Kendra Babbles

Shelby and Tucker finally got to meet Santa Claus!  I’m not sure they were very impressed, as they spent more time trying to get out of his lap than anything else.

Shelby just looks terrified.  Really she was just so excited to be out and around all these other dogs that she was doing her pet-store puppy cry and was just shaking with excitement.  She could not have cared any less about Santa.

 Tucker’s picture is more impressive, but he is looking at the squeaky toy they had above the camera and not actually at the camera.  He has his priorities.

So they aren’t set for modeling careers, but it was all for a good cause.  Donations generated from the picture session go to Paws in the City to help them with their vet and boarding fees for the dogs and cats they rescue.

*Elvis’ version is one of my favorites

“A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman’s birthday but never remembers her age.” - Robert Frost

Recently I turned 30.  The big three-oh.  I did not have a major meltdown or drop into a state of depression over my lost youth.  Instead, I got up early with Blake and took the dogs for a walk.  After that, I took a nap!  Maybe that is where my age is showing - more naps.

I had a wonderful birthday week.  Tuesday I had dinner with good friends and good wine.  Thursday we walked the dogs, which makes the dogs happy, which makes me happy!  I took the afternoon off and got a massage and met Amanda for a manicure and pedicure.  It was a great day!  Blake and I had a quick dinner at Tin Star that night since he wasn’t feeling well.  On Sunday we spent the afternoon at my parents helping with the kitchen remodel and eating dinner.  The day ended with chocolate pie - one of my favorites!

Usually on my birthday Amanda takes me to lunch and we eat food that is not good for us and generally have a fantastic time.  This year she was supposed to go to Mexico, but her trip was postponed, so she said she would take me to dinner Friday night.

It was all a big, fat lie!

Instead, Blake and Amanda had conspired to get my friends together in a mall parking lot, where the above group of people were waiting with a limo to drive us to Fort Worth!  Surpise!  I was pretty shocked to say the least - especially when my sister showed up after giving me a tall tale about going to the ranch for the weekend. 

On the way to Fort Worth we stopped for beer.  Blake was happy.

 We had a fabulous dinner at Lambert’s.  The food and service was excellent, even after we played musical chairs and totally screwed up the poor server’s seating chart.

In summary, I have the most awesome friends and family ever.  They went to all this trouble just to celebrate my birthday, and I really appreciate all of it!

*Gorillaz

**All photo credits go to Zach - he was our camera man for the evening and did a fabulous job.

I think when you have a blog you should probably post to it more often than 2 or 3 times a year.  I’m obviously a big violator of that rule!  So here’s a blog about when I’m at right now.

Still running.  Some days I’m doing more old lady shuffle than an actual run, but I haven’t given up yet!  My weird leg/hip/butt injury is much better, though I can still feel it when I’m running.  Thank God for yoga and chiropractors.  I’m signed up for the White Rock Marathon Relay in December.  I have the first leg - 6 miles or so.  I’ve run the course twice before, so I’m pretty confident I’ll do okay.  I haven’t set a goal yet, I’ll wait until I’m a bit closer to the date.  I’m also running the San Antonio Rock n Roll with my brother Chad and my sister-in-law Shelly.  It’s one month before the White Rock race.  Unless my running pace improves dramatically in the next 3 weeks, I’m aiming to finish under 2:30.  And if that doesn’t happen?  Well, I’m just aiming to have a good time.  It isn’t often that I get to see Chad and Shelly, so I want to have fun and enjoy watching Chad finish his first half marathon.

I’m also still yoga-ing.  I really enjoy it.  It feels like an hour of nothing but making your muscles feel better, which I think we all need.  I’m considering dragging my mom to class sometime.  :-)  I never thought I would enjoy it this much, typically I can’t pay attention for more than 30 minutes or so, but I’ve never had that problem in these classes.

I’m also still working.  And working and working and working.  Enough said about that.

For me, I seem to be able to get either my personal life in order and going well, or my work life, never both.  I don’t know why that is, but I suspect it’s because there are not enough days in the week.  Realizing that my running was suffering and I was falling farther and farther behind the group, I came up with a new training schedule.  In theory, this schedule allowed me to get in 4 runs, 2 yoga classes, and still have 2 nights a week at home where I don’t have anything scheduled so I can actually see Blake every now and then.

That was the theory.

