weekend in review - more leon

(sigh) where does the time go? it was just thursday night that i was attending the OCC fundraiser, and then rushing out to pick up my baby, leon. we had an exciting weekend ahead of us.....we were going to see the canucks vs. washington on friday night! i was a bit nervous before heading to gm place, because i really didn't know how leon would do in a big crowd of screaming fans. but i needn't have worried.....he was very well behaved. in fact, he slept through the entire game (that includes overtime AND the shoot-out!)! what a good boy :-)

on saturday i took him with me to the dentist. i wasn't sure how this was going to work, but i figured it was worth a shot. we tied him to a rolling table, but he was so good and just lay down and went to sleep. he was a bit concerned when the suction tube was used, but i assured him i was fine, and he went back to sleep. after having a filling pop out at the dentist, i was in a bit of pain and discomfort so we stayed home for the afternoon. in the evening we headed over to priscilla's house for a girls night in. leon was the perfect house-guest....he found a little carpet to lie on and went to sleep (after he played with dave and selena, of course!).

sunday was a bit more difficult - i was getting frustrated with leon because he discovered our shoes and decided they made a good chew toy. he also found that chris' bean bag chair made fun sounds, and proceeded to claim that as his new bed :P



for only my 3rd puppy-sitting weekend, i sure extended it....i had leon for 4 nights and 4 full days. we went to work together on friday and monday and as always he was a big hit. now that he's a bit older, he's actually awake for longer periods of time so i'm able to get more work done :-) i had a physio appointment after work today and leon accompanied me there as well. he wasn't quite as well behaved as at the dentist - my shoes were completely covered in doggy drool :P

(yes, this is how he slept at the office today :P)

when i returned him to pads, his playmate fraser was eager to see him again. the two of them romped around in their kennel and had a grand time :-) the girls were a lot calmer than the boys.....gee, go figure!

up next.....skeena's joining me this weekend! come see us at the vancouver public library on saturday - pads is going to have a booth set up there!

ovarian cancer canada - "benefits of caring"

since february 2006, i have been a member of the benefits of caring committee. we are a volunteer organizing group consisting of individuals from the benefits, pension and investment industry (insurance companies - sun life, manulife, pacific blue cross, etc.; consulting firms - hewitt, mercer, towers, etc.; and others - ph&n). since 2000, this committee has put on a bi-annual fundraiser that benefits ovarian cancer canada (OCC) - the silent killer. before i joined the group, i had no idea what ovarian cancer was, and how many people it affects. when i think of cancer, i think of more talked about cancers (or perhaps it's because i knew 2 people who suffered from these 2 diseases) - breast or lung, but now we need to bring attention to another cancer.

i was at the "Wake-up Canada!" breakfast for ovarian cancer about a month ago, and a woman affected by this disease spoke to the crowd. by the end of the story the whole room was filled with such emotion that many of us were brought to tears (me included). she also said one thing that i'll never forget....ovarian cancer is what breast cancer was 15 years ago. if that rings true, then a lot more women will be diagnosed and need desperate treatment to fight this battle. here's a little information from the Ovarian Cancer Canada website.

History of Ovarian Cancer Canada

Ovarian Cancer Canada was begun by a small group of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Initially, they worked to develop a national support network with informal links via the Internet. Many of the women have since died, but their legacy remains strong. Today, as a testament to their efforts, OCC is a registered charity with hundreds of members across the country.

The late Cheryl Brown and the late Debbe Gervin formally founded OCC in 1998 to overcome the frustrating lack of information available when they were diagnosed. They believed that knowledge was power and they were determined to raise awareness of the disease among women and physicians. In short, they co-founded OCC to wake up Canada to ovarian cancer.

