GDB Homecoming!

Okay, so get ready. This'll be long, and I'm sorry if some of it ends up out of order.
I'll try to see what I remember from the busy, exciting and amazingly awesome weekend!
Okay well first, Pasta and I got an Access ride to the airport. Not too eventful
and we got there super early, but that's much better than late. But, what's funny
is that when I checked in, the guy took me through security fine and then was all
in a hurry. I asked him why and he said they were in the final boarding. I knew
this couldn't be right since it was about two hours before I'd need to board, and
it didn't seem like he believed me that I wasn't on this flight to SFO. He was like,
well, you came up in this flight when I put your name in, and I told him I booked
the later one. So, out of security we went and back to the computer. And, wouldn't
you know, I was right and was on the later flight. I guess there was somebody else
named Megan Miller on the earlier flight, but she was flying with someone. Too funny.
But the bummer was I had to do security twice. Oh well. After the first time, I knew
to take the nylabone out of my suitcase since they had had to run my bag through
twice before and look inside since they didn't know what the heck it was! But other
than that, it was good. Plus, the TSA agent called me beautiful, which was flattering
but highly unexpected, especially from TSA.
Okay, so we got on the plane, Pasta fell asleep and I actually dozed for the first
15 minutes or so, too. I always fall asleep on the plane. The flight was only an
hour, so then I waited in the airport to meet up with Sarah and Rafferty from the
list. Once their flight got in, we went in search for the Airporter and ended up
finally finding it and taking it to the airport. There was a ton of traffic so we
probably arrived and got checked in around 9:00.
Then, we walked over to Round Table Pizza near the hotel and ate. Let me just brag
on Sarah's Rafferty, too. He is an amazing dog, and my bet is he'll make an amazing
guide for somebody. He is super sweet, very calm, focused and happy. He's very tall
and very cute, and again, he's really sweet. Pasta and he were fast friends, and
we got lots of cute pictures of them together.
So, Saturday we had breakfast. It started around 7:30 and probably went for almost
two hours. The volunteers were all really nice. There was coffee, tea, water and
I think juice. There were scrambled eggs, sausage, potatoes, fresh, yummy, juicy
fruit, yogurt and I don't remember what else. A very good breakfast. Then, the panel
discussions started in another room. The first had several listers as well as a breeder
keeper and gosh, I don't remember who else. It talked about breeding, oh yeah, it
was the breeding director lady that I don't remember her name, puppy raising and
the changes in GDB over the years. It was nice hearing Janine speak about her experiences
raising puppies and Diane's experiences over the years. The second panel had several
people from San Francisco's Vicious and Dangerous Dog Unit. They talked about their
Doggie Court, how they handle dog attacks and will continue to treat them as important
even after the guy who had been in charge retires, and how they will be working to
educate other police officers. They even said they'd talk to departments across the
country if we needed any help getting our police to understand why it is important
to have a plan and to know what to do if a guide-dog is attacked. That was really
helpful information they gave, and Emily Simone gave lots of good advice for deterring
dog attacks, too. I hope the recordings come out well so you all can hear them and
so I can have it on file.
The afternoon didn't have anything scheduled, which ended up being great. Sarah and
I met up with Jen and Nixon, her interpreter, who is a very nice lady, and another
lady named Holly and her super tiny guide. Her doggie is only 44 pounds! Super cute.
Also, Nixon is a very, very handsome boy, too, and the bandana the Red Cross made
him is very nice, too. We all walked over to the mall and ate in the food court together,
and I had a great time talking with everyone. I was really glad I had more time to
talk with Jen this time than I did at the last reunion. It was lots of fun.
Then, we walked from the mall to campus and sat in the grass under a tree and talked.
We got pictures of all four doggies together and some with us people in there, too.
I like the pictures Jen posted on Facebook and can't wait to see one Sarah posts,
too. I need to post the couple I got, also. All in due time.
Then, Sarah and I took the class bus back to the hotel. They were on the way to pick
people up, but we wanted to go back so she could grab her wallet. So, there, I think
we saw a couple of the same nice people we had met at breakfast that morning. Oh
yeah, I also got to see one of the ladies that was in class with me and Pasta, so
that was really cool. That actually happened the night before, though.
So anyway, then we took the bus back to campus. Let me just say, Pasta recognized
the bus and was very happy about it. I couldn't understand what she had been staring
at, wagging her tail at and almost whining at under her breath while we had been
relaxing on campus earlier, but it turns out she was staring at the bus. How cute!
Once we got back to campus, we took a tour, got to hear about the breeding program,
walk through the kennel, pet an adorable fluffball of a golden retriever puppy and
got to go into the puppy kitchen and operating room area. It was very educational
and super fun to pet the tiny puppy!
Then, Sarah and I went into the super crowded gift shop and I bought a ton of stuff.
Sarah is awesome, let me just say. She helped me find so much stuff in the right
sizes and everything, and she, through the whole trip, was really good about telling
me how stuff looked and if anything cool, funny or just weird happened, especially
later in San Francisco. I ended up getting myself three T-shirts and a yellow rain
slicker, a navy slicker for Anthony, a T-shirt for my friend, a LED light for Pasta,
we'll see how it ends up working but I like it so far, a calendar for me and one
for Dad, and a stuffed puppy in a puppy coat. I plan to take the coat off and put
the harness I have on it, the harness from the puppy I had before that my exroommate's
dog chewed on. Then, we met Leslie and her husband, and a girl I have met several
times before bumped into us, too. So, they let her and her doggie sit with us at
one of the list tables, and we started going up.
I was so happy to be able to sit by Roxanne. It was great to talk with her and to
meet Carnation. She is beautiful! I love how light her face is but then how her ears
and rest of her head are a little darker. Gorgeous! And, of course, she's a really
good girl. Andrea and Cardigan were also at our table, but I didn't get to talk to
her much since it was kind of noisy. Cardigan looked handsome from what I could tell
from where I was sitting, though. Also at our table was Leslie and her husband and
their very well behaved pup in training, as well as Sarah and Rafferty. I feel like
I'm forgetting someone. Sorry! Oh, and I got to hold Stephanie's Vienna! She is super
cute and cuddly, and she gave me bunches of puppy kisses! I have to sadly admit,
though, I was the one who had been holding her as she yelped. Maybe she just didn't
want to leave me? (smile) Hahaha. I felt horrible when she did that, though, even
though I don't think I did anything wrong. But boy, she was a cutie pie, and I was
so glad Stephanie let me hold her! I got to meet Mary Beth, too and her handsome boy.
The awards ceremony was great. I cracked up at Morgan and his wonderful stories,
and I was super touched at the giving of all the awards. I felt really honored to
be able to sit beside Roxanne when the night started, so when they announced her
name for the award, I thought it was super fitting. I couldn't think of anybody else
that could have gotten it, and I love how surprised she and all of the recipients
were.
After the dinner, I introduced myself to Morgan and got to pet Wil. Boy, he is a
gorgeous red golden. Morgan is just as nice as I thought he would be, too. I wish
he'd stay on as the President and CEO. I think he is perfect for the job.
My friend, Sarah and I ended up going inside and I snuck into the music room and
sat where I had been introduced to Pasta on dog day. I got all teary-eyed and just
hugged her. She has done so, so much for me since I got her, so much more than I
could have ever imagined, and the last time I sat in that spot, I was without her
