Living on the frontlines

Yesterday mom and I finally got topick up Gerda. She's younger than we thought she was at only seven weeks old. Such a baby! She's so tiny. She can crawl inside my shoe and be quite content. She's so tiny that she gets cold, but none of the extra small doggie jackets we bought her fit. So, just like an infant, she spends much of her time wrapped up or playing in her blankets. Potty training is probably a few weeks off. Developmentally, she's just not ready. But, so far she's only had one accident. We seem to be getting her to the puppy pads in time. I'm so glad we bought some, even though we didn't plan to use them. Gerda is a cuddle bug. She wants to be held constantly. Her favorite spot seems to be  around our necks right under our chins.

I'm just passing this info along. I was a national NFB scholar back in the summer of 1992! Wow - I'm getting old! National Federation of the Blind 2012 Scholarship Program Due to unforseen technical difficulties, our new and improved online application form for our 2012 scholarship program is not fully functional. If you would like an e-mail notification when the application is posted, please send an e-mail now to scholarships@nfb.org. Our date for completion for the form and the updated information pages is December 1, 2011. We apologize for the inconvenience. The new application will be much improved and worth the wait. Thank you. The 2012 Scholarship Program will end on the deadline of March 31, 2012. 30 SCHOLARSHIPS To recognize achievement by blind scholars, the National Federation of the Blind annually offers blind college students in the United States the opportunity to win one of thirty national scholarships worth from $3,000 to $12,000.

I'm posting this information that came to my e-mail. I am wondering what implications this has for those of us that live outside of Mass? I haven't exactly had the chance to check it out yet. But, I thought some of you might be interested. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Chris Danielsen Director of Public Relations National Federation of the Blind (410) 659-9314, extension 2330 (410) 262-1281 (Cell) cdanielsen@nfb.org National Federation of the Blind Secures Court Ruling Against Cardtronics Company Must Make ATMs Accessible or Face Sanctions Baltimore, Maryland (December 19, 2011): A federal court has found that Cardtronics, Inc., has failed to comply with the terms of a settlement and subsequent remediation plan reached with the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to make all of the automated teller machines owned by Cardtronics accessible to the blind. In an order dated December 15, 2011, the Hono

My dad and his new wife took me to the most wonderful seafood restaurant near where you get the ferry to go to the San Juan islands (no folks, not in Puerto Rico!). It was right by the ferry dock, so we could watch the ferries coming and going.

I haven't been posting a lot because I've been visiting my parents in the Seattle area. My mom lives north of Seattle, and my dad south of Seattle. Of course, my favorite thing to do is to take photos. Grin. I hope to use them for references for future paintings. Here are some (with lots more to come) from Christmas time around Seattle. This batch were all taken on a drive my mom and I took near the Canadian border. Excuse some of the "stuff" in the photos. I took most of them from the car window, or out the front windshield. It wasn't always possible to stop.

This is just one of those things I'm passing along: ACB SCHOLARSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT ACB SCHOLARSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT The American Council of the Blind (ACB) annually awards approximately 20 scholarships ranging in amounts from $1,000 to $2,500 to vocational, entering freshmen, undergraduate and graduate college students who are legally blind, maintain a 3.3 GPA and are involved in their school/local community. Applications may be submitted beginning Dec. 1; all materials must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on March 1. To read the scholarship guidelines and complete an on-line application, please visit www.acb.org/scholarship. For more information, please contact the ACB national office at (202) 467-5081 or 1-800-424-8666. We look forward to receiving your application materials! ..

This week we've added one new person to the HPS Network's patient registry. This puts us at 79 people to find by March! It's time to outreach!

Meet Gerda! Gerda is my mom's new puppy. She's actually coming home Dec. 24th as she's too tiny to be taken from her mother just now. I'm in such dog envy it isn't even funny! In the first pic, Gerda is three weeks old. (She's also three weeks where mom is holding her.) In the red pic she's four weeks old. She actually looks like a dog in that photo!

Last week I didn't post the update. I've been having some problems - more on that later. Last week we added one new HPS'er to the patient registry. This puts us at 80 to go on this year's Hundred People Search.