A Wee Lass in Auld Reekie

Vets and Wildlife

2011-09-27T19:57:00.000+01:00

Two days ago I returned from a month in South Africa! I went with a programme called Vets and Wildlife, where I was paired up with a wildlife veterinarian. The vet I worked with was based near Hoedspruit, which was a little town in Limpopo Province, near Kruger National Park.

The A is where Hoespruit is.

So on this programme, we gained a ton of experience working with various wildlife species, in particular: buffalo, sable, nyala, impala, roan and rhinocerous. We also had a bit of experience working with leopards, which was incredibly amazing! They were so fuzzy and cute when they were anaesthetised, but boy were they terrifying when they were awake! We wrestled awake buffalo calves, watched rhinos being darted from helecopters, and had a ton of fun riding around in the back of a pickup truck, bumping along the motorway and in the bushveld!

I also met a whole bunch of new and interesting people. The vet, Dr. Muller, and his assistant, Debbie, were fantastic, and taught us a lot. We also worked with a bunch of other students, and even one from our own uni (a 3rd year)!

Sitting on a buffalo calf to keep it still while taking blood.

Writing down microchip numbers for a rhino - each horn is microchipped and also the rhino, in order to prevent and track poachers.

Doing a skin scraping on a leopard at Moholoholo Rehab Centre

Feeding an orphaned baby Eiland (Kirsty is on the right feeding an orphaned sable)

Aside from the work, we also got to do a bunch of really fun touristy things. My favourite experiences were Tshukudu Game Lodge and Camp Jabulani.

At Tshukudu, we did a morning walk with 2 hand-reared lion cubs and a cheetah (also a dog). We arrived at 6:20am and set off while the big cats walked around with us, playing with each other and posing for pictures. Although they weren't in their "natural" setting, it was still incredible seeing these animals close up, and seeing that they really are just like giant housecats! The cheetah even purred when we pet it!

After the walk, we were served a delicious hot breakfast of eggs, bacon, fruit and porridge, and then we had a game drive. We didn't see too many animals on either the walk or the game drive, but we mostly went for the cats anyway!

Petting a lion cub at Tshukudu Game Lodge

Ntombe against the sunrise

Sheila the lion cub

Ntombe

Petting Ntombe the cheetah

At Camp Jabulani we went on an elephant-back safari. Again, we didn't see too many animals, but we were just happy to be riding the elephants anyway. They had such fantastic personalities - mine kept prodding my guide for more treats, and even it's baby, Mambo, kept pulling at my leg to try and get attention.

Riding my elephant Lundi with my guide Nyasha

Lundi's baby, Mambo

On one afternoon we went to see Jessica the Hippo, who is the world's only tamed hippo. At first I thought this would be kind of silly, but actually it was pretty amazing to see this hippo up close, and be able to pet it and scratch it's back, since they're usually thought of as so dangerous.

Feeding Jessica her sweet tea

Standing next to a giant Baobab

We also took a day to go into Kruger National Park, where we saw tons of animals and had a fantastic time.

Rhinos with their horns! It is becoming rare to see rhinos that haven't been dehorned, which is being done to try and counteract the recent poaching problems.

Elephants!

Oxpeckers sitting on a zebra's back

A typical South African Sunset in Kruger National Park

Because of the dryness and the dust, South Africa had gorgeous night skies

So anyway, my trip was amazing, and I got to fulfil one of my longstanding dreams to go on a safari (and this was even better because we got to touch the animals!)

I just arrived back in Edinburgh on Sunday morning, and started into final year on Monday morning. My first rotation - ICU nights! Although I wasn't too pleased about having to spend another week away from home, I am rather glad to be getting ICU nights over with.

So far we've had a pretty good time - my group is awesome, we all work well together and no one is too quiet or too overpowering, and we're not competitive with each other. Plus in the day and a half I've had so far, I can see how much more involved we get with cases, and how much the clinicians actually explain to us, and ask us for opinions. Although I'm still nervous for certain rotations, and I'm going to have to do a ton of studying, this looks like it's going to be a pretty fun year! :)

6 months of updates!

2011-08-12T08:58:00.013+01:00

I know I've been AGES since last I wrote, but I'm finally here now! So much has happened, I doubt I'm going to be able to remember to update about everything, but I'll do my best.

So to update on the eyes - they're doing great! I can still see better than 20/20, and although I occasionally get dry eyes when I'm really tired or right after I wake up, it's still wonderful to be able to see!

Classes started up again in January, this time we were learning Equine and Exotics! It was a good course, although not really what I want to go into practice for, but I enjoyed learning about it, especially the exotics!

In April I went with Andrew's family to Northern Ireland, which was a lot of fun. I'd been to Belfast before to visit a friend, but we never really saw much outside the city. This time, because we were going for a big orienteering event, we got to see a bit of the countryside! The event was really neat, it's called the JK, and has elite orienteers from all over the world competing. Andrew and his family competed in it as well, and for one of the days he competed Andrew came in first!

We also took one day to go sightseeing, and did a bus tour of Belfast, which was very cool, but also a bit strange. The tour-guide talked about the 'Troubles' which occured in the 60s between the Catholics and the Protestants, and are still very much occurring today, and drove us through the parts of the city affected. It was very strange to see people who probably lived through the troubles watching a tour go by, just going about their lives, and the big 'Peace Walls' which are covered in barbed wire. They had all these paramilitary murals on the walls and stuff. It's hard to explain, but it was very sobering.

Paramilitary murals

We still got to see some happy things on our day out. We went to see where the Titanic was built, and Queen's University. Andrew and I also went to Giant's Causeway, which is this awesome natural rock formation that resulted from an ancient volcano. It was very beautiful, and a nice relaxing day to spend with Andrew! :)

View looking towards the causeway as we come down the steep stairway!

Hexagonal rocks that make up Giant's Causeway

View from the bottom, looking up to where we stood earlier.

Andrew and Me!

In May, we had the Dick Vet Ball, which was organised by our year. The theme was Wizard of Oz. It was held at Murrayfield Stadium, which is where the Scottish Rugby team play, and was a really fun time, and a good excuse to get dressed up. Plus the dinner was fantastic!

Andrew and me, in our finest!

Anik and Me, posing by the cowardly lion that Anik painted!

We took exams in May and June, and I actually passed all of the written exams for once! I was pretty pleased with myself, because I studied hard. The only thing I didn't do so well on was the practical farm animal clinical exam. I always get so nervous during practicals, which is really annoying, because I know I know the information! But essentially we were in final year at that point! Thus, at the end of May, we got something very exciting - our Final Year Jackets! They are so comfy and warm, and they have our names on them. The best part is, though, that we are finally in final year!! The only thing left to do was the CLIC course (communications and stuff), which was lots of role playing with fake clients and discussions on communication skills.

Erin, Anik and Me showing off our final year Jackets!

I then went home for a spur of the moment trip to surprise Jamie and Claire for their bridal shower! So I spent the weekend in Boston! We got to see a Red Sox game, and just hung out, which was nice. I love my friends!

Beautiful brides to be, Jamie and Claire!

We played toilet paper bridal boudoir, which was hilarious. :)

I then popped back to Scotland for Heather and Boney's wedding in St. Andrews, which was beautiful, and a really awesome time! We got to play a few rounds on the putting green at St. Andrews and eat at the cafe where (supposedly) Kate and Wills (cause yeah we're on a first-name basis, haha!) met for coffee.

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew Bone!

I then went BACK to the USA to do 2 weeks of work at the New Canaan Vet Hospital, had an awesome time at Claire & Jamie's bachelorette weekend and an awesome dinner at Ninja NY, and then Andrew joined me for some New England fun!

First, we had a 4th of July BBQ with my dad and Anna Marie, then we headed off to New Britain, CT to meet my good friend Liz. We hadn't seen each other in probably 7 years or more, so it was great to see her! We were as crazy as ever, and wasted no time before giggling like we used to!

The infamous Liz and Me, being silly, as usual!

Andrew and I took 2 days and went to NYC. The first night we saw Avenue Q! It is, quite possibly, the most hilarious show I've seen. It is also one of the most creative. We were cracking up through the whole thing! The next day we went back into the city and took the ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. It was really fun, but REALLY hot and sunny. It was kind of neat to see the Statue, and Ellis Island, and think about all the people coming to America and how that must have been the first thing they saw. It was very neat.

Lady Liberty

Liberty Island in the Rain

As we were coming back on the ferry we got completely soaked through, but it was totally fun and worth it, and made the heat of the day go away, so it worked out!

We then spent the weekend in Boston, hanging out with Claire and Jamie and the gang and helping out with some wedding preparation, before heading up to Maine! We toured Colby College, where I did my undergrad degree, and then headed up to Bar Harbour for some sightseeing and relaxation!

Andrew and I just arrived at our B&B, Cleftstone Manor!

A Bar Harbour dinner - yum!

We drove up to the top of Mt. Cadillac (sadly no time to hike), and enjoyed the view!

We also found some mini golf! Yay Pirates Cove!

Then we headed back down to New Hampshire to meet up with everyone and have a wedding!

The night we got there we all put on our 'bridesmaids' shirts, and went out on one of Jamie's family friend's boats for a trip to dinner, and ate yummy food and drank tropical drinks on a beach bar. It was a really fun time, and I enjoyed meeting Claire's friends from childhood, whom I'd heard much about but never actually met before.

Bridesmaids!

Claire was a beautiful bride! Sadly, Andrew didn't have a good view of Jamie, but she looked awesome too! We'll have to wait for the professional shots! :)

Bridal party!

Their cake was gorgeous!

Everyone enjoyed Andrew's kilt :P

The wedding itself was amazing, held at the Common Man Inn and Spa everything looked so gorgeous, and the party was the time of my life. I can't wait to have a wedding of my own, and I hope it goes just as well!

So anyway, I am back in Scotland at last, and I've been busying myself with the last few weeks of EMS. Anik and I did a week of exotics together at Easter Bush, which was really fun - we got to see bearded dragons, tortoises, parrots, and rabbits, and I learned how to crop-feed a pigeon!

Right now I'm doing a week of ICU, which is incredibly tiring. We started at 9am on Monday morning, and we work through until 9am next Monday morning. Basically we're working night shifts for the week, and we have shifts at 4:30pm, 7:30pm, 9pm, 12am, 4am, 7:30am. Basically during those time we need to walk all the animals, TPR (which means take a temperature, heart rate and respiratory rate) of most of the animals, and do any medical treatments that need done. That is the basics, but we've had a bunch of cases that need constant monitoring, which means that someone needs to be there the whole time making sure the animal is ok. We've had this for a few animals that had to have blood transfusions (you need to make sure the animal doesn't have a reaction to the blood given), and a few animals that just weren't doing so well. The intern on duty, Helen, is incredibly nice, and lets us help with a lot of the treatments, and is really great about teaching us how to do everything! Sadly she's leaving today to enjoy the weekend, so hopefully our next intern will be just as great!

We actually got some sleep last night, which is why I'm awake now, but I think I'm ready to go back to bed now, at 10am! We're halfway done, at least!

I'll try to be more proactive about writing in this thing, but given that final year is probably super busy, we'll see. I'll update when I can! :)

Update and a half

2011-01-15T13:48:00.004Z

Hey all! So two things to share with you all:

My eyes: Feeling almost back to normal, although they're horribly dry at the moment, so I have to put lots of fake tears in them. This is a very common side effect of LASIK, since in the creation of the corneal flap they sever a bunch of nerves in your eyes. These nerves, which normally fire and stimulate your lacrimal (tear) secretion, obviously can't when they're severed. So until they heal (a few weeks to months) you get dry eyes. Fun, eh? Nothing to worry about though, as long as I keep using my drops often!

In addition, I have such better night vision now. It's revolutionary, seriously. Before with contacts or glasses I would see a sort of starburst around EVERY light. Obviously, with dimmer lights like traffic lights it wasn't so much a problem, but even when someone didn't have their bright headlights on, they would dazzle me, and god forbid the roads were wet I could barely see anything but light. I actually thought this was how everyone saw lights.

This was more or less what I saw around every light when driving at night (traffic lights, streetlights, reflections, brake lights). Not quite this badly, but badly enough that I did not enjoy night driving. (ironically, this pic is from a LASIK complication website. Ha!)

NOW, however, all I see is a little bit of halo around the lights, which should go away as my eyes heal. I drove home from campus in the dark yesterday, and I could look straight at headlights and still see the rest of the road. Without the new CustomVue Wavefront it is possible that starbursts can get worse and other problems can develop (which is why I found the starburst pic on a LASIK-bashing website), but Wavefront takes a computer scan of the surface of the lens, and works to smooth out the aberrations as it corrects the prescription.

Now all I see is slight halos. Much less obtrusive. I'm sure we can all agree that, even if for whatever reason these halos don't go away, it's SO much better than the way it was.

Anyway, so the second thing I wanted to share is a blog: Hyperbole and a Half. **NOTE: if you are offended by the occasional (humorous) use of swear words and some (very) mild politically incorrectness, please be warned that it is used often on this site, however it is done in such a way that I don't find it offensive, and frankly neither should you.**

If you can overlook the swear words, this illustrated blog shares some hilarious stories, all accompanied by the funniest drawings. The entry in particular that the link above will bring you to is one about the author's move across country with her two dogs. The link to the whole blog is in my side bar. Make sure to check out this entry as a priority: The Year Kenny Loggins Ruined Christmas. Enjoy! :D

Exams, an Edinburgh Christmas, and 20/20

2011-01-12T22:40:00.012Z

Sorry, it's been awhile! Things have been busy busy busy, as usual!

To update you on the last post, the snow led to an entire week of no classes, which was amazing. Especially because it gave us more time to study for the exam! Results haven't come out yet, but they will soon. Cross your fingers for me!

So after the exam we had Christmas Break. I decided this year to stay in Edinburgh, since my family had come here for Thanksgiving. It was very different from my typical Christmas, but I enjoyed it a lot! We got up around 9, packed the kitty up and went to Andrew's parents house for coffee and presents, then had a delicious Christmas lunch made by Andrew's mother. Christmas lunch in the UK is a very similar meal to the Thanksgiving meal, only they usually have brussel sprouts as a vegetable. Oddly enough, this previously hated vegetable has grown on me, and I really enjoyed the entire meal!

Not to focus on things I got for Christmas, because it's not about that, but a few of my favourites were awesome slipper-socks and a headphone cord tidy from Andrew's parents, earrings and a necklace from my dad and Anna Marie, a good book and a funny pair of earrings from Andrew, and a funky necklace from Andrew's mum. I enjoyed giving gifts to everyone as well. I got a warm fairisle sweater for Andrew (which he knew he was getting because he almost bought the same thing when we went shopping, and I had to tell him to put it back), and a giant tub of Haribo. For Andrew's dad I got an iPhone case for his new iPhone, and for his mum I got a cute cat knick-knack (and normally I try to avoid knick-knacks, but it was too cute I couldn't pass it up - also I'm horrible at finding gifts for parents).

My little mini-tree. Cute, but I decided I needed a real one this year...

My wonky tree

Once we spruced (ha) it up with some trimmings and presents, it looked quite nice!

Andrew opens a long tube of Jaffa Cakes from his parents

Andrew's mum and dad

The cat was a little thrown off by all the wrapping paper and sparkly things (also Andrew trying to cuddle her)

The Christmas table with all the yummy foods.

Even Tsuki got to enjoy some yummy turkey!

Andrew shows off some confetti and a crown from his cracker.

After all of the lunching and presents, we played board games for the afternoon. It was really fun and relaxing to just chat. Definitely a lot less crazy than Christmas with my family! :P

For New Year's, Andrew and I went to Andrew's friends new house for a get-together. It was a sort of pot-luck thing, and so we got a whole variety of different food to try. It was very good! At midnight we all walked down the street to a little park by a church, where a bagpiper led us in Auld Lang Syne as the clock struck midnight (or, close to it anyway, everyone's clocks were different!)

The rest of Christmas break was just relaxing and studying for the exam we had this morning, epidemiology. Now, I'm sure this subject is relevant to some people, but I am not particularly interested in statistics. So I found this exam to be a bit challenging. I just don't see the point of memorizing formulae.

Anyway, so my most exciting news, is that after the exam this afternoon, I got LASIK! Because of my high prescription, I also had to get IntraLase and CustomVue Wavefront, all of which are variations on the typical LASIK procedure. To be honest though, both of those variations make the procedure more effective and safer, so it was fine by me!

I was really nervous after the exam. I knew it would feel a bit uncomfortable, and I guess because I really didn't know what it would feel like I was pretty anxious. The surgeon checked my eyes over one last time, gave me the last option to back out, but I figured I'd already come this far, so I might as well keep going.

