What Can I Say? It's January

I would like to apologize for the lack of content on the blog so far this month, but really, there is next to nothing going on and therefore, I have next to nothing to write about. I doubt seriously you are interested in how many loads of laundry I have or haven't done or how much TV I have or haven't watched. I've fallen back into a routine of rising and leaving home before the sun comes up and not usually getting home until the sun goes down. I'm sure my dog hates me again.

 

My Women on Weights group started a new session on January 9 and we are back with the trainer we originally started with - she had been out for a few months because of a foot injury and subsequent surgery. I was hesitant about her coming back because I really enjoyed working with Josh. He pushed me hard and made me lift more weight than I would have otherwise and I loved that about him, plus he was so much fun to joke around with and pick on. I have to admit, though, Beth has totally kicked our butt in the two sessions we have had with her since her return. I have been pleasantly surprised. This week for warm up, I led the group in a mini-spin session and it was fantastic. It had been a while since I had been on the bike and honestly, it was rather exhilarating. I'm leading the group in another spin warm up session tonight and am looking forward to it. In the past couple of months, I've finally started to drop some weight and am down 13 pounds. I guess I needed to develop more muscle before the actual pounds started coming off. At any rate, this class has been a huge blessing to me and I love it! I'm very grateful that we were finally able to pull it together and that all of the girls have stuck with it so we can continue it. 

One thing that is annoying about the gym right now is the amount of people who are there. This happens every January when people set their New Year's resolutions and decide they are going to hit the gym every night of the week. This makes the gym super crowded and makes it more difficult to set up stations for our training class. Soon enough the crowd will start thinning and things will go back to normal and I look forward to that.

 

Other than my return to working out with the girls, not much else is going on. January, so far, has been a rather steady and slow month and let me just say that there is nothing in the world wrong with that. It sure beats the heck out of last January when I had already attended about five funerals by this point in the month. Work has also been steady, not to busy and even a little slow at times, quite the change from the end of last month when I thought I might pull my hair out.

 

Pippa is as crazy as ever and sometimes makes me completely insane. We got on really well during the Christmas break and I know this was because I was at home so much and she was able to be out of the crate. She has now returned to long endless hours in the crate with one exercise/potty break a day thanks to my neighbor Jeff. So, by the time I get home, she is wide open. Really, it wouldn't be so bad except that all she wants to do is gnaw on me and I have tried everything I know to do to get her to stop. So, if you have any advice on puppy biting, now would be the time to leave a lengthy comment on this post. She also barks way too much for my taste, but mostly I think this is because she is mad. I've honestly thought about buying her a thunder shirt to see if it will calm down her barking. I know they work for dogs who are frightened of storms (I have some friends who have tried it out), but I saw on the packaging that they can also be used for dogs that bark a lot and I am tempted to give that a try. Overall, I would say The Pip is a sweet dog. We have bonded a little more and I think once she grows out of her puppy stage (two years from now) we will be great friends. For now though, I just don't understand why chewing on me is so much more appealing to her than playing with the scads of toys she has.

I'll wrap it up here for now. Like I said, there's a whole lot of nothing going on. Welcome to January. Here's to hoping we might get a big snow to shake up the monotony!