my A&P book for school when my blissful quiet is rudely interrupted because a loose neighborhood dog comes sniffing around and gets my pack all stirred up. So instead of concentrating on my book I am irritated, first that the people in my neighborhood cannot seem to contain their dogs and second, that my dogs are barking their fool heads off. Why is it that I can ignore every other dog on the street but the sound of my own dogs barking drives me insane? The dog eventually went away and I got to peacefully read all about the Krebs cycle for about an hour.

Krebs cycle! How am I ever going to, learn this! This is the process that your body, actually the mitochondria in your cells uses to make ATP which is the chemical that fuels your body. Sounds simple when I put it that way but there are a lot of carbon atoms involved and a lot of breaking those down into different acids…….very complex. It is going to take me a while to learn that stuff.

When I was tired of reading or more like my brain couldn't absorb anymore of the Krebs cycle I decided to check out my email and face book. I noticed that work had called me so against my better judgment I called back (after checking the message of course) they needed a cat for blood donation so I was asked to bring up Billy. I started to make the necessary preparations to get ready to take Billy up there for blood I get a call back and the owners of the cat that needed the blood transfusion decided to euthanize their cat…probably for the best the cat most likely had some bad cancer. But then I get this from work, "oh by the way since you were heading up here anyway how about you come early it is really busy and someone is late blah blah blah"(I should have known it was a trap!). I need all the hours I can get and I am done doing the studying I wanted to do so I decide to gather up the pack and head out to work.

Work was fairly uneventful. We were steady busy and that translates out to mean, it was not crazy but we had patients the whole time and several critical ones in the hospital. The most interesting one was Shelby. She came in at about 11pm and the receptionist said a technician was needed in the room. I went in there, took one look at Shelby and knew she was in trouble. I yelled for help and we took her straight back. Her gums were as white a piece of paper (white paper). She got an IV catheter and started on some fluids. While we spoke to the owners to try and find out what happened to their dog. They were out of town for a week and a pet sitter had been taking care of Shelby. The pet sitter said the dog was a little lethargic yesterday but was fine the rest of the time. Dr G decided that Shelby has IMHA (Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia) basically the body turns on itself and attacks its own red blood cells which as you can imagine is not good. You need your red blood cells for a lot of things including carrying your oxygen around your body for you. Shelby had been vaccinated at her RDVM (that's regular vet to you) for the canine flu…sometimes vaccination can be a precursor to this disease process. (See Canine Vaccination Controversy paper I wrote in October 2008 ) Shelby needed a blood transfusion and the only 2 dogs at the hospital able to donate were Daddy and Stan.

Daddy's Smile is priceless!!! Had to include a picture of the two would be heros!

So we began the tedious process of cross matching Daddy and (bummer for all involved) his blood had a reaction then we tried to match Stan and his blood also reacted so she had to get the fake hemoglobin that we have at the hospital. It doesn't last very long however and if Shelby makes it thought the night we will try to match them again tomorrow after her body has had some time to get better on all of the meds she is taking.

I was at work 3 extra hours on Friday and am pretty beat…a little too beat for the start of the week. I am going to start taking my camera to work so I can take pictures of this craziness to include here. Hopefully my weblogging experiment goes well and I have time to do this everyday. It would make me happy and hopefully you guys like it.

Wasting Time and Rambling On

2009-10-28T21:35:00.003-05:00

So I have been sitting here at the computer for far too long (I won't even mention how long). I have been working on my blog, adding some new gadgets and reading some of the things I have posted.

I can't believe that I have been in school for over a year now and have accomplished so much! It is funny to read some of the things I posted that first semester when I thought I would die of either exhaustion or animal hair ingestion. I thought back to how crazed I was that my house was dirty, the dogs weren't getting walked and that I was sleeping under the laundry piled on my bed (at least it is clean). Now I just walk past that stuff and shake my head. Sometimes I will spend a full minute looking at an enormous hair tumble weed and think about going on a cleaning frenzy but then I remember all of the homework I have, how tired I am, or the episodes of House saved on the DVR and the hair tumble weed doesn't seem all that important. The semesters have definitely become easier as time goes on. I have really learned how to manage my time and how to not care about he mess that is my car, house and sometimes life. School is my number one priority.

Each time I get a paycheck I am reminded of why I must finish. I am so tired of not having the money or time to do things and when I think about it, it seems like an eternity will have passed before I will be embarking on my new life. Until then I dream about taking vacations either with my family or to see my family. I dream about actually spending holidays with loved ones instead of at work(not that i don't enjoy most of the folks at work). I am even jealous of my friends on this blog that have time to update their blog on an almost daily basis. I want to be able to be a blog addict and write everyday. I want to have time to use my fancy camera I bought and post pictures on here for you all to enjoy. I want to lay on my couch for days in a row if I want to. I want clean floors and a bed that isn't covered in laundry. I want to have a normal relationship and possibly have a family of my own.

Don't get me wrong... I think about this stuff a lot but when I am really down and out I think about all of the people that do not have the opportunities I have, that don't have their own house and car let alone the time and fiances to go to school to better themselves. I am thankful as well as disappointed when I get my paycheck that I have a job and people that love me. Like my sister for example. Sometimes I look at her incredible life and I am jealous but mostly I realize how hard she has worked for what she has and that makes me want to work even harder. She is so smart and such a great inspiration. She also helps me when ever she can with money, an understanding ear, and sometimes a delicious meal and great food. My brother also helps out by telling me not to be too down on myself when I call him and tell him I feel bad that I had to have my little sister bail me out again. He tells me that is what family is for.

Anyway thought I would throw in a little rant so I had something to show for all of my time sitting on my butt in front of this computer. I think I hear an episode of House calling me from the other room.

And the Nobel Peace Prize goes to……..Barack Obama 44th President of the United States!

2009-10-28T15:33:00.005-05:00

Here is the third news analysis paper I wrote for my U.S. Government class for your reading pleasure. I wanted to write a blog about this the minute I heard about Obama winning the Nobel Prize but decided to wait and kill two birds with one stone. As most of you know I am a bleeding heart liberal and so of course, am a huge supporter of Obama. In this paper I mention the speech he gave in Philadelphia on March 18th 2008 while he was still senator of Illinois. The speech was a reaction to a call from the country that he disown the Pastor of his church that had been cited for making racist remarks during a sermon. The speech he gave is a reaction to that. I remember reading the speech for the first time with tears in my eyes as I thought about the intolerance we still have to overcome as individuals and as a nation. Included are links to the article I wrote about and a New York Times web page that has Obamas March 18th speech in both a video format as well as a transcript of it. I really hope you all take the opportunity to listen to and or read it. In the meantime I hope you enjoy. As always thanks so much for taking the time to read and as you know your comments are always welcome.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/03/18/us/politics/20080318_OBAMA_GRAPHIC.html#

www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113649365

As soon as I heard that President Obama had won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize I decided I wanted to write this paper about it. I was not aware that he had been nominated at all but was delighted to hear that he had won. I found the article I chose to write about on the NPR website and it is titled "Obama Wins Nobel, Vows 'Call To Action'" The article begins with Presidents Obama's reaction to the news. It states that he was surprised and deeply humbled by the news. In a short speech he said that he did not view the award as recognition for his own accomplishments but as recognition of the goals he has set for the U.S. and the world. He also was quoted as saying that this was a "Call to Action" and that the award must be shared with everyone who strives for justice and dignity.

The article goes on to say that President Obama plans on donating his 1.4 million dollar cash award to charity but does not mention which ones. The article talks about the fact that Obama is the third sitting president to receive this award and the first since Woodrow Wilson in 1919. Former presidents Jimmy Carter won in 2002 and former Vice President Al Gore won in 2007.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that he won the award "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples", special importance was attached to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons. Thorbjoern Jagland, chairman of the Nobel Committee had this to say, "Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given to it's people hope for a better future. " He also goes on to say that "In the past year Obama has been a key person for important initiatives in the U.N. for nuclear disarmament and to set a completely new agenda for the Muslim world and East-West relations." Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said "The exciting thing about this prize is that it's given to someone… who has the power to contribute to peace."

The article goes on to give the rhetorical rebuke form Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele where he mentions that Obama hasn't done anything yet and that his star power has outshined advocates that have made real achievements. The Republicans also state that this is clearly a poke in the eye to G.W. Bush because what this says is that America is back on the scene as a nation that is promoting peace after eight years of Bush.

The article goes on to give the rules for how the prize is awarded and also the history of the award. It mentions that in his 1885 will, Alfred Noble stipulated that the peace prize should go "to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses." The article also mentions that this is a critical time for the Obama administration as they have just sent additional troops to Afghanistan, in my opinion the war we should have been fighting since 2001.

I have to say that my heart swelled with pride when I heard that the President I had voted for was being recognized for his promotion of peace in this and other nations. I was disappointed at the commentary on radio and television that said he didn't deserve this prize. The reason cited most often is that he hasn't done anything. The first thing I thought of when I heard this was the speech he gave in Philadelphia on March 18, 2008 regarding the race relations in this country. His call to action for the people of this country to be more tolerant of the differences between all of us and the understanding of those differences we must have to move forward as a nation and as a people. I must say that after I heard this speech my vote was won. I have often wondered why people are allowed to use hate and intolerance as an excuse for violence.

I was troubled by the Republicans condemnation of Obama's Nobel Peace Prize and that they even mentioned Bush's name, as if their lame duck, war mongering, money grubbing president deserved a Noble Prize or any prize for that matter. I think anyone who is in doubt about whether or not Obama deserves the Peace Prize should read or listen to the speech he gave in Philadelphia on March 18^th 2008. No matter what political party you belong to, I think you will agree that his words here are powerful and true. If this man does nothing else but change the attitudes of millions about people that are different than themselves, I think he has done an incredible thing. I write this to all of the people who believe that this man does not deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. He seeks peace for all, do you?

Surprise overnights and Pit Bulls

2009-10-19T15:40:00.003-05:00

I am writing this with a deep sadness and very heavy heart. Yesterday I had to euthanize my friend Violet.

Those of you that have met her know that she was a little off. She had a very strong prey drive and was down to fight if the occasion called. She was a little OCD and had general anxiety about most everything. I tried my hardest all of her short life to help her adapt to life in the world and my pack. She received medication twice daily to combat her anxiety and OCD behaviors, firm but fair discipline sometimes enforced with an electric collar and daily runs on the treadmill(bought just for her) to get rid of her hyperactive energy. All the while I knew in the back of my mind that the day would come when she could no longer be a safe member of my pack and society. Well yesterday was that day. It started about 2 months ago when Daddy came in with a nick in his ear and I knew it was Violet that had done it. She plays a little too rough and sometimes grabs the necks and ears of the other dogs. I gave her a ½ a strike for it and thought they might have been playing too rough and it possibly was an accident. However I did store it away in the back of my mind and kept a little closer eye on her. Two weeks ago she and Lily got in a fight and both got hurt…just a little but they were injured. I didn't see the start of the fight but I had a suspicion that Violet had started it. Lily is very mild mannered as most of you that have met her know but she is a pit bull and if another dog starts a fight she is down to fight. I broke up the fight with just yelling and cleaned up the dogs and stored that incident (strike 2) away in the back of my head. Last week I witnessed some very bad and aggressive behavior on Violets part and disciplined her for it but also stored that away in the back of my mind as the probable reason for the start of the last fight.

