"Mommy, why do you have to study??"

Well, those days at the beach seem long ago now... Its study, study, study...... Poor rockstar

My Little Intruder...

Brushing my teeth the other night and noticed (while on the phone with mondo!) That there was little reptilian friend on my bathroom ceiling. And by little I mean TINY! He was so small that this is on full zoom, he was basically transparent, but I am not so sure how he got into my apartment, I knew that there was no way that I was going to catch this little guy, especially if he was on my ceiling!

The next morning he had suffiently explored my ceiling and was now on the door frame to my bathroom. Even though I would have liked to keep him and raise him on my own, I knew that he would have a better life outside! So I scooped him up in my hands and let him free on my outdoor plant....
Just another day in the life of a St Kitts resident, I suppose....

A Walk to the Top of the Peninsula....

Not sure if you have noticed, but the view of the peninsula from atop this hill is my favorite view of the island, it is just spectacular up here, and the walk up the hill could get anyones heart racing. Last week, me and some friends decided we were going to go up that hill for a nice walk rain or shine. We got rain!Here is Emily and Rockstar enjoying the view throught the mist. We literally walked up the hill in a downpour. It was actually really nice, wet but nice. We are so often going for walks in dreadful heat, that a nice cool rain is quite the blessing.
And Sara and Sally looking down on the beaches below! By the time we were up the mountain we were soaked. I had brought water for the pups, but they were nice and cool even if it was a good walk!

And a super cute picture of me and Rockstar! Of course, a stupid drop of water had to obstruct the screen, but I LOVE THIS PICTURE!

I Hate Saying GoodBye to the Puggy Every Morning...

How could you say good bye to this face every morning?? It is sosoossosososos hard. Besides feeling pretty sleepy, Rockstars face seems to always be pleading me "stay home with me Mommy!" How cute is my pug?
And then, when I lean in for a kiss goodbye, I realize that that sad face is just his tired face and I was mistaken. Rockstar doesnt want me to stay all day, he wants me to leave so that he can sleep, uninterrupted another 8 hours!

AHHHH... The pug life....

Good Morning St Kitts...

This semester has its new challenges, new classes with new professors and lots of new material. But the schedule is also new. Instead of 9 am classes, we now have 8 am classes, a real stretch for the anti-morning person in me. I guess after 3 years closing Cabo at 4 in the morning, I got pretty used to the late nights... Now I have to wake up at 6am, that is when I used to get to bed.

But, for all the complaining that I do, there is still lots to like about being an early bird. For one, I finally feel like an adult waking up so early. For two, look at this sunrise! One day, I am going to wake up early (good luck getting the pug up!) And I am going to hike that hill and get a photo of the sunrise coming up over the peninsula....

I AM GOING TO SOUTH AFRICA!!!

I am sosososo excited, but yesterday I put my downpayment on an educational two week trip to south africa next April-May break. The program is put on by an organization called wildlife vets. The take a group of 14 students from all of the veterinary schools of the nation and show them what a wildlife veterinarian goes through in there day to day career. Once again, I am soososososososo excited. The time that I am going is strictly for Ross University students and I am going with three of my friends in my class!

Check out the website here
And here is a quick run down of things that previous students have been exposed to:
Capture and micro chipping of white rhino
Relocation of eland
Lion capture for TB testing
Post mortems on roan, rhino, crocodiles
Evaluation of new immobilising agents
Buffalo TB testing
Raising orphan animals
Surgery on roans and buffalo
Ultrasound on Wildlife
Mass capture of Wildlife
Visiting local communities
And dont be afraid of me sleeping out in the bush staring at the stars hoping not to get trampled by elephants. This is where I will be staying. (click here)

Once again I am sososososo excited, but there is lots and lots of planning in the months to come... So I will keep everyone updated as to what is happening...

Last Semester Dog, This Semester Donkeys...

Imagine walking into your second day of class to see this site. This is Anatomy Lab and this semester we are dissecting a donkey, a sheep and a chicken as well as parts of a pig. Pretty crazy, huh?

Why is the Pug So Tired???

What in the world could the pug have been doing that got him so tired? Tired enough to fall asleep with your tongue out is pretty tired!!
Well, it started with a trip to the pool to play with his buddy Conner. There was the obligatory sniffing and smelling, running and jumping, and being content while the mommies enjoyed some time to swim and relax.
And then Conner had some swimming lessons from his Mom. He was a great swimmer, but really had no desire to stay in the pool.

And then, Rockstar realized that he may be next to learn to swim and he was no where to be found. This is his (please leave me alone stance) He HATES to swim!

Well at least we tired him out enough to let him pass out while I worked on homework!

