Dogs are Unpredictable...

I had Saturday off from WnW because we had a surprise party at our house that night for our friend Ross. His wife, Kori, and I had been planning it for a few months.

Saturday morning we woke up about 8am, and Hubby and I headed out to the SPA! It was snowing really big flakes and we could look out the window at the beautiful falling snow on a field as we sat in our pedicure chairs. It was so nice. After our pedicures, we moved over and had manicures. It was very nice and relaxing and we both enjoyed it. It was a new spa I had never been to before that is not to far from our house. The prices were a little high, but it was a very nice place.

After we left there we headed up the road to WnW to get some bones for the dogs to distract them that night. We would be having lots of strangers and some small kids in the house, so we decided to just make them disappear to our bedroom.

After a quick stop at WnW we grabbed some lunch. Then it was off to Party City. We ordered a dozen over the hill balloons and picked out some decorations. After there, a quick stop at the liquor store and them home again. We cleaned and vacuumed the main level and I had to run out to get a few things at the store, plus pick up the balloons.

It snowed all day long! It was so neat! About 5:15pm guests started arriving. We had them all park their cars where Ross wouldn’t see them as they arrived. About 6:00pm Kori called and said “we are getting ready to head out, do you need us to bring anything?” That was our cue. We moved everyone into the living room, and a few minutes later they arrived. Ross walked in the door and we all yelled surprise!! He was so shocked, he had no idea! He really had a great time and he was so happy to see all his friends and family!

By the time everyone left we had several inches of snow. It was fun, we had some snowball fights as people left. I think we crawled into bed about 11pm.

I had to work at WnW on Sunday. I was the first one there, I took the Jeep. We had a good amount of snow, but it was heavy wet slushy snow. We were down 2 employees on Sunday, one due to snow and one due to a schedule conflict. But it worked out okay because we weren’t too busy.

About 4pm the unthinkable happened. A dog in the store bit a 12 year old girl. It was just incredible. The little girl just had a few teeth marks, but no skin was broken. The mother and the owner of the dog were yelling at each other. It was just a nightmare. Of course the people want to sue the store now as they feel we are liable. However, we really aren’t. It wasn’t our dog. This sort of situation could happen anywhere. Unfortunately it just happened in our store. This is the first time in 5 years of business for the owners that this has happened. And it happened on my watch.

Dogs are unpredictable, and anything can happen with them. I feel a bit jaded now I guess. My perfect euphoria of the store is now ruined. It was a very emotional day yesterday and it kept me awake for several hours last night. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next few days. I am again back to wondering if I made the right decision for the job, as this puts a whole new spin on things. However, since the new girl starts tomorrow at SH, there is no turning back now. But for a little while anyway, the fun of WnW is destroyed for me.

Everyone wanted to blame someone yesterday for what happened. The girl’s mom blamed the owner and the store. The owner blamed the girl for walking by to close to his dog. I am stuck in the middle. I do not wish to give an opinion on what I think.

We woke up to more snow this morning. Another large snowstorm blew through over night. Most of the schools in town are closed. I drove the Jeep to work in 4 wheel drive.

Lunch

Lunch is the one meal of the day recently where I can sit for a bit and enjoy a meal. Today I went home, had a bowl of soup and read my book. After that I spent 15 minutes petting and playing with my dogs. It was nice to sit and enjoy a meal for a moment. Tonight, dinner will be drive through probably at Burger King on the way from one job to the next. How fun.

I have been driving our Jeep recently. I want to see how I do with it driving it. I am having mixed feelings about it so far. It can be fun because it sits up so high, but it can also be a pain in the butt because it sits up so high.

Well, it’s Friday! That means next week is my last week at SH, and after the day I have had here today, next Friday won’t come soon enough!

At least I have tomorrow off and we have some big plans!

mmmmmm... ice cream

Tuesday I met Hubby and some of his co-workers for lunch. I was really craving some ice cream for dessert. So, on the way back to the office, I stopped for ice cream at Josh n’ John’s. It’s a local ice cream place that makes some different flavors. I ordered a ‘tiny’ of their “coffee and donuts” ice cream. It was good! It was coffee ice cream with donut chunks in it! I gobbled it down. Well, as fast as I could for someone who can’t let ice cream touch their teeth. (My teeth are still extremely sensitive from the fillings.)

I finally made it to the post office yesterday. I applied for my passport! Hopefully I should have it in about 4 weeks.

I got my new schedule last night. So, I now see a few days off in my future! Yea! However, I only have a few days off next month, because we are going to Florida. I have to work 6 straight days before we go. Then we come back, I work the next day, the day after that Brian has surgery, and then the next day I go back to work. Things are going to be a little crazy next month as well. Maybe by March things will settle down! At least next month I am only working one job.

Yesterday I was surfing the Daytona 500 website, getting directions and maps and such. I stumbled upon a dinner they are having after the race, as well as a breakfast the next morning. Unfortunately there is not much information on what actually happens at these events. Except the breakfast, apparently that is when the winning car from the race is inducted into the museum. I am not sure if the drivers attend these events or if it’s just race fans. But, I was able to get us tickets to both events and it should be LOADS of fun no matter what.

We did have to change hotels though. We are staying in Orlando and we will have to drive up to Daytona. It should be about an hour drive to get up there. I heard from someone who was there recently that a lot of the hotels were damaged by the hurricanes last year, and they have not all been fixed or rebuilt yet. I guess that is why we could not find a hotel closer to the track. When a NASCAR race comes to town, any town, it gets insane! But I am so excited! I can hardly wait! I am on the hunt for another clear backpack, as that is all they will allow into the race area.

I worked last night, and tonight and then tomorrow night at WnW. I do have Saturday off, but then I work Sunday again. Next week starts my last week with SH. The new girl starts on Tuesday and my last day is Friday.

In my quest for knowledge about dogs, I subscribed to two magazines yesterday. I am now going to receive the magazine Bark as well as the Whole Dog Journal. Bark has more stories and ads. The Whole Dog Journal is informational articles about foods and products.

We tend to get lots of mutts in the store. A mutt is simply any dog that is not a pure bread. It doesn’t have to be a long haired furry dog like you would automatically think of. Last night we had a mutt in who looked like she was a black lab/chow mix. Her name was Lilly. She was cute as a button. I told her owner that, and his response was ‘she’s ugly’. How can anyone think their own dog is ugly?! And like I have said before, I don’t think that there is an ugly dog in this world!

Hubby doesn’t like his current class. Actually I think a more accurate statement would be that Hubby doesn’t like his current instructor. Apparently last night the instructor was having a hard time staying on topic. Next class up is Project Management. Hubby isn’t looking forward to that either. He is not a fan of project management. But I keep telling him that is why he needs to take the classes. To learn how to do it! If he can understand it a bit better thanks to school, he will be able to handle it in the real world. Right now he avoids project management like the Plague.

Dog Books

Dog books. Right now, I can’t get enough of them. I am always on Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.com looking at dog books. There are so many I want. I have LISTS of dog books I want. There are so many lists I don’t even know where half the lists have gone. I like reading the stories about dogs or about the psychology of dogs. I don’t like sad stories and I don’t really care for the training books. (All thought I probably could stand to read a few of them). I feel now like I want to learn and absorb as much as I can about dogs.

So, Johnny Carson has passed onto the other side. Sad news. From all the coverage I am reading he sounds like a great guy. I am sure he will be greatly missed.

I watched them announce the Oscar Nominees this morning. It got me thinking, why do these actors make so much money? It’s ridiculous to me. First of all, the real hero’s, to me, are the policemen, firemen and paramedics who put their lives in danger daily to save our lives. THEY should be the ones making the big bucks. Has our need for entertainment become so great that we pay Julia Roberts $20 million for making a movie? Music I understand a little better. How much money you make is really based on how well you sing or make a record. If you are a horrible singer, with horrible music, your records won’t sell and you won’t make lots of money. But, as far as Hollywood goes, I just think those people are way overpaid! And don’t even get me started on Professional athletes! We are PAYING them how much to play a game they supposedly love?! Again, I think that is absurd.

I feel NASCAR is different. While, yes the drivers are making lots and lots of money, I think they are still real people also. There is good old fashion bickering among drivers, most of them have a sense of humor, they truly appreciate the fans. Pro-sports players get upset over salaries and money, or trades. You get the impression that pro-sports players are really all about the money. That kind of thing you just don’t see in NASCAR. You get the impression they are all good ol’boys. When there is a death in a family, all the NASCAR families pull together and are visibly there for each other. It’s just such a world of difference from other pro-sports. When there is a rain delay, you see the drivers goofing off, playing pranks, having a good time. You never see that with other pro-sports players.

Anyway, all those people make way to much money. How come the lady who helps you keep your dog clean doesn’t make big bucks? I mean, no one likes a stinky dog!

Thank you for listening! (Steps off the soap box)

So, I am going to apply for a Passport today. No plans to use it in the near future, but just incase I need to flee the country or we find a great airfare to Europe, I am prepared. Hopefully someday we will find a need to use it. Of course if I made big bucks I could afford to use it. (Sorry, I know I all ready stepped off my soap box). So, I will go and pay my $85 to get a passport. And once I have it I will hope that we can come up with a really good reason to use it.

Record Breaking Weekend!

It’s Monday…again. I am sleepy this morning. No, I am exhausted this morning! But, I know why, we had 2 record breaking days at the store! Saturday we had over $3000 in sales! It was the first time for our store! Of course at about 8:30pm we were at about $2975, so the other employee that was working and I bought some stuff to put us over. But, we were over!!

Sunday was a different kind of record. Sunday we had 74 washes! That blew all our old records of most washes in a day away! Our old record was like 64 or 66. 74 dog washes in one day, and Sunday has the shorter hours. On Saturday, I think we had about 60 some washes. So, needless to say, things were hoppin’ yesterday. And I feel it today! I am so tired! There was so much water and fur everywhere all day Sunday, it was nutty!

This weekend we had a 3 legged dog in on Saturday and another one on Sunday. We also had a 1 eyed dog in on Sunday. And yesterday we had so many Husky’s in! They leave a lot of fur behind. But of course I enjoyed every minute of all the craziness. The weather yesterday was quite nice, so we had lots of dirty dogs in that had been out at the dog park, or hiking with their owners. We had a Saint Bernard in. He was quite large, and cute as a button!

I am very very much looking forward to being down to one job. Then I can take my dogs to the dog park and then take them in for a bath when they are dirty! I will be able to quit living out of laundry baskets. Saturday I didn’t work until 1pm, so I spent the morning doing laundry. The first part of the morning I put away the laundry that had been in the baskets clean for over a week. Once the baskets were empty, I filled them up with dirty laundry, washed it all and now we are back to living out of clean laundry baskets again. Hubby has school tonight and I don’t have to work so hopefully I can get them put away.

Hubby had some nice relaxing days at home this weekend. Saturday he said he played video games, did some homework and watched some movies. Yesterday he had some friends over and they watched the playoff games. He made a wonderful ham for dinner last night and we had a delicious dinner after I finally got home last night.

Our weather has been nice the last few days. Thursday and Friday last week were in the 60’s and almost 70’s. We did have a slight cold front come through on Saturday. That brought our temperature down to the 40’s. But Sunday the temp was back into the 60’s again. Nothing like what the people in New England are getting. We need a good storm like that here! Probably in March, that seems to be our big snow storm month.

Friday they found a dead body outside Hubby’s work. The only thing we have heard was it was an unidentified woman probably in her 40’s. The police had the road blocked off most of the day in front of his work. A utilities employee found the body about 10am. No other news than that.

Very sad news about Johnny Carson. He was a very funny man.

Friday

I see most of you are getting cold and snow! I am jealous! Of course, we are having 70 degree weather, but I think I prefer that cold, snowy weather. I like to have warm layers on and look out the window at the falling snow. Of course I really don’t like to drive on it. And if I have to put up with cold weather, I would prefer it be snowing. When it’s sunny and cold out, that’s just annoying.

My uncle shared a story that I thought was quite funny, I am going to share it with you now: (let me preface by saying my cousin, Barb, apparently doesn’t usually put onions in her meatloaf)

I mentioned this morning that perhaps we

could make a meatloaf with the remaining

hamburg. Barb was going to Stop and Shop

for other stuff so I asked her to pick up

more hamburg because I didn't think one pound

would make a very big meatloaf. I told her

how when I was in the Navy, the cooks would

put boiled eggs in the meatloaf and when

you sliced it, there would be a slice of

 the egg imbedded in the meat.

