Mighty Neighbourly

Lexi sniffing the air - I love the snow sticking to her fur

It snowed about 10 cm this morning, pushing Vancouver into a full blown snowmageddan. I’m serious, that’s what the papers are calling it – granted other parts of the Lower Mainland did get more snow than us. I’m not a huge snow lover, but as long as I don’t have to drive anywhere I don’t mind a few inches.

There’s a bylaw round here that states you need to have your sidewalks cleared of snow by about 10 a.m., so usually when it snows Derek and I grab the complex snow shovels and will clear the paths. Our complex makes us laugh, there’s a North side vs. Courtyard divide, and usually the courtyard ignores the North Side, meaning they’ll clear all of their paths and sidewalks, but won’t touch ours.

This morning I saw that it was starting to snow, so I waited until the majority of it stopped, grabbed a shovel and started clearing ALL the paths, stairs and sidewalks in the complex, North and Courtyard. After about 45 minutes of shovelling and working up a good sweat, I was literally on my last 3 sections of pavement, when a neighbour came outside and said that he’d do the rest.

I had done about 98% of the shovelling, but my hands were freezing so I was happy to hand it over. Just as I gave him the shovel and was walking away, another neighbor started walking up and thanking him for shovelling all the paths.

How neighbourly of him.

Boots

Can I just point out that I've lived in two well-known rain capitals in my life and never owned a pair of rain boots? At least I can’t remember owning a pair.

As a person who meticulously plans everything, after the acquisition of our small fur-baby I started to realize that I would be spending countless hours trudging around the block during rain storms once fall arrived. Derek, being the loving fiancé he is, purchased me the most gorgeous pair of Navy Hunter Wellies for my birthday.

I sit here today, with the rain streaming down, patting myself on the back for finally owning a pair. They’re gorgeous, they keep my feet dry (and my jean cuffs dry – wet jean cuffs are my biggest pet peeve), and I look absolutely fabulous in them. I don’t really understand how I survived without them.

Now, to finally complete my life, I shall be ordering a pair of fleece Welly liners to keep my feet warm during the Winter as well.

Rumour is that we’re getting snow this weekend, YUCK! Although, my hatred of snow is somewhat overshadowed by the excitement of my tiny puppy playing in the snow for the first time.

Weddings and Whatnot

I’m not sure where August & September went – they’ve completely flown by at a dizzying rate. Work takes up the majority of my time, and then the rest is divided between the fam & planning a wedding – I don’t know why people stress about planning weddings, this has been amazingly fun and relatively stress free so far! (Ask me my opinion in a few months time)

Perhaps it’s because I’ve had everything planned out for years and a lot completed already - the venue is booked, photographer is 95% booked, engagement shoot is next month, Décor rental is chosen and secured, florist chosen, menus and bar planned, dress purchased (yay) and I still have just under a year to go! I would book and plan more but I’m trying to save some stuff for next year….. I heart all my spreadsheets and lists and love tackling the challenges. In fact, I’ve already made my seating chart and I haven’t even invited people yet.

I cannot wait to become Derek’s wifey on Nine-Ten-Eleven – despite the 30-40 wedding magazines scattered around the house (all donated by past brides) I haven’t lost sight of the most important aspect of our day. I’m curious as to how different being a wife will feel – will there be this sense of completion, a stronger bond between us? An official stamp to make us feel like we’re finally a family? Or will it be business as usual? We’ve lived in this house together a year, pay our bills together, cook our meals together, share chores, laundry and everything else… so what will change?

My last name will change - I get to spend the rest of eternity spelling out a last name to people that I still struggle to pronounce and spell..... Ahhhh the price of love.

Anyways, we’re off to Mexico for a week for a much needed holiday. It’ll be our first time away from our little Lexi and my heart already breaks thinking of her all alone… until I remember that she’s staying with my parents, who think it’s perfectly acceptable to feed her whip cream from a spoon.

Have I mentioned how much I enjoy wine touring?

