Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: Katie


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Morning routine

Katie and I have a morning routine…work day or not.

She gets me up between 5:30 and 6:00 a.m.  I haven’t set an alarm clock in months and I’m always early to work.  And I get a nice early start to my weekends too!  Her Dad on the other hand says she never gets him up early on those mornings when I’m not at home.  Hmmmm…

Anyway, after we’re up we head for the bathroom where she naps on the floor while I shower and get ready for the day.  Apparently her job is done and it’s time for a little shut eye.

But yesterday morning as we emerged from the bathroom I heard a distant but distinct roll of thunder.  Katie wasn’t sure what she heard and she tensed up and looked at me, ready to take care of any clear and present danger.  I grabbed her thunder shirt and hustled her into it.  I wanted to avoid waking her Dad if we could.

Obviously her thunder shirt does not deter her from eating.  Nothing deters her from eating, and wearing this shirt only emphasizes how model thin she is.  She thinks it shows off her curves very well.

But shortly after breakfast the thunder rolled in for real.  Would the shirt work?  Would Katie feel more secure and less like she needed to defend her home from the marauding weather?

I think not.

Silly girl.


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What make Katie insane?

Lots of things get Katie going.  Sometimes it’s just a bump somewhere in the house.  A belt buckle clattering will set her off.  Have to sneeze?  Try to get outside, away from crazy girl before you do.  Opening the tinfoil drawer?  Don’t even think about it.

But what make the Katie-girl the most ballistic?  Take a look.

And they’re everywhere!


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Time to take a deep breath

Sometimes it’s hard to avoid a downward spiral into deep sadness.   When you’re already feeling down, already witnessing great tragedy it’s so much easier to notice other sad and tragic things in the world.   Sometimes you just don’t notice the beautiful things that are happening at the same time.

So today, though I should be mowing the lawn, I think I will take the camera out into the world and see what I can find that makes me smile.  Katie says she wants to GO MOM!!  I don’t know.  It’s easier to photograph when I’m free to stop anywhere.  But still.  She’s been picking up on my sadness and probably wouldn’t mind a smile or two herself.

Pretty girl.


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Weighty issues

I have struggled with weight for many years.  Took a few pounds off, gained a few pounds plus a few more back.  So in May I finally broke down and joined Weight Watchers.  It’s been OK…I’ve lost 10 pounds, but I’m falling off the wagon again.  The last two weeks have been small gains in weight and I’m discouraged.

This week I really thought I was being good…though I failed to write everything down, and when I do that I know I’m probably eating more than I realize.  But still.  I managed to get out to walk 4 out of 5 work days, and Friday morning when I weighed myself I was down.  I went to bed feeling pretty good about today’s weigh in.

Which is why I was so distraught when I woke up this morning and was heavier by four pounds!?  Four pound?  In one night?  Come ON!

I decided I wasn’t going to go to weigh in, no need to do that when I already knew I was up.  I wasn’t going to sit through a meeting where our leader fancies herself somewhat of a stand up comedian and often just annoys me.  I left the house early, took my WW stuff with me…just in case, and a book to read.  I drove aimlessly looking for a place to sit in the car and read and found myself up at the mall where I used to walk every morning in the days before the full time job.

Well, I said to myself.  I’m here, it’s morning – maybe I can just go for a walk and then I’ll read for awhile.  And maybe eat something really fattening just because what’s the use anyway.  The mall was pretty quiet; not nearly as many walkers as in winter.  I started out and immediately remembered why I enjoyed walking there so much. Energetic music playing, at a tempo perfect for walking, pretty shop windows to look at, carpet and hardwood underfoot.

I did two miles, then hopped back in the car and went to my WW meeting.  Facing reality I stepped on the scale.  I wish I could say I was down, but I wasn’t.  I stayed for the meeting which was  in full swing when I got there.  The topic was not to let little things like the number on the scale get you down and off track.  Today is a new day.  Respect yourself.  Make commitments not excuses.

