Happy Adoption Day... just a few days late and other ramblings

Well, we did have a small party for Pugsly (pics can be seen at: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0BatWTZyyZMWEN). She had an amzing time. I can't believe we've had her for a year already!!!! It feels like I just went to the kennel to pic her up.

On another note, school started again (BOO!!!!). But it's my final semester (Yeah!!!) and I have just one class to take which is Chemistry & Physics for Health Sciences... Think algebra but how it supposedly pertains to us and our bodies. You can imagine how excrutiating this semester is going to be. But on a brighter note, I have a working interview with a place I interviewed with last month or so (insert a rousing round of applause here). If all goes well, I will hold the title of Vet Assistant and as soon as I get my license (first I have to take the boards), I will be an offical Licensed Veterinary Technician. That means, I'll be the mean old lady in the back with the needles and the IV's and the x-rays (watch out animals... I'll be here to help you). I can't wait until this whole school debacle is over and I can start onto the journey into the "real world". Although, I have been in the "real world" before and it's not as much fun as I thought it would be. All of those things called billsa and marriage (yuck)... OK I'm just kidding about the marriage... It's been the high point in my life. Ok, well I'm off for today... not because I want to but I think you guys are tired of all of my ramblings (well that is if anyone even reads my blog). I promise to keep you guys informed more about my life as it gets more hectic. TTFN.

Hi guys... It's been a while

Well, summer's kept me busy. I've been running around on interviews, babysitting the in-laws' house and kitty, and doing things with the Pugsly. In other words, just too lazy to blog lol.
This Monday it will be 1 year since we adopted Pugsly, so I might do a small get together at the dog park. As such, it is my doggy mommy duty to bake a dog cake, so if anyone has any good recipes before Saturday, please feel free to leave a comment.
School starts back up on Tuesday (well actually Monday but I only have class Tuesday and Thursday) and then school will be all over for me!!! Yippee. That's why I've been going on interviews trying to get my foot into the door.
So in other words, my life has been boring and hat's why there haven't been any updates but as soon as there is, I will post them. Well, if I can remember to post them, that is. So look forward to more posting of my boring life...

Pugsly is pet of the week!!!

I couldn't be a prouder pug mama right now. I just entered her yesterday in the contest and she was chosen... Finally, she is getting the attention she deserves. (Hey, I may be biased but she is pretty darn cute...) She can be seen on theswankypup.com under their blog.

Pugsly's a Winner!!!!

Well, a second place winner of the E.T. group (for those so homely they're cute). Her competition that won was a tarantula (now who thinks a tarantula is cute?!). I was so proud of her, especially since she lost in the graybeard catergory (for those that were senior doggies). Now, you may be wondering what kind of pet show this is with such weird catagories. It's a local pet show just for fun that everyone comes out to just to show off their pet. I believe the money goes to the local civic center to provide more fun things throughout the year. Also, there were a bunch of rescues who made some money off of donations (which is always a good thing). Below are a few pictures I took at the pet show and afterwards at my in-law's with my cell phone (remind me that I should carry my camera everywhere so that I am not destined to always have bad pictures). In the ones at my in-law's house, she was so pooped but you could see the ribbons.

I went for an interview yesterday for a kennel technician at a nice kennel so hopefully I will be able to get a summer job and a part time job in the fall. And Monday is my husband and I's first anniversary so we get to look forward to year old frozen cake. So, this week should be a fun one to look forward to! PS I love you Mike!

See the new banner above

For those of you who don't know me, I am very big into animal rights. I am not a PETA person. However, puppymills are horrendous conditions for any dog. If you have followed my blog at all (or even if you haven't) please read the story of my Pugsly below to remind yourselves of what a puppymill dog goes through daily. As I am typing this, she is sitting here scratching her allergy ridden self, whining because there is nothing she can do to stop the itching. She doesn't understand how to play with toys and refuses to play with any. She is the love of my life and it hurts me to see her in so much pain and she is one of the lucky ones .... she got out. Please, please click on the banner above and find out more on puppymills. Thanks from Pugsly and myself.

So tired...

