Doing WDW on my own again, a February 2012 PTR

[mickeystoontown]

I'm going to be doing another transport this Friday evening. I know I will have at least 2 dogs, and maybe 4 puppies too I always take pictures so I'll post some of those ones this weekend.

I am definitely excited, and so is Heather! Only 10 days now.


Thanks everyone for the kind words, I came back to read them to try to cheer me up. I just found out about half hour ago that someone I met a couple years ago and have spoken to on Facebook many times passed away unexpectedly last night in her sleep. I was going to see her again next month while in Utah, and now I won't ever get to see her again. She was such a kind, fun, bubbly woman and I'm so sad that this world has lost someone like her. And some of my friends knew her well and I hurt for them, since they are in so much more pain than I am. RIP Brandi.

I am so very very sorry to hear about your friend. I'll keep you and her family in my thoughts.

 

[teekathepony]

Very sorry to hear about your friend. My sympathies to you and to her other friends and family.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I am so very very sorry to hear about your friend. I'll keep you and her family in my thoughts.

Very sorry to hear about your friend. My sympathies to you and to her other friends and family.

Thanks guys . I didn't know her too well, but did like her. She was loved by so many people I know and I hurt so much for them. I just wish I was in Utah now instead of a month from now so I could hug all of my friends that are hurting.

 

[PittypatBR]

So sorry about your friend. I went to a funeral today for a friend from my church who died very unexpectedly. He was just a super, lively, funny guy and a great family man. He will be missed by so many, but especially his wife and kids. They had been married for 51 years! There have been several deaths among my friends of people who seemed to be in good shape, and then suddenly they are gone. You just never know when it is your turn, so you can't put off spending time with those you love and talking to those farther away.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

So sorry about your friend. I went to a funeral today for a friend from my church who died very unexpectedly. He was just a super, lively, funny guy and a great family man. He will be missed by so many, but especially his wife and kids. They had been married for 51 years! There have been several deaths among my friends of people who seemed to be in good shape, and then suddenly they are gone. You just never know when it is your turn, so you can't put off spending time with those you love and talking to those farther away.

Thank you, and I am very sorry about your friend from church. You're right, you never know when your time will be and everyone should treat each day as though it could be their last.

 

[aprilisis]

I'm SO sorry about your friend.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I'm SO sorry about your friend.

Thanks. I don't think it will really hit me until next month when I'm in Utah and can't see her. She actually worked at Best Friends Animal Society out there and that's how I met her. She was one of the lovely ladies at Piggy Paradise, the area where they care for the homeless pigs.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Good morning everyone, hope you all had a great weekend!

I'm excited, because I just got off the phone with WDW Reservations, and I added an extra day to my reservation for February! I'm now checking out on February 19th instead of the 18th.

I was originally thinking I had to check-out on the 18th due to my schedule. As I mentioned before, I drive straight between MD and FL, and same on the way back. That 15 hour drive takes a lot out of me and I need a day between coming back and having to get up the next morning for work. So I was planning on having the 19th to recover and then work again starting the 20th. I realized last night that the 20th is a holiday, so I work from home that day. So I can come back on the 19th and have the 20th to rest some before going back to the office on the 21st.

I decided to add an extra day because I have so much I want to do on the non-park days that I needed a second day. But I didn't want to take away any of my park days either. I'm still trying to decide what all I am going to do on the non-park days, though I am sure I will rent a boat in Seven Seas Lagoon, visit some resorts and get a massage. Beyond that though I don't know. I have a few months to decide so I'm sure I will come up with more stuff to do.

Hope everyone has a great week. Mine will be busy with wedding stuff, since Heather's Bachelorette party is Thursday night, rehearsal is Friday and the wedding is Saturday!

I will be back later though with pictures of the 6 puppies I transported for rescue Friday night

 

[aprilisis]

That's great that you added a day!!!
I can't wait to see the puppies!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Doing the I just added one day to my vacation dance with ya.....

 

[teekathepony]

Hooray for extra days and rescued puppies!!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

That's great that you added a day!!!
I can't wait to see the puppies!

Doing the I just added one day to my vacation dance with ya.....

Hooray for extra days and rescued puppies!!

I was so happy last night when I realized I could add an extra day without sacrificing my ability to recover before going back to work! If I don't take a day to recover I get sick, without fail. Two years ago I didn't take a day after my vacation, and got pnuemonia that took 3 weeks to go away.

Posting the puppy pictures right now, in the next post

 

[PhoenixStrength]

So, I will try to make this into only one post, but it is going to be kinda long so I can explain how crazy Friday was for me.

I left work early with the knowledge that I would be working from my phone for the rest of the afternoon as I had a 3:30pm appointment at Davids Bridal to pick up my dress for Heather's wedding. I got that done very quickly (in and out in about 10 minutes!) and then went to grab something from Chik-Fil-A to eat on the road. This particular transport is not one of the ones I have ever worked with before, but the rescue getting the dogs is the one I transport for very often with another transport network. They emailed me on Tuesday asking if I could drive to Hagerstown, MD (about an hour from me) to get 2 dogs and maybe 4 puppies too. I agreed and they said they would send me the info later.

