Tales of a true Dirty Girl

Big Time Music & Lights, Part II

2010-05-21T07:30:00.003-04:00

So, interesting story...

We get something in the mail a couple of weeks ago from "Big Time Music & Lights". See, I was pretty sure this guy dropped dead, and took our DJ deposit with him, since he was impossible to get a hold of. Especially since he said (roughtly 2 weeks after our wedding) that he was going to refund us $300-something, and when I wrote him back thanking him, of course he never responded and we never received the check. Shocker.

So, back to the mail...it was our refund check! Are you freaking kidding me?! And for exactly what he told us he would refund us! Granted, it was not our entire $500, but it was about 3/4 of that! His letter said something to the effect of, "I knew you wouldn't believe me that I would refund you" (duh), "and business went south with the economy right after your wedding, so I thought I would wait until things picked up again and I could afford to provide you with your refund." What the heck did you do with our original $500?! Put it on the ponies?! Oh well, at least we got a bunch of our money back. And to think, it only took a year!!

On another note, I've taken up running once again. I'd like to be able to post on here when I'm actually doing the runs, as kind of a log as to how my runs felt, and to make myself feel guilty when I don't run and I'm supposed to, but as I'm short on time, I really don't see that happening as much as I'd like it to. So I will when I can.

Last night ~ 3 miles on the road. Whooped from the previous night's 4 miles of escapades at Dryer Road Park. I didn't even want to go out last night. But at 5pm, while I was sitting on the couch doing nothing and enjoying every second of it, I began to feel really guilty for not running! So with some encouragement from Marty, I set out. Oh boy was I dragging my ass. I ended up doing it in a decent time (11:23 m/m), but I was so sore and sick to my stomach after that! So glad today is a "REST" day. Too bad a "REST" day involves being at work at 7am for a meeting that was cancelled at 6:40am, then having to work until at least 7:30pm tonight. 6 miles of trails is on deck for tomorrow, but we'll see how my quads feel. At this point, they've made good friends with BioFreeze, and are still sore...

***Tif***

Quote of the day ~ "By winning, you achieve something. By losing, you are motivated to work hard. By quitting, you shatter your dreams." ~ author unknown

Next race ~ June 5th. Mendon Mauler. 8 miles on trails.

Boulder and Tumble Music (AKA Big Time Music & Lights)

2009-07-01T14:30:00.003-04:00

Ok, so since I really don't have time to blog anymore, I've pretty much stopped, but I really think this is something that I needed to take time to do. For our wedding, we originally hired Boulder and Tumble Music, now known as Big Time Music & Lights. My hope is that Yahoo and Google and other search engines will flag this entry to be pulled up whenever someone does a search on either of these names.

Mike Fullerton, the owner, does not run his business well. Stay far away from him. We booked him in early August of 2008. It took over a month for us to get a contract from him in the mail, well after we had paid him very close to in full. The only reason he sent it to us was because his wife had to make him do it. She used to own a wedding dress shop in town, and I knew her and asked her what was going on. We did receive the contract from him, but of course he hadn't signed it. We didn't worry until about a month before the wedding when we were trying to get a hold of him. Marty called him. Marty emailed him. Kelli, our wedding planner, called him. Kelli emailed him. Nothing for 2 weeks. I finally had enough, and left the man one nasty email, stating we wanted our money back. At this point, we are 3 weeks away from our wedding, and are unable to get ahold of our dj! He magically got one of marty's emails the next day saying that he's been having phone issues and never got any of the calls that marty, kelli, or myself had sent to him. Guess he doesn't get email, either. Or USPS, because we had sent him our signed copy of the contract about a month before we tried contacting him again. He said he never got the contract, either. So we gave him another chance. And another chance after that one, when he still was not returning our calls or emails. He went on to say that he had taken steps to communicate with us, and we just need to relax and let him do his job, or something like that. We had had enough. We asked, again, for a refund, which he said was non-refundable. At this point, I'm asking myself what my sanity is worth. It was definitely worth the $500 we gave that horrible man. So we hired another DJ and told him he could go fly a kite. We used Fingerlakes Entertainment, and Nate was AMAZING.

Anyways, about a week after the wedding, Fullerton emails us again, saying he would like to give us 1/2 of what our total would have been, back. Turned out to be almost $350. We said we'd take it. Marty emailed him the next day (May 30th), and told him our address and that we would happily accept the money. Today, folks, is July 1st. We have yet to receive anything from him. I have emailed him. I have called him. Marty has emailed him. NOTHING. So, now I'm making it my mission to let anyone I possibly can, know not to use this man for any type of music or lighting services. You will be out of your money. And if you aren't, and he does actually show up, good luck getting ahold of him before your event. Go elsewhere. This man has been nothing but a headache. Since I don't want to go though the hassle of court, I'm just going to try to spread the word for people to stay away from him, and hopefully he will lose the $500 that he refused to refund us, by not getting clients. Feel free to contact me about any questions you may have about him or his horrible business. I do wonder how he is even in business anymore...Oh wait, it's his "hobby". Meaning that he has to put other things before this business, leaving it to fall by the way-side.

Our wedding was beautiful, though. :) So glad we got a different DJ. I also highly suggest Kelli Burg and Simply Beautiful Events. She and her assistant were worth every single penny. They were invaluable. I'd be happy to give Kelli any kind of recommendation. Thank you Kelli!

***Tif***

What Dreams May Come

2008-12-11T17:22:00.002-05:00

Two weeks...

Two weeks ago, this very minute, I was sitting on the couch with Marty, my cousin, and his wife, talking about the wedding. Roughly 3 hours later, I was helping my little girl cross Rainbow Bridge.

In the past two weeks, lots has happened. I get little messages here and there from her. A couple amazing dreams, a couple calming noises. The other night I had one of those amazing dreams. She was standing in front of me, I was kneeling down touching and petting her head, giving her kisses. She kept telling me, "Wait until Thursday. Wait until Thursday. Wait until Thursday." That's all she kept telling me. Then I woke up. I called Whitney the next morning and told her about the dream. I couldn't wait until Thursday (today). Well, when we talked today, I told her that I picked D up from the vet yesterday. Well, her remains, anyways. Geez she is heavy! Anyways, one of the first things that came out of her mouth was something like, "Did anything happen today?!" I didn't get it. I just told her that I cried a little, but that was it. Then I figured out what she meant. And no, nothing had happened just yet. I thought maybe it was a different Thursday....

Not long after that, Marty came home with this big box. I asked him what it was and he told me it was my birthday present. Oh my gosh I was so excited! I LOVE presents! I opened it up to find a canvased painting of one of my favorite pictures of Delilah! I don't know how big it is, but it's pretty freaking big, and she looks so BEAUTIFUL in it! It is the best present I have ever gotten. "Wait until Thursday" she tells me. I am so lucky to have her. Even though she's gone, she doesn't really seem gone to me. I still talk to her every day, and once in a while (ok, twice) she talks back. The first time in the car on the way home from the hospital on Thanksgiving...

"It's ok, Mama!"

and then the other night in the dream. I get big wet kisses from her in my dreams too, which I have said all along that I just wanted one more of. Belle kisses me like D used to now, too. That always brings a smile to my face. God, I miss her.

***Delilah's Mama***

Thanksgiving

2008-11-29T10:18:00.003-05:00

This Thanksgiving really made me appreciate life, and the wonderful things that come along with it.

Thursday night, at about 8:30pm, I had to say goodbye to Delilah, my heart, my soul, my best friend. She was a lot sicker than anyone knew, and she finally decided that it was her time. Her sister, Belle, helped her the best she could. My heart is broken, but I know that she's so happy, and that her stomach doesn't hurt anymore, and that she can finally run with no pain. She loved to run...

Thursday made me really look at life. At first, I was sad, and angry that she had to go, and especially on Thanksgiving, a day you're supposed to be thankful for things. How was I supposed to be thankful that my heart and soul was taken from me?! HOW?! Then I realized that I was looking at the wrong way. I should be thankful for the time I got to spend with her. And for all that I learned from her. And for all the love she gave me. I had so much fun with her, and I have so many amazing memories. I am so lucky to have had her in my life. I wouldn't have traded it, or her for the world. I was so blessed. And now, I have an amazing angel up there, on my side, looking out for me.

I love you Delilah. Thank you for everything you gave me. You have always been my angel. You will forever be in my heart, and you will never be replaced. You were one of a kind, Pumpkin. My heart aches without you, but I am so happy that you are happy now. I miss you, Sweet Pea. You are Mama's good girl. Kisses, kisses, and more kisses...

The Dangers of Snow

2008-11-19T19:03:00.003-05:00

Oh my gosh...it's been a while. I've had time to write, but for some reason I haven't taken the time to sit down and write. Today I'm writing to help clear my conscious....

It started snowing and sticking yesterday. We had a really nice layer of snow in the backyard this morning when I let the girls out. Delilah was in HEAVEN. She loves the snow. It had been almost 2 months since she was able to really run around in the backyard, and I figured since it was snowing, I'd let her have extra fun. So I unhooked her leash and she got to run around in our backyard for about 45 minutes this morning. A few times when I looked out, she was running in circles and just having the best time. I got her to come in and all seemed well. I had been worried she would be limping, since the last time she ran around she limped for a week. But since it had been a while, I thought I'd risk it so she could have some fun. About half an hour after she came in, I noticed her favoring her right leg (this is the leg she DID NOT have surgery on). That is the same leg she limped on about 2 months ago. As the day went on, the pain got worse and worse. I had some tramadol I got from the vet when she was having stomach problems, so I gave her some of that, which didn't seem to help much. The pain got to the point it was so bad, she was actually only using 3 legs, which is something that I rarely see her do. When she tries to get up after laying down, she cries and cries and cries, and just brings tears to my eyes. Belle even comes up to her and tries to kiss her whenever she cries. It's very cute. She can't even go up 3 steps from the entry way to the living room. My heart is just absolutely broken. She is in pain because of me, and it's a lot of pain!

What makes things worse is that we leave tomorrow evening to fly out and see Whitney for a long weekend. If we weren't flying, I think I'd stay home. We had planned for her to stay with my grandma and grandpa where she gets TONS of attention and has a great time. Unfortunately, there are about 5 steps for her to get up and down in order to get inside and out. She can't even get up 3, how is she supposed to get up 5?! She also gets no discipline at my grandparents, which occasionally I don't mind. But she can't get off of furniture after she gets up onto it without screaming bloody murder. My mom has company so she refused to take her. So I called my dad. She will stay in the cabin, in the bathroom (which is the size of a kennel she would stay in if she were boarded) for the weekend. Unfortunately she's going to be alone most of the time. I've had to weigh the positives and negatives...

Negatives...
1. She will be alone, since my dad and suzie live in the house, not the cabin.
2. She has to stay locked in the bathroom for 4 days (although it's a really big bathroom).

Those are pretty big negatives, in my opinion.

Positives...
1. She wont' be able to jump up and down off of furniture.
2. She will get to go on nice walks every day with my dad (most likely 3 or 4).
3. She gets to be on the Hill, which I SWEAR has some kind of healing properties.
4. She won't have to go up and down stairs to get in and out of the house.

So although she would get more attention at my grandparents, I think I would rather her be unhappy for 4 days than do any more damage to her leg. I've still got 4 months before she can have surgery on that leg. My hope is that it will be better within a couple of days, which is what happened last time.

I just feel absolutely terrible. I feel like it's all my fault that she's in so much pain, and that she has to spend the next 4 days alone. But at the same time, my father reminded me that there was no malice in my decision. I let her outside to play because I knew she would have fun, and be happy. And also, she never gets boarded. If she did, she would be in the same position (alone, in a small place) each time we went away.

I just hate seeing her in pain...

Post-emergency root canal, day 1

2008-09-20T19:38:00.008-04:00

I'm still in so much pain. I still can't talk right. I still can't open my mouth all the way. I still can't even kiss Marty. I've eaten oatmeal, rice and cupcakes today because none of them require extensive chewing. I was supposed to go to my cousin's surprise 30th birthday party today, too. The party started at 6. Precisely at 6, I was laying in bed with a heating pad on my face, doped up on Lortabs and still feeling pain. My mom is worried I've abscessed. She's insisting I call the dentist Monday morning. I told her I was fine until I slipped giving D a bath today and whacked my mouth AGAIN. I'm hoping that tomorrow I'll be better. I don't want to miss another day of work. UGH.

So I think we decided not to have an official "honeymoon". We've had a trip to Alaska planned for a while now, long before the wedding was even a thought. The trip is scheduled the week after we get married. It's technically a work vacation, so we don't want to make it our "honeymoon". We were going to put it off until winter or spring, but Marty and his business partner (and best friend/best man) decided they are finally going to go to a huge radiant heat convention in Germany in the spring of 2010. So it looks like we're going to spend 2 weeks in Europe. We talked about it, and I think we're just going to end up going someplace nice for our 5th anniversary that's going to serve as a belated honeymoon. Ok, boy is here with my frosty now. Time to go eat.

***Tif***

To the pain.

2008-09-19T15:31:00.003-04:00

When Whitney was here last weekend, I mentioned to her I had this cut on the inside of my lip. It seemed to come from my bottom tooth that sticks out a little, as the cut matched up perfectly with the part of the tooth that sticks out. I must have hit it on something, but I have absolutely no recollection of what (and no, it's not b/c I was intoxicated!). At first, it was just the lip that was bothering me. Then about Tuesday or Wed, the tooth actually starts to hurt. It gets worse and worse by the day, until yesterday when I got home from work and was in tears from the pain. I've never had a tooth ache before, but if you ask me, this went WAY beyond just a simple "ache". I felt like it would be less uncomfortable to just rip the tooth out without any numbing medicine. That's how bad it hurt! I finally decided to call the dentist. Again, this morning, I'm in absolute extreme pain and crying b/c it hurts so bad. It felt (and still does to an extent) like someone was shoving small needles into the base of my tooth. So the secretary felt bad for me b/c I was in so much pain, and squeezed me in this morning at 9:40. By the time I got there, I could barely talk I was so uncomfortable. The dentist sees me, asks me to explain what's going on, then tells me it sounds like I'm going to need a root canal. A ROOT CANAL?! That sounds so painful! They do x-rays and see whatever it is they see in the pulp and root to decide it's time to drill. I was so scared! They had already put like 3x's as much novocain in me as they would normally use b/c I'm hurting so bad, but I was still in pain! Luckily, the root canal wasn't painful. Just weird. By the end of it, my bottom lip had swelled so much, I looked like Bubba from Forrest Gump. It was spectacular. So now, 5 hours after being done, the novocain is all worn off, and I'm still in terrible pain. I'm hoping the 800mg of ibuprofen does the trick. If not, I'll pull out my stash of Lortabs that I keep for instances such as these. I hope that none of you ever have to have a root canal. They're awful!

I'm going to go lay back down now. Hopefully fall asleep...it doesn't hurt then.

***Tif***

And then there were 2...

2008-09-13T16:40:00.003-04:00

We have bridesmaid dresses! Woo Hoo! Although it was a great day b/c we picked out dresses, it was not a day that was drama-free, unfortunately. After talking to my cousin and bridesmaid #3, Ellie this morning, I was comfortable that everyone would be at the dress shop at the right time, and we'd have no issues. I told her 11:30 in Manchester, 5 minutes from her house. She said no problem. We stopped at a shop in Canandaigua, and found a bunch of dresses that Julie, Whitney and I LOVED, so I called Ellie and asked her (at 10:40) if she could meet us there instead, and then we could go to Manchester. (FYI, Canandaigua is only 10 minutes from her house.) She tells me there's no way she can come to Canandaigua today because she doesn't have anyone to watch her girls for very long. She has had a month to get someone to babysit for her! A MONTH! So I tell her we're just going to have to pick out a dress without her. I'm pissed at this point. I had a feeling this morning that something was going to go wrong with Ellie. I told Whitney and Marty that I knew something wasn't going to go as planned. When she told me that she couldn't make it, although I knew and was expecting it, I was at the point where I didn't even want her in the wedding. But, we picked out the perfect dress, that everyone looked amazing in, nonetheless. I called Ellie and told her she needed to come to get sized so they could order and she said she couldn't make it (surprise surprise), then I told her she had until Monday morning. She said she could do that. Then I told her how much the dress cost, and that 50% of the dress was due before they could order it, but that it needed to be ordered Monday. She said she couldn't pay for it. Marty and I knew it would happen. So that's that. And then there were 2... But it's ok. From what I hear, there's always one in the bridal party that makes things difficult. She's my cousin, and I still love her, I'm just really freaking annoyed with her right now. Whatever. It's going to be great, so it doesn't matter. And even though the wedding party is uneven, it's still going to be great. And hey, we've got all the dresses taken care of! So Woo hoo!!!!!

***Tif***

I'll Be Back

2008-09-12T20:02:00.002-04:00

I have a dress!!!!! Whitney and I went to Heart to Heart Bridal this morning, and I finally made my order. I even picked out a thing to wear in my hair, and my veil! Now all that's left is shoes and jewelry. Well, and bridesmaid dresses. Whitney and I pre-shopped today, and I made her try on like 20 dresses. We found like 6 or 7 dresses for her and the other girls to try on tomorrow. But that's at only one store. I want to go to at least one other shop to check out dresses. Hopefully we will be able to find a dress that looks good on all three girls. I couldn't have any more differently shaped girls. I have to go now. I'm being yelled at about blogging and watching movies at the same time. I've never seen The Terminator before, and that's what we're watching now. I think everyone in the world has seen this movie, except for me...

***Tif***

Our Story

2008-08-29T15:34:00.003-04:00

I'm sitting here today, and I'm thinking, "wow, I've never really written down me and Marty's story." So here goes...

Last May my friend Missy talked me into going onto Match.com to try to meet guys. She suggested this because of the strange (very strange) variety of guys I managed to attract on my own. So I went on Match and started dating. I attracted (surprise surprise) some really strange characters. One guy found out I was a PA student and asked me if I could prescribe pain pills to him and suggested we spend our first date, "smoking weed watching a movie" while his parents weren't there. It was a tough decision, but I sadly turned him down. (People are unbelievable.) I talked to another guy who basically said everything he thought I wanted to hear, from "I like long walks on the beach, cuddling in front of a fire, watching long sunsets," etc. It was just too much for me. Then there was the guy that would always try to talk to me when I was on my way out the door. At one point he actually resorted to calling me names because I could never talk to him. Ugh. So then there was Marty. He started talking to me and I assumed he was a loser, just like all the other guys. So I was a COMPLETE bitch to him the first few times we talked. To this day I still don't understand why he stuck with me (must be because I'm just so damn irresistible), but he did. One day he stated our conversation with, "What's up killer?" And for some reason it just broke the ice with me and I decided he wasn't a loser after all. I gave him my phone number and I still remember one of the first things he said to me..."Well, you definitely don't have a guy's voice!" He had told me earlier that he was afraid that I had a man's voice. Haha! We talked for a few days and he kept asking me out. My response was, "How do I know you're not a serial killer?!" After me continuing to say no, he just never quit. One day I just decided that I wanted to see a movie with him (it was a public place, and I figured if he was a serial killer, I'd be safe at the movie!). I told him I wanted to see the Borne Supremacy, so we made plans for that Friday night.

Well that day I decided to go on a nice run that whooped my ass. Then Suzie asked me to go to town with her while she got her tattoo. She told Dad she would bring him Mexican food on her way home. Who would have thought that it would take 45 minutes to get take-out from the Mexican restaurant in town. And so I was late for the date. Our first date, and I was late. I HATE being late. On top of that, I was totally nervous. When I got there, he was sipping on his coke, just waiting for me at the theater. When I first saw him I remember thinking to myself, "OMG, phew! He's sooooo not ugly!" I know, I'm a dork! I was immediately attracted to him and it just felt right with him. As I said in an entry last year, since I was late, we had to sit all the way in the front row, behind some man that felt the need to hack up his lung onto our backs the entire movie. It was less than plesant. After the movie, we sat in the parking lot for who knows how long just talking. I was very comfortable with him, and I was falling hard and fast. I knew that we had a good future ahead of us. By our third date, I was head over heals for him, and him for me. Nothing had ever felt so right for me before. Life was good.

11 months later...

We're at my family reunion and everyone is pushing us to know when we're going to get engaged, have babies, etc. We had thrown the idea around, but he had told me we wouldn't get engaged until I graduated in December. So I didn't think much of it. A few days after the reunion, he told me to pick out the kind of ring I wanted, so he would know what to get when he decided to propose. We went to The Gem Lab and I picked out my dream ring! He was very quick to remind me no engagement until after graduation.

Marty ~ "When do you graduate?"
Me ~ "December."
Marty ~ "How many months til December?"
Me ~ "5"
Marty ~ "How many days in a month?"
Me ~ "30" (with a very sad look on my face)
Marty ~ "So how many days is that?"
Me ~ "150" (with an even sadder look on my face)

So that was the end of it. I put the idea out of my mind.

A little over a week later, I'm sitting at the cabin playing video games. He was at home doing yard work. All of a sudden his truck pulls up into the driveway. I was so excited! He'd never surprised me before! How awesome! He comes in and hands me zucchini from the garden. He's still in his yard clothes, and just pacing. I couldn't figure out what was going on. I tried to get him to sit and relax and he just said, "I sit all day at work." Then oddly, he asks me about my video game. So I play a little and show it to him. I was really confused by this. Then I turn it off and he asks to watch TV. He knows that I can only have the playstation plugged in or the direcTV box, not both at the same time (I've got a small tv set up right now, that's about 8 years old). So I bend over the TV to unplug the playstation and plug in the directTV. While I'm bent over between the desk and the shelf above the shelf, he's poking me saying, "baby....baby....baby!!!" I can just see him tickling me and me bouncing my head off the shelf above my desk so I reply, "HANG ON A SECOND!" only slightly annoyed. I turn around and there he is, with a jewelry box open and my gorgeous ring and says, "will you marry me, baby?" I was so completely shocked that all I could do was hug him. As I'm hugging him and crying, I'm asking myself if that really just happened. Then I realize that I never answered him! So I finally say yes, with tears in my eyes and a huge smile on my face. We kissed and put the ring on my finger. It was so great! He told me to call my mom, who he had told me knew he was going to propose, but didn't think it was going to happen for a few days. I had thought she knew something, so I asked her if she knew something I didn't know. She continued to deny, deny, deny. I finally told her and she told me to put Marty on. He said he didn't want to get yelled at :) We talked to my mom for a little while and then it was time to call his mom. When she answered I asked her how she felt about having a daughter (Marty's only got a brother). She goes, "What?!" then started crying. It was a great moment :)

So here we are, one month later, planning our wedding! I'm happier than I've ever been! And now you know our story :)

***Tif***

P.S. D's doing well. The pain meds have made her sleep all day, so I'm assuming they're working well.

Update, part 2

2008-08-28T20:51:00.002-04:00

She's home. I called them at 6pm after I hadn't heard from them, knowing they closed at 6. They said I couldn't take her home because they were waiting on blood test results. I flipped. I was not about to pay for another day of her staying there, nor did I really think she needed to stay there. I spoke with the Dr. and she said I could come get her. It's 8:50 right now, and I think that it was after 8 by the time I picked her up, then went to pick up her prescriptions. 4 total. Two antibiotics, one to settle her stomach, and one pain medicine. When I picked her up, she was absolutely snowed from the morphine they gave her for pain. I gave her another dose of pain meds (not quite as strong as morphine) a few minutes ago, so I'm sure she will sleep well tonight. She's clearly in pain, though. She constantly whines when she's not sleeping. Luckily, for me, she's still snowed. I'm going to take tomorrow off also, just to make sure that she's feeling better. She's still having tummy aches, and requires potty time every few hours. This way there's no messes in the house. I'll just have to make up the time somewhere down the road. Yippie. I hope she feels better soon.

