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.