Been a while

It has been a long time since I have been here. Well lots has happened. We moved, got new jobs, had doggie surgery and got lost lots and lots of times.

Edmonton is treating us well so far, the new jobs are going well. Auto insurance in Edmonton is very different then in Saskatchewan. To get it set up it takes a good half hour if not more! So there is quite the learning curve ahead for me but I will get there.

Willis got an ulcer in his eye and after the first surgery did not work we ended up having to remove his right eye. So now we have a pirate dog. He seems to have recovered well.

We have been attending Beulah Alliance since we arrived. It is a good church with great teaching. Last time I went I sat with 2 people who work at the same place as me, just different departments. So I officially work in an office with 3 christians.

Things are going well, this is the fresh start that we needed.

Our neighborhood

Oh the frustrations of living in community. There are 15 to20 kids running around our yard and 6 dogs not including ours. Some of these kids are ringing doorbells at 11 pm to see if someone will play with them. Others are ringing our doorbell to hear the dogs bark, once a day is fine 10 is not. There are neighbors who scream obcenities at 2am, and unload beer (loudly) at 5am.

We have some great neighbors too, we know almost all our neighbors, thanks to our dogs forcing us to be outside everyday. There is one who lives behind us, her dog loves Willis. He is a tiny dog who bosses around Winston who is 3 times bigger then him. She has great kids and is the mom to everyone, myself included some days.

Other neighbors have an English Bulldog puppy, a pug and are having a baby soon. We have spontaneous doggie play dates and hang out and chat. She is cool.

There are some new folks behind us. They have 4 boys, 4 of the most well behaved and respectful boys I have ever seen. I am sure their mom thinks otherwise, but I think they are great.

There are more great nieghbors, who if we ever move from this place we will miss.

Dog stuff

Winston and I are at the midpoint of doggie obedience class and I am seeing so much improvement. I like the little guy now and he is esaier to get along with.

I started thinking, why the change? Here are some reasons why.

1. We are on a project together.

2. I spend time with him and play games. They taught us some games to play to strengthen owner dog bond and it works! As well I am required to give him 15 -30 min of practise per day, so he gets tons of attention.

3. I see how they should act and behave. I have rules that I can follow and a measuring stick to know that I am doing well.

4. I learnt some tricks to get him to do what I want. Now the tasks are fun and not chores.

5. He now sees me as the treat giver. That puts me on a pedistal like none other.

Interesting thing I learnt. Teach you dog to come to you and it will make life easier. BUT only call them when something good is going to happen. Never call them when it is something negative like bath time. If the situation is negative, go and get your dog.

When the owner calls come, the dog will come because it associates you and that phrase with good things.

A friend of mine hides treats all over his house and calls his dog when ever and that dog is prompt!

Excitement

There is a business owner in this city, who got a major blow around Christmas time and he was pretty close to bankrupcy. Alex and I have been trying to help him as best we can, when we can. We desire for him to make lemonade out of lemons and I think it happened this weekend.

Well, this person and his salespeople sold 30 hot tubs at the tradeshow this weekend! Alex and I are super pumped for him and hope this is what he needed to get back on his feet. And my new friend sold 7 of them!

Good job guys!

Tired

For someone who is a little disgusted with the lack of social circle I have in this city I am sure tired.

There was 2 nights of having a sick and hyper puppy as he had pulled the brown sugar off the table and had a feast. Take a normally super active dog, add about 2 cups of brown sugar and you have a very unrestful night. So he was ill from all the sugar, which always leads to unfortunate results and was on a very long sugar high.

The neighbor knocks on the door, Friday night at 11 pm, their dog had puppies the day before. They wanted us to come over and see them. Oh they were so cute and they were the size of my hand. It is amazing that something that small contains life.

Saturday morning my Aunt from Colorado calls, she is in town while her girls go to Youth Quake. So we had a really good time and caught up on all sorts of stuff and meet my husband for the first time.

Then there was a gathering of my former co workers for a going away party that evening. I miss them tons and we caught up to till the wee hours.

Go to church, start the much needed nap and my brother calls and wants to go for coffee. I am not sure how coherant I was, I let Alex do most if the talking (he is good at that).

Finally I said no more and cancelled my supper plans at my friends house.

Looking at this, complaining about not having a social life needs to stop. It happened slowly and I did not even realize it.

Now I need to sleep so I can be refreshed for work in the morning.

The new job

Well, I got another job. Only this one is unlike any I have ever had before. It at an insurance brokerage, and when I tell people the name of it, they say, "I hear your boss is amazing". I actually saw a simpathy note she wrote to a client and I almost cried.

Here is my list of cool things about this new job

1. Decent wage, with benefits ON TOP. They are not taking them off my wage. This is great because forerly, I have gotten a raise and benefits at the same time and my take home pay was less.

2. Paid sick days! I have never had those before.

3. I work days, and the evening shift on Thurs. That means I can do stuff like doctors appointments on Thursday mornings.

4. No Sundays!!!

5. One of my co-workers was my dads broker about 10 years ago. She knows my family and got along very well with my dad.

6. The atmosphere is laid back and if something goes wrong, it is not earth shattering.

7. One hour lunches

8. On the third day, my boss suggests I write my third CAIB. and she will pay for it all.

The list goes on, and I think I am finally where I should be.

Snow and wedding

Last nights adventure took place at midnight. I needed to check on my friends house as her furnace had not been working properly. She was on her honeymoon in Banff.

We finished watching our movie and I asked Alex if he wanted to come with me. He wanted to drive his Jeep through a snowbank so he came along. Half an hour later we finally got unstuck and off to my friends house.

I would like to point out that if you look carefully you can see the driver side head lamp imprint.

I think this is his impression of Miss America

This is my friend Ivy, whose house I am looking after. Her wedding was last week. She has been a great friend, she spent tons of time tutoring me for my CAIB exam and football games watched at her house are great!

Thebefore shot.


And of course Winston, the little brown streak. Looking innocent but I am sure there is an eaten shoe somewhere.