Still plugging along spending most days close to home.  Today, though, I bit of a break through in attitude.  Kelli bargained with me...she would take Boomer to Nose Hill if I would go for a walk.  Honestly for all my belief in staying active and focussing on that, I have not been doing a very good job as of late.  I think the issues around the extreme fatigue and then the breathlessness at very little exertion was pretty much making it impossible for me and I fell into a pattern of doing as little as I could just to spare myself those moments of feeling like I just couldn't breathe and that my heart was going to jump right out of my chest.  I have never experienced anything like that in my life.  Kelli knows the card to play though and she knows how thrilled I have been to have Pat and Amber slide by this week to take Boomer up to the park.  He is like a different dog.  For a guy who has always been very well walked and exercised this past month has been hard on him too.  Bill does walk him but never the same way and can you blame him.  He has pretty much taken on all household responsibilities this past month....cooking, cleaning, gardening, shopping......and as much as I feel guilty not pitching in I have been quite content to let him do these things for me.  Today he decided to make lasagnes and I sat on my perch and coached and he worked away and produced three future dinners!

So when I wandered down to the back gate, opened it up and extended an invite to go for a walk I could just see this look of joy and perhaps even relief land on my dear friends face.  We walked (very slowly) across to the point where I took a few minutes to sit on a park bench and enjoy the view and to catch my breath and my pawed pal just snuggled right up with a look that said "Thank goodness you're back!  You've had me worried!"  Well I may not back but I do know that often taking that first step of going to the gym, or going for a run for the first time is the biggest hurdle to overcome.  I'm promising myself to stick to it and hopefully things will start to return back to a better form of normal than they have been.  Long walks still looking to be a ways off for me but you've gotta start somewhere and today was my start!

Boomer has always been a huge lover of walks.  I always remember Geoff describing him this way:  "Boomer does not walk, Boomer does not run.....Boomer frolics!!  And even at the age of 9 he still gives off that aura of joy that he is out enjoying the outdoors with his people.  I always laugh when people ask how old he is.  When I tell them his age,  they are totally bowled over  We have a neighbour who has a chocolate lab around the same age.  To see the two of them together you could never even begin to imagine they were the same age.  Baxter is fat and lumpy and he is the greyest dog I have ever met.  Unlike most dogs who grey under the chin, this guys entire face is pretty much white.  Along with that his paws have all turned white as well. It certainly gives him a unique look!   I'm sure some of it is pure genetics but also believe the exercise card plays it's part as well.  My first lab, Thumper, lived to be 18 years old!  He, like Boomer led an extremely active life.  He hiked with my family, came horseback riding with me on almost a daily basis, swam in the Bow River and ran loose around the neighbourhood!  On top of this my Dad would run him behind our cars.  I remember Dad picking us up at the Winter Club.  We would then proceed home, down John Laurier Blvd. to 19th street, turned south on 19th Street to Northmount Drive then more south to our home in Charleswood.  I would hang out the front window calling him and he would run full bore all the way home!  Amazingly, he only got hit by a car once!  When I tell this story I just shake my head.  Now days I almost think of that kind of treatment to a beloved pet as being abusive but honestly, he loved it and so did we and the traffic was certainly different in those days than it is in 2013.  Still, not even sure it's a story I should be sharing!  Rest assured I would never even consider running Boomer behind my car!  Then again, Thumper only ever visited a vet a couple of times in his entire life.  I don't think we ever vaccinated him for a darn thing.  Boomer has never missed a vaccination and has had several vet visits to the emergency hospital over the year that have topped $1000!  I will bet my pay cheque that Boomer will not outlive Thumpers amazing eighteen!

So what's up this week?  Not sure...hoping to continue to get my energy levels back.  I am off the drug for a few days at least but at the moment my blood counts are looking pretty good.  I am going to try to snag an appointment with the doctor this week and see what she suggests from this point.  Other than than that I'm just hoping to get enough zip back to go for my horse riding date with my friend Vicki and to hit the golf course.  Still not there but that's where I've got my sights a set!