Galvin

He was my near perfect puppy-sittee this past week (he went home this morning). He was so good. Kind of funny story though- he was started in my old puppy club in Roseburg. He arrived there in May (while I was moving from Albuquerque to Bend- how confusing this must be to those who don't know me) and then was transferred to Bend recently, where I live now. Kind of a coincidence.

Just for good measure, I added pictures of Cami and Jacoba too.

Galvin

Cami

Jacoba

It's hard to do my homework . . .

When the power is out. It went out sometime about 3 am this morning (there was a really bad storm) and they didn't get it working again until about 4:15 this afternoon!!!

They canceled classes (not until after my first one though- it's held in one of the three building s on campus with a generator) Most people went to town or to the beach. The smart people who are concerned about the fact that there are only two more days of classes stayed on campus doing what we could (which really isn't much). My roommate and I turned on our lights so we would know when the power came back on so we could go to the library.

So here I am working on papers, and the power has gone out a couple of times while I've been here! I've never been so "save" happy in my life.

Puppy Club

My mom went to her first puppy club meeting in years today! I'm excited because if she get's a puppy, guess who gets puppy time when I'm home at breaks?!?!!! Oh, right ME!!!!

Anyways, I go home in less than two weeks and there is a meeting in Bend the day I get there, so I'm excited about that.

Busy, busy with finals and everything. Life is going pretty well right now. I'll let you know how I feel Thursday night (the day before everything is due).

This post is green, not in honor of Christmas, but for guide dog puppy coats.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm really enjoying this opportunity to not to do homework without feeling guilty. Hope you all are too. Have a fantastic day.

Blah

I'm totally ready for this semester to be over. The end!

I'm kind of caught up . . .

on homework right now so I thought I'd update quickly even though there really isn't much to say.

Its been cooling down lately, which is WONDERFUL. I hate the heat (I know, I know, why am I in Hawaii? - I don't know any better then you do!) Anyways, I wore a long sleeve shirt today, and while I wasn’t exactly shivering, I wasn't hot either.

I got my English midterm back. I got an "A" of course. I've been getting really good grades. I'm pretty sure that if I don't get a 4.0 it's going to be math's fault. I try really hard in that class (I actually read the text; how weird is that? - Nobody does that). Still waiting on history though, but I think even though I might not have done fantastically on the midterm (I know I didn't get higher than a "B"), my paper should even it out and I'll get an "A" for the semester.

I'm still enjoying my job. I'm left by myself a lot though which can be frustrating because they still really haven't had time to teach me much, so I feel kind of lost and like I'm getting paid to do nothing.

I talked to Lindsey for a long time on Saturday which was exciting. She almost has me convinced to apply for BYU in Provo. I'd be in the snow instead of "on" the beach (I've only actually been to the beach once but you know what I mean). It's much cheaper to fly from PDX to SLC then from HNL to PDX. And of course, the clincher- I could have a guide dog puppy in Utah! Take my advice- if you are addicted to puppy raising, don't leave the eight western states, and certainly don't go to school on an island. You'll be disappointed.

Okay, gotta go. Bishopric family home evening tonight. We're having Pizza Hut. You kind of have to be here to understand how exciting that is. This might help though- I've only eaten off campus twice since I've been here. Do you get it now?

More later...

I'm so tired...

Ah, college life. I'm exhausted all the time and it's a vicious never ending cycle. It feels like life will never be normal again.

I never update here because there really isn't anything to say. Midterms have been the past couple of weeks (it seems that none of the teachers really agree when midterms are, so I had one two weeks ago, three last week, and one this week). I'm still waiting to hear on my English and History midterms since they were, in large part, not multiple choice (no scantron, no instant score!). Hopefully, I'll get those back today. I did fine on the rest of my tests. Okay, I did well, on the rest of my tests. All "As," even though I was kind of disappointed with my low "A" in psychology.

I got a job two (?) weeks ago. I'm working in the President's office for Brother Kongaika and Brother Bliss. I really enjoy the job but it's very fast paced which makes it kind of difficult to ask questions when I have them- I feel like I'm interrupting something really important. November 6 is President Wheelwright's inauguration. I'm working at it (for work, I mean, not just because I want to- which I do want to- what I mean is that a lot of people are volunteering at it, but my boss asked me to do it for work) and I'm excited because President Hinckley will be here and I'm hoping I'll get to meet him.

I registered for next semester last week. I'm taking Psych 204 (Statistics- "GAG!"), Education of Exceptional Students, Fundamentals of Sign (I need to brush up on my ASL), Book of Mormon II, Cultural Psychology, and Inter-Cultural Communications. Exciting!

This last week Val was here visiting and I went to PCC with her. That was a lot of fun. There are a lot of activities here all the time for students but I'm kind of lame and I tend to skip them in favor of doing homework and studying. I'm paying way to much to be here to settle for anything less than a 4.0. So, in exchange I don't have a life. I don't even go shopping. I order everything online or ask my mom to go to Walmart and then send it to me (those flat rate boxes are very cost effective).

Anywho, I better get going . History starts in a few minutes and I want to know how I did on my test.

Update on the School front

So, I'm tired. And at this moment very hot. I've been very sick this week and when I went to the doctor, I had a temperature of 101. I'm sure it’s not that high anymore, but I don’t think its normal yet either. So I missed a couple of classes this week, which is kind of frustrating. But I finally feel well today (I did my laundry which means I can at least get out of bed).

I’ve only had three tests so far, two math tests and a psych test. I got an “A” and a “B” on the math tests, and an “A” (97%) on the psych. I was talking to a kid from my psychology class today and he was surprised by more score. He said he thought everyone had received low scores. I’m not sure if that was his wishful thinking or if he has talked to other people and I really did receive a high score in comparison.

