11/25/08

A great presentation

Major and I had a great presentation yesterday. Lake Carolina Elementary School has taken on Southeastern as a great service project and we were there on their morningnews yesterday morning to let the students and teachers see what a working guide dog looked like. We were warmly greeted by everyone there including their principal and I really wish that Sue could work in that kind of environment. I realize that it is too far for her to travel from West Columbia, but really wish that she could teach in that kind of enthusiastic environment. I realize that all schools are not perfect, but I loved what I saw there and am glad to see that they are excited about what guide dogs can do for a blind person like myself and I am glad that they ahve gotten behind it. I love the guide dog movement and really love the toools that Southeastern has given me. I really believe that for guide work, Major is by far the best of the three dogs I have had over the past 24 1/2 years as well. He is really soft but extremely confident and his guide work is really outstanding. he handled all of the obstacles at the school whether we were in the parking lot or in the hallways of the school and I just love that because if I had been using a cane, I guarantee I would have hit everyone of them and that is no fun. It is great having the mobility that Major affords me.
I am looking forward to working him tomorrow at both our doctor's office for Sue's appointment in the morning as well as going to see the surgeon tomorrow afternoon to get the stitches and staples out from my gall bladder surgery and I am sure that he will rise to the occasion like he always does.

11/24/08

I don't understand

I just do not understand why some people have to be so vulgar when they are posting things to a internet blog. I am on a different blog system where friends mostly can see my comments and there is one person that constantly talkes about her church and then writes some really vulgar things, especially in the way of language. Now I am not saying that I am perfect in my language as a Christian most of the time either, but give me a break. If you are going to write that crap all of the time, either you are one huge pity party which I have no time for, or you are just plain stupid and incompitent.
I hear this stuff enough all of the time and just get tired of reading it and Ihave offended some people asking this person not to post this kind of stuff, but that is ok too. I realize that they have the right to post whatever they want, I just do not have to read it.
I guess I will get off of my soapbox for now since today has been a really great day. We had a presentation at Lake Carolina Elementary School this morning and it went really well. They have sponsored a guide dog in training and we went there to show them a working guide dog and the kids and teachers alike were really enamored with Major and how well behaved he was and how well he worked. I really love doing this kind of thing because I am so passionate about guide dogs and the school that I attended for Major as well.
To me it is a privilege and a joy to do this kind of thing and I am really proud to represent Southeastern Guide Dogs because of the great training and dog that they have given me.

11/23/08

Rememberances

This is kind of a sad week for me. It was Novmeber 27 last year when we were forced to lay my beloved retired guide dog Hickory down. He had been semi-retired since a auto accident in early 2000 because of some serious noise issues stemming from the wreck. I had worked him just enough every year to keep his skills sharp and he had always risen to the task. Even after losing a good bit of weight due to gastric bypass surgery in 2006, he was going downhill due to cataracts and arthritis but still enjoyed working until the end of April 2007 when he told me in his own way that it was time to just be a dog. In February of that year we had a cancerous tumor removed from his right rear leg and were afraid that it would come back and in November of last year, we thought he was losing weight and was just not himself, so the day before Thanksgiving, we had taken him to the vet and had found out that he had another cancerous tumor in his rear end. We decided that we would hold out as long as we could with him and just let him enjoy whatever life he had left and little did we know that six short days later we would be saying good-bye to such a sweet and loyal dog. The day after Thanksgiving, he started not to eat and that was the beginning of the end. Little did we know that not only was he in renal failure, but in atrial fibrillation as well and that was why he was not eating.
I still feel at times like I killed my best friend, but it was for his benefit and definitely not mine and I am so glad that I went when I did to received Major.
Major is definitely not the same dog as Hickory and there will never be another one. Major is a sweet dog and I love him dearly most of the time, but it has been really hard getting over Hickory because of all we had been through together. I will always remember his loyal and silly side and I love the memories that I still and will always have of him even though it has been really hard letting him go.

11/22/08

Too cold

It is too cold for my likings right now. It seems like our bedroom really has a draft in it and that is just not fun. I turned theheat up one degree after getting up this morning and that seemed to help especially since it was 21 out when I took Major out to eat and potty around 8:30 and that is just too cold for my likings this early in the season. I understand that it is supposed to warm back up into the 60's next week and that is just fine with me too.
Sue is really tired out today and I am just letting her sleep. School has really overwhelmed her and she just needs the rest and Major and I will just try to be as quiet as we can for a little while longer.

