Flea

No not the bug! The blogger! I don't know if anyone that reads me read him, but I got this from Over My Med Body! who got it from Kevin, MD, so I thought I would share too. I only read him a couple times, and while it sucks for anyone to be sued (even though some people deserve it), what you say can always come back to bite you in the butt, even if you think you're being anonymous. So for those of you who think you're anon, be careful. For those of you like me who aren't, also remember anyone could read it. And jerk guy from the dog park, if you're reading this, you're still a jerk, I'm not sorry I called you a jerk in my blog, and if I see you again I hope my dog bites you or your dog in the butt. Ok I mostly hope she bites you in the butt. And you're still a jerk. Sorry you have to live your life that way.

Hmmmmmm

I really wish I had something interesting to post about but I don't. There really isn't a lot going on. I'm making a teeny-weeny amount of money working at my church nursery taking care of the almost non-existent babies. I guess I could talk about that.

Dear Families at my Church:

In the interest of the continued growth of our church, it is IMPERATIVE that we have more babies. Currently, we have only ONE regular baby under 1 year. It takes 9 months to grow a new one, so to keep adequate child flow through the nursery, you need to get busy NOW! Be fruitful and multiply, as my father says. However, should you not desire/be able to grow a bun in the oven, adoption/fostering is a WONDERFUL alternative, and we the workers of the nursery of accepting of ALL babies. Even fussy ones. We promise to not even pinch them.

To help sway you, here are some of the amenities the nursery has:

• Virtually unlimited cheerio supply (if you don't know already, this is VERY important to the happiness of babies.)

• Good snuggling arms

• A wide video selection, including favorites such as the Wiggles, Dora, and Bob the Builder

• And finally, we have Family Fun Night, once a month, on Friday night, so that you may drop off any children you currently have and work on making a new one

While I will be leaving at the end of June to begin medical school, I'm asking you to do this not for me, but for the church. And the children. So please, put on a little Barry White, light some candles, and do your duty as parents. Thank you.

Love
Sarah

holiday!

Happy Memorial Day!

Condo update!

We have a contract! Finally. This dude was a pain in the patootie. Seriously. But after much addendum writing, he's finally happy. WHOOP! I'll put a pic of it from the internet, but please don't stalk me :) Unless I know you, then it is ok :)

The living room

But anyway, YAY condo! And yay for home improvement updatedy type things I get to do now!

Pet Diary

My step mom sent me this. HI-larious

DOG DIARY:

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!

9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!

9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!

10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!

12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!

1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!

3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!

5:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!

7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!

8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!

11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!



CAT DIARY:

Day 983 of my captivity. My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.

They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am.

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event.
However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of "allergies." I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded.

The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicate with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now...

The Dog Park

This is a venting session for me. So read on if you want to hear about idiots at the dog park



So today the boyfriend and I take the dog to the local doggie park. We do it ALL the time because it is a HUGE nice fenced in area with a lot of other dogs, and the dog LOVES to play. She is just over a year, still a puppy, and likes to play. PLAY!!! But I am honestly thinking about not going back to the dog park for a while. There are a lot of nice people that go there, and a LOT of nice dogs that our dog really likes. But then there are the idiots......

I'll start with yesterday. The boyfriend, the dog, and I have been at the doggie park for a good 30 minutes. Then large hairy black lab came in. Said lab then tried to hump a dog our dog made friends with. Our dog DOES NOT TOLERATE HUMPING! I think I need to give her a sign. She doesn't hump, she doesn't try to be dominate over other dogs, but when a boy dog tries to hump her, SHE DOESN'T LIKE IT! And yeah... if the idiots would read the RULES when they walk into the doggie park they would see that "Do not allow your dog to mount another dog, as this behavior is very likely to lead to a fight. Even if your dog means no harm, the other dog is very likely to take offense." My dog takes offense! Usually it is no big deal at all. The dog snaps and moves to get the offending dog off, and it is all over. So when the lab humped our dogs friend, our dog snapped at the lab. The lab went BESERK! CRAZY!!!! I haven't seen the dog be that aggressive EVER, and there was NO WAY I was pulling her out of it. If dogs are in a real fight, rule numero uno is don't get in the fight with them! You will be injured! (ok I mean I'm not guaranteeing it, but there is a good chance you'll get hurt). Even the boyfriend (uber laid back, nothing is a big deal) gets up because he knows this is a real fight. He grabs some old rope toy laying around and keeps hitting (not too hard) our dog to grab her attention to something other than KILL BLACK LAB. It works, she runs over to us, snarls once when the lab tries to come over too, and then it was done. The lab owner didn't even get up ONCE, call his stupid dog, or do ANYTHING. And our dog ended up with two puncture wounds and a scratch, all on the back of her neck. This dog is like my child, and I was so upset. Dogs can do real damage!!! Just because the dog is big she isn't evil! She is a good dog! But yeah, I was upset, the guy was lazy and stupid and I hope his dog doesn't come back. Ever.

