The Big 30

I just wanted to extend a big happy hi to Marlene, my 30th follower. You can see what Marlene has going on at her blog Another Day Another Story. Glad you could join me at my kitchen table Marlene. I'll keep a place set for you.

Working Nine to Five

Cass was all ready this morning. She even got up early. She bathed, combed her hair, had a good breakfast, did her morning constitution (both) and packed her lunch bag.

And then we got the news -- no dogs allowed in the building.

I left her at the computer this morning, working on her letter of resignation.

Who Let the Dogs Out?

Tomorrow is Take Your Dog to Work Day. Seriously -- I'm not making this up. I've just emailed the Facility Manager for the building I work in to see if they will let Cass come in for the day. Fingers crossed. She's already had enough bad news this week (what with not getting the dog food commercial gig and all), I'd hate to have to tell her she's "a dog" and not allowed on the premises.

She even has her suit ready.

Chatty Cassie

Cass was waiting for an important call from her agent.



















It wasn't good news.

Lucky Thirteen

It was the boyfriend and my 13th anniversary on Sunday. The week before we decided we would celebrate by going out to dinner at Aqua Riva. We had a $50 gift certificate (that we had won at a Christmas party -- we don't get out much) and thought it would be nice to finally use it. We figured the total for dinner for two with wine would come in around $150 - $200 so $50 would take a bit of the bite out of the cost.

Saturday morning, while in the shower, I decided that I didn't really feel up to the hassle of finding my "going out" lipstick, driving 10 minutes to get downtown, using the free parking the boyfriend has, having someone pull out my chair for me, cooking and serving me dinner, then walking around the beautiful Vancouver waterfront, hand-in-hand with the boyfriend. Just too much effort. So I said to the boyfriend:

Me: How would you feel about not going out to dinner tonight?
BF: How do you feel about not going out to dinner tonight?

(This is why the boyfriend and I have been together for 13 years.)

I cancelled the reservations.

It was a beautiful day. We grabbed the dog and headed down to the wharf at Granville Island. The shrimp boat was in.

It is Spot Prawn season in British Columbia at the moment. We got 10 live beauties (very much in the eye of the beholder) for $8. We then headed into the Market and bought a pound of fresh halibut, some yellow and orange peppers, Yukon Gold potatoes and a bottle of Sandhill Pinot Gris.

Grand total: $56

Home we went to warm up the barbie and prepare our feast.

I only squealed once when I opened the bag of prawns and they all tried to jump out (really, not kidding -- friggin freaky).


If you read my earlier post about cooking lobster, you'll know that I am a seasoned killing machine. I tossed the lot of them in a big pot of boiling water for 30 seconds, drained them and put them on the table. That simple.


The halibut went on the barbeque with a fantastic marinade of dijon mustard, tarragon, lemon zest, and olive oil.


And the table was set.


It was amazing. The halibut was absolute perfection and the Spot Prawns? Unbelievable. They were a bit messy to de-shell, but worth the effort. They tasted of the ocean, of sun, of West Coast breezes. We didn't put anything on them either -- no garlic butter, no cocktail sauce (OMG that would be like putting ketchup on -- well anything).

Finishing with drinks on the balcony, gazing at our beautiful city, we raised our glasses.


Here's to 13 years of love and laughter. Here's to the ocean, sun and West Coast breezes. Here's to finding joy and perfection in the little things (even if they jump out of a bag and freak you out).

Hugs and kisses.

Wasabi & Ginger

And of course, Ginger needs dinner.

Breakfast with Ginger

I seem to have gone to the dogs this week. A great video brought to you by Sawith65 on youtube. Enjoy!

The Definition of Pure Joy

The same friend that sent me the adorable article about Charlie the Porcupine sent me this video. If there is such a thing as reincarnation, I want to come back as one of these dogs.

Cutie of the Day

A friend just sent me this story and I had to share.



RCMP officer saves baby porcupine from rural Alberta highway
Mountie rescued infant animal from mother's carcass
By Richard Cuthbertson, Calgary Herald June 16, 2010



Charlie the baby porcupine.
Photograph by: Courtesy, Myrna Pearman

CALGARY - He was born in less than auspicious circumstances -- his life saved by an RCMP officer who, in the middle of the night, cut him loose from his umbilical cord after his mother was killed on a rural highway. One-month-old Charlie the porcupine has recovered well from his miraculous birth and is now melting hearts at the Medicine River Wildlife Centre, where he lives.

