Business sucks

Sometimes I really don't understand the powers that be here at the vet school. There is a lot of stuff upsetting me, but the one that is prompting me to write is that we are now requiring service dog owners to pay 80% of their vet care. We had been writing off 100% of the cost for those owners. Owners who are currently under the 100% plan will continue, but once their current dog retires, the new dog will only be covered 20%. I think that is just wrong. These clients depend on their dogs for their well being. One of the things I loved about working here was the genuine concern that the faculty and staff have for animals and their owners. I think that wonderful sense of purpose is evaporating and now we just have this cold business like atmosphere. Its all about the bottom line, and it is so disappointing.

general ramblings

So...like my friend Amanda, I am taking a running class. And like Amanda, I have not lost a pound. When I first signed up for the class, it was to primarily because I wanted to lose all this weight that has mysteriously appeared on me since my wedding.
So while I am discouraged about the weight loss thing, I feel great about actually being able to run (jog) for 5 minutes at a time...multiple times in a class. 3 weeks ago, I thought my lungs would explode walking up the steep hills, and my back was killing me. Now after 3 weeks (and an awesome chiropractor), I can run about halfway up the hills and the entire time on flat and downhill stretches.
And I have an awesome support group. My husband is fabulous (as always), and my sister even gave some good words of advice yesterday before class when I was whining that I couldn't do it!
And then there are always my girls from the nest. Some of their blogs are over to the left. I know some people (including my husband sometimes) think that it is silly to have "online" friends. But it is so great to have these women (most around my age and live in Alabama) who are going through so much of what I'm going through.
Anyway, I should head back to work. Well, kind of work. One of my good friends just brought her baby up here. Sophia Grace is only a week old and is so precious!

Blurg

I suck at Guitar Hero. Just wanted you to know.

Tagged!

What was I doing 10 years ago? I was living in New Hall at UA. I had just recently met Kelly Brown, my favorite person at Alabama. I was WAY into a new show called Dawson's Creek :) I was also probably homesick.

5 things on my To-do List Today

1. Go to run/walk class after work. Unfortunately, its been mostly walking for me. I missed 2 classes when my grandfather died and last Thursday when I went I had shooting pain down my left leg.

2. Buy a big pot and plant something colorful in it. The dogs are making it impossible to have a flower garden in our backyard, so I am determined to have several small beds in the front yard.

3. Finish cleaning up my kitchen. I did a little bit on Saturday, but I am WAY behind on all of my housekeeping. Phillip teaches late tonight, so it would be a good time to finish it up.

4. Go see my grandmother after my class.

5. Eat my Niffer's leftovers so they don't go bad. I have a BAD habit of not eating my leftovers.

5 Snacks I Enjoy

1. Dulce de leche ice cream. So good. Even the kind that is low-fat.

2. Nerds - I STOCKED up on the big boxes after Easter for $.20 a box. Nerds and a bargain. Gotta love it!

3. Cheez-Its

4. Pirate's Booty White Cheddar Puffed Rice and Corn. So good and low in calories

5. Twizzlers (I'm like April. I freaking love them)

5 Things I would do if I were a Billionaire

1. Tithe

2. Build a new house in Auburn and buy houses at Sandestin (on the bay side) and the lake.

3. Invest so I could keep up the lifestyle :)

4. Go back to Italy for a LONG time. At least a month. And do that at least once a year.

5. Buy my parents a one story house so my grandmother could come live with them and they could retire.

5 Bad Habits

1. I procrastinate badly. Filed my taxes on April 15th :)

2. Eating when I'm bored.

3. Texting rather than calling. I cannot stand to talk on the phone

4. drinking WAY too much Diet Coke

5. letting things that i cannot control bother me way too much

5 Places I have lived:

1. Opelika, Alabama - with my parents before high school and when I transferred from UA

2. Tuscaloosa, AL - Some up and down years. I loved living in New Hall and Bryce Lawn Apts. Then I lived on Reed Street. I should have visited that place at night before I signed a lease.

3. Westshore Landing, Auburn, AL - 3 wonderful years with Kari. We had a blast watching movies, doing karaoke, and just hanging out. We both met our husbands while we lived there.

4. Cherry Street, Auburn, AL for a year before I got married. I hated staying there. It was all dark paneling with no overhead lights, and green 70's decor in the bathroom and kitchen

5. In Auburn with my wonderful husband and dogs and cat in our little house for 9 months today!

Jobs I've Had or Have:

1. student circulation assistant (Rodgers' Science and Engineering Library)

2 Medical Records supervisor (Surgical Clinic)

3. nanny (2 of the most wonderful children in creation)

4. paralegal (oh, I was so bad at it)

5. Business office floater (you name it at Small Animal, I probably can do it. Its different everyday and I get paid more than the other people since I can fill in for them all!)

People I want to know more about (you're tagged!)

1. Amber

2. Julie

3. Anyone else who stumbles across this blog. Leave me a comment so I'll know you are reading it.

Scrapbooking and other news

I did it! Something cute as a blog header. Maybe I'll put all the animals in the header sometime soon. Here is a preview...

The first one is Atticus (aka the Devil). The second is my sweet, crazy baby Dawson. And the third is our shy, precious Bob.

So it has been one week since my grandfather died. I went over to Grandmother's today, and the thing that struck me was how quiet it was...not that Granddaddy was talking a whole lot towards the end, but there was no hum of the oxygen machine, no TV blaring because he wasn't wearing his hearing aids. Just me and Grandmother sitting around talking. It broke my heart to think of her there by herself...which hasn't happened yet. But my mom goes back to work tomorrow. And I cannot imagine how Grandmother will find enough busy work to fill her days without her husband of almost 61 years. It makes me want to quit my job and hang out with her. Granddaddy had such a big personality, and the world seems emptier without him. The hugely selfish, utterly human part of me wishes he was back with us. But the rational part of me knows that he is better off and in a better place, and that he didn't suffer. Most of the time the selfish side wins. So now that I have thoroughly depressed myself, I'm going to head to bed. Peace out, internet.

Here we go...

I love blog stalking, so I thought I might as well give blogging a try. Phillip and I don't have any kids (other than furbabies), we're not redecorating and I don't cook much so it may be really boring. I'm going to try to keep this up...we'll see :)