11/19/08

A really cold day

It has been quite cold here today and I am not really ready for it to be this cold, but I guess we must take what we are given too. I am so thankful for a really warm coat and warm leather gloves while it was 22 this morning when I took Major out as well as taking the trash down too. I am finding out that the coffee I really like has a little too much acid in it and has made me sick, so we will be trying something totally different in the morning as well and will just have to see if my body adjusts so that I can go back to the really strong Jamaican blend that I love so much.
Sue is really tired today and it will be late when she gets home because of a seminar that she had to go to at 5:00 and won't get out until 6:30 and then will pick up something to eat on the way home as well. I know that she is really ready for this semester to be over and done with because of all of the stuff that they want between now and then end of the semester. It is such a shame that teachers just cannot just teach anymore and have to be glorified secretaries as well.

11/18/08

A cold morning

It is a cold morning, but that puts me more in the mood for the holidays. I am enjoying my usual pot of coffee and that is always a good thing. I am beginning to feel better from my gall bladder surgery from last week and that is good too. I am stillhaving to be really careful about what I am eating and drinking, but that is a good thing too.
We are looking forward to seeing one of Sue's cousins and his family this weekend as they head for Florida to Disnewy World and then to see them again on their return trip to Pennsylvania, and that should be fun too.

11/14/08

Gall bladder is gone

My subject line says it all. The gall bladder is gone and the surgery went really well. I was really groggy late yesterday afternoon and was feeling better this morning, but was not feeling that great this afternoon, so I am just taking it easy.
I do feel better and I have not had a bowel movement yet, but have passed a good bit of gas as well as having to urinate a bit, and that is a good thing.
I guess that it is going to take some time as to when my body will catch up. The best thing was that it was an outpatient procedure and done laparoscopically, so the recovery time should be better than if I had had an open incision.

11/11/08

Two days to go

I only have two eays to go before my gall bladder goes. This week has been a little rough and I am really ready to get this thing over and done with. Sunday night's supper made me royally sick and everything I ate yesterday bloated me and made me feel generally yucky, so it is time.
I am really hoping that I will feel immediate relief after the pain of the surgery wears off. I am really thankful that is an outpatient procedure and laparoscopicially done too.

11/10/08

A fun evening

We had a really fun evening last night. Trans Siberian Orchestra was in town and I had been wanting to see them for several years and let me tell you, that was one great concert. I have never seen a light show like that ever before and they had everything from lasers to a flame bar and it was Sue's first rock concert and I think she enjoyed the first half that was all Christmas, but did not enjoy the second half as much as I did and it was a great show. I would definitely go back and see them again. We don't go to things like that often, but it is a nice treat to go out every now and then because the life around school is really a a rat race and with my surgery coming up later on this week, it was definitely a nice diversion.
Mom and I went to lunch today and got a great hamburger at a local place in South Congaree that we like to go to as well and it was nice too.

11/6/08

I just do not understand something

I just do not understand something. Why is it when people have blogs that they ahve to put music on top of them and for those of us who are using screen readers to read the text, it makes it impossible to read the text because the music is so overpowering that I cannot hear the text of the blog.
I have not been able yet to find a way to get rid of this music when it starts and it seems rather inconsiderate to me. I guess that is just my own opinion, but it really makes things difficult and it makes me not to want to go to these people's blogs as well.

11/2/08

A quiet Dunday

It is a really quiet Sunday here today. Sue has been really tired all week and school has really gotten her down because of the craziness of report cards and teacher conferences with parents as well. Her one child has been really horrendous all week and I think that something really needs to be done. I know that she will have no kids tomorrow and that is a good thing so maybe she can get some work in her room done. I have offered to go with her and do some typing for her, but she has not taken me up on that yet.
We watched church from First Baptist downtown Columbia and it was a good service. I know that we are looking for a church home, but it does provide a great service too. I am hoping that we can find somewhere where we really will be comfortable and something a little smaller than we have been visiting. I really don't want to go to where her mom goes because it is too small and is dying because there is just no life there. I like the pastor, but he needs to retire and if he does, I am sure that church will die, but it is on the other side of Columbia from where we live and it is just too far to go and not get fed.
We are just taking things easy otherwise and I will be watching the race later on this afternoon and that should be fun too.
Sue fixed banana nut pancakes this mroning and they were great. It was definitely something different and I always like stuff like that too.