Well, one day left of the first week of my practicum. I have to say, it's been very interesting so far. Seen quite a few new things, and took part in my very first emergency blood transfusion this morning on a little Pomeranian pup who's less than a month old and has been very sick. Was a bit nerve wracking, to say the least.

But I'm really liking all the staff and the clinic it self. Their values and what not seem to run right in step with mine, and I think I've found my self a really excellent practicum site and (hopefully) future job. 

It's a busier practice than I've ever worked in. About 20 staff altogether, with 4 full time Vets and 1 part time. There's always something going on, and it really keeps you on your toes. I understand that this isn't even as busy as they get, which is a little intimidating to think about.

I think I'm going to learn a lot here, that for sure. But I'm having a lot of fun too, which is important. I'm excited to see what tomorrow and next week brings.

Just got home from taking Ginger for a long walk. It's absolutely gorgeous out there. Everything is greening up, the sun is shining, the birds are singing.. It's just wonderful. I wish I could take her for a walk like that every morning but I won't be able to once I start my practicum. In the evenings then, I guess.

This is the super awesome shelf unit that my dad made me for a grad present. I love it! It's pine and we're just going to varnish it, so it will be staying pretty well the same color it is now. It will naturally get darker with age though.

Well, I've made it to Kelowna in one piece, and am slowly working at the process of getting un-packed and settled in. It feels a bit odd to think that I'm living here, after years of just coming her on vacation. I think it'll be all right though. It's a new step in the journey.

Ended up having to leave some of the things I wanted to brin in Calgary at Mom's place, because the Tracker simply did not have enough room. We've decided that when I head back Alberta way for the VTNE in June, Dad will pick me up and drive me back, and we'll take another load then. One of the priorities for that second move is definitely my art stuff. All I was able to bring this time was my sketch book and my pencils. Probably just as well, in a way, because I've still got a lot of studying ahead of me to prepare for the VTNE.

My brain feels a little mushy trying to get everything sorted in my head, but hopefully by the end of tomorrow, I'll feel ready to start my practicum. Whether I'm ready or not, it starts at 7am on Tuesday.

So, I suppose I should get back to the whole unpacking thing now...

Had a really screwy dream just before I woke up about trying to move a treadmill on a city bus, and losing my laptop in the process... It almost surprises me how much that dream upset me.

Speaking of my laptop, I think it may have a virus.. I've been using less than ideal virus protections software for about a year now, so it really shouldn't be all that surprising.. It's one of those things I need to get corrected as soon as possible. Damn school for keeping me so busy any how.. And the fact that there's no Best Buy in Kelowna, and I won't have time to leave my comp with them to be serviced before I leave. *sighs and grumbles*

I'm sad to discover that the non-live version of Dave Matthew's song "Crush" is missing at least two verses.. And good ones at that! I like the overall sound of it better than the live version though..

Well, that's it, I'm basically done. 

I was right and I didn't pass my reception practical exam.. by a lousy 2 marks *laughs* But it's all good and I just have to do up a short essay about vaccine policy and why it's important and stuff. I guess in my scatter brained rush at the end, I printed up the vaccine certificate for the vet to sigh, but didn't indicate which vaccines I gave the animal! Woops. Oh well. I'm just glad I don't have to repeat the exam, because that would mean flying back to Edmonton for one bloody day in May, and that would be very inconvenient. 

And the card marker was busted, so they couldn't mark our comprehensive exams, so no one had to re-write *grins*

I celebrated by buying a new pair of jeans to replace the two I've had to retire this month because they were just too worn out, and a new CD *grins*

But now I have a whole lot of packing to do to get ready to move on Saturday, and all I feel like is a nap.. *chuckles* Ah well, not like I have to get up early, so I may just give in to that urge and stay up a little later. I'm going to miss Ann and Ash the most, but they both promise they will stay in touch.

Now I just have to do well and impress my clinic during my practicum.. I don't think that will be too too hard. I've never done anything -but- at the clinics I've worked at to date. I guess the expectations are a little higher this time, but I think I'm up to it.

The other challenge of Kelowna will be crawling out of my comfort zone, and getting out there and -meeting- people. That's going to be the really hard part, I think.

Well, here goes nothing!

