teresa

We picked Shiloh up I believe it was exactly two weeks ago today.  As I have said to a few people he is our first dog either Elliott or I has had as adults.  It wasn’t a decision we took lightly and given our housing situation (no yard) we almost gave up on getting a dog.  I am really glad we didn’t.

Shiloh is a about 2 year old, they think, black labrador retriever and chow mix.  He was rescued from Tehachapi where we have been told he was the town dog.  We have driven through Tehachapi, we stopped and had lunch there on one of our driving trips to Las Vegas.  We really liked that area its beautiful country in the mountains and is high desert.  We are not sure much of the rest of his history although we have tried to guess where some of his funny habits might have come from.  He is a gorgeous dog.  I don’t think he looks much like a chow although his face is rounder than a labs and he does have the Kulesza family eye brow anxienty wrinkle to match his mommy’s (note I am mommy and Elliott is daddy, in case that wasn’t obvious).  From what we have heard a woman in Tehachapi was worried about him, I presume because of him living on the streets and perhaps the danger of cars so he was sent to the pound, they shipped him up here and a lady we were communicating with about adopting a dog recommended him to us.

We met him first to see if we thought he would be a good fit.  He was being boarded by a sweet lady who lives in Petaluma about 45 miles north of us.  There were lots of other dogs there.  When we arrived many of them started barking, Shiloh on the other hand never made a peep.  He ran around a little crazy like for a few minutes seemingly taunting the other dogs that he was out and we took him for a walk so we could see his temperament away from the other barking boarders.  We walked him for quite a bit.  Talked about it at length and decided he was great.  At one point I asked him to “sit” which he didn’t do and I decided we would have our work cut out for us.  We told the lady we needed to get our things in order and we would pick him up in a few days which we did.

We bought him a crate, a pretty nice plush bed, food, bowls, treats and toys.  We were prepared for the investment.  When we picked him up we knew he didn’t like cars to the three of us, the nice land, Elliott and I all coaxed him into the car.  He immediately started drooling profusely and  I felt regret well up as I pictured our concrete floors sloppy with drool from this dog we had just adopted, what did we do.  It turns out he only drools in the car, thank goodness.  More on the car later.

He was great when we got him home.  He was a little tentative about the stairs, actually I think he still is but he has gotten used to them.  We took him for several walks and we started mentally logging his ones and twos so we would know when he needed to go on walks.  They say dogs should go out within 30 mins of feeding and we feed him twice morning and night.  We also take him for an afternoon potty break as well which seems to work well.

I think the first day he checked out his crate all on his own.  We were really surprised.  So after a few times of him going in it we closed the door like we read on the internet.  He didn’t care, no whining.  So then after another few more times we closed the door and left the house with him locked in it.  They say not to make a big deal about leaving or coming home so we didn’t we just walked out nonchalantly like no big deal as our hearts broke when we got outside, we didn’t want him to feel unloved.  Amazingly this worked with no whining and no problems.  The first few nights he slept in the crate for some of the night.  Then a few nights after he first joined us he was up in the middle of the night, walking around, upstairs, downstairs, making a big raucous, it was awful.  Ever since then he sleeps in the crate with the door closed!  That has worked pretty well.  So now if we both need or want to leave we point in the crate and say “kennel”.  He goes in somewhat unexcitelyd.  We say “good boy!” and then we go like its no big deal.

Interestingly it turns out he does know “sit”.  Which he will do for a treat, or if you hold a ball long enough during a fetching session, for his food, or when instructed although it sometimes takes two or three times.  He has learned to sit when we put his leash on.  Sometimes he will sit waiting to cross the street at a red light.  We make him sit when he goes crazy trying to chase birds and squirrels, so today when Elliott was trying to calm him down with out even a request for a sit he sat anyway, which elicited another “good boy!”

We have had only two accidents in the house, only number 1, and both preceded by obvious signs requesting to go out and we just didn’t react fast enough.

He goes well on walks and doesn’t mark every bush along the way which is good although lately he has been more into marking his territory which we are not a big fan of.  We work hard to always walk him by some good grassy areas.  We do live in a downtown area although there are still quite a few landscaped areas and a neighborhood park.  Although sometimes we will take him for a walk that includes a destination for us, perhaps a coffee shop or grocery store.  This has resulted in a few so far sidewalk poopings.  This has been an unfortunate experience each time.  The first time it happened he did it right in front of the Courtyard Marriott and the bellman standing at the door.  Elliott and I apologized and explained this had ever happened before.  We continued walking, we made a couple stops and then on the way back home as we passed the Marriott Elliott was preparing to joke with the same bellman that we had brought our dog back and then he did it again, pooped on the sidewalk in front of the Marriott, double embarrassing.  We do not respond to this behavior with our common “good boy!” although what are going to do with a dog who lives in downtown, if he has to go, he has to go.  Fortunately I think his stomach is now calmed down, used to his food and walking schedule so I think those instances will be less common.

