I am Gimli, CCO

Meet Gimli, the CCO, (Chief Corgi Officer), of Corgified Candy.  I also have these titles:

General Gimli
Lord Gimli
Gimli Bear (for when I'm feisty!)

You may address me with any of the above.

You, woman who is obsessed with me, bring me my mid-morning cookie

Don't bother me with questions, can't you see I'm busy?

Should have stayed in bed...

On Sunday, but I decided it would be a good day to:
- Go to Costco
- Try a McCafe Mocha
- Put up the Christmas tree

Well Costco was a zoo.  We're this far away from Christmas and the place was packed!  Everyone was roaming around with that glazed over look in their eyes, you know, like every time you go to Costco.  It was all Mike and I could do to get our 6 20 items and leave.  It was going well until we got to the cash and the cashier decided that Mike and I were not together as a couple and would not accept Mike's Costco card and my money.  Despite our protests that we have never had to do this in the past, she told us it was a new rule....

ok...

To say I left Costco with a slight headache is an understatement.  (But I did buy a large bag of M & Ms!!).

Heading back home, I picked up a McCafe Mocha.  I was curious and really wanted some whipped cream.  We also grabbed a couple McDonald's snacker wraps - Mike got the Ranch one and I got the spicy one.  I then promptly got buffalo sauce on my unwashed Costco germed fingers.  Those same fingers that I did not want to come into contact with my food and those same fingers that I promptly licked because I totally would have gotten said sauce into my eyes.

*sigh*

My headache has intensified but the promise of yummy whipped cream is keeping it at bay.

We are now heading home at this point, mainly because Mike is a smart man and he knows once that vein starts to appear in the middle of my forehead that he'd better do something before I turn into She Hulk.

 Credited to Peter David & Shawn Moll

At home, I start putting away the groceries, then enjoy my McCafe and I'm thinking, surely that must be the end of the madness. I head upstairs, change out of my clothes and put on some sweatpants and a big comfy sweater because I wasn't going back out there to the madness...

I finish my coffee and proceed to decorate the Christmas tree.  I thought I was being so smart when I put the tree together on Saturday with only the fun stuff to do on Sunday... I start with the lights and then realize that I had forgotten to string lights around the trunk.  Because of this, the plugs ended up attaching to the extension cord at the middle of the tree instead of the bottom.  No big deal, but its me and I'm a perfectionist and it didn't help my headache, which was slightly bigger.

All the while, Gimli's trying to get under the tree because he remembers toys coming from there last year and he's hoping he finds a new one.

I took a deep breath and started stringing the rest of the lights.  This year, I decided I'd be a bit more generous on the branches with the lights and naturally, ran out.  I had about 1/3 of the tree left to go.  Keep in mind I was alternating red light strings with purple ones and I ran out.

I looked at Mike with a scowl, "we have to go to the store."

"What? Why?"

"I ran out of lights.  I cannot finish the tree without the rest of them and I'd like the tree to be finished today because the 2 boxes of ornaments are sitting in the hallway and I don't want to leave them there any longer."

And all the while Spike TV is playing Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.

So, I put on my long coat over my home clothes that make me look like I belong on the TLC show, "What Not to Wear", even though its well above freezing outside, and we head to the store.  At this point my head is throbbing and I figure its because the McCafe has decided not to agree with me on account of my strange allergy to milk products containing preservatives.

We get to the first store, no small red lights.  We go to the second store, we find small red lights, but no small purple ones.  I decide that my tree will look lopsided with purple lights at the bottom only and I grab the red lights and head to the checkout.  All the while, the same glazed over eyed people from Costco are roaming around this store too.

Make it back home and finish stringing the lights and then start on the ribbon.  Thank God for Youtube where I found a delightful woman from Colonial Williamsburg who illustrated the right way to string ribbon.

Somehow the tree ends up decorated and I'm done for the evening.

If that's how the stores are now, good luck to us all who still have Christmas shopping to do!  Oh and next time I feel the urge to stay in bed, I'm going to stay right there!

My Corgi is a Liar

My friends, if you are new to the world of Corgis, I will teach you about the "Corgi Lies".

These dwarf like creatures are ruled by their bellies.  Their appetites are the stuff of legend and rumors abound in the Corgi community with regard to Corgis tricking their owners into double meals and of stealing food here and there that's been "accidentally" left in reach.  There is also a video of one of these beasts climbing onto a chair to be able to reach the food on the table!  (See it here).

Yes, these Corgis are wily creatures and will gladly follow a stranger so long as it's offered food.

In the attached image, you will see what appears to be a corgi who is not fed properly.

His daily diet consists of:
- 1/2 cup of food for breakfast and dinner, followed by 2 small cookies as dessert at both feeding times
- 1/2 a Dentabone for lunch
- A few pieces of Candy's breakfast toast
- Some pieces of whatever fruit Candy happens to eat during the day - apples, pears etc
- A couple baby carrots

So, my friends you can clearly see, this shockingly inadequate diet is what contributed to this image of this Corgi.

