Hallelujah

The Spirit moves mightly tonight, been praying for my loved ones, He's heard, will wait and see the fruit. It's coming, hope it's soon, I know the answer has been a long time coming. Think I'll spend some time in praise now, because singing gospel music at the top of my lungs is always fantastic.

Reasons I appreciate my hubby

I decided to write about why I fell in love with my hubby:

1) Because his hands are so gentle when he plays with my hair or rubs my back.
2) Because that first kiss was beautiful (5 years ago today).
3) Because being with him makes me sing
4) Because he used to smile so much when we were together that it would bring tears to his eyes.
5) Because he's very laid back and when he gets mad he doesn't yell.
6) Because he always carries the bags and packages when we go shopping.
7) Because he took care of cleaning up a major womanly accident when we were dating.
8) Because it was fun sneaking around with him before we told all our friends we were dating.
9) Because he's very patient and listens to me and I feel I can talk to him about anything.
10) Because he was my good friend then, and my best friend now.

Happy Anniversary darling. I love you.

6 Quirks about me

Julie tagged me to reveal 6 quirks about myself:

1. I make funny sing song like noises when I'm happy (hubby discovered this, another reason I knew I wanted to share my life with him).
2. I have an addiction to glassware. I like to buy cups, mugs, dishes, vases. I especially like interesting martini glasses and vases.
3. I have weird toes, they are a lot like fingers, in fact my second toe is almost as long as my pinky (on my hand, that would be weird it I meant my pinky toe).
4. I like funny clothing, my favourite article of clothing is a green hat with pompons on long strings, so I can swing them around. I see people smile at me when I wear it and it makes me happy that someone smiled at my silliness.
5. I think I'm psychic :) I had a dream about marrying my hubby about 7 years before we started dating (we were just friends at the time). I have the sense of deja vu occasionally
6. I'm a nut, or from another planet at times :)

Honey, Drake's barfing

Wouldn't it be nice if you could say that and have your spouse take care of it. I did, although I didn't expect honey to take care of it. I just needed him to help Drake, give him some water, comfort him (no one likes barfing, not even a dog). Mostly I wanted Drake to feel comforted because if there's just me, I'm afraid he might eat the barf (he hasn't done that yet, but a lot of dogs do, Drake just eats poo apparently, more on that later) so I push him away when he comes near while I try to clean it up, which might seem like he's been bad, and I can't communicate and explain to him what I'm doing and why. I wonder if he barfed because he ate an entire box of Triscuit crackers. It was the whole box, bought it yesterday and it hadn't been opened yet. Good think it wasn't "jumbo" or "bonus" size, he's probably going to have binding and bloating from the wheat and salt.

We started Drake on a pill from the pet shop that is supposed to help stool smell less, and one of the side effects is the dog is less likely to consume the stool, I figured for $12 it was worth the purchase. He's been on it for about 2 weeks and hasn't consumed any of his own stool. Yay! Although note the "any of his own", he has consumed cat stool, which apparently is like candy for them, and another animal's on a walk a few days after he started the pills (we can't see them under the snow, but he can smell them).

Let go and let's have fun.

The other day my puppy wanted to play with me, he kept bringing me toys and putting them in my lap to throw for him. As soon as I'd reach for it, he'd grip it, take it away and whip it around, sometimes hitting himself on the head with it. I'd recline again and he'd bring the toy back and put it in my lap with his mouth still on it and looking at me with longing eyes to play with him.

God is funny that he put into my head, "see what you do with your problems, you want me to take them and throw them far far away from us, but as soon as I reach for it you grab it away and whip it around, often banging yourself on the head with it. I'll recline back and when you're truly ready to let go, then we can really play".

My puppy is like that too, once he remembers he can let go and I'll throw it, he brings it back and lets go sooner the next time, and each progressive time he brings his toy back to me until he's done playing. He has lots of fun when he remembers to let go and let me be part of the game.

Thanks God for being part of the game.

Proud mummy?

So Drake was really awesome in class on Saturday, he really impressed me (and the trainer) with his ability to stay (sit, stand and lie down positions) with distractions, and distance. I'm very proud of his accomplishments and how far he has come in his training.

So is this general glow what it feels like when your kid accomplishes something beyond what you thought they would be capable of at that age and they just amaze you?

On another note, I have an urge to go snow tubing. One of my co-workers keeps mentioning it and it sounds like a lot of fun, and apparently there is a place about 10 minutes from my home. Thing is I don't have snow pants, or kids to take. Maybe we'll borrow some by convincing friends it's a good idea to take their little one(s). Either that or the neighbours have a 7 and 9 year old who would probably enjoy it. Here's the place: http://www.ski-lakeridge.com/

Pendulum

Well Drake, my hyper little puppy, was actually very sweet and kind of cuddly last night while I was watching TV, normally he tries to jump on me and head butts me in his exuberance, but last night he sat beside me on the couch in the basement (the only one he's allowed on) and occasionally put his head on my lap. This morning he was being sweet to, until I went to iron my pants and he ate my lunch. Well I suppose it was partially my fault, I forgot to put a lid on the container and left it on the counter, you just shouldn't do that with tuna. So he knocked the container off the counter and of course it fell open part down, he pushed it across the kitchen floor slowly licking up the tuna as it came out bit by bit from under the container. When I saw this I said "Draaaaake" in the discipline tone I use and he went straight to his crate for a time out and stayed there until I finished cleaning up. I hope the kitchen doesn't smell too much like tuna since I didn't have time to pull out a mop and thoroughly clean the floor (sorry honey, but now you know why it smells if it does) the dog continued to "clean" the floor after I'd finished so I probably didn't do a very good job.

