Compromise...yes with capital "C"

it should be known up front that i am writing this blog partially tipsy on a couple glasses of wine..others might say its been a couple bottles but who's really counting. it's known that i am not nor have i ever been in a serious relationship...no man has been lucky enough to sustain my awesomeness. but i have known many people for long periods of time & that kind of pans out to long relationships. friends are very near & dear to my heart & i will always respect them for putting up with me or others for a long period of time. if you are my friend, prepare to be one for life. i value friendship almost more than i value my love for Trident gum (i've chewed that stuff since 1993!)

i have recently been a witness to a marriage between two close friends going through a struggling time. of course it involves money. the husband has lost his job temporarily...details are insanely confusing...however the job loss involves lawyers & such beyond his control. anyhooo....i don't know the details of this marriage & it's struggles on the inside of all this hoop-blah are hard to explain! but i do somewhat understand both sides. on the wife side: her husband has been forced to be jobless for a certain amount of time. so he struggles with being the man of the house & providing for the family without really having an income. he isn't able to really make that happen. the husband side: he must provide for his wife like he promised to do in the wedding vows however life's obstacles are not allowing that to happen. he's struggling to make ends' meat & is failing miserably at it. (luckily no children are involved in this....just dogs) the littlest things are causing flare ups between these two people. they will probably hate or disown me for discussing this on the world wide web but oh well...i'll probably forget i wrote this in the morning. i won't mention names so they should be fine. besides, they probably won't read it anyways cuz i'm mostly talking to myself when i type these things so i really think it will be fine.

btw, i hate that my hands can't keep up with what i want to type right now. damn you wine for firing my nephrons so fast and making me think faster than my brain will allow! also, i should probably be asleep right now in order to obtain a decent amount of slumber so i can spend the day studying for a couple of midterms but honestly that's last on my list right now because i'm so distracted by the struggle between two friends.

upfront, i know that as a friend to both of these people (mostly to the wife who i've known since i was 4) i should side with the wife. however....i cannot choose sides. i personally will not choose a "who's right" & "who's wrong side." if i were to do that, i would just be asking to have no friends...there is no winner in this fight. as much as these 2 competitive people want there to be...there will be NO winner...because marriage isn't about a winner of the argument. its not about you being right & your spouse being wrong. even i know that...and at my pace, i won't be married until after i turn 37!

tonight, these 2 friends will probably go to bed angry & hateful towards each other. and that breaks my heart. they will probably work it out in the long run but i hate waiting for the long run to pan out. all i could think about tonight was i wish these 2 stubborn people would shut the hell up & actually listen to each other. they are hell bent on being the one with all the answers that they forget that perhaps one day they won't have all the answers & that they might actually have to rely on someone else for support.

when i came home, i walked down stairs into the basement where i live in my parents house. (please feel free to feel sorry for me at any moment) i was distracted by the glow from the window outside. the back 40 (a large field behind our house) is lit up by the full moon which is bouncing off the snow still present in our back yard. there's something about nature that is overwhelming. i'm not gonna get all religious on you. that's not my thing. but i will say that a higher being (and let's say God) is one hell of an architect! nature is amazing & i'm always caught off guard at the least opportune time by it. i am mesmerized by sunsets, sunrises, snow caped mountains as well as snow caped sidewalks, rain, thunderstorms, fresh air, decent weather on an autumn night during a bonfire or even just when weather is not making the news...as in clear skies, mild temperatures & a humidity-free day. That's just how everyone should view life.

Winter Olympics

I love the Olympics! There’s just something so amazing about them. I love the edge of your seat competition. Plus, there’s nothing greater than cheering on your own country as they take on other athletes of the world. It’s probably weird that I get emotional whenever I watch them. Especially when the theme song of the Olympics starts playing…chills! And of course when USA wins gold & the national anthem plays as that red, white & blue flag is raised…I feel so proud…I can’t imagine what the person who won a medal actually feels!!

Last night was an unbelievable night of competitions. first Shani Davis won gold in speed skating. earlier in the day, women's alpine took place...what an event to watch! the mountain was quite dangerous & many of the competitors crashed due icy parts...luckily no serious injuries! i was texting back & forth to my bff Kristin the whole time...both of us on the edge of our seat when it came time for Lindsey Vonn to take her run down the bumpy track! but despite incredible bruised shin from a previous injury, she pulled it off & Lindsey Vonn took the gold! then in men's half pipe, Shaun White rocked it on his first run having the highest score. then everyone did their 2nd runs. Shaun was set to go last. by the time it came for him to do his last run, he'd already won gold cuz no one beat his score! so he just made his last run for fun & it was insane! what a risk taker!

