how cute!

cary is pretty cute! she's such a lightweight :-) she's got everyone at work absolutely falling in love with her. so sweet!

g-l-a-m-o-r-o-u-s

the most glamorous stars are about to arrive at PADS - they're the hollywood litter :) because there's a bit of an overlap with 3 different puppy litters of varying ages, the young'uns, are going out w/puppysitters right away. so yes, i'm getting one of these fabulous little stars! tuesday afternoon, i'll have one of the 8 week old babies! i cannot wait :-) i will have him/her for at least a week until the older dogs have found a new home.

i am so ridiculously excited, i can't stand it!

do-gooding

over the past month, i've felt this overwhelming need to do something. but what? well, when there was that massive pet food recall, the spca was desperately looking for food donations for the shelter animals. having been out of the pet food-loop for so long, i opted to donate money instead. yah, my first do-gooding effort :) after that i felt so good about myself, that i checked out volunteer opportunities at my local spca. unfortunately the upcoming orientation session didn't gel w/my schedule, so i kind of shelved that idea. also, i already do so much with PADS that i figured that was enough for the animals. i needed to do something with real ppl.

then came my next "big" idea. i had actually inquired about this volunteer opportunity a couple of years ago, but i don't think i was in a position to actually follow through on something so long-term and potentially life-changing. now i've taken the first two steps to becoming a Big Sister! last week i attended the information session, hosted by a Big Sister, and learned about the program, what they do, and how i could help. amidst all my busy weekend plans, my mind kept on wandering back to Big Sisters, and how i could make such a huge impact on a young girl's life. so today i went to the orientation session, again hosted by a Big Sister/Counsellor, and learned even more about the big/little sister relationship, communication skills, safety concerns, etc. etc. it's VERY overwhelming. and now i'm working on completing my application form and homework. after that, i have a reference check, screening interview, and then i could potentially have a little sister.

now, i know the canucks are playing game 1 right now, and i can hear chris and vic yelling at the tv, but i'm feeling really good about myself right now. of course, the Big Sisters volunteering may or may not work out, but i'm giving it a shot. if it doesn't happen, then i'll try my luck at the spca. my community needs me, and i'm fortunate to be in a position to give back.

i just hope i'm not stretching myself too thin :P

i could sleep for another 24 hours!

boy, when geoff and sunny come home for a weekend, there's a non-stop flurry of activities w/them :-) here's the rundown....see if you can keep up!

thursday night

• facials @ skoah - i used up 2 of my 3 gift cards from x-mas/birthday 2006.
• canucks vs. colorado - too bad the 'nux lost
• late-night all-you-can-eat-sushi
• riverrock - we all made $$!! after almost losing $220, i got lucky at the fortune pai gow table, and made $250 on a straight flush. phew! the poker table wasn't very kind to me....i didn't make any money there.

friday

• chris and i were very productive....we went to home depot and we finally bought shelving units for our storage locker. now things are much more organized in there. we also want to buy a bbq, but we're going to think about it a bit more before we make our purchase. once we have the bbq, then i'm going to put chairs out on our balcony :-) just in time for the summer! we also cleaned out our dryer duct, so it's working a lot more efficiently now.
• after many months of being delayed, my parents finally took us out to celebrate my belated birthday at saltlik. we shared the calamari, mixed olives and dry ribs to start. then we all had steaks, and my mom had the rack of lamb. the meal was delish!
• mah jong w/the boyz.

saturday

• skiing at whistler - blimey, it was hot! my calves are still hurting....it's probably a sign that i need to exercise a lot more :P
• birthday celebration for cherie & ryan

sunday

• hotpot at stan's house. he must've thought he was feeding an army, there was so much food! lamb, chicken, beef, fatty beef, beef balls, cuttlefish, squid, scallops, shrimp, lettuce, sui choy, fish balls, tofu puffs, enoki mushrooms, asparagus, pork liver, etc. etc. i think they're still trying to finish off the "leftovers" :-) now i want to buy my own hotpot set.

monday

• lunch at saltlik - mmmm, burger!
• shopping d/t - i finally have a spring/summer jacket. i bought it at club monaco....my first white jacket; i'm very pleased w/it!
• and of course, monday wouldn't be complete until i saw my puppies! tonight i played w/nugget and coal - they're so cute! frankie and magic were whisked away to puppyclass.

