Random Scenes of Home

Some of you know me and my family and our house and the craziness that ensues.  For those of you who haven't personally witnessed the Juen household, I am putting together a series of drawings to help enlighten you.  Unfortunately, my pictures can't completely recreate the hilarity of these moments.

 When looking for parmesan cheese:

When Stephanie does headstands:
Apparently this "excites" Tucker.

When putting up Christmas lights:

I'm sure more things will happen over the next two weeks of break, so be sure to tune in.  :)

How Danger Became Chief

Once upon a time there lived a herd of vet students.  They kept a small apartment where they led their stressed but happy lives.  In general, life was pretty good except for one small problem.  Every winter, the students were beset by a vile murder of crows.  They flocked around the apartment.  They were everywhere: the trees, the roofs, the fences, the cars.  Each time the girls stepped outside, they feared for their lives and their eyeballs. 

They knew that the walls surrounding them were the only things keeping them safe from the evil scavengers.  While sleeping, while studying, they knew the birds were always there...waiting.

As companions, they had three cats, a dog, and a hedgehog. Of course, the animals were actually in charge and simply let the humans believe they had control.  The cats, especially, maintained an aloof demeanor so the girls wouldn't become aware the cats were their primary protectors.  As such, the cats knew it was their job to defeat the crows and free the humans. 

Now among the cats, there was one who rose above the others. His tail had been cut short in a previous battle (whether it was with a chinchilla or a drawer is unclear).  This brave cat's name was Danger and he took it upon himself to rally the others. 

For days, the three cats diligently observed the crows and carefully laid out their plan of attack.  The timing had to be just right, so they could catch the birds off guard.  Finally, the day arrived.  The battle was fierce.  Each cat fought ferociously.  They stalked their prey, leaped into the air, and pinned the foe to the ground. The birds dived and clawed and tore flesh with their beaks. It was unclear which side would win, but when the dust and feathers settled, the cats had come out on top.

They were not without casualties, however.  The fearsome Danger was left with a gash in his side and piece missing from his ear.  It was very fortunate for him that his human was studying to be a veterinarian.  After a few stitches and a couple days rest, Danger was as fit as a kitten.  During his recuperation, the others made him a handsome headdress from the feathers of the enemy.  They held a ceremony and presented it to him.

Danger was elected the chief.  The crows had been defeated, and the cats had saved their people. 

Soon after, the girls all went to their families' homes to celebrate the holidays.  They were at peace and everyone lived happily ever after...

One More Semester Down

Well, I finally made it through this horrid semester, even if just by the skin of my teeth.  My sincerest apologies to everyone I have pissed off, snapped at, hurt, or left feeling abandoned these past 5 months.  I've been a wee bit on the depressed side (understatement) and  unable, and honestly, unwilling, to pull myself out of my funk.  Instead I have been wallowing in a pit of despair surrounded by a stench borne of self-pity, anger, and only showering once every 3 days.  Grades kind of got pushed by the wayside, and I'm just happy to be finished.  Hopefully a couple weeks at home with my family will set me straight before my last semester of real classwork.  After that I just have to survive a year of clinical rotations and somehow pass the board exams. No problem though right?  Eek! However, the prospect of finally starting my career after a grand total of 20 years in school is pretty exciting!  As is the idea that I can potentially move back home to live near my family and my soon to be newlywed sister.  It won't be long before I can be a real person again!  I guess I'm getting ahead of myself though.  For now, I'm just glad to have a chance to breathe. 

Above and Beyond

   Today was my last session at the school rec center with my personal trainer.  You're probably laughing at me for even having a personal trainer.  Who am I that I deserve special treatment like that?  Aren't personal trainers for rich actresses who need to waste their money on something?  Well, I'm not that special, and I'm certainly not rich, but getting a personal trainer was one of the best decisions I've made for myself.  If you know me, you've probably come to realize that exercising is not my favorite thing.  I would be much happier sitting on the couch watching a movie or reading than going out running.  Having a trainer really kept me motivated and held me accountable to someone else.
   You may already know this, but for awhile now I've been having some mental/emotional issues tied in with my appearance.  There's a lot of back story to this, but when I came to vet school I was at the heaviest weight of my life and couldn't manage to lose it on my own due to some difficulties with eating.  I had thought about getting a trainer during my first year at school, but thought it was too expensive, and besides, shouldn't I be able to lose weight on my own?
    After being very frustrated and depressed, I decided to do the PT thing when I came back as a second year.  I was pretty nervous and doubtful that I would like it or stick with it, but then the rec center assigned me the best trainer in the world!  (not an exaggeration)  She's super nice, cheerful, and encouraging.  I thought I would have someone that worked out with me and that would be that, but we really ended up hitting it off, and I found myself with a new friend.  If I had gotten someone else I really doubt I would have kept up with it. But as it is, I've been training with her for the last three semesters, and we're only stopping because she graduated.
    So basically what I'm trying to say is PT has been a great experience for me.  My trainer helped me meet my fitness goals and as a result I feel better about my appearance, and more importantly about myself as a whole.  I feel like my whole attitude has had a makeover since I began this. She has been a real blessing in my life, and I know I couldn't have done it with her.