And then today. Our dog is big. She's almost 100 pounds. And she is about 95% puppy. So like I said, she likes to play. Well our dog tried to play with another dog that didn't want to play. She wanted to yelp without being touched, run away very fast, and pretty much act just like the dog our dog is used to playing with. (which is an annoying dog that yelps and barks, and does stupid stuff, but entertains our dog. And they love each other. They are sad when they are apart, so I'm sure when they make all the noise they are playing). Anyway, our dog was playing too hard with the other dog (a boxer) and we knew it, and were trying to gently get them apart. But dogs also run FAST! The boxer owner told us it was ok, she wasn't mad, we got them apart, and boy did they play the rest of the time!! BFF ok!!!! But right as the boyfriend was pulling the dog away from the skittish boxer, this JERK HEAD POO BRAIN in a stupid white polo with stupid aviator glasses trying to make himself look cool even though he was a NERD ALERT comes up and YELLS AT ME that my dog is TERRORIZING the boxer and can't I see that the boxer is absolutely TERRIFIED by my dog. GAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Here it is America, the real face of a terrorist (at least a terrorist dog)

She could sit on you and love you to death. Watch out. So the rest of the time I was just really upset that that jerk came up to me like I wasn't doing anything and that our dog was actually trying to hurt the boxer. Again, dogs are fast and hard to catch when they are running. Sorry I didn't jump on top of both of the dogs to break it up. Plus they weren't even fighting!!!!!!!!! We pulled our dog over to the side and everyone in the area asked me if that guy was seriously yelling at me. And of course they all said, "didn't they just see she was trying to play? Doesn't he know anything about dogs? Your dog is really nice." So I felt a little better, but just seeing that jerkface go off to his other elitist dog friends to talk about how horrible and terrifying our dog is made me really mad and upset.

So along with the "Do Not Hump Me" sign I'd like the dog to wear, I'd like her to wear a "I'm sorry I'm big but I like to play and I'm actually quite gentle. My owners adopted me about 2 months ago because my owners gave me up so give them a break because THEY ARE JUST TRYING TO BE GOOD PUPPY PARENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I strangely feel better having written this all out. The boyfriend, in his amazing ability to tune out anything he wants, didn't even notice the guy, so he wasn't much help for validation. I know I'm biased and I love our doggie more than anyone, and I don't want to be making excuses for her behavior, but I am because she's a DOG and she isn't exactly easy to reason with. You know, "Doggie, please don't be so upset when those boy dogs want to hump you. Also, if you could please not be so excited because sometimes your size intimidates other dogs, so if you could just calmly walk up to them and do the doggie sniff crotch ritual, it would really make things easier for everyone." <-- HAHAHAHAHAH yeah right. I'll get right on that. Have you ever tried to reason with a two year old? Or an infant? Dear 6 month old, please stop crying because can't you understand that the food and diaper change are on their way and by crying you are disturbing the sleep of others around you. Yeah it just doesn't work. Plus dogs don't exactly speak English. She is a smart doggie, but her vocab is pretty limited to "Leave it" "Sit" "Lay down" "No!" "Spin" "Go get it!" and every once in a while "come here!" Oh yeah, she also knows "good girl!" because she is an emotionally sensitive dog and will pretty much always choose praise and a good rub to food. Seriously. That made training to get in the car and in the crate difficult. It sure is hard to explain that she'll get lots of love if she just gets in the kennel! (again, the reasoning). Our doggie is also a police doggie because if any dogs get in a fight she jumps RIGHT in the middle to try to break it up and work it out. Unfortunately, some idiots think this looks like she is trying to fight. She's not. She likes to love. But if a dog is acting out of line and bullying other dogs she'll try to stop it. Because she has a good doggie soul.

Ok so to wrap it up, I don't want to make excuses for everything she does. She isn't perfect, but she's also a dog. And a young one that probably wasn't properly socialized as a puppy. We're working on it. She has a lot of love, and is good at heart, even though if she would also defend her family to the end (hey... great danes were bred to kill boars!). So if you're ever in my local doggie park, don't be an idiot. And don't discriminate against big dogs. Especially gentle breeds, they all just want to love and play too. And if you are an idiot, I hope my sweet sweet dog kicks your snooty dogs butt should the need for a butt kicking arise.
Thank you and have a nice day.

