“All funds raised today will go toward supporting the many ongoing programs and activities at the OHS, including humane education, animal visits, dog walking, adoptions, and foster care. Some of the funds will also go towards animal rescue services. Although legally mandated to enforce the animal cruelty provisions of the Criminal Code of Canada and the Ontario SPCA Act, the OHS does not receive any government funding or any funding from any animal welfare group to perform this essential work.”

Although the weather wasn’t exactly ideal, we had a great time and were in good company–not just with all the dogs, but with great friends.  We walked with our friends Hailey and Pierre and their dog Loki (a cute little maltipoo!) and Marie and Jason and their dog Azore (a beautiful Golden Lab!)   Marie and Hailey are fellow teachers.

I took a tonne more photos at last year’s walk, but then I wasn’t pushing a stroller last year!! Of course I still brought my camera though because if there is one subject I love to photograph, it’s pets! There are so many different dog breeds that you see at the WWW and all of them are so special in their own way!

I’ll start with Madison, since this was really for her! We are so happy that she was able to walk this year because as you know, she’s getting older and has been having some trouble with her hind legs and hips.  She’s had issues with slipping disks this past year and unfortunately, slipped a disk again just a few days before the walk.  We weren’t sure if we’d be able to walk her, but thanks to the steroids that the vet gives her, she was back on all four in no time! In fact, she was pretty spry!  I was impressed at how well she was walking!  He she is jumping up on Pierre for some treats that she can smell in his pocket haha!  As you can see, the drugs don’t affect her appetite!

During the walk, I snapped as many pics as a could while pushing a stroller–thankfully Hailey was more than willing to push Lauren when mommy wanted to take some pictures!

Here are some of the little dogs we saw–I think this one is a Puggle–beagle and pug!  Love that face!

Ok this one just cracked me up! I think it is a chihuahua, but it looks like it might have something else.  In any case, this is one confident stance for such an itty bitty dog! Either that or he just has short man/dog syndrome!

Hailey and Pierre’s dog Loki is pretty small too!

I have no idea what kind of dog this is, but it’s pretty cute!

There were some bigger dogs too, like Azore

and this beautiful Burmese Mountain dog who still has a lot of growing to do!

This just makes me smile! They had these pools set up for dogs to drink from, but they were used more for playing! The water was pretty gross, so thankfully we brought our own water for Madison to drink.

The alternative to this was this: which even seems wrong for a dog, but this pooch doesn’t seem to mind!

And of course some people can’t resist a costume! This is Molly, who looks pretty sad!! Maybe she doesn’t like her hat and tutu

A cute moment between owner and pet

and speaking of owners, I wonder if these are really all hers!! That’s hardcore!

Me and my babies ♥ Can’t believe they’re both looking!

Family shot!  Madison was pretty distracted that day

Well that’s it for this year! Hoping we can do it again next year!!

I would just like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy 2010!! Hope your holidays are filled with laughter, love, family, peace and lots of yummy treats!!!

Much love to you all!

Here are some festive holiday shots that you may have seen on your Christmas cards this year!

Part of my little Christmas set up at home-all pier one purchases from last year

One of my mom’s many Christmas decorations!  Andrew’s company used this image on their Christmas cards this year! Thanks, Maria!

Another pier one purchase from last year!

Home sweet home! We didn’t actually make this.  Andrew did a volunteer magic show for kids and they thanked him with this.  We did get to ice and decorate it though!

And last but not least–Andrew’s mom baked us some gingerbread people!  Of course I couldn’t resist playing with my food! Everything seems to get photographed before it gets eaten!! For the record, they were delicious!

So to start off, as we were arriving and looking for parking, Madison was getting excited in the backseat! She could see and smell other dogs and was wimpering, haha, because she wanted to see them! 

She would then jump over to the other window to check out what was happening over there! She was going crazy with excitement!

So darn cute! Once we finally parked (Andrew dropped me off closer to get registered and went to park…this is when he discovered our flat tire )  Anyways, after being signed in, Madison got this adorable IAMS scarf to wear, like all the other dogs!

Before the walk actually started, people just hung around with their dogs and waited for the start of the walk.  There were so many dogs! All so sweet and adorable! Madison got lots of attention of course as well.  People can’t resist her adorable little face! I cannot help but laugh at this photo because of her goofy expression! She looks sooo contented being pet by a total stranger.  She doesn’t care who, just as long as they pet and a treat doesn’t hurt either!  At one point, she stuck her face into a ladies bag because she could smell treats! LOL…she’s so bad! haha!!