First, they put two different drops in my eye. One was an anaesthetic, which made my eyes feel really strange, very numb and sticky-like. A second drop was put on, and I'm not quite sure what it did, but it must have enhanced the anaesthetic, because my eyes got even more numb.

Then came the squeamish part. (Seriously if you have issues with people touching your eyes, you may want to get over it before considering this procedure). A suction cup was applied to my eye while the initial flap was created(which doesn't hurt, it just feels like a lot of pressure, and your sight kind of cuts out). That was the part I'd been dreading. I don't know why but the idea of my sight suddenly blacking out terrified me. But actually it wasn't so bad, just a bit uncomfortable. The nurse kept having to remind me to breathe during this whole thing, so I must have been nervous, haha!

After the flap is created, which sort of feels like a puff of air in your eye almost, they do the other eye in the same way. They use a little mini squeegee thing to move the flap back. Then they put an eye speculum to keep your eyelids open, and move you underneath the laser machine. This part was a bit uncomfortable as well. Not painful, but because you're underneath a really bright light and half your cornea's been moved, it's REALLY bright, so the whole time my eyelids were fighting against the speculum to close my eyes. Fortunately I did my research, so I knew that the laser doesn't fire if your eye's not in the right position, so although I was trying to keep my eyes still, I wasn't freaking out about it. Plus, the whole time the surgeon was telling me how well I was doing. The laser clicks away and you can see a blurry light flashing above you, but you can't feel anything at all. You can, however, smell the laser burning your eye, which is kind of neat (yeah I know, I'm weird).

Anyway, after that they put a bunch of drops in your eye and put the flap back in place with the squeegie and smooth it all out. Again, this didn't hurt, but it didn't feel particularly good either. The surgeon asked me if I wanted to continue with the other eye, and obviously I said yes.

Finally they moved the machines out of the way and let me sit up. It was SOOOOO weird. I could see! It was a bit hazy and everything was sort of indistinct, but it was mostly clear! Far away things are still a bit fuzzy around the edges, but supposedly that resolves in a few days/weeks.

For the first 1/2 hour after the procedure, they put you in a darkened room, and I was still revelling in my new eyesight, and my eyes felt pretty good, although a bit gritty. As soon as I got out into the light however (they light up the upper floor of the Princes St. Optical Express like the surface of the freaking sun), and the anaesthetic wore off, it was another story. My eyes started stinging and watering, and it was painful, and I pretty much had to keep my eyes closed the entire way home. Not everyone has this reaction, so don't let this dissuade you, but this is why they tell you to go to sleep right when you get home. Sadly I had a 40 minute car ride home. Once I got home, I took some ibuprofen and took a 3 hour nap.

When I woke up at dinner time to take my first round of eyedrops, I felt sooo much better. My eyes are still really sensitive to light, but I've been keeping my room dark, and the computer on the dimmest setting, and every few minutes it gets better and better.

I have a whole bunch of drops (Antibiotics, Steroids, and lubricating drops) for my eyes that I can apply for the next week, and I have to wear sunglasses in bright light, and I also have to wear a really snazzy pair of goggles while I'm sleeping so I don't accidentally rub my eyes. They are amazing.

Trust me.

Don't believe me?

My sexy goggles.

I'm not quite sure why this feels so life-changing, when I have the same results with contacts, but something about it is amazing. It is just so nice to see! No more fumbling about with glasses in the morning to read my alarm clock, no more worrying about forgetting glasses/contacts when I go on trips, no more spending oodles of money on glasses and contacts and contact solution. Awesome.

I am a very happy bunny :D

Snow!

2010-11-29T12:51:00.017Z

I've had another busy few weeks. Sadly now I have to become a hermit until our exam, but first I will recount my last few weeks!

A few weekends ago, Andrew and I went to a rugby match - Scotland vs. New Zealand. If you don't know, the New Zealand team, the All-Blacks, is one of the best in the world, and before every match they do the Haka, which is a sort of pre-game ritual in the style of New Zealand natives. While it was very difficult to hear from way up in the stands, we could see them well enough, and could see them on the screens. It was very neat!

Murrayfield Stadium

During that week, we had the day off classes on Wednesday, so we went to Agriscot, which is sort of a convention for farm people. It was quite interesting to see all of the different farm businesses and we got lots of free stuff from the pharmaceutical companies and got some information on drugs and feeds and things for farm animals.

Then last weekend I had a small birthday get together with my friends, at an awesome restaurant on George St. called Hawke & Hunter, which was amazing. The food was delicious, but even better the drinks were absolutely fabulous. I didn't take many pictures, but trust me, it was a really nice place. I had a 'Deep Purple' cocktail, which had lilac syrup in it (delicious!), and a Pear & Honey bitters, which, as it sounds, had pear and honey in it. It was so good (which was fortunate, given that they were £7 a pop!)! They had so many creative drinks on the menu, that I really need to go back there to try them all.

The Deep Purple!

After dinner we went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt 1, which was, as expected, amazing. Some weird bits and a bit of artistic license taken here and there, but on the whole it was awesome. I look forward to the 2nd part!

My dad and Anna Marie came to visit the next morning, and it was really great to see them in Edinburgh. We went out to dinner on my birthday with Anik and Andrew and his family, at a restaurant called Wedgewood. It was very nice.

Andrew provided the balloon, obviously. :P

I got to explore the city with my dad, which was nice. I finally made it to the castle (only took 2 1/2 years!).

Beautiful Edinburgh Castle!

View of Edinburgh from the castle

Thursday was of course, Thanksgiving, and so Wednesday afternoon I set about making preparations for Thursday's dinner. We made Pumpkin Pie, Pecan pie, Sweet Potato Casserole, Roasted Potatoes, Green Beans, Stuffing, Turkey, Cranberry Sauce, and Cornbread. It was absolutely delicious!

Thursday after a full day of classes (thanks Edinburgh uni, the Americans appreciated that), we arrived at Andrew's parents house to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner. It was so great to have everyone together for Thanksgiving, and even better because it was the first Thanksgiving I'd organised myself, although Anik helped immensely with cooking and everything.

Cranberry Apple Pecan Stuffing!

The lovely table!

Buffet style deliciousness!

The following Friday I went to the Christmas market with my dad and Anna Marie, then met Andrew for dinner at a little pub on Rose St. It was really nice, and a good end to the week.

Christmas market/fair in the Princes St. Gardens

View of the Castle from Princes St.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early to drop my dad and Anna Marie off at the airport, and then stuck around for a cup of coffee with Andrew's parents at the Gyle shopping centre, and then we headed up to St. Andrews for Thanksgiving with Beth, one of Andrew's friends from uni.

First we explored St. Andrews, and I took some pictures of the pretty sunset. Then we headed back to Beth's for her dinner, which was, as always, delicious.

A light dusting of snow on the old course

West Sands at St. Andrews

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It was good I took pictures that afternoon, because the next morning we woke up to about 6 inches of snow!

Andrew and I are dorks :P

Anyway, so after the crazy busy week and weekend, we prepared for the busy week ahead, and then on Monday morning I woke up to even more snow! As we couldn't dig out the car, Anik and I decided to take a snow day. Classes ended up being canceled anyway, so that's good as it mean we wont miss the lectures.

We took a bit of time this morning to frolic in the snow. :)

Snow at 8am!

Kitten explores the snow!

Kitten did not like the snow as much as we'd hoped, so we took her back in right after this.

A very short slide :P

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Pretty winter pinecones

Snow angels!

Snowy Penicuik!

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We found a duck pond that we didn't know existed!

Quack!

Is this really the UK in November?!

We enjoyed playing in the snow and exploring the paths of Penicuik, but as it was very cold, we headed back inside to enjoy the warmth. Now we're just chilling out and studying. Also, I'd like to point out, that it is still snowing heavily outside! The snow already on the ground has melted a bit cause it's getting warmer, but it is still coming down. It's great! I wonder whether we'll have lectures tomorrow?

Anyway, now back to studying :)

2010-11-01T23:16:00.001Z

Ok, please disregard the last post (which has since been deleted). My move over to wordpress is not running quite as smoothly as I would have liked, so I'm going to keep using this until I can figure out all the settings on wordpress. :)

In the meantime, keep looking here!

Hallowe'en!

2010-11-01T19:31:00.007Z

I promised you an update on my Hallowe'en weekend, and since I'm currently procrastinating at the moment (don't worry, I'll get back to being productive in a bit! I need to digest my supremely garlic heavy dinner - 7 cloves all for me!)

So on Saturday I went for my run, and then after a shower got the final touches ready on my costume. It was altogether very lastminute, but it ended up being one of the more creative costumes in attendance (if I do say so myself!) :)

Ribbit!

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Anik as a pirate wench, and Pookish as Ron from Harry Potter

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Adam as Han Solo and Alan as a Sith.

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Erin as an Aviator (wearing an ACTUAL flightsuit), and Crystal as a cat!

Katy as roadkill (brilliant!), Kyle as a prince/king/some kind of royalty, and Doireann as a very silly bumble bee!

Another of my favourite costumes was the Kenny costume that Laura's boyfriend wore. Laura wore an awesome homemade spider costume, and there's Doireann again - possibly my favourite picture of her. :)

After the party I drove Anik and I back home, and washed all of the green off myself and then crashed from exhaustion.

Sunday morning I woke up, very confused as to why I felt so over-rested after only sleeping until 9. I woke up with that fuzzy, headachy feeling that I get when I've gotten too much sleep, and, as I was the DD last night, it was not attributable to alcohol of any sort (I don't drink and drive and have no respect for any who do. Then I realised that my watch was an hour off, and remembered that the end of daylight savings had occurred, and I'd gotten an extra hour of sleep (for all of my US readers I've just confused, daylight savings is a week earlier here in the UK).

So anyway, that afternoon for Emma's 21st birthday (Emma is Pookish & Poon's really nice flatmate), we all went to The Stand, which is a comedy club in Edinburgh. We saw a stand-up improv act: Stuart & Garry, who were absolutely hilarious. I especially liked them because not only could I understood them, but they had just enough mix of dirty and clean humour. I'm not interested in hearing swear words every 5 seconds or about really inappropriate topics, and besides I find the more subtle innuendoes to be way funnier. Anyway, so as I said, these guys were brilliant. I think they probably were getting a little sick of the vet group at the end, because every suggestion we shouted out was animal-related, but they humoured us at least a little bit! Even greater is that the show was free. The food and drinks, however, were not, but were delicious enough to make it worth it!

Sadly I don't have any pictures from the event, as I didn't think the comedians would appreciate flashbulbs (not to mention I didn't want to get picked on!). It is a slight shame, because I was wearing a really cute new outfit that I bought (as all my old clothes are getting too big - go me!)! Oh well, another time! :P

In other news, we have moved on from cows... yayyy! We're now learning about sheep, which is sadly a shorter block of lectures, but way more awesome, because sheep are infinitely cooler than cows. Today we learned about perinatal lamb disease - basically the causes of lambs dying in the first week. I like lambs because most of it is pretty straightforward. Realistically I guess all farm animal medicine is pretty straightforward - it's mostly about hygiene and nutrition, which isn't so much an issue in small animal medicine.

Anyway, back to being productive. Not sure what's happening this weekend, I guess we'll find out! :)

Running Amok (and Just Running!)

2010-10-30T12:04:00.013+01:00

I can't believe I haven't updated since we moved! I'm seriously falling behind!

So classes have started up again, and I'm afraid I haven't really posted about it because I'm not as excited about it as I was last year. It's not to say that I don't find the individual lectures interesting - for example the other day we learned about all sorts of cool and gross diseases in cattle. The problem is simply that I don't want to work with these animals. Last year was so exciting and even when things got tough I knew that each and every thing I learned was somehow relevant to my future career. This year it's not the same. The only motivating force I have is just to get through the year. I know this is not the best attitude to go into it with, but it's difficult knowing that the things I learned last year which are so relevant to me personally are slowly slipping out of my head while I fill it with stuff that I will likely never use again. I guess it's just like college in that way. There are the things you want to study, and then the things you just aren't interested in, but have to do them anyway. And just like college, I'll get through it. And then I'll be one year closer to never having to stick my arm up a cow's bum again :P

Anyway, so on to fun things! A few weekends ago, Andrew and I went to his friends' sixth annual 'Forest Lodge,' where they all gather in some part of the country and have a weekend of fun and reunion! So Andrew and I left Friday (after classes!) and drove to the west of Scotland to Argyll. We found our amazing house, which was HUGE! It had rooms for 24 people, 3 floors, a giant kitchen, 2 dining rooms, a bar, and it was all ours for the weekend. The rooms were all done up in antique style, so were really pretty (one of the rooms had an old-fashioned 4-poster bed, which was beautiful!).

Our awesome mansion - Balinakill Country House!

We mostly just hung out, played card games together, and played one giant, epic game of Sardines that was made all the more awesome by the myriad of rooms and spaces in which to hide. We also went on a walk up a nearby hill, atop which were the ruins of an old fort of some kind. A Cairn marked the spot, which we all sat on and took in the views before coming back down.

Beginning our walk

Making our way up the hill

At the top!

The Cairn

Can you spot Andrew?
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You can't really tell from those pictures, but it was WINDY at the top. I actually was physically blown over a few times. The views were gorgeous though, so it was completely worth it.

On the way home, Andrew and I stopped in Luss, a little town on Loch Lomond, and found a little cafe for lunch. I had a delicious Toasted Marshmallow Cappuccino (genious!), and a tomato soup. It was delicious, and very filling. Andrew had a Banoffee latte, which was also good, but the banana flavouring was a bit much. I was happy with my toasted marshmallow :)

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Loch Lomond from the pier at Luss

Andrew was having fun with my new camera.

The following weekend we had a 4-day weekend (due to us being at the favourable end of the alphabet for practical timetabling!), Jen, Kate, Anik and I went to a different part of Scotland. We went to Loch Ness, because Anik hadn't been, and saw some of the sights around there. I'd been there before, so I don't have too many pictures of the Loch itself, but along the way we stopped at the Highland Wildlife Park. We had a lot of fun looking at all the animals and just hanging out with each other. I also had a lot of fun playing with my new camera and figuring out all the new settings!

I found Hedwig!

Rawr!

Monkeys always pose for the best pictures.

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So adorable!

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A Scottish Wildcat, which may look like a cute kitteh, but is actually a fierce predator!

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Whoooo me?

Anik, Me, Kate and Jen!

After the Wildlife Park, we continued up to our little cottage on Loch Ness. It had fanstastic views of the loch, especially from the upstairs bathroom window. It was a gorgeous view to wake up to while brushing my teeth in the morning. We got there on Friday early evening, and Andrew drove up after work and arrived that night. It was so relaxing to play cards by the fireplace, or just 'giggle and squeak' as my mother would have called it, with the girls (and Andrew). Jen and I had decided that this trip was going to be dedicated to our mothers' memory, as Friday was the anniversary of her mother's death, from a similar-ish situation to my own. It was nice to remember them in such a beautiful place.

Anik emerging from the cottage

The view from outside our front door

Kate and I playing Cribbage

Saturday morning we woke up *fairly* early (as in, before 10) and hit the road for some exploration. I had been particularly excited about seeing a particular castle, Eilean Donan, which is reckoned to be the most beautiful castle in Scotland (it also appears in numerous films, such as Maid of Honor and the Highlander). I fell in love as soon as I saw the castle, and could have stayed there just taking pictures for hours. I've already decided this is where I'm getting married. Seriously, that's how much I love this place. The castle is situated at the meeting point of 3 sea-lochs, and so there are fantastic views on all sides. I wish we could have been there at sunset, it would have been beautiful! This is one place I am definitely going to visit again.

It was a very scenic and beautiful drive along the route to the Isle of Skye (which I still have yet to visit - it's at the top of my list)

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Our first views of the gorgeous Eilean Donan

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Us girls :)

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I seriously cannot get over how beautiful it is

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The courtyard

The view from Eilean Donan - beautiful

Seriously, I could have taken pictures for hours!

After Eilean Donan we headed over to the Black Isle Brewery, which is a small brewery in the middle of nowhere. We got a quick tour of the facilities, then got to taste a selection of their beers! We all got a few to bring back and have with dinner, and I also got a pint glass for fun! We then drove about for awhile, taking in the sights before heading back to our cottage for the night.

A beautiful, still loch we stopped at for a photo-op on our way to the Brewery.

The small, but awesome, Black Isle Brewery!

The next morning we got up slightly earlier to make a start. Andrew went off to an orienteering event near Inverness while we explored Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle. I'd already been there, twice in fact (once with Jessica and once with Andrew), but it's always nice to go with different people, as it's a completely different experience.

