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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?

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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?

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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!

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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?

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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

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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!

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What Day Is It Anyway?

This isolation thing has me wondering what day is it anyway? All the usual markers of my week are gone! How is one to distinguish Sunday from Monday with no Monday bus stop run! If there’s no yoga and I don’t go to my 4:00 pm class, is it even Wednesday? Honestly, I’m all over the place with my days. Frankly, I just lost my train of though as my mayor farted in my face. Only teenage boys tell their parents goodnight in this fashion.

Time is blending together as the isolation wears on. I’d hardly know it was a new day if I didn’t get my morning coffee. Admittedly, the Sweat App does help as I do my resistance workouts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Tuesdays and Thursdays are for running. Although tomorrow, which I’m told is Saturday, I’m going to run three miles.

This week we passed our time with some Disney movies and the Tiger King. Wow! If ever there was a show that could make you feel better about yourself whole making you terrified for society, this is it! I’ve never seen more of a train wreck before and I’ve lived in Florida for nearly fifteen years. From beginning to end, the Tiger King was a wild ride in insanity. I’m not neither Team Joe Exotic or Team Carol as I think they’re both terrible. I did, however, learn (thank you Carol) that is you want a big cat to eat something it shouldn’t put sardine oil on it…. Why would you even know that?!!! Oh wait…..
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This evening we started watching The Office again. It made me miss Jake and Mel, so I had to text them that. Coincidentally, they were watching The Office season 1 together via FaceTime. Clearly, great minds think alike. Every time I watch this show, I love it more. It’s the perfect television binge for a pandemic.
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While we binged on Netflix, our Maya stayed by our side on the couch. Her incision site is healing well. More importantly, she is returning to her normal self. She has a good energy, a happier disposition and a healthy appetite. In addition, she even tried to play with Athena and Anakin today. We’re very happy with the progress she’s made over the last twenty four hours. We’re praying that her biopsy results show nothing nefarious.

I thought it might be fun to catalog what I’ve learned during our time in isolation.  Here’s what I learned this week:

  • Skipping rope is a lot harder than I remember it being.
  • I suck at skipping rope
  • Sardine oil makes big cats hungry
  • Not all hard seltzers are created equally
  • It is possible to make a yummy gluten free cake at home.  Thank you Krusteaz!
  • My runs are getting faster!
  • Connections via technology are great, but they’re no replacement for the original.  
  • Becky Sharp is one of my least favorite characters in literature. 
  • It’s scary to drop off your pet for surgery. 
  • I should not partake in more than 2-4 margaritas in a night.
  • I now understand how my parents felt when they told teenage me not to go out, but I went out anyway.
  • A college degree isn’t necessary to be an expert in a given field.  A Facebook page, however, will make you an expert in everything.

What have you learned during this pandemic? I hope your list isn’t empty as there will be a quiz when this is all over.

 

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Sweet Maya

Our sweet Maya has had a lipoma on her tummy for the last six months. After an inconclusive biopsy last month, Maya ripped it open causing an infection. Sadly, it got infected and quite smelly. Originally surgery on the growth was optional, but the infection and damage Maya did to the tumor necessitated it’s swift removal.

Consequently, I had her scheduled for surgery tomorrow. Additionally, I set up an appointment to make sure the infection was treated before her surgery. After seeing the damage Maya was able to do to the growth, the vet moved the surgery up to today. Since we’re in the middle of a pandemic, we were given curbside assistance. Sadly, we were not able to accompany Maya in for her appointments or post-op recovery.

Maya is our first family dog and almost eleven years old. She’s been very healthy outside of a lung cancer scare last year. According to the vet, the mass in the lungs is still there, but is extremely slow growing. Nonetheless, this was a high anxiety day for me and the family. I may or may not have called the vet’s office a couple of times to check on her.

Finally, the vet called at 2:00 pm to let us know her surgery had gone well. Thankfully, they were able to get all of the mass and she tolerated the surgery well. He also indicated that the wound looks great. At this point, she was in the post operative area where she was waking up from the anesthesia. Lastly, he indicated we could pick her up around 4:00 pm.

It would probably come as no surprise that I was at the vet’s office by 3:55 pm. I was anxious to see our sweet Maya again. The vet assistant walked her out and she was wagging her tail. Maya looked tired, but happy to see Goalielocks and I again. She’s spent the rest of the evening chilling with us on the couch. Now we’ll be crossing our fingers that the biopsy results show no cancer. Fortunately, the vet should be calling us Monday with the results. Keep your fingers crossed!

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Our Sweet Anakin

This is a bit late, but I’m excited to introduce the blogosphere to our sweet Anakin. He’s our first foster fail. Once I saw his face, I knew he was ours and that I could never give him up. He joined our family on President’s Day weekend after Goalielocks spent his afternoon caring for him at the shelter.
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Goalielocks volunteers at the adoption center for Justin Bartlett animal recuse on the weekend. Anakin came into the center late on a Saturday afternoon and was afraid to be alone, so Goalielocks spent the afternoon comforting and playing with him in the back. When I went to pick Goalielocks up that day, I took one look at Anakin and knew we had to take him home. And that is how our foster experience began.

We made it official the next Friday when I completed the adoption process. From the first day of fostering him, he has gotten along tremendously with our older dogs. Athena would miss him when I’d take him back to the adoption center to be shown. He and Athena spend a lot of their days playing together, which has afforded Maya our old lady to relax more.


From the beginning Anakin has been the best puppy.  He’s got a great mix of puppy playfulness with calm.  Also he’s taken quickly to both potty training and obedience training.  Fortunately, he’s a very smart dog happy to please his family.  Moreover, he’s the sweetest most affectionate puppy.  Anakin loves to give us all kisses especially on our ears.  After a difficult year with lot’s of changes, he’s the perfect addition to our family.   He’s simply delightful.We love our little guy!

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P.S. while the world is shutting down due to the pandemic, non-profit organizations and the population they serve need our support. Justin Bartlett Animal Rescue needs our support as they continue to care for animals that are in their care. You can donate here: https://www.justinbartlettanimalrescue.org/info/donate