Unfortunately the schedule involves getting up at 5:00 a.m. 3 days a week, which takes a toll on me.  It also involves working out twice a day 2 days a week, which makes me pretty worn out by the end of the 2nd work out.  In short, its pretty tough, but after going over it a few times, it really is the best way to try in squeeze in all those workouts and still see my husband, and actually work a 50 hour week too.

Now, when I have to add in that 5th day of running, things could get ugly.  I’ll post again when that happens!

In the midst of all this training and fun work, we did make time for a trip to Chicago to see my oldest (as in I’ve known her the longest, not that she is old) friend Lou get married.  We had an awesome time exploring Chicago and Lou’s wedding was fantastic.  Lots of happy people and dancing and of course, cup cakes.  I’ll have to make another post about that whole trip!

Well, that’s the high level overview of the last 3 or so months of my life.  I know everyone is so happy to have read it. 

*Eddie Vedder

Last night I tried my first yoga class.  Well, first except for the one Bikram class I took earlier this year where I about died.  That type of yoga is more aerobic and less relaxing.  I was tied up in knots for days after that, which is pretty much the opposite of what I was looking for.

 Anyway back to my yoga class last night.  I found a studio very close to our house that offered a few beginner classes and after emailing with the owner, I decided it was a good place to start.  I actually ran into the instructor, Zed,  in the lobby of the building and was able to introduce myself and get a feel for how she taught the class.  She was very helpful in getting me setup in the space and showing me where everything was.  She talked to the students about anything that may be bothering them that they would like to work on and then began the class.  There was a lot of terminology I didn’t know, but it was very easy to follow along and she broke down quite a few things to help me get the hang of it.  Fortunately my years of ballet helped me to understand her corrections and attempt to alter my body to obtain the proper alignment.  In some cases it was just not possible!  However by the end of class I really felt like my muscles were well stretched and could see an improvement in my flexibility already.  I know yoga has lots of other benefits, but for now just loosening up the hips and hamstrings was a huge deal and I think it will really help me with my running down the road.

*Frankie Goes to Hollywood

I think most everyone has seen it now, so its probably safe to post this now.

I have left behind my 29 years as a blonde. 

I am now a brunette with red highlights, and it kicks ass.  My hair is shorter, more feisty, and makes me feel like the subject of the Cake song Short Skirt/Long Jacket (if you have not heard this song, we may not be able to be friends anymore).

The story:  In late February the D Magazine blog for all things Dallas and fashionable, ShopTalk, posted a blog asking for entires for their annual D Beauty hair issue.  3 people would be selected and sent to different salons for a hair makeover.  I have been disenchanted with my hair lately and hadn’t had it cut since October.  I pondered entering, but was secretly worried they would want to give me a pixie cut or even worse, give me some lame blonde highlights and send me on my way.  I really wanted a significant change, but I still wanted it to look good!  So after debating over it for a few weeks, I finally took some extremely candid photos and submitted my entry.  No, I will not be posting those photos for your viewing pleasure.  They are frightening.

Fast-forward to late March and I’m thinking I didn’t get picked.  I hadn’t heard anything and the original post said they were picking in mid-March.  I am not heartbroken, but again am frustrated with my hair’s lack of well, oomph.  A week later they emailed and said I was picked!!  I immediately got excited, followed by a bit nervous, then excited again.  I went to the salon 3 weeks later for my hair makeover.

Here is what I looked like a few weeks before the appointment:

 And here is what I look like after 5 hours with Daniel Lewis at The Green Peridot in Frisco.

 Feisty, yes?

I love it.  It’s very easy to style and except for after a workout, always looks pretty good.  Daniel did a great job.  In the beginning I could tell he was trying to get a feel for how far I was willing to go.  He just kept playing with my hair and asking random questions.  Finally I just put it all out there - leave it long enough I can make a ponytail (even a little nub-tail is fine) and just go for it.  So then he got more excited and wanted to talk about color and he again was trying to figure out what I wanted.  I didn’t want to tell him too much, because I figured he is the pro and should know what would be best, right?  But I did say I really wanted to go darker.  Then he got super excited and said “Is red okay?” and I said fine and he was off mixing color before I knew what happened.  The actual process took awhile, but once the color and cut were all finished and they let me see it, I was so happy!  I think it looks fantastic and I love to see people’s reactions to it.  :-)  So far everyone likes it, or they are covering very well. 

It should be in the summer hair issue of D Beauty, if anyone wants to see the professional photos and styling. 

*Cake

When Blake and I got engaged, we did the customary wedding registry that most couples do.  Part of our registry was bedding for the giant new king bed we hoped to acquire before moving into our house.  We did a lot of hunting around and finally picked out the bedding below.

