Terror Alert: Code YELLOW.

Seriously folks. Our gov'ner should be calling out the National Guard, declaring a State of Emergency. The pollen count has reached a critical high.

And my poor poor car is just sooooo sad. Normally she shines bright and green and happy. Now she's a dull chartreuse and no matter how many times I wash her she is just COVERED 5 minutes later. Unfortunately I have not been able to convince my parents that it's about time we cut down the Centenarian+ Oak Tree that canopies our drive. Thus, each year, I live with this:

You can see the dust from HERE!

Ack! My nose runs just looking at this!

My leaf collection. I'm pretty sure I could make a whole new tree.

My windshield. Boo.

What is the point of having a sunroof?

The left side of the shot is the part of the window that doesn't get washed by the wipers. The right side shows one day's worth of junk since driving yesterday. You also have a nice reflection of the hateful tree that causes this nightmare.

I have to clean my wipers before I can use them to clean my window.

Sadface Car.

"View" from the sunroof.

Course I don't want to imply my car is the only victim of the Pervasiveness of Pollen. Here are some pics from around the house:

Patio table. So clean you want to eat off of it, right?

Grapefruit tree via a sea of haze. On the plus side, the buds will bloom soon and that is a scent I want to bottle and sniff all year.

Even the dog's water bowl falls victim to those wretched pollen thingies.

Sadface patio.

Sadface Front Porch.

Sadface Railing.

This is just a small image of the amazing powers of Pollen. It's EVERYWHERE. I'm seriously concerned that if enough of it gets together it will learn to combine into some massive Blob-like form and chase me.



The Bane of My Existence.

Oh, and have you ever smelled pollen hanging in the air? It's like the lovely scent of honeysuckle, except that this honeysuckle hails from the 7th Circle of Hell.

On a lighter note, here are some shots of the cutest Ball of Fluff ever. Well, top ten anyhow.

I am not amused by your camera flash.



Bask in my glory, mere mortal.

You can't handle this amount of cuteness. I'm so cute that to photograph me in color would melt your eyes.

I am weary of your attentions. Leave me now. I must rest.

Oh, Hai. Don't mind me. Just checkin out your butt.

It's a Blogger's World.

Most of my (6) readers don't have blogs. Or at least, don't have blogs that they obsessively actively write in on a regular basis (ahem, you know who you are. tsk, tsk.).

I have been writing on this thing for nearly a year (Yay! for celebrating TWO birthdays a year!) and have amassed more than 140 entries. That's pretty massive, at least for me. The girl who tends to get really excited about a new project only to Oh! that looks like fun. (Read: ADD)

Over the last few months I've had absolutely nada to do some extra time on my hands and have been exploring other blogs. I have always found people's thoughts and opinions interesting, so reading other people's public inner monologues is my idea of Super Fun.

I don't search out any of the blogs I read. It all started for me with Laurie at Crazy Aunt Pearl. She wrote a book that is simply hilarious called Drunk, Divorced and Covered with Cat Hair. I read her blog rather religiously for some time before venturing into the world of The Others.

From Aunt Purl, I found a sassy chick named Tia who has a seriously wacky sense of humor that I adore at Clever Girl Goes Blog. Through Tia I was introduced to Jamie at Oh! How Lovely!, whose constant updates of Project Runway keep me in the loop and whose post Trying put into words things I couldn't.

Through Jamie I found what has to be thus far one of my Top 5 (to The Others, please note the number of blogs mentioned actually can be counted on one hand, thus that was NOT a dig at your site!) and most recently added blog-read addiction. It's like I'm....mmmagic! is a cleverly written blog that has almost made me pee my pants numerous times. Thank heavens for my incredibly well-trained sympathetic pelvic nerves.

In perusing these various sites, I've come to feel that my site is, well, a bit...bland. Oh, the content is alright (if I say so myself...and if I stay away from the Basket Full O Crazy. and wine.). But the layout leaves something to be desired. I mean, really kids: I'm a freakin interior designer. My site should be Bling! and Super Colorful and reflect the Awesomely Cool Person that I am.

Wow. I think that was the most self-centered thing I've said in a long time. Felt nice.

Anywho, keep on the lookout for my new layout coming in [insert lead time on ordered layout here]. Oh please, just check back every once in a while, K? I promise Good Things. The end of April is my new New Year. And it's gonna be a damn sight better than last year. I hope promise.

Oh, and have you noticed my new fancy for the strikethrough HTML? Yeah, I'm a pro. Feel free to envy.

(I'm not really a pro. I stole borrowed was inspired for the idea from The Bloggess. Who I basically worship. So I hope she won't mind.)

In Progress.

