Today was a blah day. My dog hasn't been herself much and has been pretty much incontinent the past couple of days. Took her to the vet for some tests.  Could have urinary tract infection but we'll know more soon hopefully.  I guess the weather could be part of it (she has been dragging a little... it's humid again).

Went to Best Buy last night and talked to a salesperson.  For an SLR camera he recommended the not-yet-released Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS. Supposed to be a lighter weight entry level SLR but with pretty much the same features as the XSi.  Live View and all that fancy stuff.  Not sure when it'll be released but the salesguy believes within the next month or two.  As long as I have plenty of time to practice before the con in November.

So I finally have some more Stargate artwork. The Sam/Daniel-thon has inspired me again.  So let's see what we have here...

18 icons, 1 wallpaper (all Sam/Daniel).  None from the two dvd movies, so no spoilers. Some are pretty non-PGish. *g*  Wallpaper uses a nice manip from rightxhereAll are snurchable. Credit not totally necessary, but appreciated.


And the wallpaper:



(click to enlarge)

Hope you like. :)

snatched from majorsamfan

Two names you go by:
1. Jessica
2. Jess

Two things you are wearing right now:
1. Jeans
2. Sweater

Two of your favorite things to do:
1. listen to music
2. do artsy things like writing and ... art (graphic and drawing)

Two things you want very badly at the moment:
1. a Supernatural convention on the east coast
2. 100% return of all my arm strength so I can stop going to physical therapy (too much to ask, I know...)

Two pets you had/have:
1. Penny (beagle) - have
2. Honey (beagle/shepherd mix) - had many years ago

Two things you did last night:
1. got a cavity filled at the dentist's... fun, fun, fun...
2. Watched Supernatural rerun

Two things you ate yesterday:
1. blueberry yogurt
2. chicken noodle soup

Two people you last talked to:
1. mom
2. dad

Two things you're doing tomorrow:
1. catching up on my fic-reading
2. meeting some friends at a diner late in the afternoon

Longest driving trips
1. Niagara Falls, Ontario Canada (waaaay back in 1989) = approx. 450 mi.
2.  Saranac Lake, NY in the Adirondack Mountains (August 2005) = approx. 330 mi.

Two favorite holidays:
1. Christmas
2. Thanksgiving

Two favorite beverages:
1. Water
2. Green Tea

I got some pretty nice gifts for Christmas, but one in particular that arrived in the mail on Christmas Eve is hard to top:




Try to ignore the fact that I look drugged or something, LOL. Just focus on the gorgeous man next to me. :D
 
The funny thing is I had emailed Chris at Creation the day before asking about the photos.  Then I headed over to GW and one gal who had the same problem said she'd heard from him, and to tell everyone at GW that their photos will be arriving shortly (something about him doing three different shows at once and he got behind).  I'm just glad that it arrived.  But wow, what timing. *grins*

Anyway, I had a nice Christmas with my family.  On Christmas Eve we went to mass at 4pm, then got some dinner at a nice restaurant/pub called E.B Elliot's.  It's on a seaside strip called The Nautical Mile.  Nice views and the food was good.  The weather wasn't too bad either.  No snow, and not very cold.  Needless to say we didn't have a white Christmas.  It was quite bright out and around 45 F.

Among the gifts I received were a few sweaters, pairs of socks and a pair of gloves.  On DVD I got Doctor Who series 3 and Ghost Hunters season 3 part 1. Got a couple of jazz CD's, ghost hunting book by Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson (from GH), the Supernatural novel "Witch's Canyon"...  um a couple of calendars as well - for my desk at work one with tropical seascapes and for home a Supernatural calendar.  Also got a pack of blank DVD-R discs and a 4GB pen drive for my computer.

Spent Christmas day with my parents, grandmother and uncle.  It was a nice, quiet day for the most part.  I do have some pics to share from Christmas morning... hope I am doing this right:


I hope everyone had a nice Christmas. :)

My neighbor just paid a visit.  They had Divot put to sleep yesterday. :(  She said the vet told her there was nothing that could be done about her condition.  She was running around in a park and barking at rabbits, but she was in a lot of distress so my neighbor didn't want her suffering.  She was crying and saying "she was my baby."  She has another dog named Jessie and 3 cats, but she's really heartbroken because of all the time and care she spent with Divot. 

When I went back in the house I told Penny who was laying on top of our hope chest that Divot was gone and she just put her head down across her legs like she was in mourning.  Those two used to play together like they were part of the same litter.  It's really sad.

