Taking it off Together Tuesday

I did great at the beginning of the week but then the lasagna happened. I lost all focus at the end of the week but pulled it together on the weekend. I ended up pulling a -2.4 lb loss. That's still more than I was two weeks ago. So hopefully this week will go a bit better. I've not been feeling well and I actually drank my first soda in two months. My hope is that the Ginger Ale will help calm my upset stomach - even though it's full of junk and empty calories. I think I may have caught a stomach bug from my nephew. At least I am not feeling like eating crappy greasy food right now!



This week our contest is sponsored by Clara who writes the Coming Back to Life! She is offering a hand made tote as a prize this week! Here is a picture! Oh it is SOOO cute and perfect for fall!



The names of this week's "losers" were dropped into a coffee cup and this week's WINNER is Julie!

Congrats to Grace for being this week's biggest loser of 3.2 pounds!! Be sure to cruise over to her blog and congratulate her!

Chris - 2 LOSS
Tammy - 1 LOSS
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - no report
Grace - 3.2 LOSS
Leigh - 2.5 GAIN
Clara - 2.5 GAIN
Dette - 1.0 GAIN
Julie - 0.6 LOSS
Cheryl - NO CHANGE
Audrey - no report
Christy - 2.4 LOSS
Tina - 1.4 GAIN
Danielle - NO CHANGE
Jessie - NO CHANGE
Steph - no report

And welcome back CYN who is reporting no change this week.

This week's total - 0.8 LOSS!

My blog is moving.

My blog is moving...It will take a few days but it will soon be My Spoiled Mutts. Thanks so much to my friend Cynthia for helping set it up!! I'm excited to have my own site soon! Keep watching! I may still post on this blog until the other is up and running.

The nicest guy...

I had a rough morning today. I woke up with miserable allergies that didn't go away until I got to work. When I arrived here, I realized I left my lunch and dinner sitting on the kitchen counter. I have to work a long day on Mondays I pack two meals with me. Money is tight so I didn't want to go out to eat. I also didn't want my dogs to think it was okay to feast on my roasted food.

To make matters worse, I lost a bunch of data on my computer and was freaking out all morning. Stuff that could totally screw up my work life for a good couple of weeks until I restored it all.

Paul was going to pick D&M up for the day since I have to work both jobs. I asked him to stick my lunch in the fridge so at least it wouldn't be ruined. He was nice enough to bring it across town to me at work! And he brought my princess Marley with him (and Sage and Leon too). So I got lunch, I got to see Paul, and got some loves from the puppies! It was so incredibly nice of him to drive so far. He brought the dogs so he could walk them at the Dimple Dell Gulch that's not too far from my work here.

Ohhh and when I got back from visiting with Paul and the dogs, someone had restored all my lost data. All in all, the day has gotten a lot better than the way it started. I'm so lucky to have met such a nice guy who is willing to go out of his way to help me - even without being asked.

Eating Healthy

I've been trying, when possible, to make some healthy meals. I'm a horrible cook and I usually end up eating something that doesn't taste very good as a result of my attempt to cook something healthy.

I love veggies and I was a vegetarian until about a year and a half ago. So veggies are a good easy and healthy thing for me to eat. I mostly eat them raw because I don't know how to cook them.

I got this recipe from Chris but I improvised. I didn't add any peppers and I added portabello mushrooms and yellow squash and carrots and tomatoes. Oh and some whole garlic cloves too. The recipe called for salt and pepper but I don't like pepper much and I am trying to cut down on sodium so I used garlic powder instead. My house stinks but it tasted yummy so it's worth it.

Oh, and D&M always eat healthy. It's sooo easy for me to deny them the yummy treats that people offer. Yet I can't turn them down when yummy treats are offered to me. I wish someone made all my decisions on what I could eat. It really isn't difficult to keep a dog at a decent weight if you just make wise choices for them. Healthy food and small but healthful treats for training and reward is all it really takes. Exercise is good too!!

I really love raw feeding these two. It's good for them and my vet insists on it. They get some healthy kibble too since I work for a pet food company. They usually eat it in the morning for breakfast though. It's about time I start feeding some chicken now that it is cooling down. That will be nice since it's a bit cheaper than beef. My friend got some raw green tripe and she said her dogs love it. I may have to buy some one of these days but I can't handle feeding it.

Glad we all had a healthy and yummy dinner. Tomorrow is a weigh in day and I haven't had a great week so hopefully the low calorie dinner tonight will help a bit.

Relaxation Time

Dylan and I attended a Relaxation class yesterday at Four Legged Scholars yesterday. It was a really interesting course that talked about using Tie Downs to teach a dog to relax. Johanna also did a guided meditation with the people and their dogs!

During our guided meditation Dylan told me that he would like to play more flyball and that he wants me to pay more attention to him when we are just hanging around at home. He also would like me to get the living room cleaned so that we have more space to play in there.

So today I am trying to get motivated to clean. Well, I was working on paying bills etc, but now I am procrastinating by blogging. I really hate how messy my house is but I also hate cleaning!!

Icky Rash!!!

I think I may have had an allergic reaction to something I ate last night. When I got home from survivor night; I had been itching for a couple of hours. I noticed that I had red bumps all over my skin.

I don't think it was the dogs. The rash was mostly covered by clothing. I did have a dog in my lap for a while but I don't usually get a rash from dog allergies (yes I am allergic to my own babies)!

