links for 2009-04-28
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This needs its own blog.
meet peeka
This is Peeka! She’s a six (or so) year old Pekignese. And, no, she’s not winking at you. She only has one eye.
A few weeks ago, The General and I were at the St. Anthony Park Dog Park letting Kentucky and Riley chase each other around a gigantic fenced area. Kentucky was happily chasing other dogs’ tennis balls and Riley was doing what he’s best at – peeing on other dogs and sometimes their owners’ legs. The General started up a conversation with a couple and, as it turns out, they run a rescue organization in Minneapolis. We’d been mulling over the idea of fostering a dog or a cat. The General works from home and our dogs are pretty mellow when it comes to meeting new dogs. Plus, there’s just something about helping a dog out that’s had a crappy go of things that kinda makes me feel good.
We filled out the application and were approved right away. It probably helps that our dogs weren’t douches at the dog park. The rescue folks let us know they’d be dropping off our first foster dog Saturday afternoon. They told us her name, what kind of dog she was, and that her owner was surrendering her, because they couldn’t afford her anymore.
Around 12:30pm, the rescue people got here. Matt, one of the founders of the rescue organization, was carrying Peeka, but what I saw when looking out our bedroom window was a guy carrying a small bear. And as I got closer, I realized it was a small one-eyed bear. Named Peeka. Short for Peeka-boo.
There’s a lot going on with Peeka that needs to be taken care of before she finds her forever home. She weighs 19.6 pounds (according to the Wii Fit) and she’s supposed to be around 14. There’s a bump the size of a golf ball on her stomach that looks like it’s already been looked into, since we can see a needle mark going into it. Her mouth smells like horse poop and moldy chicken. The poor dog’s teeth are pointing in every direction and she can’t even keep her tongue in her mouth most of the time. When we take her outside, she pees about every 5 minutes the entire time she’s out there. The socket of her missing eye still moves around like she’s trying to open in it and like maybe there’s still an eyeball shoved in there somewhere. And, finally, her butt bothers her so bad that we’ve caught her on multiple occasions scooting herself across our bedroom floor by the butt. She has a vet appointment on Thursday, so keep your fingers crossed that it’s all things they can take care of. I’d hate for something like that to prevent her from having an awesome home from here on out.
The story we heard on why she was placed in rescue goes like this… She was a puppy mill dog, which is where it’s believed that she lost her right eye. She was rescued and placed with a family. Peeka’s family had two other dogs and a couple of cats. Recently, one of the dogs died from cancer. Then, Peeka’s family called the rescue organization and said they couldn’t afford to keep her anymore. Kind of suspicious. But whatever.
She’s a really sweet dog. I’m having a hard time getting used to the fact that it takes her three times as long to get from one end of the house to the other. She has to be carried up our stairs, because they’re either too steep or she’s too fat – I haven’t decided yet.
But, if you’re looking for a dog, how can you say no to this face:
a large and awesome update
Me: I’m awesome. My work is awesome (I’m still not sure how I landed the perfect role for me) and this coming week will mark 1 year being there for me. I’m seeing a therapist weekly and my desire to smash my face against restaurant windows while happy hour patrons are happily munching away on overpriced mini tacos has completely diminished. Almost. I’ve still only lost 7 pounds, thanks to the Wii Fit and 2.5 weeks of no caffeine.
The General: Our entire apartment (duplex, whatever) is completely clean now, thanks to some ridiculous power cleaning by that one. And it’s going on two months of no smoking, which is incredibly awesome. We just celebrated 11 months of being together. (How crazy is that?)
The Boy: We do Wii Fit every day that he’s here. And he’s turning out to not only be a pretty fantastic kid to have around, but we’re just developing this bond that I can’t even describe. I’m not his parent, because he already has two awesome ones. I’m just his Wendy and he’s just my Cracken.
Riley: We’re going on three whole months where there hasn’t been a single health issue! He loves the dog park by our house and actually runs there instead of wandering around aimlessly like at previous dog parks we’d taken him. Riley’s been on a boner-fever-run lately and red rockets mainly make me want to puke.
Kentucky: He’s over his ridiculous leash aggression. Kentucky’s the most love-seeking dog I’ve ever met. I cracked him in the head with the Wii remote the other day and he just stood there wagging his tail, when he probably should have been completely concussed. I really want to teach him how to chase and catch the frisbee.
Our Fish: We bought 8 guppies and a Plecostomus about a month ago. Now we have 18 guppies, a Plecostomus, and part of a guppy carcas floating around in the tank. Those crazy fucking things ate Angelina Jolie. (I named the female ones and Angelina was pregnant at the time!) Our only two females left, Octo-Mom and Michelle Duggar, have to fight off the dude fish like they’re at a frat party. It’s disturbing.
And then there’s Peeka. More about Peeka tomorrow, but at least I’ll give you an introduction:
links for 2009-04-25
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Jenni share stuff from here all the time and I just finally had to subscribe to it myself. I love Minneapolis a lot.
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MacKenzie Brown becomes the first female in Bayonne Little League history to throw a perfect game. I love her!!
links for 2009-04-22
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The Boy's birthday is coming up, and he does have a nifty laptop… just sayin'.
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I'm reading this for work. I swear.
links for 2009-04-21
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This kids are hardcore and I love them.
and now the frustration starts
So, we’ve had the Wii Fit for a few weeks and, with the exception of two nights, I’ve done at least 30 minutes of combined yoga, strength training, aerobics, and/or balancing exercises. I sweat, I feel it the next day, and I feel that awesome post-workout feeling when I really push myself. That’s great. I dropped 8 pounds as soon as I started all this and now I’m at a standstill. And, holy balls, is it frustrating.
I haven’t had caffeine in over a week. When I want something that’s not water, I’ve usually had 20 ounces of pop (typically Squirt, but sometimes whatever orange drink I can find that doesn’t have caffeine) that I drink in two different sittings, because that’s really all I want. And I’m slowly getting into the habit of loving Vitamin Water a lot… so, don’t tell me that stuff’s horrible for me, or I’ll possibly cry. I’m extremely proud of myself about this pop thing, because I do love caffeine so.
Today, we went to the grocery store and got enough food to eat dinner at home every night this week (for the love of God, nobody test me on this!) and enough to have lunch at work every day (I’m keeping my debit card at home, because it’s too easy to walk to 1 of 2404 restaurants in a 1 mile radius). I’m hoping this is gonna get me back going in the right direction.
I just ran four blocks to retrieve two idiotic dogs and then had to drag 150 pounds worth of pissed-off pooch four more blocks to our house. I’m not speaking to them now, which is more torture than one might think. One thing Wii Fit doesn’t do? Prepare fatties to wind sprint that far.
I’m so open to tips, though. Next weekend, I think I’m going to pick up a pedometer. The General has one, and we cranked out 10,000 steps yesterday. I think I’d like keeping track of something like that!
links for 2009-04-19
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I think I want to give this a try! And if I take an extra step and pack my own lunch to work, it should be relatively easy.
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At work, we do a lot of emailing to clients… I'm sending this bad boy around on Monday for everyone to read.
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Vodka Red Bulls and Jello Shot Salad are still my favorite ways, but these are good, too.
links for 2009-04-16
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This has been one of the most interesting things I've read in quite a while.
links for 2009-04-15
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Really?
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