Things are really kind of boring here though. I don’t know why college is supposed to be so exciting. I do the same thing all day, everyday, and when you live on campus, you don’t even get to go home at night to break up the monotony. I haven’t even been to the beach yet either. I was gonna go tomorrow, but I’m not sure I’m quite well enough for that. Plus I have to make up the stuff I missed this week while I was out of commission.

I did go to the Ala Moana mall in Honolulu last week. It’s an awesome mall. I’m totally going back when I have money.

On Tuesdays, I’m tutoring in one of the special education classes at Laie Elementary. I started this week and it was a lot of fun. I was feeling sick by that point but not yet to ill to leave my room.

I also learned something this week in the guide dog arena that surprised me. I had no idea that the ADA doesn’t include churches. They do not have to allow service animals. Or make any other accommodations for disabilities for that matter.

I’m relieved that the lounge has a television so I can watch Survivor and CSI.

That’s all.

This and That

Things are still going well. I'm slowly meeting people. I have a new roommate. I switched rooms and she moved in two days later. She is awesome. Like me, she is a convert to the church, baptized just eight months before me. She also served a mission in SLC South, and got home the month before me. However, she started here in June.

I switched out of my impossibly difficult math class and I'm much more confident about the one I am in now. I'll pass it.

I'm almost done with all the homework I'm going to miss while gone, and the things that remain I can do on the flight if I don't get them done before I go. Only about 30 hours until my plane leaves!!! I've been so stressed out trying to get everything done before I left, but it looks like it shall work out.

Anywho, this will be the last post for a bit because while you are all stuck at work and school, I'll be at Disneyworld! Have fun.

Not GDB related...it's gonna be hard to relate things to guide dogs while here

Alhoa!

So, here I am in Hawaii. I have finally learned the true story about how to pronounce the name of the city, which is that the first person who told me (who is herself Hawaiian and went to school here) was right and that everyone else who thought they were right were actually wrong. The vowels are pronounced like in Spanish: la-eee-eh. Laie.

Things are going well except that it is hot and I don't talk to new people so I eat by myself a lot. I hate my math class. I'm not even sure that the instructor is speaking English (she is, but she just whips through the material). I'm going to have a really hard time in that class. I really want to switch to a different class but there aren't any and I have to take it because it is pre-req to PSYCH 205 which is a pre-req to every psychology class I haven't already taken (or am currently enrolled in).

I'm exhausted and I have so much to do because not only do I have all the standard homework, but I'll be leaving next Friday for a week (Disneyworld!!!) and I have to have everything that I'll miss done ahead of time. So, I'm a little stressed out, not the least of it from the 100 or so math problems assigned everyday (it takes me, on average, about 8 minutes per problem- I'm terrible at math). I can do this math though: today, three math classes next week, and the three I'll miss while I'm gone- that is seven classes, with about 100 problems assigned every day. 100*8= 800 minutes/60 minutes/hour= 13.33 hours of math homework before I leave next Friday. And that's only if I can actually figure out how to do the problem and don't have to go get help from a tutor. Thank God for them!

Tomorrow is the Circle Island Tour. I'm excited about that. It goes everywhere: Pearl Harbor, Swap Meet, and Walmart! I really need to go to Walmart and I wish I had more money to do so. Plus, I get to go with the girls who took the shuttle here with me- the first people I met on the island.

I have registered to go to volunteer orientation at the Honolulu Humane Society next Wednesday. I need some way to keep up my dog handling skills while here. I've also filled out the forms to become part of GDB's "Speakers Bureau" to maintain contact with them while over here. At this point, I have loads of time for all this because I don't have a job. I'm sure I’m going to need to get one but I don't want to think about because I'm still so drained and because math takes up about 50% of my awake time already. I don't want to have to throw a job in there somewhere. But ... if I want any spending money. Which I do.

I really enjoy having a temple so close. I went last night with my roommate (Apple, from the Philippines) and several other people who were there to see their friend receive his endowment. So many of the girls here have been on missions so there are plenty of people to go with (if I talked to them :)

Anyhoo, I'm thinking about switching rooms and I'm going now to go look at my potential new room. Talk to ya'll later.

Going home (kind of)

We’re just sitting here waiting for core staff to get back from drop off runs and then we are doing check out, having lunch and then we are suppose to get to leave by 1 pm.

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks. Teen camp was awesome. They got us all worked up telling us how difficult it was going to be, and then it turns out to be the easiest and most fun camp of the summer. I had an AWESOME cabin. We were the only cabin in camp with all blind and visually impaired campers (most campers had one or two “buddies”- sighted campers) and it was so much fun. I miss my campers- that session was the hardest one to say goodbye.

For my last break, Sprite and I went to San Diego and stayed with her family for a few days. They were here on vacation. We went to Sea World. It was awesome. I’ve decided to forget guide dogs and train whales instead!  Although I’d have to get over my fish phobia in order to do that. Anyways, it was a lot of fun. I called my dad and told him to get tickets to go to Sea World next month (on a side note, it’s only 15 days until I go to Orlando). Then on the last day of break, we went to Magic Mountain. That was sooooo much fun. We didn’t get very long there (only about five hours) but our tickets were free so it wasn’t that big of a deal that we didn’t necessarily get out monies worth.

This last session was family camp. It was a lot of fun too, but it seemed really long. We had three good families that were very independent. I miss them too. One of the campers should come back for teen camp next year. He is awesome. His mom just needs some confidence in him.

Now, as soon as they let us leave, we are headed out the door. We need to stop at UPS so I can ship my sheets and towels directly to myself in Hawaii. And we need to go to the bank. There are now four of us and two dogs in my car (we had three people and two dogs on the way here). I’m dropping Sprite and Tonks off in Utah, and picking Shawna up there. Then Flip Flop, Shawna and I are driving to Bend and will be home about five pm on Friday (we are not stopping overnight anywhere- we’re just driving straight through). I have Friday evening and Saturday morning to pack for school and then we head to Portland to do some last minute shopping and stay at a motel (we’ll be dropping Flip Flop off in Portland with her mom and Shawna is flying back to SLC on Monday). My flight leaves at 9 am. Crazy!!! There is so much to do.

