1/8th of the Way There!

All right, everyone!  I am finished with finals and home for break and starting to recover from the raping and pillaging of my brain that occurred last week.  I know veterinary school is supposed to be harder than undergraduate, but Ye Gods, that was unpleasant.  Okay, though I didn't study as much as I should have, I console myself with the knowledge that even had I studied enough, THAT WAS NOT WHAT I WOULD HAVE STUDIED!  It's fine, I am pretty sure I passed, so I get to go back for the next semester.  Phew!  One down!
Now going to bed.

Too Much Information

To add to my list of Things I Have Now Experienced That I Never Really Wanted To: that lovely sensation of disturbing your frozen nose hairs every time you breathe while walking your dog.  With your fleece gaiter pulled up over your face.

It's rather chilly here (for December, as my supervisor pointed out; it's like this all the time in January and February), with the mercury at -3 when I woke up this morning.  I stubbornly waited until it got to zero before venturing out.  A girl's got to have limits.  Indiana doesn't understand this concept at all.  Apparently a natural fur coat really is the best thing in the world, because we just got back from our long walk and she was happily lying in the frost with her stick-cicle when I decided I was approaching frostbite threshold.  Wussy humans.

We've now entered "dead" week, AKA the Week Before Finals, and as of yesterday night I had turned in my final paper for a class, so that's my first official vet school course out of the way!  I was pretty excited.  Next week will be a doozy but I'm doing fine in all my classes so far and if I can just keep it up everything should be all right.  We're already ordering books and signed up for next semester's classes, so the juggernaut is on autopilot now.  I'm excited/terrified about it.

This past weekend was a kick, just the right thing before finals hit.  Friday night was our Game Night for my friend's birthday, and we had such a blast that nobody left until two in the morning when Eli had to practically drag my sleepy butt to the car.  I had forgotten how much fun board games are!  So I bought Mexican Train (technically dominos; close enough) and you better believe that anyone visiting here from now on will be playing that ad nauseum.  We also stopped by the WSU Ski Swap (in the same manner that a cocaine addict might be able to 'stop by' a crack house), and I got a pair of goggles to keep me from squinting so much or getting any insane sunburns on our Mt. Baker trip.  It was very, very difficult not to reallocate my student loans into a ski and snowboard fund but somehow I refrained (Eli: "I have more important things to spend my money on before it goes into skis."  It's no fun to shop with a kill-joy, sir).  Saturday morning I went in to school for a lab on neurological examinations and procedures, and got to try high and low spinal taps and nerve blocks on cadavers (I so greatly appreciate the cadavers--let anyone who's been thinking of donating their animals to science when they pass that they are invaluable to us and get a second life as the best possible teachers!).  Sunday we went to the Nutcracker on campus as performed by the Eugene, OR ballet company.  It was lovely, and they were very creative with their sets, costumes and the rather limited space.  We're so spoiled in Seattle to have the live orchestra there, and nothing makes up for that, but it was great and now it really feels like Christmas.  Or almost...four more finals to go!

Ta for now from the Palouse.

Business as Usual

So remember all those resolutions down there?

Yeah.  Whatever.

Help

Dear Vet School,

Stop the carousel please, I'd like to get off.

Respectfully,

Kate

And that is why you haven't heard from me in a while.  I deluded myself into thinking that I would get my life in order and all up to speed over Christmas break, but instead I fell back into my old college traditions and got sick.  Which couldn't have happened at a better time, really, because I didn't have to be in class and I had Eli around to sit on the couch and watch movies with me.  Also he is so tall that he was able to put up half our Christmas lights (slight exaggeration) without a ladder, which precluded my dad and I from throwing our annual Coarse Vernacular Festival.  It went quickly, but to be honest, we felt a little cheated.  (I mean, thank you, Eli, your spending vacation time decorating our house is very much appreciated.)
Now final exams are less than two weeks away and sweet mother of pearl, I am not ready.  In fact, I am paralyzed with fear and have no idea even where to start.  Confucius has some answer about thousand mile journeys and steps but that is way too logical.  Dithering is my specialty, and why waste talent?  Between now and then, there's a holiday cocktail party on Friday for the Graduate and Professional Student Association (I really like to say that because it makes me feel important) which I may go to if I can be bothered to dress up for it, and the Ski Swap (yay!) on Friday and Saturday, and then the Nutcracker on Sunday!  So clearly, studying is out for the weekend.  Perhaps I ought to get down to it.

Adios for now.

