Change

So... the third person view wasn't working out. I had to think too much. :)

From here on out - you are getting it straight from the horses mouth. No smarty comments Amy! ;)

Patience Pays Off

Now is a great day to introduce you to one of the three dogs that live in our house.

Mickey Sue seen here to the left is my middle "child". He is a rescue - as are all my dogs - who found me in March of 2000. He was just a baby, probably a month or two old and his back leg was very gimpy. He had already healed from whatever injury he had and was still strong and scrappy. That's my Mickey... tough as nails and low maintenance. If I were a dog, I would be a Mickey.

Anyway... for the first 5 years of his life we lived in a tiny little town of about 200 people. We had a huge yard with lots of huge trees and all of this went unnoticed by Mickey for the most part. Trees were pee-posts and that was the extent of his interest in them. Four years ago, we moved into a larger town of about 100K in another house with a big yard and again, lots of huge trees. But these trees were different - these trees had inhabitants!! They were populated with a prison gang of cocky little hairballs. That's right - squirrels. This was a completely new experience for Mickey and he was duly fascinated.

When we moved in he started looking up and searching the trees ... every.single. second. he was outside. I was worried that he was going to injure his neck or his balance or something as much time as he spent looking straight UP.

So over the next four years, the squirrels and Mickey began a game in which only they know the rules. They run from roof to tree to tree and he runs beneath them bitching at them for being in "his" trees. They sit on the lowest branch they feel comfortable and chitter away at him for being a stupid dog. Once in a blue moon, one will get brave enough to come down into the yard to either bury or dig up a pecan or acorn. This usually never happens when Mickey is actually IN the yard with them though. So for 48 long months, Mickey has bided his time waiting for the opportune moment. Today....... that moment came. :D

About 9am I was sitting at my computer with all the windows open (in the middle of a room renovation and that's another story. But I digress) listening to the same squirrel / dog conversation I listen to most mornings. The squirrel is smack talking and Mickey is threatening him with his life. Not much new there - so I was only half listening. But they are getting really loud - much louder than normal. I'm beginning to get irritated because of the racket. Then... the squirrel makes a sound I haven't heard before.... . . . It was sort of a loud cross between a bark and a scream. It does this repeatedly. Of course now they have my full attention. I holler at Mickey out the window and all I hear is scrambling feet and then something hitting the bushes along the fence at full tilt.

This brings me up out of my chair and out the back door. Mickey is halfway up the inside of this huge bush (as tall as the house) going at 150%. Once he hears me, he comes out with this strange look on his face. Yes, I know he's a dog - but his face is really expressive - no really! He looked.... TRIUMPHANT!!! He runs up to me and stops about 10 feet away and looks down. I follow his beaming gaze and what do I see??? I think I see what happened. haha!!

I would reconstruct the scene like this: The squirrel inches lower and lower chittering and stamping his little feet (they like to do that) until he passes into "No Squirrel Land". Mickey jumps up (he's pretty agile for a three legged dog) and snatches him out of the tree. Then the race is on to see if the squirrel (minus 3 inches of his tail) can make it to the bush before Mickey latches on to something a little more sturdy!

Anyway, I would just like to take this opportunity to congratulate Mickey on his long awaited accomplishment. I know he has been long suffering and more patient than any other soul has sense to be. I would also like to congratulate the newly bobbed squirrel on making it to the bush.

P90X - No it's not a new Wii game

Well, the kid came home for the weekend. Glad to see him. He's lost about 10 pounds since he was home the end of May.

He plays DE and was weighing in at about 285. Being a big man, that's not too bad. But if he wants to stay on the edge and not get moved in to Nose or DTackle, the coaches told him to lose some weight. He's not one to skip a meal (or apparently a beer or two) so I was curious as to how he was losing it. I sure don't want him doing anything drastic.

He said that he was doing the P90X system. Silly me - I thought it was an XBox game or something. haha!! No, it's a weight training/ nutrition program created by some super personal trainer from somewhere else, probably Californee. His roommate's dad had done the whole thing and couldn't sing it's praises enough. Then the coaches had incorporated some of his training into their program and other college programs were doing the same. So, he decided to give it a try.

This kid can run 30 - 110's (the length of the football field with endzones) all of them in under 17 seconds with 30 second breaks between! And he said the workout was a challenge to him! :O Then he tells me I should do it.

Umm.... yea! My idea of exercise is chasing the dog when she is trying to get out of doing what I tell her to. Since she's as fat and lazy as I am - it's a short race. But he insists that I can do it since the trainer shows every exercise in three ways: beginner, regular, max. I'm not real convinced I can even see beginner from where I am. But.... I can't say no to my kid when he's all concerned and shit about Mom. (He's kinda cute that way)

Low and behold - I ordered the system. It's my birthday present to myself. Since I am getting way too far away from healthy and 30 days from 38, I decided I needed to spend some time on me. I rarely even think twice about taking care of me - so I don't feel too guilty for coughing up the $120. There is a 90 day money back guarantee and don't think I won't use it if the system is a crock.

I took my "before" picture - that's enough to send me to the tub with a shot of Jack Daniels and a razor blade - and am ready to begin. I won't be posting that picture - by the way. ;)

Wish me luck and I will blog about the experience on occasion - that is if I don't drop dead from a coronary.