I didn't eat anything really abnormal last night. I did have some yummy fruit salad, Lasagna, Garlic Bread, and homemade Hummus. There were plums in the fruit salad and I haven't really eaten many plums in the past. I also wonder if there might have been something in the hummus?

I've also been taking a Pycnogenol Supplement to see if it will help with my allergies. I have only been taking it a few days now so I wonder if it could be an allergic reaction to that too.

I took a benadryl late last night. Man did that make it hard to get up this morning! I woke up and still had a rash everywhere. I am sitting here at work and trying not to scratch it. Whatever it is, I hope it goes away soon!!

Survivor is back!

My friends and I have been getting together to watch Survivor for years now. At first, I thought it kind of dorky. I'm not a big TV watcher and getting together for a reality show seemed a bit odd. But over the years I have come to appreciate the show and of course, the good company.

My friend has Tivo so we spend a lot of time pausing and chatting. We talk lots about dogs because he's a dog lover too. Sometimes D&M get to come with me but for the most part I leave them home. Dylan gets a little frustrated with so many dogs around and we have to keep my two baby gated into the TV room because my friend has a Blue and Gold Macaw that I can't trust them around.

Tonight the Survivor Season starts! We are getting together as usual but having good yummy homemade lasagna! I've been eating healthy all week so I can eat some lasagna tonight!! Should be lots of fun!! I enjoy having a free activity that encourages my friends and I to get together. When the survivor season ends, I feel like I don't see them enough because I can't afford to call them up and invite them to go out somewhere!!

Marley is the best medicine!

Marley is the best medicine!

We went on our scheduled therapy visit last night. Sometimes I forget how much impact a visit from a dog can have on people.

Last night we visited the same Alzheimer's patients. Many of these are the same patients we have visited for a year. I've been frustrated thinking our recreation therapist didn't really understand our purpose there. Last night, however, was different.

We had been making our usual rounds when we found a few people in the dining room. We went in and Marley and I went from one person to the next to say hello while she let people love on her. Marley likes to perform her tricks for people and the rec therapist kept telling everyone that Marley would do some tricks. She set the people's chairs up in a small circle around Marley and I. Marley did some sit ups, high 5's, and spins, and twirls, and all that. When I asked her to roll over, she did her very distinctive plop down and roll over! One woman started laughing and laughing. It was if she thought it was the funniest thing she had ever seen.

We've seen this woman before and she never speaks. She does always want to pet and visit with Marley and she's always with her roommate who appears to be her best friend. Last night, she separated herself. We visited and she made enough words for me to understand her questions about Marley. She laughed and smiled and grinned when Marley did tricks for her. She loved on her and Marley was a princess and loved every moment. Our rec therapist was amazed that this woman was laughing. In all the time she had been there, she had never heard her laugh. So we stayed and visited as long as Marley seemed comfortable. When it got time for us to leave, the woman commented that Marley seemed tired. In truth, Marley was fine, but it was a good time to leave.

Our rec therapist now wants to make a special effort to visit this particular patient. I think she now has a better understanding of the impact Marley can have on people. If my girl can provide a source of laughter, Marley really is the best medicine. We'll have a camera with us next visit so the rec therapist can take some pictures to put in People's rooms. I'm not allowed to take pictures of my baby girl when she's working but the facility sees some value in taking some pictures to put up in people's rooms to remind them of the dog that comes there to visit.

Marley is my very special girl. She has a way to know who is going to benefit from her love and affection. She's always happy to do some tricks and her Roll Over is the funniest thing I have ever seen! It takes a special dog to be a good therapy dog and Marley has proven herself to be wonderful at her job. She may never be the athlete and character the Dylan is. He tends to get a lot of attention when we are out and about. He's a strikingly handsome boy with a lot of personality. Sometimes I think he overshadows my little girl most of the time. Marley, however, proves time and time again that she's a wonderful little girl who has the ability to impact people in a very special way. Marley really is the best medicine!

WW -Dylan and the giant zucchini I found in the garden

Taking it off together Tuesday!

I didn't do so well this week! Actually, I did really poorly. I gained 3.2 lbs. I figure most of that is from eating food that can be delivered all week while I was painting. I ate pizza like 5 times!! It was yummy but it wasn't the healthiest of options. I was too busy to worry about making healthy meals and I wanted to feed everyone that came out to help me. I did eat burgers one day and chinese another. That was all during the week! Then the weekend came! And I had known that I had eated crappy all week and I used that to justify poor choices on the weekend! Godiva Chocolate cheesecake from the cheesecake factory was SOO good but didn't contribute to my goal of eating healthier! It was worth it though! I also ate out at chili's and some fast food too! Man I need to get refocused this week!

Last week we continued the contest where everyone who reported a LOSS had their name added to a drawing for a lot of 100 Mary Kay samples! The names of this week's "losers" were dropped into a coffee cup and this week's WINNER is Danielle!

This week our contest is sponsored by Ciara who writes the Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog! She is offering a hand made bracelet as a prize this week!

And check it out! We had an over all loss again this week (barely, but it's still a loss)! Congrats to Clara for being this week's biggest loser of 2.5 pounds!! Be sure to cruise over to her blog and congratulate her!

Chris - 1 loss
Tammy - 1 gain
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - 1 loss
Grace - 2.2 gain
Leigh - 1 gain
Clara - 2.5 loss
Dette - no change
Julie - 1.4 gain
Cheryl - no report
Audrey - 2.4 loss
Christy - 3.2 gain
Tina - no report
Danielle - 2 loss
Jessie - no change
Steph - no report

This week's total - 0.1 LOSS!