OCC has come a long way in providing information to women diagnosed, their supporters, health care providers and healthy women. Still, each year, it is estimated that another 2,600 Canadian women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Sadly, each year, it is anticipated that some 1,500 women will die of the disease. There is much work to be done.

since it's inception in 2000, the benefits of caring fundraisers have raised $300,000+ and all of that money goes straight to ovarian cancer to assist with its awareness, research, and support for families suffering from this silent killer.

this year's event was on thursday night at the four seasons hotel. i was telling trish, our OCC representative on the committee, that this was my first time in this hotel...i couldn't recall attending any other function here before. i have to give the staff props...our committee of 18 dedicated people is 17 women strong with 1 male presence...and the staff at the hotel were really good. having so many strong, powerful women with their own ideas of what the event should look like, had us all going in different directions :P every request we made was met with a resounding "yes! we can do it!" attitude. fantabulous!

the event got underway at 5:30 p.m., and the 300+ attendees did not disappoint. our silent auction was a big hit.....our 100+ items were all donated from individuals across the lower mainland. items included: club seats at a canucks game, several ipods, gift baskets, spa gift cards, restaurant gift cards, usage of a smart car for a weekend, and so much more. the live auction was another success....i've never been at a live auction before and i might have gotten a bit carried away (but all the money goes to OCC!) when i started bidding on a stay at the grand hotel in victoria, complete with spa treatment and dinner voucher. eeks! but i had my parents in mind...i think that'll be their christmas present this year. other live items were a 32" lcd tv, a westjet flight to anywhere in canada with a 2 night stay at any delta hotel, a dinner for 6 prepared in your home by the bc chef's association. i'm not sure what the net worth of everyone in the room was, but it must've been high the way people were bidding!

we also had a raffle draw - a trip for 2 to palm springs! the airfare was donated by harmony, and also included accommodations, golf, brunch and dinner. impressive!

all-in-all, it was a great evening, and i'm sure we raised over $110,000 for OCC. we'll see you in 2008 for the next event!

anniversary dinner

when we got married at the terminal city club last year, one of the perks was a dinner at the club on our 1-year anniversary. well, my parents were away during our anniversary, and my dog was in need of some attention, so we ended up postponing our celebratory dinner until tonight.

terminal city club has their weekly buffet dinners on tuesday nights, and chris was looking forward to the seafood neptune. we loved our wedding day, but due to pre-speech nerves and all the excitement we didn't have much of an appetite, so we missed out on a bunch of food. the hotel is understanding and they pack away leftover foods for the room afterwards. after 3 hours of non-stop dancing, i was ready for my dinner :-)

anyways, chris' favourite dish was the seafood, and we were both hoping to see it at tonight's dinner. we were a little disappointed because it wasn't exactly as we had remembered it. the buffet was still really good, but i think they go that extra mile for weddings (or other special events). the weekly buffet doesn't quite get the whole shabang, but it's a pretty good display nonetheless. i loaded up on caesar salad, smoked salmon, indian candy, pasta salad, deep fried scallops and shrimp cocktail. i felt obligated to eat the steamed vegetables, but the rice dish was really good....it had raisins in it, and was even better w/the seafood sauce and the lamb curry sauce! (i skipped out on the fish and chicken dishes.) the roast beef was also really good tonight. on our wedding day, of course we were the first to eat so the meat was more on the well done side :P

i've decided that a meal is not complete until you have ice cream w/cherries jubilee :-) this was served at our pre-wedding dinner tasting, but for obvious reasons, it was not at our wedding. i was so excited to see it out today.....we served ourselves a big bowl of it, and it was already 1/2 melted by the time we sat down.....mmmm, yummy! again, since the wedding buffet is the "ultimate" meal, we didn't have any creme brulee or chocolate covered strawberries. i knew tonight's meal wouldn't be an exact replica from a year ago, but for some reason i was holding out hope. there's always that small little chance that my favourite dessert would be on display....

as we finished our desserts and sipped our teas, we sat back and reminisced back on our wedding day. it was a bit fresher in my mind, since i watched our dvd a couple nights ago :-) ok, ok, i only watched the footage w/me in it! like my blog says, "it's all about me!"

ah well, our first year of marriage is now officially over. what new and exciting adventures will year two bring us? well, it starts w/a little black labrador puppy named leon....he's coming back on thursday night!

since i didn't post pictures in my anniversary post in september, i thought i'd add these now :-)

yummy fish

tonight i cooked yet another dinner :-) straight from donny hay's "the instant cook", i made "crispy skin fish with lemon salsa".


