What You Might Not Know About IVDD

Gray Dress Day to Night by bunni711 featuring an enamel bangle

Sorry again for the delay in posting.  We've had a bit of drama because our dog has hurt himself again, pretty badly this time.  It started on Saturday when we went to my cousin's birthday party.  He was walking kind of slow that day and when we let him off the leash to run in the baseball field (fenced in), he wouldn't run at all, which was strange.  He is usually very active and loves to play and run around.  He also didn't want to play with his puppy friend Delgado and wasn't barking at anyone (with one exception).  When we were leaving, he tried to jump to the front of the car (on the console/arm rest), and missed.  The he turned around and tried to jump back and we could tell he was hurt.  He had spasms on the ride home and was crying a bunch.  It broke my heart and it didn't even seem like a serious fall since it was just in the car.  

After that, he seemed alright but his back was hurting him, so we gave him some medicine for the pain and inflammation and tried to keep him on bed rest.  Apparently he jumped off the couch again at some point and just let his hind legs fall.  Since around that time (maybe before), he has been dragging his back legs, especially the left one.  Sunday, he only went to the bathroom once at about 7am and didn't go again (despite being taken out several times) for over 24 hours.  We were worried and took him up to the emergency vet on Monday morning since it was Memorial Day and our vet's office was closed.

The emergency vet asked if we wanted to have back surgery for him, but it was going to be expensive and they don't accept any kind of payment plan.  We just don't have thousands of dollars laying around.  Plus, he was doing well on meds before.  They gave us some new, stronger medicine for the pain and inflammation, gave him some shots, and did some tests to see if he had deep pain sensation.  They weren't very open about what they thought was happening (that is so annoying, ugh!)  It was a worrying day and I think the vet made it worse.  She told us that if he wasn't able to use the bathroom on his own (because of possible nerve damage), we might have to put him down. 

Needless to say, I was beyond upset and I felt like the way she told us this made it ten times more upsetting.  I understand that she probably has to do that everyday, but she doesn't have to speak to us like she does - like it was just a fact.  Everyone was freaking out because he was still having trouble going and we were afraid he was paralyzed because he was still dragging his legs.  He didn't go to the bathroom all of Monday either, and everyone was crying a lot and really afraid about what was going to happen.  I was supposed to go to James' house yesterday, but decided I needed to stay with Teddy.  James was really upset, too, because he's pretty much Jamie's dog, too.

Thankfully, early Monday morning (about 2am when he had to take some meds), my mom woke Meghan and I up and told us that he had gone to the bathroom!  I was so happy and relieved - I really can't express how great it was to hear!  We took him in to his regular vet this morning, and he had a lot more hopeful things to say.  He told us that he has IVDD, which is a disc disease in his spine that dogs like him are very prone to.  Dachshunds and other dogs with short legs often develop the disease and many of them eventually have paralysis.  I had no idea it was so common - I remember hearing a lot that dachshunds have back problems, but I had no idea that (according to one website) 1 in 4 of them develop IVDD and that the back problems are so serious!  Dachshunds are probably my favorite breed, but I don't think I'll be adopting any more of them because this is really that serious.  I'm afraid of losing my baby and I don't want to live through anything like this again.  The vet said medium-sized mix-breed dogs are the healthiest, like labradoodles and other poodles and poodle mixes.

The vet said that he is able to put pressure on his back legs, which is a good sign.  He said that Teddy has a 50/50 chance of getting better or worse, but that if he does have paralysis in his legs, he will probably not be able to use the restroom without help.  That's why we've been so happy whenever he goes to the bathroom!  He's doing really well with that today - he been able to go on his own and has been trying to walk around a bit, but we're trying to discourage that since he could so easily hurt himself again.  He's on strict bed rest and someone is always by his side to make sure he doesn't try to jump off the couch again.

The vet also said that he should be on carpet or grass (no tile or wood) so that he can get traction, so we are going to buy an area rug for the living room (there are wood floors in here) and a runner for the hall (tile).  He's going to be sleeping on the floor from now on so that he can't jump off of any beds.  I'm so thankful that he is doing better, but there is still a chance that he could hurt himself again or things could take a turn.  I'm worried, but the vet didn't say anything like the emergency vet did.  Maybe he thinks that there isn't anything we can do if he can't use the bathroom himself, but I'm hopeful that he believes there are other options, based on what he said at our appointment.

