WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

BIRTHDAY NUMBER 35

On September 15th, I turned 35. Wow. Halfway to 70. Here is the link to the blog I wrote when I turned 34-- http://cindyslifelessons.blogspot.com/2008/09/blog-post.html

I guess every year will bring new wisdom in some form or another. I am grateful for that, but what is up with this physical aging stuff? It’s not fun…at all. But, hey, I am alive. I am healthy. I have a house. I have food. That is a lot more than some people have, and I count my blessings for that. I can’t stop the wrinkles, the sun spots, or the occasional grey hair. I can, however, choose to continue to try and live life to the fullest and that is what I will do. But, I do like to joke around about getting old. Humor is one of the keys to life.

Some of my nursing school friends threw me a little surprise party before class. I was so appreciative. These girls have been there through all the misery that comes along with nursing school and we have cried and laughed on each other more times than I can count. They made a sign, got me flowers, balloons, made brownies, and gave me a framed picture that I will treasure forever. The entire class signed a card for me. I am very blessed to have such good friends in my life.

My parents sent me money, which I very much appreciated. My sister sent me a video of my nieces singing Happy Birthday to me! Oh my goodness, I absolutely LOVED it. Here it is if you want to check it out. It may give you a warning prompt, just hit continue and the video will come up and then just hit the little arrow button to play it.

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Now, you may be wondering about the water globe looking thing above. Y’all don’t laugh. Promise? Who is already giggling? Ok, everyone knows that I was a Biology nerd before I went to nursing school. I still am, I guess. I really, really wanted a self-contained ecosystem for my birthday this year. I did not want anything else. Will thought I was crazy and called me a geek many times.

A self-contained eco system is just what it sounds like. There is a little shrimp in it. I named him Herman. I said NO laughing! Ok, his name is Herman and he is c-u-t-e. He is only as big as the tip of your pinky fingernail. I tried to zoom in on him for a picture, but it didn’t work. He’s too little. He’s orange and fairly see-through.

So, he lives in this dome. Everything he needs is in there. The dome does not open. He gets sunlight which provides the solar energy to produce algae which provides his food. He then produces waste which turns into bacteria and does two things: produces carbon dioxide which enables the algae to produce oxygen and provides inorganic nutrients for the algae to continue to survive. Now, how cool is that? His life expectancy is two years.

Well, his life expectancy is two years, unless I accidentally kill him. Which I may or may not have already almost done….um….twice. Ok, here’s the deal. I was talking on the phone with my good friend Kimberly. Herman was sitting on the table that sits beside my recliner. I reached around him to grab a computer cord and knocked him clear off the table!

He fell about 2 feet and then rolled. I picked him up, fully expecting him to be crushed, but he was swimming around like crazy, because he was scared out of his mind. Since he is see-through, I was able to do a thorough head to toe assessment and check for internal injuries. Again, NO laughing! He is fine and has been fine ever since. So, I think all is well.

We had one other close call. There is a small magnet in the dome. To clean the inside of the glass, I take a bigger magnet, connect the two, and rub the inside magnet along the glass to release any deposits which the shrimp actually uses for food. Welllll, the first time I did this, I did not realize the force at which the inside magnet would fly to the outside magnet! I stuck it to the glass and it flew so hard to the big magnet that I am surprised the glass didn’t break.
Once they were stuck together, I could not find Herman! I just KNEW he was between those two magnets and I had squished him to death. Last reminder: NO laughing! I kept looking and looking for him and was too scared to move the magnet. I finally found him hiding in his algae. I think he is scared of me.

Oh, and y’all should see Willis trying to look at Herman! He sees me looking at him, so Willis will cock his head and open his eye as wide as he can trying to see what I am looking at. It is HILARIOUS! I know that he will be able to say his name soon.

I had a good birthday with Will aka WillieOrange, Willis aka Mr. Pickles, Bailey aka Weenie, Web aka Horse, and Herman aka Hermie.

FARRAH'S STORY

Notice the new link that I put under "Blogs That I Read" called "Farrah Coker's Story." Justin, Farrah's daddy, is a classmate of mine. He and his fiance, Jenna, need your prayers during this difficult time as they help their beautiful daughter fight this battle. Please take time to check out their blogsite and leave them an encouraging word. Please continue to pray for Farrah and her family throughout their journey.

C07 is here for you Justin! We will see you in class tomorrow!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

DOES MY FACE LOOK FUNNY TO YOU?

This past Wednesday, I got out of clinical and found this message on my cell phone, “Web got bit by a snake on the back left leg. I am at the Vet’s right now. His face is swollen.” Followed by this one, “Web is okay, but they are going to keep him for observation.”

I immediately called Will and he told me that he let Web out about 4:30am Wednesday morning and then went back to bed. Web was sleeping when I left for the hospital and I didn’t even look at him. When Will got up about 8:30, he looked at Web and his face was swollen to twice its normal size.

He freaked (who wouldn't) and ran him to the vet. He said that Web plopped down on the floor, but acted as if nothing was wrong. Then, he noticed that a puddle of blood was pooling around his leg. He mentioned it to the staff and they waited their turn. Web acted fine and Will said he even tried to play with the other dogs.

Web weighs almost 95 pounds now at 9 months old. The picture above was taken today. We can’t allow him to play with other dogs, because he will hurt them accidentally. However, I find it hilarious that he was sitting there with his face swelled up like a helium balloon acting as if nothing was wrong.

The vet took him back and said that his vital signs were off. He gave him Benadryl, Prednisone, and an Antibiotic and said he needed to keep him all day for observation.

The doctor had a different theory than a snake bite though. He said that due to the time span that passed (4:30am to 8:30am) and the extreme degree of swelling that he had in his face, he felt that if it had been a snake bite, he would not be alive. His hypothesis was that Web got stung by a yellow jacket (which obviously we had no idea he was even allergic to) and then cut his leg trying to get away.

We are a little apprehensive now, because a second bite from a yellow jacket could be detrimental. I have some children’s Benadryl on hand in the event this occurs, but we aren’t always home with him and it is unrealistic to keep him inside while we are gone so many hours during the day. We will just have to do the best we can.

The vet did say he can’t be positive that it wasn’t a snake, but he was pretty sure that it was a yellow jacket. Will also combed the yard and found no signs of a snake.

We know there will be plenty more adventures to come at The Vandervort Zoo!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY