2010

Once again it’s time to wrap up the year for our friends and family. If you follow this blog, you probably already know most of the high- (and low-) lights.

2009 ended on a sad note for us. Shortly after Christmas, we had to put Roxane to sleep. She was very ill and the vet confirmed that nothing further could be done. We still miss our little grey kitten, but are comforted knowing she is out of pain.

In March, we returned Shiraz to the breeder to be bred for her last litter of puppies, Bo went to camp and we went to the Caribbean.

• Cruise Day 1 -- British Virgin Islands
•  Cruise Day 2 -- Sint Maarten
• Cruise Day 3 -- St. Lucia
• Cruise Days 4 and 5 -- Barbados & Grenada
• Cruise Day 7 & 8 -- At Sea and Curaçao
• Cruise Days 8, 9 & 10 -- Aruba, At Sea and San Jua...

At the end of May, Shiraz had six puppies (2 girls and 4 boys). We picked her up (for good) at the end of July. Bo was thrilled to have his big sister home … it’s amazing how close the two of them became. She was fixed in September, so no more pups for Razzie!

In August, my niece Sophie came and stayed with us for a week. We had a great time shopping and doing tourist things.

In September, we made the decision to move one more time. We have purchased a new home in the Village of Carp and will hopefully be moving at the end of June. We will no doubt have many updates as construction moves into full swing.

Work has been busy for both Rich and I, but no job changes this year. Richard’s running season went really well, and he posted his best time (and Boston qualifying-time) in Scranton, PA in October (3:13 and change). So, it looks like we will be going back to Boston sometime soon.

We have also gotten involved in dog-sports with the dogs: Rich did a cani-cross race with Shiraz in October (and they came in 1^st overall – no surprise if you know Shiraz!) and I’ve started scootering with the dogs. In both cases, the dogs wear mushing harnesses and pull us. Rich connects the dogs to a cani-cross belt, while I connect them to an adult-size scooter (with brakes). It is a lot of fun, and great exercise for the dogs.

2011 promises to be very busy – we have another cruise planned in the new year, then putting the house up for sale and moving. I will try to be more diligent in posting updates!

Wishing you and yours’ a very happy and healthy New Year!

A Tale of Two Quills

Okay, so up until now we've been pretty lucky with the dogs and the wildlife they encounter in the forest. Well today that ended.

On their run through the woods with Rich today, little madam, a.k.a Razzy, managed to spook a porcupine and get two quills in her snout for the effort. Of course, from all accounts Bo reacted exactly as a big, scary dog should -- cowering behind Dad for protection. Well, shouldn't complain -- it could have been much worse. On Christmas Eve the dogs actually found a porcupine nest. (I guess the porcupine was sleeping off too much Christmas egg nog to care about two dumb dogs.

Here's a pic of the two dogs yesterday posing before the Christmas tree (before it was unceremoniously ripped down and tossed on the curb.)

In other news, today was the first day of my new job -- I've accepted a position in our policy branch to to provide communications advice related to the assessment of our enabling legislation. As dry as that may sound, I think it will be interesting from my perspective. Much more hands on and writing. I was needing a change, and I hope this is a good one. It's a 6-month assignment, so if it's really not my cup of tea, back to the web advising gig.

New Year's Resolutions

Okay, so I'm technically 2 days late in making my resolutions ... so, obviously resolution number 1 is "don't procrastinate". And the rest:

2. Stick to my eating and exercise plans (2 days in and check, and check!)
3. Work on training my dogs to be good canine citizens (sigh! always a challenge) Most importantly: stop their darn barking at everyone who walks down the street, and greet people on four legs (must remember to read animal farm to them -- but stop before the pigs start walking on two legs).
4. Remember Roxy in only happiness.
5. Take more photos of the dogs, especially when they are playing like fool animals (currently, they are both working on old socks of Richard's... too funny!)

All right, I realize these are some pretty basic resolutions, but they always say to have achievable goals. Number 2 and 3 will be the hardest to stick, so will rely on the support of friends and family.

Most importantly, I resolve to treasure every day I have with my family (bipeds and quadpeds) and friends (who we are lucky to have in abundance), and to enjoy life.

Oui, je PEUX parler français

Just heard from my advisor at the School and I got my C for my oral exam (this is a GOOD thing -- crazy government system). Now I can relax and enjoy my holidays. Yippee!!!

