We're back.. a day early. There was entirely too much rain... we did get really lucky though. It was beautiful when we walked in the Maitland, and the next day on the walking path, at the drive-in and during meal times. Whew! But seriously when it's thunder and lightening and HAILING it gets a little old. The poor pooch was not happy. She was either wet, in the trailer or having a marvelous time.

It's good to be back....

- because I like having dry and clean feet

- I'm not a big fan of campground showers or toilets

- I like my bedding to be soggy free

- as I enjoy cold beverages without worrying about the ice situation

Here are some pics...

Halia swimming and liking it!

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Because of the rock bed, the water looks golden.

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I'm sure it was some elusive mystical serpent that was frozen in time by an evil witch or warlock... I have to stop reading children's fantasy novels...

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Proof I was camping, in Goderich, with my husband and dog.

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At the drive in with Billy (Bert, Fred, Michael, William) Shelley and Johnny B.

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On the Menesetung bridge. There were a ton of people fishing below.

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There are a few wind farms north of Goderich. There are very cool and gentle looking.

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Halia really wanted some of Billy's ice cream. At one time, her head was resting innocently on his shoulder.

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Poor poochy was very tired on the way home. She fights it like a little kid... falling asleep while sitting up, then jerking awake... She gets that from Billy.

Camping June 08 050

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Here's damned cute pic I stole from BMW's blog. I call it Boy and Dog and Goldfish Crackers....

Earth day Halia and Cullen

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Today we are expecting the painters. Actually, they're late.... super. I'm not sure if I mentioned, but Billy thought it would be a good idea to not paint the big main room. Thank God!

Here are my reasons why hiring professionals are a good idea:

- 9 - 25 foot high ceilings, depending on where you are standing

- 9 - 25 foot high walls, depending on where you are standing

- Crazy big windows with essentially no way to get to them

Those are more than enough reasons, trust me!

So I cleared out the plants yesterday, there had to be over a dozen in that room, and because I don't know how they are painting the back wall (ladders, scaffolding, etc) I had to also clear out all things that were in the 'hole' or the wide open area in front of the fireplace.

The house looks naked and lonely. Plants really do make a difference as well as the 2 pictures we have hung in the big room. Here are some naked pictures of our house...

This picture is taken from the basement (it's a walkout) looking up the fireplace. It's a long way up...

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It looks so naked and stark!

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Even the kitchen looks bleak.

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Halia has been wondering WTF for the last day. She gets anxious and weird when we're packing, so this has her in a state! She's been following me around and driving me crazy!

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So, with regard to my list yesterday, I was able to cross trimming back the poinsettia. It looks totally violated and pathetic. That thing better bloom this next winter, or I'll be mad at having to look at that spindly plant for the next 6 months... I had a lot of plant maintenance yesterday, so that was good...

Today I'm going with MomG to pick up her new Ford Edge. That's exciting, and tonight I'm going out with a couple of girls for dinner. The conversations should be great!

Billy called the golf course and they should be open on April 1st... if not the course then the clubhouse. I hope the weather starts getting better! There is still some snow on the ground!

Anyway, life is good, and I'm looking forward to having the painting done and the house back to normal... also it looks really dirty when it's empty...

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Wow, three days since my last post, time is certainly flying by. I have had time to write, just nothing much of interest to say, even now I'll keep it short and sweet...

- We went to SuprT's new house on Friday, it is beautiful! It was nice to see all the kids.

- We missed the projected 10 inches of snow by about 50 kms, and ended up with only about 2

- Detroit is reported the 5th snowiest winter on record. I forget the inches, but suffice to say: a lot.

- I was unfairly hung-over for much of yesterday. Billy's friend popped by for a 7 hour visit, and he brought his sweet pooch.

- TOL popped by, (literally, for like 10 minutes) with her puppy Schmeichel, (fun to say, not to type...) and they played, meanwhile Halia missed all the fun as she was at MomG's.

- The Easter Egg Hunt was a success. The ground was pretty much frozen so it wasn't too muddy, and there were more people there than 2 years ago, (it didn't happen last year). Halia won a dog bone and a light up leash, (which doesn't work well - rats! I could have been a HUGE box of milkbones... ) and Dave (on behalf of Lilly) won only a small bone which was pretty funny because looking at his prize card I was convinced that he was going to win the grand prize... haha, oh well, it's really not about the prizes...

