Country Bumpkin Visits the Big City

 

I returned somewhat late last evening from the Central Veterinary Conference in Kansas City.  I was gone for 4 days, which isn't really very long.  It felt like forever! And...it went really fast!  :D

I have never been to any other type of conference, although this is my third trip to the CVC.  It is FULL of continuing education, which is required for technicians and veterinarians to maintain their licenses.  I adore CE.  I am a CE addict!  CVC is a little slice of heaven for me.  (as an aside, I am also addicted to office supplies. Office Max and Staples are my stores of choice, unless there is an Agility Store somewhere I have never been to!  I hear there the a "box store" somewhere.  I would love that as well)  I'm odd.  I know.  

Oops.  I got lost there for a sec.  But seriously, there are 22 (I counted) options of classes for each session of each day to choose from.  Doing the math...that means I had over 600 classes to choose from.  Of course time limits that, as well as conflicts when there is more than one session I want to attend offered at one time.  It required a great deal of thought to organize my schedule each day.  All in all, I was very pleased with nearly all the sessions I attended, I learned a lot, and I brought home a lot of ideas to put in place in the practice.  All very exciting!
 
CVC is in the city.  Kansas City, which as far as cities go, is pretty nice, and not nearly as large as say...Chicago. LA or New York.  Huge culture shock for a country bumpkin such as myself.  It's not that it surprises me. I am a born and raised Chicagoan (ahem...suburbs, but we visited a lot).  I look for things now. Things I never looked for before I traveled as a DogNut.  Such as, if I had managed to bring a dog with me...where would I take it to potty?  Those grass opportunities are very limited.  And, I wonder how one house-trains a puppy when they have to take an elevator to get them outside!  YIKES!  Yet, my impression is that there are a large number of apartment dwelling dogs in cities.

Driving in the city, definitely a whole 'nother world!  I drove in, let the valet park my car, took the shuttles from the motel to the conference, and when we were ready to come home, I took my keys from the valet and we drove away.  Nice.  Still, getting out of Kansas City was fraught with hazards such as, needing to turn left, when my backwards head thought right was left....and merging onto 35N.  Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!  Can you say...3 lanes in just a couple of seconds?  Cody congratulated me on my bravery.  I think his knees were shaking.   We needed to get on, and get left 3 lanes to follow the road.  Yikes.  I know my knees were shaking! And we only almost hit that red car that was coming right 3 lanes.  

And so....

It is SO good to be home.  My wonderful hubby greeted me with a delicious plate of crackers, my favorite peppered turkey, incredible merlot cheese paired with a red wine. Lovely snack.  A bit of that and I was more than ready to sleep in my own bed on our quiet little farm.

The hardest part of this particular trip was missing four days of my puppy's life.  I missed everyone, John, Elizabeth, and Ethan (who is home, which is a story of it's own...grrr...to HCC) and Crystal, Pi, Buddy, Alice and Indy.  And....Stevie. 

I missed Stevie the most, and I think I have figured out why. I have very mixed feelings about admitting that.  In part, because I adore all my dogs.  The little girls (as I call the group of 3, Allie, Indy and Stevie) are my hope for the future of my agility fun, and it's odd knowing that one seems more special than the other two.  They are all (all 6) integral to my heart, and all 6 are deeply loved, cared for, and live wonderful lives.

But.....

Stevie has wormed her darling little self into the part of my heart where Jane lives.  That is a feat.  Who knew there was room in there?  Certainly not me.  More than that however, is that I have had her a relatively short time.  I dunno...6, 7 weeks?  She is so young. She is learning so fast and  she is so much fun to train.  I just missed the daily clicker training sessions, and the time I spend teaching her it is okay to tug. I missed all that, and the snugly time she gives me. 

As a special gift for my homecoming, Stevie's ears are both up!  (HA HA...for today! Rather, for this moment)  I am going to try to capture them and post a pic.  

Wish me luck.