Being the 29th of February which only comes every four years, heard on a CBC radio quiz this morning that one of the saints stated it was permissible for the maidens to ask the men to marry on this day...was it Francis of Assissi, St. Patrick or St Valentine?

Among new parents, there is often the discussion as to the ideal spacing in planning for their children...would often hear some of this when teaching parenting classes or among some groups in marriage prep classes. Consideration is given to parent energy level, career time off and compatibility of siblings, developmental stages, such as when they will be in school together and parental age when the final one is launched…do we have all two or three spaced a year or 18 months apart and get the diaper stage, breast feeding, sleepless nights done within a few years? Do we wait until the first is into kindergarten before the next one and have time to spend with each and perhaps return to work for a year or two in the interim? When the newborn is brought home how do we deal with potential jealousy or dependency needs of the toddler? Ideally, the spacing of three years apart allows the oldest to be relatively secure in his/her own identity and 6 years or more apart often means raising them with characteristics of only or first-born children, as the two will be in different school stages.

New parents often ask “How can we treat each child equally?” and/ or get into the cycle of trying to do or buy for one exactly what they do for the next…. how many sets of Tonka trucks, Barbie outfits, Dora lunch kits or toy mobile phone or talking Elmo’s are you going to invest in? When my girls were pre-schoolers, it was Cabbage Patch dolls and in my frugality, I decided to make them, instead of buying and so, one Christmas the dolls arrived and the next, all the clothes arrived including blue velvet lace dresses finally completed at 3 AM Christmas Eve morning. In retrospect, my thoughts are that one can never treat your children equally or identically, but one can treat them individually and with respect to each of their personalities….as each child has different personalities, temperaments, learning abilities etc. and as parents, you are a different person with each of the children, because of when they arrive in your life journey…the first is the “experiment” with many photo albums and we are over cautious and the last we are often much more relaxed and perhaps more financially secure.

Each family has their own plan (and in many previous generations planning was not an option)…in one family on my dad’s side all four boys were exactly 5 years apart, all four boy cousins and another family I know with three under aged six years, the large pull plastic wagon works well for both toting kids and/or Saturday morning shopping at the market. Had another discussion this morning at church during coffee about launching into parenting again in mid-40s when the youngest is almost in teens.

Many young couples will experiment with a new puppy or a kitten and more than anything discover a fair bit about their own couple relationship…who is going to obedience class or who is going to clean the litter box? “Well he is YOUR dog!”….ever hear the refrain from a frustrated stay-at-home parent,  “She is your child too and you are offering to “ babysit”!

So why my particular diatribe today? With the new puppy, Nanuq and jealousy at times by Dysis, I feel like I am parenting again and wonder if in my 50s, I have the energy, wisdom and patience…oh they look so peaceful stretched out asleep at my feet as I write… can these be the same two that squabble over the same chewy bone ( note the tennis ball in the center ) or sleeping place, but romp together wildly in the ravine and the older one get protective and snarly when another strange dog approaches the younger one!

Found the eclipse this week pretty awesome especially the full red moon which almost looked like a japanese lantern.  My attempts at capturing it in photos were very limited although producing a few other effects I liked....can you tell of all these traffic and street lights which one is the moon as the eclipse begins....then from a local school yard like the footprints in the snow and foreground flash of the fence and framing by the tree,  all very wintery night scenes.

But if you want to check out a very simple but neat sequence as seen from Pangnirtung do so at:

http://www.xanga.com/Klulanoch_Corner?64349918383/didi-you-see-the-lunar-eclipse.html
    

http://www.bork.org/gallery2/v/Cindy/Recent+Shots

These are just a few of the preparation steps I have gone through in order to bring Nanuq southkennel after being picked up from 6:45 PM Calm Air flight from Winnipeg. The kennel ordered through Best West  was shipped free but the extras including puppy food cost about $25 in cargo fee....$5/kilo wt.Then it had to be assembled and the glasses for those small screws!

Vaccinations and de-wormer pills courtesy of Page Burt in Rankin delivered just as I left Rankin at the airport to Arviat and the first parvo shot
given by the local midwife while I held the puppy,  and last night finally traced down the bylaw officer and got some non-expired rabies vaccine which by now I was confident enough to give. Now Nanuq has been visiting and occassionally inside the kennel but doesn't really like it...so we will see when we make that final two flights...had to switch from Air Canada to West Jet for the leg to Edmonton.    

