Paris - Day ????? who cares anymore? it's PARIS!

Well, actually, this post is about Versailles, but whatever.

Dudes, if you have an abundance of airmiles, this is what I recommend doing:
a) plan a trip to Paris when flights are cheap
b) rent an apartment in the city that is reasonable and that has internet and a washer and dryer
c) go on your 10 year anniversary (*or any anniversary. Or your birthday. Or because you are hot.)
d) Use all the airmiles you have accumulated in the previous year to take a one-night's stay at a 5 star Westin hotel located 10 feet from the Queen's gate to the gardens at Versailles.
e) Pay a surcharge to upgrade your room and get breakfast and dinner included.

These, my friends, are the steps to eternal happiness and bliss. Or at least they are the steps to a very very fine evening.

We stayed at the Westin Trianon Palace and Spa. It was literally steps away from one of the gates leading to the garden (actually, our gate was closest to the Grand and Petit Trianons and Marie Antoinette’s “domaine” – for those of you who have seen the movie). This was our view of the palace gardens:

Those are sheep there. SHEEP!

I have rarely in my life had the opportunity to stay at a truly luxury hotel, but it is soooooo worth it. The people smile at you even when your hair looks like crap. They apologize for everything. They wipe your ass. No, they don’t do that, but I bet they would if you asked them to. And you wouldn't even have to ask in a nice way.

We arrived, dropped our bags, and then went off to explore the gardens, since they were announcing rain for the following day. We were enamored by the sheep on our walk to the Grand Trianon, probably because I am addicted to animals, and also because I love the scene in the movie when M-A is playing with her little daughter and the baby lamb. We didn’t see any lambs, but we saw this guy, who had a bad haircut:

The grounds are so beautiful, and so well maintained it is incredible. We ate lunch by the Grand Canal, which was fun except for these people:

who caused a raucous the whole way down the canal splashing and yelling.

After lunch we took our books to the other side of the canal, which was in the shade, and read/napped. We originally situated ourselves a bit closer to the palace than we were supposed to, and eventually the French RCMP came and shooed us away.

After our nap, etc, we went into town to buy the essentials: wine, iced tea. The end. Actually, we probably would have bought two bottles of wine but I forgot to bring my bag with our extra cash and we only had like 9 euro.

At the hotel, I took a big long bubble bath here with a glass of wine:

While SB took a nap in the Heavenly Bed:

Sidenote:

I love the Heavenly Bed. I would love to marry the Heavenly Bed. If anyone would like to buy me a Heavenly Bed, please do so. It is so comfortable. The mattress is perfect. The linens are soft, and satiny. I did not want to leave that Heavenly Bed. Not even one bit. A photo:

I will see you again one day, HB. XOXO

End Sidenote.

After cleaning up and making out with the Heavenly Bed, we had dinner at the Veranda restaurant. It was fantastic, except for one thing. We had taken the “dinner included” package, and no one at the restaurant seemed to know what that entailed. It was annoying when we were ordering, annoying when we waited for the bill (drinks were not included and we had a bottle of wine), and annoying when we saw a small surcharge on our room charges the next day. But I was able to put all that aside (SB was too, but not before he detailed our issues to the front desk clerk, in actually a very nice way.) The food was friggin amazing. SB had: seared tuna with marinated leeks and onion, then a chicken cassoulet with green beans, onion and cabbage and finished with a cheese plate. I had: tomato chevre tarte with cucumber pesto with this mindblowing bottom crust of nuts and something else that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, but that was extremely pleasant, lamb neck (I know, I had a hard time with the “neck” part of that for some reason) with the BEST damned mashed potatoes ever and probably something else on the plate that I forget, then, THEN my friends, there was an apple crème brulee, which was not your regular little broiled crème in a pot. Non non. It was a little free-standing pillar, with a scoop of the most flavorful apple sorbet I have ever had. It may have been infused with some sort of crazy apple cocaine. And the whole thing was flanked by thinly sliced dried apple chips.

As if this dinner was not enough, SB had brought a bottle of champagne with him which we had up in the room to celebrate. Then I tucked into the Heavenly bed and had the best sleep ever! And by “ever” I mean “in my whole live”. And by “in my whole life” I am probably including the womb, because I tend to be a cool sleeper and I hear the womb is quite warm.

Tomorrow I will post about our visit to the Palace.

Paris Day 7

Another jam-packed day with tons of walking! My feet are killing me!

First, we headed over to the Eiffel tower to finally climb that sucker. I am terrified of heights, so this was not something I was really looking forward to, but SB was dead set on it so, chin up, away we went.

To get to the very top of the tower, you buy your tickets on the ground, take an elevator to the second floor, get out, wait in another line then take another elevator to the top.

We waited in line for our tickets for about 20 minutes, which I think is pretty reasonable. While in line, the signs said that access to the top was temporarily closed because it was full - we asked the lady at the info desk and she said it will usually stay closed for about half an hour to let it empty out a bit, then they will open back up, and you can buy the ticket to get to the top on the 2nd floor. Well, about two people ahead of us they opened it back up, so we were able to buy our tickets right away, then when we arrived on the 2nd floor there was no line for the 2nd elevator and we went right up without waiting. So good because I do NOT do well in lines!

SB right after they reopened access to the sommet:

At the top we hung out for a while taking in all the different views (SB at the railing, me a few steps back....). It was nice that we didn't go on the first day we arrived because we were able to pick out all the monuments we had already visited without looking on their little guide.


After the tower, we walked over to the Pont d'Alma, which is where Princess Diana died (the tunnel where the accident was is right under the pont).

Then onto the metro back to Montmartre where we had our requisite dinner at McDo - drink sizes are smaller, fries are just as great, burgers just as un-fresh as at home. Oh, and a very weird unisex bathroom.

Lastly, we took a walking tour with New Tours - they are a company that give free tours and you pay what you can. It was really great - the tour we took was specifically Montmartre, and our guide had a degree in Fine Arts specializing in art history so was very passionate about the subject matter. We saw the house where Van Gogh lived, two cafes where he hung out with other artists, and the building where cubism was born, where many artists shared studio space. It was pretty amazing!

On this tour we also saw Sacre Coeur up close, Le Moulin de les Galettes (which is the subject of a famous Renoir painting), and the cafe des Deux Moulins from the movie Amelie. I think we will go back to the cafe - they actually have a great Happy Hour special AND WiFi, so I'm all over that!!!

Paris Day 6

Wowie we did a lot today! Even though we got a late start because we slept in a bit and had a long brunch at the apartment, we still managed to jam a lot in in one day!

First, we did a load of laundry. Sounds uneventful, however SB threw all the laundry in together and in there was a navy shirt from Banana Republic that I had never washed before. Now, usually when I buy stuff from there it is pre-washed and colorfast, so even if it had been me throwing in the laundry, the same thing would have probably happened. All of my white socks and undies are now a lovely teal-blue, and three of SB's plaid shirts are now navy, grey and teal when once they were navy grey and white. Oh well, I guess it could have been worse. It could have been a red shirt.

