Before the run: She’s a furry ball of energy when she sees me in my running pants and tiny socks. After the run, she gives me this look: “What part of “lap dog” don’t you understand?” I know cocker spaniels are typically pampered pets, but Daisy has energy to burn. Plus – she has the sad look on her face when I leave her behind for longer runs.

Here’s how we did. Thanks to Nike+ – the Twitterverse knows exactly how many minutes it takes us to finish a mile.

While I’m pounding the pavement to CSS, Freezpop and Lily Allen, sometimes I imagine I can hear what’s going on in my puppy’s head…

Taking mommy for her run.
Taking mommy for her run.
Sniff. Pine needles. Check.
Sniff. Dead leaves. Check.
Sniff. Old people walking. Pass. No threat.
Sniff. SQUIRRELS!!!!!! Must catch them all. Mommy feels so damn heavy. Such a fat bitch. Come on….just let me go Mommy. Let me go!

Then repeat. Crazy Daisy.

In the meantime, who’s ready for Puppy Bowl VI?!?!?! We’re baking beer bread and cooking chili for the big game. I’m rooting for the tiny runts in the litter.

“Reply hazy, try again,” from the Magic 8-Ball”

Also fuzzy – my eyes. Today, on the Alamo Creek bike/run trail, it was pretty obvious I had weak eyes when I took off my glasses. My spectacles got a little foggy after running more than 5 miles on the trail. Without my glasses, I could barely make out colors and shapes. I certainly couldn’t drive with this eyesight. However, I could move forward on the trail without my glasses.

As I was catching my breath and grooving to Lily Allen’s “The Fear,” I realized that the future is supposed to look fuzzy from where I am right now. I can always move forward with job applications and family planning even though I can’t see where I supposed to be going.

I could always wing it.

In the meantime, I could use this free time to work on my stupid short stories. I’m noodling around with some stories about life as a figure skater. Some of those memories make me laugh and others bring tears to my eyes. In fact, some of them hurt. I also feel like I need to type them out and see where those memories take me.

I could clean up my office space.
I could do some laundry. (Ok, I’m waiting for some stuff in the dryer.)
I could take Daisy to the dog park.

I could work on some type of business plan to launch a new career as a social media/video guru. I’d like to work in TV News and I’ve e-mailed my resumes to Bay Area stations. However, I wonder if I could take what I learned from “A Really Goode Job” and my station’s Facebook/Twitter efforts and translate that into something special for companies I believe in.

I could also buy a lotto ticket. Sometimes I think hitting the jackpot would answer all my questions and solve all my problems. I’m sure there are challenges associated with being flushed with money, but I would like the chance to face those challenges.

For tonight – I’ll enjoy my time off. I’m getting ready to rock as a pub trivia maven at Sophia’s in Davis. Game on!

On the first night of 2010 – we played a game of Chinese Checkers. We stayed up past 2 AM and I realized I wasn’t going to win this match. That’s when I decided to wing it and screw-up other people’s chances of landing their balls where they need them.

Susan, Tom, Catalina, Scott, Andrei, Mark and Daisy – I am blessed to ring in the New Year with this special group of friends.

Good times.

I’ll post more pictures on this foodie road trip soon.

Now I need to work off all the calories! Here are the stats from my latest run by Alamo Creek. On Nike+Runs, I signed up for the free 10 K Training Program. It’s 12-weeks long. So far so good.