7lb Cake!

In the new Living Without magazine there is a recipe for GF chocolate truffle cheesecake. It looked great, so I had to try it. Fortunately, Hester had a birthday party today, so I had a reason to make it. The funny thing about it - it weighs 7.25 pounds! It was so heavy we had to put it on the scale to see just how much it weighed. People seemed to like it. Although it is very, VERY chocolatey, it wasn't as rich as I anticipated. I would say it was a success.

Here are some pictures of John cutting it. He likes to be exact! Molly was acting as his helper.

May 6????

Not exactly the weather we expect in May. Hopefully things improve soon!

Max (formerly Hershey!)

One of our first fosters was Hershey (see Sept & Oct 2008 postings for baby pictures). He was a tiny little guy, who was very smart and very pesky! He was also very tough. We loved him a lot (especially John), and cried like babies when we had to give him up. Fortunately, he went to an awesome family, and we keep in touch. His Mom sends me regularly emails and pictures, keeping me up to date on how he is doing. Because he is so smart, they changed his name to Maxwell Smart, Max for short.

Max & his Mom were in town this weekend, visiting her sons who live here while going to school. I was invited over to visit. It was great to see him again. I would like to think he remembered me on some level, and it seemed like he did. Of course it's hard to say for sure. John would like to meet him again as well, but is afraid he would cry!

Here are some pictures of our reunion. Max's brother took the pictures. I particularly like the one of him looking up at me. What a good dog!

What's Been Going On

Well, we've had a pretty quiet start to the year. Lately I've been doing interviews for my thesis, and am almost done that process. Next is transcription, then coding. Then all I have to do is write it!

John has been training for a marathon at the end of May. He ran 14 miles this past Saturday. He's doing the Moonlight Run on Saturday. I would like to do it, but since I haven't run in 2 years now, that's probably not a great idea.

Sadly, I still haven't been exercising regularly. I want to, but I still have an energy deficit many days. Fortunately, I have been cycling a little bit more, and find that I am enjoying that, and it makes me want to do it more regularly. I'm really hoping that as the weather improves I can get on my bike daily, which I think will help me get back into exercising regularly. One thing I've realized is how much I need to be on my bike for psychological reasons.

Anyway, one exciting thing has happened, and that's for the next entry.

Olympic Torch Run

The Olympic Torch came through Lethbridge today. We decided to check it out, because I've never seen it before. Jay, Carly, Quinn, and Carly's parents Debbie & Jim were there too.

It was cool because they brought the lighting station (whatever it's called!) across the High Level Bridge on an old-fashioned hand-pumped car. Then the first runner lit her torch from that. All in all, very neat to see.

Here are some pictures of the event.

Noelle

Here are some pictures of Noelle. She is an extremely cute little dog. She has a nice personality, and is settling in well. She might be a bit much for Molly though. They haven't played yet, but maybe tomorrow morning we can give it a try. Noelle might be just a bit too rambunctious, but we'll see. She's only been here a few hours but is settling in well. I doubt she'll be with us long-she's just too cute!

New Foster Pup

We're getting a new foster pup this afternoon. We're told she's a 4 month old shepherd/boxer cross. I have also been told she is quite well behaved. We'll see!

I'll post pictures once she gets here and I get my camera out.

Melting!

We've had some unusually warm weather lately, so all the snow is melting. The warmth is nice, but the resulting mess on the roads & sidewalks is not. I haven't ridden my bike to work all winter. John rode today but found it is still quite slippery in places. Given my lingering psychological issues with instability on my bike I think I'd better wait a little longer before trying it.

In the meantime, Molly & I went for a nice walk today. It's a beautiful day, very sunny and 7 degrees right now. I took my camera, but still just used the auto setting. I'm planning to attend a class next weekend, so maybe I'll try some of the manual setting after that. I loved the light and shadows, so I concentrated on that. I also love this camera because it can zoom in without blurring.  Here are the pictures we took (or at least some of the better ones!).