The weather is sunny and beautiful here and I have been dying to get out as have not been on skis in Repulse or here and when I did go out with the dog last weekend just for a walk got a faceful of frost bite! I am ending staying an extra week here as the social worker I am replacing was delayed a week. I was staying at her house but moving back to the smaller cooking room ....so has been pack up and move day and as I was at the health center late Friday completing files I watched movies until 3 am...so probably my own fault if tired...have also been on call.

Well the puppy comes for visits and I have to be pretty vigilant to make sure not peeing inside but the kids in the family have told their father she is getting fatter. I found out she was born about the end of Sept. Rabies vaccines the non-expired ones have arrived from Rankin but I am not sure if I can convince by-law to give it before I go. She stays at the house with the other family and I just hope nothing happens before we depart...took her for a walk at lunch on Friday and she was limping abit and when I went to put her back in the porch there was another smaller pup and almost a fight so had to quickly put her inside.

OH YES yesterday I succeeded in losing her when I went for a walk on the ice, coming back about 5 PM off leash and raced for the shore. Was assured that she would eventually turn up…. but in the inevitable southern way I had to “ do something” as opposed to a more patient Inuit way. Went walking around town last night no dog but had a good visit at the local arena and watched a hockey game where the white jerseys won 17 to 3. Today drove around for 2 hours no luck and guess what at 3 pm she just came back! Well these shots take of our skiing did definitely not let her off leash  and she pulss and cold paws and as you can see she much prefers the back seat of the van…WHAT ELSE did I succeed in doing locking myself out of the suites…fortunately there was a extra key for the van so I could drive and borrow the phone and it really is minus 35 even thought the sun shines!

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May,you may live in Canada .

If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you may live in Canada .

If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you may live in Canada

If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you may live in Canada

If "Vacation" means going anywhere south of Muncie for the weekend, you may live in Canada .

If you measure distance in hours, you may live in Canada

If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you may live in Canada

If you have switched from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day and back again, you may live in Canada

If you can drive 90 kms/hr through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you may live in Canada

If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, you may live in Canada

If you carry jumpers in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you may live in Canada

If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you may live in Canada

If the speed limit on the highway is 80km -- you're going 90 and everybody is passing you, you may live in Canada

If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you may live in Canada

If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction, you may live in Canada

If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you may live in Canada .

If you find 2 degrees "a little chilly", you may live in Canada

If
you actually understand these jokes, and forward them to all your
Canadian friends & others, you definitely live in Canada

OKAY dog people I may be crazy but I am bringing back a puppy who will be a
companion to  Dysis, who stayed south in a country kennel for Xmas
and had a student house sitting for last 3 weeks.The puppy is Nanuq about
4 months old and here is a photo of the mother...can't you see the resemblance
to Dysis who is in the last photo!It was not in my plans to do this but when first in Arviat I got offerred this puppy and the family said they would keep it until I returned. As we are
looking at an older puppy, who seems at least house trained I think it is a
reasonable decision. I am staying in a GN house....house sitting for my
supervisor..she is not overnight with me yet but just walks and found the
mom,  This litter was about 9 pups 4 of which froze in last storm. Same old
same old story of puppies here but I wont go on..

In preparation for  yet another Valentines' Day,
 
Laurel
 
The World's Shortest Fairytale:

Once upon a time, a girl asked a guy, "Will you marry me?
The guy said "No" and the girl lived happily ever after.
 
She went shopping, drank martinis with friends, always had a clean house, never had to cook, had a closet full of shoes and handbags, stayed skinny, and was never farted on.
 
The End

Max:-33.5°C Min:-39.7°C
 
and something i forgot yesterday when I went walking. ... I was bundled up as you can see here and thought this young lad on the roof was having a good time shuffling off the snow, an aftermath of the blizzard we had on Thursday.Walking with puppy and note raven perched on gravel crusher.Dog and raven tracks on hard packed snow....it was so good to get but still minus 35oC with abit of a wind...coming in there were certain folds on my left cheek that were pretty solid and I knew it....Frost bite! did some visiting later and tried out a new amauti. much laughter as it was a little small and only reached just below my hips, but add 7 month old Elise and friend Nancy and got abit of a feel for what packing babies are like

But the days are getting longer...
Sunrise:
8:15
Sunset:
16:46.