Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Vitamin D

Good morning all! Just sitting here getting my day together. I have a doctor's appointment, and I think I have to take the electric fence charger back to Quality. I'll check one more time, but I don't think it;s putting out the right volts again :( I'm down in the basement catching some rays...with my goLITE .When I realized I was moving into a basement room with no windows, I thought to buy one. It does seem like it helps a little bit. So every morning I sit for half an hour at least with my light. It is really easy to sit down here and think that it is dreary outside when it is not. I need to figure out how to get my crud together so we have windows in our room again. I am so very thankful that I do have what I have now, but I think the lack of windows down here is not helping my motivation level very much.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Out with Carrie from Wind River Tails and Trails

OK folks, I am trying hard to stay on top of my blogging. I'm falling behind, as I think I have 3 blogs in the process, and aren't getting any of them finished :( Mom is TIRED! I think I used every bit of energy in Florida last week. It is all I can do to not turn this laptop off until I get 1 blog finished. I really can't believe how exhausted I am now, and last week I was so full of pep at my retreat. I should probably make my unfinished retreat blog much shorter, so it gets posted and then I will feel as if I've accomplished something.
  So Saturday was dog training day. I chose to stay home for a dog training session, instead of going to memorial services for a friend who passed from pancreatic cancer 2 weeks past. I just didn't have it in me this time for the circumstances that I would be going there under. Plus, Hope's training is so uber important. I have her scheduled for 3 sessions, as Carrie is a very busy lady. This is where I cross my fingers that the money will be there for Hope's training. I did not want to schedule training sessions that I do not have the money for. Waiting for the money to schedule is putting us too far out of whack in scheduling. Maybe this is the part where I need to practice having more faith that things will be alright. If I don't have the money on hand when I need to schedule something, things have the tendency to get put on the back burner. I can't do that with this. It is too important.
 Here is Carrie Hunt with Wind River Tails & Trails spending a few moments with the whole crew. JD the rottie, Justice the yellow lab, and Hope the pit bull. They LOVE Carrie and you know she always has lots of yummy treats!

 OH what good dogs they are, all lined up for Carrie! They are practicing their best manners.
Then it was Hope time, and of course I packed the camera, but took no pictures. Mom was a little bit tense, as she is very unsure of other dogs and Hope. I was much more relaxed armed with Carrie this time. Hope impressed Carrie, as we started out. She got to show off for Carrie how well she is doing her waits, comes, this ways and over the ditch. Carrie says that Hope is one of the fastest learning dogs she has ever taught. She also says that mom is doing very good with her too. I feel very comfortable that I have this part down pretty good. Now onto other dogs. I am still nervous, but feeling better. We had a pretty intense dog walk through a part of my neighborhood where dogs aren't all fenced. Carrie was with us though, and we got through it. We got to meet some neighbor dogs, and some went better then others. If all the dogs were behind fences like they should be, it would have been much easier. I don't feel quite confident that Hope and I are ready to fly on our own with this one quite yet, but we will get there. The best part is that Carrie does not believe Hope is dog aggressive. She doesn't think that she wants to go pick a fight. However, she will not tolerate rude dogs that get right in her face. Carrie thinks that it is more of a socialization issue with Hope. I am so happy that I have Carrie on board with us! As you can see from the pictures, she does have manners, and has some social skills. With Carrie's help, I have faith that someday I won't have to worry as much.
  Hope was boarded at Wind River while I was in Florida last week. She also decided to do a little showing of down there, as she scaled a 5 foot fence while she was there. Mom's not thrilled with it, and thankfully it ended well. I'm glad that she showed off and nothing bad happened, only so we know better what we are dealing with. When Carrie was here for training, she finally got a chance to check out my electric fence. After the fence scaling incident, Carrie really wanted to make sure that my electric fence was right. It looked good, but unbeknownst to me...it was not running full power. Thank you for pushing the issue Carrie! My fence was fine, but if you  looked at the battery box close...it wasn't even grounded. Carrie told me to get a better tester, as in one that shows you how many volts it's putting out...and to test it every day. Now I can see that my visual check is not enough. Plus, when I got the right voltage checker, I discovered that even all hooked up right was not right. The battery was only putting out about 2000 volts, when it should be 5000. Back to Quality Supply I went, and got the box exchanged. So the electric fence is finally right, and I got the grass under the fence line under control. Now hopefully the 9 year old who is convinced it doesn't work, will still continue to leave it alone!


Hope soaking up the sun while Mom works on the electric fencing.
 

