Tyler

I want to write again on the blog - so much has happened!  A broken arm, a new dog, kids who are growing up far too fast - but I have been struggling with what to write since we lost Tyler last September.  I want to write all about him but I am still far to sad to do so.  He was and will always be my most special boy.

We miss him daily.  I am glad he didn't suffer long.

Here is to the Best Dog Ever.

During his last trip to the Island, sitting in the sun after a swim

A new addition & an aquarium visit

No no, not a baby but a pony!!

A 5 year old POA (Pony of the America's) she is lovely and sweet.  She is in the states but has passed her vet check and we hope to go get her on April 2nd, we are just waiting for the official paperwork from the vet so that we can bring her over the border.  Meet Sparrow (I only have my hand up like that to get her to look at me):

The kids and I are SO EXCITED.  We got the stall right next to Jeff, which is amazing.  I can look in on Jeff and my mom can look in on her.  I will ride her, the kids will ride her and my two good friends have daughters who will ride her and pony club her.

Can't wait for her to come home!

Also, this is Loic at the aquarium 6 years ago:

And yesterday:

Maelle has never been to the aquarium.......classic second kid I tell you!  :)

The three of us had such a nice time together, they are really at fun ages to take out and about.

-E 

Back from the Dead aka Crazy Story aka You won't believe this

So, a lot has happened since I last posted.  Christmas, Hawaii, birthdays, parties, fun family time, and a new job for me.  I will try to get back to that fun stuff soon, but for today, do I have a story for you dear readers!

Some background information you will need to know:

At the beginning of December, our bunny Pancakes got very ill and I took him to the vet.  They discovered a tumour in his bladder and I consented to have him euthanized.  It was sad for all of us, we sure loved that bunny - but the vet told us that there was nothing we could do.

(An aside - the vet did an x-ray 10 minutes after we left and paid for the euthanasia.  I didn't consent to the x-ray, and thought it was odd that he called me to tell me he thought it was a stone and not a tumour; the prognosis was similar but the treatment could now be a risky $1500 surgery.  For the second time that night I consented to have him euthanized.  My decision was made based on finances in part and also the fact that I was not convinced he would even live through a massive surgery.  The vet didn't argue or try to talk me out of my decision, not even for a second).

Now, dear readers, here is some classic foreshadowing.  The week after we had Pancakes euthanized, I asked Rob and a few friends if they thought that the vet had really done it.  They all told me I was crazy, well, not in so many words, but the gist was that I was nuts to think that.

Fast forward to yesterday.  I got a phone call at noon from the vet clinic owner.  He told me he had some disturbing news for me.  Now, I have only been to this clinic the one time so I knew it had to do with my rabbit.  It turns out, the vet on call that night in December never euthanized our rabbit.  Long story short, he did the risky surgery after hours, claimed it was an owner surrendered rabbit AND adopted out our rabbit to a friend of his.  The vet and tech took it upon themselves to do all of this.

Shock can't describe what I felt on the phone.  I was crying, and the clinic owner was very upset too.  I have to commend this man - he did not need to call me at all and he took the ethical high road so to speak.  He could have just let everything remain status quo but he didn't.  The clinic only found out about this whole debacle the day before thanks to the keen eyes of the clinic manager.  She put the pieces together:  surrendered rabbit, euthanasia paid for but no body, controlled medication use didn't match records.

Now, my main concern at this point was for my kids.  The clinic owner told me that Pancakes was now safely back at the clinic as of that morning and did I want him back?  The answer was of course yes - but I can't have my kids thinking we euthanize animals and that they can come back from it!  I told him I would have to think of a plan and I would call him back.  I also voiced my concern that since this was a stone, it could potentially happen again.  The owner assured me would we have free rabbit vet care and stated that the health of our bunny was his primary concern.  He seems to be a nice man.

Rob had a great idea at this time, he suggested we lie to the kids.  This isn't something we took lightly, but, we have two geriatric dogs in our family.  I can't have the kids thinking that pets can come back from the dead, so to speak.  We decided to tell the kids that we adopted a new rabbit, who looks a lot like Pancakes.  While I wasn't comfortable with the lie, I think in this case it is the best thing.  I couldn't imaging trying to explain this situation to them; they are 3 and 6.

