Falmouth Road Race

I got my notification today that I was selected in the 2013 lottery to run the Falmouth Road Race!  Yay!  I knew it was coming because I was not selected last year, which guarantees entry for the following year, but it's still exciting to receive the notice!  The race is scheduled for 8/11/2013, and is run by one of the Boston Marathon's race directors. I live in a pretty small place, so there aren't usually too many spectators at a road race.  At Falmouth, there are people along the sides of the road for the entire 7 miles!

I have run this race for 4 or 5 years, and it is always a blast.  I have never gotten a great time, but have had so much fun, I sign up every year.  Last year, I did not get selected and was crushed!  When my customers at my Saturday restaurant job found out, someone called around and found a number for me for a woman that wasn't able to run.  I felt bad running under someone else's name, but at least it was the right sex!  The strange thing was, I had become settled with the idea of not running, but then felt obligated to run with the number provided.  The family that provided me with the number had me meet them at their house, provided me with a ride to and from the race, and even offered me breakfast.  They were so nice!  Their son ran also, and he was super fast!

In other news, due to recent thunderstorms in our area, the other dog has woken me up 2 nights in a row to get his Thunder Shirt.  He is so silly.  After we bought it, my boyfriend laughed at me for weeks about the waste of money.  Then, the morning after a storm, I told him that I thought the dog had woken me up to get his shirt....he laughed some more!  Well, it has now been a few years, and he will wake me every time to get his shirt.  He sleeps on our bed, and putting the shirt on him is the only way to get him back in bed.  Without the shirt, he paces, drools, and tries to hide in the basement and the bathroom.  With the shirt, he will get back in bed, with tremors still, but at least we can sleep!  Here is a recent picture...please notice Lucy snoozing away next to him!  Nothing scares Lucy but the turkeys!

Lucy's 2nd road race

On Sunday, Lucy and I ran a 5k with a friend of her's, Otis.  Otis is Lucy's uncle in some weird, twisted way.  We got our other dog from the people who bred Otis.  The people who got our other dog's sister bred the dog, which was Lucy's litter.  They look so much alike that we frequently get them confused! Lucy is on the right in the picture below.

Anyway, this was Otis' owner's first 5k since giving birth a few months ago.  She did great!  I stayed with her till a little after the halfway point, but Lucy was going faster than all of us, so we ran a bit ahead.  We saw some friends and their kids walking and stopped to say hi, and wait for Otis.  We didn't see him, so we started running again.  This race was along the roads that Lucy and I run on a regular basis, so she was a little confused as to why we were in the road and not the sidewalk.  We finished, in an unstupendous 29:38, and waited for Otis and his owner, who finished pretty quickly after us.

This race was at 11 AM, and it was HOT out!  We were giving the dogs water, and talking to friends, when a guy walked over with Otis and said "I think you may have dropped this!"  My friend thought she was giving Otis water, not Lucy, and had let go of his leash!  Thank goodness he didn't go too far, and is super friendly!  Lucy was tired the rest of the day, and I think it might be the last time we run this race together.  It is just too late in the day, and too warm for her, even though we both had fun!

Do you know how hard it is to get 2 dogs in a crowd of people to pose for a cute picture?? Much harder than I thought!

The makings of a quiet afternoon

Today, when picking up dog food, I grabbed 2 Nylabones.  This pet food store sells antlers, which my dogs absolutely love.  Unfortunately, they are super expensive and sometimes end up being over $30.  For  $19.99 apiece, I managed to pick up something that lasts much longer than an antler!  Both dogs are now quietly enjoying their new toys!

On another note, about a month ago, Birchbox asked me if I was interested in receiving the Nuance Salma Hayek Birchbox.  Sure, why not?  I had previously grabbed some trial size shampoos from the brand when I went on vacation.  I liked the way it smelled, but hadn't tried anything else.  I didn't hear anything else about it from Birchbox, so I wasn't sure if it was a raffle, or I was just going to get a box.  Today, the box arrived in the mail, containing an AM/PM super cream sample, a full size Super Moisturizing Body Cream (14.99), a trial sized Mamey Fruit shampoo and conditioner sample, and the Lights, Camera, Action eye trio (8.79).  This box cost me nothing and was full of fun stuff to try.  I have seen the Nuance Salma Hayek shampoo at CVS, but I didn't know there was a makeup line!  I am excited to try all of this stuff!  There was also a $2 coupon for a full sized item, so I will have to see which I like enough to buy!

Running Fail

The past few months, I have gotten into a pretty regular routine: Gym @ 4:45, run with dogs at 5:45 AM.  Unfortunately, a week and a half ago, I tweaked my neck again.  I then compounded this by falling!  This has pretty much put my running out of commission.

On Saturdays, I work in a restaurant.  I try to bring a baked good of some type with me every couple of Saturdays. On Friday, May 3rd, I was going to make a brown sugar pound cake, but ended up out at dinner with friends and got home too late.  This meant that I was making my cake on Saturday morning before work in a hurry.  I initially tweaked my neck while reading the paper Saturday morning.  Then, I was looking for my cake plate in the basement, and remembered the icing needed to be stirred on the stove.  I went flying up the stairs, put my foot in a puddle of water by the dog bowl (Lucy's doing!), went completely sideways in the air, and then crashed to the ground.  By Sunday morning, I couldn't move my head anymore.

