Three hours alone with Cato

So, what am I supposed to write about today? It’s not easy to have a blog. Then again, people just write about anything that’s going on or have done in any given moment. Therefore, I will tell you about my Sunday, while one of my dogs’ paws is laying on top of my left hand just because he wants me to carres him.

This morning I slept in. Yeay for me. I’m mentally exhausted for several reasons, so being able to get some rest, mental rest that is, feels good. The usual after I get up… bathroom, brush teeth, get decently dressed, take the boys out for their walk around the block, come back home, feed them, and then… what? Should I have breakfast at home? Or go to Starbucks? Decisions. Decisions. Then, which of my dogs should I bring with me? Sweet Chema who pees on every tree? Or crazy Cato who really needs to be socialized because when all three of us go for walks, he goes bizerk when people or dogs make their way through our path. Decisions. Decisions. And this was not an easy one, cause Chema is so sweet and well-behaved he deserved the outing. But I needed to check on Cato’s social skills and being able to correct him at the moment something would happen. So, I took the little one with me.

We drove to downtown Coconut Grove, a 5 minute ride, parked and off we went. It’s amazing how well he was doing by not having his brother next to him. The fact that he didn’t have to either prove himself or protect us from possible threats. Going into Starbucks was a breeze with him. Two kids that were making the line behind us started talking to me about Cato. The one who talked the most told me they had two Schnauzers and two Westies. One of the Schnauzers was 5 months old. He was amazed by Cato’s color because he had never seen a liver colored Schnauzer. While he was amazed by Cato, I was amazed that this teenage kid had initiated a conversation with a much older person, and was really into it. I know few kids that age who like to talk to adults. Or even able to put a sentence together. Anyway, he told me all about the 5 month old and I told him about Cato. He asked if he could take a picture of him to show his mom. And by the time we said goodbye, he said “If my mom sees him she will take him away.” To what I replied “I’m sure she will return him.” LOL Cato is very energetic.

While I was having my Venti Wet Soy Cappuccino with three raw sugars and oatmeal with soy milk, Cato, who I had tied to my chair, was going crazy with all the little birds flying around. He was very attentive to their movements and tried to chase them several times, only to realize he was going nowhere.

Cato observing birds.

We then walked around and he was cool. If a dog would approached us, he would bark but nothing crazy. And with people, and especially men, he was a sweet heart. We got back into the car and drove a minute over to my friend Princess Karla just to say hi. We were there for maybe 30 minutes or more, and her dog Dexter and Cato got along well. But Cato was not interested in playing, especially after discovering a pile of sunflower seeds she had laying on a plant to feed birds. I have no idea how many seeds he munched on, but this guy was having a feast. I guess it was like having Skittles, you just can’t have one. I finally carried him so he wouldn’t eat them all, and of course so he wouldn’t have an upset tummy later.

From her house we drove one more block to Gifford Lane where a small art festival was taking place. The Gifford Lane Art Stroll was just what Cato needed to graduate summa cum laude from this outing. Not only there were a lot of people strolling from one booth to the other, there were as many dogs. Some of them he didn’t even pay attention to. Others he sniffed, growled a bit, but when corrected he got calmed. Many people stopped me to compliment me on his colors. A couple asked me where I had gotten him. They had a Schnauzer and were looking for a little brother for him, after their long time White Schnauzer passed away last year. Sound familiar? So we engaged in a conversation of our losses and how brilliant our little lost angels were. I, of course, showed them my phone case that has a picture of Pocho, and some photos I have as screen saver and wallpaper. I recommended them to look into Schnauzer Love Rescue, the rescue Cato came from and also Zacarías, an older dog I had who passed away a couple of years ago. They were very interested in contacting them. I hope they do. I really love this rescue organization.

Pocho, the love of my life.

Zacarías, aka Zack or El Viejo, was my other Schnauzer Love Rescue rescue.

So after our lovely, calmed walk, Cato and I jumped back into the car for our 5 minute drive back home, to grab Chema and go for a short bio break, and to wake up to reality because while Cato excelled on “Walking alone with momma 101″, he terribly flunked “Walking with momma and Chema 101″.

Sweet Chema.

Making some chocolate

I found this recipe for raw chocolate and since then I’ve made it twice. It’s very simple, and I’m hoping healthy as I have become somewhat addicted to it.

The recipe calls for:

1/2 cocoa powder

1/4 coconut oil

1/4 raw agave

Sprinkle of Pink Himalayan Salt

Mix all the ingredients, spread the mixture on a parchment paper and freeze for at least an hour. Yes, that simple. I can even make it. When you begin mixing the ingredients you might think “This will NEVER mix.” but it will.

