Fun in the Snow with Melody and Blondie

Here's a short movie clip of my two dogs playing in the snow. The puppy is named Melody and the bigger dog is Blondie. The clip is open captioned in English.



After all that fun in the snow, it's time to come into the house and get warm. I like this photo of them side by side so you can see the size difference. Melody is growing at the same rate that Blondie did as a puppy so she may end up the same size when fully grown.



Look at who's taken over our living room couch. Blondie is dog tired but Melody looks as if she's ready for more play time.

Merry Christmas

I received some thoughtful gifts this Christmas. The ones in the first four pictures came from my dear friend Liz, who lives across the ocean from me in England. She's the writer of Liz's Deaf Blog as well as a photography blog and a blog narrated by her cat, Miley. I met Liz in person when I went to England in 2010. We keep in regular contact through email.

I had been thinking to myself that I ought to buy a pretty pen for my purse so you can imagine my delight when I opened the box (on the right in picture #2) and found a pen with my name on it. Isn't the bookmark next to the pen lovely? The photo doesn't do it justice. It has a 3D effect and contains lovely facts related to my name on the reverse side. I always associate the color purple and butterflies with Liz.

Photo #3 shows two books she gave me on castles in England, a postcard of a Robin Hood statue, and a Union Jack tea towel. Just the thing to tide me over until season 4 of Downton Abbey begins.

The plaque I am holding in photo #4 says Life's truest happiness is found in the friendships we make along the way. Liz is certainly a true friend of mine who has added to my happiness this year and ever since we got to know each other. Thank you, Liz. I'm fortunate to have you as my close friend.

More thoughtful gifts I received include those from my Aunt Louise. She reads my blog regularly and is a great source of support for all that I do. She took seriously my posts on my desire to do more public speaking and sent me two recommended books on the subject. I can't imagine a nicer gift than having someone take your dreams seriously and help you to achieve them. Thank you so much, my dear Aunt Louise.

This year I am especially thankful to share the holiday with my family. Although they are camera shy and seldom featured on my blog, I wanted to include photos of them in this holiday post.

The first photo is of my husband Rob. He's my rock. The second is of my son Charlie. He's holding an Army cap ornament. He has enlisted and will be serving our country after he graduates from high school. I don't know if he will be spending the next Christmas with us or where he will be posted, so this ornament is poignant.

The third picture is of my Dad. It's hard to see but he's holding a pocket New Testament. It's our family tradition that my Dad reads the Christmas story from Luke and Matthew before we open our gifts. As soon as he got into my house, I asked him, "Dad, did you bring your Bible to read the story?" With a big smile on his face, he said, "Of course I did."

The next photo is of my Mom holding Melody. My mom was really happy to meet her today. Although we had a present for Blondie to unwrap, we all knew that the real present for her and all of us was Melody, the new puppy who has claimed our hearts. She's a little sweetie, just adorable and Blondie's shadow. Happy Holidays from my home to yours.

Meet Melody

Meet Melody, our new golden retriever puppy, just 7 weeks old.

Our little beauty

She's ready for playtime.

Me and Melody bonding.

Sleepy little girl.

Blondie watching over her new friend while she sleeps.

Melody and Blondie meet for the 1st time.
(with captions)

Holiday Surprise

A kindergarten girl with Deaf parents chose to sign the songs for them rather than using the generic hand motions with the rest of the class at her school's holiday concert. Now that's what I call inclusive communication! I bet her surprised parents were so proud. Whether you know sign language or not, this short video is guaranteed to lift your spirits this season. I could watch it over and over to see how this little girl stole the show. Enjoy and happy holidays!

What Lies Ahead?

Presenting on Digital Preservation last month

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about what I will do once I have my Masters degree program completed. Previously, I have thought about working in public relations for a nonprofit organization, preferably one which advocates for the deaf and hard of hearing.  But recently, my aspirations have changed direction and I'm thinking instead about being a communication trainer. I have really enjoyed the several opportunities for public speaking that have come my way this fall through my job and my class on leadership and group communication. Mostly because they each gave me a chance to connect with people and share my enthusiasm for a subject. I think it would be great to create and teach a course on how to communicate effectively with people who are deaf and hard of hearing. From stories I've heard and read on the Internet, there seems to be a real lack of awareness on this topic. It is especially hurtful to the deaf/hard of hearing person when their own family members don't have these communication skills and sensitivity. I've been exploring the subject of inclusive communication on the Internet and what I've found resonates with me. Maybe becoming a communications trainer will be the next step in my career.

