Garden

Today I started getting things ready for my garden. I actually bought the garden frame (4 ft by 6 ft) that we will put in the back yard and I planted some of my seeds in starter pots. I planted Roma tomatoes, snow peas, hot peppers, green beans, and an assortment of herbs. I would still like to do some bell peppers, but didn't have more pots or any seeds for those. I enjoyed being out there and putting everything together. Nash was my little helper unfortunately, his idea of helping meant running off with my seed packets.

Back to Work

Today I go back to work. I have been home sick for a couple of days, and today I need to go back. I am not completely well, but I am feeling somewhat better. Unfortunately, I think I am losing my voice now. Hubby seems thrilled at the possibility, but I am not.

Olympics

We have been watching the Olympics off and on this year, but I haven't been as glued to them as much as we have in the past. The one event that we watched the most was speed skating. I am really impressed with J.R. Celski and how he came back from such a horrible injury; however, I didn't think he should have been disqualified in his last race.

What have you been watching most on the Olympics?

Vibram FiveFingers Footwear

I have been hearing and reading that walking barefoot is a persons most natural walking posture and is therefore not as harsh on your body (knees and back specifically). There is a company out there that makes shoes that replicate the feeling of walking barefoot; they are called Vibram FiveFingers Footwear. Having knees that ache all the time and my back that gets spasms really easy, I thought I would give them a try. It said on line that a few stores in Austin carried them, so I went looking for a pair. They are apparently very popular even though they are somewhat expensive (starting at $75). No stores in Austin had any in stock in my size and had no idea when they would be getting more. In fact, they had very little inventory of these shoes and are having a hard time getting and keeping them since they are so popular. I could order them online, but if I have the sizing wrong then I have the problem of returning and guessing at the size again. I would prefer to try them on in a store so I am sure to get the right size.

Since that was a bust, at least for now, I decided to do my own experiment to see if walking barefoot really would make a difference. Every day for 2 weeks as soon as I got home I took off my shoes and walked barefoot. I used a pair of socks, but no shoes of any kind including house shoes. I was somewhat skeptical, thinking that I would not be able to tell a difference, but I could definitely tell a difference. At work I wear shoes, if course, and by the end of the work day my knees and back are really bothering me. Within a couple of hours of being at home and walking without shoes, I can feel the pain begin to ease. Taking in to consideration that the pain could also be from the stress of work, I tried this on the weekends as well. We typically go out running errands on Saturday's which usually takes around 3-5 hours. By the time we come home, my back and knees are really hurting. After walking around barefoot for a couple of hours, the pain begins to ease.

Having completed my own very informal and unscientific experiment, I am convinced that walking barefoot is not as harsh on your knees and back. Now I just need to find a pair of size 39 women's "sprint" shoe and I am set.

Dryer Buzzer

Buzzers and door bells drive Riley crazy. When she hears one, even if on TV, she starts barking and it takes forever to get her to calm down. It is so bad that our friends know to knock on the door and not use the door bell and I have turned the buzzer on the dryer off. We have tried various training techniques with her and it only works while you are doing the training. Today, I decided to turn the buzzer back on to the dryer. Because the buzzer doesn't go off on the dryer, I get sidetracked and forget that I have stuff in there to be folded. The first load is drying now, so I hope she doesn't go nuts when the timer goes off.

Happy Valentine's Day

I hope everyone is having the kind of Valentine's Day they wanted. I am having a really good day. I got to sleep until 7:30 which normally doesn't happen. I got up to let the dogs out to potty and then went back to bed until 10. We watched a movie, The Couples Retreat, while we ate breakfast and then we did some yard work since the weather was so beautiful. Now, I plan to just relax for the rest of the day.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Dogtown

Last night we watched a show called Dogtown. Sometimes this show gets sad because of the way some of the animals are treated before they are rescued by Dogtown, but last nights show made me really angry. This episode was about several of the dogs that were rescued from Michael Vick's home after the dog fighting ring was discovered. These were some of the dogs that had more extensive behavior problems. One dog, Cherry, was so shy and timid that he constantly walked in a crouched position. They believed he may have been used as a bait dog for the other dogs to "practice" on. But the one that really got to me was a female named Georgia. She seemed to have a really good demeanor around people, but was dog and food aggressive. They noticed that all of her teeth were missing and they believed they had broken off during fights. When they took x-rays of her mouth, they realized that they had not been broken off, but had actually been professionally removed. The work was so clean, they believe that the teeth could only have been removed by vet. Apparently this is done in some of the "champion" females so they can force breed them and the removal of the teeth prevents them from hurting the male dogs. I was so infuriated by this. How can someone do this to a dog - or any animal? Especially a vet! After being taken out of that environment, she was happy, loved snuggling with stuffed animals, and just wanted someone to show her affection. I don't believe there is any punishment severe enough for people who participate in dog fighting.