Hello! I know this blog has been allowed to go a little dormant.... however, when I am sad and a little on the depressed side, I tend to be way more in my own head and I write more - even tho' my posts for the most part are cheerful. I mean, yeah, I AM cheerful and I enjoy finding humor in most everything in life ... and still when I was struggling with a bit o' the depressive side there was always a bit of a shadow - or brain bugs - or that f*&^ing demented hamster running on a wheel in my head that woulnd't stop - and that is why I wrote more and posted more.
Eating 100% better than I used to and moving 100% more really, really fixed that issue 98% of the time.
Personally, I think my diet before contributed greatly to this shadow of depression. I ate mostly processed food stuff like the diet industry's fat-free anything, pizza, pasta, man-made foods - ummmm - what the hell IS Velveeta anyway? Personally I think your body just wasn't made to thrive off those things and we would all be better off eating foods we recognize... things that are "real".
Yeah - like broccoli, squash, chicken, beef, fish, eggs, pork, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, cabbage, spinach, pears, pomegranates, avocados, nuts - veggies, proteins, fruits...things that are what they are without the ingredient list a mile long. Things typically found on the outside aisles of your local grocery store....
And yes, it took time and patience to learn to eat these things as I was not raised on anything remotely resembling healthy. Yes, it was difficult. However, you CAN love these things and I DO love these things now. Never thought I could or would like veggies or fruits and now I do for reals and for true. Both for how they taste and for how they make me feel.
Then came the exercise and moving piece... and I did well on my own to start. I had success with basic bodyweight movement and sprints.
I hurt myself sprinting while on my own - didn't warm up enough - and I went to a PT that my lunchtime yoga instructor recommended. She fixed my issue and would show me where I was injured in anatomy books and explain what she was doing to help me. Very much appreciated. Yet when I excitedly told her about the things I was doing at home, she told me I should stop because I would get really "bulky" and man-like in my musculature. This made me sad and I knew enough to know that wasn't true. Knew this was one of those fitness myths I'd read about and women are so much more capable....and sad this myth is so pervasive.
We moved on to Crossfit cuz we had friends who SWORE by it and drank that kool-aid by the gallon. grin.
Then my elbows got a bit trashed from all the high reps in Crossfit... beginning with my left elbow. The coach there was grumpy and annoyed by my seemingly endless questions... I know. I just have questions! And I wanted to know more and more and more but that enthusiasm was too much for his grumpy soul and our personalities didn't jive.
I asked him about my elbow when it first began to hurt and I think he had just had it with me. He told me I could have wrung out a towel too hard for all he knew. He told me I should use this to my advantage to practice one-arm pull ups with the "good" elbow.
Which didn't make any sense to me because I couldn't even do ONE normal pull up. How in the hell would I just start knocking out one-arm pull ups and if my left elbow was hurting... I didn't want to trash out my right one. And I was not having fun any more there - just didn't "believe" in the kool-aid anymore after a year.
I recently went to a kettlebell guy in town. He had been helpful - absolutely - in critiquing my swing and in making sure I am creating tension in my core to assist me with movement. When I told him of my pull-up goals he thought I should do high reps to attain them. I tried this. And the high rep thing just. isn't. working. My right elbow hurts and I'm still not any closer to my pull ups. I don't think this method is wrong per se, but damn, MY body just can't handle it and there HAS to be another way. I am feeling so frustrated by my injuries.
I looked at working remotely with WG-Fit and Dave Hedges in Ireland back in August (because isn't the Internet so freaking cool? You can meet up and connect with people you would NEVER know or run into otherwise).... he thought he might start up some on-line training. Tho' it hasn't happened. He showed support for my efforts and was kind enough to answer questions I had without being condescending which I was so, so grateful for. Tho again, I think I am a little too all over the place in my excitement... Shannon-esque you might say ... with my enthusiasm and endless questions. *head hangs in sorrow* He has a blog chock full of good information and video demos to learn from as well - totally nice guy who knows his shit but he is in Ireland and I am in Colorado.
I am reading, reading, reading.... trying to learn all I can about fitness because it is truly amazing to me how it has made me feel SO. MUCH. BETTER.
I just can't begin to explain how much better it is in my own head and how I feel empowered cuz I did it. No one did it for me. I did it. I am the one who figured out foods and how to cook them and I am the one who began moving and being consistent in movement and I am the one that helped myself to feel so much better and I am the one who changed my body. I did this. No one else could have done it for me. It was all up to me and like those motivational childrens movies with a moral at the end... I HAD THE POWER INSIDE MYSELF ALL THIS TIME. And you do too... we all do. We are all so much stronger than we give ourselves credit for.
I am going to work remotely with Cori of Redefining Strength and Man Bicep. Check her out here and here. She is the real deal. Not a bunch of fake marketing b.s. But real exercises, real technique focused on proper form and movement. Real rehab and recovery techniques.
AND the best part to me right now - when I feel I have been chasing away everyone in the fitness world with my Shannon-esque - she is enthusiastic and I don't think I scare her or have driven her crazy ... yet.
I know I can be "overwhelming" in my excitement. It is a blessing many times being the YES, YES, YES - JUMP IN WITH BOTH FEET - YAHOOO!!!! sort of person .....tho' it has bitten me in the ass as well. I am really looking forward to working with a woman and having some female energy injected into my fitness journey. I need help with all the detail stuff and progressing.
She is going to help me figure out how to write some programming with my specific goals in mind --- with my capabilities and limits and how to expand in ways that won't injure me. I am so willing to put in work and effort, and I just don't want to hurt myself anymore in that work and effort. There has to be a way to make progress without injury. I think there is a "work smarter - not harder" element here to be learned.
