I'd feel bad about not blogging recently, but I think we were all taking a Christmas break. And I was busy with holiday things. On Saturday the 18th, Leslie and Bryan came into town. We celebrated Mom and Dad's 34th wedding anniversary one day early by going to dinner at Steak & Ale. Both working at Steak & Ale in 1970 is how they met, so there were lots of memories there. We also drove by the first house I lived in and Leslie's first house in Texas. On Sunday I went to work while the family had a "reception" of sorts for Leslie and Bryan, with M&D's friends, Carolyn, and Uncle Mike. That night Leslie and Bryan got to see where I worked and got the tour of the EAC. Picture here: The person on the right in the picture is Dr. Smith, who runs the clinic. On the left in the brown scrubs is Raye-Jean, my mentor of sorts.
At dinner on Saturday, I had inquired about Arla, Bryan's Undead warlock in the MMORPG World of Warcraft (WoW). They told me that the game was actually going to be my gift from them, so when I got back from work on Sunday around 12:30 am, the game had magically installed itself on my computer and Bryan was waiting up for me. I took a shower, and then we got down to business. Bryan and I decided to each create a character that we would only play with each other. He had a level two Tauren druid named Noko, and being a cow person seemed fine with me, so I created Heta, a Tauren hunter. When she reached level 10, she could have pets and so I also control a wolf named Murphy. :) WoW is the reason I never got around to posting during last week -whenever Bryan and I had a free moment, we played. I really like the game a lot, and while Bryan was in Colorado with his family I learned to play by myself using Zetarg, my Orc warlock.
We went to the mini-ranch on Tuesday and spent the night. Leslie and Bryan got to meet all the calves, but we all just missed the delivery of Joe Bob, Bob's (female) calf, which happened the day after we left. We were supposed to have bridesmaid dress discussion and fittings on Wednesday out in McKinney, but ... it snowed. So it got pushed back a day. So on Thursday Emily, Brittany, Leslie, Mom, and I went to McKinney and got the skinny on dresses. They picked out what they liked and picked a color, but we didn't commit to anything. And in the end, it was decided that Mom is going to make them! She's so talented.
Christmas Eve was normal for the Hall family. Mom, Dad, Les, and I went to the 4pm Children's Mass and Christ the King while Bryan stayed behind with Carolyn. Because of the crowdedness, Leslie and I had to sit in the row behind Mom and Dad...we only got uncontrollable giggles once. Then we came home and worked on the duck dinner. The six of us enjoyed Mom's wonderful cooking and were joined mid-dinner by Mom's sister Lisa, Chris, and Katie. After the eating, chatting, and dessert, as well as some kitchen cleanup, Dad took Carolyn home and the kids decided we were too wired and needed an activity. So I called the Roberts' and asked Susie if we could come play. We went over there and played a TV Guide board game for about an hour and a half. Bryan and Leslie got to experience playing a game with John Roberts, which was worth the trip itself. We had a really good time and I enjoyed Leslie and Bryan getting to know the Roberts family a little better.
Christmas Day arrived and we all did the present thing. My favorite gift this year was WoW and Bryan playing with me, but close seconds included Fable for Xbox, A&M scrubs, and a hand-crocheted Aggie scarf. That evening I went to the Roberts for the Stimson (Susie's side) Christmas. I got to meet Matt's one-month-old cousin Kelly, and then of course there was "The Game." The Game is a packet of Christmas trivia, Rebus puzzles and other brain teasers that Susie's brother Dave and his wife Carol orchestrate for the family ever year. Matt was emancipated from his family three or four years ago and gets his own game. So we started working on it when it came after Thanksgiving, and I get to use my family as a resource (Mom came in big on the Rebus puzzles). We won last year, so we really wanted to do well again this year. With a score of 92, we won again! Whoop! (Christmas pictures can be found on overt's gallery [here])
Bryan and Leslie left Texas for Colorado to ski and spend time with Bryan's family the day after Christmas, and Mom and Dad left for the ranch. That left me to go to work. I wore my Aggie scrubs and took leftover duck for dinner, and it was really slow, so it was okay. I gave my first IV injection, and that was cool. I also said I'd cover four hours of someone's shift for next week, which means I'm working 12-12 on Sunday, which I'm not looking forward to. On Monday Matt and I went to the mini-ranch for a couple nights. We had bonfire and played ping-pong. He drove the tractor, and we fed cows. Brittany and Emily joined us on Tuesday and we played with horses while Matt and Dad bowled. We also Dance Dance Revolted. And we all went to visit a mini-horse ranch! When we got back on Wednesday I reconnected with Zetarg and got him a voidwalker. Bryan popped on as Arla from Colorado, but he was just showing his brother Jeff the game. But now that he's back in California we need to be cows together again.
Tomorrow is the Cotton Bowl. The Aggies are going to BTHO Tennessee, and I will be there to witness it, along with Emily, Jeff, Luke, and John. Oh, and Zelda had her calf this morning. It is all black, sex unknown, and I have dibs on names! So that means we have 5 calves now, and there is still a chance Belle might be pregnant. Crazy! :)
Friday, December 31, 2004
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
I wasn't trying to be morbid by leaving the Hammy post up so long. I just didn't feel like posting for a while. So, we'll remedy that right now. Work has been going pretty well. Last week (Dec 5), work was a mix of good and bad things. Here's the scoop, in list form...
Good:
-I got to try to place a catheter.
-The dog I was trying to put a catheter in was completely knocked out by Dormitor so I wasn't hurting it and it wasn't squirming.
-I ran two complete blood work-ups without any help.
-I get to have my own patients now (well, maybe just one at a time, but still, my own!)
Bad:
-Dr. Howard got mad that Stephanie and Maggie were letting me try to put in that catheter and told them to not "let me practice on one of his patients" - you know, someday I'll be his tech and I'll bet he'll want me to be able to do catheters!
-Dr. Sarpong put Tiger to sleep (he's the dog who came in two weeks ago with third degree burns - she took over ownership eventually and had been treating him. He looked bad the first night but last week he was alert and eating and doing better. But he took a major turn for the worse and she felt it was time - about half the staff was crying about it. It was really sad)
-Raye-Jean's cat in renal failure that she'd been trying to support died.
This week's work was good, but slow. I had my own patient and gave a couple injections by myself. Not much else to report, except that I got to hold a 5-week-old Boston Terrier puppy for a long time while we were waiting for test results and he was adorable.
Other happenings...last Friday was Matt's company work party. They filled three floors in their building with food, music, carolers, ice sculpture, Dippin' Dots, and arcade games including DDR. But it quickly got annoyingly crowded, so we only stayed about an hour and a half. That day I had subbed for Ms. Steckler's algebra class because she had a funeral to attend. The kids were pretty great, as usual, and I still think math is really neat to sub for. Tomorrow is my work Christmas party, and I may play my pipes. Also, I've been playing Kingdom Hearts for the PS2 for a few days now and I think it is very cool. I recommend to all RPG-ers. I just got back from a fun 2.5 hour lunch at Brittany's house. It was fun catching up on her fall quarter happenings. Leslie and Bryan get into town on Saturday! Wahoo!
And, done.
Good:
-I got to try to place a catheter.
-The dog I was trying to put a catheter in was completely knocked out by Dormitor so I wasn't hurting it and it wasn't squirming.
-I ran two complete blood work-ups without any help.
-I get to have my own patients now (well, maybe just one at a time, but still, my own!)
Bad:
-Dr. Howard got mad that Stephanie and Maggie were letting me try to put in that catheter and told them to not "let me practice on one of his patients" - you know, someday I'll be his tech and I'll bet he'll want me to be able to do catheters!
-Dr. Sarpong put Tiger to sleep (he's the dog who came in two weeks ago with third degree burns - she took over ownership eventually and had been treating him. He looked bad the first night but last week he was alert and eating and doing better. But he took a major turn for the worse and she felt it was time - about half the staff was crying about it. It was really sad)
-Raye-Jean's cat in renal failure that she'd been trying to support died.
This week's work was good, but slow. I had my own patient and gave a couple injections by myself. Not much else to report, except that I got to hold a 5-week-old Boston Terrier puppy for a long time while we were waiting for test results and he was adorable.
Other happenings...last Friday was Matt's company work party. They filled three floors in their building with food, music, carolers, ice sculpture, Dippin' Dots, and arcade games including DDR. But it quickly got annoyingly crowded, so we only stayed about an hour and a half. That day I had subbed for Ms. Steckler's algebra class because she had a funeral to attend. The kids were pretty great, as usual, and I still think math is really neat to sub for. Tomorrow is my work Christmas party, and I may play my pipes. Also, I've been playing Kingdom Hearts for the PS2 for a few days now and I think it is very cool. I recommend to all RPG-ers. I just got back from a fun 2.5 hour lunch at Brittany's house. It was fun catching up on her fall quarter happenings. Leslie and Bryan get into town on Saturday! Wahoo!
And, done.
Sunday, December 05, 2004
RIP Hammy
Last night after Matt had dropped me off at home from the Christmas party, Matt disccovered that Hammy had passed away. He was 2.5 years old, so it wasn't totally unexpected. Still, this was Matt's first solo pet and Hammy was loved.
Bernard C. Hamster
August 2002 - December 4, 2004
You will be missed.
"Only in the agony of parting do we look into the depths of love." - George Eliot
Bernard C. Hamster
August 2002 - December 4, 2004
You will be missed.
"Only in the agony of parting do we look into the depths of love." - George Eliot
Friday, December 03, 2004
Deck the halls
Happy holidays to everyone! I've been a bit behind in updating recently, but I'm still the best blogger I know. So there. In my last update I forgot to mention something important that had happened. On November 18 Mom and Dad got a call from Claude Locke - he was down at the lake and was checking on our animals at Mom's request due to a feeling she was having regarding the animals. He said that all the animals seemed okay...the two horses...the six cows...the two calves. Wait, #TWO* calves?!?!?! Apparently Nameless was pregnant and we didn't even know it, and then she gave birth when no one was around. So we have another calf, this one totally unexpected and a boy! Becky Locke named him "Midnight," which is very appropriate. Here he is, in between his mommy and Domino:
And the best part of the story is this: Mom is at the ranch now watching Lucy (the big red cow) going into labor! Just to remind everyone, Mamacita (Domino's mom) is the only cow that we knew to be pregnant when we got the six cows. Such craziness!
Now to get back to the right order of things...when last I left you, I was in the midst of a 5-day subbing stretch. Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving I subbed for Julie (Garrison) Churchill, my social studies teacher of three years. One of her students is Sarah, Matt's cousin. It went okay, but the kids were super hyper because of the upcoming holiday and Tuesday's field trip to see National Treasure. I went with them on that, and the movie was okay, much better than the awful reviews it got. I sat with Hunter Bradley, Taylor's little brother, who was good company. Wednesday was a major relaxing day, since I was exhausted from substitute teaching as well as sick with a cold from the 8th grade germ pool. I played a lot of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, which is marvelous. I recommend it to anyone who has played Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario, or Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.
Thursday was Thanksgiving, which was great. Mom, Dad, and I were joined by Carolyn, Matt, Uncle J and Stephanie, Uncle John and his girlfriend Joanne, and Uncle Mike for our 1:00pm feast. After the first quarter of the Cowboys game, Matt and I went over to his house and did their Thanksgiving. They were hosting the Lydeckers, and it was great fun to a) be there with Matt's family for the holiday, b) share it with the Lydeckers, and c) have two Thanksgiving meals! On Friday we capped off the holiday by watching some of the Halls' and Roberts' family videos. On Saturday I had my second wedding dress meeting with Laurie and got to see my dress for the first time. It was awesome. I'd put up pictures but 1) we didn't take any, and 2) Matt can't see!
This week has been spent decorating for Christmas, beginning my Christmas shopping, and coughing a lot (still haven't quite kicked the cold). I also got registered for the two classes I'm taking through the Dallas TeleCollege online [for vet school admissions]. I'm taking technical writing and public speaking online in the spring (I'll let you know how you can take speech online as soon as I figure that out myself). It is only $300 to take the two classes and including my books. I am SO glad I waited until after A&M to do this. I subbed for the math teacher in Ms. Janik's team (Ms. Steckler) yesterday and had a great time. I like subbing for math (this was pre-algebra) a lot, and the kids (these are the ones I'm really getting to know) were well-behaved. I ate lunch with Ms. Janik in the team office, and we looked at Julie's wedding pictures during 8th period (our "team planning" period). Then when I returned the pictures to Juile at the middle school "Trading Post" where the coaches sell junk food to kids after school, I ended up working there with her until 4:25 so that we could chat. It was a really a nice day!
Today Dad and I went to get a Christmas tree, and we picked out a great one. It is already standing in the living room, acting noble. Matt and I are doing some shopping this evening, and we have a Christmas party with his work friends tomorrow night. I can't believe today is three weeks from Christmas Eve! And only just over two weeks until Leslie and Bryan come! Yay!
And the best part of the story is this: Mom is at the ranch now watching Lucy (the big red cow) going into labor! Just to remind everyone, Mamacita (Domino's mom) is the only cow that we knew to be pregnant when we got the six cows. Such craziness!
Now to get back to the right order of things...when last I left you, I was in the midst of a 5-day subbing stretch. Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving I subbed for Julie (Garrison) Churchill, my social studies teacher of three years. One of her students is Sarah, Matt's cousin. It went okay, but the kids were super hyper because of the upcoming holiday and Tuesday's field trip to see National Treasure. I went with them on that, and the movie was okay, much better than the awful reviews it got. I sat with Hunter Bradley, Taylor's little brother, who was good company. Wednesday was a major relaxing day, since I was exhausted from substitute teaching as well as sick with a cold from the 8th grade germ pool. I played a lot of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, which is marvelous. I recommend it to anyone who has played Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario, or Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.
Thursday was Thanksgiving, which was great. Mom, Dad, and I were joined by Carolyn, Matt, Uncle J and Stephanie, Uncle John and his girlfriend Joanne, and Uncle Mike for our 1:00pm feast. After the first quarter of the Cowboys game, Matt and I went over to his house and did their Thanksgiving. They were hosting the Lydeckers, and it was great fun to a) be there with Matt's family for the holiday, b) share it with the Lydeckers, and c) have two Thanksgiving meals! On Friday we capped off the holiday by watching some of the Halls' and Roberts' family videos. On Saturday I had my second wedding dress meeting with Laurie and got to see my dress for the first time. It was awesome. I'd put up pictures but 1) we didn't take any, and 2) Matt can't see!
This week has been spent decorating for Christmas, beginning my Christmas shopping, and coughing a lot (still haven't quite kicked the cold). I also got registered for the two classes I'm taking through the Dallas TeleCollege online [for vet school admissions]. I'm taking technical writing and public speaking online in the spring (I'll let you know how you can take speech online as soon as I figure that out myself). It is only $300 to take the two classes and including my books. I am SO glad I waited until after A&M to do this. I subbed for the math teacher in Ms. Janik's team (Ms. Steckler) yesterday and had a great time. I like subbing for math (this was pre-algebra) a lot, and the kids (these are the ones I'm really getting to know) were well-behaved. I ate lunch with Ms. Janik in the team office, and we looked at Julie's wedding pictures during 8th period (our "team planning" period). Then when I returned the pictures to Juile at the middle school "Trading Post" where the coaches sell junk food to kids after school, I ended up working there with her until 4:25 so that we could chat. It was a really a nice day!
Today Dad and I went to get a Christmas tree, and we picked out a great one. It is already standing in the living room, acting noble. Matt and I are doing some shopping this evening, and we have a Christmas party with his work friends tomorrow night. I can't believe today is three weeks from Christmas Eve! And only just over two weeks until Leslie and Bryan come! Yay!
Sunday, November 21, 2004
Catching up :)
We'll go back to November 9 (Tuesday) to start - the day I subbed for 4th grade. Now that the event is more distantly in the past, it is hard to recall the exact experience, but here are my observations: 4th graders are not people (they're just little kids); they liked to hit, spit water on, insult, tattle on one another; they're breakable or wimpy - way too many requests to go to the nurse's office; you have to walk them everywhere (to lunch, to art, to fill up their water bottles...); portables should have water fountains. I don't really want to sub for 4th grade again.
On Thursday I left in the morning for College Station. I parked my car at Amanda's apartment and rode the bus to campus. I went to the organic chemistry labs to say hi to my friends, but sadly none of the adults (Dr. Hildreth, Carrie, Curtis) were there except Audrey. And Dr. Hildreth was all the way in Russia doing short-term missionary work. But at least I got to see some of my fellow student workers. Then Brad Cannon (fellow chem major, we've had classes together including the Horizons in Chemistry class where our group blew up the car) met me and we went to Subway for lunch. We must've talked for 2 hours, but we needed to catch up. I can really relate to Brad because he also defected from the BS degree to a BA track like me (his in environmental chemistry - he wants to work for the EPA). Then I went to the duplex to hang out with Em and kill time until Amanda got home from school. When she got home, I joined Amanda at her apartment and got to open my birthday presents! :) That night Amanda, Charity, and I went to dinner at On the Border and had a nice long talk. Charity is moving to Minnesota in February so that her husband Dan can work on a post-doc there. All three of us have exciting things going on in our lives right now. After dinner, Emily came over to Amanda's and we played Mario Kart (yeah, I took my Gamecube down to College Station) and talked until about 2 in the morning. Amanda was a wonderful hostess and made up a bed on the futon for me, and we both hit the sack.