and now i think i need a well-deserved sleep. we've had many late nights out, and i just need to crash. also, after our day at whistler, my body is still trying to recover. i don't remember being in this much pain after the big white ski trip. i just don't understand :(

after this busy weekend, it's almost a relief to be going to work tomorrow. and now, only 5 weeks until our vacation!

we're cooking, we're baking!

lemon raspberry sorbet.....(very refreshing!)

my easter bunny cookies.....(next time i'm going to add "eyes")

roast pork (chris got a black pig from a fellow meat-man - if you look closely, you can see some hair :P)....

congratulations, paws of 2006/07!

wow, what a day yesterday was! i have to say that it was overwhelming to see so many PADS clients with their service dogs and all the puppy-raisers with their 4-legged friends. everyone came out for this special day....i think i overheard the number 300+ in attendance!

there was so much happening that i don't even know where to start from. there was a luncheon for the graduates and their puppyraisers, along with the sponsors who helped fund the puppies through the program. appreciation certificates were handed out right after the lunch to recognize everyone's time and effort. after lunch was the rehearsal. and then it was time for the graduation ceremony.

many people came up to the podium, including PADS staff, directors, and some MLA's. everyone was there to celebrate the accomplishments of these young puppies. going into it, i wasn't sure i would know any of the graduates, but i did. angel, a goldendoodle, was one of the first puppies i met over a year ago. i never got attached to her because she was such a barker that i always went home with headaches :P oh well, at least she'll make a great hearing dog for her new person.

i got to see my old friends skeena, fraser, leon, chilka and silky - i can't believe how much they've grown since i saw them over 3 months ago. fraser definitely remembered me, and left his slobber-mark all over my pants :P i saw some of the "rock & roll" smooth fox terriers.....i puppy-cuddled them a year ago, and they were so cute and cuddly as 10 week old puppies! of course, my good friend nugget was also at the ceremony. i happened to be in the foyer when he made his noisy arrival, and we got re-acquianted. i definitely know he remembered me (it's only been 5 days), and practically bowled me over in his excitement. aw, i still love that guy!

the real show-stealer though was the newest PADS recruit. his name is linus, and he's a 10 (?) week-old chocolate labrador, desperately looking for a puppyraiser. check him out....

(i did take more pictures, but because the room had dark lighting, and i was in the back of the room, most of them didn't turn out. if i can figure out a way to fix'em up, i'll post them.)

so, in addition to volunteering at graduation, i also made sugar cookies (special thanks to priscilla for helping me frost the 7 dozen cookies!). i went with the theme for the day, and used my dogbone cookie cutter. i had actually thought there would be more baked goods along those lines, but i was the stand-out :-) yah, me!

isn't he just the cutest?

no explanations needed!

i don't think they come much cuter than nugget!

more cooking!

seriously, i'm becoming a domestic goddess :-)

meatloaf
from Better Homes & Gardens The New Cookbook Special Edition

2 beaten eggs
3/4 cup milk
2/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 tbsp snipped fresh parsley
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried leaf sage, basil, or oregano, crushed
1.5 lbs ground beef, lamb or pork
1/4 cup catsup
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp dry mustard

in a bowl, combine eggs and milk; stir in bread crumbs, onion, parsley, salt, oregano and 1/8 tsp black pepper. add meat; mix well. lightly pat mixture into an 8x4x2 inch loaf pan.

bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 to 1.25 hours or until internal temperature registers 160 degrees. spoon off fat. in a bowl combine catsup, sugar and mustard; spread over meat. bake for 10 minutes more. let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

here are my blueberry banana muffins....

no tolerance for intolerance

let me start off by saying that my 10 days w/nugget have been awesome! we've played together, we've walked together, we've dined out together.....we've gone everywhere together. he's just been an awesome little boy, and i hope he continues to do well in his classes. we had a few hiccups over the past week, but on saturday we had a 1:1 w/keryn (his instructor) and brushed up on some of the commands and techniques i should be using. very helpful!

because i had nugget for the entire week, we were out and about at the office, and i was absolutely amazed at how many ppl had heard of pads, or knew about some of the other dogs from the program. we also made friends on the skytrain who were impressed w/nugget's good behaviour. yah!


