Spring break 2025

I'm trying to really get Ollie ready for the hotter days and try and get her to not be such a nut.  It takes a lot of work to help a reactive dog and a lot of time and that is something I don't have a ton of.  Just being honest here, it is going to take so much to get her to a spot of where I don't worry about her overheating constantly.  Even if I carry my bladder for her to have access to water to drink on demand, she has got to stop reacting to every single thing that moves.  I've been doing loops in the industrial complex to reduce incidences of cars and also so we can be near a water source AKA my car, at all times if needed.  Of course, all of this pavement running in the meantime is killing my body, but yet I do it because I feel like there is a shred of hope in there that she can be a running dog.  To say I'm missing stelle ella a whole shit ton is where I am at right now.  Okay heart laid bare, let's go into the week.  

It's spring break week for little red.  No fancy trips this year, just a lot of feral time.  I know he's sad and it's been hard to see all of the pictures of kids at the beach or skiing, but we are talking about taking the Colorado race and making a fun week out of it as a mini vacation.  He's never been to the mountains or the front range, so I think we can have some fun.  He did complete his first audio book for a class and now is thoroughly hooked on Harry Potter books. Took me 12 years to get him to that spot but here we are FINALLY!

We did get our haircuts this week and we both got a ton of hair chopped off. I decided to get a chin length bob and Andrew decided to go short and tight.  I'm still getting use to my new hair and the challenges it brings.  I can sort of pull it up into a ponytail, but I am not used to having hair in my face at all times.  I do love it, just need to get used to it, plus I need some products to help kind of tame it because now it has tons of volume and so many different ways to style it.  

I am going to go back to get some color done because all of those streaks I have are natural and I would like to make it look better.  The sun does a number on my hair every year running even though I wear a hat.  

And I will end on an update on Ollie.  We found a weird bump on her leg that grew and got very odd looking.  Of course, having had a dog with mass cell tumors previously, I was very worried about the fact that it grew and changed.  I also knew that she was super young and while not a 0 percent chance, the odds were still super-duper low that it could be cancer due to her age.  We did a needle biopsy and got nothing, then a blood smear and just saw red blood cells, so the vets are leaning towards a histiocytoma which is just a fancy word for weird bump.  We are hoping as they do in young dogs, that it will go away in few months.  While the results don't rule out cancer, to hear they are common in young dogs makes me feel a little better.  It doesn't seem to hurt or bother her, and she has left it alone even post needling.  

Three runs in one-week and thinking about going back to classes as time permits next week.  Who am I????  We also finally got to the track to practice one car.  While our goal was to just get it on the track and make sure it runs with no hiccups, we saw some good things and know what to adjust to make it a rocket on race day.  I am seriously loving this blacked out car.  I'm calling her Black Betty but I am getting push back from the boys.  They say it's a he and they are calling HIM He man.  To be continued.  

We have one more car to get ready and then hopefully as the season progresses, a third to add to the mix.  Andrew is ready to do some big things, and I am so excited to help him.  I think this was the first time ever in a practice we had to tell him to slow down and not slam her into the wall.  

Why does he look so freaking grown up in these pictures????

Have a great week y'all!  It's race week, back to school week, and mammogram week for me :)

More?

Not more running and that makes me sad.  More beautiful weather, just not great timing.  If I could just get some sleep, I could go back to morning running.  Also, running with both dogs is a big no.  I tried twice this week and both times it sucked.  Ollie is over the top, reactive to everything and losing her shit, and Boom gets sick of her crap and attacks her.  It's a big mess and I am afraid I am going to fall because of them stopping in front of me to fight.  I have to figure out a plan because they both need their mileage.  It's nice to get Boom back out and I miss running with him.  Hell, I miss running with Stella ella so much lately.  So much less drama with running and her and boom just ran together so nicely.  I am just not sure Ollie is going to ever be a good running dog and for sure will be a challenge this summer.  To be continued.

We had concerts again this week, shocker!  We had our spring concert and of course I loved it.  They did two songs that I really, really loved including one with the high school choirs and it was powerful!

