Weekend Recap: May 21st

So lets rehash last weekend. That would be May 21st, I believe. Three of my childhood friends...frenemies had invited us back to NC to watch them graduate from high-school and to go white water rafting. I'd originally agreed to raft, but once I found out there were was a crowd going,and I'd be stuck in the middle of the boat, I decided that Rob and I could hang out on the shore. That and I'd have to convince my family to squeeze Rob in the car when they came over that evening for the graduation if I left him at home. That wasn't going to happen. 

So despite working all day Friday (12 hours) with Rob in tow mind you, and then going out with friends until 10ish..

the thought of getting up at 6:30am the next morning, simply so I could "chaperon" was NOT something I was looking forward too. 

Despite going to bed at 3:00am, I was pried myself out of bed and into some clothes by 6:50am. Did I sleep on the two hour trip over, you ask. Not hardly! My sixteen-year-old sister thought this would be a great time for her to practice driving, and there was no way I could relax enough to sleep during that experience! I will admit she's no a horrible driver...but still an inexperienced one....

Anyway...

We arrived safely and everyone loaded up and headed to the river. 

Rob and I hung out on the shore, soaked our toes in the icy river and sunbathed on the docks. When our peaceful respite was interrupted by 15 or so kayakers stopping to bail water, we hiked back to the car and attempted to find another people-less spot. Unfortunately it was not to be so Rob and I continued down to the "mid-way" point. 

Rob resting after his mad dash in the river

Once there, we heard that there had been an injury in one of the boats, and one the 12-year-old boys in our group was taken away by a Sheriff... the question then was, who would get him and what would be done about it. I Volunteered to go to the end and sit with him, until the rest of the group caught up, but it was decided that I should not only get him him, but take him home. 1.5 hours away. 

You can imagine I was thrilled, but I had opened my big mouth; so I loaded Rob up and flew to the end of the route. Once there, no one, knew anything, about anything. 

"Boy? Cut Hand? ....ummm.....Brian Have you heard anything about an injury? You say he was with our company?" 

Yeah. So I wound up making the trip all the back to the beginning of the river, just to find out that he'd been sent to an unknown Hospital. Since my entire group was on the river, getting in contact with them via cell phone was not going to happen; and the LAST thing I wanted to do, was be the one to break the news to his parents. *shudders* 

Somehow, someway everything worked out, we found out where he'd been taken and one of the parents in the group, loaded up their vehicle and flew to the Hospital, while the rest of us got some food and moseyed on back to town. 

The rest of the night was pretty much a blur, a nice blur, but a blur all the same... mainly because most of my attention was on my furry delinquent child, who was tired and pitching a fit every chance he could get. 

But congrats to Devin, Patrick and Willie!!! 

I apologize for my dog barking through some of your slide show. 

The Graduates. Fun thing about being home-schooled is you get to create your graduation

My word I really should stay out of the sun. I don't "tan" well apparently. 

Other peeps. Friends. Sisters. etc.. :) 

Peeps

December 7 Community Prompt:

Community.
Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2011? (Author: Cali Harris)

I am blessed to be a part of many different communities. The first and biggest community would be my Church both here in TN and  in NC. Over the years, these people have been closer to my family and I, then our distant family. If we needed something, anything they have been right there, no questions asked. You can imagine the pain we felt when making the decision to move from NC, they were heartbroken, we were heartbroken...but our new family here welcomed us with open arms. I don't know what I would without that support system. 


Next in line, for me, would be the Service/Guide Dog Community. The puppy raiser blogging community was a tremendous help for me, when I first began raising with the Guide Dog Foundation. We had some rough patches, and even though most were as far away as CA, AZ, OR...they were right there for me. We created the "Teen Puppy Raisers" group, and spent many a Saturday, whiling away the hours chatting via IM online. Sam, Natalie, Amy B, Mickelle, Anna..(oh boy), MK, Sarah....talking about everything and nothing at all. Oh the drama!  I miss those days. 


