My New Exercise Buddy

As usual, I have sadly neglected my fitness blog, but again, with good reason :-) After a long night shift, my husband surprised me by allowing me to stop at the animal shelter. He shocked me again, by actually agreeing to allow me to be the "foster mama" of this little lab puppy :-) Isn't she sweet?!

My usual routine has become "wake up and get that puppy outside to pee"! The good little girl has never had an accident in her box yet, but she did let loose on my eldest when he was carrying her out after 9 hours. Good thing he is so good natured!

After that, school has begun with the children and I am busy getting them started on the day. Puppy has been getting a mile run in several mornings. She is learning to heel. Yesterday she did amazing. Today it was a battle of the wills and she had to learn who was the "Alpha Mama". No fun, but necessary for her benefit and for her future. After that, its check the children's progress.

On any given day, you will find me carrying me tiny pieces of diced up hot dog in my pocket. No, its not because I have fallen off the wagon. Its a suggestion from one of my old co-workers for an economical puppy treat. It works great!! Libby comes when she is called or whistled to, "sits" on command, is learning process on "shake", "lay down" and "roll over". I'm pleased with her progress. Having her is a dream come true and I don't want to jeopardize that with her being unmanageable. Other than a few potty accidents in the house, she's been a real good girl. I am looking forward to extending our runs and having her be a good motivation for me to get out there! It was a super fun time at the lake last weekend when we took her camping along with some of our friends. Our dogs played together in the sand and water fetching sticks and having a crazy good time.

I was relieved and happy to see that my jeans still fit good when I did the summer/fall switch. In fact, 8's are a lot more comfortable and I even have a couple pairs of 6's :-) That is happy for me. Having accounts at several consignment stores has helped me keep up on sizes, and finding cute things that look nice. One magazine article I read long ago said that you have to force yourself to try stuff on on a regular basis. One, because even when we feel "frumpy", seeing even a little improvement can be a great incentive. Another, because when we look good, we feel good. It makes us want to keep trying. Not having money for new clothes shouldn't be an issue. There are always clearance and consignment racks. I regularly take in my stuff as well as things my kids have outgrown. It keeps a steady stream of credit for shopping and keeps frumpies far away ;-)

I hope you are having a good week and accomplishing your goals. I did do a week long coffee fast which was good for me. Been trying to run more with the pup. Restarted a sit ups regime. Though I haven't had any eating plans for a while. Tomorrow I am taking The Sock Fashion Expert to get her nose pierced. I am undergoing some serious soul searching about what or if I should pierce along with her....