White Wednesday

Had some snow falling madly this morning as Maxx was on his way home from work after 7am ... not sure exactly when it started falling, but we had a fair amount on the ground.  Of course, by the time I was on my coffee break at 11am and had the dogs out, it was raining, so I couldn't get out there with my phone and try to take some video of them playing in the snow on the ground.

Won't it be nice if we ever get the combination of lots of snow on the ground, daylight, and not actively working so I can get outside and catch some great footage of the wee ones playing?

Scary Saturday

So, while I was working Saturday and doing a couple hours of OT on top of my shift for a 10-hour day, Maxx headed over to Richmond for a pre-Christmas visit to take over our wee gifts for the niece and nephew, and he took Hobgoblin and Elf with him. While I really wish I had had the day off and could have been in Richmond for the visit, I SOOOOO glad I was not on that ferry! 

Below is the series of texts during his trip:

**starting at 8:17am**
Maxx: 4 cars ahead of me, and that's even after stopping for gas!
Maxx: It's FREEZING out here!
Maxx: So far it's only raining, though
Maxx: On board right now, front row. I can see the ocean all around me.
Maxx: I'll let you know once I get to Holly's
Me: Have a good voyage, nice and safe and get a nap.
Maxx: I'll try.
Maxx: Have a good day at work

**picking up at 9:01am**
Maxx: Holy F**k! A wave just washed right over the f**king ferry!
Me: Yikes!
Maxx: Water just came in every window almost at once!
Maxx: And it just happened AGAIN!
Me: Please keep texting me every few minutes until it calms down (and confirm that!) so I know you're safe
Maxx: They just issued a warning to leave the outer decks and stay inside the vessel at all times.
Maxx: Every car alarm is going off right now
Maxx: Wave #3
Maxx: And #4
Me: I hope you guys stay safe!
Maxx: Water is sluicing off the deck now in rivers
Maxx: Wave #5!
Maxx: No water came up to the top deck that time, but the whole ferry bucked like a wild horse
Maxx: #6! It felt like we hit something that time! The dogs fell down and the car slid forward
Maxx: 7&8. Two massive waves washed totally over us again!
Maxx: We are now halfway there, and the ferry feels like a rowboat. #9 just sprayed the upper car deck and the car
**at 9:16am**
Maxx: 10 & 11 double teamed the boat and the car is rocking side to side
Maxx: The spray is so heavy I can't see the water ... And I'm at the front!
Maxx: We just got broadsided and the ship is rolling back and forth. I'm worried about sliding into the truck beside me or the poles on the other side
Maxx: We just crested a wave
Maxx: We dropped several meters that time
Maxx: The Captain just changed directions. We are now facing the waves
Maxx: I can smell hot metal. Probably steam from salt water contacting the engines.
Maxx: We're running up one side of the waves and down the other. I'm guessing easily a 30% grade
Maxx: My cell signal is getting weak here. I'm not sure how much longer I'll be in contact
Maxx: Multiple waves from multiple directions. Some washing the upper decks
Maxx: I just saw a dude get washed down and swept between cars
**at 9:301am**
Maxx: Both dogs are sea sick. And I don't blame them
Maxx: We're doing the "figure 8" sway now
Maxx: We're bucking wildly right now! And Go**am is the wind over cold!
Maxx: One of the props spun out of the water! Holy S**t!
Maxx: The ship is jumping and bucking like wild!
Maxx: Wow ... something below deck sounds like a growl
Maxx: It's pretty loud
Maxx: Ah ... that would be metal flexing under stress
Maxx: Whoa ... Suddenly smooth water
Maxx: Ok. so at this point the storm has blown us off course so we're going to be 20-30 minutes late
Maxx: Whoops! My bad. I guess that was the eye or something because WOW did it ever get violent again!
Maxx: yeah, that last wave came from the other side
Maxx: Whoa! Ship listing and the announcement is all static
Maxx: I see land. But ... I thought we were blown off course
**at 9:46am**
Maxx: Medical announcement. That's fun.... I couldn't quite make it out over the wind though
Maxx: Gods Above and Below! That's Bowen Island and we're almost touching it!
Me: I wish you'd stayed here this weekend!
Maxx: I'm kinda there too Princess
Maxx: Well ... that's exciting
Maxx: 80 km/r winds pushing us towards the rocks
Maxx: Ok. We're getting more distance from the shore
Maxx: Ok. the ship is bucking and rolling less. And it's not listing as badly anymore. I think the island is starting to shelter us now
Maxx: Elf just s**t himself
Maxx: God does it stink!
Maxx: Brb
Me: Oh, poor wee fella
Maxx: I think I can see the harbour. Kinda
**at 10:01am**
Maxx: Wow. It's still windy, but this close to the island there's almost no waves
Me: Thank goodness
Maxx: Getting something hot to drink
Me: Go upstairs carefully, please
**at 10:17am**
Maxx: I go up them like a gibbon
Maxx: Ok. Hobbes barfed while I was gone
Me: Sorry it's turning out to be such a hell trip
Maxx: At least I haven't s**t myself
Maxx: Yet
**at 10:31am**
Maxx: Ok. Pulling into the dock now. Almost time to drive. NOW things get dangerous!
Me: Glad you've made it to land, honey
Maxx: Yeah. Me too
Maxx: Ramp down. Time to drive

For a while there yesterday morning I was sure I was going to lose my husband and two of my little dogs on that ferry. Thank you to the crew and captain for making the crossing and getting in to harbour safely.

Grey Day

Today just seemed fairly grey and dark all day long, even mid-day.  It's definitely almost winter time.  but when you think about it, in just over a week the days start to get longer and the nights shorter ... wonder if we'll get snow this year (and if so how much) ... but we did get our winter tires on the car already so likely we won't see any snow!  That's just the way it works ;)

Cha-Cha-Cha-Chilly!

Still just one degree out, actually wondering if we'll hit our predicted high of 3 today ... checking out the weather report for the next couple of days on my phone I show from today to Saturday, highest temperature expected is 3, lows down to -2, four of the six days show snowflakes on the weather icon ... wonder if we'll actually get any?

Whether it does snow or not, glad to say that as of last Thursday we do have our winter tires on ... plus it looks as though I'm not scheduled for another in-office work day until 2013 ... likely because my supervisor will be on vacation and they don't schedule at-home agents to be in the office on a day when their supervisor is not scheduled to be there as well.

Work Party

The work party was pretty good last night, very crowded with 850 people attending, though.  I got to have a couple of tasty chicken skewers from the hors d'ourves plates that were being carried around prior to dinner (could have have any of the shrimp and sushi ones, of course, and the one quiche I had was just a quiche).  As usual fairly long line ups for the bar, but we each got a drink before dinner, then sat through the presentation and videos .... the one that won Campbell River 2nd place in a recent competition for "Call Me Maybe" was pretty good.

Dinner was tasty as usual.  This year I was actually pretty restrained and just got a bun, salad, mashed potatoes, turkey and stuffing, and roast beef, with gravy.  When finished I did check out the dessert room with Maxx, then went back and got some more potatoes, turkey, stuffing, beef, and gravy, had him carry my one dessert (spice cake) back to the table for me.

Tasty tasty tasty ... but even with being restrained ended up being totally stuffed.

This year we didn't get our photo taken as the line up was just too long.  Too bad, we both looked really nice, too ... and it's impossible to take nice pictures of ourselves at home as the house is such a jumble at all times it doesn't provide any sort of nice back-ground.  Plus, with just the two of us we can't be in a photo together!

Anyhow, today is my second of three days off this weekend.  Slept in late, Maxx is now in bed, will be feeding the dogs in a minute, then seeing what I can occupy my time with for the rest of my lazy, restful, relaxing day.

Holding Pattern

Feeling like I'm in a holding pattern right at this moment ... dishes are all done, not enough laundry to be worth doing .... dogs taken care of ... all the cats inside so nobody to call in ... all showered and hair-washed for tonight's party .... so sitting down, vegging at the computer and munching on some cheese puffs while having a hot iced tea.

Gotta wait before actually getting ready for the party (or I'll be all covered in dog and cat hair ... or at least MORE covered in dog and cat hair), and need to let Maxx sleep as long as possible as he of course got off work at 7am this morning, and it takes him a while to fall asleep in the morning.

Looking forward to a delicious dinner ... it's always good at our work parties!

Tenterhooks

Only four hours left of my week and I am onto my three-day weekend with the work holiday party tomorrow night.  Just on tenterhooks ... wish I could speed up time from 5-9pm and get the week over with!

We've had some sunshine the past couple of days, so I hope we have some on the weekend, too, and are able to get the dogs out for some nice sunny outings.  They'd love that!

Angel wasn't going to let me out of the house by myself the other day when I went to purchase the gift we're giving my Dad for Christmas ... and when I took the gifts up to the store to wrap and mail them the other day she soooo wanted to come again and was not happy when I blocked her from coming!

She gets so excited when she thinks she might be going out somewhere with Mummy.  Last night she even got excited that I was talking to her the she joined me in playing with this funny ball we have ... seems like she's been in pretty high spirits lately, which is so nice to see.

Frustration!

Still waiting on our schedule for January to be released, and Maxx is still waiting for his webstation to show 2013 at all, to see if it reflects the same planned time off in January as mine.

I am an impatient person by nature, but when waiting for such things as confirmation you'll have time off with your spouse or not ... with the "not" option meaning cancelling scheduled time off and *trying* to get some other time off together ... it drives me completely batty!

Calendar Time

I don't have my schedule past Jan 5th yet, but Maxx and I had put in for some vacation time, either starting Jan 6th for 2 weeks or our second choice being starting Jan 13th for 2 weeks.

Looking at my time off manager for 2013, it LOOKS like I got the 2nd option approved for vacation, now we just need to make sure that Maxx was approved for the same time off ... if we get two different choices or one of us gets denied it will totally suck as we'll then have to scrap the approved vacation and try for different dates.

Wish us luck!

Squeee!

