Hi Again!

Hi Again!

I'm back! You'll be hearing from me more now. I finally got a laptop, which a person so on-the-go as myself needs. And I will be making more of a point to type updates about my life because my sister and I (with financial help from mom and dad) gave our grandparents Presto email printers (and a year's service subscription) for Christmas. It was made for people afraid of computers. We send them emails and pix and it prints them. So I will be trying very hard to send them stuff regularly about what I'm up to. So you, my dear readers, will benefit as well, as I post the updates.

Here's the first:

Hi Gran! I hope you are doing well. I am still a little tired from the hectic pace of work and dog-sitting before Christmas. I have a day off today (Thursday). It's my last day staying at Kobi's house, so I have some cleaning up to do here before I leave. The next 2 nights I stay at Sami's house. Sami is a Samoyed and looks like a huge version of Kobi. I'm already watching him too and he is here at Kobi's house. They are both so happy to have a playmate. Maybe I'll try to send a picture of them to you.

I hope you have gotten or will soon get some baby pictures from the other grandkids. They are probably cuter than my dogs.

Other stuff on my day-off agenda? I plan on taking a whole bunch of dog stuff we collected at the pet store over to Happy Tails (the dog boarding place where I used to work). Happy Tails started collecting donations for military K9 troops last year. So I started a collection at our store too. We have a big hand-written sign offering to take 40% off the price of any dog items people want to buy and then have us ship over to the military dogs in Iraq, Afghanistan and wherever else they could use them. They have asked for stuff like oatmeal shampoo, eye cleaner, ear cleaner, dog protective eye goggles, paw protecting wax, treats, and toys suitable for large dogs like German shepherds and Belgian Malinois. We collect tons of stuff and alot of people donate money, then we pick out stuff to buy and send. Happy Tails does fund-raisers (dog washes) to pay for shipping and they send it all.

A couple months ago there were two girls who celebrated their 12th birthday together and asked all their friends to bring a check instead of birthday gifts. They raised hundreds of dollars and brought it all in. We were able to order some nice beds with cooling inserts for the dogs stationed in the desert.

We are happy to accept items for the human handlers of the dogs but hardly anybody seems to think to bring in something, they just get dog stuff while they're in our store. Maybe I'll run a contest encouraging kids to write or draw about how dogs can be helpful and send the entries over.


Today I will also check in on Mrs. Riches, the older lady who employs me for a few hours every week or two to help her run errands. She lives near my store. She can't drive any more because she is legally blind from macular degeneration. She is a nice and funny lady.

And I will probably meet up with the lady I'll be dogsitting for on New Year's Eve. She runs her own very busy dog-walking and dog-sitting business. She doesn't have any employees, but she calls her business Smooches For Pooches. She has four big dogs of her own and when I dogsit for her, she often has another dog or two that is boarding at her house for me to watch. I get paid very well for taking care of all those dogs. And I love doing it. Most of her clients are repeat visitors and she has trained all the dogs on how to behave. I just let them out of their crates, feed them and change their water and take them in the back yard to play fetch. Then we all hang out and watch TV or read. Three of her dogs like to sleep on the bed with me and I like cuddling up with what I call the Puppy Pile. Her house is so cute. It is decorated to the hilt with cute doggie stuff. I'll have to try to get some pictures when I'm there. For New Year's Eve I think I might have about 10 dogs there. I know there will be 2 schnauzers but I forget what else. I can't wait for that paycheck!

So if I have energy or time after cleaning, delivering donations, helping Mrs. Riches and getting final New Year's Eve dogsitting instructions, I guess I might go shopping. I want one last Christmas present (for the owner of my store) and a discounted pre-lit Christmas tree for next year. I really hate putting lights on the tree. It takes so long and can be frustrating because I'm an insane perfectionist about the process. I also have some giftcards (and cash!) to spend on myself.

I was hoping Brian would be able to come out to the Bethesda area to visit me but it sounds like he has a wisdom tooth trying to come in, so he does not feel up to coming out. He can't get a dentist appointment until Wednesday. He says he'll just eat soup until then. But I don't think he'll be able to wait that long. I'm afraid it's going to get worse and worse. I hope not!


I am sad and conflicted about work right now. There is a wonderful lady who has been working with us for a few months and she's really great. Well yesterday she decided to put in her two-weeks notice. [REST OF PARA DELETED BECAUSE DIDN'T FEEL RIGHT POSTING IT PUBLICLY. Email me for details.]

I am glad to have the day off today for many reasons. Not being there when she actually tells the manager she's quitting today is one of them. Getting to sleep in was a big one too. I got up a little while ago, called Brian, let the dogs out, fed the fish, played the piano, and got back in bed. I am lying in bed with my new, very light and small laptop computer and a very stinky gassy dog next to me. Ugh.

Well hopefully I didn't use up all your paper and ink with my novel! But now you can see that I ain't lyin' when I say I'm busy-busy all the time!

Love you very much, Laura