We hate the bath!

Dylan despises the bathtub! He won't even come into the bathroom if I am in there getting ready! Marley is getting more and more used to it since

she has to have a bath every 2 weeks before her therapy visit. Last night was bath night and Dylan hasn't had one in a few months so I decided he needed one too. He was sure unhappy about it!

Marley has learned to do 2 shakes behind the shower curtain before she gets out. She's a pretty good girl but I can't get Dylan to shake and towel drying a dog doesn't really work well! So as soon as he jumped out of the tub he was shaking and flinging water everywhere!

I'm allergic to dogs oddly enough so having wet dog smell all over my tiny house isn't the best plan. We survived though and I even slept next to two damp dogs. Oh the joys of dog ownership! I can't bear to kick them out of my bed for the night and I didn't have time to bathe them early enough that they would actually dry before bedtime!

At least they are clean! I love soft clean dogs!!! Marley will have her therapy visit tonight and she will be all clean for the people to pet her! Dylan will smell better and will be more fun to cuddle with. That only usually lasts a couple of days around my house because I am sure the two of them will be out splashing in mud and water sometime in the very near future! Guess that it's just part of living with a two dogs!

Chasin Lizards is lots of fun!

We took the dogs out to the desert today to give them a chance to get out and run. This is Dylan's favorite place because he gets to run free! I try to call him minimally here because it's flat and I can see him and he loves so much to go out and explore. He does quite well and checks in on his own so I don't call him unless I have too!

Dylan wears an orange vest and his Muttlucks Booties. He blends in so well with the landscape that this orange vest helps make him much more visible. He tends to wear out his front pads on this dry terrain so the muttlucks help prevent that issue. They seem to stay on well but they get turned around so I have to stop him from time to time for an adjustment. My vet says he wouldn't have so many issues with his pads if his nails weren't so dang long. I really need to get working on the dremel but I've found it is very difficult for me to work on this alone. I think it would be easier if there were someone to sit there and feed him!!


There were lots and lots of lizards today and the dogs had the time of their life. Dylan especially loves to chase the lizards. The funny thing is, the lizards will run through the sagebrush and keep on going but the dogs seem to think they are hiding in the bushes. By the time the dogs realize they aren't there; the lizards are long gone!!

Paul and Leon just seem to belong together. Leon rarely leaves his side unless he sees a bunny or a squirrel!
Three tired dogs came home and took naps. I really need to get Dylan one of this round dog beds. He loves this one that is over at Paul's house!

And who couldn't love this boy? I had to post this last pic that I took after Dylan woke up!! Isn't he the cutest english pointer you have ever seen?

Finished Painting!!!

We finished painting! Actually, we finished Friday night! I was SO happy to be done with it and I am pleased with the way things turned out. I think the house looks a lot better with a fresh coat of paint. It will rent easier in the future and hopefully this tenant will stay a bit longer than previous tenants!

THANKS SO MUCH TO ALL THE GOOD FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT CAME OUT TO HELP! There's no way I would have finished this if I hadn't had so many people willing to spend a few hours painting!!!

It's official! Marley is the cutest dog!

We went to the Salem Pet Fair today. Marley won the contest for the cutest dog. I alwasy knew she was the cutest girl!

I actually wasn't going to enter but I bought these cute bows for her hair right as the contest was starting. So we decided to run down and enter the contest because she looked SO darling with her bows in! Guess the bows really did make her the cutest!

She also won "Most Obedient!" It's kind of a funny title since I have not really done much obedience work with her. The contest was easy though - Sit, Stay, and Come. Then Marley and our friend Tonks had to do a roll over for a tie breaker. Pretty easy obedience and Marley LOVES to Roll over!!

Marley also ran in the flyball demo! I was so impressed with her! It's been about a year since she ran with a team and she did SO great! I actually let her play at practice 2 weeks ago just for the fun of it. She did great! Dylan's been limping so I didn't take him. Marley ran in his place! She completed all her runs after a messy warm up. She dropped the ball early once but other than that her runs were pretty good! She even did her swimmer's turn just like she is supposed too!! I'm amazed that after a year she could just go out there and do it like she'd been practicing all along!

It was a fun day at the Salem Pet Fair! We had fun with Cynthia, Chase, and Tatum! We got to ride down in the nice new van!!

YAY for Flyball!

Time for another Flyball Demo!! I can't wait! I'm not sure if Dylan will be able to run or not but I am just happy to get to go out and do a demo with my team! It's always a good time!

I'm lucky my friend Cyn got a new van! She's going to let me ride down to Salem, UT with her! I hate driving and this way we can save some money on gas and do our part to help the environment!

Marley will get to go too. If there are any contests, I may enter her! She won the roll over race at the last event we went too! She's a fast roller!!

We will get to hang out with Tatum, Chase, and Muffit!! YIPEE!!! I can't wait for tomorrow!

The New Tenant!

My new tenant arrived yesterday from NM. He seems pretty nice and really likes his cats. I foresee him spending a lot of time on the big front porch! He was sitting out there when I got home last night.

The house already smells a bit like cats. It's just his stuff that was moved in. I'm a bit nervous the place might smell like cats after he moves out but hopefully a good cleaning and cleaning some carpets will help.

He likes to cook and to garden. I suspect he might stay on top of me to keep the front yard looking a bit nicer. It's probably good though. I'm super lazy about yard work and I hate doing it. I kind of need to be obligated to get it done to keep me motivated.

He's promised to bring me some chocolate from his work. Sounds like a bad plan huh? Guess it's supposed to be healthy chocolate that they sell at whole foods.

