A busy on call weekend = very little sleep, so I'm pooped. Tomorrow is a half day for labor day (have to work 8 - 12, boo!).

An altercation with an emergency client last night got me thinking about personal safety and how so far I (we? my female co-worker also) have been lucky and too careless about being safe. In the course of my job, I (again, we) frequently have to meet complete strangers in the middle of the night for emergency cases by ourselves. Often no one knows we're even there, except that the Boy (or her husband) knows that I'm not yet home, but doesn't always know when to expect me back - it all depends on the case. It would be pretty easy for something to happen if the wrong bad guy got wind of the situation. So we have decided, and our clinic has agreed to at least partially pay for us to get self defense training. And I've already requested an application for a concealed license.

The altercation last night was with a client who wouldn't allow me to to do further diagnostics or treatment on his dog, and wouldn't leave. After 1-1/2 hours, I fired him as a client, refused to do anything further with his pet and threatened to call the cops if he didn't leave immediately. He threatened me and then sat in the parking lot for 20 minutes without leaving. I was shaking like a leaf after it, mainly mad, but somewhat scared. Quickly ran to make sure all the doors to the clinic were locked. So to my friends who do the same thing I do, be extra careful out there. The world is getting stranger by the day.

Eli - my dog

I just realized how long it had been since I updated my blog.. Oops.. Well, things are going good since we've moved to Belton. Work is super busy and the current work schedule is Monday through Friday 8 - whenever we're done, usually 6 - 6:30, on Saturday 8 - whenever we're done, usually 1 or so. Half day off during the week. Get a complete weekend off every 6 weeks. If you're off during the weekend, no half day during the week. On call one night a week, or one weekend every 6 weeks. Which all translates to a lot of time spent working. On the plus side, I get a "uniform" which is blue jeans and a button down shirt which the laundry service takes care of (translation = very little laundry to do at home)

Crazy client stories, don't even know where to begin. Biggest complaint I have to owners - I'm the one who went through the 4 years of vet school, so maybe I should be the one to diagnosis and pick the treatment option - just a thought.

The boy, things are still good. Work isn't picking up for him quite as fast as we'd like, but it'll come in time. He's off roping right now. Got an IPod Nano - 6g (4th generation) for him for his b-day. Feeling a little I pod envy since mine is an original one.

Thinking I may have to upgrade to an iphone, or some sort of other technologically advanced cell phone here soon. Maybe...

No pictures because my camera bit the dust and the other one batteries need charging. I'll eventually get pictures posted of the house, the dog, the boy.

That's about all the updating I have. I will eventually make it to a concert/show and see some of you lovely people one of these days. Here the MDD are coming to Temple pretty soon...

Life in a mixed animal practice is never boring. The original agreement up on hiring was to do equine (horse) work during the day, but have to rotate emergency service with all the doctors (there are 6 of us total). The other part of the original agreement was that I wouldn't have to start doing emergency work for a month so that I could get used to the system here. Of course the best intended plans never quite work that way. So 2 weeks after starting, I get emergency duty for the first time.

My very first emergency call:
Answersing service: Hi Dr. G, this is the answering service. I have a call about a pig in distress.
Me: Uh! A pig?!? Ok, what's their number...
AS: XXX-XXXX
Me: OK thanks...

Ringing phone...

Me: Hi, this is Dr. G from BVC.. I got a call about a pig?!?!? What's going on?
Client: My sow (adult female pig) has been in labor for a couple of days, but hasn't had any of her babies yet? Can we bring her in for a C-Section?
Me: silence ___ uh sure?!? Let me call you back..

Me calling more experienced in pig dystocia doctor....He recommended a couple of shots for the pig, instead of surgery...

Just barely avoided a pig c-section as my very first emergency call...

Working like crazy.. half moved into the house.. camera fell apart and is only taking pictures in purple with stripes through the middle... no internet in house yet... lots of firsts at work in the past week.. will update as soon as internet is in the house... had an awesome birthday!

