7 Benefits To Being Snowbound

1) Being forced to make homemade bread.

2) Less laundry - housebound kids stay in jammies all day.

3) The snow insulates your roof.

4) Having to live on leftover Christmas chocolate because you've run out of apples and bananas.

5) Having to use Bailey's in your coffee because there's no cream left.

6) The mess of scattered toys in your yard is hidden under the snow.

7) The kids make such a mess in the house that you CAN'T vacuum ;-)


____________________
Return to Jeanne's Blog List

How Often Do You Change Your Carbon Monoxide Detector Batteries?

I was in the kitchen today and out of nowhere heard a familiar chirp... the sound of my carbon monoxide battery indicator. Naturally I had to test and retest and open all my windows and... you get the picture. Omg, it's making a sound, it must mean impending doom.

When I took the detectors (I have two) off the wall, I discovered a post-it note I'd tacked underneath that said the last time I'd installed fresh batteries was December 1, 2007. So I dutifully changed the batteries and updated the post-it.

I'm more aware of carbon monoxide these days, since our furnace is old but our windows are brand new (ironically enough we may have been safer with old drafty windows, lol). My husband wants new couches, but I think our next purchase will be a new furnace.

Meanwhile, at least my alarms have fresh batteries...
____________________
Return to Jeanne's Blog List

My Dog And His Ball

At the moment, we have about a foot of snow in our back yard. As much as my dog loves the snow (being a Husky cross), he loves his ball more. This means that he still insists on having someone throw it for him, regardless of the weather.

In the sun, this is fine. In the rain it's not really fun, but still possible. In the wind, you have to be careful how close to the fence you throw it.

In the snow, you need some kind of infra-red-snow-magic tracking device, or an unusually high tolerance to the sound of madly barking dog.

With EVERY throw, the ball disappears into the depths of the snow. If he sees where it goes (if), he will run to its point of entry and start burrowing like a groundhog. Sometimes he actually finds it.

Most of the time, however, his snow covered head pops up for air, and he looks quizzically at you, waiting for YOU to get down in the snow to root around and find HIS ball.

Uh-huh.

I may have said this before but I'll say it again - he's lucky we love him!!
____________________
Return to Jeanne's Blog List

Baby Powder Saved My Bangs

Warning: girlie post.

(lol)

I recently had bangs cut after being without them for about seven years (prior to that, had 'em my whole life).

It was fun for the first half hour or so: "Whooo!! I look ten years younger!! Why didn't I do this sooner!!"

Then I started remembering... the toque cowlicks, for one (ack). Aaaaand (giant groan) the worst part:

The Oily Bangs Thing.

Not so bad when you're twenty something, but when you're twenty years older than that... oily bangs can ADD ten years to your looks.

Thank GOD for the Internet, that's all I can say. I did a quick Google and read Reese Witherspoon's hairdresser's secret: baby powder!!! Ever since then, I've been dusting my bangs with baby powder as soon as they're dry, and it's worked like a charm.
____________________
Return to Jeanne's Blog List

Help Save Ballet BC

Our city's Ballet troupe, Ballet BC, is in serious financial trouble. I think it would be such a shame to lose a valuable cultural organization such as this. They may have to close their doors in 2009 if their fundraising efforts fail.

Here is a link to their website for more information: http://www.balletbc.com/

I'm trying to get a group of fellow Moms together to take our daughters to see a performance of the Nutcracker. If you're contemplating doing the same, here's the Ticketmaster link:

http://www.ticketmaster.ca/Ballet-BC-Presents-Moscow-Classical-Ballets-Nutcracker-tickets/artist/1276719?list_view=1

Good luck to everyone at Ballet BC - let's keep their doors open and the dancers in our city!


____________________
Return to Jeanne's Blog List

Let It Snow!!!

Finally...

We (the kids and I) have been itching for some of the white stuff, and now we've gotten our wish!!

