blogging at work

yes, i'm at work. i actually had to get up at 7:15 this morning and come to work. not good considering that i never really went to sleep last night. i've had so little to do - work-wise - that i've been staying up all hours of the night, reading and watching movies. so, my bedtime has been around 4 am, and i don't usually rise till about 1:30. great life, i know. at any rate, since my circadian rhythms are all wacky - i was jacked up till way past 4am last night. now, i'm at work, yawning my head off from lack of sleep. but it's my own fault. i'm waiting to start actual work on the blood samples, but i can't yet - as my advisor isn't here...so i'm just twiddling my thumbs. la-di-da.

today was an interesting morning. we went to draw blood for research. i was learning to restrain a parrot one-handed and take blood with the other hand. it's a difficult technique. when i had practiced that, i went to release the parrot (an amazon) back into the cage. i loosened my grip enough for him to get out, whip his head around, and attempt to remove the top of my finger. which he did attempt, with some success. he hung on and ground his beak into me about 3 times. i was proud of myself. i didn't yell or flail, just had dr g remove him. but it hurt. blood welled up out of it in a big bead immediately, and now my finger is swollen and purple. ack. it was my own fault. i knew better than to let up on the pressure. at any rate, live and learn. probably no permanent nerve damage done.

i have to give a brief (7-10 minutes) talk on thursday about my research. the talk will be attended by doctors, fellow students, the Dean, etc. it's a little bit scary. but i'm actually excited about it. i find my research so interesting that i'm looking forward to sharing it with colleagues and superiors alike. i do well at oral presentations, but i think i get as nervous beforehand as anyone. but i usually realize that there is absolutely nothing to be nervous about...and then i'm calm, cool, and collected. i love to talk, after all. i'm sure most of you find that shocking.

i've spent a bit of time lately trying to decide what i want to do once i'm finished with my DVM. there are so many options that it's a bit overwhelming. i could just be an avian vet in a practice somewhere. that's always an option. but it's probably hard to get into that line of work, since the demand, while growing, is still not high. but it's an option. i could continue on and get a phd, though i don't know how that will work with our plans to have children. i could get my phd, teach, research, and be a vet at a place like UT. or i could do equine. or i could go into public health. the options are totally limitless. i like that - but it's also kind of hard to make a decision. we'll see what happens. gotta go, my advisor is here. time to actually do some work.