Enjoying the sunshine

Jack Jack

Jack Jack again . . . I'm keeping his coat in oil, which is why he looks greasy. It's not pretty, but it protects the coat from damage and from urine stains (if you've owned a male Cocker in full coat, you know about the stains and the smell).

Grace, surveying her queendom.

Farley, doing what everybody should do on a sunny afternoon - catching some zzzzz's in the rays.

Alternate Career Options

Yesterday I spent some time exploring an alternate career option, in case the job I have now doesn't work out. No, no, don't take me seriously . . . I was just installing a new toilet in my parents' en-suite. Well, co-installing, really. My mom did the hard work of taking out the old toilet. That's no easy feat, and I must admit that I'm glad that I didn't have to deal with it. In the meantime, I was shopping, to make sure I had clothes for an upcoming work trip to Houston and Toronto.

When I got home, mom and I started installing the new toilet. Really, toilet installation is pretty straightforward and easy, assuming that there are no complications. But my mom and I should know better - our projects are never really straightforward. Ha! When we installed the toilet in my bathroom, it ended up taking hours due to a few little mishaps. Why should this instance have been any different? It wasn't . . .

Two trips to Home Hardware, many, many curse words, blood, sweat and tears. I know, it sounds more like a war movie, but in all honesty, it kind of felt like a war. A war on water supply and floor flanges. No guns or war machines . . . just wrenches and plumbers' tape.

Anyhow, the toilet is in. It took a lot of extra work, but at least it's in and functioning. My apprenticeship as a plumber is underway!

Thankful Thursday

I haven't done a thankful Thursday post in ages. I kind of ran out of things to be thankful for, without sounding trite and sappy. I want my posts to be thoughtful, not just something that's spewing out of my brain to put words on the screen. Of course, that does happen on occasion, but I try to keep it to a minimum when I can.

This week I'm thankful for the opportunities I've been given. The most recent example is my new job . . . . it's the kind of opportunity that doesn't come around every day. My new bosses took a chance on me, and I appreciate that. I know that I can do the job and do it well, but without fate and intervention from a few people, it never would have been available to me. But beyond the job, I have had so many other great opportunities . . . and they just seemed to come along at the right times in my life.

Just out of high school, I traveled to Denmark as an exchange student with Rotary International. It was a huge opportunity - I was so lucky to be able to live abroad and to gain the awesome life experiences. I saw a lot of Europe, I learned a new language and got to be immersed in a new culture. So many people never get the chance to do this, and I did. It changed my life forever, for the better.

Last fall, I was given the opportunity to teach some Rally Obedience classes. I have no official training as a dog teacher, but the training centre owner hired me. It has turned out to be a lot of fun, and I have some fabulous students. I am thankful all the time that I got this chance, because dog training is something I really love.

Life is a series of opportunities ~ whether or not a person grabs them is what guides the course of their life. What "carpe diem" moments have you seized?

New Job

I started my new job yesterday . . . and hit the ground running. The Business Venture Manager told me that I have roughly six weeks to get it all figured out, and I think that was a generous amount of time :) Ideally, he wants me to have it figured out now, so that I can be 100% productive right off the bat. But there's definitely an acclimatization period, and I'm in it now.

I've spent the past two days learning and absorbing. I've been talked to and involved in discussions, and I'm slowly figuring out what it is I'm supposed to do. I've spent time in Word and Excel, and a bit of time checking out PowerPoint stuff too. Wait until I get all of the access I've required - my head will really be spinning!

But I am most definitely enjoying it. I love being busy all day, and I love that my input and comments are being taken seriously. People act like I know what I'm talking about . . . sometimes that's good, sometimes not so much. But they don't know when I'm bluffing, only I know that. Hee, hee, hee!

Thanks everyone for the well wishes. I think this is a great move for me, and I'm glad I made it. I am now a Project Management Analyst slash Project Controls Specialist. If anybody figures out what that is, let me know!

Grace's Therapy Visit

So last night was the first of three practicum visits required by the therapy group that Grace and I are involved with. As soon as we walked into the hospital's front area, there were ooohs and aaaahs from people. She pranced her way into the elevator and rode it up to the fourth floor (Continuing Care) like a pro. We met the Recreation Therapist, who promptly fell in love with Grace, and then started making our rounds.

Grace did very well, and I'm not sure if it was the residents or the staff that enjoyed her visit more :) She met around ten residents, and she wowed almost every one of them. With one lady, she laid down on her bed and snuggled into the lady's legs. The lady was very happy about that. She showed off her "high five" trick, and gave out a few kisses (not too many though).

Our visit lasted about 45 minutes or so, and Grace was pretty tired by the time we headed back to the car. She handled everything like a pro, and I'm looking forward to our next visit!

Walking The Dogs

Or are they walking me? One never really knows, given their uncanny ability to turn into sled dogs as soon as the leash is attached. And it's not like these dogs can't heel - Grace is ready to compete in Rally-O and Jack Jack has been training for heelwork for almost a year now. But something about the two of them together. Grace I can manage verbally, with reminders to walk "easy," but Jack Jack has to wear the dreaded Gentle Leader head collar. He hates it with a passion, and spends at least half the walk attempting new removal procedures. He has yet to succeed. Farley stays home, as the theatrics exhaust him, and his knees give out anyhow.

The first walk of the season was Monday night. Bright blue skies, sun shining . . . perfect walk weather. Apparently, the dogs have forgotten how to walk on a leash since the late fall. Fun stuff. Untangle, walk two steps, pull the coupler line out from under Jack's tail, walk five steps, poop, walk three steps, untangle . . . you get the idea. And then we reach the off-leash area. This is where my own amnesia kicked in, and I let both dogs off the leash (it's a fenced area). They go off running like something is chasing them, and they're having fun. Until Jack sees the other dogs. The dogs that are so far away they look like specks. And he starts barking and freaking out. Aaaaah yes, I forgot. His whole "other dogs are way scary" thing. Crap! Scoop him up, and attempt to hold a writhing, barking, squirming dog while ignoring the dog that just wants to play. The poor owner is wondering what on earth her dog did to mine to make him scream. I'm reassuring her while calling Grace and trying to get the heck out of there.Yesterday's walk was a bit more civilized. We by-passed the off-leash area, much to Grace's chagrin and Jack's relief. He's much braver when the dogs are on the other side of the chain link fencing! We are still working on the getting tangled up issue, but it'll come. And Jack's various Gentle Leader removal attempts continue. He is convinced that with the right flick of a paw, it will magically slide off. Meanwhile, I'm enjoying the show.We may actually get this routine back in place if we keep at it.

And once the two beasts are under control, I can bring Farley along for fun every now and then. Just to remind myself that carrying a 24 pound, 9 year old dog is more work than I want while taking a nice, summer walk.

Holy weekend, Batman!

I was so busy I barely had time to sit down!

Friday night my niece came for the weekend. She's 8 - it's a good age for interaction, and she's really smart and inquisitive, so she's lots of fun to hang out with. I groomed Taffy, my very first foster dog (she's on my website, on the rescue page), and my niece helped me a bit by cleaning up the hair.

Saturday morning I got up and let Farley upstairs while I showered (live in the basement, with my own bathroom). Went to go upstairs and found the wrapper from a diabetic chocolate bar. My dad said he'd only eaten one piece, so I dug out the hydrogen peroxide and waited for Farley to throw up. He was licking his lips a ton, but no vomiting. So my mom, my niece and I went out to run errands. Came home to a huge pile of chocolate vomit on our beige basement carpet. But at least he got it out. Brat!

Saturday night we took my niece to a belly dancing recital, as a family friend was performing. We went to another friend's house for supper first, and then went as a big group. It was fun! I want to learn to belly dance now - those women were amazing!

Sunday morning I got up and bathed and dried Jack Jack (weekly ritual). My niece helped a bit with brushing, but she did get bored . . . I can't blame her. What 8 year old wants to watch you dry a dog for an hour? LOL Then I took her to my two dog training classes - Rally obedience and then Novice obedience trial-prep. She LOVES helping with my classes, and it's great exposure for the dogs, many of whom aren't used to kids. When we got home from class, I cleaned out the inside of my car for the first time since winter had set in. It was very gross - several trips with kids in the backseat led to crumbs and food all over, and dog hair supreme. That took an hour and a half, and then I took it to a car wash to clean the outside. It looks and smells great now!

Sunday night is TV night - we watched our shows and took my niece home. I am thankful to be at work, where there is no physical labour LOL

Training Challenges

So, as I've probably posted on this blog before, Grace is in agility training. Well actually, both of us are, since I've never done agility either, other than fun classes with Quigley when he was younger. Anyhow, we started classes in the late fall and have been going weekly pretty much since then (with a few breaks for holidays and stuff).

