Celebrating the right way

As I mentioned, March 1st was my 37th birthday.  Most of the time, my birthdays are a little "lack-luster".  I generally get a "Happy Birthday" or two here and there, but there usually isn't much celebrating to be had.  This year was different.

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Wednesday, the day before my birthday, BFF, her daughter and her boyfriend, took us out to lunch to celebrate.  They took us to somewhere we'd never been, a restaurant called Ramano's Macaroni Grill.  I had the Lobster Ravioli and now I'm on a quest to find a recipe for it.  Man-Hide swears we will find one, and that he'll make it for me, but so far, none of the recipes I've found sound quite like the real thing.

I'm not kidding about how good this dish was!  Let's put it this way, I'm sure you've heard of the Food Network Show, "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" where all the famous chefs get on there and talk about the best dish they've ever eaten and where they got it from, right?  Well, if I was a famous foodie on that show, that would totally be my pick.  It was fantastic!

They also bought me a cake with my name on it.  I had a blast and I will love BFF for forever for trying to make my birthday special!

After that, we went to our 2nd orientation at the Humane Society.  We were expecting a large group of people again, like it was at the 1st one, but it ended up just being us and the lady doing the orientation.  With my social anxiety disorder, that was awesome!

I got a BIG birthday surprise while we were there, too.

At our first orientation, we were told that we'd be starting in March sometime, but last week, I saw on their Facebook page that they were having some trouble with their system and that the lady in charge of setting everyone's schedules had lost everyone's email address.  Per her request, I dutifully sent in ours.  Her response was to say she appreciated it, but unfortunately, everything was now behind because of this system crash.  She'd get me a schedule as soon as she could.  I was disappointed to say the least, but tried to take it in stride.

Since we were the only people to show up for the 2nd orientation, and the lady doing the schedules was there, we were given our schedules on the spot, and since we'd put Thursdays on our availability, we were penciled in for the very next day, Thursday, which just happened to also be my birthday!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Thursday, we were up and raring to go early and went and did a little of our weekly shopping and errands, then we were off to the Humane Society for our first official day as Volunteers.

When we first got there, in spite of the two orientations we'd been through, we were still a little disoriented.  We wanted to start with the Rescue Room, (which is where all the new animals go that are waiting for a clean bill of health from the vet tech, or behavior testing, or maybe just an open kennel on the floor.  This is a different room than the regular kennel area that the public sees.) but the kennel worker was cleaning their kennels, so we decided to wait.  We checked the Isolation room, but all the doggies in there were too young to be walked yet (and they have to be walked at the end of your shift with special leashes in a separate area so they don't get the other doggies sick), so we headed for the main kennels.

There was already a volunteer there that was letting the doggies out for free-play in the yard kennel by kennel, so we just kind of jumped in and started rotating kennels.  She would take one kennel resident out on a leash to the field and we would wait for her to get out of the gate, then we'd let the next kennel out for free-play.  When she would get ready to come back in, we'd leash our charges and get them back in the kennels so she could bring her charge through the yard.  (You have to keep dogs from different kennels separated because they might not get along.  Not all dogs at the Humane Society are necessarily good with other dogs.)

We did this until she left, then Man-Hide and I just started going kennel by kennel, taking them out to walk.

I walked one old girl named Emma.  She's a yellow lab, about 8 years old, arthritic and a little over-weight.  I bonded with her immediately.

As I walked behind her and watched her booty bounce with every step, I told her it looked like we had some things in common.  It was my birthday, after all, and I was feeling my age right about then (about an hour in to our session and I'd been chasing puppies all morning).  I could imagine our booties bouncing in unison as we walked around the field.

A little later, we finally made it to the Rescue Room, where I met the most adorable Boston Terrier named Angel.  Now, as you can guess, we have a passion for anything bulldog, and Bosties and Frenchies are both a breed of bull-dog, but they are small and manageable and, frankly, easier to get a place to live with.  When we get our own place, we fully intend to own one or the other.

Angel's paperwork listed her at about 8 years old (like Emma) but with a digestive problem that required a special diet (this is why she was still in the Rescue Room).  We took her out and enjoyed a nice walk around the field, just like with Emma, but Angel decided to take a break about half-way back to the fence, so we sat down with her in the grass and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

After about 10 or 15 minutes, one of the Adoption Counselors headed our way.  To begin with, I thought we'd done something wrong and they were coming after us, but as she neared, she said Angel's new family was there to pick her up!  She got adopted practically right out of my arms!

I'll be honest, I wasn't sure how I would handle dogs I bonded with getting adopted to someone other than me.  I was afraid I'd be sad and maybe even cry, but when we got there, we found out Georgia had been adopted and then Angel gets adopted practically from my arms.  I was thrilled for both of them!  Now I understand how people manage to work in shelters.  There is serious satisfaction in knowing one of "yours" found a home and that you made a really stressful time in their lives just a little bit better.

