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!

Vegan Mofo V Day 29: Yeah Yeah Yams

After not sleeping well the last two nights I really wanted to take a nap today, but then I knew that would spiral into a whole day of laziness, which is what I do on Sundays. I can't do that two days in a row. Well I can, but I shouldn't. I decided I would just keep busy and tire myself out so I would end up going to bed early, or at least earlier than usual.

When I took an apple break with my dog (yeah I do that!), I noticed she needed to be brushed. Then I thought about trying on her Halloween costumes to see which one I liked the best. I dressed her up for the first time last year and she tolerated it well. When the costumes went on sale for a dollar I bought two more so we'd have some variety. After the bath I tried them on her and took some pictures, but I forgot the most important thing- the treats to bribe her to look at the camera. My favorite was the grape costume, but she figured out very quickly to shake her head and make the hat fall off. She'll probably be a pumpkin again since that's the only outfit that doesn't have a head piece.

All the dog activities tired me out. I didn't want to make dinner, but since I hardly cooked during the week I didn't have much in the way of leftovers. Rather than preparing an entire meal I made the "Sweetheart Fries" from Vegan Diner to go with an Amy's pizza. It's my "teen dinner" because that's totally something I would have ate on a Saturday night if I had to fend for myself. Why choose between pizza and fries when you can have both?

The fries were easy enough, after I decided to ditch the mandoline and finish cutting the yams with a knife. I thought it would be faster with the mandoline, but now I realize I would have prepped faster with a knife. I also wouldn't have cut myself, thanks mandoline! As clumsy as I am, I have fairly good knife skills. It's weird but true. I will go lighter with the seasonings next time. I put way too much pepper so they lost some of the sweetness. Luckily we had some vegan ranch in the fridge to help balance things out.

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.

Trick or Treat

Check out my pup-kin! This is Penny's first Halloween costume and now I'm not sure it will be her last. I had no thoughts of buying one but last night we were at the pet store and the costumes were 75% off. I had an additional 15% off from my sister's fiancé, how could I say no? I was tempted to dress her as a cow or a pig, but her head is too large for the hoods on those. Then I saw the pumpkin cape and that sealed the deal. I got an xl so it would fit her length, but she is not round enough to fill it out so next time I'll get a large. I had to bribe her with cookies to get her to stay still so the first shot is before and the second is after.

Happy Halloween everybody!

 

Crunch Time

I have almost two weeks left on my weight loss bet. I am not where I thought I would be, but I am going to keep working to pick up the slack. I started out so strong, maybe too strong, and now I am fighting like mad to make sure I still win (and lose!). I thought I could lose 10-15 lbs and keep on going. I've only lost 5-6 pounds so I am going to push for 10 but if I end up with 8 that's okay too, it's not like my program is over when the bet ends. I have a long way to go to get to my long term goal, this was just a good way of bringing back focus.

No one else is making an effort so it is not as fun as it was at the start. Even if I do win, it won't really feel like it since it's like I am playing this game by myself. It makes me sad because I really wanted everyone to work harder at being healthy. I would love to lose to my mom or dad if it meant they stopped eating so much bad food and started exercising. I would not mind losing to my brother-in-law-to-be either. He is more muscular and younger so he should be kicking all of our butts, but his bad habits are keeping him back.

I like to do a cleanse in the summer but I am waiting until after the bet is over because I know if I win they'll say I cheated by doing that. We never made any rules about what you could or couldn't use. If someone wanted to use pills or crash diet it wouldn't bother me too much. I wouldn't do it because I want to do all of the work so I can enjoy all of the reward. The quick fixes are tempting sometimes but it just isn't worth it.

My number one weapon in this battle has been Penny. Having her in my life means I have to walk every day, but it's more fun with a partner. Now that her insides are under control we can spend more time outside. We're almost back to our original 90 minutes a day of walking and this is our third solid week of daily park trips in the morning (during my slump I wasn't getting up early enough to do that). I don't have to but I am going to share my winnings with her. She needs a new house and maybe some new toys. I'm getting new sneakers and maybe a few new tops. Wish me luck!

now even more kiss-a-bull

Penny is wearing Smashbox Doubletake Lip Color in Cranberry (liner and color in one).

I tried it out today at the store and was delightfully surprised at how smooth the application was. I've seen lots of commercials for lipstick pencils but they all seem so sketchy. This really felt like lipstick in a pencil, so simple and yet so amazing at the same time. I know I must have looked like one of those infomercial people raving about a product after trying it for the first time, but I was truly impressed. My sister thought it looked great on me and offered to buy it for me. How could I say no?