One of the things that Grace and I have been working on is weave pole training. When a dog competes in agility, they have to weave through 12 poles, set in a straight line, roughly 20" apart. Seeing a dog weave well and quickly is an awesome thing . . . but it takes a while to learn, because the dog always has to enter with the first weave pole by their left shoulder. We're learning using a method developed by Susan Garrett called 2x2 Weave Training. It works very well and it seems to really cement the concept of weave poles in the dogs' minds. I have been very happy with it for Grace, as she has been progressing quite nicely through the stages of training.

Until last week. I have a set of PVC weave poles that I made, and I'd been keeping them at the training centre due to the weather (can't train outside in the snow!). I brought them home last week and set them up in the backyard. Grace looked at them as though she'd never seen them before. Now, I know that you have to take a step back in new situations, to facilitate learning, so I went back several steps to make things easy for her. Even with the poles set in a channel, she acted as though she'd never seen them. Of course, that frustrated me, as she had been doing so well.

Tuesday night at class, she was reasonably decent with the weave poles. The instructor told me to persevere with practicing at home, because many trials are on grass. Well, she has gone through the poles a few times . . . but after going through correctly 5-10 times (with tons of praise and reward to reinforce it), she starts running around them, or blowing them off completely.

Hence the title of my post. Training, while something I love immensely, is occasionally really, really challenging. Really challenging.

Job Specifics

Okay, now that everything is hammered out, I can finally share the details about my new job at Syncrude :) This is a position change within the company - I am not changing companies.

I will be working on the SAP project (to install SAP as our base system on top of Windows) starting on May 11th. Rather ironically, I will be returning to the trailer that I worked in 2 years ago, and maybe even to the same office! I will be a Project Manager Analyst, or Project Coordinator. I will work as a liaison between Syncrude and Exxon for the project, and will be familiar with both sets of systems. SAP is a program that includes all aspects of the business from purchase to pay (ERP, if you're familiar with the industry term), so it is going to be a MAJOR change for employees at Syncrude. It's a huge project, and I will get lots of exposure, so it's a great opportunity.

Wish me luck on my new adventure - it should be very interesting!

The Frisbee Fairy

On Saturday, after being out of the house all day with three of my nieces, I came home to find the red frisbee back in the yard. The dogs are thrilled, especially Farley, since he adores that thing. A friend told me that the frisbee fairy had taken it for regularly scheduled maintenance, and that occasional disappearances can be attributed to her. Who knew????

Revenge Is Sweet

Remember the "Shhhhh . . . In Disguise" pictures? Well, those glasses were from my 8 year old niece's birthday party . . . all of the kids wore them.

Yesterday when i got home from work, I found Farley chewing on a flesh-coloured piece of plastic. Ooops, there went the nose. In the basement I found the remnants of the charmingly fuzzy eyebrows and mustache. Sigh.

Farley says revenge is sweet :)

Change Is Good

Today I got some good news at work. My rotation in Internal Audit is drawing to a close, and my boss and I have been discussing my options for where to go next within the company. It's been an ongoing discussion for a few weeks now, and we've been talking about plans and possibilities.

A couple of weeks ago my boss called me about a really exciting opportunity within my company. I talked to a few people involved with the potential job, and sent in my resume. Well, I was either shockingly charming or my resume is brilliant, because today they called me to invite me to join the department :) YAHOO! I'm really happy about this, because it's a heck of an opportunity for me, with lots of room for personal and professional growth.

I can't say a lot about the details until everything is hammered out, but suffice it to say that my spring re-birth and changes are coming about.

Shhhh . . . I'm hunting wascally wabbits

Farley . . . . incognito.

Adventures in Kelly-Land

Yep, life is always an adventure, right? At least it seems that way with my life.

Yesterday I was playing frisbee with the dogs in the backyard, enjoying the weather and sunshine. The dogs were having a great time running around too. Unfortunately, as I occasionally do, I threw the frisbee into the neighbours' yard. Not the uber-friendly, pleasant neighbours - no, that would have made life too easy. It was the cranky, solitary, unfriendly neighbours. No worries, though, as it didn't appear that anybody was home.

I went to the front of the house, opened their gate, and made my way through the little corridor to their yard. I was about to go around the house when I heard a chain jangle. A dog chain. Now, I had no idea that they had a dog (it's very quiet, I guess), so I had no idea if it was friendly or not. Scratch the idea of going through the yard - no longer feasible.

So I took the old dog Farley into the fire lane and cruised behind the houses. I could see the frisbee, just inside the fence. No skinny sticks to try and shove through the fence boards to try and manipulate the frisbee in any manner. But a lovely big, old tree. Good for climbing, or at least hanging onto while you get yourself over the fence. It wasn't pretty, and I can guarantee it wasn't graceful either, but I got myself over the fence and into the tree. I dropped into the yard, grabbed the frisbee, and climbed the tree to get back out. Action over for the day, I looked for Farley. His concern for his owner was overwhelming . . . I guess he figured I was gone, since I had disappeared, so he had started to make his way further down the laneway, checking out the good smells. His devotion is underwhelming LOL

I did learn two valuable lessons though - 31 year old bodies are not meant for climbing trees, especially when they're out of shape, and stop throwing the balls, frisbees and other toys over the damned fence!

Absolutely unbelievable

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

This just goes to show that you truly can NOT judge a book by its cover! This woman is totally unreal . . . her voice is angelic!

Interesting discovery . . .

Well, as those of you that have met him know, my young man Jack Jack is a pokey puppy when it comes to eating. No matter what kinds of things I've added to his food (canned food, baby food, gravy, supplements, etc) he has always been a slow eater, and he rarely finishes his meal. He's not a fat dog - in fact, he could stand to gain at least a pound - even though he eats 2 cups of food a day. That's twice what the other two eat!

As I do on every holiday, I took some of our meal and added it to the dogs' food. Last night they got some mashed turnips (my mom and I love 'em) and some cooked carrots, cut into small pieces (by my 4 year old niece, who started biting them into pieces when the knife wasn't cutting easily - OMG we laughed at that!). Well, to my shock (and great happiness) Jack Jack was the first one finished eating! I couldn't believe my eyes!

To see if it was just a "one of" occurrence, I gave them all the same thing tonight. Again tonight, he sucked down that meal like it was going to vanish if he didn't hurry. It's so awesome to know that he has a favourite food, although I'm kind of surprised it's turnips and carrots. But whatever, at least now I know what to tempt him with!

Taxes

Normally I have my taxes done as soon as all of my receipts come in. But for some reason (perhaps being so busy I can hardly think!) I have been slow to do my taxes this year. I know I'm getting money back, because of my investments and donations, so there's no rush to have them done for any particular deadline. Anyhow, today I sat down with Intuit's QuickTax program and did my taxes.

I put everything in, and clicked on the review button, to see how much I was getting back. I almost passed out when it told me I had an amount payable in the multiple thousands of dollars!!!!!!!!!!! My mind was reeling and I felt sick to my stomach, trying to figure out how I would pay that. I called my mom into the room, and she very kindly (and without as much laughter as I expected) pointed out that I'd forgotten to fill in some boxes. Once those boxes were filled in, I realized that I was getting a refund. Phew!

Thank goodness for my mom, or I'd still be in shock, and looking for quick ways to make money.

Milestones

So, on March 23rd I "celebrated" 5 years of being employed at the same place. Normally that wouldn't really seem like much of an accomplishment, but in this day and age of job changes, it's not bad. When I sit back and think about it, it certainly doesn't feel like I've been there for 5 years. It feels like I just started a couple of years ago. The time has gone by quickly. Of course, for half of that, I was working on my MBA, and most of that time is a blur.

I got a nice, hand-signed letter from the CEO of the company I work for (http://www.syncrude.come) and I get to choose a milestone gift from Birks (the jewellry store). Not everything is made by Birks, but I guess they handle the awards. Because I also have 5 years of safe work, I get to choose an award for that as well. The choice for that was easy, as there are only 9 awards to choose from. I picked a really nice Victorinox Swiss Army Knife/Tool set. Choosing from the awards for 5 years of service is tougher. Still, how nice to have a choice . . . many companies don't offer gifts.

No other real milestones to talk about today . . . it's been a beautiful spring day, with warm weather and blue skies. I spent half of the day with 3 of my nieces and my mom, and I spent the other half of the day grooming my monsters (the youngest two). Can't complain, that's for sure!

Happy Easter to my blog readers, and thanks for reading my rants, musings and weird notes.

Easter Rebirth

On a similar vein to my "Spring Glee" post, today I am writing about Easter rebirth. The topic is timely, given that Easter is on Sunday. The timeliness isn't really a coincidence (come on, I can't get anything past you guys!) . . . more because I really have not a lot else to post about right now.

Obviously, the holiday is celebrating the death and subsequent resurrection of Christ. The ultimate rebirth. But there is always rebirth taking place around is, in big and small ways.

