getting picked up at the assisted living home

Today was another one of those "Hannah has the funniest things happen to her" days. I told a friend who is in sales there that I would attend her Brighton Gardens (elderly care facility) Walk Out for Alzheimer's this afternoon. Insert "Dog" before walk and now you're probably getting a better sense of this event. I arrived late as usual and was ushered to the registration table where I had to fill out a long form all about my dog. I really only wrote in the basics because I was 30 minutes late:

Name: CHARLIE

Age: THREE

Breed: CAVAPOO

Things that you dog can do: Hmmmmpf........well, he sometimes sits but only for a treat and even then it's about a 50-50 chance he'll do it. So I wrote "sometimes sits for treats" and went on with it.

The music starts and a guy on the bass is plucking along (Seinfeld style) really well with an over-the-top announcer who is calling each dog out one at a time to walk the floor and then to do their tricks or show off their costumes in front of the judges. It was serious business and I crammed into a small waiting area with Charlie bustling with nervous owners, dogs and tangled leashes. Everyone was looking at me as if I were an animal abuser because Charlie was costume-less. I gave him a bath people and that rarely happens.

One by one the dogs pranced out and gave Hi-5's, or caught a ball, or just looked cute silly in their tu tu's.

A lady even told me that her poodle named Cecelia got a "bikini shave" for the special day.

Last, but not least, Charlie steps up to the plate. It was rather anti-climactic as I tried to get him to sit (failed) and then eat a treat (spat it out on the sidewalk for me to pick up wet) so he neither sat, nor ate the treat. I also didn't realize that the form I filled out was where the announcer was getting his information to tell everyone about the dog. Apparently most people had written a private school application essay about their dogs while Charlie only had, "sometimes sits for treats". Awesome. He tried his best to talk about Charlie while I hurriedly walked around the courtyard before he had to say that Charlie was 3 years old for a third time....oops. In the end Charlie did charm all of the ladies and I'm sure brightened their afternoons. We went home with three goodie bags of treats (it pays to know the right people in high places at an active adult community).

After everything broke up, the bass player walked over and offered his congratulations to Charlie- for what, I'm not sure, followed by, "when are you going to come and see my band play?" Caught a bit off guard my instinct was to ask, "well what is the name of your band?" to which he replied,  "MarTAY and the ParTAY!" We stood there in the middle of the cafeteria area with all of the ambiance you can imagine. The smells and sounds and of course a room full of half asleep elders tired from the afternoon's excitement. I couldn't have made this one up if I tried. I smiled and we walked out. Later, I looked down at his business card to read only  this:

Marty Berning

ROCK STAR

and his phone number.

I thought he was gutsy and attractive.

Charlie's new girlfriend with the "bikini shave":

Check out the hand sewn Tutu: