Visiting the shelter

Today we stopped by the shelter that we adopted Charlie from. He was nervous, and didn't want to go through the door. The man who brought him to me that long ago day in December of 2013'opened the door and was shocked to see us. Charlie had a very hard time staying calm as soon as he saw him. I told him to give him kisses and love and Charlie about wet the floor in his excitement to knock the gentleman over. Kisses exchanged and a few tears shed. I know Charlie was bit worried I was going to take him there to abandon him, but as soon as he saw that man, he knew everything was okay.

Charlie and I both know if it wasn't for him, Charlie would have died of a broken heart while at the pound. He's such a sensitive dog, and he was depressed when he was incarcerated. The staff were so excited to see and hear how well Charlie is now. They took our picture and posted it as a before and after on their Facebook page.

From adoption day to today. <3

Christmas went well

My mom and Charlie, taking a break from Christmas cooking.

Mischief and mayhem enjoying a holiday feast.

The human's version of the meal.

Gathering together (my side of the family).

Me and my husband at Protestant Christmas Eve service (church of the highlands).

Charlie and me resting after the festivities. We have been in a partially hibernated state since the 26th. At least he's cozy! I got to go to Catholic Mass yesterday, and wouldn't have been able to without support from my parents and sister. Thanks again!

Happy holidays, everyone!

Vet checkup today

But first, we got some encouragement to fortify us!

A lovely card from our local knit and crochet group! Thank you! Charlie keeps licking your card. Something tells me it smells a little bit like the "grandma" that sent it! :)

Handmade gluten free treats!!! Thank you Janet!

Charlie heartily approves!!!!

 

Janet also made the awesome card. If you'd like to cheer somebody up like she did, her cards can be acquired at: Janet's Papercrafts, jaskotnicki@yahoo.com! I assure you they are high quality, and very classy. She's even been featured in magazines. (Please support your local artists!)

Merry holiday swapaganza!

My beautiful friends on ravelry and I decided to do swap boxes for the holidays, since we all celebrate different things, and we all need to watch our budgets.

Here's what I got:

(First off, awesome tape!)

OMG, they're handmade!!! Aren't they the cutest?!?

Charlie sniffing the gorgeous tiedied stocking, next to his "Sunday Best" supplies bag. It's my favorite color!!! Thank you!

This yarn is so soft, and smells delicious! It came with a pattern made just for it especially!

I found some curry chocolate and ginger chocolate hiding in the toe of the stocking!!!! After devouring half the bar, I've decided ginger and chocolate is the best chocolate in the world. :D

That's not the last of it either, she filled up every inch of the box:

She made all these gorgeous snowflakes, with the tiniest stitches I've ever seen! They must have taken all year to make!!!!

THANK YOU, S/babyfirefly!!!!

I'm blown away by the love you sent me.

Happy holidays!!!!!

An early Christmas!

On an early day of Christmas, my sister gave to me:

Some earrings and a cup from Germany!

On the next day of Christmas, my best friend gave to me:

A zebra cowl to support my EDS!

On the next day of Christmas, my SIL presented me

With a crochet Bible tote and scarf to keep me warm!

Then the mailman rang my doorbell, and said 

"Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!"

What's this? My other best friend/sister sent me a surprise!

What could it be?!?!

A knit cap, and the worlds best notepad, with a sweet handmade card.

Thank you guys!!!!! You're way too generous and sweet!!! Merry Christmas!!!!!

Knitting at the library November 2014

The librarian, Shannon, took our picture.

Big hero 6

We went to the movies today! For the first time in a year. Steve planned out our whole afternoon including dinner and the movie. 

Charlie has never been to a theatre or even that part of town, so he was anxious. We got chickfila, and of course had minor celebrity status when Charlie did his job and carried my food bag out. It's always a little bit of shock when I hear the reaction we get for that, because it's honestly gotten to the point where I kinda zone out and think of his mouth as an extension of my grasp. Like, my left hand has my cane, my right hand has his hard bridge handle and that should be a dance enough to help stay upright, but then life demands a tempo change and I have to deal with my wallet, holding a drink and getting through two sets of glass doors. I'm so busy getting it done that I can't understand in the moment why there's a clamor. Oh. It's because the shiny coated 110lbs dog is carrying my dinner sack. Gotcha. ;)

It was fall like weather, and I checked the ground temp before we decided to eat outside. He was snug as a bug in a rug, I promise.

