bye cary, hi ginger!

ok, so i thought i could be puppy-less, but after spending time w/cary, i've grown attached to the puppies. so, now i've got ginger w/me....

just catching up on my zzz's

wow, after a ridiculously busy monday (9.5 hour day), tuesday (12 hour day) and wednesday (8.5 hour day) at work, cary and i were able to leave work on time today. i was amazed when i woke up at 6:15 a.m. and realized that i got to sleep throught the night. i guess cary was tired from the long workdays as well :-) i have to say that she's stolen everyone's hearts, and everyone at work is going to be so sad when we have to say farewell on monday afternoon. in just over 48 hours, chris and i have noticed how much she's grown - i could tell when she went bounding up the stairs this afternoon....2 days ago she could barely get her pudgy legs up :-)

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....