Pet Diary

EXCERPTS FROM A DOG'S DIARY:

8:00 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!

9:30 am - OH BOY! A TOY! MY FAVORITE!

9:40 am - OH BOY! A WALK! MY FAVORITE!

10:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!

11:30 am - OH BOY! A TOY! MY FAVORITE!

12:00 noon - OH BOY! THE CAT! MY FAVORITE!

1:00 pm - OH BOY! THE YARD! MY FAVORITE!

1:30 pm - ooooooo, bath. Bummer.

4:00 pm - OH BOY! THE CAT! MY FAVORITE!

5:00 PM - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!

5:30 PM - OH BOY! MOM! MY FAVORITE!



EXCERPTS FROM A CAT'S DIARY

DAY 752 - My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape, and the mild satisfaction I get from ruining the occasional piece of furniture. Tomorrow I may eat another houseplant.

DAY 761 - Today my attempt to kill my captors by weaving around their feet while they were walking almost succeeded, must try this at the top of the stairs. In an attempt to disgust and repulse these vile oppressors, I once again induced myself to vomit on their favorite chair...must try this on their bed.

DAY 765 - Decapitated a mouse and brought them the headless body, in attempt to make them aware of what I am capable of, and to try to strike fear into their hearts. They only cooed and condescended about what a good little cat I was...Hmmm. Not working according to plan.

DAY 768 - I am finally aware of how sadistic they are. For no good reason I was chosen for the water torture. This time however it included a burning foamy chemical called "shampoo." What sick minds could invent such a liquid? My only consolation is the piece of thumb still stuck between my teeth.

DAY 771 - There was some sort of gathering of their accomplices. I was placed in solitary throughout the event. However, I could hear the noise and smell the foul odor of the glass tubes they call "beer." More importantly I overheard that my confinement was due to MY power of "allergies." Must learn what this is and how to use it to my advantage.

A few of my favorite things...

Sometimes I need to brighten my day by thinking about things that make me smile.

Spinning Silhouette Illusion

This is amazing, you have to check it out. It took me a minute staring at the figure before she changed direction, but it's very cool when it happens.

At first glance, the silhouette is spinning clockwise, but you can reverse the spinning.

Here are some hints to help make it happen:

Try looking down at the shadow, keep your eyes there for some seconds and then slowly move your eyes upward.
Try looking at different parts of the figure. Dont stare at her, keep your eyes moving up and down.
Or Focus on her feet, when she turns clockwise she has the right foot up.. when counter-clockwise its the left foot.. just tell yourself which foot is up and she will turn in that direction..

Rainy Day

It’s a beautiful rainy day, and I got to spend some time relaxing and enjoying a walk with Zoe. Everything is covered in tiny droplets from the rain, and even though the sky is gray the droplets sparkle. I have to say that having a week off school has been just what I needed. I also believe that my sanity is returning slowly which is fitting considering today is World Mental Health Day. I’m still putting in 3-4 hours a day of school work to get done the assignments due right after break as well as to prepare for midterm week which will start bright and early Monday morning, but for right now…. things are good.

Pharmacology Sucks!

This is day 8 of studying for the pharmacology exam, and I have to say that I have never hated a subject more. Who comes up with these names? I mean really there are only 5 vowels in the alphabet, 6 if you include Y, and in the English language they're really not suppose to string that many together. Like “Iododeoxyuridine” whose brilliant idea was that? It's like I'm speaking polish or something! I've got more then 300 flash cards, and I actually know everything on them, which seems like it should be enough to get me through this exam, and yet... many have come before me, and many have failed. Not just failed to do well on one exam, failed the entire course. Even if I feel like I know what I'm doing now, apparently that has no correlation to how well you do in the course (according to last years class). So what can I do? I’m beating my brains to the point of physical symptoms…. I get a stress headache almost immediately after I start studying. It’s like the stress headache is just part of the program, everyone I’ve talked to has one perpetually and it’s all because of the stupid, irritating, exasperating, frustrating, tiring, maddening, inconsistent, ‘learn things you can look up in a book and never have to know in real life’ PA program. This is just ridiculous; I give up, no more pharmacology.

Rant over.

Back to School

Two weeks of amazing freedom, and fantastic vacation adventures have come to an end. In eight hours it's back to school... sigh. On the bright side only 17 weeks until Christmas break.... but who's counting?