We got more pills for Teddy at the vet and he changed the schedule some so that he's taking the steroids longer.  We have to get him off the steroids slowly.  He has also been drinking and eating more and he's alert and up on his front paws sometimes.  He has been putting some weight on his back legs, but he still has a long way to go, I think.  We were all devastated yesterday, thinking that his chances were not good, but I think that since he has been going on his own he still has a good chance of recovering.  I can't describe how I feel, really, I just can't lose my baby.  I am going to do whatever it takes, though, to make sure he has the best chances of getting better.  

Our vet said that he wouldn't personally own a dachshund since IVDD is such a big issue and it can take them away from you too soon.  He said his mom had four of them and they all ended up paralyzed.  I wish I had known this before, because I would have definitely taken his jumping much more seriously.  Everywhere I had read about "back problems" in doxies before made it seem more like arthritis or just trouble moving around and it didn't seem like a problem that most doxies had.  I wish someone had talked about how serious IVDD is and how common it is.  I would have taken every precaution to keep my baby from suffering from this.  I just want anyone reading this to know that he is doing well and not in pain.  We're taking the best care of him possible and doing everything we can to ensure he will get better.

But if you have a dachshund, never let them jump on or off of anything - not even the couch.  It may seem alright when they're young and they may bounce back from an injury quickly, but it could be getting worse and worse without you knowing.  And when they're older they just can't take that stress on their backs.  Train them from a young age to stay off the furniture or wait for you to put them on the floor or pick them up.  Don't let them on high furniture like beds.  Please just keep your doxies from having to go through this, whatever you do!

Love,

Christen

May 21-23: Walking Down Memory Lane

Sophisticated Lady by bunni711 featuring genuine leather handbags

I've just finished with a frustrating redesign of Crochet Goddess.  Unfortunately, Google kept going kaput on me while I was making changes and I had to redo them a few times.  It looks a lot different now, and I think, more sophisticated than before.

From the beeping coming from James' room, it seems one of his consoles has gone haywire.  Hopefully it isn't anything serious.  

On Monday, James came over again and we had a pretty good day.  We walked down to Dollar General and later on took Teddy for a walk in the woods.  DG seems to be hiring, so I might apply there.  It would be really nice to have a job.

I'm still doing pretty well with my new portioning, and today James and I went for a 2 mile walk down the trails near his house.  It was really nice.  At first, I felt pretty tired and wasn't sure if I wanted to walk that far, but once we got started it got a lot easier and it felt really good.  I just need to keep that in mind when I feel tired or lazy!

Yesterday, James and I watched Footloose (the new one).  It was pretty bad.  Apparently it didn't get that terrible of a score on Rotten Tomatoes, but I have to say it was pretty awful. Blech.  We didn't do too much yesterday - I read and hung out with James for the most part.  I took a short nap, too, but that's about it!  It was a pretty boring day, but I'm always happy when I can just spend time with James.  I feel warm fuzzies for him.  <3

Today I crocheted and finished my book:

The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal by Ben Mezrich
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"A quick, fun read. I liked the language and imagery, but the book would have benefited from primary sources."

View all my reviews

I'm not sure what I'm going to read next.  I put a hold on Tehanu, the fourth Earthsea book, but after that - I'm not really sure.  Most likely, I'll have to put a hold on another book since my library doesn't have a lot as far as selection goes.  I have to order a lot of books in from other libraries connected to ours.

James and I had pancakes for lunch today and watched The Adventures of Tintin.  I thought it was really cute and the animation was amazing - like nothing I have ever seen before.  The characters were so life-like - the lighting was stellar, too.  Plus, I thought the movie was funny and interesting and a lot of fun to watch.  I loved the clueless Thompsons and Snowy was very cute and a great partner in a pinch.

