November 30, 2008
Last Sunday we had Simmons for the day and we will have him this coming Saturday for the day. I was able to get a couple of pictures of him last weekend (though none with his coat on). My parent’s live on about an acre and he had a great time just running in circles. Here are some pictures of him wiped out after playing:
And finally: Sleep…
In other news, the first dog I ever worked with at a meeting (Alvin) graduated in October and is now a Guide Dog! Even though I only worked with him for one meeting, it’s still neat to hear about them graduating from the program. I’m not sure if I ever posted it here, but the first dog we ever puppy-sat, Robert, was career changed. We found out when we went down to Puppy Fun Day at the Boring, OR campus in August. It wasn’t a big surprise to us. Over time you tend to get a little sense of the the puppies who will and won’t make it. Every once in awhile though, one will surprise you!
November 19, 2008
Simmons
A family that lives about 5 minutes from us (by walking) recently joined our Guide Dog for the Blind group. They are getting a puppy on the December truck and have been puppy-sitting rather frequently to get some experience. The other weekend they had Simmons and were walking around our neighborhood (they didn’t know exactly where we lived). Every time they would go around the block and pass our house, he would start to go up the driveway and they couldn’t figure out why. Sure enough, it was our house he was trying to come to. What a smart little puppy he is! 🙂 We will have him again on Sunday just for the day so I’ll get some new pictures of him. He’s growing up to be quite the handsome and well-behaved boy.
November 18, 2008
Jeans
I have such a hard time finding pants that fit that when I do, I tend to buy 2-3 pairs. I have had the most luck at Banana Republic. The best part is, there is a Banana Republic Outlet about 15-20 minutes from where I live so I don’t have to pay $100 or so for a pair of pants. Recently I was in need of some “nicer” looking jeans for work so I headed off to the store. I ended up finding a pair that I knew by the time I tossed them in the dryer, would be perfect in length (which they were). Me being logical thought, “I know the style and size I need so I’ll go back and grab two more pairs”. I tried them on at the store as I know that each pair of jeans can fit totally differently (nothing against factory workers in Macau but I don’t think quality control is their top priority). Anyways, I washed the other two, and between three pairs of jeans, they all came out in different lengths even though they started out pretty much the same. I washed them all in cold and for the same amount of time in the dryer. One will be perfect and the others too long. I guess I’ll just wait and hope they shrink up a little bit more (or wash them in warm water and hope they don’t shrink around the waist). For now, I’ll be the girl on the street who looks like a geek with her jeans rolled up…
November 9, 2008
Veterans Day
This coming Tuesday is Veterans Days. The town I grew up and now live in, has one of the largest Veterans Day Parades west of the Mississippi. Yesterday I went with our Guide Dog Group. The dogs did pretty well, considering all the loud sounds. First off is Colby is enjoying the parade: 
Next we have Lomita:
And finally, Loyola:
The most touching part of the parade was when families of those who had died in Iraq walked with a poster of their loved ones picture, where they lived, when they were born, and when they died. Everyone in the crowd stood and applauded. I don’t think there was a dry eye when they passed. I hope you will take the time on Tuesday to thank someone who has served and fought for our freedom. We are blessed to live in America.
November 1, 2008
Shiny New Toy
Let me introduce to you my shiny new toy:
Isn’t she pretty? 🙂 She is a HP Pavilion dv6700 Notebook PC with Intel Core 2 Duo CPU @ 2 Ghz, 4 GB of Ram, and 64-bit Operating System (Insert Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor’s Grunt from Home Improvement). My Dell was slowly dying and it was time to upgrade. It is running Windows Vista Home Premium which I’m slowly becoming a fan of Vista (or more like I have to or would be kicked out of the house). In the initial set up, Mr. Charming showed me this Mac Ad which is very true if you have ever had to deal with Vista:
I got my shiny new toy with a killer deal at Costco which reminds me that they just opened one within 15 minutes of the house. Woot!
Always Smiling :) 