Drum Roll Please...

Well, we've finally come up with a worthy rafting name for the little guy...Hyside. I would like to thank you all for your suggestions, very good, all of them. As an explanation, Hyside (the company) makes a wonderful line of hypalon rafts. As K said yesterday, "There's a lot of hypalon on the river today." I laughed. You probably didn't. Also, as you may be able to see from the photos of us rafting yesterday, high-siding is a necessary skill that boaters should possess when running water that's flowing faster than the water coming out of the bathroom faucet. It involves sliding, or often, diving, to the high side of the boat, (ie the part that's not under water) when flipping is a possibility. If you're lucky, in the process, as I found out a few years ago, it's a dangerous process as you may get your teeth kicked in by people who don't do it properly and fly out of the boat. Perhaps I'll elaborate on that later.

And back to what I was saying...a rafting term was necessary for the little guy because he has webbed feet and apparently loves the water. (At least the water in his water bowl! We'll find out how both of them handle large bodies of water soon enough...) He enjoys paddling through a good percentage of each bowl of water, creating a slip-and-slide in the kitchen. It's wonderful really. Welp, that's pretty much it for now. Oh yeah, rafting was AMAZING yesterday and I can't wait to go again!

Here's a little video of the kids wrastlin' and becoming bestest buddies! Hyside, tries to nurse from Kona, so that's a little awkward. I guess it's cuz her tummy is still shaved from her spay. It doesn't have any special effects or anything, but enjoy!

It's a BOY!

Proud parents Keith and Amanda and sister, Kona, are happy to announce the arrival of our new baby boy! He was born about 11 weeks ago somewhere near Artesia, NM. He is one of a litter of 6 boys who were rescued by the Heart & Soul Animal Sanctuary. (The same organization that rescued Kona.) He stayed at the hospital one night because he had cactus needles in his side when they found him. I fell in love with him and Keith actually caved! He currently weighs 12.25 lbs, but that probably changed since this morning since he's a hungry little hippo! He's some sort of a Catahoula Leopard mix. We think he might have either Heeler or Australian Shepherd in him, since he has the markings of a Catahoula, but not the super short hair or hound dog ears. Catahoulas are pretty rare in this neck of the woods, so we're lucky that we snatched him up! Oh, and he's absolutely the most handsome puppy I've ever seen! Very unique markings. We're guessing that he'll grow up to be about the same size as Kona, 50-55 lbs, but his paws are already the same size as hers, so we might have brought home a bear rather than a dog! I guess if he starts to get too big, we'll switch him from large breed food to small breed!

Since his arrival late Thursday evening, things have gone fairly well. Everything is still pretty well puppy-proofed from when Kona came home, so not many changes there. He's a good little guy and Kona's been trying really hard to be good with him too. She likes to play rough though, so we've been on her a lot about being gentle. He's pretty good about letting her know when it's too much, so we let him take care of it as best he can. He has those razor sharp little teeth that he latches onto her lips with and that seems to get his point across. He's pretty feisty! I like it! Kona's gets jealous and reaches a breaking point when it comes to sharing food and toys, so we've been paying her a lot of extra attention and trying to regulate with tons of positive reinforcement when she's being nice. She also gets to go on Kona-only outings so that she can blow off some steam and get some one-on-one attention. She's a good girl and they're gonna have SO much fun together once he's a little bigger! I'm excited for him to have all of his shots in 3 weeks so that he can go to the dog park with us!

Here's where we need your help: He doesn't have a name yet...(surprise, surprise) We were hoping to name him something that has to do with rafting or whitewater or rivers...maybe you can help? Please leave comments with suggestions if you can come up with anything!

Tax Rebates

After catching a glimpse of a headline that read "Tax rebates going out early," I was really excited. I was going to pay off the rest of my credit card and my car insurance with that baby, early is good! Uh, wrong! While I'll never complain about getting $600 back from the government, I will complain about being in the last group of people to receive their rebates. Apparently they're sending out rebates based on the last 2 digits of peoples social security numbers. The first checks go out by May 9th, the last checks go out between July 4 and July 11. Guess what numbers my SS# ends in? Great... I'm definitely in the very last group! Lame.

