Tonight at soccer, my face crossed paths with some guy's elbow. Seems as though I just at the perfect height where about the only thing someone's elbow could hit would be my face. Now, in the guy's defense, he had no idea I was there and felt really bad after it happened...but that is of little consolation to me as I have a pretty decent headache and it is pretty obvious I got hit in the face. Nothing is broken, so that is always a good thing. I am just hoping my eyes don't turn black. And we have agility in the morning....seriously? How embarrassing....
This is why I never played basketball.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Rosemary
Well, as it was Wednesday night, it was volunteer and agility night. For added chaos, I decided I needed to work out before the events of the evening transpired. I have re-committed to working out, and am really starting to see the effects. I was going to skip today...until I put this one shirt on this morning (which I totally love) and it fit better than ever! It is a WHBM shirt that buttons from the inside, so a little difference goes a long way..I love the shirt. Loved it even more after seeing it on me today! So, I just did the elliptical for 30 min, but it was something.
Tonight, we really only made it down one side of the hall. In particular, we spent about 25 min in this one room...and I don't regret a single minute we spent in there. There were 2 older ladies - one significantly older than the other. The younger of the 2 remembered us, but I did not remember her. She had been moved since we had been there last, and had a new roomie, Rosemary. Rosemary was in the ladies room when we got there, and this lady kept saying, I hope Rosemary gets done so she can see the dog. I swear she said it 10 times.
Well, out comes Rosemary - this little tiny thing with a walker, sort of hunched over, probably somewhere in her 80's for sure. She was on a mission to get back to bed, so she could see Chelsie - to the point where nurse Kori (one of our regulars) had to slow her down and tell her to watch where she was going with her walker. She reminded me so much of my grandma...sort of resembled her, her hands looked the same, she used phrases my grandma used... For all my readers that don't know, my mom's mom lived with us from the time I was 4 until her passing in 2002, so she was essentially a third parent. Seeing Rosemary made me miss my grandma...a lot.
As usual, I was very, very proud of Chelsie. She made the day better for a whole bunch of people tonight.
After than, on to agility - LOTS OF WEAVE POLES TONIGHT!! She is passed out on the floor...her mom is getting ready to pass out in bed....
Tonight, we really only made it down one side of the hall. In particular, we spent about 25 min in this one room...and I don't regret a single minute we spent in there. There were 2 older ladies - one significantly older than the other. The younger of the 2 remembered us, but I did not remember her. She had been moved since we had been there last, and had a new roomie, Rosemary. Rosemary was in the ladies room when we got there, and this lady kept saying, I hope Rosemary gets done so she can see the dog. I swear she said it 10 times.
Well, out comes Rosemary - this little tiny thing with a walker, sort of hunched over, probably somewhere in her 80's for sure. She was on a mission to get back to bed, so she could see Chelsie - to the point where nurse Kori (one of our regulars) had to slow her down and tell her to watch where she was going with her walker. She reminded me so much of my grandma...sort of resembled her, her hands looked the same, she used phrases my grandma used... For all my readers that don't know, my mom's mom lived with us from the time I was 4 until her passing in 2002, so she was essentially a third parent. Seeing Rosemary made me miss my grandma...a lot.
As usual, I was very, very proud of Chelsie. She made the day better for a whole bunch of people tonight.
After than, on to agility - LOTS OF WEAVE POLES TONIGHT!! She is passed out on the floor...her mom is getting ready to pass out in bed....
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
I Heart Dog Day Care
2009 is supposed to be about being nicer to myself, and today, Chelsie was the beneficiary of this motto.
The past week has been incredibly busy...had a lot going on at work, working on the basement (two of my workers is leaving for Florida and 2 cruises tomorrow - can you guess who they are???) and soccer absolutely ran me ragged last week. We had only one female sub for all three games, and every game, shall we say, tested my physical fitness via running in sprint form from one end of the field to another. Top that off with me deciding last week to really push myself at the gym..and I am a tired puppy.
