Finally, the weekend!

(I know, because I've been slaving away in school for so long, right?? Man, these 4 days of classes spent introducing the syllabi and going over basic material have been rough.)

Today's entertainment plans include:

- a walk through a sculpture garden in Loveland

- lunch at PF Chang's, courtesy of gift cards bestowed upon us months ago by family members

- a second attempt at visiting Water World in Denver

Weather.com promises: Sunshine and a few afternoon clouds. A stray afternoon thunderstorm is possible. High 81F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.

So hopefully that "stray afternoon thunderstorm" will be nonexistent and we can at least enjoy more than a quarter of the lazy river today.

I better enjoy the free time and fun things today, because tomorrow is officially Finish The Capstone Sunday!

Day 3 of classes = CRASH

Today, my third day of classes began by getting rear-ended while driving to school.

About 30 seconds prior to the "car-car interaction," I noticed an idiot tailgating me.

As I pulled up to a stoplight, I thought to myself, He better not hit me.

Once I had nearly come to a stop, I looked in my rearview mirror and noticed the car behind me was apparently slowing down, and I thought, Good, he noticed the red light.

That thought was quickly followed by a significant physical impact between his car and mine.

I'm no expert in getting rear-ended, but it didn't feel too bad - although everything did go flying off the seats and my cell phone flew out of the pocket of my jeans and landed on the floor in front of the passenger seat.

As soon as the light turned green, I pulled off onto the side street and the guilty driver followed me.

We both got out of our cars and assessed the (fortunate lack of) damage. He was clearly a college kid also on his way to class and looked like he would start crying any minute.

After an exchange of insurance info and phone numbers, we headed on our way.

Looks like nothing is damaged, other than some cosmetic issues - scrapes on the rear bumper and a couple of light gouges from his license plate frame - and a lovely dirt reverse imprint of his license plate on my bumper. I'm glad nothing needs to be fixed, but I hope he's sorry!

Musings on the start of sophomore year

Thoughts about my classes thus far:

• Pharmacology: seems really boring, but probably important to know at least some of the material; this class is after lunch 4 days a week, which is clearly going to make it difficult to stay awake/pay attention, especially given the professor's soothing voice
• Preventive Medicine: also boring so far; talking a lot about statistics, etc.; hope it will get better
• Ethics: haven't had it yet - 10 am tomorrow
• Bioanalytical Pathology: will be sort of a cool class; we are learning about how to run different lab tests and, more importantly, how to interpret them - CBC, serum chemistry, urinalysis, cytology, etc.
• Biology of Disease II: probably more interesting than Biology of Disease I last spring; I am happy that it can still be abbreviated as "BoD"
• Toxicology: jury's still out on this one; could be a lot of memorization, but the prof seems cool
• Management: awesome today! We spent the whole 50 minutes going around the room and saying our name, our major, and either the best or worst job we've ever had, and why. We only got through half the class so we will be continuing this on Friday

The first day of classes (yesterday) started with nearly 1/3 of the class showing up promptly at 9 am for our first lab/recitation section of Bioanalytical Pathology, only to find out that there was apparently a tiny note in the course syllabus (which wasn't even available online) that said all 3 lab sections were meeting at 11 am the first day. Would it have been so difficult to send an email to the class telling/reminding us of that? I'm not in the habit of perusing the syllabus before each class for the sole purpose of determining whether we actually have class on the first day at the time listed on our master schedule. Spent the extra 2 hours on campus playing Bubble Spinner. Time well spent.

I miss having cubes. Lockers are ok, but sort of annoying. Plus there is really no communal place to get together and hang out between classes and during breaks. The caffeine addicts are irritated that there's no place to put their coffee pots, and I am saddened that we have only 1 communal fridge that is shared with everyone who uses the coffee building. (Although, the lounge room with the fridge also has like 9 microwaves and a small strip of carpet for practicing your putting....)

It is funny how quickly you can go from being excited about school to getting back in the catatonic, sitting-all-day-in-the-same-seat-in-the-same-room, when-is-Thanksgiving-break condition. From my initial impressions, this semester promises to be dense and difficult, with sporadic interesting and engaging material thrown in. Hope the profs are entertaining, at least!

Not having class till 9 every day (sometimes 11 on Tuesdays, sometimes 10 on Thursdays, never till 10:40 on Fridays) is totally awesome. Hooray for sleeping a reasonable amount, AND exercising!

Back in Colorado and lovin' it

I've now been back in Colorado for 6 days, and after 7.5 consecutive weeks away from home this summer, I am thoroughly enjoying being back.