We got another room painted and now we have 1 more to go! I added the total for all hours put into painting and getting that house ready. So far we have spent 66 hours, taping, cleaning, patching walls, and painting. That's a lot of time! I've put in 26 of those myself but I feel so lucky to have such wonderful friends and family that have been willing to come help!! Pics to come soon!

21 hours of painting!

I spent 5 hours Wednesday and 16 hours yesterday painting in the rental! My 21 hours combined with the many hours of my friends and family has made it possible to clean and tape and paint 2 bedrooms, the kitchen, and the bathroom! We are over half way done!!

I have some painting pics to post but I haven't had time to upload them to the computer!

This old house has sooo much molding! Big 10 inch molding around the floor and molding around all the doors and the ceiling in some rooms. I'm getting really good at using the paint brush!

My Dad, Brother in law, Sister, and friend Dia came and we taped and cleaned on Tuesday Night. We also finished painting the small bedroom.

Paul came yesterday morning after working all night and helped patch the millions of holes in the walls and then helped me paint the other bedroom. This wonderful man stayed up for like 23 hours straight to help me paint yesterday!

Thanks to my good friend's Andrea and Ross we finished up the kitchen and bath at 1 AM last night. Andrea came early and helped me clean and tape and get started painting! Ross stayed until 1 AM and painted all the hard corners and crap. I have video of him shakin his booty on top of the refrigerator!!

Now we just have the two living rooms. They have tons of molding around the windows and doors and on the walls. I still have paint in my hair and on my skin after my shower to get to work this morning. I didn't sleep well and woke up late!

I'll have my Dad and Paul to help me again tonight and my tenant will be moving into the bedrooms and the kitchen today. We need to hang blinds tonight and clean up the drop cloths and tape from the kitchen and bath so he has space to live the next few days while we finish the rest of the house.

I'm hoping that tomorrow night will be the last night! I am SOOO very tired!! I just want to go back to bed right now!

D&M have been so neglected the last few days. They are lucky to have Paul who is taking them out this morning for me. I just haven't had much time for anything more than food, water, and potty breaks.

Dylan's Leg

Something is still going on with Dylan's leg. I'm not sure what it is but when my vet looked at it a month or so ago she couldn't see anything either. She treats a lot of working dogs so she pays close attention to soft tissue injuries. So if she couldn't find anything, I'm pretty sure another vet wouldn't either. I may have to try to get him back in sometime in the near future for a more thorough exam.

He seems to be standing off balance sometimes and very bull-legged at others. Then there are days that he seems okay and acts like nothing is wrong? I need to start journaling everyday so that if and when we do go back to the vet, I have clear records of what is wrong.

Dylan is supposed to be running in a Flyball demo this weekend. I don't know if he will be able to. I don't want to allow him to push himself and make things worse. He's one of those crazy dogs that would keep going and going and going until he drops. He just doesn't know to stop when he feels pain!

Sometimes I think life would be a whole lot easier if dogs could talk! Then they could tell us what is wrong with them so we could take care of it!

Taking it off together Tuesday!

Another week of reporting a loss! I'm happy it worked out that way because I was getting worried. I really wanted to stop eating fast food but I had it a few times last week! I also went to brunch on the weekend at the Little America buffet. It's so yummy and I ate way too much but I tried to keep it to a really light dinner that night to make up for my over indulgence in the morning.

I hope to lose at least 1.6 lbs this next week. That will put me at 30 lbs lost! Yippee!! It's gonna be tough though because I'll be working on the rental and won't want to take much time to cook. Plus I will want to provide food for my friends and family that are helping. I can't think of anything but Pizza that is inexpensive and can easily feed 4 or 5 people! I was thinking though that maybe subway sandwiches would be good? They have those new $5.00 foot longs.....So for 15-20 I could feed a bunch of people. That's a little less greasy! At least all the working and painting should burn off some of the extra calories!!

Here are this week's results:


The names of this week's "losers" were dropped into a coffee cup and this week's WINNER is Dette!

And check it out! We had an over all loss again this week! Congrats to Grace for being this week's biggest loser of 3.8 pounds!! Be sure to cruise over to her blog and congratulate her!

Chris - 1 LOSS
Tammy - 0.5 GAIN
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - no report
Grace - 3.8 LOSS
Leigh - 0.5 LOSS
Clara - No Change
Dette - 1.5 LOSS
Julie - No Change
Cheryl - No Change
Audrey - no report
Christy - 1.4 LOSS
Tina - 0.5 GAIN
Danielle - No Change
Jessie - 3 GAIN
Steph - no report

This week's total - 4.2 LOSS!

A new belt!

I finally invested in a belt. I decided it's an absolute necessity. After loosing 28.4 lbs now, my pants are all way too big. I don't want to go buy new ones because I am working to lose even more. So I would rather put off spending a bunch of money on new clothes for as long as possible.

Saturday, I was working and running and lost my pants. Literally, I caught them when they were about mid thigh! As embarrassing as it was, it's nice to know that things are getting too big! I just hope no one saw me! But it's made it very clear that a belt is now a necessity!! I hate wearing one but I don't have a choice. It's a new belt or at least a few new pairs of pants!

So I finally went and bought one this weekend! It's reversible so I have a black belt and a brown belt all in one. I should be able to wear it with just about anything. Hopefully it will keep my pants on for a while! I have a feeling I will be asking for new clothes for Christmas!!

My favorite cuddlers!

