The Hunter

Last Thursday, Chino and I were lucky enough to be invited over to a little impromptu happy hour with my friend and her pup.  While she and I enjoyed some peach sangria, made with peaches from her own backyard tree, Burt, the pups were supposed to be playing.  I say supposed to be because her pup was the only one who got the memo.  My mutt was acting aloof and indifferent about the whole evening.  When approached by my friend's dog, he growled instead of playing 

The only thing that seemed to interest him was the possibility of finding my friend's cat.  He caught a glimpse of him when we arrived and caught a few whiffs of him in the backyard, but nothing too close-up.  So, when the cat appeared in the window to see what was happening outside, Chino was all over it.  Of course, we cracked up as Chino's hair stood on end while he growled and whined and stood on his hind legs, trying to find the cat.  For the record, he's looking in the wrong window.

Conditional Morning Person

I'm not sure if conditional morning person is the best term, but I thought of it this morning, while I was jogging outside instead of hitting the snooze button.  I don't like waking up any more than the next person, but if I don't get up and exercise in the AM, I'm consumed by self-loathing and dread for most of the day.  Ok, that sounds a bit dramatic, but still.  If I don't get up and get at it, thoughts in my head throughout the day include, but aren't limited to:

"Was the snooze button worth it?"

"Seriously?  You couldn't get your butt out of bed in the morning?"

"I don't waaaaaannnnnnaaaaa exercise after work."

"I'll just take today off."

"I'm fine with being fat."

"Sure, I'll go on a chocolate run."

The list goes on and on.  On the mornings that I exercise, it seems like the major thing on my to do list is already crossed off, before my day even starts.  No matter how crappy of a day I end up having, I know that I got my run/walk/weights in and done.  It also tends to trigger a chain reaction that results in better eating choices, a calmer attitude and happy hours after work.  

Today was especially difficult.  Nick was up and out early, so there was no one to nag me.  Chino was warm and snuggly, and cuddled up in bed.  My eyes were heavy and puffy and in need of more sleep.  I don't know how many times I hit that snooze button, but I got to the point where I had a stern talking to with myself.  The conversation had to do with the fact that I would have no time to run today unless I got up and that I'd hate myself if I didn't get my ass out of bed, into some running gear and out the door.  So that's what I did.  Once I started moving around, my cuddle bug mutt figured out that he was going for a walk, so he began his stretching rituals.  I put his collar on and that was it, he was pumped.

It helped that the morning was absolutely gorgeous.  Not too humid, a great sunrise and a bit of fog.  My exercise partner didn't disappoint.  He kept me in his sights while he explored the area and even  jogged with me for a little bit.  I declare that day two of running was a success.  Knees are still a tad sore, but they don't hurt (does that  makes sense???) and a major thing is checked off of my list on my way to checking ANOTHER major thing off my list.

What in the hell am I doing?

I officially kicked off my latest 1/2 Marathon training schedule last night.  I had unofficially kicked it off the prior week, but last night was the first evening that I jogged in about 2 months.  The reason for the delay (besides my love-hate relationship with running)?  Well, my knees were a tad pissed off at me after my first 1/2 marathon, back in May.  They were so pissed actually, that they forced me to visit a sports medicine doctor, in order to have them checked out.  The Dr. diagnosed me with runner's knee, probably caused by the fact that my knees hyperextend, which makes my knee caps move a bit more than they should.

The solution for this issue was a break from running, which was fine by my knees, and by me.  Instead of jogging, I used the elliptical machine, walked the mutt and continued cross training with weights.  Since running and I weren't officially broken up, just on a break, this lovely arrangement inevitably had to come to an end.

Running and I went on our first date in months, last night.  Dr.'s orders were that I had to walk for 10 minutes, jog for 10 minutes and then walk for 10 minutes.  Nick had to force me I had to force myself into getting my butt off of the couch and into my running attire, after delaying the inevitable for as long as possible. 

Since this was a definite "wogging" situation, I took Chino along with me for support.  Chino runs on his own terms, and is typically more of a baby about it than I am, so we headed across the street, where I could let him run leash-less during the jogging portion.  In un-Chinolike fashion, he stayed within eyesight of me, even trotting along beside me for a few minutes.  Such behavior is usually beneath him.

As for the run, I was shocked that I wasn't huffing and puffing. I actually found myself getting into a bit of a rhythm and working up a good sweat at the same time.  Just as my knees began to protest, my 10 minutes were up and it was time to collect the mutt and do our 10 minute walk back home.  When I looked at my time and distance, I was pleasntly surprised to see that I had done a little more than 2 miles!  This is in line with a very beginners training program.

The dips in the end are where I had to stop and hook Chino back up to the leash and also where Chino decided that he had to mark a few trees on our way home.  As you can tell from the beginning, I had him going at a pretty decent pace.  All in all, a great first day back.  Running and I will be going out on our second date tomorrow morning, bright and early.  If all goes well, we'll head out for coffee afterward.

