Evening Stroll

I went out for a walk after work today.  It was gorgeous out.  The lighting was great, the park wasn't busy and Coulee agreed to attempt silhouette photos for me.

Healthy Lifestyle Rewards

Making the right choice just because you should, doesn't make it easy.  These past few years I've had a horribly unhealthy lifestyle. I never exercise (even the dog walks can't be considered exercise, I go way too slow!), I eat easy to make meals (frozen pizza anyone?) and as you know if you have read the blog before, I've been drinking a lot of caffeine.  The only thing I do right is sleep a lot.  LOL.

I was supposed to go cold turkey on the caffeine a week and a half ago but that didn't quite work.  I went 2 days without and then buckled under the grumpiness pressure and went out and got a "short" chai.  So I'm allowing myself 2 weeks on the shorts before stopping.  They are ridiculously small, and ridiculously expensive, but they have been worth it.  Just another few days to go!  I'm typing this as 6 a.m. and don't have massive cravings so that has to be a good sign.

I've also decided to bike to work when I can.  So far there has only been two days where there was no snow and the winds were less than 60 km/hr but I've biked for both of them.  It is a 14.5 km round trip with a giant hill in both directions (stupid river valley!).  Yesterday coming home was so hard against the wind. When I didn't need to brake going down the hill because the wind was slowing me down so much I knew the uphill portion would be a beast.  And it was.  But I made it.

While plans are nice to have, sticking to them is my downfall.  So this year I have added some incentive.  I figure because I'm saving money not drinking Starbucks, every day I go without, I'm going to set $5 aside towards a fun purchase.   And every day I ride my bike to and from work I also save money, so I'm going to set aside another $5.

As of today, I'm only at $20 but as soon as the weather improves I'm hoping my piggy bank will start growing faster.

Now I just need to figure out what to spend my money on.  Maybe an iPad 2!

Busy Weekend

I had a busy weekend.  On Saturday Jo, Amanda and I went up to the Pet Expo in Calgary.  It was fun to hang out, shop and see lots of different dogs and people. I bought a few things, but nothing too exciting.

The green thing on Lacey's collar is on of the things I bought - it is to hold tags so you can transfer them to collar to collar. I added it to her collar, but haven't added the tag yet!  LOL

Sunday I went to a Photography Club field trip.  We were photographing people inside. I was pretty excited to go as I was curious to see how to "manage" a model.  I learned a lot.  But most of all, I learned that it was NOT my cup of tea.  At all.  All the fussing to get the model to stand properly, to get the lights in the right spot, to get the lights to the right strength, etc. etc.  It was too... slow?  finicky? staged? I'm not sure.  It just wasn't me and I don't think it ever will be.  There is a lot of knowledge and skill that goes into getting beautiful portrait pictures and it is a learning curve I have no urge to tackle. I'm glad I figured that out.

So instead, I headed off to the dog park to meet Marlin. It was so much more relaxing.  And then I came home and re-evaluated what I wanted to do with my photography.

Last fall I had kind of decided I didn't want to photograph many more dog sport events.  They are a whole lot of fun, but they aren't profitable - at all.  Apparently I've forgotten how much work (and how little money I make) as I've decided I want to do them again.  The days shooting are always fun, the dogs are amazing to watch and now that we have a trailer, my expenses will be less if I need to travel.  So I'm going to give it one last kick at the can this summer and see how it goes. In just one night I managed to line up a Lure Coursing event and an Agility event!  I'm already looking forward to them.

With a little luck, things will start to fall in place.  Just like Lacey always does.

In Her Rightful Place

I am not a "pack leader" kind of girl.  I don't expect the girls to walk behind me.  I don't expect them to go through doors after I do.  They always eat meals before me. Etc. Etc.

So it always makes me laugh when Lacey tucks in behind me at the dog park. We jokingly say that she is in her "rightful place".

Often I'll stop to check on what she and Coulee are doing, feel a little panicked when suddenly I can't see Lacey, only to discover her right behind me.

She doesn't stay there the whole walk but she is definitely there often on the way back when she has had a good run, a good sniff and a good roll in all the stinky stuff.

I've been trying forever to get a picture of this, but when she does it to Marlin, if I try and get in behind or beside them, she comes to see what is happening.  So the other day I finally had the idea to photograph her from the front while still walking.  It was a little awkward, but I finally have a picture of something that is oh so Lacey.

1.5 years later

I took this picture of Coulee in Oct 2009...

And this one just the other day...

I don't think she looks like the same dog!  Maybe it is just her wild ear hair. LOL

Nose Kisses

One of my favourite things Lacey does...

Tooth Fairy

Coulee was pretty upset that we lost her tooth when it broke.

She's hoping when we get the rest of it pulled at the vet tomorrow, the tooth fairy will bring her goodies when she leaves it under her pillow.  Keep your paws crossed!