Thoughts as the night winds down

There are a few things that I admire about myself. I do not mention them with a conceited, arrogant mentality. It's more about giving myself credit and acknowledging that I'm not a completely hopeless person.

I admire that I can always dig deep and be happy. I believe that at my core, I am a naturally happy person. Sometimes, it's just a matter of letting that person surface past whatever negatives things are surrounding my life. I also admire that I can make others smile or laugh. I have been told that I brighten days -- HUGE compliment. I admire that even though family and friends thought I was crazy for giving animals so much significance, I held on strongly to my feelings for them. Now I work in the veterinary field and have been a successful vegetarian for over five years.

Finally, I admire that I am able to forgive. For the most part. I could never forgive somebody hurting my critters, I don't think. Honestly, that is the only unforgivable offense that I can come up with without thinking too hard about it...

Is it possible that I am too forgiving, though? How many times do I have to accept apologies from one person? How many times do I have to make excuses for the same person? How many times do I have to remind myself that I love this person enough to forgive time and time again?

If I am, in fact, too forgiving towards this person, is that really something to admire about myself? Is that something to be proud of? Or should I be ashamed? Am I really just being a complete fool for practically shrugging my shoulders about things and moving on? Am I letting this person walk all over me?

These aren't fun questions to ponder.

Can I just go back to being a happy daisy?

That sounds like a plan...

Not just dogs

Today, we Aggies were given the unfortunate news the Reveille VII, Texas A&M's First Lady and mascot from 2001 to 2008, passed away.

Our Reveilles are no ordinary mascots...

Texas A&M was founded as a school that required all students to enroll in the Corps of Cadets and receive military training. While no longer a requirement (ahem... I would NOT have enrolled there if it was), the Corps is still huge at A&M. Do you know who the highest ranking member of the Corps is? It's Reveille. In fact, all other members of the Corps have to address her as "Miss Reveille, ma'am."

Reveille also attends class with her student handler. However, if she barks while a professor is teaching, the class must be immediately dismissed. It's tradition.

Like other Reveilles before her, Reveille will receive a formal military funeral and be buried at Kyle Field in front of a scoreboard so she can keep track of the football games. Thousands of people attended the funeral of Reveille VI... I am certain that thousands more will attend Reveille VII's funeral as well.

Reveille VII

She was a special dog indeed. She served as mascot all three years that I was at A&M... That's why she's even more special to me.

Reveille VII also would have had her thirteenth birthday in October. My own beloved boy, Canelo Dog, turns thirteen in October. Reveille VII was the same age as my boy... And now she has passed.

I can not put into words how anxious I am becoming about the fact that my boy is aging and that his last months, weeks, days are fast approaching. I am so incredibly grateful for the time that I have with him (whatever may be left) and try my absolute best to care for him diligently and make him as happy as possible.

Canelo Dog and mommy, April 2013

I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful boy. I bet he has no idea how happy he has made me these past 12.5 years and what an important role he has had in my life. I owe him so much.

Take care of yourself and your critters, y'all.

Daisy

I ran for my life.

I am now training for a half-marathon! I will be running The Hottest Half on August 25th. I may be crazy for running this in the middle of a Texas summer, but...

1. I will be training in the summer anyway
2. It'll be early in the morning before it gets too hot
3. The course is around White Rock Lake, which is where I am training

Once I accomplish this, I will gladly say to you: If I can do it, you can do it. 

You see, I was never an athlete. Not even as a child when the playing field was pretty even and except for a few stellar standouts, all kids pretty much sucked. I didn't do sports in high school because again, I didn't feel talented enough and felt that I would just let whatever team I joined down. In college, when we were required to take kinesiology/fitness classes, I chose Aerobic Walking because I figured it was the only thing I had any chance at passing. This when they offered classes such as skating, rock climbing, swimming, volleyball, skiing, etc. You name it, they offered it (Texas A&M is awesome like that). Nope, I stuck to walking.

So at almost-30, I'm ready to be an athlete. I have found a sport that I truly enjoy and that pushes me. It's also therapeutic. I may not be the fastest, but I'm building my endurance and giving my heart a workout as well. I feel so good about this decision, I wish I had started sooner.

