Burn that list!

Ok, nothing really about puppies or dogs but I have managed to finish most of that list I made yesterday. Yay for me! So here's a recap of my finished chores.

I dusted.
I vacuumed and carpet cleaned the whole apartment (Minus Erin's room because I'm just not going into that disaster zone).
I swept and mopped the tile surfaces.
I cleaned out the car.
I cleaned the bed that Sammy had his accident on. (Did I tell that story? We left for about an hour to go get something to eat and we came home to a puddle on the dog bed. Now it wasn't like he was trying to mark or anything I think he just couldn't help it. He just got started on some new meds for his allergies and I think it was just one of those things. Poor boy, he was constantly drinking water and we took him out before we left but I just don't think he could hold it. The entire dog bed was soaked. Hope he gets better).
I cleaned the blankets and stuff he used as his actual bed.
I washed the carpets from the bathroom just because they needed it.
I got my hair cut.


And now for the stuff that still needs to be done. Not necessarily by tonight but just before school starts on Monday.

I need to do laundry, which I will start once the blankets are done drying.
The tree still needs to come down.
I need to clean up the kitchen. That might be a job for Erin or Darrell.
I think that's about it..

More puppy related news. Our puppy raiser Manager, Michelle, thinks I'm insane for cleaning the carpet right before I get a puppy but trust me, it's better this way. From Sammy creating a river in the living room to the poo-poo my dad drug in on the bottom of his shoes (twice, thanks dad lol. ). I just felt like it was necessary to get out those smells you know. Just in case. If I have to clean again when he leaves thats ok. We have the carpet cleaner (borrowed from mom) so why not use it! I'll probably wind up getting one of those spot carpet cleaners you know. Hmm, we'll see.

Ok, for the real news, I get to ride up to Austin tomorrow to get Alfie with Michelle! I'm so excited, I get to talk her ear off and learn stuff I need to know for Alfie. I also get to see Beth (Aflie's Raiser) and ask her any questions I need to. So yup, I'm excited to go and that's all my news for now. I'll post tomorrow after I get him.

New shoes and a brush

So I got the last of all my Christmas presents in today. I ordered some Tom's Shoes about a week ago. I was kind of worried about them when I was looking online because they kind of look like old lady shoes lol. But I decided to go for it because all the reviews were awesome. Well I love them, they are very comfortable and even have arch supports in them. Now I'm not gonna go walk a marathon in them but everywhere else is good. I just wish they were a little taller lol. I'm only 4'11" so most of my jeans just barely make the cut lol. Maybe I'll just roll them up haha.

Ok, enough about my shoes. My last Christmas present came in today. It was a giant box from Guide Dogs for the Blind. Darrell had ordered me some goodies right before Christmas but there were complications with the address so it took a while to get in. Anyways, he ordered me a treat bag, a fleece rug for the puppy to sleep on, a dog comb for course/long hair (because GDTx is planning on me having a Golden) and an extra leash. When I asked him why the leash (because Megan is making me one and I'll get one from GDTX) he told me you can never have too many leashes lol. He keeps one by the back door for relieving and lost it once.. I think he felt the pain there lol.

So, I chose to break in the new comb on Sammy, he needed it lol. The poor dog has had allergies and an ear issue so he hasn't been able to have a bath lately. Well anyways, he needed a brushing, I avoided his ear and his tummy (where his allergy rash thing is). He loved getting brushed, as soon as I grabbed it he sat down right in front of me and kept nudging my hands. As soon as I started to brush him he sprawled out on the floor and was on his way to falling asleep, until I made him switch sides lol. So now he's all brushed and ready to be taken back to the kennels tonight.

So tomorrow morning will bring me vacuuming and carpet cleaning. I don't know who lived here before but I don't want a puppy coming in and being tempted by any smells left behind. So yup, we borrowed mom's carpet cleaner and will get after it tomorrow. Hopefully before Darrell gets back from out of town so I don't have to worry about him bumping into all the moved furniture.. Maybe I should take down the Christmas tree too because I know once school starts it will never happen lol. Ok lot of stuff on the list now.

Here is one last picture of Sammy :) I'll post up a picture of my shoes as soon as I can, because I know ya'll are all so anxious to see my shoes right? haha.

Oh, I also need a haircut tomorrow, or the next day.. ahhh too much.

