The Museum Misfit

Well, we're in September now and it's just zipping by!!! Yesterday was Abigail's 1st birthday. It's hard to believe she's a year old already. I wonder when the next niece or nephew will be announced. Hopefully my own will be before that. I'm growing impatient!!! We are moving along with the fertility centre though. I have two ultrasounds this month, neither of which I am particularly looking forward to... I haven't heard anything about our blood work that we both got done, so I assume that's ok. I guess we just wait for some results that can indicate where the problem lays.

Eric is now gone for his training in North Carolina. He left only a half an hour ago actually. It's going to be a long and lonely week. We haven't been apart for this long since we were dating. At least I now have our dog to keep me company, and he does a very fine job of it. Mostly, he sleeps, but he makes certain to sleep right beside you, so at least you end up with the cuddle bug right next to you should you ever feel a pang on loneliness. Eric is gone from today until Saturday the 20th. When he gets back, we'll be heading off to the Sens opening pre-season game. I bought Eric half-season tickets to the Sens, and our friend Angela bought her husband, Jean, a seat right beside him. Neither Angela nor myself have any desire to go to 20 games, so we each bought our husbands their tickets and washed our hands of going. Jean and Eric have been friends since childhood. They have plenty of stories, but they got separated for whatever reason (I'm actually surprised I don't know it) and then found each other on facebook. It's amusing because Eric was initially against facebook and Jean rarely ever uses it, so I think it's a little bit of fate that brought them to facebook so they could ultimately reunite. Jean is a very kind person and I am truly glad Eric and he are friends again. We do so much with Jean and Angela. Jean and Eric are like two peas in a pod and are SO much alike it is uncanny, but given that they are in fact so much alike, it's really no surprise that I connect so well with Jean and I truly value his personality. Angela and I are similar in some ways, but we do have some dissimilarities. Mainly, she likes some things I don't, which is normal. Sometimes she also has a bit of a different approach to things than what I would take, but I would never fault her for it because she's her own person with her own methods. I might be similar, but I certainly don't expect that to mean that she must do things as I do them. But, I digress... Eric is gone and I miss him already. He tried to make his departure a very pleasant one and I believe he succeeded. We spent a lot of time together and he left a cute message written on the bathroom mirror. I made him a big breakfast before he left so that he wouldn't have to try to settle for the crappy foods in the airport. When we went to Grenada, we stopped over in Toronto and the available food was not at all enticing. It was some privately owned thing with crappy sandwiches that were highly overpriced. But anyway, let's move on.

I finally went to see my Dad. I hadn't seen him in 7 months or so, so it was really nice to see him again. Eric and I went to Mississauga for Eric's work and then went to my Dad's for the remainder of our time out there. We visited several places like the Hockey Hall of Fame and the Kingston Penitentiary Museum. We also ambitiously jumped off of the Go Train in Rouge Hill because we saw a park we liked. It was a very relaxing trip and it was great because both of us were on vacation at the same time. Who could ask for anything more?

Well, I am pretty tired. I have been up for a while. I am going to finish this up and will try to write later this week!

Well, once again, it's time for an update. It's tough to keep up with my LJ lately because I work such sucky hours at work. I used to have access to my email and stuff, but not anymore. AT&T says, "uh uh, no way jose!" and thus, I am behind in my communications. I am very tired, so if I become incoherent, please forgive me. :)

So! Where do I begin??? I guess the latest news is that mommy dearest has come back to Ottawa. She ran into trouble again in London and my loving hubby went to go get her. He drove 7 hours each way with our friend Chris. I know she is thankful to him for doing it but I also know that he did it for me. Sometimes Eric does things that make you look at him in wonder... I would never ever have thought he would do it. He was so angry at her for leaving last time and hurting me yet again, so I didn't think he wanted anything to do with the situation. It was his idea though that he go get her. He hates seeing me hurt and hates seeing me go through something unnecessary, so he went and got her. I think deep down he wishes she would realize that he does these things because he loves me so much and he wants to set an example - that you should never take for granted those you love and you should be willing to do whatever it takes to ensure their happiness. She will undoubtedly read this and will ask questions. She might be defensive when she does, but she doesn't need to. She should be happy that I have found someone like him. Anyway, my mom is staying in my storage room in the basement. It's not as bad as it sounds, trust me. She has a double bed and a computer on our old kitchen table in there and still has plenty of room. She's quite fine, I assure you!

In other news, my stepsister separated from her husband and I only just discovered this. Apparently they have been apart for several months. I just found out when I went to my sister's for dinner. The funny thing is that I do speak to my Dad and I ask him what is new in his life and he always says "nothing much" and often I find out several months later that something big is going on, such as this. For privacy reasons, I won't divulge the details or my feelings on the matter because I don't believe they would be warmly accepted if seen on a blog... I'm sure you all understand. :)