Friday morning (barely) Amanda and I got up and decided we'd go to IHOP. It was a great way for me to wrap up my time with her. So we had Belgian waffles and talked some more before she had to go to class. After I dropped her off at the chemistry building, I went to the duplex for round 2 of my CS visit. We played some Mario Kart (Emily is getting really good) and were generally lumps on the couch - we were both tired from our late night and Emily was recovering from tests. That night we watched TV (Judge Judy, RW-RR Battle of the Sexes, Dr. 90210) and the movie Playing by Heart. Then we felt like getting out, and since I'd wanted to see it while I was in town anyway, we bundled up and drove to campus and walked over to the Bonfire Memorial. It was awesome. I hadn't liked the design when I saw it on paper, but it worked in real life. I thought it was great. On our way back to the car, we stopped by Underwood and said hi to Ashley (Em's roommate last year) and got some hot chocolate.
I left CS around 10 on Saturday and drove to the miniranch. Matt had gotten there before me, and we sat on the couch and watched A&M beat the hell outta Texas Tech! That night Mom fixed me a special birthday dinner (a mixed grill and macaroni and cheese were the highlights), with Carolyn's version of "Better Than Sex" cake for dessert. Matt, Mom, Dad, and I were joined by Carolyn, Beth, Jerry, Robert, and Cindy, which was fun. Then I opened presents, which were great - lots of things from my Amazon wishlist - and we had a bonfire. It started drizzling, so Matt and I went inside and watched Brain Donors on DVD (one of his presents to me). On Sunday, we headed back to Dallas after brunch so that I could get ready for work. Work was relative uneventful (the best parts were the delivery of Dachshund puppies and Matt visiting and bringing Sonic), and everyone thought I was crazy for being there on my birthday. Raye-Jean said I did a good job, which made me happy.
Monday and Tuesday were rest days to recover from an eventful birthday weekend and work and to prepare for three straight days of substitute teaching. I played a lot of Paper Mario (for the N64) in preparation for playing the sequel (for GCN) that I got myself for my birthday.
Wednesday through Friday I subbed for Ms. Janik's 8th grade language arts class while she was at the national meeting of the American Coaster Enthusiasts organization (she's on the executive council). Being there for three days, as well as already having subbed for the class before, really gave me a chance to get to know the kids and what they were like. On Wednesday, they did a lot of writing on their fictional short stories, Thursday was a vocab test, and Friday we analyzed a short story from their literature textbook. I had a great time doing it and the kids seemed to receive me pretty well too. They were particularly impressed that I went to a Metallica concert. I'll see most of those kids again December 2 when I sub for their math teacher, and tomorrow and Tuesday I'm subbing for my middle school social studies teacher for all three years, Julie Garrison (Churchill) (she got married November 13...she's on her honeymoon right now).
Yesterday Matt and I began a very early and preliminary apartment search. Some of the places we went laughed at us for starting so soon, since we won't be needing it until June. But we want to get an idea of the different locations, what you get for what price, amenities, etc. Plus we just like getting things done early. Yesterday we looked at higher priced, conveniently located places (another time we'll look at the cheaper, more North Dallas-type complexes). We were definitely able to come away from the day with a ranking of the complexes we'd seen, and one we liked a lot (AMLI at Bryan Place). Then we picked up Luke and had dinner and saw The Incredibles. We all liked the movie a lot. Then Matt took me home, because I was still tired from a hard week.
Today Matt and I went to the Unitarian Church (we're thinking it might be a wedding officiant source). Then I met Jon and Midhat at Cafe Istanbul for lunch. It was great catching up with them. They survived med school hell week in October and were onto complaining about their upcoming ethics test. Both of them will be going home for Thanksgiving, which will be their first times home since August. I'm glad they will be getting to see their families. And now I'm writing this and getting ready to go to work. Hopefully I won't get home too late since I have to sub tomorrow!
On Thursday I left in the morning for College Station. I parked my car at Amanda's apartment and rode the bus to campus. I went to the organic chemistry labs to say hi to my friends, but sadly none of the adults (Dr. Hildreth, Carrie, Curtis) were there except Audrey. And Dr. Hildreth was all the way in Russia doing short-term missionary work. But at least I got to see some of my fellow student workers. Then Brad Cannon (fellow chem major, we've had classes together including the Horizons in Chemistry class where our group blew up the car) met me and we went to Subway for lunch. We must've talked for 2 hours, but we needed to catch up. I can really relate to Brad because he also defected from the BS degree to a BA track like me (his in environmental chemistry - he wants to work for the EPA). Then I went to the duplex to hang out with Em and kill time until Amanda got home from school. When she got home, I joined Amanda at her apartment and got to open my birthday presents! :) That night Amanda, Charity, and I went to dinner at On the Border and had a nice long talk. Charity is moving to Minnesota in February so that her husband Dan can work on a post-doc there. All three of us have exciting things going on in our lives right now. After dinner, Emily came over to Amanda's and we played Mario Kart (yeah, I took my Gamecube down to College Station) and talked until about 2 in the morning. Amanda was a wonderful hostess and made up a bed on the futon for me, and we both hit the sack.
Friday morning (barely) Amanda and I got up and decided we'd go to IHOP. It was a great way for me to wrap up my time with her. So we had Belgian waffles and talked some more before she had to go to class. After I dropped her off at the chemistry building, I went to the duplex for round 2 of my CS visit. We played some Mario Kart (Emily is getting really good) and were generally lumps on the couch - we were both tired from our late night and Emily was recovering from tests. That night we watched TV (Judge Judy, RW-RR Battle of the Sexes, Dr. 90210) and the movie Playing by Heart. Then we felt like getting out, and since I'd wanted to see it while I was in town anyway, we bundled up and drove to campus and walked over to the Bonfire Memorial. It was awesome. I hadn't liked the design when I saw it on paper, but it worked in real life. I thought it was great. On our way back to the car, we stopped by Underwood and said hi to Ashley (Em's roommate last year) and got some hot chocolate.
I left CS around 10 on Saturday and drove to the miniranch. Matt had gotten there before me, and we sat on the couch and watched A&M beat the hell outta Texas Tech! That night Mom fixed me a special birthday dinner (a mixed grill and macaroni and cheese were the highlights), with Carolyn's version of "Better Than Sex" cake for dessert. Matt, Mom, Dad, and I were joined by Carolyn, Beth, Jerry, Robert, and Cindy, which was fun. Then I opened presents, which were great - lots of things from my Amazon wishlist - and we had a bonfire. It started drizzling, so Matt and I went inside and watched Brain Donors on DVD (one of his presents to me). On Sunday, we headed back to Dallas after brunch so that I could get ready for work. Work was relative uneventful (the best parts were the delivery of Dachshund puppies and Matt visiting and bringing Sonic), and everyone thought I was crazy for being there on my birthday. Raye-Jean said I did a good job, which made me happy.
Monday and Tuesday were rest days to recover from an eventful birthday weekend and work and to prepare for three straight days of substitute teaching. I played a lot of Paper Mario (for the N64) in preparation for playing the sequel (for GCN) that I got myself for my birthday.
Wednesday through Friday I subbed for Ms. Janik's 8th grade language arts class while she was at the national meeting of the American Coaster Enthusiasts organization (she's on the executive council). Being there for three days, as well as already having subbed for the class before, really gave me a chance to get to know the kids and what they were like. On Wednesday, they did a lot of writing on their fictional short stories, Thursday was a vocab test, and Friday we analyzed a short story from their literature textbook. I had a great time doing it and the kids seemed to receive me pretty well too. They were particularly impressed that I went to a Metallica concert. I'll see most of those kids again December 2 when I sub for their math teacher, and tomorrow and Tuesday I'm subbing for my middle school social studies teacher for all three years, Julie Garrison (Churchill) (she got married November 13...she's on her honeymoon right now).
Yesterday Matt and I began a very early and preliminary apartment search. Some of the places we went laughed at us for starting so soon, since we won't be needing it until June. But we want to get an idea of the different locations, what you get for what price, amenities, etc. Plus we just like getting things done early. Yesterday we looked at higher priced, conveniently located places (another time we'll look at the cheaper, more North Dallas-type complexes). We were definitely able to come away from the day with a ranking of the complexes we'd seen, and one we liked a lot (AMLI at Bryan Place). Then we picked up Luke and had dinner and saw The Incredibles. We all liked the movie a lot. Then Matt took me home, because I was still tired from a hard week.
Today Matt and I went to the Unitarian Church (we're thinking it might be a wedding officiant source). Then I met Jon and Midhat at Cafe Istanbul for lunch. It was great catching up with them. They survived med school hell week in October and were onto complaining about their upcoming ethics test. Both of them will be going home for Thanksgiving, which will be their first times home since August. I'm glad they will be getting to see their families. And now I'm writing this and getting ready to go to work. Hopefully I won't get home too late since I have to sub tomorrow!
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Oooo Yeah-heah!
Never fear loyal readers, you'll get my whole week+ update sometime this weekend, but as for now...
I substituted for Ms. Janik's 8th grade Language Arts class today (the same I subbed for a couple weeks ago). I was supposed to go to bed early tonight since I will sub again tomorrow and Friday. But instead I ended up at the Metallica concert with Matt because he won tickets at work. Not just at the concert, but in an amazing suite with only 7 other people and with free drinks and snacks and an awesome view. And the show itself was greatness (although I lament the loss of my hearing). So yeah, it was cool. Now I need sleep. :)
I substituted for Ms. Janik's 8th grade Language Arts class today (the same I subbed for a couple weeks ago). I was supposed to go to bed early tonight since I will sub again tomorrow and Friday. But instead I ended up at the Metallica concert with Matt because he won tickets at work. Not just at the concert, but in an amazing suite with only 7 other people and with free drinks and snacks and an awesome view. And the show itself was greatness (although I lament the loss of my hearing). So yeah, it was cool. Now I need sleep. :)
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
The people have spoken!
Okay, here's the new font color. Do you still like it now that you see lots of it all down the page? If only I could figure out how to make the links in my posts (only) be a different color. Oh well...
Oh, and whoever said 4th grade was one of the easiest grades to sub was totally wrong. More on that later.
Oh, and whoever said 4th grade was one of the easiest grades to sub was totally wrong. More on that later.
Monday, November 08, 2004
Color
I've always thought the black text was a little hard to read with the dark background in my posts. What do my readers think? Is something like this color easier or harder to read than the black?
What about this color?
Okay, now what about this one?
Please let me know.
What about this color?
Okay, now what about this one?
Please let me know.
Work and whatnot
That kind of feels like the story of my life right now. Work produces more memories and stories in one day of the week than the other six days. Oh well, that's not a bad thing. But we'll start from the beginning. Friday night was BBQ with the Band and football vs Forney. It was also the time they do the drawing for the band raffle. There were three prizes and I bought three tickets, trying for the sweep. Well, I didn't win anything, which was a major bummer since the prizes were a 60" HDTV, a monster gaming computer built by Luke, and a nice Trek bike. Boo. We watched the first half of the football game, but we were killing Forney, so Matt and I left after halftime (M&D left after the first quarter to go to the miniranch). Matt and I came back here and drank hot chocolate and started a fire while watched the A&M-OU game from two years ago (when we beat #1-ranked OU) on ESPN Classic.
Saturday morning was my time to catch up on things like laundry and cleaning the floors. I also played some DDR and watched the movie Mona Lisa Smile, which I enjoyed. Then I headed over to the Roberts' to watch the A&M-OU game. It was such a good game, very fun to watch. The two trick plays we pulled off were amazing, and the only thing that could have improved it would have been us winning. But we came a lot closer than I would have predicted after last week's performance. After the game, Matt and I ate dinner at Pei Wei (we'd never been - it was good) and just relaxed. We played with Hammy. He's looking pretty grey and the hairless spot on his left side is now sporting a tumor. He isn't quite as quick as he used to be... I think Hammy may been nearing the end of his fuzzy rotund little life. But he still stuffs his seed pouches full with enthusiasm, so who's to say how much time he has left.
On Sunday morning, Matt, Mom, Dad, and I went to meet with the wedding caterer at the Arboretum. We decided on a tentative menu (all I remember is that macaroni and cheese has made it on the list). It was a beautiful day. Then I got ready for work and took it easy while Mom and Dad watched the [horrible] Cowboys game at Jerry's. Around 3:30 I headed for work.
Work last night was a little crazy. We had more patients than I'd ever seen, and it hovered in a state of controlled chaos until after 10pm. I was working with Raye-Jean again (she was hobbling around in her foot boot, which was the reason she wasn't with me last week), which was sort of a step back in my independence; despite having had my own case last week, she told someone last night that I "wasn't allowed to have my own cases yet." She's a really good teacher and I'm sure she wasn't just making that up completely, so I didn't say anything. Besides, the patient that was sort of mine was a handful -a two-year-old pug. So there was plenty of excitement last night. My pug pulled her line out (disconnected her leg catheter from the fluid line), allowing blood to go the wrong way out of the catheter, splattering on the cage and on me. It wasn't too bad, and I thought to myself that I could put getting bled on my list of work experiences. However, that wasn't the end of that. Later that night Dr. Smith helped me get a big Greater Swiss Mountain dog situated in a run and then told me to bring his owner back to visit him. Well, in the time it took me to get the owner, the dog had pulled her line (remember, this is a big dog) and there was blood everywhere. And the owner is standing there, thinking who knows what, but seeing his dog and what looks like lots of blood. But I couldn't make him go away, because then he'd think that something was seriously wrong with his dog. I told him what had happened as I reattached the line (getting my hands completely covered in blood), and then another tech named Francisco came by and helped out. The owner handled it really well, and Francisco got everything cleaned up before the owner had even left. It wasn't embarrassing per se, because it was just one of those things that happens, and it wasn't funny, but it was fairly comical in the timing. Easier to see it as funny since it didn't hurt the dog at all. Two pretty sad things happened at the clinic last night. First off was Stephanie's cat (Stephanie is the tech manager of sorts, the one who gave me my orientation before I started work). It had a possible foreign body, but since it wasn't one of her two "designated pets," anything done at the clinic was going to cost full price, which would be well over $1,000. It was a really rotten situation to be in...she was hoping the cat would be okay until tomorrow, when it could go to the clinic at which her mom is a tech and receive a substantial discount, but there were no guarantees it would make it that long. I felt really bad for her, and I really hope I'll hear a positive update when I see her next Sunday. The other really crappy thing last night was a cat that came in with a broken back. Just the broken back is awful enough, but then its owners refused to let us put it down, insisting that they wanted it to die of "natural causes" at home (i.e. slowly and in horrible pain). We were all really upset about that one. There's no way to completely blunt the pain the cat was feeling, especially at home where it may have lingered for hours. People can suck. Luckily, there was a much happier event last night - a C-section and puppies! A breeder brought in her Scottish Terrier for a cesarean, and I got to take one of the puppies as it came out. I did the whole harsh rubbing thing to bring it out of anesthesia and suctioned its nose and mouth. The one thing I was bad at was the shaking thing - you're supposed to hold their heads tightly and then sling them underneath you really fast to bring all the crud out of their lungs. Well, I felt like I was going to break the puppy's neck, so I did it way too tentatively. But it was so much fun to hold the tiny little Scottie puppy; their little paws are just as amazing as new babies' little hands with little fingernails. All six puppies made it just fine, and were bawling and nosing around a heated cage in minutes. When I left the clinic, the mother (who was very experienced) was nursing them. Awwwww!
So I'm heading down to College Station on Thursday for a couple days, for sort of a pre-birthday celebration. I'm going to spend one night with Amanda and one night with Emily and then head back on Saturday. I'm really excited - we're going to maybe talk wedding stuff and will definitely be playing some Mario Kart. I really want to go to campus and say hello to the organic chemistry lab folks as well as Dr. Hogg. Originally I was going to stay in College Station for the Tech game, but I've decided my presence is bad luck for the Aggies, so I'm going to probably head for the miniranch instead. But that'll be another fun way to celebrate my birthday, since on the actual day I will be at work. That makes me a little sad because no one at work will even know it is my birthday. *sigh* Oh well, I'll just make up for that by having a blast in CS and at the miniranch. Besides, the only thing special about turning 22 is that it is the first birthday that isn't particularly special.
