Another Successful Thanksgiving

Yesterday we celebrated the American Thanksgiving. I have so much to be thankful for: an amazing husband, a great (albeit stressful!) job, a beautiful house, hilarious puppy, good health and wonderful family and friends. We spent a fairly quiet day - walking the dog in the morning before heading over to my father-in-law's for an early dinner. It's was a perfect day to recharge batteries.

A Month!

In one month, I will be back in my home and native land. I am so excited - I haven't been back in 15 months and I haven't been with my parents at Christmas since the year before I moved down here (so last Christmas there was 2000).

I still won't get to Toronto to see my sister and her family, nor will my fabulous friend, Sara, be able to make it from Vancouver, but there is still so many great people I am going to get to see. Little Baby Benny probably won't be home either - he's heavily involved in his business and probably will have bookings over the holidays (that's Wolf Den Bunkhouse n' Cabins in case you are wanting a woodsy getaway!)

I will at least get to see Mary, Crystal, Kristina, and the gang from Welch! I've known the first 3 for over half my lifetime .... met them all in grade 9 and was best friends with Mary until the evilness that was the bad David (not to be confused with good David) got between us. Here we are, still great friends after all these years. It's always great to get together and recap - although now that Mary (and also Sara) is a blogging monster, we keep up on each other better. Here's a pic of Mary and I when we were 16. (I went looking for a band picture of Mary, Kristina and I, but couldn't find it - yes, we were band geeks).



The hardest part will be leaving "our son" behind for 8 nights. We have people watching our house, but we don't want them tied to a puppy who still will need to be let out often. Hopefully he will meet new friends at camp. I'll probably be an emotional wreck by the second day without him.

Local Wildlife

The temperatures have dropped significantly, but the sky is still a gorgeous blue. As long as you are dressed warmly, it is wonderful to get out. Yesterday, we looked up the hill in our backyard and saw a young deer.



We also had some moose. (If you click on the picture, you can get a larger image)

Hectic and Busy and Relaxing

I appologize for not doing much on either here or on Kodie's blog. I've been trying to spend less time online and more time with Shannon (when he isn't travelling) and Kodiak, as well as taking more time to exercise and just plain read. I've taken a few days off here and there, although last week's 2 days were mostly spent cleaning house and preparing for my Home Interiors party. We've been in this house for a year now and my walls are still pretty bare. We're having our realtor over for dinner tomorrow night - he hasn't seen this place since right before we started doing the renovations.

Mar - here's my new hair .. the colouring is much better in person. I had blond highlights and copper lowlights (chunks) put in.





Also .... this is the ultimate relaxer ...

I'm In Trouble

She of the "ha-ha-I'm-at-Depeche-Mode-and-you-are-not" fame has yelled at me for not doing a new entry. I'm off to fix some grub and run to the mall, but I should have another entry up tonight. Kodie should for sure ;)

Leger-sa, you should be proud. I have chopped my hair and have added a couple of colours. (blond highlights and copper lowlights - done chunky)

Fall Day

It is a beautiful fall day. It's raining brightly coloured leaves, but most of the trees are still adorned in red, orange and (yes) green. The prophesies of a dull fall have been proven inaccurate. Even though it is the beginning of November, I've been outside in a tank top .. and was warm even before I started raking. I'm dying for some snow, but I could handle more days like this.

About Dogs

First ... I've gone round the bend and have a blog just for Kodiak. I joked about it to a couple of people and they thought that it was a good idea. So yes, I am a loser that gives her pets their own spots.

kodiakskorner.blogspot.com

Second, I just wanted to take a moment to give a shout out to the organization that my father donates his time to.

Dad's been around animals all his life - living on a hobby farm growing up and then getting his Bachelor of Science in Animal Husbandry (no, that does NOT mean marrying animals!) He first worked for a commercial chicken company (no, not for chickens in advertisements) that had him travelling to other parts of the world, then owned a pig farm, before working at a commerical chicken farm until his retirement. Through all this time he has had many dogs. I think the longest period that I can remember of us not having a dog was about 6 months.

When he was facing retirement, he grew very nervous - he worked a lot of overtime and didn't really have many hobbies outside of reading and minor gardening - certainly nothing that would occupy his time when he was no longer working. It was during this time of reflection that he met a woman in town who was a puppy walker. She would take in guide dogs when they were puppies, teach them basic obedience (housebreaking, come, stay, etc) and get them used to being around people before they would move onto the next stage of actually learning to be a guidedog.

Dad decided this was for him. Not long after retirement, he received his first puppy - Watts. Can you guess which one he is in the picture? To be a puppywalker, you have to be a responsible adult with no work commitments (since you have to take the puppy to various appointments), have a fenced in yard and treat the puppy like a member of the family. Dad and Mom already had a 6 year old border collie/husky/german sheppard, which was helpful in getting the puppy used to being around other dogs. Watts (and puppies since him) went to the grocery store, the library, the mall ... as long as he had his official "Guide dog in training" vest on, he was considered a working dog and it is illegal to prevent working dogs into your establishment. Dad has since had several foster dogs and is getting close to the end of his time with Leamie. Right now he has Leamie and a foster dog named Quiltie (he doesn't pick the names ... the Guide Dog organization does based on the letter of the litter - Watts was in the W litter, Leamie the L and Quiltie the Q).

I just wanted to mention all this because he has Quiltie because there are not enough puppywalkers. There was an information session in our hometown last week and only 1 person expressed interest in more information. It is a demanding job, but it is very rewarding. Personally, I am not sure I could do it - bond with a puppy and then have to give him up after a year, but my parents say that the thought of helping blind people to have loving, wonderful dogs is worth it. Walkers don't pay a dime, other than gas for appointments and taking puppies around, so you are literally just donating your time.

Anyways, just wanted to highlight this great organization. www.guidedogs.ca/puppywalking.htm

Lab? Haha!

Ok, the official word from the vet is almost definitely no lab in Kodiak. She thought heeler was a good possibility. On one hand, great - heelers are really smart dogs. On the other hand - another hyper, bored easily dog that can get distructive when bored. Maybe he has part lazy dog in him to balance him out!

I'm off today. For the beginning of November, it is bloody gorgeous. It has been cloudless all week and should be in the 70s today. I'm going to go workout on my elliptical before going and running errands. Some time today, we're going to go to the park for a walk. He's a good influence.

Proud Parent

I promised myself I wouldn't turn into one of those gushing parents .....

First, thanks to everyone who commented here or emailed me admiring the baby. He's such a joy.

Second, I am so thrilled that it has now been 2.5 days and he has yet to mess in the house - why I mention this trivial thing is that the bathroom door was not closed correctly last night when hubby went to bed and this was only discovered when I got up this morning. I dreaded what I might find - messes from the puppy, chewed computer wires, couch in shreds. Nothing. The only sign he wasn't in his bed all night was the fact that his stuffed frog was in the family room. I REALLY hope this good behaviour continues!

Anyways, couple more pictures - couldn't help myself!