Monday 14 July 2008

pizza and games - oh me - oh my!

On the last day of school, James and I had the pleasure of taking Miss Victoria and Master Zakary out. Heather needed us to babysit as she was taking my mom out for a good time. Since my mom broke her arm and lost her job, she's done some great things for all of us. Of course I would take Tori and Zak out too!

Super Great Uncle James decided that he wanted it to be a special day. He decided that BINGEMANS was in order. But first, we wanted to go out for dinner...

Yummy good pizza was the thing we wanted. Well after they got over the whole McDonald's idea.

We took the kids to one of my favourite pizza places of all time and they didn't disappoint. Pepi's Pizza used to be located downtown Cambridge when I was a kid and it was the only place around. It's long since closed so we went up to Kitchener to get some. I can't say much about the branch we went to - other than they did a great job and they were awesome with the kids. They let them watch as they mounded on peperoni's and other awesome toppings. Zak was drooling!

The kids were really hyper and probably would've been happy with Pepi's. But Bingemans was still to come. We played some glow in the dark mini putt - where James and I let them run wild and cheat all they wanted. I'm not sure that Victoria's played before but she had a lot of fun.

Then Victoria took off on the climbing area and Zak and James played arcade games. She had a ball laughing and giggling. Zak wanted big prizes. I won't mention that ordeal because it was the only thing that was a challenge all night.

All in all it was an awesome time and I'm so glad that everyone gave Pepi's a big thumbs up!!

Super Awesome Tailor Puppy

For fun, I thought I'd post some new pictures of my puppy niece - Tailor. James' sister Lindsey and her boyfriend Richard got a new German Shorthair Pointer that they named Tailor, because they can. Here are some cute pictures that worked when I downloaded them. Unfortunately, my computer isn't the best when you try to get things off of memory cards. Totally sucks but at least you get to see some cute pictures.

Here Fishy fishy!!!

So we've gotten ourselves some Fish!!!!

We've decided to go with the community fish - tiger barbs. We started off with two small tiger barbs that are white and black striped. Mom had the pleasure of naming them "Bert and Ernie" since they are twins (or at least brothers.)

We also picked up a Green Tiger barb and he's a big guy. James named him Hercules, but he's the type of guy that only does what others are doing. It's almost like he doesn't know how to swim on his own. He's always following others and doesn't like to be alone. Funny that the biggest fish in the tank is so desperate for other fish to lead him around!

And the final fish we got when we were ready was an Albino Tiger Barb. In the bag, it looked almost translucent. However, when you put him in our tank he looks orange. I believe we've named him Newton, but we keep changing it. Newton or Samson depending on the day. Most of the time we just call him the albino guy. He's a strong swimmer and has much more independance than the other fish.

All was going well, but unfortunately we had our first casualty. Poor Ernie hadn't been doing so well. he was just a wee little guy and slowly stopped hanging out with the rest of the fish that seemed to like to swim in a school. He was hiding in our Stonehenge or on top of it. He didn't want to eat or do anything like that. Sadly, I found him and he was gone. Luckily we had a 5 day pet guarantee so we took him back after work today.

This trip was nice, because we got another black and white tiger barb but he's much bigger and stronger. James named him Louis. We also got another awesome fish - a big cherry barb with really nice red colour. I chose his name as Gomer. When the two of them came into the tank, the other three fish were really excited. They kept swimming up to the bag to see who they are and they were all really happy. We let the bag out and all of a sudden they were all swimming around each other and it really looked like they were swimming in a school.

I figured with our loss of the fourth fish, I'd use Chinese philosophy and get an uneven amount of fish for the tank. This should set the chi. So now we have five fish. Here is the order according to size.

  1. Hercules
  2. Gomer
  3. Newton
  4. Bert
  5. Louis

Our tank is really cool considering that we got it off kijiji. We went to an awesome fish store in Kitchener for the stuff inside. We have two easter island heads, two glow in the dark grass plants and a stonehenge. James had to also pick up this long wirey stuff that looks like tree roots to make the fish feel more at home. We chose to mix the rock with some orange rock we had left over from our wedding - so it's a mix of beige, brown and orange.

Next stop - getting our own little algae eater but I think we should wait until the tank is dirty.

Maybe now that we have fish - I can give up a little on my desire to have a dog. Do you think it'll work?

Sunday 6 July 2008

Pets on parade

So my pet obsession was assisted along in the past two days.

We went to a barbecue yesterday to celebrate a new patio some friends put in. She has an awesome cat named Riley who is a big orange and white tabby cat with boatloads of personality. He's awesome and cuddly when he wants to be. Just my general favourite kind of fat lazy cat and I was able to cuddle and nuzzle with him. It was awesome.

Then other friends showed up with dogs. First came Zoey - or Zobo as her friends like to call her. Okay, maybe she has other names, but she's an awesome dog nonetheless. She was rescued from a shelter by friends of ours and has such an interesting face. She's a jack russell terrier cross and has a bit of the beard and some wirey hair. She likes to get into things, but mostly likes to play and wrestle with other dogs. She really wanted to get to know Riley too. Thank goodness for leashes or else we might've had a real fight on our hands!

After Zoey arrived, two other of our doggie friends showed up - Sprocket and Milo. Sprocket and Milo are cousins - but only by the fact that their parents are brother and sister. Sprocket is the older, but already showing signs of being the smaller of the two dogs. Best way to describe Sprocket is that he's a miniature yellow lab - who in my opinion is more white than yellow. Very sweet face and disposition. If he were smaller, I think he'd be a lap dog!

Milo is just a puppy but already bigger than Zoey is. He has huge paws for his 3 month old frame. He's a black lab and likes to meet and greet every dog and person he can. He's definitely going to keep my friend busy!

All was well and good, the dogs had their moment of hanging out together while keeping an eye on Riley at the door. And then came Taylor.

My sister-in-law and her boyfriend just got a beautiful German Short Haired Pointer puppy on Friday. They named her Taylor after much bantering discussion back and forth. Taylor was the only female at this crazy barbecue and the boys all noticed. Well maybe not Riley, but the others were very intriqued. Milo in particular couldn't stop sniffing her. He was trying to understand what it was that made her different. Taylor was pretty timid and ran around trying to get to know everyone and hide wherever she could. She took a few naps and all of us were instantly in love with her speckled complexion, her soft coat and her blue eyes.

I was in my glory and spent time with all of them, but most time with Milo who demanded attention wherever he went. They were all so sweet and I can proudly say that I had each and everyone of them give me a good lick at some point.

It really helped satisfy my need for a pet to spend time with them!

********************

Today, James and got even more prepared for our new fish friends that will be joining our family by going to pet stores and looking up decor and stones and such. We realized pretty quickly that we weren't going to agree at PetSmart. He really wanted this huge bridge, and I liked this ship and pirate chest. We both had different ideas and so we just agreed on stones, he got something to clean the tank and we were on our way.

We headed back to the site of last nights barbecue since we forgot something and decided to stop at a different store. This store is devoted to aquariams and all the things in them. They have one of the largest fish selections I have ever seen in a pet store - and even have a decent sized shark that lives in this HUGE tank with other oceanic sea life. They even fed the shark while we were there. The kids were ecstatic and one even tried to knock me over on her way to see what was going on!

I saw lots of neat fish that I'd like for our tank including some dalmation molly's and some silver dollars. I hope that we can get some cool fish when it comes time for them. However - this week was all about decorating in order to get the tank fully ready for next week when we can get the fish.

We headed to the front of the store and immediately James checks out a big bridge. I realize that this is his tank so I was willing to get in, until he moves his hand to a stacked stone structure. We both agreed that it was cool but kept looking anyhow. I found this awesome looking stonehenge piece that just so happened to be $3 less than the other so James said that if I wanted it, we could get it. Happy with my find, I look down and see this great little Easter Island head piece. The colours of the rock made them the perfect match to our stonehenge!

After deciding on some glow in the dark plants, we checked out and headed home with dreams of our superawesome fish tank in our heads.

Saturday 5 July 2008

They make great pets, they make great pets!

I've become addicted to looking up dogs on kijiji and on the SPCA websites in the area. I've fallen in love with the idea of having a dog!

There is a slight problem though - we both want a somewhat mutt and don't want to have to pay too much for him. We found Sparky in the paper back when I was 14 and he was a purebred border collie for only $15. James and I are hoping for a similar deal but don't care if they aren't purebred. I love dogs for dogs sake and want one that'll be cute. Me, I lean to a more rotund dog = with a bit of a wider face and body. I want personality that way. I always like a bit bigger dog, but James, he's more into the small to medium size. I can deal with medium, but don't think I can deal with having a super small dog.

He did say the other weekend to some friends that when we get a dog, we don't want to get a puppy, which is true. But it wasn't "if we get a dog" it was "when we get a dog." The wording here is key, because it means he might be considering it - and that makes me happy!!!!

But alas, we instead got this 10gallon fish tank from this guy for $40 and so we are going to get several fish instead. I've been dying to go out and look at stuff for the tank, but James really isn't rushing this time. He wants to make sure the fish are healthy, work well together and that the tank looks nice. Either way, we are getting a new pet which'll be fun and something cool to look at.

Thursday 3 July 2008

some challenge topics

Here are some old challenges they did that I might steal:

  • time lapse
  • fire
  • ice
  • stupid gifts
  • texture
  • perspective
  • beauty in the every day
  • long exposure
  • Something new
  • Scene it (from movies or television)
  • Something Old
  • Photojournalism
  • From the ground up
  • Rainbow
  • Power
  • Motivational Poster
  • Speed
  • Wings
  • Sea (not land)
  • Land (not sea)
  • Weekend
  • Burst of Colour
Yep - those are just a few - these challenges will be tough!

Photo challenge

I got a laptop with the express purpose of writing. And what have I done? I spend all my time looking up places to camp, where to go when we are in Cleveland and stalking my friends on Facebook.

Why is it that I can go anywhere with my computer but instead I chose to stay in one spot and do the same thing over and over?

I need a challenge. And I'm going to find one too!

I've decided that I want to start looking into photo contests. Even if they are just ideas for me and my friends, I want to take a topic, shoot it, and then post them. I'm not sure where I can start with this, but I think the best thing to do is to go researching and get some ideas.

James and I took on one challenge that I found - trying to hold the sun. We were coming home from a blogger meet up in Waterloo and got inspired by the Sleeman building. He blogged about it here.

I just entered "photography challenge" in google and the first page to come up is DPChallenge. I'm going to sign up because it looks really interesting. I don't think I'm good enough to win - but you never know! It'll at least get me going....

WISH ME LUCK!
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