The days are passing swiftly as I prepare for yet again another immigration nightmare. Had my blood drawn Friday (not fun) for the typical round of STD tests (what is it with tropical islands and sexually transmitted diseases?!). Have to get a chest x-ray done next week (let's cross our fingers that I'm TB-Free!) and then submit all of my medical stuff for my visa.

I also have some fun coordination to do for bringing my kitty with me. Thankfully all of her titers and vaccinations were done already, but the Caymans have such a weird permit system it's driving me nuts! I have to apply to receive a permit that will then entitle me to apply for importation of my pet. Basically, I apply twice. And knowing bureaucracies, probably pay twice.

Having been on this ride once before, packing will be a breeze. Especially with my aforementioned uniforms.

Dad and I will be visiting the island early (April 6 - 9) in an attempt to get all of my ducks in a row before the Big Move. Really, I think this is just a much-needed Mini-Break for pops, but I'll tag along (hello? Seven Mile Beach anyone?). Hopefully while we are there we will find me a fabulous apartment that is way underpriced and a nice place to store some stuff (like books, super heavy). I'm also looking forward to meeting some of the students whom I've spoken to on the phone, everyone has been super nice. And it's comforting to know (also sad, but definitely comforting) that I am most certainly not the only person with a Rossie past. In fact, I'm starting to wonder if the population at St. Matt's isn't close to 50% Ross Cast-Offs. Which is alright by me, hopefully I won't stick out too much that way.

Did I mention the adorable rain boots I got today? They are fuchsia and brown plaid, totally comfortable and ready for some messy formalin in anat lab. Course, they totally clash with my bright red coveralls, so there might be a future purchase from Dickie's in order...

In other news: the pollen count here has reach seventy bagillion and our cars have officially become permanently yellow tinted. Awesome. I have never wished for rain so badly.

Work Schmerk.

I worked yesterday.

[just a brief pause to let the gravity of that statement sink in.]

JoAnne had a staff member off and they needed a quick fill in, so I unwittingly volunteered (yes, volunteered, as in unpaid) to help out. Again, I was excited at the prospect of working at JoAnne's side again, being her Special Tech (hidden issues there? we'll explore later...).

So I got my butt out of bed at the crack of 8, cleaned up and headed out to my Happy Place for an early morning pick-me-up. Made it to work with minutes to spare for the 9 o'clock surgery start time. After chatting with J for a bit, we were interrupted by Le Motivator who informed me that I will not have the pleasure of hanging with my homie that day but instead will be in Prep for the day. Prep. As in Anesthesia Prep. Again. What is with this place assuming I enjoy jabbing animals with Happy Drugs and shaving their privates? Oh wait...that's why I'm on this crazy vet adventure. Duh.

I ended up spending a lovely day with Jon knocking out animals and playing with anesthesia machines. I swear, for all of you vets (and vet students for that matter) out there, you should really try and spend one day every year you practice working as a technician. Just to remember what it is like being a technician. Perhaps then we wouldn't have such a problem with vet/tech relations or turnover of technicians. I realize that we as vets (vet students) work extremely hard to get that DVM, and as such we earn a level of...respect?...that some vets are all too ready to require from their techs. But we DVMs must also remember that we are only as good as our techs, and their job is CRAP. I mean seriously.

Don't get me wrong. I love the job, even all of the little stresses and irritations and mean people. But if the vet does not respect the technician (and all of the little stresses and irritations they experience on the job) then the work environment will not be conducive to long term employment. Just an FYI to my vet student friends.

Okay. Saturday Afternoon Special PSA is over.

On to happier things. Today I get to go shopping! Not for anything fun, just khakis to wear as my uniform at school. But it will be a lovely afternoon spent at the mall, and maybe I'll even treat myself to one of those yummy Double Doozies I never got on V-day.

Yay for Uniforms!

I promise not to look nearly as creepy happy nor armless in my uniforms. But I will look as svelte. Yay Size Ten!

Seas of Change.

It's funny, for days now my dogs have been staring at me in some sort of anticipation. As if they expect me to do something. Cute.

Anywho, it's official: I am heading off once again for school (see newly updated blog description just under title of blog). We make mistakes, we learn from them. This time will be different.

The situation is similar; I will be going off to vet school, living on an island, etc. This time the school is St. Matthew's University and the island is Grand Cayman. Class sizes are significantly smaller, the island is significantly pricier, the beaches are pristine and the diving is divine. Oh, and did I mention the uniforms? At least I look good in red.

I plan to keep up with the blog, considering I'm just as likely to loose my mind on this adventure as I was on the last. But I will be leaving the needles & yarn at home (I promise Sugar Bear) and will be bringing with me a renewed sense of determination. On the plus side, I might find an apartment in Hell.