Adventures in dog training

So I've decided to blog a little bit about the funny things our puppy does. Firstly I should mention that at least in some training books dogs can be generally categorized into 6 different personality types, and although like people your dog will have traits of all of them, one will dominate. Drake is known as a joker, and was voted class clown in his puppy training classes, so it's not just me who thinks he's a nut.

Last week when I was home sick Drake was playing with his towel by taking the end and swinging it around his head, now he does this probably a couple of times a week, but I thought it was funny that day because he did it facing me the entire time, it was kind of like he was dancing or performing like little children do in gymnastics with the streamers on a stick.

Drake also often chews his toys while lying on his back and holding them to his mouth, similar to how a baby might hold a bottle. He also sometimes tries to play with 2 toys at the same time, always a ball and something else. Last night he learned control over the ball and was playing with it between his paws around the floor like soccer (football for the non-North Americans).

Lately Drake's not been feeling well, he's not eating, well not eating his food anyway, he ate my oatmeal then drank a lot of water, I bet that made him uncomfortable as it was instant oatmeal (Peaches & Cream) and he ate about 5 packages of it. He also ate one of my cell phone manuals, so he's been barfing over the weekend, strangely unlike most dogs he doesn't eat that, just everything else, including poo, tore his dog food bag of the new food we're trying and ate that, so we presumed he liked it, but he hasn't eaten much of it since, although I'm sure manuals are quite filling.

Drake loves to play with empty 500 ml water bottles (about half a quart for the Americans) we can use those to entice him to do just about anything, including bedtime which he doesn't like because he'd rather be up playing, but we try to keep him on a reasonable schedule so he's not up barking to play in the middle of the night.

Well that's all I can think of but there's pretty much something weekly, if not daily that he does, so you'll probably hear more in the future.

Wittle Puppy

I thought I'd try posting some more old pictures of Drake (he's 4 months old in these pics). So here's 2 more. Drake stretches all the way down my legs now he's such a big boy (he's 8 months old now). You know the interesting thing, holding him on my lap like that makes me look thinner (yay).

I did try posting the pics several months ago, but blogger just kept copping out on me during the upload.

What makes you happy?

Yesterday I read an email from an email pal who had spent many years trying to make his wife happy, after much trial and tribulation he finally asked her what made her happy and she responded with "I don't know" which surprised him. Anyway, it got me thinking that I can't definitively say what makes me happy either, and I don't spend time thinking about it, or trying to fulfill that, and I really really should, it's very important, how could I have possibly let that slide all of these years!

So I decided to look up happy and happiness in the dictionary, just to make sure my expectations were aligned so that I wouldn't get resentful.

Happiness: a state of well-being and contentment : JOY b : a pleasurable or satisfying experience

Now since happiness is ones own responsibility these are things I can do for myself to make myself happy:
Dancing - I always find dancing a great stress reliever
Singing songs of praise - Always good to thank and worship the Lord for all he has done for me
Walking - Another way to get the endorphins pumping
A clean house - cleaning again gets the endorphins going and when done you have a lovely place to be
Cuddling a kitty - I just like fluffy kittens
Flowers - because they're pretty and a bit of a luxury, although it doesn't have to be an expensive one, you can go to the grocery store and get 3 carnations for $3.99 usually. I just need a smaller vase.
Sitting in the sunshine, or by a fire, slipping tea and maybe having a couple of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
Thunderstorms - I love watching thunderstorms
Swimming - I just like being in the water
Hot tubs - I like the soaking in hot water with jets massaging my muscles

Well that's a pretty good list for now. I'll see if I can come up with some more later.

Three Things

I was tagged by Jenn, yay, so I don't have to come up with a unique post just yet:

Three names I go by:
1) Honey bunny
2) Kim
3) Arf

Three screen names I've had:
1) warpie
2) mindwarp
3) phantasie

Three physical things I like about myself:
1) My fingers
2) My eyes
3) My bum

Three physical things I don't like about myself:
1) My tummy
2) My hair
3) My legs

Three parts of my heritage:
1) Canadian
2) Finnish
3) Candian

Three things I am wearing right now:
1) an engagement ring (wedding ring didn't fit this morning)
2) a watch
3) a suit

Three favorite bands/musical artists:
1) Gwen Staphani
2) U2
3) Amanda Marshall

Three things I want in a relationship:
1) Love
2) Companionship
3) Cuddles

Two truths and a lie:
1) I've done 3 major life events in 15 months
2) I'm pregnant
3) Puppy eats poo

Three physical things about the opposite sex that appeal to me:
1) tall
2) dark
3) handsome