Barb worked with me at the store this

morning and went home around 1:40.  She

called me around 3:30 to find out what

time I'd be getting home.  I told her

I'd be home around 5:30 for her onionless

meatloaf.

When I got home, is smelled so good. The

meatloaf had just come out of the oven.

She handed me a mitt and a knife and asked

me to cut through the center  to make

sure it was completely cooked. I should

have suspected something when it was

sort of tough cutting through the center.

There right in the middle of the meatloaf

was a huge peeled onion. I guess I can't

call her meatloafs onionless now.  Actually,

the onion was cooked but a bit al dente.

It went well with the meat, baked potato

and green beans. In fact, I went back

for seconds on the meatloaf. 

Of course that got me to thinking of all the things you could put in the middle of a meatloaf. I think maybe some asparagus or cheese. The thought crossed my mind about a chocolate bar, but then I decided that probably wouldn’t taste too good, plus it would be really melted.

I worked only 1 job yesterday. So, last night we went out to dinner at The Outback Steakhouse. We had a gift certificate from Christmas (thanks Mom!) that we used up. It was tasty; we both had the Outback Special and a drink.

After that we went on the hunt for a backpack for Hubby. He wants a new backpack that can carry his laptop. His current one is starting to not be as functional, some of the clasps are broken and it’s getting a bit small for him to carry his laptop, work stuff AND school stuff. Sounds like it should be easy to find right? Wrong. First we have to find one that will fit his mammoth laptop. That cuts the backpacks about down to ¼ that he can use. Then we have to find one that will fit his needs. We actually found one on line pretty easy, the hard part was finding someone who sells it. (You couldn’t buy it online). The website told us several local stores to check. We went to Office Depot and Office Max. The carried the brand we were looking for, but not the one backpack we were looking for. Last stop of the night was Best Buy. They had it. So, we were able to look at it closely. He is happy with it; he is going to put it on his birthday wish list.

I wonder how many people read my blog. I know of a few people for sure that do, but I am just curious of how many people do. Well, maybe some day I can figure out how to access that information.

It’s Friday! But that really no longer means anything to me. Working two jobs took that special feeling of Friday away from me. And now, with my new schedule, Friday’s will be irrelevant. Friday for me means working 2 jobs. I have worked every Friday this month and I have a few more to go. But, if Friday still retains that special feeling for you, because you won’t have to work tomorrow, well then Happy Friday to you!!

Not much New news

Dakota and Cheyenne. Those are two more very popular dog names here.

Last night I was working when it really hit me that I had made the right decision. First I had a man ask me, “Are you the manager?” I was able to say: yes I am! Second, a lady and I were talking and she said, ‘you must really like animals’. I said yes, I do. I then told her I was leaving the corporate world in order to work full time at the store. She said, ‘I wish I could do the same thing’. I don’t know why I ever doubted my decision. Probably due to the fact that it’s a change and I don’t handle change well!

Not much else is going on here. We are having a rash of warm weather. Yesterday was in the 60’s and today may reach 70! Yes, we are still in Colorado. We haven’t moved to Hawaii when you weren’t looking! Hubby rode his motorcycle to work for the second time this week!

We have been pretty bad about sending out birthday cards the last month! We send our apologies to those of you whose birthday we have missed. Life has been a little crazy out here.

Where have all the donut shops gone?

Yesterday I started my morning by running to WnW first thing. I had forgotten to settle the credit cards the night before when I closed, so I got up earlier and ran over to take care of that. Then I went to my other job (SH) for about 20 minutes. After that I took of to go to the eye doctor’s. It was time to have my eyes dilated. Gee, doesn’t that sound like fun?!

So, he dilated them and gave them a thorough check. They are looking good. Then, he gave me a pair of those lovely wrap around shades that stick to your head and probably cost a penny. I wore them out of the building, in case the eye doc was watching me. But after getting in my car, I put my own sunglasses on over my glasses. Yes, I looked silly, but not as silly as the wrap around ones.

Next stop was the post office. I had to mail some books for one of my bosses (this was a little difficult since my eyes were dilated). While I was waiting in the ridiculously long line, I decided donuts sounded like a good breakfast. Then I started trying to think of the closest donut shop. There really aren’t any. We only have 1 or 2 Dunkin Donuts left in this town. We have 1 Krispy Kream, but it was the other direction, and would have been a trip to get them. So, I had to settle for donuts from Safeway (a grocery store). I called the office and the guys requested apple fritters. So, I stopped at Safeway. They didn’t have any plain with chocolate frosting. I had to get plain glazed and maple glazed for my self. They were still tasty and satisfied my donut craving.

