- Yesterday was one of those days that just kind of starts out on the wrong foot and continues to go downhill from there. I had planned to meet a friend for breakfast in the city, so I skipped my morning walk with the dogs, made myself presentable, and even threw on a dress instead of gym clothes. And then the skies opened up and it absolutely poured for the next hour. My friend got stuck in traffic on the highway, and there was no way I was going to attempt to get on the train in torrential downpour during morning rush hour. If you’ve ever lived in Boston, you know what I’m talking about. The only thing worse than the T during rush hour in the rain is when you add drunken Red Sox fans to the mix. It’s enough to send even the sanest people off the deep end.
- On a funnier note, Olive may be slightly smarter than we give her credit for. Nearly every morning, Aaron and I take the dogs on a long walk and then come home and Aaron puts Olive on the treadmill. My parents let us borrow theirs when we discovered that Olive can basically run a 7-minute/mile half-marathon and still be bouncing off the walls. It’s obviously not feasible for us to give her that much exercise every day, so instead we take the edge off by having her walk for an hour on the treadmill, in addition to the 5 or so miles we walk with her throughout the day. She knows she gets lots of treats and praise when she’s on it, but this past week she started lying on the floor after our morning walks and refusing to get up, and Aaron would tell me Olive seemed really tired and didn’t need the extra exercise. Well, Olive’s “exhaustion” consistently lasted just until Aaron left for work, when she would magically find her strength and run, full-sprint, up and down our apartment, knocking into walls and re-arranging furniture. I’d be mad, but for a dog who sometimes can’t figure out “sit”, this is really quite impressive.
- We’re finally upgrading our bedroom to include some non-Ikea furniture/things I still have from childhood. I’ve been sleeping on a mattress wrapped in a comforter for several months now, in an attempt to keep the innersprings from poking me while we worked up to investing in something new. I hit my breaking point a few weeks ago in one of my I-hate-all-of-our-furniture-let’s-start-over fits. We’re being all adult and ordering a legit, solid and reclaimed wood bedframe from Etsy, and an organic latex mattress that I spent way too many hours researching. Side note: this research has also prompted me to nix as many conventional cleaning and personal products as possible in favor of apparent cure-alls like white vinegar and coconut oil. I hope I’m not setting the bar too high, but for what it costs to buy a new bed that has minimal environmental or health repercussions, I better get the best sleep of my life.
- I have a huge urge to drop everything and spend my afternoon baking today. It’s sort of a form of meditation for me, but better because I get to eat dessert at the end. Hopefully this will result in a recipe worth sharing. If not, you will likely hear me complain about it this time next week.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Ugghh… I know exactly what you mean about the T. So did you end up meeting for lunch in the end?
I like that you threw on “real clothes” instead of just gym clothes. We are so alike.
I’ve never tried putting either of my guys on a treadmill. I would LOVE to see that! My parents have one- I’ll have to remember to try it out next time we’re over there.
Luckily we have a pretty big backyard, and they run around in circles chasing each other several times a day. And then when they come in, they fall asleep within 2 minutes. It’s great.
No, my friend was only in town for the morning – she was heading to Connecticut. Definitely a bummer.
Whenever I see photos of your backyard, I’m so jealous! By Boston standards, it’s HUGE! Olive took to the treadmill really quickly. The trainer recommended it and gave us some tips, but there are also lots of videos on YouTube that show you how to ease them onto it. It’s a good alternative to going outside on days when the weather sucks. And if I know I have a long conference call or something, I sometimes preemptively put her on the treadmill to work out the crazies.
I wish we could get Ginger on the treadmill to burn off some of her energy but she’s absolutely terrified of it. She’ll stand right next to it nudging my legs with her wet nose when I’m on it, but if you try to get her paws on it, she freaks and goes all dead weight on you. So instead, we run around like lunatics in the backyard getting her to run b/c she won’t just run by herself. Oh no, the humans have to partake in this game as well. Seriously, how much easier would like be without dogs?
Oh, Ginger. Olive is the same way in terms of running on her own. If we’re not running with her or throwing a tennis ball, she just roams around eating weird shit (and sometimes, it’s literally shit – so disgusting!!!). I love dogs, but I’m going to stick to non-hunting/herding breeds moving forward. As Aaron told me this morning when he was walking Honey, it’s like walking air versus a spastic 35-pound bowling ball. It’s exhausting!
