Got harrassed by a State Trooper today at the MVA

So, today I went to the MVA to renew my husband's tags and had Eclipse with me. Now Eclipse is my ESA dog and I have documentation from my Dr stating that I need to keep him with me all the time.

So I walk into the MVA and past this state trooper who is on duty there. I get in line to renew the tags. There about 6 people in front of me and I realize I will be there for a little while. I pick Eclipse up and stand my distance from anyone just in case they are afraid of him.

All of a sudden I feel someone next to me and look over. This trooper is standing right next to me looking at me. He was almost touching me, but never said a word. I looked over at him and asked him if I could help him. He starts drilling me about the dog and if he is licensed and has papers, etc... I advised him that I have documentation and am allowed to have the dog.

He said "I've never seen a service dog that is that small. Are you sure he is your service dog, and what is wrong with you that you need a dog? I assured him that my Dr has prescribed me to have the dog and I have Anxiety and Depression. I ask the man is there a problem with me having the dog in the MVA and if so, I will take him home and come back to renew the tags. He said "No, I just wanted to check". First of all, he can't ask me why I have a service dog. It's none of his business. I felt like I had to tell him because he was demanding to know.

So I'm standing in line and had a little issue with one of the employees who was being extremely rude when the guy at the kiosk is having issues and I asked for help. I called him on it and he tried to get me to get ejected from the MVA. SMH. The trooper comes over again and gets in my face.

So, by now I'm getting upset and start feeling my tears well up. I just turn around and stand in the line. An older gentlemen gets in line behind me. We start chatting and he asks to pet the dog. We start talking and all of a sudden the trooper is standing in front of me again.

He starts telling me that if I'm not being truthful about Eclipse, then he's going to have to write a report and get in trouble and goes on and on about me having the dog in the MVA. I again ask him if I should leave and take the dog home. At this time I'm crying and visibly upset. The trooper keeps talking and talking to me about me having the dog.

The gentleman behind me tells the trooper to leave me alone. That I am upset and I get the point. The trooper gets rude and says to ME, "I don't know who this person next to you is, so he needs to stop talking". I try to tell him that the man and I were just talking and he was defending me.

The trooper keeps talking about me having the dog. He won't shut up. I again tell him that I UNDERSTAND. I inform him that I'm a former cop and I know that I should have had his tag with me but I forgot it at home. The man behind me again jumps in and asks the trooper what his name is and for a business card. The trooper tells him "I'm Corporal Butler and I don't have a card". The man tells him that he's a former police officer also and that he has a PhD in Criminal Justice and that he's also a lawyer and he would like to have the officer leave me a lone and walk off. He said "She understands what you are saying, because she has told you that she understands, so just leave her alone". The trooper asks him who he is to me and he said "I'm a citizen and can see that she is extremely upset and I am protecting her".

Again the trooper just kept harassing me about the dog and keeps talking. I asked him to just leave me alone and let me get my tags and go home. He won't stop. He says "I'm not raising my voice so I' not harassing anyone". The man tells him that he's going to write a letter of complaint to his superiors and again asked for his name.

By this time I am shaking so hard the dog is bouncing up and down in my arms. Eclipse is snuggling up to my next and whimpering. He kept licking my neck trying to comfort me. He really did his job.

Well, I finally get up to the kiosk and the nasty MVA worker was there assisting. I told him that I could handle the machine alone and I respectfully did not need his assistance. So he starts telling the trooper that I was rude and walked away.

I get the tags renewed and while waiting for my receipt to print, I ask the man behind me if I can give him a hug. He hugged me so tight I thought he was going to break me. It felt good to know that someone had my back.

I was shaking so hard that I couldn't get the key into the car to go home. I sat in the car and had to calm down before I drove home.

I get home and tell Shawn about the incident and he immediately wanted to go up to the MVA and have a talk with the trooper. I wouldn't let him.

As I was telling him the story, we realized that Mike, my cardio kick boxing instructor is the guys supervisor. Shawn wanted me to call Mike and tell him, but I don't want to mix the issue with the trooper up with my relationship with Mike. It puts him in a bad position.