Let's take a look at the things I thought I would enjoy about being back in Colorado:

• Air conditioning --- yep, loving this, especially on those muggy 90 degree days
• Johnny & Simon --- definitely missed them and their entertaining antics; did not miss cleaning up their messes and scooping the litter boxes every day
• Going to the grocery store --- oooh, we went on Saturday and it was really fun! Plus it was double-coupon day so we saved like $50 in discounts and coupons
• Getting to choose what food we eat for every meal --- super awesome. After 5 weeks of the same cafeteria food, you'll find you yearn for something different... or at least a surprise
• An awesome, 100% functional treadmill at my convenience --- ok, if we're being honest, I haven't put this to use quite yet... but I'm planning to re-start my exercise plan tomorrow morning, I swear! The 9 am start time every day means I can get up at 6:30 instead of 5:30 and still get in my running every morning (as long as I get my lazy butt out of bed instead of resetting the alarm for 7:30)
• Sleeping in a firm, queen bed with my husband --- hmmmm... the part about the firm, queen bed is definitely true... and it's been nice to snuggle sometimes, but I do miss being able to sleep all the way through the night (not that me waking up unnecessarily is always CLH's fault - I'm sure some of it has to do with pre-capstone anxiety)
• Variety in weather --- haven't had much time to spend outside lately, so I'll have to get back to you on that one. But I am definitely looking forward to cooler temps and changing leaves this fall, and I can't wait for winter! (Call me crazy.)
• Orange-peach-mango juice --- pretty awesome, and certainly rocks the socks off the terrible watered down plain orange juice served at the choral festival
• The fantastic little Windsor library --- sooooo cute and friendly! And nearby!

So as you can see, I am, in nearly all respects, still super-glad to be home. Check back with me in about March or April 2010 to see how fondly I remember everything about the choral festival and how I have once again blocked out the memories of bad mattresses and terrible food...

Time to get back to my life

The capstone exam is OVER and I am GLAD!

I awoke at 6:30 this morning (after waking up repeatedly during the night and feeling wide awake... gee, I wonder why?) and headed off to school.

Instead of traversing an extra hundred yards or so to get to the Zoology/Anatomy building, I got to save my legs the brief workout and instead stop at the Pathology building, my new sophomore home.

The exam commenced at 8 am with a 149-question multiple choice section that took me about an hour and a half to complete.

That was followed by a shorter written/short answer/matching section that only took about half an hour.

Then I traipsed on over to the Zoo/Anat building to take the computerized part of the test in the nice computer lab over there (another half hour or so).

All in all, I was done by about 10:30-10:45 and feeling pretty good about it.

There were a couple questions in the multiple choice that I had absolutely no idea about - for one of them I even resorted to the old technique of seeing which answer (A, B, C, D, E) I had used the least, and putting that as my answer.

There were a few more where I had it narrowed down to two choices but couldn't say the answer definitely beyond that.

But overall, I know I did well.

It was sort of cool to look back at 2.5 hours of testing material and realize everything I've learned in the last 12 months. Granted, there are parts of it that I knew already from undergrad (much of the physiology material), but I sure have stuffed a whole lot more information into my brain since this time last year.

My summer studying (as I might have predicted) ended up taking place mostly in the last 10 days or so. Fortunately, most of the material came back to me pretty quickly when I gave it a once-over.

I was surprised, and pleased, that I didn't really feel nervous about this test. Yes, I was stressed about it and wanted to study a lot and do well, but I didn't get that all-too-familiar gastrointestinal upset and loss of appetite that I've had before many stressful events in recent years.

I am pretty sure CLH is really glad this is over, because I know I haven't been the most pleasant person to be around since my arrival in Windsor last Tuesday night. He has been such a trooper - cleaning the house, taking care of the cats, cooking for me, and doing laundry and dishes. When I am working as a full-time vet, he will make such a good househusband! (if he wants)

Now I'm looking forward to really getting back into my old schedule of classes, studying, meals, exercise, etc. that I had last year. This semester's class schedule promises to be awesome with classes starting at 9 am every day except Friday (10 am) and finishing at 3 pm every day except Tuesday (4 pm).

I know it will only be a few short weeks (days?) until I am back to being stressed out about school and classes and studying and grades, but for now I'm going to try to enjoy this feeling of being DONE for a little while.

Vet Med Word of the Day is back!

Beginning tomorrow morning, Vet Med Word of the Day is back!

Tune in for fun and interesting words that I've rediscovered during my summer studying.

And stay tuned later in the academic year for new and fascinating words from my sophomore year!

Don't let the excitement overwhelm you!

Capstone, here I come

I officially finished my studying 13 hours before Capstone is scheduled to commence.

I feel relatively prepared. I have reviewed just about everything from last year, and fortunately most of it came back to me pretty quickly.

But I still can't wait to get this over with....