And I am really hoping she can help me to put a filter on the things I read and help me to think about them and how one would go applying them.... I seriously looked at going back to college and getting a degree in exercise and kinethesiology at my ripe old age of 43... but I am so over getting more and more in huge debt with college loans. Feels like I'll never have my Masters degree paid off as it is....
I know we have something to learn from everyone we encounter.** And I so want to learn....
So anyway - check out Man Bicep and Redefining Strength for loads of good info and maybe you want to take some online training too? Or subscribe to an exercise library full o' good workouts?
And while I think about this blog... it is a good thing when I am away cuz it means I am out in the real world moving and living and not under that little shadow of depression and the brain bugs are gone and the hamster is quiet.
I wish you all much love and peace and strength in this new year of 2014!!!
**(I'm not a Crossfit hater - I struggle with residual bad feelings but I think that has a lot to do with ME and not the sport itself. I still watch the Games on ESPN and I still love Elizabeth Akinwale. I think a lot of people do well with it - I don't think it is the absolute recipie for grievous injury and rhabdo - I enjoyed it for a time! AND even tho my crossfit coach and I did not mesh well in the end, I DID learn from him, yes - good things too. Before he got fed up with me... and eventually I from him. heh)
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Friday, July 26, 2013
Changes
CHANGE! It's hard man. Even when change is wanted and needed, it's still hard to adjust to it. And it's scary.
I talk about how Furry Husband and I changed up our lifestyle... eating much better foods, moving more etc. We started going to a crossfit gym in our area and we did crossfit for a year. That year is up and I think I have decided to not pursue crossfit any more.
I appreciated a lot about it. I appreciated the bonds I formed with the other people we worked out with. The support we all gave each other and seeing the same faces each day was really cool. Getting to know new people and they were all such GOOD people. Truly good people.
I learned how to really push myself and see what I was capable of. I learned to push past the point that my brain said stop, it's too hard. Not into pain or anything like that - but you work out and a lot of time we still stay in our own comfort zone. We reach a point and think well, that is good enough. Only, I discovered, we are capable of so much more and that was a pretty cool thing. Confidence in myself and my ability really soared.
These are good things!
However, there came a point where I thought to myself... well, what IS the point exactly?
I read a lot of fitness articles by various coaches. Not so much that I'm all ADD of lets do THIS...oh, wait...180 and lets try THAT... oh... look over here...how about THE OTHER!
I found fitness in a way is very similar to Dressage... there can be a main philosophy or message/method and you find people that say that message in a slightly different way. Those people all follow that general methodology and yet, they say things in ways allowing you to think about something from another angle. Even though your main Dressage instructor has been telling you the same. exact. thing. --- sometimes you hear it from another source and you have an "aha!" moment. The messages all support the same goal/method.
I kept reading from some people I found most consistant and explanatory and who all followed the same basic methodology. Dave Hedges of Wild Geese Fitness in Ireland (http://wg-fit.com/), Tony Gentilcore of Cressey Performance in MA (http://www.tonygentilcore.com/), Martin Rooney of Training for Warriors (http://www.trainingforwarriors.com/blog/), Nia Shanks of Lift Like a Girl out of KY (http://www.niashanks.com/blog/) and most recently Man Bicep - another woman YAY! - out of CA (http://manbicep.com/).
We have DVDs from Dan John workshops we are watching and a couple Dan John books as well as a Pavel Tsatouline and Mike Mahler kettlebell books... we have some e-books from Dave Hedges on programming, bodyweight moves and Nia Shanks for some weightlifting. We have LOTS of information.
I read them online regularly and they link to other articles/authors that fit within their philosophy. And in all of my reading, there is a lot of info out there about crossfit that isn't so great.
I was aware of these ideas going in to crossfit. I kept them in mind while working out in crossfit... and I guess after a while, I began to think about what those negatives meant to me. As the weights got heavier and I got stronger and I looked at other programming from other strong/fit people and saw that many don't believe in complex lifts under weight until completely fatigued. You just don't see a lot of people doing a heavy olympic lift 60 times in a workout... well, unless it's crossfit.
And then my elbow began to have trouble... and Dave began to have nagging hamstring things going on. We saw friends we worked out with complain of nagging injuries...and a few that had serious injuries. And I can't say they were a direct result of something in crossfit, however, it just caused me to think harder and pay closer attention. We both felt tired and beat up all the time. Both Dave and I talked about how we missed seeing some linear progressions and we missed working on things we enjoyed in a way that we could eventurally master them. Like pistol squats... they only come up in crossfit workouts once every 3 months and I didnt' have enough "umph" left in me to practice them on my own. It would be fun to incorporate stuff like that, master those moves - along with other things we want to learn. And how the crossfit workouts are pretty high milage and did we have it in us to keep doing them long term...for years and years?
I decided, I did not have it in me to keep going. I don't see the point any more. Furry Husband and I began to talk more and more and decided to step back.
So it is totally scary to us because yes, of course, we made a lot of gains while working hard at crossfit. I can't say it's "bad". If you are aware of the negatives and you love it and you are sure to take care of any injuries you might get (just as with any sport)... more power to you. I'm not going to become a crossfit hater. I think we both learned a lot this past year even if we decide it's not for us in the long run.
So we wonder what the next fitness chapter is going to be. I don't want to lose what I have gained in muscles, strength, endurance. Crossfit is all we have known for a year.
Honestly, the bodyweight stuff still gets me geeked - pullups, pushups, squats and the myriad of variations. Kettlebells get Furry Husband geeked.... we are reassessing our goals and creating some routines/programming to incorporate both things. It is good to think for yourself... even tho it is a little scary and unsure. It is good to question and think about things vs. accepting everything sort of blindly and just doing it.... because. You gotta have that why and know what your why for doing something is.
It's interesting. Not easy - but it is certainly interesting.
