Racing with Rimkus

On Thursday I participated with Rimkus in the Houston Young Lawyers Foundation 5K here in Houston. It was a huge race...of 67 runners! It's a big contrast from the last race I ran with Roma (as that one we all ran with dogs) or even back to January with the 25k+ runners downtown for the marathon festivities. I figure this was where I'd capitalize and do well.

Hmm...those young lawyers were fast...and in the Houston heat AND humidity! It was a wet, hot night for a run... I did okay, running in 30 mins, 45 seconds...right on my typical pace. I placed 36 out of 67...in the bottom half! I had a great time and was probably the first (and last) time I finished a race and had a few beers.

Running will be slowing down as the summer approaches, but I'll be sure to run on the hot, non-humid days. I like the heat, but not when you feel like you're running in a freaking steam room!

Pug-Sitting with Robo...and Roma & Buster

This past Friday and Saturday were eventful as we got to pug-sit Robo (aka Robotron). It's no secret I'm a pug fan...so we were ready to dogsit for the first time. Robo and Roma were a bunch of hooligans at times, but fun for the most part. It was a "ROMA" or "ROBO" or "ROMO" couple of days.

Here's Robo saying "please help me take back the bed and that bone..."

Best story was Roma and Robo with the bones and the dog bed. We have one dog bed and two bones. Was this a problem? Yup. One dog was on the couch and the other was in the bed...all was great, they each had a bone. Then it was like "no I want the bone." "now I want that bed." No, I want the other one back." This one, that one, on and on!!! It's hilarious to think back on, but it was a nightmare in the moment. Our dog obviously does not like to share. Daycare says she does great, so who knows...?

On Saturday, Aaron came by with Buster so the three pups got to play for the afternoon. They all had a good time.

"Pulling a Debbie"

I call it "pulling a Debbie." That is when you run yourself out of gas!

I love Debbie and she knows I give her a hard time about this, but that's only because it happens often! "Hey Deb, let's take your car today..." Deb's response, "ummm, okay, but we need gas." She does it with a big smile! But Deb got it from her mom, they both know "I have XX miles when the light goes on." And they go XX minus 2...I have 2 miles till empty, I guess I'll get gas now!

Well, I pulled a Debbie this week...and it frightened me! I drove up to do an inspection in Bedias, Texas...a couple hours north and surely enough my light comes on. Good thing...I was already 5 miles off any noticeable road and went another 10 to the project site! My car reports "distance to empty" so I knew I had miles to go. Driving 15 miles each way off any sort of road (I was on a dirt road) was definitely a little scary. After the inspection I went and followed the client to the gas station...I had 12 miles left.

That's what I call "pulling a Debbie."

Oh and when I told Deb, she laughed and gave ME the hard time! :-)

Roma's Good Behavior = Dog Bed

We may sound mean, or like "Nazi Drill Sargents," as my dad put it, but we are very strict with Roma. I mean the dog destroys things with her mouth that just never stops. It's only prepping us for kids, and the talking back that will undoubtedly come in 15 years. But back to Roma, because she destroys and eats things (i.e. towels, pillows) we hadn't gotten her a dog bed. Recently she's been doing better...so we are giving it to her on a trial basis. It doesn't go in her kennel (just yet) rather sits on the couch. Last night, we said "go to your bed" and she actually did. So we are getting there.

More on the "good pup" is her training progress. She's nailed down the basics (i.e. sit, down, roll over), doing awesome at "stay" and "leave it," but we hadn't really ventured anywhere new...until this week. This week Debbie was all over her with "shake." And you know what, within one day, she's a pro! What a smart dog we have...you say "shake" and her little left paw goes reaching for your hand!

Oh and Kitty likes the bed too...

We got an email from our vet saying "Happy Birthday Midnight" this week...we both kind of were like, "hmmm..." Just like Roma, Midnight doesn't really have an official bday. Kitty was pulled from a river and Roma was a stray...their stories are unknown, but we believe they are both from south of the border!

Poker Night

It's been a while, a loooong while, since I last played poker. I went in fully expecting to lose. Debbie shared this feeling and was oh so confident in her husband! (Yes, I might have glanced back at the rules ensuring I didn't look like an idiot!)

Game started off strong, had a good showing, won a few hands...yup, I won a few. Started with 7,500 in chips...not sure what I peaked at, but I know it was more than that.

Soon enough, a couple hours in, I was dwindling. At my last chance, I went all in...I had a crappy hand and that was the end.

It was fun, especially the beer chugging later on...no worries, I wasn't driving!