Work....

Tomorrow will mark the final day of my current experiment. That makes the total count for days-worked-in-a-row, wait for it, eighty-six. Eighty-six. 86. 86?! To put this in perspective I ran experiments for ten days in a row as a Master's student. Then after starting my PhD I ran a similar experiment to the one I'm finishing now but I split the labor with a colleague. I remember thinking about how tired I felt when we neared the end of that project just after Christmas 2012. Perspective is an amazing thing. I've never experienced mental or physical fatigue like this before. In a word, brutal. I've realized that humans are not cut out to work eighty-six days in a row. We're probably not cut out to work twenty or even ten days in a row. I'm telling you it does something to your mind. Never being able to escape work. Don't get me wrong I tried all sorts of things to distract myself from the fact that tomorrow I needed to go into work and deal with any number of surprises and crises on top of the general business of my research. But small distractions only go so far when you have a work schedule that goes on indefinitely. In retrospect I realized that I had certain expectations about this particular experiment and all of them were wrong. In the beginning I couldn't catch a break and continually ran into problems, several of them unforeseen. I felt like I was losing my mind because I go to great lengths to be organized and plan carefully to be efficient and productive. But nothing seemed to be working and I felt like an idiot. I kept wondering, "Why am I struggling with absolutely everything?". I talked with my supervisor about this and he encouraged me to keep my chin up and understand that most of these weren't my fault. Rather we had some bad luck and that could happen to anyone. My biggest fear was that I would have to rerun this experiment and I could not bear the thought because these types of experiments last several months. This one had already consumed every waking moment 7am-5pm Monday - Friday and a few hours on Saturdays and Sundays since October last year. But somehow I have arrived at the final day and I couldn't be happier to tell you that our results are robust and provide a beautiful comparison to some previously collected data (this is what we were after!). With that said I will not have to rerun this and I AM THRILLED. And I am proud to say that through all the blood, sweat and tears (those things really happened throughout this experiment....not too much blood, though) I've made great strides in understanding and performing the procedures needed for this type of research. With such a complex experimental process I feel great about this. In an attempt to remain in "the zone" I will be starting a second big experiment in a few weeks. It will run a few months but I feel confident that everything I've learned throughout this current experiment will make the next one more manageable. Here's to putting this experiment to rest! Forever. :)

Black Pepper.....

Not only have I become a great lover of things spicy I can't seem to get enough pepper on my food. That is, black pepper. You'll notice that if we're out to eat and I get a salad something slightly awkward will happen. The friendly waitstaff person will come around to offer freshly ground black pepper and I will enthusiastically say "Yes!". Then he/she will proceed to crank the end of the pepper mill for a few seconds. Then he/she will stop and glance at me face wondering, "Does she want to to keep going?". Surely not is always implied in their expression. Now this happens every time and to play it off I laugh and say, "Sorry, I like a lot of pepper". With this in mind they set to dumping more on my salad until I finally agree that they've given me enough. They always look relieved when taking their leave from our table. I can't help it! I love black pepper something fierce.

So two weekends ago Tim and I decided to go out for brunch before going into our respective labs for a few hours of work. We went to our favorite brunch place, Felix, and ordered the usual: scrambled eggs on toasted ciabatta with a side of hash browns. A simple meal but they really do it well. Our plates arrive at the table and I shook some salt onto my food then moved onto the serious business of dousing everything with black pepper. Now it's windy everyday in Wellington but that day was particularly windy. The gusts buffeted the restaurant doors and drafts swirled inside at any point they could. So I'm peppering away right when a huge gust of wind blew by and, you guessed it, stirred up a bunch of the pepper I was just depositing on my food. I looked over at Timmy through a cloud of pepper and then we heard a sneeze from the guy sitting at the next table. Sure enough I had such a ridiculous amount of pepper that people at other tables were inhaling it, sneezing and wondering what in the world was happening?! :)

Quick trick book stack.....

