This morning I took Bear back to his home. Becca got back into town late last night, so this morning, I took him on one last walk with Nikki and Jen. Now I’m sitting here in my office (we turned our guest bedroom into an office for me! fance-yyyy!) and I got totally used to Bear sitting on my Flokati rug behind my chair as I worked/played on the computer. I’m so sad! Becca texted me that Bear is whining for me and pacing around. We are buds and we miss each other baaaaaad.
I need to get a dog. I have wanted a dog for years. I guess it just can’t happen until Jake and I can agree on a time when it will work, eh? But can’t you just picture me with a little buddy following me around the apartment? It’s cute little wet nose and all.
Anyway.
I have decided to take it easy on running. I feel like I’m over racing, and over racing has made normal daily jogging unenjoyable for me. I used to pop out of bed and go for a run without planning how far I’d go in advance. I would just do what felt good at the time. Doing so many races makes me feel pressure and stress and obligation to run a certain distance on a certain day, and I honestly haven’t enjoyed running for probably two years because of it. I think I’m going to defer my marathons for the year, and try to get my love back. I guess I just don’t see the point in running 20 marathons that have been crash-trained for, with bad times. It seems like such a weird thing for me to be putting my body through. So I’ve been working out at the gym, doing 3, 4 or 5 miles and doing lots of weights again. I love the feeling of a sore butt or leg muscle. Yep, I love noodle legs.
Did you know New York had an earthquake? I was on the subway when it happened. I didn’t feel a thing.
Anyone reading any good books?
(dogs, room transformations, running, gyming, earthquakes and books. nice post, huh!)
Dogs are awesome. I’ve got a little shih tzu and she’s pretty much my favorite thing ever and she’s the only one in the house that will stay up late with me. Bear is pretty cute.
Aww. Poor Bear. Poor you. I hope you guys figure out the dog situation. They’re a ton of work, and not having a yard is a major challenge, but the rewards are immeasurable. Even when I’m cleaning poop off Gemma’s foot (she manages to step in it like once a week) and The Headless Hound is pining for a phantom mouse or getting me up at 3 a.m. to pee, they make me smile.
I’m reading self-help and psychology books these days. I’ll leave it at that. My freak flag is already at half mast just typing that!
Hooray for room transformations, gym workouts and noodle legs. Boo for earthquakes. What a gyp you didn’t even feel it.
I’m reading The Greater Journey by David McCullough, which is about Americans living in Paris from about 1830 to 1900– all the artists and medical students and politicians who went there to study or relax. It’s really quite interesting. You like Paris– you might enjoy it.
I feel the same way about running. I got sick after my long run and haven’t run since and I feel like what is the point of running a marathon if you can’t do it well and enjoy it. I don’t want to be miserable for the whole thing just because I paid money to do it. The problem with me is that races help me to stay motivated. I should probably just pick shorter races.
I want a dog toooooo! So badly. But so not ready for the commitment or expense. But I totally think you deserve one.
I think your decision about running is a great one. I have hobbies I’ve been told I should make into more than just hobbies, but I’ve always turned the idea down because once something fun turns into an obligation, it’s no longer fun. (I still blame the 8th grade reading program for turning reading into a dreaded task. I’ve been working almost 15 years to change my mindset back.)
I just started Patti Stanger’s Becoming Your Own Matchmaker, which makes me sound pathetically single, but oh well. I’m reading it because I love her advice, think she’s hilarious, and figured…..why not? I read He’s Just Not That Into You four years ago and it changed the way I look at dating and men for the better. I figure if this book helps, awesome, if not, at least it’s made me laugh. And there’s my big justification in trying to make myself not sound so lame…..
I felt the earthquake up here in Boston. Re: books. I read “Orange is the New Black” recently and really liked it.
I just finished reading “The Help” for the second time and absolutely loved it (you should see the movie too!). “Still Alice” and “Left Neglected” by Lisa Genova are also great novels. Anything by Elin Hilderbrand is also fun (and summery! They are all set i Nantucket – jeal). Happy reading
I live 30 minutes from the epicenter and it was nuts, the third floor of my house was a-rockin! Incredibly scary at the time, but now it’s just funny. I was looking forward to getting your take on it from farther away, bummer you missed it! Though the subway is NOT a place I’d like to feel an earthquake.
Puppies are so much work, kudos to you when/if you guys take that leap! You were blessed with more energy than most
I have a Shih tzu/maltese named Nathaniel that needs a new home. I never have much time for him and I feel bad for the poor guy. Plus he chews all my kids toys. I just read bossypants by Tina Fey it was a fun easy read, and it was hilarious
Just finished reading A Discovery of Witches. LOVED it!
dogs are the bomb.
and thanks for your note on mah blog. i hope that piper jane is doing splendidly. i STILL plan to send her something despite asking for your address like 100 years ago.
