A little bit delay on this post. I was trying to finish my work, checking off my (sister's) shopping list and running out of time before I left for vacation. Today is my first day I can sit in front of a computer since I arrived.

Even with the cold weather it was a pretty day. I picked up my friend at her place on my way to the shelter since we would like to meet up. Honestly I had never thought walking dogs in snow would be this nice. The trails were covered with snow and the main road was a bit icy. But the good thing was it wasn't so muddy so my boots stayed clean. I walked Zippy, Kelsey and Molly this week. Zippy went home that day. Poor Kelsey, though he was still up and running, energetic as ever he was sick. blood in his stool for a couple days now. Molly still had red eyes which I started to wonder what she was allergic to. So I wrote down a medical report at the office as required. Hope they both feel better by the time I get back. My friend had a chance to walk Penny. She was gorgeous. You can check her photo at "These Dogs."

I posted photos of the trails around the photos. It was gorgeous, wasn't it ?

Even it's 37'F high today after I walked the first dog I already needed to take my outer jacket off. I was sweating.


I went to Kelsey before Molly today since I knew the walk with him would be more manageable compared to hers. Surprisingly he ran more than usual today. So after the first trail I let him running around in the play area. We did a lot of chasing today and he seemed to enjoyed it. No tug-of-war since he kept chewing a rag ball.


Molly pulled me out from the run and across the front ground really hard and fast. A group of people were basically staring at us. Probably wondering if I would survive. But hey Molly knew how to fetch a tennis ball and she wasn't arguing with the other senior dogs nearby that much and she very well behaved on the second trail.



Zippy, my new favorite dog, was walked earlier today. So I had to find a new doggie to walk. Janai living not too far from Kelsey was my pick. She was a 3 years old mom. Her owner had to abandon her after Janai had puppies and it's too much for the owner to handle. So here she was. poor thing. She was very sweet. Loved hugging people. If you called her name, she turned to give you a hug.


This log was left on the trail. So pretty.

While I was writing this blog, there was a Dog Competition - Incredible Dog Challenge on TV. The world record for Diving Dog was 31'-8". wow. I had never known that a dog can jump that far. And it's amazing to see the dogs on 30 weaves race.

Hope my next weekend won't be too crazy. Work is overwhelming at the moment. I would love to walk the dogs before I will be out of town for 2 weeks.

Ugh. I had too much early dinner.

I have been following this news for a couple days now. Finally this smart homeless girl got help.

Samantha Garvey is one of 300 teenagers nationwide named this week as semifinalists in the prestigious Intel science competition; finalists will be announced at the end of January. She spent more than two years researching the effects of the Asian short crab on the mussel population in a Long Island salt marsh.

The Brentwood High School senior, who has applied to Yale and Brown universities, was evicted along with her family from their home on New Year’s Eve. Her mother, Olga, a nurse’s assistant, was out of work for eight months following a car accident in February, and her father, Leo, could not keep up with the bills alone on his salary as a cab driver.

“I ordered a senior picture and I said, ‘I don’t know where to send it. I don’t know what’s going to happen," said Samantha

And I have to add she always has a great smile on her face on every photo I saw on the news.

So even things go wrong you just have to keep your dream and effort go on.

Source: Washington Post

I wish winter will be like this forever. Sunny with a bit of cloud, high 60'F/18'C.

Alice had gone home on Friday according to FOHA newsletter this week. I would say there were about 10 empty runs at one of the buildings at the shelter when I got there. Today there was a volunteer training which meant many dogs got the second walk (such as Miss Molly). It's great to see more people come to help. Hope they will stick around.


I started with Miss Molly. She still had an allergy and was on eye-drop treatment. Not much of scratching today. She was no trouble at all. A bit of pulling here and there but way less than the first week I walked her. (It was more like she walked me that day.) She didn't even argue much with the senior dogs whose runs facing one of the play areas. She just jogged along the fence looking at those.


Kelsey, Miss Molly's neighbor, was as nice and smart as he was last week. He was such a good dog for a family to have. I started wondering why he was at the shelter. He was one of the few dogs I knew that really listened and reacted to what you said, never tried to get to other dogs and he knew how to play. On top of that he looked into you eyes and smiled. (I am still not able to get a shot of his smile. Every time I took my iPodTouch out he just wanted to taste it.) He didn't pull as much. Today he wasn't in a mood to play tug-of-war with me so we were chasing each other around in the play area instead. Man, he was fast.


Zeva was very outstanding among others with her bright white color and the neon pink collar. She was easy to walk most of the time since she hardly ran until she saw other dogs in front of her. She would try to chase them and that was the hard part of my walk with her. The other volunteer heard Zeva panting from behind (because I had to pull her back so hard) and he decided to let me pass. Another unique thing about her was that she kept moving forward while pooping. And she did that twice!


Zippy was new to the shelter but already made it to my top 5 favorite dogs of all time. She actually looked very similar to the cat we and my neighbor in Bangkok taking care of. (We don't want to call her a street cat because in fact she is very rich by owning two places. She can sleep, sunbathe and eat at either place when she wants.) Zippy knew how to play fetching a tennis ball! Finally I found one! She looked at you and listened to you just like Kelsey. She was very thin and seemed to be afraid of cars so I was curious about her background too.

