Furry Friday

Alright, I actually broke out my camera again last night! The runs are pretty much frozen, so we can bring the dogs out there again. And the weather was pretty nice last night, making it much easier to press buttons. I only had one pair of gloves on!



I'll be the first one to admit that Chihuahua's are cute, but I don't think I could ever have one. I would be afraid of stepping on him/her all the time...and really, it wouldn't take much to crush a chihuahua. I don't trust my clumsy self with that. The constant shaking they do is somewhat endearing...but it's like...are you actually cold, or are you just trying to get my sympathy? This wee one is only 4 months old, but I don't imagine he'll get much bigger. He's adopted already, natch.



Does anybody else have this problem with Blogger? Why do the pictures upload sideways when they are clearly the right way on my computer?? If someone could enlighten me as to what I'm doing wrong, I'd be eternally grateful. Anyways, this is the elk hound! He's only 4 months, and I'm pretty sure by the time he's done growing he'll be the size of a deer.



Again with the sideways. Oy. I'm not sure why this dog is back...I couldn't get a sensical answer. But he's getting so big. His body has elongated completely since I saw him last.



The ears!! I'm so obsessed with this dogs ears. Can you imagine being a basset hound puppy? People would just be constantly tugging at your ears. Just like Dumbo.







Ah, they are getting so big! I cannot even handle going in the room with the puppies. I want to pick them all up, and they are constantly jumping and crying, and it's almost too much cuteness to handle. Almost.

All the doggies had Christmas bandanas on last night which was extremely adorable. How is it that dogs in bandanas look 12 times cuter than dogs without bandanas? But it was very festive!

Happy Weekend everybody! There will be a New York related travel post next Tuesday. Cross my heart.

Also...google has just informed me that "sensical" is not actually a word. Huh! And to think of the number of times I've used it in a sentence...

NYC in T-minus 3 days..

I really cannot put into words how much I love New York City. The first moment I set foot there, it sucked me in, and it pretty much hasn't let me go since. I adore the hustle, I adore the bustle...I just love it more than any other place I have ever been. I will jump on any opportunity to go there. One day, and hopefully one day soon, I want to go there for like a month and just really sink into the city. I can't figure out a cheap way to do this though. Leasing an apartment for a month in Manhattan is hella expensive. Help.

I've always wanted to go to NYC at Christmas time, and it has been on my life goal list for as long as I can remember. I'm pretty sure the first time I saw Home Alone 2, I was insanely jealous, even though Kevin was all by himself, making friends with homeless people and getting chased by criminals. MARV!

So finally. Finally!! I will be flying to NYC on Saturday, bright and early in the morning. And I will come back on Tuesday night, full of Christmas spirit, and hopefully with a knock off designer purse on my arm. I cannot even wait. I am going to pack as much as I possibly can into these three days-window displays, museums, shopping, Central Park, Strawberry Fields on the anniversary of John Lennon's death, ice skating, drinking, dancing, theatre, Christmas, and lots and lots of photos. Also...I'm finding Carrie Bradshaw's stoop if it's the last thing I do.

I'm getting itchy feet, so I'm glad this little trip is coming up soon. Sometimes, I just need to be somewhere that is not here.

Tonight is the Christmas Party for the Humane Society, and this is always good times because it involves all you can eat Chinese food from the Mandarin. They basically rent out a giant room and all the staff and volunteers go. Mmmm Mandarin. I never usually go, because it's expensive and I can't eat enough to justify paying $25 for dinner. However, free? I'm all over that!

Also, I just found out about this The Best of 2009 Blog Challenge, and I'm going to give it a go. And by give it a go, I mean, do it when I feel like it. As much as I would like to say I will post every time, there is no way in hell I will post every day. I'm just not interesting enough. Basically there are prompts for everyday, but some of them I know I am going to have absolutely nothing to say about. Welps, we'll just see what happens. Pretty much, I will use these prompts when I can't think of anything else to write about. Nothing like half assing it!

Without further adieu (I'm a day behind):

December 1- Trip. What was your best trip in 2009?

Best trip of 2009....

I have only taken one so far, but it was a great one! I went to Europe and went though Munich, Berchtesgaden, Salzburg, Prague, Olomouc, Krakow, Zakopane, Budapest and Vienna. It was pretty damn great. Favourite cities? Munich and Krakow for sure. Munich is probably my favourite city in Europe (that I've seen so far), and Krakow was just so much more amazing then I was expecting. I was expecting, I don't know....grey and boring, and it was absolutely the complete opposite. It is beautiful, and there is an incredible amount of interesting history there. Munich! What else can I say about Munich other than, if you ever go to Europe, don't miss it! It is an amazing city. Amazing.

City that did not meet my expectations? Prague by far. I mean, it was beautiful, don't get me wrong, but it was just not at all what I was expecting. I think what turned me off was the sheer number of people. You couldn't even turn around without walking into somebody. Nothing like being carried across the Charles Bridge in a wave of people. If I go back to that area, I'm going to opt for Cesky Krumlov.

This trip was incredible, and I met a ton of amazing people that hopefully I'll keep in touch with forever. Rheana and Yolanda (otherwise known as Deanna and Leslie in my travel stories), are both awesome and it was so much fun to hang out with them. The British boy, who I haven't talked to in forever and despite certain circumstances, was a totally cool guy and so fun to hang around with too! One of the best parts of travelling is definitely the people you meet along the way.

