Are Titles Really Needed?

It has been quite a week, here in the Kootenays. Work has been at the top of my list of stresses this week. Wednesday our Union Rep is coming in and I am prepared to duel to the DEATH!!!!!

Stupid business owners think they can walk all over us little guys......you have messed with the wrong girl. To put it briefly....I did a used car inspection, a week after Julien's death....it's hard to inspect through a blur of tears, but I did my best. Nor have I been using this as an excuse, except for right here, right now. Flash forward one month, the POS Ford Ranger has been sold and the buyer has had it privatly inspected. A few items were missed by me, and it is questionable as to whether these items had occured recently, or were there at the time of the inspection. Not to mention the vehicle was worked on by another tech in the interim and none of these items were noted by him either.

Big bad boss man, decides that as a form of punishment, I would have to repair all for free, almost an entires days of hours.

Let me reinforce, that in my year and a half with this company, I have never been reprimanded, pulled into the office, been written up, nothing! This is my first offence. And come on, have a little heart!

Now I can understand, if I repaired something and it didn't work, or still leaked....of course I would fix it for free. However, I did not even do any work on this truck after the initial inspection. I didn't damage it. I didn't do a poor repair. I didn't cause a leak. Nothing.

So I did the work, fuming all day. But the next day, that was it! (So much for keeping it brief, I am in full venting mode now)

So I got to work, went into my managers office and said it was unacceptable, if they asked me to work, they would pay me to work. At which point my manager starts to go bug eyed and stutter, and states that he would have to talk to the owner. Basically he is nothing but a bug eyed stuttering puppet. So I said I would be happy to wait, and he could come and find me when he had an answer. Out to the picnic table I went and enjoyed catching up on some flyers and newspapers. Two hours later he saunters out with the shop foreman in tow and says they have agreed to pay me half the time. My response. No. All. Or I will continue to sit here , or load up my tool box and leave. After a slight show down, he finally conceded. I put my coveralls on, and started work, even though it was almost lunch time! Needless to say I was not feeling overly motivated, and after many wasted hours, clearly their new form of punishment was a huge success! I am quite sure this battle has only just begun. I can't wait! I have some pent up anger I'm edging to get, this sounds like just the right battlefield!

Today was another exciting event, my first root canal! Well, half a root canal. Of course with wouldn't go smoothly. My roots are knarly and thin and difficult, so she only got half done before all the freezing was gone. I will have to go back in a few weeks and get it finished off. Oh boy, I can hardly wait.

Upcoming news:

Madeline will officially be turning four on Wednesday! I better get shopping! Actually, it's not like I have to spend time shopping, will it be a frisbee or a ball this year!

Yesterday we did some fall chores, starting with cleaning the chinmey! We're all ready to get the wood stove fired up now! I'm a little nervous though, our stacks and stacks of wood, that looked like so much in the the spring, seems to be looking like less and less every degree the tempurature drops! Hopefully we got enough!

I went into the garden, the first time since Julien died. I learned that Dorian will happily be my new gardening partner! Up and down the rows, sniffing and trying to taste test everything! Enjoying the feel of the cool dirt between his paws! Julien used to lie right down in the dirt! What a peanut. If I held a pea out for him, he would pluck it right off the plant. I will miss him forever in the garden.

I posted a fun game below....can you find the bulldog puppy in the pumpkin patch?

Our "gigantic" pumpkin has been a little disappointing, but still quite large! We'll start the seeds earlier next year.

Dorian has figured out how to climb two steps to be able to see sister on the other side of the coffee table! But then he gets stuck and just sits there and barks!

Time for me to sign off and go pop some painkillers!

