🎶🎶What does the fox say?🎶🎶

Several neighbors have posted about seeing a fox in the neighborhood.  Even Dan saw it one day while walking Theo.

Today was my day.  I saw him at the corner of Bowfonds and Brockton. Theo didn’t see him.

When the town goes dark and free money in the mail!

So, several weeks ago we both scheduled appointments to get our batteries on our IPhones changed out with Apple’s defect recall on the battery.

I decided to go today and get it changed out.  When I got to Reston Town Center, I pulled into the garage and noticed that the lights were out.  I thought maybe it was just the garage and parked, and walked towards the store.  There was a parking attendant and I mentioned to him that the lights were out and he told me that the electricity was out for the whole center.

So I continued to walk over the store and found out that the power had been out for at least 15 minutes.  I figured I’d hang out for awhile and see if the power came back on.  Nope - I waited about 45 minutes to an hour and nothing.  So, I extended our time to change the battery, and we’re going to set a date to go out for the whole day (dinner, movie, shopping) on a weekend.

One good thing that happened today was that I got a $20 gift certificate in the mail from Copperwood  Tavern.  Last week they had a Facebook contest on National Puppy Day by posting a picture of your pup.  Of course I posted.  I didn’t win the big prize ($50 gift certificate), but they offered $20 to EVERYONE who posted as long as you sent them your address.

Theo is still feeling sore.  He yelped when Dan wiped him down after the walk, but he seems to be doing ok since he was laying on that side.  He’s not playing as much today.  We’ll see how he does tomorrow.

What if you are ok with your mediocre life and where are your efforts?

A friend just shared this article on Facebook.  The original blog can be found here.

This article resonated with me so much.  Even with my own business, I'm not out after millions - I just want to be able to enjoy life.

I'm ok with working my business and making money.  Sometimes I wish I had the ambition to be more motivated to make more money, but will working harder make me happier?

Sometimes, I think "I wish I did this or that like so and so," but then is it just falling into peer pressure and is their life really that happy?

I'm terrible at making goals - I'm more of a person of this is what I want to do right now.  Of course there are some things that require "goal setting," but I consider them planning.  Like trips.  Usually you have to plan for them right?

You know all of those "how to save money" tips?  Doesn't apply to me.  Saving money has always been easy for me.  Maybe because I grew up around it?  I really thing that has something to do with if you are made for "goal setting" or not. 

Our family never did any kind of goal setting - at least that I saw.  We just lived life day in and day out.  Planning was for trips or get-togethers, things like that.

I am ok with my mediocre life.

This is another great article that came across my Facebook feed today.  Follow your effort and not your passion.

I guess that's why my effort is at the computer, helping others in their business.  I'm good at it and I enjoy it. Like the article says, start small and that's where I am now - even after 5 years in the business, but I know that my network of clients and referrals know I'm good.  And going back to the first part of this, I'm ok with staying small.

Obviously, these were two things I needed to hear and blog about today.  Hopefully, I'll do more of this....Of course, no goal setting or planning for this! 

What is it about Shar Peis that other dogs don’t like about them?

I feel so bad for Theo.  He just wants to say hi to dogs and then something goes wrong.

Today was an EVENTFUL walk and it started just a few houses down the street.

We were walking on our side of Chesterton and I could see the dog across the street jumping up on the gate.  There was a sign on the gate and it was making noise.  The next thing I know, there are two dogs coming at us - a blond lab and a pug.  They seemed friendly, and I just started going to their house and they didn’t follow.  So I rang the doorbell (like really rang it) with Theo in tow, and the owners came out.  They were all calm and the dogs came back to them, no problem and luckily, there were no cars going by during this whole time. Theo and I went back to our side of the street and the lab came up to Theo, started sniffing and next thing I hear is growling - from the lab.  Now, it could have been that the owner was grabbing the collar and trying to get him going, but I doubt it.

