One last hurrah....

Before my crazy 7 days a week 13 hour days arrive....

I got the job at the vet clinic!!! Horray for me! They didn't give me any more money, but it's such a fantastic opportunity, I couldn't pass it up. They also explained that the way that they work, they consider themselves a "training hospital" and as such, as you complete their training manuals, your pay rate goes up. So in the next 6 months, I could be making up to two dollars more an hour... so it will work out in the end.

So because I won't have the opportunity to do anything else for a while.. I decided I wanted to go away for the weekend. Luckily, Eldon was ok with this, and so was his dad, who graciously put us up for the weekend. I'm sure he didn't mind though, since I made breakfast every morning!

I think Wesley got the most out of the weekend though. I really wanted to spoil him this weekend as he's not going to be getting a lot of attention in the coming months as I will be a busy bee with 2 jobs and school for a while. He definately had the most fun.

We arrived late Saturday night, and were so exhausted we just dropped our bags and went to sleep. Wesley didn't let us sleep in though. He heard Eldon's dad wandering around the house early in the morning and since he was already asleep when we got there Saturday night there was no introductions made. So Wesley was very concerned that there was someone else in the house and he barked and grumbled to make sure we were aware.


Introductions made, Wes could finally relax, and I took the opportunity to introduce him to the other resident of the house... a turtle named Lucy.

I made us all some breakfast and although it was windy and drizzly, we went down to the beach anyway. Ava, one of Eldon's father's friends, met us down there with her extremely hyper Great Dane named Kayla. When that dog is on leash and sees someone she wants to greet, there is isn't much that tiny little Russian woman can do to stop her! This dog has a vertical leap that is literally over the head of this poor lady! I really wanted to tell her how to help control her dog, but she didn't seem like she wanted to hear it, so I backed off. Hey, I was on vacation!





She finally let her off leash and Kayla desperately tried to get Wesley to play with her. Wes isn't a fan of hyper dogs, so he wasn't interested, but she was very persistant... not to mention much bigger than he is!




When both dogs seemed tired, we headed back to the house. Eldon's dad suggested we go out to eat.



Eldon mentioned that Warren told us we had to go get a GIANT steak at some place down there, but Eldon's dad said that place wasn't that good, and told us we should go to Kernville instead. So, that's what we did. Um... they weren't small on the portions either... That was the MEDIUM cut!







We went back to the house, completely stuffed, and Eldon and his dad took turns throwing the ball into the brush behind the house for Wesley. It was hillarious to watch him bunny-hop over the brush and seek out the ball!





All exhausted and full, we passed out, literally around 10pm. In fact, we slept in till like 11am Monday morning! We awoke to find a beautiful day! So of course, we had to go back down to the beach! We walked down, and threw the ball for Wesley some more, although in the sunlight the light green tennis balls were hard to see in the water. So, instead we threw a stick.






The tide was really high, and the waves were large. Wesley was determined to bring that stick back though. Nearly drowning in the process! We decided he was way too good a retriever to keep doing that, because he probably would drown if he got too tired but kept his 'dogged' enthusiasm to get that stick.





So we went up to the cliffs for a bit. Wesley almost gave me a heart attack when he fell down one of the dirt embankments overlooking a cliff and tried to get back up the way he went down. I thought for sure he was going to fall onto the rocks below and break a limb. No pictures from that, as I was too frantic to do anything but try to convince him to go down instead of up to me. He found his way back up though... and was promptly put back on leash. Mostly for my sanity.



Other than that one incident, the weekend was incredibly relaxing. I managed to pretty much completely decompress and I think I can handle the coming insanity now. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to spend a weekend with two of my most favorite guys. :)

my life is moving to Beaverton...

but my residence will remain in Vancouver?

I had my second interview with the owner of the vet practice I applied at a couple weeks ago. The purpose of the interview was to ask for more money. He asked me a lot about the type of dog training I've done, the handling and experience I got at the clinic I worked at in Pennsylvania, the commute issues, etc, and I had an answer for everything. I got the impression that he wanted me for the job. We discussed the pay a little, but I didn't demand any set rate. At this point, I'm so tired of the bs at the store, that I'm going to take the job, even if they don't offer me more money but still offer me the job. Money will be tight, (when isn't money tight with me?) But having a job more geared toward my degree will help me immensely in school, and it's 10 minutes drive from the school. He really seemed to like me, so keep your fingers crossed for me!

Then I went down to the school, and got some bad news.... Apparently my summer courses are going to have to be paid for out of pocket! When I filled out my FASFA, I didn't know I was going to need to take summer classes, so I only applied for fall term. The financial aide person told me that by the time my summer FASFA was processed, the classes would already be in session, therefore I'd have to have another way to pay for them. Obviously, this sent me over the edge... I don't have that kind of money!

Thankfully, I have a guardian angel... and No, it's not my mother. I'm going to borrow the money needed for the classes from this person, and pay them back when my summer financial aide reimburses me. Thank you so much... You truely rock. I honestly don't know what I would have done without your generosity. Thank you for believing in me, often more than I believe in myself.

Now I'm home...

I'd been wanting to go back down to the coast for a while now, ever since the first ray of actual sunshine hit the Portland metro area, but I wasn't able to get down there, or if I had the day off, it was the only day out of the week it would rain.

After last night's debauchery, I didn't think I was going to make it either. Eldon and I were both severely hung over. (Thanks Warren! :p) I still REALLY wanted to go. So I made the hour plus turn around to go from Eldons to my place to pick up the dogs and head back to Eldon's to get him. I hadn't planned on staying there last night, but there was no way I was driving, so pass out I did.

We got down to Cannon Beach around 3, Wesley figured out where we were going when we still had about a half hour drive from the beach, and got very excited and started doing his excited whine/howl he does when he knows we're going somewhere he likes. I know I shouldn't encourage it, but I can't help but love that excitement. Bronson picked up on it too, and started chirping accordingly.

It was a little chilly, but it was so worth it...

Both dogs ran around crazily in their excitement to be on the sand and water.



The water was very cold, but that didn't stop Wesley from bounding in over the waves to retrieve his beloved tennis ball.







Bronson was a bit more reserved. He was not a big fan of the cold water. I don't think he'd be much of a swimmer in those waves anyway.





He was more content to dig up sand dollars.







Speaking of digging...
Wesley LOVES to dig in the sand.
He really should do excavation work.
He's like a friggin steam shovel.

Bronson did his fair share of digging as well.

Both dogs ended up with sandy noses!

The bird dog in Wesley re-emerged, and he chased the birds that decided to taunt him.

Bronson watched from the sidelines.

Many more tennis balls were thrown...

and one finally died!

Bronson let us know when he was ready to leave, by climbing into the bag.

We got back to the car, and both dogs were wiped out and hungry! I didn't have any food with me except some leftover treats in my treat bag.

When we got back I introduced Bronson to Sebastian. He accepted him a lot better than he does Wesley!

Seeing Stars....

Friday night was pretty uneventful. I cleaned my apartment a bit after work and just relaxed with the dogs.

Having a Saturday night off is kinda rare for me, and I was at a loss for what to do with myself. Most of my friends know that I'm not available on Saturday nights, so they don't even bother inviting me out anymore. This makes it difficult to find something to do when I actually don't have to work. Tonight was one of those nights. I had originally planned to hang out with Eldon, but he called and said they were doing a "guys night".







Later on, he called and said guys night turned into everyone welcome, as his friend Erin was joining them, so I was invited too! The plan was to go to Stars. I'd never been, so I was definately interested. I arrived to Warren pre-funking everyone with his fabulously strong drinks.






Geoff was DD, as he doesn't like to drink much at all when he goes out, and besides, he doesn't need alcohol to be funny.

After the rest of us were sufficiently buzzed, we piled into Geoff's car to go to Stars. It was PACKED! So packed in fact, that Erin and I had to wait in a ridiculous long line to use the bathroom. I got to talking to the girl in line behind me, and it was so loud in there we had to lean in to hear each other. A collision happened on the lean-in, and her nose went right into my eye! It was incredibly painful!

We had a great time, Justin showed up later and commented that he's probably bought one of the dancers a car by now... bad Justin! We stayed out till they closed, and decided the night was not over, so we went back to have some more fun at the house.



We started playing "Dirty Minds", of which is really difficult to play when intoxicated. Warren did his best "thinker" pose while trying to come up with an answer that was not dirty to some really suggestive clues.




Eldon's not very good in the kitchen. He had to read the box in order to figure out how to make some mac n cheese on the stove, as opposed to the microwave. He endured much teasing for this.






Mac n cheese finished, and there was much rejoicing. Especially from Erin. She graciously shared her Annie's with me though.

There was lots of laughter....

and sillyness....

affection.....

and even some creepiness...

We tried to get Sebastian to attack Justin, using the lazer pointer as a

lure. He wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea, but we thought it was funny!

A fabulous time was had by all, and the party broke up around 5 am or something. Even the goodbye was fun! Sorry, no photo evidence. Great meeting you, Erin!