I has a puppy!!!

EEEEE!!! His name is Jameson (Jamie) and he is a Brittany/Black Lab mix. He was 5wks old when I got him over Memorial weekend. Right now he is back out with the family I got him from to get some extra time with his mom and one of his sisters. I did some reading and discovered that pups shouldn't be separated until around 8-10wks because of vital socialization with mother and littermates and that removing them from their mom too early can cause them to be very mouthy and to cry often, the two main issues that I was having with Jamie since bringing him home. For being so young, he took to potty training almost instantly. Some of that is probably due to me watching him like a hawk and timing his outings with his meals, naps, and any time that he had to spend in his crate. God bless the internet and it's wealth of information! I had never really thought to take pups out after naps, but with Jamie it has turned into routine, otherwise he'll pee on the floor. He hasn't messed his kennel once, and has never pooped on the floor. He has gotten to the point now where instead of running around and sniffing and whining, he will even go to the back door and paw at it to be let out! So proud of him! I'm sure a lot of that progress will be undone by his being back with his family for nearly a month, but we've got a good foundation laid so I'm hopeful that as long as I look after him like I did in the beginning, he'll pick up where he left off quickly. He is also surprisingly good on a leash...usually walks right beside me on the left side. It's uncanny. However, he talks to me the ENTIRE time, I can never figure out what's going on. I miss him like crazy though, and I only just took him out yesterday early evening...It feels like he's been gone a week already. I CANNOT wait for next Monday or Tuesday when I get to go out and visit him! It will be so exciting to see how much he's grown! I also can't wait to get him back and get him into puppy classes! It will be so great for him to be old enough to follow instruction and have stuff to exercise his little doggy brain. I try to take him for a walk every morning and evening, but it's hard to know how much exercise he needs at this point. He's so little that you wouldn't think very much, but after taking a spin around the block with all of it's hills, he's still hyper for a good 15-20 mins after...I think he needs more mental stimulation, but as of right now he does NOT have the attention span for anything other than playing tug-o-war and working on the "come" command...

Wow, a lot has changed!

Been a very long time since I last posted in here...

Well for starters, I did end up switching to that other league that I mentioned in my last post! Dead Girl Derby is their name, and being a freaking amazing group of ladies is their game! My first practice with DGD was coincidentally the same day as the first round of try-outs for KCRW, and I am very glad that I made the switch as several new girls who came in after me had tried out for KCRW and not made it...I think I heard somewhere that around 30 or so tried but only 10 or less made it. I definitely would not have been among those that made it, haha! As of right now, I am a very happy member of the Lovely Lethals. I was amazed that I was drafted when I was; I had sprained my ankle pretty badly in November and hadn't been able to skate for at least a month when they did the first draft. Luckily for me, even though my ankle took forever to heal (and probably still isn't fully healed), I've been able to rebuild pretty quickly and am improving more and more as time goes on. Once I get certain aspects of my life figured out, I definitely want to find a time to start working out and building my strength and endurance in my upper body and core. Thanks to skating, my lower body has been getting stronger, but derby is a full-contact sport and maintaining balance is key. I am also determined to learn how to do a 180 stop. I recently discovered that I actually CAN do T-stops with my left foot; being able to do that now is definitely going to help me in getting the 180s down, but it's going to be a long process no matter what.


As for Waxy's after I sprained my ankle I couldn't walk hardly at all so working as a waitress was out of the question, obviously. I left there and got back in touch with the staffing agency that I have used a lot in the past, doing some odd stuff here and there for various places, hoping that something permanent would turn up. I was able to land a pretty sweet gig doing office type work for a small medical supply/billing company fairly close to where I live. It's part-time for right now, but as the business grows I'm hoping to be able to pick up more hours. It is perfect for right now though, as I gear up to get back into classes this summer.


Who knows when I will update this again, but I will try not to let it be so long next time!


Edit: Oh, by the way, at least for the time being, my derby name is Betty Fright!

Been a while...

Derby is still good, have had to miss some practices due to schoolwork or not feeling well. Am looking into trying out a different league that is slightly less competitive in the way of quantity of girls trying to get on a team, at least for the next few years while I build my skills and get through school. School is also good, though I am sick today and not very happy about it. I have a lot to get done. Hopefully I will be feeling better tomorrow so that I can dive in and make up for today. Outside of that, I am looking into yet again switching jobs. I love working at Waxy's but I'm just not making the money that I need to make. I'd like to be able to move out next year, but there's no way that I can work enough to be able to do that on tips. I have an interview tomorrow with DermaDoctor down in the Crossroads; apparently they are going to open a "temporary" store on the Plaza for the fall/winter season with hopes that it will do well and become a permanent store. My permanence within the company will be the deciding factor on whether or not I accept any job offer from them...I really don't want to take a position and then be without a job again in a few months. Depending on what my projected schedule would be with them, I would like to try to keep possibly Saturday days and closing on Sundays at Waxy's just to keep my foot in the door with the service industry and also because the manager has begun to take over the Sunday night shift and last night let me behind the bar and began teaching me to pour beer! My goal in becoming a server was to turn it into bartending, so we shall see what comes of that.

