Are you ever amazed by some game that seems to intuit things about you that shouldn't be possible?
I stumbled across this link while looking at other blogs. When I clicked the link on this site, it matched me with my daemon from the Golden Compass series. To suddenly see a fox cross the screen was incredible -- since this one of my true affinity animals.
I've gone back again, and EVERY time I click the link I get the fox...what's up with that?!
So tell me...what are you paired with?
http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/?76161
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Sad and Happy - The Joy of A Friend
I hope you'll enjoy this "buddy" picture of my friend Soozun, her new puppy Astro, and our almost 1 year old corgi, Norton:
June is the start of a two month period of "bad anniversaries". One year ago this month, my good friend Susan (Sooz) had cancer surgery, chemo, & radiation followed by another surgery. In the midst of that she had a bad reaction to one of the chemotherapy drugs...ended up having seizures and being hospitalized.
At about the same time, our 11 year old labrador retriever, Gus, had some kind of a seizure of his own. He fell down and couldn't get up again right away. A couple hours later he seemed fine...but over the following weeks we could tell he was slowing way, way down. One day, just after Bob came home from work it happened. Gus just looked up at Bob, wagged his tail and died.
I was so stressed out last summer. I was anxious, having sleep problems and what I would call mini-panic attacks several times a day. It made such a difference when we got our puppy, Norton, at the end of last summer. Turning my attention to him and away from the sad stuff made me realize that I've GOT to have a dog (or cat) in my life.
Just a couple months ago Susan had another hard blow. Her dog, Trixie, who was close to Gus' age, also died. I was very worried that she would go through a hard time like I did. Two weeks ago we hit the farmers market and she mentioned she was looking for puppies that afternoon. That was a good sign.
I'm hoping this summer we can set a series of happy anniversaries to celebrate in the future.
1-Our pup, Norton, will be one year old this month! He's a little Cardigan Welsh corgi -- these corgis HAVE tails and even bigger ears than the Pembroke corgis. Birthday party scheduled for June 18. Biscuits for all! If you need a friend, adopting a puppy or adult dog can be life changing. I'm happy to say I have walked Norton almost every day since we brought him home -- I think I have had two days when I was too sick to walk, and a couple days when I travelled for work. He has been such a wonderful addition to our family. Corgis are very different in personality (and size) from the labrador retrievers we've had in the past -- but it's interesting to have a small/medium size pup. And there's no mistaking Norton for Gus, that is for sure. Thanks to Carolyn Cannon at C-Myste Corgis for letting us add Norton to our household!
http://www.c-myste.com/
2-Susan seems to be recovering really well. Fingers crossed, knock on wood, all signs look good that she is going to beat cancer. The month of May was breast cancer awareness month, but let June be the month you get a mammogram if you are overdue! And don't forget to give support and take inspiration from the strong women who are fighting this fight. Summer is the time when many cities sponsor Relay for Life, 3-Day Walks, and other events to expand awareness and support cancer research.
3-Celebrate friends. Pick up the phone and call someone that you haven't talked to in a while. Better yet, send them an actual card or letter! Go through your email address book and tap out a little note to someone to say you are thinking about them. As I get older I really do realize how important it is to nurture friendships -- and how fragile our lives can be.
Last Saturday Susan brought her new puppy over to meet Norton. Little Astro and Norton are both herding dogs, and it was wild to watch them run around together. I am excited that Norton has a new friend who is close to his size...for now, anyway. Astro will eventually be quite a bit taller than Norton! But I am looking forward to a long friendship between the two of them, and hopeful that I will have Susan around and in my life for many, many more years.
June is the start of a two month period of "bad anniversaries". One year ago this month, my good friend Susan (Sooz) had cancer surgery, chemo, & radiation followed by another surgery. In the midst of that she had a bad reaction to one of the chemotherapy drugs...ended up having seizures and being hospitalized.
At about the same time, our 11 year old labrador retriever, Gus, had some kind of a seizure of his own. He fell down and couldn't get up again right away. A couple hours later he seemed fine...but over the following weeks we could tell he was slowing way, way down. One day, just after Bob came home from work it happened. Gus just looked up at Bob, wagged his tail and died.
I was so stressed out last summer. I was anxious, having sleep problems and what I would call mini-panic attacks several times a day. It made such a difference when we got our puppy, Norton, at the end of last summer. Turning my attention to him and away from the sad stuff made me realize that I've GOT to have a dog (or cat) in my life.
Just a couple months ago Susan had another hard blow. Her dog, Trixie, who was close to Gus' age, also died. I was very worried that she would go through a hard time like I did. Two weeks ago we hit the farmers market and she mentioned she was looking for puppies that afternoon. That was a good sign.
I'm hoping this summer we can set a series of happy anniversaries to celebrate in the future.