Friday, May 27, 2011

Wheel in motion

Wheel in motion, stays in motion right? I slept most of the day, and now I am back at it. I need to call it good soon. I have been on the phone with my dog trainer, and she reassures me that we will make this happen for Hope and I. I have been reworking my blog for the last couple of hours, and getting the proper feeds going to my facebook page, and Hope's. Yes, Hope has her own Facebook page. She had her own blog, but that is gone. One blog is enough for me to handle. I have been on Whocanhelp.com looking for help with my Charmine's Hope logo, and for help with blog design. Some of this stuff I can do on my own, but it is a struggle for me and it would take forever. Things start getting in the way, and so it never gets done. I have lots to do, and thank you to Lotus Survival Foundation for the inpiration, and the courage to accomplish what I am setting out to do. Claudia, you are an amazing woman. Thank you for shining the light on my path. Hope and I are making it a goal to come to a future retreat and speak, if you will have us that is! This is all I have for now. I want to rest so I can get a great blog out tomorrow about the retreat, before dog training.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

My good deed for the day.

So I am still under the impression that I need to tell security that I am wearing a prosthetic boob when I go through security. Which is no big deal for me, as I believe my lack of insecurities about it promotes awareness. So I told the male security guard that I had one. I think I flustered him, and he said he would get a female. There was also a long line to security today. I went through the regular detector with no problems, so off I went. As I was getting my stuff out of the bins, a woman who had been near me in line, came up to me. She tells me how I flustered the men in line, who had apparently overheard me about the prosthetic. She said that they were all looking at me....and I had on shorts and a tank top. They were looking for limbs, and were confused. She said she told them that that wasn't what she thought I had meant. Good for her! I had quite a chuckle with her and explained that I was not shy, as that would not help with awareness, and I told her about the retreat that I had been at. Then I realized that her young teenage daughter had to get her bag searched, as she had a big bottle of Pantene hairspray. I could see her hemming and hawing about throwing it out. Mom got her to throw it out. Then Mom pulled her over and told her to look  at me, instead of worrying about her hairspray. The poor thing took one look at me, and I swear she almost lost it...because she realized what was going on with me. Mom used it as a great lesson in awareness, but I felt so bad for the poor thing! I hugged her and said no worries, but just always remember to check her boobies, and hopefully she will not be in my situation someday. Mom said I had done my good deed for the day, so all is well! OK, My flight is about to board. I am so tired now. I played like the rock star warrior survivor that I am, and now my body knows that I have done a wonderful job at my retreat, and now it is time to call it good and go home and rest. I am on my path to pay it forward, yay!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

This evening's reminder...

This evening's reminder came in the form of a gift bag I received at the breast cancer retreat that I am on this week. I'll fill you all in when I get home! I am at the Lotus Survival Foundation's, Mind Body & Soul retreat. The survivors were asked to raise their hands if they were still undergoing treatment, as in chemo or radiation. So I raised my hand, and was handed an adorable little bag of goodies. Another survivor had created these bags after her own experiences with radiation called Renewing You. It is an adorable kit, with some extremely useful items in it for radiation. I am no longer in radiation, and will not likely be doing any in the near future. This thought popped into my head as things do at times, and you just can't shake it. To me it seems like a no brainer, but even the best people can forget it at times. I know, as I am one of those people. That thought was, "Take no more and no less the exactly what you need, as the person behind you may need it a lot more then you" The bag was a beautiful wonderful gift, but I have seen and experienced the effects of radiation treatment, and I know there is another woman out there that needs this gift much more than I. It will give me an excuse to go down and visit the radiation department, as it has been awhile. Good night from St.Pete's, and to all a goodnight.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Chemo #12

  Today was Mom's 12th chemo of her current regiment. Yay for my Mom, I am so proud of her! I think I have been in the truck for 15 chemo treatments since my mom rescued me. She always tells me I am her Hope.
   I almost had to stay home today. Mom let me out for my morning business, and the sun was out. I could see my mom soaking up the warmth. She disappeared in the garage, and I heard this noise. JD the Rottweiler seemed familiar with the noise, but not me! Mom was working on something out there, but I couldn't see. She finally came back in and said she had something called "a dead battery" in the pretty purple 2 wheeled thing in the garage. Whatever it was, Mom put on my blue leash and said it was still cool enough out to go hang out in the truck while she gets her chemo. I like to hang out in the truck while Mom is busy, as I don't like her to leave the house without me. I managed to get out of the truck in the parking garage today, good thing Mom keeps pretty tight reign on my leash!. I don't normally do that, but Mom took to long getting her stuff together today. She made me load back up, but she keeps promising me that I will get to go in the Cancer Center and hang out soon. She says I will LOVE it in there. Lots of people to pet me and visit with me...PLUS, I'll be the only dog in the house! I LOVE people attention, and would love to let you scratch my belly for ever and ever.
   Mom says that we have a "job" to do, and that it will make both of us feel better. She says her cancer is easier to deal with, when we can go spread Hope to others. I don't know what a "job" is, but if Mom says I'll like it, it must be so. Mom said she was starting a new blog today, and that I am the star! She thinks we make a pretty good team, and that we will go far. Go? Where? Let's go Mom!
 My Mom is really a little bit worried about me though...OK, maybe a lot worried right now. I think maybe she is not so much worried about me, as much as she is just scared and worried in general. She's a tough cookie though, and does her best to remain strong.