The road to internal cleanliness

Well, Monday marks my first day of a 21 day health odyssey. I started the Standard Process purification and detox diet. I am doing this diet not to lose weight but to really just rid my body of all the junk I've put into it in my 33 years - not to mention two rounds of anesthesia in the past 7 months I've had! I'm in my third day and honestly, I feel pretty damn good.

So, what do I get to eat? Basically, you eat as many veggies as you want - just make sure at least half of the veggies you eat are raw. However many veggies I eat in a day, I am supposed to have half that amount in fruits. I am also cooking lentils and eating brown/wild rice - but in only 1/2 cup servings. Once day 11 hits (July 9) I get to bring chicken breast and oily-fish (fresh salmon, tuna, etc.) into the diet. I'm really looking forward to that day actually. I miss salmon and herring!

I'm not excited about losing my cheese and chocolate for three weeks. Interestingly, I actually haven't really missed coffee though, which is strange (no headaches!). The diet isn't vegan - the supplement powders and fiber pills and "SP Cleanse" pills I'm taking have dairy and protein properties.

Since Monday some of the basic fruits and veggies I've managed to incorporate into my diet include beets, mustard greens, spinach, tuscan melon, avocado, tomatoes, onion, cherries, blueberries, banana, sweet potato, English cucumber, French lentils, green beans, strawberries... not to mention the fruit shakes I have to make twice a day (morning and before bed) to take my round of supplements. Oh, and oil - you can have 5-6 tsp of oil (olive or flax or fish) in a day, so I can put oil and vinegar on these crazy salads. You should see our refrigerator! I processed most of the veggies and fruits on Sunday so our fridge is packed of tupperware filled with earthly goodness.

I'm getting everything at PCC (Puget Consumers Co-op) in Issaquah - all organic. I actually got a membership to PCC back in 1997 - I learned about PCC in the late 1980's when my best friend's dad would take us to the Kirkland PCC to shop when we went to visit her grandma (and we'd stop at REI in Bellevue (where Trader Joe's is now). Anyway, PCC kicks butt - I prefer it over Whole Foods. The latter seems to focus on more processed organics while PCC is definitely skewed to the raw, organic, whole food mindset (they still have a deli and wine area). Nothing really beats that Whole Foods fish counter though - they've got PCC there.

So, I'm really starting to fall into this "Hybrid" lifestyle - getting 44 mpg round-trip to and from work, eating organics, wearing birkenstocks again, de-toxing, learning more about sheep herding... this is what moving out to the country does to someone I guess!

Hippie girl

Washington Wine Country Tour

This past weekend was a bit yucky weather-wise. On Saturday I had no dog-events planned so Jerill and I decided earlier in the week that we wanted to go on a 1-day road trip. I asked my mom if she would watch the 3 dogs for us as we didn't think that it would be safe to take them with us and leave them in the car when we would go do those touristy things.

Mom agreed to watch the dogs and Jerill and I went to Barnes and Noble and purchased, with his gift card, a travel book on Washington Wineries.

We decided to go to the Yakima Valley / Prosser / Richland area of the state. We took the Hybrid and averaged 42 mpg on the 400+ mile round trip. We visited four wineries and had a greek-lunch at a winery too. It was a nice drive, the weather was wonderful and we were able to buy some good wines right at the source.

Here are some pictures from the trip!

The Prosser wine valley

Columbia Crest Winery

Columbia Crest Winery - lots of barrels!

Jerill at lunch time

I consider it my duty as a car enthusiast to take a picture of a nice red Ferarri when I see one.

This is where we ate a late lunch in Richland; The Tagaris Winery. Their Pinot Gris was really great.

Terra Blanca Winery in Benton City, WA. A very nice place!

More from the Terra Blanca

Seriously, this marks the first time that Jerill or I have ever stopped here. I-90, exit 101

Spring Is Really Coming!