Me too – see here http://mrsmasonrecommends.blogspot.com/2011/08/very-fetching.html
As for books, just finished Sepulchre by Kate Mosse. V good. Took me a while to pick it up as I didn’t enjoy Labyrinth.
Also I just read the new Dean KArnazes book on ultra marathon running. Maybe one for the Jake-ster?
Other favourites – Eat, Pray, Love. To Kill a Mockingbird. Rebecca. Let us know what you decide!
You should read even silence has an end.. its a true story and soo good! I am also reading a tree grows in Brooklyn right now.. its good and since you live in new York and all you may like it that much better!
Book recommendations:
The Book Thief (awesome book but a little weird when you first start; it is narrated by Death and he makes a bunch of interjecting comments)
The Good Thief (nothing like the above book even though the titles are similar, but a great read. I wished it had been longer.)
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peal Pie Society (also a different narrative style: it is a novel told in letters between various people following World War II; and I like that the discussions arose because of one correspondent’s inquiry about books.)
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake was good, I read that this summer. And I’ve read almost every book in the Sookie Stackhouse series.
I think you should read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and then tell me what you think about it because I’m certain you’ll love it.
I’ve been dodging books for nearly a year since my Piper Jane was born, still attending my “book” club with friends, but bored with all the choices. Or instead of reading, I watched reruns of Mob Wives because the selections bored me.
I’m not in college anymore; I don’t force myself to read past one chapter if I’m not into a book.
However, I fell in love with this book from page one.
http://www.amazon.com/Extremely-Incredibly-Close-Jonathan-Safran/dp/0618329706
@Helen: You know me well! Hehe. I have read that book and I really liked it.
I got a dog last November after obsessing over it for over a year. I’m selfish, cheap, never home – how could I do it?! But I did, and it’s been AWESOME. The key for me was getting an older dog. I knew I didn’t know anything about training a puppy, nor did I really have the time (you have to let them out A LOT)or patience to do it, and besides – older dogs need homes too (see, I’m not a bad person. Right? Right).
Anyway, I adopted Daphne Devereaux when she was 5, and she’s just the best. There were rough stages in the beginning, but even when I hated her (she peed on my $300 rug 5x in two weeks out. of. nowhere.), I still loved her. Anyway, I recommend.
Oh, and as for the earthquake, this was awesome: http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/08/23/7451684-twitter-uses-earthquake-to-mock-natures-wrath-you
Books: “The Help” and “One Thousand Gifts” by Ann Voskamp! Couldn’t (nor did I want to) put either one down. I felt like an addict
Enjoy these last few weeks of Summer!
A Thousand Splendid Suns and the Kite Runner are the best books i have read in a long time they are by Khlid Husseini (not sure of authors spelling)
I think getting a dog is like having a kidster – there is never a “good” time. You just do it.
We have a little chihuahua named Zeus. I told my husband we’d get a bigger dog that he could run with (this is how I talked him into it) and then I came home with this little, 4lb quivering rat-dog. (I didn’t deliberately set out to deceive him. When I went to the pound, I had all intentions of getting a bigger dog to run with, but then I saw Zeus, and couldn’t NOT take him home with me.) And guess who loves/is loved by the dog most of all? Hubster. They cuddle and snuggle and spoon all evening long.
I am the opposite about running. Unless I have a race I’m training for, I’ll blow it off. I need that motivation, I think because I don’t LOVE running all that much. I like the feeling of accomplishment I get when I’m done, but it’s work for me. I need to constantly entertain myself in my head, too. I sing songs (out loud – it embarrasses my husband), I hold my arms out and pretend I’m an airplane, I imagine I’m running away from lions or tigers or bears, oh my!
I’m reading the Game of Thrones series right now. They are not the kind of books I usually pick up, but I’m really enjoying them. I’m also reading a book about compost (oh, my exciting life!) and Born to Run (which I didn’t like as much as I like My Life on the Run, which I go back to a lot to read certain passages).
Some recent favorites:
Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld, Love Walked In by Marisa De Los Santos, and The Girls from Ames
I’m probably behind on the times, considering the movie is already out, but I’m reading “The Help” by Kathryn Sockett. So far so good. I also just finished reading “Cross Fire” by James Paterson. Its really good as well as all of his Alex Cross series, if your into that kinda reading. And I just finished reading “Safe Haven” by Nicholas Sparks – that one is really good if you like him as an author.
You should get a basset hound. They are the best and most loyal dogs ever! Plus they howl and that is just awesome!
Hey Reagan,
This country girl from out west has a city girl question. Please don’t make me feel too dumb after I ask
Here it goes…… Where does a dog “do it’s business” in the city? Is there grass near your building? Do they just go on the sidewalk?
