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.