Mind you it's quite wet, so I don't know how long it will stay, but hey, it's beautiful to look at as it's falling from the sky :-)
____________________
Return to Jeanne's Blog List

Making A Dog Bed

I'm sensing a theme here (woof ;-)

So we bought our pup a dog bed. We bought it from one of those large chain pet supply stores (love going in them, but my Visa doesn't!!). Our dog is a large breed - he's a shepherd cross and is about 75 pounds and is 27 inches at the shoulder, so we bought him a large bed.

It cost $100.00.

It is, basically, a large piece of foam with a giant zippered cover. The cover is very durable, and is covered on one side with faux fur for additional comfort. But still.... a hundred bucks? Really??

Hmmmm. If I had a sewing machine....

You could go to any fabric store, I'm sure, and get a tough nylon sort of fabric, and a zipper long enough for one side. Then all you'd have to do is make it into a giant pillow case and fill it.

Foam is only one option for filler - you could even save Styrofoam and use that instead (tip - make a second bag to go inside to hold the Styrofoam - this one can be less durable fabric - so that when the cover gets dirty and needs washing it's easy to remove the filling).

I wish I'd thought of this idea before Hubby went to the pet store with his MasterCard ;-)

____________________
Return to Jeanne's Blog List

Dog Training That Works

More on the subject of dogs... not only have I been witness to the construction of the best dog fence ever (yay Dad!!), but I've also dealt with pretty darn good trainers as well.

Our current dog had aggression issues towards other dogs, which made him hard to walk. We enlisted the aid of Custom Canine, and learned some really neat tricks as to how to get through to our pup.

Their training is completely non-aggressive and psychology based (for instance, they don't use choker collars). They focus on speaking the language of the dog - as in, understanding what motivates certain behaviour and creating different motivation.

For example, let's say your dog is pulling on a leash. Other training methods would advocate yanking on a choke collar to curb this behaviour.

Custom Canine, on the other hand, considers the dog's motivation for pulling: he wants to go!! So what do you do? You stop. (Or more specifically, you take the dog by the collar and turn around in a circle and then stop.) Once the dog has stopped pulling (allowing the leash to be slack) then you start walking again. If the dog starts to pull again, you stop.

The dog will eventually figure out that if he is to get anywhere, he mustn't pull on the leash.

There are many many similar tips and tricks such as this that they teach, and believe me, they work. A simple way to sum up their method of dog training is that it's not dog training so much as it is owner training ;-)

____________________
Return to Jeanne's Blog List

Building A Good Dog Fence

Yes, this blog is truly "anything and everything", lol.

Friends of mine just got a new pup, and it took me back to my childhood and all the dogs we had. We were talking about dog fences (they have a nice sized yard in Coquitlam) and it reminded me of the wonderful fence my Dad built for our Husky when I was in high school.

(For those of you unfamiliar with the Husky breed, they DIG, and are professional escape artists).

Anyway, about the dog fence:

Supplies:

• Diamond wire
• Logs
• Shovel
• Hole making tool (don't you love my high tech terminology? ;-)

Procedure:

• Make holes at even intervals where the vertical posts will be.
• Dig trenches in the ground to connect the holes.
• Attach diamond wire to vertical posts, with the bottom of the wire touching the bottom of the trenches.
• Lay logs in the trenches and attach the bottom of the diamond wire to the logs.
• Fill the trenches, burying the logs.

The net result is a dog fence that even the most over zealous digger can't get beneath. It's a lot of work to install this particular fence, but it's worth the effort.

____________________
Return to Jeanne's Blog List

Christmas Is Coming!!!

We set up the tree today, and decorated the house. The kids and I had a blast, while Hubby watched with a smile. Happy December, everyone!
____________________
Return to Jeanne's Blog List

Migraine Auras

I get migraine auras. I'm having one at the moment, so I thought I'd look it up, and found this awesome vid at Mayoclinic.com.

The only symptom I suffer from is the visual aura, and sure enough as they say, it lasts about thirty minutes. I have yet to identify a trigger, although I do chart them. Luckily for my peace of mind they only happen about 3-4 times per year (and December is a common month for me, which makes me think maybe it's Christmas stress?). Who knows.

All I know is that as I'm typing this, it's fading away... yippeee!!
____________________
Return to Jeanne's Blog List