Chased by a turd

A typical evening walk with Nick, Chino and I was ruined by the perfect storm of distractions and a stuck turd.

Setting: Suburbia, USA, around dusk. Manicured lawns, sidewalks, children playing, yard work in process.

Nick and I are walking along, having an in-depth discussion about any number of seemingly insignificant situations, when suddenly, Chino decides that he has to poop. As usual, I'm holding the leash and Nick is holding the poop bags (because we are responsible dog owners) and like a well rehearsed scene from a play, we assume our positions while Chino assumes his.

As he's mid-dump, we see kids coming down the street. Since Chino doesn't always understand the concept of anyone under 5'0" tall, we knew that we'd have to shorten his leash a bit, to avoid an awkward situation wherein Chino jumps on and scares a neighborhood child. Instinctively, I wrap his leash around my hand, for added leverage, all the while hoping that he'll just focus on the task at hand and ignore the bicycle riding children. 

At the point that we are passed by the child, Nick has the leash and I'm reaching for the treats to try to use bribery to elicit good behavior distract him (Chino, not Nick) Chino lunges to jump on the kid (bad dog) and at the exact same moment realizes that he's got a hanger, if you will. So, mid-leap, he's pulled back by Nick's cat-like reflexes and then twists around to see what in the hell is hanging out of his ass. He realizes its a turd and begins proceedings to remove the offending turd from his ass and deposit it in the grass, where it belongs. As this is happening, he backs himself into me, while Nick joins the chase and tries to pluck the turd from his ass, bag on hand, of course.

Somehow, some way, Nick is able to detach the turd and I escape the whole ordeal unharmed. I did however start a laughing fit, the deep breath, tears streaming down my face, sounds like I'm crying, laughing fit. I hope that the picture I just painted for you will be the kindling for your own.

Moral of the story:  Don't eat hair

Sunflower

Since I wasn't able to post a photo for day 13 of the #30dayphoto challenge on Allie's blog, Show + Tell, I thought I'd post it here.  For me, the lack of color makes me think of the brightest sunflower up against the bluest sky. Maybe its because I always try to assume the best? What do you think?

Happiness...

...can be as simple ripping into a ball of tissue paper. 

#30dayphoto

When I found out that my (twitter) friend, Allie was going to host a 30 Day photo challenge over at her blog, I was thrilled! Allie is graphic designer and all around creative girl, which is reflected in her blog posts and photographs, so I knew that this challenge would push me a bit to become a better photographer AND a better editor (still using Picknik, need to learn Photoshop Elements). In addition to her creativity, which I expected, I've been blown away by all of the other submissions, each one with its own twist on the daily assignment.  My goal is to post a photo every day, even if its just editing a photo that I've taken previously and to see an evolution in my shots and in my editing techniques.

Day 1:  Me (Link to the others here)

Day 2:  What I wore (Link to the others here)

Day 3: Favorite Place (Link to the others here)

Day 4:  From a high angle (Link to the others here)

Day 5:  Whatever I want (Link to the others here)

Day 6:  From a low angle (Link to the others here)

Day 7:  Silhouette (Link to the others here)

Want to participate? You can jump in and out of the challenge at any time. Here's a list of the assignments. The rules are minimal (no nudity, and submit by 9am, the morning of...). After you submit, she compiles and posts the collection, providing a link so that you can check out all of the other photographers' work. Its truly been a fun week and I'm looking forward (and ahead) to the other assignments!

Sunday

Instead of going out, we spent Sunday night in the garage, drinking beer, swinging in hammock chairs and watching the rain. It was exactly what we needed.

Together

While I was running the Emerald City 1/4 marathon on Saturday morning, I had the greatest idea for a blog post. It started out with a compelling sentence that would inevitably draw you, the reader, in for more. Unfortunately it seems that I forgot what I was going to say, but I didn't forget what this would be about, so bear with me.

First, the ever-important background information.  Back in May/June, we signed up for the Emerald City 1/4 marathon (6.55 miles) so that we'd have a reason/incentive to run this summer and keep up our cardio workouts. The training was going well until the 90+ degree heat hit in August. Each week, we said that we'd get back on the wagon, but didn't. At least, we both kept up regular appointments with our trainers, so all was not lost. However, neither one of us ran more than 3 miles in the weeks leading up to the run, so we knew that if we did it, it wouldn't be pretty.

Fast forward to race day. The night before, crazy thunderstorms and a crazy mutt interrupted our good night's sleep. When the alarm went off around 5:15am, we both groaned and then hoped for a torrential downpour that we could use as an excuse to skip the entire event. No such luck, so we put our gear on and trudged out the door. We arrived at the race, just as it began to rain. Both of us were cranky and now we were damp. As we waited under a tent, the race officials announced that the storm cell was passing around us and that the race would go on as scheduled. What surprised me was that instead of being bummed that the race wasn't cancelled, I was relieved.  

As Nick and I walked over and joined our pace groups, the rain actually stopped. Since I planned to finish in around 1:30, he planned to finish around 1:10, so we wouldn't be running the race together. I kissed him goodbye and said I'd see him at the finish, then went and joined the crowd.

The race began and my body felt good. I was jogging slow, trying to pace myself. As I continued, I noticed that my breathing was regular, and my legs felt strong. I kept my pace until around mile 2, when I began to run/walk. Around mile 4, I began to notice my lack of training. My legs felt heavy and my knee was feeling sore, but I continued walking a song, running a song...until I reached mile 6. At mile 6, I knew that it was time to finish. I turned up my power song and told myself that there would be no walking until I reached the end. I rounded the corner and started RUNNING. I saw Nick, cheering me on as I ran as hard as I could. 

When I looked up, I realized that I beat my goal by 2 minutes, finishing in UNDER 1:30. I was proud that I didn't give in, proud that I finished and proud that I even began in the first place. However, that wasn't the best part. The best part was that Nick and I had completed the race together. Although we didn't run side by side, we were together in our decision NOT to skip the race. We both tested the water, but held strong and kept going. The day before and the hours leading up to the start were tough, but once we arrived, we knew that there would be no looking back. Had I said the word, Nick would gladly have gone back to bed and skipped the whole thing. Had he said the word, given me permission, if you will, to skip the race, I would have done it in a heartbeat. But, neither of us did. We went through with it, suffered our punishment from lack of training and did it together. 

Amazed

Sometimes I'm truly amazed at the power of social media.  I was thinking the other day about twitter.  Somehow, signing up to "see what it was all about", turned into tweets with 140 characters, which turned into tweeting with other people in Columbus. Then those exchanges turned into meeting at professional events and instant ice breakers. Those meetings turned into Facebook & Foursquare friendships and exchanging cell phone numbers, which turned into text messages, which turned into happy hours, which turned into nights out. Somehow all of that turned into the realization that we have so much in common, which turned into meet-ups and gab sessions over coffee instead of beer.

Somehow, 140 characters turned into friendships, stories and inside jokes. It turned into a group of friends that I can't believe that I made and that I can't remember being without.