My work is done here...

In case some of you didn't know, this is what I do for a living,and love doing it.
This is Annie,before and after,she hadn't been groomed in months,and so she had to be cut short,but I was able to save her ears and topknot... Annie is one of my favorite makeovers, she is such a willing client. A little sweetheart she is,and her Mom is too.

These are some of my favorites ones to groom, the worst come in,and leave looking and feeling so much better.I fell that it is a win win situation, the clients are happy,the dogs are happy to be clean,and I am happy to know I have done a good job...and got paid too. Not all of them come in looking like Annie, some are regular,coming every few weeks or sooner.
Sometimes, in fact, most of the time I talk to the dogs or cats while I am grooming them, I think it takes their mind off what I am doing, maybe trying to figure out what I am saying,it just seems to calm them most of the time. And then there are times, I tell them, don't bite me, go home and bite your parents, they are paying me to do this! Some will never get used to it,and it is just traumatic for them,and then I just try to hurry the process as much as I can without further scaring them... those that get dragged out of the backyard once or twice a year, and don't come willing.
I have shaved a cat that was 6 years old,and never been groomed,and never flinched, and tried to shave a cat that was never going to go for it,and ended up bouncing off the walls.... Those days, we feel lucky if we leave with all our fingers intact,and no bites... good times!
When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a Vet, and then I found out you have to euthanize some animals, and that was the end of that for me. So,I find this is the next best thing, you are helping them by cleaning them up,and being kind to them,so they have a pleasant experience,it's all about the talking to them.... I think. I talk to my furbabies too,more like kids than I should admit,but it works for us.

This Easter season, Hershey is celebrating it’s new Easter products sold exclusively at Walmart and their legacy of making a difference and Hershey’s will donate up to a total of $5,000 to the Children’s Miracle Network together with bloggers.

How can we do this together? It’s simple:

Participate to Hershey’s Better Basket Blog Hop of giving away virtual Easter Baskets by creating a blog post with specific rules described here.

Hershey Company will donate $10 per each blog post to CMN, up to total of $5,000.
One blog post per URL counts towards the donation, but you can give as many virtual Easter baskets as you want.

The Hershey’s Better Basket Blog Hop will officially begin at 12 AM EST on March 18th and end at 12 PM EST on April 4th, 2010. Blog posts submitted to us before or after that time period will not be counted for.

The blog post link has to be submitted to us for the donation to be counted.
In addition copy and paste the following text in your blog post:

Amber Star gifted ME with an Easter Basket by tagging me!





~ the Hershey’s Better Basket Blog Hop is Here ~
HERSHEY’S BETTER BASKET BLOG HOP RULES

◦Copy and paste these rules to your blog post.
◦Create a blog post giving a virtual Easter Basket to another blogger – you can give as many Virtual Baskets as you want.
◦Link back to person who gave you an Easter Basket.
◦Let each person you are giving a Virtual Easter Basket know you have given them a Basket.
◦Leave your link at BetterBasket.info/BlogHop comment section. You can also find the official rules of this #betterbasket blog hop, and more information about Better Basket with Hershey’s there.
◦Hershey’s is donating $10 per each blog participating to the Better Basket Blog Hop to Children’s Miracle Network (up to total of $5,000 by blog posts written by April 4th, 2010).
◦Please note that only one blog post by each blog url will count towards the donation.



I am tagging Eli !


Judy of Living On The Other Side of The Hill
Nit Wit 1 of Coward's Corner with Luckie
Arkansas Patti of The New Sixty

Or anyone who would like to play, all the info to post your link is here and on the Hershey website. It is a good thing!

Week ONE!

This has been a busy week, but other than wishing to God that the cravings would go away, it has been fine as far as not smoking. I am so glad to have finally realized I can't go on ,it's the money,the smell,the social outcast thing...and I live with animals,and I wouldn't inject them with heroin,why am I blowing smoke on them???
That thought is from a book I bought,and it makes so much sense,Allan Carr came up with the idea years ago,and quit smoking years ago.Sadly, he died from lung cancer in 2007,they said it was probably from all the seminars he gave, you can still smoke while you are in the seminar or reading the book, which I did have a couple of puffs off one while reading the beginning of the book,but thought,oh HELL, I am trying to quit,why I am doing this??? I had already not smoked for several days,so I am not smoking while reading it,you can,it says you can, if you do desire... I don't.
It is The EASYWAY to quit smoking,and I think it is good.For me at least,confirms my reasons to quit,and I only hope if you are trying to quit, you try it.You can buy it off the website, I found it on Amazon.co for 8.99 which included S&H...
Work has picked up,and I can open bills without cringing again! woohoo. It was a long hard winter,but one of introspection... a good thing.Maybe what lead me to quit smoking,and eat better too,no more eating out at a drop of the hat... bad juju for the butt I tell ya.
As the days are longer,and warmer,I have had a chance to get out in the yard more, my favorite place in the world,the only thing that would make it perfect is if my daughter Elisabeth were here with me... soon I hope.Soon we shall be dining and having coffee in the backyard by the waterlilies... and watching the dragonflies,which I love,and have plenty of ,thanks to the little water ponds I have.And their main staple is mosquitoes,how cool is that?

But the squirrels are back with a vengeance!OMG!! I put out fox urine in the plant room attic again, if you have had squirrels ,you know how bad they are,and fox urine you buy,no I didn't squeeze a fox for the love of God,but I do despise them that much.It comes in a bottle,you put some on a cotton ball or whatever,I use cotton balls,and fling them to the corners of the attic.I learned that trick in Alaska,it works,and the looks on the guys face when I go in and ask for it is pretty good too,I guess I don't look like the type of woman that would either know it existed or what to do with it.. hehe,I am a woman of many facets,and some are damn handy too.