P.S. from Mary Jo

I just realized my comments about the next generation being so scientific in contrast to ours is not totally accurate. Sorry Theresa...and the Engineers among the men. It has been said people who send comments by e-mail don't think. Hope no one was offended....I'm proud of all of us unique individuals!!

Mary Jo says she loves the posts from the younger generation

It's been so good to see the recent posts, which I have found most interesting. Please keep them coming. Joan, your experiences are fascinating. I can't wait to hear the reports of your next rotation. I'm sorry about the rabies incident. A friend of mine tells me her daughter's family (2 adults and 3 children) all had to have the shots after contact with a bat in their camper. Kelly, congratulations on Paul's promotion....and good luck finding a job for yourself in Lincoln. The new house looks lovely, and I hope you'll enjoy coming back to Nebraska. (Though you wouldn't remember anything about life in Beatrice, you ARE a native!)

As I read the posts from this generation, I realize how many of you are following medical/scientific careers. That is a new direction for the family. And Nikki's adventures in Philadelphia and New York are something I can hardly imagine. Hooray for diversity.

Hooray for our generation, too. Loved the Marathon Women post. I'm still waiting to hear about Debbie's adventure in Honduras, and by the way, why was your foot swollen??

I spent the week-end in Omaha with Mom, and also got to see Dave and some of his kids and John and Sue and Steve and Suki, plus some relatives on the Warren side! Yesterday, we went to decorate graves and happened to meet the family of the young soldier from Gretna who was killed in Iraq. He was buried in the same cemetery as my dad. The story of how Jim Warren led them to that location was very moving. After the cemetery stops, Mom and I changed clothes and went to an open house honoring Kathleen (Warren) Osberg's son. Then, we went back to her place, changed clothes again and went to John and Sue's for supper with them and Stamps. Busy day. Mom was tired from all of the walking and standing, but felt good this morning and we went to church and then out for lunch. Then we went back to her place, walked around the courtyard, visited with neighbors outside, and chatted on her patio. Finally, at 4pm, I told her she needed to go take a nap and I needed to head home. (I'm tired tonight) Mom's doing very well, but in a couple of weeks she goes back to the cardiologist to discuss a leaky heart valve. She says she can't tell she feels any different, so I hope there won't have to be anything done...

A Tale of a Mini Horse

I don't know how many of you have seen a miniature horse. They are pretty cute and they are usually proportionally (not fat like most ponies). They stand about 3 feet tall and actually quite a few people own them. We had one come in on Sunday night. He was a one year old stallion named "Casey." His owners had noticed hindlimb lameness. It was first thought that he had bilateral luxating patellas (both of his kneecaps would dislocate). When this happened he would just lay in the stall and kick. He wasn't able to get up on his own. His case was brought to anesthesia because they wanted x-rays to confirm the luxating patellas. I got the case about half an hour before we put him under anesthesia.
He was described to me as "fractious" and I was told I probably should just take the physical exam readings from the surgery student instead of doing my own physical. We anesthetized him very carefully because he really did "freak out" several times. Once he was under anesthesia, very deep I might add, he was still kicking. We finally got the radiographs taken and he was allowed to wake up. He was given steroids in his knees to see if that would help. It did not and he wasn't even able to rise after anesthesia. The owners decided to euthanize him.
He was sent to necropsy as a rabies suspect (all animals showing neurological signs are considered rabies suspects). The funny thing is that one of the residents was absolutely sure it was not rabies and he would just freak out because of the luxating patellas. While he was under anesthesia, one of the very experienced surgeons said this looked like a classic case of rabies. It turned out he was right!! I got the news on Monday night and went in Tuesday for post-exposure rabies vaccinations. I have already been through a 3 shot series of rabies vaccinations and have a high titer against it, but all people who are considered exposed must receive treatment afterwards. I only need two vaccinations and both are given in the arm, so it really isn't too bad.
I guess the moral of my little story is that not all mini horses are cute...they might have rabies!!

Joan

Big apples and cheese steaks (from Niki)

So many exciting things going on with everyone!

Life around here is going really well. We are keeping busy with house stuff, work, and school. My latest adventure was a week in Philadelphia and New York two weeks ago. It was my first time, and it really turned out to be quite the experience.

