It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

So I finally erected and decorated our Christmas tree last Monday night.  I wanted to put it up before we were leaving to live at my mom's for a week starting this past Tuesday.  Since we're there til the 16th, I didn't want to come back home and do it then, I'd probably talk myself out of it because there would only be a few days left before Christmas and then I'd have to take it all down again.  I'm glad I did it when I did.  A bit laggy this year but whatevs, better late than never, right?!  Next comes the Christmas shopping.  Holy Hannah I am not looking forward to this.  I really, really hate shopping malls and I think it stems back to when I was 14 and worked at the mall.  I worked at the mall from about 14 to 18, always holding down 2-3 jobs at the same time (seems I still like to hold on to multiple jobs, although I don't consider pet sitting/dog walking a "job").  When you work at the mall and you get a break, you either: eat, shop or both.  AKA always spending money.  So it's evolved over the years that I just don't do malls and when I do, it might be a couple times a year, that's it.  And especially around Christmas, I cannot stand the hoards of people, grumpy/rude people and the never ending line ups.  I know, perspective, right?  So I just have to make some time to go out and do some shopping.  This year we've got Jeff's brother's kids, Jeff's Mom, my Mom and step dad, my Aunt, our friend Dina and then each other to buy for.  Jeff already got things for his Dad and brother, so we're good there. 

The problem, though, is that I'm stressed about what to Jeff every.single.year.  He's the kind of guy that if he needs or wants something, he's got it.  And couple that with the fact that we've been together for nearly 13 years (married 6) and I haven't a bloody clue what to get the guy.

Speaking of Jeff, he was so, so sweet yesterday evening.  So we ended up getting a behemoth of snow overnight Wednesday (see below) and into yesterday and he came to meet me at the train (since I've got my mom's car for a week) and helped me brush off her car.  Not only did he save me from doing, he helped some people that got stuck, brush off their cars.  That man is so incredibly sweet and selfless, he'll do just about anything for anyone without even so much as being asked.  I really need to stop and appreciate him more, he's just so sweet and thoughtful of others.


Work view, not as much snow as where I live but you get the gist.

By the time that I got home and he went on his merry way to get up north...

It's Friday, which means the weekend is just mere hours away!!

So my 31st birthday has come and gone just like that.  I ended up going home after my BodyShred class on Monday at 1 pm.  Went home and by the time I rolled in the door it was 3:30 and from there until the time that Jeff got home (not long after 5), I tidied up, had some crap tv on in the background for noise while I snuggled with my boys on the couch.  We hung out for a couple of hours, then later we met up with my step-dad and mom for dinner.  They then came over after dinner to have dessert and to get the dogs who had a grooming appointment early Tuesday morning.

Now it's Friday and here I am sitting at my desk at work just willing the hours to go by so that my weekend can begin.  Jeff is taking the dogs over to my mom's this afternoon so they can spend the weekend with her while we head up north with Tara and Erik.  They're coming up for a mini getaway weekend and we're going to take them to the gun range to play.  Should be a good/fun weekend but dang it, it's going to be a chilly one.  It's supposed to be a low of -7 Celsius.  Yep, I'm in deep denial over here about the impending winter season coming.  It's fucked up because not three days ago it felt like spring and it was about 14 degrees and then the next day winter.  BAM!  So I finally caved yesterday and pulled out the winter jacket.  Yep, winter is here.  Sigh.

The last 5 days or so in pictures... or mostly pictures..

My super impressed face last Thursday evening after being stuck on the train for more than an hour.  A track maintenance vehicle had derailed when it hit a snow drift and was obstructing our passing.  So we had to wait, and wait...

My Friday night visits... Nothing too crazy, just a couple of visits.  Toby is an old boy, a Pomeranian that is insulin dependent and he actually gets excited to get his needles because he knows that he'll get a treat afterwards.  It's adorable :)

This beautiful Dalmatian, my first that I had ever met (I met the family and Ziggy last Wednesday night, they invited me over to meet him before they were actually going away and wanted to ensure that we were all good and Ziggy was behaved). 

Hamish, aka Ham, aka Barky McBarkerton.  Loves to bark this boy, he's so comical.

This is Parker, a four year old Standard Poodle.  Very sweet boy, attentive and affectionate as you can see.

Parker lives with Stanley and he is a big version of my mom's dog, Quincey.  Very sweet, loving and calm.  The Standards share the house with Harlow, an old Golden Retriever and she's just a darling.  Great pack in this house hold.

Here's Ziggy on Saturday afternoon at my second and last visit.  His pet parents were only gone for the day and back in the late afternoon.  Such a smooth, soft coat and a sweet boy, complete opposite of the Dalmatian stereotype.

And here's Mr. Jagger, the only Greyhound I've looked after (well he had two sisters, Sunshine, she passed away last year at the age of 11 and they had another female that the owner was fostering but she was returned to the breeder for reasons I don't feel like posting) and I always look forward to seeing him when I see him on the schedule.  He gets super excited when you walk in the door and likes to jump up and give you kisses but because of his long snout, he can poke you in the eye or bop you in the face and I've got a bloody nose before - totally my fault), but I know how to handle him now.  He's just a sweet boy, and really beautiful to watch, he's like a small horse.



This would be Hamish again, as I mentioned above.  He's about 11 I think.  Still very energetic, bouncy and zest for life.  Loves going for walks. as you can see from his happy face.