There are plenty of apps on smart phones to help with the process. I also chose to purchase a guide/training plan from No Meat Athlete. Yes, I am doing this as a vegetarian, of course. That will only add to my sense of accomplishment.

I hope to update you on my progress and on other little facts of my life. I seriously suck at blogging now. Gone are the days when I had to resist posting more than twice a day. Overshare. 

Have an excellent week, y'all!

Hello, good friend

I'm not going to lie to you, dear blog. I did forget about you these past few weeks. So how about as lengthy an update as I can muster?

Spring is here, I suppose. Honestly, in North Texas, it arrives and disappears, and returns, and just when you've put all your winter clothes away into storage, a cold front comes through. I find it all too annoying, constantly checking my weather app to make sure no drastic changes are coming or if the forecast has been altered in any way since the last time I checked. I prefer constant days of 100 degrees, as torturous as they may become, over this bipolar weather. For serious.

So although spring isn't delivering the warm weather I had hoped for, it has delivered longer days. The sun rises earlier and sets later, giving me the sense that I have time to accomplish all that needs to be accomplished. I have added some things to my plate recently. I'll go into that now...

In the future, when I return to this blog to read old entries, this particular one will be the one closest to the date of those awful Boston bombings and the explosion in West. The older I get, the more I sometimes feel that I am becoming desensitized to all the madness that happens in the world. The stories themselves are sad, but I become even sadder to realize that they are a norm. My attention was captured regardless, though, because I am a runner and because I have been a frequent visitor of that small town. What a rough week.

What a cause for reflection. I want to continue to run. I want to run a half-marathon by the end of the year. Maybe one day, I can even travel to run marathons in the great cities of the world. I want to continue working with animals and being an advocate for them. I want to use the voice that social media gives me to help those displaced by accidents and natural disasters. I want to continue to pursue my post-graduate degree in health care to help people as well, when they need it the most.

My mind will run away if I don't stop this soon.

News from my tiny corner of the world: I am now the social media coordinator for my company and will be working closely with our CEO/Medical Director to better promote and market our practice. It's an exciting opportunity and I am extremely grateful for it.

More news from me: My relationship is going through a serious funk. It's not anything that either of us has done, I am not angry with him, I don't wish ill will upon him. Feelings simply change. I still care about him deeply, and I know he does the same for me, but that old vibe is now lacking and I am afraid that we are just too different from one another. At any rate, we've been together for over three years and I think that we do owe it to ourselves to try to make each other happy again. It's been a rough year-and-a-half for us... We just have to beat the cards that we were dealt.

I think that's plenty for now, dear friend. I hope I don't forget about you for too long again.

Parenting and such

As is customary on Sundays, my Dad is grilling in his backyard. What lovely people, he and my Mom. He's grilling burgers and hot dogs for everyone, but my Mom gave him a veggie patty and he grilled it to perfection just for me.

At age twenty-eight, I find myself with a lot of friends and acquaintances who are parents now or about to become parents for the first time. Five years ago, this was not the case. As I observe the parenting skills of those friends, I sometimes compliment them for doing well. I don't compliment just anybody for just anything... Not when I have the parents that I have. So if ever I tell you that you are a good mother or father, know that I am holding you to very high standards and that such accolades from me are very rare.

You might think that I would be a good parent myself, having had the examples that I did. My parents and I are different people, though. Different mentalities, different goals, different lifestyles. While I like to think that I would be a good mother, I know I wouldn't be. It's not something that I could devote myself almost entirely to, which is what my own Mom did. It's not something that I need to do to be happy or fulfilled. It's not something that I can easily picture myself doing. It's as simple as that.

When people initially find out that I don't what children, I get the following reactions:

• I don't either! You'd have to be crazy to want kids! - This usually comes from people who also work in the veterinary/animal field. Our critters are the only children we need.
• Oh, I didn't either, but I changed my mind. You will too. - I tend to get this people who actually don't know me very well. Where do they get off making this assessment when they hardly know anything about me? They remind me of the people who also told me that I wouldn't last more than a few months as a vegetarian... I'm at five years and counting now, bitches!
• You're crazy. It's natural for women to be mothers... that's why we're here. - I am not an oven. I am not some kind of factory. I make my choices and I decide why I'm here.

