TATER WINS!

I entered Tater in the Dachshund Rescue of Houston Weiner Dog races, and she won 3 races to make it into the final championship race! Here's what the starting booth looked like.

They had bandanas for all the racers and you matched the color to the slot for your dog. This was very much a do-it-yourself deal. Not like Buda at all!

The rules I received prior to the race said one owner was to be at the starting gate and one was to stand at the finish line. Since Gina went hiking instead of with us, I was very grateful to Kelly for coming to be the starting gate owner. Kelly is the woman who runs the rescue group who gave us Tater, so she was her owner! Here they are - and you can see that Tater was in the first racing lane with her orange color bandana.

Kelly had a flat tire on the way to the races and another on the way home! But she made it on time to be the chute owner on the first race. I asked the guy who was at one of the vendor booths to take the videos. The very first race found Tater a bit too eager to start!

I got the guy to come down toward the finish line for the re-start of the race. And as you can see, TATER WON!

Tater dominated the next 2 races as well. Nothing could stop my little girl! But by the time we got to these races, it was getting loosey-goosey with the rules. You can see the people were running along with the dogs (and messing up our video!) Kelly took these videos as she was no longer required to stand at the starting gate.

But when she made it to the championship race, someone distracted her in the starting chute. Right before they raised the doors, she turned completely around and was looking behind her. She never had a chance.

Still, it was a lot of fun. And we did get into the championship photo, even if we didn't get one of the nice gift baskets like the other 3 did. My little Tater was also the cutest one of all!

When we got back home I let her kill the little stuffed toy I'd used to entice her in the race. Once she finished it off, she was wiped out from her busy, busy, busy day!

Cat Pictures

I just received my new Kodak digital camera and plan to figure it out this holiday weekend. Thought I would go ahead and post photos that I had from my old camera that I just never got around to posting. Enjoy!

Zip and Code cuddling in the Mega Spiral

Poor Stamp had to cuddle with the post on the nearby cat tree

 Zip really knows how to s-t-r-e-t-c-h on that cat tree, huh?

Here's an oldie but goodie - Gina and Timitu

And this was one of many Xmas shots that our friend Debbie Chapman took last year.

Tater - Not the Big Winner I'd Hoped

Well, at least we tried. You'll see in the video how the official kept pushing me back and blocking Tater's view of me. By the time the race started she had no idea where I was. Still she came in 4th place.

See the Tree - How Big It's Grown

First time I heard this song was when I was a kid. Terry Jackson and I were listening to the radio in her stepmom's car and laughing because it was such a sappy sentimental verse. Then when it got to the point where we realized she'd died, we both started crying. Ah... to be young and so sensitive :-)

Here's how the tree looked one month after we moved into our house - September 2005.

And here's how it looked this morning. Quite a difference huh?

BTW - haven't given up on reporting my weight. Gained again and am at 215.2 now. But I did join a team for a Healthy Living Challenge at work. Gina joined as well. We're both exercising daily and watching what we eat. The Challenge lasts for 50 days and there's all kinds of online materials that keep you focused on the goal. Hopefully it will turn my gains to losses!

213.0! Now We're Talking!

I have registered Tater to compete in the Buda, TX Wiener Dog races next month. I think she can win! Mom and I went to this event back in 2009 and had a blast.

I'll start a new work schedule this week. Mon-Thurs 9 hours a day and Friday 8 hours for the 1st week of the pay period. Then Mon-Thurs 9 hours and Friday off in the 2nd week of the pay period. This will allow me to go to Mom's every other Friday and have the rest of the weekend at home. I love my new job!!!!!!

213.6 and My How the Kittens Have Grown!

Bet you thought I was going to abandon my resolve to record my weight already, huh? Well, I just haven't had time to get around to posting it. Gained a bit, but I'm happy with the first week results. Publication online did help me keep the binging to a minimum, and to exercise when I was tired.

Just 3 weeks old when we got Zip and Code. There was plenty of room for both of them and their stuffed toy in the bed.

Didn't take long for them to outgrow that bed!

Remember the family portrait of my triplets?

And now all three can barely fit on the tree!

Serious About Losing Weight

For the past 15 years I have made the same New Year's resolution - Get under 200 pounds by the end of the year. And while I have gone from hovering in the 230-250 range in the first 5 years to stagnating in the 215-225 range for the last 10, I have yet to accomplish my goal.

Well, now I'm 55 years old and have several obesity-related illnesses and quite frankly, I'm tired of being fat. I thought that perhaps if I had to record my weight loss/gain here on my blog, instead of just posting it on my fridge, it might give me the incentive to exercise when I'm just too tired or pass up the fried foods.

So, this morning I weighed in at 213.2 pounds. I will report weekly what I weigh, knowing the entire world can google "jeraine root" and these posts will probably be at the top of the list. Hmmm... I suddenly felt quite a bit of fear. Being identified by a search engine as the fat chick that is trying to lose weight instead of the Ph.D. that has published articles and many career accomplishments is quite humbling.

But as God is my witness I shall go hungry again!