Jen and Kate (and a random) climbing up the staircase to the 2nd level of the castle!

Anik and I at Urquhart!

Sadly there were no Nessie sightings, although to be honest, it was so windy that the water was choppy enough to hide anything that might have been there, but we did go to the Loch Ness Exhibition Centre, which had a pretty cool exhibit on the Loch Ness Monster sightings and hoaxes.

We then set out to go to Moniack Castle, which is renowned for its wines and mead, which Anik was particularly interested in. Sadly it turned out to be closed on Sundays, and so we didn't get to see it. Oh well. Gives us another reason to come back!

After Loch Ness we headed back to the cottage for a few more games of cards and some relaxing by the fireplace. Then Andrew, Anik and I took off for home. Kate and Jen stayed another night, but Andrew had to be back for work on Monday, and I wanted to at least get a little bit of studying done.

Anyway, so all in all, my last few weekends have been amazing.

The only other real news I have is that I have gotten back into my running again! I should mention that my friend Kaitlin is my main inspiration, because she recently ran a 10K. Now, if you knew Kaitlin and I back in middle school, we were very similar on the fitness abilities level. We were the kids that balked at the Presidential Physical Fitness Test (which, to be fair, most people look back on in horror), and walked the '15-minute mile.' Yes, we were those kids. I did ballet and gymnastics and ice skating and things, but all of these to me were more about the art than the fitness. I never saw myself as being able to run, so I didn't. So to see Kaitlin becoming a self-proclaimed runner, and seeing her loving it, and especially seeing the confidence it's given her in the other aspects of her life (not to mention the fact that she looks amazing), made me really want to try. I've tried previously, especially with the extra motivation of Andrew and the orienteering adventures, but now I have a goal to work towards, instead of just a vague "I want to run". If Kaitlin can do a 10K after walking the 15-minute mile with me all those years ago (god that just made me feel old), I am going to give it a go as well. So that is my goal. This spring I will run a 10K. After that, who knows? Maybe I'll set my sights on a marathon! ;)

Anyway, so Andrew took me to his favourite running store and I got a pair of running tights, which I don't look nearly as awful in as I'd imagined, and a proper running shirt, sports bra and sports socks. Best purchases ever. My shorts, though fantastic in the summer, were not keeping my legs warm at all, and I hear this is not good for working muscles. I may need to get a warmer pair when the winter sets in, but I'll see how these go. So far my legs haven't gotten cold at all despite the frost on my car in the mornings, and my socks are new and cushy, which means my feet are happier.

My preferred place to run is a convenient bike path that goes from right by my flat all the way out to Dalkeith. It actually then connects to a path to Musselburgh, which connects to another walkway going right the way to Arthur's Seat in the city (a few blocks from where I lived last year), so it goes a long way. Anyway, it's something like 9 miles to Dalkeith, and it goes through Roslin, where there are side paths to the chapel. I've gotten all the way out to where the side path breaks off, but so far haven't felt like stopping my workout in the middle to stay and have a look around (also I'm not sure they want my sweaty mid-run self in their chapel, and I'd want my camera anyway). The path is nice and well maintained, which is awesome. There's no vehicular traffic on the majority of the run - or at least the part I've done so far (and the only real road I've encountered leads only to a water-treatment plant, and I have only ever seen one car going down it), so I don't have to worry about getting run over, or dodging buses - only the occasional excitable dog or bicyclist. It's also very scenic. The first bit runs through Valleyfield, a stones through away from my front door, and around the back of the town bythe River Esk, which used to power the mills that our section of town and the neighbouring ones were built around. Then it unites with an old railway line which follows the river some more, and goes through some old tunnels until the river curves away. The path continues through some horse pastures and out to Roslin and beyond. It's a very pretty and calming atmosphere, especially when the sun shines through the trees. Plus, it's QUIET. You can barely hear cars or machinery of any kind, except when the path goes under the road bridges, and you can hear birds and if it's raining you can hear the raindrops on the leaves and the sounds of the river. It's a great way to get me-time and be healthy at the same time. Honestly why anyone would run on a treadmill staring at a wall when there are places like this (especially when the weather is nice) is just beyond me.

I don't have a set time to run (which is probably good from a safety point of view), but it's either right after getting home from classes if we have an early day, or I sometimes come home during our longer lunch breaks. I've been doing the Couch to 10K program on my iPhone, which is amazing. I find the structure of it helpful, and the way it alters the programme day to day makes it easy and achievable. Also it conveniently tells you when you're halfway through the workout, so you can turn around (a tiny but immensely important detail that most programmes forget), and I can listen to my music at the same time. Basically it starts out the first week as running 0:30, walking 4:30, 7 times, and then slowly builds up from there (although to be honest I skipped the first 3 weeks, because they were ridiculously easy, so I started with running 2:00, walking 3:00, which was just hard enough that I had to push myself). I'm currently on week 7 - running 4:00, walking 2:00.

The first run this week was my hardest yet - I did the run/walk 10 times, and went a total of 9.5 km. While I didn't feel like the run itself was that hard (in fact I was pleasantly surprised at how well I was doing), I felt really ill afterwards. I'm not sure why this is, but I suspect something to do with dehydration and hunger combined with running endorphines, as I put off my lunch until after my run even though I was hungry beforehand, because I hate running with food in my stomach (I get a horrible side stitch on my left side if I've eaten anything! I'm told this is because the spleen squeezes out more blood cells during exercise, but it only ever happens when I've eaten recently). So instead I ran solely on the yogurt, apple and coffee I'd had for breakfast that morning, at least 5 hours previously. Stupid! I literally felt nauseous and on the verge of being sick all night. So I suppose I'll have to only put off my meal only if I'm NOT hungry to start. I don't mind getting hungry in the middle of a run - it gives me more motivation to keep up the workout until I get back - but otherwise I'll just have to either eat and wait a few hours or find something I can eat that wont upset my stomach. Also, I think I have to stop drinking coffee in the morning before running. The amount of times I've had to pee in the woods despite going directly before setting off is alarming (sorry, overshare, I know). Any runners out there have any ideas for me (on pre-run eating- not peeing!)

I was feeling back to normal the next day, but decided not to push it, so I took a day off, and meant to run yesterday, but it ended up pouring rain (and the bike path, though wonderful, was not designed with drainage in mind. Since I usually end up stepping in puddles and soaking my trainers and socks on the dry days, I decided to save my feet the blisters and wait another day). So instead I worked on my Halloween costume, and vowed to run this morning, which I think was a good decision because it was gorgeous out today. Brilliant sunshine and almost no puddles (I did manage to step in the few that did exist, and soaked my right trainer straight through, but oh well, such is life). This morning's run was also 4:00 running, 2:00 walking, but only 9 times today. I didn't have the nausea problem, but I suspect that it's more because I didn't push myself quite as hard, because I still waited until after to have breakfast (I tend not to be as hungry first thing in the morning anyway).

I am pleasantly surprised and happy that I'm actually enjoying my runs. I no longer have the aching in my legs (except on occasion), and I usually don't even feel sore or horribly knackered afterward. I don't get out of breath as easily, and I more and more feel that I will be capable of running a 10K in the spring! It's still a bit of a moan to get myself out on the path, especially if the weather is not gorgeous like it was today (though a light drizzle no longer bothers me), and I worry a little about what's going to happen when the snow and ice hits this winter, but once I'm out it's mostly enjoyable. There are a couple rough patches where I get tired or want to just walk the rest of the way, especially on the first workout of each week, which is designed to be the most strenuous, but for the most part once I settle into the rhythm it's great! I've even had a couple moments where my program beeps and says, 'Walk now,' and I realise that I don't have to walk, that I could keep going, at least for a little bit longer. I still follow the programme though, because I know that it's still a long way to running a 10K without stopping for walking intervals, and I need to build up my stamina before going all out.

Anyway, so enough about running! Tonight is Jessica and Lindzie's Halloween party, and I hope to take lots of pictures to show you all my brilliant costume (seriously, I'm very proud of it), and then tomorrow is Emma's (Poon and Pookish's roommate) 21st birthday party, so we're going to a comedy club for lunch to celebrate! Sadly Andrew's away this weekend, or I'd have forced him to dress up in another ridiculous costume like last year. There's always next year I guess :P

Hopefully I will update again during this week - seriously I wish I had the motivation and the time to update as much as my dear friend KaitlinWithHoney, who puts me to shame with her 2, sometimes 3 times a day updating, but oh well, I do what I can. :)

Final Summer Days

2010-09-15T10:22:00.014+01:00

In the hectic chaos of moving and everything, I hadn't been able to update, so here is another long catch-up update.

First - the move itself. Our new flat is AWESOME. Not only is our landlady way more awesome than the previous situation, but our flat is also way more cozy and warm and friendly than our old one.

The outside of our lovely flat!

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My beautiful bedroom! (Before my stuff has cluttered it up!)

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Our AWESOME living room with a giant flat-screen tv

Our kitchen!

Now, before we actually got to move, we had already committed to touring Scotland with the Japanese students we'd visited last year. This was our turn to show them where we live.

I was very sick, so I didn't really do much of the local events, but I did manage to go to a tour of the Surgeon's Hall (a museum about medicine), and also a ceilidh which I dragged Andrew along to.

Andrew dancing with the Japanese kids (I had gotten tired by this point due to being sick, so I became picture woman)

We also went to the Highland Games up in Creiff, which was a lot of fun to watch, and I think a really fun experience for the Japanese students.

Jen and I in Creiff

After this we went to the zoo, and Vane Farm, which is sort of a nature preserve. There wasn't really a whole lot of interesting pictures from those places, so instead we'll move straight on to the trip to Firbush.

So apparently, Edinburgh University has this awesome outdoor centre up in the southern Highlands, which I had never known about. It was so much fun. We went canooing, orienteering and sailing.

Canoeing on a beautiful day.

We all went mountain biking, but I popped a tyre, and there was no spare for my size bike....

So I went running behind the bikes. Here is me about halfway through, still going strong!

And the second day we all went sailing! The guy on the left was our 'instructor' Simon, who was a university student as well.

A storm on the horizon made for some awesome pictures!

We then made a trip to Stirling to visit the Stirling Institute of Aquaculture to take a look at their research dealing with fish!

Fish at the Stirling Institute of Aquaculture

The Wallace Monument in Stirling

The farewell dinner for the Japanese students at the Birds and the Bees Restaurant in Stirling

Finally after all of the excitement of the Japanese visit was over, Anik and I rushed to move into our new flat. It was a massive massive pain to move out, particularly because our former landlord suddenly decided he needed to do all of the maintenance work that we'd been asking him to do since we moved in there, and it needed to be done BEFORE we moved out. Really nice, eh? ANYWAY, so we rushed and rushed to move out an extra 4 days early just so we didn't have to deal with them anymore. Fortunately our new landlady was so understanding and wonderful, and let us move in early.

Anik & Me enjoying our new kitchen table with our super special microwave dinners!

Pookish brought us a yummy bottle of port for a housewarming gift :P

The weekend after we settled in to our new flat, I went with Andrew to Perth for the Park World Tour orienteering event, where some of the best orienteers in the world compete in a short sprint through the city. I was sort of an unofficial photographer for the event, and some of my pictures are up on the picture part of that site.

The event stage, where Andrew worked his magic

One of ESOC's members, Claire, starting the race!

The 4th place finisher, coming into the final stretch.

So then yesterday was Andrew's and my 1-year anniversary! I can't believe it's been a whole year since I met the big bum otherwise known as Andrew :P He took the day off work and we went exploring some nearby places, then had a relaxing evening watching a movie!

First we went to Castle Doune. If it looks familiar, that's because most of Monty Python and the Holy Grail was filmed in and around this castle!

The wedding scene was filmed here!

If you're wondering what film we watched upon getting home, it would of course have had to be Monty Python and the Holy Grail :P

View from atop the ramparts!

Then we headed to Linlithgow Palace, where we'd hoped to wander around a bit in the sunshine, but soon after we arrived it began to pour, so we quickly walked around the outside, explored the nearby cathedral, and then headed off. We'll save the palace and walk around the loch for another day!

Central courtyard of Linlithgow Palace in the 2 seconds of sunshine.

This afternoon Anik, Jen and I are going on a horse trek along the beach in Longniddry, which should be a lot of fun. Hopefully I'll come back with some pictures from that!

Next week classes begin, so it'll be back to the grindstone very shortly. I'm a little anxious over this coming year, because it's all farm animals, horses and exotics, which I am not at all interested in. I'm gonna go into it with an open mind though, maybe it'll change my mind about working with farm animals. Who knows!

The Moving Blues

2010-07-27T21:10:00.005+01:00

I should be studying now, and I'll get back to it shortly, I promise. However, I'm stressed out and need to vent.

Today our letting agent called us and informed us that our landlord is taking the flat back from us, and that we have until October 2 to move out. To clarify, it is not because we have done anything wrong (we pretty much are the perfect tenants), but because his son wants to live in the flat. And since our lease is up in September anyway, he is perfectly within his right to tell us to get out. I checked the lease, and checked it again, and it's totally legit.

Now, I know our flat has had some issues, and not everything was perfect, but I like our flat, I love the location, and I am sad that on top of everything else I have going on in my life right now, that I need to also worry about finding a flat/house. Especially since the festival is coming up, and students are going to start flooding in, it's a horrible time to have to go flat searching. Not to mention my resit, and all the EMS that Anik and I are doing.

Fortunately we have amazing friends, and Jen has agreed to help us move things for us, and as soon as my exam is over I'm going to start packing. It's just really not something I want to deal with now. I was planning on having some time to relax and enjoy the festival after my exam, and now I have to stress out about finding a place to live. :(

Anyway, I've started EMS at Easter Bush, in the diagnostic imaging department. The first day was quite slow, and although we saw a few things, me and the two other girls in my class also on EMS there spent most of the day looking at radiographs and trying to figure out what was wrong with them. It was good practice, but at the same time wasn't really what I wanted to be doing and got a bit old pretty quickly.

Today, I brought my studying with me for the down time, but as I might have predicted it was way busier and more interesting. One of the vets in today was incredibly nice and got us all involved in everything that was going on. Actually, the entire diagnostic imaging department is all really nice, and although the downtime in between things is slow, when stuff is going on it's really interesting. I actually am beginning to understand how to read the ultrasound and CT scans, so it's very cool.

Anyway, so today we saw a CT scan of a dog to look for a porto-systemic shunt, which was really neat because the CT scanner had to be timed exactly to coincide with the injection of contrast medium and the pumping of the arteries. So that was really neat. We also saw a CT of a dog looking for hydronephritis (water in the kidney) due to a previous ectopic ureter. Then we saw some ultrasounds of various inappetant animals, and then lastly we did a CT myelogram on a dog to see if it had a disc extrusion in it's spine. Very cool.

I ended up cancelled next week's EMS (and possibly the week after's, depending on whether the clinic is okay with me only doing one week), because I realised that my exam is more important, and really I can't handle doing 8am-7pm (plus at least a 40-minute commute each way) every day the week before my exam and still have time to study. I did, however, take 2 weeks in September from Jen, who had to back out of two weeks at a different practice. Although now with the moving I'm regretting that decision slightly, but I'll make it work, because I need the weeks of EMS.

Blah, anyway, lots of stress going on lately, but soon it'll be a bit better when my exam is over! Back to studying now!

Veg Box!

2010-07-21T12:33:00.003+01:00

Just a quick post to say that Anik and I signed up for a weekly veg box from GrowWild. All the veggies are organic, and every week you get a new selection based on what's best and what's in season! Even better, it's comparable in price to a grocer, and delivered right to our door!

We received our very first box this morning, and so far I am very impressed! We got 2 bananas, 3 delicious-looking apples, some kiwis, some perfect tomatoes, 2 onions, a cucumber, a pepper of some kind, 4 carrots and a giant head of lettuce of some kind. It also came with a bag of salad lettuce. I can't wait to make something delicious out of it!

Looks better than any veg I've picked up in a supermarket before!

Real carrots! With the dirt still on them!

We're also planning on visiting the Farmer's Market this Saturday, which takes place on the terrace of Edinburgh Castle, which I'm pretty sure is going to be amazing regardless of whether I actually purchase anything. So excited! :)

Also, I'm going to give another shout out to my friend Kaitlin, who has her own amazing blog of the healthy eating persuasion. She posts far more often than I do, and also includes the yummy recipes she finds or alters for her sugar-free diet needs. If you're a beef eater, I highly recommend her own burger creation. I had it last night - best burger ever, not even joking! I'm kind of obsessed with it now, I'm already thinking of when the next time I can recreate the deliciousness is.

