As of fifteen minutes ago I finished my final test in my Nutrition class. That officially wraps up this semester and I’m FREE AS A FRIGGIN’ BIRD until September 4th. The past two months have SUCKED HARD – the summer semester is a shortened intensive session and I don’t think I’ve ever had so much homework in my life. But it’s over, I’m two classes closer to my degree, and I never have to crack open my Statistics book again. (I made a 93.75, by the way, despite doing abysmal the final – 18 out of 25. Le shrug.)

I mentioned back in April that the whole family (me, Bill, Robert, Amanda, and Amanda’s boyfriend Brandon) are headed to Wyoming for almost two weeks. In precisely 10 days. Amanda and I went on a clothes shopping extravaganza of epic proportions last weekend. In Kohl’s v. Us, the Battle of 2012 was decisively in our favor.

The woman who will be pet sitting for us is stopping by this afternoon to meet the “zoo”. Of course, several months ago when I told her she had a zoo to care for, we had two lizards, two dogs, two cats and a snake. Now we have one dog, two cats, and a snake. The beardies were re-homed a couple of months ago, which really decreased the complication factor. I am pretty worried about how Bailey will do during our vacation, though. She’s our shadow and she won’t know how to deal with being alone outside for 12 days (and before someone yells about the heat let me tell you that she has more than ample shade and a large kiddie pool, plus a kennel and a comfy cushion and a crapload of toys). The sitter will come and spend an hour with her each day, but I don’t think that will be enough to keep her from being lonely. Still, there’s nothing else to be done – we don’t want to board her because of her awful experience at the pound – I truly think she’ll be more comfortable and happy at home, even if we won’t be there. And we don’t want to get another dog to keep her company, when we’ll be gone for so long so soon after getting it (yes, by the way, we are considering getting another dog).

I love the dog, but I’m not going to cancel this and all future vacations to soothe her feelings. (She says, womanfully pressing down the guilt.)

Other things of dubious interest:

- I got a Kindle Fire. It comes with a free month of Amazon Prime. I can watch streaming TV and movies for free. I am halfway through Season One of Buffy. This makes me happy on a stupid epic scale.

- Bailey chases laser pointers like a cat. I need to catch video of this and post it.

- There are 337 days left until our Maine vacation in June of 2013. You will be hearing a LOT about this. To say that I am beyond excited would be to say that Tom Cruise is only dabbling in Scientology. We’ll be spending a couple of days in Portland and a couple of days in Bar Harbor, but the bulk of the vacation will be spent on Bailey Island (love the name, right?). Here, to be exact: http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p104516.

- Bill and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary back on June 29th. We had steak at The Keg. I was still full two days later. I am still having a love affair with Taylor Fladgate Tawny Port.

- I seem to have developed an obsession with country music. It began as a desperate bid to hear ANY new music (damn, I am SICK of the same old stuff) and now I do believe I’m hooked. Well, and there was a drunken iTunes downloading session that resulted in over $60 of new music. My sense of frugality demands that the money wasn’t spent in vain.

- In related news, Luke Bryan is my new secret boyfriend.

Le pant. Le sigh. Le purrrrrr...

- In additional related news, this is my current favorite song:

- I won a photo contest at work. This will be hanging somewhere on campus for the next six months, then I get to take the canvas wrap home with me.

Four Peaks Arizona

- In related news, I can’t remember the last time I picked up my camera.

I hope to be back to blogging, at least on a semi-regular basis. I’m completely out of the blogging rhythm. You might want to follow me on Facebook if you REALLY miss me. I promise it won’t replace this blog, but it certainly is the home for all of my meta.