Spring is coming and head to head with local businesses

It isn't quite here yet, but spring is coming and with it comes more outings with Dakota. I love spring and summer. I have more energy and am in less pain which means I get out more. And of course, Kota loves it because he just loves to work!


Yesterday we went out and stopped at a local shop that sells second hand items. I was stopped rudely at the door with a "Please don't bring that dog in here!". I calmly told the owner that Kota is a service dog and the Human Rights Code gives me permission to bring him everywhere with me. I got a dirty look from the owner as he rushed his two huge dogs into a back room! His reason was that his dogs would go crazy if Kota was in the store. I am pleased to say that Kota behaved well despite the smell of the other dogs and the close scrutiny of the owner :)


Another business owner of a Mac's Milk franchise also gives me a hard time. I ended up complaining to the mayor and now the owner just leans over the counter to make sure Kota doesn't touch any of the food. Now that spring is here I will be frequenting that store more often and loving exercising my rights :) In all honesty I do have to say that people have been very good for the most part, with just a few thrown in to keep me on my toes.

Life is good

It has been a while since I posted. I am finally more busy with life things and have less fibromyalgia and sleep deprivation interference:) After  having spent 15 years a prisoner of my body, confined to a bed or wheelchair  the Remeron continues to make an improvement in my quality of life.I doubt that I will ever be able to function at the level I used to, but I am thankful that after a year, this medication is still causing changes in my life. My drug forced naps cut out about 2 months ago. Even with the medications I couldn't nap, so for the first time in 15 years I no longer have an afternoon nap. This was a big adjustment for me and I have had to take things slow to make sure that I am still getting the quality of sleep that I need.

Dakota went for his first restaurant trip yesterday and as usual, he was great. He did try to crawl under the table to stop a drunk from getting too close to me, but he made no attempt to  scrounge for scraps under the table or nearby. Some people didn't even know I had brought him in with me and I was impressed with his behaviour. Of course he got extra treats and was quite pleased with himself :)

Today we did WalMart again. This is only his second time there and itwas busy! I have to leave him walking on his own because I can't push  the cart with one hand and hold him at a tight heel. He did well with two exceptions.
One young guy deliberately enticed him to misbehave by waving his hand in front of Dakota's nose, despite the vest and badges Kota wears. Another time he had to sniff a baby's toes :) He loved babies for some reason so I have to keep  tight control there. He even did well when an older child came running  at him yelling "puppy!" . I kept Kota checked and calmly ased the child not to touch him and that he was working. Overall, not a bad outing at all and does Kota ever love to work! He gets excited when he thinks I am going out, works his heart out, and comes home pooped.

Kota never ceases to amaze me. He is truly a gift from God.

Dakota's trip to the hairdresser

I usually keep my hair short. Really short. I get what is called a razor cut where the hairdresser uses a straight razor to cut and thin my hair. I have been putting off getting my hair cut for a while. A long while actually - since early last summer. I was finally driven to getting it cut by, of all things, hot flashes. Yep, it is getting to be that time of life and when the hot flashes come my hair literally looks like I just got out of the shower. Not bad if it is short, but shoulder length thick hair takes forever to dry. In fact I timed it and it dries just in time for the next hot flash!

So a haircut was necessary and the next big question was whether or not to take Dakota. He has pretty much been by my side for the last 6 months and I couldn't imagine being without him. But the thought of a straight razor near my face and a dog that suddenly decided to act up in a new place caused some hesitance on my part. I wavered back and forth and then decided to take the plunge and take him. I figured at worst, I would end up with half a head of cut hair and I could just say it was the newest hairstyle :)

But of course Dakota surprised me again. We had one initial episode where he jumped  on someone while I was getting my hair washed, but settled down after that and was wonderful. Everyone at the salon marveled at how well behaved he was, how patient, and they couldn't believe he was owner trained. He definitely got extra treats when we got home and lots of praise. I am so glad I started working with dogs as a kid and I am proud of Kota and his never ending supply of great behaviour in public.

Learning to live again

It has been a while and the new medication continues to bring changes to my life. I realized in the last few weeks that I am learning to live again and it isn't always an easy thing. I literally had everything ripped out from under me. I was so exhausted all the time that I had great difficulty keeping appointments (my first priority) and any kind of schedule was out of the question. Simple things like showering were non-existent. I did it when I physically could, but showers were maybe once or twice a month unless I had an aide to help me. I remember being in tears because this type A personality wasn't used to not getting things done. Coming to terms with this fact was not only very hard, but very heartbreaking and it took away a lot of my self-esteem.

I have been struggling with learning to live again. After being bedridden for 10 years, in a wheelchair, and feeling totally humiliated because this body wouldn't do what I wanted it to do, I guess I gave up, thinking things would never get better. I was tired of trying a new medication, feeling the hope if I felt a bit better, only to have it dashed after a few months. I have spent a good part of the past year waiting for the inevitable crash that always came. But it hasn't.

I was stuck between the old way and a new way and I finally realized that I needed to give myself permission to move forward. The routines, which I gave up on and came to hate, are now beginning to be a part of my life again. I still remember the devastation that not being able to perform simple routines brought me, and I am trying to heal from that and move forward. I am being cautiously optimistic now, but it feels good.

My knitting has also changed. Hand knitting kept me going for all those years. It made me feel productive, like I could still contribute to society even if it was in a small way. Now I have been spending every night at my knitting machines, enjoying them like I never have before. I put on an audio book and just knit away. My concentration has definitely improved and I am loving it. Here is a sock that I have been refining for the standard gauge knitting machine.

machine knit sock with Eye of Partridge heel and shaped arch

 

I had abandoned my knitting needles for the past six months. They brought back too many bad memories. I hadn't realized how sick I was until now and I now know why my children are angry with me. The severe sleep deprivation made me prone to emotional outbursts. I couldn't remember conversations that we had had that morning. And I couldn't be counted on to follow through on things, even though I wanted to. Fifteen years of this is enough to drive anyone to their limit. I existed, but I didn't live.

