Holy Moley!

Yep, when the centigrade and fahrenheit scales match up (because it's so cold), there are only two words to use. Holy and moley. Together. One after the other. At this moment in time, it is -39 C and -38 F. YIKES! Skin freezes in less time than it takes me to walk to the bus stop when it's like this. Thankfully I own enough winter clothing for somebody living in the Yukon, so my skin isn't really exposed to the air. I don't know how the dogs can manage to be outside long enough to pee and poop though. It's one of those times that I feel REALLY bad for making them go outside.

They're forecasting at least 2-3 more days of this . . . so if I didn't have to be at work, I'd be hibernating. As that's not an option, hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go. Oh well, at least the heat works there!

Life Is Precious

This morning I woke up to a very sad post on one of the forums I belong to. A lady that I consider a dear friend lost her son to suicide last night. He was a handsome 25 year old with a new baby boy and his whole life ahead of him. This is such a heart wrenching tragedy, and a loss that will never be forgotten, especially by those who loved him.

All day I've been thinking about this friend, and how her whole world came apart in such a short time. I wonder if she's thinking that she could have done something different, or something to prevent it. I'm sure she just doesn't understand. I don't think I would, if I were in her shoes.

Life is precious - no matter what happens, always make sure that the people you love KNOW that you love them. Take the time to let people know that you care about them and that you appreciate what they add to your life. It might not prevent a situation like what happened to my friend, but it won't hurt matters, that's for sure.

Clean Sweep, we need you!

Hi. My name is Kelly, and I am . . . I'm a . . . I'm a packrat. There, I said it. It was hard, but they say that acknowledgment is the first step. Well, I know it. Now I need to figure out what to do. The thing is, I love my stuff. Not all of it, so I could get rid of some without tears. But a lot of it has been collected over a period of years. All of my Cocker Spaniel stuff has been chosen by me, and the thought of getting rid of it makes me sad. But I have to do something. My bed is covered in books, magazines and papers. Stuff is stacked all over the place, and it gets knocked over with a puff of breath. I think the dogs will appreciate less clutter too.

Anybody have any good tips on how to "break the bond" with stuff? I watch Clean Sweep all the time, but every time I see it, I think about how they'd NEVER convince me to get rid of my stuff. That's kind of a bad mindset to go into this with LOL

Take it from me, don't get into the habit, and your life will be easier in the long run!

New Look for 2008

I want to thank Nikki from Blogs for a Cause for giving my blog a facelift. I think the new look is beautiful, and it ties in very nicely with my website now. If you're interested in getting a blog make-over, contact Nikki via http://madebynikki.blogspot.com. She does excellent work!

Why?

Why are there always people in the world that think the rules don't apply to them? No matter how clear the rules are, there is always somebody that refuses to follow them.

Case #1

There is a Safeway (grocery store) just a few blocks away from me. Along the front of the store are several very clearly marked NO PARKING signs. They're impossible to miss. Every time I stop there to do some shopping, there are people parked there. Their vehicle lights are on and the vehicles are running. Now, last time I checked the sign, it didn't say "No parking unless yur vehicle is running." So why are those people clearly violating the signs? Oh wait, I know! It's because they're just too darned important to take the time to find a spot, park the car and walk to and from the store. Who has those extra 2 minutes?

Case #2

At my doctor's office there are signs on all of the doors asking people to please remove their shoes before entering the clinic. It's very clear, there is no mistaking it. And just in case you miss it, there is another sign inside, asking the same thing. So I was at the clinic on Monday, to see about this stupid cold I have. All of us patients are waiting in sock feet. I know my socks are going to get dirty, but I can live with it, because we're ALL in the same boat. Then this woman in fancy clothes come in. I know (because of her name) that she's a higher up at one of the local oil companies. She just will NOT take off her shoes! So there are the rest of us, with dirty socks, and she's all prim and proper in her pumps. Why? Oh wait, let me guess. The socks will get dirty, causing her to do more laundry, which would waste her valuable time.

Do these people really think that they're above and beyond rules? If so, I wonder what makes them think that. I mean, in some circles, I'm very important. Just ask my dogs, who rely on me for everything. But I would never assume that it gives me the right to blatantly break rules.

Just my rant for the day!

Happy New Year!

Well, it's a few days late, but Happy New Year to my faithful blog readers! I hope you had a wonderful holiday season, and a great start to 2008. I sure did! My best friend was here from out of town, and we had a fabulous visit, as always. And to start the year off right, I made my way to King of Prussia, PA (right by Philly) for the American Spaniel Club Flushing Spaniel Show. What a wonderful experience that was! I saw tons of gorgeous dogs, and I met some people that I have been emailing with for years.

