End a Year, Begin a Year

The Smith family had a wonderful Christmas. Craig and I both had to work on Christmas Eve, but we were able to travel to Mississippi that evening. We piled up the kids, minus Junebug, which I felt really awful about. When I was telling her "goodbye," she ran up the stairs and gave me a "how could you" stare. I felt bad but didn't want to hang around long enough for her to accept my apology. We dropped the doggies off at my parents and headed to Craig's parents house to stay the night. Craig helped to prepare the Christmas Eve breakfast and was very pleased with himself the next morning when everyone was stuffing their faces with "breakfast quiche." He has since made it again and it turned out just as good without his mother's watchful eye.

 

 

After breakfast, we headed over to my parent's house. We got to say hello to my dad (he was working) and then went to my Mimi's and Poppy's for lunch. As always, the food was amazing. Everyone helped just like during Thanksgiving. Mimi made an apple cake that was an old family recipe. I've never had it before and it was the first time I had seen her make it.  I did miss the Blueberry Crunch that she normally makes but I was pleasantly surprised how good this new cake tasted. Definitely something I will request again. After lunch, we all just hung around and socialized. It was good catching up with everyone. I haven't been around as much this past month due to the new job. A few hours later everyone was ready for seconds and after everyone was finished, we opened gifts.

We left for Craig's house once again, this time with puppies in tow. They were super excited to see Maggie (Craig's parents' dog) and very upset when we had to put them up in the boat house. It was pretty stormy which made it worse. We went over to Craig's Mamaw's for the Cumbest get together and ate the family's traditional shrimp gumbo and potato salad. I was miserably full, but I guess the feelings were not the same for Craig. He was able to shovel in a second helping while I was in my food coma. We opened gifts and shared conversation. I only get to see them usually once a year and all the kids have grown so much since last year. We went up the road back to Craig's parents to open more gifts. As in previous years, I was very blessed. I can honestly say that I have some of the best in-laws in the world. They have always treated me as if I was just another member of the family.

We had to wait for the storm to pass and didn't get home till 11 and had to unload the very full car. Unfortunately, we both had to work the next day, so we didn't get to play with all of our toys. A few days later, the fur babies got to unwrap their gifts from Santa. Apparently, he visits the pets a couple of days after Christmas. They had such as good time unwrapping the presents. Check out the videos of them. Super Cute!

 

 

 

New Year's was pretty low key for us. We had to work New Year's Eve (imagine that...). We were invited to a party in Ocean Springs but decided to stay in because I wasn't feeling very well. Yeah, the life of an adult is super exciting.... So far, the new year has treated us well. We are both healthy and employed and very blessed to have each other. Our ten year anniversary (our first date) was on January 9th. I can't believe we've been together that long. We celebrated by going to dinner on the causeway at my favorite restaurant, Felix's. I highly recommend eating there if you are ever traveling across the bay. It was delicious, and the staff made it a very special night for both of us. I also want to say thanks to three guests that have stayed at our home these past few weekends. Robert, Tiffany, and Davo. We had a blast with y'all. Thanks for the company! We are looking forward to a very prosperous 2013. Happy New Years everyone. May you be healthy, wealthy, and happy!

Cheers!
Tara

Our 10 year Dinner Date

Anniversary Lilies

As I Wait

Today is the end of the world. Well, not so far. I woke up this morning as Craig was leaving for work. I asked him, “are we still alive?” “Yes, Tara…” I’m glad I have today off so that I can spend time with my fur babies though. As I am waiting to meet my maker, I will post the pictures from Bellingrath for your viewing pleasure.

We went to Bellingrath Gardens with Tina, Drew, Tristan and Allison the first weekend of December after decorating our house. Bellingrath is the home of an insanely rich guy. He wanted to please his wife so he surrounded it with a giant garden. These folks are long gone now and the gardens are open for public viewing. During the holidays, thousands of lights are put up for viewing. Craig and I went last year for the first time. We enjoyed it, so I think it may become a tradition for us.

Cheers!
Tara

 

Merry Smith Christmas!

I wanted to share holiday spirit with everyone, so I took a few pictures of our home. We decorated the first weekend of December and have enjoyed the decorations as I always do. Craig, on the other hand, was hesitant as he always is to get motivated. He doesn’t like to decorate, but I really do believe he enjoys it just as much as I do when everything is finally up. Junebug has particularly enjoyed her first Christmas. You may notice the absence of gifts under the trees. This is due to Junebug. I have to re-wrap several gifts because she was just too excited about Christmas that she decided to unwrap them. No, literally, the paper was shredded and the gift bags had all the tissue paper removed.

