Overdue Update

It's time for me to put my lazy keyboard on task and post an update...

I haven't blogged in awhile... not necessarily because of a lack of material, but more because I didn't have my thoughts collected while in a position to blog. The last month or so has had some busy points and some awesome points, so I'll give a rundown.

I flew to Tennessee for Memorial Day weekend and had an awesome time with my folks. Just having the time away from work and responsibility was amazingly refreshing. We ate powder-sugar donuts, watched the entire first season of "The Big Bang Theory" (awesome television show), played around with on-demand fitness videos, played with the dogs, shopped at the mall, visited the Memphis zoo, and ate wonderful food - particularly all the fruit and chicken salads... Again, completely awesome. Unfortunately, while I was there, Mom and Dad's lhasa-apso - Maggie, died from some respiratory complications. I say this, not to be morbid, but because there is a follow-up story.

Shortly after I returned from Tennessee, Mom and I got to talking about Father's Day, and I wanted to get Dad a replacement puppy, so we embarked on a journey to find another lhasa-apso puppy... we spent some time looking at online breeders and found many cute puppies. I took a Saturday and went to one of the area pet stores where I discovered Millie (the most adorable, charming, spirited, mischievous red-headed lhasa ever). After a series of texts and phone calls, they decided they'd take her, and she went home with me that day. I had the great experience of having a tiny dog around for two weeks (the boys were fascinated by such an active squeaky toy), before this past weekend gave Sarah and I the opportunity to roadtrip to Missouri for an overnight stay and a puppy delivery. We met my folks at a motel in Independence and had a few hours to talk... and eat (we're good at that)... and visit. Despite being short, it was a lot of fun and made for a great weekend.

Those are the more exciting events from recent times. My husband's work hours have changed recently, which has been... an adjustment. For awhile, he and I started work at the same time (7:00 AM), so we got up together (a bit after 5:00 AM) and had a little bit of the morning together before he took off to work. Upon my return from Tennesse, his hours changed to him having to be at work at 3:00 AM, which meant waking up at 2:00 AM to leave at 2:30... luckily, that only lasted a week as him going to bed at 6:30 and getting up so early just wasn't working so well. For the past two weeks, he's had to be at work at 4:00 AM... not a vast improvement, but at least a slight improvement. It's been rough, and we feel like we barely see each other - particularly because I usually work the weekends, but it's alright. He likes working the dock from 4:00 - 7:00, before hitting the road, so I'm glad to see him happier all around with his job. He also now gets Wednesdays off, so that gives him a chance to pick up an extra shift or catch up on sleep... or, hopefully, mow the grass. We play around with the idea of me quitting the second job or taking a leave of absence over the summer so that we can go camping and fishing and such, but I hesitate to walk away from a paying job... just in case. We have a policy that requires us to give two months' notice for vacation, and I needed this past weekend off, so I called them to tell them (four days' notice) that I had to be off this past weekend... expecting that I would have an argument with them, which would force me to quit... The General Manager was perfectly fine with it, so it was no big deal... I think I was somewhat disappointed as I was prepared to quit. Probably a good sign that I'm checked out. I'd just like to have some time to tend my yard... enjoy all the rain we've been getting lately... I tell you, for this being the high desert, we are getting midwest style rains (except perhaps an increase in hail and tornadoes). Thanks to all the rain, my yard is an absolute jungle. It's very pretty this year, though, being all green... and it's been a cool summer, which is nice too. Apparently, though, I'm told by the natives that this means we'll be hit very hard over the winter.

The boys continue to attempt to eat and destroy everything in the backyard... I think we've replaced our cable roughly seven to eight times now... and it needs to be repaired tonight. We did put a halt to it temporarily when the cooler stand blocked it, but since we've installed the cooler, it's a little more exposed. My solution is to move the dog house in front of it tonight, thereby blocking it from them... again. On some level, I'm pretty sure they are proud of their wrong-doings... I've seen no remorse.

That's a wrap for today.

And I say, "be careful what you wish for."

Yesterday, I spent much of the day mentally grumping about having to go to work last evening... how I was too tired... tired of working in the salon... tired of giving up my time... etc. I wasn't able to make it to work last night, and it turns out that the alternate made me wish I had been spending my hours anywhere but at home.

