For those of you who may not have heard, I am now a dog owner. I inherited a beautiful 2-year-old girl from my friend Ross who will be moving to Belgium on the 29^th. Her name is Merlot! Although I was a little concerned about the transition, all in all it’s going well. She’s finally growing accustomed to her new home and new unfenced yard. Although she likes to explore, she always comes back when I call her. I love to watch her run and leap. I know that may sound strange but she looks like a gazelle! Recently I decided it was time for her to meet the rest of the family. Now the thing about Merlot is that she’s not real excited to meet new people. In fact, she’s a little skittish, but once you’ve won her over, she’s your friend for life. I like to think we're kindred spirits in that regard. She’s slowly warming up to my dad. Mom hasn’t spent enough time with her yet. As for these 2, I think they’re just tolerating her:)

Today I decided Merlot needed to go for a walk. Okay, okay, I needed to go for a walk. I decided that this week we would just start with a brisk 10-minute walk, next week we’ll bump it up to 15, etc. My bf, Don (yes in my world, he’s my bf), tells a story about when he was training for his big bike tour a few years ago. He met with a personal trainer and they started out slow, getting his heart rate up for 20 minutes, then building up momentum as the weeks went on. In fact, his trainer says that as long as you get in 20 good minutes of cardio, anything else is just bonus so it takes the pressure off of trying to have these long, intense workouts. I suppose that’s what I’m trying to do. The truth is I’ve been lethargic lately. Partly due to life and the impending goodbyes that will start this week and partly due to just feeling tired. It’s funny that everyone always says that in order to not feel so tired all the time, you should exercise. It’s a vicious cycle. I feel tired, therefore I just want to lie on my couch and not do that so-called exercise that will give me energy. I’m taking it day by day and today we were successful. Tomorrow’s a new day. Oh, and sorry to my neighbor whose yard Merlot pooped in.