Best of all, I got to see Billy and to meet his new mom Mary Ellen! I guess she's not really his new mom anymore . . . but to me she will always be his new mom. Mare and Billy (and Mare's gorgeous niece) picked us up at the airport. It was great getting Billy kisses :) I made sure to give him extra hugs & kisses from his Alberta fan club.

I found lots of dogs to fall in love with, and I found some potential boyfriends for Grace down the road. I met lots of wonderful people, and I hope to return next year. It was the perfect way to start off 2008!

My world is almost complete

Yes . . . in just over 2 hours, my best friend will be here from Toronto. Last night another very close friend flew in from Calgary for a visit. And on Monday, all of my family will be gathered to celebrate Christmas. My world is almost complete. I have another good friend visiting family in Northern Ontario that I wish was here, along with a great friend in Edmonton that I'd love to see. But I get to see her soon, so I can't complain too much.

I could hardly sleep last night for the excitement of it all. I guess I'm still a kid at heart :) It's nice to be feeling so excited though . . . it's definitely better than feeling blase.

Tonight we have a Christmas party at a friend's house - it is an annual tradition. Tomorrow night is supper with the good friend from Calgary, along with her mom, mother-in-law, my best friend and my mom. Talk about good times!

Yesterday I made the annual visit to Santa, to tell him what I wanted for Christmas . . . it's another tradition that I try to keep up with. I've been able to go almost every year for the past few years. You know what they say - if you don't believe, you don't receive!

Take care everyone . . . I'm not sure if I'll be able to post through the holidays or not. It'll be pretty busy here!

Happy Holidays from KLAD Cockers!

Wow, time is sure flying by quickly . . . it's only a week to go until Christmas! I can't wait. My best friend is coming out from Toronto on Saturday the 22nd, so that's the first milestone. Then on Saturday night we have the annual "Chinese Gift Exchange Party" at a family friend's house. Everybody brings a homemade gift under $25, and then people draw numbers to determine who chooses first. People can "steal" gifts, and the game ends up lasting for a few hours. It's great fun. Sunday night is supper with a very dear friend of mine . . . a bunch of girls just getting together to catch up and exchange presents.

Monday is Christmas Eve, which is when we do our family gift exchange. We tell the kids that since we're so close to the North Pole, Santa makes his first stop here. It's a lot of fun opening presents with a 6 year old and a 3 year old . . . and this year my brother's "new-to-us" family will be with us too, so the baby, who is about 6 months old, and my new niece, who is 9. We're going to have a great time!

Tuesday is Christmas, and our traditional Christmas brunch. This is my mother's big day, and something she spends many hours planning and preparing for. We usually have around 20 people over, and the brunch usually has a theme. This year it will be a Mexican Christmas. Christmas supper will be at a family friend's place, as it has been for almost as long as I can remember. They're moving in the spring, so this will be our last holiday celebration together.

And then, finally, time to rest, relax and lay around like a vegetable. Hooray! Hope your holiday preparations are going well, and that you will have lots of time with friends and family!

Oh the weather outside is frightful . . .

But central heating is delightful :) Actually, the temperature itself isn't too bad - around -15C which is pretty standard for this time of year. Certainly preferable to -30C, which was the temperature not that long ago. Unfortunately, along with the warmer weather comes snow. Lots of it. Enough to require shoveling twice a day, so that the dogs can get to the backyard to do their thing. Enough to require shoveling of the driveway, so our postal carrier doesn't have to wade through knee-deep show.

The dogs don't seem to mind the snow, and I know they're glad that the cold weather is just a bad memory at this point. There were days that it was so cold that the dogs needed boots on, just to go outside to potty without freezing their feet. It's times like that that I almost wish they were litter-trained. I say almost, because I can't imagine cleaning THAT up daily. Yikes!

Tomorrow is our Secret Santa gift exchange at work, which I'm looking forward to. It should be a lot of fun, and I got almost everybody to take part, which was a major challenge. A few of us are bringing in desserts, and I intend to bring my Christmas music in, to give the celebration a little bit more of a holiday feel. Should be a good time!

Merrily we roll along . . .

Especially now that our car is fixed! Last Sunday, I took my car for a ride to stop at the post office. It was -35 Celsius outside, so the car was sluggish (so was I!). The steering was super hard to control, but I thought it was the weather. I fought my way to the post office and then home, and slowly realized that something was amiss. As I tried to pull into the driveway, I saw a scarlet stain in the snow. It almost looked like somebody had been shot. Like my car. The steering fluid had leaked out of the car.

