Day Three-sunshine and phoebe

Hello readers!
     Today is a good day. I am feeling a little sick, but that didn't put a damper on things. I went to work and got a lot of things done. It is a beautiful day here in Alaska. When the sun comes out, my whole word changes. I LOVE Alaska. Many people from my town are not so fond of living here; especially the younger folks. When I went to college in Colorado, I knew I was coming back here.

When I got off work today, I decided I wanted to take my pooch for a bike ride.  My pup's name is Phoebe (Fee-Bee). I adopted her from the La Plata humane society when I was a senior at college and she was eight weeks old. She is a chihuahua-blue heeler (Austrailian Cattle Dog)...don't ask me how it happened that she is what she is. The vet thinks the chihuahua was the male...Anyways, less on the topic of my dog's lineage. Phoebe was the cutest little thing. She weighed 5 lbs when I got her and the vet guessed she wouldn't be more than 20 lbs tops. I am not a big dog person, so I was excited to have her. My dad (whom I lived with for 2 months after I got out of college) was not so pumped. I promised him she was potty trained and wouldn't be much bigger than our 3 lbs pomeranian-wiener dog mix.

When we got home to Alaska....Phoebe decided she liked using the bathroom in my dad's room (there is not actual bathroom in my dad's room). He grew less fond of her. Phoebe's personality before I got her home was playful, energetic, but got tired pretty fast. She was only 4 months old when we left Colorado...so I don't know why I expected her to stay that way. As she matured, she outgrew her tiny little chihuahua head and developed a blue heeler body type. She looked like a monster chihuahua with a weight problem. People who use to think she was adorable, laughed when they saw her. (douche bags!) I kept them informed that she WAS 1/2 blue heeler and it is to be expected that she resemble both her parents.

Well, I went from walking my dog twice a day (pre-wedding exercise), to throwing a ball in the drive way (post-wedding exercise). You know how people say that dogs come to resemble their owners....Phoebe is now short and obese. I feel like what people say about my dog, probably relate well to what they would say to my husband... "damn, she's huge!" "what have you been feeding her?!" "what ate your dog [wife]?"  "is that even the same puppy? [person]"....and "take her for a walk!"

So, like I was about my weight, I became sensitive about Phoebe's weight.  "She eats just as much as she did before!" "She just has a large build"  "it's because of her genetics"....."SHUT UP DAD NOBODY CARES WHAT YOU THINK!"......I became the crazy dog lady.

Luckily, when I came around to the fact that I was a big girl again, I also came to the realization that Phoebe is big girl too....Also because of my choices. Therefore, like myself, Phoebe will be exercising more often. I took her for a bike ride today. Poor pup, she was panting before we crossed the street to the bike path....right across the street from my house. We rode the length of the bike walk and back; about a mile-ish. We panted as we heaved our bodies up and down the small slopes in the pavement....but we made it. We both struggled up the 3 steps to my house, grabbed some water, and collapsed in our usual spots; me on the couch, phoebe on her rug. But, the big thing (besides our weight) is that we got our butts up and did it. So I celebrate our success on day three. May there be many more breath-taking bike rides or walks in our future. I love you Phoebe!

the view out my window today...the bike path is along the road across the street.

Phoebe right after I got her approx 1 month old

Obese Phoebe age 1 year. I couldn't find a good angle, so you can't see her love handles so much.