Category Archives: Jack

Terrier Approved Tunes

Hello friends, and happy Tuesday! First off, I’d like to apologize for my recent lack of craftiness here on the blog. I know, with my endless ramblings about how much I adore this time of year, you would think that I would be cranking out projects like nobody’s business!

Truthfully, with our own holiday party around the corner (this weekend!), I’ve been in full on planning mode and have (involuntarily) agreed not to start any new projects until I finish those I’ve already started (including a bathroom makeover).

Don’t get me wrong here, I’m not complaining by any means. Our annual Christmas party has become my favorite new tradition over the last couple of years! I look forward to it all year long, and spend weeks leading up adding little touches of Christmas around the house and planning out appetizers and cocktails.

I’m also a very big believer in a really good playlist. You know, one that will put people in a ‘dance a little while I sing the chorus’ mood. I know everyone has their favorites, but I try to incorporate a few lesser known songs to keep things fresh. So, I thought I’d share some of the good ones I’ve come across through my extensive research (which mostly takes place during rush hour traffic), and a few updated classics if you will.

So, feel free to pour yourself a mug of steaming hot chocolate, throw on some festive tunes, and get some shopping out of the way. Or idly browse the internet. Whatever it is you were planning on doing.

While you’re at it, enjoy a chuckle at Jack’s expense! I’ve never seen such a sad reindeer!

I’d love to hear from you! Do you have a favorite holiday song? Happen to like any of these?

*sidenote – these songs are not actually approved by the terrier. He happens to be VERY selective and this is blatant false advertising in an attempt to come up with a catchy title.

Thankful, by Jack.

Happy Thanksgiving friends! Today, I thought about giving you a sappy post listing the things that I’m thankful for, which would (combined with the turkey you’ve just eaten) possibly put you to sleep. Instead, I decided to put a little spin on the topic and give you a slightly more interesting (and entertaining!) perspective. Jack’s perspective, that is. In case you didn’t know, Jack is our Boston Terrier. His expressions and mannerisms are often so comical and human-like (probably not a real term), that I can’t help but think of him as a little person. With a voice. In my head, it sounds like a little British boy, but you can form your own opinion.

So, without further ado, I bring you:

What I’m Thankful For, by Jack.

My bed. It’s so soft and spacious. I’m even so kind so as to allow my parents to use it. So long as they don’t get any ideas about stealing any of my pillows.

My ball. I love it so much, I would never let anything happen to it. Just try to take it from me. I don’t even realize that I have 5 or 6 of these scattered throughout the house. I’ll guard it with my life. Go ahead, just try.

My friends. We have so much fun together, running around in circles, peeing on things, protecting the yard from those dangerous squirrels. They’re even kind enough to look the other way when I show them how much I love them, sometimes in inappropriate ways.

The fact that I finally scared off that pesky weed whacker. Oh, he was frightening. But I haven’t seen him around the yard in months. Surely, he’s learned his lesson.

My undeniable good looks. Sure, it’s not easy being so handsome. People are always trying to pet me and take my picture, but I doubt I would get as many free treats at Petco if I wasn’t so easy on the eyes.

Grass. Because it allows me to scratch that spot on my back that my paws just can’t reach. Oh, doesn’t that just feel heavenly!

Turkey. Any human food really. My, I’m starting to get sleepy. It must be that tryptophan I keep hearing about. Or the fact that I’ve spent the day chasing after anyone holding food and turning on the charm to get table scraps.

I hope you enjoyed reading about our little bundle of joy! Do you have a pet? If you could guess, what would you say they’re thankful for?

The Terrier Has A Pawty

Last weekend, Jack turned 5. In case I haven’t already cemented myself as a crazy dog lady by incorporating my dog into my blog name and posting pictures of him regularly, I threw him a party!

I’m really not as insane as this makes me sound. You see, all of my friends have adorable dogs of their own..and it’s really just an excuse spend some time with friends while the dogs play in our fenced in yard. Complete with pupcakes and favors consisting of mason jars filled with dog treats. Luckily, most of his friends were able to make it! Including his longtime pal, Oliver! You might remember their trip to the beach.

