Vomit Comet

First things first. Sorry to Steve for making all those typos in the last two entries. It’s hard to write anything, let alone stuff like this, when melatonin is doing what melatonin does. I also want to apologize for the flat sound of the last entry. I could barely remember the sequence of events, never mind talking about how I felt. Thankfully, today I actually had some time in the day to start writing, so if I decide I need help sleeping again, all I’ll have to do is groggily put them in Dropbox.

So today I actually slept until 6 when my alarm went off. I must have been a more active sleeper because I heard my bed buzzing. I guess it does that when it needs to adjust the firmness of the mattress or whatever.

I got up a little groggy but shook it off. The beast pooped and it wasn’t super gross so we’re probably set. Let’s hope. Then breakfast was a tater tot scramble which was eggs and veggies all scrambled up and the tater tots sort of just get swished in it so they’re still tater tot like. It was good.

We’re starting to have a joke that every time I say “There’s a song about that,” they go “Do a shot!” Hmmm. Am I getting annoying? Must contain my song references.

They gave us a tour of the campus including the trail. That thing is glorious. At some point, I do want to walk it. It’s so peaceful.

We went to the mall and zoomed around. Apparently my moving left turns need work. But they’re working on it. We first tried some Juno and talked about escalators and technique. Then we rode up and down several escalators, and pooch and I have a pretty good rhythm. I still remember how! Did I mention just how chill he was about putting boots on? I was able to booty him up when we were at the mall. The only thing I was doing wrong was when I tighten up a boot, sometimes it turns sideways. So I twist it a little too far and it fixes itself. He walked around with his back booties on with 0 fuss. Pretty great.

Then we came back and I had a bratwurst sandwich with potato salad. I also had a bowl of carrot soup.

Before I ate, we had our progress meeting and we seemed to be on track. I showed my instructor my long list of goals and she said she’d fit them in. She also told me that I am not in fact covered in dog hair, like it isn’t all over my dark jeans. I guess he doesn’t shed as much as I thought he would. Yea! I might not have to buy a new wardrobe!

I should mention I heard his first dream woofs last night, and this morning I heard a little vocalization, half way between a whine and a moan. And he’s starting to get frisky. I haven’t totally figured him out yet, but he’s starting to like me.

After lunch, they took our pictures so they can make the ID cards. Oo oo ID cards.

Then we did clicker! I have never been that good with clicker for a few reasons. First, they always wanted me to hold the clicker in my leash and harness hand. How big do you think my hands are?! Second, they always said the clicker marks the exact moment a behavior happens. Hey, jerkbag, I’m blind. There are some things where I can tell, but others I will have to verify that it is the right spot. There is no way I can be that precise. But now they give out wrist straps, and they have redefined the precise moment it happens as the precise moment you know it happens. Ok. I can live with that. We back chained Pooch to my door, which means you click them finding the door, and then click for them targeting it from further out and so on. That was fun.

And that was it for things we’re doing today formally. The rest of the night is mine! Oh the potential!

Yes. a classmate and I walked the Oregon trail. It’s a little fenced off area that goes through the campus. It’s very peaceful. We plan to walk it every evening. Then I went to do laundry and I thought I broke everything. We had gone in earlier and I had read the Braille on the buttons so I felt reasonably confident. So I toddled the little rolling basket to what I thought was the room we went to earlier. I threw my clothes in a machine and it set off. It was then that I looked at the buttons and they didn’t have the same Braille I had seen before. Oh crap. Did I go to the wrong room? So I panicked. I texted the Residence person and had her check. I had gone to the correct room. Phew!

Tomorrow is our day off. I’m not sure what I’ll be doing with it. I could be seeing a friend, but she says she might not be feeling well. Or another classmate and I could be going to a doughnut shop or a place called “The Local Cow” and then some kind of brew pub. I don’t care about craft beers but maybe they have yummy food. Whatever happens, it will be a good day.

I’m writing this after taking melatonin in an attempt to help me sleep. This might be a fail.

Today was a much better day. My dog and I rocked together as a team. Yea!

