Tricia's Musings

Random Thoughts about life in general, living in the big city of Toronto



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Help me plan a kids party

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I seem to know a lot of people that are expecting kids soon. In the last weeks I’ve gone to one baby shower (for my niece) and been invited to two more!

If that weren’t enough one of my friends is having a big birthday party for her little boy who’s turning 10 next month and she’s asked me to give her a hand. I’ve got a list of things that she’d like me to help with such as helping her pick out the party decorations and kids party invitations. We’ve also got to come up with some kind of entertainment.

Thinking of entertainment for a kids birthday party in the summer is easy but in the dead of winter … hmmm … I have no idea. I think clowns and magicians have been over done. I wonder what other kind of entertainment I can find.

The best idea that I can come up with is that I know the owner of an exotic pet store. I wonder if I could ask him to get one of his staff to bring some animals to the party? That might work.

Any other ideas?





Midnight is getting bigger!

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This weeks theme is Skinny

When we first got our puppy, Midnight, in November she was exactly three months old and she was a skinny little thing. She doesn’t look that skinny in the above photo, but believe me she was very sick and she was much too thin.

She’s grown quite a bit in the 7 weeks that we’ve had her. I think she’s going to be on the small side for a Lab as she only weighs 20 pounds right now, but she’s apparently healthy again and growing and gaining weight as each day goes by.

Just to show you how much she’s grown. I placed her doggy bed on her favorite chair last night. We’d taken her doggy bed away a month ago or so when she started having diarrhea while in her crate and well … she also chewed a hole in her bed. Darn those labs and their need to chew! So last night was the first time she’d used her doggy bed in quite a while.

As you can see she’s grown a lot. She pretty much takes up the whole doggy bed when she lies in it now. Good thing I just bought her a new one eh? She won’t get to use the new one for a couple of months though. I’d like to wait until she’s finished teething or at least just about done finished teething as I’m hoping her chewing will have slowed down or at the very least all the new adult teeth she’ll have won’t be so sharp and damaging!

Oh and she’s definitely not skinny anymore. I think she’s just right for her size.

Losing some weight

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Well it looks like I won’t have to go on a formal diet or a diet plan like slimquick after all. Ever since we got our puppy in November my activity level has gone way up!

I’d gained a bit of weight due to being on prednisone and because I’ve been in so much pain over the last two years that I just haven’t been very active at all. Actually as time went on I became less and less active. You might have called me a couch potato.

Just to show you how inactive I must have become … When we’d only had our puppy, who’s very very active, for three weeks I went to see my pain doctor. I think that was December 15th or so. She weighs me every time I see her much to my dismay! Even if I hadn’t been gain weight I’d still have hated being weighed every visit. Well I was pleased to see that I’d lost 10lb according to her scale.

We’ve had our puppy for just under two months now and I’ve lost 25 lb. It won’t take much longer for me to be back in shape!

One of the reasons we got the puppy was to keep me company and to get me a little more motivated to exercise. I’d wanted to get more active but when you are always in pain it’s very hard to will yourself to go out for a walk or even to go out in the garden to look at your flowers let alone work in the garden. However, when you have a dog, especially a puppy, you must get moving. Puppies need to go outside about ten times a day when they are young. Of course now that Midnight is 4.5 months old and has some bladder control she’s not going out that often anymore, but we are talking longer walks. It’s good for both of us.

If you have a young pet at home did you notice that you lost a bit of weight or started to get in better shape as a result of all the extra walks you were doing?

Puppy is driving me nuts!

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My puppy is making me so mad today!

It’s warmed up here in Toronto and all the snow has melted away. At this time it’s 14 Celsius or 57 F outside. Believe me that’s nice for early January!

Unfortunately our puppy is fascinated by the grass and dead leaves, and the plants in my front garden that she’s been walking over when we take her out for a “quick pee”. Every time I’ve taken her out today she’s spent more time trying to eat the leaves and grass than attempting to do her business.

We got our puppy in late November and she only really saw grass and leaves for a week or so before we got our first, very early this season, snow. So I guess she’s just exploring, but she’s driving me nuts!

It only took us three weeks to house train her and when she needs to go outside she just goes to the door. Unfortunately or fortunately she doesn’t bark, whine or scratch the door when she goes to it she just stands there and hopes we get the message. I kind of wish she’d give a small bark or whine.

Today she’s going to the door every 15 minutes or so though! The first time she really did have to go outside but all the rest of her pleas to go out have just ended up in her sniffing around, and grabbing mouthfuls of leaves or grass! Of course I end up with my hand in her mouth pulling all the stuff she’s gobbling up out! Ewww.

Midnight is getting better as far as her health goes though. We went to the vet yesterday for her third and final set of shots which included a rabies vaccination. We also brought in a stool sample to have it tested for worms and she’s finally clear of her round worms. Yeahhhh! The doctor also checked her eyes and ears and the infections she had in them are gone now too.

All we need is for her stool to become normal. Remember she had diarrhea for most of the time we’ve had her? It’s getting better but we’re still giving her Pepto Bismol to help her out.

Oh and she’s gained weight! I think our last vet visit was about the 18th of December and at that time she weighed 6.8 kg or 15 lb. Now just two and a half weeks later she weighs 9.4 kg or almost 21 lb. Yes that’s kind of small for a five and a half month old lab puppy but she’s not skinny. She’s muscular and lean. I guess she’s going to be on the small side for a female Labrador Retriever, but that’s ok with us.

Did you know that leashes are tasty?

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This weeks theme is delicious

Labrador Retriever Puppy Midnight

I think our Lab puppy, Midnight, finds her leather leash to be absolutely delicious. She’s always trying to chew on it when we first put it on her. In the above photo I’d put the leash on before I got my winter coat and other gear on so she had time to settle down for a good chew.

Here’s an areal view:

Labrador Retriever Puppy Midnight

She already chewed through, or well just about chewed through, her vinyl leash just before Christmas. I wonder how long this one will last?

As you can see she’s grown a bit and I think she’s gained some weight. She’s doing a lot better although I think she’s still fighting something. She goes for her third set of shots on Monday.

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