Anticipation

As I sit here on the eve of the adoption of our puppy I am feeling anxious. I have been wanting a dog of my own for years. I wonder what she will be like? I wonder how long it will take her to feel at home? I wonder how long it will take to house train her? Will she be smart and easy to train?

I have this vision of having a very nice, well behaved dog. I think everyone does when they start out. I think we have the advantage of starting out as adults who know that dog training is a lot of work. I think when it came to the dog I grew up with, we sort of lucked out (must have been why we called her Luckie). We did not spend an awful lot of time working on training, but she was a good dog. Sure, she had some annoying habits (that whole submissive urination thing was frustrating...), but we were pretty lucky. I would like to train this dog to be a good helper dog. Maybe train her to pick stuff up for Jay if he drops things out of his reach. I want her to be very okay with being handled, and hopefully someday I can even groom her myself. I have joked with Jay that we could get her a little vest and he could take her to the mall and she could be his 'helper dog' ;)

Adopting a puppy is a big commitment. We could potentially have her for up to fifteen years. Jay was pointing out that in fifteen years, we will be forty-two years old!

More than a little cheesed off!

I ventured out today, in the -50C wind chill to go to work. I was supposed to have three appointments, but I knew after a phone call from one of my coworkers earlier today that one of my clients had canceled. I went in early to fill some time between my coworker being done work, and my first appointment. I did some reading, and finally 3:30 rolled around and my client didn't show up. I called him at about 3:45 to see if he was coming, and his response...."I couldn't get a cab, I was thinking about calling you earlier to let you know." Do you think?? Man...not even an apology or anything. Just "the world revolves around me" attitude that a lot of people seem to have when they miss an appointment. So I sat back down with my book and continued to read and hang out until my second appointment at 6pm. Six rolled around and no client. I thought to myself....I am sure my misfortune isn't so great that I would have ventured out in the -50C wind chill for ABSOLUTELY NO reason! So at 6:15pm I called the client, and what did I get....no apology for a missed appointment, just a "Oh, I must have forgotten to put it into my PDA." Grrrr, what a VERY frustrating day!! Thankfully the Tim Horton's by us is open now and I was able to stop on the way home and buy some donuts to pacify myself :P

In the nick of time

Well, maybe not that close. But we made it home yesterday from Calgary. After an hour delay waiting for the plane to be de-iced, I was home by 3:30pm yesterday. My dad and my in laws also made it home before the storm hit. Dad was debating about leaving Calgary on Monday or Tuesday, but when he heard that the snow might stick around for a few days, he figured he should head home yesterday morning. He got to Saskatoon by 4:30pm, which I am sure did a lot to relieve the worries of my poor mother. She gets so worked up about bad weather. And I know that I would have been worried if dad was trying to drive through this today, but yesterday afternoon it wasn't too bad!

I enjoyed my very quick trip to Calgary. We arrived there around 8pm and had to go the airport by about 10am yesterday. It was very nice to see grandpa again. It's hard to believe he is 90 in some ways. His body and mind are definitely starting to fail him. But he is 90, so I think that's okay. He is still fairly sharp, but usually has to think about things a little more before he speaks than he used to.

Saturday morning my aunt called and said there was a 50% off sale at a consignment shop that she wanted to check out with my sister and I. I have gone shopping with her to consignment shops before and usually at 50% off, the clothes are still WAY out of my price range. However, this store was quite reasonable. I realize that a consignment store is different than...say Value Village or other thrift stores. These are clothes that still have some value. Most of the clothes were brand name and in very good condition. At half price, I got two nice long sleeve shirts and a pair of Tommy Hillfiger jeans for $40. We also went into this neat store called Shanghai Girl that was mostly Asian clothes, accessories, bedding, artwork, etc. I enjoyed it and I have always admired the Asian dresses, but I am not sure what it would look like on me...or where I would wear it to if I had one. Really cool store though!

