A little pick-me-up

What does a vet student do when they are stressed, unhappy, and just need *something* to brighten their day?

Why, get a puppy of course! At least, that is what a bunch of my classmates tend to do during midterm and finals weeks.

But, you know me, I am much more rational than that! I would never go out and get a living creature on a whim without actually thinking things through, would I?

Yeah, I would.

He's an African Dwarf Frog

Look at his cute face!!

So yeah, I might be a bit crazy. I'm happy with him though. Sport likes him a lot too! I do need to figure out a name for him, so suggestions are appreciated!

A new, shiny week

I have started to see my life in five day blocks. Every one of those five days holds something different, but some constants remain.

I will always hate Mondays, even if it is grand rounds day (like today! Interesting lunch lecture about anticonvulsants... which reminds me that I need to email Kenya's mom... but it wasn't as interesting as the Littlest Lemur topic from a few months ago). I will always have to pack a lunch on Tuesdays as the Wildlife Medical Clinic rounds are held every Tuesday during our noon period. I will always feel like Wednesdays drag on FOREVER. I will alway be excited about Thursdays, even if my bereavement issues class makes me really depressed in the evenings. And Fridays can never come soon enough.

Right now we are learning about reproductive...everything. It's really interesting but it reduces everyone to middle schoolers - even the professors. One of my professors told us that we should have had egg harvesting parties when we were 17 because we chose our careers over our fertility. Today, his lecture turned quite a few girls off of ever giving birth. He is, for all his craziness, my favorite professor. Not only is he fun to listen to but you can absolutely tell just how much he enjoys his subject and most importantly, teaching it to others. I also like to daydream that he is like Indiana Jones and has crazy adventures when he isn't here teaching us about placentas and testicles. The middle schooler bit is getting a tad old though. It's making me annoyed and irritated with school in general. But that's probably just an excuse for my own laziness.

However, Mondays are always hard for me. Today moreso, since we just returned from spring break and I went from lazy days in beautiful northern Arizona to the crazy whirl of vet school in drab Chambana (that's Champaign-Urbana for you uncool people). I miss the Boyfriend. I miss the Boyfriend's dog. I miss nature.

The hardest part of moving to Central Illinois/the Midwest was not leaving my family, my friends, the only state I have ever lived in, even my job. The hardest part was leaving this:

I miss taking my dog for a quick walk and ending up on a hiking trail. I miss seeing the most beautiful sunsets in the world. I think my heart will always be in Colorado, even if I don't plan on going back for a while. I might even be like my sister and never return permanently. But I am thankful that I lived in such an amazing place and I will always dream about going "home."

Being in Flagstaff with the Boyfriend really reminded me of what I am missing here in the cornfields and cow patties. You can see the stars there. You can smell the pine trees. You can walk out your front door, down the street and BAM! You are on a lovely hiking trail. You can go outside at night and not be afraid that you are going to get stabbed (yes, a real problem in my neighborhood here).

But some things I am in love with/looking forward to in Chambana: The Farmer's Market! The dog park (and most of the people that frequent it)! The different wildlife species that I see in the clinic! Um... that's all I got, really. I still miss the West.

Okay forgive me if I haven't given proper background info for this post. I was just feeling melancholy. I promise to bring you up to speed in the next few days.

Okay, okay okay

So...

It's been two years.

I've never really said that I was good at this sort of stuff, did I? Things came up. Things got complicated.... Life changed.

Two years.

A lot has happened in those two years. Would you like to know about them? Probably, if you are still reading this you know about them all. But for those who don't, let's bring you up to speed:

Since my last post:

-Lacy got adopted. She is spoiled rotten. Literally - she is a nasty ankle biter now and her new mama loves it. :/

-So did Empress, then she got returned. Then she went to a different foster home. Then she was sent back to the shelter. For the last two years, that is where she lives. Go and adopt her. She needs it.

-I did graduate from CSU (yay!). I am now a Biologist and a Zoologist. thankyouverymuch.

-The shelter and I parted ways. I worked there until August of 2009 and left it to pursue another job. I still fostered for them for a little bit and I am still in contact with them a lot.

-I fell in love with a boy. He is now the Boyfriend.

-I worked from August 2009-August 2010 at Olde Towne again. I was the head vet tech and it was amazing. I owe everything to Dr. Muench.

-I got into the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Illinois.

-I moved to Urbana, Illinois. (Sport came too)

-Life is wonderful.

So that's life in a nutshell. I am currently finishing up my first year at UIUC (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). I adore it, but I'll post another entry about that later.

Future posts will include:

Updates on the awesome Sport dog (and pictures! I promise.)

A look into life at UIUC

An intro to the boyfriend and his dog, Maddie

A review of this past school year

And lots, lots more!

Let's hope I post again before March 2013!

ETA: I changed the look of the blog. Let me know if it is too much.

Lacy and Spring Break!

Lacy went to her new foster home today. They decided that they could take her after all. I was a little sad to see her go, but she was really much happier in a calmer household. No more Sport to pester her! Amy gave her a beautiful haircut yesterday. It is sooooo cute and Lacy thinks so too. She is Muppet no longer.

