What can I say, I'm a dog lover.

Good News #3: I got my new foster pup Parker today and it seems like he's getting use to the apartment and warming up to the family, while bonding with me. Parker came to us still very scared and skittish, his old foster "mom" did not socialize him at all. When pups are not socialized they become scared, unsure of themselves, and almost pathetic to watch. When dogs are socialized (with people) they become more open, happy, excited, and overall a great family pet, when they are exposed to other animals they become more sure of themselves, more playful, and like other animals over people... which is bad when it comes to trying to adopt out the dog. If the dog is unable to bond with the person (and of course everyone that walks into pet-smart expects the dog to bond to them immediately) they simply won't adopted that dog and look somewhere else. Although this is pretty bad news, there is always another side to look at, I get to be the one that socializes the dog and build up his self-esteem and character. This is exactly what I was able to do with Tut (my first foster pup- Parker and Tut actually came up together from the same shelter, at the same time, and were pretty much the same age. This shows how much socialization plays into training a dog and getting that dog ready for adoption).

So far today I was able to give him a bath (he needed it) and he was actually very good in the tub (he laid down at one point!). Took him outside and around the house, but he just pulled me back to the front door- it is incredible how smart these dogs are. Then while upstairs he would lay in his crate/pen for a couple of minutes, come out, walk around the apartment, then go back in the pen to lay down. Took him out again, he was better outside (but soooo alert), and when I opened the door to go upstairs he ran up and laid on the top step wagging his tail! That was the first tail wag all day. Now he's sleeping, hopefully he won't cry all night in the pen.

I have work tomorrow morning, but I will definitely be taking pictures of Parker, and will post them ASAP :)

Thanks for reading!

New theme

While at work this morning I had my ipod on shuffle and came across "Good News" by Something Corporate, one of my favorites. While listening to it I had an idea for my blog. A lot of people have some type of theme for their blog- whether it is fashion, food, movies, religion, etc. I decided on good news in my life. I am going to use blogger to be optimistic, this way when I'm feeling blue I can go back and read over some entries and smile.

Good news #1: I am fostering another puppy starting wednesday! His name is Parker, he is about 7 or 8 months old and is a pit/lab/beagle mix.

*Parker at 4 months old

*Parker Now

Good news #2: I decided I wanted to have a fourth of July bbq/apartment-warming party, so Devon, my parents, and I have been planning over the last month for this weekend coming up. Turns out a lot of my guests can make it :) I was afraid not many people would come because it is 4th of July weekend (pictures to come)

Vacation Post

Friday June 18-Monday June 21, my parents, boyfriend (Devon), and myself took a trip out to the North Fork of Long Island, New York. We've been going at least once every summer since I was born because my Mom's entire family lives there. The North Fork is rather small and my mom's side is pretty big and crazy- thus no matter where you go, someone knows you. Small world.

Here is a little back ground on my mom's side: (siblings: oldest to youngest, with their kids and grand kids)

Carol: oldest sister, her kids include: Brian (married to Christine with 3 kids: Brianne, Robby, and a new baby girl), Christine (two kids: Chris and Allie), Caroline, and Matthew.

Kathy: Her kids: Courtney (married to Amos with one baby- Katie- named after Katherine aka Kathy). Lindsey, and Brenden.

Paul: lives with his 2 dogs (Jenna and Smokey, RIP Little Sandy- aka Sahara's mom) never married.

Maria: (my mom)

Melanie: my favorite aunt on my mom's side, married to Steve with two little girls- Lily and Abby

Johnny: married with a baby girl- not in contact with family

While driving out there we were in a little accident because people can't drive. Some guy in a van "looked down for just a second" and hit a woman in a small car behind us, she saw the man in her rear view and tried to get out of the way, luckily she turned her wheels and went into the center of the road, while getting there her bumper not only crumbled but angled up into the air scratching the back of our car. If she did not turn her wheels she would have been squashed between us (big van) and the man (another big van). When we were all standing on the sidewalk waiting for the cop we found out the lady was actually my Carol's neighbor- small world. Also while waiting on the side of the road, my cousin Christine shows up out of nowhere, she said she was "just driving by and saw us" so she turned around. Small Word.

