Tough Mudder Eve

It's important to stretch before a big race.  Penny is making sure her legs are warmed up to tackle the high walls!

Part of being a Tough Mudder is being able to belly crawl under the barbwire fences and through the tunnels.  I think she has that part down pat!

"Hey, that race was easier than I thought.  Look, I didn't get a speck of mud on my Duckie jammies!"

An Apple a Day

I know it looks like Penny is chowing down on this apple, but she is just licking at the juices. Sarah was eating it while Pen-Pen was getting ready to nurse, and suddenly... the apple looked way more appetizing and she grabbed for it!  Look how cute her chubby little hands are holding it!  Since she is only 5 months old, its going to be awhile before she gets to experience the goodness of fruit.  This reminded Linda so much of Noah.  He loves apples too!

Noah was a lot older than Penny in this photo.  Linda is not sure why she took him to Starbucks wearing his pj's, but she does remember that is where the picture was taken.  We miss him so much and hope he's happy in his new home far away. 

Soul Food

Just out of curiosity, Linda checked the blog stats this afternoon.  Since she has never had any readers from India, she thought maybe the post about the vegetarian McD's might have lured someone.  Guess what!  For the first time we now have readers from India!!  It's pretty exciting, but at the same time she really hopes that they didn't get upset about the holy cow comment.  It was a true question... we don't know anything at all about the Hindu religion. The question about holy cows was real so she googled it and found out what makes them special.  Back in the olden days of India the cow was a symbol of wealth, but they were still eaten for supper.  The cows were special because the people drank a lot of milk and used cow poop to fertilize the fields. The Wiki article goes on to say something about magic mushrooms found in cow poop, but Linda just grazed over that part.  Also, Hindus believe everyone has a soul, even animals so killing it would be a sin.  (It seems some do eat chicken, so I guess chickens are exempt from souls.)   This explanation could be totally wrong since it was only on Wikipedia, but it sounds good.  The Vet who assisted Chip to cat heaven was Hindu.  He told Linda that he did not want to do it because only God can take a life.  He went ahead with it but only after making her feel even sadder for choosing to put Chip out of her suffering. 

P.S.  If you google "do chickens have souls" you can read the yahoo answers for yourself.... along with at least 10 other articles.  Who knew it was such a popular question! P.S.S.  Linda also googled "do IHOP waffles have souls" and there were two hits on that question too so maybe you better not not believe everything you read on the internet. 

May's Kitchen sells good old fashioned Southern soul food atop waffles, so in this case, waffles do have soul!

Two All Potato Patties, Special Sauce....

When Snickers was alive, Linda used to walk him to the McDonald's at least once a week for his special cheeseburger or nuggets treat.  He loved it so much.  She would say "Snicks, want to go to Micky D's?" and he would be ecstatic. It's only a mile walk, but he would pull ahead of her leading the way at twice his normal walk speed.  She would give the money to the first honest person she saw to buy his food.  (Even though he would have done fine being tied up outside, she would never take the chance of leaving him.)  They sat in the outside picnic area and she would feed him little bites until it was gone.  MD's isn't vegetarian friendly at all, so never got anything. 

McDonald's is back in the news.  Not for the pink slime in the nuggets or beef oil used in the fries. They are opening the very first all vegetarian restaurant!!  Unfortunately, it's in India so Linda won't be trying it, but she is hoping it will be introduced in the States someday.  All the sandwiches will be meat free, like the McAloo Tikki....a burger made with a spicy breaded potato patty, red onions, tomatoes and a special vegetable sauce. You can also order a  McVeggie, using a patty of carrots, peas and potatoes, and the McSpicy Paneer filled with Indian cheese.  Subway and Pizza Hut also have all vegetarian restaurants in India.  Some Indians are mad about the McDonald's opening since it is an organization that makes its money over slaughtering their holy cows.  (What in the world is holy about a cow?  I guess that's where the saying holy cow comes from) 

Furkini

Linda had a few friends over last night for refreshments.  I behaved myself (Chim spent most of the evening on the deck since he likes to get up in every one's face) except for the annoying "begging for a bite" that I do.  There isn't any barking, just a laser-pointed stare waiting for you to drop a morsel of food onto the floor.  Linda said NO to any people food since I have such a sensitive stomach.  I'm stuck with the occasional treat and boring dog food.

Maybe if I dress up in this Furkini, next time they will feed me

Labor Day

Yes Penny.... you are adorable.

Penny looked like a beautiful Georgetown Cupcake Sunday morning at church.  The fact that her dress matched Nana's is just an added bonus!   Granted, she hated wearing the hat and fussed when Sarah put it on for the photo, but she was a trooper and stopped whining long enough to get a photo.  Sunday night she wore the cutest shoes, but Linda is not allowed to have her phone in the nursery area so she couldn't get a picture of them. 

Linda almost has the day off again today.  She only has 2 classes to teach, Pump and Combat.  By 10:30, she's done work.  Not really though, she is going to do a top to bottom house cleaning, grocery shop, finish sprucing up the flower beds and then get ready for a couple of friends to come over for some refreshments. 

Needs more flowers and a second coat of mulch

Relaxing Saturday

Yesterday somehow slipped by without a post.  I always imagine that my loyal readers are checking back hourly to see why I haven't updated and wonder if all is OK.  For some reason, one of my loyalest fans from the West coast has not been getting the new posts.  She said there have not been anything new on the blog for a few weeks and she has been checking a few times a day!  That's weird, since I've been regularly posting.  Since Linda knows zippo about the workings of internet magic, she has no way of knowing how to fix it.  Sorry Aunt Jeanne, I hope you're able to read this today. 

To catch you all up, Jerry came to take us for an hour long walk yesterday.  Linda was late coming home since she had to meet with a prospective family that will be joining her TKD school.  After she got home, she started painting (actually just touching up) the trim and walls.  The rest of the day/evening was spent doing little chores and relaxing.  Hopefully the rain will hold off today and she can work a bit in weedy flower garden.  It's looking pretty sad right now.  Some fresh mums and mulch should do the trick. 

"Nana, you can chill with me anytime!"

Don't be jealous that our life is so exciting (kidding...)  Some people constantly want to be going places, doing things and out of the house.  Not Linda.  She wouldn't have it any other way.  Giving the choice between a big loud party, a day long trip to the beach or visiting a crowded popular restaurant... most of the time Linda would pick staying home.  When she is teaching, she has to be totally hyped up and ON!  There is blasting music, lots of people and super high energy in the room.  Sometimes she feels like an actress where she has to portray a role at the gyms and TKD studio.  The time she has to spend at home, with her family and church feel like a breath of fresh air.