Jen’s Blog

I watch WAY too much television, so Pete and I have been anxiously awaiting the return of our shows this Fall.  I looked up the schedule this Fall and was horrified!  My Name is Earl, Lipstick Jungle, and Life are all cancelled???  Yet NBC is still going to show 2 hours of The Biggest Loser. If you cut out the recaps and all the pausing, that show is only 1 hour at best. So WHY did they have to go and cancel so many of our shows?

In other news, I have been deemed the International Health Certificate guru at work because nobody else wants to do it (or they lack the organizational skills to pull it off!).  I have successfully sent 5 pets to Japan and one to Hawaii (though not international, it is harder to get into with a pet than Japan!).  Today I had to do some very easy paperwork for Thailand, but the people were using a pet relocation company.  WHY WHY WHY???  It seems like in this economy, the last thing people need is to pay for something they don’t need.  By law, the veterinarian has to fill out the international health certificate and this is something clients have to pay for…so now these people are paying me to do my job and a 3rd party company to tell me how to do my job.  I was about to kick this lady’s ass today.  She was trying to tell me what color ink I could use and everything.  Then she insinuated that I should have let her fill in part of the certificate because she was “in charge” of the paperwork.  Why would I sign a legal document with my license number on it and then let someone else fill it in?  What a dumbass and what a waste of money for the client.

That’s all I have for now…lame, I know.  I’ll try to be a bit more regular on here…maybe some more password-protected blogs, so I can really get interesting.  We’ll see.

I made it through the initial pain of running and got to the point that I enjoyed it.  Then I hurt my knee and enjoyed ibuprofen, wrapping, hot baths, and rest.  Then I tried again and hurt my knee again.  So I went out and bought one of those fancy knee wraps.  Then I got to enjoy a numb foot and stabbing in the side of my thigh.  I am so over it!  I just don’t see how this whole running thing is worth it.  I am convinced it will destroy my body in the process.  Sooo, I will just be walking with Pete and the dog at night.  I guess I’m back to the good ole elliptical machine.  Maybe when I am no longer working 10-hour days on my feet I can try again?

Recently, Pete and I decided we should run a 5K.  Not because we like to run or even because we like the idea of running, but because we feel like it is something we should do.  Lots of people do them and we’d like to be able to say we have, too.  Us being us, we have to set a goal that is seemingly unreachable (for us).  We are planning on running the 5K at Frontier Days, which is less than 8 weeks away.  Most of the training programs I could find for couch-to-5K condition were 12 or more weeks and that just won’t do it, so I found us a 6 week program that is meant for people who are in shape and do some running.  Hmmm, I don’t think I qualify as a non-beginner unless we are talking about ice cream eating or beer drinking.

Luckily I got to start today off on the right foot.  I spent all day on my feet at work, ate a nice big plate of mexican food for lunch, and then chugged a pop on my drive home after not being able to finish it this afternoon.   As you can imagine, I felt awesome when I got home.  I made myself go anyways and made it through…BARELY.  I am not a runner and will never be a runner.  I have a bad ankle, which leads to a bad knee, which leads to me quitting even before I have lost interest.  The only real motivation at this point is that Sam comes, too, so she is NOT sqeaking that toy and barking at us tonight.  She’s sleeping.   Let’s see how long we all make it…

I have been very busy over the last week trying to get our yard in shape for the Fourth of July celebration we will be having here.  I am amazed at the work and time necessary to get rid of the stupid flowers that were planted out there!  Apparently these are irises that I am dealing with and they are supposed to undergo yearly maintenance to remove new bulbs to prevent overgrowth.  Too bad the lady that planted them never did that!  So I am dealing with about 12 years worth of iris tubers EVERYWHERE!  Of course all of this is planted over the tiling, around the well, around/under the fence, and all along the house.  So, I have to do it all by hand rather than some type of machinery or a big shovel.  The shovel works in a few spots, but now I am scarred since I almost ripped out a section of tiling.  I figured the best bet was to dig everything out, rake up the dirt, cover the entire area with roundup, and then cover it with landscaping tarp and mulch.  Hopefully I only have to deal with a few regrowths next year and then I can try to plant something neat and organized there next year.

The best part of all of it is that I forgot to take before pictures, so now it is going to look like all I did was put some mulch down and bitch about it for 2 weeks. Me being me, I want to accomplish so much more in just the next few days.  By Saturday I’ll be lucky if I can still walk!  At least I know I’ll be ready to enjoy good company, beer and food!!!