After that we went to the Pere Lachaise Cemetary. We wanted to see Jim Morrison's grave, but also had heard that the cemetary was quite beautiful. And while it was gorgeous, it was also very hot, and I was also severely creeped out by being in a cemetary.
For the record, I don't ever want to be buried in a cemetary. The whole thing totally creeps me out. I felt really uncomfortable there, even though it was so lovely and a lot of the monuments were really spectacular.
After the cemetary we went over to "Les Iles" - these are the two small islands on the Seine between the two banks of the city. Ile de la Cite has the Notre Dame Cathedral on it, and Ile St. Louis is where a lot of old mansions are located.

First we walked around the west end of Ile de la Cite, where Sainte Chapelle is, the Palais de Justice/Conciergerie and the bird/flower market. We were hoping to buy some seeds to bring home and plant, but since it was Sunday a lot of the flower vendors weren't open and the only seeds we could find were brands we can buy at home.

Next, we took a gander inside the cathedral, which is amazing,
On our way to Ile St. Louis, I tried on a beret, but

It was a really tight fit on my big giant cranium.

On Ile St. Louis we stopped for Berthillon ice cream, which is famous, then walked back along the water and saw where Heloise and Abelard lived.

We had dinner on Ile de la Cite (really great steak frite!), then went to the Eiffel Tower to watch it light up.
I am making a funny face because SB wanted to get the tower looming above us, and I hate when he takes pics of my double chin. So I was exaggerating sticking my chin out.

There were so many people in front of the tower! Everyone had brought picnics and the lawns in from of the Peace monument were packed. As the sun was setting the vendors who sell the mini Eiffel towers started passing with bottles of wine and champagne, but we had brought our own beer. There had also been some kind of incident at the peace monument and one of the giant panes of glass was shattered. We have a client who does mosaics so we picked up a few pieces for her. No one who was there knew what had happened, but I hope they can fix it!

Once we were installed in a nice spot, we waited for the lights. They keep some spotlights on all night so the tower is visible but every hour on the hour for 10 minutes they turn on these sparkly lights that are really beautiful.

Then back home, sleepy and with very very sore feet. Tomorrow we may actually climb the Tower finally.

Paris Day 5

No photos today - we only took a few and I am too tired to upload them.

We took the day to visit the St. Ouen flea market which is at the very north of the city. It didn't take that long to get there, but once we did it felt like we were miles away from our little Parisian heaven. It felt more like we were in Havana than in France. Buildings were gross and dirty, people were dirty and smelly(er) and so so rude. I've never been so nervous travelling. The market itself was kinda interesting - mostly upscale antiques, some refurbished, some not, all overpriced, and you really shouldn't buy anything unless you know what you're looking for and can really judge if it's worth the price. I saw some awesome antique typewriters and cameras, but $$$$. Eric kept getting distracted by big giant paintings and huge clunky pieces of furniture and I had to keep reminding him that there was no way we could get that home on the plane. We also met a few little dogs that were owned by the shopkeepers - they were all very cute and sweet. (sidenote - dogs here are so well behaved. It's doggie heaven!)

We had lunch at a place called Chez Louisette, which all the guidebooks recommend. They have live singers who trade off sets, but we sat very near them and it became a little bit too much because it was so loud. The food was okay, but pretty pricy for what you got, and they were out of half of the menu. I guess they can get away with it because the place is so popular.

After that we made our way back to the metro so we could get back into the city. On the way to the metro I got spit on, I'm pretty sure. Either that or something dripped on my head, but it felt like it came from the side where a bunch of hooligans were gathered. I think it was the only time in my life when I was content with ignoring them and getting the hell out of there, whereas normally I would shoot my mouth off. I also didn't tell SB until we were safely seated in the Metro because I know he would have freaked at them.

All in all, I don't recommend making the trip. Unless you are looking for some kind of specific antique. Or foreign biological matter.

We then returned to the apartment for a break - SB wanted a nap, and we had several options in mind for the evening. He ended up sleeping for like three hours (which I shouldn't have let him do, but I knew he'd be super grumpy when I woke him), then by the time we ate and got ready it was about 10:30. We took the opportunity to take a walk up to Moulin Rouge then walked up and down Clichy checking out all the little pubs and bars, and some of the signs in the sex shops. They're really funny because they are either owned by foreigners who can't translate or they try to dumb down the french so tourists will be able to get the gist of what they are offering. We were back home by midnight, and tomorrow is Pere Lachaise Cemetary, and maybe some ice cream by Notre Dame.

Paris Day 4

Also known as the day my shoes did me wrong. More on that later.

We started the day off late. Again. SB uses his Blackberry alarm, and he is in charge. Allegedly it went off at 7:30, and then he reset it for 8:30, and then it went off again and he nudged me (I have no record of said nudge), but turned the alarm off rather than press snooze. So we woke up and it was 10:15. We were originally going to go up the Eiffel Tower this morning, but scrapped that for now. To make up for it, SB made eggs. They were so good that I forgave him very quickly.

We mosied on over to the Arc de Triomphe after finding our friendly neighborhood Starbucks. As a side note, the coffee here is super good, but even when you ask for an espresso allongee, it is still teeny tiny compared to the caffeine I need.

So, the Arc de Triomphe. So beautiful. Probably my favorite landmark in Paris.
We did a fun thing where SB stayed at the top of the Arch and I ran down on the Champs Elysees because I had had enough of the heights up there. Here I am:
This is when I began sensing a little discomfort in my foot. Some rubbing/blistering that my Merrell cute shoes were causing, which they had never caused before even though I had worn them many many times. Once SB finally walked down the 600 million stairs to the top (am I the only person who thinks 9 euro per person to go up to the top and you have to take the fucking stairs is just a little fucking over the top? The whole Louvre is only like 9 euro everyday.) we went to the pharmacy and I fixed some bandaids up with the hopes that all was not lost.

Then we moseyed on down the Champs Elysees, which was okay but kinda boring. We also went down de la Montaigne, where a lot of the designer shops are. I would never go inside, because a) I would hate to waste the time of the lovely salespeople since there is no way in hell I would be buying anything and b) I don't need my nose rubbed in what I can't have. But I thought it would be fun to window shop. Their windows were SUCKY. So boring. Harry Winston didn't even put any items in their windows, just pictures that looked like they cut them out of magazines. I was so disappointed.

We had dinner on Champs Elysees, then headed on over to the Louvre, where SB met his new girlfriend:
That's okay, though, because earlier, at the Arc de Triomphe, I met my new boyfriend:
My feet were done for after the Louvre. I didn't even have the wherewithal (sp?) to get to see Venus de Milo. I am hoping beyond hopes that if I slap on some bandaids tomorrow and some socks and a different pair of shoes that it will all be okay.

Oh, and also, for Jenn - need some action and the pharmacy is closed? No worries -You should get this going in NB, sex health lady.

Paris Day 3

Today was very long - we started at 8am and tried to do some laundry and get the heck out of here.... Little did we know european washers are slow as ass. We were out of here by like 9:30, cranky and coffee starved.

