This past weekend I was supposed to go strawberry picking with Christina, Pete, and Ryan. Mark couldn't come cause his brother was in town from Arizona, and while I wanted to meet him, I promised Christina I would go picking with her (and was looking forward to strawberry pie after). Well, the weather was gorgeous, but an hour before we were supposed to leave Christina called me with some bad news...she had called the farm before leaving and found out it was closed for the next three days cause the picking had been so good all week they had run out of strawberries for people to pick!
I was bummed, but I was able to call Mark and tell him I was free to meet his brother : )
So at 5pm I headed in to Somerville and was glad my first family member of Mark's that I would meet would be a sibling. We went out for a drink to watch the red sox win in extra innings, which was fun, but at the end of it Mark had to bring his brother back to his parents house, and I was asked if I wanted to come along and meet his mom...needless to say I was excited but nervous.
Well, his house was beautiful, in a very nice (and might I add it looked quite rich) neighborhood. His mom was nervous too I guess, and she was super sweet, but I wasn't able to ask her much since she talked the whole time. She had made a beautiful salad for us, which of course even though they have experience with vegans, had feta cheese in it. I tried to be a good sport and ate a handful after picking out the feta. But after only an hour Mark was exhausted (we had had a fun filled weekend after all) and we left, so it was a quick encounter, but I am looking forward to meeting more of his family and his mom again in the future. They even have a piano in the house, so if I ever go back there I will be sure to bring some sheet music and practice some.
I just want to add that I have never been with someone before who is SO good at picking up on my stupid issues and girl problems. I actually am growing up too and am trying to talk about my emotion rather then hide them like most girls and try to make Mark read my mind. But I have realized a lot of my issues are not girl issues, but OCD issues, some remnants of my old habits...habits is the perfect word afterall. Mark is right, I am VERY set in my ways, I want everything to happen like clockwork, I have a tough time doing things in the ritualistic fashion that I do them every night. And Mark has not only noticed this, but when I apologize and say I am sorry for my bad traits, I should try to change them, at which point Mark says they are not bad traits, just personality traits that make me who I am that I should not try to fix, just be more open to when people suggest things other then my rituals. I feel so lucky now.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
NYC weekend trip : )
Part of me is always torn when I write these blogs, I know I don't write anything bad about people so I don't care who reads them...but sometimes I have such great experiences with Mark I want to write about them, but I don't want to share "too much". Plus I never know how much he reads it anyways, but oh well....I have had an amazing two weeks, so I am going to share. : )
Radiology is fucking amazing. It is called radiation vacation because the hours are great, and it is true. Not only are the hours great, but the entire department is staffed by incredible techs and doctors, and they really love to teach! At least 4 hours of every day are set aside specifically for learning...the profs or techs teach us protocols or procedures, or review ultrasounds, MRIs, CTs, and x-rays with us to help us learn, by putting us in the hot seat, which isn't that bad. Basically they will put up a set of x-rays, give you a brief history (like 8 year old spayed female golden retriever with 2 week history of intermittent vomitting and increased drinking) and then you are supposed to find anything wrong with the animal on the x-rays. They are not mean at all if you miss things, but I have actually found I have a lot more knowledge then I realized. 90% of the tim I find all the problems on the radiographs!
Then the sweet part of the deal is your day on radiology starts at 8am, and is done by 5:30 pm at the latest, sometimes earlier, plus you get an hour or more lunch break EVERY day. You work 2-3 weekend days from 10-5 out of 6 possible days (of course I got stuck with 3, while 3 of my classmates only have to work 2). But still, this is amazing.
So that meant last weekend was my first entire weekend off in god knows how long. So Mark and I made plans to go on a weekend trip to NYC. We were going to try to go to the MOMA in the morning, followed by a yankees game in the afternoon, then dinner, then head home on Saturday. Despite feeling like my weekend of fun and relaxation was going to crumble multiple times, it worked out incredibly well, I had a blast, and Mark was such an amazing boyfriend, I felt so lucky.
Things got a little fishy when my friend Christina, whom I had promised to go strawberry picking with in June when she picked a date, said she was going on Sunday at 11am. Mark and I still hadn't decided whether or not we wanted to stay overnight saturday or not, but rather then miss out on what I promised to go to, we decided to just go to NYC for saturday. Then a couple days before Mark was invited to one of his good friend's bday parties in boston on Saturday night, which we both wanted to go to, but I quite frankly didn't want to cut any of my NYC trip short to go back to boston, only to have to get up super early sunday to take the train back home at 7am so I could make it to strawberry picking in time. We decided to try to make it to the party, but would play it by ear.