Here's the schedule in case you're interested:

Rebate delivery schedule
Direct-deposit payment	All sent by May 2
Paper check
If the last two digits of your Social Security number are:	Your tax rebate check should be in the mail by:
00-09	May 9
10-18	May 23
19-25	May 30
26-38	June 6
39-51	June 13
52-63	June 20
64-75	June 27
76-87	July 4
88-99	July 11

Take Me Back to...

Waking to the sounds of birds chirping in the morning sunshine, one can't help but notice that it's springtime, which incidentally means that it's also graduation time. To many of you, this may mean very little, perhaps a few gifts or cards that need to be sent to long-lost relatives or friends. As for myself, this time seems entirely too important to me, despite the fact that I'm no longer in school. It was during this exact time last year, that I, eyes drooping, beyond completely exhausted, was frantically studying for my final college exams and pounding out dozens of pages worth of the last college papers that I would ever have to write. As horrible as that time seemed, looking back now, I miss it. It was really one of the best times of my life. I only wish that I had somehow been able to spend less time studying and more time enjoying life, the friends that I would soon part with, and the lifestyle that I would be leaving behind. I'm not saying that I don't empathize with my friends, students in the heat of the battle toward graduation that I was fighting just 1 year ago, I'm simply saying that, as horrible as I thought it all was, it was my life, and I loved it.

Life has definitely had it's ups and downs this past year, so much has changed, a lot for the good, yet I often find myself wandering back to last year and the crazy, tragic, sometimes almost magic, awful beautiful life that I was living. I find myself missing my 3 wonderful roomies a lot, and although I've gained another awesome one, (well, 2 if you count the Koners), I won't ever forget an amazing year spent at 303! I have a lot of wonderful memories from this time last year that I'd like to share with you all. Without further adieu, here they are:

-"Studying" in our bathing suits, laying on blankets in the awesomeness that was the backyard at 303.-Going to the Bulldog and Jack & Dan's, drinking pitchers of Blue Moon and PBR, and so many memorable "long" walks home. And who can forget infamous Long Island Iced Tea nights?
-Eating sushi for the first time then walking down to The Falls and getting soaked by some of the most amazingly terrifying whitewater ever!
-Easter in Moore with Mama and Papa Roche spent wrastlin' cattle, riding horses, shooting guns, and included me getting a speeding ticket for going too fast on the straightest road in the universe!
-Attending Senior Ball with a date dressed in a full corduroy suit after surviving an awkward moment involving nearly all the guys at GU that I'd ever kissed...

-Hanging out, one last time, with a bunch of the girls who lived on my floor freshman year in the Ice Palace.
-Getting hammered with my senior class at Around the World, having a water fight that quickly escalated into a margarita fight, calling my parents and Keith, then napping on the front lawn for several hours.
-Singing the National Anthem in front of thousands of people then walking across the stage to get my diploma, not remembering it at all because I was completely focused on not tripping on the stairs.
There are millions of other wonderful memories from my senior year that didn't make this page, of course. As well, if you're reading this and feel that you should have been pictured, don't fret. It's not because I don't love you, it's that I only have so many photos and so much room here. Again, just know that I love and miss you all very much and think about you and the fun times that we shared all of the time! Thanks for making my last year of college fun outside of the hours and hours spent studying, and sometimes while studying as well! Also, best wishes and congrats to the class of 2008!

Finally Finished!

Everybody, it's time to party! The construction is officially done! The builders headed outta here for the last time yesterday afternoon. The rest is up to us. We're now in the process of getting things put back where they once were, as well as finding new homes for those items that need to be relocated. If they would move themselves, I could organize them, and that would be that. Unfortunately, all of the aforementioned items have proven stationary without outside help. Lame. We're working on it. I think we need some shelves, and a lot of bookshelves for the plethora of reading material currently stored in boxes on the floor. Working on that too. Pictures when we're all done! Until those ones, here's one of me and the Koners, lounging on the couch after a hard day of cleaning and moving furniture!
Oh yes, and in celebration of the construction being finished, we're calling some friends to have them over for movies and tequila tonite! Woohoo! You could say we're celebrating Cinco de Mayo early...getting a head start anyway! Good thing we don't have to work tomorrow!

