Tana's Three!

About 3 years ago my baby girl was born somewhere in northwest Montana. Her stray mother nurtured her and her littermates, also teaching them to distrust humans. Thankfully, someone noticed the litter and went through the trouble to rescue them. Due to overload in the local shelter the litter was brought to the Anaconda shelter.

I wasn't wanting to get a pup, just to look, is what I told myself. She picked me, they always do. She definitely wasn't the cutest pup, I had my eye set on her sister, but her sister wanted nothing to do with me. This pesky little gray one kept by my side and curled up in my lap any moment she could. When I finally looked at her it was her brown, mascara-outlined eyes that won me over, they still amaze me to this day.

She's changed leaps and bounds since then, from an "ugly-duckling" to a beautiful dog. 

She's still super shy, hesitant, distrusting of most people, but not to the degree that she was even at last year. She's still not perfect to some, but she's perfect to me :) 

So, to my Tana Banana, Happy Birthday!! The impact she has made on my life, I can't put into words, she's priceless. Thank you for smiling everyday when I come home, during a tough run and any other time I need a moment brightened!! 

Looking forward to the many more miles ahead of us!!

Introducing...

I'm going to go see Dash this weekend. It's going to be a long haul to get there. We need to make sure we have enough fuel to get there...enter several hundred cookies.

Yeah, that's right. Several hundred. Pretty sure the back seat will be filled with cookies, no luggage. The pups may even have to scootch their bums over to make room. Dash's family is huge and his mother mentioned making a ton of cookies and freezing them and then bringing them out. So, I stepped up to her challenge to feed the Chase family.

Oh, by the way, I've given my boy toy the name Dash Chase, clever as all hell. You see I was out walking the dogs - who's names I will not change - Tana and Koda, and I thought well hell (well geez, I'm spouting out bad words all over the place, where's the soap?!) I need a name for my man so that he remains anonymous :) So, I texted the Poopface, yes another name I have given him ;) A beautiful term of endearment if I might say so myself. I asked him if he could choose any super hero name in the world what would he chose? His first few attempts weren't all that creative, something along the lines of Buck Hunter or some really hick thing. I pushed him a little further and then we started to get somewhere! I was actually super impressed with his creativity, so much so that I will share with you what he gave me. Mind you this man goes above and beyond anything I ever ask him to do, which is one of the many reasons I've fallen head over heels, sigh :) Yeah, he's a keeper ;) So, here's what he wanted to be if he could be in a comic book:

The Archer - A super hero whose similar to Batman in that he has no actual powers. My weapon of choice is the bow and arrow.

The Shadow - I am a super villian who has the ability to fade into the dark. I can also bring people into the darkness with me and leave them there.

Deadeye - An ex-Navy Seal Sniper who has a very crass attitude. My family was murdered by the government when I refused to assassinate the Dictator of China. I am now on the run and become a mercenary for people in need.

I was sitting at work the next day trying at first to decide on which one I wanted to name him when it hit me that maybe I could use an acronym? I'm a girl that is ALL over acronyms, love them so much. So I took the first letter of each name; A, S and D. I then added the letter H and well I won't go through it all, but you get DASH. CHASE is also an acronym as well and Dash knows the meaning, but I'll leave that as a puzzle for you all to solve :)

So, yes, to summarize this all up, you DID in fact read all of this correctly. Since the last posts, errrr well, for the first time, I have acquired TWO new men in my life! One being a wonderful male Border Collie mix, Koda and my main man Dash, who is without a doubt very human!!!

tragedy

I believe in MoNa (MOther NAture); but, also science, math, psychology, sociology, logic, reason and love. Because I believe in these things I am forced to conclude that "God"(s) are simply put, human creations. "God"(s) were made with our great imaginations and formed into myths, stories and legends. "God"(s) give us answers that we don't have, that we have yet to answer. Stories, myths and legends that have been passed down orally from generation to generation, sometimes written down, morphing over time, to teach us lessons, morals and ethics. We all share the same story, the same beginning and the same end. Until we all see that, we will all see one another differently, which is a great tragedy.

As promised...

