You can’t handle the truth!

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . November 22, 2009 . 4:28PM

Dear Prudence

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . November 15, 2009 . 3:42PM

We have welcomed a new family member this weekend. We got her on Friday and I don’t know enough about her to write her up on the Hooligans page yet, but here she is. Introducing Prudence, also known as Prue!

Walking the dog

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . November 10, 2009 . 10:38AM

For the last several months, I’ve been “off my program.” My program had been eating good for me foods and losing weight. Unfortunately, I’d hit a plateau, and after a month of said plateau, I gave up the fight. It wasn’t a huge deal for me, but I wanted to keep moving forward on my loss. I hadn’t been motivated until Halloween. I saw my Halloween pictures and thought, “Man, I really wanted to be a Merlotte’s waitress this year.” Yes, Brandon would probably classify it as a slut costume, but I love True Blood and I really want to do homage to the show without being a vampire. When I looked at the costume though, I thought to myself, “Self, you clearly cannot wear that costume in your current condition. It’s about that time.” So, yes. I am going to get myself in shape for a Halloween costume. I don’t see that it’s any better or worse than anyone else’s excuse. Besides, I have been working on getting in shape for me for a long time. This is just the added motivation.

My YMCA card had dust on it, so I blew that sucker off and decided to get back to business. Over the weekend, I’d managed to get ‘er done (yes, I just said it-go on and disown me), but after the car fiasco, I knew there wouldn’t be time to workout. My fitness guru and very good friend, Mike, has been yoda-ing me in this go-round and he’d cautioned that I needed a recovery day for my body. So, I decided that a nice, leisurely walk with Reagan would do the trick.

I don’t play favorites with walking the dogs, it’s just that Sophie tuckers out after a block and Molly is so busy sniffing and marking territory that I’d never get anywhere if I took them. Reagan is built Ford-tough. She has tiny legs and some serious muscle in that little weiner dog body of hers. She went with me today for 35 minutes without complaint. We did have some adventures, though.

-We attacked every crunchy leaf in the vicinity of our walk. As the trees are letting them drop like crazy, this amounted to some serious attacks.

-A school bus full of children waved at us.

-Reagan whined at the school bus full of children because she knows that the school bus might mean AJ is there.

-When the bus went past with no AJ, she pouted, moped, and refused to jump on crunchy leaves until I was ahead of her crunchy leaf ratio 10:1.

-We went around a park and found a small stream that I didn’t know existed.

-A car drove past us with a little dog in it that so desperately wanted to make Reagan it’s “friend” that it almost jumped out the window. I watched as it slowly drove past with the dog hanging out the window and the owner laughing so hard he almost let go of the little dog.

-We saw some beautiful fall foliage.

-A LOOSE doberman came running after Reagan. Apparently my horns came out because I yelled at it “NO!” and “YOU GO HOME YOU VERY BAD DOG!” and it literally turned and ran with its tail between it’s legs. Wussy. I must have a fierce angry face. Don’t mess with anything I believe belongs to me. I will ruin you. I don’t care if you have teeth that can tear me apart. I look really mean when I’m mad. And if I see it again I will have no problem calling animal control and letting those people pay to get that dog back. Leash laws are there for a reason.

-Reagan gave me the biggest, happiest face when she saw the front yard. Dogs can grin, you know? We both got our fitness on.

Overall, my walk today was simply breathtaking. It helped remind me why fall is my favorite season. I hope that all of you are spending some time outside just enjoying the scents and beauty of this time of year. I want to take a second and thank Mike, one more time, for the time and effort he has been putting into me. My friendships mean a lot to me and he’s holding me accountable this time and it is what I needed. I’m one of those needy, hard to be friends with people because sarcasm is my defense mechanism, so it really is hard to put up with me on a regular basis. I’m also sensitive, so I take things the wrong way a lot. To be “in charge” of anything I’m doing, especially when I’m such a type-A, has got to be a pain in the butt, so thank you, again.

ASPCA: I need your help

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . November 1, 2009 . 8:50PM

I rarely ask for things on here (though if you are on twitter, I ask for presents all the darn time). Last night, in the middle of hormonal mood swings, wailing, gnashing of teeth, throwing things, hugging people, eating chocolate and watching late night television, I saw an ASPCA commercial. If you’ve not seen one, don’t.

Really, don’t.

I got emotional and upset and hugged my dogs even closer. The truth of the matter is that animals get the short end of the stick quite often. I have three of the most amazing creatures I have ever met and one smart aleck cat who hates me. Animals are important to me and always have been. If you’ve been reading, you saw what happened when I got attached to the chickens. This has been true for every animal I’ve ever had. Except for Francis. Anyway, I know that there are important diseases and people give money to charity all the time. They don’t want to be harassed into parting with their money for something like animal care and prevention of animal cruelty. I can’t explain to you why this is more important than health care or scientific research, except to say that when I’m sad or hurt, my animals help me more than any human I’ve ever met. They soothe me like nothing else. They understand, listen and hug in a way that I need without judgment. Sometimes, the things that seem unimportant in life are the things that get you through when you need it the most.

With that in mind, I’d like to organize a small donation in the amount of $250 for the ASPCA. This is on my heart and if you can give even $1 per person, I’d make this in no time. If you can give more, you help for those that can’t right now. I’m not giving up until I meet my goal, so the sooner I meet it, the less you have to hear about it. Also, if you have an animal that is important to you, I’d like to hear about him or her.

EDIT: I called the ASPCA, as donations were not showing on the widget, and apparently donations do not show up for TEN days. If you email me the amount donated, I will keep a running tally without divulging your name on the post. Sorry about that.

Running tally: $30

No treats from Barack Obama

by Jillian @ http://blueshelled.com . October 30, 2009 . 3:00PM

This dog looks like my dachshund pom mix, Reagan. Don’t believe me? Click that link on the left that says “Hooligans.”

This made me laugh so hard I cried. Dogs are hysterical. Finicky little buggers.