***Tiffany***

Update on D

2008-08-28T16:29:00.002-04:00

It's currently 4:30 as I type this. I dropped her off at the vet at 8:30am this morning. After running a battery of tests, they still don't know what caused her to vomit all the blood yesterday. The vet said that she shrieked when she pressed on her belly, but otherwise, nothing showed up significantly. They thought she may have pancreatitis, but the blood tests came back negative. They thought she might have some kind of worm or parasite or bacteria, but those tests came back negative too. The ultrasound showed thickening of the intestinal walls, but we already knew that from back in October when we first found out about her stomach problems. They're waiting on two more tests, one blood, one stool, and then I'll be able to pick her up. The vet said they're sending her home with about 5 or 6 prescriptions. Some antibiotics, one to help strengthen the lining of her stomach, one for pain, and one to lower the acidity of her stomach. She's just going to take it easy for the next few days and hopefully she will get better. Let's just cross her fingers......

***Tiffany***

Good news and bad news.

2008-08-27T17:06:00.003-04:00

Julie and I went to a bridal shop (the one that was awful to me...they were trying to make up for it) today and I tried on a bunch of dresses. The woman was nicer today, but just not exceptionally nice. I finally picked a dress, and Julie also said she loved it. Only problem is that the woman said it takes 9 months for the dress to come in. News flash, May 24th is almost EXACTLY 9 months away. I said I wasn't comfortable going that long and being that close to wedding day without my dress. I said I would do it, if they could give me some sort of guarantee, which they said they couldn't. I left there extremely frustrated. I finally picked out a dress, but it's going to take just too long to come in for me to be comfortable to order. What's a girl to do?!

Well I don't know about other girls, but this girl called another bridal shop that sells the dress I want. They said it takes three months for the dress to come in. THREE MONTHS!!! That's 6 less than 9! Plus, the dress is $100 cheaper, AND it includes alterations. So I'll be ordering my dress from there. It's called Heart to Heart Bridal, for anyone interested. So one less thing to worry about now!

On a sadder note, it seems as though Delilah has a bleeding ulcer. Her stomach has been bothering her a lot lately, and extremely tender to touch. She throws up whenever I let her eat grass outside, so I did today just to see how it looked. I found it after she threw up, and it was full of blood. I immediately called the vet (who is out of town until Wed, by the way) and they said this is very important and could be potentially very serious. I need to drop her off tomorrow morning at 8am for them to work her up. I'm actually crossing my fingers that it's a foreign body that she somehow ate because 1) it means that her ulcers aren't causing a problem and 2) insurance will cover everything relating to it. When it comes down to it, I don't care what I pay, I just want her to be healthy. I don't want her bleeding and I don't want her to have a hole in her stomach. Please just be sending all your positive thoughts and energy to her tonight and tomorrow. I'm very worried about her...

***Tiffany***

The Steady Shining Sun...

2008-08-25T20:40:00.003-04:00

I had my first wedding nightmare last night. I woke up only mildly anxious. Here's the backstory... My mom has 3 brothers. Two of these said brothers and their families are not invited to the wedding. One of them, we just plain don't get along with and I really don't appreciate the way they've treated my grandparents. The other uncle has essentially fallen off the face of the earth in the last few years. I saw him and his wife (notice I didn't say "My aunt".) at Wegmans recently. She completely ignored me. He just waved at me. Whatever. I'm not bent out of shape about it. They're just not invited. Well, here's my dream...

Apparently the "Save the Date" cards served as some sort of invitation to some sort of wedding gathering we were having (Although I have no idea what kind of gathering this was). Everyone that was invited was there, then all of a sudden, someone screams, "Here comes Tim and Judy!" (This is the couple that I basically got ignored by at Wegmans). I was so mad! I said, "No way! They're not invited! They can't come! I'll be right back!" So I huff and puff and meet them outside the building and ask Tim if I can have a minute with him. He tells me that he's very unhappy about the fact they weren't invited (while still walking towards the building, I might add) and that they plan on attending, no matter what we say. When I tell him they can't, that they weren't invited, he proceeds to tell me he doesn't care, and they're going to come anyways. I bust out with the, "IT'S MY WEDDING! YOU CAN'T TELL ME YOU'RE GOING TO ATTEND IF I DIDN'T INVITE YOU!" At that point, he notifies me that my step-grandfather is upset as well. Who knows why, though, because he got a "Save the Date" card! My step grandfather tells me that he's upset because he didn't get a personalized message on the back of the cards. So now he's all huffy and puffy as well, although for no reason, because he is invited and wanted. My alarm went off at that point, thank goodness.

So I guess my biggest concern at this point is that I'm going to get backlash from those that aren't invited. I need to keep reminding myself that we only want people there that have played a role in our lives, helping us to get to where we are that day. We want people that that have taken an interest in our lives, and who we know, truly love us and aren't just there for the free food, cupcakes, and booze. My dad and I had an issue a few weeks ago when I told him I wasn't going to invite everyone he wanted me to. He told me over and over again that he would pay for "his guests" and when I told him very politely that they were OUR guests, not his, he wasn't overly happy. He was especially unhappy when I made him aware of the fact that we're paying for the wedding ourselves because we want it to be our wedding, not anyone elses. If we don't let anyone else pay for it, they have no say in how we do things. He didn't like that very much either. I spent an entire weekend bawling (yes, I wasn't crying, I was sobbing...bawling in fact. It was awful) until I finally got up the courage to talk to him about it once again. At that point, he just hugged me and told me he wanted me to be happy, and to do whatever I needed in order to be happy. Well that's the plan. No one will be at the wedding that we don't know. We will be able to walk up to each and every table and, between the two of us, we will be able to carry on a comfortable conversation with each and every person that attends. I just need to remember to stand my ground, and don't back down. I just poured a cup of Yogi tea. Each bag of tea has some kind of a quote at the end of the string. My quote was, "We can earn peace of mind from the steady shining sun." The sun doesn't give in to anyone! It shines all the time! (I know it gets dark, but come on people! It doesn't stop shining, it's just on the other side of the world!!!) So if we just hold our ground, and stay steady, maybe I'll get some peace of mind. Let's cross our fingers...

***Tif***

Cupcakes, CHECK!

2008-08-24T09:41:00.005-04:00

Yesterday was a super wedding-checklist day. We started out at 9:30am and got home around 4:30pm.

First stop...

Bakery #1 for cupcake tasting. We got there, and were greeted with one chocolate cupcake, and one vanilla cupcake. Both with a towering glob of icing. I have to say, the icing reminded me of whipped cream out of the can. She was very excited, and very nice to give us samples, telling us that her icing "is a secret recipe. You won't find it anywhere! It's absolutely delicious!" One bite, and I had a stomach ache from it being so stinkin' sweet! Marty isn't a huge fan of icing as it is, so he definitely didn't like it. I loved the chocolate cake, though, so I toughed out the icing, and ate half of the cupcake for the chocolate cake! :) I left there scared. What if I don't like buttercream frosting?! What if I won't like anyone's frosting?! What happens then??? A quick phone call to my delightful Maid of Honor, Whitney, and my fears were put to rest. She told me that not all buttercream tastes the same, and if I end up not really liking it, just ask them to lightly frost the cupcakes. Ok, I'm calm now. Off to stop #2!

Next stop...The Gem Lab

Marty got my ring from this wonderful family run jewelry store called The Gem Lab. So went back to look for wedding bands. When we got there, we found out we get a 15% discount on all wedding related jewelry because we got the engagement ring there! Woo Hoo! So we start looking. Every single band I tried on didn't fit with my ring. A piece of advice to all those picking out engagement rings...Make sure you try on wedding bands to see how they fit together before you buy! Don't get me wrong, I ABSOLUTELY love my engagement ring. It is the most beautiful ring I've ever seen. But it was extremely frustrating to find out that there was only one band that would fit perfectly with the ring, and one other one that would fit ok. So we opted to special order the band that matches my ring, to ensure that they would fit together. Ugh... We went in thinking we'd spend a certain amount on rings (well, ok, I went in thinking we'd spend a certain amount), and we TOTALLY blew the budget with my stinkin' special order ring. I want to clarify that I DO NOT regret getting this engagement ring one single bit. It was just annoying having to special order a wedding band and spending a lot more than I wanted. Marty, on the other hand, had no problem deciding what ring he wanted. Simple and comfortable was what he wanted. He found it easily. Snot. ;) While we were there, I gave them my engagement ring to resize (They didn't size it right when Marty ordered it) and to clean. They said to come back before they close at 4 so I could get it back.

Next stop...Food!

Ok, so that has nothing to do with wedding stuff, but sometimes the chinese buffet just really hits the spot!

After food, we went to JoAnn Fabric's to finally pick out for good our wedding colors. We started looking at the fabrics first, and had absolutely no luck there. Someone gave us the excellent idea to look at the cross-stitch threads. We ended up spending a ton of time there, but finally decided on (I'm giving these colors my own names, since I don't remember what they are actually called) sage, a dark sage, and an off white. They look very nice together. One more thing done!

On to bakery #2...

We hiked it out to the city to Little Bakery. I found them on the internet and when I spoke with the woman, Debbie, I was really impressed. We got there, and they took us up to a little cake testing room, where they had replicas of a bunch of different wedding cakes and designs they can do. She also came prepared with 2 cupcakes (lemon with lemon filling and vanilla buttercream frosting, and chocolate with raspberry filling and vanilla buttercream frosting), carrot cake, and a bunch of tea cookies. She also gave us bottled water, which I thought was really nice. But after the morning's appointment, I have to admit, I was still a bit nervous. Turns out, there was absolutely no need to worry! Everything was delicious! We booked them right away. We are getting a small 6" cake to cut (chocolate with raspberry filling and vanilla buttercream frosting, with a green swirl design) and 4 different cupcake flavors...chocolate with raspberry and vanilla frosting, lemon with lemon filling and vanilla frosting, vanilla with strawberry filling and vanilla frosting, and carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. We also decided to do chocolate covered strawberries, but we'll get them from Esperanza. So we can officially check cupcakes off the list too!!! YES!

We're done there, and it's back to The Gem Lab to pick up my ring. We accomplished SO much yesterday. It was very tiring, but very fulfilling knowing that we got all that done. Our wedding bands come in in about 6 weeks (since mine has to be specially made), so that's comforting to know we don't have to worry about them either. All in all, it was a very good day. Once we get the florist taken care of, we'll be able to relax a bit. All in good time... :)

***Tif***

272 days to go!

CUPCAKES!!!!!

2008-08-22T14:43:00.004-04:00

A few weeks ago, Marty suggested we think about cupcakes instead of a wedding cake. I was pretty set on a cake, so the thought got put on the back burner. Upon looking for a cake places and scouting out prices, we got a little overwhelmed. Some places were charging up to $6 a serving for cake! Plus around a $125 delivery fee, AND then the venue charges $1.50/person for a "slicing fee". We were thinking that we were going to have to spend like a grand on stupid cake! So I started rethinking the whole cupcake idea. So I did some calling around. We can get cupcakes for super cheap, and still super tasty! On top of that, the slicing fee will be waved! Woo Hoo! I'm so excited! We've got two appointments for tasting tomorrow. I can't wait. If anyone has suggestions of flavors, feel free to let me know!

***Tif***

It's called a phone, part 2

2008-08-19T21:08:00.003-04:00

When we booked our venue for the ceremony and reception, they took our credit card and put through a "pending charge" to make sure we had enough money on the card. Then they went ahead and charged the card for the full amount for the down payment, but neglected to take off the pending charge. So for the past 2 weeks, we have had the "pending charge" on the card, taking up space. We wouldn't even be able to use the amount of money on the pending charge because it goes against our available credit. So Marty has called the credit card place, and where our ceremony is. The credit card place said the venue needs to take care of it. We called our coordinator and she told him he needs to talk to the accountant. He called the accountant, and surprise surprise, she hasn't called him back. IT'S CALLED A PHONE PEOPLE! LEARN TO USE IT AND CALL PEOPLE BACK! OMG I just find it interesting that he and I are both annoyed with people not calling us back. Needless to say, he's going to be emailing them tomorrow letting him know he's pretty pissed that he had to spend an hour of his life trying to get this figured out, when it's something that never should have been an issue to begin with. Not only that, the venue should have handled it, not sent him on a wild goose chase, trying to get a hold of this woman, who clearly does not know how to properly operate a phone.

BAH.

Tomorrow will be better.

Now that I think of it, the financial aid lady at school was supposed to fix my financial aid package friday. She told me she would "do it right now, then call you right back." That was 1pm Friday afternoon. No freaking call yet. goddamnit.

I need a drink.

It's called a phone, people! Use it!

2008-08-19T13:53:00.004-04:00

Ok, so this weekend my mom flew in from NC so that we could go dress shopping. She got in at like 2am Saturday morning (we were up by 9 to start shopping) and was gone by Monday afternoon. We went to three places on Saturday. The last place was HORRIBLE. The woman was beyond rude to me. The appointment was set for 2:30, and they close at 4. She told me I was only allowed to have 6 dresses to try on, and that I should feel lucky that she let me pick 9. She also told me to "chop chop" at 3:15 b/c they "close at 4". Not only that, the witch rolled her eyes at me when we first got there because I had found a dress I wanted to try on. That dress made 5 dresses, so far, and I had not yet been so politely notified that I was only allowed 6. So I didn't even try all my dresses on because she rushed me so much! That was a long story short. So I called today and let it be known how rude the woman was and how it was just plain unacceptable that I was treated like that. The woman I spoke to was absolutely wonderful, telling me there were more than just 9 dresses in the shop that were corset tops and there was still hope for me finding "The Dress". So I have an appointment on Saturday at 1pm to see if I can have better luck. I told them I wouldn't even set foot in the store if she was there, though. Not a problem. She's not working that day. Let's see if they can redeem themselves.

I'm supposed to start my next rotation a week from yesterday. So I called the number I was given yesterday and heard this message, "you've reached the nurse manager's office. As of July 2nd, (so and so) no longer works here. If you have an immediate concern, please call (so and so) at (such and such number)." Great. So I call so and so at such and such number and no one answers. I leave a message. No one has called me back today. So I call back. Another answering machine. I don't leave a message this time. I'll call again tomorrow and leave ANOTHER message. I'm just frustrated because I can't make appointments to taste cakes or to talk to florists until I know my work schedule. I really can't even make dress appointments because who knows if I'll be working on Saturdays. Ugh. I just don't like it when people don't call me back within the amount of time I deem acceptable. Speaking of unacceptable, I called a cake place well over a week ago (the same place you used, I believe, Heather) and still no call back. The price is right, and so is the location, so someone had better get their rear in gear and call this girl back! I hate having to hunt people down.

I'm tired of ranting and raving for the moment. Although it's really exciting and fun to plan a wedding, sometimes I just think it would be easier to elope! :-P

***Tif***

Oh, Heather, We booked Boulder and Tumble for the DJ and then Tom Mike for photography. He takes unbelievable pictures, but he costs an arm and a let. I found out about the DJ from one on the bridal shops, Primadonna Bridal, that I've been looking at. IM me one of these days when you get a chance. I feel like I'm going crazy!!!!!!! That, and I want to know how your cake turned out :-P

The next chapter in the book that is my life...

2008-07-12T20:41:00.003-04:00

WE'RE ENGAGED!!!

Marty proposed July 29th. It was totally unexpected, and such a wonderful moment in time. We decided to get married May 24th, 2009 at Esperanza Mansion, on Keuka lake. It's been a whirlwind of the past few weeks, trying to get everything together and under control. So far, we have the venue, DJ, and photographer booked. We're also having the ceremony at Esperanza, so we don't have to worry about a limo or anything. We also get to stay in the Bridal Suite there the night we get married, so that's nice too. They put 20 rooms on hold for us for family and friends to rent for the night, so that's extra nice.

I've done dress shopping already, as well. I haven't found "The Dress" yet, though. I'm hoping my matron of honor will be able to find some time to do a little shopping with me before my mom comes back into town in the middle of September. If not, I'm sure I can find someone :)

I'll try to keep updated, but I make no promises! I barely have time to breathe, let alone update my blog! I'll make an effort, though.

On a side note, I'm putting my running shoes away for the rest of the year. No more racing til next year :( I'm just too sore between my knee and my foot. It's time to give the body a rest. Hopefully I'll come back ready and raring to go next year!

***Tif***

The Little Things

2008-06-16T21:42:00.003-04:00

Wow, time sure flies. I haven't had time, or even thought about updating until today. I raced yesterday. It was the Tanglefoot Trail Run; a 5 miler down in Elmira, NY. It was the first race I ran in last year. I'm convinced they messed up the timing last year, and that I really ran it in 1:08:something, not 1:03:41. So my goal was to go out and beat the 1:03 time, even though I really think I ran it slower. Turns out I ran it not only faster than the 1:08, but I ran faster than the 1:03! I finished in 1:01:40, somewhere around 7 minutes faster than last year! WHOOP WHOOP! I set a new Personal Record (PR) by 7 minutes! Yay! It was such a great feeling. I decided not to run it next year, though. The first half of the race is through cut fields, which is just miserable. I trail run so I don't have to fight with the sun, and for half an hour, I busted my ass running through fields. Whoopie. Then the last half mile is up this ridiculous hill. So steep, no one can run it. It's no fun walking the last half mile. I got to about .2 miles from the finish and there was this wonderful woman whom I had never EVER seen before, was cheering for everyone. I was trying to run, but my asthma (and mind) got the best of me, so I started walking. This woman told me I wasn't allowed to walk because I was so close to the finish. She yelled at me until I made my legs run, and then she cheered me to the finish. As I got closer, I heard my dad screaming for me too, which made me light a bigger fire under my ass. I can't express to you how important it is to have people cheering you on and supporting you while you are racing. As exciting as finishing is, it's so hard. And knowing that there are people at the end cheering you on, wanting you to finish strong, is sometimes just what a runner needs to finish strong. So a big thank you to all those of you who go out and support us runners. We appreciate you more than we could ever express. Thank you just doesn't even begin to cover it. You help bring out the strength and heart we know we have in us, but just need to be shown. It really is the little things in life that count the most...

***Tiffany***

Holiday!

2008-05-15T20:31:00.003-04:00

I finally finished packing and doggie-proofing the cabin. We leave tomorrow afternoon for 12 days of vacation, or "holiday" as my dad calls it. Marty and I are flying down to NC to surprise my mom for her birthday, then Tuesday we head out to AZ to tour it a bit, and visit with his dad for a week. It will be a nice vacation. It's the getting ready for the vacation that drives me nuts. I've spent all day cleaning and packing. Delilah is going to stay in the cabin, and Dad is going to let her out a few times a day, so I am super-cleaning it, to make sure there's nothing for her to get into. She's very good when she's home alone, though, so I'm not overly concerned. We've also been taking her and Belle, Marty's dog, to obedience classes. Delilah is doing amazing. You can definitely notice a difference, especially when you walk with her. She's walking politely now, and not tugging on the leash. She is even walking next to me without me holding the leash! I'm so proud of my smarty-pants. :)

Well, I've been going crazy all day trying to get ready for tomorrow, so I'm finally going to sit down and relax a bit.

***Tiffany***

Return of the Dirty Girl

2008-04-03T21:19:00.002-04:00

I hit the trails today! And boy oh boy did they kick my ass! I did just about 4 miles and it took me 1 hour and 5 minutes. In my defense of the super slow time, I ended up hiking about a mile of it uphill b/c I got slightly misplaced and knew that if I headed up, I would find the ridge trail again. It was amazing being out there again. I really just felt like I was at home. I wasn't that sore (except for some arch issues I've been struggling with, but no big deal) and I didn't feel very winded. I would have been able to run the whole time if it wasn't for the vertical ascent that I had to make. At one point I was essentially on my hands and knees trying to get up the hill. With the incline AND the collection of leaves and mud, it made for a very difficult, yet nice, trip. At first I was just trying to run the whole time, even with my heart ticking away at 186 most of the time. Then I remembered that I'm most comfortable when I'm running between 168 and 174, so I focused on keeping my HR around there, even if it meant more walking than I wanted to do. It was really nice to be able to come home muddy. I would describe myself as a muddy mess. I think I could have dumped water out of my shoes. I know I could have rung water out of my socks. And I learned that the pants that I have are no good for running distances where there may be water. They sort of flare at the bottom, which isn't an issue until they get wet. Then they get super heavy and annoying because I can feel them against my legs. Hopefully it will be warm enough on the 19th to wear shorts, that way I won't have to worry about it. Even though I didn't feel very whooped while I was out there, I'm feeling it now. I'm really tired and I just want to crawl into bed and sleep. Exams tomorrow are keeping me from that. Well, that and the Sabres game. Looks like it's going to be a loss. :( Bye bye playoffs.

Update on D...her knee is popping with almost every step. I'm just at a loss. I don't know what to do. I can't do any less with her. We don't go on walks, and we're not doing physical therapy. I decided today to try icing it again. I'm also doing Reiki treatments on her daily. Hopefully that will make a difference. We go to the vet again a week from today. Hopefully he will have good news for me.

Speaking of Reiki, I got certified as a level I and level II practitioner this weekend! So if you, or someone you know wants a treatment, let me know! I'm thinking about making everyone's first 30 minute treatment free. Practice is good for me. Can't practice too much. Plus it will be good to get to know different people's energies besides Delilah's and Marty's.

Back to studying. Wish me luck tomorrow. And send D some healing vibes. She needs them!

***Tif***

Provided for, again.

2008-04-01T22:32:00.003-04:00

It amazes me how everything ALWAYS works out. Paying for Delilah's surgery the first round was bad enough, but to have to come up with funds to pay for another surgery...I didn't know what I was going to do. For the past 2 months, I have been fighting with Saturn, trying to get the left-overs back from my warranty I had on the Redline. I fought and fought with them, calling them pretty much weekly, and kept getting the run-around. Finally I was able to get a hold of someone competent. After speaking with him, we figured I would get MAYBE $800 back. I was supposed to get the check last week, but of course that didn't happen. So I called him, he called corporate and found out the woman that was supposed to cut the check for me ended up having a heart attack before she had the chance. Poor woman. But doesn't it just figure...what I didn't mention before was the fact that the first idiot I was dealing with ended up getting fired before he took care of the warranty cancellation. So one person fired, one heart attack. I finally got the check today, after buying my new car on Dec 29th. :) What's even better, is that the check was for more than $200 than I thought it was going to be! That's going to cover D's surgery and then leave me enough to get the new camelbak that I need for this season's running! :) Again, it is just amazing how everything works out. I didn't have the money to pay for her second surgery. I paid with my credit card, which was going to get minimum payments paid until I got my next check from school, which wasn't going to happen until June. I just feel like I can breathe a sigh of relief. I really can't believe how everything worked out for me, again. This isn't the first time things have been tight and I've gotten money I didn't necessarily expect. Today is a happy day!

It's also a happy day because the snow is melting! WOO HOO! The trails are going to be covered in mud, but I'm hoping if I give it until Thursday night, they will dry out a bit so I won't sink. I don't mind getting muddy though. It's always a little more fun when you get dirty :)

On one last note, WAY TO GO SABRES!!!! There's still hope for us yet! When everyone else said you weren't going to make it to the playoffs, I never gave up hope! I stood behind you the whole time! We only need 4 more points to make the playoffs! Two more wins, that's all we need! LET'S GO BUFFALO!!!!!