Honestly, I'm used to it now. I just smile and remember that I will enjoy my life as I see fit and others can enjoy theirs as they wish to. I am happy being the awesome aunt and cousin that I am to all the little farts in my family. Those human children will do.

And my furry children are all I need to be the happiest "mommy" on the planet. Love love love!

Get sprung!

Do you remember the following:

1. How much I looked forward to everything there was to do during the fall?
2. How much I complained about winter?

Well, things are looking up now. At last! We are now less than three weeks away from Daylight Savings Time, which means the sun will now set an hour later (hooray). We are also only a month away from the first day of spring! Oh, this daisy is ready to bloom away. I have so much lined up for this spring, it reminds me of  how busy the fall season was. Read along and (if you can) join me on any of these adventures.

1. The North Texas Irish Festival on March 2nd - Dustin and I spend all day at this thing. I look forward to it every year... It has become my annual reminder that spring is on its way and I just love the people   there and how genuinely happy they are to celebrate the Irish culture.
2. Tap 'n' Run on March 9th - Because beers and running go hand and hand, right?
3. St Paddy's Day Dash Down Greenville on March 17th - Again: drinking and running. This one is even followed by a parade. Can't beat that.
4. The Big Texas Beer Fest on April 6th - Why do so many of these events involve drinking? Haha
5. The Deep Ellum Arts Festival on April 7th - I love supporting local artists and I am curious to see what other local vintage sellers have to offer.
6. The Texas Scottish Festival on May 4th - Never been to this one. As much as I love the Irish Festival, though, I am sure I will thoroughly enjoy it.
   

That's all I have for now. Festivals, 5Ks, and drinking. What more could a daisy gal ask for?

I got the funk.

It pains me to write this because I never EVER get sick, but alas, the funk has hit me and is being stubborn and won't go away.

It started last Wednesday night. I went to bed with a scratchy feeling in my throat. It took me a while to fall asleep that night and after only a few hours of sleeping, Canelo woke me up asking me to take him outside. That was a little before 5AM. I usually wake up at six. Once I had gotten up and taken him outside, though, I was never able to fall asleep again.

I went to work that morning and had very little energy, which I blamed on the lack of sleep. It was a slow day at work and management was starting to send people home. I was one of the lucky ones so I hopped on the train, made my way home, and went straight to bed. Sneezing, head hurting, body not wanting to do much of anything.

I stayed in bed all day hoping to be better by Friday morning. That didn't happen. I was sent home again. Stayed in bed Friday, stayed in bed Saturday, missed my best friend's birthday Saturday night, caught up on schoolwork yesterday, missed a gathering with friends yesterday, find myself still in bed today. Headache is gone. Energy is coming back to me. Still with the terrible runny nose. Throw a nasty, but productive cough into the mix. You know... the kind with the phlegm. Lovely, huh?

This is so annoying. It's been years since I have had what I am self-diagnosing as a cold and I just do not remember how long it usually takes for these suckers to run their course through me. I have not taken anything because most medications just alleviate the symptoms and the symptoms are really just my body's immune system trying to get rid of the funk.

All I know is that regardless of how I am feeling tomorrow, I have floor tickets to Lady Gaga and I will wait all day in the rain for a good spot among the crowd. Also, I can't afford to miss work anymore. I have school to pay for and more fun to have.

Hot, I know.

Here's hoping that all you lovelies do not catch this plague as well. Happy Monday and have a fantastic week!

Into week two

My health and wellness plan is off to a good start. I only wish that today wasn't such a rainy day so that I could go for a run. I will have to play catch up this weekend instead. I also wish that the sun wouldn't set so early so that I could run after getting home from work, but let's not get back into the whole "I Hate Winter" discussion once more.

The point is that I am eating well, exercising regularly, paying attention to my intake of nutrients (especially those lacking in a vegetarian diet), and starting the year off with much-needed energy. The one thing I have to work on is sleeping better during my work week. Oh, that's a tough one for me.

