Tybee Island, Georgia 2012

Last week my hubby was on fall break from his Internship and his lecture duties, so we got out of Knoxville for a few days and hit up our faithful vacation spot, Tybee Island, Georgia. I think this might be the 5th time we've been, and it was glorious! 2nd week of October was a great time to go. Off-season price on hotel, but weather in the upper 70's to mid 80's. The water was slightly too chilly to swim in, in my opinion, but since I am not much for swimming where I can't see my feet, I didn't miss out too much. I think next time we go, we might try for last week of September or first week of October to get just a little more warmth, but it was wonderful. :) I got less sunburn than usual. We splurged and got a slightly more expensive room so we could have an ocean-facing balcony, and that was really a highlight of the trip. The room was not luxurious, but it was clean, and that is the #1 thing I look for in a hotel. We slept with the curtains open so the sunrise woke us up every day. Charles spent a couple hours each day just enjoying the view and breeze and sounds from the balcony. We had wonderful food. I am not into seafood at all, but Charles was able to get some seafood he enjoyed, and there was plenty of other delicious stuff to be had. We had breakfast everyday at the Breakfast Club (yum!), and ate 2 lunches at Lighthouse Pizza- a little pizza place with delicious food and nice service. Also had icecream at a couple different places, but Seaside Sweets was the best-- delicious 'ice cream gelato' and pralines. One of my favorite places to eat was called Coco's. You can watch the sunset over the river from atop their restaurant. We didn't survive the sunset, though, because there were pesky gnats outside. The food there was great, though-- I had amazing nachos. Yum!
It was one of the most restful vacations I've ever had, I guess because we've been there before so we could take it easy. It was so comfortable, and all the locals were super laid back because the tourist season was pretty much over. I hope we can make it back next year!

Random Updates

1. All the political posts on Facebook are making me question why I am friends with some people. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I have friends on both sides of the political spectrum. Personally I am a moderate, and I can see both sides of many issues. What bothers me, though, is the vitriolic garbage that people tend to spew. If you disagree with Obama or Romney, that's fine, but there's no need to be ugly about it. Ugh. Can't wait til the election is over. :/

2. Recovering quite well from the wisdom tooth extraction. Today I go for a follow-up and will probably get my disolvable stitches removed since they aren't doing a great job of dissolving. The only 'complication' I have had is some mega nausea from the antibiotics, but today is my last day of those, so yay! I actually had to go home early on Tuesday because my stomach was so unhappy. I hate having to leave work early. Then yesterday when I was back at work someone asked me if I was pregnant (I am not, by the way). WHY WOULD YOU ASK ME THAT? "Because you were out sick, and you are never out sick!" Yes clearly the logical conclusion is that I am pregnant. Wut? I wasn't offended but I was amused by the huge assumption. I hope I don't *look* pregnant since I'm actually trying to lose weight. That would be a huge fail. Anyways, I'm looking forward to moving on and getting the stitches out. I totally recommend Dr. Daniel Read in Knoxville if you ever need tooth extraction. I think he is a wizard.

3. I'm really getting into Breaking Bad. Some people have told me it's a great show, and of course it gets a lot of acclaim. However, close friends that usually advise me on what to watch were only able to make it through 2 seasons because it is "so dark." Well, I gave it a shot anyways, and WOW I am hooked. It is dark, to be sure. I'm not sure how long I'll be able to watch, because I usually try to watch things that make me happy, but it's so mesmerizing. The last episode I watch started with a commercial for Los Pollos Hermanos. Man, I wish that was a real restaurant. I was totally craving chicken after that commercial. Anyways if you have a strong stomach for violence, I suggest you give the show a try.

And that's all, folks!

Wisdom Tooth Extraction

On Friday I will be having my wisdom tooth removed. I thought the picture above summed things up nicely. :) I am kind of nervous and excited. I've enjoyed hearing about other peoples' experiences with their wisdom teeth. Luckily I only have one wisdom tooth, and it's on the top, so that is good. I am going to try to guy buy some yummy soft stuff to eat. I wonder if ice cream would be ok, or if the coldness would be too much. Hm. The only complaint I have so far is that the doc gave me a sheet of paper telling me what I need to know for before the surgery, but I don't know anything about after the surgery so it's kind of hard to plan in advance. I'm looking forward to having the day off, though. And Monday is a holiday, so I'll get some extra bonus recovery time. Wheee!