The cold weather has come back...and I am routinely picking up dozens of toys off the floor. I am cold, tired and tired of the cold. In conjunction with my motto of being nicer to myself, I sent Chelsie to dog day care so I would not feel guilty about not walking her when she came home...as it has literally been a week since she had gotten any exercise. Some of you may think that I am silly...but my little bean is very active and is much better when she is tired.
She got a good report today - she had the "romp and roll" box checked in the "plays with others" category and "rested quietly in her crate" during rest period. When I got there to pick her up, the girl said "Oh, Chelsie is such a good girl" I agree, she is! (not that I am biased!)
AND...she is passed out on the floor on her side...and I did not have to freeze my a** off in the cold to get her that way. Well worth it.
The past week has been incredibly busy...had a lot going on at work, working on the basement (two of my workers is leaving for Florida and 2 cruises tomorrow - can you guess who they are???) and soccer absolutely ran me ragged last week. We had only one female sub for all three games, and every game, shall we say, tested my physical fitness via running in sprint form from one end of the field to another. Top that off with me deciding last week to really push myself at the gym..and I am a tired puppy.
The cold weather has come back...and I am routinely picking up dozens of toys off the floor. I am cold, tired and tired of the cold. In conjunction with my motto of being nicer to myself, I sent Chelsie to dog day care so I would not feel guilty about not walking her when she came home...as it has literally been a week since she had gotten any exercise. Some of you may think that I am silly...but my little bean is very active and is much better when she is tired.
She got a good report today - she had the "romp and roll" box checked in the "plays with others" category and "rested quietly in her crate" during rest period. When I got there to pick her up, the girl said "Oh, Chelsie is such a good girl" I agree, she is! (not that I am biased!)
AND...she is passed out on the floor on her side...and I did not have to freeze my a** off in the cold to get her that way. Well worth it.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Priorities in a Crazy Day....
Well, my day started off really well...had a really good meeting with the CEO of the businesses I work with - when you work in internal audit and someone validates the work you do, always a good feeling! I was dressed for success in my black power suit...I thought I looked pretty good, and apparently I did. One of the other execs I had not seen in awhile asked me if I had lost weight! I was a little surprised, but took the complement. I told him it was indoor soccer season and I was playing three days a week - he was pretty impressed, and even more impressed when I told him I played with the boys!
This afternoon, things just sort of blew up - and I sort of flipped out. I made a few assumptions about a few things (never good to assume, you know what happens) and it looks like we need to do quite a bit of work in a short period of time. Sort of my fault, but not really - some decisions were made before I was hired, and I just assumed that everyone knew what those decisions were. That was not the case. So...that just really threw me out of focus. I had planned to get quick workout in...got behind there. I left to go home to get Chelsie late, and was toying with the idea of not volunteering. Traffic was light, so I decided we would go. On the way to the hosp, I realized I did not have treats for class - primarily because there were none in the pantry. GRRR...
But I stopped and got a bagel for dinner, and at Petco to get treats. We made it to the hosp just before 7, and as soon as we got there, I was glad we went. The first person we saw? LEONARD!!! We had not seen him in ages! He is so nice and he makes me laugh...he loves on Chelsie and talks to her. Tonight, he scratched her booty for a long time and she was jumping all over the place and rolling around on the floor while he did it. My little booty scratching whore....
As usual, she was great, and I was so glad I had made the effort to go. I know deep down there is really nothing more important I need to do than to share my beautiful baby angel with all these people. She was really, really good tonight - and was also really good at agility. She is settled at my feet, laid out on her side - which means she is tired. We did a lot of fast runs tonight...
A few quick updates -
1) The job gods have descended on Jaclyn's husband. He is now officially employed...with my former employer. Small world.
2) We did not get 40 pts this weekend, we got 16 and were 2-4. Her std run on Sunday was a top three career run. Made a really nasty course look easy, mom was so proud of her.
3) Basement progressing. Had a few set backs, but it is almost all the way primed and this weekend, should be painted. YEA. I am so done with this project...and my parents and brother have done all the work. Go figure.
We hope this finds everyone well. Is it spring yet?
