Quarantine: Week 11

Ginny with her cousins, Kaz and Max

Another week down! Overall, it was pretty quiet once again...lots of meetings as things start to wrap up for this school year and we start to prepare for next year.

We tried to do a few fun things this week - we had three lunch "picnic" dates in the car during our drives with Ginny. We got Elevation Burger (my favorite veggie burger), Mod Pizza, and Primanti Bros.!

The bird and squirrel watching continued:

we put this bird feeder on
our dining room window...

...and we had our first visitor!

We watched Defending Jacob on Apple TV+ and it was really good. I never read the book and I knew nothing about it before watching, and I'll happily admit that the only reason I was initially interested in it was because Chris Evans was the star. But it really kept me guessing and I was sad to see it end! It was only eight episodes, so not a huge time commitment, and I recommend it if you're looking for a good show!

We also finished watching all of the Pixar movies in order, just as we'd done with the Disney Animated Classics. Even though I didn't rank the Disney movies, here's my personal ranking of the 22 Pixar movies from best to worst:

1) Up

2) Coco

3) Inside Out

4) Incredibles 2

5) Brave

6) Toy Story 2

7) Monsters, Inc.

8) Toy Story 4

9) The Incredibles

10) Wall-E

11) Ratatouille

12) A Bug's Life

13) Toy Story 3

14) Monsters University

15) Toy Story

16) Cars

17) Onward

18) Cars 3

19) The Good Dinosaur

20) Cars 2

21) Finding Dory

22) Finding Nemo

I really don't understand how Finding Nemo and Finding Dory each made so much money! While the animation is beautiful, the story, the characters, and the humor leave so much to be desired! Marlin is the Pixar character I dislike the most and his presence is so grating that it ruins both movies for me. I ranked Finding Dory higher only because of the addition of great characters (Hank, Bailey, and Destiny) - not because of Dory. She's another character I don't particularly care for - the short-term memory thing gets old very quickly.

At the top of the list, there are some films I could watch over and over and over again and still cry every time. With every viewing of Coco, it creeps closer and closer to overtaking Up as my favorite Pixar film!

The movies will have to tide us over for a while; we cancelled our four remaining Disney trips we had planned for 2020. While we're a little disappointed, we've just decided to wait until things settle down and operations return to a more normal state.

Finally, the highlight of the week was my birthday and I was completely spoiled with kindness and generosity. I wasn't really looking forward to a quarantine birthday, but it turned out to be wonderful. I am so lucky to have the best people in my life!

I've written a post every single day for two entire months, but I've decided to slow down because really there's not much to report on a daily basis! I'll probably post once or twice a week unless there's something fun to write about!

Happy Tails to you!

SSS: Just Bee Co.

For Small Shop Saturday, I'm featuring Just Bee Co., which is a shop that sells, among a few other items, engraved cups. The owner is super creative and in addition to all of her awesome designs, is always willing to do custom designs as well! As you can see, I've got a growing collection of these cups, and I've also given several as gifts. The designs are great, the fact that they are engraved means they can withstand wear and tear, and the cups do an excellent job of keeping drinks hot or cold! She miakes all kinds of things, including signs, as well! You can find her on Instagram!

my Dachshund cups
the pink and black ones were custom orders

Sally & Zero
Rapunzel & Pascal
(these cups were a collaboration with
bubblechicchick - also on IG)

Disney

Star Wars

"it's a small world"

Disney Parks

if I had an online dating profile...

so cute!

"it's a small world" sign

Cast Member Sign

Happy Tails to you!

Her name is not Guinea!

Another quick post - although it fits in perfectly with the previous Furry Friday post!

Pet Peeve:

When anyone says "Guinea" when reading her name aloud.

I immediately know that a person who does this is not a Harry Potter fan. It's an instant giveaway and frankly, I judge that person's taste in books because how is it possible they've not yet read the Harry Potter books?!?

The rescue organization had named her "Summer," but given that she was only a year old, we figured a name change wouldn't be a big deal for her when we adopted her. We knew what we wanted her new name to be: Ginny.

She's named after Ginny Weasley - and let me be clear that it's BOOK Ginny, not movie Ginny. While I really love the movies, they made a complete mess of Ginny's character! Book Ginny is awesome!

It's Ginny Weasley, not Guinea Weasley! LOL!

Happy Tail to you!

Cake Topper

A super quick Throwback Thursday post!

We're going through stuff that's been cluttering the basement and trying to get rid of things we no longer need, use, or love. One treasure I found was the cake topper from our wedding in 1994! It was wrapped up in bubble wrap and in all honesty, I'd forgotten all about it, so it was such a nice surprise to rediscover it! I found a picture of our wedding cake for this post as well, and it made for a nice stroll down memory lane!

Happy Tails to you!

The Right to Vote

"Citizenship is the chance

to make a difference

to the place

where you belong."

- Charles Handy - 

Today is a very important day in my life...it's not only my birthday, but it's also the day when I became an American Citizen.

I lived in America for nine years without having the right to vote. I worked, I went to school, I taught, I paid taxes...I even got married in America. But I couldn't vote.

