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

Wordless Wednesday - I am this tall!

This is what happens when you live with 2 boys

There's just the three of us at home.  Myself, Mike and Gimli.  I'm outnumbered by males, although Gimli is neutered so what does that make him?

In any event, Mike and Gimli play rough.  Rough and tumble, get on the floor and wrestle and throw toys and generally behave like animals.

Gimli and I are different, where I will throw toys, but I will also squeeze him and kiss him to death and want to snuggle.

Tonight, we had an episode of "wildness".  To explain, this is not the same as frapping.  Corgis possess that innate power to frap in and around obstacles without running into it or hurting themselves.  I call "wildness" the cause of injury to body or item when a person or small furry animal behaves in such a way that one might consider them to be straight out of the wilderness.

Mike and Gimli were playing in the hall, throwing a toy down the hallway and then wrestling.  Mike threw a toy, which bounced off the door jamb.  Gimli went after the toy but was too late and collided with the wood with the front of his mouth.  Thankfully other than getting the wind knocked out of him and lying down next to Mike like a puppy afterwards, Gimli is fine.  The door jamb on the other hand has a nice tooth mark into the wood.

Wildness I tell ya...

Participate in a 5k - Done

One of my goals this year was to participate and complete a 5k.

So, on a very cold and windy morning, I donned a bright yellow shirt and we, (Mike, my mom, my brother and I), stood huddled at the back of the large line that would start the ScotiaBank 5k portion of the Toronto marathon.

We didn't run, we walked.  Albeit at a fast enough pace that it took us an hour to complete the course.

I was very proud of Mike, who wanted to go a bit faster, but was stuck with us slow people.  What can I say, people will make way for a wheelchair, for the rest of his entourage, not so much!  There were some difficult hilly places and he did it alone.  On occasion I have to help him, but I think he wanted to see if he could do it on his own and he was able to.

Next year, we are going to do it again.  Running?  I don't think so, but definitely walking again.  Now that I have proven to myself that I can do it, its going to be about doing it better and a bit faster.  If they hold the Dog Jog again next year, Gimli and I will enter for the 5k walk.  I did miss walking with this little fluffer, but sometimes you have to do things on your own to prove to yourself that you can do it.

How to spell Sleep?

Gimli is a creature of habit.  He knows what happens when we turn off the tv in the living room, he knows what happens when he hears the cheese wrapper crinkle and he knows what happens when the toaster oven beeps.

In the evenings, I head off to bed anywhere between 10 and 11 pm.  When I'm tired, I become grumpy and nothing annoys me more than Gimli barking, which he does whenever you mention the words, "sleep" and "bed".  This dog of mine is so particular about these words that if you mention them, he expects he's actually going to go to his crate for the night and will become very grumpy and barkity bark bark if you either:

- delay in putting him to bed
- attempt to put him to bed when he's not ready.

(who's the pack leader again?)

Often, its late in the evening and Mike and I have been spelling these words.  Its been working quite well, until now...

I spelled S - L - E - E - P to which Gimli piped up and expected to be put to bed.

Aye, I need a new word.  Anyone know how to say 'sleep' in Spanish and/or German?

Blah

I've had a bit of writer's block over the last little while, since we've been back.  Plus with all the rain this week, its put a downer on everything.

There is something going on, but I'm not at liberty to say as its Mike's news not mine.  Not a new corgi, yet, we're not moving, I'm not leaving my job and there's no baby on the way either, as if!

Hopefully this weekend I can get out with Gimli and take some pictures of him in the lovely leaves!

Two Corgis or Not Two Corgis, That is the Question.

Mike and I have been going back and forth trying to decide if a second corgi is in our future.

On the one hand, we (I) am crazy excited at the prospect of another corgi.  A small little puppy that can fit in the crook of my arm as I carry it downstairs.  A small puppy to cuddle with.  A small puppy to take pictures of and track growth like what we did with Gimli.  Lots of training to avoid the mistakes we made with Gimli.  Oh, the fun to be had with a corgi puppy!

On the other hand, we are apprehensive.  How will Gimli behave with a new dog?  How will we be able to give each the attention they deserve?  Will the puppy pick up Gimli's resource guarding and then we have to deal with two possessive little monsters?  What will happen when we have to go away?  Taking care of one is easier than two.

So many questions and the unknown.  And, its unfair to the dog to take it in and then what happens if it doesn't work out?

Another thing that has me a little nervous is that I don't have the feeling yet.  I had the "feeling" with Gimli because there were so many signs pointing to "yes".  This time, there's very little signs and I think that's probably due to the many questions we have.

