The Good, The Bad, The Glamorous!

The past work week was a pretty standard week for us. Wednesday was another home JV football game that concluded with another big win for Riverheads! Thursday was one of those days....one of those days that I wished that every would-be vet student was with me so that they would understand just how "un-glamorous" this job can be. Among other disgusting and dirty jobs that day, preforming a necropsy (or autopsy for animals) on a 600 pound calf that had been dead for 12+ hours in the middle of a brush pile in 90+ degree heat was the highlight of my day. There was sweat, snot, spit, flies, spiders, more flies, and an intense struggle not to vomit when I made the rookie "gut shot."  Ultimately, I didn't mind doing it- it NEEDED to be done. In fact, what bothered me the most is that opening up that calf didn't give us any answers. But I just couldn't help but think of all the young ladies out there aspiring to be a veterinarian, and perhaps even the general public, who believe the job is all ponies, kittens, rainbows, and puppy kisses. Don't get me wrong, there are puppy kisses, and I love them; but some of the most important jobs of a veterinarian really involve getting down and dirty! 

But then...there are times when being a veterinarian IS glamorous! This weekended Clark and I got to travel to the FABULOUS Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg so that I could attend a continuing education conference put on by Merial and Newport Laboratories. The resort was so nice and definitely somewhere we couldn't afford on our own!

I was blown away by the generosity of the companies providing lodging, meals, and free products. I recognize that their effort is rooted in their hopes that we'll use their product and services, but it was a super nice weekend. The actual meeting part was only from 8-12 Saturday morning, so we had Saturday afternoon to explore the resort and Williamsburg as we pleased. I took the opportunity to get a massage at the spa :) Then we drove out to the Premium Outlets for a little bit of shopping. I think I could have spent DAYS in the outlets alone. Williamsburg is a neat place and I would love for us to go back and see more of the town. My family vacationed there the summer before I started undergrad. It's hard to believe that has been EIGHT years ago now! Yikes! I'm sure there would be lots of other features of Williamsburg that I would appreciate better as an adult. 

This week has been off to a good start. Tomorrow is Clark's birthday and tonight we are headed to one of Staunton's top restaurants to celebrate! This weekend is Open House at Westwood and I'm looking forward to being part of the event! 

Football & Family!

This week started out with a BANG! I was on call on Labor Day and boy did I labor! The first call came in around 9 AM and my day finally ended around 11 PM! All-in-all things went well and it was good to have a long, productive day. I was most relieved to have my first dystocia out of the way. Dystocia means "difficult birth." Honestly I've been pretty surprised that it took over a month before I had to go pull a calf. When I got to the farm the farmer said, "Well, there's a foot sticking out." My nerves settled quite a bit then.This gentleman very rarely intervenes on his own and usually calls us at the first suspicion that something is wrong. The good news is that we delivered the calf fairly quickly. The bad news is, the calf had already passed away before I got there. That was unfortunate, but I was ultimately relieved that my first dystocia wasn't that difficult after all. Tuesday started my new schedule of being on small animal at the beginning of the week, off on Wednesdays, and on large animal at the end of the week. Tuesday was pretty busy, especially being the day after a holiday.

Here in Virginia, most JV football games are played on Wednesdays rather than Thursdays like in North Carolina. Clark has agreed to run the scoreboard for the home JV games and this week was the first game! Since I was off I decided to join him. It was fun sitting up in the press box! Talk about a view...

And Riverheads won the game!!

Friday evening we traveled to Washington & Lee University in Lexington, VA to see my family! The Meredith Angels were in town for a volleyball tournament! It was so great to see my family and cheer on my sister and the other players as they faced some really tough teams! It was also fun learning about another little town in Virginia. Lexington is home to not one, but two universities: Washington & Lee and the Virginia Military Institute. And it just so happened that they both had home football games this weekend- so things were interesting to say the least! The volleyball games ran pretty late Friday night, so we grabbed a late dinner at Macado's. The food was pretty good- great place for a sandwich and the onion rings were awesome! However, it was Friday night and the place was packed with cadets, some of which were getting an early start on their weekend celebrations. Overall, I'd eat there again...just not on a Friday night :) Saturday morning we met Mom and Dad for breakfast at Country Cookin then headed over to the university to watch the rest of the games. Once they had finished up, we saw Molly and the Angels off and then grabbed lunch at Pure Eats. The lady taking our order said they had been voted best burger in the Shenandoah Valley. They were good...but pricey! Pure Eats are also known of their donuts, but if you want one of those, you need to get there when the door opens. The lady told us that the "Donut Divas" arrive at 4:30 am, the store opens at 8:00 am, and by 10:30 they are sold out of the 250 they have prepared. If we end up in Lexington again, I hope to swing by and try out their donuts!