During our running around today, trying to pick up some odds and ends for folks who celebrate Christmas, I popped into Wal-mart thinking I could pick up the gift for my Dad, so I can send off the package to them ... but while they do not carry what I wanted for Dad, I DID decide to swing through the plus sized fashions, to see if there might be a dress that I didn't consider ugly or an awful colour.

Lo and behold! I found a little black dress for only $22, which I tried on and really liked as it shows a great amount of cleavage (without being too revealing or slutty), which I figure will most likely draw attention away from my lumpy gut and butt!  I'll wear it with my slenderizing underwear, and my FMBs, my turquoise pashmina, and a nice broach ... and will feel super-sexy for our company holiday party next Friday.

Yay!

Old Man Kitty

Made sure both Pippin and DJ are already in tonight, and have bolted the door so when Maxx comes home he can't accidentally let them out in the morning.  It's just a regular yearly check up for DJ, with her shots, but for Pippin it's a special "seniors month" appointment to get a senior panel run at 50% off and the office visit comped.  Hard to believe the little man is already over 15 years old.  Seems like just yesterday he and Merry (bless his soul) were just wee little meepers who could fit in the palm of your hand!

I Can Stop Time!

Unfortunately, it's by going to work and struggling through contacts with customers who don't listen to your responses and want to provide you with all sorts of extranneous information which doesn't help resolve the matter at hand.  Ah, well, they pay the bills (sort of) and I've made it to the half-way mark of my week.  Looking forward to a three day weekend not this weekend but the one after!

Hit Close to Home

Last Wednesday morning, just as I was getting ready for my in-office shift, Maxx found a stray cat in our yard that was desperately in need of medical attention.  It had dragged itself across the lawn to lie against the house, when he went out there it managed to pull itself around to face him and that was it, no energy left to do anything else, poor thing was ice cold and absolutely drenched.

We dashed out with a couple of towels to get it a bit dried off, slid it carefully onto one and lifted it into the carrier, then sped off with it to the vet.  Poor little guy did warm up eventually, but was paralyzed in the back end and had really poor blood results showing that while he hadn't been in an accident, something serious was going on, likely some sort of toxin.

At lunch that day I rushed out and picked up some more toner for our printer, then we printed off a bunch of flyers for the poor found kitty with the vet's phone number, and Maxx was able to get out and about and hand them out at some local businesses and pet stores/vet offices in town.  Thursday morning during his running around he stopped in to visit the poor kitty, and while it was still not able to do anything other than keep itself warm at that point, when he started to pet it, it began to purr and to knead with its front paws.  I handed out a bunch of flyers that lunch in our local neighborhood, and then on Friday I checked in with the vet at the start of my lunch ... a lady had contacted them and was going in later in the day to see if it was her cat.

They called me later to say she'd identified the cat as being hers and was headed to the SPCA to talk to them about it (by Saturday morning the cat would have been turned over to the SPCA), and that's the last I've heard.  The vet was saying that likely they would have to put the poor little guy down, as he wasn't improving at all, and the blood work said that he was having some organ failure going on ... so my heart breaks that we didn't manage to save him, but I am so glad that his Mum found out where he was, so at least she would have closure.

Still makes me want to tear up and just bawl my eyes out.

Sad Stories

I keep reading this heartbreaking stories of pets that have had accidents, been abandoned, or been tortured and abused online.  Every time someone sends one to me I can't help but read it and pray for the poor wee creatures involved, but I invariably end up in tears.

I so wish I had the capability to actively help in all of these cases ... but I don't have enough spare funds to be able to help out financially ... after all, I do have to make sure I keep my babies in good health, too.

Short Night

I had a conference call this morning, scheduled to take place for an hour just after the first part of my shift ended ... so I was lucky enough to be able to part-take in the conference call, with the organizers then updating my schedule so that tonight my second half of my shift is just 3 hours and I get off at 8pm (that way it's still an 8 hour day with no overtime).

....And today is Maxx's middle of the week day off, so by 8pm he should be up and moving around, so I actually get to spend a little bit of time with him!

Yay!

This weekend we'll be heading over to the mainland to visit my in-laws.  It's funny, last time he was over Maxx ended up with a request specifically to bring Elf to visit the next time he went over.  I tell you, that little chihuahua mix is just everyone's favorite little poochie!  Must be because he's almost always smiling, and he just wants to get in your lap and cuddle.  He's much more relaxed than Imp, too, so less noisy around the kids and big dogs.

I'll have to remind Maxx to check if it's fine to take all four micro-dogs over this weekend, or if they would prefer us to leave some at home ... as then we'll have to ask for some dog sitting assistance.

We'll see.

Clock Watching

I find I watch the clock a lot ... is it almost time to log into work?  How much time do I have left on my coffee break?  Am I getting close to the end of this half of my shift?  Do I have time to do anything at lunch for stress relief or sleeping?  Is it time to get up?  Is it time to log back into work?  How much time do I have left on my coffee break?  Am I almost done for the day?  How much time do I have to make myself something decent for dinner?  Can I actually watch this show and still get to bed at a half-decent time?  I've woken up at night, how much time have I spent in bed so far, and how much time is left before the alarm goes off?

I'm calendar watching, too .... how many days left in this work week?  When are my next days off?  When are my days off changing?  Do I have any extra days off for holidays this month?  Is my vacation request going to be approved?

I guess you can tell that I need some time OFF!!!!

Yeuck!

So, yesterday we scolded the dogs, as we weren't sure which of them peed in the bathroom against the toilet.  Got scolded again this morning, gently, as we were looking at the liquid and thinking ... that looks pretty clear, if someone's peeing they're drinking an awful lot of water!

Closed the door to the bathroom and found out later this morning that we were once more scolding dogs for peeing when it was an issue with the house itself ... leaky toilet!

So, after the end of my morning shift did some investigation online, and found that it was likely a leaky wax gasket seal, and that sometimes tightening the bolts which hold the toilet bowl to the floor would seal off the gasket and stop the leak.  So, I tried that (very very carefully so as not to crack the toilet bowl).

Unfortunately, while the leak had slowed down, it was still happening, so we did have to go out and get a replacement wax gasket seal.  When we spoke with the gentleman in the plumbing section of the hardware store, however, he advised us against getting the plumber's putty to use as a seal around the bottom of the toilet bowl itself ... as he pointed out, if you get a leak from the gasket in the future, if the bowl itself is sealed to the floor, you still have a leak, you just don't find out about it until you may have had some structural damage to the house.  Never thought of that!

So, we've been working hard all evening, getting the toilet emptied out, getting the behind-the-toilet cabinet emptied, disconnected from the wall and then moved, then moving the toilet itself, cleaning it off, attaching the new wax gasket seal, putting the toilet back in place, confirming that there doesn't seem to be a leak any more before putting everything back in place, and while doing so getting a scrub down of the walls in behind the toilet and cabinet done (it's not like I've been able to access them for the 7 years we've lived in the house, after all!), now getting the cabinet and toilet tank replaced ... so we're almost done.

Fingers crossed that once we're done, we're done for good and don't find that not only had the gasket failed (when we got it out we found it was 1/4 simply GONE) and that we don't also have a cracket toilet bowl.

Ahhhh.....

Had a massage therapy appointment today, as a result of my recent fall down the back stairs.

I've never had a professional massage before .... while it was painful, it was also pleasant, and I can't wait to go back for my next 45 minute massage on Nov 1st!

Now, hopefully Maxx will sleep fast today, and be up in a bit for us to be able to take the dogs out to Pet Smart and get outfits for Imp and Elf.  The kyriin (pegasus with wings) outfit that I got for Angel some years back is just a bit too small for Imp, so I want to take a look at what's available, inexpensive, and cute!

Angel will be dressed up with her angel wings again for Samhain, and Hobgoblin will be wearing his wee devil outfit, so I was hoping I could find something along the same lines for Imp and Elf, but we'll just have to wait and see.

Now I need to go have something to eat!

Whoopsie!

Managed to take a tumble down my back stairs on Sunday just after I got off from the morning half of my shift.  It had stopped raining and my brain was equating no rain with dry stairs, apparently, so when I started carelessly down the stairs after Angel, to urge her out into the yard to go potty, my foot slipped out from underneath me, I smashed down sideways on the first step (butt, back, neck), then spun down the stairs and crashed to a landing on my hands and knees, smacking the crown of my head into the corner of the 4x4 post of my gate.

Blubbered like a baby!

Poor Maxx was out having a gaming day with friends, but I called him and when I managed to stop crying just enough to tell him what happened he came home to check me over.  I have quite the colourful bruise on my butt (how can a part of the body so conveniently padded manage to fall directly centred onto the corner of the stair to smash me on the one non-padded part?!), and my poor right knee is very sore ... too sore to keep a bandaid on it, as the pressure from the bandaid when I have to bend my knee is very painful (as is the dogs jumping up on it, but that's harder to prevent!), and my neck is very sore.

Just got back from the doctor about the fall, as family members urged me I should really go and get checked out, and all is okay, I just need to keep on with some Ibuprofen and Robaxacet, and have a referral for some massage therapy .....

.............So .......... this means I get to go get some massages!  Yay me!  Especially since my benefits package at work gives me $500/year for massages.

I'll let you know how that goes, once I find a good one to go to!

Stat Day

Usually I'd be at work right now, but I ended up having today scheduled off as my stat day for Thanksgiving.  While it would have been nice to be Tuesday, giving me a four-day weekend, having it today does mean that I'm not working when archery practice takes place from 5-9 up at the range.  We're hoping to go .... it all depends on Maxx and whether he's awake at the time.

Thinking we should head out now and see if we can find any gloves or tabs for my string-hand, as pulling back the string and letting it go is quite painful on the fingers after a couple of sets of arrows!  But even with the pain, archery is still fun.

Owie!

We got up to the Nanaimo Fish and Game Club today and the archery range was open ... yay!

So, we got the field tips on our arrows and a nice gentleman told us we should put arrow was on the first couple of inches of our arrows to make them come out of the butts easier, and since we just had string was he loaned us his stick of "arrow snot" to use on our arrows.

I actually managed to both string and unstring my bow myself!  Yay!