Dr. Seuss is one of my favorite authors. Even as an adult I think his alliterations are brilliant and find enjoyment in reading the books of my childhood. I even have a copy of The Sleep Book, my all-time favorite, here in NZ. So when considering my ever growing Christmas book stack I am sure that Dr. Seuss would call it a "quick trick book stack" or some such thing.

I had to share a photo of this because it is the most random assortment of books I've ever seen. I love that about it! You have art and design books: prints from Georgia O'Keefe and a volume that challenges the artist to complete creative color "experiments" that address a variety of challenges. I'm currently working on the first experiment where I must combine the traditional twelve variation color wheel with a twelve step neutral, black to white, gradation scale. I have lots of ideas but I need to figure out my game plan. Next, I have a Hit Girl graphic novel which is a special treat because these are impossible to find in NZ. Then there is a smattering of fiction like W is for Wasted, Takedown Twenty, The Great Gatsby and I just borrowed Frank McCourt's 'Tis (a follow up to Angela's Ashes).

I also have some new Bill Bryson and Mary Roach on the way. Needless to say, happy girl.

Running.....

I do plenty of "running" when at work - my research keeps me hopping from one task to the next and the hours fly by astonishingly fast. As for actual running I've never been a runner. All my life I've known people who run and some of them even like to run. I've never understood this because it's always been very difficult for me. Even as a child I couldn't run the full mile in gym class and, to be perfectly honest, I remember being proud one year when I ran half of it before I had to slow to walk and try to replenish my oxygen supply with huge, ugly gulps of air.

So it will come as a big surprise (to me too) to tell you that I've started running. For a few weeks now I've been donning my exercise gear and sneakers and heading to the gym where I plant myself on the treadmill. Now you have to understand that the fact that I can actually run any distance on the treadmill is a miracle unto itself. I swear, sometimes I'm sure that I'm a little "special" when it comes to tasks that require coordination because it seems to take me a while to get the hang of them. One such example was the treadmill. It took several attempts and encouragement from Timmy to feel comfortable on the treadmill. So now a few times each week I plop myself onto the treadmill and wonder if I can make it through what comes next. I've mastered the actual running portion so I can remain upright and moving fluidly on the conveyor belt. The problem is that I've set a goal of doing that for thirty minutes at a time. My first day at the gym I had no idea what to expect because although I'd slowly worked up to running two miles at a time when we lived in Bozeman I hadn't been running since then. Yeah. Running is great at showing you how out of shape you are. That first day I swiped my membership card and made my way over to one of the treadmills. After situating my water bottle, sunglasses,  and phone with headphones attached I couldn't put it off any longer. The moment of truth had come and it was time. I started out slow and you know what? It was hard. I was barely moving on the conveyor and still it was kicking my butt. Throughout the workout I tried to keep my eye off the clock because I've learned that will drive you absolutely insane. You watch the seconds tick by and I'm sure that they seem to slow as you go. Ahh! I also tried to focus on my breathing because my lungs were screaming, "What are you doing to us??!!! This. Is. Agony!". By the end of the thirty minutes I was completely drenched in sweat but I couldn't have been more proud. I ran, albeit slowly, the WHOLE time! I want to emphasize I RAN that! Me, the non athlete who's never been able to run. Never ever. I made a note in my phone about distance and time as this would serve as a place from which to start. A time to beat - if such a thing was possible.

Since then I've been running a few days a week and always feel great afterwards. Understand that I still struggle with each and every workout. That is, bouts where I feel like I'm going to hyperventilate, stitches in my sides and shoulders complete with sore knees, ankles and toe joints. This is what happens when you start running after thirty. Pain and struggle aside I feel like this has been a huge accomplishment for me, something I never thought would be possible. Now I'm working, very slowly, towards what will seem like a small goal: running a 5k (just over 3 miles) in 30 minutes. But for me this is an ambitious goal and I'm hoping to reach it within the next few weeks. Maybe. I've been making small bits of progress with each run but am afraid that I will hit a plateau sometime soon.

