Tales of the Goat Dog and 5 other things

Happy Friday, Homies!

I hope you all had a wonderful week.  It was tough to settle back in after 5 days of family time (despite a sad reason) and the Florida sunshine. I'm a sucker for green grass (or, make that grass), the potential for tan lines in February, and quality time with the people that know me better than anyone. 

Awaiting for me when I returned was this:

Yep, Darcy the goat dog officially moved into my spot on the bed, and Mike further solidified himself as #1 human in my absence.  I'm hoping to reclaim my spot and gain some points in the human ranking when Mike travels for a week in April. Sigh. The plus: this 40lb dog compacts herself into a steering wheel sized pretzel for sleepy time, so she doesn't take up the whole side. Just the top near my pillow and my boyfriend. :)

Her goat like tendancies have been dormant the last week+ as we've been more careful with leaving our things around.  Although, we've now come to realize that this leggy little sweetheart has a mean streak for squeeky toys and will stop at nothing to tear their squeakers, heart, stuffing, and anything else attached completely apart in one sitting.  I'm talking less than 10 minutes to terminal destruction, people. I'll provide photo, or perhaps video, evidence when she gets her next softsided victim. 

On to the Other Things...

I've contemplated 5 things over the past few days that seem to play on repeat in my mind.  I figured I'd share them with you too, so maybe they can become 'our' ponderances. 

1)  I HEART spinning.  Don't get me wrong... I'm CrossFit all the way, and that's my #1 fitness passion, but as a non-runner, I must admit, spinning is amazing.  I didnt' believe the folks who've tried to convince me in the past.  I'm thankful for taking up a friend's invitation to check it out back in November and I haven't looked back.  I think it's proof that you can have great cardio without having to feel guilty about hating running. Take that, runners!  And, to prove my love, I recently purchased spin shoes. Yep. I'm IN!

2)  I have such a cool kid sister.  Given the 1,300+ miles between us, I'm not a part of the day-to-day, but that doesn't mean I'm not blown away by her cool, talented, him almost-13-year-old-self!  Here she is at swim practice last week while I was home. 

She swims for my old swim team, with one small exception... she's incredible and so gets the benefit of being coached by Randy Reese!!!  If you're asking yourself who the heck he is, shame on you, and read more here.  This little lady is on her way to big things, and that makes a big sister so happy!

3)  I've come to realize that I'm slightly obsessed with NPR, but in the best way possible.  I'm enthralled and totally tuned in when I'm listening.  I listen in the car before work, immediately tune in at my desk online, and then my whole car ride home.  Occasionally, I will silence a phone call so that I can continue to listen to the rest of a story.  It's my barometer for news stories... not as roses and sunshine as NBC, but not as hellfire and brimstone as FOX.  NPR, I heart you!

4) I have a tendancy to rationalize stopping at 2 or more stores to complete a shopping list- whether it be groceries or household items- I simply can not do a one-stop-shop.  I find that I prefer certain Trader Joe's items, Target items, and Stop-and-Shop items.  Although all three stores carry everything I need (almost), I have a preference and find that I will completely convince myself that it's better to get certain things from all three than all from one.  Now, from this perch at my desk, I can see that this is crazy thinking, but once my wheels are set in motion and I'm ready to check the list off, I know in my mind that I will not be satisfied unless I can get those specific items from each store.  Some of it is quality driven, and some cost driven.  I guess I'm crazy.

5)  Pinterest- I don't know its real purpose, and I think I might have accidently harrassed all of my FB friends by inadvertantly sending a 'follow me' message (is that what happens?!), but I love that site.  For me, it's like makebelieve and dress up for adults.  I just click away on the things I like with wreckless abandon.  Likely, I will never make the recipes, I will never buy the clothes, I will fail at the hair and make-up attempts, I will never actually DIY anything, but I have SO MUCH FUN pretending like I will.

And, that is all.  Have a wonderful weekend.

-whitney