She made more than one new friend that day…

I tried getting some photos of all the other dogs too before the walk started! Here are some of the best ones:  Another dog named Madison with a “marker dot” tongue haha!  Coincidence?  I think not!

This tough little dude…love his wrinkly face and short, stubby legs!

and this cute little weiner dog…so cute!!

There were some funny looking ones too…faces only their mothers could love

There were lots of big dogs, but more small ones.  Though this “little guy” I was told, was only 6 mos old!!  This is one of those mountain dogs, but I can’t remember the exact name…Gotta love that tongue!  What a beauty this dog was!

There were plenty of chihuahuas too!! So tiny!!

and even tinier still…. I was nervous they would be crushed by all the people! Many people were holding them in their hands!

There were tonnes of labs too–chocolate, golden, black.. you name it!  Hard to get one sitting still, haha, but here’s one!

And one last shot before the walk got under way…I couldn’t resist this shot! Unfortunately, it was crowed and someone bumped into me and so the shot is a wee bit blurry.  The dogs had already moved by the time I shot it but it was too cute not to include  (they were both looking up at someone waiting for a T-R-E-A-T  to be dropped!)

 And we’re off…happy Maddy!!  She definitely wanted to run but there were way too  many people around us.  Hard to tell in this photo but there were a lot!

Shortly after starting, Keira and Erik spotted me and called out! We did the walk together and they brought their gorgeous lab, Molly

Here is another one of Molly resting at the end of the walk

 So soon after starting the walk, we hear a woman shrieking! As it turns out, the dog got away from her and dove right into the water and went staight for the ducks! She kept calling it, but it was more interested in getting the ducks! LOL! It eventually swam under the bridge to the other side and somebody grabbed him for her! So funny!   This was the best shot I could get from a distance, without a zoom lens.  I cropped it in as best I could.  The water as you can see was pretty nasty! I’m sure that dog needed a good scrub down at home!

We also saw a lot of people who dressed their dogs up for the occasion.  I only took this one because it was so ridiculous! The dog, named Maui (don’t ask me how I remember that) looked completely stressed! I sure wouldn’t be happy if I was dressed like that!! LOL poor thing, she must have been mortified! Ahhh if dogs could express their thoughts verbally…

We did stop a couple of times as well for some water! Thankfully Keira had some to spare, since we left ours in the car! Oops!  Here’s Maddy getting her thirst quenched!

And if you’re a lab or a puppy, you don’t want to just drink the water…

… you want to dive right in! 

Once we finally made it (having company made the walk go faster for sure!) we hung around for a bit to see some of the contests they were having.  I think I was socializing when they did the biggest dog competition, but I got a few shots of the smallest!  This photo has been cropped in so the focus is all on that dog…you might not have seen it otherwise!

We also met up with Marie and Jason (I work with Marie and she was the one who told me about it! Thanks, Marie!)  They were there with Marie’s golden lab Azore–what an adorable, lovable dog!

Beautiful…

They were also there with a friend and his dog…not sure what kind, but it was gorgeous too!

And finally, jsut before leaving, I spotted this little Jack Russell and couldn’t resist taking his photo.  We can definitely see the jack in Madison and she can jump like them!  We always try to imagine what she looked like as a puppy!! Probably sooooo adorable, like this little fella’!  Look at that sweet, sweet face!!

Oh and we said goodbye to Molly, Erik and Keira, but not without a portait of Keira and Molly

We headed back to the car and the spare tire was on.  We took our chances at the Canadian Tire on Carling to see if they could replace it for us.  Fortunately, they were able to,  but we had to wait an hour.  Since we were starving, especially after our long walk, we decided we’d kill and hour with lunch! The only problem was that we needed somewhere where we could eat outside and the closest to us, was MacDonald’s! Not that I’ll ever turn it down, but it meant walking another 10+ minutes down Carling with Madison so that we could eat outside! So we did, but we were both dragging a little haha!

We fed Madison fries, lol, poor thing was hungry too! We all walked it off, it’s all good 

  After that, we walked back to Canadian Tire and the car was ready! Yay!  I turned around to see Madison in the backseat and this is what she looked like

Poor baby…she was so tuckered out! She’s used to walking to the mailbox and back haha!  Madison slept pretty much for the next 12 hours after the walk!

Anyways, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed all the beautiful dogs! I can’t wait for next year already! Hopefully Andrew will be able to  join us!

