The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades...

I met with my advisor yesterday who gave me the wonderful news that...

I have enough hours to graduate after this semester!!!

I am ecstatic. I am so ready to have that sought after piece of paper with my name on it. I'm ready to have a physical something in my hands to make all of the time, stress, & money I have put into the past years worth it. I'm ready for a sense of achievement.

Isn't it funny how a lousy piece of paper can make you want to shout from the highest roof-tops & dance "Singing in the Rain" style down the streets? That's pretty much how I feel right now. :)

I have, however, made the decision to stay one more semester (in the fall) to take some super easy classes to boost my gpa up a few more notches & study like a mad woman to make a good score on the GRE... which I need to get into graduate school. I'm ok with that... you've gotta do what you've gotta do, right? All I care about right now is making high grades & getting my shit together... I'm ready to put my big girl panties on & get on with it. :)

Things are going great, and they're only getting better
I'm doing all right, getting good grades
The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades

~ Timbuk 3

Things that make me happy right now..

In light of my last (just a tad bit depressing) post, I thought I would make a list of things in my life that make me smile/laugh/happy:

~ My life. I have been so blessed with the most wonderful husband & amazing family.

~ My dogs. I love how they appreciate every little thing life throws their way. Even the smallest of gestures make their tails wag. I love how they act like everything is their favorite thing.

~ Thinking about May... & the semester being over...

~ Wake up with Taylor on Cosmo radio. I listen to them every morning on the way to class. Taylor, Victoria, & Kenny are hilarious. They always make me laugh.

~ My Del Sol nail polish. It goes on clear & turns hot pink when the sun hits my toes. So cool.

~ Taking pictures with my new camera. I'm still figuring everything out (it has a LOT of buttons), but I love using it.

~ Feeling needed, whether it is someone needing to someone to talk to or my dog giving me the "help" look when a ball rolls under the couch.

~ Riding my horses. It is so relaxing.

~ My DKNY "Be Delicious" perfume the hubby got me for Valentine's Day.

~ Spending time with my little brother. I guess mom was right when she said we would be friends one day... although at the time I didn't believe her.

~ Our new Tassimo coffee maker... the perfect cup every time!

~ Riding around with my husband. We always have such a good time together, whether he is singing off key to a "lame" love song or commenting on my driving skills. He always makes me laugh & I love going new places with him.

~ My new Buxom mascara... this stuff is amazing.

~ Being outside.

~ This kid. He always makes me laugh. I would love to babysit him for a day & see what all he had to say.

Sad News

Glynn County Woman Drowns Daughter, Tries to Drown Son, Kills Herself

That is a headline in the newspaper of my hometown today. It's so sad when your hometown makes the news over something like this.

I found out on Facebook (of all places) & the name sounded so familiar so I looked the story up on the news. It shocked me to find that I knew the girl who did this. I didn't know her very well. We met a couple of times. I did know her brother, who dated one of my close friends, from school & her mom, who worked at the high school.

I don't live there anymore, so I only know what I have seen on Facebook or in the news (neither of which are always reputable). What I understand is that the young mom (Julia, 21) drowned her 4 year old daughter in the bathtub, attempted to drown her 2 year old son, then tucked them into their bed, called 911 & told them what she had done & that she needed an ambulance, & (while still on the phone with the dispatcher) shot herself in the chest. When police arrived, they rushed them to the hospital & the 4 year old was declared dead on arrival. Mom died about an hour later while being prepared to be air-lifted to another hospital. The 2 year old son is (as far as I know) still in stable condition & expected to recover.

This is scarily similar to the Andrea Yates case from 2001.

My heart breaks for her family. This family has already been through a lot. Julia's dad passed away when we were still in high school after being sick for a long time. I'm so sad for them, especially her mother who is a very sweet lady. You shouldn't out-live your children... & especially your grandchild.

Later last night, I was disgusted & a little surprised to see people publicly bashing this girl. I know that when children are involved in things like this it makes people angry. It upsets me, too. It's not right & I am in no way condoning what this woman did, but why are people so quick to involve themselves in the slandering of a tragic event?