I have had so much fun this summer. In less then two hours, I’ll be saying good-bye to the people I’ve worked with and lived with for ten weeks. It’s kind of depressing. This has been such a rewarding experience and I am soooo grateful for it. I’ve learned so many things this summer: how to use a cane, how to use a brailler- kind of - I’m still working on that one. But I’m also really excited to move on with life and finally start school again after a two year break. That will be a lot of fun too. I’m sad that I’m only going to get to see my family for a day and a half. But all in all, I’m ready to move on although once I have to some time to sit down and breathe (next weekend), I know I’ll be really sad. But it’s time for a new adventure. But I sure hope I get to come back next summer!

So tired...

Well, it’s been awhile and I still haven’t posted pictures and I’m not going to this time either because my camera is in Malibu and I’m not (I’m still up in the Bay Area from Fun Day). Things at camp are going well. We’re all tired and anxious for and dreading the end of the summer at the same time. We only have (less then) three more weeks and four days of that are breaks. We have teen camp (gross) and the second family camp (fun!). The breaks have been fun. Disneyland last break (with a VI counselor- we got the front of all the lines) and Fun Day this break. It was (surprise) really quite FUN. Haha. It was super sad to go without a dog though. I’ve never done that. Even the year I went without my own dog, I had someone else’s. Sad story, I know. I can’t wait to be done with school and puppy raising again.

So, there isn’t a whole lot of time right now. I’m just drained during breaks and prefer to do things that don’t require any thinking or any other effort. Maybe sometime soon I’ll give a better update, but until then…

Pre-teens are so much better...

So, this week was so much worse then the pre-teen girls. We had two campers in their early thirties and three in their mid to late fifties and they asked us for help with everything (we even had one camper that insisted we put butter on her toast for her). One of my co counselors this session is legally blind herself and said her mom would kill her if she insisted she couldn’t do anything for herself. I realize they do have a disability that can be limiting, but we are here to encourage independence, not to allow them to take a break from living a full, independent life. We tried as best as we could to encourage them to do things themselves. There were plenty of people here who were very independent like the VI/blind I have know in the past, we just didn’t have them in our cabin. I understood the need for help; this is a new place and orientation can be difficult. What I didn't understand was some of the campers lack of desire for independence. The kids, however, want to be independent so badly, that they'll refuse help even if they need it. So, it's a difficult balancing act.

This break I am puppy sitting Mikey (I’m not even sure that is how his name is spelled). All I know about him is that he is a year old and his dad is Benjamin. His raiser doesn’t remember who his mom is, but she raised Benjamin so she remembers that. He’s a pretty good dog. He’s mostly calm and I like him. And puppy sitting any dog is a lot of fun. We were talking about going to Magic Mountain tomorrow but I think they changed their minds because it’s too expensive. We are going to Universal Studios again this next session with our campers. I’m excited.

Harry Potter comes out in two days… Yay for us!

I was looking at going home during a different break then I was thinking to check and see if it would be cheaper and I realized that there pretty much aren’t any. We’re more then halfway done. We’ve got this break right now and then next break (no plans, but it’s too soon to book a flight at a decent price) and then the one after multi-disabled (which is already packed- we’re going to Fun Day), then one between teen camp and family camp (the one I was already looking at) and then we are done. I can’t believe that.

There are several people waiting to use the computer so I better go. There’s not much else to say. I promise I really will post pictures when I can motivate myself to wait for these really slow computers to load them.

Just in case I don’t post again soon, Happy reading!

-Arwen

This is long...

I’ve been putting this off for awhile because I’m lazy and didn’t want to think this hard or type this much. But now, to conserve energy, I’m double posting this blog in different places so that everyone can read about life at camp.

Last break I didn’t do much. I think the only thing I did was go to the grocery store. And that was it. I bought vinegar (to wash my camp shirts). I went down the mountain a few times just to park and use my phone (I HATE not having service- aggravates me to no end). I wrote a letter and an email to Mickelle (she is doing fantastically, I believe- I got a short letter from her this week). I’m racking my brain to remember what I did (see what I mean about thinking hard) - I did do something exciting. I went to Hollywood. It was okay, I’ve been before and honestly this time it wasn’t anymore exciting. I took a picture of the “Godzilla” star and of the huge banner outside Grauman’s Chinese theater announcing the US premier of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I spent some time trying to figure out how to sneak out of camp for the premier. I didn’t come up with any good ideas so I didn’t go. But it was neat. I bought some sunglasses. And I ate California Pizza Kitchen- best pizza ever.

This last session was elementary camp. They put it at the beginning of the summer because otherwise we’d be really burnt out by the time we got to the young kids. This particular session they assigned counselors based on their age, so I worked with the other oldest female counselor, Sprite who is one of the girls that came to camp with me. We had the oldest girls- eleven and twelve year olds and one girl who turned 14 while she was here. We had ten campers, five one whom are VI. It was a seriously draining week. I was with the pre-teen girls. Need I say more? I had to go on the overnighter this time (everyone does). It wasn’t as bad as I expected. We had a lot of fun with our activities. Due to lack on time and interest, I’m not going to talk about everything that happened, but some highlights of the week include:

Beach day- We saw a couple of dolphins. We couldn’t believe how close they came to the shore. It was amazing, especially when the waves were going over them just about to break and you could see them perfectly. My girls also made an amazing turtle for the sandcastle contest.