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Last night’s batch I added some crushed cashews. I didn’t go crazy because I didn’t want to ruin it. But it ended up being good.

Now, this is not a chocolate you want to leave outside the fridge. Nor take with you on a road trip. It will melt.

I know the pictures don’t look too appetizing, but they don’t look that good either from the site I pulled the recipe from. But believe me this is good.

Now, I need my friend and teammate My Multipersonality to try this and give me her blessings. She’s a kick-ass triathlete, playwright and awesome cook.

A Princess for a Day

Last Sunday I ran Disney’s Princess Half Marathon which goes from Epcot to Magic Kingdom and then back. It took me three years before I could run this race. I had signed up to do it in 2011, but I injured my knee on mile 9 of the ING Half Marathon, making me walk to the finish line. Since then, when running a half I feel happy to pass mile 9 in one piece. In 2012 I didn’t give the Princess race any type of consideration. But by 2013, after having done many races and a Half Ironman, I thought I was strong enough to endure two half marathons a month apart… the 2013 ING and the Princess.

My friend and teammate, Karla, also signed up as she too had a similar story… foot injury in 2011. No consideration in 2012. Getting the tutu out of the closet in 2013.

I had my tutu specially made from Princess Doodle Beans on Etsy. I had decided to use the colors of my triathlon team, Alien Endurance, which are black and orange. I’m proud of our team colors and wanted to use them for my run, so I went as an Alien Princess.

In front of Cinderella’s Castle.

I received a lot of compliments on my tutu. And I also saw a lot of people secretly checking it out and smiling at me. The best is I loved running in it. I’m not the most girlie girl, and you can ask my boyfriend, The Dude, about that; however, I was excited about the tutu. Of course, you will never see me sporting a pink tutu. Orange and black is the most you will probably see me in.

Now, the race. I was somewhat under the impression we would run a lot inside the park. But, that’s not the case. We ran from Epcot Center through Disney’s highway towards Magic Kingdom. We arrived into Magic Kingdom through a service area that connected into the Main Street leading up to Cinderella’s Castle. Of course, we had to make a stop to take a picture in front of the castle, especially because we were wearing a tutu,  and then continue the run. We ran no more than a mile through the park and out through the service area again, back to the highway towards Epcot.

I do need to say, the run through the highway was not disappointing  Every mile or so there was live entertainment on the meridian. For example, the Pirates of the Caribbean ship with the cast… Captain Jack Sparrow and the other ugly guy… of course, not Johnny Depp and the other ugly guy, but the Disney cast crew. At another point we started hearing Michael Jackson’s “Bad” and as we approached the showcase there were the “witches” of several Disney tales… Cruela Devil, Snow White’s Stepmother, etc… I thought that was pretty cool. People would stop, make a line (at Disney, everything requires a line), take a picture with the cast members, and get back to their running. As you might have figured, this is not a race to PR at. This is a race to have fun.

Because they’re bad!

Karla and I ran the race together, laughing, talking, sometimes in silence, always pushing each other. Yes, we’ve done other halves, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. It gets just a bit easier, but it’s not easy. My IT band started acting up around mile 11, so I had to stop to stretch two times, and by the last mile I don’t know how I managed to run faster and not pay attention to the pain. Karla and I pushed harder during the last mile, I think because we were ready to finish, go back to the hotel for a shower and head back home.

Princesses for a day. Queens for a lifetime.

Another thing I loved about the race, was that there were around 1,000 or so men who ran it. This is mainly a girl race, but several men joined the fun. And fun they had! And more fun we had too. They were wearing tutus, full princess costumes, butterfly wings, wigs. You name it! It was funny. I really loved their sense of humor. If the Dude would’ve been in town, he would’ve done the race with us wearing a tutu. I have no doubt about that. And he would’ve had so much fun.

So, we finished the race in 2:49… not the best time, but between two bathroom stops, stopping for pictures, stretching thanks to my IT band, not being able to speed up during parts of the course because it narrowed down, there was no way we would’ve done it faster. But we did have fun. And a lot.

About to pass through Magic Kingdom’s car entrance

Karla and her little friends.

By the way, traffic in Orlando SUCKS, but the Princess Half Marathon was cool.

I wanted to close this blog entry by thanking my friend Karla for running this race with me and being a great roommate and travel companion for the weekend. Un beso, Karlita!