Category: Life

The lake is a great place for a city dog to visit.  But, it’s not home.  That became painfully clear to Gracie at bedtime last night.  The neighbor’s fireworks didn’t help.  She paced and she “sang”.  Hanna assumed her spot on the corner of the bed and about midnight I actually reached down to make sure she was breathing because she seemed unaffected by Gracie’s distress.  While I would have let that dog sleep under the covers with her head on my pillow if that would have made her happy, tonight we’ll make a kennel available, since that’s what she’s used to.  I’ll get over it.  WOW!  “YellowPants” is featured on the Courage Center’s website as an “extremely generous philanthropist”. 

I forgot to wear my Gruve today!  Am I going to regret using UStreamTV with my Verizon MiFi?  Gracie joined our household this evening!  I’m not sure who is more confused, Gracie or Hanna.  If Hanna happens to get Gracie cornered, there’s a bit of half hearted snarling.  Gracie has taken a liking to a bunch of dried sweet potatoes on a rope that she found in Hanna’s toy box.  We’ve been taking Gracie out on a leash, walking the perimeter of the yard.  So far, so good.  Both dogs are obviously stressed – there’s much pacing and panting.  As much as it’s a hassle keeping Gracie on a leash until we can trust her on the Invisible Fence, I think that confinement will foster the bonding process. 

My refrigerator is fixed and just about as clean as it was the day I got it.  The big job of reassembling the interior remains.  I’m waiting on an Invisible Fence Technician.  I’ve cleared my home office desktop so I can actually work from home again. 

Nobody showed up to camp that we didn’t know.  Bill & Betty joined us for dinner and spent the evening.  Andy & Soren camped out with us.

Avery is out of town today, so I’ve taken the opportunity to catch up on a whole lot of errands I’ve been putting off.  I dropped a bike off, my furs are in for storage/repair, my car tires have been checked, the parts are ordered for my car, I’ve picked up chocolate chip bagels and when the timer rings I’ll head to Uptown to pick up a bike.  Last night I set my yard as a Geocaching.com Event Cache, I sure hope it gets approved today.  I really should have done that earlier this week.  There’s something I’m not talking about.  So, in a few days, when you’re surprised, don’t be.  The Rans F5 Pro to Wayzata:  68 minutes, 12.92 miles, 11.3 mph, HR=120.  There’s a bit of a learning curve with this bike.  Some seat adjustments were made when we got home that I’m sure are going to make the next ride even better!  I do have a gear shaped bruise and some bloody spots on my left leg, so I can’t say the first ride was without minor incident.  In case you’re wondering, this isn’t it. 

All I have to do is get my exercise clothes on and Hanna will be absolutely obnoxious in her whining/nagging until we are out the door and on the trail.  That’s part of what she does to earn her keep.  LuceLine East Out&Back:  97 minutes, 5.23 miles, 18:34/3.2, HR=123.The deer are eating the leaves off Avery’s sunflower!

I wonder why it often takes two tries to open this word document that is my Journal.  For some reason, I started reading my journal from 2006.  That’s a time suck if ever there was one!  I make cryptic reference to things I wanted to remember without making public.  Seemed like a good idea at the time, but at this point I’m clueless.  I’ve solved that problem since by just not publishing my Journal entries in their entirety. 

LuceLine West Out&Back:  79 minutes, 4.68 miles, 17:30/3.5, HR=150.  I decided today was the day to get back to interval training.  I’ve made a few failed attempts at picking it up at week three, so decided to go back to the beginning.  The temperature is 93 and feels like 95, according to weather.com.  What was I thinking?  My heart rate was higher than normal, but I was handling it just fine.  About mile three Hanna started to make a weird snorting sound whenever we picked up the pace, so we gave it up and walked the rest. 

Hanna had a wood tick.  “Tails by the Lake” Wayzata’s day for dogs.  Hanna got a bath and I finally got to meet Amelia!  Cemetery Mass.  We enjoyed (too many) Margaritas and live music on my dock.

9:30 and Eden Prairie Appliance’s service technician has been and gone.  There’s a leak, just like Steve suspected.  It’s a slow leak, so he refilled it with whatever and has ordered parts for a permanent(?) fix.  Gale Woods Farm:  67 minutes, 3.46 miles, 19:34/3.1, HR=109.  I got the first two of eight chickens in my chicken share.