Conflicted

So do you want the Good News or the Bad News first? The Bad News, okay then. I was at the vet yesterday and Bleys has a heart murmur. This is very common in Cavaliers (like hip dysplasia in labs) but I was hoping we would put it off for another couple of years. We are still in the diagnosis phase at the moment. They did some initial blood work yesterday and we are going in again today for some more specific stuff. Hopefulyl I will have a full diagnosis soon and we can start on whatever meds are appropriate.

Since I'm very carefully not thinking about the implications of so early a heart murmur, my biggest issue right now is that I'm getting shuffled of on a different vet today for the appointment. This happened earlier this year but the problem wasn't a big one (even a vet tech could have taken care of it) so I didn't mind. However, I went out of my way to find a vet that had extensive experience with Cavaliers. I got recommendations from local Cavalier breeders and showers and visited a bunch of vet offices to find one that suited me. I also drive about an hour to get there each time. I guess you could say I'm kind of picky, but after Doc how could I not be? Anyway, for now I'm going to assume that they just wanted to get all this preliminary stuff done as fast as possible, but when it comes down to cases I'm going to need to have my one vet or I'm going to need to find a different facility.

Speaking of Doc though, I did email her about getting a dental scraper for Bleys' teeth (which are not responding to the tooth brush so much anymore) and so maybe she will be able to shed some light onto the situation when I have some more information. I can't tell you how thankful I am that I have that connection. Being about to order stuff that isn't readily available to the general public is such a life saver. Thank you Doc! I miss you.

Okay onto the good news. For the past year Roland and I have had Florida Annual Passes to Disney World. For any who don't know, this means you pay a certain amount for a year long pass to get in the parks. There are a bunch of other perks as well, including cheaper room rates (especially in the off season), special deals they email you about, and currently the most important, you get into new/refurbished attractions early during special Passholder Events. We took advantage of this before Expedition Everest opened. The passholders got to go back over there and check out the area and ride the coaster during a special weekend a few weeks before it opened to the general public. That was mostly for Roland (I'm not so keen on roller coasters), but now it's MY turn. When our passes expire at the end of October we are planning on letting them lapse to save some money. We have visited Disney a lot this past year so taking some time off isn't so bad. However, one of my favorite things at Disney, the Living Seas, has been under refurbishment for over a year and is set to open in November. Grrrr, I thought I was going to miss it. However, we just got an email that they are having an annual passholder preview in mid-October. Woot! Not only will I get to see the Living Seas that is smack in the middle of the Food and Wine Festival that Roland and I love so much. Plus it is in the off season so there will be less crowds and the temperatures will be going down so it won't be quite so hot! I doesn't get much better than that! I'm very excited. Couldn't tell, could you?