Page 8 of 9

Posted on

Twenty Years

Today marks twenty years that my Hubby and I have been married. I can’t believe how fast the years have flown by and how much has changed. Twenty years ago we were a young family of three. Now we’re a family of five plus three puppies. Interesting fact, when we first got married I was terrified of dogs. Our oldest has flown the coop and is doing great in the service.

Twenty years ago we were still living in Minnesota. Four years after we married, we decided to move to South Florida. Our original intent was to stay for two years, but South Florida quickly became our home. Despite moving out of Minnesota, our kids still fell in love with hockey and ended up playing the sport. We’ve already have a decade of hockey parent life under our belt.

Over the past twenty years, so much has changed and some of the people we have held nearest and dearest to our heart have left us. Luke’s grandfather left us in October, 2020. He was always our champion and helped us get established. Grandpa Ed will always hold a place near and dear in our hearts.

In 2011, we lost Luke’s mother, which was a devastating blow. She was one of our biggest cheerleaders and supporters when we first started dating and when Jake was born. In fact, she spoiled me and we started dating. My hubby got me the best presents for Christmas, Valentine’s, our anniversaries, and my birthday. Of course, I know realize that she was the genius behind the presents. Now as my boys get older and have serious girlfriends, I relish the opportunity to do the same.


Through all the up and downs, one thing has remained consistent. We were nerds than and are nerds now. That and the fact that my Hubby will forever be my person. I’m lucky to have found my person so early in life and look forward to many more years of nerdom and adventure.

Naturally, we’re celebrating our anniversary by watching the Stanley Cup finals. Well, at least we’re trying. Hulu’s inability to maintain NBC consistently has been beyond infuriating this evening. Athena always hates when we watch hockey because we all scream, yell and jump. It’s a bit disconcerting for her.


For dinner, the Hubby grilled brats, tator tots and sweet corn. Since it’s the middle of the week and the Hubby is headed to a trade show tomorrow, we’ll celebrate with a nice dinner out over the weekend. Thankfully, the Hubby will have a good travel day as Elsa has moved off to the north and east. We’ll miss him while he’s gone, but I’m sure he’ll enjoy some peace and quiet. Two things that don’t exist is this energetic household.

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I read Demons, by Dostoevsky. I am really enjoying this book so far.

*I thought about running, but decided to rest my knee again. Instead I looked for great photos of us.

* I ate the rest of the peach crisp today. This time I mixed in one white peach for a little of variety. Honestly, I didn’t notice a difference.

*The family and I are watching the Stanley Cup Finals in lieu of continuing our Thirty Rock binge. Thankfully, our power is flickering now that the storm has passed. Consequently, it knocked out the wifi too. Apparently, technology is my nemesis tonight.

*I spent my day with the puppies. This evening I worked with Anakin on some training skills. He did a great job. Of course, I rewarded him with kielbasa, which is his favorite.

*My favorite surprise on the underwater cams, I watch during work, is seeing an octopus. Today I watched the safari cam, which never disappoints.

*I’m back to work and Elsa is gone to Georgia. Thankfully, the tropics are quiet.

*Today’s word of the day is silvery. The water had a silvery look.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a walk. Did I mention I hate gnats, flies, and mosquitos? It’s definitely much worse in the morning and am. Fortunately, it’s not too bad at lunch.

Posted on

Not too Shabby

I have to admit today was not too shabby. Since it was the first day back after a long weekend, my expectations for the day were quite low. I mean, it always sucks coming back from a long weekend of vacation. Of course, the gloomy and windy weather courtesy of Elsa wasn’t helping my outlook. Nevertheless, today was a success.

After the turtle’s pace that was work Friday and Saturday, my expectations were that today would be a boring and unprofitable day. Thankfully, the opposite proved to be true. I was slammed all day, which made the day fly by. Moreover, everyone was a buyer today. Obviously, these are the best kind of days in sales.

