My Dog, My Sister

When my daughter was two we bought her a puppy. To say that they are close is an understatement. They have grown together, played together and comforted each other. They have a connection. My daughter says they are sisters.

Gypsy is a Golden Labrador.

Labradors are known historically as Duck Hunting dogs. She has been known to catch a few unsuspecting birds in our yard. Her love of the water is insatiable.

For the past 7 years, Gypsy has been solely a yard dog.

Hubby, always a keen hunter, has recently started taking Gypsy out to the Bush with him for walks. She instantly loved the space and the scents it offered. Even though she had never hunted before, she roused a wallaby out on her first run.

Hubby had never considered taking her hunting before.

Gypsy had a history of wanting to go wherever her nose took her, and was not the most disciplined at coming when called.

Hubby also worried that she may be gun shy, in which case she may run at the sound, leaving him searching the bush for hours.

Miss 9 is an animal lover by nature.

When hubby told her that he and Gypsy were going hunting, she jumped up and said she was going too.

Surprised, hubby asked why she would want to go when she hated seeing animals hurt.

Her response was quick and honest.

"I only want to make sure Gypsy doesn't get hurt."

The connection these two have is so gorgeous.

 

Wordless Wednesday - No Matter What .....

    No matter how much they bicker, they look out for each other.
          No matter how much yelling, there is twice as much whispering and laughter.
                No matter where life takes them in the future, they were together through so much.
      

             

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1st Fun Run - City to Casino

Now that I am finally over the experience of my 1st City to Casino, I wanted to let you know....

IT WAS GREAT!

Having never even attended a fun run before, it was exciting, nerve-racking, and exhausting all at the same time.

I entered in the 7km Walk event as part of the Blundstone Corporate team. I was thrilled to be part of this event that saw a record number of entrants this year. The City To Casino raises funds for The Heart Foundation which is such a good cause.

My event started at Cornelian Bay and finished at the iconic Wrest Point Casino in Sandy Bay. If you enter at a walking level, you can walk, shuffle, jog and run to get yourself to the finish line. So, being my first event, I did a combination of walking and jogging (there may have been a little shuffling).

I crossed the line at exactly one hour, which gives me a good and achievable goal for next year.

Just a tip: If you can enter events like this one as a Corporate team member, the perks are usually worth it, like the entry fee paid for and the 10 minute massage at the end.

Do you have any experience with Fun Runs? Maybe you have also entered The City To Casino in Tasmania, or better still, maybe you entered this year too?

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What Was That For?

The look on his face as he says for what must be the millionth time "what was that for?", is pure innocence. It would be fair to say that our son is always on the look out for adventure and invariably gets himself into multitudes of trouble.

Master 5 is quite the expert at timeout, not to mention having his favourite things banned. Neither of these punishments seem to dull his need to poke, prod and pull things that he is not meant to.

Is he seeking attention? A troublemaker? Or just a curious boy with a good amount of energy?

We are quite sure he is quite run of the mill when it comes to boys. Also being second born assured he was keen for adventure from the get go.

His face is just as cheeky as his nature.

I should be putting all of our savings on backing that Master 5 will be standing in front of various people throughout his life, trying to justify his actions.

The Weight Loss Debate - STOP JUDGING

I get a little frustrated with the negative attitude and comments aimed at some people's efforts towards weight loss. Amazingly, it is sometimes coming from people who have been down the weight loss road and know firsthand the battle people face.

I say, to anyone trying to lose weight to put them into a healthier state, I don't care which method you choose, because half of the work is making that decision to lose the weight, commit to it and maintain the loss.

Yet, I hear time and time again people saying things like, "Oh yeah, she has lost heaps, but she had Lap Band Surgery." or "He looks much healthier now, but he has a personal trainer."

There is no easy way to lose weight in my mind.

Every single method, whether it be Diet Shakes, Exercise, Lap Band Surgery, using a Personal Trainer, or the many other options and tools at your disposal, involve a commitment of time, sacrifice, effort, and ups and downs, and I see none of them as cheating.

Weight Loss can be one of the biggest mental and physical battles you may have to face in life. To make the decision and effort to turn around bad eating and exercise habits, which may even have been present your whole life, is such a commendable position to take.

To hear opinions that the weight loss can be bought, or that the help from surgery, medicine or trainer is the simple, easier option is honestly disappointing.

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Are You Centred and Balanced?

Isn't it funny how we go about our lives, never really examining how we go about things unless something goes wrong. I know the saying "why fix it if it's not broken", which is often true. I also like the saying "if you do something, then do it well" which is why my trainer introduced a new app. recently to measure posture.

My awesome trainer, Sherri loves to look at things from every angle. Her business, Energy Health Concepts, has earned itself a great reputation because of this approach.

Sherri has been excitedly trying this posture app. PostureScreen Mobile (available through itunes and Google Play) with clients which requires two photos, a front view and side view (neither of my photos will appear on the blog to save the mental health of my readers).

From here, some key points are marked over the body which allows the app. to measure your posture. It also goes on to recommend exercise and techniques based on the findings.

Apparently I am a typical office worker/computer user. I hold my head and shoulders too far forward. This may not be causing problems yet, but with knowledge and some techniques to correct this, hopefully it never will.

My front view showed that I naturally shift to the left, from my pelvis up to my head, although my stance doesn't tilt either way.

Now that I am aware of this I have made some changes at my desk, and set a timer to remind me to do a few office friendly exercises every hour. The timer means that I am constantly reminded to check how I am sitting as well.

Retraining yourself is hard!

Are you conscious of your posture? Has any bad habits with your posture caused you grief?

When It Gets Cold, We Splash Indoors

 During the last School Holidays we visited the Hobart Aquatic Centre. There were a lot of people there and so much fun to be had.

I admit, I loved the Water Slide as much as the kids!

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