So, two hours after I received that crazy phone call, Jess and I went to the clinic.  I was still in shock - they led us in right away to see him.  He looked great!  Again, a total shock.  I was also feeling upset that I had consented to his euthanasia and here he was, looking great.  The vet on call that day was great - he spent time with us, checked over the rabbit from tail to nose, and took some repeat X-rays.  He also very patiently answer my questions, my primary one being 'Did I make the right decision in December?' to which he answered yes.  We looked at the initial x-ray the vet took - it showed a skinny, sick rabbit with a giant stone (which we now own, as an aside - they gave it to me and I didn't quite know what to do so I put it in my purse.  True story.)  I asked about the surgery itself.  It would have required pain medication, antibiotics and a huge incision - the vet was as shocked as I was that he had made it.  This helped me to feel better.

The clinic staff was great to us.  Apparently the vet and tech in question have now been fired.  This is an believable violation of ethics and there could be serious repercussions to the clinic itself.  The rabbit has a follow up appointment in a week and a half and at that time, I will meet the clinic owner himself in person.  The clinic bought us all sorts of new rabbit supplies and have helped us create a plan to try to try to make sure the bunny doesn't get another bladder stone.

So, without further ado - I introduce you to our new family member, Toast the new to us/back from the dead/ crazy story pet rabbit:

I had been crying and was in TOTAL shock at this point

A big thank you to Linda for the name idea!  I love it - another 'T' name AND some delicious irony :) We initially thought to call him Hashbrown but Toast is so much better.

-E

Perspective

The remains of the little girl who was the subject of an Amber Alert over the past two days have been found.  The photos of Hailey reminded me of my Maelle.

Rob and I just woke up Maelle simply to hug her.  Such sadness; I can't even begin to imagine what her family is going through.

Hug your loved ones extra tight.  It certainly puts the minor inconveniences of life into perspective.

-E

A Big Girl Bed

This weekend we got rid of Maelle's crib and installed her Big Girl Bed (aka Loic's old toddler bed).
Where did my baby go??  She loves her new bed, which is nice.  She has also stayed in it for a few naps and one sleep - we shall see how that goes!  Such a big girl she is.

Reading stories in her Big Girl Bed

Look who else is growing up!

I was reading that these are funny ducks to own as pets and they certainly are!  Both are brave, and both will take on the poor dogs for no reason.  The only dog who still even looks at them is Toby, and even a look invokes a poke from a duck!  Very funny.  They love, love, love having the kids dig for worms for them - if we let him, Loic would spend hours digging for them in the garden.  Both ducks sit about 1 inch away from him and wait to be handed worms :)  I am interested to see what colour the ducks end up - it is fun to google 'what colour will my Muscovy duck end up?" :)  I am slowly but surely building myself a city farm!

We went back to watch the salmon in a creek near our house with my parents this am and I got this photo:

A lovely photo!

Tomorrow is week 2 of Grade 1 for Loic - he seems to be liking it so far.  I am at work this year and can't take him myself, which is taking some getting used to.  I will have a lieu day next week and am looking forward to seeing his class.

-E

Great photos from this weekend

First of all, how did this happen???  How??

Grade One!

Here he is last year (I forgot to have him hold a sign) on the first day of Kindergarten:

(Pretend this says October, 2014)

Then here is he is Preschool:

It is all happening too quickly!!!!

And here is another cute little thing:

Maelle age 3 (going on 13)

The kids and I took the dogs for a walk yesterday to watch salmon jumping.  I spotted a big rock and decided to try for a kid-dog photo.  Here is the end result (obtained by telling the kids I had smarties in my purse :)):

Tyler decided to artistically look away :)

And I call this photo "Boots, A skirt and Two baby ducks":

Speaking of ducks, we have now spent a few days feeding them bugs and oh my gosh, the ducks are thrilled.  Loic and Maelle (ok, ok, me too) dig in the dirt and find them worms.  It is slightly gross to watch (especially when my kids gleefully equate it to eating pasta!) but man are these ducks tame!  And they sure love the worm-providing kids :)

-E

New things to share

Next week marks the end of my one year educational leave of absence.  I did go back to work 6 weeks ago to do another job within my organization, which was a great experience.  I learned so much and had a great time meeting new coworkers.  I think if possible, more people should try other jobs within their organization - it was certainly informative for me to see what other people do!

