Armpit Piranhas Strike Again

Posted on by
5

Wednesday, the puppy cam went nuts. I was getting emailed a snapshot every 5 minutes*. The girls were busy, running around and obviously getting into trouble. I opened up my email around 12:45pm, this is what greeted me:

Cooper and Estee tearing it up

Party Time!

 After completely freaking, I logged into the puppy cam online and watched with horror as the girls happily pulled, chewed and tore a myriad of receipts that I had thought were craftily stowed in the office file cabinet thingie. Apparently, when the girls get bored, the girls get busy. Then, Duncan joined in on the fun.

Cooper Estee and Duncan tearing it up

Three's Company!

 Even though it appeared everyone was having a high ‘ol time of it, I was really worried that someone was going to eat something that would make them sick or worse. So I left work early and interrupted their shindig. They were all so happy to see me and had absolutely no clue that they’d done anything wrong. Of course, I couldn’t scold them; they’d have no idea what the hell I was upset about. Pups have the short term memory of a gnat. So unless they attempted to chew on something as I was picking up the mess, I didn’t scold them.

Post Apocalypse

Post Apocalypse

They clean up good.

*The “puppy cam” is a Logitech WiLife security camera we setup when the girls were wee little pups so we could keep an eye on them during the day while they were in their pen. Now that they’re free-range pups, we use it to keep an eye on their comings and goings throughout the day. It only records when there’s movement, and then it will send me a snapshot via email during the times when the system is armed. We can then choose to login via the Internet to view a “live” feed that’s actually got a 17-second delay. Pretty nifty, right? C’mon, you *know* I just geeked some of you out!

Post Super Bowl Slump

Posted on by
1

I feel like ass today. It could be the consumption of two bottles of champagne, the two bowls of chili with rice, the two helpings of smoked turkey or the hunks of honey-baked ham I kept grabbing each time I went by the food table. I’m sure it wasn’t the two pieces of cauliflower or the one piece of celery with hummus I munched on earlier in the day. It could also be the cute little cigar I exhuberantly smoked on the back patio with a couple of my friends during half time. Honestly, I’m voting for the cigar; I can still almost taste it. ::barf::

A headache, puffy eyes and water weight make me grumpy. Stay away if you wish to keep all your fingers.

Her First Tri

Posted on by
1

So I went and signed my butt up for a sprint triathlon a couple weeks ago. It’s scheduled for the 22nd of May this year. By doing this, I gave myself just over three months to train.  WHAT?

Something interesting (or frustrating; depends on your point-of-view) I’ve found while researching the different sprint triathlons here in the Orlando area is that there doesn’t seem to be a set distance for any of the legs in these races. Well, maybe there is, but it’s a sliding scale type of thing. For instance, my first tri in May has the following: .75km swim, 12.4 mi cycling, 2.8mi run. Most of the others I’ve looked at had a .25mi swim, 10mi cycle, and a 5k run. They run the gamut, people!

The swim portion on my tri is .466 mi. — that’s almost half a mile. It’s open water, in a lake… here in Orlando. All lakes in Florida have gators. I’m sure they’ll have folks out there on kayaks keeping an eye out for us. But STILL. Also and too — does anyone know what inland lake water temps are in late May here? I do not have a wetsuit and have no intention of buying one; at least not yet. I’m just trying this triathlon thing out and will see afterward if it’s something into which I want to invest more time and money.

My bicycle is a mountain bike. I do not have a swimming pool (yes, some of us who live in Florida actually CHOOSE to not have a pool). I’m screwed.