Let's see - other than that, I watched one of those VH1 countdowns for best songs of the 90s.  It's always fun to look back at the music I grew up with.  I should go look up the songs they had in the show and write down the ones I liked!  I always mean to and forget.  (What else's new, amirite?)

I'm really glad we went on the walk earlier.  We also played a little basketball, so I'm pretty happy with the exercise I did today.  Hopefully we'll keep the walking up and hopefully play some tennis when we head back to my house tomorrow.

By the way, you may have noticed that I've stopped doing the word of the day thing.  I'm not sure if I'll pick it back up or not.  Let me know what you think in the comments!

Love,
Christen

May 10-21: Big Decision and Such

Batman Fangirl by bunni711 featuring slim boot cut jeans

I know, I know, it's been a long time since my last post again!  I've just been taking advantage of my new summer freedom for a while.  I actually hadn't realized it has been quite so long since the last post, but indeed it has been almost two weeks.

So, the biggest news since the last post is that I decided to finish my degree in December instead of August.  There were a few reasons for this, including that the class I had been planning on taking in the summer was closed.  What actually happened was that there was only one spot in the entire class (I have no idea why!) and the class actually started the day I went on to register.  There was another class I could've taken, but it was on Microsoft Expression, which I've already had experience with; I just didn't feel like it was worth taking.  So now I'm going to be finishing up a few months later, but I'm signed up for classes I'm excited about.  I think they will both actually be helpful for my career.  I'm taking an dynamic html class that will also go into advanced css and javascript.  I'm also taking a class in graphic design which I had really wanted to take for a while.  Plus, of course, the seminar (it's like a capstone class).

I e-mailed the prof of the graphic design class to see what program we're going to be using.  He uses GIMP in his classes, which is an open source program.  I was kind of disappointed since Photoshop is so big in the industry, but he said it's very easy to translate skills to Photoshop and other programs.

I've also been reading a bunch and finished the next Earthsea book, The Tombs of Atuan:


The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Then, I read the next one, The Farthest Shore:

The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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If you click the link, I think it will show all the quotes I liked from that book.  There were a bunch that I really liked and that hit home with me.  Now I'm reading this book:

The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal by Ben Mezrich




View all my reviews


I just started it today, but I'm about 1/3 of the way through it.  It's a pretty quick read.  It's a bit different from the movie (which I really liked), but there are still differences that are interesting to read.

Teddy is doing really well and doesn't even seem sick anymore.  He only has two antibiotic pills left, so he is doing well.  He's laying on my bedroom floor right now and staring at me cutely.  I love my puppy dog.  <3

Jamie, however, is sick now.  He was having some pain in his ear and found out he has an infection.  We're not sure if it is related to the one I had, but he's on some antibiotics now, too.  I finished mine up a while ago and he actually finished his up the other day.  They were making him sick, though, so that wasn't any fun.

James' parents are getting on his case again about getting a job even though he is trying.  We live in the middle of nowhere, so there isn't a whole lot to choose from.  James is trying, though, and it's pretty frustrating when it's not his fault.  Anyway, as a result of this and other things brought up, I'm staying at home on the weekends now.  I guess buying food for me on the weekends was a deal or something, but I don't really care.  It makes me feel stressed, though, to think that I'm not really welcome at their house.  I feel like I just want to stay at home more, though.  I've been going back and forth every week and I'm getting kind of tired of it.  I just want to be in one place.

Since we're switching where I'm staying on the weekends, I've been at my house for a while.  I got here on Sunday as usual, but I'm staying until tomorrow.  So it's actually been over a week.  It's been nice, but I do miss James a lot.  He visited me the other day (Thursday), so it hasn't been forever since I've seen him.  I'm still glad to be seeing him again tomorrow, though.  Meghan and I are not always getting along, either, but it's not an ongoing theme or anything.  I guess I'm just a little particular about my alone time.

I'm trying to get my eating in order, now.  I've been doing pretty well since I've been home.  It's mostly just giving myself realistic portions and reminding myself that if I'm hungry later, I can always get something else to eat then.  I'm feeling pretty good, too, and I'm really hoping that I'll be able to keep this up long-term.  I've been trying to get out more, too.  I took Teddy on a long walk yesterday to the park in town.  He saw some dogs, though, and barked a lot.  He also saw some Amish buggies and had to bark at the horses (there are pretty much never Amish people out here, but I got lucky, I guess).  He also had to bark at the people walking by and people on bikes, and everything else!  I love him, though.  We were both good and tired when we got back, so it was still worth it.

