Dear Lois,

Lois you are my first cat. I remember the day I got you. It was 11/15/98, and my roommate at the time Lauren found you in Tallahassee on Campus Circle, and you were pregnant and all alone. We brought you home in a paper box from a copy center, and you ate a loaf of bread on the counter. You were forever home, and I was smitten. We had you spayed, and gave you a name, after the movie Corina Corina, with Whoopi Goldberg. My what a good cat you were. You would cuddle with me, and you loved to play under the covers.

You saw me through my college and vet school years, multiple boyfriends, roommates, houses, roommates pets, and 2 pets of our own. You didn't appreciate me adding either of them to our house, but you tolerated it, as you always did.You moved 1200 miles with me to St. Kitts, and when I knew no one and cried myself to sleep at night, you slept on my bed. You are the constant in my life that has been riddled with such change the past 10 years.
This last move was hard on you, physically. You aged greatly the past few years. But all I have to do is scratch your head to get your purrs started, and your place in my heart cements itself forever.


Lois today taught me that you will not be with me forever. I hope you know that I love you more than anything, that you are what taught me about everything cat related, that I will do everything for you to keep you as happy as possible.

(Today Lois went with me to school. She has some serious health issues that we are going to face as soon as we have the answers to them. I hope this is a bump in the road, and she has a few years left on her yet, but today was a sad, and scary day for me, and I needed to get this out)

Back to the barn....

Well.
I am now on Equine Reproduction. This basically entails us assisting with the great miracle of life in various formats.
1)A BSE, or Breeding Soundness Evaluation. If it's a stallion, we basically "collect" things from them, and then analyze them. I'm talking amount, color, consistency, and smell. Yes, I said smell.
2)"Teasing" a mare. I asked if this consists of putting a carrot on the other side of fence just out of reach. I thought I was funny.
3)This rotation is now an elective for the Class of 2011. This means I am the only person on the rotation that did not elect, or would not have, elected this rotation. I fake my enthusiasm while watching the clock.
4) I have senioritis/large animalitis. My enthusiasm does not correlate with people who have 2 years of school left. I feel very lonely.
5) I cannot get autoformat to stop f*cking up my resume. I find a job that sounds good, then refer to the PAVE state list, and realize it's not on there. This whole thing is frustrating.
6)Here's the PAVE state list. I have made comments about certain states. If you have an opinion, give a shout out. I am comment-less, and it makes me not want to blog.

Arizona(there's something called a javalina that attacks dogs there)
California(EXPENSIVE, but Kathleen, Kevin, and Kerry are all in Los Angeles)
Colorado(a good prospect)
Connecticut(I hear property taxes are insane, which is why only the rich live there)
Idaho(no)
Iowa(no)
Illinois(BIG SAL!)
Louisiana(Hurricane Katrina)
Maine(where is this?)
Massachusetts(a possibility)
Minnesota(brrrr)
Montana(brrr. and no.)
Nebraska(see above)
New York(KT!)
North Dakota(uh, have you seen Fargo? Me either.)
Oregon(oooohhh)
Pennsylvania(possible)
Puerto Rico(no, gracias)
Rhode Island(a small but mighty place?)
South Carolina(yes, but NO jobs there)
Tennessee(see above)
Texas(I have a shirt that says "I'd rather go to hell than texas")
Utah(seems far away)
Vermont(Ben and Jerry's)
Virgin Islands(I've done my time)
Virginia(Urban=traffic, Not so urban= banjo)
Washington( I think I would LOVE this)
Wyoming(If I cannot ID on a map, I am not meant to go there)
Ohio(I enjoy the buckeye confection)

Why you no blog no more?

Ok, Ok.
I've been on vacation. I should be filling your lives with laughter. Or at least a chuckle or two. Instead I have been.....JOB SEARCHING. Ok. So I look at jobs, and wonder, is Paluso Washington a fun place to live? Would Carl be happy there? Would I be happy there? When it says experienced, do I count what I have already done as experience? Then I get hyperactivity of the gut and close the window. And go back to tweaking my resume. This is a scary time. I'm picking out where I want to live. Somehow I also need to finagle time off school to go look at jobs. Which given my Large Animal Surgery filled summer, I really don't care about missing, but also, don't want to have to make up.
Let's talk about graduation! I am too lazy/busy( I would just like to point out I spent 5 minutes googling how to draw a line through the word lazy)to post pictures at this point, and my computer's efficency makes me want to abandon it in an airline terminal, so you'll have to wait. I do have some other highlights.
1)
At the 99 cent Jack's store, a crazy man complimented me on my hair and eyes, and then explained why he was purchasing Close Up toothpaste to care for the few teeth he had left, so he could one day spend 10,000 dollars to buy new ones. And then he would be able to meet an attractive lady like myself. As I was in line to pay for my umbrella(and when an umbrella costs 1.49 and then 24 hours later literally blows apart, don't be shocked)I couldn't really leave, so I just kept trying to turn around and look for Carl, who saw me talking to a crazy man and KEPT WALKING BY. Thanks Carl.
2)
The empire state building. Two tourists asked me if I had one the biggest loser? Although one might find this insulting, she asked me if I won, not if I got voted off on the first episode. Commense googling of person I apparently looked like.

Tara looks better in spandex than I would at this point. I consider it a compliment. And two people looking for a celebrity sighting.
We did see the lead singer from Warrant in McDonald's on 7th. KT pointed him out to me but I thought she was gesturing towards an asian business man, and was confused that there was an asian lead singer to Warrant.
Graduation was fantastic, and deserves it's own post. With pictures.