Universal Studios- I had the oldest kids. Of course we had fun! We did have one girl that would get to the front of every line and then start crying and whining that she wouldn’t go on. We had to break up into two groups and go through the lines at different times so someone could be with her. After a couple times of that, we left her with the nurse and the rest of us enjoyed the day. We went on every ride. There were a few shows that we wanted to see that we didn’t make it to, but that’s okay. Next time.

Summer festival- This day was open to the public to come and visit and there were a lot of people there. In the morning the blindness discovery area was open. They had a lot of booths- GDB, JBA, a tide pool (that was fun- I touched a horn shark- it was neat), a booth with blindfolds that mimicked different types of visual impairments and canes to play with, braillers, and other fun things. The public got to eat at the bbq, while campers and staff came to the dining hall and ate normal camp food. Oh well, we all had the same things, hamburgers. The afternoon was filled with games: archery, some table games, hula hoops, freeze dancing, three legged race, balloon toss, etc. After all that excitement we had a really long rest hour! The best part of the day is that one of my campers came here all the way from Georgia to see her twin brother (who is blind) and he didn’t come to camp. She was so disappointed, but she got to see him this day because he came for awhile.

A few other “highlights” happened this week too. My favorite was the night that everyone was sick and none of the staff slept because there were campers throwing up in every cabin. Great fun.

This break has been lazy too. A week ago, I bought my ticket online for Harry Potter. We were working through noon on the 11th, so we saw it later that night, not for the midnight release. But that was okay. There was a group of six of us and they all know as much about Harry Potter as I do, unlike the friends I drag to the movie with me at home. So that was fun. We only got to the theater an hour early (after several hours of shopping and dinner) and we were the 5th-11th places in line. It was very different from home were you have to be there much earlier then that. I think the difference is that there are a lot more theaters to choose from here. While we waited in line for the movie, I read a book I had bought earlier in the day, What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7, by the staff of mugglenet.com. It was really interesting. I enjoyed the movie. I think that each one has been better then the last. Yesterday I drove to Trancas market (Starbucks is a good place to see Celebrities­, though I haven’t actually gone to Starbucks yet) and made a few phone calls. Last night I went Camarillo with a small group and we went to the outlet malls there. It is huge and has pretty much everything you could ever ask for. I bought board shorts at PacSun. I didn’t spend too much on them. Then I controlled myself after that although there were a lot of shoes I wanted to buy. Next paycheck maybe. I’m trying to save the rest of this one. We had dinner at Panda Express (that made me happy). And then we came back to camp. Today, I’m not doing anything. Tomorrow, I’m getting up early to go to the temple. Then our return meeting is tomorrow night.

This week is Young Adult/Alumni camp. Everyone will be over 18 and they will all be legally blind (unlike during camp with kids, where there are “buddies”- fully sighted kids). It’s a really short camp. They get here Sunday and go home Wednesday. There are quite a few different things this week. No beach day. All of them go to Santa Monica. Which means that most of us get to as well.

I’m thinking about going to visit my Aunt Sandy next break, but unsure yet because I would have to be back about five on Friday so I could join in with everyone on the pre Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows party. The last book comes out in a week! THE LAST ONE! This is it. I almost don’t want it to, because then it is over. It’s been part of half my life. We’re living it now. I’m so excited to see how everything ends, but … not.

So, lose ends: After getting desperate because I couldn’t find off campus housing at BYUH (it’s all full), I got an email that I am no longer waitlisted for the dorms and have a spot. Even though I had gotten excited about living off campus, I couldn’t find a place, so now I’m pretty excited to live in the dorms. Now I’m just waiting for financial aid. According to their website, award letters are delayed by a month and won’t be available until August. Umm, I want to buy a cane. So I can learn to use one while Tonks is around. She can teach me. I also want to learn to sight read Braille. I need to find a book. My mom got a house in Bend. It’s three bedrooms which is good news for me. She was talking about getting a two bedroom and I’m relieved that I won’t have to sleep on the living room floor during breaks.

Anywho, we’re watching Hitch now and I have a whole lot of nothing to get to. So I better go. Hope everyone is doing well. I miss you all and I’ll talk to you soon. When I'm not feeling so lazy, I'll post some pictures.

Love,
Arwen

Happenings

So, camp is fun. We're tired but having a good time. I'm going to be sick of the pool by the end of the summer. And the beach probably.

The campers are great. I especially like one of my families. The mom is blind and works with "Columbus" from GDB. He is a good dog and definitely the most attractive working dog here (there is another guide, not from GDB, and a CCI dog).

We went to Zuma beach (where Baywatch was filmed) on Wednesday. Last night I went to Santa Monica (I was the only staff who went because I was the only counselor who had a totally blind person go who didn't have someone else (spouse or friend) to go with her). Her husband had to work this week. We were out late but it was a lot of fun and worth it. We had the best table and view at the restaurant.

Tonight was the overnighter and I was very relieved that I didn't have to go. I want some sleep. The movie that we were watching with the kids who stayed behind just ended so now we can all go to bed too.

GDB news: one of the staff is thinking about bringing her dog. She has all the appropriate clearances but she just doesn't want to drive home and get him. But it would be fun to have another dog here at camp.

I need to get my tickets to The Order of the Phoenix! It comes out sooooo soon.

I think its time to go to bed now. Later everyone...

