Name That Breed

Since I adopted Sasha a year ago it has been a burning question in my mind what kind of dog she was. I know she lied on her application when she put “Bernese Mountain Dog Mix”. Bernese Mountain Dog’s are calm, mellow, and prefer to lay by your feet and be your best friend. Sasha is the complete opposite; she is hyper, needs constant exercise and would rather lay by herself in the back yard than near your stinky feet. If you force her to be inside she would rather try to herd the cat around.

The cat would like to interject that she is NOT happy about this arrangement one bit.

My trainer even agrees, she definitely has the personality of a herding breed and very little, if any, Bernese Mountain Dog in her linage.



A few months ago my vet told me now they can genetically test dogs to determine the linage. Being the geek I am, this intrigued me. It does cost more than I like ot spend at the vet for an elective procedure.

This past week I got a check in the mail I was not expecting so I decided I will spend part of it on getting Sasha genetically tested. I called my vet and they have to order the test, once they get it we will go in and have her blood drawn.

She here is the fun part. What do YOU think Sasha is?





Here are some of her facts:
She weighs 50 pounds
She is tri-colored.
She has a black spot onteh center of her tongue
Has a deep, aggressive, shocking bark that makes me wonder if she is part Rottweiler.
Lies with her back legs sprawled like an Australian Shepard or a Golden Retriever.
Loves to chase runners, cats, dogs chasing tennis balls, pretty much anything
VERY independent
VERY protective of her house and her master
From a crouch on the ground she can “spring” in the air over 4 feet high… This is amazing to watch, although she only does it when I come home.
She is very comfortable walking on her hind legs…I think she thinks she is part human.
She talks back. If you tell her something she doesn’t want to hear, she will let you know.
She is smarter than any dog I have ever met.

The Power of Girlfriends

A dear friend of mine send me this speech. I love it, it is an fantastic example of how important girlfriends are.

So Wrong I Love it!

In the 80's I loved Soft Cell, in the 90's I loved Teletubbies (yes I am admitting that--there is just something about those little guys.)

But this?

Hmmm...I can't decide if I am amused or disturbed. I fear I may be more amused...

JERK!

Tonight I made a very rare trip to the mall. Normally I avoid the mall like it was filled with Storm-troopers*. Don’t get me wrong, I like to shop, wait—I LOVE to shop, just not in malls. They tend to close in on me and I feel boxed in.
Tonight though I had no choice.

I heard Bath and Body works was having their annual HUGE sale , and in the name of gift giving and early Christmas shopping, I had to get a jump on it for next year. Really, who am I kidding though, by this time next year I am sure I would have used up at least 50% of the “gifts” I intended to give to other people, and the other 50% will have been lost in my closet until I dig them out in mid 2010.

Anyway, I digress

I took a deep breath, walked into the mall, procured my loot of fragrant soaps, lotions, sprays and scrubs, and considered it a successful shopping trip. As I headed out of the entrance near the food court, the scene couldn’t have been more stereotypical of a mall. There were three kids sitting on a short wall right outside the entrance. Typically kids like this get labeled as being up to ‘no-good’ and ‘hoodlums’. They were slouched down, feet hanging over and resting on skateboards with just enough scratches on them to appear cool, talking in muffled tones, smoking suspicious cigarettes and giving the best attitude they could muster. Ahead of me was your typical Colorado Springs, middle aged (read ‘older than me’ although I don’t know if that is true) conservative couple, the husband walking at least three paces in front of the wife, he was dressed in Dockers and a golf shirt and she was wearing your typical conservative ‘Church Chic’ attire. They were walking towards the entrance as I was walking away.

At that moment a typical “Tanya Moment” happened. For no apparent reason other than I am a complete klutz, I roll my left ankle and fall down. Not a graceful fall either. We are talking drop.everything.splat.&.sprawl.on.the.ground.in.an.instant type fall. Seriously, this happens more times than I should ever admit.

I had three shopping bags in my hands, two in my left, one in my right. Luckily not too much fell out, but there was one tub of Eucalyptus Mint body scrub that rolled out and was rolling across the parking lot. The husband, of the couple walking towards me had to step over the scrub rolling in front of him. He did not stop to pick it up or even ask if I am ok. (At this time I am trying to pick myself up off the parking lot as quickly as possible) Instead he scowls at me while I am down on the ground like I am some sort of scum that likes to lay down in parking lots.

The three kids however, immediately yelled over to me “Are you okay?”

“Yeah” I replied as I stood up, brushed myself off and checked to make sure I didn’t tear a hole in my new jeans I was wearing, scuff up my shoes, or skin my elbow. With a half laugh I follow up with “guess I just need to learn to walk”.

At the same time I was standing up and starting to walk away with whatever pride I had left, the wife of the mean-non-helpful-scowling-man walks by me and says to me “looks like someone stocked up”.
I replied “yes I did…your husband’s an asshole.”

Seriously…

Okay, maybe that wasn’t the best thing I could have said, but really? Who does that? Sees a person fall, and not only ignores them but steps over their stuff and scowls as they walk by.

At least I got a good personal laugh once I got to my car and I am happy I didn’t hold back what I was thinking. As for the three kids sitting on the wall, I drove past them as I left the parking lot and gave them a wave.



* Random Tanya factoid: Unexplainable fear of Storm troopers, yes, like from the movie Starwars. It is weird. Believe you me; it makes Halloween interesting

Happy 2009!

In 2008 I learned many lessons. To name a few:

Friends new and old are some of the best treasures a person can have

Be grateful for everyday, life can change in an instant. Seriously, I learned this first hand this year.

Be grateful for everyone in your life, they may not be around tomorrow.

Training a smart dog is a lot tougher than training a dumb one

Dogs and Cats don’t always get along

Riding your bike for 7 straight days, over 500 miles, with 30,000 strangers is something everyone should experience at sometime in their lives.

I can not survive on fried, salty, fast food for more than three meals in a row.

I can however, survive on Granola bars, Nuts, Dried fruit and chocolate for days.

One of the best feelings in the world is holding a newborn baby nephew and having them reach out to touch your face.

Trust is a hard thing to maintain, especially with your hairdresser. Use caution when stating the words “I trust you”—ESPECIALLY when you hair is involved.

When all else fails, Champagne helps!

There are many more…

Welcome 2009!!!

The English Beat!

Tonight I get to go see one of my all time favorite bands play in Denver.

How much do I love them? In 1991, before tattoos were cool or even very socially acceptable, I got the "Beat girl" tattooed on my ankle.

My mother cried. (no joke--but that is another story entirely!)

Ogden Theater
Tonight, 8pm.

The Funk

Here we are...in the full swing of the holidays and It appears I have been neglecting my blog. Well maybe not fully neglecting it, I do look at it sideways from the corner of the room every now and again and think of witty quips to make, but they never seem to appear.

The holidays are a strange time for me. Sometimes I embrace them with gusto and other times I get the uncontrollable urge to run away to a far away land, usually the desserts of Nevada or the desire to go to the other end of the earth. The sirens of Bali, Indonesia have been calling loudly lately.

Forgive me if I seem out of sorts, this usually happens this time of year, holiday stress mixed with poor early season ski conditions that prevent me from my therapy, falling down a mountain with a board of some sort strapped to my feet.

I have been finding some sort of solace in getting my required amount of self induced pain while trotting up my favorite ass kicking hike locally, the pikes peak incline. Although even that torments me, I can not seem to break my record time. No matter how hard I push. Also, I use the term “trotting” very liberally.

My head will get right again, I promise. In the meantime, pray to the snow gods for big snowfalls and accumulations.

Thanks for reading…Peace!