Saturday morning was my time to catch up on things like laundry and cleaning the floors. I also played some DDR and watched the movie Mona Lisa Smile, which I enjoyed. Then I headed over to the Roberts' to watch the A&M-OU game. It was such a good game, very fun to watch. The two trick plays we pulled off were amazing, and the only thing that could have improved it would have been us winning. But we came a lot closer than I would have predicted after last week's performance. After the game, Matt and I ate dinner at Pei Wei (we'd never been - it was good) and just relaxed. We played with Hammy. He's looking pretty grey and the hairless spot on his left side is now sporting a tumor. He isn't quite as quick as he used to be... I think Hammy may been nearing the end of his fuzzy rotund little life. But he still stuffs his seed pouches full with enthusiasm, so who's to say how much time he has left.
On Sunday morning, Matt, Mom, Dad, and I went to meet with the wedding caterer at the Arboretum. We decided on a tentative menu (all I remember is that macaroni and cheese has made it on the list). It was a beautiful day. Then I got ready for work and took it easy while Mom and Dad watched the [horrible] Cowboys game at Jerry's. Around 3:30 I headed for work.
Work last night was a little crazy. We had more patients than I'd ever seen, and it hovered in a state of controlled chaos until after 10pm. I was working with Raye-Jean again (she was hobbling around in her foot boot, which was the reason she wasn't with me last week), which was sort of a step back in my independence; despite having had my own case last week, she told someone last night that I "wasn't allowed to have my own cases yet." She's a really good teacher and I'm sure she wasn't just making that up completely, so I didn't say anything. Besides, the patient that was sort of mine was a handful -a two-year-old pug. So there was plenty of excitement last night. My pug pulled her line out (disconnected her leg catheter from the fluid line), allowing blood to go the wrong way out of the catheter, splattering on the cage and on me. It wasn't too bad, and I thought to myself that I could put getting bled on my list of work experiences. However, that wasn't the end of that. Later that night Dr. Smith helped me get a big Greater Swiss Mountain dog situated in a run and then told me to bring his owner back to visit him. Well, in the time it took me to get the owner, the dog had pulled her line (remember, this is a big dog) and there was blood everywhere. And the owner is standing there, thinking who knows what, but seeing his dog and what looks like lots of blood. But I couldn't make him go away, because then he'd think that something was seriously wrong with his dog. I told him what had happened as I reattached the line (getting my hands completely covered in blood), and then another tech named Francisco came by and helped out. The owner handled it really well, and Francisco got everything cleaned up before the owner had even left. It wasn't embarrassing per se, because it was just one of those things that happens, and it wasn't funny, but it was fairly comical in the timing. Easier to see it as funny since it didn't hurt the dog at all. Two pretty sad things happened at the clinic last night. First off was Stephanie's cat (Stephanie is the tech manager of sorts, the one who gave me my orientation before I started work). It had a possible foreign body, but since it wasn't one of her two "designated pets," anything done at the clinic was going to cost full price, which would be well over $1,000. It was a really rotten situation to be in...she was hoping the cat would be okay until tomorrow, when it could go to the clinic at which her mom is a tech and receive a substantial discount, but there were no guarantees it would make it that long. I felt really bad for her, and I really hope I'll hear a positive update when I see her next Sunday. The other really crappy thing last night was a cat that came in with a broken back. Just the broken back is awful enough, but then its owners refused to let us put it down, insisting that they wanted it to die of "natural causes" at home (i.e. slowly and in horrible pain). We were all really upset about that one. There's no way to completely blunt the pain the cat was feeling, especially at home where it may have lingered for hours. People can suck. Luckily, there was a much happier event last night - a C-section and puppies! A breeder brought in her Scottish Terrier for a cesarean, and I got to take one of the puppies as it came out. I did the whole harsh rubbing thing to bring it out of anesthesia and suctioned its nose and mouth. The one thing I was bad at was the shaking thing - you're supposed to hold their heads tightly and then sling them underneath you really fast to bring all the crud out of their lungs. Well, I felt like I was going to break the puppy's neck, so I did it way too tentatively. But it was so much fun to hold the tiny little Scottie puppy; their little paws are just as amazing as new babies' little hands with little fingernails. All six puppies made it just fine, and were bawling and nosing around a heated cage in minutes. When I left the clinic, the mother (who was very experienced) was nursing them. Awwwww!
So I'm heading down to College Station on Thursday for a couple days, for sort of a pre-birthday celebration. I'm going to spend one night with Amanda and one night with Emily and then head back on Saturday. I'm really excited - we're going to maybe talk wedding stuff and will definitely be playing some Mario Kart. I really want to go to campus and say hello to the organic chemistry lab folks as well as Dr. Hogg. Originally I was going to stay in College Station for the Tech game, but I've decided my presence is bad luck for the Aggies, so I'm going to probably head for the miniranch instead. But that'll be another fun way to celebrate my birthday, since on the actual day I will be at work. That makes me a little sad because no one at work will even know it is my birthday. *sigh* Oh well, I'll just make up for that by having a blast in CS and at the miniranch. Besides, the only thing special about turning 22 is that it is the first birthday that isn't particularly special.
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
I exercised my right to vote.
I'm a voter! I voted this afternoon for the second time ever (first was the primaries in College Station) and in my first presidential election. Mom and Murphy walked down to the UP Fire Station with me and waited while I voted. I got a round of applause when the wonderful people working the polls found out I was (essentially) a first-time voter.
Going back a bit...Friday night Matt and I went to see Team America: World Police. Some parts were really funny (like puppets doing martial arts and the way they walked) but overall it was a bit slow. I'm going to completely skip over the trip Matt, Emily, and I took to Waco on Saturday for the A&M game, except to say that I love the Czech Stop on I-35. On Sunday, I watched the last hour of the Cowboy game at Matt's (yay 'Boys!) and then headed to work. I was without a babysitter (i.e. mentor, person to shadow) and had my first solo case - a Sheltie named Boots who had a broken leg and was awaiting a Monday surgery. He was a good dog. And I got to watch a lot of a bloat (GDV: Gastric Dilatation and Volvulus) surgery on a Burmese Mountain dog. It was cool to watch, but not so good for the dog - his owners had waited way too long to bring him in and half his stomach was dead. Yesterday I took it easy and recovered from a late night (the time change didn't help much). Today I subbed for Ms. Janik's 8th grade Language Arts classes at the middle school. It went really well - the kids were nice and reasonably well-mannered. I gave a vocabulary test and (with a strict warning) they didn't talk at all during it. And she doesn't have a class 8th period, so I got to leave a bit early! Yay! Then I voted, and now I'm sitting here.
Those who have been following my Barnes & Noble rage: I talked with Bill again on Friday. After a LONG time arguing (he wasn't really arguing; he just didn't get it), he thought he could do as I asked and that $11.02 should find its way into my bank account by Monday. It didn't make it by Monday, but it WAS there today when I checked. Thank goodness. My B&N saga seems to have come to an end. I couldn't have handled much more of that.
Oh, devoted readers of Brittany's blog (I know there are a few lurking out there): she posted an update yesterday. Check it out.
Going back a bit...Friday night Matt and I went to see Team America: World Police. Some parts were really funny (like puppets doing martial arts and the way they walked) but overall it was a bit slow. I'm going to completely skip over the trip Matt, Emily, and I took to Waco on Saturday for the A&M game, except to say that I love the Czech Stop on I-35. On Sunday, I watched the last hour of the Cowboy game at Matt's (yay 'Boys!) and then headed to work. I was without a babysitter (i.e. mentor, person to shadow) and had my first solo case - a Sheltie named Boots who had a broken leg and was awaiting a Monday surgery. He was a good dog. And I got to watch a lot of a bloat (GDV: Gastric Dilatation and Volvulus) surgery on a Burmese Mountain dog. It was cool to watch, but not so good for the dog - his owners had waited way too long to bring him in and half his stomach was dead. Yesterday I took it easy and recovered from a late night (the time change didn't help much). Today I subbed for Ms. Janik's 8th grade Language Arts classes at the middle school. It went really well - the kids were nice and reasonably well-mannered. I gave a vocabulary test and (with a strict warning) they didn't talk at all during it. And she doesn't have a class 8th period, so I got to leave a bit early! Yay! Then I voted, and now I'm sitting here.
Those who have been following my Barnes & Noble rage: I talked with Bill again on Friday. After a LONG time arguing (he wasn't really arguing; he just didn't get it), he thought he could do as I asked and that $11.02 should find its way into my bank account by Monday. It didn't make it by Monday, but it WAS there today when I checked. Thank goodness. My B&N saga seems to have come to an end. I couldn't have handled much more of that.
Oh, devoted readers of Brittany's blog (I know there are a few lurking out there): she posted an update yesterday. Check it out.
Thursday, October 28, 2004
The saga continues *angry snarl*
I talked with Barnes & Noble again on the phone today. Please reference the post Arg!!! for background. Anyway, they never credited the other $11.02 on my credit card that I asked for 3 weeks ago. The customer service rep I talked to today (Bill), said he needed to look into it more and would write me an e-mail. I thought this was maybe because they'd put in the request (which he said they had) and thought it had already gone through and I was trying to get more money out of them or something. So I get Bill's reply tonight:
"We are unable to debit your Gift Card in the amount of $11.02 and credit this amount back to the credit card used to place the above order, as the total amount charged to your credit card, $8.96, was less than the amount of $11.02."
Okay, see, after that order I had to pay another $19.98 to get my replacement DVD shipped, and all of that went on my credit card. His solution, to give me a gift card in the amount of $11.02, ensures that I will spend $11.02 more with Barnes & Noble than if they hadn't screwed up the order in the first place! You think I want to rush out and buy something from them after this 2-month-long drama?!?!
So yeah, Bill and I will be talking again tomorrow. I'm acting solely on the principle of the thing now. Especially since they've handled everything SO poorly. They must lose!
"We are unable to debit your Gift Card in the amount of $11.02 and credit this amount back to the credit card used to place the above order, as the total amount charged to your credit card, $8.96, was less than the amount of $11.02."
Okay, see, after that order I had to pay another $19.98 to get my replacement DVD shipped, and all of that went on my credit card. His solution, to give me a gift card in the amount of $11.02, ensures that I will spend $11.02 more with Barnes & Noble than if they hadn't screwed up the order in the first place! You think I want to rush out and buy something from them after this 2-month-long drama?!?!
So yeah, Bill and I will be talking again tomorrow. I'm acting solely on the principle of the thing now. Especially since they've handled everything SO poorly. They must lose!
I am le tired
YAWN! It was rough getting up early this morning. I signed up to sub for the morning 4 periods for a freshman biology teacher, so I had to get up at 6:30 to be ready. I got up particularly early since I had no clue what I was doing. But, I made it and everything went fine. I even got to talk with the teacher before school because she wasn't sick or anything - she needed to be home to have furniture delivered. All I did was give a quiz (which the teacher had warned me the kids would whine about) and then show a video I don't really have any stories except that 2nd period decided to make a petition relating to the unfair nature of the quiz. I didn't mind them passing it around during the video (since my feeling was "it is fine to take it up with your teacher but as of right now just do your best"), but I refused to take the petition to give to the teacher. That's the students' business. And I have a feeling the petition isn't going to be a big hit with her. So I subbed 2-4 periods and then picked up lunch in the cafeteria before heading home (I got a free lunch voucher for subbing - I wonder if that's a every time thing?). I watched a DVR-ed Dead Like Me and chilled. Until now.
So the last couple days have been a little depressing. A friend I made in my anatomy group lost his mom to cancer on Sunday night. He came by yesterday to return some notes of mine and told me about it (he told me about the terminal diagnosis back in May, which was pretty much when his whole family found out). He's been back from A&M for a month to be with his family. He seemed like he was doing as well as he could be, but I think it'd be hard for him to be back home with all his friends still dispersed at various schools. He seems to be without much of a peer support group; even though we only know each other from one class, I hope I can maybe help a little to by being there for him. Also, Dr. Fred Sicilio, the namesake of the chemistry scholarship I received my first two years at A&M passed away yesterday. I only got to meet him a few times because of his failing health, but I heard all about him from the creators of the scholarship. He was an amazing man, a professor and advisor in the chemistry department, [you can read his obituary that appeared in the BCS Eagle (scroll down a bit)], and he also had an amazing family and friends. He will be missed.
So I'm a little sad. Luckily Murphy remains a source of joy or at least laughter. Last night I was talking with Mom and Dad in their room and I let him out to the back to go to the bathroom before bed. And he fell in the pool. I looked outside and saw these ripples in the water and there Murph was, clinging to the corner. I ran to him and pulled him out by the armpits. He was very distraught and shook water everywhere. Lesson from this: don't let the dog out in the back in the dark anymore. But it was still better than the time Jazzie fell in the hot tub - it was colder then (Thanksgiving or Christmas) and Jazzie only gave a couple futile strokes before resigning herself to her fate. Paddle-paddle-"this is the end...goodbye"...[bubbles]...
So the last couple days have been a little depressing. A friend I made in my anatomy group lost his mom to cancer on Sunday night. He came by yesterday to return some notes of mine and told me about it (he told me about the terminal diagnosis back in May, which was pretty much when his whole family found out). He's been back from A&M for a month to be with his family. He seemed like he was doing as well as he could be, but I think it'd be hard for him to be back home with all his friends still dispersed at various schools. He seems to be without much of a peer support group; even though we only know each other from one class, I hope I can maybe help a little to by being there for him. Also, Dr. Fred Sicilio, the namesake of the chemistry scholarship I received my first two years at A&M passed away yesterday. I only got to meet him a few times because of his failing health, but I heard all about him from the creators of the scholarship. He was an amazing man, a professor and advisor in the chemistry department, [you can read his obituary that appeared in the BCS Eagle (scroll down a bit)], and he also had an amazing family and friends. He will be missed.
So I'm a little sad. Luckily Murphy remains a source of joy or at least laughter. Last night I was talking with Mom and Dad in their room and I let him out to the back to go to the bathroom before bed. And he fell in the pool. I looked outside and saw these ripples in the water and there Murph was, clinging to the corner. I ran to him and pulled him out by the armpits. He was very distraught and shook water everywhere. Lesson from this: don't let the dog out in the back in the dark anymore. But it was still better than the time Jazzie fell in the hot tub - it was colder then (Thanksgiving or Christmas) and Jazzie only gave a couple futile strokes before resigning herself to her fate. Paddle-paddle-"this is the end...goodbye"...[bubbles]...
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Another long one :)
Let's see, what's been going on? I'll touch on the highlights. Friday night was the first ever Highland Park Blue Out game. The entire thing was the idea of Matt's mom. Okay, obviously not the idea of a "[color] out" game, but she was the reason why it came to HP. The shirts' profits (which was 100% in most cases because of sponsorship) went to the band, and the overall amount raised was something around or over $20,000!!! Way to go, Susie! And it was awesome to see thousands of typically apathetic HP fans wearing their blue, official shirt or otherwise, to support the football team as they took on a talented Wiley team. Mom, Dad, Matt, and I went to the game together and sat in the semi-covered-by-the-overhang school board section. It was very rainy (unfortunately, since that mean the blue got covered up with all different colors of rain gear), but there were several breaks in it. And the football was amazing. It was a very close game, with the lead going back and forth between Wiley and HP. HP scored on a 4th down play late in the 4th quarter to go ahead by 1 point, and in the 52 seconds left Wiley marched back down and got within field goal range. But they'd already used all their timeouts and their kicker was rushed and they missed the kick. I'd never seen as many HP fans stay for the end of the game as did on Friday. It was awesome. Blue Out record 1-0!
We got home late, which was unfortunate because Matt and I had to get up early on Saturday morning to drive to College Station for more football! Matt picked me up at 7am and drove us down for the Colorado game. We met up with Emily and the duplex and headed to campus. Gotta love the West Campus garage spot (good job, Em). We walked around the stadium and into the MSC looking for tickets. Matt left us waiting inside while he went back out to find a scalper with good seats. He returned victorious, and we celebrated with cheeseburgers grilled right in front of Kyle Field. Right before we parted with Em to enter the stadium, she discovered that our seats weren't on the alumni side as Matt thought, but were in an alumni section on the student side (in between the 5-10 yard lines, first deck). So we didn't part ways just then. Finally we did, as Emily was on the first row of the second deck. And let me say this about the weather: it was raining when we got to College Station for the game, and we were prepared with rain gear. Well, as SOON as the game started, the clouds broke and it became hot and sunny. The left sides of our faces got a little ... pink. Yeah, we looked silly. Anyway, we were looking forward to the A&M game as a welcome change from the excitement of the HP game the night before. We were supposed to crush CU. Ha! The game was terrifying and we barely managed to tie it up to head into overtime. Luckily, after scoring a field goal on our try, CU's Purify fumbled and we recovered and the scariest A&M game this season was over. Big sigh of relief. And even though it was way too emotional and scary, it was awesome to be there. Matt's so nice. We scurried right out of Kyle Field and College Station (after dropping off Emily) and drove to the mini-ranch. We had a yummy dinner with the 'rents and Jerry, watched some of the Texas-Tech game, had a bonfire, watched fog roll in and out, and went to bed before 11pm because we were so tuckered out. M&D let us sleep until after they got back from church, which was great. We had a lovely brunch around 11am and then Matt and I met Domino (turns out she's a she). Bob was being insanely protective of her as we walked out into the field, so that we came up with the plan "okay, if she charges us, jump over the fence." Mom and Dad went to get the horses, but we didn't have time to ride because I wanted to get back with plenty of time before work. Just as well - as soon as they got the horses to the barn, it started pouring. So we left the mini-ranch and came back to Dallas. Work was fine. I learned how to do x-rays and none of our patients died, so it was a good night. There were more patients in the clinic than other nights, but it still wasn't busy.