We will be cleaning out our bunkhouse this weekend to make a dedicated workout area for winter time or inclement weather... otherwise the great outdoors is our playground and we'll be experimenting with lots of moving using bodyweight, kettlebells, dumbbells with plates, a sloshpipe, a pullup bar, sandbags, tires, sledgehammer, and even a pulling harness to strap into... can't wait to strap myself to the ol' Subaru stationwagon and pull Furry Husband down the road....
Wonder what the neighbors are gonna think about THAT? grin.
I talk about how Furry Husband and I changed up our lifestyle... eating much better foods, moving more etc. We started going to a crossfit gym in our area and we did crossfit for a year. That year is up and I think I have decided to not pursue crossfit any more.
I appreciated a lot about it. I appreciated the bonds I formed with the other people we worked out with. The support we all gave each other and seeing the same faces each day was really cool. Getting to know new people and they were all such GOOD people. Truly good people.
I learned how to really push myself and see what I was capable of. I learned to push past the point that my brain said stop, it's too hard. Not into pain or anything like that - but you work out and a lot of time we still stay in our own comfort zone. We reach a point and think well, that is good enough. Only, I discovered, we are capable of so much more and that was a pretty cool thing. Confidence in myself and my ability really soared.
These are good things!
However, there came a point where I thought to myself... well, what IS the point exactly?
I read a lot of fitness articles by various coaches. Not so much that I'm all ADD of lets do THIS...oh, wait...180 and lets try THAT... oh... look over here...how about THE OTHER!
I found fitness in a way is very similar to Dressage... there can be a main philosophy or message/method and you find people that say that message in a slightly different way. Those people all follow that general methodology and yet, they say things in ways allowing you to think about something from another angle. Even though your main Dressage instructor has been telling you the same. exact. thing. --- sometimes you hear it from another source and you have an "aha!" moment. The messages all support the same goal/method.
I kept reading from some people I found most consistant and explanatory and who all followed the same basic methodology. Dave Hedges of Wild Geese Fitness in Ireland (http://wg-fit.com/), Tony Gentilcore of Cressey Performance in MA (http://www.tonygentilcore.com/), Martin Rooney of Training for Warriors (http://www.trainingforwarriors.com/blog/), Nia Shanks of Lift Like a Girl out of KY (http://www.niashanks.com/blog/) and most recently Man Bicep - another woman YAY! - out of CA (http://manbicep.com/).
We have DVDs from Dan John workshops we are watching and a couple Dan John books as well as a Pavel Tsatouline and Mike Mahler kettlebell books... we have some e-books from Dave Hedges on programming, bodyweight moves and Nia Shanks for some weightlifting. We have LOTS of information.
I read them online regularly and they link to other articles/authors that fit within their philosophy. And in all of my reading, there is a lot of info out there about crossfit that isn't so great.
I was aware of these ideas going in to crossfit. I kept them in mind while working out in crossfit... and I guess after a while, I began to think about what those negatives meant to me. As the weights got heavier and I got stronger and I looked at other programming from other strong/fit people and saw that many don't believe in complex lifts under weight until completely fatigued. You just don't see a lot of people doing a heavy olympic lift 60 times in a workout... well, unless it's crossfit.
And then my elbow began to have trouble... and Dave began to have nagging hamstring things going on. We saw friends we worked out with complain of nagging injuries...and a few that had serious injuries. And I can't say they were a direct result of something in crossfit, however, it just caused me to think harder and pay closer attention. We both felt tired and beat up all the time. Both Dave and I talked about how we missed seeing some linear progressions and we missed working on things we enjoyed in a way that we could eventurally master them. Like pistol squats... they only come up in crossfit workouts once every 3 months and I didnt' have enough "umph" left in me to practice them on my own. It would be fun to incorporate stuff like that, master those moves - along with other things we want to learn. And how the crossfit workouts are pretty high milage and did we have it in us to keep doing them long term...for years and years?
I decided, I did not have it in me to keep going. I don't see the point any more. Furry Husband and I began to talk more and more and decided to step back.
So it is totally scary to us because yes, of course, we made a lot of gains while working hard at crossfit. I can't say it's "bad". If you are aware of the negatives and you love it and you are sure to take care of any injuries you might get (just as with any sport)... more power to you. I'm not going to become a crossfit hater. I think we both learned a lot this past year even if we decide it's not for us in the long run.
So we wonder what the next fitness chapter is going to be. I don't want to lose what I have gained in muscles, strength, endurance. Crossfit is all we have known for a year.
Honestly, the bodyweight stuff still gets me geeked - pullups, pushups, squats and the myriad of variations. Kettlebells get Furry Husband geeked.... we are reassessing our goals and creating some routines/programming to incorporate both things. It is good to think for yourself... even tho it is a little scary and unsure. It is good to question and think about things vs. accepting everything sort of blindly and just doing it.... because. You gotta have that why and know what your why for doing something is.
It's interesting. Not easy - but it is certainly interesting.
We will be cleaning out our bunkhouse this weekend to make a dedicated workout area for winter time or inclement weather... otherwise the great outdoors is our playground and we'll be experimenting with lots of moving using bodyweight, kettlebells, dumbbells with plates, a sloshpipe, a pullup bar, sandbags, tires, sledgehammer, and even a pulling harness to strap into... can't wait to strap myself to the ol' Subaru stationwagon and pull Furry Husband down the road....
Wonder what the neighbors are gonna think about THAT? grin.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Missing in Action....
I know. Totally been ignoring "the blog world". shrug. It's not as if I ever have world changing or riveting things to write about. And I have felt so BUSY lately.
My job is busier with more responsibility which is a great thing! The new "lifestyle" Dave and I are living - no, no, no - not the swinger lifestyle you dirty people! grin..... but the fitness lifestyle has eaten up a lot of time. And it's not really the working out part... it seems to be the food part. Preppingand making good, healthy food every night takes time. Or maybe both of those things together...