After we finished up at the shelter, we went up to Bald Rock.  For those that know me, this is a religious experience.  I find so much peace with myself and my life up there, and it was exactly what I needed after all the stress and drama I've been dealing with.  We even took some pictures while we were there, but I've been having a hard time getting around to getting them off of Man-Hide's phone (my battery goes dead the minute I think the word "camera").

All in all, it was an awesome birthday!  Truly one of my best yet!

Love, light and happiness...until next time!

She's Home

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I finally get a day off that isn't filled with running, going and doing.  Ok, so I have stuff to do this evening, but right now, I'm just kicking back and trying to enjoy a relaxed morning.

Mom is home from the hospital now and she has nurses and technicians in and out daily.  This morning, someone is coming to draw blood.  Tomorrow, someone else is coming to install a machine in the kitchen that she can weigh on and test her blood pressure daily.

She came home Friday night while we were at work and it's been good to have her home.  It's taken some adjusting, and she isn't at full-strength, but I'm just happy to come home and see her sitting in her chair in the living room again.  It was getting hard to come in and out every day and see it looking so empty and forlorn.

Dad's still struggling with good days and bad days, but Mom, as always, takes the brunt of it.  I think she's just relieved that she got to come home and he was still here.  There were a few days that we were afraid we might have to seek outside help, but we managed to get through it.

Tonight, we go for our 2nd orientation (the actual volunteer orientation).  I was supposed to go get an eye exam and some glasses today, but that's not going to happen.  After the orientation, I'm not sure what we're doing, other than maybe going to see our BFF.

Tomorrow is my birthday though.  I'll  be 37.  Yeah, I said it.  40 just seems to loom closer and closer on my horizon.  What happened to 30???

Life is moving along.  I did go yesterday to the herbal store and picked up some new medicine.  So far, it seems to be helping.  That's always a good thing.

So that's it for me today.  I wish I had something more exciting or entertaining to share, but right now, I just can't think of anything.

Love, light and happiness....until next time...

Georgia on my mind

This is Georgia.  She's a beautiful Boxer Bull dog that Man-Hide and I were lucky enough to spend part of our afternoon with today.  She's a year and half old, and has a club foot that the vet tech said was likely that way from birth.

We have no idea how she ended up at the shelter.  We spent over an hour with her, and she was one of the most loving and affectionate dogs I've ever had the pleasure of spending time with.

We took her out to the porch and as she walked, she did not let her foot hinder her at all.  She even pulled a little on the leash in her excitement to get outside with us.

As we sat, Georgia climbed up between us and lay across both our laps.  She was very relaxed and seemed to just be enjoying her time with us, as if she knew it was a gift.

Leaving her at the shelter today was hard for both of us, and we agreed that if we had our own place, she would have come home with us.  On the walk back to her kennel, she resisted and looked at us very sadly as we said our goodbyes.

The only thing that's going to get me through times like these, is knowing that if it weren't for people like us, and the rest of the staff and volunteers at the shelter, Georgia, and others like her, would likely face a life alone on the streets or be condemned to wait on "death row" because of her breed, or might get no attention at all.

As hard as it is to leave one behind that you could so clearly have a special bond with, I know that I brought a  little joy into Georgia's life today.  That, in turn, brought some joy into mine.

If I can give these wonderful babies love, time and attention until they find their fur-ever homes, then I know I have made some small difference in what could have otherwise been, a very sad situation.

As much as I hope to see Georgia again next week when I return to the shelter, part of me also hopes that I won't.  That I'll find out that she got to go to her fur-ever home with a family that will love and care for her.

For now, though, I definitely have Georgia on my mind....

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Mom update:

Today was another round with the plasma transfusions.  I spoke with her earlier (still haven't been able to go up there because of my cold) and she was very tired and said she'd had a bad day.  The plasma and blood transfusions do that to her.

Still no word on if she'll get to come home Friday or if that's just wishful thinking on her part.  We'll have to wait and see.

Love, light and happiness....until next time....

Working it out

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I've been a busy bee today with Wow being down.

I created a Blog Frog Community page, a Facebook Fan Page, set up an RSS feed, made buttons and did some moving around.  I'm really starting to like the way my blog looks.

I know all the awesome bloggers out there say that you shouldn't have a dark colored blog, but I like it, it suits me and my personality, and I think that's all that really matters!

I also had a busy day yesterday.  No, the taxes haven't come in yet (I wish!), but I did go to the Orientation class I've been talking about with the local Humane Society.

Last night's orientation was basically a "pick your part" kind of deal.  They had different groups for people that wanted to go to nursing homes and take puppies in to visit the residents, people to work the clinic, people to work in the kitty room and the puppy room (and more I can't remember) and then they had the dog walkers.

