On taking the FE and the importance of dog noses...

Big news:  My test, the massive, lengthy exam that has eaten up most of my free time for the better part of 2 months, for which I had to re-learn everything I learned in school 4 to 8 years ago and more, is now, as of Saturday, over and done!  This is fantastic!  Fabulous!  Wonderful!  This is freedom!  This is a little nerve-racking because I won't find out my score for up to 12 weeks, but at least it means the practice problems, review books, note-taking, and cramming is over for now; hopefully that means the math problem themed dreams will end too.  For the past week or so, I have spent my nights restlessly solving plume-dispersion equations, anaerobic digestor, and secondary clarifier problems in my sleep.  The night after my test I dreamt of struggling to solve questions that had been on the actual exam, and last night I dreamt of studying on some strange campus full of people that took the exam with me.

Last night was the most distressing dream of them all, because I was walking at night to a place to study and a friends dog had followed me.  In the dream the dog belonged to a friend that I knew, but don't know well in real life anymore.  While we were walking I kept trying to get the dog to go home, but she kept following me.  Just as we rounded a corner, a very big and angry looking dog came into view.  I tried to get my friends dog to come in another direction, but I was unsuccessful and the two dogs began to fight.  I was screaming and no one was around to help me, and right before my eyes the bigger street dog bit the nose off of my friends dog.  Now I don't just mean the little button nose on the end of a dog's snout, this dog removed the entire snout of my friend's dog.  I was screaming and crying and trying to get someone to help me, and people were just walking by, no one stopped to help.

That was a traumatizing dream, consequently I have spent almost the entirety of this beautiful (85 degrees...in April!) day worshiping my dog's intact nose.  I took her for a hike and watched her nose blow bubbles under water, watched it snuffle around in the leaves, and test the breeze for the scent of something to chase.  We brought a blanket outside and laid in the sunshine, she wiped her nose on my skirt and growled at some menacing leaves, and I just watched and appreciated her noggin in the sunshine.  It was a great day...and this is a great schnoz...