We were shooting at the 17 metre butt, and I think we did pretty good for the first time out.  I was going to take a picture of a grouping of my shots, but I should have taken the second-to-last group of arrows I shot, as by the time I did my last set of arrows my fingers on my right hand were hurting so that I didn't get a very good grouping (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!).

I think I'll need to get the little finger-covering things for the string hand, to make it more comfortable to draw and release.  Being able to actually pull the string back in a full draw wasn't as hard as I was expecting, either, so I guess I'm stronger than I thought!

Hopefully it will be the same sort of nice weather (gorgeous blue skies and sunny) on Wednesday when the archery club meets.  We're both off that day and plan on heading up for some more practice.

Thanksgiving

Maxx and I popped up to VIU this morning to do a little bunny-watching and to watch the sunrise.  There was one rabbit-hole with a bunch of wee baby bunnies poking their noses out of it.  Unfortunately, we were there while I raven swooped down and snatched a wee bunny just before it made it back to the safety of the burrow, so the little fellow was killed and eaten before our eyes.

Makes me grateful that when I have the dogs out in the yard at home, I'm wise enough to be out in the yard with them, as a deterrent to large predatory birds.  After all, Maxx was out there once when a seagull ended up down on the grass with Angel looking at her as though she would make a nice bite of lunch.  That's a downside to having micro-dogs, the fear that a predator will just swoop down and carry them off.  I know it can happen with quite a larger dog, too, but it's just that much less likely.

Maxx is asleep right now, and I'll be waking him up at 5pm, so he can go pick up a friend who is coming over for dinner, then we're going to cook up our spiral cut ham, with roasted apples, potatoes, carrots, and onions, and some stuffing (I cheat and use the boxed stuff, but I like it!), with home-made applesauce for dessert, or perhaps plum-nectarine sauce on vanilla ice cream.

Appointment Time

Yesterday we were in the south end of town and Maxx had to make an appointment to renew his prescriptions for his inhalers, and I actually remembered to make an appointment regarding this bump I've had in my mouth since either this March or last March (I honestly can't remember which, but either way it's a long time), to see if we can find out what it is and perhaps get rid of it.

Wish me luck!

Argh!

We couldn't go up to the archery range yesterday, as Sunday they have skeet shooting and the archery range is closed.  So, today when we got up we headed up to the range to see if we could get in our first practice, we were downhearted to see that both the archery range and the archery trail were both closed.  We went for brunch, then when we got home checked the website and couldn't find a reason why they were both closed.  Hopefully we'll have better luck next time!

Anyhow, when we got home, Maxx showed me how to store the bow-string on the bow (unstrung), and how to use the stringer to string and unstring the bow.  Unfortunately, I'm not yet strong enough to string or unstring the bow by myself, as I can't let go of the bow with one hand to reach the string and either put it on or pull it off, or I lose the tension on the bow and the slack in the string to change it.  However, with lots of effort I can just draw the bow (almost fully), so if we ever get a chance to get up and get some practice in, that will help me build up more strength to be able to string and unstring by myself.

We decided if we keep having bad luck with our free time and the archery range being closed, we would invest in a target from the sports store and take it up into the hills to practice on our own, on the cleared land under the power lines.  We don't think there would be any issue with us practicing there, at least!

Last Stretch

Just a quick post before I log back in to work for the last half of my day, which happens to be the last day of this week ... finally.  It's been a long, stressful week.

I found out at the start of the week that my Mum was in the hospital from her long-term care facility, with several different medical issues, all of which they felt might have been contributing to her sudden severe confusion.  They've been treating a couple of different infections, and when I spoke to Dad yesterday he said she's improved greatly, and may even be transferred back to the care facility today.  Fingers crossed!

Lots of stress and tears during the week, though.  Worried about Mum, worried about how poor Dad is holding up during all of this.  Boy, do I need a vacation!  Well, if I SOMEHOW managed to get the correct numbers on the lottery last night ... vacation here we come!

Doh!

Popped up to the range this morning to go archery practice, and realized we'd forgotten that Sundays are skeet shooting, which means that the archery range is closed (they have this thing about archers getting hit with pieces of clay pigeon shrapnel, it seems!).  We did get both bows put together, though (pair of compound recurve bows, both 60 inches, one is 50 pounds and the other (mine) 45, so both legal for hunting once we get good), and tomorrow morning we'll head back up and actually string the bows for the first time.

Looking forward to doing target practice.  It's been years since I've had the opportunity to do archery (I believe I've shot bow on two different occasions, if memory serves), but now that we have the equipment and the membership, we can go up any time the archery range is open and shoot for free.  Plus, during winter they hold archery indoors.  Cool!

I do hope they catch whoever has been shooting broad-head arrows into the targets, though.  There was a sign up about it, so once they catch the perpetrator red-handed they'll never be allowed back.  It's so silly to be shooting broad-head arrows at the targets, especially when there are special sand pit sections where you can practice shooting with broad-head!

Anyhow, Maxx is now off to play D&D with friends ... I keep wishing we thought our house was clean enough to have the group here, but that's what comes of two folks keeping different hours and long days.  I'll be finishing off the dog food and feeding the dogs, then doing up the last few dishes and seeing if I have a recipe for nectarine jam, then getting that on the go and hopefully also making apple sause.  Dad suggested that we pick some of the crab apples from the tree in the park next door and use them to make apple jelly.  Need to see if I can find a recipe for that, too!

Sunday Shoot

We have our membership up at the Nanaimo Fish and Game club now (just the paper carbon copy at this point, it will take some time for the cards to be issued and arrive), so it sounds like we'll be going up on Sunday to start practising with the bows.

I thought we still had to glue the ends into the arrows, so that we'd be able to attached the field points (and be able to take those points off at a later time to put on hunting heads, down the road), but Maxx says the gentlemen who cut the arrows to length for us had put the ends on.  Now I need to go and check, just to make sure we don't end up with extra work to do on Sunday ... after all, we will need to put both bows together!

Work Ahead

Have the canning (pickling) salt we need, and the carrots and beets that Dad gave us, along with more jars ... now we just need to process the carrots and beats and can them.  For the carrots, my recipe states that once the carrots are boiled and boiling water poured over them in the jars, they then need to process for 210 minutes in the boiling water canner ... so this may not happen during my work week, as it will take up too much of my lunch hour.  Hopefully the carrots are still okay come Sunday, when I will have a chance to process them.

Hard Visit

Such a quick trip up to Penticton and back this weekend.  Glad to see my Dad and be able to get him some groceries, trying to make sure he's got back up food in the house and doesn't have to spend much on groceries (I don't know how anyone could spend $28 in one month for food, even without pets to provide for as well).

Hard to see Mum, though.  She was really very confused on the Saturday evening.  She was in bed when we got there (they took her straight to bed after taking 3 hours to eat her dinner, as she was just sitting slumped in her chair).  I don't think she really knew who I was, and she looked so different from even just three months ago.

On Sunday she was a bit more coherent, and did manage to eat most of her salad in I think about an hour (even though we'd obviously shown up with lunch just as she'd managed to finish her breakfast).  We did mange to pick up a sippy cup with handles and a straw, as one of the attendants indicated this would be much easier for her to hold and to drink with, so hopefully she likes it and finds it easier to use.  Dad knows where to go to pick them up now (and luckily we were able to find one without baby designs on it).

The nurses actually think Mum may have had a stroke, but they're not 100% sure.  She's been taken off some medication and has improved a bit, but apparently this big change has mostly taken place in the past two weeks with her sudden drop in mobility and, more importantly, cognitive ability.

It's so hard to see these types of changes, particularly when during the last visit one of the attendants indicated that she'd likely be there with them for 15 years or more.  Does she actually have that long stretching ahead of her with this being the best she's able to hope for in the way of quality of life, or has that time-frame suddenly changed?

Done ... For Now

Just finished processing the last of the plums ... at least the last of the ones picked by the gleaners last Sunday.  We could probably get a bunch more plums off the tree as more are coming ripe, but I won't be doing any more harvesting until next week at the earliest, since we won't be here to process this weekend.

So, for the one giant bucket and one ice-cream bucket of plums we kept (one giant bucket to the neighbours and one ice-cream bucket to a friend), we got: 4 1/2 litres of plum/nectarine sauce (it was supposed to be jam but ended up pretty runny); 2 litres of plum jam (it really did turn into jam); 3 litres of stewed plums; 2 litres of plum halves packed in syrup.

Maxx also did up a batch of cold picked eggs, for 3 half-litre jars.

Since we plan on picking up some fruit on Sunday on our way back from the Okanagan, it's a good thing I have Monday off to start some more canning.  We'll have a well-stocked larder for the fall/winter with all the canned fruit, but it's definitely a lot of work ... much easier to do if I didn't have to squeeze it into my lunch hours while working 9-9!

Busy!

On Sunday the gleaners came and picked our plum trees in the front yard.  They got 290 pounds of plums, and we had them leave about 50 pounds for us.  Gave one of the big buckets to our neighbors across the road, as they are always so generous with their garden produce, and gave an ice-cream bucket to a friend who is on a tight budget ... she'll be making fruit leather.

Sunday afternoon I tried my hand for the first time at making jam.  Plum / nectarine jam, to be precise.  I didn't do the best job as I added water which belonged in a different recipe, and ended up making the "jam" more like a sauce that would be tasty poured over ice-cream or perhaps on cereal.  Maxx used it yesterday as a glaze on his steak for dinner and said it was really good.

Today, I cut up a bunch of plums and am STILL drying them in the oven ... so I don't think I'll be doing any more drying soon.  After I got them in the oven (this is at like 1:30pm earlier today), I did up a batch of just plum jam (plums, water, sugar, lemon juice), which didn't take nearly as long to cook (cutting up the plums took almost an hour) and does seem to be jelling nicely.  However, 2 1/2 hours work to get 2 litres of jam!

Tomorrow Maxx is off, so hopefully he'll be awake on my lunch break and able to assist me with processing more of the plums.  We need to get them all jammed or preserved before they rot away!  At least so far we have 4 1/2 litres of plum/nectarine jam, 2 litres of plum jam, a tray of drying plums, and still have most of one of the big buckets of plums left to preserve.