And, for the first time ever…a girl! Jack was rather taken with Maggie. He doesn’t get out much.

Cousin Coco loves a pawty! And pupcakes.

Jack and Oliver patrolled the yard for suspicious activity. Obviously, that neighbor unlocking his car poses quite the threat.

Maggie decided to take a break from those rowdy boys.

Oliver established his dominance by overpowering the largest member of the pack.

The largest member of the pack being Brewski, who weighs more than the other guests combined.

Jack and Maggie were inseparable (involuntarily on her part).

So much so, that it made cousin Coco uncomfortable. He’s not going to be the third wheel to this party.

In the end, a good time was had by all!

I love seeing him have a great time with his friends! It’s so funny to see their distinct personalities and how they interact with each other. It also made me realize that we have quite a ways to go in the manners department.

This is where I got the pupcake recipe, which was quite the hit! I used the same recipe to make cupcakes, which made things easier in terms of frosting and serving.

An Overdue Yoga Update

First off, I’d like to apologize for my inconsistency with these yoga posts. Surprisingly enough, I’ve actually been doing the exercises consistently but my progress in the book seems to have stagnated. Truthfully, there’s a bit much going on right now and I haven’t quite gotten around to reading the third chapter. This might take me longer than the intended 6 weeks. Nothing wrong with tweaking something to suit your lifestyle, right?

And by ‘doing the exercises consistently’, I mean about 75% of the time. I understand most people may have a different idea of consistency. Sometimes I choose the extra 20 minutes of sleep (often involuntarily by sleeping through my alarm).

Ready to hear what I learned in lesson 2?

Exercises:

In addition to those laid out in lesson one, there were 6 more exercises introduced in lesson two. This became a little much for me to keep track of and I found myself spending a good portion of time flipping through pages, re-reading directions, missing steps. I decided the sensible thing to do was to make a cheat sheet. Everything on one page, in a Word document I can add to as I make my way through later chapters. I’m big on efficiency.

As Indra promised, the poses did become easier as I continued to do them… AND…wait for it…I managed to maneuver myself into an actual lotus pose!! In case you’re not sufficiently impressed, this is what it looks like. Right. And it was painful as hell! Don’t let the serene expressions of the individuals in the Google image results fool you. They’re obviously all double jointed or something.

Neck Stretching

Diet:

According to the book, the yogi way of life consists of more than contorting yourself into pretzel form. In the previous lesson, Indra promised us a ‘lengthy discussion’ on food regimens. And a lengthy discussion it was! Most of what was discussed shouldn’t come as a surprise to most of us that have not lived under a rock for the last couple of decades. Eat more fruits/vegetables in their natural state, avoid saturated fats and foods that are processed or contain added chemicals.

While most of us know this to be true, this is easier said than done. Realistically, I’m not going to be able to maintain a diet free of all saturated fats, processed foods, and bleached flour. I can, however, agree to a compromise. Small steps, you know.

So, this past weekend, I was in the frozen food aisle picking out a couple of Lean Cuisines and Smart Ones (don’t judge, they are convenient to take in for lunch and save me from having to spend extra cash buying lunch). I was poking around for a flavor I didn’t dislike AS much…and in a wildly bold move, decided not to buy any. Suddenly, it didn’t make sense to buy something I didn’t particularly care for that I could easily recreate with probably 10% of the sodium. So I left the frozen foods aisle, with not so much as a package of Lean Pockets. Instead, I decided go get a little adventurous with produce (as in, bought Brussel sprouts).

A couple of diet tidbits I found interesting and noteworthy –

Drinking room temperature water and never during meals. I guess iced water inhibits proper digestion. If you can see yourself drinking room temperature water in mid August at least half an hour before or after eating, more power to you!
Warming up or reheating meals with fat or oils in them renders them more indigestible with each reheat. Good to know.
‘Milk is a food, not a drink’. I would have to agree. I guess this makes coffee a perfectly acceptable breakfast.

There were also sections devoted to rhythmic breathing and meditation. I continue to fail at meditation. For some reason, my mind doesn’t stay still. I’ll let you know how that works out.

