Graciela

Her name is Gracie. She's a crazie puggie.
Though she looks so cute and sweet, she's a terror at my feet.
Her name is Gracie. She's a crazie puggie.
And if you have a cat around, she will chase it up & down.

Today is Gracie's birthday. She has been with us for two years. We adopted her out of East Valley Shelter. Apparently, she was found roaming the San Fernando valley with a diamond studded pink collar and leash. It has taken a long while for her to acclimate to our family but she is finally coming around. Just looking at her, you would think she is the sweetest little pug around. Then you get her with other four leggeds, and her 'alpha-ness' comes out. She rules the roost, for sure!


Happy Birthday little feisty one!

Happy New Year

It's hard to believe that we're now 8 years into the new millenium. I'm very optimistic for this year... 2008. All signs point to a most auspicious year and I'm ready to bask in this glory. As an added bonus for last year, I went to Miami with Carlos and spent the holidays with his life-long friends and family. We had an amazing time together... from just hanging out with friends to diving in the keys. The best time, I must admit, was our day diving at Key Largo followed by a gorgeous sunset drive down to Key West. As much as I enjoy being with friends, I find our alone time so precious.

The New Year always come with resolutions. I am happy to report that while my blog is a bit late, I have successfully achieved my first resolution... 10 days of The Master Cleanse. Also known as the Lemonade Diet, this is the liquid concoction of water, fresh lemon/lime, maple syrup and cayenne pepper. And yes, I did say 10 days. Today, Monday the 14th, marks the first day of getting back to food.

Just a few notes on my cleanse... I didn't do very well with the laxative tea (as suggested) as it caused me intense stomach pains and on a couple of occasions, I threw up, I was so sick. Nor, was I super thrilled about the morning salt rinse which I avoided altogether. I may have had better results, in terms of weight loss, if I could have done both of these on a daily basis. In any case, I maintained about 4-6 8oz servings of the lemonade drink daily and slowly inched my way towards my goal. I weighed myself at the half point as I had not intended for this to be a weight-loss program and didn't think about the importance of my weight. However, between Day 5 and the final end, I am happy to say I lost 4 pounds.

Now, I'm back to food and back to all that is hard... maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I must stay on my gluten free path which shouldn't be as hard this time around. I also want to continue losing weight which is Resolution #2. I'm allowing myself 7 days to recover from the cleanse in a healthy manner. Then, one week from today, I start South Beach Diet Phase 1 for two weeks.

There is very little in life that we have absolute control. I practice yoga but easily let it fall by the wayside when I become busy with other things in my life. I forget that yoga is also a part of my life and should never be deemed less important than anything I do. Certainly, it should be more important than 'work'!!! So, Resolution #3... practice my practice. Stay true to myself.

This is a great year coming! Happy 2008.