This afternoon, things just sort of blew up - and I sort of flipped out. I made a few assumptions about a few things (never good to assume, you know what happens) and it looks like we need to do quite a bit of work in a short period of time. Sort of my fault, but not really - some decisions were made before I was hired, and I just assumed that everyone knew what those decisions were. That was not the case. So...that just really threw me out of focus. I had planned to get quick workout in...got behind there. I left to go home to get Chelsie late, and was toying with the idea of not volunteering. Traffic was light, so I decided we would go. On the way to the hosp, I realized I did not have treats for class - primarily because there were none in the pantry. GRRR...
But I stopped and got a bagel for dinner, and at Petco to get treats. We made it to the hosp just before 7, and as soon as we got there, I was glad we went. The first person we saw? LEONARD!!! We had not seen him in ages! He is so nice and he makes me laugh...he loves on Chelsie and talks to her. Tonight, he scratched her booty for a long time and she was jumping all over the place and rolling around on the floor while he did it. My little booty scratching whore....
As usual, she was great, and I was so glad I had made the effort to go. I know deep down there is really nothing more important I need to do than to share my beautiful baby angel with all these people. She was really, really good tonight - and was also really good at agility. She is settled at my feet, laid out on her side - which means she is tired. We did a lot of fast runs tonight...
A few quick updates -
1) The job gods have descended on Jaclyn's husband. He is now officially employed...with my former employer. Small world.
2) We did not get 40 pts this weekend, we got 16 and were 2-4. Her std run on Sunday was a top three career run. Made a really nasty course look easy, mom was so proud of her.
3) Basement progressing. Had a few set backs, but it is almost all the way primed and this weekend, should be painted. YEA. I am so done with this project...and my parents and brother have done all the work. Go figure.
We hope this finds everyone well. Is it spring yet?
Monday, February 16, 2009
Reflections
A few weeks ago, my co-worker's husband was laid off. I know all too well how he feels, and know now more than ever how fortunate I was to find such a good job so quickly.
I have had a lot of long conversations with her about this whole process, and today she shared with me that they had a blow up of emotions on Saturday. She had thought he was doing really well, had gotten through the worst, blah blah...we had a long talk today about the short and long term effects this would have on him personally and professionally, as well as the impact this could have on their relationship. She is 25 and he is 27; this was his first job out of college. They are recently married (September) and are still adjusting to life as a married couple. She left public accounting (a very hard life these days) and went through a job change 2 months before they were married - suffice to say, they have been through a lot in the last 9 months.
In talking with Jaclyn about everything that was going on, I was surprised to find myself as emotional as I did during the conversation. I told Jaclyn that even though I had found a great job and was very happy and knew in all reality my job was safe, there was still that part of me that would never really be 100% secure in a job again. I also told her not to underestimate the power of personalizing this (which he seems to be doing), as I did the very same thing. As we talked through all this stuff, I realized that while my climbing legs to scale the brick walls of life's little challenges were still in good shape, there is a part of me that is still very fragile as a result of this experience. I feel as though I have to prove my worth not only to those I work for and with, but to myself as well; rest assured, the former does not hold a candle to the latter. :)
I am sure over time this too shall pass, but today showed me that maybe I was not as far along in the process as I thought I might be. My job was one of the primary things in my life I knew I was good at; the layoff caused me not only to question myself professionally, but spilled over into every other part of my life as well, despite my greatest efforts. The support of my family and friends has been nothing short of spectacular, but ultimately, the road of regaining my confidence is a road I have to travel on my own. I don't have a destination or an arrival date, but I hope I will know it when I get there...and hope that it comes sooner rather than later.
Meanwhile, please pray to the job gods for Jaclyn's husband. The job gods descended on me pretty quickly, so hopefully a similar prayer chain will do the same for him.
I have had a lot of long conversations with her about this whole process, and today she shared with me that they had a blow up of emotions on Saturday. She had thought he was doing really well, had gotten through the worst, blah blah...we had a long talk today about the short and long term effects this would have on him personally and professionally, as well as the impact this could have on their relationship. She is 25 and he is 27; this was his first job out of college. They are recently married (September) and are still adjusting to life as a married couple. She left public accounting (a very hard life these days) and went through a job change 2 months before they were married - suffice to say, they have been through a lot in the last 9 months.
