Sometimes, You Just Laugh

In trying to forget about work woes and whatever is going to happen (it's out of my control), I'm taking it one day at a time and just doing things for me, mostly little things, but things!

After dinner this evening, it's time for our walk. 
I put Sadie on the leash and we start out. 

At the end of the driveway, she stops, refusing to move. 
So I stop, trying to wait her out. (she can be a stubborn little cuss!)

Sometimes this is a little game we play.
And other times, she does it because she has her own direction in mind.

But not today.
She refuses to take a step in any direction.
So I wait some more. 
Inspiration hits!

"Sadie ... let's go get the stroller!"

Sadie dashes back up the driveway to the front door.
We walk in and I grab the stroller, pushing it to the front door.
No sooner do I get it parked and set the brake
and Sadie is climbing right into it!

Which now means I'm committed to a longer walk!
So off we go, the sun has already set
Our twilight is a very short window, less than 20 minutes.
And then it's dark.
But we don't stop until I've reached at least 2500 steps!

Sometimes, you just gotta laugh!
What a crazy dog!

Irritated - and then some!

Here I sit, irritated and agitated.  When I get this way, I like to turn my energy toward cleaning, or a project.  This month's project:  painting my bedroom.  I'm taking it from a two tone lavender to a single tone grey called "Silvery Moonlight".   And of course, there are so many 'things' in my bedroom, for every corner I want to paint out and prep for rolling, I have to move or put away (or better yet, TOSS OUT!) all the stuff, then prep the corner, and put things (ie furniture) back in position so that I can function through the work week with minimal effort.

I woke up and headed for work this morning, going in on my day off so that I can get things arranged and out of the way onto pallets.  We needed the room because this is the big weekend for layaway pickups.  But work being work, the minute they see me, it seems like every manager needed me to do a project for them.  Um.  No.  I am here on my day off.  No projects.  But they insisted.   And I tried, but the largest project they wanted done, cannot BE done until Monday.  So I stuck a note on it, and slipped out the door.

I was planning on doing shopping, but nope, not in my own store.  I was too irritated and agitated to make logical choices.  So off I went, heading toward home.  And the traffic!  It's the holidays, and yes, our snowbirds are here.  Most of them are driving slower, trying to find their way toward the next stop - and me, all I want is my normal 'commute traffic' on the way home -- people who drive the same road at the same time, know their way, and some even know how to time lights.
Nope.  Not.  Today.    UGH

Then, Sadie.  What can I say.  I'm tired, I'm irritated, and I can't get her to settle.  All I want to do is work on my paint project.  Find her a bone.  Play fetch.  Sit outside in the sun.  Nothing lasted more than 10 minutes before she would be underfoot or in my face, wanting ... I'm not sure what she wanted all day long.    

Until 5:30pm. *evil laugh*   I was fed up with her by then, and snapped her leash on her -- time for a freakin' walk.  And not just one of those leisurely "sniff and stroll" types.  We marched on and on -- according to my phone for 21 minutes at 3.4 mph.     20 minutes later, and she's laying here, still panting.  lol  

Yep. I'm a mean doggie mom!!

Holidays, Wanderlust, and Sadie

Here we are, in the full swing of Holiday prep .... well, ok, maybe not all of you.  But anyone who's worked retail knows that there's a lot of prep that goes into making a successful sale during the Brown Thursday / Black Friday events!   Truckload after truckload of product rolls into the store and it all needs to be sorted, priced and prepped to be ready to pull to the floor in time for the sale.  There's a lot of planning and execution going on - at the same time, trying to run a busy business with the day to day stuff as well.   Which in most cases means OverTime!  I rarely complain about any overtime that comes my way -- although I've been known to turn it down if they ask me to do something that I'm not thrilled with doing (culling produce comes to mind!)

But what also happens during this time of year is stress levels begin to climb.  And we all feel it.  I usually can get through the day without feeling the effects -- until I climb into a warm car and let my body relax a bit.  That's when I know that I've been holding in the stress all day.  By the time I get home, I feel worn to a frazzle.  It's about all I can do to toss a meal together and eat in front of the TV with my feet up.  This is the time of year when I think about a good friend who used to eat soup straight from the can with a plastic spoon.  (You know who you are!!)   Definitely no clean up!  And it's ready when you're ready.  I can totally see the benefit of that!  Since we've been in the warm temps up until today, it was easy to suffice with tossing some ham or turkey on a whole wheat roll and call that a meal.