So we continue our walk.  The bus was coming by one corner (on Middlebury) and there was a little shih tzu so we went across the street and continued walking.  After the bus left the owner and dog started down the same way we were going (just on the other side). The dog was barking the whole time at Theo. As I got closer to the poop drop off, the owner stopped to get a bag and kind of gave me a funny look (maybe because you could only see my eyes because it was so cold) because I was coming towards her I think and I said, “I need to drop off.” She grabbed her bag and continued to walk. We dropped off the poop, and then started walking the same way as they did.  Of course, they got to the corner and turn around, so I pulled Theo over to the side and said “Wait.”  thinking the owner would just continue walking. No - she let’s the dogs stiff and the next thing you know, the little shit, nips at Theo.  The owner never asked if it was ok for them to snif or if Theo was friendly. Never said a word to me.  Once the dog started nipping at Theo, she just said “____ your are such a bad dog.”  - Never apologized - nothing.

We started to head back home (on Bowfonds) and I heard people getting into their car in their driveway (which I couldn’t see down until I got to the driveway). Next thing I know, a dog (maybe a poodle mix), was coming down the driveway and I’m yelling “get your dog!” The owner is yelling at the dog “Jagger, sit” - she said it a couple of times and the dog didn’t listen.. The whole time I’m pulling Theo towaards me. He’s calm.  Once the owner grabbed the dog, she said, “Is he friendly?” I said, “yes, but sometimes dogs don’t like him.”

It’s so hard to explain to strangers - yes he’s friendly, but sometimes the dogs that he meets don’t like him.  I read on the Facebook Shar Pei owners group that other dogs can’t read Shar Peis so sometimes it ends in fights when they met. I read today that Shar Peis give off a scent that is different than other dogs so if a dog has never encountered a Shar Pei before, it gets nervous and then starts a fight.

Who knows - I haven’t see any scientific info, just people posting. However, the more I see, the more I believe.

Starting the new year with good and bad

So today, we were supposed to go to Dan’s mom & her husband’s house (Lois and Harry) for their annual New Year’s Day open house. The three of us were supposed to go, but as I woke up, I got a sinus headache and was getting so grumpy.

Dan ended up going alone and taking Theo.  I ended up taking like 3 naps and still not feeling 100%. My head still feels full.

Theo did well at grandma & grandpa’s house - even with a full house.  Dan did say that he get a little testy at the end when people were leaving and he was ready to go.  He was grabbed/trying to stop him and I guess he tried to nip someone.

I ended up talking to my brother, Brett, for awhile, and just watching tv.

We got our annual stocking from Lois and Harry full of goodies - fruit, cookies, candies, little stuff, and lottery tickets.  We always have fun with the lottery tickets - even more fun that we actually won $130!!!

So, 2018 is starting out as a turn of luck! Let’s see what happens when the lottery numbers are pulled on Wednesday!  We purchased a couple of tickets since no one has won in awhile and the jackpot is BIG!

When your day doesn't go as planned, Karma comes back for forgiveness

I tell you what - when your day doesn't start well, it continues to not go well, but you never know, Karma might come back for forgiveness.

I did not sleep well on Wednesday night.  My alarm was to go off at 5:30 AM for networking, but I was woken by Theo having to go out at 4:30 AM.  At least he is such a good dog to let me know when he needs to go out.

Meetings for the morning didn't go as planned.  No biggy, just go with the flow and ended up getting more done in the office than I thought.

My "hockey game" schedule was screwed up because usually the games start at 7 pm and we need to head out by like 5.  Last night's game didn't start until 7:30 so we needed to head out around 5:30.  I was ready to head out at 5 and then remembered, we still had time.

5:30 and we were on our way to the hockey game in DC when the tire light came on in Dan's car.  We were probably about 10 miles from home. He pulled over on the toll road (dangerous at night), and Dan thought he saw something in the tire (ended up being a rock), so we went to the nearest gas station to check the air/add air if needed.

The pressure on all 4 tires (which we just purchased in October from Hogan & Son) were all good, but weren't sure about making it to DC, so looked up the nearest "Goodyear" on the map since we purchased them on our Goodyear credit card. Thinking if something is wrong with the tire, it's covered under Goodyear.

Started driving and lo and behold, it was the Herndon location of Hogan and Sons! When we were getting closer, I was starting to wonder if it was going to be their location or not, but really wasn't sure at all.

We arrived there at 6:40 PM.  Dan was hoping they could plug the tire (still thinking there was something in the tire), and we would be on our way. Mel, the employee working, was hesitant at first because they still had work to do AND it was close to closing, plus he had never seen us before.  He said that we could leave the car and definitely work on it tomorrow. The whole time I'm thinking, well, there goes the game.  Too late to sell them too.