More pics of my favorite sleeping buddies. I love it when I have time in the morning to cuddle with them!

Super Pet Adoption Weekend!

I really have mixed feelings about the super pet adoption. It's a busy weekend for me and I feel good knowing that at least some of the dogs being adopted are going to good homes that are feeding high quality food. I know this because I sold it to them!

I understand that all breed rescues have a very difficult job. I've been involved with rescue a few years now and there are so many mixed breed dogs and there will never be enough good homes for them. My concern is that people seem to think that because a dog is a mixed breed dog, they need to require lower standards in order to get them placed. No one disagrees with the home visits and careful screening that pure breed groups do. They just don't seem to think that it's necessary that mixed breeds deserve the same. They say there aren't enough resources to do the things all breed groups do?

I know there are those that really try to do everything they can to make sure the dogs are getting wonderful homes. They are selective and turn people down that they don't think really make a good fit. I know several people out there and I believe I am one of them so I know they exist. Unfortunately, too many are too quick to try to get one dog adopted that they don't stop to think whether the dog is going to be really in a wonderful home for the rest of it's life. It's almost as if they feel that if the dog sleeps indoors and has a fenced yard that's all that's needed to make a good home. No concerns for whether the dog will get training or proper nutrition or love and attention. No concerns about whether or not the people really know what they are getting into when they adopt a dog.

I know these events are wonderful especially for rural shelters and rescues. It's a great place to get your fosters some exposure and it's great for potential adopters to see a wide selection of dogs in one place. If I were looking to adopt, I would love to be able to go to a super adoption to look! A wider range of dogs might mean I'm more likely to find the right dog for me. I just seem to think it creates a scene of chaos. People are rushed to do adoptions so they can help the next person, and the dogs are stressed, and you can't really meet them in an environment they normally live in. You don't know if someone adopting is being impulsive because they don't really have time to think things through before taking the new dog home.

Anyway, I am sure there will be more than 300 dogs adopted from 501(c)3 nonprofit groups and shelters. I can only hope that they either end up in wonderful homes or they get returned right away to the rescue group. I hope none of these dogs end up tied up to a tree somewhere in someone's backyard and that they all go home to warm snuggly families who will take good care of them for the rest of their lives!

My Puppy fix!

I can't get a puppy. I know well enough that I can't afford one! So sometimes I have to borrow a pup to give me a puppy fix! Sometimes it's an adult and sometimes it's a puppy!

In reality, I actually bring home dogs from my rescue group during the super adoption. The out of town dogs have to stay crated over night and it breaks my heart. So I try to bring one home so at least that's one less dog that has to stay in a crate all night long out at the super adoption.

Today I brought home this girl. She's a 6 month old pup whose name I don't know. It doesn't matter though, I doubt she knows her name either. I love, love, love border collies so when the rescue told me about her I immediately offered to bring her over night. She's a maniac and wouldn't hold still for a picture. That's to be expected though with a 6 month old border pup that hasn't had any training.

I played a bit of chase games with her. Well I let her chase me! I also got out a clicker and some treats and just played a few training games with her. I had her targeting and she's very responsive if I just make little click noises to get her attention. She's definitely a fun girl and would probably be good to work with since she focuses so easy and is quick to respond when I want her attention. It's good that she's already been adopted! I think I'd be in love!

She just can't go to her new home until she has been spayed. The foster said she had a lot of people interested in her so I really hope that she chose wisely. This is an active girl that is going to need lots of exercise and mental stimulation to keep her from becoming a total terror. I didn't meet the adopters but if I do tomorrow I will take time to see if they have any idea what they are getting into. B0rder collies are not dogs for just anyone! They really need a certain kind of home (well Marley is the exception to that rule - she'd be happy just about anywhere but I am glad she ended up with me!!)

I gave her a raw bone to chew on for a bit. She's being a good quiet girl in the x pen for now. Dylan's a bit upset but I baby gated him into the bedroom and gave him a raw bone too. So he'll be busy for a while and maybe forget that there's another dog in the house for the night!

Jon Butler Trio and G Love and Special Sauce!

My friend Andrea and I were going to hike up in the hills above Red Butte Gardens and listen to the Jon Butler Trio (JBT) and G Love show last night. We planned on going to listen to the show because we didn't want to pay for tickets (plus the show was SOLD OUT). Marley was going to join us for the show! We've done this for a few Red Butte shows in the past because you can hear the music great in the great scenery and red rocks that are up above the gardens.

We were chatting and making plans when Andrea got a call from her boss. She hopped on the call waiting and came back to ask if I would mind leaving Marley home! She got free VIP tickets from work. Marley girl had to stay home but I didn't feel so bad. I would have felt badly leaving Dylan home alone anyway (there are too many off leash dogs on concert nights for him to go up there). We hurried to get ready because the show started about 45 minutes after she got the call. We still had to go pick up the tickets and try to get up there before JBT started. Andrea really wanted to see them but I had never really heard of them before. G Love is pretty good though and I have seen them before so I knew it would be a great show!

Our VIP tickets ended up being in a seated section. We were front and center of the VIP and it was GREAT!! The people around us weren't really getting into the show much though. I had friends that were sitting in GA not too far away so by the time G Love was playing we opted to go down so we could hang and dance with some friends.

I must say that Jon Butler Trio blew me away (as well as some of my friends who hadn't heard of them!) I should have known that Andrea has great taste in music! They were really amazing and I will definitely be looking to get some of their albums when things calm down and I can afford them. I even went online when I got home to see if I could download some free live shows from some of the free sites I know of! Truly amazing group for sure and the highlight of the night. I'd pay to see them as a headliner any day!!