People are complex. Not everyone is strong. People do things that are inexcusable. I'm not saying it is right, but publicly crucifying this girl doesn't help anything. It doesn't help her family whose world turned upside down yesterday. It doesn't help her friends who will spend the rest of their lives wondering if they could have done something differently to stop this from happening. It doesn't help the poor 2 year old who had to go through this horrific incident & is now motherless.

No one knows what was happening in that home. No one knows what this girl was dealing with.
Don't speak ill of people you don't know or have any idea about what their lives were like. It is easy to be quick to judge & think you know the whole story when you hear something like this, but the truth of the matter is you don't. Her family didn't even know. People are good at hiding things. Some people struggle & hurt. It doesn't make it right to jump to conclusions & say terrible things about people you don't know. Who are we to judge others, anyway? Whether you are religious or live by the golden rule to treat others how you want to be treated, you know that acting in this way isn't right. People are too quick to throw others under the bus without knowing the whole story & too quick to act like they are a model person, mother, daughter, or son.

This is so sad. I'm sad for Julia. I'm sad for her family. I'm sad for the 4 year old little girl who will never see another birthday, make new friends, go to her first prom, get married, or have children of her own. I'm sad for the 2 year old little boy who will have to deal with this again when he is old enough to understand what happened to him, his sister, & his mom. I'm sad for everyone involved.

It makes you wonder how many people are 1 bad decision away from something like this. How many people in our lives do we think we really know, but really haven't a clue? What really goes on in the back of people's minds? It's frightening.

How can a person get this far gone & no one has a clue?

I can't stress enough that if you know someone who is going through a hard time, get them help. Talk to them. Take them seriously. Open the door to remove them from a bad situation. Do anything but nothing.

http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2010-02-16/story/police_glynn_county_woman_drowns_daughter_tries_to_drown_son_then_kill

SnOw DaY!

I got my snow!

We got about 3 inches Friday night. It was pretty much the highlight of the year, so far. Matt & I were running around like 2 giddy kids on Christmas morning. He hasn't seen snow since he was in kindergarten (20 years ago!) so we, of course, had to do all of the conventional things one does in the snow:

Have a snowball fight... check

Walk around & listen to the "crunch" noise it makes... double check

Make a snowman.. check

Make a snow angel... check

Take massive amounts of pictures... check

My South Georgia dogs took to the snow immediately. They had a blast playing in it all night & then again this morning. I got a few videos of them that are pretty funny. Macy & Abby wanted to eat it & Norman got pretty good at catching snowballs in his mouth. Fancy got a chance to play, too, but just for a little bit since she has been sick & is finally starting to feel better. She preferred to walk around with a snowball in her mouth.

It was still on the ground Saturday morning, but it melted about as fast as it came the night before.

All & all, it was pretty much amazing. Snow is magical. I hope it doesn't wait another 20 years to show itself again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53UKS_6HBCw

All work & no play makes Michelle a dull girl...

It seems like all I have been doing lately is school work. It's like I can't get ahead. I work & study & lose sleep only to go to class the next day & have even more loaded up on my plate. Why can't professors realize that their class is not the only one their students are taking? (136 power point slides for one chapter? Is that really necessary?) It's almost ridiculous. I feel like I am being spread to thin & there aren't enough hours in the day for all of the reading, studying, typing up lab reports, collecting bugs for my entomology collection, homework, flash-card making... & still getting enough sleep to function. The only thing that keeps me reading, studying, typing, etc. is knowing that there are only...

21 class days until Spring Break!!!

I don't care if we don't even go anywhere for the break. Not having to go to class is enough of a break for me!

In other news, the weatherman apparently thinks we have a chance of snow tomorrow afternoon... 2 to 4 inches, to be precise. The last time it snowed here I was 3, so I'm a little doubtful. I wouldn't mind a light dusting, though. I would love to take a few pictures of my dogs playing in the snow (something they have never seen).

I wouldn't really mind being stuck at the house all day, either. I have plenty to do here, including cleaning, laundry, school work, studying, cooking dinner.... the list goes on & on. We will see how it turns out... maybe I will be pleasantly surprised.

Hilarious!

The week is over half way over! It's down hill from here. I have a little studying to do tonight, but at the moment I am procrastinating on TFLN. Here are a few gems:

-The liquor store lady asked about three times if I was sure about buying two fifths of everclear. i told her I wanted to be on cops.