Looking back I'm surprised my parents didn't have too much trouble with me chatting with a bunch of people I didn't know... oh well, its not like we revealed TOO much about ourselves.... :) Not to mention all the people I've "met" through the Guide Dog Foundation's Talk-List. I learned more about blind people, how the guide dogs helped them, and got to hear first hand story's about the impact these dogs made on their lives. That in and of it self, made the pain of loosing "my" dog worth it too me.  


Defenintly can't forget those puppy walkers/handlers I've met in real life. Upon finding a fellow puppy raiser, or meeting a graduate and their working dog, its almost an instant connection. I've only had one person was kind of abrupt when I started talking to them, but most's faces light up, and though complete strangers we can talk for ...hours! If we had time. 


Then you have just the Dog Bloggers Community, and just the Blog community as a whole.., for the most part amazing people. 


Imagine, without the internet, I wouldn't have been able to discover many of these people! How sad my life would be. 

What Made Me...

What Made Me Smile

•  Knowing that my class mate and I  will be done with our paper on time! Woot!
  

What made me Laugh

•  www.unnecessaryquotes.com

What made me Sad

•  Having a horrible nights sleep with weird dreams.
• Realizing how short a time I have with Pompei..
  

What made me Thoughtful

• Trying to figure out what to do with my summer, get a job? Stay with current position? Try and get a car? Trying to understand why I have been so emotional lately...

What made me Thankful 

•  Being able to come home after class and relax before heading to work, even if it is only 15-20 minutes. That I have a great roommate; and that my family is back in town. 

~Weekend Photos~

I did absolutely NOTHING this weekend.

Well except for scrubbing the house from top-to-bottom, 5 loads of laundry, cleaned crates, bathed dogs, took a hike, grocery shopped, went to the dog park, slogged through two exams about an hour before they were due, and worked on my photography assignments...

Ok in between those events I did nothing but sit out in the sunshine and watch the dogs run around and eat dead things. I am sooooo sad its over.

{Hiking Friday}

{There are two dogs in this photo...look carefully!}

{Apparently Pompei thinks doing laundry is BORING!}

{But Playing outside is FUN FUN FUN!!}

{R, Kristen,Robyn, H and C}

Goodbye?

To Keep...or not to keep...THAT is the question. 

I ♥ Faces Challenge

YaY! I found a new photo challenge site, be sure to head over to I  ♥ Faces Challenge  and check out the awesome entries to this week's Theme: "Pet's Only"

Being a service dog trainer, has its advantages, and one of the few, is that on rainy days, instead of sitting around inside, trying to entertain a bored puppy...we go SHOPPING! Dogs need lots of mental as well as physically exercise, and for Victoria (my puppy in training), Target offered her both! She got the physically activity of walking around the store, and the mental stimulation, of walking on a loose leash, ignoring crumbs on the floor, sitting when I stopped walking; ignoring all the fun little people in the store. Believe me, she was well worn out by the time we left.

May 28, 2009

Spring has Sprung!!!

This pictures will probably find themselves blown up, and on the walls in my kitchen.

Thursday marked the 2-months "anniversary' of my move to KTown....and to celebrate, I took an impromptu trip back to North Carolina; At that point, it was severely needed. The sight of all that familiar *almost* had me moved to tears,though I must say, It was very weird driving BACK to Knoxville after spending several hours in my beloved city.

Now that Wilderwood Graduation is over, I find myself once again sinking into the depths of bordem; 15 -18 hour days with only enough stuff for maybe 5 of those hours.
Everyone is full of ideas such as visiting the elderly, or passing out tracts on the street...which is all good, BUT its not something consistent.
I NEED someone giving me a schedule and telling me when and where to be at....I need to get out of the house!!

Anyways, this is Veda...the newest love in my life! :D He's a nine-month-old Golden Retriever who is in training to become an Autism Service Dog. Now that's he has settled in to our home! He's becoming a real sweet guy!