I think I was about 10 the only time I was in the Big Apple and I just didn’t think of such things then.
Thanks for helping a country girl out.
I’m debating on a dog too – such a big commitment!
As far as books, I seem to have a weird trend going on b/c I just finished “among the wonderful” about a giantess, and now I’m reading “the autobiography of mrs tom thumb.” Next up, maybe a biography of PT Barnum?
@ Carolyn – Curtis Sittenfeld is great, “american wife” was good too
Bought the Help but still haven’t read it – too many people gushing over it (but I’m sure when I read it like 2 years from now I’ll love it and feel foolish for being stand-offish about it). Did just finish the Paris Wife and it was great!
I want a dog too! BAD. But Tom keeps talking me off the ledge by reminding me I really don’t have enough time to dedicate to such a big responsibility. Boo hoo, ’cause he’s right. LOOPHOLE: I foster dogs instead, so I get my fix, they stay alive and out of shelters, and families who want to rescue precious animals can find their mates! Win-Win and so amazing (although I do cry every time I have to say goodbye to the foster dog…mostly happy tears!). Also, I’m reading Open right now and it’s fascinating. I don’t even know about or like tennis but Andre Agassi’s memoir / autobiography sucked me right in. Just so ya know.
xoxo
You should definitely get a dog! We have a Maltese who is the sweetest thing ever. You can train small dogs to go on a piddle pad and you don’t need to be running them outside at all hours. We can leave her during the day if we are both gone and she does awesome of course
. She is a carryon when I fly and there are tons of pet friendly hotels and restaurants. Pretty much any restaurant with outside seating accepts dogs. Also, Ralph Lauren makes polo shirts for small dogs and they are adorable!!!
I wholeheartedly second “The Book Thief.” I just finished it, and it’s…wondrous. After reading “Sophie’s Choice” many years ago(magnificent but excruciating), I’ve tended to avoid books about the Nazi regime. In this case I made an exception, and I’m so grateful I did. There are loveable characters, as well as humor. It’s marketed as young-adult fiction, but that designation sells it short.
Reagan, I discovered your blog just a few weeks ago, via AB Chao’s link to “Hairdresser on Fire.” You have a phenomenal “voice” and very special stories to tell. Please keep writing!
Have you read THESE IS MY WORDS? I loved it.
Unbroken. Read it. Do it now.
The Help…yup LOVED it! Also highly recommend Sarah’s Key. And for a few oldies but a goodies…Huck Finn, To kill a Mockingbird (just finished it for the 7th time) and …And the Ladies of the Club. Oh yes…The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I am a voracious reader. LOVE to re-read the classics. Love to read fiction and non-fiction. And am a raging liberal dem so loves me some political words as well. Cannot bring myself to do the e-reader. Read a few on my iPad with the kindle app and one just on my iPad. I NEED the weight of a book in my hand and the cramp I get when I have held one for far too many hours. I love turning all the lights out. Arcading deep into the night with my itty bitty book lite. Plus I love to highlight and stick post-it notes with my thoughts and dog ear and basically show my books how dearly they are loved. I cannot travel with out at least 3. They are like a security blanket for me. I cannot wait for rainy, cooler fall days where I can wrap up in a blanket on the couch with a fire and read read read while chili percolates on the stove…oh wait, you just wanted to know if I read anything good recently. Does Piper like to read?
Run down to the local animal shelter and get one!!! Take 2 -3 classes with it on certifying it to be a therapy dog then you will be allowed to take it to meet Pip and the other children in Bdale. Never knew why you did not have one – will be great for you to exercise with, cuddle, etc Have a walker take her/him out while you are work. Would complete your family – do it!!!!!
Since the title of your post is “I Want a Dog” I’m going to suggest “The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein. A truly great read!
You should definitely get a dog. That way you have someone else to cuddle with whenever Jake is being a poo-head.
Dogs are the absolute best. My husband is a rocket scientist, and travels a lot so he never had pets, although he wanted them. Really wanted them. After 5 years of long distance dating i finally packed up and moved to him. 4 days later we had 2 kittens and a puppy. 10 years later the puppy is 120 lbs and a big gentle giant lap dog. His name is Bear. He is his daddy’s shadow. Yes, he does sleep on the bed with us.
–Mari
@Jake: He’s amazing isn’t he? Try Mike Stroud’s book – survival of the fittest. also awesome. Good luck with the race this weekend xx
Sara’s blog is sweet she is so beautiful! I just started reading “To Barcelona with Love” Have you read it? if not we could read it at the samesies and report…
Read Winter’s Bone and can’t recommend it highly enough. Gave it to a friend after and she finished it in less than a day! And yes- get a dog! I love my furry Monster.