Today was a long day and I feel like I didn't even do that much. However, I think I should mention that I had been sick all of last week.
I got up at 7:15 am (yuck) on a Sunday to work the toxins table at the rabies clinic my vet tech club holds. While I felt good helping people, I realized how many dumb people are out there. For example, the one woman who asked if it was ok to give her dog aspirin. So we told her that most likely not but she should ask her vet because there were safer options for pain control. Her reply, "Well, he has a vet appointment in a few weeks. I figured I would ask him then. I just started him on it the other day." My response, "You might want to double check with your vet's office." But there was a bright side, Pugsly got her shot for $8 instead of $22.
Then, we dove home at 2 pm and walked in the house around 3 (yes, I go to school an hour from my house... another gripe of mine). We dropped Pugsly off and decided to go to the grocery store. There we got like next to no food and spent $68. That hurt our wallets a little but my tummy is happy.
So, there is some bad news in my life. My new best friend died. Yup, she decided to kick the bucket. And I needed her to direct me how to get to Albany on Tuesday. How am I going to live without hearing her British voice say "Turn left in 2 miles onto..... Street."? Also, how am I going to know where the closest gas stations are? If you haven't guessed yet, my brand new GPS (and it is a girl because she is pink) is dead. Just dead. Won't turn on. So I looked online and it said to hit the reset button (which I gently did with the stylet) to hear pop and the reset button pushed inside of the GPS and the stylet broke off. I e-mailed customer service thinking maybe customer service still existed (see customer service rant below). My previous idea that it didn't was reconfirmed. I received an e-mail after 4 days saying, "Hello,
We can have you send it in and I will take a look at it, but physical damage to the device is not covered under warranty. Let me know what you decide." OK I get that if I dropped it, dunked it in water, or shoved it up my butt, but all I did was EXACTLY what their website told me to do." So I am now determined for them to buy me a new one.
There is some good news in my life. We are starting a doggie clothing company!!!! Creations (Doggie Duds Division) will be selling it at street fairs for now, but I may list some stuff to sell either here or in another linked blog. The grand opening show will be at Mickey's Mile in Fishkill, NY on May 31. I hope to see some people there.
I don't know if anyone out there even reads my blog, but if you do, thank you for reading the rambling antics that are my life.

Please help me to help the shelter animals...

I am trying to get 2nd place for the $200 petsmart giftcard to donate a whole bunch of stuff to Town of Newburgh's animal shelter. First place would be ok too. I could donate the digital camera and buy a whole bunch of nice things to the shelter as well. Pugsly doesn't need or want anything from there so what better way than to support a local shelter?
http://www.snapfish.com/viewsinglevote/contestname=bestfriends/contestentryoid=1237018/a=34279688
http://www.snapfish.com/viewsinglevote/contestname=funnypets/contestentryoid=1237019/a=34279688

Please vote for Pugsly

Hi everyone.. Just doing the pug mommy thing trying to get my little Pugsly to be a star. (Can never be a prouder parent!!!)
Pugsly has made it to the 3rd round of voting.. The cutoff is 50 votes and right now she is at 48. The minimum number of votes is 3 and it costs a dollar per vote. Please vote for her so she can be in the calandar. Also, feel free to forward this. She is entrant #202.
The money goes to a pug rescue who finds home for abandon/unwanted pugs. Thanks everyone.
http://www.kentuckianapugs.com/photocontest.htm

I have turned into one of THOSE poeple

I swore up and down I would never buy a ton of clothes for my dog... Well, I am one of THOSE people, the kind that buy pajamas for their dog. They serve a function (prevention of her licking her armpits at night when we can't watch) but every night I get a look from my husband as Pugsly and I have the "You must get into your pajamas" struggle. But look at how cute she looks in them... Plus who can resist a sale?

The Last Week of My Life

The last week of my life was the most boring week ever. We stayed at my in-law's to "watch" their cat while they were off sailing around the Caribbean. "Watching" their cat entails us eating their food, sleeping in their big comfy bed, watching their great cable channels (The Tudors rock!!!), and getting to slub around their artsy little town. However, their computer stinks (think 4 yrs old with tons of pictures, documents, and not enough memory for everything plus Road Runner). Trust me it has many perks but many downsides.

I also decided to start my dog on a B.A.R.F. diet (aka Bones and Raw Food.. aka Raw Diet). This diet basically entails either my husband or myself buying a log that contains raw meat, ground bone, and 3 different veggies and cutting either 2 lbs or 5 lbs of semi-frozen log into 6 or 15 meals. Then, refreezing it and taking out 2 days worth of meals at a time. It reminds me of the dropped call commercial "You take a balll of meat and put it on a plate." However, the meat needs to have added daily: a Multi-Vit, a Fish Oil Capsule, and Vitamine E capsule three times a week. This is all to avoid her "allergies". Needless to say our hands have never been washed more times than in the past week.