***Tif***

Round 2

2008-03-26T13:40:00.002-04:00

Delilah had to have another surgery today. She somehow managed to blow through her first ACL reconstruction within the first month. Either that, or the repair wasn't what it should have been...She has been in so much pain in the past few weeks, and no one believed me when I said that there was something wrong. I finally pushed for them to put her under anesthesia again to re-check her. Turns out, Mommy knows best. Like I said, she had torn through the repair. So this time, the vet said he made it double strength, so hopefully it won't tear. She is going to hate me for the next three months, though. She's going to be attached to my side when we go outside. No running for her, no trotting, no speed walking even. I just want my little girl back to normal, not in any pain, and not running with a limp. I feel so bad...she's in so much pain today. I feel terrible.

My OB/GYN rotation is almost done, thank goodness. I've watched one C-section, assisted in one C-section, and assisted in 3 vaginal deliveries. I did much better when I assisted on the C-section. There was no timbering involved, whatsoever. I didn't even get dizzy. It was great. I enjoyed it a lot. The deliveries were eh. I could definitely go my life without watching another one. I hate the hours. I worked a 20 hour day Monday/Tuesday, and 16 of which involved waiting at the hospital for a baby to decide to be born. I got home at 5am Tuesday morning, with just enough time to get 2 hours sleep, and take D to the vet. I was so tired yesterday. I'll be happy at the end of next week. I start emergency medicine on April 7th. Can't wait!

On a quick race note, it's finally getting nice out. The snow is starting to melt, and hopefully I'll have my trails back by the end of the week. One can only hope...

***Tif***

Timber! Part II

2008-03-12T20:24:00.002-04:00

It starts with my ears getting really warm. Then it moves to my whole face. Then I start sweating. Then I see spots. Then it all goes dark. I don't know how I managed to save myself, but I managed to sit down every time, just in time, before actually passing out. This morning, at 5am, my phone went off. It was the Dr. I'm working with called me, telling me that the c-section we had thursday morning got moved up to this morning at 5:45 because she went into labor. No shower time for me. Only time to throw toast in the toaster and eat it on the way. If I wasn't so woozy, I think it would have been a very cool thing to see. But it was so bad, I couldn't even look at the baby after they had taken her out, and put her in her crib without getting hot and seeing spots. It was miserable. I was so embarrassed. The surgeon ended up asking me if I had seen his anatomy lesson that he gave the dad, and I said "Honestly, I wasn't exactly paying attention." He looked at me and said, "So you're really admitting you weren't paying attention?!" I explained that I was more concentrating on not passing out, rather than his anatomy lesson. He laughed at that point, and said he understood. Then I got to endure many stories about residents and students passing out in the OR. So at least he wasn't mad at me that I admitted I wasn't paying attention. There's another c-section scheduled for tomorrow morning. Let's just hope that there's not going to be Timber, Part III. I don't think I'm cut out for surgery. It gives me the heebie-geebies.

***Tif***

Quick Update

2008-03-05T20:18:00.002-05:00

I have been having this TERRIBLE pain in my right foot for like two months now. It's right on the top of my foot, and it just doesn't fit any kind of injury. So I finally decided to go to see someone for it. I went to the podiatrist last night and he gave me some not so fantastic news. Apparently, I'm 26 and have arthritis. That freaking sucks! You're not supposed to get arthritis until you're old! 26 is not old, damnit! I am, in no way, going to let this sideline me for the race season. I've got 11 races that I want to do this summer, and I'm not letting a little arthritis get in my way. You know, I'm glad I know what the pain is caused by, but I wish it was something like a fracture, or sprain. Something that I knew would heal. I'm stuck with this forever now. Ok, I'm officially starting to feel old.

Boo Hiss.

***Tif***

Itching like a kid with chicken pox

2008-02-25T09:06:00.002-05:00

I am absolutely itching to get out on the trails. The sun is shining today and I'm just ready to go. Only thing is that I'm not fighting with the snow and ice on the trails, so I'm gonna have to wait. Less than 2 month to go until the first race of the season. I'm a little nervous. It's 12.4 miles and so early in the season. I'm just afraid I won't be up to that kind of mileage by then. I need to force myself to get on the treadmill more often. I just hate it so much...I did an interval workout on there last week. It wasn't terrible. Time went by relatively quickly with all the speed changes. I'll just be happy to run outside again in my tank-top and shorts and not freeze my tail off.

Ok, I'm done whining for now. I hope winter is almost over...

***Tif***

Mexico, Delilah, and Training

2008-02-20T16:10:00.003-05:00

Well, I'm back from Mexico. It was nice being in a warm place, but I think it's nicer to be home. I couldn't eat pretty much anything all week. The food and my stomach just weren't getting along. It was rough not feeding my hungry tummy the amount it's used to getting! But I'm back home and things are back to normal now, so we're both happy!

Delilah had surgery yesterday. She tore her ACL a few weeks back and had it repaired yesterday. She's got about a 10-12 inch incision on her left hind leg and the entire leg is completely shaved. She's doing well, though. She's bearing a small amount of weight on it and isn't crying or whining at all. She's got many weeks of rehab ahead of her. Marty, the smarty pants that he is, suggested that I wait until this week for her surgery that way I can be home with her for three weeks. I've got this month of rotations off, so it worked out well. I've got to go back to work on the 10th of March. I can't wait until she's back to 100%. She'll finally be able to run with me again!

Speaking of running, I'm all registered for my first race! It's April 19th and it's right down in Naples. It's called the Muddy Sneakers and it's 20k, which is 12.4 miles. I decided last night that I'm not going to goof around anymore. It's time to start training. So I hopped on the treadmill and did 20 minutes of intervals. It kicked my butt. I ended up going 2.2 miles. Good workout though. I have two months to get up to 20-25 miles a week. You should only increase milage 10% a week, so that will put me right about there. I just wish it was warmer out. It would be much easier to get my miles in. I'm not a huge fan of the treadmill.

***Tif***

Public Service Announcement

2008-02-04T20:01:00.000-05:00

I'm in the middle of tabulating the results from the community education project that I needed to do for my Primary Care rotation. I decided to do it on Upper Respiratory Infections (URI's) and when to treat with antibiotics and when not to. What I'm finding is that most people don't understand some very important points that I assumed were common sense (which are probably common sense to me b/c I've been in the medical field for so long...)

*URI's are most often caused by a VIRUS

*Viral infections generally begin to get better after day 4-5

*The treatment for a viral infection is to treat the symptoms (ie. cough = cough syrup. fever = fever reducer)

*If the URI symptoms are not getting any better, what-so-ever, after day 5 or so, it is likely that a bacterial infection has developed.

*ANTIBIOTICS ONLY WORK AGAINST BACTERIA

*ANTIBIOTICS ONLY WORK AGAINST BACTERIA

*ANTIBIOTICS ONLY WORK AGAINST BACTERIA

So what have we learned today, kids? We have learned that antibiotics only work against bacteria, NOT VIRUSES. We have also learned that the next time you're sick, you're going to wait 4-5 days to see if your symptoms get any better. If they aren't, then you can go to the doctors and if your doctor decides that what you have is most likely caused by a BACTERIA (not a virus, a BACTERIA), then you might get some antibiotics. But if it's a virus, you're not going to get an antibiotic because all it's going to do is give you a nasty stomach ache and not kill the cause of your cold.

I'm glad I could teach everyone something today. I think that the thing that has annoyed me the most with this project is that even though I explained this to patients, they still walked out of the office thinking that you can treat a virus with antibiotics. I don't know how much clearer I could have made it. I even had a hand-out!!! I've come to the conclusion that people don't want to know a damn thing about HOW they get better, they just come to the doctor expecting a wonder-drug for everything. They want to get better, they just don't give a damn how that happens.

I leave for Mexico on Saturday. It couldn't come at a better time. I'm about ready to pull the hair out of my head. One week from now, I'll be gettin' my drink on in beautiful Mexico with the man of my dreams :) Does it get any better than that?!

***Tif***

Song of the day ~ "Get my drink on" by Toby Keith

Craziness

2008-01-20T08:38:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I'm well aware of the fact that it's been ages since I've written. Life has just been crazy. The holidays were great...

Christmas morning, before Marty's family came over, he and I opened all our presents. His big present was a super spectacular (well I thought it was pretty super spectacular) travel bag for his golf stuff. I got a KitchenAid kitchen! I got a food processor, blender, toaster, super-duper mixer, and an apron. Everything was red! Exactly what I wanted! I got a new camera, too. It's perfect size to take running with me. Also perfect timing for vacation. We got an attachment that allows you to take it under water to take pictures. I can't wait to use it! A few hours later his family came over. I cooked two kinds of lasagna. Everything was going great until the oven set on fire. Oh yes, that's right. I set the oven on fire. One of the lasagnas overflowed once it got warm and the sauce and cheese apparently are flammable. I was so upset. His mom just hugged me, smiled, and asked for salt. Apparently salt puts flames out. She said that she's had experience with burning ovens before...how else would she have known about the salt?! The food turned out really good, though.

A few days later it was time to go out and look for a new car. The Saturn was falling apart and I was sick of walking up and down the hill b/c the car couldn't make it up. We ended up settling on a 2008 Rav4 Limited. It's some kind of Pacific Metallic Blue, or something like that, with beige leather interior. It's amazing. We never take the truck anywhere anymore. We love the Rav so much! It's a great car. And I can even get up the hill in the snow!!! WooHoo!!!

Besides that, there's just been lots of working. I'm learning a lot doing primary care and am exponentially more confident as a provider than I was before I started this rotation. Only two and a half weeks left, then we're off to sunny Mexico! It couldn't come at a better time. I'm getting burned out VERY quickly. Ok, time to do some cleaning before the boy gets here to pick me up for football sunday at his place :)

***Tif***

Happy birthday to me!

2007-12-23T21:10:00.000-05:00

Well, it's official...I'm 26! One more year gone. But it really was an amazing year. I don't think I'd change a thing about it. If 26 is even half as awesome as 25 was, I'm in for one great year. Here's a recap of my day. It starts with last night, actually...

I get home from Marty's, and my bathroom is finished! No more being an outdoors girl! I got to use my own bathroom, with the heated floors! I can't tell you how nice it is to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and not have freezing cold feet! Then this morning, I got to take a shower in my very own shower! It was fantastic! And a real shock. I had no idea everything was going to be ready. I spent an hour or so this morning cleaning b/c I knew we were having company over. It wasn't terrible. It really needed to be done. Marty got here a little before 11, and we went up to the house and had breakfast with Dad and Suzie. I had the option of whatever my heart desired, but I picked a bagle, egg, and cheese sandwich. It was so tasty and completely hit the spot. After breakfast, we came back down to the cabin and rested and watched football til 2 when everyone came over to celebrate. My mom, stepdad and brother came up from North Carolina, so they got to see the hill for the first time. It was great. All my grandparents were here too. It was a dream come true. I'm going to bed tonight quite possibly the happiest woman in the world. :)

Tomorrow it's back to work for a half day. Then Christmas with Dad and Suzie, then Christmas with Dad's side of the family. Tuesday is Christmas with Marty's side of the family, and the Wednesday is Marty and Tif day. We're going to test drive some new cars. Both of us are thinking about getting new Toyota's, depending on what kind of a deal we can get. So far, it's been a great holiday. And it's not even over yet! I have a feeling it's only going to get better :)

***Tif***

Where'd the weekend go?!

2007-12-16T20:00:00.000-05:00

I can't believe the weekend is over already. It feels like I didn't even get one, although I definitely did. Friday night I raced home from Buffalo so that we could make it to our first volleyball night. Marty and I joined a church league (stop laughing...I went to church once...) and our first practice was Friday night. I had so much fun! That's no surprise, though, knowing how much I love playing volleyball. We got home and went in the hot tub b/c we were already getting sore. Well let me just tell you, I'm still so freaking sore I can barely sit down and stand up. My legs are killing me. I don't get it...I run! How can my legs be so sore?! Oh well. It was a good workout. Starting on Jan 4th, we're playing every friday night until sometime in March. It's going to be so great playing again. I need to remind my legs how to jump, though. Can't get a Kill if you can't get your hand above the net...

Saturday we shopped all day. I hate people, and I hate how they don't pay attention to ANYTHING, including the people they run into at the mall. Idiots that wait until the last freaking minute to get Christmas presents. We wouldn't have had to go to the mall, but the Apple store finished fixing Marty's computer, so we had to go pick it up. Neither of us waited til the last minute to buy presents. And that's because we have a BRAIN. Being at the mall that day really put me out of the Christmas mood. Jerks.

Today was pretty much a football day. I made lots of food for us, we watched a lot of football, then we finished wrapping presents. I also got an early christmas present...I GOT A FOOD PROCESSOR! A nice KitchenAid one that's red! I got to use it to make mac and cheese tonight, too. It was fantastic! I love new toys! Now I'm back home and about to watch Rainbow Brite. Yes, that's right. I'm going back to the 80's tonight!

***Tif***

P.S. Tomorrow's my first day back at work! This time it's family medicine for 2 months. I'm so excited to work again!

Song of the day ~ "Misery Business" by Paramore

Quote of the weekend ~ "How's that taste?!" ~ Me, trashtalking during church league volleyball Friday night.

Countdown!

2007-12-12T11:43:00.000-05:00

57 days til Mexico
11 days til my birthday
5 days til I get my trails back from the hunters

:)

That's all I've got to say today. Hope your week is going well!!!

***Tif***

A new look on things

2007-12-10T21:05:00.000-05:00

I feel like I'm in a slump again. I'm just absolutely bummed today and I have this nagging feeling that something wrong. I just can't put my finger on what exactly it is. I found out the other day that my aunt has rapidly spreading cancer and only has a few months left. Maybe that's it. Within the past week I've had to deal with 2 deaths, and the upcoming death of my aunt. I'm just sad. That's the best way I can describe it. I know I am so lucky and have so many wonderful things in my life, but I can't help but feel sad. You just never know what tomorrow is going to bring. This past week has made me realize that. There is so much that I want to accomplish in my life...so much I want to do, so much I want to see. How do I fit all of it in? How do I make the most of the life I've got? Well, I guess the easiest way to start is to just realize what I have and to appreciate it. I think that as a species we have a tendency of taking things for granted. We forget that each day is a gift, and that the next day isn't guaranteed. We need to realize the things we have in our life and appreciate them. I may sound like a broken record here, but I can't stress it enough. Maybe I'm stressing it to pound it into my own head. I don't know. I just wish I could get rid of this feeling of impending doom. I felt like this after Todd died and after Jill died. It goes away, it just takes time. Speaking of Todd, I can't believe it's been almost 7 years. On one hand it seems like it was just yesterday that he was making fun of me for my first car accident, telling me that you never swerve for anything that doesn't have hooves. On the other hand, it really seems like a lifetime ago. Either way, I still miss him.

In the 5 minutes I've spent writing this, I've made the executive decision that I'm tired of being sad and bummed. It's all a mind-set. I'm going to go to bed, and wake up tomorrow with a different look on things. No more being bummed, missing those who aren't here anymore. It's time to concentrate on what I do have....on my family...on my friends...on the amazing life that I have. I'm blessed. And while I'm thinking about it, I love you Marty. You have given me so much. Thank you for all that you do, and for how happy you make me. I am unbelievably lucky, and I don't think I tell you enough how thankful I am to have you in my life. You take my breath away.

***Tiffany***

Winter Training

2007-12-02T14:33:00.001-05:00

I made a decision the other day. I absolutely hate running on the treadmill. I HATE it. Ok, so I already knew that. I also knew that I need to train this winter for next year's season. So here's my idea...I'm going to work on my 5k time. That's 3.1 miles. I'm going to work up to it, though. I did 2 miles the other day, and then a mile and a half yesterday. I'm running somewhere around a 10 minute/mile right now, which I'm really not happy with. I feel like if I'm running on a treadmill, or anything other than a trail, I should be down around an 7-8 minute mile. So I'm just going to bust my behind all winter to get down to that. I still haven't really done any serious training since the Dirty Girls race back in August b/c of my knee. But I've got a little brace for it now, and it hasn't been bothering me too badly. I'm excited to have a goal again. It makes me happy :)

I finished wrapping all of Marty's presents today, including his stocking stuffers. I'm SOOOOOO happy to have that out of the way. I only have a few more little things to get for his stocking, then I'll be completely done! With him, anyways. I'm pretty much done with everyone else, too. Except for the whole wrapping. I still have lots of wrapping to do, but I'm not minding it so much. I really love this time of year! And my birthday is getting soooooooo close!!!! Woo Hoo! Wanna know what else is getting close?! MEXICO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We're leaving February 9th. A little over 2 months. Oh I cannot wait!

***Tiffany***

Jilly's Day

2007-12-01T07:58:00.001-05:00

When someone you know dies, it makes you realize a lot of things, whether you were close to them or not. It makes you realize how special life is. It makes you realize how lucky you are. And it reminds you not to take anything for granted. I feel so blessed to have the life that I have. I'm healthy, I have an amazing family, an amazing dog, amazing friends, and an absolutely amazing boyfriend. What more can a girl ask for?! I really can't think of anything. I wasn't close to Junior when he died. Hell, I didn't even know he died until over 2 months after it happened. I'm sad for his family and friends, but I know he's in a better place. And I'm extremely thankful to have met him. A big part of where I am in life is because of what I learned from him. Thank you, Junior, for helping me find what I've found.

On another note, today is the 4th anniversary of my stepmom's death. She was an outstanding woman who touched so many lives. We miss you, Jilly. And we love you.

***Tiffany***

Life

2007-11-30T23:12:00.000-05:00

Life is precious. Don't take one minute for granted, because you never know if it's going to be your last. Live life with no regrets. Be thankful for all the beauty that is in it, and for those that have entered your life and blessed it. Everything happens for a reason.

RIP Junior.

The Joys of Christmas Shopping...

2007-11-26T21:16:00.000-05:00

I love Christmas time. I love giving people presents and seeing their faces. It's so exciting for me. Half the time I can't even keep my mouth shut until Christmas when it comes to presents. As soon as I buy them, I want to give them to that person. I don't usually have a problem finding presents, but this year I'm going crazy! I cannot figure out what to get Marty! What do you get the boy that has everything?! I have a million ideas, and he always ends up figuring them out and giving me one reason or another why it's not a good idea. Ugh! I think I came up with something today, though. And I'm pretty excited about it. I'm just hoping that when he opens it, he's not disappointed.

On another note, we're signed up for volleyball and bowling starting in January. I can't tell you how extremely excited I am about that! I get to play volleyball again! Let's cross our fingers that I haven't forgotten how to play. I think it's been around 6 years since I've so much as picked up a volleyball. And as for bowling, I really suck at it. But it's a ton of fun! I'm loving that we're doing these things together. I think it's going to be a riot! :)

My next rotation is all set up. I'm going to be doing my primary care rotation. Unfortunately, I have to do it in two places, because my preceptor works in two places. Shouldn't be too bad, though. Neither site is too far away. It's a two month rotation. After that, I'll have OB/GYN, Peds, Geriatrics, and Emergency medicine left! That, and two electives. I'm so close to being done!!! After Primary Care, it's off to Mexico with the boy!!! It's going to be a fantastic vacation. If my math is right, we've got 76 days left!!!!! Can't wait to soak up the sun with you, boy! :*

***Tif***

Hey! You're Crazy Bitch!

2007-11-21T23:57:00.000-05:00

Today was a bit different of a day than yesterday. Yesterday, I think that the world might have been against me. Today, I was totally against the world. I was snapping at all the wrong things, at all the wrong times, and good god was I ever a crazy bitch. Marty was such a saint to put up with my craziness today. I could barely handle being in the same room with myself. I don't know how he did it ALL day. I got to his house early so we could go out to breakfast and then do an ass load of shopping. We ended up getting back home around 5ish, just in time for me to start baking cheesecakes, and randomly snapping at him, and crying in between snapping. It was so strange...I heard the things that were coming out of my mouth, I knew I shouldn't be saying them, but nonetheless, there they were, being said by my outloud voice. I had absolutely, positively no filter in my mouth today. Whatever I thought, out it came. And some of the things that came out of my mouth, I don't even recall thinking. It was like something took me over and made me say things that were mean, and that I didn't mean. Marty, you were absolutely amazing today. I'm sorry I was being such an asshole. Tomorrow's a new day. You are so great. :*

***Tiffany***

Song of the day ~ "Crazy Bitch" by Buckcherry

Quote of the day ~ "Too much of a good thing is wonderful." ~ Mae West.

The Wylie Coyote Strikes Again

2007-11-20T21:20:00.000-05:00

Do you ever have one of those days where you should have never gotten out of bed? Today was definitely one of those days for me. It was like coyote medicine was surrounding me. For those of you who don't know, coyotes are known to be mischievous and trouble makers. I woke up this morning and just felt awful. My head hurt and I couldn't stop coughing. I was in a fog. I forced myself out of bed, knowing I had things that needed to be accomplished today. I didn't make it out of the house until almost noon. My first stop was the storage unit to drop off my tires that were taken off the car yesterday. I also needed to search for some spices that were stashed there for tomorrow's pumpkin cheesecake. It was my hope that I could find my kitchen stuff too, so that I could use my tools to bake with, instead of Marty's. Not only that, I was looking for my set of knives, which I couldn't find. But let me take it back a bit...Getting into the car to go to the storage unit, I nailed my head on the car so hard I saw stars. No big deal. I'm a klutz. So now I'm in the storage unit, climbing on the tables Dad made in order to increase usable space, trying to get to the back corner, hoping the knives and tools were there. WHACK! I smack my head on the light bulb holder on the ceiling so hard, it brings tears to my eyes. Now let me clarify, I wasn't crying. It was like when you get hit in the nose really hard and your eyes water. I still have a huge lump on my head. Then, I knock one of the lamps over, shattering the bulb all over the floor AND breaking the lamp. Sweet. Suzie calls and I told her about how crappy my day was going and how many times I had managed to hit my head already in the day. I got off the phone with her, and not 2 minutes later, I managed to whack myself in the forehead with a freaking chair. I gotta say, at this point, the day was really getting the best of me. I felt like the Wylie Coyote. One thing after another. I was so tempted to call it a day (at 12:30) and just go back home and crawl into bed, pull the covers over my head, and not move until tomorrow morning. But I'm no quitter! That, and I knew I had to do the shopping for the house today, and if I didn't do it today, I wasn't going to have time to do it again until Friday. And the cabinets were looking pretty empty. So I finished up, grabbed my spices, and hit the road. Time to brave Canandaigua and Wegmans.

At this point, my head is killing me, and I have no patience for anything, or anyone. I grab my cart, and the first thing I do is smash my shin into the bottom of it. Fantastic. Marty told me today I shouldn't be able to leave the house without a body cage surrounding me. I think he's right. Before I went to Wegmans, I stopped at Starbuck's, to cheer myself up. When I was checking out at the register, I asked the woman if she could throw away the empty cup for me. She grabbed it, and went to throw it in the trash, but missed, and got strawberries and cream frappaccino all over her pants and shoes. Apparently my coyote medicine is affecting those around me as well. I felt terrible. I high-tailed it outta there as fast as humanly possible and headed back home to the hill. I felt like Eeyore at this point. Like I had a personal rain cloud following me around everywhere. I just couldn't shake it. So I went for a run. I felt so much better after. I left that rain cloud behind. That is until after dinner when I came back to the cabin and got absolutely frustrated to the point where I wanted to scream. So here I am now, at 9:34pm. I'm crawling into bed, and hoping to put this miserable day behind me. Tomorrow should be better. I'm spending the whole day with the boy. The idea alone makes me happy. I just hope the rain cloud stays away. Maybe I'll pack an umbrella, just in case...A good friend once told me that a few ibuprofen and a good drink will cure anything. Maybe I'll give that a try tomorrow morning before I head to Marty's. It'll be 5 o'clock somewhere.

***Tiffany***

Honey, I'm home!!!

