Eddie Can Play

Ed and I now go to the dog park so often, and I see so many funny and interesting things, that I can't even write about it. But today was different. Today, Eddie finally began to play with other dogs.

He ran with, chased, and was chased by all kinds of dogs. And when a thug would bully a more timid dog into submission on the ground Eddie would haul ass to get over there and bark at and challenge the thug. Other owners noticed what he was doing, too.

Since our first day, Ed has 'not liked' a few dogs instantly. And for those dogs he does not like, if they want to come over to my bench or table for a pat on the head, Eddie blocks them away. He does this for any dog he doesn't like for any other person sitting at my bench or table. Luckily, though, he approves of most dogs and allows them to come get a little pat or two.

I'm feeling it, and really resisting the urge... I'm wanting another dog. A smallish dog, with shortish hair. One that is sweet and obedient and does not need 3 yrs of dog training at the local training club. And I'm already thinking of names. Uh-oh

Calorie Counting

I awoke to snow for the 2nd day. It didn't snow as much or for as long, but still. 71 degrees on Fri, snowing on Sat and Sun, 60 tomorrow and 70 on Tuesday. Crazy.

I have felt it coming for some time, and this morning while still in bed I decided today would be the day I began counting calories. My daily goal is 1500-1600 cals, and to move more. For Christmas I asked for and received the Biggest Loser Wii game, and after a wee wii lesson from Carcass B I began the BL journey. The light warm-up, routine, and cool down, totaling 30 minutes, took me 125 minutes. My routine included several rests and a laying/lying-down DS Lite session.

Since that experience I had not touched the Wii BL "game" again. I hated it. Today I decided I would do something active, extra, every single day, and decided to try the "game" again. It took me 10 minutes to find it, as my daughter had every single wii game and disc in the wrong cases. Then it took me 8 minutes to figure out how to get it started.

I again chose the light routine, and was determined to NOT STOP TO REST. I'm proud to admit I made it all the way through, excluding the cool down. I know that's not officially all the way through, but the part I completed was done with no breaks. I had a dog on one side of me and a cat on the other during the entire "game", and when I had to lay on the floor the cat nosed all around my face and I couldn't swat him away.

At the end, I was given congratulations because I had burned 28 calories. 28 calories? Are you kidding? I could have burned more by going out and picking up Ed's poop. I could have burned more if I had had a good poop myself. Right now I am still tired and hurt a little. I hope I rarely have to resort to this "game" for my activity.

At caloriesperhour.com I calculated I would burn about twice as many cals per hour of hiking over an hour of walking. Now that we're on DST I will have time to get in at least an hour at TM after work, on good days. At my weight I can burn a good 400-700 cals per hour, depending on my route and speed. That certainly beats 28 cals for 18 min on the "game", plus it doesn't make me angry. The next time I want to complain about screaming kids and their ineffective parents, I'll just remember that I could be doing the "game". That should calm me down.

I'm through eating for the day, and according to my careful calculations, have consumed approximately 1218 cals, so am having 200 cals worth of real Sprite. I have been off Pepsi since Jan. 5th (which also happens to be the day I first played the "game") and have used small ice and some Sprite to help. And after making a commitment to eat better and move more, the Sprite just doesn't taste quite as good. But I'm drinking it anyway.

71 degrees --> SNOW

71 degrees around 4 pm yesterday, and today I awoke to snow, a lot of snow. It snowed til around 2:30 pm or so, and covered everything. Here is a pic of the backyard around 11 am:

Although the roads weren't bad due to warmth yesterday, I stayed unshowered and holed up all day -- because I could!

Finally... Something Interesting

Ed and I went to TM again on Thursday and had a nice strolling-along-the-mountaintop time. I've noticed that the deeper I go, the less bratty the kids are. Too bad we have to wade through them from the parking lot on for a while. The ones that can make it out a ways are either more mature or tuckered out. We saw nothing special.