Haha, I love stories about Olive. That’s a really good call to use her on the treadmill. I have so many clients who are frustrated by their dogs’ behavioral problems, and the problem is almost always too much energy and not enough exercise. And good for you guys for walking her 5 miles a day – you would be amazed at how many people never walk their dogs and just let them out in the yard every day.
I have a funny story about Olive from yesterday – I’ll make sure to share that one next week. haha
The exercise is good for the dogs and good for us. I can’t even imagine what Olive would be like without it…I think she’d destroy my apartment. The people who used to live upstairs from me had a big dog that they never walked or took to the park and he was completely nuts – like literally dragging the owners down the street nuts. It was a glimpse of what Olive could have been like.
Ah yes, the rearrange furniture house run. I know that very well. Fortunately our dogs are smaller so it’s not quite as devastating but it is pretty non stop ALLLL day. And if there is something to jump on in the process, even better. I don’t think it would matter if they walked 100 miles a day…there is something about playing chase/tackle/wrestle that regular exercise doesn’t replace.
I feel you on the furniture thing. Hubs and I have been slowly accumulating “adult” furniture. It started with a sofa (which started a whole living room theme and involved me buying curtains, which I have never owned before. Lol), and has now progressed to a bed frame that he built for us over the weekend (we just had mattress and box spring on the floor for years). Every step makes me feel a little more grown up. And honestly, I’m not sure how I feel about that. Lol.
And I use vinegar, baking soda, and coconut oil for everything. Toothpaste, deodorant, cleaning the kitchen, laundry, washing my hair, moisturizing, dishes. Everything. Those are 3 things I couldn’t possibly live without. And you can get a sweet deal on coconut oil at Vitacost.com. They have large 54 oz containers of Vitacost brand organic extra virgin coconut oil for only around 20$. That’s a freakin’ steal.
Olive and Honey periodically wrestle throughout the day too, although it tends to last only a few minutes before Honey jumps on a chair to escape (Olive isn’t allowed on the furniture). Usually around 4pm is when they go nuts and race around the apartment moving rugs and furniture and making ridiculous noises. The wrestling tires them out better than any other form of exercise though, so I’ll take it.
That’s so awesome that your husband built your bed frame! Having “real” furniture is like a mini milestone.
I am totally going to start buying coconut oil on Vitacost. That’s an incredible deal! Do you make your own laundry detergent? I just started using vinegar as a fabric softener, and next I’d like to start using homemade detergent.
Yeah its a pretty cool bed frame…and its HUGE because, although we have a queen size bed that works fine, Hubs is 6’5″ tall so he like tall furniture…well, he got it in this bed frame. I have to climb in to it. Lol. But its beautiful and it will last forever hopefully. And he used all wood that was going to be thrown out at his job any way because it wasn’t “perfect” so we saved some wood from being trashed in the process.
And yes, I do make my own detergent. Its just borax, washing soda, and some type of grated bar soap (Zote, Ivory, etc). Pretty much equal parts of each. I use my food processor to chop up my soap and to blend it all together. And I keep mine in an empty vitacost coconut oil container. Its the perfect size for the quantity I make. I doesn’t really suds up, but it still works. I usually put it in the machine first and let the water fill up a little bit to dissolve it before I add the laundry. I’ve never tried making liquid laundry soap before…mostly because several things I read required using a bucket and I just didn’t want to deal with that. Lol. We’ve been using the homemade a while now and I don’t really have any complaints. If I have a super dirty load (like dog towels or something), I’ll use a little extra detergent plus add some actual baking soda to the machine as well for an extra kick.
I actually don’t use any type of store bought cleaners any more. I use diluted vinegar for pretty much everything (bathrooms, kitchen, mopping, whatever). I like to put a cinnamon stick and orange peels in the vinegar to soak (or I’ve used rosemary and mint before.) It takes a couple of weeks, but not only do you get an extra cleaning kick from the orange oils in the peels, but you get a nice cinnamon/orange scented vinegar so your house doesn’t smell as vinegary as plain would. Of course, you could always just use essential oils instead of the actual thing, but its a good way to repurpose orange peels (or lemon or lime!)
This is super helpful. Thank you!!! I’m going to give the orange peel and cinnamon a try with the vinegar to help with the smell, and I’ll be switching to homemade laundry detergent just as soon as I run out.
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