Last weekend I and other students drove over to Richmond WA for a horse castration clinic. There is an all equine clinic that invites vet students over to help with a low cost castration day. It was fantastic! I learned so much and was engaged in all aspects of the castrations including calculating drug dosages, giving injections, physical exams, and of course the castration procedure itself. The vets over there are wonderful! They were excited about us being there and were willing share their wisdom.
Randy is doing pretty good. He got a part time job at WADDL last week. He is working in a department called Central Processing working with bacteria. This is his first experience working in a lab and will be helpful later in his career as a wildlife biologist to understand how tests are run and what are the best samples to submit for the most accurate results. We are waiting to hear back from a graduate professor about a graduate position Randy applied for. Prayers are appreciated!
On Friday, we went out with friends from WADDL this to an amazing steak place called the Brass Lantern. Its a teeny tiny place in the back of a bar in a little town called Genesee. This place only serves HUGE servings. I got a top sirloin that was 16 oz! That was the only size they had and most entrees were even bigger.
Saturday was spent studying, but I also placed a catheter for the first time ever! The equine club had a lab first thing the morning to practice putting catheters into horses. It was a great way to get excited and reminded about why I came to vet school and why it really is important to study. That night, Randy, Mitch, and I went over to Becky's for a relaxing evening.
Winter and Mitch are doing well. Winter has more then doubled in size since we brought her inside. She loves to play (Mitch's tail and my backpack are favorite toys, even though the floor is always covered in cat toys). She rips around the house often carrying a pair of socks or a toy. Another favorite game is hide under the bed and attack your feet as you walk by. Her favorite place to sleep is curled up next to Mitch. He is really good with her, although he often gives us the 'will you please take her away, she won't leave me alone' look.
On Halloween, Sara L., Becky, and Sara S. came over to carve pumpkins. We learned that regular orange pumpkins really are the best ones to carve. Randy's mom brought down a truck load of pumpkins last week including this pink one. It looked like a pumpkin, but it was THICK. I struggled for a while and ended up sending pumpkin flying everywhere! I never did get the top off, and the triangles was the best I could get. I tried again with a regular pumpkin... that worked much better.
I only have one exam this week! Is it sad that when I found out we had an ENTIRE week between exams it felt like Christmas had come early? The following week is round two for Diagnostic Challenge and our classmates from Utah will be coming up to join us. We haven't seen them in person since COLE at the beginning of our vet school career. It should be lots of fun. Then Thanksgiving, then finals then I will be done with another semester of school! I will be halfway done with the classwork part of vet school! AH!
Don't forget to count your blessings :D