It was a good weekend, and I was glad we had the opportunity to fly. I remembered though why everyone seems to prefer flying Westjet. Westjet uses larger planes for all of their flights. Even small ones from Saskatoon to Calgary. We flew Air Canada because they offered better flight times for us. But the planes we flew on there and back were SO tiny. I think there were 13 rows with two seats on either side of the aisle. I felt a little like a sardine. The flight to Calgary was quite bumpy too. I don't usually get motion sickness, but my sister had a bit of a hard time with it. Glad to go, but it's good to be home, even though it's very snowy out there.

A heart attack waiting to happen

Today in my boredom I was looking at the Moxie's menu online. I looked at their brunch menu because it has been a while since we were there last. I came across their brunch burger, and instantly thought of this...



Maybe the Moxies one isn't an 18oz burger, and maybe it's not fried in butter. But it is topped with cheese, bacon and a fried egg. Haha!

Three years...where have they gone??

Our little Kiwi

We FINALLY got some updated pictures of our little Kiwi. She is now 6 1/2 weeks old and we are expecting her to arrive home here on February 1st. She is so fluffy and cute! I think my excitement was just renewed.

Jay's nurses

I feel frustrated for Jason. He hasn't slept well for a number of nights because of loud nurses outside his room. Yes they have his door closed, and he even has ear plugs in and he can still hear them giggling and hear the sound effects from someone chatting on MSN messenger at the nurses station. When he asked them to be quiet they basically told him that they need to stay awake during the night shift somehow. I think that is pretty poor, that their entertainment is at the expense of post surgical patients who need their rest to heal from their operations.

I noticed yesterday that one of my contacts on Facebook had joined a group called "Saskatoon Health Region, I don't need a net nanny" or something to that effect. This nurse was VERY upset with the fact that they could not access the Facebook website through the Saskatoon Health Region computers anymore. I am frustrated about this because of Jay's problems in the last couple of days trying to sleep. I suppose it is one thing if people want to access those computers during break times, but these nurses were using MSN during their shift. The nurse that created that Facebook group said she was able to access gaming sites, email sites, porn sites, and other time wasting sites from the SHR computers, just not Facebook. I personally say GOOD you can access it on your own time at HOME. What did nurses do back in the day to keep awake during night shifts? I think people had a better work ethic back then anyway. I am not trashing all nurses, it just seems like the ones that are looking after Jason this time are all young, and all seem interested in getting out of doing the 'dirty' work...and like to have giggle parties in the middle of the night. I am glad that Jay will very likely be coming home tomorrow.

Long Day

Jay had his surgery today. It started out by having to be at the hospital by 8am (better than the original time of 6:30am). Then a whole lot of sitting around until noon when he was finally taken in for surgery. I left at this point, assured by the doctor that he would call me once Jay was out of surgery. I decided to go over and visit with my sister and nephews while he was in surgery and recovery. I expected that the whole process would take maybe 2 to 2 1/2 hours. I started to get a little concerned by about three o'clock so I called the hospital and they assured me that he wasn't back in his room yet. So I said okay, the doctor will call me once he is done in recovery. He didn't call...I called the hospital again at 4:30pm and was told that Jay was back in his room.

I went back and he was in a lot of pain. I felt so bad for him. I thought they would pump him full of lots of morphine and demerol so he wouldn't feel the pain. I suppose they have their limits on how much they can give him. While I was there this evening he received two doses of morphine. The first one didn't seem to touch anything, but by the time the second one got into his system he was starting to feel a little loopy and thought it might be best if I left him and maybe he could get some sleep. I hope after his poor sleep last night he will be able to get some rest in the hospital.

He was hoping that he would have a private room, but he does have a roommate. However his roomie was VERY quiet this evening and for the first while Jay said he didn't even realize there was someone on the other side of the curtain. So maybe it won't be so bad. I just reminded him this evening that he should be thankful that the old lady down the hall wasn't his roommate. I feel bad for her, she was confused and was yelling about wanting to go home and when I left she was yelling over and over for Benny to come and take her home. The nurse said there was another older woman patient who was trying to escape the ward. Must be quite the interesting place to work.

