Saturday, November 28, 2009

She's smarter than me!!!

Egypt that is.  So the story starts back in August when I was still learning the school. It first started with me hanging onto Natalie and having Egypt heal at my side.. (she has special powers) So anyway we went through the school a few times and I would have never guessed Egypt paid any attention to what we were doing. Evidently she did. So lets flash to today. Amazingly I went to school on a saturday for study gorup. I did absolutely nothing, but I offered help. Then thankfully that ended and it was time to go home. So Egypt, Natalie and I were walking through UTSA and Egypt seemed like she was on the ball. Except when she sniffed an invisible something on the ground. So time went on and i told her to make a right turn next to a building. Little did I know I didn't know where i was. So Natalie told me it was a stair case that I hated to use. It was the one we used back in August. So we got to the bottom of the stairs and the only direction I could remember was to tell Egypt to go left. Then I told Natalie "Crap I don't remember where to go now." Then Egypt started taking some initiative and started walking the way we would use back in August and Natalie told me that it looked  like Egypt knew where she was. She knew more than that. So remember, the only command I gave her was to turn left at the bottom of the stairs. So she started walking the route and she was making the turns and everything flawlessly. Then she adapted that route that was never used to the route that we use everyday to get back to my jeep. So we were walking down the side walk and she turned onto a down ramp to get on the striped line for the handicap parking lane. Natalie said that she even appeared to looked to the left down the street for traffic. So it was clear and we set off again for the Jeep. While we were walking there was a handicap sign that had been hit so it was all bent and in the walk way. So Egypt slowed down quite a bit and made sure that i got past it safely without hitting my face on it. Then we continued to walk and she stopped and was looking at me for direction. I figured she recognized the car so I encouraged her to continue walking and as I did that Natalie unlocked the car and I was shocked that egypt found it on top of everything else she did. I was speechless. So when she jumped up in the car she was wagging her tail because she knew she did a good job so I gave her a jackpot *(which is a lot of treats to let them know they did an awesome job). She was so proud of herself . I can tell that because she looses all composure when I give her praise, even if she's working. It was so amazing I guess I kind of got a taste of when a parent is proud of their kids.. She is going to get a little bit of peanut butter with her dinner tonight.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Because I know everyone!

I received an award! For being the nicest person on blogger. Just kidding its for being fat on thanksgiving.Check it out here it is
ThanksgivingBlessing.jpg.
So honestly in the 2 minutes it took me to copy and paste it... I forgot what it was for. But what I do remember is that we award it to five people.




So my number 1 is...... drumroll please.... Natalie . If it wasn't for her i can almost gaurentee I wouldn't ahve a guide dog or alot of the other good stuff I have in my life...Including my Mac.

My number 2 is my family. And the reason they are all number 2 is because there is tomany of them haha, but they have all supported me in the good times and bad

Number 3's are Nat's parents I'll call them N&K  They have always been good to me and We have some good laughs even if it is at my expense

Number 4 is Erin . Nat's twin. Who would I watch T.v. with and she makes some awesome cookies.
And my number five...  Is my mac. I'll call him Alex simply because of the fact that is the name of the voice it uses to read to me. How in the world would I post blogs without you.

Well as you can see with the posting of my laptop I don't really have the most friends haha  sad huh?

 P.s. my family has names to. I'll put them with their first initials because I don't know if they want their names up R.C.M.N.J.R.E.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

If I break a glass and nobody sees it, did it really happen???

It's very possible. So I think there is a reason I don't clean that much. It's probably because I'm lazy, but also cause I mess everything up. So here goes the tale...