Poor Dooley. He hadn't been walked until I found out from another admin staff about the new note in front of his run. The note said that he and Martina, his extremely shy neighbor, needed to be walked together. In fact it's only Martina that was needed to be walked with other compatible dog. Dooley had no problem being walked alone. (He didn't care much about you anyway, ha ha.) So I decided to walk him since his eyes were just begging. So I walked him, my fifth dog of the day. And it actually was a bad idea because Dooley was very independent as I mentioned in other posts. You couldn't tell or force him to do what you want him to do. And I was so exhausted at that point so I didn't give him my best. (Sorry Dooley.) Today he just wanted to pick every pieces of treat left on the ground of parking lot. (Because people kept the dog treats in their trunks and gave it to any dogs passing by. It's like buffet down that road.) So we just hung out there without walking at any trail. The only way to make sure he pay attention to you was staying low to the ground (since he was so short and hardly lifted his head up) and looked at him in the eyes. But that still wouldn't guarantee that he would do what you said. He was great greeting with other people coming to play with him. Hmmm...maybe he didn't like me that much.

I hope next week weather will be nice like this.

Until then.

I like reading and listening to other people opinion. A lot of times it is exactly what I have been wanting to say (and it is better most of the time) and a lot of times it gives a different point of view.

If you hardly enjoy swimming, you might want to read this interview, Olympian Cullen Jones inspires kids to swim. I took swimming classes when I was in second grade (Thank you, Papa.) but I wasn't allowed to go on any boat trip with my friends. (I guess I never showed that I was a good swimmer. So my dad had never let me or my sister go to that type of trip.)

Now that I enjoy paddling so much I started working on my swimming. One of my new year's resolutions is improving my lap swim. I finally can float on my back across the pool from the lesson I took recently. Hopefully I learn how to tread water from the next one as well.

Here is an excerpt from the interview.

"...I pushed off and went down the ride screaming the entire way down. When I hit the pool of water at the bottom, I flipped over and because my dad made me promise, I held on to the inner tube, underwater. The lifeguard dove in, followed by my father. They pulled me out of the water and I was unresponsive. After performing CPR, I woke up and, much like a skit being played on stage, I asked, “What’s the next ride we are getting on!”

...What I would like people to take away from my story is that anything is possible. Never count out any avenue in life. My near-drowning mishap could have deterred me from ever touching the water again. But thanks to the backing of my parents, I was able to overcome my fears and later become an Olympic gold medalist.

...So many times people think that because there are lifeguards on duty that they are completely safe from accidents. I myself was a lifeguard. When you are watching over 500 children with your coworkers, it is not an easy task.

There is a simple solution and that’s swim lessons. Parents need to make it a priority for their children to learn to swim. Any body of water can be dangerous without proper instruction. Swimming is a fun activity, learn to swim."

I also like this idea about setting goals to achieve.

"One of the biggest lessons I learned throughout my career is that setting goals is the key to success. Whether it is in the classroom, boardroom or standing behind a starting block at the 2008 Olympics.

Once a goal is achieved it is not time to settle. This is the time to reassess and make another goal; one that is a bit more challenging and more fulfilling."

Such a nice weather outside. Have a good weekend.

I know it doesn't help getting work done. But if there is one person left in the happy crowd, I'd rather be with that person. But probably with the condition that my presence doesn't bother him or her much.

With my 365 project, one commission work due in a couple weeks and study (which I have been ignoring) I am really not sure I can post 2 blogs a day. I want this EA blog mean something not just a babbling place. And talking about Brussels Sprout (my yesterday blog) is not a good sign. ha ha.

But I'll try my best.

This is my favorite (and the only so far) recipe for Brussels Spouts. Super easy and tasty. I like baking my meal. Just because I can go do something else while leaving the food cooked. ha ha.

So here is the recipe for Ina Garten's Roasted Brussels Sprouts.

I add a tiny bit of butter or Italian seasoning before putting it into the oven. And if you want some texture, just add bread crumbs at the last 5 or 10 minutes of baking.

It is soft inside but crunchy outside just like french fries!

Happy New Year! These are my twelve wishes of year 2012. Do you have yours ?

There are things I want to accomplish this year.

1. Finish the rest of professional license exams. I passed 2 and have 5 more to go.

2. A 365-day project for my creativity and self-discipline practice. There are a lot of people doing it. Some succeed. Some don't. But i think it is interesting to try. It's like walking. You walk everyday, you get better at walking. I already got an one-inch-thick sketchbook and the best way to make sure I keep the promise is to post it on my 365 project log.

3. Make this "Everyday" Appreciation...not weekly or monthly appreciation. It means I can't sit around surfing internet or daydreaming. I need to tick my brain to think by read and listen to something that will inspire me to write.

4. Improve quality of my drawing, painting, photography and also my greeting cards. I hope my daily practice from the wish#2 will help me some ways.

5. Make a couple big paddling trips. (And when I say big, I mean big for a newbie like me. :P) The places I am considering are Chicago, Chincoteague and Adirondacks. And learn new paddle strokes.

6. Get myself a shredder. Seriously.

7. Practice sightreading, please, even just 10 minutes a day. The fact that I put my piano lesson on hold doesn't mean I can't practice sightreading on my own.

8. Empty half of my bookshelves and storage. So I can keep my place a bit more organized.

9. 10% of my income must go to saving account. I totally blew my savings with my trip in Canada in 2011 and a new lens. And the fact that the amount of money spent on my shopping equals to my grocery bill last year did not impress me.

And here is the list of what I want to continue doing from last year.

10. Volunteering at FOHA weekly and at others. Volunteering connects me to a different group of people who care about giving their help to others in need and concentrate less on business side of living. I really enjoy doing it. It's much more fun than shopping.

11. Exercise more (so I can eat more). Improve my lap swim. And once Spring season arrives I will walk around the lake nearby in the evening again. But in conclusion losing 5 lbs is really my main goal.

12. Get over my recent crush completely. It's not healthy. I think I am getting there. Friendship is always the best place to start. Diving is exciting but it's also dangerous if you are not ready handle the outcome. Need to have my brain start kicking in faster next time.


Wish me a success! Best of luck to you all.