Run - Forrest - Run

This is what Miley and I will be doing in three months!

As soon as I get over the pneumonia, the training will begin!

If you have a dog, you should check it out. Even if you don't want to do the Dog Trot, there are still plenty of activities for your pet and for the family!

Randomness At It's Best...

1. I am finally admitting that I am sick. It's not the nagging, mucous-producing cough that has persisted for the last 8 weeks, or the fact that I can't take full breaths when breathing without sending myself into a 20 minute coughing fit, or the lack of energy that has finally convinced me. No, it's the fact that my ears and nose are now plugged that has lead to this admission. The doctor two weeks ago listened to my lungs and said the following: "I can hear a rattling when you breathe, but not in your lungs." Really? Well if you didn't hear it in my lungs when I was BREATHING, then please tell me...where exactly DID you hear it again? He couldn't give me a better explanation. I'm seeking out a second opinion.

2. Our dog is spoiled. More spoiled than our kids have ever been. Is that sad? At least the dog never talks back.

3. I'm tired of cooking dinner. I am SO not creative when it comes to cooking. We've had tacos more times than I can count and even though they are Kayla's FAVORITE, even she turned the idea down the other night. I need quick and easy dinner ideas. And I also want one of these (hint, hint honey):

KitchenArt 57010 Pro Auto Measure Carousel

4. The following addition(s) to my already busy schedule may contribute to my lack of enthusiasm about making dinners:

Monday - Zumba @ 7:00 pm

Tuesday - Swimming @ 7:00 pm

Wednesday - Zumba @ 7:00 pm

Thursday - Cycling 6:00 pm

Friday - Family Zumba 4:30 pm

Saturday - Zumba 10:30 am

I love Zumba! If I had known about Zumba 10 years ago, I would have been doing it all along. I'm so in love and look forward to it all the time! I find myself going through withdrawals if I miss it. Including this weekend but as you all know - I'm officially sick.

Committing to these classes makes my week a little stressful since I work in Kirkland and on a good day, I am able to leave by 6:00 pm at the earliest. Mondays and Wednesdays are tough - but I'm committed to going - even if it means leaving a mess at working and going in extra early the next day to finish what I should have done the night before. Luckily my boss is understanding.

5. We were supposed to go to Spokane this weekend and spend some time with Jim's brother for his birthday. Unfortunately (or fortunately for me), Jim's sister-in-law ended up being admitted to the hospital for some kind of bacterial infection (we don't know much more). I was really looking forward to getting out of town and spending some time with the girls, but am actually kind of glad we didn't end up going. There's nothing worse than being sick and not having the comforts of home.

That's all I have to share. Maybe my lack of cooking creativity is invading my blogging creativity. Maybe it's just because I'm sick. Check back later.

Hating The Doggy Dog Life

This morning started out to be a beautiful morning.

I woke up early, took the dog for a walk, got Kayla ready and took her to school, and then sat down to enjoy me some American Idol on the DVR with my trusty friend Miley by my side.

We were having a great morning! I threw her ball, gave her a pig's ear. I even gave her a piece of bread with peanut butter on it (with her medicine in it of course). I thought for sure we were going to spend some quality time bonding today.

Jim called at 9:30 and I told him Miley and I would run up to his work and have lunch with him. Sounded like such a great idea - especially since I don't get to see my husband very often during the week with our crazy schedules. So around 10:30, I took Miley outside and then hopped in the shower to get ready for our day.

As I'm getting out of the shower, I hear this really loud noise. Okay - it wasn't just any loud noise, but a distinct "farting" type noise. I knew immediately what it was. My perfect little puppy turned out to be not so cute and perfect today. I'm still not sure what I ever did to deserve what I'm about to describe to you - but let me assure you - before the morning was over, I was in tears.

Disclaimer: For those who get queasy easy, stop reading right here.

I walked out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel on my head and am horrified to discover that my suspicions were true! I walked into my bedroom to see a HUGE puddle of doggy diarrhea all over my floor and my not-so-perfect-anymore dog huddled by the corner of my bed looking like this:

I instantly started gagging so bad.....just the site of it started the gagging and then when the smell penetrated my nose.....look out world. We were about to have a pile of vomit on top of the pile of poo. While frantically breathing through my mouth, I ran from the room to the hall closet searching for something to cover my nose, all the while I was STILL able to smell the nastiness.

This is what I came up with:

To make matters worse, the dog sensed my panic and came running toward me. In her attempt to see what was wrong, with her hind foot, she managed to step in her puddle of poo!!! Yes, you got that right. I think it was at that point that I started screaming....not necessarily at the dog, but just at the thought of having to clean poo off of her paw too! But apparently screaming was the wrong thing to do. Miley decided I was too loud of her and ran out of the room, leaving dog poo footprints behind her, all the way into the hallway!!!!