While walking through Strathcona, I was looking at all the leaves on the trees because many of them were already starting to change.  I love autumn so much.  I am definitely a fall girl.  Not that I want to rush the seasons becuase I’m so not ready or even close to ready for winter again (and fall is also so fleeting) but  I definitely do enjoy the crisp air and the gorgeous autumn colours. I saw this through the viewfinder and thought it was really pretty.   It’s still so summery but with just a touch of fall.  I also love bokeh, so this was a great chance for me to capture it.  (Bokeh- the out of focus/blurred effect in the background–the depth of field)  I so heart bokeh!  (see the little beads of colourful bokeh..they’re so pretty! I think this is a photographer’s thing! lol)

 Here is another bokeh-licious shot of a leaf I saw against a shrub along the sidewalk. 

As we were walking, we also came across a bunch of squirrels! They move really quickly, haha, not the easiest little critters to capture! Maybe that’s where the expression squirrely comes from!

I did manage to get one though.  It looks like a deer caught in the headlights…either that or it’s thinking of lunging at my face!  Love how it camouflages into the shot!  It still looks pretty cute to me, but they kind of scare me!

 There were also tonnes of big beautiful trees to shoot.  I love trees.  Makes you wonder how many years some of them have been growing for! I am also fascinated by the texture and lines (such a fine arts brain, I know) that the bark has.

Oh and how could I not photograph the stunning array of colours on the leaves around the Ottawa U campus!  I should add as well that this image has not been edited in any way–no sharpening and no colour adjustments! Gotta love when exposure is spot on! As they say on Flickr, this is SOOC–straight out of camera

As we continued walking around, I continued to seek out photographic inspiration.  Of course I love spotting things that make for great photos, but I also take any chance I get to practice improving my shooting skills.  I am always striving to make attractive compositions with my subjects, so I often shoot various things from different angles and perspectives to see what looks best.  We came across this iron fence, also by Ottawa U and I couldn’t resist another Dof shot–it’s all about perspective afterall! This one eneded up being one of my faves from the walk because of the focus and of course, the bokeh goodness.  I edited this in PS to achieve a vintage feel.  I love these soft purply tones

Here is another version the same shot…took it SOOC and softened the colours just a bit.  I like this one as well, but find the toned one to be much more appealing and artistic, but that’s just me.

Here are a few more of the same fence but from different perspectives.  The Dof is so intense here–they remind me of watercolour paintings becuase of the way the background objects blend. The rainbow of colours comes as a result of the out of focus leaves on the trees

I also couldn’t resist photographing this awesome pink bike! I have always wanted to find a pink bike to shoot…odd as that sounds, but it’s true! lol  I couldn’t decide which edit I liked best, so I’ll share them both!  Since I love colours that just pop, I really liked this version

but I also love a vintage look, so I love this one too!! So hard to decide! I think it depends on my mood because today I’m leaning towards the first one!

Ok and just one last shot for fun…let’s call this one berry-keh  

Thanks for visiting! 

Amy xo

So yesterday, I met with a bride to be, whose wedding I will be shooting next year (yay!) and she had just come from Winners.  She had purchased a pair of totally cute pointy heels, with a crocodile touch…very chic!  Of course I was planning to stop in at Winner’s anyways, but seeing her shoes reminded me that I needed to find a better pair for work, since last year, I pretty much wore these ones almost every single day–Nine West (also from Winners, I believe, last year–definitely got my money’s worth) Anyways, I still love them, as beat up as they’re beginning to look, but worried about how it was affecting my knees, since I was having a little knee pain from time to time!  The problem is, I try and wear flats, but they just never seem to complete the look! That and I’m short and my students are all taller than me, so I feel more authoritative in heels, and well, taller hehe! 

Andrew keeps telling me to buy a pair of comfortable shoes for work! He even bought me a pair of Clarke’s–lol–and they are acutally pretty cute and do have a little heel, but still, not quite as dainty and as feminine as I’d like.  I am always on the lookout for better and more comfortable shoes (note–these shoes above don’t hurt me at all to wear them..maybe because they’re so worn in, but they aren’t painful!) but am always drawn to the cute heels.  Anyways, so back to yesterday: I decide to check out Winners for myself and right away found a cute pair of flats…with an itty bitty heel.  They were only $29.99, so I thought why not!  They looked cute and are probably comfortable…it’s always a gamble though!  So I grabbed them: pair #1