We also went to the dog park on Wed and Thurs. Ed played a little ball with me, and for the most part stuck close.

Today we went to TM and went half-way up the craggy top, then hooked right on the yellow trail. I noticed about 1/4 way up that I had left my hiking pole in the back seat, so I had to be more careful.  I saw my first and 2nd butterflies, both goatweed leafwings, 2 skimmers (like small dragonflies) and one fly. The mountain is getting active!

We went as far as the rock-climbing boulders then turned around. It was 71 degrees today, full sun, and hot. There were lots of bikers, hikers, dogs, and families. I did find a treasure today -- a rock with fossils that I brought back with me, thanks to the fact that I was not burdened by my hiking pole.

The fossils look like hinged clam shells or nuts or seeds

After getting home, I mowed the front for the first time then took Ed to the dog park again. I would estimate about 100 dogs there. Really, I'm not exaggerating. Poor Eddie, he's really kind of a sissy. He ventures out and wants to be playful, but he keeps running back to me. One big bully dog made Ed sqeal like a little girl once while we were playing ball. I had noticed that dog bullying others earlier. Today I got quite a bit of slobber and general stank on me. My clothes have already been washed.

I felt like I had to do all these things today - TM, mow, and dog park - because tomorrow it is supposed to snow 4-8 inches. Yes, 71 today, snowstorm tomorrow. It can't stick because it was so warm today, but it's still exciting. 

First TM Hike of '10

Ed and I had our 1st hike this year, just over an hour. I was all dorked out with a pole and double water waist-pack. Eddie + pole = no camera. And I'm glad I didn't take my camera, because there wasn't one thing to photo.

We went up the blue to the upper, then headed for Rock City before we were thwarted by too much mud. We saw some teens creating a mud ramp new bike run along the NS gate trail and off to the east. I hope it's safer than the crazy ramps over on the west side.

Although I took 800 mg preventive ibuprofen, by hip was stiff and burning early on. It never got worse, and I was thankful.

I started thinking on the trail about how when I don't see really interesting things, like cool new bugs or reptiles, whatever I do see turns out to be the most interesting. Sometimes that's as lame as tent caterpillars or roly polies. And I thought, what happens when I don't even see those? What then becomes the most interesting thing on the trail? Today, the most interesting thing, other than the teens, were the sloggy muddy spots in the trail. But we had a great time anyway.

Dog Park... Again!

Ed and I went to the park for the 3rd consecutive day. He acted the same today as the other days, never quite playing with the dogs and always coming back every little bit to check in. He pooped twice, but I brought only one bag. At least now I know to check for defects.

There were about 15 dogs in the small dog section. I noticed those little ones have a lot more scuffles than the large dogs.

I must have had his leash clipped to the wrong ring, because as we entered the park a big dog came up and Eddie pulled hard towards it, snapping the leash off. One tag landed near my feet, but I didn't find the other tag until we were leaving. Somehow it had flung way over yonder.

Tomorrow we head for the mountain.

Dog Park Fun

This afternoon Ed and I went back to the dog park. I followed him around until he pooped, which was 6 minutes into our time. I used my own bag. I had a stroke of genius this morning and thought wouldn't it be great if I briskly walked all around the park while Ed played. I couldn't find the pedometer, but thought I'd have fun anyway.

View of part of the park

It would have been fun walking around and watching the dogs run and play, but I felt like a spectacle so eventually sat on a bench. It'll take me a few times to feel more comfortable there. After I chose my spot I showed Eddie where I would be hanging out so he could check back in now and then, and he did.

Today there were more dogs and people - I'd estimate between 50-65 dogs, and the small dog park had about 12-15 little dogs. The little dogs had a little brawl with lots of high-pitched squealing and yelping, and a bunch of the big dogs thundered over to the fence to watch. A little later a few of the big dogs had their own brawl. Ed was not involved.