I have started the new semester this week after pondering whether or not to take a break for the first eight weeks and take once class from March to May. I decided to just stick with the program and get shit done instead. The class I am taking should be interesting. It's about health care in America...

I have other things on my plate as well, which is why I was so hesitant to register for school. I have to find the right balance in life, though, and not let school and work rule my world. Overall, I have a feeling that this will be a great year for me, as long as I take it week by week, remain focused, and remember to enjoy all that is happening to me.

More thoughts about critters

Today was a weird day at work. Although I have been through it myself, it breaks my heart to see families so distraught over the loss of a furry family member. My heart breaks for the brave little critters, but also for the people whose lives will have a terrible void that can not be filled. I still cry over the ones I have lost along the way, even though it's been years since I have had to endure such losses. I guess, being the positive thinker that I am, it is at least comforting to know that those animals were loved and that good, loving pet-owners do exist.

When I got home from work this evening, old Canelo Dog enthusiastically greeted me. He hopped about and wagged his tail. Every day I see that tail wag is a day I have a reason to smile. Smartie followed me around when I got home and started meowing for food. I found Cholula all snuggled up underneath a blanket on my bed. Miguel purred for me when I gave him a "hello" pat on the head.

That's really all I have to say. Love your critters, y'all. Spoil them and always be thankful for the moments you are lucky enough to share with them.

Critters

My girls seem both seem to enjoy playing with my hair while I sleep. And by my girls, I mean my two daughters. And by my two daughters, I mean Cholula (my ferret) and Smartie (my kitty).

Cholula likes to take my hair, "dig" into it, tangle it up into some sort of nest, and sleep in it. Of course, I feel and hear her while she does this, she does it on my pillow just by my ear, and I try my best not to move my head at all while she is sleeping there. It does not matter how uncomfortable I become because these moments are the ones that I will be sure to miss one day.

Smartie's shenanigans are much more destructive. This smooth criminal likes to bat at my loose hair with her paws, capture a few strands with her claws, and proceed to chew on those strands, sometimes to the point of chewing them off completely. There have been mornings when I wake up with a few wet strands and notice chunks of hair on my bed. Can I please blame all bad hair days on her? It's the least I should be entitled to, right? I refuse to ban her from my bedroom while I sleep. The poor sweetheart would cry all night if I did. I have tried to sleep with my hair in a braid, but I just can not do it. Ah, well.

Such are the joys of welcoming four-legged critters into your home.

I may as well mention my boys. By my boys, I mean my sons. And by my sons, I mean Canelo (my dog) and Miguel (my other kitty).

Old man Canelo Dog. He is now twelve years old and (thankfully) aging well. He is aging, nonetheless, however, and there are many signs and changes to prove it. It makes me sad to think that the best of his years have already passed and that I may only have a few years with him left. So, this kid can pretty much get away with anything at this point.

He can tear up my sheets, not because he is destructive, but because I now allow him to sleep on my bed while I am away and in an effort to make himself comfortable, he tears at my bed. He can pretty much force me to sleep in the most uncomfortable positions when he is afraid of thunder and wants to sleep on the bed with me. He can stink up my room by going weeks without a bath because he hates them and I don't want to torture him. He can jump on furniture with his muddy feet because he prefers to just lay down and relax on my comfy couch right after his long walks and I am not quick enough with the paw-wiping. He can get his fur ALL OVER everything around him (my blankets, my clothes, inside my shoes, everything). It is all okay.

My sweet boy. He has paid his dues and has been a wonderful dog throughout his years. I feel as though I am in debt to him. I can not tell you enough how much he means to me.

Then there's Miguel. Miguel is my fat and lazy cat who does nothing but sleep, eat, and take care of potty business. He is the friendliest cat, with the softest fur and loudest purr, and is the perfect cuddle pet for cold weather. Sometimes, especially when I am tired or stressed, all I want to do is sit on the couch, get lost in mindless television, and pet Miguel while he is loafing on my lap. It's perfect. I love that fat cat.

So I have begun my year absolutely in love with my critters, thankful for every day with them, and amazed by their little personalities.

Happy new year, y'all.