Archive for November, 2011

Here is a quilt I made for Rosanna Powers. She was a Marine who served with my husband. She tragically lost both her fiance (father of her 10 month old son) and her brother. Both men were killed in action in Iraq within 24 hours of each other.

I included the soldier’s prayer on the back of the quilt.

So up until this point in April – I hadn’t really been hands on in the rescue. I had just funded some rescue saves. When Lisa from Pug Rescue San Diego asked my husband and me to transport Petey – a pug imposter – from Fallbrook to the SD airport. Petey was taken from a shelter in LA. Lisa drove up to grab him and when they brought him out, he clearly wasn’t a pug. She knew she was his last hope so she grabbed him. Tammy from Celebrating Pugs in Maryland found him a home. So early one Saturday morning, my husband and I picked him up and drove him to the airport and shipped him to Maryland. He was super sweet and I’m glad we found him a home.

So I’ve finally started my very own dog rescue, Pugs N Roses! I’m filing the 501 3 c paperwork now. We have three dogs in foster. We don’t discriminate and rescue all types of dogs. I can’t wait to save more. Check out our website at www.pugsnroses.com.

 

 

I hope all my readers had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Yesterday morning, I took my first ever Bar class at 4S Ranch Pure Barre. I’ve been dying to try it out. Pre baby – I used to be a professional ballroom dancer and I’ve done ballet, pilates, and other types of fitness classes. Pure Barre is one of the many Bar type classes that have sprung up all over San Diego. My plan is to try them all – Pure Barre, Bar Method, Dailey Method, and Xtend Barre, and see which one I like the best. I will review each method individually and then once I’ve attended all four types, I’ll post a compare/contrast blog. I looked everywhere for one and couldn’t find one so I’d like to help others who are confused by the different types of bar classes.

Review

The instructor was very nice. I immediately felt welcome. She set me up with a tube, light hand weights, and an exercise ball. The warmup consisted of an old school aerobic routine and light weighs. We did pilates rollups, toning on the bar, stretching, pushups and abs work.

Pros:

The music is very upbeat. The instructor was very hands on and helpful. I loved the stretching.

Cons:

A big portion of the bar work was done on your knees. This is a huge problem for me since as a former dancer, I have knee problems. I also don’t feel that there was enough upper body work.

Overall:

The ladies were very nice, there was a cute clothing boutique, and I loved the music. I feel if I continued to attend, I would be very toned, especially in the abs, thighs, and rear. I don’t feel I got a good enough cardio workout or I would achieve significant muscle tone in my arms. This would be the type of workout that would be great addition to cardio and traditional weights. I’ll go back.

 

So you might ask how I got into rescue. I always wanted to help but besides adopting my own dogs and finding a home for Brody, I didn’t know where to begin.

It all started with the picture of Wally.

I’d been tracking him on Animal Friends of the Valley adoptable friends page. He was creeping to the top of the list and I knew that he could be killed any day. But I didn’t know how to help – so when I saw a desperate plea on San Diego Pug Rescue’s page for anyone to grab him, I knew I had to help. I contacted the rescue and got in touch with Lisa who pulled Wally. She also pulled a Pekinese named Sally.

    Lisa took Sally to boarding, which I paid for. It cost me a fortune since the shelter said she had kennel cough. Then Amy, a dog rescuer in Las Vegas, drove up and transported both Wally and Sally to Las Vegas. They were both adopted out. Sally now lives in Portland and Wally lives in Vegas. I was so glad to meet Amy who has now helped me rescue a bunch of dogs.

Yesterday we spent Dia de los Muertos in Old Town. For those of you unfamiliar with the holiday – it has nothing to do with devils or witchcraft. It is a day to celebrate your loved ones who have passed. Old town had a bunch of amazing altars.

I also bought this amazing painting by artist John de Jesus.

More importantly, I came up with a great new angle for my book!