New Years Resolution

One of my New Years Resolutions was to run a race, something longer than the usual 5k events I normally particiapte in. So why not kick off the year on New Years Day by participating in a 10 mile run. Yes, I said MILE, not "k".
Honestly, I don't know how people who run marathons do it!




It was a cold and blustery day and the temperature only went down as the day progressed, can't you see how we're all nearly freezing?



There were several hundred in the race. It was a fairly flat course.



John went to the event with me and took some pix.

Getting ready to cross the finish line here.

Well, I didn't set any land speed records, but I was super proud of myself for finishing in under 2 hours. I know the winner did it in under an hour, but considering I've never gone such a distance before in my life (and don't foresee ever doing it again), I was beyond thrilled.

So how are your New Years Resolutions coming along??

ps...

I started this post back at New Years, don't know why it was never posted, but I suppose better late than never.

Is blogging a thing of the past?

Yes, I think that slowly but surely, it is going the way of the vinyl record. Only used by a few nostalgic blogger-buffs or those of us that can't ever let go and move on with the times.

My blogs have become fewer and farther in between and occasionally I feel a twinge of guilt over my lack of posts.

But now that I've taken a moment to look at some of the blogs of those I used to follow faithfully, I don't feel so bad. With the exception of 2, all the others have been anywhere from 4 - 12 months since their last post, so I guess I'm not alone in my lack of blogging.

Should I say fare-the-well to blogging all together?

Well, I probably should, but I won't. Every once in a great while I have something to say that requires more than the 140 characters that Twitter allows me to do my tweeting with. And even if nobody really reads my blogs anymore, that's okay, my blogs have never been done for the sake of others having reading materail. It's been more of a way for me to vent my frustrations or do a little bragging or just to serve as a journal of sorts.

As I went back and looked today, I saw three different posts I'd started and never completed and they were still in the draft-stage, this one included. Obviously life has become so busy for me that I can't even finish my thoughts anymore.

Twitter

As you may have noticed, my blogs keep getting further and farther in between. Life is busy. I'm still not doing the facebook-thing, but I am on Twitter and that has become my source for getting the local & national news and my outlet for what I'm thinking at the time.
I haven't quite figured out why some of these people keep following me. Maybe they think my thoughts are interesting, maybe they are twitter-stalkers and have no life, maybe they just "collect" people to stalk.
It's for sure there are a lot of pathetic and needy people out there, always begging for "RT"'s (re-tweets). I can understand if it's for a charitable cause, but just so there begging-post will show up under a tweet from somebody famous? Gimme a break! Get a life!!!!!
I had signed up for my twitter account about a year ago and never did anything with it, as I really didn't understand it. It's only been in the past month or so that I've gotten back on there, I still don't fully understand everything, but I'm learning. A lot of the messages are somewhat cryptic, as you're very limited in space for posting your message, 140-characters I think.
I don't read every message I get, as I get waaaaay too many. Some people tweet about anything and everything they are doing or see. I just scan thru it, basically I'm becoming a speed reader, and if I see something that piques my interest, then I'll read the whole thing or click on the link that's included.

There are a few freaks out there that have tried following me and I block them right away. I could set my account up as private and have to approve everyone that requests, but I don't object to strangers following me, in general. What I do object to is all these freaks (and thus far, it seems to be all women) that have XXX or other porno language in their names or descriptions that follow me. WTH??? Sorry, I don't understand why these people degrade themselves that way. I don't need that crap in my life.

So if anyone is interested in finding me on twitter, my handle is: @imagr8daneluvr

Let me know if you're on Twitter too!!

New stuff

So here's an original blog on current events in my life, and not one that was started weeks or months ago and I'm just now getting around to posting.

Phoebe earned her CGC (Canine Good Citizens) title last Saturday. Yea for Pheebs!!! I know it's no secret, I'm crazy in love with my girls and have always been super proud of Olivia's accomplishments in spite of her being deaf/partially blind and facing the death-chamber as an infant pup. But I have to say, I am even more proud, if that's even possible, of Phoebe.
I really thought she would take a year or more (if ever) to be ready for visits to the nursing homes, but she made it in 7 months time. She has proven to be such a super-smart little girl (okay, big girl), and she keeps us entertained non-stop. If she's not "talking" to us, then she's just innocently being cute and melting my heart.
After I get home from the gym in the mornings, I usually lay back down for about an hour and that's my cuddle time with the girls. Livvie curls up against John's pillow and Phoebe starts off lying up against me with her head on my chest, looking at me with those beautiful blue eyes. After a few minutes, she gets up and moves to the foot of the bed and curls up against my feet. This is my happiest time of day and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I am truly sick and tired of these so called "professionals" (and I use that term loosely) that chastise me for using a Gentle-Leader to walk my girls. Why? Why must they do that? I mean, good for them if they can walk their dog with just a flat collar or better yet, off-lead. But how I choose to walk them is my business. It's not hurting my girls, in fact, just the opposite. It keeps them from trying to drag me around and gives me some control. And it's a hell of a lot better than those awful pinch-collars that many of those same professionals use. Let me put one of those things around their neck and jerk on it a few times!! Mind your own business people!! I don't tell you how to walk your dog.

My quilting class started again three weeks ago. The rest of the class is doing the usual assignment, but the teacher has me doing a crazy-quilt. My biggest problem is just finding time to work on it, I'm so freaking busy. Those 2 hours in class just fly by. In addition to quilting keeping me busy, there are the visits to the nursing homes with the girls and a new facility we'll be adding to our list in May that's a group home for abused girls. I'll just be taking Phoebe there, so it will be an interesting change of pace for us. I'm scaling back on the number of walks/5ks that I'll participate in this year. I'm planning on resuming riding lessons in May if all goes well. The Luci Center where I volunteer has their annual "The Luci Ball" coming up soon, it's their big fundraiser for the year. I was asked the other day to help sew horse-ornaments. I'm not too sure I'm qualified to do those, but I'll give it my best shot, nothing ventured nothing gained, right?
I've been sick as a dog this week with my allergies. Something is viciously had me sneezing like crazy and constantly blowing my nose. Allergies suck! As bad as they are right now, I know they'd be a bazillion times worse if I weren't getting shots.
So I think that about catches you up on my life.
Visit me on Twitter: @imagr8daneluvr