puppy eyes

If you've ever visited my blog before then you've met Abby - the cutie on my header. And if you're a regular then you know she's the star around here. And while she is a rambunctious, tough, dirty, garbage-eating animal as she should be, she is also a certified Beyonce-level diva.

We'll be playing with the rope, tugging, having a good time, growling (yep, both of us) and then I look away for, like, a second and she hits me with one of these.

Or I'll be getting ready to catch the bus in the morning, scrambling to grab my purse and throw together a lunch when I'll look over and she's doing this.

And I fall for it every time.

How am I supposed to look this dog in the eyes and leave for work every morning? Two and a half years later and I still can't handle it. So, I don't. I call out "be good" and fly out the door with my head down.

My kids are definitely going to have attachment issues.

xx Janelle

mondays are for quick suppers & dog park adventures

I have news! Usually, I keep all work info off the blog, but I'm ready to share just a little bit. I started a new job in Education Coordination! I accepted the position at the end of January, but only started two weeks ago. I'm not going to spill all the details, but I am very happy with my new position and I think that it was a smart decision.

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One of the perks of my new job is that I get home at 5, instead of 5:30 which gives me a little extra time to get supper ready or... get caught up on all the blogs that went up during the day. Today we had some hamburger left over from our burritos last night and we had big plans for it. Nachos.

Complete with dairy-free cheese. My belly thanked me. And it was ready in less than twenty minutes!

Although all I wanted to do after eating half a pan of nachos was curl up in the fetal position, D suggested taking advantage of the extra daylight (thank you, DST) by bringing Abs to the off-leash park. So, I dragged my lazy butt off the couch and off we went.

Lately we haven't had much luck at the dog park. This past weekend we went up two or three times, but there just weren't any dogs for Abby to romp with. I think people may have been avoiding it, since the field was/is full of mud, muck and dirt.

Oh, but tonight there were no less than five (!!) dogs for her to play with. She had a blast. A big muddy, blast. She is really making progress with her recall training and she comes more often than not when we call her. We are so happy for that. She has come a long way! I couldn't stop talking about what a good girl she was being...

After she got a little spray down with a waterbottle and a towel off, she polished off her food. Too busy to even look up for the paparazzi. Divaaa.

To get warmed up from our walk, I grabbed a hot drink and cuddled up on the couch with D. While he watched the newest episode of Walking Dead, I hurried through as much of the last few chapters of The Rainbow Troops as I could. It's due back at the library on Wednesday and I still have about 60 pages to finish tomorrow... It's doable. Sometimes I can get through a chapter or two on my commute, since the chapters are only about 5 pages long max.

On the right is my current bookmark. It's a photo of me and my mom at the beach near our house when I was a little one. Check out our eighties style.

And we topped our night off by doing some dishes. We live a wild life of adventure.

I hope your Monday went well. The hardest day of the week is over! That's something to celebrate.

Goodnight,
xx Janelle

how we survived Nemo

So, we did end up getting that storm I told you about on Friday. We got about 10cm less than expected, but the snow did result in huge snowdrifts and a foot and a half of snow on the sidewalks where people hadn't shoveled yet. While most people stayed in during the "snowpacolypse", we decided it would be the perfect time to bring Abby to a nearby green space to release some energy.

We are still training her to be off-leash and she occasionally steps out of her boundaries, so the fact that there were barely any cars on the road made me much less nervous. We do always make sure to bring lots of treats to lure her back to us, so that always helps! 

Just look at that happy tail...

My handsome boyfriend with his snowy gloves.

We can bring any of Abby's favorite balls and tug toys to the park, but she generally wants nothing to do with them. In the house, she goes crazy for them, but once we get outside she has one thing on her mind. Eating sticks. She will nearly tackle a small child for one. She's such a beaver. 

EXHIBIT A

 EXHIBIT B.

It seems like we spent the whole weekend in this little park, having been out for at least a couple of hours each day. I guess our plan to tire her out worked, because this tired dog napped for most of the day. Even my legs felt a little "jello-ey" from trudging through snow both days. We went to run some errands downtown today and sneak in a little coffee date and the sidewalks still weren't plowed! That just makes it more of an adventure, I think. It made for a very memorable weekend.

We're being lazy right now and watching our Raptors take it home... for a change. Winnnnnners.

 

And loser.  

With my Raptor-ish arm.

Hope you all had a great weekend. Were you out in the snow or soaking up the sun?

xx Janelle

PS - For whatever reason, the news outlets called the Nor'Easter storm Nemo, which explains this post's title.

Merry Christmas!

FYI: I'm not one of those crazy pet owners who treat their dog like their child. I'm in denial. Really though, we took her because it was a fundraiser for the SPCA. Since we got her from an SPCA shelter, we can't help but donate when we get the chance. We're so thankful to be able to have her. She definitely makes our lives a bit more exciting....

We brought Abby to get her picture taken with Santa at our local Pet Valu a couple weeks ago and this was the result. They had her sitting by Santa's legs for a bit and then decided to put her on the unwilling Santa's lap. She was looking all around and squirming and then all of a sudden her ears perked up and she smiled for a split second and SNAP. This was the winner. 

Just look at that smile! Isn't she precious? I laughed for a solid 5 minutes when I first saw the photo... mostly because I saw how hard it was to get her to pay attention initially. But the treats came through in the end...

Hope you're having a great day.

Dog Walkin Style: Nov 20

missing button. boo.

The air is starting to get cooler. Trees cling desperately to the few leaves they have left. The wind manages to creep up and under my jacket. The crisp days of Fall have arrived. On Sunday the wind was so strong it was practically rattling our windows. So, what do we do in such weather? Take the dog for a walk. 

These photos were taken immediately after her 30 minute romp with a pup named Tizzy. That's why she looks all kinds of crazy. Gene Simmons tongue for real! What a crazy one.

We started her on clicker training today, so we'll see how that goes. We have a really hard time wrangling her when we let her off leash. She actually wants nothing to do with us when we're outside. Too busy sniffing and exploring. So, we're working on training... kind of. 

For the first few months we had her we just had to smother her with love and it was hard to put our foot down, but now it's time. She's 3 yrs old but it's not too late. It's just going to take a lot of time and patience. And, of course, treats.

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So, no makeup, same shirt I wore to bed, eyes all puffed. This shouldn't even be a fashion post, but anywayssss... I'm committed to keepin it real on the blog. I'm wearing:

Jacket: Discount store ($8)

Flannel shirt: Costco, mens

Leggings: Wal-Mart
Boots: Hush Puppies
Scarf: can't remember

Hat: Lady from the St. Lawrence market in Toronto

Thanks for reading lovelies. I'll be back tomorrow night with a scrumptious peach oatmeal muffin recipe. Stop by if you get a chance!

Thankful

I try to remember, not just this weekend but every day, how lucky I am. Given the theme of this weekend (Canadian Thanksgiving) I figured I would show you what I'm grateful for. In no particular order.

This guy.

 This family.

This puppy-dog.

These friends & others.

And this beautiful country.

But in this moment? I'm thankful for this.

My burrito from El Gallo @ the Farmer's Market.

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all get to spend time with loved ones. Enjoy.

**Pssssst: Check out my friend Val's blog for some recipes/shopping fun!

Introducing Abby...

Isn't she adorable?

'

We picked up this little cutie 2 weeks ago on Saturday. So far, so good... Even though she's a little troublemaker sometimes, we love her so much.

Oh, and she eats sticks.