We left for NYC at 6:45am hoping to get there by 10:30. We were there on time, but parking was tough to find. We finally found affordable parking ($12 for the day) but by then it was 11:30, and the yankees game started at 1pm, and we didn;t have tickets yet since mark wanted to try to scalp them, so with a heavy sigh from me we abandoned the moma and headed to yankee stadium. Mark asked a woman on the street for a nice place to eat, and she recommended a hip brunch place, where we went, but there was nothing for me to eat, and no where else around was open, so I suffered through without food. The good thing was Mark could see I was bummed, and I finally got over being a stupid girl and told him I didn't want to rush back home to boston to hang out with his friends who we could see any other weekend, which I felt terribly guilty admitting, but am so glad I did (btw, I REALLY like these friends, but it just seemed to be cutting in to my weekend). He wasn't mad at all and said we would still play it by ear.
So we get to yankee stadium, the weather is gorgeous, the crowd is thick, and naturally they had sold out. So there was no scalping to be found. Mark thought it would be easy since it was for him in seattle, but there was nothing under $75 a ticket, so after an hour outside the stadium we gave up...disappointment #2. : (
On a good note, Mark said we had time to see the moma, so we went. Of course, Mark was SO tired by the time we got there and just wanted to leave, but he was such a good sport and made me laugh a lot making fun of certain art and me, but it was seriously hilarious and cute. We went to central park at 4pm where he just wanted to lay down in the shade and relax, so we napped for an hour. At 5pm we decided to get moving. Mark wanted to go home to Boston for the party still, which was fine, but I did want dinner. I told him I thought we could either leave then and go back to boston, or go for dinner since i had not eaten since 7am that morning. He wanted dinner too, and I knew of a vegan pizza place 20 blocks away from our car, but I warned him it would add a lot of walking to our schedule. He didn't see a problem with that, so we went. Another disappointment was my pizza, despite looking great, tasting crappy...however the restaurant had banana-chocolate cheesecake, so I got a piece. I gave Mark and bite and we both thought it was heavenly so we jokingly fought over it on the long walk back to the car. I drove most of the way home, and even as Mark talked on the phone to his mom and brother he thought we would go to Boston for the party, but finally at 10pm when we were still almost 2 hours form home he realized it was not a good idea to go in to Boston, get there at 12:30 and go to the party for 30 minutes. So we went to my place and crashed instead.
It really was too short of a trip with many little disappointments and flaws, but we both had an amazing time. Funny. We promised each other to plan it better next time (i am trying to get online tickets to the red sox vs. yankees game in a couple weeks online now), but it wAs so relaxing and fun...and I couldn't help think the same thing as I overheard Mark tell his mom and brother on the phone how he had such a great time in NYC.
Radiology is fucking amazing. It is called radiation vacation because the hours are great, and it is true. Not only are the hours great, but the entire department is staffed by incredible techs and doctors, and they really love to teach! At least 4 hours of every day are set aside specifically for learning...the profs or techs teach us protocols or procedures, or review ultrasounds, MRIs, CTs, and x-rays with us to help us learn, by putting us in the hot seat, which isn't that bad. Basically they will put up a set of x-rays, give you a brief history (like 8 year old spayed female golden retriever with 2 week history of intermittent vomitting and increased drinking) and then you are supposed to find anything wrong with the animal on the x-rays. They are not mean at all if you miss things, but I have actually found I have a lot more knowledge then I realized. 90% of the tim I find all the problems on the radiographs!
Then the sweet part of the deal is your day on radiology starts at 8am, and is done by 5:30 pm at the latest, sometimes earlier, plus you get an hour or more lunch break EVERY day. You work 2-3 weekend days from 10-5 out of 6 possible days (of course I got stuck with 3, while 3 of my classmates only have to work 2). But still, this is amazing.
So that meant last weekend was my first entire weekend off in god knows how long. So Mark and I made plans to go on a weekend trip to NYC. We were going to try to go to the MOMA in the morning, followed by a yankees game in the afternoon, then dinner, then head home on Saturday. Despite feeling like my weekend of fun and relaxation was going to crumble multiple times, it worked out incredibly well, I had a blast, and Mark was such an amazing boyfriend, I felt so lucky.
