I was going to do the dog post I promised today but I don’t have a after photo to post. I am not about to wake up my sleeping dog to take a picture of Him.
I was so tired and sore after walking the dogs for 4 hours on Saturday and Sunday, I had to take some muscle relaxers last night. I fell asleep watching TV and woke up about midnight, not rested but unable to go to sleep. I have too much to do today to go in and I start in my regular position on Tuesday. A couple of you commented on my post the other day about their dogs pulling on the leash and it was hard to walk them. The Humane Society uses a leash call the Weiss leash, which helps quite a bit. Here is a link that describes how they work. http://www.puplife.com/products/weiss-walkie. When your dog pulls on the leash you just stop until He does then reward Him with a treat. He will soon get the idea not to pull so hard on the leash. This lease is not made for small dogs.
I did my laundry this morning, will try to finish this post,catch up on the blogs I follow then back to bed. I just get used to using the reader now there is a box that pops up that says take me to the original post, another step in what was a quick way to catch up. Is this something I did or is everybody having the same problem ?
The upcoming holidays, I wanted to get this out of the way, because a couple of post have come up already. Before I start I don’t want any pity comments on this, I despise them and that is not the purpose, If you do give me a pity comment I will just delete it.
I used to get a big kick out of the holidays but not anymore, I am an unofficial Grinch. You have to realize that spending these holidays all alone can be very depressing. I resolve this by eating my little waist off. On thanksgiving I go to Ihop and eat all the stuff I normally wouldn’t, put on a pound or two then diet them back off.
Christmas is kind of weird even for me,I enjoy listening to Christmas songs and even sing along with them, out loud when in private or in my head in public. This one depresses me the most bring up way to many good memories. Normally for this one I get a motel room for two or three days, disconnect from everything on the web and once again eat way to much. This time I hit the buffets and dig into pies and ice cream.
The reason I wrote this is the closer they come the more stories you will write about them. I wont ignore your post but my comments will be kind of lame because I don’t want to ruin the holidays for anyone else. During Christmas I will probably just disappear for a few days from this site.
I am also someday going to start another blog that has to do with something that is important to me but I think only a couple of my friends would befit from it. I know this is crazy, I can hardly keep up with this blog.
One last thing I still am loosing followers again. If you have caught up with me and I haven’t caught up with you in 36 hours let me know. You can just email if you prefer at xbox2121@yahoo.com. If you haven’t caught up with me I am probably just ignoring you until you do. I am done jabbering onwards to catch up then hopefully back to bed.
Xbox2121's Random thoughts and ramblings 
http://blueangelwolf.wordpress.com/2013/11/11/radient-body-asking
The holidays are just one more day. I think you will find spending time with your own dog and the ones at the shelter will help. What will be your job when you start? My fur faces send you a hug.
Jane
I will be working with the team that asses dogs on their strengths and weakness, type of home they would best fit into, determines the breed as well as other things. I like this are because I have always been curious about it. A volunteer can actually become certified to do this else where and normally after about a month of training 3 days a week they turn you loose to do all of this by yourself. This is also one of the few scheduled jobs there. If you don’t show up when you are scheduled three times they fire you as a volunteer. The last final reason was this position allows the volunteer to do more and gives more responsibility than any other post they have there.
You’re not the only one who finds Christmas difficult. I think for lots of people, even those surrounded by family, it can be disappointing and filled with family politics, disagreements and inflated expectations. I can remember when I first left home for the UK at the age of 20. It was my first Christmas away from my family and by far the best.
What’s your new blog going to be about? I’m curious.
Christmas sucks, I can say it on my post 🙂 I knew curiosity would get one of you. It has to do with my struggles to switch from vegetarian all the way to vegan and struggling I am 🙂
Ooo, I would like to follow that blog. I am half-way between the two as well. That’s why I call myself a plant-eater. I eat vegan whenever I can but it’s not always possible. I think eventually humans will mostly eat a plant-based diet and when that happens, it will become easier and easier to avoid animal products.