No Toys for Me

A lot has been changing here, from the weather to the house, and everything in between. The addition is almost officially done, so that's neat. The furniture came, the cabinets are in, the projector is hooked up, most of the floor is laid. Sweetness really. I even participated and helped lay the floor. I have to say that I'd probably make a darn good carpenter...haha! I did get the highest grade in my shop class when I was in high school...I guess I'll just hold on to that! Besides putting up the baseboard or trim or whatever you wanna call it, all is done, except the moving back in part. Shouldn't be so bad, though. We've got all kinds of space to put things in now. Pretty exciting for someone like me, who likes to organize! I'm a big fat geek, I know!

As you probably saw, Keith got a new and seemingly awesome toy today. It's missing some parts, but that just gives us time to think about the crazyness that will be the full-body shots (no, not those kind of body shots!) of us that shall be printed soon. We should probably put them up in the new room. Classy! We'll have to take one of the Koners, too!

Oh yeah, since K got a new toy today, I thought that it would only be fair that I get a toy of my own...apparently I was wrong. Shut down...again...lame...
Story: I'm a sucker...for a fuzzy little face and puppy kisses. It's bad, I'll admit it, but I can't help it. There's this dog. The shelter brings him into the clinic every 2 weeks to get his back leg x-rayed to see how it's healing. I'm happy to say that he's doing well and got his cast off today! Anyway, he's been in probably 5 or 6 times now over the past 3 months...I fell in love with his sweet face and personality the first time that they brought him in, right after they found him. His back leg all flimsy, wagging his tail and giving tons of kisses! I pretty much love all dogs, over 25 pounds at least, but this one, I love the mostest of all dogs that I don't already own. I realize, that by wanting to take my little friend home, I'm starting down the road that all people in the veterinary field travel down...the road of lots of pets, but 2 doesn't seem so unreasonable, right? I want him, not just any dog that I see, HIM. I'm exercising self-control here! Him and Kona are the same age and about the same size...makes sense, right? If only I had my own house... I think K would kick me out if I just brought him home. Better save up some more money first! At any rate, I ask Keith, every time the shelter brings him in, "please, please, please?" I even got him to go down to the shelter to take a look at the little guy, but the answer is always the same. "No." Lame. I'll keep trying anyway... I'm slowly breaking him down. I can tell! He's getting weaker... 10th time is a charm! ;) Here's a picture of my friend, just to make my story ever so heartbreaking and to give K more of a hard time about it! If any of YOU wanna adopt him, that would also make me very, very, very happy! No pressure! (Hint: mom and dad!)

Other than that, the weather has definitely made a change for the better once again, minus the wind and my tan is ever so slowly, working its way back into my life! Yaya! Gotta go to the staff meeting at work, so I'll leave you with this final thought...ADOPT a dog! Woot!

How Could I not Love this Girl?

I'm gonna go snuggle with my Koners. That'll make it all better!

Waiting...

I often wonder what I'm doing with my life, or perhaps slightly less important, yet seemingly more pressing, what I'm going to do with my life. I simply don't know. I'm currently only working part-time, in a position that a high school graduate could easily fill. While I really enjoy what I'm doing, veterinary assistant isn't a career path that I'm willing to stick with forever. I want more for myself. Not that it's not a noble and respectable career path, believe me, vet techs should be praised by anyone who has ever come in contact with a cat or dog. Their work is hard, stressful, less-than glamorous, and helps people hold onto the furry friends they love. It's not just that I expect more of myself, but I need more. I need to use the obsession with biology that I can't seem to kick. I need to use all of the information that I somehow managed to hold onto, despite the hard push of other information learned in other classes, fighting hard for a place somewhere in my memory. Biology excites me. I hate to define myself by my major, but it's who I am. How I use it in the future is still undetermined, however.

Per a letter that I received in the mail this afternoon, my career in infectious disease research in Atlanta has effectively put on hold, at least for now. Disappointing. Since I'm having trouble deciding where to even begin searching for a career path that will be challenging and more financially rewarding than rafting, perhaps the rejection letter is simply a push in better direction. The direction? I don't know yet, but I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually. I suppose that saying that it's officially put on hold is not even an accurate description of reality. I'm still waiting to hear back on a couple of things, but I feel that they're less likely to come together than the fellowship. Sigh. Perhaps I'll go back to genetics of some form yet. It's interesting how some hopes and dreams never really die, no matter how far in the past they seem to be. It's as though some things can't be avoided, no matter what the circumstances. Eventually they come back or you come back to them. Perhaps these visits to the past are somehow designed to help us get to where we're ultimately supposed to end up, despite our best attempts to go somewhere completely different.