Alright, so this is only the first aisle–it’s weird because I am around a  6-7, so I always start looking at the 6′s and work my way to the 7′s!   Anyways, I then came across these kick a** Franco Sarto ankle boots (the first time I’actually ever bought ankle boots!)   For the past 2 years, I have been wearing the same sqaure toed, black pair of boots from Aldo (that I actually had to replace last year because I wore them to death and that I now have to get rid of again because the black duck tape on the heel is very un-becoming!) I saw these boots as a great replacement pair and they’re different! Yay for change!  I will definitely not be marching through the snow in these ones and will hopefully get longer use out of them…see you can’t say I don’t wear the things that I buy!  I love them!    I like the detail on them as well and yes, they are heels, but a reasonable height I think!  Pair #2

Alright, so I’m now trying to balance 2 pairs of shoes in my arms and am thinking–this is great: a flat pair for work and a replacement pair of boots (also for work!)–I’m good to go! But wait, there was one more aisle!  I check out the 7′s and they they are: these totally adorable and completely un-necessary Steve Madden heels!  I tried them thinking they would look bad, or at least that’s what I tell myself…but I loved them!  So girly and cute!!  (Notice I chose all black shoes–pretty much how I roll–I’m definitely not into crazy shoe fads and inpractical design)  I was trying to convince myself not to buy them, but they were only $39.99!! OMG! haha!  I couldn’t resist.  So is it like me to walk into a store and find 3 pairs of shoes (and buy them all)–no, but I am happy with the purchases! No buyers remorse here!  I had to justify to Andrew how good a deal they were and how much I needed them and really, as I’ve heard it said before : “A happy wife means a happy life!”  So here they are…so cute aren’t they!!  Pair#3

Here’s a detail of the flower decoration

What can I say?  I’m a total girl’s girl…if I had to pick only one pair, it would have been these ones–which no doubt I’ll wear to work at some point (most likely on days when standing is minimal–maybe parent teacher interviews because I’m sitting! lol) I’m just giving myself some options that’s all 

Thanks for reading 

xo Amy–aka shoe addict–are there support groups for this?

So how do teachers such as myself prep for back to school you ask?  Well, they slowly start to consider what they need to do,  start making a million to do lists (so they can at least feel like they’re being productive) and then they procrastinate just a bit more–perhaps by taking photos of the things they’ve purchased, only to blog about how they’re not ready for school!!!   I think I probably spend more time making to do lists, than I do actually doing what needs to get done!

So here goes–my back to school, but still holding onto to what’s left of summer blog post :  Enjoy the photos, this is how I’ve spent the last few hours!

I guess it would be most appropriate to start with this shot–the classic teacher shot: the pencil, the red apple and the stacked books .  I thought it was pretty clever, anyways!

 While in Vieux Québec this summer, we shopped a bit in the Quartier Petit Champlain–I love all the little boutiques! We went into this one little shop and I saw this adorable sign and as a French teacher, just had to buy it! I’ll definitely put it up somewhere in my classroom, but unfortunately, some kids are little hoodlums and feel the need to destroy that which is not theris.  I actually now have to put important things away when supply teachers are in to avoid the inevitable: stolen or defaced property.  Seriously, did the cartoon cat in my common french expressions poster really need genitals?  Arg…. haha!

 Alright, so onto things that I actually need to be “productive”.  Here are a few of Mrs. Symes’ (sorry, Madame’s) necessities.

1.  While somewhat of a procrastinator, I will boast that I’m pretty organized.  I have this thing about neat binders (last year being exempt from that rule!)  I always try to put things in order and often in page protectors so that my master copies don’t get destroyed and so that I know they are the original.  If it’s in plastic, then it won’t accidentally get tossed while I’m trying to recycle all the extras that didn’t get used!  So I purchased a couple of new binders–D-Ring only or rounded like this kind.  Trust me, it’s worth the extra money.  Yes, I love playing with Depth of Field and love my Bokeh!!

2.  Black Sharpies (fine point):  Maybe another example of my OCD coming to light, who knows, but I am quite picky about pens–I’ll admit it, probably about 20min of my time at Staples was in the pen aisle, just trying to decide which ones would be best!  It’s so sad, I know, but I’m so  picky about what I write with!  All I came home with were a box of sharpies and the red pens below.   Most of the time, I prefer to write with these Sharpies (which last much longer, in my opinion, than the new Sharpie pens).  I always take my notes and write in my daybook with them.  It just looks neater to me.

3.  Marking Essentials–a happy faced stamp and a red gel pen:  You would be suprised at how even in grade 9 and 10, students love those happy faces! I initally purchased this with my grade 8′s and used it not only for marking but with an incentive card as well.  They seriously love stamps and stickers–of course, candy always wins out, but a smiley face doesn’t hurt!

