ahhh. “relaxation.”

Traveling across the country with a dog and a boyfriend is not recommended. One or the other. But not both. The wiser choice would be the human, in the end. Right out of the gate (literally, of the airport) though, it isn’t obvious that either of them are travel-ready.

I’m not going to say I regret booking five vacation days and spending them in… well… a state of total frustration. What I regret is the future backlash I’m going to have to endure because I “forced” someone else to waste their vacation days on dog wrestling, wrangling, and shushing.

I honestly didn’t know only two of the three would get along at any one time. I guess positive thinking and expectations of harmony aren’t always enough.

Normally on vacation I would have my camera out and I’d be taking pictures of the most minute things. The patio furniture. This time, I brought my camera and lenses with me, but I haven’t bothered to charge the battery.

Yesterday we went for an awesome walk on the beach, and I wish I would have taken pictures of Rufus’ first steps and licks of the salt water. Who knows when he’ll ever be on a beach again… but in a rush to borrow my parent’s car I totally forgot my camera bag. The pictures I took with my iphone are crazy distorted, but I think they somewhat capture the spirit of his adventure. And our vacation.

Here’s the best one:

I’m not entirely sure what happened to the shoreline or the horizon. It’s a really nice beach, honest. And, dog friendly.

We only have two sleeps left here. I’m not sure what’s planned for tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be nice, like it has been every day. One of my folks is taking the day off though, which isn’t typical of my trips home (it’s usually me in an empty house) so I’m not sure if there’s an itinerary or if it’s business as usual.

I have to say, honestly, that while I’m not looking forward to going back to work in a few days or leaving this excellent-100%-of-the-time-weather, I am very much looking forward to tending my lawn and garden, going to Starbucks more than regularly, and getting some lounging done on my own patio. Weather permitting.

I just finished a course on Monday, and as a gift to myself I’m taking the month of February off of school. I took two courses between September and now. With moving, and working, house-keeping, and puppy-rearing it’s been… well… a crappy sort of existence. So, February is/was going to be a gift. Sort of. I have big plans to do some work around the house, inside. Some painting, some tiling in the kitchen, some general cozying and settling in.
And then…
Well, I still have all that planned but work is sort of getting in the way. I’m going to be on the road a bit in February, starting tomorrow afternoon/the following morning and ongoing until someone can be hired in the other city to do the job I’m going to be pseudo covering. Which sucks. I’m going to miss the boyfriend and the puppy, “my boys.” I’m going to be driving tonnes in rented cars on crappy winter roads. I’m not going to get ANY of my home improvement projects finished… and I’m setting a bad precedent that’s going to cause the company to send me on random field trips whenever they please.
But today is ok. Today is cold out, but sunny. I think we’re going to get bundled up and go for a bit of a hike in the early afternoon sun. I’m ordering some big prints of a few of my photos and I’m going to frame them and hang them around the house when they get here. I’m going to be tired this month, but I’m going to make the freedom from essays and assignments and calculating the book value of common shares for a company that doesn’t even exist worthwhile.
And, I’m hoping to update every day.

Wow.

Well. I just renewed my webhosting for another two years, so I’d better make it worth while this time.

2009  has been the best. 2008 was shitty. I think 2010 will be a slap in the face. Here’s to the odd numbered years.

In the past year I’ve

- learned how to cook and bake gluten free
- bought a house and all the fixin’s
- brought home the most fantastic puppy on the planet. Fantastic in terms of physical and behavioural cuteness. Fantaaastic.
- killed at school
- killed at work (figuratively, but there are days when it’s been close)
- gone to visit my folks twice
- gained a sister-in-law. i didn’t have to do much for that one, but it’s still pretty cool
- taught the boy-bot how to run and love doing it
- totally slacked at blogging
- lost any work-life balance that i may have had in the past

The office closed at lunch time today, and after going to our favourite diner for eggs benny, we took the dog for a walk to our local liquor store for a bottle of my favourite sparkling wine for New Years Eve. I bought a bottle of merlot too, I’m going to try Julia Child’s boeuf bourguignon recipe, but with bison. I’m hoping. I still need to get my hands on some bison stewing meat, but I think I might have a source.

Right now I have a pan of homemade marshmallows made with agave nectar setting on the counter. Later I plan to make a pan of butter cookies with almond flour. I’m excited to crack open that bottle of wine that’s chilling in the fridge right now.

My resolution for the next year is to do less. Instead of going insane, I’m only going to take one course at school at a time, I’m going to take more pictures, bake more, decorate our house, and enjoy the puppy. He’s really easy to enjoy.

I might even blog more. Maybe.