Wordless Wednesday - What? Why are you laughing?

Sheepie

We've started rotating Gimli's toys because we became tired of seeing piles of toys strewn all over the house.  For now, we have a bin that sits in the office that holds the majority and about 5 or 6 toys are out at any time.

The other day, I brought out Gimli's sheep and he's been playing with it off and on.

His playing consists of the following, peppered with fetch up and down the hallway:

A couple days ago, I went to go upstairs when I saw where Gimli left the sheep.

There it is, perfectly balanced on the stair, as if to say, "Come on sheepie, I can't carry you all the time..."

Winter Woofstock!

Yesterday, Mike, Gimli and I went to the Winter Woofstock held in Downtown Toronto.

Because it was so busy, Mike held onto Gimli's leash while I walked a few steps ahead to guide us through the crowds.

Gimli was calmer this time around, I think he remembered the Summer Woofstock and so he stayed right with Mike.  He met a great deal of doggies and was calm and loving to all of them, even when they growled back at him.  In fact, this particularly grumpy Chihuahua was growling at him and Gimli calmly walked away.  I was very proud!

This kid has the same color hair as me, he gets extra kisses!

The first thing I saw was a Mr. Sun toy sitting in a bin, half covered by another toy.  I showed it to Mike with the words, "oh I have to get this!"  See, this toy is one of Gimli's favorite toys in the universe.  When we brought him home from his breeder, she sent a battered Mr. Sun along with a little blanket that still held Gimli's mom's and his litter-mates' scents on them.  Since that day, Gimli has treated the toy and blanket with reverence.  Whenever he sees Mr. Sun, his eyes light up and he pays you full attention.

After I paid for Mr. Sun, I met up with Mike and Gimli, who was showing off his corgi self to these 2 Japanese patrons.  They both posed for a picture and were enamored with him.  Of course, when Gimli waved goodbye, they both squealed with delight and repeated that he was so cute!

We came upon a stall selling the antlers and wouldn't you know, Gimli goes after the biggest one.  Greedy little thing.  We didn't purchase one though since he has a sizable one at home.

Yum, antler.

We went into the VIP tent, but there wasn't much there to see, other than sitting around and taking a rest.  Gimli was grateful for the big red dog bed.  I couldn't remember if I had signed up for a swag bag and there was no list to confirm so Gimli may have missed out on some nifty items.  Oh well, what can you do?  Hope next time the volunteers are more organized?

Someone's tired.

Nevermind that we have two dog beds for Gimli, I think he wants us to get another one.

There were a great many dogs there, but mainly the usual dog breeds that are in vogue - Chihuahuas, Boston Terrier, Golden Retrievers, Pugs & Puggles and other assorted small lap dogs.  I even saw a few dogs in strollers!  We did run into a rather large Samoyed, who promptly pushed her large head down into the bag I was carrying that held a couple boxes of treats and Gimli's new toy.  The owner was oblivious and I just laughed it off, because the dog was friendly but was just nosy.  After seeing this Samoyed though, I will never complain about Gimli's hair again!

There was one big highlight of the day though and it made me proud to be a corgi owner and it just confirms that us corgi owners really do have the best dogs.  Because I was walking ahead of Mike and Gimli, who would often become swamped in a group of dogs all sniffing and meeting each other, I was lucky enough to hear the comments of the passersby.

I heard things like, "Oh, look at that corgi, how lovely!", "Oh a corgi!  How cute!", "Growing up we had a corgi and they are so smart!  They will always have a place in my heart.", "Is that a corgi?  Oh they are the best dogs!", "Oh wow, I've never seen a corgi service dog before".

(*record scratch* Say what?  hmmm, corgi service dog, this gives me an idea... now to figure out how to get him to Disney...)

Lastly, the one that made me smile the brightest, we ran into a gentleman there, who Gimli took a liking to.  He stooped to the ground and was lavishing affection on Gimli and he told us he had a corgi when he was a boy and has always loved them.  He thanked us for allowing Gimli to say hi and for making his trip to Woofstock worth it. 

All in all, it was a good couple hours spent.  Gimli came home dead tired and slept/lazed around the rest of the day/evening.

Gimli and his evil twin

Fun loving, ready for kisses, belly scratches and snuggles.

Evil twin plotting how to make off with your food and steal your warm spot in bed.

Weekend in which Gimli pulls an all nighter and we encounter a freaky rest stop

This past weekend, the three of us went on a roadtrip to visit our friends in Chicago.  Mike and I have driven there and back many times, but this time we took Gimli with us.  And it was the first time Gimli crossed the border into the US.

From the time he saw the bags and his travel crate sitting downstairs, he knew something was up.