Things got a little fishy when my friend Christina, whom I had promised to go strawberry picking with in June when she picked a date, said she was going on Sunday at 11am. Mark and I still hadn't decided whether or not we wanted to stay overnight saturday or not, but rather then miss out on what I promised to go to, we decided to just go to NYC for saturday. Then a couple days before Mark was invited to one of his good friend's bday parties in boston on Saturday night, which we both wanted to go to, but I quite frankly didn't want to cut any of my NYC trip short to go back to boston, only to have to get up super early sunday to take the train back home at 7am so I could make it to strawberry picking in time. We decided to try to make it to the party, but would play it by ear.
We left for NYC at 6:45am hoping to get there by 10:30. We were there on time, but parking was tough to find. We finally found affordable parking ($12 for the day) but by then it was 11:30, and the yankees game started at 1pm, and we didn;t have tickets yet since mark wanted to try to scalp them, so with a heavy sigh from me we abandoned the moma and headed to yankee stadium. Mark asked a woman on the street for a nice place to eat, and she recommended a hip brunch place, where we went, but there was nothing for me to eat, and no where else around was open, so I suffered through without food. The good thing was Mark could see I was bummed, and I finally got over being a stupid girl and told him I didn't want to rush back home to boston to hang out with his friends who we could see any other weekend, which I felt terribly guilty admitting, but am so glad I did (btw, I REALLY like these friends, but it just seemed to be cutting in to my weekend). He wasn't mad at all and said we would still play it by ear.
So we get to yankee stadium, the weather is gorgeous, the crowd is thick, and naturally they had sold out. So there was no scalping to be found. Mark thought it would be easy since it was for him in seattle, but there was nothing under $75 a ticket, so after an hour outside the stadium we gave up...disappointment #2. : (
On a good note, Mark said we had time to see the moma, so we went. Of course, Mark was SO tired by the time we got there and just wanted to leave, but he was such a good sport and made me laugh a lot making fun of certain art and me, but it was seriously hilarious and cute. We went to central park at 4pm where he just wanted to lay down in the shade and relax, so we napped for an hour. At 5pm we decided to get moving. Mark wanted to go home to Boston for the party still, which was fine, but I did want dinner. I told him I thought we could either leave then and go back to boston, or go for dinner since i had not eaten since 7am that morning. He wanted dinner too, and I knew of a vegan pizza place 20 blocks away from our car, but I warned him it would add a lot of walking to our schedule. He didn't see a problem with that, so we went. Another disappointment was my pizza, despite looking great, tasting crappy...however the restaurant had banana-chocolate cheesecake, so I got a piece. I gave Mark and bite and we both thought it was heavenly so we jokingly fought over it on the long walk back to the car. I drove most of the way home, and even as Mark talked on the phone to his mom and brother he thought we would go to Boston for the party, but finally at 10pm when we were still almost 2 hours form home he realized it was not a good idea to go in to Boston, get there at 12:30 and go to the party for 30 minutes. So we went to my place and crashed instead.
It really was too short of a trip with many little disappointments and flaws, but we both had an amazing time. Funny. We promised each other to plan it better next time (i am trying to get online tickets to the red sox vs. yankees game in a couple weeks online now), but it wAs so relaxing and fun...and I couldn't help think the same thing as I overheard Mark tell his mom and brother on the phone how he had such a great time in NYC.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
IDK LOL
My generation uses various AIM speak way too much...like lol, ttyl, idk, lmao, wtf, omg, etc. etc.
Then on top of it, if you go in to a medical profession the use of these types of abbreviations is WAY too abused. We were discussing it yesterday in ultraosund as we tried to figure out what "STS" as the history and problem meant (turns out it was soft tissue sarcoma). Medical professionals love to abbreviate things and use these codes in their medical records a lot. Most of the time it is easy for us medical people to figure out what they are referring to, but in my opinion it wouldn't hurt to put it in parantheses the first time and then use the acronym. Especially when it could have multiple meanings.
Here are some of the more common abbreviations we use in veterinary medicine (and many are used in human med too). Can you guess what they all stand for?
HBC
DOA
PLN (there are multiple meanings for this one)
EENT
DKA
LSA
ADR
ABD
PNST
UG
SF
CM
CRF
ARF
HL
PSS (two meanings again)
NMA
NSR
NSA
RE/RR
Have fun, I am curious to see people's responses and what they think these things stand for! please comment away!
