This is a “hodge podge” kind of post!
Google Reader
So how about that Google Reader news? I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty bummed. I’ve been using Google Reader for about 5 years. I love it! It’s such an easy way to subscribe to blogs and news updates. It’s pretty much where I get all my news; I certainly don’t read a newspaper or watch it on TV. I’m currently researching other alternatives to Google and I hope there’s one that I like just as much.
In the meantime, you might want to consider subscribing to blogs by email if you don’t use Reader or are worried about it going away soon. I recently added the widget on the right side of my blog so people can sign up for the posts to be delivered in their email. I know, I’m kind of slow to the game. A reader actually suggested I add the feature (so thank you for the tip!). It’s a program that does it all for you and I don’t have your email addresses, so it’s not like it’s a spam program. Anyway, you can find it on the right side:
Physical Therapy
Yesterday I saw my physical therapist, first time since the end of January. I thought I had been making really good progress and in a way I have. He tested my strength and my quads are super strong but my glutes are still weak. I thought all the squats I was doing in Body Pump was helping but apparently it’s just making my quads strong.
He gave me a few new exercises to do in addition to the One Leg Bridge. I’d already been doing the “clam shell” but he is having me add a resistance band to it. I definitely felt the exercise in my glutes with the band! I guess that’s what I’ve been missing.
He gave me two others that are hard to describe. One is with the resistance band around my calves and I get in a squat position and side-step. He also said that I need to start keeping a workout journal. It’s not something I’ve really done before. I’ve kept mileage logs for cycling and running but that’s about it. I think it will be a good practice to get into and it will help pinpoint causes of flare-ups.
Pixie Project
After work on Wednesday Michael and I volunteered again at the Pixie Project. It was another gorgeous day in Portland–dry and warm (like 65 degrees) and it was the perfect dog walking weather.
The first dog we walked was Duke, a beagle. He was super chill and all he wanted to do was sniff everything. He tended to pull on the leash and lead us but he was a really good dog. I have a soft spot for beagles.
Next up was Nora. She was intimidating at first. I’m not sure her breed but I think there was some pit bull in her. I admit, that made me pause a little bit. But she reminded me not to judge a book by its cover. She was the most gentle, sweet, affectionate dog we’ve walk thus far. She was well-behaved on the leash and all she really wanted to do was roll around in the grass.
After walking the dogs we got to play with two puppies! They were named Giselle and Kate Moss. 🙂 Two tiny chihuahuas.
Man! Did they have energy! The puppies were super tiny and crazy but too cute. It was such a fun night! I absolutely love volunteering there and look forward to it all week long. Michael said he liked volunteering a lot more than he thought he would.
Dinner
After the puppy playtime, we went to Iron Horse for dinner. It’s one of our favorite Mexican restaurants in Portland. The food and service is always good. I was hungry but didn’t want to eat a bunch of food so I got a half order of a salad. I love that they have a “lighter fare” option.
I got the spinach salad with steak. It had some shredded parmesan cheese, slivered almonds, onions and tomato on top with a vinaigrette I had some of Michael’s rice with my salad. I love this salad. You wouldn’t think a salad would be so good you’d think about it the next day, but I am!
QUESTION: Are you a Google Reader fan? How do you feel about the news?
Deb
I seem to have an extremely unpopular option- I have disliked Reader from the start for one reason, but to me its a major one. When you read the feeds in Reader, if you want to comment, you still have to go to the actual blog, load it, and then you can comment. Using Reader does not save me any time at all, since I really enjoy commenting when I read.
I did check out Bloglovin last night though as apparently it doesn’t create that particular issue for me.
The person was right- don’t judge a book by its cover. At different points in time, German shepherds were the hot breed to hate, and at another time Dobermans and at another Rottweilers. Pitties can be as good or as bad of a dog as the owner makes them- the same as any other breed. BF and I have a German Shepherd and a Rottweiler x German Shepherd mix. They’re both great dogs, though the Shep is always waiting on her chance to get the mailman. She HATES delivery people. O.o
Lisa Eirene
I don’t mind that I have to click to the actual blog to comment. I like Reader because it’s a great way to organize my blogs and keep up with everything.
