quick updates

I have been remiss in not blogging much lately.
Here are a few highlights.
I will try better…. honest.

Will’s is making progress with walking better. The chiropractor is only seeing him every 2 weeks now and wants Nan and I to let him go and be a kid.. thank goodness.

My bike is in the shop having the front fork seals redone. I did not particularly want to do this until next year, but oh well. Such is life. Once it is done, I should be good to ride for the rest of the season I think.

We were able to get some new furniture this last week on trade. Lovely new black leather set for the family room. very nice.

Taffy the dog continues to grow into our family more and more. She is adorable and loves nothing more than to just be with the family.

I installed with the help of my good friend Rich, a Small Business Server with Blackberry Enterprise Server on it last week. For those of you who know what that is, rejoice with me…. I have shared calendars and am consistently getting my mail!

Nan and I are going away for our 15th anniversary for a weekend to Stratford in a couple of weeks.

My wife is the best.

Work has been crazy with thinking of new code and trying to drive more business through the door.

My dad is now retired! Actually, he is on vacation for the next 4 weeks technically and then he is retired, but he is lovin’ it.. I can’t say I blame him.

I am fighting a sinus infection. Most of the infection is gone I think but my left ear is still blocked and I have a hard time hearing out of it. So, if I twist around when I am talking to you, it is because I am just trying to hear you better.

Our annual meeting at the church is tonight.

I think that is it. It’s enough though.

The princess.

It has been a while since I have done much blogging. I had actually considered taking it completely offline but I was convinced by my friend Topher that I should not. Thanks Toph, you were right.

I was outside watching Jackson walk the pup tonight and thought I would snap a shot or two. She is getting so big. Well, big is a relative word really. She is big in terms of what she used to be like.

She is coming along very nicely in the training department. Happy to say that we have not had many issues as of late at all.
Thank you Lord. She has become this little, lovable thing that likes to be around the family and spend time with us.

Good dog…

Haircut time.

Last night was haircut night.
Nan gave the boys their Christmas haircuts. They look great.
I am getting old. I now realize I think how my dad felt when I was making weird hair choices as a kid.
I think I might have driven him crazy. Oh well, that is part of being a kid and part of being a parent I suppose.

Then we tackled the puppy after dinner.
I have to admit, this time was much better than last.
The previous go Taffy would not sit still, the clippers wigged her out, and it was absolute trauma.
Not to mention the fact that John K. showed up near then end, and Taffy was so freaked, she pee’d right there on the spot.

Last night was a completely different experience.
We set the card table up in the kitchen with a chair.
I sat down and had the pup on the table standing but was somewhat holding her.

She handled the clippers no problem!
I mean, she didn’t LOVE them, but she allowed them and did not fuss too much.
It sure made the process a whole lot shorter.

And now we have a shorn puppy that looks much better.

Nan is getting her hair cut tonight at 5.

I suppose I should shave my head today and we can make it a clean sweep.

Growing like a weed

Taffy is growing leaps and bounds.
She is literally twice if not three times the size of when we brought her home!
Just last night, Nan had to loosen her collar AGAIN.

It is not that she is overweight, she is just growing like a normal puppy.
Nan and I were talking about it this morning and she is also getting to the point where she likes to be by herself on the floor a great deal more now and just play and chew on her toys. She is no longer a baby but has become a true puppy.
When we first got her, I put a small ramp together for her to get up on the deck. She was way too small for trying the steps. She literally jumps up them now.

And snow! She loves playing in the snow. In the last 36 hours, I would say that we received 9-12 inches of the blessed stuff… But the crazy dog loves to bound through it like it is her own private bubble bath. Silly little nut.
When she comes in, she is usually covered in little snowballs. funny.

the sound of my voice

Why is it that some people’s voices can make you do things?

Remember when you were a kid and your mother or father said.. “Donny, come in here.” in a stern yet commanding voice and you wasted no time in getting your butt in there? Oh yeah, that was me.

Or remember Mr. MaLean our 10th grade history teacher who simply said at the beginning of class… “Work.” and we all did?

Why is it the sound of someone’s voice makes us do things?

For young kids it is different. I mean, look at Santa… Little kids see him and they get all wigged out!
Or grandparents. Grandparents wig little kids out in a good way.

So this same phenomenon is happening in our household right now.
It is happening to Taffy who is 3 and a half months old.