We are working to know the right way to train him, we are in pursuit of a dog training class although we haven’t managed to get it scheduled yet.  Meanwhile the most entertaining part has been Elliott’s attempt to use the right voice.  So far he has adapted an angry voice which somehow doesn’t come out nearly as naturally as mine does.  And he has also learned that sometimes a good high pitched voice is needed to inspire excitement and motivation so Elliott tries to mimic my tone which is really entertaining.

During our first weekend we did take him for a pretty good hike.  It ended up being about 6 miles, not very hilly, although a little hot.  A little more than halfway through our lazy dog started to lay down in the shade and not continue on.  We gave him lots of water, he continued to pee (so no dehydration at least I think) but he was acting like he couldn’t go another step.  He would lay down and drink the water and we would dig in and make us drag him if we asked him to come.  It was painfully awful.  Elliott’s friend Brad was there.  We stopped often to let him cool down and drink water until we realized that at that pace we would never get back.  So eventually we learned we had to run through the shaded areas with him saying “come on Shiloh, come on Shiloh, good boy, come on…” it was awful.  If it was his first day at boot camp I think he would have been kicked out. Apparently he is not a big hiker, we are going to have to work on that and his endurance.

The other issue has been the car.  He hates the car.  Early on we tried to teach him that the car went to fun places like the dog park.  But leaving the dog park we would lay down in the parking lot and not get near the back of the car.  We would have to lift up his front paws and put them in the car and then lift up his rear legs to boost him into the car.  It was embarrassing and ridiculous.  The pinnacle though was when we took him for a ride too close to having had dinner and he threw up twice in the car including once on his bed.  I didn’t know what to do.  I was by myself and it was the night of the “Oakland riots” so I didn’t want to stop so I kept driving, he stood up hovering over his throw up the entire way home.  Since then we are now on a slow progression plan to learn that the car is a good place to get him over his anxiety of the car.

Ok last story, 4th of July.  Elliott went to see the fireworks in the city with his friend.  I fed Shiloh and took him for kind of  late after dinner walk.  We went down a couple of blocks and someone set off a load firework of some sort, Shiloh bolted, the leash pulled tight and tried to run I don’t know where.  I calmed him down and he stopped running.  I realized I would need to get him home and it was good because he had already done his business.  We turned the corner to go home and another firework nearby went off.  That was it, Shiloh attempted to sprint the entire way home.  I restrained as best I could in my flip flops although he pulled me basically the entire way home, he turned the corner to our street and then sniffed every entrance door and I had to coax him onward to our door.  I opened the door, he ran upstairs and laid down behind the loft wall for the rest of the night.  I consoled him as best I could but it was really one of the saddest things I have ever seen.

Ok final final story, this one is from tonight.  We bought him a long leash so we could work on training and its nice because we can take him to the park and he can run around and we don’t have to worry about him running into the street.  Also we determined that he loves the soccer ball so he will chase after the ball, pick it up in his mouth and its hilarious.  So tonight we were playing with him when he had to do a number 2.  Elliott picked it up, handed the leash to me and said I will be right back I am going to throw this away.  Elliott proceeded to run across the park.  Shortly thereafter Shiloh took off in a dead sprint after Elliott with me holding the leash.  I knew he would reach the end of the leash so I yelled at him Shiloh and before I knew what happened he reached the end of the leash and I became air born, I hit the ground and then slid another few inches.  The shear momentum of his 60 pounds was amazing.  I rolled over on my back and tried to catch my breath.  Both Elliott and Shiloh ran to my assistance.  Elliott, smartly controlled his laughter and I think was surprised to see me so shook up.  I wasn’t really hurt although I do think I will have a few bruises I was more a mix of startled and embarrassed.  Later when I could laugh about it Elliott got a good chuckle out about it and he told me that Shiloh and an equally violent reaction on his end of the leash.  Elliott said I should have started running or let go of the leash, all great ideas I agree.  I think Shiloh forgave me and hopefully he learned not to do that, although I highly doubt it.

That’s it for now.  I wanted to document some of our dog stories to date.  We are so happy we got a dog.  We have gotten a lot of great walking and playing in because of it and he really does lighten our day.