Sadie doesn't let me drudge around too much, however.  She's constantly nagging me from the time I get home until sunset -- that's when we take our evening walk.  I've been forcing her to go just a little bit further than we've been doing because we both need it.  And it helps our sleep patterns as well.

Last weekend, I got an idea in my head and so Brian and I hopped in the car - with Sadie - and drove to Calif to see my mom.  I was there in October, but Brian hasn't seen her in quite a while.  Last time he was "home" was for Dad's funeral, so he was feeling the need to go.  With him along, there's no one to watch Sadie, so we opted to drive.  A missed exit on the freeway and we ended up 30 minutes out of our way -- but that's ok, I love to drive.  We got to see places we hadn't seen before.  And it created ----- no, it sort of jump started my wanderlust again.  I miss doing little road trips and checking out new places!

This weekend will be the only weekend in a long while that I'll have two days off together, what with the holidays and all, so I am hoping to make the best of it.  I'm going to clean/organize things so that there's very little for me to do after work, other than eat, and walk.  It's my goal for the next 6 weeks to reach a new level in steps counted on my Fitbit - 80k each week is the goal.  So far this week I'm at 77,372.   I can do those 3K steps in my sleep!  (Well, sort of. haha)

Walking

Sadie is my pug and constant companion .... sometimes TOO constant for my tastes!  But I love her just the same.  She's my walking pal.  Even when I don't feel like walking, she insists that we go.  We walk each morning around the block (1/2 mile) before I leave for work.  When I get home, it's "the long walk" - usually takes about 45 minutes, mostly because she tends to meander.  It's about a mile, which I could walk in under 20 minutes by myself!

Sadie is a social dog, most pugs are.  When we walk during busy afternoons at the park, it takes a long time - she likes to stop and greet every person, every dog, and is very patient with the kids who want to pet her as well.

Today's walk took us an hour, but it's good for her, and good for me as well.  I love watching people, and there are always plenty of those at Riparian Preserve in Gilbert.

It's a great place to walk, lots of different things to see!

We saw many hummingbirds, like this one; perhaps some of them are migrating back to their own locales.

Curious Sadie

Pugs are a curious dog, and Sadie has an abundance of that quality.  There's nothing she doesn't want to sniff out and investigate when we go walking.  But sometimes that leads to trouble.....

This morning, early, we headed out to the local Riparian Preserve. Lots of ponds, ducks, birds of all kinds, etc.  Sadie loves to walk over there, we even have a routine of stopping at certain benches so she can catch her breath and sit with Mom for a bit.  (lol yeah, she's a pug alright!)

With the sun high in the sky near the end of our circle through the park, I stopped to peer between a couple of trees, into the sun, over the water, to see if any interesting birds were stopped.  We are a migration point for summer/winter bird stops.  I couldn't see anything, but I heard a "splop" sound.  As usual, I tugged on the leash, thinking Sadie was getting into something.  Her collar had slipped over her head and snapped back at me, leaving Sadie hanging on a ledge of dirt for dear life!  She had a look on her face that said "HEY MOM! Moooooommmmm help ME!"

As much as I wanted to, I didn't grab a photo - my pug can't swim!  I set my camera down, kneeled in the mud and grabbed her by the scruff, dragging her out of the chilly water.  Of course, she stinks to high heaven, and started shivering .... time to head home for a warm bath!

After her bath, and a chewie, we laid out in the backyard sun for an hour, getting her warm and dry; she's now snoozing at my feet.  *smh*  Pugs!  Gotta love 'em :)

Owned by Pug

Dogs can be such a PITA (pain in the a$$!) some days.
Mine especially, it seems.
Or maybe its just the breed.
She thinks she owns me!

I came home from work with such high hopes of getting things accomplished.  I wanted to sit in the sun and read a book, enjoy the warmth, maybe grab a few rays on my winter-white skin.  Yeah.  That lasted about 15 minutes and she was whimpering to go inside.  Tried to sit down and watch some tv, thinking she would settle and I could have a few moments of peace.  Ha!  So got up and started doing the vacuuming -- at least that was an accomplishment!  Nothing I seemed to do resonated with her to settle in, settle down.

Mostly because she thinks she's human, and should do whatever *I* am doing!  lol

Sitting down to get something accomplished on the computer lasts about 15 minutes, and then yup, time's up .... "come do something with me, Ma!"  