Michelle @ Eat Move Balance
I just heard the news about Google Reader. I’ve been using it for years, too! I’m going to weigh the pros and cons to Feedly and Bloglovin’ when I have a chance. If you have any advice once you’ve looked around, I’d love to hear it! Also, those puppies are too darn cute!
Lisa Eirene
Most of my friends use Feely and have recommended that. I’m going to explore my options today. Will let you know!
Roz@weightingfor50
OH, those lucky dogs!!!!!!! I’ll be looking for a new reader too. sigh. Have a great Thursday Lisa.
Lisa Eirene
I know! SO CUTE! It was hard not taking them all home. 🙂
Robyn
I’m really bummed about Google Reader too, I’ve just recently discovered it and I love how simple it is to get everything I need! I’ve been told Feedly is good…but I don’t like change! By the way those puppies are adorable!!!
Lisa Eirene
I know! I don’t want to change. I have no idea how to import everything or if I have to start from scratch. Hopefully it will be easy.
christi
I’ve been using Feedly to read blogs on my iPhone. Haven’t tried their web version yet. The news was that Feedly will seamlessly pick up all your Google RSS subscriptions after Google goes away.
My PT calls the side step squats with the resistance band “Monster Walks”. I had to work on building up my glutes last year and clam shells, monster walks and one legged toe touches off a step were all on my program.
Lisa Eirene
And did the PT exercises help you?
Robbie Alba-Estrada
Super bummed to hear about Reader. I love it! Thanks for posting the links to options, I’ll definately have to check them out. PS I’m born & raised in SW Washington & still here. Love all your Portland items!
Lisa Eirene
Yay! Fellow NW-er!
Carrie @ Season It Already!
The truth is, when I started blogging, I was overwhelmed and Google Reader was just one other thing to check. So I didn’t use it. I get everything via email. And if I come across a blog, even if I really like it, I won’t subscribe unless they give me an email option. Just me!
Lisa Eirene
Yep, everyone has their own method. And I can’t do the email subscriptions because that many emails in my inbox would make me crazy!
Jill @ a Girl in Progress
I felt the same way when I I found out Google Reader was being discontinued! If you find something just as good, you’ll have to let us know on your blog. I’ll do some research, but Google was so easy! Such a bummer!
Looks like you had another great day with the dogs. They are the best – I can’t imagine not having our little pug dog, Pickles. She is too much fun.
Lisa Eirene
Will do! I’ll be checking out a few.
Pickles is the best name for a dog. 😀
Don
Actually, there are tons of readers out there that do the same thing. I use Thunderbird to aggregate all my email and RSS feeds together. That way you see news come in like an email announcement – and can also filter between emails and RSS feeds if you want to. It is very convenient.
Lisa Eirene
Thanks for the tip. I will check it out.
Lori
I liked the reader because I can organize my blogs by reading priority and can hit “mark all as read” when I am overwhelmed. I like having the option of seeing the whole blog in the reader if I have the time, too. I will wait a bit to see how the dust settles before switching readers. We have until July and maybe another company will take over the reader or a new one will pop up.
Lisa Eirene
Agree! Sometimes when I am just too overwhelmed I click “all read” too. I also like being able to organize my blogs by type (i.e. running, recipes, etc). I’ve been fiddling around with Feedly today. Not sure yet how I like it.
Carbzilla
Did the tri-color puppy (on the link) already get adopted? I would have to have her!
Lisa Eirene
Which puppy?
Carbzilla
the middle one
Lisa Eirene
Not sure which one you are looking at. On my blog or Pixie? What breed?
Carbzilla
the link you included in your blog – with the 3 photos from PP
Lisa Eirene
The min pin puppies? I believe they have tons and they haven’t been adopted yet. I can give you a number or email address if you want to talk to them. They are pretty good about marking them “Adopted” on the website if they aren’t available.