But the lack of donuts shops has me curious. Is it because people tend to be healthier here, or is it because of the carb diet craze? It’s just a bummer. Every now and then, you need a donut!

This weekend was okay. I worked 1pm-9pm at WnW on Saturday. That morning Hubby and I took it easy and had a late breakfast at one of our favorite breakfast restaurants. While I was at work that afternoon, Hubby had guy time. He had about 5 or 6 friends over. They played video games and card games. Sounds like they all had a good time and had some male bonding time.

Sunday I had the day off!! So, we ran errands that we had been putting off for a while. I got new sneakers, we bought groceries, went to the mall, and a few other things. It was nice to get things done. We also rented a few movies from Blockbuster.

Monday was back to crazy as normal. That day I had to work both jobs. Hubby had the day off from work. But he did have to go to school that night. That morning, Buddy had a visit to the eye doc. We have to take him about every 3 months. But the pressure in his eye was way up. And it looks like the other lens is starting to detach. So, it looks like poor Buddy has more surgery in his future. We just aren’t sure when.

Last night I got a haircut after work. My hairdresser has been cutting my hair since I was 5. She has been cutting Suzi’s hair from her first haircut! Well in August, she fell off a car trailer and broke her leg, both bones, the fibula and tibia, as well as both heels. She has had surgery, a rod and screws and all kinds of things. She just returned to work in late December. I had given up on haircuts while she was out. My last haircut was July. So, last night she took 3 inches off. My hair was just feeling to long for me. Of course the first thing Hubby said when I got home is ‘your hair is SHORT’, which it’s really not, just shorter.

Well, it looks like Hubby will have to endure Universal Studios and Daytona with a bad knee. We arrive home from our trip on Feb 22 and he is scheduled for surgery on Feb 24. Hopefully he can survive our trip okay. Looks like he will have to ice it at night and take pain reliever.

Medical Issues

I am quickly learning that the name Kirouac must translate into Medical Problems in some language. For example: Hubby went to the knee doctor yesterday. His knee (the same one he dislocated his kneecap on 13 years ago) has been pretty sore and clicking recently. When I say clicking, I mean I can HEAR the noise when walking behind him, it’s pretty gross. So, off he went to the knee doc. After the appointment he called to inform me that they would be scheduling him for arthroscopic surgery. Fabulous! That lovely task should be done before the end of the month… we hope. Otherwise it begins to play into our Daytona 500 trip. All though, if he has surgery the week before we go, we could probably park in handicap parking, and that would be nice! And maybe Jeff (Gordon) would see us in the pits, feel sorry for the Hubby being in a wheelchair at a race and invite us to watch the race in the comfort of his motor coach…. Hey, one can dream.

But wait, there’s more…

I woke up feeling…well, icky, this morning I guess you could say. I took some Pepto Bismal and headed off to work. Pretty soon I started feeling a sharp pain in my back. It wasn’t getting any better and I all around felt pretty icky. So, I called the doctor. They got me in within an hour. I have pretty bad IBS at times (Irritable Bowel Syndrome). I was diagnosed with it a while back but I have never wanted to concede the fact that I ‘suffer’ from it, all though I know I do. So, after a lengthy discussion with my doctor about how he can feel my intestines feel like a ‘lead pipe’ as he likes to call it, I am full swing in a bout of it right now… Again, Fabulous! So, today I admit defeat. I am a sufferer of IBS. So, after discussing how to figure out what my triggers are (duh, stress) I walked out of there with an anti-spasm medication, and my back problem is probably most likely linked to the current episode of IBS. I have used the medication in the past and it always worked before. But back then, I was still in denial. The lovely IBS is what prompted me to have to go through many many test in April 2003 that I am still paying the bills for today.

So, on the way back to the office, I stopped at Chipotle and got a burrito bowl. I am sure that is good for my IBS.

...

One of my best friends lost his father to cancer yesterday. Ironically he is being treated for cancer as well. The amount of sadness I feel for him is indescribable.

