Hello, all! I just had my large animal anatomy final (which went well) and two large slices of chocolate cake, so I am both a) on my very last day of smelling like a mausoleum and b) all sugared up! It's a good morning! Add to that the fact that Eli is coming out for the weekend and it's a damn fine Thursday (except for the SNOW but we'll leave that out of it because we're so charitable).
I'm sorry to have let the ol' blog slip so much this semester. It was a bit more strenuous than the last and I wasn't staying on top of it very well, but I'm slowly reforming and hope to be SuperStudent by next year. SuperStudent opens her books at least twice a week, not just in the days leading up to exams. SuperStudent uses her daily planner. SuperStudent goes running more often. Come to think of it she sounds sort of obnoxious. Perhaps another goal would suit...I know, I'll figure it out later.... That's more like it.
Next week: Nutrition, Physiology, Immunology, Pathology, Neuroscience finals. Anatomy...check!
I'm so looking forward to coming home for the summer--with the water, and the mountains, and the horses, and the people. I will need to find gainful employment but you know, that's not really what I daydream about while I'm here. I have a couple weeks of work at my job here in Pullman--my department puts on a continuing education small animal endoscopy (small camera on a tube for scoping guts) lab for area DVMs, and I'm very excited about that. I have so little experience with small animals and anesthesia, and I love imaging (and gadgets!!), and also they have air conditioning at work. Really nice here in late May. (We have AC at home in Poulsbo, too, but you wouldn't know it, MOM).
I'm excited for my cousin to get home so we can start working on his house again, because he lets me use tools. For some reason a lot of people are reluctant to let me use tools on their property but Evan doesn't know this yet and I'm inclined to let him make his own mistakes decisions so no word from the peanut gallery, thanks. I'm excited to kidnap Jackie and go find hiking trails at the very ends of twisty precipitous dirt roads. I'm excited to be riding again (don't laugh at me Janet I've been busy and I'm out of shape), and to be able to just throw my dog in the backyard when she's annoying and have a dishwasher. I'm excited for Mariel to move to Arizona and MB to move to Nawlins because then I'll have more trips to make although maybe not this exact summer. I'm excited for Eli to send me photos from Alaska and then come home. I'm excited at the prospect of being so bored that coming back to school sounds like a good idea, because I'm sorry vet school but I've lost that lovin' feeling.
Summer is so thrilling.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Oh right, I have a blog.
Wow, this semester has been kicking my butt. It's been a while since I was here.
I think the most important thing I have to say is that I am about to be on SPRING BREAK! If you were here you would know that just saying those two words the clouds break and the choirs of angels trumpet joyous songs from the heavens. We are all so drained. I skipped a class today (don't judge me, all the notes are online!) so I could shower. Because I couldn't last night or this morning due to a school project (okay, it was extra credit, but I got to do whatever I wanted so I made a quilt--on my beautiful 73 year old sewing machine, thank you Janet!!--and it felt soooo good to use the other half of my brain). Actually, this is kind of cool--our cardiac physiology prof granted us 15 points for an artistic representation of what we'd learned. So I made a quilt of an ECG, I saw several paintings, crossword puzzles, a pipe cleaner heart complete with construction paper vessels and my personal favorite, cake. It was amazing--they had a heart shaped cake and a lung cake and a liver cake and two kidney cakes, with lines connecting them to show the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, which responds to changes in blood pressure. I really hope we get to eat it tomorrow. Now that is what I call sweetmeats.
Where was I? Right. Break. I'll be home Friday night and around until Sunday the 21st, hanging out with my dogs because my parents went to Maui without me. It's okay Mom and Dad, I'll be fine and I still love you (maybe, depending on what you bring me). I will, however, be trucking home several tons of textbooks and trying to cram for the next round of five exams after spring break. YAY! Please, if you are around, give me a reason not to study. Also: I would be calling you all and notifying you of my presence (at high decibels) except that I left my phone in Eli's truck so it got back to Poulsbo a week before I did...helpful. Email is the only form of communication I have right now.
This has not been an inspired update but I am really tired and I think I'll go take a nap now. More later, after I haven't been in class for a day or two and can resume a normal sleep schedule.