Well yesterday after working 16+ hours at the EC all night I came home put the dogs out and proceeded to nap on the couch when I heard fighting sounds from out side. I ran to the window and there was Violet attacking Lily and Lily doing her best to defend herself. It took me at least 10 minutes to get them apart. I kept getting Lily away from Violet and Violet kept coming after her. The entire time I was thinking to myself "She's going to kill Lily right here in front of me and I can't do anything about it" It was quite possibly the scariest 10 minutes of my life. (Keep in mind that I have been awake for over 24 hours at this point and worked 16 of those 24 hours) I finally got them apart and Violet in her kennel and away from the other dogs(who were all huddled in the corner of the yard terrified) I looked at Lily who was pretty badly chewed up (see photo at the end) and decided that she needed to be seen at the hospital immediately. I called and told them I was coming with Lily and that I needed to come back with Violet later to put her down.

To some this may seem like a hasty decision but I don't think it is. I have a small pug that lives in my house and had she done this to her she would be dead. Lily is almost 11 years old and doesn't need to be attacked by a house mate even one more time. I knew when I first met Violet that she was unstable and told myself that I would give her the best life I could and when it came time for her to be put down I would do it. I can't help but think that we did this. Man has been breeding dogs for his own pleasure for hundreds of years. I don't know exactly where Violet came from but I am sure both of her parents are just as if not as crazy as she is. The responsibility started with the breeding of mentally unstable dogs. The responsibility came to me when I adopted her. I couldn't pass the responsibility to anyone else knowing that she is dog aggressive. She would have been three years old in April and dogs are not socially mature until they are four. This would have only gotten worse.

All of this said I still miss my little friend. She was quirky and cute and thought I was the greatest. Despite her many faults and defective brain she was very sweet and is sorely missed. RIP Violet I hope in dog heaven you get a healthy brain and can be relaxed and happy. See you there my friend.

This is the most recent photo of Violet taken on 10/16/09. This is the way I want to remember her.

This is Lily after the fight I posted this because I wanted those who would judge me for putting Violet down to see what I was dealing with. What would you do? The other reason I poted this is so that people might think twice about breeding mentally unstable dogs.

Mid Term Progress Report

2009-10-15T16:26:00.004-05:00

So the semester is half over and I thought I would let everyone know how I am doing. TIRED is how I am doing! Right now I am doing 3 things at once in addition to writing this blog. At least I have become better at this. Last year during my first semester I felt this tired from about the fourth week on. Today I am tired because I spent the last couple of days studying until all hours of the night, getting little sleep and being stressed about tests. But usually I am pretty good. I think the key is just not worrying about that which I can do nothing about. For example, the hell hole that I call a home with the piled up laundry, dishes, and mail I will get to it when I can and until then it isn't going anywhere (unfortunately). The amount of hair on the floor in the corners is probably pretty damn close to the amount of hair on the animals themselves. I am really glad I have lost some weight (due to stress, work and the fact that I rarely have time to eat) because now I have more scrubs to wear to work so I can to do laundry less often. Most days I get enough sleep and I have gotten in the groove enough that a lot of things can be done on auto pilot. My backpack and my coffee travel mug are some of my only friends.

Most of my classes are going well I have an A in my computer class because everything is online and all of the tests are open book taken at home…Thank goodness for this class! I don't have to really go if I don't want to and that has afforded me extra time in the math lab before tests (the only time I miss this class). There are some weird people in there like the guy who sits behind me…he has a glorious mullet and is really nice but rather odd. I moved away from the computer nerds with no books so it is better but still painfully boring most days. It was really hard to stay awake today.

A&P lecture class is going great! I love this class I am learning so much and love going even though it is my early class (9:30 am on Tuesday and Thursday). I made a 96.8% on my first exam and took the second one today...I think I did just as well as the first but we will see. This class by far takes most of my time. I try extra hard here as well because I will get bonus points toward my application to the RT program. Lab is not going as well as lecture however; I took my first of two lab practical's yesterday and got a 75% on it. I am more than a little bummed about this right now. I thought I did better than that and I studied a lot. It isn't the end of the world I guess I just need to study harder and spend some time in the Science Learning Center at school reviewing before the next one. I can still get an A even with this C as Lab is only 30% of my grade.

Math Class is not going well at all right now. I got an 87% on my first test but D's on the last two...I plan on spending more time in the math lab studying and hopefully can save this grade. Rather than give myself an ulcer over this I have already resigned to sticking it out no matter what and if I have to take it again in the spring instead of College algebra then I will. Math is hard for me and I can't realistically expect to just sail through it.

Government class is alright, my teacher is really old and kind of strange…some days I wonder if she knows what is going on but she is sweet anyway. I have a B in that class and am going to study harder the second half of the semester to bring it up to an A. I took my mid term on Wednesday and I got an A on it so that will help.

I am anxiously awaiting the end of this semester so I can have a break. Six whole glorious weeks of freedom from school! I can hardly contain my self. I am also planning on taking one of those weeks off of work so I can do absolutely nothing but hang out with my family, friends and dogs for a week. Since I went to summer school this year I have not had a break since last winter break. I will stock up on good beers and hopefully get to go out and have some fun in public with other humans.

So there you have it, so far so good, just tired today. I will keep you all posted in the blog and on facebook. Thanks for reading leave some comments if you want! I will try to find some time for some more meaningful blogs (I don't have high hopes about this).

More School?

2009-09-30T15:32:00.002-05:00

Here is the second paper I wrote for my government class. Hope you enjoy it and please feel free to leave me some comments!

Link for the article… www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33054056/ns/us_news-education/page/2

I found an interesting topic during my daily review of the news pages on MSNBC today. President Obama is proposing a longer school day for our nation's children. The article is titled "More School? Obama could trim summer break, President, education chief want to lengthen days, keep schools open later". The article was published by The Associated Press on Monday September 28, 2009. The reasons the President cites for his proposal are; kids spend too little time in school which puts them at a disadvantage with other students around the world he also states that schools that are open later provide a safe haven for kids. Arne Duncan, the Education secretary, says that our current school schedule is based on an agrarian economy and we don't have very many farming students these days.

Some statistics mentioned in the article explain that kids in other countries spend more days in school than we do (US 180 days, Taiwan, Japan, and Hong Kong 190-201 days) but not more hours (US 1,146, Asian nations 903-1,050). However kids in those countries consistently beat us in math and science scores. The article goes on to cite studies of charter schools in the US that make a strong case for longer school days and year round school. These kids go to school three hours longer than a typical student. The fact is that kids attending charter schools exceed the school district average on state tests.

The article mentions that underprivileged kids would have a better academic experience if they were in school during the summer rather than at home where they are seldom encouraged to read or learn. Also mentioned in the article, is the cost of these programs, which is of course substantial but says that federal stimulus dollars will pay for much of it.

As I was reading this article I could not help but remember my own childhood and school days. I went to school usually on the bus from eight am until three pm and had time to read or study before dinner and bedtime. I also thought about my summers and the family vacations we took that I would never trade for extra smarts as the memories are priceless. I grew up in a typical suburban, white, two parent family where I was encouraged to read often and was always a member of the summer reading program; however I did very poorly in math. I can't help but think about my math troubles as I watch my niece and nephews navigate through their grade school educations. I wonder if I had received the same opportunities and help that they enjoy, would my life and my grades turned out differently. As an adult I have lived in a place where year round school is mandatory and then moved here where kids still get their summer vacations. I am not a parent so it would be hard for me to say which is better for little children; however, I do believe that education is of the utmost importance and should be cherished. Anything that helps this nation become more educated I am all for, even if it means shorter summer vacations. I know it to be true that educated people do better in life; they raise better human beings, hate less, appreciate more, smile more often and tolerate better. Couldn't we all use more of this?

Simpler times…

2009-09-25T14:32:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow I will have been on this earth for 37 years and today I can't help but think about the simpler times of the past, times when things weren't so hard. Back in the days when the hardest thing I had to do was get out of bed in the morning or decide what I was going to wear to school, or who my friends were going to be. Mom and Dad drove us everywhere and we could sleep when ever we wanted, although we never did. When little presents were the greatest and we looked forward to every new day. I remember when it seemed like an eternity until my next birthday and Christmas couldn't come soon enough.

Now I have to worry about mortgage payments, car payments, bills, where my next meal or tank of gas will come from and the never ending politics at work. I worry that I will never have a family other than the one I was born with and what that means for me when I get old. I worry about global warming, credit card interest, politics, housework, my dirty car, laundry, where I will be in 10 years and getting A's in all of my classes. I worry that I am not good enough to master life and that I will never be the person I see myself as. I have to watch what I say in the company of other adults, and my behavior is watched and criticized by everyone.

I look at my niece and nephews and see how hard they think life is and I want to shake them and tell them to enjoy it while they can. That it's never going to be this easy again. That someday they will have to make impossible decisions that affect the lives of others. To enjoy the simplicity that is theirs at this time in their lives.

Oh what I wouldn't do for just one day back in that life. When my Father was still here and we were all together, sliding in mud after it rained, eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with out filthy fingers, catching boxes full of snails or bugs and bringing them in the house to the dismay of our mother. Wasting away the days in the swimming pool or playing "horsey" in the yard.

Tomorrow I am closer to 40 than 30 and I am feeling older everyday. I guess all I can do is keep trucking along and grasping at the simple things in life, a great shower, a beautiful day, a new flower in my yard, unexpected rain, clean sheets, cat fur on my feet, the smell of dog feet and knowing I am still alive.

Trying Out Office 2007 Blog Thingy

2009-09-15T20:06:00.002-05:00

This is probably going to be pretty uninteresting as I don't have much to say.

I am taking a computer class at school as a prerequisite for the radiology program I would like to get into (I am very excited it is almost time to start the registration procedure) and in said computer class, we are learning how to use 2007 version of Office®. Microsoft Word in the newer version, so far, is pretty cool. We have the 07' edition on our computers at work and I have used it to type up stuff I needed at work but I just fumbled through it and really had no idea what I was doing. Well now I have a better idea of how to use this program and have discovered a bunch of cool things.

Like this blogging feature. You are supposed to be able to type this in Word 07' (which I am doing now) and then when I am done it is supposed to just publish it to my blog. Some of you may be wondering why I think this is cool and so here it is, the sorry excuse for a word processor at BlogSpot SUCKS! So I usually end up typing my blog in Word anyway and then copying and pasting the whole thing to the blog…..as you know when you do this sometimes things get a little wonky and for me (who has so little time as it is) that is really frustrating. There have been multiple instances of weeping and gnashing of teeth. In fact you have probably missed several of my blogs for this reason. I just give up after spending a couple of hours on a blog to have the computer eat it up. Hopefully this helps…if you are reading this on BlogSpot…then it worked. This feature alone would make me want to buy Office 07'.

