Swim Lesson

Last weekend was the weekend between my two 4-week chemistry classes so we took Carly out to Fern Ridge Lake for swimming lessons. It's funny, I never had to teach a dog how to swim before, but Carly needed lessons.

The bottom where we were had a nice gentle slope and Carly eagerly followed me out which surprised me; I thought I would have to drag her, but she was brave. It started getting interesting when it got deeper than her on all fours. At this point she started paddling with her front legs, but she kept walking on the bottom with her hind legs. When it started getting too deep to do that her head kept going under. After setting her straight a few times she caught on and was swimming on her own, back and forth between me and Rocky.

She really seemed to enjoy it, but also enjoyed taking a break now and then:

Now I'm back in school for another three weeks learning about the shapes of atoms and molecules and the energy levels within them. These Summer courses are really intense, but interesting. Turns out that the teacher I have for this class also teaches at Thurston and Springfield High schools. We've been comparing notes on some of the people we both know.

1st Week of Summer Term

The first week of my first Summer class is over. I'm taking a four week course of General Chemistry I followed by a four week course of General Chemistry II. They call this "Gen Chem Boot Camp"; you can take a full year of Chemistry in one Summer term. Each class is four days per week, five hours per day. I am not signed up for the third class, I'm not going to need it for the program I'm planning to go through. This first week was tough. I get home from school, do homework for a while, take care of chores, more homework, fix dinner, and then depending on what is due the next day and how tired I am either do more homework, watch an hour of tv, or go straight to bed. My dog is bored with me, but Rocky always knows where to find me; sitting at the dining room table with all my books and papers spread out like a warm breakfast.

Back to studying. My first exam is Monday.

Another Term Down

An entire term has gone by since my last post. Yes, time goes by in terms for me now rather than days, weeks, or months.

This term I completed the third class of Anatomy and Physiology. It is always a tough class, but so interesting to learn how our systems work as well as malfunction. I also signed up for Off Loom Fibers which I quickly dropped when I found out that the college I'm planning to apply to does not accept studio art course credits. I am definitely not artsy fartsy enough for this class. When Rocky saw some of the projects we were required to do he asked me if marijuana was one of the supplies needed. It was really weird.

This weekend I am frantically carding fiber and preparing for my booth in the Black Sheep Gathering trade show at the Lane County Fairgrounds next Friday through Sunday. It is always a fun show in between the hard work of set up and tear down.

The day after the show I start Summer classes. It is hard to believe that I've already been in school for a year. That's right, last Summer was my first term back. I have my courses planned for the next four terms and then I should be ready to apply to the Medical Technology program next Summer.

This past Thursday I was able to get in a day of observation at Peace Health Lab here in Springfield. Wow, it is a fascinating place! There are so many different areas where a technologist can specialize. There is this one system there that looks kind of like a train set. It has a track that the test tubes travel on. There are several machines hooked up to the track. Each tube has a bar code that has information about the patient and the tests ordered by its doctor. As the tube travels along the track and approaches one of the machines a scanner reads the code, if that is one of the ordered tests the tube travels into the machine where it draws out the amount of blood it requires before sending the tube on its way down the track. If that is not one of the ordered tests the tube travels onto the next machine. It is pretty cool. I was amazed over and over again all day long. The experience just gave me a huge boost of motivation about school. I am begining to truely believe that I was meant to be a lab tech.

Before signing off I have to show you Carly photos. She has a new past time:

Four wheeling!

You can't tell me that isn't the face of a happy dog.

She won't ride the four wheeler with Rocky because she knows she needs a helmut for that, so she just sticks to the trailer when he's driving.

She tries so hard to get the kitties to play with her, but they're just too old and grouchy.

Today she figured out how to open our back door to let herself in. The knob on that door is the lever kind. I suppose we're going to have to teach her how to close it now.

I almost forgot. Remember that fly rod I built for Rocky at an ODFW workshop? Well, Sharon and I went to another ODFW workshop a couple of weekends ago. We spent three days taking four hour classes at a Mennonite church camp near Lincoln City. I took Woman v. Wild, GPS/Map/Compass, Fly Tying, and Archery. The accomodations were comfortable, the people were friendly, and the classes were quite informative. It was a really fun weekend.

16th Anniversary Vacation Photos

Now that I've learned how to upload photos from my new camera here is a brief run down on our trip:

We spent a week on Ambergris Caye, Belize with a group of friends. The weather was perfect and the company even better. One of the more relaxing vacations I've had in a long time. The only down side was that our resort was a long boat ride from everywhere we wanted to go.

On the day Rocky went bonefishing I went to see one of the Mayan ruins with other people in our party. I think Rocky really missed out on this. It started with a long boat ride across the sea to a river. In the sea we had a bottle nose dolphin encounter that was a real treat. The guide stopped the boat and the dolphin swam all around us.