Still sleepy

So today was our first class for Lingy/puppy training. It was orientation, so that meant no dogs, just the humans learning how to use the "clicker". Todays class consisted of one of us being the dog and the other person being the trainer! So the first command I have to teach Tommy is to touch his right hand to his right foot. We are not allowed to use any verbal commands, or "lure" with a treat, or move the "dog" into position. All we can do is click when the "dog" starts to move in the right direction. Of course my "dog" had to act like a bedridden senior citizen who doesn't move AT ALL!!! So how am I supposed to reward him for doing the right thing? Impossible!!!! Eventually the teachers took over and tried to train my "dog". He was untrainable! The best we could get was for him to put his hand on his knee!

Then the roles get reversed and I am the dog. After much spinning and foot moving and walking around, on and under chairs, I finally get it! I am supposed to walk backwards! And when I finally understand what my "master" and I use that term lightly, wants me to do, it was exilarating! I was so proud of myself! However, after all that, I didn't even get a treat, what a rip.

It was pretty interesting to see just how difficult it is for our dogs to understand what we want them to do, and we even knew what the rules of the game were....the dogs don't even know that much information!

Our first class is Oct 4th. Which also happens to be Juliens birthday. So I am glad I will have to get up, get dressed and go out on that day. But we will definitly be having pancakes and bacon in memory of Julien. Thats was his birthday dinner request year after year. His favorite.

Dorian is also going to start classes too. He will go in the morning, and then Madeline will go in the afternoon. We are doing them seperate so they will not be distracted by eachother and us. There weren't enough puppies to do a puppy class, but there will be a puppy a few weeks older then him in his class. We will have to do lots of work at home to keep up with the big dogs as he will be going right into a level one class. We started work today on name recognition....he is a star pupil already!

And last but not least our most exciting news of the entire weekend.......dadadadadaaaaaaa......


PURLA WENT IN HER HOUSE TODAY!!!!!!!!

Yay! I ran to get the camera and she ran out :(

Next time.

Schools In!

Tomorrow we have our first class! Madeline is back in school! We are starting out in a basic beginnings obediance class. Hopefully she gets a real confidence booster when she already knows how to do everything!

We did a little practice on our walk last night, got the old "clicker" out and a bag of dried liver, YUMYUM! It was like watching a bulb come on! We haven't practiced in a long time and she knew exactly what was going on! It was the most pleasant walk ever! I know, I know, why haven't we been doing this all along? I'll get back to you on that one!

We have been on a fast learning curve this week too. Puppy brain is slowing us down a little, but we are quickly catching up to Dorian's antics! He is one smart little peanut. Sometimes we wonder if Julien left a handbook behind to instruct him on how to be the cutest thing ever. Sometimes Dorian does things that totally imitate Madeline and other times it is the exact thing Julien would have done. Then other times, he is so different from both of them!

I remember after Julien was a little older, how we though we actually had some bearing on what a great little guy he had become. Then with Madeline, we started to realize, that they really do have their own personality, regardless of what we do....now with Dorian, it is so exciting to see an all new personality emerging! This new little doggi person comes complete with the toilet paper gene! We haven't had the gift of a puppy that unrolls TP until now! So we are learning to roll it back up after you are done!

We also can't get over how much he loves his kennel! Put him in, close the door, he goes to sleep! This has been unheard of in our household before! We remember many sleepless nights, trying to get Julien to sleep in his kennel, we were not going to have a dog in bed! Three or four sleepless nights later.....Julien curled up in my arms and never left...and we all slept happily ever after! When Madeline came home, we didn't even try, but she still enjoys her kennel, and goes in it quite often for a rest. Dorian loves his kennel, he would rather take a nap in there, then sleep with either of us, which is good in a way, but a little sad, I was hoping to have a new friend to share my pillow with. But I guess I can be thankful for the extra room in bed. Madeline is also glad for the extra room in bed. I will always save a spot on my pillow for Juliens cheek.

Phew! Soooo Tired!

So much has happened this weekend that we can all hardly keep our eyes open!