2007-11-11T18:46:00.000-05:00

Yay! I'm finally back home after being gone for a week. The week, itself, sucked. But the weekend pretty much rocked. I left school Friday around 11ish and headed down to PA to visit with the family for my cousin's 13th birthday. His mom was throwing him a paint ball party for his birthday, so most of the family thought it would be fun to go and visit and play. I got there around 4ish and was promptly handed a beer and a guitar. I played Guitar Hero so much this weekend! I am actually the VanNorman reigning champion. I was unstoppable last night. It was fantastic :) I passed out around 9:30 (yeah, I'm a party animal) and was up around 8ish, ready and raring to go and play more Guitar Hero. We ended up leaving and playing paint ball for about 4 hours, which was amazing. I would, hands down, play again. I have so many welts and bruises, though. But they were well earned. I was the only girl playing with 30-some guys. It was a lot of fun. I played more Guitar Hero last night, kicking some serious ass, and passed out again around 9:30 (I'm terrible, I know). Got up around 8 this morning, and was on the road home by 9. I picked up Delilah around 2 and was back on the hill by 2:30. I'm so happy to be back home, and so happy to be with Delilah again. I missed her so much! It's so good to be home :)

***Tif***

I PASSED!!!!!

2007-11-08T21:59:00.000-05:00

I GOT A 148!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Like I said, I needed a 135 to pass, and I got a 148. They say how you do on the PACKRAT (the practice boards exam) is going to predict how well you do on your PANCE (the actual boards). I feel like I'm one step closer to being done and finally working. It feels great!

Nobody said it would be easy

2007-11-07T22:29:00.001-05:00

I took my practice boards today. It was ugly, to say the least. I need a 135 to "pass". I spent pretty much the last 2 days studying for them, with studying here and there for the past month. When I took the same exam (but different questions) a few months ago, without studying, I scored a 127. I'm hoping I can squeeze another 8 points out of studying, in order to avoid "remediation" and having to take the exam a third time. Today was just a really stressful day, and to be honest, I'm glad it's over.

I pride myself in not having any regrets, but having lessons learned. I firmly believe that the person I am today was shaped and molded through those "lessons learned". And to be honest, I am very proud of who, and what I have become. I've done some things in the past that I'm not very proud of, but have always tried not to regret them, knowing that I am who I am today in part, is due to them. There is one thing in particular that I have been kicking myself for about 7 years for doing. I had finally put it behind me, and let it go, and then I got a phone call at 4am this morning reminding me of how I "FUCKED UP!" 7 years ago. Yes, I never should have done what I did, but it happened nonetheless, and I've apologized for it since the day it happened. I can't go back and change things, and I'm not even sure I would change them if I could. So here I am, for one last time, saying I'm sorry. I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm sorry I did what I did. But neither of us would be where we are today if it hadn't happened. I know I like where I am, and I have a funny feeling you do too. So there it is, folks. My final apology. The past is the past, and that's where it should stay. That's where I intend on keeping it. Reliving old memories, whether good or bad, is going to get a person nowhere. Focusing on the now, and even the future to an extent, is what is going to get you where you want to go. Let go of the hurt, and live for today. "Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So love the people that treat you right, forget about the ones who don't, and believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said it would be easy. They just promised it would be worth it." And there's my quote of the day.

***Tiffany***

Needs

2007-11-06T22:32:00.000-05:00

This week I have to be in Buffalo for class. We had an exam yesterday, we're taking our practice boards exam tomorrow, and then Thursday and Friday we are doing ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support). We can't do our emergency medicine rotation without being ACLS certified, so it's kind of an important thing. Since home is now 2 hours from school, Missy is a doll and told me I could stay with her for the week. Even though I had to be here yesterday, I was done by 3, so I decided that I'd go back home for the night. I got to spend some quality time with the boy (I'm including me fast asleep on the couch next to him as quality time. At least I was next to him!), so that made me happy. Got up early, and was outta the house by 7am this morning to get to Buffalo by 9, for class. Missy and her fiance have been great. Very welcoming. But it's still not home. And it's funny, because I never miss anyone, or anything, except Delilah. Right now, I am so homesick, I feel like a kid again. And I haven't even been gone a whole day yet! I think it's the thought that I won't be there until Sunday, and knowing that I'm not here willingly. I could go home and commute every day, and honestly, I think I would, if I had snow tires on my car. On our way home from class today, I slid through a stop sign, right into an intersection. Gotta love Buffalo, and the random 2 or so inches of slush/snow we got today. Luckily it was in the ghetto, and there were more people walking around than there were driving. I'm just ready for this week to be over, to be home, and to see my little one again. Oh yeah, and my golfer ;)

***Tiffany***

Thought of the day ~ There's nothing like the feeling of realizing what in your life you really do need (or don't need for that matter).

LET'S GO BUFFALO!!!

2007-11-05T08:29:00.001-05:00

I went to my first regular season football game yesterday. It was so much fun! I don't even like football that much, but it was an absolute blast. I wouldn't say "better" than hockey games, but different. Lots more cheering and shit talking, which I LOVE both! :) Marty and I went with his parents, who are also a riot. His mom, Jo refused to do any high fiving whatsoever. She made a declaration before we even got into the stadium that she would be participating in no high fiving. I got a mid five out of her part way through the game. It was great! Marty and I didn't have to worry about driving, so the drinks just kept coming. I was wasted by the second half. Marty, the good boy that he is, realized this, and took my last drink for himself. haha! The Bills won, and didn't play too badly. I can't wait til the next game I go to! It really is a lot different than hockey. We went to the Sabres game Friday night and everyone was so quiet. I'm not sure if it was b/c we sat in the snootie section, where people think they are above cheering, or if the arena was just dead, but either way, it sucked being one of the only people cheering in my section. Hopefully everything will be a little livelier on Wednesday night. I'm having a week filled with Buffalo professional sports! IT ROCKS! Two Sabres games and one Bills game, all within a week! What a lucky girl!

I'm headed to Buffalo for the week for a bunch of pointless classes. I have to be there today at 2:30 for 20 minutes of an oral exam. It's crazy and pointless. I'd drive back home tonight if we didn't have the practice board exam on Wednesday. Missy and I are going to study for it today and tomorrow. There's no coming home Wednesday night either, b/c of the game. If we are done early Thursday, I might come home. I'm going to miss the lil black one. Then Friday after class, I'm heading down to PA to visit with family for the weekend. My cousin is turning 13, and is having a paint ball party, so half the family decided they wanted to go and play too. All the big kids are going to be there. It's going to be so much fun! I'll finally be back home on Sunday, sometime. Then I've got 3 whole weeks off! WOO HOO!

Ok, time to get to packing...

***Tif***

Quote of yesterday ~ "Marty, quit being a crotch." ~ Marty's mom, on our way home from the game when he wouldn't let me sleep. hahaha!

Song of the yesterday ~ "The Bills make me wanna SHOUT!"

Back to square one.

2007-10-29T14:19:00.000-04:00

I ran today! Up in the woods! For 2 miles! With no pain! The only thing that stunk was that I realized just how out of shape I am. I felt so winded after the first mile. I ended up doing the 2 miles at a 12:26 m/m pace, which is damn close to what I was when I started running months ago. Ok, so I shouldn't complain too much....I think I was putting down a 14 m/m when I started running in May. I was around a 10:30 m/m when I stopped running in the middle of September. I've got a few more weeks that I can run on the trails before shotgun season starts, so I'm hoping and praying I'll be able to shave at least a minute thirty off my time by then. I feel so out of shape. It's slightly depressing. It's almost time to get into winter sports like skiing and snow shoeing, so that's kind of exciting. In running today, and freezing my tail off, I realized that I am in serious need of some good winter running clothes. So it's off to the Nike outlet for me on Wednesday to most likely buy the store out, as I usually do when I'm there. I can't wait to hit the trails on Thursday with my new clothes that will keep my ass warm! hahaha!

Moving on...

The cabin is amazing. I'm happier and happier here every day. Marty, I honestly can't thank you enough for all your help this past week. I'm so thankful! My dad laid the tile down in the bathroom yesterday, so he'll be finishing that up on Wednesday, and hopefully by Thursday I'll have everything in my bathroom that's supposed to be there. He's going to finish the plumbing next week while I'm at school, so by the time I'm back I'll have a fully functioning bathroom and cabin! WooHoo! This transition phase is so close to being over, I can taste it. It feels so good to finally be back where I belong...

***Tiffany***

Quote of the day ~ "Chase down your passions like it's the last bus of the night." by Glade Byron Addams

Song of the day ~ "Pieces" by RED

Finally back where I belong...

2007-10-28T11:50:00.000-04:00

I'm in! I moved back into the cabin last night! Marty came over at about 10:30 yesterday morning and worked all day with me to get the cabin finished and get my stuff moved in. I think we sat down to relax around 7pm. It was a looooooooooong day. I'm so grateful for his help, though. He got here and went right to painting, while I cleaned. We finished around 11:30, breaked for lunch at applebee's and went to the store to pick some stuff up. Came back here, did some more painting and cleaning then took a trip to the storage unit to grab my bed and a few other things. My rug was kept right outside the cabin, on those saw horse thingies. Well, we have this little chipmunk that resides somewhere in the very close vicinity. When Marty and I went to unroll the carpet, we tipped it to one side to get it through the door, and a waterfall of acorns came falling out of it! It was like something you'd see in a cartoon. They just kept coming out! I was laughing so hard! Marty didn't find it so funny, he was a bit of a grump at that point :-P. I'd say I picked up around 50 or so acorns. And we just kept finding them! It added a nice bit of entertainment into the stressful day!

So we got everything in and set up, including the TV and satellite, just in time to sit down and relax for about half an hour before the hockey game came on. It was great to be able to sit on the bed (which doubles as a couch due to lack of room for a couch) and watch my hockey team win! Not only that, but I got to do it with Marty and Delilah right next to me! What more does a girl need?! I can't think of anything! :) Last night was just fantastic. It was exactly what I needed after a week from the outskirts of hell. I finally feel like I'm back where I belong...

***Tiffany***

Quote of the Day ~ "Whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should." by Max Ehrmann

I Surrender

2007-10-27T09:11:00.000-04:00

Things don't always turn out the way you expect them to. My trip to Hawaii is canceled. Oh well. It was a lot of money...money I can spend on making Delilah better now. Everything happens for a reason, right? Sometimes all you can do is surrender to the flow......

***Tiffany***

Paradise, Here I Come!

2007-10-25T16:53:00.000-04:00

If it's not one thing, it's another. Remember a few weeks ago how Delilah was a puking machine? Well it turns out that there was a reason for it, and not a good one. I emailed Whitney and Courtney today with the details, so instead of typing the whole thing out again, I'm just going to copy/paste...

ok, so here's my update on delilah. Courtney, I'm not sure I told you,
but she's been sick and no one could figure out why, so she went in
today for a scoping of her ear and stomach. she has a ruptured ear drum
in her right ear, which is fixable, so no big deal. her stomach is the
main problem. here's a little anatomy lesson for you both for
today...the lining of the stomach is actually something called Rugae,
which is like little peaks and valleys to give the stomach more surface
area to absorb the food and nutrients. well upon entering her stomach,
the doctor found she had no rugae. what she does have are little
growths in her stomach, and one big one that's in the way of her small
intestine. she's puking so much b/c she can't digest all of her food
and the food that's left over after the stomach hits it can't get into
the rest of her intestines b/c of the mass that's blocking the way. so
they did biopsies of like 4 different growths to see what they are.
there's a possibility that they're cancer, but it's slim b/c she's so
young. if it's not cancer, it's precancer that they have to keep an eye
on. so she's on new food that's perscription for sensitive stomachs. i
find out next week what the cytology results were for the masses in her
stomach. hopefully it's just an inflammatory response b/c she's
allergic to food or something. all i can do is pray at this point,
though. i'm really scared, and i'm really upset about this. she's
laying on the bed next to me right now just whining and whining, i can
only imagine b/c she's in pain. i wish there was something else i could
do for her....

Well, she's finally sleeping, but keeps giving me sad eyes. She's not crying anymore, though so that's good. It's just been a really tough day. I'm so far behind on the cabin, it's not even funny. I was only able to put in like an hour today. I'm waiting for Suzie to get home so she can be with Delilah while I go down and paint the bathroom and do the last layer of mudding in the main room. I don't really want her to be by herself.

On a brighter note, I BOOKED MY TICKETS TO HAWAII!!! I'm flying in on Feb 26th and staying until March 4th. Courtney and Brady moved down there when her husband George got back from Iraq, so Whitney and I are headed out there to spend some time with out TPS sista and help celebrate Brady's 1st birthday! It's going to be amazing. February is soooo going to be my month! I leave on Feb 9th for a week in Mexico, then it's a week in Hawaii! I'm not sure it gets any better than that.

***Tif***

Song of the day ~ "Stay" by Sugarland

Quote of the day ~ "Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes."

Silly Games

2007-10-22T10:13:00.000-04:00

Life is funny sometimes. In one of her songs Colbie Caillat says, "Life plays such silly games inside of me." That's how I'm feeling right now. I'm so confused about everything. Things and people coming and going in my life, and some of them coming back again. I feel like I've been transitioning since I started my rotations in May, and it's not a settling feeling. Dad always says, "Times of transition are always the hardest." I've been doing this for a good 6 months now, and I'm tired of it. The end is in sight, though. I've been busting my ass for the past week trying to help Dad get the cabin done so I can move back home. I'm currently the reigning Queen of all things Spackle. That's been my job...playing in mud all day long, so that I can start painting, and then move back in. As soon as they finish working on my car today, I'm headed back up to the hill to put the ceiling in the bathroom, finish the plumbing, and do another coat of mudding on the walls. Direct TV is coming in on Wednesday to put in my hockey channels, so I'm super excited about that. I don't care if it's not ready for me to move back in on wednesday. I've got a lawn chair, a fridge full of beer, and a hockey game on. You can probably guess what I'll be doing Wednesday night around 7pm! Tonight, my own personal radiant heat floor man is coming up to the cabin to see what we need for the bathroom. I'm looking forward to seeing him. It really has been too long. All in all, I'm hoping to be back moved in by thursday, or friday at the latest. I need to be done transitioning. It's wearing me out.

Another reason I'm looking forward to the move home is so I can start running again. I've run three miles total, in over a month. My legs are ready to go! The leaves are absolutely beautiful now, too. The only thing that makes me nervous is that it's hunting season. But since it's only bow season right now, I should be safe as long as I'm over-cautious and wear lots of orange. I hope my knee is better. I'm tired of not exercising like I used to. I'm getting out of shape and it's just not acceptable. I'm also tired of sitting here waiting for them to fix my damn car. It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't block most websites and they had acceptable coffee...

***Tif***

Song of the day ~ "Hate That I Love You" by Rihanna

Quote of the day ~ "I didn't sniff the cocaine to get high, I just liked the way it smelled." ~ Ray Willie Hubbard. Cracks me up every time I hear that line in one of his songs!

All's Fair in Love and Putt-Putt

2007-10-14T17:26:00.000-04:00

Well, vacation's over. I'm back home, after a week down in the Outer Banks with Whitney and her mom. It was an interesting week, starting with a 6 hr visit to the Outer Banks emergency room. Whitney had been sick for a few days, and had gone to urgent care the day before to try to get her sore throat cleared up. They told her she had a virus and sent her on her way. The next day, things were way worse, prompting the visit to the emergency room. They totally blew her off when her rapid strep test came back negative, thinking she just had a virus and would have sent her on her way, again, if I hadn't pushed for them to check her for something called a peritonsillar abscess, which can be life-threatening if untreated. They ended up working her up for it, just to rule it out and to shut me up. Turns out, she had a very good sized one. They tried to drain it, unsuccessfully, and the idiots prescribed her antibiotic pills and pain pills, both requiring her to swallow. The next morning she woke up with a nicely swollen face, and unable to swallow the pills. I took her to an ENT in Elizabeth City, over an hour away. He saw her, said it was very bad and that she needed to have her tonsils out ASAP. So our next stop was the hospital across the street for her to be admitted for surgery that night. Her appointment with the ENT was at 11:30ish, and her surgery was scheduled for 5pm. I ended up leaving the hospital around 6pm when her mom came to relieve me. Whitney had to stay in the hospital that night b/c the abscess was so bad. Her mom went to pick her up the next morning and sicky came back to the condo to try to relax and enjoy the rest of her vacation. I'm glad I pushed for them to check her for the abscess. The last thing we needed was for her to have to go to the ER in an ambulance because the abscess had blocked her airway. Freaking idiots...missing it for the first time. I had her diagnosed with it before I even saw her! Morons.

The rest of the week was pretty much consisted of a lot of reading books, some movies, and a lot of watching the dogs (well mainly Delilah and Raffy) play. We did a little bit of shopping when Whitney was feeling up to it, too. The weather was really crappy. Not even nice enough to go sit out on the beach. Not cold, but windy enough for the sun to not keep you warm enough to be out there with just a bathing suit on. It was a big bummer. It was nice being able to relax and not have to do anything if I didn't want to, though. Our last day there was Friday, and I managed to talk Whitney and her mom into playing putt-putt. We had an awesome time :) I GOT A HOLE IN ONE!!!

I hopped in the car with Delilah yesterday around 7:30am and drove until around 6pm when we got home. I felt miserable. It felt like someone was stabbing me in my right eye. It was the worst migraine I've ever had. I somehow managed to stay up for the hockey game, but then promptly passed out after that and slept until 10 this morning. It was amazing. And then I did absolutely nothing today. That was pretty great too. Vacation may be over, but I'm still getting to relax. Love it!

***Tif***

Quote of the day ~ "Hey dog, I need you to pick up a plunger." ~ Courtney

In need of a vacation!

2007-09-27T12:35:00.000-04:00

8 days til vacation! And not just vacation, SUPER vacation! Starting October 6th, I've got the rest of October off, I have to be in school for the first week of November, then I've got off until the beginning of December! I GET TO SLEEP IN!!! Right now, I'm super excited about it. Talk to me about a week into things and I'm sure I'm going to be going nuts with boredom. Luckly, by the time I get home from vaca (I'm leaving for Nags Head on the 6th for a week), my cabin should be done, so I'll have that whole month of October to re-move in and put everything in it's place. It's also going to be hockey season, so I'll be busy watching my Sabres :)

Speaking of the Sabres...

They destroyed the Leafs last night 7-2, with Derek Roy scoring 3 goals within 9 minutes. Unbelievable! It's going to be an awesome season! I can't wait. I'm contemplating going to the last pre-season game on Saturday, but that depends on a certain someone and when he's done working. We might not have time to make it to the arena in time. Either way, I'm going to be at the arena soon for some games. CAN'T WAIT!!!

Ok, so onto my running update. It's been a week and a half since I've run. I am so unhappy about it. I feel like I'm losing everything I've worked so hard these past 4 month to gain. It's very discouraging. But I'm fully aware that I need to rest the knee in order for it to get better. The most depressing part is that there's a race on Saturday that's basically in my back yard that I had planned on doing. I got an email from them the other day talking about the race, and it just sounds amazing. I'm currently pouting b/c I can't participate. It's only a 10k race, but I'm afraid I'm going to get 3 miles into it, and not be able to finish it off. I'm just not down with that. Next year...

Oh, and while I'm thinking about it...GO SEE SUPERBAD! That movie is so funny! I intend on purchasing it when it comes out onto DVD, and I don't buy ANY movies!

***Tif***

Song of the day ~ "Midnight Bottle" by Colbie Caillat

Moving. Again.

2007-09-23T13:22:00.000-04:00

Today is my last day on the hill for a month. Dad is cutting into the bathroom starting tomorrow, so I'm getting the boot. Delilah and I are staying with my grandma for two weeks, then we're headed down to the Outer Banks with Whitney for a week, then down to my mom's for another week. We'll be back on the hill October 19th. By then, I should have a fully functional treehouse! :) It's just a bummer that I have to leave for so long.

Delilah's x-rays were inconclusive. But it looks like she's got a problem with her spine and that's why she's lame in the back. It's very possible that she's going to need surgery to remove part of one of her vertebrae to relieve pressure on her spinal cord, if that's the problem. They're sending her x-rays to a specialist up in Rochester, so hopefully he'll be able to figure something out. If not, she needs to have an MRI to get a better idea of the problem. Until then, she's on a new medicine that's supposed to get rid of inflammation and pain. It's ridiculously expensive...$2.60 a pill, one pill a day. I don't care, though. I can replace money. I can't replace her. I'll do whatever I need to do to fix her. I'm just hoping right now that the medicine she's on will help to the point where she doesn't have to have surgery. I don't care if I have to give her another pill every day for the rest of her life. If that's what needs to happen, so be it. I want a happy pup again...one that can run around like the crazy woman that she is!

Ok, time to say goodbye to the hill, and hello to my camper in Shortsville :-\

***Tif***

Two Gimps for the Price of One

2007-09-19T19:19:00.000-04:00

Delilah's getting her x-rays tomorrow. I'm so anxious about it. I hate the idea of her being under anesthesia. I took the day off of work b/c we have to be there at 9am and I have no idea how the anesthesia is going to affect her, so I wanted to make sure I was around afterwards. Now I know how my parents felt when I had surgery...all 4 times. I'm just so nervous.

So I finally broke down and had someone look at my knee today. It's been so bad the past two days, that I've barely been able to walk. I had one of the guys I'm working with take a look at it, and he agreed with me...I've got tendinitis of my Iliotibial Band. It's a nasty little problem. It's so inflamed that it's rubbing against one of the nerves in my leg and giving me the pins and needles feeling from the knee down. It's spectacular. So I'm sidelined for a while. No running for me :( I'm going to have to lift, and I hate lifting. It's torture. But I refuse to be out of shape. I wish I had an elliptical. I'd even take a stationary bike right now. Can't wait for some snow, so I can go cross country skiing. That's low impact...

***Tif***

Quote of the day ~ something about the president writing his letters in crayon....it was the funniest freaking thing I've ever heard and it brought tears to my eyes. It's a shame I can't remember exactly what was said so you could enjoy the humor as well!

Song of the day ~ "Fancy" by Reba ;)

Delilah, The Puking Machine

2007-09-14T21:05:00.001-04:00

What a wacky day today was. Started out wacky when I went to bed last night. Some lil black thing decided to become a puking machine and had me up til midnight throwing up. Then when I got to work this morning, after the vet had opened and I called them, they told me I needed to take her in to see someone. That required me leaving work, and hunting down a vet in Canandaigua, since the vet we usually go to is in Buffalo. Leaving work was no big deal...I got there at 8am only to find out the woman I was working with doesn't come in until 9:30. I was gone way before then. Before I left, though, I ended up meeting a woman I'm going to be working with at some point this month and when I introduced myself she said, "I've heard all about you!" with a big smile on her face. :) I'm tooting my own horn again :) :) :)

Well I finally get ahold of a vet and they said to bring her in right away. So we get there, and get into the room and the vet walks in. He doesn't introduce himself, doesn't smile, is very short with me, and is basically an ass. He yells at me and tells me I'm a bad mom b/c I let her run around all day and be a happy dog...tells me that dogs eat everything. Well, I know her better than he knows her and she doesn't eat anything but grass. She rolls in stuff, she doesn't eat it! But he wouldn't listen. Then he yelled at me for giving her aspirin for her sore hips (which the old vet told me to do). He kept avoiding my questions as to what to give her instead, and just blew me off. Gave sicky a shot of Pepcid and sent me on my way. Probably took a total of 10 minutes to get her history of present illness, do her physical exam, then give her the shot. He wasn't even interested in her total history...her prozac...nothing else. I went out to check out and bitched up a storm. The vet tech that was in the room with me was out there and she even said he was rude to me. She ended up finding the Director of the office and talked to him about it. He also happens to be the ortho surgeon there. He said he'd see us right away. So I went into the room and was just crying up a storm. I was so upset. I want the best for Delilah and I definitely didn't think I got it from the first vet. This other vet spent a good half an hour with us while I explained how I was unhappy and how I was worried about her hips. He examined her and explained to me what he thought was wrong and said he thinks we should set up x-rays for her next week. When he left, another tech came in and went over the procedure for the x-rays with me and all seemed well. That is, at least, until Dr. JackAss decided to come in the room and confront me. He acted like a child, telling me that if I had something bad to say about him, I should say it to his face and not make a complaint about him. Needless to say, he put me back into tears, then told me that I shouldn't be crying. I was livid. One of the techs ended up pulling him out of the room when she found out he was in there with me. I've spoken with the director again and apparently this guy is going to get torn a new asshole for treating me the way he did. If the ortho vet wasn't so nice, and if the techs weren't so nice, there is no way in hell I would be taking Delilah back there. But I talked to them, and they're going to put a note in her chart saying not to schedule me with Dr. JackAss again, so no one makes a mistake. Now Delilah seems well. She wasn't supposed to eat anything for 12 hours, but she hasn't eaten anything since last night, for the most part, so I gave her a little bit of food and water when she started pawing at her dish. 7 hours was long enough with no food in her little belly. She's too skinny as it is. So that was my excitement for the day. She has to be dropped off Thursday morning and they put her under anesthesia and everything. I pick her up after work and then I'll know if she has to have surgery or if it's something that is easily fixed.