as I had left her in the kennel for the medical eval. So, this was a very sweet moment
for both reasons, because that is where I first saw her and got her famous kisses
and because the last time I sat there, I was without her and was afraid she might
have to retire or something.
Then, we were lucky enough to meet Marilyn, Don and Wispy. What wonderful people!
I really enjoyed talking with them, and Wispy is gorgeous and so calm. She is very
much a lady. She's very soft and much smaller and lighter colored than her brother.
We relieved our dogs at the relieving circle, and then Sarah, Rafferty, Don, Marilyn
and Wispy, Pasta and I walked back to the hotel together. For some reason, Pasta
had a ton of energy and wanted to lead most of the way, but boy, later than night,
she knocked out.
After going to the room for a little, Sarah and I and the dogs went to the hospitality
sweet. The place was packed and Pasta ended up getting trapped somehow, so Sarah
rescued her for me. After that, Pasta slid herself under a coffee table looking thing
and fell asleep. We got to meet lots of nice people in the hospitality sweet, too,
and I got to talk to Judy and Sachet again, too. We probably stayed until about 11:30
and then went upstairs and crashed.
Sunday, we had another yummy breakfast and got to meet more people. I got to meet
Mandy and Cancoon there, and that was really cool. He is a very handsome boy and
very well behaved. It was really cool to meet him, too, because his sister was raised
in the club I go to. After breakfast, we packed, checked out and took a van ride
to the transit center in downtown SR. We took a bus from there and went downtown.
The order of stuff there gets fuzzy, so hopefully Sarah will remember better. But,
we did ride on these cable car things that were built in the 1920's, and that was
cool, and we had a quick visit at Peer 39. Pasta loved watching the sea lions, and
we got a ton of pictures of her and Rafferty together that I can't wait to see. We
also rode BART, which I never did in training since I never ride anything like it
down here. It was really fun! Oh, and I'm taking Sarah's fun away here, but the quote
of the trip is "So, where'd you steal those dogs from?" What? So, he repeated it
and followed up with "because you aren't blind." I think my reply of "Yeah I am,"
surprised him. Too funny! I'll let Sarah talk more in detail about the other goofy
things she saw downtown and told me about if she wants, but let me just say, its
way too busy for me to want to live there, but I had a blast visiting!
We took BART to the airport, checked in and ate some super expensive but surprisingly
yummy airport food. They gave Sarah a pass so she could go through security with
me, but I still feel bad since she had to go through again later for her own flight
since it was in a different terminal. After we ate, we went to my gate and they preboarded
Pasta and I. It was so cute, Pasta didn't want to leave Sarah and Rafferty. She had
known the whole time to follow them and had loved trying to walk beside them, too,
that she was sad to leave them behind.
The flight home was quick and uneventful and I took a cab home since I had forgotten
to make an Access ride the day before. It was nice though since I didn't have to
wait and could just go right home. I did my paper last night, turned it in a little
late and it was too short, but oh well. That'll teach me for not doing it before
i left!
So, I told you it'd be long! I had an absolute blast meeting so many awesome people
and dogs. And little miss usually doggie distracted Pasta did really well considering
all the doggies. She was a little goofy Friday, but she settled down so nicely and
was so well behaved. If she ever got distracted usually a no got her back on track.
I was very impressed by how well she did with everything, especially since it was
hot and she doesn't handle heat well. Sadly for both of us, today was worse back
heere. It was 109 degrees F today! Ugh! So, needless to say, we've both been very
hot and tired today, but again, we had so, so much fun. I can't wait until the next
one, and I am hoping I can come to fun day and get to hang out with Sarah and her
friends from Utah next year.
Megan, Pasta and Tofu who was very happy when we got home!
www.villapasta.blogspot.com