Another thing that will probably help my eating is that I won't be going out to dinner with Jamie's family every weekend.  I'm not upset about it; actually I don't really like going out all the time.  It makes me feel guilty and it's just not pleasant to eat that much over-processed food.

Today, me and Meghan went over to my grandma's house to see our cousins.  We also go to see SpotBot and Aphrodite.  She's been having some health issues, though.  She has a bad infection and cysts all over.  She's on a bunch of medication, though, and doing a lot better.  We're still not supposed to touch her without washing our hands really thoroughly afterward.  Meghan held her for a while and she was so happy to get the attention!  I got to hold SpotBot, and he is so much bigger now!  I'm really surprised by how much he has grown, but I guess it's been a long while since I went to see him.  My grandma said it has been six weeks since he was having those seizures.  I'm glad he's doing a lot better.  My grandma made him a little helmet to wear since he has that big soft spot on his head, and it is really hilarious.

Oh!  That reminds me of something really funny that Teddy has been doing.  I've been eating yogurt a bunch lately and he likes to lick the cup out, so I put it on the end of his nose and he stands looking at it almost cross-eyed, licking it out while it's on the end of his nose!  It's pretty much the funniest thing I've ever seen.

So, life is going alright.  I've been feeling so much better since I registered for classes.  A huge weight is off of my shoulders now.  It's so weird that I was carrying all that anxiety around about registering and when I did it, all the anxiety went away!  Now I really wish I had just done it sooner, but I think I was more conflicted about what to do than I was really letting on.  After last semester, I think I really needed a break.  I still feel like everyone might be disappointed, but I know that it's really me that might be disappointed; no one else thinks delaying it is a bad thing.  Plus, it's really not that much longer until I will graduate for good this time.  Now me and James can actually graduate together - that thought makes me really happy!

Other than that, I've been working on my portfolio a lot, experimenting with new CSS techniques.  I think it looks really, really good now; it's the best thing I've made yet.  I've also been reading a lot and crocheting some, and I finally got to play the Sims 3 again.  I finally found out why it was freezing all the time.  The way my switchable graphics were set up, the high performance card wasn't being used for the type of application that the game is, so I had to switch it so that the computer switches from the regular card to the high performance card when I plug the computer in.  This way, I can play the game using the high performance card and it doesn't freeze on me anymore!  I'm so happy that I don't have to worry about it crashing on me.  Hooray!

I'm just trying to relax and enjoy myself, as well as learn some valuable skills for my future job.  I'm learning a lot about CSS and I'm hoping to get more skills in Expression Design and new languages like PHP and SQL (that's what the summer class I had wanted to take was about).  I hope it's just a relaxing summer and a productive one.

Love,
Christen

April 22-May 9: Lost Time

Alright.  I'm just going to have to sit down and write all this out!  I've been putting this update off for a while because it's so huge, but I really just need to do it.  First, though, I will explain the picture on today's post.  This is a badge I made in Expression Design using a Photoshop tutorial.  It actually wasn't very difficult to adapt it, I just had to look up a few things online that weren't obvious from Photoshop to Design (such as rasterizing - it's called creating an image object in Design).  Anywho, I didn't make that pretty thing up, but I did make it!  And I think it looks pretty darn cute.

So, on to the 2 1/2 weeks that I haven't been posting!  First of all, I just want anyone reading this to know that I'm not going to stop posting.  I've taken a short hiatus because the end of the semester got REALLY busy and I've been dealing with some more (minor) health problems.  Now that the semester is over, I'll have plenty of time to post more regularly!

I won't be able to cover everything that happened since my last post (I just don't remember everything!  Plus, it would be REALLY long), but I'll hit the major points!  So, after I started getting better from the infection, I started having a lot of trouble sleeping.  My sleep schedule got really messed up and I was going to bed regularly at about 4am and not getting up until after noon.  It was really terrible and I had a hard time getting it back on schedule, but things started getting better after I got sick the second time.