Like I said I've known lots of people who run and enjoy it. They talk about "runner's highs" and how great it feels. It will come as no surprise that I have yet to experience such euphoria when I run. So far it's all struggle and sweat dripping in my eyes. The only thing that has had any tinge of joy in it when it comes to running is that I'm starting to run a bit faster and am "hitting strides" for stretches of the run. I'm not optimistic about experiencing a high from running but stranger things have happened. For one, me running.

Time....

Since moving to Wellington I've made comments throughout numerous posts that "things are different in New Zealand". While I still believe this statement to be true I'm having trouble embracing the Kiwi concept of time. We've noticed that people are never in a hurry and because of this it is not uncommon for them to be late arriving at class, work, the office, meetings, etc. Along these lines no one seems to notice or care that others are strolling in late. Even the hours that businesses keep are still surprising to us, that is most places open late, close early and may not be open on the weekends. Or places have hours posted but randomly are closed for no apparent reason. When we first arrived I thought, "This will be good for us - a slower pace - we can take time to relax because we hardly ever do that". After two years I've realized that our workaholic tendencies are deeply ingrained in us and this "whatever" attitude others have is more of an annoyance than encouragement to take some time away from work. This has been emphasized as the holidays have just passed. Check that, most Kiwis are still vacationing or at least are not yet back to work. I was listening to the radio the other day while working in the lab and the DJ mentioned that at that point 57% of Kiwis were back to work. I thought to myself, "Only 57%!". Then the DJ went on to suggest that this seemed like a high number. What?! We've seen plenty of places closing before Christmas and they are still closed. But it gets better. Some places will remain closed until the end of January or February. I'm at a complete loss for understanding this. Sure places in the US close for Christmas and some for New Year's but then they reopen after being closed for a few days, never weeks or months. I've chatted with some of my Kiwi colleagues about these differences but to them this is completely normal (and expected, no, demanded) because in NZ it is customary for people to get four weeks of paid leave each year. FOUR weeks!!! I'm convinced NZ is some sort of fantasy land. So for people like Tim and I who are used to working all the time (we are still unaccustomed to only having one job each) we just don't get this mentality. We decided to get back into work after our time in Europe at the end of September. That's when I started my current experiment and I will complete it in a couple weeks. Too anxious to see any more time go by I couldn't justify putting it off until after the holidays. And I'm glad that I didn't - it's been a tremendous amount of work and stress, all during the holiday season, but I'm glad to see it coming to completion and knowing that I have collected a large chunk of my thesis data! All that to say that I don't think we know how to take time off and therefore this concept of Kiwi time is bewildering to us.

Walking home from the grocery store today we saw this absolutely perfect example of "how things are different here". Not only did they close early to go to the beach but they won't reopen until Tuesday. 

Enamored....

At some point I started including the ongoing section, Book Love, in this blog to share what I've been reading. In thinking about my love of books I've realized something. That is, there seems to be something special about books and how I approach them. As you probably know I'm completely smitten with reading and am always finding just one more book that I would like to read. I'm the girl with an Amazon wishlist that contains books. Only books. Yeah. More than 200 titles at this point. It's true. But what I realized is that I'm happy, no, overjoyed to have a big stack of books just waiting for me to pick them up and read them. And I'm always adding books to that stack and will continue to do so until the end of time. Herein lies the realization. So I'm the kind of person that likes checking items off lists, seeing projects completed and making progress. But for some reason this type of thinking does not apply to my reading because, like I said, I'm thrilled to have a pile of books that goes on forever, that I will never finish. I'm perplexed by this because you'd think it would drive me crazy to never finish reading. And yet it's the very thing that I love about it. I just recently started a new book and remember looking the thick, expanse of the binding. I dreamily thought, "I have hundreds of pages ahead of me" - I was downright giddy at the prospect. So what is it that's special about books? It's a genuine question currently without an answer.