I was attending a conference in Philadelphia and had to go a day early to set up and get things organized. I figured since I had some time, I’d take the train to New York for a day of shopping since it beats sitting in a hotel alone. Bright and early Monday morning, I fly to Chicago for a layover, Philadelphia to quickly set up, and hop on the train for an hour and a half ride to New York City. (With stops in Trenton and Newark New Jersey. I’ve got to say, not so pretty.) After literally being on planes, trains and automobiles for 12 hours while hauling a week’s worth of luggage and work crap, I emerge from the train station in the middle of Manhattan at 5:30 on a Monday evening to a sea of people.

I knew my hotel was two blocks from the station, but apparently a train station that takes up an entire city block has more than one exit. Within 10 minutes I’d managed to get completely lost, yelled at (I really had it coming though—who knew staring at building addresses while aimlessly wondering down the wrong side of the sidewalk is frowned upon), and nearly purchased some adorable “Coach” sunglasses at the low, low price of 2 for $15.

After finally finding my hotel, I didn’t care that the room was the size of my closet and I should have brought my shower flip flops from college. (That’ll teach me to a.) trust the pictures on the internet and b.) try and save my company money). Thankfully Matt’s good friend Dave and his girlfriend Melissa who live in Manhattan came later to take me out to dinner and drinks - a tiny Italian restaurant and watermelon puree martinis at a loud bar with low tables- very New York. Turns out, I “attract the crazies” since the walk home was sprinkled with characters and I didn’t unclench my teeth or the grip on my purse the entire way.

The next morning was much better though. I did some power shopping on 5th Avenue and lunched at Macy’s before taking the train back to Philadelphia. One of my favorite parts of the trip was a chat I had with a college kid next to me on the train. He’d lived in DC his entire life, and this was his first trip to New York too. We had the following chat:

Him: So what did you think of NYC?
Me: I liked it. I need more time when I come back though.
Him: Did you see Central Park at all?
Me: No, but I heard it’s neat. Next time for sure.
Him: It’s AMAZING. There is nothing but grass and trees all around!
Me: (smile) Yes, that does sound amazing. That’s what the entire state of Nebraska looks like if that sort of thing impresses you.
Him: No, but they plant things... like flowers!
Me: (smile and laugh) Yes, that’s my backyard at home. Grass, trees, and flowers. :o)

He was a really sweet kid who made the trip quick and pleasant.
The rest of the conference was fairly uneventful. My work friend Laurie and I did some sightseeing like good Americans at the Liberty Bell and Rocky steps. I also had cheese steaks on three different occasions. I didn’t know they even made chicken cheese steaks, but those with ketchup were my favorite (go figure).

The following Monday after getting back, I took a week long communications class for school. Wearing jeans and no heels all day almost made up for the stress. Like Joanie and Suzanne, I can NOT wait to be done with studying, tests, and classes. December can’t come fast enough.

Two gold stars to Debbie and Nancy for doing the marathon! How fun that your entire family turned out to support (and offer fashion advice). I’d wanted to do it, but I just got a little too busy. I plan to do the Omaha one in September. I’ll have to put my breakfast order in early with Matt since apparently that’s part of finishing!

My mom and I look forward to seeing everyone at the family picnic on July 7th. We were just talking on Mother’s Day how the family shower I had at Sue’s house was one of my favorite parts of all the pre-wedding stuff, and I’m excited to throw Elissa a family shower too. Official invites will be coming out in the next few weeks.

Take care,
Niki

Hello all!!

Hello to everyone!

Well, it is a Wednesday night and I am not studying!! That is exciting but I feel a bit guilty at the same time. This begins my eighth year of higher education and some habits are hard to break! I think I will have some interesting stories to tell you this year so I finally got on the bandwagon and joined the family blog.

This is my second week of clinics and I am already halfway through the dreaded anesthesia rotation. This rotation is feared because of the early and long hours, and two of the three clinicians can be very direct and blunt. I have to say it isn't nearly as bad as I expected. We may have it a bit easier because nobody really expects us to know anything during the first rotation!

So far I have been in charge of anesthetizing 7 dogs, 1 cat, 1 horse, and have helped out with several other cases. Most of the cases we see here are not the usual run-of-the-mill surgeries. Since K-State is a teaching hospital we get mostly referrals and they can be difficult cases. I haven't had a tough case until today. My patient was a German Shepherd who was hit by a car over the weekend. He came in with both front limbs fractured at the radius and ulna as well as the left hind limb fractured in several places on the femur. They did manage to put three large bone plates in with many, many screws to hold it all together. Radiographs (x-rays) were taken both before and after the surgeries, so all-in-all, he was under anesthesia for 6 hours. I know it's not that long compared to some complicated human surgeries, but let me tell you, that makes a long day for the novice anesthetist! Hopefully I did a good job with the analgesia because I have a feeling he will be hurting tomorrow! Anyways, I will try to keep everyone updated on the cool stuff that I get to see (at least stuff that I think is cool!!)

