Do you remember the lady who used to say, “Walkies!” to let her dogs know they were going for a walk? I do, but not her name, unfortunately.

 

So I looked her up.  Barbara Woodhouse was her name.  It always lifted my spirits/vibration to hear her exclaim, “Walkies!” She sounded so delighted that she was going to get to take her dogs for a walk.

 

Dog Walking When the Dogs are Pullers

 

I don’t have dogs now, but I occasionally dog sit. One of my regulars is a small breed chihuahua mix whose name is Kali; the other is an English Pointer named Sky. Kali and Sky would both disappear in a blur unless they’re tethered on a leash outdoors, and both are “pullers,” but naturally the wee one is easier to control by far!

 

Kali

 

Sky

(She looks at me from the side because she is developing cataracts in both eyes)

If I stood on a skateboard (if I could do so ably!) when I walk Sky, the pointer, we’d be down the road at warp speed. She thinks she’s an Alaskan Malamute, I think. She’d be ecstatic pulling a sled. So, every time I get her, I have to fashion a “restrictor” using her leash. I loop part of the leash around her middle, back by her hind legs, and when she pulls, I lift her back legs off the ground just enough to keep her from using them and say, “Sky, slow down.” Usually it takes three, two-mile trips to remind her what “walking a dog ” (as opposed to “pulling a person”) is supposed to look like. I burn a lot more calories “walking” (being dragged by and correcting) Sky than I do otherwise, covering the same ground. I wonder if my Fitbit will pick up on that. I bet it will tell me I’m “in the zone” (fat-burning) a lot longer, for sure!

 

With Kali, I just let her pull because she is in no danger of pulling me over. Or I carry her.

 

I plan to take Kali biking this summer while I’m watching her. I let her owners know that I wanted to get her a sling thing that I can wear in front of me when I ride (if that was okay with them — and it was!) and then asked for her weight and length, but they said they’ll buy the contraption, so I sent them the link. That’s great news, because they can get her used to it before they drop her off for two and a half months in late May. She will be accustomed to being carried that way instead of it being something new to her. They’re elderly folks — okay, even “elder-lier” than I am! — so they won’t be riding bikes with her, but that doesn’t matter, as long as she’s accustomed to the feel of being carted around in front of, or behind, somebody’s body.

 

In Other News… 

 

My Fitbit stats for January 10 through 16th are as follows:

11,978 average steps per day (wow!), 83,848 steps total.

39 floors

36.56 total miles

2,373 average daily calorie burn

727 total active zone minutes

5 of 5 days of exercising

8 hours, 36 minutes of average restful sleep per night (2 hours and 22 minutes lower than last week)

5 of 9 hours average hours with 250+ steps (same as last week)

56 average resting heart rate (one beat less than last week)

Last week’s badges:

 

Penguin Walk Badge for attaining 70 lifetime miles since getting the Fitbit on Dec. 24th 2021 (Heavy snow and freezing temperatures arrived that day so I didn’t venture out for more than ten days after that; I don’t remember the exact day I started the Fitbit routine, unfortunately.)

Red Sneaker Badge for walking 20,000 steps in a single day

Orange Sneaker for walking 15,000 steps in a single day

 

Betty White Life Celebration 

 

On Monday, Lisa and I drove to Ruston to attend the Betty White 100th Birthday Celebration, which of course ended up being a life celebration, since she passed away on the last day of 2021 just shy of her 100th birthday (but discounting the extra day in Leap years in which she was alive, she actually made it to 100, so there!!!), It was uproarious, and even more poignant than it would have been had she lived to see her century birthday.  It was filmed before she passed — some of the interviews were obviously done years and decades ago, because a number of the celebrants have also since passed (Alex Trebek, Carl Reiner, and more) — but celebrities’ tweets noting her passing kicked off the show, so it was minimally updated over the past couple of weeks. It was fun and touching. I hope it comes out on DVD so I can buy a copy and revisit it from time to time.

 

I wrote all weekend for one of my clients

 

I wrote two scripts and a blog post (and half of another one) for one of my clients over the weekend. It was a lot of fun. I love, respect and admire this client. I wish I could let you know who it is, but I’m under an NDA (non-disclosure agreement), so I can’t. But the individual is high profile and is delighted with my work. I can’t ask for any more than that!

 

One of my sisters will be flying to Arizona for almost a month this coming Monday. I’m taking her to the airport and crossing my fingers that she stays Omicron-free during her annual “snowbird” vacation.

 

I’m Changing My Diet a Little

I’m altering my diet a little to incorporate Greek yogurt (with live probiotics) and kombucha tea (prebiotics) and a few other gut-flora-enhancing nutrition into my system.  I’m not having GI issues per se (other than the one caused by having my upper intestine bypassed in 1977 to help me lose weight) but I’m not losing much more weight despite the recent significant increase in exercise.

 

Yes, I’ve always been an easy keeper metabolism-wise, but I want to see if I can change that some by seeing if I have a “leaky gut”. What I’m introducing to my diet should repair “leaky gut”, if I have it, and then the toxins and stuff that is leaking into the rest of my body can go out where it’s supposed to, thereby reducing any toxic load I might be carrying outside my gut to reduce inflammation and make my baseline better.  If this works, I will start losing weight naturally without doing anything more than I’m already doing. During the spring, summer, and fall I exercise a lot (biking, walking and pickleball) but during the winter (with COVID so prevalent) I’m walking outdoors a lot, as weather permits. As long as I stay as active as I am, I ought to keep losing weight, although I realize I’m also building muscle, too, which weighs more than fat.  I’m perfectly healthy; I’d just like to lose the loose part of me between my panniculectomy line and my chest masculinization line. There’s extra flab there that I would like to see go bye-bye naturally. (No cosmetic surgery for me.  I hope I’ve had all the surgeries I will ever have now!)

 

Cougar is Another of my Spirit Animals

 

Lisa tells me Cougar is another of my Spirit Animals. Well, that makes perfect sense to me!!!  I’m glad to hear it!

Me with Cougar Poppy June 1979

 

What?!  Cat got your tongue?

Some of my best friends have been cats!

(Demetrius bobcat kitten above. Deaken serval son below)

Dreyfuss

Natasha (Shambala.org)

 

I guess that’s all the news that’s fit to print for this time. Have a DE-lightful day!