Yesterday I beat FFX-2. I had been going for 100% completion, but I messed one thing up (which was really annoying), so I just decided to beat the game as soon as possible after that. I still ended up with 98%, which was pretty good. And if you replay the game as a "new game plus," you start with the same %, so I just need to make sure I do what I didn't do last time. It was a really fun game and I enjoyed it (almost as much as FFX, and I liked certain aspects a lot more in X-2). But I'm also glad I've beaten it since Luke will be getting GTA: SA soon and he'll need my PS2.
Today I was convinced I would be substituting. My first scheduled job is next Tuesday, for Ms. Janik (McDonald), and I don't want her to have to be my first time. So I was scouring the website last night for a job but there was nothing. But last week I was called early in the morning Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday by the automated voice with jobs, so I thought there was a good chance I'd get called this morning as well. So I packed my bag, got out sub-appropriate clothes, and set my alarm for 7am (you have to be at the schools around 7:45am). I woke up at 7 but hadn't been called yet, so I didn't get out of bed. I figured I was awake at least, so if the call came I could spring up and be ready in no time. But, alas, the phone never rang and so I went back to sleep (I couldn't fall asleep last night due to nerves). Oh well, there's always tomorrow or Thursday or Friday (although one of those days I'm supposed to do wedding stuff). But I really hope something comes along soon.
Oh, I didn't mention this earlier. Mom, Dad, and I were all really intrigued by Bryan and Leslie's Replay TV (DVR). When we got back from California, I looked at our cable company's website to see what they had to say about it - turns out they were doing a DVR service in certain areas. Now, I knew that the ideal DVR is not one from a cable company, but our digital cable is finicky enough without trying to get it to play nicely with a third party device - getting it through the cable company is a way to ensure more support. Anyway, I called Charter on Thursday to see if it was being offered here. Sure enough, it was and you got the unit plus service for $9.99 a month - no buying the DVR, no contract. I told M&D about it, and Dad said "Let's try it!" So I called back and they said they could install it the next day (Friday). Woot! The DVR simply replaces our digital cable box. It doesn't have all the features that Leslie and Bryan's has, but it has enough, and they are currently working on a software upgrade that adds more. I've already set it up to record all of our shows, plus a few movies I wanted to watch, plus the show "Dead Like Me" on Showtime, a show I had watched a few times and liked but that airs Sunday nights. I love our new DVR. And for once, I think this was technology that Mom and Dad would have gotten on their own, even if I hadn't existed! I'm so proud.
We got home late, which was unfortunate because Matt and I had to get up early on Saturday morning to drive to College Station for more football! Matt picked me up at 7am and drove us down for the Colorado game. We met up with Emily and the duplex and headed to campus. Gotta love the West Campus garage spot (good job, Em). We walked around the stadium and into the MSC looking for tickets. Matt left us waiting inside while he went back out to find a scalper with good seats. He returned victorious, and we celebrated with cheeseburgers grilled right in front of Kyle Field. Right before we parted with Em to enter the stadium, she discovered that our seats weren't on the alumni side as Matt thought, but were in an alumni section on the student side (in between the 5-10 yard lines, first deck). So we didn't part ways just then. Finally we did, as Emily was on the first row of the second deck. And let me say this about the weather: it was raining when we got to College Station for the game, and we were prepared with rain gear. Well, as SOON as the game started, the clouds broke and it became hot and sunny. The left sides of our faces got a little ... pink. Yeah, we looked silly. Anyway, we were looking forward to the A&M game as a welcome change from the excitement of the HP game the night before. We were supposed to crush CU. Ha! The game was terrifying and we barely managed to tie it up to head into overtime. Luckily, after scoring a field goal on our try, CU's Purify fumbled and we recovered and the scariest A&M game this season was over. Big sigh of relief. And even though it was way too emotional and scary, it was awesome to be there. Matt's so nice. We scurried right out of Kyle Field and College Station (after dropping off Emily) and drove to the mini-ranch. We had a yummy dinner with the 'rents and Jerry, watched some of the Texas-Tech game, had a bonfire, watched fog roll in and out, and went to bed before 11pm because we were so tuckered out. M&D let us sleep until after they got back from church, which was great. We had a lovely brunch around 11am and then Matt and I met Domino (turns out she's a she). Bob was being insanely protective of her as we walked out into the field, so that we came up with the plan "okay, if she charges us, jump over the fence." Mom and Dad went to get the horses, but we didn't have time to ride because I wanted to get back with plenty of time before work. Just as well - as soon as they got the horses to the barn, it started pouring. So we left the mini-ranch and came back to Dallas. Work was fine. I learned how to do x-rays and none of our patients died, so it was a good night. There were more patients in the clinic than other nights, but it still wasn't busy.
Yesterday I beat FFX-2. I had been going for 100% completion, but I messed one thing up (which was really annoying), so I just decided to beat the game as soon as possible after that. I still ended up with 98%, which was pretty good. And if you replay the game as a "new game plus," you start with the same %, so I just need to make sure I do what I didn't do last time. It was a really fun game and I enjoyed it (almost as much as FFX, and I liked certain aspects a lot more in X-2). But I'm also glad I've beaten it since Luke will be getting GTA: SA soon and he'll need my PS2.
Today I was convinced I would be substituting. My first scheduled job is next Tuesday, for Ms. Janik (McDonald), and I don't want her to have to be my first time. So I was scouring the website last night for a job but there was nothing. But last week I was called early in the morning Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday by the automated voice with jobs, so I thought there was a good chance I'd get called this morning as well. So I packed my bag, got out sub-appropriate clothes, and set my alarm for 7am (you have to be at the schools around 7:45am). I woke up at 7 but hadn't been called yet, so I didn't get out of bed. I figured I was awake at least, so if the call came I could spring up and be ready in no time. But, alas, the phone never rang and so I went back to sleep (I couldn't fall asleep last night due to nerves). Oh well, there's always tomorrow or Thursday or Friday (although one of those days I'm supposed to do wedding stuff). But I really hope something comes along soon.
Oh, I didn't mention this earlier. Mom, Dad, and I were all really intrigued by Bryan and Leslie's Replay TV (DVR). When we got back from California, I looked at our cable company's website to see what they had to say about it - turns out they were doing a DVR service in certain areas. Now, I knew that the ideal DVR is not one from a cable company, but our digital cable is finicky enough without trying to get it to play nicely with a third party device - getting it through the cable company is a way to ensure more support. Anyway, I called Charter on Thursday to see if it was being offered here. Sure enough, it was and you got the unit plus service for $9.99 a month - no buying the DVR, no contract. I told M&D about it, and Dad said "Let's try it!" So I called back and they said they could install it the next day (Friday). Woot! The DVR simply replaces our digital cable box. It doesn't have all the features that Leslie and Bryan's has, but it has enough, and they are currently working on a software upgrade that adds more. I've already set it up to record all of our shows, plus a few movies I wanted to watch, plus the show "Dead Like Me" on Showtime, a show I had watched a few times and liked but that airs Sunday nights. I love our new DVR. And for once, I think this was technology that Mom and Dad would have gotten on their own, even if I hadn't existed! I'm so proud.
Thursday, October 21, 2004
The Promised Update
At last - I'm getting around to posting about California. I'd say I've been busy and that would be somewhat true...trying to beat Final Fantasy X-2 is hard work! So, California was great. The weather was awesome, we saw did lots of things, and it was great catching up with Leslie and Bryan. I'll start from the top.
On Wednesday morning, we left the house and Murphy in the capable hands of Carolyn as Jerry took us to the airport. Flying American was super, except for us being in the back of the plane. We kept thinking how the people in the back of the plane were the ones who died in Lost. I wore my traveling maroon. I met one Aggie, class of '97. Getting the rental car was a little trickier...Dad got a super-budget car that required a ride from the airport to the rental place, followed by another ride by van to a hotel where the rental place was in the lobby, in what looked like a closet. It was a little sketchy. And then they directed us to the wrong gold Camry in the parking lot, so they had to drive around with our keys out the window, seeing which car honked back to find ours. Also, Dad had paid $6 extra per day for a new car, and ours had 29k miles on it (and a cracked windshield). Yeah, that's new...but in the car's defense, it did just fine for the 400+ miles we used it. So then we went to M&D's hotel and got checked in. We hung out there for a while, and I finished reading the book (The Lovely Bones)Mom loaned me to read on the plane. It was really good. Then we headed over to Les and Bryan's apartment. We chatted for a while and then somewhat watched the debate. And we all got a ReplayTV lesson. And Les and Bryan cooked dinner for us later, which was very good. Then M&D headed back to the hotel and I got settled in on the couch, which was very comfy.
Thursday: Leslie took the day off from work, which was great! M&D got to the apartment around 8:30. We got organized and then drove a long way on curvy mountain roads through Colorado-esque towns to Big Basin State Park, which has the best redwoods in the area. We did a short hike (walk) that took us by some amazing trees. And it was in the high 50's temp-wise, which felt awesome. Then we played around on a big fallen redwood they let you climb on (the roots were great fun to climb). Next we drove to Bonnie Doon, a winery, and did tasting (Les and Bryan have been there almost 10 times between them). It was interesting, and even though I didn't like the wine (Bryan didn't really either, which made me feel better), I appreciated the fact that it seemed like quality product. And it made me feel cultured... :) We had two dessert wines, including a rasberry one served in a chocolate cup, that were okay because they were really sweet. But still not something I'd really choose to order somewhere. Then we drove along the coast about 40 miles to Half Moon Bay, a really cool little town (okay, not that little). We ate at Bryan's favorite "seafood dive" the Flying Fish Grill, where we ordered garlic calamari as an appetizer, and I got fried prawns with sweet potato fries. Then we walked around the downtown, which was a lot like a Colorado town with all the little shops and restaurants. At about 4:30 we left and drove down to the beach just to see it. It was really foggy, which was cool. The waves were pretty big (surfers like the area). So, after the ocean, we drove back to fremont. We crossed over the longest bridge in the bay and could see Oakland and San Fran. It was cool. We went to Trader Joe's (the cool, totally California grocery store chain) and got stuff to have a laid back dinner. While we ate, we watched 'Best in Show'. Then Mom and Dad left and the kids went upstairs. I watched CSI and ER that Leslie had so kindly set up to TiVo for me. Bryan joined me for ER, which was nice, although regretably it was a crummy episode.
On Friday, Leslie had to teach (sad), and so Bryan was our tour leader for the day (what a good sport). We drove to Berkeley after contemplating taking BART like Bryan does usually. After some parking excitement, he left us at a coffee shop for M&D to get their caffeine fix while he met with a professor. After collecting us, we proceeded to tromp through all of the Berkeley campus, which I really enjoyed seeing. I kept my eyes out for Jenny McBee, but didn't run into her. We went through the library, which was just amazing. Very ornate but cozy. Then we had lunch at one of Bryan's favorite restaurants and headed back towards the car, stopping along the way to walk through the chemistry building for my sake. :) We drove through the neighborhoods around Berkeley before heading to San Jose. We saw neat houses and the coolest elementary school ever in those hills. Next we visited Leslie's class right before school got out, followed by a trip to the Winchester Mystery House, which was surprising cool (aren't insane people interesting?). Then Johanna (one of Leslie's TFA friends) joined us for vegetarian Indian food. That night I got to talk with Matt on the phone. I woke him up when I called - he'd fallen asleep on the couch. He'd reached the October 15th tax deadline and was done with working in Fort Worth (thank goodness).
Saturday: M&D arrived at 9 to pick Leslie and me up to head to San Francisco. Bryan was staying behind because his friend Doug was arriving in town later to interview for Bryan's old Apple job (and was also staying at the apartment). We drove around a place called "The Presidio," and then parked in a neighborhood right by Haight-Ashbury and had brunch at a cool place with excellent food. I tried to order a coke and was told "um, we brew our own sodas here;" they also made their own beer, including one called "Weekapaug Gruit." Phish reference woot! Then we went to Chinatown and walked around there. We got back to Fremont in time to watch the Aggie game, which was AWESOME! I was so proud of the Ags. FSN cut away to the Stanford game when A&M was in the 4th quarter, but I'd seen what I needed to. Leslie was a very nice sister to let me watch the game in her living room. :) :) At the end of the game, Bryan returned with Doug and another friend Phil. After a failed attempt to locate Chinese restaurants that would deliver to us, Mom and Dad picked up fried chicken for all. We feasted and watched Aladdin. Then M&D went to their hotel we and played DDR on Bryan's PS2. It has real well-known songs, unlike my Xbox version, and more songs in general, but the Xbox version is more polished and looks nicer. I agree with Bryan, though, that they all have a horrible user interface. Then Phil went home, Bryan got Doug settled on the dining room floor, and we all went to bed. I had to get up at 6:45 on Sunday to get ready to go to the airport.
So, to sum up, California was lovely. Leslie and Bryan were super-generous with their time, and it was great catching up with both of them. I read a couple books, Bryan loaned me the two PS2 Grand Theft Auto games...a good time was had by all. :)
On Wednesday morning, we left the house and Murphy in the capable hands of Carolyn as Jerry took us to the airport. Flying American was super, except for us being in the back of the plane. We kept thinking how the people in the back of the plane were the ones who died in Lost. I wore my traveling maroon. I met one Aggie, class of '97. Getting the rental car was a little trickier...Dad got a super-budget car that required a ride from the airport to the rental place, followed by another ride by van to a hotel where the rental place was in the lobby, in what looked like a closet. It was a little sketchy. And then they directed us to the wrong gold Camry in the parking lot, so they had to drive around with our keys out the window, seeing which car honked back to find ours. Also, Dad had paid $6 extra per day for a new car, and ours had 29k miles on it (and a cracked windshield). Yeah, that's new...but in the car's defense, it did just fine for the 400+ miles we used it. So then we went to M&D's hotel and got checked in. We hung out there for a while, and I finished reading the book (The Lovely Bones)Mom loaned me to read on the plane. It was really good. Then we headed over to Les and Bryan's apartment. We chatted for a while and then somewhat watched the debate. And we all got a ReplayTV lesson. And Les and Bryan cooked dinner for us later, which was very good. Then M&D headed back to the hotel and I got settled in on the couch, which was very comfy.
Thursday: Leslie took the day off from work, which was great! M&D got to the apartment around 8:30. We got organized and then drove a long way on curvy mountain roads through Colorado-esque towns to Big Basin State Park, which has the best redwoods in the area. We did a short hike (walk) that took us by some amazing trees. And it was in the high 50's temp-wise, which felt awesome. Then we played around on a big fallen redwood they let you climb on (the roots were great fun to climb). Next we drove to Bonnie Doon, a winery, and did tasting (Les and Bryan have been there almost 10 times between them). It was interesting, and even though I didn't like the wine (Bryan didn't really either, which made me feel better), I appreciated the fact that it seemed like quality product. And it made me feel cultured... :) We had two dessert wines, including a rasberry one served in a chocolate cup, that were okay because they were really sweet. But still not something I'd really choose to order somewhere. Then we drove along the coast about 40 miles to Half Moon Bay, a really cool little town (okay, not that little). We ate at Bryan's favorite "seafood dive" the Flying Fish Grill, where we ordered garlic calamari as an appetizer, and I got fried prawns with sweet potato fries. Then we walked around the downtown, which was a lot like a Colorado town with all the little shops and restaurants. At about 4:30 we left and drove down to the beach just to see it. It was really foggy, which was cool. The waves were pretty big (surfers like the area). So, after the ocean, we drove back to fremont. We crossed over the longest bridge in the bay and could see Oakland and San Fran. It was cool. We went to Trader Joe's (the cool, totally California grocery store chain) and got stuff to have a laid back dinner. While we ate, we watched 'Best in Show'. Then Mom and Dad left and the kids went upstairs. I watched CSI and ER that Leslie had so kindly set up to TiVo for me. Bryan joined me for ER, which was nice, although regretably it was a crummy episode.