Pittsfield State Park

So Morgan and I went for a drive to Pittsfield State Park today, and they have a road up to the top of the mountain which has this gorgeous view at the top. There are all these wild flowers, and they are covered in bees. So I took a bunch of pictures and got really lucky. Check this one out, you can actually see the bee's tongue sticking into the flower to get the pollen!! Wild isn't it!

Morgan's Rose

Morgan has been working really hard this year to make a beautiful garden. He planted several roses and finally one of the plants is in full bloom, and it is absolutely stunning. I didn't think I would like orange roses, but they are so beautiful and they smell incredible.

The Haircut

For a while I've been thinking about donating my hair to locks of love, and yesterday I finally worked up the guts to do it. Locks of Love is a non-for-profit organization that makes wigs for children who have lost their hair from diseases like cancer. So I donated 13 inches! And I now have short hair for the first time in 12 years.

Freaking Out

So school has been back in session for three weeks now, and I have to say that I feel somewhat discouraged. My brain feels like its leaking. I attend all my classes, do all my work, and keep up with my reading and I still feel like I know nothing, understand nothing and retain nothing. My first exam of the term is Friday and it’s in Pathophysiology. I was a bio major in undergrad, this is stuff that should be at least a little familiar, and yet the details escape me. The worst part is that when I share my feelings with friends in my class, they all smile at me like I’m exaggerating, like I really know everything, or I’m just being dramatic. The truth is I am genuinely worried that this semester is going to kick my butt. I don’t understand Pathophysiology. Fundamentals of Clinical Medicine is taught by a series of foreign guest lecturers who have extremely heavy accents. Behavioral Medicine is taught by a nice old man who digresses about his time working in STD clinics in NYC, but has yet to teach us anything about psychiatry, and there is no text book for the course so we have no other place to get information. Diagnostic Methods is the only class that I feel remotely comfortable in, but it’s worth the fewest credits. And starting next week we begin the first part of our board exam clinical testing, which means if I don’t pass those tests I‘m not allowed to practice medicine. I’m spending 30 hours a week in class, and another 15 in the breaks between lectures and the commute, and I’m still studying when I get home. I’m tired even when I get enough sleep. I have no social life. I’m not getting to enjoy summer.

In short I’m freaking out a little.

The Last Weekend.

So I have been enjoying my time away from the program. I spent some time visiting friends, and some time relaxing, and some time working, but most of all I've been enjoying not having to study. Unfortunately that all ends on Monday. Summer classes are about to start, and I have to admit that I am thoroughly less motivated then I need to be. I would even go so far as to say I don't want to go back. It's not that I don't like what we're studying, and I do enjoy learning all that neat stuff, but the fact of the matter is that I miss the days of summer vacations. Some part of me feels like it's very unfair to be back in school and not get to have a summer break (especially when my husband gets one). Sigh... I guess this is growing up.

I don't like it.

Spring has Sprung!

Despite not being able to go outside as much as I wanted to this weekend, I have to be grateful for the rain. Rain brings flowers and the first real bursts of color in spring are a very welcome sight because it means that winter is at last over.

This is some of the forsythia in our garden.

Free at last!!

Two more exams to go then I'm free from the PA program for two whole weeks. Two weeks is the longest vacation that I get over the next 2 years, so I'm pretty stinkin excited. You may be asking... what's a girl like me going to do with all that freedom? Well, I'm going to buffalo to visit my best friend, and I can't wait!

After that who knows... maybe I'll take over the world... in my spare time of course.

Grandpa

"Death is at once
The end of the body's
Old journey
And the beginning of the soul's
New journey"

Easter weekend

So Easter weekend didn't turn out as anyone had planned. On Friday morning my grandfather had a massive MI and was rushed to the hospital. They resuscitated him, and although he had a heart beat he wasn't breathing on his own, so they intubated him. My grandmother made the decision to make him a DNR because she didn't want to put him through more pain and the doctors thought he might arrest again. Since then she as well as her children have made their peace and were ready to let him go, so they disconnected the life support rather then prolong what would be a slow downward spiral. The doctors said it might be minutes, or hours... since then it's been 16 hours and counting. Now we are just waiting.

Zoe!

This is my baby Zoe. She just turned 3 months old on Thursday. She is a German Shepherd/Rottweiler mix, and I think she is the most adorable puppy to ever walk the face of the earth. She is very smart and is learning fast, already she comes when called and will sit on command. She does have a fairly strong stubborn streak, but according to my mother, Zoe takes after me in that regard.

The First Post

I'd like to dedicate this blog spot to Jamie. Without her telling me that I needed to make a blog spot so that she could stalk me, I never would have created this blog.... so Jamie, this one is for you!