Advanced Obedience: Week 1 & 2

Ongoing post about what to expect from Advanced Obedience classes at Petsmart:
Week 3 & 4
Week 5 & 6

Buster missed the first week of Advanced Obedience at Petsmart due to me having a prior engagement. But we made it to week 2 and had a makeup for our missed class the next day as well.

For week 2 we worked on:

• Stay with distance: Buster prefers a down-stay over a sit-stay, so I put him in a stay at the back of the store and walked around the aisles our of sight and came back. Buster remained in his stay the entire time.
• Heeling side by side: Buster had to heel, pause, and continue heeling with another dog nearby.
• Bow & Crawl: Buster already knows these, so I'm working on being able to give the hand signal from a standing position (me, not him) and not having to get so close to him and the floor for him to perform the trick.

For our week 1 makeup we worked on:

• Impulse control games:
• I offer a treat with an open palm and Buster has to leave it until I give him permission to eat with a "take it" command.
• Buster has to leave food on the floor/tables/bowl/etc. unless given the "take it" command.
• Buster has to heel/loose leash walk towards a line of food on the floor. If he lunges, we go back to the starting line. When we get to the food, he must wait for me to give the command "take it" to be able to eat the food.

Buster is extremely food driven (even more so since he's on prednisone), a fast learner, and eager to please me. All this makes him very easy to train. 

THERAPY ORGANIZATION
I had mentioned in a previous post that I was considering different therapy organizations to test with. Buster's trainer says she can not administer the test, but she teaches her class to the Therapy Dog International test because it's the most difficult. It also seems to be the most respected and requested. For example, if you want to volunteer at Baptist Hospital, they request dogs that are TDI or Delta (now known as Pet Partners) certified. I'd like for Buster to be accepted at any place he wants to volunteer and I'm not sure our previous choice of Love on  a Leash (LoaL) would allow that because it's the easiest test to pass.

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JoAnn Fabric Sewing Class Review: Basics

Intro
I decided to use my last free summer to learn a skill I've always wanted to have: sewing. I'm not into reality shows but I always enjoyed watching the creative process on Project Runway. Not sure I'll ever have the vision to create a garment from imagination, but I hope to be able to follow a pattern or at least hem.

This will be a 4-part series as I have signed up for 4 classes: basics, zippers, bear, and skirt. All classes are taken at the store at 4644 W Market St. Greensboro, NC 27407-1285
(336)299-6336

Previous Experience
The only sewing experience I have is from 7th grade home-ec where we learned to sew pillows. I made lots of pillows for presents after that. It's been so long that I don't even remember how to thread a machine.


Supply List
1 yard cotton fabric
1 yard fusible interfacing
All-purpose thread
Sewing shears
straight pins
pin cushion
seam ripper

Basics Class Description
The Basics Class is 2.5 hours long. The instructor is Anna Berry. I used a 50% off coupon and paid $17.50 for the class. All the materials were supplied for me except for the seam ripper, which I already had.
 

My free supplies from JoAnn

We were allowed to go out in the store and grab any fabric square we wanted for our project which would be a drawstring bag.

The objectives of the class are:
"Learn basic sewing skills
Sewing machine and tool basics
Sewing seams and terminology"

Basics Class Review
Is the class worth it? Definitely!
There were 3 people in the class, one of which was a pre-teen but she was quiet and polite. Us two adults brought our own machines but our instructor had us use the store's machines first and after we completed our project she helped us familiarize ourselves with our own machines.

The store's machines are NICE! They're fully digital and run about $350. When I got on my machine later I felt like I was using a hunk of junk compared to theirs. 

The store's nice digital sewing machine

 My experience began with threading the bobbin. After that we had 3 sheets of papers to sew. Yes, we sewed printer paper. The first one was straight lines that we just sewed up and down, practicing. Then we sewed a sheet of paper with squares and corners printed on it. Then we sewed a piece of paper with a huge spiral printed on it. Sewing paper is a little harder than fabric, but I appreciated the practice and felt it was a useful exercise.