Tonorrow Things go Crazy

So, its been a bit since I posted on blogger. We've have a fun week. We spent one night at the beach (I slept in a tent where I was warm and dry all night long). On Friday, we participated in all the camp activities and had to do horseback riding and the wall under blindfold. They let us do archery and arts and crafts sighted. Saturday was supposed to be First Aid/CPR training but the woman canceled so we had the day off instead. Sunday Lindsey and I went to church. I like the singles ward here but it is a long drive. Lindsey fell in love :) with a kid that sang "Praise to the Man." We pretty much just hung out the rest of the day. We ended up having our CPR stuff today. It was kind of a waste of time. The instructor wasn't very good. Now we have our staff awards dinner, then training and assignments for this week’s session. And campers tomorrow. Yay! It should be a fun week. I'm looking forward to having campers even though I know I'll be exhausted. Tomorrow night we don't get time off because we have to be with our assigned families (this week is family camp) and the next night I have SWAT (quiet time patrol- apparently it stands for Someone Watching at Twilight) because I was late- I wasn't actually late- really, I wasn't- but everyone has to do SWAT rotations anyways so it doesn't really matter when I do it. So I don't know for sure that I'll get to use the computer for a few days. :( Hopefully I do.

I should probably call this good because dinner line up is in a few minutes. I'll update again soon if I can. Hope everyone is doing well. And don't forget to write to Mickelle if you are one of her "followers"- I wrote her a letter yesterday. You can comment me if you need her current address at the MTC- its not posted on her blog.

Here

After a super long drive (many thanks to Lindsey for doing most of the driving after Utah) we are here. We got here a little after three on Sunday and spent all day Sunday and most of the day Monday doing paperwork. Yesterday, in addition to paperwork, we also took a tour of JBA (beautiful facility) and we were introduced to the other programs there as we will have some of their kids this summer. During down times at JBA, we took naps on the lawn and went bowling in the alley there on the campus. After a few hours of "training" which consisted of games, we took a "quick"- nothing involving driving is quick- trip to Walmart. I needed hairspray.

Today we started our blindfolding. We are taking turns with our partner going blindfolded at every meal. My partner has an unfair advantage in this activity- she is legally blind! But that makes her a really good sighted guide because she knows what is helpful. The rest of the week we'll also be doing all the activities at camp under blindfold (horseback riding, climbing wall, etc.).

There are a lot of raisers here, but only two dogs. The girl in the GD activity leader position is working on getting more dogs here so she has more to do. That would be fun. The facilities are really nice except the two showers per floor, which houses 32 people. That's a little insane. It's really pretty up in the mountains just above the beach, but everyone was right. We don't get cell reception. It's difficult to wait until days off to use the phone and do other stuff because so far this week, we have actually had a lot of down time.

Anywho, it has been a lot of fun and I'm really excited for the campers to get here. I don't want any mail all summer because they make us humiliate ourselves but oh well...

I'll keep you updated!

Manfred

Since both my dogs are three hours away, today I borrowed my leader's dog for the morning and we went to Toketee falls. Manfred is an absolute sweetheart and a joy to handle. Anyways, because my blog completely lacks pictures, I'd thought I'd post some even though he is not my dog. You can tell that I was hot and tired, but Manfred was doing just fine.

Less then a week before I leave for camp!

Yawn

It's 12:29 am. I'm up late because Lindsey and I talked half the night. We're crazy. We seem to be making this habit too. And she's even crazier then me because it's an hour later for her. And now that we are off the phone, she’s going to go read. It's okay though, it's Harry Potter- I understand the attraction there. I can't give her a hard time; I'm going to read a chapter or two in The Silver Chair (Chronicles of Narnia) - my excuse is that I worked in the library at a primary school, but that’s just a cover up. I would still read children’s books even if I hadn’t. But I did, I wasn’t making that up.

We have fun talking about camp and dogs, and GDB stuff. I don't mind our late night talks at all. Abby might, but I try to be quiet and she doesn't say anything. So, yeah, that's about it. That's all I did today except leave for half an hour or so when my sister and I went and got take out and came back over here to eat. That sums it up for me. But as always, you can expect more exciting stuff to come tomorrow.

So, I just spent a long time talking to Lindsey and I was thinking about what a cute dog Ontario is. You can see recent pictures of him at her blog! ;p If I knew how to include a link, I would. But there is a link at the side of my page.

We had puppy class tonight. I miss puppies sooooo much. I threatened to steal Galvin, but I'm way too devoted to GDB to ever even consider such a thing (not that I would steal if I wasn't- what is that, commandment # 8?). I'm sad I won't get one of my own this summer, but super excited to play with everyone else's pups. I'm way excited about pretty much everything that has to do with the summer (except paying for the gas, that part I'm not excited about).

On a different note, tonight I emailed Eye of the Pacific, a dog guide school in Honolulu. I don't think they use puppy raisers because I believe they import all their dogs as adults from other rabies free countries, but I thought I'd check it out just the same, in case they do need raisers or other volunteers. I'm anxious to hear from them.

And it's late and I'm going to go to bed now!

Change of Plans

So, when I posted on "the list," I specifically, said, "Everything appears to be in order..." You know that feeling that something must go wrong because it’s too good to be true. Yep. Kinda that. Diann called last night and said that GDB (I assume that means Pat) said that Chester couldn't go to camp. I'm disappointed- I miss puppy raising and since I'm going to an island for school, summers are the only contact I'll have with it. But I didn't lose any sleep over it. The summer is still going to be more fun then I can handle. But puppy less. Myself- there's still going to be plenty of puppies around! I know of six that are going so I should still get some puppy kisses.

So, because I don't have a life...

...I have a sincere desire for others to quit their's and we'll just sit here and blog back and forth all day long! Wouldn't it be fun? Everytime I post, I check back like every 30 minutes . . .I wonder if someone has commented? Even though I know no one has because you are all at school or work! I know, I'm pathetic. You only know the half of it.

Camp Puppy

So, because the guide dog world is amazing, somehow I doubt I need to post this because everyone likely already knows (that might have something to do with the list...) that I am now co-raising MBL Chester. He is 10.5 months old and is a David and Alexandra puppy. I will probably be getting him around June 11 or 12 and spending few days with him before heading off to Malibu, via SLC. The first week (ten days- something like that) of camp is training so there won't be kids yet which means I'll get to continue to get to know him better before the summer goes crazy! I'm so excited about the whole entire summer! And I'm very grateful to Diann for finding me a dog for the summer and to Mike and Karen who are letting me borrow their grandog (they raised David) for a few months.