I think the best approach is to not be hard on yourself. Stick with what you believe in but don’t be militant about it. That’s my philosophy anyway.
Thats what all the vegans I know call themselves are plant eaters. This one little link from a blog I follow made me change my whole way of thanking about dairy products. It wouldn’t let me copy the link, if you are interested it is number 5 on this post: http://honkifyourevegan.com/2013/04/24/7-tips-for-giving-up-dairy/
I don’t consume dairy products already and I find it quite easy to abstain from them. It’s eggs that I still eat. When I breastfed my children I decided dairy was just not on. The worst thing you can do to a new mother is take her baby away from her and that’s what we do to cows. We take their calves away from them so that we can consume the milk that is specifically designed for their calf.
When I was a new mother, I imagined having my infant taken from me, and then my milk taken to nourish a different species and it made me feel sick. I also don’t think mammals need dairy products beyond infancy. They are designed for an infant to put on weight quickly and bulk up. They’re not meant of over-fed adults in the Western world. I think this is also why I don’t have problems staying thin. Dairy makes you fat.
I agree with everything you say about milk Rachel. Women in this country just don’t breastfeed much anymore, I believe it is less than 20%,even with breast pumps and all they just find it to inconvenient. Dairy products are indeed fattening. Because I am a calorie counter I actually have problems getting enough fat in my diet. I easily replaced milk with a soy milk sold in the local grocery store, it cost twice as much but I only use it for my protein shakes. The eggs and cheese shouldn’t be a problem I will eat what I have then replace then with vegan burgers. The hardest thing I will have to give up is my whey protein which has 30 grams of protein for 150 calories and my Greek yoghourt which has 24 grams for 120 calories. Dairy food is also loaded with saturated fats, something I have to stay away from. You are 98% vegan now. Is it just you or are you introducing your whole family to it ? Do you use the eggs to eat or to cook with ?
Soy milk products in the UK are very good. Even the soy yoghurts here are delicious. Although I don’t consume any dairy at home, I’m not militant about it when we go out. For instance, I love Cornish pasties and although I always get the vegetarian ones, I’m not entirely sure whether the pastry has dairy in it or not and I don’t ask. I will also occasionally eat pizza in a restaurant and I don’t ask them to skip the cheese. I just eat it as it comes.
My family are not vegan but because I do most of the cooking they tend to eat what I eat. The children do consume a bit of milk. I tried to get them into soy milk but it didn’t work. However the soy yoghurts here are a hit so I don’t buy the dairy ones anymore. I have also found some excellent vegan ice-creams here so they all eat vegan ice-cream now, unless we buy an ice-cream when out and about. In this case, I am not fussy.
I use eggs in cooking. Pancakes for instance, which we make frequently and cakes and muffins and things. I don’t eat a lot of them and always buy free-range or organic. My kids get to eat chicken once a week too but I always buy organic chicken. I would love for them to embrace a plant-based diet one day but I will leave it up to them to decide.
I am surprised you have been able to introduce your children into eating what they are., not an easy task I am sure. One of the vegan blogs I follow fave some sound advice that is is OK to cheat and treat yourself to something non vegan every once in awhile. The vegan yoghourt and ice cream here is way out of my price range 🙂 I do have to start coking again, even if it is a pain to cook for one. I made some pumpkin cupcakes the other day and found out if a recipe only calls for one egg you can replace it with a smashed banana,they turned out fine.
That’s a good idea re. banana. You can also sometimes replace eggs with vinegar. I used to make vegan ice-cream in Auckland because the vegan products on the market were very expensive and not very good. I put my recipe on my blog – http://quakerattled.wordpress.com/2013/06/17/best-ever-hazelnut-ice-cream-with-cointreau-and-its-vegan/
There’s a New Zealand psychologist called Nigel Latta and he has some good advice for feeding fussy children. It is based on the 1972 Andes plane crash. 16 survivors were eventually rescued a couple of months later but not before they had started eating the bodies of the dead. Nigel Latta’s advice is that if you’re hungry, you’ll eat anything. Same thing goes for kids.