You know that old joke that goes, "What do you call the guy that graduated last in his class from medical school?" --- "Doctor." Well, my current mantra is: I only need 70% to pass!

Expect a post-Capstone update tomorrow night.

Just a quick note to say...

...expect to hear much more from me after about 4 pm on Monday!

Due to the ever-looming, fast-approaching Capstone exam on Monday, the next 71 hours of my life will be spent doing some serious studying/reviewing of last year's material.

But hey, who wanted to enjoy their last 3 days of summer vacation anyway??

Who needs a diet and exercise, anyhow?

As the Massachusetts portion of the summer grinds to an end, I find my self less and less enthused with exercise and more inclined to sit in front of the computer in my free time and eat plenty of delicious desserts in the dining hall.

I started out pretty well, jogging 4 or 5 days a week. Then it was 2 or 3 days a week. Then once a week. Now it's been quite awhile since I put on my workout clothes.

But I keep telling myself, in just a week I'll be back home in Windsor, with a treadmill all to myself, and I can study and run and feel like I'm multitasking.

While I was keeping up with my jogging routine, I didn't feel too bad about having some desserts at lunch or dinner.

But last night I went for both Boston cream pie AND raspberry cheesecake with my dinner. (It was so worth it.) And the night before that, I treated myself to dinner and a sundae at Friendly's in Great Barrington.

In my defense, I'll have to miss Ice Cream Sundae Night at the dining hall tonight, since I need to go pick up Mom in Albany.

But most of all**, I can't wait until, 6 or so days from now, when I am safely back in Windsor and well on my way to being ensconced back in my regular, comfortable routine. With whatever food I want to cook for myself, a pair of cats, air-conditioning, and a decent mattress.

**Actually, most of all, I can't wait until this darned Capstone exam is over. I keep thinking to myself that it won't be that bad, that my teachers know we have to remember an incredible amount of material from last year, that they will focus on the big points and not be too nitpicky. Then I wake up from a nightmare about Parasitology.... ticks, mites, and lice, oh my!

But I KNOW you're the place with the tent!

As the summer concert season winds down, things are pretty slow in the Box Office. After all, we're done with 3 of the 5 concerts so are only selling tickets for 2 more.

And we're currently in competition with another nearby venue (performing "Carmina burana") to see who gets the most concertgoers for tomorrow night. (I fear we're losing badly.)

So lately I've been spending hours on end sitting in the Box Office alone, answering the phone and selling tickets occasionally, and studying, organizing things, and generally finding miscellaneous activities to do the rest of the time.

With that in mind, you can see how I would almost welcome the chance to deal with an utterly crazy caller this afternoon:

Her: Now, the choral festival… I was there last year, you’re the place with the huge tent?

Me: We don’t have our concerts in a tent. They are in a concert shed. Perhaps you're thinking of someplace else?

Her: No, I was there last year, and it was in a tent. A really big tent, with hundreds of people in it.

Me: Well, we have a physical building that used to be a hockey arena. Maybe it looked like a tent from the outside.

Her: Didn’t you do Solomon last year?

Me: Yes, we did.

Her: Not very many people do Solomon – Solomon by Handel, you know – so I know it was you that had the tent.

Me: We did do Solomon and it was not in a tent.

Her: And you’re the place where you have to park a half a mile away and walk to the concert?

Me: There is a bit of a walk from the parking area.

Her: And you did Solomon.

Me: Yes.

Her: Then you’re the place with the tent.

Me: No, we don’t have a---

Her: But aren’t you right off Route 42 or whatever it is?

Me: Yes, we’re just off Route 41.

Her: Then you’re the place with the tent.

Me: No. I don’t know about previous years, but last year and this year our concerts are in a building that used to be an enclosed hockey rink and has since been converted into a concert facility. It is a concert shed, not a formal concert hall, but it is a physical structure that stands year round, not a tent.

Me (wanting to add): (And didn't you notice the roof and concert floor and concrete walls and lighting fixtures and etc. etc. etc.)

Her: But I KNOW it was a tent last year.

Me: Would you like to reserve some tickets?

Her: I’ll have to call you back.

- - - - -

So she calls back half an hour later:

Me: Box Off--- (she cuts me off)

Her: I’ve just gone on the website and it says the concerts are in a concert shed.

Me: Yes, that’s right.

Her: So it must have just been last year that it was in a tent.

Me: No, it’s in the same place it was last year.

Her: But it says right here that it’s in a shed this year, but you said it was in a building.

Me: Well, as I define it, a concert shed is a building. This structure is permanent, mostly indoors, and exists year round, so I call it a building.

Her: So it’s not a tent.

Me: No, it’s not a tent.

(silence)

Her: Well, I guess we’ll still come.

