Just wanted to share with you a few random images from the past week.
Here is the bulletin board at my school:
This is where I discover new clinical trials to take part in. Currently I’m involved in a 7-month bird flu vaccine study, and I’m also scheduled to go play some computer games while having an MRI done on Wednesday.
Here is Cleo playing with Riley, one of the dogs I pet-sit:
They got along great, and as you can see Cleo was not intimidated by Riley’s size. But unfortunately the two of them together caused a little more trouble than either of them on their own. The victims were two wooden chess pieces and a portion of a very nice floor rug.
Here is David and I on our Good Friday fishing trip:
We had a great time, and David caught 5 trout, but I came away with a sunburn on my thighs and some very chapped lips.
Well, I’m off to work a clinical shift. Happy Tuesday, everyone.
Every year the youth group at my church puts on a “Sweetheart Banquet” as a fundraiser for the summer mission trip. Last year David and I attended together and even though we had been dating for a few weeks beforehand, it was the first night that I realized I was truly interested in a relationship with him as a potentially serious thing.
David and I spent the entire day together Saturday at his house doing schoolwork. In the evening as we were getting ready for the Sweetheart Banquet his dad called to ask if we would swing by their house on our way to the church to let out their dog, Niko. They live only a minute from the church, and they had been gone awhile because they work with the youth group. So we went over, and when we got there both doors were locked. (This was not part of the plan.) We had to drive to the church, get a key, and then go back. On the way David told me that he had to go to the bathroom and asked me to get Niko.
I walked into the room where Niko was in his crate, and I went straight to let him out. I didn’t even notice at first that there was a little table set up not two feet away with roses, candles, flower petals, and Hershey Kisses on it. I didn’t see it until I heard David come in the room behind me and I turned around to face him. When I did, he got down on his knee and asked me to marry him. I said, “Of course!” It was perfect timing because then we got to go up to the church and tell my family and all of our church friends at once.
My dad’s reaction to our engagement:
Asked David’s mom, Alice, how much French blood David has in him (my dad was born in England, and Alice’s mother is French. He had to come to terms with the fact that his grandchildren will be 1/8 French).
Ordered us not to schedule the wedding on a Saturday afternoon because it’ll be college football season.
Announced that he wants three kids minimum out of us.
Cleo was also excited for me when I told her. She’s going to gain a daddy and two new sisters, Eddy and Sydney!
Lately, while walking Cleo, I’ve caught her trying to roll in another dog’s feces. This has happened before. I don’t always catch her before she does it, either, because yeah, dogs are weird and they like excrement. I will let her sniff it to her heart’s content, but wiping her face in it? No. Absolutely not, that is unacceptable.
Also, last week she bit my leg and bruised it. She was just nipping, because she got really excited, but I did not appreciate it.
I really can’t stay mad at her long though, because she gives me something to cuddle with at night, which I desperately need, and it gives me so much pleasure when she licks my feet. Also, she’s just really cute. And Boyfriend David likes her:
THE BAD:
~The aforementioned friendship troubles. No updates there yet.
~The relay team that I’m supposed to be in charge of is falling apart.
~Finding time to fit in class, work, clinical, studying, soccer games, book club, applying for jobs, running, and relationships.
THE GOOD:
~I love David, and he loves me. Our one-year anniversary is on Sunday.
~Being a nurse is great, and so is my clinical in the surgical ICU.
~Things to look forward to: anniversary, birthday, Over the Rhine concert, Valentine’s Day.
~Cleo is the best dog ever, and I am her favorite person of all.
Just a quick update because I don’t have much time this week.
Seriously, everyone should get a dog like Cleo. She usually sleeps on my bed at my feet, which I love. But last night in the middle of the night she came up to my head and worked her way under the covers with me and cuddled right up next to me. It was the sweetest thing in the world, and I only wish I had been more awake to appreciate it.
In other news, I am trying to figure out how to make extra money. I decided not to get one of the $10,000 loans that I got last year since school ends in May. I think I can make it, but I will be cutting it close. Besides my part-time job, I am pet-sitting and looking for more clinical trials to participate in. My newest endeavor is signing up with an online company that refers me to other companies that pay me to take surveys, do interviews, and focus groups. I’m going to give it a good try and then report back to say whether or not it really works.
This has been a week of school stress (always that), being sick, my boyfriend being sick, not being able to see my boyfriend because of school stress and us being sick, not being able to run due to being sick, still having to deal with school stress and work despite being sick, all of which culminated in me having a breakdown in my parents’ kitchen last night over something I took way too personally, something small that really didn’t have to do with me but just came at the wrong time. So I left early, and I didn’t even have ice cream.