We'll be making a dash up to Penticton on Saturday, back home on Sunday ... so we plan on hitting at least one of the fruit stands on our way home, to pick up some different fruit to process when we get home.  Good thing I have the Monday off, as I believe I will be BUSY ... and will need to purchase some more jars, too!

Vet Day

So today Pippin, Jinx, and Trouble had their annual check up and shots, plus since Pippin is 15 years old and has started to lose weight a bit, they thought he should have blood and urine tests to check for liver and kidney function, to be safe.  He needs to start going in every 6 months for a check up, just to be on the safe side.  As the vet said, for a cat at that age, 6 months is like 7 years for us, so it's better to keep an eye on things and try to catch any changes that need to be addressed.

Fleas have recently made an appearance in the household, so we also picked up Revolution for all the cats and dogs.

Good thing we didn't need to pick up any cat food right now, since even with our standing 10% discount (long-time multiple pet customers, they love us), the bill was just over $800.

Just fed the dogs, and had to pull out another container of their food from the fridge.  We've started making part of their food, simply lean ground beef (about 5 lbs) cooked up and mixed with 2 bags of frozen mixed vegetables and 3 cups of rice (before cooking).  Mixes up three large plastic containers, each of which lasts for about a week.  We feed them above 1/2 cup of this home-made food along with some dry kibble.  Angel has actually lost 1/5 of a pound in the past 2 weeks, and she's definitely seeming more sprightly and energetic!  Everyone really (and I mean REALLY) love this food.  It actually looks good enough that if we didn't have anything in the house to eat, we could heat it up and eat it ourselves!

Got some foam pads today to use when camping, with covers, so we should be set, no longer needing any air mattress.  We're hoping to be able to roll up the pads with the sleeping bags, making them essentially into a bedroll that can be tied onto the bottom of our packs.

Hopefully Maxx will feel up to getting up soon, and we can head out and get some more errands done. He does want to head back out to Coombs so we can check out the military surplus store again.  He's hoping to get another pair of combat boots if they still have his size in stock (hopefully still at the $10/pair price), particularly as the first day he wore them he had them on for something like 18 hours, without his foot starting to hurt.  Sign of good footwear!  I'm wearing mine right now (with jeans, not with sweats, as Maxx says, that's just not a good look ... more like a crazy look!)

Breezy Breezy

Another very breezy day here in Nanaimo ... curtain has been fluttering away in the bedroom with the breezes gusting away.

We're definitely into cooler weather, but it's been nice and sunny still, which is lovely.  Hopefully it will still be like this on the weekend, particularly as there is no D&D game scheduled so I have Maxx on both days.

We have three cats going to the vet for their shots Saturday morning (assuming we are able to get them all inside at the right time!), and then on Sunday afternoon we have the gleaners coming to pick the plum trees in the front yard.  We'll be putting a bucket aside to give to the neighbours across the road, and plan on making some plum jam (to then can with our new canning kit!).

Heal Thyself!

I've been suffering from high blood pressure for a while now ... and today I figured out the most awesome cure!

1> Get a good night's sleep for the first time in a very long time (may have been impacted by the fact that just before bed I had myself a quick little ceremony to celebrate the blue moon)

2> Get up early and go to breakfast with your husband and a good friend ... lately I've been fixated on the BLT on multigrain at Smitty's, and have it either with soup (depending on what they've got on offer), or a caesar salad.  Caesar for me today!

3> Get home and your husband is too tired after working graveyards to get out on the planned errands, so have a nap yourself as he's heading to bed.

4> Wake up after a few luxurious hours, and test your blood pressure ....


Down by 25 points from my last test!

Blech

Feeling today like I have or am on the verge of coming down with the flu.  I hate being sick ... although at least working from home I'm close to my own personal bathroom, and don't have to be self-conscious while using it, as there's nobody else around.

Busy Busy

We had a bit of a break yesterday just after noon when we met up with some friends for lunch, but we were essentially on the go from 11am until after 6pm, going to different stores and pricing out equipment, etc that we need for a proper survival kit, as well as other supplies.  Man, by the time we got home were our feet ever sore!  Poor little dogs didn't get any walk yesterday, and they also ended up with a very late lunch!

Still a Proud Pagan ... But

I didn't go out to Pagan Pride Day here in Nanaimo today.  When I was looking over the schedule of things on the two different stages, only one really made me want to attend it ... and I didn't have any money to spend at vendors, which would just be depressing wandering around and not being able to buy anything ... and I was afraid that it would be a really busy event and I'd have issues being able to park, if I didn't take the bus (not looking forward to that on weekend schedules, and likely having to purchase two fares to get there and two to get back).

So, I did go out to Michaels and price out different types/amounts of wax, the wicking they have (spools), and the candle moulds they've got.  I do have a taper candle mould, but I've never used it, it's plastic so it could end up being sort of flimsy to use over and over again, it needs to have a hole cut in it to pour the wax in and needs to use either a two-sided mould holder or a bucket of sand ... so I think I'm going to be getting one of the pillar candle moulds from Michaels.  That's of course once I can afford it!

My friend is going to be making her candles with lard in large seashells, so we're seeing if Maxx would be up for taking us to Rathtrevor Beach next weekend, so we could look for some large clam shells.  As I said to her, it's worth having not just what you need, but lots extra on-hand, so if necessary she can barter them to other folks for goods/services.

Hoping Maxx won't be asleep for too much longer this afternoon, but he did get to sleep really late after his graveyard shift, and has been up multiple times this morning/afternoon ... hoping he's up at a time when we can have dinner together and then get all four dogs out for a walk along the waterfront in the moonlight.  We had them out this morning when he got home, but just down to 7-11 and back (had to check the lotto ticket ... $50 million won by someone in BC but as usual it WASN'T ME!)

Jinx-ed

So, Sunday Jinx was out in the front yard when I was calling for kitties to come inside, and he didn't take off fast enough when I went over to him, so I was able to catch him and bring him in.

Poor fella has quite a large wound behind his right ear, covered with nasty smelling pus-matted fur, so I managed to get that all trimmed off and then got a couple of cotton balls, soaked a few with hot water and gently swabbed out the wound, then patted with dry ones.

Luckily, this was before the vet closed so I managed to call and make him an appointment for Monday, to check out the ouchie and get an antibiotic shot (he has to get antibiotics for any cuts he gets, being FIV+), and we managed to not let him out before yesterday at lunch.  Bundled the poor big bugger into a carrier and off to the vet we shot for our 2pm appointment.  No big deal, no fever, got his shot which will cover him for 2 weeks (much easier than trying to give your cat antiobiotic pills or liquid, especially when they bull their way out of the house and don't come back for days or weeks at a time).  Got some of the mats on his chest and belly shaved off, too.

So, got home and then rushed out to do some errands, and when we got home of course Jinx dashed immediately out of the house, so it's a good thing we get the antibiotic shots for our critters these days!  However, last night as I was going to bed I went to let anyone in who was waiting and Jinx just trotted straight up the front steps and in ... rare that he makes an appearance that quickly, and comes in voluntarily.  He was even out in the yard today when I went out at lunch to collect the green bin and recycling bag.

Hopefully this means he'll start hanging around more and being part of the family again.

Teary Eyed

Just watched a very short documentary about the last minutes in the life of an obviously much-loved dog named, Oden, who's owner had to put him down due to health reasons.  The owner is right, dogs teach us to love, we don't teach them to love.

I love love love my wee babies, cats and dogs, and dread the day when I need to put the next one to sleep.  The pain and heartache, and the feeling of having murdered one of your babies who trusted you to keep them safe, is very hard to deal with, but while they are happy and healthy they give so much love.

Muggy

Okay, so it's not even close to the 32 degrees we had yesterday, but it's 25, overcast and muggy!  Just a short while ago there were some gently falling giant splats of rain, so I'm wondering if we're going to have a thunderstorm .... if so, could it either happen while I'm still on my lunch so I can enjoy it ... or after while it's dark and I don't have to work tomorrow so I could stay up watching lightning?

Angel really doesn't like thunderstorms.  She went through a really big one as a teeny tiny puppy with absolutely no worries whatsoever, but we've had just a few this year, and some fireworks, and she just gets so upset and trembly.  Hobgoblin doesn't care at all, and Imp and Elf both think there's something outside they just MUST bark at!

Short Week

Half-way through today, and by the end of the day I'll be half-way through my "week" as I'm switching to Saturday/Sunday off, so I'll be off Sunday, then working five days and then get my next two-day weekend.

There's a dog-wash and barbeque at Island Veterinary Clinic on Sunday, so I've been pondering going to that.  Next Saturday, Aug 25th, is Pagan Pride Day here in Nanaimo, so I'm hoping to be able to attend, it all depends on bus schedules to the location, so we'll see.  I've also got my eyes on Sun Sept 9th for the Paws for a Cause event, I'll just have to see after payday what sort of spare money (if any) I have for a donation, then I'll sign up ... and see if Maxx will come with me, too.

Very Hot

Got up to at least 30 degrees here yesterday, very very hot.  I ended up with a massive headache in the afternoon/evening, and think it was a least partially due to the heat.

Just makes you feel wilted and limp, and not up to doing much, particularly not outside where it's so scorching!

No Meteors for Me

I couldn't try to watch for meteors last night.

Earlier in the evening, while I was still working, some moron started setting off fireworks in the neighborhood (not firecrackers, but full-blown fireworks), so poor Angel was frantic.  Imp, Elf, and Hobs were barking out the windows fairly steadily, any time they heard anything, but Angel was just all a-tremble.  I tried to go out just after midnight to see if I could see anything, but Angel insisted on coming out with me and was then trundling around the yard, too upset to settle down, so we ended up coming back in.

I've got to double-check to make sure, but I believe fireworks are illegal in Nanaimo.  If they are, I need to check if you call just the regular police line or actually 911 to report them ... and I will report them!

Blech!

