Puppy Fever

Let me list the reasons why I have sucked at doing a weekly entry in this blog.

1. School is busy.

2. Report cards are imminent.

3. Sometimes I forget I even have a blog.

4. We got a puppy.

Chewie. Short for Chewbacca. He is fluffy, he is sweet, he loves to Chew (which is basically our fault as we named him Chewie) and he is all ours.

I am completely in love, and completely overwhelmed.

Everyone tells you having a puppy is a big deal. Everyone says it is like having a baby. Everyone says it is time consuming. Everyone says you have to be ready to dedicate a huge portion of your life to this little animal.

Everyone was right.

Getting a puppy is a big deal. For an undetermined amount of time you have to clean up poop and pee.

It has been 4 days since our last in house accident.

Getting a puppy can be stressful. For the first two weeks we didn't sleep through the night, and the crate training was not exactly what I would call successful.

Now he sleeps in the hallway in his crate with a sheet draped over top. We had our first full night sleep last night.

Getting a puppy can be a wonderful bonding experience for a couple. And an opportunity to learn. James and I have had many discussions about how this is good practice for when we decide to have kids.

Thank all that is holy we haven't got children also. Chewie is our fur baby and that is good. That is enough.

Cats do not like puppies. Especially when the dog barks and chases the cat. I want them to snuggle each other but that may just be a pipe dream.

Suggestions for people getting a puppy: 

Take them to puppy class. 

Tire them out with play time. 

Introduce them to kids who are good with dogs and let them run around. 

Introduce them to other dogs and let them run around.

Tire them out with car rides.

Cuddle them when they are tired.

Listen to the teacher in puppy class.

Take them out to poop a half an hour after they eat their food.

Take them out to pee, a lot.

Buy a good jacket if it is winter.

Buy easy to slip on shoes.

Read books, but don't believe everything you read.

Listen to advice, but don't believe everything everyone says.

Look on the internet, but don't freak out if you are reading too much.

Love.

Love.

Love.

Cry if you have to.

Ask people to play with your puppy so you can have a nap.

Leave the puppy in a safe place while at work with nothing to destroy.

Buy toys.

Live your life, and love the dog.

Be nice to your spouse.

Try to talk about something else to your friends and family.

And take lots of pictures.

Adopting a Puppy

"Let's just meet puppies" I said. "We will wait to take one home until we find the right one" I said. 

This is easier said than done. 

What James and I want: a medium sized puppy, good temperament, and we want to adopt it. Preferably from an organization called "Victoria Humane Society"(check their Facebook group). We have filled out an application and we went to visit some puppies today. 

We knew that these doggies were going to be a bit too big for our needs, so we decided to just go meet them and talk to the foster parents. 

Then they were adorable. They had wonderful, sweet personalities and I wanted to take them both home. 

When we left the foster parents, my heart hurt. I could hardly tear myself away from them. 

James and I talked at length. Then I texted some friends. Then I was sad. We decided they would be better with a family that wanted a big dog. 

What scares me is how hard it was to NOT adopt the first dog we see. This process may be more difficult to complete with a clear mind. My emotions are pretty strong when it comes to sweet little puppies. 

Anyways, here is a picture. As you can see, this puppy isn't really little...

In The Effort to Post More

Happy New Years (Eve) friends!

Today I slept in until 11. This is because I'm on holidays and can do such things. Plus I spent all yesterday planning and marking and sitting in front of a computer trying to get my life organized. So I deserved to stay up watching British television.

I am all caught up with Downton Abbey, which is delightful. And by delightful I mean heart wrenching, beautiful and really really well done. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes television. I could write a whole blogpost detailing the high points of Maggie Smith's acting. That woman is probably my hero, and not just because she played Wendy in "Hook".

Because of my whole (not-so) new love for British television, I am watching a show called Doc Martin. It is a cute little series about a surgeon who moves to a small town in Britain to be the local doctor because he develops a phobia of blood. It isn't Downton Abbey, but it is easy to do my homework while it plays in the background. In fact it is playing in the background right now.

New Years Eve. 2014. Woah.

 I believe one of my resolutions was to write more blog posts. I think a result of this resolution will be that I end up writing more, but writing about inconsequential things. Hence the current subjects of this particular post.

Usually if I write something that I can justify as being even remotely interesting to other people I write something to let them know. I probably won't mention this post on Facebook. 

Off to shower!

New Years Resolutions

Christmas has come and gone but the turkey weight remains. I wouldn't be female if I didn't have a resolution that had something to do with being "healthier" or "losing weight". Though I do have these thoughts, I think I want to phrase it differently. Keeping this in mind, my first resolution will be:

-I won't let my body weight effect my happiness.-

In a way this is no different from saying I want to lose 10 pounds or I want to go on a diet. It is just a more positive way of looking at it. All about the packaging, I say. I'm determined to have better energy levels and a more active lifestyle. In doing this I will probably lose weight, but I refuse to stress about that cookie I had 2 weeks ago. 

Next I want to talk about my career. Being a teacher is incredibly rewarding, but can also be time consuming and stressful. I am determined to be better prepared for lessons and assignments so that I avoid any kind of extra stress. So my next resolution sounds a little like this:

-Only fake it till you make it when absolutely necessary-

Any new teacher knows what I'm talking about with that one. 

