Masher!

Here is the story of spinner or masher-it is short. Bobbi was the closest. I was explaining to hubby that my biking partner made reference to that once I get used to my bike I will change gears more efficiently (I must not have been), and that "you use a really high gear". Hubby said well you must be a "masher". A what? He explains there are two types of riders spinners and mashers, those who spin fast and do LOTS of rotations are spinners. Then there are those who like to do less rotations but still go fast with harder pedaling.
Yep that was it, I am officially a masher.
By the way 20 miles Friday night, and a great reason to order some WARM clothes from Athleta.

Really?

Did you ever see a toddler in high chair take their cup, or bowl,or toy and drop it? Just for the fun of it? Then cry because they need someone to get it?
Did you know dogs do the same darn thing?

It is called a kong, and it is rubbery, bouncy, curvy hours of fun. Especially when one Luna May drops it (on purpose I know) on the wood floor, RIGHT next to furniture, and then it rolls under said furniture.

This game is delightful to a dog. Can't see it, can't reach, but it IS there. Scratching begins
In trying to save the wood floor one human person (you know who) comes running, gets on hands and knees, considerabley big hiney in the air and reaches, and stretches to find the lovely kong under the furniture. All the while one lovely dog watches with perky ears and waits...

To do it ALL OVER AGAIN

Our kong, is of course, a cool tie-dye aquamarine teal

masher or spinner?

Which one do you think?

litter mates

I am a believe in dogs and the "pack" mentality and how dogs apply that to their two legged family. Luna May has it figured out. The female two legged creaturs is her "person". NOT to be messed with, but yet takes care of everything. The bigger two legged boy is next and then the big two legged guy-who is a little standoffish so she messes with him just to get his attention. The small, loud, quick two legged creature (known as smal fry) is another story. This is a true equal. This is the one she runs from, nips at when playing and looks at like "Really, YOU are going to give ME a direction". But she loves him and here is how I know and I just noticed it this morning. Small Fry ALWAYS comes to the breakfast bar in each morning with his fuzzy blanket. He wears it around his shoulders and it drags across the floor. Each morning after I take Luna out she hangs out and paces waiting for the frys to wake up. I see Small Fry come out blanket in tow. All of sudden I see Luna with her blanket from her crate in tow dragging across the floor and sets it in front of the breakfast bar or sometimes tosses it around (secretly waiting for two legged child to pull and drag on it-which is forbidden-and both small fry and the dog both know it).

Yes, there is something about that pack hierarchy-they are true litter mates.

The joys of fishing

Luna became a little bored of posing for me, this was our resting time when we weren't scrounging for dead fish

The first one all by himself. We were explicitly told we were NOT leaving until he caught one all by himself

The hill that had to be climbed to get to the car. Which Luna and I did: once to get the tackle box, once to get the camera, and once to bring down the cooler.

Here is the cooler which was also a gazillion steps away, because it is way fun to carry stinky, catfish all that way!

We ventured to Pierre to fish. Just so you know we are the worst fisher people ever. So we were taking a big risk, but everyone kept telling us it is the best fishing in YEARS. So we pack the kids, gear (new gear that hubby just had to have), and one dog.

We started the trip with one carsick dog, because someone named me, forgot and fed her before we left. And thus the motions sickness pill kept getting, um not where it was supposed to be.

We arrived in Pierre ready to fish, with no beginner's luck. We watch with just a litte jealousy as some guy throws in a BARE hook and pulls out a whopper walleye on the first cast. You could tell Hubby was about throw the guy over the dam.

We get to our hotel and are sweetly asked, "Do you know about our water situation? We have none that is hot"

We stay til late in the evening with one small walleye to show for our fun. We head to a very nice Italian restuarant-yes in Pierre, to find the snot-nosed high schoolers who work there had shut the kitchen down five minutes early.

We get up very early the next day knowing our fortunes will change. Well they did, we became the best catfish fisher people in the world. Now if you are from Swamp People or watch Swamp People you know there is no shame in catfish. So I manned up and consented to let the boys (all 3 of them) start keeping them vowing "We will eat them!"

So Luna and I meandered around the area, fetched things from the car, and practiced our "drop it", "leave it" skils with the gazillion dead fish carcasses from the flood.

A good time was had by all, so much that hubby thinks we are should go again this weekend

Please, please let us be walleye fishers this time!

Just a few more...

Ephiphanies...
Blogging is a great way to avoid a hubby who is annyong you
45 surveys filled out about YOU and your ability to lead others AND completed annonymously by people you work with is both uplifting and a little sad. It is that one outlier that will be the one that sits on your mind EVERYTIME. Not all the wonderful feedback.
My shell needs to be a little thicker, but I am a good "fake it til you make it"
Pineapple Upside down cake is delightful
A small bag of doritos when you are down in the dumps is even more delightful.
The "pie" chart on Livestrong calorie counter that showed a the wedge of the days calories that amounted in 50% fat is not delightful. I think it really is an oxymoron having a PIE chart show daily calorie intake.

Ok, I am so enlightened I can hardly stand it!

Wow, more epiphanies

First, I hope I spelled that right. I get a little paranoid when my blogger/auther/grammar queen Karen reads my stuff.

We have this blogger friend named Karen who is infamous for meeting new people and LOVING people. I am not so much. So imagine my surprise (well not really, I always knew this) when Big Fry comes home and tells Luna met a new friend, Bill. Bill from down the street, he's lived there about a year. You know mom, Bill, down the street, he is nice I stop and chat while I walk Luna sometimes. It is one thing to be a 39+ woman (he he) and be social with new people, another to be 12 and talk to total strangers. So the epiphany is maybe we need to teach Stranger Danger AGAIN.

Epiphany 2-I have my own Marlboro Man, who is actually, secretly a Pioneer Woman. Hubby baked a from-scratch, in-the-skillet pineapple upside down cake. Eat your heart out Pioneer Woman.

Epiphany 3-Which was not realized BEFORE the pinapple upside down cake, otherwise I would have never have ate any. It is way easy to eat LOTS of calories in a day and not even realize it. I am not one to count calories but a good friend of mine suggested it after sharing my frustration with exercise and NO weight loss. So I found livestrong.com, which has t.he easiest calorie counter ever. Who else actually has mini reeses pbc on their calorie counter? Anyway, I just gotta say, a humbling experience. I think it will be my new addiction. The calorie count and maybe less of the mini pbc's.

Epiphany 4-Work is hard, I forgot how hard over the summer. It is like temporary amnesia that I always get. But then I remember how much I LOVE it, each year is a new challenge and fun.

Well there it is, hope you have some new light bulb moments of your own