I am still riding my red mule, Sera Sue. I am still taking agility lessons with Little Toe. And all of that leaves me running it seems from 4:00AM when we get up to 8:30-9:00PM at night.
Not that I am complaining. I love my life and the people in it and I have full control of cutting back and making choices to do that.... it's just .... I don't want to! I want to fit it ALL in... which is hard to do and blogging just really seems to falls by the ol' wayside.
And if you don't write, people don't read and then your blog, which was small to begin with, withers down and atrophys and then it's just a little online diary for your own shits and giggles. And I'm coo wif 'dat.
SO! Where do I begin? Let's talk dogs.
We lost our old dogs... both Sammy and Bequia died about 4 months ago. They were 12 and 13 respectively. We were sad, however, they were well loved and cared for and were very much a part of our lives and days... how can a dog ask for more? We were lucky to have them in our lives for as long as we did.
We lost Keenan - our problem child dog - that was the hardest thing we've ever been through because she was very young when she died and the difficulty we experienced with her in almost every way really made us question our ability to be good dog owners ever again. Somehow I think us humans focus in on our negative experiences vs. the positives. So even tho we had past success with Booker, Sammy, Bequia and Little Toe ... we just thought after Keenan we maybe should not own dogs cuz we were incompetent.
I'm glad that didn't last long. We started looking and tried working with rescue groups to find another dog to come into our lives even tho' we were pretty nervous and hesitant about it.
Here is what we discovered. Rescue groups can be difficult. I know they totally mean well and I'm sure there are many rescues who work quickly. However, the first rescue group we worked with has us interviewed over the phone by 3 different staff members to make sure we were ok on paper. We had a house visit. We had to talk with a behaviourist. More interviews. Then when we finally met a dog they wanted to pair us with, they decided they didn't like our fencing. It was absolutely maddening.
We moved on to another rescue group... they moved more efficiently. However, they couldn't get to a home visit which was necessary in order to adopt a dog because we were remote comparatively to their HQ and weeks went by.
Finally we said, "fuck it"... pardon my French...it had been months.
We went to a humane society in Boulder, CO. We filled out an application, looked at all the dogs held inside, visited with one and brought her home. The Boulder shelter partners with high kill shelters in other states. The dog we brought home is a year old, female, cattle dog mix from a high kill shelter in OK. She is an absolute JOY to have around.
Furry Husband is taking her to a basic obedience class and I have started playing around teaching her a couple tricks... she is very fun. She loves all things canine and is happy to see people of all ages, shapes and sizes - big and small, she loves them all.
She is full of such happiness and while quite leery of us at first... any time we had something in our hands like a shovel or rake or apple picker she stayed very very far away... think she was not treated very well wherever she came from. She figured out very fast that we are not the hitting sort of home and her confidence has blossomed. We named her Shorty... it somehow just fit her.
So - rescues - while absolutely needed in this world and I believe they have the very best intentions and I think there are probably many that are very very good at what they do; I think many have made it so difficult to actually adopt a dog that they are missing the larger picture.
I get it... I totally get that they don't want dogs coming back and they don't want dogs ending up in bad situations again. However, in my opinion, it would be easier for me to get pregnant and have an actual human baby than it was to try and adopt a dog from the rescues we contacted.
I realize all rescues are not this way. However, by the time we went through the hoops of two rescue organizations, we were fed-up by the process and just wanted to adopt a dog that needed a home.
So we did. And it is a beautiful thing...
Cheers and happy Friday!
My job is busier with more responsibility which is a great thing! The new "lifestyle" Dave and I are living - no, no, no - not the swinger lifestyle you dirty people! grin..... but the fitness lifestyle has eaten up a lot of time. And it's not really the working out part... it seems to be the food part. Preppingand making good, healthy food every night takes time. Or maybe both of those things together...
I am still riding my red mule, Sera Sue. I am still taking agility lessons with Little Toe. And all of that leaves me running it seems from 4:00AM when we get up to 8:30-9:00PM at night.
Not that I am complaining. I love my life and the people in it and I have full control of cutting back and making choices to do that.... it's just .... I don't want to! I want to fit it ALL in... which is hard to do and blogging just really seems to falls by the ol' wayside.
And if you don't write, people don't read and then your blog, which was small to begin with, withers down and atrophys and then it's just a little online diary for your own shits and giggles. And I'm coo wif 'dat.
SO! Where do I begin? Let's talk dogs.
We lost our old dogs... both Sammy and Bequia died about 4 months ago. They were 12 and 13 respectively. We were sad, however, they were well loved and cared for and were very much a part of our lives and days... how can a dog ask for more? We were lucky to have them in our lives for as long as we did.
We lost Keenan - our problem child dog - that was the hardest thing we've ever been through because she was very young when she died and the difficulty we experienced with her in almost every way really made us question our ability to be good dog owners ever again. Somehow I think us humans focus in on our negative experiences vs. the positives. So even tho we had past success with Booker, Sammy, Bequia and Little Toe ... we just thought after Keenan we maybe should not own dogs cuz we were incompetent.
I'm glad that didn't last long. We started looking and tried working with rescue groups to find another dog to come into our lives even tho' we were pretty nervous and hesitant about it.
Here is what we discovered. Rescue groups can be difficult. I know they totally mean well and I'm sure there are many rescues who work quickly. However, the first rescue group we worked with has us interviewed over the phone by 3 different staff members to make sure we were ok on paper. We had a house visit. We had to talk with a behaviourist. More interviews. Then when we finally met a dog they wanted to pair us with, they decided they didn't like our fencing. It was absolutely maddening.
We moved on to another rescue group... they moved more efficiently. However, they couldn't get to a home visit which was necessary in order to adopt a dog because we were remote comparatively to their HQ and weeks went by.