It's springtime, so the grass, trees, shrubs and flowers are coming back from their deep winter sleep. Slowly (well, slowly for us here in the Great Filthy North), the snow and mud are going and the bright colours of spring are taking over. The hibernating animals (including me!) are waking up and going about their springtime rituals. Working off the winter fat and stretching limbs and joints. I see it in the dogs, too, who are happy to be outside for longer than it takes to pee.

Even in my own life, rebirth is happening. Things are changing. It's exciting and daunting, all at once. Change is always a little bit scary, but totally necessary for life to progress in a natural way.

Find some time to think about rebirth and how it is touching your life. And happy Easter, Passover, or whichever holiday you choose to celebrate.

Springtime Glee

Okay, so anybody that knows me realizes that glee is probably overstating things a bit LOL With that out in the open, I am thrilled about the new, warmer weather. It's been at least 6-7 degrees outside, and the sun has been shining. Today, late afternoon, some cloud cover rolled in, but otherwise it's been gorgeous outside. The dogs and I have been spending a bit more time outside, getting our fair share of Vitamin D.

The only downside to spring is the requirement to clean up the yard. There is several months' worth of soggy dog poop out there, and since they're my dogs, I have to clean it up. Yucky, gross, ewwwww! But it has to be done, so I chip away at it, day by day.

Still, even that gross task can't dampen my new spring spirits. Hope you're in good spirits too!

Music Choices

Lately I've been downloading some new music for my iPod. As my friends know, I have what could be called eclectic tastes. My friends will understand my most recent music choices, but others might not.

~ Britney Spears, "Circus" . . . not what anybody would call a mature or classic music choice. But the songs have a really catchy beat, and hey, I've never claimed to be mature! I especially like Womanizer and Circus.

~ Cirque de Soleil, "O" . . . what sounds like a blend of Bollywood and French, the music is haunting and mysterious. It also brings back incredible memories from my recent trip to Vegas. I have my best friend to thank for sharing the CD with me!

~ The soundtrack to "Slumdog Millionaire" . . . definitely very Bollywood, but also with underlying dance/techno tones. The Oscar nominated songs (Jai Ho and another one whose name I can't remember) are really memorable and make me want to sing out loud.

~ Taylor Swift, "Fearless" . . . a really nice follow-up album to her debut album. More twangy country songs, but with her innocent, pretty voice. I do recommend it, but not if you don't like country music. Even her nice voice, the twang could be TOO much for you.

What's new on your iPod? Please recommend some catchy tunes to me!

On The Road

Ya know, there's nothing like driving for four hours and entertaining a kid. Granted, she's a really well-behaved kid, but still . . . I listened to a song about gummy bears over and over and over again. It's a techno song (or something like that) and I think I'll be hearing the beat for days on end, in my waking and sleeping hours.

Thankfully, my best friend made up a snack bag for my niece, so she had things to eat. She got a lot of mileage out of the goldfish crackers - at one point she was pretending they were boots and finger puppets. I really don't quite remember ever being that creative. She really did a great job entertaining herself, for the most part.

I have realized that my music choices on my iPod are not always appropriate for 4 year olds. My niece is now telling everybody that Britney Spears' "Womanizer" is her favourite song. Great. Double great LOL Mix into that some Mamma Mia as well as this Gummy Bear song. The excitement was overwhelming!

Anyhow, I'll be back on the highway on Thursday . . . taking my niece home and heading out to another dog show. After that I might be all dog showed out.

Monsters vs. Aliens

First of all, I wanted to clarify that while I'm heading to Pomona, CA in July, none of the dogs are making the trip with me. It's almost impossible to fly dogs into California at that time of year due to the temps, and I would rather just sit back and enjoy the show than have to worry about grooming and nerves and everything else. So Farley, Grace and Jack Jack will be staying with my parents while I travel. Thanks for the vote of confidence though!

Tonight I went to see the latest Disney Pixar release, Monsters vs Aliens. I was lucky enough to be able to see it in 3D. Now, I may lead a very sheltered life, but I have never seen a movie in 3D before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Let me tell you, it's COOL! They give you these glasses (not the blue and red ones that you use to read 3D comic books - these are grey), and it just makes everything pop right off the screen! I really enjoyed that aspect of it.

The movie is filled with laughs and grown-up humour. We went with a 4 and a 5 year old, and I'm pretty sure that 85% of everything was a bit too mature for them. Maybe more. Personally, I thought it was hilarious (highlights include Seth Rogen as a blob of jelly and Stephen Colbert as the US President). The cast is excellent, and full of stars. I laughed a lot.

If you enjoy Disney and/or Pixar presentations, I recommend seeing this one. Don't go in with high expectations of the plot or character development - it is Disney after all. But do expect a fun movie that is entertaining for kids and adults alike.

California, here I come!

I have been debating for months about whether I should attend the American Spaniel Club (ASC) Summer dog show in Pomona, California. On one hand, this show is finally close enough to home that it won't take all day to get there (the show moves around the country every year, to different host zones). On the other hand, California is hotter than hell in July, and it's also not cheap. I have gone back and forth on this since last year, with no real decision.

Well, as you can tell from the subject line, I've made my decision. I'll be heading to Pomona, CA (which isn't too terribly far from LA) in July 2009. My good friend (Jack Jack's breeder) convinced me that it would be a wonderful trip for us to do. We'll be meeting the owner of Jack Jack's sister Barbie, who now lives in Australia. We'll also get to see some fantastic dogs. AND (this really, honestly was the selling point) we're going to Anaheim on the Monday following the show, so I can go to Disneyland. When my best friend suggested that, she KNEW I'd say yes :)

Despite the heat and having to save like a fiend for this, I'm super excited. Only 104 more days to go!

Heading Home

Well, the glitz and glamour of Vegas will soon be a memory. As I type, I'm sitting in McCarran International Airport, waiting for my flight. It's been a great trip - I've been able to connect with old friends as well as meet new ones (well, sort of new - we've been e-friends for a long time). As with my last trip to Vegas, there has been lots of sightseeing, tons of shopping, and a healthy dose of shows.

Wednesday night we saw "O" by Cirque de Soleil, and were blown away by that. What an incredible performance! The music is enchanting and the athletics and artistry are mind-blowing. It was well worth the price - my two friends and I enjoyed it immensely.

Thursday was a less hectic day than the previous three were, but we walked a few miles (well, maybe not a few, but it felt like lots!). We meandered through the Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat at the Mirage, and took pictures. My "new" friend's nephew and brother-in-law joined us, so that was fun. It was nice to spend some time with them. After they left, we went for lunch at a burger place (although, oddly enough, none of us had burgers). We roamed the Forum Shops for a bit - had great fun at FAO Scwartz! - and then headed to Paris, where we had supper at Mon Ami Gabi. What a fabulous little restaurant!

Last night we took in the Donny & Marie (yes, of the Osmonds) at the Flamingo. The showroom is set up like a lounge, with tables, so that was cool. It's a pretty intimate venue . . . we could almost reach out and touch them! The show was a blast, and I know my one friend was in heaven that we were there at all.

This morning was all about checking out of the condo, getting luggage organized, and getting to the airport. Now comes the boring part of vacations - the travel. Fortunately I think I can watch "Slumdog Millionaire" on the flight, so that should pass the time.

Tomorrow it's back to real life . . . no richer, and maybe not a ton wiser either, but at least just a little bit more relaxed!

Vegas Days 2 & 3

So we are definitely enjoying Las Vegas . . . the weather is nice and hot (roughly a 60 degree difference between home and here!), and the sky is such a vibrant shade of blue. The hotels look awesome against the bright sky.

Yesterday started with some shopping at the Fashion Show mall that's just across the boulevard from the Wynn and Encore. Then we went to the Venetian and spent some time at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. It was so cool! The wax figures are very lifelike, and I even got to marry George Clooney :) Wedding pictures to come LOL We wandered around the Venetian a bit, and managed to find a lucky Liam (leprechaun). We got gold coins - chocolate ones!

We had supper at Margaritaville and watched a Micheal Jackson impersonator . . . that was kind of scary. Who'd want to impersonate him?

Then we went to see Phantom of the Opera: Las Vegas. It's basically the Coles Notes version of the Broadway show . . . 90 minutes of fast and furious singing. The falling chandelier was scary, since we were sitting right underneath it, but it was a great production. We all loved it.

This morning was a lazy morning, which is perfect for a vacation. We slept in and lazed around. After lunch we went to the Premium Outlets and did some shopping. Not much, but we did do plenty of window shopping. Now we're chilling in the condo until we head to the Bellagio to see O. I can't wait, it's supposed to be amazing.

Tomorrow we are seeing Donny & Marie Osmond, and I think we're hitting the Secret Garden at the Mirage. It should be a great day!