- Here is a sub list of some dog breeds we saw at the walk:

- Bouvier (s) (huge!)

- Labs of all kinds

- Basenji (they are fairly rare...)

- Collies

- Bichon Frise

- Bullmastiff, (I wanted to squeeze his cheeks!)

- 2 Brittanys (gorgeous)

- Pug (love the pug)

- Welsh Terrier

- A sweet small rescue Greyhound

- One Visula

- Bulldog, not sure which kind...)

- Either a malamute or a huskie, I can't tell the difference... sorry DD

- 2 basset hounds

- 1 sweet beagle

- Boxer (s)

- A few chihuahuas

- Dogue de Bourdeaux

- Dachshund

- Doberman

- Newfoundland (HUGE!)

- German short haired pointer

- Poodles (a black one was trimmed for show with pink bunny ears...)

- A smattering of small terriers, one wearing a camo jacket, another a tutu...

- And of course, one gorgeous, if not slightly portly Rhodesian Ridgeback! (TOL reported seeing a fat rhody at PetSmart... so Halia is not alone... or the fattest...)

I'm sure there is about a dozen or so breeds I missed...

I'm not sure what is up today with my mom and the kids, easter egg hunt wise... I'm fairly certain that it will not be outside, as it is a sunny 18*F!! Brrr! Did you know that we golfed for the first time last year March 30th, then the 31st... that is less than a week away and there we haven't had 3 days in a row above freezing since I don't know when! Ahhh! I'm going crazy! I just want to golf! I want to be warm! I want to be outside! Arg!

Oh, so anyway, we're going to MomG's house today for turkey (yes!) because someone doesn't like ham, (wah, wah, wah), so it's turkey for dinner!

Well, life's good, (except the weather), and my hair is out of control due to late night hot tub hijinx!  

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Because Halia is a star!

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Nothing like relaxing on the couch with a 110 lbs dog trying to sleep on your lap. Such a comfort monger!

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She's bringing sexy back!

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Okay, aside from the heavy breathing, (I was walking in 1/2 foot deep snow for almost an hour...) this is a pretty good video of the dogs running in a snow drift outside our backdoor.

Oh, and it's snowing... AGAIN!

Please, excuse the heavy breathing, it's embarrassing, turn your speakers down, haha

Halia March 08

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Today started much as any day would... coffee with my mom, a little cleaning, some time on the computer... then, I heard the date... February 13th.

Of course, it's the day before Valentine's day... yes, yes, I'm pretty sure to be dining tonight with a couple of girlfriends in Essex... hmm, what else?

Oh yeah! It's Halia's 3rd birthday!

I called Billy to let him know, and he didn't feel too guilty about it, "she doesn't really understand you know, Liz." he said, "you did just give her a prime rib bone, so that's a pretty good gift."

We decided that Billy should call his mom and lay on the guilt. Well, she was practically crying! Seriously! That pooch is like her grandchild!

A couple of hours later, there's a very small senior in our front yard struggling to bring in the recycle boxes... MomG had stopped by to give Halia a gift. A wrapped gift... Doggie style beef jerky.

So happy birthday Halia, as Roger Caras said, "Dog's aren't our whole life, but they make our lives whole."

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Point Pelee Jan 08

Yesterday morning, I was looking forward to a nice quiet day at home. Since Billy was working in Leamington, he agreed to stop in Kingsville to pick up the few groceries that we needed, of course he spent over $120.... anyway... I had a few things to do around the house and was planning on settling in on the couch to read my book, (which I'm enjoying BTW).

MomG called and started by saying what a nice day it was. Nice, yes, if you like 30*F, but it was sunny and not particularly windy. "What a great day to go to the Point!" she said... Hmm, well I can't turn her down after all she does for us, and I suppose going for a nice walk and getting the pooch and myself some much needed exercise can't hurt.

She picked us up and we're off! I have hat, scarf, mittens, water, leash, collar, and camera.

Well let me tell you, it was cold! The wind was blowing from the west, but once we were on the path, the trees really blocked the wind, and it was perfect.