He did take the time to do a visual inspection and as soon as he asked when was the last time we had service and Dan said it was at Hogan and Son in Leesburg, he pulled the car in.  He thought that it might have been the core of the valve stem on one of the tires and changed that. It still didn't fix the light, so said that all of the the tires were ok and good to drive on.  He believed that all 4 tire sensors went and gave us an estimate.  

I asked what we owed, and he did not charge us anything.  He did ask for an online review.  I guess they had have a bad manager previously and they are trying to change their perception. As soon as he started helping us out, I thought about sending them something from SendOutCards.

We got out of there by 7:30 PM and only missed the 1st period of the game. 

When we got to the arena, we got our food and we were standing outside of our section since there was only about 5 minutes left in the period.  We weren't even standing there for that long, when some guy came up to us and said, "Would you like our tickets?  We are leaving.  They are right at the glass."  I'm like, "Are you serious?  You just made our day.  We were late getting here because of car troubles." We walked over to the section and decided to wait until the period ended.  After the flood of people coming up, we went down to the seats.  Yup - right at the glass. 

We settled in, and the next thing you know, this guy said, "You're in my seat."  Both of us were thinking, "Oh shit. We've been duped. Nope. He just meant we needed to be over one because the seats weren't numbered right.  I tried to chit chat with him throughout the game, but he was more interested in talking to the photographer who was in the aisle.  He was cool though when he did talk to me.

We made it on (national) TV.

I forgot how much I liked the seats at the glass.  We used to have seats there a couple of years ago.  Dan, on the other hand, would rather be up a ways to see the whole ice.

The car is at the Leesburg location today for a thorough inspection, and we are hoping that it's not all 4 sensors!  However, more than likely, it's better to changed all 4 sensors because then next thing you know, the next one will go. Since I know the manager (from my networking group), I texted him this morning and even though he's on vacation, he gave them a heads up that we were coming up.

When you trust someone to watch your dog....

About 6 years ago, we dropped off Esa and Zed for a two night overnight stay at Howl of a Good Time while Dan and I went to an outside concert.

The location was recommended by our neighbor because they took their dog there.  We didn’t just drop them off, we researched and visited before dropping them off.

It was uneventful (except for Esa not wanting to get in the car to leave). Zed did fine with the big dogs and we were told that he stayed most of the time with the person who was overseeing everything.

I do remember a couple of months later, our neighbor told us that another neighbor took their puppy there and it was killed by another dog who was there.  I don’t know if the dog was the owner’s dog or a boarder.

Anyway, we were shocked to see a press release this weekend that the owner was charged with animal cruelty because a small dog was injured and the location owner did not take it to the vet in time.  The dog later died.

This is so sad, because this is the guy’s (and I’m sure other people who work with him) livelihood.  He seemed like a very nice guy, but obviously one (major) mistake and he is paying.

We prefer Kinder Eggs

We were shopping and saw the US version of Kinder Eggs, called Kinder Joy.  Due to the toy inside the candy, they are not available in the US, but we figured they would taste the same.  NOPE.  Not even the same candy.

It was still fun to put the toy together.

Painted Rocks

I have heard about rock painting for a while and on our way to Canada in August, we found a couple and Dan kept saying “You should start painting rocks.” What? You want me to take on another hobby?  

When we were in Canada, my friend Suzanne was asking me all about the painted rocks.  So when I saw that there was going to be a Mandala rock painting in Frederick, Maryland, I told Dan that I wanted to go and he immediately said, “You should ask Suzanne to go.” So we went to the class!

We had a great time at a place called AR Workshop. I dind’t even know this placed exsisted and there is one right down the road from us.  They do different craft workshops.   The place is really cool and is a franchise.  Which would be really cool to own.

We had a great time learning how to do Mandala rocks. It is easy to do - we used pencils ✏️ (the eraser side), skewers, and the handle side of a paint brush. 

I stuck with the blues while Suzanne used all different colors. I really like it, so may eventually do it.

The funny thing is, the teacher was in her 20s, and didn’t know anything about The Kindness Rocks Project, and we had to tell her all about it.