No Bones About It: Guide Dogs' Blog: Opening Doors

No Bones About It: Guide Dogs' Blog: Opening Doors: "Contributed by Megan Miller Please enjoy another great post by frequent No Bones About It contributor, GDB alumna Megan Miller. Since I rec..."

I get Tofu Friday!

Tofu comes to live with me Friday! Woo hoo! His foster mommy is bringing him in the morning. Thursday night, I'll be putting away all the rest of my stuff into the storage bins I'm getting, so everything will be all nice for him. I am so, so, so excited! I'll finally have my kitty! Yes! I love that little guy, and I don't even have him yet. I can hardly wait until Friday!

Faithful service dog and friend need home

I received a forward today from a puppy-raiser friend of mine. It seems a lady, a quadroplegic, passed away. She was dead two weeks before anyone knew. She had two dogs, an 8 year-old Australian shepherd, her service dog, and a 7 year-old cocker spanniel. They both stayed by her side for those two weeks, with no food. They survived the ordeal and are now on hold in Lancaster at a shelter waiting for her family to claim them. But the family doesn't want them. What! How could they not want them?
Well, the brother is willing to set up a time to transfer ownership of the two dogs to someone interested to adopting them. Please don't spam me, but if you're interested, send me an e-mail at megmil85@aol.com so I can send you the neece's contact info and pictures. The dogs only have until the 29th before animal control gets control of them, and then they could be put down if not adopted quickly.
So, please, pass this along and don't let these faithful companions go without a home and even die. They've already lost their person and lived through that and almost starving to death. Don't let them die now.

Woo hoo, I passed!

Woo hoo! Woo hoo! Woo hoo! I passed, I passed, I passed! Yes! I passed the qualifier! No more worrying about that. Now, its buckle down, finish a paper, two stats assignments, correct the other stats assignments and turn in the portfolio, and study my behind off for my ethics and stats finals. That sounds like a lot still, but I'm so relieved I passed the qualifier! Woo hoo!

All done

Well, I'm finihshed with the qualifier. Actually I was done earlier but just have been chilling out and napping. It took me the three and a half hours, but I think I passed. If not, I've got to be close. So good. I'm tired. I was studying until 5:12 and got up at 7:00! Ugh. So, I still have some more studying to do and a bit more work for my other classes for next week, but I'm just so done for today, none of it is happening. Unless maybe late tonight. Sleepy time, and I just woke back up. Just wanted to update.

Panicking!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! My qualifying exam is tomorrow! I've got to pass it to graduate. Mind you, I get two tries but I'd really rather get it the first time. So aaaaaah! I'm starting to panic because its going to be really long with theory, research methods and stats. And I'm doing a stats assignment and am all confused. Uh-oh. Not good. I need to not be confused. I need to know this stuff.
I don't think I'll be sleeping much tonight, that's for sure. Breathe, breathe. Don't panic. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! No, don't do that. Don't panic. Just breathe. Study. Try to sleep. Wake up. Drink coffee. Take test. Concentrate. Don't rush. Concentrate. Don't fall asleep during test. Think. Remember stuff. Finish. Breathe a sigh of relief, eat, drink, pass out for a nap and hopefully go out with a friend. Monday, get results and pray I passed. It'd be a nasty birthday present if I find out I didn't. Cross your fingers for me!

Pasta's getting a little brother!