-I've decided that my new worst fear is that I'll end up on "I Didn't Know I was Pregnant."

-There is a distinct lack of front teeth here.

-I swear God or herbie drove my car home.

-Just woke up in the beanbag bin at walmart.

-I was at circle k buying gas and this girl in a papa johns uniform comes up and is like " I've got a bunch of extra pizzas. Large peperoni for $5." then she went to her trunk and pulled one out. It felt like a drug deal for a fat person.

-I just got a ticket for the snow penis we made in our front yard.

-I don't get why Lindsay Lohan doesn't just blame her bad behavior on her twin sister from the Parent Trap. I mean nobodys seen her since.

-Woke up to an overdrawn credit card. did you order the dawsons creek boxset last night?

-You need to leave class, get on facebook, and start untagging IMMEDIATELY!

-Dear yesterdays makeup, Thank you for always being there when I stay up late binge drinking on weeknights and am running late to work in the morning. You're the best.


Thank you, TFLN, for keeping it classy.

Quote of the day...

"Time is a monster that cannot be reasoned with. It responds like a snail to our impatience, then it races like a gazelle when you can't catch a breath."

~ Joe Wenteworth from Simon Birch

Really, MSN? TMI if you ask me...

What I want to write about today is something I saw online a few minutes ago.

I got on www.msn.com (purely out of boredom) to look & see what all was going on in their world. One story I saw repulsed me:

"Autopsy: Jackson Wore a Wig"

This automatically struck me as being TMI, so I clicked on it to see just how far these people would go. Here are some of the lines they released from MJ's autopsy report... & I quote:

- Jackson had the skin pigmentation disorder vitiligo, with white patches particularly on his chest, abdomen, face and arms.

- The hair on Jackson's head was described initially by police as "sparse and connected to a wig." The autopsy revealed "frontal balding".

- A closed bottle of urine was found on a chair in the bedroom where the singer died, along with a box of catheters, disposable needles, alcohol pads, several empty orange juice bottles, a string of wooden beads and a green oxygen tank.

- Jackson's body was covered with small scars on his nose, knee, shoulder, neck, wrists, and behind both ears

- He had dark tattoos near both eyebrows and a small pink tattoo near his lips.

- His body weighed 136 pounds, was 69 inches long, and was described as "thin."

Really, MSN, did the American people NEED to know all of this? Is it our business? Was it necessary for you to put all of this out there? Was your site needing a few more hits? Have you no regard to the CHILDREN he left behind? Are people really this twisted?

I understand that finished autopsy reports are public records... but we wouldn't be reading about Mrs. Smith who lives down the road's tattoos & weight at death. Just because something is public doesn't mean it should be printed up or put on a website for everyone to see. How about that moral compass?

I think it is sick that there are people out there who are truly interested in this information. Does it make them feel better knowing that the "rich & famous" aren't so "proper & perfect?" Is this a big example of misery loving company?
This is why I refuse to buy crap magazines like the Enquirer & OK! Leave these people & their personal lives alone. Everyone has skeletons in their closet & last time I checked, no one was perfect & made the right decisions every time. Who are we to judge? How about we get a little more concerned with the real issues in the world instead of talking about MJ's autopsy, Tigers sex-addiction, Brad & Angelina's supposed break up, & Lindsey Lohan's latest antics. Let's get the news back in the news, people.

Quite honestly, I am tired of hearing about all of this. MJ had his own share of problems, but who doesn't? This isn't what he should be remembered as. He was a great artist & entertainer. Let's just leave it at that. Is it possible for his family & CHILDREN to grieve & try to put their lives back together without sites like this one & the grocery-line filth magazines putting stuff like this out there? Did we really need to know that he was balding & had tattoos around his lips? Is it any of our business? No it's not.

End of story.

Colorado... on my mind?

I got a sweet card today in the mail yesterday from my friend, Kristin. She was congratulating us on our wedding (that she wasn't able to attend because she lives in Colorado).