P.s. I have officially lost over 10lbs! Even with my vacation and unhealthy-ish habits in Disney World, I managed to keep on track, and now that I'm back and cooking, and will start running soon, I'm sure I'll achieve my healthy, FIT, (and perhaps skinny and toned if it's meant to be) body soon! :D

Disney Dreams!

2010-07-18T14:21:00.020+01:00

So I am back from my holiday, and it's time to update you all again.

As many of you know, my grandmother passed away while I was in the US. Fortunately she hung on until I was able to see her, and she even got to meet Andrew and give 'Nana's seal of approval,' which was very important to me. She was the last of my grandparents, and the only one I got to know as an adult, so I'll miss her a lot.

My Nana with my older brother

My Nana and me last Christmas

Due to this semi-unexpected sadness, much of my time during my trip was spent visiting her while she was ill and then making arrangements after she'd gone, but I did enjoy a nice trip with Andrew in the rest of the time.

When Andrew and I got to the US, we hung out in Connecticut and New York City for a few days. I showed him around the areas where I grew up, my high school, and where I hung out. In NYC we went to a Yankee game with my cousins, Jay, Ed and Edward, and Edward's girlfriend Joanna. Joanna was so nice, and was a nice addition to the group. Everyone got along with Andrew really well, which was awesome, as they are my closest (in age and in terms of friendship) cousins. All we were missing was Marie Erin and her family (who sadly live far away in Texas) and Bridget, who was back in Montana. I wish I got to hang out with them more, cause they're a fun bunch.

Andrew and I at the game

Being touristy

Cousins! Ed, Jay, Me and Edward!

After the game we all went over to my Aunt Jane's house for a BBQ. It was very fun, and hopefully not too overwhelming for Andrew. :)

The rest of our time in the New York area we went into the city and saw some touristy bits. We checked out Times Square and the awesomely humongous stores there, along with the Empire State Building, Battery Park, Ground Zero and the WTC memorial, and just walking around and exploring the city. We also caught up with Andrew's parents, who were coincidentally doing a USA trip at the same time, so my dad, Anna Marie and Andrew's parents all met us for dinner. I think it went well! :) We also met up with my cousins (once removed?) Janet and Laurie, which was nice, as I hadn't seen them in awhile.

Times Square

After a time in NYC, we jumped on a plane and headed to Orlando for Disney World! My dad very awesomely used his Marriott Points to get us a snazzy hotel in Orlando, which was AMAZING.

The lake in the middle of our resort

View of the pool by our villa.

The main pool area

First night in the pool!

Our first day we hit up Magic Kingdom, which I think should always be the first stop on a Disney Tour Guide. Magic Kingdom is one of those places that when you go you remember going as a kid, and how much you loved it. It was a great place to return to as an adult. We did all of our favourite rides (except Space Mountain, which sadly was a 2 hour wait with no Fast Passes left by the time we got there). But we got to do virtually everything else we'd wanted to do. The only downside was that it was HOT. We managed to hit Florida during the massive heatwave, and so it was upwards of 95 degrees for most of the week.

First view of Cinderella's Castle from Main Street, USA

Another view of the Castle

I am Princess Minnie!

We stayed until after dark to see the Electrical Parade, which was awesome, as always. The music is all still the same, which is great, because it's such a blast from the past.

Charlie's Dragon

Big Ben (a la Peter Pan)

Cinderella's Castle, illuminated!

Fireworks! I tell you, there is nothing more romantic than watching fireworks at Disney World... I mean, if you factor out all the screaming, crying, and loud people/children all about.

Ooooo.... Ahhhh....

The next day, we went to Animal Kingdom, which is one of my favourites! We explored all of the areas and went on all of the good rides. In particular the Kilamanjaro Mountain ride was amazing. Such a great roller coaster! Also, the River Rapids ride, once I was convinced to go on it, was pretty awesome, and it was already raining at that point, so getting soaked wasn't really an issue.

Wheeee!

The Tree of Life!

Watching all of the aminals

We actually got forced into this by a photographer, but I'm glad we saw Baloo and King Louis anyway!

Getting ready to see 'A Bugs Life' 3D movie in order to avoid the torrential downpour that was going on outside

View of Kilamanjaro roller coaster - AWESOME.

Animal Kingdom Parade, featuring explorer Goofy

We ended our evening by eating in my personal favourite restaurant - the Rainforest Cafe

The third day we went to Epcot! This, I think, is the best place for the adult in me. The rides there are all sort of like low-key, educational-type rides, and the food was delicioussss. The one ride that was NOT a good ride for me was Mission Mars. Now, don't get me wrong - awesome idea, really really well done. However, apparently the spinning, G-force-creating, simulator rides are not for me. I managed not to get sick, but only just, and felt pretty ill for the rest of the night, and part of the next day. Fortunately we did that ride last, and so I was able to go home and pass out.

Spaceship Earth!

My personal favourite - Mexico!

China!

Italy!

Andrew and Me!

Epcot after dark!

On our way home after the fireworks.

On the next day we went to Hollywood Studios (Formerly MGM). It's still more or less the same as the way it was. Sadly there were downpours and thunder for most of the day, so many of the cooler rides were closed. It did clear up, however, so we got to see the Summer Nightastic, which was a really awesome show/pyrotechnics display.

Mickey's Sorcerer Hat

The Tower of Terror - which we did not go on (I'm not a fan of falling rides!)

Fantasia!

The next day we took it easy, during the morning, which allowed me to more fully recover from Mission Mars and Andrew to watch the World Cup. There were, again, huge booming thunderstorms for the afternoon, during which we got stuck at the pool bar, but at least there was coffee and a tv to watch the football, and we did eventually get back.

That night we headed to Downtown Disney to poke around. Disney Quest was awesome, but not really worthy of taking pictures.

The following day was Blizzard Beach! This was exciting for both Andrew and me because neither of us had been there before. It was pretty awesome, AND I managed not to get a sunburn! It's such a brilliant idea for a water park, I loved it!

Oh, if only it were that cold!

*
Awesome slide at the top there

And an awesome way to get to that slide!

And a rather terrifying trip back down (yes, that IS me, with Andrew laughing at me at the top!)

We finished up our day with a rousing game of mini-golf!

The last day, we went to Universal Studios to see The Wonderful World of Harry Potter. I have to say, this was the highlight of my trip. I know Disney is great and all, but I LOVED this park. To be fair, it was a tiny space, and the lines were hideously long (it was opening weekend after all), but it was so well done, and so much fun that it was totally worth it. There were things that perhaps I'd have done differently, but it was pretty epic. I hope someday I have the opportunity to go back when it's not quite so packed, especially because Ollivander's Wand Shop had such a long line that we just couldn't be bothered waiting (it was another sweltering day!).

The commemorative map!

We got to the park around 8, and were greeted by this lovely line. Fortunately we only had to wait here until just after 9, and so were into the park in good time. However, we spotted many people still waiting in line around noon, so we arrived at just the right time!

Ahhhhh! So excited!

Chocolate Frog! I didn't get one, cause it was $10, but they were cool to look at anyway!

The shops they had were the Owl Post, Honeydukes Sweetshop, Filch's Emporium of Confiscated Goods, Ollivanders (sort of a show and shop), The Three Broomsticks, and a Pumpkin Juice and Butterbeer vendor. The lines were all really long, and the stores were way to packed to even buy anything, but it was cool nonetheless.

I'm at Howarts!!! :D

The inside of the Three Broomsticks, where we ate lunch (only had to wait an hour!)

The mirror or Erised on the line to the main ride (which, by the way, was AWESOME. Totally worth the 1 1/2 hour wait)

A Pensieve

Yes, all of these pictures moved, and were walking between pictures. It was fantastically done.

At the entrance to Dumbledore's Office

A display from Beauxbatons
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View of Hogsmeade from atop the Hippogryph ride.
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The Triwizard Cup, on the way in to the revamped 'Dueling Dragons' roller coaster
*
So the new ride, that everyone's been raving about, is basically a broomstick ride through Hogwarts and the Quidditch Pitch. The new technology they use is actually pretty exceptional, and there is near-seamless transition between the 3D-ish video simulator and the 'real' animatronic area. Needless to say, it was awesome, and I wish the lines were less long so we could go on again.

After returning from Florida, we drove up to Boston to see my besties! We got to meet Megan's bf Elliott, her kitties Roxy and Lola (which Andrew was very excited about), and even Sarah from SC came up to visit, and Weather from Alaska! It was great! Sadly I do not have many pictures from Boston, except for one!
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Andrew, me, and Weather by Fanieul Hall!
*
The night before returning from Boston, we got the news about my Nana, and so coming home was a bit more somber of an occasion than usual. We had a funeral for my Nana, and got to see my family again.

Andrew, sadly, had to leave for the UK, but I stayed for an extra 2 weeks. This was taken up by EMS in my hometown clinic of New Canaan Veterinary Hospital! It was so much fun, and I even got to suture a wound closed, and did part of a dental cleaning and an ultrasound! It was quite slow otherwise (no surgeries at all!), but I still got some refreshment of my blood-drawing techniques and I even placed a bunch of catheters (something I hadn't yet been able to do successfully, but managed to do perfectly every time!).

The rest of my time in the USA was spent furiously packing up my house (and some studying in between), as my dad finally sold the house. It was a little emotional going through all of the things in my house (literally my mother kept everything), but we made good progress. I also got to see my Pookie Wookie, who is sadly being kept by another family until I can either return and take her back or get her sent to the UK. Saying goodbye to her again was also very sad, but at least I know she's in good hands.

Now I am back in the UK. While it was nice to see my family and everything, I was definitely ready to get back on my normal schedule. Plus, now I can finally concentrate on studying for my resit, which is fast approaching! I'm still sort of recovering from jet-lag and in general tiredness, but this afternoon I'm going to begin my hard-core studying. I WILL pass this resit, all circumstances aside.

Anyway, off to study now.

Knit in the nick of time!

2010-06-05T23:56:00.004+01:00

My jumper is finished! Since I had little else to do but pack this weekend, and since packing is not as fun as knitting, I finished my sweater! Take a look! :)

The beginning of the cables. What will they become?

Nearly done!

The finishing touches!

It fits!

All the pretty little details

I should note that the pattern came from the crafty Kate Davies, whose blog I stumbled across through Ravelry.

Tomorrow it's off to London and then NYC on Monday! So excited!!! :D

The knitting bug

2010-06-05T01:49:00.004+01:00

Hi everyone!

I know, I know, it's been forever! Life has been crazy busy with lots of things since I last wrote.

First off, exams are FINALLY over. Our last exam was very fair, so I'm hoping that I did alright. At the very least I felt that I knew more information than usual!

Since exams are dull and boring and stressful, I have been keeping myself busy in a number of other ways during my 'free' time.

1. Running! My classmate Erin and I have started going on walks/jogs together. We both are not runners by any means, and seem to be at the same sort of fitness level. I normally wouldn't have thought I'd be the kind of person that would enjoy exercising with someone else, but it's actually surprisingly awesome. Erin and I never seem to run out of things to chit-chat about, and it's helpful to have someone else motivating me to get out and be active. I'm hoping I can keep up the momentum when I'm in the USA, and hopefully when we get back after the summer we can get back to it!

2. Weight Watchers! I've tried the whole diet thing many times before, but this time I'm going to do it properly. I've already lost 6 lbs, and feel a lot better about what I'm eating. :) I know it's silly to proclaim this on the internet, but I feel that if I'm going to do this, I should be proud of my accomplishments and look for support from people, rather than hide it. After all, I'm not doing this in an attempt to be super skinny. I've given up on that ambition because it's unrealistic. Rather, I'm doing this to be healthy, and to help get into an active lifestyle that I can keep up. So yes. I am doing Weight Watchers, and I am proud of it!

3. Knitting! I have caught the knitting bug. One of Andrew's friend's girlfriend, Hannah, introduced me to a knitting website called Ravelry, and I immediately joined and began searching for projects. I found an absolutely adorable jumper, and set about gathering the necessary materials.

By sheer coincidence, I walked in to class one day shortly after discovering this pattern to find my classmate, Jessica, wearing the very same, that she'd made! I knew she'd been knitting up a storm (and she's really good at it too!), but I didn't realise she'd made the same one I'd been drooling over! Despite the fact that the jumper wont be as unique as I was originally hoping for, I decided that since mine was in a completely different colour (and truthfully, probably wouldn't turn out as good since it's my first project), that it wasn't a big deal to make the same sweater. Hopefully she feels the same. Plus, it has turned out quite useful, as Jessica was able to help me when I got stuck in the pattern!

Anyway, here's a few pics of it. I'm really proud of it so far, despite its admittedly many mistakes!

Just beginning!

My first ever sleeve!

It's all coming together now!

I'll be sure to post pictures when it's all done! :)

In just 2 days I'll be heading back to the USA with Andrew, for some quality vacation time before I have to return to the real world. We're hitting up CT, NYC, Boston, and Disney World! It should be a fun-filled 3 weeks for us! I'm staying in the states for 2 more weeks to work at NCVH, and then coming back to Edinburgh to revise and do more EMS.

Anyway, it is ridiculously late (I am having problems putting the knitting needles down!), and although I'm justifying it by pretending that it might help with the impending jet lag, I really am exhausted, so I should go to sleep. Night all!

Clinical EMS

2010-04-12T19:43:00.007+01:00

Hi Folks!

So first off, it's been a long long while. Going back a bit, There is good news! I passed my driving test (on the second try), and am now a fully-qualified UK driver. Scary thought, eh? I find the manual driving much much easier when I can drive like a normal person instead of trying to drive to the standards of the test. I also retook my suturing test, and passed! Yay! I'm not quite sure why, given how much my hands were shaking, but the important thing is I know I can do it well when I'm not being examined on it. I also did fairly well on the multiple choice questions we had. This wasn't something you really had to pass, it was more of a 'get-as-many-points-towards-the-next-test-as-you-can' type thing, but I was still pleased to see that I 'passed,' as in I got over 50% on that section. So that puts me in fairly good standing for May.

This past weekend I had a bit of fun with Andrew. We went up North to Inverness for Saturday, and then travelled west to Fort William. On Sunday we drove to Malaig, a cute little fishing town on the coast near the Isle of Skye. It was a lot of fun, and we saw some really pretty sights. Plus, the weather was absolutely gorgeous, so we picked the perfect weekend!

Our route. A is Inverness, and the blue pin is Loch Ness, which we saw on Saturday.

Inverness Castle

Loch gates on the Caledonian Canal

Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness

A pretty waterfall on Ben Nevis (the UK's highest 'mountain')

Andrew and Me!

The second leg of our Journey, from Ft William to Malaig, and across the ferry over Loch Linnhe

Glenfinnan Monument

Glenfinnan Viaduct

They were huge!

If this looks familiar it is because this was the railway they filmed the Hogwarts Express on in Harry Potter!

Driving along the coast

Malaig Harbour

The walk out to Castle Tioram

Castle Tioram

Apparently in the time between when our guidebook was made and when we got there, Castle Tioram was unsafe and couldn't be entered. Although I stood here for 10 minutes debating whether to just squish through those bars, my better judgement won out.

So anyway, now we are caught up to the present. Today I started my first day of clinical EMS. I was a bit aprehensive about this, because despite having gotten this far, I still don't feel like I know a whole lot. Granted, at this point they're not expecting us to be able to diagnose anything, but still.

The clinic I chose was in Livingston, and let me tell you, they were SO nice. All of the staff like each other, and it was a very friendly environment. Definitely a good place to see practice at. I didn't get to do a whole lot today aside from a few injections, but I think that's understandable on the first day. After all, they have no idea who I am, so why should they trust me to let me do things?

Even though I didn't personally do a whole lot, I followed the vets and nurses around all day, and actually learned a lot. The morning was full of surgeries (mostly spays and castrations, with a rabbit dental thrown in), a road traffic accident (which sadly we lost after battling all day to save this poor dog), and a bunch of regular consults (dogs, cats, and another rabbit!).

The vet I followed for most of the afternoon was really helpful and explained what he was doing, and let me see what he was seeing in the pet. I'm starting to put the pieces of the puzzles together, and when a vet calls for bloodwork on a pet, I'm beginning to see what they might be looking for. For example, when we did a urinalysis on a dog and the urine was dilute and had protein in it, a little lightbulb clicked in my head that thought *check protein:creatinine ratio* and sure enough, that's what the vet said next. I'm not sure off the top of my head be able to remember why I'm doing these things (specifically anyway - I know it has something to do with kidney function and whether the problem is in the kidney's ability to dilute or elsewhere), or what to do when the results came back, but I feel like the first step is at least knowing what tests to do when.