SPOILER ALERT
My family is getting a golden retriever puppy on Friday. Blondie has been so lost without her pal Rusty. We are all looking forward to this new addition to our family. Stay tuned for heart-warming photos/video to come.

Apple Picking at Radke's Orchards

On a misty Sunday morning this past weekend, my son and I set out in our car to pick apples in Indiana. Our destination, Radke's Orchards, allows dogs on their property, so we brought Rusty, our golden retriever, along with us.

The funny thing is Rusty hates getting into the car so I have to lift him up. He's a large dog so I do it by manuevering him close to the door, putting his front paws on the seat, and then lifting with all my might the rest of him into the car. Ooof! In movies, dogs seem to just jump into cars all on their own and enjoy sticking their heads out the windows, but not our Rusty. Doesn't he look angelic in this photo? You'd never guess he's a reluctant rider.


The fog lifted well before we arrived and we had a perfect fall day for apple picking. I had chosen to travel country roads rather than highways to get there which made for a relaxing drive.

The apple orchard sold half bushel plastic bags for fifty cents each so I ambitiously bought two. We started our apple picking with Galas. The orchard provided us with a map showing where the various varieties were planted. Trees at the ends of the rows were marked with tags denoting the variety name and harvest date.


Rusty was a big hit with all the little children out apple picking with their families. He was very well behaved and enjoyed his opportunity to check out new territory and smells. My son and I had to laugh when he sniffed around the outside of the porta potty and relieved himself right in front of it.


Radke's Orchards has picnic tables located throughout the orchard which makes a great place to eat lunch or just rest a bit. We looked over the amount of apples we'd already picked and decided maybe one bag would suit us just fine. After all it was quite a lot to haul around along with holding the dog's leash, his water bowl, a water bottle, my purse, my camera...you get the idea.


While we were resting here in the shade, Rusty ate some apples and apple peels that were underneath the picnic table. [Unfortunately they didn't agree with him and he got carsick on the ride home. Fortunately we were almost home and I had lined the backseat with a towel.] Ahhh, life with a dog.

We concluded our apple picking with selecting Golden Delicious and Jonagold apples. Safely returned home, that night we made homemade apple crisp. Yum yum! It's easy and quick to make so I've provided the recipe below for those of you who haven't tried it.


APPLE CRISP RECIPE given to me by my friend Marilyn

Preheat oven to 350° F. Thinly slice 6 cups of apples. Mix apples with 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 2 Tablespoons flour, and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Mix well and place into an 8" x 8" baking dish. Make apple crisp topping by melting 1/2 stick of butter and adding to it 1 cup uncooked Quaker Oats, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon. Spread topping over the apples. Bake 30-35 minutes.

Note: I really like the topping and will double the topping measurements.


Hope you're enjoying apple season where you live. It's one of the highlights of my fall.

Dodge the Highlighters

The other day I was in the car with my 17 year old son and I asked him if he had any good school stories to share. The week before he had told me of his heroics when a snake was discovered in the school lunchroom. The story went that his teacher had unsuccessfully attempted to capture it using two Styrofoam cups. When Charlie and two of his buddies heard about the situation, they raced from the gymnasium to get to the snake. Charlie got there first by jumping over a counter. He picked the snake up behind its head and waving it menacingly at his classmates took it outdoors.

It was only a harmless garter snake, but still - what a story. I could picture the whole episode in my head. With that in mind, Charlie began telling me about finding a knife that day. Not a butcher knife or switchblade, simply a table knife. But naturally, he didn't tell me that part right away, just like he didn't mention that the snake was a garter until after he got the effect of seeing my face react to the word snake.

