My great-uncle Billy passed away this morning. He suffered from esophageal cancer for a long time, but I wasn't expecting him to go quite yet.

At work this morning a little girl brought us a card that she had decorated with glue and glitter. We said, "You didn't have to do that!" and she said, "Well, Vets are very important!" It was really sweet.

A client just made me so mad that I either had to go in the back and cry or stay up front and rip her head off. I went with crying, but I am still really mad and I'm thinking that if I had ripped her head off I would be feeling better by now.

Fly Larvae

Guess what I just saw in the microscope? I'll give you a hint, it was a fly larvae. And it was moving and disgusting and awesome. Everything is better when you see it through a microscope. What is nasty becomes neat, what is icky becomes interesting, what is horrifying becomes even more horrifying because, let's face it, you just made it like a million times larger.

Last night we went to the Royal's game. I was eating peanuts and throwing the shells on the ground, because that is what you do at Royal's games. The lady in front of Chad turned around and asked me to stop throwing the shells on the ground because she is allergic to peanuts. Of course, the appropriate response would have been, "Good thing I'm not throwing them into your mouth." and then continued throwing them on the ground. Instead I didn't say anything and stopped eating the peanuts. If you are allergic to peanut shells on the ground, then you shouldn't be at a baseball game. The longer I sat there and thought about it, the madder I got, so I started eating and throwing them again. When she got a hot dog covered in nastiness, I thought about asking her to not eat it, because I'm allergic to disgusting things. Instead, when she stood up to cheer, I kicked all the shells under her chair. I know, I'm a 5 year old.

Today at work...

8:30 - I am called into the back because "The washer is on fire!" The washer is actually just smoking, so I unplug it and say we might need to get a new one. And probably a dryer to match.

9:15 - I call the 9:00 appointment to see where they are. No answer, of course. "No Shows" are one of my biggest pet peeves. It reminds me of Saturday when I called a no show, he answers and says "Oh, my power went out last night. Can I reschedule for next Saturday?" No, you may not. You are an idiot and have lost your Saturday appointment privileges. What does the power going out have to do with you not showing up for an appointment? Even if you decide you are so broken up about the power that you simply cannot leave the house, your phone clearly works because I am talking to you on it, so why didn't you call me!?

9:34 - Worry about Chad, who left this morning to go to the College World Series with a friend. Did he stop to get cash at the bank? Did he remember to pack his 18 packs of gum and 4lb box of twizzlers? Did he remember to pack anything at all?

9:46 - Laugh at a sign I see in a magazine - "All unattended children will be given a free kitten."

10:00 - Wonder about the name "American Heartworm Society." Kinda sounds like they are promoting heartworms, yes?

11:30 - Work in an "emergency" appointment. Yeah right. 99% of the time, if a client says it is an emergency, it isn't.

11:39 - Finish my 3rd bottle of water, suddenly realize I haven't gone to the bathroom yet.

11:42 - Wonder how Todd is doing at home. Did Chad remember to shut him in the bathroom before he left? Has he knocked his water bowl over again? Is he proud of himself for eluding his ear drops this morning? Remind myself to give them to him at lunchtime.

11:55 - Make dinner plans with a friend since Chad is out of town. Also plan to clean the house like a maniac over lunch so I won't be embarressed for her to come in.

12:04 - Wonder what a girl has to do to get a lunch break around here!? My stomach is requesting frosted flakes.

12:30 - Finally, lunch. The house was cleaner than I remembered, so I did not clean like a maniac.

1:30 - Take 2 aspirin. Color the top of the aspirin bottle with an orange sharpie. Realize I have just given myself an even worse headache with the sharpie fumes. Call and make a chiropractor appointment for Wednesday morning.

2:30 - Where is our 2:20 appointment? Seriously, they are being disrespectful. Only 10 more appointments to go this afternoon, it is a busy Monday! Too busy to blog about? Never.

2:36 - Look up directions to the pet-sitting job where I am headed after work. Hopefully the Nuvi will guide me correctly, because this place is kind of in the middle of nowhere.

2:54 - Gag on a client's cologne. Dude, you have become the client that no one wants to help because you smell so crazy. The cologne on top of the sharpie fumes is making my head pound.

3:07 - Decide I am tired of blogging for the day, publish post.

I love Warren Buffet

Last night we went to the Royal's game, got our $1 hot dogs and peanuts and tiny drinks and sat down. Then Warren Buffet threw out the first pitch. Then he walked by our seats. Twice. It was the best thing I've ever seen at a Royal's game. I like money and I like people who have a lot of money, so he is pretty much my favorite person ever. Chad says he isn't the richest person in the world, but Wikipedia seems to disagree. George Brett caught the pitch, that was pretty cool too.