I’ll stop with the babbling now. Let’s be honest, most of you are here for photos of a dog on a yoga mat…and I would hate to disappoint.

Meditation

In case you are sick of seeing photos of a dog on a yoga mat, I thought I would take this opportunity to share some photos taken on a recent walk! I’m learning to use the manual modes on my camera a bit more in preparation of our upcoming trip.

How pretty are these clouds?

Think my photography skills have improved at all? My first post featuring nature photography can be seen here!

Yoga For You – First Update!

So, remember when I told you I was going to read this yoga book? And do what it says, and then tell you about it? And I bet you think I forgot all about, right? Well, I didn’t! I’ve actually been keeping up with it! Or the first chapter, at least.

With that, here is a summary of the first lesson (plus my commentary/experience!) The chapter focused on instilling the very basic fundamentals of yoga. You know, breathing and stuff.

I find it easiest to absorb information in lists. So, a list of ‘main points’, if you will.

Waking Up: The first thing Indra tries to teach us is how to ‘wake up properly’. This involves doing a series of stretches and a few yawns to allow your body to fully awaken before actually getting out of bed. She mentions that animals can serve as a good example of how to do this. Unless in a state of alarm, they never jump up but yawn and stretch for a few minutes to fully awaken. And here I thought Jack was just being overdramatic about being woken up too early. This is a little different from what I’m used to. I usually lunge out of bed at the first sound of the alarm as though it’s one of those race cannons. The first two days, I did just that and had to remind myself to get back into bed and stretch for a few minutes.
Deep Breathing: Although this may seem like common sense, it’s actually one of the things most people find to be one of the toughest about yoga. Since breathing is something we do so instinctively, it’s difficult to be conscious of it. After all, it’s not like you’re going to stop doing it if you don’t think about it. Deep breathing means being conscious of your breath and drawing the air in through the back of your throat and through as much of your body as possible. I can feel you rolling your eyes as you read this. Try it out, let me know what you think! I find that it kind of calms my mind a bit (and according to Indra, cures thousands of ailments).

Deep Breathing

Neck & Eye Exercises: The book recommends that you do these exercises on an empty stomach and without any tight clothing on. I felt it made most sense to try to do this first thing in the morning after the aforementioned ‘waking up routine’. At this point, I’d like to mention that I wake up at 4:30 AM. Long story short, I don’t like to rush while getting ready. So there I sat, at 4:30 in the morning, in my spare bedroom, doing my neck and eye exercises. As you can imagine, I felt a little ridiculous. I mean, I could be getting an extra 10 minutes of sleep, and here I am moving my neck in circles and looking from side to side, and up and down. Surprisingly enough, I felt super awake after doing these! I mean, not a drop of coffee in me or anything! According to the book, doing this every day will decrease my likelihood of developing a double chin! Can’t go wrong there, I guess.

Eye exercises

Yoga Postures: Last but not least, some actual poses! Nothing too intimidating here…no king pigeon or peacock or anything along those lines (not that I can actually do those anyway). Just a few basic poses to get you into the swing of things, including cobra, head to knee, and lotus pose along with some others. Indra promises to kick it up a notch once ‘your joints and muscles become more nimble and flexible’.

As you can probably imagine, this whole routine takes a bit of time. My first day, I only allotted about 15 minutes of my morning routine to try to get through this, which wasn’t enough considering I don’t have the routine memorized and had to read through the book as I went. So, I gave myself a little more time the next day and got through the whole routine.

In terms of results, nothing earth shattering as of yet. I did notice that I feel more awake than I normally do before a cup of coffee. As cliché as it sounds, after a couple days, I noticed a certain sense of calmness. Things didn’t seem to bother me as much. I didn’t become as irritable in traffic, or as impatient while waiting in lines. I don’t know, maybe it’s some sort of placebo effect.

Next week, you can expect a ‘lengthy discussion on the issues regarding food regimes’ and a half headstand. Yikes.

Meanwhile, someone appears to be in a foul mood. He is seriously pouting in every picture.