December 29, 2004
5:25 p.m.

Wow, it's been a while, which seems to be how I start most of my entries lately. I used to update this diary every day, every other day at the most. I'm not really sure what happened, I guess I just got busier. Generally by the time I get home every day I am good for nothing but sitting on the couch and drooling. It seems all I have done for the last few months is write stupid English papers. I got really sick of my computer after that. Thankfully school is out for a bit, and I can relax away from the evils of writing paper after paper. I managed to keep my 4.0, and I worked my butt off for it too.

It's kind of sad that I am getting toward the end of my stay at the clinic. I have got to go to school full time, and it's just not possible to do that while working at the clinic. I can't even begin to count how many days I have been there for fourteen or fifteen hours. We were doing a horse surgery the other day, and Michele and Dr. C starting talking about how hard it was going to be to find a replacement for me. Sometimes, I feel like I really don't do much, because Dr. C really is self-sufficient, and other times I realize how much I do. Does that make any sense? Everyone comes to me when they have a question, or when they can't get blood or something. I don't know, it's just weird to think about not being there anymore. I mean, it's become my whole life.

I was amazed to realize how much I have learned. I had to scrub into a spay the other day, because the dog was bleeding, and Dr. C is telling me to grab the bladder and move it out of the way, or to retract the spleen, and without even a thought, I did it. Three years ago, I couldn't identify a bladder if it were jumping up and down while dressed in a hula skirt, and now, I don't even think about it.

Christmas was pretty good, really good actually. I feel guilty, becuase my mom and dad spend way too much money on me. It's not that I am not greatful, it just I feel like I get way too much. Dad got me a digital camera, and mom got me the wallpaper and comforter set I have been wanting for my room. I can't wait to get it up.

Rowdy had surgery last week, and I was a nervous wreck. Everything is different when it is your own dog. I was so nervous about it, I ended up getting two cold sores. He had a tumor removed from his foot because it began to grow and ooze. I was so worried it was something bad. Plus, he is an older dog, so anesthesia is a big risk. I was shaking the whole time I was doing anesthesia for him. Luckily, he came out of it with flying colors, and the tumor was benign. ::Sigh of relief::

One of the horses at the barn I board at broke a bone in his leg last week. We had to do surgery on him this week to remove the fragments. I hate horse anesthesia to begin with, but to be doing it on a horse I know is even worse. Anesthesia went well, but the horse was pretty damaged in his leg. He will most likely be lame for life. His owner is pretty upset, because he is such a young horse, but animals have amazing abilities to heal. Look at my dog Maggie, she wasn't ever supposed to be able to walk again, let alone run and jump like she does.

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