I'm currently reading a book called A Dog Named Slugger and while it's not the greatest book out there, it is quite interesting as it is about a young girl with Cerebral Palsy who's life is turned around when she gets a service dog. When she was young, she hid everything she could in order to be "normal" and when she met someone with a service dog and decided to get one herself, she found it was much easier not to hide and to let people know about her disability.
I walked a seeing eye dog (don't know the PC name now) for it's owner for awhile. She was a black lab. She was a great dog when out in her "working gear" with her blind owner.
And an absolute loon with me. It was like there were two dogs in the same body - and . I found her hilarious, but physically really taxing. She pulled me 60 feet across the beach into the lake once. I was too stubborn to let go the leash. This was in December .
I keep thinking I will foster a service dog for a year - . They'll never, ever get it away from me. I have a great deal of respect for the people who do foster and train these pups - saw a program of a mother/daughter who fostered a lab for a year and used up most of a box of tissues mopping away my tears when they finally "graduated" the pup to it's new owner.
I'm currently reading a book called A Dog Named Slugger and while it's not the greatest book out there, it is quite interesting as it is about a young girl with Cerebral Palsy who's life is turned around when she gets a service dog. When she was young, she hid everything she could in order to be "normal" and when she met someone with a service dog and decided to get one herself, she found it was much easier not to hide and to let people know about her disability.
Thanks! I'll look it up. I think my dh and I were slower to accept her getting the dog than she was. We were thinking-- now everyone will see her disability. But, everyone does see it-- they just don't know what's wrong with her. Because she has started having a great deal of social anxiety due to not knowing what her body or mouth will do in public, we're hoping the dog will help her socially too. We raised two service dogs in the past-- where you have them as puppies and bring them everyone to socialize and train-- they are definitely great conversation starters. I went to the mall with her earlier today and it was so stressful for her. It just breaks dh and my hearts. We went to Target afterwards and she stayed in the car-- she couldn't handle anymore crowds/people.... and we were only at the mall very briefly to pick something up.
I also posted this in OP 5-10 but I think it's worth repeating
The "Christmas Crazies"
I was going to write a long, long post about this (lying awake at 3 a.m. gives one time to think up such things) but I think I can say it so much better in smilies
I apologize to those of other faiths for using only Christmas symbols but that's what I know best.
Boy! My Christmas/holiday season this year is pretty simple. And yet I'm getting caught up in this collective frenzy that seems to be permeating every place. Mostly I'm encountering it in people starting to drive like total maniacs. Whew! Let's be in a car accident just before the holiday, shall we?
DH is working for part of Christmas week. I'm kinda glad. I had all sorts of stuff planned for us to do together but . . . I'm happy to spend one afternoon reading and sipping herbal spice tea, with the tree lights on, and carols playing quietly in the background.
And I'm scaling down all the stuff I want to get done during Christmas week. This is my vacation for 2011 - DOWN TIME - and I can't pack all the stuff I'm too tired to do during the rest of winter into this one week.
Dagmar, you are so right! I'm still slightly panicked over finishing my niece's needlepoint, getting loose ends tied up gift-wise and other before my holiday travels. I'm totally caught up at work. I've got tons of leave I never use. I'm going to use some more today, and possibly some tomorrow! I spent yesterday afternoon working on the needlepoint, watching Season 3 of Dexter (shh! don't tell me what happens!), with an apple-scented candle burning. It was really nice.
I'm still trying to balance here. Yesterday I was so worried about finishing the needlepoint that I skipped the gym, headed home, but did walk Emma. Today I will go to the gym before I head home. I had a few bites of pasta salad, a wing, and half a cookie at the holiday party I went to last night, but I also went back for a second plate of salad and turned down going out to breakfast this morning in lieu of my oatmeal. I'm doing ok.
I think everyone is stressed, out trying to shop, and headed to holiday gatherings. You're right Dagmar, that's no excuse to get stupid and be in an accident! Let's all be careful out there on the roads, my friends, and remember to Just Breathe whenever we're stressed this holiday and beyond.
Michele, it sounds like this could be a really good thing for DD.