Elsa had stayed far too the west, so our weather was not too shabby today. The morning was nice albeit extremely humid. This afternoon brought some rain squalls courtesy of now Hurricane Elsa. These storms are so unpredictable. They expected it to weaken, but here we are Tuesday night and it’s a hurricane again. It just proves that you always need to be prepared whether it’s a tropical storm or hurricane approaching.

This evening the Hubby grilled some great steaks form Butcher Box. We had the top sirloins and ribeyes, which were mighty tasty. With the steaks, we served grilled potatoes and corn on the cob. Usually the sweet corn here is abysmal at best, but this corn was not only not too shabby; it was good. We bought the corn at the Farmer’s Market after our walk in the Glades Monday morning.

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I read Demons, by Dostoevsky. I am really enjoying this book so far.

*I walked 2 miles with the puppies and it was great!

* I made another peach crisp. This time mixed in one white peach for a little of variety. I’ll let you know how it tastes. 

*The family and I have been binge-watching Thirty Rock. It is such a good show. We’re two days in to our binge and man is this show good.

*I spent my day with the puppies.

*My favorite surprise on the underwater cams, I watch during work, is seeing an octopus.

*I’m back to work and still tracking Elsa.

*Today’s word of the day is upheaval. Our neighbor Kirk was setting off fireworks at a frenetic pace.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a walk. Did I mention I hate gnats, flies, and mosquitos?

Posted on

Long Holiday Weekend

The long holiday weekend has been low key and fabulous. After my short work day Saturday, we spent the day chilling at home. Sunday morning we headed out to the Arthur R Marshall National Wildlife Refuge with the younger two puppies. Unfortunately, the weather was too hot for it to be safe for Maya, so she had to stay home.

Dogs are only allowed on the boat ramp and levee, so we walked a mile south on the levee. The weather was beautiful with some clouds overhead. Thankfully, the clouds provided a brief respite from the strong, South Florida sun. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any alligators in our Saturday hike. We did, however, see a bunch of beautiful butterflies, birds, one scared turtle and gigantic grasshoppers. Anakin was obsessed with catching the grasshoppers.

We brought plenty of water for us and the dogs, but it got too hot for all of us. Despite all of the water we brought, I think the dogs were overheated at the end. Consequently, when we got home they got hosed off to help the cool down. They recovered well and spent the rest of the day chilling. It was amazing. I’ve never seen Anakin so calm.

Sunday night we headed to our neighbors Kirk and Angie’s for a 4th of July barbecue. We had a blast hanging out with out neighbors and their basketball families. Even though our kids play hockey, we all encounter the same peaks and valleys of youth sports. The peaks, especially the fabulous relationships, outweigh any of the negatives. At the end of the night, Kirk put on a spectacular fireworks display. It was incredible!

We spent our morning of the long holiday weekend back at the wildlife refuge with the puppies. This time we brought some cold packs to help cool down the dogs if needed. Since the puppies, seemed to struggle yesterday, we went earlier in the morning and cut down our distance. Today we saw three gators, which was cool. Gators pack that place, so it’s almost unnerving when you don’t see one. We had a beautiful walk thanks to some nice cloud cover and a nice breeze.

As for tonight, we’re chilling at home relaxing with the dogs. We’re baking homemade pizzas for which the boys are pumped about. Currently, I have another peach crisp in the oven. This time we’ll eat it right as I have ice cream and whipped cream on hand. The weather is starting to deteriorate a bit. Elsa is going to miss us by Miles’s, but we’ll see rain and storms out of the system. Queue the winds and heavy rain. Literally, as I type this the winds have picked up and it’s about to rain. Cue the deluge. Thankfully, we don’t have to go anywhere tonight.

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I read Demons, by Dostoevsky. I am really enjoying this book so far.

*I walked 2 miles with the puppies and it was great!

* I made another peach crisp. This time mixed in one white peach for a little of variety. I’ll let you know how it tastes.

*The family and I have been binge-watching Thirty Rock. It is such a good show. We’re two days in to our binge and man is this show good.

*I spent my day with the puppies. Maya is feeling great and is super playful with her siblings. We are all relieved and grateful that she rebounded from her illness.