Vegas Day One

We're doing well and having fun. My cold has progressed from the painful stage (thank God!) to the snot-filled head stage. I can't breathe, and have to blow my nose every 5 minutes, but that's better than the pain. I picked up some great drugs at Walgreens that are helping. We also found rootbeer freezies!!!!!

Yesterday we went to Mandalay Bay and went through the Shark Reef . . . that was okay. I did get to pet a stingray, which was cool. We had lunch at the House of Blues. We went into the Luxor (the pyramid) and managed to get lost. We exited through the scuzziest stairwell I have ever seen. Maybe the seedy side of Vegas? We did the MGM Grand and looked at the lions there. I got some great pictures. We gambled in Mandalay Bay, the Luxor and MGM Grand. I'm down $30 . . . and I still haven't found any machines that are more than $1. I'm looking.

We went to M&M World and I got the cutest hoodie for my niece. I also got her a bag of orange M&Ms. No sugar-free ones, sorry! We went to the Coke store, which was very cool. We walked to Paris and walked around there for a bit. Then we were tired. Nicole's sister drove us to Fremont Street (old Las Vegas) and we watched the light show there and spent about 1/2 hour there. Then we came back to the condo and had supper. It was Pizza Hut, and the crust was SOOOO disappointing. Oh well.

Not sure what the game plan is for today, but I'm sure it holds many adventures for us!

Happy Birthday Little Man!

I find it very hard to believe, but my little dude Jack Jack Attack is one today! It seems like just yesterday he was born, and I was falling in love. I remember bringing him home and starting puppy classes with him. I remember his first dog show. SO many firsts with him, and more to come.

Today he gets a bath (much more exciting for me than for him LOL) and then I will take some birthday pictures. They will be pretty, as all of my Jack pictures are. It's the subject, not the photographer ;)

Good Luck!

It's actually Peaches that needs the good luck. We're hoping to restore the vision in at least one of Peaches' eyes. She's a doll. Both eyes now have a cataract. She hasn't had any applications on her lately.

We've come up with MANY wonderful items for our Peaches Raffle. We all know that it's a scary economy at this time, so instead of doing an auction, we thought (and hoped) that it would be easier for anyone to help us by just purchasing a 'chance' instead of an expensive bid on an item. So, if you could take a look at our raffle page, perhaps forward it to others that might be interested, we would appreciate it very much.

We hope we have something for everyone. Not just dog people. Although I can't imagine non-dog people!

http://www.cockersinneed.com/butterfly.html?1236018271484

Go Gracie-Lou!

Tonight was Grace's last Agility II class. So far she's had 16 weeks of agility (12 weeks, actually, since she missed a couple of sessions due to work travel), and she's doing really well. We're teaching weave poles using Susan Garrett's 2x2 method, and Grace is almost doing 12 poles straight! Not bad for only 6 weeks (we used channels the first session). This method of training is awesome for clicker dogs, as it uses the clicker to mark proper entry and execution.

Grace LOVES the wall and the bridge (A-frame and dogwalk), and goes flying over both pieces. Right now she's slightly ambivalent about the tunnel, but I think it has to do with us learning rear crosses, and her not being 100% committed to the tunnel before I turn. This worries her, as she thinks she'll lose me. She'll learn, though.

She's a fast girl, and we're both learning. I have to keep working on having her work on BOTH sides, not just my left (since obedience is all on the left, this is a struggle for me). We're both going to have to get comfortable with distance work too. But we have a great instructor, and lots of support. With any luck, she might be ready to trial next summer!

So proud

A couple of weeks ago my dad got great news - his brother had been offered the position of Judge in the Court of Justice where he resides and works. This is a really big deal - only the right person for the job is chosen, after lots of interviews, references and a review of their work. Not just any lawyer can become a judge, it requires something special. We've all been really excited for my uncle.

Today the excitement got just slightly more palpable - today the official invitation to the swearing-in ceremony arrived in the mail. Unfortunately, we can't attend, because it's far away and in the middle of the week. But feeling the roughness of the official invitation, and seeing the formal cursive script just makes it seem more real.

My uncle really is an example of a kid that grew up in the middle of nowhere and worked his way up. He was never too proud to do hard labour, and he earned the money he needed to get through law school. Student loans weren't so readily available when he was in graduate school. I am so very proud of my uncle.

Okay, I lied

Never mind that whole "March is coming in like a lamb" thing . . . it's bloody cold outside, with wind and snow! Okay, Mother Nature, I call Uncle and you win . . . . now please just back off a bit and at least tempt us with dreams of spring.

On other topics, my Canine Good Neighbour class that I've been teaching is done. I am so impressed with the students I had - they all progressed so well and learned so much. We had a lot of fun playing obedience games last night. There were lots of laughs. No more CGN classes until the fall, so I get Wednesday nights free.

In like a lamb?

I'm a bit concerned. March is supposed to come in like a lion and go out like a lamb . . . which means kind of a rough start to the month (weather-wise), but a nice, spring-y finish. It's now the third of March, and it appears to be coming in like a lamb. I am very worried that it will go out like a lion - especially since that's entirely possible here in the arctic tundra. While I'm enjoying the milder temperatures, I don't want it to get cold again!



It may just be me, but this has been a long, hard, cold winter. It doesn't seem like we've had many warm weather breaks in between the sub-zero days (weeks!). I think pretty much everybody here is ready for spring in a BIG way. How about you?

Really? Give me a break!

My good friend Murphy has been visiting again. Monday and Tuesday I was in Edmonton for work . . . my car was parked at the airport, and despite the frigid temps (hello, Mother Nature? Warm up could happen any day now) it started fine and was running fine when I got home. Wednesday morning (think -42 Celsius with windchill), my dad borrowed the car to drive my mother to the airport. No issues. He then took the car to work . . . which I don't have a problem with. We share cars all the time.

Somewhere between our house and his work (you could practically spit on one location from the other, they're that close!), the power steering fluid mysteriously drained (or something - I'm no mechanic, so this is a guess). Now turning the car is like cranking weights . . . it takes all of your muscle power and then some. The timing is nothing short of magnificent, since I'm off to a dog show out of town today. Perfect!

The car is booked in at the dealership on Monday (good thing it's not a real emergency!) and I'm taking the only fully-functioning vehicle from the household. Pray to the gods (especially Murphy!) that my trip goes well and without incident.

Totally awesome gift!

So, on Friday when I got home, there was a card from Canada Post letting me know that I had a parcel waiting to be picked up. I hadn't ordered anything (for a change!), so I was kind of confused. On Saturday when I picked it up, I saw a good friend's address and really couldn't figure out what she'd sent me. Well, it was a belated birthday gift - from several of my good friends (and the kitties too :) ). And it is freaking awesome! What a fabulous, cool, thoughtful gift!

Thank you to the people that got this for me - you know who you are, and I can't tell you how much this made my day. I love you all SO MUCH!

Motivation?

So, the new year is about 7 weeks old now, and most of us are slowly getting away from meeting our New Year's resolutions. Well, technically I didn't make a measureable resolution, I just said I wanted to be healthier, but implied in that that I would be eating better and exercising some. I started out well, using the Wii Fit at least 3-4 times a week, and making a conscious effort to eat better. I'm still paying attention to what I eat (although I do have slip-ups from time to time), but have almost completely fallen off the exercise bandwagon.

I'm working full time, so my day is full. I'm tired when I get home, and don't want to work out. I know in my heart of hearts that if I'd just get off my butt and do something, I'd start feeling better, but I can't seem to make that leap. On one Cocker Spaniel forum that I belong to we have sort of a Biggest Loser thing going, but we're all facing the same challenge as far as getting moving.

What do you use for motivation? Do you have any hints for me? And please, don't suggest I get up earlier in the morning - 5:45am really is the earliest I can wake up and actually be human.

My dogs

I have been watching a reactive dog seminar on DVD (Control Unleashed - both the book and the DVDs are excellent, by the way) and the presenter (Leslie McDevitt) mentioned that when you're at a class and feeling frustrated with your dog, get them to relax on their mat, do some bodywork (TTouch, light massage, etc) and think about some things about your dog that make you laugh. Then, think about a time that your dog made you proud. Think about the thing(s) that make your dog special to you. Think about the first time you met your dog.

Call me sappy and sentimental (guilty of both charges!), but just thinking of these things made me misty-eyed. I still remember the first time I saw each of my dogs - and in each case it was pictures prior to meeting the dogs. I can think of something each dog does that makes me laugh, and just going through my memories is enough to bring a smile to my face. But I think the biggest (read: most emotional) thing is thinking of what each dog has done to make me proud. I can't even really limit it to one incident per dog - some of the episodes are big deals, and some are minor things . . . but they've all made me proud somehow.

If you have pets, and you're feeling particularly frustrated (like when your cat shreds your curtains or your dog refuses to listen), follow Leslie's advice. It will bring your blood pressure down and help you feel even more connected with your furry friend. Enjoy!