Summer!!!!

And its OVER!!! I'm SO happy, yet it feels weird having nothing due, and nothing to do.

Today I hung out with Abby and wandered the streets...or should i say street of downtown Hendersonville. A quaint little town right outside of Asheville.

First stop was Mikes Main Street something or other, a cute little restaurant that looked just like and antique soda shop! Complete with bar stools and soda fountain!

But what surprised me the most was the reactions Midnight night got. In Asheville I guess Guide Dogs/Service Dogs/ Guide Dog Puppies are SOOoo common (yes i was being sarcastic), that normally I don't get anything more then "What a beautiful dog." type comments.

All the waitresses came and said something to me about her, or was asking questions, the people across from me, had a sister who had a guide dog, another waitress had two black labs at home.

As we were leaving, another couple stopped me and asked me for training advice...hope fully it was helpful too them!

As we strolled down main street..(taking random pictures of goats along the way)...lol...people would stop and look, people driving by would be looking at us...we were celebrities of sorts!

We found a mineral museum and walked through that! Quite interesting. Then we went through Mast General Store, and another lady stopped me and was full of questions about raising, even went and got her camera and took a couple pictures of her.

Another man stopped me at the intersection, to ask if I thought it was compatible for blind people working with a guide dog. Since the traffic flow was very little, and very slow, I told him I didn't really think they'd have much of a problem.

Midnight got lots of practice with dogs, though and while she was distracted she was easily corrected...we did get a glimpse of a man walking and irish wolfhound, down the street... i was VERY impressed with that!!

On our way out of town, we stopped my a bakery and loaded up on sweets

On the way to the restaurant, Abby had revealed that she'd gotten an Nikkon D60 Digital SLR Camera, (for those of you who don't know those are really, really nice, really really expensive cameras) so we spent a lot of time taking pictures, of random things.

The goats being the main subject of our "affections".....or something like that.

And now for the pictures...most of the courtesy of Abby Fleming and myself. :-)

Summer!!!!

And its OVER!!! I'm SO happy, yet it feels weird having nothing due, and nothing to do.

Today I hung out with Abby and wandered the streets...or should i say street of downtown Hendersonville. A quaint little town right outside of Asheville.

First stop was Mikes Main Street something or other, a cute little restaurant that looked just like and antique soda shop! Complete with bar stools and soda fountain!

But what surprised me the most was the reactions Midnight night got. In Asheville I guess Guide Dogs/Service Dogs/ Guide Dog Puppies are SOOoo common (yes i was being sarcastic), that normally I don't get anything more then "What a beautiful dog." type comments.

All the waitresses came and said something to me about her, or was asking questions, the people across from me, had a sister who had a guide dog, another waitress had two black labs at home.

As we were leaving, another couple stopped me and asked me for training advice...hope fully it was helpful too them!

As we strolled down main street..(taking random pictures of goats along the way)...lol...people would stop and look, people driving by would be looking at us...we were celebrities of sorts!

We found a mineral museum and walked through that! Quite interesting. Then we went through Mast General Store, and another lady stopped me and was full of questions about raising, even went and got her camera and took a couple pictures of her.

Another man stopped me at the intersection, to ask if I thought it was compatible for blind people working with a guide dog. Since the traffic flow was very little, and very slow, I told him I didn't really think they'd have much of a problem.

Midnight got lots of practice with dogs, though and while she was distracted she was easily corrected...we did get a glimpse of a man walking and irish wolfhound, down the street... i was VERY impressed with that!!

On our way out of town, we stopped my a bakery and loaded up on sweets

On the way to the restaurant, Abby had revealed that she'd gotten an Nikkon D60 Digital SLR Camera, (for those of you who don't know those are really, really nice, really really expensive cameras) so we spent a lot of time taking pictures, of random things.

The goats being the main subject of our "affections".....or something like that.

And now for the pictures...most of the courtesy of Abby Fleming and myself. :-)