Condos

So the boyfriend and I are going to buy a condo in Houston together! YIPPIE! But it means money. I'm scared of spending large amounts of money. Well..... sometimes :) Ikea can be an exception. But I think I'm more worried about buying the wrong thing. We have a budget, the dog (who is 98.5 pounds now!), and a need for me to be close to the free shuttle. YAY free! What if I don't find the perfect place? Is it still worth it to buy over rent? Sure I'll be there 4 years, but I could be there longer if I do my residency in Houston. And why is it all my friends seem to hate Houston? I want them to love it so they'll come visit me! I was always wary of Houston since it is new to me, but the more time I've been down there I do feel like I like it! Much more park stuff than Dallas, and I don't know, you can live in Houston Houston, but you don't really live in Dallas Dallas. Plus I want the boyfriend to like it too. I'm uprooting him totally and throwing him down to a city where he doesn't know anyone but my aunt and uncle. (but he likes them a lot so it is cool). I feel like there is a LOT riding on me finding the right condo. But there are also rules and restrictions! 51% owner occupancy, 3% down, FHA approved, must allow dogs (important!) but must also be large enough for 2 people and the dog, and still in budget! Houston is expensive if you didn't know! GAH!

Ok calming down a bit. It also stresses me because it doesn't look like the boyfriend and I can get down to look at condos at a time when my dad can come as well. I don't know much about anything about buying condos or houses, except for what I want. That's why I wanted my dad to be able to come down and go through it all with me. But now its just me and the boyfriend, and we all know (he even says it!) I'm the "responsible one" OH THE PRESSURE!!!! I'm sure whatever ends up happening it will be the right thing. It is just so hard to wait.

If anyone that reads this (oh I was so star struck that Scalpel commented on my little blog! *blush* Thank you!) and has sage wisdom about buying things like condos, or Houston, it would be much appreciated. Or if you don't have sage wisdom and just want to say this is all crazy, you can do that too :)

Funny quote

Ok, Scalpel's post here reminded me of a funny quote from when I went to get my diploma framed.

The scene: Benjamin Knox Gallery. Mr. Benjamin Knox himself is personalizing all the artwork that day. Very cool. People in front of me in line have a VERY VERY VERY large giclee of canvas thingie that is very pretty and he is getting ready to write stuff on.

BK: eyeing his artwork fondly... "Just look how pretty it is... i mean the colors just look so good. You know they print these one at a time."

Me and my friend Jessica in our heads: "HELLOOOOO IT IS YOUR PAINTING!!!! Of course it is gorgeous!"

I actually had to turn around and look away to keep from bursting out laughing. And when I got in my car 20 minutes later I couldn't stop laughing. Neither could Jessica. It really was that funny. Even if it doesn't seem that way in writing. Maybe it was one of those you had to be there moments. But I sure hope not because it was freaking funny and I want everyone to have at least a nice smile about it.

Disclaimer: I am sure Benjamin Knox is VERY nice, and he was very very nice to me when I met him. It was just funny. And maybe ironic, but I'm not sure that's the right word.

P.S. It was also funny because an older lady was TOTALLY hitting on him.
Nice lady: with a twinkle in her eye......"So, is your place always this busy, or just on graduation?"

LOVED IT!

Graduation

I graduated! YAY!! It feels very strange to be done. But good. It really means that going to medical school is real too. Thursday the 10th was the Honors reception. It recognized everyone graduating with Foundation Honors, University Honors, and other such fun smarty pants things. There is nothing like an honors party to make you feel like an under achiever. Other people had 3 honors plus a thesis and were going to MIT for engineering. But it is ok. I stumbled into getting Foundation Honors, and it was worth it if only for the reception :) The food was good, but the lights went out right at the end. It was kinda scary. But I got a really cool certificate. I've really enjoyed the honors program.
After that, me and my family went to the Chicken Oil Company, with my friend Chris, his family, and his boyfriend. It was SO GOOD! My family hadn't ever been there so I made them go. The burgers are some of the best anywhere.
I had to wake up bright and early Friday morning. Graduation was at 9 am! Somehow, with about zero coordination from me, all three parts of my family managed to end up sitting together! It was great and very low stress. Of course, graduation was long (darn liberal arts people!) but it was so exciting getting all geared up to walk across the stage. It all went by pretty quickly because I ended up sitting right by my friend Sara. Thank you Ms. Moore for not showing up so that Sara and I could sit together. Once we got up to the stage, we had to do this really awkward not looking at the president thing so that we would have a good graduation picture. Mine better be good because I'm sure I hit the pose PERFECTLY. After I got my diploma there were a dozen more people to shake hands with, and they all commented on how many cords I had. It was pretty funny. Since this is a also a journal for me to remember things, here were the cords I had, Alpha Epsilon Delta, Order of Omega, and Golden Key. I wish Phi Beta Kappa would have given us cords, but I can always order them to put in frame stuff.
Saturday, we went to the Benjamin Knox gallery and my dad, who is wonderful, bought me this AMAZING diploma frame that was my diploma beside a sketch of the 07 Aggie ring. I can't wait to get it all back, especially since it feels so strange to NOT HAVE MY DIPLOMA!!! But oh well, it should be back around June 2 :)