The Journey

The Journey
~ by Crystal Ward Kent

When you bring a pet into your life, you begin a journey -- a journey that will bring you more love and devotion than you have ever known, yet also test your strength and courage. If you allow, the journey will teach you many things,about life, about yourself, and most of all, about love. You will come away changed forever, for one soul cannot touch another without leaving its mark.

Along the way, you will learn much about savoring life's simple pleasures -- jumping in leaves, snoozing in the sun, the joys of puddles, and even the satisfaction of a good scratch behind the ears.

If you spend much time outside, you will be taught how to truly experience every element, for no rock, leaf, or log will go unexamined, no rustling bush will be overlooked, and even the very air will be inhaled, pondered, and noted as being full of valuable information. Your pace may be slower -- except when heading home to the food dish -- but you will become a better naturalist,having been taught by an expert in the field.

Too many times we hike on automatic pilot, our goal being to complete the trail rather than enjoy the journey. We miss the details -- the colorful mushrooms on the rotting log, the honeycomb in the old maple snag, the hawk feather caught on a twig. Once we walk as a dog does, we discover a whole new world. We stop; we browse the landscape, we kick over leaves, peek in tree holes, look up, down, all around. And we learn what any dog knows: that nature has created a marvelously complex world that is full of surprises,that each cycle of the seasons bring ever changing wonders, each day an essence all its own.

Even from indoors you will find yourself more attuned to the world around you. You will find yourself watching summer insects collecting on a screen. (How bizarre they are! How many kinds there are!), or noting the flick and dance flash of fireflies through the dark. You will stop to observe the swirling of windblown leaves, or sniff the air after a rain. It does not matter that there isno objective in this; the point is in the doing, in not letting life's mostimportant details slip by.

You will find yourself doing silly things that your pet-less friends might not understand: spending thirty minutes in the grocery aisle looking for the cat food brand your feline must have, buying dog birthday treats, or driving around the block an extra time because your pet enjoys the ride. You will roll in the snow, wrestle with chewie toys, bounce little rubber balls till your eyes cross, and even run around the house trailing your bathrobe tie -- with a cat in hot pursuit -- all in the name of love.

Your house will become muddier and hairier. You will wear less dark clothingand buy more lint rollers. You may find dog biscuits in your pocket or purse,and feel the need to explain that an old plastic shopping bag adorns yourliving room rug because your cat loves the crinkly sound. You will learn the true measure of love -- the steadfast, undying kind that says, "It doesn't matter where we are or what we do, or how life treats us as long as we are together." Respect this always. It is the most precious gift any living soul can give another. You will not find it often among the human race.

And you will learn humility. The look in my dog's eyes often made me feel ashamed. Such joy and love at my presence. She saw not some flawed human who could be cross and stubborn, moody or rude, but only her wonderful companion. Or maybe she saw those things and dismissed them as mere human foibles, not worth considering, and so chose to love me anyway.

If you pay attention and learn well, when the journey is done, you will be notjust a better person, but the person your pet always knew you to be -- the onethey were proud to call beloved friend.

I must caution you that this journey is not without pain. Like all paths of true love, the pain is part of loving. For as surely as the sun sets, one day your dear animal companion will follow a trail you cannot yet go down.

And you will have to find the strength and love to let them go. A pet's time on earth is far too short -- especially for those that love them. We borrow them,really, just for a while, and during these brief years they are generous enoughto give us all their love, every inch of their spirit and heart, until one day thereis nothing left.

The cat that only yesterday was a kitten is all too soon old and frail and sleeping in the sun. The young pup of boundless energy wakes up stiff and lame, the muzzle now gray. Deep down we somehow always knew that this journey would end. We knew that if we gave our hearts they would be broken.

But give them we must for it is all they ask in return. When the time comes and the road curves ahead to a place we cannot see, we give one final gift and let them run on ahead -- young and whole once more. "God speed, good friend," we say, until our journey comes full circle and our paths cross again.

My 10 Favourite Things!

I was tagged in a note by a friend (hi Brenda!) to make a list of my current 10 favourite things. As Brenda said in her post (http://bhuronlighthouse.blogspot.com) this list is subject to change at a moment's notice.

1. Broadway Musicals (my current favourite is Wicked, but it changes from time to time)

2. American Cocker Spaniels, especially the three that live with me (although some days I would pay somebody to take them, today I love them)

3. NCIS - it's must-see TV for me!

4. Patricia McConnell PhD - canine behaviorist (http://www.patriciamcconnell.com)

5. Sunny days

6. Getting personal mail (not bills or junk mail, but cards, parcels, etc)

7. Reading - a day without reading is an incomplete day for me. Whether it's a magazine, non-fiction or fiction (or almost any other medium), I feel compelled to read.

8. My Blackberry Pearl - a little piece of technology that I'm fairly certain I couldn't live without!

9. A freshly washed car, inside and out.

10. A nice, cold can of Diet Coke.

For those of you reading this, I challenge you to list your 10 favourite things! Consider yourself tagged!

No news

So, a good friend of mine posted on her blog not too long ago about what to post when nothing is new. I read her post and sympathized. But not as much as I sympathize now! I just updated my blog a couple of days ago, and since then, nothing much has happened.

My life is pretty busy these days. I'm teaching two Rally Obedience classes and a Canine Good Neighbour class, as well as taking an agility class with Grace. So I'm at the training centre almost as much as I'm at home these days. I love teaching classes, and I enjoy doing agility with Grace, but some nights I just want a break.

Work is always busy. Not flat out busy, but steady busy. We're moving from one audit to another, trying to get our work done efficiently.

And at home, things keep marching on too. Little things need doing all the time, and every now and then we like to have some "free" time too.

And that's it, in a nutshell. My life as I'm living it . . . exciting or what?

Westminster Dog Show

Well, I just finished watching the 133rd Westminster Kennel Club dog show on Animal Planet Canada. What an awesome, awesome finish! The Best in Show winner was Ch Clussex Three D Grinchy Glee - a 10 year old male named Stump. He kept up with the big, young dogs and never put a foot wrong. Without doing any research, I would bet that he's one of the oldest dogs to win Best in Show. I am thrilled!

I just love watching Westminster - the glory and glamour of it make me fall in love with dog shows all over again. Although I've never had to dress formally and show a dog in front of cameras, there's something appealing about the idea.

This year I wasn't 100% thrilled with the woman chosen to do the colour commentary, although she did seem to be enjoying the show. I would rather have seen somebody with slightly more dog show knowledge, because I think it could have generated some great conversation with David Frei. She wasn't terrible, though. And at least she had fun and showed interest in the dogs.

If you get the chance, I recommend watching at least a little bit. Preferably the Sporting Group (okay, I'm just slightly biased) . . . but all of it is breathtaking!

A Non-Recommendation

Or should that be an un-recommendation? I'm not sure. Either way, this is a review of something that I bought that I thought would be great, and it has not turned out to be that great after all.

I work as an Auditor, and am supposed to portray a professional image. Some days I do a better job of that than on other days . . . but on the days that I want to look somewhat professional, I wear a button-down shirt with khaki pants. I have two wrinkle-free shirts from Lands' End that are just awesome. They come out of the dryer looking like they've been pressed. Before Christmas, I saw an ad from Mark's Work Wearhouse for their Denver Hayes wrinkle-free shirts, and since I liked the colours and patterns available, I bought two.

It was a disappointing purchase. The shirts are very thin, so when I wear the solid pink one, people can see the pattern on my bra underneath (which doesn't look too professional, IMHO). They come out of the dryer still wrinkly, and they get very linty for some reason.

So, if you're in the market for wrinkle-free shirts, avoid Mark's Work Wearhouse and head to Lands' End. I know from past experience that Eddie Bauer wrinkle-free shirts are good too.

Information Literacy

Today I took an "Information Literacy" course through work (1/2 day). Okay, I'm sure you're asking me what the heck Information Literacy is (well, except for Weeza, who should know). Basically, it's learning how to find what you're looking for online, through the use of search engines and search strategies. I learned some very interesting facts . . .

I always thought that Google was the search engine to use. Turns out that they just have really fabulous marketing strategies, and so they have good market penetration. Everybody knows and uses Google. Despite this, they only cover roughly 10% of the content of the internet. There are other engines that are more thorough.

Metacrawlers, such as Momma (http://www.momma.com) and Dogpile (http://www.dogpile.com) actually search several engines at once, so they tend to return more results. I like dogpile . . . for obvious reasons ;)

There are some search engines, such as Northern Light (http://www.nlsearch.com) that are topic-specific. Northern Light is geared towards business documents (contracts, HR stuff, etc). Google Finance is fairly self-explanatory too.

