Me

I have a dog again so I want to be a better owner. I read Cesar Millan's Be The Pack Leader and I'm trying to put his philosophy into practice. This means I'm working on being more decisive and confident in myself.

Sometimes I remind myself of things I've experienced or value in myself to help build up my confidence. Things such as:

white water rafting
skiing
stand up paddle boarding
snow shoeing
para sailing
golfing
public speaking
traveling alone

I have sense of humor and patience
I'm smart
I can use tools
I'm an awesome cook and baker
I'm strong

It's an ongoing list and seeing it in print is inspiring. Make your own.

Happy Tails

We caved. We got a dog. Two years ago our dog, Molly died and we didn't want another dog. Although we all missed the presence of a dog not having one gave us a lot of freedom. Also our children are older, one in college the other finishing high school and I work part time. We reasoned it wasn't fair to leave a dog alone most of the day.

But we would torture ourselves by cruising the Internet researching breeds and then looking at dogs on rescue sights, We'd fall in love but our sanity would return and we'd decide the time wasn't right. Our youngest accused us of being cruel.

Then enter my mother-in-law. She volunteered to babysit the dog a few days a week while I was at work and when we go away. She was serious. She requested we get a smaller dog. We were in total agreement. Portable was what we were going for.

Rescuing a dog from the pound has changed since the early eighties. I got a dog from the pound then. I filled out a brief form, plunked down a modest fee and I had myself a dog. Not so anymore. Dogs in foster homes, anyway, seem to require a vigorous screening process. Don't have a fence. Rejected. Gone for a few hours during the day. Nope. Plan to put the dog in a crate. Move on sister we ain't interested.

My husband quickly grew frustrated. It turns out you can visit some pounds, fill out a lengthy form, fork over a not so modest fee and leave with a new best friend. That's what they did a month ago. Now we have a Pomeranian mix fur ball (the kids named him Tommy) in the family.

Exercise Observation

I stated previously I love to exercise. I had been a dedicated morning workout person until just before Thanksgiving. Note the past tense. A few things happened that got me out of the habit and I've been working to get back into my routine. I'm not trying to shift blame to anyone or anything; I just lost my resolve I guess. But that brings me to my observation....

Why is it smoking or drinking or drugs, all addictive behaviors, are habits that are so hard to break? Even caffeine or nail biting are tough habits to control. Did you ever hear of anyone having to go to rehab to kick an exercise habit? In a flash that good for habit is gone. There are no painful withdrawal symptoms. All of a sudden you realize you're out of the routine. And getting back into it is not a piece of cake. Falling off the wagon is easy --getting back on not so.

Anyway, I'm trying to get back into the early morning workouts. If I don't do it in the morning the chances are extremely-very-100% high I'm not doing it the any other time during the day. I may promise myself I will but I don't.