It's a Guy Thang

We're off to the cottage for the weekend...........lots of deer along the way. Maybe an elk?

Seeya next week!

Good Times

Friday night we went to a fancy dancy restaurant and celebrated our friend Diana's birthday. It was a great night of wonderful food, good wine, and great friends.

Every course was brought out to us and explained because quite frankly, we wouldn't know what the heck we were getting otherwise.

Only in Canada can you go to a French Restaurant, be served by a Chinese server with a strong accent (I didn't get half of what he said) and get strong Dutch coffee with your dessert.

Like Chris always says...."Canada cuisine is 'fusion fare'. No, people, it's POT LUCK!!!" (You have to hear it in person to get the full impact).

I hope this next year is much better for Diana...she had a horrible fall last year crushing her right wrist/arm and still needs a lot of healing.
Here's to you Diana,
Cheers!

Life Without a Blinker

We have a dog named Maggie. Maggie came into our home in January '05. We got her from the SPCA and little did we know what we were in store for. She came with baggage. Not the matching set kind you buy at the Mall but true human like baggage. Emotional issues. She has them GALORE.

When we first got her we thought some of her behaviour could be cured by spending lots of money and taking her to Obedience School. The instructor told us after 2 sets of 6 weeks apiece that our dog could probably use some counselling. hmmm...a support group for dogs? I don't think so!

We took her to our vet and she spent some time on the phone with our Obedience trainer and Chris wrote up a detailed report on Maggie and some of her strange behaviour. Together we worked on a plan that Maggie did in fact know all the commands she learned at school but she chose not to listen to them because they just didn't work for her. She has her own agenda.

Maggie has settled down a lot in the last 2 and a half years. She's on medication for a recurring acute sinus problem she has, that costs $90/month to control and she has a leaky bladder so the estrogen pills she takes for that cost another $30/month but she's worth it.

Maggie has several issues, some are easier to deal with than others. Her biggest one is probably her fear of being put on a leash. A normal dog loves to see a leash come their way because it means they're going for a walk, yippee!!! Not our dog, she fears the collar, and the leash even more. When she's on a leash, she howls like someone's trying to kill her, jumps around and cries, sits down, does what ever she can to get out of the hold it has on her. So we drive her to the park and play ball and drive home even though it's just around the corner. It saves a lot on all of our collective nerves.

Another issue is the blinker of the car. Right. The blinker. It adds stress to Maggie's day to hear the blinker so we try to not use it as much as possible when we're driving with her.

So, in a nutshell, there's life with Maggie, a beautiful whippet/lab X. She's great. Maybe life without a blinker isn't so bad. It could be a lesson for all of us. If we trust God with our lives we can trust Him to make us turn one way or the other and just follow Him. In the long run, it's not such a bad idea.

Thanks Maggie, you're the best.

The Roof!!!

It came to our attention earlier this year that we wouldn't be able to put off the inevitable, a new roof for our cottage. So, after a lot of hemming and hawing (that is so a word) we ordered the supplies.
We had hoped to hire some help to do the work but that idea went south with The Boss so Chris and I put on our big girl panties and went and did the task ourselves.

We all got involved in the project. Some of us more than others.

We have 24 more sheets to go but we've installed 40 plus laid a new plywood floor for the addition. The old rotten one had to be removed first and a new one laid. Yikes! But it's looking good and we're happy with the results.

Birthday Boy

My friend WD came for a visit last night. WD is a resident of the first group home I ever worked at way back when. Because of his keyworker Jennifer we've been able to stay in touch. WD is blind, has cerebral palsy and is non-verbal.

He also is the sweetest kindest man. He was abandoned as a baby and nobody has ever been able to trace any of his family. WD just celebrated his 60th birthday so he came for a visit and shared a little aloha with me. We just happened to be having little Blue Hawaiians so he sipped on a little and enjoyed it immensely.

The thing about WD is when he likes something he shows it by a big grin across his face and reaching out for more. Happy Birthday WD! I love you!

Chuckle for Today

Miss Beatrice, the church organist, was in her eighties and had never been married.

She was admired for her sweetness and kindness to all.

One afternoon the pastor came to call on her and she showed him into her quaint sitting room.

She invited him to have a seat while she prepared tea.

As he sat facing her old Hammond organ, the young minister noticed a cut-glass bowl sitting on top of it.

The bowl was filled with water, and in the water floated, of all things, a condom!

When she returned with tea and scones, they began to chat.

The pastor tried to stifle his curiosity about the bowl of water and its strange floater, but soon it got the better of him and he could no longer resist.

"Miss Beatrice", he said, "I wonder if you would tell me about this?" pointing to the bowl.

"Oh, yes," she replied, "Isn't it wonderful? I was walking through the Park a few months ago and I found this little package on the ground.

The directions said to place it on the organ, keep it wet and that it would prevent the spread of disease.

Do you know I haven't had the flu all winter."

Cottage Update

When we bought the cottage 3 years ago it was chock full of 70's cabinets and orange shag carpet. Not only did the carpet smell but so did everything else. Through the process of time and hard work we're so happy with the results. We now have beautifully hand-crafted pine cabinets.

All In A Day's Work

I don't know, what do you think? I'm hoping to combine exercise with work that needs to be done around here. A good use of time for sure. Around here the only way the lawn mowing people will mow our little itty bitty patch of grass is if every single little itty bitty piece of dog doo doo has been picked up. When it's not they keep going on to the next house and leave ours. Then Chris comes home from work and pulls out her own little mower and mows it herself and harumphs and carries on about incompetence and the like.

All in a day's work.

Losers

We have taken a survey in our home and have decided that all of us around here need to lose a little weight. A couple of years ago we did make a valiant effort and lost quite a bit but somehow it has crept back into our lives while we were sleeping. I'm sure it has nothing to do with all the snacks at movies and eating out and picking up junk food for road trips. Absolutely nothing. Even the dog needs to lose some poundage.

In the next little while we are going to try again...in light of the fact that some big birthdays are looming next spring.