Homework, Pizza, Tea and Puppy News

Hello again. A lot has been going on around here. I have been desperately been trying to get my homework done and not to panic about how much there is. I have to write a 2 page summery of an article for history, write a 4 page response to a question about Forever Free which I've been supposedly reading also for history, add a page about nature disasters that Mt Tabor, Mt Sylvania and Powell Butte could cause  if they were active and edit the rest of that paper. I also have to create a 10 minute presentation on Queen Anne Style focusing on windows and detailing, and on my own because my partner hasn't been in class for three weeks and no one has heard from her. All of this on top of my regular homework not including finals. Sound like whining? Well it is. And might I add that while what I am doing isn't the most writing ever done by a single person in the world I absolutely DETEST writing. I can tell you all about a given subject, but transferring that knowledge to paper is very hard for me.

In other news, I actually made pizza on Tuesday and enjoyed it. I love eating pizza but I usually try an get someone else to make it for me ;)
Doesn't it look good?

 Tazzi thinks so. This is his "don't you want to give me some?" look.

On Thursday we had a bit of snow, nothing like they were predicting but enough that it seemed like a good time for tea.

Do you like my eclectic tea service? I love the miss matched cups and saucers from Tea Thyme and Lavender in Beaverton (a wonderful place)

Tazzi got tea treats too (no his aren't the peanut butter cups)

Tualha trying to sneak up on the cream

I had Tazzi pose for his treats, pity it turned out blurry.

In Puppy News: Kelsa passes her evaluation! We're (by we I mean Bethany :D) setting up for her to come to me around spring break. Fingers Crossed!

Vino's not coming to visit this weekend because he's developed a pain in his leg, he's going to the vet tomorrow. Hope you're ok little guy.

Having Vona over last week reminded me of Delphine, I miss that girl. She's finally in Phase 1 of formal training. Since I won't be able to say anything at her graduation I'll say it here, Delphine's partner will never be lonely or sad again. Delphine believes that she should be with you at all times, on walks, in the yard, on the bed (she's too good a girl to actually get on the bed but she'd get as close to the side as possible), and in the bathroom. She's also relentlessly happy, she'd do a weird little dance when her food is being portioned out, bouncing like she wants to jump but knows she shouldn't. She also loves to cuddle! More than once she fell asleep, snores and all, in my lap. All in all she is going to make her partner very happy and I'm going to cry buckets at her graduation.

Edits to the last post

Possible transfer puppy's name is Kelsa and her, Kashi, and Karma's parents are actually Nevin and Arcadia, not Nevin and Pandy. Here are the pictures of the Nevin/Arcadia puppies: http://www.flickr.com/photos/guidedogsfortheblind/sets/72157625904362522/

Kelsa got evaluated today, I'll probably get the results tomorrow.

And Vino comes to visit on Friday! I'm interested to see how Tazzi will react to him considering he met him as a little puppy.

Vona and transfer puppy news

Sorry it's been a while, between Vona and School I've been super busy.
Vona came for a puppysit last week for three days, I wanted it to be longer but homework has it's own ideas. Vona is a great puppy! I had her for a couple of hours back in december for a guide dogs event, but hadn't spend any real time with her before. She and Tazzi got along really well, I really need to put in that race track in the backyard the grass would thank me. I swear the weather can tell when I'm going to have a puppysit because the worst weather in weeks will hit when I do, this time it was wet, it took me 5 minutes per dog with a towel to get them in a state that they could come back in. Vona even got a rinse down before she went back to her raiser because the towel couldn't get everything. Von is a quirky little girl, she LOVES men, she went crazy with delight every time she saw my brother, and would sneak closer to the guys near us in class. I can't wait until she comes again!

I've gotten the offer to raise the sister of Kashi and Karma. I've accepted her unless a puppy more suited to my life comes available. Through my amazing deductive powers I discovered that her name might be Kai.  She'll be 4 months old which is a bit younger than I would prefer, but next term I think I'm going to have only one class on Monday and Wednesday so she'll have a short day, and mom is going to be home Tuesday, Thursday so she can stay home on my longer days.
Here are some pictures of Kashi and Karma's litter http://www.flickr.com/photos/guidedogsfortheblind/sets/72157625677774683/

Right now I'm leaving it at she's a possibility, but I won't call her (or any other puppy) my puppy until their actually in my house. I've learned my lesson about being overly hopeful, but I am hopeful.