Lastly, I went to Tim Horton's yesterday before I went to my sister's for dinner and saw quite the scene. My Mom went in and grabbed coffees and such, and then she came out and got in the car. We were just passing the cups around the car to the appropriate drinker and then BANG! This car goes flying into the wall of Tim Hortons and wasn't slowing down. Her car even climbed the wall a bit as she was still accelerating. The car then kind of forced itself off of the wall and turned a bit. Bricks were flying everywhere - there was brick surrounding the trash can and she hit that but luckily didn't go through the building, miraculously. Finally the car stopped. Eric and I jumped out of our own car and I yelled at mom to stay with the dog. We went to make sure that no one was hurt, and a woman and a man got out of the car. They both said they were fine, but they were clearly in shock. They started to pick up bricks from the ground and the woman was kind of laughing, but not. She was saying she meant to brake but she hit the gas instead. She seemed pretty out of it. Extremely calm. She could've been picking flowers in a meadow... I tried to distract her and asked her to just stand with me and chat. She did for a minute or two and then she went back to picking up bricks with her husband. Finally, the police arrived. This one guy went and was trying to take pictures with his phone and the officer asked why he seemed particularly interested in the accident and the man said he worked for an insurance company and that this would probably be coming to him. The officer turned and looked at us and then shook his head and asked him to repeat it and the man said, again, that he worked for an insurance company and come Monday, this would likely be on his desk. The man looked really shady. He would be perfect for one of those commercials about people who hate insurance agents. The officer let him be and then got some bystanders to leave and then he spoke to us thinking we were bystanders and we said that we saw he whole thing and didn't want to leave in case he needed to talk to us and also said that we remained to make sure the couple were alright. I told him that the driver looked quite shaken and disoriented, so I wanted to ensure she was alright. He kind of blew me off and told me I didn't need to be there and I could just get going now. I actually found him quite rude and I was surprised that he didn't want our names or to talk to us considering the circumstances. Anyway, we got back in the car and the insurance man was still taking pictures with his cell phone and was getting right up to the car. The officer yelled at him and told him he was disturbing a crime scene and would have to get off of the grass. I'm sure that's partly true, but I think the officer was using it as more of a tactic to get the man to get the hell away. He reminded me of a rodent... Anyway, we left and went to the Parkdale Market to buy some corn on the cob and then we went to Marcia's for dinner which consisted of delicious steak with Corn on the Cob. MMMmmmmm!!!

So, that's my update for today! Cheers everyone!

It's been awhile (again) since I wrote anything here. I've been so busy!!! I'm in training at work now for 8 weeks and I don't get up in the morning until around 11:30am +/- and I start work at 3:45pm... I get off work at 11:45pm and I get home around 12:15am... Then I go to bed around 2:30am... I do try to keep up with the house work and such in between, but I'm not always successful. It's irritating to say the least.

My news? Well, Jessica had a baby boy on July 14th. His name is Brody and he came in weighing 9 lbs 5 oz! He was a big boy! He's very sweet and Jessica is absolutely enamoured with him, as she should be!

Also, Eric booked our weekend Getaway. I wanted to go to Montreal and stay for a couple of days. Eric booked a trip for us to stay at the Quality Inn & Suites Montréal Brossard for $375.00 and it includes 2 admission tickets for 2 days at Parc Safari, 2 admission tickets to AML Cruises (90 minutes), 2 admission tickets to Montréal botanical garden and Insectarium, 2 admission tickets to the Montréal Biodôme and 2-night stay at the hotel. We're making it a couple's weekend and are going with Jean and Angela. I'm very excited. It certainly isn't Cuba, but it's still fabulous fun! No one said you have to go far from home to have a great time! Apparently there is a bead show that Angela wants to go see, so she and I will do that and Eric and Jean will go elsewhere. We're leaving on the 15th of August and coming back on the 17th of August. Yay!

On a bit of a sad note, I haven't seen my Dad in about 8 months... Hopefully I'll be able to go see him soon, but I have my doubts... I might be able to pull off a trip for thanksgiving, but there are no guarantees there. By then it will be 10 months. :( I think I went earlier this year but I don't really remember when it was. I think I went in the beginning of January with my sister. She must've gone like 5 or 6 times since then, I swear!!! Anyway, that's kind of sad. I wish he could come out here sometimes. I know he finds it hard with his restless leg syndrome, but... I kind of feel a bit like a black sheep in the family and am longing for a bit of attention... Is that so wrong?

Anyway, that's my update. My mom reminded me that I haven't written anything in awhile, so I thought I would take the opportunity to do it right now. I hope everyone is doing well!

We just got another dog. His name is Reese. He is a Rottweiler mix and we thought he looked like a peanut butter cup, so we named him Reese! We just got back from a walk and it was eventful to say the least. We brought the dogs to a pond near Eric's parent's house. The superintendent or whatever he was (he wore a uniform) came towards me asking me if I am blind. I said "Excuse me?" and he asked me again, very rudely, if I am blind. I said, "No I am not blind and I don't appreciate you speaking to me that way!" He said I must be blind because there is a sign at the entrance that says no dogs allowed. I told him I didn't see it and he told me to leave and I told him that it was fine and that I would leave without a problem but he could at least ask me politely instead of being ignorant about it. He told me to get out, and I told him he was acting like a 5 year old speaking to someone that way. He flipped his hands to me and said to get out. I left with the dogs and as we were walking back, I saw the signs which are brown and have plants in front of them. I yelled back, "You mean these signs here that are covered by bushes???" Then, we were walking through the parking lot to leave and someone ELSE came to me and says, "There are signs all along here that you can't bring dogs here. Maybe you should find your way back to the road." and I yelled at him. I said, "Fine, I get that and I didn't see them. What do you want me to do? Fly over the buildings? I have to walk here to get back. Just leave us alone, alright?" and I walked away.

I was SO angry! How dare they speak to people like that. I don't think I have ever been treated so rudely by strangers in all of my life!!! Not to mention, how many times do you find a parking lot that you can't walk a dog in? I wasn't looking for signs... It was a parking lot! I did see them afterwards and they're in front of some of the parking spaces. Seriously, I was not even thinking it would not be alright to walk them through a parking lot... Why would I?

As it turns out, Eric isn't sure he wants Reese. We're going to give it a few days and see what happens. Eric feels like we're putting Sparky on a back burner and that Reese is going to require too much time to train him properly. From what I can tell so far, he's already trained part-way and it won't take much to finish him up. We'll see what happens. I put him on Kijiji to see what happens... If someone chooses to pay $200 for him, I'll do it just to keep the peace. Eric says he didn't want him to begin with. He said he wanted to discuss it but in an effort to avoid an argument, he gave in... I took it as him trying to be responsible and kept pressing. I didn't know he would be so resentful... I have no problem keeping Reese, but if Eric is this insistent about it and really against it, I'll sell him. I can't give him away because he cost $200! :p What do you guys think?

