Dog Adoption Update

I received an email from the President of the Boxer rescue group about a dog that she has been fostering that she feels may be a good fit. "Tigger" is about a year old (about the same age as Fitz) and just sounds like a wonderful dog -- I had the opportunity to have a long conversation with the rescue woman about him on Wednesday night and came away from it very excited to meet this guy. He's a small-ish (on the shorter side, 45 lbs, but very muscular) brindle Boxer who is energetic, but enthusiastic, loving, listens, likes to learn, loves to play and is great with other dogs. He's also completely housebroken and crate trained. So, I'm packing up my dogs and driving down to Bellingham, MA tomorrow morning to meet him. If all the dogs get along and it looks like a good match, I'll most likely be bringing him home with us tomorrow! I will post an update here over the weekend either way.

Crazy

Do you ever get the feeling that you're so crazy busy and going in so many different directions that you're actually getting nothing at all done? Thus has been my life at work lately. It's great, but ... it's nutz.

Email trapped in the SPAM folder since Tuesday morning (sheesh!)

"Congratulations! You have completed all the steps in our adoption process and you are now approved to adopt one of our dogs. We recommend that you become pro-active in this matching process, and work with us to match the right dog to your specific circumstances. Please continue to review our available dogs and contact us when a dog that you believe to be a good match for you and your family is available. Be sure to read that particular dog’s information to ensure you can offer what he/she needs (another dog, a fenced yard, someone home more often than not, etc.) and remember that the goal is to find the best match for you regardless of age, gender, color, etc.

THANK YOU! "

YAY! I'm officially approved! I guess I'm an acceptable adopter, imagine that?

What a Ditz

I don't know whether I'm losing my mind or what, but I swear I had an 8 AM meeting today. I got up early, rushed through my morning routine, got to work by about 7:15 AM so that I could enjoy a cup of coffee and read some email without having to rush around to be ready for the meeting to start ... Well, I just realized that I haven't seen a reminder yet so I checked my calendar and ... no 8 AM meeting! WTF? Did it disappear? Did I imagine it? Did I get the days mixed up? Am I just going insane? Well, at least it's nice and quiet here for a little while, so I can enjoy that before the craziness starts. But still ... SHEESH! It's going to be a loooooong day.

Dog Interview Update

So I had my home visit with the rescue group last night and it went very well. The woman they sent seemed to really like my home and was also impressed with my dogs (who behaved very well, I might add) and said that I obviously love them and care for them well. She brought her 12 week-old Boxer puppy with her to see how my dogs interacted with him and I was just ready to swoon over with love for this cutie! What a face! 12 weeks old and he & Fitz were about evenly matched in height, although Fitz has a lot more girth on him. Anyway, it was fun to watch them romping in the yard and there was obviously no problem with any of the dogs getting along, so no flags there for the group. So, I believe I've passed all the hurdles at this point. As she was leaving she said that she would file her report right away (that night) and that the next step is that the rescue group directors would be in touch with me about dog placement! So ... YAY!

Is it possible to LOVE an appliance?

Because, if it is, I think I truly love my new vacuum. I've come late to the Dyson craze of course. I know many people who have one or another version of this vacuum (I purchased "The Animal") and all have been singing its praises for years. I knew that it was just a matter of time before I caved and got one. There have been a lot of things on my financial plate, however (buying a car, buying a house, buying stuff for the house, or improvements, etc. thousands of $$$ in dental work, and so on) so a new vacuum had been pretty low on the priority list. That is until I broke my old vacuum by sucking up something it wasn't suppose to suck. Then the question is, to cheap out and buy a lesser vacuum to make do with and someday upgrade to the Dyson? Or just bite the bullet and go for it. I went for it. Well, let me tell you, this thing is incredible! I'm almost embarrassed to explain how much dog hair it sucked up. And then today after using it, I realized that I needed to empty the cannister. I was dreading this exercise with the bag-less unit expecting it to be a messy & complicated ordeal, but I was incredibly impressed with how easy it was! I had brought both vacuum and trash can out on the deck, anticipating the big mess when really all that was involved was clicking the cannister off the machine, holding it above the trash and pulling a trigger. The bottom flipped open and all dust and hair, etc. slid easily out and into the can. It couldn't have been easier. So yes, anything that makes my life easier and a dreaded chore a pleasure is worth at least a blog post in my book.

Work is Lovely

I have to say that I've really been loving my job lately. I've been extremely engaged and busy and involved in an ever increasing variety of stuff, all of it at the same time both interesting and overwhelming. I have so much to learn, but I feel continuously grateful for the opportunity to do so.

So Excited

I am a step closer to adopting a rescue Boxer dog. The rescue group with whom I filled out an application contacted me about a month or so ago for an in-depth phone interview and they followed up by contacting my personal & vet references. Well, I must have passed all that because I received an email yesterday from a woman with the group who wants to set up a home visit. After a little back and forth it looks like we're targeting for Monday evening! I had really hoped for a weekend because I would presumably have a chance to wear out my dogs (especially Fitz) a bit in preparation for the meeting, and especially as she plans to bring her male Boxer along to see how my dogs interact, but hopefully everything will still be alright. If all goes well, there may very well be a Boxer out there that will be a great fit for my little canine family.

Seen at Work Today

A woman dressed head-to-toe in plum velour long-sleeved top and matching pants. In August. Didn't anyone tell her it's like 80-something degrees outside?

and now I'm getting sick!

Sore throat, keep sneezing, etc. This is just fantastic news.

(oh yeah and my iron count was too low to donate blood today)

People are so freaking inconsiderate!

So, I get to work this morning and all is pretty quiet except ... some asshat two cubes up who is on an early morning conference call on her freaking speaker phone!!! WTF???!!! Oh don't worry hon, the World truly does revolve around you. Sheesh!

Okay, someone just shoot me!

I have 5 meetings tomorrow. FIVE!!!