International Rockers Remembrance Day

Is it an official holiday?  We kind of doubt it, but are certain it should be so.  Today marks two years since Mr. Rockers passed away.

Janet finds it hard to believe that two years have passed by as there is rarely a day she doesn't think about him.

Back in the day, they used to be able to do this:

Janet says Noodles used to spend hours on the bed, looking out the window.  This bed is in the spare room as Rockers was too big to jump up on Janet and Phil's bed.

Rockers says, "Come on, Phil...we goin' for a walk or what?"

The one and only time Noodles ever slept at the end of the hallway was when Rockers was sick.  It was like she knew there was something wrong.  If only she could have conveyed it to Janet and Phil.  Janet took the photo as it was an unusual spot for Noodles to sleep.

This is the evening before Rockers passed away.  Neither Janet nor Phil had a clue he was so ill.

Lovely, lovely Mr. Rockers.

 

In the meantime, over in Idiotville, we are trooping it out.  The first day of Daylight Savings Time was a major learning curve for these two fools.  Janet adjusted all the clocks Saturday night and went to bed.  She woke up at 8AM on Sunday and was as refreshed as could possibly be.  She and Phil watched one of their favourite Brit shows and then Phil got ready for an 11AM appointment.

 Phil comes storming down the hallway and wants to know why Janet didn't tell him the clocks had been changed.  Janet gets on her high horse and lets him know in a very snippy fashion "I changed every clock in the house, with the exception of your wristwatch, so not quite sure how you could  have missed it!"  Turns out Mensa Club Janet turned the clocks back instead of forward!  Her 8AM wake up was really 10AM.  Watching the TV show until 10:30AM was really half past noon.  Needless to say, the morning was shot and Phil missed his 11AM appointment as now it's 1PM.

Then, just for fun, she dropped her iPhone in the toilet!  Turns out it's OK.  Sheesh!

We went for the big puppy dog walk today - that's the one where Noodles stays home.  I spotted a couple of tennis balls inside the court at Windsor Park so Janet opened up the gate for me.

Kill joy Phil refused to stand by whilst I shredded the ball.  Off we go again!

Janet loves the Dinner With Julie blog.  She often makes this Tortellini dish with spinach and Italian sausage.  Phil bought the tortellini and the spinach at Save On Foods.

Low and behold, when Phil took a bite, he came across this:

They think it was part of the processing equipment.  Phil went back the next day to  bitch and get something for free  let them know for the greater good of humanity, lest fellow consumers fall prey.  Turns out being a humanitarian pays off as they gave him a $50 gift card that he snatched before they changed their minds graciously accepted after declining several times.

Remember the self sorting peppers at Janet's volunteer job?  Last week it was colourful cauliflower!

We doggies really miss Rockers, but we still love each other.

A rare moment when Noodles is awake!  Good night all.

We Get A Staycation!

Phil went skiing.  He usually goes once or twice a year with his friend Dave, who has a house in Whistler and some other guys.  We doggies were sad that he was leaving.  Janet couldn't even be bothered to fake it!  It was two non cooking, non cleaning days of silence.  AKA - Heaven!  Here is what Janet didn't have to do while Phil was gone:

It's kind of hard to tell from the photo, but everyday, without fail, Phil puts his fingerprints all over the microwave.  Janet cleans it every day, but the next day, they are back again.

Muddy shoes - this is also an everyday activity in Janet's life.  Phil sits on the bottom step going upstairs, puts on his muddy shoes and then Janet cleans them up.

Speaking of activities, Janet did the unthinkable.  She returned to yoga!  She knew she had been gone for awhile, but turns out it's been nearly two years!  The good news is she returned.  The bad news is she is more lame than ever and can give up the dream in her head that she still has some flexibility.  She was so lame, fellow students (who appeared to be way more advanced than beginner!) were giving her a hand.  Janet, by accident chose the front row.  Next weeks game plan - go early and snag the back row!

As painful as it was, she felt better after the class.

 Janet was rushing out of the house to get to yoga and quickly grabbed a bottle of water to drink in the car.  There were two in the frig - a sealed bottle and and unsealed bottle that Mr. Baby toted around for days and had been refilled.  Janet grabbed the unsealed bottle by accident.  It tasted awful and had all kinds of particles settling in the bottom!

Before Phil left, they had Karen over for dinner as Ken was out of town.  Jeremy's girlfriend, Heidi is a professional chef and kindly gave Janet her recipe for Butter Chicken.  She also made Tarka Dhal and Phil purchased some fresh made naan from the Indian grocery store.  It was still warm when it arrived home!

I'm back in the ball business!  Three this spring already.  Janet says they are from last years baseball games, so we aren't allowed to count them as part of this years tally.

I think I've found it Janet!

I'm on my way to get it!

Well done, if I do say so myself.

A few days ago, I had a very unfortunate incident whilst climbing up the front steps.  I still had my leash on and somehow managed to step on the leash midway to the next step.  I was very frightened and now won't walk up the steps if my leash is loose.

I'm trying to play hard to get, but in the end Janet shut the front door and I had to cave.