So while my feet are aching (being a student you forget how much standing up all day hurts!), I'm happy. I'm really glad we have to do clinical EMS, because as much as I would love to have more holidays (I mean really, who wouldn't?) I think that it's important that we're reminded why we're working so hard, and what's at the end of it all. :D

Tales of chocolate, long walks through the wilderness, and Marco Polo?

2010-02-23T16:37:00.006Z

It's been awhile, again. Life seems to have gotten busier and busier since the last time I updated! Not much new has happened in the way of classes or practicals. We have had a few classes called 'Differential Diagnoses' classes, which is where we're presented with an animal and have to work out what's wrong with it. I do like these classes a lot, however, I wish there were more of them with less people in each. There are about 25 people in each class, so only 2 people get to take a history, and 2 more people get to do an exam on the animal. So I think having more opportunities like this, with fewer students would be helpful.

There has also been this annoying problem in classes recently. According to the powers that be, it is due to interference from the construction workers' walky-talkies from across the street, causing the speaker system in our lecture theatre to LOUDLY buzz on and off throughout our classes.

Now, I can understand if this happened once or twice. But it has been a MONTH, and still every morning our lectures are running late because the teachers can't speak over the noise of this stuff. Now, I don't know how long they've actually known this was the cause, but it seemed like it should have been dealt with before now, and every day it gets worse and worse, and the teachers are shouting over it and we still can't hear them. It is ridiculous. I can't even imagine how frustrated the professors must be, because I'm sure it throws off their concentration just as much as ours, and is incredibly disruptive to our learning.

Aside from that, life has been extremely good. I've been getting lots of studying done, and although I'm still way behind and need to do a lot more, I actually feel like I'm beginning to put the pieces together, and I feel a bit more confident so far in my studying than previously.

At the end of January, I went orienteering with Andrew again for an afternoon. This was an urban orienteering event within the city of Edinburgh, and it went all the way from Holyrood Park to Calton Hill. It was kind of nice because I got to see some parts of the city I hadn't been to before, and the views from Calton hill are really amazing.

Punching the first control outside Dynamic Earth!

I found another one!

Punching the control on top of Calton Hill

Then the first weekend of February, Anik joined us for a smaller orienteering event out at Lauriston Castle. I never even knew this place existed in Edinburgh, but it is really awesome! It's a small castle (more like a very large estate type of thing with a huge manor on it), and it also had a small Japanese garden on the property. Anik and I went around together, and even though we were walking most of the way, we managed to not come in last, and had a lot of fun!

Oh, by the way, I dyed my hair brown!

Lauriston Castle

Anik punches a control!

On Valentine's day, which also happened to be Andrew's and my 5th monthiversary, we didn't really make a huge deal over it in favour of doing something extra special for our 6-monthiversary next month. What I did do (because I can never just do nothing) was make a fondue dinner for Andrew and Anik and myself. First we had cheese fondue, and for dessert we had chocolate fondue. DELICIOUS. Probably took about 5 years off my life span, but it was totally worth it.

The dessert spread!

This was the result, oddly enough of Anik sitting on a raspberry the kitten had dropped and mushing it all over her bottom and the floor. Clearly the sugar had gotten to us at this point.

And finally this past weekend, Andrew and I went orienteering again on Newtyle Hill, which is near Perth. This was the first time I'd done an event completely under my own orienteering skills, as Andrew did his own run. I would have done fairly well, at least in the average range, if I hadn't made a really dumb mistake at the very beginning of the course, and followed the wrong fence and got hopelessly lost for 10 minutes. I figured it out eventually, though, and managed to find all the controls, with only one other slight mishap, which was when I lost my SI card (the electric doo-hickey you use to punch the controls) in a large patch of bracken. But aside from that I did alright, and managed to not be last! I really do enjoy the orienteering thing, and I'm excited for our next adventure, which will be in 2 weeks!

Sasquatch? or Andrew?

Andrew getting warmed up

View from the top of a particularly onerous hill to climb, but I made it up eventually!

And, in my final patch of news for this entry, I have purchased a car! I decided that for practicality's sake, as well as to help open up more opportunities for doing EMS work, that having a car would be a good thing. So after searching around a bit I found this little approved-used VW, and went for a test drive with Andrew. And I decided to go for it! I am picking it up on Saturday!

My little 2006 VW Polo, which I have decided to name 'Marco' (Get it? Marco? Polo? Hehehe)

Tomorrow is my theory test, which I am completely prepared for. I read all the books I needed to read, did all the practice tests (and passed all, I might add), and I am raring to go! :)

Anyway, that's it for now. I will update you with more news if anything exciting happens!

** Update: I passed my theory test! (of course!).. Practical test is on the 5th of March.. so soon! **

Half-ish way through!

2010-01-24T16:48:00.030Z

Hello everyone!

It's been awhile, I know. Life has taken off, and I'm once again busy as a bee with studying and all. So here's the updates since last time I wrote!

Exams: STILL haven't gotten the results back for any of the exams, which I'm disappointed at, but not horribly surprised. I have a feeling I'll be back in August for Clinical Foundations, but honestly I'll be somewhat happy if that's the case, because that's something I really feel like it would be incredibly useful to be forced to study it again this summer since it's all incredibly useful stuff. We'll see I guess!

Christmas: Christmas was fairly low-key, aside from the awful journey, which included a delayed flight, a missed flight, a night in London, three attempts at standby flights, and delayed luggage, before finally making it home. On Christmas eve we went to mass and then Anna Marie's house for dinner. It was very good, and nice to get to know her a bit more. Christmas day my dad and I went to visit my Nana to exchange gifts and say hello, and then went to my cousins house for the traditional Christmas meal. I also got to see my Kaity Lynne and her family. I've known them since 2nd grade, so it was really great to see them! And I FINALLY got a picture of her and I together! :)

Me and my Nana!

The very lovely dinner setup at my Aunt Jane's and Uncle Jimmy's

My Kaity Lynne and my dad! Would you believe this is the FIRST picture I have of both Kaitlin and me?!

I got to see my Pookie!

I was only home for a week, which seemed a bit too short, especially with the delay in getting home, but I definitely enjoyed being home. I got back to Edinburgh in time for New Years with Andrew, which was really fun. We had a party at his place, and lots of his friends came over, and I got to see the traditional celebration of a New Year, with the proper singing of Auld Lang Syne!

The weekend before classes started up again, I went on a skiing trip up in the Cairngorm Mountains with Andrew and his friends Heather, Boney, Matt and Shugy. The record snowfall this year meant that we had absolutely perfect skiing conditions! I really love all of Andrew's friends, and it was a fun weekend!

Boney and Andrew enjoying coffee and toast in the sitting room of our chalet.

We got stuck in a queue for the mountain road while they cleared the snow off it. At least it was gorgeous!

Our first view of the mountain!

Andrew and I, ready to hit the slopes!

View from the top of the mountain, at Scotland's highest restaurant.

Most of the group - Heather, Matt, Me and Andrew!

Loch Morlich, which is below the Cairngorms

Standing on the frozen loch! (just on the edge, don't worry!)

We found some ducks and fed them the rest of the bread we had.

Matt trained them to jump up for bread and Andrew got creative with the camera!

The skiing was quite different than skiing I've done on the east coast of the states, because there are hardly any trees, and there was quite a lot more powder than I'm used to. The second day was more windy, so it was a tad icier, which for whatever reason I'm more comfortable skiing on. Either way, it was gorgeous out, and I really enjoyed skiing and hanging out with everyone. There's something great about waking up the next morning being sore from a full day of skiing!

The weekend after classes started, we took a trip to London, to see Wicked! as a birthday present from my dad! Seeing it with the British cast was interesting, because while it was more or less the same show, the accents were so different! The singing was amazing though, and it was just as good as the US show!

Trafalgar Square!

Andrew and I in front of Buckinham Palace!

Buckingham Palace at night!

Getting excited to see Wicked!

St. Paul's Cathedral from the Millenium Bridge

Enjoying a bus tour!

The Tower Bridge from our boat tour

Sadly the London Eye was closed while we were there, but it was still cool to look at!

Big Ben, the London eye, and part of the Abbey!

In London we obviously didn't get to see everything, since we only had a weekend, but we got to see a lot! We stayed with Andrew's friend from uni, Sarah and her boyfriend Jon, both of whom were so nice and really helped us out by allowing us to stay. So aside from the pictures above, we went into the National Gallery, and saw lots of famous paintings by Monet, Renois, Degas, Seurat, and Van Gogh. It was cool to see the famous paintings in person! We also saw Shakespeare's Globe Theatre from the outside. We toured the Tower of London and saw the Crown Jewels within (sooo gorgeous and elaborate!). We saw the Covent Garden Market, took a bus tour and a river tour of the Thames.

Anyway, so then this past Friday night was our 'Halfway Dinner', which isn't really half-way through vet school for us, but it is for the 5 year students. Anyway, we all went to the dinner and had a lovely meal. The theme was 'A Night at the Oscars,' so some people were dressed as movie stars, and the rest were in evening wear. Dinner was followed by some fun awards, such as 'Most likely to be sued,' 'Most likely to be chased off a farm by an irate farmer,' 'Most like to come back in 10 years to sleaze on freshers' and things like that. Fortunately I wasn't nominated for anything, haha!

I went as Marilyn Monroe with my kilted man! :)

The two Marilyn Monroes

Party people!

Andrew and me

I tried to play the part!

Anyhoo, classes have been really interesting so far. A lot of it seems fairly straightforward, and we're actually learning to diagnose things and treat them, which is cool. So far we've done the GI tract and orthopedics. Next up is dentistry and opthamology!

Anyway, I've got a full day of class tomorrow, so away I go for some studying before bed!

Deep breaths

2009-12-16T14:13:00.008Z

Hey all. I am taking a quick break from studying, as I need to wake myself up before I have another go at learning all the stuff we're meant to know. So I figured I'd make myself a coffee, and update here, and then get back to it!

First, for the 2nd part of my birthday 'shenanigans', Andrew took me out to dinner at the pub/restaurant where we had our first date (awwww!). It was very delicious and yummy. He also gave me the last of my presents, which was an awesome coaster which reads "It's my birthday, so I can put ketchup on whatever I want!" and then a small bottle of ketchup. It's sort of an inside joke, but really it's just that I drown pretty much any acceptable food in the stuff, so it was a perfect gift! Haha. :) His parents gave me a lovely scented candle, which smells like pomegranate!

The weekend after Thanksgiving, Andrew and I took a trip up to St. Andrew's for the night, where we had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with Andrew's friend from uni. I've already mentioned her in this blog back on the entry about our first trip to St. A's, but anyway, she is from America, and single-handedly cooked us an entire Thanksgiving feast, with all the trimmings. It was absolutely fantastic, and I wished I had a bigger stomach to eat it all!

The whole group at Beth's! Beth is the second from the left!

Queuing up for food!

Then, unfortunately, after all the festivities, the real studying began. But Anik and I still found some time to decorate the flat, and wrap some presents. And we even made a quick trip to the Christmas market to find some gifts for our friends (and the kitteh!)

The kitteh gets a new collar! She immediately ripped off about 1/3 of the bells, but oh well, it was fun for 5 minutes!

A bad quality, but nonetheless hilarious picture of the kitteh discovering fairy lights!

The pile of presents under our little tree has slowly grown!

The Christmas Market always has a festive atmosphere!

Also, in other news, the kitteh had a mini vacation at Andrew's flat at the weekend. This was because she is going to be staying with Andrew while I'm home for a week over Christmas, and we wanted to make sure that I could be there the first time she was, so she got used to the new environment with her momma and didn't stress out :) Also, it's always good to have an animal go into a carrier without the vet being the destination, because then they don't associate the carrier with bad evil vets (ha!). And also we thought Anik could use a break from Tornado Tsuki!

So I mostly just studied all day and made sure the cat didn't destroy anything in the room she was confined to. Overall she was very good, in fact better behaved than she usually is. I suspect not having to salivate over the rats and hamster (and constantly be thrown out of the room when she antagonises them) had something to do with it :) She is a great traveller and didn't get car sick or freak out about being put in her carrier.

While we were there I helped put up Andrew's Christmas tree! I particularly like the mini 'Queen Elizabeth' on the top (although I suspect it's not meant to actually be the Queen)

This past Monday (cue scary music) exams began! The first exam was a practical exam, and was thus very straightforward. We were given a case example where a dog has stepped on some glass, and we needed to insert a single simple interrupted suture. Anik and I had practiced on our crazy fake skin pads the night before, so we think we did fairly well. I was nervous (as always in the practical situation), but as far as I can tell I did everything right, and tied my knots properly.

Tuesday's exam was another practical. Everyone thought, judging on previous years, that it would be scrubbing in, or handwashing, which was pretty straightforward, but it turns out we were examined on instrumentation! Fortunately someone tipped us off after their exam early in the morning, and we were able to study well enough to do really well.

Now, I'm going to rant for a minute here. While I understand why instruments are very very important in all kinds of medicine, and I also understand why you need to know which instruments are for what (i.e. using something that causes puncture wounds on a hollow organ would be bad), I think it is stupid to learn the names of these instruments. Now, if these intruments were called things like "soft-tissue forceps" or "intestinal forceps" or "arteriole haemostats" then I would gladly name them all. However, here is a small smattering of the names of instruments we had to know:

Kelly haemostats
Crile haemostats
Mayo (Mosquito) haemostats
Rochester-Carmalt haemostats
Rongeurs
Balfour retractor
Gusset retractor
Finochetto retractor
Gilleys
Mayo-Hegar needle holders
Olsen-Hegar needle holders
Debakey forceps
Rat-toothed forceps (which as least describe it's appearance)
Allis tissue forceps
Adson-Brown tissue forceps

Why is it that instruments are named after silly old farts in human medicine? It would be so so so much more straightforward to name them as they are, rather than give some old dude a feeling of fame and accomplishment by naming something after him.

Ok, rant over. Moving on. Today's exam was a 'Spot' exam, which is sort of like a practical knowledge exam. We were shown pictures of post-mortem specimens (or in one case, living animal with an obvious problem), and asked to describe the abnormalities, and then describe possible causes or pathogenesis of these conditions. This one was hard, I'll admit, because I think it's a very subjective thing (and I'm convinced everyone sees colours differently), but fortunately most of the points were in the descriptions, which were fairly straightforward. I did know a few of the causes, but most of that was just guessing.

Tomorrow's exam is the really terrifying one. Tomorrow's exam covers drugs, anaesthesia, diagnostic imaging, surgical principles, and clinical oncology. Basically, everything that is most difficult to learn is piled up in one exam. Joy. So I may be back in August for this one. But similar to last year when I retook Animal Husbandry, this is one of those subjects that I would probably benefit from relearning over the summer, and I may just do that regardless of whether I pass or not. In fact, most of the people I know retaking this course are glad they are, because they understand it so much better. But obviously I'm going to try my best, and hopefully do well on the first try!

Friday's exam is another scary one, which is pathology. This is so detail oriented that it's frightening, but at least most of the time the pathogenesis is fairly straightforward and even if you don't know what the cause is, you can usually work backwards to figure at least most of it out.

Friday after my exams I'm going straight to the doctor for my last Rabies vaccine (yay!) and then hopefully I will still feel well enough to do some last minute Christmas shopping before going out for Andrew's work's holiday dinner. Then Saturday is a day full of relaxing and packing before heading home on Sunday!

Birthday Shenanigans Pt 1

2009-11-22T13:02:00.012Z

This weekend has been fantastic. Today will be spent studying in order to make up for it, but I have to do something fun for my birthday, right?

So first, on Friday night, was the reunion dinner for our Japan trip. We went to Koi, a Japanese Teppenyaki restaurant, and had delicious delicious food. Definitely not as good as in Japan, but good anyway. :P

Anik and I got dressed all fancy.
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After dinner, I headed off to George Street to meet Andrew and a few of his friends for a ceilidh. If you don't know, a ceilidh is sort of like American square dancing, only with men in kilts, and it's a lot cooler. :P We had a lot of fun dancing and being spun about on the dance floor. The dances are quite cool, with everyone sort of dancing with everyone else, and so the dance is full of motion and aside from your partner(s), you rarely dance with the same couple again.

Unfortunately I couldn't get any pictures of us dancing, but here is a picture of Andrew and I, looking all spiffy. :P
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Saturday, I made 2 pumpkin pies, and went shopping for party supplies like chips and dip, drinks, and cleaning supplies. At 5pm we headed out to meet a bunch of my friends at Fountain Park, which is an entertainment centre in Edinburgh with bowling, an arcade, and lots of other stuff.