We really love to see GOOD live music! I haven't made it out to many shows this year but the three I saw were really great ones (even Bob Dylan in the pouring rain was the highlight of my summer)! I am so glad Andrea scored free tickets at the last minute!! It was well worth leaving my girl home for the evening to get to see the show and hang with some good friends.

Getting Ready!

I'm getting ready for a very busy week! Starting tomorrow I will be working at the Super Pet Adoption all weekend. At least I am working and not volunteering. So I will have a good sized paycheck as a result. Then next week I will be painting starting Monday when my tenant moves out. Painting every night next week with my new tenant moving in on Thursday.

I am starting to get nervous that the place won't be clean enough on move out day. This has happened pretty much every time in the past. I don't mind keeping some deposit money in exchange for doing a bit of cleaning but I just don't have the time next week! I will need to be painting.

I am so lucky to have some wonderful friends and family who are going to help! I have friends and family scheduled to come almost every night next week. I hope they show up because I am going to need all the help I can get!!

WW - I miss the Puck Monster!!

Taking it off together Tuesday!

I did okay this week but the weekends seem to be so hard on me. I don't keep to eating healthy and I don't drink near enough water. I need to figure out how to incorporate healthy eating into my busy weekend schedule and drinking lots and lots of water too. I just hate carrying a water bottle around all the time. On the weekdays I try to drink 64 oz of water during my 8 hour work shift. -1.6 lbs this week brings me to -27.0 overall. My pants are literally falling off now. Saturday night I was a party and walking up the stairs and almost lost my pants. I can't afford new ones now but might have to search my closet for some older pairs. At least a few of my pants seem to be not quite so big.

Oh and we had a great time on the pedicure reward! I decided when I lose another 25 I am going to reward myself with some new dog T shirts. I really really love them and all of mine are getting old and worn out. I want new ones but they are so expensive and money is so tight right now. So if I make it to my next goal then I will buy myself a treat!

Funny - when I first got dogs - I swore I would never be one of those crazy people who had dogs all over their clothing. Now I have dogs on my clothing probably at least 5 days a week. HAHAHAHA I'm glad my main job doesn't have a dress code!




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Last week we announced a contest where everyone who reported a LOSS had their name added to a drawing for a lot of 100 Mary Kay samples! The motivation worked! Nearly everyone reported a loss this week. So we will have the same contest this week. Just remember that maintaining doesn't count, sorry!

The names of this week's "losers" were dropped into a coffee cup and this week's WINNER is Ciara!

And check it out! We had an over all loss again this week! Congrats to Cheryl for being this week's biggest loser of 4 pounds!! Be sure to cruise over to her blog and congratulate her!

Chris - 4 GAIN
Tammy - 1 LOSS
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - 0.4 LOSS
Grace - no report
Leigh - 2.0 LOSS
Clara - no report
Dette - 0.5 LOSS
Julie - 0.8 LOSS
Cheryl - 4 LOSS
Audrey - 0 CHANGE
Christy - 1.6 LOSS
Tina - 1.4 LOSS
Danielle - 1 LOSS
Jessie - no report

And please give a warm welcome to Steph who lost 2 pounds this last week!

This week's total - 10.7 LOSS!!

Is he injured?

This is the second time in about a month that I have had to pull Dylan out of Flyball Practice. I'm not sure what is going on.

A month ago Dylan started limping during practice. I pulled him out and rubbed him down and stretched him out. I gave him some Arnica and by morning he seemed okay. We were headed to the holistic vet the next morning with Leon so I brought Dylan along and she checked him and watched his gate. She couldn't see a limp so we figured he must have just twisted something and seemed to be feeling better.

Last night, he was messing up on his box turn. He's been turning wide sometimes and I think it's because of the training prop. I asked them to move it out. I don't want him learning to turn too wide because of the prop. First turn without he prop was totally messed up. Then I noticed that he was favoring one leg. He won't put near as much weight on his right leg. He's spending a lot of time standing a little bull legged. I pulled him out, rubbed him down and stretched him good. Gave him some Arnica last night but this morning he was still favoring that left leg.

I can't remember if the first time it was the right leg that he was having an issue with. I need to call the vet today and see if they have it in their records.

I hope we can figure out what it is. I don't want my little boy hurting. Paul believes it's just a stubbed toe but I am not sure if that is the case. I have a feeling he's twisted or tweaked something in that leg that needs some time to heal.

I never get sick of this..

Yesterday Morning I actually got to spend some time just laying in bed cuddling with my pups. I'm glad I ended up with cuddlers (although I secretly believe I turn dogs into cuddlers!)... I never get to sleep in. My body just wakes up too early. But once in a great while I get to stay in bed a bit later. It's always fun to have puppies to cuddle with!

I never get sick of looking at them lounging around. They just look so cute!!

The tire saga continues....

I went to swap out my tires with the ones my parents had. When I called a couple weeks back they told me it would work just fine but might look a bit funny. On my old car, I really don't care much anymore what it looks like. It's been hit in the parking lot at least 5 times. It's got a bunch of dents and dings.

The tire salesman yesterday gave me an earful about how the car was going to be all messed up if we put the smaller tires on my car. It would mess up suspension, mileage, and make for a really bumpy ride. Blah Blah blah I wasn't sure if he was just trying to sell me tires or if he was being truthful. So I went to a second tire store. My dad said it was better to get my second opinion from an independently owned shop rather than a national chain. So I drove around until I found one. I swear it had to be the most ghetto tire store in all of Salt Lake City. The man who came to check out my tires spoke very little English but managed to get the point across that the tires won't work right on my car. I guess getting 4 almost brand new tires for free was a bit wishful thinking.