I arrived home yesterday afternoon, per the usual, with twenty minutes to change, eat, and let the boys out before I left for part II of my day. Unfortunately, I arrived home, opened the door, and was met with the disgusting smell of poo-poo. Samson is too young and immature to wander freely in the house, so he spends his day in the crate. Beau, however, meanders freely at will. Not just one boy was sick, both boys had accidents - one all over the house and one all over the crate, which meant all over himself. I called in to work to let them know that there was no way I was going to make it, then set about cleaning up after the boys. Such a nasty mess. Samson's crate was taken outside to be scrubbed and hosed off, the floors were scrubbed clean, then mopped (I have hardwood floors and area rugs), and rugs were cleaned as best I could before making a run to the store for actual carpet cleaner (I recently acquired the area rugs). What a chore! Poor Samson was filthy, so, despite only having access to cold water, he got a bath in the front yard. He did not say, "Thank You." By the end of his bath, he was pretty calm, but he wasn't too thrilled up until then. Luckily, it was 85 degrees yesterday, so it was still warm enough for him to dry off. I didn't get done cleaning until 7:30 (I started around 5:00). So, we ran to Home Depot, and I bought a new vacuum cleaner, carpet cleaner, and we got parts for our evaporative cooler, which we're hoping to get installed this Thursday since it's quickly becoming summer here. Samson chewed the cord off the cooler earlier this year, so the first project is to change out the power cord on Thursday - that should be fun! We came home and finished cleaning the carpets, and I got to use my new vacuum sweeper! It was so beautiful... the area rugs were all fluffed... it made me happy. Vacuuming has always been my favorite chore... I'd sometimes spend extra time vacumming to attempt to get all the lines consistent... then, people would have the nerve to walk across my freshly vacuumed carpets, which would be so disappointing. Wow, I'm rambling here. Anyway, I have a new vacuum for my new area rugs (I just had a stick vacuum before for the hardwood floors), and I'm quite pleased.

Anyway, so we went to bed about 10:30, and about 2:30 AM, I woke up to Bryan going, "Oh no, Beau..." Still groggy from sleep, I asked, "what'd Beau do?" He replied with, "you don't smell that?" Suddenly becoming alert, I sniffed and knew right away that I had another cleaning project in front of me. The real challenge began with attempting to get the lights on to see where the accident had occurred, prior to stepping in said "accident." It turned out to be Samson who had gotten sick in his cage, so he and Beau spent the rest of the night outside with quick access to the bathroom. Poor boys. I feel so sorry for them! I cleaned up Samson's mess, then headed back to bed to get a few hours of sleep before morning. I didn't want to come home to another mess, so despite the fact that I hate leaving the boys outside in the yard when we're not there as I worry that Samson may one day realize that he could jump over the fence if he were so inclined, the boys remained outside today. The gates are padlocked so they can't open the gates and let themselves out, but I still worry that they might be provoked during the day. I'm sure they are fine; I don't think Beau would go far anyway, but Samson might be easily distracted by say... a fly.

So, that is my gross, disgusting, smelly tale from yesterday. I think that I would have rather got paid to wash a dog, then torturing one for free with cold water in my own front yard. Samson's hair got pretty curly though with the bath :).

Dog Attack and Attempt at Vision Improvement

Working with dogs, I don't worry about being nipped at... I expect it... particularly when we have to do toenail trims, etc. These are often triggers for dogs to give a "warning" sign when they're in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people doing unfamiliar things. Never, however, do I expect a dog to go on an attack... particularly a five-month old puppy.

I arrived at work last night to a cute husky puppy, which I was pleased to see as I enjoy working to make a puppy's first bath a positive experience. That was until I walked in the door. One of my co-workers was already sitting on the floor, and I assumed that she was just getting to know the puppy... that was until I sat down on the floor and the puppy launched an attack at me. Whoa! Stopping the puppy, we continued to sit and work with it attempting to calm it enough to determine if there was a chance that we could bathe it... At another point, I laid a piece of treat down and slid it over to the puppy, which launched another attack. This wasn't just a warning nip, this was a launch and continue biting until it had skin. Incredibly unusual behavior for a puppy... a husky puppy at that. The "mom" of this dog was fairly blase about it... no big deal that her dog was attacking... no worries that she has small children and if the dog is being triggered at this young age, she will only continue to get worse and will one day potentially maul her children - or one of her children's playmates... I would have had it put down immediately; its behavior was beyond fear, it was aggression. We told the lady that there was no way it was getting a bath and that she really, really needed to get it in some training classes or something. We'll see if she does... hopefully, before it hits the news that her dog attacked someone. Very sad. Very odd. Obviously, some form of abuse - be it by the kids or the parents, is going on at home towards the dog.

Other than that little bit of surprise at the beginning of my shift, it was fairly uneventful. A few toenail trims, a few appointments, and some serious cleaning. Nothing blog-worthy, although I just did.

Something humorous that happened this morning... I was getting ready for work and was putting on my sandals, which require a small buckle. I hadn't put my glasses on yet as I still had makeup to do, so when I needed to see the buckle, I found myself blinking rapidly to dispatch the fuzziness of my vision. Like that is going to help... like I'm just a few blinks away from 20/20 vision. I shook my head at myself and put on my glasses.

When Nature Controls the Population

I believe that companies should have a "no soliciting" law because employees can become trapped and reputations can become damaged. It can definitely become a "damned if I do; damned if I don't" situation. Read on.

Last night, I was working when a customer approached me asking me to sign a petition. After hearing her out, I certainly felt that her intentions were honorable; however, simply hearing her out automatically trapped me. She and a friend of hers have pet raccoons, and they would like to catch wild raccoons and vaccinate them for distemper, rabies, etc. Colorado, however, apparently prohibits giving these types of vaccinations to wild animals. After explaining their intentions, I was asked to sign the petition to make it lawful for them the administer vaccinations. I first checked with a manager to see if we had a policy regarding signing petitions... we do not... unfortunately. If I were to say "no," this puts me in the position of representing my employer as one who does not care about animals. Considering that I work in an animal place, that is not a good reputation to bestow upon my employer. If I say "yes," I am put into a position for those opposed to feel as though my employer supports a system of making decisions for wildlife. Damned if I do; damned if I don't. This was a no-win situation. If the company didn't allow solicitation, I could just say that we don't permit any type of solicitation in the store, thank you very much. Problem solved.