I'll put up pictures as soon as I get them from my step mom. Since I was in the ceremony, I couldn't take pictures of myself :)

YAY GRADUATION!

Responsibility

I have my boyfriend's dog until he and the rest of my family come down to College Station tomorrow. At first I was so excited, and I still am, but all of a sudden it hit me. SHE NEEDS ME! I have to give her food. I take her to pee. I tell her she doesn't need to bark at the nice people (ok I only assume they are nice... but ya know), and I yank her out of the way when the neighbor's dog hurts her and then she attacks (she wouldn't want to get a reputation for beating up the bully dogs). Ok she didn't really attack, but she kind of did, but she has a scratch and a patch of hair GONE! She has a tiny bald spot! But she seems ok with it :) So anyway, since I'm talking about the dog, here are some of the funny things she did today, that I can remember.

She licked the back window of my car. Not sure why, but it sure looked cute when I saw it in my rear view mirror.

When my friend Vanessa's dog/puppy jumped into the pond, Bella definitely weighed whether she should help get the puppy out, or if she should stay dry. She stayed dry (thank God), and the puppy was just fine, swimming around. Vanessa's dog loves the water. Thank you Bella, for not smelling like wet dog.

I set Bella's bed up all nice beside my bed. Bella is now sleeping on the OPPOSITE side of my bed.

Bella woke up from a nap during our 3.5 hour drive, gave me a super groggy look, and than crashed back down into her sleeping position. SUPER CUTE

Bella stuck her head right in between my two seats to pretend to be the navigator.

My roommate and I were watching a movie we rented. Bella walked in front of the TV about a million times, but when the clock struck 10pm, she was OUT asleep. I guess that is just her bed time. It was pretty funny though the way she just stopped at exactly 10.

Ok that's all I can think of right now. Oh she just barked at the dryer. But it is ok because I'm part of her pack and I told her it was safe. She layed back down, on the side of my bed where her bed is not. Dogs.....

You learn something new everyday

As I was watching the news this morning, at 6am, waking up so I could take my EIGHT AM biochem final (it went well, thanks), they said the president is having a white tie dinner for the Queen of England. What in the world is a white tie dinner?!?!? <-- I asked myself. Sure we've all heard of black tie events (ooooo fancy!), but white tie?? So I googled it and investigated. Turns out, as only the British can create, white tie dinners are EVEN FANCIER than black tie. There is even a strict dress code for what should be worn! Here, from wikipedia, is the dress code.

Formal evening dress is more strictly regulated than other forms of dress, and properly consists of:

• Black tailcoat with silk (ribbed or satin) facings, sharply cut-away at the front
• Black trousers with a single stripe of satin or braid in the US or two stripes in Europe
• White stiff-fronted shirt, with cotton pique dickie, boiled or heavily starched
• White stiff wing collar (attached to the shirt with collar buttons)
• White bow tie (usually cotton pique)
• White low-cut waistcoat (usually cotton pique, matching the bow tie and dickie)
• Black silk stockings
• Black patent leather pumps or shoes

WOW! I really want to see Senor presidente in patent leather pumps. I also like that patent leather pumps are a clickable link in wikipedia. Just fun. So this white tie affairs looks uncomfortable, but fun. I mean you get to meet the queen! If only I could meet Prince William (he's single!!!!). So yay, and thank you England for sending people over here, so that eventually I could be born. :)

Swanky, swanky outfit

lazy

I have my biochemistry final tomorrow, and I just feel lazy. I've studied pretty diligently all semester, so luckily I don't really have to cram or learn a bunch of stuff I missed earlier. But now, it is SO hard to study! I know I should try harder, but it isn't motivating either when I only need to get 94/150 points. Surely I can do that with the reviewing I've done!

