~May~

May's calendar page is sitting on my computer desk waiting to be blogged. It's sitting there quite innocently, right where I put it. But it's kind of glowering, too. Glaring it's blogging want.

May wasn't anything spectacular. I'm sure it was sort of indicative if the way things usually are around here. I sifted and coasted and drifted through the days, sometimes wishing I could keep my head in the game more consistently. I suppose I would feel better if I were able to concentrate on the wonderfulness of my kids and the happiness of the dogs and the simple luxury I live in every day. I'll have to remember that.

I started May with a clean house and a new haircut. I had a really nice Mother's Day.

Treats!

I helped my mom out by going to work for her for a day. That was interesting. One working momma meant two sets of packed lunches, a baby-sitter, a puppy-sitter, packed up school work, a morning rush, a late dinner and an early bedtime. Totally not something I would do every day on purpose. I suppose it was a jarring experience just because we've not lived that way in a long, long time.

The skittish white dog got an eye infection. And Mr. A, bless his poor, oblivious heart, learned the ins and outs of dealing with the vet. I think he debriefed for a week.

Niece!

My new knitting group seems to have taken off quite nicely. As I had hoped, a good crowd of diversity has shown up and they all seem to be happy with a relaxed, social atmosphere. I find myself looking forward to spending a couple of hours planning and preparing for the meetings. So, every other week at the local library, we knit. The other attendees have taken it upon themselves to carve out some space at the local pub to knit on the off weeks. Hilarious. And awesome.

New Kittens!

On the home school front, we're picking our way through the final bits of work for the year. Much of the language arts we did was finished in May. We're a little behind my schedule in our history studies and the kids made a plan to finish their math by June 4. Running club finished early so the coach could take some of the kids and groom them to join the local private school's track team. We had a social picnic-park play after a museum program to kick off the good weather. I'll have to remember to have another at the end of this month. We took in the local multicultural fair as well. Always a good time. It always surprises me how much the kids enjoy themselves there even though it's loud and crowded and they are scared to try the different food. They eat cotton candy and apple crisp while the rest of us are sampling Indian, Jamaican, Turkish, Irish and Chinese food.

"Science" With Mr. A!

The Blue Eyed Bandit grew so much over May! She's impressing everyone at obedience even though we didn't practice a whole lot. She's very smart. She's such a happy, peaceful puppy. And ever since I moved her crate to my bedroom, she's slept through the night. That only took me three months to figure out.

Bad Dog!

I was reminded throughout May that I have 'Me' opportunities popping up all over the place. It's a little exciting after focusing solely on the kids for so many years. I'm part of a book club that I love. The knitting group, getting out a couple of times a week for a walk/run, puppy classes. We even had a couple over twice in May. I don't want to call them Couple Friends...Mr. A is shy, you know...but I think there's potential!

June is shaping up: We still have to get the boats out so we can get out on the River with the kids. And the car is having major surgery to the tune of the cost of a week long family vacation to somewhere a plane ride away. The next round of puppy classes will start. The Boy will be playing soccer and I will be convening his age group. Exciting times, I say!

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Skittish White Dog Has A Friend

The Skittish White Dog is becomming a little more placid...

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This and That

It's been a busy week.I'll recap quickly.

We added a four-legged beastie to the family last Saturday. She sleeps well as long as I'm sleeping on the couch beside her. Crate training is coming along nicely in bits. The Skittish White Dog - surprisingly - likes her. She's in need of a blogging name. Perhaps we'll make that next week's project.

My blogging is in need of a predictable potty schedule.

I celebrated a birthday on Thursday the 11th. Both kids and Mr. A got right into it. It was awesome. Now the five-year countdown to the big 'four oh' is on. I'm not worked up like some get about 40. This last year was a tough one for me and I'm just glad it's over and done. Onward and upward, right?

There's a baby puppy in my house. She's very cute.

Knitting enthusiasts: I signed up for the Knitting Olympics over at http://www.yarnharlot.com/. I'm not brave enough to jump into the Ravelympics yet. I'm making Hattie's Rose Garden Scarf seen here knitted up by Monika. Hopefully mine might turn out half as nicely as hers.

The kids and I were watching the Olympic opening. They went to bed just as the fiddlers started. I think that's my favourite part yet.

Question of the day: When the husky puppy gets upset and starts yowling and yipping ('cause they don't really bark), why does the big husky dog feel the need to join in?! Please send patience and earplugs.

♥Mrs. A who is looking forward to another night on the couch....not really.

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Pushing & Pulling

As dismal as I've been feeling lately, the last thing I want to do is to go outside. But, since the dismal depressing doldrums are directly caused by hibernating inside, I am pushing myself to get outside. The kids and I have been out - for more than a cursory breath of fresh air - every day in February. I know it's only the 4th, but cut me some slack. I'm depressed. I have a headache and I've not been sleeping.

We've been taking the few minutes walk here. To 'The Hill', as the local yokels refer to it. It's The Boy Child's favourite place to spend time once the snow flies. There's the rink, the typical Canadian stereotypical one, where there's an equally stereotypical game of unending gentlemanly pond hockey happening.

