horses, of courses...and other things
So surgery ended up going well today, and my horse (Ollie) was not as idiotic in the stall with people as we originally thought he was going to be. He was quite the pinball waking up from anesthesia, falling all over the place and bouncing off the padded walls, but everything ended up being pretty uneventful after that. His mom brought him a bag of "cookies" (I think they are really baked circles of horse feed packed together with molasses--- it makes them smell marvelous), so I gave him a couple of those today after we messed with him a bit. He loves them! I also stopped at Kroger yesterday to pick up some kale (for salad) and a bag of starlight peppermints for horsie treats. Horses for some strange reason loooooove to munch on peppermints. It makes their breath smell good, haha. I wonder if they like the minty freshness in their mouth.
Horses are pretty funny creatures, I have discovered. They can be extremely affectionate and awfully silly. Their faces are very expressive. In the hospital they usually have this "worried" look, and their eyebrows raise up and wrinkle over their eyes. It's hilarious. They are always afraid of something (which is, I guess, natural because they are prey animals in the wild), but they can even be afraid of something random like a drain grate on the floor or even a puddle of water. When you itch them and find their sweet spot, they stretch their necks out and wiggle their lips. Sometimes when you are grooming them and find a good spot, they will even try to groom you back (which is something you don't want them to do, as horse nibbles do hurt, no matter how gentle they are being). Some friendly horses will wander right up to you when you open their stall door. Others will walk to the back of the stall and turn around, showing you their butt (you don't want to see that-- it means, "Don't come closer or I'll kick you!"). Stallions will flare their nostrils, whinny and grunt at the top of their lungs every time a horse passes by. Some stallions are friendly and able to be handled pretty darn well.... others, not so much. After spending some time with them these past two weeks (moreso than while I was on Equine Ambulatory back in July), I realize why people like them so much. And I feel a lot more comfortable around them now.
Let's see, what else..... I can't believe October is here. It seems like summer completely flew by and now we're well into fall. Not that I'm complaining; I didn't exactly have the summer off, so I didn't miss anything. Also, I really am liking this milder weather. Summer is cool if you have time to enjoy it. Like if you have spare time during the summer, you can hang out outdoors or go to the beach or go swimming in the pool, have BBQ's, etc. But if you're stuck working indoors or riding with veterinarians in the sweltering heat, summer is definitely not as fun. Now that it's fall, we are able to turn off our air conditioner and enjoy the breezes. Our little bedroom window fan runs overnight and keeps us cool (both of us tend to get really warm while we're sleeping). Not using A/C gives us a break on our electric bill.
Anyway, I digressed a bit. So it's fall now, and soon enough it will be winter. What the hell? Am I really over half finished with clinics? Am I really now about 8 months away from getting married? 9 months from graduation? I knew time was gonna fly but seriously.... damn. I can't believe I'm finished with my food animal experiences, and once I get into November I'll be finished with equine. Only small animal stuff lies ahead after that. I take boards in December, and if all goes well I'll be a graduated, licensed veterinarian in June. :X Craziness. I remember back in undergrad when I DREAMED of this moment. And now it's nearly here.
The rest of this year is filled with more "surviving clinics/studying/boards" nonsense. Then next year begins, which will only get busier and busier as the wedding and June gets closer. Because the job market appears to be low in demand for small animal veterinarians (at least on Long Island), I think even if I WANTED to go straight to private practice I would have trouble finding a job..... so I'm going to start my application process for internships. I'm a little concerned about starting dates (I mentioned this in my prior entry0, but we'll see what happens I suppose. If I can't apply to those programs, I can't apply. That really only leaves me a couple of choices, but worse comes to worse I will start looking for employment. The plan is that Sean and I are going to get married in May, I graduate in June and then after that we move back to Long Island. Unfortunately that involves us moving into my parents' basement while we get on our feet and start to put away money for a down payment on a place of our own.... but it'll be a good opportunity for saving, and while it's not the most ideal situation we figured we wanted to come back /home/, where our roots are. Everything just feels /better/ when I'm on the plane and it's touching down in New York. Long Island may be ridiculously expensive but both of us grew up there and all of our family, friends and memories are there. We originally toyed with the idea of moving somewhere else, somewhere cheaper.... but we think in the end it is worth the extra money. Why does anyone on Long Island stay, you know?
So for now we are planning the comeback next year..... and we'll see what happens from there. All I know is that June is going to be insane. Moving us, our animals and all our shit 600 miles across Appalachia is certainly going to be interesting, that's for sure. I'm not even going to MENTION how busy I will be if I get an internship. And how Sean needs to look for a new job once he gets back. But by July or August or so, we should be pretty settled in our new... basement home haha. And hopefully, our new routine. As husband and wife. (Just saying that sounds weird and funny. It sounds so OLD!)