Anyways, he told me this occurred during Dodge the Highlighters. Hmmm. When he said that, my mind got busy imagining a scene of unsupervised teenagers tossing neon colored pens at each other and ducking behind tables and chairs. In disbelief, I said, "Is that what you were supposed to be doing?" He said "Yes, that was our M period today." When I asked where was the teacher during Dodge the Highlighters, he said, "No, Mom. I said Adopt a Highway!" Oops. He had been outdoors participating in a service project to pick up trash along the roadway instead of having an out of control study hall session. We got a good laugh out of that hearing mistake and it gave me a story of my own to share.

Update on Grad School Progress

Speaking in public on November 2.

After more than a full year in grad school, I thought I would share how it's been going. In less than a month's time, I will have completed my 5th class  towards my master's degree in Communication Studies. The classes taken so far are:

• Introduction to Graduate Communication
• Research Methods
• Project Management
• Principles of Effective Fundraising
• Group Communication and Leadership

This represents 12 hours so I am one-third of the way towards the 36 required hours.

I have enjoyed learning many new things. With the practice I am getting, I have improved my public speaking skills. I now find it enjoyable to present in front of groups. I like to watch their facial expressions and check their comprehension and involvement with what I am saying. I think my hearing loss helps me tune in to the audience's nonverbal responses. It may not be apparent here, but my academic writing skills are improving as well. I'm really glad I took on this challenge although I must admit it has been difficult and not easy.

Deaf World Library and Museum

Another exciting project in the works is the creation of a digital collection of deaf studies. To make this dream a reality, Utah Valley University professor and Director of American Sign Language & Deaf Studies, Bryan Eldredge received a $50,000 grant from the Washington D.C. based Institute of Museum and Library Services.

To learn more, read the official press release.

Farewell, Dear Rusty

Rusty - final photo

Sad, sad news. My beloved golden retriever, Rusty died earlier this month. He was nearly 9 years old. He was part of our family for eight years. We had many good times with him, several of which were shared on this blog. Here are a few of my favorites:

The Brown Sugar Incident or Sweetest Dog Ever!

The Soggy Doggy Easter Egg Hunt

His first blog story, Pancakes for Puppy.

A short story of mine that included Rusty was published this month in the ALDAReader, a publication distributed at the national ALDA convention. The piece was based on this blog post in which dependable Rusty served as my "icebreaker" at a hearing loss support group event. I never dreamed when I submitted the story that he wouldn't be around when I received my copy. I'm really glad I picked that one to share.

Rusty and Blondie - final photo together

We are all heartbroken and Blondie is a little lost without her buddy. She stayed very close to him during his final days. In the first photo, you can even see her fluffy tail by Rusty's nose.  Everyone asks when are we going to get another dog. We are just not ready to think about it yet.

What I've Been Reading: In Pursuit of Silence

After stumbling upon it in Google Books, I recently read In Pursuit of Silence: Listening for Meaning in a World of Noise by George Prochnik. I think it's a wonderful companion to the book I reviewed in 2011, One Square Inch of Silence: One Man's Quest to Preserve Quiet by Gordon Hempton. If you missed that review, you can read it here.

Prochnik's book is also a quest of sorts. He travels all over to explore why humans are noisy and to seek out places of silence. Naturally, he encounters the deaf community along his way and devotes part of a chapter to discussing Deaf Space, an inclusive architecture project at Gallaudet.

I highly recommend his book to you as a very interesting read. To learn more about the author, check out this online interview (deaf friendly as it is all text, no video) in which he discusses his affinity for silence and why people are afraid of silence.

If you've already read this book, published in 2010, let me know what you thought of it.

You Might Be an Audiologist If ...

I was asked by ReSound if I would be willing to share this post of theirs with my readers. I found it amusing and said yes right away. I hope you will enjoy this lighter moment with me today. You may want to pass it along to your hearing care professional and make their day too.

You Might Be an Audiologist If ...