There are some old standbys . . . Yahoo, MSN, Windows Live and AltaVista. There are some cool newcomers too. I bet if you put "search engine" into Google, you'd find some of them.

Anyhow, it was a very useful session, and I learned a lot.

Popcorn Twists

My new addiction is Popcorn Twists by Old Dutch (or the more dense and slightly more salty but also very yummy Corn Twists from Cheeto's). I'm not a fan of popcorn, because the hulls get stuck in my teeth and they hurt! These have no hulls, and they just melt in your mouth. Sooooo yummy. Over the past month I have not been able to get enough of them. I think about them all the time. It's a sickness, really. Thankfully as far as addictions go, it's not a horrendous one. It's not illegal, it doesn't cost an arm and a leg, and it doesn't alter my brain chemistry (at least, I don't think it does).

What kind of snack addiction do you have???

My Snow Bunnies

Jack Jack, on point for something, although I'm not sure what. He fancies himself quite the hunter . . .

Gracie Lou, surveying her kingdom from atop the hot tub . . . I know she looks cold, but she really likes to new short haircut. It's low maintenance, which means very little grooming!


Farley, checking out the yard and making sure that everything is in order. He's always on patrol for the squirrel, although he wouldn't have a clue what to do if he caught the darned thing!

Recommended Reading

First of all, sorry for not checking in earlier this week. Life is really hectic right now, since I'm teaching three classes (two Rally O and one obedience) and taking a class with Grace. I'm out several days a week for dog school now. This week I also went and saw Marley & Me with some friends, so that was another night out. It's a great movie, by the way. I highly recommend it. Just don't leave your Kleenex at home.

I wanted to recommend a great book that I borrowed from a co-worker - it's called "Outliers" and it's written by Malcolm Gladwell. He's written two other great books (Blink and The Tipping Point), so I knew this one would be interesting. It's about success, and why some people succeed while others don't. Most people think that successful people get where they are by hard work and perseverence . . . and while that plays a part, that's not all of it. It's a really interesting book, and I highly recommend it.

Right now I'm reading "Water For Elephants" by Sara Gruen, about a guy that joins the circus. It's really interesting, and I'm having a heck of a time putting it down to get stuff done!

I'll try to be better about posting next week . . .

Portland Pictures

I've chosen a few of my favourites to share - there are more on my Zenfolio page if you're interested. I'll be adding some pictures of our visit to White Rock, BC as well. Those are the really good ones!

http://kladckrs.zenfolio.com/

Jack Jack Show Update

Well, Jack Jack and I are home from Portland after tons of traveling. I couldn't actually FLY into the US, because I had sent my passport away for renewal, so we flew to British Columbia and then drove to Portland from there (5 hours). It was a lot of traveling, but the dogs handled it well.

I showed Jack Jack myself for four days - the first day was a Cocker Specialty, and the other 3 days were all-breed shows. At the Specialty, Jack Jack took Reserve Winners Dog (best runner up) - no points, but the judge really liked him. He said it to me several times, so that was good. Then on Saturday, Jack Jack took Reserve Winners Dog under a breeder-judge, which is a good thing. He almost had a major (which is a 3 point win), which he needs two of to finish his US title.
It would have been nice to win points, but it was pretty good for our first US showing. I had to compete with some big-name handlers, and I managed to hold my own, so I was proud of BOTH of us.

I won't have pictures to share for a few days . . . I spent all night in an airport and am exhausted. Tomorrow night I start teaching obedience classes, so won't have time to download everything.

Thanks for cheering for us!

Jetsetters

I'm fairly well-traveled. In the course of a year I fly at least 5 or 6 times, for work, leisure and dog shows. Add in to that vehicle trips (1-2 per month) and you can understand why I don't get too excited about trips anymore. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy them, but sometimes I get tired of being on the road. My dogs are seasoned travelers as well - it's a side effect of being show dogs. But most of their miles are traveled in the car.

Jack Jack gets the pleasure (doubt he'll see it that way!) of flying to Edmonton tomorrow night, and then to Abbotsford on Wednesday. For a dog with such a sensitive nature, I'm slightly concerned about this experience for him. Chances are good that it will bother me much more than it bothers him, but that's never stopped me from worrying before!

If you think of it, please think of Jack Jack tomorrow, Wednesday, Monday and Tuesday if you could. Heck, even one of those days would be good. I promise to post an update next week!

Full Moon

Okay, so at some point this week, we had a full moon. Now, most people would know this by looking out the window and seeing the moon. Others might know it because the phases of the moon are included on their calendar. Not me, I can tell by how wild and crazy my dogs get! My two youngest (Jack Jack and Grace) have been just nuts all week long! Major wrestling matches, chasing each other through the house, and growling and barking to raise the roof! I don't think their cabin fever has helped matters either - it's simply too cold to do any more than potty outside.

Does anybody else notice a change in their animals during the full moon phase?

Career Choices

I knew when I joined the Internal Audit department at work that my time there would be limited. In my company, most people cycle through the department at intervals of roughly 18-24 months. I've been with Audit for 14 months now, and if I want to end up somewhere within the company that is a good fit, I need to start thinking about the options now. Otherwise I may end up with whatever position is available at the time, whether I want it or not.

My problem is that I don't really know where I want to go within the company or what I want to do. I don't have a lot experience with the financial side of things - my background is in procurement. I do know that I don't want to go back to Contracts, but other than that I'm not sure. I guess a part of it is that I'm not 100% clear on what's out there, and the other major part is my low confidence level. It's scary to contemplate moving to a department where I have no background - I like to be good at things, and it's tough to be good when you're first starting out.

Career advice anyone? At this point, I'll consider almost anything available within my company.

Wii Fit

So, unlike every other year since I ballooned (I swear, when I was a kid I was as skinny as a rail!), I did not make a New Year's resolution to lose weight this year. Actually, my resolution is to de-clutter and get organized, because I'm a MAJOR pack rat and I'm drowning in stuff. UGH. Anyhow, even though I haven't really resolved to lose weight, I figure it never hurts to jump back on the exercise/fitness bandwagon. Yes, I will probably fall off - I always do. But for now, I will work on living healthy.

Part of that is using the Wii Fit . . . which is more than just a fun toy. The first step is a Body Test, which is repeated each day that you sign in to the program. The first time, it's kind of fun. Even when the Fit tells you you're obese (no word of a lie!!!). The second time, it continues to be mildly amusing. Today was day 5 for me (I skipped yesterday to groom a dog), and it was just tiresome. What on earth will day 60 be like? Hopefully I won't still be obese . . . Although, I guess you never know.

Mom also bought the Jillian Michaels Wii game, and I've tried it a few times. It's just not as fun as the Wii Fit. So far on the Fit I've hula-hooped for 6 minutes, boxed, done advanced and basic step aerobics, done a ski jump and headed soccer balls (and soccer shoes and panda heads, ouch!). With Jillian, I just run. Sometimes I punch a punching bag, but that's about it. It's just not as fun, but I'll plug away at that too.

Anyhow, if you get the chance to try a Wii Fit, it's kind of fun!

My Poor Car!

So, in mid-December, I posted about my crazy weekend where I cracked the bumper on my car and got diagnosed with strep throat. I've been pursuing getting the car fixed through my insurance company, but it's been slow-going because of the holidays. I have gotten approval to go ahead with the repairs, but I need the official letter from my insurance company before I can make the appointment.


Today my mom and I had to drive my youngest nieces back to my brother's place. The temperatures have been frigid for weeks, and today was no exception. It was -38 Celsius when we left this morning (that equals -38F for those that are interested). As we were leaving the city, at highway speed, a huge transport truck passed us going the other way. Snow and ice dislodged from the body of his truck and hit the front of my car. We heard a big crack and when I looked in the sideview, it looked like pieces of ice rolling down the highway.



Yeah, right. I have bad car-ma, remember? It was my precariously attached bumper. The cold and the high speed ice and snow cracked the rest of it off, leaving the front driver's side totally exposed. My poor, poor car. Now the repair is even more important than before.



Say a prayer for my car please . . . she needs some TLC these days!

Happy New Year!

I read these in the paper and thought IF I had to make any, these would be good ones!I found it online:

Dear Abby: Resolutions made for one day set examples all year long

Dear Readers: Rise and shine, everyone! Welcome to a brand-new year. Today is our chance for a new beginning, the day we discard destructive habits for healthy new ones. With that in mind, I'm printing Dear Abby's oft-requested list of New Year's resolutions - adapted by my mother from the original credo of Al-Anon.

JUST FOR TODAY, I will live through this day only. I will not brood about yesterday or obsess about tomorrow. I will not set far-reaching goals or try to overcome all of my problems at once. I know that I can do something for 24 hours that would overwhelm me if I had to keep it up for a lifetime.

JUST FOR TODAY, I will be happy. I will not dwell on thoughts that depress me. If my mind fills with clouds, I will chase them away and fill it with sunshine.