If anyone here doesn't lurk in the 5-10 thread as well, you should go there and read the amazing conversation going on right now! In both threads we're talking about balance and not being perfect. It makes me so glad I have you all as my friends and support group.
Monday night I had a horrible, horrible night sleep. I went to bed around 9:30 and was plenty tired so I didn't think I needed a sleep aid. Wrong! I woke around 1 AM and didn't get back to sleep until 4 AM and then the cat work me up at 4:30. I got up at my usual 5 AM and by the time I got to the office at 7 AM I was dead tired. I ended up going home and taking a nap from 7:30 until 9:20 and that felt really good. The rest of the day was uneventful.
So last night I took a sleep aid and although I woke up often, I didn't toss and turn and this morning I feel great.
And you know how when you don't sleep well, your food intake seems to increase? That was me! Wow, the snacking was out of control. But for some strange reason, my weight is down half a pound. I'll take that and keep an eye on my intake today.
So the one thing on my mind that I kept going back to last night when I woke up was our storage room at work. I recently bought new metal racks to store banker boxes that we keep all our old documents in. One side is devoted to the bookkeeping records and the other side is devoted to the jobs we've completed. The jobs boxes are labeled 1 through whatever. My FIL and son (while I was napping) put the job boxes on the racks. I had indicated I wanted the oldest at the top of the rack as we rarely need to get into those. Okay, that worked out, but did it occur to either of them that most people read left to right--not right to left? All my boxes are "backwards" and it perplexes me why they did that because my FIL is usually more level headed about such matters. The good news is that everything is organized and we have a lot of room that we didn't have before. The bad news is that it'll take me longer to find what I need. Ugh!
Michele - working in the restaurant industry I see a lot of service animals and animals in training. It is amazing to me the things that they can do. I used to have a customer that had a small monkey - a Reese's monkey maybe? It could actually push the buttons on the drink station and snap a lid onto the top of her drink. It was a little freaky at first, but amazing to watch. I really hope that this helps DD.
Dagmar - some quiet time to yourself sounds like just what you need after a hard year. Take it and enjoy it. And please no car accident, okay?
Megan - sounds like you did a great job at the holiday party and with your breakfast today! It is so hard to find that balance, isn't it? I wrapped some gifts last night with a beer and some holiday tv - trying hard to stay centered and not make myself crazy.
Bill - DSS used to say 'mom, no I mean dad' a lot. We never knew if he was trying to be funny or if he really did just see one parent. He clearly doesn't do it anymore.
Gary, Gary, Gary... How goes business? I was thinking about you last week and wondering about the men you were talking about working with you last year.
Allison - they put the boxes right to left? That wouldn't even cross my mind. I wonder if they got started wrong and then just kept going to keep from having to move the ones that were already up? I always eat more when I'm tired - I think it is a desperate effort to stay awake. Glad that you slept better last night! Hope tonight is good as well.
We do have a great discussion going over in 5-10, and we always do here as well. Like Megan said - I'm so glad to 'know' you guys.
Nope, needlepoint not done yet... oops. Still working on it! I made some progress yesterday. I'm glad my flight isn't til later in the day tomorrow, I can do a few more things in the AM. Must do laundry and pack today, and hang out w BF tonight. He will go see his family for a few days. Emma will go to daycare for a whole week, which she will LOVE, and not care a bit that we're gone.
Here's a funny gift idea if any of you have physics geeks in your life. A friend gave me this idea for my BIL, a physicist. A Higgs boson particle. Get it? They can't prove or disprove you gave it to them! (Ok, my BIL has a really horrible corny sense of humor, so I thought this would appeal to it.) I got a little specimen jar and made a label for it. Don't worry, I got him some other stuff too.
Shannon, I had a beer last night while I needlepointed away. It tasted deeelicious.
Allison, I hate the tired munchies! They are the worst. You know why you're hungry, but it's so hard to stop it... sounds like you did the best thing you could by taking a nap. The box order is funny. Is your FIL dyslexic?