In the river we saw a Jesus Christ bird:

Named for its ability to walk on water using the lily pads.

Oops; this photo is out of order. It is a bird that hung out at our resort.

Here is what our boat ride looked like as we rode through the mangroves:

Somewhere along the river we got off the boat, onto a bus for a long bus ride, and then onto another boat for another long boat ride up another river where we saw interesting plants and birds:
This is a barge built by Mennonites. The Queen of England invited them to Belize in the 1950's because of their ability to farm, weld, and construct. Apparently they have been a great asset to the country.

This plant was at the ruins:

Another photo out of order. This is a hermit crab that lived under the steps to our cabana during the day and came out in the evening making what looked like bicycle tire tracks in the sand.

At the ruins Will and I were the only ones to climb one of the structures. It was a lot of fun and we both appreciated that the other was there to enjoy it and not be the only one holding up the rest of the group.Our bus ride included Evelyn, the bus driver's 2.5 year old daughter:

Here's Will passing out rum punch, trying to get us all drunk on the way back.

Here's the group from the ruins trip. From left to right around the table: Dick and Deanna, John, Clella, me, Will, Pat, and Marlis.

I did that geeky thing of taking my own picture in the mirror to show you my hair after a day in the salty Belize wind:
A braid was a must. If I lived there I would probably have to keep my hair short. Every evening I had to spend extra time combing and ripping knots out of my hair.

Several of us were celebrating anniversaries on this vacation so on our last night the resort baked us a cake and decorated it with the ingredients they had on hand.

Back home. Here's Rocky, Lera, and Carly having a visit:

Just a Quick Post

I'm studying for two exams this week so I don't have much time for blogging, but I wanted to tell you all about a movie on HBO right now called "Temple Grandin". It is about an autistic woman who was able to get through college (I think she even got her Doctorate) and became instrumental in the designs of American slaughter houses. I was fortunate enough to see her speek at an alpaca conference a few years ago; it is something I will never forget. The movie is a must see for everybody.

Back to my Chemistry homework.

Happy Valentine's Day

We get rainbows quite often, but a double one is pretty rare. The photo doesn't do this one justice.

School has been going well again this term. My classes are Anatomy and Physiology 2 and Chemistry 104. This is my first real Chemistry class and it is so much fun. My favorite part has been balancing equations and calculations. I've always loved math. The S'mores lab we did Thursday was fun too.

In A & P our labs are always interesting. So far this term we dissected sheep brains, a cow eye ball, and a cow heart. Friday we ran EKG's on ourselves. The eye balls were the most interesting to me. We've had two exams so far; one on the nervous system and one on special senses. Our next one covers the heart and cardiovascular system.

I'm already registered for next term. I got into the A & P 3 class I wanted and I signed up for Off Loom Fibers to get some Art credits. I'm not sure I'll like the Art class since the focus is on radical stitches. I'm not a radical person at all, but I need an Art class and the Silk Screen filled before I could sign up.

We watched a really good movie yesterday called The Soloist.

Which reminds me: While we were watching the movie my father-in-law unexpectedly drives up with a German chocolate cake from The Muffin Mill that had "Happy Valentine's Day, Tammy" written on it. If you ever have the chance to try their German chocolate cake you won't regret it; it's the best I've ever had.

The Joys of Owning a Dog

Carly Makes us laugh a lot. Here is a photo of her watching popcorn in the microwave for the first time:Rocky got home before me yesterday and somebody called but he didn't answer, so the answering machine came on. He said when Carly heard my voice on it she ran to it and started whimpering. It's nice to be loved so much.

Last night I asked Rocky to feed Carly since I was studying so he fixed her food with warm water and a raw egg because that's supposed to be good for her coat. Well, at 5:00 am I was awaken by the most horrible stench, doggie diarrhea. (Carly is potty trained, but usually doesn't go out at night and hasn't figured out how to tell us when we can't see her go to the door.) I have to say that I'm seriously considering sending Proctor and Gamble a thank you card for producing Febreze. I don't care if it is toxic or punches holes in the ozone, it pert near saved my life at 5:00 this morning. That was one of the worst jobs I've ever had, but a roll of paper towels, half a bottle of Febreze, and one Kleenex stuffed up my nose later, I'm still here to tell about it and you can actually breath in our house again. It was also garbage day today and the cans were out at the street; I managed to make it out there and back in my robe and slippers before any cars drove by. The only good thing about it happening at 5:00 am.

Carly doesn't seemed to be at all fazed by the ordeal. She thought it was great that I would get out of bed so early to play with her. Her system isn't quite back to normal, but it hasn't slowed her down at all. I think she will be sleeping in her crate tonight since she does howl from in there when she needs to go out.