The First bit of Snow

On Saturday it snowed.  We woke up to see snow on the ground and it steadily continued on til around midday.  We had to take Gimli to the vet for his annual checkup, so when I took him for a pee pee break and he saw the snow, he went nuts!  He wanted to root his nose into it like a pig looking for truffles and he wanted to run around and pounce in it.

Sadly, we piled into the car and went to the vet.  But, I knew, I knew I would have to indulge him upon our return.

The vet visit was uneventful, Gimli is healthy as a horse.  He's a bit of a fat ass though, at 31 lbs, I am not happy about this number but we'll see about getting in more exercise over the winter.  Our backyard is fenced so that means he can run around in the snow over the course of the season.  He got his usual shots and next year we are going to start alternating the shots now that he has built up his immunity.

We stopped off at Walmart so I could run in and grab some Tupperware that was on sale... it was all gone, big surprise huh?  I looked at the crazy people running around and sighed that I haven't even begun my Christmas shopping yet.

Upon our arrival at home, Mike started shoveling the driveway in his old wheelchair so as not to dirty the new one, and the passersby all slowed down to watch.  I should charge admission the next time it snows.  Yes folks, step right up to see the amazing man in a wheelchair use a shovel!  Wait til they see him use the snowblower!  That's at least $2 admission fee.

I took Gimli into the backyard and all hell broke loose!  He ran around in the snow, frapping and barking at it, eating some and sniffing some.  He found his snowy soccer ball and we played fetch for a bit.

On Sunday, we were out again for a bit longer this time.  He frapped around and rolled in it.  I made snowballs and he chased and ate them.  I started making a snow pile, but Gimli wanted none of that and every time I made some progress, he came running up and pounced on it, digging and eating to his heart's content.

The snow is gone today and I don't think we'll have snow til the weekend, maybe, but I know Gimli's anxiously waiting for it!

Snow puff balls stuck to my fluff!

Gimli's crazy morning

I've realized I haven't posted anything on Gimli lately, so this post is allll about him!

He had a strange morning today...

Our staircase has two landings.  Its not a true 'boxed' in staircase, it has a slight curve as it comes down so there's 2 landings there so you don't fall on your butt as you descend the stairs.  Each area before the landing has about 4 or 5 stairs.  Gimli, in his infinite wisdom, because he is 'Looooorrrrd Gimli!', feels it is his duty to race down the stairs at break neck speed.  So much so that his front legs propel him downwards and his bunny butt is left hanging on for dear life and swaying like a rickety 18th century caboose that's been fastened onto a Japanese speed train.

This morning, he ran downstairs first and stood at the foot of the stairs looking up at me with that crazed 'feed me' look on his face.  I had forgotten something upstairs so I ran back up to fetch it.  He thought it was a game and ran back up with me.  When it came time to come down to go on the walk, he was even more excited and started down after me.  He reached the first landing and then slid fumbled fell down the 4 steps to the second landing.

I yelled at him, 'Gimli!' and we slowly went down the last bit of stairs where I felt him all over and stretched his legs to make sure there was nothing broken.  There wasn't, but I could tell he was a little startled by the whole experience.

We got ready and went on our walk.

It was blustery this morning and Gimli, being a little shaken up, was even more terrified because these frightening plastic trash can covers were spinning in the streets and threatening to get him.  Even the brittle leaves were scaring him, so much so he was less walking and more running/pulling with an air of, 'Let's just get this over with, hurry up woman!'  Normally I'm happy when he walks fast, but today it was almost a run to keep up with him, something I was not prepared to do because I am a lazy fat ass wasn't fully awake yet.

He calmed down as we turned the corner and slowed down a bit.  I happened to look behind us and saw the 'Golden Retriever Guy', (GRG), far behind us, but on our side of the street.

To explain a bit, neither Mike nor myself like this guy mainly because he's a bit rude and doesn't have a concept of personal space when it comes to him and his dog.  More on this later.

Gimli and I continued on into the park and we headed toward the bin so he could make his morning deposit.  After the bin, there's a small hill where the path dips down a bit and into the full park area with swings and a slide etc.  Gimli and I usually stop at the bin, then cross the grass back to the sidewalk, bypassing the full park altogether.  This morning, we ran into our neighbor from across the street.  She's a nice lady, with a senior German Shepherd, Pax (a male), and a puppy, I figure less than a year old, but nearly full grown.  We'll call her 2GS.  She's had the puppy for about a week so far, but we haven't met him yet because we haven't really run into each other and when we have, it hasn't been a good time to socialize.  Today was one of those days.

Gimli knows Pax and they get on well.  Pax is verrry mellowww.  We came upon Pax who was sitting on the path and Gimli said hi.  2GS was a little further away taking care of business with puppy.  As we reached her, the puppy was a little barky, mainly because he's never met us.  I somehow got Gimli to lie down in between my feet and he was behaving.  This normally never happens and I was pleasantly surprised.  Except I looked over to the left and there was GRG coming over the hill.