On Friday, Leslie had to teach (sad), and so Bryan was our tour leader for the day (what a good sport). We drove to Berkeley after contemplating taking BART like Bryan does usually. After some parking excitement, he left us at a coffee shop for M&D to get their caffeine fix while he met with a professor. After collecting us, we proceeded to tromp through all of the Berkeley campus, which I really enjoyed seeing. I kept my eyes out for Jenny McBee, but didn't run into her. We went through the library, which was just amazing. Very ornate but cozy. Then we had lunch at one of Bryan's favorite restaurants and headed back towards the car, stopping along the way to walk through the chemistry building for my sake. :) We drove through the neighborhoods around Berkeley before heading to San Jose. We saw neat houses and the coolest elementary school ever in those hills. Next we visited Leslie's class right before school got out, followed by a trip to the Winchester Mystery House, which was surprising cool (aren't insane people interesting?). Then Johanna (one of Leslie's TFA friends) joined us for vegetarian Indian food. That night I got to talk with Matt on the phone. I woke him up when I called - he'd fallen asleep on the couch. He'd reached the October 15th tax deadline and was done with working in Fort Worth (thank goodness).
Saturday: M&D arrived at 9 to pick Leslie and me up to head to San Francisco. Bryan was staying behind because his friend Doug was arriving in town later to interview for Bryan's old Apple job (and was also staying at the apartment). We drove around a place called "The Presidio," and then parked in a neighborhood right by Haight-Ashbury and had brunch at a cool place with excellent food. I tried to order a coke and was told "um, we brew our own sodas here;" they also made their own beer, including one called "Weekapaug Gruit." Phish reference woot! Then we went to Chinatown and walked around there. We got back to Fremont in time to watch the Aggie game, which was AWESOME! I was so proud of the Ags. FSN cut away to the Stanford game when A&M was in the 4th quarter, but I'd seen what I needed to. Leslie was a very nice sister to let me watch the game in her living room. :) :) At the end of the game, Bryan returned with Doug and another friend Phil. After a failed attempt to locate Chinese restaurants that would deliver to us, Mom and Dad picked up fried chicken for all. We feasted and watched Aladdin. Then M&D went to their hotel we and played DDR on Bryan's PS2. It has real well-known songs, unlike my Xbox version, and more songs in general, but the Xbox version is more polished and looks nicer. I agree with Bryan, though, that they all have a horrible user interface. Then Phil went home, Bryan got Doug settled on the dining room floor, and we all went to bed. I had to get up at 6:45 on Sunday to get ready to go to the airport.
So, to sum up, California was lovely. Leslie and Bryan were super-generous with their time, and it was great catching up with both of them. I read a couple books, Bryan loaned me the two PS2 Grand Theft Auto games...a good time was had by all. :)
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Domino
I'll post an update about California and work and whatnot later, but right now I want to post a pic of the newest member of the mini-ranch herd: Domino the calf. Mamacita had her baby sometime when we were in California (our guess is Friday). We're pretty sure it is a 'he.' All the cows are being very protective of him, especially his Aunt Bob. Here's the picture Mom took on Monday:
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Caleeforneuh
It's not a tuma...
Tomorrow we're going to the great state governed by the Terminator to visit Leslie and Bryan. We'll be there until Sunday. Leslie's taking Thursday off from teaching to play (and going back on Friday to clean up the sub's mess) and we're going to come visit her school on Friday. Her principal is even an Aggie! I've been to her school once before (last Christmas) but there weren't any students, so I didn't get the full effect. And I think we're all going to San Francisco on Saturday. I'm just excited that I'll get to see Les between August and Christmas. And it looks like the A&M game will be shown on Fox Sports Bay Area, so if we're home I might even get to watch! We are supposed to get into DFW at 4pm on Sunday, which is exactly when my work shift starts. I got someone to cover until I can get there.
Not much has been going on with me lately. I had my sub meeting on Friday. It was a group thing with maybe 12 other prospective substitute teachers. They made sure we had all our paperwork and we filled out a few more forms. I had to call Mom for her SSN because I had to name a beneficiary for my retirement plan. That was a little weird. We're supposed to be on the sub list by tomorrow exciting! On Saturday Matt and I ordered the A&M game on PPV and watched it over at his house. That was really fun. I'm so glad our team is improving...I mean, 4-1 (2-0 Big 12) is awesome! And we're even ranked now! A big test will be the Oklahoma State game this Saturday. It'll show how far we've really come.
I had my second work shift on Sunday. I was more relaxed and able to contribute a little more, but at the same time, I feel like I know nothing. When I got in around 3:30, I got to say hello to Dr. Myers (our vet, the one who helped me get the job) who was just finishing up his shift. He introduced me to the vet I was working under (Dr. Johnston - super nice and fun to work for) and told me if anyone gave me a hard time, I should let him know. I felt special. :) It was another slow Sunday night (unusual, they say). I got to see my first surgery - a Mastiff with bloat - meaning I could watch whenever I had time. And I helped drain off over half a litre of fluid from a boxer's chest. A dog needed a whole blood transfusion and the techs on the case were asking all of us if we owned big dogs. Dr. Johnston's wife ended up bringing their dog (a tripod - that's what happens when both adults are vets) to be the donor. That was cool. I didn't get home until about 12:30. Murphy went crazy when he smelled all the animals on me. I took my time getting ready for bed this time around because I discovered last Sunday that I need to wind down after work before trying to sleep. Mom and Dad were very considerate of my need to sleep in on Monday (Murphy not so much).
I've been playing a lot of FFX-2 in the last week, and now I'm over 80% done. I need to beat it soon because Luke's borrowing my PS2 to play GTA: San Andreas when it comes out. And I can't have a game like FFX-2 remaining unbeaten when my PS2 is unavailable (and I don't think the Roberts want me popping in and playing video games all day while Luke's at school). Yesterday Laurie Haluska brought over fabric samples for the wedding dress and I picked the ones I liked. It was exciting. We're going to have our first fitting at Thanksgiving!
So yeah, that's what's been going on with me lately. Oh, and one more thing: if anyone out there saw the movie Garden State and really liked it, you should totally get the soundtrack. It is awesome.
Tomorrow we're going to the great state governed by the Terminator to visit Leslie and Bryan. We'll be there until Sunday. Leslie's taking Thursday off from teaching to play (and going back on Friday to clean up the sub's mess) and we're going to come visit her school on Friday. Her principal is even an Aggie! I've been to her school once before (last Christmas) but there weren't any students, so I didn't get the full effect. And I think we're all going to San Francisco on Saturday. I'm just excited that I'll get to see Les between August and Christmas. And it looks like the A&M game will be shown on Fox Sports Bay Area, so if we're home I might even get to watch! We are supposed to get into DFW at 4pm on Sunday, which is exactly when my work shift starts. I got someone to cover until I can get there.
Not much has been going on with me lately. I had my sub meeting on Friday. It was a group thing with maybe 12 other prospective substitute teachers. They made sure we had all our paperwork and we filled out a few more forms. I had to call Mom for her SSN because I had to name a beneficiary for my retirement plan. That was a little weird. We're supposed to be on the sub list by tomorrow exciting! On Saturday Matt and I ordered the A&M game on PPV and watched it over at his house. That was really fun. I'm so glad our team is improving...I mean, 4-1 (2-0 Big 12) is awesome! And we're even ranked now! A big test will be the Oklahoma State game this Saturday. It'll show how far we've really come.
I had my second work shift on Sunday. I was more relaxed and able to contribute a little more, but at the same time, I feel like I know nothing. When I got in around 3:30, I got to say hello to Dr. Myers (our vet, the one who helped me get the job) who was just finishing up his shift. He introduced me to the vet I was working under (Dr. Johnston - super nice and fun to work for) and told me if anyone gave me a hard time, I should let him know. I felt special. :) It was another slow Sunday night (unusual, they say). I got to see my first surgery - a Mastiff with bloat - meaning I could watch whenever I had time. And I helped drain off over half a litre of fluid from a boxer's chest. A dog needed a whole blood transfusion and the techs on the case were asking all of us if we owned big dogs. Dr. Johnston's wife ended up bringing their dog (a tripod - that's what happens when both adults are vets) to be the donor. That was cool. I didn't get home until about 12:30. Murphy went crazy when he smelled all the animals on me. I took my time getting ready for bed this time around because I discovered last Sunday that I need to wind down after work before trying to sleep. Mom and Dad were very considerate of my need to sleep in on Monday (Murphy not so much).
I've been playing a lot of FFX-2 in the last week, and now I'm over 80% done. I need to beat it soon because Luke's borrowing my PS2 to play GTA: San Andreas when it comes out. And I can't have a game like FFX-2 remaining unbeaten when my PS2 is unavailable (and I don't think the Roberts want me popping in and playing video games all day while Luke's at school). Yesterday Laurie Haluska brought over fabric samples for the wedding dress and I picked the ones I liked. It was exciting. We're going to have our first fitting at Thanksgiving!
So yeah, that's what's been going on with me lately. Oh, and one more thing: if anyone out there saw the movie Garden State and really liked it, you should totally get the soundtrack. It is awesome.
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Ever seen Emergency Vets on Animal Planet?
Yeah, it was kind of like that but 100 times slower. They told me it was a really slow day (especially for a Sunday) and not to expect it to ever be like that. I got there around 3:30 pm. I met Christina, a vet tech in the know, who showed me around randomly until the tech I was to shadow, Susan, arrived. Susan is probably in her early 40's, and she's a very good vet tech. So I learned how to read medical charts. We do chart updates every two hours, and what the update consists of depends on the animal - it might be as little as making sure the cage is clean and the animal is still breathing or as much as administering medications and taking TPR (temperature, pulse, respiration rate). I saw a few catheters placed and medicine given, although I didn't do any myself. Also, I was told to watch all the techs holding techniques on the animals - it is our job to make sure no one (especially the vets) gets bitten. Techs are all assigned to vets (about three techs per vet), and Susan, Jennifer, and I were under Dr. Sarpong (she's a nice, very young-looking vet - good, though).
Some of the cases already there included Buck, an old epileptic wirehaired Fox Terrier feeling off; Smokey, a gray kitty hit-by-car (HBC) with a broken jaw that was awaiting a Monday surgery; Billie Badass, a fluffy orange kitty HBC; a dog with distemper in isolation; and three 3-week-old kittens who'd lost their mom and were awaiting foster care. My favorite was Lilley, a Calico who'd actually died on Saturday night from respiration problems (air in the chest cavity compressing the lungs) - all the techs and vets who'd seen her on Saturday were amazed she was still alive - and she was doing awesome. She was in an oxygen cage when I got there but was doing so well she got moved to a regular cage. She was super affectionate and loved ear rubs. Whenever I had a free moment I'd go over and pet her.
Some cases that came in while I was there: a dog with a three-pronged fish hook in its mouth. A dog that had been vomiting and either had an upset stomach from eating spoiled chicken or Parvo (let's all hope it was the former) came in - its owners tried to con their way out of the bill and probably did (the mom signed a promissory note that I doubt she'll return to pay). We gave the dog fluids subcutaneously and sent it home...it'll probably die...Dr. Sarpong wanted to have them sign the animal over to us but they refused. I saw a torti cat that looked almost exactly like Whiskers but with stunning green eyes who'd been attacked by a dog; she did okay. There was a Boston Terrier with a broken leg - super cute. Then there was an old dog who was attacked by another dog (of the same owner) at a dog park because it was weak and had spine problems. It was going to be put to sleep on Friday because of the spine, so basically the owners were having their last week with the dog, but then it got attacked by another of their animals and so they went ahead and had it put down at the clinic. Then I got to learn what we do with dead animals - bag them up, put a tag on the back identifying them and indicating whether they're destined for private or communal cremation, and put them in the freezer. Not the best part of the job. There was also a young stray dog HBC with leg problems that had to be put down too because no one was there to authorize payment. All the techs working on him were trying to get one of us to adopt it (they hit me extra-hard because I was new). I would've loved to have saved it, but at the same time, I'm glad that living here with Mom and Dad automatically prevents me from picking up strays. I don't have the money or the place in life to start my animal collection. Yet. Just wait. Everyone at the clinic has multiple animals. It is only a matter of time. :) But I seriously can't get a pet right now. Especially not one that requires thousands in medical treatment right off the bat.
So yeah, it was good. I learned a lot and next Sunday will be great starting with some knowledge already in hand. My feet hurt like crazy when I got home around 12:30 am. I think I'm going to get some of those nursing clogs that resist blood and whatnot but are also super-comfy. Oh, and all I got on my scrubs this time around was peanut butter.
Some of the cases already there included Buck, an old epileptic wirehaired Fox Terrier feeling off; Smokey, a gray kitty hit-by-car (HBC) with a broken jaw that was awaiting a Monday surgery; Billie Badass, a fluffy orange kitty HBC; a dog with distemper in isolation; and three 3-week-old kittens who'd lost their mom and were awaiting foster care. My favorite was Lilley, a Calico who'd actually died on Saturday night from respiration problems (air in the chest cavity compressing the lungs) - all the techs and vets who'd seen her on Saturday were amazed she was still alive - and she was doing awesome. She was in an oxygen cage when I got there but was doing so well she got moved to a regular cage. She was super affectionate and loved ear rubs. Whenever I had a free moment I'd go over and pet her.
Some cases that came in while I was there: a dog with a three-pronged fish hook in its mouth. A dog that had been vomiting and either had an upset stomach from eating spoiled chicken or Parvo (let's all hope it was the former) came in - its owners tried to con their way out of the bill and probably did (the mom signed a promissory note that I doubt she'll return to pay). We gave the dog fluids subcutaneously and sent it home...it'll probably die...Dr. Sarpong wanted to have them sign the animal over to us but they refused. I saw a torti cat that looked almost exactly like Whiskers but with stunning green eyes who'd been attacked by a dog; she did okay. There was a Boston Terrier with a broken leg - super cute. Then there was an old dog who was attacked by another dog (of the same owner) at a dog park because it was weak and had spine problems. It was going to be put to sleep on Friday because of the spine, so basically the owners were having their last week with the dog, but then it got attacked by another of their animals and so they went ahead and had it put down at the clinic. Then I got to learn what we do with dead animals - bag them up, put a tag on the back identifying them and indicating whether they're destined for private or communal cremation, and put them in the freezer. Not the best part of the job. There was also a young stray dog HBC with leg problems that had to be put down too because no one was there to authorize payment. All the techs working on him were trying to get one of us to adopt it (they hit me extra-hard because I was new). I would've loved to have saved it, but at the same time, I'm glad that living here with Mom and Dad automatically prevents me from picking up strays. I don't have the money or the place in life to start my animal collection. Yet. Just wait. Everyone at the clinic has multiple animals. It is only a matter of time. :) But I seriously can't get a pet right now. Especially not one that requires thousands in medical treatment right off the bat.
So yeah, it was good. I learned a lot and next Sunday will be great starting with some knowledge already in hand. My feet hurt like crazy when I got home around 12:30 am. I think I'm going to get some of those nursing clogs that resist blood and whatnot but are also super-comfy. Oh, and all I got on my scrubs this time around was peanut butter.
Friday, October 01, 2004
Ah, memories
So I usually try to time my workouts so that I do my 30 minutes of cardio during an episode of Full House on ABC Family (I get bored). Well, as I've been watching recently, I realized that I was seeing the newest Full House episodes (everyone was really old). Just now while I was waiting for Matt to get back from Fort Worth, I watched (unknown to me until now) the very last two episodes ever (the one where Michelle falls off the horse and gets amnesia and its continuation). I don't think I'd seen them since I experienced them the first time in primetime. But you know what that means? On Sunday, they start all over from the beginning! I don't know that I ever saw the first episode of Full House, but I going to make sure and catch it this time around! :)
Thursday, September 30, 2004
"You will be...
...pooped on, peed on, bled on, bitten at least once - try not to get bit - it hurts. Almost everyone cries their first day. Oh, that vet tech - she's worked her for 23 years - she made me cry on my second day. It's pretty normal to cry at night during the first couple weeks because of all the stuff you've seen at work."
This was the pep talk I got yesterday afternoon from Stephanie, a 3-year vet tech at the clinic, when I went in to fill out my employment packet. I thought I'd be meeting with Dr. Smith, the vet who hired me, but instead Stephanie walked me through everything instead. It was good - she told it like it was. I filled out tax stuff, federal employment stuff, got a manual, an OHSA packet whose first two pages were about avoiding animal bites. Murphy now gets 50% off any emergency medical care (let's all hope we never get to take advantage of that). I learned where and how to clock in and out. Where to park. Where to buy scrubs. How to ask others to cover my shift and how to sign up to cover other peoples' shifts. Where the list of duties was and how that worked. When we can take breaks. How you should always initial and date the food you leave in the break area to prevent others from eating it. How it was really a fun place to work but that people would test you if you were new and how it could sometimes be like high school. Stuff like that. I like Stephanie, and I'm sad she won't be there on Sunday when I have my first shift (she's going to the Bahamas). But when she gets back she'll be training me. All her cautions didn't scare me off (it was pretty much what I figured), and I'm really excited about starting work. After that meeting, I went to "Uniform World" and got two sets of scrubs: a dark blue top and bottom, a maroon top, and light blue bottoms. After 90 days we get two sets of official clinic scrubs but you always need extras. She also recommended getting some nursing shoes, since they are very comfortable and are blood-resistant, but I'm holding off on that for a while.