So I had it towed to the dealership, and waited impatiently to hear the news. Good news, it wa repairable. Bad news, the part was coming from Montreal. At this time of year, that never happens fast.

My dad called me today (we have been carpooling for the past week, which has been an adventure), to tell me that the car is ready! Yippeee! I'm embarassed to say that I almost cried when he pulled up to the house. It's stupid, but I am just that happy to have my car back.

Christmas Shopping

So, my fellow bloggers (and anybody else that happens to be reading my random ramblings), are you all done your Christmas shopping? There are only 19 days to go, and as I drive around the city I live in, parking lots for retail establishments are full of cars. People walk out of stores loaded down with bags and boxes, either shopping for loved ones or for themselves. Personally, shopping at this time of year makes me stir crazy. I love the music and decorations, but I hate the crowded stores, pushy people and endless lines. I start to go a little nutty, and that's never a good thing.

So I do my shopping early. By mid-November I was mostly done my shopping. My mom and I took a trip to Edmonton, and I did the bulk of my shopping then. Any of the small items were either ordered online or purchased in store before it got crazy. Once the last few items are delivered, I'm good to go! I just have to wrap (which I love doing) and give.

Hope your holiday shopping is almost done, so you can avoid the crowds too :)

My new "thing"

My latest addiction (well, for the past few months) is the Facebook application Scrabulous. Now, if it isn't completely obvious what that is from the name, it is Scrabble! Two player or multi-player games can be organized (up to 4 players), and the computer does all the hard work of scoring. It's a blast, especially for somebody that me, who enjoys writing and wordsmithing. Of course, it has taught me something - that I'm not the best wordsmith out there. There are better ones, and man, I bow down to them! They know who they are :)

Anyhow, if you're on Facebook (which is a great application itself, and worth checking out), check out Scrabulous and start a game. You might just really enjoy it!

Ho, Ho, Ho

Yes, it's certainly that time of year again . . . and I'm lovin' it, to steal a quote from the McDonalds commercials. I have a cute little reindeer wreath on my office door, and an Eeyore stocking too. I got my first batch of Christmas cards mailed out this morning, and have dug out my holiday music. Of course, having about 2 feet of snow helps too. I would enjoy this a lot more if it wasn't quite as cold outside, but I guess I can't have it all, right?

The most exciting part of my Christmas holidays will be my visit from Ange . . . she arrives on December 22nd for about a week and a half. I can't wait to see her :) I see many games of Euchre, Quiddler and Scrabble smushed into those days :)

I'm very excited about my first trip of 2008. I'm heading out to Philadelphia to see the esteemed American Spaniel Club show. I'll get to see all kinds of beautiful Spaniels (not just Cockers), and best of all, I'll get to see Billy! For faithful blog readers, they know his antics. It will be so exciting to see him again! My friend Jackie and I are going together, and I know we'll have an awesome time.

Other than work being super busy, nothing much is new. Just trying to stay out of trouble . . . some days are more successful than others ;)

Yet another pet peeve

Yep, I know, I'm chock full of pet peeves LOL But there are just certain things that drive me nuts. Like people being messy in the house. Not clutter, because anybody that has been to my house knows that I live amidst clutter. I know how to find stuff in my own clutter, and I can live with that, most of the time. Sometimes stuff topples over, and I hit my breaking point, at which I toss stuff to make the piles smaller. No, I'm talking about garbage being left around, dishes in the sink instead of in the dishwasher and people being lazy in general.

Don't get me wrong - I will occasionally leave a sink full of dishes until the next morning or evening, because I'm feeling lazy. But when I know I'm going to use the dishwasher, I load the dishes right away. I don't leave dirty dishes on the counter or in the sink, for somebody else to deal with. And I always throw my garbage away. I don't leave it by the side of my bed, or on the floor, for the "maid" to come and pick up. Because, truth be told, there IS no maid here.

Don't know why this is driving me nuts right now, but it is . . . so that's my rant for the day.

I learned something new about myself . . .

Yep, I never thought it would be true of me, but I have discovered over the past few months that I'm a suburbanite yuppie. Sort of. Granted, I don't have a white picket fence, but through the summer, I'm obsessed with the lawn. It has to be cut regularly, and I don't want to see weeds or grass clippings scattered on the driveway or sidewalk. Even worse, if the neighbors have not trimmed their lawn, it's like a little thorn in my side. I mean, come on, why should I even care?