On a happy note...

I GOT SABRES TICKETS TODAY!!! WHOOP WHOOP! I had some technical difficulty, so I was only able to get 2 games. 4 was the goal, but there's still time. Tickets go on sale to the general public tomorrow morning, so I'll try for the other two then. As of right now, I'm going to the Sens game on November 21st and the Bruins game on November 7th. Sooooooooooo excited that the season is almost here! And I'm super excited to see the Sens game. It should be a freaking AWESOME game! I don't expect another 20 minute long/100 penalty minute fight, but hey, ya never know! ;)

Time for bed, I think. It's been a long, crazy day...

***Tif***

Quote of the day ~ "Whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should." ~ Max Ehrmann

Ain't Life Grand?!

2007-09-13T20:04:00.000-04:00

If I were asked what the best part of my day was today, I would have a tough time answering. My top 3 are as follows:

1. I learned from a patient how to artificially inseminate a cow
2. I got hit on by two 18 year olds
3. I got offered a job.

I think that I'm going to have to go with the artificial insemination of the cow. DUDE! I GOT OFFERED A FREAKING JOB!!! The head PA that I worked with today couldn't stop saying great things about me. She told me numerous times how much further ahead I am than most students. At one point she said, "Hm...what can I teach you??? You already know so much! I don't think there's much I can teach you!" Basically, when I'm done with school, if there's an opening (which there always is. They're ALWAYS hiring), all I need to do is tell them I'm interested and I've got a job! How freaking awesome is that?! And I've only been there 4 days! I've been doing an internal happy dance all day :)

I ran today too! I did 3.5 miles! I forgot to look at the watch, but I believe it was around an 11:15 m/m. Not too bad. I'm happy with it! I also got to watch the sunset after my run, which was beautiful. I love living here! The only thing I don't love is how freaking cold I am without heat! My fingers are starting to go numb again, so I'm going to end it here. I've got some studying to do tonight, anyways.

***Tif***

Song of the day ~ "Online" by Brad Paisley

Quote of the day ~ "It's funkatoid." ~ Linda. "Funkatoid? Is that a technical term?!" ~ me. "Yes, in fact it is! But you're technically not allowed to use it until after you graduate." ~ Linda

10:48

2007-09-12T21:42:00.000-04:00

Who ran 2.5 today @ a 10:48 m/m pace? Oh yes, that would be me! And in such little pain! I could have gone longer, but I picked up the pace in my last 0.5 mile b/c I knew I was almost done. I decided that I'm going to slow my pace down tomorrow and start slowly increasing my distance. I'm sick of doing 2.5 miles at a time. It's just not satisfying enough for me. I always end up feeling like I should have done more. Still going to quad up to the top of the hill so I don't have to run down it, I'm just going to go a little further on the trails. My knee is feeling pretty good right now, so hopefully I'll be able to head up there again tomorrow. I've officially decided to retire from racing for the season. My knee just isn't healthy enough to make it worth it to race. April isn't that far away, and that's when the season starts up again. I can manage. I'll just keep going slow and rehabbing the knee so next year I can kick some ass and take some names! It feels good to be in shape again. I'm finally starting to gain my muscle weight back that I lost last month, so I'm super excited about that too!

So yesterday was a fantastic day! I got out of work at 11am and met Suzie at the mall and boy did we ever do some shopping! I'm no longer droopy drawers! I finally have pants that fit me! :) The other ones had gotten so bad, I didn't even need to unbutton them to take them off. The new ones fit perfectly, and not to toot my own horn too much, I thought I looked pretty damn good today in the new clothes :-P Eastern Mountain Sports had a super sale going on, too. 70% off everything in the store. I got a bunch of dry-fit stuff, some snow pants, boots, fleece pants, and more for $77. The snow pants alone were priced around $100 normally. They fit like a dream and will come in very handy this winter! I also got a new phone! FINALLY! I got the verizon 6700. It's like the treo, only better. It's got the full keyboard and full screen, alone with WiFi, which the treo doesn't have. I'm having so much fun with it! People, get to calling and texting me, b/c I'm having fun with the ringers and using it! It's a fun little toy :)

Ok, off to bed. I got a crappy night's sleep last night and intend on making up for it tonight. Tomorrow I'm working with the head PA in ortho, so wish me luck. I'm ready to impress tomorrow! Girlfriend is hell-bent on getting herself a job with this rotation! I love ortho!

***Tif***

Song of the day ~ "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin (it's my new general ring tone! CALL ME PEOPLE!)

Quote of the day ~ I don't have a quote, so much as I have a memory...Whitney, have you seen my riddance towel?! You know, good riddance to bad rubbish??? LOAF YOU GIRLFRIEND! 3 more weeks!!!

Cross-training

2007-09-10T19:56:00.000-04:00

I survived my first day in ortho! Yahoo! One down, 18 to go! :-P

I really like it so far. I just really like bones and how they work. The guy I'm working with is a spine specialist, so I'm going to have to buff up on my nerves and such so I look like a smarty pants! I'm not working with him tomorrow, though. I'm working in urgent care, so I will hopefully see some interesting things. My goal is to impress to the point where I'm offered a job. The hours are great, the pay is great, the benefits are great. I can see myself working in Ortho. I remember when I first started my rotations back in May, I was telling Whitney that I just wasn't feeling it...that I was afraid being a PA wasn't for me. Well now that I know more and I've had good preceptors, things seem like they're falling into place, and it's a great feeling. I feel like I belong. I feel like I'm good at what I do. And I go home every night (ok, well not EVERY night, but most nights!) feeling like I've accomplished something and made a difference in someone else's life. It's a great feeling! I love my job! I can only imagine how much I'm going to love it when I actually get paid to do it! :)

Didn't run today. I've been in a ton of pain since yesterday's rainy excursion. It was worth the pain, though. Instead of running, I decided to life with Suzie. About half way through the routine (or whatever you call it), I remembered why I only run. I HATE LIFTING! It kicked my ass, and I'm going to be SO sore tomorrow. But if I want to kick ass racing next season, I'm gonna have to get in better shape than I'm in. It also will help strengthen my knee, so hopefully it won't hurt as much in the future. I'll have no more seasons cut short. The knee is feeling ok now. I walked down the hill a few minutes ago with no pain at all, so that's definitely a step in the right direction. Taking a full day off tomorrow...no running or lifting. When I get out of work, Suzie is meeting me in Henrietta to do some shopping. I'm tired of being droopy drawers! I've lost so much weight, that my pants fall off of me now. It's a great feeling, though. I look better than I have in years and I love it! Running has done wonders for me! I gotta get this knee back into shape so I can get back up there in mileage! 10 miles a week just isn't going to cut it!

***Tif***

Quote of the day ~ "Happiness is like a butterfly: The more you chase it, the more it will elude you. But if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder." ~ Thoreau

Song of the day ~ I got nothin'!

Bring on the rain!!!

2007-09-09T14:30:00.000-04:00

I love being a dirty girl! Today was the perfect day. I woke up after a fantastic night's sleep to the sound of the rain falling outside. It was the perfect temperature. I just knew that I had to hit the trails at some point! There's nothing like getting a lil dirty! So I climbed outta bed, and headed up to the house for some coffee and a bagel before we had to head over to the storage unit to do some storing of things. We spent about 2 hours packing that up and then came home. Suzie decided she wants to be a dirty girl like me, so we hopped on the quad together to head for the trails! It was downpouring (still is actually). She told me to go ahead without her, so I was off and running. It was muddy. It was raining. It was FANTASTIC! I hauled ass and did my 2.5 miles at a 10:58 m/m pace! That's 30 sec/mile faster than my last run! I've almost shaved a minute of my mile time since I moved back home a week ago! I'm on cloud nine! I raced a 10:40 m/m back on July 14th, so to be so close to that again while I'm still fighting my ITB (iliotibial band) injury if quite extraordinary in my eyes! I finished strong and unfortunately in a lot of pain, but still feeling like I was on top of the world. I was covered in dirty and mud. My shoes were serving as a pool of water. I was dripping head to toe with water. I was HAPPY! This is why I love being a dirty girl :) Here's some pictures of after my run...

Now it's time to relax for the rest of the day. A woman is coming to the house today to give me, Dad, and Suzie hour long massages, so that's going to be fantastic. In about an hour, I'll be enjoying a nice, relaxing massage! I give you all permission to be jealous ;)

***Tif***

Song of the day ~ "Starts With Goodbye" by Carrie Underwood

Quote of the day ~ "A dirty girl is a woman that isn't afraid to actually get dirty on the trails in search of adventure." ~ Diane Chesla, the Original Dirty Girl

Downsizing

2007-09-07T19:18:00.000-04:00

I made it through the day! I got my grade from yesterday's exam, and was above the class average, which I was super excited about. The exams I took today didn't seem too bad. Now I'm home and I'm doing some unpacking and it's going very well. I've still got one more assignment to do by the end of the night for my online class, but it should be no big deal.

This whole unpacking thing is weird. I threw away so much stuff when I originally did the packing, and now I find myself still throwing things away. I had an epiphany on my way home from Buffalo today...I've had the wrong mindset all along. I'm not saying "goodbye" to all these things. I'm downsizing! I'm minus one boyfriend, one dog, one island (Grand Island, for those of you who don't know), a living room set, a bed, and a WHOLE bunch of shit that I thought I needed, that I'm finding out that I really have no room, or need for! It's a much better outlook on things! It's all about perspective, people. PERSPECTIVE! You create your own reality! I'm creating a reality that's as simple as possible. And so far, I'm loving it!

***Tif***

Quote of the day ~ "He said "I love you". I sneezed and said, "Sorry, I'm allergic to bullshit.""

Song of the day ~ "Over you" by Daughtry

Every New Beginning...

2007-09-06T21:48:00.000-04:00

...Comes From Some Other Beginning's End.

I'm no longer a resident of Grand Island. We made the move today. I am now an official resident of Stid Hill :) It's not over just yet, though.

The past week has been full of trials and tribulations. It's also been full of goodbyes. I've said goodbye to someone I would have given and done anything for...I've said goodbye to our relationship...I've said goodbye to Honeoye...I've said goodbye to Grand Island...and I've said goodbye to a very small part of me. It hasn't been easy. Times of transition never are. Last night, just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, they did. Or at least it seemed like they did. All in all, it worked out just fine, but last night I was a wreck. I felt like I was being kicked while I was down. And boy was I down for the count...

Thankfully, I have amazing friends and family who helped me through it. While packing last night, memories from the past year and a half of living there just came storming back. And of course, because of the week I've had, I wasn't remembering the good ones. Pretty much just the bad ones, which made things so much worse. I was in a funk. I had a nice little ceremony, though, and saged the bad away, asking for my release. I was finally able to calm down and focus on packing, and managed to get a small amount of sleep. I was up early and off to campus to take the PACKRAT exam (which is like a mini-Board exam). When I was done with that, it was back to the island to pack. I got home around 11:30am, and am just sitting down at my desk on the hill (9:55pm). It's been not only a draining day, but a draining week. My dad says that half way through a 100mile journey is mile 90, because the last 10 miles are always the hardest. I'm somewhere's around mile 95 right now. I just need to get through these next few days, tomorrow especially. I'm calling on all of the strength that I have inside of me to get me through them. I just want stability. I thought I had it...I thought I had a lot of things. It's clear that I'm not always right. Rome wasn't built in a day.

***Tiffany***

Quote of the day ~ "Sometimes you gotta lose yourself to find out where you really are." by Bubba Sparxxx

Song of the day ~ "Battle" by Colbie Caillat

Genesis: Part 3

2007-09-03T13:43:00.000-04:00

Still doing some learning. Lots of learning, actually. I'm learning to accept what is and stop struggling so much to swim upstream. I'm letting the current take me where it wants. I'm surrendering to the flow :) The anger is subsiding, and I'm finding a lot of clarity, and happiness is coming along with that clarity. I'm exactly where I need to be in life, and damn does it feel good! And it's only going to get better with time!

No running for me today. Just lots of relaxing with Delilah. It's a beautiful day, and Dad and I were going to landscape some more, but I'm really just content with relaxing. I don't feel like it's time to put the flowers in just yet. Feelings are funny. I get feelings about things a lot, but lately the feelings have been different. I've never been so sure of my feelings before. Never trusted in them so much. Again, it feels damn good! I'm trusting my instincts, and using them to guide me in my decisions. I just need to be patient. Rome wasn't built in a day.

Wednesday is my last day in family medicine. I've really enjoyed it. Who knows...maybe I have a future in it. Only time will tell! It's onto orthopedics. I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to it or not. I'm a little bit nervous. But I have this thing when it comes to bones...I'm fascinated by them! (Get your mind out of the gutter!) I love knowing all the attachments of muscles and stuff. It's so interesting! So maybe ortho will be my thing, too. Although I've been told that I'm too gentle to be in ortho. We'll see! ;)

***Tif***

Song of the day ~ "Hoochie Momma" by 2 Live Crew

Song of the day #2 ~ "Push it" by Salt and Peppa

Song of the day #3 ~ "Dip" by 2 Live Crew

Yeah, we were takin' it back today! ;)

Quote of the day ~ "I don't need my title name to be Promiscuous girl. I do a good enough job of making people think that all on my own!" ~ Person A
"You said it! I didn't!" ~ Person B

I LOVE MY SISTAS!

Tiffany: 1, Fat Lady: 0

2007-09-02T17:28:00.000-04:00

SHE'S BAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!!

Me and that fat lady had a lil talk. I told her to get her fat ass backstage b/c it's not her time to sing yet!!!

That's right folks! Girlfriend ran 2.5 miles today at an 11:49 m/m pace! That's freaking AMAZING for someone who hasn't run in a month, and still has an injury! Not only that, but I'm in no pain! I figured out how to do it...I take the quad up the huge, super steep .3mile hill that I have to take to get to the main trail. Then I run the Ridge Trail (main trail), which is mostly flat, with one small downhill. I ran almost the entire way and then back, for a total of 2.5 miles. I had to do a little bit of walking when my watch yelled at me for my heart rate being too high, but that was it! I rocked the last .5 mile, too. A song came onto my iPod that just made me even more angry/motivated than I have been in a while and I just FLEW. It felt amazing. The whole thing was wonderful. When I was done, I hopped back on the quad and did a quick loop around the trails and headed back home. It was nice not having to run down the big hill near the house. That's where my knee starts hurting the most. So maybe I'll just work back up to running downhills. I've never really liked downhills anyways. I'm hoping that there's hope for me yet for the race at the end of Sept. I was going to hang up my shoes, but right now I don't feel like that's even an option. Running is what helps me cope with things in my life. Things are a little bit crazy right now, and I use the running to bring me back to Earth. I need it. And I've been lost without it. It's good to be home.

On another note...

Today was a day of lessons. I spent the last few weeks not following my heart, and not trusting my instincts. And once again, I've learned the hard way. I need to listen to my head, and listen to my heart, and not focus so much on what others are telling me. I will not tolerate lies in my life. Nor will I tolerate deceit. Judas, I hope you got what you needed, and are happy with the results. Well done.

***Tiffany***

Song of the day ~ "Lessons Learned" ~ Carrie Underwood

Quote of the day ~ "Your heart may be on the left, but it's always right."

Quote of the day #2 (well, quote from Friday) ~ "Please don't do voodoo on me." ahahahahahahahahahahaha! I will laugh at that one for the rest of my life!!! I have no need to do voodoo...karma takes care of that for me! :-D

Quote of the day #3 ~ "Every idiot you date is one less idiot you risk marrying." Ain't that the truth!

Genesis

2007-09-01T12:04:00.001-04:00

I ran yesterday! On trails! It was great! I realized how at home I am on trails. I also realized how out of touch I've been with myself over the past month. It's time to reconnect with the land and with myself. I apparently had to walk away from what was familiar and comfortable to me in order to appreciate it. Well, now I'm back, and have a few new lessons learned under my belt. Whatever doesn't kill you just makes you stronger, right?! This keeps up, I'm gonna be able to give Hercules a run for his money!

So back to running...I did three miles, walking and running. I walked for about the first half mile, then ran the next mile. Walked about another half a mile, then ran the last mile. By the end I was hurting pretty bad, physically. But mentally and emotionally, I began to feel healed. It was amazing to be part of the land again. It had been around a month since I had been on the trails. I'm not going that long again. Since I'm still pretty sore, I'll probably take today and tomorrow off of running and maybe just hike the trails. But Delilah's pretty gimpy today too, so I'm not sure if I'll go without her. Apparently she was off the land for too long, too. She spent all day running around yesterday. I loved seeing her that happy again. It's funny how connected she and I are.

***Tiffany***

Song of the day ~ "Bring on the rain" by JoDee Messina.

Stand

2007-08-31T12:01:00.000-04:00

You feel like a candle in a hurricane
Just like a picture with a broken frame
Alone and helpless
Like you've lost your fight
But you'll be alright
You'll be alright

Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you're made of
You might bend til you break
Cause it's all you can take
On your knees you look up
Decide you've had enough
You get mad
You get strong
Wipe your hands
Shake it off
Then you stand

Life's like a novel
With the end ripped out
The edge of a canyon
With only one way down
Take what you're given
Before it's gone
Start holding on
Keep holding on

Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you're made of
Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you're made of
You might bend til you break
Cause it's all you can take
On your knees you look up
Decide you've had enough
You get mad
You get strong
Wipe your hands
Shake it off
Then you stand

Every time you get up
And get back in the race
One more small piece of you
Starts to fall into place.

It is what it is

2007-08-30T22:54:00.001-04:00

Everything happens for a reason. Surrender to the flow. You create your own reality. Creator has his plan. I could go on and on...

I've been thrown another curve ball. Lucky for me, I've had some practice swinging at curve balls in the past. Looks like I'm gonna hit this one out of the park. I have no regrets.

***Tiffany***

Quote of the day ~ "No mistakes. No regrets. Only lessons learned."

Quote of the day #2 ~ "You create your own reality."

Happiness is a priority.

Well done.

Still Broken...

2007-08-27T18:17:00.000-04:00

I'm still broken. It's getting overly frustrated. I went from being able to run almost 20 miles one week, to not even being able to run 2 the next. Not only that, I haven't been out on a trail SINCE I ran those 18.6 miles. I'm stuck on the freaking treadmill b/c I'm too scared I'll get stuck out on the trails and not be able to walk back. I'm getting about 2 miles before the pain in my knee is unbearable, and then it's torture trying to walk down the stairs to the kitchen to get ice to ice my knee. I can feel it in my lungs that my fitness is going down hill fast. I'm usually breathing out of my nose very normally around 2 miles and yesterday I was breathing heavily by the first mile. I want to run today, but I've been in pain all day and I don't want to make it worse. How much time off can I take?! I don't have a bike, so I can't bike. I don't have access to a pool, so I can't swim. No elliptical either. Only the treadmill. And right now, the treadmill isn't my friend. I still have a month until my next race, and have until the 14th to register for it. I'm going to wait until the last minute b/c there's no way I'm going to be able to run 10k if I can't even go a mile. Don't want to waste the money. It's just getting so damn frustrating. I want to run again. I want to be on the trails again. I want to feel my runner's high that I feel again. :( I want to not pout anymore b/c I can't run.

***Tif***

BACK IN THE SADDLE!!!

2007-08-23T20:51:00.000-04:00

Yes folks, that's right! I'm running again! Ok, well I'm not doing any ultra running or anything, but I was FINALLY able to run over a mile. 2.5 miles, to be exact! It was only on the treadmill, but it was still great! Only a little bit of pain. Not too bad at all! And I've been running up back and forth from the cabin to the house all day with absolutely no problems, either! So I think I'm going to take a few more days off, and then hit the trails on Sunday. I miss them soooooooooooo much! It's been almost two weeks! I'm going through withdrawal. The nice part about the 2.5 miles I did yesterday (or was it the day before...) was that my lungs felt great. If it wasn't for the pain I was starting to feel, I would have been able to keep going. I decided to take it nice and slow, and ran an 11 minute mile, which seemed to do the trick for me. I think that I was trying to go too fast before and that was my problem. I'll let you know how Sunday goes. I'll probably try the treadmill again tomorrow, just to see how it feels.

This weekend is going to be yet another super busy weekend. Tomorrow we're headed up to Buffalo for the Bills game. Marty has season tickets, so I'll be going to a lot of football games this year. I better start studying up on football, so I don't look like a dinkus! :) After that, we're heading to the island to spend the night and pack a bunch of stuff up and bring another truck load back to the house. The people that are moving into my apartment are supposed to be signing the lease tomorrow. After that, we're heading down to Springwater for a steak roast, or something like that. We'll be back late Saturday night. I have a feeling we're going to be doing a lot of unpacking on Sunday. Sunday is also golf day, so that's going to keep us busy, too. I'm not sure if I'm going to go or not yet. I might just unpack and then head back to The Hill to run and relax a bit. I don't remember what it's like to relax...

Ok, my bed is starting to call my name. Let's hope that we don't get another storm, or I'm going to have a very wet Treehouse tonight! That's what you get when you have an unfinished roof!

***Tif***

Quote of the day ~ "I bet if I put "knock me down and fuck me ho dress" I'd find something!" ~ My dearest Suzie

Quick Update

2007-08-20T21:41:00.000-04:00

Just a quick update, while I'm thinking of it...

Still can't run. I've tried doing a mile on the treadmill the past two days, only to end up limping the last .3 or so miles. It's so frustrating. I took today off, but plan on getting back on it tomorrow to do another mile. The pain is still exactly as bad as it was the day I did it. The only difference is that it doesn't hurt every second of every day. Just most of the seconds of the day. I can't wait to get back on the trails again. A little over a month til my next race. I better be able to run in it. I won't be happy if I can't.

Marty and I headed up to Buffalo yesterday to do some packing. We got a bunch of stuff out of there. Filled his truck up with boxes, in fact. I've been spending every spare minute unpacking stuff and trying to organize my office. Freaking school stuff...Me and my OCD. I've got to be organized or it drives me nuts. Right now, I'm going partially nuts. We're headed to the Bills game on Friday and plan on spending the night on the island to get up early Saturday and get another truck load back home Saturday afternoon, before we head to our second pig roast in a week. Life is crazy and I wish I had time to relax.

