Monday, April 5, 2010

Weekend Wrap Up

Well, things are looking up. Why? I don't rightly know. Maybe the pressure is off? Whatever it is, I'll take it over how I felt for the last couple of weeks!

I had Friday and Saturday off of work, which was nice - I feel like I've gotten a real weekend in. The weather has been wonderful - sunny, highs around 80 - just perfect to sit outside and enjoy an iced tea, or some frozen yogurt (::grin::). We planted some annuals - my favorite, the Moss Rose (or Portulaca), in the walkway in front of our house - they don't look quite this lush yet, but they will, very soon. Grilled dinner both evenings - I'm trying some new foods (chicken andouille sausage, for example) and not counting calories, but eating intuitively. There is less stress and angst at the moment, for which I am grateful.

I am feeling good. I went for a run all by myself on Friday morning at the park I normally run at. I was a little creeped out at the lack of people there - don't know if it was because of the Good Friday holiday, or that it was a little later (9:45 am) in the day - but running through the nearly deserted park wasn't quite as relaxing as it normally is when I have a running buddy, or at least other people around. Couple that, along with some boredom, and I only managed about 2.3 miles. I redeemed myself on Sunday, though - Jeff and I went to the park before 9:00 am and he rode his bike around while I ran - and I managed to get a full 5K (3.1 miles) in, so I felt good about that. Plus the animals were out in full force - I swear, it was like a Disney movie! Squirrels were everywhere, cardinals kept flying in front of me...I even saw a crane down in the creek! Made for an interesting run, that's for sure!

Speaking of running, this was in an article called "A Few Rules To Run By" from Active.com - I love it, and I'm trying to keep it in mind when I run:

Run Like a Dog

My dog, a shepherd mix named Cooper, doesn't care where we are or what time of day it is, or even what the weather is like. He doesn't know what his resting heart rate is and rarely bothers to wear a watch. He just loves to run. And every time he does, his face and his body telegraph one simple message: This. Is. AWESOME. I'm runningrunningrunningrunning! The "Run Like a Dog" Workout (Including Warmup and Cooldown) Walk 8 seconds. Trot 4 seconds. Stop. Sniff. Sprint 7 seconds. Freeze. Walk 5 seconds in any direction but forward. Stare 9 seconds. Lunge at rabbit. Double back, walk 3 seconds. Urinate. Repeat six times. Collapse on rug.
And speaking of dogs (nice segue, dontcha think?), I've been meaning to post these pictures for a while now...before there was Paco the Wonder Dog, we had Jackie - our sweet dachshund. We got her when she was a tiny little thing - maybe eight weeks old? (Forgive my bad memory - this was back in 1992). Anyway, Jackie was a good dog. She grew up with the kids and was always so gentle with them. Everyone loved her, even our cats. Poor Jackie could never get away from them - it's not really in a dachshund's nature to be friends with cats, but they gave her no choice. I give you Exhibit A:
Jackie and new kitten Taz, who just wanted a mother-figure...

...and Exhibit B
Jackie and grown-up Taz, who still loved to cuddle...

...and Exhibit C
Jackie and Pumpkin, who always loved to spoon!

I love these pictures because Jackie always looked so put upon - she would give me this "can't you do something?!?" look, but really, she could have gotten away from the cats if she'd wanted to. Every time I see a picture on Debby's blog of her cute little Sophie, I'm reminded of Jackie. She hasn't been with us for a few years now, but we have a lot of great memories of that little red dog.

So. Another post that has wandered all over the place...if you've managed to stay with it to the end, I thank and applaud you!

26 comments:

  1. Yep, Jackie definitely has a "help me!" expression on her face. Very cute. Oh how we love our animals. :-)

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  2. On a morning when I'm mad at my dog for chewing up his bedding, for the bagillionth time, I needed to see those sweet pictures of your Jackie and the cats. Thanks for putting a smile on my face!

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  3. Less stress and angst about your eating can only be a good thing as far as I'm concerned!

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  4. That's so great about your dog! How cute is that!
    I have two dogs a german shepard and a Shitzu. The Shitzu is CRAZY and goes after the Shepard, the shepard puts him in his place and then it happpens all over again the next day!

    I can relate to your feeling of obandend in the park. I usually run in the neighbourhood so there are always cars passing or people in their front yards, makes me feel less alone!

