Please Pray for My Butt

Gma Jean invited me over to lunch a couple of weeks ago. She wouldn't really say what was on the menu...'leftovers' is what she told my mom. Here is what I walked into.....

Gma Jean LOVES to feed people. After you are done eating, you have to refuse her food offers for about 30 minutes before she lets up...or just leave the table altogether. The love of feeding people is a long standing tradition of the women in my family....one that I fear is slowly dying with each breath I take. The lunch was very good...we had about 3 entrees and about a gazillion sides to choose from.  She even baked a cake! May I remind you that she is 90?!...she had enough food to feed an army! I left thinking....oh, I CANNOT do this on a regular basis or I will surely weigh 500 pounds....but it all tasted SO good!! 

Another long standing joke in my family is the fact that Gma Jean keeps about 8 pounds of butter in her freezer at any given time....she will sometimes try to deny it. So here is the proof....count 'em!

I guess I don't have to worry about her if there is ever a butter shortage?!?! So please, pray for my butt and that the 8 pounds of butter don't end up there. 

Oh Miss Iowa

Nathan and I were watching 'The Soup' last night before going to bed. It's a funny little show on the E! network that pokes fun at the many happenings of TV throughout the previous week. 

Joel had a segment on that poked fun at the Miss America Pageant....it must have been on last week or something?

Anyway, the segment was a compilation of the start of the show where the contestants introduce themselves and what their state is known for. Miss Rhode Island said her state is known for having the most Dunkin Donuts...(must be Dunkin Donuts Co. is based out of Rhode Island?)....and Miss Utah said something about sister wives...and there were a few other states in the mix....and of course, Miss Iowa was featured too....

I pulled her quote from the internet so that I could be sure and get it right....she introduced herself to the nation at the start of the live broadcast, Pauli proudly stated she is “from the state that leads the nation in ethanol production. My state gives your state gas.”

Really?!?

Sigh....Oh Miss Iowa...I can't imagine why you didn't win the coveted crown. (I don't really know who won, but I'm pretty sure if she had I would have heard or seen it somewhere plastered all over the local news.)

You and Mii

We celebrated Mom's birthday this weekend. We had a simple party with pizza and cake. Here's the birthday girl.....

Blowing out the candles.....

Opening some presents.....

After dinner entertainment included playing some sports on the Wii. (Please excuse the fuzzy baby blue slippers...I found them in the closet in my 'room'....I believe they belong to Gma Jean). A little golf....

And some baseball....

We...or rather, I, had fun making the Mii's....Here we all are in our Mii forms....

It must have been a pretty 'crazy' party...we wore Adam out! 

Happy Birthday Mom! 

Everyone Needs a Little Help Once in Awhile

Nathan called me this evening to come help him at the clinic with a c- section....I wanted to tell him no, but I felt guilty and ended up going to help. And I'm so glad I did....this momma kitty came in with a two day old kitten and two more kittens still inside her. How uncomfortable is that? We thought for sure they would be stillborn.....

But we were wrong! The other two were delivered with strong heartbeats and were making quite a racket before we closed up for the night. Kind of a rough start into the world on this cold, wintry, night! 

A Little of This, And A Little of That

Ever since Nathan took over our humble little hospital...

It seems as though we've been doing more of this...

Than this.....

Nathan especially has been piled under mounds of paperwork. All the drug reps want to meet with him and everyone wants a moment of his time. It doesn't leave a lot of time to actually be a doctor and take care of your patients. 

Things have seemed to even themselves out and life has slowed to just mildly chaotic. We continue to wait, and wait, and wait for a buyer for our lovely Texas home. Sigh.....

Since I've been home, I've been trying to help out Nathan as much as possible mostly with the administrative needs of the clinic. I got the website updated....

And I'm learning to pay the bills and do payroll, etc. Bleck!!! It has definitely been a family affair. My mother has been my dad's 'administrative assistant' since I started college and so she has been a huge help to us. She would come up a couple times a week and help Nathan pay bills, etc before I moved home. 

Nathan's mom has helped answer phones on Saturday mornings, and I commissioned his Gpa Streeper to do some handy work within the clinic to help get us organized. All in all, things are slowly falling into place. 

With that said, it has freed me up to branch out and do a little of this and that. Before I moved home, I set up some relief work to help out another vet in the area while his associate went on maternity leave. My schedule is pretty full as I'm doing relief two days a week, working for Nathan one day a week, and working for my dad the other two days. I think Dad and I were equally as anxious to start working together. I think he was afraid I was going to spend all of his money, and I was afraid of how I was going to get his practice updated to the 21st century. But again....things seem to be slowly falling into place. 

Here we are on our first day of work together officially as Dr. and Dr. Mangold...

Now, being that this is family affair...of course Mom was there with her camera...and she has always been my personal paparazzi. Here's an 'action' shot from my first day. (Does my hair always look that bad?) 

Going over some charts together.....

I got a little resistance from him throughout the day...But I think he's starting to see the light. :) Let's just hope I won't want to wring his neck too much (and he doesn't fire me)...baby steps, Dad, baby steps. 

Dogs are Children in Fur Coats

Ever see that decorative sign? Well, it's true...at least in my world.


I don't have any children....so instead of boring you with pictures of my kids...I will have to bore you with pictures of my dogs. My dogs are my children and after all....I am a veterinarian.

This is Ruby....she is my first born. She is a Scottish Terrier and she just turned 8 years old on 1-1-11. Nathan and I got her over spring break our junior year of vet school. We gave up cable TV in order to pay for her...now that's sacrifice!! We met her breeder in Kansas City to pick her up. She's a very good dog. She's very 'catlike'....she likes attention, but only on her terms. If you pet her too much and she's not in the mood....she gets up and moves. She's not very loud, doesn't bark a lot, but she moans....I like to call her Mona. Her other nicknames include, Ruby Dooby, Ruby Booby, Booby, The Boob, and My Black Hairy Boob.

She was such a cute little puppy. 

She's so pretty. 

She is somewhat of a princess (I wonder where she got that from?). She loves pillows and soft places to sit. One thing I love about my job...I can bring my dogs to work! I would frequently find her sitting in my desk chair after I had left for awhile. 

I'm not a big 'dress up your dog' person....it's a good thing...cause Ruby HATES to wear clothes....especially anything on her head. 

She loves playing with toys. Her favorite game is tug of war and she loves to fetch too. 

This is Wrigley....

He is my second child. We also got him from the same breeder we bought Ruby from. He is also a Scottish Terrier and will be 4 years old in April. He was a fifth wedding anniversary present to ourselves...and he was supposed to be 'Nathan's dog'....but....he's all mine. Nathan says we have an inappropriate relationship. We flew him home on the plane to Texas with us when he was just 12 weeks old. 

Here are his baby pictures....

Wrigley was born without half of his left ear. He is such a little character and everything amazes him. He is interested in EVERYTHING we do. He is very affectionate and loves to sit on your lap. 

He loves water and specifically the sprinkler. 

He loves to Skype. 

I frequently find him sleeping on his back. 

And 'protecting' me from the lazy cats that nap on my porch. 

His main nickname is The Wriggle Pot...or just simply The Pot. 

The upper picture is my new favorite pic of my Wriggle Pot. 

They tolerate most everything I do...such as dressing them up for Halloween to help pass out candy. 

And they love to look out the window. 

We are three little peas in a pod!