Going to the Dogs

The last few days have been more of the same... Ozzie's training is coming along really well. His accidents are down to about one a day, with an occasional mark, and since he's just under 5 months old we still get the random "excited pee." We finally wised up and started pulling the water bowl up a few hours before bed... which I feel a bit embarrassed that we didn't think of that earlier! He finally will go down the stairs on his own and only wakes up a couple times at night with a little whine. Now we will start working on basic obedience like sit and stay, and hopefully work on his crate training a bit more. He still whines and cries a good deal when he is left alone in the crate, but he isn't nearly as loud or frantic as Mirabelle used to be. All in all he is getting better, and he and Mirabelle are getting along pretty well (they are currently playing with each other and will wear each other out before bedtime!).

Yesterday I took my campus tour of the Iliff School, which I am glad to have visited but I don't think their degree is for me. The degree seems to be a bit more religion-based than I'd hoped, as part of the requirements include a Biblical Canon sequence and some Christian History classes. I don't mind studying religion (I do have a minor in it, after all) but it seems their programs are more focused to those who want to be ministers or work in a church setting, which I don't really want to do. I even sat down with their course catalog today to see what classes I'd need to fulfill their degree and just couldn't really make it make sense for me. I have yet to hear from UC-Denver (which is frustrating considering I'd requested information well over a week ago) so I'll be calling them tomorrow with a "WTF guys?"

My big fear is that I'll choose to go back to school, invest all kinds of money in a master's degree, and when I'm done I still won't be able to get a job I want or enjoy. I guess I just have to remain positive that things will rebound in the next two years. I saw that UC-Denver has a Historic Preservation graduate certificate, which could be cool... it's definitely been an area of interest for me, having grown up in Red Wing and living in Kirksville for 5 years, but I don't know if I'd want to make it my life's work. It'd be an option, though... I always was so pissed when I'd hear about Kirksville tearing down another historic site or visiting to see that nothing was being preserved.

I've gotten to a point now where I'm really leaning more toward working with animals in some capacity... so I've revised my resume a bit and am going to apply at a few other places tomorrow, both animal retail/grooming and the humane society in Littleton. I applied to be a part-time investigations clerk at Dumb Friends League but haven't heard anything back yet (that job would be best as it'd allow me to sell my car; it is within biking distance from here and about a 20 minute bus ride). Obviously one of the two shelter positions would be best for a future career choice, but right now I just need to get some money coming back in. And I need to find something to occupy my time... I can only watch so many episodes of "Animal Cops" in one day...

The last two days have been particularly rough. Money is tight, we are out of food (other than the couple cans of soup and frozen fruit in the fridge; we have no meat at all) and I am feeling pretty worthless. I've been trying to crunch the finances for this week (Matt's payday is Friday) to see if I can afford to get a few staple items and the $1.88/lb beef and chicken that is on sale at Sunflower Market, which I think I will be able to... plus I can request my first unemployment funds on Monday next week. I got a call today from my former supervisor, and he left a message saying, "Give me a call, I have a few ideas for you," which I appreciate but it definitely kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I'm sure the ideas will be either barista/service positions (which make much less per hour than retail, usually just under minimum wage) or "You should invest into such and such franchise/drive-thru/turn-key shop" which of course requires money we don't have. Besides, I'm just burnt out on the coffee industry right now. I love it, it's something I'm passionate about and I'd still love to own and operate my own shop someday, but right now I'm feeling like school would be the best option. I suppose I will call him back tomorrow to avoid being a bitch, but I just don't know what I'd want to do in that industry right now.

So that's pretty much everything you missed the last couple of days. Hopefully something less boring will happen in the next few days that will be more exciting to read about.