Edited: Christmas break, by which I meant Thanksgiving.  My brain is in la-la land.

Winter!

Yesterday and this morning were Indiana's first experiences with snow, and MAN OH MAN BOY OH BOY HOLY COW was she excited about it.  On the deck it was merely a curiosity:

However, when we got to the park and there was a FIELD! and a TENNIS BALL! and that SNOW! her excitement level went from 'Huh.' to registering on the Richter Scale.

It's hard to beat a Labradoodle puppy for sheer joie de vivre.  She makes everything a lot more fun.

Except when she is bombing down steep icy sidewalks with you slaloming on the other end of the leash.  Then it might qualify as more harrowing.

Today I'm going to a friend's house for a Suture Party.  We have our suturing lab exam next week, and it should not surprise anyone who has ever seen me try to play video games (or seen any of my rare crafty work) that hand-eye coordination is not my very strongest suit.  So this is how we cram for stitches: we sit around and watch the VIDEOS that they gave us from which to LEARN OUR SUTURE PATTERNS and which HAVE NO SOUND!!! and then we all try to follow along and tell each other what we are doing horribly wrong (for example: "Kate, when you throw knots they must appear flat and square, not like a manifestation of the Flying Spaghetti Monster").

There are approximately 374, 695 different suture patterns and we are supposed to know all of them.  This would not really be so bad except that there are 1, 2, 5 (3 sir!)--but really, 6 different surgeons who have been in our lab teaching us these patterns.  And all of them do things differently.  So, if Dr. 1 is examining you, remember not to tunnel your closing knot for the intradermal stitch because that makes Dr. 1 crazy.  Dr. 2 never mentioned deep and superficial strands and the necessity of knotting with both deep strands, while Drs. 1 and 3-6 find this to be the most crucial part of the stitch.  If taught by Dr. 3, you use two hands for most of your one hand tie.  If taught by Dr. 1, you use mostly just one.  Dr. 5 claims that you should always begin a pattern with an even number of throws on your knot, and end with an odd number.  Dr. 4 claims this is ludicrous and that continuous patterns must always begin and end with exactly 6 throws.  All of these surgeons are very talented, helpful, personable and for the most part patient teachers but my God, the conflicting information!  It is like our brains are a nexus of matter and anti-matter voiding each other out and leaving us (or me at least) with nothing to go on.  Anyway.  Hopefully my peers are in a different boat and can correct me this afternoon.

To end this rambling post (which bears, in its uneven and wandering structure, a striking similarity to my Ford Interlocking Stitch), I will leave you with one last heart warming image of a Labradoodle in the snow.

Post-Script: A Cautionary Tale Entitled "How Not to Drive Up or Down an Icy Hill" or "Why I Will Not Be Taking South Street Downtown Today"

Stuff and Things

I feel like I ought to have more to write about, and I know that if I really took the time to think about what is going on (or took advantage of half the opportunities available to me around here) I would.  But it sort of seems like my brain turns off when I close a book, and refuses to reboot until the next time it is called upon for something academic.  Come back, brain!  Come back, creativity!
Today I had a histology exam.  It was a trainwreck in classic Kate Gunderson fashion.  Which is to say, I think I did okay, but I tried very hard to sabotage myself while at it.  First, I switched times with a classmate so she could take it in the earlier session and get to work, so I was no longer on automatic pilot.  Consequently, I somehow thought that my section of the exam started at 3:30 when in actuality it started at 3:00.  Thank you Erika for informing me of this fact when you walked by me, still studying obliviously, at 3:20.  So I frantically bluster into the exam room (wear bright red when you do things like this!  It attracts no attention at all!) and sit down, am informed by my neighbor that I must be at a logged-in computer to take the exam and then approached by the professor who says, I seem to be one exam short, and has to run off to print out another test.  Clock ticking.  When he comes back I head off to the microscope room to try and describe the appointed slide, barely save myself from mistaking the colon for the gall bladder (how? how? they are at different ends of the digestive tract!) and scoot on back to the computer lab.  I finished with about 3 minutes to spare.  Also, this is the professor who agreed to write me a letter of recommendation...after seeing how I did on the exam.

Hi, my name is Kate and my hobby is shooting myself in the foot.  Thank you and good night.