***Tif***

Quote of the day ~ "It's like Christmas!!!" ~ Marty

Reality Check

2007-08-20T21:26:00.000-04:00

I don't even know how to start this...it's something that I've been meaning to write about for almost a week now, but haven't had a chance to. Wednesday night, life slapped me in the face. We were seeing our last patient of the day, a 1 year old boy in for his one year check up. He was with his father, mother, and older brother. The mom was also in for a check up, but we did the baby first. His father was holding him and playing with him and having a great time. After the exam, all of a sudden the boy's father started looking up at the wall, screaming. He looked terrified. I thought he was having a hallucination. Turns out he was having a grand mal seizure. He went down and the dr. that I'm working with helped him to the ground. I was able to get the baby out of his arms before he dropped him, and passed him off to his mother while I ran to the hallway and yelled for them to call 911. He seized for what seemed to be forever. I ran to get oxygen b/c that's all I could do. He finally stopped seizing, but started to get really combative because he had no idea what was going on. The dr. and I fought with him for what seemed like about a half an hour, but was probably only about 10 minutes before EMS got there. At that point, the dr. left the room and let EMS go to work. I wasn't going anywhere, though. I was an EMT for 3 years. Emergencies are what I do best. That, and the fact that I wasn't even the least bit impressed with how EMS was handling the situation. I pulled out my take-control voice and started running the call. When Advanced Life Support (ALS) got there, I immediately told them to call the dr. (a different dr. than the one in the office. EMS has to follow protocol.) and get something on board to calm him down, because we were still fighting with him. He ended up breaking through all of the straps that we put on him to secure him to the back board. I finally got sick of the fighting, so I got in his face, called his name and forced him to focus on me to take his mind off of fighting with us. I got him to calm down, he got his shot of calm-me-down-medicine and they were able to take him to the hospital. The whole ordeal took about an hour. During this hour, I got history from the wife. All of which was unremarkable. There was no history of seizures in his family, and the man was a perfectly healthy 38 year old father of two. I went home that night and I haven't stopped thinking about him since.

I had the next day off. Still thought about him all day long. I went into work Friday morning to find him and his wife talking to the dr. and the nurses. I went up to him and his wife to get the story. He has a tumor. He went in for surgery today to have it removed. He didn't remember anything from the whole ordeal. Anything, his wife said, except for an angel named Tiffany. It brings a tear to my eyes. This is why I'm in medicine. To make a difference in people's lives. His wife called the office today to tell us that he was out of surgery, after 8 hours, and they had removed all of the tumor. It was much bigger than they had thought, and his skull was thinner where the tumor was, making the doctors think that it had been there for years. Hopefully it's not too bad of a cancer, and a little chemo or radiation will have no problem clearing it up. It was a reality check. Live life to the fullest, because you just never know what tomorrow is going to bring. My prayers go out to their family.

I hate being broken.

2007-08-14T21:57:00.000-04:00

Today is Post-Dirty Girl's Run Day 3. I'm still really sore. It's all in my right knee. And it's only when I'm walking downhill or down stairs. I hate being broken. And I hate when I have to go days without running. I'm crossing my fingers that I'll be back out on the trails by Thursday, but I think that might be pushing it. I've got a little over a month to be ready for my next race, so at least I don't have to dig in with the training right away. Next up is the Out of Bounds 10k in Bristol. That's Sept 29th. I'm going to bust my ass to do really good on that one b/c I'm going to have a lot of people coming to watch. I'm ready to kick some serious ass! 10k is going to be nothing compared to the 30k I did over the weekend.

So today was my second day at the new rotation. I'm doing family medicine. I really like it so far. I get to see lots of stuff. Yesterday I saw a spleen the size of a guy's abdomen, a bug stuck in someone's ear, melanoma, and a bunch of other stuff. I'm learning a lot, which is what I like! The people I work with are super nice, and we get free lunches all the time! Drug reps come in all the time trying to sell their drugs to us and they bring food! I love free food. Yesterday it was Pizzaria Uno and today it was Applebee's. Not sure what tomorrow's going to bring! The best part of my day today had to be right after lunch. I checked my phone before going back to work, and some amazing boy told me to come outside. Marty had decided he needed to surprise me at work! It's very nice when your boyfriend owns his own business and works/lives roughly 5 minutes from where you're working. Makes it easy for him to come and surprise you! It was great! I'm going to brag a little bit more, just to make all the girls jealous! This is how amazing he is...the other night I was getting ready for bed, and when I went into the bedroom to get into bed, I noticed a little bowl of ice cream sitting on the bedside table on my side of the bed. Now if you know me well, you know that I LOVE ice cream! It was such a nice little treat. He does little things like that all the time and it makes me realize more and more every day just how lucky I am. Golfer, thank you for making me one very happy lady :*

Ok, enough bragging. Now it's time for bed.

***Tif***

The Dirty Girl's, Part 2

2007-08-12T13:17:00.001-04:00

I SURVIVED!!! YAHOO! I have to say that yesterday was one of the most amazing days of my life, when it comes to personal accomplishment. I ended up doing 30k (or 18.6 miles). Unfortunately I couldn't run the whole time due to injury. But I did end up doing the 30k in 4 and a half hours, which I am very happy with. So here's how my day went...

The alarm went of at 4:30 and I was up and in the shower, ready to go. We had packed everything up the night before, so all we needed to do was shower, pack the car, and go. My dad's girlfriend, Suzie, was a lil on the slow side, so we got out of the house 5 minutes behind schedule, which was no big deal. We made a pit stop at Tops b/c Dad and I both forgot our cameras, then got gas and hit the road. We got up to the course at about 8:15am, with just enough time for me to pick up my packet, get dressed, listen to the rules, and go over one more time what I needed Dad and Suzie to do for me. I was so nervous! Nervous and ready to go! At 9 the race started and I stayed close to the back of the pack b/c I don't like to run near people. I don't like to be constantly looking over my shoulder to see if I need to move over for someone to pass me. I felt awesome running. My body took a little bit longer to find it's rhythm than it normally does, but as soon as it did, I was flying (well flying, for me). Dad and Suzie were waiting for me at 7.5k with a filled CamelBak and some food. I ended up just taking the CamelBak b/c I wasn't even slightly hungry. I met them again at the start/finish (10k) and swapped out the Gatorade CamelBak for the water one and was on my way again. I did awesome on the first lap. I did the 6.2miles in about an hour and 10 minutes, a personal record for me. On top of that, I was feeling AWESOME! The second lap was a little bit slower. I think around an hour and 20 minutes, still good, though. My lungs and legs were doing great, with only minimal fatigue. It was looking like I was going to get 4 laps in during the 6 hours. Then I got about a mile into the third loop and all hell broke loose. It started with throwing up, something I've never done when running before. Then again, I've never run more than 13 miles in more than one run. Got that out of my system and felt much better, but feeling a lot more fatigued. By the time I got to the 5k aid station, I felt like I was sleep running. I wasn't think, I was just running, and I felt like I was doing it with my eyes closed. I've never felt that way before. It was very weird. My mind was just so tired. My body was ready to go, though. I ended up throwing up again about a mile after the 5k station. Got it out of my system and kept going. My body felt fine, besides for sore feet and a sore back. Met Dad and Suzie at 7.5k again, and opted just for water b/c I was swelling so much. I still thought I had another at least 3/4 loop left in me. That thought lasted for about a mile. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, my knee started KILLING me. So much so, I was fighting back tears. I was fine on the flats and up hills, but going down hill was torture. And the last 2.5k is pretty much down hill. I limped it to the start/finish and decided my body had said it was time to quit, given I couldn't put weight on my right leg. :( I was bummed, but then I realized that I had just run almost 20 miles and that's nothing to be upset about. I relaxed from 1:30 until 4 when we did awards, then headed home feeling sore, but very accomplished. I can't wait until next year's race. I'll be better prepared and have a year of running under my belt, instead of just 3 months. Overall, I give yesterday an A+ and like I said, I can't wait for next year!

I want to thank my dad and Suzie for everything that they did for me yesterday. I wouldn't have been able to run nearly as far as I did without their help. I would have been broken and battered much earlier than 18 miles. Thank you so much, you two, for blessing me with all of your help. I am so thankful.

Today, I'm feeling pretty sore. The hot tob this morning helped sooooo much. I could actually walk when I got out. But it's been about an hour and a half since I got out, and my knee is getting very sore again. I'll just go in again today at some point. My muscles don't feel so bad, though. So that's a very nice thing. I think a few more times in the hot tub and about a week off should do the trick and put me right back to normal :)

***Tif***

I'm ready for it to be tomorrow!!!

2007-08-10T14:22:00.001-04:00

TOMORROW'S RACE DAY! I'm so excited. I've been looking forward to it for about 2 months now. I'm still not as physically prepared as I should be, but I'm still going to have one kick ass time! The first 10k is going to be the hardest, I think. I always have a hard time getting the legs and lungs started. But when they finally kick in, I'm usually good to go. I've spent the past month trying to figure out what I wanted to do for nutrition tomorrow. I've settled on chicken drumsticks baked in montreal steak seasoning (lots of salt), sunflower seeds, oranges, pickles, and if hyponatremia hits really hard, I'm coming prepared with chicken broth, which is basically like taking shots of pure salt. I've got everything planned out...extra sneakers, extra socks, shorts, shirts, ect. I'm going with the boy scout motto about always being prepared (at least I think that was the boy scouts...). The only thing I goofed about were my CamelBak's. I rinsed them out at Marty's last night and left them sitting in the bathroom to dry out. Well dinkus was in such a rush to get out of the house at 6am this morning, that she left them right on the bathroom sink, where she put them last night. Marty, being the absolutely AMAZING man that he is, drive to my dad's this morning to drop them off. He told me he'd call me on my way back, and like an hour or so later, I was wondering where the heck he was. Turns out he sat and had coffee with Dad and Suzie this morning. :) That was the first time he met them. I talked to Suzie after that and she said that they loved him...that he has GREAT energy. I totally agree. Girls, be jealous! I've got myself quite a catch. Gorgeous, smart, caring, respectful, honest, just to name a few :) He's got it all! I'm very VERY lucky!

So anyways, I've got the chicken in the oven, and lots of stuff spread out on the floor so I make sure I don't forget anything else. I don't want to make too much of a mess, though, b/c I've got people coming to look at the apartment tonight! That's right! I'm crossing my fingers that they'll love it here and want to rent. I'll be saving myself an obsurd amount of money each month. I'm ready to move on...to leave Grand Island and move on to bigger and better places! Let's just hope the universe has the same thing in mind for me.

I'm so excited about tomorrow! There are just no words! Dad and Suzie should be here within the next few hours. That's going to get me going even more! 24 hours from this exact moment, I'll be more tired than I've ever been in my life, just finishing up my 6 hours. Life is good!

***Tif***

Song of the day ~ "Fireworks" by Plain White T's

Quote of the day ~ "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away." :*

30's my new favorite number!

2007-08-05T11:35:00.000-04:00

It has been a fantastic weekend. I woke up Friday and put in a good 6 miles, and felt good for the most part, minus the severe dehydration and hyponatremia I developed. Dinkus forgot to add her electrolyte pack to her water before she went out. Not smart Tif. Not smart at all. I've decided that when I do anything 5 miles or more, I'm going to take the quad up and go about 3 or 4 miles and stash my extra camelbak somewhere on the trail, take the quad back down to the property, run until I get to my filled camelbak, and then swap empty for full. After the run I'll just head back up on the quad and grab the empty one. I was so dehydrated from Friday, that today (Sunday) my muscles are still sore and I can still feel the dehydration. I'm going to be sucking down water for the next week. I'm gonna look like a fish. I want to make sure I'm good and hydrated for Saturday's race. Hydrated and not sore...I wont' have time to run until probably Friday and I probably won't do it then just b/c it's the night before the race. So my legs have time to rest up.

After I ran and recovered, I met Marty at the movies and we say the Bourne Ultimatum. It was a really good movie. Probably would have been better if we hadn't sat all the way in the front on the side of the theater. It was packed and I was running soooooo late. We still had a good time, though! Saturday morning, I got up, did some stuff around the house, then headed to Honeoye. Marty had the boat all hooked up and ready to go! We headed to the lake and spent about 3 hours out there just driving around, relaxing, and enjoyed the weather and the company. After that, we headed back to his place where he cooked us some fantastic steaks and corn on the cob. It's nice having a man that can cook! They're rare :) We spent the rest of the day just relaxing and watching some movies. When it got dark I ran for the hot tub to relax my very sore legs. It definitely helped. Headed home, went to bed, woke up and now I'm at work. The weekend definitely went by too quickly, but as the say...time flies when you're having fun! Happiness has come when I least expected it. I was miserable and mean, then came Golfer who knocked that shit outta me! It feels good to smile all the time again and not be so scared. Everything happens for a reason. Marty, thank you for everything you do and who you are. I am one lucky lady and I am sooo keeping you! :)

***Tif***

Quote of the day ~ "Just when you think it will never stop raining, God puts a rainbow in the sky." ~ Maya Angelou

Song of the day ~ "I wanna know" by Rascal Flatts

Indian Givers SUCK!

2007-08-02T23:29:00.000-04:00

I got all excited today....A guy that's been back and forth about renting out the room in my apartment called me and told me he was interested. YAHOO! not an hour after he said he'd rent it, he decided that it wasn't a good idea. Bastard. It was like he handed me $500 and then an hour later took it away. Nobody likes an indian giver. I got all excited that I'd finally have a little extra cash...As my dad would say, it's not fortune, it's not misfortune...it just is. I'm crossing my fingers that someone will want to rent it. I don't know how I'm going to afford to keep it.

So I've got tomorrow off and I'm SUPER excited. Gonna get up in the morning and go for a nice run and then relax for most of the day! I rolled my ankle pretty nicely on Tuesday when I ran, so I took Wed and Thurs off to rest up. I need to be in tip-top shape by next Saturday for the race. I'm feeling really good right now. Tomorrow should be awesome. Tomorrow night is going to be pretty freaking awesome too...I'm going to the movies to see The Bourne Ultimatum (is that the name of the newest one???)! I love going to the movies. It's gonna be enjoyed with some pretty fantastic company, too. ;) I CAN'T WAIT!!!

You know, sometimes life just throws you these curve balls. It's come to my attention that sometimes you just need to close your eyes and swing, and hopefully you'll get lucky. I'd say I've been pretty lucky as of late. I have my moments when I'm mad at life and just plain unhappy, but they're few and far between. I've found a bit of clarity. And damn it feels good :)

***Tif***

Song of the day ~ "That's the Way" by Jo Dee Messina

Quote of the day ~ "You create your own reality." ~ my wise father

Slumpsville: Population, Me

2007-07-29T18:41:00.000-04:00

I'm in a slump. I don't know what it is, but I just can't seem to get motivated to run as much as I should be. I don't know actual numbers, but I think I only did around 12 or 13 miles this week. That's pitiful! I seem to come up with one reason or another why I need to cut my run short. Monday, I got sick while running and had to cut it short at 3 miles. Wednesday, Delilah cut it short when she was too tired to keep going, so I only did 2 miles. Then I went out on Friday with high hopes of doing like 7 or 8 miles. I got lost in the woods...and got so mentally drained, that at 5 miles I threw in the towel. Then comes today. Delilah was being a snot and dad needed to work on the Treehouse, so I had to take her with me again. She quit on me after 2 miles! She started walking! I managed to get about another mile or so out of her, but that was it. Pitiful. Absolutely pitiful. I'm very passionate about my running...I absolutely love it. But I don't know what the deal is as of late. I'm hoping that although I haven't been able to put a lot of distance or hours in, just the fact that I'm running regularly will be helpful for the 6hr. I'm getting very nervous about it. And I just found out the other day that one of my crew members isn't going to be able to make it! Dad's girlfriend Suzie, was going to come with me and Dad and she was going to help me out. But she's gotta work that weekend and it doesn't look like she'll be able to get out of it. :( so it's just me and Dad. Which is still great, but I'm gonna feel bad that he's gonna basically spend 6 hours by himself, and waiting on me hand and foot on the rare occasion that he does see me. Hopefully Suzie will be able to get the day off, b/c she always brings amazing energy to whatever it is that she does. I can use all the amazing energy I can get. Ok, that's enough whining for now.

***Tif***

Song of the day ~ "My Give a Damn's Busted" ~ Jo Dee Messina

Quote of the day ~ "Men have a really really strange and terrible ability to check out emotionally from relationships." ~ a wise friend

Lucky Lady

2007-07-25T18:31:00.000-04:00

I think that I'm one of the luckiest ladies in the world. I have the most amazing people in my life. You all know who you are :)

Thank you for being a part of my life, and enriching it. I would be lost without you and am thankful for every day that you are a part of my life. I am blessed!

Now, with that said...

I have two and a half weeks to finish getting ready for my 6 hour solo on the 11th. I am sooooo not prepared! Work makes it hard to get out on the trails and go for hours, like I'd like to. Friday, Suzie and I are going to get her tattoo, and then after that I think I'm going to hit up Dryer Rd. Park and hopefully run for a few hours there. I know there's a lot of mt. biking that goes on there, so hopefully they won't mind me sharing the trails. I'm hoping to go for 3 hours. My goal for the race is to do 30 miles. But I'm shooting REAL high. I'm hoping that something will possess me during the race and I'll just be able to GO! I'll let you know how things go on Friday. Hopefully the drawing for my next tattoo will be done, or at least close to done. I should be getting that within the next couple of weeks. They are so addicting!

One last thing...

GO SEE TRANSFORMERS! It was absolutely awesome. There are very few movies that I'd pay to see more than once in the theaters. That movie is one of them.

***Tif***

Song of the day ~ "You'll Think of Me" by Keith Urban

Quote of the day ~ “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”

Diagnosis: Endorphinemia

2007-07-20T15:45:00.000-04:00

I figured out what my problem yesterday. I was suffering from what I like to call endorphinemia. I was lacking the necessary endorphins that keep me in my upbeat, chipper mood. I have to remember not to go 3 days without running again. I just get way too grumpy.

So today, on my lovely day off, I decided to go for a nice looooooooong run. There's a race in High Tor (in Naples, well Italy, actually) every year. It's a 20k race. It was my intention to run that course today. Well here's how it started off...I couldn't find the trail. When I finally found what I thought might be the trail, I pulled my car over, parked it and got my gear together and set out. I was about 100 feet away from my car when I started noticing these bugs that kept flying into my hair. I didn't think anything of it, until I turned around and saw a swarm of them flying after me! I quickly went from a walk to a run, hoping to out-run them. Those suckers are fast! I said, "To hell with this!", turned around, and sprinted back to my car. I got back to my car, got in, closed the door and was going to wait until they were gone. But those little *uckers hung out outside of my car! Again, I said, "To hell with this!" and drove back down the hill to another spot I thought I might be able to run.

I got there, and I see no trail. All I see is water. Basically you can hike up water (i.e. stoneybrook) to a waterfall. I thought I'd bag the running idea and just hike. I got about half a mile up the water, then decided to take my shoes off and actually enjoy the hike. I had a great time. Until the gnats found me again! Just like before, they swarmed me! I'm telling you, if you had seen me, it was like my head was a hive, and the gnats were bees being drawn to the hive. I took off running. Not a good idea when you're in water, on rocks. I slipped and ended up stubbing my toe and tearing off part of my big toenail. I was so mad at this point, that I threw my sneakers back on and headed for a trail I had caught with the corner of my eye a minute or two before. I decided that I had enough water and gel to last me a good 4 or 5 hours, and a cell phone if needed. I was going to just go blind and hope I could find a road. Turns out the road was like 1/4 of a mile away from where I was. So I high-tailed it out of there, with gnats following close behind. They followed me for a good half a mile before they decided I was too quick for them. I made it back to the car in close to one piece (only missing a small portion of a toe nail). I'm going to try it again tomorrow before work, hopefully. But this time I'm going to be prepared with bug spray.

I got back to The Hill and decided I needed to run more. So I put 2.5miles in on the trails behind the house. I got my endorphin fix for the day and I'm happy now. I just ate a great tuna wrap too. So I'm feeling reeeeeeeeeal good right now! I'm thinking it's nappy time :)

***Tif***

Song of the day ~ "Because of You" by Kelly Clarkson and Reba

Quote of the day ~ "The things we lose have a way of coming back to us in the end...if not always in the way we expected." ~ Luna Lovegood

Creating a balance...

2007-07-19T21:51:00.000-04:00

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed.
Period.
Enter.

I've been so grumpy all freaking day. So bad, in fact, I can barely stand to be in the same room with myself. I just don't know what my deal is! There's absolutely no reason for it. Nothing bad has happened. Nothing's gone wrong. Life is exactly the same as it was yesterday at this time, minus the grumpy-ness. I apparently was too chipper yesterday and the universe is trying to find a balance. I'm thinking that it's b/c I haven't run since Monday. I get a little cranky when it's been a few days. It's like I need my fix or something. I intend on putting in a good run tomorrow down at High Tor, a trail area in Naples. There's a 20k race that takes place there every spring, so hopefully I'll be able to find that course and put in a nice 20k tomorrow. That would make for a happy Tif. A very, very happy Tif.

Know what else would make for a happy Tif? Another TPS weekend. The last one went by too fast, and I had way too much to do. I need some sista time. And a good drink.

***Grumpy***

Song of the day ~ i'm such a piss pot right now, i can't even come up with a song. i told someone a few months ago to take a shower and wash his grumpy-ness down the drain. maybe that's what i need to do....

More Coffee!!!!!!!!

2007-07-18T19:22:00.000-04:00

Today is day 2 of my rotation in inpatient medicine. I'm LOVING it! My shift is 1pm-11pm, which I was nervous about at first, but turns out it's pretty fun! The people that work nights are really relaxed and easy going, and I end up laughing most of the time. And let me tell you, it's about time I got a preceptor that isn't a butthead! He actually tried racing me down the hall! I didn't want to run through the line of people, so I told him that there's going to be a rain check. I'm just really enjoying this job. I just got to change a guy's trach a minute ago. That was pretty neat! And apparently I'm about to go check out some dude's seriously bleeding wound. It's going to be a good night! Ok, that's about all I've got for today.

:)

***Tif***

Song of the day ~ "If You're Happy and You Know It..." ~ everyone here tells me I'm just way too happy and energized this late at night. And yet they still love me :) No really! They do!

Run Everywhere

2007-07-16T16:40:00.000-04:00

That's what it says on my trail shoes. I realized today how much I'm starting to have that mentality...

I ran Boughton Park this morning again. One lap around is 2.82 miles. I did two today. I was a little disappointed in myself. I went in thinking I'd do 4. I was just starting to hurt EVERYWHERE. I'm going to go back probably wednesday morning before work and put another 2 laps in. My goal is to go on friday or saturday and do 3 or 4. It's a tough course. My 6hr solo is coming up in less than a month and I'm realizing now just how unprepared I am for it. Lessons learned.

I got back from running, made Dad and his friend some lunch (they have been hard at work trying to get water/electric/internet down to my treehouse), then took a nice nap. When I got up, I went to work helping Dad and Mark. I was basically the go-for girl. I ran everywhere I went. You just get there so much quicker! And it seems like going anywhere around here involves a hill (either up or down), so it's always good to put some hill work in :-P I've become obsessed, I think. But what a healthy obsession!

I'm headed to Shortsville to stay with my grandparents for the week. Kevin (the ex) had Delilah over the weekend and pushed her too hard, so now she's having a hard time walking again. I thought it would be a good idea to let her relax a little bit at gma's. It's also good to keep her away from all the stuff going on here. There's a big back-ho thingy that I know she'd get in the way of if she were here. I'll be back probably friday or so. Depends on how work goes. I'm really excited to start tomorrow. I just hope I don't look like too much of an idiot!

