still catching up

so i got as far as the spay/neuter clinic. we started early (i got there about 5:30) and people started showing up with their pets a little before 6am. at a little after 6:30 i started calling the people whose pets weren't there yet. we got most of 'em to show up. then surgery started at about 7. as per normal, the food brought in by volunteers was awesome, and boy, did we earn it! i think the clinics are getting more and more popular - we had so many volunteers this time that i stationed one person with the boss' and my dogs in the office to pet and love on and keep 'em happy. it was great to get all these incredible people together and introduce them to other people who love animals. and we did good deeds at the same time! double win!
so then i finally got to relax a little bit on sunday, after helping work with an agressive puppy. then monday was a real monday, and tuesday went really smoothly until the end of the day when i got to start driving. see, i got to go to an inventory/osha training on wednesday and thursday up in everett. yeah, long drive (also that's where the ex lives now. awkward!). so i drove up on tuesday, got there about 9:30, and checked in to my motel 6. sort of eeew, but i had a freebie coupon, and we know i can't pass up a freebie. first the heater wouldn't get warm, then it got too warm, but altogether not too terrible. the training was awesome. webster veterinary supply has a webster university program, and this was the first time i'd gone to any of their classes. there were only about 15 of us, with a great instructor, and i think we all learned a lot. plus, all the other people there were veterinary office managers, so we got to talk shop and help troubleshoot each others' issues and whatnot. got some really good advice and met some great people. they fed us too, which is always a plus in my book. hot breakfast and lunch at the courseroom, and then they took us all out to dinner on wednesday to an italian bistro. yum! can we say tirami-awesome-su?
finished up with osha stuff on thursday at about 1. just in time to go to the irs office to get copies of tax returns for my loan officer, and then hit trader joes and big lots before the first time homebuyers class i had to take to get a deal on my down payment. since they don't offer those classes out here, i scheduled it for thursday evening while i was in civilization. great class, and i learned a lot, but i didn't start the drive back until almost 10.
so then there was a little bit of sleep before i got up to take my car in to the shop. i swung by the new house on the way there. it seems the cabinet guy had a family emergency, so it's still almost done... at least everybody's ok and it should be ready by closing (maybe dec. 15th?). i took the dogs along for the ride, so that we could all walk back from the mechanic. i think they had fun, at least on the walk back, since teddy's not a huge fan of riding in the car. then i left 'em at home because the rain was picking up, and i went to work. once i'd caught up on most of my piles of stuff, i realized that it wasn't just a scratchy throat that had been bothering me - it was full-blown achy/fevery/swollen neck glands and grossness throat. so i got kicked out of the office a couple of minutes early. like that did much good because i had to drive in to town again anyway. at least i got some sleep after i got home.
so on saturday i felt a little better (yay) and (gulp) went and watched harry potter. i know, i know. i haven't wasted theater time on any of 'em so far, but hey, i'd already gone bowling and scoped out the volunteer recognition thingy at the convention center... it was definitely a harry potter movie. partly weird, partly obvious (does anyone else think malfoy is going to pull a darth vader and turn good in the next movie? guess i could read the book and find out...) and harry's just a little full of himself again. so it's not okay to steal necklaces unless harry does it, in which case whoever tries to stop him is a bad guy? animal farm much? just a tad frustrating that this series was a whole huge thing and that masses of children have idolized these books and now have been "taught" (or at least had it reinforced) that it's okay to feel entitled and that people should just help them in their quests, regardless of whether or not they agree, and that fighting is an acceptable solution as compared with rational discussion, etc. etc. not a huge fan of the potter kid, i know. and that was my tangent for the day.
finally almost caught up to today, in which the snow fell, blew around, stuck, melted, stuck some more, and turned the world all magical for a few minutes. then i got really cold, hence my 3 layers of socks. hot cocoa time!