Derek and I had been planning a weekend of wine touring away in the Okanagan, we took off Thursday and drove up to Osoyoos to stay at a fabulous resort. We drove up with our little Lexi (who just ate through her third power cord in two weeks - 2 laptops and a phone) and spent the weekend relaxing, wine touring and making it the most memorable weekend that I will hold very dear to my heart, for the rest of my life.

Where to start... the weather was amazing, hot and sunny each day - so we put Lexi into Doggy Daycare for the two days we were out at the wineries to allow her have fun and not worry about the heat.

We did some amazing wineries in Oliver and Osoyoos the first day and then on the second day drove 1 hour north to Naramata to do some of my favourite wineries. Saturday was a magical day - not only did we purcase cases of my favourite wines, I also came home with a Fiance!

Derek proposed at Poplar Grove, overlooking the lake up on a cliff surrounded by vines. It was amazing and surprising and I can't wait to spend my life with him!

I can't stop stairing at my ring, which makes driving very unsafe - and both families are estatic that we're getting married. The plan is for next September here in Vancouver!

2 baths 2 days… and an eye infection

It turns out that we didn’t just come home with a wet, smelly dog covered in burrs when we left the park last Thursday – we also contracted a vicious eye infection that appeared on Monday.

Poor Lexi has been battling a severe case of conjunctivitis. I noticed it Monday morning when she woke up with her eyes crusted with pus and she was scratching them. I made a vet appointment for later that day – and thankfully I did, as the issue got worse over the course of the morning.

The first question they asked me was if she had been swimming in dirty stagnant water? If by swimming they meant tumbling off a bridge, then yes…. The vet shaved around her eyes (which gives her the appearance of two large black eyes) put all sorts of medications and freezing in her eye and then sent us home with a topical cream (have you ever tried to put cream on a squirmy puppy’s eyeball??) along with a big ole’ cone.



Poor Lexi is feeling much better – and the eyes are almost back to white with almost no crusties. But she’ll go into random whining/crying/moaning fits everyone once and awhile. She has to keep the cone on or she’ll scratch her eyes and either scratch her cornea or give herself an ulcer.

She can’t sleep with the cone on though, she’s so gosh darn uncomfortable and doesn’t fit in her crate, so she lays next to our bed at night, but there’s no sleeping going on. She’s up, crying whining, escaping, banging her cone into things and it goes on and on and on…… last night was the second night of sleep deprivation. I’m grumpy, she’s grumpy, Derek’s grumpy…..

I can’t wait for our follow up vet appointment tomorrow when they tell me she’s back to normal and we can ditch the cone.

Lesson learned: If your puppy falls into a dirty pond, don’t just bathe the fur, flush out the eyes and pick up some polysporin eye drops from the pharmacy.

2 Baths 2 Days

(it's tough to get a picture of her playing... she's fast)

Poor Lexi has spent some significant time in the bath the past few days by no fault of her own… well a little of her own.

On Tuesday night we took her to a friend’s house to watch the Season Finale of Glee (Lexi’s a big fan) and my friend asked if she could have a bone as she was feeding her dog one. Thinking that it was a cookie type bone, I said yes, only to realize that my dog was gnawing on a raw lamb’s neck. I was disgusted butLexi loved it.

What I didn’t think about (until the next morning) is that you’re not supposed to change a puppy’s meat protein. If they eat chicken puppy chow, stick to chicken. If they eat lamb, stick to lamb and so forth until their stomachs are a bit stronger. Since Lexi’s on a Chicken and Rice diet – the lamb went through her, causing diarrhea every time she put anything in her mouth for the next 24 hours…. Fluffy white fur and runny poop will give you an idea of the mess I was dealing with. Poor thing.

Last night we took her for a walk around a lake with a friend and her new puppy. The two dogs are pretty close in age and got along famously – they played and ran and chased for 1 ½ hours straight. However, poor Lexi was running across a foot bridge crossing a muddy creek and slipped and fell off the bridge, down approx 4 feet and into the water. Lexi has never submerged herself in water, and we definitely didn’t plan for her first time to be a surprise.

Derek was a hero however, and ran into the water and pulled our poor flailing, panicking puppy out of the water. I'm pretty sure she was the one screaming, but according to Derek that was me.