Flashback:
Kristin & I met in high school. She is a year younger than me & we became friends in band (yes... I was in band in high school! Haha!). She moved to Colorado after her junior year with her family because of her father's job. She has visited a few times since & we have tried to remain close... well, as close as you can stay with over 1,500 miles between you!

Kristin is getting married (in Colorado) this May & Matt & I have been invited. I really want to go. Not only because I would love to be able to go to her wedding, but because I have always wanted to go to Colorado. It looks so beautiful.

It is one of the MANY places I want to go. The conundrum is that it is so far away. So, how can I make it work?

Her wedding happens to be on the 14th... a week after we get out of school for the semester. So, that isn't an issue. Plus, Matt & I aren't taking summer classes this year... because the school cut way back on classes (to save money... psh whatever... but, that's an entirely different post) & we have taken the slim amount of classes actually offered that term. So, the way I look at it, here are the two problems:

Problem #1: Both of us hate flying... which leads me to

Problem #2: The drive is 26 hours!

To be quite honest, I would be fine with dropping everything for a week & taking our time driving there, but is that realistic? Am I living in fantasy land? I do love road-trips... but is 26 hours too long for the newlyweds to be in the same car together? Hahaha!

Personally, I think it would be amazing. What a great way to see the country! I'm excited just thinking about it... & the amateur photographer in me is jumping up & down! I'm just not sure how hubby would feel about it. Don't get me wrong, he's up for adventure as much as the next guy. I just don't know. We do have family in Nashville... so we could stay there on the way. I know he misses his cousin who moved there... & I really like his wife. It would be a great excuse to go see them.

What can I say? I'm a dreamer.

There's so much I want to do with this life. I really want to go places. I want to see everything I can... & I want to do it all with him.

Maybe I will talk to him about it tonight... keep your fingers crossed. :)

Quote of the Day

There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.
~Winston Churchill

Rain, Rain go Away!

Another rainy day...

This is starting to get annoying. It only seems to rain on the weekends lately... when I want to go outside or to town & enjoy myself. My yard can't take much more rain. Everything is soaked & soggy... yuck. I'm all about wearing my rain boots (Lord knows I have gotten my moneys-worth out of them the past few weeks), but this is getting a little ridiculous. I want sunshine!

I had a lot of good intentions for today. I went to my 10 o'clock class & made up a whole list of things I needed to get done in my head on the way home:
~Clean up the messy house
~Do a little laundry
~Read a little in my BioChem book
~Type up my Physics lab
~Go to the grocery store

I didn't get any of it done. I came home, ate lunch (a spinach-artichoke-chicken leanpocket... SO good!), sat on the couch, & fell asleep watching re-runs of CSI.

Dangit.

The reality of my situation is that school is really taking it out of me this semester. By the time the weekend gets here I don't even feel like doing anything because I am either exhausted or have more school work to do! Is this going to be my life until May? I don't know if I will make it!!!

I'm tired of the rain & ready for the rainbow!

A Matter of the Heart

While walking to class today, I over-heard a conversation going on between two girls. One of the girls was telling her friend how her dog had fleas & how much of a mess her house was from her having to spray to get rid of them. (Not a big deal, right? Everyone who has had a dog or a cat has probably seen a flea or two crawling on their furry friend. Well, that's not what this post is about...)

The other girl one-upped her by saying that her dog had heartworms... & was COMPLAINING about the price of the treatment needed to save her dog & what an inconvenience it was.

An inconvenience? Like her dog had chosen to have this happen.
An inconvenience? Like she was not where the blame should have been placed.
An inconvenience.

This made me SO mad...


Time for me to get up on my little soap-box for a moment...


A heartworm infection can be debilitating to a dog... but is TOTALLY preventable.


What exactly is a heartworm, you may ask?
Heartworms (Dirofilaria immitis) are a parasitic nematode. They get into your dog's bloodstream after they are bitten by a mosquito that has fed on an infected dog. Once inside your dogs blood stream, the "baby" worms mature & travel to your dog's pulmonary arteries & right ventricle of the heart... where they take up residence as adult worms & start cranking out more "baby" worms.

What do heartworms do?
If your dog becomes infected, it puts a major strain on their heart. It can't pump blood like it would normally be able to, especially in dogs with especially high worm counts. The worms also cause harmful changes in the walls of the pulmonary arteries which leads to hypertension & enlargement of the ventricle.
Infected dogs can show signs of weakness, shortness of breath, chronic coughing, weight loss, & eventually congestive heart failure.

