Taking a page from the teachers

Lately many of my teacher friends have been talking about getting themselves ready for the school year by getting up 15 minutes earlier each day to get ready to go back to school. We are getting ready to bring a new dog into our house and in preparation for getting up early every day for morning walks with the new pooch, I'm thinking that I better start following the lead of the teachers and set my alarm a few minutes earlier each day until she arrives.

Our current dog Brody (see below on the left) is lazy in the morning... He gets up with my husband, takes a 2.3 minute (or less) stroll outside, eats a bit of his breakfast (usually at least his garlic tablets so he can burp in my face), and then comes back to bed with me for another hour until I get up and we repeat the process. He expresses no interest in taking a walk in the morning and is usually back in bed by the time I'm settling my rump into the seat of the car. In the afternoon however, he's ready to romp, play, walk - whatever - he's well-rested.

Our new dog, Glacier (see below - she's on the right), is used to being walked many times per day (the foster family she's been with for the past month has several kids with lots of time in the summer) so I can just imagine those golden brown eyes peering at me when I get out of bed imploring me to click on the leash and hit the trail. And, of course, if I'm up and walking Glacier, Brody will be up for it!

So, in preparation for getting up earlier each day, I guess I better go to bed earlier each night. My husband embarked on a new workout schedule a few weeks ago which includes leaving the house to go to the gym at about 5:30am each morning. He emphatically said that if he's going to pull that off, he needs to be IN bed at 10pm. I'm a night owl. I always have been so I'm usually up until 11:30 or 12 but now is the time to make the shift... The Glacier Shift.