Je peux parler français?

Well, I guess we'll find out in a couple days. The oral exam is done, although there were a couple questions I wasn't quite sure of ... sigh! Hopefully this'll be second time lucky.

Oh and a quick update on the weight loss -- had a weigh in today and I'm up to (down to???)  16 pounds lost. Yay! (On track for a pound a week at the end of the program!)

So the thief (Bogart) nabbed a tea bag yesterday. Fortunately, after a quick phone consult with the vet, I was assured that it wouldn't hurt him irreparably, aside from tummy upset, and perhaps a more hyper dog than usual (Gaaa!! Imagine Bo with MORE energy!) Also, I have discovered the dogs LOVE almonds and both have tried inserting their snouts into my mouth to get the almond crumbs out. Add that to the list of other human foods the dogs love, including peanut butter, yogurt, carrots, pumpkin, etc.

Anyhow, during a quiet moment post-my-french-test and a post-run-around-the-lake-with-Richard, I got some update pix of the rawgs. You can tell they really have it rough chez nous! Hopefully, if it's warmer this weekend, I'll get out too and get some action shots!

Bogey

Razzie

Home and Abroad 2009

We started off 2009 in sunny Mexico, again. As planned, we returned  to the Mayan Riviera with our friends Mike and Lori. We stayed at another amazing hotel and did plenty of snorkeling and visited Sian Ka'an, an ecological park and UNESCO Biosphere habitat. Joce has finally found paradise -- see the picture below.


Other than a couple trips to Waterloo (to visit Jocelyn's sister) and Toronto (for a marathon) we spent the rest of the year at home. No trips planned for 2010, but that could change any time.

We decided to invest in finishing our basement instead of more traveling this year -- and it was well worth the investment. We now have a comfortable, warm and cozy basement, perfect for watching films and exercising.

We also decided to add to the family one more time: we have been fostering Shiraz, a five year-old German Shorthaired Pointer since April. She is actually Bogart's half sister. We will be fostering her until her last litter (scheduled for Winter/Spring 2010) and then we hope to adopt her permanently. She and Bo have become fast friends and she is a real little snuggler.

We also bought a second car, since the Matrix has now officially been converted to the dog-mobile. You can often see Joce zipping around town in her snappy little red Hyundai Accent.

We also had the opportunity to volunteer at two dog agility championships held in Ottawa this summer. What an amazing thing to watch these highly trained dogs perform up close. In order to give our two dogs a bit more variety, we are also looking at getting them involved in dog-powered sports: cani-cross, skijoring and scootering. (For more information on what this involves see skidogs.ca.)

Speaking of the animals ... Our "senior" cat, Roxane, is still kicking along, but we have noticed her slowing down considerably. We hope she will still be with us for many more years. She and the dogs seem to agree to keep out of each other's way, but Lily loves to egg on the dogs.

Rich

Rich continues his work as a Trademark examiner with the federal government. He has also been busy with his running this year, achieving 4 new personal bests (in 4 different distances). Part of his success is probably due to changes he has made since his diagnosis with celiac disease in the summer. Once we switched him to a gluten- and wheat-free diet, he has had a lot more energy and seems to be feeling much better overall. (For more information on celiac disease see http://www.celiac.ca/.)

Joce

Joce is still on full-time French training in order to get her required French levels for her position. She is scheduled to go for her oral exam on December 16, so fingers crossed that she will be successful this time. She has also decided to make some lifestyle changes recently, and started an exercise and nutrition program at the end of August. (She even completed an eight-week learn to run program). She is about half way through the program at this point and is happy with the results so far.

Family

Fortunately, our extended family is happy and healthy. Our only oops in the year was Jocelyn's mom, who broke her ankle and foot in October (but is now well on the way to recovery). We are looking forward to spending time with both families over the Christmas holidays.

Wishing you and your families a very healthy and happy Christmas and New Year's.

Rich and Joce
RichAndJoce@gmail.com
http://theeverbelladventures.blogspot.com/

Cast of Characters

Welcome to our adventures. We are going to use this site to update you on our adventures, as well as those of the inmates, inhabitants of our zoo.
Here's some recent snaps!

Bo and Raz getting cozy ...


Roxy surveying her kingdom ...


Lily being, well, Lily ...


And the two principal inmates, Rich and Joce:


Look for more of our adventures coming up!