In talking with Jaclyn about everything that was going on, I was surprised to find myself as emotional as I did during the conversation. I told Jaclyn that even though I had found a great job and was very happy and knew in all reality my job was safe, there was still that part of me that would never really be 100% secure in a job again. I also told her not to underestimate the power of personalizing this (which he seems to be doing), as I did the very same thing. As we talked through all this stuff, I realized that while my climbing legs to scale the brick walls of life's little challenges were still in good shape, there is a part of me that is still very fragile as a result of this experience. I feel as though I have to prove my worth not only to those I work for and with, but to myself as well; rest assured, the former does not hold a candle to the latter. :)
I am sure over time this too shall pass, but today showed me that maybe I was not as far along in the process as I thought I might be. My job was one of the primary things in my life I knew I was good at; the layoff caused me not only to question myself professionally, but spilled over into every other part of my life as well, despite my greatest efforts. The support of my family and friends has been nothing short of spectacular, but ultimately, the road of regaining my confidence is a road I have to travel on my own. I don't have a destination or an arrival date, but I hope I will know it when I get there...and hope that it comes sooner rather than later.
Meanwhile, please pray to the job gods for Jaclyn's husband. The job gods descended on me pretty quickly, so hopefully a similar prayer chain will do the same for him.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Seeing the light!
Thanks to the hard work of my dad and brother, I am finally seeing the end product of the basement in my mind. I came home yesterday and the first coat of primer was on the wall in the office - now, I was nearly blinded by it when I turned the light on, but it looked great. The second coat went on today...and there is a good chance some color might be there tomorrow. Still have some work to do in prepping the other walls for painting, but we will get there. I will post pictures this weekend.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Hard at Work
Tonight was our regular old Wednesday night - off to Dodd and then off to agility. We almost did not go to Dodd - mommy drove home in the WORST RAIN EVER since she has lived in Ohio. For all the locals, I can tell you that at 5:30 between Cemetary Rd and Tuttle Crossing on 270N, it was raining so hard I could not see in front of me - in fact, it was raining so hard I was afraid I would not see the exit signs to the freeway. I just wanted off the freeway so the rain would be at the back of the car. Thankfully, I made it ok.
Nothing special at Dodd tonight. We had not been in a few weeks because of weather and me being sick. I caught that miserable sinus infection (and arguably still have it - Natalie was after me to go to the doctor earlier this week and my mother was after me tonight) and was in pretty bad shape Superbowl weekend. It was good to get back, a lot of the regular nursing staff was there and they were thrilled to see her. Nurse Lisa couldn't contain her excitement...she got Chelsie all riled up...
Agility class was awesome - she has really stepped up her agility. This class is focused on weave poles and contacts, and she is just doing all beautifully and having fun (even when her mom sucks) We are looking forward to our competition this weekend. Smack has been talked and a challenge thrown down - 40 pts and 2 dbl Q's. THAT will be a challenge for us...
We hope this finds everyone well. Stay safe in all the crazy weather....
Nothing special at Dodd tonight. We had not been in a few weeks because of weather and me being sick. I caught that miserable sinus infection (and arguably still have it - Natalie was after me to go to the doctor earlier this week and my mother was after me tonight) and was in pretty bad shape Superbowl weekend. It was good to get back, a lot of the regular nursing staff was there and they were thrilled to see her. Nurse Lisa couldn't contain her excitement...she got Chelsie all riled up...
Agility class was awesome - she has really stepped up her agility. This class is focused on weave poles and contacts, and she is just doing all beautifully and having fun (even when her mom sucks) We are looking forward to our competition this weekend. Smack has been talked and a challenge thrown down - 40 pts and 2 dbl Q's. THAT will be a challenge for us...
We hope this finds everyone well. Stay safe in all the crazy weather....
Monday, February 9, 2009
New Profile Heading
Being as it was 45 and not raining tonight, I decided to take Chelsie for a walk. Its amazing how warm 45 feels when it has been, um....3 as few as 3 days ago! At any rate, I had quite the list of things I wanted to get done tonight, and on the list was to take Chel for her walk. I decided that I wanted company, and called neighbor Jude to see if he wanted to go with me.
