It's hot!

LBR foster Bernie and Ike say, "It's too hot to be outside in Texas!"

But Bernie found a way to beat the heat! I think I need one of these at my place!

And don't forget the Blogville Olympics!!

  
Today's Events:
 
COUCH POTATO PEELING:  LILY BELLE & MUFFIN
GYMNASTICS:  MADI 
 
Listed as "Ongoing":

BALANCE BEAM:  CORY & COMPANY

HIGH JUMP:  PENELOPE & KOZMO

RED DOT-A-THON:  PURRCHANCE TO DREAM

SYNCHRONIZED SNOOZING:  ISLAND CATS

TEAM LOUNGING:  DAISY MAE & CHARMEE

 

 

Finally, it's the Legacy Olympics!! We're trying to raise $15,000 during the 17 days of the Olympics to help some very special dogs. You can donate via ChipIn link OR to LBR's main website! I'm trying to win the gold in today's Wrestling event, so be sure to check out LBR's Facebook page to see all the grreat entries! (And vote for me. :D)

Back to School Fashion Haul!

It is hard to believe that school starts in just one week! My son loves school and I don't anticipate any difficulties with his transition back to school. Of course, with a new school year, new school clothes are needed.  My son is getting so tall and I want his closet to be full of clothes that fit well. I was given a challenge to shop at Walmart and create a fashion haul video highlighting all of the clothes I was able to obtain for $100. I think I did extraordinarily well....check out my video and let me know what you think! 







Believe it or not, my son came with me and picked out many of the selections. I did not subject him to trying on outfits. I used the "hold it up to his body" method and I'm pretty sure all of the sizes are correct. Here are a few photos of the clothes we purchased.

Disclosure: I am a Walmart mom and received product and/or compensation for this post. All opinions are my own. 

Surprise!

I mentioned that I had a big surprise to share with everyone after I got back. Well, I'm back, and here's my surprise!

Everybody say hi to my new foster sister! Her name is Laila, and she's 7 1/2 years old. You'd never know it, though! She's a big bundle of energy. Momma picked her up today from her last foster home (one of her foster parents got sick and couldn't keep her and her brother Boomer), and she's fit in pretty well around here.

"I'm so excited to be here at this great new place while I look for my furever home!"

 

"My new foster brother Casey is pawsome! We haven't quite figured out how to play with each other yet, but we're both trying."

"Ahhhh, let's relax!"

Unfortunately, she did decide that the kitties are squeaky toys. Uh-oh! She just won't leave them alone, even though she ignored kitties when we cat-tested her before she came here, so she's got the umbilical cord on and is leashed to Momma. We hope that once she settles in a bit, she'll decide they're not so bad after all. Sometimes it takes a while to get used to a new place.

Anyway, Momma is working on finding her a furever home, and Cinderella and I are working hard to train her into the perfect dog by then. She already has a bio page up on LBR's website, so if you live in Dallas/Ft.Worth, check her out!

Happy monthday, Baby Austin! Plus Olympics!

Happy one month birthday to Baby Austin!!! I think he deserves some birthday tummy rubs, don't you?

The Blogville Olympics are off to an amazing start!!  Today's events are:

Crazy Sleeping Singles ~ http://oskarsblog.com/

Synchronized Snoozing ~ http://oskarsblog.com/

Bouncing ~ http://bouncingbertie.blogspot.co/uk

And don't forget the Legacy Olympics on Facebook! We're hosting our own Olympics and trying to raise money for all the pawsome dogs of Legacy Boxer Rescue. You can donate via ChipIn link OR to LBR's main website ! Even if you can just donate $5 or $1, it will still add up to help the dogs!

And guess what?? Our first event was BOXING (what else for Legacy BOXER Rescue??), and I won the bronze medal!!

Today's event is Mouth Jousting, so be sure to check out LBR's Facebook page to see all the grreat entries!
 

Let the Games begin!

I hope everyone watched the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics yesterday. What? No, not that nonsense with old ladies jumping out of helicopters! I mean Blogville Olympics Opening Ceremonies!
 

