I have developed a special skill since we adopted Indy: The ability to know at any given point in time if we will encounter another dog.

For those of you who don't know, Indy has a special trait that experts call "Leash Reactivity."ť This basically means that even though he's a really nice dog and does play well with others off-leash, when he is on a leash he will bark, lunge, spin, and whine if he sees a dog. He tends to get excited fairly easily, which is why we believe he acts this way.

This basically means that we don't take him for walks. It's just not fun at all. But fortunately for him, I do take him on my training runs. Even though it really sucks for me, I can't bear to leave him at home when he could be getting lots and lots of exercise. Taking him running, as opposed to walking, is actually easier in some aspects in that if we (I) see another dog, we can make a quick u-turn, and it's like nothing ever happened. And if we do encounter a dog, the whole event is over quickly. We stop and bark, and then move on. Walking through the whole scenario just lengthens this stressful time, so it's nice to be able to just "run away"ť after the blow-up.

I should mention that Sean and I have tried to "fix" his problem. We took him to a group class at the Oregon Humane Society specifically for these "Reactive Rovers."ť That 6-week class went horribly for Indy, and he didn't learn an ounce of self-control. So then we met one-on-one with the trainer for a series of private classes. We learned that as soon as Indy meets the other dog, he will not bark anymore. Other than that, we saw very little improvement with these "stranger"ť dogs. One comment the trainer made that still sticks with me today was "He'll be great when he's 5!" We kept practicing and practicing the tips we learned and still no improvement. Well he is almost 4 and I just don't see any huge behavior changes in the next year. Overall, I've learned to just accept his flaws, and not worry too much about his behavior. He's a dog, and overall he's a pretty damn good dog. There are a lot of other problems he could have, but doesn't.

A side effect of this "trait" is that I've become extremely good at determining what dogs are in the vicinity so that I can be prepared to minimize conflict and make route changes as necessary. So, I present to you...


How to identify a dog on a walk:

1. SCAN: Constantly scan the area for people. People are much easier to see as they are taller, and typically you won't see a dog without a person nearby.

2. CHECK FOR DOG: Once a person has been identified, confirm whether or not there's a dog with them. Follow the person down to the ground to see if there is a leash or dog visible. Sometimes this is quick, because the person is close enough that you can easily see if they are taking their dog for a walk.

3. ATTIRE: But what if they are far away? Even with 20/20 vision, some distances are too great to make out details. If you can't tell if there's a dog, then check out the person's attire. Are they dressed like someone that would be walking a dog? Maybe they are wearing a backpack. (This probably means going somewhere and not taking their dog). Maybe they are smoking a cigarette. (Most people who walk their dogs don't smoke cigarettes at the same time.) Maybe they are carrying something, like a grocery bag. Maybe they are wearing high heels. All these are clues that they might not be walking their dog (if they even have one!)

4. MANNER: So maybe this person just looks normal, and maybe they have a dog. The next thing to watch for is the manner in which they are walking. Are they walking in a straight line or are they meandering along? Do they occasionally stop and look in one direction for no particular reason? (Hint: This probably means they have a dog!). The best thing about running with Indy is that he doesn't stop and smell ANYTHING. I've noticed that most dogs enjoy smelling the grass, the bush, the fire hydrant, the tree, etc, etc. This means that the owner walks and then stops, walks and then stops, a behavior that now makes me suspicious.

5. CHECK FOR DOG AGAIN: As you get closer, it's easier to tell if there is a leash or a dog. However, sometimes I think I see leash, and it turns out to be a rolling suitcase! (Indy sometimes get tricked this way too!)

6. ACT: Eventually, you will know for sure. That's when you make your move: Either forge on ahead, make a detour, or take it cautiously and be prepared for a tug on the leash.

This whole thought process happens quickly and almost subconsciously. I am so used to doing it that whenever I am out and about and even when I DON'T have Indy, I still have this natural reaction to confirm or deny dog presence. At least somebody learned something out of all this!!

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Sara's 30 Days of Thanks:

Day 30: I made it! I covered quite a bit in the last month. Over and over I wanted to again be thankful for my fiance, friends, and family. But I had to come up with something new each time! Heading into December, I continue to be thankful to have all these people in my life. It really puts everything else into perspective.

