She’s Here!

I’d been staring at her photo online all week. On Friday morning with much excitement I left home at 8 am for a 3-hour trip to Snoqualmie, Washington to go and meet “Rainy” and bring her home. Just 10 km from the border I decided to get something to eat, and while pulling a U-turn near a construction site I ran over a sharp curb and ripped a hole in my right front tire. Determined not to let anything get in my way, I called up 24 Hour Roadside Assistance and within 30 minutes a tow truck had come to put on my spare tire. Unfortunately, both the driver and my owner’s manual strongly advised against travelling on the Freeway for hours with the spare on. Okay, next challenge: find a tire. Thank goodness for my iPhone!

I located a few tire places around me but when I began calling around I learned that my tire is not a common model and eventually I learned that the nearest one to me was currently sitting in a warehouse in Edmonton. Feeling more frustrated now I debated what to do and finally decided that since I was so close to the border I might as well cross and see if anyone in WA had my tire. While waiting in line at the border I found a guy in Marysville – on my way – who would have my tire in one hour. Perfect. Things were looking up. Meanwhile, I had to go to the bathroom and was thinking of the rest stop that memory told me was right on the other side of the crossing.

As I passed through I was randomly selected by the computer for an inspection. Pull over there, ma’am. Take this paper inside, ma’am. Oh, long lineup. Okay, I’ll just go pee before I get in line. Uh…there are no washrooms and then I saw the big sign that said “No cell phones, No PDAs, No Washroom”. Apparently Canadians not only need to show passports now but they can’t be trusted to go pee lest they try to flush their stash of pot down the toilet (BC is full of hippie liberals, ya know). Fun.

It ended up okay. Everybody was nice to me – prob’ly trying to make up for the joy of being randomly selected for a half-hour delay – and eventually, when they were convinced I wasn’t a terrorist, they escorted me to a locked washroom. See, American’s are nice!

Finally, I was on the I-5 heading South and trying hard to stay under the 80 kph speed limit that my spare tire carries. That’s about 50 mph and I was on a freeway with a 70 mph speed limit. Thank god the Americans know how to build highways – with four full lanes of traffic in each direction I was easy to pass. And pass me they did – semi trailers, trucks pulling huge campers, and little old ladies. When the road got a bit rough I worried with every bump. But finally I made it to Marysville and in less than 30 minutes I was on my way with a new tire.

I finally arrived at the Three Rivers Rescue around 2:30 – about three hours later than I’d planned. And there I got my first full look at Rain. She is absolutely gorgeous, the most beautiful markings I’ve ever seen. She’s also a total suck and a love-bunny! We took her outside and did the paperwork for the adoption. Kim filled me in on her background and gave me some tips on what to expect as she settles in. Then she was introduced to her new crate in the car and we headed North to Banfield where she had an appointment for a rabies shot (needed to cross the border). She handled the crate just fine, was very nervous (but still adorable) at the vet, and despite hitting lots of traffic the ride home was uneventful. We did make a couple pit stops but she didn’t drink, eat, or eliminate – still too nervous at all the new happenings.

We finally got home just before 9 pm – almost 13 hours after I left! But the kids adored her on sight, she was fantastic with them, and even Husband seemed smitten. She’s a timid girl and quite submissive but in the 36 hours she’s been here she has opened up a bit. She is eating, drinking, eliminating and was positively bouncy on our walk this morning. She is learning to play fetch (either that or just deciding it’s okay here) and I’m planning on taking her for a run tomorrow. She is great on a leash and much fun to walk with.

The kids fight over who gets to walk her, are still trying desperately to lure her outside to play (she’ll come if I’m there but still too timid to go with just them), and have told me they are so glad we have a dog. I’m so very happy, loving the excuse to go for early morning walks, when the air is cool and humid and the forest is filled with birdsong. I couldn’t be happier with her, and I think she’s pretty happy too.

Summer Classes and Looking Ahead

The “school year” has ended for Daughter – her homelearning program wrapped up, we spent the last of our learning funds (got a spiffy new microscope, Spore, and a whack of books), and I completed the Annual Review report. The final submission by her Learning Consultant detailed her successes in reading, science, and even physical confidence (learning to skate was huge for her). 

And while she accomplished much this year, what she didn’t do was any formal classes. She did take half a term at the local Arts Academy where she completed a study of Matisse and produced a frame-worthy reproduction of Matisse’s Goldfish. But after that she didn’t want to go back and we haven’t done any classes since. For whatever reason she seemed to need a break and so I respected that. But now I’m thinking it’s time for her to get back in the water, so to speak. She’s learning so much and it would greatly enhance her learning to be able to share it with others (besides me and her not-always-interested younger brother).

Now summer is here and the local University is offering summer camp courses. Daughter agreed to sign up for two of them: one is a creative arts class where they will be making crafts using natural objects (stone, wood, etc). The other is a science course focusing on Natural History. Each course is five days long, 3 hours each day. I think it will be a good step back into the group-learning setting as it’s for a short time only, focussed study on her favorite topics, and I’m assuming her fellow students will be equally enthusiastic about the subject matter.

I’m hoping that, if she enjoys the experience, she’ll be willing to try some new courses of study come the Fall. Unfortunately there isn’t much close by for her, so I’ll have to stretch myself to see what I can find. Either that or get used to driving across town once a week!

I have, however, taken on a new role as one of the executives of our local Homelearners Chapter of the BC Young Naturalists Club. We joined up last year and enjoyed the outings but didn’t make it to many due to some administrative issues. So this year I plan to go to many more of them (and hopefully Son will be mature enough to tag along without being a disruption). 

Finally, my boy finished his last day of preschool today (it was a farewell party). I will post soon with a review of the experience, but I’m also excited for him. This Fall he’ll definitely be doing some Martial Arts and any other physical things we can find for him (I’m thinking of a dance class as he loves to move his body around!). In the meantime we’re going to enjoy the Summer with lots of outdoor time, camping, gardening, and trips to the beach!

Adding to the Family

I grew up always having a dog or dogs in the family. I love dogs. When I was in University and living with a long-term boyfriend we adopted a lovely dog. We trained her well and she was a joy to take everywhere. When we broke up he kept her, as per our original agreement, and I moved to the US for a while to pursue my career.

Husband and I often talked about having a dog one day, but with babies and toddlers life was far too busy to even consider it. Lately, however, the pace of life has slowed down a great deal and I’ve been yearning to bring a dog into our lives. I had a good discussion with our landlords about how I would care for and train the dog and eventually they were convinced that I would be responsible, so they said yes. Our yard is huge but not fully fenced so my first task was to come up with a plan for some inexpensive, non-permanent fencing options. After much research I settled on wire square mesh fencing with metal posts that can sink readily into lawn and soil. I’ve ordered the materials and they will arrive in a few days – so soon I’ll be indulging my inner landscaper and putting up about 60 feet of fencing.

I’ve also been perusing dog adoption sites – I’m a mongrel fan – but haven’t found what I’m looking for yet. There is one dog that I found today that I am keeping my eye on, but I have promised myself not to move on anything until the fence is built. I hope to have that done by the end of next week – if she’s still available and our visit goes well, I may have a new dog to show you!

Husband is a bit leery of the idea, but after much discussion has agreed to let me go ahead with this. I will be taking on all the responsibilities – this will be “my” dog. I am very much looking forward to taking her running with me, hiking, and on walks to the local park to join the other neighbourhood dog owners. I’m very excited and will keep you posted on how it all goes!