We joined back up with our Hop on Tour bus, featured here:We took a little tour around St. Germain de Pres, which was gorgeous. We took a chance to hop off to get a breakfast about an hour after the appropriate time, which means poor SB had to deal with hungry me. We also visited Fnac, which is an electronics store because we accidentally fried our battery charger for the Canon. This wouldn't normally be an emergency, but to be efficient, we decided not to bring the smaller lens for our Nikon. And although the 55-200 lens has changed my life, it doesn't do self-portraits at arm's length. It just doesn't.

After that, we took our bus the rest of the round, then went to Musee D'Orsay where we saw this:

And also this:

After Orsay, we were exhausted, but continued walking along the Seine to find the Shakespeare and Co bookstore, which was highly disappointing. I was expecting an awesome second-hand bookstore, but all the books seemed new. And overpriced. Blah.

We then took a little break in a park next door.

After our break, we hopped back on the bus to the Champs Elysees, to pick up some supplies. Read: bubble bath, wine and sausage. Get your mind out of the gutter.

We headed on over to a little patch of grass by the Eiffel Tower where there were very few people, a couple of ants, and a whole bottle of wine to be had.

As a side note, dudes, if you like wine you have to come here! At Monoprix (officially Eric's least favorite place on Earth - think walmart crowded, but Uniprix-sized aisles. Ugh) they have wine ranging from like 20 euro a bottle right on down to 1.40 euro. For a bottle. A full sized bottle. With a cork. We've been sticking to 2.50-4 euro, but it's all been really good, and I'm really tempted to just get the 1 euro stuff and be wasted all day.

We saw the Eiffel tower at sunset,


had a crepe au chocolat,

and dragged our asses home to climb the 111-113 steps to our apartment (SB and I have both counted, but came up with different numbers). I tried to take that bath I had been planning, but the tiny tub was not cooperative. Then I waited like two hours for them to play my new favorite song, American Boy (artist is Estelle with guest Kanye West - so good!) - now they are finally playing it, so time for me to get to bed!

Paris Day 2

Let me just start by saying that we suck at discipline.

We went to bed very late last night, and resolved that we would get up at 9ish and get the go going.

Apparently the alarm went off as planned, but SB just ignored it. And I didn't hear it at all. So, we slept until noon. Oops. I guess our bodies needed it, but still...

Once we finally got going, we hopped on to the hop-on/hop-off bus tour to get an overview of the city. We saw:

around our part of town, Montmartre:

Notre Dame:
and lots of other stuff like the Eiffel Tower, l'Arc de Triomphe, etc. It was a quick and dirty tour that basically was to give us bit of a bearing on where everything is. We had a panini on the Seine for lunch, which made SB very happy:
We haven't finalized plans for tomorrow yet, but they were supposed to include the Musee D'Orsay and the Eiffel tower. After today's little sleep in, we have some schedule adjusting to do, but hey, we're on vacation, so who cares, right?

Also, we have lots of pics of the both of us on our other camera, but we promptly fried the battery charger so we can't get the pictures out. We will work on fixing that tomorrow...

Paris Day 1

So, we're pretty tired, but we are here and safe and sound.

After about 7.37 minutes of sleep on the plane, we were both pretty cranky and testy on the flight. The most super fun moments of the flight:

a) some super grumpy guy who I noticed coming out of the Air France lounge before the flight grabbing his crotch started yelling at the flight attendents before we even taxied. He had put his carry-on and a random plastic bag with a hat in it in the overhead, and the flight attendent totally squashed it. SB said he saw her trying to cram some other bag up there and crunch. Then he cranked and grumbled and generally got on our nerves about other random things all night long.

b) The lady in front of us had some kind of "medical emergency" in the middle of the night (coincidentally, right after they served our meal and it was time to get some sleep) - she was sitting in the middle of three seats. Her husband sat to her left and some stranger to her right. She had some kind of leg paralysis or something that made her need a wheelchair, so when she had her "emergency" everyone rushed to help her, then they booted out the guy sitting to her right (assface probably got a free upgrade) and then she laid down. I'm thinking of practicing my acting so I will be ready to pull this one on our trip back.

c) SB almost lost his glasses. He had hung them on the pouch in the seat in front of him to try and sleep, and I guess when he crossed his legs they went flying. After like 7 minutes of panic and serious snippyness between us he found them in the aisle. Luckily they were not crushed.

We arrived at our apartment around 3 this afternoon, so after zero sleepytime on the plane, we were exhausted and took a nap, then took a quick trip out for groceries and made dinner in. Tomorrow we have more touristy plans, but we hadn't put much in the schedule today just in case we were feeling like ass. Which we were. But it's still way better than being at work feeling like ass. Hell, I'll be on vacation and feeling like ass in Paris 6 days a week for the rest of my life!

Think Oceans Eleven, not ER

Let me preface this by saying that I have never been a huge George Clooney lover. I recognize that he is gorgeous, aging very well, and pleasantly sarcastic and witty. But he's not one of those actors that I drool over. He has never been on my list of movie/TV boyfriends.

That being said, two nights ago I had a really great dream in which I hooked up with Mr. Clooney after we met at some kind of birthday party or wedding or something. Did not re-dream this last night, regrettably, but it was really hot, and now I've got Clooney on the brain.

I'm not rushing out to watch Leatherheads or anything, but I'm just saying...

This and That

11 days until Paris.

Yikes.

I will not bore you with the list of things I am seriously worried about, because they are all work related. Let's just say I am having a lot of trouble sleeping lately. I should keep a pad and pen by the bed so I can write down what I am worried about forgetting and then just let it go.

I would love to do a little shopping before we leave. I have accumulated a few new tops in the last month or so, but my Paris wardrobe still leaves much to be desired. I need clothes that are comfortable and not too hot because we will be walking a lot. Also need them to be machine washable, since we have a washing machine there and I would prefer to pack less and wear things more than once. Also, stuff should be kinda cute, because I would like to look kinda nice in vacation photos for once in my life. What I really need at the moment are a couple of great cardigans. Light ones that I can layer over a T-shirt, but that don't wrinkle easily so I can stuff them in a backpack if I get too hot. My friend Ems said she went looking for some cardigans last week and had no luck, so if anyone knows where we can find a great one right now, we would both appreciate it.

I got my hair cut this week too. I hadn't had it cut since my birthday last year (!), so was definitely due, but I have been struggling to decide whether I should chop it off or let it grow. Finally I just decided it need a big freshening before vacation (always a mind to what those photos will look like!) and my stylist helped me decide on keeping the length, but adding lots of layers. I'm pretty pleased, and I also know that when I get back if I feel like chopping it off for summer, the layers will still work with that too.

I have to get going - I have my dog group today which is interesting because I only have the Jetta this week. Usually I take 3 specific dogs, and then more if necessary, but this week I am only taking two. One of them is a bit grumpy when things are cramped, so even though I'm sure I could fit the three of them in the backseat of the car, I have decided to play it safe. I have been prepping for Paris the last two weeks so haven't seen them. I can't wait!

Here comes the sun!

I am so glad that spring appears to have sprung. Although it is still very strange to have such nice temperatures and yet see giant piles of snow everywhere, I think I will adjust quickly enough.

