Monday, March 29, 2010

Body, Head and Heart

This blog post touched my  heart today. Although I have yet to participate in my first 3 Day Walk, I'm both eager and a bit wary. This post helped me keep my perspective and will help me as I continue to train for this awesome event!

Miles logged: 64
Days until Atlanta walk: 208

Please click the Susan G. Komen link to the right to view my personal page on their website and to make a tax deductible donation! Even if you can't join in with your body, your head and your heart will thank you. (And so will I!!)

Monday, March 22, 2010

Spring Break Adventures

Here in Huntsville we just got off our week of Spring Break. And it's snowing. Lovely.

However, spring break week wasn't too bad! It was a bit cold and gray where we were, but we had a good time nonetheless. When we left, there was an extra dog in our backyard.  Our own dogs, Baxter and Ellie, weren't sure what to make of the little fella. We named him Carlos, from the movie "The Hangover", which my husband and I had just watched before the dog came to stay a while. My husband ended up having to work the week of spring break, so he stayed home. This turned out to be a good thing, because he was able to put out a sign for the found dog, and Carlos (a.k.a. Buddy) was able to get back to his owners!

Another good reason for my husband to stay home was because he got going on our bathroom project. We decided to redecorate the kids bathroom. Here's the before shot :


I really loathe this room. When we moved in 3 years ago, the walls were painted a dark burgundy, which made the room look like a cave or something horribly sinister. That just won't do for a kids bathroom, so I tried to lighten things up a bit with a bright aqua color! Yes, well, it's still no good.

Here's how it looked when the kids and I left for spring break:


Ahhh....just taking off that hideous counter and getting a nice neutral on the walls did wonders, I think! *Does that uneven, unmatched towel bother anyone but me???* Whiel we were gone doing fun things like this--
--my sweet husband, with the help of a borrowed tile saw from a friend, and the assistance of my self-sacrificing BIL, was able to get the room to look more like THIS:

Oh joy and jubilation! There are still a few small details to work out, such as installing the toilet, putting in the new shower curtain, changing the cabinet hardware, and replacing the crown moulding. *And getting matching towels!* But, I'm so pleased with the outcome thus far.

My dear, sweet husband worked so hard, and the rest of us got to play. Here are some more shots of what we got to do during the week...

These pics were taken from the Albright Grove trail near Gatlinburg, TN. The trees there (tuliptree and silverbells) were more than impressive! My Dad is starring in the last shot and I think that helps give the right perspective of how large these things were. The one up above with the kids and me was taken at Laurel Falls, also in Gatlinburg.

Friday, March 12, 2010

And then there were 3...???

Before anyone freaks out, I'm not referring to children here. I like my cute family just the way it is!

Apparently my dogs didn't agree with me today. They wanted just one more. So they invited in a random chihuahua. I was in the midst of making dinner, when I happened to look out my kitchen window to discover Ellie chasing around what appeared at first glance to be a rat with a blue collar. After closer examination, I realized it was a chihuahua running around my back yard! We have a fence surrounding our yard, so I had no clue how it got in. Did its owner open my gate and let it in? Did my dogs open the gate and let it in??

I hastily glanced out my front door to see if I could spot the owner, but instead I see the little rat climbing over the fence into the neighbors yard! You got it; he jumped about halfway up the chain link fence, then scaled the rest of the way into the next yard!

Here's the little scoundrel in the neighbor's yard. At present, my husband is trying to lure the dog closer so he can locate the owner, since the dog doesn't belong in the neighbors yard, either.

This was my Friday Favorite! Check out Hillary's blog to see more Friday Favorites.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

5 Fantastic Favorites

In case you haven't heard, I've been doing a lot of walking lately. This past Saturday as I was going my most recent favoritest route, I was unable to get my iPod to function.  I happened to be alone for this walk, so I decided to go all purist and listen to nature for my musical selection. As a result of two hours of alone, quiet time to think, I came up with 5 things I enjoyed about my walk that day.

5. The sunshine was awesome! I'm quite weary of our dreary winter we've had here in North AL, so I soaked up Vitamin D like it was an oasis in the desert. I so hope this means spring is upon us!

4.  I'm starting to see the same faces over and over again. I've been walking this route for the past month or so, usually on Saturdays, and I have learned that there are quite a few folks who have a similar routine as me. It is kind of neat to start recognizing people on my walk.

3.  For example, there's the guy who walks with his dog. The dog is not on a leash, but evidently he will stay with his master as long as there is a tennis ball in the dog's mouth. The dog doesn't even appear to notice me, but he always has that darn tennis ball in his mouth. I've never even seen the owner throw the ball for the dog or anything; they are always simply walking.  I'm sure the owner is grateful for Pavlov. (aren't we all, really???) I mean, if you are going to be brave enough to let your dog off its leash, at least have the thing well-trained.

2.  Speaking of animals, I see a multitude of dogs on this route. It's a greenway, so it's much safer to walk your dog there rather than on a road. In fact, Saturday I saw a couple of very large Great Danes. Not as big as this one, but I am always impressed by their greatness. :) I also walk far enough south to see some geese. I love listening to all of the birds, and this past weekend I heard a woodpecker. It reminded me of my grandfather, because I could just imagine him having his binoculars at the ready to spot any bird or woodpecker around. He would have outpaced me (as he always did) even with his birdwatching. I appreciate the solitude of nature and the memories it brings with it. If I'd had on my iPod, chances are I wouldn't have heard that woodpecker and thought about my grandpa.

1.  I also get to witness exercise taking on more forms than walking. There are usually quite a few bikers and runners. I even see a rollerblader now and again. However, this past weekend I saw something I'd never seen before. I wasn't sure if I should jump off the walkway or not, because this thing was literally swerving so madly from side to side that I thought it might hit me. I really don't see the point in it, but the guy riding it seemed to be enjoying himself.

In the spirit of keeping my countdown alive, I've now logged 54 miles. Only 228 more days to go!