I think the most important thing I have to say is that I am about to be on SPRING BREAK! If you were here you would know that just saying those two words the clouds break and the choirs of angels trumpet joyous songs from the heavens. We are all so drained. I skipped a class today (don't judge me, all the notes are online!) so I could shower. Because I couldn't last night or this morning due to a school project (okay, it was extra credit, but I got to do whatever I wanted so I made a quilt--on my beautiful 73 year old sewing machine, thank you Janet!!--and it felt soooo good to use the other half of my brain). Actually, this is kind of cool--our cardiac physiology prof granted us 15 points for an artistic representation of what we'd learned. So I made a quilt of an ECG, I saw several paintings, crossword puzzles, a pipe cleaner heart complete with construction paper vessels and my personal favorite, cake. It was amazing--they had a heart shaped cake and a lung cake and a liver cake and two kidney cakes, with lines connecting them to show the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, which responds to changes in blood pressure. I really hope we get to eat it tomorrow. Now that is what I call sweetmeats.
Where was I? Right. Break. I'll be home Friday night and around until Sunday the 21st, hanging out with my dogs because my parents went to Maui without me. It's okay Mom and Dad, I'll be fine and I still love you (maybe, depending on what you bring me). I will, however, be trucking home several tons of textbooks and trying to cram for the next round of five exams after spring break. YAY! Please, if you are around, give me a reason not to study. Also: I would be calling you all and notifying you of my presence (at high decibels) except that I left my phone in Eli's truck so it got back to Poulsbo a week before I did...helpful. Email is the only form of communication I have right now.
This has not been an inspired update but I am really tired and I think I'll go take a nap now. More later, after I haven't been in class for a day or two and can resume a normal sleep schedule.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Stuff I Like
I have an Anatomy exam tomorrow, and so of course, here I am. But sometimes I am humming along through my day and I hit on things that are really neat, like so neat that I talk on and on about them at anyone who will listen. So since this is my blog and you are my captive audience, here are some things I like (starting with: I like lists of things):
--My labradoofus. She makes me very happy, even when she smells like mud (i.e., 95% of the time).
--The clock tower bells. WSU has a clock tower (we call it the Eye of Sauron because it is lit in red neon) which chimes on the hour and plays a song every day at 5 o' clock. I've only ever been able to identify "Tradition" from the Fiddler on the Roof, but it makes me happy that I can hear it from my house. I keep meaning to find out who puts the songs together and ask them to post the playlist on the web somewhere.
--Renal physiology. It is very cool, and would probably be even cooler if I knew what the hell was going on (that's this weekend's project). My favorite thing about physiology is that it is so interesting, the class goes by quickly.
--Radiographs. So nifty, I mean, have you thought about it? You are looking inside the body. And it's like a jigsaw puzzle in there. And thanks, Dr. Mary, because now I know how to look at head x-rays and impress the bejeezus out of my colleagues (How can you tell it's a 4 year old horse?! Oohhhh...).
--This website. Any idea to be more happy is a good idea! I like being happy.
--Hatching plans for my apartment. I'm allowed to paint it (!!), and boy howdy do I have ambitions here.
--You guys. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful network of people around me! I appreciate each and every one of you and I would encourage you to visit Pullman (although you may want to wait until the weird chemical smell is out of my new cushy futon mattress).
--The hot chocolate at the Black Cypress restaurant downtown. If Indy and I are not quite enough, this hot chocolate will make the trip to Pullman worth your time.
--Procrastination. Today I saw a t-shirt reading "I have not yet begun to procrastinate" which I may need to own.
--This weirdo (Pumpkin Pi for Halloween; please note the clever stem):
--My labradoofus. She makes me very happy, even when she smells like mud (i.e., 95% of the time).
--The clock tower bells. WSU has a clock tower (we call it the Eye of Sauron because it is lit in red neon) which chimes on the hour and plays a song every day at 5 o' clock. I've only ever been able to identify "Tradition" from the Fiddler on the Roof, but it makes me happy that I can hear it from my house. I keep meaning to find out who puts the songs together and ask them to post the playlist on the web somewhere.
--Renal physiology. It is very cool, and would probably be even cooler if I knew what the hell was going on (that's this weekend's project). My favorite thing about physiology is that it is so interesting, the class goes by quickly.
