Canine vs Feline, part 2

In honor of Thanksgiving, I give you part two of the dog vs cat contest. Dogs are not winning this contest! Today Otto got all mopey because he is invited to a party this afternoon so I had to give him a bath. Post bath, he has insisted on going outside where he is sitting in the snow, wet, whining, and staring at the door. Daisy, well she isn't going to a party so she didn't have a bath but a. she doesn't need one b. staying home should make her extra mopey. But she is curled up in, cozy as a clam, the comforter and sleeping bag I have been sleeping in all week.

God my life sucks!

Mmmmmm, perfect, warm and cozy!

Me, I'm somewhere in the middle. My life is warm and cozy. There is really nothing wrong with it and have I a ton to be grateful for. And still, I do some sitting out in the cold whining. I think it's time to be more cat like - with a little crossfit and making sure I take those challenges thrown in.

Happy thanksgiving!

Smarter species?

I am 100% a dog person. Ask me any dog vs cat question and dogs will come out ahead just about every time. However, I think today the feline species would win a higher IQ battle.

Warmest spot in the house!

Perhaps you're wondering why her nose is burrowed into the gas range?

Well, it's essentially a vent of warm air!

35 degrees out! Nice day to lie in the 'sun'.

It's Bamboo!!

A year or two ago an acquaintance of mine felt his life had no real meaning. So he sold all his stuff (all his stuff including house), packed his bags, bought a motorcycle and headed out to ride the motorcycle around the world. So far he hasn't made it out of South America. And while there, he has scouted out a couple organizations that help kids, kids in really desperate situations. He then formed a non profit and is now raising money to help out these groups (as well as volunteering his time).

Whew!! Me, I sit on my ass, obsessively check Facebook and watch stupid TV shows. However, I did have a spurt of do goodyness a few weeks ago when I attended a fundraiser/auction for his fine organization. I both gave money AND bid on some of the auction items. Mostly, I succeeded in merely driving up the prices for others, but I did win one thing, a bamboo 'white' board. Now this is just about the coolest thing ever. It is, yes, essentially a white board, but it's made out of bamboo so it's cooler and good for the environment (making me an even bigger do gooder)! It is now mounted and ready to house my to do list.

So now, I can sit on my ass, obsessively check Facebook while watching stupid TV shows and simultaneously, glance at my 'to do' list and see what I am NOT doing!

Oh, and if anyone is interested for doing good without getting off your ass....www.writearoundtheworld.org and www.threebythree.com/dryeraseall.php

Living in the Moment

This morning as I was leaving my house to walk the dog (7 am or so), a taxi pulled up on my street. Turns out it was my neighbor returning from 'Girl's Night'. I, of course, was awake at 7 because I'd gone to bed super early, tired because I'd been waking up at 5.30 am all week to workout. I find it astounding that an adult could stay up all night voluntarily! And I'm not saying it's bad, it's just not a gene I got. I have zero ability to stay up late, let alone all night. This was true even when I was young and hip (was I really young AND hip?). Maybe in my next life....... Or maybe I already had that gene in a previous life and you get more conservative as you go?

And while we're on a woo woo subject like reincarnation, let's stay new age. Living in the moment. I seem to be thinking about it lately. Back when I took a lot of yoga, living in the moment was much discussed. Okay, perhaps not so much discussed, as 'lectured' to us by yoga teachers as we lay in corpse pose dreaming about what we would have for dinner, who our current crush was, or whatever else might be going on the second we were released from corpse pose to our life.

The theory is that in order to really enjoy life, you need to be fully present in everything you're doing. That you need to enjoy life - the process of life - as it's happening, both the good and the bad. And I completely agree. I spend lots of my time dredging up the past or worrying about/excited about the future. Sometimes I feel I spend so much time living in the past or anticipating my better future self, that I don't actually enjoy what's going on. And the thing is, there is only what's going on. You're always in the present. And if you don't live in the present, you're not really living your life.

And now we'll talk about my very favorite thing, crossfit. It's been a while since I've waxed poetically about crossfit. You all probably thought I fallen off the crossfit wagon.

Crossfit + Living in the Moment. One thing I love about crossfit is that it forces you to live in the present. I will ride my bike to workout all grouchy about something that happened, something someone did, having to go to work all day etc. Then I get to crossfit and all that is gone. For an hour there is NOTHING but exactly what I am doing. There is no way to think about anything else when you're trying to lift an extra heavy weight properly. Or when you're trying to push yourself to go just a little faster. Or when you're in so much pain you just want to collapse on the floor. Or, even when that beautiful moment comes, you yell 'time' and you actually do get to collapse on the floor. And it feels so good!

I always get a little surprised after crossfit. I get back on my bike and I remember what I was thinking about on the way there. Or I remember that I'm about to go sit at work all day and I realize that I have thought about none of that for the last hour. And I realize how refreshing it was (IS!) just to be!

WOO WOO

All About Daisy

I'm cute!

One might forget such things from reading my blog, but there are two pets in my household. Otto, of course, is insanely cute and it's very hard to stop photoing and exhibiting him regularly (and clearly hard to not speak of him, as this is Daisy's blog and I have only discussed Otto so far). Moving on, Daisy, is the cat. She's been around much longer than Otto - 10 instead of 5 years. And she's pretty cute herself, in a cat kind of a way.

For some reason, lately, she's been upping the cute ante by squirreling herself in cupboards and drawers! I thought I should share so she doesn't feel left out.

">Mmmm, bleach and Bon Ami!

Comfy shirts!

Okay, enough with the camera already! I'll just go elsewhere.

Facelift

Mom, why are we taking pictures, let's walk!

Otto and my favorite walk - by the golf course near my house - just got a facelift. Well, the facelift has been about 3 years in the making, but it's nearing completion. And it's pretty cool, in that 21st century slightly pretentious park kind of way!

A pictorial, summary

Arty cement thingies with numbers and sayings on them. The sayings seem to be blurbs about the park. I haven't figured out the numbering yet.

Random crop circle pathways, probably laid down by aliens.

Arty seating areas and aliens.

Stonehenge rock piles and beautiful views.

Arty landscaping.

Playing (we avoid this area like the plague.)

AND, the walking path is exactly 1207 meters! Thank god.