It is pretty dry compared to what happens south of the border!

I didn't know that. I figured they might be closed part of the time to allow for the employees to vote (they get 3 clear hours to vote) but I didn't think it would be closed the whole day. I guess I've never tried to go to the liquor store on election day?!

Believe it or not, we're mounting our snow tires this week. We usually get our first snow by the end of the month. Yikes! I barely feel like we had summer.

I'm sorry the news wasn't good and will pray for your medical treatment.

After he returns from work. While I see some merit in minority governments, I am not keen on going to the polls in 12 months. Some stability would be nice. I just received an elections Canada kit to teach my kids some election lingo. We, too, are reading Canada Votes and Who Runs this Country Anyway. I'm learning a lot (I'm not sure what that says about me as a 43 yr woman.)

By the time he started handwriting he began to use his right hand. Interestingly, he has terrible handwriting to this day. Maybe he picked the wrong hand! :glare:

I began grinding for the health benefits. Flour looses it's nutritional value soon after grinding. Grinding fresh wheat preserves maximum nutritional value. But I quickly found that the taste was superior allowing me to back virtually exculsively with whole wheat flour. I bake all my cookies, most cakes, etc. with 100% whole wheat flour and my kids have even come to prefer this. Wholewheat turns rancid very quickly . . . fresh ground is, well, fresh. There is just no comparison. However, I bake everything from scratch. If you don't bake everything homemade it probably isn't worth buying a mill.

Do you have to use the whole amount immediately or can you refrigerate some of it for a couple of days?

As a mom of three adopted kids (two out of foster care) I can relate to the joy of receiving those papers! Happy adoption day.

:iagree:

We celebrated tonight to coincide with shift work schedules. So I cooked all day for my family and extended family. All day cooking . . .twenty minutes eating. (Okay maybe a bit longer if you include dessert.) This week has been crazy, busy. My mom is visiting from out of town and I am feeling constantly STRETCHED. She leaves Tuesday morning and after that I'm cutting my schedule. Hey Jennifer I read your blog and love your thoughts regarding the internet. I am going to schedule my internet time so that I don't waste too much time. I'm guessing my kids would love for me to cut their school schedule in half too! lol!:lol:

I have not posted lately, even though I have been keeping up with running. I do like the accountability but I think with the busy start of school it seemed I did not post daily. Weekly would be great. A re-cap of the week.

Do you think olive oil would work as a moisturizer for her? And sugar as a scrub for her adolescent skin? I hate all the chemicals we pack on each day.

I am so not sure footed on ice and snow -- and we get alot of it! So last year I bought a pair of yak traks . . .they're basically treads that attach to my runners. They are very effective in everything but maybe black ice. I figure it's not only the running but the fresh air that improves my spirits so I go. I also have a pair of rain pants for very inclement days.

Yes I thought of the microchip too. I don't think there's reader in our area and I'd doubt she has one. Yes I know they're expensive. We've been dog owners for a long time and just recently lost one of our Bernese Mountain dogs to cancer. I definitely know the commitment. It's just hard. We all have such soft spots for animals. Also our golden retriever is 14 -- I'll be happy if she makes it through the winter. She was the dog we adopted at the same time we adopted our son. The dog was 5, my son 4. They're glued at the hip. A couple weeks ago our elderly dog looked like she was dying (it turns out she probably ate some mushrooms growing outside). It was very traumatic for our son. So maybe the timing of this dog isn't too bad. I've got admit the lap dog thing is a huge change for us. But this dog hasn't even barked once (which is my biggest concern about little dogs).

But we think it's a cross between a spaniel and maybe jack russell. She looks quite a bit like a King Charles spaniel. She's quite cute. She's white and reddish/tan with longish hair that doesn't seem to be shedding.

My son said yes. She asked him if he wanted this dog. Of course he said yes. I didn't know that until yesterday. I know it sounds unbelievable but it was such a whirlwind . . . it all happened so fast.

