30 Days of Thanksgiving

Every year in the month of November, I try to reflect on what I am thankful for. Since November has 30 days I try to come up with 30 things. At the end of the month, I look at what I have come up with. This is what I have come up with for this year and they are in random order.

I am thankful for:

1.       Knowledge in a wide variety of forms

2.       East meeting West in holistic health and knowledge

3.       Service Animals (mainly dogs) Yes, I'm prejudice since I have two. But the little horse was adorable that I met this year.

4.       Teachers  be they public or private school, college, pre-school, daycare, or just individuals who took the time to show me something or let me in their classes I am thankful for what they do. It's not easy trying to teach someone something and I've learned this on more than one occasion. My hats off to you.

5.       home schooling (see I said I'd had the opportunity to attempt to teach someone something, lol) I'm thankful that I can see the excitement and joy when something finally clicks and that I get extra time with my children.

6.        Water I'm thankful that I have it to drink when I am thirsty, for work (laundry, cleaning, cooking), for play (swimming, fishing), for exercise (water aerobics), safety, etc.

7.       Scouting I am thankful for my son's scout troop for they give him a great gift the gift of belonging and being useful.

8.       Games no matter what the form they take be it board, card, outdoor or indoor, computer or equipment needed (ds, wii, playstation, xbox, online) they give us pause in our day and time with others or even just for yourself. It can bring you together with others be it friends or family for a bit of enjoyable time together that can be filled with something other than silence.

9.       computers

10.   transportation be it the city bus, a taxi, a vehicle (car, truck, van) or my bike. I am especially appreciative on super hot or super cold days or on the day that involves going to get the months worth of groceries

11.   internet I'm thankful for it because it gives me so many opportunities to learn and meet others.

12.   phone because I can continue to interact with others and get help when needed

13.   food I am thankful that I have access to a wide variety of different foods and that while I may not always be thrilled to eat a particular type time after time but I am always thankful that I can go to bed without an empty belly.

14.   Indoor plumbing because well to be honest I'm lazy. I like being able to turn a tap to get water of either the hot or cold type at will. I like being able to fill a tub with water and soak in it and then pull a plug and have it drain away... no having to fill and carry buckets of water to it and then fill buckets of water after to drain it until it's low enough to carry and dump.

15.   Toilet Another part of indoor plumbing that I am very thankful for is the toilet. I am thankful that it's in a fairly convenient location. I'm thankful that it temperature controlled especially in the winter. I'm thankful that it more often than not doesn't stink to high heaven. I'm especially thankful when it works correctly when it flushes.  My children snicker and giggle when I say that I am thankful for toilets. they are very spoiled and have been denied the experience of jaunts to an outhouse. I on the other hand have many memories of a couple of different outhouses from my youth. I remember the sprint to get there in time, the dread of what might be in there with you (snakes, spiders, bugs, a mouse), the prayers for mercy not to be trapped inside or to fall in and especially in winter not to freeze to the seat and the stench in the heat of summer. Yep my dear children are spoiled and I'm thankful for that.

16.   Electricity I'm thankful for electricity because it means I can do so many different things. I can cook a meal, bake a cake, have light to see by no matter the hour, cold food and drinks, no fear of spoiling food unless it goes out, entertainment galore in the form of computer, tv, radio, movies from a vcr or dvd. It makes chores easier because of the gadgets that can be used that run on it like vacuums, blenders, food processor, mixer, etc.

17.   tea I love tea. I have to since I've been drinking it pretty much from the time I was born. I'm very thankful for the tea shop in the neighborhood. I love that I can get a wide variety of interesting types and blends along with my standard favorite must have in a short distance from home. It keeps me sane and brings lovely, happy memories.

18.   Quantum Touch I am thankful for what this has done for me and my family.

19.   Taiji

20.   Leonie Dawson

21.   Attorney who's willing to cut some slack in order for legal things to be dealt with on a super tight budget. (wills, guardianship, conservatorship, power of attorney, etc.)

22.   Counselors they keep me sane

23.   Memories while some are not so pleasant and many are downright painful I am thankful for having them because it means I have lived.

24.   Medicine this is a huge category that covers many different things. I'm thankful for the nurses, aide's, doctors, therapists (speech, occupational, physical), pharmacists, naturopaths, holistic, traditional, that fall into the realm of medicine and yes I am even thankful for the little round pills that keep me alive.

25.   Housing I'm thankful to have a rough over our heads and shelter from the weather. It may not be a forever home but at least it's keeping us out of the elements.

26.   Friends though they be dwindling I am thankful for each and every one of them

27.    Family this is something that I realize I have taken for granted and that is something I regret. I miss many who have crossed over and they come to my mind often. I hope that what is left will always know that I do love them absolutely and totally with all of my heart.

28.   Business I love being able to help out family with their home based business. I absolutely am thankful that I can make stuff for others.

29.   Cathy Daub

30.   Reiki I am thankful for what this has done for me and my family.

well :( we have ashes....

We've survived almost a week so far since the passing of our beloved ferret friend. the pain and sadness is still there and as fresh as right after finding him passed on. I can only hope that time will ease the ache and provide a soothing balm to all our hearts.

Today we picked up the ashes. It's hard to see our little guy reduced to a silver can. It was all that could be done to hold it together until the escape to the car where the tears could freely flow.