2GS then went into a bit of a scramble to move the puppy away from GRG because as she says to me, "He, GRG, told me his dog doesn't like puppies."  At this point, GRG was much closer and Gimli started acting up, mainly because his dog was getting closer and closer.  I heard GRG say, "Look, 2GS can't control two dogs.".

2GS started moving away and I stepped back with Gimli trying to get him to calm down before we started moving again.  I said to GRG as he was coming over, "Go ahead".  Meaning I'll wait here, you continue on ahead and cross the park to go to your house, which was directly across the street from where we were standing, so he could have just walked around where we were standing to go home.  He continued over to me, both of us trying to keep our dogs away from each other, and he says, "Is your dog a male?"  (Which he asked me before).

"Yes he is."

"Oh, well, I don't want them to meet because males will fight."

I knew what he was going to say before he even finished the sentence because he had said this before.  I brought Gimli next to me in a tight heel and walked away.  Gimli kept looking behind, but by the time we reached the sidewalk, about 20ft away, he was back under control.

I don't want this to be a rant or preachy soapbox ramblings, but some people just don't have common sense.  If you have it in your mind that your dog will fight with every other dog out there, then why bring your dog close enough to another dog?  Furthermore, why project this feeling onto yourself and by extension, your dog so that whenever you encounter another dog, that feeling is always there?

I'm not a genius and I'm not the world's best dog trainer and Gimli certainly isn't the most well behaved dog out there, but I know my dog and I know how I feel on any given day and if I feel like Gimli is 'off' or I'm 'off' or whatever the situation is, then on the walk, I avoid everyone.  I cross the street, I walk fast, I take detours.  I don't look for trouble, I don't see a situation and bring my dog into it with the pre-conceived notion that my dog is going to fight the 2 males dogs there.

I know there are 50 million ways to raise and train a dog and what works for me doesn't work for the next person.  But it would be nice if all dog owners out there practiced some common sense, awareness and respect people's personal space when on a walk.

Ok, now that's off my chest, pictures of Gimli!  I especially like the last one.

Halloweenish Guinea Pigs

Mike and I moved into our first house in July 2006.  It was a great house, open concept main floor with the dining room about 1/2 open concept.  We lived in that house for 3 years and never had a dining room table.  Because of this, we never hosted any large dinners, you know like the big ones - Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas.  I was secretly happy for this, shhh, don't tell Mike.

We moved into this house on Halloween 2009.  This house has the dining room incorporated into the kitchen and living room and so we purchased this dining room table soon after moving in and the sideboard this year.

This year we are hosting Christmas dinner for about 8-10 guests.

Because I had never made a turkey with all the fixins before and because I'm a huge perfectionist and paranoid things would go wrong, Mike and I held a Halloweenish Guinea Pig dinner party this past Saturday.  There was 11 guests in attendance.

Mike and I started preparing the night before.  We made the sour cream/cream cheese potatoes, (I made waaaay too much, a 5 lb bag, I'll use 5 less potatoes next time), and shoved them into the fridge and I made my two layer Dracula imprinted blood cake, (of which I didn't take a picture and I'm very sad).

The day of, my brother and I made some Halloween shaped cookies, (no pictures here either), but take my word for it, they were GOOD!

I used the convection oven for the first time, which cut the turkey roasting time by about 2 hours, (YES!).  Except because I was paranoid, I put the turkey in around 1 pm and the turkey was ready well before anyone had arrived, (BOOOOOO!).  No matter, it was still moist and juicy and awesome!  At least that's what everyone told me to my face...

Mike and I finished up with some corn, maple baby carrots, our gravy, which ran out, (oops) and my favorite non-dessert part of the meal, the sausage stuffing.  Oh yeah, slightly spiced Italian sausage cut into 1/2 moons mixed into the stuffing along with its oh so bad for you drippings.  Man, that was good!  My only problem with it was I didn't make enough!  I'm buying more boxes of stuffing for Christmas, never mind what Mike says.  The stuffing is all mine...

... I wonder what the stuffing would taste like if I put bacon into it... hmmmmmmmmmm

We're going to need a bigger boat.

While its not my favorite movie, (I don't have one), but Jaws is one of those movies that I watch whenever I catch it on television.  I can't tell you how many times I've seen it, but trust me, its plenty.  I can't remember when I first saw Jaws, but it was when I was an adult.  My first foray into the Jaws franchise was Jaws: The Revenge, which I saw as a child.  Yes, that abomination that subconsciously preached that a great white shark could track a plane from Amity all the way to The Bahamas.  Yes, didn't you know they had a built in tracker?

Anyways, if you've ever seen that movie, you might remember in the first scene the shark attacks, Sean Brody, the police officer on a boat while in the background you hear carolers singing, The First Noel.  To this day, when I hear that song I think of that scene.  Christmas and a bloody shark attack where a man's arm is taken off, then he's eaten...

Because when I become interested in a topic, I have to consume everything about it, I've subsequently seen the rest of the Jaws movies, including the 3D version set at Sea World and I've read the original Peter Benchley novel.  I credit the Jaws franchise for my interest in great whites and one day I'd like to go to South Africa to see them up close... if I ever have the guts to actually get into the water with those magnificent creatures.

