Someone is finally working!

After a couple months of searching, I (Abbie) have finally found a job! Unfortunately, it is not the humane society job.  That is okay, though, I have gotten over it :).  A huge bonus is that my new job is at a vet, so it's still in the animal area.  I was accepted at a vet in Colchester to do mostly reception work with a small amount of vet assistant work.  Today was only my second day so I'm still getting the feel for this new practice.  It is a three doctor practice (2 women and a man).  I have met two of the doctors and they have been very nice, especially while I am learning everything.  The staff have been great as well and I look forward to getting to know them a little better each day.  

It's been a little tough getting back into the mood of dealing with a busy and sometimes stressful practice and the always interesting pet owners it brings with it.  I'm hoping that each day gets easier and that I also remember to keep my patience when clients decide to go rambling on and on!

The weather here has turned downright cold! For most of the day today there were small snowflakes falling.  Nothing stuck to the ground, but the forecasters here are practically promising every day that it will happen and very soon.  It is so funny to come from a place where rain was almost always a guarantee for this time of the year, and now we are in a place where snow is always a guarantee!

Since it is cold out and my feet kinda hurt after today I am gonna make myself something warm to drink and relax! Bye!

squirrels- oh dear

so i saw the saddest thing i've seen in a LONG time while driving yesterday. a squirrel was doing his thing across a street (fairly busy), and like i stated before, his fate followed others' before him. except he was only hit in the rear- i realized what had happened when he was pulling himself (or her- i'll just go with the "he" to save time) to the other side of the street with his front two paws! :( so sad. if i was in my own car, maybe i could do something, like end the poor creature's suffering (which i'm sure was GREAT), or, well, that's all i thought of.

instead, i was left with my own thoughts and how he relates to me for the rest of my route. i was finding myself squashed that whole day, pulling myself forward with what little i had left. nothing really i could do about it, but to keep going knowing there was an end to the madness.

i'm still sick about it- so, in writing this, my squirrel count is called off- i was up to 23 (1/2), but now it's done. maybe i'll go back to opossums? k, i'll start with the 1 i've seen in the past month.

Feeding, cleaning, and Cooper!!

Today I had a working interview at the humane society.  I got there at 9 am, along with two other girls who were at the group interview, and they immediately paired me with a staff person and we set off to do some cleaning! We started in the cat rooms downstairs where all the cats and young kittens are kept until they are ready to go up for adoption.  All of the cleaning is something I am familiar with from my previous boarding kennel and vet jobs; we emptied out litter boxes, changed blankets, fed, played with rambunctious kittens and got the occasional hiss from someone unhappy.  I was shown pretty much all that happens for the cats in the morning within a two hour period.  For the last 40ish minutes before lunch I got to be around the dogs and see what their morning routine was like.  Once again, it was something that I was pretty familiar with (after a while, all poop and pee and dirty blankets look the same:) ).  I was busy cleaning from 9 am until about noon when we all broke for lunch.  They definitely know how to keep you busy, which is a good thing!

After lunch, we went back downstairs to wash dishes, prepare kongs full of goodies for the dogs at night-time, and rotate the dogs outside some more and a little more cleaning.  AND, one of the dogs I fed near the end was Cooper (a very cute basset hound)! I got to give him his food and a pat on the head :).

At about 3 I was pulled upstairs and put through some front lobby exercises.  It was really just two of the staff people and me in one of the classrooms going through different scenarios of client interactions in person and over the phone.  During this time I was VERY grateful for all of my previous experience in boarding kennels and vet clinics for that is where I pulled every ounce of knowledge for all the questions that were asked of me.  I think I did a pretty good job and feel I couldn't have answered any of the questions differently, which is a good thing for me to feel since I have a tendency to second-guess myself after such sessions.  All in all, it was a very good day.  After a whole month of not working with animals and going through those withdrawls, I finally got to get my hands dirty (literally) and let out some of that energy that has been pent up inside of me.

The desire to work at the humane society is still enormous! They still have some more working interviews on Friday to do and then staff meetings about it over the weekend.  They told me they will be calling me by Wednesday, regardless, to either invite me back for one more formal interview or not.  While driving out of the parking lot I was praying that the anxiety of waiting won't make me jump out of my skin! I want this job so bad, yet I need to keep telling myself that it is in God's hands and in the wisdom he gives to everyone on staff there right now making the decision.

Hopefully more details to come! Here's to the rest of the week flying by!

-a