It rained last night.  A lot.  Sometimes there was thunder which is something that always gets little Katie going.  Where Bonnie (the sister sheltie Katie never met) would tremble and cry, then curl up in the smallest possible ball and wait a storm out, Katie takes it on.   She squares her shoulders, plants her feet and barks hysterically at the ceiling or the window, wherever she feels the danger might be coming from because she’s got a family to protect!  Nobody in this family got a lot of sleep last night.

This morning Katie and I did a bit of walking around the yard.  We got completely drenched.  Katie’s fur does the prettiest thing when it gets wet.  It gets curly! (click on the picture to make it bigger so you can see her curly fur!)  This is the closest she wants to get to a bath!

But what I really wanted to talk about was a different kind of ‘coming clean.’  The one where you’re honest about what’s really happening.  I need to tell you how it’s going with two commitments I’ve made; one is to do 30 minutes of exercise for 30 days, and the other is to write at least one letter a week every week from sometime in March (I can’t remember the exact date) until Memorial Day.

I’m happy to say the letter writing campaign is still going, though it’s become more difficult to find people to write to as the weeks go by.  I still have some ideas though and should be able to finish this challenge.  If I get a letter out today that is.  I made Wednesdays my letter writing days…but recently it’s suddenly been Saturday and I realize I have to write to someone RIGHT NOW!  Still it’s been fun.  And I’ve been using some lovely cards that Bree at “Wipe Your Paws” made for me.  They are one of a kind and I’m sure people love to receive them!

The 30 minutes for 30 days commitment?  Not going as well.  For the first 10 days I managed to get myself outside to walk at lunch or weekend mornings.  Then the world seemed to get in the way.  Horrible weather, crazy work days, lack of motivation seemed to overwhelm me.  I missed one day, and committed to adding an additional day on the back of the 30 days.  Then I missed another day.  I tell myself there are no excuses.

Now I’m working on convincing myself that a day lost should not sink the entire program.  Just like a diet, when you fall off the wagon the worst thing you can do is give up completely.  So maybe I need to make that goal a bit smaller, so that I can achieve something and not beat myself up so much.  I remind myself that in dog training we set tasks simple enough so that the dog can be rewarded.  We try not to set the dog up to fail.  That positive reinforcement works better than negative talking.  What works for my dog should work for me, right?

So I need to figure out a way to get myself into the habit of daily exercise with smaller, baby step tasks, so that I gradually make exercise a priority in my sometimes hectic life.  Any suggestions?  I welcome all ideas!

Meanwhile, soggy Katie and I are going to make time for an adventure this Easter weekend.  We hope all of you  have time for adventures too!