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Monday, November 28, 2016

Furry Friends Need Care Too.


Hello Lovelies!

December is almost upon us and there is a lot to do in the next few weeks. Like shopping... in chaos and we know how much I love to do that!

Not so much...

Now is the time of year that people feel the most charitable as we think of people that either have nothing or have lost everything and have to suffer the holidays unhappy or alone. After the lost of my dog back in July, I thought of how humans get the gift of Charity during this time of year and that our furry friends without homes don't.

All of our dogs are rescues Cali came from A Better Life Dog Rescue. They didn't have a shelter facility but foster homes for the dogs they save. She came from California where she had been shipped between shelters and was in the third one when ABL found her and brought her to BC. Whiskey came to us from a former friend that had taken him after another friend of ours had passed away and then he couldn't take care of him either. Smokey...another who came to us because he couldn't stay where he was. Even 2 of our 3 cats are rescues and I'm allergic to them but their family.

Family that needs to stay away from my face and they all know that and don't even try now. If I put my face anywhere near theirs they look confused! It took a while for Bast because she liked to sit on your chest and literally steal your breathe like the creepy weirdo she is.

The BC SPCA we have dealt with for many different things. I even had to take a dog there once when we couldn't find a home for him because we were moving and couldn't find a place to live with a dog.  We had a hard time getting the cat in anywhere. Now because they have a Kill policy I asked them that if at any point they were going to have to put down our dog ( he was a Pitbull. I say was because it was over 10 years ago and I'm pretty sure he's gone now ) that they could call us so we could either say goodbye or give it a last push to find him a home. When I took him in that day one of the ladies that worked there loved him on sight, smothering him with hugs and talked about how she wanted to take him home herself. She seriously forgot I was in the room as she cuddled him and even in his terror, knowing something was wrong he loved every second of the attention.

I hope she gave him a home.

They stood up for us when we were being accused of neglecting our dogs. We let them into our home they checked every one of them and declared them well fed and well cared for. With that being said what I would like to do is give back to the shelter as we head into Winter so over the course of December I will be stockpiling and collecting donations ( Non Monetary ) for the Shelters and SPCA Thrift Store.

Now Lo and Choo are entrenched deep in Charity work for their organization, more so Lo helping a family in need along with other things on her plate and that made me think more about what I've wanted to do for months now but couldn't figure out where to start. While talking with her about various things she is doing and had to do and bouncing ideas off each other I decided that Procrastination is not my friend for something like this so it's begun. I've contacted both locations that I'd like to donate to and the ball is rolling. One of the locations houses Dogs and the other the smaller animals like Cats, Rabbits and Birds.

Right now I know that they accept toys, towels and blankets as well as other items and the Thrift store takes household items so hopefully somethings can be pulled together. Once I get the specifics back I can let those of you here in my area know what it is I'm looking for. For you guys outside of my area, especially if you have a rescue animal there is more you can donate to your local shelter to help the fur-babies!

Like this one...
This is Karma hopefully in her forever home as a friend is trying to make her his. She makes me miss my girl but who knows maybe I'll bring home a puppy!

I'm kidding! I am soooo not there yet.

Have a great week.

See Ya
S



Thursday, November 24, 2016

Taste Testing-Quaker Harvest Breakfast Bar

And that's just what I did.

I stepped off of my bus part of my daily hour and fifteen minute commute from Port Coquitlam to Vancouver and was greeted with a smiling woman as she put a box of Quaker Harvest Breakfast Bars in my hands and wandered away doing the same thing to everyone that she passed. Now who am I to turn down a free breakfast and seeing as the only Oatmeal product I eat is Quaker Oatmeal the staple of the oatmeal world, I took them gladly!



I knew as soon as I took the box that by the feel of how heavy it was that I was in for something that was going to stick to my ribs and that's good right? Less hungry and fuel to keep me going I can get to lunch at 1pm and considering my day starts at 5:30 and work starts at 8:30 it's a long wait . Sometimes I eat breakfast when I get to work but most days not but if I do get peckish I steal fruits and veggies from my co-worker who is always in abundance of them for her breakfast.

Today though I have the Apple and Cinnamon goodness to try and I took my first bite...

Are you familiar with Protein bars and how dense they can be?

This might actually be more dense than they are. All of the apple and cinnamon flavour was there large and in charge and very comforting with it's 5g of fiber and 23g whole grains being made with real fruit. (Yes I took that right off the box.)

It did take me almost 45 minutes to eat the little square though because it was so thick and filling. I would have to put it down after each bite and only pick it up again when the cinnamon flavour had lessened in my mouth. I feel that maybe it would be better warmed though and I was a little surprised by the amount of filling in the center. It was full alright but being cold was more than likely why it took me so long to eat it because it seemed almost doughy or not completely set.



All in all though it was pretty good! Now my stomach can make all of those digestive noises as it breaks it down making my co-worker think I'm hungry when I'm not forcing me to wave her bowl of fruit away.