*I’m enjoying the long weekend and tracking Elsa.

*Today’s word of the day is frenetic. Our neighbor Kirk was setting off fireworks at a frenetic pace.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a walk. Did I mention I hate gnats, flies, and mosquitos?

Posted on

Tracking Elsa

All of Florida is tracking Elsa as she makes her way into the Caribbean. Right now we’re out of the cone of uncertainty, but that only means the center of the storm isn’t going to track over our area. Regardless of where Elsa ends up, our weather will suck Monday and Tuesday. Naturally, the poor weather falls on a Monday we all have off. Obviously, Elsa’s timing sucks.

In between Tracking Elsa updates, I worked for a bit this morning. Unsurprisingly, work was dead. Fortunately, we got to quit early due to the lack of volume. After work, I managed to go for a two-mile run. I didn’t feel like running in the morning, so opted for a post-lunch run. It went well, but my knee/it band was quite stiff at the end.

While I was running and couch surfing, Hubby took the Mayor to practice driving. The Mayor loves to drive and asks several times a day to practice. This is a huge contrast to his older brothers, who never wanted to drive. He’s a good driver and will be more than ready for his license when he turns sixteen. Meanwhile, Goalielocks recuperated from his early morning hockey practice with a nice nap.

After the Hubby finished washing the cars, took a shower, and came out wearing a shirt Jake and I bought him in Helsinki. It’s the first time he’s worn the shirt since we bought it. Undeniably, it brought back great memories of our travels in Finland. One night Jake and I found ourselves, perusing through Stockmann’s Department store off the Esplanade. It’s an incredible store! Jake and I try to buy a shirt every place we go as a unique, but practical souvenir. He bought something at Stockmann’s and I bought a shirt from Marimekko. I can’t wait until we can travel again!!!

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I read Demons, by Dostoevsky. I am really enjoying this book so far.

*I ran 2 miles and walked a mile and it felt great!

* I made a new roast recipe in the Instant Pot tonight. I didn’t super love the recipe, but the roast was extremely tender and tasty. Truly, I was pleasantly surprised as the roast wasn’t completely defrosted when I put it in the pot. Now that I know the Instapot does a great job on frozen meat, I won’t be so frantic if I forget to defrost something.

*The family and I have been binge-watching Thirty Rock. It is such a good show.

*I spent my day with the puppies. Maya is feeling great and is super playful with her siblings. We are all relieved and grateful that she rebounded from her illness.

*I’m off to the long weekend and tracking Elsa as she looks to disrupt my long weekend.

*Today’s word of the day is venation. It has to do with insect veins, which is really more than I ever wanted to know about that. 

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a walk. Did I mention I hate gnats, flies, and mosquitos?

Posted on

Off to the Long Weekend

Well, we’re off to the long weekend now. Or are we?!? I was scheduled to be off to the long weekend this evening, but I (being glutton for punishment and boredom) opted to work tomorrow. To be fair, there was plenty of incentives thrown my way. I mean, who doesn’t like a free lunch and free cash? I know I like those things. At any rate, our business hours are short tomorrow, so it won’t be a long day in the office for me.

While I’m working, I’ll also be tracking Hurricane Elsa. Naturally, Elsa continues to be a trouble maker as it comes to weather. In fact, she really is messing up my plans for early next week and mid-week. All kidding aside, she’s supposed to be in the vicinity sometime Monday/Tuesday. Until that time, we’ll play the game of watching the spaghetti models shift as we wait to see which beach Jim Cantore shows up at. Fortunately, I intend to refresh our hurricane supplies this weekend, which will assure us that Elsa will dissipate or take a hard left turn somewhere else. My fellow Floridians you can thank me later.