I didn't want to make my neck worse, and I knew I had a chiropractor appt. on Thursday, so I thought I would just hold off on the exercising and down some Advil.  It didn't get any better until Thursday, after my appt. at the Chiropractor, but still wasn't 100%.  I thought I would hold off a few more days.  Today was the first day I woke up with no pain, so today was the day!

Both dogs went outside and went to the bathroom (this is key, as no one likes to run w/ a bag of poop!).  I put my new playlist on my phone, and headed out the door.  A quarter mile away, the other dog stops to poop again! WTH?! Fine, this was okay because we were close to a park and a trash can.  We discard the bag, and continue running.  I notice my calf is unusually tight about a half mile in, so I stop to stretch it out.  We then keep going until the other dog thought he heard thunder, and it started to sprinkle rain.  Thunder and the other dog don't mix...at all.  It usually involves some drooling, a lot of crying, and a Thundershirt.  Back home we go...total failed run: 2 miles.

Hopefully, my neck is better again, and I can jump back on the exercise train this week!  Lucy had fun at least!

Friday surprise

On Friday,  I fought with Lucy for around an hour trying to get her back in the house.  I think she knows she shouldn't be in the mulch,  so she sat right next to it,  but she wouldn't come in the house.  At least she looked cute while being bad!

When my boyfriend came home from work,  he surprised me with a framed print.  He got it at a gallery he was working near,  the POLi gallery in Provincetown. It was a nice surprise,  and made me forget how mad I was at Lucy during the day!

The mulch buffet is open

Every year, come springtime,  we rake up our old mulch and replace it with new.  ( please note that I used We very generously,  as I raked nothing!)  Every year,  once the new mulch is down,  the dogs act like we filled the backyard with milk bones and try to eat all of the mulch.  This year,  to try and discourage the full out mulch feast,  I sprinkled some cayenne pepper on the mulch.

This year, we also used something called Hollytone around the base of the bushes. Lucy has carefully stepped over the cayenne peppered mulch,  and instead has eaten all the Hollytone!  I originally thought I had some rogue squirrel burying acorns,  but someone with muddy paws has given themselves away!  No worries,  Lucy is fine so far,  but apparently can't be left in the yard unattended until this stuff soaks in!

Does your dog routinely eat crazy things?  My cat eats hair elastics,  so I always have to hide them!

Presents!

Every year for Mother's Day, I get my sister the Allure Beauty Box.  This arrived on Monday this week, and I hope this present makes my sister as happy as it usually does!  I know it normally ends up being a feud for products between her and my niece, but it is still fund to receive and try all the products.  Did I mention that I always get myself one too?

When my sister came over to pick up her Mother's Day present early yesterday, she brought me a present from my lovely niece!  Pottery!  On my nephew's birthday, while we were all in my sister's kitchen, I picked up something my niece had made in ceramics and mentioned that no one ever made me anything because I had dogs, not kids.  When I was in high school, I took a pottery class as well.  I have nothing to show for the pottery class that I took, but my sister does.  In my sister's bathroom, there is a small misshapen pinch bowl that she uses to hold q-tips.  I made that misshapen bowl!  Anyway, my niece's dish is much more attractive and functional.

Last, but not least, my brother dropped off two gifts for my niece and nephew today, as he missed their birthdays.  Presents for everyone!

Who knew turkeys could fly that high?

Today, I got home from the gym to find my boyfriend comforting Lucy.  Apparently, she heard some turkeys walking by, gobbling, and she got scared.  She was hiding behind his legs and shivering.  I already knew she was afraid, as she won't stay outside alone when they are nearby.  The other dog just likes to bark his ass off at them, but only when he can see them.

My boyfriend left for work, and the dogs and I went running.  On our return, when we got one house away from mine, my neighbor was pulling out of her road and called out "There is a turkey right there!".  I told her the dogs were afraid of them, and asked where.  She pointed him out and drove away.  Of course we had to investigate...so we got a little closer.  Lucy hid behind me, and the other dog watched that darn bird intently.  After a few minutes of that, we head home.

Thanks to the dew, the dogs are a muddy mess.  When this happens, I make them go outside to the backyard immediately after coming in.  For whatever reason, today I had not taken their leashes off yet.  We are standing on the deck and I am about to unhook the leashes when I spot their nemesis....a turkey...in my freaking backyard!  I'm figuring the bird must have cleared the front picket fence, so 3 or 4 feet?

My other neighbor is outside hanging her laundry at good ole 6:50 AM, so I ask if she can open the gate so the damn turkey can leave.  At this point, the bird is straight up freaking out, running in a circle.  He then abruptly turns, and starts to fly in the other direction.  He clears the 6 foot fence on the other side, and keeps going and going up in the air.  He stops around 35 feet in the air in a neighbors tree, which is where he stayed until after my shower.  Not sure when he left, but he's gone now!  I guess this proves my claim to my friend just the other day wrong, as I told her I thought they could only fly 3 or 4 feet!