Traveling Tuesdays: Road Trip with the Pooch

Team Brinkman, yes including the dog, recently returned from a brief road trip to Ohio. This was a source of some anxiety for me, because Jordan has never really done well in the car. He's typically only good for a fifteen minute trip before he feels the need to vomit, so I was really apprehensive about the 18 hour trip from Texas to Ohio.

Initially the plan was to board him, but we did not want to commit to a specific timetable of being out of town and my mother (his usual sitter) was going to be making the trip to Ohio as well. Once we made the decision that Jordan was going to make the trek, I did a little research online, spoke to his vet and a friend of mine who owns a top notch boarding facility to get some recommendations.

The vet suggested that he be given Benadryl as a means to calm him for the trip. It would have to be administered at least an hour before getting into the vehicle. Now, I'm not big on drugs for myself and I certainly am not big on them for my dog either, so I continued to look and ask around for other options. I did purchase the Benadryl just in case, and we did use a small amount (smaller than what the doctor said to use) at the beginning of the trip.  Personally I did not like the drugged up look Jordan had and we did not give him any more for the rest of the trip.

The other items purchased to comfort him were:

1. The Thunder Shirt: I've seen these in various places and asked around to see if people really recommended it. Hefty price tag, but it came with a pretty easy return policy so I figured why not give it a shot. In my opinion, this saved the trip! He was exceptionally calm in the car wearing his Thunder Shirt.

"I make the thunder shirt look good." ~Jordan

2. Calming Spray- This spray has pheromones in it that you are supposed to spray immediately before the dog enters the vehicle. Not sure how much this had to do with his calmness, but the combination of everything seemed to work perfectly.

3. Seat Belt Harness: We didn't use it for this trip, but will use it for short car trips in the future.

4. Pop Up Kennel: This kennel folds down to a flat circle and can be strapped in to the seats in the car making it very functional and convenient. Jordan is a bit of a big baby, so he didn't particularly like the separation of this kennel from us in the back seat.

Not happy about the separation!

Million Dollar Question: Did Jordan get sick on the trip?

Yes, but only after driving for about 4 hours when he was forced to sit in the kennel while I ate in the front seat. I honestly think he worked himself up quite a bit with separation anxiety. Other than that he was perfectly fine. I can't say that one specific thing is what did it, because we used quite a few methods, but I can say the trip was a success. 

Jordan's Loot: Pictured are the items discussed above and a few dental products. I also made sure to bring a printout of his immunization records, just in case they were needed for an emergency situation. 

Blog Schedule and Planning

There are so many things going on in our lives that I have decided to create a schedule to organize the posts more effectively. I firmly believe that the most important thing in life is to live it, so I won’t be posting every day but generally speaking this will be the schedule:

Sports Sunday: These posts will be about games we attend, our favorite teams, the leagues we play in, and the occasional update on the teams we coach. We are huge sports fans so there should be some interesting content on Sports Sunday!

Marriage Monday: These posts will include updates on how things are going for us, lessons learned, advice that we have seen that we think may be helpful to others, and some wedding planning advice.

Traveling Tuesdays: These posts will address updates on our travels, great travel deals, travel tips, etc. Traveling is one of my absolute favorite things to do, so I’m really looking forward to Tuesdays!

Pins on Wednes: This day will be all about projects, ideas and things from Pinterest. Pinterest has been a slight addiction for me for a while now and this will give me an outlet to share successes and failures. 

Tasteful Thursdays: If we try an awesome recipe it will be posted here, with pics! Reviews for great restaurants or even not so great ones will appear here as well.

Fabulous Fridays: Fridays will be about reviews on deals and freebies attained on the internet. I love Groupon and Living Social, so look for reviews on products, services, etc. purchased from these sites. 

Silly Saturdays: Quotes, Cartoons and just plain ole fun!

Teacher Time Out: Occasionally I will post some things about education-these post however will not be limited to a certain day of the week.

Random Post: To keep from limiting the blog, there may be some random ideas that come up that do not "fit" a category in the schedule. I already have one product review in my head that I plan to post soon. :-)  

Planning Tools: 

I have also searched for some tools to help me as a new blogger with planning and have come across two sources that I plan to use. 

The above set of FREE printables was found here. There are quite a few pages that do not apply to me as I do not have giveaways, sponsors, etc. but I love the functionality of planning tools. 

The FREE resource above was found here. If I can actually keep up with the blog over the next few months I hope to use her 2014 planner when it is released to create a similar book for 2014. 

I’m hopeful that setting this schedule and using these tools will hold me more accountable to posting. 

We shall see!