6 oz. snapper, salmon, or ocean trout fillets
vegetable oil for brushing
sea salt and cracked pepper
lemon salsa
2 lemons, peeled and sliced
1.5 tablespoons caster (superfine) sugar
1/2 cup roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley (i don't like parsley)
2 tablespoons salted capers, rinsed
sea salt and cracked black pepper

to make the lemon salsa, combine the lemons, sugar, (parsley), capers, salt and pepper and set aside.

brush the skin of the fish with the oil and sprinkle both sides with a little salt and pepper. heat a non-stick frying pan over high heat. add the fish to the pan, skin side down, and cook for 4 minutes or until the skin is crisp. turn and cook for a further minute or until the fish is just cooked through. to serve, place the fish on plates and top with the lemon salsa. serve with a simple green salad. serves 4.

tonight, i served the salmon with garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus. yum-yum!

a follow-up post to our rejection

so, in a previous post i mentioned that leon and i were unwelcome at a korean restaurant, house of tofu soup. i did get in touch with pads regarding this incident and i was optimistic that there was something they, or i, could do to advise the restaurant (and others like it) that these assistance dogs are allowed to be in their establishments. unfortunately, i was wrong. like it or not, these restaurants do have the right to ask service dogs in-training to leave the premises. pads also indicated to me that this is a growing problem, as more and more people are just plain ignorant and intolerant of people with disabilities and don't want to accommodate them.

i spent a day searching the internet this week trying to find the rules/bylaws regarding animals in restaurants, but after several unsuccessful hours, i gave up. i was trying to narrow it down to the city of burnaby, so i could take the bylaws to the restaurant and point it in their face :P i did find some information on the US department of justice website that was very informative, but it wouldn't exactly apply to me :(

in my year-long volunteer work at pads, i am very proud to say that i have educated many of my family members, friends and co-workers about the work pads does. two co-workers are actually trying to find ways to get their kids involved as well! this is just a small step towards helping people with disabilities gain their independence and mobility.

i must be tired

i don't know what's wrong w/me. on friday night, i fell asleep on the couch at 11:30 p.m. chris woke me up around 1:30 a.m., and i barely managed to brush my teeth before crawling into bed. saturday morning i didn't actually get up until 11:45 a.m. :P i had almost 12 hours of sleep! good grief! mind you, i did wake up a few times since chris had to go to work.

i thought for sure that i would be awake until the wee hours on saturday night since i had so much sleep the night before, but 11 p.m. came along, and i was down for the count! this time i went to bed at 12:10 a.m., and before i knew it, my clock said 11:20. wow!

i'm not sure what's wrong w/me these days that i required 24 hours of sleep in 2 days!

i think i'm going to start working out at the gym again - i'm pretty sure that might help boost my energy level. plus, i actually have some exercises that i need to do for my physio treatment....my shoulders have both been buggered up in the past 2 weeks. my right side was more of a neck issue, along with some bad knots in my shoulder. my left side, i actually tore some sort of ligament or something to that effect. i have all sorts of exercises to help my neck, shoulders and back.....lucky me :-)

all i do is complain

on sunday at fright night, it was absolutely pouring rain. i had a small backpack w/me containing all of my leon-essentials, including my wallet and cell phone. chris was carrying an umbrella, but after a certain point, it just wasn't doing any good, so we got a bit wet. probably not the smartest idea considering my cell phone was in my bag. well, of course it got a bit damp, but the good thing was that my phone still worked when we went to earl's. yah! later that night when i was setting my alarm for 5:45 on monday, 1/2 my screen was bright red. so i closed it, and re-opened it and then my entire screen was bright red. the next step, i turned my phone off. well, it never came back on again :( i tried removing the battery, hitting all the buttons, charging the battery, but nothing was working. my phone was dead.

