Action Packed Saturday
Busy but mostly good day today, starting with me finally falling asleep at around 5 AM and then waking up again at 9 or so, but in a much better place emotionally. I woke Casey up shortly after because she'd said she wanted to get an early start shopping with grandma (ha, someone buying her stuff is one of few things she's willing drag her butt out of bed on a Saturday morning for), so off they went, and she came back later with some clothes, and also a little something for me. My mom bought me that new Wii Fit Plus game. I haven't had time to use it yet, but it looks like fun. I'm excited about playing some new Wii Fit games, but don't know when I'm going to find the time to do it. Tuesday maybe.
She also got Casey an exercise video that has some of the So You Think You Can Dance contestants teaching dance moves. She had been asking me if she could join a gym because she was concerned that she was starting to gain weight now that she's no longer doing gymnastics or dance (or anything physical really.... not even PE because I let her opt out of it so she could take band). She looks totally fine, btw. Still slim as ever, but physical activity is a good thing to have in your life. Still, there is no point in me paying for a gym membership and then having to drive her there all the time when there are like a thousand things she could be doing at home (go swimming, ride her bike, take the dog for a walk, play the Wii Fit, etc). So the video should be useful. She's downstairs doing it right now, actually.
This afternoon we had our first official SPCA shift. We were 3 minutes late, which I know is not a big deal and nobody even noticed, but it WAS our first day and it was for a very frustrating reason. We had stopped at Walgreens on the way to get some water and gatorade to bring with us (it's extremely hot and there's no water cooler or anything for the volunteers, you have to bring your own drinks. also, we have no drinks at home because I really need to get groceries but probably won't have time until Monday after work). So, this lady in line in front of me had a cart full of stuff and like 10 coupons. The cashier said she could only use 1, so the lady was like "no problem, I'll just pay for everything separately". And they LET HER. So we stood there for 15 minutes while she pulled 1 or 2 items at a time out of her cart, paid, got her change and then pulled the next one out and did it all over again. Meanwhile the line behind her went from just me to about 8 people. WTF? How does a person think it's okay to do that shit? And then when they were almost done the cashier said "Next time you have to just use one coupon because now I'm getting a line." and the lady basically responded that it was the fault of their one coupon rule and not her. OMG what a stupid bitch.
Anyway, it's a good thing I overestimated the drive time so we weren't all that late. The shift was dirty, sweaty and exhausting, but totally worth it. Really fun and rewarding. I was definitely in airhead mode (probably the new environment and the excitement of all the cute dog faces) and made several dumb mistakes in the beginning, but I eventually got the hang of it. It was a pretty slow day, and we only ended up showing one dog (not that there was only one family that looked at a dog today, but as for people Casey and I helped, it was just the one couple), an adorable Pit Bull puppy named Chase. The majority of the dogs at the kennel seem to be at least part pit bull, and being there for just a few hours dispels any rumors about them. They are the sweetest things ever. Chase was being looked at by a couple who had a dog just like him where they lived before and they'd had to give him away. The lady started to cry as soon as she saw him because he reminded her so much of her old dog. Unfortunately I don't think they will end up together. She mentioned that they live in an apartment, and Chase is a really big dog. They left saying they were going to get with their apartment management to see if they could get him, but even if they say yes, I'm not sure the shelter will let them have him. Big dogs like that do not belong in apartments.
So after we were done with them, we spent the rest of our shift exercising the other dogs. There's a clipboard where volunteers check off who was taken out last, so you just go down the list and take them out one at a time for about 20 minutes of play time, practicing their tricks, maybe getting brushed. Just getting them out of their cages for a while. Every single dog was totally sweet and awesome and adorable. There was one who was a little too rambunctious though, and she pounced all over us the whole time, LOL. She hadn't quite mastered the "off" command. But she was a cutie too, just pretty big to be constantly trying to tackle us. 99% of these dogs are really big, so it was interesting trying not to let them walk me when I had them on the leash (Willow pulls too, but she only weighs 20 pounds).
So there was this Rottweiler who was appropriately named Goliath that scared the crap out of me. He was just so huge, and when I walked up to his cage to say hi to him, he started barking this huge, loud bark and I actually screamed. And then I saw a note that he wasn't allowed to play with the balls because he's possessive with them, so I was scared of him. He'd been adopted already, but has to be neutered before he goes home. Anyway, he was last on the list to be exercised, and when we got to him I told one of the guys that I was afraid to take him out, so he got him for me, and boy did Goliath turn out to be just a big ol' sweetie after all. He was 4 years old, so a lot calmer than most of the dogs we'd been dealing with (almost all were under a year old), and I think it was like Casey said, he had only been barking at us because he wanted to play. While I was cleaning up after him with the hose (he lifted his leg EVERYWHERE, OMG so glad I have a girl dog at home), I discovered he liked that a lot. He ran right over and started biting the water, drinking and playing with it. It was so cute. He got soaking wet playing around in it, which was probably a good thing because it was so HOT today. Like I said, heat index was 100 degrees.
We got home tired, sweaty and covered in dog slobber, but we were pleased. Took some very badly needed showers and then headed out to see Fame. I decided we'd see it at the Celebration movie theater. It's a quaint little town and I like how small the theater there is (it only shows 2 movies). Well, little did we know, today was their Fall Festival and the place was PACKED. There was nowhere to park unless you paid, so I gave in and forked over the money. I was worried that the movie would sell out since the place was so busy, but I guess people were busy with the festival, because there were like 6 people in the theater with us. Anyway, I liked Fame a lot. I think it could have used a little less drama and more performance scenes, but it was still good. Loved the lunchroom scene. I don't think I've ever seen the original movie or the TV show, though I'm pretty sure I saw the play forever ago (and I don't remember it), so I didn't have anything to compare it to. How similar is this to the original movie? Anyone know?