Since it's been a while...

Derby practice is amazing, I love it and wish I could do it every day! School is pretty awesome, it's a lot to do with the time that I have but I am definitely enjoying it! Landed a job as a server at Waxy O'Shea's by my house. Pretty decent pub, hopefully I make enough money to stay there, if not then I'll have that experience towards getting a serving job somewhere else. Tomorrow marks my first day of actually doing anything. I'm sure it will go well. It's a new field so I'm sure I'll blunder some things but I learn fast when I'm doing things myself so I'm pretty confident that I'll pick it up fast. That's about all for this update, I'll review some stuff next time I promise!

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For lack of better things to say...

I'll just have to blabber about what I've been doing lately. Still growing my hair out, about to dye it light brown. Roller derby camp starts this Sunday which I am super pumped for. Got myself some sweet skates, Riedell 265's. Met a girl from my area that I can carpool with which is sweet! School starts next week which I am also super pumped for. Still looking for a job though...we'll see what comes of that. I can't sleep because I have the music from Dr.Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine stuck in my head thanks to my devilishly handsome friend Travis. I also have him to thank for my nice sun kissed glow; two afternoons in the sun does wonders for the complexion. Got myself hooked on True Blood...not necessarily a good thing because every five minutes there's a new reminder of how long it's been since I was with someone... However the show really is fantastic, every episode that I've seen so far has an ending that makes you go WTF?! Quite entertaining. Now that all of that is out of my system, I'm going to try to sleep again. Toodles!

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Roller Derby Training Day 1

Well I've made the decision to train, practice and try out for the Kansas City Roller Warriors. It will be a big commitment on top of school and hopefully a job, but I am going to do my best to make it work. That said, there are two weeks until the first day of Pump-Up Camp, a roller derby training program that will run from now until about October. So, to start getting myself ready for 2hr practices two to three times per week, I'm going to be going out and skating or jogging for about two hours every day to at least begin to get myself back in shape. Today's training was relatively light because my rollerblades are crap and out of balance, and because I'm an out of shape pansy. Out of about two hours, however, I did spend half my time skating so I feel that by starting day I should be doing pretty well.

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Randoms

A-Team: Bradley Cooper.

Lies & Alibis: Steve Coogan plays a man who runs a company that essentially helps men and women get away with cheating on their spouses in order to save the relationship by them never finding out about the infidelity. Rebecca Romijn plays his newly-hired assistant tasked with helping him create the cover-up of a lifetime when one of his clients accidentally murders his mistress and all hell breaks loose. A very cute comedy with a fantastic twist at the end, and a wonderfully pessimistic view of the modern "happy" relationship.

Scoop: Scarlett Johansson, Hugh Jackman, and Woody Allen are all three fantastic in this movie. Scarlett plays a journalism student who is investigating Jackman's character after the spirit of a recently deceased famous reporter appears to her and tells her that he is responsible for several murders in the area that she is visiting. While investigating him, however, she begins to fall in love with him because he's charming and, well, Hugh Jackman is impossibly hot. Some scenes are completely ridiculous, but the ending is the best. I will say no more to ensure that I don't ruin it for anyone that hasn't seen it...

Let the Right One In: AMAZING foreign film. It's described as a Swedish horror film, but I didn't find it scary at all. It's one of those movies that you have to see to understand how awesome it is. The plot is extremely simple...Young boy meets "young girl" who turns out to be a vampire. They become friends and eventually an awkward couple, until untimely events surrounding her food of choice force her to leave.

Fargo: Odd movie...I liked it, but it was a much darker comedy than I had anticipated it to be. However, you really can't go wrong with William H. Macy and Steve Buscemi. Those two guys are always awesome. Macy plays a car salesman who has his wife kidnapped by Buscemi and Peter Stormare of Constantine fame (he played Satan) in order to extort money from her very well-off father. Stormare shoots a police officer who pulls them over as they are fleeing town, and then runs down and shoots a couple that drives past and sees Buscemi trying to get rid of the body. Enter the lovely Frances McDormand who plays a pregnant police officer investigating the murders, and finds herself questioning Macy about a beige Oldsmobile Sierra; the car he gave the thugs to kidnap his wife with. Needless to say, dear Macy's scheme does not go according to plan and he finds himself running from McDormand as the bodies pile up.

All About Steve: Bradley Cooper.

...And Sandra Bullock, who plays Mary, a very interesting character of a lady that wears fire engine red patent leather go-go boots and makes crossword puzzles for her local newspaper. Then her parents set her up on a blind date with a guy named Steve (Bradley Cooper) who is an amazingly hot camera man for one of the local news stations. Their date does not exactly follow tradition, Mary is smitten and ends up chasing Hotty McHotpants across the US; cue hilarity and impending emotional disasters. The end of the movie is my favorite, as it holds a wonderful message of self-acceptance, holding on to the people that really matter, and staying true to yourself.