My cousins are better at this than I am

Which is a good thing, cause I read their blogs all the time. I think that my New Year's resolution this year (see how I skipped right over Christmas?) will be to keep in touch with family more. To my family who reads this blog: don't worry. Just means I'll update more and call occasionally. And try to give people in California more than a week's notice when I come to visit.

The last time I updated it was June and I was just starting my internship in Florida. Lots lots lots has happened since then. As a veterinarian, I've gained a lot of confidence and skills. Bad things still happen and I still do fairly stupid things occasionally, but I'm getting better at dealing with it. Here are a couple of pics of the internship so far:

This poor horse has a 3 and a half foot laceration down his side. Yikes! Luckily it didn't go into his abdomen, and now you can hardly see the scar. The horse I'm kissing is a sweet little Appaloosa filly who had serious roundworms and was ridiculously immunocompromised. She got endotoxic, developed cellulitis in two of her limbs and got a very nasty thrombophlebitis. But she did really well and went home.

This is actually a veterinary procedure, I promise. Details upon request.

Obviously, a lot of horses don't do well and have to be euthanised. And that's very sad, especially when the owners just don't have the money to treat them.

As internships go, this one is fantastic. I take in my own emergencies and have lots of primary case responsibility. And my internmates are all fantastic-I really don't know what I'd do without them. And Adam, of course, has been wonderful at dealing with my stressed, sleep deprived self.

There are actually other things going on in my life. But I spend 40-80 hours a week at work, so most of it is work. I did manage to get home for Thanksgiving. It was great to see my parents and friends home for the holidays. A major change in my family occurred in June when my dad was diagnosed with ALS-aka Lou Gehrig's disease. I don't really know what to say about it other than it is very sad and that we all take our parents for granted. Now every minute counts. He's still my dad and I can still make him laugh, but he is becoming progressively weaker. I think my mom is dealing with it ok, but would enjoy people calling to chat more often. The clinic is great-they are giving me a week off in January so I can go home and spend some time with him. His doctors are expecting him to be in a wheelchair by February-March, and I think that's going to be very difficult for him. I am looking in to getting him a service dog, but there are so many organizations-anyone have any advice?

For any of you late holiday shoppers, here are a few of my favorite (and some of them green!) online shopping sites:

www.worldofgood.com

www.giftsthatgive.com

http://www.frugal-fashionistas.com/

I'll try and be better at updating. But no promises.