I think it’s awesome that most Olympic athletes are just normal everyday people who happen to have an amazing talent. There’s just something different between them and professional athletes…mostly the millions of dollars the pro’s are paid. I think it boils down to a pro athlete plays a sport to get paid…whereas an Olympic athlete gets paid for playing a sport. Sure that sounds like the same thing…but one of those seems more humble than the other.

I wish I had a least 1% of the talent Olympians have. But I was never meant to be an athlete...ask my friends! as much as I'd love to be apart of something so great as a competitive win in a sport i love, that's not a path i was meant to take. I’m more content with cheering on the team. It may sound weird but i thrive on encouraging others. watching someone work so hard to achieve something so great is exciting. seeing the outcome unfold is nerve wrecking & exciting all at once. plus i like to yell really loud so that's a good outlet for that!

Random blerps:

I love office supplies! I could spend days & millions of dollars at an Office Max! staplers, erasers, pens, hanging files, calculators, computer paper, plastic floor mats, dry erase markers, paper clips, desks with sliding trays for the keyboard! AAAHHH! oh i could go on forever about my love for all things office supplies but i don't wanna seem too nerdy! oh...you mean it's too late for that?!

speaking of office supplies...i recently found the rubber band ball i started college. and yes i only bought the large bag of rubber bands so that i could make a rubber band ball!

I think my mom bought me the Cottenelle toilet paper only because it has the Labrador puppy on it...heck that's probably why I'd buy it too.

Figure skating to so fun to watch only for the outfits & for making up my own commentary...and it happens to be on right now...so I've got to go focus my attention on that! aka be entertained!

good night & have a pleasant tomorrow!

no particular title

i've titled this blog "no particular title" cuz frankly i have no idea what will come out of this blogging tonight.

its been a crazy week full of tests & quizzes...i didn't do the greatest on all of them but i passed just fine. luckily i've gone unscathed by the crazy hands-on 50pt pop quiz so far! i've already told the instructors i'll probably faint or pee myself when my turn comes...at least they've been warned! i don't feel i've got my mind wrapped around this semester just yet. but that's ok...i'll get there. luckily i've got some amazing people surrounding me & going thru this program with me. i've truly made some life long friendships...even if they are based around making up vet tech related parodies to Lady Gaga songs or fist pumping like the Jersey Shore crew! this crazy group of people has changed my life for the better!

i went on a road trip couple weeks ago with a car pack full of some of my fellow classmates...one crazy ride! literally we were over capacity but don't tell my mom who's car seats 5 & we crammed in 8!! we went to St Charles, MO for an academia bowl for the MO Vet Medical Assoc. conference. it was the first year they were having this vet tech academia bowl & our instructors encouraged us to get a group together & go. yup it was a nerd bowl but we didn't care. my classmates are smart as hell!! it was our school against 5 others for St Louis area. i was asked to join the team but i don't have much smarts so i said i'd join them only to cheer them on....that led to a whole slew of folks wanting to join our wolf pack! Needless to say, me & the rest of vet tech wolf pack brought home Carlos, the trophy! to sum up rest of our trip: overcapacity pilot, me upsetting TomTom, longest search for an Olivegarden (b/c i upset TomTom), 2 glasses of free mints, being motivational speakers, stupid metabolism question, lucky gloves, free happy hour with Dr Morrow & Robin's secret rum punch, air hockey, UNO, the macarena, White Castle, overcapacity hotel room, side ponytails & getting to see Mustard the sheep again!! good times!

being back in school has been fun but that means i've been AWOL from my regular crowd of friends for awhile & have probably missed out on some really fun times...that can be a bummer but its ok! we usually pick back up where we left off like no time has passed whenever i see them next..especially with the Trifecta! usually alcohol helps make this even more fun. sometimes i have too much...fun or alcohol, you ask? hmmm...i plead the 5th on that one!

enough of that stuff! time for some random rants:

-Gummy bears....i was in the mood for some the other day soooo... i just bought them & they were delicious! they make me feel 7 1/2 yrs old again.

