A Holley Pack Saturday

Today was a slow Saturday for The Holley Pack. I slept in a little after a LONG day at work on Friday. Mike got home a little after 8:30 this morning. After enjoying coffee and cleaning up a little bit I gave Stephanie a call and made sure it was still OK for Beck and I to come over for a visit. Beck and I loaded up and made the trek to East Boise to visit Stephanie, Nikkia, and Dante. Stephanie adopted Dante late last year. He is a beautiful Akita with more personality that he knows what to do with. We wanted to get Dante and Beck together to see how they would interact. It was pretty uneventful. Beck was completely unimpressed with him and gave him plenty of teeth to show how she felt. Nikkia was worried the whole time and was trying to play peace maker. It was really great to see Stephanie not only because she is an awesome friend, but she gave me the best Christmas present, a Rick Bayless cookbook! I was so excited. I am a huge Rick Bayless fan and can't wait to make some food from the book. Hopefully we will get around to the pig roast recipe this summer.
After I got home from Stephanie's, Mike and I made a quick trip to Coscto to pick up a few things. Then we got home and the boredom set in big time. I walked to the back of the house and found Mike, snuggling with Beck on our bed (the dogs are only allowed on the furniture if the purple blanket is acting as a barrier). Is this pathetic or what?

I joined in, and then Cassius realized what he was missing out on. He came to the side of the bed to honk and whine at us, complaining about not being included. After a dozen or so attempts to jump up, he finally made it up onto "purple" and settled in for what I am sure he hoped would be a long nap.

I had some fun with Beck who was cuddling my bear, Sunshine renamed Bubba by Mike. I have had "Bubba" since I was three and surprisingly enough the dogs have left him alone even when he ends up on the floor by accident.

Is this not the cutest photo? I don't usually get great photos of Beck, but I think this is in the top ten. For some reason she was posing for me today.

We didn't last long in the napping mode. I finally motivated and we went for a run with the dogs. It was a beautiful sunny day in Boise and the dogs really enjoyed getting out for some exercise.

Isn't She Lovely?

So I finally bit the bullet and spent some money. Mike got a new mountain bike last summer and spent many days in the foot hills of Boise. I was jealous all last summer and decided to take advantage of the season and get a bike at a cheaper price. I love winter, but now I am secretly hoping for spring and summer so I can take her out for a ride. She needs a name, any ideas?

A One Gallon Milestone

Today I earned my one gallon pin from the American Red Cross. I started donating blood a couple of years ago when I worked at the corporate offices of a supermarket chain. At first, I started donating because it got me away from my desk for about an hour. Once I left the company, and the Red Cross followed up with me I started donating again because after working in the health care field I realized the importance of what I was able to do. Luckily my blood type is a good one and my blood has the opportunity to help a variety of people.
I remember the first time I donated blood, what a disaster! The lady who took my blood looked like a haggard vampire, so not like the vampires described by Stephanie Meyers in her twilight series. I have pretty good veins and this lady managed to nick the side of my vein and the next time I looked down at my arm it looked like there was a half of a baseball under my skin, except it was a purple/red/blue color. I had a GIANT hematoma and for about a week I really could lift much and it hurt my arm to do just about anything. Even better I looked like some sort of weird addict because as the blood dissipated my entire arm turned into a big bruise. One of my favorite memories of donating was when The Red Cross was having a "Pint for Pint" drive. If you donated a pint of blood you received a pint of Ben & Jerry's Ice cream. Come on, is there anything better?
I didn't get scared away by that experience and have been donating when I can. It's a bit of a bummer being tired for a day and having my workouts suffer, but knowing I am doing something good gives me that "warm fuzzy" we all need every once in a while.
Today I scored a 1 gallon pin which I placed on my work ID lanyard, and a cool mug that says, "One Gallon of Life".
If you aren't scared to death of needles I recommend you call up your local Red Cross and donate. If nothing else you will get some free juice and cookies.