Steve and I had a good time. It was so nice to have a date and emotionally connect a bit. I didn't realize how stressed I've been. 

So we get to the movies, and I've figured out a new way to rig his small bed. I roll it up, cinch a belt around it, hook it to an old over the shoulder purse strap and voila! It's on my back and I can't feel it. We've rigged it that way for game night a few times, and it's been very effective. I wish I had someone to pick their brain about how they deal with all the gear that is needed. He has a dog version of a diaper bag, but I don't know. I'm digressing, sorry. 

Alright, I've got my cane, his bed, his bridge handle. (I left his bag behind in the car) He's got my wallet, his wallet, and I lost sight of Steve. I decide to go inside, and the only question I'm asked is "what's your dogs name?"

....I struggle with this question, because if I tell them, 90% of the time the first thing someone will do is use his name to try and talk to or distract him. They don't realize they're doing that. So now my response is generally taken as copping an attitude when I say "if I tell you, you can't repeat it. He's working and he needs to focus." So I instead said "he's working, I only use his name when I need something. Give us a second and I'm sure you'll hear it when you give our ticket back." And instead of just saying "up, follow" I said his name first.

(OMG, I just realized when re-reading this that it's annoying to have a story go so slow, but my day really is broken up in micro detail like this.)

It's Tuesday, so nobody is at the movies. Perfect. The handicapped seating is my ideal seat. I had plenty of room to park his bed, and would have plenty of room if it was a bad day and I needed my walker too. I think in the future I might ask in advance which movie screen it's displayed on, because we had to hoof it to the very last one, and I got winded. Charlie was not walking to my ideal, he was excited at the new smells and sounds, so my wrist is a little sore from correcting his gait and forcing him to slow into a perfect pace.

There was a cute cartoon before the movie started, and it featured an animated dog, complete with barking and whining. Charlie watched the whole thing, and whined when the dog tried to cheer his human up. No one will ever convince me that Charlie doesn't understand the concept of tv.

Charlie got up twice and alerted me that he wanted to leave, both times it was a loud, intense part of the movie. After a kiss on the head and a gentle command to lay down, he did perfectly. He even fell asleep for a good 20 minutes!

(I know it's dark. I wish I could have gotten better lighting!)

So, Charlie has seen his first movie in a theatre, and I had a date! Whoop whoop!

Eli's

Beef/lamb schwarma, the gluten and gluten free option

Falafel plate (I ate one before I remembered to take a picture).

It was around ten bucks a person, but my falafel plate was cheaper than theirs. Worth every penny.

Thursday

Sleepy baby chilling at our local game store while we played with friends this week.

Sleepy girl cuddled up on momma's lap this morning.

Enjoying a pig's ear after knit group.

Beauty at Starbucks.

My husband and our friend Ben (aka "uncle Ben" to the aminals)

A little wine for thy stomach's sake, and pumpkin spice homemade angel food cake. Why yes, I did improvise the recipe, and it was awesome. 

I am so much more myself when I'm not exhausted. :)

Thinking of Gifting?

First of all, if you're thinking of gifting something I want to say THANK YOU!

I've been asked several times to come up with a wishlist - and I was *very* hesitant to do so, because I don't want to give the impression that I'm panhandling or that I can't take care of Charlie Majors. My mind has been changed on the subject, because every time I reply that to the person that asks, I end up getting a present of some kind later, so I'm starting to think people are wanting to give presents sometimes, and were just wanting a parameter to help them in selecting something they were trying to do in kindness - so my reservations were making a kind action into a chore for them instead of a pleasure.


Owner preferences:

All edibles for Charlie to be Gluten Free and American made. (I break out in dermatitis herpetiformis when my skin is in contact with gluten, and I have had a furbaby die from unsafe imported food products.)

