Our One Year Anniversary!

Whoda thunk I'd make it to a one year anniversary?

One year ago, on Sunday January 8th 2012, I met this guy:

He was not my first choice (Shhhhhh! Don't tell him!), but my 4th choice at Dallas Animal Services.  Let's just say this, he and DAS are lucky I am the persistent person I am.  Also, a year later and with some perspective, I count my blessings that I didn't end up bringing  home a Jack Russell Terror...er...I mean Terrier...puppy.  The BDog (originally named Eddie by DAS) was around 3 months old and all of 4.9 lbs soaking wet when he came home with me.

Thankfully (and much to Richard's dismay), he never grew up to be the big, mean rotty we joked he might be (you never know what you're getting with a mutt!).  I don't know if you can tell but he was a shy guy his first month or so and incredibly crabby with any new dogs.  Socialization was definitely a learned skill.  Who can blame him though?  His bark, not his bite, is probably what helped this 4 lbs of cuteness survive the street.

Bentley may be a mutt and pound dog, but he cleans up well, don't you think?

For a chihuahua (or any breed of dog, for that matter), he's not yappy.  Bentley loves doggy daycare, dog parks, fetching balls, slaying dragons, hanging on patios with moi, cuddling on blankets and annoying my mom's older dog, Snow.  We crate train so he doesn't get to indulge any nasty habits that I'm sure he would love to pick up.  Like destroying virtually anything you leave him alone with.  He is a dragon slayer, after all.

Did you know Dallas Animal Services has a selection of over 600+ dogs and cats for you to choose from?

Only $85 for a dog, $55 for a cat and they run specials on dogs and cats who are at-risk of being euthanized, sometimes as low as free to a good home.  You can check out these "VSPs" on their facebook page.

That's right, dogs and cats at your city shelter are at risk of being euthanized if they don't find a homeowner.  Dallas euthanizes nearly 75% of the animals that come through it's door.  Healthy animals that would make wonderful pets (like Bentley) if they only had a welcoming home.

If you're considering welcoming an animal to your home, consider adopting from a shelter instead of shelling out tons of money for a purebred from a puppy mill.  It's cheaper, mutts are healthier and dogs and cats are dying every day for lack of a home.  And if you have a dog or cat already, get'em spayed/neutered AND microchipped.  Lord Bentley The Dragon Slayer is begging you!

Okay, not really, he's living the good life and napping...

Jingle All The Way!

This happened yesterday.  Although it almost didn't.

Excuse the blurriness.  It seems to be all anyone could do when we'd ask them to take a picture of the 3 of us yesterday.  This is the least blurry of the bunch.

I've gotten on this 5K kick.  And by kick, I mean, I registered with my brother and some friends for the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving on a whim.  Oh, here we are!

I'd always heard about it.  Seems like everyone in Dallas does it.  I was finally in Dallas this year.  Why not join the crowd?

And I kinda enjoyed it.  Not during the race, mind you, but after the race I was pumped.  None of us trained or prepped.  I finished in 41:22 and all of us were within a minute or two of each other.  Not an impressive time by any stretch, but we were all proud of ourselves for pushing and running the run/rest intervals.  Then we went home and binged on food.  The strollers and dogs annoyed me and I'm not even competitive.  Helpful hint: you are NOT in the back of the race queue like the race guidelines request if...oh...approximately 20 thousand people are standing behind you!

So for the Turkey Trot they give you a race packet and what to my wondering eyes did appear in it?  A Jingle Bell Run 5K for December.  I posted it on facebook.  A bunch of people were interested.  Rah rah!  Yay yay!

And then I forgot to register.  So did most everyone else.  By the time my phone calendar beeped at me to remind me of my impending 5K, I was pretty much decided that I would either 1. skip it or 2. go run it alone.  I was leaning towards the former.

Turns out these two had registered for the race after seeing my friendly fbook post.

So I definitely had to suck it up and run.

My time didn't improve from the Turkey Trot.  In fact, it got worse 30 seconds worse at 41:52.  I was only surprised because this race had far fewer strollers and dogs in the way (aka...these dog owners and strollers stood in the back, thankyouverymuch) and I was definitely able to take off running much quicker after I passed the start line than the Turkey Trot, but apparently that meant nothing.  Still, I did it and took the after race pic in front of the tree to prove it.