But today I am pet-sitting for my boys, and I have a 103-pound yellow shadow named Riley who slept next to me in the bed until 10 o’clock when we got up, who climbed into the shower with me this morning just to be close to me, who somehow knows that I really need some love right now. I have nowhere to be today unless I decide to treat myself to a manicure and pedicure, which I just might do. And oh yeah, I brought a whole half gallon of ice cream home with me from my parents’ house. So there’s that.
I had a fairly busy and stressful week last week, and one of the main reasons was because I had my first test of the semester this morning in pediatric nursing, which is supposed to be one of the hardest classes we take. I spent a lot of time preparing for the test last week, along with various other commitments that I have going on in my life including, but not limited to: my boyfriend, work, book club, church, running, and Bible study.
So last night, after another long day of meetings and studying, I settled into bed with Cleo lying beside me at my feet. Two nights ago my roommate told me that she left Cleo out of her crate overnight, and there was no damage done. I thought that meant that we were going to keep leaving her out. Last night Cleo slept with me because I decided that she is going to be allowed on my bed, even if she’s not allowed on any other furniture. Right before I closed my eyes I took a good look at Cleo resting beside me and I thought how happy I was to finally have such a sweet dog sleeping beside me. Then I went to sleep.
Awhile later, I’m not sure how long, my roommate burst into my room and said loudly, “Hey Kathleen?” I jerked awake, and then she started talking. She listed to me all the reasons why she doesn’t want Cleo sleeping in my bed with me. I didn’t think any of her reasons were viable, but in my half-asleep state I wasn’t going to argue. Honestly, I don’t know if I would ever really argue with her. She has a very strong personality. The end result was that Cleo was taken away and put her in her crate. I wanted to cry.
This morning I got up and went to school. As I was taking the test I thought that it was easier than I expected it to be. However, we were given an answer key afterwards and were able to see how many we missed. Although I passed, I was extremely disappointed in my grade because of the amount that I had studied for the test. Immediately all energy was sucked out of me. I felt low, low, low. I wanted to cry.
After class I walked to my car, when I realized that I locked my keys inside. Even though I have a spare key underneath, I sure wasn’t making things any easier on myself. When I got home I decided to go to the gym, because exercise usually makes me feel better. I chose a treadmill in front of a TV screen that was showing some football game–Lafayette v. Penn. I like to watch sports when I run because it’s the only thing you don’t need sound to enjoy. Do I care or know anything about these two teams in particular? No. But Lafayette won on a last second field goal, and the whole team was so happy, that–guess what? I wanted to cry. I actually teared up.
This is such a busy week for me, and I should be studying right now but I somehow have a hard time really focusing on my schoolwork unless I have other little things taken care of. And I just wanted to check in.
At this moment Cleo is sitting on the floor at my feet IN MY ROOM. This is a huge deal. It is the first time since I’ve had her that she has come into my room on her own and hung out in here. She is kind of weird in that she is afraid of new rooms. For the longest time she wouldn’t go down any halls, into any rooms, or the kitchen. If I tried to walk her in there on a leash she would refuse. So my answer to this was to carry her into the room, make her sit there with me for awhile, and then let her go. Then I waited a few days and I caught her exploring, cautiously, on her own. And now she’s apparently feeling comfortable with it.
Furthermore, I no longer have to push her up the second set of stairs leading to our apartment. She will walk up on her own, though slowly. And she’s eating completely dry dog food, from her bowl, in her room. Also a huge accomplishment.
Over the weekend my roommates and I went out of town, so I left Cleo with Boyfriend David. He has two dogs at his house already, Eddy and Sydney, and boy were they excited to see Cleo. The only other time I’ve seen Cleo so scared is when I took her to the vet. But by the time I came to pick her up the next day, she had two new best friends and I don’t think she wanted to come home.
Boyfriend David has a poster of The Kramer up on the wall in his living room. It is the ONLY wall decoration that he has up. Apparently, Cleo caught sight of it through the window from outside and began to bark at it. Then she crept up toward it slowly, growling all the way, before crouching in front of it and barking for about twenty minutes. Cleo hates Kramer!
She also picked up the habit of jumping up onto couches during her sleepover weekend. My roommate Amanda doesn’t appreciate that because it’s her couch and we’ve caught her on it several times since last weekend. Yesterday Cleo was left alone for a short time while Amanda went to Starbucks, and when she came home Cleo had done this:
When I saw it I thought it was the cutest thing. Her first tear-up! If this is as bad as it’s going to get, then I think we’ve got it pretty good. After having owned a dog for exactly 10 days (even though she’s Amanda’s dog too, I do pretty much everything for her besides feed her in the morning), I can say that it definitely puts limitations on my life but it is completely worth it.