In other news, I'm excited to see another cycle of med school applications begin. It seems so long ago that I applied, but it also doesn't seem very long at the same time. This time last year I was working away on my application, and here I am now, waiting to graduate and begin my life in Houston! I know several people who are applying right now and I can't wait for them to interview at Houston so that I can see them and say hi! I know it made me feel a lot more comfortable at my interviews when I saw people I knew.

Well I guess I will get ready and finish studying. I don't have a scantron so hopefully someone will have an extra, or the AgCafe will open early enough. 8 am finals are ridonkadonk!

AED induction

So tonight was my last induction ceremony with AED. I sure am going to miss it. This group got to be a LOT of fun. Crazy smart kids :) I got really sad when my little sib was leaving and he goes "Oh wait! Am I ever going to see you again?" I was sad. I want to leave, but I want to take all my friends with me. I guess I'll just be forcing them to come with me to UT Houston. YAY :)

Mikel and Lee, who were apparently twins for the evening

Me and Sheena, the two exemplary ladies

Me and my little sib Lee!! SNIFF I'm going to miss him!

Things that make you think

I'm taking this women's health class online, and here are some funny things I read. These are straight for the slides, not something I made up. I promise. Please feel free to comment.

Breast Cancer - leading cause of cancer death in women
Lung Cancer - more women die of lung cancer than breast cancer

Possible symptom of ovarian cancer - asymptomatic

Risk factor for colorectal cancer - previous history of colorectal cancer

Complications of syphilis - death

If I notice more I'll post them. I just thought they were funny. But it was also late when I found them. :)

I'm kind of a big deal.....

So I got to have a dinner thingie tonight with Mrs. Gates, the wife of Secretary of Defense, Dr. Robert Gates, or as Becky calls him, Bob. :) It was so exciting! I have a starstruck problem, but I handled myself at least somewhat graciously, and here are the pictures :)

First, me and my Little Sis

All the graduating seniors at the senior celebration

My pledge class that was there, and is graduating (so small!)

Me and our chapter advisor, who works in the Aggie Ring office

And finally, me and Mrs. Becky Gates. WHOOP!

What an evening! It was very fun, we got a small present, and most importantly we ate cake. Yum!

YAY Aggies

Here is an article from 1942 my dad found. Very cool

Monday, May. 25, 1942

Aggies at War

The A. & M. in Texas Agricultural & Mechanical College might as well stand for Athletic & Military. In other days nine out of ten of its students played football on one of its many school teams; all but the bedridden turned out for "yell [not cheer] practice," its rough, tough, blacksmith-armed Aggie teams romped over opponents. And last week, of 699 graduates in the class of 1942, 565 went out with Army commissions; of the remaining 134, more than half have already signed for Army and Navy aviation. Texas A. & M. turns out more officers than West Point.

Unlike most U.S. colleges in the last two decades, Texas A. & M. never gave pacifism a lookin. Only college with nine branches of R.O.T.C., it enrolled every Aggie in one of them for at least two years, ran the whole school on military discipline. Seniors wear breeches, boots and spurs; freshmen are "Fish," from whom upperclassmen tolerate no nonsense. On Dec. 7 Texas A. & M. had among its alumni 5,135 reserve officers (more than half of all its living graduates).

Texas Aggies figure large on the roll of U.S. heroes in World War II. An Aggie "sighted sub, sank same." Another (Major General George F. Moore) directed the coastal defense at Corregidor. Aggies have won D.S.C.s like football games. Twenty-eight of them died on Bataan and Corregidor. The Aggies are proud of their military record. They like to recall the example of the Class of 1917, which held its commencement at a training camp, joined up as one man.

As early as June 1940 Texas A. & M. offered its full facilities to the U.S. Immediately after Pearl Harbor the Aggies were the first major U.S. college to go all-out on a twelve-month schedule, first to switch shops and laboratories to a 24-hour day. The four-year course was cut to two years, eight months. Doubling military instruction, the Aggies added Army mess management to animal husbandry, inaugurated courses in explosives. Architects shifted to camouflage. A. & M. organized Statewide courses for civilian defense.

Readying itself to train 1,000 to 3,000 flyers, navigators, bombardiers, A. & M. is now finishing an airport, planning a doubling-up program to fill dormitories four or five deep. Says Aggie President Thomas Otto Walton: "What does the Government want done? We will do it."

• Find this article at:
• http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,766581,00.html