Confession...

I have an embarrassing confession to make. Michael and I were cleaning out a closet and were attempting to file away old utility statements and receipts. And then...I found a bag that had a stack of H@llmark cards inside....cards I had purchased for friends and family that were unsent. Oops. I found birthday cards, sympathy cards, congratulations cards--you name it, I found it. So, for all of those life events that warranted a specially chosen card from the local H@llmark store, I bought a card and then put it in a bag in a closet.

Now, you may be wondering how this happens. It all started when I found myself in a situation where I needed to clean up the clutter in the house very quickly. And the next thing you know, I'm running around the house with a bag and throwing all the paper bits I can find into it and then shoving it into a closet. And...it's happened more than once.

So....oops. And many apologies. I will be sending said cards (albeit belatedly) this week. So, now you know. Anyway, if any of you randomly receive a card in the mail, you'll know why it's late.

Asia Update: Our baby is home and doing well. Thanks for thinking of us and we'll let you know when she gets a clean bill of health in four weeks when she goes in for her check up and blood test.

It's the 14th day of the new year...

And we've already gotten bad news. Seriously, WTF?!?!

So the news? Asia has heartworms. HEARTWORMS. As in, the worms that live in the heart of your dog and then she dies. Fuck.

Here's what happened: Asia had her yearly exam and shots last week and then we got a call on Friday from the vet asking us to call him back (you know that means bad news). So, her heartworm test came back positive and then they ran it again to be sure and the second test came back positive, too. There is a latentcy period for HW of about 6 months so she was infected when she went to the humane league even tho she tested negative at this time last year when her last owners put her up for adoption. And since she tested negative at the humane league the vet didn't test her again until last Tuesday.

The really bad news is that if she goes untreated the HW will kill her by giving her congestive heart failure. This, of course, is absolutely not an option.

The good news is that there is a treatment but the bad news is that the result of the treatment could still kill her. There is a new HW treatment that is very successful (the old treatment includes arsenic and often killed the pets that were being treated) but what happens is that when the worms die, they have to go somewhere: the lungs. Eventually, the body absorbs the dead worm bodies but the problem is that when a whole bunch of them die, the dog could have a reaction. In Asia's case, the scary part is that she's very allergy sensitive and the vet is worried that when the dead worm bodies go into the lungs that she'll go into anaphylactic shock.

So......needless to say, Michael and I are still in shock and are concerned about losing our baby. But we are trying to stay positive. The good thing is that she's been on heartworm pills since we brought her home so hopefully that's killed any of the larvae and hopefully her heart isn't chock full of worms that will put her into anaphylactic shock. The other good thing is that the vet said she's very healthy otherwise and he's never detected a heart murmur on her.

So, right now, the medication is on order and Asia goes into the vet on the 23rd for a 4-day hospital stay while the medication is administered and she's closely monitored for any reactions. Hopefully all will go well and we can bring her home on Friday. Once we get her home, she'll be confined to the house for a month other than to go out and go to the bathroom. This is to prevent an embolism caused by a big clump of dead worms. I can't even begin to think about how we're going to keep her calm if she sees a cat while we're out for a quick pee.

Anyway, that's the news from here. Keep your fingers crossed for us and I'll keep you posted.

Everyone else is doing it...

1. What did you do in 2006 that you'd never done before? Went to Cali-forn-eeyahhhh. Put a beloved pet to sleep.

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Blarg. I always seem to make them but rarely make it past February (except for the one about flossing but I've since stopped doing that - I know, gross, but now that I have braces, I can't bring myself to floss very often).

I have made two for this year: not talk on my cell phone while driving (unless in an emergency situation) and have more sex with my wonderful husband (hi, Honey!). Sadly, I've already broken the first one twice.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Nope, but they will this year! Whee!

4. Did anyone close to you die? Shana. And as the anniversary of her passing approaches it becomes harder and harder to keep from tearing up at the mere thought of her. What a great dog she was...it's just not the same without her.

5. What countries did you visit? At the rate I'm going, I'll never see a country other than the U.S. of A. Boo.

6. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006? I have to concur with Gwen that I, too, would like more time for everything. More reading of good books. More quality time with my husband. Oh, and more naps. Naps are a very good thing.

7. What dates from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Again, the day our dog was put to sleep (wow, I sound like a broken record).

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? I'd like to say that I did something really important that benefitted the whole of humankind but alas all can say is that Michael and I had a wonderful first year of marriage and I haven't managed to scare him off. Yet.

9. What was your biggest failure? Letting my stupid job and stupid boss take over my life and not doing a better job of managing stress.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Thankfully, no:> Unless you count all the ambush atomic wedgie attacks, etc. on Michael that ALWAYS result in my getting hurt. Always.

BTW, I did find out that I don't have athlete's foot.

11. What was the best thing you bought? A fabulous new tennis racquet.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My husband. The man is a saint.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Where to begin?

14. Where did most of your money go? The money pit at 267 P@rk Drive. Monthly steroid injections for Asia and 2 visits to the doggie dermatologist. And my mouth full of metal.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? My honeymoon. Tennis. A new dog. Quitting my job (but then staying on part time when my boss resigned). Making my plan to go to nursing school.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? both, sometimes
b) thinner or fatter? both and then I went all veg and lost a few pounds
c) richer or poorer? definitely poorer

18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Spending time with the most important people (and dogs) in my life.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Being stressed out and worried about my job.

20. How will you be spending Christmas? Spent it with my family and Michael's. Had a great time on a post-X-mas trip to Lanky-town.

23. What was your favorite TV program? Family Guy and the Simpson's. Good Eats during that brief interlude where we had cable tv.

25. What was the best book you read? The Lovely Bones. I could NOT put it down. And The Handmaid's Tale even though it still creeps me out just thinking about it.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery? Hmmm...I didn't really have one.

27. What did you want and get? A new dog. A wonderful new half bathroom and a fabulously improved existing bathroom. A creamer and sugar serving set that matches my fiestaware.

28. What did you want and not get? Tenure for my husband. A hundred more years with my best girl. Less dysfunctional family crap.

29. What was your favorite film of this year? Little Miss Sunshine. But I have to say that This is Spinal Tap is a very close runner up.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? 29, and I don't remember what I did. How sad.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Besides all the other stuff that's already mentioned--winning the lottery.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006? Clean clothes that aren't wrinkled?

33. What kept you sane? My favorite people in the whole wide world (you know who you are).

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Harrison Ford will always have the numero uno celebrity spot.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006. No comment.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. Beans, beans the magical fruit...