Update on my Seeds to Flowers!

Remember about a month ago I planted a bunch of seeds in my flower beds with the hopes of them actually sprouting into flowers? Well, I figured that I had better update you on the progress they have made so far.  They have started growing, even though they aren't exactly pretty or anything yet.

Flower bed... contains Irises along the walls, Zinnias around them, and Creeping Daisies in the middle.

Flower pot... contains Zinnias.  These actually have buds on them!

Small flower bed... contains Creeping Daisies... these didn't take very well.  I think it might have to do with Dan's mowing :(

Hanging Basket... contains Zinnias... and these too have buds on them.

Depending on how things go, I'm leaning toward planting all zinnias next year.  They seem to grow and mature the fastest and be the most hardy.

We'll just wait and see :)

Cons of Night Time Running

During my late night run on Wednesday I was thinking about this very topic.  I really love running at night. I mean REALLY love it!  Mostly because the temperature drops a few degrees and saves me from sweating to death and makes it easier to breathe.  However, since that girl at IU went missing I can't help but think that maybe this isn't the smartest thing to do, especially when Dan is working and no one would know I was missing for a long time (except Remington of course).

When I run at night I must admit it's hard to see.  I have to map out my route in my head that I'm going to take before I leave so that I know I'll be around the street lights that will help with my dreadful night vision.  Sadly, I still usually trip once or twice every night time run I have.  Thank goodness I've been lucky enough not to face plant on concrete yet.

I refuse to take my shuffle with me on my night runs.  This is mainly because I want to be able to hear if someone would be coming up on me or if a car would screech to a halt for someone to nab me.  I miss my music but I feel safer being a little more alert.

Even though I don't like to, I have been wearing a fanny pack during my runs at night.  Yes, those dumb things you might have worn when you were a kid.  My mom insists that I wear it.  I put my cell phone, band aids, flash light, etc. in there for my runs.  I guess she thinks one of these items might save my life if something bad were to happen.  She is probably right...

This isn't necessarily a con of night time running... I actually appreciate this about it.  When I run at night I'm freakishly alert!  I'm constantly in fight or flight mode.  I'm keenly aware of my surroundings at all times.  Because of this I can run 2.5 miles in 20 minutes when it would usually take me 20 minutes to run 2 miles.  I'm always in high gear on these runs because once I'm done I can get in my house safe and sound.

So really... there are way more cons that go along with running at night than there are pros... but will this still be something I do regularly?  Probably... at least until this hot streak moves out and I can run comfortably during the day.

Happy night time running... stay safe!!!

Short trip to P-town!

Dan, Remington and I took a short trip to P-town this weekend.  We went 1) because it was my Dad's b-day!  I'll spare you on how old he is. 2) One of Dan's friends was getting married.  And 3) I hadn't gotten a chance to see them in quite a while.  We weren't able to stay very long because Dan had to get back to Indy for his shift at work, but it was a nice time while we were there!

We had dinner with my parents at Wings and Rings, planted flowers for my Mom (this was her late Mom's day gift), went to a a wedding in Muncie, and cooked out on our little Weber grill for Dad's B-day dinner. We were able to stuff a lot of things into a short amount of time.

Week #10 of Kendra's Cooking Challenge: Monkey Bread

I made this for breakfast while at my parents house for the weekend... that is why I'm getting this posted so late! Little do you know, this is my second attempt at this breakfast dish.  I tried making it a few weeks ago, however, it ended in disaster because I put it in an Angel Food Cake pan instead of a Bundt pan.  They may look similar, but don't be fooled you won't get the same results!  I learned that the hard way as I ended up cleaning my oven for 2 hours and 30 minutes after the first attempt!  YIKES!

Monkey Bread (www.pioneerwomen.com)

Ingredients

• 3 cans buttermilk biscuits (non-flaky ones)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 sticks butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Open up all three cans of biscuits and cut each biscuit into quarters.

Next, combine the white sugar with 2-3 teaspoons of cinnamon. (3 teaspoons of cinnamon gives it a fairly strong cinnamon flavor. If you’re not so hot on cinnamon, cut it back to 2 teaspoons.) Dump these into a 1 gallon zip bag and shake to mix evenly.

Drop all of the biscuit quarters into the cinnamon-sugar mix. Once all the biscuit quarters are in the bag seal it and give it a vigorous shake. This will get all those pieces unstuck from one another and nicely coated with cinnamon-sugar. Spread these nuggets out evenly in the Bundt pan.

At this point, you’re going to want to melt the two sticks of butter together with ½ cup of brown sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat. This can be light or dark brown sugar. Cook butter/sugar mixture, stirring for a few minutes until the two become one. Once the brown sugar butter has become one color, you can pour it over the biscuits.

Bake for about 30-40 minutes until the crust is a deep dark brown on top. When its finished cooking, remove it from the oven. If you have the willpower, allow it to cook for about 15-30 minutes before turning it over onto a plate.

This was rated a 10!  I mean, how couldn't it be!

Mileage Monday

Running stats for the week of May 30th - June 5th... so my Mini Marathon Training started up this week.  After my first run my legs were so tight I didn't want to run anymore.  However, I know that getting out there and running again will help loosen them up and make things feel much better.  Right now I'm in that stage where it still takes some effort to get myself off the couch and go run in the 90 degree weather, but you all will be pleased to know that I have stuck with my training plan so far :) I was supposed to do a 3 mile run on Sunday, June 5th and my stretch/strength training on Monday, June 6th, but decided to switch them because my left hamstring is aching from planting flowers at my Mom and Dad's house this weekend.  I didn't log huge miles this week, but I'm please with how I did since it is the first week I have actually stuck with my running plan.  Next week I should double what I did this one... HOPEFULLY! 