The town I live in is booming . . . the population is growing a lot more quickly than the housing is, so lots of homes have many people living in them, instead of just one family. The new "fad" is for people to park their vehicles on the front lawn, thus killing the grass. Guess what? Yep, you're right, it drives me CRAZY. I can't stand seeing vehicles parked on the lawn . . . it just seems so - hillbilly - to me.

Sorry about not posting for several months. That's the worst lapse I've had yet. I don't really have a solid excuse, other than the myriad of changes that I've gone through since June. Some have been fabulous, some have been stressful, and everything's been busy. But I'm hoping to at least post weekly, so that folks that read this blog regularly won't think I've disappeared off the face of the earth.

Hope y'all are well!

Happy Birthday!

I just wanted to wish my special girl a happy birthday. Gracie Lou Who turned 1 on Monday August 6th. I had been away on holidays, so she got to spend her birthday being groomed. Not her favourite pastime, but she was a really good girl. Afterwards we had a photo session in the backyard.

I am so happy with this girl. She's pretty, funny, and full of personality. She never fails to bring a smile to my face.

On Vacation!

In the last 48 hours, my blood pressure has gone down, my stomach is less upset, and my smile is everlasting. Why? I'm on vacation in Toronto - my favourite place to be! Not because it's the Center of the Universe (although many residents feel it is), but because it's where my bestest friend ever lives! We are having a wonderful time so far :)

Tomorrow night we're going to see the "new" Harry Potter movie - not new to most people, but we held off on seeing it until we could see it together. On Monday I'm getting a new tattoo, and we're going to the Bata Shoe Museum. Wednesday we're going to Hillsburgh to visit a good friend of mine. And after that, we're SHOPPING!!!!!!!!!!!

I miss the dogs immensely, and apparently they miss me, because they're pottying in the house. That's not completely unusual for Grace, but it's almost unheard of for Farley. It's nice to know I'm loved, I guess, but I hope my mom doesn't drop them off at the SPCA before I get home! This house is very quiet without a dog - I wish I could have brought Grace with me. She'd love it out here!

So I'm going to sleep in, chill (in the air conditioning, since it's hotter than heck outside!) and have fun. Hope y'all are doin' the same!

Just two words

Harry Potter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hot, hot, hot!

Yes, we have been experiencing a heat wave here . . . it's all relative, I know, but to us it feels hotter than Hades! It's been in the low thirties for about a week now (that's Celsius, not Fahrenheit) and we are melting. Fortunately, that's only when we're outside, as my mom had central air put in, so the house is a glorious oasis.

My youngest niece is still with us and keeping the house lively. Farley is enjoying her company, especially when she throws food on the floor for him, or carries it in her hands. He's eating well. Grace is enjoying it too - she's learned that crayons taste good, as well as Barbie feet. Her poops are SO interesting.

I am SOOOO excited about my upcoming trip to Toronto, to visit my best friend. We always have a great time together, and it's nice to get away from everything. I am getting a new tattoo (oh I know, I'm SUCH a rebel), and other than that we just have fun stuff planned. We'll be seeing the new Harry Potter movie (YIPPEEEE), and I'll be saving the book to read until the flight out east.

And that's it from the (hot) Western front. Hope everybody in cyberspace is doing well!

Time marches on . . .

And as time marches on, I keep not updating my blog. At least I have the decency to be embarrassed about it . . . and I'm trying to rectify the situation. For now, anyhow.

Things have been busy here, but to be honest with you, I wouldn't be able to manage life any other way. My two youngest nieces have been living with us off and on (mostly on for my youngest niece, who's been here for 6 weeks), and that keeps all of us on our toes. It takes a toddler to show you how kid-proof your home is NOT. Farley & Grace have been just excellent with the kids . . . they tolerate a million times more than I can! I'm so impressed with how good they've been.

Work is not busy at all. In fact, I just hate being so slow and quiet . . . but that's just the way it is right now. My company is undergoing a significant re-organization, and everybody is waiting to find out what their job roles are going to be. For some it's a big change, for others it's not.

I've been grooming quite a bit lately. Everybody wants to get their dog groomed before they go on holidays. This coming weekend I haven't booked any dogs, so that I can get my own dogs groomed. By then they should need it!

And other than that, it's just been little stuff taking up my time. But I'm glad to have plenty to do, otherwise I'd just be bored. And then I'd be watching too much TV, like Big Brother, Hell's Kitchen and the rest of my favourite reality TV shows!

Oops, gotta go! Hell's Kitchen is on ;)