The weekend. Sponsored by Twitter

Nick and I had one of the best weekends that we'd had in a very long time. Nothing in particular stood out, it was a collection of fun times, great weather and awesome friends, so much so, that it deserves its own recap. This particular weekend happened two weekends ago - and since I'm a bad blogger, I'm late on the posting of why I thought it was blog-worthy. BUT, its my blog and I can do what I want, so there.

Since it was a four day weekend, we were in to just about everything. Friday started me with a trip to Hillbilly Beach at Alum Creek. Nick got home from work and we were off to dinner with friends, followed by a rooftop viewing of Red, White & Boom.

Saturday started with some patriotic donuts from Kroger, followed by our very first Farmer's Market in Worthington.  After some shopping, we were off to Oakland Nursery to pick up some tomato plants and a few flowers. Once we got home, we planted everything before relaxing in Chino's pool in the backyard. Once we got cleaned up, we headed BACK out to see some friends downtown and to do some Gallery Hopping in the Short North. We started at Surly Girl and then hopped our way down High Street, hitting a few bars and restaurants along the way. We called it an early night, heading home to spend some time on our neighbors' patio before heading to bed.

Sunday morning, we hung out at home for a bit before heading to a friend's 4th annual 4th of July Party!  Read her post for the recap, but the food was awesome and the company was even better.  We hung out on her deck, drinking sangria and Elevator beer, listening to music and watching Wiffle ball and home run derby!  After chilling for a few hours, we ran home to retrieve the mutt and then headed to PSL's 4th of July get together.  This was kind of a big deal for Chino to get an invite to this particular function because PSL's house is typically a no-dog zone.  They must have a reputation in the neighborhood because  an unlucky feline happened upon the backyard while Chino was on patrol.  We had a near-miss before the kitty jumped the fence and was on its merry way.

The next day was spent at Hillbilly Beach at Alum Creek, lounging in the sun and people watching. Fun times, great people, awesome weather.  Perfect celebration of summer.

My Weekend Started Last Wednesday

Weekend recap (as a "single" lady, I took full advantage) thorough the lens of my iPhone and thanks to some image enhancing with iPhoto.

• Happy hour with PSL.  Took the opportunity to cook myself dinner by ordering a fish sandwich and some fries.  I also learned that my new iPhone has the capability for optical zoom.

• Lunch with the work gals.  It was Barracuda's birthday, you know.
• Dinner with the girls.  We "golfed" 18 holes on the patio at Jimmy V's.  Good food, better conversation.
• A "19th hole" beer with PSL.  I think he decided that we should date while Nick was away.  We also found out that his tie matches the inside of my change purse!  We sent the photo to Nick.

• Daycare for Chino!  Oh happy day, he had so much fun. Ran him home after work...

• Dinner with the Franklin girls.  Lost Shepherd is officially approved and will be added to the regular restaurant rotation.
• Drinks with Andy-roo!  Followed by more drinks with Mr. Beer Guys and tug of war with PJ McDuck (aka Boris)

• Hubby Returns!  I welcomed him by serenading him with Alejandro through Andy-roo's sunroof.  Sadly, there's no picture.
• Drinks with Andy-Roo and Hubby too!  The band, The Winnie Cooper Project did a pretty fun rendition of Snoop Doggy Dog.
• McDonald's.  Thank goodness for our delivery boy.  He was thrilled, can you tell?

• Flat tire repair.  I was sitting on the curb "helping".

• Chino got a pool!  Woohoo!  I wore Nick down enough and he relented.

• Drinks with Hubby!  Powell Festival was lame, so we headed to the Liberty Tavern
• Ice Cream.
• Back to the Future!  We're lame and fell asleep.
• Visit with the Grandparents-in-law.  Turkey burgers ala Nick. YUM.
• Bodega with Andy-roo and hubby too!  Youngs Double Chocolate Stout + Jeni's Salty Caramel = L O V E

• Crazy thunderstorms.  Amazingly enough, the power stayed on.

The eyes say it all

Who says that the mutt has self control issues?  If that were true, this post would be about a mauling instead of about me putting a Frisbee on Chino's head and pretending that its a sombrero. 

Crazed Lunatic

Chino's extensive vocabulary includes the words, "ice cream" and "ride".  When you put those words together, he turns into a ball of nerves and energy, crying and pacing until we get in the car and on our way.  For a change of pace, we went to Coldstone Creamery.  He waited in the car while Nick and I went in to order.  Since mix-in's aren't necessarily the healthiest option for our canine, we got him a French Vanilla kid's cone.  When I came out with his cone in one hand and my delicious Oreo somethingorrather in the other, he transitioned from crazy to focused.  We walked over to this picnic table and his little brain went to work on how he could get himself as close to the ice cream as possible.  Without missing a beat, he jumped up on the table and sat himself down (because sitting gets him whatever he wants, apparently).  Nick and I just shook our heads.  Since this wasn't our table, we let him stay.  His body language tells all:  He's sitting, but leaning in, trying to chomp down on that ice cream, neck stretched out as far as it can go, trying to take huge bites out of the ice cream and cone.  We know that he doesn't have the best manners, but please know that even this arrangement is not acceptable in our free-for-all household.