Well it’s that time of year again for me. Time to head to Chicago for the All American Grooming Show and stock up on grooming supplies and brute for punishment that I am, I bit the bullet and yes, registered to compete in not one, but two creative grooming shows being held there this year.
The first show will be held August 15th and it’s a new one they are having called “Abstract Runway Design” it will be at 9 p.m. That evening and they are looking for a unique trim with little to no color, and a complimentary outfit on the groomer. This is sort of a “modeling” bit for groomers to show off their talents and look like models strutting their stuff and walking their dog down a runway. Since the bar is being raised so high that regular creative grooming is really getting out of my range of capabilities I thought this may be more to my liking. After a little encouragement from friends, I entered online. Then it happened…
The competition bug bit me and I thought about what I could do for the runway design, a spiral trim with just a hint of color, but oh no, that wasn't good enough. The wheels in my head started turning and I thought, I could turn that spiral trim into a rattlesnake design I had planned on doing one day. Sure! Why not! The creative show isn't until 3pm the next day, I could re-do the spiral design, color the spirals into a snake, carve out a little more hair and snag two contests with ONE dog! Unheard of!
Surely THIS would make me the most creative groomer wouldn't it? I found myself checking boxes on the online registration form for both contests! Before I had time to think about the repercussions of what I had done, it was too late. I had already hit the enter button and it was over with. I spent the rest of the night sketching my designs on paper and perfecting it in my head.
The next day Jerry Schinberg called me from the All American Grooming Show because he was confused about my registration form.
“Hiya Sandy, it’s Jerry Schinberg, I see that you are entering contests and I just wanted to clarify some things”
“Sure Jerry, how can I help?”
“You have both the abstract runway design and regular creative grooming checked, which one are you entering?”
“Both of them” I replied.
“I see, you will have two dogs then”
“No, just one dog” I replied.
“Uh, ok, so you are entering both contests and using a different dog in each one correct?”
“No Jerry, I’m using the same dog for both contests” I replied.
“But if you do that you have to make each trim SIGNIFICANTLY different” Jerry warns.
“Oh, they WILL be different, no worries there!” I reassure him.
I asked him if I could tell him what I'm doing, or if that’s a no-no, but he told me it was ok. So I explained my ideas to him and said, “Now Jerry, you gotta admit, that using the same dog, making two completely different designs in two different contests that are only 18 hours apart is pretty darned creative!”
“It'll be fine if you can pull it off.” He replied and we ended our conversation.
It was a little while later the gravity of what I had done hit me, and how HARD this was going to be.
What was I thinking? Am I that wrapped up in competition that it’s not good enough to enter just one thing, but both? Good Lord, why do I do this to myself! It was only four months ago that I went to the Nashville show and turned Jasmine into a “corn dog”. After that it was 4H dog obedience and agility for her and the boys, and now its back to grooming shows again. Is there a 12-step program for this type of addiction? When will I be satisfied? Every time I think that’s the best I can do, I gave it my best shot, and vow to never enter again, the competition bug bites me and I fall victim to it.
Worse yet, my husband has the bug too, and for some odd reason after 21 years of marriage, he is suddenly interested in my hobbies. I only planned to go to buy grooming supplies and not compete. I even waited until the last day to register. Then he asked me if I had booked the room yet. He is genuinely interested in this competition and really standing behind me in this madness! I think that makes him an “enabler” doesn't it?
I was planning on just going alone, staying with a friend, getting my stuff and going home but oh no, now it’s a family affair! And so, now I have to get some costumes for me and the boys ready, Tim decided that watching the show was good enough, he didn't want to be one of the props.
He is even toying with the idea of buying a 4-door full sized truck to haul our stuff around in! Even “I” don’t have the bug that bad! I’m trying to talk him out of that, just what we need, a gas guzzling truck. The gas guzzling S10 blazer is bad enough thanks. If you can’t haul your stuff dear “downsize”. It’s only 2 shows, maybe 3 a year. Is it really worth spending the money on a truck? Please someone shake some sense into us! Is there a creative grooming show anonymous meeting anyplace out there? Perhaps there’s one in Hershey, Pennsylvania next month at their grooming show, I hear it’s the show to end all shows! You know I just HAVE to go there!
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