I was a creature before I could stand. I will remember before I forget.

It has been one of THOSE days. Before I delve into the hell that was today...LOST. It rocked. Just totally and completely rocked. A whole episode of Ben & Locke together--it doesn't get any better. I LOVE those two characters. Even though, they've made it abundantly clear that Ben is a devious little worm, I still love him and root for him. And Locke. Oh my god! He was the total bad ass that I always knew he could be, although I'm not sure he's totally 'Locke' anymore, I still love watching him come into his own.

I awoke quite early this morning to the realization that I was in excrutiating pain. It's horrible to be awakened by a screaming migraine. I moved slowly, rolling over to grab the migraine drugs I keep on my nightstand for that very reason, and took them. Every movement and sound shoots the pain level up enough to cause intense nausea. It's a really sucky way to start the day! The drugs didn't help, so I took another dose. Still didn't help, so I tried several other drugs, which didn't help. Since it was an allergy-induced headache, I used my netti pot. I absolutely HATE the process that I like to refer to as nose douching, but it does help sometimes, and was worth a shot. Didn't help this time. Eventually I was able to get enough drugs to minimize the migraine to just a really, really bad headache. Unfortunately, that leaves my stomach shot from all the medication, and I feel quite shaky and wiped out at that point. That's the condition I remained in from about 1:00 on. I made it through our language today, but couldn't do the rest of our homeschool work. I just felt too shitty to even attempt it, and I know that I have a short fuse in that condition.

I kept enough drugs coming in to maintain that condition, which is still better than I was. I was not about to miss class tonight, because we are too close to the end to lose any learning time and I didn't want to have to start cutting material out. Mark had gotten home from work and had left again to take Daisy and Jezebel for their afternoon walk. He left his cell phone at work and didn't have it with him. L was playing downstairs with Hunter. I started to slowly get myself ready for class, trying to slather on enough makeup that I didn't look like I had been beat around the eyes. It was at that point that stepped in something wet. I looked down to find what looked like watered-down blood all over the floor near me, where Chloe was sitting. I freaked! I took a peek at her incision and saw that it was leaking this fluid in a couple of spots, despite her stitches being intact.

At this point, it was a half hour before the time I need to leave to get to my class. I was wearing my ratty 'around the house clothes'. I got some tissues to clean Chloe up, but the fluid kept coming. I immediately called the vet to tell them I was bringing her in. As Mark didn't have his cell phone, I had no way to get ahold of him. I slipped on my shoes, grabbed Chloe's leash, and started calling for L. to get in the car. She was not in the house or in the yard.

At this point, I'm going to be late for work, can't reach my husband, can't find my child, and I have a leaky dog about whom I am panicked has something severely wrong. I decided at that point that M would be home with the dogs soon, so I would leave the door open for my naughty little wandering girl and get the dog to the vet. It was then that I saw L & H playing outside in H's front yard. She has always had issues with remembering to tell us she is leaving our house/yard. They are supposed to let us know if they are leaving the premises to go to H's house. She forgets to do this about 25% of the time. I yelled down the block for her to get in the car immediately (which reminds me that she still hasn't been disciplined for that) and start driving. Chloe is still leaking profusely all over the car, and I end up behind some PITA who insists on driving exactly 30 mph down the entire stretch of about 2 miles on the drive to the vet. Nobody goes 30 on that road. All of my fury and misery of the day and stress of the moment became focused on this hateful woman who was keeping me from getting my dog to the vet! I truly wanted to smash her face in and actually had to internally 'talk myself down' when stopped behind her at a red light. I was having fantasies of walking up to her open car window and... Well the 'grown-up Amy' won that one, and I remained in the car and settled on calling her obscene names until she finally turned.

I got M on the cell phone--he had finally returned from his dog walk--and told him to meet me at our vet's. I stayed at the vet for the exam and long enough to determine that it wasn't life threatening. I then had to go straight to class, with a headache, a stomach full of drugs, a massive headache, frazzled nerves, and best of all--my ratty jeans and t-shirt. Just lovely. I did make it through class, though my brain doesn't work very well with a headache. I have a great group of students, and tonight's class was really important, so I'm very glad I went.

M, L, & Chloe returned home from the vet with an e-collar and a temporarily wrapped incision. They laid old blankets and towels all over the floor to catch the drips (even with the bandage it was dripping). L laid down by Chloe and read Harry Potter (book 4 now) until I got home. It's apparently not a big deal. There's no infection and nothing wrong. The vet said that it's fluid that can build up in a wound. I'm a little frazzled and don't remember much other than it's totally okay. It's just messy. She was put on another round of antibiotics, just to be safe, and I can put warm compresses on it to draw the fluid it. That's about it. It cost us $75, which is less than my normal vet visits, but still...really?? That on top of the $1300 we had to drop on car repairs this month makes me quite unhappy. It was worth it to make sure Chloe was okay, but it just seems a little steep for what was done.

I hate days like this where everything is just off. I really, really need to work on grading tonight, but I don't think I have it in me. I don't even know that my brain is capable of making sense of the assignments and the rubrics. I think I'm going to probably end up wimping out tonight and putting it off until I feel better and more focused. This headache is still hanging on and slowly ramping up again, and I need to back it off a little so I can sleep. This may end up with a toradol shot tonight or tomorrow.

One little bit of great news--The 'Kreitlow-Smith puppy mill bill' that we lobbied last week hit the floor today. We need to get more co-sponsors to make sure this gets passed this time. If it doesn't, it means another two years (at least) before we get another shot at legislation to protect these poor animals. Those precious beings cannot take another two years' worth of suffering!

Please contact your state legislators NOW and ask them to CO-SPONSOR the Commercial Dog Breeders Licensure Bill - LRB 2448/2.

Seeking co-sponsorship is the first step in getting legislation passed to protect puppy mill dogs from neglect and suffering. It is urgent that we get as many legislators as possible to add their names as co-sponsors to LRB-2448/2. YOU can help make that happen.

Read the Bill and Learn More Here: http://www.nowisconsinpuppymills.com/legisltr-cosponsor-alert.html

Contact your Legislators Here: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/

Click on Who Represents Me? in the middle of the page. Enter your home address, then click the Search box. Your State Representative and State Senator will appear with their contact phone numbers and links to their email addresses. Call or write and ask them to co-sponsor the Commercial Dog Breeders Licensure Bill - LRB 2448/2.