Then on top of it, if you go in to a medical profession the use of these types of abbreviations is WAY too abused. We were discussing it yesterday in ultraosund as we tried to figure out what "STS" as the history and problem meant (turns out it was soft tissue sarcoma). Medical professionals love to abbreviate things and use these codes in their medical records a lot. Most of the time it is easy for us medical people to figure out what they are referring to, but in my opinion it wouldn't hurt to put it in parantheses the first time and then use the acronym. Especially when it could have multiple meanings.
Here are some of the more common abbreviations we use in veterinary medicine (and many are used in human med too). Can you guess what they all stand for?
HBC
DOA
PLN (there are multiple meanings for this one)
EENT
DKA
LSA
ADR
ABD
PNST
UG
SF
CM
CRF
ARF
HL
PSS (two meanings again)
NMA
NSR
NSA
RE/RR
Have fun, I am curious to see people's responses and what they think these things stand for! please comment away!
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
my calming mechanism
I never thought I would be a runner, but somehow I have become one since I started vet school. It has become how I stay sane. Everyone has something (or at least they should have something) that helps them relax, rejuvenate, recharge, etc. Running has become that for me. Sure, there are lots of moments when I want it to be over, like those 10 degree runs with the wind in my face freezing my snot in February, or those 90 degree runs in July where I fantasize about trespassing and taking a dive in to some stranger's pool at mile 8, or best of all at the top of a hill in January, on my way down, feeling great, then spotting the 30 foot patch of black ice covering every inch of road only 10 feet away. But all in all I love running, and I feel more refreshed then anything after a good run. I also have some really amazing moments on my runs. You think A LOT when you run for more then 8 miles at a time, since it guarantees you will be on the road for over an hour. I listen to my ipod nano too, but my mind wanders. I can reflect on things. I can fantiasize about things, a common fantasy involves running by some huge house with lots of land for sale and I begin dreaming about winning the lottery and buying a house like that. Or good mental imagery and imagining running a race like the boston marathon at my fastest speed yet.
Then there are weird moments like what happened yesterday, things that I don't expect but that keep me smiling or laughing or feeling touched and lucky and connected with the world that last a while, as long as they need to until the next event.
It's been hot lately, so yesterday I decided to run at 5am and avoid the 90 degree weather. Of course it was already 80 degrees at 5am, but that is besides the point. It was 6:10, and I was finishing up my 8 mile run, only a mile from home. I was on this refreshing down hill stretch when I heard something in the woods across the street. I thought it was a rabbit and figured at my quick pace there was no point in trying to spot it cause they are so small and fast and hide in the bushes, but the noise persisted for a second longer and sounded loud so I looked over. There was a deer bounding over some logs parallel to the road, not looking at me. I scanned the woods for other deers and she looked alone. I am also an incredible dork and even though I know animals do no understand english, I always seem to talk to them, esp. when alone on a run...so I said in a regular voice "Hey beautiful." and expected the deer to hear me and dash off full speed. Instead the deer turned its head towards me, and bounded over to the side of the road near me. I was so amazed, and although my momentum was pulling me down the hill, I stopped. The deer stopped on the opposite side of the road from me, about 15 feet from me. He shook his head, and I noticed too little antler buds and realized my mistake. I said "I am sorry, I meant you were handsome, not beautiful." The deer and I continued to look at each other for another 3 seconds, and then he turned, so I turned and started running down the rest of my hill. He also ran, but stayed along the edge of the road bounding through the woods parallel to me for another 20-30 feet or so before he decided to run back in to the woods, which was weird considering I expected him to run away from me. I couldn't keep my eyes from him. I continued my run, but for the last 8 minutes or so before I got home he was all I could think about, I know it was weird and some coincidence or some explanation for his un-deer like behavior, but it was an incredible moment for me, and another reason why I would never give up running as long as I have legs and my health (and not having legs won't make me stop either, those runners with prosthetic limbs in runners world are inspirational). I just wish that everyone could find those amazing moments or that perfect hobby that makes them clear their mind and feel at peace with the world.
Then there are weird moments like what happened yesterday, things that I don't expect but that keep me smiling or laughing or feeling touched and lucky and connected with the world that last a while, as long as they need to until the next event.
