Six Years Already?
It was six years ago tonight that my mom called with the heartbreaking news that my dad had just passed away after being the picture of health until an unexpected bout with pneumonia. During the whirlwind days that followed his death, I wrote this tribute to him. Some days it seems like it’s been forever since I last saw him two days before he died and other days it seems like it was just yesterday…
Pablo Stories
When I first started my blog, I noted that without cute babies or puppies, I was at a great disadvantage to other bloggers. Enter Pablo! He may be our granddog, but I’m an opportunist and more than willing to exploit his cuteness. 😀
As I mentioned last week, Pablo was visiting for the week while Daniel and Jess were in Chicago for the Chicago Marathon (Jess had a great race) and I’d be remiss not to tell a few Pablo stories…
One evening while we were snuggling in the family room, Pablo looked over and saw his reflection in the window and let out four barks (he has only barked in front of me twice, so his bark really caught my attention). He preceded to growl a few times until I realized that he was looking at his own reflection. Oddly, he loves seeing other dogs when we’re out on our walks, but I guess he didn’t want another dog invading his territory.
On our walk on Wednesday morning, Pablo got very interested in something up in a tree. When I eventually pulled him away and back onto the path toward home, he put on the breaks.
He actually put on the breaks so hard that he pulled out of his harness and this is his “HaHa, gotcha” face! Luckily, he just stood there waiting for me to put his harness back on. He’s such a good boy!
After our little disagreement on leaving the squirrel in the tree so we could head home, Pablo happily posed for a picture in front of this tree in its full fall glory.
On Thursday afternoon, Pablo and I met Daniel and Jess halfway between our house and theirs for the precious cargo drop-off. Pablo started making happy sounds when he got in the back seat of my car because he knew he was going somewhere fun – he only rides in a car to our house, back home, and to the dog park (his vet and groomer are both within walking distance).
Yes, once again, Bill and I are empty nesters without our favorite little pup visiting…
I’m Superstitious so Pretend I Didn’t Say that the Nats Are World Series Bound
It’s tough being a Washington sports team fan. Until the Capitals won the Stanley Cup in 2018, none of our teams had won a championship since the Redskins won the Super Bowl in 1992. But then, just two weeks ago, the Washington Mystics won the WNBA Championship – not that I could name a single woman on the team – so there’s hope for DC.
After a disappointing earlier season, the Washington Nationals are miraculously World Series bound! We swept the Cardinals and are now sitting back waiting for the Yankees and Astros to slug it out to see who we will play for the world title. At the time I’m writing this on Saturday evening, the Astros lead three games to two in the best of seven series.
Because I get up so early, I had to go to bed every night before the game was over. I had a routine; Pablo and I’d go to bed and then in the middle of the night when I’d get up to go to the bathroom, I’d check my ESPN app to see how we’d done. If Bill had come to bed before the game was over, I’d wake him up to let him know we’d won.
Being very superstitious when it comes to sports, I can’t believe that I’m even writing about this. Heck, so far I’ve been too nervous to change my Facebook profile picture to one of Bill and me wearing the “Curly W” in front of Nats Stadium.
I’m so superstitious that I told Daniel and Jess that Pablo has to come back on Tuesday so we can go to bed during the sixth or seventh inning of the first World Series game. HaHaHa! Seriously, I know who to blame if the Nats don’t win! 😉
And Now on to a RunDown of this Past Week’s Workouts…
Running
I went on two short runs this week as I eased back into running. Monday’s run was at 5 AM and outside, and Saturday’s run was late morning and on my treadmill while watching HGTV. Both runs were 5K’s and in the mid-10 minute paces, and both felt pretty good.
Biking
I had hoped to ride with Bill and the Herndon crew on Wednesday morning, but on Wednesday Bill drove to our beach house on the Outer Banks to winterize it and I didn’t feel safe riding to Herndon by myself at 5:15 AM. It’s too bad because it’s going to get colder every week and I know my days outside on my bike this fall are numbered.
Strength Training
Life is an experiment and I cut back on a couple of exercises that I thought might be aggravating my lower back/hip and I felt better. Who knows, it could just be that whatever was bothering me last week is on the road to recovery.
Yoga
Contrary to what I should have been doing, I skimped on yoga.
It’s on the Blog
In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…
- Sunday – Don’t Tell My Dentist, but it Turns Out that “Flossing” May Not be Good for Me
- Tuesday – Exploring Sand Caves, a Man-Made Beauty
- Thursday – Belly of the Dragon Hike, the Shortened Version
Coming up this week, I’ll have at least one more recap from our family trip out west in June. I have a busy work week so I doubt I’ll have time to write more than the one recap.
In addition to the workouts I mentioned above, here’s a complete rundown of my workouts from this past week (completed either outside or in our home gym)…
- Questions:
- • How was your week?
- • Do you have any skin in the World Series? ~ My oldest son’s friend and Little League /AAU teammate actually pitched for the Yankees for three games in 2016. He was later traded to the Cubs, but no longer plays in the MLB. It was super impressive that he even made it to the big leagues! Even though he spent a lot of time at our house as a little boy, I’m still cheering for the Nats! 😀
- • Did you race this weekend?
And that’s my rundown… Have a great week!
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links which means if you click on the blue product link and then make a purchase, I will receive a small commission for referring you. You will pay no more or less for the product; however, Amazon will show their gratitude for my referral by paying me.
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I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Be sure to check out not only the hosts’ posts, but the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!
Gentle hugs re” your dad. Mine is gone 13 and it’s still hard.
That’s awesome about your son’s friend.
I’m rooting for the Nats, because I’m so over the Astros.
I really want to go to a Nats game one of these visits.
Pablo is the cutest – so fun about him barking at himself.
