Fun Monday: Life Highs....

Mariposa asks us to write about 3-5 highs in our lives.

When I read this assignment, I thought, "Ahhh, no problem. Sign me up." Next time, I'll think harder.

It's pretty easy to come up with 3-5....I'm one of those over-educated people (i.e. I couldn't find my path in life so I stayed in school for a long time). Each time I graduated or changed direction and was actually accepted in a school or training program for the next segment of my meandering road to where I am now, there was an incredible thrill. As a person who had (or still has) some self-esteem issues, I was thrilled (no the appropriate term would be shocked) that I had managed to make the next turn in my life's journey. However, a list like this is a little boring

So, the big thrills?

1. Graduating from high school. I don't have a picture, but it was a huge thrill for me. I come from a family where education is highly regarded. Graduating from HS was expected, and a minor milestone in my family, but for me, it meant I was on my way. In my mind, I was finally an adult (ahh, the misconceptions of youth).

2. My first car. Another rite of passage. In my family, one was given a car for completing college. I chose a Toyota Corolla hatchback with sun-roof. That car was mine for the next 13 years. That care gave me independence (with good gas mileage on the side). I wracked up 167,000 miles on it with the maintenance that a graduate student could afford (not much). I replaced the spark plugs for the first time at 105,000 miles. The mechanic told me he didn't see any functional surfaces, but the car had still been running (For some reason, he seemed to be laughing hysterically when he called me to ask when I had last replaced the spark plugs....never?). That car was a good one. They just don't make like that anymore. Of course, when I replaced it, I hadn't realized what a rough I had been experiencing. Those sorts of things creep up on you.

3. Graduating from medical school. This day represented the end of my official schooling, although I still had about 7 years of training ahead of me. When I was in college, I dreamed of medical school, but I lacked confidence. Graduate school prior to medical school gave me that confidence (and also convinced me that medicine was my calling). The medical school road was a good, but bumpy one. I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer during my first year. The regular stresses of medical school combined with hormonal stressers....was... interesting (I need a "big grin" emoticon after that one). My treating endocrinologist hooded me at graduation. His picture is to the right. Amazing what one can find on the internet. Note to self: need to scan in some of those graduation pictures.....

4. Buying my first home. I have printed pictures but not many digital pictures. This house was over 50 years old and 1100 square feet with 3 bedrooms (small!) and one bath. These days, it would be advertised as a "cottage." Owning a home meant that I could finally have a dog: something that I had wanted since leaving home. The house was an odd thing. It had been owned by a "contractor" who had jerry-mandered lots of things (oh, the stories I heard from the neighbors about some of the "contracting."). The house had the original tile -- yellow with black trim. At first, I hated that, but grew to kind of like it over time. It was just the right size for me and my 4-legged kids.

So those are some of the thrills.

Finally, for those of you who are dog lovers, I recently experienced the miracle of a litter of pups. The has certainly been a high for me, although I realize that it must pale in comparison to having a child.

Having pups may take more intestinal fortitude than I have -- Gabi failed to dilate and so had to have a c-section. Unfortunately, I HAD to be a work, after being up with her through the night. Through the support of several people, all went well, and Gabi and pups have been doing great. Despite having a c-section, Gabi has bonded well with her pups. She left them for more than 30 seconds when they were 3 days old. We went to the whippet ranch and she knew that she had been left behind (and was not pleased). For those interested in wasting 3:30 minutes watching blind wigglers....click the link (By the way, it is the same one that is on Gabi's blog, so if you have seen that, don't bother. Hopefully, I'll have a new one in a few days).


Now, go check out the others on the list:

1. Beedancer 2. brocasarea 3. Grace 4. Hootin Anni 5. ChrisB 6. SWAMP~WITCH aka: Swampy 7. M (the misanthrope)

8. Mamalang 9. IamwhoIam 10. KarmynR 11. Swampangel65 12. Sarah 13. HulaGirl 14. Jan

15. Faye 16. celeste 17. iPost 18. Margaret, Soon To Be Mama 19. BS 20. Melanie 21. You're next!