beltainelady | State of the Jax (Reply)

Health-wise, some things are starting to look up. I've lost weight and am working out so my stamina is rising. I've stopped the Neurontin and don't feel any worse. The constant puppy-herding is also helping my activity levels, and with the activity there's less (usually) flaring. When I do flare, it's not quite as long lasting as it used to be. The regular pain is always there, but I'm finding myself more able to push through it. The new Fibro doc is working with me, and it's nice to have someone who not only believes in your illness but does a lot of research and work to treat it. I like her :)

We sent my Lyme test results to an infectious disease specialist and he said the numbers don't show an acute infection. I figured that would be the case, since I'll always test positive for Lyme. What we're going to do now, I won't know until my next appointment in April. I'm not expecting much to happen on that front, though.

The puppies are growing by leaps and bounds, especially Harley. She's gained 10 lbs in a month, and has tripled in size since we got her. Joker is growing more slowly, but he's also older and his growth spurts will be more level. He's gained about 10 lbs since we got him in Jan. Their training is going well enough, except for the crating. Harley DETESTS being alone in her crate. She'll go straight up to her crate when it's bedtime, but Liana is usually in the room. The other night, Liana slept over a friends house and Harley started whining and crying around 3 am and didn't stop until I got up around 6 am. She whines and cries when she's crated because I have to go out, or because I need them contained while I do something. Joker will also whine and howl, but not as regularly as Harley. I need to do some serious desensitization training with Harley, and will do so this week while Liana is home on break. She needs to see her crate as a good place to be, and learn to be alone. I *may* move her crate into our bedroom next to Joker, but I'm not sure we'll sleep like that. Also, Joker is occasionally allowed to sleep in bed with us, so she'll make a fuss over that I'm sure.

I've never had this problem with crating before. Then again, both Navarre and Isabeau were crated because I worked full-time, so if they cried about it, I didn't hear it. But, both of them also went into the crate on their own when it was set up, and even went into my friend's dog's crate when we visited. They never seemed to mind it. Harley is just incredibly attached, both to me and to Joker. I'm not sure what's going to work...maybe put both crates back into the living room...

Will has been teaching me some photography, and we've been trying to go somewhere every weekend. Even if it's just a little local place, we'll get out and take some pictures. I still need to edit the ones I got at the Nashville Parthenon, though. That was fun.

I've started a garden on my sun porch. I rarely have luck starting with seeds, so we'll see if it happens. Right now, there's a bit of green poking out of the herb pot so I'm hopeful. I've also put a plastic garbage can outside to use as a composter. Drilled holes in it and lined the bottom with shredded paper. I won't end up using all the compost that comes out of it, but I'm sure I can list it on Freecycle and have people come get it when it's ready. I'd rather give away compost than throw out valuable scraps into the garbage. I also plan to rip up the grass in the front and make a rock/Zen garden. The dogs pee right there so all the grass is dead anyway. I can lay sand and stone and they can still pee, but not hurt anything. One of my neighbors has a lovely Zen garden in their front area, and while my area isn't as big, I'd like to make something similar. Our landlady doesn't care (we've STILL never met her!) so I can do whatever I want. I'll probably keep some plants in the area, but keep them in pots to keep them safe.

That's about it. Nothing incredibly exciting, but I'm kept busy enough. I'm working my butt off trying to finish the sweater I'm knitting for my friend Cathy's daughter. Her birthday was back in Feb, but I'm almost done with one sleeve, and have the other sleeve and then finishing bits to do. It'll be late, but she's gonna get a sweater that matches the one I made for her doll for Xmas.