The last Italian class

So for the last 10 weeks, I have been taking an adult Italian class.  I was worried about taking it because the last time I tried to take Italian, the teacher was so ahead of me and everyone else already knew Spanish, so I was way out of my league.

I’m happy to say it was totally different this time!  I feel that I have started to learn some (but need to learn a lot more), and enjoyed the class.

We had a little party today with everyone bringing in something.  It was a great way to end the class.

I plan on taking the next level if it is offered through the county school. Otherwise, I’ll be asking the teacher to be my tutor.  I’m almost panicked about going to Italy and not being able to speak the lnguage/not understanding anything.

There’s still time to study.....

Lazy Sunday

Actually, not a lazy Sunday since we got some thing around the house.  Dan finished up the holiday decorations outside and I finished decorating the tree.

I haven’t felt too well - obviously the sore throat was sinuses because now I am coughing and nauseous from the coughing.  I’m not sleeping well because I’ll be asleep and all of the sudden I start coughing.

I was able to have a little photo shoot with Theo in front of the Christmas tree.🎄  So that was fun.  I can’t get over how well he does with putting stuff on (a bow, and a Santa suit).  Esa never liked to put on stuff.  She was ok with the collars, but that was it.

Catching up again....

Man, I’ve been terrible at trying to get this blog thing going again! So here I am, trying to catch up again. I now have a keyboard for my iPad so hopefully, I’ll be a little better.

Today and yesterday have been lazy days.  Yesterday, I felt sick with a sore throat (that’s been around since Tuesday), so just did some online shopping. Today, we went out to lunch and to Walgreens and then started with the holiday decorations.

Thanksgiving, Dan’s family came over (his mom, and her husband Harry, and his sister Donna and her husband Bill). It was the first meeting between Donna, Bill and Theo.  Theo did so well with everything - the cooking, the people, the food sitting around, etc.

Before everyone came over, we watch the National Dog Show presented by Purina on TV.  Of course, I was looking fo the Shar Pei - I was shocked to see that the handler was the breeder that I know!

What about those crazy thoughts of extremely changing your lifestyle?

I LOVE watching the tiny house shows and following all of the people who live in RVs online.  I almost named this entry "This Wild Idea," but there is already a blog out there by that name.

I just think about the FREEDOM to travel and see everything that is out there. Of course, this is our plan when we retire, but what about NOW?

It's A LOT of downsizing, but what a freedom from STUFF - less cleaning and maintenance of things.

Oh and let's not forget about following the minimalists out there online. I saw an interview with a girl who said, minimalism is your definition.  Still, it's hard to get rid of stuff that you have accumulated.  ESPECIALLY if there are two of you. 

You both bring that baggage of stuff and your mindset has to be the same.  I have a lot of stuff that wasn't mine, but was inherited.  THAT is hard to get rid of - because of the sentimental  reasons.  I even have a hard time of getting rid of worn out toys of Esa and Zed's because of the memories. 

I DO take pictures of the things before getting rid of them - because of the memories.  Which leads me to scrapbooking - so many projects to record those memories!

I digress - Back to living small - Let's not forget - I've NEVER lived in an RV.  Just played in one at our neighbors and I did sleep in one when I was 5 with our family when we visited my aunt and uncle in Florida.

In the meantime, I guess make a plan to downsize so when the time comes, it will be mostly done.  Now - how is that going to work?  How do I make a gameplan for that?

*note - our plan when we retire is to have an RV, but have a house too (at the beach).  

What if you did live your life like the gurus say?

So I think it was last year, I started reading Living like Oprah. I started it towards the end of vacation and never finished it.  Yesterday, I went to a seminar about picturing the life you want, have a dream book, meditate to reach those goals, have a dream book, etc.

I was thinking today, what if you did do all of those things that gurus say to do?  Is there enough time in the day?  Think about it
Sleep - 8 hours
Work - 8 hours (and let’s now forget lunch time and your commute)
Work out - 20 minutes
Meals - 1 hour 30 minutes ( you know, you are supposed to eat slow)
There’s almost 18 hours

And then you are supposed to work on yourself
Reading - 30 minutes
Journaling - 30 minutes
Mediating - 30 minutes
There’s 19.5 hours

Let’s not forget the dog
Walk dog - 40 minutes

Oh I forgot preparing dinner - that’s at least 30 minutes.

Then there’s preparing for the next day - 30 minutes

There”s about 22 hours and that’s just off the top of my head!

Long story short, definitely need to figure out what works for you. I like my 8(or even more) hours of sleep  (including a nap). I enjoy walking the dog for more than 40 minutes a day. I WISH I could read more and journal more. I have a hard enough time with doing it let alone 30 minutes!

So, what do I choose dto do? I just it just depends on how I feel. Right now, I feel like it’s time for bed.

Furnace issues, or are they.....

So Friday, we had our furnace maintenance done.  Twice a year, we have a tech come in and check the system just to make sure it works ok, and they clean out whatever they are supposed to.

Friday (and the weekend) was a pretty warm day.  By the time the tech got here, it was like 75 in the house - yes, our house warms up like crazy with the sun. So the tech put it up way high to check it, did what they were supposed to do, and said everything was working fine.

Monday morning, I woke up and it was 63 degrees in the house while the furnace was set at 68.  I immediately called the company and set up a time for them to come out. 

A different tech came out and as soon as he opened up the closet, saw the issue - the 1st tech forgot to re-connect a hose after cleaning it out.😑 Seriously???!!!

Of course, we were just glad that nothing was wrong with the furnace.

Theo is my protector

Mama had a scare this morning on the walk.  We were walking the path and as we were coming up to an alley way, a loose dog (blond lab) came running up to Theo.  Then another loose dog (black lab). 

By that Theo was growling and I was freaking out and couldn't tell but thought the black lab was attacking/Theo was attacking.  I was just screaming and saying, get the black one because the wife was getting the blond lab who wasn't doing anything.

Everyone was fine, the owners, who I think I have met before, were nice.  They apologized and you can tell they are responsible and understanding owners.  

We stood there and chatted awhile.  They understood, of course, Theo was going to growl when two dogs coming running up - he was trying to protect me. 

Mentally, we (both Dan and I) need to get over the fact that we know he was in a dog fight before at the shelter.  Because of that, we are guarded when we introduce him to other dogs AND we think that is why he growls at other dogs.

Anyway, hopefully, we'll be able to introduce the dogs another time when both are on leashes.

Settling in nicely

Theo is doing great!  He is totally at home with us and loves meeting other people and dogs.  The dog part he just kind of sniffs and I can't tell if he is ok with the dog or not.

Today was the first day I actually saw him wag his tail after sniffing another dog.  It was a puppy, so maybe that's why.

Yesterday, I came home to find the TV remote on the floor.  I think I probably had it on the couch and he pulled it off.  In the process, he turned on the TV (without the cable).

Also yesterday, he got to meet Esa's boyfriend, Moby.  Like I mentioned, I can't tell if he liked him or not.  I also got to introduce him to Kurt, our neighbor who has a lab (Xena), who Theo had met on the weekend.

The biggest introduction was to Chrissie and David Casey - Chrissie is/will be Theo's doctor, so they came over to see Theo as a family friend before poking and prodding him.  He was all over both Chrissie and David, so hopefully he will be ok when Chrissie comes in as the doctor.

A couple of days ago, we got the harness out to see if he would be ok with it.  It was tough the first time putting it on.  He wasn't sure about it, but he didn't growl or anything.  He just wouldn't keep still.  Now, he's doing great putting the harness on - even when we have issues with hooking it (when it doesn't line up right, it gets stuck).  He does so much better on walks with the harness.  He was kind of choking himself with the pulling of the leash with his collar.  He still needs to work on the loose leash, but he is getting there.

We are so happy with him.  He is so calm and fits right into our life.  He doesn't mind us touching him anywhere.  He loves to mouth/gum your hand in play, so we need to watch his mouth because when he gets wound up, he goes right for your hand - still only mouthing, but he doesn't know when to stop.

The Daily Zed: Zed's health

Since May, we have been dealing with Zed and his health problems.  I have continued to post on my Facebook page (private) about his health and have posted #dailyZed pictures there.  Recently, I created a Daily Zed Facebook page and have posted #dailyZed there along with on Instagram.

At Zed's yearly check-up, it was suggested that we visit the cardiologist to see how his heart murmur was.  We have known about his heart murmur for awhile and it was given a 5 out of 6 rating without an ultrasound.