I'm working at home today and found the sunshine just too tempting. So I put on my boots and went outside to take some pictures of what I call "fetal spring" - I know it's coming, it really is.

We still have about 3-4 inches of snow on the ground and the ice on the roads is almost totally gone from our neighborhood. I may actually take the Hybrid to work tomorrow!

Yes, even Border Collies must emerge from their winter slumber and begin to accept that Spring is here!

My tulips... struggling to come up through the snow. Well, they actually look pretty healthy.

Hello fake plastic garden squirrel. I have missed you!


Why, hello Hybrid Civic! Let's get that snow off your windshield, shall we?

And hello to you Camelias... these ones will be pink and really bushy.

Please survive Mr. Heleborous. This plant is "elk-proof", so I have like four of them, but I think one didn't survive this winter.

This is some type of floral/ornamental cherry tree. Just look at those baby leaves and buds!

What's left of you Crocus plants? Poor things came out last week and then got 7 inches of snow piled on top of them. They look pretty good considering...

Weather or not

CRAZY snow! I thought last year was snowy but this is crazy. The Premera MLT campus is closed today, but I'm still working at home doing some teleconferences and programming a questionnaire. It snowed much of the weekend here in the Valley (and in the Big City of Seattle). Plus, we had some major wind-action as well with 50-60mph winds and 75mpg gusts. Thankfully, all of the trees in our neighborhood stayed upright.

Saturday was actually the best day of the week to go out in the car, so I took off for downtown Seattle to get some shopping done, but most importantly, to get to my hair appointment at Mode. I love my stylist, Molly. She and I click and I think she enjoys me as a client as I let her do some fun things with hair. So, I'm sporting a chic asymmetrical bob, flat ironed out, with BRIGHT red on the top and dark underneath - it blends beautifully. In fact, I have a picture that Jerill took because we are using this pic as my ski-pass pic...

Poor little Hybrid... the car hasn't been driven in a week now. I did brush all the snow off it after taking this picture as I felt bad for it. In this weather, I'll be relying on my Honda CR-V to get in and out of our driveway! The CR-V does great in the snow actually and I'm very comfortable driving it in this weather.

Poor Hybrid

Here's our main backyard

And our house, all snowy

Lucky has been having a hard time getting around in the deep snow (about 9 inches now and over a foot in some drifts!). He gets stuck and then starts to get a little panicky. I've been carrying him out to the road where it's not too deep. Mattie is in heaven with the snow; however, she gets really snow-bally and then melts out in the house. Scott gets little snow-balls stuck in his paws but that's really all that he has happen to him.

I groomed everyone this morning - brushed and trimmed Lucky and Mattie and brushed Scott out too. They all seem to enjoy their grooming times now - Mattie doesn't snap and growl anymore... she seems to go to her "happy place" and even gets a little cuddly.

Thanksgiving and then some

Well, this 2008 Thanksgiving came and went. Jerill was in Michigan visiting his family (2 brothers, 1 sister and 1 mom) for the week so I had the place to myself with exception of the 5 animals of course.

Thanksgiving Eve I went to the Winstanley's home for cocktails (Jack and Coke is THE drink of the season). Then on Thursday I picked up my parents in Jerill's new car and headed to my sister's house in Redmond for a traditional turkey feast. I have to say, our food was really great this year. My sis makes an excellent turkey, mom does great pies and roasts and I bring the veggies. I have a great recipe for Butternut Squash with Maple Syrup which replaced our traditional sweet potatoes with toasted marshmallows. 4lbs of butternut squash, cubed. Assorted cinnamon, nutmeg and paprika. Pour on the syrup. Bake in a big pile on a baking sheet (with parchment paper) and viola, a tasty alternative to sweet potatoes.

