Think white lies are okay on job applications? Think again.

Do you think it's okay to exaggerate on your resume or job applications? No one will ever know, right? Think again!

My job is verifying employment, education and checking personal references. I am amazed at the number of people that lie about their education. Some people lie about graduating high school, other people lie about the degree received in college. Yes, we do check high schools. I've checked on the high school education of a person born in 1929. I wondered if he had to go back to work or if he wanted to.

People also lie about the time and the position worked in a company. I will never understand why people list a job in which they didn't even last a day. Why? It doesn't look good that you didn't last a day.

If you are asked for character references or personal references, my advice is to tell the person that you are using them. I've had several references who couldn't remember the person. Also, it seems like common sense, but make sure the person likes you. It doesn't help you when a character references has bad things to say about you.

So, the next time someone tells you that no one checks references, remember what you read here.

Scout's Gotcha Day!

Today is my greyhound, Scout's, first "Gotcha Day". What's a "Gotcha Day"? It's the day that we adopted her. She came to us from http://www.halfwayhomegreyhounds.com

Scout traveled from Tulsa to St. Louis. I believe she was driven to Springfield, MO and then a driver picked her up along with a few other dogs up to complete the lag to St. Louis. Jeff and I met her at the drop off in St. Louis. We had only seen her photo before that day. I spoke with her foster Mom a few times before Scout arrived to learn more about her.

It's exciting bringing a new dog into the home, but it's also stressful, too. I didn't know if Jack would like Scout and vice versa. Jack had been an only dog for 15 months before Scout moved in. He was a little jealous at first and still is at times, but they like each other. We brought Scout into our house as a foster with intent. It meant that we were really the foster parents, but we intended to adopt her. If Jack and Scout did not get along, then we would keep her until new parents were found.

I am actually glad that we are out of the newness stage. We had a few issues with house breaking. Basically, I was stressing the poor dog out I think. I thought she should have to go out more than she needs to. We figured out a routine after about two months and things have been running smooth since that time.

We celebrated Scout's big day with homemade frozen treats topped with whipped cream. The pups seemed to enjoy them.

Gas Shortage

I am not sure how I missed the problem that some of the southern states are having getting gas. People are waiting in very long lines to fill up. I heard that 1 out of 6 stations are dry. This is due to Hurricane Ike. We were warned that this could happen in my state, but thankfully it didn't.

My heart goes out to all of you that are facing this problem.

Little Things

Today was our greyhound reunion. My pups knew something was up. This morning, they had their nails done, teeth brushed and bath wipes were used to make them smell nice. If I would have just done one thing then they would not have been suspicious, but when you do all three...it means "WE ARE GOING SOMEWHERE!" My pups get very excited when they get to leave their rural home. Jack gets almost out of control. He is bouncing around on 2 legs. He is constantly told "four on the floor, Jack". Scout gets excited, too, but she remains very calm. Her teeth chatter to show her excitement.

The pups enjoyed the reunion. Jack saw his foster mom. He lived with her for about three months before we adopted her. The lady who rescued Scout was even there. She is from Oklahoma. They had a lot of fun greeting other pups and getting love from other attendees.

I purchased a sweatshirt, magnet, Celebrating Greyhounds wall calendar and desk calendar. (My Scout is in the desk calendar this year.) The purchase that got me the most excited probably wouldn't matter to most people, but it made my day. It's a clasp that you place the dog's tags on and it can easily be moved from collar to collar. I don't know the official name for it. I have looked all over for one of these. My pups have several collars and moving their tags has always been a problem for me. The problem is now solved. It's a little thing, but it is so exciting to me.

Saturday Morning

I love Saturdays. It's my favorite day of the week. It always has been. I guess it's knowing that I have Sundays off from work, too, and I can basically do what I want. I usually fix a nice breakfast. Today, I am fixing scrambled eggs with bacon and cheese wrapped in a tortilla. I like to go shopping on Saturdays and then on Sundays, I like to stay home and watch the Rams play. This year they are terrible, but I still watch.