I had some issues with corners on the paper on the right before I learned how best to do it

 After the paper, we moved on to scrap fabric. The instructor encouraged us to explore the different types of stitches on the machines, which we did. There were some gorgeous stitches on those machines, including one that looked like a vine of flowers. (My personal machine doesn't have that, of course. It's too fancy a stitch.) She showed us how the machine makes button holes as well. The store's fancy machines automatically detect the size of button hole you need.

Then we moved on to the real thing. We ironed our fabric and we started sewing the pouch where our drawstring goes. (step seen in picture above) Then we straight sewed the sides and bottom and we did a fancy zipzag stitch over top of it so it looked nice, even though it's just the inside. We did a fancy thing with the corners to make them angled so the bag isn't flat.

It was hard to capture the hard work I put into the bag in a photograph

I was very pleased with how the class turned out. The instructor was patient and showed us the more intricate steps individually. She was very helpful and I walked out feeling like I had learned a lot. I'm looking forward to my upcoming courses at this location.

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Carolina Theatre Summer Film Festival 2014

Every year the Carolina Theatre in downtown Greensboro puts on a Summer Film Festival. They show older movies M-F for several weeks. They also show kids movies during the day.

The movies I've selected this year are Friday the 13th, Psycho, Jaws, The Sandlot, A Troll in Central Park and Fern Gully 2. Being a nanny I get to enjoy the kids movies while I'm on the clock.

The Carolina Theatre is a beautiful restored theatre that puts on a wide variety of entertainment, including movies, bands, dance performances, and stand up comedy to name a few. I saw the Nutcracker performed there in '10. 

I will update this post as I attend the movies listed above.

The Sandlot
Tuesday, June 24
This movie was part of the Summer Swim-In series sponsored by the local swim teams. The teams all have meets on Tuesday so it's a good way to entertain the kids without wearing them out.
I'd seen this movie before, but it had been a long time. I'm not sure I actually sat down and watched it from start to finish before. I was surprised with the amount of cussing in the movie (several instances of the S-word) and concerned because of the young age of the viewing audience (some of the kids were 5). But overall it's a classic kids movie.

Friday the 13th
Tuesday, June 8
I had never seen this movie but I attended with two horror movie buffs. I don't generally like horror movies, but I didn't find this one scary so I was ok. I thought it was interesting to frame the movie in a way that sometimes the camera view represented the killer's view. The suspenseful music whenever something sinister was about to happen reminded me of Jaws.
I didn't even realize Kevin Bacon was in the movie for a while. He looked so young! The actress that survived the movie was probably the worst actress of the whole movie. Her movements and reactions were a little stilted sometimes.
Overall it was an enjoyable film and an interesting look at the horror genre before so much of it became cliche.

Psycho
Monday, July 28
I'd never seen the beginning of the movie so I never got the murder victim's backstory for why she was at the hotel. Great movie!

 Jaws
Thursday, July 31
All time favorite movie. Everyone always applauds when the shark gets blown up. If that's a spoiler for you, we can not be friends anymore.

 

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Stand Up Paddleboard Yoga

Update: The company I did this with has moved to Daytona, FL.
Today I tried Stand Up Paddleboard Yoga. I am officially insane.

It was offered through Yogini SUP Adventures.
Their facebook page is here.
Their webpage is here.

Today's 2-hour adventure took place at Lake Brandt. I had never been on a stand up paddleboard, but I had been wanting to. It looks like a surfboard. I was very nervous and thought it would be more stable because the board is so large. But you have to be very aware of your movements at all times. It can be very easy to get disoriented and fall in.

We paddled for a long time out to a quiet corner of the lake. My feet actually started to hurt pretty bad, so I was glad when we finally got in place, dropped anchor and sat down.

You need to be familiar with yoga before you do this. She names off poses and goes very quickly so if you don't know them, you'll have a difficult time trying to watch people, copy the pose AND stay balanced on your board.

