a dog’s life

bath time. apparently also known as torture.

I have lived in this house for what feels like forever. And apparently never looked up while in the kitchen. We have a sky light. WHAT?! Who knew about this and never told me?! We have a sky light that has always been covered up because well, it’s Florida. And it’s freaking hot without a sky light directing all that heat straight into the house. But I’m a photographer. And I love light. SO- uncover the sky light noooooooooow!!!!! I was giddy seeing all that yummy light! So now the poor pups not only have to suffer through the awful terror that is a bath, but they now have the added pressure of the lens focusing on them.

I think Tink looks hilarious wet. She is such a strange looking pup to begin with (I say that in the most loving way), but get her wet and she takes on a whole new level of weird.

and poor Koda. My god does he absolutely despise bathtime. There is crying and whimpering and brave attempts at taking flying leaps from the sink.

This next photo is really quite poor but I can’t resist sharing it because this is Koda, telling you exactly how he feels about this bathtime business

and please don’t think that I torture the two, and spoil the third. Oh no, she has her own special torture that we call Mealtime. Anyone that shares a house with a Pug knows that they are slightly psycho for food. We have a special bowl that slows her feeding and really works quite amazingly- we went from her eating her food in less than 30 seconds to it taking her sometimes as long as 3 minutes to complete a meal. But the bowl is not enough. One of the best things we learned in our obedience classes was the command leave it. We use it at meal time, pouring her food and telling her to “leave it”. She stands at her bowl, at the ready, waiting impatiently for the release command of ok. Best “trick” EVER. She is SO good at it and very rarely breaks the command before I release her. She is so patient with it that I sometimes forget to release her, and hubby has to remind me that she is still standing at the bowl, waiting to eat. oops!

Not the best shots…but here she is patiently waiting…

a dash of random

I’m not even going to attempt to call it a Friday Five, because I seem to have an aversion to getting five items on the list. So let’s just go with plain old fashioned randomness.

* working out sucks. That’s right. It suuuuucks. But the truth of the matter is that I have gone from skinny to fat to soft around the edges and if I want to continue that sentence with something fabulous like “…and now my amazing abs can shred paper they’re so ripped!” well then, I guess I need to work out, huh? So that is what I have finally started doing again. I love working out when I am actually in the middle of doing it. While I am sweating and cursing up a storm and feeling light-headed I am actually falling in love with the process and feeling stronger and feeling proud of myself. But to actually do it? pffffft. That’s the hard part. But I am trying. I have been getting my money’s worth on my elliptical and have been beat to hell by Jillian Michaels 30-day shred. If I don’t die from it all, maybe I’ll start a new document shredding business with my fancy new abs 😉

* speaking of working out…I love the power that music has to motivate a person. My ultimate workout song is Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”.

* dog food. yup, random and not very interesting. But it has been a big topic in this household lately. After feeding Natural Balance Venison & Sweet Potato for what feels like forever, I made the decision to switch my dogs’ diets after have huge inconsistancies in the quality of the food, and dealing with incredibly poor customer service when I tried to get to the bottom of it. But what to feed them??? Have you ever actually researched dog food? Holy cow there is a lot of information out there! So many different ingredients, formulas, theories and myths. Phew! I feel like I have taken a dog-food science class and my head feels slightly like it may explode with all the information. So after lots of reading I went to the pet store today and finally bought what I think was the best option; Orijen Regional Red. They have a different view on dog food that really appealed to me. Their theory is summed up on their website as this: “Dogs and cats evolved as hunters- the structure of their teeth, jaws and digestive system scientifically classifies them as carnivores, adapted to a meat-based diet that is rich in animal protein and fat.”

* fresh green beans! Who doesn’t love fresh green beans?! So fresh and crunchy. LOVE!

the pursuit of happiness

I am in a rut and can clearly see that I am sitting at the bottom of a hole, looking up into the bright light, wondering why I am stuck in darkness down here at the bottom.

While visiting with April this past weekend I whined about my frustrations over not having anything to blog. Technically, I have lots to say. It’s just that it is probably nothing that needs to be aired on a blog. My intent is not to have the most depressing blog around. So instead I don’t blog at all. Which leaves me frustrated. So, do I leave the blog unattended to, let it fend for itself and hope that sporadic posts are enough to keep it alive? Or do I do what I have always done, and keep things as open and real as possible, and just hope that you stick around while I wallow in some darkness, desperating seeking a way to get to the bright side of things?

Open + Real.

So here is the thing. Happiness is a struggle for me. It always has been, really for as long as I can remember. This is not to say that I sit around crying all day. That I don’t smile or laugh or enjoy my days. It’s just that I have to work at it a little harder. It is easy for me to fall into a general state of melancholy. It is important for me to make conscious efforts at keeping things light and happy and positive. And sometimes that makes me tired. And sometimes, when things are not going well in my life, I can’t keep up with it. It seems like it is too much work. To smile. To be nice. To pretend like it is all ok. So sometimes I surrender to it. And I take a nice long vacation from happy and visit the land of blah.

The problem is, this time around I sort of let myself get stuck there for a touch too long. And now I am struggling to pull myself out of it. But I am pulling myself out of it. Since the loss of my friend in December I have felt like I have been caught in a spiral of sadness and disappointment. Going around and around and around. And at every turn another form of upset seems to latch on and drag me just a little further down. From December to mid-March I have lost an amazing friend, two pets, and an incredibly important relationship that can never be replaced. I have been having health issues and work issues and have felt very alone through it all.