Today, my favorite website is down. http://forum.greytalk.com/ The server is being moved and it will not be back up until tomorrow night. I'm so glad they scheduled this for a weekend because I can distract myself with other things easier than during the week. I am on the computer at least 8 hours a day for work and while I'm holding on the phone (my job is heavy into phone work) I check out Greytalk.

Tomorrow, our greyhound group Greyhounds Companions of Missouri is holding their annual reunion. http://www.gcmo.org/ This will be Scout's first year going since she was adopted the day before the reunion last year. Jack and Scout both enjoy seeing other greyhounds, so it should be a fun day of mingling, shopping, raffles and maybe game playing.

Chase Takes Over WaMu

I woke this morning to the news that Chase has purchased Washington Mutual. I have had my mortgage with Washington Mutual for many years. In fact, this is the second home I have financed with Washington Mutual. It's scary to me when my mortgage is sold. Washington Mutual purchased my first loan many years ago. I'm always worried about new conditions that the new company will have. I have a few credit cards with Chase though and they have been a good company to me. I checked Washington Mutual's website this morning and Chase's name is already on it. They definitely work fast.

This economy is really making me nervous.

My Girl Needs Mudflaps!

Jack is my first greyhound and my first male dog. I’ve tried to be careful with his collar color choices to make sure they are manly enough. My husband, Jeff, was not thrilled when I started crocheting scarves for Jack. I don’t think either of them thought they were manly enough, even though I chose blue as the color. When we decided to adopt a second greyhound there wasn’t a doubt that it would be a girl. I wanted a girl that would wear pink collars, hats and my crocheted scarves. I dreamed of a petite, red fawn with dark eyebrows as the red fawns make my heart flutter. Finally, we were ready to find my little diva. I was surprised that I fell for a red brindle named Scout. Her 74 pounds did not make her petite, but the same size as Jack. I already decided that my girl would be named Katie, so the Scout name had to go. It wasn’t long after Scout’s arrival that I learned that Scout was not a Katie. She didn’t look like a Katie and she responded to the name Scout. So, with a heavy heart, I changed her name back to Scout. I soon learned that Scout was not going to be my diva, my girly girl. I placed a hat on her and it seemed to take all the life out of her. I put a velvet jester collar on her at Christmas and again, she deflated until the collar came off. The girl has “ETS” (Escaped Tongue Syndrome) for gosh sakes! I’m sure you’ve seen it. She lets about a ¼” of her tongue hang out the side of her mouth. It’s just not a diva thing to do, but it definitely makes me laugh. One day Jeff and I were watching her run in the yard. She was running in the mud and having the time of her life. Mud was flying everywhere. Jeff said that she needed mud flaps. It was about that time that she stopped running and rolled in the mud. :::sigh::: She is definitely not the dog of my dreams, but she’s my Scout and I wouldn’t trade her for all the “Katie’s” in the world.

Scout will celebrate her first "Gotcha Day" with us on September 29th.

Camping at Sam A. Baker State Park

This past weekend, my husband and I along with our two greyhounds camped at Sam A. Baker State Park in Missouri. http://www.mostateparks.com/baker.htm

The park is very nice. A paved biking trail that starts at campground 1 and passes campground 2, the visitor's center, the store and ends at the restaurant. It is a very easy ride. I had a deer racing me at one point and I was scared that the deer would cause me to crash into him. It would just be my luck, but the deer stayed out of my way....thank goodness.

The campsites are spacious and campground 1 is full of pine trees. See the Class A motor home in the photo? That's ours. We purchased it this past March. We had a 23' trailer before it and pulled that trailer with our Jeep Liberty. The Jeep prefers being our tow vehicle.

We try to camp about twice a month and have found Missouri state parks to be nicer than private parks.

Jack is in CG Magazine!

Today is an exciting day in my home. The postman delivered the latest issue of CG Magazine and my Jack's photo is in the issue. He is on page 41. Isn't he a handsome guy?

Jack will be five in January. We adopted him in June 2006. Jack is truly a rescued greyhound. He was abandoned and would have certainly died if not discovered in a barn that was about to be torn down.

Jack is such a joy. He is a happy boy who has such a bounce in his step. He makes me laugh every day.