The red pen issue: Honestly, I have absolutely no quams whatsoever about marking student work in red pen! I cannot tell you how many times I have heard (or read) that teachers should not mark in red because it is “too harsh” and will hurt the child’s self esteem! Give me a break!!! This is what we’re doing to help our kids be successful–sugar coating everything and avoiding any kind of criticism, albeit constructive, that may hurt their feelings?  It’s not like I’m writing things like this on their work :

LOL..Andrew bought this for me one year as a stocking stuffer…there are soooo many times I’ve wanted to use it, but that would be bad…but hilarious and in a lot of cases true!   Seriously though,  I think as long as you are constructive in your feedback and that feeback is meaningful (the goal being to improve the next time) then marking in red should be fine.  Plus, it stands out the best, so they can see it…now the trick is actually getting them to read it!

So next on the necessities are scissors and glue sticks.  I definitely don’t use go through these items the way that elemtary school teachers probably do, but sometimes, a good old cutting and pasting activity is in order.  (They do this very well on the computer, but seem to be at a loss when they have find actually cut and paste!) Highschool students never seem to have glue.  I guess it’s not that necessary for them.  So, I keep a bunch on hand just in case and scissors too.  It’s funny to me because I see hoards of parents and students scouring the aisles for school supplies at Walmart and Staples, and I know their parents are dropping big bucks, so where then does all this stuff go?  Why does it take some kids all year to get something like say, a binder for their course??  Why do some kids NEVER have a pencil!?  That is one thing, that while I’ve accepted as the way some kids are, still drives me absolutely crazy! Some kids don’t even bring a pencil to the exam!?  I’m really not keen on giving away pencils, pens and paper to the kids who constantly come to class un-prepared and I think they get that, because they never ask me!

 Here are a few other things: Bright, colourful Post it’s (with lines to write neatly on!) because I am constantly writing myself little notes and reminders to do this or that, a desk sized calendar that will be right in front of me and accessible all the time (with lots of room to write things down) and a calculator–for calculating percentages etc.  I actually bought 3 of them because this year, I could never find one when I needed it (which is often, if you know anything about my math skills, or lack thereof!) One big one for my desk, a smaller one for my pencil case that comes home with me, and then a tiny magnetic one for the classroom, because sometimes I need it there as well!

Hmmm….what else do I need??  Not too sure, but that’s what I bought for now!  I’ll be teaching grade 9 and 10 French again this year as well as some religion (much to my disappointment!).  Grade 9 Religion is pretty light and fluffy, but the grade 10 immersion program is ridiculously boring and dry!  I want to bang my head against the wall!! LOL…at least it’s all prepped from last year!  I much prefer teaching

This bad boy got me through University and then some! I think I’ll actually bring it to school with me and leave it at my workspace for reference this year, instead of it collecting dust on a shelf at home!  I found this little book too, which is great for doing bell work or review with the kids at the beginning of class  (keeps them focused while I get organized!)

I sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed this somewhat pointless post–it kept me busy for a while.  Now maybe I can starting “thinking” about what I need to do for back to school, which is August 31st this year! Crazy how fast this summer went!!  The Dog Days of Summer are almost over…well for some of us anyways!

You didn’t think I’d leave Madison out of this post did you? This is where you could find our dog any time of the day (except during her 12pm walk and any meal time)–asleep on the floor in the closet.  Yes, she likes enclosed spaces, so she always heads for a closet.  She’s a nut haha! 

Too much time on my hands, you say?  Well maybe,  but I know that in less than 2 weeks (Monday actually, when I go into the school to start getting ready) I won’t have all this spare time on my hands, so I am going to squeeze out every last ounce of freedom/boredom that I can. 

I figure it doesn’t matter anyways, since I am clearly the

 Alright, so my mom bought this for me, but nobody has to know

Cheers,

Amy xo…soon to be Madame Symes again (LOL..how -un French does that sound!)

Madison was enjoying the sun (she also likes to roll and eat the grass—among other things that we’re too embarassed to mention! lol)  She’s so pretty, isn’t she?  Sometimes she’s what we call a “bad-ison” but she’s such a sweet dog, you always forgive and forget.  Look at that face though, seriously, soooo cute!! 

LOL–too funny!  I couldn’t resist–I had to bribe her with a treat to get her to stay on the chair and she wasn’t enjoying those shades, but honestly, how funny is this!  (I had to act fast, she jumped down and the glasses came off as soon as I snapped this!)

Well that’s it for now–we’re having pizza tonight (ok, so it’s only delicio, but hey!) Hope you all enjoyed your sunny summer Friday and fingers crossed it stays like this over the weekend!!

xo Amy