He almost didn't make it. His survival comes thanks to RCMP Const. Charles Lambright, who struck and killed the little porcupine's mother after he was faced with a set of oncoming headlights toward the end of his shift near Rimbey a month ago. As Lambright dragged the porcupine carcass off the road, he noticed something moving. That's when he discovered little Charlie, still alive, but connected to his mother by the umbilical cord.

"I just wanted him to live," Lambright said in an interview Tuesday.

Cutting the little guy loose, the officer wrapped him in a towel and placed the porcupine on the floor of his cruiser while he finished his shift. For 24 hours, Lambright and his wife cared for Charlie at their home as they searched for an organization to take him. That's when they found the wildlife centre.

"After a while doing a job like this, you pull for whatever you can do," Lambright said, explaining why he saved and cared for the porcupine.

Lambright called the little critter Highway 20 after the route he was born on. But staff at the wildlife centre named him after the Mountie who saved him, hence Charlie.

These days, Charlie is being weaned off formula and is eating carrots, squash and apples. He has taken quite a liking to a stuffed teddy bear, spending much of his day snuggling with the toy.

"He is just a show-stopper," said Carol Kelly, the executive director of the centre, in Spruce View, west of Innisfail.

But even at his tender age, planning has begun for Charlie's career as an animal educator. The schedule for the celebrity porcupine is already getting busy, including a fundraising appearance this weekend (along with Otis the owl) at a Sylvan Lake bar.

After he was brought to the centre, the porcupine was placed in an incubator and is now doing well, according to Kelly.

The Medicine River Wildlife Centre houses roughly 150 animals, with about 50 of those in intensive care. The facility is a hospital for injured and orphaned wild animals, treating and returning them to their natural environment.

But the centre also educates people about wildlife. And that's where Charlie will come in. Given the porcupine never saw his mother, he has bonded with humans, making him an ideal candidate to appear at schools to teach children about wildlife, Kelly said.

rcuthbertson@theherald.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Facebook? Twitter? Fritter's For Me!

I quit facebook recently. It was getting too invasive and annoying. Facebook was randomly sending emails to people in my address book, asking them to be my friends. I don't know about you, but if people are in my address book, chances are they are already my friends and I don't want an anonymous email harassing them into being better friends. That's my job.


So what replaced facebook? Twitter of course. Now I am consumed by the random tweets of people I don't even know. Twitter is the National Enquirer of the social media world except instead of paparazzi slyly snapping photos of that famous person eating a hamburger they probably shouldn't be eating, the famous person tell us in their own 140 characters that they are eating a hamburger they probably shouldn't be eating (and they can now include their very own photo). Excellent you think -- right from the horses mouth. The problem with this though is that I've managed to pick up quite a few Twits and following them takes up a fair amount of time. Not to mention The Boyfriend is anti-social media and I'm driving him nuts with "OMG this is too funny -- CraigyFerg just tweeted "Emptied Dyson Ball vacuum for the first time. Found Jimmy Hoffa." The Boyfriend keeps reminding me that I don't actually know Craig Ferguson and he's not actually sending me a personal message. True, but...

This has lead me to think I need to start a new social media of my own.



If the world can waste 4.82 million hours playing Google Pac-Man then I think the world is ready for Fritter. Imagine your iPhone or Blackberry incessantly beeping (think vuvuzela -- which BTW has its own twitter account), alerting you to mindless, repetitive things that you can do to "fritter" away those long, boring hours of your life. Every half an hour or so you'd receive a new Fret.

Such as:
1)Google search "how to watch paint dry"
2)Count the number of holes in the ceiling tiles in your office
3)Finally figure out what thread count means and if it's important
4)Think about why it is that when you're driving and looking for an address,you turn the radio down
5)Sort your paper clips by ridges or smooth, not size

Don't worry if you are still wasting time on the old Fret, there will always be time to catch up on doing nothing.

(later)

Ok, despite what I said about Twitter, Jann Arden just started following me. I love Twitter!!!

I've Got a Crush on You

It's been over two weeks since my return from New York and I'm still infatuated. It was like the most amazing date of my life and I'm sitting by the phone waiting for a call. That call. To say it misses me and can't stop thinking about me and when can we see each other again. I keep replaying things we did and things we said to each other. I know it's a busy city and it has other obligations and many admirers, but the date went so well and we parted on such a positive note. I'm not usually so quick to declare my love but sometimes you just know when you've found the one.