I am so cute.

Anyway, I took Sport and Tira to the vet again today. I spaced out their vaxs because I hate getting them at the same time, and I am glad I did. Last visit, six weeks ago, Tira got her rabies and got a reaction to the vaccine. She was fine this time with the distemper so that is good.

Sport has gained weight...haha. I need to cut back his food, but otherwise they are both healthy. I asked my vet to check Sport's anal glands, and he DID NOT like that. He flipped out, but I was able to bring him back to sanity really quickly. I put my forehead to his and he immediately calmed down and stopped struggling completely. I took treats with me and he was working the whole time that we weren't doing his exam. It really helps him to calm down. I buckled down and bought heartworm meds. Heartworms really isn't that bad here because it is so dry and meds aren't really necessary. But another clinic I know in FoCo has already seen three HW positive dogs this year and it seems like it is increasing in my area. Boo.

Anyway, I am on spring break right now and I am going to be working with Sport a lot. I am hopefully going to go on a few hikes with him and some friends and just enjoy this lovely weather we are having.

Lacy

Well, we had a foster home set up for her, but they had to cancel. Unfortunately, we have been getting tons of calls from shelters to take new dogs, so obviously those are the priority since they are in danger of euthanasia.

So, Lacy is here to stay for a while. She's finally warming up to us. Instead of sitting under the table, she is choosing to sit on the couch or in our laps. She will try to follow us around and generally tolerates the dogs. She growls at Sport, but he ignores her for the most part.

This week, Em will be staying with my boss and Lacy and Sport will be coming down to Longmont with me. It should be interesting to say the least.

I'm getting a little carried away

I took home another foster dog last week. A little wisp of a thing. She wasn't eating and I got worried about her after two days without food. So to the madhouse she came. Her name is Lacy, but more often than not we call her Muppet or Mop. You'll see why shortly. She is very scared and will bite if startled. She doesn't care for Sport but she doesn't mind Empress that much. Mostly she just sleeps, but what else is new with my pack?!

She fits right in!

I had to give her a bath (or two... or three) because she was filthy and having "digestive issues" due to not eating anything substantial for nearly five days. Poor thing weighs just a little over five pounds. How could I resist her!? But anyway, she is clean but still very mop-like. I didn't want to risk giving her a haircut. I did cut her nails though. I probably got at least a centimeter off of each nail. They were crazy long.

How's my hair?

I will hopefully find her a new foster home soon. Although sweet, I just can't have three dogs in my house right now. And I think that she will find a forever home pretty soon. She is pretty darn cute.

I'm a horrible mom.

Or at least my dogs think so. I bought a really cute pet hat and bandanna for St. Patrick's day. Empress is going to wear it in the parade. But I wanted to get some pictures of the dogs modeling their new gear.

This is how it turned out:

The best one of Sport

Empress' best shot. She hated it.

Being peeved.

Gah. I hate you.

I will have my revenge.

Doesn't Em look like an Irish gangster in the last picture? I love it. Anyway, after torturing them for twenty minutes, we worked on some clicker training (Em's trick for RBDT's Clicker Trick of the Month Contest and Sport's flyball work) and then my friend came by with Kenya and we went on a quick hike on the trail by my house. I was even able to let Empress off lead which was really good for her and she and Sport were having a blast.

I love my days off where I can devote the whole day to the dogs!

Blah.

I am totally failing all my classes. Except maybe my writing class.

And by failing I am not exaggerating. I am literally getting D's and C's on my tests. I need to get a C+ in all my classes in order to graduate.

I used to get straight A's! I was on the Dean's List!

I think the combination of not getting into vet school (and thus not having anything to motivate me to get A's in my classes) and a serious case of senioritis is affecting me. I got to get better at this game. Or else, I am going to break my parent's hearts...

Introducing...

Lovely Empress!

Isn't she cute? Her pics don't do her justice, she is very feminine and gorgeous. Em is also very soft and snuggly and I seem to be falling hard. Which is really not good. So I have to get her out of here as soon as I can.

But look how cute she is!!!!!

Okay, I know. I know. I cannot get a second dog right now. I cannot afford it, so I should just enjoy her while I can.

She and Sport are having lots of fun playing though. They cuddle a lot and play a lot. I think that she might have food allergies though, so I will be switching her food very soon.

They come... they go...

For the past couple weeks, I have been fostering a lovely young pit bull named Rhino:

Ain't he cute?

I haven't written much as school is once again kicking my behind and somehow the days do not have enough time for me to do everything I want. But the dogs don't mind too much. Rhino and Sport get along really well.

Kisses?


Hugs!

But even though we love Rhino very much, we prayed that he would find his forever home.

Please Dog. Doesn't anyone want me?!

And he DID! Yay! Rhino is going home later this week and I am amazed that yet another pit bull was adopted! Happy days ahead, Rhino.

Hip Hip Hooray!!

He was one of my faster fosters, which is just fine with me. But we won't be fosterless for long. Probably next week, or even this weekend, we will be taking in yet another homeless pup. Stay tuned! I have a feeling you are going to like this next one.