The computer class is going well, in spite of a few hitches. When the manufacturer packaged the books I spent over $200 on, they failed to include the "Case grader". One of those little codes you must have to do some of the assignments for class. Oh and while I am thinking about it, This whole textbook thing is a racket!!! I am not sure who is making the gazillions of dollars off of us poor unsuspecting students but when and if I find them I will sic my entire Pit Bull pack on them (they will die a slow death from slobber poisoning). But I digress. Anyway the case grader debacle has been trying to say the least. They finally got them into the bookstore today and the whole time my anal retentive brain is freaking out because there is an assignment due on Thursday and I still don't have my Case grader!…this normally wouldn't be such a big deal except that my first A&P exam is on Tuesday of next week and I should be devoting all of my time to studying A&P and not messing with this stupid computer class. On top of that you are supposed to get a 180 day trial of Office 07' with it, which I did but it is on a DVD ROM and not a CD ROM… My computer doesn't read DVD ROM's. So I was able to find a 60 day trial of it online…so that will last until November but I am not sure what to do after that. I am beginning to think it is time for a new computer…as my Computer instructor tells us relentlessly you can get a good one for under $300 these days.

Wow I sure did say a lot for not having much to say.

Hopefully this works….here goes PUBLISH!

Health Care Reform Paper for Government Class.

2009-09-01T19:18:00.001-05:00

Hey all of you awesome blog readers. School is back in session which means you get to read pretty much everything I write and turn in. This assignment is for my U.S. Government class. The assignment was to find an article any article that had to do with the Federal Government and give a summary paragraph as well as a paragraph that includes our opinion of the article as well as our opinion of the subject matter. I can be pretty long winded when it comes to health care (see my health care paper I turned in for English Comp) I hope you all read this and the attached article and form your own opinion....a well informed opinion.

Here is the link for the article I read: www.newsweek.com/id/214254/output/print

It seems these days you cannot flip on your radio, TV or computer and not hear about the Obama administrations proposed Health Care plan. I found the article “The Five Biggest Lies in the Health Care Debate” by Sharon Begley writing for Newsweek, in my daily news reading on MSN’s homepage. It details the five biggest lies about health care reform that are currently being circulated around America. The lies cover a vast range from; having our choice in health benefits taken away, illegal immigrants will get free health care, the government will set doctors wages and the last two are my personal favorites, that a “death panel”, one of Sarah Palin’s claims, will convene to determine when old people should “throw in the towel” and that anyone over 70 years of age will not be eligible for chemotherapy should they need it. The article states where exactly the lie started as well as the individual who started it. This is where it gets interesting. Almost all of these lies were started by right wing conservatives that picked one sentence, on one page, of the 1.017 page bill and skewed it to fit their lie. The author of the article goes on to defeat each lie in turn and give the actual facts as well as where to find correct information that is surrounding the myth.

I am a huge proponent for universal health care so of course this article caught my eye. I always want to know what the other side is talking about and what they could possibly be so upset about. I believe that we should adopt a single payer system; I know that I may not see this in my lifetime and I am prepared for that however, I do believe that this administrations plan is a step in the right direction. I believe that the health of the nation is the responsibility of the nation and a basic right that we all deserve. The President just wants all Americans to have health insurance. He wants to stop the needless suffering and death of hundreds of thousands of people. When I see articles like this I am encouraged that perhaps someone who believes these lies will read it and rethink their position. However, I would also love to think that common sense would take over when you read something that says the government is going to refuse seniors chemo therapy if they are over the age of 70. I would hope that no one would believe something so ridiculous. The article at the end mentions that some believe that health care reform is unconstitutional; the author did mention that we should disprove these ourselves and look at Article I, section 8 of the constitution. So I did, having never read it myself, and sure enough it says in the first paragraph of section 8, “The Congress shall have the power to … provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States …” I tend to believe that “general Welfare of the United States” includes the health and well being of our entire nation and not just that of the ones that are wealthy enough to afford it.

Start of the Fall Semester 2009

2009-08-27T16:16:00.001-05:00

So... school started on Monday August 24th for me, and seemingly everyone else in North Texas! The first day of the Fall semester is so different from any other semester. There are Freshmen everywhere!!! None of them know where they are going, know how to drive, park or observe the driving rules. As I am doing my best imitation of a Sherpa lugging around 100 pounds of books, I get stopped about 3 times a day with questions about where things are, which I don't really mind answering (unless I am late for a class)however, I can't help thinking about my first day last fall and that I figured it out myself. The parking lot is ridiculous! It takes me longer to find a spot than it does to drive to school. I don't remember having this problem during the spring semester but by then most of the freshman have decided that college is not for them, in fact throughout the fall semester the herd thins and by Spring only the serious ones are left. I try to remember when it was my first day of school and how I felt but it is hard. I can't believe I have been at this for a year already!

My classes this semester are OK. Not spectacular but OK. I have a Federal Government class on Monday and Wednesday from 12:20pm until 1:40pm. This class is amusing on so many levels. The students I am in this class with are mostly 18-19 year old teenagers that are still spouting off Mom and Dad's political views they learned at home (which in Texas means mostly ultra conservative, pro gun, pro life, and for the most part, anti anything Democrat). My instructor for this course is quite humorous as well. She is an older lady that grew up in the 60's and didn't start college until she was 47 years old. Her favorite thing is arguing ...and even better for her (but not so much for me) watching opinionated people argue. So as you can imagine she stirs up conversation in class that is inevitably going to lead to arguing. All of this would be fine except these are passionate teens who think they are right so instead of having a discussion and presenting each others side in a calm collected manner they immediately start getting defensive and yelling. Now normally this would be quite amusing, unless it is Monday morning and I am tired and have a headache in which case I want to stab my eye out with a pencil. We will see how this class progresses.

Next is Tuesday and Thursday morning bright and early 9:30am to 10:50am (those of you that know me know how early this is for me), Anatomy and Physiology II lecture. I love this class and my instructor!!! Nuff said! Except I think there will be a lot more "I want to peel my skin off rather than study this" moments this time. We are starting with the endocrine system... hormones are pretty cool actually (such a nerd I know).

My computer class is from 11:00am to 12:20pm Tuesday and Thursday, and makes me want to take a nap every time I go. In addition, I have no idea what is going on in that class I just do the assignments that are posted. The only humorous thing about this class so far, are my two neighbors. They are your typical computer gaming nerds that think computers are the coolest thing on the planet. These types make me a little nutty (they don't generally smell very good either) as they don't really want to help you, in fact they are far more interested in you thinking they are cool because they know how to do it and you don't... I think it is important to point out at this time that neither of them have the book for class and so, of course, want to use mine.

Math class is from 12:30pm -1:50pm Tuesday and Thursday. I haven't decided how I feel about my Math teacher yet. He is a cool, "I was brought up in the 60's" kind of old guy. But his way of teaching math is unlike anyone I have ever seen. This is either going to be very good or very bad for me. I am hoping that this guy is finally going to make me understand math in a way that makes sense to my artistic, scientific brain. He keeps referring to our math class as not a real math class (as in, we are not at Harvard or Princeton) and insists that he is just trying to teach us how to evaluate things for ourselves and not believe everything that teachers and grown ups tell you. I learned this lesson a long time ago and don't really need it again, but whatever.

On Wednesday at 10:10 am before Government class I have my A&P lab. My instructor for that class is awesome as well. She is really straight forward and keeps things simple. I am not sure what could possibly be uncool about this class...or looking at transverse sections of testicles under a microscope for that matter.

All in all the first week of the Fall semester was good. It was kind of cool being the one who knows where everything is and feeling like I have accomplished something good, I have finished one whole year of school and have a 3.87 GPA. I am looking forward to learning a lot this semester and will keep you posted on the cast of characters at school and how I am doing. As usual thanks so much for reading and your comments are always appreciated!

In Memory of "Joe"

2009-08-10T01:38:00.000-05:00

I have been a veterinary technician for 13 years now and the question I hear most often is "How do you deal with the death and suffering you see"? Well most of the time I put my emotions aside and remember that I am there to do a job. Most of the euthanasia's we do are quite humane, to end suffering and therefore easy to deal with. Of course occasionally there is one that breaks my heart and makes my day pretty hard.

Yesterday there was just such a case.

A dog came in very early Saturday morning, you could tell at one time he had been quite handsome and I am sure he used to have the gleam in his eye that I know so well. He was a Pit Bull that had been hit by a car. A good Samaritan stopped to help him in the middle of the night and when he asked the onlookers if they knew who he belonged to; they snatched his collar off, said they had no idea whose dog it was, and drove off into the night. The good Sam (our vet hospital lingo for good Samaritan) brought the poor guy in. He looked beat down and depressed and because he was a Pit my heart instantly went out to him. He was a nice chocolate brown color but his coat was scruffy and unkempt. While he appeared to be unharmed from the car hitting him, his skin was covered with some sort of mange, his cropped ears were full of ticks and his face was badly scarred probably from fighting. I am sure he was full of heartworms and intestinal parasites, as you could see all of his ribs.

I looked at this poor dog and couldn't help but feel sorry for him. I know what kind of dog he could have been if someone hadn't used him for their own selfish pleasure and actually gave him the great life he deserved. We gave him some pain meds, food and a warm bed. He gratefully ate the food and slept soundly and comfortably, probably for the first time in his life, all night.

The next morning it came time to decide what to do with the poor guy. After some calling around to rescues, and asking a bunch of people to take him we realized what we already knew. No one was going to take a mangy, dog aggressive Pit Bull that was covered in mange and full of parasites and heartworms. We decided it would be better to euthanize him at the hospital where he would be surrounded by loving humans than send him to the shelter where he would spend 7-10 days alone, in pain and afraid.

I tried hard to ignore what was going on and decided to stay away from the euthanasia as it was breaking my heart, however the other techs were having a hard time finding his vein and so I was called upon by the doctor to euthanize this poor guy. She sited the reason as being "wouldn't one poke with a needle be better than getting poked several times"? I had to agree, and with an extremely heavy heart I euthanized him and watched as the tiny light left in his eyes drained away. My tears started immediately and I had to leave and compose myself. I secretly named him Joe, after the prize fighter Joe "the Brown Bomber" Louis.

Joe's euthanasia was the hardest I have had to deal with in a while, this poor dog had no chance for a happy life, I am sure he spent his days chained outside with minimal human contact and definitely minimal care. This is one of the reasons I preach so hard about responsible Pit Bull ownership, and pet ownership in general.

That night when I got home I kissed all of my dogs and gave them each extra treats. I couldn't help but think about poor Joe as all of my spoiled dogs settled into their warm soft beds, their bellies full of good food. I wish I could save them all but I realize that I cannot. All I can do is keep going to work and educating the public on responsible pet ownership, as well as set a good example with my own dog pack.

The Dog Pack Series: Suki

2009-08-06T15:04:00.001-05:00

Suki goofing off at the animal hospital with her Daschund pal Mufasa.

Suki, Suki, Suki. What do I say about Suki? Well I should start at the beginning. I met Suki while I was working at Long Beach Animal Hospital in Long Beach California and like everyone else who met her I fell in love with her instantly. Her former owner, Mrs. Catlover (name changed to protect identity) brought her in constantly with skin infections, ear infections and bladder infections due to her bad allergies (most pugs come with this at no extra charge) in addition to her regular puppy visits for shots and spaying. So Suki was there a lot and she happened to be the only pug I liked, as well as the most adorable dog I had ever seen. I always made sure I went up to say hello to her when she came in.

