Overdue Update

Well its been awhile since my last desperate post and I guess things have been getting a bit better since then. My 6 month evaluation at work was just ok and I have a lot of things I need to work on. I don't know if I was naturally cut out to be a small animal vet because I have had to work and study so damn hard to get to where I'm at and I still have days where I think that I'm really not very good at what I do or that its just not right for me. Other days I feel much better. I just want every day to be one where I feel smart and confident in myself - I wonder if that will ever happen? A big part of me though feels like something is missing, that I want to do more, like specializing in something I really love like clinical pathology. I looked into doing a residency in clin path and I think this may be the right path for me. I do admit that I'm terrified to have to do applications again and worry about whether or not I'll get into a program. I always get scared that I will get my hopes up and then get burned.
Work has been a LOT better recently thank God. The doctor who left before I came here is coming back 1 day a week (Mondays) to take some of the surgery load, and as a result I am getting ~3 Mondays a month off as well as my Tuesday. This week was my first experience with the extra day off and it has been GREAT! I actually feel awake and normal when I am at work, and I feel happier in general and have much more energy to help out everyone else as well as focus on my own cases. That extra time for me, Steve and the kitties is definitely worth every second. I'm working late on Thursdays with Sue now on the weeks I don't work Monday to have some extra time available to my clients if needed. This is my first late Thursday and so far its been fun. I reached a personal goal today spaying a dog in the fastest time I have done so far (which I won't reveal because its still WAY too slow lol). I'm very proud of myself :) Being faster in surgery is one of the things I am working on, along with being faster with my appointments which is getting better as well. And the best thing is the encouragement I am constantly getting, especially from Sue - she is truly an angel and I think the reason God brought me to this clinic. I have learned more from her than I ever thought I could my first year out, and each day brings new learning experiences. This week has been pretty slow though - I think its because its 20 below 0 here with the windchill and people just don't want to go outside and I don't blame them!
This weekend Steve and I are going to celebrate Grandpa Reinert's 80th birthday - I'm looking forward to it. He is such a great man and immediately "adopted" me when he found out I had never been able to get to know either of my Grandfathers (because both died before I was born). I'm glad we'll be able to be there for him on this special day :)
Our critters are doing well - Sue spayed Zoey recently and she has been doing great. We just took her stitches out Tuesday night and she looked good. Sue also reconstructed her nose to make her nose openings bigger so she could breathe better (common smoochie-faced animal surgery) and she is SO much happier now because she can actually breathe and smell! Why didn't I do her surgery you wonder? Well for one because I panic when its my own pet; second because I would have taken much longer, and third because I wanted her to have the best and Sue IS the best :) Zoey is such a joy and I'm SO glad we got her. Aslan grooms her all the time now - he was slow to warm up to her but now they get along so well (new pictures to come soon).
Surprisingly I have been spending a lot of time lately playing WOW (World of Warcraft). I must admit I am addicted but nowhere near as much as my husband. It is so much fun though and I love playing it on my new MacBook! I'm new at Macs though so I'm constantly discovering something new on my computer that I didn't know existed before :)
Anyway back to work for me, just thought I'd do an update since its been awhile :)