So yeah, tired now. Tomorrow will be another busy, fun day during which I get nothing productive accomplished. WEE.
She also got Casey an exercise video that has some of the So You Think You Can Dance contestants teaching dance moves. She had been asking me if she could join a gym because she was concerned that she was starting to gain weight now that she's no longer doing gymnastics or dance (or anything physical really.... not even PE because I let her opt out of it so she could take band). She looks totally fine, btw. Still slim as ever, but physical activity is a good thing to have in your life. Still, there is no point in me paying for a gym membership and then having to drive her there all the time when there are like a thousand things she could be doing at home (go swimming, ride her bike, take the dog for a walk, play the Wii Fit, etc). So the video should be useful. She's downstairs doing it right now, actually.
This afternoon we had our first official SPCA shift. We were 3 minutes late, which I know is not a big deal and nobody even noticed, but it WAS our first day and it was for a very frustrating reason. We had stopped at Walgreens on the way to get some water and gatorade to bring with us (it's extremely hot and there's no water cooler or anything for the volunteers, you have to bring your own drinks. also, we have no drinks at home because I really need to get groceries but probably won't have time until Monday after work). So, this lady in line in front of me had a cart full of stuff and like 10 coupons. The cashier said she could only use 1, so the lady was like "no problem, I'll just pay for everything separately". And they LET HER. So we stood there for 15 minutes while she pulled 1 or 2 items at a time out of her cart, paid, got her change and then pulled the next one out and did it all over again. Meanwhile the line behind her went from just me to about 8 people. WTF? How does a person think it's okay to do that shit? And then when they were almost done the cashier said "Next time you have to just use one coupon because now I'm getting a line." and the lady basically responded that it was the fault of their one coupon rule and not her. OMG what a stupid bitch.
Anyway, it's a good thing I overestimated the drive time so we weren't all that late. The shift was dirty, sweaty and exhausting, but totally worth it. Really fun and rewarding. I was definitely in airhead mode (probably the new environment and the excitement of all the cute dog faces) and made several dumb mistakes in the beginning, but I eventually got the hang of it. It was a pretty slow day, and we only ended up showing one dog (not that there was only one family that looked at a dog today, but as for people Casey and I helped, it was just the one couple), an adorable Pit Bull puppy named Chase. The majority of the dogs at the kennel seem to be at least part pit bull, and being there for just a few hours dispels any rumors about them. They are the sweetest things ever. Chase was being looked at by a couple who had a dog just like him where they lived before and they'd had to give him away. The lady started to cry as soon as she saw him because he reminded her so much of her old dog. Unfortunately I don't think they will end up together. She mentioned that they live in an apartment, and Chase is a really big dog. They left saying they were going to get with their apartment management to see if they could get him, but even if they say yes, I'm not sure the shelter will let them have him. Big dogs like that do not belong in apartments.
So after we were done with them, we spent the rest of our shift exercising the other dogs. There's a clipboard where volunteers check off who was taken out last, so you just go down the list and take them out one at a time for about 20 minutes of play time, practicing their tricks, maybe getting brushed. Just getting them out of their cages for a while. Every single dog was totally sweet and awesome and adorable. There was one who was a little too rambunctious though, and she pounced all over us the whole time, LOL. She hadn't quite mastered the "off" command. But she was a cutie too, just pretty big to be constantly trying to tackle us. 99% of these dogs are really big, so it was interesting trying not to let them walk me when I had them on the leash (Willow pulls too, but she only weighs 20 pounds).
So there was this Rottweiler who was appropriately named Goliath that scared the crap out of me. He was just so huge, and when I walked up to his cage to say hi to him, he started barking this huge, loud bark and I actually screamed. And then I saw a note that he wasn't allowed to play with the balls because he's possessive with them, so I was scared of him. He'd been adopted already, but has to be neutered before he goes home. Anyway, he was last on the list to be exercised, and when we got to him I told one of the guys that I was afraid to take him out, so he got him for me, and boy did Goliath turn out to be just a big ol' sweetie after all. He was 4 years old, so a lot calmer than most of the dogs we'd been dealing with (almost all were under a year old), and I think it was like Casey said, he had only been barking at us because he wanted to play. While I was cleaning up after him with the hose (he lifted his leg EVERYWHERE, OMG so glad I have a girl dog at home), I discovered he liked that a lot. He ran right over and started biting the water, drinking and playing with it. It was so cute. He got soaking wet playing around in it, which was probably a good thing because it was so HOT today. Like I said, heat index was 100 degrees.
We got home tired, sweaty and covered in dog slobber, but we were pleased. Took some very badly needed showers and then headed out to see Fame. I decided we'd see it at the Celebration movie theater. It's a quaint little town and I like how small the theater there is (it only shows 2 movies). Well, little did we know, today was their Fall Festival and the place was PACKED. There was nowhere to park unless you paid, so I gave in and forked over the money. I was worried that the movie would sell out since the place was so busy, but I guess people were busy with the festival, because there were like 6 people in the theater with us. Anyway, I liked Fame a lot. I think it could have used a little less drama and more performance scenes, but it was still good. Loved the lunchroom scene. I don't think I've ever seen the original movie or the TV show, though I'm pretty sure I saw the play forever ago (and I don't remember it), so I didn't have anything to compare it to. How similar is this to the original movie? Anyone know?
So yeah, tired now. Tomorrow will be another busy, fun day during which I get nothing productive accomplished. WEE.