Suki looking adorable as usual, sunbathing on a beautiful Spring day at home.

One day when she was a little over a year old, she came in to see Dr. R because she was limping on her right rear leg. I had already seen her up front, said hello and could not believe she had become so fat (23 pounds)! Shortly after saying hello to Suki she was put in an exam room and the next thing I know Dr. R is handing me a chart and telling me to go get the dog in room three because we are going to euthanize it. I looked down at the chart and it was Suki! I asked him why and he said that Suki had a luxating patella (another one of those “free at no extra charge” pug things) and Mrs. Catlover was tired of spending money on Suki and didn't want her to suffer one minute longer. She refused to let us call a pug rescue because she didn’t believe that they would have her leg fixed and wouldn’t even give her a chance at a shelter…because she was “suffering”. So I asked her if I could have Suki and after promising to have her leg fixed ASAP she gave her up.

I originally planned to find Suki a home after having her leg fixed but Lily fell in love with her right away. In fact the “suffering” Suki was running in and out of my front door up and down 3 steps chasing Lily her first day there. I managed to get her allergies under control; her knee fixed and got her down to a fighting weight of 15 pounds.

Suki and Lily sharing nap time together.

Since then she has been Lily’s constant companion…They share their bed at night, stay in the same kennel when I am gone and are always together. Suki is also quite sure she is a Pit Bull and not a pug. She runs the pack when I am not in charge and sometimes gets them in trouble. She doesn’t mind not being able to have her own little dog, pug things like, cute little stuffed animals or bones that are her size. She has always enjoyed chewing on all of the large and completely indestructible toys you must have when you have a house full of Pit Bulls.

When I had my VW she rode on the back dash every time! I got a lot of honks!

She is quite a clown as anyone who has met her will tell you. She is her own dog and doesn’t really care at all what I think about stuff (good thing she is only 15 pounds). Suki's first love is food…she will do almost anything for food. We must pause here to ponder what Suki thinks is food…most of us would not consider these things as food items but they are among Suki's favorites; cat food, cat vomit, cat poop, dog poop, dog vomit, and of course dog food are her favs. One year at Thanksgiving I took her with me to my sisters and she was caught on the buffet eating the deviled eggs right off of the plate!!! Understandably she is not my sisters favorite. In spite of her naughtiness she is loved by all who meet her.

Have you ever seen anything cuter?

She is really cuddly and cute and I think no less than 50 people have told me they would take her off of my hands if she needed a home. I politely tell them that Suki is Lily's dog and not mine so they have to ask her and not me.

Suki is getting older and it is sad to see her cute little perfect black mask turning grey but she has not slowed down one bit! She is one of the healthiest dogs I own and besides her allergies she has no health problems. As she gets older she snores more and keeps me awake sometimes and I have to fight a little harder to keep weight off of her but other than that Suki is a joyful little clown. She makes me laugh everyday and I love her for that. Here are some extra photos of her that are my favorites. She is quite the ham and loves to have her photo taken!

Hanging out with Wig the desert tortoise in the backyard at home.

Lounging on the chair with Lily on a lazy day.

Looking like a movie star pug.

One of a million funny faces she makes, notice the poo on top of her head...a dining accident I am sure.

Quick Update on Stan Lee

2009-08-04T20:55:00.001-05:00

I am sure some of you are wondering about Stan. He is doing well! He has been off of his antibiotics for almost a month now and has not had a relapse. He had repeat xrays and his bones look great. His right front leg is still shorter than the left (I call it the lucky fin) and both front legs are shorter than the back legs. He is adjusting well to life in the Haskins pack and as his personality develops he continues to be really silly and funny. He has reached his terrible twos however and has become a little rebellious but nothing I can't manage. He really has been and continues to be a great puppy especially in light of his terrible beginning. Here are some recent photos. He is getting so big...42 pounds! Enjoy!

Look at the funny look on his face! So cute!

He is a bit of a bone hog, and likes to sleep.

He is getting so grown up!

Dog Pack Series: Lily

2009-08-04T20:16:00.000-05:00

Lily is the matriarch of my pack and has been with me since she was six weeks old. She came to me when I was in Long Beach, California working at VCA Lakewood Animal Hospital. Lily was discovered by animal control workers, cruising the gutter in Compton California. I guess that makes her an original gangster, she got to the hospital at about 2 am she had a nasty bite wound on her face and was so dirty you couldn’t tell she was white. We figured she came from someone breeding and fighting pit bulls and once she had been bit they threw her in the street. We cleaned her up and I took her home.

Lily in her younger days hanging out at the beach.

The first time I laid eyes on her I knew three things,

One. Her name was Lily

Two. That she was really special and

Three. She was the ugliest duckling puppy I had ever seen.

She was the first dog that was truly mine and she has turned out to be really special in every way. She is the sweetest dog I know (biased I know) and loves me above all others. She is painfully shy and takes a while to warm up to new people however, once she does you have a friend for life. She is very obedient and just wants to make me happy.

When she was younger her favorite things included, ball, Frisbee, the beach, and swimming in the pool,lake and ocean. She could jump five or more feet off of the ground to catch a Frisbee, run as fast as she could after the ball and was the best belly flopper off the side of the pool you ever laid eyes on. She is also the smartest dog I own by far. She speaks English (anyone who knows her can attest to this). As she looks at me when I am talking to her you can tell she understands. I often wait for her to respond then remember that she is after all, a dog. She loves to go to work with me and does some pretty funny stuff while she is there for example, she knows that when we are taking x-rays she either has to go away from the beam or if she wants to stay in the room she lays down so I can cover her with a lead gown.

Lily in the prime of her life jumping off the side of the pool!

Unfortunately Lils is getting older. She will be eleven in December and has some serious health issues. When she was one year old she took locks off of two gates at my house in Long Beach and got out of the yard while I was at work. She was gone for five days (freaking out I know) and when I found her she had been hit by a car. She suffered a broken pelvis (broken in 3 places) and her tail was badly broken and had to be removed. When she was six years old she ruptured her ACL ligament on her right knee and had surgery only to rupture the left one as soon as the first one healed. She underwent back surgery two years ago and continues to have weakness. She was diagnosed with Degenerative Myelopathy (the same as MS in humans) last year and now she is battling that. She also had a pretty aggressive malignant cancer removed from her leg about 6 months ago.

Lily enjoying her golden years, sunbathing in the yard.

It is really hard watching such a good friend that has been through so much with me getting old. That dog has traveled halfway across the country with me and put up with countless foster pets, pet sitting pets, cats and of course her constant companion Suki. She has helped me break in the three new pups I have and has showed them how to be good members of the pack. She spends most of her time sleeping and laying around in the house like an old lady should, however she still manages to chase the puppies around every once in a while. Her favorite things to do in her old age include; sunbathing, taking dips in the kiddy pool when it’s hot, going to work with me and sleeping under the covers in her bed in the winter. I don’t know what I will do when she is gone I will miss her terribly. I try not to think about that though and just savor every minute I have with her and I always remember she is the greatest.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Lily.

My Own Economic Downturn

2009-07-24T00:29:00.000-05:00

I have not been posting any blogs lately because I do not have internet at my house until the end of August. I have been enjoying my own private economic downturn of late and that was the first luxury to go. However, I do need it for school and will be getting it back before school starts. Go figure, now that I have time to write in the blog....there is no internet. I am sure once school starts and the internet is back I won't have any time for the blog again. Sheesh! What a bummer. I hope you guys enjoy what little I am able to post here and there. Hope you are having a great Summer!

An ER Vet Tech's Holiday: 4th of July Edition

2009-07-05T23:08:00.000-05:00

So here we are again on our nations birthday. Folks are out watching fire works, eating awesome BBQ, and spending time with family and friends. But not me, I am an emergency Veterinary Technician. I get to be at the animal ER nursing all of the pets that have had a little too much holiday fun.

It always amazes me that relatively normal, seemingly intelligent people find it necessary to do the things they do to their pets on the holidays. I often wonder what would posses a person to give their dog all of the BBQ leftovers from an entire party of 20 people. Then when they get to the hospital and their dog has a whopper of a stomach ache they give you this confused look and are perplexed as to why their pet could possibly be sick. Sometimes I can't even get them to confess what they did, not because they don't want to tell me but, because it doesn't occur to them that feeding their dog rich, fatty ribs is OK when their dog is used to eating the equivalent of meat flavored KIX cereal every day.

Watching the face of your dog as he chows down 20 peoples leftovers: Priceless
Treatment for pancreatitis: $1200.00
Surgery to remove a bone from your dogs intestines: $2500.00 (not including the 2 days of hospitalization)

My other favorite holiday clients are the ones that take "Spike" who has never been socialized, spends every day of his life in his own house or yard and never has contact with other dogs, over to a relatives house where another anti-social dog lives, for a holiday visit. This generally ends in a fight and one or both dogs end up spending their holiday with us getting their wounds sewn up.

A holiday love affair between "Spike" and grandma's poodle: Priceless.
Sewing up the wounds on both dogs at the ER: $1500.00

I have saved my favorite Independence Day folks for last, these guys are my favorite, after a 12 pack of Bud Light(each) they think it is a great idea to let "Fluffy" run around in the front yard (with no fence and no leash) then are completely blown away when "Fluffy" gets smacked by a car in the street. I love it when these folks show up at the ER. The smell of beer, cigarettes and body odor in a closed exam room is really fun in and of itself but, what really makes my holiday great is, they apparently assume there is safety in numbers because there are never less than 5 of them. They all want to tell their version of the story(at the same time), and it is always the fault of the person just trying to drive on the street and definitely not the fault of the owners of the dog with no leash. They are also a little slow on the uptake and as you can imagine it can be pretty frustrating trying to explain medical care to drunk people.

Wondering what the neighbors are going to say about Ted's jiggling beer gut: Priceless
The cost for life saving procedures on your dog that ran in front of a car: $3000.00 (and that is if we can save them)

Now for those of you that are reading this and think I am full of shit....go ahead and do what you want, but just to let you know the average ER bill starts at $600.00 for diagnostic tests and can be as much as $3000.00 for various surgeries depending on what your pet gets into and what they need. Just to walk into the front door it is $120.00 on a holiday.

I will close with a happy 4th to all of you and please, keep you and, infinitely more important to me, your pets safe.

Stay Tuned for the Dog Pack Series!

2009-07-01T22:33:00.001-05:00

Hey all I have decided to work on a series of blogs about my dog pack. I have been considering it for some time and have decided to start working on it this weekend. I was going to put all of them in the same blog but once I started writing about Lily and realized that she had an entire page I decided to spare you guys and do them one at a time. It is a funny, sentimental look at my dogs as i see them and I hope the writing is good as sometimes it is really hard to write well about emotional things. Enjoy and please leave comments...They really mean the world to me.

