If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.
Maya Angelou
Well, this was an exciting afternoon. First off we had a storm blowing in and I had to catch my huge 20 foot tunnel as it was going over the wall trying to escape. My huge 6 foot kennels both blew over and the kids and I had to try to keep them from going over the fence, it was a mess. My class that was scheduled for that afternoon is about an hour and a half away so the weather can frequently be a whole lot different then it is here so I was hoping that someone would let me know before I had to leave my house with no one to guard it from the wind and before I had to drive an hour and a half in the bad weather. Well, no such luck, I packed the car-3 crates, water bowls, tons of treats, toys, my video camera, tripod, phones, ipod, cold weather gear( I finally remembered gloves and my fingerless mitts this week, but no chance to use them, figures), 2 kids, 4 dogs, all the training aids I need......you get the picture. I have to drive the kids a half hour in the other direction so I have someone to watch them and then I get to get on the road. I was just about 20 min from class when I got the call that it was cancelled. I couldn't believe it. So almost three hours of driving-by the time I did the full round trip, the gas, all the packing, I was not a very happy camper-especially when I had been trying to keep a handle on what the weather was like all day, but living that far away it isn't like I could look out my window, and I had waited until the last minute I could leave without being late.
I thought of the quote above and thought hummm, what could I do to make this better? I stopped at Charlie Browns and got a shake, they make the best shakes, and yes that did make it somewhat better and decided to call a friend before I got in the car and started heading home. Happens my friend lives just a few houses from where they are doing an Extreme Home Makeover. For anyone who does not live on earth, LOL, Extreme Makeover picks people that they feel are deserving and they send them on vacation and in ten days totally build their houses over again, they are always gorgeous. My friend Carrie suggested I stop on by on my way home so I could go up and have a look. Seems this family had a little mobile home they lived in that was very run down. They also provide a sanctuary for tigers, lions, all sorts of cats I guess, and they even have an alligator. So one week ago the big Extreme Home Makeover machine rolled in and people have been working night and day for one week and have built what looks to be a gorgeous new house and a beautiful visitors center and it even looks like they are making some nice enclosures for the animals.
So these are pictures, one (the blurry one) is the house . The other one is the visitors center and in the middle are of the enclosures for the big cats-who had to be relocated for the building project. Can you imagine someone calling and saying "Hey, can you watch my huge Lion for about 10 days, and by the by do you have a truck to pick it up in?". In behind the visitor center and the cat cages is a place where the alligator, or alligators live. So how awesome to think that one week ago today there was just a run down mobile home. Tomorrow Billy Ray Cyrus will be doing a concert, hope it isn't raining, and then Saturday it will be time for the Move That Bus moment. Now all that is left is for me to figure out why I would be deserving of an Extreme Home Makeover on my home,....can not think of any reason at all I would be deserving, but I am going to keep thinking because that would be a pretty cool thing.