I found an Orca tri suit on Sierra Trading Post for a great price – a nice sleeveless one piece — in which I surprisingly do not look like a sausage (bonus!). We do have community swimming pools where I live, but by the time the water temp in those things is warm enough for me to dip a toe in, they’ll be crowded-ass puddles-of-pee, filled with kiddies, dirty teens and bird poop from the ducks that flop over the fence from the lake nearby. Not that the lake I”ll be swimming in for the tri won’t be similarly bacteria-filled…

So here’s my plan — again, regarding not wanting to sink a gajillion dollars into something I’m just trying out — I’m retro-fitting my mountain bike with street flats (tires that are not KNOBBY). I’m installing some strapless toe clips onto my pedals that I can slip my foot into; this way, I won’t need new shoes and I won’t need to clip in and out. I’ll just slip into my running shoes after the swim and slide them into the toe clips and off I go! I have some friends who live about 15 minutes away who have a large, mostly rectangular pool, and they’ve agreed to let me splash around in there on my own schedule. What else… Oh – I’ve removed the laces from my running shoes and replaced them with iBungie laces (very, very nice; they slip on and they slip off — when I want them to!). I’ll be using a great backpack I have for my transition bag; it actually holds a helmet!  I’ve got some goggles for the swim; I won’t be able to see too well anyway, as I wear prescription glasses for near-sightedness. Guess I’ll be lucky if I don’t totter off somewhere and get lost after I exit the lake…

So aside from actually TRAINING for this thing, I think I’m pretty ready. Sorta. I still wake up in the middle of the night, wide-eyed and covered in sweat wondering what in the hell I’ve done, but all-in-all, I feel good about this. I think.

::faints:: No, really, I can do this.

So what stupid-ass thing have you committed yourself to recently that you’re freaking out about?

Butt Scoot Boogie

Posted on by
1

Due to the ridiculously hot temperatures in the afternoons beginning in spring here in Orlando, last May I took to running early in the morning before work. It’s a lot cooler then (especially in the winter) and it’s also a lot less crowded; traffic and people-wise. The downside to that is: having to actually get up and GO RUNNING. Don’t get me wrong; I am a morning person — no really. It’s just getting my blood moving and then getting my body moving at zero-dark-thirty in the morning — usually on only one cup of coffee. Once I’m out there, I don’t want to come back! It’s just the whole inertia thing.

One other downside to running first thing in the morning is that whatever I ate for dinner the night before had better be something that “gets along” with my digestive process. Last night, we had Thai food for dinner. Spicy Thai food. I can handle the heat. And while I truly enjoyed the meal, apparently, my lower digestive tract wasn’t too keen on it. It revolted this morning. In fact, I think there will be scar tissue forming on my pucker. Luckily, my spicy-hot assplosion waited until after I returned from my run. Seriously, no one should have to worry about pooping their pants on a little 3 mile run. Plus, it just doesn’t seem right to have “issues” on a day when I’m not racing!

My run was great this morning; there was a nice fog blanketing the area and it was cool without being cold, plus there was a wonderful humidity in the air. It made my glasses fog a bit, but by the end of my run, they cleared up. The sun came up just as I finished up. I ended doing a sub-thirty minute 5k, which made me especially happy! Due to what I call “the crud”, I was out of commission through most of December and struggled through January to bring my fitness level back up to where it had been pre-December. Today, I felt validated. I’m back!

Just so we’re clear — this post is “mild” compared to what I’m capable of posting. Consider yourselves forewarned. Apparently, I have no shame and I will regale you with tales of dog poo, cat pee and all manner of my plumbing problems (not the pipes in my house, people). Please don’t expect me to post what I ate for each meal, how I prepared it and how many calories it all contained. Also and too, don’t expect puppies and flowers — I get grumpy. A lot.

So… what food consistently gives you “issues” on your run following its consumption?

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Posted on by
Reply
Estee and Cooper lose their bed

The Girls lose their bed to The Cat

Duncan has discovered that many of the items he thought were “off limits” (as in they belong to the little, smelly doggies) are actually quite nice to lay on, play with and eat. His vet is going to shit a brick when she sees how much weight he’s gained thanks to the yummy puppy food he keeps sneaking out of their bowl. We keep the tiniest of pet gates up at the entrance to the room where Duncan’s things are to keep nosy pups out of his food and his poo.

So far, nothing equivalent to keep him out of theirs.