Two weeks to takeoff!

So much to do, so much time I had that I didn't utilize! I've bought the travel insurance, I'm finally going to get my anti-malaria meds, I've located my darn passport, and I am sooooo excited! I've found the plastic bin of clothes that I put away when I moved from San Diego - thinking I wouldn't need shorts and whatnot in western Washington. Thank goodness I didn't give them all away, or I'd have to do some clothing shopping too.

New Project

In preparation for the trip to Nicaragua, I somehow decided to add more complications to life, and in addition to moving this week (!) I have just adopted a new dog from North Beach PAWS. He's a 7 year old sable sheltie, and came in to be neutered today. Turns out he has other things wrong with him too - horrible teeth and an old leg injury - (a broken femur). So, being a sucker, I went ahead and said I would take him. I've wanted a sheltie since I was a kid, and, well, meet the new boy! We're tossing around the name Theodore (because of the many versions: Ted, Teddy, Ed, Eddie, Theo, The Odor...).
Here's a photo of him still sleeping in his kennel. I'm sure I'll put a few more shots later. And yes, I made sure I had a sitter lined up before I adopted - there is no WAY I'm missing Nicaragua!

We've asked an ER nurse if they have any extra supplies (gloves, etc.) that could be donated. She said she'll start putting together a box for us. Sweet!

laptop bag!

Hooray - the purple laptop now has a carrying case!
I was recently the recipient of a purple laptop donation (as the previous owner had upgraded to a new purple laptop) and this laptop is nearly as excited as I am about the upcoming trip. I've been assured that we'll have internet usage at our lodgings, so I'll be sure to upload, update, and generally up-talk the whole thing while we're down there. The case was on promotion at ShopKo (gotta get my shopping plug in) and helps put the "fun" back in functional, which is always nice.

Also, a new donation has arrived to keep the first one company. I've left them alone in a rabbit hutch in the hopes that they'll propogate.

A week without posts!

Sorry! So many things going on here, that I haven't done much in the way of Nicaragua prep. I would, however, like to announce that the first donation has successfully made its way through PayPal, and into the trip fundage pot. Word on the street is that the poor li'l guy is lonely in the account there all by himself though. Maybe he needs some friends... Only $993.75 to go!

In local news, we scheduled a spay/neuter clinic for the Saturday after we get back, so that we're still in surgery mode and can bring all our new and improved clinic skills to help reduce unwanted pets on the home front.

We've had great success at these at-home clinics in the past: the volunteers have been awesome! Our "cat whisperer" kept things calm and un-pooped-upon, and we practically trained a new surgery assistant (thanks Kristine and Ron!). Our coordinator, Joan, screened patients and scheduled who would be dropped off when. Our office staff did a bang-up job putting together paperwork (way to go, girls!). Our vaccination/flea treat/nail trim team of Jan and Vivian chased me away a few times for getting too nosy. Our recovery team, led by Holly, barely needed my help either, and at our last clinic I got to goof off a bit and enjoy the fabulous food provided by Spider Rocks (RIP, Spider). Which was nice, since I was fighting off a migraine at the time. Ahhhh, organization ahead of time is a wonderful thing!

Last night we had "rehearsal" for the improv "Murder in Margaritaville", and lots of time went into finding Russian gambler-turned-booking-agent makeup and such. Nothing to do with spay/neuter, but this thing is going to be tons of fun! Tickets are $15 at the OS Community Club.

Stuff from Webster!

Our Webster rep came out to the clinic today - to bring me a giant bag of supplies for the trip! We've got suture, pain meds, ear cleaner, disinfectant, LickGuard, and more! Awesome! I know Worlds Vets asked for suture, and I'm sure the Nicaraguan pets will appreciate the Metacam.
Thank you Regina!

More whatnot

Today we shopped for travel insurance. It looks like I'll be going with CSA's Custom Luxe because they have more MedEvac benefits - enough to get me back stateside should things be less than fun. For $75, I get a million bucks' worth of coverage, with $250K for medical stuff. Not a bad deal. So I'm telling myself, okay, self, if you're going to get injured in the next year, make sure you do it on the last day of the Nicaragua trip, so it gets all paid for.
Plus I have AFLAC.

travel insurance and whatnot

So has anyone out there used travel insurance before? I've been told that www.insuremytrip.com can be a helpful website, but I don't really know what I'm looking for. Any recommendations?