I became a citizen on May 27, 2004 and I remember it like it was yesterday. It was one of those events where you mark time as being before that day and then afterwards.

I love my Canadian roots and how Canada's culture shaped who I have become. I also love what America represents and how being an immigrant has influenced me in countless ways. I like to think of myself as a "Americanadian" because it encompasses the best of both worlds!

I'm so proud to be from Canada.

But I'm even more proud to be able to vote in the country I've chosen to call home.

The fact that my citizenship ceremony happened to land on my birthday was a lovely coincidence and it makes this day incredibly special to me. I'm overjoyed to celebrate 16 years of being an American Citizen today! May 27 is actually two birthdays for me - as a Canadian and as an American!

Happy Tails to you!

Our Top Ten U.S. Cities & States to Visit

Sometimes people ask us for travel recommendations and we always ask them what the goal of their trip is: fun? tourist stuff? relaxation? Is it a quick weekend trip or do they have time to explore? Will they have a car? What kind of budget do they have? Depending on the answers, we usually recommend the places below if the trip is taking place in the U.S.

Seattle

Chicago

As with our other Top Ten lists, these are not really organized in any particular order, especially the cities – these are just ten cities we have loved visiting repeatedly.

In terms of the states, the top three listed are absolutely our top three to visit, while the other seven are randomly ordered. All ten states have so much to do and breathtaking scenery and you cannot go wrong planning a trip to any of them!

L & C's Top Ten U.S. Cities to Visit

Seattle

Los Angeles

San Francisco

San Diego

Denver

Chicago

Detroit

Boston

New York

Philadelphia

L & C's Top Ten U.S. States to Visit

California

Hawaii

Alaska

Washington

Colorado

Maine

Vermont

Oregon

New York

Massachusetts

Clearly we are living on the wrong coast, as all five Pacific states are in our top ten!

Happy Tails to you!

Lovely Lyrics: Nowhere To Go But Up

an excellent life motto

The soundtrack from Mary Poppins Returns is fantastic and this is one of my favorite songs from it. The messages within the lyrics are so awesome - "The past is the past; it lives on as history - the future comes fast; each second a mystery" and "give a lift to a foe, for you reap what you sow" - as well as the idea that your balloon will sink or float depending on what you fill it with speaks to how one's attitude usually influences one's outlook on life. I also love the nods songs in the original Mary Poppins movie - "Feed The Birds" and "Let's Go Fly A Kite!" This is such a lovely song and if you haven't heard it, I recommend you give it a listen!

Nowhere To Go But Up

from Mary Poppins Returns

Life's a balloon

That tumbles or rises

Depending on what is inside

Fill it with hope

And playful surprises

And oh, deary ducks

Then you're in for a ride

Look inside the balloon

And if you hear a tune

There's no where to go but up

Choose the secret we know

Before life makes us grow

There's nowhere to go but up

If your selection feels right

Well then deary, hold tight

If you see your reflection

Your heart will take flight

If you pick the right string

Then your heart will take wing

And there's nowhere to go but up

Now I feel like that boy

With a shiny new toy

And there's nowhere to go but up

Just one day at the fair

Has me waltzing on air

And there's nowhere to go but up

Now my heart is so light

That I think I just might

Start feeding the birds

And then go fly a kite!

With your head in a cloud

Only laughter's allowed

And there's nowhere to go but up

We're zigging and zagging

Our feet never dragging

We might take a ride to the moon

All this bobbing and weaving

All comes from believing

The magic inside the balloon

The past is the past

It lives on as history

And that's an important thing

The future comes fast

Each second a mystery

For nobody knows what

Tomorrow may bring

Up here in the blue

It's a marvelous view

Side by side is the best way to fly

Once I just looked above

But now I am part of

The lovely London sky

When the clouds make a muss

Well I won't make a fuss

But I'll polish the stars

Ellen, better let us!

Give a lift to a foe

For you reap what you sow

And there's nowhere to go but up

If your day's up the spout

Well there isn't a doubt

There's nowhere to go but up

And if you don't believe

Just hang on to my sleeve

For there's nowhere to go but up

As you fly over town

It gets harder to frown

And we'll all hit the heights

If we never look down

Let the past take a bow

The forever is now

And there's nowhere to go but up!

Music by Marc Shaiman

Lyrics by Scott Wittman

Happy Tails to you!

Quarantine: Week 10

While I wish I had exciting things to share about this past week, I'm afraid that's not the case! The semester finally came to a close, so I mostly spent my time grading and tying up loose ends for the course I taught. In addition to my regular rotation of zoom meetings, I also attended a literacy webinar. If I'm being honest, I actually preferred the webinar to an in-person conference where you're forced to make awkward small talk and sit in uncomfortable seats! :)

Ginny's Week:

Puzzles:

I love this one and I wish I could
find the Disneyland version, too!

The big discovery of the week was finding out how much I love grilled pineapple on tacos! It's amazing!

I told you it was a slow week!

Happy Tails to you!