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  5. That is too cute. I've had a few dogs in my life and only one is a snuggler. And then only with humans. I take that back... My parents has a 2yr old lab who is a love. He'll snuggle anything that'll let him.

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  6. LOL! I love that last picture. So sweet :)

    I totally get the creeps walking in a park with no people. I need a bigger dog to walk with me. Maybe if you ran with a big dog you;d feel better? :)

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  7. CUTE DOG! She looks like she was loved and really what a nice back warmer with that long spine. I am eating intuitively also and kinda watching it at times. Starting to exercise all new things this last week made me super hungry and needed to up my water and eat more protien.

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  8. What a cheerful little post today; dogs and cats spooning and your Disney Musical run cracked me up! I like your idea of eating intuitively, that sounds like a nice place to be in your goals. Great job running, keep it up!

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  9. A post written just for me! Those pictures of Jackie are too too funny. Dachshunds have the most expressive faces. Of course their favorite expressions are worried, put upon, and frustrated! Not really, I guess. I always say they are the most joyful dogs I know.

    I LOVE the description of a dog running. I will think of that today when I take Noah out!

    Woo hoo for you and intuitive eating. I think it just means taking the knowledge we've worked so hard to accumulate and putting it into practice. I am 'intuitively' eating WAY less today than I ate yesterday!

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  10. Those pictures are so cute.

    I like how dogs run, but I don't think I could just pee anywhere and keep working out....

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  11. I like your blog. I am just starting my journey of losing weight and love visiting blogs to get encouragement. You did a great job losing the pounds.

    Willow

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  12. Jacky was such a cute dog, I can imagine you still miss that. I'm looking for a new dog now. The hub has agreed that we can have a new dog although he wants to wait a bit but I'll keep my eyes and ears open. I miss the company of a dog in the house.

    Two runs over the weekend: great job Shelley!

    And you are a bad bad girl: now you've brought me a new idea: invent special occasions so I can drink my wine :lol:

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  13. Great job on your weekend runs! I feel spooked too if I am the only one on the path!

    OMG, I loved the pictures of Jackie snuggling with the cats - thank you for sharing!!

    Happy Monday!

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  14. Are you still running with your ipod? That would keep me going i mean if I *could* actually run. Or take a camera (or cramera as Hannah calls them) and look for weird things to shoot. Yesterday I saw 6 weird things to photograph and I got none of them because I was driving.

    That last photo killed me.
    Seriously. I'm dead.

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  15. Your Jackie-doxie pics are precious! I love the last one best. That is quite an expression on J's face. LOL

    Glad you enjoyed your nature run!

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  16. I love the idea - Run Like a Dog...perhaps that needs to be my new mantra. Most of the time I spend exercising, I bargain with myself about how much more I still have to do. On nice days when I go outside it's a different story, but it would be good to be thrilled the entire time...thanks for the reminder.

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  17. I aspire to be as relaxed as Pumpkin is in that picture. Wow.

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  18. I loved your post. When I run tomorrow I will definately think about running like a dog. The pictures of your dog made me laugh, So cute! I also love my dogs!

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  19. Such a cute series of photos! Love them!

    I actually always run by myself...I'm more scared of running *with* someone and screwing them up than anything else!

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  20. Those pictures are so cute!

    Shelley, check out my blog, I've posted another weight loss success story!!

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  21. Great that you got a run in...and a full 5K to boot!

    Those pics are precious...thanks for sharing them.

    Oh...and if we can add in pooping in the neighbors yard, then yes...I might try running like a dog too.

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  22. The look on Jackie's face made me laugh out loud for more than a minute :) Dogs are great models for living in so many ways. My 15 year old three legged staffordshire terrier still smiles and gambols at the prospect of his morning run, even though these days we only go about 500 metres. Thanks for sharing.

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  23. Jackie has so much expression to her face. So cute!

    Good job getting two runs this weekend! I love the Run Like A Dog strategy. That is *exactly* what I did Friday and it was so much fun! Except I did wear my Garmin and my Bodybugg. So I ran like a dog with gadgets. :)

    Glad the stress is easing and you feel good. It's nice to hit that happy zone from time to time.

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  24. I aspire to be as relaxed as Pumpkin is in that picture. Wow.
    home jobs india

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  25. I loved your blog! It's so so cute!!

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  26. your pets are adorable =)

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