crash course

Tonight Nick got a crash course in some veterinary assisting. For the past month or so, Chester has been pretty obsessive about licking his rear end. I have tired to express his anal glands on my own, but was not able to do so. Nick agreed to help with the restraint that may make it easier for me to do this. So tonight at 10pm, Nick and I, donned outdoor gear and took the unsuspecting dog outside. (It stinks and can be messy, outside is the best at home option) I quickly described to Nick how to restrain Chester. He did very well. I went to work trying to express these pesky glands. They were not easy. Chester made some crowing rooster type sounds. "Sorry buddy, this hurts." Both glands were very full and very difficult to express. The material was quite thick and pasty. Oh yeah, and it stunk. Despite the dog's best efforts, Nick did a great job holding on. Even the time the dog did manage to squirm, kick and scream his way mostly free, Nick kept pretty good hold and told me when he was loosing his hold. It's amazing that someone that got a crash course in restraint and anal glads was a better assistant than some people I have worked with (mostly many years ago now) and this was his own dog. Way to go Nick!!

So you may be asking "what in the world is an anal glad?" Well, dogs and cats and a few other creatures have these "sacs." The glad secretes a very smelly fluid that collects in these sacs. Every time the animal has a bowel movement, the sac releases some of the fluid onto the poo, giving it the distinct smell of "this is my territory." Well, as animals age, the fluid starts to get a little less fluidy and a little thicker. This makes the natural process of emptying them not work well. In some cases, the ducts that release the fluid can get plugged. If left unexpressed, eventually the sac gets too full and can lead to a ruptured anal gland. This is not a pretty site. They get infected and something that was once gross gets nasty.

So now that you have a basic understanding, go Google Anal Glands and see what kind of great videos and descriptions you find. Go on, I dare you!

school days

First week of classes successfully completed. Tuesday was Composition. Yeah, I do have to take it. The course description from my class 12 years ago does not include a research paper. I did a research paper, but it was simply called "an essay." Therefore, I get to take Composition. YAY! My first paper is to write a compare/contrast paper that is 2-4 pages long. Ok, what do I WANT to write about. Well, I don't like to write, so nothing really, but I have to do the assignment. I think I have narrowed it down to comparing the differences of starting my vet tech program and starting my MA program. If only I had seen NKOTB when I was a kid, I could compare them then and now...but alas, I did not.

Wed I have Intro to Patient Care Sciences. Last night we watched a video on how to take vitals. The video was very cheesy, but I guess it made its points. We then were shown and practiced taking Temperatures and height at weight. FYI, for most visits to your clinic, you are not required to be weighed. For weight related illnesses you are, things such as diabetes, thyroid disease, high blood pressure, etc...you need to be weighed. For pregnant lady exams, yup, gotta be weighed. For your annual physical you have to be weighed. If you haven't been in for over a year, you gotta be weighed. Other than that...if you go in for a cold, nope. And then next month you have a sore shoulder, nope. You can kindly decline to be weighed at those visits. :)

Back to what I learned. We practiced taking temperatures in 3 places: oral, axillary, and tympanic (or aural). We were told that rectal temperatures can be taken, but that was the extent of that route. I do have a fair amount of practice taking rectal temps, however, it is on dogs and cats, and I somehow think that is a bit different.

I have homework in both classes. I plan to get started on it this morning so I can make sure I am finished and don't have to work on things last minute. :)

School is scary

I haven't been in school for more than 10 years. My official completion date was 12/19/98. I finished classroom work in June of 98 and completed my internship with the Milwaukee County Zoo from Oct-Dec.

When I went to school to be a Vet Tech, it wasn't by accident I ended up in a 2 year associates program. I wasn't a big fan of school. I went to school straight through (no summers off) and completed my courses with a 3.41 GPA in 2 years.

Then I jumped into the real world. I remember at my first job I made a whopping $9 an hour. Yup, I could have made more working at McDonalds.

When I was laid off in November, I had to seriously consider if I wanted to go back to work for a small animal practice (or mixed, or large animal). Basically do I want to go to work for another vet clinic. My first thought was, I was burned out from the veterinary practice. I still loved the animals, and the medicine. But I was a little burned out from wrestling big dogs that didn't want to cooperate, cats that wanted to eat me and owners that thought because we were in the veterinary field, we were ripping them off by charging $25 just to look in a microscope. I was sick of defending my skills and abilities to people that thought I must not know anything if I was "just the technician, and not a doctor." In short, I didn't want to go back.

I did apply to a few clinics, hoping that if nothing else, at least I could fall back on something I already know. I submitted online resumes for at least 40 places. Some of them would utilize my tech/medicine skills, others were more the desk job types. I have never had a desk job. I figured Nick finishes school in 2 1/2 years, that's as long as I HAVE to have a job, at least, a job if I didn't like it. After a month, lots of resumes and not much response except "someone else is more qualified" Nick and I started talking about my returning to school. We had talked about in the future doing mission trips (or just ministry type work) where we can utilize our medical training. I realized that I would need human medical training to accomplish that. Someday I was going to get some kind of human medical training to be able to do that kind of mission work.