We decided to get some new pets.  Now, if you work with me - hush up! :)  I will add that by 'we' I mean Loic and I (Rob - you sure are a good sport!)

Meet Echo and Delta:

They are baby muscovy ducks - thanks to Aunty Jody :)  Muscovy ducks are quiet, friendly ducks.  I plan to use them to provide fertilizer for my garden AND to get them to eat bugs!  They are also just going to be fun to have around.  Rob built them an amazing house, and Loic and I sure love to feed them.  Their current favourites are cherry tomatoes and lettuce.  Oh, and they like kale too.  We are enjoying watching them grow up before our eyes.  We hope at least one, if not both, are girls.  But only time will tell.

Loic starts Grade 1 next week.  I can't believe it - how on earth did the summer go by so quickly?  Well, I guess I was writing and presenting a thesis, working, recovering from a broken knee and parenting my two funny kids :)

Not to be left out, the house bunnies are also doing very well:

He isn't really all that fat, it is more hair than anything.  After a year and a half of ranging upstairs, she took the leap down three stairs last night.  They also like to practice their speed laps by running around the living room at night.  The dogs now totally ignore them, in fact, that sassy lop eared bunny picks on Tyler - she likes to move onto his dog bed!  Very funny.

The kids sure had a nice summer.  Loic did camps - up Grouse and Seymour, bike camp and a cute rec centre camp.  Maelle had her normal daycare schedule plus both kids had some lovely days with my folks.  They went to the beach with them and ate onion rings - who could ask for a better day??

Taken in Point Roberts at my year end weekend with my fellow UBC grads

Lunch at White Spot with East Coast Grandma!  

Then there are these three:

I am getting worried about Tyler.  He is acting the same as ever - case in point, he did $1000 worth of damage to my car this week when he decided 5 minutes was too long to be in the car so he ate the rear headrests.  And the actual car.  Ahhhh Tyler.  I will be paying the $300 deductible.  Good times.  He is, however, peeing more than normal.  I think I will take him in for a checkup soon.  We have now had him for 12 years!  His adoption anniversary was last weekend.  We sure love him, car eating habits and all.

-E

An item crossed off my list

Masters Degree - check!!

I will have to write more about it, I am still processing the last year (in a good way!)

Best Friends:

We spent last night at a lovely beach house in Point Roberts with my profs and fellow students.  My kids had a blast.

-E

Loic is braver than I am (and a funny dog photo, and the garden)

Proof:

He had to have a tooth pulled yesterday.  His baby tooth wasn't coming out and his GIANT adult tooth is coming in behind the baby tooth and needs SPACE.  Off to the dentist we went, where he had it frozen (with a needle!) and pulled and didn't bat an eye??  I either cry at the dentist or hold back tears.  Or pretend I am not crying when I am but I do a poor job of it.  Go Loic go!  Like my fear of flying, I am hoping not to pass on my dread of the dentist to my kids.  So far so good - Maelle LOVES turbulence (clearly not my influence) and Loic was happy as a clam at the dentist.  

I have, however passed on many passions of mine to my kids and I have kids who happily pick up all sorts of critters and think chihuahuas are amazing :)  They also care about the feelings of others (M may be a work in progress here).  And one of my kids (go loic go!) thinks that being a scientist is amazing.  The other kid has decided that she will be a mommy or a Princess when she grows up.  Or both.  I have my work cut out for me there!!

A funny face but a happy kid!!

Today Loic and I went riding.  He sure loves Jeff all of a sudden - he spent quite a lot of time petting him while I cleaned the stall and then rode.  That horse is sure nice - he lets the kids pet him all over and is so quite when they ride him.  Loic and I dropped off the 3 dogs and Maelle with my folks while we were at the barn.  I am fairly sure she chatted my Dad's ear off all morning.

A nice horse and a nice kid!
A nice pair :)

And to end this post - my project is almost done, my info graphic is done and tomorrow night I shall proof read both.  Here is a photo of the dogs this morning, because it is funny:

THIS is how they prefer to travel in the car :)
The trunk was full so there were allowed for a short ride today

And some produce!!  I always love the garden in August, my favourites are all in season now and the stress of everything being eaten/dying that happens in the spring has passed.  Now is the time where I worry about eating it all :)

Tomatoes!  And cucumbers!!

