My friend Betsy and I brought our pooches out this week. We chose an overcast but lovely, 50 degree winter day.
A little background, Betsy has a beagle, Katy, that is adorable and well behaved. Unless there is food involved, then her listening is a bit more of a crap shoot. She is on a special diet due to food allergies so is always hungry or eager for different food providing options like trash cans and friendly people...) My lovely critter, a 10 pound Alpha male maltese, Theo, is an OCD-ish dog that loves people but does not play well with other animals. He has some anxiety issues and a bit of a Napolian Complex as well (hence why I havent brought him to the dog park before! lol).
Hartford Park has an off leash park for dogs, located within the 31 acre Harford Park. The area for dogs (off leash) is about 5+ acres and includes a stream that dogs are allowed to splash in and a dog-friendly drinking fountain. There was a steady stream of social, well-behaved dogs running free when we arrived. I kept Theo on his leash but was able to graduate him from 3' to about 20' of line by the time we left. He is a smart dog and finally figured out that picking on the giant dogs is probably not in his best interest! This park must be as close to paradise, for a dog, as is possible. I would swear that all of the dogs had smiles on their faces!
The downside to this experience was that my dog came home COVERED in burrs! I spent about an hour Googling how to remove burrs and another hour picking/cutting out the burrs and bathing the dog. Still after all was said and done, it was fun for all of us! At one point one of the dogs there, pooped out an orange sock. Not many places you could discuss that and have people laugh with you then share their ugly stories with you. Like the time we had guests and my dog came prancing into the middle of the room with someones hot pink underwear in his mouth! lol
I have been rushing around trying to make firsts happen when in fact, they are all around us each and every day! It was pointed out to me that technically trying a new shampoo (Yes I found one that will change your life!!!) DOES count as a first. New foods, even striking up a conversation with a stranger is a first.
The issue I have with using these as my weekly first, is that they dont help me achieve my actual goal. The reason I am doing this with the firsts, is, in part, to prove to myself and others that at any age, you can have new experiences, adventure, growth, learning and LIVE! Age is not just a frame of mind. Old is old (wow that was profound! haha) You can give in and acquiesce to being old orrrr you can jump in and swim like Michael Phelps until the current takes you away! There is always time for growth, reflection and new experiences. My belief is that its when you stop trying, when you stop moving through the pain and going out of your comfort zone, you step closer and closer to death. That is just me though and I know there are people out there that will read this and think I am out of my head. Maybe... but its my blog and my life... so I can be :).
Sooo back to my first for the week! I was asked to participate in an international rendition of a classic Christmas song. 10 people from all over the world, each have a part. Out of my comfort zone for sure!! I used to be a pretty good singer. Loads of solos at school functions, chorus and even sang with a band for a spell for fun... phew... those days are gone! Yikes I suckkkk now! haha So I am supposed to sing the 4 Calling Birds part of 10 Days of Christmas.
I have to redo it because I found out I have to sing it all the way back through the numbers... eek! lol I will add in the finished video when it is complete! =]
I am late in writing my post for this week. Its been busy busy busy! I went with 3 of my favorite people to celebrate my birthday. One of my friends has a house in BS so we stayed there. It was great! Weather was 80 and mostly sunny.
Karen and I went down a day earlier so we spent Thurs exploring the area, grocery shopping for the weekend and then saw a beautiful sunset over the water. There is about an hour difference in sunset time from PA to Southern FL. I figured it would have been a little different but not a full hour more daylight. (One more reason to move to Florida! haha)Thurs night we went to Pub Night at the Clubhouse where we were staying and met some nice people. Most of them were well older than we are. We felt like young whippersnappers ( Wondering... exactly what is a "Whippersnapper"??)
Friday we drove to Sanibel Island and spent the day on the beach. Its natural and wow were the people friendly. Even my British traveling companion was forced to talk to strangers! haha (She always makes fun of me, saying that I will talk to anyone... )
Friday night the other 2 of our friends arrived. Sat we shopped, ate at a great restaurant called AZN in the Mercado section of Naples. We saw the sunset at The Turtle Club in Naples. On the way home we crashed a Christmas party and danced a ton! Great fun. =]
I didnt love Sanibel, but I think Naples is a place I could live or spend winters! =] I loved the area. (Loads of restaurants and shops just steps from the beach! People of all ages too...) Now to get my spouse to agree on that! haha I dont think it will happen. #whippersnapper #naples #Girlsweekend
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nsomeone who is unimportant but cheeky and presumptuous
Our Annual Texas Holdem Tournament was held at our house again Monday. Approximately 60 (7 tables) people including special guests! Professionals Annie D uke, Eric B rooks and another poker champion gold bracelet winner joined this year. Usually this is a male only event but since there would be a female player (Annie), a handful of women from the league I play in were also invited.
My son and I had the honor of playing with both Annie and Eric at the first table! Last year Annie was the Tournament champion (Yes I was realllyyyyy nervous!). This year she was probably just being gracious in returning the champion trophy and didnt win (not to mention she was sick with a lousy cough). In any event it was a really fun evening. By the first merge, our table knocked out both Annie and Eric. In the end I was the longest standing female, top 13th. Top 9 were paid with the winner taking home 1K! Playing with and even just watching a professional player is interesting! They were helpful with tips, fast to correct and overall really lovely to play with the lot of us! Speaking of tips... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxBZxUSLTso Annie's Top 5 Poker Tells!
Also on my list of firsts this year an As Seen on TV gizmo! "Veggetti "I will post a video asap but I will say that I dont think it was worth the money.( $9.95 at Ross so thats really discounted). It didnt work with parsnips. Worked well with zucchini but I cant see it working well with many other veggies. I will give it a go again soon. My hope was to use it to make veggie pasta for sauce. Ohh and snow for Thanksgiving!! I didnt host this year. We spent it in Maryland with family. My nephew announced he was getting married and that he and his gf were expecting in July '15! It will be so nice to have a baby in the family again and my first nephew getting hitched!