As promised, albeit (Author's note: I was once told by a Biology professor that words squished together to make another word; i.e., albeit, henceforth, unbeknownst, and notwithstanding, are not words to be used. This isn't a scientific paper, so maybe, just maybe I'll get away with it...) several days late. My definition of tomorrow was highly correlated to the last post's use of the word "suspense". I could say that this was all some game, some trick, some devilish scheme to keep all of you on your toes. The reality is I just forgot, haha. So, as promised I will show you and in the nick of time I might add ;)



M-U-S-T-A-C-H-E-H-U, not quite sure what the H-U at the end means. Maybe, it's one of those fancy mustaches that gets so long the cowboys use their chew-saturated spit to mold into that curled up position...??? Anyways, it's Mustache March in support of male issues analogous to our women ones, you figure it out...not wanting to waste my midnight brain on such big words ;)

going nowhere fast

Went for a run today...I'm training for a marathon. Well, two of them. A couple endurance relays too. A few half-marathons and a few ultras thrown in there as well. No, I'm not crazy...I'm a runner. That is the plan for this summer alone. That is if my old bones can keep up with the montana miles...

So, back to it. I went on a run today and it sucked. It was just one of those off days where I felt like a beached whale running against 20-30 mph winds. I was going nowhere fast. Although...I did see the weirdest thing. It seems that I could run past the same place every day and months later realize that the person at the corner of the block has a flock of sheep in their yard or they park their car upside down. I don't see the obvious...

I won't tell you what I saw today...I could draw it maybe? But, I think I'll just run that loop tomorrow again with my camera and take a picture. A picture is worth a thousand words. Ohhh, the suspense!

growing UP

It's weird...I remember when I was little, ALL I wanted to do was grow UP. Now that it has happened, now that I am a "responsible" adult, growing UP is the last thing I want to do. I'd give anything to go back to the simple life of a tot. Being an adult is HARD, let alone trying to be a responsible one. I have to pay the bills. That alone is a mighty feat. I have to make money, that means I need a job...so, I have one. It's one I dislike, it's not what I got my college degree in. Apparently, degree = expensive piece of paper that I can't use, if only I would have known. At least, I pay the bills though, right? I'm not saving...but I'm not putting myself into further debt either.

Being an adult means taking responsibility for your actions. Before I was just put into timeout, scolded or given plenty of chances to get things right. There is no timeout in real life, no time to take a breather and figure your shit out before being allowed to come back into the office, house, etc. It's there right in front of you, life. Decisions are made in the moment. I have to be productive every day. I can't skip work, EVEN if I am sick.

I have a dog, as a result of bringing a dog into my life I took on yet another responsibility. Feeding and exercising her daily is a must, no questions asked. Growing up if my sister or I forgot, there was always the parents to fall back on. There were 4 people responsible, that means I only had 25% responsibility and that seemed a lot! Don't get me wrong I love that I brought her into my life. She's probably the best thing that has happened, really got my butt in gear, literally. but that's another post altogether. Isn't she cute? :)

Being an adult makes me realize a part of this world that I have avoided for so long. Why I chose for the longest time to be uneducated about the world around me I will never know. I always tip-toed around the outside trying to avoid the talks about government, policy, ethics, morals, etc. This wasn't something that interested me. I never followed bills hitting the floor and the people behind it or against it. Growing UP has made me realize that I need to be more aware and fight for my rights, to do research, know both sides of the story. I need to be educated about the world around me. I can no longer allow myself to be ignorant. So, if this is what it's like to grow UP, to become more aware. I can handle that. I'm no longer tip-toeing, I'm diving straight in...

MoNa

I shoveled the sidewalk today after approximately 2 inches had been dropped last night. Not two minutes later MoNa showed up with another blanket. You might be thinking, "Blankets, what a warm, thoughtful gesture!". However, MoNa is the wonderful acronym for Mother Nature and the blanket in question was about 3 more inches of snow...

Lately, I have been complaining about all the bad things that MoNa has brought into my life. Things that I would have no control over. At times she can be confusing, mean, test my lack of patience and just make me completely speechless and jaded. The other day however, I saw MoNa in a completely different way. I realized that despite all the bad days that may come my way, it just so happens that on those very days, when I am in the worst mood, she always seems to see the positive and pick me up. So, I am using the post to thank MoNa for shining the sun and blanketing me with the warmth of knowing that it really is a good day and that things will work out in the end, with a little time, patience, motivation and hard work :)