Well, we are now closer to Berkeley and I think that I am becoming more of a hippie by proximity.  As we were comparing prices for cacao nibs at Whole Foods a fellow shopper asked us if we were locals.  Afraid she was going to ask us for directions we stumbled to respond with an affirmative.  She then said there is a local raw food coop where we could get said nibs and other superfood goodness on the cheap.  We went home and googled Raw Manna and I think our life may have changed directions.  Ok that sounds silly.  Although I believe that if you are open to it things will come to you that can positively change your life and direct you on a path that is good and right for you.  How’s that for hippie speak?

So I have spent a couple hours today researching the products they have available and we will definitely be visiting them to pick up some things.  Funny thing is we would have gone there today, however we were not able to get a hold of them.  They ask that you call ahead and in typical laid back hippie fashion they haven’t returned my message yet, I find that totally funny and ironic.  What will we be getting?  Chia seeds – I think I may use these in place of the Arbonne fiber we have been using in smoothies, they are also a good source of good fats.  Maca – a root that is great for energy and apparently better sex drive (oh my, yes I did write that in a blog I know my mother reads, hi mom, love you!).  Kale Chips – these are simply baked kale, a good treat for those who have given up starchy tubers like potatoes the more common chip component.  And lastly Elliott has requested Wizards Paste, which I believe is a chocolate type mixture with 12 or so “superfoods”.  When the hippies get around to calling us back we will go check out their store/house, purchase some of these items and work on bringing them into our diet.  I am pretty excited to try something new.

On another note, the jury is still out on whether or not coconut oil is “good” for you.  Some people say its a saturated fat so its not good, others say its one of natures best foods.  I tried it in my smoothie and liked it.  Then one night I was talking to our friends who are from India about it and she told me that she uses it in her hair.  She also shared a story that one time she went to someones house and they drizzled it on food, she thought that was disgusting.  Since I had tried it in food first I was thankful that it hadn’t been ruined for me and I then proceeded to try it as a beauty product.  I rubbed it on my skin area problems for several days before getting in the shower.  I think there is a small chance the residual on my hands made my face break out… although other than that it was soothing.  Then today I put it on my hair for a few hours.  I showered tonight and afraid it was going to be too greasy I shampoo’d twice, do you think that negates all the benefit?  So then I conditioned to try and get the benefit back.  I didn’t blow dry or do my hair and its still slightly damp so I can’t comment on if I think it was helpful or not, although it did feel fun.  I kind of want to take a bath in the stuff it feels so rich.

Lastly, my final hippie act for the day is researching how to make our own almond milk.  We go through so much of this stuff I thought it would be good to see if making it ourselves is an option.  I first compared the potential price savings and I don’t think the savings is so great as to be a motivator in itself.  However I do think that the amount of the containers we throw away would be greatly reduced and thereby I think worth it.  That is easy to say having not yet made it. It doesn’t look that hard though.  Some people blanch the almonds, others don’t.  I think I would skip the blanching.  I think I would soak them overnight though.  And then you blend in water and strain in cheese cloth.  Sounds pretty easy.  We just bought a bunch of almond milk today, including a case (that’s how much we use) so when we almost exhaust that supply I am going to try making a batch to see if I think it is a viable option rather than purchasing it.

Given my recent aversion to spandex, I am afraid I may soon be caught up in a raw food, hemp clothing, tree hugging movement and no longer be recognizable to my friends and family.  If that happens I am sorry.  I love you all.  Peace, love and gratitude, love your hippie sister, daughter and friend, teresa (aka raindancer)

creeped out onto our fourth floor patio.  I looked around and saw no one.  So I threw my first penny toward the fountain at the ground floor below and just out of reach of a toss.  I missed.  I threw the next one, this time I made my target with a kerplump unfortunately out of earshot.  About that time Elliott realized that I had stepped outside to dispose of our pennies in the only fashion that didn’t seem to be bad luck.  And as if transported back to elementary school he looked at me with frustration, a look that said, I want to play too.  I shared half of my pennies with him, which was only about six each.  I think he missed his first shot too.  I eventually found that holding the penny vertically and with a rolling motion was most efficient for making the distance without looking really winding up.  I didn’t make a wish with each beyond the wish for continued stumblings upon moments of simple joy.

I think Elliott thinks the penny should be abandoned by the government.  I think if soda machines at least excepted them that they would be good for something other than fountains.  I learned from someone not sure if was my parents or who that you shouldn’t throw away money, even if its a penny, I think it puts a hex on you based on your apparent frivolous nature.  So what should we do with our pennies?

Today I awoke out of the doldrums.  I knew February was going to be a tough month although I didn’t know it would literally take it until March 1 for me to find my shine.