We all have dreams and ambitions, and I never really knew what mine were. I thought I would really enjoy a variety of professions ranging from teaching to hairstyling to driving a bus, but I don't think I've ever been so passionate about something as I am about dogs. Of course I would be passionate about dogs since it's something I don't think that I can achieve.

I'm a fan of "The Dog Whisperer" featuring Cesar Milan. Some of you might have heard of it or you might even watch it. If you haven't, then I highly recommend it. This guy is my hero. If I could do what he does, I would be in heaven. I aspire to become the Canadian Dog Whisperer. It likely won't happen, but if I could, I would. My dream is to own a large piece of land and have a big house with a huge acreage, all fenced in, and I would have a TON of dogs. Not one of them would be paid for. I would have a rescue home. There are so many dogs out there that are being abused... I would love to be their saviour.

My other ambition is to build the ultimate dog park! Ohhh, the plans I have. I'll save that for another post though...

Cheerio People!!! Eric is making me watch "The Ruins" and I think it's going to be scary!

Today was the first day of my vacation and I have to say, it was a good day. If the rest of my vacation is as pleasant as today, I won't complain one bit. Granted, I won't be doing as much as I did today, but there was positively nothing bad about today.

I woke up around 9:00am I think, which is early compared to what I am used to... I made myself some breakfast and then I went to the Dentist with Eric. We were pretty early so we went to Zellers before the dentist and got father's day cards and gifts and also got Eric's mom her birthday gift. Eric went to the dentist and I went to go find a new bathing suit. My current one is a two-piece that looks like a one piece, but the top comes up sometimes and I don't want people to see my tummy for obvious reasons!!! I hadn't found anything that I liked at Zellers, so I went to Addition-Elle and found thee perfect bathing suit. I actually looked good in it and thought I wouldn't mind people seeing me in it, so I caved in and paid the ludicrous $100 for it. That's definitely the most I have ever paid for a bathing suit, but my friends say that if you want a good bathing suit, you're looking at that price. I love it, so I didn't mind very much at all. Eric even accepted it. He did mention it was an outrageous price to pay for an article of clothing that covers a third of your body, but he thought if I loved it that much then he was glad I got it.

After Eric's dentist appointment, we went to pick up Angela to bring her to go swimming. We decided to let the dogs play first so they would sleep quietly while we were swimming. Someone mentioned Lonestar, I think it was me since I know I brought up the planned excursion on the 27th to go with coworkers, and Eric and Angela suddenly wanted fajitas. I'd never had fajitas before, so I was a little weary. I don't like Mexican food and I despise tacos, and I had a burrito and almost threw up everywhere when I ate it, so I really didn't think I would like fajitas. Eric and Angela really wanted me to try them though, so I decided to do it. We called Jean at work and he said he would meet us there. Let me tell you this.... I think I have found my new favorite meal! These things were so unbelievably delicious!!! I love steak, I love tortillas, I love rice, I love tomatoes, I love cheese, and mix that all together, and I love fajitas!!! I didn't have to add lettuce or peppers or onions, which I don't like in a sandwich, wrap or anything really. Not if it's cooked anyway... I put my ingredients and added some guacamole and sour cream and wrapped that baby up, and HOLY HELL! That was some good eats! I don't think I have ever experience a tortilla like that. You can wrap it so easily. It doesn't tear like something Dempsters sells in a grocery store. It was fabulous and I want to eat them every day!

Moving forward, we stopped in at Pier 1 and I saw so many things that I loved! I'm not usually into expensive things, but Pier 1 wasn't so bad. I saw many things that I think I am going to end up getting. Some bird napkin holders. They're very pretty. I'd like to get those with some red napkin holders. There's a bird centerpiece to match. They're made of a thick wire and are black but seem to have been brushed lightly with bronze paint. Even Eric was walking around that store saying "ooh" and "ahh" and "oh honey! Look at this! Sit here! Come see this!" We absolutely loved it, but I digress. Eventually we finally came back to the house to swim. Jean went back to his house to work on his pot lights he is installing in his basement. We swam, and it was really nice. Eric and I decided that we definitely want a house with a pool. Originally, we strayed away from that option since pools are a huge commitment. Every time I swim though, I am so happy! I love to swim. If I believed in past lives, I would probably have to say I must've been a fish. If I had a house with a pool, although the upkeep would be a big task, I know I would get my use out of it. I definitely want a house with a pool!

We finished swimming and then went to Jean and Angela's to pick something up. Turned out that Jean couldn't do the lights since the guy who was helping him had to unexpectedly go out to Embrum. We went inside and talked for awhile, and then we went to do more shopping! I got a cake holder from Michaels. It was on sale, and I liked the design. It has a handle and locks in three spots. I think it's great if I am traveling with the cake. It beats carrying around the glass holder I have! Anyway, we then went to Wal Mart to look around... I ended up buying a few new shirts and also a few new pairs of pants. Not jeans, pants. I also got a pair of pajamas and Eric got his PSP that he's been wanting. Apparently he needs to return it though since it has a dead pixel. You watch your movie or game and you can see this little blue pixel which is the dead pixel. Ah well...

Tomorrow, I want to swim again but I think it is supposed to rain. We're going to have dinner with Jean and Angela. I'm not sure what we're going to have but I would love to make my famous pasta salad. Jean loves it, and I love it, and it's a great leftover.

Oh, and for those of you who care, I lost another 2 lbs. Yay! I must be doing something right. :)

Eric and I are now chilling out in the basement watching some shows from the PVR and then we'll go to bed. I think it has been a great day!