First I will start with Madelines big day! The Paws for a Cause walk was today. We arrived a little late and unfortunatly missed the pancake breakfast, which was sad because that would have been Julien's favorite part! But we made it for the walk, and when we got to the booth to drop off our "offline" donations, the ladies said "oh good! you made it! we were wondering where you were!" Which we thought was a little strange that they knew who we were, but it is the Kootenays, and we had a nice story on our profile, so we thought maybe they just took note of who we were. So we walked a little bit, but our training didn't pay off, and we couldn't complete the walk, it was just too warm and although we were walking beside the lake we couldn't get down to it to cool off. Madeline made a new bulldog friend named Ruby, she also didn't finish the walk, so we all just hung out in the shade and waited for the other dogs to come in.

Our Julien shirts looked great, and we made sure everyone took note! After the walk was bobbing for weiners and some dog Haiku readings. Although Madeline had also trained for bobbing for weiners and was totally ready to clean house.....we didn't get to participate...we were in the last heat and someone ducked in front and stole our spot when the whistle was blown. It was very disappointing. We were so prepared.

After the events they started to announce the rankings of the fundraisers! So we sat and listened and clapped. And when they got to adults, the 2nd place fundraiser had a total way lower then ours, so I nudged Tommy and said....I think we might be a winner here! And low and behold we were the highest fundraisers! We were totally shocked and surprised, but so thrilled to be able to honour Julien with this achievement! We got our pictures taken, and Madeline also had a little photo shoot with the Nelson Daily Times, we will have to remember to get a paper tomorrow.

So now I will back track to....last week!

Last Saturday we got a wonderful email, from our wonderful breeder and friend, Kandie! She had a puppy, one left! That needed a good home! And he was already old enough to go to his forever home! We immediatly responded with a resounding YES! Although there will never be anyone, who can even compare to my Julien, I couldn't even imagine letting this little baby slip through my fingers.

We spend the week shopping, making blankets and playing the alphebet game to come up with names.

So without further ado, we would like to introduce Dorian and welcome him to our family!

We drove all weekend, all the way to Edmonton and back in two day! CRAZY! I don't know how people drive long haul for a living, it is so exhausting. We got to meet Kandie, and so many wonderful fur boys and girls! Including a Dog D'bourdeaux, I'm not sure of the spelling, picture "Turner and Hooch"! What an amazing dog! Our little peanut stole every remaining piece of my heart that Julien didn't take to heaven. I love him. Tommy loves him. Madeline.....well.....he's alright....she guesses, as far as puppies go....

She is being a very good girl and we are sure to tell her that approximatly 476 times a day. We are so blessed.

So after a long journey home, we arrived to our bed at about 5AM this morning, and a puppy that was READY TO PLAY!!!!!!!! How can you not love every minute though! I've heard friends talk about baby brain, and we definitly have puppy brain! He is so adorable! I'm totally frantic and looking for a bubble to place him in...

I can already tell that he is extremly intelligent, and know what he wants, and how to get it! It is so neat to see how he is his own personality, so different from Julien and Madeline! I can't get enough!

So here are some pictures of the cutest little peanut on earth, Dorian.

Purla's Moving On Up!

We have a cat. She came with our house. Some people get the appliances, we get small felines. She's sweet and old, and doesn't like to spend more then a few hours in the house, no matter how cold it is outside.

This year, the little lady has been spending more and more time on the porch, and she is getting thinner and thinner. So Tommy and I decided we needed to move her into some retirement living. It is only partial assistance, she will recieve her meals, and we will do her laundry, but she will still have to bathe herself and go to the bathroom on her own.

The nice thing about moving into a previously enjoyed property, is all the stuff they left behind. So I drew up some plans and went scavenging for supplies in the back 40.

We found everything we needed from wood, to carpet to paint! And the roof is the old piece of our portable dishwasher that has been "hanging around" for a year and a half.

And Tommy really really really enjoyed his new compressor and brad nailer. This house is built to withstand hurricane force winds. The brad nailer came with 1000 staples, 1000 2" nails and 1000 2.5" nails....I think there's a few left.....

So we finished the final coat of paint tonight, Madeline tried it out for comfort! And we delivered it to the building site...a la manufactured home....this ain't no trailer!

