M is for Merida

As I wrote about here, for Gimli, Merida also has a few nicknames.

Here they are, in no particular order:

Merida Berida
Princess Merida - I use this one sparingly
Girlie
Girlie Boo
Mimi
Miss Merida
Missy
Grolley - this is a combination of "crawly" and "girlie". She likes to crawl to you when she wakes up in the morning.

Do your dogs have any nicknames?

Flat Corgi Friday - Hot on the trail

Following that Donald Duck. Anyone else notice that Donald's butt waddles like a corgi?

Running - September '14

I realized I hadn't done a running update in a while, so here goes.

I kinda kicked the Couch to 5k app to the curb because it wasn't bring me up to the 5k distance fast enough. Instead, I've been run/walking 5ks for the past couple weeks. I can do the full distance in about 42 minutes, which is a combination of running and walking for me. I'm at the point now where I am running a full kilometer before I have to slow to a walk. I'm hopeful that my time continues to decrease and my stamina increases.

My next goal is to continue with this pace as I strive for the full 10k.  I admit, this scares me a little because it's double the distance and I don't know if I can do it. Some days, I am full of motivation and I tell myself that I can do it. Other days, I mope around and say that I cannot.

My shin splints are frustrating, but I've been stretching twice a day and that definitely seems to help. The one thing that get's me though, sleep. I'm not getting enough and that's made it difficult to run in the mornings. I can feel a difference when I run after I've had a good night sleep vs a crummy night's sleep.

My legs and butt have changed. My cellulite on my thighs has lessened, something that I thought would never happen. My stomach is a little flatter, my muffin top is shrinking, for which I am grateful... you have no idea! I haven't tried on clothes yet, I'm too paranoid that I won't see a difference and that will send me off to find the biggest piece of chocolate ever invented.

I do think I'll need to get this shirt though for our January run. :)

Flat Corgi Friday - Piratey Seadogs

Hello mateys, it be #TalkLikeAPirateDay.

Here be two rascally seadogs, the likes of which will send ye to Davy Jones' locker!

First she'll come in all cute and distract ye. This little one be Princess Merida, purveyor of the Black Spot, which she wears on her head. When she's made her mark...

Then he'll come in with his rusty cutlass and make ye shark bait. This here be Captain Gimli of the Red Head. A no good, old seadog who favors his belly more than a bottle of rum!

Corgis weigh in on Scotland

Corgis are Welsh, which is part of the United Kingdom so I wanted to know how my two felt about the Scottish referendum.

If you are unfamiliar with the Scottish referendum, a) where have you been? and b) read up on it here: Scottish independence referendum, 2014.

Merida is pro-UK

Gimli is pro-Scotland

I'm sorry I didn't get him reaching for the cookie, but he proceeded to walk past his cookies and then walked in front of the camera so I was unable to take the picture.  He did eat from the Scotland side first.

I guess we'll find out the outcome in the morning.

Good little corgs

Whenever we have outside workers visiting our home, we corral the corgis. Either they are shut in the office with me, cornered upstairs with the xpen or shut away entirely in their crates.

Today, someone came to clean the ducts.

We put the corgis away in their crates about half an hour before he arrived. They got their lunchtime cookie and that was it.

The cleaner went through the house, making noise with the hose, the vacuum, and banging around the vents.  All standard behavior when your ducts are cleaned.

As he was leaving he commented, "Your dogs are so well behaved. Not a sound when I used the hose in their room."

It took all I could not to respond that he should see them during play time :)

Rough

It's been a rough few days for me and I'm not ready to share why. Instead, here's a picture of the corgis.

(Don't worry, we four are fine.)

Saturday Smiler - Those little sisters!

Our household has been gloomy the past couple days, so here's a cheery picture for you.

I do love Gimli's grin and Merida's no nonsense face behind.

Wordless Wednesday - She can't have my toy!

I found it!

Remember back in July when I posted about the missing purple thing?

Well, I found it!

I cleaned out the spare room, no easy task when you consider that it was merely the room that held a bed and everything else that I could toss into a 10x10 room. As I cleared away the floor, Gimli made his way through and planted himself in front of the bookcase.

Now, you must know this - Gimli is a vocal dog. He will talk to you and will carry on a conversation with you at any time of the day.  When he needs help to get a toy that's stuck under something? He clams up. He'll just sit or lie in front of something for hours at a time.

Often, I'll realize I haven't seen him for a while and I'll go searching for him. He won't respond to his name or even to the promise of cookies. He'll stay put until I find him and I realize there's something he's been trying to get.

I looked under the bookcase and sure enough, there was the purple thing, covered in a healthy dose of corgi hair. The look on Gimli's face was priceless! His eyes were wide and he gave me the biggest smile. It was all I could do to peel away the hair before he grabbed it and went to play with it.

You may be wondering why I didn't find the purple thing when I scoured upstairs. It's because there was so much stuff in front of the bookcase that I assumed that Gimli wouldn't have been able to shove the toy underneath. Boy, was I wrong!

Now both corgis have their toys and they swap back and forth, then squabble over one of them, then swap back and forth again.

Wordless Wednesday - Cavern dweller

Pool puppies

Corgis aren't really known to be water dogs. There are some that take to water and others that only drink water. It seems my two are content to walk in puddles, and drink water - nothing else.

I tried them again with our little pool in the hopes it would get them to play, or at least cool down; however they were not having it.

The most I could get them to do was stand there and look at me.

This is Gimli's: "throw the apples for me" face.

Here's Merida's: "I'm so confused" face.

Here's video of the two of them.

Oh well, I guess I should be glad they aren't water dogs. They'd be after every stinky puddle around and that's bad news when you have a fluff!