does the sun come up this early?

ugh. i'm up at 6:30 in the morning for no other good reason than to accompany a friend to johnson city. bleh. yesterday was a long 'work' day. i say 'work' because it's volunteer - so i'm not getting paid. i suppose i can't complain. it's not like i have a job or anything (except i do, and i get paid, but my research is at a standstill). i 'worked' 2 days this week, and i felt like it was killing me. what a wimp i've become. i'm volunteering 2 days a week at the municipal animal shelter here. it's a beautiful facility - almost brand new, with a nicely equipped and large vet clinic (where i work) and room enough for around 800 animals (i think). which is quite a bit for a municipal animal shelter. also, the vets i work for are great. fun, laid-back, and very easy to work with and for. basically, i have autonomy - as a vet student. i process animals for the adoption floor - which means lots of practice drawing blood from dogs, cats, puppies, and teeny tiny little kittens. good experience - regardless of what i end up doing post-grad. i worm, deflea, basically get the kittens ready to go out on the adoption floor. i also get to watch and ask questions about surgery. right now, mostly spay/neuter - but that's useful - seeing as how we start that next semester. i did get to do a cat ultrasound yesterday, which was surprisingly easy. i still have no idea what i'm looking at on ultrasound, but i suppose that will come with time, right?

ok, my friend is officially late. i'm just sitting here, where i've been for the last 25 minutes. i knew she would be late. and yet, i still got up early. i'm a sap.

alright, i need to find a book to read on the car ride. later.