Feelin Groovy

Things have been going really well this week, with food, with exercise, and with my mood, too. And that's with all the hectic stuff at work, preparing for a weekend guest, scrambling to get to appointments every day, and all this dog stuff. By the way, whatever bug I had at the beginning of the week seems to have vanished, thank goodness, so health wise I'm feeling fine, too.
Hubby's definitely been noticing my improved mood, as well, and commented on it this morning.

But being the cynical person I am, when I do have a good week like this, instead of just enjoying and basking in it, I sit here and question why. I try to figure out what's going on that's causing it. I just think and analyze things through way too much.

I'm convinced part of it is the coming of spring and the warmer weather. The days are getting longer again and there's so much more sunshine. Sometimes I question whether I really have Seasonal Affective Disorder, but each year the same thing happens -- I get sullen, lethargic and crave carbs in the winter, and in the spring I seem to come back to life. Granted, this year has been the best in ages, due to heavily increased doses of full spectrum lighting, but even with that I still have light symptoms.

Got myself back to the gym today and did my half an hour each of bike and treadmill. I'm thinking this is also contributing to my good mood -- endorphins and whatnot. I didn't get the toning/weight resistance in yet today, and I'm going to try, but it might be difficult with my packed schedule.

This afternoon is the Great Dog Hunt, Day Two. Yesterday didn't go so well. Before our trip Mabel had an orthodontist appointment (good news= no more turning the palate expander; bad news= head gear 12-14 hours a day), and she brought up to the dental assistants that we were going to look at a dog. They asked me where we were going, and when I told them, holy crap. All the DAs dropped what they were doing and came to tell me the horror stories and suspicious things that had happened either to them or people they knew who went there. We still went, but we definitely had the warning in the back of our heads.

While the dogs were cute, and the Labradoodle seemed ok, the whole place just didn't sit right with me. The woman working there was completely inept, had her little girl mauling one of the dogs, and spent more time on the phone instead of cleaning up the pens. I thought the place reeked, but Hubby told me the place stank twice as badly the night before.

I had some red flags with the Labradoodle, too. While she was cute and nice, it was blatantly obvious this dog had been allowed to run wild on a farm for five months. While she wasn't violent or aggressive, she didn't seem socialized to humans and completely ignored us when we tried to get her attention with kissy noises, clicks, whistles or claps. At 8-10 weeks that's expected; at five months it makes me worry she'd be hard to handle and train.

When Hubby saw her the night before she had just arrived from the farm where she lived and was filthy. By the time we got there she had been shampooed and smelled good, but we noticed spots on her that had been shaved, probably because her hair had gotten matted from lack of grooming. That concerned me, too. No one had trimmed her nails, either, and Mabel wound up getting scratched on her neck. So we left without her, much to my daughter's distress, but neither Hubby nor I got a good feeling about the entire situation.

But yet another opportunity has arisen. Hubby saw an ad in the paper about a 6 month old yellow lab for sale. The lady called back and gave us the story: she is a lab breeder, and when she bred her last litter, both her adult children wanted one. Her daughter, who lives in a one-bedroom apartment, was already pregnant when she got the dog, and once the baby arrived trying to take care of the dog became too much. The dog has been house trained, sits on command, is used to being in the house and around little children.

We're going this afternoon when Mabel gets home from school to see not only the dog, but her mother as well. While we still have to wait and see the dog in person to determine her temperament, etc., Hubby and I already have a much better feeling about this.

As for the allergy concern, I called my sister yesterday about Easter plans and we brought up the dog subject. She informed me that when Mabel stays at her house she is constantly playing and even sleeps with her dog Lucy, and she has had not an allergy attack yet. And this dog is primarily lab and does shed some. So this was good news, too.

I have to say after having a lot of reservations about getting a dog, I'm definitely starting to get into it. Hubby is really committing to being active in the care of the dog, and I'm looking forward to getting a walking companion. I will definitely let you know what happens.