A&P I

2009-07-01T19:04:00.000-05:00

So I have been taking an Anatomy and Physiology class (the first of two I have to take) at TCC this Summer session. It started on May 27th and ended today. That was by far the hardest I have ever studied for a class. We fit a lot of information into five and a half weeks. I have been studying, sleeping, working, or eating for the entire session and today I took my last test in the lecture portion. I am so proud of myself I have an A!!! For those of you who are new to my academic goals/plans, this is the best news ever!!! I am applying for the RT program at TCC in November, the program had 233 applicants last year and only 33 of those got in. It is incredibly competitive and only the best get accepted. They take your overall GPA and then the GPA for your science classes and accept you based on those two things. So it is really important to keep a high overall GPA as well as a 4.0 GPA in these science classes. Anyway I am really happy and wanted to share this with the blog followers. I get to relax a little for the second summer session as I am only taking Medical Terminology. Thanks for all of the support form friends and family and understanding why I have turned into a geeky weird hermit type person (I rather like being a nerd). I will keep you posted.

MJ

2009-06-27T20:03:00.000-05:00

It is 1983, I am 10 years old. Fluorescent colors are all the rage as well as, bangles (those bracelets we wore by the hundreds up our arm), MTV, white lace gloves with no fingers, Reebok's with Velcro straps, big hair, VHS, aquanet hairspray, Jolt Cola, Fraggle Rock, Knight Rider, the A-Team, brightly colored legwarmers, jheri curls, stirrup pants, Madonna, Boy George, Wham and of course that was the year Michael Jackson released the number one selling album of all time and to this day, Thriller.

I don't usually have a hard time with the death of stars but his was an especially heartbreaking one for me because Michael Jackson has been incredibly famous my entire life. He was my first boyfriend and his face adorned the first boy toy idol type poster on my wall as a girl.

This was the poster I had

I cannot go on with my week without mentioning Michael Jackson in my blog. I was blown away on Thursday when I got to work and heard that he was dead. I was in total disbelief! How could the guy that we grew up imitating, adoring, and later making fun of just be gone forever.

The first two records I ever owned were Culture Club's "Kissing to Be Clever" and Michael Jackson's "Thriller". Thriller was by far my favorite of the two and my cousins, siblings and I spent hours listening to it on my dad's record player while we tried to master the moonwalk and many other dance moves we had seen Michael do on the greatest video of all time. I mean really this guy was a revolutionary he changed the way we danced, sang, and thought about the music video. Are you of an age to remember suffering through old Devo videos? I am, and let me tell you they were really nothing to brag about. Not to mention he broke through the race barrier and single handed brought an end to only crazy, shouldn't be dancing, white people on MTV (thank you).

His life has been continuously and often painfully scrutinized and wrought with turmoil as long as I can remember. There were the stories of his fathers abuse and pushing too hard, the Neverland Ranch (really, what 23 year old wouldn't want a ranch with amusement park rides and tons of weird animals if they could?) Later his marriage to Elvis Presley's Daughter, Lisa Marie, loads of plastic surgery that turned him from a fairly nice looking black man into a really weird looking white woman and then his increasingly outrageous behavior had the tabloids following his every move. All of his fame really came to a screeching halt when the accusations of child molestation came out. I am still unsure as to how I feel about that but the fact remains that he is one of the biggest icons of my life time and he will be missed.

Let us not forget the other fallen stars that unfortunately had to share their deaths with an icon. Farrah Fawcett (I always wanted her hairdo) and Ed McMahon (that guy always looked like he was having a good time).

My favorite Michael Jackson song was Human Nature and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind leaving me a comment with your favorite MJ hit as well as your favorite 80's stuff.

Update on Stan Lee

2009-06-19T00:39:00.000-05:00

I wanted to give an update on Stan, the newest member of my dog pack. He is 6 weeks out on his antibiotics now and had recheck radiographs today. His legs are better but certainly not healed yet. He still has some infection in his bone and so will remain on his antibiotics for another month. Another worry is that because the infection was near his growth plates his ulna is growing faster than his radius causing his radius to bow out slightly. This is quite worrisome as this can cause some major problems and would require surgery to extend his radius which is time consuming and very painful. Right now the doctors are just worried about getting rid of the infection so he is going home tonight with another four weeks worth of antibiotics and has to stay on his anti-inflammatory (actually he may need these for life to help with the arthritis he will undoubtedly develop). So that is the update on Stan Lee. Here is a repeat picture from the Springtime Photo Blog but it is the most recent one I have.

He has no idea that anything is wrong with him. He runs and plays with the other dogs, is extremely friendly with the dogs at work and has great social skills so far (thanks to my pack). He has learned to sit and heel even off leash sometimes. He can jump in and out of the car by himself and most of the time doesn't even crash. He still barks with toys in his mouth which makes everyone laugh and is by far the most vocal dog I have ever owned. He is still really lazy and is fitting into the pack really well. I will keep you updated on his progress.

My Cool, Secret, Favorite things

2009-06-18T14:26:00.002-05:00

Why is it that people keep finding out about my cool, secret favorite things!!! I have been drinking coffee for 14 years now and have lovingly turned it into an art form. I love everything about the coffee. I love the way it smells when you first open the can. I love the way it looks in its bean form before you grind it up. I love the way it smells when it is brewing. I love the way it makes me feel after I drink it and of course I really love the way it tastes. I drink my coffee many different ways and depending on what time of day it is depends on how I drink the coffee. Sometimes I like it hot, strong and black, sometimes I drink it with regular cream and some splenda, sometimes I want my coffee really rich and so I add heavy whipping cream and splenda (this is like a milk shake) other times I like those flavored creamers, that are not really milk, and sometimes I like it iced. This brings me to the point of this blog.

I moved to Texas in June of 2002 from Long Beach California and I was pretty sure of two things after I did that. One. People in Texas were suffering form some sort of brain damage that caused them to think that the climate here was suitable for human existence and Two. That I was going to die in the heat before the summer was over. My point being, the thought of hot coffee on a day when it is 100 degrees and 80% humidity made me cringe. I became an iced coffee addict. I drink my coffee cold from May until October to try and beat the heat out here. One of my favorite places to obtain the iced coffee is at the local 7-11. I go in, fill up one of those Styrofoam cups (I also have a Styrofoam cup, lid and straw fetish, a subject for another blog perhaps) with ice and then pour the hot coffee over the top of it. This is the most delicious thing ever when it is hot outside. Well no one was the wiser at the 7-11 they thought I had a soda and therefore charged me .89 cents. One of the women there caught me one time and made a huge deal about it and tried to make me pay for 32 ounces of coffee and so I just bought a cup of ice and a medium coffee and put them together my self which was still cheaper than 32 ounces of coffee. That was the only time someone gave me a hard time about it and to this day I still do that at the 7-11 in the summer.

I am hoping beyond all hope that this little wonderful ritual of lovely coldness doesn’t have to end for me. It seems that iced coffee is some new special thing and everyone has it for sale. It ranges from 2 dollars at the 7-11 all the way to 5 dollars at the starbucks.

Ready for a, mildly off the topic, rant?

I am appalled that starbucks charges two bucks for one cup of coffee (that is just coffee, not all of the whipped frap shit they pass off as coffee that will run you close to 6 dollars depending how much frap you want) and I am even more appalled at the people that actually pay 2-6 dollars for a cup of coffee. Most would say “hey, live and let live” and I would usually do the same, if someone wants to pay 2 dollars for a stinking cup of coffee, burnt coffee I might add, then more power to them.(I will however, admit to a liking for the gear they have at the starbucks and have been known on occasion to shop the clearance table for cups and stuff) I am angry because all of the other places you used to get coffee at a reasonable price are charging a ridiculous amount for their coffee as well. I guess they figure if starbucks can charge 2 bucks for a simple cup of coffee then surely they can charge $1.59 and the unsuspecting public will think they are getting a deal.

But I digress.

My point is that they now have McIced coffee at the McDonalds and some weird magical machine that spits out some concoction at most gas station shops that they are calling iced coffee! You too can have this magical coffee concoction for close to 2 bucks. The crazier thing is people are paying for it!!! It is ice and coffee...How does that equal 2 dollars? And why is everyone so quick to jump on the bandwagon? And why does everyone always find out about my cool secret favorite things!!!

This is a photo I took of some brand new beautiful shiny coffee beans that had just been opened. Can you smell them? I can.

Spingtime Photo Blog 2009

2009-06-10T16:42:00.001-05:00

Happy Springtime All!

I know I have been MIA for the last month or so, I am currently taking Anatomy and Physiology during a six week summer course (insane I know). So I have had little time to do anything let alone write in my blog. My class is going great I got the highest grade in the class on the first lecture exam, a 96%(yes I do realize how nerdy I am and yes I am gloating a little bit). I haven't had time for the blog but I certainly can't let the beauty of this season pass me by, I have been able to take some photos this spring of my garden and some other things that for me, represent springtime so I thought I would share them with you here, in my second photo blog (hopefully this one comes out better than the last one). So here we go. Enjoy!

We have had quite a bit of rain here this spring...the sky here in Texas this time of year is pretty spectacular. This was after a really big storm.

This is sunset on the same day. The sun sets behind the back door of the hospital so I regularly get to catch a glimpse of it. Sometimes I have time to photograph it.

Extra springtime foliage brings wild creatures to hide in it! This is Miss Violet checking me out through the leaves of the Crepe Myrtle.

This is the Magnolia tree that grows in my front yard, because of all of the rain, it is covered with flowers. It took me awhile to catch one close enough to the ground so I could photograph it. The tree is much taller than the house! This bloom is probably 10 inches across!

This Crepe Myrtle will bloom from now until almost Fall. It provides some great privacy for me on the West side of my house as well as a wonderful color show!

Texas Hibiscus. It is not as fancy or large as the Hibiscus I am used to in California but it certainly is pretty, and it definitely reminds me of home.
"Gold Medal Rose" One of the newest additions to the garden this year and it just keeps on blooming and growing despite some nibbling by the local canines.

Shocking Pink Geraniums...these bloom constantly! I got them on sale at Lowes before Spring started they were only $1.59 a piece (there are two here) The best bang for the buck this year for sure!

Both of these are Oleander. I know, I know, this is poisonous to the dogs but it is in the front where they cannot get to it and it is too pretty to cut down. It will bloom from now until the end of Summer.

This is Sweet Pea Vine. It smells fantastic and is sooooo pretty! So far it only has two flowers but soon it will be covered with beautiful mixed colors and I bet I will be able to smell it from the front porch!!!

Had to throw in a picture of silly Stan Lee, he was curious about what I was doing on the other side of the fence. Beside puppies are very spring like! Check out the hackberry stuck in his lip!

Yellow Wildflowers in the field behind the animal hospital. They are not more than 1 inch across and so cute.

My rock patio after some nice spring rain.

This tree is so nice when it first starts growing in the spring time. I know spring is coming and the long dreary Winter is almost over.

Summer School.

2009-05-27T15:53:00.001-05:00

Well today was my first day of summer school at TCC. I am taking Anotomy and Phisiology I this session. I had quite a bit of anxiety about this class because I did so poorly in my last science class(Biology for Science Majors I). But now that I have gone to class I realized what I knew in the back of my mind all along. I had a really horrible teacher for my Biology class. My Professor this time is great! She takes time to go through everything and makes sure we understand it. I am really looking foward to class and I am sure I will be able to come away with an A! I need to get over my anxiety anyway if I want to be a biology major and I think this class is going to be my stepping off point for that. I like her so much I am going to check my list for fall and see if she is teaching A&P II in the fall semester. I hope I will have time to keep everyone posted on the blog but this is a hard class and it goes really fast in the summer. We have a test every week in lecture and a practical every 3 weeks in lab. I will keep you all posted on my grade!