I get my vacation beginning on June 13th! I need something to do! What should I do? I am open to suggestions. I'm sure Eric has some that I won't appreciate. He'll say I should play GTA4 or something and I'm not interested in GTA4. Maybe I will play Persona 3 which Cody gave to me to try. I'm thinking I need to do some SERIOUS spring cleaning!!! I had been working 10.5 hours a day and was gone for about 13-14 hours out of the day which left no time to clean properly... I was scraping by with the cleaning... Now I am working 8.5 hours and I am slowly getting things done, but I have only had one day off since I got them. BOO! I also have to say that I wish my dog wasn't so much of a coward so I could vacuum with him in the house without him freaking out. Anyway, I would love to get everything washed down and dusted and so on... I want to organize things too. I also want to do something fun, so if you guys have any suggestions or requests to hang out, Let me know!!!

Work has been really stupidly crazy lately. It's been really busy, which I hate. It might not be so bad if the reasons weren't so dumb and if I had the damn skills I need. I'm just really frustrated with the expectations. I feel like I'm not helping anyone and I don't know much about anything that I do. If it isn't one stupid thing, it's another. Today, the IVR was not accepting payments, so we were buried in calls all day long and all of the calls were for the same stupid thing and let's just say that 85 calls that mainly consist of people saying, "I'd like to make a payment. I tried through the automated and it put me to you" is really frustrating and by the end of the day I was snippy with the customers.

I get tired of hearing the same thing and I get really tired of people who don't understand simple things. If you didn't pay your bill for three months, of course your service was disconnected. And you think we owe you something? Whatever. Screw off. People who get angry at someone who is just a voice on the other end of the receiver paid to help you, those people disgust me. We try to help people and those very same people are ignorant and rude and have no idea that what they're saying just belittles an innocent person who is working for peanuts. I understand some people get frustrated, but I'm SOOOO tired of being crapped on.

Now, I find out I am going to AT&T on June 23rd. Please, PLEASE let this be more bearable!

Couples fight, right? Of course they do! If they don't, then they're weak! No one is that perfect! Part of being human is to argue about differences in opinion. Anyway, Eric and I are no exception to this rule. We go about once or twice a month with a good spat. It's never really intense though. We get over it quickly. I beg you not to say, "Once a month huh? Must be PMS time!" because that has nothing to do with it.

Eric and I had one of our arguments, and I tried to talk to him about it in an email since we're apart for 13 hours of the day, and he didn't respond. Things were tense that night and I hate going to bed angry, so I emailed him again. Eric and I often discuss things via email, so don't think that as being odd.

I went to bed after writing the email and I had thoughts in my mind. I thought that Eric seemed overly stressed about the arguments. I laid in bed beside him wondering, "Is he so upset this time that he's going to break up with me?!?!" and I kept telling myself that I was overreacting and I was just upset and so was he. I reached over and placed my hand on his chest and the friggin bugger flipped out! He wa ssmacking my hands away and grumbling. Well, after that, I was pretty damn sure it was over. I couldn't believe that he was SOOO mad about something SOOOO trivial.

In the morning, Eric still seemed tense, and I thought he had responded to the email because I heard my gmail notification. I got to work, and he hadn't. This was just bad news to me... I was pretty stressed for the whole day. Eric wasn't answering any of my emails and he wasn't coming on Google Talk at all, and that's really bizarre for him. I called him and he was too busy to talk. By this point, I thought, "Good God, what did I DO?" I just didn't get it.

Finally, he was able to talk to me a little bit more, but it still wasn't for very long. He insisted he was fine and he was just really busy at work and he said he loved me, etc etc.

That night, it ALL came out... It had all been a huge misunderstanding. Our trivial argument was just that. trivial. We were both tired and edgy. He really was busy at work, and everything was really fine. He wasn't avoiding me at all. I just overreacted. I asked him why he spazzed out the night before and he responded, "That was YOU that tickled me?" and I rolled my eyes and said I had just placed my hand on his chest and he swatted at me. Eric thought this was all hilarious. He couldn't believe that all these little coincidences led up to something that really and truly seemed like a relationship doomed forever.

Today, we're just as good as we've ever been. We're great until next month when I get mad at him for stuff again... I think I get overwhelmed with other things and the stuff that bugs me that he does all the time just bugs me a lot more and I get mad and righteous. I tend to get righteous a lot.

Anyway... It turned out to be funny in the end. He might get mad at me for talking about it, but it was just a huge misunderstanding that escalated itself and even HE thinks it's funny, so poo to him if he gets mad.

Check this out... this is unreal. I know I refer to Eric as my husband, but it's just easier, and we ARE commonlaw, so I don't care that much. Read the following transcripts.
___________________
(MY AD)

Daisy and Yoda are two female adult cats and they need a new home ASAP. They're both Spayed and litter trained, and they are indoor cats! What is not to love? We have a dog, and although the cats don't really mind him, they're much more sociable when the dog isn't here. We want them to find a forever home where they can play and be quirky without our dog chasing them every time they purr or play.
 In the photos, Daisy is the one inside the black purse, and Yoda is the one laying on top of the pink bag. (there were pictures in the ad)

Please email us for more information or to come see them.
___________________
(CRYSTAL'S RESPONSE TO THE AD) ___________________
(ERIC'S RESPONSE TO CRYSTAL)___________________
(MY RESPONSE)_______________________
(CRYSTAL'S RESPONSE) ________________________
(MY RESPONSE)

I do appreciate that. Thanks Crystal, and have a lovely day.

Hello Museum Misfit's Readers,

   This blog had to be hijacked by me at one time or another, I figured I would do it now. I'm not a blogging type of person. I tried once, but don't update as much as I should have. So I may hijack this blog once in a while to write something. I will remain anonymous, however some of you may figure out who I am, you can just call me "Museum Misfit Anon" in the interim.

   So now I continue to why I'm writting. I have a great partner. She is great to me, does a lot for me and understands why I do things in a certain way. She has done so many things that I cannot count them anymore and more that are on the way.

   She also loves her pet about as much as she loves me. She goes crazy when she is away from her pet.

