SPCA Montreal

I've been volunteering at the SPCA recently and I'm loving it! :) I had two theory training before I actually got a shift working as an adoption counselor. I am now paired up with a senior volunteer who is my 'coach'. She shows me everything and is really nice and we seem to work together well. That pairing makes it less scary to stand there and try and help people find their perfect pet. The volunteer's shift are 3 hours and I work Saturdays from 11 to 2. I find that shift kinda weird as I get uber hungry!

I was surprised at the amount of filtering that takes place before an adoption. There's a form to fill out before we even give out any info on a animal. Clients are allowed to peruse the cages and look at the kitties and doggies but we can't talk about them until they fill out this form. It's basically information about where they live, what kind of pets they had in the past and how they intent to treat their pets (with questions like 'where will the animal sleep?' and 'do you intent to declaw?') There are multiple red flag questions which, if answered wrong, will terminate any adoption process. They are very thorough to ensure the animal will find a good home and more importantly, a forever home. We do not want animals that are adopted to end up back at the SPCA.

It's important to point out that the SPCA is the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. It's not a pet shop. Our goal is not to sell these dogs and cats. We aren't working for the client like a good salesman but for the animal. We do want people to adopt the animals as they deserve a good forever home, however, we must ensure that this is exactly what it is. I have the power to refuse an adoption if I find the client to be suspicious. It goes beyond saying that any person coming to the SPCA to buy a dog for breeding or to become a guard dog/attack dog will be turned down.

I'm very happy knowing I'm doing something good and I came back home with a smile on my face. Of course, seeing the face of all those adorable animals without a home broke my heart but I know we'll find them some. One forever home at a time :)

http://www.spcamontreal.com/intro.php?lg=fr
http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/QC06.html

Gay Marriage

California abolished their prop. 8 on august 4th, and I can only say this make me even more of a fan of California. I know this is a contraversial issue, but i don't think it should be. Love is love, and it doesn't matter between which gender it takes place. I can't believe that in this day and age, we still frown upon something as beautiful and pure as love between two people.

I'm now going to end this on a piece of humor I had posted on my facebook a really long time ago:

10 Reasons Why Gay Marriage is Wrong:

1) Being gay is not natural. Real people always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.

2) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

3) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

4) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

5) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Brittany Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.

6) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.

7) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

8) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in the world.

9) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans

Marco Polo

We have a guy here at the office named Marco Perreta. It makes for funny moments as most of us are geeks and yell out "POLO!" when he is called after.

I love my job!

"Marco?"
"POOOOOOOOLLLLLLOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!"

Good times!

Insomnia

Why is it always the nights I decided to go to bed early and wake up early that I can't sleep?

Paradox.

Cupcakes

I just made an awesome chickpeas salad for dinner. I was orginally supposed to make a pasta salad, but i didn't have any canned tuna (and I like to have a protein in my meals!) so i went for chickpeas instead and skipped the pasta altogether. For a last minute whipped up meal, it was pretty good! I also didn't follow any recipe, so i'm pretty proud of the little cook in me! ;)

Speaking of cooking, i have yet shared the cupcakes i made last week-end! At christmas i got this book from my aunt:

And I had never baked before but was extremely excited 'cause i have quite the sweet tooth! So the first cupcakes i made, i kinda cheated and made mint-filled brownie cupcakes. They were delicious but required no icing which didn't make them "full" cupcakes.

So last week-end was my first attempt at baking cupcakes from start to finish from scratch including the icing and....decorating it! Yes, because i never do anything simply, i decided i also wanted to learn how to decorate cupcakes So I had bought a piping bag as well as a basic kit of 4 tips and some food coloring.

I decided to make the ‘devils food chocolate’ cupcake because I love chocolate, and I had all the ingredients! Unfortunately, for the icing recommended for the cupcake (chocolate ganache) I was missing corn syrup. So I decided to make the ‘fluffy vanilla icing’ instead and figured that chocolate cake with vanilla icing is always good!

Here is what my cupcake is supposed to be:

Here are my cupcakes (without the damn chocolate ganache of course!):

The icing was a bit difficult as it required an electric beater, which I do not have. However, I own a whip and an electric blender. Turns out, that’s not the same! The electric blender goes too fast and I hurt my wrist with the whip. I did manage though by alternating between the two, depending on the recommended speed (high = electric beater, low/medium = hand whip). That icing took work which only made it more delicious! ;)

My kitchen after the 'great icing of 2010':

That same night I brought over my cupcakes and the icing at my friend Stephanie’s place and we ate too (after putting the icing in the microwave and melting it and then whipping it back into shape!). On the Sunday, I decided to finally ice my cupcakes (which I had stored as is) and therefore decorate them! So I tinted half my icing in purple and covered most cupcakes with white and proceeded to explore what kind of shape the tips I had made. Of course, a lot of my cupcakes are terribly ugly due to the fact I had no clue what I was doing! But that flower one is kinda pretty! ;)

To reward myself, I bought myself flowers! Who needs a man? Especially one that says he can't buy you flowers 'cause your cat will eat them! HA! Proved him wrong! :P

AC!

So I'm a bit late, but we just had a heat-wave here in Montreal. The heatwave is still happening i believe, but the temperature aren't as high anymore. As much as i wanna be a California Girl, 43oC is TOO HIGH! So I gave in a bought AC. Yes, i didn't have AC. Not everyone has AC around here as we have generally a pretty cool weather with a few hot days in the summer. We just deal with fans. I mean, some people have AC, but it's not a standard like in Cali.

It was 33 in my house, so I decided to get AC. Even with it I was only able to bring it down to 29 during the heatwave. We got some pouring rain friday so the air chilled a bit and then i managed to get a nice 25. YAY!

My poor Charlotte was sticking her tongue out like a dog trying to cool herself. I felt terrible. The poor thing is covered a fur coat during a heatwave! I don't think i've introduced Charlotte eh? Next post!

St-Jean

So yesterday was St-Jean Batiste here in Québec. Which is our "national" celebration. Basically an excuse to get drunk and listen to french music. I use to really milk that excuse to party, but I guess I'm old now as I don't anymore. I went to a BBQ at my mom's place with family and friends. It was neat but I left early as I was really tired and I had to work the next day. Which is today. Getting a Thursday off and then working on a Friday isn't great. I feel like it's Sunday and I should be in bed. And lots of people took off today so it's basically boring. I've been here for an hour and it feels like 4. This is going to be a looooooooooooong day!