The past week I have spent suffering from a cold - totally not pleasant at all, especially since the worst of it came over the weekend and ruined a bunch of plans we had made. It was a particularly severe cold, and I even took the time to google if perhaps it was even the dreaded flu, but apparently not. I had some fever, but not a lot, and although I was absolutely exhausted I wasn't very achy. Plus I had extremely stuffy nose and sinuses, which apparently you don't get with the flu. I'm not sure I'll ever know the difference, but it was bad.

Feeling almost better now, and trying to get ready for our trip which is less than three weeks away. Yikes! I have so much to do, which has been hampered by the fact that our business computer is STILL in the PC hospital. It has been three weeks since I sent it, but it is supposed to arrive back today. We have made do with my Mac and Eric's laptop, but I have been putting off tons of organizational stuff because a lot of it has to do with setting up files on the computer. The anxiety is reaching a very critical point.... But I'm sure we will work something out!

With this gorgeous weather, we have been letting our little zoo frolic on the patio while we're home. Simon is particularly interested in the pigeons that are suddenly everywhere. He sits at the window and chirps at them, and when I let him out he sits int he very middle of the patio watching all around for them. So cute. If anyone has any advice on how to keep them away, please feel free. We love our patio in the summer, and I would rather not have it get plastered in bird poo all year.

Internet TV rocks

For the past week I have been embroiled in the roller coaster of emotions that is The L Word.

Who else watches this show?

It is so fantastic - really funny, and smart and thoughtful. Very sexy too - probably as close as I will ever come to being a lesbian. I had never watched it when it was on TV because of scheduling, and now due to the miracle of the internet I am able to watch pretty much any show I want whenever I want for free.

So, I started two weeks ago with Season 1 and was instantly hooked. I just finished the last episode, and now I'm sad that I will have to wait til next year for the final episodes to air. I won't give anything away plot-wise in case there are people out there who have never watched it and now will because I'm recommending.

For anyone who does watch - who is your favorite character? Who do you hate? Who do you have a crush on?

I fell down today

Literally.

Really hard.

It was on that ice that looks like snow that is leftover on the street, and you take your step too hard, because you are sure you will squish right into it, but then whoosh, away you go. It hurt real bad - I scraped both hands and my left shin/knee. It hurts way worse than it looks, though. I didn't even bleed at all. And my hands aren't bruised or anything. Although I think I have a rock stuck in my palm, but it's tiny.

I was terrified to look down at my leg - I thought for sure I had ripped open my pant leg and would find blood gushing everywhere. But no. It's not even bruised yet, but still hurts a lot.

That's been the most exciting thing in my life so far this week. We had to send our business computer away to be fixed, which is seriously fucking with my life in a very bad way, but it will be so great to have wireless again with that computer.

I was very near a mental breakdown a few weeks ago, but seem to be back on track now. I don't think my meds are as effective this time, and am going to try to get in to see a new doctor. I'm sure the weather is having a major effect on me, but I know that it can't be all that's up. Relatedly (not sure that's a word, but I like it), I have found I love Pascale Picard and recommend that everyone listens to 'Smilin' when you are feeling down.

Last of all, we are about a month away from our trip, which I am both looking forward to and really anxious about. I am going to have a really hard time forgetting about work and all the things that could be going wrong, but I know it will be so worth it that I just need to get over it all ready.

Looking for some opinions

If you were going to hire a dog walker, and you had a baby, would you schedule the interview during a time when you knew your baby would be awake, but cranky, because it's almost nap time?

If yes, would you then hand your baby over to the dog walker, who is grimy and full of dog hair and slobber, and a dog walker, not a baby person, while you ran down to the neighbors to get your spare key which the dog walker told you you should have ready?

If yes, would you then randomly whip out your boob in the middle of being questioned by the dog walker about your dog, even though your baby wasn't fussing at all anymore?

I'm all for babies - babies mean we get to walk dogs because mommies don't want to. But I could have dropped that baby.

The dog was very helpful in the whole situation - when the baby started fussing and I had to pick her up he sat beside me and licked my arm.

I love the President!

No, not that president.

Those of us here in the great white north frequent a grocery chain called Loblaw's. Other grocery stores under the Loblaw's umbrella are: Maxi, Provigo, Superstore..... probably others out west that I am unaware of.

Anyway, these stores have a store brand called PC - the President's Choice. I don't know who this president is, but (s)he rocks my world. You want butter chicken frozen dinners? The President has chosen a recipe, and it is fantastic. Samosas to go with? The President has a quick solution (although I would love to do these in the deep fryer, but have yet to do so). Want a more natural, clumping, flushable cat litter? The President has developed a magic formula for you, and it's cheap! Cheaper than that other wheat stuff. And don't even get me started on the hot chocolate.

Winter wants to kill me

I literally almost passed out today while shovelling out my truck. I think it was a better workout than running 2 miles.

We are supposed to get more snow this weekend.

This had better be the end. Please. Please let it be the end.

I am now going to get in a hot bath.

Vacation planning is taking over my life

So the flights are booked and we found the apartment we will be renting - seems this Paris trip is really going to happen!

We have a big giant list of things we want to see and do, but if anyone has any favorite places you visited while you were there (especially cafes, restaurants, small shops, etc), please pass them along!

Our 10th anniversary is May 14th, and we will be spending the night at a fancy pants hotel just outside of Chateau Versailles - I still have to get all that booked, and we are doing that using our AirMiles, so fingers crossed it will all work out. There is a new Gordon Ramsey restaurant that is opening at that hotel as well - it is supposed to open at the end of April, so if it does we may do our anniversary dinner there. Provided it doesn't cost more than our airfare did. Which is entirely possible.

Life has been pretty boring as of late - I've been knitting socks (on my third pair) and working. This weekend is my friend Kalea's wedding and lots of our university pals are coming to town. Very exciting.

We got more snow today, so I have officially given up. I am now hibernating until it all goes away. Simon agrees.

Strike TV is actually not so bad

Before this season of LOST began, SB and I sat down and watched the entire 3rd season in two days. 23 episodes. We both had Couch Cramp (I'm currently working on trademarking that term). Now we are both even more hooked than ever on that damn island. And this season is completely blowing my mind. Last season was slow-moving, and hard to watch from week to week, and then a big giant gap in the middle of the season (watching it all at once was amazing). But this season, you spend a whole week trying to figure out WTF????? And then they blow your mind again the next week.

I'm actually watching Grey's Anatomy now because I didn't watch it all season (it doesn't fit into my Survivor/CSI/ER Thursday) and they are showing the repeats on Fridays.

Big Brother is kinda not holding my attention the way it usually does. The premise is actually cool (they are playing as couples, no individuals, so it add a whole new dynamic), and the characters are colorful (one guy has done gay porn. But he's not gay. And his "occupation" is cycling around the world. Hmm.), but I'm just not as into it as usual. I still watch, but I don't really know anyone's name

And also, we are getting a (censored) view of Dexter on CBS. I have seen the first episode and am in love with this show. But, I'm thinking of buying Season 1 and bringing it on our trip to Paris for the nights when we are exhausted, or the rainy days when we don't feel like schlepping. Plus, I kinda just want to see it un-censored. Because changing "motherfucker" to "moron" usually just gets on my nerves.