We left home around 5 am and headed to the Sarnia/Port Huron border crossing.  The US Customs agent didn't even look at Gimli's vaccination records.  Instead he asked us if he was up to date, we said he was and he let us through.  Isn't that always the way though?  You have documentation and they don't want to see it.  The time you don't have it, is when you really need it!

The rest of the trip was uneventful. Gimli stayed awake for the entire trip and then proceeded to stay awake all afternoon and evening.  Our friends have two dogs - a British Bulldog, Nugget, and a Terrier mix, Penny, and Gimli would have nothing to do with them.  He sniffed a little and walked around their house a little, but spent most of the time next to either Mike or myself.  We even put him out on a tie down so he could get some air and run around a little outside, but did he?  Nope, he sat in front of the door and stared back at us.

We kept him in our room overnight and I doubt he slept very much.  I didn't sleep well and it seemed every time I woke up to adjust my pillow, I heard him licking his lips and moving around.

We left around 8 am the next day, Sunday, to drive home.  It was a very short trip, but we mainly went down there to see our friends and to pick up our Haunted Mansion merchandise that we had shipped to their US address.

I could tell Gimli was tired during the car ride back home, but did he sleep?  Not a wink.  I caught him nodding, but he'd wake up and then look around with those beady, brown eyes as if to say, "Why are we still in the car?"

After what seemed like ages, we stopped at a rest stop before we crossed the border at Port Huron.  This particular rest stop was a bit removed from the highway and you had to go up a little hill to get to it.  (Red flag #1.)  If I was a woman driving by myself, there is no way I'd stop there.  Of course, Mike's in a wheelchair and has poor balance so I really was a woman driving virtually by myself...

We stopped and took turns in the washroom, which had been recently renovated.  It must be part of the trap to lure you into a false sense of security. Gimli left his mark in a couple places and while I was waiting for Mike to return, I took Gimli to the other side of the rest stop to sniff around at the "Dog Run".  That's the green area in this picture.  As Gimli and I were exploring the grassy area, I heard a few pops, that really sounded like they were in the wooded area behind us.  I'm naive when it comes to things like this and it really didn't dawn on me that they were gunshots, (Red flag #2), til I was back at the car and Mike commented on them.

(Yes, I'm really going to survive the Zombie apocalypse!)

Looking around, I commented to Mike that this place looked like one of the dumping grounds or the place where the killer grabs his victims straight out of the television show, Criminal Minds.  I can just picture it now, the BAU profiling this dude who likes to hunt and who preys on naive, weakling women, who have cute doggies and who stop at this particular rest stop.

Check out the rest of the pictures and you'll see what I'm talking about:

Who's going to hear you scream amidst the trees?

hrmph

I had a post all queued up in my head about the freaky rest stop in Michigan, (psst, we heard gunshots while there!!!), that we encountered yesterday, but I cannot post it tonight.

Why?

Because the camera is in the glove compartment of the car, which is sitting in a parking lot because Mike is with a buddy of his watching "Immortals".

It will have to wait til tomorrow.

In other news, our bannister is now festooned with our Christmas lights and garland and it looks lovely! Except, the lights are the LED ones that are supposed to never go out, but one bulb did.  At least the entire string still lights, but sheesh the strings are only 5 years old!

Now I have to figure out how to put up the other garland we bought for the outside of the house.  It's supposed to go around the door, but I am unsure how to accomplish it.  I'll look on Google.

Gimli is back to his normal self today even though he didn't sleep very much this past weekend.  No health issues, he just couldn't get to sleep in an unfamiliar house... can you say Lord Gimli indeed?  He didn't even sleep in the car on the way home, such a little diva!  When we got home, he promptly conked out on the rug.

Oh, and one last thing, we found out today that Rammstein are coming back to Canada next year!  I was beside myself at lunch time and I gasped/squealed so loudly that Gimli thought I was being attacked and he proceeded to run around the house barking.  They are going to play Montreal in May of next year and its looking like we're going to try to get tickets again.  Cannot wait!

They are bypassing Toronto entirely and I suspect that there aren't enough fans here.  ie the Montreal 2010 show was sold out and when prompted the entire venue sang - Du Hast and Liebe is fur alle Da, but in Toronto?  nope.  Not very many sang.  Well, I did, but my voice isn't so loud to fill the Air Canada Center!  The venue wasn't sold out either.  So, I cannot say I blame them.

I really need to learn German now, gonna start on Rosetta Stone once things quiet down around here.

Model for a day

Earlier in the year, a friend of mine sent me a link for this start up company, Rent Frock Repeat.  I was intrigued by the premise - they purchase designer dresses in various sizes, you rent a dress from them for a fraction of the actual dress' cost and then you return it to them.  Thus avoiding that problem we all face of dresses sitting in the closet collecting dust.