   I could go on for hours, and I will at one point, but let me continue this another time as I must take leave to spend time with her.

So, last night I accidentally poisoned my dog. I'm sure everyone is aware that you can't feed a dog chocolate, and Sparky is no exception and I wouldn't dream of doing it. There are, however, a lot of other foods that are poisonous to dogs. The list includes items such as nuts, mushrooms, raw eggs (you THINK it's helping their coat, but appearances are deceiving), tomatoes, raisins, Onions....

Last night, I gave my dog leftover spaghetti sauce. It contained onions and tomatoes. I knew about onions being bad, but didn't think about them being in the sauce.

Sparky was resting on my lap and I could feel his heart pounding on my leg and I put my hand on his chest and it was thumping so hard that you could see his fur moving and it was so fast. I told my sister that I thought something was wrong, and she and Eric told me that his heart always beats fast. I told them that it doesn't beat this fast or this hard even after he's been running around like a fool. Eric told me again that he's likely excited or something and it's normal. I told him that it isn't and that I cuddle this dog ALL the time, and not once have I felt his heart beat like that. I can sometimes maybe feel it faintly if I put my hand in the right spot, but it didn't matter how Sparky laid last night, I could feel it thumping. At rest, his heart was beating at 196bpm when a normal rate is anywhere between 70-110bpm... Even for a small dog it would be much too fast.

I thought about it, and realized that I had used some leftover onion in the spaghetti sauce and Sparky ate quite a bit of it since I don't like the meaty mess that's left when the pasta is all gone. I knew that onions apparently break down the red blood cells and then Sparky is deprived of oxygen, so I assumed that his heart was working in overdrive to get the oxygen he needed. He was breathing fairly normal, but still a bit heavier than he should've been for a dog at rest. Eric searched for the onion toxicity effects after I insisted Sparky was not ok. Apparently if he began vomiting or peeing blood, we had to get to a vet FAST. Luckily, that never happened.

We went to bed and did everything we could to minimize Sparky's movement and to avoid him overheating. He likes to burrow into my pillows if his head is at the top of the bed, or my legs and body pillow if he's facing the bottom of the bed (he sleeps in-between Eric and I) so it was hard to keep his head out so he didn't block air passage. Eric woke up around 6am and I immediately asked him to check Sparky's pulse. Apparently it was good again. I snuggled him and put my arms around him, and I couldn't feel anything except the rise and fall of his chest when he breathed.

A Happy Ending... Thank God.

Here is a list of harmful foods for your dog:

What to avoid	Reasons to avoid
Alcoholic beverages	Can cause intoxication, coma, and death.
Avocado (fruit, pit, & plant)	Can cause difficulty breathing; fluid accumulation in the chest, abdomen and heart; or pancreatitis.
Baby food	Can contain onion powder, which can be toxic to dogs. (Please see onion below.) Can also result in nutritional deficiencies, if fed in large amounts.
Bones from fish, poultry, or other meat sources	Can cause obstruction or laceration of the digestive system.
Bones (cooked)	Can splinter and tear a dog’s internal organs.
Caffeine (from coffee, coffee grounds, tea, or tea bags)	Stimulates the central nervous and cardiac systems, and can cause vomiting, restlessness, heart palpitations, and even death within hours.
Cat food	Generally too high in protein and fats.
Chocolate, coffee, tea, & other caffeine	Contain caffeine, theobromine, or theophylline, which can be toxic and affect the heart and nervous systems. Chocolate can cause seizures, coma and death. Baker’s chocolate is the most dangerous. The darker the chocolate, the more dangerous it is. But any chocolate, in large enough amounts, can kill a dog. An ounce of chocolate can poison a 30-pound dog, and many dogs will happily consume more than this. The symptoms may not show up for several hours with death following within twenty-four hours.
Citrus oil extracts	Can cause vomiting.
Dairy products	Can cause pancreatitis, gas and diarrhoea. A small amount of non-fat, plain yoghurt is usually safe.
Egg whites (raw)	Raw egg whites contain a protein called avidin, which can deplete your dog of biotin, one of the B vitamins. Biotin is essential to your dog’s growth and coat health. The lack of it can cause hair loss, weakness, growth retardation, or skeleton deformity.
Fat trimmings	Too much fat or fried foods can cause pancreatitis.
Fruit pips, seeds	Apple seeds, cherry pits, and peach pits, pear pips, plums pits, peaches, and apricot pits contain cyanide, which is poisonous.
Grains (large amounts)	Grains should not be given in large amounts or make up a large part of a dog’s diet, but rice is generally safe in small amounts.
Grapes & raisins	Can cause kidney failure in dogs. As little as a single serving of raisins can kill him. If the dog doesn't eat enough at one time to be fatal, he can be severely damaged by eating just a few grapes or raisins regularly.
Ham & bacon	Contain too much fat and too much salt, and can cause pancreatitis. Also, large breeds of dogs that eat salty food may drink too much water and develop a life-threatening condition called bloat. This is where the stomach fills up with gas and within several hours may twist, causing death.
Hops	Unknown compound causes panting, increased heart rate, elevated temperature, seizures, and death.
Human vitamin supplements containing iron	Can damage the lining of the digestive system and be toxic to the other organs including the liver and kidneys.
Liver (large amounts)	Raw liver or too much cooked liver (three servings a week) can lead to vitamin A toxicity. This can affect muscles and cause deformed bones, excessive bone growth on the elbows and spine, weight loss, and anorexia.
Macadamia nuts	Contain an unknown toxin, which can affect the digestive and nervous systems and muscle. Can cause weakness, muscle tremor and paralysis. These symptoms are usually temporary.
Marijuana	Can depress the nervous system, cause vomiting, and changes in the heart rate.
Milk & other dairy products	Some adult dogs and cats do not have sufficient amounts of the enzyme lactase, which breaks down the lactose in milk. This can result in diarrhoea. Lactose-free milk products are available for pets.
Mouldy or spoiled food, garbage	Can contain multiple toxins causing vomiting and diarrhoea and can also affect other organs.
Mushrooms	Can contain toxins, which may affect multiple systems in the body, cause shock, and result in death. Wild mushrooms can cause abdominal pain, drooling, liver damage, kidney damage, vomiting, diarrhoea, convulsions, coma, or death.
Nutmeg	Can cause tremors, seizures and death.
Onions & garlic (raw, cooked, or powder)	Contain sulfoxides and disulfides, which can damage red blood cells and cause anaemia. Cats are more susceptible than dogs. Garlic is less toxic than onions.
Pennies  (made from the 1980s to today)	Contain zinc, which can cause kidney failure and damage to red blood cells. A dog that consumes even one penny can become quite sick, or even die, if the penny is not removed.
Persimmons	Seeds can cause intestinal obstruction and enteritis.
Pits from peaches and plums	Can cause obstruction of the digestive tract.
Potato, rhubarb, & tomato leaves; potato & tomato stems	Contain oxalates, which can affect the digestive, nervous, and urinary systems. This is more of a problem in livestock. Potato peels and green potatoes are dangerous.
Raw eggs	Contain an enzyme called avidin, which decreases the absorption of biotin (a B vitamin). This can lead to skin and hair coat problems. Raw eggs may also contain Salmonella.
Raw fish	Can result in a thiamine (a B vitamin) deficiency leading to loss of appetite, seizures, and in severe cases, death. More common if raw fish is fed regularly.
Salt	If eaten in large quantities it may lead to electrolyte imbalances and kidney problems. Large breeds of dogs that eat salty food may then drink too much water and develop bloat, which is fatal unless emergency treatment is given very quickly.
String	Can become trapped in the digestive system; called a "string foreign body."
Sugary foods	Can lead to obesity, dental problems, and possibly diabetes mellitus.
Table scraps (in large amounts)	Table scraps are not nutritionally balanced. They should never be more than 10% of the diet. Fat should be trimmed from meat; bones should not be fed.
Tobacco	Contains nicotine, which affects the digestive and nervous systems. Can result in rapid heart beat, collapse, coma, and death.
Tomatoes	Can cause tremors and heart arrhythmias. Tomato plants and the most toxic, but tomatoes themselves are also unsafe. (All parts of the plant except the tomato itself are also poisonous to humans.)
Walnuts	Walnuts are poisonous to dogs.
Xylitol	Diet products containing the sweetener Xylitol can cause a sudden drop in blood sugar, resulting in depression, loss of coordination and seizures. Unless treatment is given quickly, the dog could die.
Yeast dough	Can expand and produce gas in the digestive system, causing pain and possible rupture of the stomach or intestines.