JUST FOR TODAY, I will accept what is. I will face reality. I will correct those things that I can correct and accept those I cannot.

JUST FOR TODAY, I will improve my mind. I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration. I will not be a mental loafer.

JUST FOR TODAY, I will make a conscious effort to be agreeable. I will be kind and courteous to those who cross my path, and I'll not speak ill of others. I'll improve my appearance, speak softly, and not interrupt when someone else is talking. Just for today, I'll refrain from improving anybody but myself.

JUST FOR TODAY, I will do something positive to improve my health. If I'm a smoker, I'll quit. If I'm overweight, I'll eat healthily - if only just for today. And not only that, I'll get off the couch and take a brisk walk, even if it's only around the block.

JUST FOR TODAY, I will gather the courage to do what is right and take responsibility for my own actions.

And now, Dear Readers, I would like to share an item that was sent in by I.J. Bhatia, who lives in New Delhi, India:

Dear Abby: This year, no resolutions, only some guidelines. The Holy Vedas say, "Man has subjected himself to thousands of self-inflicted bondages. Wisdom comes to a man who lives according to the true eternal laws of nature." The following prayer of St. Francis contains a powerful message:"Lord, make me an instrument of your peace."Where there is hatred, let me sow love;"Where there is injury, pardon;"Where there is doubt, faith;"Where there is despair, hope;"Where there is darkness, light;"Where there is sadness, joy."O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;"To be understood as to understand;"To be loved as to love."For it is in giving that we receive;"It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;"It is in dying that we are born to eternal life."

May this New Year bring with it peace and joy. And to one and all - a happy, healthy 2009.

With love, ABBY

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

That's All Folks!

As 2008 winds down to a close (I'm posting on New Year's Eve eve, in case I'm too busy tomorrow night), now is the time to reflect on the past 12 months. As far as birthdays go, it was a banner year for me - I hit the big 3-0. It wasn't traumatic or anything like that, just another birthday. Goodness knows I don't feel (or act) 30 . . . maybe that will come this year?

January was my trip to the ASC Flushing Spaniel Show in Philly, and seeing Billy again (and meeting so many wonderful e-friends). What an awesome, awesome experience! I got to see my favourite dog, and to meet some great people.

March saw the addition of Jack Jack to the world (and ultimately my family, but that came later). March was my parents' cruise, and their eventual caving in to my request for a third dog.

April was the birth of my new niece, as well as Farley earning another performance title, at the ripe old age of 8!

May was dog shows, Vegas and my mom's birthday.

The summer was a blur of puppy classes, dog shows and people visiting. The fun never ended, but man I sure got tired.

The fall saw me teaching my first set of obedience classes, as well as Jack Jack earning his first points on his first day in the ring. Can't complain about that! Jack Jack and I continued with obedience classes, and Grace and I started training in agility. It got very, very busy again.

November saw me on the road TONS for work . . . too much. I think it was the start of my dark state of mind, mostly from exhaustion. I also did too much training, and felt pulled in all directions.

December was Christmas . . . parties, teas, luncheons, presents, wrapping, family, etc. You get my drift.

What will 2009 hold? Nobody knows. But I hope it's a pleasant trip, and I hope it's a happy, healthy year for my friends and family.

The Ties That Bind

Well, the first half of holiday celebrations is over . . . Christmas has come and gone, and there were no fatalities due to disagreements. That's always a good thing! My brother, his fiancee and their four kids came up to visit, along with their three dogs and my brother's step-daughter, who lives with her mom here in town. We had five adults, five kids and six dogs in this house, and I learned that although the square footage is mathematically sufficient, there wasn't quite enough personal space. People were always stepping on a kid or a dog, or maybe even each other.

The dogs handled it well, for the most part. There were VERY few accidents (none from my dogs - yahoo!) and only a few tense moments. For the most part they co-existed well, which is saying a lot for my cranky old man, dominant female and scaredy-cat dog. Jack Jack didn't scream at anyone (other than my 8 month old niece today, for some odd reason) and Farley only scrapped once, which is darned good for him. Grace was a pro . . . of my three dogs, she is by far the easiest to introduce to others. Nothing fazes her, and she handled everything with aplomb.

We had the typical kid arguments, but nobody lost any limbs. My middle niece did lose her cookies more than one - there's nothing like the gift that gives over and over again like the stomach flu. Poor kid. And of course, when one has it, everyone gets it eventually.

The adults even played nicely for the most part. There were a few tiffs, but nothing worth dwelling on. Everybody made an effort, and it was noticed. There was a lot less stress than any of us anticipated, and it was a welcome deviation.

Hope your family ties simply bound and didn't strangle over the holidays . . .

Update

Many, many hours. Blood (well, maybe), sweat and tears. Goodness knows how much money for a new toilet, new seat, extra wax seal and a bunch of new tools. Cursing, more sweat and more tears.

New toilet. Finally. Maybe there is a plumbing career in our future after all (it was a family effort - even Farley tried to help!)

Thank God.

Learned something new

Yes, that's right. Today I learned something new. I'm not a plumber. Now, I'm sure this doesn't really surprise any of you, considering I've never had any training as a plumber. But the flushing mechanism on my toilet crapped out (pun intended *snicker*) just over a week ago, and I figured it should be an easy fix. Buy a new chain at the hardware store, fit it to the flushing mechanism, and presto! the toilet would be fixed. Hah! The chain was relatively easily fixed. But then I snapped off the floating arm that stops the toilet from overfilling.

No worries, I thought. I figured it would be simple to fix (relatively). I've installed a ceiling fan, so what can't I do? Apparently installing a new floating arm thingy is slightly beyond my capability. And of course, now I'm annoyed beyond belief. We have company coming from out of town on Wednesday, and we're down a toilet. Sigh.

Anybody have the number of a good plumber????

Holiday Pictures

Here are two pictures of some of the ornaments on my mother's Christmas tree. It has a bird theme, and I was playing with my Rebel XTi on macro settings.

Also pictured are the reindeer cupcakes that I made for the work Christmas party . . . cute, heh?

And what holiday post is complete without a photo of Santa Paws????

What a weekend!

Everything started Thursday, with my sore throat. I seem to always get sick at Christmas, and apparently this year will be no exception. I guess the good news is that I'll be sick before the big day, instead of during. Thursday night I was meant to choose between Mackenzie's Christmas concert and Jack's second last obedience class. I ended up going to neither, since I felt so awful. I went to bed instead.

Friday was uneventful, with the exception of the sore throat. UGH! We had our team meeting at work and our Secret Santa gift exchange. It was fun. I left work early to run some errands. Friday night mom and I had fresh Atlantic lobster for supper. Yummy, yummy, yummy! I went to bed early again, because I wasn't feeling well.

Saturday morning I got up at a decent time, as my mom and I had to stop by the post office to pick up some parcels. We had tried to pick them up on Friday night, but the post office had locked their doors for 2 hours to offload a truck. Mom was heading out of town to Sherwood Park, Camrose and then to my brother's place for a couple of days. We went our separate ways, and I ran a couple of errands before heading home. As I was walking in the door, my cell phone rang. It was my mom - the car had broken down on the highway about 20 minutes outside of the city. She couldn't get through to AMA, so she asked me to look up a family friend's phone number (she works for a tow truck company). I turned around and left the house, to get my mom. I had to stop for gas on the way, so I was slow. Fortunately, mom got ahold of our family friend, and a tow truck was actually on its way out of town, so that worked out well. Mom called me and we agreed to meet at the Chrysler dealership in town.

We have recently had lots of snow, and Chrysler hadn't cleared all of it from their cement barriers that demarcate their parking lot. As I pulled into a spot (not quickly at all!), I hit a barrier and heard a huge crack. It was the bumper of my car, cracking almost clean off :( I wanted to cry! I went inside to ask for help, and eventually a fellow from Service came out and re-attached a piece of it, so the car is driveable. So I waited for my mom, and then when she arrived with the tow truck, we moved everything she had packed from her car into mine. Then we went for lunch and went home.

Saturday night was the training school party - a ray of sunshine in a crummy day. We had a "chinese" gift exchange, where everybody brings a gift under a certain value and then people can steal from others, etc. It was fun. Koralee (owner) had tons of food, beverages and the world's most incredible cheesecake! She also bought gifts for all the staff - I got two VERY cute Cocker Spaniel t-shirts, a calendar, and some small goodies.

Sunday morning my throat was still super sore, so I decided to go to Emergency. He told me I have strep throat and gave me penicillin and codeine-laced cough syrup.

On top of everything, we have mice somewhere in our basement (in the crawl space), and darned if we can figure out how they got in. We've trapped and disposed of several now, and it grosses me out. I just want it all to stop!
So how were your weekends???? LOL

Secret Santa

Today at work we had our Secret Santa gift exchange. Basically, everybody pulls a name from a hat and buys for that person (as long as they don't draw their own name!). The dollar value is $20-$25, and the gift has to be tasteful. It's lots of fun!

