#47: Adopt a shelter animal.

Completed 10.16.10

Robert and I adopted a 2-year-old miniature schnauzer/terrier mix named Chance from the Huron Valley Humane Society last weekend. Chance was actually brought up from a shelter in Little Rock, Arkansas, due to shelter overflow. One piece of paper said he was a stray, and another said he was a surrender, so we don't know his exact story. When we got to the shelter, a bunch of dogs which had been brought up from the South were housed in an overflow room, which we looked through first. I liked him as soon as I saw him, but I went around to meet the rest of the dogs in the room before I went to officially meet him. While I was meeting the other dogs, Robert pointed to Chance and said, "I think I like this one." I said, "Me too!" We went up to his cage and let him lick our fingers. He was so friendly and happy. We decided to look at the dogs in the regular dog area in the humane society, to see what dogs were there, but we were pretty sure we'd be back to see Chance. And indeed, none of the other dogs really made us fall in love with them, so we went back, and got to take Chance into a room to play with him. He was running around like crazy and we were like, "He's just excited to be out of his cage, we're sure he'll be more chill." We were looking for a bit lower-energy dog, but we just liked him so much that we made an exception. We did all the paper work and the adoption counseling, and brought him to his forever home!



Ah! Just look at that face!!

Although I've loved dogs since I was little, Chance is the first dog I've ever owned. I'm actually allergic to dogs, but I know that if I'm around a specific dog enough, my body gets used to them so I'm not as allergic. And I decided I was willing to put up with the initial misery I had to deal with until that happened--plus I stocked up on allergy pills. Robert and I have been interested in getting a dog for a long time, but have always had apartments that didn't allow pets. So when we moved to Ypsi, we specifically looked for apartments that were pet-friendly.

Having a dog has been a big adjustment, I think especially for me. The last couple years I've gotten used to being home alone all day (especially this summer when school was out), so it's hard for me to get used to never being home alone. I kind of miss it sometimes, getting up in the morning and just being able to make a cup of tea and relax on the couch for a bit. Instead I have to take him for a walk, and have him follow me around constantly, and jump in my lap the second I sit down. I'll get used to it, I'm sure. And then in a decade and some change when he passes on, I'll probably find the loneliness depressing.

Chance loves to play fetch with us in the house, and one of his favorite toys is a pop bottle he started chewing on one day. Today I gave him a rope toy, which he likes to fling up in the air behind him and then chase after. He also loves running after the ducks and geese that live in the lake outside our apartment. He also likes to try to eat the goose poop. I think he spits it out, but I can't always tell. My favorite thing he does is cuddle with me--almost all the time I'm sitting on the couch he comes and cuddles with me, usually takes a nap. It melts my heart every time.

5 Most Difficult Tasks to Complete

#26: Complete the 5,000 question survey. My gosh, I didn't realize just how long a 5,000 question survey really is. I've completed under 200 so far. That means I have more than 4,800 to go!

#40: Get a permanent teaching job. Job searching sucks, it's hard to keep myself from getting down on myself when I apply for every job I can find that I'm certified for, and not get a single interview. Leading up to my student teaching, I was the last person of all the people I knew in the school of ed to get a placement, it was kind of disheartening, I didn't understand why no one wanted to work with me. So, it took a while, but I ended up in the classroom that was perfect for me. I keep telling myself that the same thing goes for my permanent job. My perfect classroom just hasn't opened up yet.

#72: Compliment a stranger, 10x. I've done this twice, so far. It's just not in my nature really to compliment people. I don't know why. But I get compliments from strangers on a semi-regular basis, mostly about my clothes or purses, so I put this item on my list to pay it forward. The first time, I had gotten multiple compliments on my dress and my shoes at a sub job, and so the next day I set out with the goal in mind that at some point, I was going to compliment a student on something. And I did. But generally, if I'm not specifically looking for something to compliment someone on, I don't think to. The second one, however, was more spontaneous. A girl at the food co-op with a cool hula hoop. We had a nice conversation about hula hoops, where she got hers, etc. I told her about the one my friend made me, which apartment neighbors threw out a few years ago. She told me that just means I get to get a new one, with new colors to vibe on. The whole interaction made me very happy!

#77: Get all the dishes washed at once, 10x. This has been difficult for me because I have dyshidrotic eczema on patches of my right hand, caused by an allergic reaction to dish and laundry detergent. Contact with detergents gives me hundreds of tiny little itchy water blisters on my hand. It's painful and uncomfortable, so I have to wear a rubber glove when I wash dishes. But then my hand gets sweaty, and the sweat and rubber irritate my skin too, so I can't wash dishes for too long at a time. I mean, I tried, I really tried, and I would do the dishes at least once, if not twice a day, and never be able to catch up. Also, when I wasn't working this summer (and even when I was before, I wasn't working as much as Robert , and I wasn't paying any rent), I wanted to do all the dishes myself, so I didn't ask or expect Robert to help with them. The only two times I got them all done was when he was out of town for a week or more, and there were less dishes to do. Now we have a dishwasher in our new place, but I still can't seem to get them all done at the same time!

#89: Read 100 news articles in Spanish. I put this on here so that I wouldn't loose my language skills. But I've lost them some, and while I used to regularly read articles in Spanish, I now find it a bit more cumbersome. I just need to get motivated.