Scott, our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. We love you.

Replaced

I am being replaced. I knew it was bound to happen. I am even sticking around for a while so it could happen. I am sticking around to train my replacement. But it is still sad to think that I can be replaced so easily. It’s a nice feeling to think you are non-replaceable. It doesn’t feel so good when you realize you are so easily replaced. Kind of like realizing that the people you love are not immortal.

SH tried again to get me to stick around. They made an offer equal to WnW. They sure are making my decision more difficult to swallow. But, I am still going to stay with WnW.

Hubby’s birthday is coming up. He has wanted an MP3 player for a while (like an IPod). He wanted the one Dell makes for a while. Then he started researching it further and decided upon the IPod. So, I ordered one for him for his birthday. 2 days after I did the order, he decided he wanted a different brand. ARG! I finally had to tell him that I had all ready ordered the IPod. He asked if I could cancel it as he really wanted this other one. I was able to cancel the order with Apple, and Hubby went to Best Buy to get the one he wanted. Yes, I let him get it, even though it was supposed to be a birthday gift. I just figured it was better to let him pick out exactly what he wanted. I didn’t need any more drama over an MP3 player! I guess I will wrap the box it came in for his birthday.

Hubby started school last night. He says his teacher is a dork. (His exact words.) He says this class should be pretty easy for him, but it will require lots of homework apparently.

I had the night off from WnW last night. That was my one night off this whole week! Yuck! I used the time with Hubby out of the house to catch up on phone calls. I spoke to Scott, Cyndi, Kelly, my cousin Danielle, and my mom. I also took down Christmas decorations and did laundry while I was on the phone. It was nice to connect with everyone again. I know that with my schedule for the next month it will be hard to get time to be able to, so I have to do it when I can.

This is going to be a long week for me! Getting up at 6am every morning, starting work at 7am, and then not getting home from work until 9:30pm makes for a long day. I have Sunday off this weekend. I am really looking forward to that! I all ready have a list of errands I need to do!

Yawn…I am so looking forward to Sunday! I think I may sleep half the morning away.

What was that? A weekend?

Someone at my SH job said to me this morning: “how was your weekend?” I sat and thought about it, did I have a weekend? Was it just the weekend? I guess it was, because I worked all day both Saturday and Sunday at WnW.

I am still nervous about taking over as store manager. I guess I will just have to live with this nervousness between now and when it actually happens. My pups sure are happy about my new job though. I bring home lots of stuff to try out on them. I want to see what the product looks like, and how my dogs react to it. Of course Buddy is not a good gauge, because he will eat anything, food or not! But Petey is a little bit pickier, so he is a better gauge. Last night they got to experience part of the ‘raw diet’. I gave them chicken and turkey medallions.

The raw diet is just what it sounds like. It is raw meats. It goes back to the principle of that is what dogs used to eat before they were domesticated. The kinds we have are all frozen; you defrost them and give them to your dog. Buddy and Petey loved the medallions; at least they disappeared fast from their food bowls.

I also brought home a turkey loaf. It looks like a little meatloaf, but it’s made of turkey products with spinach in it. We make them right in our bakery. We have a whole line of deli items for dogs, plus our treat lines. So, my lucky dogs get to sample a little bit of everything! I sure haven’t heard any complaints! I have a feeling that if they could talk, every night when I get home they would ask me what I had brought them that day.

I had a bad moment this weekend. Something I always wondered if it would happen. We saw a dog owner kick and punch his dog. Not proper treatment for handling a dog! The dog was not even misbehaving. But, it’s one of those things that we just have to grin and bear. We can not tell people how to discipline their dogs. But it’s going to be tough in those situations when we see someone mistreating their dog. Gotta take the good with the bad I guess. I keep trying to think, at least they brought the dog to WnW, and so they must not be completely abused.

Brian has his first day of school today! I asked him if he was ready, he said no but he would deal with it.

My SH job is conducting interviews today. It’s kind of sad, thinking about being replaced.

Dog Names!

Why is change always a hard thing? I am starting to feel nervous about the upcoming job change. I am starting to realize that I will miss my SH job. But I have to try this new opportunity or I would be upset with myself for not trying. I guess only time will tell!