I went to my dr's office tonight for my appointment and told her what happened. She is going to write a complaint against the trooper as well.

How the heck did I get myself into that mess? I just wanted to renew my tags.

So now I am home and much calmer but I am still shaken by this event.

New shuttle design coming out and more

Oh My Gosh. Shawn and I both have new or improved shuttles coming out SOON. Both have been requested and begged for. We have finally accomplished them both. I hope this will be the last shuttle designs we come out with for a while. I think that our Etsy store is going to blow up for a while. That will be nice, but make us super busy.

I don't have pictures of them yet, but they will be coming SOON. I have a motorcycle event this weekend and after that, I should be in mad production mode for a while. I just feel bad for Shawn because he works a full time job and then works on shuttles as well. He needs to show me how to prep his shuttles for him. I can start the work and he will put his amazing skills to work. It will ease his burden for working them and anything that I can do to ease his workload is all that I want to do.

So on another note, Eclipse is doing wonderful. He is working on day 3 of no accidents in the house. We are working hard on housebreaking him. I haven't had this much trouble housebreaking a dog in a long, long time. I think I am being a little more gentile with him because he is so small. I don't want to spank him, or speak harshly to him. Usually I just remove him from the room and clean up his mess. I have heard that this is the best way to train a small dog.

I also need to start his obedience training and his skills training. I may have a trainer help me. I want to get him into agility training and possibly competitions. I think that would be a good thing for both of us. It would force me to be in a situation that I'm not used to and it would give my puppy some amazing confidence and skills.

One other great thing is that Olivia is moving back home tomorrow. I am very excited that she will be going to school here to finish her degree. She will be going to a much better school and have our full support. I pray all goes well here for her.

Shawn and I have enjoyed being empty nesters and know that we will be that again, but our baby girl needs us right now. I have missed her but not the head bumping we have done in the past. We need to work on that aspect of our relationship and move on. Plus having my shopping and crafting buddy back will be so nice.

Frustration, frustration, frustration

I am having such a bad day.

It started out wonderful. My former sister in law, my niece and her daughter came to town to visit. We toured DC and had a wonderful time. We went to the Holocaust Museum, the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and the White house. 

There was a free concert on the lawn of the Washington Monument for Earth Day. We go to hear Train, Mary J Blige and Fall Out Boy as we walked around.

We then went to a Tex-Mex place for dinner and had a great conversation. We talked about family and just caught up on our lives, since we haven't seen each other in a while.

Then the crap part of my day happened

Backstory: my husband's brother was in the hospital earlier this week with a blood clot in his lung and had what is called "Coal Minors Lung". It's really serious. I was out of town and had very limited access to the internet, so I didn't know about what was going on. The only notifications the family got was by my BIL's fiancé posting on FB and I didn't really see anything. I saw the messages on Tuesday and immediately told my hubby that his brother was sick. I messaged the fiancé to find out what hospital he was in and she said he has his phone so my husband could contact him. So, I did my familial duty and notified my husband about his brother. My husband was supposed to do his duty and check on his brother.

Fast forward to today. While traveling our of DC, I get messaged on FB from the fiancé telling me that it came to her attention that I never contacted my husband about his brother's condition. She also said that she felt if the tables were turned, I would also be upset and because of that, she no longer wanted to have a relationship with me. OK, WHAT THE HECK?

I was not responsible for my husband not contacting his brother. I told him every day to call his brother. I can't control what someone else does. This person has caused issues with me in the past and I have been blamed for a LOT of crap I didn't do. I have been trying to foster a relationship for her, for the benefit of the family.

I demanded my husband call his brother to straighten this mess out. He did and the response was that blame was not to be placed and we only needed healing.

OK. First of all, I was blamed for something I didn't do and now, all of a sudden, no blame is to be placed when SHE is the one who is shown to be at fault. My husband was not permitted to speak to her to explain the truth because she was "too upset". OK, who gives a crap that I'm beyond upset? No one.

