Yolande

Here comes a random vent, so get ready:

Sometimes it sucks to be an adult. Did I miss the memo as a kid? The one where they tell you that life only gets more complicated with time and you better live up your glory days on the playground? I remember when life was so easy and at the time I thought it was SO HARD.

Remember high school? Yeah, I do. I was constantly stressed over stupid teenage relationships with dumb boys, I was stressed about grades, stressed about basketball and volleyball, about which college I'd attend.

In college there was that struggle with my identity away from my parents, discovering the real me, making new friends, deciding on a career, etc. Boy, that was a total walk in the park compared to this 'adult stuff.' I'm sure when I'm 40, I'll look back on my mid-twenties and say, "I really had it good, what was I complaining about?" But I'm not there yet, so bear with me.

I'm not saying my life is particularly hard and nothing really monumental has happened. In fact I am fully aware that I have been incredibly blessed in life and I'm grateful for everything I have. But this post is about those crappy parts of being an adult, the awkward transitions from a kid to a grown up. I hope you can empathize.

I was off work today because I worked on Sunday. What would normally be a very free and liberating day off became filled with two appointments that threw this adulthood thing into my face.

First, I had to go to the dentist to have two 'very small' cavities filled. Besides the fact that jamming ginormous needles into my jaw sucks in itself, the whole time I was thinking, " I wonder what my dental insurance will cover today? How ridiculous will this bill be when it arrives at my doorstep? I can't wait." Back in the day, I never had to worry about dental or medical bills....my parents did all of that for me. Again, it sometimes sucks to be an adult.

Don't even get me started on how awful it is to rollover previous employers' retirement accounts into my current 403b. I can't even talk about the burden of choosing which medical insurance option will be best for the upcoming year. Organizing our various life insurance policies and deciding how much my spouse would get if I died, doing taxes, monitoring bank accounts, and paying tuition all qualify as 'sucky adult responsibilities.'

Then, Henry had his annual check up at the vet. No big deal, right? Wrong. Stressful and headache-inducing.

You see, when you completely overhaul your life and bust free of your comfort zone with a move to a different state, you force yourself to find new trusted businesses. A new general doctor, a new OB-GYN, a new dentist, a new hairdresser, a new vet, a new place for fabulous pedicures [still haven't found that one!]....the list goes on.

We found our current vet simply because it was the closest to our home and seemed to be popular online. We've gone a total of three times now and every time we walk out feeling a little slighted. Perhaps it was because our St. Louis vet was insanely awesome and we loved her with all our hearts--but this Wisconsin one is quite dissatisfying to us. And by 'us' I mostly mean Nate, because he is more worked up than his neurotic wife--which is saying a lot, no?


At his 6 month check up as a puppy, our fabulous St. Louis vet told us that Henry had a very slight heart murmur. She said it was nothing to fret over and it was barely detectable...but it was just something to watch over time. Okay, fine--our baby isn't perfect. We can live with that.

Then last year, this new WI vet agreed that the heart murmur was very slight but he 'recommended' we consider a full cardiac work up just to be sure that this murmur did not equate heart disease. We asked a few questions and decided that since Henry was not showing any symptoms of heart disease [ie exercise intolerance, coughing, fatigue, etc] we would pass on the expensive work up. After all, he was only two years old.

So today, another vet at the same clinic saw Henry. She said that now his heart murmur has progressed from a Stage I to a Stage III out of a possible VI stages. [insert my own heart stopping here]. She suggested that we consider the full cardiac workup to rule out heart disease. If this murmur is due to disease he would need medications to prevent it's progression. If it's just a valvular disorder there isn't much they can do, and it's really not as serious.

Great, wonderful, right? Wanna know how much this proposed work up will cost? $530. Gulp.


My instant reaction was, "If my baby needs these tests then I'll plunk down my hard-earned money right this second." But Nate saw it all differently: he felt like the vet was trying to scare us while preying on our obvious love for Henry. He doesn't deny the need for investigating the murmur but he thinks this particular vet is vastly overpriced [after googling and asking around about other vet prices] and he's not pleased about her explanation of the tests.

I guess when he inquired about these tests she didn't really give a straight answer....I'm not sure because all I heard were sirens going off in my brain, "Something might be wrong with Henry, he's not going to live forever, and someday you will have to deal with his death." Those sirens drowned out any babbling by the vet. And they made me feel completely nauseated while stimulating my tear ducts. I know, it's dramatic but I'm a little emotional today, okay? I'm sure it has something to do with the residual Novocaine coarsing through my veins. :)


This vet also suggested we get Henry's teeth cleaned because his back molars are a bit plaque-y. Apparently this procedure involves general anesthesia and another $340....gulp, again. My brain completely shut down at this point because spending 1k on anything makes me hyperventilate. But again, if it's something my furbaby needs then I'm all for it. I'm just not sure we are getting the best care or the best price with this particular vet--and Nate is convinced we aren't at the right place. We both agree that if Henry needs these procedures we'll do it but right now we need to do a little more research and possibly get a second opinion. In the mean time I'll be snuggling extra-tight with this loverboy:

I have no doubt that we'll figure this whole thing out and we will do what is best for our boy. But it's just one of those big decisions that adults have to make; one of those unexpected expenses that creep up on us all and deserve significant attention, even if we'd like to push it away. And of course, it hit me like a ton of bricks today: "You think a dog is expensive, just wait until you have kids."

I realize that an aging pup incurs some unplanned costs and I signed up for this one when I got Henry---I do not regret it for a second. I'd gladly spend every cent of our savings on the little guy. But if a yearly vet visit can throw us for this loop I can only imagine what a Pediatrician visit will do someday. I shudder at the thought of THOSE emotions. I'm just not ready. It makes me reach for one of these bad boys:

After all the vet drama, Nate grabbed his stethoscope and promptly examined Henry's ticker. As if he really learned about doggy heartbeats in PT school....please! But then again, I wanted to inspect this so-called murmur myself. So sue us--we are controlling medical people. We can't help it.