Once we got out there we drove past my Grandmother's old house- turns out my Uncle knocked it down and built this huge house on the property.. i hate it. I miss her little house but I am glad to see it cleaned up. We then checked into the Motel.. we've been staying at the same motel for years because of it's location.. and only its location. The motel is so run down and weird.. Here's a picture of the closet (with Devon inside):

After checking in we went to the beach, it was beautiful. Ian's tree was still there, which means a lot to me (I'll make a separate entry on that). A couple of the bulkheads were wiped out over the winter, causing a lot of sand to build up in certain areas. Luckily I loaded up on sunscreen and got NO sunburn on the first beach day! :) After the beach we took a ride to Greenport.. a cute town on the North Fork- known for it's shopping and restaurants. We had a really good dinner and ended the night with our nightly trip to Magic Fountain (Ice Cream!)

Saturday started out by going to my Aunt Kathy's husband's house on the water.. private beach area included. It was amazing. It was about 10:30 when we got there and she immediately offered us drinks.. we just looked at each other, but there is no saying no to Kathy's drinks. So I learned how to make the best sangria and rum punch (for those that know me, know that I'm not a big drinker, so a glass of sangria is a lot for me.. but with extra fruit, juice, and ice it was amazing). Around 11:30 Courtney, Amos, and Katie showed up and around 12:30 we had lunch.. Here's some beach pictures!

Afterwards we went to the Strawberry Festival! It was pretty fun- we looked at all the craft vendors (I got a seaglass necklace- it has a cancer ribbon in front and a piece of clear beach glass under it- clear is for lung cancer) and of course we got food- there is always so much food there and way too many choices haha. Funny thing is.. we didn't get any strawberries this year, instead we decided on ice cream :) Gotta end the night at Magic Fountain! The only thing that was really terrible was the sunburn I got while at the strawberry festival.. my face (especially my nose) got so burnt, and now my face is pealing.. yuck.

On Sunday (Father's day) we dropped my dad and Devon off at a fishing boat for the day (because he wanted to go fishing) and my mom and I spent the afternoon together. We stopped at the Candyman- really old and well known candy/chocolate place in Orient. We then went and saw my Aunt Melanie and her girls- way too cute! I miss them very much, and wish I got to see them more. I might go out to Long Island at the end of August (with Devon when he returns from training). Afterwards we picked up my dad and Devon (smelling awful!) After showers we went to breakwater beach (one of my favorites) and then to dinner (O'Mally's.. another favorite).

"Just pretend you love each other"

Guess that will be all for now.. comment if you actually read through everything! I love getting comments!

"Mark"

6/16/10: Thought I had to open toady, but turns out I didn't have to, I had work from 1:30-6:30 (It was only suppose to be until 6 but the girl that was suppose to come in decided to come in late). During work I was texting a bunch of people to finalize plans for tonight, and I sent a text to one of my friends, lets call him Mark. Mark and I have been friends since high school and were real close junior and senior year (05-07). When we went to college we lost contact somewhat, but still would text each other now and then which slowly faded. Occasionally I'll text him and won't get any reply, and if I do he is always busy and says he will let me know when he is free, then never does. I'm having a large bbq/party for 4th of July and an "apartment-warming" party, and I was really hoping he would come, unfortunately he is busy that weekend. So I asked him what he was doing tonight to see if he wanted to hang out with some people, he said he was busy, probably going into the city. We use to talk everyday in high school, and about personal stuff too, it wasn't just junk conversations. I miss our friendship, and I know it won't come back. How do you (anyone reading) keep friends close over years when you hardly see them. We're both going to different colleges, each have a significant other, have other friends and other hobbies. I know part of our falling apart is my fault, but I can only try so much without feeling let down or like crap (by being told no so many times). I guess I can only try to talk to him more and try not to feel let down when he says he's busy. Any suggestions?