I registered and looked at the selections, albeit halfheartedly because at the time I didn't have any place to wear those dresses.


Until, we received an invitation to a friend's wedding for this past October.

I hummed and hawed and would stalk eye this little black David Meister number shown here:

Now, even though I registered on the site, I didn't fully complete my measurements and so on.  Before I felt comfortable ordering the dress, I had to enter my measurements - bust, waist, hips, weight, height, shoulder to knee and shoulder to ankle dimensions.  This is because these figures are included for each dress to make things easier when you're trying to gauge a particular dress.  And with my luck, I needed all the help I could get!  (This from the person who bought the first wedding dress she tried on!)

I ordered it in a size 4, which was what my measurements said I was, and I ordered a backup size of the same dress in a size 6.

Now, I waited.  And in the meantime, I went on vacation and gained 8 lbs.

A couple days before the dresses were scheduled to arrive, I received a phone call from Lisa, one of the founders, to say that my backup size could not be sent.  However, she was going to send me a size 6 of a Christian Siriano dress and a size 6 of a brand new dress by Adam Lippes for me to use if needed.  How's that for service?

When the three dresses arrived, I of course had to try them on!  I didn't much care for the Adam Lippes dress, I liked the Christian Siriano dress, but I really liked the David Meister dress.  More so than the others, it felt like the dress was tailor made for me.  Even though it wore a bit bigger than my measurements and we had to pin it on the side, it still felt amazing.  This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the dinner at the wedding consisted of about 6 courses!

I guess when you've gotten used to buying dresses at the mall and such, when you put on a dress of this caliber you really notice the difference.  I received compliments and even caught some women eying me up an down.  One was so bold as to stand in front of me and look me up and down and sideways so she could see the detail on the front of the dress... as if!

I had planned to wear it with my red shoes, but my feet couldn't bear it, so I had to switch to black open toed shoes.  I did have my red seatbelt purse, which I love and a red necklace so I didn't look like I was attending a funeral.

I would definitely use Rent Frock Repeat again, in fact I know the dress I'm going to rent for a wedding we are attending in June!  Another David Meister, but in blue this time.  I've never worn a blue dress and at least if it doesn't suit me, I return it!

Out for a walk?

Gimli: I make this look good!

Fetch!

You gonna throw it? Yeah, yeah, yeah, throw it!

 I love this toy!

Come on, kick it!

Fall?

Guest posting today is Gimli:

Hewo, its gimli heer again.

I didn't post for a looonnng time cuz i've ben busy being cute and fluffalicious.

It is fall outside and all these crunchy leaves are on the grass.  i don't know why its called fall becuz nothing is falling?  da big tree in the yard is naked though, it has no more leaves.

Candy wanted to take sum picturs of me playing in da leaves but by da time it stoped raining most ob the leaves wuz gone.

Heer iz a nice pictur of me though, aren't i cute?

Da odder day, Candy und i was outside in the morning after our walk und the grasses had frost on it.  I wunder if dat means the fluffy cold stuff is coming soon?

i like that stuff becuz i can eat it and make trenches in it and pounce around like a tiggr and roll around in it.  but i don't like when it stix in my toeses, Candy has to help me when dat happens.

Heer is a extra shot of me and my wiggly butt.  i wuz looking at the corn field and making sure no zombies were coming to get us. As you know, us corgis are da prefered dog breed to have if zombies are attacking.  It sais so heer: Best & Worst Dogs for the Zombie Apocalypse.

ok frends, i am off to put on my cute face and tease candy into belly rubs.

Thanks for the reminder Facebook!

So Facebook is trying to be like Google +.

Too little too late if you ask me.  I've already decided to make the switch to Google +, except the vast majority of my friends and family still use Facebook.  Thus, I'm still over there.

The most recent Facebook changes have me very confused and I don't like it when I feel like I need a training course to figure out how to do the most simplest of actions.

One of these changes is you now have the ability to "approve" all relations.  (No, not those, though you should approve of them.)  I'm talking about the relations within the Facebook profile with regard to family - ie brother/sister/mother/father/husband/wife etc.

Because Mike and I have entered our relationship status as "Married" and specified "to whom", our picture appears on the others profile, much like this image.

However, at the bottom of the profile it shows the following:

Why is it listed twice?

Thank you Facebook for reminding me and any other profile stalkers out there that I am off the market... unless of course you happen to be a drummer from a certain German Industrial band... ahem...

Gimli's Halloween costumes

We didn't dress up Gimli this year for Halloween, mainly because we didn't think he'd tolerate a costume for more than about 5 seconds.  It's a wonder he tolerates bandanas.

However, I did notice that we have a bunch of pictures of Gimli in different poses that could "pass" as a Halloween costume if you used your imagination.

So, without further ado, here they are:

Snake food

Werewolf

Clown

5k runner

Princess Gimlia

Trapdoor Corgi