First day of winter.

Well Friday afternoon and night was crazy. The snow was unbelievable coming down at three to four inches per hour at times. I think we got about a foot altogether. I made sure that the walkweays and driveway was clear by the time mom was to come home, that was quite a job. She definitely appreciated it though.

I woke up early Saturday morning very sick. I caught the awful flu...which has pretty much kept me down ever since. I am just now getting energy enough to stay awake. This is the first time I've been able to sit up long enough to check my email. I hope this ends soon.

Laura and Nicole are coming tomorrow morning, and the holiday festivities will begin. Tonight we are going to a candle lit Christmas church service. Hopefully after that I will be able to do gift wrapping, as I've been too sick to do it as of yet.

Going to go rest now. More later.

Snow!

Well, what a dramatic start to a storm! Within ten minutes from the first flake, snow was flying sideways, and the ground was already white! They certainly kept their word with this one.
Once a little more comes down, I will go out and start clearing things. My father is very picky about snow removal, and since he is sick, I need to make sure I do a devent job. So every inch or so I will clear off the sidewalk. The driveway is another matter however.

I've been trying to figure out how to get a new computer. I called Dell today, and they helped me pick out a good one to meet my needs. Just a desktop, no monitor, but it has a good processor, and alot of memory. Just under 700 dollars, but I don't qualify for financing, so I don't know how that is going to work. We'll see.

Finally on Break!

Well everything is done, and I am finally on break! I got home yesterday afternoon. glad to be done with school for a bit, and away from everything so I can just relax. Molly has been following me all around the house; I think she likes having my undivided attention. And honestly, its nice to be around a dog, really helping me cope with the doglessness.

Last night I spent some time with mom. I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies, and we watched the chipmunks movie, which was not as bad as I would have expected. It was nice to have a night off. :)

Today my dad is sick unfortunately. He's taking it easy, so its pretty much quiet around here. Not for the whole day, as we have some BIG snow coming our way! It is going to start in the early afternoon, and snow heavily (1-2 inches an hour) past midnight! It will be nice to have snow, even nicer not having anywhere to go!

At some point today or tonight, I will wrap gifts. Right now I am just enjoying the relaxation. Until I become a human snow plow that is. :)

More later!

Dogless...

Doug arrived at 1pm, as promised, and Franklyn was ecstatic to see him again. We came inside, I asked some questions, returned some items to him, he gave a few words of encouragement, and put the leash on her. I'd have to admit, it was kinda hard to see her walk away, as she's been in my life everyday since the summer. He said it's important to let emotions run their course, to prepare for the new dog.

He did hint about that, actually. He said to hang on to my ID card "in case" the dog is black, to use as a back up. He then asked to make sure I had no particular breed in mind. I told him no particular ones, though I have my favorites. When he asked what,I told him yellow labs, and he said that it *may* not be leaning that way. So based on this, I'm wondering if it's a black lab?

All in all, i know i made the right choice, but I grew attached to her, anyone would after speanding so much time with a dog. It's hard right now, but I know it was for the best, and will get easier...

Have to go get my head on straight and take another final.

A wintry mix overnight.

Just a quick lil' update!

Today I had the final for Multimedia Design. It was really quite ridiculous, and we were done by 8:30. I made plans to pick up the book on Thursday morning, so I'm really quite excited about that. The paper for poetry class is done as well...things are getting done.

I will be on my way home Thursday midday. Dad will be coming here, which will be a bit akward based on teh phone conversation yesterday. Oh well...I just hope he doesn't keep dewlling on things like money and gifts, because I'm pretty sure he's the only one who is worried about it.

Doug called today, and he will be here around 1 tomorrow afternoon for Franklyn. I have tonight and tomorrow AM with her. It almost seems like she knows something up, but that could be because I'm starting to pack a bit myself. I still don't know what it will be like once she leaves, but I just hope the month until class goes smoothly.

That's about it for now...more later

Just a few more days!

So glad to be done with last week! Quite a bit of work, especially the 12 page paper for Seminar.

Found out a bit of good news though; the third round of group presentations has been Cancelled! The whole class got an A on it, and instead of a rought tough take home final, we go to class, and answer one question, for a pass/fail type thing. This is just great, since that's the day Franklyn will be leaving, and I'd much rather be spending time with her than studying!

I met up with Karen yesterday for crepes and some Christmas shopping, which was fun. I'm jsut about done with Christmas gifts; picked up the last batch of ceramics last night. I just need a few more little things for Laura, and something else for Nicole.

Morgan hasn't gotten her gift in the mail yet, which I am a little worried about. If it isn't there by Monday night, I will definitely be investigating.

I also rearranged the room again. It is much bigger now, and I made room for the new dog's tie down, so when I come back here in Jan, everything will be all set.

That's about all for now. Have more work to do tomorrow for the finals in Tuesday, and Thursday. Just those, a paper, and a website and then we will be HOME FREE!

The weekend, and semester's end CRAZINESS!