The following are other resolutions that don't need much of an explanation:

-Go on more interesting dates with James-

-Write one blog post a week-

-Write more in general-

-Nap less, sleep better at night-

-Manage my money more efficiently-

-Drink more water-

-Finish renovations on the house-

-Take more photographs-

-Garden-

There are so many more that have escaped my memory, but really that is probably plenty for 2014. I know so many people that have wonderful intentions in January but by February they are stuffing their face with chocolate (okay maybe when I said "people" I meant me) because they have deprived themselves. This is what I hope to avoid. I don't want to delete or ignore any aspect of myself, but add positive goals and actions so I can feel like a more rounded person. 

Fill your life up with the positive and the negative will take care of itself. 

Now I'm off to nap (remember, nap LESS, not never.... Moderation being key with that one). Now, to leave you, one of my favourite gifts this Christmas...

Anniversary Weekend

As promised, I will write a blog post about my romantic weekend with James.

I will simultaneously watch "Alien" because my brother bought it on Bluray. You wish your Monday night is as exciting as mine.

So, a few weekends ago--James and I traveled a whopping hour to the city of Victoria. Growing up in the area, I have always realized that Victoria is beautiful however I'm not sure I appreciate it 100% of the time. It is nice to have a vacation in your own city as it essentially reminds you how lucky you are. Or I am. Because we don't all live in Victoria.

Excuse me while I pause, the man in the movie just had an alien extract itself from his stomach.

James is an author. I've mentioned this before, but it is worth bringing up again. James being an author means that we like to find inspirational spots where he can write. This means that a regular hotel room really doesn't float our boats.

I love anything with a Victorian/Edwardian feel. Basically anything before the 1950's I enjoy. When James and I found the Beaconsfield Inn on the Expedia, we fell in love. Built in 1905, on the website it says "Named after a luxurious London Hotel frequented by King Edward VII in pre-World War I England, the Beaconsfield Inn turns the clock back to a gentler time". The inn was built as a gift from a daddy to his daughter. This of course, played at my heart strings as I am a daddy's girl.

We arrived in Victoria and decided to go shopping downtown as to try to get ahead of the Christmas chaos. James and I strolled near the harbour, I drooled over books at the Russell Books (they have a whole new antique section) and we accomplished quite a bit in the Bay Centre Mall.

At 3pm we checked into the hotel. Instead of napping (which is usually my go to) we went into the library to have tea and freshly baked cookies. James wrote while I read. It was a bibliophile's haven. We did this until it was time to go see "Enders Game". James and I have both read the book and in order to fully explain how I felt about that movie I need to write another blog post.

Sigourney Weaver just made sure she saved the cat. Good woman.

After "Enders Game" we went to Il Terrazzo by the inner harbour. Note to self, do not eat popcorn before going to a five star restaurant. I had the most delicious food, which is good because James spent more than I have ever spent on sustenance in one seating. SCALLOPINI di MAIALE Panko breaded scaloppini of pork tenderloin with pulled pork, smoked cheddar and tomato chipotle sauce, served with three cheese fusilli.

Doesn't that sound amazing? Because it was. I even drank wine. Like a friggin lady, I had wine with dinner.

We went "home" (because Beaconfield feels like home) and basically went for a swim in the jacuzzi tub. Okay, it wasn't that big but I pretended to swim. After that we watched an episode of Doctor Who in bed.

The next morning we had a three course breakfast. It began with a warm, fresh croissant. I had coffee and orange juice as that is how I roll. Then we had cinnamon apple puree with lemon whipped cream. The final part of the breakfast was french toast but it was so much more than french toast. It had cranberries in the middle and strawberries on top. I'm not quite sure, but perhaps it was a brûlée? I was too enrapt by the look of it to listen very well.

We spent the rest of our morning at the inn, in the library. Where else? James wrote and I read and took pictures. We met the owners little dog, Mindy. It was a comfortable, romantic trip and I would recommend the inn and the restaurant. Five stars, people. Any place full of books with delicious tea and food is good by me. Plus I got to spend time with James, whom I love. 

Please note the following pictures are from my cell phone and are therefore crappy by nature. Check out the website for far better quality.

I had a good weekend

James and I have been together for a year. We had an anniversary weekend and it was delightful. I will recap everything when I have a free moment. With pictures. Promise. 

This Teacher is Employed

If I had any readers, they might perhaps be wondering why I haven't written a word in the last... Three months?

Luckily I don't have any readers to disappoint so my absence has gone wholly unnoticed. 

Unless I'm wrong and somewhere, out there, there is a faithful fan to this weird little blog that has looked every day since July to see whether there is any new material. In that case, I apologize. And thank you. And question what kind of life you lead. 

This blog is not up to date. Reading back on my posts, I see that I announced my job as an intern at a local private school. 

I am not an intern. If I had followed through with that job offer my life would be entirely different right now. I would be living in a dorm, substituting in various classrooms and assisting with the arts at the school. 

This would have been a fabulous experience for me and would have had me well on my way to being a teacher in my very own classroom. 

Instead, I was interviewed and hired at another local private school to teach Drama, Social Studies and English. Therefore, I skipped a whole step in my life plan and am now a real live teacher. 

I teach part time in my own classes and am on call for the rest of the school day. 

I am very busy, and very happy. 

I have grand plans of posting about my lessons and learnings. I shall post pictures and tell all my classroom strategies. 

Stay tuned, or don't. I may be lying and won't post a thing. But I'll try my best to keep my word. 

In other news I've been listening to the audio book "Equal Rites" by Terry Pratchett. I'm finding it very funny, so I'm going to go do that now. 

Tootles.