And so here I sit. I am slowly pulling myself back up. And I just wanted to let you know about it. Because I have decided to be open. and real. And I hope you stick around to see how it all turns out.

lucky girl

See this girl? She’s April, one of my besties, and I love her. I am a lucky girl. I’ve been having a tough run of things lately, but this lovely lady made a quick jaunt down to Florida and made me forget about the tough side of life.

I love her because she makes me laugh. I also love her because when I cry, she cries with me. She is a very good sympathy crier. I appreciate that ♥  This weekend she let me unload all of my worries and problems and tears on her. I am a lucky girl.

just because

because I can. because though it was taken a week before we said goodbye to her, I only now have looked at it. because I happen to love it. because it still hurts how much I miss her. just because ♥

Friday Five

I’m bored and tired and restless and frustrated I have nothing exciting to blog about. And so, you get this.

1.  Water.  I love water. A lot. I always have a bottle handy. It’s one of those never-leave-home-without-it items. Last night I needed to start a 12-hr fast for a medical test today. I was banned from everything, including water. 12 HOURS WITHOUT WATER. It was tragic. People, I drink water in my sleep. For real. I’m pretty sure my insides shriveled up just a little bit. I think that I died of dehydration for, like, 3 seconds.

2.  Baked Cheetos.  I looooove cheesey puffs. But “healthy” ones? That are tasty? Suuuuuuuuuure. They are, in fact, tasty! Go figure.

3.  Gum Chewers.  To all the naughty gum chewers out there: I do not want to hear your gum being chomped on. I do not want to see what color said gum is. Did your mothers show you no manners whatsoever???

4.  The Perfect Sofa.  Hubby and I have been fantasizing about replacing our couch. It seems like it should be a simple task. We have gone to a couple of stores to pipe-dream and apparently it is not that simple. Do I want leather? Ummm, NO. Do I want something that screams “Hellllllllo! I want my furniture to look like a tacky Florida model home”? Ummm, NO. Oh, ok, so apparently there are no sofas appropriate for us, because that is ALL that is out there. Boo to ugly sofas!

5.  Public Service Announcement.  Please heed my advice. If your dogs poops, and you are responsible and scoop the poop and then there is no where to dispose of the bag, think twice before transporting the bag in your car. On a hot day. Just sayin’

werd.

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sports edition pug?

We like to go adventuring. I like to bring dogs with us. He worries about bringing dogs with us. He especially worries about bringing along a pug. There’s the big scary HEAT STROKE to worry about. With Punky, it was never really an option to bring her along, especially when she got older. She gave us one good scare with overheating and that was more than enough. But with the arrival of this itty bitty little thing, I suspect I may have found myself a sports model.

Friday Five

I figure, it’s been awhile. You don’t really want to hear about all the un-uplifting stuff I have to talk about. So why not get random?

1.  Levi Jeans.  I finally re-discovered Levi Jeans. Isn’t that sad? How do you forget something as American as Levi’s?!?! Somehow I got lured by the cheapies of Old Navy. I convinced myself I loved these jeans. And then one day, I actually LOOKED at what I was seeing in the mirror- really poor fitting jeans that can only be accomplished by being cheap. I scurried back to my dear Levi’s, hanging my head in shame. Levi’s took me back with open arms ♥

2.  Books.  I love books. I love reading and getting lost in the stories. A couple recent reads…

It’s a bit of a random mix, I admit. My reading habits are very much like my music habits.

Columbine was one of those books that I picked up and considered on many occasions, but always put back down. One of the things I love about the Kindle is the option of downloading a preview before buying. I previewed the book. I was still unsure about it, but purchased it. It took me awhile to like this book. When I first started reading it, I thought it was a mistake. I felt like I was peeking in on someone else’s tragedy. But really, it is a very good book. It is well written and my eyes were opened to a slew of misconceptions about the tragedy.

Under The Dome was a surprise for me. I am not a huge Stephen King fan, but I had heard some good things about the book, and honestly, I was very tempted by it’s sheer size. If a storyline is good, there is nothing better than it going on and on and on! I loved the story and I loved the ability the writing had to make me so strongly hate some of the characters. I always appreciate an author that is so good at their craft that they can get their reader fully invested in the characters. However…as with most Stephen King books, it does get to a point that is just slightly too far-fetched for my taste. But otherwise, I loved the book and was very sad when it finally ended.

The Hunger Games trilogy was a peer pressure read 🙂 I had seen numerous people comment on these books and finally decided to take a peek. I really enjoyed these books. Reading the book descriptions, I was really unsure, but again, thanks to the Kindle preview, I was quickly sold. It is an interesting storyline that I did not expect to enjoy so much. These books are a fun, easy read.

Decoded is on my Kindle, and it is all Oprah’s fault. She was raving about the book, so I bought it. WOO PEER PRESSURE!!! I am not sure how I feel about the book yet. I am only about halfway through it, and I have mixed feelings. I find a lot of it fascinating; Jay-Z writes about a world I know nothing about, so I find a lot of it intriguing. I don’t think it is the best written book I have ever read- I feel like the topics bounce around quite a bit- yet he notes he has never been a linear thinker, so there you have it.  At it’s core though, it is interesting to see how he views rap as an art form, as poetry. To be able to get inside his mind, to see the true meanings of his lyrics. I have, by far, underlined more segments in this book than any other book I have read recently.

3.  Traffic Light.  I kinda really like this show.

annnnnnnnnnnd, that’s all you get 🙂 Friday THREE! Sorry, I got sidetracked, and a little bored, and gave up. It’s the procrastinator in me 🙂