Taco

We are now dog owners! We adopted this adorable Golden retriever labrador mix from the SPCA last Saturday. It was meant to be, as first we went to see the main building and didn't really click with any of the dogs we saw. We were a bit disheartened, but learned there was an emergency shelter on the other side of the street for puppies and more difficult dogs, so we decided to go check it out. Just as we were walking in, a young volunteer had a dog on a leash and asked us if she could help us. My husband looked at her and said, "Yes, we came to adopt that dog.", pointing to the dog she had on a leash. She said he had just came in about 20 minutes earlier from a family that just wasn't ready to raise a puppy. We stayed with him for a long time, went for a walk, fell in love, and got all of the papers organized. His operation (to be neutered) was scheduled for Monday, so we left him (broke my heart) there for the weekend.

On Sunday, we went to a pet store to buy all of the necessary accessories: dog bowls, toys, bed, food and cage. We also spend most of the day trying to decide on a name. We went through so many options, but we wanted something that worked in French, English and Spanish, and something that meant something to us. We finally decided on Taco Anyong Titan. We call him Taco (which reminds us of Mexico and suits him well), but we just love the name Anyong from Arrested Development and Titan from a  Dane Cook sketch.

 On Monday, my husband and I were so excited we kept talking about our dog all day. We had a few pictures on our phones that we would show whoever was willing to look! After work, I rented a Nissan Leaf from Communauto (a car-sharing community I'll have to post about another time). It is the coolest car! It is 100% electric and runs great. It was a great experience. Taco was super excited to see us and the car ride home went really well.

He has been doing so well this first week. He has already learned to sit and stay before we open the door, he heels pretty well (still tugs quite a bit though) and hasn't had too many accidents in the house.

Today, went for a super long four-hour walk to the Old Port in the snow and wind (we finally got a good snow storm!). Taco is now super tired and relaxed, but was really cold at the half-way point and I felt so bad that he was shivering! We almost looked homeless as we ate outside (Tim Hortons wouldn't let us in with the dog), Taco in my jacket to warm him up!

Here are a few pictures and a super cute video I took of Taco playing in the snow. Enjoy!

Wouldn't you have fallen in love with him too?

First day home!

We think he's going to be long!

Cute things heard at work this week

This week being Valentine's Day, we had many talks about love and friendship. Here are a few tidbits I thought I'd share to make you smile:

One of my students told me he was in love with a girl from another class and that when he saw her, his heart dropped to his feet because she was just so beautiful (aw!), but that she was annoyed because he always wanted to talk to her and play with her.

Another student told me he was in love with his parents and that he would marry them one day. I'll let him figure that one out in time, but am making a mental note to tell his parents that they are ever-so-loved!

What to wear if you are a Canadian teacher

Today was the 100th day of school for my students and I. We celebrated by counting to 100 many times throughout the day and by having an outdoor carnival. My colleagues and I had set up different stations that the students could play at and they had a blast. We were outside for about an hour.

We are lucky at our school because we (teachers) are only on recess duty once a week, but our recess lasts 45 minutes, so when it's cold you need to be dressed really warm. This is the whole point of my post. Knowing that we have to be outside for long stretches of time once a week, we all decided to buy the very best winter clothing we could get our hands on. For us this means a North Face Arctic Parka (black or grey (or brown - not pictured here)) and Sorel boots. Obviously, all other 'normal' rules of winter dressing still apply - layers are a must! So underneath our matching jackets, we all had two or three shirts, and we also had several layers of pants (including snow pants). Tuques (that's a warm hat for non-Canadians), mittens and scarves are accessories, but choose them wisely because when you play in the snow with five-year-olds, things get wet pretty fast!

Notice the matching jackets and boots!