Annual Parent Newsletter

We have had a wonderful year filled with friends, family, work, school, major life milestones, good food, bad food, animals, animal products, weeds, dirt, piano tuners, and much more.

Ruben, aka Master Ruben, Rooby-doob, Buben, Rubers, Roob-doob. 

Still plotting to take over the world, one lap at a time. He turned 12 in November. We have had him for over 4 years now and he has always had a vomiting problem. At first I thought "I'm not a vet. I have no idea why he vomits all the time." Now I think "I'm a vet and I still have no idea why he vomits all the time." So he eats, he pukes, he purrs.

Lucy, aka Woocy, Lucybuns, Bunners. 

She has decided that her favorite flavor is chicken poop. She has asked for chicken poop flavored jelly beans for Christmas. Does anyone know where I might be able to get some of those?

Lola, aka Ears. 

Lola lives in a constant state of anticipating the next time she will get to go running. I once tried to take her running on roller blades and it was a disaster because I had no way of stopping. I have contemplated hooking her leash up to the back of the car and taking her running that way but I think I would lose my vet license.

Five hens: Henrietta, Wasabi, Elvis, Johnny Cash, and Frank Sinatra. Last year we also had two hens named Cluck and Clack. When they stopped laying, they got to retire at my co-worker's farm and peck around with 60 other chickens in a huge garden all day long. They loved it until one of them got eaten by a fox. Frankie and Johnny haven't started laying yet and I keep reminding them what happened to the last two chickens. Lucy likes the chickens because they make chicken poop.

Three+ bunnies: Jadwiga, Juno, and Yaroslaw. Our bunnies graduated from caged to free-range this year and they are loving it. We have two litters ready to pop out of their burrows and we're not entirely sure how many of them there are yet.

Katie, aka President

Me and my new kitchen

Me and my new house

My favorite foods are ice cream and dark chocolate. The best thing about this year was graduating from vet school. The thing I most regret about this year is that I still haven't gotten  my flu shot and I am also sad that my goat calendar is about to run out. I found my first real job this year working as a dog/cat veterinarian in a little town not too far away. I get to meet all kinds of nice people and pets, a few crazies, and a few pets that would be happier if I were dead. A beagle named Meatball bit all the way through my thumb nail and a Labrador retarded named Charlie flung its head onto my face and gave me a shiner that clients still remind me about. I like working for the most part but I have decided that when I retire, I don't want to work anymore.

Alex, aka Dr. A, Aley pants, Supreme Dictator.

Alex and his new girlfriend

Alex had the distinct honor of graduating with his PhD in chemistry and so now gets to be a full time student. He just finished his first semester of medical school. He enjoys gardening, running, eating, studying for finals, working on the house, and finishing to do lists that I write for him.

Our house: still in exactly the same place. Please come visit. We now have a 10 foot wide mud pit in our front yard from a water pipe that burst a few days ago.

We wish you all happiness and prosperity in the New Year! Please feel free to remind me of your blog addresses if you have one or drop us a note/email to let us know how you are doing!

With love,

Katie, Alex, Ruben, Lucy, Lola, Jadwiga, Yaroslaw, Juno, Unknown bunnies #1-?, Wasabi, Henrietta, Elvis, Johnny, and Frankie

Shout out to my dad

And for all those other closet blog readers out there. You know who you are.

Updates:
1. I cut my hair. It is still long
2. We went to Philadelphia for Thanksgiving. It was wonderful.

We got to see these folks (on the train into downtown Philly.)

We took some time to see the sights within walking distance downtown. I think here Bethany was telling me something shocking. 

Of course, we ate some delicious food... more than once... (thanks Tony for another great Italian meal!)

We miss you Nick and Emily!

I really like this picture (besides the fact that it isn't in focus).

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I am grateful for the founding fathers and signers of the Declaration of Independence who had the foresight and courage to fight for and establish our nation. This is Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed. The chair is an original and it is where George Washington sat. 

We saw some amazing historical sights in Philadelphia.

Thanks Mrs. Woodard for instilling a love of history in me 11 years ago!

Alex got a chance to review his anatomy at the Mutter museum. 

Soap lady anyone?

We were lucky enough to get a back room tour at Termini's, a famous Philadelphia pastry shop.

The biggest kitchen aid I have ever seen. I asked for one for Christmas. I am going to build an extra room to store it in.

Glencairn mansion. It has an amazing history I won't go into. Easily one of the most amazing places I have ever been. 

Suffice it to say that this was the living room. 

That's me. Showing off my biceps.

A view of the cathedral from the tower of Glencairn mansion. 