Joan

Marathon pictures--from Nancy and Debbie

I couldn't get these pictures to load in my post about the marathon, so they're out of order with the words--and they're in backwards order. So much for my computer skills.......
Allison and Beth came to the finish line to cheer us on, but Beth was appalled at my choice of attire. She said that I would be getting athletic gear for Christmas and I should ditch the capri jeans. :}
Love,
Nancy

Marathon Women

Good evening, dear family,
I wanted to write and tell you about Debbie's and my adventure last Sunday when we walked/ran in the Lincoln marathon. We did the half--13 miles plus a few yards in just over three hours. My assistant had done it a couple of times and I thought if she could, I could. We started the event by going to the Pastathon at the Champions Club on campus the night before. There were lots of very fit people there, some of whom had shirts on chronicling how many states' marathons they've been in. We were there to "carb up" on pasta; no decadent desserts for this crowd--just popsicles.

The morning of the race, we gathered in front of the Coliseum with the 5200 other people in the rain at 6:45 AM; we were such novices that we didn't know where the starting line was and when we realized we were toward the front with the serious competitors, we moved through the mob to get further back. We were a bit jolted when the race started with a cannon at 7:00. It took us nearly 10 minutes to get to the starting line, but since we had computer chips tied to our shoes, our times didn't start until we passed the starting line.

My walking partner chose this time to have foot surgery, so I haven't been walking in the morning, but Shadow (our Sheltie) and I went out in the country every weekend for several weeks. I worked up to 10.5 miles and thought I was ready, however, I wasn't ready for Debbie's pace. She's a machine!! I could keep up with her for a few feet, then she'd pull ahead and I'd run to catch up with her. It was raining pretty hard at the beginning, but let up after a few miles, so it was actually good race weather. Debbie ran the last few blocks and I could only run the last block and a half. It was quite a rush to cross the finish line under the digital clock. We got medals and "Finisher" shirts, but the most valuable thing is the sense of accomplishment we felt for having done it.

Stan and Jim weren't all that supportive at the beginning. Stan: "You're paying $35 to walk around Lincoln?" When he asked if I was going to take Shadow since he went with me on my "training" walks, I said no because people might get tangled in his leash. Stan said to me, very deliberately, "Nancy, they will all be ahead of you." Jim was concerned about Debbie's health, saying that marathoners have blood in their urine when they finish. He was also doubtful that she could do it because her foot swelled a lot while she was in Honduras and "how could she possibly think about walking 13 miles on that foot?" We were determined to prove them wrong and they were actually proud of us for having done it. They posted themselves several places along the route and met us at the finish line. We went to the Schmidt house afterwards and they waited on us, fixing and serving a sumptuous breakfast--french toast never tasted so good!

Love, Nancy

My turn to crash the blog!!!

Okay, so it's been since January since I've posted. LOL. So I decided I mind as well crash the blog and update you all on what's going on in my life. Put it this way, BORING LIFE!!! But here I go and tell you what is up. *takes a deep breath*

1) I wanted to take the term off from school. Needless to say, my parents wouldn't let me and I hated school! LOL. but I'm down to 2 weeks left now for this term and then I get one week off before I start the summer term. Now I haven't quite decided if I'm taking off the summer term or not. I've preregistered, but I MAY just end up taking the term off. Hmm, that is a tough one for me to decide on. Oh crap, I need to get FAFSA done!

2) I just completed a 120 hour internship at the county jail. So what have I discovered? I don't want to do Adams County Corrections for sure, and at that rate, probably not any county corrections. I'd rather go to the state level, but the closest is York and I don't want to move there. But at the same time, the Hastings Correctional Center is on track for re-opening. I knew when they closed it down, they were just saving pennies and reopen it in the future! Hahaha. But the population is 138% over capacity. Given the fact that if the prisons reach 140% over capacity, that would be cruel and unusual punishment. So needless to say, the Governor won't release inmates, so why not have them just reopen this prison? Anyway, I'll apply there if they reopen it. Back to my internship though. I just mainly sat around and did nothing. Sad waste of 120 hours of my life. But I did get to meet 4 great deputies to talk to while I was there. And trust me, don't EVER start a debate with one of the conservative Republicans there. He'll have you beat in no time!!! LOL. But he was a funny character to argue with :).