So, I checked with my manager, and I can only have one kitty. Bummer. However, I can keep Pasta, whether she is working or not. So that's definitely good news! So, decision time. Well, it ended up being a very easy decision who I wanted. Tofu just won my heart.
I don't have him yet since I'm not all moved yet and so haven't had my home visit, but it looks very promising. And yes, its the kitty with the vision problem. I went with the foster mommy to the eye doctor Wednesday and asked about the long-term care needed for his eye and if I'd be able to do it properly. My main concern was that I wouldn't be able to do his eye drops and ointment he'd been getting.
Well, it turns out, the vet thought the eye drops and ointment weren't necessary on a regular basis afterall. Since he had the herpes virus, the eye gunk he'd get from time to time was it reemerging, and the ointment and drops were more for if he got a bacterial infection as a result. They wouldn't help the virus, and all that would is giving him an L-lysine capsil with his food, which is being done. I can do that easy! I asked how I'd clean the eye if he got a break-out, and he said just to flush it out with eye wash. Heck, I can do that! The vet said he saw no problems in me adopting him and thought he'd be very low maintenance. And, it turns out, while they had thought he has some vision remaining in his left eye, they now believe he doesn't. When a light was shown in his eye, his pupil did not constrict. So, they said it may be best for him to remove the eye so he doesn't have to worry about outbreaks returning. He'd be lots more comfortable without the irritation of it, and he can see perfectly fine out of his right eye. And since he can't see out of his left anyway, he wouldn't be missing anything.
So, right now, the foster is talking with another vet she's worked with before with another non proffit to see if he can do the surgery cheaper than this vet quoted. If so, she wants to do it at the end of the month. If it happens, I wouldn't even need to flush out the eye, since it wouldn't be there. I guess they'd just take it out and suture the eyelid closed and that it'd heal very nicely, as I am told.
So yay! After the vet left the room, the foster mommy gave me a big hug and said "Yay, I'm so happy." When Pasta hears yay, she gets happy, too, so she stood up and wagged her tail. The foster mommy said "Pasta, you're going to get a little brother!" So woo hoo! I know I haven't had a home visit yet, but I'm feeling good about this, especially since she said that about Pasta getting a brother and since she didn't want me to put any money down for his adoption now. She seemed very touched when I told her I already bought a pet carrier and a cat tree.
So yes, it looks like Pasta's going to get a little brother. Yes! I love this kitty. Oh, by the way, his name is Tofu. So how funny; both my animals will be named after food! He is a boy, obviously, and is about nine months old. I'll have to see if she knows his birthdate, but I know its in July. It looks like he'll be a big kitty, so this carrier I have won't fit him long since I bought a small. He has some Siamese in him because he has the kink in his tail, blue eyes, and is quite a talker when he wants food. He doesn't seem to be a lap cat, but he loves attention, to be close by, and to play. His fur is creamy colored with grey around his eyes and ears and tail, and it is long, fluffy, and very soft. Can you tell I love him yet?
I'm just so excited, I had to share. I'll let you all know once I get all settled in and have my home visit, when/if he gets his surgery, and of course, once I get him home!

Air Choice One's Website Stinks

So, in order to get back to Iowa now, I've got to buy tickets from two different airlines because the stupid Air Choice One airline won't partner with any bigger ones. Now, don't get me wrong, they could be a fine airline I've never flown with them before since they're new in Burlington, but what a pain this will be. I'm going to have to get my flight from Chicago to Burlington and vice versa first since there are fewer flights with the small airline, and then I'll have to get a flight out of here into Chicago and guess how much time I need to leave in between the flights. The only good thing about this is that I can fly from Long Beach to Chicago via Jet Blue, thus avoiding stupid LAX and flying a nice airline.
But if this wasn't already complicated enough, plus the fact that I'd better not bring any checked luggage unless I want to pay for it twice, but the website for Air Choice One is terrible. Its got lots of flash and I don't know what all, but I can't even navigate the thing. The homepage only reads as having four links and two say the same thing. That doesn't seemm right. Anyway, I can get to the booking page, but once there, I can't pick my dates. I can go into the combo boxes and say how many are flying and to and from where, and I can read the combo boxes, but I cannot select a date, because its some stupid read only box that brings up a calendar when you get inside it. My screenreader will read the calendar but when I hit enter on the next button to move to the next month, it doesn't do anything. I have Window-Eyes but have a demo of Jaws, and that didn't work, either. So yeah, I can't even find a flight online because the stupid website doesn't work. Isn't this supposed to be illegal to have unaccessible websites? Ugh! I can't even complain since there's no phone number readable on there that I've found, and when I clicked on the E-mail form link, I got a "this page cannot be displayed" message. So, if you Air Choice One people read this by chance, fix your website! Its terrible, and I cannot book a flight through it or even find a phone number to call.

Kitties!

