August Chewy.com Review

I don't imagine I was missed too terribly much since I don't seem to be getting many comments lately, but I took the past week off from blogging.  August was a rough month for me and I just needed time to sit back and reflect on everything.  Tomorrow is the start of a new month, so hopefully I can put all the craziness of August behind me and start over in a much happier place.  :)

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I meant to post this much sooner, but life seems to have a nasty habit of getting in the way of well laid plans, doesn't it?

My boys love, Love, LOVE getting goodies from Chewy.com, and we couldn't pass up the treats from the August collection.  We chose the Dogswell Vitality Jerky Bars - Chicken and Veggies flavor.

As you can see, it's made up of 85% chicken, 15% fruits and veggies, and 0% bad stuff.  And best of all, it's made in the good ol' USofA.  They contain chicken, tomatoes, cranberries, flaxseed, cane molasses, peas, carrots, spinach, apples, salt, tocopherols, rosemary extract, zinc, prpionate, ascorbate acid, and vitamin A acetate.  See, good stuff!  

I did not notice until after the dogs had sampled several that the expiration date had already come and gone by five months.  By then it was too late to send them back probably, so I didn't follow up with Chewy about that.  If I had paid for them though, I most certainly would have.  Otherwise, the chi's are quite happy with our choice.

They kind of remind me of brownie bites with the size and consistency.  The quarter is for size comparison.  They're very soft, so even Chico can enjoy them with his bad teeth.  These bars help maintain eyes, skin, and coat.

I don't know what I was thinking when I went to take pictures.  The first time I stood there with my iPod in hand watching them chow down while I smiled like a goon at them before I realized that I'd forgotten to take any pictures.  By then, the treats were long gone.  So I tried again tonight and totally forgot to grab my iPod until after they were done eating.  So you get a simulation with the Shiver Chico-minis.  Aren't they cute?

The boys give them seven paws up.  We'd have given them all eight paws if the treats hadn't expired so many months prior to them arriving at our house.  

We were not compensated financially for this post, but were provided free samples of dog treats in return for our honest opinions.

Wordless Wednesday

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Can You Feel the Burn?

Heartburn, that is.

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I've dealt with it from time to time over the past 87 or so years. (No, I'm not really that old.  Just feels like it sometimes.)  Lately I seem to be having a raging case of it.  I think it's from all of the stress that I've had lately.  Studies show that it's not caused by stress, but that seems to be when mine is the worst.  Does anyone have any cheap home remedies to stop it?  I had a particularly bad, bad, bad case of it last night.  

Happy to report that Chico's little head is almost completely healed now.  He's got just a few small scabs left, compared to the one big scab all over the back of his head from a week ago.  The antibiotics and steriod really did the trick for him.

Took my car in last week because I was having trouble starting it.  Cost me $350 just to have the mechanic tell me I should start seriously considering a new car.  Without a job, that won't be happening any time soon.  It works now, but the "check engine" light still comes on and off.  When hooked up to the machine that's supposed to read whatever the code is to say what's wrong with it, nothing comes up.  A new starter, an oil change and two new tires later, I've spent well over $500 of money that I seriously did not have last week.  I need a car to get to job interviews, so there wasn't a lot of choice in the matter.

Speaking of interviews, I went to the school career center last week.  It seems like before I went to school I was getting about an interview or so a week.  Sometimes I'd go a week or two and not have any, then I'd have two in one week.  And now that I graduated with a degree?  NO ONE IS CALLING!!!  The lady I saw was somewhat helpful.  She gave a few suggestions for my resume, like putting my education up at the top rather than the bottom so that employers will immediately see that I'm newly graduated.  She also said that I'm doing all of the right things with networking, informational interviews, volunteering, applying for jobs several times a week, sending out my resume to employers that aren't necessarily hiring right now but will be in the future, etc.  So why is no one interviewing me?  So frustrating!  I thought that I'd get more interviews with a college education, not less!  She said that on average, it takes 6 months to a year to find a job after graduation.  :(  I go back this week for interview tips.  I really feel like this is my downfall area, so hopefully she can offer some great ideas for when I actually do get called in.  

What's new with you?

Wordless Wednesday

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Mo Money Monday

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(This might make a small dent in my bills!)

Mo Money as in, "I need mo money!"  This has been an expensive week.

Poor little Chico had some bumps on his head earlier this year when I took him to the vet for his annual shots.  The vet said that it was nothing to worry about and was likely a result of him rubbing his head against his plastic food bowl.  I told the vet that my boys use porcelin bowls, so that couldn't be it.  But the bumps were small, the vet seemed to think it wasn't a big deal, and I just didn't worry about it too much.  The bumps were slow to heal, but heal they did.

I then noticed several more bumps further down on his little head.  Upon closer inspection, they were actually sores with scabs all in a straight line.  I thought it was weird, but it didn't seem to bother him too much so I decided to just keep an eye on it.  Pretty soon there were even more bumps/scabs and it was really yucky.  He kept scratching at them, so I tried putting some creme on them to help them heal.  Finally I realized that the creme didn't seem to be helping and that a vet visit was in order.  We saw a different vet this time, one I was much more familiar with.  He put Chico on a steriod and an antibiotic.  It's helped a lot already, but the sores still have a ways to go before they're fully healed.  The steriod has taken the itching away for the most part.

This past Saturday I got in the car and had difficulty starting it up.  Finally did, and as I drove to my friend's birthday party, the "service engine" light came on.  When it was time to go home, I got back in the car and had problems getting it started again.  I seriously thought it wasn't going to start up at all!  So I need to call the mechanic this morning and see when I can bring it in.  Why do things like this always happen when I'm so poor?

I had a job interview this past week.  Rather -- I thought it was a job interview!  The job was for campaign work, which I'm really not super interested in, but still...it was a job!  I'd met the candidate previously and had submitted my resume.  We met up in a Starbucks and talked for an hour, after which time he told me that he's not hiring right now, and that he's still figuring out what he's doing since this is all so new for him.  Very disappointing.  I have an appointment later in the week for the school career center, so hopefully they can help me find a job.  

If I can get the car fixed quickly, I'll be volunteering for a few hours too.  The guy who set everything up is funny, so I'm sure it'll be a fun time.

At the party on Saturday, there were two ladies sitting at my table that I'd never met before.  The three of us had a really nice talk.  When we were parting ways, one of them asked if she could have my contact information and said that she knew of a place that might be hiring.  She's going to check with them and get back to me.  So I'm hopeful and keeping my fingers crossed!

Wordless Wednesday

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Christmas in July

AKA Christmas in July

I got an email from Mona, Prissy and Sammie Jean's mom last week asking for a follow up post.  There were seven participants this year.  Clock on their names below to check out their goodies.

Cookie
Finn and Charley
Higgins and Niles
Mona, Prissy, and Sammie Jean
Samantha
Sarge 
Ziggy

Thank you to everyone who played along.  Everything went fairly smoothly this year with only a couple of hiccups.  This has always been a fun event, and I hope to continue it for many more years to come.