Alone=lonely?

I'm sitting here on a Friday night, having just enjoyed a delicious tuna and avocado sandwich(a delicious but odd combination, which was put together after discussion with Leya on the phone- Leya=BFF). I am currently alone. I am almost never alone. Carl is almost always home, and I am the one "working"(working implies payment after all) 12-14 hour days, and then I come home, and then I leave again, and I'm never alone at work, and I get used to having people around.
Today Carl went home to enjoy some quality time with his version of a BFF. I went to the mall by myself. As I wandered around looking for jeans(is 70 dollars alot for jeans these days? Is that what the kids are paying?), and I felt akwardly too old for the junior department, but not old enough for the grown up department, I realized I had no one to go the mall with. Being on the island for almost 3 years pretty much inundated you with a constant stream of friends who always had the same free time you did, and conseqently, things became a huge group affair. Living with one of my best friends(yay KT!) also ensured that on a Saturday afternoon, there would be someone to hold up the other sofa(I always got the actual sofa, KT got the loveseat. There's a 7 inch height difference.)and watch silly TV with. I miss that. I miss my friends who graduated already. I didn't, even if I HAD to call someone to go with, have anyone who is in town to call. I enjoy my alone time, but I don't want it to be because that's my only option.
5 days till the Ross Reunion and Graduation!! And until then, I will watch the Real Housewives of New York, and enjoy the silence. And call my sisters and friends on the phone. :)

Bradenton, FL

Hi Everyone! I've been busy.
I started Neurology this week, I found out I passed my boards, and I am gearing up to start the job search. I just wanted to share Laura and Mike's beautiful wedding from last weekend. Truly one of the best I had been to. Lots of dancing, fun, and most of all, friends.
Our table.













We had a great time! New York City in less than 2 weeks....

Why you shouldn't go to CVS at 3am.

So I am in Tampa until today, and while I am supposed to be cleaning the apartment I'm staying in(it says to clean both bathrooms....I didn't even step foot on both bathrooms. Ok, not completely true. Some days after arriving here at 3am I would inspect behind the door and shower curtain to make sure I was alone. Which really, if I wasn't, what would I do?. Ok, back to the story), I have 1 hour to clean this apartment, and I'm writing a blog. I'm such a procrastinator.
I'm still awaiting my national board scores in the mail, because Tennessee couldn't do electronic reporting like 15 other states that appparently all my classmates applied through. If I see one more facebook update with I passed, I may have to call Tennessee and explain why it's so important they just tell me over the phone. Because my facebook status deserves to be updated too. Congratulations to all those who passed, and know they did. And now most of you are probably asking me why I applied through TN, being that I've never been there before. Well, I did go to Graceland once, because my sister Sallie insisted we stop there to visit the home of Elvis. Then she couldn't find a shirt in the gift shop she wanted, blah, blah...it was overrated. Tennessee can be it's own blog. Back to CVS.
I needed contact solution. So after my last shift at FVS, I decided to take advantage of the 24 hour CVS. I was tired people. I walked in, took a basket, and compulsive shopping set in like it was my job. OOOH, 75% off Lip Gloss! I never wear lip gloss, but it's so cheap! OOOOHHH, a new item! Organic Shampoo and Conditioner! Sulfate Free! I need it! OOOOH, Greeting Cards! Laura and Mike need one for their wedding(that was actually justified, the dairy milk candy bar and sprite zero not so much). I spent 34 dollars. Oh, I forgot. I bought clear nail polish, because after having the first manicure in approximately 5 years, I chipped one of my bright red nails at work. Actually I think I subconciously chipped it with my other nail, then remembered WHY I never get my nails painted, because this always happens. Also, when I went to get the pedicure yesterday, I feel that my legs were perhaps slightly less "shaven", then they needed to be, and spent my head buried in my Glamour magazine avoiding eye contact because I feared judgement.
Off to Bradenton for a wedding and Ross Reunion! Then back to school on Monday. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!
Today=my first day off in since March 9th. Freaking FANTASTIC!

From a Distance

Happy Mother's Day to everyone. This day conveys mixed emotions in me for several different reasons, ones most of you know, but for others, I am just not ready to discuss with the internet world.
I talked to my grandmother(Geema) today for a while. Geema is my mother's mother, and is my only living grandparent. She tells me she wishes I were a mother today too.( I suppose Leroy, Lois, and Mitter T do not count to everyone).
We talk for a while, and she convinces me that I need to live near family when I am done. I feel like I do too. But what is my family? Is it my friends that I consider closer than my family? Is it my family that I share blood relation but no relationship with? Who do I want to say is most important? I cannot pick just one person I think. I feel like I am torn in so many directions right now, should I take the test to practice in Florida? (This test is 8000 dollars, and there's a bit of a waiting list), or should I just move to a new state and try something new? Alone? Carl is going to be deployed shortly after we move, so I really will be alone. I also am afraid of living in a place that snows, but something tells me I'm going to have to deal.
I feel like I have a few really big decisions to make in the next few months, ones that will impact the rest of my life, and I just don't feel ready to do so yet. I always wanted to go to vet school, that was my dream, but no one told me what I was supposed to do when I finished.
For now I will be happy with these little guys.



Happy Mother's day to every Mother, Step-mother, Mother in Law, Grandmother, or just anyone who helped to make someone's life better by showing them the way.