Hello Again

I took the dog for a walk this morning.  We have this new 'walking collar' for him which has straps that go all over his face.  Ok, well not all over his face.  It looks like this:

That was the best shot I could get of it on him.  He's a little bit wiggly.  The harness leads him by his nose, instead of around the neck.  It's supposed to discourage pulling.  It seems to work ok when he's not fighting it.  Even though I've implemented the desensitizing process they had in the instructions, he's still reaches for his nose or thrashes his head.  However, I think I prefer it to the choke-collar we had been using.  He pulls a lot less with this new fandangled contraption.

Anyways,  besides the new walking collar, the walk this morning was nice.  I really should do it more often; I just greatly dislike waking up early.  The sun should be up when I get up.  Despite this dislike, I got up to my barely audible alarm at 5:45 am this morning and got myself and the dog ready.  My husband planned on coming with but woke up from a rough early morning sleep and with an aching back.  So Kuma and I set off, treats in hoodie pocket and iPod in hand.

I love walking.  It's slightly more difficult with the dog because he is trying to pay attention to everything around him (we need to get him out SO much more), but it's still nice.  There's no one out in the morning.  Just me, the dog, a light music playlist, and the distant morning traffic.  It's a great time to relax even though I'm working.   I don't have to be thinking about or doing anything else.  Just walking.

On the way back, I decided to jog a bit.  Mind you, I don't jog much so it wasn't long.  I tried to concentrate on making sure my heel hit first to protect my knees.  That's a lot harder than it sounds.  The dog, who always wants to go faster, could not figure this jogging thing out.  He saw me pick up the pace and must have thought, 'We're running? OK!'  He reached the end of the leash and seemed confused.  He slowed down until he reached my side and noticed me jogging again and it was as if the same thought ran through his head: 'We're running? OK!' and sped to the end of the leash.  Silly puppy.

My sisters are contemplating a Couch to 5k work out and I thought about it a lot this morning on my walk.  I think I might try it out.  I have no idea where I'd jog 5k though.  It'd be nice to have a goal to work towards.  I'll have to ask them about it. :)

Updating: Life in General

My last post was about my 'jammed nester' and I am happy to report that we are slowly making progress!  We actually had someone stay in the guest room this past week (though, it was just a queen size mattress on the floor surrounded with our stuff still)!  My husband also almost has his computer room all set up.  I am slowly, and I mean  s   l   o   w   l   y  getting the kitchen put together.  I cooked dinner last night and we ate at the table!  YAY! 

Concerning decorating, Michael and I are searching for posters we both like.  The one he already has that we both love would be a fortune to frame and dangerous to dry mount since it is no longer available in the size he has.  We'll get there. :)

So here I am at work, feeling much less productive than I imagine myself being if I was at home.  Laundry and dishes to do, messes to clean up, floors to sweep, boxes to unpack!  However, I also took a moment to look through some facebook pictures of my man and started to think about life as it was last year.  It was fun.  There are milestones to look forward to now.

In 21 days, we will have been together for a year.  (All of you who were aghast at our speed may now gasp).  It's neat for me.  Last time I was in an official long term relationship, it was officially over on our one year anniversary.  I'm excited to reach 1 year because I know Michael isn't going anywhere.  I'm excited to count the coming years as well. 

My sister and her family have been in town for a while which is awesome.  What's not so awesome is that they leave on Saturday and I feel like I've barely seen them at all.  Working stinks.  :/  My siblings get to spend all this time with her and her baby.  I'm here at work in front of a computer screen all week while they're entertaining the baby and interacting with my sister and her husband.  Boo.

It's been thunderstorms for several days in a row now, here.  It's just like it used to be when I was a little kid!  Afternoon thunderstorms over the mountains.  We used to sit and watch while eating popsicles on the back porch until it got closer and we ran scared.  For as much as the dog seemed to LOATHE fireworks, he doesn't seem to mind thunder much.

Speaking of the dog, he's starting to get bigger.  Not just in size, but also in mentality.  He's grown out of the puppy 'love everyone' stage and he's started to bark.  Not constantly, just more often.  We've determined I shall never be snuck up upon while doing laundry, or just facing away from the world.  He even barks at my husband, like he did this morning while I was making our lunch in the kitchen, when they approach or walk by when I'm facing a wall.  While I know I'm protected by him, we're going to have to work on that. 

He's also lost his baby teeth.  Michael said you never really see them, but Kuma decided to prove him wrong by losing 2 in front of us on different occasions.  His big dog teeth are coming in and they look much too large for his mouth at the moment.  Right now though, he's struggling with chewing a little bit because he's got his front teeth in, his molars in, and everything between is missing.  Cute puppy.

Well, that's all for now.  That's the update on life right now.  Until next time!

Life as I know it

There are so many events that make up life.  It's just overwhelming to think about.  Do you ever listen to the stories from your grandparents?  Or even your parents?  They have really experienced so much in life.  All those events that happen seemingly 'stand alone' make up life.  They also make for an entertaining afternoon talking in the living room.

Right now, I'm just starting to really collect those experiences.  I hope I will have some entertaining ones.  I want my grandkids to tell my stories to all of their awesome friends.

This is not what I really wanted to post, but I don't have the pictures downloaded yet that I want to share, so this is what I'm posting!

May 11th, against our better judgment and original plans, we bought a dog.  Our original plan was to buy a dog when one of us could be home all day so the dog could be trained properly.  One day while I was waiting for something at work before I could do my job, I wandered onto craigslist.com to fill the time and went to the pets section.  At the top I found this ad with 3 pictures of adorable puppies.  Husky/Lab/Mastiff mixes. Four months old. $50.  I sent the link to my husband and minutes later got a call with, 'How could you send that to me?  I want to go get one.' We talked a little bit and arranged to go see them and well...we came home with Kuma.

Kuma means bear in Japanese. He was the mellowest of the puppies, but he'd also already gotten into a lot of trouble before we bought him!  He had surgery for intestinal blockage after he chewed off and swallowed carpet foam padding.  Also, a short time before we got him he had chewed on a TV cable and burnt his lip.  We think maybe that's why he's so mellow...Maybe.  Maybe he's just sneaky that way.

He really is a pretty well behaved dog.  He's caught on to potty training pretty well.  Sometimes if we're not paying attention, he decides he can't hold it anymore and we find a puddle but that is becoming less and less frequent.  He is also a scaredy dog.  We've found that he might be terrified of open spaces.  When I take him out in all of the green grass by the ballfield, he puts his ears back, tucks his tail, and bolts (as far as the leash will let him).  Poor thing.  If I can figure out how to mobile post, I'll try to post a picture from my phone of our adorable puppy. 

My husband and I are still living in his grandmother's basement, waiting to move.  We will be approaching 2 months of marriage soon.  We have lived all except one week (our honeymoon) in the basement.  This is the reason why it was against our better judgment to go ahead and buy a dog.  This long process is getting quite stressful on all of the parties involved.  Communication skills are being tested to the max.  Personally, eating out has worn off it's appeal.  I long to have a kitchen!  Yet, despite our impatience and frustration, we are provided for where we are at even if it's not what we'd like. 

I am playing softball this summer!  This is the first time I've taken part in an organized sport (if you don't count dance/dance team).  It's fun.  :)  I get butterflies in my stomach before the games.  Last Tuesday, I struck out but we still won handily!  If I play on the field, I play catcher which I enjoy.  Not a lot of pressure. Heehee....

These are just a few of the things going on in my life right now.  Maybe someday, I will tell my grandkids in the living room about what my life was like and they will be amazed. :D