***Tif***

Quote of the day ~ "Beginnings are scary. Endings are usually sad. But it's the middle that counts the most. You need to remember that when you find yourself at the beginning. Just give hope a chance to float up. And it will too..." ~ Hope Floats

Satisfaction Guaranteed

2007-07-14T16:54:00.000-04:00

Well, I've officially completed my second race! Not only did I complete it, but I rocked it! I ended up 9th in my division (out of 26) and only 2 minutes behind the 3rd place finisher. It was a 4.5k race and I finished in 0:29.54. I am soooooooooo happy with that. According to my Forerunner, I averaged a 10:40 minute/mile. When I started running about 7 weeks ago, I was running somewhere's around a 14 minute/mile. It's my hope that by the end of the season I'll be down to about a 9 minute/mile, hopefully less than that. I just need to keep working hard and training. I saw a quote yesterday that said, "Today, I'm going to do what you won't do, so tomorrow I can do what you can't do." I LIKE IT! Ok, so let me tell you a little bit about my day...

Of course, I overslept again. And of course, Junior was my saving grace again. Whenever I'm heading to a race, or a big run, he always calls me in the morning before I go (usually somewhere between 6am and 7am) to wish me luck :) It was nice hearing his voice this morning. He sounded happy, which was also very nice to hear, after losing his grandfather yesterday morning. You already know this, Junior, but you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.

So I got my ass outta the house around 7:30 (right on time, thank you Junior!), stopped to get gas and OJ and was on my way! I got up there (Northwest of Toronto) around 9ish. It was freezing. All I had were my shorts, my running tank, and a t-shirt. I was an icicle. From now on, I'll come prepared for more types of weather. I registered, got my very cool race t-shirt (the front says, "get off the road." the back says, "get on the trails.") and waited in line FOREVER to go to the freaking bathroom. can i just say, that I think my kidneys were hyperactive today b/c i didn't take in nearly as much as i put out. it was a little frustrating! The race started at 10am and we went in 5 waves. We all had little chips velcroed to our ankles to keep track of our time. It was a good system. I took off in the 4th wave, b/c I'm slow. I just felt weird the first 5 or so minutes. Something just wasn't right. I ended up rolling my ankle 5 separate times within the 4.5k. Apparently my iPod was playing too loud, because as I rolled my ankle for the 3rd time, the profanities came spewing out of my mouth. I thought I was mumbling them, but I quickly realized that I hadn't been mumbling when the woman running a bit in front of me looked back and shot me a nasty look. Oops! Way to represent the US, Tif. Nice work! I kept my mouth shut after that. (I was THE ONLY runner from the US.)

The course was really technical. A lot of roots and rocks. It makes me wonder what people run on to train for these events b/c so many people had issues with going up and down the hills! I train on rocky/rooty trails every day and fly down them and am starting to fly up them. People were walking down! I felt like singing Ludacris's "Move Bitch! Get Out the Way!", but I refrained :) I kicked ass going up the hills. I guess most people stick to flat courses when they train, b/c so many walked. I can't wait to see my progress next year on that course...it'll be like I have wings on, and I'll really be flying!!!

I finished hard. Sprinting, actually. There was someone behind me and I wasn't about to be passed. Put myself into a pretty nice asthma attack, but it was worth it. I felt really good. I felt even better when I saw my pace was under 11 minutes!

After the race, they had a ton of food (my favorite part of the races, besides the running). I stuck to the pita with hummus. omg it was so good. It's been forever since I had hummus. I need to get some. It rocked my world :) After I ate my share of food, I decided to hit the road and head home. I ended up getting back home around 1pm or so. I was whooped and took a nice nap. As I said, I'm really happy with the way today went. I'm looking forward to Aug 11th for my 6hr race. Monday starts hardcore training for that race. Lots and lots of hours on the trails. I'm hoping with my work schedule, I'll be able to pull off one, hopefully two, long runs a week.

Speaking of work...

I finally have a new rotation site. I can't mention where, but I can say that it's inpatient medicine. As of right now, my schedule is Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday from 1pm to 11pm. I get a long weekend! Woohoo! It'll be nice only having to drive to Rochester three times a week. Save me some gas! :) And I can still do Monday night Yoga, which I'm super excited about.

Ok, I've written enough for now. Time to go relax and watch a movie.

***Tif***

Quote of the day ~ "You're not puking and nothing's broken, so get going."

Song of the day ~ "Move Bitch! Get Out the Way!" ~ Ludacris

Mind Games

2007-07-09T16:48:00.000-04:00

"Never say never
Never say die
Live for tomorrow
And never ask why
Hold a dream in your heart
And hope in your mind
Leave rejection, and pain, and sorrow behind
Always look up
Never look down
Smile forever
There's no need to frown
Dare to be different
Stand out in a crowd
Be all you can be
And always be proud."

My JV soccer coach read this to us my freshman year in high school. It stuck with me. Ultra racing is not about what your body can handle. It's about what your mind can handle. The minute your mind quits on you, your body quits on you. I try to remember this when I'm training. I found another 6hr race this season that I'm going to sign up for. After a few hours, my body is sure to be tired and will want to quit. At that point, it's up to my mind to override the aches and pains and to tell my body that I can (and WILL) keep going. It's all a mind game. Never say never and never say die. I'll stop when the 6 hours is up. And then next season, after I've got a lot more miles under my feet, I'll do 12 hour ultras. My goal is to be able to do a 24hr within the next 4 years. I need to get my mind in shape for that, more so than my body. I'm determined.

That's all for today.

***Tif***

Quote of the day ~ “When exhaustion makes me tired, when agony doubles me over and cramps my muscles, and the thought of defeat waves a white flag in my face, I will still be running.” ~ not sure who said this.

Pigtails a' flyin'!

2007-07-07T09:52:00.000-04:00

CLICK ON ME!!!!!!!!

See anyone familiar?! IT'S ME! IT'S ME! That's a link to the Dirty Girl's Run website. Diane (the race director) liked my pictures and captions so much, that she put a direct link to my page from the Dirty Girl's page. So now, anyone that goes to check out the course, gets to see my smiling mug! :) I was so excited when Diane sent me the email last night, telling me to check out the page. It's awesome to finally have some connections in the trail running community. What's also pretty freaking cool is that I talked to her about having a race up here on The Hill at some point within the next couple of years. I'm fairly sure that she'll help guide me down the roads I need to take in order to make it an awesome race. I haven't decided what kind of a race I want to make it yet, but it will probably be an ultra, since I seem to be leaning more towards ultras than I am the quicker races. They're more of a challenge and it's such a different atmosphere. The other races just end too quickly. I never thought I'd be able to run the distances I do, but man do I ever love every second of them! It feels like a waste of a run if it's not at least an hour.

Speaking of a waste of a run...

I decided to head out again last night, since I got home early from work. I laced up the shoes, strapped on the Forerunner, filled both Camelbaks and I was ready to hit the trails for a good two hours or so. I stashed one Camelbak in a tree, so that when I ran out of the first, I could loop around and do a swap. Well, apparently I was meant to take yesterday off. I was dragging ass the entire time. My legs felt like 100lb weights. I pushed myself for 2.5 miles before I decided that I was really crapping out and should just take one for the team and walk the rest of the way. I took the headphones out, turned the iPod off and just walked. I didn't realize how much of nature I miss out on when I'm running. I'm so focused on the trail and not falling over any of the obstacles that nature so happily provides for me, that I never take time to actually look around and see the woods. Well, yesterday I finally got a chance to do that.

So I'm walking along, just soaking up the beauty, and I happen to look down and see a turtle in the trail! She was just kinda hanging out there, saying, "Tif, help a sista out! Get me off this trail!" So I kindly obliged. Seeing the turtle in the middle of the woods was a bit of a sign to me. I feel like it was the universe's way of telling me that I need to slow down. I've been pushing myself so hard to reach peak performance, that I've been neglecting my body. Right now, I'm nursing two very sore ankles and one very sore knee. One of the ankles is very, very bad and gets worse after every run. As they say, slow and steady wins the race. I need to stop focusing on the present so much and my races this year. I need to focus more on next season. This season is a learning season for me. I keep forgetting that. I may not be kicking ass this year, but I'll be damned if I don't kick some ass next season. Ok, so that was my turtle story :)

While I was walking, I also decided that I was going to walk to the Jump-Off (it overlooks Bristol Mt. and is where the hang-gliders take off from) and sit there and meditate for a little while. As soon as I get there, I look out at the hills and see another friend. This time it's a hawk! Hawks are very significant in my life. The hawk and the wolf are my totems. They are my guardians and my guides through my life. I see hawks ALL the time, but I've only seen a wolf once. The best part of that was that it was a white wolf that I saw. It was very cool. Ok, so anyways! I sat down on the jump-off and watched the hawk for a little while, and then just meditated. I felt like a brand new person after that. I got up, and walked to where I stashed my Camelbak, hooked it up and decided to have a little fun! If you're a watcher of Friends, you may have seen the episode where Phoebe and Rachel go running. Phoebe runs just like a little kid...as fast as she can, and arms flying everywhere. Totally out of control. She explains to Rachel that it's just more fun to run that way. Well, that's how I decided I wanted to run the .3miles downhill back to the house. I flew! Arms were flailing everywhere, I had a smile plastered on my face, and I was getting muddy! I even caught myself with my tongue hanging out of my mouth a few times! (like mother, like daughter, apparently!) When I got back to the house, my body felt good, healed almost. Originally, I thought that the run was a waste, just a really crappy run. Turns out, I was wrong. It was healing. It was beautiful :)

I ended up getting home and loading my Forerunner data into the computer. The 2.5 that I did yesterday, I averaged a 13:01 minute mile. BOO HISS! The two runs I had done earlier in the week were both over 3 miles and I averaged 11:29 on one and 11:42 on the other. I'm definately making progress, I just need to relax a little bit. Saturday is race day, so I've got to be in top form by then! No more injuries! It's a 4.5k up in Canada. Should be a quick, yet good race.

Quick surgery update:

I STILL HATE IT! Only 4 more days left, thank God! I've seen some pretty strange things, and done some pretty strange things (ie. holding a testicle during surgery so it didn't disappear into the abdomen). I have to say, I will not miss it one bit. I'm crossing my fingers that I get sent to a site that's about 5 minutes from The Hill. My clinical coordinator is working hard to get me the site, so let's all hope!

***Tif***

Song of the day ~ "Summer Girl" by Jessica Andrews

Quote of the day ~ "Drink til he's cute!" from the song of the day :)

Dirty Girl's, Part 1 con't

2007-07-05T12:00:00.001-04:00

Here's the pictures I promised! Aren't you proud?! I finally got pictures up! haha!

Let me just tell you, the pictures DO NOT do the course justice. I cannot wait to run it for 6 hours!!! I'm sooooooo doing 12 next year! :)

***Tif***

The Dirty Girl's, Part 1

2007-07-04T18:24:00.000-04:00

I finally have time to sit down and write about how awesome my day was on Saturday. Junior is busy bbqing us a nice 4th of July dinner, so I've got time to kill. If you've read my blog before, you'll know that this past Saturday I headed up to Canada to preview the course for the Dirty Girl's Run, which is a 6 hour solo race I'm running on August 11th. A bunch of people were meeting at the Mansfield Outdoor Centre to check out the course before the race. The minute I found out about it, I knew I'd be there. They were starting the run at 10am, and I figured it would take me about two and a half hours to get up there, but wanted to give myself some extra time because I wasn't entirely sure how to get there. My intention was to get up at 6am and be out of the house by 6:30 so I could stop and get a banana and some coffee before I headed up north.

I went to bed at a fairly decent time (10pm, I think), and slept like a rock. So hard, in fact, that I slept right through my alarm AND a phone call. Thank goodness Junior called me at 6am and left me a voicemail wishing me luck, because if he hadn't, the phone wouldn't have vibrated and it wouldn't have woken me up. Who knows how long I would have slept!!!! So a BIG thank you to Junior for that!

I ended up getting out of the house around 7:15 and was in a miserable mood b/c the directions just did not make sense! I finally decided to just wing it with a map I had in the car. I got a little bit lost, but ended up getting up there right at 10am. And I was so lucky they hadn't left yet. Everyone went out in two groups, I happened to be in the second group. The best part of the second group was that it was just me and Diane, the original Dirty Girl! We talked about the course, running, life, and anything else we thought of. I'm so glad I was with her, because I wouldn't have been able to stay on the trail. It's pretty confusing, but all the kinks will be worked out before race day, so I'm not too worried. It took us an hour and 19 minutes to do the first 10k loop. We went back to the cabin where we had some food and water and I took a minute to eat some chicken, then decided to head back out there. I didn't drive all that way just to run for a little over an hour! I hooked up the iPod and I was off, all by my lonesome! I was cruising and having an absolutely amazing time. The course was beautiful. I'm going to have no problem whatsoever running it for 6 hours. I think I just might be in Heaven, actually! I screwed around a little bit, taking pictures and just stopping to enjoy the beauty, and ended up finishing that loop in an hour and 16 minutes. I was soooooooooo happy with that! Hopefully within the next month, I'll be able to shave 5 or 10 minutes of that time!

I'm just so proud of myself. I've come so far. I never would have thought I'd be able to run for over 2 and a half hours and still be living to tell about it the next day! The best part about it is that I could have gone further! But I knew I had another long drive ahead of me, and I was starting to hurt a bit from some lingering injuries, so decided to call it a day. I was back home by about 5pm and in bed by 6pm. I was one whooped lady! It was so worth it, though. I'm working on uploading the pictures from the course, and when I do, I'll make sure to post them.

I really do think that I've found my calling. There's nothing in the world like trail running. Boy, does it ever make me happy. I went out last night on The Hill for the first time in about a week, and I was a happy camper, minus the aches and pains. The trails were really dry, though. I was so happy when I woke up this morning to the sound of rain on my Tree House! Rain means muddy trails. Muddy trails means the Dirty Girl gets to be niiiiiiiiiiiice and dirty tonight! WOOHOO!!!

Aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, life is good :)

Oh, FYI, 20k is about 12.4 miles.

***Tif***

Quote of the day ~ "No pain, no gain."

What were they thinking?!

2007-07-02T15:06:00.000-04:00

This morning was a great morning. I got first shower (a great thing in my house!) and was happy, and wide awake on my way to work this morning. I was feeling like it was going to be a great day. Then came the news...the Sabres have lost co-captains Chris Drury and Daniel Briere. Drury is playing for the NY Rangers for the next 5 years (BOO HISS!!!!!) and Danny is skating for Phili for the next 8 years. Danny, I'm not surprised about. When Biron got traded there during the season, rumors were flying that Danny was going to end up there with him. So I'm not too shocked about that. But Drury?! HELLO! Earth to Darcy and company! Not only are those guys are two of our very best players, they are our two best centers! What were you thinking?! Yeah, Connolly works magic with the puck. But is he going to be able to stay healthy? (Let's cross our fingers that he can, b/c the man is truly a magician and an asset to the team.) Roy is good, but hasn't come into his full potential yet. Gaustad was doing great til the ankle injury. Hopefully he'll be able to pick up where he left off, but, like Roy, I don't think he's reached his full potential yet. One of the things that makes Buffalo such a threat is the fact that we can run four fantastic lines. I believe the third line (Roy, Vanek, Afinogenov) was the highest scoring line (I could be wrong). One of the reasons we had such powerful lines was b/c we had such strong centers! Who's going to step up now? Drury's and Briere's skates are some pretty big skates to fill. I just hope that Darcy and company don't end up kicking themselves next season. I'm crossing my fingers that they've got something HUGE lined up that will make up for the losses we sustained yesterday. My heart hurts. Let's hope that they don't let anyone else get away (ie Vanek) this season. I, like all other Buffalo fans, want another shot at the cup! These last two seasons have been nothing but a tease! Let's hope that third time is the charm!

Oh, and while I'm thinking of it...

While listening to the radio this morning, I heard that people were saying they won't go to/watch another Sabrse game again because they're pissed that Drury and Briere are gone. SUCK IT UP MAN! BE A TRUE FAN! I'm pissed too, but I'm not about to toss my team to the side because I don't agree with/understand the motives behind the decision not to resign the two. The whole situation just plain sucks. And it's "fans" like that that I would really love to knock in the head with a hockey stick. You people are a disgrace to the rest of us fans. You give us a bad name. Go find another team. We don't want you in Buffalo.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Cramping my style

2007-06-29T19:12:00.001-04:00

It's funny how things can go from great to really crappy in just a matter of hours. Last night, I went to see a friend I've been wanting to see for what seems like eons. Went over to his house and had an absolutely fantastic time. Don't think that there wasn't a smile on my face for even a second while I was there. Again, it was fantastic. The night ended too early though, b/c I had to get up at 4:30am to be at work by 6am. So anyways, to continue my story...so I left Jr's and was in an AWESOME mood. Went back to The Hill, had a glass of wine, and visited with my dad, his girlfriend, and her sister. It was a hoot! Lots and lots of laughs! So I head back down to my Tree House and hop into bed. Oh it was so comfy. I thought I was going to have the greatest night sleep! Well, 1:30am comes around and I'm jolted awake by Delilah barking at something. All I can think at this point is, "Holy shit! I'm in the woods. Alone. If I screamed, no one would hear me! THERE'S SOMEONE OUT THERE!!!!!" I got my arss out of bed and closed and locked all 2 of my windows and crawled back into bed with my covers around my neck, trying to convince myself it was nothing. It took forever to fall back asleep, but I ended up being successful after about 45 minutes or so, I'd say. Well wouldn't you know, that sleep wasn't meant to last. I woke up around 3:30am and went to roll over in bed, when out of the blue, my stinkin' calf cramped! Now, let me tell you, the cramp was so bad, that now, about 16 hours later, that mofo still hurts! So needless to say, I got very little sleep last night, and as it turns out, the people that have come into contact with me today seem to be paying the price. My apologies to all.

This cramp is starting to get on my nerves, too. I'm in Buffalo right now, resting up to run the Dirty Girl's trail tomorrow morning up in Canada. It's a 10k loop, and I was hoping to get 2 loops in tomorrow, since it's such a long drive up. The Dirty Girl's Run is on August 11th, and it's the 6 hour race that I'm doing. I thought it would be a good idea to get a peek at the course before the race. But this damn calf of mine! I can barely walk! How am I supposed to run tomorrow?! I'm heating it tonight, hoping to relax it a bit, and I'll dose up on Aleve in the morning, so hopefully that will help. I'm also crossing my fingers that I can run it out. I'm going to be pretty freaking pissed if I can't even do the 10k tomorrow. I'm taking the camera with me, so I'll be sure to post some pics of the course. It should be pretty sweet.

Like I said, I woke up this morning at 4:30am. Boy, oh boy, was I a grump. I definitely don't function that early in the morning. Well, on my way to work, I decided that even though it sucked big ones that I had to be up that early, I was going to find something positive about the whole experience. And this is what I came up with...

1. The sunrise is pretty freaking fantastic! It's not something people get to see every day!

2. There's no traffic! For those of you who really know me, I've got a severe case of Road Rage. I didn't have to deal with that this morning!

3. B/c there was no traffic, I got to work on 45 minutes, instead of 55 minutes!

4. It was so early, that the radio morning shows weren't even on yet, so I didn't have to listen to stupid people talking about stupid things. I actually got to listen to music!!!

So, all those things are great, but not enough for me to want to get up before the sun every morning. I'm looking forward to sleeping in on Sunday. I've got Wednesday off too, so that'll be nice too. Yay for holidays!!! I'll post tomorrow night, as long as I'm not too tired, about the Dirty Girl's course. I can't freaking wait to check it out!!!

***Tif***

Quote of the day ~ "Anything worth doing is worth overdoing." by Steven Tyler of Aerosmith.

The never-ending day from hell...

2007-06-27T22:14:00.000-04:00

I worked in surgery for 14 hours today. And add an hour commute each way on to that. I had about a 16 hour day. I'm beat. And once again, I hate surgery. I pitched a fit during our last case b/c I was getting shit about how I was holding the freaking camera for the laparoscopy. We were never given lessons on how to hold the damn camera! And I got tired of hearing about it, so I quit for a lil while, and let the other student that's working with us do it. I popped a 'tude and everything. It was getting late and I was getting tired. You don't want to get on my bad side when I'm tired and grumpy. Hell don't know my fury. Anyways...

I'm whooped. Slept in the tree house last night. It was AWESOME! I'm actually headed out there right now :)

***Tif***

Tiffany's Tree House

2007-06-26T21:38:00.000-04:00

Tonight's my first night in the cabin! I'm so excited! It's about 95% done, and it looks great. It's my intention to have pictures of the finished product up soon. But I make no promises :)

Surgery update:

Today was AWESOME! Turns out, I like surgery a whole lot more when I actually get to do stuff. I watched a double mastectomy today with reconstruction and helped out a little bit. But then for the open indirect hernia repair, I was first assisted!!! It was just me and the doc! I got to do so much, and like I said, turns out surgery is a whole lot more fun when I actually get to do stuff. It was nice not working with my doc, too. I seem to learn so much more from the other doc's and PA's. I'm absolutely tired, though. I've been working more than I have since 2001! If I could have anything right now, it would be a few more hours in the day, so I can fit in everything that I need to do! There just isn't enough time!!!!!!

***Tif***

Song of the day ~ "Pickin' wild flowers" by keith anderson

Ride for Roswell

2007-06-23T18:16:00.000-04:00

This morning was pretty good. Third time on a bike in roughly 10 years. Managed not to crash, or even get hurt once! Ok, I'll start from the beginning...

Woke up this morning at about 6:15 and I was definitely still slightly inebriated from last night. I take some advil, get dressed and get a move on. The goal was to be out of the house by 6:45. We left at 7. I'll admit, I wasn't the most pleasant person this morning. It was like race day jitters, even though I knew it wasn't a race. I got over it by the time we got there and I registered. Whitney and Courtney are saints for putting up this morning. So a BIG thanks to them! They're the best.

So I've got about 10 minutes until it's supposed to start and I realize that I only have 2 gears. Thank goodness that there was a shop there that was doing free tune-ups. I took it in and 10 minutes later, he had gotten gears 1-14 to work, but no luck for 15-21. Oh well. 1-14 is better than 1 and 2. So I head over to where it's supposed to start, the girls take a few pics and then I'm off! I had the Forerunner strapped on, which was nice, b/c it helped me to keep a good pace. Turns out that you have to hit the start button in order for it to start keeping track. Didn't realize that until about a mile into it. Figures.

So I wouldn't be me if I didn't do something retarded at some point during the ride. I was having some serious snot issues and had been wiping my nose off on my sweat band that I wear on my right forearm. So I go to wipe my nose and the thing gets caught on my damn nose ring! I was stuck! For like a mile! I could not get it off and it was making me nuts! Not only could I not get it unstuck, but I wear it on the same arm as the Forerunner, so I couldn't get the band off either! I finally got it unstuck and was sooooooooooo thankful when I did. I didn't have to ride with one arm up to my nose anymore. I've got skill, what can I say?! The only other goofy thing I did was almost get taken out by a rogue mailbox. But I successfully was able to avoid that last minute. Again, I've got skill.

I rode through the first rest stop at mile 10, right to the second one around mile 20. The only reason I stopped then was b/c my camelbak was dry and it was time to refill. I was super excited when they had motrin and kleenex there too. I ended up finishing really strong at 2 hours 9 minutes. Whitney, Courtney and Brady were waiting for me at the finish line to take pictures, but the goobers didn't see me as I rode by. Took me yelling at them to see me. Goofs. I turned around after I crossed the line and rode back to them. Whitney snapped a picture then. I was really happy with the whole thing, except for the sore seat. I was passing people right and left! It was GREAT! The thing that bugged me was that the whole 33 miles I was only passed by like 3 ladies! Come on now girls! Step it up and get a good work out in! I guess it wasn't a race, so I shouldn't be too harsh, but still. It was good to see the 3 ladies (4 if you include me) doing some passing.