Today my biggest annoyance was the sound of my own name.  It is all I heard.  Over and over and over.  It made me very crabby.  It is especially annoying because everybody wanted something from me, but I couldn’t get anything done because I kept getting interrupted!

The next most annoying thing today was that I WAS crabby and everyone kept asking me how I was doing or something along those lines.  Of course I answer with a grunt or a face…then I have to justify my response.

I also have a growing hatred for preachy types that think they know everything.  I get really tired of listening to other peoples opinions all the time.  I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again…OPINIONS ARE LIKE ASSHOLES, EVERYONE HAS ONE.  Yours is no more special than mine or anyone else’s.

I read a blog recently about making lists to help with dating.  This brings me back to a time that I did this.  I think this is a phase that most women go through…get burned a few times and swear off men…then decide you are meeting the wrong men…then make a list to help you find the right ones.  Good times!  The problem is that if you actually met the man you described on paper exactly, you would HATE him!  At least in my case that is what would happen!  For your entertainment I have included what I can remember of my list.  This list was written in Tracy’s room (my dorm suitemate my first year of vet school 2002) after a bad blind date.

-Be taller than me (easy enough…I am 5′4”)
-Weigh more than me (easy enough sometimes, but tricky at others!)
-Be successful in a field completely different than mine
-Come from a farm/rural background, preferably with 4-H experience
-Likes dogs
-Like to drink socially and can drink more than me
-Like MSU Sports (being a Michigan fan automatically disqualifies!)
-Cannot be a soccer player
-Preferably drive a truck
-Be more of a man than me (those of you that know me well understand this!)
-Likes to cook
-Wants kids at some point, but not soon
-Actually believes in marriage
-Be Christian, but not catholic
-In general, my preference was dark hair, tan skin
-MUST EAT MEAT!
-Bonus if he is a hunter
-Bonus if he is a baseball player
-Bonus if he already has a dog

I am sure there was more to the list at that point, but this is all I can remember.  I guess most of this pretty well describes Pete minus a few items.  I do remember meeting a guy that fit all my qualifications shortly after making the list that I did not like.  Go figure.

I guess it just goes to show you that you don’t always know what is best for you at the time.  It is always best to leave it up to someone higher.  On that note…I’m out.

With no vacation in a while and being a bit overworked, I have entered what I call an “angry phase.”  This phase is where my patience is pretty well gone and I no longer have the ability to swallow hard and go about my day after being annoyed by something.  Normally some of the peeves on my list will bother me for a second and then I get over it and move on.  Recently I’ve begun to have a boiling over of such annoyances and cannot keep my anger inside!  Luckily my vacation (which hopefully will be a refreshing time for me!) is only 2 weeks away, but I have to get through the next 2 weeks…

Some days I do fairly well, like today where I kept my patience until about 3pm when I encountered a crazy-haired hippie lady who sucked away a bulk of my afternoon.  Wednesday I only made it until about lunchtime and then became a crazy bitch by about 5:30pm.  I still hadn’t recovered my patience by Thursday, so the morning drive was interesting to say the least!

For demonstration purposes I will create a list of my most commonly encountered pet peeves.  One or two in a row test me a bit, but when I get to 3 or 4 I start to slowly go insane!  I hope this entertains you folks, as you can see it would be mostly impossible to get through a day without a lot of these things happening.

-A vehicle driving in the fast lane when there is nobody in the slow lane for miles.  Bonus points for if I come up behind them and they don’t move, making me pass them on the right.

-People who are hippies when it comes to animal care.  Avoiding necessary surgery or antibiotics, calling flea/heartworm preventative “poison”, or trying to make an animal a vegetarian.

-Politics at work.  Especially when the people know you don’t agree with them and they keep trying to suck you into an argument.

-People who complain non-stop about not having money, but then go outside and light up a cigarette…or eat out for lunch every day…or have fancy cell phones/computers/cars/clothes all the time.  Perhaps they should stop complaining and start budgeting.  Bonus points for if this is a client who then cannot afford something and tries to blame it on us being “too expensive” or saying “are you just going to let my animal die?”

-The use of your/you’re incorrectly.  This one gets really blow out of proportion in my head when I’m already mad, but it REALLY bugs me.

-A client asking how old I am.  Or telling me I look too young to be a doctor.  I can no longer respond to these questions/statements in a nice way.  Even if I hold my anger in, I am mentally checked out on the appointment.