Mel is out visiting Jake and I’m super jealous. I wish I could be in Utah helping them set up Jake’s new apartment. Last I spoke with them, they were headed to Wal-Mart to pick up a new couch before hitting their favorite Hibachi place. Hibachi is their favorite. To be fair, I think it’s the Yum Yum sauce that’s their favorite, but who can blame them? Jake has done a great job of furnishing his apartment quickly and economically. I know they’ll have a great time enjoying the holiday weekend together. I’m looking forward to our next trip to Utah. I really enjoyed hiking the area around Salt Lake and Ogden. There are so many different hikes to choose from and they’re all different.

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I read Demons, by Dostoevsky. I am really enjoying this book so far.

*I ran 1.5 miles and walked a mile and it felt great!

* Hubby made home made chicken tacos with a taco seasoning recipe we found online. They were amazing. Needless to say, we will not be buying store bought taco seasoning anymore.

*I watched the live safaris from on Wild Earth. They’re absolutely incredible.

*I played with the puppies before, during, and after work.

*I’m counting down the hours until I’m off to the long weekend.

*Today’s word of the day is boisterous. The dogs give me a boisterous greeting every time I leave my office during the workday. I love it.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a walk. Did I mention I hate gnats, flies and mosquitos?

Posted on

Don’t Call It a Streak

Don’t call it a streak, but seriously I’ve managed to blog four days in a row. Woohoo! It’s not easy to get back into the habit of blogging (or working out for that matter,) but once you get rolling it becomes habitual and part of your daily routine. While I’ve got back on the blogging bus, I’ve fallen off the workout bus. My knee has locked up on my last couple of runs, so I rested it yesterday and today. Hopefully, I will be able to run on it tomorrow.

I had thought about running tonight, but there was dinner to make and Stanley Cup Finals to watch. A girl has to have priorities and obviously watching the Stanley Cup Finals is a major priority. Admittedly, I’m not super thrilled to see either team in the cup. Either way, it’s a lose-lose situation for us as both Habs fans and Lightning fans can be insufferable. Yeah, I said it. Nonetheless, it should be a great series. Carey Price has been red hot and Vasilevsky is the best tendy in the league. In fact, I am pretty excited to watch the goaltender match up this series.

In other news, Jake moved into his first apartment today. He just gave us a brief tour via Facetime. The place looks great and gives him a lot more room than his dorm room. Also, he may sleep better now that the fighter jets won’t be taking off over his building anymore. Fortunately, it’s also located in a great part of town, so he can walk to a lot of neat restaurants and stores in his neighborhood. Fortunately, his apartment complex also has a great gym, so he can easily keep up his PT.

Not anymore!!! Thank God!

Work went well considering it was a Monday. You never know what you’re going to get in the insurance business, but today everyone was a buyer. Consequently, I hit the monthly sales goal I set for myself early. Now every additional sale will be gravy. Hopefully, the remainder of the week, including the start of July, continues to be profitable like today. Have I mentioned that I love my job yet? If not, I love my job. I worry only about myself, talk to great people all day, am appreciated by leadership, and make more money than in my old job. It’s nice when “life’s lemons” sometimes turn into tasty lemonade with a splash of Tito’s.

Grocery Shopping with Jake

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I read Demons, by Dostoevsky. I am really enjoying this book so far. I don’t always enjoy Dostoevsky’s writing, so this book has been a nice surprise.

*I thought about running, but my knee said no. Instead, I ran to get my morning coffee and fill up the car with gas. Don’t call it a streak, but it’s now three days in a row that I’ve driven to pick up my coffee instead of ordering via Uber Eats.

* I made a delicious pork tenderloin courtesy of HelloFresh this evening. The meal was easy to prepare and super tasty!

*I played with the puppies before work after finishing my errands.

* The dogs started a new dental treat this week. In order to avoid controversy and Anakin losing his mind, I give them the dental treat at bedtime. Anakin is super possessive and afraid that everyone is going to steal his stuff.

*I went grocery shopping with Jake via FaceTime for his new apartment including picking out all the ingredients for his favorite home cook meals.

*I watched the Stanley Cup Finalsm, which is the best event in the history of sports!

