A Clean Dog is a Happy DogOr the owner of clean dog is a happy owner.There is a cute and *clean* dog lying on his bed behind my chair. I had him groomed yesterday and he looks beautitul. He also smells better. He's never been much of a smelly dog, but I guess this time I let him go a little too long "between cleanings" and he started to get a bit ripe. While he was at the groomer's, I washed the cover on his new bed to nip any smelliness in the bud (is that a mixed metaphor?). I also ended up throwing out the orthopedic bed in his crate because I found that it wasn't just the cover that smelled, but the whole bed.I need to keep up and not let him go too long again. The thing is, the groomer is very busy and Blue is a very furry dog whose coat requires time to work on. So when I call, it's often two weeks before I can get an appointment, because other very furry dogs have already been scheduled, and that means living with a smelly dog for two weeks. So for next time, I've planned ahead. I put a note in our WebCalendar to call the groomer two weeks before Blue will be due for a spring cleaning. Literally, spring cleaning, since I like to have him done every 3 months, the next appointment should be in May.Unlike Blue, I always enjoy going to the groomer because the people are so nice and I enjoy seeing the other dogs there. Yesterday, there was a Border Collie and a Pug and there was one of the groomer's dogs, a Pomeranian and another groomer's dog, a Shih Tzu. There was also a cat. As you might imagine, the cat was extremely unhappy to be there. When I arrived to pick up Blue, two of the groomers were working on the cat. There used to be only those two people, but there is now a third groomer, who saw me out, and she seemed quite enamoured with Blue saying how cute he is and how well he behaved. I said he was different at home. When a stranger is in our house, you have to watch him because he might take his or her ankle in his mouth. For some reason, he never does this with my mom or sister though. It's as if he immediately accepted them as part of the pack even though they don't visit here very often. Maybe it's because my mom and my sister and I have similar genetic make-ups, and since Blue likes me, and they seem similar, he's decided they're all right too.********************My arms are finally more mobile. There's still pain when I straighten my right arm, but today is the first day since my new strength program that I can fully straighten it. I did my new program for the first time on Monday so I was due for my second weights workout of the week on Thursday. I was still in a lot of pain then, and I had some training for the new job and then the ill-fated meeting with the branch manager, and by then it was 3 PM, and I still hadn't gone to the gym. As you know, I was pretty unhappy after the meeting, but instead of shutting down, I thought, "F*** it, I need to go to the gym." So I did.I talked to the trainer, and we decided I should still do all the exercises, just with lower weights. So in exercises when I had previously used 7, 8 or 10 pound dumbbells, I used 3 and 5 pound ones instead. I also managed to due my push-ups, but I didn't straighten my arms all the way when I came up. I probably said before here that my goal is to do a real, full push-up, and at this point I can't even do full "girlie" push-ups, but I am progressing. The trainer is now having me do girlie push-ups on the floor starting from a lying down position. So I start them fully pushing up, but I don't lower myself all the way down in between them. I know to some of you super fit types, this may not sound like much, but I tell you, I have really make some progress here. And I'm proud of myself for this.********************In other good news, I had a good conversation with my mother. She called me at work on Thursday, after my meeting with the manager and before my work-out, and I kind of felt like crying. I didn't though; I dealt with my stuff. As you know, I was really upset with my mom's reaction to me last week, for a habit she has of trying to deny or ignore any feelings I express if they're negative. So after we had chatted a bit, I said, "Mom I don't want to make you feel bad, but it bothers me when you try to deny my feelings. If I feel depressed or unenthusiastic about my job, I can handle it. You don't have to fix it, and I'd rather just feel bad than pretend I don't feel bad." God, that sounds like something from an after-school special or a self help book, but I felt so relieved after saying it. And she totally seemed to get it and, she was all right with it. Really, it was like, now that I've said what I need to say and she accepted it, I can go back to having a good relationship with my mom. ********************Watching: Curb Your Enthusiasm, Season Five. More awkward and offensive interactions with one of the most unlikable people to ever star in a show. It's just plain funny though. The Susie Green character is still my favorite. Larry: You call Jeff a fat f***. Susie: That's because he is a fat f*** !Labels: Blue, family, fitness posted by Miss Rachel 2/10/2007 08:33:00 AM . . .
Labels: Blue, family, fitness
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