Finally we said, "fuck it"... pardon my French...it had been months.
We went to a humane society in Boulder, CO. We filled out an application, looked at all the dogs held inside, visited with one and brought her home. The Boulder shelter partners with high kill shelters in other states. The dog we brought home is a year old, female, cattle dog mix from a high kill shelter in OK. She is an absolute JOY to have around.
Furry Husband is taking her to a basic obedience class and I have started playing around teaching her a couple tricks... she is very fun. She loves all things canine and is happy to see people of all ages, shapes and sizes - big and small, she loves them all.
She is full of such happiness and while quite leery of us at first... any time we had something in our hands like a shovel or rake or apple picker she stayed very very far away... think she was not treated very well wherever she came from. She figured out very fast that we are not the hitting sort of home and her confidence has blossomed. We named her Shorty... it somehow just fit her.
So - rescues - while absolutely needed in this world and I believe they have the very best intentions and I think there are probably many that are very very good at what they do; I think many have made it so difficult to actually adopt a dog that they are missing the larger picture.
I get it... I totally get that they don't want dogs coming back and they don't want dogs ending up in bad situations again. However, in my opinion, it would be easier for me to get pregnant and have an actual human baby than it was to try and adopt a dog from the rescues we contacted.
I realize all rescues are not this way. However, by the time we went through the hoops of two rescue organizations, we were fed-up by the process and just wanted to adopt a dog that needed a home.
So we did. And it is a beautiful thing...
Cheers and happy Friday!
Friday, January 11, 2013
Kitteh and The Turd
We have a little black tortoiseshell kitteh... she is about 2 now. She was a pretty sick little kitteh when we got her home from the humane society until we figured out her issues. She has to eat a certain type of canned cat food or she has explosive diarrhea. I think I posted about it, no?
Anyway, because of this, we have to separate her when we feed the cats or she runs frantically from food dish to food dish and she eats all the food in each bowl with ONE GIANT BITE. Our other cats were losing weight and looking at us with starving, hollow eyes because they weren't getting much if any food.
We started locking our little kitteh - affectionately called "Kettlebell" for her *ahem* round shape - in the bathtub and closing the shower door during meal times. She gets her portion o' food, the other cats get their food, they put on weight and stopped looking at us with baleful, hungry stares and lashing tails.
Win - win.
Sometimes, Kettlebell will poop in the bathtub. shrug. I guess when you gotta go, you gotta go. At least it's easy clean up right?
The other day, she pooped in the bathtub. We hadn't had a chance to clean it up yet, however, we had opened the door and set her free. Furry Husband was in the bathroom and heard a "rattle, rattle, rattle" coming from the bathtub.
Next thing you know, little Kettlebell pops up. Cute, dainty, furry paws on the edge of the tub, sweet face with wide-eyed wonderment ... and her own turd in her mouth! She had been batting it around the bathtub and was apparently going to make a mad dash somewhere else to play with it.
I just heard a panicked, deep shout of, "DROP IT!" outta Furry Husband from the bathroom...
And it still makes me laugh.
What cat plays with it's own turds?? Only in our house. Hooo boy. Sheesh.
Anyway, because of this, we have to separate her when we feed the cats or she runs frantically from food dish to food dish and she eats all the food in each bowl with ONE GIANT BITE. Our other cats were losing weight and looking at us with starving, hollow eyes because they weren't getting much if any food.
We started locking our little kitteh - affectionately called "Kettlebell" for her *ahem* round shape - in the bathtub and closing the shower door during meal times. She gets her portion o' food, the other cats get their food, they put on weight and stopped looking at us with baleful, hungry stares and lashing tails.
Win - win.
Sometimes, Kettlebell will poop in the bathtub. shrug. I guess when you gotta go, you gotta go. At least it's easy clean up right?
The other day, she pooped in the bathtub. We hadn't had a chance to clean it up yet, however, we had opened the door and set her free. Furry Husband was in the bathroom and heard a "rattle, rattle, rattle" coming from the bathtub.
Next thing you know, little Kettlebell pops up. Cute, dainty, furry paws on the edge of the tub, sweet face with wide-eyed wonderment ... and her own turd in her mouth! She had been batting it around the bathtub and was apparently going to make a mad dash somewhere else to play with it.
I just heard a panicked, deep shout of, "DROP IT!" outta Furry Husband from the bathroom...
And it still makes me laugh.
What cat plays with it's own turds?? Only in our house. Hooo boy. Sheesh.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Happy New Year
Wow - I never post here anymore. It seems life goes along without many blog worthy interesting things and one gets swept up in daily routine...
Let's see what's been going on in Shanster's world.
I've been working hard and eating real foods - cut way back on sugar and processed things. I feel better than I ever have before. It's actually fixed a lot of the brain bugs I've always had.
Supposedly depression runs rampant on the paternal side o' the family and from what I hear, the maternal side hasn't been all that cheery either. I figured fighting depression was par for the course, it was "normal" in our family and it was only going to get worse as I aged.
Nope.
Turns out eating fruits, tons of vegetables, proteins like beef, pork, poultry and fish with some dairy thrown in here and there (cuz after all I do milk goats two times a day)... has done WONDERS. Add in some exercise... and voila. Brain bugs gone.
Not to say I don't get sad or upset about certain things, of course I do. Those things are still there, only there is not this oppressive, heavy weight to fight hanging on me all the time at every turn which is absolutely amazing and wonderful.
I learned and am learning how bad the diet and fitness industry is... lies mostly. Low fat "diet" food crap is still crap. It's still chemicals and processed food and marketing to the masses. Your body doesn't know what to make of all that chemical, man-made food. Eat like your great grandparents did, before there were 100 calorie snack packs of Oreos or strawberry filled low fat cereal bars or fruit loops or Velveeta.
