Time

Tomorrow is Friday and there couldn't be better news in my opinion.

This has been a trying week.

I finally succumbed to the bug that is spreading at work. I have spent an overwhelming amount of time trying not to die. My sinuses couldn't decide if they wanted to be completely plugged or if they wanted to be completely and painfully dry. My throat has been equally unpleasant.

My heart is also sad with the news that my moms beagle Jake has hemangiosarcoma

Not only am I sad that Jake is very ill, but it is a terrible reminder of just how short our dogs lives are.

I cannot stand to think about losing my dogs. But I know that the time will come when we will have to make the terrible decision to help them to the bridge and the thought terrifies and sickens me.

Hug your dogos tonight.

down with the sickness

So, have you ever had such a bad stuffy nose that you can't sleep?


So bad that you are up at 4:30 am with your insomniac husband eating a bowl of Lucky Charms and watching a program on PBS about the Shuttle Columbia Accident?


There will be NyQuil consumed this evening.

Things I have learned in the last 24 hours

• There has yet to be an Elizabethan Collar that can withstand the powerhouse that is Klaus
• You shouldn't joke with your boss via text messaging that the only possible way the day could get any better is a surprise inspection from the State
• The State inspector has an uncanny ability to show up at the most unfortunate times
• The months I have spent auditing children's files was not a massive waste of my time
• There will always be someone, somewhere who forgets to wash their hands after they wipe a nose
  

Bummed

Feeling slightly bummed this evening.

Current grievances include:

• brown dog ailments
• passat ailments (water pump?)
• winter blahs
• family
• anxiety
• family
• family

I am thinking maybe a visit to Dr. B is in order.

and because I think the Snuggie is the best thing to come around since the ShamWow! ...

Happy Tail

So, I have this dog that I adopted from the animal shelter a few years ago. He is a chocolate lab named Klaus. He loves to swim, play fetch, and occasionally eat poo. He sleeps in our bed and only wears special ordered collars.

He has also had some sort of affliction since the day we brought him home. At first there was the massive upper respiratory infection. Green snot that was in a constant state of drainage from his nose. Snot on the walls. Snot on the furniture.

Then there was the allergies. The naked belly. The constant ear infections.

And late last year, the Addison's Disease that was by far the scariest and most serious affliction of all. But we got it worked out and he is doing better.

Enter Happy Tail.

Common in several breeds of dogs, happy tail occurs when the tail is wagged so hard against objects that it breaks the skin. Left untreated, or unsuccessfully treated, tail amputation is sometimes necessary.

So for the last two weeks we have been dealing with the dog-whose-tail-doesn't-stop spraying blood all over the place. Several different methods of wrapping the tail have been tried. Today we used pipe insulation and vet wrap. I also have an Elizabethan Collar for him to wear when we can't watch him.

He is understandably not happy. I told him it is for his own good. Swimming is not as easy when you don't have an otter tail to guide you.

sadness

airplanes and icing is never a good thing ...

case in point

I find a cruel irony in the fact that the fatal crash of Continental 3407 comes just a month after the miraculous splash landing of USAir 1549.

So sad.

In other news, I came to work and found this on my desk:



Someone lurves me.

Things on my desk

I should be cleaning off my desk.

I do my best to keep some sort of order in my workspace, but find myself failing on an almost daily basis.

I don't really think it is my fault, either.

I deal with a lot of paper work. Most courtesy of the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services. A large part of my job is to make sure that all of the children have the correct forms in their file. All forms must be updated annually. Forms may be subject to being completely changed by ODJFS at any given time.

Which means I get to start all over again.

I also am in charge of the teachers files. This means all of their background checks, statements of non conviction, training hours, medical statements and tax forms.

I think I have a pretty good system going. However, things get left on my desk and I am never really sure where they come from. Like post it notes with names and phone numbers. Thermometers. Little sticky foam hearts. Half completed forms from parents who don't apparently realize that there is, indeed, a whole back side that needs to be filled out.

So, I could get to cleaning my desk off, but I am sure there is something on CNN.com that needs my attention more urgently.