I'm not sure how to get her to use it, we put her food dishes on the porch, we are hoping she will venture in on her own. I'm sure she will love it when she goes inside and sees the pillow with the kitty pillowcase and the leopard prints blankets!

Hopefully I can get a picture of her inside it some day!

The Shirts!

Here they are! The bestest shirts ever, with a picture of the bestest puppy every! Madelines' could use a little altering, but I'm not sure if I know what to do.

I love them! Especially the blue on white turned out awesome! We're going to be the best team ever!

Appalooza 2009

Phew. Tommy and his parents went to town on the apple trees on Saturday. I tried to warn them. But nobody would listen to reason. "Stop" I said, "some can stay on the trees" I warned. But it was like they were in an apple trance. It was like wasps to a sugary drink.

Thankfully Sunday was rainy, so we set up a assembly line, and put everyone to task. Mom and dad U were coring, peeling and dicing. Tommy was pastry boy. And I was making applesauce. Seven pies and about 15 tubs of applesauce later, we had not even made a dent in the apples.

So we sent them home with a box of apples, and we still have three hugs boxes of apples left. We are thinking of giving people pie making kits, which would consist of a box of apples and a recipe card! Maybe we will deliver them in the middle of the night anonymously! Ha!

The house smells like apples. And everything is sticky. Even Madeline wasn't picking the dropped apple pieces off the floor!








We also got a gift from above on Saturday. I will suspensefully say no more, yet. I have to get dressed and we are off to pick up a tree. Can't say no to free firewood!

New Computer!

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!

Mom and Dad U, have donated us sad computer disinclined people a "new to us" computer! It is very fancy and black. The keyboard and mouse are wireless! AND it is fast! 50.6 Kbps as opposed to our old one, the fastest we ever got was 45.8! Its SUPER FAST!!!!

So, of course the first thing I had to try was to upload a picture and VOILA!!!! It worked! In less then half an hour! Unbelievable!

Sadly though, I was trying to upload the pictures of our Team Julien shirts, and for some reason my Madeline folder did not transfer over....but I still have all her recent pictures on my camera, we just need to install the program onto the computer for the camera. So in lieu of that, I have uploaded a picture of Julien and I at his very first Dog Jog! He was so tired by the end of it I had to carry him to the car! (We were smart for the next one and brought his wagon!) He was such a peanut!

So I will put the new pictures up later when we get this program installed....

Tommy and the inlaws are picking about a thousand apples right now....and think they are going to have a pie making festival....enjoy. I will go take some pictures of them and keep you posted on how it tastes.

Go Team Julien!

Yay! Our Team shirts for Paws for a Cause arrived today! They were specially designed for us by Minou Pitou! (You too can have a shirt designed for you!) They look awesome. I am trying to upload a picture....but alas, dial up.....and a poopy computer are ruining my life.

Anybody know anything about java script?????

Dear Julien,

I ONLY WANTED YOU

They say memories are golden
well maybe that is true.
I never wanted memories,
I only wanted you.

A million times I needed you,
a million times I cried.
If love alone could have saved you
you never would have died.

In life I loved you dearly,
In death I love you still.
In my heart you hold a place
no one could ever fill.

If tears could build a stairway
and heartache make a lane,
I'd walk the path to heaven
and bring you back again.

Our family chain is broken,
and nothing seems the same.
But as God calls us one by one,
the chain will link again.

Author unknown

Tonight we lit a candle for you Julien.
It has been one month since you left us. It is lightening and thundering and I said to Tommy, as we sat on the porch, that if Julien were here, he would be butting in to sit between us, as just after I said that, Madeline came over and did exactly that. Purla came and sat with us too. She will likely be next to see Julien, we are giving her lots of messages to take to him. I sat out for a long time, I hope he is not afraid of the thunder. He was never afraid before, until our roof broke, and then this summer he was a little nervous, but without mommy....who knows. I miss you baby, I love you so much. Kisses to heaven.
Mommy