I have 7.5 more hours to go before I get to go home. That seems so pathetic to me. I've already been here for 3 hours. I hate my job right now. I would do damn near anything to work somewhere else. I don't really like the TL (Team Leader) that has been covering everyone lately. I think he's a coward. He tries to be all tough and bossy, but you just have to stand up to him a little bit and he backs down and bows to your feet. He's still a jackass though because he keeps trying to be a jerk. He's absolutely useless as a TL. He doesn't do half the things he should be doing and he's often wandering through the call centre chatting to his friends. Yesterday I had a customer who I apparently pissed off, and she wanted to speak to a supervisor. I looked around, couldn't find the TL. Finally, someone says, "Oh, he's over there!" and he was at the back of the call centre yapping to someone. His role as a TL is to supervise and provide assistance when needed. More often than not, he just screws the pooch and passes his problems off to someone else. I can't stand the guy or his beady little eyes. Grrrrrr...

I'm slacking. I've now been here for 6 hours and I have 4.5 to go. I have another thing I've been needing to inform my fellow friends of. There's this guy  at work who keeps creeping me out. I think he likes me. I was thinking I was probably overreacting, but this guy is ALWAYS staring at me. He sits near me on purpose I think. I proved it though. I went to talk to Jason, and I had Christine watch because the guy was right there, and sure enough, he wouldn't take his eyes off of me. I walked away, he watched me go. I speak, his head flips in my direction like a magnet. I spoke to him once and breaking the conversation off was quite the challenge. I went to the washroom and on my way back, he was standing up and was saying "Hi, how are you doing?" etc. etc. which you would think is normal, but the way he was acting/speaking was more like a pitiful puppy bouncing around you when you come home.

Don't get me wrong, I'm flattered. I'm not the kind of girl who has men falling all over her, but this one is totally not my type, isn't at all attractive, is kinda creepy, and besides ALL of that, I'm spoken for and he should know it. I talk about Eric all the time. It could be selective hearing though...  But, I'm not out of my mind because I did show Christine and she was like, "Wow, no girl, that guy wants you and I'm so sorry."

So, that's it for now I think.

Cody is a friend from work and he wanted me to talk about him. I think he's feeling a little bit unspecial at the moment. He has green hair. It was supposed to be blue but it faded, and I think he should go for blue tips or something.

Christine is trying to get me to stand up, and I can hear Cody and Christine arguing. Cody doesn't want me to stop typing because he knows that I am typing about him. I don't know what Christine wants yet, but I'll find out soon!

Cody wrote a story about me so I am going to tell one about him. It's not very articulate, but I'm not trying that hard either. It's more for Cody's comic relief than anything...


---

Once upon a time, there was a fellow named Cody. He worked in a call centre in the Ottawa region and he had begun to find that his days lacked any real excitement. Cody had a boyfriend, but he didn't get to see him very often. Cody had also been sick, so he really had done nothing exciting in quite some time. He wanted a thrill!