I have to go to work tomorrow so I hope Jay will be able to get some rest. I always find it quite ironic how loud hospitals are, when people really need their quiet and rest. I am planning to take him a bag of goodies (ear plugs, hot sauce, books, etc) tomorrow morning, so I guess if he can't rest, at least he can keep himself occupied.

ROUS?

Apparently millions of years ago there really were ROUS's out there...

Crazy!

I am sure the storm that is starting to brew outside is not going to be the same as the one from last year. But at this point I am feeling fairly apprehensive about going to work this morning.

Happy Anniversary to us

The peanut butter pie at the Granary is AMAZING!

The prime rib isn't bad either.

I am stuffed, off to bed to dream weird, full stomach induced, dreams.

Busy weeks a-comin'...

I feel like the next few weeks are going to be very busy. Jay is going in for surgery Thursday (barring any last minute cancellations). This week feels like it will be spent getting ready for that. Thankfully we have the opportunity to go out tomorrow night for a nice supper to celebrate our third anniversary. We are going to check out the Granary and I am very much looking forward to that, as well as the return from the mid-season break of the show Prison Break. It will be nice to watch that tomorrow night.

Jay has to be at the hospital Thursday morning by 6:30 (makes me yawn already!). Who knows what time his actual surgery will be that day because he will have some surgery prep when he gets there in the morning before they can perform the procedure. I imagine it will be a fairly quick surgery, but I have a feeling it could be a fairly lengthy recovery for him. I hope and pray that it will be quick and pain will be minimal for him. We don't know at this point how long his hospital stay will be, but it sounded like they will not force him out before he is ready to go home.

I have been planning for a couple of months (before we knew about Jay's surgery) to go to Calgary for my grandpa's 90th birthday on January 25th. My sister and I are flying out there on Friday the 25th and flying home on the 27th. I am looking forward to getting to see grandpa again. I have really realized that since grandma passed away so suddenly any visit could be the last one with grandpa. I hope that Jay is home by the time I leave or I will feel somewhat guilty for leaving him in the hospital all alone.

Then the week after that, February 1st, little Kiwi is coming home. I went shopping this afternoon for a number of items that she will need (puppy treats, blankets, collar, leash, shampoo, etc.). I think there are only a few things we need yet. Some food, possibly a kennel (not sure if the one she flies in will be appropriate for day to day use). I am getting quite excited about meeting her. I know there is a lot that is going to happen before she comes home, and when she does come home I will be tired because she will likely cry at night and need to be taken out, but I think it will be great fun to have a dog. I think the puppy phase has fun aspects, but I look forward to having a faithful friend for years to come.

Kiwi's comin home!

Please disregard my post about us not getting our puppy. Our breeder was back in touch with us today. I am still not thrilled with their two week disappearance, but they are back and we are getting little Kiwi on February 1st (3 1/2 weeks). I had really started to resign myself to the fact that we weren't getting her. I had no explanation about what had happened to the breeder, but thought something bad had happened that we wouldn't be getting our long awaited schnoodle.

In the last couple of days I had started to research some other non-shedding breeds of dog. I came across a couple that I thought were just precious. One was the Coton de Tulear (I had never heard of before) and the Havanese. I emailed a couple of breeders that I found online just to see what they charge. I didn't think I wanted a pure bred dog, but now I know that I will likely never own one. The Coton's were $1800 for a companion puppy (you sign an agreement saying you will spay or neuter so they can't be show dogs) and the Havanese were $1500 for a companion puppy. Ouch! And even worse was for a show quality puppy they were charging $3500 and up. My goodness! I know that the Coton's are a rare breed, but I was in shock when I read that. What if the dog ran out the door the first day you got it and was hit by a car and died.... I was mentioning this to one of my clients at work and he said you would expect to get more dog for that price (both the Cotons and Havanese are about 8-12lbs full grown). Crazy! Maybe if we ever win the lottery I will get a Coton de Tulear, but until then I will love my little Kiwi :)