Again the tower. 

The house was not only built to be a living area but to be a museum of sorts for religious art. This one, by a sculptor I can't remember, was my favorite. It is two evil spirits and two good spirits vying for the human spirit. 

Two love birds - the bed post in the master bedroom. These sorts of details were everywhere (minus the eyeball).

I really like all these people. 

On the way home we stopped by Pittsburgh to visit a dear friend and mission companion. The perfect ending to a perfect trip. 

Hairy Question

Short

Long

Short

Long

Short

Long

Short

Long

Dear readers,

I am in desperate need of a haircut. Please help me decide if I should just get a trim or if I should do something a little more drastic. In the interest of full disclosure, when I have long hair, I wear it up 90% of the time. Also, could someone please tell me why the only pictures I can find of myself four years ago are in a kitchen eating?

Thank you,

Katie

Trunk or Treat

The church's trunk or treat was last night. Alex and I made a couple of signs as our costumes; one of us was a OWS protestor and the other was a Tea Partier. Hopefully we didn't offend anyone at church. (PS Alex, I like your shirt!)

I volunteered to take pictures of families in costume, and I realized the I still need to learn a few things about my camera. Nevertheless, I got a few sweet pictures. Here are some of my favorites.

Scooby-doo and friends.

This little kid is too cute.

 The Sweets, dressed up as themselves.

The Ouskas - bunnies and a sweet little lamb.

 I think this might be my favorite picture. I don't know these people very well - they are new. Hopefully they don't mind me posting this picture and hopefully someday I will know them better. They look like they are worth knowing.

The other side of one of the posters.

Birthday Boy

Alex had a birthday yesterday. All in all, it was a pretty lame birthday. He studied all day and I had to stay late at work due to too many sick animals. Then, to top it off, I gave him a frying pan for his birthday present. 

I did write him a poem though. I thought it was pretty clever at the time but now I am not so sure. However, I am posting it on the blog because I have nothing better to blog about, the two chores awaiting me are raking leaves and cleaning house, and because I never want him to be able to forget this poem. I want it to haunt him forever. It is called Evolution.

I am not great at writing poems

Because I never do it,

And because I am just not great at it.

But I wanted to write you a poem for your birthday. 

This is what I would like to say:

I love you!!

My love for you, like life, evolves.

At first, it was hesitant and a little uncertain,

A little bubble in the primordial sludge. 

Eventually the bubble became a multicellular organism.

Then it got a brain. That was a big development.

Brains are good, but first brains still have a long way to go.

I think the organism is still swimming around somewhere in the sea.

Someday it will become a land dweller 

But it prefers sea right now.

When the sea is too acidic from climate change,

That is probably when it will move onto land.

Our little love creature still isn't perfect.

It won't ever be perfect in this life.

Somehow that is reassuring because I know

There will always be room to grow with you,

Adventures to have and things to learn to love together,

Struggles to go through with you.

I am committed baby. Survival of the fittest -

We will be the fittest and our love bubble will survive. 

At about the brain part, he asked me if it was a notochord. I said I wasn't sure. It hasn't been studied.

And now for a few Florida pictures, circa summer 2009:

Work hazards

 Alex was a little surprised when I came home from work looking like this earlier this week. I tried to pretend I didn't know what he was talking about, but he didn't buy it.

The next morning, it had already changed quite a bit. More red than purple, and perhaps slightly less swollen? I see a lot of people in the course of a day, and most of them don't say anything about it until I introduce myself and say something to the effect of "...and the blackeye is a recent development." That breaks the awkwardness over the massively obvious bruise and usually they are interested to know what happened.

The day after it happened, my boss said "I like what you have done with your makeup." A few people have asked how the other guy looks. And then there are the people that know me from church, that usually ask if Alex is beating up on me. Well, he obviously isn't or he would have a black eye too. 

So what happened? A 60 lbs. Labrador Retarded decided that she didn't want me to cut her toenails. Some dogs are freakish about feet being handled, and this one hadn't been in the past (I had clipped her toenails the previous month just fine) but decided to freak out that day. Someone was holding her, but she flung her head and her skull met my cheekbone with enough force to nearly take my breath away. That was five days ago. Today, I look like this: 

I have to say, it is cool to me that my body knew, without me telling it, how to stop the bleeding and now it is mopping up the mess over my cheekbone by quietly changing this

(heme - red)

to this

(biliverdin - green)

to this

(bilirubin - yellow)

and eventually I will be good as new and people that see me in the store won't wonder if I am a domestic violence victim and 3 year olds won't stare at me.