Everything is falling into place. Since I've been on a mission, I'm not exactly wealthy but I needed to get my car insurance and register my car (things my mom had been doing while I was gone). Well, my mom surprised me yesterday and registered my car for me before she had my sister bring it over and trade cars back and she put insurance on it (well, transferred it from NM to OR insurance- it was covered before to). I have to pay her back for the insurance but not until I get paid.

Anyways, things are working out and I'm getting more and more excited.

Bummer

So, the dog that was in the works to take to camp can't go! Sad. But I have a meeting tonight with my "other" club and Pat is going to be there. Hopefully we'll work something out. Cross your fingers for me!

3:17 am

So, laundry is done. And for some reason that no one could explain (including myself) that totally reminded me of "Finding Nemo:" "Good feelins' gone."

1:53 am

So, its only nearly 2 am, and I'm still up, drinking a strawberry Italian soda from Dutch Brothers (I wonder how often they get non-caffeinated orders at 1:30 am) and typing nonsense on the internet while waiting for my laundry at my dad's house to finish so I have clothes to wear to Cindy's party tomorrow because mine are all dirty. That was a pretty good run on sentence! I want to go to bed and Abby left her front door unlocked for me. I was going to wait to do laundry till tomorrow but I had to come over and get my dogs anyways (I dropped them off on my way into town), so now I'm just washing my clothes too.

The last bit of the drive was fine. I drove for eight hours straight, just me and my dogs because, surprise! My mom bought a car this morning. When I decided that I wanted to take my car to Camp, she finally bought herself a new one (So, Lindsey, that obstacle has been eliminated- now just onto the cost which I think we can handle). We didn't get here until after 10 pm and Lyndsey and my mom were about an hour later then that. I had to wait in Auburn for all the car stuff to go through in case it didn't work out so I got "home" much later then I had planned. I chatted with Coreena on messenger, emailed my favorite missionary companion (who comes home on Wednesday) and did some other things before leaving again (at midnight- who does that?).

So, I think I'll go check my laundry now.

YAY!!!YAY!!!YAY!!!

I got permission from the camp end to take a PT but now I just need to confirm arrangements with the leader before it becomes official!

Best News Ever

I got fantastic news today! Even better then finding out I can take a puppy to camp (which I am still waiting to find out- I think I'll just call tomorrow)! Lindsey is going to camp! How come no one told me? I suppose everyone thought I knew. After all, I'm the infamous internet stalker. But I didn't know. She called me today and said "Lacey, have you thought of a camp name yet?" "Umm, no." "I can't think of any either!" "Wait, are you going to camp?" I'm so excited that I'm going to know someone. And now we have solved our traveling dilemma somewhat. I wanted to take my car but couldn't justify spending that much money on it (insurance and gas).

We're staying at a motel again tonight because we didn't get to Auburn until it was too late to see my uncle and then go to my grandparents. Not that it matters because I spent all my time at my uncles outside on my phone.

Anyways, tomorrow with my grandparents. Then I'm driving to Oregon on Friday although my mom and sister are debating staying here for the weekend. But I have a birthday party to go to in Roseburg. And friends to see before I'm gone forever. Between camp and school, it almost seems like I'll never be back.

And I think that's all for now.

Goodnight.

Ghetto city

I don't want to offend anyone by giving the name of the place we are staying, but it’s in California and I think it might be the most ghetto town ever. The debit machines are older then me.

The drive today was boring again. We ended up not seeing the Grand Canyon (my sister didn't want to) and I'm disappointed. There's not much to mention except that the western part of Arizona (at least west of Flagstaff) is not nearly as nice as Flagstaff itself is.

I don't think I'll have internet the next two days. I'm going to be staying with my dad's parents and I'm not really sure where my mom is staying. It's kind of crazy. My mom's brother and my dad's parents live within 3o minutes of each other so my sister and I are staying with our grandparents, and I think my mom is going to get a hotel in Auburn near my uncle. The really funny part is we're going to miss seeing our dad by two days. He'll be here on Saturday because this week is his parent's 60th anniversary. Oh well. I should see him soon anyways.

So, maybe I shouldn't confess this . . . I got lost today when I was suppose to be following my mom to a hotel because I went to roll the window up and a dog squealed. I panicked and freaked out, while my dog is panicked too because I shut her head in the window! I'm the worst dog parent ever! I pulled over and examined for damage and she didn't really seem to care at all, she just wanted her head out of the window. By the time I determined that Cami was going to live, I had no idea where my mom and sister had gone. Found them though and we finally managed to find a motel that allows doggies. Lest you think I'm as terrible as I feel, I'll let you know Cami has forgiven me so don't you go and hold a grudge against me. Besides, my mom says it’s not as bad as the time she shut my head in the window (I don't know if she is serious).

Until later...

PS- I'm trying to convince my mom we should take a short detour to the San Rafael campus. Neither her nor my sister have ever seen it. I'd get to see lots of puppies!

I remembered!

Patriot's dad is CCI stud, Bauman. My other best friend raised a CCI pup at the same time we had Patriot and Eiger is Patriot's cousin. I love all the connections in the sevice dog world.

I promise that as soon as more stuff happens with PIT I'll focus this more on that. Or on Camp Bloomfield when I have access to a computer while there (I'm not a big fan of using the internet on my phone but I will if I have to).

Short Drive

So, I'm in Flagstaff now. I think Arizona looks to be quite pretty. I don't know for sure because my family never leaves on time. We said we were going to leave at 9 am so we would be on the road by noon and managed to finally leave Albuquerque at 5:30 pm. We are awesome! So I'm seeing Arizona in the dark.

