Happy, happy Friday everyone! Earlier today, I took Harley for a nice hike, and made peace with the idea that it might be the last challenging hike I go on for a bit, because I have some injury news to share.. In the past week, I've had appointments for meeting with a sports medicine doctor, getting an x-ray and an MRI as well, all to figure out what the hell is going on with my foot and calf. You may or may not have read my posts where I've talked about my never-ending calf injury - a muscle I tore 3 years ago and have gone to physical therapy at two different facilities in an attempt to fully recover from it, which I haven't felt like I've done thus far. Last summer, I started to experience some weird foot pain by my big toe. After a general practitioner diagnosed it as ... [Read More]
dogs
The Basil Thief
Hi friends! Hope you had/are having a wonderful weekend. Mine has been a lot of fun, and it's not quite over yet! I think that True Blood episodes make Sunday nights a little bit more fun. :) Here are some snapshots of my weekend: I broke my weeklong hiatus from dairy with an even more awesome grilled cheese than I made last week: fried zucchini + cheddar + avocado + tomato [from my own plant] + horseradish mustard on whole wheat = deliciousness. Since it was ungodly hot in my town this weekend, my hubby and I headed to the beach to cool off. We hit a lot of traffic on the way there and were wondering if going to the coast was a good move, but then we got to the beach in Monterey and it was perfect weather there - totally worth it. After beachin' it, we went into town to ... [Read More]
Taking Time to Date Myself Today
Earlier this week, I realized that I hadn't really pampered myself in awhile. With feet in need of some TLC and the idea of a massage in the back of my mind for months, late this afternoon I decided to kick my weekend off with a spa date. (photo credit) I think that so often, it's easy for us ladies with busy schedules to forget about treating ourselves and to put any special indulgences on the back burner (especially for all you mamas out there!). Usually on Thursdays and/or Fridays, I squeeze in a few spare hours that I don't really even have to volunteer at the Humane Society. But this week, I decided that a few hours of "me" time would take precedence over my volunteer gig. I think that once in awhile you just need to switch your priorities around and skip something else in order to ... [Read More]
Losing My Family Dog: A Tribute to Rosco
For the past couple of days, I've had a heavy heart. After finding out that my family's dog was really sick with a mass that was obstructing his bowel movements, he had to be put to sleep this morning. I grew up with Rosco. I remember the day we got him nearly 14 years ago. When I came home to an empty house one day, my mom, infamous for leaving notes around for everyone, had left me a note that read, "There's a cute puppy in the laundry room!" I found an adorable, excited, stinky black lab in our laundry room. Turns out that this puppy, along with the others in his litter, had been found in a drain pipe, and my parents decided to adopt him on a whim. Rosco was quite a rambunctious pup. For awhile he had a food complex where he would scarf down his food as fast as he could, only to ... [Read More]
Maddie’s Pet Adoption Days
My New Volunteer Job When I moved from San Diego to the Bay Area, I immediately missed volunteering at an animal shelter. Even though I can only devote a couple of hours each week to being there, volunteering made me feel like I was making a difference in my own little way in protecting the welfare of animals. That's why a few weeks after I moved here, I started looking into animal organizations I could volunteer at. One day I popped into the little, old building of an animal shelter that serves my area to fill out an application, and for the past couple of weeks, I've been a new volunteer there. In coming from working at the San Diego Humane Society, I knew that in a way, the bar had been set too high for me. I've worked at other shelters before there and was well aware that ... [Read More]
The Never Ending Injury
Greetings from San Diego! I flew back to the West coast last night after 2 weeks of being in Jersey with my family. I am so happy that I made the trip back East to see my grandma in the hospital. I hung out with her yesterday before heading to the airport, and she is most definitely progressing and seeming more like herself. The pneumonia is clearing out, and the surgery to remove her tumor went great as far as we can tell. They removed her breathing tube and a bunch of other IVs and contraptions a few days ago, which was a great note to leave on. The past few weeks I've been constantly thinking about the people I love and how important they are to me. Nothing compares to family! I was super excited to see my hubby and pup last night. Reunions are always great after time ... [Read More]