My part-time receptionist ended up having a miscarriage. I found out and cried at the Royal's game and made a scene, Chad was about ready to go sit somewhere else. Hopefully everyone just thought I was crying because the Royal's suck so bad.

Today we did a dental cleaning on a cat that needed almost all of his teeth pulled. The Dr. called the owner to tell them so she wouldn't be shocked when she picked the cat up. When she got here, her bill was $790. When she left, her bill was $550. Yes, the Dr. gave her a $240 discount! I disagree with his decision. He told her about the costs before we pulled the teeth, and she could have declined the services, but she didn't. He isn't the practice owner, I don't think he should be able to give away that much of our money. Besides, he spent the entire dental whining about our dental equipment. We certainly aren't going to be able to afford new dental equipment if he keeps giving out discounts!

An old man fell in my parking lot this morning. He was bringing his dog in for grooming and she wrapped his leash around his legs and tripped him. There was quite a bit of blood, he skinned his knee pretty badly and scraped a few other places. A few years ago he tripped on our curb and hurt his elbow and tried to get us to pay for his medical bills. Because he tripped on our curb. We should have sued him for curb damage. Anyway, I hope he doesn't think we should pay for anything this time.

Today is my day off, but the part-time receptionist who usually works on Wednesdays is having trouble with her pregnancy, so I am working for her and I'll probably work Saturday too - it will suck, but my paycheck is going to be awesome.

Puppies

Remember these? 6 weeks later...

Any Takers?

This is Todd.

He is neutered, front declawed, and the nicest cat you will ever meet. He was living outside and must have gotten in a fight and was unable to defend himself since he is declawed. Or maybe he is just a lover, not a fighter. This is the best picture I could get of him because every time I opened the cage door he was on top of me before I could get the camera focused. I know he looks a little rough right now, but he is actually very handsome with beautiful blue eyes. He has the worst case of self-petting/head rubbing I've ever seen. You try to give him a pill, he rubs his face on it. You try to remove his drain tube, he rubs his face on you while you're doing it. Everyone must be petting him at all times. Todd needs to live indoors only! If you know of someone who is interested in taking him, please let me know. He is just had a rabies vaccine and a negative FIV/Felv test in May. If it wouldn't give Camry a stroke, I would take Todd home with me in a second!

This is Molly.

She is 4 years old, about 8 pounds overweight and current on her Rabies, Distemper and Bordetella vaccines and just had a negative fecal and heartworm tests a couple of days ago. Her owners brought her in to be euthanized because she has food allergies and they "cannot afford" the special food she needs to eat. She is a total sweetheart who doesn't deserve to be euthanized just because her owners are idiots. Again, let me know if anyone is interested!

Before and After

Before:

After:

A Day in the Life

6/6:30am - Alarm goes off, earlier on Tuesday and Thursday. Sometimes I hit snooze, but most of the time I don't.
6/6:30-7/7:30 - Get ready for work - shower, hair, make-up, feed the cats, feed myself if I have time.
7/7:30 - Head to work. Spend the time before 7:30/8 getting ready for the day - check messages, file faxes, etc.
7:30/8 - We are officially open for business, although I have almost always been letting people in for at least 10 minutes already.
Work till 1ish - In the morning I get stuff ready for the next day, make my phone calls, supervise surgeries, have a snack, etc. I get to go to lunch when everything in the back is done, like surgeries, drop-offs, appointments. Then the tech covers the phones while I get something to eat. Sometimes I will get a full hour, I like to meet Chad at Chipotle on those days, but most of the time I just grab something and go back and eat it at work so that the tech has time to go to lunch before the afternoon appointments start.
2-5:30/6 - More work - Afternoons are our busiest times. We close at 5:30/6, if it has been slow then I will have everything done and be able to leave then, but most of the time I have to finish stuff up, so I leave around 6/6:30.
6:30 - get home and sit on the couch. Ideally I would go to bed right then, but that never seems to happen. At night I usually do some laundry, read my websites, eat some dinner, play with the cats.
10ish - bed. I always intend to go to bed at 9, but again, that never seems to happen. Before bed I have to get ready, take out my contacts, etc. Then I lay down. Then I get up to find my cell phone. Then I have to put on my glasses because I can't find my cell phone. Then I use Chad's phone to call my phone. Once I have located my cell phone, I give both the cats a treat in the living room so I can shut myself in the bedroom without them noticing. Lately I have been positioning a fan right in front of the door on the outside so that they can't bang on the door in the middle of the night as easily. Then I put on my CPAP machine and fall asleep within 3 minutes of laying down. It only takes that long because I force myself to stay awake for 2 minutes and 50 seconds to enjoy the feeling of finally laying down.

In My Backyard, Part 3