Well, enough musing for now. I reeeeeally need to get downstairs so I can study for a bit before an early bedtime. I need it, I haven't been getting nearly enough sleep as I should lately.... and I'm waking up early to go to the gym tomorrow, so all the more reason why I need my Z's.
Horses are pretty funny creatures, I have discovered. They can be extremely affectionate and awfully silly. Their faces are very expressive. In the hospital they usually have this "worried" look, and their eyebrows raise up and wrinkle over their eyes. It's hilarious. They are always afraid of something (which is, I guess, natural because they are prey animals in the wild), but they can even be afraid of something random like a drain grate on the floor or even a puddle of water. When you itch them and find their sweet spot, they stretch their necks out and wiggle their lips. Sometimes when you are grooming them and find a good spot, they will even try to groom you back (which is something you don't want them to do, as horse nibbles do hurt, no matter how gentle they are being). Some friendly horses will wander right up to you when you open their stall door. Others will walk to the back of the stall and turn around, showing you their butt (you don't want to see that-- it means, "Don't come closer or I'll kick you!"). Stallions will flare their nostrils, whinny and grunt at the top of their lungs every time a horse passes by. Some stallions are friendly and able to be handled pretty darn well.... others, not so much. After spending some time with them these past two weeks (moreso than while I was on Equine Ambulatory back in July), I realize why people like them so much. And I feel a lot more comfortable around them now.
Let's see, what else..... I can't believe October is here. It seems like summer completely flew by and now we're well into fall. Not that I'm complaining; I didn't exactly have the summer off, so I didn't miss anything. Also, I really am liking this milder weather. Summer is cool if you have time to enjoy it. Like if you have spare time during the summer, you can hang out outdoors or go to the beach or go swimming in the pool, have BBQ's, etc. But if you're stuck working indoors or riding with veterinarians in the sweltering heat, summer is definitely not as fun. Now that it's fall, we are able to turn off our air conditioner and enjoy the breezes. Our little bedroom window fan runs overnight and keeps us cool (both of us tend to get really warm while we're sleeping). Not using A/C gives us a break on our electric bill.
Anyway, I digressed a bit. So it's fall now, and soon enough it will be winter. What the hell? Am I really over half finished with clinics? Am I really now about 8 months away from getting married? 9 months from graduation? I knew time was gonna fly but seriously.... damn. I can't believe I'm finished with my food animal experiences, and once I get into November I'll be finished with equine. Only small animal stuff lies ahead after that. I take boards in December, and if all goes well I'll be a graduated, licensed veterinarian in June. :X Craziness. I remember back in undergrad when I DREAMED of this moment. And now it's nearly here.
The rest of this year is filled with more "surviving clinics/studying/boards" nonsense. Then next year begins, which will only get busier and busier as the wedding and June gets closer. Because the job market appears to be low in demand for small animal veterinarians (at least on Long Island), I think even if I WANTED to go straight to private practice I would have trouble finding a job..... so I'm going to start my application process for internships. I'm a little concerned about starting dates (I mentioned this in my prior entry0, but we'll see what happens I suppose. If I can't apply to those programs, I can't apply. That really only leaves me a couple of choices, but worse comes to worse I will start looking for employment. The plan is that Sean and I are going to get married in May, I graduate in June and then after that we move back to Long Island. Unfortunately that involves us moving into my parents' basement while we get on our feet and start to put away money for a down payment on a place of our own.... but it'll be a good opportunity for saving, and while it's not the most ideal situation we figured we wanted to come back /home/, where our roots are. Everything just feels /better/ when I'm on the plane and it's touching down in New York. Long Island may be ridiculously expensive but both of us grew up there and all of our family, friends and memories are there. We originally toyed with the idea of moving somewhere else, somewhere cheaper.... but we think in the end it is worth the extra money. Why does anyone on Long Island stay, you know?
So for now we are planning the comeback next year..... and we'll see what happens from there. All I know is that June is going to be insane. Moving us, our animals and all our shit 600 miles across Appalachia is certainly going to be interesting, that's for sure. I'm not even going to MENTION how busy I will be if I get an internship. And how Sean needs to look for a new job once he gets back. But by July or August or so, we should be pretty settled in our new... basement home haha. And hopefully, our new routine. As husband and wife. (Just saying that sounds weird and funny. It sounds so OLD!)
Well, enough musing for now. I reeeeeally need to get downstairs so I can study for a bit before an early bedtime. I need it, I haven't been getting nearly enough sleep as I should lately.... and I'm waking up early to go to the gym tomorrow, so all the more reason why I need my Z's.