I've been really slacking with my blogging, and I wanted to find a way to get re-motivated to blog more. An awesome friend of mine decided to start a summer blogging challenge and I decided that was the perfect opportunity to get me back on the wagon. One of the first choices of topics that were provided to us was talking about our furry friends and anyone who knows me knows how much my furbabies mean to me, so of course I chose to talk about them. My life would be empty without having a furbaby to share it with.
I currently have 4 furbabies, 2 dogs and 2 cats and everyone of them is a rescue animal. Adopting a pet is so much better than buying one at a pet store or through a breeder. You get the most appreciative, sweetest animals that will devote their loyalty to you for the rest of their lives.
Out of our current furbabies, Bandit was our first. We found him as a baby on craigslist and were afraid he would be chosen for dog fighting based on the possibility of the breeds he was mixed with. We got him at 8 weeks old, and he was the best puppy and continues to be the best dog I have ever owned. He is sweet, well-behaved and so tolerant of other animals. He has loved every animal he has ever been in contact with and tries to be their best friend immediately. Bandit wants to be loved constantly. He is always happy to see us, and always has a smile on his face.... yes, he actually smiles, but beware of his tail, it is like a whip when it hits you. Bandit's favorite place to go is our local brewery. We will take him around the park for a walk, but he doesn't completely relax until he hits the brewery's front door. It's his Cheers. At 6, he's starting to calm down and mature a bit, but he still goes crazy when he meets new people. If you ever have the opportunity to encounter this awesome lovebug, you will fall in love with him immediately.
The cute little pup in this picture is Bandit's true best friend, Tucker, who was killed by another dog last October :*(
The way Evee found us is a pretty interesting story. One of my officers was inventorying some property from an arrest the night before and a tiny kitten came scurrying out in our evidence barn. He was tiny and full of fleas and at that point, we thought he was a she. We bathed her/him with Dawn soap and I was going to temporarily foster her/him until another foster was available. That thought lasted all of one night and we fell in love with this 3 week old wild child. She was donned the name Princess Dawn Evee Mcgee.... dawn for the dish detergent, evee for evidence barn and mcgee for the officer that found her/him. By the time he was going to get spayed/neutered it was realized that Evee was a boy not a girl. At 2, Evee is still quite the wild child, but he is also a huge cuddler. He loves to crawl up on your chest when you're lying down and get some petting from you; but don't pet him for too long because within a few minutes he will grab your hand and start attacking you.
Vader and Jasper are our newer rescues. We've had Vader for about 6 months, and Jasper less than a week. Vader is a sweet older cat, 6 years old, with a pretty sad story. His owner died and he was surrendered to a kill shelter. Luckily, our local humane society pulled him from the shelter and we adopted him. Within a week, he had been living in four different places. He took quite a few weeks to become comfortable in our household, but once he did he quickly established the dominant role. He can be quite crotchety with the other animals and smacks them if they get in his way (luckily he has no front claws, so he doesn't hurt them LOL). Most of his time he spends meowing to either be pet or to get a treat. He's a very vocal cat :)
And of course, our newest rescue is 2 year old Jasper. As we've only just got Jasper, we are just learning his quirky personality. He's a very playful pup, and is a bundle of energy. He loves Bandit, and really couldn't care less about the cats. He's very quickly falling into our typical routine and is a very likable boy. He can't stand to be alone and will follow us everywhere around the house. He's just as much of a lovebug as Bandit is and loves to meet and kiss everyone.
This probably my longest blog post ever, LOL, but I absolutely love my furbabies. They are like kids to me, especially as my human kids are almost all grown. I couldn't imagine my life without these cute babies to share my love.
When I first started running many years ago, I stuck to the treadmill, running only on my lunch hour. It was basically a way to lose weight and become more fit, I hadn't yet found the correlation to my mental fitness. As the years went on I started running outside, on the streets, on a path during my son's soccer practice, whenever I had time, knowing that my sanity almost depended on it.... and then I started running on trails in the woodsy atmosphere of nature.
I first started running on trails just as something to change the monotony of road running, but it didn't take long to realize that running on trails is nothing like running on roads. First off, there is a physical difference. It's softer on the knees, but a little rougher on the ankles and you definitely need to be more aware of the path you are running so you don't trip or roll your ankles. On top of the physical difference, I noticed a definite sense of calmness when I was done running that I didn't always get during my road runs.
