Sunday Funny

Awhile ago I mentioned Max's paw, as she reaches to get something. It's actually really hard to photograph, but this gives a little better idea of what I was talking about.

Sunday Funny

Max is more than a bit neurotic about things. The pictures here show just some of the things that she does when she wants attention. If you look at the photo above, Max is guiding my hand with her mouth to where she wants to be rubbed. (she's not biting, just hanging onto my hand so she can direct it)

Max likes to use us as chew toy supports if we sit in one spot for too long.

She can be very insistent when she wants you to play with her. In the photo below, I was trying to put my shoes on and she kept shoving the yellow bone on my leg. It made it really difficult to get my shoes on and tied.

Then when you do play with her, she'll hang onto your arm while she tries to get the toy back.

Sunday Funny

Max enjoys cushy seating- notice that she's knocked the softer back cushion forward and is laying on that, rather than the harder seat cushion.

But then we have this instance, where she's laying on River's banjo case. At least the case is a soft case instead of a hard case.

Sunday Funny

Max being funny. Leaning over the edge of the couch and resting on the table behind it, feet on the couch. But if you look closer in the picture above, her feet are crossed!

Sunday Funny

We have no idea how she sleeps like this, but she does it all the time. Sometimes her head is hanging even further down off the chair.

And then there's this gem:

Sunday Funny

We all love Max's paws. 

Especially the proprietary paw (or paws, as in the first picture right below).

The one I don't have a picture of? Her standing on her hind legs, both front paws on the counter, one stretched out, trying to reach something just out of her reach. We call it "the paw" (very original, yes, but we all know what we're talking about, so that's all that matters). Anytime she's reaching for something on the counter: "the paw, the paw!"

October Mileage

Late bloomers.

I've found a couple late blooming flowers recently- the hydrangea on the side of our house, the thistle up in Shenandoah NP. They've gotten me thinking about how flowers aren't the only late bloomers. Our children can be late bloomers. We can be late bloomers. I feel like in some respects I am. I'm 43 and I'm finally figuring out what I want to do with my business. I was definitely not a 22 year old wunderkind. But that's ok. We all develop our skills and interests at different rates, and that's ok.

My bike miles are right no track, I'm only a month behind on my hikes, but I'm about three months behind on my foot miles. Catching up would require me to do 3 miles a day, 6 days a week. Technically doable, but it's not practical. I'm way past 365 total miles for the year, but I was aiming for 365 foot miles and 365 bike miles. As I spend more time exercising Max, I'll have less time for bike rides, so while I'm currently on track to hit 365 bike miles, that may slip. My foot mileage will increase, but I don't have the time and energy to do 3 miles a day. I will get all my hikes in, though.

October mileage:

0 treadmill workouts + 8 hikes + 1 race + 6 bike workouts + 0 kayak outings = 49.33 miles

52 hike challenge: 39 hikes

365 mile challenge:  305.0 bike miles + 194.08 outdoor foot miles + 22.50 indoor foot miles + 0 kayak miles

total miles: 521.58 miles

September mileage:
0 treadmill workouts + 2 hikes + 1 race + 5 bike workouts + 0 kayak outings = 32.96 miles

52 hike challenge: 31 hikes

365 mile challenge:  275.0 bike miles + 174.75 outdoor foot miles + 22.50 indoor foot miles + 0 kayak miles

total miles: 472.25 miles

August mileage:
2 treadmill workouts + 2 hikes + 6 bike workouts + 0 kayak outings = 47.10 miles

52 hike challenge: 29 hikes

365 mile challenge:  250.0 bike miles + 166.79 outdoor foot miles + 22.50 indoor foot miles + 0 kayak miles

total miles: 439.29 miles

July mileage: 
0 treadmill workout + 3 hike/trail runs + 1 race + 2 outside walks + 2 bike workouts + 0 kayak outings = 38.70 miles

