Pictures from this week

My new haircolor which looks a lot like my old haircolor although I was determined to make a drastic change

Alice, the very dog-like cat who comes when called--She is more Bill's cat than mine, really.

Gus-Gus, rat terrier mix

Karl, English mastiff and overall comic relief

Murphy, beagle mix. He's too cool to look at the camera.

Gus-Gus, again (the dog so nice they named him twice). Isn't he photogenic?

A few photos we've taken in the last few days. The one of me was taken because I recently colored by hair a light brown, but it's not as drastic of a change as I expected and it's not too noticeable in the picture. Next time I might try a little lighter. Sometimes you just need a change.

Had a lazy day around here. Bill and I took Murphy to the vet this morning for a check up and some shots. His pancreas counts were just slightly high, but other than that he's doing well. His behavior at the vet was another issue. Murphy has anxiety issues, and his anxiety at the vet has only gotten worse since he was hospitalized last fall at Iowa State Vet Med. It is a joy taking Karl to the vet (he is such a good sport), but it is not so much fun with Murphy and Gus-Gus. Gus-Gus has always been bad, and Murphy has gotten worse recently.

I am getting ready to go for a run tonight when it cools off a little. I think it hit almost 90 degrees today. I slept too late to run this morning. I am thinking about doing 6-8 miles, something in that ballpark. I took yesterday off after Saturday's ridiculous heat and 12 mile run.

I got a new pair of running shoes this week. This isn't very exciting because they are identical to my old running shoes, except they are blue. They were on sale because the new model has come out, so I only paid $58 for them, which I was pumped about. Of course, I bought them online--because that is pretty much the only type of shopping I do anymore. I haven't worn them yet but will break them out soon.

I was thinking recently about how it is recommended you wear running shoes only about 300 miles before replacing them. Well, right now I've been running about 30 miles a week (or more) so that means I only have 10 weeks in each pair of shoes. That's not very long--about 2 1/2 months. I should keep better track of the miles I have on my shoes because I know I don't do a very good job judging by feel. I can't tell when they get worn out because it's such a gradual thing. I need to be careful with that since running in broken-down shoes is a good way to get injured.

Speaking of buying running gear...I have some go-to websites I use for shopping, and my latest is http://www.sale.com/. It's amazing. You can search the site for sales going on at online stores. You can also put in your favorite stores and have it notify you of sales. I highly recommend checking it out if you buy stuff, especially clothes and sporting goods, online.

Of course, everyone also knows of my love of http://www.zappos.com/ for shoes and now for clothes as well. They have a new running "department" in addition. I appreciate Zappos because they are FAST with free shipping both ways and have amazing customer service!

Congratulations to my husband Bill who completed his dissertation and sent it to his committee today! He has his defense on August 23. I edited the whole thing yesterday and was very impressed with it. He actually found something useful and important--unlike mine...Anyway, although he is--of course--nervous about the defense, the hard work for him is finished. He's really worked hard this summer to get to this point.