we had our first negative comment from a passerby yesterday. we were waiting at cactus club to be seated, when 2 women and a man stopped by us. the younger woman wanted to meet and greet nugget, while the man was talking to chris about pads. the older woman said, "poor dog! what a sad and boring life he's going to have." i commented right back to her and said "poor disabled ppl! can you imagine what life must be like for them....not being able to open or close doors, or pick up items that they've dropped, or not being able to balance on their own 2 feet?!" i told her that because of these dogs, ppl who suffer from a disability are given a newfound freedom! well, she didn't seem too impressed w/me, so she just stood there while i rambled on the facts about pads and the puppies, making sure she knew that these dogs all got the proper play time and socialization! the nerve! my faith in good ppl was quickly restored when we were seated, as everyone who we passed by was looking in awe at us and wanted to get close to nugget :-)

the only place we had a slight problem, was today at superstore (on grandview highway). chris and i had a bunch of shopping to get done and of course, nugget accompanied us. when we got to the meat section, we were stopped by a superstore employee, who commented that dogs aren't allowed in the store. i pointed out that nugget is an assistance dog in-training, and that he's wearing his jacket to identify him. after the clarification he seemed fine w/it, but commented that a customer had taken issue w/the dog. i knew exactly who he was referring to, an older woman i had seen talking to him right before he approached us. well, we carried on w/our shopping excursion, and we had gotten to the baking aisle, when all of a sudden i was approached by yet another employee, along with SECURITY!! WTF?! apparently they were tracking us on the security camera and wanted to ensure that nugget was indeed a qualified dog to be the store and not just my random pet-dog that i put a jacket on, since i obviously am an able-bodied person. it seems as though many ppl had issues w/us in the store. the irony of it all is this.....i've seen at various superstore locations, the wheelchair friendly sign at the front entrance, along w/a "we welcome service animals" sign. granted, a fully-trained dog is a different story, but they don't come like that. it takes several years of training, and even then they don't all graduate in the pads program.

i have to say, the only place that i would understand would want us to leave would be save-on foods. the first night we had nugget, he was having some issues, and he made a mess in the store entrance. of course, being the good puppy-sitter i am, i come fully prepared for any situation, and quickly cleaned up the mess, complete w/anti-bacterial wipes!

i get very frustrated with ppl who don't want to understand why there are training dogs in public places. i have to say that i've been at metrotown, and i've seen ppl w/their little dogs walking around, and not to mention the time i saw a poodle actually sitting on a couch at the mall! WTF?! it's those ppl who shouldn't have their dogs in public places like that! they aren't serving any purpose there except to take up space in their handbag.

i attended the pads open house yesterday, and i have to say that seeing the working dogs w/their ppl is very touching. one girl was saying that if it weren't for her assistance dog, she wouldn't be the happy person she is today. because of her dog she has freedom, independence and confidence in herself that she can do anything the rest of us can. i can't wait until the graduation ceremony next week!

anyways, if you're still reading my rambling at this point, i thank you! to all my friends, please educate and inform your friends and family and get the word out there about these little puppies. we're all out there trying to make the world a more accessible place for everyone living in it.

thank you :-)

2 new recipes!

broiled salmon w/orange miso glaze

from the passionate cook: the very best of karen barnaby

1/3 cup white miso

2 tbsp orange juice

1 tbsp mirin

2 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 tbsp finely grated orange peel

6 6-oz. salmon fillets

finely chopped green onions

whisk the miso, orange juice, mirin, soy sauce, sugar and orange peel together in a small bowl.

preheat the broiler. line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. place the salmon on the foil, skin-side up. broil about 8 inches from the heat until the skin is brown and crisp. turn and spread the mixo misture over top. broil until the glaze begins to blister and brown, about 3 minutes. cover the fish loosely with foil, turn the oven off and let it sit for 5 minutes. sprinkle with the onion before serving.

this recipe was really good, but a little too sweet and fruity for chris' liking....i would skip the orange peel next time.

skewers of sticky garlic chicken

from the rest of the best and more (best of bridge series)

3 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tbsp honey

1/4 cup ketchup

1/4 cup worcestershire sauce

2 tsp dijon mustard

2 tsp tabasco sauce

salt & pepper to taste

3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut in thin strips

soak skewers in water at least 30 minutes.

to make marinade, combine all ingredients. toss chicken in marinade and stir until well coated. transfer to a non-metallic dish; cover and marinate overnight.

preheat broiler to high. thread chicken onto skewers. arrange on a foil-lined baking sheet and broil for 6-7 minutes, turning occasionally, until well browned and cooked through. these can also be grilled on the bbq for 5-6 minutes.

another yummy recipe!