-Any demand in a not-so-nice-manner.  Whether it is a client saying I AM bringing my animal in tonight (10 minutes before we close) or someone telling me I have to/will be/must be doing something.  Asking nicely really goes a long way.  Because if anyone really knows me, they know I can’t say no…but I will say no if asked not nicely.

-Clients that watch an animal be sick for a few days and then come in on the weekend…then get mad they have to pay urgent care or are mad we have limited hours.  Or people that watch their animal be sick all day and then come in 10 minutes before we close…and then get mad they have to pay urgent care.

-People who block stuff with their carts in the grocery store and don’t move even when you say excuse me.

-Loud cell phone talking in public.  Bonus points if it is in the exam room while I am trying to examine a pet.  Extra bonus points if I am examining a pet and then the client answers their phone in the middle of the appointment and doesn’t immediately say the only five words I really want to hear (”can I call you back?”).

-People in big trucks that pull out in front of me when there is nobody other than me on the road.  Usually they proceed to go 5-10 miles less than the speed limit.  Bonus points if the truck smells like gasoline and/or has a picture of a guy peeing on a Ford/Chevy/sports team emblem.

-Seeing somebody wearing University of Michigan clothing in excess (as in more than one article at once), knowing full well that the person did not attend Michigan nor do they have any real affiliation with the school whatsoever.

There are so many more, but I thought I’d share a little taste.  Hopefully I’ll get through this angry phase soon and get back to being a normal human being.  In the meantime, I’m glad that my fridge is stocked with beer and I have a few key people (plus this blog!) to vent to…

I don’t know why, but Thursdays are becoming my least favorite day of the week.  Yes it is good t.v. night (if the over paid slackers actually film enough episodes to show new episodes every week), but I have been so burned out that my day is shot by the time the shows come on.  I have had a short temper all day and had to fight back the urge to cry several times.  I don’t cry.  I don’t even know why I felt like I needed to.  I need a vacation and I still have three weeks before mine.  Oh will it be a great day when I finally get to leave for my vacation!

Fitness USA is on my list again.  I received a 2nd notice from them today.  For those of you who don’t remember, I have had it out with them several times and I finally paid off my account and told them to shove it last Spring.  They are telling me that I owe them money for my renewal membership and that I already owe them late fees for it.  Hmmm, I’m pretty sure they are trying to solicite money that isn’t actually due to them.  They just moved to the top of my shit list.  They were already in the top three, but wow!

And I lost one of my earrings.  The only pair that I really ever wear.  The pair that Pete bought me when we first started dating.  The best part is that I have no idea when it fell out.  I’ve been so flustered I can only narrow it down to a 12 hour period of when I could have lost it.  Lame.

That’s all I’ve got…sorry I couldn’t tell a beautiful, optimistic story.  That’s not how I roll!

Hello all!  It’s been awhile, so I figured I’d get on here and spew some random details at you all.  April has been an interesting month so far…I’ve worked 3 Saturdays in a row and this coming weekend I will be working all day both Saturday and Sunday.  The following weekend I technically have off, but I am going to an all day Saturday Oncology seminar at MSU to learn about chemotherapy protocols and such.  I am trying to be our resident oncology person and need to get some extra knowledge!  I’ve also been deemed the resident rabbit doctor, so I’ve been spaying rabbits and hopefully will be figuring all the rest out soon!  Apparently I did everything wrong when I had rabbits!  I’ve been picking up some orthopedics here and there…I’ve pinned a leg and have done a few amputations now.  Hopefully I can continue to learn each day…someday I’d like to be a superstar doctor!

Onto diet news…I’ve been active this past week on Sparkpeople.com.  This is the site I used before the wedding and I stopped doing it because it is time-consuming and tedious.  I’ve been keeping track of my calories again and workouts online and hopefully it’ll make the difference.  So far I’ve lost 2 lbs since starting the challenge (well, 2 lbs on my scale…probably 3-4 on the work scale since I weighed in in the afternoon).  I definitely won’t win, but the motivation is nice.  After hearing people at work bragging and trying to trick other people into eating doughnuts/cake/candy, I have the motivation I need to workout when I get home.

Other random points…

-I watched Miss USA Sunday night.  Though I don’t agree with her, kudos to Miss California for having the balls to state her opinion in a pageant final question.  I did that once and pissed a lot of people off (I was asked if I agreed with the use of animals in research).  Intelligent people have opinions and should be able to voice them if asked!

-I can’t believe the media thought it was a good idea to refer to the recent tax protests as “tea-bagging.”  Don’t they know what that means?

That’s all I have for now, I’ll try to get some good talking points this weekend!