Playing Mario Kart while waiting for our bowling time
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Ahh, the memories of my childhood birthday parties are coming back to me now :P
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Kirsten, Kyle and Me!
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After bowling, we headed off to Pizza Express for some delicious pizza dinner! Despite the name, it's actually quite a nice restaurant. My friends very kindly paid for my dinner, and then we headed back to my house for some drinks, some pie, and some fun.

Andrew bought THE cutest birthday cake I have ever seen.
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Closeup of the awesome birthday cake.

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Opening presents!
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Andrew commissioned the cutest birthday cake for me, which was so sweet (literally and figuratively), and then surprised me with some presents that made the night! He got me the Wii Mario Kart game, which he had one of his friends get on her trip to America (only American games work on American Wiis), and a giant pack of batteries (because he knows me well enough to know that when I plan a 'Wii night' party, I will undoubtedly forget the batteries, hahaha!). So we all played Mario Kart for a few hours while eating cake and pie, and it was a lot of fun. Anik got me a couple presents as well, which were things I'd actually needed like index cards and whiteboard markers (I know, we're dorks!), and also a cute little Hello Kitty Beanie Baby. My friends rock!

To end the night, I broke open a pack of indoor sparklers that Andrew's parents got me (along with a present which I can't open till Monday!), so we lit a few and enjoyed the sparkling!

I heart my friends :)
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All in all, I think this might be the best birthday party I've ever had. I had so much fun, and got to have an awesome night with my friends :) I say this was Part 1 because Andrew is taking me out to dinner on Monday night. I feel extremely lucky this weekend to have such good friends and such an awesome boyfriend :)

Anyway, now it is time to get back to studying, gotta make up for the fun with some hard work now. So I am off to a cafe to get away from the internet. Ta ta!

Orienteering!

2009-11-16T13:48:00.006Z

Hey, Folks!

So this last week has been largely uneventful. Mostly just studying and more studying.

The one fun thing I did do was go with Andrew to an orienteering event. Andrew is an avid orienteer(er?), and I'd gone to events before and just hung out in the car studying while he and his parents went out running, but this last Saturday was an event that was in a fairly straightforward area, so I decided to try it!

So, in case you don't know what orienteering is, and you don't feel like clicking the link above, it's basically a navigation race. You are handed a map at the start, with red circles representing each control, which you have to hit in a certain order, either using an electronic reader or, in this case, a card that you punch with each control's unique hole punch.

The map! The little table on the left represents each control, and what it looks like. For example: control 1 is a path bend, 2 is the east side of a tree stump, 3 is the west side of a tree stump, etc. On the map itself, the line is the 'as the crow flies' route, which you may or may not be able to do depending on what's in your way!
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Andrew followed me making sure I knew what I was doing, and helping me figure out what everything on the map meant. I didn't need TOO much help though, so I mostly just enjoyed his company :P
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Trying to find the next control
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It's quite an interesting concept, and I enjoyed it a lot, even though I wasn't really doing it in a competitive fashion, and was just walking it instead of running. The only downside was that something got stuck in my contact about 2/3 of the way through, and I couldn't get it out, so had to just throw the contact away, and do the rest semi-blind. Still managed it though, and got a fairly decent time (49:20 and 16th out of 30).

Anyway, next Monday is my birthday, so the Saturday before I'm going to be going bowling with my friends, which should be fun. Not sure I want to be another year older, but I'm still excited anyway. :)

St. Andrews and Hallowe'en!

2009-10-31T17:27:00.022Z

So last weekend, aside from studying, Andrew took me to see St. Andrews. We went first to visit his friend Beth, who is also from America, and her boyfriend. Beth has been in Scotland for something like 9 years doing undergrad, masters and PhD, so it was nice to see her seemingly so at home here. But it was fun bonding with her over things we miss from the US (like Root Beer, and pumpkin pie, marshmallow fluff, Thanksgiving). And then she said that there was a shop nearby that sold some of those things, so of course we hit that up before heading out to explore.

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Andrew posing in front of a tower of canned Libby's Pumpkin!
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So after buying a can of root beer for me and one for Andrew (who'd NEVER experienced the joy that is root beer), we set off to explore St. Andrews. Andrew went to uni here for undergrad, so he showed me places he stayed and studied at. We passed by the ruins of the cathedral and also the castle, although we didn't go inside the castle cause you had to pay some obscene amount. Perhaps another time.

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The ruins of St. Andrews Cathedral
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Andrew eating ice cream, in the way of my picture. :)
*View of St. Andrews Castle from the cliff
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Beach by St. Andrews with some seagulls!
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Then we took a walk around the famous golf course, and posed for a picture on the famous Swilken Bridge. Apparently anyone who knows golf knows this bridge, but I had never heard of it before. Nonetheless, it was a pretty little bridge, and the course was very pretty right by the water and all.

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Andrew and I on the Swilken Bridge
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Close up shot... Awwww...
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So the week was fairly uneventful, just classes, studying and more classes. Last night was Aletheia, Elisa, Lisa and Lydia's Hallowe'en party, which was quite fun, so in between being studious we were preparing for Hallowe'en by making costumes. I volunteered to make Andrew's costume, cause mine was really easy, and Anik and I are costume-crazy, so I turned a convict's orange jumpsuit into a tiger costume! So about an hour before the party I set about getting myself and Andrew ready to become Calvin and Hobbes!

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Me in my costume!
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Making sure Andrew's hood fits
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Calvin and Hobbes! Andrew was an incredible sport and let me paint his face. That's a couple hundred awesome-boyfriend points. :P
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My mini duplicator. (If you don't know what it references, it's this: Calvin and Hobbes: Scientific Progress Goes Boink)
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I'd never been able to go to any of Aletheia, Elisa, Lisa and Lydia's previous parties or BBQs, so it was nice to actually go this time. As it was a costume party, there was lots of hilarity to go around.

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Elisa, Lydia, Lisa and Aletheia as the elements (Fire, Water, Earth, and Ice)
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Lynn as a Strawberry, and Jessica as Robin Hood
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Kate (Bermuda Triangle), Jen (Little Bo Peep), Katheryn (pregnant prom queen)
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Alison as Big Bird
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Pookish as cameraman & cowboy
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And another one of Andrew and Me, cause it's a cute one. :)
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Anyway so the party was lots of fun. Tonight we're having a few people over for pumpkin cake, apple punch and candy! I'm hoping we get some trick or treaters, but I'm not sure people trick-or-treat much here, especially in such a studenty area. We'll see I guess.

Tomorrow I'm heading to Livingston with Andrew and his parents. He and his parents are all running in an orienteering event in the morning (during which I'll be studying, since there's not much to see), and then we'll all go to Livingston, which is filled with outlet stores and such. It should be a fun morning/afternoon, and then I'll be studying all night. Woo! I'm almost sort of caught up with pharmacology lectures at least. That's not to say I've memorised anything, but I've been going over notes and rewriting the important bits, which I'll go over when I do my actual studying in a few weeks. I was just told yesterday that exams are in something like 5 weeks, so I am going to have to start being less fun and cracking down on the studying. I'm not really worried about anything but pharmacology, which is going to be tortuous to memorise all the drugs. Pathology is a little bit more intuitive, although still very detail oriented, but if I've got those two covered I should be fine.

Anyway, off to clean a bit before our Hallowe'en 'do this evening! :)

Another weekend adventure!

2009-10-14T19:00:00.017+01:00

So last week, almost at the last minute, I was invited to go down to England for this past weekend, with Andrew and a group of his friends and most of their wives/girlfriends/boyfriends/husbands for their 5th annual 'Forest Lodge', which is a tradition they have since graduating from uni, pretty much. So after my lectures on friday, Andrew picked me up, and drove us, along with his friend G and G's girlfriend, down to Tebay, and arrived a few hours later at a lovely cottage called Fawcett Mill Fields. It's set in the sheep-filled hills right near the north-western end of the Yorkshire Dales. From the outside front it looks rather nondescript, but inside there were something like 15 bedrooms and 3 huge lounges with couches and a fireplace, and a huge dining room, and a sauna! A pretty good deal if you ask me!

Sort of nondescript front entrance... but wait!
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View from the back garden
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Another view from the back garden
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A small waterfall where an old mill once ran.
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A pretty bridge over the stream!
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A view from the porch through the leaves.
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The porch looking out over the garden
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Most of the weekend was spent just hanging out in the lounges reading, talking, and putting together puzzles, or exploring the surrounding area, or sitting on the porch drinking tea and coffee in the crisp fall air. Every night we all ate dinner together (cooked by some of Andrew's friends), and then had fun after dinner in the form of "pub quiz" type games, scrabble, twister, and other games. A bunch of people brought musical instruments, so usually at some point every day/night there would be singalongs and mini concerts. Saturday night was a 'fancy dress' night (which for all you American folk is not fancy as in 'black tie,' but rather as in costumes). So since I didn't really have much notice, and forgot the crucial parts of my Hallowe'en costume from last year (i.e. robe and wand). I ended up looking more like a random schoolgirl than Hermione from Harry Potter, but it was still fantastic. Everyone's costumes were amazing. My favourite was Andrew's friend Al, who dressed up as Jamie Oliver (the chef), and looked EXACTLY like him.

Jam session
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Waiting for hors d'oevres on fancy dress night in the largest lounge.
Note Andrew as the banana.
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Making our way to the dining room with Archie.
* Fancy dress dinner
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A bunch of us on a walk through the hills.
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One afternoon we walked a little ways away, through cow fields and sheep pastures, to a tiny farmer's market, which had lots of fresh produce and cheese for sale, as well as a craft booth. It was very fun. On the way back, Andrew and I hung back to stop into a local pub for some delicious burgers before walking back.

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Walking to the farmer's market. That's me and Andrew at the back of the queue.
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At first I was a little nervous. After all, aside from G's girlfriend, who also was new, everyone else already knew each other. But I needn't have worried, because everyone was incredibly nice, and I felt right at home with all of them. It was so hard to come back to Edinburgh and get back to lectures and studying! But it was also a nice relaxing weekend. So now it's back to the books!

One week, down!

2009-09-28T20:37:00.014+01:00

So I have officially survived one week of 3rd year. So far it is actually really great. We have two main courses this semester: Pathology and Clinical Foundations. Pathology is extremely interesting because we're actually learning about diseases and learning post-mortem stuff, and in clinical foundations we're learning about surgery principles, anaesthesia, etc. So everything we're learning this year is extremely relevant, which I think is most of the reasons I'm enjoying it so much. Come exam time I'll probably be singing a different tune, but for now, so far it's interesting, and I seem to be getting it. Yay!

After my first week, my boyfriend Andrew and I took a camping trip out in Glencoe, which is on the west coast of Scotland, slightly north of Edinburgh. On Saturday we drove out to Fort William (yellow dot on the map below), and had lunch in a little restaurant on the coast. Then we drove down to Glenetive, (blue dot), which was our camping site, right by a loch and a river. We explored a little bit after setting up our tent, but at that point it was starting to rain, and getting very windy and dark, so we headed back to the tent, and made a dinner of PB&J (Andrew's very first PB&J sandwich! I'm told it was edible).

Map of our adventure!
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The weather on the way was lovely!
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Loch Etive, near our campsite. The weather started getting gross, which was great for photo taking until it started raining. Boo.
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Andrew and me! :D
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On Sunday morning, we packed up our camping gear and drove out to Oban (green dot), which is another little coastal town. Unfortunately the weather was pretty horrible on Sunday, so we didn't do too much exploring, but we got to see most of the main part of Oban, and then ate brunch at a delicious pancake restaurant called the Pancake Place, which had American-style pancakes. Yum!

Oban!
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So anyway, the camping trip, aside from the weather being less than ideal, was really fun. Hopefully we'll get to go on another adventure soon!

This week looks much the same with lectures. Today we had a practical in small animal bandaging, which was pretty fun, as we got to play with live animals for an hour. Lol. We've got a few lectures on anaesthesia, a few on pathology, and a few practicals in both scattered here and there. Should be interesting!

In other news, our kitten Tsuki had her first trip to the vet, and she was very well behaved and didn't even flinch for the vaccine (although that might have been due to the treats she was given at the same time). After the vet was done looking at her, she jumped up onto my shoulder and sat there while we chatted. I think maybe she was a parrot in her last life.

Tsuki getting ready to cause trouble
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Tsuki playing with her new cat tree!
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We also got her a new 'cat tree,' which is basically what it sounds like. She loves it! I am very much enjoying spoiling my kitty. I definitely look forward to her calming down a bit, cause she's very hyper, but she's a lot of fun!

Anyway, I'm off to chill a bit before bedtime. Now that classes have started up again I'll hopefully be updating more regularly as it is one of my preferred procrastination methods :)

Japan and crazy kitty!

2009-09-17T15:55:00.003+01:00

Hey Everyone!

So the Japan trip is wayyyyy too much to possibly write about in a blog entry, so instead, go HERE to see my pictures!

In a nutshell though, Japan was absolutely amazing! The first two weeks we were in Hokkaido mostly (that's the Northernmost island of Japan) with some other vet students, and we went on a tour of Hokkaido University in Sapporo, and Shiretoko nature preserve, Arashiyama Zoo, and various farms in Hokkaido specialising in Wagyu beef cattle. The last week Anik and I were on our own in Kyoto. It was absolutely fantastic. We saw so many temples and shrines, and I feel like that last week was probably the best trip I've been on in my life. Especially because after seeing and studying all this stuff in textbooks at Colby, finally seeing them in person was really spectacular. My favourites were Sanjusangen-do Temple, Kinkaku-ji, and Tenryu-ji. We also went to a monkey park where you can get up close and personal with 'wild' Japanese monkeys. It was very cool!

On a completely different note, a few days after getting back from Japan, Anik and I got a kitten! Her name is Tsuki (which is Japanese for 'Moon'), and she is adorable. Here is a picture of her!

Tsuki the crazy cat!

She is just about 9 weeks old, and incredibly friendly and curious, and even after only 2 days she's completely at home in our flat. She purrs like a motor boat, and is very playful! She's so cute!! :)

An ACTUAL holiday!

2009-08-13T23:37:00.023+01:00

After finally finishing EMS, I have been enjoying some well-deserved rest, relaxation, and r... all right I've still been revising for my resit, but I've been having fun in the in-between times.

My first big adventure began when I headed off to Northern Ireland, to visit my friend for a few days. It was quite fun! We explored the town of Omagh, and visited some interesting places like the Ulster American Folk Park, which documents the Irish emmigration to America during the famine, and the Belfast Zoo. I also got to see a sneak preview of Paddy's newly formed band, and then watched Paddy perform in his pub, Bogans. It was definitely an enjoyable trip.

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Irish replica street. Most of the shopfronts were actually taken from the original shops, which is kind of neat.
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Replica of a boat that would have taken the emmigrants. After passing through this boat, the rest of the park was set in "America," which was pretty clever.
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Downtown Omagh, outside Bogan's Bar
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Paddy singing away. For a video of him singing, check out here!
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Me at the Zoo!
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An awesome lemur. He likes to move it move it.
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Giraffes!
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The Belfast City Hall, and the Belfast Wheel, which we did not go on, but someday I will.
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After getting back from Ireland, I took a day to just relax and chill out, and then Anik and I began to set out during the day to enjoy the Fringe.

Anik and I, bored one day, decided to head up to the Royal Mile to blend in with the tourists. At first, I found this difficult, because I am not a fan of tourists. I know that sounds harsh, but I cannot stand trying to weave my way through people who are paying no attention to the direction they are going, and who have practically no respect for the city they are visiting. As much as I enjoy the festive atmosphere, I do not like it when people stop suddenly in the middle of the sidewalk to look at something, having to queue in a line going out the door at my favorite cafe, looking at trash everywhere that people think it's okay to throw wherever. And I find it disappointing that the most obnoxious of these tourists are American, and it bothers me when I am assumed to be a tourist because of my accent. I know it sounds rather harsh and certainly not all American tourists are awful, but Americans need to work on their reputation abroad.

Anyway, so during our exploration, we decided on a whim to take an Auld Reekie Tour of Niddry Wynd (also known as the South Bridge Vaults), which is a network of vaults built into the hillside of edinburgh. Inhabited first by merchants, and then later by the homeless and criminal, these vaults are said to be one of the most haunted places in the world. Our tour guide told us tales of gruesome murders, torture, and of a great fire (the Great Conflagration) that sealed hundreds of people within the vaults to be cooked in what became a giant brick oven. The tour ended with a free shot of whiskey and a shortbread cookie. I don't like whiskey, but I took it just for the experience of it and cause it was free, but the shortbread was delicious!