No toys to have plastic bottles in them. I know this is a popular dog toy, but it blurs the line for Charlie into thinking the thing he brings me in need and later helps me recycle is a toy, which would be a bad thing.

Charlie Majors Likes:

Rawhide Treats.
Squeaky Toys (Rubber and plush toy).
Starbucks Whipped Cream.
Tennis Balls ("dead" ones from playing tennis work perfectly).
Handkerchiefs (He loves to wear them! We have: green, blue, zebra and American Flag).
Charlie wears Petsmart size clothing XXL (He has that deep chest of a Dane).

Items it would be nice to have:

A "Do Not Pet" sign like this,or like this.
A new leash (Beth's favorite color)
A matching collar that says "Working Dog Do Not Pet"

Charlie majors' first halloween...

Someone anonymously gifted Charlie an adorable GNOME halloween costume and his very favorite kind of squeaky toy! THANK YOU so very much!!! It's made me smile like a loon all day long! 

Charlie was a bit confused by the costume, because it had a hat and beard! He kept trying to nudge the hat back behind his ears, but the beard wouldn't let him push it back much. October is one of my favorite times of year, and dressing up in fun costumes is the best. I really can't thank you enough, Anon!!!!!!!

It's been a long time!

How many tags can I add to one post?!

Here's my update from this month:

I've been under a "gag order" at work, so I can't update much there - except to say "stay tuned for October!"

I went on a weekend getaway with my bestest buddy, J, and our mutual friends paid for us to spend the weekend in Orange Beach, AL with our friend Mrs. Sam. (I have a Mrs. Sam friend and a completely different and unrelated Mr. Sam friend.) Charlie got to experience sand under his paws, a cafe with dogs off leash, and our mutual favorite: a few rides on Mrs. Sam's boat!

We had such a time convincing him to get his butt in the boat the first time! I don't think we would have made it if not for Mrs. Sam and her husband, as well as J and me physically getting him onboard. When the wind whipped up, and he realised staying in the shade on the towel in "down, stay" resulted in a smooth ride, where he could enjoy the salt air and watch the waves without getting wet, he was HOOKED! The next day, I asked him: "Charlie, wanna go on the boat?" and he practically flung himself down the stairs to get to the back door, where we came in from the dock the previous afternoon.

I felt so lazy and loved that weekend. Mrs. Sam and her husband made such delicious food, and we played with yarn. Mrs. Sam let us each pick which guest room we wanted to bunk in, and my bed felt like a snuggly hug on a cloud. We got a sand castle pail with yarn and other neat goodies in it! She is one of the most generous, funny and loving hostesses (and friend) a gal could wish for! We watched their horse race on TV, and she came in 2nd place. Here's hoping she'll come in 1st next time! :D

I've made 2 pairs of socks this month...well, almost. I have to put the heels in the first pair and finish off the second sock. Progress though!

I met with a bone specialist about my limited use in my hands. Come to find out, I have up to 20% usage of them. He wants me to start occupational therapy, and if we see no improvement, I'm looking at having to have surgery on them to tack the ligaments and tendons back into place where they should be and stay. Not good. Since we know it's a connective tissue disorder I have, the doctor is really not happy about the prospect of surgeries. He said I will have to go to UAB or possibly somewhere more presigious out of state to get it done by a surgeon whose whole practice is dedicated to hand surgeries, and in all liklihood, I will have to repeat the process in some years to come.

I now have a walker - I have to use it whenever Charlie and I aren't together. I feel a bit safer with it, at least indoors, because I have somewhere to park my butt when I'm feeling faint - and I also have something on both sides of me to keep me upright. When I'm with Charlie, I know he will help me or find help if I need it, and he can now be trusted to carry things for me, so he's a huge help - plus I get a lot less pity with Charlie and a cane than I do when I have my walker. Another huge perk to Charlie is I don't have to put him in the car, he gets in himself - the walker's a pain and a half to get in and out of the car, just because I end up popping all over, and people keep offering to help me do it - which weirds me out, because uhm...I don't know them, and they're helping me at my car. Makes my brain think of those old 1990's episodes of the Oprah Show where she talks about how to get away from attackers by twisting your arm just so - and if you get thrown in a trunk to kick the taillight out. And then I hear Sandra Bullock in my head from "Ms. Congeniality" go through her routine on stage on how to disable an attacker, and I think: "Can I do that, or will I hurt myself more than I hurt them?". Ugh.