52 hike challenge: 27 hikes

365 mile challenge:  210.0 bike miles + 164.19 outdoor foot miles + 18.00 indoor foot miles + 0 kayak miles

total miles: 392.19 miles

June mileage:
0 treadmill workout + 1 hike/trail run + 2 trail races + 1 outside walk + 3 bike workouts + 0 kayak outings = 77.08 miles

52 hike challenge: 24 hikes

365 mile challenge:  185.0 bike miles + 157.49 outdoor foot miles + 11.00 indoor foot miles + 0 kayak miles

total miles: 353.49 miles

May mileage:
1 treadmill workout + 4 hikes/trail runs + 1 trail race + 3 outside walks + 3 bike workouts + 0 kayak outings = 50.10 miles

52 hike challenge: 21 hikes

365 mile challenge:  150.0 bike miles + 115.41 outdoor foot miles + 11.00 indoor foot miles + 0 kayak miles

total miles: 276.41 miles

April mileage:
0 treadmill workout + 3 hikes + 2 races + 2 trail runs + 1 outside walk + 3 bike workouts + 0 kayak outings = 50.10 miles

52 hike challenge: 16 hikes

365 mile challenge:  120.0 bike miles + 78.68 outdoor foot miles + 8.00 indoor foot miles + 0 kayak miles

total miles: 206.68 miles

March mileage:
1 treadmill workout + 4 hikes + 0 races + 4 trail runs + 4 outside walks + 3 bike workouts + 0 kayak outings = 53.38 miles

52 hike challenge: 13 hikes

365 mile challenge:  90.0 bike miles + 58.58 outdoor foot miles + 8.00 indoor foot miles + 0 kayak miles

total miles: 156.58 miles

February mileage:
2 treadmill workouts + 4 hikes + 0 races + 3 trail runs + 0 outside walks + 3 bike workouts + 0 kayak outings = 59.08 miles

52 hike challenge: 9 hikes

365 mile challenge:  60.0 bike miles + 37.20 outdoor foot miles + 6.00 indoor foot miles + 0 kayak miles

total miles: 103.20 miles

January mileage:
1 treadmill workout + 5 hikes + 1 race + 3 trail runs + 2 outside walks + 2 bike workouts + 0 kayak outings = 44.12 miles

52 hike challenge: 5 hikes

365 mile challenge:  20.0 bike miles + 22.62 outdoor foot miles + 1.50 indoor foot miles + 0 kayak miles

total miles: 44.12 miles

Weekly Mileage #188 and Halloween

I run the seatbelt through the handle of her harness, which she doesn't really appreciate, but it keeps her safer and in one spot.

I ran with Max on the new path I heard about a week or so ago. It's nicely paved and connects the sidewalks and bike paths of one area with those of another area, so the potential for longer mileage is very good. It's a great alternative when the trails are too wet to run on, like they were Monday morning. Max liked it, but was a lot more distracted than when we're on the trails. I liked it, but my legs let me know that it's been awhile since I did any hard surface running.

tiny snail crossing the path

Jeremy went to the doctor to get a couple moles looked at. The doc removed two and sent them off to be biopsied. He also got some ointment for another mole that might not be a mole and for the tick bite he got a few months ago that's having a hard time healing.

He called Monday morning and got a same day appointment. I guess potentially problematic moles rate higher than physicals. While Sunshine really only needs a physical, I have other things I need to talk to my doc about, so I may call back and see if I can't get my appointment scheduled a little sooner.

I got back to sewing and finished this tote. The brand placement isn't quite where I want it because of how the hide was cut, but I do think it's a cool feature.

I finally went through my emails. I had over 1000 unread just in my main inbox. It took awhile, but I finally got things deleted or filed and my inboxes are much more manageable and I can actually find things. Now to see how long I can keep it this way....

fashion choices of the semi-feral five year old

Tuesday I did my bike ride then we did music lessons and speech. Jeremy had an appointment at the VA hospital to get hooked up for a 24 hour EEG. The wires and attachments are very reminiscent of when we did our sleep studies. They added some gauze on his head to keep everything in place. It's a great look.

he refused to let me post the one of him with his wrapped head and his CPAP 😂

I finished another tote, but still have three more to finish and photograph so I can get them listed in my shop.