--Radiographs. So nifty, I mean, have you thought about it? You are looking inside the body. And it's like a jigsaw puzzle in there. And thanks, Dr. Mary, because now I know how to look at head x-rays and impress the bejeezus out of my colleagues (How can you tell it's a 4 year old horse?! Oohhhh...).
--This website. Any idea to be more happy is a good idea! I like being happy.
--Hatching plans for my apartment. I'm allowed to paint it (!!), and boy howdy do I have ambitions here.
--You guys. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful network of people around me! I appreciate each and every one of you and I would encourage you to visit Pullman (although you may want to wait until the weird chemical smell is out of my new cushy futon mattress).
--The hot chocolate at the Black Cypress restaurant downtown. If Indy and I are not quite enough, this hot chocolate will make the trip to Pullman worth your time.
--Procrastination. Today I saw a t-shirt reading "I have not yet begun to procrastinate" which I may need to own.
--This weirdo (Pumpkin Pi for Halloween; please note the clever stem):
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
The Year of the Ologies
Apparently, the second semester of vet school is when they begin to dump ologies on you. You know; ologies:
-Path-ology
-Neur-ology
-Physi-ology
-Immun-ology
-And also Nutrition and Anatomy but those sound less impressive without that all important suffix
It's only into the second week of classes so hard to tell yet how the term will shake out. We've certainly got the full range of teaching styles though. It runs from old-school (really...with a slide projector that he makes the students at the back of the room operate for him) to high tech with powerpoint shows and remote clickers and receivers to compile the input from the class in realtime. Our brains are having to span not just volumes but decades of information.
We also have considerably more lab time this semester. Each week holds two pathology labs, one microscopic and one gross specimens, a long (looooong) neuro lab wherein we poke about in dog brain with our "Canine Atlas of the Brain" which was printed in 1986. 1986 and they made me pay for it. It is also in black and white because apparently color photography had not yet been introduced in 1986. I don't know because I wasn't alive. Moving on. Also a physiology lab and three days of large animal anatomy lab, although we're not dissecting all of those days. Our anatomy groups are divided into A and B subunits and on alternating days, except when we're only doing bones, or reviewing for an exam, or working on the bovine cadavers, or the moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars, the A group dissects and the B group studies and vice versa.
So, in sum, I think I spend ~15 hours of the week in a lab which is pretty cool because it means I get to do something. I am not good at learning on my butt. I get a lot more out of moving around and learning, like when I'm dissecting or when I'm cleaning the house and making Eli follow me around and read bold terms to me. He gets a headache, but I get a lot more out of it. The flip side of this coin is that I'm extremely clumsy, and in the anatomy lab alone have a running tally of one broken skeleton pelvis, one previously labelled femur which might not be described as such so much anymore, a small scar from where I walked into Jessica's scalpel blade, and a 4-inch bruise and laceration on my shin where I tried (and failed) to walk through one of the huge steel racks from which our pony cadavers are suspended. You will understand, then, why my lab partners were so very, very excited when the instructors handed me a 7 inch knife for our dissections. Yee-HAAA! So far no casualties but I'll keep you posted.
Signing off for tonight: 8 o' clock class tomorrow morning.
-Path-ology
-Neur-ology
-Physi-ology
-Immun-ology
-And also Nutrition and Anatomy but those sound less impressive without that all important suffix
It's only into the second week of classes so hard to tell yet how the term will shake out. We've certainly got the full range of teaching styles though. It runs from old-school (really...with a slide projector that he makes the students at the back of the room operate for him) to high tech with powerpoint shows and remote clickers and receivers to compile the input from the class in realtime. Our brains are having to span not just volumes but decades of information.
We also have considerably more lab time this semester. Each week holds two pathology labs, one microscopic and one gross specimens, a long (looooong) neuro lab wherein we poke about in dog brain with our "Canine Atlas of the Brain" which was printed in 1986. 1986 and they made me pay for it. It is also in black and white because apparently color photography had not yet been introduced in 1986. I don't know because I wasn't alive. Moving on. Also a physiology lab and three days of large animal anatomy lab, although we're not dissecting all of those days. Our anatomy groups are divided into A and B subunits and on alternating days, except when we're only doing bones, or reviewing for an exam, or working on the bovine cadavers, or the moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars, the A group dissects and the B group studies and vice versa.
