If you think I'm high maintenance...

you should meet my dog, Nadia.  human, Rachael.

Whooops.... my human just caught me writing on her blog.....  YIKES I gotta run!

• Nadia has three sweaters, two pairs of boots, one collar, one harness, and two leashes.  
• She is an in-your-face kind of dog.  
• She is a anxious social.  She wants to be around people or other dogs but yet she's anxious about being left or me leaving her.  When she goes to Doggy Day Care upon arrival she'll hide behind my legs and tuck her nose between my knees so that the doggy care provider "can't" see her.  She assumes if they can't see her then she won't be left.  
• Nadia demands full attention from all living species around her.  I made the mistake of teaching her the term "Tricks for Treats", now not a night passes that she doesn't demand to go through her typical "Tricks for Treats" routine.  If I haven't completed the routine prior to going to bed Nadia will jump up into my lap and put her nose in my face and... yep.... BARK!!  How is it I know she wants her "Tricks for Treats" routine and not to go outside.  Well it's simple, I ask her, "Do you have to go potty?"  If the answer is no she'll just look at me.  If she wants "Tricks for Treats" she'll either do a half roll or wait for me to ask, "Do you want Tricks for Treats?"  and she'll answer with an in-your-face BARK BARK and walk over to the treat cabinet to wait expectantly.  The routine includes a variety of tricks, for each trick she gets a treat; and trust me it isn't the tricks she loves so much it's her beloved peanut butter treats she gets.  The tricks consist of: sit, down, roll, roll again, sit, sit pretty, stand, walk, wait, down, come, sit, down, roll, roll again, sit pretty, stand, under, over, and it continues until the handfull of treats are gone.  It is after this routine that Nadia calms down and will sit by my feet on the lazy chair; not a minute before.
• Expects any available hands to scratch her belly.  
• Believes all toes were created for her to torture.
• Demands to be fed at the same time every day.

And the list goes on... she may be high maintenance but she is my high maintenance dog.

My friend, MP

MP grew up in Chino Valley, AZ.  MP and I have been friend since childhood.  I grew up in Ishpeming, MI.  How you ask is it that two people from such far distances are childhood friends?  Well, it's simple.  MP's grandparents lived down the street from my childhood home.  It was very typical that MP would just show up.  It was often that there would be a knock on the door in the summer time and there would stand MP.  She doesn't know this yet, but I absolutely loved when my carefree, free spirited friend showed up at the door, because that meant it was time for fun!

MP and I are both from Finnish heritage.  If you know anything about Finns, you know that they like their saunas and a typical summer experience in Finland is sauna swimming (well winter too).  MP and I decided to go sauna swimming one summer afternoon.  The only problem was, where the sauna was there wasn't a lake, and where the lake was there wasn't a sauna.  Have no fear, sauna swimming was still possible with MP near, the feat was simple, the steps were clear: 1) put your swim suit on, 2) hop in the vehicle and drive around with the heater on high until you're sweating, 3) park by the lake and quickly hop out, run to the lake, and jump in!

A few tidbits about MP:
1) She is succinct in answering yes/no questions without explanation.
2) She is an amazing artist with a variety of mediums (paint, pencils, photography, words).
3) She has immense knowledge about a variety of topics.

MP, took on a huge undertaking, well at least in my mind it was huge.  In fact I plan to emulate her plan to the best of my ability.  She didn't purchase any new clothes for a year unless it was necessary.  I am going to try this in a modified fashion.  It will challenge me, as I have become someone who speaks with my style of clothing, and someone who is very interested in new styles- even if it is to only critique the style.  As I know this will be a challenge for me, I am going to start off with committing to three to six months time.  Here's trusting that I with neither gain or lose weight during this time so that I can still fit into my size 6 pants and small-medium sized shirts.  Part of this exercise is to see for myself how much fashion either plays a role or doesn't play a role in a person's view of themselves.

As for MP, I am so thankful that she was able to visit me while in Minnesota a few weeks back.  Welcome again anytime!!