• Every time you tell someone your profession, they say “huh?” or “what?”
• You have a random copy of hearing aid software in the trunk of your car.
• You have alcohol swabs hidden in every pencil case and otoscope bag you own.
• Ears are the first thing you look at on a person.
• You cringe when someone mentions using Q-tips in their ears.
• When you’re drunk and feel like the world is spinning, you grab someone and ask them to look at your eyes to see if you have nystagmus*.
• You bust out your sound level meter app….. in church.
• You have ever used the term “externship”*.
• People ask you if you’ve seen the light on the other side
• You’re not grossed out by cerumen*.
• You have an urge to push an elderly person’s earmolds in properly when you’re standing behind them at the supermarket checkout.
• In public places, you try guessing what kind of BTE a person is wearing like you’re on a game show.
• You have a pair of ety plugs* on your keychain.
• You look at what type of earphones people are using at the gym as they walk by you.

*Not being an audiologist myself, I needed to look up a few of these terms. Here are explanations for
Nystagamus
Externships
Cerumen means earwax.
Ety plugs are earplugs.


Here are some more responses from ReSound's Facebook community shared with me via email:

• You find battery stickers all over everything you own, and especially on the bottom of your shoes and in your hair.
• You give your card to the guy in the car next to you with his speakers blasting and tell him to call you in a few years.
• You can't help but look at other people's ears in a crowd to see what types of hearing aids you can identify from a distance.
• You find yourself talking loudly for no reason.

Did you enjoy that? Can anyone come up with some answers for You Might Be Hard of Hearing If...

My Writing and Photos Are Featured This Week

I am really pleased to share with you the news that two websites have featured my blog this week!

The first site is Quilt Shop Navigator which highlights quilt shops across the United States and Canada through video interviews with shop owners and photos from inside the stores.

So how does that connect with me? In June 2012 I had the joy of touring the Amish Country Quilt Gardens along the Heritage Trail in northern Indiana which I posted on this blog here, here, and on flickr. When the Quilt Shop Navigator was in the area this year, the flowers were not yet at the height of their beauty. So, for this week's post on a quilt shop in Middlebury, Indiana, three of my photos were used to illustrate the article.

I was contacted online first by the author who requested permission which I was happy to grant her. As a bonus, I enjoyed getting to know her a bit through our emails back and forth and hope she will continue to stay in touch. I may even take up quilting someday. It looks like so much fun.

Here's the post with my photos and a nice shout-out for my blog.

A second site to feature my blog is Healthy Hearing as part of a series they are publishing on bloggers. Speak Up Librarian is included in an article on professionals with hearing loss. I was very touched by the kind words used to describe my writing. I hope you will take a look for yourself. As a bonus, you can find out about other blogs on hearing loss.

Here's the post which features my blog writing.

I'm very grateful for this recognition and for all who read my blog and share the journey with me.

Skunk - 2, Dogs - 0

Recently, our dogs have had two unhappy encounters with a skunk in our backyard. P.U. Multiple baths later and hours outdoors drying off, they have been allowed back into the house. 

P.U. That skunk smell is hard to get rid of. We used a home made recipe from the internet which combines 1 qt. hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup baking soda, and 2 teaspoons dish washing liquid. We also used a product from the pet store. (We had to visit two stores because the first one was sold out of it. Apparently skunks are active right now around the area.) Then we used normal dog shampoo and conditioner with oatmeal. 

As you can see from the photos below, the dogs were not too happy about their cleanup. Maybe next time they will learn to run the other way when that skunk comes calling!

My Friend is Featured in a Book!

Karen Putz has published a new book called The Passionate Lives of Deaf and Hard of Hearing People. Karen has been a role model to me for years so that is reason enough to buy the book. Tina Childress, another person I admire, has her story included in the book which was another reason for me to buy the book. But what got me right over to Amazon.com was reading on Facebook that my friend Jonathan Nicoll was also featured in the book. Way to go, Jonathan!

I got to know Jonathan, who lives in Canada, because he was one of the early readers of my blog. During the summer of 2011, he took a cross-Canada car trip on his own, from Ontario all the way to British Columbia. Returning home, he came through my area and my family and I took him for breakfast at one of our favorite restaurants. It was so fun to get to meet Jonathan in person. He's a very interesting young man who is a teacher for the deaf and hard of hearing. I don't want to tell you too much about Jonathan because I want you to read his story for yourself in Karen's book. And no, you can't borrow my copy. Jonathan has promised to autograph it for me the next time he's in Chicago.

