Squirt

In April of 2006, I decided I wanted a Leopard Gecko. Had never had a reptile before, but he was SO cute, I couldn't resist.  4 weeks old, yellow/brown and spotted with a little bright green patch on his head, right in between his eyes. I learned everything about maintaining a reptile. About a month after I bought him, he stopped eating. No one really knew why, so I took him to the vet to have him checked out. He was tiny. About the length of my index finger - nose to tip of tail. I came home with antibiotics and syringe fed him baby food for a month. He rebounded very well.

In the beginning of last week I noticed he was SKINNY. Very, very skinny. He's nocturnal - up at night, sleeping during the day. Leopard Geckos store all the nutrients they digest in their tail. Squirt had a beautiful FAT tail. A week and a half ago I noticed it was mostly the size of a #2 pencil. That was 100% not right. I began to feed him baby food on a regular basis to help bulk him up. He's not a fan, but made it through. Yesterday I took him to the vet. 

Everyone that looked at him went - "oh wow, look how skinny he's gotten!" The vet came in - who happens to be a very well known vet for reptiles (I drive 45 minutes for heavens sake...). She told me it could very well be liver or kidney failure except he had lost so much weight, she couldn't draw blood. However, it could also be an infection or parasite from a worm he ate. She sent me home with two antibiotics, directions to syringe feed him 2-3x's a day and soak him in warm water 2x's a day. In 3 weeks I head back. If he's shown absolutely no improvement, I will most likely make the decision to put him down. How incredibly sad. This is the main reason people don't get pets. It's so hard. I will have to post a photo of him so you can see how incredibly beautiful he was - until lately. I'm going to try my hardest to get him back into good shape! 

+3.00/+1.25

Six months ago I went to the eye doctor. I hadn't gone in almost 4 years. It's like I woke up one morning and was blind. I have been a bifocal wearer for almost 9 years now. If you know my dad, you know his famous eyes. Although mine aren't anywhere close to that... they may be one day. 

Apparently, my last set of contacts never had the astigmatism component. They were bifocals. My astigmatism had gotten much worse because it hasn't been corrected in the last 4 years. The doctor gave me the option of the one and only brand of contact bifocal w/astigmatism correction or single vision contacts and reading glasses. 

"READING GLASSES???" I said..."DO YOU KNOW HOW OLD I AM...!?!" So, I went with the one and only brand to give them a shot for 6 months. These things arrived and they were practically prehistoric. Thick, big and weighted. They sucked. My eyes would get dry anywhere between 4 and 9pm and when they got dry... they got dry. These lenses were so thick, they couldn't even flip inside out. 

Today I went back to pick up my new set of single vision contacts and reading glasses. I told the guy at the eyeglass store inside, I needed a pair that were "fly", he went "fly?" and I said, "you know, phat!" and he went "phat?!" so I concluded with "hot! they need to be hot or crazy... I have to have fun with this. I ended up with two pair, one conservative - but purple! and the other... tortise shell with gold on the sides and thick - wild! I took a photo and what turned out is even stranger with the lighting... so crazy, I had to post it.  No photo editing either. 

New Toy

A perk to graduation is getting a nice gift from your parents. When my brother graduated from college - he got new luggage. Somehow, over the years, the gifts have gotten much better - including trips to Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and so on. I am the first in our family of 5 to have graduated with a Masters. 

I'm blogging from my newest graduation gift... an upgrade to a new MacBook Pro. Being an artist, I love my Macs. This thing is an absolute beauty. (If you are a Mac lover, you will appreciate) In the store, my dad leaned over and said, "Well, I guess this is the last computer I will ever buy you..." and I said..."No dad, in a few years when it's time to upgrade, I'll go back to school. Makes out perfect for another graduation gift..."

= ) 

Gotta love being high maintenance... 

Onto training - things are going well. I went out for a nice 20 mile ride yesterday, then hit the pool. With the warmer weather, I'm actually looking forward to hitting the outdoor pool. The water was FREEZING and we even went to a heated pool. But, I managed to swim .5 mile. I was exhausted! 

I hope everyone had a nice Memorial Day weekend. 

It's official!

                

I am now Ann Marie Diegelman M.S.E.d  

WOAHHHHHHHHH!!!!! 

It was awesome. The ceremony started at 7:30 out on Homewood Field. The sun was setting and it was nice and warm while my parents sat in the stands along with Scott. About 730 people graduated from The School of Education but in lots of different areas: General Education, Counseling, Public Safety and Special Education.  

I have lots of friends who are graduating this May... Congrats to the class of 2009! Job well done = )

               

                 My parents, Scott and I

                 

             Flowers from my parents

                  

                   Flowers from Scott

The grades are in

After a week of obsessively checking my grade report for my final semester – the grades are in. One “A” and one “B+”. Out of 36 credits, I received 11 A’s and 1 B+. I know I should be happy with the overall fact that I finished my program and will graduate next week, but that one B+ was devastating. Final GPA – 3.89. I realize no one ever looks at the grade from this point on, just the fact that you actually got the degree, but I felt like my own pride washed away. I was SO freaking close….

 

After consideration, I decided to email my teacher and find out why the B+. The final exam was nothing like she said it would be, so I already knew that had something to do with it. I also wanted to know what my final average was as well. I sent her a message inquiring what my final exam grade was and what I had earned for class participation. Sounds silly, but all 11 other classes offered the extra points. Her response to me was – “You should be thrilled with a B+, don’t be so hard on yourself. As for class participation, I don’t offer those points, but students like you who participate all the time would certainly benefit from them. That is something I’ll look into adding to next years class. As for your average, you ended the semester with an 89” A FREAKING 89. One point away from an A.

 

Thanks for allowing your classes in the future to benefit from those 5 extra points in regards to participation Professor. That will definitely help me sleep better at night.

 

 

 

Being behind...

I know I need to break down the most awesome day ever in Pittsburgh, but I just haven’t had the time. Work has been insane this week, on top of studying and finishing BOTH final exams. As of 7:30pm last night, I have officially completed my Masters program and Graduate Certificate program! It hasn’t quite set in yet… I’m sure it will sometime soon. I am 99% sure I got an A in my Motor Management class, but my Autism class is questionable. The teachers knows my infatuation with getting an A… so hopefully she is considerate. I can’t even begin to tell you how I did on my final….

 

Pittsburgh was an amazing experience and I have lots of pictures to show. My family was super supportive and took every measure possible to make it a fun weekend – all the way down to a cake and a beanie baby named “Lucky” with a good luck balloon. It sure came in handy… official time: 2:22:30. I have NEVER had a race like that. I was elated… (I still kinda am!)

 

Pittsburgh or bust

I've just returned from the Expo so nicely set up by Dick's. Had to
switch my number since I dropped from the full to the half. My brother
drove us around the route which doesn't look too bad. Not many hills
for the half.

I'm starting to get excited. I think because it's a race in a
different area. Also though, this is the first race my family will be
a major part of. My neices are super excited. They even had a cake
made! I've been taking photos of the city and will post some when I
return home.

To all my friends running the Frederick Marathon and half tomorrow -
good luck!