Jude is a great neighbor - very concerned about my safety, looks out for the house in general and would come pick up some dead varmint for me if my dad and brother were unavailable. He is generally not thrilled that I walk around our neighborhood at night (my parents are not thrilled for that matter either!) but it is just not practical to think I can walk her in the daylight in the winter. So he agreed to come for a walk with me.
Over our 3.5 mile trek (yes, folks, at 7 yrs old, it still takes that and more to wear my little bean out) we were discussing our relationship woes. He recently broke up with his GF and you all know about my situation. It should be noted Jude is a good, Conservative arms bearing Republican - I jokingly call him the "Backyard Republican Militia". (this is important for later) So I was telling him about the whole match.com thing, and we started talking about the types of guys I was looking for. This is the new profile heading we came up with:
"In search of a god fearing, conservative white anglo saxon male with substantial economic potential. Should not be afraid for his woman to carry more than one form of personal protection".
This was an hour of conversation summarized into a few sentences for profile header purposes. It provided great conversation and many laughs for us. Now, for the record, I don't actually intend to post this, but they very thought of it actually makes me laugh. I hope it made you laugh too. :)
Jude is a great neighbor - very concerned about my safety, looks out for the house in general and would come pick up some dead varmint for me if my dad and brother were unavailable. He is generally not thrilled that I walk around our neighborhood at night (my parents are not thrilled for that matter either!) but it is just not practical to think I can walk her in the daylight in the winter. So he agreed to come for a walk with me.
Over our 3.5 mile trek (yes, folks, at 7 yrs old, it still takes that and more to wear my little bean out) we were discussing our relationship woes. He recently broke up with his GF and you all know about my situation. It should be noted Jude is a good, Conservative arms bearing Republican - I jokingly call him the "Backyard Republican Militia". (this is important for later) So I was telling him about the whole match.com thing, and we started talking about the types of guys I was looking for. This is the new profile heading we came up with:
"In search of a god fearing, conservative white anglo saxon male with substantial economic potential. Should not be afraid for his woman to carry more than one form of personal protection".
This was an hour of conversation summarized into a few sentences for profile header purposes. It provided great conversation and many laughs for us. Now, for the record, I don't actually intend to post this, but they very thought of it actually makes me laugh. I hope it made you laugh too. :)
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Follow up to CP's Post about New Orleans
See Cheryl's post at theyoungbergs.blogpost.com.
As Cheryl saw first hand, the failure of certain key pieces of infrastructure can be catastrophic. A primary cause of the devastation in NO was the failure of the levy system, resulting in flooding beyond words. In addition to the floodwaters from the gulf of Mexico, NO was also surrounded by a fairly good size lake, Lake Ponchartrain, which I believe flooded its banks as well during the storm.
In my current job, I work in internal audit for Columbia Gas, our local gas distribution company. Columbia is a segment of NiSource Inc, providing gas distribution services to customers in Ohio, Pa, Ky, Va and Md. NiSo also provides electric service in Indiana, as well as constructs natural gas pipelines so that we can get gas to our customers.
As a company, our number one priority is to provide safe service to our customers. When we as consumers flip the switch to "heat", we are relying on the fact that our local gas companies have taken all precautions to provide us with safe service. That means immediate response in dangerous situations (leaks), fixing those leaky pipes and replacing them when necessary. This can get expensive - very quickly. But it is an investment we have to make, for the safety of our consumers.
As we continue into these tumultuous times, it is apparent that we as a country have some significant infrastructure issues. The best examples I can think of include the levy failures in NO, the bridge collapse in MN and our aging air traffic control system and the apparent increase in the number of near misses. Failures in these areas have proven to cause complete devastation -and are very expensive to fix. Our local news investigated bridge safety in the state of Ohio after the bridge collapse in MN, and found that over 100 bridges were unsafe throughout the state. Unfortunately, these are very costly fixes, and with budgets dwindling, prioritizations gets tighter and our citizens are at risk.