One Last Beach Trip Before School

Before class starts, I have to take in all of the sun that I am going to want for the next semester, because although it is true that I live in the Caribbean, last semester found me rather pasty... All that studying is not easy on the beach so I tended to stay in. In all actuality, I may actually be able to enjoy the beach a bit more this semester as my schedule seems much more permitting. Mondays and Fridays I am done class at 1 (12 noon on the East coast!), Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2, and my late day is Wednesday when I get out at 3. Not too bad!
Here I am with my friend Alyssa. It just seems like a perfect picture, we had no idea that the sailboat was in the background, but it makes for great scenery!
And Emily and I are enjoying the sun and surf and thinking "school tomorrow!"

Rockstar the Pugs New Best Friend...

I have put a picture of Kate up on this blog before (http://rockstarsmommy.blogspot.com/2007/01/me-and-monkeys-at-turtle-beach.html) But these pictures are classic. After we all had dinner one night, Kate decided that she wanted to make a fort out of two pillows and a blanket on the couch. It was not a very successful fort, but she had lots of fun trying to keep Rockstar from knocking down the fort, so she invited him in. She would have invited Conner, but he is just too big.
And then there are just a string of pictures when I started to appreciate why photographers and hollywood types always said that animals and children were difficult to work with. This one is probably the best.
This one, neither animal nor child are looking...
And this one is kind of an action shot of trying to get everyone all in together...

The Pug isnt Happy About My New Coursework!

So the semester has begun and I have lots of new classes to talk about. I have Anatomy of Large Animals (we are going to be dissecting a donkey, a sheep, a pig and a chicken), Immunology (the study of the immune response), Parasitology (the study of parasites in feces, urine, blood, ect), Physiology (how things work), and Neurology (brain and nervous system). Overall, this semester is going to be pretty hard. And Rockstar is already a little upset at the new schedule. These pictures perfectly show how the night goes; I come home and begin to study and although Rockstar and I have gone out for our walk, he gives me this look (Picture 1). I hate this look. It means "is that what you are going to do, I want to play!!" And then, as I am adament about the fact that I need to study, he just passes out (Picture 2). I am then able to study without feeling bad about it.

Me and Monkeys at Turtle Beach

Well there is me and one little monkey. That is Kate, my friend Heaths 5 year old daughter and she is a trip. She is spunky and says the darndest things, so whenever we all hang out, Kate is my best friend. Here we are making silly faces at the beach.
And here I am soaking up the sun. This was, of course, the last day of beach time before the official start of classes, so we relaxed in style and I still have a pretty good tan to show for it! (Dont be jealous Tania)


And then there are the everpresent monkeys that make turtle beach so much fun to go to. This time when we went the monkeys were pretty hungry and Kate was even able to hand feed one of them some apples that I brought!

For other Turtle beach pictures check out some of my previous links!
http://rockstarsmommy.blogspot.com/2006/12/finals-are-finished-off-to-beach.html
http://rockstarsmommy.blogspot.com/2006/11/mine-and-armandos-fun-in-sun-at-turtle.html

I Miss a House Full of Dogs...

Well, school vacation is finally over and everyone's mommies have come and scooped them up. Classes are getting into full swing although it is week one and I am finding myself dazing off while studying the obligatory 2 hours a night ( I have to take time to work back up to the 4 hours that I used to invest ) and thinking about how much fun it would be for me and the pug if Millie and Lola were here.....

A Gecko on My Screen

Watching TV and relaxing the other night and look out onto my balcony to see this little guy hanging out. It would have been a much better picture had I been able to open the sliding glass door, but then the little gecko would have gotten so frightened that then there would have been no picture.

What types of lizards live on St Kitts? Well there is the anole of the island that is related to the Saba Anole, brought over from Africa during the times of the slave trade.

This is a species of Dwarf Gecko that inhabitates the island. This is the lizard that I see alot of at the zoo, running around.

I Made Art!

I call this one "A Dog to Build a House On" and it was inspired by looking at Lola all wrapped up in a ball sleeping.

And this is "Odd One Out" referring of course, to my pugs cute little tail.

Wow, I am pretty proud... For a chronic left brainer I think that I did an ok job. In truth I needed something to keep me from falling asleep, I pulled an allnighter last night in order to get back on my schedule for school that starts Monday, at about 4 am this morning, this is what I was concentrating on. I guess it goes to show that even at my tiredest the only thing on my mind is the common dog...

Rockstar the Pug and His Uncle Kris

Some Fun at the Aviary!