Funniest thing.. I suddenly feel way better about my small animal nutrition final exam today.. I was just going over my midterm in that subject, checking what I had gotten wrong, and realized that on the little sheet we get of our mc answers, it didn't show an answer for me on the last 5, but I had answers circled in my test page.. So bugger it all, I must have forgotten to transfer my answers to the scantron card when I was writing! But, that means that instead of 73% on the mc, I should have had 90%. Big difference. *chuckles* Oh well, not that can be done now. Good to know though. Guess I should have looked at it a little closer when Dr.Parks handed these back. I might have been able to do something about it then..

My brain feels like goo

Just wanted to share some gorgeous rainbow shots with anyone who's interested

http://www.missouriskies.org/rainbow/february_rainbow_2006.html

You know, a part of me is kinda sad that this is all basically going to be over in 4 short days. 

When I first applied to the program, 2 years sounded like an eternity. The thought that I wouldn't be done school till I was 25 actually bothered me. But these two years have flown by at an extraordinary rate. 

I don't think it's the schooling it self I'm going to miss. Gods know I won't miss the long hours of studying when I would rather be doing just about anything else.. But at the same time, some of my classes were a lot of fun. Especially the large animal portion with Brad and Erin.

I guess, when you think about it, it's not really surprising that what I'm going to miss is the people. Not all of them of course, but that's only to be expected. But even the ones that I wasn't personally that close with were still a part of pretty much every day for the last two years.

I know that, with the exception of at grad in June, I will never talk to most of these people again. Nor, I guess, really think about them all that much. There's .. I would say 4 people that I hope I don't lose touch with. One, I can pretty much guarantee I wont, but the other 3 I'm not so sure about.

This is why I didn't want to go away to school. You make some really good friends, then you leave. Not that it would have made much difference now, since I'm moving to Kelowna any how, but still.. It just seems to be the trend of the last 12 years of my life. *shrugs* Oh well.

I should do the things I'm actually -supposed- to be doing now, like eating breakfast and doing some last minute cramming for radiology.

Wish me luck on all my exams folks, because I'm not doing near the amount of studying I should be.

Cheers
-Angi

I took the photographs and what not down off my wall today, in preparation for the move. The walls look so empty and lonely now..

Aargh! I'm trying to empty out the cupboards and the freezer and what not in getting ready for the move(s) next weekend, so I don't have to move food, but the unfortunate result is that there's bloody well nothing good to eat around here! Especially by way of breakfast food. Have to go out any way to get a couple of month's worth on my prescriptions to hold me until I can find a new Dr. to get them from in Kelowna, and it's going to be so hard to fight the temptation to buy yummy junk..

And Gods Damn it! It looks like winter out there again..

I seriously do not feel like studying. I think I'll pack. At least that way I'm still being productive..

So, I've decided to wait till I'm in Kelowna to adopt a dog, just because it'll be less stressful form me -and- the dog that way. But.. *chuckles* that doesn't stop me from looking now.. 

These are the 4 that I would like to go meet when I get to kelowna if they're still there.

http://bcspcapets.shelterbuddy.com/animal/animalDetails.asp?animalid=64791&result=20

http://bcspcapets.shelterbuddy.com/animal/animalDetails.asp?animalid=64651&result=16

http://bcspcapets.shelterbuddy.com/animal/animalDetails.asp?animalid=65118&result=4

http://bcspcapets.shelterbuddy.com/animal/animalDetails.asp?animalid=65038&result=1

The last two are the two I'm most interested in. Of course, I definitely need to meet them to see if their personality is a match for me, but yes, I'm interested.

Well, so. My Practical exam today went -way- better than I expected, and Yay! It was my last one! I still ran out of time, which I totally expected to, but I got -almost- everything done. Everything went crazy smooth for the most part, I even got blood on my first poke. The only thing that really went -wrong-, per say, was my urinalysis. It was the stupidest urinalysis ever! It was like, "Hmm, nothing, nothing, nothing, squamous epithelial cell, nothing nothing, little bit of bacteria, nothing nothing and something I've NEVER seen before, more nothing nothing nothing nothing, and something Else I'd NEVER seen before.." So yeah, I didn't finish filling out my requisition for that, because I hadn't figured out what I was going to call the crazy weird shit I'd never seen before.. And then I did my blood and ran out of time to go back.. *sigh* Oh well. I still got almost everything done and think I got a pretty decent mark. Even stuff that I usually have to do over again went right on the first try. Awesomeness. Yuppers. Angi's in a pretty good mood right now. 