Unfortunately, I didn't hear back about whether there is going to be room for me to take a pup to camp. It's a top priority right now so I can figure out transportation and several other things. Hopefully tomorrow. I know the fulltime camp staff is very busy right now getting ready.

It's late though and I better go to bed. We've got a long day tomorrow. We're totally going to drive more then 300 miles tomorrow and we're going to go see the Grand Canyon- my sister wants to go. Never mind that I wanted to see the meteor crater and we didn't get to. Whatever!

Goodnight.

Puppies and Adventures

So, as I am sitting in a hotel room with nothing to do (we are out of our house but don't leave for Oregon until Monday), I thought I'd write up some about my GDB experiences and past PITs. Let's see how far I get before I get tired of it for the night. :)

So, a little over ten years ago, I was begging for a dog. I'd never wanted anything so badly in my life and no one in my family had ever wanted one at all. I spent months and months trying everything I could think of to get my mom to agree to it. I read every book I could find in the library about dogs (and took notes- I was a nerd!) I read the classified section every week and looked at dogs. I did everything. One day, I saw in the classifieds that the local guide dog puppy raising club needed raisers. That was a bit of an understatement. There weren't any raisers. At all. Nora Harrison (have you read her book Dear Kilroy? - if you haven't, you should) wanted to raise a guide dog puppy but soon found out there were no clubs in our area so decided she'd have to become a leader. So she did. And now she needed a club. I was fascinated at my first meeting. There were two PITs there and Pat Cook had brought one of her dogs. I couldn't believe the things that dog could do. My mom thought it was a neat program, but wasn't falling for it as fast as I was. I thought it would be cool because if for some reason the dog thing wasn't for us, it would only be temporary. My mom ended up saying I could do it but she thought I should have a permanent dog first. That was certainly a change but I wasn't going to argue. While I looked around for a dog, I had the opportunity to puppy sit some of the dogs in the early days of our club. Eventually, I got a young Australian Cattle dog puppy who I named Camas. He wasn't the best first time dog, but we managed to get along. Unfortunately however he turned out to be very aggressive towards strangers and of course that is a no-no with PITs. When he was 13 months old, he unexpectedly started seizuring and was dead within minutes. Well, now I was minus one aggressive dog but didn't have a dog at all. Back to problem one. I had a new dog within a week (funnily enough I had already been looking around for a different dog to use for 4-H because Camas was so aggressive). I adopted Cami from a kind of local shelter and she has been the best dog I could have ever hoped for. She is mostly Labrador, part heeler. I showed her in 4-H for years and she won either Champion or Reserve in every obedience trial we entered. But that's not about GDB pups, sorry. Now, both problem one and two were solved. I had a pet dog and she didn't have a mean bone in her body (although she has developed one towards neighbor’s kitties). I could get a PIT, right? Ummmm, no. We moved. No longer had a fenced yard. I needed a dog run. Asked for one for Christmas/birthday for two years. Finally got one. Yay!?! Nope!!! My dad lost his job and couldn't pay child support. We had to move in with him for a bit and his dog is pyschotic. Mind you, during this whole time, I'm continuing to puppy sit and stay active with the club. Finally, we moved into a new house. Forget the fact that it was ghetto and had the worlds smallest yard- I still met all the requirements. I filled out the application and I don't really know how long it took to get a puppy (I think it was only about two-three weeks). I got eight week old FYL Jacoba (parents: Camaro and Galana) in July of 2002, five years after my first GDB club meeting. Jacoba was a breeze, minus one small problem. She would relieve on command readily; however, she also went any other time she felt like. She had that problem the whole time I had her. I did a lot of puppy trades hoping someone might be able to work on it with no major results. I sent her in for training in November of 2003 thinking she'd be back within 6 weeks or so. Well, when she wasn't I started to get excited, especially because she seemed to breeze through the phases. And then, a surprise phone call. She had been dropped for defecating in harness. Not really a surprise, but she seemed to be doing well in training and had lasted so much longer then I expected. When I picked her up from the campus, her handlers said that she was a wonderful dog and had many desirable qualities which are why she remained in training for so long despite the relieving issue. They had done everything they could. I hadn't really decided what to do with her if she was cc'd. I thought I'd give her to a coworker of my moms who loves her to death, but I took one look at her and knew I'd be keeping her. She continues to be a wonderful permanent addition to our family and despite my mother’s constant complaints, she wouldn't know what to do without her.

Jacoba actually went back a few weeks early because she went into season. I hadn't been prepared for that and didn't have a new pup application in yet. I bugged Diann (leader) all the time asking when I was going to get a new dog. And was expecting it to be a bit. The first week of December, my best friend’s dog was going back for training and I went to meet the puppy truck too (of course). I got on the bus, saw all the puppies, etc, along with everyone else there. After the truck left, we all did too, and a few minutes later my mom called and said that GDB had just called wondering why I wasn't there to pick up my new puppy. What!?!? First of all, I WAS there. Second of all, what puppy? Apparently, no one knew I was supposed to be expecting a FBL, including me. Since the truck was already headed up north again (in the confusion of the morning they had just "overlooked" the pup and its not like I was there anxious to get my new trainee), it was decided they would drop her off on the way back to California. So two days later, I met the truck again to pick up Beverly (parents: Weaver and Oona). Beverly slept through the night starting her second one with me. She seemed to be a very confident dog from the first day. She also had a ton of energy and kept me busy all the time. She could pull her tie down around the house. She had some serious problems with separation anxiety (barking, whining, and lunging when left alone). Essentially, she was a terror in the home, but the epitome of perfection in public. I would go to raiser meetings and talk about her at home and no one would believe me. I'd tell them to take her home. :) Once they did, they didn't disagree anymore. I was concerned about her behavior and why things weren't progressing well with her so when my CFR wanted to evaluate her while I was serving an internship in the training department at GDB, I was okay with it. Part of the evaluation was to have Jenna, another raiser in the club take her for awhile. Based on the evaluation and Jenna's experience with her, it was decided to transfer her to Jenna. Jenna had raised Beverly's aunt, Comet, and was quite familiar with their "type." I was so relieved that she was staying in the club because although she was a hard dog, she really was an absolute sweetheart and I liked her a lot. Jenna did a wonderful job with her but she eventually started to display the same problems in the home, with some progress (Jenna was able to let her off leash confined to one or two rooms, something I couldn't do). Jenna had her from August-December 2003. Four days before Beverly's recall, I was meeting with Pat (to evaluate my current pup) and we talked a lot about Beverly. She ended up making the decision to drop her. I wasn't really upset. I knew "guide dog" wasn't in her future and was glad she didn't have to try it. Plus, since she was dropped, I got to have her for the last few days and still take her out (she wasn't official yet). Jenna and I allowed GDB to place her and she is with a family in Beaverton Oregon who love her. They are just as active as she is! I hear from them a couple of times a year and am so pleased with GDB career change placement program.