Omakase.....

Last night we celebrated Tim's 31st birthday. For the past week I had been continuously asking him, "What do you want for your birthday dinner?". Eventually he answered that he wanted homemade "omakase" sushi. We learned this term when we lived in Bozeman and bravely embarked on would begin our ongoing love affair with sushi. I remember we tried one place in town but were too nervous to order anything more adventurous than an avocado or tuna roll. Despite our apprehension we decided to visit a restaurant and sushi bar called Louie's Down Under. We had only heard good things and ventured down the stairs and situated ourselves at the sushi bar where two chefs were slicing and dicing. Again we started cautiously and then admitted our worries to one of the chefs. He closed his eyes and nodded knowingly. Then he placed two small bites of something on a plate and set it in front of us to try. We glanced at each other but plunged ahead simultaneously snapping the morsels up with our chopsticks. The flavor was smoky with a hint of sweetness and beyond melt in your mouth. Watching our reaction the chef said, "Do you want to know what that was?". We both nodded "yes" and he said, "That was eel". I know he did it purposefully but I was so glad that he waited to tell us because if I had known what it was I know that my perception of the flavor would have been skewed. Instead we were able to enjoy a delicious piece of smoked eel without our brains psyching us out. :) After that bit by bit we became more adventurous and started to frequent Louie's on a weekly basis. We got to know the chefs who were nice enough to answer our numerous questions about sushi. At some point we stopped picking out our own sushi and starting ordering "omakase" which essentially means "dealer's choice". They never ceased to amaze with incredible flavor combinations! To this day we miss their sushi. And I know it sounds weird that we fell in love with sushi in Bozeman, Montana. Since Bozeman caters to a rich, tourist clientele they have fish flown in daily so in the end it was the perfect place to scarf sushi. And scarf we did.

With this in mind you can imagine my trepidation when Timmy requested omakase sushi at home. I mean, it is a complicated process and it's no secret that I'm not a culinary genius. However, since we've both wanted to try our hand at it for some time we decided to get some rice, seaweed wrappers, a rolling mat, a few filler ingredients to practice. As we suspected getting the correct rice is beyond essential. Sushi rice is short grain and when cooked properly is nice and sticky so it stays inside the seaweed. I read all about preparing sushi rice online but in the end just followed the directions on the back of the package and to my great relief it came out perfectly. First, you rinse the rice several times in cold water and then heat to a boil. After it's bubbling you reduced the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. When it's done you let it sit for a few minutes and then scoop it out of the pot into a container and mix in 4 T rice vinegar and wait. Waiting for the rice to cool was the most anticlimactic part because you're all excited and the rice prepares so easily that you just want to get to it and start rolling!

After a long thirty minutes the rice was cool enough and I laid the rolling mat on the cutting board and put down a piece of nori, the seaweed wrapper. Then with fingers dipped in water I moved small amounts of rice onto the nori patting them down as I went. Now the key is to keep your fingers wet because otherwise the sticky rice gets really sticky and you can't lay it down on the nori. Rookie mistake on my part. Somehow I managed to get the rice down with copious amounts slopped onto the counter and stuck to my fingers and hands. I rinsed them off and started placing sliced of avocado and smoked salmon at one end of the rice covered nori. Then carefully trying to hold everything in place I lifted the edge of the rolling mat and, taking a deep breath, thought, "this is it". Rolling and pressing gently I was able to roll my creation into something that resembled sushi! However, when I went to cut it into pieces that didn't go to plan. I mean they were ok and it didn't totally fall apart but there was definitely room for improvement! In retrospect I made two errors; that is, 1) I didn't run the blade of the knife under water before cutting because that didn't seem at all intuitive at the time and 2) our knives need to be sharpened. :) Regardless of the less than perfect final product we snapped up the pieces and declared them a success!