-smh-

Only three things left on my "to do" plan for today:
Change the sheets on the bed,
make a blog post, and
have my shower before settling in with my book.

It may, or may not, happen.
Either way, I have to be satisfied that I tried --
That's the way you have to roll, when a pug owns you!

Stressful Sadie

They say pets are good for old(er) people, as they help reduce stress.
I beg to differ!

My Sadie.... can be very stressing!  She's always wanting something, always wishing to be right up in my face so that its next to impossible to get something done. The only time she is in "stand by mode" when I am home is when I'm up and doing some kind of chore:  making the bed, running to the laundry, sweeping, cooking .... you get the idea.  But the minute I sit down, it's whine and bark and beg for attention.  and UGH!  It's been one of those evenings.  Yes, I've tried different things, different patterns.  Take her for a walk right when I get home.  Spend time with her, then take her for a walk after dinner, or right before bed.   No matter which way I choose, it never leaves me enough time to do the things I need to do for me.  Call me crazy, but now I take my bottle of lotion into the shower with me, my towel hanging where I can reach it, then dry off and apply lotion just so I have a little bit of time alone!

I always thought with the pugs that by the time they turn three, some of this "puppy behaviour" mellows out.  Well, not so far.  I know pugs are needy, and I am ok with it being that way to a degree.  But *sigh* ... some days.....

Yes, I stopped at the gym.  No, I haven't lost any pounds, but I'm ok with that, I can feel my muscles being tightened up, they're a bit sore, especially around 2am.  I wake up and try to stretch them out without getting out of bed... hahaha  that's quite a sight I'm sure, if the lights were on.   *grin*  I switched up my routine today, jumping on the elliptical for my first mile, doing my weight training, then jumping on for the second mile.  I found that I could do my first mile faster -- probably because I know that I'll only be on there for 15 minutes!  The second mile was a tad slower, but today I'm blaming it on my mp3 player running out of battery.  ha!

2 miles = 29:14  <---- a="" ep="" nbsp="" new="" p="" record="">I think my ultimate goal will be 2 miles in 26 minutes.
And even then, I still keep going for the extra minutes, because 30 minutes is the magic number for me
256#

Love yourself ... and get out there and move! 

Sun Daze

Sunday is usually the day I do all my chores.  But because I was uncertain about my having to work, I had done most of my chores on Friday and Saturday.  Which left me at odds today, trying to find things to do.  I took Sadie for a walk at Riparian, and that was good, lots of sunshine, and it wasn't chilly at all.  Gotta love winters in the Valley of the Sun!

When we got home, it was a little time in the chair, reading and getting a little sunshine :)



Then I decided to do some cooking for the week.  I had gotten some hamburger and ground pork, and then a london broil.  So.. I went a little crazy and cooked it all!   Now we're all ready for the week.  It was two years ago that I started on my intense quest to lose weight. And one of the things I found most helpful was having meats cooked up so I could just toss a salad, cook up some veggies and be good to go for supper.   Otherwise, its too easy to grab things that are bad for me, because I'm too tired, or lazy, to cook.


I am starting off with positive thoughts for the week to set and achieve a very small goal:  do something at the gym every day, walk Sadie every day, and record my meals diligently.

This should be easy enough to accomplish!

Work Issues

After a frustrating morning,
Sadie and I were
hangin' out
in the back yard!

My day started on a very, make that VERY, aggravated state.  I was forced to take Friday off work, and from the minute I arrived this morning, I got an earful about things that happened.  The gal who was filling in for me --- well, she doesn't do what I do very well.  Her and I had words about some of the complications that she encountered. And rather than setting the two issues aside, she went ahead and processed them incorrectly, which left me to find and correct the errors .... yeah, fun issues.

After leaving detailed notes about what order I wanted things to be handled in, she proceeded to tell me about my helper "Elvis" and her direction to him to do something other than my directions.  Then added the reason:  that he was on the phone often with his ex-wife and his doctor; the reason he was feeling poorly was because he was over-stressed by management asking him to change his work schedule to accommodate my leave of absence when my father died.