Three favorite hobbies:
1) reading
2) crafts
3) learning

Three things I want to do badly right now:
1) sleep
2) pee
3) take an advil for my headache

Three things that scare me:
1) my familiy getting hurt/lost/killed
2) roller coasters
3) my mother seeing my very dirty house

Three of my everyday essentials:
1) sleep
2) water
3) food

Three careers you have considered or are currently considering:
1) Mummy
2) Teacher
3) Artist

Three places you want to go on vacation:
1) Greece
2) Italy
3) Hawaii

Three kids names you like:
1) Victoria
2) Isabel
3) Samuel

Three things you want to do before you die:
1) Make a difference
2) Blissfully enjoy a whole week
3) See the three places I want to vacation

Three ways I am stereotypically a boy:
1) I don't like to shop (much)
2) I like comfortable clothes
3) I like to do things myself

Three ways I am stereotypically a girl:
1) I cry during movies and books
2) I like pretty clothes, just not shopping for them
3) I like looking at home decor

Three celeb crushes:
1) Antonio Banderras
2) Brendan Fraser
3) Patrick Swayze

Three people I am tagging:
1) I don't know enough bloggers to tag anyone :(

Wittle Drake

We don't have children, so I'd like to join the fun and write 10 things about Drake, our puppy.

10. Drake arrived home on Sept 8 2005, just shy of being 4 months old (his D.O.B. is May 15 2005). He's from PJ Pets, so I consider him a bit of a rescue because he'd been there for so long.

9. It took about 3 weeks to get Drake to eliminate outside, the longest 3 weeks of our lives. I figure it's because he'd hadn't been eliminating outside for the first 4 months of his life.

8. The first time Drake peed in his crate in defiance was hilarious. The crate didn't have a wire bottom like at the pet store, so rather than go through it started spreading. Drake started backing up and putting his paws up on the sides of the crate to avoid the pee.

7. According to a training book I read dog personalities can be categorized into 6 main groups, I think Drake would be called a "Joker" because he's funny, sometimes hard to control and train for a golden retriever, and he was voted class clown.

6. Drake has passed his first level of training and starts the intermediate level in late January.

5. It took him 2.5 months to get excited about the word "walk".

4. He still doesn't get excited about the words "cookie" or "treat" (he gets lots since he trains daily).

3. He likes fetch, but doesn't play indefinitely at it, usually he'll only fetch between 5 and 10 times and then leave you alone.

2. Drake sleeps on his back, it's funny seeing his paws floating in the air.

1. He's fustrating at times, but we love him.

10 random things about me

This is what I get for reading Jenn's blog.

10. I don't like mushrooms, almost every time I have them I vomit (there were 2 exceptions). They can be cooked in the dish, I just can't eat them, and not on pizza, because you can never get them all off.

9. I'm sensitive to lactose, I can't drink a glass of milk, but don't ask me to give up cheese, yoghurt and ice cream, I'd rather suffer with the gas (you might not though), which is why I don't say lactose intolerant.

8. It took me 16 years to figure out the irritable bowel was lactose intolerance.

7. I like different cultures and languages.

6. I quit my job last week, that made me very happy.

5. I have a puppy, named Drake, he's 7 months old on Thursday.

4. I don't like it when people call moles and birth marks beauty marks, I have lots and I don't find them beautiful.

3. I have green eyes, I once got contacts to make them blue, as I thought that was nicer, then I realized everyone in my English class had blue or brown eyes. Both of my contacts were ruined within a month, it wasn't a conscious destruction :)

2. I have a small family, but they are important to me.

1. I have the best husband in the world (we've been married 14 months, but I've known him for 14 years).

Plus One

Yesterday was my birthday, hubby woke me up at midnight to give me part 1 of his presents to me, the first 4 Harry Potter books with the new standard paperback size, so pristine they look like they've never been touched by human hands. Last night we got part 2, he's got blond hair and brown eyes, he'll be 4 months old on the 15th. We've called him Drake. He's a golden retriever, he's pretty good too, he didn't whine all night, just slept in his crate. He did have an accident in his crate though last night, being a little older he should also be easier to train and he's past the teething stage so he doesn't chew on everything. Although retrievers like to carry stuff around in their mouths, so we got him a floating kong, a rope and a glow in the dark ball. He also has some puppy cookies for treat when he's good and goes to the bathroom outside. I'll probably be like one of those new parents and be posting lots of cute pictures of my precious little boy .

Ready. Set. Go!

Well after laughing for many months over my friend's blog on the antics of her three boys (mac3mom) I've decided to start a blog myself. Actually this is not my first blog, I have a work blog, but who wants to read about what I discovered today at work? Heck, I don't even want to read it.

Anyway I think this would be a good way to keep my best buddy in the loop about what's up with me, you'd think that would be pretty easy considering I can walk to her house in approximately 20 minutes, or I could pick up the phone, but you know your a geek when...

Right now I'm waiting for it to be 11pm because I have yet another window of testing to do, well at least I'm raking in the OT, pretty nice to have after having bought a house 2 months ago. Hmmm, seems to me that this blog is probably going to be mostly about being a first time home owner. Well enough for now, I've test cases to run.