I am back! {Totally random update}

So, if you know me, you know that summer school kicked my butt this summer! I have been either been working at the gym or working on school work literally almost all summer! It has not been fun. I am grateful for my $job$ though because it gave me an opportunity to get some school work done.

A lot has gone on since I last really got to blogging...I can't go into too too much detail right now, but pray for my family!

Soon I'll be finding out where I'll be doing my practicum {job shadowing} for the Fall. Either way, I recently met and discussed high school counseling with the fabulous school counselor at Maiden High School. I would love to do both my practicum and my internship in the Spring there, but if not, it will be at North Lincoln High School, so, no complaints there! I've heard great things about the counselors there. It's where my brother went to school. It's a new facility with a low turn-over rate...so either way, the Lord is blessing me! I never thought I would say this...but I think I might want to be a high school counselor!! Eek!! We'll see how this practicum & internship go...

Doggy training's doing well! We go to lesson #3 tomorrow night. My dad said you can't teach an old dog new tricks but, we'll just have to prove him wrong! ;) I love Lisa at PetSmart in Hickory who's doing the training. I highly recommend their training program with her there!

I got my Isenhour roster this week for the Fall. We are going to be a PACKED HOUSE! Every room is filled, every spot is filled...even the old show room! This is going to be an interesting year....I can see it now! I have faith in my staff though! Hopefully it'll be another fun year!

Crate failure #2

Imagine my surprise when I saw this when I first walked into the door:

That's the bottom of Baby's crate, that obviously wasn't locked in. Notice one of the two treats I left her still on the pan after my return, four hours later. And she LOVES those treats...

This adorable furry face met me when I walked into the living room. She flipped her bed over and was hanging out in the bare cage. Grr! Oh well, her loss...she is going to have to learn to love it!

Funny story: Later on, I was sitting on the couch and she got up and walked over to her crate. She started sniffing around, got BACK IN IT, sniffed some more, and then found the other treat I had left her, and ate it. She didn't eat either one while I was gone, but was sure to go back and get the two treats when she was a free bird.

I can already tell this whole experience is going to be a memorable one. :)

Doggy Lesson #1

Mom joined me today for Baby's "doggy lesson" numero uno! Gotta love Moms! If Baby isn't hanging out in Hickory with me, she'll be staying with my Mom, so, we needed two pairs of ears listening to Ms. Lisa at PetSmart...not only to make sure we remember everything, but mainly for much-needed consistency!! Of COURSE I set my alarm wrong {or something!} and woke up 15 minutes before it started. The only reason we were 5 minutes late was because I forgot her vaccination record at the apartment and didn't realize it until I was a couple minutes down the road. Thank you Lord for blessing me with green lights, little traffic, and pushing my gasless car all the way {first} to PetSmart and {then} to the gas station! And {of course} poor Baby decided to get car sick as we pulled into the parking lot. My dog has impeccable timing!

There were only 3 of us in the group training this morning...Baby, a newly adopted Mango {who was a-dorable!}, and CoCo {yappiest dog ever}. Funny story...Lisa {the dog trainer} asked Coco's "parents" if they were married {I don't know why but I remember there being a reason.} and the woman abruptly and sternly said, "NO!" ... Uhoh. Someone sounds like they're in the dog house {no pun intended}! The poor man, I felt sorry for him... they were both on disability, living together, and he was the one that was going to be taking car of her dog because she, again, was disabled. I think I'd be a little nicer to my live-in assistant if I were her! But that's just me...

We learned all kinds of cool things today and I hope Mom can continue to join me! It was fun for us to be able to do it together. I have homework to do until our next doggy lesson on Thursday and any time I leave the apartment {and can't take Baby}, then she'll be chillin' in the crate until I get back!

Another {almost not-so} funny story: Alex brought Baby to Hickory last night. I had her new crate home all filled, cute, comfy, and ready to go. Alex and I went to the Hickory Crawdads game last night and I'll be darned if as we passed her crate to walk out the door, she wasn't knocking her food and water over in it, on top of her bed and "security blanket." I fussed, "BABY! and THAT'S why you're going to training in the morning!" and then Alex and I left her there. She'll have to learn her lesson.

One thing I did learn this morning is that I need to get her on a feeding schedule, only feeding her twice a day, in the morning and in the evening. We don't over-feed her, we just lay the food out and she eats it when she wants to. She doesn't get the bowl replenished more than twice a day. So! With that said, there will be no food left in her crate for her to toss about when I leave, which means no food for me to clean up when I return! :) Sounds good to me! I feel bad not leaving her any water...but the trainer suggested she'd be fine. Lisa said, "She's inside, in the A/C.. she'll be fine while you're gone, just offer her some water when you get back." So, we'll try that! Alex asked me if we could get her one of those hamster water bottles to have her suck out of off the side of the crate. I'm pretty sure they don't make those for dogs, but I could be wrong...

Wish me luck!

baby goes to school...

So, Baby's going through some serious separation anxiety when I bring her to stay with me in Hickory. My apartment was recently recarpeted so, there's no more room for foolishness! I have decided that an old dog can and will be taught new tricks and am enrolling Baby in "doggy lessons" {as I am calling it}. We start this Saturday morning and I can't wait to see how it goes! I'm already loving the lady who is going to be teaching them. Cross your fingers for me! :) and for her! My poor Baby's in for it and she has no idea...