Within the vaults are two interesting things. The first is a modern, working Wiccan temple, which is still used by a modern coven of witches. The Wiccans were allowed to choose any vault they wanted for their temple, and at first they chose a room at one end of the corridor. During one ceremony they inadvertently let in a dark prescence of such destructive force that they vowed never to return again, and moved their temple to the furthest end of the corridor from that vault. To this day they don't even cross over the stairway to that half of the vaults. All that remains is a stone circle which was created to contain the evil prescence. Our tour guide told us that people who stood in the circle would either pass out, be sick, or emerge with scratches or bruises. I, being a sceptic was one of only 2 people to set foot in the circle. I recall feeling slightly uncomfortable and a bit shaky, but other than that, I did not experience anything. Boo. When I did get home later there was a red mark on my leg that sort of very slightly resembled a small handprint (maybe the ghost of a little boy who lost his mother, and reportedly reaches out to blonde women?), but that could also have been many things, like the heat from my laptop, or the mark left after leaning an elbow on my leg.

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The entrance, which supposedly used to be a student flat, and discovered when either a drunk student was thrown against the wall, or a studious student threw a book at a wall, and heard a hollow noise behind it. And, being students, they took a sledgehammer to it and discovered this amazing place.
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The torture museum at the entrance holds many authentic artefacts used for ancient torture. This was the "Rats Nest," which was placed on a person, and attached to a box containing a rat, open only on the side that faced the person's chest. The box was heated, and the frantic rat clawed and chewed its way out the only way it could. Yuck!
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Anik and I enjoying the gruesome torture tools!
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The Wiccan's Temple
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Me in the Stone Circle
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Anik captured on her camera what appears to be the ghost of a Spanish merchant, who slit the throat of a red-haired woman down in the vault we were in. Creepy!
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We enjoyed the tour so much that Anik and I dragged Anik's cousin Lucie down with us for the 10:30 tour. This tour went much the same, except this time I was the only person to step in the circle, and the tour ended in a free drink in a pub that's cellar is connected to the vaults. Huzzah!

In fact, I loved the experience so much, that when this afternoon I applied for a part-time job as one of these tour guides. Not only would I love to learn more about this fascinating place and its history, but I think it would be really fun to be the one giving the tour and scaring the bejeezes at of tourists! :) I know I said up above that I dislike tourists, but let me clarify that tourists going on a tour are usually a different breed. Usually these tour-goers are interested in the history and culture of the city a bit more than the average tourist. Plus, as a guide I wouldn't be weaving through the tourists, I'd be leading them.. Mwuhahaha!

I'm not sure I'll get it, as typically you have to have a drama background for these things, but hopefully it'll work out! Can you imagine getting paid to do something so sweet!? Plus it would be a nice release to go once or twice a week to have a bit of fun, and usually the busier I am the easier I find it to study, as boredom does not promote good studying habits!

Tomorrow Anik and I have scheduled a tour of Mary King's Close, which is another similar underground city, so keep an eye out for an update on our adventures! :)

Another long-awaited (and just plain long) update!

2009-07-30T20:45:00.008+01:00

Hey everyone! I'm back at last!

So to pick up where I left off, I completed my chicken EMS at a really cool poultry farm. As much as I don't ever want to work at a poultry farm, or be a chicken vet, it was an interesting experience.

I wasn't allowed to take pictures at the farm, nor will I mention which farm I went to, because poultry farms are not treated well by the media. But I gathered some pictures from the internet that sort of gives you an approximation of what I saw, with minor differences.

This is about what the insides of the sheds looked like, think 12,600 birds in one room. This even seems less crowded than where I was: you couldn't even see the floor for birds, and it was like wading through a living, fluffy, white, clucking sea.
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About what our broiler chickens looked like while I was there, only slightly less ratty-looking than this sad example.
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Now, when I googled "Broiler Chickens" to get these images, the sites you come up with are horrible. They're all sites basically about: "Say NO to eating meat!" "Be kind to animals!" "Stop the slaughter!"

And if you actually read these sites, the writers are (for the most part) passionate people who want the best for animals, but who haven't really done their research. While I'm sure that there are farms out there (probably more so in the USA, sorry my fellow compatriots but we're a bit behind on the welfare angle), that don't treat their animals right, there are many more farms that do everything right.

But I also want to get on my soap box for a moment, and say that when I was at the chicken farm, YES there were 12,600 chickens in one room, YES they were pretty crammed in there, YES some of them died from disease or injury, YES, they grow very fast. But do I think they were mistreated in any way? NO. The farmer, whom I shall call J, was extremely committed to his "checkens." His chickens were well cared for.

Anyway, *steps down from the soap box* That's my rant. I'm all for animal rights, but I'm tired of activists calling farmers sadistic evil people who contribute to animal deaths and meat eating! Honestly, not one farmer I've met doesn't care for their animals.

Ahem. Ok. So onward. Chickens was very fun, I had to learn how to humanely kill a chicken, which was a bit gross. I practiced first on some dead ones, and then went on to the live ones. We had to walk the sheds every morning to check for undersized, diseased or injured chickens. I didn't really like picking them off cause of size, plus I'm a horrible judge of what size they're actually supposed to be, so I just stuck with the injured and diseased ones. While it may seem cruel to kill them just cause they're sick, we have to remember that 1 day in the life of a chicken who only lives 6 weeks, is a really long time to be sick or injured. So it had to be done for the chicken's sake, and also to prevent the spread of disease. Let me just say that the phrase "running about like a headless chicken" is completely accurate. Although, technically, you're not supposed to rip the head off, but either way if you dislocate the neck correctly, their nerves spaz out and they flap about, and kind of hop around if you drop them.

Anyway, enough about chickens! After chickens I went to Mossburn Animal Centre, which I went to mostly for small mammal experience (i.e. rabbits, guinea pigs, etc.), but I worked with all the animals while I was there. They had some pretty interesting animals! Besides the more common sheep, horses, chickens, pigs, goats, rabbits, ferrets and guinea pigs, there were also tortoises, emus, a llama, iguanas, geese, turkeys, and a raccoon!

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Melvin the llama.
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Bonnie the Raccoon. She was 12 years old!
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The Small Animal Village "Edinburrow," home of the rabbits, guinea pigs and tortoises.
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Complete with Edinburrow Castle!
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And of course, no town called Edinburrow could be complete without a wild hairy "Haggis"!
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I can't remember which iguana this was, but I think it was Ignatius!
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Posing with "Joker" the very tame beef calf. He was so tame kids rode him like a pony!
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I think this goat's name was "Wilfred"
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View from my bedroom window at Mossburn! Beautiful!

After Mossburn, I had a glorious week off, during which I had a lot of relaxation, and also did some neat things. Like for instance:

The Highland Games!

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The entrance!
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I started the day off with a delicious haggis, neeps and tatties pasty. Yum! This was followed by a whiskey tasting, which was not so yum, but I had to try it!
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Then I checked out the Highland Dancing Competition, which was interesting. It's a very odd style of dancing (they hop and twirl around two swords lying crossed on the ground), but it fits with the bagpiping.
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No event in Scotland is complete without a pipe band!
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Or a half-naked body-builder in a kilt!
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I missed a few of the earlier events, but I got to see the Cabor Toss. The way the pole is here is what they're aiming for... I think... I wasn't really clear on what was going on! Either way, they have to run with this telephone pole thing, and toss it so it flips up onto the thicker end, and stands upright before falling over the opposite way.
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Apparently tug of war is an international sport! This is the world champion team trying their luck against the "Tugging for Transfers" team, which was made of up organ donators and people who'd received donations. They put up a good fight, it was very inspiring, but the world champion team were not to be beaten!
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Hammer Throw! These guys whizzed these 22kg hammers around their heads and threw them as far as they good. The commentator kept telling everyone to make sure they were watching, in case one flew off into the audience, but fortunately there weren't any errors! I think the longest throw was 116ft or so!
Spinning
Can you spot the hammer?
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Can you imagine a more picturesque spot?
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On the way home I stumbled across White Horse Close, which is where the founder of the Dick Vet was born! It's quite a beautiful little hidden area right by Holyrood Palace on the Royal Mile.
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Another thing I did during my week off was go to Blair Drummond Safari Park with my friends Jen and Katherine. It was absolutely pouring buckets of rain, so the animals weren't quite as active as they could have been. Regardless, it was still a lot of fun.

An awesome sign, that we interpreted to mean "If your children's heads are on fire, please do not let them near the geese."
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Katherine and I are wild!
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The zebras were so cool!
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Zebra butts!
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A very cool rhino
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Sadly the giraffe did not come out in the rain to play. But we caught a tiny glimpse of him!
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Elephants!
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The River Otters were my favourites!
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They came out and posed for us every time we walked by their enclosure, and you could tell they really loved the attention they got!
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So cute!
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Last one, I promise!
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A wallaby!
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I loved this llama, hahaha. Reminds me of the Emperor's New Groove llama.
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The tiger did not want to come out and play :(
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We saw a sea lion show!
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And finally, Alice the camel has TWO humps!
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Phew, ok that was a lot of safari pictures! Hopefully I will get to again again sans rain, potentially with Anik. Yay!

Anyway, so this past week I have been doing my LAST week of farming! This time I am working at a pig farm at Oatridge Agricultural College. It's a perfect farm to work at because it also functions as an educational unit, so they're used to having students working there all the time. The only downside to working there, is it is incredibly out of the way. I have to walk 30 minutes to a bus stop from my flat, take a 40 minute bus out to an obscure little town, and then walk another 40 minutes uphill to the pig farm. It is a very beautiful walk though, and thus far I've been blessed with gorgeous weather in the morning:

This walk makes getting up at 6am almost worth it.
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Let me tell you. Pig farming is SMELLY. Very, very smelly. The smell sort of hits you as you crest the hill on the walk there, and as you approach it just gets worse and worse. Once you're there for a bit, it's not quite as bad, but then when you leave at the end of the day, you start to smell yourself. I literally had people move seats on the bus to not be sitting next to me. I shower immediately when I get home, and wash my hair twice, and I STILL smell!

Anyway, so on Monday, we served the sows. Which is more or less pig sex. Now, [WARNING: this next bit is not kid-friendly] boars' penises are shaped like corkscrews, and when they're doing their thing it looks like a power screwdriver.

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Anyway, so we had to help some of the boars, because they were new, and didn't really know what they were doing. Fortunately I was just watching and manning the gates, cause the farmer was like getting in there to help them. Yuck! Also pig sex is just.. gross. First off the boars are huge, and you wonder how the sow doesn't collapse underneath him. Plus, his hoofs scratch the sides of the boar, because they're fairly sharp, so it leaves angry-looking red scratches on the sows back. Plus the boars are like foaming at the mouth and chomping away, getting spit everywhere. Those of you that know me know that I CANNOT deal with spit. It is the one bodily fluid that just gives me the heebie-jeebies, and makes me want to run screaming in the opposite direction. I can work with it if I must, but it's one of those things that just freaks me out. So needless to say, I was glad I didn't have to go near them. *Shudder* [Non-kid friendly bit over!]

After that, we moved some pigs around to different pens, and I got to use a powerwasher to wash out the empty pens. Now first of all, no matter how girly I am, a powerwasher is perhaps the coolest thing ever. The only downside was that it was SO powerful that it was blowing all of the pig poop up into the air, to land on my head, shot back into my face, in my ears, down my shirt. It was slightly disgusting.

Other than that we've been cleaning, vaccinating, cutting off piggy tails (to prevent them from eating each other's tails. They have no nerve endings in the lower part of their tails, so when done right it doesn't hurt them), clipping sharp piggy teeth (to prevent the poor sow from being mauled when the little piggies want milk), and chatting about the farm. Most days I get off sometime between 2 and 4, although on Wednesday I got off at 11:30, which was nice. The farrowing (birthing) has been going on today, although I missed 3 of them that happened after I left Wednesday night, so hopefully the last one will farrow while I'm there tomorrow morning. The newborn piggies are so tiny, and pink! They are still smelly, but not nearly as much as the older ones. The only thing that takes away from their cuteness is the amount of noise one of the little buggers can make. It is shrill! It makes your ears want to dislocate themselves from your head and run in the other direction. My ears were ringing for a few minutes afterwards it was so loud!

Finishers - the last stage of piggies before they go off to become bacon.
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So, long story short, piggies are kind of neat. I am, however, glad to be rid of them tomorrow. Not because I'm not enjoying all this farming, but I am so exhausted from getting up so early and walking something like 7 miles every day. Every day on the bus ride home I practically pass out. Fortunately my stop is practically the last one, so I usually wake up from my stupor before then.

Then I get to enjoy a proper holiday (even though I'll still be doing some revising), and I'm going on August 6 to visit a friend near Belfast, Northern Ireland, for a few days, which should be fun! And then I'm going to be holed up revising again for my resit, then it's off to Japan! So excited! Also, take a look at this restaurant in Tokyo [WARNING: NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART]. Anik and I decided we must go here. Lol. Only vet/med students, right?

Anyway, so I'm going to get ready for bed, so I can make it through my LAST day of animal husbandry EMS! Yay! I've already filled out the forms, so all I have to do is show up, and get my form signed, and I'm done! :)

A Long-Awaited Update!

2009-07-04T16:27:00.033+01:00

Hello! I'm finally back from pretty much a straight month of farming, which began 3 hours after my last exam. It's been a bit hectic, but ended up being pretty fun!

Anyway, so first lets go over the whole exam bit. I found out that I passed all of my exams except one, which honestly I knew was going to happen cause I hadn't had any time to revise on the first go. So I am thrilled! I've been revising like mad for the resit in August, so I feel like even though I'd rather have passed it the first time around, I might actually learn it better this way rather than cramming the night before. And it's the one subject (Animal Husbandry) that I don't mind resitting, because I know it's incredibly relevant to my career. While other things are still important, like anatomy and immunology and whatnot, I think it's more important to know how to properly take care of and feed a horse than to know the exact inner workings of a T cell.

So anyway, I'm almost in the home stretch of my first year! I can't believe in a little over 2 months I'll be in third year! It's absolutely bonkers, but I'm so thrilled. I have to admit, starting out vet school, especially with my hectic, awful and painful beginning, I was a bit doubtful. Mostly doubtful about whether I'd be able to handle everything when I was not quite there mentally because of my mother, but I also felt (as I'm sure most vet students feel at one point or another) like maybe I really couldn't handle all the work, or maybe I wouldn't be able to learn it all. But I think I'm finally getting into the swing of things, and I'm starting to realize that even though I may not be doing the same sort of memorization I did in college, that I seem to be picking up things and retaining information even after hearing it just once. I suppose that must have to do with the fact that this course is directly relevant to my life. This is what I've been working for since I can remember, so I'm already more open to learning about this stuff than, say, history, which is interesting enough, but really doesn't help me in my life at all.

So anyway, after my last exam, Anik and I packed our bags and headed down to Yorkshire for some dairy farming. We went to the same farm we went lambing at over Easter, because the family we were staying with was extremely nice, and we already knew we were comfortable staying with them, so it was very convenient.

For the dairy cows, we got up at around 6:30am every day, to be ready to milk the cows at 7am. At first I was pretty terrified of the cows. They're just so big, and even though I know a dairy cow wouldn't try to hurt me for doing something that's done to them twice a day every day (i.e. putting the milkers on), I just don't like the idea that a 2 tonne animal could step on me or kick me by accident. Anyway, so there were about 60 cows to milk every day, which took about 1 1/2 hours, and then we went to feed the calves excess milk and give them more straw and hay. Afterward we went in for breakfast, and then hung out for a bit before seeing what else was to be done. Most days we helped out with the sheep and lambs, which was cool because we got to see the lambs we saw over Easter again. Then at 6pm we would get ready for another round of milking before tea and bed.

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Wiping off the teats before putting the milkers on
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Anik wiping off her cow
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The calves were housed separately, and we had to feed them every day
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Some days, because there was time in between the milkings, and because we really were only there for the cows, we got to go sightseeing. One day we went into the town of Skipton, where there is a "small" castle.

Skipton Castle
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Sitting in the courtyard of the castle
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Anik demonstrates the workings of an ancient loo
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Another day we hiked a prehistoric glacial waterfall. There was no water running in it now, except a small stream at the bottom, but it was so cool! It was absolutely huge, and kind of awing to imagine water crashing down it.

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Approaching the massive cliff
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View from the top - it took a lot of steps to get up there.. Phew!
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Me frolicking to the edge. Don't worry, I didn't go too close, it was a loooong way down!

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We stopped at a pub and had a delicious lunch. I had a highland cow steak!
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Anik had a rabbit pie!

Another night we took off to get dressed up and head out to the local club for a night of dancing. It was quite a fun night!

