During veterinary school, the first 2.5 years are spent “in the books” and the last 1.5 years are spent in clinics rotating through various disciplines.  Dermatology, food animal medicine, dairy, equine surgery, neurology, medicine, community practice, etc.  My first rotation was the four week beef/dairy cattle rotation.

This rotation involved two weeks of beef cattle medicine/surgery and two weeks of dairy cattle medicine/surgery and milking.  Yes.  MILKING.  At 4:30 AM.  That is another blog post all together.

My very first patient in clinics was my Wordless Wednesday post yesterday.

His name was “Doc.”  He was/is? (depending on his “fruitfulness”) a three year old, 2000 pound, Beefmaster bull.  Doc had a corn (a painful swelling between his hooves), and thus wasn’t doing his job well.  Kinda hard to make baby cattle when your feet hurt!  Doc also had a nasty temper.

A very.

Very.

Very.

Nasty temper.

He really enjoyed smashing into the stall bars as I walked by to get his vitals each morning (respiratory rate, hydration status, pain level, mobility).  As you can see in the pictures, there is a nice little container for hay.  When feeding him you had to be mindful as he would try to crush your hand if you were anywhere near his head.  Really.  Such a pleasant way to start the morning, don’t you think?

He also had an extra water trough, as he like to poop in his automatic waterer.  Boys.  Sigh. Each morning I would have to check his water, and then engineer a safe way to reach his “bowl.”  Which he enjoyed to shoving around his stall with his ginormous (stubborn) head.  Bigger sigh. It worked best having someone distract him, as I stuck my very breakable arm into his stall.

I remember calling Doc’s owner to update him on his progress.  The friendly farmer asked me if I had been giving Doc a good scratchin’ each day as it calms him down.   Um, is he serious? I laughed nervously.  He did finally admit that he knew Doc could be a pain, but that he had actually rubbed his back.  And get this!  “Doc really seemed to enjoy it.” 

Really? I want to ask if the “good scratchin’” was with a cattle prod.

By the end of his stay, Doc had finally settled down a bit.  I know all animals are wild and live by instinct, so Doc was acting naturally for a bull.  But I must say, after some good food and a reduction in tootsie pain, his attitude was much improved.

Doc I’ll never forget you…and your terribleness.

Want more Wordless fun?

Check out Wordless Wednesday or 5 Minutes for Mom!

Come back tomorrow for Tell Me Thursday!

My darling daughter, I cannot believe you will be eight months old today.  You have been on this earth for seventy-five percent of a year!!  As I type, you are sitting (unassisted) next to me in bed playing with a book and the television remote.  Oh the irony.

You have changed so dramatically since you were born.  From a sleepy, quiet newborn to an inquisitive, bubbly baby.

Again, I don’t want to forget how you are changing so I’m documenting it.  Possibly boring to others, but I want to remember.

My loves:

* You giggle when I giggle.

* You say “Ba ba ba” “Da da da” and “Di di di” (you especially like di di di when you are upset)

* You can wave and clap.  You have been waving since you were seven months old!

* You LOVE the kitties and the doggies.

* You can pincer grip your cheerios.

* You grunt happily when you are eating something you like.

* Bath-time is one of your favorite times of the day.

* You grin at people, and then bury your face into my shoulder.

* You’re trying to crawl, and get quite upset when you don’t move…and a rolling you go!

* You love buttons (laptop keyboard, remotes, calculators).

I love you my sweet girl.

Umm…you have to expand the video to see it (pres the button with the four blue arrows). ?!?!?!?!  As my “tech support” is snoring, I suppose it will stay this way until tomorrow.  Sorry.

Oh, and the quality isn’t the best, but the video camera wasn’t nearby.

7.5 months from Erin Murray on Vimeo.

Last night I crawled into bed, snuggled up next to my husband and the following conversation ensued…

Ben:  Um…what’s that smell?

Me:  What smell?

Ben:  Did you put lotion on?

Me: Yeah.  I put it on my hands, since you think I have dry “man-hands.”  (Admittedly he’s right.  I HATE lotion on my hands.)

Ben: It smells like cat litter.

Me:  Do what?!?!?!?!?!

(Granted this response doesn’t make sense in response to the statment.  I’ll blame it on my Southern upbringing.)

Ben: Well, not like dirty, poopy litter.

Me:  Gee thanks.

Ben: It smells like the perfume or scent or whatever that the clean cat litter comes with.

Me: Oh much better…

So, Jergens Original Cherry-Almond Scent…I thank you for making me smell like a litterbox.  But hey!  At least I won’t have man-hands.

Last week the weather warmed up a bit, so Mary James and I took advantage of the sunny Spring day.  Thus my Wordless Wednesday photo was born!

As Mary James entered the world at the end of August last year, most of her life has been spent indoors.  Sure, we strollled around the block the few days it was balmy in the winter, but being able to relax on a quilt in the grass is new experience all together.