This experience gave me hope that it was possible that I could pull off "omakase" sushi at home. With that in mind I scoured the web for ideas. What I soon realized was that the possibilities are virtually limitless which was a little intimidating for me the sushi novice. In the end I decided on four rolls, made my shopping list and made multiple trips to different stores to try and find everything.

I'm very pleased to say that my current research project is winding down and so yesterday I was able to finish my work and come home early to prep all the ingredients. I put on Pandora and set to making the first batch of rice. With our one pot I had to make half of the rice I would need, wash the pan and then make the second half. Although tedious it actually worked out perfectly because when the first batch was done it had plenty of time to cool and was the first rice I used in the rolls. I also set to chopping veggies and other fillers. In all honesty I used every single Tupperware container we have to hold skinny pieces of avocado, cucumber, bell pepper, cream cheese, jalapeno, apple, asparagus (already skinny) and a mixture of spicy tuna made with mayo and Tabasco. As I was elbow deep in this process Tim texted to say that he was on his way home. I was all giddy and anxious to get the festivities under way that after I finished everything but before he arrived I was hopping from one foot to the other.

Then he walked through our patio and I was genuinely nervous because I so badly wanted this to turn out but had no idea if it actually would. I wanted to start off with something simple, clean and fresh because that gave me a higher probability of success than something more complicated. That would come later. :) So I skipped into the kitchen and dipping my fingers into a bowl of water specifically for this purpose I moved the rice onto the nori and patted it into place. Then with clean fingers I carefully placed a layer of smoked salmon followed by perfectly ripe slices of avocado. This was finished with thin slices of apple. Careful to keep everything in place I started to roll the edge of the mat around the sushi roll. In all my reading I had also learned that sometimes it pays to roll up the sushi and let it sit for a couple minutes before cutting it to ensure that the ingredients have bonded to each other. I tried this and voila! The roll cut beautifully, even with our dull knife and with a smile on my face I carefully arranged the pieces on a plate. This was a shot in the arm and I happily waltzed into the living room and introduced my first creation to the birthday boy. I sat down and we took our first bites. Ok, I go to great lengths to not toot my own horn but I have to say that it was a slam dunk! Smoked salmon and avocado go beautifully together but adding the apple provided a lovely sweet note and fun crisp texture. I could tell that Timmy was impressed and to be honest so was I. I figured this roll would be good because the ingredients were practically a sure thing but they were better than good. Elegant simplicity.

Feeling energized on top of being nervous/excited I moved onto the second roll. Now this one was technically simpler than the first but I didn't know if it would accomplish what I wanted. The filling consisted of diced tuna mixed with mayo and Tabasco sauce. When I was mixing it up I looked at the Tabasco bottle and wondered, "Why is this so hard to shake out of the bottle?". I had it tipped upside down and was using swift, abrupt arm movements to move the contents into the bowl. Apparently, not everyone likes things so spicy and the bottle is designed to prohibit the destruction of your food when too much hot sauce sloshes unexpectedly out of the bottle. I smiled to myself. I never imagined I'd become such a spice-hound but somehow that has come to pass. After I managed to dislodge a few droplets of Tabasco I gave the mix a good stirring and went in for the first taste test. Now I should say that while I enjoy spicy food I'm no fool. Somethings are extremely hot and should be tasted with caution. Since it's difficult to know how much heat your taste buds are going to experience I find it's best to start small. With that said I spooned a small amount into my mouth and considered it for a moment. Hmmm. Either I didn't get much of any sauce into the mix OR Tabasco is not hot at all. This did not bode well as I needed to create a spicy tuna roll. From there I spent more time that you might think shaking Tabasco into the mix. Only after what seemed like a copious amount of sauce did I start to taste anything. I wondered, "Why had I ever shied away from Tabasco sauce?". Then I added even more to try and up the spice factor and in the end I was able to achieve a nice flavor combination but nothing close to extremely "hot". With this mix in hand I carefully laid the rice onto the nori and ladled a layer of spicy tuna to complete this simple sushi roll. Next I accidentally made a small tear in the nori and while quietly scolding myself for the error I completed the roll and left it to sit for a few minutes before cutting. Again with the knife blade dipped in water I, dare I say, deftly cut the roll into pieces and arranged them on a plate. I introduced this next creation to Timmy and let him try the first piece. His eyes opened wide as he processed the flavors and it was then I grabbed a piece to see if I had achieved anything close to what I wanted with this one. Bingo! While the roll was not extremely spicy the flavor was rich while remaining simple. After all the roll only had tuna with a little mayo and a lot of Tabasco sauce. :) We soon devoured the rest of the pieces and I set to work on roll #3.