On Thursday I learned they were adding another dog, but I was not taking that one. I have a Cobalt, which is a small sedan. It was going to be cutting it close to fit two older puppies and a crate with 4 more puppies in my car. Thankfully someone who was picking up a couple of dogs from the same transport spot for their own rescue agreed to take the extra dog in her car and follow me to the drop-off. Oh, the rescue I usually transport for is called Dogs XL. They specialize in finding homes for large and extra large breed dogs, since they tend to be harder to adopt out.

So I was told the woman would be getting to the meeting spot in Hagerstown at about 6pm. I had to stop by the home of the Adoption coordinator to pick up a crate for the puppies, and then head there. I got that done and starting driving to Hagerstown. I hit a few spots of traffic (which I expected since it was rush hour) but still got there at about 5:50pm. I pulled out my cell to check my email (which is how the transporters and rescues contact each other) and see a message saying the transporter, Casey, was running a little late and would be there about 6:30-6:45pm. Not too unusual considering I knew she had a bunch of dogs and would need to make stops for potty breaks, so I went into the McDonalds in the parking lot to use the restroom and get a drink.

Around 6:30pm I called Casey to ask her where in the parking area she would be pulling in, since it was a large lot with lots of different entrances. She told me where she would park, but mentioned she was still 90 miles away! She figured she would get there around 8pm. So I had another hour and a half to kill where I just sat in my car, making To Do lists, getting work stuff done and playing on my phone. At around 7:15pm to other woman (Rachel) who was transporting the extra dog and her own rescues pulled up and we waited together. Casey finally arrived at 7:50pm, which was around the time I should have already been home.

Casey wanted to chit chat for a while, while I just wanted to get going since we were running so late. Turns out Casey has a huge farm in Mississippi where she keeps dozens of dogs until she has rescues to take a bunch, and then she drives all the way up the East Coast up to as far north as New York, dropping dogs off to their rescues along the way. Awesome woman, but I just wanted to go. We went in the horse trailer (where she had the crates of dogs) and got out the first dog, which is the one Rachel was taking in her car.

I will mention first that I did not get to take any pictures myself, so all of these pictures came from Casey or Dogs XL.

Daisy Mae

That is Daisy Mae, a Mountain Cur mix. She is about 2 years old they guess. She has a horrible story. She was found on the side of the road with a large wound above her right eye. Turns out someone shot her, and then left her there. Thankfully she is okay, but still has fragments of bone and bullet floating around in her skull. Dogs XL is setting her up with their vet to have surgery so she can stop being in pain. Casey told me that a few weeks ago the area had swollen, and then a piece of bone popped thru her skin and fell out. Despite the fact that she must have been in a large amount of pain, she is a total sweetheart.

Rachel took her over to the grass to go potty and then got the 2 Dachsunds and Schnauzer mix she came to get for her own rescue that she runs. While she walked those ones I got the four puppies I was taking. Unfortunately Casey had no idea which 4 were mine to take, as she brought the whole litter of 8 (a rescue in NY was taking the other 4) and hadn't labelled them. Thankfully I had looked at their pictures beforehand so I was able to figure out which ones to take. First out was Muji, who procided to pee all down me

Casey brought out Meni and we put him in with his sister (though I had been told he was a she, but the anatomy says otherwise!).

I then went back in and got Meela, a sweet but fiesty little girl.

Lastly was Mogli. He took a second to figure out, as there were two that looked alike. Thankfully I knew we were taking the male, and the other was a female so we got him in the crate with his siblings and they were all set.

And believe it or not, they really are all from the same litter. Besides Mogli's twin, they all looked drastically different from each other. We are all guessing they are Border Collie, Hound and some type of Terrier mix, due to their appearances. But who knows!?! They are about 12 weeks and 15 lbs each.

After I got the four young puppies settled in their crate it was time to get the older two in my car. These two were both very scared of everything. Casey told me she had them both for a few months, but since she lives on a farm way off the road they had never been exposed to car noise, pavement, and anything other than grass really. I took Squirt first, who is a 6 month old Black Lab mix male. He was terrified and I had to carry him out of the trailer over to the grass because he wouldn't move. Once he got on the grass though he was a little better, though still scared of all the noises.

I got him settled in my back seat beside the crate of puppies (and by settled I mean I had to pick him up and put him in) and then got the last guy, Nick. He is about 10 months and probably a Lab/Rottie mix.

He was a little scared, but not nearly as bad as Squirt. He got to ride up front on my passenger seat. He was stressed the first 10 minutes or so, but then went to sleep with his head stretched over the center console onto my leg.