Last Friday, we caught up with some friends of ours to watch Jaws on the big screen.  Some 35 years after the original premiered, (I wasn't born yet), I was able to watch it on the big screen.  In a word, awesome.

Automatic corgi

When Gimli was a puppy, went to Obedience classes at Petsmart.  He learned the usual things like, sit, down, stay, wait, come (sometimes), and all about walking on a leash.

I taught him shake a paw, wave, touch, pray and roll over.

This went well up until very recently.  Because everyday he visits Mike's parents who stuff him with cheese, he goes through a routine of tricks so he gets his cheese.

When he comes home, I make him perform a trick before he's fed and at other times in the day. It varies each time to keep him on his toes.

Except now, he does his tricks by memory like a trained seal.  If I so much as hesitate before giving him a command, he waves, then touches, then prays etc.

I'm not entirely sure how to remedy this, but perhaps when he doesn't listen or performs the wrong trick, then the game is over and I'll walk away and we'll try again in a few minutes.

Will update again once I have some results.

Bacon! Baaaacon!

There's a Begging Strips commercial where the dog goes nuts for bacon.  See it here.  It should have been written for me.

Well, I have a confession to make, I'm addicted to bacon.  Crispy bacon, stringy bacon or chewy bacon, I love it all.  Except its bad for you and with my addiction, I'm apt to eat all of it in one sitting, making it really bad and really good at the same time.  I've had a craving for bacon for quite some time because its now Fall and Fall makes me want to make my stew, which calls for bacon!!!

This morning Mike asked what I wanted for breakfast, (yes, he's trained well!), and I told him eggs and hashbrowns.

"No bacon?"

"No, we don't have the 'bad bacon', so I don't want any of the other bacon."

I took Gimli for a walk and some fetch in the backyard.  We came inside, fed Gimli and I turned the TV to the Food Network to watch "The Best Thing I Ever Ate".  Today's best thing was, you guessed it, BACON!

I ate my breakfast in silence admiring the bacon on tv and envying the guests as they devoured their bacon.


*sigh*

I'm walkin' here!

Today must have been, 'Let's slam Candy!' Day.

Had a crummy day and a headache during the afternoon... YAY!  Yes, I get migraines every once in a while and they pretty much cripple me.  Unfortunately, I don't get any warnings or auras that other migraine sufferers do, so for me its like in the cartoons when the ACME anvil falls on the character's head.  It hits right out of the blue!

We went grocery shopping this evening, all was well until I was returning the cart.  I returned it to the corral and started back to the car.  All of a sudden, this woman zooms into the parking lane and zooms into the parking spot next to our car narrowly missing running me over!  I had to jump out of the way and almost bumped into this guy who was heading into the supermarket to buy some strawberries or Coke.

I got into the car ranting and raving how this mad woman driving like Cruella deVille trying to get some Dalmatian puppies almost ran me over.  Then, Cruella proceeded to sit in the car and organize 'things'.  She nearly killed me going for a parking spot so she could sit there and organize 'things'.

Where's my Stewie death ray when I need it?

Oh and ranting when you've nearly been killed doesn't count against the No Complaints thing.

Halloween!

Yes, its now November, but better late than never right?  Besides, I took some pictures of Gimli yesterday that I have to post today.

Even though we like all things horror-ble, we didn't go all out for Halloween this year.  Our only decoration consisted of this skull that a friend made for us.  Skully has been sitting in the window for most of the month and we aren't sure if he's going to stay there forever...

On Saturday we picked up close to 200 pieces of candy to distribute on Halloween night, thinking we were going to receive plenty of children... WRONG! We have about 100 pieces of candy left over!  Ay and I'm supposed to be on a diet.  Oh well, they'll all end up in my belly at some point!

On Sunday, we dressed Gimli in his bandanna, mainly because he doesn't have any costumes and I don't think he would like wearing one.  It takes us about 5 minutes to put the bandanna on him.  This is leftover baggage from the cone of shame he had to wear when he was neutered at 6 months of age.  I think it scarred him for life and its taken quite a bit of working and treats to get him to the point where he'll tolerate the bandanna.  I did contemplate putting a white towel on him and letting him roam around the house or putting his foot blanket on his head so he could grab it from the side and pretend to be 'Phantom puppy', but decided not to.  I will have pictures of the 'Phantom puppy' one of these days cuz its just too cute for words!

So, to make up for the lack of costume, I took a few pictures of Gimli with his Halloween toys and Skully.

When the trick-or-treaters came around, Mike manned the door and Gimli and I sat on the staircase where I could correct him and help him understand that its ok if the doorbell is hit 4 times in a row, we don't need to bark at each one.  I'm not sure how much he understood and how much was for the treats, but one can hope!

The absolute best costume was a toddler wearing a sheep's costume.  I kid you not, had we known this family, we would have asked to have Gimli pose with their child!

Now that Halloween is over, my sights turn to Christmas, and for someone that's not a big fan of what Christmas has become, from somewhere comes this need to put up the tree, get some extras to hide in stockings and bake like there's no tomorrow!