Ds wasn't feeling well today so he took a nap instead of going to pick up the ashes. First thing he did when he saw the container was give it a hug and burst into tears. Then he asked me if he was really in there. I couldn't say a word as the tears started freely flowing again. I don't know what to say cause how am I to know if we truly have the right ashes or not? I wasn't there nor would I have wanted to be there. So I nodded and hope I gave the right answer.

Happy Thanksgiving 2012

From Our Family to Yours...

 Wishing everyone, especially our Troops,

 a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving!!!

RIP

It is with a heavy heart,

I have to share that 

our beloved Rikki-Tikki-Tavi

 has crossed over the rainbow bridge.

Sad news...

Today we got hit with some sad news...

Three years ago a person who was close to our family gave us an albino ferret. Since she had given my dd a dog, it was decided that the ferret would go to ds. Ever since the arrival of the little fat, white bundle of ferret fluff, my ds has been devoted to him. 

We had read the story of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi by Rudyard Kippling and seen the movie shortly before the arrival of our bundle of joy. Something about the way the ferret moved and looked reminded my son of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi and so that's how the ferrets name changed from what it was to Rikki. 

Rikki was suddenly part of a group as we received two other ferrets at the same time. The other two taught him all kinds of lessons like how to go up and down stairs, to play, and snuggle.

Rikki has always been slightly off. It seemed to go with his being an albino for the most part. However, he was always eager to explore and hyper compared to the other two. Recently, he seemed a lot more mellow. Then the diarrhea began. We had gotten some new ferret treats and a small bit of different brand of food as the usual stuff we fed them was out of stock. So we figured that was the problem. We quickly rectified by going back to the old stuff as soon as it came in. However, the issue didn't seem to correct itself in Rikki.

We found a vet that deals with exotic animals and booked an appointment for today as that was the earliest available. I wish we could have gotten an earlier appointment but it doesn't seem that it was meant to be. It was so hard to see Rikki as he perked up a little bit but not by much. You could see that he wanted to explore and be excited about the little adventure he was going on but couldn't muster the energy. 

Today was the first time that I saw him so calm and still that he didn't need his vest and harness to keep him with ds. He just looked around with his little pink eyes and wiggled his nose in the waiting room. It was when we got to the exam room that you could see just how truly bad shape he is in. He perked up a bit to explore but he was off. The speed, fluidity of motion, the energetic rush to see everything wasn't there. 

The vet tech came in with a scale and that's when we all realized that our big, fat boy just wasn't. It wasn't too much of a surprise to see that his weight was down to 1 lb because we could tell he'd lost weight. It was just a shock to see that reflected back in the black and gray numbers on the scale. Rikki didn't want to leave the scale. He seemed to think it made a great bed. 

We discussed the options. It's clear that Rikki is very sick. What's wrong with him? We don't know. It could be cancer, it could be diabetes, it could be something wrong with his adrenals, it could be an infection or parasites or worms... the list goes on. Or it could simply be old age. (Ferrets don't have a very long lifespan) It's probably not parasites or worms because that's a bit rarer especially now that he's an older ferret.

It's clear that something isn't right with him and he's dehydrated. So the first step is to get him rehydrate; so the vet had him get some sub-q fluids. She prescribed an antibiotic in case of infection and some good ol' Pepto Bismul for the diarrhea. To boost his nutrition and hydration we are going to use a special type of cat food for him. Something that will be nice because it can be blended down to a liquid without adding liquid and fed through a dropper.

If he's still with us but not better in 5 to 14 days we are to bring him back and look at getting some labs done to direct Rikki's care. If it's treatable to a degree then we'll see about doing it. There probably won't be an option of surgery. Even if it's the right treatment simply because ferrets aren't that great with it at the best of health and Rikki has a long ways to bounce back to even be close. If the sub-q fluids seem to bring him back a bit, then we will look at getting trained to administer them at home.  So now we wait and while wait we try to keep him warm, fed, hydrated and antibiotics in him. 

Ds is feeling horrible. He's been really down in the dumps and on the verge of tears all day. He's been on such an obvious roller coaster ride that one long time semi well meaning friend wanted to know if he caught PMS. That didn't go over so well as he had no idea what she was talking about and was absolutely terrified and convinced that PMS is killing his Rikki. If it wasn't so serious a situation and so raw this might have been slightly funny. Maybe some day it will be but right now I think we'll be putting some distance between her and ds. At least until I can clue her in out of his ear shot.

I'm looking for recommendations of any books that might help a child on the autism spectrum deal with a beloved, precious pet dying. And while it's true that this isn't ds's first pet death experience or death of a dear family member... it's his first in a very long time... Especially with a pet that he's totally clicked/connected with/gave his heart to.

I'm hoping that this isn't the end for my ds sake. I really want Rikki to get better and bounce back to his highly energetic, mischievous self. I want my ds to have more time with his precious. 

The dryer dinged so I must go. It's my turn to administer some Pepto, fluids, and some warmth.

?

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I said a ....

I said a prayer for you Today.

I know God must have heard,

I felt the answer in my heart

although He spoke no word.

I didn't ask for wealth or fame,

I knew you wouldn't mind.

I asked Him to send treasures

Of a far more lasting kind.

I asked that He'd be near you.

At the start of each new day.

To grant you health and blessings

And friends to share your way.

I asked for happiness for you

In all things great and small,

But it was for His loving care

I prayed the most of all.

Author Unknown