Very good thing today that I work from home, when I got sick at my desk (would have been awful at the office).

Of course, minutes later Elf started puking away behind me, and I don't know if it was just sympathetic, or if we're both under the weather.

Hoping to feel better in a couple of hours for the second half of my shift.

Disgruntled

What a way to start off my week, by preceding it with a totally crappy weekend.

It's a good thing I have a pack of micro-dogs who totally love me.

Uplifting Photo

You may have seen it already online, the photo taken of a true gentleman named John and his 19-year old dog Schoep.  Schoep has arthritis and John carries him into the warm waters of Lake Superior at night for a therapeutic swim, and the dog falls asleep in his arms.

Every time I see this picture it makes me bawl, but it's just so very beautiful.  If everyone loved animals this way, our world would be a much better place.

Cheated!

We had a thunderstorm last night ... started just as I was beginning the evening part of my shift, lasted all the way through, then gave one last grumble of thunder when I got off.  I missed the entire thing!  I feel so cheated!

Imp and Elf barked dutifully at every crack of thunder, Angel was panting and trembling ... and Hobgoblin was sleeping with his Dad and didn't care at all.

It's much cooler today, so I'm guessing that the chance of thunderstorms on my weekend are pretty slim.

Out of Order Day

So, since yesterday I had the day off for my Stat holiday (BC Day), and my weekend falls on Wed/Thursday, today I'm at work and it feels like both a Monday and  Friday shift all rolled into one.

No fair!

Relief

Cooled down to 19 degrees last night and is only supposed to get up to 24 today ... although it's already hit 22 so we may be higher than expected.

Got some ice cream ... which I almost never eat at home ... and some truly gigantic nectarines.  You should see these suckers ... they look like really really big peaches, twice the size of a usual nectarine.  Going to go eat one now!

Wilting

It's so very hot here right now!  Reading 29 but not sure how much it is with humidex factored in.

I've been wishing that the bedroom (office) ceiling fan was properly balanced, so I could run it on full speed, instead of just on low.  However, at full speed it wobbles and flails around, and looks like it's going to rip out of the ceiling and go at me in attack mode!

Ran a shallow tub of cool water last night before bed and dunked each of the dogs.  Nobody was happy to get web (they never are!) but as soon as they were out and roughly dried, they were rushing around the house in their usual "after bath" high spirits, so it must have made them feel a bit better!

Hot hot hot!

The weather was calling for a high of 28 degrees today (Celsius, for those readers from other nations) ... and it's currently 29.

Man, it really is hot.  I think I need to take a cool shower to get some of the hot sticky off, then relax in the living room with the fan on high before I have to go back to work at 5.

I noticed that the dogs were running around like crazy then bolting over to the shade to lie down and pant, so that shows you how hot it is ... usually the just run around like crazy ;)

Just Realized!

I just realized yesterday that this weekend is a long weekend, so Maxx and I would be making extra cashola for working the stat.  However, I looked at my calendar at lunch and realized that it shows a Stat - Off for Monday ... so when I log back into work later, I'll have to double-check to confirm if I'm off Monday or not.  It would be nice, except for not getting the stat pay ... the dogs always like it most when I'm home and NOT working, and able to pay more attention to them.  Close second is my being home and working, and able to pay them attention on my coffee breaks.  They HATE it when I have to go in to the office for a day!

It WAS A Good Night!

Had quite an enjoyable evening yesterday, starting off when Maxx woke up in time to go with me to pick up the car from the dealership (regular maintenance), so we were able to go out to dinner and then see Brave.

Seeing Brave decided me on my new Celtic Lounge III cd for music for my full-moon / Lammas ceremony.  Definitely out of practice but generally went well.  Looking forward to my next one!

Tonight's Gonna Be a Good Night

I'm not sure how often I've listened to the Black Eyed Peas so far today ... but I really do feel like tonight's going to be a good night.  We're even planning on a date out to see Brave, probably dinner before, and afterwards I get to have my little Lammas celebration.  I took the car in for servicing and had the shuttle drop me off downtown so I could grab a coffee at Bocca, then I wandered around the corner and listened to music while munching on my cranberry/white chocolate loaf and drinking my cafe latte, waiting for 10am to roll around when Lobelia's Lair opened, then I spent I guess about an hour wandering and picking out items (although I dare say I spent more than Maxx was expecting me to!) and I now have my altar looking so absolutely lovely!  I can't wait for tonight.

I even have a Himalayan Rock Salt candle holder, in which to burn tea lights and make a lovely glow and give off negative ions.

Soooooo glad I'm getting back into my practice, and I am GOING to keep it up, including being more of a regular at Lobelia's (although hopefully spending less).  Now I want to go listen to my new cd of harp music, to see if I want to use it tonight.

Enjoy your full moon, folks!

Triple Threat

Yay!  Three more medals for Canada today, in men's Judo, women's synchronized diving, and in women's weightlifting ... first ever woman to win a weightlifting medal for Canada.

Go  Canucks!

So, that brings our total to four medals so far (all bronze) on day 4, while in Beijing 4 years ago, we didn't get our first medal of the games until day 8.

Interesting to note that the first bronze medal we got yesterday, also in women's synchronized diving, the older member of the pair won a medal in four straight Olympic games, a first for Canadian athletes. I also heard that the American woman who won in skeet shooting got her medal in her fifth straight Olympic games, an American record.

....Plus, let's not forget American swimmer Michael Phelps, who got two more medals today and is now the most decorated Olympic athlete in history, with 18 medals in total.  And who knows how long his Beijing record of 8 gold medals in one game will stand!

So inspiring!

Conjunction of the Spheres!

Have a lovely conjunction coming up in a couple of days.

On Wednesday it's my payday (although I receive the money the day before), it's my first day off for my weekend, it's a full moon ... and it's Lammas!

Woot!

I'm taking the car in for service Wednesday morning and I plan to have the courtesy shuttle drop me off at Bocca on Fitz, where I will grab a quick coffee and perhaps a pastry of some sort, then I'm planning to pop around the corner to Lobelia's Lair, and hopefully have enough funds that I can pick something up to make my celebration in the evening all that much more special.

Lucky lucky me!

Scary Thought

With recent changes that have come into place for mortages in Canada (not just for new mortgages, but also for renewing mortgages), and with the drops in our home's value in the past couple of years with the downturn in real-estate, there's a very real possibility that when it comes to renew at the end of summer in 2014, we'll lose our house.

I have to work hard to come up with several tens of thousands of *extra* dollars, so that I can make a couple of lump sum payments on the mortgage, so that come renewal time we're save.

Anyone have any ideas about getting extra income, without getting a second job (not really feasible with working from 9am-9pm five days a week)?

Go Canada!

Got to see most of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics while on my lunch, pretty spectacular!  I especially liked the cauldron for the Olympic flame, very neat.

I hope all our Canadian athletes perform to the best of their ability, and no matter how they place in their individual competitions, know that we in Canada are pulling for them and proud of them being our ambassadors to the sports world.

I'm also cheering for New Zealand, Australia, and Great Britain ... as I always do.

Computer Woes

Maxx tried to install my new RAM chips into the iMac today, but he had trouble removing the existing ones, so we managed to pop into the MAC store and they were kind enough to assist, so I now have 4GB RAM, needed to upgrade to Lion or Mountain Lion.

So, when we got home I went ahead and upgraded to Snow Leopard, as I needed to get that installed to be able to upgrade the OS further.  Then, I couldn't find Lion on the Mac store page, and when I tried to simply install Mountain Lion, my computer indicated it wasn't compatible (although it wouldn't tell me why).

I got in touch with tech support, to see if we could figure out why, and it turns out although I purchased the computer in June of 2007, iMacs purchased from mid-2007 and more recently could have the new OS installed, so I guess I bought it a couple of months too early, years ago!

Oh, well, I'd really wanted to upgrade so I could get my iTunes upgraded, and could then in turn upgrade my phone.  So, got iTunes set up and it's the newest version, no issues.  Then trying to synch my phone and there was an issue with the back up, then with re-initializing the phone, which I finally got to work.  Thought I lost all my photos but managed to get them restored, but still don't have my music from the computer showing on the phone, and now iTunes isn't offering me an option to synch my phone.  At this point, trying to get iMatch to enable so I can get the music to sync through the cloud.  We'll see how it goes!

Relaxing!

First day of my weekend today, and after running around this morning with Maxx and a friend, getting some errands done, was able to relax this afternoon.  Guess I'll need to mow the lawns tomorrow, though, they're getting pretty shaggy in spots, and our lawn-mower has a bum knee right now and hasn't been able to do it for a couple of weeks.  Angel prefers the lawn when it's short ... when it gets long she doesn't like it tickling her belly or getting in her face.

Worried

When I had Angel, Imp and Elf out at the end of my morning shift (Hobgoblin has gone to visit Richmond with his Daddy), Angel was running around like a maniac and came over to jump up against my legs as usual, but when I went to tickle her little tummy she screamed!  Now, I'm worried, wondering if there's something wrong, or if she's just constipated and has a sore tummy.  Everyone got wet food today, hoping that if she's constipated that will help to move things along, and I guess we'll just have to touch her tummy gently later to see if she's still tender or back to normal.

Poor wee Angel-kin!

Such a Tragedy

Family and friends shared this link on Facebook today, and I find it one of those tear-jerker stories, where a poor young dog which failed to become a police dog because he was too friendly and trusting, was found so badly beaten in a dumpster in what if I remember correctly is even a fairly affluent area of Vancouver.  The poor thing didn't make it.

http://www.vancouversun.com/life/German+Shepherd+found+Kitsilano+dumpster+dies/6960877/story.html

I never seem to be able to get links to work, so you may need to copy and paste the above if you wish to read about this poor German Shepherd.  I've spent much of my lunch hour in tears, thinking about this lovely creature, and my poor pets who have passed away over the years.

Darn!

Here I'd been thinking that with Maxx going to Richmond on Saturday and Sunday, that maybe on my day off on Sunday I would get around to doing some painting.  I forgot that it's shift changeover, and this work "week" runs from Tues July 17th to Tues July 24th, with my weekend changing to Wednesday/Thursday off.