Every time someone who will remain nameless but starts with John and ends with Koehler comes over, our dog pees on instinct.
Last week we were cutting Taffy’s hair, John comes over to pick up Justin from a play date. Taffy is so excited to see him, she pees right where she is.
Last night, the Koehler kid’s come over for piano lessons, Taffy sees John, pees on the floor.
Man, you would think that she has a crush on him or something. It is truly bizarre.
I am gonna have to have the guy call me before he comes over so I can take the puppy outside and she can pee all see wants.
Or John is gonna have to change his voice. One or the other.

I think it is really cute actually. The dog gets completely spazzy for John, can’t lick him enough, can’t stop her tail (which in effect shakes her whole body). Taffy does the same for John’s wife Christine, but not in the same intensity.
It’s like a Pavlovian bell.
Weird.

What a difference 24 hours makes

So yesterday I blogged about how the weekend went and how the puppy was injured.
Man, what a difference 24 hours of rest can make….

Throughout the day, Nan and I periodically would be saying to the pup.. “slow down!” or “not so fast you!”

This morning, she has been trotting around the family room and giving herself a good bath. This is incredible in the fact that in order to give herself a bath, she has to bend in ways that yesterday morning would have had her yelping and crying. This morning she is doing acrobatics to have a bath. Amazing. She was at one point this morning, scratching herself with her bad leg!

Wow, I wish I could heal that quickly.
She is by no means, completely back to 100%. She trots like a gimp but she is at least trotting….

This is a good sign.

What a weekend!

Well, it has been quite the weekend.

Nan and I were lucky enough to get away this weekend with Eric and Lindsay to Toronto. We went with for the purpose of going to see We Will Rock You! which is a musical based on the band Queen. What a great time we had. The music was phenomenal and the story was quite good. Humourous in parts even.

We left Saturday morning after John and Christine came to our place. They had a showing of their place and were taking care of the boys for the time we were away so it made great sense for them to come and chill out at our place for the day.

We arrived in St. Thomas, picked Eric and Lindsay up at their house, and took off for the Big Smoke. We stopped by Espresso Planet and bought a bunch of coffee syrups for ourselves and other people who wanted some, I drooled at the fancy espresso machines for a while.

Then we took off for downtown and checked in at the Marriott. After checking in, we decided to walk along Bloor St. and window shop a bit. Fun. There are some pretty high-end stores there so it was fun.

We then had supper at a restaurant called Belini’s. It is supposedly one of the top 20 restaurants in Toronto. The waiter sure was crusty enough. Man, that is another story altogether.

On our way to the restaurant, we got a call from John, who was watching our boys. The puppy had gotten underfoot during the afternoon and been stepped on and was yelping alot. He decided it best to take her to the after hours vet clinic. Broken leg. Ah the joys of puppy ownership!

I know the Koehler’s felt bad but they need not. She is a puppy and puppies get underfoot. That is what they do. So, off to the clinic, an x-ray for confirmation and and pain medications!

Meanwhile, back in Toronto, we hurried to the Canon Theatre across from the Eaton Centre, which we did not know had before been called the Pantages, or the Royal Alexander. Man, they change their names a lot!

The musical was so much fun. I really enjoyed it.
After the show, we made our way back to the hotel, the girls went to bed and Eric and I hung out for an hour or so downstairs in the bar.
We had a great talk.

Sunday morning, Eric and I went in search of Starbucks coffee. The one that is in the underground was closed. bummer. But we found another within 90 seconds walk or so. Only in North America huh?
Took the coffees back to our respective rooms, enjoyed coffees, got ready and then did a little more window shopping. At about noon, we took off for Missisauga where we went to Shoeless Joe’s for lunch. VERY tasty.

A quick run back to St. Thomas and then home. John brought the kids home a few minutes later and then we settled in for the night. Wow, what a weekend. Busy, but a real treat.

Who would ever have thought that this would happen?

the puppy and the cat met face to face for the first time tonight.

I really expected sparks if not fur to fly.

Nope, they both behaved like little ladies…

Good for the neighbourhood

Taffy is making good friends with all of the neighbourhood kids.
The young girl who lives next door went shopping for her birthday this past weekend and bought Taffy a sweater.
How adorable.

We got a rat.

I thought we bought a puppy.
When dry, she is a big fluffball.
See below…

But put her in the sink for a bath and you get an instant rat!!!
See below…