So I went to breakfast, and ran into a volunteer who won an award at a reunion I was at. I think I freaked him out because I recognized his name.

Breakfast was a frittata with a side of bacon and some fruit.

It was super hot today. The weather has been totally not rainy this class which is great, but today, the heat was nuts. So in order for us to get some routes in before it was too hot, we started off early and ran through an obstacle course. My beasty did pretty well. If there was a problem, it was kind of mine. We also went down a ton of stairs that went near the kennels. He got distracted, but I was able to manage him. Then we walked to Jazzy Bagel, and all my crossings were great. I made sure to do the same speed-up at each crossing and our line was great. At Jazzy, I sat in the sun, enjoyed an Italian soda and talked to the nurses. Then we came back to campus and had a delicious beef taco salad for lunch. Then we went out and did another route in the heat. We did super great! There was nothing crazy that happened! Then we headed back to campus and went over a whole bunch of lectures.

Just before dinner, we were going to practice putting on dog boots, but we discovered that my poor dog had very loose stools and I stepped in it and tracked it all over my room. Fail! So the resident advisor is going to be out with me while he relieves. Apparently, if he has a stressful day, this can happen. Poor guy.

After a supper of sweet and sour pork, 2 of us practiced putting on dog booties, and my dog just lay there when I put them on. They stayed on, even when the 2 dogs played together. Thankfully, all of my dog’s boots are the same size. Yea! Then the resident advisor helped me get out another mat. Combing out mats is hard. But he just laid there. After the final relieving, I went to the nurse’s office to ask about what I could do to make sure I don’t keep waking up at 4:00.

Tomorrow we’re going to a mall to do escalators among other things. And then we get to set goals for next week and learn how to get around campus. Woo! And after that, half of training is over!

So that’s today in a nutshell. And now the melatonin’s making it impossible to think so I’ll stop here.

So this is interesting. I’m writing day 5’s entry on day 6 because day 5 was a total nut house.

I think I got a second person trailing me all day and his name was Murphy. Murphy’s law was in full effect today.

First off, I took the big boy out to relieve. I should have taken note that he never pooped at the end of the day before. I grabbed a poop bag out of the dispenser and waited for the stinky present. I got it. Then he peed and I thought I was good. Then he pooped again! Dammit! Bless him, he pooped in another good spot that allowed me to hippity hop back in the room and grab my phone and call up Aira to do the poop-scoutin’ boogie. Also I was running behind because again, I needed an early bathroom break. I made it to breakfast at what I thought was a reasonable time. Then I went back to my room to relieve the pooch and relieve myself. But I was in a bit of a hurry to get to the human potty. Remember how I said I’ve been walking around with a drool rag attached to me? You guessed it! Sploosh! It took a dip! It was super well attached so I had 0 chance of getting it off quickly. It was almost class time and I was panicking. I was just about to call the residence advisor for help when the instructor came asking what was up. I showed her and she helped me take it off.

We had our lectures and that was the usual. It was all about different things to know about working in buildings. Then we went out on routes and Murphy was definitely in attendance. We screwed up crossings. We screwed up curb approaches. If I could do it wrong, I did it. If there was a drinking game where every time my instructor said “Catch up to your elbow,” which means you’re too far behind your dog, you were to do a shot, you would be failing all the field sobriety tests before the morning was out. Don’t get me wrong. This is exactly what they’re supposed to do. It helps you be a strong team. It’s just frustrating to be reminded of how sloppy your handling has gotten. Also, I keep sliding my hand too far to the right on the handle. So they stuck this bright green vet wrap to the right side of the handle to remind me not to go there. We did everything wrong. We misread each other. We ran into things. There were a million dogs out and he was distracted. Then some dumbass with a known ferocious dog came right at us. Luckily, since we shoveled kibble into his mouth, he didn’t care about the dog. We eventually decided that I was better off with a shorter handle, and my shoulders don’t dip as much when I’m not stressed. We also noticed that when I get this little trot going while crossing streets, we stay closer to each other and our alignment stays straighter. I was a bit of a wreck at Jazzy Bagels. I said I can’t afford to have him veering all over the place without knowing when it will happen. She reassured me that we could solve this.