The Blogville Olympics kicked off with a bang yesterday, and today we start the actual events. OMD, I'm so nervous! What if all my training doesn't pay off??

Today's events are:

Swimming ~ http://sargespeaksout.blogspot.com/

Window Nose Art ~ http://jazzis-world.blogspot.com/

 

Go check them out! I'm entering the Swimming event, so be sure to cheer me on!

Also, Legacy Boxer Rescue is sponsoring the Legacy Olympics! We'll be hosting one event per day on our Facebook page as part of our GO FOR THE GOLD fundraiser. We're aiming to raise $15,000 in the next 17 days. Wow wow wow! Do you know how many boxers that will help?? We're fundraising for three dogs in particular -- Brielle, Melody, and Napoli -- who all have medical conditions that are forecast to cost us thousands each to fix. Ouch! So please visit us on Facebook to see the pawsome events -- today we'll be showing off our skills in our signature sport, BOXING!! 

Then please go to our ChipIn link OR to LBR's main website to donate. Help LBR GO FOR THE GOLD!

The Legacy Olympics

It's TIME! The Olympics are starting! You guys all know how proud I am to be part of a totally PAWSOME group like Legacy Boxer Rescue. It's because of them that I'm the handsome, happy guy you all know and love. They saved my life, plus hundreds of other boxers. This year we're planning a super-fun Facebook event to coincide with the Olympics. We're going to be hosting an array of boxer-themed Olympic events like mouth jousting, boxer burns, and of course BOXING! Every day during the Olympics, LBR will share an album with pictures of LBR alums (and other boxers) competing in the day's event. The picture with the most LIKES by the end of the day will win the gold!  There are pawsome prizes for gold, silver, and bronze in each event.

 

In addition, LBR will be asking for donations for three very special future Olympians.

Brielle

 

This beauty came to us with a badly broken front leg after being thrown, or having jumped, from a 30' Bridge in Fort Worth. She had her surgery to repair her leg on Thursday, July 26th and is recovering nicely. Estimated cost $3,000.00. In addition, Brielle has some Mast Cell Tumors to be removed and she is also Heartworm positive. Basically, she's a little train wreck that we will whip into Olympian shape in no time at all. 

Melody

Melody was just diagnosed with a torn cruciate ligament and will have her surgery on Monday, August 6th to repair it. Estimated cost is $2,000.00.

Napoli

 

Napoli has hydrocephalus and will be seeing a neurosurgeon next Wednesday to discuss treatment. To diagnose and fix the issue (using a shunt), the estimated cost is in excess of $7,000.00. Please help us give Napoli the chance she deserves to become an Olympian too! She's a fighter this one, so if we can raise the funds, we can FIX THIS!

We will have a ChipIn on Facebook (by Friday night), or you can donate as always through http://www.savetheboxers.com/donate.php via Paypal or Credit Card. We can send you our mailing address if needed for donations by check/mail.

Our goals for fundraising will be:

GOLD: $15,000.00 raised in 17 days.

SILVER: $10,000.00 raised in 17 days.

BRONZE: $5,000.00 raised in 17 days.

HELP US GO FOR THE GOLD!!! 

Edit: Here's the link to our ChipIn for this event! Just $5 or even $1 from everyone can help us reach our goal!

And the BLOGVILLE Olympics are also starting today!! My event isn't until August 4th, but you can go check Mayor Frankie's blog every day to see the day's events!

Running to Resolve

If you are friends with me on facebook then you are likely to be familiar with my running photos. After every run I snap a photo and post it to my profile. This one is from today after I completed a 4 mile run. I'm in the midst of training for several races, including the Black Girl's Run Drive to End Hunger 10K. Speaking of the race, have you registered? It it is sure to be fun and it is coed so if you are a guy sign up too! 

Anyhow, inevitably after I post my photo someone will comment that I looked refreshed and smiley after every run and how is that possible? Case in point....

The answer is pretty simple. My past two years of running have been cathartic. I first started running to mix up my exercise regime and at the end of each run was just happy to have completed it. Two years later I still feel the same way after each run. It doesn't matter if I felt horrible during the run- usually those days generate the biggest smile from me! I smile because I feel a sense of accomplishment, I've done something that is entirely selfish and just for me. 