I started doing yoga about 12 years ago. I took some group classes at the YMCA 

We did standing flow poses and just going from a seated to a standing position is difficult. We did back and core strengtheners, warrior poses and lots of vinyasa flows (upward facing dog feels so good!). Sometimes while on all fours we had to lift a leg off the board...sometimes both an arm and a leg. 

The two most difficult parts were the warrior poses (because of the difficulty in getting into the proper position while maintaining balance) and tree pose. 

SUP Warrior Pose

When she said we were going to do tree pose I about freaked. I said there's no way I can balance on one foot on this board. But our tree poses consisted of getting our feet to the middle of the board, slightly lifting one foot off the board and resting the lifted foot's heel on the stable foot's ankle. Seems silly on land, but on the SUP it was extremely difficult.

Looks like this but we didn't have our paddles to stabilize us

I managed to not fall in, even at the end when I was coasting onto shore and hit a rock. I don't know how I maintained my balance, but I did. Luckily it's a sturdy board. (YOLO brand)

As I sit here, sore all over (but mostly in the shoulder/back area) I am glad that I tried out such a difficult activity. It was actually much harder than I thought it would be, but I enjoyed it. I definitely recommend Yogini SUP Adventures to someone that enjoys yoga and wants to expand their practice, or someone who just wants to try something new (but still has some yoga experience)! It was only $20, which is only a little more than a land-lubber's yoga class.

Can't do yoga? They also offer guided SUP tours as well as SUP meditation. Your child can even ride on your SUP with you!

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PTA Acceptance

I first decided to begin the journey of getting into Physical Therapy Assisting school at GTCC in the summer of 2011. My friend, Lauren, became a CNA and encouraged me to get into the medical field. We looked at what GTCC offered and since I'm queasy about blood, needles, and bodily fluids, I chose physical therapy assisting. I wish I had a better story, like it was my childhood dream or some traumatic event happened and I decided to make a difference. But no, I wanted a secure job that will allow me to be self sufficient.

I underestimated how difficult it would be to get into the program. Having a Bachelor's Degree in Classical Civilizations from UNCG, I had most of the requirements. I took Developmental Psychology, Personal Communications, both online, and the two harder classes: Physics and Anatomy.

I started first with Anatomy and Physiology 1 in Fall 2011. I thought the hardest class I would ever take was Historical Linguistics I took at UNCG my last semester. (We had to recreate languages that may or may not have existed based on what we knew about language patterns...oh and write a 10-page paper). I was wrong. Anatomy is the hardest class you will ever take. I learned it, too late.
So I took Anatomy 1 and somehow managed a B without learning anything. Anatomy 2 was another story.
I ended up taking Anatomy 1 twice and Anatomy 2 three times. GTCC is the hardest place you can take Anatomy, and I learned it too late. You have to take Anatomy 1 & 2 at the same school. After I only managed Bs in both, I decided to start all over at Randolph Community College in Asheboro. It was a 40 min commute and I drove down there 3 times a week (10:30a on M & F and 8a on W) for 2 semesters. I got a 104 in Anatomy 1 and a 105 in Anatomy 2. The class was SO much easier. That's not to say I didn't work hard. I did. But it was just SO MUCH EASIER.

I took Physics Spring 2013. I actually forgot to pay for my class (first time it ever happened) and I got dropped. The only class available after I found out was on Saturdays. So I sacrificed my Saturday afternoons for 5 months to take Physics, which was a bitch. But I managed to make As in the lecture and lab and was on my way!

