Successes

Today was a good day.

I love those mornings where you wake up and the curtains have moved just a little bit, lighting up a dim room and the two of us slowly wake at the same time. There’s really nothing like being curled up next to someone who loves you with everything they have. Zoey was excited to hear us wake this morning. Due to the cramped quarters of our room, once her tail end gets swaying, she turns into a fuzzy little drum set.

I got to run some errands with my best friend and we took our pups to Tynehead Park for a good walk. It was nice getting out of the house and into some crisp air after having the flu and feeling like crap all week. The dogs loved it too but really that goes without saying. As we walked we realized that it was the last Saturday of Summer. Huh, time flies, eh? It was a wonderful day to celebrate the last of it though. Everyone on the train, and it was busy, was so friendly. Towards the end of it Zoey even let two of the cutest little girls pet her without flinching or shying away. Brave girl!

After dropping off the dogs we went to go get some office supplies for work. It may be lame but I love getting new office items. I am a kind of person that gets excited over a new ream of cardstock. Hah. We even got to see one of our favorite clients on our way into starbucks. She even had her little wienie with her. Life has been a little rough going for her too but today I was happy to see a smile on her face.

We got our own caffeine fix and stuffed ourselves full of bakery goodness before parting ways for the day. I’m lucky enough to have a boyfriend who has no issue in helping me study for the test I had today. He brought up flashcards and grinned from ear to ear when I told him the answers with confidence. This test was much easier than the first.

I was early to get to the training center so I turned around the checked out the Celtic goods store that was right around the corner. These shops are a danger to me. I love European sweets and goodies. Inside was almost like every other British import store I’ve been to. Wire racks up against plain white walls. Things are pinned to the drywall but as always, the staff are super friendly. Whenever I find myself in these places I always get asked about my hair.

“You must be irish! Does it run in the family?”

I’m always happy to answer. “Irish, Scottish and Welsh! Generations of redheads!”

My favorite candy has to be this stuff. Good god is it good. Maybe it’s because it’s chalky and I have a weak spot for chalky candy but this stuff also dissolves in such a delicious manner. Yum! I picked up their last two baggies of it and searched the place for other goodies. Had I not been trying my best to save (I’m not very good) I would have bought out the store.  In addition to goodies they had flags, hats, toques, stickers and all sorts of other good stuff. I picked up three pens with flags of the nationalities I hail from and justified it by saying that I needed a lucky pen for my test today. They also had Vanilla coke and this stuff in the cooler. Sounds like my kind of drink!

My haul from the store was pretty good and I tried my best not to devour all the candy I brought. Once I got to the training center I was happy to test out my new pen on my test. I brought out the Scottish one. Just my luck the damn pen dies half way through my first question. Cherie (My peer and only other student in the class) and I laugh. I decide against another flag pen and go for the more traditional to get me through the test. I was all smiles when I passed with flying colors. Woo!

Our exam is on Monday. I’m nervous but I’ve had some good people help me study so if I review a little more I hope I’ll be ready. Amber has been a great teacher and says that we shouldn’t stress ourselves over the test. If we don’t get any of the questions she is happy to make sure things are clear with us so we know what we need to.

After our test we packed up and headed to the local animal shelter that is only a few blocks away. It’s brand new and a beautiful shelter. Here we met a beautiful Staffy mix named Deloris and we used the techniques learned in our earlier lessons to assess her and determine a proper training plan for the type of personality she has. We did the same with a golden retriever named Duke. He was picked up hours earlier, found running loose on the beach. It was obvious that he belonged to someone and probably had to be bailed out of doggy prison by his owners once they found out their beasty was missing.

Next up was a little three legged pitbull named Nova. She was the sweetest thing and was probably the happiest pitty I have ever met.

Despite having three legs she could bounce up to your face and was strong as could be. Her evaluation was different from the first two dogs and we ended up taking her for a walk to practice loose leash walking. Such a funny girl. I really hope she gets adopted by the right people. She is so loving and endearing but really needs a patient handler for her excitability.

We got back just after the shelter closed. A man was waiting outside hoping to pick up his dog, the golden from earlier. He looked anxious and was ready to take his old guy home but it turned out that once a shelter closes for the night, the dog is stuck till the next morning. The poor guy had to leave his pup there and go home to his kids and tell them that their dog was spending the night in puppy prison. It made remember that day when Charlie used to Houdini out of the back yard. Our shelter wasn’t open on weekends so we had to wait until Monday to rescue our wayward pup. Yikes. I wish he could have taken his dog that night but sadly life isn’t kind at all times. After, we all said our goodbyes and parted to our cars.

Driving is always nice when you have a good playlist hooked up and nowhere to rush to but home.