Next we headed back to the campus and went up a different path and somehow I rolled my ankle. Ouch youch youch!

As I was getting into the building, my instructor said she noticed I’d been late a couple times to classes and meals and wondered what they could do to help me keep time better. The only things I could think of were when I puked and when I dropped my drool rag in the john. Since I had a rough morning, I exploded and said a. I hadn’t been that late and B. it was for reasons I couldn’t help. And then I burst into spasms of tears because I remember the old GDB preparations for training letter saying something like “tardiness will not be tolerated.” After I told her what happened, she apologized and said it was no big deal. I know the schedule is tight, but holy crap! I didn’t know I was that problematic when I was 1 or 2 minutes late! At least the turkey sandwich was good even though it dripped on me.

The afternoon was a little better. We practiced working in buildings like department stores. It went rather well. My dog and I cruised down a few aisles. WE’RE GETTING TO THE STAGE WHERE WE CAN REALLY SEE WHAT IS POSSIBLE.

Then we came back to campus and we had supper, spaghetti and meatballs and a delicious brownie.

After, we took the dog to the free run and play, even though all he did was keep coming back to me for kibbles. Silly guy. I really wanted to see him run.

The last thing I did was do yoga and that felt good. The pooch slept peacefully in his crate while I was gone. I fell asleep and it wasn’t even done yet. Then I went back and read a bunch of the lectures in preparation for the next day. And that was day 5. What a beast of a day. Hoping tomorrow is better.

I’m writing this at the end of the day. Tired.

My day got off to a bit of a bad start. I was in the bathroom for longer than I planned, which set everything back, and the schedule is such that once you’re behind, it creates a domino effect. So I ran around to catch up and made it to breakfast on time. Woo!

Breakfast for me was yogurt, granola and fruit.

Then we had a lecture on street crossings. Then we headed out to Gresham to do some Juno and then the route to Jazzy Bagel. That’s my destination for the next bit. We definitely did better than the first route but we both have some learning to do. I need to stop when he stops at curbs and probe with my foot immediately, not shimmy forward still thinking we’re not there yet. If we’re not there, I need to tell him to hoppup and let him do his job. We had to rework a crossing because he and I collectively screwed it up. But I guess that’s why I’m in school. I have learned that if I’m hesitating a lot, he will start showing me stuff, and if nothing else, he’ll show me the curb edge even if it’s in the middle of the block. Eek. So don’t hesitate for stupid reasons.

There were a few times we got into a good groove and man did that feel good. When he gets distracted, at least so far, he slows down. I’m not used to that.

Lunch was a Greek pita with chips. There was strawberry shortcake but I was too full so I took it to go.

The afternoon was all about reworking errors. So Juno got to be a mean mean Juno and bonk us into stuff. Juno even made me knock over one of the obstacles. Juno veered in the street, brushed me into walls, bonked me into stuff. Naughty Juno. Then I went out with the dog and he made some errors of his own. Errors aside, that route was even better than the morning route. And today, I met my class supervisor. She sort of surveys all the teams and offers suggestions. They were trying to decide which harness handle I should use because apparently, with one handle, my shoulder dips and that could be bad over time. I think we settled on the short straight handle. I think. I guess the supervisor had met Scary Jane from the Babs days. It’s a small world. Also, whenever she spoke, my dog would look at her with adoring eyes.

Then we came back and cleaned doggy teeth and ears. He doesn’t mind ear cleaning so much, and he loves the teeth stuff. Of course he did.

Then something cool happened. My instructor told me that while he was in the kennels, he made some art. Something about smearing peanut butter on a surface and then he smushed it around and the kennel staff painted a representation of the smears. Anyway, she wanted to know if I wanted the drawing. I said sure. I’ll have to get her to explain how it works again.

Supper was an onion galette, not sure of spelling, and more delicious strawberry shortcake.

Then we had a lecture about playing with our dogs and safe and unsafe toys. We got a kong, which my dog tried to attack right there. We also got a carabiner, which can be clipped to the kibble pouch and can be used to hang things on. I’ve always wanted a carabiner. I was very tired in this lecture. The lady who did that lecture has a golden for a pet. I’m going to be pick pick picking her brain. I also noticed that the mat under his ear is back already! Booooo!