I was working at WnW last night. An American bulldog came in. I have never seen an American bulldog before. They are very similar to English bulldogs, just about 3 times bigger! This guy’s name was Diesel, and he weighed in at 130 pounds at 8 months old! He was HUGE! And he did NOT like being in that tub! I ended up having to help the owner keep him in the tub while he got bathed. I was so soaked! I had 2 shirts on, and they were soaked to my skin, as well as my jeans. This was about 6:30pm the bulldog was in, and I was still damp when I got home at 9:30pm that night. But Diesel was so cute!

It’s funny what people name their dogs. Here in Colorado we have lots of things to do with the mountains. We get lot’s of dogs named things like Aspen, Sierra, & Avalanche. Then you have a huge dog named Diesel and you think ‘now that’s a great name for him’! We had a large Doberman in this past weekend named Rock. Then we have had Oscar’s and Grover’s and Groucho’s, Sage, Spokes, and all kinds of names. But here in Colorado the names tend to have a mountain overtone.

Well, Hubby’s financial aid is all in place and he got his books! He has orientation this Saturday and then on Monday, class begins! Wow, that is just 4 days away!

Welcome to 2005!

Well, New Year’s started out with a bang here! We had our annual New Year’s Eve party. We had about 20 people. At midnight, 14 of them were left to ring in the New Year. It was fun, and nice to ring in the New Year with friends.

Sunday was back to work for me. I got a surprise! They offered me the manager’s position for the store! Actually they offered me manager position at either store, but of course I am going to choose the one closer to my house! So, then I had a large decision to make. After much deliberation, and negotiating I gave my notice at SH and accepted the position at WnW. I will have my last day with SH on February 4 and start as manager on February 7 with WnW! Phew! I am feeling a little nervous about it, but we will see how things go.

Monday I only worked 2 hours at SH. They were closed for the day, but since I took ½ day off on Friday I wanted to make up some of the time. After I left work, I took the dogs to the vet for a nail trim and for Petey’s blood test. Good news is that his liver levels are almost back to normal! 13 or 14 years old and still going strong! I hope he sticks around for a while!

After that I met Hubby for lunch and then went home to work on laundry and cleaning. Even now, the house is still a bit of a mess from the party. Not bad, a just lot of fondue pots every where!

Speaking of fondue pots, I have a funny story. On New Year’s Eve, Hubby decided it would be best if we picked up another pot. So, he went to Bed, Bath and Beyond. We know they sell them. But, they were sold out. So, I tried Target after leaving work. NOPE! They were sold out also. They had some display models, but none in stock and the display models were missing pieces. From there I called Sears and 2 Wal-Mart’s. All were SOLD OUT! I didn’t realize that suddenly Fondue is so popular! So, we called our friends Tony and Kelly. They have a fondue pot, but when they took it out of the box, it was broken! Thankfully Rick said he would bring his over so we could use it. Who knew it would be so much trouble to find a fondue pot!

It’s snowing today. It started last night. The roads were not to bad coming to work, so that was a relief!

Here’s another funny story that had me in stitches last night. I hope I can describe it well so that you can understand how funny it was. Hubby had given me a balloon for my 30^th birthday. Well, that balloon is still going strong, it hasn’t lost any helium! Last night the 2 dogs were chasing around a plastic bone that we had put some treats in. They ended up in the corner where the balloon was. Petey somehow managed to get it wrapped around his leg. He was more concerned about chasing the bone with the treats then the balloon string wrapped around his leg. Every where he moved in the room, the balloon followed. Occasionally he would look up at it, but he more concentrated on trying to steal food from Buddy when they fell out. Pretty soon, Hubby went over and unwrapped the balloon from his leg. He then put the weight at the end of the string through Petey’s harness. Now the balloon was really attached to him. Petey was moving all around the kitchen. I couldn’t see Petey, just this balloon moving around the kitchen. It’s quite a sight to see the balloon moving at that pace around the kitchen table. And knowing a dog was attached to the other end was what was making me laugh so hard. I knew when he wanted to go outside because the balloon moved to the back door and stopped moving. He didn’t seem to have any idea that this balloon was on his back going for a ride. I was laughing so hard I had tears rolling down my cheeks.

We have had several deaths in our families the last few weeks. Our sympathy goes out of all of you who have suffered a loss recently. Also we hope Paul feels better soon, and we hope you aren’t in the hospital very long.