Yes I am whining and venting here. I am just so tired of being blamed for stuff I just don't do. My husband's family has been doing this for 24 years and I'm done with this all. If something doesn't change, I really want to cut everyone out of my life. I'd rather be alone then have to deal with this stress all the time. I'm always waiting for the blame gets placed on me again.

And they all wonder why my depression is so bad???????

Fingerlakes Tatting Conference

Well, I'm a late resister but I got into the tatting conference at Fingerlakes NY. Woo Hoo.

I called Karey and she said it was OK for me to bring Eclipse with me. I have a crate for him to be in while I'm in class and I will have plenty of time for him to be outside and stretching his legs.

I got both of Karey's classes on Saturday and both of Randy's classes on Sunday. Since I was so late, there weren't many classes that were still open. I'm excited because I got two of the classes I originally wanted and the other two were backup selections. Plus, I will have the patterns for all the classes so I can make whatever I want when I get home.

I can't wait to see friends that I have missed since last year. It's nice to know that some people really would have missed me if I didn't go.

I won't have any shuttles or thread to sell, but I will be able to take orders. I gotta bring samples of each shuttle and I have a display of some of the wood species that we have. I hope to sell some shuttles and I hope that Shawn is able to put a hook in the Eddie so I can unveil that one at the conference.

He doesn't get to go with me this year. He has to work. Oh well, we can always go this summer when work slows down for him.

I get to take a few days for myself. I have several ladies who will be staying at the condo with me. They all will leave either Sunday or Monday and I'll have a day or so alone before I come home.

On the way up to NY, I'm going to stop at Bead Fest in Oak PA. I plan on checking it out for a few hours. It will only take me about an hour out of my way. I hope to find some patterns and unique beads.

As I type this, I'm getting excited about my trip. I'm trying to decide what crafts I should take with me. I just don't know what to bring. I guess I'll figure that all out later. For now, I'll just be happy that I get to go.

I have registered my ESA today

Well, I got my ESA yesterday and he is registered in the national database today.

If you don't know what an ESA is, it's an Emotional Support Animal. My doctor recommended that I get a dog that I can bring with me to help me when I feel overwhelmed or anxious in public. My two Pit Bulls didn't fit the bill because they are too excitable when we go out in public. The cat hates to go out, so we got a small dog for me to bring with me.

I chose to get a Papillon. I did a lot of research on which animal would best suit my needs and there was a choice between a Papillon and a Pomeranian. The Papillon is not a yappy dog, is extremely smart and very trainable. So I researched breeders and the first one I called had a male, black and white, and on the larger size  meaning 8-9 pounds. After a few weeks of talking to her and many discussions about how he will be raised with the pit bulls, he was delivered yesterday. I named him Eclipse. He is a purebred and has papers. I need to register him with the AKC.

He's 16 weeks old and, believe it or not, he's litter box trained until it's warm enough to start house breaking him. He's only had one small accident and that was in his play pen. He is very cuddly and loving. He has already tried to put Zura in her place by barking at her when she tried to take a toy from him.

We had a little bit of disruption last night. He had a hard night but I completely understand. He was ripped from his home and his mother and thrown into a home with 3 other animals that he doesn't know and people he'd never met before. We disrupted his entire schedule and he just had a hard time. I think we will be a little better tonight.

He's already such a cuddle bug. He loves to lay in my lap and chill out, but only after he's taken about 30 laps around the room. He loves to run.

Here is a picture of him.

His ears should be standing up soon. They have flopped down because he is teething. But if not, I'm OK with him not having the ears that stand straight up. I'm not going to show him, but I will train him to do agility. His energy level pretty much demands I do some kind of training.

Well, time to put this little guy to bed. He has a vet appointment tomorrow with my vet to be checked out.

Work out was great.

