A Peterson Christmas Day 1

Got to my parents in Iron River, MI around 3. I was able to leave work a little early, because it was snowing. Upon arrival I was immediately invited by my brother, sister-in-law and uncle to head out to my uncle's new house being built. This took an hour or so, then we stopped at the beauty shop to pick up a gift certificate, then we stopped at my grandparents to say hello, where we discovered my aunt and 2 cousins were there, then headed back to my parents to eat dinner, then my brother & sister-in-law left, then my aunt stopped by and dropped of the 2 kids, then my OTHER brother and sister-in-law arrived, with 3 year old nephew & 5 year old niece and 2 dogs in tow.

Now it is not quite 9 and I am trying to de-stress by blogging!

Christmas Appletini

1 part Vodka
1.5 part apple schnapps
2 part apple juice
toss a cherry on the bottom - it's a lovely Christmas Cocktail!

Movie Review: Australia

This movie was amazing, and reminded me why I like to go see a good movie in the theater. It is an all-encompasing event, where you can just turn off the rest of your life. If you watch something at home there are phones, cell phones, dogs, cats, bathrooms, etc. I digress...

I LOVED THIS MOVIE. It is your typical role for Nicole Kidman, which she acts wonderfully. Hugh Jackman is divine, and I am in love with him for sure. The aboriginal kid in the movie really makes it though, his role is great. The cinematography & story in this movie are great, great great! It is LONG, however it isnt really a bother. More of , OMG, how much more I dont want it to end, etc type thing.

GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

Taking Care of Annie: Day 3 & 4

Everything is going peachy! Annie is still very demanding, but I do my best. Right now she's sacked out on the floor. She spent some quality time outside today, and the neighbor dog even came over to visit so that was fun. We have put another toy in the garbage though, but I guess it was due. The Orange Gorilla will be greatly missed, and a new one may have to be Mocca's Christmas Toy. So far no more poop either! yay!

On a different note, last weekend I put out some bird seed, and I was SO EXCITED to see a CARDINAL eating on the feeder about 10 minutes ago!!! A CARDINAL! I dont know if I have EVER had a Cardinal before. I havent seen any other birds though, no squirrels either. Wonder how long it will take them to find the food.

Taking Care of Annie: Day 2

When I got home from work last night, there was a dreadful smell as I walked into the house. Annie had a problem, and left me a runny, smelly, poopy mess in the back entrance area. Thankfully, she did most of it there, as opposed to the middle of the living room floor, which is something Mocca would do (part of the reason Mocca stays in the front porch when I am gone!)

Annie was sacked out on the living room floor while I cleaned up the mess. She seemed fine though, and looked at me quite perplexed when I only gave her a handful of food for dinner! I had to give her more, of which she only nibbled on. I think it was just the principle of the matter for her.

I did a quick play, pet, chewy routine, as I had to go downtown for dinner with Kevin & a vendor. When I got home, thankfully, all was clear. Annie was sound asleep on the couch, head on pillow as it should be.

This morning she is good, though continues to beg for table scraps, which I never give out. She never gets the hint either, and continues to beg the entire time she is with me. Today I will be able to come home for lunch, so hopefully no issues.

Oh, decided the diahreha (sp?) was the after affects of giving her people aspirin. You can give you dog aspirin, but it could cause digestive issues....she has only been getting the people aspirin a day or 2 I guess. Previously she was getting expensive, doggie formulated aspirin which is more buffered, and less likely to cause upset. Of course I dont know for SURE this was the culprit, but it seems likely. I'll just go buy some more doggie aspirin!

Taking Care of Annie: Morning 1

This morning has gone pretty well. Girls were up and ready to go outside right away of course. Annie actually stayed out for about 10 minutes before barking to come in. In that 10 minutes I was able to assemble to goods: 1 small bowl milk for each dog, mocca's vitamin & joint care, annie's vitamin, biscuit for each dog, fill water bowls, get food ready.