Did you see it?

Anyone else catch that new show quarterlife the other night? No? Apparently not many people did. Hmmm.

The show is based on an actual vlogger who had journal videos on youtube. Apparently her youtube stuff is quite popular. The show is not.

I think what they are shooting for is a My So-Called Life for those of us who watched that show in the nineties, trying to connect with those of us actually going through our quarter-life crisis. It focuses on a group of friends, some of whom live together, many of whom are dating or have dated or want to date someone else in the group. All of them have hopes and aspirations, most of which are creativity-related, so of course they also all have day jobs that they hate. Except for two of the guys, who are film-makers trying to strike out by making car commercials - these two are partners, but of course one of them is the true artist, and the other has a moneybags dad who has funded their start-up. Conflict ensues.

I feel like this show should be a good idea, and should be interesting. It has been a while since there has been a show that is really great that is just about people - not centered on where they work (hospital, courthouse, crime scene lab), but on the people and their relationships. Think thirtysomething.

But this show just seems trivial. I'm not sure if I've ever seen quite so many cliches packed into one hour of television. To be fair, generally the first couple of episodes of any show feel a bit contrived, so maybe it will improve, but so far I would give it a D.

Blame it on Google

I used to visit my own blog when doing my daily visits to all the blogs I read. I would just click through my Blogrolling list to see who had updated and who had not, and in visiting my own site I would realize how long it had been since I actually written anything.

But then I discovered Google Reader.

I'm still not sure how to fill all the time I used to waste clicking onto everyone's site once, twice, or ten times a day. I guess I should probably use that time to update my own blog. Or do work. But mostly I spend it clicking "refresh" on my Google Reader. It's highly efficient and nifty, except when it comes to some people's blogs, who I can't get an RSS feed for.

In other news, we're going to Paris!!! In May!!! That's like two months away and I'm sure I am going to travelguide myself out by then, but I am so excited! SB hasn't been overseas before, so that is super exciting, and when I went to Paris I was only there for like two days and we are going for two weeks! WEEKS!!! More details to come about our flights, accommodations, itineraries, etc, in case anyone cares/is interested, or in case anyone has any recommendations for us. I am feeling a lot of anxiety about getting the business ready for the girls to take care of while we're gone. While I'm confident they can handle the mundane day-to-day stuff, I want to get ready some Troubleshooting checklists just in case.

As far as the trip goes, we want to sightsee, obviously, but also want to spend some time just wandering. If anyone has any lists of things we may not think of but should not miss, please let me know so I can check 'em out!

Blinded by the flashbulbs

It would appear that our mini media blitz has come to an end. We had an interview with the paper last Monday (published Tuesday), then interview with local CTV on Tuesday (aired Tuesday), then interview with paper on Tuesday (published Wednesday), then a radio interview on Sunday.

No calls today. Phewf.

Loads of free publicity, which is great, and the fact that we were the only dog-walking company interviewed tells me we are easy to find when people are looking for dog walkers, which is awesome. I also think it's really great that the issues are getting so much attention.

One of the proposed bylaws is to limit the number of dogs that are allowed to be walked outdoors in the downtown core to two dogs per person. There is talk that this will be waived for professionals with a permit, but we try not to walk in the downtown core anyway. People are annoying and there are a lot of people in the downtown core. We like to stay around dog people, and we walk in dog-friendly areas. So I doubt this will affect us.

The other proposed bylaw is to place an outright ban on all pit bull breeds and pit bull crosses. This infuriates me. Pit bulls are not the problem - people are the problem! People who get a pitty to show how macho they are and then train them to be aggressive or mean so that they can create this tough guy image. The dogs are always the losers in these situations - either they are mistreated and that is what has made them mean, or they end up being abandoned because the owners never really thought of them as anything more than an accessory, or they are destroyed because they do end up lashing out and hurting someone. But none of these problems are inherent in the breed. Some of the sweetest dogs we walk are pits or pit mixes. They just need proper training and socialization, like any other dog.

I am hoping that as people get more informed and the issue is discussed more that they will change their tune, but I'm not holding my breath since the Ontario government have successfully placed their own ban. Even though the UK did it 10 years ago and their incidents of dog bites and attacks didn't decrease at all. People with bad intentions, and people who don't know what they are doing and just ruin dogs will always be out there, they will just flock towards a different breed of dog.

Next, I'll be speaking with Anderson

One of the boroughs of our fair city announced yesterday that they were going to try to pass some bilaws to regulate dog stuffs within the borough.

Some of the bilaws:
a) maximum two dogs may be walked at one time
b) ban on pitbulls

I got a call yesterday from the English newspaper and was quoted there today. Then I got a call this morning from our local TV news to do an interview with them. We met around lunch today and the interview will air tonight at 6pm (CTV for those of you in Montreal).

I wasn't really nervous, but was extremely conscious of what I said I really hope I didn't sound like a bit tool. I have to tape the broadcast because SB will probably be at work. I hope it goes okay - check it out if you get a chance.

Buy me things - I can send you a list

Have you ever discovered something, and it is so great and wonderful, but then you become kind of a little obsessed, and then you wish you had never discovered it in the first place?

This is how I feel about Etsy.

I heard about Etsy a while ago through several different blogs, but have been resisting the urge to visit it. It is a website where different sellers post their handmade goods for sale. Sound a little flea-markety? nay nay my friend. This is good stuff.

Stuff like art
Stuff like pottery:
Stuff like super cute dog collars:
There's also some yarn that looks like ice cream, which I won't post the picture of because I'm not sure how many people it would thrill besides myself.

Anyway, so I have been browsing there. A lot. SB and I have found several art pieces that we would like to get (we still haven't hung anything on our walls.... we suck). The bad part is we both choose different pieces - we have very different taste in art, I guess.

So, visit Etsy. I dare you not to find anything you like.

Not a resolution, just a coincidence

Just before Christmas, I was at my heaviest weight ever. I often mention to people when I have lost five pounds, or ten pounds, or whatever, but never mention when I have gained it. I guess that kind of makes it seem like I'm perpetually shrinking, when in reality I yo-yo like a ... well, like a yo-yo.

I'm not sure what exactly led to the big gain. I was still walking doggies four times a week, still eating a steady diet of half crap and half good stuff, but for some reason the crap was catching up with me. And all the pre-holiday imbibing probably didn't help.

Just after Christmas, SB and I went on a shopping trip to snag some boxing week deals. While I was waiting outside his changeroom door slouched against the wall, a lovely lady asked me if it was my first. I said pardon, because I was half asleep and shocked that someone was speaking to me. "Is it your first that you are expecting?" "Hey, ya, thanks, but I'm not pregnant. Thanks though, for really making my day."

I am aware that I'm chubby. I don't like it, but it is what it is. But what would prompt someone to ask a stranger such a dangerous question? I would NEVER assume that someone was pregnant unless maybe they were out to here with that tell-tale belly button protrusion. And I think the very fact that the woman would dare to ask bothered me more than the fact that, ya, I do have a belly that could look like a pregnant belly.