Now I'll start with the caveat that I am still undecided if chicken has any business in sushi rolls. But because I'm a sushi novice and couldn't source some of the more exotic ingredients like unagi (eel) but wanted variety I decided to try a chicken roll. I used a shredded chicken mixed with a little mayo and lots of black pepper. With rice and chicken in place I started to add the other ingredients in neat rows marching up the nori. These comprised thin cucumber spears, slices of avocado and finely chopped lettuce leaves. Lastly, I carefully spooned on a portion of sweet chili sauce. We first tasted sweet chili at Louie's and were immediately smitten. The flavor is so good! I warily eyed this roll because it had by far the most filling I had tried to pack into a sushi roll. I thought, "This could get interesting". So I set to rolling and it was a challenge but I managed to keep everything inside the nori! I was even able to cut it into pieces with only one casualty; one of the end pieces didn't make it but not to worry - I popped it into my mouth to dispatch of the evidence. Admittedly, I was least excited about this roll but introduced it to Timmy and let him decide. Perhaps sometimes having low expectations is ok because, in this case, we were pleasantly surprised. The pepper chicken was nicely complimented by the smooth, cool cucumber and avocado. But the ingredient that really made this roll was the sweet chili sauce adding a nice kick of sugar. At this point I was starting to feel pretty good about how things were going and I set off to put together the fourth and final sushi roll.

I wanted to end with something complicated, because you know I like to torture myself, so I decided on what is affectionately known at the Fire Station Roll. After setting up the nori and rice I started with layer of diced tuna to which I added rows of asparagus spears, red bell peppers, slices of jalapenos and carefully cut strips of cream cheese. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect with this one but figured that you couldn't go wrong with a jalapeno/cream cheese combination. With the roll cut and arranged on a plate I breathed a sigh of relief - by some miracle I had managed to pull off "omakase" birthday sushi for Tim. I'll say it: I was proud. We shared the last roll enjoying the contrast of the crunchy veggies alongside the smooth cream cheese. After we finished this last roll I looked Timmy and said, "You know, there's still some rice left if the birthday boys wants to make a couple rolls". Hearing this he clapped his hands together and with a smile on his face bounded into the kitchen. Now remember that I had used every plate, Tupperware container and utensil of ours to prep all the ingredients so the kitchen was a complete disaster. However, this did not phase him as he happily proceeded to concoct two sushi rolls that he devised on the spot. They had amazing flavor and an incredible variety of ingredients which he managed to contain and roll up in the nori. :)

Even though I was intimidated at the prospect of making sushi at home it turned out to be a great experience and I want to keep practicing. My next goal is to source additional ingredients, namely fish, to up my sushi game. Here's to trying something new!

Book love.....

W is for Wasted.

Adult Dogs.....

As of mid 2013 Tim and I have been volunteering a shift a week at the local SPCA. We both love animals and decided to take on this commitment as part of a leadership/volunteering award given by Victoria University. In short, you volunteer and participate in leadership while you're working towards your qualification and then receive the reward, via special ceremony, before you graduate. Since we don't have enough to do already it seemed like the perfect thing to pursue. :)

Tim started with Adult Dogs and has enjoyed every minute of every shift. I don't know how to describe it but he has some sort of connection with animals. They absolutely love him and become attached rather quickly. I remember visiting my favorite jewelry store in Bozeman, Alara, where the owner's pooch would accompany her to work. A big golden doodle she took it upon herself to greet every customer immediately when they set foot inside the door. We walked in and the pup ran up to Tim and within seconds was glued to his side accompanying him as we walked around. There's just something about him and critters, especially dogs, so it's no surprise that he wanted to work with them at the SPCA.