I had to go back to the original store I was at and just buy two new tires!! I hate spending so much money on them!!

To make matters worse, the car is still rubbing on the tire. My Dad couldn't fix it but he said the damage was probably more than $1000.00 so it's worth filing a claim with the insurance company. Once again another financial set back. I am going to get an estimate and depending on the price I may end up paying the deductible to have it all fixed up. If I do, that means no trip to NY for Christmas and definitely no Flyball tournaments for the rest of this year.

I'm not sure how other people on single income's seem to do so well to travel with their dogs so much. I don't want to fly to Europe or go to Mexico. I want to take a 6 hour road trip to a weekend Flyball tournament. For some reason life seems to be working against that goal this year. I know Marley is a big expense but other dog people have expensive broken dogs too. I guess I will just keep telling myself that everyone else is using credit cards (even though that may not be true) and that I am still refusing to use credit cards if at all possible. Even if it means my dog gets to play less Flyball and I get to spend less time playing too.

Tomatoes!

There are a million tomatoes here. Seriously, my tenants planted a garden and I think they planted at least 8 tomato plants. At least three of those are cherry tomatoes which are convenient to eat but a pain to have to pick!! I've been eating tomatoes almost daily. One of my tenants moved already and the other one is never around. I don't think he's eating much.

Anyone want some tomatoes? Fresh from the garden they are pretty yummy. They are starting to go bad though and I hate to see that. There are so many green ones too that will still ripen. And yellow and red ones too. Come pick em! Seriously, just let me know if you want to come pick some!!!

Dog Videos!!!

I stole this idea from my friend R3K9s. She recently posted some videos of her backyard agility star Maddie. Dylan's a backyard agility star too. I'd like him to be a real agility competitor but I just can't afford it. I'm a poor single girl with two very expensive dogs so getting up to trial level is not an option for us. We have some backyard agility equipment (including a training teeter, jumps, contact trainer, and ladder) and I'd like to add to my collection a tunnel (even a small one!) and some 2 X 2's for weave pole training and a Tire Jump. I have a plan for building the 2 X 2's and Tire jump but it seems money is always tight and I just can't afford to buy the stuff to make them. A table would be fun too.

I took these videos myself of us playing in the yard. It's hard to tell a dog what to do and video at the same time. Guess that's one big disadvantage to living alone. There's no one to videotape for you!

Marley is my trickster! She loves doing tricks and gets to do it a lot as a therapy dog. She had a hard time with her high five in the video which is odd becuase she was targeting to my hand instead of giving me a high five. Often she tries to offer a high five when I ask her to do a target to my hand that is out of her normal reach. LOL.

This is Leon at Flyball practice. This was only his 2nd or 3rd week training with me. He's doing quite well for a newbie dog. When I first thought about bringing him to flyball I was on another team. My club owner at the time said that there was no way he would play! Look at him go!! Some people seem like they just aren't willing to give all dogs a chance. Never underestimate the speed of a crazy curly coat! We still have a long way to go but I have high hopes for this boy!!

This is of Dylan at flyball practice. I have some actual tournament videos on Myspace but it won't let me embed them here. I had this video of him at practice but I was scolded for putting it online before without the club's authorization. Ever wonder why we changed clubs? I'm really glad to be with the new team! I wish I could have brought some of my old teammates with me though! It's much better for me and my dogs to be in a more positive environment!

Adventures in Pedicures!

My friends Andrea and Julie and I headed out for pedicures last night. We brought little Landon thinking that he would be fine sitting with Julie while she got her feet scrubbed and massaged.

The place we planned on going was closed when we got there. The power was out in half the stores in the mall.

We scrambled to find a place close by because we all had been so excited for our pedicures. Landon got fussy and hungry and it started to get late.

We ended up driving up the road until we found any random nail place to go to. LOL. We also took Landon home to his daddy to be watched since we were close and Daddy Justin was home from work now.

I think we all three enjoyed our pedicures. It was a fun girls night in celebration of me hitting my first goal of 25 lbs lost.

Isn't that little Landon the cutest? He's got beautiful blueish eyes and reddish brown hair. Oh and his mom's big lips!! I made him cry when I sat in the back seat next to him but he will get more comfortable with me when he gets a bit older.

Lazy Dylan!

Have you ever seen such a lazy looking dog? Isn't he the cutest??

I love taking pics of him lounging on my bed because I think he looks so stinking cute.

This was last night after he walked at the rail trail with Paul while I was at work. I think he looks pretty tired right? In reality he'd get up and run another 5 miles or more if I would let him.

When he was young, I never believed that pointers were supposed to be lazy around the house. He was a maniac as a puppy who never slowed down. All the books said that pointers were very energetic but nice and calm around the house. My puppy sure was not calm! Nowadays, he spends most his life lounging on a king sized bed. Guess he just needed to grow up. I bet he spends 18 hours a day sleeping. Are you jealous? I sure am!!

Wish I were there...

This is where Dylan and Marley are right now. Wish I could be out walking with them! Paul took them out walking for me since I have a busy night trying to take care of my tires and stuff. He's so kind to me and the pups for sure!

I'm stuck at work but my day is almost half over! Time to go have lunch now!