Someday is now. In December I started talking to a few schools and looking into a CNA program and the MA program. It seemed that the CNA program would work. I could get certified after a course of 74 hours. Century offered it, it wasn't that expensive and I could get a job in that field and then do other things if I choose. Then after careful consideration, I decided that being a CNA would be like being a kennel girl. Yes, it would pay much better than a kennel girl, but I was going to pay money for a course to do the manual labor and icky stuff. Not that I am above manual labor, but that was one of the reasons I didn't want to go back to the vet clinic. So I rethought my options. I began the long, hoop jumping process to get registered for classes at Globe University in Woodbury. My first class is tomorrow (Tues) at 6pm. I have class on Tues and Wed at 6pm. I will be taking Introduction to patient care sciences and composition.

The nice thing about this program, is I am transferring in credits from an AA program and should be able to get an associates degree with little more than the courses needed to get the diploma. This means if I go full time (which I did not start with) I could be done in a year. If I go part time, I should be done in less than 2 two years. I also hope to test out of a few of the courses. If I test out of all 4 courses I would like to, that is 15 credits I don't have to take, or pay for. Yup, that would be awesome!

So, while all of this was going on, the week of Christmas I got a phone call from one of the places I submitted a resume. I set up an interview for Tues the 30th. I think the interview went really well. I am hopeful that this position will work out. I want to have a job and feel productive again. It sure would be nice! We should know by tomorrow if I make the next step.

I got a call that same Tuesday from another person. I had called, following up with a job posting I saw. I will be setting something up this week if this job doesn't pan out.

So, tomorrow classes start for me, and I am a little excited and a little nervous at the same time. I am also a little nervous about adding student loans for me into the mix.

dog food

Today I bought dog food. I am sure you are thinking, wow, and you are going to blog about that...must be a boring day. This is significant because it has been a REALLY long time since I have had to go to a store and pay full price for a bag of dog food. I found myself a true consumer overwhelmed by the choices presented to me. What was hard for me was picking a food that I know is a quality food, and coming to terms with the price of said food. I settled on a bag of Iams for old dogs. I know it is a decent food and the price was ok. I was surprised to see that Pedigree was in pet stores. This is not a brand of food I would recommend. Anyway, it was a little sad to buy food at a store, and pay full price for it. But the dog's gotta eat right?

Year End Review

For those of you that keep up with my blog, it has been quite the year. Nick was composing the "Christmas Letter" this past weekend. Before he started writing, he commented,"this was a horrible year, why do we want to write about it?" Well, I won't say it is a horrible year. He did come around and see this year for the blessing that it has been. The negative things, both of our grandmothers passed away and I lost my job. They are big things, but below is a summary of the good stuff:

We got to spend another whole year together.

Nick is 2 semesters closer to being done with Pharmacy School (YAY!!!)

We have a new nephew and we are honored to be his godparents.

We have a new niece and we are honored to be her godparents.

We have a niece that is almost 3 and adorable!

Michael and Aimee live 5 minutes away.

We got to visit Texas for fun, including feeding camels, the Dr Pepper museum, the zoo and spending time with family.

We got to visit Florida for fun, including NASA, Universal, the beach, Panama City and spend times with family and friends.

We got to be present for the baptism of Aaron.

We got to be present for the baptism of Taryn.

We got to celebrate the lives of both of our grandmothers, and celebrate they are home with Jesus.

The Relay was fun, even if it was short.

I got to see NKOTB in concert, finally, after all these years.

My plan of changing careers came sooner rather than later - that means no more 100# dog wrestling and wrangling cats that want to eat me...this will be a good thing once we get over the income issue.

We have wonderful, fabulous families that love us and support us.

We have awesome friends that love us and support us.

I discovered the miracle of saving money on our grocery budget at Aldi.

My faith that God has a plan for us and will provide has grown stronger. Through troubled times our relationship with God grows stronger, at least, that's what I've been told.

So, this list is by no means all inclusive...think of it more like a top several random things I want to celebrate.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The humor of a 2 1/2 year old...

So Nick and I visited our nieces, Michael and Aimee tonight. We were there for a while. Micah loves to have visitors. She alternates between telling us stories and showing us her stuff and things she can do. Tonight while the adults were talking, Micah came and sat on my lap. I said "Micah, I love you." she said "My wuve you" and we went back and fourth a few times, then said "My wuv you more." That was just too cute. She also said "Uncle Nick My wuv you." Well, Uncle Nick was busy talking and didn't hear her. I said she could tell him in a few minutes when he was done talking. At the next lull in his conversation, I said, Micah didn't you have something you wanted to say. She said "My wuv you Alesha." "Awww, thanks! Didn't you have something you wanted to say to Uncle Nick?" Her reply: "Uncle Nick, My wuv Aunt Alesha."

