Eric and Avery went to Illinois over Thanksgiving where she had her first real hunting experience. They didn't come back with anything, but she has had great practice over the Christmas break. He has been training her for duck hunting, but they have taken to quail hunting at the Refuge. I went with them one day and it was a lot of fun. They haven't gotten anything, but I'll say it's not the flusher...it's the hunter.
The week after Thanksgiving I transitioned from Small Animal Surgery to Community Veterinary Services which is basically the part of the hospital that is like a small animal clinic. We do spays and neuters, take vaccination appointments, and handle your basic illness cases. It's a nice break from the all the busyness of surgery which I actually really miss. It is nice to come home at 5:30 everyday and see Eric and Avery pretty consistently. In a few weeks I rotate to Food Animal. We also go on these spay/neuter trips where we take a mobile veterinary clinic around the state to various shelters and perform spays and neuters in a fully equipped mobile unit. It's pretty cool and an awesome experience.
My friend Shannon and I also spent some time this summer developing a project in which we go around to local elementary schools and talk to them about public health topics. It is part of our Master's project but it's really interesting to see what the kids know before hand and what we are able to teach them. It is also really fun to interact with kids! I think they enjoy the break in curriculum as much as we do.
We also decorated our first Christmas tree!! Although we technically had one last year, I put it up myself after Thanksgiving while Eric was in Columbus. It was hilarious particularly with Avery...we were really scared that she was going to chew on the branches or take the ornaments off the tree. Really, the only thing was her long tail would whip the branches. A few ornaments did fall but none were sacrificed.
On December 22nd, Eric took me to a romantic dinner at Anthony's in West Point. We went on our one year dating anniversary and for some odd reason hadn't been since. They have wonderful food and it's really not super expensive. We had a bottle of champagne and enjoyed our evening. We stopped by Mossy Oak to get my anniversary present. Odd I know, but I really did need the 1000 g thinsulated boots for deer hunting. We then came back to the house and cut our top layer. The cake was still as good as it was last year. We definitely wrapped it well! Neither of us can believe a whole year has gone by. We were really glad that our anniversay fell during a break that way we could celebrate it and not let the rest of life get in the way. We actually did watch the wedding videos, but Eric fell asleep halfway through.
Being on clinics involves being on call for a few times each rotation. I was on call Christmas Eve, the 27th, and 28th so we didn't have much time in Jackson, but I was very thankful I had arranged to be there for Christmas Day. It was a lot of fun playing with Katie Margaret who is more mischevious each time I see her. We drove down late Christmas Eve night so that we wouldn't feel like we were driving so much in two days. Avery boarded at PetSmart and appeared to have so much fun she slept for like three days later. We got lots of good presents. The best part was, the next day, all of us (but Dad being the smart man he is) decided why not go out shopping and take advantage of the after Christmas sales. Well, Eric had great luck at Bass Pro Shop, but the rest of us headed over the County Line. For the most part, it really didn't take that long....until the power went out just as Tom was checking out. We were stuck in traffic for about 45 minutes when it should have taken us 10 minutes to get back to the house. I have to give myself props...I entertained a one year old by shredding a paper tablet in the car.
I was off call the whole week of New Year's so Eric and I were able to go to Illinois to celebrate Christmas just like we always have. It was a lot of fun. We got to see Grandma as usual, but also went to Tequila's on New Year's Eve. Aunt Brenda and Uncle Steve came over to celebrate the night with us by playing Cranium Turbo Edition. The girls team won!!! But Eric and I missed the memo on matching...
School has started back for both of us and as always, we can't wait for the summer. Time flies by too quickly. Eric has started baseball after the break and so our lives are busy once again. We really enjoyed our time off and can't wait for another holiday!