Relieved

I had to discontinue a therapeutic relationship with a client today. This client had already been spoken to once about their not showing up and last minute cancellations. I knew it had to happen but I am not a very confrontational person. I was quite anxious and worked up about doing this when I went to work today. I did it, and hopefully I will never see that client again. After it was all over I am sure my face was red, and my hands were shaking. It sort of reminded me of a time I broke up with a boyfriend. I knew it needed doing, and I was nervous about it, but as soon as it was done I felt like a million bucks.

I am thinking that we might not get a puppy. I just don't know what is going on with the breeders. I have been keeping a close eye on their site for about a year and a half and they have never disappeared for this long. They haven't updated their site in over three weeks and we haven't heard from them since Christmas day (at that point they mentioned having some computer problems). I realize that they have 10 puppies that they are ultimately going to want to get rid of, but if they don't get on the ball it is going to be hard for them to arrange flight arrangements for the pups for the day they were planning (Feb 1st). There is just no way to get in touch with them either...we tried looking up their home phone number but of course they appear to be unlisted. Email is the only form of communication and that doesn't seem to be working too well right now. I know that when we sent in our application that our phone number was on it....but I imagine if their computer crashed, all that information was on there and maybe they didn't back it up. I guess we will just try to be patient, but realize that if we don't get a puppy this time round, it won't be the end of the world.

Some reflections on the last year...

I am going to be 27 tomorrow (January 4th) and thought I would reminisce a little about some of the events of the past year.

• This time last year we had barely (I think) started the process of having a house built. It was very exciting though to watch it all come together. When the house was being built we had to endure numerous people saying "Prepare to have your possession date pushed back and back and back." Well we did our homework and went with a company that doesn't miss possession dates and sure enough we were in on September 7th.
• I had my first big move of my adult life. I moved into the condo when we got married, but all I had were a couple of boxes, a dresser, a bookshelf, and a couple of suitcases. Earlier this year I packed up the majority of the condo and organized stuff, so when it came time to move it wasn't too bad.
• I learned that even though the housing market is really hot, it doesn't mean that your condo will sell in time to have the money in place to buy your house. That was definitely a stressful week or so until we knew for sure that all the financing went through for us to get into our house on time.
  
• If we ever move again we are definitely hiring movers again! I know it's not cheap, but it is SO worth it.
• Work had it's ups and downs. I think I have finally found my groove, and though I still have slow times, I know that it will pick up again. I went through a few rollercoaster-y emotions in the last year in regards to my work and not feeling like I was contributing enough to the household financially.
  
• I finally got over my anxiety of going to hospitals. I spent some time in October and November treating a young man in the hospital who had just been in an accident that left him a paraplegic. Also I spent more time than I would have liked at the hospital in November when Jay was sick. I realized that not much else matters when your spouse is fighting a potentially life threatening infection.

I would say that with the exception of Jay's hospital stay it has been a fairly good year. I guess it started out with a blizzard...hopefully we don't see one of those for a good long time again! I am optimistic for this year. I am hoping that Jay's surgery goes well (Jan 17th). The week after it I am flying out to Calgary for my grandpa's 90th birthday. It sounds like his memory is starting to slip a little and he has had a couple of hospital stays in the last year. I hope that when his time comes that he slips away quickly without much suffering (who doesn't want that for their loved ones?!). We are getting a puppy (hopefully.........). And there will be at least one new baby a little later on this year (so exciting!).

Here's hoping that 27 is a good number for Angie!

Nostalgia - Part 3

I don't know why, but I have been on a bit of a country music kick in the last little while. Especially the nostalgic stuff that I liked so much back in the early '90s. Here is a perfect example!

New coat and purse