We finally got out of there at about 8:20pm ( ) and on the road. Rachel had no idea where she was going so she had to follow me. We had to pull over at one point because the 2 Dachshunds she had were fighting, but otherwise made it to the house of Jessica, the amazing Dogs XL adoption and foster coordinator. Rachel quickly gave them Daisy Mae and we gave her directions how to get to her house. I then got the two older boys into Jessica's house, and her husband and I then got the puppies. We let all 7 of them run around in their back yard a bit, and they all had a lot of fun playing together. Squirt and Nick were much more relaxed by that point and played a lot too. Daisy wasn't bothered by the puppies, but didn't really play either.

It took us about 20 minutes to catch the puppies then to take everyone inside, and then I left. I found out yesterday that Daisy Mae's foster never showed, and her agreeing to take Daisy Mae was the only reason Dogs XL agreed to take her in since they are a foster-only rescue. So for now she is still living in a crate in Jessica's basement until someone agrees to foster her. I would, but cannot have another dog in my house right now But she is going to the vet tomorrow to get examined and set up for surgery. And the four young puppies were taken to an adoption event on Sunday. None of them were officially adopted then, but I know a few people told Dogs XL they were going to think about it and maybe putting in applications, so hopefully everyone will be in homes soon. I know 7 other dogs from them were adopted at that event, so that's great news at least.

So, that was the tale of my longer than expected Transport on Friday. I think I finally got home around 10:15pm, over 2 hours after I thought I would be. But getting those puppies to rescue made it worth it.

My next update will either be Disney or wedding related, depending on which I get more done on first

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Hi all! Just a quick update, maybe the only one I get in until next week due to the wedding coming up. I finished the last of the wedding prep last night by printing all of the placecards for the seating arrangements. It took much longer than I anticipated as my printer wouldn't print them right, but I finally found a good template to use and they printed fine. Actually I still have to write my speech for the reception, which is the only thing I dread. I am afraid of only two things, and speaking in front of a group of people is one of them. So it will be short and sweet!

Our cousin (the one who got married 3 weeks ago) does some work as a makeup artist on the side and is going to do Heather's makeup for the wedding as a present to her. Spent part of yesterday afternoon trying to figure out where she would do the makeup at, since the hall won't let you do makeup there, and our cousin Rachael is deathly allergic to cats so she can't do it in my parent's house since they have several. My mom finally came up with them doing the makeup in their RV since there have never been cats in there and it has full power, water, etc.

Oh, and good news on the foster kitty front. All 3 of the older siblings are in new homes. The two females actually went together to a friend of a neighbor. They have a few kids and have been telling the kids for a few months they could get a kitten next year. When our neighbor told them we had kittens they decided to just come over and check them out. They left the kids in the car telling them they were borrowing something from us, so they wouldn't get too excited. They fell in love with both girls and couldn't decide, so they took them both. They took them to the car and their kids went crazy! And Fireball, the male, went to one of my dad's co-workers who adores him. The younger two are finally old enough to go, so I am starting to look for homes for them now.

Hope everyone has a great week, and weekend too since mine will be busy.

 

[PittypatBR]

Good luck with all the wedding details - hope everything goes great!

 

[teekathepony]

Best of luck with the wedding this weekend, and my congratulations to your sister!
Great news about the kitties finding homes too!

 

[aprilisis]

How did I miss your posts??? I love that dog, Daisy Mae. What an awful story, though! I hope whoever shot her has a lifetime of misery & suffering. Do you know if she was adopted or if she is still up for adoption?
You had a REALLY busy weekend! I'm so glad that someone adopted the kittens! That is fantastic news!

 

[aprilisis]

D'oh! I forgot to say good luck this weekend with the wedding!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Good luck with all the wedding details - hope everything goes great!

Thanks! I'm sure no matter what it will be a wonderful day.

Best of luck with the wedding this weekend, and my congratulations to your sister!
Great news about the kitties finding homes too!

We are very happy they found homes. Now I just have 2 more to find homes for

How did I miss your posts??? I love that dog, Daisy Mae. What an awful story, though! I hope whoever shot her has a lifetime of misery & suffering. Do you know if she was adopted or if she is still up for adoption?
You had a REALLY busy weekend! I'm so glad that someone adopted the kittens! That is fantastic news!

D'oh! I forgot to say good luck this weekend with the wedding!

Daisy Mae is gorgeous, and a real sweetie. Dogs XL doesn't know what is going on with the guy who shot her, but I hope he rots. I don't know if she has been adopted yet, but I'm helping them with an adoption event on Sunday and I plan on asking about all of them.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I'm off to my hair appointment, then the rest of the day is prepping for and then the actual wedding. So happy for Heather and Jimmy. And happy with Mother Nature, as it was originally supposed to be thunderstorms and we were going to have to move the wedding inside, but not it is not supposed to rain until late, so we should be fine.

Be back with pictures whenever I have them