The Pug Lady

When you live in a city that welcomes "snow birds", don't try to take yourself out for a meal at 12:30pm on a Sunday after church!  Even at a fast food place, I waited 20 minutes for a meal.  There was a long line at Chipotle, so I didn't hang around (I had groceries in the trunk!)  I opted for a quick Crunchwrap Supreme from Taco Bell.  Not the best meal for me, but .... it was pretty good.  After the long wait!  Sometimes, when we get a sunny day after the week of storms we had, it was easy to forget that there would be others out and about as well.   Not that I had anywhere else I needed to be .... lol

It's been a week of changes for me in my eating habits.  I have been encouraged by reaching my goal of a nutrient score over 80 when I log my foods.  This week, I made 85 three times so far!  I removed carbs from my breakfast and just eat my eggs.  I added an apple and some raw baby carrots to my lunch each day, as well as making sure I drink at least 48 ounces of water during my work day.  That won't be hard to hit now that we're back on track with our normal spring weather -- warm and sunny!

I've also quit focusing on a goal of 12k steps per day, and am actively watching how my FitBit tracks active minutes.  You have to be engaged in your activity for more than 10 minutes for it to count anything toward that number.  Mondays are always more active than any other day, but with changing that focus, Sadie and I head out each evening at 6pm for a long walk.  It's a quick 10 minutes over to the park where I let Sadie run in the grass.  Then it's back into her stroller and off we go for 1.4 miles, circling our neighborhood.  I'm sure if any of the neighbors are like me, they have a nickname for folks if they don't know a real name. 
I'm betting dollars to donuts that I'm "The Pug Lady".  lol 
Many folks wave to me each evening, and that's really nice :)

I'm hoping after all the hard work and better eating, I show improvement on the scale!  While I know it's not good to be measuring success by the scale, it's hard to break a habit so ingrained into us.

One of "Those People"

Yes, I am officially one of "those people".  
and I resisted for so long!
but ....  living in the desert means sometimes
you do things that quite frankly aren't logical ......

I bought a dog stroller.
Yep.
Always thought it was weird, but here's the deal:

I am a single dog mom.
I live in the desert where it gets too hot to walk a dog.


When my dog stays home 10 hours a day alone, she needs to see more than these four walls.  Do dogs get cabin fever?  My instinct - and experience - says yes!  Because there are some days when bedtime hits and that's when she wants to play again!

I always laughed at people who pushed their dogs in strollers.  Until I realized that at 100 degrees, the asphalt can feel like 150 on her paws - Can't exactly walk her over to the park to play in the grass like that!  Driving two blocks seems ridiculous, and staying home hasn't been a good option either.  I need to walk, I love to walk, it's my thing.  Truth be told, I feel guilty walking alone when my dog's been home alone all day.   Yep, I'm funny that way.  So this was my $100 compromise:  A stroller to get her too and from the park while I can get my own walking in as well.

I think she likes it!
I think this is gonna work well for us!
Even if you do say I'm one of "those people"!
hahahaha

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!

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...

:)

Sadie's Date

The Mesa Pug Meetup group

met today for their once a month

Pug Play Date.

This was our first time,

and Sadie had loads of fun!

As one of the younger pugs,
she was the 'instigator' for
getting others to run and play.

But it wasn't long

before she had to

stop and take a break!

There were about 15 pugs there,
but it was impossible to get them
to sit still for a group photo!
(hahaha)

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.  :)

Luv my Pug!

This is Sadie - she's a pug, nearly a year old,

and when I take her out walking,

we get the best comments! 

Even people who aren't the kind of

"dog people" who approach strange dogs,

they still smile at her when she ambles their way!

Yesterday at Riparian, there were probably 15

or so people fishing along the bank of the pond,

and every single one of them smiled at Sadie....

I wish I had pictures of those smiles --

it was something to see! 

Pugs are very social; they're described as being

"Stubborn, Attentive, Docile, Quiet, Charming, Playful, Clever, Sociable"  (I would also add mischievous!!)  I've had dogs in the past, but the one thing I have found very different about pugs is that unlike other breeds, pugs love being with their owner all the time.  Yes.... ALL the time.  

 

Which can sometimes be difficult! !!