1-Our pup, Norton, will be one year old this month! He's a little Cardigan Welsh corgi -- these corgis HAVE tails and even bigger ears than the Pembroke corgis. Birthday party scheduled for June 18. Biscuits for all! If you need a friend, adopting a puppy or adult dog can be life changing. I'm happy to say I have walked Norton almost every day since we brought him home -- I think I have had two days when I was too sick to walk, and a couple days when I travelled for work. He has been such a wonderful addition to our family. Corgis are very different in personality (and size) from the labrador retrievers we've had in the past -- but it's interesting to have a small/medium size pup. And there's no mistaking Norton for Gus, that is for sure. Thanks to Carolyn Cannon at C-Myste Corgis for letting us add Norton to our household!
http://www.c-myste.com/
2-Susan seems to be recovering really well. Fingers crossed, knock on wood, all signs look good that she is going to beat cancer. The month of May was breast cancer awareness month, but let June be the month you get a mammogram if you are overdue! And don't forget to give support and take inspiration from the strong women who are fighting this fight. Summer is the time when many cities sponsor Relay for Life, 3-Day Walks, and other events to expand awareness and support cancer research.
3-Celebrate friends. Pick up the phone and call someone that you haven't talked to in a while. Better yet, send them an actual card or letter! Go through your email address book and tap out a little note to someone to say you are thinking about them. As I get older I really do realize how important it is to nurture friendships -- and how fragile our lives can be.
Last Saturday Susan brought her new puppy over to meet Norton. Little Astro and Norton are both herding dogs, and it was wild to watch them run around together. I am excited that Norton has a new friend who is close to his size...for now, anyway. Astro will eventually be quite a bit taller than Norton! But I am looking forward to a long friendship between the two of them, and hopeful that I will have Susan around and in my life for many, many more years.
Monday, June 4, 2007
Happy Birthday to Bob...
I'm feeling pretty proud of myself after this weekend. It was Bob's birthday, and our first without Will living at home. So I was kind of dreading/anticipating how to handle having a whole birthday cake at the house...especially since I am on week 6 of my Core Weight Watchers plan.
I'm trying hard to follow the pre-thinking advice that program advises. So I'd been planning on getting cupcakes instead of a cake...but when I ordered I realized they also make a single layer cake, which seemed more festive. All week long I've been increasing the time and intensity of my walks. I've started walking the hills around our house when I take Norton out for his morning walks. Yesterday I was amazed that I did an hour straight, with very few slow-downs. And it was HOT here! That extra 1/2 hour walking in the morning should eventually make a difference at the scale.
Birthday boy's dinner was grilled New York steak, plus a big cucumber and tomato salad with olive oil and rice vinegar on crispy romaine. He had garlic mashed potatoes, but I opted NOT to have those in order to offset the up-coming cake. And I intentionally didn't buy ice cream or frozen yogurt that I would like...I bought him his favorite Rocky Road (a flavor I can't stand...)
The Market of Choice bakery (where I ordered the cake) does such a great job -- that little slice of cake was a virtual heaven on earth after 5 weeks of no sugary sweets. And a little slice was quite enough to keep me satisfied.
I love the Core plan. I love how I could drink my ice cold skim milk with my cake and still be OP! I loved how I was able to stop eating that steak and stash away the leftovers to put on my salad the next day. I was happy not to wake up the next day feeling a sugar hang over.
I feel very good about how things went. And I hope to have some good results at the scale this week. And will also be accepting if that little cake has be maintaining or even going up a bit. I'm getting the hang of eating until satisfied, not stuffed. And I'm learning that increasing my activity with a very tight schedule is possible. Maybe those are the lessons I needed for this week.
I'm trying hard to follow the pre-thinking advice that program advises. So I'd been planning on getting cupcakes instead of a cake...but when I ordered I realized they also make a single layer cake, which seemed more festive. All week long I've been increasing the time and intensity of my walks. I've started walking the hills around our house when I take Norton out for his morning walks. Yesterday I was amazed that I did an hour straight, with very few slow-downs. And it was HOT here! That extra 1/2 hour walking in the morning should eventually make a difference at the scale.
Birthday boy's dinner was grilled New York steak, plus a big cucumber and tomato salad with olive oil and rice vinegar on crispy romaine. He had garlic mashed potatoes, but I opted NOT to have those in order to offset the up-coming cake. And I intentionally didn't buy ice cream or frozen yogurt that I would like...I bought him his favorite Rocky Road (a flavor I can't stand...)
The Market of Choice bakery (where I ordered the cake) does such a great job -- that little slice of cake was a virtual heaven on earth after 5 weeks of no sugary sweets. And a little slice was quite enough to keep me satisfied.
I love the Core plan. I love how I could drink my ice cold skim milk with my cake and still be OP! I loved how I was able to stop eating that steak and stash away the leftovers to put on my salad the next day. I was happy not to wake up the next day feeling a sugar hang over.
I feel very good about how things went. And I hope to have some good results at the scale this week. And will also be accepting if that little cake has be maintaining or even going up a bit. I'm getting the hang of eating until satisfied, not stuffed. And I'm learning that increasing my activity with a very tight schedule is possible. Maybe those are the lessons I needed for this week.
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