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!

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!