Anyway, so after those two weeks, I went back to Edinburgh for a night before heading up to Inchture to Teen Ranch Scotland to work with their horses. Because this was a Christian organisation, every day was started off with devotions, which for the first week involved listening to a book on tape of Corrie ten Boom, called "Tramp for God." I came in about halfway through the book, so I didn't really enjoy it all that much, and honestly I hate books on tape to begin with, because to me it doesn't do anything for me, like reading a book might.

After devos, I went with the rest of the horse staff down to the barn, where we rounded up the horses from their various pastures and brought them back into the yard and fed those that needed feeding, and then groomed and tacked (i.e. put the saddles on) all the horses. After that we'd have morning tea (unless there was a camp going on) up at the house for 15 minutes, then back down for more grooming or trail rides before lunch at 1pm. After lunch, we'd go back down to the barn for more trail rides if the camps were in, and then untacked, groomed again, and cleaned everything for the next day before putting the horses back out to pasture.

I think this horse EMS was probably the best one I've been on. Our Yard Manager, Pam, was once a nurse and also worked in research, so she was exceptionally knowledgable about the horses, and I learned so much from her. She even let Alan and I ride the horses on the trail rides whenever there was a spare, and it was quite fun! The only mishap was that that last morning a horse decided to stomp on my toe, so now I have a (most likely) broken toe. But oh well. Such is life!

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The house we stayed in. So gorgeous!
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The horses in the yard
*The inside of the barn
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Tack Room (Pam on the left)
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"Plough Inn" where we had our morning tea usually
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About to go on a trail ride!
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The farrier came one day to shoe some of the horses
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Alan taking a break in the corral
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So then after I got back on July 1st, I got home and took a shower, then set out to meet my friend Paddy! We wandered up to Rose Street, which is just above Princes St., and had a pint and chatted before wandering about Edinburgh. I showed him around the city, and rattled off a few random facts I knew about buildings and so on. I'm sure I was a horrible tour guide, but hopefully not too bad. :)

Up at the Castle, something was going on that involved soldiers and a marching band.
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Next we stopped in Camera Obscura, and took in the amazing views of the city.
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In the lower levels of Camera Obscura, there were loads of visual exhibits, like these things, which we played with for awhile.
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A sound-activated thing. Paddy was doing a drum roll here.
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A kaleidoscope of sorts, complete with sneaky picture of Paddy and me.
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Our view of the Scots Monument from our spot in the Princes St. Gardens.
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It was SO warm this week in Edinburgh it was unbelievable, and so we wandered into a cinema and saw Transformers one day to enjoy the almost freezing temperature in the cinema. It was pretty good, but I wouldn't say it was better than the first. Other than that we pretty much wandered about, or sat in parks and watched people going by. It was all in all a very good week.

Tomorrow I start my week of poultry EMS, at a broiler chicken farm, which has approximately 40,000 chickens. I can't even imagine that many animals in one place, so it should be interesting. Truthfully I'm not really looking forward to it, because working with chickens really holds no relevance to my future career, but I suppose it's important to know where our food comes from.

After that, I have a week up at Mossburn Animal Centre to work with small mammals for a week, and then I have a week off (Ireland maybe?) and then my last week at Oatridge College's pig farm before my resit and my Japan Trip! I'm in the home stretch now, but it's still a very busy summer!

Sunset Ciabatta

2009-05-25T18:12:00.006+01:00

Here is what I made for dinner tonight, which is something I made up myself (i.e. NOT from a recipe).
Credit to Anik for the idea of using fat-free cottage cheese instead of fat-free ricotta (which we couldn't find), and to Adele for making me a Ciabatta of different design last week, which inspired me :)

Later will come a proper update, of recent events and things, but now I have to study, so this is all you get for today!

Sunset Ciabatta
2 servings (and 5 Weightwatchers Points, if you're interested)

Ingredients

Sundried tomatoes (a small handful per person), strained and chopped up into bite-sized chunks (save the oil on the side, and capers if desired)
1/2 Ciabatta loaf (about 5-6 inches long)
2-3 cups Baby spinach leaves, washed and dried
1/3 cup Pine nuts
3 Tbsp fat free cottage cheese
1 tsp ground basil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Cut Ciabatta loaf like a sandwich, and spread open-faced onto a baking sheet.
Mash basil into cottage cheese, until chunks of cheese are small and basil is mixed throughout. Drizzle oil from strained tomatoes over loaves. Pile on top spinach (removing stems if desired), and distribute tomato chunks, (capers if desired), and small dollops of cottage cheese mixture evenly over tops.
Place on middle rack of oven for 15-20 minutes (when bread has just started to toast around the edges, and spinach has wilted)
While baking, toast pine nuts over low-medium heat, stirring constantly, until light brown on both sides. IMMEDIATELY remove from heat and set aside. (Note: these burn VERY easily, so you must stir constantly and remove no more than 60 seconds after nuts begin to darken).
Remove ciabatta from oven and sprinkle with pine nuts. Serve!

Exams and a New Small Furry for our Collection!

2009-05-04T23:44:00.008+01:00

Hello all!

So exams have begun! Let me tell you how fun they are... NOT!

Actually most of the animal handling exams weren't too bad. I think I may end up having to do the cat and dog one over, mostly because for some reason in all the years I worked at the vet I never once bothered to figure out how to tell a male cat from a female cat (once neutered, of course. If not then it's fairly obvious). But we'll see. Supposedly we get the results tomorrow. The rest of it went fairly well. I identified breeds, put on a tape muzzle, picked a dog and cat up, estimated weights, and so on. I was a little irked because some people didn't even have to touch a cat, and since it was a cat AND dog exam, I feel like that is somewhat unfair, but oh well.

The other exams were alright I think. In the cattle practical I had to put a gag in the cow's mouth (which I got one in, but couldn't get the second one in, but I showed I knew how to at least), condition score, explain the process of stomach tubing, and describe intra-muscular injection sites.

In the sheep handling, I had to age a sheep, tell different breeds, identify feedstuffs, guesstimate weight, and demonstrate safe handling.

In the horse handling, I had to identify the colour of the horse, describe it's bedding, put a halter on and walk and trot it past the examiner, tie it up, pick up a front and back foot, and tell a bit about feedstuffs.

In the exotics, I had to identify species (terrapins, tortoises, chinchilla, guinea pig, cockatiel, hamster) and answer questions about their habitats, diets, how to tell the sexes apart, and so on. This was my last exam, and probably went the best, oddly enough, but that was mostly because I had the benefit of hearing how everone else's went before me, so I made sure to study everything to the most minute detail, since people were being asked to know crazy amounts of detail.

The written exam, on the other hand, was an absolute disaster. I didn't have enough study time over break, and after break I was scrambling to make sure I knew everything for the practicals. The questions were mostly fair, even if some were (in my humble opinion) not entirely relevant to anything anyone would be doing in their career, but who knows. I put something down for everything, at least, but I'm not entirely sure they were the right somethings. Oh well, guess I'll be resitting that one in August, but I'm sure I wont be alone.

Anyway, so now I'm studying for my LASTA (Large Animal Surface and Topographical Anatomy) oral exam on Wednesday. And I am a bit worried. I actually feel like I'm starting to pick up stuff, but still when I get into the stressful exam situation I get flustered and blank out. But it's only worth 2.5% of our grade anyway, so not the biggest deal, but still every point helps!

I'm not sure why, but I've been lacking motivation lately. I feel like this course is near impossible. I know it's not possible to learn every minute detail, but it seems like that's what they're asking us to do. I know we only need to get a 50%, but it's so hard to predict what questions are going to be on the exam, because half the time they don't really seem like they're from the material that is actually clinically relevant. So I find myself getting increasingly frustrated, because I don't like just squeaking by. I like excelling, and doing really well.

The thing is, I KNOW I'm going to make a fantastic vet, because I've worked my whole life for this, and I know beyond a doubt that this is what I'm supposed to be doing with my life, but I also know there's no way anyone can remember all of this stuff. Even vets look things up in books during practice, and it irks me to know that because I can't identify every breed of dog or cat or cow or sheep known to man, or that my not knowing all the ligaments of a horse's leg (when I don't want to be a large animal vet) could mean the difference between me getting my degree or going home. I'm not sure if it's because I'm so stressed about other things in my life, but I just sometimes can't take it, and I just want to give up and go home. But on the other hand, I can't do that, and I wouldn't really want to. So I'm trying to keep slogging through it, and I know when I get my degree at the end of this, it's all going to have been worth it, but right now it's just so frustrating!

Blah, anyway, on to cheerier things. As an adventure in procrastination, yesterday Anik and I went to Pets at Home to pick up some more rat supplies for our little boys, and on the way there I spontaneously decided I wanted a hamster. As much as I love the rats, they're still not really my thing. A hamster to me is much cooler. So I got a tiny tiny Chinese Dwarf Hamster, and I named her 'Kiki'!

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Anik displays 'Kiki' the newest addition to our growing zoo!
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She's so tiny she can fit on our thumbs! She'll probably double in size, but she'll still stay a relatively tiny hamster!
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Kiki explores her new home.
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We even got her a tiny hamster ball to run around in, and within minutes she was zipping back and forth across the living room floor. She seems to enjoy it, which is good, because unless we're keeping a very close eye on her, she can't run around without it, because she could easily get stuck somewhere or disappear.

Kiki's new home!
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We outfitted her with a little cage suitable for dwarf hamsters, and got her some chewies and some food and vitamins for her water. Anik bought her a little hay tunnel, and she alternates hiding in either that or a coconut shell hideout. We have some other toys to switch out every few weeks to prevent her from getting bored, and to make sure she has enough to grind her teeth on. She's a bit timid at first ,and doesn't seem to want to leave her hidey holes in her cage, but once you get her out she's incredibly sweet and friendly. We've only had her a day so far, so I'm hoping that if I handle her a bit every day she'll soon come out on her own!

I know that I'll be gone for some of the summer, but it is very comforting to have a little furry to play with in between studying, and has made me a bit less stressed out about exams, and just happier in general. When I'm feeling panicky about exams I run into the other room and play with her for a bit, and then I get back to studying, because it reminds me how much I love animals, and why I'm here.

We are also adding one last rat to our collection, so we'll have an even four. Right now one always gets left out, and Jen is having another litter (due May 20!). They'll be ready to come home about a month after that I think, so just in time for when we get back from dairy EMS! We're hoping we'll be able to see the birth, but since it's hard to plan these things, we'll have to see. :)

The only thing left is to get a kitty at the end of the summer! Although that requires permission from our landlord, so that's still up in the air.

Anyway, it's late, and I want to get a tad more studying done before heading to bed, so goodnight! :)

Lambs, lambs, and more lambs!

2009-04-06T23:03:00.017+01:00

Hello all! I just arrived home, so I figured I'd give you all an update! I'm starving, so this will be quick as I need some foods!

Lambing was absolutely fantastic, and Yorkshire is absolutely beautiful! The family we were staying with is amazing, and there are 2 sons and a daughter who are our age, which has been great. Even though it was extremely hard work, I actually miss getting up at 7am to chase sheep around all day long.

First, A typical day of lambing:
7:15 - wake up (if you're Anik, then this was more like 6:30, cause she's insane!) have some toast and tea or coffee
7:30-7:45 - head up to the polytunnels to feed, help with lambing, change straw bedding, and castrate new babies.
10:30 - head back to house for delicious breakfast of toast, bacon, cornflakes, and eggs, and more tea.
11:30 - head back up to polytunnels to move older lambs out to pastures and make pens ready for new lambs
15:30-16:00 - head back to house for dinner (which is lunch in England), which was usually sandwiches, or soup, or burgers or whatever else Mrs. A had prepared for us.
18:00 - head back up to polytunnels to feed sheep and make sure no other lambs were lambing
21:30 - return to house for tea (which is dinner in England), which was deliciously prepared for us by Mrs. A
22:30 - collapse from exhaustion.

Anik and Pookish pose by the polytunnels, where the sheep were lambing.
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My first castration! We did this by using "Elastrators," which basically put a reeeally really tight rubber band around the lamb's boy-parts, which cuts off circulation, causing them to eventually fall off. Seriously.
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One of the resident roosters.
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The straw we bed the pens with made a good seat, also a good hiding place.
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Anik reappears!
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I delivered these triplets, who were all coming out the wrong way, so I had to rearrange all of them and pull them out. They all lived! :)
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Anik and Me holding "Tinkerbell," who was a tiny little lamb that was just adorable.
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Tinkerbell was very cute.
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This little orphan lamb is wearing the skin of another lamb that died, so that it will be accepted by the mother. (Kinda gross, I know, but it works usually!)
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The Swaledale sheep, which were out in the hills of Skipton.
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Where the hill sheep (Swaledales & Leicesters) frolick. We got to ride around on these hills in the ATV, which was AWESOME.
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Another pic of the sheeps on the hills.
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Anyway, that's all for now, I may update with more later on in the week, but I will leave you with this:

This episode has been brought to you by the letter S (for sheep) and the number 2 (2 testicles, ah, ah, ah!).. Sorry, that's an inside joke with Anik. We had to make sure both of the testes were there when we castrated the little lambs, and for whatever reason, Anik became Count Count (from Sesame Street) when she was doing it. :)

The Taming of the Shrubbery & Recent Events

2009-03-17T22:26:00.011Z

Hey all!

Sorry it's been so long, these last few weeks have been super busy! I finally managed to move all of my stuff into my new flat, with the help of Pookish's new car, and got all my furniture. Now I finally feel like I have everything I need to live here.

Anik and I had a grand adventure last Monday. Since we had a day off, we decided to go to Home Base (kind of like the British version of Home Depot), and get some stuff with which to tackle the front porch, which was covered in this massive viney plant and dandelions. So we got some planters, some bulbs to plant, some soil, and some gardening gear, and realized, after we had purchased all of this stuff, that we had, in fact, bought more than we could carry. As we were fretting about how to get it home, the cashier goes, "Just take the cart!" Anik and I looked at each other, shrugged, and said "Ok." So we dragged the shopping cart back to our flat, full of plants (and managed to spill some on the way), and then brought it back. Definitely got some weird looks on that adventure, but it was well worth it.

Taken about 5 hours after the Taming of the Shrubbery began
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The window box that will eventually go on my back window, if we ever receive the keys
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The rest of the day was spent taming the shrubs. I sadly didn't have the foresight to take a 'before' picture, but suffice it to say that it looks infinitely better. We even had a neighbour walk by and say "It's so nice to see someone is finally doing something about that porch!"

My room, in it's nearly complete state. Since this pic, I have added dark blinds to the window, and painted a few of those wall stickers to have blue flowers instead of gray, and I have one more sticker to put up.
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Another view
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This past weekend I was in Linlithgow with my friend Stu for an afternoon, and took a walk around Linlithgow Loch. It was very pretty, and there were swans everywhere. They weren't afraid of people at all, and came right up to the edge of the Loch to try and bribe food out of people. It was very cool, even though a bit chilly. We didn't go in the Palace, cause we were limited on time, but sometime I'd like to, it looked interesting. I'm trying to put up pics of swans and the palace, but for whatever reason my internet is being stupid, so I'll have to upload them later.

Other than that and flat stuff, we've been studying for a small exam this Friday, and writing a "Consultant's Report" on one of our EMS placements, also for Friday. A CR is basically an analysis of a farm, citing all the things they did right and wrong, and what could be improved upon. I'm a bit worried about mine, because the farm I went to for EMS (the Good Shepherd Farm) was more a hobby farm than anything else, and not only did they do nearly everything right, but it was so small that a lot of the things you'd normally write about in a consutants report don't really apply, whereas Anik is going crazy with her CR cause the farm she is analyzing apparently had a lot of issues. So I'm just going to do the best I can given what I have to work with, and hopefully they'll take into account the differences in farms when they grade them.

The exam on Friday is on Epidemiology, which is basically statistics and assessing diagnostic tests and so forth. It is not really my forte, and is not really anything I'm interested in at all, so studying for it is rather painful, but since I took biostatistics in a previous life, which is basically the same thing, I'm hoping it will help me through it.

This Sunday we leave for lambing down in Yorkshire. I'll be there for 2 weeks, while Anik and Pookish will be there for 3. It should be fun. I'm excited to see baby lambs being born, and excited to see a bit of England.

Anyway, I've got to go to a practical just now (Clinical Examination of the Ox), which should be fun and smelly. I am still not a fan of cows, but I'm trying at least to not be terrified of them. I'm not sure why I am, cause the first time we worked with I was fine, I just more and more discover that I do not like cows. They are too big, and I don't like the idea of dealing with an animal that could severely injure me by kicking me or headbutting me. I much prefer dogs that you can squash to the table when they get uppity (only when necessary of course).