Happy Valentine's Day from Tazzi and Vona

No Tisha After All

I got a call from Bethany yesterday that I won't be getting Tisha after all. Tisha was pretty much a disaster at her evaluation, she had a hard time settling down when her handler was seated (I knew she was having some problem with that already, but I didn't think to much about it because it didn't sound too bad and she's only 5 months old), she could barely walk on leash, and worst of all she kept growling at the CFR (Community Field Representative) when she was doing some basic puppy handling. I take a tiny bit of comfort that Deana (our CFR) wouldn't place Tisha even with the most experienced puppy raiser at this point.
        I'm devastated. I tried not to show it when I was on the phone with Bethany because I know she's doing all she can and it's never fun to give someone bad news. It's hard because we were down to a week left, I was starting to think things like "This time next week Tisha and I will be...", and I've been so excited to finally be raising a puppy of my own. Bethany and Deana are doing all they can to find me another puppy for which I'm so grateful, but it took six months to find Tisha. Sorry, I don't feel super optimistic at the moment.
In the meantime I'll be doing a lot more puppysits.

Too Much Homework

When I have too many things to do I seem to go to never never land. This time re-looking up FC Barcelona  and learning a bit more (as in anything) about the Portland Timbers. I seem to be on a soccer kick (pardon the pun) again, it seems to happen every 6 months or so.  I've been following the careers of two fellows, Ricky Rubio (not actually a soccer player, but he does play for FC Barcelona) and Bojan Krkic, ever since the 2008 Olympics. I think I follow their careers because in someways I can relate to them, specifically being around my age and trying to balance school and sport. I know many other people do the same thing, but they don't have as many articles written about them.

 Back when I was fencing that was a constant theme in my life, how to go to practice and get my homework done, and most teachers give you a very funny look when you say you have to miss class for a fencing tournament. I swear no one ever thinks competitive fencing exists or if they do they think the athletes show up a the Olympics with out doing any other tournaments. And the first thing anyone says when you say you fence is either "oh really" with a vacant expression, or "oh thats that thing with the swords right?", or worst of all "oh, like Mariel Zagunis!" sounding so proud of themselves. I have nothing against Mariel Zagunis, but I don't fence the same weapon as her, and it reduces a large and multifaceted sport down to a single person. You wouldn't describe soccer as David Beckham, would you?

In Puppy News: Tazzi and I managed to have a walk in the park with out any unpleasant greetings, mostly because he didn't get the chance to great any dogs. I think I need someone else to observe his behavior when we meet other dogs, I'm busy trying to make sure nothing happens. I don't think he would actually make contact with the other dog, but it would be terrible if I was wrong. But he's still a sweetie, and better than that he's my sweetie.
And Tisha comes in just over two weeks!

Also a week or so ago I mentioned I felt awful, well that's pretty much gone now. The acid reducers seem to have worked after all, which means it probably was an ulcer in my duodenum or elsewhere in the upper GI tract (sorry about all the jargon, mums in nursing school now and she seems to be rubbing off). Anyway, I'm quite glad that ordeal is over.

I wasn't quite accurate in my description of Tisha

So it turns out that the information that I got on Tisha was a guess and it was incorrect. The things that were right were that her name is Tisha and she's a female yellow lab. However her parents are Nicasio and Chestnut, not Curt and Tilda which means that she isn't related to Doug, Deanna, or Vino. And I don't think Tuareg is her brother after all. But I know the names of two of her four siblings, Teton and Trapper both boys. Here are some pictures of her litter with Chestnut (her Mama). I can't find a picture of her Papa. And the last important change is that her welp date (birthday) is September 6th, 2010 not July 29th, 2010. So she will be 5 months old (sorry mom she got younger again) instead of almost 7 months old. Now the news that she was excitable at her club meeting is understandable, she's two months younger than I thought.
I'm still happy! She's not as young or bumbling as the baby puppies, but she's still mine and because she's older I think I'm going to enjoy her more. And she's coming in 17 days.

Baby Puppy Pictures

Warning: The following pictures my cause cuteness overload. Do not look if you are prone to going gooey or if you really don't need another puppy in your life. Please remember that the puppies in the pictures are more rambunctious than they appear.

 I worked really hard to sort out Kashi's pictures from Karma's, but they look pretty much the same right now. Jethro is a cuddly chunk. It seems to me that the males are more cuddly than the females and that puppies with blockier heads are heavier.
                                                 Kashi

 
                                                               Jethro

It's blurry but I just love his face.

                                                                    Karma

Also blurry but I love the face.

Tubby Puppy! I love the little puppies chubby tummies.

                          Last but not least, Tabetha is back and looking so grown up.

Baby picture of Tabetha for comparison.