Ultimately, I signed the petition... peace was kept and they went on to spend some money in our store. Had I been approached on the street, would I have signed it? Most assuredly not. I understand what they are attempting to do; however, nature has a way of controlling its own population. I believe that diseases are a form of population control. It is not a human's right to decide these things. Understandably, this was small scale, but let's say that they vaccinated raccoons and they no longer died from rabies and distemper... we might be overrun by raccoons, which is not pleasant, or nature might be forced to develop an even stronger disease for population control. Perhaps on a bubonic plague level. Ultimately, I believe that God is in control here... if he wanted to wipe out rabies and distemper and whatever else amongst the raccoons, he is more than capable of doing it without our involvement.

Ultimately, I hated being pressured into signing for something I don't agree with, but "the customer is always right," hey?

See, this is the problem with blogging... I can think of many things to share.

Beauregarde has beyond bad knees - his vet couldn't locate his knee caps at all during his annual check-up, and because of this, has been atrophying in his rear-end a significant amount. He's also not a big fan of eating, which hasn't helped his situation. A few months back, I put him back on puppy food even though he's almost two years old, so that he could get additional nutrition and gain some weight. Then, a month ago, I switched to a more economical food (still nutritionally comparable to the top-of-the-line he was eating), which he surprisingly really went for. At one time, Beau weighed over 100 pounds, but fell to 86 pounds at his annual check-up. I am happy to report that, as of last Tuesday, Beau is back up to 102 pounds! That was exciting! He walks very stiffly on his back legs, but they don't seem to pain him, and he doesn't look so much like he's withering away to nothing, so that's a definite plus. He's still skinny, but not at all like he was. This is good news. Now, if Samson would quit using Beau as his personal chair for his 130-pound frame, things would be good.

First Blog

With two jobs and two humorous boys (dogs), my life is full of inspiration, so I thought I'd jot them down to be shared... this is my creative therapy outlet.

Last night, I worked in the salon, as usual. I've been asking to get completely out of the dog grooming salon for a few months now, and it may happen soon. There are many days that convince me that moving out of the salon is the right thing to do; however, every once in awhile, there are days that make me love the salon and make me know that I'll miss the opportunities to touch a dog's life.

Saturday night, I ended up chatting with a lady about her dog and its need for a toenail trim. This dog is special. She is a mastiff mix who has cancer and has had one leg amputated. Understandably, her mom was a little nervous about having someone else "work" on her dog, but her toenails were atrocious and she needed help. I suggested that she bring her in on a weeknight with less activity and let her know that I am comfortable with mastiffs and Tuesday would be my next work day. I was happy to see that she was there when I arrived, and Leyni was already working on grinding her toenails. Ginger - the mastiff, was a little nervous, so I knelt down with her and stroked her head while her toes were manicured. She did wonderful, and received the care that she really needed. Her mom was so happy with us that she wants to bring Ginger in for a shedding treatment after their yard is completed. That's when I feel good about what I do. We helped a special dog in need, and her mom was pleased with our work. I look forward to seeing her again.

Additionally, my one appointment for the evening was with a three-month old boxer puppy who was in for his first-ever bath and toenail trim. I like working with puppies because I really focus on making their first experience very positive so that future grooming goes well. At first, Chico was a little timid around the water, but by the time I was finished, he was sitting there like a pro! I spent some time working on getting his toenails trimmed letting him lead... puppy attention spans are quite short, so with a change from the table to the floor and a little playtime, his toes were trimmed and he was ready to go home! Sweet little boy!

Then, the rest of my evening was spent helping Leyni groom two Schnauzer brothers who were rescued last October from Mississippi and clearly have either not been groomed much previously or had bad experiences in their early years being groomed. They fought and nipped a lot, and she did the best that she could (they still looked cute when she was done) and we're noticing improvement on one's behaviour during grooming, so there's hope. I helped hold them, which was a chore... I think that I still have schnauzer hair in my eyeballs.

It's evenings like that when I really do feel like I made a difference.

My boys aren't too happy with me right now, though. They like to spend their spare time on the couch or on the bed. We were finally able to get some rugs (we have hardwood floors) for the house two weeks ago at an amazing close-out sale, and so I don't feel so guilty making them stay on the floor. We've been blocking the couch off, which has been effective, but they have been pretty smart about unblocking the bed and snoozing up there while we shower. With two mastiffs, they tend to slobber all over the bed and bring dirt up with them from playing outside. Last night, we decided to put an end to that once and for all, so we changed out the doorknob on the bedroom door so that we have a working one, and they can no longer enter the room at all when we are not there. I fully expect that Beau will have destroyed something of mine today while I'm at work.