*Today’s word of the day is nuance. Anakin has a nuance to his bark when he’s afraid something of his is going to be taken.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a walk. Did I mention I hate gnats, flies and mosquitos?

Posted on

Monday Eve

It’s Monday Eve and boy did it come fast. I’m already dreading my long commute to work tomorrow morning. The whole five steps I have to take from my bed to my desk is entirely too long. Admittedly, I have gained a lot of time back in my day with working from home. Gone are the days of spending two hellish hours on the turnpike in Florida’s awful traffic. Nonetheless, the commute kay be shorter, but Mondays are still Mondays.

I spent the day chilling at home with the family. I did test out my new spot cleaner on the couch. Apparently, when Athena has to vomit, there’s only one place where she likes to do it and it’s our couch. I upgraded from the little green machine Bissell to the Bissell Spot Bot. Spoiler alert, the upgrade was worth the money. With the Spot Bot, I can set it on the stain and let the deep clean setting work its magic. Oh, it’s lovely. Between that and my Roomba, I’m loving being passively involved with the cleaning. Like my new commute, it’s a huge time-saving.

Sadly, I didn’t run today as my knee didn’t love the run yesterday. I thought it would be best to give it a rest. We shall see how it feels tomorrow morning. I intend to restart BBG tomorrow, but we’ll see how the knee feels. If the knee is no good, I’ll have to pass on the BBG workout.


I spend my Monday Eve watching binge watching Thirty Rock. The hubby grilled some great burgers, brats and potatoes. Dinner was awesome. We had a great time reminiscing over our trip to Norway. It was an awesome trip and we can’t wait to get back. Lastly, hats of to Jake and his adult league team, who were crowned champions this afternoon! Unfortunately, I couldn’t watch the game since the arena doesn’t have LiveBarn. And now, I’m off to bed!

Posted on

Becoming a Dog Mom

Over the past twelve years, I have been becoming a dog mom. Prior to adopting Maya, I was not only not a dog person, but deathly afraid of large dogs. And then we went to Petco to get a fish and found our Maya girl. Maya has been the perfect puppy for us from day one. She’s sweet as can be and easy-going. Several years later, we added Athena our delightful Piggie, who has been a character from day one. She’s a complete sweetheart until you mess with her family member. The pack was completed last year with our foster-fail Anakin. He’s a bit special, but he sure loves his mama, his sisters, and his family.

Unfortunately, Maya has been on the decline over the past year. She’s a notoriously picky eater in contrast to her siblings, who will eat anything and everything that they see. As I wrote in my last blog, Maya had lost ten pounds over the past year. Unfortunately, she has had a tumor in her lung since 2019, but it hasn’t grown larger than when we first found it. Also, It is unrelated to the cancerous tumor she had removed last winter. Nonetheless, it’s been a struggle to get Maya to eat anything this past year.

Last week, Maya and I both got sick with some sort of virus. I was laid up with back spasms, chills, and a low fever. Those were the only symptoms I had, but the back spasms knocked me on my butt. As for Maya, she started to get sick later in the week. She was extremely lethargic and by this Monday wasn’t eating at all. By Tuesday night, her breathing was way off. Honestly, I was scared she wasn’t going to make it through the night.

Fortunately, our girl is resilient. I was able to get some prednisone and appetite stimulants from the vet to help relieve her symptoms and get her to eat. The medicine started to work slowly. Once it kicked in, I fed her everything I could find. She was starting to look extremely emaciated. By Thursday, her appetite was improving. I made her homemade dog food with rice, chicken, and carrots, which she loved. Thursday night, after we ate, I used the carcass of the butterflied chicken to make homemade chicken broth for her. She loved it! I’ve since made it two more times for her. It’s a great way to get her some nutrients and also to entice her to eat. We also give it to the younger dogs as well.

Here’s the recipe:

Homemade Chicken Broth for Dogs
1 chicken carcass and bones (A store-bought rotisserie chicken works really well.)
4-5 carrots
Enough water to cover the chicken and bones

Steps:
1: Add chicken bones and carrots to the pot and cover with water.
2: Bring broth to a boil
3: Simmer on low for at least 1 hour. I prefer to simmer the broth for at least 4-5 hours
4: Allow the broth to cool before preparing to store it. I’ve been storing the broth in a pitcher, so it’s easy to pour into her bowl.