After getting As in all my required classes the only thing left to tackle was the TEAS test (Test of Essential Academic Skills). It tests your knowledge of reading comprehension, grammar, math (mostly arithmetic and algebra), chemistry, biology, anatomy, etc. I worried about that test for about 7 months. I bought study material and went through most of it. I purchased the online practice tests for $40. I made a 70 on the practice test. I needed an 86.
It was coming down to the deadline for applying (June 5) so on June 2 I said "what the hell...I can take it twice in 2 months. I'll go take it today and if I do badly, I'll study and take it again June 4." So I sucked it up, went and took the test and when I finished I saw the score "64"...and my stomach dropped. But then I realized that was the national average and right above it was my score: 86.7. I said to myself "That's too good to be true. It can't be right." I went and checked out of the testing center and the woman said "You made an 86.7". I almost started crying. I was shaking I was so happy. I immediately went and applied to the program.

A week later an envelope arrives at my parent's house. I get there the next day and open it up. I read one word "Congratulations", then stop reading and start screaming and jumping up and down. My mom comes over to me and I hug her and start crying tears of joy. It finally happened.

I got accepted into PTA school!

So I start calling and texting everyone who had been part of my journey. It still feels surreal. I dreamed of this for so long and now...it's finally happening.

I already sent in an email accepting my seat, one of only 24 in the program. I have to sign up for a mandatory orientation session. There's 2 options and both are during the day: Tuesday, July 1 @ 9-11:30a or Wednesday, July 2 @ 2-4:30. I hate that I have to ask off work for one of those.

Then all that's left is getting financial aid, which still hasn't come through, even though I applied for it at GTCC in January. Because I have a Bachelor's Degree, I can only get loans from a community college, no free money. I will not be working while I'm in school, so I have to get a private student loan from the bank as well to cover living expenses.
I am beyond happy right now and can not WAIT to begin this journey. I feel like my life is complete now.

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Burlesque at The Idiot Box

Some friends and I went to the Burlesque show put on by Vaudeville After Dark at The Idiot Box Saturday night (June 7) at 11:30. I had never seen any burlesque before. When I think of burlesque I think of a girl inside a giant martini glass and Dita Von Teese.

Dita + martini glass = Burlesque

That was not what we got, but it was just as good. There were several female performers but it was really the men that stole the show. There was a definite comedy element to the show. The first song was "Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer and part-way through the dance a man in a jalapeño costume bursts out from the curtain and joins in. The audience exploded in laughter.

A team called The Brouhaha Revue came on and did a choreographed routine to Vogue and later did Thriller. AMAZING!

As someone who is extremely self conscious, it was refreshing to see people up on stage with all different bodies totally comfortable showing them off, flaws and all. I wished I could have that confidence.

The show was a riot and a very fun experience. It will definitely become a regular girls night. The first Saturday of every month at 11:30 at The Idiot Box. $10 admissions fee. They serve a bottles of beer and Mike's Hard Lemonade.

About to enjoy some Burlesque

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Night Paddling at Lake Higgins

I've loved kayaking for a few years now, but I'm limited because I have to rent kayaks. Luckily the Greensboro City Lakes all rent kayaks. However it can get a little old going to the same place every year....so I switched it up and went at a different time.

The Greensboro Lakes offers Night Paddling every Weds from May through August. This week's paddle on June 4 was at Lake Higgins (my favorite lake).

At first it wasn't so different because the sun was still out. We got one really good pic.

Cyrus Paddling!

But then the sun started going down behind the trees and picture taking got a lot harder.

The critters were out in full force as night fell and they all had a song to sing....a very annoying song. Like karaoke at last call annoying.

But overall it was so peaceful out there at night. I highly recommend paddling at night at least once.

Glow stick for safety!

The cost for the night paddle is the same as during the day: $15 for a single kayak rental. You can get a guided tour if you'd like. Nobody chose a guided tour. I later saw the guide paddling on a SUP, which are now allowed on the lakes, although they're not for rent.

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Let's Go Sailing

The Greensboro Parks and Rec is amazing, offering all kinds of interesting things to do. The latest was free sailboat rides through the Lake Townsend Yacht Club.

I thought we would just go on a ride, but our amazing guide, Ken, actually taught us how to sail. We had to pull the lines to adjust the sails and I was the helmsman and steered the boat. It wasn't a very windy day, so we had some downtime, but it was still a great experience.

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