I'm not sure what went on with the boxes. I had already gone home to nap. I'm thinking my DS was behind it--he probably thought that starting at the far end of the storage room and moving toward the door made sense and FIL didn't feel the need to argue. Who knows. I'm not going to ask them as they'll feel bad and I'm just glad the mess is gone!
We're having a sad day at the office today. We work across the street from the waste department and they have a large colony of feral cats (which help keep down the rat population). Several people in the community (including the waste company and us) feed the cats and also trap, neuter, and release them. Well, one of them was hit by a car last night. My office assistant was in tears about it. I know she'll have a bad day all day. Me? I feel bad, but such is the life of a feral cat.
Two great nights of sleep under my belt! Unfortunately, this often leads to a night of sleeplessness. We'll see how it goes tonight.
DD comes home today for the holiday. She says she'll stay for about a week. I'm kind of sad she won't stay for New Years as we celebrate three birthdays on NYD.
Tonight I'm making a huge lasagna for tomorrow's work lunch. I have to run to the store for the salad and garlic bread before I head home. Thinking that I'll need to leave work early!
Just checking in to say I'm in a very gray, sort of numbed-out place, with my head always down over something, whether my laptop or an exercise machine. I'm slogging toward Christmas, feeling like it's something to be gotten through, and that its appeal lies entirely in the past, when I was a child, and that I'm over it. My attitude is: Yeah, yeah. Just get it over with already.
My mother & I really should have flown to Vegas or taken some awful Carnival cruise to get away from thoughts of my father and what Christmas meant when he was still living & our family was still intact.
I was happy when I was going downstate every weekend, even though that was hectic and tiring. Now that's over for now and I'm still here, with months yet to get through.
Anyway, I am here, and reading, but haven't got much to say.
Gary, Gary, Gary... How goes business? I was thinking about you last week and wondering about the men you were talking about working with you last year.
Thanks for asking SHANNON
Business is slower but we are working and do have jobs in the future We have gone from building Lexus dealerships a few years ago with steak house restaurants in them to Toyota's with Subways But seriously how cool is that to have a Subway right in your own dealership. We finished a huge BMW and a huge Mercedes dealership recently, both with parking structures. We actually will be remodeling their old places in the future.
I was off for a few months this summer, we had work but I gave it up to my guys that really need it to feed their families. For me it was real sweet to spend the summer with my wife for a change. She is always off in the summer being a teacher and I am usually swamped with construction.. A nice change this year for us.
I was able to keep all my guys right up until tomorrow At least I got them to Christmas, actually have 8 working for me 1/2 day Saturday. I have to lay off 3 others off tomorrow but they already know it and appreciate what I was able to do for them. I am very loyal to those that are loyal to me and they know that, these are guys that work part time for me when I need it and I also get them work...last year I was able to get them on a hospital fwith a friend of mine...they had one full year of steady work. They continually thank me for that and also the guy I sent them to thanks me! They earn their keep and are very good quality men.
Dog stuff - surprise!
and 
. I found her hilarious, but physically really taxing. She pulled me 60 feet across the beach into the lake once. I was too stubborn to let go the leash. This was in December 
.
. They'll never, ever get it away from me. I have a great deal of respect for the people who do foster and train these pups - saw a program of a mother/daughter who fostered a lab for a year and used up most of a box of tissues mopping away my tears when they finally "graduated" the pup to it's new owner.
.....
that seems to be permeating every place. Mostly I'm encountering it in people starting to drive like total maniacs. Whew! Let's be in a car accident just before the holiday, shall we? 
And please no car accident, okay?
We have gone from building Lexus dealerships a few years ago with steak house restaurants in them to Toyota's with Subways 
At least I got them to Christmas, actually have 8 working for me 1/2 day Saturday. I have to lay off 3 others off tomorrow but they already know it and appreciate what I was able to do for them. I am very loyal to those that are loyal to me and they know that, these are guys that work part time for me when I need it and I also get them work...last year I was able to get them on a hospital fwith a friend of mine...they had one full year of steady work. They continually thank me for that and also the guy I sent them to thanks me! They earn their keep and are very good quality men.