Puppy Mills are Evil

2009-05-22T14:08:00.001-05:00

I recently watched an episode of Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic channel that was about Puppy Mills. A rescue organization asked Cesar to come help them with a couple of dogs that they had rescued from a puppy mill that, of course, had some pretty serious behavior problems. One dog was a Pekinese that bit anyone who tried to touch her or the person that was holding her and the other was a Yorkshire terrier that obsessively licked the face and hands of whoever was holding her. Cesar was, of course, able to fix both of these dogs and they found great homes.

There were cameras on the people that went into the mill and the conditions that these dogs live in is deplorable. The adult breeders (that is all they are in the eyes of the people who run these places) live their entire lives in a small cage. They never come out, EVER. The practice is legal but there are some rules; such as the mills are only allowed to have 100 dogs at a time. 100 dogs! The dogs they breed have every conceivable congenital defect there is and yet they keep breeding them. I saw a yorkie that had such bad knees that she was unable to stand normally. I saw a couple of Shih-Tzu’s that had horrible entropian (the eyelashes go into the eye instead of away from it scratching the eye), it was so bad that the dogs had permanent ulcers on their corneas. Both of these dogs had litters of pups with them. Dogs from puppy mills are more likely to have hip dysplaysia (look it up), elbow dysplaysia, and dental disease among many other diseases that will be problematic for both the dog in terms of discomfort and the owner in terms of cost to fix and maintain these problems. Not to mention the dogs get no socialization and the puppies are taken away from their mothers and siblings at four to five weeks of age most of the time to be shipped off to pet stores to be sold. I cannot tell you how bad this is for dogs. They need to spend at least eight weeks with their mother and siblings if not ten weeks. This is the time when dogs learn social skills they need for the rest of their lives from their mother and siblings. This experience cannot be simulated by humans. No wonder the dog whisperer is so popular! He has to help all of these dogs that could have learned proper social skills from their own dog family.

I am really writing this blog to reach as many people as possible about the horrors of puppy mills. The dogs are basically tortured for as long as they can spit out litters of unhealthy puppies and then killed when they are no longer of any use. These puppies get sold to pet stores where people buy them by the thousands every year. As long as there are people to buy puppies at pet stores there will be puppy mills to make them. The pet stores are as much at fault. They sell supposedly healthy puppies to the unsuspecting public…wait, I hate to not put the public on the hook here. They should do some research before they buy any dog. It is best to adopt from a shelter or a breed rescue, these are people that dedicate their lives to rescuing a certain breed from shelters or they get dogs from people that can no longer keep their purebred dog and then match the dog to a better home. If you must buy a dog go to a reputable breeder (these are not online) and ask to see both of the parents. The dogs should be raised one litter at a time in someone’s home. The pups should be clean and happy. The parents should be free of defects and the breeder should have paper work certifying the health of both parents. The temperament of both parents should be impeccable as this is definitely passed from generation to generation. Before you get a dog do a little research. Find out what the energy level of that breed is and make sure if you get a high energy dog you are willing to exercise the dog everyday. Do not get a high energy dog and then take it to the shelter when it eats your couch out of frustration because you can’t or won’t exercise it properly! Do not get a breed that needs to go to a groomer every six weeks or needs it coat brushed every day if you are not prepared to spend the money on grooming or the time on brushing leaving the dog to be matted and filthy all of the time. They don’t like being dirty anymore than you do.

Finally I would really love to see puppy mills outlawed. This is cruelty to animals and should not be allowed to go on any longer. Most of you are probably saying “Don’t we have enough problems in this world?” This is true but these dogs are innocent that don’t want anything more than to be fed and near us. I think they deserve better. We have shaped them over thousands of years to suit our needs and I think it is time they get a break. I have been a Veterinary Technician for 15 years now and everyday I am at work I see an endless parade of dogs. It is pretty easy to tell which ones came form a puppy mill and which ones didn’t. It makes me sad everyday that this horrible disservice is being done to these wonderful creatures that we are supposed to take care of. I will leave you with a couple of pictures I found online of puppy mills. I warn you I spared you the worst of them but they are pretty sad. If you want to help just type Puppy Mill into your search engine and you will find countless sites that are trying to get this stopped as well as ways you can help. The best way is educating the public on what is really going on and where those cute little “puppies in the window” came from.

Lastly I want to drill this into your head; MILLIONS OF DOGS ARE EUTHANIZED EVERY YEAR!!! SPAY OR NEUTER YOUR DOG!!! YOU DO NOT NEED TO BREED THEM! YOUR CHILDREN DO NOT NEED TO SEE THE MIRACLE OF BIRTH THAT IS WHAT PBS IS FOR! IF THEY NEED TO SEE THE MIRACLE OF BIRTH THEN THEY MUST ALSO NEED TO SEE THE MIRACLE OF A PILE OF 140 DEAD DOGS. THIS IS HOW MANY DOGS ARE KILLED IN EVERY SHELTER IN THIS COUNTRY EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!

Apology.

2009-05-20T15:25:00.001-05:00

I want to apologize to any of my new found followers who just received a million emails saying I had posted something new. I did post something new, the photo blog of Doggie day camp. It was really hard and I had no idea that would take forever. Plus it did not look the same on the actual blog as it did in the preview. So I had to go back a million times to redo the wording under the pictures so you could read it. I learned some lessons on photo blogging and hopefully it won't happen again. Again I apologize..please keep reading!!! I love to read the comments you guys leave. Thanks so much for your patience!

Doggie Day Camp at Aunt Lisa's + Dinner for the Humans.

2009-05-20T13:51:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I went to my pal Lisa's house for dinner. She made rotisserie chicken, which was quite delicious, and on the side we had some creamy twice baked mashed potatoes, sweet carrots, corn and rolls (it was a carb feast! Lisa's got the pregnant). I was able to see my friend Jeska and her daughter Avery who I havn't seen in a while (Avery is gigantic!). It was really great to see them and we had a great time catching up on stuff and watching Avery bounce on the giant ottoman Lisa has in her living room. We also got to watch some creepy Disney show where some teenage boy slowly turned into a merperson (politically correct term for mermaid) .....really wierd. I hope beyond all hope that I never have to see a teenage boy wearing a speedo again. Anyway while we were feasting, chatting and marveling at the wierd Disney merperson movie inside, the dogs were enjoying doggie day camp at Lola's house outside. I got some great shots of them running and socializing so I thought I would show them off here. I wish I could share some photos of the humans but it is really dark in Lisa's house (think cave) So taking pictures in there is close to impossible especially with my amature photography skills.

I took along the whole pack except for Violet AKA "The Destroyer of the Peace". When we first got there Daddy and Lola RAN!

And ran.....

And ran.....

And ran.....

And ran some more....

And crashed into each other...(Pretty funny)

Then it was time for a break in the pool.

Lily the senior didn't do much running, but definatly enjoyed the pool time.

After the pool break there was lots more running!

Even wee Stan Lee got in on the running, however he didn't last long and was pretty gimpy at the end of the day.

After the running there was some time for nice conversation. I am not sure, but it seems to be romantic in nature.

New alliances were forged.

Stan found a ball and some shade under the trailer in the back. (Lisa is showing her Oklahoma roots no offense girl you know that is funny!)

After all were worn out it was time for some modeling poses. Lily and suki were pretty low key during all of this and I am not sure how I didn't get cute photos of them but oh well there are plenty of those to go around.

Daddy looking quite debonaire.

Lola, quite shiek and very Hollywood as usual.

Stan Lee is REALLY cute here!

All in all we had a wonderful day. I was able to see my friends, that I never get to see, and I had really tired pack of dogs by the time I got home. Thanks Lisa for the great dinner that I didn't have to make myself. It was so good to see you guys! I hope everyone enjoys the pictures! This is my first photo blog....I am sure there will be many to follow!

The Legalazation of Industrial Hemp

2009-05-18T20:01:00.000-05:00

Today I watched a little video on MSNBC about industrial hemp and its current ban in the U.S. I am greatly disturbed by the apparent lack of common sense put forth by the U.S. government regarding its use. We import millions of pounds of the stuff from Canada and France every year but we continue to be the only country in the world that doesn’t grow it. It was made illegal in the 1950’s as the start of the “war on drugs”. Hemp contrary to popular belief is not cannabis (marijuana). It does contain a small amount of THC, the psychoactive ingredient of cannabis, but you would have to smoke a telephone pole sized joint to get high and really all you would likely end up with is a whopper of a headache.
The fibers produced from hemp are very strong and the seeds are very high in omega three fatty acids. Hemp is used to make a lot of things including but certainly not limited to; gloves, clothes, soap, lotion and car parts. Here is an example; the American car we know as the Viper (coincidentally built by the company Chrysler…yeah that one that is bankrupt now) gets its door panels from an independent company. This company makes the door panels out of hemp. The company that makes the door panels has to buy the hemp needed for the doors from France and Canada. The CEO of the company says that doing this adds ten to fifteen percent to the cost of the car. Currently all of the money we spend every year on products made from hemp, Millions, goes to other countries that we have to buy the hemp from.
Hemp is cheaper to grow than cotton because it doesn’t need fertilizer, irrigation, or pesticides; it basically grows like a weed. As the taxes on tobacco continue to rise in the U.S., hemp is a viable growing option for those farmers as well as the farmers that grow the cotton that makes our clothes. The footprint for growing hemp is much smaller than the footprint left by growing cotton.
There is a bill HR-1866 in congress right now which is co-sponsored by Rep. Ron Paul for the legalization of industrial hemp; however he is not optimistic it will pass because congress says that hemp is marijuana. So if they vote for hemp, they are voting for marijuana, which means they are voting for hard drugs so then they are pro drugs. Only in Washington could this convoluted thinking thrive.
Of course the legalization of drugs in America is a whole other story and one I believe to be a good decision for this country but that is a whole other blog. However, I will leave you with these thoughts on it. How many of you have tried an “illegal” drug? How hard was it for you to get? How many of you have known a drug addict in your life? How hard was it for them to get drugs? How affected were they by the belief that they were dirty or bad because of their addiction to “illegal” drugs? Do you honestly think there would be more drug addicts if drugs were legalized? How much money do you think the government spends on policing drugs? Try 19 billion dollars a year. I wonder how much more money this country could make legalizing and taxing drugs? How much more of that money would be better spent treating people with the debilitating DISEASE of drug addiction? Think about it.

The hemp plant.

The Trouble With Stan Lee

2009-05-18T19:01:00.002-05:00

I wanted to tell everyone about my new little friend Stan Lee. Stan is a Pit Bull pup that, at six weeks of age, came into the AEHNT the first week in April. He had been attacked by two Boston Terriers and had really bad wounds on both of his elbows (for those of you that don’t know, dog elbows are in the same place as people elbows). In addition to these wounds he was very much in shock. The owners of the little pup had already decided that he was “to far gone” and just wanted us to euthanize the little guy. Well as you can imagine that didn’t go over very well with me. So we talked the people into releasing him to the hospital and I decided that I would take on his care and find him a new loving home.
So his treatment started simply enough with an injection of penicillin, pain medicine and his wounds stitched closed, as well as a bath to wash all of the blood off of him. He was started on oral medication for pain, inflammation and one broad spectrum antibiotic. He made it through his first night at the hospital and was doing well. Not really eating the first two days but his appetite improved. On day three he started to smell really bad and the wound on his right leg seemed to be getting worse and infected. He was started on another antibiotic to go with the first one and hydrotherapy was started. I took him home with me on day four and my dog pack welcomed him into the house. The humans that had him first had obviously carried him around every where and did not let him be a dog. He had no clue about the other dogs and he preferred to be glued to me all the time. Which if you know me is not going to happen. He was still pretty sick and spent most of his time in his kennel either barking at the top of his lungs or sleeping.

