This is (potentially) the newest member of our family, Iris.  She is the service dog that I’ve acquired from CWAC.  She is a 4yr old German Shepard (not sure how pure) that came to CWAC from the Humane Society of Utah.

We only have her for a trial right now, to see if everything goes well while she stays with us.  We’ve had her since Thursday and so far so good.  She is THE most calm, mild mannered dog I have ever seen.   In five days I’ve heard her whimper once or twice, but that is it.  She is most often found in the position shown in the pic, laying at my feet waiting for me to move.

Issues? 

She has been so mellow in fact that we aren’t entirely sure she is healthy.   She honestly only moves when I get up and walk around, and then she simply follows me and lays down again.   Before I decide to keep her I’m going to want to make sure that she is in fact healthy.  I don’t want to train and work with a dog that isn’t going to last for several years.

She is also a picky eater.  CWAC provided me with a bag of dried dog food for the weekend, but she won’t touch it.  The only thing she will eat it seems is canned dog food or meat (we gave her some left over ham).   To feed her an adequate amount of that each day would mean we are spending more on feeding her than we do the kids each day.   If we can’t get her to eat a less expensive type of food then expenses might mean we can’t keep her.

Julie is mildly allergic to dogs.  So her allergies will be a potential issue.  The first day or so she had a fairly bad headache.   A great neighbor came by with some DoTerra oils that Julie has used that seem to have solved that issue.   But it is something to consider as well since those aren’t exactly cheap either.  But that will be the case with any dog, and not solely with this one.

Decisions

So after this trial I’ll get to decide whether to keep Iris or not.  If I keep her I’ll officially adopt her from CWAC.  Then I will continue to train her to meet my specific needs from a service dog (help with PTSD issues including help with public panic attacks and waking me from nightmares).

The name Iris is fairly new to her, so if I keep her I could rename her to something of my choosing.  She’s about 4 yrs old, and we aren’t sure what name(s) she used previously, before ending up at a shelter.  The family that brought her in said they found her and kept her a couple of months.  They named her Iris, but couldn’t afford to keep her.

I wish there were some way to know what she is used to being called.   I’m not a huge fan of the name Iris, so if you have a good name to recommend, feel free.

The kids all love her… some of they too much so.   Little JR thinks she is his personal pillow, horse, trampoline.   It’ll take no small amount of training of him as well I suppose.   They all want to be the next one to take her outside, to hold the leash, to feed her, etc.   Trying to get them to understand that she isn’t exactly a pet will be something we work on.   They are good kids though, so I don’t see any problems.

 

 

 

So the reason for this most recent break in posts is that our computer gave up the ghost, and well, I’m just too lazy to go to the public library.

Sorry.

I tried for a week to coax the thing back to life, but to no avail. It had been having issues for about 6 months and is finally beyond the point of no return I’m afraid.

We have acquired a new machine however (thus this post). So stay tuned for the upcoming news.

Cross Country Event 9/12/17

Location: Summit Academy Independence, Bluffdale UT

Schools: SA Independence, SA Draper, Ascent Academy (Lehi)

Course: One mile up a slight uphill road, and then one mile downhill to the finish

Jensens

Joshua ran without his kneebrace but took some Ibuprofren before hand this time.  He didn’t complain about his knee at all.  He finished 15th at 14:53.  This is about 20 seconds slower than last race but 2 places higher.  That placement is higher because there were only three school present.

I think he would give more effort if he thought he could “win” but has settled into a slightly slower and easier pace knowing that he can’t actually win.  This is a different type of competition for him and he isn’t used to the idea of compteting against himself or opponents who aren’t right in front of him.  He’s just happy to go his pace.  Which is fine.  I just want him to be happy.  I think he is enjoying the events even though he doesn’t finish first.

Kristie is still the shortest girl I’ve seen run.  I don’t imagine that is fixable either.  She finished in 12th place at 16:25.  That is 2 spots lower in ranking but an almost identical time to last meet’s 16:26.  She knows how fast she can run, sets the rhythm  she can handle, and keeps it going.  For her size (the shortest I’ve seen) and age (a young 6th grader running with 6/7/8 grades) I continue to be impressed by her effort and results.  She is awesome!

It must be in her genes!

Helping Out

I helped out at this race since it was at OUR school.  I volunteered for “crowd control” and used the van to block off the roadway they were running on.  It was a low-key spot without much traffic that was the 1/2 way point in the race.  I mention myself only to tell the story of the bozo who drove right past me and the cones set up.

The van was parked in the middle of the road, blocking one lane entirely and parts of two others (15 passenger vans are long).  On top of that, there were 2 rows of colored cones (yellow, red, blue) all the way across the road to mark the running path for the racers.  I had an orange safety vest hung on the mirror of the van and a big red STOP sign.

A few minutes after I get set up a local PD comes up and tells me he is glad to see me, because he thought HE was going to have to do it.  Instead he went to check on the other sections of road to be closed off.

Really, Guy?

In between the two races (boys and girls) a work truck comes up and sees me, slows down a bit, then guns it and runs right past me and over the cones.   This means he is now cruising down the racetrack that these middle school kids are running on.

