Sad tail day (with arghs and ughs).

I like my new Injinji Performance Toesocks. I won them over at Jamie's Precious Peas. I like my toes to have their own personal space.Cadbury likes them, too. Until he thought about it and realized that his toes are unlikely to ever have their own personal space. Then he had a small sad moment.I DON'T like how our fitted sheets don't fit our pillowtop mattress. Yes, we checked the size on the package before we bought. They were supposed to fit. They did - until I washed them. Now I fight with the #@* sheet every time I put them back on the bed. No matter how hard I tug, they will never reach all four corners. Argh!My in-laws have a great Jack Russell terrier (he is full of personality - I love him) that has sad tail days. Days when he's just not happy enough to wag. I'm having one of those. Despite the fun and colourful socks. It's rainy and grey (in January, that's just wrong for where I live - it should be snowing), which doesn't help. I had a fitful sleep and then woke early. I have a class tonight until 10pm and I'm not sure how I'm going to get through it. It's not a specific thing that's making me sad, just a general sense of hopelessness that has been hanging around for a couple of days.

Ugh.

It's been a hard day's night...

Yesterday's event-laden schedule for Cadbury: He got up early with DH and had his breakfast, then headed back to bed. After sleeping in, we went out to shovel the driveway. That is, he played frisbee while I shoveled half the driveway - he got too cold and went inside to lie down while I finished off the shoveling. Then he had another snooze by the fire for a while. I went to work and he wandered off to bed.

Hours later, DH came home and we all hopped in the car to go to the vet, where Cadbury was poked and prodded, diagnosed with a staph infection (a pretty common skin problem with dogs), given some pills for that, and had a veterinary assistant rudely poke him in the leg with a needle to draw blood. Then another car ride home, where he got peanut butter treats (his new pills enrobed in peanut butter - shh, don't tell him) and his dinner. The rest of the evening was spent snoozing, until bedtime (his self-determined bedtime is about 7:30 pm).

He's a lab. He sleeps a lot. He has skin troubles. He's about 5 lbs overweight at 85 lbs.

Today we got his test result back. He has canine hypo-thyroidism. Who knew dogs could get thyroid problems?! Apparently, it's pretty common. So now he'll be on two pills a day for the rest of his life. And hopefully it will improve his immune system, give him more energy, and help him lose those extra few pounds. Luckily, the pills aren't too pricey - about $27 for three months' worth.

But think of the cost in peanut butter!

A few giveaways for today...

For baby:

• Win a Tiny Tush Elite diaper (3 winners!) at Dirty Diaper Laundry. Ends January 18th.
• Win a Bumkins diaper bag at Feisty, Frugal and Fabulous. Ends January 13th.
• Win a Fleurville Re-Run Hana diaper bag in Ogo Print from Toads & Tulips at My Silly Monkeys. Ends January 18th.
• Win a Mrs. Smith's diaper bag at Simply Stacie. Ends January 16th.
• Win a Squishy Fish onesie or tee at Canadian Natural Mama. Ends January 18th.
• Win a Sherpa sleeper from Snug Organics at BabyLuxe {daily}. Ends ?
  

For the ladies:

• Win BearPaw boots at Newly Wed, Newly Bred. Ends January 17th.
• Win a pretty jujie handbag at (oh, hello friend.) Ends January 10th.
  

For anyone:

• Win a $100 to shop at CSN Stores at Running Just as Fast as I Can. Ends January 8th at noon.

OH! And some exciting news - I'll be posting a review and giveaway right here tomorrow! This is for a product that will be great for those planning a pregnancy, expecting a baby, or if you know someone who is! Curious? Come back tomorrow to see and enter for your chance to win!

Our dog, Cadbury

is the Pet of the Week! Check it out :)

I sent in his best, handsome head shot for that... but he's got some other great looks.
Take, for example,
his "don't bug me. I'm sleeping" look:
(yes, that's his tongue lolling out of his mouth as he sleeps)...

and his especially attractive 'gremlin' look:We love him!

What weekends are for...

This weekend was so busy. Here's what we accomplished in the two days:

• ripping out the old shelf and rod in our closet, repairing the walls, repainting, and installing a great new system by Rubbermaid that has loads of storage and shoe shelves (finally!) - it even has drawers! Love it.
  
• putting up the Christmas lights... I know it's early, but it was so nice to do it on a rare warm day in November than a freeze-your-buns-off day in December!
• bringing in our patio set for the winter... aw.
  
• making 2.5 litres of applesauce with locally grown apples from the market. Yum!
  
• making an apple-cranberry loaf
• making 8 meals' worth of butternut squash soup. Loading up the freezer with fall harvest goodness!
  