It all started on tuesday. I was actually in the mood to clean (shocker to those who know me I know). So I decided to vacuum up the bedroom and the bathroom. Why the bathroom you say? Well, I thought it would be easier then sweeping. so anyway, I'm vacuuming the bedroom and doing an awesome job in the room till the container on the vacuum is full. So I go outside to clean it out in Egypt's poo-can , and decide to look at the filter. IT WAS FILTHY! Now this is a brand new vacuum that has only been used maybe twice. I really wish that wasn't a lie. So i thump the filter on the floor a bit to get all the grime out. I swear there could have been an ant colony with all the dirt/muck in there. Now I'm pretty disgusted at this point and bummed because i have to go vacuum the room again to make sure i didn't miss anything... I did. I had to go clean out the vacuum again when I was done. So this is where it gets good. I decide that it would be easier to vacuum the bathroom, so I wouldn't have to fiddle around with the broom and dust pan... Good idea, but when it gets put into action its ridiculous. I Get close the one of the rugs and I step on it so it doesn't get sucked up into the vac. Well I wasn't paying attention to the other rug that was one inch away. Literally. So I hear the vacuum gagging on the other rug and i have to shut it off real quick which isn't as easy at it sounds. I am in the middle of panicking and trying to touch the power pedal, but i keep pushing the release so the handle will pivot. But I finally got it and the vacuum was saved. The rug got a little jacked up but nothing a little toss in the washer can't fix.

So now to yesterday! Another story with the vacuum. I decided to vacuum the living room. So I make all the precautions of moving the chairs asking Natalie if she could move the ottoman, and making sure nay loose wires are outta the way. So the whole thing is going without a hitch till I am 99.9% done. I hear a noise that sounds like a piece of paper got sucked up, but no... It was our extra 80 dollar mac charger!!! I shut the vacuum off as soon as I heard Nat say Oh No! So we check the wire and the entire side of it was completely stripped. At the time I was pretty bummed about it, but now its pretty funny. This vacuum has it out for me and/or my possessions. THANK YOU FOR THE VACUUM TASCHE!!!

Now to today. I woke up at about 6:30 this morning. I could have sworn i heard some glass breaking, and also my neighbors stupid dog was outside my window barking. So I was tired of laying in bed, and had nothing to do. So I fed Egypt earlier and had her do all her business for the morning. So then I get on my laptop and start listening to music. And for some reason I decide to clean again...Bad idea. So remember that broken glass??? Well it stayed in my mind the whole time, and thats what makes this story ironic. I remembered the dishes got washed I guess maybe yesterday... Shows how well I remember. So I start to unload them and everything is going well. Then I get to the plates. I hate plates. No matter how quiet you are trying to be... They make it impossible. I touched 2 plates together and you'd swear it sounds like someone just threw a rock through your window. I manage to get all the plates stacked and ready for moving, without waking anyone in the apartment/the dead. And.......... Success!!!! I didn't break the plates. Now its times to load what little dishes are in the sink. A few bowls and silverware, no big deal. Then I find a little vase that I spent about an hour cleaning tuesday. It was very groovy( and I mean it in the details, not the way hippies use it) I thought i would put the vase in the dish washer, but didn't because I heard Natalie wake up and I didn't want her to come out and see what I had done yet. So I go and tell her good morning and that I was cleaning. So after that I go back to the kitchen and... You guessed it. I knocked the vase of the counter and it shatters all over the floor. I couldn't believe it!!! All that work to clean it and get the ancient dust off, just to have it smash all over the floor. So I'm pretty ticked because there went my morning of silent cleaning. And for a blind person thats not exactly the easiest thing to do. Good thing Natalie was awake... She came and swept for me. I didn't want to move because i was bare foot and knowing my lousy luck my first step would have been on the biggest most jagged piece of glass... After that I wasn't much in the mood to finish.

So if this is some kind of hint that I shouldn't clean, I wish I would have taken it. O well I was trying to help Nat out a bit. She's been busy with school and Guide dogs of Texas stuff. And for me cleaning from now on... I RETIRE!!!!! haha Thats a line from scarface. thanks for checking in again everyone, there is more to come.