It snowed 2 inches the night before and we had the place to ourselves. Halia was in Heaven!

Here are some pics, there are more on my flickr site.

Point Pelee Jan 08

Point Pelee Jan 08

Point Pelee Jan 08

Point Pelee Jan 08

Point Pelee Jan 08

Point Pelee Jan 08

Point Pelee Jan 08

Point Pelee Jan 08

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Here are some holiday pics for your viewing pleasure...

This was Halia's holiday picture. I discovered from BW that I (we) are not the only childless couple that sends out holiday cards featuring a picture of our pooch. Good to know that we are not alone!

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Billy posing with MacNZ's pillow. I like his other face better!

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Myles, Kaitlyn, Jim and Terry on Christmas morning, oh and Rat too. 

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This is Rat the amazing drooling cat, (Gus lookalike) admiring the Christmas insanity. Rat hasn't a tail (t'was a very bad car accident) please don't tell him, he may get a complex about it. After his surgery my mom changed the spelling of his name to $$$Rhatt$$$ (the dollar signs are silent).

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Me and Madisyn on Christmas morning. One is certainly cuter than the other.

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Here lies Halia chewing on a bone amongst her Christmas booty. Spoiled dog!

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Billy and BoBo. We all had our pictures taken with BoBo. I bet you can guess what the bottam of this picture depicts... typical male! 

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Billy and Barry admiring the fancy dancing by Kiks, Jim or Beth.

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Kiki celebrating her boxing victory with Jim looking on in (perhaps envious?) in the background.

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Beth reveling in her boxing triumph. We kicked ass.

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Fun, fun, fun.

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I didn't post yesterday because for most of the morning I felt like a bag of shit. A boozy bag of shit. On Sunday Billy and I, (yes, just the two of us) decided to have our own Survivor Finale party which included Smirnoff Ice for me, Crown and Coke for Billy with occassional shots of Fireball, capped off with a cigar in the hot-tub. Good times! Not conducive to Monday morning and feelin' fine. At All.

So I regrouped and went on with my day, I'll hit some (well not really) highlights:

- Picked the the pooch and ate a Whopper to make myself feel human.

- Broke a bar glass, rats!

- Took Halia next door to play with the other dogs. They love romping around in a foot of snow. Halia ran into the cake shop when the door was opened a half a foot and proceeded to eat about a pound of cake, (the left overs that are cut off the top...). Not good for the diet, but good for my sense of humour.

- Ate leftovers and lounged with Billy.

It turned out to be a good day.

Now, what the hell happened on Sunday? It began with a Cinci loss on Saturday night, and the insanity continued throughout gameplay on Sunday....

First of all, Billy called near the end of the Browns game that he was coming home, so I thought I could at least shovel the driveway after he spent all day working. Add snowpants to my bright orange and brown ensemble, and because of the earlier kitty litter incident, I had to wear Billy's Miami DoIphin gloves...I then learned that the best time to shovel our driveway is when the guy across the road is almost finished snowblowing his. He came over and offered to shave a lane for us, ugh Yes! Thanks! He saved me an hour of heavy breathing and a day of backpain. Thanks old guy!

So I decided to shovel (again) the decks and around the hot tub, and being a little superstitious, (I really, really try not to be, but I can't help it) I was seriously concerned that the Browns would lose because I was wearing the Dolphin mitts. Billy came home just as I finished and at the end of the Browns game and (whew!) they won a very important game. AND, because of the Miami gloves, the Dolphins won their first game this year! Lucky for them my other gloves were covered in kitty litter! You Are Welcome! Billy then joked that the Dolphins are ready to take on the Patriots next week... (funny if you follow football, as the Pats are so far undefeated this year, and the Dolphins are the only team every to do so in a season and win the Superbowl...llong story) anyway... I thought it was funny.

So teams that should have won didn't and teams that I hoped would win, (like Kanas City) didn't. Not good, but nail biting indeed!

In attempt not to sound, (or read) like an obsessed fan, (I know one and it's not cool) I will try to repress my desires to discuss football at length. I'll keep it short and sweet from now on, I promise...

Life's good, especially when not hungover...

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