Yesterday I re-called all the animal shelters and vets and no one had any reports of missing dogs. It's really weird though. This dog acts as if we've had her forever. She goes outside with my son and doesn't try to run away. She loves our dog food (I bought a bag of dog food for small breeds but she prefers our big dogs' dog food). She's not had one accident in the house. And becuase she's tiny (15 lbs) it's more like having a hamster than a dog (well compared to my 75 pound Bernese MOuntain dog and 50 pound Golden Retriever). Bathing a 15 pound dog is effortless . . I just stuck her under the tap in the laundry room!:001_smile: If no one claims her I guess we'll keep her. I just can't take her to an over-crowded, under-funded animal shelter. None of us can (not even my dh who was shocked when I came home with her). So my son named her Maiya. I didn't really want that name so I suggested Meea (I'm not sure about spelling in either case but long e instead of long i sound). He responds with "mom, you just want to call her that after mea culpa -- my fault in latin. I thought that was a good idea!

That thought crossed my mind too. They're almost 11 and 12.

My kids and I drove to the airport to pick up my mom. It is located in a nearby community. I decided to go early because this town is also the major shopping hub of the region. While we were shopping at a warehouse grocery store something very strange happened to me. And it happened so fast I still can't believe it. I went into the store and left my two boys out in the vehicle (they didn't want to come in after the zillion other stops we made and I knew it was only going to be a few minutes). When I came out my son was in the parking lot cradling a little dog. That is not strange. My son is a dog magnet and he brings home all sorts of strays which I usually am able to place back at it's rightful home. So I said to my son, "put down the dog". "Mom, mom the dog almost got hit by a truck." Okay that's great that you were able to help it. Next thing I knew an older lady (60ish) got out of her vehicle and walked over to me and my kids and our van. She started to say how she'd been there for a couple hours and had seen the dog darting around for quite a while looking at me like I should do something. So I said we weren't from town, where is the animal shelter. "Oh no you can't take it there." And she proceeded to tell me why, which pulled at my dog lover heart strings. Then she looked at my kids and said "are you willing to take full responsibility for this dog?" Huh I'm thinking. When did I say we're taking it. Will you walk it? Take it to the vet? on and on. Then she shows me the dog and says "it's well taken care of". It's fixed. It's clean. Someone has thrown it out of it's vehicle and abandoned it. (I went home unsure how she knew it was spayed. I couldn't see a scar.) So, after quite a soliloquy (from this lady) I hear myself saying to the kids "okay, but we'll have to see how this works with our other dogs". I get home and think "what if this isn't an abandoned dog but someone's pet?" So I get on the phone with the two shelters in that town and the one in mine and leave information on this dog. So we have this dog, who is really quite nice and loves my kids, but has a huge mystery surrounding it. My husband's first comment was that this dog probably was that old ladies. What else can I do to make sure we don't have someone's pet? And would you keep a dog you found like that? We have two giant dogs and now this little lap thing. (For further info. we have rescued dogs before but not quite in this manner.) I will phone the vets in the area on MOnday too. It all happened so quick.

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:grouphug:http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/images/smilies/grouphug.gif I don't think it's silly at all crying for a loss of cow, your pet. I'm really sorry to hear of this loss.

To a social group that is "by invitation only"? (I'm trying not to feel like the only kid on the block not invited to the special party. :001_smile:) Now my confidence is really shaken . . .each time I try to post this I get "the server is too busy" . . . is this a sign? lol!

I ask because I think it does somewhat depend on the nature of the breed (the going back and forth between families). My Bernese Mountain dog is so attached to me that she would not do well to live somewhere else. Although I do admit that when we vacation we have someone staying with us and while that isn't her idea of ideal, it does work. On the plus side, having someone take care of her while you're on vacation is a huge added bonus. It's the hard part of dog ownership.

Partly the normal adjustment period and partly my frames are on the smaller size (and apparently that makes the adjustment more difficult too). I'd say it took a month or two but now I love them.