Awwww! Look how cute our dog is getting! I wish we could visit her again soon – trying to set that up. Just under 3 weeks until she comes home now. 

Ooh I forgot a title last time. Oh well, I think I will just avoid them altogether in the future.

We actually had some sad news at the beginning of the week – in random circumstances, our new puppy has been orphaned! Poor Ruby the golden retriever passed away. She fell down the stairs or something, and when they took her in to the vet since she was acting strange, they found some kind of cancerous liver tumour that had ruptured. Not only is it really bad news for the family that owns her (who has breed her resulting in the current litter, her second), of course it’s also making us worry about Piper’s genetics. We are just going to have to be vigilant. Unfortunately the stats on Goldens and cancer are not good at all. I wish we were getting her sooner though, now. Luckily the puppies were almost weaned completely and are now on formula. Ruby’s sister was really trying to mother the pups when we were there, so hopefully she can provide something of that relationship in her absence.

But in better news I had a fun night at the Bridget Jones premiere. As you can see from the pics. Can’t even think of all the celebs that we spotted that night – too many to mention. Bad weather, thought I was going to get pneumonia, but fun times. Movie – not so great. Not as good as the first, but still nice to return to that world. Even if the book is a gazillion times better.

If you look REAL close at the third person from the right, you’ll see it’s Elton John waving. And his Canadian partner David Furnish is with him. 

Look! It’s Ozzy! Sharon too but hidden behind his mane. 

Okay I just had to throw this one in for good measure 

This is Piper 

All the pups squished together when we went to visit 

So I have gone photo crazy on here today as I am finally enjoying internet access at home again after weeks without. And it means I can share some photos of Piper (although I have more trapped on a digital camera right now) – we get to bring our golden retriever puppy home in a month today! And then I get to be off work pretty much for a month to hang out with her! hurrah!

In other good news today, eggnog lattes are back at Starbucks. They cost the bloody earth – I could buy lunch for the same 2 pounds and change price of a small one – but they’re about the only taste of eggnog I can get in this country without making some from scratch! Which I will do during the festive season, but in the mean time I will waste my money on that damn place. Had my first one of the season today at lunch and damn it was tasty.

In unbelievable news, thanks to the fact that Westminster Adult Education Service (my employer) is part of Westminster City Council (basically the local government in the City of Westminster), and that Council thinks it is wonderful and keeps winning awards, they have given us an extra day’s holiday on December 17th so the whole service is closed and they have announced that all staff get a half day off to go Christmas shopping!!! Have you ever heard of something so crazy?! Anyway it works out well for me as that is the half day I will take for our trip to France in a few weeks. We’ve booked the ferry now, so we just need a b&b or something.

In more good news, I finally got a work mobile phone today. Makes up for the fact that I haven’t had one since I lent mine to my dad in August when he was scout camping here and it never worked again!! He figures the damp got to it. But the one I got is so much better! It has a colour screen and all sorts of bells and whistles. And of course it was free (well sort of – it comes out of one of the budgets I manage so I am acutely aware of the expense!). And of course the first thing I did tonight was get myself an O Canada ringtone that I had tried to get on my last phone but it didn’t work. Excellent. Except only I will know the significance of course!

This makes up for a terrible week at work (ugh…the stress) and in the universe in general – four more years of that?! Oh god, what have they done over there.

Apparently she likes her food – so she will fit right in this house. Piper’s got an orange splat of nail polish on her head so that the breeder knows which one she is! She had changed a lot already from when we picked her.