December 2 Restaurant moment. Share the best restaurant experience you had this year. Who was there? What made it amazing? What taste stands out in your mind?

Ummmmm, honestly, nothing is standing out. In anticipation of tonights dinner, I'm going to say, my favourite restaurant moment is going to be tonight at the humane society Christmas dinner. Really amazing people + unlimited Chinese food=win

Alright, we can all see how good I'm going to be at this blog challenge!

Random Hump Day Thoughts

Oh "hump day"...that phrase brought me back to high school!

I don't have it in me today to make one post about one particular topic, so I think I'll go for more of a random thought type of deal. Go with the flow, see where it leads me kind of thing.

I'm not going to lie, I spend 90% of my day fantasizing about either travelling or opening my own animal sanctuary. I just become increasingly bitter every day though, because I snap back to reality, and hey! I'm still here.

Trying to be a writer is brutal. I have enough rejection letters to wallpaper an entire room. It is so frustrating, some times I just want to be like, "screw it!", but then I think of my job, want to poke my eye out, and my resolve comes back.

The other day I went to the dentist, and this was the first time in three years that I had been. I have no dental coverage, don't judge me! Anyway, apparently I grind my teeth at night and now I need to wear a mouth guard at night. Attractive! I've only had it one day, and I hate the thing. But grinding my teeth while I'm sleeping? GROSS. I disgust myself. Apparently, grinding your teeth at night is an indication of stress, but I can't imagine what it is I'm str...orrrr maybe, it might have something to do with not knowing where the hell my life is going. Oh quarter life crisis, I want to punch you in the knee.

In an effort to make up for the extreme boriness of my daylight hours, I tend to try and find the most random things to do at night/on the weekend. Seriously, anything at all will do, as long as it's new. Extra points if I get to travel somewhere (anywhere). This past weekend, I dragged two of my friends to the World Championship of Rock, Paper, Scissors in Toronto. It was ridiculous. Like, I can barely put it into words, so perhaps I'll post pictures tomorrow.

I am trying to get one of my friends to go skeet shooting with me, but NO ONE will go for it. Seriously, anything random with the potential to be fun, sign me up!! Finding random and fun things to do in the Niagara area is kind of hard sometimes because for the most part, there is not a lot of stuff happening. But I found a nearby place to go skeet shooting, and nobody is sharing in my excitement.

Last week I made it my goal to get the autographs of all my favourite childhood stars (Fred Penner, Jeff from Today's Special, Jodie from Today's Special...), why, you ask? Because sometimes, at work, I am just that bored. Plus, having Fred Penner's john henry would be sweet. You better believe I would frame that and hang it on my wall. Anyways, so I was randomly googling "Jodie from Today's Special", whose actual name is Nerene Virgin, and it turns out she is a politician now. It also turns out she is on Facebook. So I randomly added her as a friend, and she accepted. Bwahahaha, Jodie from Today's Special is my friend on facebook. Is it wrong that this makes me so happy? Now I need to figure out the least creepy way to ask her for her autograph, preferably on a picture of her in the pink suit from Today's Special.

Last night, I went to see A Christmas Carol, the 3D version. Has anyone seen this?? I found it very....odd. I thought the setting was done very cool, London looked amazing!! It was some super cool animation. The story? You can't go wrong with the story, it's classic. However, this version was just...odd. First off, there are numerous parts in the movie that are scary. I'm talking oh shit, something just popped out and now I'm choking on popcorn scary. I hate scary movies with a passion, but I really wasn't going into A Christmas Carol expecting to jump out of my seat several times. I DO get easily startled, but this seemed excessive, especially for a movie that seems like it's meant for children. More importantly! What the shit was up with the Ghost of Christmas Past? The head twitch? The bizarre Irish accent? The eyes?? I couldn't concentrate during that entire part of the movie because the Ghost of Christmas Past was such a messed up mofo. Also...whoever made the decision to make the animated characters look a lot like their real life counterparts...wrong choice! It was creepy.

Now, I love Christmas movies as much as the next person, but if you are going to watch A Christmas Carol, stick with the Muppet version! Speaking of Christmas...there is no holiday I like better than Christmas. I am all for tacky decorations, cheer, wrapping presents, Christmas music, family and baking. I try to watch one Christmas movie a week up until Christmas Day to increasingly up my Christmas cheer. Up this week: Prancer. Also, we have one of those miniature Dickens villages, and I LOVE it. I am obsessed with it. Every year, new pieces are added, and I take hours setting it up and making sure everything/body is in a sensical position. We have a train that moves. We have a tunnel. We have a hoopa. If I could Honey I Shrunk Myself into that village, I would do so in a heart beat. I will post pictures of this years village once it gets set up. I cannot wait.

Wow, I was kind of in a bad mood at the beginning of this, but talk of the Christmas Village has made me merry!!



Okay, we are nowhere near this intensity. Yet. If I found a roller coaster and a ferris wheel to go in my village (and an extra room to house the entire thing in) I would die a happy woman.

Anyways, Happy Hump Day!