Ack!  I wish changeover weekends would ALWAYS give you a long weekend, or at least a shorter week!

Foiled Again!

Cloudy enough that we didn't bother to go out and watch the sunset and try to see the northern lights ... but not cloudy enough to give us the promised thunderstorms.

Argh!

At least I do have a thunderstorm disk that I listen to almost every night when I go to sleep.  It's so soothing.  Plus, I hope that hearing it often means that when the dogs experience the real thing, it's not a big deal.

Breaking Weather

Last night it suddenly cooled down quite a bit and we got some rain.  There were thunder showers in the forecast for today but they haven't materialized, and it looks like the clouds are clearing off.  If the sky clears enough, we're hoping to get out to go watch the sunset, and see if we can spot the northern lights, as apparently we were hit with some discharge from the sun which have caused them to be really noticeable.  If we are able to see them clearly, I hope to be able to take a photo!

Yesterday just seemed so very hot ... and poor Angel was panting away even with her current clipped cut, so I ended up popping her into the tub with some cool water and wetting her down quickly.  She's so funny ... she just hates getting wet, but after she's had a bath (or when we have the pool up and in use, we've taken her in with us) she feels so frisky and silly!  You can tell how much better she feels, but she doesn't seem to connect the dogs between getting wet and feeling frisky.

Still Summer

Currently 24 degrees, and my phone is showing nothing but sunny skies still until Wednesday.  Looks like we're getting a decent little stretch of summer!

An Angel Ouchie

Last night as we were sitting down in the living room getting ready to watch True Blood, Angel hopped up onto my lap voluntarily for some loves, and as I was stroking her I found a wee bump on her side.

I thought it was possible it could be a tick, so I quickly located it in her fur, and found that it was either a pimple or a tiny cyst, so Maxx took a look at it and tried to get it out.  Poor wee girlie didn't like that but the most she did was squirm and give me kisses.

I'll have to keep an eye on it to see if it gets infected or gets larger.  Hopefully Maxx was able to get out all of the matter inside, and it will just heal up cleanly.

Thumb Twiddling

I work at home and in the last hour of my shift this morning I started having issues with connectivity for tools, then when trying to contact folks in the office or in our IT department to confirm if this was just me or if something was going on, wasn't able to get in touch with anyone.  I popped into the office on my lunch to touch base, and found that the issue isn't just me, nor is it related to the rolling blackouts in Calgary, but to an electrical fire which has put a crimp in our ability to connect to the company servers.

So, sitting here tonight from five to nine, trying to log in every 15 minutes, and wondering if we'll be back up and running tomorrow morning or not.

Interesting day!  Just glad there were no injuries at the office building where they had the fire ... thank goodness!

Summer's Stayin'!

Looks like summer is staying at least until Sunday (although who knows how soon the forecast could change, or when it will be just plain wrong!).

We got one of the propane tanks filled so we can barbeque again, which is always nice, particularly in hot weather when you don't want to turn on the stove.  Have to check the old bank account now and perhaps head out to the store for some barbeque friendly food!

Hot Hot Hot

We really did quite a jump from what many were calling "Junuary" here locally, to nice summer weather.  It was close to 30 degrees yesterday, beautifully sunny.  Got to hang out on my lounge chair in the back yard with the dogs for a bit, but it did quickly become just too hot ... and Angel kept climbing up into my lap and panting in my face, then scrambling down and heading for the back door, then coming back up again.  So, we ended up being back inside after a while, where it was cooler, and turned on the ceiling fan.

Today is much the same, but Maxx was home and we got the dogs down for an amble along the waterfront fairly early, before it got too too hot!

Dog Dreams

You know how sometimes your dog will be fast asleep and have a really intense dream, so that they start twitching or running in their sleep?

Yesterday, Elf was fast asleep on the back of the recliner, and I heard this thumping noise ... I glanced around and saw that he must have been having a really awesome dream, as he was wagging his tail furiously and it was thumping away on the back of the chair.

Sweet wee fella!

Grumbles

Someone has been randomly letting off some firecrackers in the neighborhood (or something which sounds exactly like it), and poor Angel has been from time to time pretty frantic today.  She rushes around in a panic and then dashes over to huddle near me.  Strangely enough, neither Elf nor Imp seem to have noticed anything out of the ordinary ... and they're the ones who usually start barking like crazy at nothing we are able to see or hear!

Quick Visit

Had my doctor's appointment today for my pap smear and breast exam, also took my height, weight, and blood pressure (which was really really good!).

Now, of course, just have to wait to see if there are any out-of-the-ordinary results that they need me to talk about.

I do still have to wait until January before I can talk to the screening folks about having a mammogram done (start at 40, hitting the big 4-0 next year), but luckily they are right beside the vets so I'll have lots of chances to pop in and make an appointment.

Sunshine !?!?!

Beautiful out yesterday, gorgeous today, and my phone is showing glowing suns for the weather forecast until Tuesday (as of right now, at least).

Going to enjoy my day off tomorrow, and then on Sunday and Monday!

Cherry Eye

Elf came down with another bout of cherry eye today, and it got so bad I was thinking we were going to have to rush him in to the vet tomorrow at lunch, but the third eyelid has once again slipped back into place and he looks normal once more.

Poor wee bugger.  It doesn't happen all that often, but when it does it just looks so very painful!  When we have him in at the vets next I'll have to remember to mention it and get their recommendations about surgery, whether they think it would be a good thing and how much it would be.  I believe it's just a stitch or two to keep the third lid in place, but he'd have to have it done on both eyes (as both have popped out at different times).

He's now snuggled down under the covers waiting for me to come to bed, with the other three dogs on top of the covers, so I'm signing off for the night.

Busy Canada Day

Got the day off to a fairly early start with a vet visit for Hobgoblin.  Just his yearly check up and shots, and picked up cat and dog food at the vets.  When talking to the vet they said that actually the dental food they have is the only one really formulated to get rid of tartar, and stores can't sell it, so we're switching from the dental food we've been giving the dogs to the vet one ... it's a pretty big bag for just shy of $80, so it should last for months and months.  The kibble is pretty big, so it will take Angel a while to eat each piece, maybe she'll even lose an ounce or two!  The cat food we've been buying exclusively from the vet for quite some time now, as we want to make sure that Pippin never gets urinary tract crystals again, and keep them all on a good maintenance food.  All the cats are doing well, so that's always a good thing.

It's nice that at the vet, we're so in their good books for being conscientious about bringing our critters in, that we don't actually have to bring in 3 or more critters at a time to get a discount.  We just automatically get 10% off every time we visit.  Every little helps!

Afterwards we dashed off to Pet Smart to update Hobgoblin's vaccination info on file, for the next time we take him in for a groom.  It's just so much easier to remember the paperwork at the time the shots are done, than finding it later when you have a grooming appointment scheduled!

When we got home, we got busy on the storage room, pulling half of the stuff in there out, and getting the entertainment unit and tv into the previously empty corner of the living room (after making sure it won't block access to the electrical panel!), then built the new shelving unit and got it all filled.  Everything is back in the room now and all is sooo much neater and tidier!  Now I want to get at least one more of the units (possibly two, need to go and measure if two would fit on the other wall), so we can continue to organize and eventually have our home in a state of perpetual tidiness -- instead of the opposite end of the spectrum, as usual!

Found!

Heard a tweet out in the entry-way, located, caught, and returned Buttercup to the birdcage (when I went out there he was sitting on top of it, not inside as I had hoped as I'd left the door open for them to get back in if possible).  Later, heard a fluttering in the kitchen, chased the bird, chased the dogs out of the room and shut them in the bedroom so I could stop tripping over them, returned to the kitchen and chased the bird some more, finally caught him and returned Summer to the cage.

Both budgies back home safe and sound.  Yay!

Missing!

Crash in the house this morning as I was working, and I go out at lunch to find that one of the cats has managed to knock over the birdcage, which no longer contains two budgies as it happened to pop loose from the base.

The kitchen window above the sink (which doesn't have a screen) was open a bit, so right now I don't know if the birds are hiding somewhere in the house, or if they have completely flown the coop.  I have done several circuits of the house and been calling and chirping for them, but haven't turned up a flurry of little wings, so I have a feeling they made it outside (and I must admit, I would prefer that to finding them somewhere in the house still but mangled by a cat!).

I'll keep my eyes and ears open for them both inside and out, and hope to find them and get them safely back into their home.  Wish me luck!

Beautiful Day

Sunny out and the curtain is gently blowing in the wind.  Imp is sitting in the window, watching the world go by and ocassionally going nuts trying to catch a passing house fly.  When they don't come close enough for him to have a chance to catch them ... he barks at them madly, demanding that they do so.

Still... Storm?

Maxx's computer has been calling for thunderstorms today (Sunday) since yesterday evening ... and I'd like them to hurry up and show up!  I love a good thunderstorm but am very much not so fond of being led to expect one and having those expectations dashed!

Storm?

It's grey and gloomy, rainy and a bit windy outside.

I'm actually hoping that we could wind up with a nice thunderstorm or rain storm tonight, to relax to ... as long as Imp and Elf react to storms the same way Angel and Hobgoblin do, by curling up with their humans to enjoy it while it lasts (at least while inside!).

Clear Skies

Well, earlier today they were clearer of clouds ... but I am really referring to eagles.  I haven't seen any today during the times I've had the dogs out, thank goodness.  I think they're beautiful, but I don't want to risk my little ones, and worry about the cats as they are outside unsupervised.  As Maxx points out, though, if an eagle wants to take one of the dogs even with us out in the hard too, we have no chance to save them, as their dive is so fast.

The lawn is starting to look like it needs to be mowed again.  Why oh why does grass grow so quickly?!?

Look Up, WAAAY Up!

Very glad I was paying attention to my dogs this morning when I had them outside on my coffee break.    I was wondering what had Elf's attention, as he was gazing up into the sky.  I glanced up and lo and behold, there was an eagle circling our yard.