When the ride was over, we headed back to the team tent and my reward for riding 33 miles was a nice massage! Oh it was fantastic! She went right to work on my shoulder and worked some of the knots out. There were still lots that needed to be worked out though. Still are right now, in fact. I ate a ton of food and then the 4 of us headed back to the island. I showered then Whitney and I went off to get pedicures. If massages and pedicures were something that I could get every time I ride 33 miles, I think I could ride 33 miles every day! Well maybe not every day. My butt hurts pretty bad. haha!

All in all, it was a pretty great day. Whitney and Courtney would agree that the scenery was quite nice! I felt really good about myself that I was able to do such a good job. And it was made even more clear to me that biking is not the sport for me. I'll stick to running, thanks! Now it's time to enjoy the last night with my TPS sista's and have some more fun! They leave in the morning :( I feel like they just got here. October isn't going to come fast enough. I'm meeting Whitney down in the Outerbanks for a nice lil vaca. Court and the baby won't be there though :(

Tomorrow it's back to The Hill and reality. I could go for being back on The Hill (especially since my cabin, now named "Tiffany's Tree House", is done and I'm officially moving in tomorrow!), but the whole reality thing I could go without. Only 3 more weeks in surgery. I still don't know where I'm going next. Oh well, there's no rush I guess.

***Tif***

Song of the Day ~ "Beautiful Girls" by Sean Kingston

Quote of the Day ~ "It's alright. I'm down with being gay." ~ Courtney, at the airport, after a bunch of people were looking at her and Whitney like they were lesbians with a baby :)

The return of TPS

2007-06-22T19:39:00.001-04:00

Well, the first week of surgery is over. I spent all day Wednesday and all day Friday in the OR. Today wasn't so bad, but Wednesday was awful. I was so tired by the end of the day and my feet hurt so bad. Turns out, I'm not made for surgery. I am waaaaay too high energy/strung to stand in one place for hours at a time. I just couldn't do it. I got too antsy. I did end up helping with some stuff. I got to suture, hold the camera for the laparoscopic procedures, I've held a gallbladder, touched intestine, I could go on and on and on, but I'll spare you. Honestly, I don't want to talk about surgery. I worked for 10 hours today, 8 hours yesterday, 10 hours on wednesday, and lots of hours tuesday and monday too. I'm home now, and I intend on leaving work at the hospital.

What I will talk about is that my TPS sista's are here! Whitney and Courtney came up from DC last night. Court brought her new baby, Brady. So I got to see him for the first time! He's super cute! I picked them up at 11pm last night at the airport and went to bed around 12:30. I had to be up at 5. That wasn't easy. Made it through the day, though, on a lot of coffee and red bull. I'm home now and we've just inducted Courtney into TPS. TPS comes from our freshman year in college, at CNU. Here's the thing, though...at that point, TPS was me, Whitney, and our other roomie, Haley. But Haley kinda fell off the face of the earth a few years ago, so TPS was minus one. Now we've got Courtney! And we are three once more! WOOHOO! We decided that inductions were going to include a red alcoholic beverage made in a blender, but Court didn't want what we made. So me and Whitney are drinking it. It's pretty tasty! :)

So tomorrow is the 33 mile Ride for Roswell. I raised $500, so I'm pretty excited. That was my goal. I'm excited about finally getting a good work out in tomorrow. I haven't run since Monday and I'm going CRAZY. Can't wait to get back to The Hill on Sunday so I can get back out on the trails. I think I'm going through withdrawal. Ok, I'll update more later. I'm too distracted to keep going! That, and I've just been ordered to finish my drink ;)

HERE'S TO TPS!!!!!

Quote of the day ~ "Party like a rock star!"

TIMBER!!!

2007-06-19T20:39:00.001-04:00

Welcome to day 2 of the surgery rotation. It started out with me going to leave this morning with enough time to get coffee and food before going to work. Or I would have had enough time if Delilah hadn't escaped! I chased her around for 10 minutes, only to catch her with cat food. So much for getting coffee and food. I went into the OR this morning with nothing but a glass of grape juice and some pretzels in my stomach. It was a really small procedure...only about 20 minutes. I helped with no problem. Until the end...It was about the time he started suturing the skin when I started feeling really, really warm, and like I was going to pass out. Luckily I made it to the chair before I was down for the count. It was lovely. I was banished to the chair for the next 15 or so minutes. So now I'm just worried about tomorrow. We've got about 8-10 hours of surgery scheduled (5 cases) and I don't want to spend the whole time either passed out, or about to. Let's hope that I get over this real fast. I'm feeling a bit wimpy, and a bit defeated. I don't like feeling like either of those things. Tonight, I have about 2 hours of video to watch and I have to attempt to understand electrolytes and fluid, which I can't seem to grasp AT all. Bah humbug.

On a brighter note, I proved myself yet again to be a dirty girl. Hopped on the mt. bike tonight and decided to hit the trails to see if I could get used to riding it. I'll just say this...I'll stick to running, thanks. Maybe it'll be different if I have a bike that wasn't bought by a 6' man with the intention of being used by said 6' man. That, and having a helmet that fits you as well. The bike is WAY too big, but I don't have any other choice. It's the only bike I've got access to, and I need a bike to do the Ride for Roswell on saturday, which happens to be 33 miles on a stinkin' bike. I rode 3 miles today and my ass is killing me. I did manage to get nice and dirty in the process, though! I'll admit...I did have a little bit of fun. But only a lil bit ;) I'll get all hopped up on caffeine saturday morning and hopefully will be able to haul through those 33 miles. I've got a nice massage waiting for me at the finish line, so that's something to ride for! :)

Doesn't look like I'll be running much this week. Gotta get some practice in on the bike before the ride on Saturday. Did 3 miles yesterday, though and felt awesome. I think next weekend I'm going to head up to Canada and do a trial run on the Dirty Girl's course so I can see what I've got in store for the 6 hour solo I'm doing there in 2 months. Go big, or go home. Thinking I'll head up there friday night and camp there and get up with the other runners that want to check things out early. Be back in rochester by saturday night, unless I run for tons of hours, in which case I'll stay on the Island and rest Saturday night. Ok, that's my story for the day. Time to watch videos. yay...

***Tif***

Quote of the day ~ "Nothing is uneasy to the unwilling."

Song of the day ~ "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen.

First day of the surgery rotation

2007-06-18T15:27:00.000-04:00

Today was an interesting day. I got there at 8am and while taking a tour of the OR, a woman came up to me asking me if I was Tiffany Garnsey, to which of course I answered that I was. At that point she told me she had been on the phone for the past hour with my clinical coordinator because I was supposed to be there at 7. Well no one told me that. I was told I was to be there at 8, so I got there at 8. The woman from the dr's office didn't know I was supposed to be there at 7 either. Miscommunication...

Well, I spent the next 2 hours learning about the OR's and scrubbing. After that I went back up to the office and go to see the last patient of the day. It was a 34 year old guy with bilateral hernia's. He's scheduled for surgery this week. After that, I went to lunch with the doc. After lunch he handed me a bunch of video's to watch and a bunch of stuff to read and sent me on my merry way. So now it's 3:30 and I'm happily back on the hill, getting ready to head out on the quad to see what kind of trouble I can make out on the trails :)

This week is going to be a strictly biking week. I've got the Ride for Roswell on Saturday, which is 33 miles. I'm going to strap on the Garmin and keep good track of the heart rate and use it to train. Let's see how fast I can get it done! I'm thinking that tomorrow and Wednesday I'll take the bike up to the trails and play around up there. My dad's got a pretty nice mt. bike that he's letting me use, so it should be fun. Then next week it's back to running! I'm going to miss it this week, but the biking should keep my legs going.

Ok, off to be a true dirty girl and go play in the dirt!

***Tif***

Quote of the day ~ "A dirty girl is a woman that isn't afraid to actually get dirty on the trails in search of adventure."

Song of the day ~ "Ice Ice, Baby" by Vanilla Ice. I heard it on the radio the other day and it made me laugh. hahaha :)

Slow and steady wins the race!!!

2007-06-16T09:57:00.000-04:00

Well, maybe in the Tortoise and the Hare, but not at the Tanglefoot Trail Run! My first race was absolutely amazing! I ended up finishing the 5 miles in 1:03:41 and in 58th place. I agreed with other racers when they said that whomever made up the trail was just plain mean. It's the truth. The last 3/4 mile of the trail was up a nice ascent, which EVERYONE walked, according to my dad (who happened to be waiting for me half way up it at the aid station to take pictures, tell me I'm doing awesome and that I'm almost done)! The beginning 2.25mi of the trail was through mowed fields, which I very much disliked. I decided that I'm going to have to shave a few minutes off my mile so that I can get through stuff like that faster, b/c it was miserable. I hate having the sun beat down on me. Once I got into the woods, I was hauling. Or at least I felt like I was hauling. I ended up spending most of the time by myself, which made me afraid I had lost the trail. Turns out I didn't. I was able to pass three people within the last mile and a half, so that made me pretty happy too. It was a really tough course with lots of ascents and descents and my ankle was hurting pretty bad by the time I was done, but I finished it running as fast as i could (which wasn't very fast)! I left the course with remorse. Not bad remorse, though. The Matt Carpenter kind of remorse. I was tired and beat up, but I was bummed that the race was over. The trail was absolutely beautiful and challanging. I wish I could have taken pictures, but I have a hard enough time just simply running without tripping, let alone running and taking pictures at the same time!!! :)

The Forerunner (my GPS watch) said that the trail was only 4.79 miles. So I'm not sure if they just rounded up at the race, or if my GPS is off. I'm going to have to look into it. All in all, it was a fantastic experience and I CANNOT wait until the Rattlesnake Race up in Canada on July 14th.

As for right now, I'm absolutely whooped and am looking forward to finishing out the day doing absolutely nothing and enjoying every second of it. I'll have pictures up ASAP, as soon as Dad gets them onto his computer.

***Tif***

Quote of the day ~ "No pain, no gain"

Song of the Day ~ "Wake up" by Fergie. An awesome song to run to :)

Passion

2007-06-14T20:07:00.000-04:00

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." ~ Harold Whitman

What makes you come alive? What is your passion?

I can think of three things that make me come alive (and in no particular order). One is Delilah. I never thought I could love something as much as I love her. She is my heart and soul...my pumpkin. She makes my soul smile. All I need to do is look at her and I feel like I'm coming alive. Even when she makes me mad, all I need to do is look at her and I smile. I'm the luckiest mom in the world! The love she gives me is so unconditional. I know it will never go away, it will never change, except to grow. She gives me a happiness I've never experienced before. And I would be so lost without her. I'd do anything for her if I knew I'd get a happy pup out of it :)

Another passion of mine is making people happy, especially when it comes to their health. I've been told that I "mother", and yeah, maybe I do. But I'm a healer at heart and I just want people to be happy and healthy. It's a wonderful feeling to know that you have helped to make a person's life better, and if you're really lucky, to have saved it in some way, shape, or form. I've brought two people back with CPR. One was a 19 year old girl that OD'd on heroine. When she opened her eyes, it was like she breathed life into me. I've never felt such a good feeling. I love to make people feel good. I love to make people happy. I love to make people healthy. I happen to have lucked out, because I think I'm good at those things :)

Lastly, running. It has become such an addiction for me this past few months. The high that I get out on the trails (even when I'm tripping over roots and rocks and such) is unlike anything in this world. I feel so free when I'm in the woods. Like I'm a part of the woods. I can breathe when I'm there. I used to run to get away from things, like feelings, for instance. When the ex broke up with me, within probably half an hour, I had laced my shoes up and was out the door. I was running to clear my mind, and to escape the feelings that were racing through me. I ran on the road that day, and only for like 10 minutes. I did nothing but think about him the whole time. Now I've discovered trail running. Yeah, there are times when I need to get my shoes on and just go to burn off steam, but now I don't spend the whole time trying to run from what's going on in my life. I can't spend the whole time thinking about whatever is going wrong in my life. The minute I take my mind off the trail is the minute I get poked in the eye with a tree branch, or trip on a rock, or step in a mud pit. I've got to put 100% concentration into the trail and my body so that they can work together like a well oiled machine! And the beauty of it is that I'm usually so tired by the time I get back, I don't have energy to think about the reason I went to run in the first place! Either that, or I'm so excited about the run that I just in, that all I'm thinking about is different points during the run! And now I've discovered the racing aspect of it. Competition! YAHOO! I have a desire to be the best. To do things that people have told me I can't do. To do things that I, myself, have thought I couldn't do. I want to kick ass! The fact that I'm going to be racing gives me something to work for...to train for. To make myself constantly better than I was the day before.

Those are my passions, the things that make me come alive. Take some time to think of the things that you're passionate about. The things that you can't live without. And if you're having a bad day, do something you're passionate about. Hopefully it will put a smile on your face :)

***Tif***

Quote of the day ~ "Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things." ~ Denis Diderot

Song of the day ~ you know, I was in the car for HOURS today (no really, I was), and I had the perfect song picked out. But it's left me...damn blond moments.

Toys!!!!!

2007-06-13T20:41:00.000-04:00

I love getting new toys! Today, I got in the mail my Garmin Forerunner 305. It's FREAKING awesome! It's a GPS watch with a heart monitor so I can keep good track of my runs. It tracks pace, elevation, distance, heart rate...soooooo cool! Today was supposed to be my resting day, but I couldn't resist going out back and testing it out! My intention was to do a real light run...maybe 2 miles at about a 12 minute/mile pace. I ended up going 1.8 miles and then lost the trail. I knew that it was a loop and would bring me back to the house, but I couldn't for the life of me find the trail. So I turned around and ran back home. Of course I missed the trail that takes me right back to the house, so I added an extra half mile, which was no big deal, but really added to my time because I had to stand around looking for the trail back to the house! I ended up doing 4 miles exactly in 52:13. Averages out to a 13:01 mile. Not horrible for spending a few minutes looking for the trail two separate times. It would be a good idea to take tomorrow off, but I'm living on The Hill now and I've got trails at my fingertips, so it's highly unlikely I'll take the day off.

Now that I've gotten good trail stuff outta the way, let me sound off a bit...

I FREAKING HATE IT WHEN PEOPLE LEAVE BEER BOTTLES ON THE TRAIL!!!

I understand wanting to drink outside but take out what you freaking bring in, people! There's nothing worse than enjoying your run on the trails and then tripping over an empty beer bottle. That, and trying to steer your dog around broken bottles so she doesn't cut up her paws. ahhhhhhhhh! It makes me so angry! If I ever see the people that did that (like I'm really going to know who they are...), I'm going to pick up one of their bottles and chuck it at their heads! grrrrrrr...

Ok, that's all for now. I've got to study. I've got 2 exams on Friday. Tomorrow's my last day in psych!!! Goodbye Psych, hello Surgery! I'll write a psych wrap-up within the next few days.

Song of the day ~ "Sober" by Kelly Clarkson

Quote of the day ~ "You never know when you're gonna need a good screw!" ~ My father as he's handing me a box of screws :-P

The Hill

2007-06-09T21:30:00.000-04:00

My dad lives in Naples. On Stid Hill, to be exact. When you're skiing down Bristol Mt., if you look across the road, the hill directly in front of you is my dad's hill. Pretty much his back yard, actually. It is the most amazing place I've ever experienced. His house is built on the other side of the hill, really close to the top. It overlooks Canandaigua Lake, and the side of the house overlooking the lake is almost entirely glass. The view you get is of the lake, and the hills on the other side. It is beautiful. (I'll have pictures posted in a few days.) I decided that I'm buying land on the hill. Hopefully the land next to my dad's property, if the guy ever puts it up for sale. I'm focusing my energy on him putting it up for sale within the next 2 years. Anyways...I decided last weekend that I wanted to spend this weekend here. So Delilah and I took off from grandma and grandpa's friday after work, and headed on up to The Hill. The minute I hit the hills around, I was at peace. The feeling only increased the closer and closer I got to Dad's. I pull into the driveway and notice that there's a HUGE hole in his ground! He's having a pond dug and right now, the hole is absolutely huge. Probably the length of two olympic sized pools. He told me he's putting a hose to it so that he's got a full pond by winter. He cracks me up. He said he doesn't care if his well runs dry, he's gonna have himself a pond! Moving on...I decided that before dinner I wanted to put some hill work in. From Dad's house, to the top of the hill is quite a climb. That's going to be the tester of my fitness. It's so steep, and it's so long. Well I got about half way up it and I heard "BOOM!!!!!" I was listening to my iPod and I still could hear the thunder! I high-tailed it outta there! Ran for my life back to the house, and it's a good thing I did b/c it started to downpour! (Dad was all excited...his pond started to fill up! haha!) Guess I was meant to take another day off.

I woke up this morning really sore. I managed to twist my ankle, yet again, so the muscles on the outside of my leg are just begging for some rest. So I took it upon myself to take the day off (for really this time). We got up this morning and headed to a wedding for a couple of Dad's friends. I had this most beautiful dress, with awesome strappy black heels and some hot red toe nail polish. I was feelin' good! After the wedding, Dad showed me two parks around my grandma's that have great trails. I made the executive decision not to go back to Buffalo this week, so I can put some miles in on the new trails :-P After we got home, we decided to go on a hike. We probably hiked 2 miles and I noticed Delilah was NOWHERE to be found. I freaked. We turned around and I ran the two miles back to the house, as fast as humanly possible, with hiking boots. Let me tell you, when you're used to trail sneakers, and you go to run in hiking boots, it's a bit of a difference. So much for today being a rest day. My ankle hurts (I rolled it...AGAIN), my legs hurt, and my ass hurts. Tomorrow WILL be a rest day. I need to get my legs ready for my first race next weekend. That's right, I'm signed up and ready to go for my first race. It's 5 miles and is going to absolutely ROCK! Dad's going to be there, so that makes it even better. I'd crap myself if I placed. Right now, I'm just shooting for a 12 minute mile. As they say in medicine...Start low, go slow. I'm still pumped to try to kick some serious ass on the trails.

Oh, by the way...Delilah was waiting for me at the house when I got back. She looked terrified and sooooooooo happy to see me. So happy, in fact, she peed all over my leg...I didn't even care. I was so happy to see her. My baby wasn't lost!!!!!!!!

I think I'll stay on The Hill for a few more days. I'm lovin it here!

***Tif***

Quote of the day ~ "Remorse - a good trail always makes you feel sorry that it's over, no matter how tired you are." ~ Matt Carpenter

Song of the day ~ "The General" ~ Dispatch

I'm infectious!!! :-P

2007-06-07T10:51:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, the doctor I'm working with says to me, "Tiffany, has anyone ever told you you're infectious?!" I looked at him and said, "Infectious? No..." He replied with, "You are so happy, that the people around you cant' help but be happy!" hahahahaha! He also said that he thinks I have a very good future in psych. I guess I'm better than I thought I was at it! :-P

Today's kind of a bummer of a day. My three favorite patients were all discharged yesterday :( One of them has been here since the day I started. He used to always come and visit me in the office during the day. Another lady (the Christian Soldier lady) got sent up to telemetry yesterday b/c she's got some sort of infection going on in her and was SUPER sick. Hats off to Missy for diagnosing her with sepsis! It wasn't even in my differential! I need to start thinking a little bit more apparently. She used to come visit me in the office all the time too :( And my third patient that got d/c'd yesterday was a 19 year old girl. She was very friendly and it was nice to talk to her. I've been in here for about an hour or so and no visits as of yet :( It's a lonely day for Tif today. Apparently we're getting a new transfer at some point today, so I have to stay here until he gets here. If he's not here by 3, I get to go home. That's 4 hours from now. I pray he comes sooner so that I can do what I've got to do with him and then hit the road. I was hoping to get home early today so I can hit the outlets in Waterloo and get some goodies for running.

Speaking of running, I'm registering for my first race today! WOOHOO!!! It's a 5 mile race in Elmira and it's in 2 weeks. I am super excited about it! Also found out that my mom and brother might be coming to it, too. Which would be even better! They live in NC now, so I barely get to see them, and the timing just happens to rock that they'll be here that weekend! Life is good :)

***Tif***

Quote of the day ~ "Brighten the world with your smile!"

Song of the day ~ I got nothin'

I need new knees!!!

2007-06-06T08:38:00.000-04:00

Before I start, I wanted to bring something to your attention...apparently Sean Combs is no longer going by P. Diddy. According to Billboards, he is now just plain Diddy. Good God man! Freaking decide what you want your damn name to be! He changes his name more than I change my damn socks! (Ok, well maybe not as much as I change my socks...but you know what I mean!)

Now that that's outta my system...

Someone told me about a trail not far from where I'm living. I got all excited b/c I decided to take up trail racing, which requires trails to run on to train for said races. So like I said, I'm all sorts of excited b/c this means I don't have to run on the damn road (which I ABSOLUTELY hate)! I get there, and it looks awesome. Lots of trees and even some water running through it at different points. Delilah (my pup) and I are loving it. I'd say the whole thing was a little over 3 miles. So we ran to the end and then back. Well, turns out that about 3/4 of the damn trail was gravel! Made for some real sore feet for me and the pup. She started gimping around mile 2, but was a trooper and made it the whole 6 without much of a problem. My feet were starting to really hurt, but I was a trooper too. I managed to only trip on her once, but caught myself, unlike last time I tripped over her and ended up tearing my my shoulder, hip, knees, and hand. I was pretty psyched about that. Then at around mile 2.5 I rolled my damn ankle. This is the ankle that I hurt back in high school when I tripped over a line on the volleyball court and almost ruptured my achille's tendon. It's also the same ankle that I've successfully rolled the previous 3 times I've gone running. I think it's time to pull the Active Ankle's out and start running with that on my right ankle. I'm sick of rolling it! Ok, well let me get back to the story. I successfully made the 6 miles with no other problems than the rolled ankle and the sore feet. I was psyched! There's a race in 2 weeks that I want to do that's 5 miles, but I wasn't sure I could do 5 miles. Well I did 6, so 5 should be a piece of cake! Let me tell you, I woke up this morning with knees so sore, I could barely get out of bed! I feel like an 80 year old woman! I'm blaming it on the stones. So I'm going to take today off and then hit another trail in Victor tomorrow and hopefully my knees will be able to take it. And hopefully it won't be full of freaking stones either!!!

Ok, that's my running story for today. Now let's talk about psych!

First of all, I have to tell you that I think the past 2 days my coffee shop has slipped crack into my coffee because I've been bouncing off the damn walls! I need to remember not to drink coffee before work when I start my surgery rotation. I don't think they're going to let a shaky student cut patients open! :-P

Ok, so yesterday...nothing really remarkable. I had a woman tell me it's her job to save the world and that it's a very tough job, but of course someone has to do it. I also met a woman that names her animals after the psych meds she's on. Pretty original, I'd say. I was pretty happy at the end of the day, though. I diagnosed a Grade I systolic heart murmur, a UTI, and stomatitis AND correctly treated them. They're all easy stuff, but it was nice to finally get to diagnose and treat. Not much of that takes place in psych. I'm actually waiting on lab results (that I ordered!) from another woman right now that's pretty freaking sick too (the one that was singing "Onward Christian Soldiers). I finally feel like I'm doing something useful, which feels AMAZING! I've always been a healer and it feels so great to finally be healing. I feel like, while I've been here, I haven't done anything to help anyone. I stink at psych and just never know what to say. But healing physical ailments is something that I'm good at. I can't wait to do more of it!!!

Ok that's all I've got for now. But the day is still young!

***Tif***

Quote of the day ~ "No regrets. No mistakes. Only lessons learned." ~Me :-P

Song of the day ~ "Hey There Delilah" ~ Plain White T's

P.S. Mia Hamm's coach is Anson Dorrance. I knew it started with an A!