I'll have to post a picture of how it looks on humans, but since Smashbox is cruelty-free, animals can be spokesmodels too.

p.s. How fabulous is her natural eyeliner? Jealous!

just what the doctor ordered

I think we may have finally found a solution to Penny's tummy troubles. I started adding Dr. Goodpet's Digestive Enzymes to her food a little over a week ago. The i/d food was helping to put weight back on but her stools were still not consistently solid. Now that she has been on the enzymes, she is doing so much better. The first few feedings she looked and sniffed a bit before eating but now she is back to being excited for her bowl and ready to chow down. I almost can't believe how easy this was and I am sorry I did not try these sooner. I am hoping these might work with any food and I will not have to keep her on the i/d for too much longer. You can get them at Vegan Essentials with some other rad goodies from their shop.


p.s. It's my birthday and I'll talk about poop if I want to!

mini update

* After almost two weeks back on the i/d, Penny is looking much better. I hate to admit it but something in that food does right by her. I went to the vet today to get more. I want to compare it to the science diet formula you can buy at the stores since my brother-to-be can get a discount for us. He's also trying to set us up for some free training classes.

* I am feeling really confident about walking away with that money from the weight loss bet. I think I lost 3-4 pounds already. So far it seems I am the only one who is making any effort, but I have to keep working hard and staying motivated. My sister and her boyfriend have a $100 side bet going so that is extra pressure. Since I've drafted my mom's dogs into my program, I weighed Carmela, the smallest dog, to see if she loses any weight by the end of our bet. I could not get Chloe on the scale, next time will just weigh myself with and without her.

* Yesterday I said goodbye to my Grandma C I'm pretty sure it was the last time I'd see her alive even if she didn't see me. She was asleep the whole time and would occasionally mumble a few words between snores and gasps. It's shitty to admit but I almost wish I hadn't gone. I am fighting like mad to keep that from being the last memory I have of her. I have tons of other great memories of her but the picture of her small wasted body is still burning my brain. I just want peace for her, no more pain. I know what will crush me most is to see my dad break down.

What do they put in that stuff?

I tried switching Penny's food about a month ago because I did not want to keep feeding her poor quality food disguised as good food (Hill's Prescription Diet I/D formula). I had read a lot about how corn is not good for dogs, especially those with digestive troubles. So I start looking for a new food for my dog, and in doing so, finally read an I/D label that lists the first ingredient as corn. I was paying as much or more than I would for premium dog food for what looks like cheap food. It didn't make any sense and I was really pissed off.

I slowly made the transition to a new food and it seemed to go well for a while. But pretty soon her problems started up again. I wanted so badly to put her on healthier food but her insides were definitely in disagreement with me. Maybe she is street to the core and just will not eat like a suburban dog.

I admitted defeat and changed her back to the i/d a few days ago. She's back in business, eating like it's going out of style and making normal movements. I'm glad she is doing better but I am still unhappy with the "cure" or whatever you want to call it. I'm going to keep her on it for a month or two but am going to start looking for something else that might work just as well.

weight and see

Last week my sister's boyfriend agreed to a weight loss challenge I had proposed a few months ago. We had compared our ID photos, both taken five years ago when we were in much better shape and knew it was time to get back on track. I was already working toward that end but having the added incentive of competition has set it off.

He should win. He is younger, more muscular, and doesn't really have too much fat on him. He's grown a tummy over the last two years while dating my sister, but that's the only weight I can see he should lose. I really do not think he should drop more than 15 lbs or he would look weird.

Even though he should win, I do not believe he will. His eating habits are horrible. He mostly eats fast food, and because it is so cheap, he eats a lot of it. Thursday he ate fast food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We try to help him eat healthier and he eats almost everything I cook for us, but when he is on his own it's a different story. As far as I know, he does not exercise and he just got a new xbox, so I'm not sure how that's going to work out. Maybe he will do exercise games/DVDs on it. The main reason I do not think he will beat me is that he loses motivation and focus easily. I'm not totally counting him out though. We both are competitive people so we'll just have to see who wants it more.

I eat healthy and am always trying to eat healthier. I have started taking a better look at my portions and am listening to my body more. I am keeping a half ass food diary too. I'm not going super crazy and counting calories, but I think just writing down what I eat will make me more accountable. I'm not going to want to write down that I ate two handfuls of chips and then cross it out and change it to five. So far my journal looks good, and I will look better too.