When they come in they expect their milk, vitamin, biscuit. I set 1 down & tell whoever it is for...then the next. Mocca finishes first of course, Annie really licks that milk bowl dry. Give Mocca her food, give Annie her food. Annie didnt eat all hers, though I had given her extra, just in case. So Mocca swooped in & ate that before somebody took it away! Must remember less food for Mocca while Annie is here.

Annie had some trouble getting up on the couch, this is so difficult to watch! I helped her once, then she of course got down right after! She got up again, but I didnt help her....it just took her a few tries to get the top half up enough that the bottom followed. Poor Annie. It is a low couch, too. Dad always has to hoist her into the car/truck nowadays. She expects that now and doesnt even try to get in w/o help I guess!

Currently she is napping on the couch, and I expect, is there for the rest of the morning, though she may go out when Mocca does the 2nd time.

Taking Care of Annie: Night 1

My parents are heading downstate, to pick up some items from my departed Grandmother's house. So my dad brought their dog, Annie, down to my house today for me to take care of while they are gone. Annie is 15, cant see well, cant hear well, has a twitch in one paw, lumps & bumps, and a weak back end. However all in all, she is quite healthy!

When I got home, I was greeted by incessant, unrelenting barking. She would NOT stop, and not let me pet her. I directed the dogs outside, and they went. 5 minutes later Annie was done, and barking first at the back door, then realized that wasnt working, and moved to barking at the front door. I waited her out another 5 minutes, then decided to give in. She proceeded to bark at me again, a very uncompromising bark at that. It is dinner time. I dished up both dogs their dinner, and that seemed to settle her down. Then she played for about 10 minutes with some toys, and we had a slight altercation with the orange gorilla toy, which Mocca snatched away from Annie. I made her give it back, explaining to Mocca that Annie is old, and can have the toy if she wants! I dont think Mocca understood, she just looked away, quite displeased with the situation.

Now Annie is a bit settled, but I expect will be wanting a chew soon, then outside, then biscuit...maybe some petting in between. Lets hope for an easy night~!

What They'll Say

My niece was visiting this weekend. She is 5. My mom & some of her friends were doing some shopping, and trying on a bunch of different clothing. Katie wanted to be a part of everything, of course. One of my mom's friends let her in the dressing room with her. My mom's friend tried on something that was much too tight and unflattering, and said, "Oh I dont think this fits". Katie looked up, and in all seriousness replied, "I think you eat too much."

Just goes to show you...you never know what those kids are going to say!

The Wizard of Oz

I was brave tonight, and turned to channel on that was playing the Wizard of Oz. It was at the end of the movie, that I rarely see - of course, I can never watch much of it, so of course I dont get to the end - anyway...I was greatly distressed! The Wicked Witch of the West had lit the Scarecrow on fire, and Dorothy tossed a bucket of water on him to put out the fire. Instead, the water hit the witch, and she MELTED and died. Dorothy killed her, just like that. It was dreaful! This witch melting right there and screaming in that awful voice! I may have a nightmare about this tonight. I do not understand why this movie horrifies me so much. Nearly every scene in it distresses me and causes me anxiety. I think this movie is what made me afraid of thunderstorms when I was a kid. We used to always watch The Wizard of Oz when it was on...why could I watch it when I was a kid and not now?

I will say, I am watching it on HD, and holy cow it is vibrant. Still distressing though. Especially those evil monkey things. And the scene where the evil woman takes away Toto...And when she is in the tornado and turns into the witch! HORRIFYING! It's one great big nightmare waiting to happen.

Childhood Memories

My friend's wife did something like this on her blog, so this isnt my idea, but I liked it, sorta morphed it a little though. It is a list of happy childhood memories with important people in your life.

1. Going for a drive in the evening with Grandma & Grandpa. Usually it also involved a small ice cream cone.
2. Going camping with the whole family. Though I would never do this now.
3. "Get Low! Get Low!" - You'd have to ask my mom about this one.
4. Spending time on the beaches of Lake Michigan with my brothers.
5. Jennifer's books.
6. Playing "getting married" with Jennifer, and perfecting a wedding cake. Although we were only like, 10 or something. Oh,the irony.
7. Going ice skating in battle creek with my brothers.
8. Going to pick out a christmas tree with the whole family.

