Animals Are Fabulous.

It's amazing how Hachi went from carefree bliss at daycare (photo courtesy of daycare tweet)

to the cone of misery 

in less than a week.  An unfortunate foray into a bushy area in the dog park resulted in a punctured and inflamed paw.  The limp worsened enough to warrant a visit to the vet, who prescribed antibiotics and a cone.  Poor thing.  No doggie daycare this past week.

But he was full of energy and good to go again this weekend.  There was dogpark fun and there was also a doggie play date :)  He has a new female friend!  I can't help but post pics of these two adorable blue heeler crosses.

Amazing resilient beings, dogs.

Another favourite animal of mine is the elephant.  I was thinking about all the cruelty and bullshit animals have to go through and realized that if I ever came across an elephant, I wouldn't want to ride the elephant anymore (like I used to in my childhood).  Instead I would just want to be in his or her presence, admiring such a magnificent and intelligent creature. 

I was watching one of Anthony Bourdain's travelling and eating shows - he was in Northern India and was in a house that was super duper old school English.  It was owned by Englishmen and then by Indian rulers and now the descendants of said rulers.  Things were looking delicious and elegant until the camera focused on an old picture of Englishmen standing proudly in front of an elephant they had just killed.  Please redefine "civilized" vs. "savage," sirs.

Mind Farts

-so much for spring arriving in Edmonton!  there is so much snow!  i won't complain though, just because i prefer snow to mud when walking Hachi.  i think most dog owners do

-oh man ... Padmanadi's general tao chicken has replaced their ginger beef as my new favourite vegan guilty pleasure.  i hope they make it permanent soon (it's currently just a special)

-saw some live bands at the Starlite this weekend.  not my usual type of music and enjoyed pseudo-dancing and people-watching.  mosh pits are a good way to get bruised up (i was just a spectator of course - i would've been annihilated in there!)

-reception venue has now been officially reserved! hotel mac it is (photo from Jennifer Bergman Weddings)

-saw Still Alice.  Julianne Moore was great in it.  Alzheimer's is terrifying :(  

-i actually beeped at someone yesterday (i rarely ever do).  encountering some really bad drivers lately, including the airhead who ran a stop sign and cracked my bumper.  this is what makes me scared to drive a shiny new car

-kudos to CBC for doing interviews with Canadian Muslim women and their opninions on hijabs and niqabs. it's nice to hear their voices and why they choose to or not to wear these traditional pieces of fashion as opposed to blind media coverage

Facing the Big White Fluffy Sparkly Behemoth.

In January I was still a tad overwhelmed with the thought of planning a wedding.  So I put it off.

In February the questions and advice from friends and family kept coming, which made wedding planning thoughts hit me more and more and so I decided to tackle this task by treating it like one of my work projects.  It worked.  I was soothed by emails and lists and spreadsheets and now we have reserved a date for later this year with the reception venue that we both had as the top pick on our lists.  I don't want to jinx anything - final decision date is tomorrow.  I figured that the reception venue would be the toughest availability to nail down and once that task was accomplished, all the other details would fall into place. 

We'll find out soon enough!

Thankfully work is still busy - even with the sketchy oil prices. There is a life lesson they don't teach you in school: a North American wedding costs a lot more than you would initially imagine!  I know, I know - why follow what North American society dictates?  Why not do a destination wedding?  Why not elope?  Save the money instead!   Get a car.  Put it into a down payment on a house!  Initially he wanted traditional and I was daydreaming about a beach somewhere.

But somehow, the traditional local wedding started to grow on me.  Why not pick a venue we both like?  We both have good jobs.  Why not splurge a little more and pick a beautiful place that doesn't need much extra decor and extra work?  Why not pick an easy-to-get-to local spot so that most of our loved ones can make it?  I know white folk love to do roadtrip weddings in the mountains or at a lake, but coloured folk like their cozy hotel ballrooms - where one can drive less than an hour, socialize, drink, eat and dance without having to make a road trip.  Third world folks prefer cozy to rugged.  Third world folks also tend to have huge weddings (hello 400-people-strong guestlists).

And so we compromised.  Traditional and max 250 guests (limited by beautiful venue).  With white people food.

Mind Farts

-watched a friend compete at her ballroom competition.  enjoyed the beauty and polish and flare of the results of hours of dance practice.  but it also made me realize i still relish my relaxed and healing state (ankle still doesn't like high heels).  no rush to get back into dance just yet

-plus, aside from all the wedding stuff, there's still so much to learn at work and yoga!  i can't seem to get away from learning in parallel

-wine gums = crack cocaine

-dairy = kryptonite

-kale chips (vegan sour cream & chive) = healthy crack cocaine

-found a gem of a Sri Lankan restaurant in the southside.  with a ton of vegan options!  never busy at lunch, fast and reasonabley priced.  dosas are magical giant lentil-based crepes that make me happy

-i read articles on India's Daughter, the documentary on the brutal inhuman gang rape and murder of Jyoti Singh, the brave victim who fought back and fought to stay alive for another thirteen days.  i could not believe what the rapists and their *lawyers* were saying about how it was all her fault and how women should "never fight back" and "deserve it" if they are on out at night with a friend.  it makes me so sick - especially since she was a physiotherpy intern and probably knew exactly how much they were ripping her apart internally while the rape was happening.  and how there is absolutely no remorse coming from the murderers or the defense lawyers.  how the hell do these idiots view their mothers ... their sisters ... their daughters ... ?  there is pure evil in this world

-women form part of this madness too.  how about the women who are leaving their cozy educated Canadian lives to go be wives for ISIS?  and the Edmonton woman who recruits them?  SERIOUSLY?  Happy International Women's Day :(

-for the sake of positivity, i need to remind myself what is going right with women around me: 

     -i can take care of and provide for myself, and so can all my girlfriends

     -we choose our partners freely and without need.  just want

     -we were able to get educated without fearing for our lives

     -we run errands, go to work, date and drink without fear of being attacked or gang raped

     -we can read and wear whatever we want to (even if in poor taste)

-Happy International Women's Day - here's to being able to challenge ourselves, win victories and make mistakes freely and safely