As for exercising, I get a decent amount of cardio every day from walking Penny. Last night I started taking the other two dogs for short walks. They're smaller and do not need as much exercise but they are both a lot rounder than they should be. I think their combined weight but equal Penny's which is sad since they are small breed dogs. The three of us can lose weight together. But if I really want to do this, cardio is not going to cut it. I added some strengthening and toning exercises this week. I hadn't done them in a long time so I got my butt kicked. It felt great.

In the spirit of fun, I started trash talking this week. I want to win so badly, and even though I joke about wanting to smoke everyone, I do want it to be a close competition. I need to do this for myself, but we all need to get healthier and it is easier to do when you have support. After hearing enough of my talk, my mom decided she wanted in on the action. She and I had a bet years ago and neither of us won because neither of us tried. We upped the stakes to $50 each and added a week to the time frame. She and I talked trash all through dinner. Later that night she informed me that my dad also wanted in on the bet. Now we really have something going, everyone thinks s/he is going to win.

I secretly think I am going to take this, but maybe one of them will surprise me. As long as we each lose a bit of weight we are all winners. One winner is going to have $200 for some new clothes.

summer...it turns me upside down

I know it's not officially summer yet but both kids, my niece and my sister's boyfriend, are out of school so that is good enough for me. My niece will be a second grader in the fall and I could not be more excited for her. She adapted so well to a new school so quickly. She had attended Montessori school since she was 3 so we were not sure how she would adjust to "regular" school. She had some intellectual advantages, but some social disadvantages since at the other school there were only three or four children who were her age. Now she had 25 other kids to worry about. It didn't take long for her to get used to some new rules and establish herself as a teacher's pet (once again, I swear she is really my kid!).

My sister's boyfriend graduated from community college, earning his associates degree in sciences. He was a full time student, full time employee, and much to my sister's chagrin, part-time lover. Hopefully now that school is finished they will have more quality time for each other. His new job is a lot closer to our house so maybe he can do some before/after work drive by's. I am just waiting to see if he gets any kind of discount since he is working at a pet store. Penny needs a new house.

The other "kid" in the picture, Ms. Penny, has adopted her own summer schedule of sorts. I started taking her out earlier and later to avoid the heat. She made change of her own and she only wants to eat at night like a hippopotamus. At first I thought it was odd, but after a while it made perfect sense. As long as she eats all her food, I am happy.

Here is a hippo who is as spoiled as most of our dogs, if not more so:

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.

yesterday once more

cactus flower in bloom



making leftovers look fancy via combination plate



snapdragons my brother planted last time he came to visit



ms. penny fresh and clean after her bath

If You Lived Here We'd Be Home Fries

I had breakfast all day on Friday. I really did. For breakfast I had egg mc vegans, three of them to be exact. We usually have potatoes, or another person eating with us, but since it was just me and my sister we were each allowed three sammiches. I ate all of mine but she did not. Needless to say I did not have lunch because I was still full from breakfast. It was basically half a brick of tofu, 3 English muffins, four slices veg Canadian bacon and about three slices of Tofutti American singles. But I drank Chocolate Silk Light, so that balances it out, right?

For dinner we had belgian waffles, Diner Home Fries (from VB and V'Con) and Gimme Lean sausage patties. I just realized that Gimme Lean is supposed to sound like Jimmy Dean. Duh! Anyhow I'd been wanting a waffle maker for a while now and they had some at my sister's work. After a few rounds of markdowns, she brought home a Waring Pro for only $24. It is so much better than the waffle iron we had twenty something years ago, which is the last time I had homemade waffles. I think it had visible springs on it and I remember it was a pain to clean it. Maybe that is why we stopped having waffles. Luckily this new one is super easy to clean and quite idiot-friendly. It came with a measuring cup for the batter and beeps to tell you when your waffle is ready. Our first waffles were from a box mix because we were in too much of a hurry to play with our new toy. After I replace the maple syrup I am going to make some from scratch. The Pumpkin Waffles from VWAV are really calling to me and you best believe I am gonna answer.


p.s. Penny's Food Revolution lost a battle so this little home fry has rice on her nose. We will win the war...eventually.

beegan at the beginning

For the past year Ms. Penny and I have been battling her digestive system. Ever since she came home "fixed" she hasn't been the same. She had diarrhea so often I started to call her "Scooter". The first few times I started crying as we walked because I could see how miserable she was. We did white rice/cottage cheese at first. She would do fine for a few days and it would start up again. Then she was on canned i/d diet, which helped out for a while. Then she had antibiotics and stayed on the canned i/d. That food is so ridiculously expensive. For a few months I was spending more money on hers than my own, but what are you gonna do?