• making two loaves of spelt bread. I love my Kitchenaid stand mixer (which I won in a contest last year)! We used to have a bread machine, which was great, but when a small plastic part in it broke and Black & Decker wouldn't replace the broken piece (instead telling us to throw out this large countertop appliance and buy a new one), we opted not to get a new one. Not cool to add to landfills rather than replace a 50-cent part! B&D gets a big thumbs down.
  
• making chocolate ice cream (without an ice cream maker!). This one's for the grown-ups, as it's full of Baileys and rum! Mm. It's so easy, too. Though if you do make it, expect an overnight freeze time - the four hours the recipe says is not long enough. Maybe it would be, if you put it in a shallow container (I didn't think of that until too late). I confess, I had a spoonful at breakfast this morning :)
  
• cleaning the house... just a regular weekend task, but it got done along with everything else
  
• installing blinds on four windows. We finally got rid of the last of the 'temporary' paper blinds that have been up for two years since we moved in!
• Hosting our great friends for dinner. They brought their sweet daughter, whom I adore!
  

I think that's all! Good stuff. Isn't it satisfying to get stuff done?! Ok, I'm finished bragging about our accomplishments... With Christmas on the way, the blog giveaways have really ramped up lately! Here are some giveaways for today.

For baby:

• Win a set of fleece pants and a tee (for girls) by Brooke Van Gory Designs at Diapers and Dimples. Ends November 21st.
• Win a $25 gift certificate to Maukilo (toys) at The Bragging Mommy. Ends November 13th.
• Win a $25 gift certificate to Sprout Baby at Jabbering Jessi. Ends November 20th.
• Win a Babybjorn Travel Crib Lite at MomFuse (5 winners!). Ends November 15th.
• Win a Lamaze Space Symphony Motion Gym from The Learning Curve at Monkey Mayhem! Ends November 20th.
• Win a $20 gift certificate to Snap-Ez at The Cloth Diaper Report. Ends November 16th.
• Win a Econobum Onesize Cover & Onesize Prefold at Diaper Discussions! Ends November 13th.
• Win your choice of an AIO or Fitted with Coordinating Cover from My Sweet Punkin Patch at The First Time Around. Ends November 22nd.
• Win a Zosephine diaper bag at The Bragging Mommy! Ends November 15th.
• Win a Kolcraft Jeep stroller at A Giveaway Everyday! Ends November 16th.
• Win a $30 gift certificate to Great Lakes Diaper Company at Little Birdie Secrets! Ends November 15th.
• Win an aden+anais Burpy Bib at Tara's View of the World. Ends November 24th.
• Win a big Amelie Jo gift box full of goodies over at From Scratch. Ends November 23rd.
• Win a Britax Marathon CS car seat at $30 Weekly Grocery Challenge. Ends November 22nd.
• Win a ring sling from Belly Bumps to Baby Hugs at Moma Lovebug. Ends November 22nd.
  

For the ladies:

• Win a bamboo wrap by Naturally Knotty at A Kindred Spirit's Thoughts. Ends November 28th.
• Win a Shower Hug at Minnesota Mama's Must Haves. Ends November 18th.
• Win Om Shanti body scrub (in your choice of scent) at Cute Like Me. Ends November 16th.
• Win Cream perfume or lotion (your choice) at Mommy 2 Two Girls. Ends November 17th.
• One more chance to win Cream perfume at One 2 Try. Ends November 18th.
  
• You can also win Cream perfume at Helping Mommys Win. Ends November 20th.
• Win a hand dyed silk chiffon scarf at La Mimi. Ends November 21st.
  

For anyone:

• Win a $20 gift certificate to The Brown Bow at Mommies Angels. Ends November 30th.
• Win a $35 gift certificate to Novica at Feisty, Frugal and Fabulous. Ends November 19th.
• Win a Walmart photo book at Peg City Momma - open to Canadians only! Ends November 16th.
• Win a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer (like I said, I love mine!) from Style At Home - open to Canadians only! Ends November 30th.
• Win your choice of BearPaw shoes (or boots!) at Fabulous Fun Finds! Ends November 12th.
• Win your choice of watch from Inexpensive Watches at A Mom's Balancing Act (two winners). Ends November 18th.
• Win a Christmas ornament from Huephoria at Simply Living on a Budget. Ends November 23rd.
• Win a pretty planner by My Lavender Cottage at Gifted Giveaways. Ends November 12th.
• Win a Mighty Leaf Tea travel mug at Katydid and Kid! Ends November 22nd.
• Enter to win a Hallmark ornament at the Canadian Family blog (open to Canadians only!) every day until December 18th.
  

For the dog:

• Win a Natural Luxe Eco-Me Natural Dog Kit at Mkokopelli. Ends November 15th.