She recovered with a bruised ego and continued on playing with the other dog, and ran straight through the bushes and came out covered in burrs and sticky tiny green seeds, which are IMPOSSIBLE to get out. So we spent another evening in the bathtub washing mud and smelly water off of her, and cutting and pulling burrs out of her fur.

I’m off to Osooyos for the weekend for a stagette – so Lexi and Derek are having some Daddy-Daughter bonding time. I hope for Derek’s sake she stays clean until Sunday.

Life before twelve

Some people think I'm absolutely crazy when I tell them I wake up at 5 a.m. three times a week to run a bootcamp, but despite my weekday madness, I'm actually a sleep lover. I go to bed between 9:30 and 10:30 and wake up either at 5am, 6am or on weekends..... 11:30 a.m.

I love laying in bed on weekends - Derek and I used to get in gear and make breakfast around 1 p.m. on weekends.... which has its downsides as we never really got that much accomplished on the weekends. Everything has changed since Lexi Doodle entered our lives 3 weeks ago.

We go to bed after our 11 p.m. pee and bedtime routine, get up at 3:30 a.m. for another bathroom break, and then again at 6 a.m. - we can usually squeeze another hour of sleep out of her until 7 a.m. when it's time to get up, eat breakfast, go for a pee and take our morning walk.

It's been good parental training for Derek and I, as by noon on a Saturday, we've made a huge breakfast, gone for a walk along the harbour, gone grocery shopping, done housework, watched the Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show (it's true) and are making progress around the house (finally getting my home office set up).

Life before twelve? Who knew.

When opportunity presents itself

So the thing with life is that it twists and turns. You go down one path, and then something comes up and you switch gears.

I tend to always hesitate when it comes to opportunity. Opportunity scares me. Failure scares me. And those two often go hand in hand. However every once in awhile opportunity partners up with success and blessings. Sometime the status quo is the easiest route, and more often than not, I take it. I always read about the amazing things people accomplish and do – the way they put their selves out there, and reap the rewards by utilizing their opportunity, and yet – I still sit back and wait for things to happen.

Anyways – opportunity has allowed me to work from home for the next few months. It’s a big deal and project that I get to do – and it’s setting me up for being able to work from home in the future. I’ve been having great discussions with a few mentors in the past few weeks, and I’ve decided I’m going to begin to work towards my ultimate goal of becoming a photographer, by studying, taking classes and beginning to purchase my equipment. My new/old/same/different job (long story) isn’t in photography – but it’s allowing me the time to begin to pursue over the next few months.

And if I fail… at least I took the opportunity. No regrets.

So in the mean time…. I’d like to announce the arrival of little Lexi Doodle – Derek’s and my new Goldendoodle addition. Why not make working from home a bigger challenge by adding a 12 week old puppy!

She’s adorable… when she’s sleeping. We picked her up 8 (fast and short) days ago and she’s coming along nicely with her training. A bit clingy to me… but we’re working on me become a pack leader and ignoring her fluffy adorableness.

She also needs plenty of socialization, but we start puppy classes next week and then we signed up for a ‘doodle romp’ where other Golden and Labradoodles in Vancouver meet up – plus lots of walks and trips to the dog park.

Note to self: Puppies are a lot of work. I spent so many years begging to get a dog, I never actually thought Derek would cave and think it was a good idea. Ha Ha. I love her so much already though.

Irrational fears

If I wasn't nervous and jumpy enough, Derek's managed to add a new fear into my life - going to prison and becoming someone’s b**ch. I am now officially terrified of being sent to prison. Sure, I haven't ever committed a major crime worthy of a prison sentence - actually, that's a lie.

I once accidently shoplifted eggs from Safeway 12 years ago... I didn't mean to, I was babysitting and needed to get groceries for the family and placed the eggs into the stroller to carry them because I ran out of room in the basket.... and sure enough, I forgot they were in there.... Out of guilt however, I always donate to those Safeway charities at the checkout and have more than made up for the $4 I owe Safeway... ugh, okay.... now I'm feeling terribly guilty about those eggs again. Hmmm, can you go back and pay for something you accidently took 12 years ago?

