This Time Every Year

 This week I celebrate four years together with Penny. I still can't believe my parents said I could bring her home, but luckily she has managed to win them over. You can't say no to that face! She's come with many lessons and I'm sure there are more to come, but I am ready to take them on one at a time. I've really grown and learned so much from her and I think she has had some good times with me too. My sister is rad enough to take our photo each year. She does such a great job, but it is easy when you have such lovely subjects, right? Happy Penniversary Everybody!

First and Third

 We had lots to celebrate this weekend!

Saturday was my 3rd Penny-versary. We celebrate the day she was adopted since we don't know her true birthday. This was a wonderful year because she was so much healthier than the year before. I am so grateful for that. One of the small benefits of not working was having more time to spend with her. She learned a few more commands and also had more goofy playtime with me. Of course, her being healthy also meant we could do a lot more walking and a bit of running too. I'm almost to the halfway mark of losing my "dog" weight.

Sunday was my 11 year anniversary of becoming vegetarian. I'm thrilled that I made the change because I know it was the right thing to do for me. After two years of it, I decided it was time to "go all the way" and just go vegan already, so next year I can celebrate 10 years completely animal-free. It's exciting and I am happy about it, but there is something really embarrassing that also needs to come out.

I had my first green smoothie yesterday. Even though I eat lots of veggies, I am still not a fan of salads or raw veg (I did cry the first time someone tried to make me eat broccoli 26 yrs ago). And you call yourself an herbivore? Whatever! Anyhow, I got over being a big ol' baby and made one using the recipe my friend Anita makes for her kindergartners. It was delicious. I can't believe I waited to long to try one. I made another one this morning. It's a great habit I plan to get into and eventually I won't need to make the kiddie version. If you've never made one, get over it and go for it-you won't regret it.

Can You Believe It's Been Two Years?

Today is the 2nd Penniversary. I hope we have many more. This pup has changed my life in so many ways, but I am sure there are more lessons to be learned. She still will eat anything and everything she finds on the ground. It just goes to show you can take the dog out of the street but you can't take the street out of the dog.

on the regular

Great news! For the first time in months, Penny is solid, and her poo is too. She is finally back on an all-dry food diet which is so much better for her as well as my pocketbook. I'm hoping after some time I can take her off the prescription diet and put her on another premium dog food that I don't have to buy at the vet, but for now I will say I have never been so happy to pick up poop.

Now that we have this under control we can get back to getting her under control. She's not a bad girl but we are obedience training drop outs and we need to get to working again. Since we've been going to the park almost as much as we used to, she is getting re-socialized and making tons of friends. Everyone loves her which is great because I see so many gorgeous dogs of identifiable breeds and sigh for a second thinking of how I used to want a dog like that but they wouldn't be as great as my little brat. Neither of us are gorgeous in any typical way but I think we are each cute in our own way, crazy and full of love to give and that is what matters.

p.s. I almost got into it with that guy about not leashing his dog again, but by the time I made my way around the park to tell him something he did have her on a leash again so maybe the yelling did work.

Happy Penniversary!

If I knew one year ago that this little one was going to be so much trouble, would she be here now? Probably. I'd like to say next dog around I will be smarter and not let me heart follow me home, but that's not always how it works. I'm hoping since we survived the first year, the rest should go by much more smoothly, but I won't hold my breath. This dog has been, and most likely will continue to be, a challenge. She definitely shook things up around here and we haven't been the same since. We're all the better for it, though I can't say the same for some patio furniture.

I originally wanted to make a cake or some other treat to celebrate but since she is doing so well after her meds and remaining on the i/d diet, I don't want to mess anything up. I did get some treats of my own in the mail today: vegan twinkies, s'mores from sweet & sara, vegan brunch book and the latest issue of bust. So far we've only tried the twinkies which do not really taste like twinkies so I was kind of bummed. They tasted more like the v-con jelly donut cupcakes without the jelly and there wasn't too much filling inside. They weren't totally bad since I love the cupcakes, but I am going to get a pan and make my own like I have been saying for ages now. The s'mores are a sure thing and remind me more of moonpies than s'mores, but who cares, eat them! I can't decide what to make first from the brunch book, probably scrambled tortillas or the omelet. I also want lemon poppy seed muffins really bad so who knows? I am psyched to read the Kathy Griffin interview, but kind of confused that her cover picture seems way small compared to others. Usually the cover gal's face dominates the page and Kathy's head is seriously 1" square. Maybe I'm trippin', but I love the Kathy and it doesn't seem fair that she was shorted some face space. Funny girls need love too!

on the go

ms. penny and i are starting a new adventure, crate training! after much arguing with everyone about how tall she isn't, we let the measuring tape set them straight. i'll admit she always seems larger than she is but after spending so much time with her i've noticed she's really only about knee high to me and i'm not much taller than most grasshoppers. we got an intermediate sized crate at petsmart last night and i also got a bowl that can screw onto the side or door. it was really hard to not buy much else, but i had to focus on the essentials. plus i have to pay for her spay next week.

luckily i received one of the nine unemployment checks i'm expecting in the mail today. i know it's only for one day, but it was really starting to hit me. my reserves were depleted (other than the f.u. fund-which i refuse to touch unless absolutely necessary). i think i would have been okay if not for some unexpected animal expenses but having my girl at home is priceless.

the park was crazy this afternoon. the playground was a swarm of about twenty kids, lots of hot pink outfits, screaming and nonsense. it was awesome. the school next door was having recess as well so it was quite and uproar and ms. penny kept her cool. she was more interested in sniffing around the grass. as we rounded the corner there was a group of kids in their pj's who were taking an interest so we stopped and she sat for a few while they checked her out. kids love her. one of them said something like, "she has a dog, and a tattoo on her leg", thanks, i think.

i got home and made amazing breakfast, which was more like brunch, for me and my sister while watching six pack on cable. then i did laundry and rearranged my dresser drawers since it has been bothering me for a few weeks now. i'm trying really hard to get more organized/manage time better and i've been doing well, but there is a lot more to be done. crating the pup is going to push me to rearrange my room a lot faster which is great because that is long overdue. this is the most i've sat down all day, holla!