I don’t add onions to the broth as they’re not good for dogs. If I was making it for the family, I’d add both onions and celery to the pot.

On that note, I have to go finish the incomplete batch of broth I started earlier today. Then I’ll pack up the latest batch of fresh chicken broth!

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I read Demons, by Dostoevsky

*Ran a mile and a half and walked a mile while watching Curb and listening to music. I was going to run two miles, but my knee was not having it.

* I made brownies, cooked dinner and cooked the dogs some fresh chicken broth. It was a productive day in the kitchen.

*I’m reminisced about becoming a dog mom today.

*I listened to my dogs’ bark with great urgency at the lizard outside our patio…. Sorry guys, they’re not a threat. Oh yes, becoming a dog mom has its moments.

*Today’s word of the day is patiently. I learned that part of becoming a dog mom was waiting patiently for them to finish their business.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a walk. Did I mention I hate gnats, flies and mosquitos?

Posted on

It’s here!

It’s here! We have a new fridge. I gotta admit I’m pretty excited about the newest appliance in our life. In fact, dare I say I was a bit verklempt as the installers finished their work? Truly this would be no exaggeration of how I felt as I looked at my new fridge. First of all, it’s shiny and new and looks great. You should have seen the scratched up exterior of the old one. It looked horrible. Secondly, I no longer have to traipse between the garage and the kitchen when cooking. Lastly, did I mention that it looks awesome? I mean, it really looks much better than the old fridge.

The Before Pic

I was pleasantly surprised that the installers came early in the delivery window. They were pleasant, professional, and quick. Honestly, they had a new fridge in, hooked up, ready to go, and the old fridge out of the house in less than 20 minutes. They were awesome! Moreover, the timing couldn’t have been better. Since it takes a fridge for about three hours to get to the proper temperature, the fridge would be ready to go when my groceries were delivered after 12:00 pm. The boys love the new fridge since it easily accommodates five gallons of milk and their lemonades Fortunately, the new fridge provides much better usage of the space and will hold a lot more. In fact, it has enough freezer space, so we can finally defrost and clean our deep freezer.

Anyway, I had hoped to spend the Christmas season in Norway. It’s really how I envisioned celebrating my 40th birthday. While my birthday was in March, I’d really like to experience the winter holidays and Aurora Borealis in Scandinavia. Unfortunately, the pandemic has been the great destroyer of plans and travels dreams. Ultimately, it will work out better since this Christmas will be able to spend it with Jake. Nonetheless, my dream of a Scandinavian Christmas will live on and planning will commence once the world reopens.

Since I couldn’t get to Scandinavia this Christmas, I’ve decorated the house in Scandinavian fashion. Albeit, the decorating has not yet been completed. I’m waiting on Amazon to deliver some additional decorations to complete the look. Hopefully, they’ll arrive before Christmas. Needless to say, Christmas nisse will look a bit out of place come January. I found some great items on Amazon to compliment the ornaments and decorations I bought on my travels, so I’m pretty excited.

Truthfully, there is nothing I am more excited about than having Jake home for Christmas. It’s really the only present I wished for this year. The countdown clock is winding down and the anticipation is killing me. These last few days are going to take a century. I can feel it! It’s amazing how fast time has flown. It’s already been more than a year since he left for Basic. As they say, time flies when you’re having fun.

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I read The Idiot, by Fyodor Dosytoevsky

*It’s day 5 of BBG 3.0 week 6, which means it is ab day

*I’m so excited!!!! I’m counting down the days until my oldest boy comes home for Christmas! His arrival is getting closer!!!!!

*I actually know that today is Friday and I’m pretty excited about it. It’s here and I’m pretty damn excited about it!

*It’s here! I took delivery of my new shiny fridge! I’m so happy it’s here!