One day, while at work, Cody concocted a bizarre plan. He wanted to give the employees at his work something hilarious to remember. Cody waited until the middle of the day to carry out his prank. He twiddled his fingers and tapped his toes as he waded through the long drones of the calls. Finally, at noon, Cody leaped from his seat! He ripped off his clothes, shrieked with hysterical madness, and began zooming through the call centre! He shouted the most bizarre things you have ever heard! "The gremilins will eat us all!" and "Granny is going to spank me!" and even, "A Gumball for one, a gumball for all, gummy gummy gumballs do tummy tummy tumballs!"

Strange.

Cody had the attention of every agent in the call centre. He laughed with amusement as management chased him inbetween the aisles. He spun chairs out behind him leaped around like a leprechaun. He rounded up all of his friends and shoved them into a huddle room. Cody and his friends were going to start a club and they were going to take one more hostage every half hour to join the club. It was the, "No more Southern Jackasses" club. In the room, they drank, read dictionaries, conversed, and basically did everything they could think of to restore their brains to the power they had been before the Southerners dwindled them down.

By the end of the day, the entire call centre was a huge party that had no signs of ending. Cody had found his clothes in the aisle at some point and to the delight of others, re-dressed himself. Not one of the employees of the call centre ever looked at a Southerner the same way again....


THE END.

Yeah, that sweet golden liquid... Mmmmm. It's good stuff!

No, really, I do love my Hunny. My Eric. He's so sweet sometimes. He says things that just make you say, "Awwwwww!" We were playing Bingo (which we pretty much never do, but thought 'what the hell!' and went) and I was feeling silly, so I asked him which animal he would be if he could be whatever he wanted to be. Do you know what his answer was? "A giraffe," with no hesitation... I asked why he would pick a giraffe, and he said, again with no hesitation, "Because that's your favorite animal!" I can't believe he even knew what my favorite animal was! Last night, we watched "P.S. I Love You" and in the car, he brought up a quote from the movie that really touched me on a personal level and it said exactly how I feel. It was, "I bet you've had a hard time walking into a room full of people on your own, right? Yeah. I know that. I know what it is not to feel like your in the room until he looks at you or touches your hand or even makes a joke at your expense, just to let everyone know... you're with him. You're his." He knew that I felt that way too, as soon as he heard it. It meant so much to me to know that he knew that. He said something along the lines of me not caring who is there and that I just don't feel like I belong if I'm not noticed by him.

I love this man, I really do. It's like bursts of electricity. You're going along with the current in a very normal sense... Then, every so often, there's a surge and you nearly explode... It's not a bad explode though. It's like on Monster's Inc. When the little girl, Boo, laughs and all the lights turn brighter. That's what it feels like to be with Eric. We cruise along together and we are the yin to each other's yang, and then every now and again, my emotions for him surge and I feel like my adoration for him can't be contained - like there are no single words in the world to explain how I feel. I could stick a sock in my mouth and be able to express it just as well.

We have some rough times... Everyone does. We fight sometimes. Again, everyone does. But one little evening of cuddling on the couch while he plays with my hair or tickles my back is enough to remove the memories of 20 arguments...

He knows the ring he wants to buy me... I know which one it is. I don't know if he'll get that specific one, but I hope so. He just won't let on when he plans to give it to me. :) I think he likes toying with my emotions and seeing me grin at the idea that some day, he will ask me to marry him, and my dreams will have come true.

Do note that on the 13th of May, I received my first bug bite of 2008, and as of May 15th, it's officially driving me batty! it's a big one too, and I remember getting it. We were at the dog park and I said that we should put the bug spray in the car again. I still haven't put it in the car, but it's definitely a priority now.  That's really not very important though, is it?

Today, I am angry at my dentist. I went on Tuesday to have two fillings. One was for a cavity, and the other was for a chipped tooth. First of all, I'm not overly thrilled about this new dentist. I'll start from the beginning. I got this new dentist because he's closer to home, files my claims electronically for me, and Eric likes the dental centre. I went in for a cleaning a couple of weeks ago, and the dentist mentioned that I still have my wisdom teeth. I knew this already, and I have no intention of removing them. I said this to the dentist. He told me that since the teeth aren't touching the nerves and they are still buried, it should be alright, but I will need to have xrays every 5 years. No problemo! I have a huge fear of mouths. Not just mouths in general, but of icky mouth things (for lack of a better term). Isaac, my nephew, can't come up to me with a wiggly tooth because it disgusts me. I feel like I need to vomit. The idea of having 4 teeth pulled makes me shudder. The assistant told me that I wouldn't even notice since I would be sedated. It isn't just about the pulling. It's about spending a week or two after with stitches in my mouth and with gaps in my gums and the taste of raw flesh in my mouth. I now feel nauseous, thanks. Anyway, gore aside, I don't want to put myself through that. I don't need to. The teeth are perfect. I have no issues with them. Both of my parents still have their wisdom teeth and haven't had problems. My dad had one pulled, but doesn't recall the reason, but that's one out of 4. The teeth are not going to come out, and the dentist said so himself. He also said I could do xrays to keep on top of them. I'm cool with that! Yet, when I finished my cleaning, the dentist had me arrange for a consultation with the oral surgeon to see about my wisdom teeth. See what? So, that begins the next story....

I went to my appointment with the oral surgeon. I arrived at 2:04pm and was brought into the office right away. The surgeon looked at my xray, then looked at my file, then told me that because I have asthma, he's going to refer me to the Surgicentre to have the procedure done. What? I don't want the procedure done! I thought this was just to see what he thought of it! Then the dentist tells me that he doesn't want to charge me for a consultation when he's not doing the surgery. What? I have to pay for this thing to talk to him? But I DON'T WANT IT DONE! Not only that, but I don't NEED to have it done! I'm so damn naive. I don't do this crap. I'm new to the idea of dental procedures. If it's beyond cleaning and xrays, I have no clue. I had a healthy mouth for 23 years, so... This is very very new. Cavities, whatever... I had my first a couple years ago, but my mom's coverage took care of it. I didn't need to worry about it. Anyway, back to the asthma thing... The surgeon asked me when I last used the inhaler. I said 3 days ago. He asked what usually triggers the need for it. I said common colds. He asked how often I use it. I said every 3 months or so... He said, "Well, it's still too frequent. I still think you should go to the surgicentre. We don't want you to have a bronchial attack during the procedure. The nearest hospital is a good hump away."