This morning when I finally got out of bed and showered I went to put on my wedding ring and I realized I hadn’t cleaned it in probably months.  I soaked it, brushed it, and washed it off to expose its sparkle.  I had been too busy to do this pretty simple task.  I noticed it wasn’t shining anymore although I just didn’t even stop to remember I had the power to fix it.  My attitude had been closely tracking the condition of my ring.  I think I have finally emerged from my stupor.  What is my equivalent to soaking, brushing and a good wash you ask….

First of all I said no to the ridiculous idea of spending 3-4 hours traveling to a 4 hour meeting today.  I should have gone, I was supposed to go, although it was not what I needed today.  So instead I vegged last night and this morning and I watched more episodes than I care to admit of Chuck.  This is my new favorite show.  I know pretty impressive for someone who doesn’t own a tv, problem is you don’t need a tv when you have a laptop and the internet.  So, I totally identify with Chuck.  Not that I am crazy smart covert spy fighting bad guys… although I do identify with this guy who feels like he used to have a normal life and now he has been thrown into a world with lots of risk, pressure and the absence of normalcy.  I know a little dramatic for my life of managing a 3 man office for an A&E firm, although I do day dream of the days in high school when I sold shoes in the mall and my biggest concern was hoping someone would also buy a second item, so my percentage of sales with multiple items would meet my target of 33%. 

I drank 2 americanos at Pete’s, only single shots so don’t be alarmed.  I read through the stack of four SF Business Times that had piled up on my desk and made notes of prospective clients and partners.  I laughed out loud when I read an article about how the economy has to be ok given the continued long lines at Starbucks and potential of caffeine filled Americans. 

And then amazingly even among my recent disillusionment I believe stumbled, this morning, or last night I can’t remember now, upon the answer to a question that I have been chewing on for awhile.  Probably almost 2 years ago in a Vistage working session I drew a timeline of the significant events in my life.  The purpose of the exercise was to understand things that have continued to show up in your life and to follow those signs.  Unfortunately I did not see any patterns that provided clarity about my journey to date.  Then more recently I took a survey for another Vistage meeting which unfortunately I then had to miss the meeting.  Although I had the opportunity to discuss my Predictive Index with the facilitator who proceeded to tell me about myself, my situation, and my general feelings of my dealings at work.  It was phenomenal given the survey did not seem to be enough to provide such understanding to a stranger.  Although he shared with me something that I didn’t know… he said my results showed that there was a disconnect between my capacity and my perception for where I am.  It’s a bit confusing although I understand that I either have or believe I have the capacity to be achieving at one level although my self-concept of where I am currently functioning is lower.  So I have been thinking about that, why do I feel like I could be doing more and still feel so stretched at the same time?  Then it came to… the pattern of my life story, the commonality in some of my favorite memories from my 29 years.  I am still working on the synthesis of my discovery although I think it will help me to shape my future.  Very exciting!

I had a wonderful birthday this year.  I love birthdays, so appropriately acknowledging and celebrating my birthday is important to me.  This year for the unglamorous celebration of 29 it may have been even more important.

My day started out with my wonderful husband getting up and making me breakfast.  And not just my standard high fiber cereal and soy milk – no he made me french toast with berries and eggs.  I guess the pressure is on for his birthday now!

Then at work I was surprised by Reena who brought in a mini cake for the 3 of us to share and they sang happy birthday to me!  That was so sweet.

We ended our day with massages.  I have been there before and have had deep tissue massages where I felt the pain for weeks after.  So I let my guy know it was my birthday and my end goal was relaxation which he nailed.

Then in the evening I spoke to just about everyone in my family and received a birthday wish!  Friends, family, cake, massage – what else could a girl want?!

Lets see other updates, in the last few weeks we also saw 2 movies. 7 pounds – loved it, cried pretty good and didn’t know how it was going to end until the end, I am so gullible at movies I never detect where the movie is headed.  Then yesterday we saw Yes Man – loved it too.  Jim Carey is awesome although the movie only had a hint of his usual goofiness.  It had a great story to tell of being positive with a  little bit of a love story intertwined – a perfect Saturday afternoon treat.

Yesterday we got to see Stef and Don, had lunch with them in Walnut Creek at Maria Maria – a pretty decent Mexican restaurant and window shopped – that was a lot of fun.

Friday night we went line dancing with Jen and Kris – fun.  We learned the couples line dance the Wooden Nickel.  We thought we would be dancing with our guys the entire time, although it turns out the guys rotate, so we all got to sort of meet some other people, it was a fun time.  After the lesson they played music, we stayed danced a bit – it was another birthday celebration for me and I had a great time.

Otherwise things are pretty good.  We had beautiful weather yesterday and we are expecting it to stick around, life is good!