I was proud that I hadn’t gone off and eaten a fattening breakfast and sulked.  I was proud I walked the two miles and then went to the meeting even though I knew the number on the scale wouldn’t be what I wanted it to be.  I’m glad I mustered the strength not to give in.  Because today’s a new day.  This is a new week.  Next Saturday I KNOW will be a better weigh in.

Meanwhile I think I got a couple pounds off of Katie just by brushing her.  She is not as appreciative of my efforts.


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Adventure dreams

Katie and I need a real adventure.  We need to travel further, maybe stay overnight somewhere, explore new places, sniff new smells.  But all my creative juices seem to have dried up with the heat.

Katie says she’s willing to go anywhere.  She’s always ready to go Go GO! It’s Mama that can’t figure out where we should head.  And when.

We have company coming in a week or so…and he’s staying for three weeks, so really all adventures will have to be after that.  Katie won’t mind, she’ll have more company to play with her, to heap adoration on her pretty head, to jump at her every whim.  But after that?  Well, she’s going to want to go Go GO!

A princess has to be catered to don’t you know.  So Mama here is open to suggestions.  It needs to be somewhere we can get to and home from in a weekend so Mama doesn’t have to spend any precious vacation days that she is oh so slowly accumulating.

Suggestions?

 


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Too hot

It’s too hot for excellent adventures.  It’s too hot to play.  It’s too hot to go on a walk.  It’s just too hot.

So Katie would like to remind all of us that it wasn’t that long ago that we thought it was too cold out to play.  Or go on excellent adventures.

Just saying.


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Katie visits the river

Katie and I went to her favorite park on Saturday, but the grass was burned brown from days of heat,  the air hung heavy with humidity, and the sun beat relentlessly on our heads so we didn’t stay long.  I promised her a better adventure the next day.  One with shade.

Sunday we went down to Ann Arbor and walked in the Arboretum, a place I had enjoyed while I was in school, a place I still visit from time to time, a place where her grandparents, the ones she never met, have a stone marker.  It sits along the Huron River where my Dad used to play when he was a kid. There are lots of trees and walking paths.  It’s a perfect place to explore if you’re a sheltie-girl.

It’s about an hour away from home, and she hasn’t been on any long car rides in awhile.  But she did very well…only crying after about 45 minutes; so we stopped at a rest stop so she could do her…well…resting.  So to speak.

Once we got to the Arboretum parking lot about 15 minutes later she was all excited.  She actually hopped up and down, and most of the time we were there she was prancing.  I don’t know if dogs know when they’re at a totally new place, but she sure had a good time exploring.

We watched families as they went down the river.  You could tell some knew what they were doing.

And some did not.

I took her down near the water, where other dogs had played.  I was curious if she’d be interested in getting her feet wet.  I’ve seen Diana’s dogs crossing rivers and playing in the ocean.  And they’re shelties.

Katie is obviously a “non-water type of sheltie.  She was not going to get her feet wet.  At all.  So I guess my dreams of walking with my dog on the shore of a Great Lake or the ocean and having her frolic in the waves is sort of blown.  Doesn’t mean I can’t frolic I guess.  It would just be more fun with my dog.  Oh well.

We also wandered back into the woods along some paths.

The mosquitoes were a bit much back there though.  So even though she wanted to go up this path, and it does go into a really pretty glen deep in a valley, I said ‘not this time baby-girl,’ and we headed back to the car.

She didn’t make a single noise all the way back home.  Even when I took a back road in order to get some farm pictures and added more time to our trip.   She didn’t exactly fall asleep on the ride home…but her head was sure nodding a lot.

Silly sleepy little girl


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Light on leaves

This morning while out with Katie I saw the rising sun glimmer on the dew of a small redbud tree in the yard.  If you click on the photos you’ll see the shimmer yourself.

Katie knows what it means when Mama says “Katie – let’s go get the camera” and she trotted right back toward the house.  She’s such a good girl.

The tree reminded me of PJ’s blog “Shot in Light” ; I hope she doesn’t mind that I share her blog with all of you.  She has beautiful shots of things in the country.  Go check it out!

Anyway…here is my “light on leaves” offering to you.  Hope you have a mellow Saturday morning.