Happy 7th birthday to me!!

So here is to the seventh time that there's been a February 29th since I was born and to knowing that I will never live long enough to celebrate my "star" birthday [turning the age of your date of birth for me would be 29 but 116 in actual years].  Here's to my first birthday without my dad and to the heartbreak of reaching nearly 6 months that he has been gone.  On my last real birthday my dad sent me a bouquet of flowers as a personal joke because of a stupid movie we had watched.  It has been six months but there are still times when I start to dial his number but then remember that he will not be there.  Sometimes I just shrug it off and sometimes it still hits me hard enough to knock me down.

But aside from that, JD is taking me out tonight and we are going somewhere nice.  He bought Max one of those tuxedo shirts for dogs.  Max was not very certain about it while it was going on but once it was in place he did not mind it.  I feel like this entry is mainly filler but my life is about more than my diffability and the research and other work I do and I do not consider these things filler outside of my blog so I guess I should stop considering them filler within my blog.

Max just came back to check on me.  It is a bit weird when he does this but he will be in another room, doing whatever it is that occupies his time, then he will just stop whatever it is and come to where I am.  He walks up to me and looks at me for a bit then turns around and goes back to whatever he was doing.  Just now he had been playing ball with JD outside - I could see them through the second story window - and had caught the ball but instead of going back to JD Max just went back inside, came up the stairs to where I am and just looked at me.  He is pretty goofy holding a pink tennis ball, wearing a tuxedo shirt, and cocking his head at me.  But after he assessed me for whatever he was looking for he went back outside to JD like nothing happened.  JD is used to this behavior fortunately and he will just wait for Max to come back but it still feels weird to have this sentient being checking up on me.  Some days it makes me feel bad that he does not get to just be a dog but he also gets so excited when I pickup his pack, vest, and/or work leash so I remind myself that Max is happy with his job.  Happy with his job to the point that he willingly stops being a regular dog to ensure he is not needed.  Which is rather cool when I think about it like that.

Here is to a Happy 2016!

Because this past year has been so epic, I am promising an entry per day to my blog. I have been busy writing the last two and a half years but not posting after somebody threatened to expose my identity [and my dad passed away, and JD and I are living together again... many things have happened]. Also, in 2015 the Colorado Revised Statues saw an overhaul of 24-34 Part 8 that made life for disabled persons (having disabilities aside from visual or hearing impairments) with service dogs SO MUCH EASIER!!! Oh, and that reminds me... I got a service dog!!  [See, many things have happened.]

In celebration I present you with 366 brand new entries which will cover: 

     · My classes [which I'm currently taking a hiatus from]

     · Alice 

     · Training my service dog Max 

     · ADA issues

     · Effects of the alteration of Autism criteria under DSM5

     · Random thoughts!
     · The new diet I'm trying... [help me!]

On the ride side of my blog you will see the calendar where I will link each day's post [as some will be published with past dates] making all my new entries easy to find. I am so excited for 2016!