The president has no dog.

The Lucy saga has come to a close. A mere day after that first family gave Lucy back to us, another family took her in. They had also responded to the craigslist ad. They have 3 boys, ages 5-12 if I remember correctly, and no other pets. All in all, it sounds like things have been going pretty good. So long Lulubelle. We'll miss ya. Kinda. Sometimes. She's a good soul overall, just.... well, not suited to our home as it has become.

In Optimist club news, last night we held the yearly elections. When the term changes over in October, I'll be the new pres. I kinda knew it was gonna happen. I held the door wiiiide open for someone else to step up, but I think most people were already assuming I was going to be president. I'm VP right now, and our current president calls me the 'co-president', since I take the helm when he's traveling for work, etc. And the fact is, I do a lot. I was also open to the secretary/treasurer position for various reasons, but the chips fell where they did. Here's hoping I don't **** it up TOO bad.

We're on the trail for this "walk for youth" we want to have on June 7. I sought out joiners at the elementary and the highschool. The elementary said that they already had a lot going on, but once I found the right fella at the highschool, it sounds like we might get a lot of participation from them. The pathfinders are pretty much guaranteed in, and the freshly elected VP for next year has plans for some local teams.

I also plan to look into a youth theater group, and the youth centre in Maple Ridge, when I can get out that way. If I'm lucky, tomorrow.

IF ONLY I HAD A CONTACT OR TWO WITH THE SAINT JOHN AMBULANCE CADETS (COUGHCOUGH)

In other news, I now have the fully-marked-up editing copy of Lifehack. Bit by bit, I'll be reviewing the proposed changes, and entering them into the manuscript. I also have to touch up the cover, add page numbering, and have a new photo taken for the back.

Yute progress is slow but steady. Me and the characters are still recovering from THE BAD SCENE, and when thier mood picks up a little, so will the pace of the writing, I think Either way, Yute or Lifehack is going to take the forefront at the temporary expense of the other.

Oh! I forgot! Caitlin's 7th tooth is almost done popping up, and the lil scamp can climb the entire starcase with very little effort! May 27th is her first birthday, and party plans are underway.

Correction

About half an hour after I posted this, the new home called. Lucy is now on her way back. She didn't get along as well with the resident dog as hoped, and the situation scared their kid, yadayadayada, long story short... dognotsogone.

We'll try a couple more replies form craigslist, then we might have to check out 'beaglepaws'....

So long, Lucy

Doggone!
Our dog, Lucy, has gone to a better place. Somewhere in Burnaby. (Did I fool ya?) We stuck her up on Craigslist for free to a good home, because after 3 and a half years here, "Pain in the butt" had been turning into "Look, this just ain't workin out."

One of our neighbors has a couple dogs trained as attack dogs. They've already attacked our tenant's puppy who snuck under the fence, and later the 2 attack dogs snuck under another fench to chump on another neighbor's dog. When you have kids, why are you training your gods with padded "maul me" sleeves?

The other reason we wanted Lucy outta here is Caitlin. They get along GREAT. Except at meal time. Caitlin likes to share, and Lucy doesn't know when enough is enough. And yes, we did try a lot of things to make peace, but the beagle in her found a way to destroy all possible solutions in one way or the other.

I tried to put her on Craigslist once, and couldn't make myself submit the posting, but a week later, I managed it. I felt better once I got it through my head she's be going to another home, not a wood chipper. The home she went to has a 7 year old boy and a beagle/terrier, so that family is used to breeds with attitude. They go for daily walks in a dog park, and overall, it sounds like a great place for Lucy.

Say Aah!
At 10 and a half months, Caitlin's 7th and 8th teeth are finally peeking out, surrounding her 2 lower middle teeth. Crawling is a mastered art now. Standing without support has happened many times, but not for long. I think a solid 7 second count is the current record. And she has dance fever. Tunes from a few select noisy toys can get her rockin' out like there's no tomorrow. For food, she generally has whatever we're having, cut into manageable chunks in many cases, but a bottle now and then can supplement dinner if it's something she want very fond of.. though she seems to like most things..! Check Caitlin's site here.

Optimism in the streets
The MeadowRidge Optimist Club will soon have it's won website which I'm putting together with design/content guidance from the rest of the club. When it's up, the address will be posted here, on some business cards for members to hand out to whoever, and some signs for generic uses.