Generally I run with music, I like to have tunes to guide me along the way. Many years ago I ran sans music but haven't been compelled to in recent times. This weekend I had the misfortune of having to replace my phone which meant backups and saving to iClouds and I don't know what else. Needless to say my phone is still not right and it houses all my tunes! So, rather than play around with my phone I decided to just go ahead and run. 

Running without music gave me time to truly think. The only noise was from the cars around me and things going on in my head. As I ran I realized....up until this week, I was running away.  Running away from the problems in my home, running away from having to think about all my responsibilities, just running. Music blaring and mostly carefree. But all good things must come to an end and when I ran 6 miles without music yesterday all sorts of thoughts and emotions started bubbling to the surface. 

This run unlike any other took me through a FULL range of emotions. I cried, I smiled and just took the opportunity to feel. I know it is said running is cheaper than therapy and it is true! I made a huge breakthrough. In the past I was running away but now I'm Running To Resolve! 

It is important for me to deal. I am undergoing life changes and keeping myself distracted has not helped me, the inevitable emotional onslaught has just been delayed. So for now, I am going to keep running at least an hour without music. I am able to process things, brainstorm and yes, even shed a necessary tear or two. 

I've always maintained that running keeps me balanced and now I am digging even deeper! 

It's almost here!!!

Sorry I haven't been around very much for a few days. I'm staying at Camp Grandma while Momma has to go away on some boring business trip. Cinderella and I are having SO much fun. Grandma's the best (except Momma, of course) at snuggling, and Grandpa takes us for walkies about a million times a day. Woohoo!! Except neither of them are very good with the computer, so it took some very patient instruction to walk Grandma through logging me on to Blogger. I'm trying to go through everyone'se blogs, but I may be a little slow until the weekend when Momma gets back as my official typist. And I'll have an extra special PAWSOME surprise then, but you'll just have to wait!!

In the meantime....


The Olympics start in ONE DAY!!!!!!!! Tomorrow night I'll be wearing my official Iams Team USA bandana and watching the opening ceremonies with Grandma and Grandpa. But before that, the Blogville Olympics/Cat-o-lympics start!!!

You can kick things off tomorrow at Mayor Frankie's blog for his welcome speech, then head over to Roo's Doins to see OUR opening ceremonies. I'll be sharing links to the day's events on my blog whenever I update, and I think there'll be some kind of bloghop going so you can be sure not to miss a single step. Be sure to tune in to the Legacy Chronicles on August 4th for our event, KEEP AWAY!

AND.... a very special EXTRA Olympics announcement!!  LBR was so excited when I told them all about the Blogville games, they decided to do their OWN Olympics events!! ANNNNNND.... it's going to tie in to a FUNDRAISER for LBR too!! We're inviting everyone to help Legacy GO FOR THE GOLD and donate during the Olympics. $5000 earns the bronze medal, $10,000 the silver, and $15,000 the gold. That's a whole bunch of green papers to help doggies in need. Plus we'll have boxers competing in Olympic events posted on LBR's Facebook page to get everyone excited.

Please help Legacy Boxer Rescue GO FOR THE GOLD and help boxers in need! Donate to LBR during the Olympics! I'll be sharing links and reminders during the games. Even just $1 from all our fans would add up fast, so please donate whatever you can starting tomorrow!

Baby Austin sez, "I'z helping Legacy Boxer Rescue Go for the Gold!!"

Back to School - My Son's Closet

It is hard to believe that my son starts kindergarten in less than two weeks! Two Weeks???? The summer has flown by and since school gets out early here in the South we start early too. This means that it is time to get on the back to school shopping. I've already done a bit and I'll share that with you during the next week but in the meantime, I want to alert you to a tool on the Walmart website that can help you with your back to school clothes shopping - The Back To School Closet! 

The Back to School Closet allows you to window shop and browse the selection of clothes that Walmart carries according to the age of your child. Once you add items that you like to your closet, you have the ability to make outfits. 

One of the best things about this tool is the ability to set your budget and as items are added you can see how much you've spent! 


