SUNDAY SALON - OCT 17TH

It occurred to me that I haven't done a Sunday Salon in a million and a half years, so I thought I would check in! 

Okay, so reading....I have started my ARC of Kate Morton's The Distant Hours and so far it's pretty good.  I have a few things on a deadline at the moment, I am reading that (to be done before Nov 9th), I am knitting a helmet liner for a feature film here in Calgary (deadline Oct 26th) AND I'm taking my clicker training course through the Karen Pryor Academy (which is my priority as it was VERY expensive, but worth it!) and have a whole crap load of course work and training I have to put on my dog and cat by the 3rd week of November.  Not to mention I have been deathly ill (a horrid reaction to antibiotics) but now my little wee 3 year old is sick so I am up to my eyeballs in stuff to do and no time to do it.  I know I'm preaching to the choir, right?

I love fall, though, there is something very comforting when the weather gets colder and a good book and a cozy corner seem to beckon me.  I am also reading Rot and Ruin which is another ARC, and it is pretty good and pretty funny in a zombie-like way. 

On the non-fiction front I am reading a few dog training/clicker animal behaviour books:  Reaching the Animal Mind by Karen Pryor (FANTASTIC!),  The Thinking Dog by Gail Tamases Fisher (Also fantastic!) and Don't Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor, this is a CLASSIC and is not just about dog training, it is about the use of positive reinforcement in every aspect of you life from animals to husbands to children!  I'm telling you, since taking this course my life is slowly changing.  Intead of just hollering at my kids in frustration, I find I am looking at ways to positively reinforce what I WANT them to do instead of constantly nagging them about what I DON'T want them to do.  As parents I think we all do this naturally, but as kids get older and your relationship with them gets more complicated, it becomes much more difficult.  Imagine when your toddler is first learning to walk, most people would never dream of scolding a child for falling down or not taking a second step, instead the whole walking experience is framed in a positive way looking for what you can encourage not condemn.  But in a completely ironic twist my 10 year old in her very typical way, just waltzed in here and started talking to me about I'm not sure what and I just gave her heck for not having the consideration to see if A) I was busy B) could she not hear me typing as she entered the room and C) to please just ask if I have a second before she rudely interrupts me for the millionth time today. 

Sigh.

See?  Not so easy. 

Okay, I am now officially rambling.  I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday and I so appreciate each and every one of you who take the time to pop in!