Friday was the only day I really got to "sleep in." For those of you who really know me, this means I slept till about 8:00 a.m. I tinkered around the house and then headed off to the farm to pick up Scott the dog and do some practice runs with him. Practicing REALLY helped me as my trial on Saturday went great - I got 2nd place in my Ranch course (out of 10 competitors). And while I was running a non-compete round in Pro-Novice (me being the novice and Scott being the Pro) I ended up scoring in the middle of the pack of participants. I'm really starting to get it and I like to trial. The people have been great so far. You'd never guess, really, who out there are herding sheep with dogs anymore. People of all walks of life do it!

I picked Jerill up from the airport on Saturday night. I was driving my mom's giant pickup truck that she lets me borrow for trials (I had four dogs with me). It was a little freaky as I'm not used to driving anything that large in traffic, but I managed to pull through. I guess I'll need to get used to a truck anyway since I'm getting one in the Spring. And, it's not like Jerill's new car is a "compact" vehicle by any means - it weighs as much as a truck and drives like a tank.

So, now parked next to my beautiful 45mpg Civic Hybrid sits a 2005 Audi Allroad. It's black, it's comfortable and it's got heated seats in the front and the back. The car actually has a lot of cool features to it - far more than the Hybrid does. However, Jerill is only getting 16/22mpg. Of course, while Jerill was in Michigan, I drove it everyday and thoroughly enjoyed the heated seats, moonroof and, although I'm pretty good with a map, the navigation system. I haven't come up with a good name for it yet, but it JUST pulled into the driveway! Time to address those meatball subs I promised to make for dinner!

Dogs Dogs Dogs

Since my last post, I've managed to run in my first pseudo-herding trial, taken on a dog to sit for the next three weeks and managed to take the Hybrid into the shop.

Let's start with the Hybrid. On Thursday, Jerill drove the Hybrid to work and found that the driver's window, upon putting the window down, wouldn't go back up very easily. I myself ran into this little problem as well a couple weeks ago when I stopped to get the mail on the drive into home and discovered that the window was struggling to find its place in the window frame. It kept popping down and FINALLY it stayed up. So, I called the dealership on Friday morning and they had an opening so I took it in. The dealership is only about 1/2 mile from my work, so I took full advantage of their pick up and drop off shuttle service. It turns out that the window-sticking has happened enough with the Civic for Honda to issue a Service Bulletin about the problem. So, the service center already knew what needed to be replaced/repaired. The car was fixed up that same day and I left work on time and with a fixed window.

I picked Scott the Border Collie up on Thursday. HWY203 opened up that afternoon and so I trekked to Carnation and did the doggie pick up. Scott seemed very satisfied with his accomodations while he was with us over the weekend. He stayed in our doggie-room, that is downstairs in a heated semi-finished basement. He was such a good boy - no barking, no pottying in his room and he was just so happy with the constant supply of biscuits and treats. Keep in mind that Scott is a true working dog and has lived a barn-life his entire life, so he was very much used to being in his own space in the night.

The trial was, in all respects, a fun day for working our dogs. The judge was unable to make the event, so we weren't graded on performance at all. Here is a video of Scott and I herding - in this shot, we are running a ranch course and this particular exercise is called "turning the post"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTyeZGRKNWs

Here is a picture of the herding-nuts at this event. Everyone I met was very nice and their dogs were great too. I'm on the far right with Scott, who is schmoozing for treats...

On Friday night, Jerill drove to our friend Eric and Harumi's house in North Seattle. They are the proud owners of Annabelle, the Pembroke Corgi. Eric and Harumi asked us to take care of Annabelle for three weeks while they went to Japan to visit family. Annabelle isn't a large dog but she has a big attitude - she is a herding dog through and through and you know what they say about those female herding dogs! Mattie and Annabelle are getting along very well - much to my surprise as the last time they hung out together we had to keep them separated for fear of a bad scrap. Now, they are relaxed and staying out of each other's face. I guess once a dog hits 2.5 years old they really start to chill out - it's very nice. I mean, I love puppies but they are just so nuts. Age 3-8 is really the best time of a dog's life. So, here is a pic of the pack. Annabelle will be with us through early December.