Over break, I have volunteered to go to the aviary at school and help feed the birds. Usually it is the responsibility of the fourth semester students, but during break is a great time to kind of 'get your hands dirty' and get some experience with the birds before fourth semester. This picture is of the amazons. They are pretty big birds and they HATE me. They squawk very loudly each time I open the door to their cage, and I swear the stare at me with an evil look.
This is a breeding pair of cockatiels. Today I discovered that they had babies. I think that there are two chicks in their cage. They are pretty hungry parents, too, because they have finished all of the food that I gave them the last two days.
This is a lovebird in one of the lovebird breeding cages. I think lovebirds are gorgeous, but none of the lovebirds in the aviary have been hand raised so none of them are too keen on being handled, they are so pretty though!
And here is Ting. He is a handraised Budgie and so sweet. While I am in the flight cage, he likes to sit on my head. He also has a nasty habit of following me out of the cage into the communal area of the aviary, meaning that I have to run around trying to catch him to put him back in his cage.
And this is a hand raised cockatiel, I am not sure of his name, but he is so sweet. When I enter the flight cage he flies right to me. The first time I was quite afraid that I was being attacked. While I am in the cage he likes to sit on my sneaker, imagine me trying to get work done in this cage with a budgie on my head and a cockatiel on my shoe. Check out the video below to see the entire flight cage.

Back Home...

And who is there and ready to greet me but Millie...
And Lola... We are going to have a fun week of walks, running around the pool, more walks, and more running around the pool...

"Mommy, I dont want to go back on that Plane!"

This is one of those times when a picture can speak a thousand words. Sorry Rockstar, we have to leave NY and go back to St Kitts. Only 8 hours in your carry on bag and then we will be home!

Harry Potter my Leopard Gecko turns ONE YEAR OLD!

One year ago this Christmas, Mondo brought home a teeny tiny little creature. He has grown into a pretty good looking leopard gecko and although I was sad that I would have to leave him when I went away to vet school, I knew that I was leaving him in good hands with Mondo. In my absence, I feel like Harry Potter has grown so much and he has such a fat tail (for lizards that is good)!
He has great coloration, dont you think? While I was home I gave his cage a thorough cleaning. His nesting box was bleached and lined with fresh mulch, most of his black sand was cleaned out and his cage was cleaned, and his cave and water pond were cleaned as well. I am not quite sure that he liked all of this uproar, but I am pretty sure that he liked his fresh new cage!
What a cute mug! I call this picture "Dont eat me Harry Potter!" Lucky for the camera, leopard geckos are insectivorous (they only eat crickets and worms!)
And here he is on his new colored sand, I think that it brings out the yellow coloration that he has!



And just a little video to drive home just how crazy of a pet owner that I am. Happy Birthday to my one year old leopard gecko!

Happy Belated Birthday to Me!

Well, living in St Kitts does have its perks. For one, you get to celebrate your Birthday multiply times. I am grateful to have family and friends that made my time in New York very special this holiday (and birthday) season. A special thankyou to Mondo who got me not one but two cakes (he really knows how to win me over!)

Dinner at the Polanco's

Well Dinner is not quite dinner without four dogs around your ankles begging for scraps. And Lucy is something special because after dinner she mootches off of big mondo to get wine. Lucy loves wine and when she is drunk, she is truly a different girl.
Here are Rockstar and Nicky just lounging while the rest of us clean up the table and get ready for dessert, lazy boys!!!
Sorry Tania, I know that you hate this picture, but how could I not post this adorable picture of my pug. Actually he looks like he is afraid of you in this picture.
Aunt Lisa and Cousin Dana with Lucy. Check out Lucy's eyes, they are glazed over from too much wine...
And Grandma and Grandpa Bologna with Gigi. It was great to see all of you guys and especially great to have some homemade italian food (Patrice made lasagna!!)

Rockstar the Pug and his 140lb Girlfriend

Meet Hazel, she is a debordeaux, or a french mastiff. If you have seen the movie "TURNER AND THE HOOTCH" you know this breed well. They are large (Hazel is 140lbs.) and they drool (alot) but unlike the dog in the movie, Hazel is a real sweet heart and is not a big bad destructive dog. Can you believe that this is Rockstar's girlfriend?
Hazel belongs to Aunt Lisa (thats her holding Hazel still for the picture). And holding Rockstar is Mondo's youngest neice, Gina. Rockstar started going over Aunt Lisa's house to give Hazel some physical therapy. When she was younger, Hazel had to have a hip operation for hip dyplasia and Rockstar is the only dog that can get her to run around and get exercise. They actually play really well. My favorite is when Hazel lies on her back when her and Rockstar are playing tug of war. Rockstar will be trying as hard as he can to win, and Hazel just lays there and lets him tug.
Give that Pug a smooch Hazel. Hazel actually drools so much that when we leave Aunt Lisa's house, Rockstar is usually soaked!
Oh, and we cannot forget Travis. Travis is Hazel's older brother and he is not a big fan of me or Rockstar. I think it might be because I tell everyone that I think that he is the "biggest shitzu in the world". But truly, he is.

There is our Hazel, whatta smile, huh? Just mention her name and Rockstar perks up check out the video below and you will see Rockstar coming out of deep sleep at the sound of Hazel's name.