Transition to Campus Life

Well, I am now back at Houghton College.

Saturday my mom and I drove from Plymouth to Houghton so I could move in the next day. Even though my room was probably unlocked and we could have moved in when we got to Houghton I think the drive took too much out of us. Because I knew this would happen and my uncle's house is in chaos with the move to the unfinished house (as far as I know there is one working toilet, maybe a shower and that is all their running water) we stayed at a friend of mine's that lives in town. After bringing all my stuff back up to the fourth floor of Gillette (without the use of an elevator) my mom headed back home. She encountered heavy rain and so stayed in Johnstown and then made it back the next day.

We also helped move in Alice to the fourth floor but to a different section. Then I helped Laura move in to Alice's room. We are all here for orientation team training which is where we get to move the freshmen in and help them out. Laura and I are also here for FYI training where we will be part of small groups made of freshmen.

So far it has been fun. I have been able to catch up with the friends who are here and I wait for those who aren't here. It is also fun to see the different waves of people move in for the various programs they will be a part of. For O-Team training we have done much chatting and game playing and seems like little actual work. We have breakfast in Java before we start, lunch in the dining hall, and dinner family style where ever we are told. Training only takes the mornings so the afternoons are free.

It should be a fun and exciting year with Bethany back from London, getting to know all the freshmen, and taking genetics, physics, early & modern philosophy, and modern & contemporary art history.

I know I have had a lot of fun seeing my friends as they arrive on campus. Just this evening we had story time on second new. A couple RA's worked on their floor decorations while we chatted and then some of us helped them with the decorations so they can be done by tomorrow. It is really nice to see my college friends again and I look forward to seeing even more as they return to campus.

TTFN.

Gone for a While, Home for a Little

Well I've been back home for a couple of weeks now.

The last week that I spent in Lowville I saw a few new things. The first thing was an ear crop. Then we did exploratory surgery on the dog that wouldn't eat. The results were we found a tumor on the stomach walls and surgery would be too invasive to remove it. The dog was released to her owners and allowed to eat whatever she would. She probably only has a few months to live. I also held 11 squirming newborn puppies while they had their tails docked and their dewclaws removed. Then another anal gland surgery. After that we had a splenectomy where the spleen was removed because of cancer. There were some massive clots in the abdomen that I believe were caused by the cancer on the spleen. Although the spleen was removed I was told that the dog probably only had a couple months as the type of cancer it had is very aggressive. I also saw a vulvoplasty. This is where excess skin is removed so the the vulva is no longer recessed. Recessed vulva are many times the cause of recurrent urinary tract infections and vulvoplasty help correct this. After seeing all this I had a few days of relaxation at the lake before Uncle Chuck and I went to my home and a family reunion.

This is a view of Chase Lake from the Allen dock.

This is the lake house as you look from the lake.

This is one of Uncle Chuck's goldens that I spent some time with. She is a sweet dog. This one is Piper and the one who was always wanting to be around people.

When I came home I came home in time to start the painting of the house. Quite the amount of painting to be done but we are almost there.

This is my room and the first coat is now done. This was taken before I finished the first coat.

Cutting in the ceiling was hard so I let Daddy do most of it. When he wasn't painting at the same time as me I did a fairly good job at it. My room is green grapes, the living room/hall is butter, the kitchen/dining room is a green similar to green grapes, the bathroom is pale sea foam, Alex's room is aquamarine, and the master bedroom is Jamaican aqua. The house is becoming quite colorful and will be quite colorful by next Friday.

I leave for school Saturday the 21st and will start classes on the 30th.