If you know me in real life, ask me for tomatoes in the next few weeks :)  I have already frozen bags of small yellow ones and my favourite rambling red stripe tomatoes - nothing better than tossing them into sauces and lasagnas in the winter!!!  I am also almost sick of the beans but still have bags of them in the fridge and many, many more in the garden.  Feast of famine it is out there and August is a time of plenty.

- E

Beach love

We spent 5 lovely days at my Aunt's beach house - we sure love that place.
The beach was amazing as always and it was sunny right up until we had to go home - excellent time for rain!  It made the drive home better knowing it was rainy on the beach.

The kids had a blast.  They LOVE the beach, especially Loic.  That kid loves everything on the beach - he probably picked up 100 shore crabs and told us (every crab) if it was a boy or a girl - the son of a biologist :)  One afternoon while the tide was low we wadded out until I was about waist deep and we saw many, many large crabs - they were dungeness and red rock crabs.  And they were huge!  I taught our friend how to pick them up without getting hurt by the claws; Loic was THRILLED with this - he pet the ones I could grab.  He was yelling in delight at every crab sighting too!  Funny kid.  He also picked up kelp, poked at dead jellyfish and basically had a blast.

Maelle loved the beach as well although I am pretty sure her favourite activity was eating snacks on a beach chair :)  They were honestly very well behaved, played well together and were generally a joy to be with.  They also slept well after the hours a day spent playing on the beach!!  Can't beat that.

My to do list:

- hand in thesis project components on Tuesday, August 11th.  Gulp
- revise said documents and prepare a PP presentation to present on Tuesday, August 18th
- after the documents have been handed in and the presentation has been given: Masters Degree completed.  Whoa, I almost can't believe it!!
- After degree granted and UBC provides me with proof, I will then send in my papers and all associated information to hopefully get my RPBio status (Registered Professional Biologist).  This has been a 6 year road and I am super ready to get this completed.
- Finish my remaining 8 CEUs to maintain my Certified Arborist status for the next 3 years.  This is easy to do, but I am trying to find free CEUs and that is tricky.  Oh well, I have 22 done - 8 will be quick to do.

Easy peasy - right??

:) The end of my Masters degree is in sight - I learned so much in the past year, but that will be another post.

Some beach pictures to end things off!!

Beach snacker!  

So so cute!  And so happy

He also picked up many dead crabs......

Those are my two in the distance - they were really allowed to be free range kids this trip, which was so great

Friends

Boat discussion :)

-E

Interesting goings ons - and random pics

Things are getting interesting around here!

I am much much more mobile this week - so awesome to be off crutches.

Rob and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary last week - we had a really nice party at our house with many friends and family members here to help us celebrate.  I am pretty sure I took zero photos of the party - but it was very special.  And 3 cheers for ordering food from Save On Foods!

On Saturday Loic turned 6.  SIX!  I have no words except how did this happen??  Such a nice boy we have.

I am back at work early; I accepted a 6 week training opportunity at work in another department.  While the learning curve is steep, and I am at that awkward stage of feeling like I am not helpful/I am a hinderance to my co-workers, I know this won't last.

I start work early and leave before my family is awake - I am not sure how I feel about this.  On one hand, I like how peaceful it is and on the other hand, I miss the morning chaos slightly :)

My parents have been watching the kids for us a lot this week because Maelle's daycare is closed for a break and we didn't have a camp for Loic.  They have been spending mornings with Yma and afternoons with my folks - tomorrow is an all day affair with the grandparents.  I have a very subtle sense of peace being at work when my kids are with my parents or Rob compared to when they are at daycare or school.  It isn't a bad feeling when they are at those other places, it is more of a more peaceful feeling when they are with family.  This is something I observed myself thinking this past year.  It is more a passing thought I get during the day when I think about the kids - I am not worried about them at other places though - they do quite well at school and daycare.  Especially little miss slightly bossy :) she rules the roost at daycare that one!

Here are some garden pictures I took this week!  We are now eating a lot out of the garden and I love it.