Anyways, back to my important irrational fear - Prison. We were at Costco last night, and Derek stumbled upon the DVD's of his past favourite T.V. series - OZ. We watched the first episode and it was enough to scare me straight for the rest of my life.


There are some scary, scary people in prison - and despite my boxing skills, I'm a huge pansy and sissy... I'd be forced to join a gang for protection, and unless there's a Scottish bagpipe pride group - there's no one else for me except the Aryans... I don't want to be an Aryan a) I would like my body to stay swastika free b) my head is too lumpy and misshapen to be bald, and c) I'm 100% against what they philosophically stand for, so we would probably clash there....

Which leads me back to being terrified to commit any sort of crime... Derek was pretty quick to point out that given my moral piety and fear of pointy things, I won't ever be in the situation... but just in case I ever even contemplate it, I now am officially scared straight. Consider myself warned.

Seriously –should I call Safeway? This is now bothering me a lot… what if they read this and send me to prison? Could I buy a dozen eggs (they weren’t free range) from Safeway, and then sneak them back onto the shelf so they can sell them again?

My top ten from the past ten

I’m finding it hard to believe the decade is winding down – I’ve only been around for 2 and a half – but this one was jam packed with the most life experiences… with that travelling, university, love, career, house type of things falling within 2000 – 2010

Don’t read too much into this, but here’s ten highlights.


10. Poodador the Labradoodle
She’s sweet, affectionate, scary smart & just a joy to be around – Boxing day will be our six anniversary with her, and I look forward to another six as well.

9. University

In general it was a great experience, it gave me a degree, I met some amazing friends, lived in dorms, quickly realized why one should never live in dorms (although it did give my 42W roomies – so I can’t be too upset)

8. Senior Basketball (this seems to be my only high school photo on computer)

Most people don’t know that I was obsessed with basketball in high school. I played a lot, year round, most days and when I wasn’t playing I was coaching, playing in my front yard or obsessing over new gear. I love my senior girls team, we had so much fun together and I couldn’t have asked for a better high school experience.

7. Mexico
There’s something about the Mayan Riviera that I love – its more the fact that two weeks in Mexico comes after an absolutely crazy year filled with stress and strife (aka work). Mexico is to me is the most relaxing place on earth (as long as I’m in a 5 star with a fruity drink in hand).

6. Purchasing a Home


I feel like this needs to make the list – when I look back upon the past 10 years, I’m hoping this was the right decision. I love my house – a lot more than I ever imagined I would.


5. Thailand/China

My mom and I had always talked about a big trip once I graduated Uni, so when graduation was rapidly approaching and mom asked where I’d like to go… obviously my first answer was Disneyland – but mom had a grander vision. So off we went to Thailand for 2 ½ weeks – Kayaking around southern Thailand for the first week, then some much needed R&R. We extended a layover in Beijing and I was able to experience China for the first time since I was young. Thanks mom.


4. Annual Camping

Every year some of my best friends and I head off to the middle of nowhere, B.C. for our annual camping trip. We’ve managed to get ourselves into a few shenanigan’s while up there… but always come back alive (although we’ve come close to not….). We’ve never come back without a story or two…. Or three – can’t wait for next year.

3. Capernwray/New Zealand

I learned a lot about myself and others at Capernwray. I had a lot of time for some realistic, deep introspective reflection. I also had a lot of time for amazingly fun, crazy, good times in a country that I fell deep in love with. I can’t wait to go back one day with Derek.

2. Tofino

Tofino deserves top two. It holds a special place in my heart as Derek and I travel here a few times a year. I can never get enough of the beach, surf, forest & the sense of peace that envelops the small community.
1. Derek


Anyone whose ever been in love with their best friend understands the bond, connection and the ultimate comfort your receive when you’re around them. He’s my best friend, best travelling buddy, the one I want around when I can’t open something, and the one I want around when I have a bottle of wine that needs to be shared.

The past ten were unbelievable. I really do love my life, my family & my God. I can’t wait to look back at the future ten.