No matter how confused I may become, I know one thing. I need a source of motivation. I have been eager to learn and to better myself my entire life, but it's somehow been pushed to the side in past months. I want to figure things out, to go back to school, to find something that I love, but not knowing where to begin or how to begin always brings me back to the place I started. If that makes any sense. I blame a lot of my current state on reaching the burnout stage way too early in my senior year of college. I managed to push through, but I think it took everything absolutely everything in me to do so, and now there's nothing left but empty and abused space where motivation is usually stored. Maybe the lack of motivation is simply part of the process of recuperation. A lot has gone on in past months that I'm sure contributed to delaying the process. Hopefully now I'm on my way to a full recovery, in so many areas of my life. I'm still optimistic, despite the blog post you're reading, written out of discouragement and confusion. It seems to be helping me work through my thoughts. I know that I need to stick it out, that things will fall into place. Deep inside, I believe that they will. They always have in the past. There's no reason for me to believe that this time should be any different. For now, I'm just waiting. Impatiently.

You Know You're a Vet Tech If...

I was wasting my life on Facebook a few days ago when I came across another group that I had to become a member of. The group is called "Vet Techs United." While the title may not be quite as catchy as the group "Raft Guides Make me Wet." It struck my interest, so I checked it out. Good decision. In the groups homepage is a list of 75 things that are pretty much universal truth for those of us in the field. While I won't make you look through all 75, I will post a few of my favorites. Maybe you won't understand them all, but they might at least help you all understand why I love what I do, or question my sanity even more! Either way, here they are.

You know you're a vet tech if...

-You are more afraid of a 5 lb cat than a 130 lb Rottweiler any day
-You've ever set up/checked a fecal sample while eating
-You've ever treated a wound on yourself with surgical scrub and vet wrap
-You can express anal glands better than you can express your feelings
-You can identify each patient you saw that day by the hair, urine stain, vomit, anal scent, or poop smear on your scrubs
-Your paycheck barely covers your food bills, but all of your pets eat premium food
-You get a rash just looking at a Shar-Pei
-Your own pets think you have cheated on them every time you come home from work
-You no longer have a gag reflex (most of the time)
-When you're eating and you find a cat hair in your food, you pull it out and continue eating
-You never try to pet a small dog especially if it’s being carried
-You can smell Parvo from 200 meters away
-You’re horrible at remember client names but you always remember their pets names
-You own or have owned a pet with any of the following names - Tripod, Lucky, Gimpy, Peg Leg, One-ear, Poopy Pants, Demon Cat, etc.

C triple bond O

Due to a number of groggy days at home experienced by those of us residing at #4, and per the suggestion of my mother, we recently purchased a carbon monoxide detector. Apparently every home should have one, or like 17 according to the box. After popping in a fresh set of batteries and a quick read over the directions, we set the thing on an end table in the bedroom, waiting for it to alert us of what we suspected might be the source of our lethargy and haziness. Not a peep it made. Perhaps we're just lazy and need to get out more. Done.

Weeks pass, still not a shrill note uttered by the CO detector. (CO is carbon monoxide in science geek language. 1 carbon, 1 oxygen...you get it. I can show you the structure of the molecule if that'll help...) Then, a few evenings ago, an unfamiliar sound pierced our eardrums. It must be the smoke detector, we're cooking dinner...No, it doesn't sound like that... You guessed it. The little white cylinder in the bedroom was identified as the source of the shrill noise. Great. What do we do now? Call the fire department? That costs half a fortune... Open the windows? Yes! So we did and it stopped.

After searching for the remains of mice under the stove earlier that day, I decided that I might as well clean the oven while I was in the area. I had all kinds of windows open throughout the house all day, but when Keith got home, it was starting to cool off and he closed the windows. A few hours later, the fumes, in high enough concentration to set of the alarm, reached the bedroom. Simple enough. Plausible. Problem solved.

Two days later, while I'm at work, the alarm goes off again. No oven being cleaned this time...hmmm.... K figures it has something to do with the wind and the furnace. I dunno. Not a good thing since it's windy here all the time! As a solution, we keep the door to the laundry room and utility room closed and the window in there open. Seems to have solved the problem for now.

I wonder what would have happened if we hadn't bought the detector?