It’s a whole new year, which has begun for me exactly the same way every year begins. Writing the wrong year on cheque after cheque, crossing out the wrong year, writing in the right year, then initialing it. Some things never change. Why do we need to initial things, anyway? The cashier at the grocery store always asks me to initial my receipt when I get cash back, so of course I do, then she gives me the receipt which I just initialed, and I put it in my purse and walk away. Do my own initials on the receipt just serve as a reminder to me, in case I’m wondering, ‘hey! Where did I get this 40 dollars from’? Why do I suddenly have 40 dollars? Oh, phew, those are my initials on a grocery receipt. I signed that myself so now I why I have 40 dollars.
Some people go to the bank machine and take out a couple hundred dollars for their spending money, which may last a few days at a time, maybe even a week or two. If I take two hundred dollars out of the bank, it will last me exactly the amount of time it takes to walk by a store window. Doesn’t matter what it is, if it costs $200 and its in a store window, and I have $200 in my purse, I will buy it. That’s why I usually only take $20.00 out of the bank. Twenty dollars in my wallet will last much longer than $200. Because I never see anything I want for 20.00. But if it costs $200.00, I am definitely buying.
It took almost a year, but I finally saw the movie ‘Little Miss Sunshine’. What a great movie! It had hints of ‘National Lampoon’s Vacation’, but it was smarter and had much better acting. Although I don’t think Christie Brinkley was cast in ‘Vacation’ because of her acting ability. If you get a chance to see ‘Little Miss Sunshine’, don’t miss it. It’s a feel-good movie with an ‘edge’, and a very cool message too.
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas/ New Year holiday. While on vacation, I spent a lot of time trying to move a squirrel. He moved into my laundry room. One day the squirrel ran past me while I was folding clothes on top of the dryer. If you can call it running, I’m not sure that’s the proper term for a squirrel scurrying past with his four paws clinging carefully, belly pressed firmly against the wall, the whole time spewing squirrel swear words at me. I’m not sure why he was so angry with me, considering that I’d given him a roof over his head and fairly easy access to a big plastic tub filled with sunflower seeds for my birdfeeder. My husband set up a humane live trap, filled it with sunflower seeds, and within a couple of hours the squirrel was in the trap! I let him out the back door and watched him scurry away. Within about five minutes he was back in the laundry room. We set the trap again. A few hours later I went to the laundry room and checked on the trap. This time, there was one squirrel IN the trap, and one squirrel OUTSIDE the trap busily trying to open the latch to help free the captured squirrel. The trap went outside again, and everyone ran free. I like the fact that my squirrels get some fresh air every once in a while. As I write this, they are both back in the laundry room, doing whatever squirrels do in a laundry room. I have stopped short of setting up a tv for them.
I have 2 squirrels that have found a secret entrance to my laundry room. This is one of them. I don't stand a chance.
JR: hey, who needs a bag of deer food? The deer thats been hanging around my backyard has moved on, and I'm stuck with a 50 pound bag of deer chow.
THE OFFICIAL MIKE FISHER FAN CLUB is finally here! If you already have a Mike Fisher / Coca Cola cardboard cut-out, you know how much fun THAT is! And if you DON'T have one, winning your own stand-up Mike is just ONE of the perks of being in the fan club! For example, above is a photo of Mike in a beautiful fall setting. 
Have you seen this puppy? Her name is Cinder, and she has gone missing. Cinder disappeared behind the Merivale Mall area on January 8th 2008, and her owners have been searching everywhere, including the Humane Society, but no luck. There is a $100 reward for her return. If you have any information, please contact Keisha Pelletier at 613-421-9673. p.s. this photo of Cinder was taken when she was 7 weeks old, and she is now 4 months... so she's a bit bigger! Let's keep our fingers crossed for Cinder's safe return.
Only 2 shopping hours left til Christmas! As I write this, my own husband is frantically driving around the streets of Ottawa, searching for stuff. He is joined by thousands of other husbands. 
Its BACK!!! Sens Army: Operation Barbados!! 
This is Conner. Conner was found as a stray puppy in the Port Hope area, and his prognosis was not good. Last night, I was part of a transport team to bring Conner to the Westminster Pet Sanctuary just east of Ottawa. My husband and I met Conner in Kingston and after quite a few licks on the face, we were on our journey. This sweet lab-mix puppy is now under the care of Kelli LeBlanc at the Westminster Pet Sanctuary (and medical care from Alta Vista Animal Hospital). The Westminster Pet Sanctuary rescues 'special needs' pets, which can be quite costly. Connor will get the help he needs, then he will be available for adoption. Please consider donating to help Conner (and many others like him) at the Westminster Pet Sanctuary, www.westminsterpetsanctuary.com or call 613-673-2699. $10 or $ 15 goes a long way for these animals. And who knows? Conner may just become part of your family. I can vouch for him. This is one gorgeous puppy, inside and out. You'll love him!!!! 
Happy Thanksgiving to our friends in the USA! I love American Thanksgiving because I love having a holiday so much, I can actually enjoy someone else's holiday through osmosis. Just knowing a country next to ours is having a holiday makes me happy. Plus, there are neat things on tv when its American Thanksgiving. The Macys Parade, daytime football, and I just watched the 'National Dog Show', where 2000 dogs competed for 'Best in show'! And the winner was a female Australian shepherd, like the one picture above. I didn't catch her name, and this picture isn't the actual winner, because I can't find her picture on the internet anywhere, because she just won ten minutes ago, but I was so excited when she won, that I found a picture of someone else's Australian shepherd. Yes, I do own two Australian shepherds, but I am in no way biased towards the breed.