I should preface the issues with my Elvis with the explanation that he'd been off a week because he had what he called "the woozies", whatever the fck that means.  He apparently wasn't feeling up to par on Friday when he returned to work.  Which means that he was most certainly sitting on a stool, attempting to do his job -- our job isn't a sit down job in any way.   I arrived this morning, and he promptly told me that his "woozies" were more in line with an ulcer, and that his doctor advised him that if things get any worse, he wouldn't need to make a claim of harassment, but of murder.  Um. WHAT?   that's when I had to shake my head and walk out of the room.  (And management wonders why there's never been a coaching on file with this guy... he's ""out there""!!!)

I was informed of another issue as well for something being tossed in the trash that shouldn't be.  I covered my ass with dates and times in an email to the store manager.

As you can see, things are quite out of control in my little world.
I managed to work 3.5 hours and that was more than enough for me.
I cannot imagine what I'll walk into on Monday.
Maybe I should take a sneak peek Sunday morning instead......

(I had issues getting this blog to update yesterday, its now 5am Sunday, and nope, I'm not going to go in and get a sneak peek!)

Aaugh!

AAAaaarrrggghhhhh!

Isn't that what Charlie Brown says when he's frustrated?

Well -- it fits, because I'm frustrated too.


When my father passed away last week, I flew out immediately to be with my family.  But that meant my pug, Sadie, was left at home.  In hindsight, I should have ignored my sister's desire to have me home quick, and hopped in my car and driven - bringing my Sadie with me.  But I didn't.

I also didn't plan on my son wanting to come to the funeral.  He had just been here to visit his grandfather, to say goodbye, two weeks before.  And that left me with a struggle as to how to get Sadie taken care of.  I perused a bunch of dog sitting websites, called PetSmart (her shots weren't current enough, and I couldn't do anything about that being this far away....), and so on impulse, I contacted a friend at work who says she struggles with money issues all the time.  I was willing to pay her $100 to keep Sadie at her house for 4 days, and I would provide all the food and such as well.  We got all our arrangements made, and I finally felt a little at ease, and able to sleep at night.

And now, two days before .... she has issues of her own and can't watch Sadie.  Luckily, I found a retired woman who is willing to come to the house twice a day, walk and feed Sadie.  It is my hope that she'll be ok for those three days spending so much time alone.  She will.  She's a trouper.  And will be SO happy when I get home.  *grin*







how we handle

life's little up's and down's

is what gives us character. :)

Computer UPDATE

What a weekend.  My main purpose was finding an IDE to USB cable in order to check the hard drive of my old computer.  Only way to get something so specialized is to head to the local Fry's Electronics store. Tthis one isn't so local to my location, 20 miles out on the freeway and back.  Been a while since I've been in one - they are HUGE!  At first I was wandering and feeling lost, but eventually found my way to the computer cables and asked for help.  Got my product and headed out the door.  Now, it's been years since I had to do actual finagling on a computer innards, but I was excited - I hated being without the photos I hadn't backed up yet, since October wasn't officially over.  No excuse for September, other than procrastination.

I got home and attempted to make all the plugs fit.  Much to my dismay, I had the wrong set.  And I wasn't feeling up to driving back, so I did other chores and things around the house.  But inside I was restless and fuming because I hadn't been smart enough to bring along the old hard drive... but enough procrastinating.  After supper, I headed out again to return the wrong cable and attempt to get the correct cable.  A really nice guy named Mario helped me out :)  I was feeling much more optimistic about this as I drove home.   Open the box, get it all connected and bummers.  Nothing.  A little research on Google always helps, and I noodled and reconfigured the jumper on the pins -- yes, my hard drive was that old!  hehehe  The next time I plugged in power, the hard drive whirred to life in my hand and it was an A-HA moment!  But still no recognition on the new computer to read this hard drive.

Back and forth with ideas and web pages, more swearing and then the moment when I was ready to give up, and maybe wait for a clear head in the morning when a friend said "hey, turn the drive on its side, let gravity put things back in place....."  and when I did that, turned it on, my new computer went haywire and pulled up all the drives.  I clicked and was in AWE as I saw my old menus.

Happily I started clicking and dragging the old to the new.  There were over 500 pix I hadn't backed up, and it took 30 mins to get all my music moved to the new!   With the rest of the data transferred, I started looking at the programs.  And was feeling all too bummed out, because 99% of them won't run on Win7 and I was so happy with the old programs I had.  Nero and Photoshop being the two programs I used the most, I tried using the Windows version:  Movie Maker.  and while it might suffice in a pinch, and may have to for a little while, I do not like how the options are all or nothing.  Nero let me choose individual times for photos, and Movie Maker has this thing about panning across the photos that I don't like.  I don't really want my pix as a movie, I like them as slides.   And the limitations on photo editing with Windows is ... horrendous.  The only thing I"ll use it for is cropping, but the rest of the options aren't worth the time to learn.