now, i love my phone.....the motorola v710.....true, i've had issues w/it, but still, it was a good phone. i was mostly upset because i couldn't access my phone numbers to transfer them over. i'd also lost the few pictures i had on my phone as well :P

so on monday i went to cell1 and explained my situation, and they told me that even though my phone wasn't drenched, it just takes a bit of water to cause the damage, and yes, sometimes it appears to work at first and then dies later. so i asked what my options were. the guy advised me that i could have it sent in for repair, but i would get charged since water damage isn't covered under the warranty. or i could buy a new phone at regular price, since i'm already locked into my contract for 2 more years. well, i didn't have my wallet on me at that moment, so i went back to work for a bit.

i went back downstairs 1/2 hour later (i had leon with me, of course), but the guy was helping another customer, so i was assisted by a girl sitting at the counter. i explained my situation again, and i started asking her questions about the phones.....it went a little something like this.....

me: "so, here's my v710.....what phones do you have that are comparable to it?"
her: "oh your phone's been discontinued."
me: "yes, i already realize that. i want to know what i can get that is similar."
her: "um, those ones over there." (she points toward a glass case that contains about 15 phones)
me: "what? which phones, i don't understand!"
her: (she reluctantly gets off her seat, and walks to the glass case) "these ones right here."
me: "ah, i see. so i don't want to spend too much money on this phone, what cost am i looking at? i also want something w/a camera and bluetooth technology"
her: "they start at $149."
me: (exasperated) "well, which ONE is $149?"
her: "oh, this one."
me: "ok, what about the one beside it?"
her: "it's $x amount."
me: "hmmm..... ok, well, maybe i'll get the $x phone."
her: (she's sitting down again) "ok. well, it doesn't have bluetooth."
me: (WTF? did i NOT just say i want something w/bluetooth?) "well, ok, i'll get the OTHER phone then."

so that was the gist of our conversation, and by the end of it i was pretty pissed off at this girl. i was hoping for better customer service, like what the guy had provided me with 1/2 hour earlier. basically i wanted some information about the phones and what i was committing myself to for the next 2 years of my contract. i also tried to inquire about a loaner phone so i could at least think overnight....."yeah, we don't have those here." "uh, ok." end of conversation.

so i was pretty revved up after she programmed my phone, and i continued to be pissed by the time chris came home. i remembered receiving a letter from telus about their service standards....

"at TELUS, we're committing to providing you, our valued client, with exceptional value, a state-of-the-art network, cool new phones, and customer service that is second to none."

well, i agree w/the "none" part of the letter. if i hadn't just received the letter last month, i probably would have just let it go. but because i had this letter in my posession, i was going to give telus a piece of my mind about their customer service! so i called :-) i was ready to let the CSR just have it.....i was on fire! but then the guy came on the line, and he was so nice and friendly and he explained in kind words that cell1 isn't exactly telus.....they just sell the telus products, but they do give the feedback to each store location. i explained that i continue to stay w/telus because my dad is a retiree and he still does volunteer work at "the boot", and i expect better customer service when i go to the stores to spend my hard-earned money. he listened to me babble on for almost 10 minutes :-) the unfortunate thing was my timing.....their computer system was going down for the night, so he wasn't able to file my complaint, but he told me that at 8 a.m., someone would be glad to take my call. i felt a whole lot better after i talked to him. my jets had cooled, and i was smiling again. that girl at the store was going DOWN!

so i called telus back on tuesday, and relayed my message from the night before. since i was on a complaining roll, i also commented on the customer service i didn't receive a few months ago (at a different store) when i tried to explain to the guy that my phone didn't always ring, and sometimes i couldn't see my camera pix, to which he basically replied "and what do you want me to do about it?" WTF?!