So, in sum, I think I spend ~15 hours of the week in a lab which is pretty cool because it means I get to do something. I am not good at learning on my butt. I get a lot more out of moving around and learning, like when I'm dissecting or when I'm cleaning the house and making Eli follow me around and read bold terms to me. He gets a headache, but I get a lot more out of it. The flip side of this coin is that I'm extremely clumsy, and in the anatomy lab alone have a running tally of one broken skeleton pelvis, one previously labelled femur which might not be described as such so much anymore, a small scar from where I walked into Jessica's scalpel blade, and a 4-inch bruise and laceration on my shin where I tried (and failed) to walk through one of the huge steel racks from which our pony cadavers are suspended. You will understand, then, why my lab partners were so very, very excited when the instructors handed me a 7 inch knife for our dissections. Yee-HAAA! So far no casualties but I'll keep you posted.
Signing off for tonight: 8 o' clock class tomorrow morning.
Friday, January 15, 2010
On the Road (Again)
Back in Pullman after a long lovely break, and here in my living room after a long lovely week. If I may climb onto the metaphorical couch for a second, I'm conflicted. I wasn't ready to come back to classes and homework and exams but when I got to class Monday morning (on time, in the right place, a minor miracle in and of itself) I felt like I had a purpose again. I'm here to do something! I'm a human data sponge! Woo-hoo!
Indiana is not feeling so fulfilled. She was irritated on the car ride home and downright petulant when I shoved her into her crate the first morning (would not be an issue if she hadn't started chewing on my walls) but she's starting to get over herself. It's nice to be allowed on all the furniture again, right?
It was a great time being home, though, and so wonderful to see many friends and family. Although it was relaxing, there was not a whole lot of downtime!
I:
Indiana is not feeling so fulfilled. She was irritated on the car ride home and downright petulant when I shoved her into her crate the first morning (would not be an issue if she hadn't started chewing on my walls) but she's starting to get over herself. It's nice to be allowed on all the furniture again, right?
It was a great time being home, though, and so wonderful to see many friends and family. Although it was relaxing, there was not a whole lot of downtime!
I:
- got snowshoeing at Hurricane Ridge (is it really snowshoeing if there are only six inches? or is it just strapping goofy contraptions to your feet at that point?),
- ate my way through Seattle (Kell's, Piroshky, Habesha, I love you)
- had a great time snooping around at a local barn ostensibly working with Dr. Mary who may or may not have paid me in wine (the way to a grad student's heart, I tell you)
- went to Portland where (hello?!) it snowed four very wet sloggy inches and rendered all the snow-plowless Portlanders totally useless on the road, resulting in,
- driving Eli's standard transmission one-ton pickup beast all the way back home to Poulsbo by myself without mishap, although I did get some patronizing looks from the good ol' boys when I pulled up to the [diesel] pump on the wrong side and was then forced to execute an 83,754 point turn to extricate myself,
- got a trail ride in with Beau, the best Morgan ever,
- had some wonderful rides with Jaegermeister who not so gently reminded me that I should really work on those core muscles while I'm here at school,
- had a fabulous Christmas with more eating and lots of kitchen related gifts which made me wonder how I am not 400 pounds already
- went on a 'snowboard' trip only to abandon snowboarding after one (soaking wet, bruised, but definitely enjoyable) day, to return to my much drier skiing roots the next--stick with what you know, people, and
- was totally out-lasted by my parents and their friends on New Year's Eve. By the way, you know who you are, I am having dreams about those carob chip muffins. I must know the recipe, please help!
Now it's Friday, and I'm getting back into the swing of things. Actually, it's better than that: I've done my dishes every day I've been home and there is nothing on my floor that is not supposed to be there. Oh, no, I'm becoming a grown-up! Send sugary treats and insolent slovenly attitude at once! To add to the nauseating responsibility around here, I must go take my dog for a walk before I head out for the night: free bowling thanks to GPSA--I hate bowling but love my friends, for whom I will even brave used shoes.
Stay tuned this weekend, at which time since my house is clean (that sound you heard was my mom swooning) I might give you a tour. And also recap my first week as a second semester veterinary student (spoiler: involves guts).
TTFN,
Kate
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
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.
Now going to bed.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
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.
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.
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