Here is Stan when he first became part of the pack...you can tell he is not a happy camper.

On day five the wound on his right leg had become very infected and the skin that had been sutured closed died and opened up. So off we went on my day off (when I should have been studying) to the AEHNT, where he was put under anesthesia and the dead tissue removed from both front legs. He now had a 1 inch deep and 1 inch diameter hole on his left elbow and a 3inch by 2 inch hole that was all the way down to the bone on the right leg. So his wound was debrided and he was to get bandages on both front legs that had to be changed every 2 days for 3 weeks. So it went that way for 3 weeks. I took him in on the scheduled day (some I was already working on and some I had to drive there special) he got sedation and general anesthesia so that I could remove his bandages check the wounds and apply new bandages.

Here he is after he had been with me for about 10 days... A little happier but he was still pretty painful and still not really interacting with the rest of the pack.

After one and a half weeks the hole on his left elbow was able to be closed and sutured. The right one was steadily getting better and each time the bandages came off his wound was smaller and smaller until finally after 3 weeks it was small enough to leave his bandage off and form a scab.

Only one bandage on now. He was getting a little better acclimated.

So finally poor little Stan who had been living with bandages and an e-collar all this time could have the freedom of no bandages and no e-collar plus he could stop taking all of his meds that he had been on this whole time.

Stan enjoying the drugs he got before another bandage change.

Seven days later he was limping a lot on his right front leg. I took him to see one of the doctors at the AEHNT (they all knew him by then) and of course as I put him on the floor and he ran around like a maniac. The doctor that saw him that day decided that he had just over done it the day before with Daddy and Violet. He did fine until 3 days later when the limping returned and then worsened they next day(another one of my days off of course) So back we went to the hospital and then discovered that the infection had crept back and not only did he have swelling around his right elbow joint but x-rays revealed that he has osteomyelitis. Which is an infection in the bone. Which is not good.
So now the poor little guy has a really sore leg, and has to be on antibiotics for at least two months and maybe more. So to make a long story short… I think I am stuck with Stan. I am not sure who is going to want a puppy that may or may not be deformed, need expensive surgery, and or his leg amputated. We will not know any of this until he is done with his fast growing which is when he is seven months old. By then he will be big….he will be trained but a big burley boy that is in love with me and the pack. How will I part with him then? I know, I know…you are all saying “Cassandra! You don’t need another dog!” But really, do you want him with all of his problems? I didn’t think so. I decided to take on his care and so now it is my responsibility to take care of him. He si fitting into the pack quite well and has turned into a lazy lump just like his big brother Daddy. He even tolerates Violet and Lily likes him as long as he wants to rest next to her. He is a funny little guy and likes to bark with his toys in his mouth. He is as smart as the rest of the pack and has already started his puppy training which is going really well. He walks on a leash really well most of the time and already knows how to sit. Every day his leg gets better and better and he is almost without a limp. Check out the photos section to see some pictures of him. I think this officially makes me “The Crazy Pit Bull Lady”. I will keep everyone posted on his progress.

Here is Stan in his little bed comfy and healing in his new forever home.

My New Blog!!!

2009-05-18T14:32:00.000-05:00

Hello!
I didn't feel like I had enough exposure with my blog on myspace so I am moving up to the big time on blogger! I am importing my old stuff from myspace and put them here and will most likely just blog here from now on. Keep checking back for updates, new blogs and of course pictures!

Payday.

2009-05-14T18:40:00.000-05:00

So I thought I would share with you the NUMBER ONE REASON I am back at school and have decided to change my profession. I got paid today. Most of you are probably saying Yeah!!! Well actually no, usually this is the most depressing day of the month. After I pay all of my bills I usually have about $130 to buy gas and food for two weeks. Now I am not complaining, it is what it is, at least I have a job and a car and my house and food to eat but come on. Because of our “economic downturn” I can’t work over time at work anymore which is what I usually do on my downtime from school to get caught up. No wonder everyone in this country is in debt to their eyeballs! I have to use my CC sometimes just to buy gas or food. Pretty sad. I just can’t wait until I can get a job that pays a decent amount so I can live my current life comfortably. At first I was nervous about doing something new after being a tech for 15 years but now I am embracing the change. I just want to be comfortable and able to go out at least once a month and have some dinner somewhere or a few drinks in the awesome downtown area that I live so close to. Anyway enough of my rant. Lates.

Dropping Biology

2009-04-13T19:41:00.000-05:00

So I have had my first defeat in my college life. I had to drop my biology class this semester. My teacher sucks. He doesn't prepare us for tests, mumbles through lecture and hands out objectives for stuff he says is going to be on the test and then adds things to the test that were not on the objective. I have been studying harder for this class than any other. I read everything did all of the objectives he asked me to, and gone to every class lecture. After the fact I looked at ratemyprofessor.com and found out that I am not alone...appartently he has been doing this for years. He had more rewiews that any other teacher at TCC and they were all bad. I am really bummed that I wasted 200$ for this class not to mention that my books cost close to 350$. Good news is thanks to ratemyprofessor.com I now know who to take for this class and will try agian later. I have decided to go on to UTA(University of Texas at Arlington) after I am done with my Radiology technology program and get my bachelors degree. I am also toying with the idea of a masters and possibly a Ph.D...who knows that is a long time from now. Right now I am just trying to get through the program so I can get a better job. I am really dissapointed in myself and even more dissapointed in Dr. Aliaga for being a bad techer and even more dissapointed that a teacher that starts out with 48 students and is now down to 15 or so in his classes is allowed to continue teaching.

Violet, Diarrhea, and a Treadmill.

2009-02-12T18:35:00.000-06:00

So I got up today after the first great nights sleep I’d had in over a week and decided that today was going to be great. I had a plan and I was sticking to it.
I was going to eat some great breakfast, get my math homework done (fun I know), study for my test on Monday in my Human Sexuality class (yes this is a class) and get my bathroom cleaned up. It all started great. Breakfast was good, the bathroom was off to a great start and the math homework was getting done slowly but surely.
And then… there was Violet.
For those of you who do not know my dog Violet let me give you the run down. I acquired her from one of the girls I used to work with at the AEHNT. Some fine specimen of a dog owner brought her in at 4 weeks of age and wanted to euthanize her because she was anemic. Never mind that she was anemic from the huge burden of hookworms in her belly. He had 12 more at home just like her and he wasn’t going to let this one slow him down from making his millions off of breeding and selling sub-par Pit Bulls to unsuspecting people.
I digress.
She went to live with my coworker for 4 weeks and then when she realized she could no longer keep her, I decided to take her. I had been looking for a new dog for my new house.
From the moment I brought her home and put her down she became, and continues to be, a destroyer of my peace. She is wild, hyper and crazy. Her number one favorite thing to do is run up and down my backyard fence and psychotically bark at all of the squirrels and cats in the neighborhood (which drives me right to the brink of insanity) Her second favorite thing to do is eat all of the feces she can find in the backyard (her belching and flatulence, as well as her own poop smell fantastic, I am here to tell you) Now after I have had enough(I am developing a twitch) of hearing her insanely bark and run up and down the fence I come to her third favorite thing to do which is to walk around and get into things in the house and /or vomit up all of the wonderful goodies she has found in the yard. So as a defense I purchased a treadmill for her to run on since I don’t think there is a human on this earth that has enough energy to exercise this crazy dog until she is tired. Most of the time when she is done running 5 mph with the incline all the way up for over an hour or so she will finally at least lay down for, oh I don’t know, 1 minute at a time. Sometimes if I am resting (not likely with my insane schedule) she will lie in the dog bed and sleep for a good 2 hours and then she is right back at it.
I digress again.
My day is progressing nicely, the bathroom is coming clean, my math homework is almost done and I am ahead of schedule, I decide that the fish tank could use a cleaning as well today. I head out of my office and round the corner into the kitchen and my nose is instantly assaulted by a foul smell. I look at Miss Violet who is of course on the treadmill and what do I see. Violet running on the treadmill through… what else?...Diarrhea. Let me just take a moment to recreate this scene for you folks at home.
There is a treadmill belt (moving at a pretty good clip), dog running on said moving treadmill belt, and diarrhea all over; said treadmill belt, dog and floor behind the treadmill.
Talk about a destroyer of my peace. Every other project came to a screeching halt as I carried Miss Violet outside (diarrhea of course covering her feet) and commence the cleaning of the diarrhea off of the treadmill and floor.
Now this may sound easy enough and I don’t really care to relive it at this moment but I will sum it up for you and give you the cliff notes. It took 3 towels, a roll of toilet paper, almost an entire bottle of spray cleaner, one entire hour (most of you know that I have few precious of those) as well as all of my patience for the day. And to top off this glorious event guess what Miss Violet went right back to as soon as I put her back outside….
YOU GUESSED IT!!!
Running up and down the fence insanely barking at the cats and squirrels. The great part is she was doing this as I was cleaning her disgusting diarrhea off of the treadmill.
She is now reflecting on her evil deeds in her kennel. She came closer to death today than any other day in her life including the day she was brought in for euthanasia. I just want to say thanks to Dr. N! for refusing to euthanize her and Eraine for saving her precious little life. (Can you see the sarcasm dripping off of those words?) Does anyone want a great dog? Free to a good home.

Hell Week 2009

2009-02-09T19:42:00.000-06:00

So I wanted to share what will hopefully go down as being the worst week of 2009. So last week when I was at school on Monday, I had my first class cancelled so I decided it was a great oppurtunity to go see the advisor for the Radiologic Technology program at the college. I go to her office and sit down and start talking with her about what I need to accomplish before I apply to the program. (Keep in mind that I am thinking that I will be able to start this program in June of this year) And as you may have read in a previous blog this is not the case it is going to take alot longer than I expected. So...whatever, I have to go to more school and get straight A's if I expect to operate a CT or MRI on people. Well after this fabulous news I head off to my Biology lecture and the test I thought we were going to take the next week was on Monday. I didn't study for it at all....I wrote 2 papers and read 3 chapters out of my Psych books. So needless to say I got a D on my test in the class that I really need to get an A in to get into the program that I want.And then the end all be all... my house got broken into on Thursday. A bunch of stuff got stolen including the frozen meat in my freezer, the flat of eggs in my fridge (who does this?) along with my liquor and my beer. But me and the dogs are fine, my insurance will cover all of the stuff. From now on my alarm (yes I have an alarm and no it wasn't on) will be set and Daddy and Lily will be patroling the house. So if someone comes in here agian they will set off my alarm and have 2 big pit bulls in thier face. I have even thought about getting a 12 gauge shotgun. This is Texas afterall. I have asked everyone and they decided this possibly makes me a Texan but definately not a republican.Thanks to all for your love and support so far. I know I can count on everybody to give me support.