'Sept now I have to get to studying, because while I may be done all my practicals, I've still got 5 written finals to worry about.

Cheers!
-Angi

Despite my protestations to the contrary, I fear that, to a large degree, I have become citified. (is slightly surprised to discover that's actually a word...) When weighing the pros and cons on the idea of remaining in Kelowna for longer than just my 5 week practicum, the biggest con's that come to mind are that it lacks certain big city amenities that I have become accustom to. Unfortunately, most of these "amenities" are also certain stores, namely..

a.) Kelowna has no BestBuy Electronics -- this is where all my major electronic purchases have been made, (digital camera, laptop, and MP3 player) and thusly -also- where I would take any of these said devices should anything malfunction with them (I purchased extra service plans on all of them since I have such rotten luck with electronics) So if anything were to happen to these devices, I would have to actually -send them away- to have them looked at. This is decidedly inconvenient. I also have $200 worth of gift cards from there that I got for christmas that was to go towards my new camera, and I don't know when I'm going to have the opportunity to use them..

b.) Kelowna lacks anything resembling a decent music store, which would mean all my music purchases would have to be made on line. A bit of a pain, but not as much as the first one.

c.) There is no MEC (Mountain Equipment Coop) in Kelowna. This is not -really- that bad a thing, because it would probably end up saving me money.. *chuckles* MEC is more of a habit than a need. I love shopping there, and I purchase a fair amount of my summer clothes there. I -can- live without one, but I love having one available.

d.) I'm really not sure how effective Kelowna's public transit system is, and I'll be reliant on it until such time as I get my license and can afford to purchase a vehicle.


So yes *chuckles* I've become quite used to having certain aspects of the "big city" available to me. I guess I'll cope. There are certainly a great number of pros to the location, hiking and paddling high on the list. We'll see how it evens out, eh?

Didn't take the dog, and I seem to have come down with Ann's daughter's cold. Shaping up to be a grand weekend.

Well, it was definitely a good day. Today was my second and last calving shift. The weather was nicer than last week, and I didn't go so hardcore on the mucking, so I probably won't hurt as bad tomorrow *fingers crossed* We didn't have any crazy aggressive mom's, thank goodness. Three pulls and I think 5 natural births. Only bad thing that happened was that Ann managed to leave the bag with our lunch sitting on the sidewalk in front of her house when we left in the morning, so I had to mooch off everyone else *chuckles* I was somewhat grumpy with her. It was still there when we got back though. Someone had moved it from the sidewalk to the front step. So we ate it for dinner *grins*

And, in other news... Got a call while I was out at the ranch, on Dr.Blair's cell phone, from our radiology instructor, Sandi. She thinks that yesterday's radiology dog would be an absolute -perfect- match with me. So.... I'm going to meet her tomorrow morning. Sandi got the pound to wait on sending her to the SPCA, and she brought the dog back to the school so I can meet her there. If I decide to take her, Sandi says she can be spayed at NAIT (so it'll cost me $25 instead of around $300, which is -totally- awesome. AND, she says that she will foster the dog for me at her place for the last couple of weeks of school, which will be easier on Ann, and mean I won't have to buy an insulated dog house, like I thought I would have to for Sam.

So, I meet her first thing tomorrow, and we'll see how things go. I'm bringing my camera, so if I'm taking her, I'll post a pic of her in her when I update. 

Final puppy update

I will not be adopting that dog after all, it seems. I did end up going down to the SPCA this afternoon. In fact, I just go home. The dog I had been waiting for for the last 20 or so days was not there. So I have no idea what happened to him. I have to assume that one of the staff at the SPCA decided he was the dog for them, and that he has a good home now, even if it's not with me. I have to admit that I'm more than a little sad right now.

Puppy update # 6

FRUSTRATION!! It looks like the dog I was talking to the girl at the SPCA about yesterday is -not- in fact my Sam dog. It's a lab cross, not even an Australian Shepherd cross! Aargh! So now I'm trying to get -back- in touch with the admissions desk and trying to get this straightened out... *sigh* I don't know what to do!!