I worked on my miscellaneous to-do list (all the random things that need to be taken care of, that I keep avoiding until I really have to take care of them). And I made this yummy cake:

A chocolate peanut butter cake that I saw the recipe for and decided to make before I went back to eating low carb. Dark chocolate cake with peanut butter buttercream frosting, and totally worth the carbs. The swap for gluten free flour worked well and I think this is my go-to chocolate cake recipe now. I found the recipe here.

Wednesday my eye was fully back to normal. There's no swelling in the morning, though there's some dry scaliness as the skin heals. I went for a trail run with Max and Jeremy went back to the VA to get the EEG stuff removed and go over the results (there was nothing unusual, he's not even really sure why they did it).

I worked on more details: catching up on some emails, ordering packaging, shop blog posts (I had a couple months of catchup, but I also jotted down the main portions of posts through March, posting twice a month), etc.

Thursday it poured rain all morning and rained most of the afternoon. It was the edge of a hurricane, I think, but we didn't have any damage. No outside exercising in that rain, so I rode my bike.

We tried making candles out of melted crayons, but our technique was flawed. I didn't want to melt one crayon color at a time, so we just popped each jar in the microwave to melt the crayons. It kind of worked, but I tipped one of them over and made a huge mess, so I wouldn't recommend it.

I worked on my course for a bit. The leather I ordered last week arrived Wednesday so I sorted through it to decide which to use for which projects. Reading about it on the computer is one thing, actually feeling each one is something completely different. I'm trying to have a variety of leathers used in the projects while not sinking all my profits into leather. The new sides should work better than the sides I used in the original prototypes.

I also got the packaging materials for the glues that will be included in the course materials.

I worked some more on the blog posts for the shop. Mostly I edited photos then uploaded them. I forgot how long this takes on Shopify. I can only upload one photo at a time, and our internet is still not great. It takes forever to upload all the photos just for one post, which is why I got behind in the first place.

Did I ever show the brass maker's marks I got awhile back?

and how about the rubber stamp I got?

Friday I intended to get up early and take Max for a run, but I didn't manage to get out of bed early enough. I should have though; she really needed the energy outlet.

We had park day that morning. It was sunny, which was nice, but also windy and chilly. I got a little chilled since I was not expecting the wind and hadn't dressed for it.

working on a notebook while watching kiddos and talking to my friend, flowers courtesy of River

I finally placed my order for 50 leather working tool sets! They should arrive in about a month or so. Lots to do while I'm waiting for them.

I spent more time working on the shop blog posts and photo editing. I mentioned it before, but I'll say it again, the Shopify blog platform is not nearly as user friendly as the Wordpress blog platform. Which is why it was so easy to stop posting after I got caught up last time. It's annoying to have to spend so much time on this, but it's good material to have available for those interested in learning more about me and my business, so I'll keep doing it. Since I now have several months worth of posts halfway written, I'll do as much as possible this week so there's less to do on an on-going basis.

Saturday I ran a 5k trail run with Max. It was a virtual race I signed up for awhile ago that I just hadn't gotten around to doing. It was a bit further than I've run in a while, and I may have pushed myself a bit too hard. The ground was a bit wetter than I'd like from Thursday's downpour, but it wasn't too bad. I did manage to trip and fall, and between my inertia and Max pulling, I slid a few inches in the mud on my stomach. So glad no one saw that one. I scraped one palm and bruised both palms on rocks or roots. Max stopped and waited for me as I got up, brushed myself off and hobbled for a few steps before running. Thankfully I was almost done at that point and only had to run a bit further.

Afterwards I did a dump run with Jeremy, then stopped by Lowes for posts for a swing set and wood for a larger work table for the basement.