Thanks for the recipe Rachel it does look good and I think even I could make it, but I would need to cut that sugar way down, I do have a waist line to watch 🙂 I think you are right that kids will eat anything if hungry enough.
Re new Reader thing – I use the link to original post as I think that is best and also probably counts in hits? As for holidays & celebrations I agree with Jane – it’s just another day but since it’s a “special” day in calendar we owe it to ourselves to make it special to us and so anything goes – even spending it alone
Thanks inavukic I use the link to the original post as well for the same reason, its just one more step which I guess in the grand scheme of things isn’t that bad. Thanks for your note on the special day as well.
If you want to skip the extra step you can click on the bit where it tells you how many words are in the rest of the post. I found the change to the Reader really annoying until I found this out. I still forget to do it half the time so it’s still a bit annoying.
Thanks Sarah I guess it would save one step. I tried something the other day and if you don’t do one or the other or click through to the site the person not only doesn’t get credit for the view, the like button isn’t even pressed.
Hmmm. I do wish WordPress would stop messing with the Reader. Or at least if they mess with it, they could improve it instead of making it worse. 😦
I am also curious about your next post. No pity. Happy eating and dieting
Its about going my struggles in going from a vegetarian to a vegan, I am finding it very hard to give up most of my dairy products.
Although I am not a vegan I have friends that are. I have found that there is a vegan alternative to most dairy products and some I find so delicious that I choose to have them for myself. Mind you they are quite expensive here. I look forward to your new topic.
Most of the alternatives here are very expensive as well, that will be one of my main things to focus on is how to make the transition on the cheap. Just yesterday I found a recipe for yoghourt that even I could make.
Making yoghurt tonight but I am using milk. Will look forward to cheap solutions.
Sounds good, this fixed income thing has forced me into the cheap alternatives 🙂
Liking out of support. Know how it is at the holidays, that’s why I try to focus on their origins. Here’s one especially for us, happy Veterans Day. Thank you for your service.
Thats true and thank you for your service as well !
Christmas (or ‘the holidays’) can be a very weird time. I have some great memories but only be
because I worked at it for the sake of my children to give them a good time as my ex was a miserable so and so. We had our worst arguments at that time.
Thanksgiving was not a holiday I grew up with in the UK so I never had any emotional attachment to it but learnt all about it for the sake of the kids. In fact I’ll be doing a post about one Thanksgiving but not in the way you would expect!!!
I’m so curious about you maybe doing another blog… 😉
Catch up soon Bob 🙂
Thanks Sherri, I used to enjoy the holidays especially when the kids were young, I used to wake then up early to unwrap their presents because I couldn’t wait 🙂
Bob, that is so lovely, you are big kid at heart I can tell 🙂
Don’t tell anyone though Sherri 🙂
Ha Ha! I won’t… 😉
I do not like the new pop-up window. Seems like too many steps and then it pops me back to the top instead of where I was on the Reader list. 😀
It does the same to me cate on my phone but not on my computer.
Sometimes the post makes me go to original post, but often I can’t be bothered to do the one more step and so am stuck in this little letterbox with big writing, as I am now.
Look forward to seeing the new blog.
I am really surprised at how many of you are interested in this new blog Denise. I don’t like taking that extra step of going to the original blog either but then I figured out if you don’t the site you are looking at doesn’t get credit for a view and if you hit the like button and don’t go through the link it wont show up either.
Hi Bob. The idea for your new blog sounds interesting. Keep us posted, I’d like to follow 🙂
Hi Andrea, I will keep you all posted and hopefully this will be my thanksgiving project.
Christmas is supposed to be a happy time, a family time, a season to be merry and of goodwill to all. The souls I really feel for are the forgotten ones …. the children whose parents see Christmas and the New Year as one big booze-up. All the money goes on drink and the children are deprived and often end up as victims of physical and emotional abuse. How those little souls must dread Christmas.