Anyway, since the holidays, I have lost about 17 pounds. It's slightly shocking, because I don't really see a huge difference, but the numbers on the scale they do not lie. I still haven't changed a whole lot of my habits, except I'm trying to make an effort to eat less junk food. Exercise levels have not changed at all, although it's time for me to get back on the treadmill.

I ask myself if that lady's comment was the reason for a subconcious change. I would like to think not - that I really don't care about what people think, that I just want to feel better and be fit. But I think I do care, and that her comment was more hurtful than maybe I even know.

Making me want to stab my eye out...

Charlie is whiiiiining again because he's huuuuuuungry. And dyyyyyyying. In case any of you were wondering if he still does that.


I am still obsessed with the socks, although I had to take some time off from knitting this week to actually get some work done - you know, pay our employees, put gas in my car, bathe. I can't wait to finish them - they are so darn cute!

Anyone out there have a Wii? I am becoming more and more fascinated by the concept of them and am dying to try on out, but I'm pretty sure no one rents the game consoles anymore, and I'm not sure I'm ready to commit $350 to the system, accessories, etc. without having test-driven one for a bit. So if you have one, or have played one, let me know what you think of it.

A woman obsessed

I have a new obsession. It is nerdy. And I'm not sure you will understand.

I have been knitting socks.

Beautiful striped socks using thin, soft yarn and tiny little needles. The first sock took me four day, two of which were weekend days. And my office work has been blatantly ignored.

When I started knitting the sock, I asked SB if he thought he would wear those socks and he said "yes, I think I would love to wear those socks". So I SWEAR I measured his foot (actually, I had him measure his foot, because, you know) and followed the pattern for his foot's length, but somehow the sock ended up only big enough for me. So the first pair will be mine. :) When I finish them both, I will post a photo of me modeling them. They are beautiful!

At the same knitting store where I bought my sock yarn, I also found more of the cashmere yarn I made SB mom's hat and scarf out of, so now I have enough to make myself a pair of mitts!

I know, not very exciting to the average human, but these projects have taken over all my free time and I love it. I even have a sore hand from all the knitting. But it's fun to work on projects that are actually useful, and with yarn that is nice and will make you want to wear it.

Stay tuned for socks!

I hate to say I told you so,

I have had another complaint from the non-bloggers complaint department that I haven't posted in a while. I apologize. But really, nothing has been going on.

I went back on my meds last week, which means that nothing has tasted good and I haven't had an appetite for a week. On the upside, my anxiety is waning, which is good. I am sleeping better, and probably driving better.

SB and I have been throwing out the idea of trying to take a trip in the spring. I would say chances of this happening are slim to none since we would pretty much have to have a plan by now so that I can organize the business etc to be able to get away for a week, but it's still fun to research things and stuff.

Business is good - I am not too busy these days, which is pretty awesome. Trying to catch up on paperwork and other things that fell by the wayside during Holiday Madness 2007.

And really that's it. Boring. You're the one who wanted an update...

Miracles of modern medicine

For my kidney infection, I have to take an antibiotic pill. I have never been on such a medication - all other antibiotics I have taken involve twice daily doses for about 400 days. But not this one. The doctor told me in her office that normally she would prescribe it for three days, but since I was feeling so much pain in my actual kidney area she would up it to five days.

Five days and then freedom! Nice! And then I can eat all the dairy I want!***

I picked up the prescription from the pharmacy and then went home to begin getting better. I popped open the bottle to take my first dose and had to gasp.on the right you will find a normal Advil. On the left is the big giant horsepill of an antibiotic I have to take. And it doesn't have the nice yummy candy coating that Advil has - nay nay - it is straight up powdery chalky grossness.

But, on the plus side, I take the last one tomorrow. Also on the plus side, I do not have to take the liquid suspension form of this medication, which the info pamphlet directs you to drink down without chewing the microcapsules in the suspension. Gross.


***this med has the weirdest guidelines for dairy of anything I've ever taken. I am not allowed to consume dairy for six hours before or two hours after taking my pill. Do you know how hard that is when you are a Quebec cheese eater? Do you? The agony.

Tell me your own politik

SB and I have decided that the Canadian electoral process needs a complete revamp so that it is more similar to the American process.

We have been paying a lot of attention to the primaries, who's running, what they stand for etc. I think in the past year I have spent more time watching news stories about American candidates than I have watched on Canadian politicians in my whole life.

And you know why this is? The Canadian system is not set up to engage the people. We never know when an election will be. People can just step down and a successor fills in for five minutes (hello, Kim Campbell who?). When they announce an election, they come up fast so we never really know the candidates, and who cares, because we don't vote for the candidates anyway, we vote for a representative in our area, and who knows where the heck these people came from.

So, SB and I are in favor of making the Canadian system a bit more American Idol, like the US does it. These dudes (and lady) started hyping themselves over a year ago! (In Obama's case it was even before that). Now they are having primaries to choose the candidate - the PEOPLE are choosing the candidate, not the party itself in some backroom deal or one-night engagement. And maybe the best part about the primary process is that the candidates get worked over hardcore - they are running their asses off trying to meet as many people as possible and make as big of an impression as possible. This helps wear down the politic in them and gives at least a small glimpse of their actual personalities. Some of them should keep that to themselves (sorry Howard Dean - you were my fave four years ago until you lost your bloody mind on TV), but some of them become more likable.

Then after all that craziness, they get like 9 more months to work their game.

That's two full years of face time, and sussing out where they stand and who they represent (well, at least as much as you can believe them. And just because we like the system they use, we aren't sure the US makes the best choices within that system. But that's a whole other story.....)

Meanwhile, when we vote we really have no idea who these people are, so we pretty much vote for whoever doesn't want Quebec to separate. And we also wouldn't vote for someone in favor of killing kittens for their pelts. We feel strongly about those issues.

Simon disapproves of my absence

I know, I know, I haven't been posting. But in my defense, no one else is posting that much either. Plus I've been suffering from acute renal failure. I could have died.

Okay, that's a lie. But I do have a kidney infection. Antibiotics have kicked in, so I no longer have to run to the bathroom every 15 minutes. Awesome. I'm looking forward to a decent night of sleep tonight. And I am SOOOOO happy this didn't happen in the middle of our Christmas rush.

Work is now back to normal, which has the whole team breathing easier. Cats are cute, but I think a person has a limit of how much cat pee they can scoop in a day.

I feel meh. Here's a photo taken with the new camera. SB has been perfecting taking indoor photos.

Hermitville

Hey, you know what sucks about getting a NikonD40x for Christmas?

Nothing.

And you know what sucks about pumpkin pie leftover from last Monday?

Nothing.

I have had a pretty fantastic day of doing nothing and going no where, which was greatly needed. SB is in New Brunswick for his brother's wedding, but I have a no-fly policy over the holidays for obvious reasons (ie 400 million cat visits per day). This weekend I have two girls working, so I didn't have to do any visits myself (yes!) but I didn't want to chance being away if some kind of crisis arose. Which it turned out that a minor crisis did arise - snowstorms on the east coast caused many flight delays which caused many last minute additions to our schedule. It was all handled okay, but I could just picture one of the girls being here "in charge" and having a mild panic attack.