The amazing garlic harvest!
And No - it isn't elephant garlic!!

We went to Beta 5 on the night before his birthday for ice cream sandwiches - he loved his!

Ham :)

Erin and I - 10 years ago last week!
We looked so young......
:)

My favourite tomato - Rambling Red Stripe
This plant makes so many lovely tomatoes!

A black tomato - last week people stopped to look at the garden because of this plant!

We are off on a 5 day holiday on Friday - so so SO excited!  Off to the beach :)

Oh and I have to present and hand in my thesis soon..........you know, that whole Masters Degree thing I have been doing for close to a year :)

As I said - it is interesting around our place!

-E

No more crutches (and other updates)

I got the OK last Friday to stop using my crutches!  Friday also coincided with Rob and my 10 year wedding anniversary party - I didn't take a single photo, but I think everyone had fun!  We bought a lot of food and others brought food so I didn't need to cook (something to keep in mind for all future parties!!)

I am still very slow and need to take it easy; bending down is a no no right now but at least I can make dinner freely with the use of two hands!  I got off very lucky with this injury.

This Saturday coming up Loic turns 6.  I can't quite believe I will have a 6 year old??  We are having a small party for him next Saturday - he has requested a nature/lego party.  I am going to get the kids some nets and we are going to go to the local creek to look for insects and fish.  Then, lego at our house followed by a cake.....he has requested a chocolate cake that "has dines in it and on it and when you dig in it you find dino bones" we shall see about that!!

He was at camp up Mount Seymour last week and had such a great time - I am pretty sure they hiked the kids for hours a day - he came home on the Wednesday and just crashed.  He went with his friend Ezra and they had such a nice week.  It was a good camp, full of all things nature so Loic was obviously thrilled :)

This week he is at a shorter camp closer to home with his good buddy Holden - this is the craft heavy camp so I am off the hook for crafting for a bit longer :)

Quick garden update:

- Raspberries: have been attacked by an invasive fruit fly.  I did get about half the crop but then had to cut back all of the berries and canes left :(

-Garlic: harvested and looking amazing!  Giant heads this year - super nice

-Kale: tasty, as long as I am super careful to clean off the caterpillars and aphids.....

-Green beans: will now be eating every meal at our house for a while now :)  I have 4 colours this year!

- Blueberries: as nice as last year, I even had enough to freeze some for smoothies

- tomatoes: all colours!  Starting to ripen now.  I grew a black type that is very firm and not ripe yet, interested to see how they taste

- cucumbers: just starting to ripen now!  I planted better varieties than last year

- Cantaloup:  I have two plants in that mom started, one baby cantaloup is growing and there are a lot of flowers.

-Trombonchini squash: looking good, in the back garden.  We shall see how they taste soon!

This is my last week 'off' work to finish my thesis.  I cannot believe it has been about 11 months since I have worked full time.  School was amazing and I think it will take quite some time to fully process these past 11 months.

Off to work on my project!  It has been interesting for sure - my contractor survey has so far been eye opening.

-E

General updates

My knee is feeling good, I am still not walking on it though and am using crutches to get around.  I am also not driving (the downfall of having a standard!).

I am also feeling lucky - I went to physio and the physiotherapist told me how lucky I am to have not broken other important structures in my knee.  I have a follow up Dr.'s appointment on the 17th and hope to be able to stop using my crutches then.  That would be amazing - Rob and I are celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary on the 17th with a big party at our house.  I am looking forward to getting together with friends and family - and potentially not being on crutches!

Chihuahuas pre-injury, waiting to go for a walk.  I love their ears!

The kids are doing well.

Loic is at a camp this week at the Rec Centre - they are doing a lot of art projects, which is amazing, because I am not very good at crafting and Loic has very.....specific ideas about crafting.  The combination is not pretty :)  We do a lot of cool things in our family: we have lots of neat pets, we hike, we look for bugs, we have a lovely garden, we spend time with grandparents and friends, we do fun outings - but crafting is not on our list.  We can't be good at everything!!

Maelle is doing well too - she is at daycare as per the normal schedule.  She is, however, scared of crane flies which is actually entertaining - we have a few in the house most mornings.  Poor kid!  Loic has swim lessons on Thursday nights - he isn't a giant fan but are making him learn to swim for safety.  Maelle swims with Rob while Loic has his lesson, she loves the water and it is great that Rob takes her weekly.  