In other job news, I'm going in next Friday (the 8th) to meet with the HPISD personnel department to discuss substitute teaching. Hopefully it will be a quick process so that I'll be eligible soon. Since I am only working on Sundays at the clinic, I'd like to do as much subbing as possible.
Finally, something completely off topic. One of my websites in my links section is that of Clare's website/blog/picture gallery. Clare was one of Leslie's two roommates her junior and senior years at UT, and she's a really awesome person. She just started a two year stint in the Peace Corps in Senegal, Africa. So first off, I highly recommend you follow her blog because it is pretty amazing stuff and she's posting pictures too. Also, if anyone is so inclined, postcards are highly encouraged (you can find contact info in the Peace Corps section of her blog) because nothing says awesome like mail from strangers in different parts of the country. :)
Oh yeah, and something else that's randomly being added to this post - Dad's getting a new Expedition today! I'm excited. I love new cars.
"Consistency is the defense of a small mind." - Beldin
This was the pep talk I got yesterday afternoon from Stephanie, a 3-year vet tech at the clinic, when I went in to fill out my employment packet. I thought I'd be meeting with Dr. Smith, the vet who hired me, but instead Stephanie walked me through everything instead. It was good - she told it like it was. I filled out tax stuff, federal employment stuff, got a manual, an OHSA packet whose first two pages were about avoiding animal bites. Murphy now gets 50% off any emergency medical care (let's all hope we never get to take advantage of that). I learned where and how to clock in and out. Where to park. Where to buy scrubs. How to ask others to cover my shift and how to sign up to cover other peoples' shifts. Where the list of duties was and how that worked. When we can take breaks. How you should always initial and date the food you leave in the break area to prevent others from eating it. How it was really a fun place to work but that people would test you if you were new and how it could sometimes be like high school. Stuff like that. I like Stephanie, and I'm sad she won't be there on Sunday when I have my first shift (she's going to the Bahamas). But when she gets back she'll be training me. All her cautions didn't scare me off (it was pretty much what I figured), and I'm really excited about starting work. After that meeting, I went to "Uniform World" and got two sets of scrubs: a dark blue top and bottom, a maroon top, and light blue bottoms. After 90 days we get two sets of official clinic scrubs but you always need extras. She also recommended getting some nursing shoes, since they are very comfortable and are blood-resistant, but I'm holding off on that for a while.
In other job news, I'm going in next Friday (the 8th) to meet with the HPISD personnel department to discuss substitute teaching. Hopefully it will be a quick process so that I'll be eligible soon. Since I am only working on Sundays at the clinic, I'd like to do as much subbing as possible.
Finally, something completely off topic. One of my websites in my links section is that of Clare's website/blog/picture gallery. Clare was one of Leslie's two roommates her junior and senior years at UT, and she's a really awesome person. She just started a two year stint in the Peace Corps in Senegal, Africa. So first off, I highly recommend you follow her blog because it is pretty amazing stuff and she's posting pictures too. Also, if anyone is so inclined, postcards are highly encouraged (you can find contact info in the Peace Corps section of her blog) because nothing says awesome like mail from strangers in different parts of the country. :)
Oh yeah, and something else that's randomly being added to this post - Dad's getting a new Expedition today! I'm excited. I love new cars.
"Consistency is the defense of a small mind." - Beldin
Arg!!!!!
Never order anything from Barnes & Noble online. Ever. I wouldn't have either - Amazon is easier and cheaper - but I had a giftcard. So over a month ago I ordered a couple DVDs, and the total cost was covered by my gift card plus about $8 on my credit card. Well, one of the DVDs they sent was the wrong one (and I wasn't that surprised because on their website they had the pictures switched between the DVD I wanted and the DVD I got, even though they had different names). So I called and told them what was up. The customer service person said I'd get a label to ship the wrong one back and they'd send the right DVD as soon as possible, and that I'd get an e-mail confirming all of this and contained an order number for the DVD that was coming. Eventually I got the mailing label to return the DVD but nothing else (no e-mail, no DVD). So I wrote an e-mail explaining all of this. They eventually wrote back saying they were sorry, to send the DVD back, and they'd work on getting me the right DVD. A few days later I was told I needed to pay the $20 for the new DVD so they could ship it. Fine, I thought, and put it on my credit card. That was a while back, and I got the correct DVD pretty quickly afterwards. But no refund. I checked my bank account today and there was finally a refund there...for $8, not $20. Apparently they decided to partially refund my credit card and partially refund my gift card (which was long ago throw away because it was all used up). So today I got to call them again and demand that they completely credit my card (hello, I put $20 on it buying the right DVD from them?!?!) rather than putting any on my gift card. Frankly, I want nothing to do with them again. I don't want a freaking credit with them. Next time I get a B&N gift card, I'm walking in the store and buying something off the shelf. ARG! These people are so incompetent. First off, they send the wrong DVD. Then the customer service woman lies to me. Then they make me pay for the right DVD before they ship it. And then they refund me in a bizarre way and make me call them again. BOOOOOOO! Avoid barnesandnoble.com at all costs. Bleh.
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
I’m thirsty, Garion, not dirty
That quotation has nothing to do with my post. I just like it. Makes me smile. :) (<--see?) Saturday night was a blast - Matt's parents hosted dinner for my parents and me. Chef John was in the kitchen while the rest of us whet our appetite on baked brie and crackers. It was a wonderful meal, celebrating Matt and my engagement as well as Emily's 20th birthday. The food was very yummy. On Sunday, Mom left us to go on her semiannual trip to Round Top. I took advantage of her absense to teach Dad how to play Halo. Even though Dad doesn't play video games with me a lot, it's really neat to have a father who has some skill at video games. A lot of people over the age of 50 just can't get it and would have had poor Master Chief perpetually walking in circles and looking at the sky. Not my dad. Ha! Sunday night I tried out a couple recipes from my page-a-day recipe calendar: beef strips with orange and ginger and ginger-spiced applesauce, served with green beans and white rice. Dad and Matt helped out (Matt learned how to steam green beans to the Hall family desired crispiness) and we sat down to a really good dinner. I was proud. Then Matt and I watched Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.
On Monday night Matt and I went over to Claude's house and joined him, Jerry, Ted, Dad, and Robert in watching the 'Boys played the Redskins on his huge widescreen HDTV with surround sound. It was awesome. But we left at halftime so Matt could get to bed to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for work the next day (although it was such a good game he later admitted to watching the rest at home in his PJs). Yesterday it was just Murphy and me at the house because Dad went down to the miniranch for a day. I went to the dentist for a checkup (joy) and played lots of Final Fantasy X-2. I hadn't played in a while (I was in a slump) but I got back into it. Besides, I need to beat it in the next month because Luke is going to borrow my PS2 to play GTA: SA when it comes out in late October. Then last night I watched Scrubs and L&O: SVU at Matt's.
I'm meeting with Dr. Smith, my new boss, at 4 today to fill out my "employment packet" for the vet clinic. Only 4 days until I start my job...it's exciting but a little scary. I still haven't made contact with the HPISD personnel department about substitute teaching, but my application is all ready to go (Jerry notarized my "Oath of Office" on Monday night). Actually, I'll be calling them again as soon as I post this blog entry.
Silk advised, 'Thinking about it isn't going to help, and it's only going to serve to make you nervous.'
'Nervouser,' Garion corrected, 'I'm already nervous.'
'Is there such a word as nervouser?' Silk asked Belgarath curiously.
'There is now,' Belgarath replied 'Garion just invented it,'
'I wish I could invent a word,' Silk said to Garion admiringly, his ferret like eyes gleaming mischieviously.
On Monday night Matt and I went over to Claude's house and joined him, Jerry, Ted, Dad, and Robert in watching the 'Boys played the Redskins on his huge widescreen HDTV with surround sound. It was awesome. But we left at halftime so Matt could get to bed to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for work the next day (although it was such a good game he later admitted to watching the rest at home in his PJs). Yesterday it was just Murphy and me at the house because Dad went down to the miniranch for a day. I went to the dentist for a checkup (joy) and played lots of Final Fantasy X-2. I hadn't played in a while (I was in a slump) but I got back into it. Besides, I need to beat it in the next month because Luke is going to borrow my PS2 to play GTA: SA when it comes out in late October. Then last night I watched Scrubs and L&O: SVU at Matt's.
I'm meeting with Dr. Smith, my new boss, at 4 today to fill out my "employment packet" for the vet clinic. Only 4 days until I start my job...it's exciting but a little scary. I still haven't made contact with the HPISD personnel department about substitute teaching, but my application is all ready to go (Jerry notarized my "Oath of Office" on Monday night). Actually, I'll be calling them again as soon as I post this blog entry.
Silk advised, 'Thinking about it isn't going to help, and it's only going to serve to make you nervous.'
'Nervouser,' Garion corrected, 'I'm already nervous.'
'Is there such a word as nervouser?' Silk asked Belgarath curiously.
'There is now,' Belgarath replied 'Garion just invented it,'
'I wish I could invent a word,' Silk said to Garion admiringly, his ferret like eyes gleaming mischieviously.
Saturday, September 25, 2004
Fort Worth Fun
First off, I really enjoyed watching CSI and ER on Thursday night. It's fun to have those shows back, although we'll have to wait two more weeks until the next ones because of the presidential debate next week. Grr. Another exciting happening on Thursday - I heard from the vet at the emergency clinic and got my schedule. I'd asked for two shifts a week but he'd only scheduled me for one: 4 pm - midnight on Sundays. I start October 3. Yay! We'll discuss adding another shift on Wednesday when I go by to fill out an "employment packet."
Yesterday was very fun - I went to Fort Worth to have lunch with Matt! I made it there with no problems even though I'd never driven further than Six Flags on I-30 before. I went up to his office and he introduced me to people and showed me around. It is ridiculously small compared to the Dallas office. Then we walked around downtown looking for a place to eat. Eventually we settled on 8.0 because we were tired of thinking about it. After lunch, we went back to the office and said goodbye so he could go back to work. Then I proceeded to go to the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, which I think is nicer than the Arboretum. And most of it is free! After wandering around there for a while, I went to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, specifically for the Omni (IMAX) Theatre. Some people I know, like Matt, have been to the IMAX before, but if they haven't been to the Omni, they haven't seen anything.
"The Omni Theater is a technical marvel incorporating the most advanced super 70mm, multi-image projection and sound systems in the world. The theater's screen is a dome, 80 feet in diameter, tilted at a 30-degree angle to the horizon...72 huge speakers in 10 clusters are strategically placed to allow 6-track sound to "move" across the theater in synchronization with the action on the screen. The patented Omnimax® projection system utilizes the largest film size format in the history of motion pictures. Nearly 10 times larger than its 35mm counterpart, the film fills the dome with brilliant, distortion-free images. The Omnimax® projector alone stands 6 feet high and weighs 2,000 pounds."
Yeah, it is super-cool. The best field trips ever were the ones to the Omni. I sat in the exact center, which was awesome, and took in the film Forces of Nature. Very cool. Now that I know that Matt's never been to the Omni, we're going to have to go sometime. Soon. What a deprived childhood he must have had.
Anyway, after the Omni, I headed back home uneventfully. Last night we went to Wild About Harry's for hot dogs and then went and registered at Crate & Barrel. That was really fun. Matt liked holding the scanner. We did mostly cooking stuff, and now we definitely need Mom to help us sort through it to let us know what we forgot to put on there or what is really unnecessary. We're new at this. Then we browsed the Apple Store and went back to Wild About Harry's for custard. Yum. So it was a very good day. :)
Yesterday was very fun - I went to Fort Worth to have lunch with Matt! I made it there with no problems even though I'd never driven further than Six Flags on I-30 before. I went up to his office and he introduced me to people and showed me around. It is ridiculously small compared to the Dallas office. Then we walked around downtown looking for a place to eat. Eventually we settled on 8.0 because we were tired of thinking about it. After lunch, we went back to the office and said goodbye so he could go back to work. Then I proceeded to go to the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, which I think is nicer than the Arboretum. And most of it is free! After wandering around there for a while, I went to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, specifically for the Omni (IMAX) Theatre. Some people I know, like Matt, have been to the IMAX before, but if they haven't been to the Omni, they haven't seen anything.
"The Omni Theater is a technical marvel incorporating the most advanced super 70mm, multi-image projection and sound systems in the world. The theater's screen is a dome, 80 feet in diameter, tilted at a 30-degree angle to the horizon...72 huge speakers in 10 clusters are strategically placed to allow 6-track sound to "move" across the theater in synchronization with the action on the screen. The patented Omnimax® projection system utilizes the largest film size format in the history of motion pictures. Nearly 10 times larger than its 35mm counterpart, the film fills the dome with brilliant, distortion-free images. The Omnimax® projector alone stands 6 feet high and weighs 2,000 pounds."
Yeah, it is super-cool. The best field trips ever were the ones to the Omni. I sat in the exact center, which was awesome, and took in the film Forces of Nature. Very cool. Now that I know that Matt's never been to the Omni, we're going to have to go sometime. Soon. What a deprived childhood he must have had.
Anyway, after the Omni, I headed back home uneventfully. Last night we went to Wild About Harry's for hot dogs and then went and registered at Crate & Barrel. That was really fun. Matt liked holding the scanner. We did mostly cooking stuff, and now we definitely need Mom to help us sort through it to let us know what we forgot to put on there or what is really unnecessary. We're new at this. Then we browsed the Apple Store and went back to Wild About Harry's for custard. Yum. So it was a very good day. :)
Thursday, September 23, 2004
The Force is with me
I got Tuesday with the specific purpose of driving to Best Buy and getting the Star Wars Trilogy. And I did just that, as well as picking up Episodes I & II as well. I watched Episode I that afternoon, and on Tuesday night, Matt, Mom, Dad, and I watched Episode IV.
Yesterday I helped out at the high school "Lunch on the Lawn" (which was in the cafeteria...Old Army's gone to hell...oh wait, wrong school). Peggy Sue joined a few other restaurants in providing the food. I was the cashier while Mike Shannon and Baldo served chopped beef sandwiches. It was pretty fun - I got to be up at the school and chatted with some old teachers and whatnot (Alcerreca, Duke, Dr. Bryce, some counselors, etc). The Roberts were there selling Blue Out shirts too (Susie borrowed an idea from A&M and is arranging a "Blue Out" game for HP and the shirts are a band fundraiser). After that was over, I went back to the doctor and had my TB test "read," which meant a nurse brushed her fingers twice over the injection location, didn't feel anything, and circled negative on my sheet. No tuberculosis! Wahoo! Last night I had a pleasant dinner with Dad, food provided by Amore, sitting in the backyard. I set him up with The Empire Strikes Back and then went over to Matt's to watch the season premiere of Law & Order. Both new episodes were okay overall, but I really like the new detective who replaced Lenny. When I got home, I watched the series premiere of Lost that I'd taped with M&D. We liked it and will definitely watch next week's continuation of the pilot. It was good.
Today I haven't done much, just had lunch and watched The Empire Strikes Back. Now I'm thinking about getting dressed and going to the Y. Tonight we have the season premieres of CSI and ER! Yay for primetime television's return!
In November, Sony is releasing a new design of the PS2 that is TINY (and has built-in Ethernet)! I'm jealous. Read [the article] if you're interested.
Yesterday I helped out at the high school "Lunch on the Lawn" (which was in the cafeteria...Old Army's gone to hell...oh wait, wrong school). Peggy Sue joined a few other restaurants in providing the food. I was the cashier while Mike Shannon and Baldo served chopped beef sandwiches. It was pretty fun - I got to be up at the school and chatted with some old teachers and whatnot (Alcerreca, Duke, Dr. Bryce, some counselors, etc). The Roberts were there selling Blue Out shirts too (Susie borrowed an idea from A&M and is arranging a "Blue Out" game for HP and the shirts are a band fundraiser). After that was over, I went back to the doctor and had my TB test "read," which meant a nurse brushed her fingers twice over the injection location, didn't feel anything, and circled negative on my sheet. No tuberculosis! Wahoo! Last night I had a pleasant dinner with Dad, food provided by Amore, sitting in the backyard. I set him up with The Empire Strikes Back and then went over to Matt's to watch the season premiere of Law & Order. Both new episodes were okay overall, but I really like the new detective who replaced Lenny. When I got home, I watched the series premiere of Lost that I'd taped with M&D. We liked it and will definitely watch next week's continuation of the pilot. It was good.