Just as he flies by, the local PD officer I had already talked to came up to the intersection from the other direction.  The driver had been so busy scoping me out he didn’t see the cop.  The cop saw him though.  As I stood up and yelled at they guy, this cop flips on his lights, corners around past me as well, and runs the guy down only about 1/4 mile from where he passed me.

Decision Making Process

The cop did what cops do and then came back my direction.  I asked him what excuse the guy had and he tells me, “He said that this wasn’t an official barricade and that he shouldn’t be required to stop.”  I’m not sure if he cited the idiot or not, but apparently he gave him an earful about his decision making process.

Does he typically see citizens blocking off roads for their own amusement/purposes?  The officer was thought he was going  to be here instead of me.  Can I assume that the PD car with lights flashing on top would have made it “an official barricade” to him?  I wonder what he thought he was going to find at the other end?  What would he have done when he ran into a mass of students and parents with no exit but to turn back?

No one was hurt, and no one was even in danger at that time.  I’m glad he didn’t try it with any kids running by.   If they had been running by I assume he would have seen them and been smart enough to realize there WAS a good reason for the road to be blocked off (children’s protection) and have chosen differently.

Really Jax? Again?

Well, Yes!

Don’t you ever want to throw things at your kids?  They’ve just been so… so… you know… that you just need to throw something at them with the intent to hit them?

Well I do, often!  As often as I can actually.

In fact, it is one of our favorite games!

Frisbee, the Jensen Way

There aren’t a lot of physical things I can do with my kids.  But I can throw a Frisbee still!  This has been one of favorite games for years… since Caitlin and Joshua were the ages of Andrew and Steven.  If you want to have just a wonderful time with your kids, here is how we play:

I find a good spot to sit that won’t hurt my back too much.  The kids gather a few Frisbees, but never more than the number of kids playing.

Randomly pick which kids get to go first.  Those kids will, one at a time, hand me their Frisbee.  I count to three while they run away.  At “THREE” I throw the Frisbee at them, trying to touch any portion of them with it.

The other kids kind of scatter out on the lawn and wait their turn.  Anytime I miss a kid with a Frisbee, that Frisbee becomes fair game and the first person to get to it, picks it up and bring it to me.  As soon as they hand it to me, I start counting and they run.

If I hit a kid, they are NOT allowed to pick up THAT Frisbee, but are free to pick up any other Frisbee nearby.   And so it is a continual round of running and laughter and fun for everybody.  Even Caitlin (15) and Steven (3) have a great time trying to elude my throws and beat their siblings to errant throws so that they get a turn again.

Great Fun For All

For me it is nice to be able to play some sort of sport with the kids.  For them, I hope they enjoy the time spent playing with me.  It is one we’ve done for hours at a time, making subtle changes as circumstances allow.   (Before I became injured I used to do it standing as well and we’d keep track of points.  1 point for me if I hit them, a point for them if I missed.  Use your imagination!)

Julie isn’t a great thrower, but she joins in occasionally.  We’ve been playing every night this week and the last two nights she joined in.  I think she was feeling slightly left out of all the laughter and fun – there is a lot of it!

The kids are all very good about making sure everyone gets a turn.  If they see someone starting to sulk because they haven’t been able to get a Frisbee lately they will gladly hand one over.  It’s been fantastic to watch them do it, without parental suggestion, and watch the love bonding the kids together as younger sibling looks up at the older ones with love and appreciation for the Frisbee.   It is great!

If you are afraid that I might hurt the young kids with a hard plastic Frisbee, don’t fret!  We have 2 soft rubber ones that we use and that the littlest kids get most often.  We have a normal Frisbee for the older kids too (it is more accurate for the distances they can travel in just 3 seconds!).  And if a little kid comes with the hard Frisbee it isn’t hard to just adjust the power of the throw so that nobody gets hurt.

I might be throwing things at my kids, but I don’t intend to hurt them at all.  Just hit them repeatedly!

So if you ever drive by and see me throwing stuff at my kids as they run away screaming… all is well.  No need to call protective services… we’re having the time of our lives!

 

Book Review:

Lioness Rampant (Book Four in the Song of the Lioness Series) by Tamora Pierce

I am getting slower and slower with my book reviews.  By the time I sit down to share my thoughts on one book I am half-way through the next book.  But without a deadline my writing skills seem pretty dead.  So hear we go on the final installment of the Song of the Lioness series.

Content

Alanna continues her life as a knight.  Seeking glory, she rides to the roof of the world in order to recover the Dominion Jewel and present it to King Jonathan.  The quest is not without its own adventures and Alanna adds members to party as she goes.  When her quest is complete she returns to Tortal for the coronation of King Jonathan.

As she returns to Tortal, Alanna discovers that her brother has brought back to life her arch-enemy, Sir Robert.  Yep, we even get a little necromancy thrown in.  Once again Alanna is forced to face Sir Robert alone, as everyone else believes he is without magic.

Recommendation

I give this book 3 buttered rolls.  Maybe on its own this book isn’t too bad but the whole series was a chore for me to read.  The quests were less than epic, the characters were irritating, the dialogue was flat…and the feminist agenda was unbearable.  I finished this book over a month ago and had very little desire to write my review.  So there you have it.  The Song of the Lioness series is one that I will not be reading again and although may kids may choose to read it, I won’t be promoting it.