My job has really opened my eyes up to the importance of paying our tax dollars to support infrastructure. I am not saying I necessarily agree with how they are spent, but as a consumer and as a homeowner, I am coming to find out that these tax dollars are critical in providing citizens with services we take for granted. Although I live in the city of Dublin, I still pay Cols taxes and have Cols city services. The city's yard waste contract with our local recycler expired a few weeks ago, so we no longer have city yard waste removal. I am hopeful the company that does my other recycling will provide that service to customers for a charge (money I would gladly pay!!!) but this is yet another example of how citizens are impacted by the shortage of funds for basic needs - keeping our yards nice and the yard waste off the street.
I don't mean to be on a soapbox here, I only post this to encourage you to think about the infrastructure in your area and why it is so important.
As Cheryl saw first hand, the failure of certain key pieces of infrastructure can be catastrophic. A primary cause of the devastation in NO was the failure of the levy system, resulting in flooding beyond words. In addition to the floodwaters from the gulf of Mexico, NO was also surrounded by a fairly good size lake, Lake Ponchartrain, which I believe flooded its banks as well during the storm.
In my current job, I work in internal audit for Columbia Gas, our local gas distribution company. Columbia is a segment of NiSource Inc, providing gas distribution services to customers in Ohio, Pa, Ky, Va and Md. NiSo also provides electric service in Indiana, as well as constructs natural gas pipelines so that we can get gas to our customers.
As a company, our number one priority is to provide safe service to our customers. When we as consumers flip the switch to "heat", we are relying on the fact that our local gas companies have taken all precautions to provide us with safe service. That means immediate response in dangerous situations (leaks), fixing those leaky pipes and replacing them when necessary. This can get expensive - very quickly. But it is an investment we have to make, for the safety of our consumers.
As we continue into these tumultuous times, it is apparent that we as a country have some significant infrastructure issues. The best examples I can think of include the levy failures in NO, the bridge collapse in MN and our aging air traffic control system and the apparent increase in the number of near misses. Failures in these areas have proven to cause complete devastation -and are very expensive to fix. Our local news investigated bridge safety in the state of Ohio after the bridge collapse in MN, and found that over 100 bridges were unsafe throughout the state. Unfortunately, these are very costly fixes, and with budgets dwindling, prioritizations gets tighter and our citizens are at risk.
My job has really opened my eyes up to the importance of paying our tax dollars to support infrastructure. I am not saying I necessarily agree with how they are spent, but as a consumer and as a homeowner, I am coming to find out that these tax dollars are critical in providing citizens with services we take for granted. Although I live in the city of Dublin, I still pay Cols taxes and have Cols city services. The city's yard waste contract with our local recycler expired a few weeks ago, so we no longer have city yard waste removal. I am hopeful the company that does my other recycling will provide that service to customers for a charge (money I would gladly pay!!!) but this is yet another example of how citizens are impacted by the shortage of funds for basic needs - keeping our yards nice and the yard waste off the street.
I don't mean to be on a soapbox here, I only post this to encourage you to think about the infrastructure in your area and why it is so important.
Need Help...
Something is wrong with me...I don't know what it is. I went to the mall, Ann Taylor Loft (not in mall) and Dick's today - not one thing came even remotely close to screaming "BUY ME". Good for the wallet, but good thing I really don't need any new clothes, because the pickings out there are SLIM. (at least in my expert shopping opinion)
Is this problem isoloated to me or do other people feel the same way???
Is this problem isoloated to me or do other people feel the same way???
Friday, February 6, 2009
Lunch at CCI
Once or twice a year, I take lunch up to the graduating class at Canine Companions for Independence. Many of the graduates have mobility issues, so getting offsite to lunch would be a bit of a hassle. Plus, up where it is, there is not a whole lot around there. The graduates do not pay for their dogs, but they do have to pay the lodging costs for 2 weeks - so volunteers also provide lunch to help defray costs. Lunch today was courtesy of Papa John's - just for reference, if you are feeding a not for profit organization, PJ will give you a large one topping pizza for $7 - good pizza at that, at least I think so.
