It's so cold...

As I sat in my car facing into oncoming traffic this morning on the Yellowhead, waiting for a break in traffic where I could extricate my car from the snowbank it had spun into, I cursed winter. Especially when, between snow and cold, getting anywhere gets quite sketchy. I mean, it's really winter right now. Nastily winter. Then I thought, Hmm... Maybe I can make this a community thing. So everyone, get on board! If you live in Alberta (or remember living in Alberta and how it sometimes gets), post some "It's so cold..."s on your weblog. If you don't have a weblog, feel free to use the comments.

For me? It's so cold...

...you rethink your carefully planned meals for the week to make sure there's warm things every day.
...you wish your dog was toilet trained, for his sake more than anything.
...opening the cupboard to put away a travel mug and getting that unmistakable whiff of hot chocolate (when you aren't allowed to have any) is cruel and unusual punishment.
...your knuckles split open even worse than before, just because it's so cold. Lotion does not seem to help the situation.
...you wish not for a tropical vacation (though that would be awesome), but for a return to -5 temperatures. That would be nearly tropical!
...you think about revisiting this idea in seven months or so, when the temperature has gone up 70 to 80 degrees and you'll be complaining about how hot it is. Then you realize just how much temperature 70 to 80 degrees is, and boggle.

Turtlephant revisited

Done!

The world is not flat

Priest likes yarn. Which would be fine, except now I have to figure out how to protect my knitting and crocheting projects when he has free reign in the house. I confirmed this yesterday, when I brought down a skein of black yarn and he picked it up and took it to his Xpen as a toy. I had an inkling of his yarn fetish earlier, as he was inordinately fascinated by my knitting and crocheting, but this just confirmed it. Alas, it's string. He can't have string to play with and eat. I'll just have to figure out how best to keep him safe from it.

I brought down the black yarn to stitch eyes onto my turtlephant. Turtlephant, you say? What's a turtlephant?



This, my friends, is a turtlephant. It is, in fact, the first non-flat thing I've ever crafted from yarn. (Waits for the chorus of 'Oooooo's) It's supposed to look like this:



I can't for the life of me find the safety eyes the pattern calls for, and not for lack of trying, both in Calgary and Edmonton. I think the fasteners probably have a large part to do with shaping the beast. But I'll persevere. It will be finished, even if with stitched on eyes and stuffed with cotton balls...

This is also the third time I've tried to make the darn thing. I had this brilliant idea in November to make a cute little fluffy pink elephant for Karen H for Christmas (inside joke, but it would have been great!). I went out and bought yarn. Learned how to magic-circle. Did two rows. Gave up. The yarn was too fluffy, and I couldn't see the stitches. Whatever else, in crochet, you have to see the stitches. Went out and bought another skein of pink yarn, less fluffy. Magic circled. Got through three rows. Same thing. Just too fluffy. Then Christmas craziness was upon me and I shelved the idea. I'd find a knitted elephant pattern for the too-fluffy-to-crochet yarn. But now it was a battle of wills between myself and the pattern. Went and got some leftover gray from the Harry Potter scarves, and started again this week. And got a turtlephant.

Looks may improve once the ears are stitched on and it's stuffed. I did rescue my black yarn from Priest and stitched some eyes on it. Now it just looks... odd. More elephanty than turtley, but still not quite... right. Ah well. I will post a picture when it's done. Whatever else, this experience has taught me that not all threadwork needs be flat (or variations thereof), and not flat is not really that hard. A whole new world has opened. We'll see where it takes me.

May you live in interesting times

Was it a good idea to do everything at once? Maybe not. But that's the situation, so we have to live.

Priest is settling in pretty well. He's only had one accident so far, but we'll (meaning I'll) be a bit more strict about letting him out often. He hangs out in his Xpen more often than not (we had to put the crate away 'cause he just wouldn't go in it), and eats like it's his last meal despite the two tennis balls in his food dish he has to get around. We may need to add a third... The morning walks are good, though he hates his temporary jacket (which was one of mine). He talks about it in his post today. But I've been too tired to go with Mike and him most evenings.

And this is where I wonder if all the changes at once was a good idea. Since Monday, I've been doing the diet recommendations that the nutritionist gave me. No wheat except sprouted and unyeasted, no dairy, no sugar, lots of veggies, and no animal protein with carbohydrates. About Wednesday, the nasties in my system were doing their best Wicked Witch of the West impression ("I'm melting, meeeeelllllllltttttting!"), even now I continue to be not too interested in food, though the nausea has subsided somewhat. The actual supplement part of the cleanse should be arriving today, which means the next three weeks are going to be... interesting. Especially finding things to cook. But I've asked her to send me a cookbook as well, so that should help. Dad, I promise, when you come up, you won't starve, but you'll definitely be eating some different things. If you want something in particular for any meal, let me know so I can buy it ahead of time.

Mike gets to cheat with his breakfasts, lunches, and snacks, but he is also trying to eat a little differently for those (i.e. breakfast pita from Costco with organic peanut butter instead of bagel with cream cheese for breakfast). But not me. I get to have plain yoghurt with flax and pumpkin seed cereal on top for a snack. And leftovers or sprouted wheat tortillas with hummus and pumpkin and sunflower seeds and vegetables for lunch. And cereal with soy milk for breakfast.

I really miss wheat. And cheese. Together. *sigh*

More pictures of Priest in a new album on Picasa: Priest.

Welcome Priest

We're glad you're here, even if you aren't sure yet.

Slightly nuts...

The past two weeks (two weeks? Is that it?) have been dominated by preparations. We have a nice house, but it isn't dog-proof by any stretch of the imagination.

A dog. I haven't had too many "Oh my goodness, what are we doing" moments, and not in the last two weeks, as that's the time since we met our first greyhound. Wanda came into the house, found the blanket we'd set out for her almost immediately, and proceeded to ignore Mike completely for the whole visit. Alas, we can be flexible on a number of things personality-wise, but the dog has to like Mike. Shane liked Mike, and we liked him, but we don't have the right house for him. We're not home enough for the dog he turned out to be now that he's been re-fostered. So this weekend, we're going to Red Deer to meet Priest and Chopper, and if one of them is the right dog, as of Sunday night, we will be dog owners.

I wish I'd taken a picture of Mike this past Saturday, standing in PetSmart surrounded by about eight greyhounds, perfectly content.

This process has consumed our lives to the point where I really have nothing else to talk about. Once it's over, and we have a dog and can settle into a new routine, I'm sure I'll be able to pick out the nuggets of our life experience to share here. In the meantime, we're getting the house ready, and we've turned...



...slightly crazy for dog renos!