Day 29: I am thankful for everyone that donated their body in the name of science to the Body Worlds exhibit. It was amazing! And I am thankful to OMSI for extending the deadline on their Groupon offer.

Day 28: I am thankful that we have the internet back! You never realize how good you have it until it's gone.

Day 27: I am thankful for rainy weekend mornings when I don't feel guilty about laying around in my pajamas watching French comedies.

Day 26: I am thankful for the days when running seems easy, even 8 miles in.

Day 25: I am thankful for sleep. I never get enough of it, but today I slept in until 2pm.

Day 24: I am thankful for the wonderful people I get to spend Thanksgiving with. I love every one of them!

Day 23: I am thankful to be able to stay local for Thanksgiving. Traffic this evening was insane. I loved being on the bike path while passing cars on the freeway though!

Day 22: I am thankful to have a three-day week and a five-day weekend. What a treat!

Day 21: I am thankful that River City Bicycle was still open when I needed to get new brakes! It would have been a slow ride home with those screechers.

Day 20: I am thankful the Beavers won another game! That makes three now this season. I am also thankful for all the great people I met at Oregon State.

Day 19: Considering today is World Toilet Day, I am thankful that I have access to safe water and sanitation every day. There are 2.6 billion people in the world that don't have a safe toilet.

Day 18: I am thankful that the flat tire I got on the way home last night was on the Eastbank Esplanade (which has lights!) and not the Springwater Corridor. Even though that part of my evening TOTALLY sucked, it could have been much worse.

Day 17: I am thankful for tailwinds! I deserve it after last night's ride home!!

Day 16: I am thankful for beer! Specifically local Oregon microbrews. What a wonderful place we live!

Day 15: I am thankful that I tightened the brakes on my bike for this morning's ride. Much safer! Yesterday I almost ran a stop sign and hit a pair of ducks.

Day 14: I am thankful for homemade soup on brisk, wet, and dark fall days.

Day 13: I am thankful to be living in a place that is always green and where plants require little additional water to survive. My theory is if I plant something in the backyard and it doesn't last, it wasn't meant to be :)

Day 12: I am thankful that the Canby Pool will be open for another 6 years. I swam there today and was remembering how much time I have spent at that pool. As a kid, my sister and I would wait for my dad to finish lap swim so we could get in and play. In high school, any time that I wasn't at school or sleeping, I was at the pool. Hours and hours of swim practice, life guarding, and teaching swimming lessons. Good times!

Day 11: I am thankful to live in the United States and be able to do what I want and say how I feel. That's pretty darn nice. Happy Veterans Day!

Day 10: I am thankful to have a clean, safe, place to live. Even though my house is a bit smaller than I'd prefer, it's mine (sharing it with the bank of course) and I can do what I want with it. Today I am painting :)

Day 9: I am thankful for my Garmin watch. Yes, I know it's a thing but it is so helpful for tracking my time and distance when I run and super fun check out the route on google maps later. I like it.

Day 8: I am thankful for my commute (Yes, I know it sounds a little crazy). Not that I enjoy commuting all that much, but to have the option to bicycle to work every day without bumper to bumper traffic, stoplights (I only have 3 or 4, I think), and only few angry drivers. It's still a commute, mind you, but how many of you have seen deer on your way to work? In the city? And the sunrises can be pretty cool too.

Day 7: I am thankful for my dog. As much headache as he causes me, who else would flip over backwards to run 8 miles with you? (Ok I haven't actually taught him that, but I'm sure he would do it, if he knew how.) And he keeps a smile on his face the whole way...

Day 6: I am thankful for sunny fall days. They are rare and can take you by surprise. Portland isn't ALL gloom.

Day 5: I am thankful for SATURDAY! (Doesn't have to be all serious, right?) Saturday is a carefree day where you can do WHATEVER you want! Be productive? Sure! Don't feel like it? Who cares!

Day 4: I am thankful for my health. With enough courage, there isn't anything I can't do. It's the mental aspect that usually slows me down :)

Day 3: I am thankful to have a good job. One that is challenging, rewarding, provides good benefits and good pay.

Day 2: I am thankful for my family. I love my sister to death, and I am fortunate that my parents live so close. I am also thankful for my future family, who have already felt like family for so long.

Day 1: I am thankful for my fiance(!). We have spent the last 11 years together and I can't imagine being without him.