The class today was mostly kids - in fact, there was only one adult. Two, I guess, if you count Abby, she was 19 - so she will handle her dog herself. What a beautiful girl she was. All the kids were super cute - and in love with their dogs. This was definitely the "Z" class - Zeko, Zeman and one more Z. Zeman was a beautiful golden - almost a dark red. I commented to Adrena, one of the instructors, I had never seen that color golden come out of there. Let's see if I can run the class down...
Hannah/Britta (FBL)
Morgan/Zeko (MYL)
Dallas/Rocky (MBL)
Abby/Unknown Z dog (FYL)
Trevor/Anderson - (MYL) Actually, Anderson is practically white!
Zach/Zeman - (MGR)
???/Brynda - (FYL) She was the only adult in the class
I got a chance to mingle and talk to all the people in the class - they were all really nice, and as I said , the kids were super cute. The first person I met was little Morgan - she was 8 and told me she LOVED pizza. I asked her if I could touch her dog, and the look on her face was priceless. Zeko was definitely the biggest dog in class - I was sitting with Adrena just checking out all the dogs in their "under" position, and looked at Zeko and thought, Man, that is one long dog!!! Long and lanky...but cute. The best part of the day came right as lunch was ending - Brynda's mom in remission from breast cancer. I think the cancer has really aged her - she was probably a very striking woman, pre cancer. She still looks great, but was saying that her hair never really came back and that it was a lot wavier than it used to be. Hannah was sitting near Morgan, they were playing with their Nintendo DL's and when she said that, Hannah looked up and told her that she was beautiful, that she liked the way her hair curled and the headbands she wore. It was awesome.
It always strikes me as amazing what positive attitude these students and their parents have. The kids in this class were all in wheelchairs - Morgan, Trevor and Hannah all had what I would classify as fairly severe physical disabilities. Dallas was autistic, but communicative - but probably definitely had his challenges. The parents and the grandparents are all so positive - for them, this is a life changing event. They are so greatful to everyone involved with CCI and just super, super nice people. You should all come with me some time to see that.
And finally, the best part of the whole post.....CONGRATULATIONS MADDIE! Fellow blogger/CCI raiser Maddy had her dog Tyanna placed in this class. In addition to the class onsite at CCI, there is another class off site. Maddy's baby was placed in that class. Still a week to go, but she has been placed. Congratulations Maddie!!!! What a testament to the trainers at CCI to have 2 classes going on at once. In class means they work the students and their dogs 6 days a week - so much work goes into every class, and to be able to change the lives of 2 classes of individuals, WOW! Awesome group.
Check out Maddie's site.
http://maddiespup.blogspot.com/
The class today was mostly kids - in fact, there was only one adult. Two, I guess, if you count Abby, she was 19 - so she will handle her dog herself. What a beautiful girl she was. All the kids were super cute - and in love with their dogs. This was definitely the "Z" class - Zeko, Zeman and one more Z. Zeman was a beautiful golden - almost a dark red. I commented to Adrena, one of the instructors, I had never seen that color golden come out of there. Let's see if I can run the class down...
Hannah/Britta (FBL)
Morgan/Zeko (MYL)
Dallas/Rocky (MBL)
Abby/Unknown Z dog (FYL)
Trevor/Anderson - (MYL) Actually, Anderson is practically white!
Zach/Zeman - (MGR)
???/Brynda - (FYL) She was the only adult in the class
I got a chance to mingle and talk to all the people in the class - they were all really nice, and as I said , the kids were super cute. The first person I met was little Morgan - she was 8 and told me she LOVED pizza. I asked her if I could touch her dog, and the look on her face was priceless. Zeko was definitely the biggest dog in class - I was sitting with Adrena just checking out all the dogs in their "under" position, and looked at Zeko and thought, Man, that is one long dog!!! Long and lanky...but cute. The best part of the day came right as lunch was ending - Brynda's mom in remission from breast cancer. I think the cancer has really aged her - she was probably a very striking woman, pre cancer. She still looks great, but was saying that her hair never really came back and that it was a lot wavier than it used to be. Hannah was sitting near Morgan, they were playing with their Nintendo DL's and when she said that, Hannah looked up and told her that she was beautiful, that she liked the way her hair curled and the headbands she wore. It was awesome.