Bench-clearing brawl

I thought Ed had made a friend with little Rusty, but instead of playing with Rusty, Eddie went over to Rusty's owners standing there and got up close and kept blocking Rusty getting to them. We puzzled over that, then I called Ed and we moved on.

Eddie meeting Rusty

Ed meeting a golden retriever

I enjoyed my time, but it seems like Eddie is not settled in. He roams around and once in a while acts like he is going to play with another dog, then he moves on. He seems to prefer going up to the other people and getting attention.


Eddie and I were model citizens, but I did witness some more lawlessness: a man smoking in the park; two more underage people; and two boys playing catch with a football (not playing catch with other people is a posted rule.) Where are the police when you need them?

I'm a criminal

Today I finally took Ed to the nearby dog park. After parking we headed to the fenced in area, and I quickly counted at least 41 people in there, and about that many dogs. It's a huge area and I was determined to introduce Eddie. Other than relatives, he has not mixed with dogs since his dog-school days. As we approached the gate to the ante-room, I looked for posted rules and found only "No children under 12", "no food, treats, drinks, or smoking" and "pick up the poop" (I'm paraphrasing.) So we entered with confidence.

Ed sniffed around the fencing area, and within 65 seconds he pooped. I read the rules, so I went over and grabbed a plastic bag from the container, reached my hand in the bag, picked up all the little poopy pieces (they were anxiety poopy pieces, which are always a little wetter, smellier, and messier.) I pulled my hand clutching the poopy pieces which were now all mushed together back through the bag so I could neatly tie the bag and properly dispose of it. Uhm, evidently my bag was defective.

I realized my finger felt wet. I didn't want to look, but I did, and of course messy smeary anxiety poop was all over my middle finger. OK, what to do? Thankfully I was wearing jeans,
so I cleaned my finger off best I could, leaving only a small amount jammed under my fingernail. And BTW... there were LOTS of poopy piles in the area where Ed did his business. THOSE owners cannot follow rules.

By this time Ed was way down yonder running beside a couple of dogs. I kept walking along, kind of following him and hovering as he curiously sashayed from group to group. He visited a lot of people, sometimes putting his feet up on them to get them to pet him. I think he was nervous because he couldn't see me. Once in a while he came close enough for me to call his name and he would come running with glee, get a rub on his head and take off again.

I noticed a few underage people. I also noticed one man with a pile of dogs around him, and saw him slyly slip his hand in his pocket and give something to a couple of the dogs. The lawlessness! Why can't folks follow the rules?

I eventually sat at the end of one of the numerous benches, and once Ed located me he would spend some time away then return in 2-3 minutes to check in with me. After a while another dog owner joined me and I met her dog, Toby. We chatted and watched the dogs and the people. It was a lot of fun. Suddenly a St. Bernard, an especially huge one, came over to visit. He was very friendly, clean and soft, and enjoyed being rubbed. He and a few other dogs kept winding around us and the bench, and then I heard a couple of men hollering "ma'am! MA'AM!" and they were looking and pointing at ME.

I turned my head and saw what was happening... the very tall St. Bernard was christening me, directly on my jacket. By the time I saw it, urine was running down my side onto my jeans. Damage was done, so I had nothing to do but laugh. Bernie's owner came running over with a towel for me to dry off with. A towel, because come to find out this has happened before. The next time Bernie ambled over I stood up.

Finally Ed kept hanging around the bench, climbing on the bench trying to get the other lady to pet him, and he didn't go back out and run or play. I took it as a sign he had enough and we left. My fingers are now scrubbed with a fingernail brush and my jacket and jeans are already washed. And yes we are going back and I'm taking my camera. And my own bag.

Why am I a criminal? On the way out I saw a huge billboard-type sign with all the park rules. And there it was - the next to last rule listing all the types of collars that are not allowed in the park. Ed was wearing one of the forbidden collars. The long list of rules was followed by a statement that rules would be enforced by the Tulsa Police Department. Ed and I skulked to the car.