Shawn and I started attending Cardio Kickboxing classes last week. He met the instructor when he was getting his company's security license. Sgt. Jones is a State Police Sargent. We were invited to check out the class. Last Wednesday we decided to go. We got our gloves (required) and found the location. We paid our fee and off we went. I knew I was out of shape, but man, this man had me huffing and puffing after about 20 mins. I had to take a few breaks during the hour session, but made it through.

The next day I was not sore. I felt like my muscles were loose and I could move around easier. I kept up the cardio, kind of, for the rest of the week. I made it a point to move while at home doing chores. I shoveled snow for 6 hours. I took a brisk walk through the mall. And I started thinking about what I was eating, not just shoveling food in my mouth - trying to make better choices.

Yesterday I jumped on the scale and I have lost 5 lbs this week alone. YIPPEE. I have a goal to loose 80 lbs this year. I'm on my way. Sgt. Jones started it, but I kept it going. I was shocked to see that I had lost so much, not thinking I had done that much to lose weight.

So, today I went to the class without Shawn (he had to work). I did pretty good. I only had to take 2 breaks this time. One was because I had taken in too much water and felt sick. The other was to take a puff from my inhaler - big mistake. It made me sick. I didn't do all the exercises exactly like he wanted going at my own pace, but I hung in there. I made it through the session huffing and puffing again.

It took me almost 3 hours after the workout to stop sweating. Man it was a good feeling to be able to work out like that. I am really enjoying the lessons.  I hope that I can keep them up.

I invited the kids to go with us when they are home. Nate and Naina are all for it. Olivia said that she does not want to work out, but agreed to go with us and watch. I am hoping she changes her mind.

I am going to try and attend the Sunday morning session. Working out like that two times a week should be good for us. I know that I feel good about myself and actually went back. I didn't make excuses why I couldn't go and actually seemed excited to go. I hope I can keep this up.

So I'm off to bed. This old gal is tired tonight.

Just a rant

I am just going to rant right now.

I have a few pet peeves that really, really bug me. One of them is when I watch a TV talk show like the View or the Talk and they have a male guest and he sits down before all the women are seated. Did people forget manners? Who is teaching these men how to treat ladies? My husband opens doors for me, unless I beat him to the door and open it myself, which he absolutely hates.

I know that some people will blame the fact that a lot of men are absent fathers, but they do have mothers who should require their sons to treat women with respect. I can't believe all the men that I see who just don't have that small piece of respect. When I see a "celebrity" that I have admired sit their rear down when a woman is still standing, I loose respect for him. It breaks my heart.

OK, pet peeve number two is when you are approaching a door and someone shuts it in your face. Or if you are going into a door on the right side and someone pushes past you going out, when the other door opens as well. What the heck is wrong with people? I see it all the time. Have people lost all common sense? I have had younger kids push me out of the way to get through a door that I have just opened. And there is no "excuse me" "thank you" - nothing. Where are the manners there?

I'm not saying that I'm better than anyone else, but when my kids were young, they had to say Yes Ma'am, no Ma'am. Yes Sir, No Sir. Please and thank you. My sister told me that I was treating them like they were in the military. My thought process was that if I taught them and they didn't show respect later in life, it was on them, not me. I have gotten so many compliments on my kids manners. I have been told they are the most respectful, polite kids. That makes me happy to know that my kids learned how to do it right and maybe, just maybe, they will rub off on others.

OK, so next pet peeve is people who talk on their phones ALL THE TIME, and are loud about it. I don't care what you are talking about and I don't care to know what you are doing. Then the people who sit in the dr's office playing on their phones with the key pad tones on. That bugs the heck out of me. I suffer from social anxiety as it is, so when I have to hear all those different key tones beeping, it gets on my nerves and I start to panic.

Oh my goodness, speaking of being in a waiting room, I can't stand when people wear too much perfume or cologne and come into the waiting room. I can't breathe. What are people thinking when the bathe in that stuff? Maybe you like it, but you are around others and maybe someone is allergic to the smells you are wafting through the room.

OK, so I'm finished ranting for the day. Sorry for dumping all of this out today, but I just had to get it out.