After that, I flopped over. I know I was supposed to groom him, but I didn’t make it.

Tomorrow is going to be interesting. We’re going to learn about working our dogs in buildings and then, that means we can work them in the dorm! Woo! Things are going to get interesting these next few days. We’re going to get to do cool things like free run our dogs and do a campus route and stuff like that. Things are heatin’ up.

Also tomorrow night is yoga. I’m really going to enjoy going into corpse pose.

And I should really go into corpse pose by going to bed. Hahahaha.

First day with the big beast, and it’s a good one, even though I’ve been awake since 4.

About the big beast. He’s the tallest dog I’ve ever had. He’s 25 inches tall. He stood beside me and I couldn’t believe how tall he is. I worry he won’t fit on Tansy’s bed or in her crate. But he’s such a good heeler. Just for fun, I decided to put his food down and then heel him from his crate to tiedown, just to see how hard he would yank if he knew there was food over there. He was excited, but totally manageable. He’s already not drinking as fiendish an amount of water as he started doing. Did I mention that last night when he went out for final relieving, he peed a river? Maybe that was less than awesome so he didn’t think he needed that much water.

They tell me that he pees like a girl. No wonder I can’t hear him going.

I’m writing this at the end so I hope I’ve got this all down. We had lectures about guidework commands like forward, left, right and stuff. Then we headed to Gresham to do some Juno work on those commands. I was feeling pretty good about that. I had to make some small tweaks but nothing super massive. But I was having more trouble learning my way around the lounge. I don’t remember the San Rafael lounge being so hard for me to learn.

Another thing I’m finding hard is knowing how much to kibble for good heeling anymore. If he’s heeling well, you don’t have to give him kibble a bunch, but if he’s slipping, then you have to reward him more to get him convinced that heeling nicely is worth it. And then I keep tightening up on the leash too much. Ack this beginner stuff is hard. I’m finding that I don’t have room for stuff like new routes and stuff.

He’s a bit of a jack in the box. He mostly settles under the table, but sometimes he rolls around under my feet. It’s weird. He also scratches and licks a lot. HIS fur is covered in random crusty spots. I hope that’s nothing.

So we did a bunch of Juno where I practiced turns with a plastic dog on wheels that was about my dog’s size. So we think we’ve got the right harness handle size. I also did some Juno walks where Juno was bad and I had to do various kinds of management. Then after lunch of a grilled zucchini sandwich and a cupcake, when I think the pooch might have eaten a crumb, arg, we went back to Gresham and finally I went on a walk with the pupster.

As walks go, it wasn’t bad. We had a few miscommunications and some distractions but it was pretty good. I kept not gripping the harness hard enough and my hand kept sliding to the right side of the harness. I can hear my Tansy supervisor saying “Hand in the middle.” Oops. This first walk felt more exhausting than I remember, even though I fell on Trixie’s first walk. But I think things are going well, even if the instructors have to remind me over and over and over again.

After that, we learned about playing tug of war and I got those invincible chains which is a set of rings that they can tug on. He kept going back and forth between violently shaking his head and just licking the toy. I can’t figure out what makes him happy. When he does play, he likes to pop his big brick-like head up and bean me in the chin. Hopefully I can figure out how to get bonked less.

When they said to bring a backpack, they weren’t kidding. Often times, they’ll give us more supplies at the lounge. I just figured it was for carrying stuff like rain gear et al so I didn’t carry it today. That was a terrible idea. I was carrying my cane, my braille display, plus I got the new harness and a tug toy. Ok ok ok changing my plans.

We’ve had awesome weather. I say it’s because I went and bought rain pants. If I didn’t get them, it would have rained every day. I’ll take this for sure.

Finally, we learned about dog grooming. His golden coat is going to need more attention. I found a mat in his fur and they showed me how to get out. Also, his tail needs daily combing. He’s a little rascal to groom. He won’t hold still for anything. Am I going to have to install a tie-down on the balcony for grooming?