Noodles newest gig is watching for the front door to be left open.  With the speed of lightening, she is off the sofa and out the door.  Noodles other latest gig is to go outside and bark at the fresh air.

This falls into the "how stupid can you be" department.  There was a bake sale at Phil's office as a fundraiser for a realtor who goes to Honduras to build schools.  This year they are building a clinic.  Janet never got around to the baking all weekend long.  She could have waited until the bake sale was over and say to Phil "Golly, gee Phil!  I plum forgot!"  No - she is so dense she tells him that she feels guilty for not having done anything.  Fool!  Janet is hugely motivated by guilt, which Phil didn't hesitate to lay on thick - even going so far as to say he wouldn't be able to go to the office for several days.  End result:

The Honduran flag is blue and white.

Another Week Flies By!

Where does the time go?  We sleep, eat, sleep, go for walks and sleep some more.  Except in the case of Noodles where you need to toss in some relentless pacing, staring at nothing and barking at nothing!

Phil spent some time next door helping do a couple of things and had a tiny little helper whose name is Wolf.  By the way, Wolf is the one with the tiny little bum!  Wolf and his handlers moved in at the start of January and he is a little rock star!

Look at this pretty array of chopped peppers from Janet's work:

They kind of layered themselves.

This week marks 7 years Janet has been a volunteer at Our Place!  She can't believe how quickly the time has gone by.  She helps Patricia, who is the Program Coordinator on Mondays and Patricia was kind enough to give Janet some flowers.  Janet was afraid she was going to cry!

Now that the weather is nicer and the Fitbit is waging a guilt battle, both Janet and Phil are trying to walk more.  Top record for Janet - 19,000 steps in one day!  She walked by this little stand when she took an unusual way home from "work".

We watched some Finley TV

Who needs Netflix?

They are still finding little reminders of his visit.

Quilting!  This is Janet's newest favourite.  She loved making the little squares in the centre.

First three blocks.

Whole top, waiting to go to Longarm Arlene.

Janet loves this pattern and wants to extrapolate it into Queen bed size, but needs to get some help.  We are not being modest when we say math is not one of her strong suits.

This one is also hot off the sewing machine.

She made this one in blue and another one in red tone fabrics.

Off to bed...good night everyone!

How can you not just love my blocky little head?  If this persons bed was mine, I would tidy up the bed cover!

Family Day Weekend - Activity Edition

Except for when he is sleeping, Finley could otherwise be known as "Action Jackson".  He pretty much moves all day.

On the first day they were here, Janet needed to go to the Hairdressers to purchase some hair care product.  She, Finley, Derek, Noodles and I all trooped out the door.  Noodles was walking really slowly and it was getting dark and windy, so Janet asked Derek if he would take Noodles home so we could pick up the pace.

On the way home, we went to the beach playground.

Finley had some snacks, but Yaya's hands were freezing, so she convinced him to eat them on the way home.

They also went to the park at the end of our street.  This is the park Meg says she is going to spearhead a movement to change from Fireman's Park to Firefighter's Park.

The whole family went, and yes, we mean everyone!  Janet was worried that it might be necessary to bust out the Iron Lung, but all went well.

Janet was angry with Bronwyn because she made me go down the slide!  I'm a puppy for f**k sake and don't want to go down stupid slides.

Look at my little toe nails....hanging on for dear life~

Finley loves his scotch tape.  He "fixed" many things in the house.  The kind of thing you might not think of repairing, like the cracks in the floor:

 Noodles tail:

Noodles didn't even know she had a problem with her tail!

"Watch this Yaya......I fix it with a big piece!"

When not "fixing" things, he tapped into his musical side.

Janet is surprised we went as long as we did without Finley figuring out the piano.

And helped his Grandpa write up a contract:

"Grandpa...I know black ink is the proper colour for official documents, but how about we kick it up a notch with yellow and pink?"

Then, they got Craftsy!  Finley loves what they call "Circle Time" at his daycare.  Felt shapes that are attached to a felt board.  Yaya dusted the moths off Grandpa's wallet and dropped the bomb on some felt and plastic board at Michaels.  She is also now an avid coupon clipper (keep this on the down low, please!) and cut out the 40% of coupon and took it with her.

They made different shapes and even some characters from Gruffalo!

The piece d' resistance was Banana's bacon!

The adults had a rousing round of of what is probably the most ignorant game in the world - Cards Against Humanity.  It is well worth the price of admission.  For Janet, the funniest part is watching her children split a gut and/or try not to split a gut.

Starting on the left - Bronwyn, Meg, Banana, Heidi and Jer.  No, it's not cold in our house - toques are a fashion statement.

Here's Janet, trying really hard not to crack up.

Janet hopes and prays Briana doesn't get it into her head to move to Vegas and become a croupier at a casino.  It will not go well.

Concentrating, concentrating.

 This getup is also a fashion statement in our super cozy uninsulated home.

Before we knew it, everyone had to go home.  We are used to the silence now, but at first it was really hard to get used to.

Fortunately for us,  Finley leaves little treasures that we find after they have left and we are reminded of his visit.

Fixed Grandpa's pillow cover.