After a while I was able to switch her over to the dry i/d food. I was glad to have her on dry since it should be better for her teeth and I won't lie, I was also glad to have a bit more money in my pocket. She did well on that formula for quite some time, but once again, she started having troubles. I started tracking her on my calendar and it seemed to be a regular schedule of every few days she would go "bad" again. I had been reading my own food labels for so long, I cannot believe I did not read hers. I feel horrible for feeding her that "prescription diet" for so long. Corn is the first effing ingredient. I cannot believe I dumped so much money on food that was not good for her. I remembered the vet said she might have developed a type of colitis so I dog md'd that to see what dietary changes I could make since I'd like to avoid meds where possible. One of the suggestions was to change the protein.

I started mixing Natural Balance Vegetarian with her i/d dry food a few weeks ago. She seemed to do fine for a few days, but you can guess what still happened. Over the weekend I decided to pull the i/d entirely and only give her the Natural Balance. She's also been eating the Bear Biscuits, which are veg but not vegan due to honey. She really likes them so I will keep them until I find a vegan alternative. So far she is doing much better. I haven't had any messes to clean and I have not heard her stomach gurgling away.

I've been doing more reseach on vegan dogs and I'm excited about the change. I ordered her a pound of Sam's Yams which I have read lots of wonderful things about. They should be excellent for her chewing urges and sweet potatoes are full of fiber. Hopefully this swap will stick and she can be a happier, healthier spoiled beegan dog.

p.s. The pic above is one of her first toys, an homage to "busy bee", which I think lasted at most two days.

return of the mac

I think this adapted recipe is taking the place of my first favorite vegan mac and cheese. I've made it four or five times since its Thanksgiving debut. That's almost once a month, right? Even though it's not as greasy or fatty as regular mac and cheese, I still feel like it could be a bit healthier. The recipe suggests adding spinach or green beans, but I decided to use broccoli instead since that is how they do it at Native Foods. Even though this recipe does not resemble theirs at all, I wanted to pretend I was as awesome as Chef Tanya for a few minutes.

We had the re-revised mac and cheese with boca chick'n sammiches on everything bagel thins with vegenaise and american tofutti slices. My sister bought the bagel thins about a week ago. They're not doing it for me at all, yet I am okay with the sandwich thins. Maybe because smashed bread is easier to get used to than a deflated bagel? Anyhow, we all loved the mac and I did not get to take a shot of it until it was half gone since unbeknownst to me, my camera battery died. I must have killed it taking video and pictures of Penny with her ball last week.

back on track

At last, I am fully recovered from the holidays. I know it almost took a month but I finally feel like myself again. I've gotten my speed/stride/swagger back, so watch out bitches. Speaking of bitches, that is little Ms. Penny looking for the rabbits on our block. They were in hiding during the rain, but she kept looking for them anyway. Now that it's sunny they are back in the front yard adorably grazing away. My only concern is that I've only seen two of them and there used to be three. Good thing spring will be here before we know it.

this is only a test

I am not one for clothing animals, but I did want to see how Ms. Penny would look in a rain coat, or whether she would even allow one to be put on her. She did great until it was time to put the two elastic loops over her hind legs, but we got her dressed. I measured her but I think she might need the next size up. This one just barely covers her booty and I cannot get the hood on her huge head, but I am going to try it one more time after adjusting those elastic straps. I am not sure she will ever wear it again since she is little wild one, but look how cute she is.

jarvis was right...

Dogs are everywhere that I go. Many a time when I am walking Ms. Penny I see an adorable and seemingly adoptable stray dog running loose. By the time I get her behaviorally challenged booty home, the would-be rescue is long gone. A few days ago I did make it in time to find one but she ran head on into traffic after spotting me. I tried so hard not to freak out and was relieved when she made it all the way across the street, until she started to cross the other intersection, which she also made, thank goodness. I have yet to see her since, maybe she just kept running.

Today on my way home to walk Ms. P at lunch time I saw an unfamiliar pit bull lazing in a neighbor's yard. It was really hot out and I felt bad for the poor lost dog. I crouched down a bit and called him over, not sure of what would happen but of course he came running and slobbering with happiness. I hoped he would stay put after sitting, but of course he followed me home and had I let him, would have followed me into the house. I put the two small dogs in the house so I could let Ms. P have run of the yard for a bit while I got this new guy situated. There's a lot of other boring details in between but after a few calls to the SPCA, he was picked up shortly after six and though it seemed I had waited so long for that to happen, I was really sad when it did. However, the SPCA rep was easy on the eyes and quite sweet so that helped a bit, until I remembered I was in some ratty "laundry day" clothes and my hair was a mess. Oh well, can't be too greedy with kisses from strange males, sometimes four legs are better than two.

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.