So.  Here it is, Sunday morning.  And I have a new computer filled with old data, and I'm SO happy about it.  All there is now is to get the software I want and need, and my world will feel right again.  With one exception:  A jealous SADIE pug who wants my attention, not give attention to my computer.  LOL

What do dogs think?

Here we are, its Friday!  yay :)  I had the day off, and I spent it doing nice things for me.  Well, mostly for me!  I took Sadie for a walk in the park. We love to walk in Riparian Preserve.  Although lately, she's been a bit odd when we take a walk.  Sometimes, she will just stop dead in her tracks, and give me this look........


Yes, this look........

and I can never figure out what she's trying to tell me:

Hey, I wanna be in the lead?
Don't walk in front of me?
There's danger that way?
Do we have to do this AGAIN?
My feet are sore?
I'm tired, let's go home?

Ok, to be honest, I have tried that 'go home' option a few times, and nope, its not that she wants to double back and head home.  So.....   I just try to wait her out, and see if she changes her mind.  I have noticed that if I walk back and wait behind her, she's more willing to keep walking again.  *shrug*  Who really knows what a dog thinks????

After that, we came home and did a few chores, took a few pictures, then I changed and headed over to the pool for a little reading and a swim... so relaxing!

Then a quick nap, dash my son to Best Buy for a phone replacement.  While I waited, I looked at phones.... can you believe that some of the new phones at $800 are more expensive than a whole desktop computer????  That's WILD!    Then we boogied over to the library, picked up two books, and two movies, then off to Taco Bell for dinner.  I love their steak taco salads... yummy!

While I did some cardio/workout stuff this morning, I should be doing a few more.  But its already 6:30, and soon I can curl up in a chair with Sadie and do some reading :)  Best way to spend a Friday night!

Sadie.... hiccup!

Here it is, a lazy crazy Saturday.  I'm tuckered and should take a nap, but it seems to be alluding me -- which will be OK if it means I sleep tonight!

Sadie got a case of the hiccups at 4 am - the pug kind.  They jolted her so bad it shook the entire bed.  (yeah, yeah, I know, but she sleeps with me) So we got up and walked into the backyard.  She didn't seem to be disoriented, all four legs worked, so it wasn't some kind of seizure.  We took a potty break, she had a drink of water and I thought all would be good.  Nope.  The minute she laid down to try and sleep, they started back up again.   Since the hiccups started once she laid down again, I got up and we dressed for a walk around the block.  Other than the usual heavier breathing (as if its hot) she was fine until she laid down again.  If I held her as though she was sitting up on her haunches it was better.  So being me, i hit the google pretty hard, and found one doctor who said:  Hiccuping is often due to GI upset in dogs. This may be anything from gastric reflux to gastroenteritis to something more serious.

Of course, that relieved my anxiety a bit, and we alternated a walk in the back yard with laying down, rubbing her belly.   I'm sure it was something she ate yesterday.  I noticed she didn't eat dinner .... so I'm betting she found something to have in its place!  

Around 9:30 this morning, they finally settled and she was able to get some sleep.  I was too busy keeping a third eye on her, so I sat up and read a book -- an entire book!  lol  Thankfully, it was an entertaining, engaging piece of fiction :)

Happy weekend! 

Happy Weekend!

Saturday morning after a very busy week!  There is a trip in the future, am driving my kids home to see my folks in June.  That will be a very fun trip!  We looked into flying, because that can be so much easier, but between $100 for the dog each way, and $300 per person, well, driving is more economical, for sure.  And I know there will come a time in the future when we'll have to fly up .....  *sigh*  but that's a thought for a different day.

Plenty of things need to be done before we can leave.

• My car needs tires.  And a good cleaning on the inside!
• With the heat of the valley setting in, some work in the yard needs to be done.  I usually rearrange my potted plants so they're shaded more often now.
• Sadie needs her toenails clipped -- and hates it. Ugh.
• House cleaning is always an ongoing thing.
• and tons of work hours ahead, as my BigBox store heads toward its annual inventory

That's the short list.  Among all of that is a myriad of details that eat up so much of my time.  And yet, here I am, taking a moment to drop a short note here.

Sadie and I were up and walking before 6am at Riparian, our fav place to wander.  We walked for 44 mins, an estimated 2.2 miles.  (we use MapMyWalk).  Then breakfast which on the weekends is Peanut Butter toast...  love it!  This is my last full weekend off, next weekend I'll work Sunday, and have Friday off.  Then I'll work the next full weekend, preparing for inventory.

Which means not enough down time, so I need to make the best of this weekend, getting as much done as possible.   Sounds like I better get off my butt and get busy!   Happy weekend, all!

Long Weeks

This past week was one of the longest weeks on record, I think!  Or at least, it felt that way.  It was one of those kind where everything you start, you have in mind the time it will take to do--- and then wham, something happens and it takes twice as long.  Work's felt that way for a while now, and I feel like I'm getting behinder, rather than making progress every day.  I will have to adjust my thinking on that account, and realize that everything can't be done every single day. And then be satisfied with that.  Maybe this little mental adjustment will help!

With our work schedules clashing, poor Sadie has been home alone more than she ought to be.  Now that she's past a lot of the puppy stages, its not bad, but her neediness increases as she is left alone.  I got home from work early on Friday, at noon, and from that point on, we had to be 'buddies'.  The kind where she's right next to me, and whining if I'm not paying attention to her.   And for some reason, the usual attention things didn't work:  we went for a walk, we sat and brushed her for a while, we sat outside so she could watch the birds, we played fetch.  And still by 8pm, she hadn't had enough!  It felt like having a whiny two year old!  and EEEKS, I'm much too old for that on a constant basis!  Finally, I said I had enough, and started moving furniture to vacuum and wipe down and put back.  At least doing chores, she thinks she's "helping" by being in the way .... heh heh heh.  And it stops the whining that starts the instant I sit down to do anything on the computer. 

Today hasn't been much better.  We started the day with an hour's walk at Riparian Preserve, our fav place to walk and see people, other dogs, birds, bunnies, ducks, and assorted other water fowl.  We watered the cactus.  We dabbled in the pool.  We had breakfast.  We had another walk to the mailbox.  We sat in the sunshine to read a book... well, I read, she chased helicopters, cicadas, and any other flying critter. We had lunch.  And Finally.  FINALLY! at 12:30 she is now snoozing at the end of my bed.

Which will only last as long as I sit here without moving.
I hope my bladder holds out for an hour.  *laughs*

Walkin' Sadie

Another Saturday night
and I ain't got no body  ----
well, except my Sadie! 

We've had a busy day,
lots of walks and chores
and more walks today ---
so she took a rest,
for all of about five minutes. 
Until now. 
8pm and she is snoring up a storm.
hehehehehe
It's the adorable moments like this
that make the 'other' moments
not matter so much.

The first picture, our 6am walk in the park
This second picture, her 5 minute long 'rest'
after the second walk this morning!

Sprinklers

 
Saturday morning

and the sprinklers

were on in the

local basin.

Sadie didn't hesitate

to investigate......

... but as they

circled around,

they caught her

unaware....

So for Sadie,

attack mode works

and she dives right in...

:)

Weekends!

Bought Sadie

a summertime

wading pool....

she likes it,

has been in it

several times

already!

Even though

it was warm,

we roasted

hot dogs

then made

s'mores!

yummmmmy

A Date!?!?!!!

This is new:
I have a date on Saturday morning! 

Using one of the MeetUp forums,
I found a group to give a try, and it should be loads of fun!  

It's more of a play date than anything else. 
And no, its not for me,
its for Sadie! 

There's a group of local pug owners
who meet once a month
and let their puggies play together. 

I'm looking forward to seeing
how Sadie reacts to this --
and of course meeting others who
enjoy their little puggies as much as I enjoy Sadie!

Sleepy Sadie

8am and Sadie is settled in for a short nap... Finally!  She was up at the crack of dawn, 430am is an ungodly hour for a no-work day!  But the sun rises early in the Valley of the Sun, and the birds start cheeping and chirping as the night sky turns indigo in the pre-dawn light.  

We had our breakfast, and our walk.  We attempted a walk around the really big block here, but that means walking about half mile along a busy traffic street.  And poor thing, she wants to chase every car, and the loudness of them seems to overload her senses as they zoom past.  So that just doesn't work for her, which is why most of our walks are in a park
setting, or around our neighborhood.  But she's happily
snoozing at my feet while I do a little 'work' here.  :)