I'm trying to pin down specific memories with specific people, but cant seem to. They all seem to involve the whole family - brothers, mom, dad....Cant nail down something with 1 person specifically! I'm sure there are ones though...if I think long enough.

It is interesting how some of these things still mean a great deal to me - like picking out the christmas tree, although now it is just me & my dad.

Schedule of Eating

Heading to Siesta Key, FL on Saturday...Gotta get dinner plans in order. I think we are going to *gasp* SKIP Roys & Flemmings this time...I know, crazy....

Sat night - we dont get in til 11, so no dinner plan.

Sun night - Sangria? TAPAS!!!

Mon night - Mattisons?

Tue night - Galileo? (divine lobster ravioli)

Wed night -

Thur night - Selva Grill? (delish steak)

Fri night - Pizza

Sat night - Sangria?

So, that leaves us with 1 free, night, or optional 2nd night if we only do Sangria once....Or if we skip Mattisons, or if there is some other place Kevin's Dad wants to eat at. Sometimes we eat at this place called "The Waterfront" that isnt bad, but its nothing to write home about. But if he wants to eat there we will. Perhaps they are back to eating at Outback again (oh no!). Lets hope not, although they do have surprisingly yummy grilled lobster and I do ADORE the chop salad there. Hmm....so much to figure out!

Dad Knows

I woke up to a forehead all bumpy! It kinda itches too. There are no new products in play...it is a mystery. Except, from my mom:

"Dad says that is a classic reaction to iodine from seafood. Don't know how he knows that, but that is what he said."

Yes, I ate THREE whole, great big pieces of cold shrimp this weekend (saturday) at my neices birthday party. Normally I limit shrimp to 2. And well, these were quite large.

So what do you think?

Time for another advil...

The Cats

Zoe made a spot for herself.

Morning cleaning.

Zoe using her stairs to get on the bed. Waiting for somebody else to come with though.

I put this bed on the table in the living room last night, so I wouldnt forget to bring it to my parents with me. My brother's cat that is staying with them needs a bed. Anyway, Kai slept in it all night, and is in fact, still there, snoozing away. Might not be brining it to my parents!

New House Color

Have been meaning to post this for a long time! My dad spent many, many, many long hours of his time painting my house late this summer. Not only did he paint it, he scraped all the old paint off, and primed all the bare wood! The garage also got painted, and some new trim board. It was an enormous task that I am grateful to him for doing. The new color is much brighter and more attractive I think, then the previous grayish color that was quite dull. Also I painted my front door a new, vibrant, very satured red which I very much love. In the paint can though it was bright pink, so was a little scary putting on.

I should add I painted the foundation white, and did a lot of the trim/window painting - so I DID contribute!

It probably isnt fair to post a NEW summer photo vs. an OLD early spring photo because of course the old house color looks miserable in its surrounding gray landscape. But at least Mocca is a constant in both!

Take THAT! Weigh Day!

So, I didnt think the whole concept of weighing myself once a week was working. So I have started weighing myself again every day, and it is going MUCH BETTER. I have aleady lost 1 lb since I weighed in on Wed morning! I am hoofing it at Anytime Fitness also! I walked TWO entire miles on thursday night. Though, I didnt do the weights...I dont like those as much because people can LOOK at you, and when you're on the treadmill or one of those other weird things, you are more sorta, in your own world.

Also, I musta over-done it somewhere because my left shoulder has a major pain when I move it a certain way, so that sucks kinds. Probably didnt do enough stretching or something, but this is something that has gotten tweaked in the past for no reason. It'll go away sooner or later.

I have tried to get back more to the "right" thinking of eating and avoiding the overprocessed stuff. I will make up a batch of soup this weekend. Plus since its FREEZING out now, soup is yummier than in summer.