He did well at the appointment and was the perfect patient.  We were given two prescriptions to hold on to until his blood work came back.  His blood work came back and shortly after that (like within 2 weeks), he started to go into heart failure.  Basically, water in his lungs.  He was breathing really fast.  He also will start gagging and can't stop, then faints. It was suggested to put him on a couple of heart meds (like 2 meds and then a supplement for his liver since his liver enzymes were up).  The cardiologist mentioned that when a dog goes on heart medications, it usually extends their life about 2 years.

Zed had a couple of incidents during the night, but I thought he wasn't waking up in time to go outside to go the bathroom.  I also figured it might be the meds.  Then one day (August), I ran upstairs and Zed followed.  I turned right around and started back down.  Zed turned around and "fainted" in front of me.

I took him to the cardiologist and they did another ultrasound and said there was more damage to his heart so he was to take 2 more meds.  I asked what his life expectancy could be and it was now down to one year.

That's when I decided to create Daily Zed Facebook and Instagram.  I thought about how people had "bucket lists" for their dogs.  There wasn't any way that Z could do a bucket list trip, but a flat Zed could!  So a created a #flatZed and asked that people print it out and do selfies.

At least one of my friends has been having fun with it and Dan and I took Flat Zed on vacation with us to the Outer Banks.

Zed has been doing well since starting the two additional medications.  At first he was a little lethargic, but after 4 weeks on the meds, he started to become himself again and we found out that his liver enzymes were going down, so that was probably why he was acting much better.

Then last week, Z and I took a trip to NY.  I had noticed that he was hacking a little more than the once a day, but he seemed ok.  He ended up peeing in the house, but that could be because of the smells in the house AND mama slacked and didn't realize it was that time when he usually goes out.  That was Thursday night.  Friday morning, we were going to leave.  When we woke up, he had an episode.  Hacking and didn't stop until he "fainted".  I was so scared.  Here I have to drive with him for 6 hours - what if he didn't jump back like usual.

Luckily, he did.  He was quiet/tired on the drive home, but he was really good.  I added an extra Lasix to his meds to help.  We probably won't be doing any more traveling with him.

Today, I stopped the mid-day Lasix and now I'm wondering if I should have.  He has hacked a little more than usually, but still seems good.

Please visit Zed's Instagram or Facebook page for pictures of Daily Zed and see what we have been up to.

Adventures in Health: SlenderFX

One of the products that I tried with Youngevity is the SlenderFX French Vanilla.  I tried it straight with milk and used the blender.  It was kind of gritty, but good.

Awhile ago, I found a recipe on the Facebook group HBC30 that sounded good.

I decided to try this, but with strawberry yogurt and frozen strawberries.

Note: my blender was originally my mom's and therefore probably 50 years old, if not old.  It still works great, however I think this recipe is more for an up-to-date blender that can handle the "extracting" thing that is popular.

All mixed up - consistence wasn't what I expected.  It was crunchy (the crushed ice cubes) and the strawberries were still solid.  However, the SlenderFX was totally mixed in and no gritty taste.

Someone was jealous and waiting to see if he was getting anything.

Of course he did! And of course he loved it.

Becoming Betty: Spaghetti Squash Alfredo

So it seems like Spaghetti Squash is the big thing right now.  One of my friends posted that she made it and liked it, so I have been thinking about making it.

Off to Pinterest!  One of the recipes I found was Spaghetti Squash Alfredo.  I figured, hubby and I both like Alfredo, so this might work.

Monday, I picked one up and showed hubby the recipe.  Since my work week has been slow, today was the day to try it.  It actually didn't take that long to make.  I started at 3:45, but probably could have waited until 4 to start.  I just wasn't sure how long it would take me.

I really had no idea what to expect when I cut open the squash and didn't expect it to automatically become "noodles".

Getting ready to boil

the Alfredo sauce

cooked and cooled

forked out and ready to put into the sauce

empty shells

finished in the pan

and plated, served with chicken

This was an easy peasy recipe.  Both hubby and I didn't know what to expect when we tasted it.  Guess what?!  We both liked it!  It's probably not something that will be in the weekly menu, but definitely the monthly menu.

So here I am, a meat and potatoes kind of girl, eating squash as her main dish!  This is just too much!  It filled me up too.  I couldn't finish my chicken.  I am happy to say that hubby had seconds!