So, a last week (Wednesday, I think?), I woke up with vertigo.  I've never had it before, and it really sucked.  Either the room would feel like it was spinning or I felt like I was constantly tipping over.  I ended up staying at home a couple more days (I was supposed to go back to Jamie's house, but he came over Wednesday to see me, anyway) and went to the doctor's on Friday.  Apparently, my infection didn't clear up all the way.  I still have some congestion in my ears (and nose, and chest...) and it was throwing off my balance.  I got a bunch of new medicines to take: a new antibiotic, a nose spray for the congestion (it's supposed to help my ears, too), and medicine for dizziness.

The antibiotics make me sleepy, but it hasn't been too bad.  Since I got the vertigo, my sleep has been better and it has definitely improved since I started taking the antibiotics.  The nose spray really clears up my sinuses, but I'm not sure how long I'm supposed to take it.  We'll probably call the doctor soon to find out, but I know I'm supposed to take it even after my symptoms get better.  I've only taken the dizziness medicine twice and I'm not sure how well it worked.  I'm only supposed to take half a pill, but I might try a whole one if the dizziness comes back.  I've been feeling a lot better the past few days - not really dizzy at all, so I hope everything is working out.

Other than all that, I finished up the semester.  I had a big rush at the end to finish that Computer Assembly & Config class, but I got everything done and got an A.  I was so glad to finish everything for tech writing.  I actually pulled out an A in that class, too!  I was pretty sure it was impossible, but I did well on the last two assignments, so I'm really happy about that.  The website for Workgroup came out really nice and so did the site for Multimedia (the yacht club site).  I'm happy with how everything turned out.

Now I'm just contemplating what I should do this summer.  The plan was to finish up the degree in the summer, but for some reason I'm having trouble with the idea.  I think I just feel like I need a break, but I still have to figure this out.  It's a little frustrating.  I think I will finish this summer, but I just need to get the necessary stuff done for it.  I have to register for classes, do the FAFSA, and fill out a summer financial aid form.  I should probably meet with my adviser, too, to make sure there aren't any reasons why I can't graduate.

Well, what else.  I finished Catch-22.  I wasn't able to read when I was sick (either time), so it took a while to finish the book even though it was really good.  Here's my review:


Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



View all my reviews



I started and finished A Wizard of Earthsea:


A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



View all my reviews




I have the next two books in the series, so I'm going to get on those tout de suite!  I'm actually 7 books behind now!  I've lost a lot of time, but hopefully I can still catch up!

We went to the Maple Festival a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't have a very good time.  James was upset with me and we weren't getting along the whole time.  We got some maple stirs, though, gyros (they are actually pronounced year-ohs, but I've always said jeye-rohs), and some fried green tomatoes (which were actually really good!)  I also bought a really pretty owl bracelet.  I'll post a pic of it soon.

What else?  The day before the maple festival, I got a few really mean comments from some dude on reddit and I let them get to me.  That's part of the reason James was upset - I overreacted about this guy's comments and let his stupid words get to me.  The worst part is that I really let it affect my own self confidence.  The positive part of all of this is that I realized that the way I am (or the way I react to things) can cause problems in my relationship.  I can be selfish and I can definitely overreact to things.  But those things can also affect people around me, and realizing that just made me want to do better.  I want to try to do things for other people and really think about what I say and do and how that will affect people around me that I love.  I don't want to lose someone I love because of my faults.  I can change them and improve and make the lives of people around me better because of it.  I guess I just started feeling like, this is just the way I am and people are going to have to accommodate it.  But I'm not stuck, I can fight the negative attitude and the tendency to overreact and the not thinking before speaking, and I can make myself better.  I want to make myself better for James and for my family.  If I can make their lives easier, that's much more important than indulging my moods and bad attitudes.  Ah, growing up...

Teddy is a bit sick right now.  He had to go to the vet a couple of days ago.  He has an infection and the doctor found a hookworm egg.  He also might have a low-functioning thyroid, plus he is a bit anemic.  It's strange because we hadn't noticed anything off until recently, but it sounds like a lot of problems.  It makes me sad to think he is sick or suffering.  I think the fleas probably caused most of the problems (we've been having a bad time with them lately - the mild winter didn't help and I think they are pretty bad out in the woods where we take him for walks).  He is on an antibiotic and a few other medications for the other problems.  He also got some shots and blood taken (poor baby!)  He had been eating grass a lot, which is a sign he wasn't feeling well.  He also got a shot to settle his tummy.  He seems to be feeling better, though.  He's not his usual self quite yet, but I think he will get better soon.  I'll keep you updated.

Well, this post is already getting pretty long, but I'll end with our escapades yesterday.  My momma took me, Meghan, and my dad out to lunch at Tai-Pan (which is a great Chinese restaurant).  It was really, really good!  I had some sesame chicken and the egg rolls were fantastic!  (Oh, I almost forgot to mention.  The other day, Jamie's parents went out for their anniversary, so we ordered some Chinese from this great takeout place, but they got our order wrong!  Jamie was kinda mad, but the food wasn't too bad.  He got his sesame chicken but no rice, and I got some chicken lo mein which actually was pretty good.  We didn't get our teriyaki sticks, though, which was very sad.  They're so good!  It wasn't bad, though.)  Anywho!  Back to yesterday.  I saw someone from high school there, but didn't know what to say.  I feel kind of bad because it was probably rude that I didn't talk to him, but I'm not even sure he recognized me.  I shot him a facebook message later about it, but haven't heard anything back.  *shrugs*  After lunch, all us girls got our hair done:

                                        Momma                        Meghan

 Me

Meghan and I got our hair cut by one of my old friends' sister.  She did a great job on my hair.  I'm pretty much in love with it!  : )  I miss Meghan's pretty hair, but her little pixie cut looks cute.  I really like mom's hair, too.  I think it turned out really well.  After that, we headed over to Wal-mart to pick up some things and finally headed home.  We forgot to pick up my prescription, though, so mom had to run back up to Middlefield today (it's about 30 mins away-ish).  

Well, I think that's about it.  Sorry for such a long silence from me.  I've had a busy few weeks and have just been putting this off again and again!  I'm glad to have it done now, though, so I can get back on track.  I've been crocheting a bunch lately and learning new things with CSS and Expression.  I'm working on a portfolio for all of my websites and design stuff and I'm really excited about it.  It's so cute!  Plus, I'm working on a logo for our library.  They're having a contest; I could win $50, lol.  I have a cute idea, though.  Maybe I'll post the submission when I'm done.  

Love,

Christen

April 8-21: Down and Out

Red and Black Converses by bunni711 featuring white tops

Hey everyone, I apologize for not writing in a really long time, but I can explain!

Last time I posted, I mentioned feeling a bit under the weather.  Well, that exploded into a full-blown infection and kept me out of commission for two entire weeks. I'm only just coming out of it and have been spending the past few days catching up on assignments and addressing the mountain of homework looming over me for the rest of the semester.  By the way, I only have about two weeks left in the semester, including finals week.

I can't say that much interesting happened while I was sick.  I did have to go to the doctor's after it got really bad.  I had congestion in my sinuses, my chest, and my ears.  The infection even got into my eyes!  (I mistakenly assumed I had pink eye, but alas.)  We went to a new doctor closer by.  It ended up being a lady and I actually really liked her.  She was nice and helpful and didn't seem like she was in an all-fire hurry.  There actually weren't any other patients in there when I came in, so that probably helped.  Jamie recommended her.  She ended up putting me on an antibiotic.  Things were pretty bad there for a few days, but the medicine helped a lot.  I was also taking off-brand Mucinex and later on started taking some Vicks honey cough syrup which also helped.  I ate a lot of chicken soup in those two weeks.

Luckily, I didn't have a lot of homework due during the time I was sick.  I was able to get the workgroup stuff turned in because I had already finished it before I got really sick.  Jamie came over last Sunday (the 15th) and helped me get that stuff turned in.  I was so glad to see him because I had been at home since Monday (the 9th).  I usually come back to his house on Thursdays, but I definitely wasn't up to going anywhere then.  

James and I had a really great day on Thursday.  He was worried about me and he took good care of me when he was there.  I think we were both really glad we could see each other even though I couldn't come back with him yet.  It was a sad goodbye Sunday night.

After I started taking the antibiotic, I got better every day and was finally able to come back to Jamie's house with him on Wednesday (another really fantastic day!).  I had to e-mail my multimedia teacher to ask for an extension for my yacht club site project and she said it would be fine.  I still wasn't feeling super great when I got to Jamie's house (not really up to work), but finally got the project in on Thursday night.  I worked on my Javascript tutorial Thursday and Friday and started on the chapter 7 project today.  I'm having a bit of trouble with it, but I think I'll be able to figure it out.

Unfortunately, I have to focus on my Computer Assembly and Configuration class because the work is due sooner than I had thought.  I'm getting a lot of work done, though, so it shouldn't be a problem.  The labs are pretty quick and easy and the quizzes aren't a problem either.  I still have a large volume of work for a short amount of time, plus I need to finish JavaScript and work on my brochure and powerpoint (last two projects!) for tech writing.  It's going to be a busy week!

James and I have been really love-dovey since I got to come back to his house.  Now I think we are settling back in, but I need to remember that we can't be that way all the time.  Anyway, it wouldn't be possible with the amount of work we both have to tackle in a very short amount of time.  It's nice to know that we're close to being finished with the semester, though.

There is more drama in workgroup, though.  Ally and Jeremy never submitted their projects for excel and powerpoint, but Jeremy volunteered to take care of the Access project by himself.  I haven't checked yet to see if he submitted anything, but I'm really hoping he did.  Otherwise the rest of us will have to make up that assignment, too.  That prof hasn't gotten back to us yet about what we should do about the unfinished assignments.  I'm not really sure what will happen with those.  *sigh.

Over the weekend last week, Spotbot had some seizures and had to go to the emergency vet.  They wanted $1000 to keep him overnight!  My grandma took him home though, and he seems to be doing a lot better.  She had him taken upstairs to be with his mommy (the owners live in the apt upstairs) and he seemed to be a lot calmer.  They think the soft spot on his head is too large and he may have hit his head to trigger the seizures.  I haven't heard anything else (which I think is good), but we'll probably go see him next time I go home.  We didn't see him Wednesday because we wanted to give him more time to feel better before getting company.

Nothing much else has been going on.  I'm feeling a lot better but still coughing some and having to take long naps in the afternoon.  I haven't been sleeping well the past few nights for some reason, so that doesn't help.  Oh yeah, and my ears are still stuffed up.  I looked up some ways to unclog them.  I poured warm water in my ears in the shower today, but I'm not sure if it helped any.  I might have to try it again or try one of the other suggestions.  Otherwise, I'll probably have to call the doctor for advice.  

James and I have been enjoying some delicious sandwiches from the market.  We got some money from his parents to buy deli meat and cheese, plus yummy buns.  We also have mayo (I really hate miracle whip!), and the sandwiches are just sooo ridiculously good!  We had Subway for dinner yesterday and pizza today (bacon and mushrooms for me), but I got sick yesterday off of the fountain drink (I read that they often have a lot of bacteria), which was unfortunate because it was really good (it had flavor shots! - I got cherry).  I also got a bit sick off the pizza today, but that usually happens.  Ugh.

Let's see, I spose the only other thing worth talking about is that James got Puss in Boots from the library and it was actually really good.  We watched that during the week and saw Water for Elephants tonight.  It was good but it's sometimes hard for me to fully enjoy a movie when I've read the book.  I found it very odd that they combined Uncle Al and August into one character, but the movie overall was pretty well done.  I think Jamie liked it, too.  He also liked Puss in Boots even though he was ready to hate it (tee-hee).

That's about it.  If I remember anything else important (believe me, my two weeks of being sick were very boring - sitting on the couch, sleeping, and eating soup basically) I'll let you know.  Oh!  We did have some excellent bacon cheeseburger pizza last Sunday (I believe).  It sounds strange, but it was really good!  Later gators.

Love,

Christen