And on top of that I'm still PMSing... so it is not a very good day here. :(

Tomorrow I'm heading up to Massachusetts with my dad and grandmother.  I'll be gone from Friday till Monday and I doubt that I'll have internet access up there.  We'll be visiting mostly old friends and family.  It's been 5 years since I was up there and I miss it, so it should be fun.

My neighbor was just over and was crying... they may have to put her dog to sleep.  She has a beagle like I do, and for the past 8-9 years the two dogs have been good friends.  She'd bring Divot (they found her on a golf course) over and she and Penny would run around the yard together and play.  She was a very shy dog, but coming to visit Penny helped her open up a lot.  We hadn't seen very much of her in the past few years since she got very busy, but I'd always see Divot in their yard whining at us whenever I'd walk Penny.  Anyway she said that they had x-rays taken and the dog has (I believe) a tumor and her lungs are filling up with fluid.  Divot seems to be in good spirits, though.  She brought her to our house and the dog was walking around sniffing, wagging her tail, etc.  She didn't seem to be in any real distress.  I told her to think positive... the vet said there was a chance that the tumor is benign so they're waiting for some results to come back. 

I really am hoping that's what it is.  Divot was always a very shy dog but she is a real sweetheart.  Our other neighbor just had to put his golden retriever to sleep.  I think the dog was about 12 and always had this huge tumor and wasn't given much time to live, but he beat the odds for about 5 years or so.  The poor guy was so broken up and he even had a small tribute/funeral for the dog in front of his house.  I know what a tough thing it is - I've gone through it twice.  Luckily at 11 years old Penny is doing very well.  She's still a bit overweight but she's recovered very well from the surgery she had a month and a half ago on the tendon in her left leg... so I'm really thankful for that.

As for me I'm doing pretty good.  Still driving, back to working full-time now, and they tell me I'm really improving at physical therapy, so I'm glad things are a lot better than they were even a month ago.

Penny was able to have her ultrasound done on Tuesday and we got the results yesterday.  All they really found was that her spleen was inflamed, something they'd correct with surgery if she was younger but they're going to treat it with medication.  As for what was seen on the x-rays, they believe it was a small piece of ovary left from when she was fixed (spayed).  It doesn't seem to be causing any problems and they just recommended that she have another ultrasound done next year. 

As for her weight, the vet thinks it could be Cushing's Disease, and they can give her medication for that as well.  I am just so relieved that it isn't cancer.  We started giving her her medication yesterday and the past two days she's been more like her old self, jumping around, begging for food, barking at the neighbor's cat, etc. so I'm really glad.  I just hope she starts losing a little weight now.   Thanks guys for the well wishes, it means a lot. :)

Now just have to get myself through work today...  Got a visit from Aunt Flo last night and I'm sorta in agony right now. :P  Is it noon yet?

Wasn't sure how else to title this... titles drive me crazy for fanfics so I guess I can extend that to LJ entries, lol

On the "up" side... it's Friday.  I can finally sleep in a little.  And in a few short weeks we'll be moving out of that office building and into the better workspace.  Can't wait for that.  My mom's birthday is on Sunday.  I can't believe she'll be 61.  I'm very thankful she has her health though.  We'll probably take her out to dinner that day. *hugs mom*

On the "down" side... my dog Penny had a physical and my mom was concerned because she's pretty overweight and can't seem to lose any weight no matter how much exercise she gets.  Plus she sleeps a lot during the day.  I know at 11 she's kind of old but still not like 14 or 15.  Anyway she had x-rays done and the vet wants her to have an ultrasound on her chest and abdomen because they thought they saw something in her lungs.  Right away I get worried and think cancer but they said they didn't see any masses on the x-rays.  At the most I'm hoping it's just some kind of infection that can be treated.  I'm probably worrying about this too much but our first dog Honey had lung cancer that came on suddenly and she passed away at 13.  She was a beagle/shepherd mix and Penny is a purebred beagle.  There probably isn't any connection but I can't help worrying anyway.  She would sometimes wheeze and the vet kept telling us it was some kind of "palate" thing (can't remember) that is common for the breed.  She's been doing it a bit more recently and we thought that's what it was, or allergies. 

I know I shouldn't worry so much because she's just a dog but she's a real member of the family and we've spoiled her since she was a puppy.  They want her to have the ultrasound done around June 15th but we don't want to wait that long.  Whatever happens I'm going to try to think positive about it and hopefully I'm worrying for nothing.