Nesting.

Our family has been mildly obsessed since the day we got back from Thailand. We'd been putting the dog-thing on hold until after our big adventure. Now, the time is right and we were on the hunt for the right dog.

Joel had seen a dog online at the Penticton SPCA, so Saturday afternoon we took a drive to visit him... he was a big beautiful thing, who really needed a lot of space and yard--something we knew we couldn't give him, great as he was.

And then we saw Ellie.

A cute, black mop of a thing.
Super soft long hair, a suspected schnauzer-poodle-maltese-cockerspanielish little girl, a 5 month old stray found in Kamloops. We spent a lot of time with her, talked a lot about the pros and cons of her vs. another larger dog I'd see on Friday at the Kelowna SPCA... and resigned ourselves to the fact that, while we really love big dogs, we can probably make a small dog happpier, and she's a "big" small dog-- and maybe she'll still grow a bit. If not, we still love her.

We love Ellie.

So, here I sit, researching and trying to figure out all the things I need to get between now and Thursday when we take her home, (she's being spayed on Tuesday), and I need the help of all my dog-lovin' friends.

What do I need?
Who's a good vet?
Who's a good groomer?
Does anyone have a second hand crate to sell or know someone who does?
Who's a good trainer (for me, not the dog :-)
What are the most important things?

PLEASE, OH WISE ONES, ENLIGHTEN ME!

This feels strangely like it did 13 years ago when we were about to bring Adam home.

The kids are beside themselves.
(Joel's happy to have an actual dog to blame.)

The Week in Review...

10. I finally FINALLY painted my master bedroom. I've been wanting to do it for years, but you know how painting bathrooms is... too much cutting in, what to do about the toilet, how do I get the hairspray spots off first... Anyway, it's over, and I'm happy.

9. Our appliances are all reaching their 10 year mark and breaking down. Our fridge pees on the floor 1-2 times per week. Not looking forward to replacing them, however, I've always considered having a crushed ice dispensor to be the height of decedance, so there may be an upside should we find such a fridge on sale somewhere.

8. Adam broke his arm while snowboarding last Saturday. We didn't realize it until Wednesday. FLUSSSHHHH... there goes "Mother of the Year" yet again.

7. Cheryl directed me to a great website : exercisetv.tv and I've done a couple of the workouts this week... one made me unable to move for 3 days, but I'm back, baby!

6. I'm also doing the Wild Rose detox, without the laxatives, thank you very much. I'm on day three, will cheat a little on Saturday night at friend's for dinner. I'm totally ok with that--sweet freedom.

5. Last week I got together with some friends and made 26 cards! I was able to give away 3 of them this week... I love giving & receiving homemade cards.

4. I'm sad for Joel's sister Debbie, who has to have chemo and surgeries this spring and summer... but thankful that she had fibroyd surgery last week or they would never have found what they suspect to be ovarian cancer.

3. Brodie reaaallyy needs a haircut... his faux-hawk is at an all time high and I fear he will put an eye out, and it won't be his.

2. Tomorrow I'm going to Bliss to run with my solesisters... I missed the last 2 weeks with them.

1. I'm reading a book called "Drowning Ruth" for a book club... so far, I like it, but I'm realizing that I'm not a very discriminating reader, as I like 90% of the books I read.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

It had a good sauce.

It was a warm evening, as we walked through a dark open market in Bangkok. We'd already had dinner at a soup vendor, but Joel had a hankering for something more substantial. After 24 days of eating in Thailand, we'd become quite comfortable with walking up to a BBQ vendor and ask for "one of these and three of those".

And that's what he did.

He didn't know what they were, but they came highly recommended by the vendor, and it looked like they had a good sauce.

"I think it's livers or something" he said after a couple of bites of his skewer. Followed by the thought, "when in Thailand..."

Minutes after the skewer was consumed, I started to tell him a story that one of our missonary friends had told me... about the grossest thing they'd eaten in Thailand.

"She described it as a skewer with round pieces of meat that had a hole in the middle" I relayed.

"That's what I just ate" he said.

pause.

"You just ate a stick full of chicken anuses."


Side note: Joel had seen a kettle full of chicken feet at the same vendor and thought, "oh no thanks, that's disgusting."