I’m so happy that he likes his crate. He just runs right in there.

I had two near brushes with poop today. Once, I almost trailed my key fob through poop. Another time, I forgot to grab a bag and of course he pooped. I thank him for picking a spot near an easy landmark so I could get a bag, and walk back to the spot with my legs spread apart.

Dinner was a delicious steak stir fry. I couldn’t possibly finish it. I think I’ll have to start getting half portions or something. After dinner, I once again became a zombie. I could barely stay awake to check my email. I did hear from Chuck and that was cool.

I think that’s all I can remember from today. I’m toast once again.

DOOOOOOOOOG DAAAAAAAAAAAY!

No, I’m not excited at all.

I have been awake since 4:30 this morning, partly because my body still thinks it’s on Eastern time and partly because I went to bed before 10. But thanks to Santa, I feel ready to rock!

I’m starting to know my way around the room. I’ve started to group it into sectors. There’s the living area and the sleeping area. In the living area, there’s the fridge closet and the coffee maker desk and the giant short-people-grabbing recliner. If you get in, plan how you’re getting out if you’re small like me. And the TV that has voice guidance and voice commands. And there’s Dog equipment alley with the leash and grooming supplies and a kibble pouch and I threw my cane over there. Oh yeah and next to Giant recliner is a dog bed and tie down.

In the sleeping area, there’s of course the bed and the clothes closet. There’s another desk over there. I call it the phone desk because it has the land phone on it and that’s where I charge my phone. Of course each desk has a chair. Phone Desk also has Santa. On the other side of my bed is where the crate will go. There’s also a bathroom, a dog sink and a human sink. The sinks are outside the bathroom on either side of it. There’s a medicine cabinet above the human sink so I stashed my pills there. On the phone desk side, there is a little carpet to stand on. Oh and the room has 4 exits: 2 to the hall and 2 to the patio. Remember, 2 people used to sleep in here. Steve, did I mention everything here that I said on Whatsapp?

We eat without a dog for the last time this morning. I forget what I selected, but it will be gloriously delicious.

Also, I have 0 headache! Yaaaaaaaa!

Ok, I should shut up for now. Time to go chomp! Don’t leave without my key!

It was banana bread with cream cheese and a delicious fruit cup. We had a really fun conversation about all sorts of stuff. I guess a classmate’s wife grew up in Kitchener. Small world!

Then I went back to my room to brush my teeth…and I got sick! I threw up in my sink and clogged it! Dammit! I must have eaten too fast and then I was furiously swallowing morning meds and my body threw a tantrum. Let’s not do that again! I feel mostly fine but I’m a little shaky. When I got to the fireplace room, there was a career change dog hanging around so I grabbed its leash without thinking. While I was in the dining room, I thought I heard a dog. I guess I was right.

WE just did a pace assessment and I didn’t die. Progress is possible. Boy did that feel good. The nurse came by and offered me some juice and a granola bar. Now we’re playing with rolled up rugs…er doing Juno obedience. Good times.

Juno was a good Juno. We went over obedience commands and I’m not half bad. They showed me a new way to go through an over here door, that’s a door where it would hit the dog when it opened. She showed me this spin command where you open the door and then hold it open with your right hand and then you do all the spinning and the dog just heels through.

I’ve done my first stupid thing already. I held the wrong part of my keys up to the door to my room.

I’m exhausted. Let’s try and recap. Did I talk about the chat we had about all these new changes to our lives now that we have pooches? I don’t remember much because it wasn’t surprising to me, but the newbie was hoovering it up. Then we had lunch. I had a delicious potato soup and more yummy bread and a salad. I didn’t have room for dessert. Then we went and did this transitioning to a new guide dog chat with the guy who is the new counselor. He seems nice enough. It was nice to know I’m not alone in some of my feelings. Then, it was the big exciting time. They would bring us our dogs. In previous classes, we would learn all our dogs’ names together. But this time, we found out our dog’s name when they brought them to us. So I went off to my room, filled up my kibble pouch, discovered that this kibble pouch strap thinks I’m fat because it wouldn’t fit around my waste at the default setting, and waited for the big knock.