Needless to say, I herded the micro-dog pack back into the house in short order!

Grindstone

Yup, as of today I'm back to it.  Working at work today (so at home on my lunch break right now), and have another four hours.  I did have two meetings this morning which took up 1 1/2 hours, and a training module which took 15 minutes, so really only "worked" 2 1/4 hours.  Four more left, then working at home again for the next week weeks.

With my shift change-over from having Saturday and Sunday off to having Sunday and Monday off, this weekend is a three-day weekend.  Hoping Maxx and I will have the energy to do the storage room this weekend (we were both so tired and I was so arthritis-achy for the second half of our vacation, we didn't get it done).  Once completed, hopefully I'll be able to access that room more easily, keeping on top of the recycling, and being able to access my craft supplies so I can get back into the swing of things.  Hoping to have the shoe rack on the back of the door, too, instead of the front, so it will be less of an intrusion into the doorway but still accessible.

Gettin' Melancholy

Today is Saturday, and I just have today, Sunday, and Monday left of my vacation.  Getting melancholy about heading back to work ... although I do work in the office on Tuesday and get to see my supervisor and team-mates, and have two meetings to go to, so that's good.

Since we've been home the weather has been less-than-sunny, so we haven't gotten much done ... that and the fact I've been feeling so tired and lazy!  Maxx is asleep right now, and I look over at the bed to see that Angel, Elf, and Imp are all curled up sleeping as well.  Hobgoblin is likely tucked in with Maxx sleeping.

Guess I should go do something productive!

Snicker!

My sister-in-law fed us this wonderful concoction last night of sausage, grape tomatoes, feta cheese (and black olives) which is baked up, then served on top of pasta.

She calls it "turds and tomatoes" ... likely because my nephew is really into the whole "poop" thing right now, as he's 3 1/2.

Yummiest turds I've ever eaten!

Late Night

Heading to bed after an enjoyable day spent with the family in Richmond!

Dogs were generally well behaved, but Imp is NOT impressed with Bailey and will chase her around the yard, barking wildly ... until such point as she turns around and gambols back to chase him in turn,at which point he yelps like he's being murdered and runs for cover.  Silly dog!

First Day of Vacation!

Yesterday was our first day of vacation together (although poor Maxx had been scheduled to work Saturday, so he got off work at 7:00am).

We managed to get the bags, doggy stuff, and dog carrier into the car and made the 8:30am ferry to Horseshoe Bay quite easily ... and although it seemed fairly busy, we didn't have much of a wait in the cafeteria line up to get our breakfast.  I love the scrambled eggs on the ferry.  They take me back to my university days eating scrambled eggs at the cafeteria for breakfast almost every day.  After four years, it left me with a "thing" for what I call "institutionalized scrambed eggs"!

Walked the dogs around on the ferry and up the ramp to the next level of car parking, so they got a bit of a leg stretch, then when we docked we headed directly to Richmond to descend on Holly and Todd, Noni, and the kids.

After a while, Imp calmed down a bit around the big dogs, so he's not barking his fool head off any time they are near him.  Angel gave my littl nephew some kisses (such a huge step for her, as she doesn't like little children..... I think both a sign of her being more socialized and the little fellow growing up!).

When were trying to inflate the air mattress, it wouldn't turn on (battery powered pump built-in), and when we tried another set of batteries from Noni nothing happened ...but luckily third time was the charm and Todd had some batteries of the right size which actually did have juice. At home we realized we don't have sleeping bags any more (although we aren't quite sure if it's because we washed them and they fell apart, or if we loaned them out to friends and they have not yet been returned -- which would be pretty much on-par for items we loan out, they NEVER seem to be returned and I keep saying that we won't loan anything else!).  Luckily, Canadian Tire was having a sale on sleeping bags, so we got two new ones which are rated good for downto -10 degrees celsius, and they are also very light, and each have their own storage bag ... so all's well that ends well on that front!

Holly made a truly delicious chili for dinner, and we had gone out to Cobs bakery during the day to pick up a nice loaf of bread, so Maxx made some cheesy garlic bread to go with it, which was also very toothsome!

Right now I think I'm the only one up, other than Todd who has had to leave for work.  My poor little nephew was sick (throwing up) most of the night, so Holly and my neice are pretty tired, and I hope Noni's been able to go back to bed for some more sleep as well, as it was a very long night for them upstairs.  Maxx is fast asleep on the livingroom floor as we're camping out in the house due to lack of dry soil in the back yard ... and Hobgoblin is curled up under the covers with him,Imp and Elf are curled up on top of the covers with him, and Angel is curled up at my feet as I type this.

So relaxed!  Gosh, I love vacation!

Home Again!

While clearing stuff out of the car today in preparation for packing it tomorrow for our trip, we noticed Jinx lounging under the hazelnut bush.  Coaxed him out and over to us, picked him up and brought him inside.  He seems just fine, not that thrilled to be inside, but having a bite to eat at this time.

So glad he's come home, and hope he shows his face more frequently, to keep me from worrying so much!

Missing Kitty

I'm starting to get really worried about Jinx.  Neither one of us has seen him for the past week.  While he is the cat who is around the house the least, being gone for a week is unusual for him.  The last time he was gone for a week, he'd been hit and rolled by a car, but he did come home.

I'm so hoping that he will show up before we leave for vacation.  Tomorrow I will have to wander the neighborhood calling for him, hoping either he will hear and come to me, or that I will hear him calling if he's shut it someone's garage.

I should check the SPCA site and perhaps log a "lost cat" report on there, in case he gets dropped off.  I don't know if they can find us with his ear tattoo, but I would hope so.

Will have to remember to forward the home phone to one of our cells while we're away from the house, just in case we get a call.

Wish us luck and pray for my big Jinx!

Snuggle Pup

So, Hobs has decided that today he does not need to go out on bathroom breaks, thank you very much ... he's more than happy to stay cuddled up on his Dad in the other room and nap.

Maxx may have made the decision to get Hobs for Angel, as a companion, but really, Hobs decided that he was Maxx's dog pretty much from day one!

Hmmm.....

Not sure exactly where it's coming from, but over and over and over again I'm hearing the "beep beep bee beep beep" of a back up alarm on a vehicle, for about 15 seconds, then it stops for a minute and goes off again ... stops and goes off ... stops and goes off .... is there someone learning to drive big rig in the neighborhood or what?!

Meh

Seems like this was just a totally wasted weekend.  Sick yesterday, kept almost throwing up, so I ended up logging out of work early sick, and while I do feel better today, I'm still "bleach".

Gorgeous!

Lovely and sunny out again today, and pretty warm (last check was 22 degrees).  I got Angel and Hobgoblin out for a walk at lunch, as Elf was hiding, and I wanted quiet dogs I could tie up quickly at the store while I checked last week's lotto ticket and got a new one for tonight.  Imp gets separation anxiety and can get a bit noisy if I'm in the store for more than 5 seconds!

While I didn't win any money, I did get a free ticket for tonight, so fingers crossed.

Imp has another appointment for tomorrow at the vet.  He's started gasping and wheezing again, so I want to get him checked out again and if necessary on meds once more.  Poor little fella sounds like he's got a whole muzzle full of snot that he can't blow out or snort back in ... hopefully they can figure out what it is so we can get it cleared up!

Sunny Afternoon Walk

I took Angel and Imp out along the waterfront earlier this afternoon (sorry, Elf and Hobgoblin, but I can only deal with two dogs at a time by myself!), and it was lovely and sunny.  I actually ended up taking off my sweatshirt, as I got so warm.

Imp was the best he's ever been on a walk, not barking at a single other dog he met, and it's not like he didn't meet any, either!  However, he has decided that he'd like to taste pigeon, apparently, as he keeps barking at a trying to chase them, no matter how unsuccessfully.

Now I'm tired and my back is sore, so I don't believe I'll be getting Hobs and Elf out today, but I will make sure they are the first two to go out tomorrow on my lunch break.

Just six days of work left before my vacation!  I work tomorrow and Saturday, then have Sunday off as my one-day weekend, and work Monday through Thursday, then am off June 1-17th.

Woot Woot!

It's my Friday, only 4 hours of work left today, and while I was there in the morning I got confirmation that the 8 hours of banked time I requested to use to get Fri June 1st off were approved .... now I just hope the 8 hours for Mon June 18th get approved, and I will have an 18 day vacation!

Summer Clip

Just got home from dropping Angel off at the grooming salon.  The recent spell of hotter weather made me realize that she did indeed need more than just a poodle face and toes and a tunnel cut to keep her cool in the hot weather.

Of course, now that she's getting clipped, it's definitely on the cool side, and rainy ... really pouring on the way home, actually, with the windshield wipers up as high as they could go and still not getting the windshield clear.

Eclipse

There's an eclipse taking place later today (late afternoon, evening), and I guess I will be stuck inside missing it because I'm working.  I'm hoping that when I get out with the dogs on my coffee break (their potty break) that I might catch a bit of it.

Hobgoblin, the Luck Dragon

We ended up having Hobs clipped yesterday when he went in for his grooming, as it's getting hot ... and he's been rolling in nasty stuff in the back yard and getting all tangly.  Maxx mentioned this morning that he's been trying to figure out what famous dog he looks like ... and he figured it out.  He doesn't look like a dog right now, he looks like the Luck Dragon, from The Neverending Story.

Now, Angel is going in to get clipped next Monday.  I wonder who we'll think SHE looks like when we get her back!

Moving Day

Mum's moved into her room at the Haven Hill Retirement Home in Penticton today.  She'll have odd bits that will still need to be moved in, Dad mentioned wanting to get a dresser so she can have more clothes on-hand.  We're waiting to hear if she'll have room for our spare tv, so we can take it up in June if she wants/needs it.

There's a resident cat who wanders the halls and visits residents, so hopefully he (she?) winds up endearing himself to Mum, as she's not really a cat person.

Now she needs to meet some of the other residents and make some friends so she will have company available when Dad's not up the road visiting her.

Mother's Too-Exciting Day

Called my Mum on her cell at lunch, to see if I could wish her a happy Mother's Day, since she's been getting into the  habit of turning it on to receive calls.

My Dad picked up, which I thought would be normal if they were out together for lunch, but it seems that while they were near Cherry Lane she mis-judged a curb and took a tumble with her wheelchair, so she's on her way to emergency and Dad's following behind with the wheelchair.

Once I touch base with him later and get an update, I'll let everyone know.  When she had a fall last year she broke a vertebrae, which is why she ended up in long-term care at the hospital, and she's supposed to be moving to Haven Hill Retirement Home tomorrow ... hopefully that can still take place so she will have her own private room.

Ploosh

Imp went wading today ... I have a feeling that when we get the pool up and running for the summer he may actually enjoy it ... and if not, he may have lots of fun in the turtle pool we have that we can set up for "dogs only".

Sunny Sunny Sunday

Well, technically it's Thursday today .... but it's my Sunday.

Beautifully sunny out, although it certainly feels much cooler than you would expect.  It won't be long until sunny days are hot, though, with summer coming on.  Looking forward to it ... as long as it doesn't get too hot!  Are we ever satisfied with the weather?

Date Night

Figured out that with our schedules not meshing for days off, Maxx and I wouldn't be able to go see the Avengers until June when we are on vacation.

.... However, suggested he check for matinee and the late-night showings, and we found that there was a 9:40 and 10 last night, and I get off at 9pm.  So, Maxx had the car and came to pick me up from work (my work at work day yesterday), I actually did finish at 9pm as I wasn't stuck on a chat ... and we booted of to Dairy Queen to pick up a really quick dinner and caught the 10pm showing.

The only problem is that now I'd like to watch the movie a couple more times (preferably in the comfort of my own home) and want sequels.  I just want MORE!

Sunny Day

Dog walking was put off yesterday at lunch in favor of mowing the front lawn (which is now done).  However, today being Maxx's second Saturday and it being a lovely day out, he got up when I got off my  morning shift and we got all four dogs out together down to Maffeo Sutton.  Certainly wasn't a strenuous walk, but it's lovely and warm out (my last report I saw said 18 degrees), and the dogs sure seem to be tuckered out now!  Maxx will likely have a bit of a nap and then he's planning to mow the back lawn (he already got more gas for the mower).

Two-Trip Walking

Yesterday at lunch I got Angel, Imp and Elf out all at once, got them out past the gas station and up 8th, although Angel decided before we reached Georgia that her little legs were giving out and she kept lying down, so we cut the 3-dog walk kind of short.  Once I got home, I slipped Hobgoblin's harness on and took him in the other direction, to 7th and up to Howard, thinking we would there turn right and go along to 6th ... but my knee decided it was going to start giving out and we turned left to cross back to our street and down to home again.

Today at lunch I've already taken Angel and Imp out together, and today we got up to the top of 8th so I think Angel is pretty worn out.  The hill took enough out of me, too, that I've had to sit and get my breath back before I get Elf and Hobgoblin out together as a pair today.

While I was out on the first walk, I did stop in to the new townhouses that were built near us, and popped in to check out the open house.  Very well appointed, but ironically although it's about the same size as our house, it seems smaller ... no coat closet, and the third bedroom is really more a den even though it does have a window and closet, mostly because it also has the back door.  The bottom units are for sale for $204,900 and the top units for $209,900.  No yards.  Even with the nice walk in closet in the master bedroom (which is smaller than our master), there just doesn't seem to be very much storage space, even taking into account the little pantry.  While there is a crawl space, those just don't get used properly as who wants to crawl down in the dark and damp to store or retrieve their belongings?  Particularly if it's buggy?

I would like to take Maxx through, though, on one day when there's an open house and he's either off or get in there before he works ... they have open houses Thursdays and Fridays from 6-8.  We shall see.

Changeable Spring

It's beautifully sunny one moment, followed by a dimming of the light and threatening dark clouds the next.  If you want a change in the weather, you'll get it several times a day during spring!

Critter Love

My wee dogs and cats love me unconditionally.

When they accidentally get stepped on or knocked aside as you are walking and they run in front of you, you can see that they are sorry, blaming themselves for getting hurt and asking Mummy to make it all okay.

Even when they get in trouble, you can see in their eyes that they are sorry.


I love my critters!

Laugh Out Loud Moment

I had the dogs outside last night on my coffee break, for their last day-light potty break.

Imp was charging around like a mad dog and manage to actually roll himself.  He went to jump over Hobgoblin's butt, but he didn't quite make the height he needed and ended up flying over Hobs then spinning and rolling through the grass ... after which he stopped for a nano-second, looked at me as though to say "What happened!" ... then continued charging around at full speed.

Silly little critters.  While they certainly do fill up my house and my time, they also fill my life with laughter!

Poor Decisions

Kitties made a couple of poor decisions lately!

Yesterday, DJ decided that she wanted to pop over the large box we have to use as a dog gate (since Imp and Elf know how to get over the kiddie gates we have), as she wanted to go into the bedroom to snuggle with her Daddy and Hobgoblin.

Well, she wouldn't have been able to get into the room as the door was closed, and she realized just as she reached the top of the box that on the other side were three wee doggies who were startled by her sudden appearance and started yapping uncontrollably (Angel usually wouldn't care, but Imp and Elf are just SOO vocal at the cats still).  She managed to twist and touch down briefly on top of the box to dash back off in the other direction.

Today at lunch, while I was out in the livingroom with the dogs, watching tv, as Maxx was asleep in the master bedroom, Trouble decided she was going to join me in the livingroom and popped over the box ... again, to find three wee doggies waiting for her (once more, Hobgoblin was in with Maxx).  SHE made the decision to keep on going and zip up onto one of the kitchen chairs, where she is still perched at this time.  From time to time Imp and Elf would go into the kitchen and lose their minds, at which point I had to remind them that the kitty wasn't doing anything to them but I would if they didn't shut up.

Oh, how I have fond memories of a harmonious zoo in the home!

Almost Half-Way

So, on my lunch and have another four hours left this evening for work .... after which time I will be half-way through my week with four days left.

I'm never fond of those schedule switch-overs which end up giving you an extended work week.  The best change-over is if you are going from a Friday/Saturday off to Sunday/Monday off, as with the change happening at the end of the week, you end up with a four-day weekend.

Too bad that Maxx and I don't have days off at all the same for the next little while.  Looks like he has Sunday/Monday/Tuesday ... but since he's on graveyards right now, we don't really see each other much if we both have a day off together, anyhow.

I noticed today when I logged in to work that my vacation bid for the first week weeks of June seems to have disappeared, so I am eagerly waiting word back from the scheduling department, to see if it's been refused for some reason ... as while I show the 80 hours of vacation time available again for booking.  I hope it's just a glitch while the system is updating our June schedule!  I really hope that if it was refused, that my second choice of the second and third week of June goes through, and that Maxx gets the same vacation time off.  If we don't get the same time, we'll have to cancel and try to rebook another two weeks off together.

Guess I'll let you know!

Doggy Play Date

Elf had a doggy play date yesterday, he left early in the morning, and spent the entire day over playing with Bugsy, and also got to have a sleep over.  He apparently had a lovely time, but he was also ecstatic to be back home again this morning ... and Angel, Hobs and Imp were pretty excited, too.

We had a while of four dogs zooming around the house in high gear, luckily they did calm back down again, so I could get to work!

Weekend Visit

We had my mother-in-law, sister-in-law and neice visit this weekend.  Although it was a short day-trip, it was nice to get together.  Just wish we had more time to get out and do more with them.  We did make it out to Coombs for ice-cream, though!

Yesterday we were both off together and got the dogs out for a walk down at the waterfront, then took them to the off-leash at Beban Park.  When we first arrived we were the only people and dogs there in the small dog section, but then some folks brought their small dogs back from the large dog section and other people showed up, so there ended up being quite a large number of dogs there.  Imp did some barking at the other dogs, but he was improved over usual, and is better at stopping and coming back to us ... so hopefully he'll eventually learn to meet other dogs without yapping at them.

Angel was more open about meeting other dogs .. and when I was walking around and around the gravel path to have her follow me and get a bit of a workout, she was CHEATING!   I got a bit ahead of her, and she was hustling to catch up, but then she figured out if she cut corners across the grass, she could hustle away and catch up to me without actually breaking into a trot.  How smart can our dogs be!?

Forgot the "Before"!

Angel and Imp had their grooming appointment today, but I forgot to take "before" pictures.  Imp actually didn't struggle and squirm for them, so they were able to do the brush and get out the mats without shaving his flanks, so he really doesn't look much different.  Angel always look SOO different with her poodle-face cut, though.  You see she has a wee little schnoz that sticks out, instead of a squashy face.  I would say it's amazing how much like a poodle she looks ... although it IS a poodle-face cut, and she IS part miniature poodle!

Important Lesson

We learned a very important lesson the other day when giving Imp his medicine ... which tastes like banana, by the way!

If you get the dog ready first, so that he is being held in Maxx's arms, then get the dropper full of medicine and give it to him, he complains and struggles (less every day), but he's fairly resigned.

If you get the medicine ready in the dropper FIRST and then chase down the dog, who sees what you have in your hand, by the time your husband picks him up, he's scared enough that as he gets picked up he pees all over the place!  Good thing I was wearing my crocs, easily washable.

Poor little fellow.  He's really doing much better each time we give it to him.  I guess I do need to contact the vet and see about having the next week's prescription done up so we can pick it up.

Hair Cut Day

Angel and Imp go to the groomers this Friday morning.

Angel will get her usual poodle-face / tunnel cut, with sanitary area clip, nails clipped, teeth brushed, and ears cleaned.  I'll also see if they can clip her feet (is there a poodle-foot clip?).

Imp will be a bit different.  He's got some knots behind his ears, and his flanks are all matted, and I haven't been able to make much -- if any -- improvement as he's so nervous he won't let me groom him.  So, he's likely going to be at least a little shaved.  We'll have to wait and see.  I should post before and after pictures ... although if he looks too horrible afterwards I don't know that I want to show the "after"!