now both of my complaints with two cell1 locations had been officially entered into the telus computer system for someone else to deal with. i was feeling pretty good about it all....i mean, do these ppl get annual reviews like we do at work? i think they benefit everyone involved....come on, i don't always come out smelling like roses after my review, but at least i know what i'm doing right and/or wrong!

so, that's the end of my rant. if you're going to be in customer service, then show some respect to your customers (or at least FAKE IT!)....it doesn't do you any good if i'm going to walk away and give my money to rogers or bell, or whoever else comes along! pretty soon our cell numbers are going to be portable, and believe me, i'm going to the provider who gives GREAT customer service and great prices.

leon - day 4, we're working!

monday morning.....up before the crack of dawn! i had to get up early so leon could do his business and eat breakfast before we went to work. i even made sure to pack my own b-fast and lunch so i could avoid the hassle of going out in the potential rain w/the dog.

our skytrain ride into work was fairly uneventful. i did notice a few ppl step away from him as he got on. i like to think of myself as a considerate and respectful person (except when it comes to complaining - i'll blog about that later), so i made sure leon stayed out of reach of everyone - he didn't lick anything, he didn't step on anyone, and he sure sat nicely against the pillar :-)

i had hoped to get to the office by 7:30, so we could have some quiet time, and get him settled, but we were running late.....my commute was an extra 15 minutes because of puppy. anyhoo, we finally made it and took a tour around the office to say hello to some ppl. he was a big hit! leon had ppl rolling on the floor with him, it was ridiculous! yes, everyone was dressed in their business casual, but it didn't matter :-) i designated a few play times for leon and my co-workers, so we wouldn't get interrupted throughout the workday. i think when the leash and jacket go on, the puppies know that it's time to "work". he was the best behaved puppy....he slept at my workstation, and he played with his toys, and he was soooooo cute! a few times he got too comfortable and i had to pick him up to get him going, but come on, he's just a baby!

i think our employee engagement went up 500% on this one day alone - we should've done a survey - but our productivity probably went down as well (especially mine!). even ppl who don't like dogs wanted to get a peek at him, and commented on how well-behaved he was. all in all, he was a great hit in the office.....i can't wait to take another one to work with me!

when we finally came home and he was off-duty, he went crazy! he had so much pent up energy, that he just ran around in circles for a while. when i took him back to the training centre, his friends were so excited to have him back! i let them all out in the "yard", and they went nuts, running around and barking up a storm! renee thinks they were probably asking leon where he had been all day!

leon - day 3, we're chilling w/the canucks!

on sunday afternoon, the canucks were hosting fright night at playland for their fans. upon arrival in the pouring rain, the coaching staff was introduced, and alain vigneault said a few words. nothing terribly exciting....i was just interested in getting my free hot dog, chips and pop! after all, it was a free event :-) at 4:30, the crowds were let loose, and chris, sandra, mike and i started searching for our favourite players. right away we saw markus naslund at the derby game, and "bingo, bango, luongo" (as mike kept calling him), was a few games down.

we saw other players as we wandered about, but no one worth stopping to chat with. sandra and i were on the hunt for trevor linden! since the rides were free for all, the 3 of them went to ride the hellevator. since i'm not a fan of rides, and i had leon with me, i opted to stay dry under cover :-) this is where i struck up a conversation with ryan kesler and josh green! i tell ya, if you want to meet people, you've GOT to get a dog! make sure it's cute though, cuz no one's interested in an ugly dog. so ryan and i started the dog-talk.....he asked about leon, and he started telling me about his 3 dogs. we were interrupted a few times by kids wanting pictures and autographs - how rude! it would have been great to get our picture taken together, but i wasn't feeling very coordinated to make it happen. oh well.