So I'm relaxing. Eating pie. Doing a puzzle. In my pyjamas.

100% awesome.

Not feeling creative

Wowie, so....

Instead of a well-written post, here's some list action:

My Christmas week was even more eventful than I ever could have imagined. Here are some of the high and low-lights:

1) After about 30 cat visits on Christmas day, on our very last visit at 9:30 at night we enter a house where one of the cats had two explosive diarrheas on woven natural fiber rugs (read: big fat pain in the ass to clean) and two giant vomits (luckily on linoleum). The place smelled SO bad. Kitty was fine boxing day morning, but I'm sure the scent will linger...

2) after leaving the kitchen tap dripping as per client's request, kitchen sink leaks and creates a mini-flood. Fabulous. No damage, other than a few cardboard boxes that were stored under the sink.

3) My Mummy made a surprise visit, declaring that Christmas is in fact NOT dead and that there WILL be turkey dinner at my house this year regardless of how many stupid cats need insulin. Well, who am I to argue with that?

4) None of my employees lost, broke, or otherwise screwed up anything. Phewf.

5) SB spoiled me rotten and I am now the proud owner of a Nikon D40x. I have only played with a it a little bit so far as I get a bit bored taking photos of our two mongrels, but SB has been snapping away. But, the first three photos I took were awesome, which confirms my suspicion that I suck at taking photos with small cameras like our Canon. They never turn out. But now I don't have to care because I have a super awesome kick-ass camera. So excited!!!!

Still hangin' in there

I've been trying to think about stuff to talk about for the past two days. Something to leave you with because I'm sure I will not have time to blog next week. But my brain, it's empty save for prettily-colored schedules and curse words.

I just remembered that I have a whole bunch of super-action shots from dog walks in the snow that I could have blogged about but I am not sure where the camera is.....maybe after the holidays we'll get to that.

Christmas presents are all taken care of. SB never did provide me with a list of "these will wow me" gifts, so I got him some stuff I'm pretty sure he'll like okay, and if he doesn't, there are gift receipts.

NB presents were sent and arrived there yesterday. That was a relief - I totally thought we would never get those there on time, which is disgusting, because we've had them all bought for weeks.

One thing that did make my day - one of our regular clients left a gift for his regular walker and for me - a sweet gift certificate to my favorite spa! Totally unexpected and really thoughtful, so it makes it even more appreciated.

Tomorrow night we are going to see The Nutcracker, which is pretty exciting. We have several clients who are dancers in Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and they will be in the show, so that will be cool, and I have never even watched the Nutcracker on TV, so the whole show will be new to me. I think this will be the most Christmas-y that we get, and while that is a lot of expectation to put on something, I'm sure they won't disappoint.

Status update

Christmas gifts: NB gifts: still not sent; SB's: still not purchased. This is a problem. Hopefully we can send off the New Brunswick gifts tomorrow. And hopefully they will arrive on time. Hopefully SB will quit telling me he wants a new rug and a new vacuum cleaner for Xmas and pick something fun.

Work: glad I put that "leave us alone, we're booked solid" message on the voicemail. Much less stressful this week in the whole message-taking department. Snow = making my work day hell. Also, am pretending Xmas is still four weeks away so I do not throw myself into cardiac arrest thinking about all the crap I'll be scooping next week (that is literal).

Snowstorm: big fat pain in the ass as usual. Our street hasn't even had the sidewalks cleared yet. Some of the main roads had one side done last night and will have the other done tonight. Oh, and here's a fun story. Today while traveling down a one-way street I got stopped up behind a line of like four cars. I could see that in front of them there was a BMW sedan trying to get out of a parking spot, but it's pretty icy out there, so he just kept spinning his wheels. Big shock, none of the asshole guys in front of me were getting out to help. Cars lined up behind us and started honking. There were probably about 20 cars back there when I got out and helped the guy push his car out. It took about 7.7 seconds. I gave the men in the cars in front of me dirty looks as I passed them on the way back to my truck. Come on people. Just come on.

I have been talking a lot about the snow lately (believe me, I would be very happy if it would just go away so I could stop talking about it) and I realize that people outside of our fair city probably have no idea what kind of hell I'm talking about. Here is a description.

a) snow falls

b) snowplows go around pushing snow off the roadway, but up against all the parked cars. This makes a nice little den for your car. Perfect for hybernation. Not perfect for getting to work.

c) snow fall ends

d) you have to work, so you dig out around you car (about 1 foot on three sides, and under the tires) and ram your way out of the snow bank.

e) the city puts up "no parking" signs on the side of the street where they will be plowing. They either prohibit parking all day or all night.

f) theoretically, if you work at a normal job, you drive home and have to fight with the snowbank to park your car. Usually I like the ram and slide method, wherein I ram either the front or back end into the space, hope to catch the tracks of the person who left, and hopefully slide into the spot. I do not work a normal job, so I generally fight with about 6-10 snowbanks per day with all my picking up and dropping off of doggies. I am a very good shoveller now. Very efficient.

g) the city passes for snow removal. This is actual physical removal of the snow. First a special sidewalk plow passes and pushes all the snow onto the street (where no cars are parked because of the helpful orange signs). Then a big giant snowblower passes, accompanied by a big giant dump truck. The snowblower blows the snow into the dump truck, and then the dump truck takes the snow away (they usually dump it in the St. Lawrence, I think).

f) everyone starts getting into fist-fights for parking spots on the good side of the street.

g) repeat the next day.

So, it takes at least two days to clear a street, and when you live on a small street like we do, you have no idea how long it will take them to actually get to your street. It's all very efficient, as you can see. (sarcasm intended).

And so there it is

Of course we get a major blizzard the day of our holiday party. Everybody still made it, which was awesome, and the food was great, restaurant was quiet, it was pretty great. After the party we drove home one of our employees and decided to help her dig out the work van from the alley where she parked it so that it wouldn't have to be dug out in the morning.

Three hours later, we finally got our truck into the alley (forging the path - probably about 100 yards) unstuck the van from the parking spot (requisite "digging out" that anyone with a car has to do at least once), unstuck our truck while trying to turn it back around (alleys are narrow y'all, and forward motion tends to work better when trying to gain momentum), drove our truck out of the alley, and drove the van out of the alley.

When we got home I begged SB to just ram the truck into any random snowbank and that I would worry about digging it out in the morning. He obeyed for about 7 minutes - I showered, then under pretense of walking the dogs he went back outside. Such a sweetie. Made my morning much easier today, that's for sure, but I sure did feel guilty.

One plus to shoveling snow in the bitter cold for three hours is that you get to see how warm your Uggs really are. Very warm. And my feet didn't get wet inside, either. Amazing. I highly recommend them - cute and practical.

Now we wait for them to remove the snow. Last time it took a week. If it takes a week this time, you may just see me on the news wanted for homicide.

Dear Snow,

I hate you.

