The red, white and blue poodle...

Upside, backside

Assembly line grooming

How do I look?

The diamond brooch is a nice touch

The ultra tub

Party pooch and his man

The ocean blue?

There is a dog under all that color

When my daughter invited me to go with her to a place called 'SuperZoo" in Las Vegas, I was curious.
What is a SuperZoo?
Why do people go there?
What would there be for a quasi employee of Kari's Klips to do?
But it didn't matter that I had no idea what I was in for, I love my youngest daughter and I certainly didn't want her heading off to Vegas on her own.
(See, she has had tremendous success with her home grooming studio and wanted to learn more. She wanted to see what else there is to see and do.)
What we found was fascinating.
First of all, it's huge...and well-attended by lots and lots of folks...and all kinds of dogs.

The sexy groomer garb

(In fact, it's kind of strange to see poodles, huskies, yorkies and even wolf-hounds tripping alongside their owners on the way to the competitions in this fancy hotel and casino.)
We found the biggest trade show I've ever seen, selling everything from freeze-dried duckheads and pig snouts to puppy playground equipment, industrial-sized washing tubs and Christmas collars.
Everywhere we looked there was another product designed to intrigue a dog lover.
The grooming competition involved the standard mix of dogs of all sizes but the creative grooming contest include outrageous cuts.
One party poodle was dyed blue with a black Orca stamped on his side. He had crests on his back to look like waves and Christmas lights intertwined.
Another had every color imaginable on his legs, his back, his top ruff, his sides.
One standing on a table by the entrance was black, white and red-striped.
A tiny all-pink poodle danced around the audience.
Then were were the dogs in the Rescue Round, dogs who had been neglected and who badly needed a clean-up.
Most of them were cute and kind of bedraggled but one looked just like a big, white rug. The groomer working on it ended up standing in a big pile of fur but eventually a dog emerged.
It was most entertaining to watch.
Meanwhile, Kari went to classes on subjects like clipping mixed breeds and working with demanding clients.
She learned quite a bit. I learned that the dealers really prefer to talk to the business owner and not so much to the sidekick grandma.
I'm actually not sure I minded being dismissed.
I'm more into following the crazy-colored dogs around. 

That cuts it!

I've been worried since we bought really nice, really sharp knives for Marc for Christmas.
I bought him a glove to protect his fingers.
We make sure the knives are always put back in their little wooden sheath.
We take care whenever we use them.
I've been particularly worried when I borrow one of them.
They're so sharp and they cut so quickly.
When I want to slice a tomato, one of Marc's knives cuts right through like it's nothing.
When I need to slice a loaf of bread I've picked up from the bakery before it was cool enough to go through the slicer, I borrow his.
The other day I was laboring to cut up a watermelon.
It took forever.
So yesterday when I needed to cut up another one, I looked at his precious set of cutting tools.
I realized I would be taking a chance so I put my silicon baking sheet on the counter so the watermelon wouldn't roll away.
I lifted the fruit and started to work.
I halved it.
Sweet!
The knife cut right through.
I halved the half and proceeded to cut slices which I then quartered.
It went great.
I didn't hurt myself.
It went quickly and I ended up with nice, neat pieces of melon.
It wasn't until I cleaned up the watermelon juice that I noticed something funny.
The silicon sheet lifted up in places that left the rest of the sheet on the counter.
I picked it up and waggled it. It fluttered in the breeze.
I had efficiently shredded my baking sheet which now was in strips.
It was beyond repair and only good for a demonstration on how dangerous working with sharp knives could be.
Who knew sharp meant sharp?