People got some great gifts this year . . . it's obvious that a lot of thought went into what people bought. Our boss, who is here from Australia, got a Royal Canadian Mint 50 cent piece with a holographic snowman on it. VERY cool! The co-worker that our boss purchased for received a small framed print by an Australian artist. I got a dog record book - like a journal for a dog, with sections for all aspects of a dog's life. VERY nice.

Everybody brought in some goodies (I brought in cupcakes decorated as reindeer), and a nice time was had by all. I hope your workplace (if you have one, of course) does a similar, festive event.

12 Wonderful Holiday Traditions to Share With Your Dog

1.Pick Out a Tree Together. There are tree farms that allow you to walk around and tag your tree. How about doing it with your dog? What a wonderful tradition!

2.Holiday Paw-di-cure. How about a holiday pedicure for your pooch? You can be creative and paint the nails alternatively red and green just for fun.

3.Pet Parade. Some towns or pet stores sponsor a dog event – even a dog parade. Dress up your dog in his favorite bandana or Santa cap and take part.

4.Hang a Dog Stocking. Why not? If you have a stocking – your dog should too. Many of the dog lovers I know have stockings for each of their dogs.

5.Go See Santa. How about a photo of your dogs or you and your dogs with Santa? This also makes a great holiday card.

6.Blessing of the Animals. Check your local paper or pet store bulletin board to find out if there is a local event in your area.

7.Make Some Dog Treats. Make some healthy homemade dog treats and allow your dog to be the helper and master sampler. Make extra for your dogs friend or your friend's dogs. Go to: Holiday Treats and Healthy Dog Treats for recipes.

8.Quiet Time. Spend a little quiet time with your dog. Even an evening when you decorate the tree or just listen to some holiday music is often a welcome time for you and your dog.

9.Holiday Walk. Go for a stroll and enjoy some of the views and lights.

10.Bandana. Some dogs like to be dressed and others don't but most will tolerate a simple holiday bandana. How about dressing your dog up with a special holiday-themed bandana. They are easy to make – Go to Instructions for a Dog Bandana to make your own.

11.Plan Something Special From Your Dog. A very sweet tradition for many pet owners is to do something nice for people that are nice to your dog. That may be send a special card or buy a small gift "from" the dogs.

12.A Little Eggnog. Maybe you can enjoy some wonderful holiday eggnog and you can treat your dog to some dog-approved ice cream. There are different manufactures of products such as "Tasty Paws".

And don't forget to put a little something from Santa for your dog under the tree or in his stocking.

(borrowed from a Cocker Spaniel forum I belong to - not sure of the original author, but if anybody knows, I'm happy to give credit!)

Yappy Holidays from the KLAD Cockers

Seriously????

So, roughly 7 weeks ago, Canada had an election for Prime Minister and ruling party (Conservative, Liberal, NDP, Bloc Quebecois, Green Party). Millions of dollars were spent just so Canadians could end up with another minority government, with the Conservatives in charge. No change, other than the Conservatives having a few more seats than they did prior to the election.

Now the Liberals, the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois have signed an agreement to form a coalition and overturn the Conservatives. Interestingly enough, Stephane Dion (Liberal leader) has been chosen to lead this new coalition, despite the fact that he had decided to step down as the leader of the Liberals after their election loss.

Seriously, can these people not just accept defeat and move on? Why are they pushing this issue now? I can't believe it's in anybody's best interest for these three separate parties to attempt to work as a group - their values and ideals are not the same, hence the need for THREE parties. I know that many Canadians (and certainly many Albertans, who are primarily Conservative) are very upset with this turn of events.

But hey, what the hell do I know? I'm just some small voter, who exists to pay taxes and support these government follies.

In The Mood

I am slowly getting in the mood for Christmas. On Sunday night my mom and I attended a party held for volunteers of the local animal shelter . . . we have been sorting bottles to raise funds for the shelter. On the way down to the party, both my mom and I were tired and hoping that it would be an early night. The meal was amazing - beef wellington, rice pilaf, a couple of salads, vegetables with goat cheese and a lovely dessert.

The most fun was afterwards, when they had the live auction. Everybody attending was asked to bring an item for the auction - there were no limits on what people could bring. Because it was for charity, people really opened their wallets and spent a lot of money. It was awesome! The lady that acted as auctioneer is actually the lady that taught the writing course I took in early October - she has a fabulous sense of humour. She interacted well with the crowd, and everybody had lots of laughs.

My mom and I left smiling and laughing, and definitely much more in the mood for the holidays. So, happy holidays!

Thankful AND Proud!

Early on in the life of this blog, I had Billy living with me . . . the one and only puppy born at my house. I kept him until he was 14 months old, showed him to 8 Canadian points, and took him through some puppy classes. Billy told me (in no uncertain terms!) that he wanted more out of life, so I placed him with a wonderful woman and her family, and he hasn't looked back since. I got this email from Billy's owner this morning, and almost cried with happiness and pride. How could I ever ask for more???? I have found puppy-owner utopia!

Billy and I had a job interview yesterday and he was hired!!

Billy will be a therapy dog at St. Francis Country House, a nursing home in my old home town..... He did so well that we were offered the Dementia Wing..... Most of the folks are pretty lucid and were so excited to have a Puppy Visit..... Our new boss, the volunteer coordinator, told me that they get few visitors and that they had other dog visitors who never came back after the first visit..... I told her any place that I can take Billy where he'll be welcomed is a place that we'll come back to..... It was really pretty fulfilling..... A few of them reminded me of my Dad so it was really nice to be able to visit with someone who enjoyed the company and didn't have many visitors.

Billy was so sweet and gentle and wasn't put off by the wheelchairs or walkers or walking canes..... He had his first elevator ride with me and was so brave, he only flinched once and then just looked up at me..... We "tested" with one man who was very grumpy and said that he didn't want company..... Billy just walked in front of me and looked up at Sam (the grumpy guy) and wagged his tail..... After about 30 seconds Sam offered him his hand to sniff..... Another lady spoke to me non-stop for 5 minutes, barely taking a breath..... Only problem was that she was speaking Italian..... I kept telling her "No Cap-Eesh" and she kept laughing and talking and pointing to Billy and talking some more..... Maybe he speaks Italian?

We'll go every Wednesday (since I'm working a 4-day week and have off every Wednesday) and spend a few hours.

Fate put Billy's owner in my path when I was looking for a home - well, Fate and a very, very good and special person. I may never find a puppy home as good as the one Billy has gone to, but I'm sure gonna keep looking!

My Smart Dogs!

Well, I am feeling pretty proud of my dogs this morning (although Grace is really testing my patience by stealing toast off the counter this morning). It seems that they're all on a streak of being super smart.

Jack Jack is taking a Tricks & Treats class (just 3 sessions), and he's doing really well with it. So far he's learning to target to my hand, bow, spin left and right, sit up and beg and play dead. He doesn't like to play dead, but he's doing really well with everything else. Such a smarty pants!

Grace is doing SUPER well with agility. Last night while practising weaves, twice she went to run by the entry, and she changed her mind, changed her path, and entered correctly! It doesn't sound like a major accomplishment, but it means she understands the weave poles and how the entry works. She loves agility so much . . . it's definitely her "thing."

But Farley was the smartest one of all. This morning he jumped on the recliner in front of the big TV downstairs and managed to turn it on. Since we have satellite, TV and a number of other electronic gadgets, just turning on the TV is pretty challenging. I thought that was pretty clever, but I'm not sure the trick has a lot of reproducability.

Thanks for letting me brag about my smarty-pants dogs . . . it's not too often that all three are on a smart roll at once!

It's All Over . . .

Yesterday was my last Rally O class . . . I had 3 courses chosen for my students (pupils?) to run through, as long as there was enough time. In an hour-long course, it can be tough to get everybody through a course a few times, change courses, and repeat the procedure. Because I haven't set up that many courses, I'm a bit inefficient at changing over from one course to another, so it takes me longer than it would take most people.

Anyhow, everybody ran through the first course twice. The first time I allowed them to use treats, but after that I asked them to run as if it were in a trial. I followed behind, as if I were a judge (ah, the power!!! It almost went to my head!), to give them that experience. All of them did very well. I am so pleased at how far they've come over just 6 weeks. People really seemed to want to understand the signs and the technicalities, and how everything is meant to run.

We ended up going for about an hour and a half, if not slightly more. It had been just over an hour by the time everybody had gone through the second course, and I offered them the option of calling it a day at that point, but everybody wanted to continue on.

I have really enjoyed teaching this class, and I look forward to seeing some fresh faces in January, as well as working on trial preparation with some familiar faces.