Once your closet is completed you can print your list and take it with you on your shopping excursion. It reminds me of having a grocery shopping list, everything is already picked out I just need to go to the store and get it. If you are in need of inspiration, you can go to the inspiration tag and browse closets that other shoppers have made. 

If you look in my son's closet, you will see that not only did I choose articles of clothing but I also added a backpack and shoes to the mix. Bet you didn't know that Walmart now carries And1 sneakers, and I added them to his closet! 


I think the Back to School Closet is a great way to prepare yourself for the inevitable school shopping trip and it saves both time and money! I actually ended up being under budget! 


Disclosure: I am a Walmart mom and have been compensated and/or received products for the purposes of completing this post. All opinions as usual, are my own. 

VH1s Single Ladies and Colorism

I am a brown chick. A middle of the road brown girl who gets down right toasty when kissed by the sun. So, honestly colorism hasn’t really affected me...much.  I went to an historically black college right around the time when Spike Lee’s School Daze was released. The song “Good and Bad Hair” seemed to be played out on my campus as I saw many ladies with “good hair” hanging together. The good hair was frequently coupled with light skin and well in my eyes a click was formed. It was an observation I made and moved on.  As for me I didn’t let stereotypes hold me back; the men I dated were of all hues...although admittedly I was a little suspect when a light-skinned guy with wavy hair was interested in me. Eventually I got over my hang-ups but in graduate school, to my chagrin, I ended up dating a guy who told me he could NEVER bring me home because I was *gasp* too dark! Too dark? I was flummoxed and quickly put that relationship behind me.

Skin color/colorism is something that is an issue in the African diaspora but plays out in other cultures as well. In 2012 here in the States I thought we were moving beyond colorism but I can’t help but observe pop culture norms that continue to perpetuate the idea that the closer you are to having caucasian features the more beautiful you are considered.  For instance, take my guilty pleasure “Single Ladies” I resisted watching this show that highlights three single women in Atlanta, with a predominantly black cast and one single white friend. I resisted for no other reason than the bad acting but after watching a few episodes I was soon sucked in and watched fairly religiously. 

Photo credit: VH1

The cast is full of successful women, movers and shakers who just happen to be light skinned with no successful dark skinned sister in sight. When lead actress Stacey Dash left the show she was replaced by a body double (light skinned, light eyed) Denise Vasi. Admittedly I did notice the color thing but didn’t make anything of it and continued to watch the show. Sidebar - the men apparently can be chocolate brown and successful, on again off again love interest of Keisha (LisaRaye), Malcolm (played by tall, dark and handsome DB Woodside)  is a very rich man. With humble beginnings. 

Photo credit: VH1 Season 2 cast leads

However, the newest cast member, Morgan (played by Cassandra Freeman) is brown skinned. 

Cassandra Freeman newest cast member

I was momentarily gleeful and then I realized that the brown skinned woman while single, is also a single mother, driving a Honda and her only prospect? A bus driver who she has to approach for a date and she ends up paying! Meanwhile, LisaRaye has men buying her Ashton Martins and Raquel’s (played by Denise Vasi) former fiance is a neurosurgeon. Coincidence? I don’t think so! I continue to be confused by such blatant displays of colorism on television.

I am particularly surprised because Queen Latifah is executive producer and she was one of the stars of Living Single back in the nineties. Living Single had a very diverse cast and the darkest sister on the show was actually a high powered attorney. I find it interesting that with this type of prior work experience on a successful show, the Queen would perpetuate the stereotypes frequently associated with skin color.

Does this mean I will be boycotting the show? Absolutely not. But I do think it is important to make these types of observations and call out folks on their stuff. I hoped we’d be beyond this in 2012 but clearly we have a way to go. What are your thoughts? Have you noticed colorism in pop culture?

Staining a deck...I did it!

Anyone who is even a little familiar with me knows that  I am not the "handy" type. I have been known to do what I need to do - drill a hole here and there,  paint a room - but do it yourself projects around the house are generally NOT my forte! I've lived in my home for five years and only two rooms are painted - the nursery (now big boy room) and my office. My office that I painted about a year ago and still have not converted to an office. See what I mean? Anyhow, I have a deck off of my bedroom and it would make a great outdoor living space but I rarely go out there.