Today I haven't done much, just had lunch and watched The Empire Strikes Back. Now I'm thinking about getting dressed and going to the Y. Tonight we have the season premieres of CSI and ER! Yay for primetime television's return!
In November, Sony is releasing a new design of the PS2 that is TINY (and has built-in Ethernet)! I'm jealous. Read [the article] if you're interested.
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
For those of you who stopped looking at Brittany's blog a long long time ago due to a lack of updates but were once eager readers, she has posted her first update since June. Yay! We welcome Brittany back into the blogging fold. :)
Monday, September 20, 2004
There's a guy on Texags who has this pic in his signature. I just love it, so I'm going to share:
Addition: anyone else want a Gmail invite? There are tons out there now, but if any readers want to go ahead and get one from me, I have 6. Again. They keep coming back. Anyway, e-mail me if you do (same name as my tamu.edu address, but @gmail.com).
Addition: anyone else want a Gmail invite? There are tons out there now, but if any readers want to go ahead and get one from me, I have 6. Again. They keep coming back. Anyway, e-mail me if you do (same name as my tamu.edu address, but @gmail.com).
A Good Week
This has been a good week. I am happy. Monday was pretty uneventful, but from there it gets more exciting. On Tuesday I went up to the middle school because I wanted to arrange to sit in on some class the next day. I ended up instead having a lovely chat with Ms. McCormick. It was great fun catching up with her. She had just cast Matt's cousin Sarah as "Ursula" in the school play The Little Mermaid, so we even had that to discuss. On Wednesday I put on my respectable clothes and went to the middle school for observing. It was just something I wanted to do before jumping in as a substitute teacher. I sat in on two of Ms. Janik's 8th grade English classes, the TaG 2nd period and regular 4th period. During 3rd period she arranged for me to go next door and sit in on a pre-AP algebra class. I had a really good time, even if I was having to be "Miss Hall" (sound familiar, Les?). And although some of the kids' antics were a bit scary, in general the whole thing put me at ease about the subbing process. I can do this. Bring on the TB test. On Wednesday night, I got to celebrate it being the 15th (which was the deadline for corporate taxes that had filed extensions) with Matt, as he finally emerged from the Fort Worth tax bat cave he's been holed up in for weeks. He worked all weekend! And SOOO late on Monday and Tuesday. But he got home in time for dinner on Wednesday and we had celebratory Sonic and watched the episode of Scrubs I'd taped.
Thursday afternoon Brittany and I went down to the mini-ranch. She went back to school today, so I was glad we got to spend that time together, even more so since she hadn't seen the place yet and loves horses. Mom and Dad had gone down there early that morning, and we joined them around 6 pm. We pet the horses, I showed Brittany around the place, and then we fed the cows. After dinner, Dad had to return to Dallas to get ready for his dove hunt. That night we dressed me up in the wedding dress samples that had come in all the way from Washington, and then Brittany and I watched Fantasia 2000. In the morning we rode the horses and then made a quick get-away because all three of us had stuff to do back in Dallas. Friday afternoon I had my interview with the Dallas Emergency Animal Clinic. I was pretty nervous, but it wasn't actually much of an interview. The vet with whom I had been communicating with, Dr Smith, met me there and we just chatted about why I wanted to work there and he told me what they did, how they did it, what working there was like, etc. Then he gave me a tour of the facilities. I told him I wanted to work a couple shifts a week (he was willing to have me work as little as a couple times a month or as much as full time), and he said that he'd call by Friday with a tentative schedule for me. Yay! I mentioned that I might later want to work more, even full time, and he seemed fine with that - they seem very flexible. And full time is only 35 hours/week, which is pretty cool. So it was pretty cool. Then Friday night I went to dinner with Kathy Carroll, my 9th grade world geography teacher and friend. :) Speaking of that, I gave her my blog address, so now I have to keep my Tech bashing to a minimum. That's going to be hard but I'll try. Anyway, we went to a trendy pizza place on Henderson called Fireside Pies (we didn't mean to be hip and cool by going there, since hip and cool means waiting 45 minutes to get seated, but we were anyway). It was good food, and there was definitely good conversation. I had a great time catching up!
On Saturday, Matt and I left for College Station after lunch. We picked Em up from the duplex, stopped to get subs from Subway, parked in the West Campus Garage, and met up with Amanda at their tailgate. I had an awesome time catching up with Amanda, but all too soon it was time to head to Kyle Field. Matt, Em, and I walked around the new Aggie Fan Zone by the stadium, and then we split up so Em could trek up to the 2nd deck of the student side while we waltzed over to the alumni side. Matt had done an amazing job getting us tickets - they were on the first deck, roughly the 50 yard line. Mega VIP section. The pregame was so incredible - the Golden Knights parachuting team was there and sailed into the stadium! It was so cool. There are some game pics here. We had an awesome time watching the game. A&M was looking stellar most of the time and totally beat the hell outta Clemson. I was really impressed with the Clemson fans, though - there were a ton of them, and they were very enthusiastic. And then I felt sorry for them for coming all that way to watch their team get beat thoroughly. Oh well. We had a great time! After the game, the three of us just hung out at the duplex, watching Star Wars specials and Em and me talking while Matt looked online and on TV frantically for football info and highlights. Sometime after midnight, Matt noticed they were replaying the game on TBS...*sigh* He watched the first half. On Sunday we all slept until 11. We made breakfast and then we drove back to Dallas.
Yesterday afternoon Laurie Haluska, the woman who has designed and made the La Fiesta dresses for the last 16 years, came over and we had our first wedding dress pow-wow. She brought her assistant with her, and Mom and Susie were also there. I tried on our three favorite dress samples that she'd shipped to us on Thursday and we all talked about what we did and didn't like about them, as well as how we could modify them for a Texas summer wedding. I also modeled them for Dad and Matt, who were in the other room watching the Cowboys, because this was Matt's first and only chance to have input into my dress. I basically wanted to make sure that something I liked didn't turn his stomach or something. But they all passed. You can see the ones I tried on here, styles 967, 1917, and 1179. Laurie is going to send us sketches and fabric samples of the gown we think we just worked out yesterday. I'm excited!!! :) And I had a good time doing it, which was more than I can say for my La Fiesta experience (although I made it through those dress sessions too, mostly because Laurie is awesome). And I'm really glad both Mom and Susie were there to help me out, because as most of you (*cough* Amanda) know, these type of wedding-related things really aren't my forte.
This morning I went and got a TB test, and it was oh-so-much fun. It didn't take hardly any time at all, but having a needle stuck just under your skin and stuff injected into it so there is this subcutaneous bubble of fluid...not my favorite thing in the world. But as soon as I go back and have the area examined (assuming I pass), I can schedule my substitute teaching interview! Yay!
And that's my ridiculously long blog update. I told you it was a good week.
Thursday afternoon Brittany and I went down to the mini-ranch. She went back to school today, so I was glad we got to spend that time together, even more so since she hadn't seen the place yet and loves horses. Mom and Dad had gone down there early that morning, and we joined them around 6 pm. We pet the horses, I showed Brittany around the place, and then we fed the cows. After dinner, Dad had to return to Dallas to get ready for his dove hunt. That night we dressed me up in the wedding dress samples that had come in all the way from Washington, and then Brittany and I watched Fantasia 2000. In the morning we rode the horses and then made a quick get-away because all three of us had stuff to do back in Dallas. Friday afternoon I had my interview with the Dallas Emergency Animal Clinic. I was pretty nervous, but it wasn't actually much of an interview. The vet with whom I had been communicating with, Dr Smith, met me there and we just chatted about why I wanted to work there and he told me what they did, how they did it, what working there was like, etc. Then he gave me a tour of the facilities. I told him I wanted to work a couple shifts a week (he was willing to have me work as little as a couple times a month or as much as full time), and he said that he'd call by Friday with a tentative schedule for me. Yay! I mentioned that I might later want to work more, even full time, and he seemed fine with that - they seem very flexible. And full time is only 35 hours/week, which is pretty cool. So it was pretty cool. Then Friday night I went to dinner with Kathy Carroll, my 9th grade world geography teacher and friend. :) Speaking of that, I gave her my blog address, so now I have to keep my Tech bashing to a minimum. That's going to be hard but I'll try. Anyway, we went to a trendy pizza place on Henderson called Fireside Pies (we didn't mean to be hip and cool by going there, since hip and cool means waiting 45 minutes to get seated, but we were anyway). It was good food, and there was definitely good conversation. I had a great time catching up!
On Saturday, Matt and I left for College Station after lunch. We picked Em up from the duplex, stopped to get subs from Subway, parked in the West Campus Garage, and met up with Amanda at their tailgate. I had an awesome time catching up with Amanda, but all too soon it was time to head to Kyle Field. Matt, Em, and I walked around the new Aggie Fan Zone by the stadium, and then we split up so Em could trek up to the 2nd deck of the student side while we waltzed over to the alumni side. Matt had done an amazing job getting us tickets - they were on the first deck, roughly the 50 yard line. Mega VIP section. The pregame was so incredible - the Golden Knights parachuting team was there and sailed into the stadium! It was so cool. There are some game pics here. We had an awesome time watching the game. A&M was looking stellar most of the time and totally beat the hell outta Clemson. I was really impressed with the Clemson fans, though - there were a ton of them, and they were very enthusiastic. And then I felt sorry for them for coming all that way to watch their team get beat thoroughly. Oh well. We had a great time! After the game, the three of us just hung out at the duplex, watching Star Wars specials and Em and me talking while Matt looked online and on TV frantically for football info and highlights. Sometime after midnight, Matt noticed they were replaying the game on TBS...*sigh* He watched the first half. On Sunday we all slept until 11. We made breakfast and then we drove back to Dallas.
Yesterday afternoon Laurie Haluska, the woman who has designed and made the La Fiesta dresses for the last 16 years, came over and we had our first wedding dress pow-wow. She brought her assistant with her, and Mom and Susie were also there. I tried on our three favorite dress samples that she'd shipped to us on Thursday and we all talked about what we did and didn't like about them, as well as how we could modify them for a Texas summer wedding. I also modeled them for Dad and Matt, who were in the other room watching the Cowboys, because this was Matt's first and only chance to have input into my dress. I basically wanted to make sure that something I liked didn't turn his stomach or something. But they all passed. You can see the ones I tried on here, styles 967, 1917, and 1179. Laurie is going to send us sketches and fabric samples of the gown we think we just worked out yesterday. I'm excited!!! :) And I had a good time doing it, which was more than I can say for my La Fiesta experience (although I made it through those dress sessions too, mostly because Laurie is awesome). And I'm really glad both Mom and Susie were there to help me out, because as most of you (*cough* Amanda) know, these type of wedding-related things really aren't my forte.
This morning I went and got a TB test, and it was oh-so-much fun. It didn't take hardly any time at all, but having a needle stuck just under your skin and stuff injected into it so there is this subcutaneous bubble of fluid...not my favorite thing in the world. But as soon as I go back and have the area examined (assuming I pass), I can schedule my substitute teaching interview! Yay!
And that's my ridiculously long blog update. I told you it was a good week.
Saturday, September 18, 2004
Quotation of the day 9-18
Hello all. I have a real update in the works, but I don't have time to finish it because Matt and I are leaving to go to the football game in College Station soon!! :) We have the best seats ever. Anyway, in lieu of that, I leave you with the quotation of the day, an e-mail Amanda got from her inorganic chemistry professor.
Dear 462 Students, Once every 5-10 years, what happened today happens: I just got busy with a research related activity and forgot about class. No other excuse – extremely embarrassing, but true. Let me extend my sincere apologies, I'll do my best to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Awesome.
Dear 462 Students, Once every 5-10 years, what happened today happens: I just got busy with a research related activity and forgot about class. No other excuse – extremely embarrassing, but true. Let me extend my sincere apologies, I'll do my best to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Awesome.
Monday, September 13, 2004
Quotation of the day
Found tonight as Jenny's away message, Google says it is a paraphrase from an episode of Daria...
"voluntary simplicity, sounds better than broke"
Nice.
Oh, and the computer hasn't restarted today. I wonder if it has decided to play nice since I browsed the Apple Store...
"voluntary simplicity, sounds better than broke"
Nice.
Oh, and the computer hasn't restarted today. I wonder if it has decided to play nice since I browsed the Apple Store...
Sunday, September 12, 2004
Oh dear
I think my computer may be on the verge of another breakdown. This afternoon I got the blue screen of death, a disk "consistency check," and another restart a couple hours later. I really don't want to have to reinstall Windows for the third time...I wish I were rich enough or brave enough to switch to something more reliable. When I do have the time, money, and patience to get a new computer, I think this computer will be relegated to solely PC-only gaming. Because I'm tired of messing with it. Grr...
Saturday, September 11, 2004
Productivity is down
Not to imply that my other days have been extremely productive, but today was highly unproductive. I've been catching up on TV/movies both old and new. Last night, Matt and I watched Lost in Translation, which neither of us had seen. I really liked it but can't say why. Then during lunch today (which was only about an hour after I awoke - that's what happens when you sleep until 10:30) I watched The Ring for the first time. It was pretty good. I like Naomi Watts. Then I watched A&M kick Wyoming's butt - WHOOP! After that, I puttered until 7, at which time I knitted intermittently and watched a Dead Like Me episode and the second half of While You Were Sleeping. Good times. Matt has been at work in Fort Worth since 8 or so this morning and is still there. He will not be the only one happy when September 15 rolls around.
So yeah, the last couple weeks of nothingness have been fun and I still have lots of video games left to play (I'm about 10 hours into Final Fantasy X-2 now with 12 more games in various stages of play still in the queue), but time off is so much more meaningful when there is an "on." I was recovering from the school-induced "on" phase for a while, but I think I'm past that now. I'm still waiting to hear back about the job - I called Dr. Myers on Friday and he said the head of the clinic had been out of town and gets back in tomorrow and I should check back in if I haven't heard anything by Thursday - but in the meantime, I've been working on my substitute teaching application. I need something notarized and my A&M transcript is on its way, and then I can schedule an interview! So there's some good news in case the vet job takes some more time.
So yeah, the last couple weeks of nothingness have been fun and I still have lots of video games left to play (I'm about 10 hours into Final Fantasy X-2 now with 12 more games in various stages of play still in the queue), but time off is so much more meaningful when there is an "on." I was recovering from the school-induced "on" phase for a while, but I think I'm past that now. I'm still waiting to hear back about the job - I called Dr. Myers on Friday and he said the head of the clinic had been out of town and gets back in tomorrow and I should check back in if I haven't heard anything by Thursday - but in the meantime, I've been working on my substitute teaching application. I need something notarized and my A&M transcript is on its way, and then I can schedule an interview! So there's some good news in case the vet job takes some more time.
In memory
I remember September 11, 2001 very clearly. My first semester at college, I had an 8:00 computer science class. It was totally uneventful, and I didn't hear anything until I got back to the dorm. I was meeting Andi and her then-boyfriend Russell downstairs because it was his birthday and we were going to Sbisa for a celebratory breakfast. All Andi said when I met them was an offhand "I heard some plane crashed into a skyscraper in New York," as in a little four seater or something...maybe the people on board were killed but nothing like the reality of the situation. It wasn't until we got back from breakfast and I turned on the TV that we knew. I still had to go to my computer lab and math class, but in between I just sat in front of the TV. They kept showing the towers fall over and over. And I remember talking to Mom, how everyone was calling their family, to make sure there wasn't some family member or friend on a plane or in New York that day...and how Matt's dad was there on business and the worry I felt until we heard he was okay. Last night on HBO they were showing an hour long special called "In Memoriam: New York City, 9/11/01," and whenever I flipped by it or lingered on it, it was all of these funerals: big ceremony-filled ones for firefighters, Muslim and Jewish ceremonies, small family affairs. It was one of those things I couldn't watch for long because it was too horrible.
It has only been three years, and yet this year seems so much more removed than September 11, 2003 or 2002. Maybe it's because it is an election year, or the war in Iraq, or ... I don't know. Maybe it is a good sign that there is ten times as much coverage on TV about college football right now than 9/11. But I am glad that I have not forgotten and will not forget.
I was just reading the e-mails I received on September 11 and the days past. Brittany's dad was stuck in Chicago...John Roberts was declared safe but stuck in a New Jersey airport...Emily was telling everyone Kelsey Grammer died in one of the planes...and then I came across one from English teacher Mark Pollex. He mentioned Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address...
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
It has only been three years, and yet this year seems so much more removed than September 11, 2003 or 2002. Maybe it's because it is an election year, or the war in Iraq, or ... I don't know. Maybe it is a good sign that there is ten times as much coverage on TV about college football right now than 9/11. But I am glad that I have not forgotten and will not forget.
I was just reading the e-mails I received on September 11 and the days past. Brittany's dad was stuck in Chicago...John Roberts was declared safe but stuck in a New Jersey airport...Emily was telling everyone Kelsey Grammer died in one of the planes...and then I came across one from English teacher Mark Pollex. He mentioned Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address...