We also had a fun trip to Bellingrath Gardens. I will post our pictures in the next blog. I hope you enjoy our home as much as we do. Have a very Merry Christmas!

Cheers!
Tara

Our Beautiful Home

The Lights at Night

 

Our Living Room "Family" Tree

 

My "Nice" Maroon and White Tree

 

Details on my "Nice" Tree

Our Stairwell

Junebug likes to play with the bell

The stocking are hung by the chimney with care...

Mantle details edited

 

Mantle details unedited

After the gifts were gone, she wrapped up herself in the tree skirt...

 

Anxious Vet Post

As I sit here at Urgent Care on my first emergency shift anxiously awaiting a horrifying emergency to call or walk in at any moment, I am filled with utter terror. Not just on the medical aspect either. I am not prepared for this. I wasn’t prepared for this. Looking back, perhaps taking this position wasn’t such a wise decision. But, when you have student loan debt up to your eyeballs and your family is eating slim pickings, you somehow have to muster up the courage, put you big girl panties on, and deal with it. And that is exactly what I am doing. I already deal with anxiety issues on a consistent basis, so this is extremely difficult for me. I think writing this blog is helping release some of this anxiety, so I apologize if you were expecting an upbeat, happy go lucky blog. Read no further if that is the case.

Anyone that really knows me knows that I am a pessimistic person. I, however, prefer not to think of it as pessimism. I, my friends, am a realist. The definition of realist is as follows: a person who tends to view or represent things as they really are. Yes, that is me. This is me more so than it ever has been. People, as a whole, have really disappointed me, especially since graduating vet school. I suppose it is because it has become more obvious. I have somewhat grown accustomed to clients absurd requests and declining of services for there sick and dying animals. Nothing breaks my heart more than to watch an unwell pet walk through the door with next to nothing done to heal or safe it’s life. Unfortunately, this happens. This happens A LOT.

Today, for example, a sweet black cat with epistaxis (nosebleed) and dyspnea (breathing difficulty) came to me for a visit. The kitty has been like this for a few days but the nosebleed is more recent (blood tends to make people freak out a bit more). The owner, a very nice older man, was a very heavy smoker as far as I could smell. The kitty was mostly indoors but occasionally crossed over the threshold for a leisurely visit to the great outdoors. Not up to date on vaccines and not on heartworm/flea prevention. Yes people, cats do get heartworms. He claimed to only be able to afford the office visit, but after some poking and prodding, we were able to convince him that the cat in the very least needed some medication. He finally agreed. Only problem is, I have no idea what is wrong with this cat, and I had to completely guess on medication. This was just one of a few this morning that played out exactly the same. “What’s wrong with my pet? I can’t afford testing so can’t you just give me some medicine? Why is this so expensive?” Blah Blah Blah. Here’s a brilliant idea! If you can’t afford to take care of a pet (healthy or sick), then maybe you shouldn’t have one. Ya know, kinda like kids, oh wait… Or maybe, you could give up all your addictions (alcohol, smoking, drugs, shopping, etc.) and have more money to spend on your “family” member. Just a thought…

All this brings me to my main point. If I am sitting here waiting on a sick or hurt pet to visit me, and this person arrives with no money to spend. What in the hell is the point? Why would you waste my time, your time and stress your pet out to come up here and tell me that you just want me to tell you what is wrong with your pet. Hold on a second. Let me go to the back. I just recharged my crystal ball so it should be up and running. Sorry sir, it’s currently not operational, but luckily I have my magic wand. Let me go grab it. Oh again, I’m very sorry, I’m fresh out of fairy dust and my wand just won’t work without it.

I’m sorry for being so bitter, but this is real. I suppose I chose the wrong profession. But, I can see how this would apply to many other professions as well. I am steadily getting more resentful all the while. It really is just a damn shame. I fear it will only get worse as the economy gets worse. I just hope and pray that something will change. I hope people will respect life and health more, human or animal. I hope people will respect and care for others’ thoughts, values and opinions. I hope people will stop being so materialistic and focus on what really matters in life. These are a few of my hopes. Hey, we can all hope for something, right? But then again, I am a realist.

Not So Cheery,
Tara