Saturday evening we were looking forward to seeing Dailey & Vincent, our favorite bluegrass band at the Augusta County Expo. However, on the way home from Lexington I started feeling under weather. Being the awesome husband that he is, Clark offered to stay home with me but I sent him on to enjoy the show. He said it was a great! Today has been full of rest and recuperation so that I will hopefully be 100% for work in the morning. We look forward to resuming our search for a church soon.

This week should bring more fun, travel, and adventures! Hope you have a great week! 

Highland County Adventure

Hello and Happy Labor Day Weekend!

It's hard to believe that we've been in the valley for six weeks already! Things are going to so well and we are really blessed that God has provided great jobs in a awesome, welcoming and supportive community!

The biggest highlight of my week was driving over to the Highland County Fairgrounds to inspect the animals at check-in. I was very excited to represent Westwood in my first official fair duties. My first interactions with a veterinarian were as young showman, so it thrills me that showing livestock and youth participating in agriculture are a big pastime here. Everyone kept telling me to be careful on the trip from Staunton to Monterey. At first I wasn't sure why, but after about the 12th hairpin turn going across the mountains, I understood why. Just think Grandfather Mountain turns for about a 1/4 of the drive! It was a beautiful drive, but my trip there was blurred by concentrating on the road and a growing dread as I realized I might have to be the bad guy and turn away someone's show animal due to disease. Thankfully, it was a safe trip, and most of the inspections went great. However, I did have to decline two lambs due to sore mouth. One parent was very understanding and knew that it was a strong possibility the lamb would be turned away. The other parent... not so much and bristled up as soon as I even looked at the sore. It made me sad for the children that I had to reject those lambs, but medically I was confident in my decision; especially since sore mouth is contagious to humans! Overall, everyone was grateful for my presence and appreciated my being there. It was a lot of fun crawling in and out of trailers and truck beds looking at animals and meeting the families that raised them.

On the way back I was a bit more relaxed and really got to enjoy the scenery. One particular pull off caught my eye.

I'm not gonna lie, the name intrigued me. Fortunately, there were lots of signs around to educate me on just what the breast works were.

                               

I knew that the area had a lot of Civil War history, but it turned out that exact spot served as Fort Edward Johnson for the Confederate Army and that one of the towns I drove through, McDowell, had been the location of a battle. Apparently, breast work was the term for the actual fortification itself since it was breast high. As you can see, the view was gorgeous and I hope to get back and hike the trail sometime!

On the way back I also noticed a few other things that made me chuckle. On my route I crossed over Bullpasture Mountain, Bullpature River, Cowpasture River, and Calfpasture River. The whole cattle family was covered! I also saw a few deer on the way there and back and was keeping my eyes peeled for bears. Yes, bears! We haven't seen any yet, but they are pretty populous in the valley!

Other great features of the week:
- Watched over 100 ewes be ultrasounded for pregnancy. I was able to do the scanning myself a few times in vet school, but not enough to stage pregnancies and count babies well. I'm really hoping to pick up this skill so that we can offer the service to our clients
- Clark attended the Riverheads Crop and Vegetable Show. That's right, a crop and vegetable show! The students brought in the biggest and best of their summer garden and were rewarded for their efforts!
- MUCH better small animal day Friday
- Great dinner with Erin Friday night while Clark was attending the Riverheads football game with some of the administrators. It was good for Erin and I to be able to chat about work and realize that we're having the same experiences; just another great reminder of how blessed we are to have each other on this new adventure!

This weekend we've relaxed and watched football! After having something to do every weekend, I was ready for one that was more low key. This afternoon I tried a new recipe. We had four VERY ripe bananas on the counter. A little Pinteresting led me to this recipe and it's pretty good! I added a 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts and about 1/3 cup of raisins for more texture and flavor.

Tonight we're headed to a bonfire with new friends and tomorrow I'm on call for large animal! Thankfully Erin and I are double teaming so we won't be completely solo if a true emergency situation comes up. This week starts my new schedule of working small animal Monday and Tuesday, having Wednesday off, and working large animal Thursday and Friday. I'll have the opportunity to start doing small animal surgeries, so I'm looking forward to that! Hope everyone has a great week and a nice, relaxing Labor Day!