Woooooooooo, what a week! Last Wednesday Lansing got hit with a series of violent storms that left us with tons of rain (and flooding in some areas) and wind damage. No tornadoes came from these storms, but they were strong nonetheless.
Wednesday was also the day of my phone interview for the Oregon job. After weeks of studying up on the OR Dept of Fish and Wildlife's wildlife issues and policies, I felt there wasn't much more I could do to prepare. My coworker held a 1 1/2 hour mock interview to help me prepare for any questions that the interview panel might ask, and I rounded off the last few hours before the interview by boning up on the priority invasive species in Oregon.
By the time the interview came around, I was more concerned with the storm than the questions themselves. I was afraid the wind damage might disconnect the call. Luckily, everything went well. They e-mailed me 6 questions 10 minutes before the interview started and I was able to take some quick notes on how I'd answer them. The panel consisted of 3 people, 2 of whom work for the agency, and one of whom works for a nearby university but would work closely with me if I were to get the position. The only thing that jarred me was when Adam's cell phone rang in the middle of my interview. It was sitting right in front of me, and since I had the interview panel on speaker phone, they heard it too. I was trying to turn his cell phone off in the midst of answering my question, but ended up becoming so distracted that I just chucked his cell phone into the next room. Otherwise, though, I think the interview went well, although you never can tell when you can't see their faces. I should know whether I got the job in the next week or so.
Yesterday was a nice day. We've finally finished work on our office (new floors put in and we painted the walls) so we were able to move the furniture back in. Adam did a bangup job of cleaning things up so I have a workable space (and living area) while he's out of town. I'm hoping to get some more painting done while he's gone, but we'll see how productive I feel during these increasingly hot summer days we've been getting.
We spent the 4th working on the house and then visiting with some friends at a bbq. All was normal until the end of the party, when one of the party guests mentioned his dog had been scooting around the house on her butt. I asked if she'd ever had her anal glands expressed and he looked at me like I was crazy. I used to be a dog groomer so I'm pretty familiar with the procedure. I explained the method of relieving the dog of excess anal fluid (which is often why their butts itch to the point that they drag them on the floor) and I offered to do it for the guy's dog. He couldn't believe that I'd do it (in my white dress no less) but I've done it a million times so it was no big deal to me. He went to get his dog and I instructed him (in the yard, away from the guests) how to squeeze the glands along either side of the anus. He was fascinated, and the dog only winced a little (most dogs do if they've never had a person pinching their butthole before). What I failed to realize was that many of the other party guests were disgusted, despite the fact that I did it far from the picnic table, out of view, and I washed my hands thoroughly after handling the dog's anus. When the guy (and a couple other people) continued to ask me questions about what I'd done and I answered them, one of the guests (who'd I only met that day) came up and told me to "drop the topic". It didn't help that people kept asking me questions about it, but of course I was the one branded as "anus girl" in everyone's minds. When I asked Adam on the ride home if relieving the dog's anal glands at a bbq had been inappropriate, he looked thoughtfully out the window, and said, "You're just a different type of girl, Lauren." Damn right I am.
Now I'm off to go to a minor league baseball game with some friends. It feels like Sunday today since I had yesterday off, too, but I am SO glad work doesn't start back up tomorrow. I'll have to bike to work the next two weeks while Adam is away, so I will be in major buff shape when he gets back. He'll have to take me to the beach because I'll probably feel secure enough to get into a bikini again...
Happy 4th of July everyone!
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