I love that the music boosters get lots of photos.  Mine with my iphone camera just sucked and andrew looked like a white, washed out Caspar the ghost.  To hear the boys actually singing loud and proud was so freaking cool.  Their voices are really coming in and I am here for it!  The song with the high school gave me goosebumps, not going to lie.

Towards the end of the week we had fun in Topeka and KC.  Saturday was the St Pat's Day parade in Topeka that we always try and be a part of for the club.  We had a great turn out and lots of new to our club families walked with and helped out.  We had a huge group go to a local bar and eat and just hang out and I loved every minute of it!  I think we have found our new post track hang out and I am super excited.  Their beer menu alone was a whole page, plus that was one of the best burgers I have ever had.

 

Of course, I had to have an Irish beer for St. Pat's Day :)  Guniess for the win!

On Sunday we went and celebrated one of our former racer's 15th birthday.  Micah and his family are some of our most favorite people.  Micah wanted to take Andrew to the go cart place in KC and I think Tony was the most excited of all of the kids.  

After some interesting food/experiences/people, we headed over to Crane Brewery to have a beer with our favorite KC family, the Soares.  

Track family is the best family.  Both of these families have been through some crap with me and have stayed by my side.  I am so blessed to have such great friends in my life.  Someday I hope we will leave pavement for dirt and start traveling with these two fams.  Of course, my liver may never be the same but oh well, we will have some freaking amazing times!

I did learn that I can eat like crap and have three beers and still get a run in.  Who knew?

Have a great week y'all!  We are going to have summer and a blizzard with inches of snow next week, YIPEEEE!

Fake news

Fake spring.  Why.  Snow and ice.  Wind and cold.  No running.  Thanks Kansas.  Back up.  I did get two short runs in during the weekend.  That was it.  We literally had 70 degree weather one day and then a blizzard with 50 mph winds and blowing snow and ice that night.  

My life is about to be overtaken by the track and that is okay.  Most weekends from here on out will be track weekends.  Two of the elders of the track LOL!  One has a mustache, and one is getting super tall.

We welcomed a new car into our family and said goodbye to the red car.  Why do I get so sentimental about these things.?  The red car was Andrew's first junior animal car, and it was fast.  It eventually became the 160 that he kicked butt with and found all kind of confidence in.  I am glad it is staying in the club so we can watch a new kid grow up with it.  I will never forget Andrew getting like 3 or 4 laps in it and then going out in the junior animal class and almost winning his first time out in that car.

All the spring concerts are happening!  Band was up first.  He's grown up so MUCH!

Have a great week y'all!  It's going to be busy with more concerts, nice weather, and track time.  

  

And mud.  Ollie hopes more mud.

And margs.  More margs.

I want to completely end on this.  The club has had to pull together and do a lot that we didn't expect to do so soon.  While it's been hard, and it's going to continue to be hard for a bit, I am really enjoying seeing everyone do their jobs or a job and step up.  That is what a club should be every member pulling some sort of weight.   I wish we had not have gotten here in the way we did, but I hope people continue to help and explore new to them jobs.  After we work all day together, we break bread and have some fun together.  I missed that and glad to see it back on such a large scale.  I hope it continues, I truly do.   Our club has evolved a lot over the past few years, and I hope we keep evolving for the future kids and families.  Our number one goal has been to make this about the kids and make it fun.  We've taken huge steps in that direction, and we can only keep going up from here.  I'm excited to have been a part of that evolution with others, even if they are not participating in the club anymore.  We've built a good thing, all of us, and we should be proud.  

Spring can it be you?

Usually, winter running is my jam.  I am always love when temps go low and the snow flies.  I love nothing more than a good snow run.  While I am not looking forward to the heat coming, I am really looking forward to warmer weather and just having one week of nicer weather has really rejuvenated my soul.   Can I be #teamspring and #teamfall when it comes to running from now on?  

