Full Life

Things are still going well here. I still have pain and fatigue, but it has been better the last few days. The head and neck pain is finally quite a bit better--the doctor said it was just a really persistent muscle spasm.

Our friend and home helper is still coming, and is still being a huge help.

Over the last few days we've gotten a little Christmas shopping done and stocked up on groceries for the predicted wintery weather the next week or more.

Tomorrow, if the weather permits, Mira and I have our first interview/evaluation with the owner-trained service dog program we're applying to. I really hope that goes well, and that we get accepted.

Today will be, I'm sure, a momentous day in family history for years to come.

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You see, the kids have been rather heartbroken that, instead of a family pet, we ended up with a service dog in training. She likes the kids, but she knows that she is not really their dog. She is pretty close to 100% focused on me almost all the time. This is as it should be, and as it needs to be, but it's been a little hard on the kids.

It was breaking my heart seeing the look of hurt on their faces (especially AJ's) every time they tried to pet her and she tolerated it nicely, but then quickly excused herself to be with me. Every time they called her and she ignored them to go with me as I walked out of the room.

The girls have told me several times, with tears in their eyes, that they didn't feel it was fair that instead of a pet for the whole family, we got a dog that was really just mine.

So, DH and I talked about it, and after a family conference we decided that the kids needed a pet. We knew we couldn't handle another dog at this time, and I'm allergic to cats. So that left various small animals to consider.

After some research and discussion, and some visits to pet stores and the Humane Society, we decided that rabbits were the best fit for us. I had rabbits growing up, and enjoyed them a lot, and the kids quickly fell in love with rabbits when they got a chance to hold them.

Today, our search came to fruition and we added three new members to our family. They are 9-week-old rabbits, two girls and a boy. We're going to try to have all three of them "belong" to all three kids, but I'm not sure whether the kids and the rabbits will cooperate with that. :)

AJ named the little buck rabbit Gingersnap. He is a broken (two-toned) New Zealand rabbit, who will soon be neutered to prevent myriads of little bunnies overrunning the house. :) His fur is white with tan spots.

M&M has always liked solid white rabbits best, so she was thrilled when we found a sweet little New Zealand white doe that she named Snowflake.

Ebee keeps changing her mind about what she wants to call the doe she chose, but so far it has been called Bun-Bun, Sugar, Snowball, Ginger and I think a few more named. I hope she doesn't get too confused.

Mira and the bunnies are doing amazingly well with each other so far. The bunnies seem cautious, but not terrified. Mira is interested, but calm. She doesn't seem to see the rabbits as prey or food at all, and she hasn't tried to bark at or play with them. She just looks at them, gently wagging her tail, and sniffs them.

At the moment we have all three bunnies in one small cage. It's big enough for them now, but as they grow to 10-pound rabbits it won't be sufficient for long. I'm hoping to find or make a larger cage, possibly with more than one level, that will be a more appropriate home for them as they grow.

Update

Today I'm going in to the doctor to get my neck/head pain checked out. I've had a really localized pain in the back of my head between my skull and neck for about a month now, and it's getting worse. Getting my eyes and teeth checked and prescriptions updated, etc. didn't seem to help, so I'm going to have them check and make sure it's not something like a disk problem in my neck or something actually wrong with my head.

I expect it's probably just a bad muscle spasm or ratiating TMJ pain, but it's unusual for me to have really localized pain that lasts so long like this. Usually it moves around more and is more generalized.

Despite the fact that my pain levels have been hovering between about a 6 or 7 for the last several weeks, things are going amazingly well here.

I've been having much less trouble with the dizziness, weakness, and foggy "out of it" feeling lately, and have even been able to start driving again. I only need the cane when I'm going to be doing a lot of walking or standing around now, too.

Things are going very smoothly with homeschooling now that we've adjusted to our new schedule. Between help from various people and the old family friend who is coming in to help out twice a week, things have become much more manageable. We're all feeling a lot less stressed out and are enjoying our home, family and friends. Finally, we're starting to feel like we're getting out of "survival mode" and really enjoying life again.

Mira's training is going incredibly well, too. She's even been able to go with us to restaurants and behave herself very well. We're applying to an owner-trained service dog program that will help to train and certify us as a team.

Overall, life is really good right now.

Conversation with a Gentleman

Last night, I mentioned to DH that I had recently told a friend that I can only think of one time he has ever yelled at me.

"One time in ten years. That's pretty amazing," I said.

He smiled. "Well, at least it's the only time I yelled at you out loud."

"As opposed to yelling at me silently in your head--or in one of your heated shower conversations with yourself," I chuckled.

I thought for a moment. "When's the last time you felt like yelling at me? Today?"

"No." DH paused to consider. "Actually, it's been about a year. Right about the time you came down with mono."

That says more about him than about me, I think. Although it probably helps that I've been so sick for most of the past year that for the most part I've been unable to be anything other than grateful toward those around me.

Whatever the reason, it's nice to be in such a good place in my marriage. I'm blessed beyond measure to be married to such a kind, loving and gentle man.

In Ebee's Words

10 points to anyone who can accurately guess what eBee was talking about just now when she said,

"Mom, I was trying to det a drink of water dust now, and the water dust went right out of the sink! Even it pretended to be FIRE!"

Extra points for making the teacher laugh?

DH and I were catching up on some grading tonight, and he came across this one in AJ's Bible workbook (it was in a discussion of the story of Abraham and Isaac in Gen. 21):

"Your Sunday school teacher wants you to be in a program. You are afraid to be in front of the people at church. God wants us to trust Him. What will you do?"

AJ wrote:

"Ask If I colud Be in the adianc."

Clicker Training

Sue Ailsby's Training Levels Site is the best resource I've found for training a dog. Whether you are teaching your dog to work, show, compete, or just be a great family pet, working through Sue's training levels will give you an excellent foundation.

Mira and I are currently working at level 2 or 3 on most tasks, with a few on level 1 or 4. The levels go up to 7. Even at this stage of training, Mira has a level of behavior and training that most people in the general public find impressive.

By the time we get to level 7, she will be close to rock solid and nearly 100% reliable with tasks and basic obedience on and off leash, with and without distractions. By that point the goal is to have such good communication, good teamwork and eagerness to learn that Mira should be able to learn basically any task and do it reliably with just a few minutes' work.

The best part is that clicker training is fun for both the handler and the dog.