Dog walking is the group Man-Hide and I signed up for.  Why?  Well, it's actually more involved than you would think.

We will be attending a 4 week class in April to learn about dog training, coached by a very experienced professional behavioral trainer.  We will be working with adult dogs, which just don't get as much attention, or as many prospective adopters, as puppies and kittens.

Adult dogs that do get adopted, are often returned for behavioral issues because most of them have never known much companionship or been exposed to much beyond the end of a chain.

As Dog Walkers, we will be not only walking the dogs, but working with them on their behavior, such as not jumping on people, calmly exiting the kennel, sitting and staying, and taking the time to just sit and relax with them and allow them to relax.

Originally, I was thinking I might like to work with the puppies (and I'm thinking about giving an extra day to the clinic since I want to be a vet tech anyway), but now that I have signed on for the Dog Walkers, I'm really glad I did.  That's what Man-Hide seemed to be the most interested in and to start with, I wanted it to be a "together" kind of deal anyway.

I feel like working with the adult dogs, we are truly giving something to them.  Allowing them to see that there are good people out there that care about what happens to them.

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I did get to have one of my warm and fuzzy moments last night.  When we first got there, there was an American Pit Bull mix in one of the kennels.  He was beautiful, but you could tell looking at him that he was stressed out and unhappy.  We spent a few minutes there with him before orientation started.

We went out at the end of orientation to the kennel area where he was to get a demonstration from the lady in charge of the Dog Walking volunteers on some of the basic behavior stuff, just enough to get us started until our 4 week class in April (we'll start volunteering in March) and I saw a big sign on his kennel that said "ADOPTED" in big red letters.  I was so happy for him!  Bull dogs in general have such a bad wrap and they often don't get adopted from shelters.  Many of them live out the remainder of their lives there until they become sick or so stressed out that their behavior no longer qualifies them for adoption, so I was thrilled to see this beautiful guy get a home and I even got to watch him walk out with his new owner to go to his furever home.

The hard part was that while we were waiting, we also saw owners come in to surrender their dogs.  That's going to be the part that makes my heart break, but at least I know that we will be there to give them some love while they wait for their furever home.

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A quick update on Mom.  They got the liver biopsy results back and the spots on her liver are benign.  Looks like the cancer is confined to her colon and whatever is going on with her blood.  She has hopes of getting to come home Friday sometime, and I truly hope she does.  She has been missed.  She will still need to get an appointment to have the cancer removed from her colon and she will have to undergo chemo after that, but at least there is progress.

Love, light and happiness...until next time.

Glad that's over

So it was another insane weekend in my own personal hell.  My job!

Friday wasn't too awful bad, and passed somewhat quickly.  Saturday, on the other hand, was horrible!  Two people called out and none of the managers thought we needed to replace them.  That left me and an my buddy that trained me, with one guy that hasn't been there long and a new guy that transferred from another store.  Unfortunately, although the kid seems nice enough, he seemed to have one speed, and it was just a notch above full-stop.

To top it all off, they kept sending my buddy to bus tables, which pretty much left me and the two other guys to try to keep up with everything, and it was busy!

Add to that the fact that I think I have a cold (AGAIN) and my favorite piece of man-hide had to work all day, all weekend, and it made for a very long weekend.

Also, our tax check has not come yet.  That's added another layer of stress since we live pretty much paycheck to paycheck and we missed time from work due to mom being in the hospital and my dad completely freaking out for a whole weekend.  Money has been non-existent.  I mean, can't even afford a cup of coffee non-existent.  If it weren't for our best friend, Double-D, I don't know what we would have done!

Today wasn't quite as horrible as yesterday since we apparently had the opposite problem from Saturday, and were over-staffed.  I got cut early, which is a blessing since Man-Hide has to open in the morning.

Right now, I just want rest and coffee.  And yes, I do drink coffee at night.  It doesn't have the effect of keeping me awake like it does some people.

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Man-Hide is playing his video game for a bit while I blog and play a little WoW.

Tomorrow, we're hoping the tax check comes since the website now says that our taxes have been processed.  We can hope anyway.  Either way, Man-Hide has work and then tomorrow night, we have our orientation at the Humane Society for our volunteer hours.  I'm truly stoked about that!

Due to my cold and work, I haven't been able to get to the hospital to see Mom.  She's mostly doing ok.  We're waiting for the results of the liver biopsy to come back and they're doing blood and plasma transfusions daily because they said that something was wrong with her blood.  She did say that she had trouble breathing last night when I called her this morning and that she was back on oxygen, but I'm hoping that's temporary.

Well, that's about all I have time for tonight.  My hands are still aching from a weekend of washing pots, lol.

Love, light and happiness...until next time!