These signs will be making their first appearance at the first annual MeadowRidge Optimsit Walk for youth, which will be a part of the Pitt Meadows Day parade

Lifehack and Watching Yute
2nd edition of Lifehack is in the hands of my last of many volunteer editors. And maybe my dad might take a crack too.

Yute is still being chipped away at. Not much of a page count increase over 130, but a lot of segments are getting streamlined, and re-sorted from the sort of 'sketchbook' phase that many scenes get written in originally.

Game On
I'm pretty much done my Oblivion addiction, looking forward to LittleBigPlanet, Home, and Bionic Commando: ReArmed. (2d gameplay! SLICK 3d graphics!)

Now playing: Crash Bandicoot:Warped (had an urge for some platforming) and FF7. Why FF7 all of a sudden? Blame Advent Children. Sure, the flick isn't new, but it triggered new toys! Right now I'm surrounded by AC and original costume versions of Cloud and Tifa, original Aeris, and AC Vincent and Sephy, which I've been buying one by one since AC originally came out. I'm not trying to get them all, but 'Reno' is on my 'get me' list. Anyway, I guess having all these guys standing around got me in the mood to play the game.

Busy? Me? Feh.

ohhh, I've been so neglectful of my blogging duties. I've just gotten off my Oblivion addiction, so working on Watching Yute is coming back to the forefront. As much as it can anyway, with other duties in the way.

Caitlin is currently working on teeth #4 and #5, and right on the cusp of crawling. Today I put a sign on the stairs gate to KEEP IT CLOSED! We actually had that gate there for a long time before we decided to try for a baby- it kept pizza delivery people safe from the Lucy. The insane, noisy dog. Caitlin's now getting to sleep pretty nicely most nights.. gives us a little time to actually.. do things. Like update a blog, or for Michelle, work on her scrapbooking business she's started up, or do things with her new mothers club.

The optimist club keeps chugging along. Right now we're working with the Pitt Meadows Lions club, to put together a Chinese newyear's dinner. In the past seven years or so, it was run by the Pitt Meadows society.. but they're kinda tired of it, and called in us. We're not going to reinvent the wheel on our first year. Dragon dancers, buffet dinner, door prizes, draws, etc... It's a big project, but should be a good fundraiser.. between this and the haloween project we did, we'll actually have a decent bit of scratch to work with for a change.

It's been a LONG time since I've drawn anything for the sake of drawing. Not enough hours in the day, especially now that Caitlin's here. Arg, I'm tired. I feel like I have a lot more to say, but my brain has checked out. Say g'night, Gracie.

Lucy doesn't get it.

Lucy's my dog. She's a beagle cross. Picture a taller beagle, and you've got the idea. All the bad bits, all the barking, and the chewing, but with double normal beagle horsepower.

The only thing keeping the beagle breed from being strangled into extinction is the sad sorrowful look they can give ya.
Here she is showing her cunning. And also here is Leela, who as you may have guessed, is a cat. My cat for sure, Lucy is my wife's dog. Not my any means of ownership- the pets picked.

Anyway, Lucy's going to be the star of my children's book, "Lucy Doesn't get it"

Or possibly "Lucy doesn't understand" Or Lucie... that's my wife Michelle's preferred spelling. And she Spells the cat's name "Lela".. Ohwell.

Anyway, when I get the look for Lucy's cartooney-self done, I'll post it. The book is going to tell all about how various things happen, and Lucy didn't get it.

An example of how it's going to be:
---
Lucy's mommy and daddy didn't have fur. Lucy didn't get it.

Lucy's ate food in a bowl on the floor. Mommy and daddy eat food up on a table. It smelled much better, but they didn't usually let Lucy even try it. Lucy didn't get it.

One day Lucy saw that mommy's tummy was getting bigger. Lucy didn't get it.
---

etc. In the end, Lucy meets the newborn Caitlin, and Lucy finally gets it. The finally page will show Caitlin peering at the furry monster sniffing her with its big wet nose.

And Caitlin didn't get it.

---
Next post I'll yap about the only book project I haven't discussed yet, a non-fiction dealing with my life, "It wasn't worth the parking space".

Ooh, I could have posted a pic of Caitlin in this entry, but maybe I'll hold off for the next entry.