After work I meet up with a bunch of people for dinner at the Pompton Queen Diner some of the people I had not seen in such a long time, it was great being able to catch up with everyone. Lots of great people, good food, funny stories, and amazing memories. It was a good time, I need more of them. After the diner we went to a the Pequannock carnival, rode a few rides and hung out like the good 'ol days. While at the carnival I saw so many people with dogs, I can't wait for my next foster puppy (my kind of "baby" lol)!! After the carnival a couple of us went for ice cream at Curly's. Now I'm ending my night snuggling with the boyfriend :)

Maybe Yankee game tomorrow? Vacation in 2 days!

New Job

6/15/2010: Today was my first day at my new job, and it was great. The job consists of going to an elderly person's house and being a "companion caregiver." So today I met Dorothy, "Dottie" and learned about what is going on in her life- she lived on her own for years, until suffering a heart attack about a year ago, then moved in with her daughter and son-in-law. I talked with her, watched some TV with her, helped her with the shower, made lunch, and talked some more with her. When i go back on Thursday I'm going to see if she would like to go for a walk or get her nails done (the last caregiver would go with her to do their nails). It was so different from Rita's, even down to the little things- I got to wear normal clothes (only requirements are sneakers and no shorts/tank tops), got to relax for the day and was not running around like a chicken with its head cut off, and I didn't have to deal with mean people. It is unbelievable how many mean, unhappy people come to Rita's... I just want to tell them to put a smile on their face or else they are not getting ice cream. I mean come on, how can you be sad while eating ice cream.

The only negative thing that comes out of the new job is how much I think of my own grandparents. My maternal grandmother passed away in February of 2003 and my grandfather in summer of 2004. I was never close with my grandfather, as my mom would say, he was a "Fuck-Head." He was abusive, manipulative, and had other major problems. I was never close to my grandmother because I didn't see her often (she lived in long island and didn't drive). I regret how little I saw her and how little I appreciated her. I wish she stayed around and took care of me like my mom wanted while she went back to work (she was making great money with great benefits, my grandmother never worked), but she wanted to move away from my grandfather. They got separated just before I was born, but never actually divorced, which screwed up the wills when each passed away and caused huge problems within the siblings. My paternal side was a little different, I never met my paternal grandfather, he passed away when my father was 3 years old from Lung Cancer (he was in his late 30's/early 40's). My paternal grandmother never remarried. I Lived with her and my parents from the day I was born to the day she passed away. She was diagnosed with Lung Cancer in the fall of 2000 and passed away Christmas of 2003. She was like my third parent. It hurts knowing she wasn't able to be at my high school graduation, she won't be at my college graduation, or wedding, or see a grandchild. (she did see her first grandchild, but she was so drugged on medication she couldn't remember names and accused people of weird things, and actually got kinda mean). Any time I see someone being a brat to a grandparent I just want to kick their butts for not appreciating their elders while they still have them in their lives.

So if you are reading this,

make sure you show those around you that you love them and appreciate them while you still have them.

Why am I always at Rita's?

6/13/10: I was finally able to sleep in because I didn't have work in the morning. Sunday mornings are kind of a family tradition- my dad always goes out to get bagels/papers in the morning and we have breakfast together. I always forget about it last minute, yet I look forward to it all week, if that makes sense. Afterwards I started on my scrapbook, I got two pages done. I would have done more, but the pictures weren't great, I need to print new ones. Later on I went out with my mom, we got the grill she was looking at and some beach chairs for this weekend. Friday-Monday my parents, Devon (bf), and myself are going to Long Island, NY for a long weekend for the strawberry festival, pictures to come. To end the night I had work at Rita's from 7-closing (it was suppose to be 6, but it was raining). The night had a pretty slow start, but we did get some business later on after the rain, but then it started misting around 9:45 so the last 45 minutes were dead. I really don't understand why we don't just close when it rains considering we are a walk up Italian Ice store with no inside shelter. It makes no sense to me, he spent more paying Kaitlyn and myself for being there than he made in profit. When I got home Devon was finally home from drill. :) (Devon is a 2nd lieutenant in the Army National Guard)

6/14/10: The day started out with work at Rita's from 10:30-2:45, and even though it wasn't raining we were dead slow. After work I took a ride to find a house in Ringwood for my new job tomorrow. I start a "seniors helper" job tomorrow and I work from 10-2. Hopefully that goes well, update on that tomorrow night.:) When I got home I got ready and went out with Devon to run some errands. While we were out Jon (bff) texted me about grabbing dinner so we met him and Devon's friend Ben at Friday's for dinner and drinks. It was fun, but the waiter was lousy.