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
Aladdin
Did you know that the voice of Aladdin in the Disney classic is none other than that of Steve, DJ's boyfriend on Full House? Weird, huh? (I watch Full House sometimes when I work out at the YMCA...11-12 on ABC Family!)
Dallas Emergency Animal Clinic
FYI: The place I'm looking at working is the Dallas Emergency Animal Clinic. It is only open after hours and on weekends (until I looked at the website, I thought it was open 24 hours). I've actually been there once, when Matt and I had to take their cat in because she'd ingested antifreeze. We went there because we knew our vet worked there sometimes. Anyway, I'll have some interesting hours if I do get a job. 6 pm - 12 am wouldn't be so bad, but anything much later at only a few days a week wouldn't be do-able. Talk about a messed up sleep schedule!
Not my fault
I don't think it's my fault for not updating my blog very much. There hasn't been much to report. My working life has been put on hold until I hear back about the job at the animal hospital. Until I get a call about that, all major plans are on hold. But what has been going on...
Last Friday Matt and I went to the HP football game and stayed for the first half. We won. Afterwards we had a furious DDR session in which Matt "blew off some steam" related to having to work all weekend. Saturday Matt had to work; that night we went to Bubba's, North Park, and back to his house so he could to laundry, during which we watched Secret Window with his parents. I liked it.
On Sunday, Matt had to go into work again, but before that we went to his family's old church up in Richardson, Trinity Fellowship. We went because we really need to find someone to marry us. The Catholic church is out, which leaves us with someone with whom Matt's family is associated if we want it to be someone we know. His family changed to Park Cities Baptist after Matt left for A&M, but I'd actually been to Trinity quite a few times when we were still in high school. Dr. Anderson, the head pastor, is a good guy and actually married three of Matt's uncles. So yeah, we went there on Sunday to listen to his sermon and reacquaint ourselves with what he's like before going any further on the wedding business. We weren't turned off, so we spoke with him afterwards and arranged to set up a meeting sometime. After an early lunch at Sonic, Matt was off to work in Fort Worth. In the afternoon, I picked Brittany up and we went to Peggy Sue for a root beer float (me) and apricot fried pie (her) and conversation. It was nice to have seen each other and talked as recently as mid-summer (when she came to CS) so that it wasn't one big "catch up on each other's lives" session. It's fun having someone around who hasn't had to go back to college yet (yay quarter system!). After I took Brittany home, Matt called saying he was on his way home, didn't have to work on Labor Day, and wondering if we would like to go to the ranch. I said yes, so we packed up quickly and hit the road!
We had a good time at the mini-ranch. I introduced Matt to the horses, and then we had dinner at the Lockes' with the two of them, Mom and Dad, Carolyn, and Robert and Cindy. It rained Monday morning, so we had a big breakfast inside. When it slowed down, M&D turned to gardening and Matt and I went down to the pond to watch the wildlife - lots of frogs and turtles. Then we played some ping-pong and watched The Fifth Element while eating lunch. In the afternoon, Jerry and his girlfriend Karyl came, and we were later joined by Karyl's daughter Marni and her boyfriend. We helped Mom and Cindy saddle up the horses and they rode around while we went to the pond and tried to shoot turtles with the pellet gun. *EDIT*: Dad, Matt, and I decided to turn over the boat that had been resting upside down by the pond for quite some time. Dad was very seriously warning us about snakes when we turned it over, but the only inhabitants were a small confused skunk and a big fat bullfrog. I didn't even see the frog at first because I was too busy running the heck away from the skunk, but Dad hesitated a few nanoseconds to contemplate the hugeness of the frog. Then he cleared out too. We scattered and the skunk (quite cute, actually) trundled away. We tried to catch the frog but it made it back to the pond. (end edit) Then Matt and I rode for a while (I was proud of Matt - he's not much of a rider). Story behaved much better than last time. Matt and I had to get back to Dallas since he had work the next day. We went straight to Curtis Park where his family was grilling out with Charlie and Meredith's family. We had some good food and then played a killer game of ultimate Frisbee. My team (John, Meredith, me, Luke, Joy, Mary) won 5-4 (other team: Charlie, Susie, Matt, Johnny, Sarah). Charlie+Johnny was a deadly combination because Charlie would run insanely far (way past their goal line) and then Johnny would throw the Frisbee all the way to him - I've never seen someone throw a Frisbee that far. But my team spread it all around and was ultimately (heehee) victorious! Then Matt went home with his family and I came home to an empty house (M&D, Carolyn, and Murphy stayed at the mini-ranch Monday night). So I played FFX, which I beat last night. Not bad, to beat it in just over a week.
So that's about it. Now I'm just waiting to hear about whether I can work at the animal hospital or not...playing video games until I know. :)
Last Friday Matt and I went to the HP football game and stayed for the first half. We won. Afterwards we had a furious DDR session in which Matt "blew off some steam" related to having to work all weekend. Saturday Matt had to work; that night we went to Bubba's, North Park, and back to his house so he could to laundry, during which we watched Secret Window with his parents. I liked it.
On Sunday, Matt had to go into work again, but before that we went to his family's old church up in Richardson, Trinity Fellowship. We went because we really need to find someone to marry us. The Catholic church is out, which leaves us with someone with whom Matt's family is associated if we want it to be someone we know. His family changed to Park Cities Baptist after Matt left for A&M, but I'd actually been to Trinity quite a few times when we were still in high school. Dr. Anderson, the head pastor, is a good guy and actually married three of Matt's uncles. So yeah, we went there on Sunday to listen to his sermon and reacquaint ourselves with what he's like before going any further on the wedding business. We weren't turned off, so we spoke with him afterwards and arranged to set up a meeting sometime. After an early lunch at Sonic, Matt was off to work in Fort Worth. In the afternoon, I picked Brittany up and we went to Peggy Sue for a root beer float (me) and apricot fried pie (her) and conversation. It was nice to have seen each other and talked as recently as mid-summer (when she came to CS) so that it wasn't one big "catch up on each other's lives" session. It's fun having someone around who hasn't had to go back to college yet (yay quarter system!). After I took Brittany home, Matt called saying he was on his way home, didn't have to work on Labor Day, and wondering if we would like to go to the ranch. I said yes, so we packed up quickly and hit the road!
We had a good time at the mini-ranch. I introduced Matt to the horses, and then we had dinner at the Lockes' with the two of them, Mom and Dad, Carolyn, and Robert and Cindy. It rained Monday morning, so we had a big breakfast inside. When it slowed down, M&D turned to gardening and Matt and I went down to the pond to watch the wildlife - lots of frogs and turtles. Then we played some ping-pong and watched The Fifth Element while eating lunch. In the afternoon, Jerry and his girlfriend Karyl came, and we were later joined by Karyl's daughter Marni and her boyfriend. We helped Mom and Cindy saddle up the horses and they rode around while we went to the pond and tried to shoot turtles with the pellet gun. *EDIT*: Dad, Matt, and I decided to turn over the boat that had been resting upside down by the pond for quite some time. Dad was very seriously warning us about snakes when we turned it over, but the only inhabitants were a small confused skunk and a big fat bullfrog. I didn't even see the frog at first because I was too busy running the heck away from the skunk, but Dad hesitated a few nanoseconds to contemplate the hugeness of the frog. Then he cleared out too. We scattered and the skunk (quite cute, actually) trundled away. We tried to catch the frog but it made it back to the pond. (end edit) Then Matt and I rode for a while (I was proud of Matt - he's not much of a rider). Story behaved much better than last time. Matt and I had to get back to Dallas since he had work the next day. We went straight to Curtis Park where his family was grilling out with Charlie and Meredith's family. We had some good food and then played a killer game of ultimate Frisbee. My team (John, Meredith, me, Luke, Joy, Mary) won 5-4 (other team: Charlie, Susie, Matt, Johnny, Sarah). Charlie+Johnny was a deadly combination because Charlie would run insanely far (way past their goal line) and then Johnny would throw the Frisbee all the way to him - I've never seen someone throw a Frisbee that far. But my team spread it all around and was ultimately (heehee) victorious! Then Matt went home with his family and I came home to an empty house (M&D, Carolyn, and Murphy stayed at the mini-ranch Monday night). So I played FFX, which I beat last night. Not bad, to beat it in just over a week.
So that's about it. Now I'm just waiting to hear about whether I can work at the animal hospital or not...playing video games until I know. :)
Saturday, September 04, 2004
Gmail
I know that half the people here are on blogger and therefore have already had this opportunity, but for the others - I have 5 Gmail invites that are up for grabs, if anyone wants them. Just let me know and make sure I have your e-mail address.
Oh yeah, I'll post more eventually, but my life has been boring recently - just lots and lots of FFX! :)
Oh yeah, I'll post more eventually, but my life has been boring recently - just lots and lots of FFX! :)
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
I'm in (Final) Fantasy (X) Land
In the past two days I've played over 18 hours of Final Fantasy X, and I loved every minute of it. This is what I thought I'd be doing my first couple weeks back from college (because this is what I've been wanting to do with my free time since Christmas), but I was actually pretty busy during my first two weeks in Dallas. On Monday, there was some organizing accomplished, along with a lengthy errand run. I also went to the Y and played DDR. On Monday night I beat The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (again). Yesterday I took Murphy to the vet for his yearly check-up, and I also asked Dr. Myers if he'd every let someone shadow him for vet experience... [More below] After the vet, I whipped out the Final Fantasy X because I've only beaten it once and I want to play through again before tackling X-2. And I pretty much played until Matt came over to watch the season premier of Scrubs at 8. We played some DDR afterwards. After Matt left, I kept playing DDR, this time on "Workout Mode," where I supposedly burned 200 calories. Then back to FFX, which I played until 2 am. :) This morning I bathed Murphy, swept/mopped/vacuumed the downstairs, and washed my sheets (chores #1 and #3 really have to go together for the best results). And once that was done...you guessed it - FFX for a very long time. It is such a great game with an awesome story and feel and design, and I can't believe how good it looks for a PS2 game. I'm really enjoying it again the second time around. I just played some DDR so I wouldn't feel like a lump.
Tomorrow I'm driving back to Dr. Myers office because (continuation from the story above)...
he said that his practice can get pretty boring. But, he works a few days a month at a 24-hour emergency clinic and was going to be seeing the vet who runs it that day or the next. He offered to get me an application and see what I needed to do to work there. Notice I said work, not volunteer - I had been thinking my "vet experience" this fall would be non-paying because I haven't worked in the field before, but Dr. Myers seemed to think I might be able to work there a couple days a week and get paid for it. And even if the money part doesn't work out, it seems like a great opportunity regardless. So I'm driving back to his office tomorrow to pick up the application he got for me. :) Yay!
Tomorrow I'm driving back to Dr. Myers office because (continuation from the story above)...
he said that his practice can get pretty boring. But, he works a few days a month at a 24-hour emergency clinic and was going to be seeing the vet who runs it that day or the next. He offered to get me an application and see what I needed to do to work there. Notice I said work, not volunteer - I had been thinking my "vet experience" this fall would be non-paying because I haven't worked in the field before, but Dr. Myers seemed to think I might be able to work there a couple days a week and get paid for it. And even if the money part doesn't work out, it seems like a great opportunity regardless. So I'm driving back to his office tomorrow to pick up the application he got for me. :) Yay!
Sunday, August 29, 2004
Bad blogger!
I've been a bad blogger lately. Sorry about that - it isn't all my fault. I left for the mini-ranch at 7 am on Wednesday and didn't get back until Friday afternoon. Then I was too tired to update for a while, and then things got busy. Oh well. I've been having fun. :)
The mini-ranch was very fun! I got there just in time for the first horseback riding ever. Mom, Dad, the Pous, and I muddled through the saddling process just fine. Montana Tim is a dark bay with a few white spots, and Story (her registered Quarterhorse name is "Doc's Storytime") is a lighter bay with one white back foot. You can see a few pictures of the horses here. They're both about 20 years old, but they seem to be in good shape and are totally ride-able. I rode four different times while I was there, utilizing both horses. And they are both incredibly sweet. They will both walk up to you and nuzzle you, and Story even licked my arm once. I've never encountered more affectionate horses. I had a really good time at the ranch with Mom and Dad on Wednesday, as well as getting to spend lots of time with Robert and Cindy. After lunch on Thursday, Dad had to return to Dallas, but I convinced Emily to come down and spend the night (it didn't take much persuading). We had lake time at the Pou beach in the afternoon and rode in the evening. We tested out the horses speed and discovered that age doesn't prevent the horses from trotting and cantering, luckily. Then Mom made us a scrumptious dinner of Cornish game hen and we piled on the couch to watch Beauty and the Beast. In the morning, Mom and Em rode down the street to the Pous while I walked along with Murphy. On our way back we stopped by the Lockes' lakehouse to say hello to Claude's sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren who were there for the weekend. The horses (and Murphy) were a big hit with the kids. Then it was time to pack up and head back to reality.
Yesterday I did a lot of organizing, managing to get the boxes out of the hallway, the guest bedroom uncluttered, and both closets in better working order. In the evening, Matt and I went to Noodles & Company and then came back to watch the beginning of the USC-VT game (okay, he watched and I flipped through a Brides Magazine). Around nine, we went to the HP game up at SMU with Mom and Dad. We saw the second and half of the third quarter. The highlight was halftime, and it was very cool being at the SMU stadium - the HP fans had almost our whole side full (of course, few of the people in the stands were actually watching the game, but still...). We left early to rest up for today.
Today was our engagement party at Amore, hosted by our parents. The guest list included about 50 of the parents' friends and family, as well as Jeff and Brittany (the other "kids" there being Emily, Luke, and us). It was fun, the food was great, as was the music (Matt and I made Phish CDs for the occasion), and it was good to see everyone. Oh, and to answer Taylor's question, I wore a pink sweater set (I know, shocker - I was trying to look feminine) and a maroon silk skirt that hit just below the knee from The Gap. After the party, Matt and I went to see Garden State at the Magnolia, which I really enjoyed. Then we ate dinner at his house and watched Hook on ABC Family. :) There, now we're all caught up. I can't believe A&M starts tomorrow. I can't believe it is starting without me. Maybe that means it'll actually start sinking in that I have graduated. Maybe.
The mini-ranch was very fun! I got there just in time for the first horseback riding ever. Mom, Dad, the Pous, and I muddled through the saddling process just fine. Montana Tim is a dark bay with a few white spots, and Story (her registered Quarterhorse name is "Doc's Storytime") is a lighter bay with one white back foot. You can see a few pictures of the horses here. They're both about 20 years old, but they seem to be in good shape and are totally ride-able. I rode four different times while I was there, utilizing both horses. And they are both incredibly sweet. They will both walk up to you and nuzzle you, and Story even licked my arm once. I've never encountered more affectionate horses. I had a really good time at the ranch with Mom and Dad on Wednesday, as well as getting to spend lots of time with Robert and Cindy. After lunch on Thursday, Dad had to return to Dallas, but I convinced Emily to come down and spend the night (it didn't take much persuading). We had lake time at the Pou beach in the afternoon and rode in the evening. We tested out the horses speed and discovered that age doesn't prevent the horses from trotting and cantering, luckily. Then Mom made us a scrumptious dinner of Cornish game hen and we piled on the couch to watch Beauty and the Beast. In the morning, Mom and Em rode down the street to the Pous while I walked along with Murphy. On our way back we stopped by the Lockes' lakehouse to say hello to Claude's sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren who were there for the weekend. The horses (and Murphy) were a big hit with the kids. Then it was time to pack up and head back to reality.
Yesterday I did a lot of organizing, managing to get the boxes out of the hallway, the guest bedroom uncluttered, and both closets in better working order. In the evening, Matt and I went to Noodles & Company and then came back to watch the beginning of the USC-VT game (okay, he watched and I flipped through a Brides Magazine). Around nine, we went to the HP game up at SMU with Mom and Dad. We saw the second and half of the third quarter. The highlight was halftime, and it was very cool being at the SMU stadium - the HP fans had almost our whole side full (of course, few of the people in the stands were actually watching the game, but still...). We left early to rest up for today.
Today was our engagement party at Amore, hosted by our parents. The guest list included about 50 of the parents' friends and family, as well as Jeff and Brittany (the other "kids" there being Emily, Luke, and us). It was fun, the food was great, as was the music (Matt and I made Phish CDs for the occasion), and it was good to see everyone. Oh, and to answer Taylor's question, I wore a pink sweater set (I know, shocker - I was trying to look feminine) and a maroon silk skirt that hit just below the knee from The Gap. After the party, Matt and I went to see Garden State at the Magnolia, which I really enjoyed. Then we ate dinner at his house and watched Hook on ABC Family. :) There, now we're all caught up. I can't believe A&M starts tomorrow. I can't believe it is starting without me. Maybe that means it'll actually start sinking in that I have graduated. Maybe.
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