You can eat a shit ton o' food as long as it's the right kind of food. I eat so much more than I ever have in my entire life...and I've been told in my past that I can pack it away like an Iowa farm boy. So yeah. Now I eat MORE than an Iowa farm boy.
A guy at work who is 6'4" - maybe 6'6"? He says I am his hero because I eat so much. I out eat him. And I am now a size 8. I have NEVER been a size 8. Not in high school or college or even grade school. Was always "the big boned" sort or in grade school the "extra baby fat" sort. Not that size defines anything, I liked myself when I was larger and I like myself now. That hasn't changed - I'm still the same person.
I'm jus' sayin' for any non-believers - I EAT and I feel GOOD and I have decreased in size tho' I am only 5lbs lighter than I was when I was in high school and a size 12. It's just now I am feeding myself right vs. Suzy Qs and Mountain Dew for breakfast, fast food for lunch and Kraft Mac & Cheese for dinner... my body is loving it and responding to it in every possible way - emotionally and physically.
I eat a plate full o' vegetables - I'm talkin' 3-4 cups of broccoli with dinner - possibly more or 1/2 of a very large butternut squash or a head of large cauliflower... with some protein like 2 pork chops, a nice big steak or hunk of fish or 1/2 of a roasted chicken... add a bit o' fat (yup, I eat the chicken skin, and I drizzle my veggies with olive oil or flavor it with butter) cuz it ain't the enemy despite what conventional wisdom says and some carbs which are found in my veggies or I eat fruit cuz carbs aren't the enemy either and chow the *F* down. People tell me my salad portions are enough to feed their whole family. I am teased I should use a feed bag or a trough at meal times. Yup. And I love every single bite.
Conventional "exercise" putting yourself on the treadmill for hours isn't going to get you anywhere either. My workouts are sometimes 7 minutes and sometimes 30 minutes. Rarely are they 45 minutes or over. I work so hard I can barely breathe in those few minutes. Plain ol' calisthenics - push ups, squats, pull ups, carrying or lifting heavy things and variations of those things. Modify as needed to your ability. Just work hard when you work. Make it count. It fires up your furnace for the rest of the day.
Gots to work in tandem tho'... diet - not fad diet - but diet as in what you consume every day AND moving more. You can't out-exercise crap food. I started with diet and gradually added in exercise as I could. I didn't change everything all at once - that would have been too overwhelming. Baby steps.
It's simple. And hard.
Of course I want to eat Doritos and Oreos and order a giant pizza with extra cheese and pepperoni with a giant Mountain Dew. Yes, I want those chocolate chip cookies you are eating. Of course I'd love to open a bag of kettle chip Lays potato chips. And I would rather sleep in and lay on the couch...however our bodies were meant to move. And with everything, habits are made the more you practice. I move.
However, to me, not moving and eating poorly is simply not worth the depression or sleepless nights. Besides - when you eat 3 large heads of broccoli and 2 pork chops with 32oz o' water for dinner? You don't feel much like dialing up the ol' pizza palace cuz you are pretty full.
Anyway - that is where I've been I guess. Learning all about that stuff.
I am still riding. Still working on my flying changes - however in winter, I ride once and if I'm lucky twice a week so not like I'm drilling every day. They are getting better and better. I'm looking forward to longer days and more time in the saddle.
I am still practicing agility with my little dog, Toe. He has 6 in-line weaves now and at the Novice level in AKC they only use 6 vs. 12 ... so I guess that means I should start entering competitions! Gulp. And I need to get my butt in gear to do 12... and I have NO IDEA why I have such a mental block or fear of weaves. Rolling eyes at self.
We are fostering a rescue dog this month because we lost our big yellow dog about 3 months ago. We are just now beginning to feel like we can move forward and test the doggie waters again. I hope the foster is a positive experience.
My deceased Dad has been on my brain lately - there is some finder company that says they found some $ of his somewhere. They will provide it to me for 20% of the cut. They seem like mobsters to me when I talked with them. Sounded just like Tony Soprano and his crew.
However, when I talked to the state treasurer, they say it's law that the funds will be released to the state in 5 years and to check the state site now and again. I checked the other day and accidentally clicked on a link that LOOKED like the state treasurer - only it was another finder company and only after I entered Dad's name did I realize this.
Now I am being spammed with all sorts of things geared toward Dad and his "interests"... and his last years were pretty durned seedy as he lost his mind or maybe he finally let loose what was always there. Who knows. Do we ever truly know any one? Maybe not. So every day lately I've been reminded of all of his badness and everything I dealt with for the last years of his life. And it is really bumming me out. Not feeling so great about my family right now and where I came from.
So see? Problems still there, they don't go away. However, I can only imagine how bad they'd be if I was still jacked up on fake foods and thank goodness for my 10 minutes and 28 seconds of hard work this morning...helps get that aggression and bad feeling OUT.
Endorphins. Gotta love 'em.
And practicing the here and now. I am here. I have such a great life and such a great husband and friends and I have made the life I want. Right here and right now. Wolf! (If you have not read Stephen King/Peter Straub and their book, The Talisman - do it now!)
Hope everyone is well and still out there fighting the good fight! Cheers!
Let's see what's been going on in Shanster's world.
I've been working hard and eating real foods - cut way back on sugar and processed things. I feel better than I ever have before. It's actually fixed a lot of the brain bugs I've always had.
Supposedly depression runs rampant on the paternal side o' the family and from what I hear, the maternal side hasn't been all that cheery either. I figured fighting depression was par for the course, it was "normal" in our family and it was only going to get worse as I aged.
Nope.
Turns out eating fruits, tons of vegetables, proteins like beef, pork, poultry and fish with some dairy thrown in here and there (cuz after all I do milk goats two times a day)... has done WONDERS. Add in some exercise... and voila. Brain bugs gone.