Hopefully it'll be a low-calorie weekend...gonna be tough. But, I have not had any cookies from golden harvest in...hm...Did I have some last weekend? What did I do last weekend....oh yeah, I had some last weekend. So, well, I need to make it through the weekend to have a real breakthrough here. But at least they are not overprocessed icky cookies, but rather yummy, homemade cookies...hmmm...yum.

Weigh Day

For like 4 weeks I have been weighing myself once a week, instead of the daily weighing I had been doing before. I guess all this is doing for me is so that I only feel bad once a week, instead of every day. I gained almost 1 lb in the past week! Now I understand that going to anytime twice this week isnt going to make a mark, and I also understand I have not been eating properly. But still! Yesterday was a food day at work, so that definately didnt help. I need to get back to what worked for me...

That was making veggie based soup and eating it for lunch, making a veggie pizza on whole wheat crust with no cheese and eating it for dinner. Also, drinking wine instead of cosmos, or chocolate martinis. I really need to try to get back to that. Probably I should get the book out again (YOU on a diet) and re-read it and get back on that wagon. I have spiraled back towards processed foods and not paying real attention to the sugar content of foods, etc. I took a bowl of soup out of the freezer, with the intention of eating it for lunch! Maybe tonight I will go buy some salad, and eat that instead of some processed, frozen meal like I have been doing lately. And stay away from the little bits of candy at work...

Day 2

This was my second day in a row at Anytime Fitness. It is going pretty well. I had to invest in an iPod so as to have interesting stuff to listen to, and appear as though I am occupied, and please do not speak to me, leave me alone thank you.

I LOVE MY IPOD!

A podcast is a miracle! Podcasts, podcasts, podcasts, podcasts! Fun fun fun. I was even listening to some at work today which was cool. Although I dont think I can do that all the time, only when I am doing something moderately mindless.

I did all the machines both nights, and monday I walked 1 mile, and tonight I walked 1.5 miles. I did an extra round on the arm machines monday, but not tonight. I dont want to overdo it on things like that too much! So we'll see, if I make it to day 3. Then I am good for the week and dont have to go more, unless I want to of course.

Agility results

REGISTERED NAME
Mocca

AKC NUMBER
ILP158825

CALL NAME
Mocca

STD TRIAL
NOV P
Qualification
QUALIFIED
Standard Time/Yards
72.00
139.00
Recorded Time
52.36
Recorded Score
100
Placement
2

JWW TRIAL DATA
NOV P
Qualification
QUALIFIED
Standard
43.00
114.00
Time/Yards
Recorded Time
31.16
Recorded Score
100
Placement
1

(9 minutes, better go!)

.....

15, no, make that 14 minutes until my "orientation" at Anytime Fitness! I am seriously nervous, which is lame, I know. 13 minutes. I cant help it. Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugghhhh. I know that once I am there, and going, it will be fine, but I have to get there first, and there is 13 minutes in the way.

I am thinking I need some sort of iPod or something. I dont know anything about them though; I sent out a help email to some people who I think are in the know. I felt old, not knowing anything. I better get with the program!

12 minutes!

The Consequences of Video

This weekend was our 1st Agility trial. My mom, dad, kevin and jeff/tanja/kids all came to watch. Jeff & Tanja brought their video camera. I was able to watch both of my runs with Mocca which was very cool, and they are going to burn it to a DVD to me once they get things set up. The important part here is that I was able to see myself running around the arena. This was quite disconcerting.

So, Monday after work I gathered my strength, with a little help from my brother Terry, and walked into "Anytime Fitness".

Now I am comitted. I paid the guy $60 to sign up with all the fees, etc., and another $35 a month. So, I have to go now, I paid the guy! I certainly cant flush $60 down the toilet, when I wont even turn my heat past 65 due to fuel oil prices.

I hope this works. I am just so done with my current weight, and fitness. Terry says my muscles are probably in atrophy. I do run in Agility class! And I did Curves there for awhile a couple years ago...The guy at Anytime Fitness was cool, I liked him a lot, so that was good. I do not like people watching me exercise. I must get over this.

Tomorrow is my official "orientation" at 6:30. siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigggghhhhhhhhhhhh