The One Where Christmas Is Officially Over
It happened yesterday at lunchtime. Christmas officially ended for me. Yes, the drama created by my father's neverending quest to ruin every holiday I ever have ended Sunday as did the visit from my mom. Ross and I exchanged presents in October. I think I got the last of my presents from friends three days ago when I got my thoughtful package from Mon. I don't put up Christmas lights or a Christmas tree, and I don't listen to Christmas music, being quite the grinch I apparently am.
So what marks the official end of Christmas, you may ask? Well, I finished the last of my mom's toffee yesterday after lunch. That marks the end of Christmas. Even though there's still plenty of fudge, pie and peanut brittle, when my favorite Christmas candy is finished, so is my holiday.
This Christmas was actually the best I've had in awhile. I didn't go home for the holidays, so family drama was limited to a few nights of phone calls. Yes, it did put a damper, but there's a difference between being trapped in a house 20 miles from the nearest town with a stoplight with the drama and being able to hang up the phone, cry for a few minutes and then hit the 24-hour Starbucks. So there you have it, I survived again. :)
I've been off all this week, so even work drama couldn't get me down. Being the type of person who never sits still, I made a list of things I wanted to do, and I've done most of them. Yesterday, though, I wasn't feeling well after spending four hours hosting a detection dog practice session at the water recycling plant and actually took the day to rest. Four hours in the complete dark walking around in the cold (relative, of course) watching dogs sniff for dope and bombs can really take a lot out of you. My boss does it with her dogs, and they're always looking for new places to practice searching. She actually gets called out by the police when there's a bomb threat. But it's so fun to watch dogs do something they're trained to do. All she has to do with her experienced dog is say, "Find it" and he searches every bush, every car, every crevice, without her directing him at all and he finds the scent and alerts her by sitting next to it. He's amazing. The main thing now is training her. The trainer put down several things that represented trip wires and booby traps to show her that her following her dog so closely could get her killed. It really freaked her out. And, today, I'm even going on a date -- dinner and a movie, things I never make time to do.
I did have an excellent training session today with Chubbs. I took him to the park and had him sit while a bunch of kids came up and pet him. He's going to be such a great therapy dog. I bought the Delta Society home-handlers course so I can get him evaluated soon and get started.
Muggsy has been quite on edge. He attacked Chubbs twice this week and bit my foot when I tried to take a bone from me. He's also been barking at every noise outside. Guess I'll never know what makes him tick. He's in his quiet space cooling out right now.
Fenway has been having quite a bout of allergies, so I've been researching supplements online to make her less miserable. I hope I've found some combinations that will work. Poor thing.
We're finally less than a week away from the Rose Bowl. I was never able to get Ross tickets, so I guess we'll be watching it from the Texas Exes bar. I'm getting really tired of the hype, so I'll be glad when this is over, no matter who wins. Ross keeps complaining about how USC is getting so much hype, but imagine being a fan of a team that's in one of the other BCS bowls. No one is talking about anything but the Rose Bowl. I'm starting to forget who's even playing in those other major bowls since we never hear about them. Apparently, the guy I bet at work found a USC sticker that will take up my entire back window. How obnoxious is that? But he was kind enough to find one that won't leave sticker marks when it's removed.
Anyone who lives in Texas see anything obnoxious enough to rival that? I can't find anything around here...
Happy New Year, everyone. I hope 2006 will be as good to everyone -- or better -- as 2005 was.
So what marks the official end of Christmas, you may ask? Well, I finished the last of my mom's toffee yesterday after lunch. That marks the end of Christmas. Even though there's still plenty of fudge, pie and peanut brittle, when my favorite Christmas candy is finished, so is my holiday.
This Christmas was actually the best I've had in awhile. I didn't go home for the holidays, so family drama was limited to a few nights of phone calls. Yes, it did put a damper, but there's a difference between being trapped in a house 20 miles from the nearest town with a stoplight with the drama and being able to hang up the phone, cry for a few minutes and then hit the 24-hour Starbucks. So there you have it, I survived again. :)
I've been off all this week, so even work drama couldn't get me down. Being the type of person who never sits still, I made a list of things I wanted to do, and I've done most of them. Yesterday, though, I wasn't feeling well after spending four hours hosting a detection dog practice session at the water recycling plant and actually took the day to rest. Four hours in the complete dark walking around in the cold (relative, of course) watching dogs sniff for dope and bombs can really take a lot out of you. My boss does it with her dogs, and they're always looking for new places to practice searching. She actually gets called out by the police when there's a bomb threat. But it's so fun to watch dogs do something they're trained to do. All she has to do with her experienced dog is say, "Find it" and he searches every bush, every car, every crevice, without her directing him at all and he finds the scent and alerts her by sitting next to it. He's amazing. The main thing now is training her. The trainer put down several things that represented trip wires and booby traps to show her that her following her dog so closely could get her killed. It really freaked her out. And, today, I'm even going on a date -- dinner and a movie, things I never make time to do.
I did have an excellent training session today with Chubbs. I took him to the park and had him sit while a bunch of kids came up and pet him. He's going to be such a great therapy dog. I bought the Delta Society home-handlers course so I can get him evaluated soon and get started.
Muggsy has been quite on edge. He attacked Chubbs twice this week and bit my foot when I tried to take a bone from me. He's also been barking at every noise outside. Guess I'll never know what makes him tick. He's in his quiet space cooling out right now.
Fenway has been having quite a bout of allergies, so I've been researching supplements online to make her less miserable. I hope I've found some combinations that will work. Poor thing.
We're finally less than a week away from the Rose Bowl. I was never able to get Ross tickets, so I guess we'll be watching it from the Texas Exes bar. I'm getting really tired of the hype, so I'll be glad when this is over, no matter who wins. Ross keeps complaining about how USC is getting so much hype, but imagine being a fan of a team that's in one of the other BCS bowls. No one is talking about anything but the Rose Bowl. I'm starting to forget who's even playing in those other major bowls since we never hear about them. Apparently, the guy I bet at work found a USC sticker that will take up my entire back window. How obnoxious is that? But he was kind enough to find one that won't leave sticker marks when it's removed.
Anyone who lives in Texas see anything obnoxious enough to rival that? I can't find anything around here...
Happy New Year, everyone. I hope 2006 will be as good to everyone -- or better -- as 2005 was.
posted by Rachel at
4:47 PM
2 Comments:
Does it scare your boss that her dog could blown away by bombs, etc.? If she's like you, that probably worries her more than getting blown up herself. As for Muggsy, I know from working with kids, that any upset in routine puts them in a spin. Holidays were always challenging. He's probably just confused right now and doesn't know how to act when things aren't normal. What you did with Chubbs sounds like fun. Just like you, he's a magnet for kids :).
By
Diana, at 5:36 AM
My boss never lets on that anything worries her. But she was definitely shaken when the trainer showed her her footprints all over the X he marked in the ground to mark the booby trap. Dogs are at less of a risk because of how light they are on their feet. I know, though, that the couple of times she's actually been called out on real bomb threats that it freaks her out a little.
By
Rachel, at 12:29 PM
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