Wow! This has been MY busiest week ever - lots of stuff happening although still no keys in my hands.

Monday - Michael and I went over to the space to meet an HVAC contractor to get a bid. The apron is poured and finished. The workers were putting up the garage door for the space on the end and it looks really cool. (They were planning on having ours on by the end of the week). Michael was meeting with people and getting lots of bids throughout the week and hoping to have those ducks in a row by next week. I've been also getting a lot of encouraging emails from previous clients - it's been great. I really enjoy catching up with people and filling them in on the latest.

Opal's chandelier - look familiar?

One client, Judy and I were emailing back and forth reminiscing about her dog Opal that she lost at 17! I loved Opal - she was such a special old lady and just had so much charm. She always came in with fancy collars and she was the real lady of the family. I told Judy that Opal would have loved my clinic. She would have especially loved the chandelier that's going in the waiting room. Well, Judy checked out the blog and saw the picture of me holding the chandelier and emailed me a picture of the chandelier she and Opal picked out for their room. She told me that Opal used to love to lay on her back and stare at it - it's the same chandelier! 

Male Bufflehead

Tuesday - A beautiful day - cold but not raining and the sun was out. If you stood in one place the sun actually felt warm. I couldn't miss out on the opportunity so DeeDee and I walked up to Mt. Tabor for exercise and inspiration. I called it work because I was thinking about the clinic. I must secretly tell you guys that I love walking up to Mt. Tabor and seeing all of the people with their dogs. I watch them all and imagine them as my clients and patients! We had a really nice walk around the lower reservoir where I always like to check out what birds are in there. We saw a lone seagull hanging out on the water and a few Buffleheads. Buffleheads are the cutest waterfowl - they're small and striking and so fun the way they disappear under the water and pop up again. I also saw a couple of crows at the edge of the water enjoying a bath. No mallards this time. We came across a couple of robins on the lawn hunting for worms and a small flock of juncos speeding around. There were lots of people out enjoying walks with their dogs or kids (or both), runners getting exercise, an older couple holding hands and an occasional bicyclist and Parks and Rec. worker. The view of the city from the top reservoir was great - so sparkly in the sun! I love Mt. Tabor Park - to me it represents community and that's one important reason we named the clinic after it.

Wednesday - Shopping - but not the fun kind. I went looking at ceiling fans for the clinic -didn't find anything perfect...yet. Also went out looking for furniture for the exam rooms. I had found the perfect pieces at Denali in SE Portland but they are moving warehouses and won't get the orders in until March. Being an optimist, I am hoping that March would be way too late. I went quite a few places on the West side of town and found some really nice peices and a place that even customizes but it's pretty expensive. I'll continue the search next week. While I was on that side of town I stopped by Murrayhill to say hi and pick up some dog cookies for DeeDee. It was so nice to see everyone. My going away party is scheduled for next Sunday.

Marley - MTVC First Official Patient

Thursday - Worked relief at Rose City Veterinary Hospital. What a crazy day but so nice to be back in practice. The hospital is beautiful. They remodeled last year and it was a beautiful facility to work in. The clients were great. So nice to see people from the neighborhood. And the staff were so nice to help me out. I didn't know where anything was or how to work within their system and they were patient and good humored about it. I have a few more relief days scheduled there. After work I went on my first housecall. I had it planned earlier in the week and when the owner of Rose City called to say he hurt his back and wondered if I could cover for him - I was happy to. But I still wanted to do my one and only housecall. So after work I stopped by to see one of my favorite patients, Marley. She has a growth that is getting larger and her mom was really worried. I examined Marley - felt the large lump and did a fine needle biopsy of the mass. Turns out it is a benign lipoma - yay! Officially, Marley is the first patient to be seen at MTVC!

View of the space with the garage door on

Friday - another relief day - this time for Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon. I examined 20 cats and helped spay and neuter them. It was so much fun. I examined the cats in the bathroom of the warehouse. These cats are owned and fall under the "pre-feral" category and were done through the Cat Nip Program in conjunction with Multnomah County. It was fun to examine these nice owned cats - usually at FCCO all of the cats are feral and can't be touched! A lot of them were young and they were nervous but it was nice and quiet in the bathroom and Wilma (who was helping me) is very skilled at keeping cats calm and handling them if they are not. Once the exams were done I was on the truck and scrubbing in. I worked with Dr. Hale who is an expert spay/neuter surgeon and it's always a good time when we work together in the surgery suite. On the way home I drove by the clinic and found that the garage door is on! But the regular door is not yet. Rumor has it that those go on early next week. Michael says they finished the dividing wall so the space is looking more complete! Before we take full delivery of the space we need to have the HVAC to the space in working order and they're on that too, so hopefully soon! We should be ready to get in and get building as soon as we take delivery of the space!

I'll keep you posted and promise more pictures of the space soon.