Last week was a trip to Idaho. The boy is from Idaho, but has lived in Arizona for about 10 years now, give or a take a few months. Amid multiple airport diversions, that involved 3:45 am wake up call to 6:30 flight out of Phoenix to a two hour layover in Salt Lake City (I waved hi from the airplane Amalia), we finally landed in Boise around 12:3o to be picked up by his brother, sister-in-law and nephew. A lunch of steakbites, we took over for the 1 1/2 drive to his hometown. That evening met his dad and dad's new wife for dinner at a local restaurant. The (his) sister-in-law and I, with nephew in tow hung out and got to know one another quite well. She's so much fun, I look forward to many more visits with them. The nephew is 14 months and about the cutest thing in the world. The next day we hooked up the horse trailer (part of the reason for the trip) so that boy and his brother could re wire the trailer lights and change the trucks oil before we took off for a trip back to Arizona. On Thursday morning we loaded up and headed south. A 14 hour drive across the southern half of Idaho, all of Nevada (with no radio or cell phone service) and the northern half of Arizona. Thank goodness for laptops and I tunes. The temperature in Idaho was in the 70's the entire time. Spent some time hiking around Snake River at Twin Falls, and managed to not take a single picture, at all! I can't belive I did that.

Now packing, leaving for Belton in T-minus 7 days. As soon as we get somewhat unpacked and get a spare bed, every last one of you is invited to come visit our new little town. I even have an in ground pool as a bribe. I'll be moving 1 hour south of Waco on I 35, which means I'm on the way to Austin/New Braunfels/The river.

I am in desperate need of a blog makeover...And I promise to update more regularly once I get back to Texas. It seems like a lot of sentences have started like that lately. Once I (we) get back to Texas, we'll join a gym. Once we get to Texas we'll do ... or buy ... or remember to ... I suppose I should start back at the beginning since my last update.

My internship ended June 8. WooHoo! While I enjoyed being in Arizona and having the guided mentorship that a structured internship entails, I'm glad to be done. Since Easter it has been a whirlwind of job hunting, two quick trips to Texas and 4 interviews. The first was Easter weekend for a job located in Pilot Point, but would entail a lot of travel, last year approximately 250 days or so on the road. That was my dream job - it was not the boys dream position for me (because of all the travel). I did not get the position though. The second trip and three interviews was the second to last weekend in May. 2 of the clinics were mixed animal practices but wanted an equine (horse) vet. The third was an all equine practice in Brownwood.

The tuesday following my return (and last week of work) - the mixed animal clinic in Belton called to offer me a position, which I immediately accepted.

The job details:
Mixed animal clinic that's been there for 30 + years, but built a new building (which is beautiful) in 2003. He's hiring 2 of us that are both finishing internships, and together we bring the total to 8 doctors in the clinic. It is intended that I do only equine work during the day, and work to expand the already large case load. All 8 of us rotate emergency work, so I'll have to see all species emergency, which isn't that big of a deal. In this economic climate and job market, the compensation package is well above market value.

The house (Tenatively)
I decided to just rent a place for the first year so that I can better scope out the area for a place to live. I didn't want to buy on such short notice the first thing that came along, especially since I'd be doing it from Phoenix. I am still talking to the property management company but should find out this week, but the house I found is a 3000 sq ft, 3.25 acres, with an in ground pool, for $1500 a month. Once I get moved, I'll be sure to have a housewarming party (or 2) that everyone will be invited. And there is always room for visitors, plenty of spare bedrooms.

The reason I needed 3.25 acres is for horses. The boy is moving with me to Texas and bringing his horses (he's a team roper).

The Move:
Should happen around June 30/July 1, and I'll start work around July 6th. I can't get licensed until August 11 (to take the state exam) for after hours work but I can work daytime hours until then, which makes for some open weekends to roadtrip and see all my friends I've missed for the past year.

This week, beginning tomorrow morning at 6:30 am (thanks to Delta for messing up my flight arrangements and bumping us up 2 hours), we're flying to Idaho to visit his family for a week. I haven't met anyone besides his brother yet, so its the first meeting of family. He met my family at Easter and they absolutely love him. I'll update with pictures when I get back.

Thats the update for now! I promise to be more diligent in updating about the move, the house, the job, the boy and anything else that happens. Especially since I'll have internet at my house in Texas (I didn't in Arizona).