Rusty says, "If I could read, I would buy this book. It features my pal Jonathan as well as famous people like I. King Jordan, Howard Rosenblum, Kathy Buckley, and CJ Jones. There are 24 inspiring people profiled."

---

My friend Liz has posted her own review at http://lizsdeafblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/book-review-passionate-lives-of-deaf.html.

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Last Saturday, I took a day trip to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin with ALDA Chicago. In the morning, we had a board meeting in Cary, Illinois. That town is northwest of Chicago and located en route to Lake Geneva. My husband Rob came with me and we left our house at 6:30 a.m. to have plenty of time to get to Cary by 9:00 a.m.

On our way, we stopped at Walker Brothers pancake house. In the photo at left you can see the impressive looking exterior of this restaurant. The inside was decorated like a castle. I had a yummy breakfast of 3 pigs in a blanket (sausage links wrapped in pancakes) and Rob had french toast. Later, we were very glad we had stopped around 8:00 a.m. and had a substantial breakfast.

The board meeting ended promptly at 11:00 a.m. because we needed to arrive in Lake Geneva in time to board the boat for our lake cruise at 12:30 p.m. We were booked on a cruise that included a tour of Black Point Estate, one of the oldest mansions on Geneva Lake. [Lake Geneva is the town and Geneva Lake is the body of water.] Rob and I enjoy seeing historic homes and were looking forward to it. The board meeting location was about 45 minutes to 1 hour away from Lake Geneva, so we thought we had plenty of time.

As you can see from the photos, the skies were blue and we had a beautiful day for travelling. What we didn't know was that Lake Geneva was having a Venetian Festival that weekend drawing more than the usual number of tourists. Traffic on the road was slow-moving getting into the town and parking near the waterfront was difficult to find. Sadly, we missed our boat's departure.

But all was not lost because one of the group members arriving ahead of us but also too late for the boat made arrangements for 7 of us to board the next boat leaving at 1:00 p.m. We got on just in time to claim the last available seats.

The cruise company graciously provided us with scripts of the tour narration which were very helpful in following the descriptions of the million dollar homes we were sailing past. Hooray for deaf advocacy! But I have to admit that looking down at the script and then looking up at the shoreline made me a little seasick. My husband bought me some 7Up from the ship's bar and after drinking that my stomach settled. I did have to take a break from my reading, though, and just enjoy the passing scenery.

The 1:00 cruise did not include the stop at Black Point Estate so we got back earlier than expected and had free time to explore. As Rob and I had missed lunch completely, our first stop was for ice cream cones. Mmmm.

I've included a few photos of things that caught my eye as we walked around: an angel fountain, a horse with rainbow colored "socks", and a pub sign.

We met back up with the group from ALDA Chicago at 5:00 p.m. to have dinner at Popeye's restaurant located on the waterfront. I had a delicious perch sandwich for my meal. It was fun to be together with my friends and catch up on their lives. But I was really puzzled when people kept telling me that after dinner they were stopping to buy funds. I had no idea what they were talking about despite repeated attempts on my part for clarification. It wasn't until we were nearly home that night, that I figured out they were talking about buying fudge. Smile.

By Reader Request: Blondie & Rusty

I was asked by a blog reader to post a recent photo of Blondie & Rusty. So here they are! It's hard getting the dogs to pose together, so I hope you will enjoy these two separate portraits. The dogs were wearing flag bandanas in honor of a special family occasion.

Blondie is now a year and a half old.

Rusty is almost 9 years old.

Update on DDW's Work in Costa Rica

Recently I had the privilege of talking with David Justice (DJ), co-founder of Discovering Deaf Worlds (DDW) . Long-time readers of my blog may recall I took a trip to Costa Rica with DDW in 2011. DJ brought me up-to-date on what's new with DDW and Costa Rica. With his permission, I can share with you an excerpt of our online chat conversation reformatted as an interview.

Sarah: Did you ever imagine DDW would grow into what it is today when you and Christy started the organization in 2007?