I am also really worried about Ollie.  She has been overheating already, and highs are in the low 70s only.  She's already at a disadvantage being a black dog and then adding in her reactivity to cars and you have a major problem.  I've been working with her on reducing her aversion to cars, but it is a slow process, and I can't not run her near them.  Our running route takes us down a very busy road and there is no way to avoid it, so not sure how I am going to tackle this one fully.  I know i can go down to the rec complex and work her on the trail that is nearest to the highway as I think it's far enough away to get us under the threshold.  Sigh.  I want my stella ella back that viewed running as a job and nothing else mattered.  It adds a whole big layer of complexity to running when I am worried about my dog passing out constantly because she can't control her urges to eat everything that passes us on wheels.  

We did get a longish run of 6 on Sunday.  I think Ollie slept the rest of the day and was completely worn out.  I also need to figure out how to incorporate boom back into my runs.  Poor dude is not loving being left at home, even if he gets a PB kong every time I leave.  I miss him as he was a pretty easy dog to run with and we had just really gotten good at being lose during our runs.  

Here are some random photos from the rest of our week.  Had a date night with some good food and beer.  

He's dealing with a lot at work right now.  I wish we had never gotten into business.  It's aged him so much and i hate seeing him so upset all of the time.  

Birthday party time!  Happy birthday Chuck!

She takes the best photos when I can get her sit still.  

Had some great beers this weekend.  Lots of great porters and dark IPAs.

Spring is that you?  Love having deck time!

Have a great week y'all!

It really is the little things

I got zero running in this week thanks to cold and snow and more cold.  That use to not be an excuse for me because I loved running in the cold.  In fact, the colder the better in my opinion in the olden days.  Now, my body and my mind don't dig extreme cold or missing any and all sleep I can get to run.  I hate that this is where I am at but here we are, thanks peri.  I was discussing with my running partners how we have all had big gaps of low motivation and I am not sure why it is universal right now amongst many of my friends.  I keep thinking it is left over fatigue from having a month-long battle with the Flu, but I am wondering if it is something more.  I still have my lab work for my yearly to complete and maybe we will find something there.  Here are some pictures from my week minus running.  Enjoy.

She loves her daddy with all her heart.  It seriously is so cute to see our dogs worship Tony for once instead of me.  

Thanks to low sleep all week due to club drama, I was living on teas from BrickHouse Nutrition.  KillaTrav is seriously my favorite.  Please give us one more year Travis!   We love you in Kansas, plus bonus, I love seeing Taylor at the games.

We knew this was a possibility but was hoping it wouldn't be.  Andrew doesn't fit into either of his medium cars.  He is probably pushing 5 foot 4 now and with his helmet on, his head was touching the frame.  Hoping we can sell both of his mediums so we could possibly get another large to go with the large we have.  If not, we may just have one car for a bit :(

Tried the biggest marg out there to help me sleep. Did not help.  Sigh.  Not loving the fact that I am having issues getting to sleep every night.  Need stress to calm the F down a little bit so I don't get so sleep deprived.  

Have a teen is so weird.  Yes, he isn't quite 13 yet but he sure does act like one already.  So much attitude lately, but still sweet enough to apologize when I call him out on it.  Hopefully things will stay that way.   

Lab lunch and hopefully some tensions released.  Not good that my safe place has also started being a source of stress.  Not exactly sure what is going on, but the company wants a lot out of R&D and we are only so many people at this point due the recent layoffs.  Add in my boss is only 4 months away from having her third baby and our other R&D boss is new and still trying to find his footing and you could possibly have big issues.  I'm trying to keep my head above water, to worry about what I can control, and to keep doing my job the best I can and show my value to the company.  Now is certainly not the time to be a new scientist in either the federal or state space with funding so up in the air and firings happening daily, so I need to stay put as long as I can.  Plus, I genuinely love what I am doing right now and the stories we are creating with our data and the truly amazing product we have that help cows live better lives.  It's easy to work hard and stand behind a company when you feel so strongly about the product you are helping create and put on market.