PS: I leave you with the amazing simulated and poop-free cow entrails thanks to my Uncle Dan (dear Great Britain, this is cheating and also a fine example of why you are so awesome): http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/11/haptic-cow/ 

Resolved

• To study daily and avoid necessitating any more cramming
• To do my dishes on at least a weekly basis
• To use my lovely day planner for its intended purpose
• To maintain my house at least to the point of not being mortified by the thought of company
• To keep track of my budget
• To get my sorry butt off the couch and move at least once a day

Holy Cow!

Reasons to Like Pullman, WA

Believe or not, there are some.

1) Yesterday I went for a walk alone (with my vicious protector dog) in the dark and felt perfectly safe.  This is the prevailing atmosphere of Pullman, as long as you stay off College Hill.
2) We now have two really good restaurants.  There are also a couple nice ones in Moscow that I would like to try but are a bit upscale.  Dad, when were you coming to visit again?
3) Today, driving down the road, I passed one neighbor and a classmate or two, was directly behind my downstairs neighbor, and directly in front of a classmate who lives down the road.  If I got in a car wreck and was unconscious, odds are someone passing by would be able to identify me.
4) You are never more than 5 minutes away from anything in town.  Unless it is a game day, and then all bets are off.
5) There are a lot of parks to which one can walk one's labradoodle and illegally throw sticks for her.
6) People are friendly (again, stay off College Hill).
7) The best coffee shop in town also happens to allow dogs.  They know a ripe demographic when they see one.
8) We have a lot of beautiful trees that turn colors, at least when there aren't 17 degree frosts in September that shock them to death first.
9) No one looks at you askance when you go to the grocery store covered in sheep grime.  I think they are used to it at this point.
10) I like my house.

No Gym Membership Required

I woke up this morning and my first thought was:

I wrestled 200 pound sheep yesterday.

OWWWWWWWwwwwww.

SHEEP FEAR ME!

Okay, okay.  Sheep fear everybody, so what?  Well sheep should fear me because I know what the heck I am doing and can flip them up on their tasty rumps in...er...well, longer than it should take but I really just learned this afternoon so I'll get better.  And then I learned how to age them by their teeth and trim their little hooves and theoretically how to stick their jugulars (tough, what with all that wool they wear).  It was so much fun, just the perfect example of Why I Went To Vet School.  Because after working with agricultural animals, one doesn't need to go to the gym.  Because who knew there was a right way to flip a sheep.  Because Suffolk ewes arc joyously skyward in the manner of dolphins or gazelles on the Sahara when finally released from the student-teaching torture chamber.  Because, in this vein, Suffolk ewes will attempt to leap over a 6'2" student delusional enough to think he's going to stop them single-handedly...and they will mostly succeed.

Parasite Paranoia

<---Toxoplasma gondii in liver cells

So I learned this really cool fact in school today.  We were talking about a disease called toxoplasmosis (the reason pregnant women can't clean out litter boxes) and its mode of transmission.  Apparently, the parasite, toxoplasma gondii, only replicates in felines, so naturally it is to its advantage to obtain access to said cats.  It does this through rodent hosts by acting in the amygdala of the brain.  The amygdala is a major fear center, responsible for the innate rodent knowledge that cat smell=bad things.  Toxoplasma gondii comes in and mucks this region up so that not only are the infected vermin not afraid of cat scent, some are even attracted to it.  Resulting, obviously, in lots of satiated cats now the unwitting site of toxoplasma gondii replication.

Sometimes I wonder if the 'simple' organisms of the world aren't laughing to themselves at us higher mammals going unsuspectingly about our all-important business while they secretly control our brains.

Do Not Try This At Home, Even If You Are Demented Enough To Want To

Today was one of our first official opportunities to play with real live animals in vet school.  We spend a lot  of time with our cadaver dogs in anatomy and there is always the teaching hospital right next door, but for the first semester at least there is not a whole lot of people-animal interaction built into the curriculum.  So it was a great treat to get our bovine handling lab in this afternoon (and you know it's really neat when we are still excited about it, even though it takes up our Friday afternoon).

Admittedly, we were working with very kind and docile university-owned Holstein dairy cows.  This is a poor approximation of conditions in The Real World, but for those who've never been around cows it's a safe place to start and for we who are somewhat seasoned it's a really refreshing change (also, it was a reasonable time of day--I feel like I've spent all the rest of my cow time getting dragged across our dairy yard by angry milkers well before dawn).  We split into small groups and first practiced picking up a cow's feet and inspecting them, getting used to normal parameters.  Then we put on our cowboy hats and learned how to take down a calf: in case you ever need this information, you lean over the calf and grab onto the flank with one hand and the front leg closest to you with the other, then flip them out and drop them along your legs.  Before you do this you get your Tom Fool's knot ready to hobble the hind legs and tuck them up to the belly to tie behind their head.  Believe me, the calves just love it.  Mama cow vocally expressed her apprehension about these proceedings, but everyone emerged unscathed and only one student fell on their butt (for once, it wasn't me!).