Just imagine if I actually followed my "Ease Into 5K" schedule for running! (more on that later)

The Jingle Bell Run was sponsored by, among many sponsors, Corona Light.  The after party was a whole bunch of free Corona Light and delish bites from local restaurants.  The healthy runner crowd couldn't be bothered to drink all those free drinks up, so we stuck around to close the party down and help out.

We also met Rudolph and Santa's Reindeer!

I'm one of those people who needs a target and a goal.  I've been having difficulty finding workout motivation without it and I think that these 5Ks just might be the answer.

My New Year's Goal for 2013 is to run a 5K a month.  Ideally, I'd finally haul my butt through all 6 weeks of this Ease Into 5K app on my phone.  But even if I don't, then I still have to face the punishment of pushing through 3.1 miles each month.

Next Month: The Electric Run!  You know you want it...

Pooches, Patio, Beers, Live Music & 3 Beers + A Mug For $10?

Yes pls!

I ventured out into Deep Ellum last night with my kball team, Freeballers.  Yes, that's our team name.  This is us.

 Moving along.

We had the late 9pm game and one of our players, Graham, is into the "home brew" scene in Dallas.  By into, I mean he brews himself.  The man also knows how to grill and marinade.  Nom nom.  It doesn't hurt that he likes to share, either.  Anyhow, he knows all the cool little breweries and their owners/employees opening up around Dallas as brewing becomes the latest thing.  We've hit up the Deep Ellum Brewery's Brewery Tour before and it was such a great evening, we decided to hit it up again.

Now when Graham first pitched this Deep Ellum Brewery Tour to us a few months back, it was along the lines of "$10 and you can taste some beer and tour the brewery."  Cool...but taste sounds like a shot of beer and I've toured the Sam Adams Brewery in Boston before and learned all I need to know about beer to navigate my beer ordering world, which is, I don't like hops heavy beers.  Actually, I say that, but there's a lot of science and things to nerd out to involved in brewing if you really want to.  It got me thinking that a root beer brewing factory wouldn't be a shabby way to engage children in science and chemistry and the like, but there I go thinking again.

The team told Graham after our first visit that in his love for all things brewery, he had way undersold some highlights of the evening.  Namely:

• $10 for 3 full beers + a Deep Ellum Brewery Mug from 6-8.30pm

• Live Music

• Patio

• Free Hot Dogs

• Food Trucks

• Bonus (if you like dogs): BYOD (bring your own dog...just not inside the brewery)

This time, his team blast highlighted all of the extra perks.  I have to confess, I have yet to actually take the brewery tour.  I got there too late last time and I brought Bentley this time.  The doggy ban meant I was FORCED to enjoy the wonderful patio weather in December and live music from the hipster who likes country music.  Add that to the list of things hipsters and I have in common -- old school country music a la Old Crow Medicine Show.

Lord Bentley The Dragon Slayer donned his new hoody.  He also made a new "friend," Penelope, who is sadly not pictured.  More on that to come.  Penelope and him got along splendidly, if by splendidly you mean getting frisky and trying to hump each other.  Apparently BDog has a thing for unspayed females.

When we're out and about, people often ask me where I got Bentley and how much I paid for him.  The assumption is: small cute chihuahua must be a purebred.  So I'm doing my part to spread the word.  Rescue and you can pay a lot less to have some little animal pee in your apartment, tear up your crap, and dominate your schedule while keeping you company and saving its life.  Win-win!

Deep Ellum Brewery has 7 beers on tap to choose from.  I figured, since I was going to blog and all, I should snap a bunch of pictures, which I did, so I've become *that* photo girl, but then I deleted them in my upload attempt.  Because I'm special like that.  And whoaaaa was that a run on sentence somewhere there?  I like to type like I talk so I speak in run-ons sometime ok.  Note: When your select 5 photos to upload and your phone asks you if you want to delete them or share them, be sure to select share and not delete. Hey, blogging is tough.

The brewery is shiny and pretty though and the patio is chill.  There were two pics that didn't find themselves on the accidental chopping block because they were the worst of the bunch.  You know what though, this is what you get and you WILL like it.

I prefer the lighter beers and if you do, too, I recommend the Rye Pils or Dallas Blonde.  The rest of the team all enjoyed their seasonal Festivus and some other darker varities.

Tours every Thursday evening from 6-8.30pm and Saturday from Noon-3pm.  $10 Credit or Cash.