*Today I ran a mile and walked a mile. It went well today.

*Today’s word of the day is procrastinate. I continue to procrastinate in completing my life insurance exam.

*I love the footprints the puppies leave on the patio when coming back in every morning. I’m a bit sick of them tracking in the mud on the freshly vacuumed white tiles. It has been so humid here in the mornings that they’re getting a bit muddy in the backyard.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a walk. Today Anakin is wearing his Christmas bow tie. He looks mighty dapper if I say so myself. Naturally, I bought all three dogs Christmas outfits. I can’t wait to share the pictures with you. You’ll love them.

Today’s song of the day is Cleopatra, by The Lumineers

Affiliate advertising supports this blog. By clicking on the link and making a purchase, you are helping to support the blog with no added cost to you. I appreciate your support!

Posted on

Normal Saturday

For the first time since early October, it’s been a normal Saturday for me. It’s nice not having to work and being able to relax and get stuff done. The Mayor and I started the day off at BJ’s picking up some groceries. Surprisingly, the store was pretty empty, which made the shopping experience quite easy. Normally, I find BJ’s to be utterly unbearable. This, of course, is why I only go there once a month. Also, I don’t think my freezers could hold all the food if I went there more often. Needless to say, I’m happy that I checked that trip off my December to-do list.

Yesterday we started working with a trainer for Anakin. It’s been hard to get him socialized and trained properly due to the pandemic, but Gari will be great for him. He did really well with her once he got comfortable. Unfortunately, he’s a bit of a nervous dog around new people, so it took a while for him to warm up. We quickly figured out, however, that as long as Maya was out of the crate with him, he was more comfortable. Our session yesterday was a consultation and to see how he would respond. I liked Gari’s style and felt that I learned a lot from her. We didn’t cover a lot of ground yesterday, but we’ve been practicing his new skills a lot today.

I had planned to run today, but my body is just not feeling it. After all, it’s my second week back to working out after a six or seven week hiatus. My goal is to get back to running every day for at least a mile. Additionally, I’m back to practicing yoga daily, which is helping a lot. BBG continues to deliver week after week of great workout. Since I took a break, I’ve definitely regressed a bit. Consequently, I’ll be repeating BBG 3.0 before moving on to 4.0. BBG 3.0 is significantly more difficult than 2.0, so I don’t feel bad at all about having to repeat it.

This afternoon, I mixed up some cookie dough for Christmas cookies and ordered more decorations. Like many Americans, I find myself decorating the house more this year. After all, 2020 has been such a gloomy year, why not brighten it up with some Christmas cheer. I’ve also been working on my memory book for Jake’s Air Force journey. It’s so fun to look back on the pictures from the past year. Hopefully, I’ll finish the book later today or tomorrow. This evening we’re headed to my brother’s for dinner. Again, since I’ve gone nowhere in like seven weeks, it will be nice to leave the house.

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I read The Idiot, by Fyodor Dosytoevsky

*It’s day 6 of BBG 3.0 week 4 and I’m doing nothing. I decided to rest on the 6th day because I’m a rebel like that.

*Today I thought about running a mile and decided to take the day off. It was good thought.

*Today’s word of the day is share, which is why I write this blog. To share my thoughts great and small with all of you.

*I’m enjoying my normal Saturday with absolutely nothing on my to do list.

*I’m headed to my brother’s tonight for dinner and board games.

*After today, my running streak stands at 0 days and I’m not mad about it.

*I love the footprints the puppies leave on the patio when coming back in every morning. Today’s footprints may have included some ashes since they knocked over the grill. There are, however, no kitties in this house.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a walk. Today Anakin is wearing his Christmas bow tie. He looks mighty dapper if I say so myself. Naturally, I bought all three dogs Christmas outfits. I can’t wait to share the pictures with you. You’ll love them!

Today’s song is Superheroes by The Script, enjoy!

Affiliate advertising supports this blog. By clicking on the link and making a purchase, you are helping to support the blog with no added cost to you. I appreciate your support!