3). HRC is remaining open as of now. LB542 may close us down in the future, but for now we are remaining open. I tell you, with all the cuts, they have US frontline staff doing the dishes now. Okay, what's wrong with that picture??? It's not in our job description!!! I shouldn't be doing dishes when I'm supposed to be working directly with the youth! That's just not right! I hate the fact that the state just decided to get rid of all the nutrition people (the majority I should say). You know, the next thing is that they're talking about us being groundskeepers too! We got rid of maintenance also! And then when winter comes, scooping snow! What is the world is wrong with the state!!!??? I swear, they just think that direct care staff should do all the other work EXCEPT working with the youth who are in tx!!! Oh that makes so frustrated. Anyway, so I'm trying to find another job to work because the pay is good, but it's stupid that I even be doing all this when it's not in my job description. But yeah, hopefully I can find a second part time job. I should apply at Boys Town in GI and work the overnight shift. Pay is good there also, but I don't have to do all this crap that HRC is making me do!

But that is the latest update from here. Doane is adding Criminal Justice next fall and I can't wait! I'm going to take one class from there probably and take one class from UNK. The reason??? I couldn't balance a CCC class this spring with my Doane classes so I had to drop it. Yeah, Doane has you do a lot of work. But the UNK class will be via satellite and I can transfer that to Doane and not have to take it there!!! Yee haw! But until then, I'm still plugging away at my Human Relations courses and eventually, pull a double major and degree :). But that's all I have to write. I better get going on the homework that I'm procrastinating on! See ya.

Suz

P.S. I plan NOT to get arrested now by the PD or Sheriffs office for fear that I'll NEVER hear the end of it from a couple of the deputies xD. Now, just to make sure that they don't CATCH me in the act is another story. Hahaha, just kidding! I'm an innocent angel who's lived a sheltered life according to most people at the sheriffs office!!! (okay, so the innocent angel was my part--but they think I do live a sheltered life!)

Joan's White Coat Ceremony

Hello, all. We are one week removed from Manhattan, KS and Joan's White Coat Ceremony at the KSU College of Veterinary Medicine. The WCC was held in the Union Ballroom at 2 pm last Friday. It marked the (almost) end of the Class of 2008 classroom work and the beginning of their "rotation" year. They had finals this week and on Monday Joan's first 3 week rotation begins in Anesthesia. Then she will move to lab animal (rats and mice). I'm in the dark about the rest of the schedule. It truly is a milestone to be done with the very demanding classes. She is also working on a Master's of Public Health, so the load this semester was VERY heavy.
Prior to the WCC, Joan took Mom, Dad , Tim, and me on a brief tour of the College. We saw the 1st year lab and classroom, as well as her classroom and lab for this year. The 1st year lab is full of skeletons of many animals and features a rail (like a meat locker) to ease the transport of the bodies they use for dissection. We saw the large animal side of the Hospital, including the room where she did her first bovine abdominal exploratory surgery.. She was so happy and pleased to show us around the school.
In the evening we shared a potluck supper with her roommate, Katie and family from Maryland, as well as her lab partner Darrin (Texas ) and his wife and sweet little boys. Other classmates stopped by and we were privileged to get acquainted with two professors the girls had invited.
Ben, Heather, Tom , and Allison Meyer also came for the WCC. It was a wonderful evening.
Saturday morning was the "Dog and Jog" event sponsored by the vet students. We took our rat terrier, Patch, and participated in the 1.5 km family walk. It was just great to see the amazing variety of dogs AND owners enjoying a beautiful Sat. morning.
I actually now own a digital camera but am very slowly learning how to use it. Posting pictures will take me a while! We did get some good ones in Manhattan.
I will not be attending Football 101 this year because we have a wedding that day. Our friends, Mike Masek and Linda Miller are tying the knot and we will be Host Couple for the reception. This is a very special event because we introduced these nice people and have appreciated the development of their relationship. Mike's wife succumbed to breast cancer 9 years ago, when their youngest son Brian was in 8th grade.(He is Tom's classmate.) Linda was divorced many years ago and came to Columbus to teach elementary music. Mike has 4 boys and Linda has 2 boys and a daughter. All the kids are happy for them, so it should be a happy occasion. They had actually crossed paths several times over the years, but had never connected, so I guess our little nudge was just that---a nudge for a new life for both.
Next week Tim will go back to KS for the 3I (Industry, Irrigation, Innovation) Farm Show in Garden City. He'll see lots of his old buddies there. His employer, Duo Lift Mfg., is starting a short line farm equipment distribution business so he will be on the road more, calling on dealerships.
Til next time....
Connie