It's been hot lately, so yesterday I decided to run at 5am and avoid the 90 degree weather. Of course it was already 80 degrees at 5am, but that is besides the point. It was 6:10, and I was finishing up my 8 mile run, only a mile from home. I was on this refreshing down hill stretch when I heard something in the woods across the street. I thought it was a rabbit and figured at my quick pace there was no point in trying to spot it cause they are so small and fast and hide in the bushes, but the noise persisted for a second longer and sounded loud so I looked over. There was a deer bounding over some logs parallel to the road, not looking at me. I scanned the woods for other deers and she looked alone. I am also an incredible dork and even though I know animals do no understand english, I always seem to talk to them, esp. when alone on a run...so I said in a regular voice "Hey beautiful." and expected the deer to hear me and dash off full speed. Instead the deer turned its head towards me, and bounded over to the side of the road near me. I was so amazed, and although my momentum was pulling me down the hill, I stopped. The deer stopped on the opposite side of the road from me, about 15 feet from me. He shook his head, and I noticed too little antler buds and realized my mistake. I said "I am sorry, I meant you were handsome, not beautiful." The deer and I continued to look at each other for another 3 seconds, and then he turned, so I turned and started running down the rest of my hill. He also ran, but stayed along the edge of the road bounding through the woods parallel to me for another 20-30 feet or so before he decided to run back in to the woods, which was weird considering I expected him to run away from me. I couldn't keep my eyes from him. I continued my run, but for the last 8 minutes or so before I got home he was all I could think about, I know it was weird and some coincidence or some explanation for his un-deer like behavior, but it was an incredible moment for me, and another reason why I would never give up running as long as I have legs and my health (and not having legs won't make me stop either, those runners with prosthetic limbs in runners world are inspirational). I just wish that everyone could find those amazing moments or that perfect hobby that makes them clear their mind and feel at peace with the world.
Monday, June 9, 2008
missing kenya
just got a text message from jacinta this morning (my kenyan mom) telling me that everyone there misses me and is dreaming about the day I will come back to visit them all. They are all well but they miss me lots and wish me the best. I almost teared up.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
j'adore montreal et mes amies
did I spell that right Heather?
Let's see, what has happened in the last two weeks...Mark got back from Seattle on Thursday so I went out to Boston to see him. The Friday he came out here in the hopes that we would be going to Montreal the following day. I have to admit, I used to have such a hard time crying, now I am fighting back tears twice a week since clinics is so stressful (but not actually letting myself cry much). We got slammed at the large animal hospital on Thursday, and I had more patients then anyone, it was so frustrating after everyone said they would help me out so I could go to Montreal. In the end it did work out, kind of. We split our shifts again, so I was on Saturday from 6:30-10 and then Mark and I would leave for Montreal. Only I got there and the other two students on with me were slow, and late, and me being the efficient one got slammed helping doctors. Mark called at 10am (he had my cr after dropping me off) and all I could do was answer with a "I'll be done after 11, can't talk now" since I was restraining a foal at the time.
I finally got done at 11:40, and we were on the road after I showered in path at noon. Mark was so sweet, he could of been so pissed for waiting in the car for 2 hours, but said it wasn't my fault and was not mad at all. We drove the whole 6 hours to montreal, stopping in lebanon for a late lunch at 2:30. We got to Heather's at 7pm (her party started at 8). It was great!
I haven't seen Heather and Denny in SO long so it was SO nice to catch up. And Mark was amazing too. He was very talkative and friendly, I felt so lucky to have him come with me. At o ne point Shauna asked how we met and even though I am not ashamed we met online, sometimes I get embarassed and don't want to talk about it, but Mark was great, he jumped right in and told the story even though I hadn't remembered the details. Heather's friends were all so nice too, but I felt a little like a stupid american since they were all so diverse from all different backgrounds. Tina was her usual superb self. At 11:45 I guess Mark and I looked tired, cause Heather and Denny suddenly offered to move the futon (our bed) back to the guest room for us. We passed out by midnight and slept amazingly well, but it was not surprising since we only had 4 hours the night before.
Sunday I got up by 8am, but Mark was a little reluctant to get moving at first. We finally got out the door around 10am, and Heather, Denny, Tina, Mark and I went to Mont Royal for the hike. Mark kept telling me he wanted to see the city and not go on a hike, but I told him to just wait and see. Sure enough, we got to the top where you can see the hwole city and he turned to me and said "This was totally worth it". We then went to old montreal for some lunch *sadly vegan french-canadian dishes are not too common, but it was good bruschetta and sangria for me. We left for home at 2:30. I hope we can go visit Heather and Dennis again sometime soon.
We stopped in Bulrington on the way home, but sadly I was having some GI issues and all the stores I liked were closed on Sunday evening. We got home at 10pm and once again passed out.
This week at large animal has been rough. I have been here more hours then most, but what can you do. And this weekend is going to be brutal...I am scheduled for the overnight on duty shifts both friday and sunday night, but oh well. We will see how it goes...
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