For some reason, this year I decided I wanted to enjoy the night air and I've been doing so but my deck? Well, with wood that has never been treated it is quickly decaying. So...when Walmart launched "projects made simple" I choose to stain my deck. Two months ago. Yes, this has been a work in progress and if my wood had ever been treated this project would have been completed long ago. But alas it is multi-tiered and took longer than expected.


The job seemed easy enough, I watched the Projects Made Simple 3 minute YouTube video and was certain I could do the deck in a day or so. I rounded up all the tools needed - well, I had to wait on the deck wash because it wasn't carried in the two stores I frequented so I ordered online. This was the first very minor delay. I realized I needed to sand a bit so I purchased a small manual sander. But when I went outside, I realized that the wood used by my builders was probably the cheapest available because one rail had sap that was fossilized and I had to sand it. Back to the store I went to purchase a sander.





When I was ready to go I noticed I did NOT own an extension cord long enough to utilize my sander. Delay number two. I borrowed a cord and finally was able to do the sanding. After sanding the deck I needed to wash it. Putting together the dispenser was fairly easy but one piece was tricky so I asked a friend for help a couple of weeks ago. Finally I was able to clean the deck!


As luck would have it, summers in Atlanta are wrought with thunderstorms. So, although my deck was clean and ready to be stained the weather did not cooperate. Until today. Today I got out there and finally stained the deck! It was easy but slow and tedious. I started working in the hot sun around 12:30 and quickly realized that one gallon of stain was not going to be enough. I was able to stain the rails and half of the floor of the deck before I headed to Walmart once again for more stain.



Finally, finally after hours of labor I finished the deck. Kind of. I still need to do the edging and I STILL need to borrow a ladder so that I can stain the outside of my deck. But for now, I count this job as D.O.N.E.! I am proud of myself for getting out there and doing the task - I suppose I should start singing "I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar" but for now I think I will sit back, relax and enjoy a nice ice cold beer from my refrigerator. Isn't that what folks do after a labor intensive, hot summer day of work???




Disclosure: I am a Walmart mom and received products and/or compensation to complete this post. The labor required, the blood, sweat and tears...the opinions? ALL MINE! 

Breakfast is Served

I know we've all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day....and it is! I know that many people don't have the time, energy, etc. for breakfast but think about it. After a full night of rest, dinner at 7 pm or earlier, your body has not had any fuel for at least 12 hours! Are you feeling sluggish in the mornings? Perhaps missing breakfast is the culprit! Eating breakfast also helps keep your metabolism going at a good clip. The easiest breakfast in my arsenal is a shake. I like it because it is quick and easy and I can add a ton of protein which will keep me feeling full. 


When I was checking out Walmart's Meal planner, I found a recipe for a smoothie that looked pretty good but I had to "doctor it up" and just used the recipe as a reference. Instead of regular yogurt I used chobani greek yogurt,  it has 14 grams of protein! I also added two scoops of Aria protein powder and I used chia seeds. By the time my shake was finished it was packed with almost 40 grams of protein! In addition to the protein, I also added Dole frozen berries. A very nice and easy way to top off my shake. 


I entered my "pumped up" version of my shake to the Walmart "I made this" area on the Meal Solutions facebook app. My version potentially can be used as a Chef of the Week feature. In addition to finding my shake inspiration,  I like the meal planning aspect of this app.  I can browse recipes, make a shopping list and pick up everything I need when shopping at Walmart. 

I've been inspired to try all different types of smoothies now and not just for breakfast. I've been doing a kale green smoothie and although it has a taste that may take some getting used to, I know it is good for me and it certainly fills me up! Smoothies are becoming a regular part of my diet and I am getting better about having my breakfast too! 

Disclosure: I am a Walmart mom and I've been compensating for sharing this information with you. 

Boxers at play

New LBR foster is learning how to be a boxer again! I think he's doing a pretty good job! (Psst, he's the brindle.)