Not to say I don't get sad or upset about certain things, of course I do. Those things are still there, only there is not this oppressive, heavy weight to fight hanging on me all the time at every turn which is absolutely amazing and wonderful.
I learned and am learning how bad the diet and fitness industry is... lies mostly. Low fat "diet" food crap is still crap. It's still chemicals and processed food and marketing to the masses. Your body doesn't know what to make of all that chemical, man-made food. Eat like your great grandparents did, before there were 100 calorie snack packs of Oreos or strawberry filled low fat cereal bars or fruit loops or Velveeta.
You can eat a shit ton o' food as long as it's the right kind of food. I eat so much more than I ever have in my entire life...and I've been told in my past that I can pack it away like an Iowa farm boy. So yeah. Now I eat MORE than an Iowa farm boy.
A guy at work who is 6'4" - maybe 6'6"? He says I am his hero because I eat so much. I out eat him. And I am now a size 8. I have NEVER been a size 8. Not in high school or college or even grade school. Was always "the big boned" sort or in grade school the "extra baby fat" sort. Not that size defines anything, I liked myself when I was larger and I like myself now. That hasn't changed - I'm still the same person.
I'm jus' sayin' for any non-believers - I EAT and I feel GOOD and I have decreased in size tho' I am only 5lbs lighter than I was when I was in high school and a size 12. It's just now I am feeding myself right vs. Suzy Qs and Mountain Dew for breakfast, fast food for lunch and Kraft Mac & Cheese for dinner... my body is loving it and responding to it in every possible way - emotionally and physically.
I eat a plate full o' vegetables - I'm talkin' 3-4 cups of broccoli with dinner - possibly more or 1/2 of a very large butternut squash or a head of large cauliflower... with some protein like 2 pork chops, a nice big steak or hunk of fish or 1/2 of a roasted chicken... add a bit o' fat (yup, I eat the chicken skin, and I drizzle my veggies with olive oil or flavor it with butter) cuz it ain't the enemy despite what conventional wisdom says and some carbs which are found in my veggies or I eat fruit cuz carbs aren't the enemy either and chow the *F* down. People tell me my salad portions are enough to feed their whole family. I am teased I should use a feed bag or a trough at meal times. Yup. And I love every single bite.
Conventional "exercise" putting yourself on the treadmill for hours isn't going to get you anywhere either. My workouts are sometimes 7 minutes and sometimes 30 minutes. Rarely are they 45 minutes or over. I work so hard I can barely breathe in those few minutes. Plain ol' calisthenics - push ups, squats, pull ups, carrying or lifting heavy things and variations of those things. Modify as needed to your ability. Just work hard when you work. Make it count. It fires up your furnace for the rest of the day.
Gots to work in tandem tho'... diet - not fad diet - but diet as in what you consume every day AND moving more. You can't out-exercise crap food. I started with diet and gradually added in exercise as I could. I didn't change everything all at once - that would have been too overwhelming. Baby steps.
It's simple. And hard.
Of course I want to eat Doritos and Oreos and order a giant pizza with extra cheese and pepperoni with a giant Mountain Dew. Yes, I want those chocolate chip cookies you are eating. Of course I'd love to open a bag of kettle chip Lays potato chips. And I would rather sleep in and lay on the couch...however our bodies were meant to move. And with everything, habits are made the more you practice. I move.
However, to me, not moving and eating poorly is simply not worth the depression or sleepless nights. Besides - when you eat 3 large heads of broccoli and 2 pork chops with 32oz o' water for dinner? You don't feel much like dialing up the ol' pizza palace cuz you are pretty full.
Anyway - that is where I've been I guess. Learning all about that stuff.
I am still riding. Still working on my flying changes - however in winter, I ride once and if I'm lucky twice a week so not like I'm drilling every day. They are getting better and better. I'm looking forward to longer days and more time in the saddle.
I am still practicing agility with my little dog, Toe. He has 6 in-line weaves now and at the Novice level in AKC they only use 6 vs. 12 ... so I guess that means I should start entering competitions! Gulp. And I need to get my butt in gear to do 12... and I have NO IDEA why I have such a mental block or fear of weaves. Rolling eyes at self.
We are fostering a rescue dog this month because we lost our big yellow dog about 3 months ago. We are just now beginning to feel like we can move forward and test the doggie waters again. I hope the foster is a positive experience.
My deceased Dad has been on my brain lately - there is some finder company that says they found some $ of his somewhere. They will provide it to me for 20% of the cut. They seem like mobsters to me when I talked with them. Sounded just like Tony Soprano and his crew.
However, when I talked to the state treasurer, they say it's law that the funds will be released to the state in 5 years and to check the state site now and again. I checked the other day and accidentally clicked on a link that LOOKED like the state treasurer - only it was another finder company and only after I entered Dad's name did I realize this.
Now I am being spammed with all sorts of things geared toward Dad and his "interests"... and his last years were pretty durned seedy as he lost his mind or maybe he finally let loose what was always there. Who knows. Do we ever truly know any one? Maybe not. So every day lately I've been reminded of all of his badness and everything I dealt with for the last years of his life. And it is really bumming me out. Not feeling so great about my family right now and where I came from.
So see? Problems still there, they don't go away. However, I can only imagine how bad they'd be if I was still jacked up on fake foods and thank goodness for my 10 minutes and 28 seconds of hard work this morning...helps get that aggression and bad feeling OUT.
Endorphins. Gotta love 'em.
And practicing the here and now. I am here. I have such a great life and such a great husband and friends and I have made the life I want. Right here and right now. Wolf! (If you have not read Stephen King/Peter Straub and their book, The Talisman - do it now!)
Hope everyone is well and still out there fighting the good fight! Cheers!
Saturday, September 8, 2012
The nose knows!