We unloaded the wood and marked out where the posts need to go. I started digging with the post hole digger, but didn't go very deep. Despite the deluge on Thursday and the current slimy condition of our "lawn", digging was not easy. I didn't intend to do much more than mark it, though, so it was ok. I'm planning on doing more digging throughout the coming week.

I didn't make any Halloween costumes this year. I didn't have time and I didn't really see the point since I knew we wouldn't be trick or treating.

Since we weren't trick or treating, we filled mini piñatas for each of the kids. Saturday evening we let them whack their piñatas around. 

It was lots of fun. More fun than trick or treating is, IMO. Ocean was giggling and laughing while trying to hit his piñata. He thought the whole thing was hilarious.

River was having a hard time, so Jeremy held his piñata for him, but that only lasted for a couple whacks before he let go, in fear of his life.

While we were doing the piñatas, we'd leashed Max to the treehouse, which put her within reach of the holes we'd started. She loves digging and quickly dug one hole down about 10 inches. She wasn't as interested in the other one, but did dig a little in that one as well. It definitely helped and I'm glad there's a little less to do this coming week.

Sunday was the first Sunday where everyone who wants to can attend church, and this will be the case on a weekly basis from here on out. Jeremy and I will still alternate, though. Saturday night Ocean was licking all over his hands while eating, despite the fact that we've told him repeatedly not to. There's still a zoom option for those unable to attend sacrament meeting, so whoever stays home that week will be able to hear the talks still.

I definitely over-did it Saturday. Despite not eating low carb the last few weeks, I've actually felt pretty decent (all things considered) because I've been exercising on a regular basis. I felt a lot worse this summer when I wasn't eating low carb and also wasn't exercising.

However, I woke up feeling pretty crummy: I didn't sleep well, I ran too hard Saturday morning, I've been eating too much sugar, the time change, some combination of one or more of them. Probably all of them. It's past time to recommit to eating low carb, but also to be careful about my exercise schedule.

We've realized that Max really needs to go for a run every morning, and will probably need to do so for at least a year or more to come, till her energy levels calm down (I hope). I'd rather not actually go for a run on Sundays if I can help it, so I'd planned on taking her to a dog park that's not too far away. She hasn't been to a dog park yet, so if that didn't go well, there are some trails next to the dog park that I could take her on. But we woke up to pouring rain, so I scrapped that plan. Max hates being out in the rain (she'll pee in the house rather than stand out in the rain and pee outside) and since I already wasn't feeling great, I didn't feel like dealing with getting cold and wet.

Max's heritage seems a bit more pronounced as she gets older. We've decided that along with the blue heeler/australian cattle dog the shelter said she is, there's a lot of greyhound and a dash of black lab.

can you see the greyhound silhouette?

My poison ivy is almost cleared up. I no longer look like I have some weird leprosy. River's hives have cleared up, but we still have no idea what caused them. The skin on his hands is now peeling where the hives were.

~~~~~

After everyone else left for church on Sunday, Ocean was telling me about something he remembered.

"Last time Daddy and Sunshine and River went somewhere I got to eat ice cream and watch a movie! And do you know what movie it was? Memo!" (Nemo)

Now, I have no idea when this happened, but I do know it wasn't recently. It was probably last year? 

I said I didn't remember this happening, but it sounded like he had a fun time.

He repeated his description of it, worried that I was saying it didn't happen.

I tried to explain that just because I don't remember it happening doesn't mean it didn't happen. I forget a lot of things and don't remember everything.

I could tell by his expression he didn't really understand. But then, how do you explain memory problems to a 5 year old?

Weekly Mileage
Monday- 2.40 miles run

Tuesday- 5.00 miles biked

Wednesday- 2.60 miles run and hiked

Thursday- 5.00 miles biked

Saturday- 3.50 miles run and hiked

total- 18.50 miles

2020 totals

39 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
0 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

194.08 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
22.50 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
305.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
521.58 miles total