So, I am happy to report that I can have a kitty in my new apartment! Woo hoo! Finally! They don't even charge a pet deposit.
I get to get my keys and start moving in on Saturday. I'm not sure how much I'll do then, but I'm just happy I'll have my keys. I'll be doing a little at a time since I'm still in class, so most of the moving will be on the weekends. So, the kitty won't be coming home until a month or so from now. But I'm still so happy!
I found one on petfinder that I was really interested in. He is long-haired and has Siamese in him. He has Herpes in one eye so can't see well out of it. I felt bad for him with this and sympathize with him not being able to see well. Yeah, I'm silly. Anyway, he is awesome! I visited his foster home and met him and all the other kitties there. He is super cool! He's playful and sweet and has a super cute meow when he wants food.
My only concerns are how I'd be at taking care of his eye. He gets an ointment, and that seemed relatively easy. She just puts it on her finger and rubs it around his eye while she holds him on his back. He didn't like it but was calm and good about it. I think I could do this fine. The eye drops he gets is what makes me nervous. I'd have to figure out how best to do it so I got them in. That's my worry is that I wouldn't get them in and wouldn't know. Its a concern, but he is just so cool, I just have to figure out how I can do it right. I just love this little guy.
He's about 8 months old, and he's been in the foster ladies house with kitties and a golden retriever. He didn't seem phased at all by Pasta, and she was great, too! He even moved her paw out of the way so he could eat a kibble off the floor I dropped. It was adorable!
But, here is going to be the tough part. I was only thinking I'd get one kitty. I'm not sure if my apartment allows more than one or not. I never asked, but they never laid out a pet policy, either. I'm going to have to ask because another kitty pulled at my heart-strings, too. She's orange and white and came up to me right away, too, just like the semi-blind one.
To me, that was a great sign. I had Pasta right there, and both these kitties came up once I had the food. And, this girl was supposedly shy. But with me, while I had the food especially, she was not shy a bit. She and the other guy even both stood on my lap for awhile. And, after awhile, she went and curled up in her little house and fell asleep, only a few feet from Pasta. She was very comfortable with her, and she even sniffed at her tail.
So, yeah, I'm going to have to find out if I can have two kitties and if the foster would let me have two in a studio. Otherwise, I think it'll be hard for me to pick since they were both so cool in different ways and both so sweet and beautiful. I'm going to go back on Monday for another visit and not start with the food this time and see what happens. I'll go back at least once more, too. I think this is best so the kitties get more familiar with me and Pasta and Pasta with them.
I know there'd be advantages for the kitties if I can adopt two of them. They have basically grown up together. The female is about a year and the male is about 8 months. She even groomed him after he got his ointment on. Aw! And then they wouldn't be alone when I was at school or work, and they'd still have someone familiar with them after being taken out of their home and put in a new one. So, we'll see how it goes, but I just love those two! Cross your fingers for me that I can get both, and if not, that one of them makes it clear that they want to come home with me. I want the kitty to be happy!

I miss singing

I miss singing. I used to sing in choir all the time. I was in it in junior high and high school and at the community college back in Iowa. I loved it. I even had lessons. I got solo parts sometimes, and since I had lessons, I sang in residals, too. I sang in English, of course, Latin, Hebrew, Italian, German and French. My voice teacher liked giving me German and French songs to do.
But now, I don't have time with all my classes and all. I haven't been in a choir for like five years, and ugh, I miss it. I wish I had time. It was lots of fun for me. My sisters even got me a recording in a studio back home and I got two songs done there. Pretty cool. Too bad I don't have time anymore. Maybe someday. I'm going to see if I can figure out how to put songs on here and will post one or two of the ones I did in the studio, if I can figure it out.

I Got It!

So, I just had to write and say I got the apartment! I found out almost a week ago but have been busy and tired. But woo hoo! I got it! They didn't even call my references. I'm super excited and get to go Friday and sign the papers, pay and get the keys. I'm planning to start moving in on the 24th. So yay! I'm so excited. I loved this place. It really felt like home! So I'm super, super happy about it. Just had to let you all know while I had a chance.

