(Insert dream sequence/flashback-sounding music here).

A few days ago I saw a commercial that inspired me. I know, I know. A commercial?! Right. You read it correctly. The weird part is it was for deodorant. Ok... with that out of the way, I felt inspired to work out again. Why? Because the commercial had women showing their strong side... boxing, kicking, that sorta thing. It made me want to be like them. In shape. Strong.

So, to start getting back on track, I decided I would do simple exercises at first to warm up to the weight lifting again. I did a few push-ups and numerous crunches. A few different arm exercises that I'm not sure what their names are... if they have a name.

It was cooling off tonight, so I decided to go for a walk. (Because that was another part that I wanted to do. Building up slowly is the way to go. Jogging is in the future, just not this week! :) )

I decided I would see if Maxine wanted to walk with me. She was more than eager to go outside with me now that the grass is back in "bloom". (Sidenote: Grass to Maxine is like catnip. She LOVES the stuff.)

I put her harness on, and out the door we went. At first she just wanted to eat the grass and sniff around, but I didn't even give her a chance! I started walking down the block, and to my surprise, she was heeling! She was walking in sync with me as if she was a trained dog on duty!

After about 4 houses, she wanted to stop for some grass. That was fine by me. A little grass, then more walking. I think she barely got a blade. We walked to the end of the block, and she was less than eager to keep going. She decided that she wanted more grass. I told her that she could have grass when we got home.

Perhaps she understood me, or maybe it was just because she couldn't smell her scent anymore. Either way, she started walking faster towards home. She picked up the pace a tad more, but not enough to change stride. Two houses went by in this faster walking pace (for me). Then she started to run! She ran really fast. I didn't know if I could keep up with her, and I also didn't know how well she would react if someone was "chasing" her.

She got to terminal velocity and then dove for a tree! I halted as quickly as I could. She wanted grass. I think it was at the house that she first stopped at to get that one blade. Anyways, she wasn't allowed to stay there for long, because I gently tugged on her harness and she started her trot back home. She went into full sprint mode again, and this time I wasn't really able to keep up. (My keys were making a lot of noise in my pocket, and I was trying to keep them quiet while running. Didn't work so well. Oops!)

Once we got home, I let Maxine eat a little grass. (Too much makes her sick). After I stretched my legs (since I wasn't expecting to run), I told her we had to go inside. She was so proud of herself again when we did get inside. But I think that was more activity than she was expecting. She plopped her fluffy body on the kitchen floor and just let me take the harness off her without trying to run off and drag it all over the apartment.

All in all, I think this would be a fun routine to get into. Going for jogs with Maxine. She's a great buddy, and I know she'll keep me motivated. (Afterall, she's the fit one in the family -- err, umm... right. She's family. :) Sure).

Penny might have to up the ante if she wants to go on walks with me if Maxine keeps up the good attitude like she did tonight. :) WTG Maxine!

Carisa