This is RIDICULOUS! The dentist is maybe 5 minutes from the hospital. The surgicentre is about 20 minutes away. WTF? How does that make sense??? Not to mention, using my inhaler every 3 months, is NOT a lot! So, Eric and I ran into this problem already. Eric went to have his teeth pulled because of an abscess tooth. He had to go to the surgicentre. The guys there are 'Specialists' and they are NOT covered by my plan. Eric's procedure was over $800 for two teeth and we got maybe $400 back. I am supposed to have 4 teeth pulled, so where do you think that is going to put me? Despite me telling the assistant of this, I was still scheduled to go see the specialist. I walked back to the bus stop, a little irritated, waited for my bus, and then got on the bus. I don't live really far. The bus goes on the highway and it's the second exit from where the dental office is. It's far enough though... I got to my stop at about 2:20pm... That means that I was in that dental office for maybe 5 minutes. MAYBE. I was furious by that time. They completely wasted my time! They couldn't call me for that? Oh, it gets better...

I went back on Wednesday of this week for fillings. I got them done, no problem. Until the freezing wore off. I can't eat with the right side of my mouth. I called and the woman said my dentist was gone for the day, but she would call me in the morning. Whatever. I wasn't really happy with that, but what are ya gonna do, huh? So, I went to the office the next morning. I didn't wait for them to call me. I had to go to work and thought, "Meh, I'll just go in and make them look at my gob," which is exactly what I did. The dentist didn't seem impressed with that, but he looked anyway... He said it's normal for it to be sensitive. I then went to work and carried out the remainder of my day...

Today, the amount that was covered from my fillings was deposited into my bank account... The procedure cost $301.00 or something like that, and the amount deposited was merely $141.29. I'm not a genius by any means, but I know that $141.29 is not 80% of $301.00! It isn't even 50%... We looked at the receipt and apparently my coverage doesn't cover white fillings on the back teeth. Only silver. No one told me this. If I'd had an estimate, I would've gone with silver (as ugly as it is) or I would've at least been prepared for it. It seems that this dental office is really not in it for the patients. They just want their money. If I ran a dental office, I would make it procedure to ensure the client knows what is being done, why it is being done, and if it'll be covered. I can understand some vagueness and a few small surprises, but c'mon...

That's my rant about dentists... If work gets slower, maybe I'll add something else. I still have so much to say! It isn't all griping, I assure you!

So, this is my first blog. You would think that it would be a bit more exciting, but it probably won't be. I'm at work, so my day is dwindling by. I have exactly 55 minutes to go before I am all done. I'll try to give the basic updates. The deciding factor on the amount of content here will be how many customers impose on my "writing time".

Alright, so... Where should I begin? I have no idea. Some people who read this may not have heard any news from me in years, some in months, some got updates mere hours ago! This might be more complicated than I thought. Oh, for those of you who are new-ish to me, I am a rambler, so if you're looking for something to satiate your appetite for gossip and stuff (not that I'm going to gossip, but I might give you something to start gossiping about), I assure you, I will not leave you unfulfilled!

I could go with the easy stuff, like to tell everyone I now live in Ottawa, but I've been here for 4 years now, so I think if you didn't know that, then we have bigger problems. You might be wondering why I refer to myself as the Museum Misfit, and I will gladly fill you in. You see, I have been in Ottawa for 4 years now (totally flew by me) and the initial 3 years were while I was attending college at Algonquin College, otherwise known as the Gonq. I was in the Applied Museum Studies program, and I basically flopped it. I finished with good grades - don't get me wrong. I did well... The problem is that I really don't feel like I learned very much other than how to paint numbers on artifacts, how to write an essay, and how to purchase supplies. The one area that I did learn a lot in was Shop and Exhibition. Maybe that's why I want to be in those fields - because I actually feel like I know something about them! I had an amazing exhibition professor and to this day I have profound respect for him. I hated him when I started, but I now respect him more than any professor I ever had in my 3 years at the Gonq. I never failed a course and I made the Dean's list 4 out of 6 semesters, yet I am still not employed anywhere near my field. It doesn't seem to matter what efforts I put forth. Am I stupid in my field? I don't think I am, but I wasn't an advanced stream student (people who do 2 years instead of 3 because they have a degree in something else) so I didn't get as many opportunities and as much exposure as they did. I also chose really crappy placement options. I was trying to perform good deeds by helping out the small regional museum also known as the Nepean Museum, and that bit me in the ass, super hard. They aren't very well respected in the museum world with good reason. Maybe I will go into that another day because the tales I have are absolutely mind blowing... If the people of Nepean Museum happen upon my blog and they read this, I apologize for what you might read. I appreciate the time we had, but really, I've learned a lot about what not to do in a museum and how your actions can really hinder your reputation with the community, and even the entire museum profession. But, I digress. What I was saying, was that my involvement at the Nepean Museum hindered my growth in the field, but so did my inability to speak the French Language. For lack of a better term, the whole thing sucks. I also don't have a lot of experience and because many grants are given only if the candidate meets their requirements, I often fall short since usually those requirements indicate you must have at least two years of experience. It would have been really wonderful to have performed my placement somewhere that I could've had my foot in the door. We live and learn though, don't we?

Anyway, here I am with so much more to say than that, but it's now 7:55pm and I am now done in 5 minutes, so I will call it quits for now...

Cheers Everyone!