More apartment stuff

Well, the apartment fell through. The guy that said I could see it on the Saturday hadn't cleared it with the tenant when he'd told me that, so he ended up wanting me to come on Sunday. I already had plans then, so couldn't come. He rented it out that day. Crap! If he'd have told me someone else was coming to see it, I could have pushed my plans back!
So now, I applied to another place. I really, really love it. But I'm so worried I won't get it. My credit isn't great, my income not super high and my rental history is basically nonexistent since this'll be my first apartment. So I'm kind of freaking out. I passed the deadline for the dorms, so now I have to find a place.
I know someone who is renting a room from a lady who has another she wants to rent, that I could probably stay with, but then I'd be back with someone else's rules, guidelines, etc., to deal with again and the lack of privacy. Plus, there's already someone in the house. I know that person, but its a guy. The owner of the house lives there, too, so it'd be three people. Not the situation I'm looking for. But it might be what I have to do. We'll see.
I'm praying and crossing my fingers that the apartment I saw this last weekend will take a chance on me. I will pay the rent always, I know that. I'm just so worried my credit will sink me. I'll update when I hear. Supposedly, I'm supposed to find out tomorrow. I wonder how much they'll actually check and if they'll call my references or not. I'd think so but that seems like a lot to do in a day since I just sent the application. Well, we'll see. Wish me luck!

Maybe promising apartment?

So I have an apartment I'm going to look at this weekend. My boyfriend's mom is going with me so I have eyeballs to check it out, too. The guy was really nice and didn't seem too concerned about my SSI and part-time job being my income. Its close to campus, and he thought it'd be perfect for me, he said.
But here's my wonderment now, what I didn't think of asking earlier. It says its a bachelor unit with a separate bathroom and all utilities included. He told me it was on top of a garage. So, now my question is, does it have a kitchen? Sounds like no. I could get by without a stove since I have a crock pot and sort of grill thing, its called the GT Xpress, but a fridge is important. I guess I could always get a small one, not tiny but not a full-sized one.
We'll see how it is when we go, probably Saturday. I hope it is okay. It'd be nice to be close to campus and to have a place where I don't have to mess with a cosigner. Cross your fingers, especially that it has a fridge!

Hi from Pasta!

Hi guys. So, mommy let me use the computer. Woo hoo! (wag, wag, wag) I'm so excited to get to talk to you all!
Anyway, I just wanted to ask you all to look at my beautiful pictures mommy posted and let her know which one is your favorite. I'd really like to be in the GDB calendar next year so everyone can see me! Mommy tells me I'm beautiful. As a matter of fact, everyone says that, so come on, let mom know so she can pick a photo to send in. She really wants to show me off, she says.
Oh, oh, oh, and go to the website mommy posted, too. She wrote a story bragging about me, and if enough people vote for it, we could win $1,000. But we're really behind since mom didn't know about the contest until yesterday. But its okay, because you can vote once a day until March 28th! So, please do, and tell your friends about me, too! Please!
I'll give you the puppy face!
I'm really good at giving the puppy face.
Oh, so mom wants me to post the link in here for you guys again. To read the story about me and vote for it, go here. Thanks! (lick, lick, wag, wag.) Gotta go now!

What do you think?

What do you all think about this picture? I'm thinking about sending it to Guide-Dogs for consideration for the 2011 calendar.

I submitted this one last year

And this one the year before.

But they weren't chosen

I also like these.

What do you all think?

Pasta's story

Okay, so they posted the story I wrote about Pasta on the website. Now people can vote once a day between now and March 28. So, please, please, go here, read, vote and tell your friends! Its a great, true, heart-felt story, and the money would be really helpful right now, too.

I entered a contest, please vote!

So, I was inspired by another lady on the listserve I'm on to enter a contest this
evening. A service dog organization is taking stories about how a dog has touched your life, and I entered a story I wrote about Pasta on the GDB blog almost two years ago, with some minor changes. There's two prizes, one $500 prize given by a panel and one $1,000 prize given to the story with the highest votes from the audience. So, please, please, please vote for Pasta's story! It doesn't seem to be posted yet but should be any time. so please, go to here and look for Pasta. You can vote once a day from now until March 28th, so please do and tell your friends! I could really, really, really use the money!