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So! Sean and I got engaged this month. What a milestone! After dating for 11 years, living together continuously for 7 years, owning a house together for the last 5 years, etc, etc, it was time. It's hard to believe that we've been together for 1/3 of our lives already.

The last 11 years have been pretty good. Pretty, pretty, pretty good. It was hard when I moved to North Carolina in 2002 for an internship because it was so early in our relationship. (But it was an awesome excuse for a road trip! The photo on the right is from the ferry to the Outer Banks!) The Corvallis back and forth years were a little frustrating. Sean graduated from Oregon State in the spring of 2001 and moved to Portland. I then moved to Portland after I graduated in the spring of 2003. A year later, Sean took a job for Nowtowns in Corvallis. But by early 2005, we were both Portland permanent.

We've lived through shitty jobs (anyone remember Stream?). And we've supported each other in our professional developments. When Sean started his business in 2006, he had no income and had to live off his savings. But he's now had great success, especially this year, in opening an office and hiring additional programmers. It's no surprise though, because Clicky is the most awesome, kick-ass, amazing web analytics service built from the ground up by the smartest, most talented programmer IN THE WORLD!!

He tolerated my schedule and attitude (which was not so good) while I studied for and took the PE Exam twice. Fortunately, I passed the second time. He said I couldn't take it again. (I think he was partially kidding.)

We are both in a really good place right now and can't wait to see what the future holds. We ARE ready for the next episode!

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So I guess summer happened (see photo) and I stop posting pictures about the garden. Oh well! The tomatoes were slow to produce at first but once they got going, whoa!

I made several batches of homemade tomato soup, ate countless BLTs, and cooked up tons of pasta dishes with fresh tomatoes. Something new this year was to make tomato paste. Let me tell you, if you have too many tomatoes, this is the thing to make. I took 5 lbs of fresh tomatoes and when all was said and done, I had about a cup of tomato paste. It almost felt like wasting tomatoes! I'm sure it will be delicious when I use it on my homemade pizza!

The corn could have done a little better, although I did end up with about a dozen and a half ears. Some of it was a little under-ripe so I just cooked it, cut off the kernels, and froze it. I think it will still be awesome. The ripe ears we just ate whole. Mmm-mmm.

I had one jalapeno, but a handful of serranos. And boy are those spicy! I was going to take a bite to see how spicy they were and by the time I had it on my tongue I could already tell! Whew!

I've spent this weekend deconstructing the garden and preparing to douse it with some cover crop seed for the winter. I still have some lettuce and green beans growing, we'll see how they do as we head into the darker months. I also picked what I think will be the last of the tomatoes. My most fruitful was the Early Girl. Turned out this was an Early Girl, as well as a Mid Girl and Late Girl too. Nice!

All in all, I'd say this summer was a success. I had just about the right amount of tomatoes. Enough that I had more than I could eat, but not too much that I got sick of them or tired of preserving them. One difference from the last couple years is that I used the soaker hose again. I think this helped, although our water bill was a little high because of it. Oops!

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One of my favorite things to post is the yearly yard photos. This year, there’s been so much excitement in the garden that I’ve neglected to post photos of the rest of the yard. Every year I’ve been vigorously planting and planting. The last year or two has started to slow down and this spring I only planted a few things because I’m running out of space!

Now more of my time in the yard is spent on maintaining what’s already there. I’m either cutting back plants that are getting out of control (like the peanut butter tree!) or replacing plants that just didn’t grow (like the poor little snowberry). I even dug up a hosta, thinking it was dead. Turns out it was just dormant… Oops! I relocated what I dug up and it seemed to do ok anyway.

It’s exciting to see what a transformation it has been just over the five years we have been living here. It’s also exciting to learn about what plants thrive in my backyard and which one die.

I’ve definitely picked out a few favorites:
Nootka Rose, tall Oregon Grape, Indian Plum, dull Oregon Grape, Salmonberry, Western Spirea

And a few that were not exactly what I expected:
Peanut Butter tree, Columbine, Fringecup, Salal, Vine Maple (ok I actually really like the Vine Maple, but for some reason that is the only plant my dog ever digs up… Twice now. That and a Peony… so sad). I was going to list the plants that just simply didn’t make it but I can’t seem to remember them now. Insignificant!

I’m now starting to including the front yard photos as that is worth looking at now! I am excited to see the growth over the years in the front yard too. And maybe the Gingko tree that I planted a few years back will actually grow now that it’s being watered!