So in an attempt to get my needles clicking again, I pulled out the yarn and pattern for Round Trip, from Knitters72. I have wanted to make this for a long time and actually started it once but it ended up languishing like so many of my knitting attempts.I couldn't follow through and finish an item and ended up just giving up. But I am enjoying working on this now and think that I will be able to actually finish it. What a change for me!

Dakota does WalMart

I had to go to WalMart yesterday. I had put it off until I really had no choice and I was hemming and hawing about taking Kota with me. He has done well at Metro, the grocery store, but I always go to a quieter one with wider aisles. I knew WalMart was going to be packed, especially this close to Christmas, and the aisles barely allow two carts to pass.

So I thought about it while having my tea in the morning and decided that I couldn't imagine going without Dakota. He has been by my side constantly since he was 3 or 4 months old and now it feels like he is an extension of me. I know I can depend on him to tell me when things aren't good, and I have really given up worrying about it because he lets me know. So off we went.

I have to say that this dog was born to work. I got a cart at WalMart (he has never spooked over walking beside a cart). We fought the crowds of people while I picked up the few things I needed. Luckily I have been teaching him to heel without tugging on the leash because I had to let him loose so I could use two hands to push the cart. I only had to slightly correct him once and that was because a little girl came at him with her hands. If I stop, he automatically sits. If I am standing for a while, he lies down, all without commands. I am so proud of him and you can tell that he is proud of himself for doing such a good job. I truly feel blessed to have him in my life.

And now for the little things in life.

Here is Jasper, enjoying the view from my living room window. Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful to be a cat :)

Dakota and vets

It has been a while since I wrote about Dakota. He is still going strong, doing the job he was born to do.  We had a few rough months when I started on my new medication. He wasn't alerting as much and just didn't know what to do with himself. He went from alerting almost constantly to alerting a few times a day or every several days. Poor thing went through an identity crisis but I think we have worked most of that out. He still has his moments where he gets into trouble when I am up and doing something. He still isn't used to me being out of my chair so much and being more active.

He has come up with a couple of neat tricks on his own. Now if I am sitting and he is alerting, he will take one of my hands and force me to touch him. If I pull my hand away, he keeps doing this until I focus on him. I guess this pulls me out of my zoned out state and he is actually getting quite good at it. The other trick that perhaps isn't so neat is that when I am working at my knitting machine and I am tired, he will purposely pull out a cone of yarn and start chewing on the cardboard. He never touches my yarn otherwise - just when I guess he thinks I should be resting instead of knitting.

We have had a bit of bad news and I am trying not to get too upset over it. We had to make an emergency trip to the vet in September and then another one yesterday. Both times Dakota was lame in at least two legs,without any trauma or reason for it. This time he was in quite a bit a pain, to the point where he hadn't eaten for almost two days (unheard of for Dakota). He has been diagnosed with OCD (no, not obsessive compulsive disorder). I still don't fully understand it, but he is on pain meds and a supplement which will hopefully help. Actually I think the supplement is helping more than the pain meds. The last time this happened, it took 5 days for him to stop limping. I gave him a dose yesterday with this pain med and he was much better this morning, so here is hoping that the supplement will do the trick. I so hate seeing him in pain.

The down side according to the vet is that dogs with this condition almost always develop arthritis at an early age. This part is heartbreaking for me, but I know Dakota will fight to keep going as long as he can and I will just enjoy our time together. He definitely is one of a kind and I don't think I will have another dog after he leaves this earth. I just feel really blessed that I have had the opportunity to have a dog like Dakota in my lifetime.

Where did the time go?

Wow, I can't believe how fast the last month went by! And now we have had our semi-annual time change so we are set until the spring.

I have been having a blast working on my machines. For the first time in about 15 years I have been able to get into a schedule again where I can pretty much do things on a daily basis. This is an amazing milestone for me and I have to get out of the old and get into the new. After 15 years of not being able to count on myself, it is hard to set goals and schedules now. I went through so much depression when I couldn't meet my goals, now I am a bit afraid to do it, but I am getting there. I work on my machines every late afternoon/evening and thoroughly enjoy that time. I have also recently started to listen to audio books while knitting and I am amazed at how good my concentration is for that time of the day.

Mornings are still a bit rough until I have my midday nap, but they are better. I have started a light exercise regime every 2nd or 3rd morning just for 10 minutes or so. I have found that my right leg is extremely weak so I am working on building up my leg muscles again. After being bedridden and in a wheelchair so long I guess it took its toll.

I do have to admit that  I have been pushing the boundaries of the Remeron to see where it stop, but so far it hasn't. I was a bit concerned that my naps had shortened, but about 3 weeks ago, after a particularly rough week, they started getting longer again. It has been pretty consistent since then. I will have a few days of shorter naps, then a day or two with an extra hour to hour and a half. This was one of the biggest problems with my sleep - I didn't get sleep rebound. Normally when one is overtired, the sleep period will get longer to compensate and the sleep will be better and more condense. They did 7 sleep studies on me because they couldn't believe I didn't rebound with the amount of sleep deprivation I was suffering from. I do have to say after all these years that rebound is a good thing :)

The cold weather has hit and I have been on a sock kick. I have been making these on the knitting machines because I simply can't knit quick enough to replace the 10 pairs my son ruined. And quite frankly, at this point in time I would much rather be machines knitting and I have been doing very little hand knitting. My down time is usually taken up with sewing things together, although I do manage a row or two here and there.