Now this is where it gets hard. I don’t want to reveal his name yet, but I’m so tired that I’m afraid I will. They brought him to me. It’s a him. He’s a 3 quarters golden retriever. He feels just like a golden. I have a golden! Who knew? He’s about the same size as Trix and Tansy. But he floats along so smoothly. He is the best heeler I’ve ever had in terms of early heeling.

So I snuggled with him on the floor until it was time for heeling practice. At first, you give kibble every couple of steps. It’s slow going. Man, does he ever drool. He is so drooly that they attached a rag to my kibble pouch for wiping my hands. After that, we did some obedience and talked about sitting in the dining room and scooching them under tables.

Then it was feeding and relieving time. My pooch ate with gusto and he drank a lot of water. The instructor told me it was because in the kennels, they have to work hard at getting the water out of something like a hamster water bottle.

I took him out to relieve, and relieve he did. A big disgusting poop. Then we went for dinner and had pork chops and sweet potatoes and bread and this bundt cake with pecans for dessert. It was the first meal with all the dogs and adventures ensued. Only mild ones. Then we had a lecture on t touch, or doggy massage. Most of the dogs just wanted to play. Mine mostly fell over in a heap. His nose is always on the move and for once it stopped.

And this was the point where the fatigue set in. I could barely think. I was getting lost in my own room. I was making wrong turns all over the place. At one point, I was motoring down the hall at high speed and vroomed right past my room because I was so in the groove.

So after the massage, I gave him more water, which he slurped up. I realized that he stops whatever he’s doing if I say his name. So the poor beast was merrily drinking and I said “Holy crap, dog name goes here,” and he immediately stopped drinking. And no amount of “ok” would convince him to continue. It could have been a coincidence, he drank most of the bowl, but I noticed him popping his head up even when I was dictating his name into a message.

I think that was everything. I’m crashing now. Pooch is in his crate, not making a sound.

So I made it! The first plane. I didn’t have any sleep because of this silly display’s technical oddities. Hopefully I won’t regret that.

I got a sweet welcome email from the folks at Boring with an audio description of the room and the building. I hope I’ll have a chance to check it out.

All I know about the class is there are 3 of us. They said there might be a fourth but it looks like that didn’t happen.

Does anybody know if this BrailleSense 6 has an airplane mode? I looked in the manual and couldn’t find it. Our flight was delayed taking off and I was worried this thing was causing interference or something because I couldn’t find airplane mode.

My emotions are doing their usual bounce between excitement and wondering if I’m up for whatever Newdog has to throw at me. I don’t even know this dog’s name, and he or she has several nicknames. Von Poochenstein, Snarky Puppy, the list goes on forever. What is this dog going to be like? Is there anything it hasn’t been able to try out because of covid? Am I ready for this? Am I focused enough? Can I get focused enough? I’m so curious about what makes this new dog such a perfect match. They are freakishly good at doing matching so I have lots of hope.

I know I packed reasonably, or I think I did, but I’m so worried I brought too much stuff. I know Tansy’s harness is in the bottom of the bag so I can return it to the school but it’s not that bulky a thing, is it? The suitcase didn’t protest when I shut it, but boy was it heavy! It was good to send it on its way in checked luggage. Please don’t lose my luggage. Please please don’t let me down. I also hope the ribbons I tied to it will stay on because the mail didn’t have time to deliver the cute GDB luggage tags, so some ribbon will have to do.

It’s not a direct flight. I go from Pearson to Chicago and then Chicago to Portland. Then they’ll take me to baggage claim where I’ll be met by someone from the school. And off we go.

The nurses seem really sweet. They’re going to make sure I have distilled water for my cpap machine that I affectionately call Santa. They seem really amazing. I already feel welcome and I’m not there yet!

I wonder how much it’s going to rain while I’m there. I bought new rain pants. Are they going to come in handy?

Both other GDB guide dog trips, I wound up with a headache. Can I avoid it this time?

I’m so tired. Maybe I’ll try to nap.
I don’t think I’m napping.

