My New Career

Everyone at my table on the cruise had an interesting, important sounding job except Judy and me.   Sam is in construction, Sharon manages a large dental practice, Stephanie is an auditor for the State of Virginia, Cynthia is an analyst with the Special Investigations Unit of Geico, and Rosamma, as I have mentioned, is a nurse practioner with the NIH.  And I'm not even a homemaker any more--I'm a retired homemaker.

So...on the way home it became crystal clear to me what I want my new career to be.  This is how it happened.  When I was waiting to go through Customs, I noticed the bomb-sniffing dog with its agent.  It was a darling little beagle.  Now we had been told at least 775 times before getting off the ship that we COULD NOT take any food off--ESPECIALLY FRUIT OR VEGETABLES!!!  So...what was the little beagle doing?  She was sniffing out an orange which some dummy had placed in his or her luggage!  So, the trainer confiscated the orange and rewarded little beagle for the find.  Soooo cute.

Then, event number two.  I was sitting in the lounge waiting to board the plane home when a lady walked up with a magnificent German Shepherd wearing a FEMA vest!  As she made an inquiry of the gate agent, the dog jumped up and placed its paws on the desk!  Isn't that just too precious?

I'm sure you're realizing by now that, yes, I want to be a dog handler for a service dog!  I am simply crazy about dogs.  Now, my son Jay is laughing so hard right now that he can hardly continue reading this because he has very little faith in my ability to train a dog.  I'll be the first to admit that I haven't done too well with Charleigh-Girl, but I know I can get better and more stern.  And, see--I'm not so bad.  She CAN "sit" and "shake."

No, Charleigh, this is not "sit."  This is "down."

O.K., here we go.  I told you she could do it!

Unfortunately, as amazing as she is, Charleigh-Girl has some limitations when it comes to being a service dog.  She is the most hyper, hysterical dog in the world and would find it very hard not to bark at, jump on, and lick everyone with whom we came in contact.  She gets bored easily, leading to this type of behavior if left alone:

It is painfully obvious that I will have to get another dog for my new career.  I'm thinking of a beagle or a German Shepherd.  Perhaps he or she can straighten C-G out for me, too.