Blog 21 February 17 2012

Blog 21 February 17 2012

Forward Moving! Part 2

Well it is over! The interview ended about an hour ago. The trainer left the house around 3pm, he arrived at 11am. I have to tell you we both had a lot of questions. He got to see how much we care about the dogs, Jags and how much love we had for him. He also got a good feeling that any guide dog that came to the house would have no doubt a caring and loving home. He was shocked at the amount of traveling and walking that I do and the different environments I am in. I told him how Jags and I would go out for a day to University, or to conferences, or go and talk at a school, he was surprised. At the end of all the talking we went for a walk.

I have say this that if it were not for one of my best friends taking the time with me to help me prepare for today I would probably not have been as successful as it was.

I explained every intersection in our area asked which one he would like me to cross at. He was surprised that I knew each one and how they worked. My friend and I spent  a couple of hours yesterday afternoon figuring out routes, my friend time all the lights at each intersection. We went over traffic flow at each intersection. If it was not to all that preparation the test walk would not have gone as well as it did. I could not have asked for a better test walk! The evaluator was happy with my line, he was happy with my traffic understanding and he was really happy with my handling skills.

All in all it went very well!  

Now we wait to hear from the school to see if I was accepted, and if I was, it will be just a matter of time to go for training and getting a new dog.

But for now it is time to put my feet up and have a coffee!

Blog 20 February 17 2012

Blog 20 February 17 2012

Forward Moving

As I mentioned in my last blog it was coming to the end of January and I had not broken any of my New-Year’s resolutions! Well that still stands I have just been having a good time with things. Somewhere in my logical crazy thinking, I said to myself instead of this being my year I was going to make it my year, and so far I have!

I decided to have a meeting with my academic advisor about my program ( like we are suppose to do every year) I was preparing for the meeting and as I looked at my course I realized that this was my last semester in this program. What does that mean?  I have finished my certificate in Pastoral Ministry! Yuppie, Hurray, Yahoo! As I sat down to celebrate I also came to the realization now what do I do?

So with that in mind I went to my meeting and spoke with the advisor and we both agreed that I should go into the majors program. This means a B.A. in Theology. As I reflect back ( I did not say look back) lol, it has been quite a Adventure. I also came to the realization that I need a dog!

This leads to the next part of the Forward Moving. The day after the meeting, I was having a coffee

with  my wife, and yes (I did tell her when I got home but my youngest son had a friend over so we did not real talk )meeting, as I was starting to speak  with her  little bit more about  the meeting, (I was also going to tell her that I really need to get another dog), as we started to talk the phone rings (another interruption)it was the guide dog school that I applied too. As I started to speak with them I found myself sitting in front of my computer booking the next phase of the application process. The home interview and test walk.

So today is my in home interview and test walk. As I am writing this the walk has not happened yet! So in about a half hour the next process starts it will take three hours or so!

Hang on to your hats folks because the next Blog will tell you how I did!

Blog 19 Turning Point

Blog 19 February 2 2012

Turning Point !

I cannot believe that January is over! It felt like we were just at New Years Eve! Well they say that after the first 30 day’s that the New Year’s resolutions are broken and people return to their old bad habits you know the ones, eating fast foods, not going to the gym eating chips in front of the TV, all things thing’s you said that you would not do this year but you are! Well I can honestly tell you that I did not make any of those promises so I do not feel bad for doing them! The big promise I made for myself this year was if I am not having fun doing something I am not going to do it! I have to tell you it has been a hard promise to keep. Trying not to fall in those same traps, but this last 31 days have been a lot of fun. I have been back to University since the 3^rd of Jan and I have never looked back. I have good professors, I am taking another course at a different University once a week and I have even been to lecture in the evening.   I have to tell you my wife was scared to death about me being downtown at night without a dog, I had to remind her that I was big boy. One of my other resolutions was to get back out traveling on my own and not relying on a lift. Not that I was not traveling on my own before but I was not as independent as I was when I had Jags, so that was one more of my goals.

I have been thinking a lot about Jags since on February 1^st was 8 months to the day that he passed away. It has been a lot of 8 month anniversaries, it was 8 months since Eric passed away and ironically it was 8 months since my best friend got married, the strange thing was for that time period we were at his house for the wedding he was just at our house for those very same dates.

So as we head into the month of February I can honestly tell you that I am very glad that we have not had a lot of snow! This is the time I think about Jags and how much he helped me.

When we would walk on the ice he would turn his body just on a little angle to give me some extra support, I did not have to worry about finding the trail on the side walk and I definitely never had to worry about snow banks on corners or big puddle of water and slush at the corners. Jags would always find the best route to take. Walking with a cane in the winter is really a very hard thing to do, there is no tact-tile way of finding the sidewalk when it is covered with snow it is hard to find the edge of the side walk so you kind of guess where you are. Trying to walk in a straight line, listening to traffic making sure you are not in the middle of the street. If you ever want to get the feel of walking with a cane in the winter is like and trying to find your way down the street. Take a broom handle and go outside close your eyes and try to walk to the corner of your street. I am hoping that this won’t be for long.

As I mentioned I sent my application into a school for a new dog. At the beginning of January I had my first phone interview, it went well and now it is waiting for good weather for the second interview that last for about 3 to 4 hours, this is including a walk using my cane and also walking with the trainer to mimic how I handle a guide dog, after that it is another phone interview and if all goes well I wait until a dog is suited for me.

So the long and the short of it is that it will still take a while yet to get another dog.

In the mean time things are great and I and my family are doing well and we are just having fun!