And here's Quincy, I've posted pictures of him many times in the past.  I look cold on the right, right?  So sick of winter.  It's been long, cold, up, down.  It was -20 yesterday morning walking to the train at 6:30 am.   And then getting on the train that had NO HEAT but still ran anyways.  So an hour to union in -20 temperatures (without wind chill) and no heat.  Wonderful.

All of the above are Charlie, a 4 month old kitten that's like my Charlie but in a cat suit.  Total love bug, purrs like a well seasoned truck and follows you around like a dog would.  He was so, so incredibly sweet and loving.

 





Tired of Winter Already

I'm just going to put it out there that I wrote this really long post yesterday (Tuesday and Wednesday both) and both times it crashed or pictures and text just simply vanished off my page.  God I hate how glitch blogger can be sometimes, it's annoying.  So I had a tantrum, as you can see from the last post regarding donkey balls.  Moving along.... LOL

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We are once again in a deep freeze and it blows.  I think today is supposed to be "warmer" than it has been all week but still, it's -16,, feels like freezing my ass off or some bullshit like that.  It shouldn't be allowed to get that cold.  However, a positive to living in Ontario: thank goodness I don't live in Alberta because it's actually colder out there.  I've always told my mother she gave birth to me in the wrong country.  Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful to be Canadian and I know that I'm blessed, but couldn't she have picked somewhere like, oh I dunno, Barbados?!  That would have been swell.  Thanks Mom!

Speaking of, her and my step-dad came over on Saturday night for dinner.  They brought their dogs with them as well and it was just a nice, quiet evening with them.  Good conversation, good food, family/friends, you couldn't ask for more.

So now it's actually Thursday and we're almost at the end of the work week.  Woop woop!  For some reason, I'm really, really tired this week.

Yesterday I skipped the gym and met up with an old friend that I used to work with at the law firm.  It was nice to catch up and we're also on the same page on so many levels.

In other BREAKING news, our lovely little Canadian sensation boy Justin Bieber was arrested for drag racing and failed a sobriety.  Uh oh!   If he doesn't watch it, he's going to be a statistic.

More later....




Christmas 2013 and Week Off..

I literally cannot believe it's been SIX days SINCE Christmas 2013 already.  Today is my first day back to work in over a week.  Everyone booked the day today except three of us in my office branch.  I didn't mind because the day before a statutory holiday, we normally get told we can go home early and such is the case this year, as my boss's boss told me this morning we could leave at Noon.  Perfect.  I was going to go to the gym to lift for Noon for an hour, so instead I'll just come back and change before heading home.  I have to pick up my winter jacket at the tailor's because I had to get the zipper replaced.  Sometime between Christmas and the next couple of days, my jacket must have snagged on something and ripped two teeth out, along with the zipper and I had to get it replaced.  It was either that or spending at least $200-$300 on a new jacket, when I loved mine still and it was in perfect condition.  Thankfully it was able to be fixed because I was hoping to at the very least get another winter, if not two left of this jacket. 

This evening, New Years Eve, I think it's a bit overrated.  We were going to come back downtown (coincidentally, right beside my office tower) for a celebration at Nathan Phillip's Square but frankly it's too flippin cold.  And we don't feel like getting caught up in a crowd and huddling for warmth until midnight just to see the clock ring in.  I can do that from my living room couch.  I suggested we bundle up and take the kids for a midnight stroll OR alternatively, we go snowshoeing at midnight.  Should be alright though, I'm not big into drinking so it's pretty insignificant for me, well both of us really.

Christmas was a blur but it was a good one nevertheless.  We did Christmas between Jeff and I a bit early this year.  I bought him an IDPA membership for 2014 and a Citizen Eco-Drive watch that he'd been eye-balling for a long time.  He bought me a Citizen Eco-Drive watch as well (it's gorgeous btw, see pic!), a gift certificate to Lululemon, in which I bought a pair of the lined casual pants in a deep plum colour, identical to my black pair but these puppies were lined.  He also got me lifting gloves, a day planner and a calendar, and two recipe books from my fave restaurant, Fresh.  Jeff spoils me rotten.  And we can never wait until Christmas to spoil eachother. LOL.  OH well, no one can dictate when we can and can't celebrate on our own together.  It's just nice and intimate just the two of us with the boys.  The boys opened their prezzies and got new collars and two stuffies, which as I type this, are destroyed a whole five days later lol.  This year I received sweaters, more sweaters (hey, just what I need since I'm always cold), jewelry, gift cards, pyjama's, an e-reader (!!), which I'm surprisingly liking a lot.  I've been reading a lot lately so it's perfect.

Christmas morning, we went to my mom's house, had breakfast and opened presents with her.  We left our dogs with her and my step-dad so we didn't have to worry about them up north.  We headed up north later on in the afternoon and stayed until Friday late in the afternoon, to which we then made our way back homebound.  Picked up the kids later on that evening, reaffirmed that they missed us and love us still.  Saturday we did some errands and Sunday, Jeff took a buddy to a hockey game.  Here are some pictures of the last week or so.... :)

Our funny faces compilation lol

 

Below are up North pictures.... 

Being all cute in Wally-mart lol

 



My in-laws' house up north

And since I forgot to add it above, here's the watch. :)

All in all, a great week off was had and another Christmas has come and gone and a new year is upon us.  Have a safe and happy new years everyone!  All my best wishes for 2014.  xox