I have a little bundle of joy on my lap as I type this. His wet tongue is lapping at my hands while my fingers fly across the keyboard, and his wet nose interrupts my flow every so often, but it is so comforting to have this little soul who loves to bite, pee, and whimper as often as he can. He is truly the most adorable creature I've had in my possession.

I did grow up with pets in the house. My mother had a German shephard since before I was born, and approximately eight or nine cats graced us with their frisky presence throughout my teenage years, but not one of those furry beings was ever considered mine. I never fed, walked, nor cleaned any one of them. I never had an opportunity of being involved in their general upbringing or discipline. I had brief moments of petting a fuzzy head and feeling a sandpapery tongue gliding over my fingertips, but not one of those animals had my name stamped across their foreheads.

This little goof sitting in my lap (well, he whimpered and bit and wriggled around enough, so I let him down to bite on something...good lord, get away from those wires!) is mine...one hundred percent mine. And the little fella is soooo attached to me. I didn't know how wonderful it could feel to have something so dependent upon and so loving towards you. By the way, it wasn't wires the little rascal was after. It was a nice, fresh place on the carpet in which to empty one's bladder that caught his attention. And I just took him out to go potty less than 40 minutes ago. Sigh.

I now fully understand what it's like to have a child. Lol! I've had to stop typing this paragraph three times now in order to get his jaws off of the sham of my bedspread. Aaargggh!!! Okay...he just got relegated to the bathroom. It's the time-out spot. Away from momma. I'm not sure who is getting punished more. Me or him. He's stuck in the bathroom away from me. And I'm stuck listening to his whimpers and howls. Reminds me of when I was teaching and I would serve the kids with detention. I had to stay after school in order for them to serve the detention, so in essence, I was punishing myself too. Ahh...the sacrifices we adults make to teach the younguns...lol!!!

Okay, enough puppy love. I've been back in the gym for a good four weeks now, and let me tell you, taking off a month from everything was the best thing I could have done. I know for a fact that I've put on more muscle in my upper body from when I left off a month ago, and yet I only weigh between 110 and 111 in the mornings when I haven't had a cheat meal the previous night. I stepped onto the Junior Nationals stage at 106. I went into that Brian Moss photo shoot at 108 to 109 pounds. So, I'm satisfied. And pleased. And ready to embark on a two-and-a-half week's worth of vigorous training for the Olympia and that little white skirt the CytoSport powers that be are insisting the girls wear. Right now, if there were muscle groups that were lagging, I'd have to say my quads and glutes. They're a little too soft for my taste right now (I won't speak for your tastes; we'll just leave it at that), so I'm changing the training a little and upping the length of time I'm doing cardio and moving into high reps for leg training. I'm still going to use heavy weights, but I'll move into the 18 to 25 rep realm rather than the 10 to 12 rep range that I had been using the past few weeks. Burn, baby, burn!!

Ahhh...peace and quiet. Either he's trying to fool me and make me think he's being a good boy so I can let him out and he can race his little legs over to my bed and start gnawing away into oblivion again or he's actually tired himself out and is taking a nap. By the way, puppies don't sleep for the entire night. That would be too easy. They take naps. Two or three hours naps and then wake up at some ungodly hour, like three or four in the morning. You know, right when you've fallen into that deep sleep stage that you so desperately need. And then the waterfalls start, and sometimes something worse, and you wake up to a bit of whimpering and shuffling of little paws and you just sense that there's been mischief at work in the night. And sure enough, a wet, soppy mess is awaiting your bare feet. Stop laughing. I don't find it funny! I think I'm going to come up a ton ten list of why puppies need to wear diapers. You think I'm kidding! I'm not!!!

Okay, back to training. I had several discussions with a few people I know about utilizing gear (i.e., steroids). I'm curious as to what you guys are thinking when you peruse the figure and fitness pictures not just in the pro ranks but also in the amateur ranks. I invite you to go back to the Junior Nationals of this year, the Figure Nationals, and the North Americans. Then switch into the GNC show that just took place. What do you see in the physiques and in the faces? All this does for me is ensure that I remain natural. I know I can achieve what I want out of my physique without stepping over any boundaries that I don't wish to cross. And ultimately, I've decided that the pro card is not the end all be all to my endeavors. It would be a nice feather in my cap, but it is not a necessity in order to attain utter happiness in this industry. What is a necessity is my respect for myself and my ability to move in and out of the mainstream light.

Just the other day, I was in Barnes and Noble purchasing a Frappuccino Light (I love both the mocha flavor and the caramel flavor) and a new novel that features a female character who seems to resemble the main character in Catcher in the Rye. When I read that in the description, I had to get it! I'll have to take a look at the name of the novel, but right now it's sitting on my dining room table, and after chasing the puppy's continually moving jaws all day, I'm just too darned tired to get up. Lol! Anyway, the girl behind the register exclaime, "You have such pretty arms. I've always wanted arms like that!" Now, I'm in off season, so my arms are a tad bit thicker and a bit smoother than they would be for the stage, so I was extremely flattered. It totally brightened my evening. But it also reminded me of exactly why I didn't want to venture along the path of gear usage. Those pretty arms might not be so pretty if they were to get too big or be paired up with a jaw that was too harsh. And so, I've decided once again to remain 100% Jodi.

Now, you might murmure to yourself, "I thought Jodi already made this decision." Well, haven't you ever revisited an option from time to time? Maybe it's moving to a new city, taking a new job, calling an old friend you've held a grudge against, etc., etc. Just because I made the choice at one point doesn't mean that the idea doesn't still sit in my mind and twirl around like a hamster's wheel in the middle of the night. It's the resulting actions that occur that really make the difference, not the number of times I spin the wheel and examine the paths.

On that note, I'm going to spin myself right over to my bed. I'm exhausted! And I have cardio to do in the morning (besides chasing the dog). :)

Jodi