Another adventure from this month makes me wonder if a study has been done on service dog handlers. My dad is disabled, and went with my mom to get a new ID this month. They took Charlie with him while I was at work, and everyone commented to dad "What a handsome dog!", and left it at that. No one tried to touch Dad or Charlie. When my mom or I have Charlie, people come up and invade our space all the time. The creepiest and most destructive is when someone brushes up like a pickpocketer and touches one of us. It's so super creepy and unsettling! I end up being really mean and saying "Don't touch!" or "Stop touching us now!" loudly. I don't understand why people don't see that's creepy! And it's rewarding Charlie, when all "on duty love" needs to come from me, his handler. My health is pretty brittle, and I need his attention and protection. He can handle my "episodes" and get my meds or help. It's scary enough to think I could have a "nervous system reboot" and be vulnerable without society reinforcing that my body and personal space doesn't belong to me. We're not a "cute dog team", we're a "working dog team". I don't know how to handle this right now. Any tips?

Lots of love xoxo
-Beth

Inexcusable silence

I've seen a new general practitioner and now have to have my cane AND Charlie, or a walker if I'm alone. My wrists are unreliable, and the theory is to keep me walking as long as possible, and since there's no telling if or when a wrist will be hard to control, that means I need help on both sides.

My insurance is being utterly useless and they maintain that there is no vendor is this State that will accept terms of working with them. We all know the truth, that insurance companies only like healthy people. Screw them! My mom and dad helped hook me up with one so I can stay independent longer. We thought it wouldn't arrive until Tuesday, but I got a phone call that the box arrived today, so after Mass tomorrow, I get to finish measuring up against it and try it out. It's a 4 wheeled walker with seat and basket, and it's pink. I haven't decided quite how we're going to make it all "pimp my ride"ed out, but you know we have to! I can't handle people looking at me with pity. It makes my soul tremble and my skin rankle.

All in all, I'm sorry I've been silent. I've just been having a hard time knowing what to share and what to keep to myself. I've struggled with dementors and haven't had much milk free chocolate handy if you can understand.

Charlie has been a bit of a restless spirit lately. We went to church with our dear friends last Sunday. They are Methodist (love Methodists!), but Charlie and I both forgot and bowed before we entered our pew. I felt like I had a fever I was blushing so hard. I mean, I knew the Eucharist wasn't up there, but it's still the house of God and all those pews, so eh. Oh well. It's better than genuflecting in the movie theater, and my friend from church assured me she felt very embarrassed when she did that! Haha

Anyway, Charlie hasn't been getting enough play time, and I haven't gotten enough vitamin D, so we've gone to the park a bit this past week.

Charlie hardly stands still long enough for pictures. That's him at the water fountain. another dog was there named Charlie too. My Charlie was so totally stoked to hear his name all over the park, and to no longer be the fastest dog running. The other Charlie runs so fast I'm sure he could take down a deer! It was a beautiful thing to watch.

I thought this was hilarious. I'm sorry if it offends anyone.

Charlie majors tries very hard to obey human rules, but the dog park means butt sniffing and marking things, as well as rough play to his heart's content!

That's the other Charlie. He's so darned fast the only picture I have of him is this one. He's a magnificent specimen of his breed though. I've not said it since bringing Charlie majors into my life, but I imagined a "gun dog breed" for a year before meeting my boy. They do the things I want to do when I feel good - running, playing in water, fetch and they have such sweet temperaments. I think God knew best though, because my Charlie is the best at taking care of me at my worst, which there have been some pretty yucky times this Summer.

Their running looks effortless, and like they're just strolling along, but it sounds like horses approaching!