DJ: When Christy and I first took that trip our goal was 'to make an entertaining video of stories in 10 different sign languages from 10 different countries' and now here we are working with governments, post-secondary institutions, and national associations of the deaf on organizational development and long term sustainability projects. [It's] all very exciting! Our long term goal as we expand is to incorporate international teams to provide capacity building in sign language-- so not just DDW people from USA, but a combo of people from USA and Philippines will begin this "train the trainer" organizational development cycle in the next country.

[I told DJ about my recent Train the Trainer experience with the Library of Congress.]

Sarah: The Train the Trainer program was exciting because I got exposure to experts in this field which I knew nothing about. And now with having to do the training myself, I have to learn the subject and be very engaged with it, to be able to do it.

DJ: That's great. It's something we try to do with our work in international development -- involve those we are working with in every step of the process. Even our discussions/trainings are always "co-facilitated" by one 1 DDW person and 1 person from PFD, or ANASCOR, or whichever organization we are working with. You definitely see a quicker sense of empowerment and self confidence that way.

Sarah: Speaking of ANASCOR (Asociación Nacional de Sordos de Costa Rica), what's new?

DJ: They are in the process of establishing another Deaf advocacy organization in Costa Rica called "Siglo 21" or "The 21st Century". They will be independent of ANASCOR but will work very closely together with ANASCOR. The goal of Siglo 21 is to focus on enforcing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD). Are you familiar with that law?

Sarah: No, I'm not.

DJ: CRPD is an international disability law that is very similar to the ADA we have here in the USA. The Costa Rican government passed this law 5 years ago and every two years, they are required to submit a report to the UN explaining how they are amending or developing policies that are accommodating for people with disabilities. In their first two reports, ANASCOR was not mentioned at all, and LESCO [Costa Rican sign language] was only mentioned once, so there is a "disconnect" between the government (who controls policy for education/employment/etc) and the Deaf community. That is the gap that Siglo 21 is going to focus on closing up. They plan to conduct some concrete research on the needs of the Deaf community to have evidence behind their complaints, then offer constructive advice to the government on how to improve language access, deaf education, job training, etc. It's a big project, and will take several years-- but they are moving along. Our [DDW's] role has been to provide "process consultation" on the development of Siglo 21 as an organization. For example, we worked with them on refining their mission, vision, values statements; conducted a SWOT analysis, established a timeline with committees to achieve their goals etc.

Sarah: That is a big project, I am glad DDW is supporting them.

DJ: I went to Costa Rica last summer with Dr. Scot Atkins who works with DDW (and as a professor at NTID) and we made some great progress together. We will likely return again this winter at some point and will likely visit Costa Rica once a year or every two years. Perhaps if we expand, we can run a similar exchange program like we have [recently] done with the Philippines.

Sarah: Thanks for the updates, DJ. Everything sounds great.

DJ: Pura Vida!

To learn more about Discovering Deaf Worlds, please visit their website www.discoveringdeafworlds.org.

Artist Gary Price

I am currently reading a book called The Passionate Lives of Deaf and Hard of Hearing People. I'll be writing more about it soon. But in the meantime, I wanted to share with you about Gary Price, a friend of mine, who is living out his creative dreams.

Last weekend I had the privilege of attending Gary's Meet the Artist exhibit and reception at a local coffee shop. I've known Gary for about 5 years and this was the second exhibit of his I've attended. Gary is very personable and his paintings are colorful and lively. Gary says that his specialty is creating art on canvas or paper, using paint, charcoal, pastel, pencil and collage. You can view his work for yourself online here. He also has a shop on Etsy.

Going to the Edge Coffee House was a fun outing. My husband and I went together as a sort of date last Friday night. He bought a large cup of coffee and I got a delicious chicken salad croissant with a broccoli salad on the side. (That was my dinner as I hadn't eaten yet.) Gary's paintings, priced for sale, were hanging throughout the coffee shop. Gary also had art prints, note cards, and magnets for sale. I purchased his lion magnet (see photo below) for my office because it reminds me of Aslan from the Chronicles of Narnia.

Outside on the patio area of the coffee shop, a musical husband and wife duo were performing. Although we spent most of our time inside with Gary, we did get to hear the last three songs of their final set. It was a relaxing way to end our evening. All in all, it was nice to celebrate the art of talented regular folks.

Photo from The Edge Facebook page