Yup. Couldn't help but break out laughing. She was pretty proud of herself.

Anonymous thanks

On Tuesday I was not having such a great day. I had one of those days where the last three weeks caught up with me. I have sent out over 30 resume/applications. To date I have received 3 email responses saying I was not selected for the interview process. I know many of the sites say they will only contact me if I make the selection. So I was bummin' about this. I did interview for a temp agency, but so far, no word. I guess that means I was over qualified after all.

So after all that, I did get a wonderful email from one of my previous co-workers. She was very supportive and it was a great email. It made me cry though.

Later in the day I went to get the mail. I was going through the junk, cards and bills. I saw one was a card from my cousin. I opened up the other that didn't have a return address. There was a letter that basically stated God led them to gift us with this gift card. There of course, was more to the letter. It made me cry. I was so touched that this family would do this. I am so grateful and amazed at the ways God has shown us He is good and will help us get through this. It also helped me realize that God is good and He will help us get through this, so I need to quit fretting about the number of resumes I have sent. I need to be patient and know that He will provide.

So to this anonymous family, thank you! I give thanks a praise to God every day for the wonderful friends He has put in our path.

The power of a prayer

I have never realized the feeling of support and love when someone says something as simple as "I am praying for you" or "I will keep you in my prayers."

I have known for a long time that I have a great network of friends and family. This weekend and sure to come in the future, I have had to lean my network a bit. On Friday I was let go from my job. (I was not fired) The reason being cited was financial hardship on the clinic. Now I will be completely honest here, I have been thinking for the last few months that I wasn't as happy with my job anymore. I had been doing a lot of praying about where I should go next? Is now a good time to leave and embark on a new journey of employment? What leads should I follow up on? Admittedly, I would have liked this to be more on my terms, but at the same time, I did ask God for a clear sign about staying or leaving. I guess it doesn't get much more clear!

The bright side is my parents will never let us starve.

I also have the benefit of looking for and submitting resumes for anything I find interesting. I do not HAVE to go back to a small animal practice. I do hope to find some rest during this time of unemployment, but I also hope it won't last long. Student loans for Nick can only take us so far and I do rather enjoy having heat and a home.

I do want to have a job and be productive in society again, but I will rest knowing God had something planned for me. Something I probably would have missed had I still been working. I also feel much better knowing I have friends and family that love and support me. Knowing there are so many people praying for me really makes me feel loved.

funny haha?

I stopped at Cub to get some No Name steaks for 9.98 (yeah, its a great deal, go get them!!). When I parked I saw a gal get out of her Jetta. I also noticed a very dark head with floppy ears moving around. As I walked by this Jetta, I saw it was a Great Dane sitting in the car. I didn't think much of it until I looked close enough to see HOW a Great Dane fits in a Jetta. She had the rear seats folded down. This meant the Dane was laying on top of the backseats and into the trunk. Yeah, It was pretty amusing.

musings

Its hard to top my last entry about NKOTB, but there isn't anything on TV that I want to devote my time to, so I am going to blog.

I have gone in 2 Mondays in a row now for acupuncture treatment of my shoulder. Early this spring I was diagnosis with tendinitis of my rotator cuff. I did the Physical Therapy exercises and icing it. It did get better, but that was only temporary. Even with doing the PT it had been getting worse. My co-worker Cherie suggested acupuncture with her friend. I accepted the business card and called her for an appointment.

My first was Oct 27. I was impressed that she took the time to ask questions about my overall heath. Things that may not be related to my shoulder...still important. Certainly, there is a bit of 'lets see what else acupuncture may help with' but it felt very relaxed and very much like she genuinely cared.

She explained how acupuncture works. She showed me the needles and the model and how the meridians work. She started by doing some baseline movements with my shoulder. The first needle she placed was in my leg. Yeah, that's that what I thought too. I was totally amazed how well it worked though. Last week my shoulder was great until Friday when we were busy and I was stressed.

I went back this Monday. I mentioned the stress, she decided to place some beads. We have also been treating my left thumb, which gets very sore when doing nail trims or paying wii. The treatments have worked tremendously. My shoulder is much improved. She placed 3 beads in my ear. They are tiny, smaller than the ball of a ball point pen, held in place by an adhesive disk. The first is placed on the "happy feel good" point, the second on my shoulder point and the third on my liver point, which will help clear out stress. Hey if it works...I am more than excited to give it a whirl!

So far, things are going well, and I am very excited about the results.


Now that campaign adds are going to be over, the Christmas adds will start up. I find it a little sad that the retail world always wants to start Christmas earlier and earlier every year, but then by Jan 1 it is over and done and time to move on. Doesn't it make more sense to celebrate more after? If we are celebrating the birth of Christ, doesn't the celebration only get bigger AFTER the day of his birth. I realize the main goal of retail is not to celebrate Jesus, but doesn't it speak volumes that our society is so controlled by stores?


I am seriously considering being a Creative Memories consultant. Anyone have an opinion on that?