Ready for Bootcamp - Day 1

Sunday, May 03, 2009

Today was the first day of the Sweatsuit to Swimsuit Bootcamp. The first video, the 10 min Kickboxing video, was tough, but I made it through. I am not very coordinated and I think I might have to just watch the video a couple of times before I can get to the point where I can coordinate my arm movements with the leg movements. The workout though was GREAT! I can't wait to see what is next. I think that anyone who is looking for motivation should check out this challenge.

www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/groups_i
ndividual.asp?gid=32580

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Meet My Fur Baby Family - Sandi

Saturday, May 02, 2009

Sandi is the biggest baby of them all. She is a mixed breed dog that we got from Animal Control when she was 5 weeks old. She has been our "baby" for most of her life. She is now 9 years old and just as spoiled as when we brought her home. Sandi is what would probably be referred to as a medium to large dog (she weighs about 45-50 lbs). She has very long legs, her coloring is black, tan and white. She is mostly black with tan legs and tan on her face. She has white on her chest and tail.

You may wonder if Sandi is a long hair dog or short hair dog? The is a good question and I would have to say both. She has short hair on her head, and sides, but she has a mane of medium length hair running down her back. Her tail has long hair with little tips of white on the ends. Sounds like a strange combination, but put it together and she is one beautiful baby. Sandi does not like other people very much. That is probably our fault for not socializing her more when she was younger. Usually, when we have guests, she spends the entire time barking at them until they leave. Needless to say we don't have very many guests to our house or we make sure Sandi is otherwise occupied while they are there.

Sandi has her set routine and my DH and I each have our jobs to do. My DH takes care of most of the feeding and walking duties as he works nights and is home during the day to take her for walks. I am in charge of playtime, nightly outings and making sure her collar is not choking her. She wears a regular collar and a flea collar and I check them every night to make sure that they are not wrapped around each other too much as to make them too tight.

Food - When we first brought Sandi home, we tried every kind of food imaginable. We tried Purina, IAMs, Gravy Train. You name it we tried it, but to this day the only dog food she will is Moist and Meaty. She will sometimes eat the Ol Roy, Walmart brand of the same type of product, but she will not eat any other kind of dog food. So, since we don't want her to starve, Moist and Meaty is what she gets.

Play time - When outside and loose in the yard or at a dog park, Sandi's favorite pastime is fetch with a tennis ball. My DH will throw the ball (and he can throw pretty far) and she will run and get it and bring it back. You can tell when she is starting to get tired as eventually my DH is the one chasing after the ball and bringing it back. When inside, she chases her stuffed squeaky toys. She has a large cloth bone that she will bring over to be thrown for her. She will come over and "toss" it at us to try to get us to throw it. Other times, she will toss it in the air herself and catch it and then shake it around in her mouth. Every time we bring a bag into the house, she is sure it is another toy for her. Sandi has also designated herself the cat police. Every time one of our cats starts to claw on a chair or do something they are not supposed to, she is right there chasing them away.

Bones - Sandi loves biscuits and bones. Her favorite kind is the ones that come in a variety of flavors. She will not eat the generic biscuits with no flavoring. I don't know if the flavored ones actually taste different, or maybe she likes the different colors, but that is generally, with few exceptions, the only kind she will eat. Biscuit and bone eating also involves a ritual. If we put a handful of biscuits down for her on the floor, she will lay down next to or almost on top of them and "guard" them from any and every feline within a 100 mile radius. If one of the cats so much as walks across the other side of the room from her, she will chase them off. She doesn't actually eat any of the bones during this ritual. The only way I have found to get her to actually eat the bones is to go over and pretend to try to take it from her. I usually just tug on it gently while she has it in her mouth and say "I'm going to get it, you better eat it". That usually does the trick and she will eat them.

Bedtime and Kissies - Sandi likes to sleep on my DH's side of the bed. She will lay up against his legs for at least part of the night or until it gets too hot for her and she has to move to the bathroom floor where it is cooler. She also likes to give "kisses". If I say, "go give Daddy some kissies", she will go over and start licking my DH in the face. She doesn't usually give me face kissies as she knows I am not too fond of face kisses, so I get hugs and snuggles and her butt. If my DH says, go see Mom, she will come over and either put her head on my shoulder and lean against my head, or come up behind my while I am sitting and nuzzle her head up under my arm and wait for attention. She will also come over and turn around, so I can scratch her back.

We definitely have our set routines with Sandi and she knows how to wrap us around her not so little paw.

Sandi


Resting in the Chair


With her favorite toy


Sleeping on the sofa

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Meet My Fur Baby Family - Torrie

Thursday, April 30, 2009

My kitty, Torrie is an all gray shorthair, 15 year old cat that we got in 1994, when she was 6 months old. I got her from someone I worked with whose neighbor had dropped her off in their yard.

Torrie does not like our dog. When we first got our dog, Sandi, Torrie would immediately run and hide whenever Sandi was near. She would get into cabinets or up on high places and wait for the dog to find interest elsewhere. Over the years, she still does not like the dog any better, but she no longer hides from her either.

When we first moved into our current house, Torrie immediately staked out the cabinet under the kitchen sink and would not come out. She would take all her meals under there and would only come out to use the litter. Eventually, we were able to coax her out and now, even though she rarely leaves the kitchen, she spends a lot of her time sleeping on one of the kitchen chairs. When we bought a scale at the beginning of April, we had put the box on the kitchen table temporarily while we took the scale upstairs. When we came back into the room, Torrie had adopted the box as a bed. She now sleeps inside the box, when she is not terrorizing any cats or dog and come near.

Sleeping on an old newspaper on one of the kitchen chairs


Sleeping in her new box/bed

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Meet my Fur Baby Family - Widget

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Widget - otherwise known as whinny, she likes to stand either on the 1st floor of our 3 floor townhouse or on the bottom landing and whine, and whine, and whine. She usually doesn't stop until you convince her to come up to whatever level you are located. My DH can't understand why she goes downstairs to whine, but I tell him she likes the acoustics down there better as it is a wood floor and not carpeted (LOL). We have had Widget since 1997, she is now 14 years old. Widget is a long hair gray and white kitty with a big bushy tail. She likes to cuddle, but only on her terms. She will come up in your lap, but only if you are wearing pants as she does not like bare legs. She also does not like to be picked up at all. She will squirm until she gets free, which makes getting her to the vet an adventure.

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Meet my Fur Baby Family - Muki & Mia

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Thought I would take the time over the next few days to introduce my "family".

Muki and Mia, my "twins". They are both black and they came from the same litter. You might not think we can tell them apart, but they do have their differences. Mia is smaller than Muki and has a longer tail (according to my DH). She will also cuddle more and she does come when you call her (at least when I call her). Muki will come over for attention, but on her terms only. She likes to get her head right up under your chin, while you hold and pet her. They both will play with whatever is available. Their favorite toys are the plastic seals off of jars. No matter how big or small, they will bat them around for hours.

Mia also likes pens. My DH will put a pen on the kitchen counter and even though he tries to hide it, she will get up there and steal the pen from him. Most times the pen will be found sticking out of the chair cushion in the living room. It is always the same chair. Twisty ties are another favorite of all my cats.

We have had Mia and Muki since they were 15 weeks old and they are now almost 2 years. Right now Mia is whining outside the door cause she knows I am in here and she wants to come in (see blog dated 3/27).

Stay tuned for more info on my "fur baby Family" in the next few days.

Muki


Mia


Togetherness

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