Also this week, we decided to go shopping in his parents little town. I got the cutest green shoes, a cookie, and some chocolate that is to die for. Gotta love small town Main Streets.

It also helped me to cut down my hour commute to 15 minutes. Boo for having to go home, but at least I feel comfortable knowing where everything is in my room. I also know that all of the animals are safe (all are always within earshot of me in our basement room). I can't wait until my dear hubby and I can afford a real apartment that will accept our crazy cat, snorty dog, and biting bird (and as we all know that should be REAL simple (insert hint of sarcasm here)). I also can't wait until this semester is over because I feel like I have never done more homework in my life and studied for as many tests in a row as I have lately.

Spring break starts next (In the words of Homer Simpson "WooHoo!!!") and DH and I are going to Atlantic City. Which leads me into our next topic....the hunt for the best petsitter/boarding facility. After interviewing 3 potential pet-sitters in our area (and never hearing back from one), we decided to take the dog to a "pet hotel" in Atlantic City. When have petsitters/kennels started instituting "checkout" times? What happened to the good ole days of "Pick Fluffy up before we close otherwise you will get charged anohter night." Now it's, let's see how many dogs we cram into a facility, so we must make sure that everyone is out by a certain time or we charge you an extra night's fee (even if checkout is noon and you get here at 12:15). It's not like it takes a housekeeper to clean a dog's cage. It's more like a high school student with some paper towels, cleaning solution, and newspaper. If it's a big run it might take 10 minutes using a hose and 5 minutes using a cleaner in a cage (trust this from a former kennel attendant).

So, we are now forced to bring our suitcases, doggie, treats, bed, and raw meat with us to Atlantic City just to make Pugsly's "check-out" time. Gotta love customer service and it's ability to make other's lives easier :::sigh:::

Testing Woes

Today was the fourth test in my marathon 3 week testing session. Now, I can get back to my second love (the first being my husband)... READING. Nerds Rule!!! LOL

The marathon started with Veterinary Radiology. The test was on "How A X-Ray Machine Works." AKA Useless facts I will never need. I am taking and developing pictures, not repairing the machine. That's what the 800-number on the machine is for.
The second test was on Eotics (120 pages of notes on one test). This one I might need to know. However, lumping turtiles, snakes, and reptiles (aren't the previous 2 reptiles???!!!) totally separately (instead of just telling us the basics of the three and then differences of the species) just seemed like a pointless waste of my studying abilities.
The third test was on Large Animals (yesterday with 97 questions). This I will need to know for the licensing boards. After that, I can forget it. I don't see myself working with the bigger beasts. The smaller beasts can do enough damage to me.
My final test today was on Microbiology. When I will need to know anything about an atom and John Lister (the man who made aseptic techniques for hospitals) and other previous scientists seems foreign to me. I think that's what Wikipedia is for.

So it seems like I now have much useless knowledge floating around in my head. Maybe I will be on Jeopardy one day and have to know that electrons attract to the anode of the x-ray machine and Louis Pasteur made the "Germ Theory of Disease" (germs cause disease). If I am, I will be all set.

Welcome to My Blog!!!

I decided that today would be the first day of my blogging life!!! Let me introduce myself. I am at the age where age is mattering to me (26), recently married (to a great guy in May), going to school (studying to become a veterinary technician), and trying to fit pleasure reading time in between tests (4 tests within the past 3 weeks).

I always thought at this point in my life, I would have a direction (ie career). Now I realize, the longer I stay in school the better. That way I don't have to drag my butt out of bed every morning to go to a place where I will be overworked and under appreciated (I knew there was a reason why college kids love school).
I admit I have a direction... it's just been a circuitous trip. I worked in a vet hospital, then as medical receptionist for multiple places, and now am back in school to work at a vet's office. This time I hope to make a difference and work at the ASPCA and not at the slime-sucking private practice I used to work for.

So, if you made it to this point, thanks for sticking with me. I hope that you will enjoy my trials and tribulations and stick with me as I journey from my 20's on.