One more thing I wanted to mention. I’m flying United. They don’t take physical cards to buy food or booze or whatever. You have to put your card into the United app to avoid contact. Whatever. You’re already in a cabin huffing their spit. I hope they made it accessible. Also, they told me I could track my checked bag, but one link wouldn’t respond and the other was a 404. United breaks baggage tracking?

Brrr it’s going to be cold in Chicago. I hope I don’t end up outside for long in my light little coat. Oops.

Well I wasn’t because they threw me in a wheelchair and transported me that way. I felt like cargo. “Tell her to walk backwards and sit in the chair!”
“What gate is she?” When I would speak, it was like I was speaking another language. It’s moments like this that I find myself scrutinizing my appearance. My hair is a bit dishevelled. Is that why they think I’m incapable? Is there anything I could have done? Sometimes, I think so, sometimes, not so much.

After being transported like a sack of potatoes, I was put in a golf cart and ignored for the rest of the journey. Then a guy was nice enough to talk to me like a person.

I’m also having no luck talking to fellow passengers on the flight. It feels like they’d like to run from me. Other flights, people actually talked to me. I don’t like the world we’re beginning to inhabit. Maybe I’m just tired and cranky but I’m not sure.

Someone is dictating in front of me. Is it someone who is in my class? Or is it some self-important weirdo?

I forgot to mention the nice cab driver I had on the way to the airport. When I wasn’t drifting off, we talked about everything from dogs to sleep apnea. He was super helpful in finding someone at the airport so we could get this party started.

Man, I hope I can wake up when I finally arrive. And I hope my beast of a bag arrives ok. If only I could track it…

I must look like I’m about to fall over. A couple of the assistance people grabbed my arm and held it in a death grip as if I was about to fall over.

I feel bad for my poor mom. She was having trouble sleeping, so texted me at 4 this morning asking if I’m in my cab. I was at the airport. I hope she got more sleep.

Apparently it’s raining today in Oregon. I wonder how heavy.

I feel like such a jerk. They indicated that we should read all the class training materials before arriving. Because I’ve been streaming them, I don’t have them here to read as I fly. And even if I did, I’d probably fall asleep trying to listen. I’ve gotten through a bunch but there are a bunch more.

It’s tricky to figure out how much flying time is left when a. I keep drifting off and b. we’re going through time zones. My phone says we’re at Chicago 11:30. So I’ve probably got a ways to go.

One thing that kept happening was the pilot kept trying to get people to sign up for a United visa card. What’s up with that?

we’re going to land soon. Woo!

We landed and I was chucked into another wheelchair. I didn’t even know what was up until it was too late. The woman barked “Sit when I tell you.” and then I was in a chair flying at breakneck speed, seemingly nearly mowing over pedestrians. We got to baggage claim and a guy from the school picked me up and found my bag. Yea!

Now that I’m here, I have meaningful things to say. This place is glorious. The food is amazing and everyone is so sweet. I even told the nurse about my anxiety and she said that was normal.

I have eaten dinner and it was delicious. Lunch was a grilled sandwich and dinner was a chicken and mushroom stew with this delicious salad. I took the cupcake back to my room. I’m not missing out on that gloriousness.

There are 3 of us in class. Everyone seems pretty cool. I’m still trying to remember where everything is, but there is an audio description of the room and the building so maybe it will help. My room is massive. I’m starting to connect pieces together but sometimes I’m doing laps until I find something. It will come. There are definitely no shortage of clues.

We have sleep number beds! Between Santa and the bed, I’m going to get the best sleep of my life.

We have our own patios to relieve dogs on. I’m a little confused because there seem to be several doors that lead out there. And I have a key. Don’t go outside without your keys!

I’m so short. Some of the hooks are too high for me to reach. Oh well.

I think that’s about all my brain can handle. Tomorrow is when things get crazy. Here comes Von Poochenstein. No, that is not the dog’s real name. This time, I might hold out on revealing the name until we’ve been together for a bit. Tomorrow morning is a lot of Juno walking, or walking with an empty harness with an instructor holding it. Then, the afternoon is dog day! Eeeeeeeee!