Took a break and took Toe on a walk around our buildings (Saturdays I can park in the shade with my windows down so Toe gets to come with me to work and hang out in his car kennel) ... there are these wide gutters along some curbs and he is always so interested in them...
Today after investigating the gutters, there was a wild animal poop on the sidewalk that he investigated a long time... then he sniffed all along the building - up against it... to this employee area with picnic tables where some wild thing had raided the trash... my guess would be racoons.
It was just cool to watch his nose work, watch him investigate... track...back track... and then come upon this scene of trash and I could just imagine fat racoons emerging from the gutter... slinking along the buildings in the shadows and raiding the garbage.
Dogs is so cool.
Just had to share... for some reason it just tickled me today... tho' he is always sniffing... today I felt I could follow along with the story he was "reading". grin.
Today after investigating the gutters, there was a wild animal poop on the sidewalk that he investigated a long time... then he sniffed all along the building - up against it... to this employee area with picnic tables where some wild thing had raided the trash... my guess would be racoons.
It was just cool to watch his nose work, watch him investigate... track...back track... and then come upon this scene of trash and I could just imagine fat racoons emerging from the gutter... slinking along the buildings in the shadows and raiding the garbage.
Dogs is so cool.
Just had to share... for some reason it just tickled me today... tho' he is always sniffing... today I felt I could follow along with the story he was "reading". grin.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Gas-O-line yeah
My sister visited yesterday and not being aware, left our front gate open through which Toe made his escape to finally find and take care of that damn rabbit that has been in our driveway driving him over the wall insane.
I went running after Toe... he was at the neighbor's house. The neighbor to the East of us... the family that is ... hmmm. How do you say? Harmless, nice enough and yet so incredibly annoying and not really very smaht. No. Not smaht at all.
IE: Took a couple years for them to build a "yard" for the dogs... in those years dogs either got hit by cars or were picked up by the humane society and it was easier for them to leave the dog at the humane society vs. paying the fine.
Shooting guns for the fun of it, but shot toward Mrs. Kravitz's house and there is buckshot in her exterior house walls.
Keeping horses in a pasture that has t-posts, sagging, mish-mosh of "fencing" made of wire, baling twine, barb wire - so low in spots I could easily step over it so the horses got out and ran around the neighborhood regularly til he took them to the sale barn.
Now his daughter, son-in-law and their children have moved in... I come home to naked boys (5-7 or 8?) running around outside in the summer. Nice.
Couple of winters ago, one of the said boys from above was small - 2ish? And the wee boy was outside with only a diaper on and it was mid-30s... maybe low 40s. Not freezing but not weather you want a naked 2yr old in. Anyway, he made his way down the pasture and to Mrs. Kravitz's house (a long trek for a 2yr old)... they found him, scooped him up and took him back to dumb ass (oh, did I say dumb ass? Sorry about that. I meant neighbor...) The response? "Oh, he does that all the time!"
Now that you have a somewhat pix of these neighbors... that is where Toe had gone. I walk over, see Toe. He is in the back part of their house where the dilapidated garage is, driveway with large dirt parking area. The 2 little boys are sitting on the ground, playing in the dirt... there are a couple metal mixing bowls, rusted pans and an aluminum paint tray for roller brushes...
Toe sees me and comes over... they are yelling at him and shooing him away. I pick him up and say "Whoops, we had an escapee - sorry about that!"
Their response?
"Oh, we just didn't want him to get near those bowls and stuff. The boys thought it'd be fun to fill them with white gasoline."
Alrighty then.
You have fun playing with your gasoline and your kids under the age of 10.
Good grief. What is it that Ron White says? You can't fix stupid. He is 100% dead on with that statement.
Happy Labor Day everyone!
I went running after Toe... he was at the neighbor's house. The neighbor to the East of us... the family that is ... hmmm. How do you say? Harmless, nice enough and yet so incredibly annoying and not really very smaht. No. Not smaht at all.
IE: Took a couple years for them to build a "yard" for the dogs... in those years dogs either got hit by cars or were picked up by the humane society and it was easier for them to leave the dog at the humane society vs. paying the fine.
Shooting guns for the fun of it, but shot toward Mrs. Kravitz's house and there is buckshot in her exterior house walls.
Keeping horses in a pasture that has t-posts, sagging, mish-mosh of "fencing" made of wire, baling twine, barb wire - so low in spots I could easily step over it so the horses got out and ran around the neighborhood regularly til he took them to the sale barn.
Now his daughter, son-in-law and their children have moved in... I come home to naked boys (5-7 or 8?) running around outside in the summer. Nice.
Couple of winters ago, one of the said boys from above was small - 2ish? And the wee boy was outside with only a diaper on and it was mid-30s... maybe low 40s. Not freezing but not weather you want a naked 2yr old in. Anyway, he made his way down the pasture and to Mrs. Kravitz's house (a long trek for a 2yr old)... they found him, scooped him up and took him back to dumb ass (oh, did I say dumb ass? Sorry about that. I meant neighbor...) The response? "Oh, he does that all the time!"
Now that you have a somewhat pix of these neighbors... that is where Toe had gone. I walk over, see Toe. He is in the back part of their house where the dilapidated garage is, driveway with large dirt parking area. The 2 little boys are sitting on the ground, playing in the dirt... there are a couple metal mixing bowls, rusted pans and an aluminum paint tray for roller brushes...
Toe sees me and comes over... they are yelling at him and shooing him away. I pick him up and say "Whoops, we had an escapee - sorry about that!"
Their response?
"Oh, we just didn't want him to get near those bowls and stuff. The boys thought it'd be fun to fill them with white gasoline."
Alrighty then.
You have fun playing with your gasoline and your kids under the age of 10.
Good grief. What is it that Ron White says? You can't fix stupid. He is 100% dead on with that statement.
Happy Labor Day everyone!
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