afterwards, we finally found trevor linden - he was at the coaster the whole time. unfortunately we didn't realize that the players' appearance ended at 5:30, so by the time we had gotten in line, he was just getting ready to leave :P i was hoping that in my overactive imagination, trevor would see me w/leon and make a dash over to us. at this point leon was completely soaking wet, hadn't slept in several hours, and was actually shivering from the cold. after chris and sandra rode the coaster, we called it a day, and leon was whisked away to the warmth of the car.

after we all dried up a bit, we headed to earl's for dinner. leon immediately lay down and slept for the duration of our meal....nothing was going to interrupt his beauty sleep! and actually, he was going to need the rest, because after dinner it was off to watch chris, sandra and the rest of their team play some v-ball.











at 11 p.m. we all called it a night and fell asleep :-)

leon - day 2, plus we were cooking!

so today (saturday), leon and i took a skytrain ride to gm place to pick up the fright night tickets through the vancouver canucks. he was a very good boy on the train :-) after we came home, i loaded him into the car and we had a few more errands to run. leon's a very docile labrador retriever - he doesn't get fazed by anything, he doesn't bite very hard, and he loves to chill.

today i was having 6 people over for dinner....that would be the maximum number i could have at one time, since i only have table settings for 8 ppl :P (my mom has since asked me if i want more dishes - perhaps to seat 10 or 12 ppl - but then i'd need a bigger table, so i passed on her offer.) tara and anna showed up mid-afternoon, and then we met sandra and ang at save-on-foods. we had a few groceries to pick-up for our chicken pot pie accompanied by a green salad, and our chocolate mousse. we caused some excitement at save-on since we had a puppy w/us! i've gotten used to the staring, the whispering "oooh, puppy-in-training", the ppl running forward to pet the puppy, the ppl sidestepping away in uncertainty, and all the questions ppl have.

then we were down to business....once i had taken care of leon, i put him into his kennel for some quiet time so i could actually do some of the work in the kitchen. the chicken pot pie was pretty straight forward.....a bunch of veggies and some chicken.....it was a bit tedious because of the chicken stock.....boil it here, strain it there, save it here, etc. etc. but with 5 girls, the entire prpearation was surprisingly quick. we were multi-tasking today - ang was working on the chocolate mousse.....my only contribution to the dessert was mixing the sugar and chocolate together.....it appeared to be on a downhill spiral, so ang and sandra muddled through it. anna, tara and i focussed our attention on our veggies boiling in the chicken stock, only to discover that some of it had burned at the bottom of the pot. oh well!

once the chicken and veggies were combined, all that was left was the top crust. we went biscuit-style....and to quote tara "it tastes like a scone.....with chicken." (or something to that effect!) i had to agree with her....it was very biscuit-like - i'm not sure why it didn't really dawn on me when we first talked about it either. i would rather have the pastry topping. anyways, the directions for the topping were confusing....i didn't understand why i would knead dough with knives. sandra explained to me what it meant, and everyone has their own preference - anna likes to use the knives and sandra prefers her hands....i was with sandra on this....i think it's more efficient, plus i'm washable! i'm not sure if i've ever kneaded dough before (i might have been 5 the last time i did it), so sandra took the helm, and kneaded away using my plastic cups. (side note to sandra.....add a rolling pin to our shopping list!)

ryan and mike showed up for dinner, and even chris managed to sit down with us all, too. our meal was complemented by a white wine (2005 hardy's riesling gewurtztraminer - a.k.a. our wedding wine) and a red wine that mike brought (2002 cedar creek platinum reserve merlot). since i love sweet wines, i polished off my glass of wedding wine :-) yum-yum!

the chicken pot pies were really yummy, and chris and i managed to take leftovers for lunch today. the mousse was really good as well. i had originally thought it was going to be like a whipped light mousse, but it was a heavier one - still very yummy with the chocolate shavings on top!

today, we used these never-before-used items....
8 martini glasses
8 denby smokestone placemats
plus we even used our DISHWASHER! i think this could be the 3rd time.

good food, good company.....a great night :-)