First Week of Graduate School & Our Toy Destructor

So I survived my first week of graduate school and Brian survived his first week as the househusband (just kidding) and his alone time with Penne. My schedule for this semester is not too bad so far, considering I just dropped my Tuesday/Thursday class. I wake up early every Monday/Wednesday/Friday so that I can be at my GA at 6:30am. Then I have Older Adults & Exercise from 9:00-9:50am. I have a big break after that in which I can go home until class from 5:00-7:50pm. On Monday, my night class is Exercise Electrocardiography & Cardiopulmonary Medicine. On Wednesday, my night class is Advanced Exercise Physiology. So really it is going to be nice to have two days off during the week to take care of studying or meetings. The classes seem okay so far, but I am definitely going to have to study which is nothing new.

My graduate assistantship (GA) is definitely going to be interesting. I will be working on a pilot research project in the fall and the actual research project in the spring working with bariatric patients. We are working with patients that had bariatric weight loss surgery within the past 8 weeks up to 1 year post-op in developing an exercise program. This topic hasn't been researched very much so it will kind of be trial and error to begin with. Hopefully in the future it will move from post-op to pre-op then to prevention. It is definitely a topic I am not familiar with but will definitely learn a lot.

With my GA I am also able to help with the HOPE program (older adults typically) and with my supervisor's undergraduate class that deals with this program. So basically, I will be doing a variety of things and gaining a lot of experience. I really like my supervisor, Cody because I think that we have the same interests in older adults and that he could help me make some great connections for the future.

Although everything is going well so far, I definitely miss WKU and everybody there. Plus, I don't want to hear another WKU person complain about parking. Because at UNCG it is definitely way worse. If you don't get to campus before 9am you have to automatically go to Park & Ride which is super busy.

Anyway, Brian is doing good. He is starting to apply for jobs and work on his portfolio for graduate school. I think that he is getting a bit restless and needs some time away from Penne, but overall doing okay.

Speaking of Penne. She is doing fine as well. We have found out that she is a destructor of toys. She has ripped through a red squeak toy (see pictures above), a cong toy and has shredded her rope (also see above, this also used to have tennis balls on it, see previous posts) into a million pieces. We might have to buy a new toy each month if she keeps it up. She is so cute when she plays (see the tongue hanging out above), but takes it very seriously and when she is in hot pursuit of a toy she even runs into doors although is unphased. Also our trainers had us upgrade to another collar because she doesn't mind being choked apparently. So that was another dog expense we weren't expecting. She is still cute and keeps us laughing.

We are looking forward to September and all of the events that it will bring!

  

I have been a very bad blogger

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I am still getting used to the habit of blogging regularly. Since the last blog we have had a preliminary and first training session for Penne. They have told us a ton of stuff, so I will try and relay the important facts. She is a Schnauzer/Sealyham Terrier mix. Which means that she is a jack of all trades and is actually very intelligent (which we thought to begin with). She also must have some Great Pyrenees in her as well because she has two dew claws (like thumbs on her hind feet). She is also classified as misplaced dominance, which means that she is being dominant because she is trying to control everything but doesn't really want to be. So essentially we have to dominate and become her leader so that she can just be a dog. This week we have been working on sit/stay, wait at the door, come and controlled walking. Some days she remembers and does well and then other days she doesn't. But overall she is doing good.

I had a really busy day today. I had Graduate School Orientation from 9am-12pm, went home for lunch, returned to campus for Kinesiology meeting from 2-3:30pm and then went to a local hospital for my GA from 6-7:30pm. Kind of crazy and I really didn't enjoy the driving back and forth. Both the orientation and meeting went fine, although I have never heard a university speak so much about academic integrity/cheating. I don't know if they have horrible problems with it or if they are just stricter than WKU was. Very interesting some of the ways they described what students have done to cheat. I can tell already that parking might be a problem. Today, I was very lucky that I was able to find spots on campus despite the fact that undergrads were moving in. However, during the semester I have to compete with residential students, faculty & staff along with other commuters for spots. They basically said if you get to campus after 9am then you need to go to Park & Ride, a mile away from campus and take the shuttle. I don't think any WKU student should complain about parking because it is much worse at UNCG.

Since I was gone most of the day, Penne was really quiet and didn't even play that much with Brian. And every time I came home she was so excited that she would shake and could not sit still. She was more excited to see me when I got home than she ever is when she comes out of the crate. Hopefully she will get over that soon.

Brian got to relax all day today, which I think he really enjoyed since he has been working so hard. He is going to start searching for jobs soon though since the work from Gray Engineering has slowed down. I have another meeting tomorrow morning with my GA supervisor to hopefully get some more details lined out about my schedule and responsibilities. Then I can finally relax a little before classes start on Monday.

