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. :)