School Blues

2009-02-05T19:59:00.000-06:00

So I have recently decided to change my academic plan to include getting my RT (Radiation technology). I went to see an advisor for the program on Monday and she tells me that 1. I have to have all of the non RT prerequsites done and 2. I need to have pretty much all A'a in those prerequsites to even be considered for the program they had 233 applicants last year and only 33 got in. I was feeling a little defeated and it made me tired to think about a whole year addtional before I can even apply to the program. But now I have spent the last 4 days feeling tired and depressed. I am trying to pull myself out of my funk.(It is slow going) I am trying to remain positive and formulate a plan of action. Here is what I have left to take before the spring semester next year in addition to all of the classes I have already taken and the classes I am taking this semester. I will have to take Anatomy and Physiology I and II a computer science course, Math 350, Medical terminology, and pathophysiology. So the plan is to take A&P I and medical terminology an the second summer session(I know you are thinking I am crazy to take A&P in a summer session but what chioce do I have really?) And then in the Fall of 09' I will have to take A&P II, computer science, math 350, and pathophysiology. Then I have to wait through a whole semester before I can apply to the program in March of 10'. I am already planning what classes I will need as the core for my BS degree. I guess I will take those in the fall. Anyway just wanted to keep you guys up to date on my school life. I briefly thought about giving up and just doing the RVT thing but I think that's a negative ghost rider.

Kinsey

2009-02-03T13:12:00.001-06:00

I had to write this paper for my Human Sexuality class in the spring semester of 09'. It is a reactionary paper to the movie Kinsey starring Liam Neeson, and Laura Linney among many other well known stars including Tim Curry, Chris O' Donnell, Peter Sarsgard, John Lithgow, Oliver Platt and Timothy Hutton to name a few. It was produced by Francis Ford Coppola and directed by Bill Condon. The movie is really great and I highly recommend it.

The first time I viewed this movie last year I was blown away by it. I was amazed that Alfred Kinsey took on such a difficult endeavor with such respect and unbiased attention to detail. I am also a lover of the natural world and so I identified with Alfred Kinsey on an almost personal level. I am thankful for the work he did. The public view of sex in the 40’s was quite prudish and interesting. Sex was not something that was discussed in mixed company. People believed, and taught their children; that sex was a good way to get STD’s, masturbation was a cause of blindness and insanity, and any sexual position other than the missionary position between a man and a woman was the work of the devil. I myself cannot imagine living in a society that scorned one of our most natural human behaviors.
Alfred Kinsey was a biologist at heart. The film goes into some detail about his childhood, his love of nature and how he escaped from his overbearing father to the outside world. He was at home there with the animals and enjoyed watching them for hours on end doing what animals do. He received his PhD in biology at Harvard University and became a professor of zoology at Indiana University much to his fathers’ dismay. I believe that his rebellious nature started there at home.
Dr. Kinsey’s curiosity about the science of sexuality began when he finally married his beloved Clara and their wedding night was less than spectacular. I felt awful and embarrassed for them, they must have built it up in their minds and had to be really disappointed when it was painful and not fun at all. Being a scientist he was insistent that this was just another problem that had to have a solution. I cannot imagine being so uneducated about sex! Had it not been for his background in biology and his scientific mind they might have just suffered silently in a sexless marriage for no reason other than they didn’t know any better. It makes me wonder how many countless couples in those days did suffer for no reason.
The seed for his research was planted in his mind when his zoology students at Indiana University began coming to him with questions about sex. Some of the things the students told him he viewed as ludicrous. He wanted to know where they had gotten such crazy ideas about sex. A good example in the film was the newly married couple that said they would never try oral sex because the young mans brother told him that it caused infertility. Dr. Kinsey assured them that this was not true but they insisted that because there was no study proving this wrong that they were going to be safe and not try it. I can just imagine his frustration at not having concrete answers backed up by evidence for the students. After talking to these students he wondered where they were learning such things and found a book about how to have a good moral marriage, he referred to it as “hooey”.
Being a scientist, he decided to try and get a marriage course added to the curriculum at the University so he could teach the students facts about sexuality and not some weird lessons on morality. His class was full to the brim with students trying to learn the truth about sex. I can just imagine the curiosity of young people in those times. In the film you see all the faces of students asking questions about masturbation and whether or not they are normal. Up until Alfred Kinsey’s marriage class sexuality was taught in a type of health/hygiene class that just reinforced the crazy ideas of the times but did little to help students with their marriage problems or answer their questions about their own blossoming sexuality. I have taken for granted my whole life the things people wouldn’t even talk about back then.
His actual sex study began modestly with just his class as his subjects. He soon realized that 100 people was not representative and started coming up with a plan. He made an assistant out of one of his students and made a questionnaire for his class to answer anonymously. I can just imagine his amazement at the answers he got. He of course wanted to go further and came up with ideas on how to get more people to join the study. He changed his method many times and finally came up with the idea for an encrypted form that would be filled out during an interview. He came up with ways to catch people in lies so that the study would be pure. He was very careful to pick clean cut intelligent, college educated men to conduct the interviews and carefully taught them how to make their subjects feel at ease. He was also very firm about them maintaining a fair and non-judgmental attitude at all times. The training of the interviewers was the most important aspect of the study. They were not allowed to react in anyway to any answers or the subjects might end the interview or not give truthful answers.
I was impressed with the way he conducted his study. He used his study of the gall wasps as a model in some respects. He wanted to have more subjects than anyone else. He seemed to be like a machine when asking questions and coming up with the survey. He treated all of his subjects the same. I was amused with the way he kept referring to sex toys as “replicas of man in his natural state”. He kept insisting that he was just a biologist.
At first the research went well. He was able to acquire funding from the Rockefeller foundation and they traveled all over the country gathering sex histories. It seems to me that all involved were having a blast. They were trading wives, experimenting with homosexuality, and Dr. Kinsey was gathering an impressive amount of information from the public. Kinsey never dreamed that the public as well as his staff were going to rebel at this explosion of sexuality. In his mind he was doing the world a great service. He was educating them about their bodies and their minds, not to mention that they were “normal”. Soon after the release of his second book on the female things started to fall apart, the public didn’t want to hear that their daughters and mothers were masturbating and had homosexual thoughts. His staff started arguing and fighting because they were having marital problems due to the sharing of each others partners. He seemed oblivious to the emotional pain he inflicted on his staff he couldn’t understand why they couldn’t just keep their emotions out of it. He was also blind to the fact that he himself was working too hard.
I think the research that Kinsey did is invaluable. I don’t believe going back to a more innocent time is the answer at all. If we learned one thing from Alfred Kinsey it was that people have been doing the same things in private that they have always done. He made it possible for people to regard their sexuality as a natural part of who we are and not something that we should be ashamed of, feel guilty about, or persecute others for.

The real Dr. Alfred Kinsey

Career Change

2009-01-12T20:00:00.000-06:00

Hello all. As most of you know I have started school agian to get my RVT. I am considering changing that plan. When I first started this endevor I wanted to go to the human side and x-ray humans as a Radiologic Technician. But after much thought I decided that I was put on this earth to care for animals and so I changed the plan to go to Cedar Valley and get my RVT. Well after some more careful thought I think I am back to the RT thing for several reasons. I was wrestling with some big hairy filthy dog the other day and laying on the floor and had a vision of myself doing this 10 years from now and didn't really like it. Which leads me to reason number two that I want to pursue a RT rather then the RVT. I can make alot more money for the same time in shcool as a RT than a RVT. And lets face it while working with animals is an admirable profession and I am really good at it money makes the world go round. Reason number three is that I had some depression going on this holiday season because I didn't see my family at all for the holidays. My nephew Thomas will be 7 in February and I feel like his whole life could pass me by and he will be 16 and hate all of us by the time I can spend time with him. I could have worked less this season but I have to pay bills. Another attractive part about the RT program as opposed to the RVT program is the school for my RT is 15 minutes away from my house and the RVT program is an hour away from my house, not to mention I have kennel duty at school once a week so I will have to clean up after smelly pigs and cows as well as dogs and cats. I think I would much rather spend time in a hospital looking at pieces of equipment that cost more then my house and learnig about the modern marvels of nuclear medicine then scooping out horse stalls and cleaning up dog vomit.Anyway there you have it. I am taking this semester to mull it over and second session summer semester is when I have to start one or the other so I will make a concrete decsion by then. I can always work at the animal hospital as relief or even one or two sundays a month. I am sure Dr. N! will have me. Feel free to let me know what you think about this.

How the Stupid People Stole Christmas

2008-12-13T18:33:00.001-06:00

It’s that time of year again. Christmas. I say this with a glum face and disappointed tone in my voice. I look around and everywhere there is “Christmas Cheer” Blow up things with Santa’s and reindeer, a lit up helicopter with rotating blades on a chimney, fake poinsettias with blue flowers instead of red, and of course the frenzied shoppers. The television is blasting commercials for ipods, cellular phones, slippers, and 50% off entire stock. It is sad to me that Christmas has become just an excuse for everyone to spend too much money that they don’t have and I don’t like it.
Now I am not religious in the sense that I don’t affiliate myself with one in particular. I have done research on almost all of them and find that all of them have some sort of holier than thou attitude built in so I pass on organized religion. But I am well educated about them and I know that Christmas is not supposed to be about who can spend the most money on the most worthless crap.
This time of year is really pretty with the lights, weather, good cheer, sweaters and slippers. But for me it is ruined every time I drive down some residential street and have to look at some giant blown up diorama of Santa, an elf and one reindeer riding a carousel. It is tacky and not cute or pretty. It completely ruins this time of year for me. And the streets where the people are trying to keep up with each other are appalling! There are five to ten blown up monstrosities on each lawn and sometimes even on the roof. One house I saw this year has all of the lights on the entire house (think National Lampoons Christmas Vacation) flashing. I almost had a seizure as I drove by! I wonder how much bigger the carbon footprint is for those folks.
Anyway I just thought I would voice my opinion about this stuff ruining my Holiday season. If you are one of the people that engage in this activity, I make no apology to you. Maybe you should reconsider what this holiday is really about and stab the blown up ornament on your lawn with a steak knife out of you drawer, tone down the shopping spree a little and enjoy the beauty the Holiday season has to offer.

I Made It!

2008-12-10T18:41:00.001-06:00

Well I made it. The first semester back at school is done. I am physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted. My house looks like a hell hole, my animals are bored and my car is a hot mess but I am really proud of myself for making it through. I managed to get all A’s except in my math class where I got an 87 %( it doesn’t count toward my GPA). I am really looking forward to my time off. I plan on cleaning my house until it is spotless, spending a lot of time with the pets, socializing with my friends, spending time with my family and resting A LOT! I am not yet looking forward to the next semester but I am sure I will be soon. I am taking Biology for Science Majors with lab, Psychology, Human Sexuality (woo hoo!) and Beginning Algebra(the next step for the mathematically challenged) for a total of 13 credit hours. I want to thank everyone who gave me support weather it be with encouragement, help proofreading papers, or just listening to me complain about lack of sleep.