After calming down a bit, I was still gagging under my handy nose covering and the dog started following me around like she was waiting for me to die or something. Maybe it was the fact that I was running around the house naked, or maybe it was the towel on the top of my head - but she gave me the most curious looks. I didn't have time to enjoy her curiosity. I had to figure out how the hell I was going to clean up the mess! Let me remind you, it wasn't just a pile of poo....no, that would have been too easy and may have only caused mild gagging. No, this was a definite puddle of liquid crap (I'm sparing you the picture of the actual mess - trust me - just the site would make even YOU gag).

I spent 10 minutes running around upstairs looking for SOMETHING, ANYTHING to clean up the bulk of the mess. At last, I see it! A cup and a pencil sitting on top of Kayla's night stand. I'll make it work. I spent another 15 minutes trying to scoop up as much of the mess as possible, while gagging and dry heaving under my mask the entire time. By this point, I was in tears......just at a loss for what to do. I was about to lose it when a drop of liquid crap actually touched my hand. But I remained calm, washed my hands and resumed liquid crap scooping duty (something I would never wish upon anybody).

Finally - I got the majority of it! Now what??? I ran and grabbed the carpet cleaning spray- I couldn't let the stain set in!!! I let that set for five minutes while I went around opening every window upstairs to get some air flowing through. So now, here I am, dry heaving, running around upstairs with nothing but a towel on my head (and my mask), and now with the breeze, I'm freezing cold. I didn't have time to find clothes. I HAD to get this crap off my floor!!! That was priority #1!

I ran downstairs and grabbed the steam cleaner. I spent 20 minutes scrubbing the spot over and over and over and over again. Seriously - I cleaned that spot a million times. And once the carpet dries.....I will clean it a million more times. Then I had to tackle the poopy paw prints leading to the hall. Those were a little easier. But kept me gagging!

I think I've managed to get the carpet clean.....but I'm not quite sure what to do with the glass full of liquid crap. I'm scared to touch it - the outside of the glass is covered in poo. I think that might be a job for Jim when he gets home. Here is the aftermath.

Since this incident, I have taken another shower, scrubbed my hands about 15 times, and I still seem to have random gagging moments.....maybe just at the memory of it all.

Regardless - I love our puppy. But she sure had a way of making my day turn to crap!

Welcome Our Newest Addition!

No - I Didn't Have A Baby!

Yes - We Rescued A Dog!

Here Are The Stats:

Name: Miley Cyrus Brown

Gender: Female

DOB: April 19, 2009

Breed: Whippet / Bull Terrier

Color: Black / Brown / Rust

The Story: Miley was taken care of by another family since birth. Unfortunately (or fortunately for us), the dad of that family go laid off and they were no longer able to take care of the dog. So - off to the animal shelter she went.

I've been wanting a dog. I don't know why and I'm not sure when it hit me. Maybe it's because everybody I know is having babies....and I decided long ago that I don't want anymore kids. Maybe it's my way of fulfilling a suppressed desire to share something special with Jim now that we're married. I'm not sure exactly why it is....but I have really been wanting a dog. I've spent hours and hours online looking at dogs for adoption at all the local animal shelters. I've spent time doing research. I've even looked at adopting from another state. I've always known if we ever got a dog, we would rescue one from a shelter.

A couple of weeks ago, I asked Jim if we could take the girls to just go look. I convinced him it would help me know what kind of dog I wanted, so when we were ready this summer, I would know exactly what to look for. Now - if you know me at all, you will know that my intention was never to "just look". No, no, no. I thought for sure Jim would be able to see right through me. But to my surprise, he agreed to just "go look". So we wrote down the addresses of a couple of animal shelters, one in Kent and two in Bellevue. We started at the shelter in Kent.

First dog - I knew right away! She was the one. I convinced Jim to fill out the paperwork so we could take her out of the kennel and take her for a walk. He easily agreed. It was all part of my plan. See - Jim grew up with dogs and I knew how much he loved having a dog. So I knew all I had to do was find a dog he could easily fall in love with and we'd be taking the dog home. I knew the first one we saw was our dog. She was so mild mannered and let us put our hands in the cage and pet her. When we took her for a walk, she did so good on the leash and with the girls. It was great! I could tell by the look on Jim's face that he was pretty excited too.

When we gave the dog back to the volunteer, I asked Jim what he thought. He told me she was a great dog, but he didn't bring any cash or a checkbook. Well - I had already planned ahead and I knew there was a checkbook conveniently located in the glove box of his car. I told him to go look in the car just in case. When he walked back in, the girls all screamed and hugged him. We were getting our dog!