I got a call this morning from the surgeon’s office, and they got pre-approval for the scan, yay. So I’m headed to Oahu on the 25th. I don’t know whether that means I’m going to stay there and surgery is soon or what. They don’t know yet either, so I’m just celebrating one further step in what feels like an endless journey.
I’m a little better today. My head only hurts really bad if I move, which is a big step up from yesterday, when it hurt no matter what. So I’m basically doing nothing, which means baking bread and futzing in the kitchen, but only a small bit, really. I was getting paranoid about the pain and getting light sensitive, but the doctors all promise me it “can’t be the tumor returning” (I am trying to believe them) and Lili assures me that I’m cognitively fine, and I wasn’t when I had the tumor. So.
The girls would like you to call the authorities, because this is bullshit. I have had two different hats brought to me, and all the squeaky balls and bully bites are just not enough. Please can we go bye bye soon? They really do chill out well in between the guilt trips, though.
Meanwhile back at the farm … Gaela my little water witch is struggling with staying out of the aquaponics pond. She does NOT understand why that isn’t a perfectly great place to swim, since she can’t find anywhere else except the small duck wading pool, which is fine, but doesn’t allow actual swimming. She scales it getting in without breaking her stride, but when she gets out, she puts her feet on the edge of the lining, and that’s going to be a very expensive disaster when she rips it. (It’s in the background of this shot of Stina, under the roof. I was taking a shot like this the first time I watched her jump in. Oops.)
I’m trying to clicker train an incompatible behavior, but all I’ve managed so far is to get her to get into other parts of the setup, which isn’t really all that great. Her instinct when she is hot (Hawaii!) is to run right for it, and she’ll now check herself, and jump in somewhere else. She can’t chase mongoose if I have to keep her supervised, and the mongoose hunting has been awesome.
I’m also trying to get her to bite the water stream from a hose, which she has always loved. (This photo is from 4/12!) It sort of works, but it requires me to be out there all the time she comes back from chasing a mongoose, so, not ideal. She also doesn’t seem as into it as she was with Bjarki and/or Disa around. Stina hides behind me. If anyone has other bright ideas, we’re all ears.