The next time I eat one I'll have to warm it up and see if there's a difference.

Monday, November 21, 2016

And The Kids Were All Right.

Happy Monday! Is something I won't say today.

I woke up, rolled over, checked the time and had a heart attack.

I slept in an hour past the time I usually do! Now I've done a half hour and still been ok but an hour??? You know the hard thing about waking up that late and being in a rush??? It's like the one time EVER that you can't get your dogs out of bed to go outside and even then I only got Smokey to go and he took forever. Then I'm thinking as I look at my laundry basket that has not only clean but mildly dirty clothes in it that I couldn't believe I forgot to do laundry...or fold laundry...or put away laundry and then realized that I actually could believe it as I dug around in a hurry. That's when Whiskey decided it was his time to go out.

OMG did I let him back in????

Well a text message home just clarified that I did in fact let the little dog back in before I left but...forgot my coffee, in the travel mug...on the table. Thanks Monday you're in rare form today! At least it's not raining...yet anyway. Ugh and I didn't bring an umbrella just in case. Oh well maybe some luck will be on my side. 😖

Anyway how was your weekend? Mine consisted of children PK and Coop.

I realized after a birthday party for a 2 year old at Jungle Jacks that...I'm old and children are crazy. Ok wait, some children are crazy. I got exhausted not just from watching them but watching their parents chase after them. I have to say that most of them had a good eye on their kids and there were a lot of kids.

My bestie and her husband switched off chasing after their son as most of the couples did and I noticed not only was the ratio of boys to girls 3-1 but that the men there as well outnumbered the women by 2-1 leading me to believe that it's the place for fathers to burn off the energy of their sons.

It was finally cold for November here and as you hit the front door of the place you get the wind blasting you from all sides but the view of the mountains with fresh snow on them made it almost serene...if you could open your eyes and look at them with tears streaming down your face. Go through the door and there is immediate sensory overload with squeals and screams of happiness. Not mine of course but at least they weren't screams of terror or tantrum It's been probably 18 - 20 years since I've been in a place like that and wow...memories as well as happiness that my kids are grown and I only have to show up and survive it.

Surprisingly there were very few screaming children. There were happy screaming kids and that would make me smile when I heard the happy squeals and really...some kids were pretty cute! The little girls in their cute dresses and pigtails and the boys...little lunatics but they were all having fun! Except this one little girl when we were checking in. She was the epitome of child drama. She wanted in the place and past the locked gate to get to the play area so badly and because of the wait to get in she was throwing herself on the floor and rolling around wailing in distress. Wailing I tell you and I laughed because her mother was laughing too.We get in and find some tables to push together, gather the chairs and what do I see but the same little girl who had finally gotten into the play area still wailing and rolling on the floor in front of her mother as she walked slowly behind her paying no one else any mind as she shook her head still smiling but before long her and her daughter were off and running. Besides the jungle apparatus there is an arcade, bumper cars, trampolines and a laser tag arena.

I got to play look out while my besties mom tied some elf legs together that were hanging out the back of a car. Hey we needed to have fun too you know...

 I did get to hang out with a couple of old friends and that was nice and see how their kids have grown. The last observation I made on the day was how many faces I see around my town everyday that were there with their children.

So I'm going to get back to cataloging my Monday through a series of disasters I'm sure that I'm destined to have today just to try my patience.

Have a great week!

See Ya
S

Monday, November 14, 2016

The Backside Of Fall.




Hello Lovelies,

I'm home today and as I sit here watching The Breakfast Club ( yes guilty pleasure ) I'm glad the sun is shining as we go into the backside of Fall. The dogs are curled up in front of me and the house is practically empty. Practically meaning Brina isn't home and her presence amounts to double the occupants at any time because her energy is that encompassing. The house smells like Carrot muffins and making me realize how hungry I am now!

It's the little things right?

Saturday I watched PK for a bit and as he's almost 4 you can see how much more he understands and how smart he is. Besides the fact that he can be a monster he is very wise and logical for his age. Even though he is driven by emotion you can rationalize with him and that truly amazes me. You'd thing that the same revelation happened with raising mine but it was a long time ago that they were that age and being in it everyday is so much different than seeing him at one stage one day and then seeing him blow past it the next time I see him.

With Choo and Lo out doing their Charity things I spend more time working on the things that propel me forward you know the adult things and since the end of the year is approaching so quickly 6 weeks that's it, my thoughts get brought back to the past year and trying to improve on it in the next but that's Decembers chore...besides the holiday season that shall not be named. I'm toying with the idea of a New Years Eve pot luck or doing it in January to celebrate the new year, to add another annual tradition for the kids and make the Winter months less drab. I'm sure you'll know when I do.

So off I go to get some other work done. I just wanted to make sure I got something in this week!

Have a great week,

See ya,
S