Curiously, The Skittish White Dog is not so skittish about pulling the sled up the hill. Once the kids discovered this, they jubilantly put her into service. This, in turn, puts me into service as Skittish White Dog may never, ever, not once be off-leash. Skittish White Dog bounds up the hill like she's been born and bred to pull things places. (Duh!)

I'm not sure if the kids or the dog most enjoy our cold, forced outings. Hopefully I'll begin to enjoy them more. It would be nice if that would kick in soon. I quite enjoyed my fall 'runs' with The Skittish White Dog so I'm not sure what happened to kill my mojo between then and now.

Here's to continued cold night-time temperatures (perfect ice making conditions) and warmer day-time temperatures (perfect playing outside conditions).

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Am I Really Doing This?!

Say hello to KinderSurprise and FerreroRoché. I get to meet them and their brothers on Saturday.

Can someone please tell me what I'm thinking?

Who goes to 'meet' puppies and then returns home empty handed? What are the odds? I suppose I should mention that Mr.A and the kidlets will be with me. That's Mr.A, the guy who has nary a maternal bone in his body but still talks baby talk to The Skittish White Dog.

What kind of person sits at home late into the evening and searches the Internet for poor, destitute, homeless puppies?

I've really backed myself into a potty-breaks-every-three-hours kind of corner.

The little ladies pictured above are from a mom who was rescued with 96 other dogs from a defunct sledding camp in Québec. The 97 dogs quickly became many more as 30 of them were 'in a family way'. The dogs have been fostered out to shelters and rescue organizations throughout the area.

The empathetic side of me says, 'How can we NOT rescue one of these poor things?' The practical side of me says, 'Woman, WHAT are you THINKING?!'

Excuse me while I go try to resolve myself. ~sigh~

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This Is The Welcome I Get.

I went away.

I went for an overnight with the kids.

The Skittish White Dog stayed home with Mr.B.

The kids and I came home.

The Skittish White Dog stole my toothbrush and ate it.

The Skittish White Dog missed me.

I went out and bought a new toothbrush.

That is all.

♥Mrs. A.

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Week 2 Day 1

I know, it took me long enough to get to week 2.

Let's focus on the positive though: I finished Week 2 Day 1! And I'm not dead or injured!

I had a problem getting the week 2 podcast onto my The Girl Child's iPod. So in a desperate attempt to maintain some personal accountability, I did an extra day of Week 1.

Week 2 consists of 6 intervals of 90 seconds of running. The first 4 intervals were ok. Not easy, but manageable. Then I started to flag. Then I had to stop and tie my shoes. And pull my dog off of some hound creature that wanted to play. Whose owner was talking to me as my iPod blared a particularly annoying mix of electronic music. I just nodded and smiled. While sweating. And panting. Attractive, no? At least I wasn't jiggling.

Cripes, I hate my ass.

Not only am I out of shape: Poor Skittish White Dog was quite spent by the time we returned home. Now, remember, Skittish White Dog is a husky with a big thick coat. Skittish White Dog heats up really fast this time of year. So even though today I got out the door before 7:30a.m., Skittish White Dog towed me to the creek on our cool-down walk, ignored a large family of ducks, stood in the water and drank to her heart's content. She loves the runs though, (short as they are) and never stops bounding ahead as soon as I begin a running interval.

I didn't think I would continue with the same route that I've been using. Surprisingly, I am not looking forward to finding a new route when I outgrow this one. This one is semi-private. I start on my street and continue through my neighbourhood to a local green space. There I pick up a paved walkway that is hidden from the road. The walkway goes for quite some time before connecting to a local school campus. I run across the campus and connect up with the greenbelt that runs behind our house. It's a big loop, about 3km. I suppose that as my distance increases, I can reverse direction on the paved walkway to extend the route. That way I won't have to run in full view of traffic. Good plan, Mrs. A.

On another positive note I have two tidbits of happiness to report. Between my C25k and some off-day television stretching/yoga, I am happy to report that a nagging knee pain has disappeared. For a good year or more, I've not been able to sit comfortably on my knees because my right knee would not let me. Another shred of happiness is my lack of muscle soreness this evening. I was very sore after my first two 'runs'. I was expecting to be very sore this week. Not so, my friends. I'm cautiously optimistic for improved physical health. Since it took me ten years to get to this dismal, depressing point in my life, I don't expect to see tangible results anytime soon. So I must pay attention to even the smallest glimmer of physical change for the better.

There's a measure of nervous anxiousness motivating me this week. If I fall off the 'getting fit' wagon, I may just implode...or at least spiral downward into a jiggly mass of depressed worthlessness.

Looking forward to Friday's 'run',

Mrs. A.

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Victoria Day At The Farm

Mr. B pulled taffy...twice. The first batch turned to hard candy...

...the second batch was a bit too soft.

The Skittish White Dog was happy to help. I need new baking sheets now.

While Mr. B pulled taffy, I made a cake to celebrate my dad's semi-retirement. He was amused.

After dinner, the kids helped find the new kittens. This one is black and blue-eyed...

And this one is grey, white and orange.

There are two others and if people would have quit crowding,

the lady with the camera might have been able to get a picture.

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