It seems like yesterday that I was sitting down to write my september
update. This month has been full of activity and has just flown by.
I began volunteering at an elementary school about a half hour from home.
Ths is the same one I was at last year. I am there for ten hours over 3 days
a
week.   I am working with first through  fifth graders and have 7 kids. My
one fourth grader and one of my fifth graders are reading chapter books. The
other are quite low readers. I have been in contact with the children's
librarian at the library for the blind and she has sent me some wonderful
books.
NBP also donated some early phonix readers with print and Braille. I still
braille up books a couple times a week. My kids are all great. In the last
week
or so they've started to test me more, but I'm ok with hthat. To me it means
they are starting to see me as a regular person not just the blind lady.
I've
also spoken in a few classrooms about blindness.
Ellie is of course quite popular with all the kids. She handles the crowded
hallways wonderfully.
There is a little boy at the school a special ed student who has behavior
issues. He doesn't speek much mainly repeating what is said to him. He and
Ellie
love each other. His reward for getting his work done quietly is to come pet
Ellie. He pets her she licks and wags and he speeks to her saying her name
and sometimes telling her to sit. It is a very neat thing to watch and makes
me want to work a therapy dog full time someday.
in choir we have begun our christmas music;. We will be singing at a couple
of special events during the holiday season.
There is a new horse at BNB. He is a western gaming champion now retired. I
wonder what he thinks as he is walking through the weave polls "this is so
dumbg!
I'm supposed to be running!" He is adjusting very well to be a therapy
horse. He is wonderful to ride. He is very very responsive and has a nice
walk and
marvelous trot. I've been able to ride him off lead quite a bit. I even did
it during the game today which was a ring toss which involved quite a bit of
turning and stopping.
Medically its been a tough month for Ellie. A couple weeks ago we were out
at the stable and the stable owners dog jumped on ellie biting her 3 times.
Its
was a terrifying experience for everyone involved. The wounds have healed
fine and she shows no fear or aggression toward other dogs.
A bit later in the month she was playing hard with me one morning and came
up limping. it lasted for a couple days and was sensitive to touch for a few
more, but is fine now.
She got in to my friend's dogs food and I think we are getting another ear
infection, but I began treating it today so hopefully it won't get any
worse.
 November will be another busy month. There are a couple special things
coming up. I'm going to see the dead sea scrolls exhibit next week. The day
after
that I'll be going to the WCB convention being held in Seattle.
talk to you next month and of course before if I have anything interesting
to say.
don't forget you can check my livejournal at
http://turtlechelle.livejournal.com/
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