(I did get a whopping $35 order out of that cumulative 15 minutes of my life that I’ll never get back. The hilarity and resulting conversation that I'll be able to use to entertain the other staff here were worth it though.)

Box Office Question of the Day (3)

Today, we will take a moment to celebrate a Box Office question that I have not received (yet) this year, as opposed to last year:

Caller: "Oh, it's the Beethoven this week.... How does that one go again? Can you sing a little bit of it?"

Me: (stunned silence)

Me: No.

The misbehaving Berkshires Basset

I doubt that I'll ever be able to pass by a loose dog without at least stopping to look for an owner, try to catch it, and examine the ID tags.

"Daddy's Little Girl," my new Berkshires canine friend, is no exception.

I've seen "Daddy's Little Girl" ("Ms. Basset") out walking in the evenings with her owner several times. Mom occasionally lets Ms. Basset loose to drag her leash behind her, and Ms. Basset appears not to stray far.

But today when I was walking back from dinner, I saw Ms. Basset joyfully galloping across the field between the dining hall and the dorms.

She was clearly having way more fun than she would be if her mom knew she was running loose.

And she'd clearly been enjoying her newfound freedom for awhile, since she kept collapsing onto her side to pant and rest.

When I walked up to her, she meekly presented her belly for a rub, then stood up and wagged her tail, like she wanted to invite me to join her in her big adventure.

Sorry, Ms. Basset, you're asking the wrong passerby. This here's a Vet Student who Doesn't Like to See Dogs Running Loose. I regret to inform you that your fun is over.

Ms. Basset was equipped with a collar and 3 tags: a rabies tag, a city license, and a dog-bone-shaped tag that read simply "Daddy's Little Girl." (Note: not very useful information to help a Good Samaritan get your dog back to you if found in the evening or on a weekend...)

I thought I knew where Ms. Basset's mom lives, so I headed that way. Ms. Basset followed me for a half-dozen steps, then flopped over again. Nuh-uh, she seemed to say, I don't think I want to go home yet.

So, with a sigh, I bent down and hefted Ms. Basset into my arms.

Basset hounds sort of look like medium sized dogs, but really they are big dogs with little tiny legs. I'd say they average 45-65 pounds. Ms. Basset was on the upper end of this range. My biceps will be mad at me tomorrow.

I toted Ms. Basset over to her owner's presumed house, where she sat patiently next to me while I knocked on the door.

No answer.

With another sigh, I looked around the field and buildings, praying that I would see somebody besides a chorister - somebody that might actually know where Ms. Basset's mom lived.

No luck.

So Ms. Basset and I headed to another nearby house, a house where I knew Ms. Basset didn't live - but this house contained a family that owns a rat terrier, and thus I presumed they might know where Ms. Basset belonged.

However, Ms. Basset seemed to have gotten the idea that I wasn't a fun person to follow around. She again stopped dead in her tracks and refused to come with me.

Any other dog, I'd pull by the collar - but after sleeping on a terrible mattress for a month, I couldn't handle walking hunched over and dragging a 60 pound dog by the neck.

So Ms. Basset got to be carried again, as we stumbled our way across the lawn to the second house.

As luck would have it, nobody home.

Temporarily exhausted, Ms. Basset and I both went back to the lawn and rested on the grass.

And my vet school teachers would be so proud. ("Never pass up an opportunity to practice your physical exam.") I had nothing better to do, so Ms. Basset became my practice "patient."

I discovered the greasy red sore on her neck and the copious black gunk lining her ear canals.

And then, thank the Lord, another resident family walked into view.

Did they know where this pretty girl belonged?

Yes, they said, she lives in that house there. (And they gestured toward the house I'd checked originally.)

Not again, I thought to myself.

My arms couldn't handle anymore Basset weight, so I resigned myself to hunching over and dragging Ms. Basset along with me.

Upon my second visit to the house, I noticed a tie-out cable hiding in the bushes. I tied the cable to Ms. Basset's collar for good measure, before clipping it to her collar.

Then I headed back across the field to my dorm to write Ms. Basset's owner a polite but to-the-point note ("Your dog was running loose around 7 pm. I didn't want her to get into trouble so I tied her up. Her ears really need to be cleaned") and get Ms. Basset some water.

By the time I had gone up the 58 steps to our room, and come back down, Ms. Basset was happily trotting off into the woods with her mom.

I thought briefly about following Mom for a minute and telling her Ms. Basset was loose - but my arms, legs, and back won that battle and convinced me to head back up the 58 stairs and sit down for awhile.

I hope Ms. Basset's mom cleans her ears. Why is it not surprising that the owners whose Basset you find running loose are the same owners who do not care for the ears of a breed of dog notorious for having terrible ear problems?