It always strikes me as amazing what positive attitude these students and their parents have. The kids in this class were all in wheelchairs - Morgan, Trevor and Hannah all had what I would classify as fairly severe physical disabilities. Dallas was autistic, but communicative - but probably definitely had his challenges. The parents and the grandparents are all so positive - for them, this is a life changing event. They are so greatful to everyone involved with CCI and just super, super nice people. You should all come with me some time to see that.
And finally, the best part of the whole post.....CONGRATULATIONS MADDIE! Fellow blogger/CCI raiser Maddy had her dog Tyanna placed in this class. In addition to the class onsite at CCI, there is another class off site. Maddy's baby was placed in that class. Still a week to go, but she has been placed. Congratulations Maddie!!!! What a testament to the trainers at CCI to have 2 classes going on at once. In class means they work the students and their dogs 6 days a week - so much work goes into every class, and to be able to change the lives of 2 classes of individuals, WOW! Awesome group.
Check out Maddie's site.
http://maddiespup.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
How firm thy friendship....
Tonight, I attended the inaugural "Jacket Ceremony" for the fall athletes. The athletic department has decided that all first time letter winners receiving their jackets would do so in a ceremony in the Varsity O room in the football stadium. Representatives from Men's and Women's Varsity O were there - the presidents of both organizations got up and spoke, and represented well (yea Jeri!!) I had to leave to go to agility class...but seeing all the letterwinners there with their teammates brought back so many memories.
At tonight's event, I sat at a table full of soccer girls (young ones, I might add) with Belinda. I have been to many of these events with Belinda...Belinda being a former coach, working for the University and having a hubby that works for the FB program, well, we will say that she knows "people". A lot of them - some of them much more prestigious than others. I know some of them too - not only from my days on the board, but from playing as well (Archie Griffin came to our games on a fairly regular basis) We always introduce ourselves as board members, tell the person we played softball and then it comes out that I was a former player of Belinda's. I get so used to saying it...am so used to that fact, that I rarely take the time to reflect on how our friendship has evolved over the years. The teenagers at the table thought that was pretty cool...and as I sat there and watched these guys and gals get their jackets, I realized yet once again how fortunate I was to experience an athletic career at The Ohio State University, how proud I am to BLEED scarlet and gray and grateful for the friendship of all my teammates (and coach!!!) over the years.
I would be remiss in not recognizing today as a very, very special day in the life of one my teammates, dear friend and confidante...today marks the first birthday of little Dolan James Tucker. Happy birthday Dolan!!! Auntie will come see you soon again...this time, I will probably be chasing you everywhere, you little walker you!!!!
I leave you all with this....
"HEY SOUTH STANDS....OH!!!"
At tonight's event, I sat at a table full of soccer girls (young ones, I might add) with Belinda. I have been to many of these events with Belinda...Belinda being a former coach, working for the University and having a hubby that works for the FB program, well, we will say that she knows "people". A lot of them - some of them much more prestigious than others. I know some of them too - not only from my days on the board, but from playing as well (Archie Griffin came to our games on a fairly regular basis) We always introduce ourselves as board members, tell the person we played softball and then it comes out that I was a former player of Belinda's. I get so used to saying it...am so used to that fact, that I rarely take the time to reflect on how our friendship has evolved over the years. The teenagers at the table thought that was pretty cool...and as I sat there and watched these guys and gals get their jackets, I realized yet once again how fortunate I was to experience an athletic career at The Ohio State University, how proud I am to BLEED scarlet and gray and grateful for the friendship of all my teammates (and coach!!!) over the years.
I would be remiss in not recognizing today as a very, very special day in the life of one my teammates, dear friend and confidante...today marks the first birthday of little Dolan James Tucker. Happy birthday Dolan!!! Auntie will come see you soon again...this time, I will probably be chasing you everywhere, you little walker you!!!!
I leave you all with this....
"HEY SOUTH STANDS....OH!!!"
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