Full Of Good

With lingering humidity, the weather wasn't perfect to take the pup along for this morning's run, but, there was no real reason not to, either. Besides, she was totally excited about the idea even though Lizzy tried to control her:

"Okay, dog. Sit and stay. You're about to
embark on a ridiculous mission."

"Seriously. Don't go. It's a fool's game."

"I tried to warn you. Off with you, simple
beast. I'll be happy to steal some of your
food in the morning as payment for my
masterful advice. You're paying double
for ignorning me, by the way."

Leaving Lizzy behind (oh my word, can you imagine taking that bossy critter with us? ), we headed on out! My written plan was to do four miles this morning, but I planned to play by ear going almost five. My decision was going to be based on (a) my mood (just being real), and (b) how Elly was doing at the fork in the road. You remember the one -- same one as last week where she plunged her head into a hole and emerged with a rodent. Ew. I hoped for better sites on today's run!

I'm not sure if this is better, but it caught my attention:

Okay, some things I just don't understand ...

This did, too:

Anyone else see the "cat" on the tree
staring at me?

Of course, I loved seeing this on someone's license plate!

There were certainly lots of things to see this morning! There were lots of things to do, too. For instance, this is one of my favorite spots for Elly to run through because, given the overhang of the weeds, she looks like she's on an unstoppable mission:

I can't help but sing the Dora the Explorer
song to myself when I see her run through!

I was on my own mission this morning as I routed through my go-to drive-thru. I was determined to take a closer look this morning (meaning, in the crack below the window) because it simply hasn't produced what I know is possible under there recently. For real, drive-thru, live up to your potential !! Er, I mean, the coins, they must be hiding. And, I was correct:

TA and DAAAAAAAAA!!!

Do you want to know this was a two-handed effort so my fingers could work together to pull them out? It's not like you can use your pincher abilities in a little driveway crack after all. I mean, c'mon. Anyway, after a good effort -- especially of targeting the shiny, silver ones!, my hands were messy but my Snoopy Food Bank bank was about to get a hefty deposit!

Isn't dirt under your fingernails a sign of hard work? "Hey,
Nancy, clearly you've been working hard. What'cha been up
to?" "Um, clearly I've been running ..."

Just as I was readjusting pockets (necessary to keep the money safe) and the leash and the poo bag (very important to not lose track of that), I looked over and saw ...

Elly says, "I like this kind of running. The standing -around kind."

Yes, that's right ...

BAM, BABY!!

This was turning out to be a mighty profitable run!!

Onward we went finding 12 more cents along our route for a total of $5.56 today! Score! Elly was unimpressed by our findings; she just wanted to wrap it up and get on with her day of napping!

"You're making me sound lazy, mommy.
I thought that was just between us.
Look at me go! Look at me goooo!!!"

We did end up doing the extended version of the run logging just under 5 miles in what I would consider stellar time especially given the frequent Elly stops and the required money excavation! I sat with Elly for a few minutes when we finished giving her some puppy love and admiring her running slobber:

"Look out, mommy. You're about to be in
for a big smooch chock full of this running
slobber!"

I chalk this run up as a great one in every possible way! Let's see if we can duplicate the experience in just a little more than half the distance tomorrow! We'll see you then and let you know how it turns out!