I love walking with my dogs! All of you should know by now… they inspire me to do this exercise every day, they ‘take’ me to beautiful places (where probably myself I would not go…) and help me to meet more people, making real friends, that I cherish from the heart!

Every dog lover knows that there is no creature on earth more excited at the words “walk” and “street” than they do.

If you like the idea of a canine companion to make you get out of the house, get away from your computer or your old routine… I’ll tell you some things I learned in these 17 years I’ve been walking around with my various ‘punks.

1 – Start early training your puppy to walk on a leash, but NEVER NEVER NEVER, take your pet away from home before completing the parvovirus vaccines! It is a fatal disease! Some veterinarians recommend 3 doses of vaccine, some 4. My vet said that we can transmit the disease when we get home and hug our baby with our dirty street clothes on!!

2 – Races easiest to walk are shepherds, collies, corgis, Australian shepherds and German shepherds.

3 – The most difficult are the ‘pullers‘: huskies, malamutes and the heavy and obstinate, such as mastiffs, great danes, dobermans and the American bulldog. There are also those ‘trackers‘, such as beagles and terriers.

They love to smell EVERYTHING, stopping all the time, and marking territory. So you get kind of ‘tripped up’ in your exercise.

What I do with my dogs is to let them do it 2 times then they have to accompany me in our ‘task’, otherwise I won’t get to sweat and burn many calories.

Now on the type of collar for walking: I have not used the collar of the beloved Cesar Millan, but it looks great! It’s because I’m very satisfied with the one that most coaches recommend here: Gentle Leader or Easy Walk (I bought them at Target, but any pet store has them).

SECURITY: carry a special spray, made from an herb called citronella, that is special against attacks by dogs. Also a strong bat, because often the wind works against you sometimes… That’s happened to me! This ‘bandit’ jumped out the window a house one time and came to attack me! The spray failed in it’s mission, but the stick saved me! And this is not my first bottle, so imagine how many times I’ve already used it!

In fact, I have lost count of times I was attacked by dogs loose in the evening. I imagine that it’s when the owners come home from work and let the animals out that, at the time, are full of accumulated energy and frustration.

Still, I’ve never been discouraged from doing it, and I’ve only benefited by it: calories burned, new friends, every day new photos…

Have you ever heard that “tired dogs are happy dogs”?

This is Mali, my grandson. Isn’t he beautiful? A sweet creature! When he grows up he will be a carpenter :-)

After having gone through a super Texans winter now, like me, the butterflies are happy landing here and there, dazzled by the beautiful days of spring. Heaven.

The new beach has lots of visitors, bycicles are here and there, people are bar-b-queing more than ever, doing exercises outside the academy… but the noses?

Oh! It’s getting worse, because the wonderful spring also brings numerous allergies in America (I have 18 of them).

When I arrived here, the first woman I met asked me: “do you have allergies?” “Of course not,” I said … To which she replied, “wait and see…”

What an unpleasant prophecy! So let it be said, so let it be done.

But I’m here to not to fill you with my many allergy stories… but I must say that the worst of them, left me coughing for a year, made me feel horrible and miserable, unable to sleep, and in the morning, a total zombie is how I could have been described.

Ahhh, and without a good night’s sleep, you consume more carbohydrates and get fatter and fatter. How awful!

After going to the fourth different doctor I was diagnosed with asthma, and I left full drug samples for asthma. Understand this: I do not have shortness of breath, common for an asthmatic. I have (had!) just a cough, which attacked me especially at night.

Ahhh, and at that time, I had to forgo the places I really wanted to go to, for example, the DJAVAN show in Houston.

Ever thought what ugly looks I would have received, coughing as he tried to sing? Besides that it was the height of the swine flu! I might have been stoned in the middle show!

Cough and love for life, can not coexist. It had to go.

I have to confess: I have sometimes taken those medicines. I just needed to sleep.

Don’t forget, medical experts here are very expensive. If at that time I did not have health insurance, he would have caught me by the wallet and would have said: “COUGH! COUGH! COUGH!”

But when days later I stopped to read the side effects of just one of the medicines… My God! SUICIDAL THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS, hallucinations, aggression, anger, sleepwalking, nightmares, depression, mood swings, agitation, restlessness, and TROUBLE SLEEPING!

WHAT….???!!!

You think I’m going to expose myself to this just to stop the cough…?

Even if it is like a deadly trumpet? Nooo!

I was trying everything natural, and with the recommendation of my sister-in-law, Joanne, I used a very good thing called: ALJ, an excellent combination of 7 herbs, for which I am very grateful…

But one day I received a newsletter from the website WEBMED (allopathic site) talking about a new discovery for asthma called: Butterbur, and that it was being considered the herbal “Claritin” (one of the most popular drugs against allergies).

I Swear. They’re not my sponsors and not even a “thank you”, do I expect. I just want to help those who suffer from these allergies in America and around the world (now more than 163 countries are reading this blog).

Butterbur is a miracle herb. It took away the cough like a breath of wind.

In previous posts I already told you about: quercetin (a bioflavonoid), it’s great for allergies and strengthens the immune system (like flu shots), and the “ALJ” I put my hand in the fire for also… it’s great against allergies.

If you have other tips, please tell us.

This is so easy to make that even I am ashamed to pass it on… So that’s why you should trust me, because I am being frank.

It’s a treat, which can be vegetarian (I’m trying to get there…), or if you live with wolves, it can be served with chicken or beef, or perhaps a sausage steamed and chopped.

Once ready, fill a glass of wine, put you legs up, and for the love of God… live a little! :-)

I’m sorry, the photo was not to my liking, but the food is tasty and nutritious (I used whole wheat pasta, but it doesn’t have to be, the white is also delicious too, I’ve made it).

PASTA WITH SQUASH AND CHICKPEAS

12 ounces pasta (3/4 of a small box)

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 small zucchini cut into half moon (or not)

1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas

2 garlic cloves, minced (or to taste)

1/4 teaspoon dry red pepper

1/2 cup grated cheese (2 ounces)

salt

Cook the pasta according to the package. Separate 1/2 cup of the pasta water, drain and add the pasta to the pot.

Meanwhile, warm the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the zucchini and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cook turning often until soft (about 4 or 5 min).

Add the chickpeas, garlic and dried red pepper and cook for about 2 or 3 minutes.

Mix the pasta with the water that you set aside and 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese.

Divide pasta in bowls and put the mixture of zucchini and the rest of the grated cheese on top.

TruLuv4evR !

We ate on the porch, listening I don’t know how many different types of birds, singing happily with the arrival of spring.

(Serves 4)

The atmosphere of walking under the fog, for me is surprising… It holds the quality of a dream and still is all very abstract, magical, mystical and at the same time… it sends shivers down your spine.

That’s what it was like walking yesterday… under many signs of spring.

Another beautiful albino day.

Everything It seems like special place in the middle of the afternoon.

It’s not raining, but you can hear hear the raindrops hitting the pavement falling from the leaves.

Downtown Houston was sunny, but for those who live near the beach, everything was different, full of mystery…

Beauty is in everything, it depends on how you look at things. You just have to to look, search.

Speaking of the sea? Where is it…? You just have to listen!

For some reason the seagulls seem happy, excited. It must be a good day for fishing.

Impressive…

Cool fog,…. it makes everything mysterious and wonderful.

It is both amazing and a little scary. I walk with all my radar turned on. But don’t worry, I walk well equipped for the benefit of my safety and I recently took a self defense course.

The whistle of the vessels, I have listened for long hours… Beautiful and lonely.

I LOVE this nostalgic atmosphere.