Today Luna had her first experience in a store.  We went to Gander Mountain, a sporting goods store that allows dogs in.  It is the place that Karen takes service dogs to train in going to public places most often for their first time.  It is not terribly crowded during the day, and there are not usually a lot of other dogs in there.

Here is Luna, waiting to see what will happen next -
 
                                  

That strap-like thing around her mouth is called a Gentle Leader.  It is not a muzzle, although it looks a little like one, but she can open her mouth and eat with it and all.  But it is a way of training her to stay focused - especially since she has had trouble dealing with other dogs.  It is working beautifully!  Luna really improved in her training once she started wearing the Gentle Leader - Betsy just leads her away from whatever she is not suppose to focus on.

Here is Karen giving Betsy instructions in the parking lot before we up went to the store -

                                   

                                   

                                   

The training involved walking up to the entrance, sitting, waiting until Betsy told her to go in with her.  Every time she did it right, she got a treat.  When she did it wrong, she was lead away to try again. 

                                   

For a half hour, they went through the automatic doors, then walked in the entryway, then through the turnstile, across the front of the store, then out again. 

Luna did great!  She seemed to love it!

This past weekend, I went to quilt camp!  I promise to have pictures on here of that weekend soon!  There were a lot of pictures, so I decided to show Luna's day first.

                                   

                                   

I wasn't very good at taking pictures this weekend.  What a busy weekend!  I didn't have a minute to think about pictures!  Well, I guess I had a few minutes, because I did take a few!

On Saturday night, we celebrated Betsy's birthday, although the whole family couldn't be there.  So, there was me and Jim, Bets and Bryan, Suzanne, Amanda, Charlie and Megan.  We had lots of fun!

Betsy loves cookie cakes instead of regular cake.  This year, we got her cookie cake from Sam's Club, and it was VERY good, looked great, and was much cheaper than the one and only cookie store in our mall!  Betsy decided to get an Elmo cookie cake, because not only is Elmo adorable and she has always liked him from her youngest days, but CHARLIE likes him a lot, and so we had a party that made Charlie very happy!

                                         

We even got some cute Elmo plates and napkins.  Here was Charlie, looking so happy!  He helped Aunt Betsy blow out her candles.

                                         

Here is Bets, ready to cut the cake -

                                         

Megan with her Aunt Suzanne -

                                         

It was a fun birthday!

                                         

 After a recent day of rain and wind, our yard is full of leaves!  And the other day when Grandpa blew leaves off, he left a nice pile for Charlie to play in.  So, yesterday, there were more leaves on top of the pile, making it a lot of fun for this little boy!

                                         

                                         

                                          

I haven't blogged in awhile - it's a busy time of year!  Here is what I have been doing:

- trying to stay ahead of the dust balls, stink bugs, fleas, and general disarray in my house!  Borax and salt - that's what the vet told me to sprinkle all over the carpets since we found fleas on Luna.  Leave it for a few days, then vacuum it up.  So far, we haven't even seen fleas in the house, and only a couple at a time on Luna now, but the Borax/salt mixture is definitely a safe and effective way to get rid of them.  The vet said that this is the worst year for fleas she has ever seen - and I thought the stink bugs were bad!

- rehearsing for the sign language interpreting of "Scrooge" that will be at our Civic Center the first weekend of December.  Betsy is the director!  And 6 of us are interpreting one performance.

- finishing, finally, the piecing together of my bear applique quilt, and I made a pieced back of the left-over fabric.  Now to send it to the quilter.

- getting other projects cut out and ready for quilt camp in a few weeks.

- shopping with Betsy for a wedding dress and we found one!!!!

- working on the cross stitch Christmas stocking I started for Charlie last year and that will be finished soon!

- still taking care of paperwork for my mother's care and visiting her at the nursing home - she seems to recognize me, and sometimes nods or shakes her head, but otherwise, no longer responds to my chatting or my questions.

- enjoying seeing my grandchildren as often as possible!