The end of May 2015

Charlie is doing pretty well. We've had a few hiccups this past week. One, he had a nail to split vertically again, so we had to make a fast trip to the groomer. Apparently it hurt quite a bit, because he tried to nip Mr. Jon. He really does have the best groomer though - Mr. Jon turned off the nail trimmer and said calmly "Charlie, you do not nip. No bite. I love you. Give me your paw." and Charlie covered his face in kisses and obeyed. (I was still mortified!) Mr. Jon said it was really unlike him, and that he knew Charlie was hurting.

Friday we went to get my mom's car out of the shop, and another customer had their small dog in their lap. Charlie acted as if he had never seen another dog before, and like he hasn't spent the past two years on training his special skills. I backed out of the door with him as soon as we had walked in, and made him lay in down stay until he reset. I ended up dislocating my wrist really badly and that put me in a sour mood for the rest of the day. It's still pretty tender to the touch.

Yesterday Charlie and I had to get some groceries. He performed perfectly as if Friday had never happened. (I guess even service dogs have bad days.) One of our favorite cashiers at Publix insisted we come into his lane - the ten items or less lane - even though I had a regular cart. He swapped out his sign for a regular one and had a bag boy load up the stuff onto the belt for me. It was such a relief. I usually hate accepting help, but my wrist was still hurting and it was really nice to be able to actually see the stuff ring up on the screen. Usually I'm doing my best to put everything up on the belt fast enough for them to ring it up. We got help loading the car too - and I think the teenage girl that helped us was super professional and polite. I took Charlie off duty and had him in a down stay in the back seat. I asked her if she'd like to pet him, because he was off duty now and she gave him a kiss on his forehead! I love publix. Good people and plenty of support for me.

My unemployment has come to an end, and I'm still in the initial stages of trying to get disability. I'm really worried about it. I've been trying hard to fight for my best mental health in the meantime, but I'm really fighting with all I've got right now.

I've knit a few things this month, which for me is an accomplishment! My most recent finished project is a shawl. The pattern is the Stormcloud Shawlette by Hanna Breetz, available on ravelry.com for free.

Random pictures

(This is one of my favorite affirmations. I look at it almost every day. I usually fight myself and try to push and keep pushing, even when I should rest, so it's a great reminder!)

Friday

Mayhem. Doesn't she look like she's popped out of a Charles Wysocki painting?!

Home made energy balls and silk brand "holiday nog". Mmm!

Recipe for energy balls found here: http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/no-bake-energy-bites/

Charlie Majors and the valley of the (repaired) dolls...

Off and on all day I attacked Charlie's broken toys. He's actually not that hard on toys, but some are apparently constructed in a hurry, so I sometimes find a seam busts. When that happens, I take it from him and toss it into a small plastic trashcan in his supplies closet. Today I had nothing planned to do, but I took the advice of my best friend and woke up at 8am (technically sleeping in from my previous schedule), took my sweet time getting my activities of daily care done, and the only thing I really did all day was rest, play with Charlie and the kitties, and repair toys. As mentioned in my earlier post today, I didn't even cook.

I've alluded to the truth that I have a hard time with my hands - my fine motor skills in my hands are becoming very crude, so making them "pay attention" and "behave" was a bit tiresome. Still, MUCH lighter work than last Tuesday!!!!

Charlie told me it was worth the effort. ;)

Charlie and all the repaired toys

I guess even dogs don't like getting out of bed just to reach something a few feet away! Lol

Happy puppy!

 Oh, while I was repairing seams, I added in new squeakers. My mom found these great replacement squeaks that last Charlie over a month before he kills them! The regular oval or round shaped squeakers "die" within 15 minutes usually, but these crazy things have really held up! Here's a picture of the label in case you want to shop for them on amazon like we did:

Lease renewed!

The new management at our apartment complex is really nice. I mistook him for a missionary, because he was walking door to door with flyers. Haha 

The manager asked if Charlie was a service dog, and also made a comment "I'll bet he's good protection at night!" I said, "Yes, if you wear a motorcycle helmet and walk up to the door with it on like my husband does, otherwise I'd advise you to watch out for slobbery kisses. The one you REALLY have to watch out for is sniffing your shoe...she draws blood without warning. She's a highly trained ninja assassin." ;)

Charlie and I were just returning from Jacks with dinner for the humans when the manager walked up. I was really glad to finally have someone to ask about getting the curb fixed so our neighbor could visit us. We've visited him and his emotional support dog, Dylan, but in the years we've lived here, he has never had access to visit us! It would be so nice to be able to invite them over! We've always talked about having a cookout.