Snake Season

Monday's on my training calendar are marked with Weights or Xtraining.

This past Monday I wasn't in the mood to ride my bike on the trainer or lift weights....I was craving the outdoors and some time with my best buddy...and because I had been stuck staring at my computer all day with work, I needed to take it outside.

I am trying to live by the mantra of "just get out and do something"....to not restrict myself, to do something active that is fun and feels good. Why? Because exercising should be fun, creative and enjoyable so if I want to hike, I will hike.

I didn't get a killer workout or anything because it's a short 3.25 hike and I have to stop frequently to give water to this little turd...

It was quiet, hot and peaceful....and I felt a little nervous because it's now snake season and I ran into a rather large rattlesnake last year, so I was on the lookout the whole time. I'm thinking about getting Sadie snake proofed....has anyone done this with their doggies before?

Happy girl.

My Yearly Cold

I know the weekend has come and gone, but here it is anyway.

I rarely get sick, thank goodness....so when I do, I really hate it. I get bored easily. I hate laying around. I hate slowing down. As I mentioned a couple days ago, we were up at our cozy little cabin. We drove up Friday, early enough to give the place time to warm up so we didn't die in our sleep (joking, kind of).

The thermostat said 22 degrees when we arrived. Awesome. Even more awesome? Our pipes were frozen...so much for winterizing those damn pipes. We got the heat going and eventually it was toasty warm and we had working water...it was touch and go there for a while.

I felt good enough to "hit the town" Friday night to grab a bite to eat, it was fish and chips night after all at the local watering hole. I've mentioned it before, but small town folk still amaze me. So.much.weirdness. (sorry if I offend anyone, k, not really)

 The rest of the weekend was spent being a complete lazy waste of life. Good times.

And I miiiiight have eaten a whole batch of cookies....with very little help from Wade. Photo evidence has been burned.

Til next year Cold.

Double Take

...I did one yesterday after pulling up to this car yesterday at a red light.

 Doesn't that just make you SMILE? I laughed to myself and then quickly snapped the pic. Lucky Dog.

Mutts

Ah, the joy's of pet ownership. My little Sadie is sick. Again.

Hopefully it's just something she ate, and not a repeat of last summer ---> disaster.

So here I sit at 4:30am, cup of coffee, the news and a quiet house. Of course, my dog by my side.

Sometime I really wonder why I have these fleabags, these mutts...after all the pooping, shedding, drooling, water drinking, in constant need of attention and super expensive food and medication habit I deal with on a daily basis. But then I think about it, and I rememeber.

Silly, unconditional love.

I gotta chokehold on you

A lovely Sunday

Occasionally, Sunday's can be dreaded in this household...back to work, and the end of a weekend...

But this Sunday was special. We stayed an extra night in the Mountains. Ah, one perk of self employment. The dogs were especially pleased with this decision.

We went to lunch, took a drive, did some projects around the Cabin, napped and enjoyed just "being".

I laced up my shoes around 5:30 and set out for my 7 miles. I smiled to myself as I skipped through the pine trees, my feet quietly pounding pine needles instead of the usual plain old pavement.

The sun went down MUCH faster than I anticapted, and I turned around a little earlier than I would have liked.

No streetlights, no glow of front porch lights. The moon didn't help me much, as it was tucked behind the trees...I got a little scared being so alone and I picked up my pace while still being careful of where I stepped to avoid hurting myself. I kept thinking and secretly hoping that Wade would be driving out to find me soon...

As I headed up the last hill, I saw headlights coming towards me.

He told me I looked like a fairy in his headlights, the reflectors on my clothes and shoes bouncing around. He asked if I wanted to hop in. With only a half mile or so to go, I told him I'd run back. He followed me for a minute or so, headlights lighting my way.

6.5 miles of freedom, no traffic, no exhaust blowing in my face, the hope and slight fear of running into a critter or two...one of the most liberating runs I have ever had.

We sat around the fire pit, listening to Gyspy Radio, sipping on a nice red. BBQ'd kabobs, salad and fresh bread rounded out our evening....oh, and one tasty piece of cheesecake. ;)

Simply lovely.

Wow, I am a Maroon.

Pretty excited about this... I decided to go ahead and partake in this super awesome little Sweet Swap hosted by Stylish, Stealthy & Healthy and Second City Randomness, two super cute Bloggers!

Basically, we all submit our names, they make random assignments, we bake our favorite sweet and mail to the person assigned too. How cool is that?

Lil problem. I am NOT a baker. I prefer to cook, make messes, drink beer or wine and do 6,462 other things in the kitchen...but not bake. It's far too methodical, measured and precise for my messy and unfocused little self. But I am all about trying new things, and going outside my comfort zone.

Sous Chef #1 and #2

Second lil problem. I was assigned to bake for a vegetarian, which I am not! Yikes. I had planned on making my favorite Lemon Bars, but had to scratch that to find something to accommodate my victim taste tester. I found and modified a recipe for vegan lemon bars, made them, tasted them (like 16 of em) and was pretty happy with my results.

Yup, there sure is tofu in there.

I drove my happy ass to the post office to get them sent out and as I sat in the parking lot, it dawned on me that anything made with tofu would probbbbbably need to be refrigerated. IDIOT aka Maroon aka Moron. I don't know why I say Maroon, I just do ok? Seriously, sometimes I worry about myself. I immediately took the Lemon Bars to my office to be consumed by the hungry vultures and told myself it was no big deal. I had other things that needed to get done, like going to lunch, actually working and being tortured (more on that later).

I did manage to make a total disaster area out of my kitchen...

Where's my housekeeper when I need her? Oh wait...

So back to square one. I have another of my my original favorites that I can modify fairly easy and bust out and ship before we leave for Cali tomorrow!!!


Il'l let ya know if I eff this one up or not. 

Meet Sadie

Aka Mini Shepard, Midget Dog, Best DF (dogfriend), Smalls, Teeny, Mini....

How was my pace Mom?

 
I know, I'm a total lunatic.