I will end on this.  Yes, I am super stressed about what is going on with our racing club.  What's new right?  We have an all-new board, some board members who were key have quit right before the season starts, and there are lots of rumors swirling.  I am doing my best to get the new board members on board and using their resources wisely.  It's hard because we have so much new blood in the club now that hasn't been around as long as some of us and they don't understand the why.  I spent most of Saturday helping and will have more work next weekend as we welcome new rookies to the club.  Once again overall I know we will get through this, it may just be bumpy for a bit and we may need a big bit of grace on race day, something that most club members aren't great at.  

Have a great week y'all!  I am looking forward to actually getting some runs in next week due to the warmer weather.

Hopefully the last time

Hi from snowy Wisconsin.   I am hoping this is our last trip, but I am not holding my breath.  I am tired of the sleeplessness even if it is for a paycheck.  I am too old for this!  Thank goodness my coworkers are much younger than me because they had to help me out big time.  Apparently, my body said not even just no but hell no to no sleep.  I seemed to have gotten a migraine on day 2, the night/day I was to take the 12-3 am shift.  While I thought I would just collapse and sleep it off, my body decided an hour in to make me feel like total crap and puking did not help like it usually does.  Of course, I had no meds, and my poor coworker tried to door dash me some relief, which of course didn't work at all because the door dasher didn't pick up the meds.  He finally drove into town and got the meds, and I got them on board in time to get a few hours of sleep before we had to head to the farm.  Of course, why not, my lovely friend the period fairy decided to grace me with a visit on top of all of this, which was totally not expected (thanks perimenopause).   Lucky for me, I always have solutions since it's never known when she might visit, but dang it body, can you not stack puking migraines and periods on top of each other?  

It was beautiful seeing all the snow and I do love this airbnb, but I am ready for this experiment to be over.  Too much time away from family and so much loss of sleep.  It literally takes me a week to get over the fatigue and sleep issues I incur while I am doing this experiment.  I am so very lucky in that my mom is in Kansas this week helping Tony with the house, dogs, and Andrew, or I would lose my mind coming home to chaos.   Enjoy some pictures from our trip!

Of course, what trip is complete without a trip through the greatest buffet ever, Toot Toot's?

My coworker chilling.  This is his first trip here with us and I think while we drive him nuts, he is doing pretty well keeping up with our crap.  

Got my new favorite the first night we were here.  

And my second favorite beer.

The snow is beautiful, but I wouldn't want to live here and deal with it all winter.  

It truly is the best place for lounging. Due to our sampling every 2 hours, we do a lot of this.  Don't get me wrong, the downtime from the hustle and bustle of normal life isn't a bad thing.  

I still don't understand the lure of ice fishing (See what I did there), but it is life here.  If I were a fish and it was this cold, I would go down very deep and not come up till springtime!

Didn't get the uber pretty colors like last time, but this is still gorgeous in my book.  

Never judge a book by its cover.  Jess found this amazing Chinese place in the middle of nothing that had really really good food for a great price.  

We had to celebrate Valentine's Day apart from our loved ones, but we made the best of it.  We had a good meal at the local bar and grill and had chocolate cake for dessert.  My coworker even bought Jess and I some chocolate because he knew we needed it.  

Tony had me roses back home which I got pictures of.  Glad my mom got to enjoy them since I was gone.  

We got done mid-day Saturday and voted to stay or me and one of my coworkers voted to stay and the other not so much.  I get it, he has small kids at home, and he misses them, but with the weather and the fact that all of us were very tired, I just didn't think it was a great idea to drive in the dark and late at night.  I found us a fun place that had food and wine flights, and we walked around their little downtown.  We found one place open that we could walk around, and it had a mix of old and new stuff.  We all found a little trinket or two to take home.  

We headed back bright and early Sunday morning, and I am glad we waited.  The roads were still not great until we got out of Wisconsin.  We made great time and despite a little bit of car sickness, got mostly unloaded and home.  I was able to enjoy my strawberry wine for dinner and spend some good family time before getting in bed and crashing.

Have a great week y'all!  I will be recovering and getting ready for some busy times.  I hope to get some runs done since I had a week off and the dogs are bouncing off of the walls.