It's November!

Oookay, so almost a whole month went by without posting.  Yikes. I'm giving myself points for not letting it go a whole month, though.  Sounds reasonable.  Here's an obviously incomplete recap of October, in no particular order:

-I started teaching a few of the basic manners/obedience series at the shelter on my own. Woo-hoo!  It is both fun and stressful.  The former outweighs the latter, and I hope I get to keep teaching next term.

-Champ and I dropped in on a rally-o class that ended up being a little more rally-frEe.  He did awesome.  I was a little sloppy.

-Champ and I have continued practicing rally-frEe type stuff and obedience.

-Sophie is learning how to pivot!  She loves it.

-Elsie has made huge strides in her loose leash walking.

-Both the girls got new Chilly Dog Sweaters.

-Champ got a new bunny fur tug that he looooooves.

-I will not list off the other things I've bought them this month in case my mother is reading this. ;)

-The dogs, kittens, and I went home to my parents' for a few days' visit.  There, Sophie had a vet visit, I baked an amazing apple pull apart bread with cream cheese icing, I rode one of my horses, and just relaxed....

-I attended a legal seminar with keynote speaker Sheryl Wudunn, Pulitzer prize winner, author and founder of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide.  I was thrilled to be there.  If you haven't seen the documentaries, they are on Netflix!  

-I attended a Halloween animal charity dinner auction and went as Frida Kahlo!  I'm at about 2 min, 53 secs here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFtoK67mIKo

-Modern Family night with friends is a thing again, although it is now called Super Fun Night because of that ridiculous[ly stupid] show on afterwards.

-I Netflix-binged on "Lost" and finished the last episodes on Sunday, which meant I was crying for about three hours that day....

-I made an amazing chicken alfredo with broccoli last week.  This week I made a cheddar, broccoli, and bacon grilled cheese.

-I've eaten a lot of ice cream.

-This weekend I did a major house cleaning and washed/folded about six loads of laundry.  That's a big deal for me.

-I turned 26.  Boo.

-I signed on to do some crafts for our shelter's holiday tree to be displayed/entered in a contest at a local mall.

-Last Monday, I took my fosters to the adoption center.  By Saturday when I went to visit, Zoey and Teegan had already been adopted.  I spent some time with Phoebe, cried, and came this//close to adopting her.  Knowing I wouldn't be able to provide her with the most ideal home (the dogs...), I resisted.    I loved them all, but I'll admit I had a soft spot for her especially.  It was hard saying goodbye....  I hope she gets her furever home soon.

-I've got a big source/cite research project to complete by Friday; of course, I've had it for over a month and not started it yet....

-I hit the jackpot today.  No, not the money kind.  The nerdy dog trainer kind.  Check it out! Here's a shout out to Lexis Advance!  Their elastic keychain things make the ***perfect*** clicker lanyards!  They fit great over my wrist, or I can snap them to leashes, treat bags, belt loops, etc.  I was a little too excited about them, so my Lexis rep gave me a whole bag.  Nice!  Now I can go buy about 30 more clickers!  (Just kidding... sort of.)  And errr, that water bottle is just there because I <3 it.  I've got three of them now, and I don't know what I did for water before Lexis came along and started handing them out.  And yes, given the choice, I will use Lexis over Westlaw; in my opinion, (and if the below proof isn't enough) their perks are way better than Westlaw's.  (Sorry Westlaw.  You might redeem yourself if you handout actual clickers.)

Anyways, I think that about does it.  Mostly, I had to post today to show off my Lexis loot.  I will add a few more photos (and maybe reread/edit ;) later when photobucket stops being a PITA.