See all the pictures here!

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This dreary, rainy, July morning reminds me of two days ago when it was sunny and in the high 70s. That day was the 47th day of my garden. I was excited at the growth of my tomatoes. The corn and beans were looking good after thinning them out a week ago. The red bell peppers were looking strong and the serrano pepper still making progress.

Now with the rain coming down harder than I've seen in awhile, I can get around to the laundry (and updating my H-Glog) and the promise of saturated soil for easy weeding later today!

See photo from Day 1
See photo from Day 21
See photo from Day 28
See photo from Day 36
See photo from Day 47

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Another week in the garden. I am pleased to see that the corn and beans have sprouted. I forgot that I planted sunflowers and forgot to water them for a few days... Oops! But some of them have still sprouted anyway! The Brussels sprout has only lost leaves so I will be pulling that out. Not sure what the deal was, maybe I just didn’t water it enough in the beginning.

The tomatoes are really looking good and I swear I could actually see the Serrano pepper growing yesterday! I’m excited to see more growth this week as the temperatures should be wonderful!

See photo from Day 1
See photo from Day 21
See photo from Day 28
See photo from Day 36

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And so it continues! My favorite thing about the H-Glog is that there is no planning. This past Sunday morning was beautiful and since I was headed to Lowes anyway for another hose and a splitter, I bought several packets of vegetable and flower seeds.

I found some space in the garden and planted three rows of corn and one row of beans. I also planted some sunflowers behind the tomatoes. Between some of the tomatoes (and beneath the soaker hose), I planted seeds of basil and cilantro. Additionally, I pulled out one of the brussels sprouts that wasn't growing at all and replaced it with a basil start that I purchased at the Milwaukie Farmer's Market. I also rerouted the soaker hose a bit to get more of it on the tomatoes and less on the peppers. Although I think I'll need to move it again to cover the beans and corn.

Though not technically part of the Glog, I also planted several packets of sunflower seeds in the front yard planter box.

Yay summer!

See photo from Day 1
See photo from Day 21
See photo from Day 28

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Hooray! I finally got around to planting some more things in the garden! With either being out of town or having whole day commitments for the last few weekends, I hadn't gotten around to any more gardening. But this past Sunday, I made my way out to the Recycled Gardeners, a small scale business in Milwaukie that mostly sells seasonal garden starts - and for $1 each... What a deal!! The weather has been so crappy that I'm not really worried about planting this late, and I picked up the following:

*Four tomatoes
*Two cherry tomatoes
*Two red bell peppers
*One serrano pepper
*One jalapeno pepper
*One habanero pepper

All for a total of $11! I planted the tomatoes sideways like I was told and watered them. One other addition is the soaker hose. I think this will help as the last few years I've just watered the garden by hand. Not very effective or efficient.

Now with the first day of summer, it's time to grow, grow, grow!!

See photo from Day 1
See photo from Day 21

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This past weekend I participated in my first relay, the Rainier to Ruston Rail-Trail Relay. I decided to sign up when a running buddy contacted me saying she was on a team and they were looking for one more person. I realized the relay was one week before my half marathon, so I knew I’d be in good shape, and miraculously I didn’t have any plans, so I said “Sure!” We collaborated on a team name, Drunken Damsels and Whiskey Warrior (the one guy on our team was our Whiskey Warrior). Other than picking out our name, we were extremely unorganized but everything worked out well. Five “Drunken Damsels” and one “Whiskey Warrior” running 50 miles. Two legs each.

The relay was AWESOME. We’d drop off a runner, drive to the next exchange point, check our watches, cheer, take pictures of the transition, and repeat. Between all that we were drinking water, eating salty snacks (some ate pizza), laughing, sweating, and trying to not get lost. Thankfully we had a master navigator so we spent little time looking at maps.

We started at 8:30am at the northwest corner of Mount Rainier National Park. Eight and a half hours later we were in Ruston, just west of Tacoma, enjoying the gorgeous mountain view of where we had begun. For six people who had started the day as (almost) strangers, we definitely ended as a team. We ran the last mile or so all together, with the damsels holding hands through the finish and our whiskey warrior ringing the final bell.

Who knew you could have so much fun exercising :)

Fortunately, we took TONS of photos. Some of which are included here, here, and here!!

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