Joe Montana

I've been a little fragile over the past week and it's not just because I'm pregnant. We found out last Tuesday that our 11-month rescue puppy, Joe Montana, has Wobblers. Wobblers can go to hell. It's basically a narrowing of the vertebral canal, which ultimately affects the dogs' ability to walk. We started to notice an issue with Joe's hind legs about a month ago and it has progressively gotten worse. Bryan had conducted a lot of research and come to the conclusion that it was most likely Wobblers. We ended up taking Joe to a highly recommended specialist here in Austin and they confirmed within five minutes that it was indeed Wobblers. I could have cried.

If you're interested, here is some more information on Wobblers: http://bit.ly/nqPGPm

There is some light at the end of the tunnel. After a MRI and spinal tap, in which Joe had to be sedated, we found out that the compression is happening high up on his spine at the second vertebra. For reasons not completely known to me, the higher up on the spine - the better. So, for the next three weeks, Joe is on steroids, which make him very thirsty and hungry. Plus, the worst part is he can't do anything for those three weeks. He's a puppy. We're basically telling him not to be a puppy for three weeks. It's awful. We have another Dane that still wants to play and go to the park and we have to put the kabash on all of Joe's puppy activities. The vet even told us not to get our hopes up that he won't require surgery. Plus, it just seems like Joe is depressed. He's usually the most carefree, happiest puppy I've ever seen. Night and day from our two-year old Dane. But lately, Joe doesn't have that giddy-up in his step and certainly seems more lethargic. I'm hoping that it's a side affect of the steroids and not the crushing of Joe's puppy dreams.

I'll keep you posted. Please send good juju that the steroids will work and Joe will not require surgery.

Also, if you would like a good cry, see this post by Ann Handley: http://www.annhandley.com/2011/07/05/just-a-dog/. I couldn't have summed it up better myself.

Will I become a Mommy Blogger? (gasp)

The cat is out of the bag. I've got a bun in the oven. In fact, I'm about 14 weeks into it. It's my first, so every week brings on new feelings, emotions and learnings. So far, and I knock on wood, I've had a pretty fantastic pregnancy. I really didn't even know I was pregnant until I was six weeks along. I have run two 1/2 marathons while being pregnant and haven't thrown up once. Now with that being said, I was ridiculously tired during the first trimester and often getting out of bed was a struggle. Actually, I'm still tired. But, so far so good. Due date is September 17, 2011. We're going to find out if it's a girl or a boy, which will most likely be the title of my next post.

Many of you may know already, but I work in social media. I have for what seems like forever (over 3-years) in this ever evolving industry. A lot of clients have led me down the path of the mommy blogger, which I find interesting for many reasons. The main reason being the sheer power of this group of individuals. Just ask Motrin (which by the way after the viewing the actual ad, it's clear that Motrin did not understand their target audience). So the question I ask myself is, will I become a mommy blogger? I think the answer is yes. I have mini-rants with myself on tons of issues. I may as well get in the game and form some opinions. So, stay tuned and watch for more to come.

Little Running Machine

I've talked about it before, but I really love Daily Mile. Check out a really cool summary I received in my inbox this week. It's a recap of my workouts in 2010, of course, mainly devoted to running.

Daily Mile

The decision to commit to running a marathon can be scary. And yes, I'm talking about just making the go/no go decision about completing a marathon. Once that commitment is made, then comes the overwhelming realization that you actually have to train for this thing. A lot. You can't wing a marathon. Believe me, you don't even want to try.

A marathon is really a long twenty-mile run followed by a 10K from hell. In fact, I've *heard* that your body can only store enough carbohydrates for 20-miles. What's happening after that point? Your body then switches to fat consumption and probably a little muscle. But, even knowing all of that, marathons are more popular than ever. The Boston Marathon sold out in 8 hours this year. 8 hours! That's crazy. That means people on average are not only doing marathons, they're getting faster too.

No matter what level you're at or whether you run 1/2s or fulls, I truly believe in using the right tools to help achieve your goals. One tool that I use every day is Daily Mile (www.dailymile.com). It's a free mileage tracker and community for active individuals. You can track all of your workouts, it doesn't have to be running related, but it kind of favors running.

Similar to most social networks, Daily Mile is dependent on UGC. The level of UGC a particular individual chooses to engage in is dependent on the individual. I can chose to have three friends or five hundred friends. I have goals in terms of my weekly mileage, so I tend to really focus on the "Training" tab. I also appreciate feedback and advice on how to tackle a particular marathon from fellow Daily Milers.

If you haven't tried it yet, check it out. Don't forget to friend me.

Get It Done ASAP or asap

Here for you I have a glimpse into how my brain actually operates - so be prepared.

Ponder this. I've always been hesitant and a little reluctant to use "ASAP" in all caps. Actually, anything that needs to be in all caps scares me a little - but definitely ASAP. I would a lot more comfortable if I could use "asap" versus "ASAP". I was responding to a client question this morning, in which I wanted to use "ASAP" and asked a colleague of mine if I had to capitalize all of the letters. She responded yes, which prompted me to have a sad face. Confused as to why I would have a sad face, she asked "Why does that bother you?" Well, that's a good question Jennifer. The reason it bothers me to use all caps is that just by the use of caps it sounds like one, I'm shouting and two, that it means that I'm going to do it NOW, NOW, NOW and have it ready within the hour. If I use all lower case letters, it's much more civilized and I'll get back to you by the end of the day.

See....when you think about it like that, don't you agree?

Important Alumni Verification Due

I recently received this alumni request from the University of Arizona. They would like me to phone a toll free number immediately to update my alumni information. The up-to-date information is critical in assembling their upcoming alumni directory.

I have several issues with this request.
1. I know I have supplied my contact information in the past, so why don't they save me some time and show me the information they have on file? That way I could at least know immediately whether or not I need to make the call.

2. What is the benefit for me? It says this will allow UofA alumni to be connected to the University and each other....but really? How is that? I seem to remember the University charging some ridiculous fee if you want a hard copy version of the directory. Let me repeat, hard copy. Why couldn't they also offer a soft copy version of the directory? Does anyone really buy the hard copy? It appears I'm supposed to provide my very private contact information for very little return.

3. In collaboration with #1 above, if they are using e-mail as the medium to contact people, why couldn't they also use the same medium to confirm your contact details? How hard would it be to display the person's contact details they have on file and ask whether this information is correct? If yes, great. If no, provide a feedback mechanism.

I can almost guarantee that their response rate to this request is going to be very low. In today's day and age of the Internet, I don't feel like picking up the phone to provide my contact details to be published in a directory I will never see. Plus, honestly if I did buy the directory, I would never remember to use it. If I wanted to contact other UofA alumni for networking purposes, I would definitely start with my Facebook and LinkedIn contacts.

Rigley: Ferocious-P (rapper name)

This is our new baby great dane puppy Rigley. Rigley was a gift from my Father, who was born in Chicago before moving to Phoenix when he was about 14 years old. Rigley is a blue great dane, which are rare and pretty hard to find because blue is a recessive gene and both parents must throw the recessive gene to create a blue dane.

So far, Rigley is a pretty good puppy and a social butterfly. This picture was taken when Rigley was about 7 weeks old. She kind of looks like a little mouse. Check out her tail. She's now 11 weeks old and double the weight in this picture. I had a hard time lifting her over my shoulders this morning. She's also very into biting and has little shark teeth.