More and better stuff tomorrow, promise. :)

I miss my little monsters

6/11/10: I had work from 9:30-2:30 at Rita's, it was okay, except I had to battle a ton of fruit flies when I got in because no one poured water/bleach into the floor drain in a while and ice/sugar built up- the fruit flies love that stuff, it was gross. After work I spent time with my little monsters, Lucy and Fletcher. Once I got them tired out I was able to take a nice hot bath, not that long though since the tub still doesn't have all the pieces.. the drain needs to be fixed but will not be fixed for another couple of years... apparently my Uncle tried fixing the drain one time by shoving something into it, thus getting it stuck and breaking it. The only way to fix it is to go through the pipe from the ceiling downstairs. Luckily, when my Uncle flooded us out a couple of years ago, my Dad did a quick fix with the ceiling under the bathroom (my old room) and planned on going back a few years after to really fix it. After my bath I did some laundry and made plans with Jon to go to Applebee's. Jon came over around 9, we played with the pups then went to Applebee's at 10 for 1/2 price apps and drinks. It was fun minus the girls around us.. they were very gossipy and loud so we got to hear their entire stories. Since we could hear there stories, we decided to be a little louder about certain topics we started talking about and going further into depth into topics not normally talked about during dinner. haha :)

6/12/10: Again I had work at Rita's, but this time 10-1:30... it was just to make ice and open the store, however Jamie was there too cleaning the custard machines, so we got things done real quick, Jamie was able to leave at 1:00 and I left like 20 minutes later. After work I went home, had lunch, showered, then took my babies to petsmart... I had to drop them off to Bonnie because I'm going on vacation next weekend, so now I am puppy-less :( It's very lonely without my babies. I miss my Lucy's ears and Fletchers fat puppy belly.

After petsmart I decided to take a trip to A.C. Moore to see if they had dog stuff, i decided to make some scrapbook pages for my foster pups :) After AC Moore, I went to Target with my Momma (she broke our grill last week, so we needed to go find a new one, and Target had some grills on sale). Once we got back, I went to CVS to print pictures so I could start my scrapbook for my little monsters. Unfortunately the pictures did not print very nice, I'll try it again tomorrow or monday, luckily the pictures were really cheap (43 pictures for like $3.50).

Welcome to Blogger

I have used blogs (livejournal & xanga) in the past, but it as been awhile. I figure while I have time over the summer I would start one up again and see if I can keep it going through school. I decided to try out Blogger because a friend of mine who blogs a lot uses blogger, so i figured it must be a good site and user friendly :) (Hi Victoria!)

Summer has been pretty uneventful so far.. I currently have three jobs: Rita's Manager, Senior Helpers Caregiver Companion, and Babysitter. Hopefully with the combination of the three I'll be able to save up some money over the summer for the school year/new computer.

Besides working, I have been fostering puppies for a rescue out of Paramus called BARK: Bonnie's Animal Rescue Kingdom. First I had King Tut (AKA: tut, tutty, tutter, little monster, baby), a white and black 5 month old male pit/pointer mix who was absolutely adorable. I miss him so much.

While watching Tut I also watched his sister Rosa for a week, they were adorable together.

While watching Tut I also took in a 2 year old male basset hound named Debo, but he was not dog friendly and would growl at both Tut and Sahara, as well as my mom and dad, so we gave him to another foster right away... thus no pictures. Once Tut got adopted out I took in a 3 1/2 month male old black flat coated retriever hound mix named Pepper. He was adorable, but I kept calling him Tut :(

I only had Pepper for a week until he got adopted out, then I took in 2 shepherd babies, a male named Fletcher and a female named Lucy, they are about 2 1/2 months old and love to chew on each other.

So besides work and fostering I've been working on the apartment I and Devon are in the process of moving into- the upstairs of my parents house. The bedroom and the bathroom are now complete and the floor is in the works of being re-done. Those pictures will be posted soon.. they are still on my camera.