The full movie

Hello everyone. Here is the full movie on YouTube.

Gabriel's trailer

So, one of my more light-hearted assignments I've ever gotten in vet school was the do a report for Dermatology with my lab group in the form of a song, skit, or interpretive dance. While most people balked at the idea (we are in graduate school after all), I decided to make it a chance for Gabriel and I to work on a creative project together. Since no one else in my group really wanted the task, I put together a song about our topics (two autoimmune skin diseases-- Pemphigus foliaceous and Pemphigus vulgaris) and organized a time for my whole group to shoot a music video that Gabriel could edit. He's done an amazing job and just made a little teaser trailer that we sent out today to get everyone excited about the real video, which will be shown on Thurs. Since I can't release the actual music video yet, I am uploading the trailer for your viewing pleasure.
-Shirin

No water in Athens

So, we've had a schedule of watering our outdoor plants for some time now in Athens. I only started noticing when I became a homeowner, since my apartment didn't have any outdoor plants last year. There has been a drought for a while and we've all been asked to cut back all summer long. However, today on the radio I heard that we were now not allowed to do ANY outdoor watering of any kind at all...and that our water reserve was only going to last us another 6 weeks. Can you believe it? Isn't that crazy? It reminds me of the book I read, "Alas, Babylon," which has to do with a group of people trying to survive in the US after a nuclear attack by Russia. Some of the things they didn't think about beforehand was a shortage of potable water and a shortage of salt. I'd never really thought about needing salt before either.
Anyway, I'm kind of freaked out. The idea that without any rain we could be out of drinking water in 6 weeks really scares me. It's never occurred to me that life as I know and enjoy it could be altered so drastically. I took a conservation quiz today and found out that if all 6.6 billion people of the world lived as decadently as I did, we would need 3.6 Earths to sustain ourselves! I'm shocked b/c I don't buy almost any new products, share a car with my husband, recycle everything possible, and don't eat any meat! Apparently, that's just not enough to make my existence sustainable. I'm very unhappy about this result. I guess we'll have to start making even more changes! (Gabriel will be thrilled).
-Shirin
PS Gabriel went to the game this weekend and had a good time. The Panthers beat the Falcons (Too bad no one took my dad's bet)! I know we should be switching our allegiance from the Carolinas to the Georgia area, but we're not quite there yet!

This weekend...football!

Well, since my life is boring and all I do is study right now, I'm gonna talk about what Gabriel is gonna do this weekend (I have 2 exams and 1 quiz this week and 2 exams and 1 paper next week, so I'm totally out of commission). Gabriel, however, has free-time and friends with money, so he's going to a Falcons-Panthers game this weekend (for those of you totally illiterate non-sports people, that's pro football!) I'm not a huge sports fan, but growing up with NFL games on every weekend, I really like pro football. Plus, games are always fun, and it's the only place you can get $6 nachos that spill all over you as you carry them back to your seat! I really do LOVE football and games. I'm not invited, though, and I would've said no anyway, so I'll just have to live vicariously through David and Gabriel. Gabriel got the tickets off of Ebay and got a pretty good price! They are on the 24th row behind one of the endzones, so it's not too shabby. I'm sure they'll have a great time. I'm jealous, but I'm used to being left behind to study by now. It'll be nice for them to have some of that so called "guy time" men are always talking about too.
-Shirin

Our work is never done.

While Gabriel and I still have disagreements about how clean the house should be and who should be the one to clean it, I am happy to report that we have gotten much better at dealing with the issue of cleaning. I, for one, have stopped getting so mad and crazy when I see a disgustingly dirty house, and Gabriel has gotten much better at cleaning up mess that bothers me. So, perhaps we have finally found a way to peacefully coexist in a semi-clean home!
However, we still seem to have endless amounts of work to get done. Gabriel washed all the laundry yesterday and the pile on our bed was half my height! Meanwhile, he did a pretty good job of cleaning up our common areas so that we could have friends come over for a game night. He'll do just about anything for games!
Anyway, I'm glad we're working together better, since we a family and there's no need to fight about mess that will always be there. I will say, though, that his dedication to cleaning more frequently has be a key feature to our peace!
-Shirin

Gabriel diligently cleaning up for game night.

Tackling the horrendous laundry pile.

Where have all the animals gone?

I was looking back through my pictures from last year and I had a ton of pics from the hospital and of wildlife...all from me working "downstairs," as we say when we refer to the Small Animal Veterinary Teaching Hospital (since our classrooms are upstairs). I noticed that this school year has been missing that, and it's because I haven't been down there at all. I'm not sure why, except that I've made a pact with myself to not sign up for so many things. I'm already a Wildlife Treatment Crew Supervisor (so I will be down there a few weeks this year), Co-Chair of ONE Diversity Committee, Secretary of the Canine Club, and Merial Student Drug Rep...and a full-time student! Plus, I want to eat well, sleep a lot, exercise, and spend time with my husband and kittens. So, while I do sort of miss the excitement and awesome learning environment from downstairs, I think I'm finally learning to give myself a little bit of a break. Now I spend my time at school hanging out with Beth and studying! And I think I can be fine with that.
-Shirin

In the lobby, doing what else? Cramming for some test!