And while I still love it, I’m out of my red/burgundy phase and looking for something new.  Then Crate and Barrel sent me a catalog full of fabulous things.  Browsing through, Blake and I discovered we actually really liked the same bedding!  So he left town one weekend and since I had so much time on my hands, I ordered the new bedding.  Tucker enjoyed changing the linens since it meant he got to sit on top of the old ones like a king.

Here is the end result!  I like it so much better and I’ve noticed we are sleeping a bit better too.

*R.E.M. - Automatic for the People

Rock to Victory Half Marathon - March 15, 2009

Same course as the White Rock Half Marathon from December.  I finished 58 seconds faster.  I had to really fight for those 58 seconds, but when you are 2 miles out and you do the math, for some reason 1 minute faster than your last time is like winning a million dollars and you start racing toward the finish.  Of course after I finished and grabbed my medal, I couldn’t even walk.  I was in much better shape for the December race, but I’m glad I finished and have a new PR.  And a fancy medal that will probably get donated to charity.  I’m not much on clutter.

No new goals for right now.  I think I want to really work at feeling better at the 7-9 mile range, instead of killing myself for the 13.1  And summer is coming and who wants to run 11 miles in 100 degree heat?

*Britney Spears

I’m lacking in blog material.  Here is a list of 25 things I like.

1. Folding laundry when its cold outside.  Nothing like hot laundry to warm you up!
2. Hugh Jackman
3. Paranormal State
4. New nerdy technology.  Unless its related to application development.  Then I don’t care.
5. I like running.  But for at least 1-2 miles of every run, I really hate running. 
6. I love teen dance drama movies.  Like Centerstage, Centerstage 2, Save the Last Dance, etc.  I also love So You Think You Can Dance.  I even saw the tour last year.
7. Tulips and daffodils. 
8. Floating in the pool with a nice adult beverage.
9. Cookies.  I like cookies a lot.
10. Puppies!  Especially mine, but most any puppy will do.
11. The Twilight books.  But not the movie.  It was awful.
12. I like it when other people make dinner for me.
13. Vacations on the beach.  The beach of an ocean though, not a lake.
14. Matt the Electrician
15. Pretty much anything Google. 
16. Warm, sunny days.
17. Elfa shelving from the Container Store.
18. The new Camaro.
19. Tiki torches.
20. 3-day weekends.
21. Acupuncture.
22. My Garmin Forerunner 405.
23. Anything with rum in it.
24. Facebook.
25. Blake.

*The Sound of Music

Everyone knows I love puppies.  Big or little, I want to bring all of them home and love them.  (Except maybe a few that were mean to my sweet Tucker).  Last year I set out to do more for the puppies by volunteering for Paws in the City and by also donating to the PITC general fund.  I did pretty well on both accounts, until about September when half marathon training sort of took over my life.

But an email I got last week reminded me that I need to get it together.  You see, when the economy heads south, everyone is affected, including dogs and cats.  Many owners surrender their animals to shelters because they can’t afford to feed or vaccinate them.  I’m so thankful every time an owner chooses to surrender a dog instead of just releasing it onto the streets or abandoning it in a parking lot.  But at the same time, each surrendered dog is another dog that needs a new home.  Another dog who will suffer depression or develop separation anxiety for fear of being left again.  Another dog that an organization will have to find the money needed to feed and house the dog.

So last week Paws in the City sent out a request for donations/volunteers/new foster parents.  Although I can’t be a foster parent because my two spoiled schipperkes will never forgive me, I can donate and I can volunteer.  So I’m trying to get it back together, starting today.  I signed up for a monthly recurring donation of $25, and I’ve emailed the transport coordinator to see if they need help getting dogs home from the adoption on Saturday.

So if you are fortunate enough to be making ends meet right now, consider helping out a cause in your community.  Maybe you love puppies too!  Then consider donating to a no-kill animal shelter.  Puppies aren’t your thing?  Food banks are in serious need of donations of goods and dollars.  Don’t have any spare cash?  Many organizations need volunteers right now, so check around in your church or community for opportunities to help out that won’t cost you a dime.

I promise the rewards for volunteering and donating are 10 times better than you can imagine.

*Dora the Explorer episode title.  Dora loves puppies too.

I ran the 2 miles test in 17 minutes and 57 seconds.  That’s an improvement over the Jan 7th test where I did it in 20:36. 

I ROCK!!!!