So yeah, that's what I'm feeling right now: contempt for adulthood and all the tough choices it brings. Anyone else understand my thoughts on this one?

On a completely unrelated note, the world might be coming to an end.

Something freaky happened in Milwaukee today. No, my dream of 60 degree temperatures did not come true much to my dismay. Instead, we experienced 'Lake Effect Snow' which in laymens terms means "Totally crazy and mind boggling snowfall in some parts of the city but not others."

Right next to Lake Michigan and especially south of the city, they got hit with 18 inches of snow within a 24 hour period of time. Big whoop, right? The really freaky part is that any area of the city that is NOT right next to the lake got nothing. We live less than 10 miles from the Lake and it was sunny and barely boasted a few flakes today. It was like a whole different planet, a different climate, and a different atmosphere just a few short miles away from us. Does anyone else find that really messed up besides me?

They were showing videos of people shoveling out of snow over a foot deep while I stared out my window in disbelief. Is that really just an 8 minute drive from my house? How can this be?

My only rationalization is that Lake Michigan pretends to be the ocean sometimes. It thinks pretty highly of itself....creating it's own little snowstorm and calling it 'Lake Effect Snow', just to boost it's ego. I've heard rumors that the Lake makes it's beaches warmer in the winter and colder in the summer but I never really believed in the power of the Great Lake.

Part of me is SO glad we moved a bit west from our old Lakefront apartment, because 18 inches of snow would definitely do me in right now.

Instead, I'll let vet bills, dental bills, and reality do me in while I drink my beer.

Vent over. You may now resume your internet browsing.

1. I bought some fun camera-related stuff and tried to emulate Dooce with the ever-popular 'stuff on a dog' shots.

Lens filter that soothes my anxiety about scratching the glass:


Nifty lens pen that will clean both the filter and lens glass with ease:




2. Henry has an appointment for a second opinion next Monday. We are hoping for the best.

3. As if our $200 bill wasn't enough from our current vet, we received a notice in the mail that went something like this: "Thank you so much for paying us $200 of your hard-earned money. But, whoops! We forgot to add another $24 to your tab for the 'fecal flotation test.' Please send the additional fee asap. Yours truly, Rip Off Vet."

To say that Nate was a bit steamed is an understatement. Definitely the last straw and you might have heard things like, "Henry, I promise not to make you see that whore-of-a-vet anymore," and, "I'll float a piece of my own poop for them and ask for another $24 just for fun." I find the whole thing quite entertaining at this point but my husband does not see the humor just yet.

4. We ate some mighty fine grub this weekend. For instance, Saturday morning breakfast:

Cranberry and chocolate chunk scone from a local bakery. Mmmmmmm.

And breakfast Sunday morning:



Homemade cinnamon rolls that put Cinnabon to shame. Seriously, though. Mmmmmm.


5. REI dividends make us a happy family. Because Nate insists we use our REI card for everything we have $300 of free credit to spend as we please. The only reason I agree to this credit card use is because we don't carry a balance month-to-month and I enjoy free stuff just as much as the next person.

It's a weird in-between season time right now, so I only managed to spend a little bit of my half of the dividend. But a new pimp sports bra and camelback water bottle are enough to satisfy me at the moment. And what's that I see?

A new pair of running shoes [not from REI] that are non-Asics?!?! I feel so disloyal and yet rather excited for a new brand. We got fitted at Fleet Feet and this is what they suggested after watching me run on a treadmill with different shoes. Pretty sweet, huh?

------------updated at 5 pm sunday-----------------
Since getting the shoes on Saturday I've pounded out a total of 14 miles with these babies and I think I'll keep them. Breaking in running shoes is always a pain but I think I likey.



And Nate's cool new canteen water bottle makes him happy, too. I just think it's fun to photograph.

6. We are officially running in the STL half marathon next month. I never knew it was one of the largest halves in the nation with nearly 10,000 runners. Can't wait!

7. After I threw myself a pity party due to my lacking closet, I decided to treat my wardrobe with a new jacket from H&M. I love it. Collar popped:


And collar flipped down:


This one didn't get a new jacket but is obviously quite jealous anyway:



8. Am I the last blogger on the planet to give in to this?

I've withheld all this time because I really don't see how a book about vampires can be so fantastic. I admit, part of me wonders if this series can live up to the hype. I have Andrea to thank for lending me the first two books and she promises they will be worth my time. Let the addiction begin...

9. While stopping into PetSmart the other day we observed numerous excited dogs dropping bombs on the floor. Look left: dog pooping. Look right: owner cleaning up a different poop. It is always mad chaos in there.

This must have sparked a memory for Nate because he said, "It's like that time I took Henry to the groomers. I look over to see him shaking from fear, wracked with anxiety about seeing many strangers. But then I look a little closer and see he is assuming the position, dropping monster turds all over the floor. I'm sure the groomer thought we neglected to take Henry out for a whole week, considering how massive the poop turned out to be."

Does anyone else find this visual amusing? :)

10. It's 35 degrees and pouring down rain today, just like yesterday. Why do the weekends have to bring such crappy weather when Thursday and Friday boasted temps in the upper 50s with actual sunshine? Ugh. The only positive I can find: at least it's not snowing. And actually, the rain is washing away most of the snow we had....not all of it, but most of it. Please, Spring, please show your face.

---------updated at 5pm Sunday-----------
Never mind. I spoke too soon. The rain has officially turned into big fatty flakes of snow. You win, Mother Nature. I'm waving my white flag.