Oh The Excitement!!

It was Saturday night, so of course I was at home studying for finals (actually I was on the phone with my boyfriend) when my younger sister, Megan, beeped in.  I switched over to talk to her and she said:

"Call the boyfriend back."

And I said, "No.  You interrupted.  I'll call you back."

And Megan was all like, "No! Talk to me biznatch!"

So I was like, "Fine!"

So I got off the phone with the boyfriend.  All of a sudden I found myself on a conference call with both my sisters!  I was entirely confused until Megan said we were actually on a 4-way call because her boyfriend was with her and listening too, and they had news...

Now I thought I had an idea what this news might be, but I didn't want to get too excited just yet.  I sat, waiting, breath held....and then she said it, "We're engaged!!!"

I'm not really sure what was said in the next couple seconds because I was squealing with delight.

I had been waiting for this day to come!!  Is it disappointing that the youngest of us three is getting married first?  Yes.  But with me and Stephanie (the older sister) swamped in the soul sucking void of professional school, Megan is the only hope for a wedding in the family anytime soon.  Thus, I have accepted the fact that I will have to live vicariously...at least for now. 

There may or may not have been some dancing at this point.  And school may or may not have been forgotten for the rest of the night.

After the dancing, I told all my roommates and other various friends.

They probably didn't appreciate my interruption of their studying, or my random outbursts that continued throughout the rest of the night, but they listened like faithful froommates do.  Finals are thankfully almost over now, and then I get to go home and talk wedding!  Of course, being the best sister, I will get to be Maid of Honor!  I suppose I'd be willing to share some of the duties with Steph though. ;) We're gonna plan the best bachelorette party ever! 

There's only one thing in the way.  I'll give you one guess....

Did you say vet school?

You're right!  It's always in the way of everything.  The next year and a half of my life have been planned out since early September.  Next semesters classes are set and starting in May I'll be doing my clinical rotations until I finally graduate the following May.  I already know what rotation I'll be doing when and what weeks I have vacation.  I gave Megan my schedule to look at but she doesn't want to have the wedding any of the times I'm free and of course, she shouldn't have to worry about it.  It's her day!  Vet school is just stubborn and makes you plan out your life before you even know what is going to happen!  I think I might be able to get an extra day off, but it requires filling out a form for a leave of absence and finding someone to take over my duties.  So I have a little more investigating to do on how all that stuff works. It just sucks cause I'll probably end up taking a Friday off and going home for the weekend (assuming I'm not on call that weekend) which means I'll only have a couple days at home.  I would really like to be at home for the days leading up to the wedding.  I guess that's life, though, and you have to work with what you get. For now anyways, I'm super excited and can't wait to gain a brother!

Just Like Bilbo

I feel very out of sorts.  As Bilbo put it in The Fellowship of the Ring, "I feel...thin."  And that really is how I feel.  I didn't look up that quote just to use it.  I was thinking to myself how thin I felt, and I realized that statement sounded familiar, so I Googled it, and it turns out, that's what Bilbo says to Gandalf the night he leaves the Shire.  I guess it means I've seen The Lord of the Rings way too much when I start subconsciously using lines from it. And I'm not even turning eleventy-one. I do feel thin though, sort of insubstantial.  As though to simply not fall apart, or just to stay warm I have to curl up in the tiniest ball I can make so that what little life energy I have is tight and concentrated.  It somehow seems to be tied in with the apathy and despair that has been the theme of this semester. I think I need to go make myself a small cave or cubby or find a box to crawl into like the cats, just so that I feel safe and enclosed. It's a very odd feeling to have.  Even my hot pink fingernails seem to have lost their cheering ability.

Anyway, I don't even know why I'm writing this. I'm sorry I don't have a funny comic or story.  I don't have time to draw pictures right now in the middle of finals week.  So that's that.  Didn't mean to bring you down.  You can feel free to disregard this post.  I really shouldn't even post this, but I'm going to anyway.

Plus, my jaw hurts. 