Friday, November 6, 2009

First Days of Guide Dog school

The first days Of guide dog school were... What's a good way to say... frustrating. Don't get me wrong everything was excellent, but knowing you were going to get your dog in a few days was murder. We did a lot of simulation work called Juno , but I'm not going to go to far into that because I don't know if I'm allowed to. Juno is the general named used with the majority of guide dog schools for their simulation dog. So we did work with juno for three days and then were paired up with our dogs. They do a lot of evaluations, and ask alot of questions to pair you up with the dog that best suits you and your personality. In my case, I wanted a mellow slow paced dog. When I could see I walked very slowly, not because i was cautious, but because I was just slow. (I get it from my dad) So With all the interrogation and evaluations they paired me up with Egypt. That day dragged on like you wouldn't believe. It was like someone kept setting the clock back an hour every hour it was horrible. So finally they called me to introduce me to Egypt. I practically ran down the hall way when i realized i didn't know which room to go to. After They got me into the room I sat . and. sat. and sat. for what seemed like hours. Then. She walked in. No. it wasn't Egypt. I practically had my arms open a smile on my face and was saying come here Egypt. But NO! It was the supervisor. She told me Egypt would be coming in in just a minute. So needless to say I was a little disgruntled. But then My instructor came in with egypt. It was awesome. Egypt came up to me wagging her tail and she licked me and sat down in between my legs. It was one of the best moments of my life. So after that we got to take our dogs back to our dorm room for some bonding. Egypt and I were regulars in the music room. She would lay down at my feet while I played the guitar.Now after this day... The real training started

Well that was the first three days of guide dog school I'm going to sum up a bit of it so we can get the story going a bit more. there were some intesnse moments there at the school though don't worry I'll put those in for sure.

*****IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER******

I like to tease Natalie a lot in person and in my blog. But she is actually very good to me. She doesn't starve me, and she isn't all that grouchy. Sometimes she can be though haha. But on a serious note, which rarely comes from me, She treats me well and has my safety,health, and sanity in mind.

P.S. If you are interested in the life of a puppy raiser check out Nat's blog.

Should have stayed home

Sorry folks this has been a slow uneventful week. But today was almost thrilling. It all starts when I woke up. I didn't have to go to spanish today because there was a test and i have my test scheduled for next week. So you know what that means... Why of course... Sleep in. Well... It didn't happen... Egypt heard my alarm go off and so she took it upon herself to make sure I was up and serving her breakfast. Now usually she won't pester melike this unless she really has to go to the bathroom or she has some other reason unbeknownst to me. Now here is a glimpse of what she does. She will get up and I'll still be mostly asleep and i feel a nudge with a cold wet nose, or the weight of her head resting on the side of the bed right next to me. If a slight amount of time goes by these actions intensify, and she starts this heavy sigh type of breathing. If I could see i bet i would be looking into the biggest set of puppy eyes I've ever seen. Now from many sources they have told me that Egypt has this look down to an art. She will display these eyes to many people when she is just sitting and I always hear the all to common "OOOOO look at the dog!" Or "Omg It's a dog" Which translates to me as "blah blah blah CAN I PET IT!!!!!!".Soooo. back to My story.. My day of sleeping in was cut extremely short. Even though I do wake up and feed egypt at 830 every morning,I got the guilt trip for about a minute till i got outta bed and fed her and took her outside to relieve. I think she was just bored this morning because she was jumping all around even after she went to the bathroom. This is normal behavior for her, but today it was a little more intense. So I stayed up the rest of the morning and I went to take a shower. Little did I know that people get grouchy when I shower in the morning because i use all the hot water. Now the grouch Waited for a little while to shower too, Even though I told her there was plenty of hot water she went ahead and waited about an hour to shower. So moving along We headed to the dreaded school on friday. I decided to leave my backpack and laptop at home so i wouldn't get distracted with the glories of the internet when I should be paying attention in history class. BIG MISTAKE. When I got into class the professor told us we were having a pop quiz, and when everyone started to complain she explained to us her type of pop quiz. All we had to do was write our name on a sheet of paper and get the names of 10 other people and have it in alphabetical order, then we turn it in. Now this so called quiz would give us 5 extra points on our next test. So I'm there kicking myself for not bringing my backpack and about to leave. But I decided to ask someone for a sheet of paper so I could try and get this done. I found someone right next to me. She didn't understand english all that well though. So she gave me a paper and got my info down for me, I thought she was going to give it to me , but she turned it into the professor for me. With just my name. haha. She was really nice though so I give her props. I wonder if i'm still going to get the points. O yeah i forgot to mention that after we turned in the paper we were free to leave. So i was in class for a total of 5 minutes... Wish i was joking about that. So after that i go and wait outside of Nat's class so We could go home after she got out... What a wonderful day at school.