Ok, back to work on my thesis - needs to be done by the end of July/beginning of August!

-E

That time I broke by knee

Oh, yeah, that was 5 days ago.

A friend and I had a get in shape/try new things plan.  First soccer game: broken knee.

The actual diagnosis:
Lateral non displaced tibular plateau fracture.  Aka: messed up broken bone in a bad spot in my knee.

Which is not awesome.  Through a convoluted story, it took until day 4 for this diagnosis.  I am day 2 on crutches (not fun) and hope to be off them in 4 weeks.  Oh, and my house has a lot of stairs.  And my 3 year old is taking advantage of her non-mobile mother :)

I am lucky it wasn't a worse break.  I am lucky I could afford to pay for the MRI that diagnosed this (thanks again to Barb for paying for 1/3 of it for us!).  I am lucky to have Rob.  I am lucky Loic is such a sweet, helpful, lovely boy.  I am lucky Maelle can provide humour to this situation :)  I am lucky my folks are nearby to help.

I start a new job opportunity in a month - dear readers (all 5 of you?) please send healing thoughts to my left knee.  And maybe a small thought to make dear M slightly better behaved??  Never mind, just send good knee healing thoughts :)

Thank you.

- E

Kindergarten year is over!

Where did the last year go??  Between my school and Loic's first year of school it sure felt like a whirl wind.  

Loic graduated from Kindergarten last Friday.  He is such a nice boy.  He still wants to be a scientist - but has now decided to be a Palaeontologist and an Arachnologist - no more cave science for him I guess :)  And his current obsession involves all of the Lego Mixels he can get his hands on, including asking us daily (hourly?) who our favourite mixel character is.  Adorable if not annoying at times :)  

We have a combo of myself, my folks, camps and Yma watching Lolo for the summer.  He is sure excited about a few of the camps!  One week up Grouse with his buddy Holden and one week up Seymour with his buddy Ezra!  Maelle will stay with her normal schedule at daycare where she tends to rule the roost.

I have one month to finish my thesis project before I head back to work; wish me luck!

 Adorable!

Jody and I spent 5 days in LA in June!  We had such a fun time.  Note to self: take Ativan in the airport lounge prior to boarding flight, do not wait until actually on the plane (sorry Jody - the flight there was awesome but I did have a 5 min unhelpful freakout on the way home.....I tried to make do without meds but clearly that is not a good idea.  At all. )

And Maelle is still as funny and sassy as ever!!  She likes to tell Loic that 'sharing is caring!' while taking toys away from him.....we are working on sharing with this one.....

All three dogs are doing well - Taz needs some major dental work, poor guy (and poor bank account).  I am sure Toby will need some work done soon too - why, oh why do these small dogs have such terrible dental issues??

We are coming up on the 12 year anniversary of when we adopted Tyler - seems so crazy to me!  I never thought he would a) be kind of normal b) live this long c) seem like a normal dog sometimes :) but I am so happy he is still with us, barking issues and all.

Well, back to my project!

- E

Motivation

My mom has told me that I have a lot of energy, something that I don't often think about but I have to agree with her.  I am at the very end of this term - my final paper is due this Thursday - and I am now running out of steam.

I have been in full time classes (5 classes each term plus my major project throughout) since September.  It has been so very rewarding.  Now, with my final paper due soon, I am for the first time dragging my heels.  I can't decide if I am just tired of writing or if I am struggling because this is a hard topic for me.  Oh well, my first draft is almost done and I did well presenting the topic last week - so close to being done!  I am debating using this paper as a part of my RPBio submission in the fall; it is not an easy topic for me but it clearly shows my new found statistical analysis skills.  Something to ponder.  I am sure going to miss going to class!  Classes appeal to my logical, orderly side: I like learning, working on the information and presenting my findings in either paper or exam format.  While exams do tend to cause me anxiety, I have certainly gotten much better in that regard over the past 8 months.