Wow Lee that has to be the comment of the day out of all of the sites I have visited. That actually sent shivers up my back. I never even gave a thought to those little souls would be affected. This is so powerful in my humble opinion if you added maybe a paragraph or expanded on it, you would have a very excellent post. !!!
Thanks Bob. It would be a worthwhile post. Any attention brought to child abuse has to be a good thing. It’s so frustrating here in the u.k. There have been lots of horrific cases and each time, the authorities say it must never happen again, but it always does.
Its the same way here in this country Lee, just watching the local news in my city you see this all the time,but I guess I have turned a blind eye to it. I think its because I don’t feel I can do anything about it.
I often get overwhelmed with that feeling of helplessness, Bob. I have to keep telling myself that if we each do our own bit, however small it might seem, someone somewhere will be helped by it.
I have been out for a week and more. Came back to find that extra step of clicking to get to the original post. Very irritating!!
Good luck with the new blog. I think it might help some folks get out of a rut if they start something new. Instead of having a revolving blog, you would have a evolving blog. lol Or perhaps the blog would just up and dissolve. 😦
That extra step is a pain in the backside, but I am sure you are aware if you don’t click through it the post doesn’t get its view or even like. I don’t have a clue where this new blog will lead me, probably end up giving them both up 🙂
I think one call scroll on that first page instead of clicking on See Original and see all of the blog. Or at least I can. lol
I understand about the giving up. Sometimes I want to just trash it all, then
somebody leaves a really nice comment and I convince myself that my blog is absolutely necessary to somebody else’s well being. 🙂
What lies we let ourselves believe. lol
I was aware you could scroll down to see the whole post but I am unsure if the post gets credit for a view or not. I don’t worry about all of that crap but some track it daily. I agree with you we can let ourselves believe in lies especially in the virtual world 🙂
When I worked at the counseling center around the holidays that used to be our busiest times — it seems there are a lot of mixed feelings around the holidays, and even some who have people all around them still find holidays to be a trial.
Too bad the Weiss leash isn’t for small dogs — our schnauzer pulls a lot on her leash when we walk her and it gets annoying at the very least. She seems to have a mind of her own, and even though she is a smaller dog, she can wear me out. I may try the treat thing, though, and see if that works after a few walks. I hope you really enjoy your position at the humane society once your body gets used to the strain, and I’m still looking forward to seeing a pic of your new dog!
The picture is coming Becky I just need to get a after photo for my post. This dog and the border collie I had both tried to walk ahead of me on a leash and pull when I first got them. This is fairly easy to break. You need to understand if your dog walks ahead of you they think they are the alpha not you. Just shorten the leash so the dog walks beside or slightly behind you. Every time he pulls or try’s to walk ahead just stop until they quit. The secret is to stand your ground the dog may pull hard whine or bark just ignore this. The last part of the process is never let the dog go in or out the door ahead of you. If you make the dog wait they quickly learn you are the alpha and in charge. I know this works because I have trained more than a dozen dogs for other people.
Thanks, Bob, for the tips — we’ll have to try them straightway since our little dog has never been properly leash trained and, even for a small dog, can wear a person totally out and make an otherwise pleasant walk into a pooping, whining, jerking ordeal.
Ah – the “holiday” season lurks. I always get depressed this time of year, so much bat shit nonsense.Being in the hospitality business, come Christmas I’m ready to slit my wrists. Hang in there my friend 🙂
Thanks I always manage to get through it. You watch out as well because of your work
Our ability to “get through” never ceases to amaze me. The human spirit is perhaps the defining quality of our evolution.:)
Christmas can definitely be a hard time! I alienated a lot (ok, almost everyone but my Dad) in my family by choosing someone not of the white race (a Punjabi Indian). Now, most won’t even send a Christmas card in return.
Wow sorry to hear that you would have thought in this day and age most people would be over that racial thing I guess we will always have holdouts