When we were on vacation at the end of September, I dreamt of a corgi puppy.  A cute little red headed tri-color puppy with a little spot on its head, perfect for kisses.  This puppy was for me.  I don't know what this means, but I told Mike that if Gimli's breeder, (who has a litter on the way), has a puppy that fits that description, I won't be able to help myself.

Here's what a red headed tri-color corgi looks like.

Wordless Wednesday - Last Weekend of Summer

Flat Gimli

In the weeks leading up to our vacation, I was feeling a little sad to leave Gimli behind, since we're together almost every day.  But, I also wanted to take him on vacation with us.  Seeing as its Disney, we couldn't, unless of course he becomes a certified therapy dog... hmmmmmm

Anyway, seeing as he isn't and he'd be more likely to run around and pester people for food and look cute and then want to go jump on Pluto and Goofy and the rest of them, we had to come up with a solution.

Thus, Flat Gimli was born... er made!  We took the story of Flat Stanley and improvised to ensure our little fluff could come with us.

You will need:
- A headshot of your dog/cat/rabbit/basilisk/owl/dragon etc
- Some thick paper, I'm not crafty so I don't know what its called, but it was thicker than regular paper, but not as thick as poster board.  (I'm so helpful, I know.)
- A stick of some kind on which to mount the picture.  Luckily since it was so close to Halloween, we found a wooden cat mask already affixed to a wooden stake, which we adapted for our use.

1. First, I chose a picture of Gimli's head.  Make sure its a close up one so that it can capture the spirit and personality of your dog.  A full dog's body doesn't do so well.

 

2. Take the mask and trace out a stencil onto the paper backing.

3. Cut out the shape from the paper backing and set aside.  Take the picture and arrange it around the mask to ensure the best fit.  Once satisfied, cut the picture so it can fit onto the mask.

4. Glue the picture to the paper backing.  I used Elmer's white glue and lightly covered the surface of the picture with glue.  You'll end up with something like this.

5. Once the picture and paper have dried, glue it onto the mask so that it covers the cat's features.

  

6. Tada!  You're done!

Now you can take your favorite creature with you wherever you go and take pictures like...

This one on the Go Carts

Or this one just next to the train.

We have a great deal more on both of our cameras so I'll be featuring them over the next little while.

Mike and I enjoyed taking "Gimli" with us and we enjoyed immensely the reactions of the passersby and the children.  For all the days we were there, there was ONE person who recognized him as a Pembroke Welsh Corgi.  And only because her daughter has one.  I guess Disney goers aren't corgi people, hrmph...

Green fuzzy feet

This weekend was the Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada and it also marked a good weekend to cut the grass, one of the few weekends left before it becomes very cold and the grass starts to hibernate.

Our very old tree had been dropping leaves like crazy, which we mulched to help feed the grass to choke out the weeds.  I'm glad to say our ugly weed population is on the decline, but there's far too much that still remains for my liking.

Gimli had a good time romping around outside, rolling around in the grass and playing with the squirting hose.

I think he's decided he's no longer a Welshman and he's going to try to be an Irishman...

Still cute, even if they are green.

Getting ready for Christmas?  Red & Green?

 

Wet little doggie

Remember when... vacations and diets

Remember when you booked a vacation to Disney and you knew you'd be walking around a great deal so you figured it would offset what you ate and so you didn't really worry that much, until you were getting ready to fly home and the pants you wore flying down were suddenly tighter and then when you stepped on the scale at home, you had gained about 10 lbs?

Yeah, me too.

Friends, the other day I was about 133 lbs.  I have since lost 2.  (I know that's not a great deal of weight, but for me, if it was that easy to gain 10, then its just as easy to gain another 10 and then all of a sudden I'm at 143 lbs... and Christmas is just around the corner.)

I'm tired of this dance and this game with food so Mike and I have decided to investigate a Bowflex Treadclimber.  I'm one of those people that will exercise, but when I get lazy to go to the gym, guess what happens next?  I stay home.  I just bought a few pairs of pants/jeans before we left and I'm not going to go out and buy them again in the next size up, I refuse to.

We will see how this goes.

Gimli's dog of the day on The Daily Corgi!

We returned from our trip last night and all went well, more on this in a few days, but enough about us!

Guess which little puff made dog of the day at The Daily Corgi?

 

Gimli!  That's who!  Today was especially lovely because it marks 3 years since this little fluff came to live with us.

You can check it out here: Gimli of Ontario, Canada.  Thanks to Laurie Eno, eternal corgi lover who puts all these pages together for each corgi each day!