Hi all. So I got really excited tonight when Anthony was showing me this
E-mail he got about something called the Justice Corps. I've heard about it
before and basically, you help people who can't afford legal aid. It sounds
much cooler than my short little discription here, especially since I'm
into crim. Anyway, there was a summer program, and since I am hoping/planning
to be here in the summer, if I can find an apartment I can afford, I'd be
able to do it. They have 30 spots so I may or may not even get selected, but
it sounded awesome!
Its volunteer and you have to get yourself to the place, but they said if
you provide receipts, they'll reimburse for transportation. They'll give you
$1,000 at the end of the completion of 300 hours, 32 a week. So it isn't
much but is something.
So, what's the down side?
Well, as I soon realized, if I'm working for them 32 hours a week, I
wouldn't have much time to work in the high tech center on campus. Hence, I
wouldn't be bringing in much money a month besides my SSI and Social Security
Survivor benefits, which amounts to less than $900 now. If this wasn't
California, that'd be enough, but here, I'd be hard pressed to live off of that.
So dang it! This would be really good experience for me, would be really
interesting, I'd be helping people, and it'd be great to put on a resume. But
I in all likelihood will never find a place I could afford without being
able to work. Ugh!
It'll be hard enough to find a place I can afford even if I can work, since
it won't be a full-time job. So I'm all bummed out now and confused as to
what I'm going to do with myself. If I find an apartment, it'd be great so
I wouldn't have to always move out of the dorm every summer and pay extra
if I wanted to stay on breaks. I could also work this summer, and still go
to other events out here that I wouldn't be able to do if I went home for
the summer. I wouldn't have to have anyone store my stuff while I was gone,
either, and wouldn't have to keep having people help me move in and out of
the dorms at the beginning and end of the years. But if I go to Iowa for the
summer like I always have before, I wouldn't have to ppay for food, rent,
etc. But I wouldn't be getting any experience working or anything, and when
I came back, I'd have to get help moving back into the dorms; and the
cycle continues.
But I'm so worried about affording a place out here. I can get a loan again
for next year and use it to help pay rent/food/other living expenses, and
rehab will help with tuition if financial aid doesn't cover it all, but for
the summer, I'm worried. So
anyway, I've saved what I can but it isn't much since I'll have to make one
and a half more dorm payments, I think about $1,600 worth, before I'd be
moving. How can I afford to even move? How can I afford the security
deposit? How can I afford the rent until I'm back in school? And lots of places
want to see you have two and a half the rent as income, which I won't,
working or not, so I might not even find a place that would rent to me. The
stupid dorms want $400 next month to hold our spot for next year, and its
nonrefundable, so if I pay it and then find a place, that's $400 down the drain.
And even holding the dorm room and keeping the payments at what I'm paying
now, they are ridiculous! I couldn't afford them anymore without a loan,
and I really hate living off of student loans. I'll have to pay them back,
and I'm already paying about $300 a month out in bills to credit cards and my
cell phone.
So this is really stressing me out right now, trying to figure out what to
do and what will be best for me. Why can't I just win the lottery or
something? I guess it'd help if I played the lottery. (smile) Thanks for
listening to my long-winded rant and whine.

Cut off by a cop car

Okay, I meant to write this the other day but forgot. I don't remember for sure which night this was, but I know it was dark or almost dark. We had taken the campus shuttle back to the dorms. It drops people off in the parking lot across the street from the dorms, so when you get off the shuttle, you turn right, toward the back of the shuttle, and start walking. You walk a bit in the parking lot and then cross the street.
Well, when we were finishing the parking lot section and stepping into the street, a car flew right in front of us. Pasta didn't have to back up, but she slowed down to almost a stop so it could pass safely in front of us. And, I swear, it looked like a cop car! It was black and white with what seemed to be something written on the white driver's side door. A cop car cut us off! All I can say is, it better have been chasing someone down to have done that to us, but I doubt it since its sirens and light weren't on.
I just thought it was kind of crazy that a cop car did that. We've been cut off by lots of cars before or had lots of cars speed up and then end up stopping at the last minute so we can cross here on campus, but we've never been cut off by a cop before. Crazy!