Sunday, May 29, 2011 - ran 1.32 miles

Monday, May 30, 2011 - stretch/strength train

Tuesday, May 31, 2011 - ran 1.82 miles

Wednesday, June 1, 2011 - ran 2.09 miles

Thursday, June 2, 2011 - ran 2.43 miles

Friday, June 3, 2011 - REST DAY

Saturday, June 4, 2011 - Cross Training Day : stretch/flower planting :)

Sunday, June 5, 2011 - stretch/strength train

Total miles for this week: 7.66 miles

Lessons I've Learned

Throughout Remington's surgery and recovery I have learned so much.  Never in a million years did I think this process would have taught me so many things!

1) Remington is absolutely fine without Dan and I and adjusts quite well to situations.  I have always been one of those people who just could NOT stand to board my dog.  I was always so worried that he wouldn't be okay, that he would be scared, or that something bad would happen to him.  We would do anything in our power to either make sure a friend could come to the house and stay with him while we were gone or take him to a friends house so they could watch him in the comfort of their own home.  However, this process has taught me that it isn't Remington who has trouble adjusting, it's us.  I will still try my hardest be able to bring Remington with us when we go places most of the time, but when we can't bring him and he has to be boarded then so be it.  He'll be just fine!  

2) You know how they say that babies are resilient... well dogs are too.  Even though it seemed like forever until Remington was back to normal, in the grand scheme of things I'm surprised with how fast he bounced back.  It amazes me just what tough cookies they are :)

3) No matter what my Dad says... he really does love Remington.  Throughout the time that Remington was recovering from this ordeal I would often have my Dad call and ask how "our little boy was doing."  This is quite comical, mostly because my Dad pretends that he wants nothing to do with Remington and that he is just a pest. I have always known Dad loves him even when he won't admit it, but to hear him say these things is a testament to his true feelings.

4) Remington brings life into our home!  Yes he does!  Those 4-5 days that we were without Remington while he was at Purdue recovering were the most boring days ever! Okay, I'm not gonna lie, I did enjoyed having a pretty spotless house for a week and not having to take a dog to the bathroom, but I sure did miss the excitment that my big ball of fur brings!  He is what makes life interesting and not so routine!

5) Not that I didn't already know this before... but I have to add it anyways... he is a huge member of our family! We are so incredibly attached to Remington it is truly hard to imagine our lives without him in it.  There is nothing that I wouldn't do for him.  I think back to when we got him and all the puppies we were looking at and it just seems like God had a plan to put him in our lives.  He is a special part of us and we are thankful for him everyday!

Post Anal Sacculectomy - Day 12 & 13

Day 12

OMG... Remington got sick for the first time after his surgery and I cannot even tell you how gross it was!  I have never seen his puke look like it did or had as much trouble cleaning it up!  I seriously thought that I was going to have a stain on my carpet.  Several rounds of Resolve and 20 minutes later I got the spot out.  I sure didn't expect to deal with that on Day 12... Day 4 or 5 maybe, but Day 12... no!  I'm not sure why it was so bad, maybe it was some of the meds getting out of his system?

Since we have started feeding him regular food again the bowel movements are much better and more on schedule like they use to be.  Big sigh of relief there!  He is still unsure of himself a little bit, but I think once those stitches come out tomorrow he'll feel more normal in that area.  I can't wait because I'm ready to take him on walks again and not be consistantly worrying about him messing up the surgery site.

Tomorrow we visit Dr. Swengel.  It will be interesting to hear what he has to say since he has not seen Remington since before the surgery.  Hopefully he is pleased with how things looked and turned out.

Day 13

We are having great bowel movements again!  Thank you Lord!  Never did I think I would be that person to analyze my dog's poop!  However, last night after Remington had his first really good one since the surgery I was outside with my camera phone taking pictures to send to Dan.  I know... I'm weird... but this surgery has taken a toll on us and to see something NORMAL come out of him is a HUGE SUCCESS for all of us in the family!  I will admit, I checked around the neighborhood to make sure the neighbors did not see me... (blush)! And... Dan was just as excited to receive the picture as I was to send it.

Right now Dan and Remington are at the vet getting Remington's incusion site checked and stitches removed!  YAY!  He is suppose to call me to tell me how it went.  I'm a little nervous about it... not gonna lie!

Well, just got a call from Dan... our use to be 80 lb dog is now down to 71.5 lbs!  YIKES!  Guess this was a good diet for him.  There were some left over stitches that were removed.  We also asked them to remove the glue that they had put over the stitches, which ended up actually being scabs!!!  They removed both scabs which caused some bleeding and told us to clean the area twice a day with a warm washcloth to stop the scabs from building up like that again.  Here we thought we had done a great job of keeping this area clean.  Sigh... Other than that Dr. Swengel said that everything looked really good and that it looks like the surgery was a complete success!  All we have to do now is keep the cone on his head for a few more days when we can't watch him and then we should be done with it!  HORRAY!  I'm so happy this whole thing is over with :)