Is it treatable?
Yes... but it is very expensive & very dangerous for your dog. The drugs that they use to treat heartworm positive dogs contain arsenic... & we all know how bad-news that stuff is. It is also stressful for your dog. After staying at the vet for treatment for several days, they have to be kept inactive for WEEKS to prevent the dying worms from being pushed out of the heart & into their lungs. (By inactive, I mean no playing, no running, leashed-walks, & a LOT of crate time.)
Sadly, not all dogs survive treatment. Dogs in poor health or with high infections sometimes die.

How can I prevent my dog from getting heartworms?
Give them a heartworm preventative (like Heartgard) once a month! It's THAT easy. (If we can remember all of the stuff we need to do every month, then we should be able to remember something like this once a month.) The ingredients in the tablet kill off any "baby" worms before they have a chance to grow into adults & get to your dogs heart. All you have to do is take your dog to the vet for a heartworm test (to be sure they aren't already infected) & they will prescribe you the preventative.

Do I have to give them the preventative every month?
YES. It isn't a miracle drug. It isn't like a vaccine. It is a preventative. The odds that your dog has been bitten by an infected mosquito are very high. The ingredients inside each tablet will kill the immature worms that your dog has been exposed to since his/her tablet the month before (~30 days).
To sum it up, you have to give your dog the tablet at the same time EVERY month.

Take home message:
If you live somewhere where mosquitoes are prevalent... your dog CAN & probably WILL get heartworms without a preventative given every month. A lot of people complain about the cost of heartworm preventatives.... come on, people! It is SO much cheaper (& safer) than the alternative of waiting until it has already happened... & how can you put a price on your furry friend? When you choose to adopt an animal, you choose to take on the responsibilities of caring for that animal. They can't open the fridge when they're hungry, turn on the sink when they're thirsty, or open their Heartgard & take it. They need us to care for them. Please, be a responsible pet owner... your animals deserve it.

Happy Groundhog's Day!

The furry little rodent saw his shadow... so there will be 6 more weeks of winter (if you buy into this tradition). Personally, Phil, I think you made a good call. I'm not quite ready to deal with the heat & humidity yet. Thanks, & we will be seeing ya next year. ;)

I'm kind of in a funk today. I need the weekend to hurry up & get here because my brain is already on relaxation mode... & it isn't even Wednesday yet. Maybe it's the rainy weather. Maybe I'm just feeling a little lazy. Maybe it's a little of both. On the up side, though, Tuesday is over & it is the loooongest day of the week for me as far as classes go.

Speaking of Tuesday...

The season premier of the FINAL season of LOST comes on tonight at 8!!!

I am sooooo excited. Matt & I have been addicted to this show from the beginning. I'm kind of sad that it will be over, but like everyone else who watches... I am READY for some damn ANSWERS! I hope it will be as good as I have built it up in my mind to be. We will see...

Wisdom from Pooh

"When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, & think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open & has other people looking at it."

--- Winnie the Pooh

Manic Mondays

Today was aggravating...

I ended up staying in my BioChem lab the full 3 hours today because my partner & I couldn't get the darn experiment to work. What was so maddening about it was that it wasn't a hard experiment... we just couldn't get the equipment to work the way it was supposed to. I think the university needs to give the chemistry department a little money to buy nicer stuff... instead of wasting it on crap like TVs in the floor of the book store. (Really? TVs in the floor? Is that why my tuition went up 100 bucks this semester?!)

We ended up starting over from scratch TWICE & it STILL wouldn't work. So now we have to go in on our own time on Wednesday (which is normally my easy 1 class day) & do it all over again... for the third time. PLEASE GOD LET THIS EXPERIMENT GO AS ACCORDING TO PLAN THIS TIME... so I can move on to bigger & better things.

Off to study for my Physics II test tomorrow... another class I don't care for.

Why can't I just take Biology classes... seeing as I am a BIOLOGY MAJOR?

Oh well... enough of my ranting. Hopefully tomorrow will be a brighter, better day. :)