Finally some kitten turnover!

We've had pretty good success at getting all of our kittens adopted out this summer. More than I ever expected, since I never take them out anywhere in the public, like Pet Smart or something. The Campus Cats lady makes cute posters of them with pictures and it was enough to get something like 13 kittens adopted so far this summer! But, for some reason, perhaps kitten-market saturation, none of my kittens have been adopted in over 3 weeks! I've just been working with them and enjoying them but also worrying that they'd never get another home and one day they'd be too big to be adopted (people only want kittens). But, today, my sweet grey female (Tully for those of you who know her) finally got a permanent home with a couple that already has a cat that needs a friend. She'll be a wonderful friend, and we will miss her dearly. Gabriel bemoans the fact that the nicest kittens always get adopted while the scared wild ones always stay (even though the wild ones inevitably become the nice ones...he doesn't admit that!), but that's the life of a kitten-socializer and foster parent. It's very rewarding and great for animal rescue groups too!
We just got a new boy in a few days ago, named Ricken, and he's a real cutie pie, but of course I do love the orange ones. Here's Gabriel treating him like the little baby that he is. He's gonna be a great dad!
-Shirin

Oops, yawning in action!

Well, before I could even finish this post, another lady came and adopted this little guy too! Soon, I'll have NO more babies left!

Nerd scores...

Can you guess which score is Gabriel's and which one is mine? If you thought mine was the lower one, you were correct! I was surprised it was even as high as 51%, but I guess it's because it asked a lot about science, which I happen to know about as a biology major. Plus, I do take notes in multi-colored pens...but I don't think that's nerdy; I think it's helpful and cute!
Oh well. At least I'm not 82% nerdy like my dear husband. It's what makes him so special, though.
-Shirin

Girls and their dogs.

Well, school is back in full swing. I was up til 1 AM last night cramming like crazy for my Pharmacology test that I just did not start early enough for and then spent all of my lunch break today cramming for our weekly Pathology quiz session this afternoon. I think I got through them OK, but now I remember why school always made me so tired last year!
Luckily, I'm in good company. I rarely study alone, even if I am just sitting there with a notebook on my lap! It's more fun to be doing the same thing together with my girl friends and eventually talking about the material certainly helps it solidify. The other cool thing is that my girls always have their dogs around, so even though I miss Cha Cha, I still get some canine companionship in my life.
-Shirin

Denise and Jack reviewing drug agonists and antagonists for all the different receptors of the Autonomic Nervous System (it's not any more fun than it sounds).

Beth and her sweet girls. They follow her everywhere she goes in her house.

Loss of a dear friend.

So, while I got to see my sister last weekend, as well as my best friend get married, I also lost someone very dear to me: my nephew Cha Cha. While he is a naughty fellow, he is also extremely loyal and loving and always ready for a snuggle or a walk...not something you can say for many people. Anyway, I miss him.
My sister packed him into a crate and flew him back with her on the plane to CA (like she did with her cats last month) and he survived, albeit being a little confused at first!
Here are some pics of us getting him ready for his long journey West. Farewell, my sweet Chachee dog.
-Shirin

Tita weighing her suitcase full of dog food (I get really expensive food for really cheap)

My mom securing his crate to be shipped as luggage.

Cha Cha's airplane suite.

"I don't know what's going on, but it's something exciting!"

Lisa's Wedding!!!

Well, they did it! Lisa and Dan got married. September 2, 2007 until death do they part!
Here are some pictures. I had a great time and it was wonderful to see her and all her friends and family (and his friends and family as well) get together for this event and make it all their own. I could write more, but I've desperately got to get studying. Boo.
Love to my new married friends! It's a blast!
They are off to Italy for 2 weeks tonight...she won the trip on Wheel of Fortune!
-Shirin

The happy couple at the rehearsal

The Matron and Maid of Honor with the Best man (I'm almost in the picture).

The Oratory where she had the wedding. It is where the priests in Rock Hill live and where my sister and I were flower girls in my parents' friends' wedding approx. 23 years ago!

The big day...not quite ready when we arrived!

Her good college friend Suzanne doing her hair while her dad and mom present her with new diamond earrings.

Waiting outside the door (it was locked) to get into the Oratory to wait!

We were not only the Maids of Honor, but also the flower girls (sort of)!

Mr Crimmins did a great job of not crying (the day before at rehearsal he lost it every 5 minutes).

Posing in the bushes for my mom to take a pic.

Their first dance as Dan and Lisa Morris!

The HUGE wedding party. Lisa just didn't want to leave anyone out!

Three best friends for 22 years!

The men sticking together.

Lisa's suprise wedding cake for Dan: all made from doughnuts.

Tita caught the bouquet again! She caught the one at my wedding too! Must be a wedding in her future as well!

The next day opening all the cards (there were lots of them!)