Ups and Downs

Yesterday was our first full day with Penne and it didn't go so great. In the morning, she was very hyper and insisted on testing me by biting at my ankles, hands and feet. This was very frustrating and every time she decided to get hyper we would just take her for a walk. This seemed to work because it is so hot and it would just wear her out. The adoption agency offered to send a trainer to help us with some of her behavior if needed and we took them up on that. I spoke to the trainer and she was very nice. She thinks it is a transition phase in which she is trying to get used to us and therefore the problems can be fixed easily. At one point, I told her that Penne only bit me and not Brian. She then asked me what was the difference between us and I told her I had no idea. The trainer also suggested that a tired dog was not a destructable dog. So at least we were doing one thing right. Anyway, the trainer and her husband will be coming tomorrow at 3pm and we will see how it goes.

We really love her so if we could just fix these problems then it will be great. We actually got so desperate last night after watching a movie, that when she came up to us we would play dead so that she would leave. I know this sounds horrible but it worked the one time we did it. I think I sound like a bad parent.

Today has been better. She is still very hyper in the morning and at times during the afternoon. Brian and I left to go to Ihop for lunch (we watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and were both craving pancakes) and stopped at PetSmart to check out crates, food/water bowls and toys. We decided to buy three toys, a rope with tennis balls, a Nylabone and a squeak toy. We chose to only give her the rope with tennis balls one at first to see how she liked it. We thought that she probably would because she loves playing fetch with a tennis ball. I think she is beyond in love with the new toy and I am in love with her loving it! By the way, if any friends and family want to buy Penne a toy for Christmas please feel free to go to PetSmart and choose from a variety of rope colors for this toy. You would make us owners very happy.

Since she is a chewer, she went for the rope thread first and got some out. But then she found that she could tear the neon fuzz off of the tennis balls and she has been doing that ever since. I actually think that tonight she will poop neon fuzz and as we speak is choking up fuzz balls. See pictures below for the mess that she has made in our living room and how it clings to her mouth so elegantly. By the way Mom, we might be needing that vacuum cleaner sooner than we expected.

We Have a New Dog, Penne!

We have a new dog and her name is Penne (pronounced Penny, not like the pasta unfortunately). She is a terrier mix and is 1-2 years old and weighs about 26 pounds. So she is about the right mix for mine and Brian's preferences, since I like big dogs and he likes smaller dogs. We have signed the adoption papers, but the place we went through is letting us go through a trial period to make sure it works out. They were very nice and allowed us to borrow some food, treats, toys, leash and crate during the trial period. Our landlord is also allowing us 2 weeks before we have to pay for the pet deposit. She is also being very nice and waiving the $250 fee since we are new.

We have taken her out for a few walks and she is pretty good, but she can definitely tug you around. She initially didn't want to play with the toys they brought so we got her a tennis ball and what dog doesn't like a tennis ball. She loves to play fetch! She will bring it back to you most of the time, but sometimes she gets feisty and doesn't. During dinner tonight, she was excellent in not begging for food and just sat at our feet quietly. She is also house and crate trained, so I guess we are pretty lucky. For the most part, she is perfect and I think we have fallen in love with her. I guess her only faults are that she will play nibble and sometimes jump on you, but these can be fixed and no dog is perfect.

Flowers, Grasshoppers and Fireworks. Oh my!

Brian and I exchanged housewarming gifts when we moved into the apartment. I gave him a panoramic photograph of WKU's football stadium and he gave me flowers. They are beautiful and pink! I love them and they are still staying fresh.

This past Saturday we decided to go to the Grasshoppers baseball game (single A Minor league). As soon as we got in the stadium a PR person came up to us and asked if we would want to participate in an on field contest during the game. I looked at Brian and he had a deer-in-the-headlights look. So I took that as a no and told her. Later we decided that we should have asked what we would be doing first before giving our answer. She had pointed to the last spot on her list and we found out later that the last contest was a race around the bases. How fitting since we met in high school when we bet on a 100m race. Oh well, it could have been interesting. The Grasshoppers won, which was great and there were fireworks afterwards. It was honestly the best fireworks show I had seen, although it was very loud and bright. It was a great night!

Pictures by Room: Man Cave/Office

This is the last post of the apartment pictures. These are of the Man Cave/Office (i.e. the second bedroom). Basically whatever you want to call it. Hope everyone enjoyed the pictures and likes the apartment!



 

Pictures by Room: Bedroom/Bathroom

I am posting again because I am behind and hopefully soon there be some intersting news to discuss beyond pictures. So I will try and get the pictures out of the way. This post is the bedroom & upstairs bathroom. We have separate sinks, so that it doesn't confuse you.



 

Pictures by Room: Stairway/Upstairs Hallway

So this post includes pictures from the stairway and upstairs hallway.

Pictures by Room: Dining Room/Downstairs Bathroom/Living Room

So this post includes the rest of the downstairs (see previous post). This is the dining room, 1/2 bathroom (ocean/beachy theme) and living room. There is definitely plenty of room. Enjoy!