I'll spare you the gripe I have right now with the Letter-to-the-editor expressed in the most recent edition of the Sno-Valley Star newspaper about the biology class that dissected sheep brains. It was a letter from a guy at PETA talking about the suffering of animals, yada yada yada. All I can say about PETA is they are a farce, they're full of crap, they kill animals and they are against everything true animal lovers are fighting for. Visit http://www.petakillsanimals.com/ for details.

C'est la vie

Good News!

Tuesday was a spectacular day, wasn't it?


One thing that made it so awesome is that my boob surgeon called in the afternoon to tell me that the mass they took from my rightie was a benign tumor - it's something called a fibroadenoma. There is actually a page on Wikipedia for this if you're interested... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibroadenoma

This is a relief. I really didn't think I had the big "C" but it is still worrisome.

Also, Tuesday marked quite a significant day in American history - the election where Barack Obama became President Elect.

I know I talked in July about not voting, that I am a "political atheist" and that all politicians are full of crap, yada yada yada. But, I actually did vote in this election. Monday morning, before my surgery, I went through the online voters pamphlet and read through everything and made decisions on what vote for or against. Really, I was most passionate about voting on Initiative 1000, but figured, while I'm here why not cast a vote on everything? Plus, I wasn't allowed to eat prior to surgery so I needed something to keep me busy and keep my mind off food.

I timed my visit to the Sallal Grange (my voting location) after lunch but before the afterwork hours. I didn't have to wait in line at all. I had my voters registration card with me to guide me in the right direction, albeit for some stupid reason I never got the voter registration updated from my maiden name, so I voted as Janet Hoke. Whatever - I just can't figure out how the name change isn't naturally carried over since the County has my marriage license, my name change form on file, they also my driver's license was updated with my new name, and when I moved I contacted the WDSL to change my address and at that very same time, updated my voter registration address. But no, do they think to update the name?? Pure incompetence.

Today I drove the hybrid to MLT and paid my dues to the healthcare market research gods. My fuel economy wasn't so hot (a mere 41.3 mpg round trip). Reason why though is that on Wednesday, I stop at the Seattle Humane Society in Eastgate to perform my weekly duty of Shelter Check Volunteer for SPDR.

Basically, I go into the shelter every Wednesday after work with a clipboard and spreadsheet and I record all of the purebred dogs they have (breed, color, age, name, etc.) and report my findings back to a gal at SPDR who puts all the shelter-checks together. Then, the breed reps of any particular breed that may be in the shelter is contacted and then, perhaps, that breed rep will spring that dog out of that shelter and get it into a foster home or adopted through SPDR.

You should check the place out if you're looking for a new companion (they have kittens too). I advise visiting after work on Wednesday evening - they close at 7 and there seems to be a lot of surrenders on Mondays and Tuesdays. If you wait until the weekend, all the super cute ones that aren't on the BSL-lists are gone. It's sad to say that but that is how it goes in animal shelters.

Woof!

Elk!

It's hunting season so the neighborhood elk herd has been "missing" for a couple weeks. However, this morning the cows showed themselves, in force. I counted 11 total (I've seen as many as 18 in our neighborhood). The bull was nowhere to be seen though.

Looking out my office window...

From my bedroom window

Close up of a cow, in the neighbor's yard

The elk are beautiful, but they're extremely destructive to native and non-native trees and plants. One of the cows was casually walking toward my garden outside the fence, with her eye on my apple trees! The elk have been known to jump our 6-foot fence before. So, I yelled "you get out of here Elk!" and I could tell she re-thought the situation and went the other direction. The "ladies" hung out about 15 minutes and then left after I told them they weren't welcome in MY yard. I'm sure they will be back tomorrow to raid my plants while I'm at work - that's what happened in August when I lost my dahlias, tomatoes, brussel sprouts, poppies, apples and cabbage. For some reason, they don't eat the weeds though.