Mary James was enthralled with the birds…flying, squawking, singing.  And the neighbor mowing his lawn kept vying for her attention.  But by far the most exciting event of the afternoon was the kitty.  McKenzie.  Our fuzzy, drooling, talkative, sweet, outdoor kitty.  She absolutely adores our two indoor cats, Bella and Annabelle, so a new feline was heaven to her!

McKenzie left after his patience was worn thin; from tiny fistfuls of hair being yanked out.  So, it was just the two of us again.

As Mary James was on her back, I laid next to her with our heads together.  We looked through the fluffy, pink blossoms to the clear, blue sky and passing clouds.  There was even a gentle buzzing from honey bees high in a tree nearby.  So peaceful.

As for the photo, I love the sun rays bathing Mary James – just a lucky capture.  Sun rays always remind me of God’s love pouring out over us.  Corny maybe, but I find it very comforting.

Blessings really are everywhere, if I can only take the time to slow down, let go and let God.

Want more Wordless fun?

Check out Wordless Wednesday or 5 Minutes for Mom!

Come back tomorrow for Tell Me Thursday!

A few years ago, my sister-in-law, Christy, showed Ben and I this video. I LOVE it!!! It’s definitely not a newbie (try 60 million views!), but it totally makes me smile every time I think of it. A little cheesy maybe, but hey who doesn’t need a giggle!

Voldemort at the end is friggin hilarious!!

Oh. A quick warning. This song willl be stuck in your head FOREVER!

Okay, so Lucy and Bentley aren’t exactly old, but still.  Getting them to learn anything new, especially Lucy, is like “trying to push butter up a hill with a hot knife.”

Sorry, for the stupid analogy.  That’s what it’s called right?  I had a professor who used that saying all the time.  I crack me up!

Alrighty, back to schooling the poochies.

Mary James has recently started down the sticky, crumbly, gooey, messy fun road of finger foods.  More specifically, Cherrios (Tally Ho!) and teething biscuits.  She hasn’t quite mastered getting Cheerios in her mouth everytime, but she does like to hoard them.  She grabs a handful in each little fist. 

Hmm…wonder if the dogs have whispered in her ear to store some extra food for later.  Seeing as how the “short, loud human forgets to feed them (the dogs) sometimes.”  Note:  I DO NOT FORGET TO FEED MY DAUGHTER!

One Wednesday evening, Ms. Mary J somehow she managed to keep one little Cheerio in her palm for her entire stay in the nursery after dinner.  It fell out as we getting her strapped in the car.

But I digress.

With hard, dissolvable (<– what this isn’t a word?  says who?) food comes many crumbs and of course the stray Cheerio.  Also known as doggie heaven.

In the short week, since Mary James has been eating cereal, Lucy has figured out that:

1)  The cereal is kept in the pantry.

2)  The box/bag make a specific sound when being opened, and a hand is stuck in to retrieve yummy goodies.

3)  These wheaty delicacies are next headed to a funny looking chair in the kitchen, where the “small protected one” is sitting.

4)  The best position is to the right of the weird chair.

5)  Certain death shall follow if I, Lucy, try to eat off the tray in front of the “small protected one.”

6)  The more patient I am, the more likely I get to clean up any treats raining from the sky.

So, I’ve been a single mother for a week.  I have the utmost respect for single moms…they are Superwomen!

This has not been a stellar week for Mary James’ immune system…snotty nose, nasty cough, etc.  There is nothing more pitiful than a sick baby trying to play and be happy.  It makes my heart hurt watching her try so hard to be chipper.

Turns out she has a double ear infection.  Huh.  So that’s why she was hitting her head with a rattle.  And she did shake her head a few times.  I feel so stupid that I didn’t know that was a sign of an ear infection!  I know dogs will head press (what it sounds like…they stand in with their head in the corner) when they have a headache and even shake their head with an ear infection; I guess babies do the same.  So much looking for ear pulling as the be-all-end-all indicator of ear infections.

As for why we are without the hubby/daddy, Ben is at a technology conference in San Diego for the week.  Something about Emergency Operation Centers?

We miss him SO much!  Thus, it was only fitting to make my Wordless Wednesday post a compilation of California (and Ben) themed pics!

Photo #1: El Matador State Beach in Malibu, California.  I visited this beautiful beach in 2007 with my friends Annie and Rupa.  Annie and I flew out to visit Rupa who lives in Los Angeles (lucky ducky!).  We had a blast!

Photo #2: Koala Bear at the San Diego Zoo.  Ben visited the zoo this Monday and sent me some great pics of his adventures.

Photo #3: My two favorite people snuggling…Mary James and Ben.

We can’t wait to see you Saturday babe!

Want more Wordless Wednesdays?

See Wordless Wednesday or 5 Minutes for Mom

Come back tomorrow for Tell Me Thursday!