27

So, I am 27 years old today.  What does this year have in store for me?  I don't know, but I'm ready to find out! 
After all the partying this weekend, Sam and I ordered sandwiches and ate on the couch with Hunter.  Much better than my last birthday- I was sick and Sam was in Atlanta. 

Birthday Weekend

This weekend has been a great start to my birthday week...

Friday
Sam and I went to dinner and karaoke with the first couple we made friends with here in Orange County.  These two friends have been through the ups and downs of medical school, residency (so far), and our relationship.  I cannot express how thankful I am to have these friends in my life.

While we were together, I was finally able to open up about the health issues I have been dealing with this month.  It was really good to have the support of friends.  And after a few glasses of wine and cocktails, I hopped up on stage and sang some karaoke.

Saturday
Sam and I met up with another couple, definitely keepers, for drinks and dinner and barhopping.  She had secretly baked cupcakes for my birthday and snuck them into the restaurant we were eating at so that it was a big surprise after dinner when the waitress came out.  So amazingly sweet!  Kevin, our friend and Sam's housemate at UCSB, happened to be in town and joined us for the post-dinner drinking portion of the evening.  It was very fun all-around.

Sunday
We hosted a very low-key dinner and watched the 49ers beat the Lions.  Who could ask for a better birthday week kick-off?

Long Day

The work keeps piling up, and there's still only me to get everything done.  I feel like I need to hire an assistant either at work, or at home!

I had the best intentions of making Sam a nice, home-cooked dinner tonight.  Instead, I got stuck late at the office and left close to 5:30... I called to check on him and he was still making his way home.  Ooops.  Needless to say, I stopped and picked up the pre-roasted chicken at Ralph's along with a bagged salad, an avocado, and 3 tomatoes.  Let me tell you, it tasted damn good.

And then I put in close to 3 hours of work while Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix played in the background, Sam dozed on the couch, and Hunter brought me his ball for an intermittent game of fetch.

All in all, I clocked over 11 hours working today.  When I finished after 9PM, I put Sam to bed, cleaned the kitchen and walked Hunter.  Then I did some organizing of my desk and am heading to bed immanently.

Tomorrow, I am headed up to Sherman Oaks (LA) for an 11-2 meeting.  Thankfully, Pete and Margaux lent me Invictus on tape and I will probably knock out 3.5 of the 9.5 hours while commuting in traffic.  Ah, the life of a young professional.

PS- Too tired to even process this, but I officially got word that I have satisfied the requirements for the UCI Extensions Program Marketing Certificate.  Woohoo!  I set out to accomplish this and start a career in marketing back in January 2011 and 21 months later I have accomplished both things.  More about this later!

RIP Giselle

Throughout our puppy class experiences over the last 7 months we have seen a lot of familiar faces and made a few friends along the way.  We received the sad news that the sweet English Bulldog, Giselle, was the victim of a tragic accident and had passed away.

Giselle and Hunter completed their Intermediate & Advanced Training Classes together and were currently enrolled in a special advanced class with trainer Kate.  In the last few months we had done a lot more puppy-trading in class to familiarize our dogs with strangers and I always loved Giselle.  I am so sad for her mom, Rosalyn, who adopted Giselle from her vet after losing one of her two pugs to old age. Ros had told me how devastated she was at losing her dog last year and what a help it was to have Giselle brightening up the house.  In fact we had spoken last Sunday about getting together for a play-date so that Hunter and Giselle could rough-house and burn off a little energy.

I know Hunter has only been a part of our family for a little more than 7 months but I cannot imagine how I would cope with something happening to him.

REST IN PEACE GISELLE!

Football Season

It's no secret that my family is Forty-Niner Faithful-  we bleed Red & Gold.  It has been a long wait this off-season, but the day is finally here: today, the 9ers faced the Packers at Lambeau Field.  And boy did we deliver.

We looked great- cohesive, together, practiced.  It was such a great way to get things rolling. We have a lot of people talking about how we're Super Bowl bound in 2013, but I think it's too early to make those predictions.  We have a much tougher schedule than we did last season, and the league stats show that it's unlikely that a team comes out of a slump with back-to-back conference championship performances.  We may have to wait until 2014.

I flew back from a wedding and arrived home at 3pm today.  Unfortunately, Sam had to work today so Hunter was the only one waiting for me at home.  We cuddled on the couch, talking to Mom during the last quarter of the game, as we all watched Alex Smith stave off Aaron Rogers to get the victory.

I think it might be time to make good on my threats and order Hunter a 49er jersey to wear on game day...

Blood Test

Last Spring my doctor found evidence that I may be suffering from Hypothyroidism, but, because I had just changed my health insurance, I told her I would follow up with my new primary care provider at Kaiser.

Fast forward to July.  I finally got tired of the fatigue, stress, hair-loss, and lethargy.  Sam and I sat down and reviewed the female Primary Care Physicians in our area and settled on one for me to see.  I couldn't get an appointment until September, but at least we would soon have a second opinion about the Hypothyroidism and find something to alleviate the symptoms I have been suffering from.

Fast forward again to this month, I finally went in to see my new doctor today.  Luckily, I really, really like her and felt totally comfortable with her right away.  She sat down and reviewed the previous two blood tests with me and she decided that I should probably have one more to confirm the diagnosis.

I actually really liked that Kaiser had the pharmacy and the lab right in the same building as my doctor... I just walked down stairs and took care of everything right then and there.  I now will have to wait for the results to see if this is in fact what my issues are from.  The bummer is that the medication for hypothyroidism could increase the anxiety I have been feeling, and, if that's the case, I will possibly have to go onto some kind of low-dose anti-anxiety medication.

Honestly, while I don't like the idea of being medicated, I do like the idea of not feeling so overwhelmed all the time.   Sometimes I am so overwhelmed and stressed out I feel like I could cry.  It can be so much that I want to curl up on the couch rather than do anything... and I really hope that's going to be resolved with these hypothyroid medications!

Rollover

Hunter's currently enrolled in a special Advanced Training class offered by our trainer, Kate, on a invite-only basis.  She is working on relaxation techniques and also therapy dog exam skills.  We have a couple of repeat offenders in class with us, Giselle, the French Bulldog from our Intermediate and Advanced classes, and Belle, the adorable mini-poodle from Intermediate class.  

At the beginning of class, 3 weeks ago, Kate told us all that we needed to teach our dogs a trick on our own.  Something that requires us to work with our dogs and communicate to them what we want them to do, and have them understand and obey.  So I chose to teach Hunter to rollover.  The past 4 weeks, Sam and I have been working with him, luring him to rollover while teaching him the command. 

Finally, this past weekend while Justin was playing with Hunter, he rolled over on command.  It was so rewarding!  Sam and I have been working on it, and sure enough, he kind of gets it after you lure him to do it once.  I am so freakin' proud of him!  We have two more weeks, and we'll have to keep working and working and working.