Hope all those dogs have a great time! Don't you love camera phones? Even if the pics they take aren't the best! I always love getting pics of the fun things my dogs are doing when I am working. Makes me a bit jealous though because I know I'd rather be there too.

Scary Tire Blow Out!

I was driving home on the freeway yesterday afternoon. Going about 65-70 and all of a sudden my car started making noises like I had run something over. I look out the side mirror and see rubber flying everywhere and realize I must have blown a tire.

I really thought I was driving on the rim and I had to get through an exit only lane to get to the side of the road. No one would let me in. I had to let 3-4 cars go past me before a cop let me in. He had seen what happened and stopped to make sure everything was okay.

When I got out I couldn't tell right away which tire was having an issue. I walked around the car and then realized my driver side rear tire still had air but it had no tread! What little tread was left was hanging off. It had been flying around and banging up my car that whole time I was trying to pull over.

Roadside service took over an hour but when they came they changed my tire pretty fast and I was out of there. I'm lucky to have Paul who went and rescued Dylan and Marley from being locked up in the house all day and night.

Now my bumper is hanging off and I am missing one of the side lights. Plus the metal frame for the bumper is bent and rubbing on the tire when I go around corners. I hope it's not going to cost much to repair!!

I needed a new tire anyway but it was a front tire that needed replaced. This tire was in decent shape until it fell apart on the freeway! My parents just bought 4 new tires for my Mom's car and then her transmission went out. They are donating the car and offered me the tires before they donate it. I was going to actually put them on my car but hadn't got it done yet. Looks like now is the time to make sure it gets done! I'm just glad I am getting new tires and all I have to pay is for installation. My mom is probably glad she got a new car even though they aren't happy about having to pay for it!

Found a tenant!!!

So happy that I found a tenant in about a week! That's the fastest ever and it's a huge relief! I still have a bunch to do with painting and a few minor repairs but I'm lucky to have good family and friends to help! My dad is great about helping me fix stuff when I need it. Saves me a lot of money in hiring stuff out that I can't do myself.

My new tenant is a big time cat lover! He' s had dogs in the past but currently has 3 indoor only cats and no dogs! That means I get the best of both worlds. An animal lover who can handle being around my two rambunctious pups and no concerns about whether or not the dogs are going to get along!! He likes to garden so we will be keeping the veggie garden for next summer. It's so nice to have fresh tomatoes and squash to cook whenever I want it.

He will be here on the 18th. He's moving from out of state. My house will only be vacant for 2 days! That's nice for me financially but it causing some stress since I was planning on repainting the whole house. We just want to do one coat to freshen stuff up in there. He knows it won't likely be done before the 18th but I am going to try to get the bedrooms and kitchen and bathroom done. That means I will be having painting parties and inviting all my local friends to come over on the 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th. My family is coming to help on the 16th and hopefully maybe some other days as well. I hate to have to ask for so much help but I'm gonna be in a crunch to get the painting job done as quickly as possible. So any of you that feel like doing some artistic painting of plain white or plain light blue just let me know!! I know it's not too creative but it's easiest to stick with the colors that are already in there so I don't have to do multiple quotes.

Bob Dylan!

Woo Hoo! The Bob Dylan show finally came! It was a great time.

There happened to be major thunder and rainstorms that evening. It was raining when we left and when we got there it started pouring. There was a line a 1/4 mile long to get in but it moved pretty fast. We were soaked by the time we found a spot to park it for the evening. We bought some $5.00 Bob Dylan ponchos that keeped us semi dry. The rain stopped right as the show started!

It stayed pretty dry for the first hour then started raining again but the rain was tolerable. The last 15 minutes or so it started pouring again. I have no doubt they cut the show short for weather but we all had a great time despite poor weather. It poured on us all the way to the car and all the way home as well. Wet jeans after losing 25 lbs are hard to keep on. My pants were sagging and I was having a hard time keeping them from falling off!!

These pics are all blurry. I couldn't get clear ones with my phone but it's alright. The blurriness seems fitting with the rainy weather!!

Taking it off together Tuesday!!

I had a better week and stayed on track eating healthy until the weekend at least. Weekends seem to be so much harder on me. I only at fast food on Sunday so that's not great. I tried to get something better but was having a hard time finding something that was open. I was running late and needed to eat before leaving to go see Bob Dylan in the rain!!

I've lost a total of 25.4 lbs! My plan was to reward myself when I lost 25 lbs with a pedicure! I've been wanting one all summer but never could justify the expense. My feet get dry and cracked and it will be nice to have someone clean them up and make them look nicer!!! My good friend is going with me but we are still searching for an affordable yet nice place to go!

Here are this weeks results:


This week we are adding a contest! It seems we all need motivation after all. So, for everyone who reports a LOSS (maintaining doesn't count, sorry!) on the next weigh in will have their name put in a drawing for 100 assorted Mary Kay samples! So drink your water and count your calories. We can all do this!

And check it out! We had an over all loss! Congrats to Christy for being this week's biggest loser of 5 pounds!!

Chris - 3.2 LOSS
Tammy - 1 LOSS
Life With Hashi-Thyroid Blog - 0.4 GAIN
Grace - no report
Leigh - 0.5 GAIN
Clara - no report
Dette - no report
Julie - 0.2 LOSS
Cheryl - 0 CHANGE
Audrey - 2 GAIN
Christy - 5 LOSS
Tina - 1 LOSS (from last week)
Danielle - 2 LOSS
Jessie - 0 CHANGE

This week's total - 9.1 LOSS!!