We had a nice weekend at our house - Rob and I had a rare date night out Friday, we went for tapas and drinks.  Saturday Loic had Taekwondo and we visiting with friends.  Yesterday I worked on this paper for what I hope is the last weekend day of writing for a few weeks!  We also ended the day yesterday with a lovely hike up Lynn Headwaters with the two kids and three dogs.  It was really nice, Maelle can now walk for most of it and the kids together are so funny.  The dogs also had fun - Ty still loves to run and wallow in the mud.  Yesterday was Rob's sleep in day so I met up with a group of friends and their kids at White Spot for an early breakfast.  My kids did well, Maelle is getting past the age of having to wander her around restaurants - three cheers for that stage ending!

This is the best photo of my attempt at a group shot.  Tyler is the only dog who stays where I put him!  Taz ignores me and Toby always tries to wiggle towards me - very funny.

Here is Loic on some old logging equipment on the trail.

 Ok then, back to my paper......

-E

A list of sorts

Here are some random thoughts; I can no longer do any stats today so I shall write a list instead.

1. I do not aspire to be a hydrologist.  I just need to get through this project and come out with an okay (not amazing, plain old pass is perfect) grade on the other side.  Presentation in one week, paper due in two weeks.  My topic?  Can I see a change in creek discharge, precipitation or temperature in one creek in N.Van looking at 35 years of data and can I see what the effects of PDO and ENSO might be.  Yeah.  Interesting but not easy for me at all.


2. We have figured out a way to stop Ty from barking!  It is a formula that looks like this:

Barky dog (Ty) + Barky dog (Taz) = quiet

This formula makes no sense but seems to work!  We have a drop cam that we use to spy on Tyler, and if Taz is with him he is far less stressed and therefore quiet.  Toby is always home with Ty but it seems that because Toby hides under our duvet during the day, Tyler feels alone and gets upset.  This has been a source of stress for us because Ty has been bothering our tenant.  We really like our tenant and want her to be happy.  We have been taking him with us, sending him to my folks (thanks for that Mom and Dad!) and have been planning to make sure he isn't alone at certain times.  This is a big breakthrough.  I did put him back on clomicalm and think that has also helped.  Oh, and he is now totally addicted to peanut butter stuffed kongs....

3. The kids are so, so funny.  95% of the time I find them hilarious and entertaining and fun to be around.  I think that is a great percentage for parenting a 3 and almost 6 year old!!  Rob finds them equally entertaining.  They are just pretty darn neat little people.  They have their moments for sure (Maelle, ahem, has been known to bite.....) but on the whole are just great.

4. Grandparents & Rob have been instrumental during this year of grad school.  My parents take the kids on Wednesdays and Loic Friday afternoons (and the dogs too).  Rob has been awesome on weekends when I work on school stuff.  Barb (aka East Coast Grandma) came out and really helped out over spring break, which is now two whole weeks.  A big thank you to all.  I need to think of a proper end of class thank you.

5. Still loving my garden.  Loic and I spent an afternoon in the front garden this week and it was great!  I also spent an hour or so out there with Maelle.  It is nice that they are at such great ages.  Loic built his own little garden and Maelle moved wood chips around for an hour; during these times I could weed and plant and putter - amazing!  It doesn't get a ton of attention right now but it will all be ok.  A lot of what I have out there is low effort - blueberries and raspberries just need to ripen and be eaten, garlic isn't ready until August and other warm weather plants don't go in for a month.  Oh, I did put in peas and lettuce and radishes by seed though.  

6. While classes and the work load can be intense, this year has so far been pretty good.  I love the program and I *think* I have balanced it all well, aside from a low point at last fall's apple festival (sorry to Dad, Rob and Erin for that day and the tears that ensued) and a few rough days this term.  All in all I have positive feelings about my decision to do this program and about the program itself.  I do, however, reserve the right to continue to complain about statistics and the fact that I can't do them on my Mac!!!!  And that my math skills are not awesome.  At all. 

7. Thumbs up for trading!  I have traded a few hours of stats tutoring (thank god) for dog training. What a great trade.  I really like the woman who helps me with stats, and I like her daughter and dog. I have helped her daughter clicker train their nice dog and next week we move on to some rally and agility; the perfect trade.

8.  Now some pics from Maelle's third birthday and the garden.

I am concerned that we might need a pony in a few years :)

Love, love love my front garden!

- E  (and three cheers for blogging!)