I've worked in Vet Care taking care of animals who are new to the center and need to be separated from everyone else to make sure they aren't sick. These critters reside in Quarantine until the vets decide they can moved to the main animal areas (Cat Run, Dog House, Puppy Run or Bunny Bach). We also look after any animal that is injured or recovering from surgery. I've thoroughly enjoyed my time in Vet Care because there is such variety. One week we gave seven French Mastiff puppies a bath. Another time we took a turtle outside for his daily allotment of "sun time". While turtles are notoriously slow he tried to make a break for the tall grass at every opportunity. :) Just last week I was given the task of feeding a kuehne kuehne (coo-knee coo-knee) piglet. Oh. My. Goodness. One of the nurses pulled a huge bag of milk powder out of the cupboard and said to follow the instructions and mix it up in a big bowl. I had to laugh because my experience in research labs has made me proficient in the very simple task of measuring out the powder and liquid constituents of solutions. Admittedly, this was the first time I had to "tare" a scale to measure out milk powder. :) Lab skills do come in handy outside the lab! Who knew? So I mixed up the milk and tested it on my wrist, like a good mom, to make sure that it wasn't too hot for the little piggie. It was then the nurse came back and said, "Ok, when you give her the milk she gets really excited so it's best if you hold onto the sides of the bowl so she doesn't tip it over". With one eye on the bowl of liquid so I didn't slop any over the edge I made my way over to her cage, opened the door and set the bowl down. I was careful to hold onto it as the nurse specified and soon the piglet was looking over the edge of her bed and sniffing the milk. Then suddenly she connected the dots and had her little snout in the bowl happily slurping up the milk. While she was eating enthusiastically, I kid you not, she was emitting little sniffs and snorts that had me giggling like an idiot. It was the cutest thing I've seen in a long time. During this process she would periodically look up at me jaw working to savor the milk while plenty of it was dripping off of her nose. Then she decided that she could be in a better position to get at the milk and that was when she put her tiny front hooves right into the bowl and continued to noisily slurp away. By then most everyone in the hospital was standing over where I was kneeling to take in the cuteness. :) Talk about melt your heart.

In the last few weeks I've also had the great privilege of observing surgeries. The vets and nursing staff extended this opportunity to me when I expressed interest soon after starting at the SPCA. Since we volunteer on Monday afternoons most weeks they would've already finished with the surgeries of the day but I kept asking every week and finally I was there when surgeries were happening. I know that I'm weird in this respect but I find anatomy and physiology absolutely fascinating and to watch survival surgeries is amazing. One afternoon I was observing as they were spaying/neutering kittens and they had a whole group to do. I perched near the door so I could watch without being in the way. When the first kitten was done the nurse wrapped it in a towel and handed it to me while she finished the paperwork. There is just something adorable about anesthetized animals. They are so floppy! And, as you can imagine, with kittens the adorableness factor skyrockets. :) As they did one kitten after another I got to hold each one as it was waking up - it might be the best job I've ever had. So it will come as no surprise that after every shift I float out of there on a cloud. It really does make you feel good knowing that you've played with some critters that need a good home or taken care of an animal that is sick.