Let's see...most of the weekend was spent accross campus, in the glorious Mac Lab, working on my book. I got a call from Doug Saturday, and got a little more info about January. Apparantly there are three other people going to the class for a combo training, so we are essentially going to break off from the rest of the class for the most part, to get as many experiences as possible, including the subway. And if things go according to plans, we may even get our dogs a day early! :)

He said it will be a pretty intense training, as he wants us all to be all set by the time we have to leave. Since there are four of us, he obviously won't be able to get to everyone right after we leave. Some of us will have to wait longer than others, depending on how much help we need. He also said that he knows I was hard on myself in class the first time, with the match issues and all, but he really hopes that I will enjoy it this time around. And I plan to! :)

So today I worked on the book a little more, I have two more pages to import, which I have ready and waitng. This will be done first thing tomorrow. Group comm class was rather annoying today. Apparantly the final is next Wednesday, not Monday, so I called DOug to let him know, since that's when he was coming for Franklyn. The group wasn't being very productive either. "We" (or just a certain one of us) picked the topic for round three: Dress code and uniforms in public school. It's a topic, not a bad one, just not really relevant to college students. This afternoon, I watched a film for seminar class (which still needs to be written about), and did some research for my paper. Still pretty much behind in everything, but it will get there. After the book, the main focus will then turn to the 12 page paper due thursday...which I haven't started yet. Really took on too much this semester.

More later.

The majority of today was spent in the ceramic studio, finishing up my christmas gifts. So, here's what's what in terms of hand made gifts.

Grandma: story inspired candy dish.

Nicole: dragon mug.

Mom: Cranberry butter dish and plate.

Matt: black lab. :)

Dad/Molly: a ceramic doggy dish, which I plan on turning into a "doggy gift basket" for Molly. It shall be filled with milk bones and a toy on top!

I'm giving store bought gifts for Laura, Dad, and friends.

Speaking of Molly, I don't think I ever posted a picture of her here, so here she is:

I really don't have too many nice pictures of her. It's hard to take pictures of her, because she's not one for sitting still! She is a lab boxer cross, the face of a boxer, with the size and shape of a boxer. She's about 20 months old now. We found her on PetFinder.com. She was fostered in a nearby town through "Friends of Homeless Animals," and came from a home filled with Boston Terriers! Too cute! We have a picture of her playing with the family's pet dog, Mac (he is a BIG Boston!):

My father wasn't going to call for her at first, as she was labelled a "special needs" dog. When she was just a two week old pup, animal rescuers somewhere in Arkansas found her abandoned in a cardboard box, with a broken leg (her front left). Months of care and a loving foster family made her turn around. They performed surgery on it a few times, and while she has a limp, and the leg is a little deformed, she has no problem running around the backyard!

Now she is a much loved member of the family. We got her....a year ago tomorrow! She's a great dog. While I am home for Christmas, I should try and get some better pictures of her.

That's all for now. Trying my best to get work done, so things are pretty uneventful for now.

Night!

Great News!!

Today has been quite a day. The first half of it was kind of chaotic, but it got much better because...

I've been invited to the January class at GDF!!!!!!!

Morgan suggested that I call Doug today, just to check in. When I did, he said he thought there was a dog for me, but had to check with Sebastian. About twenty minutes later, he called me with the great news: "I called to officially invite you to be in the January class." Ooh! So official! is what I said. :) I am so excited. Its just as exciting as the first time. I can't describe how much of a relief this is. I get to start over, and that I have a chance to have a guide dog like everyone else!

Doug mentioned that he would probably call me back tomorrow, or sometime soon, to discuss picking up Franklyn. Sounds like he will be coming quite close to semester break, which is good. And obviously, since Doug is on class in Jan, he will be my instructor, which will be easier, since he taught me the first time. No having to learn a new trainer's style. That way I can really go into this with an open mind, and focus on getting to know and understand my new partner. :)

I will be doing a combination training. I will head to Smithtown on Monday, January 12, and stay until the 23rd. I will then come back here, start Spring semester classes, and two weeks later Doug will come, and we will do training here for a few days.

In the meantime, once finals end, I get to go home, have Christmas with my family, and then I will be taking a trip to Pennsylvania to spend some time with grandma. :) fun stuff.

Quick lil' post.

Things are hectic now, as it is December and projects are coming due, but i just wanted to write quickly to update on things:

I am back at school. Got back here Sunday afternoon. I worked on the info for the presentation for group comm class. We gave that today. It seemed to go well as Queen (she is our monarch...long story) didn't tear us up too badly. There is still one more round to go, and a take home final for that.

Tomorrow is the busy Tuesday! Tonight has been full of crazy design work for my book. It comes due a week from tomorrow. Crazzzzy.

Things to do this week:
1. Continue work on Book for Multimedia Design.
2. Watch film for Seminar by tomorrow afternoon.
3. Pick up Book for seminar paper and begin work on that (paper is due next week).
4. Paper for Recent American Poetry.
5. Three web pages to be completed for Multimedia Design.

Today marks the first week of December, so hopefully Doug will be getting back to me on the possiblility of a combo training in January.

So, that's where it all stands for now. Have to be up early for the 8am class. Goooood stuff. Back to work now!