In other news, Friday is also my hubby's birthday. I felt bad scheduling surgery for that day, but it really made the most sense. Hopefully I will be well enough that we can go celebrate over the weekend. And recovering will not prevent me from bestowing gifts on him. :) Then Monday is my bff's birthday, so she and I will be celebrating then for sure. Life is good, generally speaking. I've been counting calories in an attempt to lose weight, and I've lost approximately 5 pounds over the last 5 weeks (it's so hard to tell because my weight fluctuates so much day to day. I weigh myself at the same time and everything! bah!). The progress is slower than I would like, but they say that the slower you lose it, the more likely you are to keep it off, so I'll take it! It took me a long time to put the weight on, so I guess it should take at least that long to take it back off! Maybe losing slowly will reduce stretch marks, too. A girl can dream, can't she?

Work is great; I got caught up on some work that had been nagging at me for awhile. Now it's time for our annual reviews. I had to write a self assessment which is always a chore. Balancing on the fine line between humility and self-promotion is difficult. No one likes a braggart, but there is no sense in throwing yourself under the bus either.

I want to say a special shoutout to Bridget Wilson, a friend of mine from library school, that has shown herself to be possibly one of the world's kindest people. I won't go into details but I just want to say how much I appreciate her kindness.

OK, peace out!

Adventures in Puppy Sitting

Last night my hubby and I pup-sat for my Mother-in-Law. She has a 1 year old Staffordshire mix named Lily. Lily is quite the ball of energy! I was really looking forward to the chance to dog sit cause she is such a cute dog and I always thought Frodo might like to have a little sister. Even though Lily is adorable, and not at all a bad dog, the experience was totally exhausting! She just wanted to be in Frodo's face all the time. She didn't really know how to play with another dog, and kept trying to be dominant. She was continually trying to get the high ground, and take all of the chew toys for herself. Poor Frodo was off to a great, playful start, but at 9 years old and under the influence of Prozac, he just couldn't keep up. Hubby and I had to split duties to keep them under control, and in the end I slept in our bedroom with Lily, while he slept on the couch with Frodo. Not a restful night's sleep, either, with Lily continually whining at the door because she wasn't done playing yet. Not to mention that Kenobi couldn't be included. He slept in the office with his litterbox. Poor little kitten. :) It was fun letting Frodo play with another dog, and I was very proud of him for doing such a good job with her. He shares his toys and plays gently. The experience taught me that I am not in the right place to have a puppy right now (I am not patient enough), and that despite Frodo's anxiety, he is a great dog. I'll enjoy visiting Lily again in the future, but for much shorter periods of time. :)

Ouch.

I think I pulled a calf muscle in my sleep last night. I feel like I have a charlie horse, and the feeling won't go away. I'm trying to stretch it out but to no avail. Walking on it hurts at first, but then it warms up and feels a bit better. Karate should be fun tonight! Oh, brother.
In other news, kudos to my friend, Chrissy Clark. Her Gotcha items are now being sold in Toys R Us stores! There are currently 4 designs of folders/spiral-bound notebooks available: Dance, Geek, Pirate, and Ninja. I bought a few items for my nieces but haven't mailed them yet. It will probably take me awhile to get to the post office. It is really cool to be able to go into a store and see something that a friend made. :)
OK, back to work. Have a nice day!

Family Time!

My brother came into town late, late Sunday night and will be here for about a week. Today, my sister is coming in from Alabama. It is always a treat to have all 4 of the Reed kids together so I'm hopeful that hubby and I can get Frodo properly sedated, which will allow us to go out to dinner with my family. Fingers are crossed!

Frodo has been doing a little bit better, but he still isn't quite comfortable with being left at home alone. Last night I wanted to see my family some, so I took Frodo with me to my Dad's house. We had a nice time and Frodo didn't really cause any trouble, which was nice. I always wanted to have a dog that I could take with me places, but this wasn't really how I envisioned it working out. I wish it was under better circumstances.

Anyways, I just wanted to share the news that I am excited to get to see my siblings. For now, though, I'd better get back to work!

Puppy Prozac

Yesterday my hubby and I were supposed to meet with the Animal Behaviorist that our vet recommended. We agonized over it because it is expensive, and because even though Charles's experiences with behaviorism are more geared towards children than animals, we felt we were already doing the right things with Frodo behaviorally. We just weren't convinced that we would get $250 worth of advice out of the appointment. So we postponed the appointment indefinitely and instead made an appointment (again) with our vet to get some medication. We might still see the behaviorist after trying medication, but the anxiety problems seem to be getting worse, and have even started manifesting in small ways when we're home. So yesterday we went to the vet and got a prescription for fluoxetine, aka, Puppy Prozac. He's only had one dose so we haven't seen a change yet but I'm optimistic that the medicine will get him to a place where the behavior modification techniques will be more effective. Frodo has been a great dog for so long, and we're hoping he'll remember how to be a great dog and will go back to the way he used to be. We're also hopeful that the medicine won't be a permanent fixture in his life. We'll just have to see. We got a 30 day supply so we're going to see how he's doing after being on it for a month. Maybe just the fact that we're doing something will calm us, and in turn calm him. Here's hoping!