-i passed by my car twin again yesterday. it was awkward at first. i always try not to make eye contact with the driver cuz it's always weird to see what kind of person bought the exact same car as me since my car isn't the most common vehicle on the road. i'm sure the other driver thinks the same about me...sorry i'm not cooler, car twin driver!

-I get frustrated reading my email…I don’t like chain letter emails cuz i don't believe in them but I will open them up, scroll to the bottom then take satisfaction in deleting them. sorry friends its the truth. the same goes for sappy "friends" or "God loves you" kind of emails. i honestly don't have that kind of time...and God gets that so he's totally fine with me deleting those too. however if you send me a funny email, it better be really funny...i don't like being let down by a cheesy email or an over circulated one.

- Worst feeling of pain that doesn’t kill you: dry...split...fingers! Dear Winter, you are my nemesis...i understand what you're trying to do to me but why me? why now? though you may think you're winning this battle, you are not...because i have Jergen's Ultra Hydrating lotion on my side! BREW-haha...who's laughing now?! i am you deaf season...open your ears!

-I recently read that Buzz Aldrin writes a blog. i was fascinated by this. This man is an icon!! the 2nd man to step foot on the moon is doing what i'm doing right now...writing a blog! but his probably isn't about gummy bears or car twins...and mine will probably never be about walking on the moon. However, moon walking is still up for discussion.

good night & have a pleasant tomorrow.

Puppet, the Corgi

I walked into work on Friday & the first patient I encountered was a very pregnant Corgi named Puppet. I mean she was ready to pop! She was in for a c-section. The vet wasn’t in yet but we were going to go ahead & put an IV catheter in her. She didn’t want to sit or lay down because it was too uncomfortable for her so I sat on the floor with her while the other tech got supplies ready. The look this dog had in her eyes was complete terror. After all she was 6 ½ yrs old & this was her first litter. She had absolutely no idea what was going on! Once the doctor got there, we prepped her for surgery. The owner & another breeder friend came in about that time & were ready to help deliver the puppies. As I was shaving & scrubbing the dog while she was still awake, the breeders were having casual conversation about how the moms of some previous litters had died soon after c-sections. That’s the last thing you wanna hear right before you take a dog into surgery. We asked them to please stop talking about that because it kinda freaked us out. One of them said “don’t worry Puppet will be fine!”

so we induced her & got her into surgery. We were all ready with clean towels & many hands to rub puppies once they came out. The vet got her opened up & one by one he kept pulling out puppies & passing them on to us. This is a pretty gross operation but awesome at the same time. I’m always afraid I’m gonna drop one as the vet passes them on to me! so slippery!! But we got them all clean & rubbed down to get fluid out of their lungs. Puppet ended up having 11 healthy puppies! I helped tie off & cut their umbilical cords then we put them all in the incubator to keep warm.

Mama Puppet was doing fine thru out the whole surgery up until the time the vet had finished stitching up her uterus. I was helping flush that when the tech monitoring her said she was having a hard time hearing a heartbeat. The equipment was reading her vitals all outta whack. I tried listening with a stethoscope too but swear I only heard a faint heartbeat. With her abdomen still open the vet tried to feel for a heartbeat but nothing. Puppet was crashing. We all went into crisis mode. The vet began CPR & was giving out orders. Another tech & I started grabbing & drawing up emergency meds. I had to keep going out into the hall for other supplies…when I did, I had to pass by the owner & breeder. I heard one of them say “something bad’s going on in there isn’t it.” I had to ignore that comment for now. After about 5-7mins of CPR & emergency drugs, Puppet was gone, leaving 11 new-born puppies without a mom.

Bitter sweet moment...new puppies but mama didn't survive. Talk about an unbelievably sad feeling. Her body just couldn’t take it. I thought back to earlier that morning when I was sitting on the floor with her. She kept nuzzling me & hiding her head under my arm. That scared look in her eyes then still haunts me now. You have to wonder if she knew what was going to happen. That lingered with all of us the rest of the day. Needless to say, after work, I went & drank a lot of tequila with friends hoping to get that sadness out of my head. I did forget about it for a while...until I sobered up the next day & it all rushed back to me.

Days like this at my job are very trying & emotionally draining. You never want to experience them but they are inevitable. They break your heart but also make you stronger & remind you just how precious life really is.