Dog fight & Super Glue

This past week has been a blur. Monday was MLK day which I take pride in celebrating yearly by going to Asheville. I even got some bowls that I have already nicknamed my "Rasta" bowls for their great colors. When I proudly announced to the cashier that I was celebrating MLK day she gave me a really strange look. I mean why can't I celebrate it too? The day was great until I got home in the afternoon and found out that my Grandmother had taken a fall. After some investigation it turns out Grandma was out exercising (yes, she is 92 and still goes daily). She must have tripped and did not even reach out to brace herself. She fell on her face and broke her jaw. Poor Grandma looks like she has been in a war, albeit a war with the pavement and the pavement won. She is doing better now and is able to eat but has had to miss a few days of exercise.

Tuesday started out early 4:45 with swim class at the Y at 6 am, then a quick swim. My swimming is back. I am thankful every time I get in the water that I can swim. I will never take it for granted again. After a quick swim I rushed home and took care of all the dogs and then back out the door for a meeting to prepare for year 3 of Ache Around the Lake. The meeting went well but of course I left with a laundry list of tasks that need to be done in my "free" time. After the meeting I ran a few errands and came home and cooked dinner (yes, in the middle of the afternoon). Also throw in there another trip to the vet with Smokey to check his tail. The stitches are not ready to come out so we get to go back again next week. Then thought about running but had too many things I need to get done, not to mention the huge blisters on my feet. I opted for walking the dogs before I had to take Ziggy for a Pet Pals visit and then jet back down to Spartanburg and train 14 future teams to be Pet Therapy volunteers. Finally back home at 9 pm and crash into bed by 10.

Wednesday morning started with a quick spin, a few things at my desk, a visit to the chiropractor to fix the toes that are rubbing together when I run. After that shoot down to Spartanburg to visit with one of my best buds, Becca, for a long overdue coffee at Barnes & Noble. While there I did look at a few of the self help books and decided that I have all sorts of disorders and that I should be committed. Instead of buying any of those I opted for an anatomy book and a Swiss Ball torture book (core training). Then over to the Great Escape a few pictures taken of me and I was free to rush back home. An hour or so at my desk, a quick walk with the dogs in the woods and back to Spartanburg for a run at the Y - 7 miles in 53 min. Quick dinner and then a swim session and home by 9. Gave the dogs some love and fell into bed again...tomorrow gets better...

Thursday out of bed at 3:50 am - yes, you got it right. Rush to the pool and in the water by 5:05 - swim a quick 2000 before swim class at 6 which I teach so I am standing on the deck and not swimming. Back at home around 8. A few hours of desk work - this did not allow me to get anything really meaningful done but at least feel like I tried. I wanted to do training schedules for everyone for next week so that I would be ahead! Ha - that will be the day. Now for the whole reason I got up so early was so that I would have time to work at my desk and get things done so that I could go riding. Now, I am not talking about on the bike but on a horse. I have not ridden for years but for a large portion of my life riding was a daily activity and lately I have been missing that bond with a horse, their smell, fuzzy noses and quirky personalities. Thanks to one of my neighbors, Christy, I got the chance to ride Oliver the Appaloosa. Thankfully he was calm, sweet and sure footed and gave me a safe ride. Despite the cold weather the ride was such a nice change from my normal day. It was worth getting up early to get done. After the ride I had to take off to go to Anderson and meet with one of my athletes and then speak at a dinner for a group who is raising money for the Anderson Cancer Association. Fun night, great group and tasty Mexican. But then at 8:30...that 80 mile drive home felt like 200. Finally back at home I was greeted by all the dogs. Feeling guilty for having neglected them all day we had some love time. Just as I was putting them to bed Smokey and Duke had a disagreement that resulted in a dog fight. Now, if you have never seen a dog fight I can only tell you that it is SO scary. I was screaming at them to stop but since Smokey is new that did not work. Smokey is big too and he was not letting go. I had to get in there and get him off Duke which is not something I wanted to do. I was scared. Once he was off he was still growling at me. Smokey made out well with only one little gash in his head but Duke was torn up. It was close to 11 at night so I decided to use my skills that I had learned through too many trips to the vet. I Super Glued the gash in Duke's back closed, gave him some pain meds and some antibiotic and put him to bed. After the yelling and the adrenaline rush I felt like I had been hit by a car. I could not get in bed fast enough.

Friday I slept in, until at least 6:30. I woke up with no voice. I sounded like I had been out in a bar smoking and drinking. My vocal cords were trashed from my screaming fit. My day was packed with things I needed to do but I needed to take Duke to the vet and visit my Grandmother - so my schedule got cleared and I took care of my things. Somehow I was feeling a little exhausted from the last week. I just don't know why???

Today I was going to bike but since the weather tomorrow is going to be so nice I went for a 10 mile run. Last long run before the marathon next weekend and then enjoyed a swim in the pool which they had switched to long course. Normally dread long course but today it felt great. I never realized how much I really enjoy swimming! Tonight I made some Peanut Butter soup, unfortunately it is almost too spicy for me to eat. I know it sounds strange but it is packed with good stuff. Then I made some banana bread to take with me on my ride tomorrow since I am always more apt to eat if I have something tasty. With that I am going to bed.

I hope for those of you who have felt ignored this week that after you read this you will understand that it was not personal! Good night!