Next we migrated over to our victim in the squeeze chute (this picture isn't our rig, but it's a good example).  Squeeze chutes are incredibly handy and time and injury saving, and they don't hurt the cows--but they do look impressive.  Our very tolerant patient was being harassed at both ends, as we haltered her and learned how to administer oral medications (big long pill-er, stuck your fist in the cow's mouth to hold it open, thrust in the medicine, bury your hand and discharge the bolus).  We even got to palpate her epiglottis.  Imagine sticking your hand past the elbow in a cow's mouth to tickle the back of her throat.  That was about it.  Also, they have giant razor-sharp molars.  As Ernie put it, "It's a leap of faith.  And, uh, don't spread your fingers if you wanna keep 'em."  Thanks, Ernie.  It was very cool and very slimy.  I have since disinfected my hands.

Back at the caudal regions of the cow, the shoulder sleeves came out.  Hurrah for the good old left arm warmer!  We donned our plastic shields and dove in for the rectal palpation.  The goal was to locate the cervix, the uterine bifurcation and the horns of the uterus.  I found the cervix and the bifurcation, but never could follow it up to the horns.  It is truly astounding how big the inside of a cow is.  Also warm.  And squeezy.  And...er...other things you can probably imagine without trying too hard.

Continuing the landmark day, we got our first Anatomy exams back today.  I was very pleased with mine (96%!) so that is a good start to the exam season.  I have my first histology exam on Monday so I suppose I should start reading those 50+ pages of notes now (Mom, you are going to spend a lot of time looking through microscopes with me this weekend!).  Fortunately, histology is not in any way difficult, it is simply intimidating through sheer volume.

Also!  (It has been a busy day) I started work at our Clinical Instructional Services department today.  I am the basest rookie there, so I was mainly folding hospital gowns today, but eventually I will be involved with the junior-year surgeries, treatment and care of our surgery animals, and it's interesting to know how surgery works from the other side.  Hopefully it will give me a good perspective on the life of a tech and I will remember to be very nice to mine someday in the future.  Vet school is a sea of overwhelming options and new experiences and it's hard to filter what you want, but I feel like it's off to a good start.  And now, my Mom should be here in an hour or two and I am still sitting on the small corner of my couch that's not overrun with laundry or homework detritus.  Off to get crackin' on the housework!

Toodles and love to all.  Especially Toby Zeigler who probably needs it most.  Chin up!

Muscles/Bones/Connective Tissue

Muscles of the distal forelimb:

-extensors attach laterally

-exceptions: ulnaris lateralis (flexs carpus) and pronator teres (pronates limb)

-flexors attach medially

-beginning cranially, moving clockwise looking down from above the dog

-extensor carpi radialis

-pronator teres

-flexor carpi radialis

-deep digital flexor (radial, humeral, ulnar heads)

-superficial digital flexor

-flexor carpi ulnaris (humeral and ulnar heads)

-ulnaris lateralis

-supinator

-lateral digital extensor

-adductor digiti I longus

-pronator quadratus

-common digital extensor

-extensor carpi radialis

Muscles of the distal pelvic limb:

-from cranial to caudal

-cranial tibial

-long digital extensor

-peroneus longus

-lateral digital extensor

-deep digital flexor

-superficial digital flexor

-gastrocnemius

Now let's check that.  Ah.  Should have specified; looking down from above at the LEFT LIMB of the dog.  The book shows a right limb and for a moment I had a total panic attack.  And on the hind limb: forgot about the popliteus.  But really, that is very proximal so who cares.

At this point I am simply ready to have this anatomy test over with.  I have dreams not about anatomy but certainly incorporating more than is normal or sane.  I'm pretty confident that I know enough not to fail and that is okay for now.  (Thank you again, pass/fail!)

PS, Does anyone have any clue how to make this image be wrapped by the text (which is where blogger says it is, but clearly it isn't) instead of ginormously in the beginning?