Last week the people who run the Dog House emailed to see if Tim could cover a shift on Sunday from 12-3. He agreed to work it and talked me into going with him. I truly love Vet Care but I have been debating changing things up and moving to Adult Dogs. He suggested this would be a great opportunity to see if I liked it and we could work together. :) I wasn't sure what to expect but it was most definitely a different type of work. Vet Care tends to be fairly tranquil while working with dogs is chaos! When we arrived I met one of the main dog caretakers and we set to work bringing in the pups who were in the "runs" outside. While we have lots of space compared to the old facility there isn't enough room to have every pooch out in the dog runs at the same time so you have to rotate them. With leashes in hand we carefully inserted ourselves into one of the runs and started to wrangle the pups who were excited and jumping around. With my pup secure on the leash I made my way towards the house where each pup is assigned to a room and most have one or two roommate "puppy friends". Scratch that. I was pulled, no dragged into the house which was surprising because the dog I had was not particularly large. :) First lesson when working with dogs: they are incredibly strong. While I didn't have any problems or dogs escaping my hold it was a challenging full body workout! After we got the group into their rooms we moved the next group outside. Second lesson when working with dogs: if they don't want to go with you they will simply turn themselves into dead weight. This means that you have to carry them outside. While some I could manage there were others that I left to Tim because while I could've probably lifted the weight I was unable to do so when it was in the form of a huge, gangly pup! :)

So with groups swapped we started to work on cleaning out the now vacant rooms. That is, changing bedding if it was wet, straightening up beds and toys and finally doing a thorough mopping of the floors. Halfway through an adoption manager came through and ask if Tim would be willing to walk one of the pups with a potential adopter. He was happy to help and hurried off to get the dog on a leash and headed out. I finished cleaning up and by the time Tim came back it was time to bring the groups in from outside and prepare dinner. This was another round of wrangling wiggling pups of all sizes but we managed to get them inside and safely stowed in their rooms. Some dogs live by themselves while others have a roommate. What gets interesting is that there are a few rooms that house three dogs. Imagine putting one pup into the room and closing the door when he's trying to get his paws and nose outside. I was so worried that I would catch a paw in the door but then realized that the only real danger existed for my fingers. When you're gently pushing a puppy nose into the room while closing the door your digits are the ones in between the door and the frame. So you get the first pup into the room and close the door then comes the second one. Now you have to manage two wriggling pups as you put the one into the room while keeping the other inside. Then comes the last pup and in some instances you need a second person to help you keep the two pups inside while bringing the third into the room. Whew!

With everyone inside we began to make up the food bowls in which we mixed designated amounts of wet and dry food. Then each one was delivered to its recipient and only set on the floor once they sat. Without exception the food bowls were licked perfectly clean within minutes and we went around to collect them. With a pile of dirty bowls on the counter I filled the sink with hot, soapy water and set to scrubbing. Once rinsed we loaded them into the dishwasher to sanitize them. It was then I realized that our three hour shift had flown by and we were set to go home. I was exhausted but smiling as we signed out and started home. My clothes were wet and dirty but my heart was light. Now I have to make the difficult decision about whether I should transfer my shift from Vet Care to Adult Dogs. :) I'm really torn.

Classic....

Yesterday, January 2nd (in Kiwiland), we watched the NHL Winter Classic matchup between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings. The game was held in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and as you might expect the weather was cold and snowy. It was snowing when the puck dropped and continued to dump on the 100,000 fans packed into bleacher style seating. Every few minutes they had to take "shovel breaks" where a team of 12 skaters would take to the ice with snow shovels to remove the latest layer of white stuff. They even had miniature snowplows that were light enough to clear the ice without cracking it. With temps hovering at -10 C the crowd was continually on the move to try and stay warm. There were a few in the crowd who had carefully considered the conditions and sported ski/snowboard goggles. Admittedly, they looked a little smug knowing their eyes were shielded from the blustery clouds of snowflakes. :) We thoroughly enjoyed the game perched on our couch where, I kid you not, we laughed out loud when we saw people walking by with surf boards tucked under their arms. Love the contrast! Alas, while I know I would freeze instantaneously I would like to someday attend a Winter Classic. I'm planning to bundle up in my best cold weather gear and sit/stand in a sleeping bag. :)