"If names are not correct,

Language will not be in accordance with the truth of things" - Confucius

Some of you may not know this but when I first started blogging I hated the name of my blog. Still sometimes do. To me it sounds corny and its irritating. I usually put a lot of thought into names and titles and this one was just not one of them. I have certain guide-lines I set for myself when I name things. Guide-lines such as it has to be mysterious (meaning it can't just say what it is). If a complete stranger where to just read the title of whatever they are looking at I don't want them to understand. They also have to have at least some resemblance to whatever they body of work is. Like I'm not going to name a blog something random that has nothing to do with my post. You may now be wondering Natalie, what the heck are you talking about and whats with the ranting/rambling. Well to the what am I talking about thoughts here are some examples..

1. Darrell's blog - Egyptian Pawprints - I helped him think of the name and this is what I thought of. It doesn't shout out what the blog is but it still relates to it at the same time. I like that.
2. Some of the names of my iTunes playlists include "Happy meals" which is a playlist of songs from a long time ago. I don't like naming playlists by number or genre; I like knowing what is in there, not wondering which of my favorite songs I put in either playlist Rock 1, Rock 2, or Rock 3.
3. Animals - I have never had the pleasure of actually naming an animal all by myself - having lived with 2 out 3 brothers and my twin sister that opportunity just doesn't come around. And the hamster doesn't count because I was like 7). I even had my own cat once but twinnie suggested a name and I felt pressured so just said ok... didn't really matter though because she only came to "kitty"

Ok, point of the story, I have thought several times about changing the name of my blog but every-time I went to do it I couldn't think of anything. This is simply because I plan on changing it when-ever I get the puppy... I'll make it cool then, haha. At the same time though I kind of like having the word escapades in there - one of the definitions of escapades is "A wild and exciting undertaking." I like that, lol. As corny as the word sounds I like the definition so it might just be there in the future, we will see. But don't worry, I can't change the URL because of access permissions with mom's work (any non work related web addresses have to be approved over there and there's no point in making her do all the paper work again.) So yeah.. just some thoughts on that.

Another thought about names and such is the puppy's name. I know I won't get to name it but it is still fun to try and think up names for it. I actually don't know GDTx's method of naming so I can't even think of names that it might be, I just think of names lol. Even though I think you have to actually meet the dog and see its personality before it gets a name it is still fun to imagine. Here are some of the names I thought would be good and why.

1. Cane - I actually wanted Darrell's dog to be named Cane just because every-time we went somewhere he wound up cussing out his cane or calling it bad names - I just liked the irony in it lol.

2. Cairo - is going have to be one of them, simply because of Egypt.

3. Chi - Pronounced Kai (or like Tie) . This is a math term that is denoted by the squiggly X. It looks like a regular x but the arm going from left to right has extensions on the top and bottom. When we learned it I thought it was kind of cool looking. For those of you are not math nerds like me Chi-squared is used to test a null hypothesis. Which I think fits because in looking at any puppy in a guide dog program the null hypothesis for their out come would be that they will become a Guide dog. The alternative is that they will not. I don't know if that makes sense to you but it does in my head so yeah.

4. I had a lot more but suddenly had a brain fart and can't remember, guess they weren't that good, haha.

Well if I remember I'll just come back and edit the post. Also I think I am going to start labeling all my posts from now on. Just FYI.

From request of the mother

My mother that is... She has been reading my blog and, though she has left no comments ;) has requested that I post pictures of Darrell and Egypt actually working. So, I carried my camera around to a couple stores with us and to school and got some good action shots lol. So here you go, hope you enjoy.

P.S. thanks momma, it was a good idea :)

Here is Darrell just getting off of the cross walk - He just told Egypt to start turning to the right after she stopped him at the curb.

Here they are walking into the store, she is supposed to stop him at the doors and wait for him to give her direction.

Here, they are heading back to the car using the cross walk. Egypt will stop at the curb of the street and only go when she and Darrell think its ok to go. Darrell has to listen for traffic and then if he thinks its clear he will tell her forward, however, if she doesn't think its safe, she won't go. They call this intelligent disobedience.

This is at school where Egypt is showing Darrell that a stair case is starting, you can see Darrell's left leg probing out to find the edge of the steps.

Here is Darrell trying to find the door. The reason he is a little off is because he knows this door swings from his right to his left. He gets nervous because he doesn't want to hit Egypt so he stops working her when he hears the coke machine thats right next to him. If you look closely you can see a girl's hand coming into the picture there on the left. She rushed up to help him with the door.. she probably thought I was terrible for standing back and not helping, just snapping pics lol. Oh well.

Here is a better picture of Darrell probing for the top step of a different stair case.

And last but not least

Darrell and Egypt finding a seat so they can wait until they can get into class.

So yay, pictures. I feel bad because I don't have more to write but no real news so yeah. Hope everyone has a fun halloween. I will be studying all day so yeah. Wish me luck on my physics test.