I Have A Problem

I admit it.  I have a blogging problem.  It's not even so much with posting posts as it is with checking them.  I find myself compulsively coming back to my blog dashboard to see if anyone new has visited my site in the last 10 minutes.  Seriously, I check like every 10 minutes.  At least as many times as I check Facebook, and that's a lot.  "Have I had anymore pageviews? Has anyone from Norway looked at my blog?  Maybe I have a new comment!  Why don't I have new countries showing up?"  Although did get my first pageview from Canada today, so thanks Canadian Person!!  I don't even know if you meant to look at my blog or not, but Canada just turned green on my map so woohoo!  : D  And I do realize that it is ridiculous to blog about how I'm obsessed with my own blog.   But admitting it is the first step, right?

Gym Goers 3

Now I know you have all seen this guy.  "Meathead" is the classic Gym Goer.  You'll know it's him because he'll be right up next to the giant mirror.  He stands perpendicular to it so as to get the best view of his own biceps, even though cranking his head around like that can't be good for his weight lifting technique.  "Meathead" will be wearing a shirt with the sleeves cut off....not just any cut-off shirt though.  Oh no, this shirt will have been cut as small as possible so that it's basically a thong shirt.  News flash, Meathead:  girls aren't turned on by your man-nipples.  Cover them up!  He also seems to forget that he has a lower body that needs exercise too, and instead focuses on doing bicep curls and bench presses with the heaviest weights possible.  This fact also causes him to use excessive grunting noises when lifting.  I don't know if he actually thinks this helps, or he's just trying to draw attention to his "manliness".  Either way, it's unnecessary. 

Gym Goers 2

I should be paying attention in class, but I'm not.  Instead, I am introducing you to "Old Man Who Is In Way Better Shape Than I Am".  You can usually find him on the smaller, less used track.  His shorts will be pulled up to his chest and he'll just be chugging along.  He'll still be there doing laps long after I've gone home to eat ice cream.  I'm always happy to see "Old Man Who Is In Way Better Shape Than I Am".  I mean, come on, he's a cute old man!  If you sat down next to him in a rocking chair he'd have awesome stories to tell you about when he was a young whipper-snapper and his days in the Corps.  Always be polite to him.  He's someone's grandpa.

Gym Goers 1

I'll be honest, and say that I don't go the gym as much as I should.  Occasionally, however, I'm able to drag my butt over and lift some weights or get on the treadmill.  It is on those occasions that I have the opportunity to people watch.  You can often spot several types of people there.  On a college campus it is common to find "Girl Who Puts On Makeup To Go To The Gym".  I guess she's trying to find herself a man, but if I were a dude, I don't think I would find smeared mascara and bangs plastered down with sweat that attractive.  Even still, you can recognize this person because she will be relentlessly trying to maintain her styled hair and painted visage while on Level 50 of the elliptical machine.

Befuddled

My brain is all addled and discombobulated tonight.  I'm having a terrible time trying to focus on the millions of toxins I need to know.  Not that it really matters because apparently everyone will either get an "A" or a "D" on the final.  I sure as heck won't make it into the "A" category.  And in case you don't know, a "D" is failing.  "Why?", you ask.  Because vet school sucks that's why.  They hate us and like to make things impossibly hard.  But I digress. 

The main focus of this post is that I am lost in my head and it feels like this:

And I look like this:

And all I can manage to draw is this:

And I can't figure out what will get me out of my funk.  A funk which has just been exacerbated by my wasting toxicology time making this pointless and less-helpful-than-I-thought-it-would-be post.  Why must life be confusing?

F-ing mycotoxins.   You get angry eyes.  >(

If Veterinarians Were People Doctors

Just the other day, I was struggling to take the temperature of an extraordinarily energetic and squirmy puppy. My froommate (friend and roommate) was helping me by distracting the puppy with a dog biscuit.  It was at this time that it occurred to me how much more fun it would be if I could go to a veterinarian for my health needs instead of a human doctor. 

First of all, things like gynecological visits and prostate exams would be much more tolerable if cookies were involved. 

Plus, vets are always very comforting and kind to their patients.  I would feel much more at ease if doctors used baby talk.

Even better yet, can you imagine getting a manicure and pedicure every time you saw your doctor?!  Not gonna lie, I think it would be pretty amazing.

But the best thing of all, would be the convenience!  Forget going to all those different specialists!  Having a small issue with your eye?  Has your spleen ruptured?  Perhaps you have stumbled in a rabbit hole and broken your wee little leg? A veterinarian can take care of everything at once!!

Of course, I suppose there would be a few differences that are less than desirable.  The waiting room, for example, would definitely take some getting used to.

And at times, vets seem to use a lot of force for their procedures.

But overall, I think you would agree, that seeing a veterinarian on a regular basis would be much preferred to seeing a "real" doctor. 

Just saying.