Exam Season

Cell Phys exam was last Friday, and I think that went well (I think that because I looked up the answers to almost all the questions on the exam in my past exam files--I love the test file, and it's even legal!).  This Friday is anatomy.  I am not so sure about that one....  I can point to all the muscles and tell you what they are but as to where they originate and insert and what they do, that is another story altogether!  Not to mention the bones, tendons, ligaments, fasciae, retinaculum, menisci, joints and radiographs.  Sometimes it feels like my head should be drooping from the weight of all the STUFF crammed into it.  I have about 100 flashcards of just simply muscle (ask Eli how much fun I was having with those).  Fortunately everyone else in my class is in the same boat and we all have funny ways of remembering things to trade back and forth.  I would list some here but they are mostly highly inappropriate (we're still immature college students, after all).  And as we all know I am never inappropriate and do not approve of that sort of thing.

Ahem.

One of the greatest things about being a vet/professional student is all the free stuff.  I suppose that after it's all said and done, it's $120,000 free stuff but hey, I'll take it.  There is almost always a lunch lecture with free subs or tacos and tonight is oncology rounds, and they provide pizza.  I guarantee you every student in this vet school will know more about oncology than any other service in the hospital by their fourth year if they keep this up.  Also, we're members of all kinds of organizations--Student American Veterinary Medical Association (SAVMA) which gets us lots of discounts and sponsored travel to the SAVMA symposium, and memberships to the AVMA and that sort of thing.  The Graduate and Professional Student Association is great at getting you into things (sports, theater, climbing wall) for free or really really cheap.  They  had a ripping barbeque on Sunday with brisket and pulled pork and amazingly good cookies.  They're also good about allowing you to bring your significant others to these sorts of events and so almost every time Eli is here I haul him off to some free thing or the other.  So far no complaints.

Speaking of Eli, he was here this weekend and we got probably our last camping trip of the year in.  He's just gotten a big shiny new truck so naturally we went and found some gross dirt roads to bomb around on (this is a lie-he was not going to bomb anywhere in his swanky truck no matter how much I pleaded.  But we did mosey through some places that would have had my Volkswagen crying out in terror).  We ended up in the national forest in north central Idaho camping on a little dammed-up creek.  It was beautiful, but especially neat because the resulting pond was the local watering hole for all the range cattle in the area.  Eli and I had fun watching the cows wander around; Indy was less than amused.  She will not make a great cattle dog but she did get a chance to practice her Big Scary Guard Dog Voice.  She also collected every burr in the Idaho panhandle in her paws.  I'm still pulling them out.

PS Regarding my recent Embryology quiz: 102.5%

Vet School: 0

Kate: 1

GO TEAM!

Am Successful Entertainer (With a Lot of Help From My Friends)

My new vet-school friend had this great idea to have an ethnic food potluck, and so yesterday evening we did.  It was a good time, I think there were 11 people and we did Indian food.  This is because in Pullman they have never heard, culinarily speaking, of the Eastern Hemisphere.  So there was daal, and cucumber salad, and lentil salad, and naan, and chicken korma, and that classic Indian favorite, no-bake peanut butter balls.  My dog did not pee on anyone or anything, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and there was much discussion about instituting a tradition of different cuisines on a semi-regular basis.  I feel it was a success.  I have never had a party before, and I like this potluck thing where everyone else cooks and I just have to provide plates and utensils (perhaps I should wash those dishes, come to think of it).

I even started today out on a go-getter note.  Indy and I headed off to the Chipman trail to get a run in before it got hot this morning, and walked the 1/2 mile there, ran two miles, and walked (more slowly) back.  Without stopping!  We are so proud of us.  At first I thought it would be great because Indy would be tired after these runs but I think she is getting fitter and more energetic.  That was supposed to be my role, and instead I am tired.  (The whole point of this is that next time I see Uncle Dan, I will be the one running back and forth across the street, while he is the one stumbling down the sidewalk struggling to maintain consciousness.  So Dan, 5 more years sound good?)  However, did I mention I ran an eight minute mile the other day?  If I didn't, I ran an eight minute mile.  Thank you very much.

Tomorrow: 1 embryology "quiz" (I looked at last year's quiz; it is nine pages long.  This greatly exceeds my quiz threshold), 1 cell phys case study quiz (Quarter Horse presenting with hyperkalemic periodic paralysis, an autosomal dominant C-G point mutation resulting in an amino acid substitution from Phenylaninine to Leucine in the protein coding for sodium ion channels in skeletal muscle).  Friday: cell phys exam (certain death).  Tonight: beer.  At Rico's, because I am now a classy graduate student and no longer slum it on campus.

Ahhh.  It's good to be back.