Cari recently posted…Running through fall
Thanks, Cari, and hugs to you as well.
I just double checked and Conor actually pitched three games for the Yankees in 2016 (I just corrected my mistake). It was so exciting when I’d see posts on his mom’s Facebook saying that they were going to NY for the game.
Hopefully, we won’t be “so over” the Astros after a few games. The Astros’ pitching though…
How cool! I don’t remember his name, but I’m sure I saw him pitch.
A colleague has a family tie to a current Yankee (Adam Ottavino) and we’re loving those moments.
JV is their real threat. Especially if you get Greinke in Nats’ Park
Cari recently posted…Running through fall
Sending love on the anniversary of your dad’s passing. Mine is gone for over 20 years and I still miss him.
Your Pablo is the cutest! Too bad he didn’t get that squirrel, but his hunter’s instincts are spot on! 😉
Good luck to your Nats in the WS. My team (the Phillies) imploded late in the season so they missed the playoffs (again!) I just don’t care too much about October baseball if my team is not in it. I guess I have to transfer my loyalties now to Penn State football.
Laurie recently posted…Love Is Not Always Easy
Oh, I’m exactly the same – if the Nats aren’t in it then I’m not interested in October baseball. I agree, fall should always be about college football. 😉
Nice tribute to your dad. hugs to you. While the Nats are in the World Series, we are all Philly sports at our house. My hubs is from there. We are hoping for another Eagles super bowl run! I agree you should definitely take advantage of Pablo’s cuteness while you have him
Deborah Brooks recently posted…Weekly Run Down Fall Running Is Finally Here To Stay
Thanks, Deborah.
Pablo doesn’t seem to mind me exploiting his cuteness, so I’ll continue whenever he visits! 😉
LOL at trying to compete with the bloggers with babies or dogs. 🙂
I don’t know what Bandit would do if he escaped his harness. Lola’s done it a time or two, and thankfully there were no other dogs (other than Bandit or Chester) around or a squirrel — usually we don’t realize it at first and she just walks along with us.
We had the one time when Mr. Judy dropped the leash (I wasn’t here) and Bandit took off & Mr. Judy couldn’t get him. Only to finally come home & find him waiting by the gate. This was in the early days, that was how Mr. Judy knew Bandit was really our dog.
Hurray for getting back into the run of things with no pain.
LOL on Lola continuing on the walk even though she had slipped out of her harness. Who’s a good girl?
And yes, that must have for sure showed that Bandit had become part of the family!
I’ve just come to realize that if I play it safe with Xaralto, I won’t do any group bike rides until next year. The jury is out on whether riding on the W&OD is safe enough. I think Scooby and Pablo would make a great squirrel hunting team. 😉
Oh no, I missed that you’re taking Xaralto. It sounds serious; I hope everything is okay and it’s just a precaution.
Pablo usually ignores squirrels so I was really surprised that he was so intent “catching” that particular one.
I am so out of touch with MLB (no such team in Iowa, except the Iowa Cubs –>a farm team for Chicago), so I didn’t know the status of the World Series LOL Max is really good at putting on the brakes, too. I have almost tripped over him a few times, them given myself whiplash because he’d stopped so suddenly. Silly dog!
You’ll see a lot of Curly W’s on t-shirts this week while in NOVA/DC!
Can’t wait to see you tomorrow!
I didn’t have a clue what you were referencing when you said “Nats” so I’ll skip over to Pablo 🙂 What a cutie!! So funny about his harness and that “laugh”.
Lisa @ TechChick Adventures recently posted…Weekly workouts – Columbus half race week
Nats is short for Nationals. 😉
And about Pablo’s laugh – that face cracked me up!
You’re such a great ‘grandma’ to Pablo and I love seeing his pics! He’s so adorable and unique looking, I just want to give him a hug 🙂
Sorry to hear about your dad, even though it was a bit ago, it’s still tough.
Pablo is very huggable! He’s a rescue – part schnauzer and part terrier.
Losing someone is hard; I don’t think there’s a time where I don’t think about my Nana. I actually thought about her quite a lot yesterday while I was running. She never got to see me become a runner; I know she would have been proud of me.
I think all sports fans have their superstitions! I’m more of a football fan but a few seasons ago I used to sleep with the mascot and wake up to a win. So that was my superstition…if I slept with my stuffed animal mascot the team would win! 😉
Montana @ Pretty Lil Mudder recently posted…St. Pete RunFest Dolphin Double Training Week 9: 10/14-10/20
Hey, we gotta do whatever we can for our team! 😉
I’m sorry about the loss of your dad. It’s been years since my parents died and I still get a punch in the gut from time to time. It’s so hard and grieving goes on for a long time.
Love that Pablo! He’s a cutie pie! Maybe I need to use a photo of one of my dogs or cats more often in my blog posts. I have enough pets I could post a different one for a long time!
Congrats on the Nationals going to the World Series! I’m rooting for them since it’s their first time. Go Nats!
Debbie recently posted…Vegan Shawarma
Thanks, Debbie. It is hard, isn’t it?
I love it when you post pictures of your furbabies on your IG, so I say go for it in your blog more regularly, too.
You go ahead and exploit that precious pooch to your heart’s content. I am here for it.
I was bummed the Yankees didn’t make it to the big dance, but they’ll have another chance. I’m superstitious too, so I won’t comment further.
I’ve been a terrible yoga slacker. I need to fix that.
Pablo is back home now so no more pictures for a while… 🙁
[…] Last week I mentioned that because I get up so early, I had to go to bed every night before the Nationals’ playoff game was over. Our routine was that Pablo and I’d go to bed during the sixth or seventh inning and in the middle of the night if I had to get up to go to the bathroom, I’d check my ESPN app to see how we’d done – we won every game. […]