While I was serving my internship and Diann told me Bev was going to be transferred to Jenna, she also told me I already had a new dog. Cascade (parents: Trent and Isabel) had been transferred to our club at 3 1/2 months but she didn't actually have a raiser. As soon as I got home, I had an adorable FYL puppy. She was a very soft dog but a lover. As far as obedience goes, she was the worst of the three I'd had so far, but it wasn't defiant, she just didn't learn as fast. Temperament wise, she was a perfect guide dog. Things were going fantastically with her and I didn't have any plans to change anything.

Then, randomly, one day in November of 2004, Diann called up and asked if I'd be willing to transfer Cascade (within the club) and accept a GSD that day! Well, of course I said yes, I'm not one of those people that refuse shepherds. Well, I didn't get him until the next day (or the day after?). Phantom was bred by an outside breeder that typically bred dogs with good success as guides but that were a little tricky to raise. Palance, his brother, was placed with my club leader. Because my best friend/fellow raiser had always wanted a shepherd, we agreed, with Diann and Pat's permission to co raise Phantom and her current MYL, Patriot (parents: somebody from CCI and Uma). More about Patriot later. Phantom was most definitely a GSD. He whined all the time. I'm certain he spent more time whining then otherwise. But still, I really learned a lot from him and enjoyed the experience. But as his barking/whining issues got worse and his confidence didn't get any better, he was transferred. He went to at least three people after me, two club leaders in southern Oregon and one licensed GDB instructor. It didn't work. He ended up being dropped in August of 2005 (he had been transferred in March). GDB placed him with a single man in Portland who had GSD experience. Phantom is the only dog in his home. I haven't contacted him, but I'm sure its working out wonderfully. GDB has a good record with placements.

I was pretty much co raising Patriot even before it was official as Stephanie and I did most things together. Patriot had urinating issues his whole PIT career. He was a calm solid dog though and he was a lot of fun to be around. He has this huge, block head that was quite distinguishable and adorable. He ended up being cc'd in phase 6 for urinating in harness. He had started out in training with urinating issues but when he seemed to get over them, he got to stay. But all of a sudden he freaked out and started relieving both in harness and in his crate on the way to workouts. He now lives with Steph's aunt and uncle in Washington.

Back to Cascade for a minute. I don't remember exactly when she went in for training, but she as quickly pulled for breeding. She was evaluated, tentatively accepted and shipped to the San Rafael campus. I was super excited because I was leaving for my mission soon and I thought I'd be able to make her graduation since she wasn't going through training. I never heard anything about it though, and since the letter I got from the breeding department said I could call anytime if I had questions, I did. About a week and a half before I was to leave for Texas, I called them and asked about her. Upon her arrival in San Rafael, further health testing was done and some problems were found with enzymes in her blood work. After several more weeks of different types of testing, with the problem appearing every time without a possible cause, she too was dropped from the program. They had just dropped her the day before I called and hadn’t been able to notify anyone yet. Pat decided to place her with a young girl in Washington who has seizures but wanted to be able to participate in 4-H. She needed a solid dog and from what I hear, Cassie was the right choice.

We had Patriot until May of 2005, at which point I had to take a break from raising. My current location didn’t allow dogs (anymore J ) and then in early 2006, I went on a mission for my church. As my family is in Albuquerque, we don’t have PIT, but we move back to Oregon next week. Pretty much the first thing I did when I found out we were moving was contact the leader there!

Anyways, there’s my novel! As I think of more things, I’ll add them. And pictures. Thanks for participating.

I'm new!

So, I was browsing myspace and looking at the Puppy Truck's page, which Tabatha had commented on, so I looked at her page which refers visitors to her blog and there I checked out other puppy raisers that I knew. So I can blame this mostly on Tabatha (but also Lindsey, Mickelle, Coreena, and Ally).

I currently don't have a puppy as I've been in Texas for awhile serving a mission for my church (Mickelle is going to have so much fun!). I am working at Camp Bloomfield this summer though and am waiting to hear if there is enough room for me to take a pup (since I didn't actually have one of my own when I received the job, if the counselors who have dogs want to bring them, they get first choice). I hope I do because otherwise my puppy time is going to be pathetic.

Currently, I am in Albuquerque where my mom moved (with all my stuff) while I was in Texas. But we move to back to Oregon (to Bend- I'm from Roseburg) next week. We leave on Monday, arrive Friday. And then I'll be there for about 2 1/2 weeks before heading off to Malibu. I hope to get some puppy time in before I go!

Anyways, that's about it for me for now. Hopefully that's good. I'll put pics of puppies up as soon as I can, but they just left with the movers yesterday (my digital camera is a recent acquisition) so it might be a bit. Unless Coreena and Ally have some?