For Evan, or, I Didn't Know You Could Do Titles!

It is almost 10 pm and I returned from the anatomy lab approximately 15 minutes ago.  We had a 7 am lecture.  Vet school is an all-consuming endeavor.  But it is really fun, and hey, it beats a real job!  Jessica and I were becoming slightly hysterical in the lab and eventually had to call it a night after repeatedly confusing left and right, attempting to connect the scapula to the radius and ulna (completely bypassing the humerus, which we found humorous), and finally degenerating into singing improvisational muscle-and-bone-interaction songs.  It is about to be exam season (Cell Phys-next Friday, Gross Anatomy-two more Fridays) so I think this is the beginning of a beautiful all singing, all dancing comedic anatomist duo.

Other major highlight of the marathon day: Indiana's "Near Death Experience".  My dog is a capital sissy.  We were running along in the park (I have started a marathon training program hahaha) and suddenly she gave a huge lurch, yelped and began furiously shaking her left foreleg.  I sat her down to inspect the injury, whereupon she threw herself onto her back and began howling and yipping to beat the band, refusing to let me see the paw.

So I had to carry her home.

For those of you who do not know her, she is not small.  Actually, I was informed (for the low, low price of $59.95!) that she weighs 45 pounds now.  That may not sound like a lot until it is squirming and yipping in your ear for three blocks.  I decided that since she needed to go the vet anyway, and I needed some advice re: heartworms and food, it was a good reason to cause her further agony by stuffing her in the car (who have not seen this spectacle: it's nothing, forget I mentioned it).  So, long story not any longer, my dog...was stung by a bee.  Or poked by a very tiny stick.

This pain, I can tell you from experience, does not merit the Oscar-worthy reaction it elicited.  She was loud.  She was three-legged.  She was surely going to die, right this very instant.  I initially suspected a bee but as the drama dragged out I was afraid of something worse.  Nope.  Just one wimpy labradoofus.  Who's now completely over it.  Sleeping on my couch.

I think I will go join her.  Goodnight, all.  TTFN.

Kate

PS To Evan: I took my box of sugary goodness to school yesterday.  I don't think I made any fast friends but I sure was popular for about 30 seconds.  Seriously; there were fights.  I got wet.  You would have loved it.

HALLELUJAH, ONE AND ALL!  I have now got the internet!  After a 3 week deprivation it is so comforting to have my number one procrastination method back.

Not that I should be procrastinating.  Our first quiz is on Friday, and the hits keep on coming after that.  And I haven't even attempted any club meetings or rounds yet.  First year students are welcome in the hospital, and once every week each department has its rounds presentation at lunch time.  Tomorrow is Ag Animal, which is my favorite department so hopefully I will get to that.  It's amazing--I don't have class as many hours as I thought and yet there still doesn't seem to be enough time!  Anatomy lab is always fun (if smelly) four days a week, histology lab is sort of a cruise in at your own pace, cruise out whenever you're done affair, and some classes have a very erratic schedule leaving some much appreciated holes in my day.  I think Indiana likes them, anyway.

Pullman is a small world.  I live next to a veterinarian at the College, upstairs from a veterinarian at the College, and just down the street from at least 3 of my class mates.  It's fun to be back with my friends in the same town, and after 8 pm it's almost bearable to move.  Today I came home and went to sleep because it was too damn hot to do anything else.  My apartment is great, and we are really enjoying the deck (Indy practically lives there).  If I get bored (which I won't anymore, now I've got the internet!) I have 30 pages of DOD paperwork to turn my attention to.  References, anyone?

Until next time, cheerio.

Hi Y'all

All right, everyone. I'm back from vet school orientation camp, I've got my books, I've got my school supplies, I've paid my tuition (AHHHHHH), my house is not quite a disaster anymore (thanks Mom &Dad!) and I guess I am as ready as I will ever be for classes to start. Tomorrow. At 8 am.
I decided to start this blog because the single most common phrase I have been hearing lately is "...if you have time." I want to keep everybody up to date, but since I'm told I won't have time to tie my shoes and had better start wearing slip-ons, I thought that a blog would be a great idea. I sincerely hope I'll have time to write ONE decent letter every few days and this way I can share it with everybody. I guess we will have to stay tuned.
Well, as I haven't got the interweb at home yet and am here at school (on a Sunday...just starting that type A vet school thing early), I'm going to wrap this up and go home to my labradoofus. And take a walk. And a nap.
...if I have time.