Ltns.

Here's a little glimpse of what I've been up to during the past few months:

This winter, my Grampie's lung cancer came back. He's been doing chemotherapy for many months, and I saw him quite a bit during his treatments and spending time with him. His tumors shrunk big time, and he has stopped the chemo, and is feeling a ton better! We're all very happy about that.

We had a nice Easter with my Mom's side of the family out in Oxford, with a nice breakfast buffet then an Easter Egg hunt. It was FREEZING outside, but it didnt stop the kids from enjoying the day.

Here is a cute one of Tyler sharing his goodies with my Grampie:

A little shih tzu update: the kids are doing very well. They recently got hair cuts, but here is each of them beforehand, one of Ellie basking in the sun, and one of Mcgee being rudely awakened from a nap!

In the end of March, I went to Florida to visit with my grandparents and to soak up some sun for some MUCH needed R&R.

After several days, I really missed being back home, and was able to catch up with some work friends the night after I got back:

A couple weekends ago, I spent some time with Tyler and we got some cute pictures taken together:

Finishing up my round of pictures is last night at softball - well, mostly post-softball pictures. I did great, for once! I got 3 good hits, and two runs! I have a good feeling about this season. A bunch of us went out to Fast Breaks after the game, and here are some silly pictures of us (and the Iron Man figurine I found in the dirt who turned out to be my good luck charm):

My work update is that the past 6 weeks have been absolutely brutal. Isnt that always the way when you get back from vacation? Ive had to do some pretty tough (emotionally) things, and its been kind of a whirlwind. That at the same time as finishing up my two classes for the semester and doing a bunch of writing was kind of shitty. BUT, the good news is I have decided to take the summer off (from school, that is!) so I can relax when I get home, do absolutely nothing if I so choose, and can enjoy my time! I am going to take another week sometime this summer for vacation.

Oh, I have caught up on Lost by watching every single episode on abc.com over the past few months. It rocks!

And...Vote for David Cook on American Idol!
..Seacrest out!

rESpoNsiBiliTY

So, I did my taxes. I'm getting a $2,500 refund this year, yeaa! I didnt even have to have babies! (Hope Credit for grad school, bitchin). Anyways, so I was psyched at first about the realistic in-reach tropical vacation...until I added up all my credit cards (yes, I had 0 credit cards until last September when Mcgee got sick, and now I have 3). So, I'm about $4 grand in debt on those, including a personal loan (just a wee one). So, with the influence of my very smart and responsible parents always in my head, I decided to pay off the personal loan, the Best Buy card, and the Gap Visa. That will leave me only with my Citi card which has 0% interest. And, I should make it out with a little left over money to put in the savings. Then, when I get $2 grand in savings, I will take a trip to the tropics. In the meantime, I might spend a few hundred to fly down and visit my grandparents in Florida for a week or so (free lodging and food, yea!). We shall see.

Weight Watchers

Hey all! I know Im almost constantly on a diet, but I think Ive finally found one that is practical enough to stick with it! I joined Weight Watchers on January 10. So far, its going awesome. I go weekly for weigh ins, and attend the occasional meeting. The points values are totally available on soooo many foods, that its simple to just eat whatever I want as long as I count it. Me likey. Anyways, my intial goal is to lose about...probably 40+ pounds. So far I am down 11! Yay!

Oh, and in anticipation of a massive tax return, I have decided the carribean is in need of my presence. So, the only thing left is to actually plan the trip, decide when to go, and oh yeah, see if I can get anyone to go with me. No one has any money or vacation time, so that stinks. To be honest, I think it might be tres relaxing to just go by myself (yes, I remember Natalie Halloway)...my Mom probably wouldnt allow that.

Back in school again - Im taking a class on Counseling Groups and Counseling Theories. Good times. Work is pretty good. Overall things are pretty fab.

Check out my myspace for some sweet pictures of when I met Ron Jeremy this weekend! heheh.

Poochie update :)

Hey all - thought I'd post some pictures of the dogs since it's been a while. Mcgee looks pretty normal, and walks around like he has eyes. He looks right at ya when you talk to him, still tries to peek out the window in the car (kind of weird), and can follow other dogs or humans around quite smartly. He definately walks into shit a lot, but its become more comical than tragic. Does that make me a bad mother? Eh.

Here is one of Mcgee outside, with the slide that he bumps into a lot:


This is Mcgee my gay boy trying to hump Jared's dog Beau. Beau is such a trooper to put up with Mcgee's blind gayness.

Here's Mcgee looking through his toybox:

And, here's my babies, pooped and sleepin on the couch, as usual:

My baby.

Mcgee had his second eye taken out on Friday and he is recovering very well. He is sleeping a lot, but is getting around okay and is eating/drinking fine. He doesnt even need that stupid cone on his head, which is nice for him, and for me!

I have begun kenneling him during the day while I am at work (4 hours or so at a time), and it is working nicely!! The first day he pooped in it, but hasn't since. He's doing awesome. And, Im not frustrated coming home having to mop the floor for 30 minutes.

Im hoping he has a full recovery in the next week or so, and we'll be good to go, back to normal! No more medicine. Just blindness to deal with - which he is really a trooper about. :)

Motherhood is tough !!!!

Arrrrgh.

The battle continues with Mcgee. He is having his second surgery probably next Friday, to remove his remaining eye. He is in pain, I think, so it's for the best. The good news is that the price is about half it was for the first one. Why, I don't know. I'm not gonna ask. (Pity?)

The problems continue, having a blind dog. I come home every day to pee and poop like EVERYWHERE in the kitchen/bathroom. It's linoleum so it's cleanable, but I am washing the floors every night, several times. Now, Mcgee wasn't very well trained to begin with, and now he's just saying fuck it, and walking in it, and tracking it ALL over. I took a shower with him and Ellie tonight (good times), because they both smelled like pee and poopies.

Im hoping he gets the hang of the place soon. It will be very discouraging to have to scrape and mop poops every night. The place is starting to smell. Ewww.

In other news...work is a major pain in the ass and Im busy as hell. Im plotting a week off for no reason other than to BREATHE. That should be soon actually...

The car is running smoothly (knock on wood). She's got 189,200 miles as of tonight.

Glaucoma really bites the big one.

So, Mcgee is now blind in his "good" eye. :( The pressure was way up, and did not decrease with some major medications (one of which was a 2.5 ml bottle of eye drops which cost me $81.99). He's medicated to pieces, he's sleepy, and his eye hurts. :( He's basically just laying around all day. He bumps into things, but has really become accustomed to it rather quickly, I think. He can find things via smell and he can come and find you when you call to him. Very sad. Im sure this will get better, and easier for his Mommy to handle!! but for now, he's not very happy. Poor baby.

For about 5 weeks of veterinarian care and medications, I have spent $1200. Oh, and yesterday, I got an estimate for car repair for $1100. (I need to replace part of my muffler, and replace my gas tank!! as if!!!).

So, I'm broke as a joke. Luke's wedding is happening at kind of a bad time because I am putting the dogs in a kennel, BUT kind of a good time because I need a friggin break!! Im really looking forward to the wedding and all the festivities around it. :) Should be very fun times. Yay Luke and Becca!!!