Carbzilla
She’s Black, brown and white, and they named her Naomi Campbell so you know she’s gotta be trouble. 🙂
Just casually find out if she’s still available…..we should so totally wait a while. I swore I’d wait a year but it’s SOOOOOO hard.
Lisa Eirene
You didn’t wait a year when you had to put your kitty down, did you? I feel like you got Ink not long afterward.
I did not play with or see Naomi Campbell last night–just Kate Moss & Giselle. And they were adorable and NUTS. But they wore themselves out playing pretty quickly. 🙂
Lisa Eirene
Naomi is a cutie though! You might want to check out Nora too.She was so sweet and affectionate.
bethh
I’m practically devastated about the Reader news. I’ve been using it for five years, and I subscribe to a TON of food blogs. I star and tag all the posts I want to use later, and then when I feel like cooking I can search through my tags (such as: meat, dinner, soup, easy, vegan – etc) to find ideas. I’m going to have to find an alternative that will port over five years’ worth of starred entries, and I doubt it’ll bring my tags over which will make things almost impossible to find. *gnashing teeth*
I know, first-world problems etc. but still.
Lisa Eirene
No I totally get it. I wasn’t devastated by the news but more ANNOYED because I have a system worked out that is working well. And I too search for things in my reader. Michael, on the other hand, was devastated like you. He said he’s been using it since it’s inception. I’ve seen his reader. It’s horribly complicated and there’s so much stuff there I couldn’t handle it. He has like 10x the stuff in his reader than I do!
Melinda
I’m heartbroken about Google Reader and, frankly, I think it is a stupid move. Oh well. Right now, I’m trying to move everything over to The Old Reader, which says it is like Google Reader. Not quite…but I’ll give it a try.
Lisa Eirene
I’ll check it out.
Elaine
I have a soft spot for beagles as well…which is how I ended up adopting three of them! (Plus two cats!) We used to do foster care for dogs through the local Humane Society, and also walked the dogs and played with the cats that were awaiting adoption. We loved it and found it very rewarding! I’m so glad that you both are enjoying it. The pets in shelter need all the attention they can get to keep their spirits up and keep them well socialized and adoption-ready. 🙂
Lisa Eirene
Yes! The dog walking socializes the dogs and makes sure they aren’t depressed. I love walking them and they are all SO EXCITED to be going for a walk! It’s adorable.
Amber @ Busy, Bold, Blessed
Bloglovin’ is my jam! I never used google reader. Also all dogs are different, but I know SO many pitbulls that are the biggest sweeties. My dog is named Puddin’ (she came with the name) and all she wants to do is cuddle on your lap (all 50 lbs of her). I will be adopting pitbulls for the rest of my life because of her! Such a misunderstood breed.
Lisa Eirene
Aw Puddin!!! What a cute name.
Trevor
I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do without Google Reader. Maybe move to Feedly or something. Or just lose track of all the blogs I follow (not yours, of course).
Life is just too short to go from one blog to the next. We need our Reader to bring them all to us instead. Damn you Google!
Cheers!
Lisa Eirene
I’ve been using Feedly since yesterday. I think I like it. I’m still getting used to it.
Mary @ Fit and Fed
Been there done that on the knee physical therapy, I went through a whole round of it and hadn’t strengthened the proper muscles, had to do it over again with a new PT. For me it the hips (gluteus medius) tend to need strengthening and the quads are too strong, a very common scenario for figure skaters. Just went through PT for back-related hip pain which worked very well and I’m doing great, though newly religious about keeping up on all my stretches. I did a lot of the same exercises as for my knees, in fact one-legged bridge is on my current list of PT I’m supposed to do.
Lisa Eirene
I’m kind of frustrated that the last 5 months or so haven’t targeted the glutes which is apparently the cause of my knee issues. 🙁
Lesley
I’m really liking Feedly – they will take all of your Google Reader subscriptions and convert them. I can’t imagine not having a reader to organize everything!
Lisa Eirene
So far I like Feedly too. I think it will take some time to get used to, but it’s better than nothing!