I washed the hybrid today - it was pretty dirty. I need to wax it on the next nice day we have. I'll be driving it to Seattle tonight to have drinks and dinner with Jerill, Michael and Shawn since Michael will be leaving for Tennessee (his home) tomorrow.

Ciao!

Spillage

This past September my grandma Mary Louise passed away. Jerill and I loaded up the dogs in the CR-V and took off to Montana to attend her funeral. The photo above is of Saint Mary's Lake in Glacier National Park in Northern Montana. If you ever get the opportunity to go to GNP, go. The mountains are spectacular and the drive through the park does not disappoint.

The flyball tournament today went well. All of our dogs (Roxie, Skookum, Brat, CD and Tac) ran well and we all had a lot of fun.

On the way home from the tournament I had my first major spill in the Hybrid.

Instead of being smart and dumping the lidded dog water bowl out at the parking lot, I decided to tote the water bowl with me for some stupid reason (it was still pretty full of water). And, instead of being smart and putting the bowl on the floor of the car, I sat it on the backseat. Well, I guess I took a corner a little too fast (thinking I was in the WRX apparently) and, without me knowing it at the time, the big water bowl tipped on its side. Thus, I came home to find the back seat soaked with about 2 cups of water. Yes, at least it was just water but still, I'm worried that my new car scent will now be dirty-dog-bowl scent. I love dogs but I agree, they do sometimes stink. So, that's the car's first major spill. I guess I should have sprung for the Scotchguard option afterall. And to top it off, I only averaged 38 mpg today (stupid Tiger Mountain).

Our out-of-town guest, Michael, got in late today, due to some mechanical problems on his first flight in Dallas (the landing gear wouldn't go down!). These delays forced him to miss his connecting flight. And, then American Airlines managed to lose his luggage. So, we didn't make it up to the Alpental Oktoberfest as planned - but we did get to the Mt Si Bar & Grill where they serve good food and Snoqualmie Brewery beer. After dinner we drove out to Snoqualmie Falls. If you didn't know, the waterfall is lit up at night (at least it was tonight).

To give credit where credit is due, I didn't take this picture - I found it on Flickr (but this is what the Falls looked like tonight!)


Mattie, our Smithfield Sheepdog, adored Michael when he first got to the house and they met outside in our driveway. For those of you who know Mattie and have/have tried to meet Mattie at our house, this is atypical behavior for her. However, not to disappoint you all, when we returned from dinner, she forgot she met Michael and decided he was now a threat to the peace of our home. Now for Dog Tip #1: Whenever you get to a point in your life when you think you might want a guard dog / protection dog, don't get one. But, if you decide you really do need one, get one that's come pre-trained and make sure you have an umbrella policy.

Welcome to My Hybrid Life

Well, this is my first blog and first post and first time sharing my personal opinions out there in the big world.

My name is Janet Thorpe. I'm 32 years old. I'm a Gemini. I am a professional Market Researcher - right now for a health insurance company. I am married to a wonderful guy named Jerill and have an ever growing household of pets - 2 cats and 2 dogs. More to come on those guys later!

I've named this blog My Hybrid Life because recently I purchased a 2009 Honda Civic Hybrid, also apparently known as a Honda IMA (integrated motor assist). I can't explain how the car works other than the transmission is like a snowmobile - it doesn't change gear, it just continuously builds speed. The car has a 110hp engine and is a clean-green-machine. It's dark, sparkly grey with a nice tan interior. I ordered it and waited 2 months for it to be shipped over from Japan. I do like it but it's taking some getting used to.

I like cars, fast ones to be precise. So, trading in my WRX for a 110hp commuter car was a big step for me and took some serious consideration. Foremost, I was losing my rowdy, scrappy red car that I loved driving fast. Secondly, I wasn't sure if I would be able to live up to the image of being a hybrid-person - you know what I mean? Yes, I own Birkenstocks and yes, I have shopped at PCC for many, many years, but was I really a Hybrid person?

Thus begins my adventures of my new hybrid life.