Why do you always come on a Sunday, just in time to ruin our entire work week? Why don't you come on a Thursday, or even a Friday? Then the worst of the removal would happen on the weekend. You know, when my employees aren't working that much. Because as much as I love paying them for all the delays you cause like being stuck in traffic, or being stuck behind moron people who stop in the middle of the road because they can't find parking, or just plain being stuck because they are mindful to park off of the road, and in the snow, which sometimes is deeper than it seems, as much as I love paying for all that, it would be nice to just not have to deal with it for once.

Snow, for once I wish you would just cooperate. Or at the very least, facilitate your own clean up, and get it done quickly. Because I'm pretty sure I'm going to develop angina before this winter is over. And carpal tunnel. From shoveling out my truck forty times in one day.

Thanks.

Forever hating you,
Jules

Bah humbug

I don't know how many times I have to say it people, but at our house, Christmas is dead.

It's not like I'm happy about it - I used to love Christmas. I love giving presents. I love eating food. I love drinking. Christmas = awesome.

But when we bought this business, it was clear that Christmas from now til forever would be non-existent. It is our biggest time of year. We cannot travel. We spent 15 hours on Christmas day last year visiting kitties cleaning their poopers and serving them Fancy Feast. We had club sandwiches for lunch. They were good.

This year I am struggling to keep it together - we are about 400x more busy this year, and although we have help this time, scheduling is complicated, and anxiety is high. SB bought a tree on the weekend, but I don't want to decorate it. I know this hurts his feelings, but the tree stresses me out. So we have had an empty tree in our living room for five days. I haven't mailed any of the gifts we bought. I can't think of one thing I want to get SB for Xmas - I think it's the first time I've asked him for a list and actually needed it.

So, here is a message to everyone:

I'm sorry I'm a grinch. But I am. And that's that. If I thought about all the yummy treats and nog and slush I'm missing out on, I think I wouldn't make it through. So bah to nog.

But don't worry - I have your gifts. Hopefully I will get around to mailing them this week. And they might even get wrapped too.

The tough decisions

My hair is in an in-between phase, and I'm not sure how to deal with it.

The last time I had my hair cut was on my birthday when my Mummy treated me to a day at the spa. That was five months ago. So right now I'm starting to look like a cross between the middle Hanson brother and an offspring of Celine Dion.

I totally don't have time for a haircut until after the holidays, so that gives me plenty of time to decide what to do with it. Should I:

a) cut it off again. It looks cute shorter, even when I don't do anything to it besides brushing it (which is pretty much every single day).

b) let it grow until I have a foot of hair to cut and donate it again.

It's really a tough decision, actually. Last time, my hair was already long, and was just dying to be cut off. Pleading for it actually. I was able to decide I was going to do it on a Tuesday and get it done on a Wednesday. But now, now we're talking about a commitment of another 5-6 months at least. Maybe even upwards of a year. Who knows, I'm getting older, maybe my hair's growth rate has been stunted. I have about a month and a half to decide. Meanwhile, I will barely be able to think about what I'm going to eat for breakfast let alone make and appointment to get my hair cut. But by mid-January I will at least need a trim.

Until then, any opinions are welcome.

A very big loss

Last Monday morning when I took the messages, I was sad to discover that one of my favorite dogs had passed away over the weekend.

She had taken her regular group walk on Thursday, and was happy and hoppy and extra into trying to play chase with all the other dogs. Friday when her walker went to pick her up, she didn't meet her at the door. The walker found her in the bedroom, laying down, not interested at all in getting up. She brought her out for a pee break and I called her owner to let him know she was feeling ill and we weren't going to force her to walk on the mountain in that condition. He told me she had been throwing up all night, and that if she wasn't better by the following morning, he was taking her to the vet.

Saturday morning she was so weak, she could barely walk to go pee. He took her to the vet where blood tests showed she was in liver failure. He said there was no treatment, and that the most likely cause was tumors. The vet said the only option at that point was to put her down.

When I heard the news, I broke down crying. SB thought something had happened to someone in my family. In a way, it had. She was one of the first dogs I walked when I started this job. The previous owners of my company said that she was on her last legs, and that she could go at any time. But the more I walked her, the more I saw how this wasn't true.

She was vibrant, and excited to get out and see the world. She liked to walk along beside me and let me lay my hand on her back as we walked. She loved to play stick, and would hop up and down until I threw it - she looked like a newborn fawn with her big, long, awkward legs.

The thing that set her apart though was her sensitivity. When I looked her in the face, it always struck me how wise she seemed. She was always right there with me, engaged, and totally into what we were doing, what we saw, what I said. She was extremely sensitive to people - she knew a weirdo from a nice person and would often run to cower behind me when she wasn't sure about someone.

When I took over the company, I asked her owner what he thought about placing her in group walks. I had seen how much she loved other dogs we met, and thought it would be really good for her. He agreed, although said she hated the car and might give us some difficulty. She did, but we got through it. And for the past year she has been running through the woods playing and goofing around with dogs half her age.

We've lost a couple of dogs this year. But none of them hit me this hard. She was so rare - I don't even see a connection like that when I look in my own dog's eyes. I'm sure there are a lot of big black Danes out there - but none like her.

Here I am!

It has been suggested to me that perhaps it is time to post again. I can't say that the week off hasn't been nice, but I have tons to write about now.

This week has been extremely crazy. Pretty much every day something was happening that was "post-worthy" but I just didn't have the time or energy to write anything. So, here's a quick wrap up:

1. Big Giant Snow Storm ruined my life
2. One of my favorite dogs that we walk had to be put down
3. I met with about 6,798 new clients, which promptly caused me to have panic attacks
4. I received a big giant package of books that I had ordered and that felt gooooood.
5. The pharmacist gave me the wrong medication

Monday we woke up to about 30cm of snow on the ground, which is all very nice and pretty but it makes it a bit difficult to get around. Sunday night they wouldn't stop talking about the impending storm on the news and I almost had to break out a paper bag. We have one employee who travels from Laval and who has a very full schedule so I was positive she was going to get stranded and we would be screwed.

Luckily she made it, and everyone else was able to get around as well. We had a few clients cancel because they didn't want us to be out on the roads just to walk their pooches, but most everything went off as normal.

Probably the biggest challenge about snowstorming in Montreal is the snow removal process, or lack thereof. It's disgusting, really. Today is Friday. There is still 3 feet of snow on pretty much all streets. Yesterday, St. Laurent Blvd (aka the Main, aka one of the major South to North arteries in the city) was still down to one lane. The city says they had over 3,000 snow removal people working every day this week, but unless it takes 300 people to operate every snow plow I've seen, then I don' t know where these workers are. And even worse than the traffic due to lane closure is the parking situation. Every morning I have to dig out my truck to get out of the snowbank I rammed it into the night before to park. But that's not all! Because my job involves driving from client's house to client's house, I am often ramming into several snowbanks every single day. Which gives me the opportunity to break out the little shovel on average four times per day. Wow, thanks Ville de Montreal! Without you I wouldn't be sore in my quads, shoulders, biceps, and the heels of my hands!

More from the list to come....