dinner party

Omar and I had an amazing dinner last night with his friends who are in town doing a show at PTE. Jan prepared an excellent beet soup, pakora and filo pockets, five Indian dishes, naan, rice, and various condiments. Was quite blown away and totally stuffed. We were tasked with brining wine and dessert.

Don't have any pictures of the buffet but did take a shot of the dessert. Very pleased with myself! They are mini cheesecakes made in a muffin tin and they rocked, if I do say so myself. Topped with apricot ginger jam. Recipe is available on the Martha Stewart website. She suggests straining the jam, which does make it look prettier (and a bit like eggs) but I preferred the chunky bits of apricot and ginger.

Rufus was a big help, as always. He's well known for his love of all things toasty but this was going a bit far. He wisely stayed off the vent (which is why his butt is hanging over the edge) but he didn't seem the least bit concerned about getting caught lounging on the stove. He jumped off in a dignified and casual sort of way after I shrieked at him. Had to take his picture first, of course!

my new theme song

Holiday pics

Gingerbread house by Marilee and Ayva

Packed and heading to Brandon

Bluejay at my mom's feeder

Visiting Judy and Blair's farm near Miniota

Mom not getting suckered!

January 2011
Classic prairie winter

January 2012
Record breaking plus 6 degrees celsius

Resolutions for 2012

Well, half last year's resolutions were a bust. Specifically 2, 3 and 4. I resolve to do better this year?

1. I will continue to keep my head above water financially. My income has been cut in half since September but I appear to be doing okay. No wiggle room, but hey, surviving.

2. I will get back on the exercise bandwagon. Got rid of the 10 lbs I had gained and then put them back on. Grad school is hard on the body. Waaaaay too much sitting at a desk. Taking Lexi for a 5km walk every morning and lifting weights again. Will start running and biking as soon as the snow disappears.

And a new one....

3. We will not waste food. This is actually a household resolution prompted by a statistic that I came across while researching a paper. Approximately 1/3 of food is wasted at the household level. This one starts right after I clean out the fridge! I'm sure there is all kinds of horrifying things growing in there...

Set pizza on kitchen table.
Turn around to get plates...

cookie day

Cookie decorating with Marilee, Ayva and Heather.

Close-up of the Adam and Omar cookies (made by Ayva and me).

The Citadel, Halifax, May 2011

We are officially out of garden carrots.
Missing summer already.

Old Pinewa Dam, September 2011

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

My mental break / procrastination technique is watching a few minutes of online videos. These are my current favourites. Seven minutes and thirty-four seconds well spent. Enjoy!

Shoveling snow, November 19, 2011

Banff Springs Hotel, October 6, 2011

bad blogger

I can see my bad blogging habits continuing for the foreseeable future, so how about I just post pictures for a while?

Ditch Lake, October 2011

happy ending

Mon Dieu! / Oh No!

Taken in Montreal when I visited Deb in June.

Hurray!

Email received from Deb today.

Message from John Spencer himself:

"Thanks, friends, for keeping an eye out for me! I have been found!! By a nice guy named Felix and his entourage in Outremont park, the night of June 25th. I was also being fed by a couple in the park every other night. All these nice people have refused any monetary compensation from my stalwart servant, Dan. I travelled 8 blocks east ...of my home, crossed many busy streets (including Parc avenue)… It's been 2 months of adventures, but I'm happy to be back… I am skinny as heck, but eating and lapping up water. Tomorrow I go to the vet, where I'll get checked out, and get a collar, and ID tag. Dan can't stop staring at me in wonderment and wants to thank you all again for your help!"

post for the whole month of june

The weather doesn't feel very summer-y today, but I've been acting like it is summer!

Two weekends ago, it was the 7th (?) Annual Girls Camping Weekend, this year at Camp Morton. Once again, we were prepared! Besides drinking, we also lounged around the beach, lounged around the campfire, ate really great food and talked into the wee hours.

We also took a lot of pictures of flowers!

Last weekend was spent at Crooked Mountain Cabins with my sister on our 3rd Annual Sister's Camping Weekend. Once again, I picked the perfect date. The weather was oddly gorgeous, right down to the summer storm on Saturday evening to the sunny afternoon spent wandering around Wasagaming.

As usual, there was Aggravation. This picture is of our first game, right before I rolled a one and beat my baby sister. But don't feel bad for her.... she got me back!

Saturday morning. Bright and early (note the lack of curtains on the east-facing windows!). Nothing like sitting in bed drinking coffee and taking in the view.

Our lovely cabin. I'm basically ready to move there. 

More flowers!

 Sunset from the pier at Clear Lake.

View from the porch of a storm rolling in.

And the mist rising out of the forest the morning after.

(Bunch of these pics courtesy of Alison.)

live from new york, it's tuesday afternoon!

 Just a quick update from my travels. Was in Halifax for the CLA Conference last week. Sessions were great, but overall felt that the conference didn't have much place for Library Technicians. And the social events were pretty much a bust because a nasty cold hit me on the first day (it has now morphed into bronchitis... my self diagnosis). The best part about being in Halifax was spending lots of time with Cosette and her daughter. So good to hang out with someone who didn't mind my hacking up a lung every hour or so.

Some thoughts on Halifax:

• The mayor of Brandon and a bunch of the business leaders need to take a trip there. ASAP. Downtown Halifax is everything Brandon could be but isn't.... we have the historic buildings but are lacking the quaint and interesting shops, myriad of pubs, variety of restaurants and most importantly, all the people.
• Halifax loves Tom Petty. He was being played in a home decor store, a clothing store and a coffee shop. And not just one song on the radio or on random, but whole albums. When I mentioned this to the clerk in the clothing store, she said (very enthusiastically) "Oh yes! Tom Petty is great!". Feeling the need to download some Tom now.
• Halifax seriously knows how to party.
• The women of Halifax are unbelievably committed to towering, fashionable shoes. They have several great shoe stores that absolutely do not cater to those of us who wear flats. And loads of women can be spotted in 4-inch heels traipsing up 50 degree inclines like it was nothing.
• My limited experience of the city tells me that I could not live there. This is what the weather was like every day:

Picture is the view from my hotel. Totally gorgeous, but by the end of a grey week (during which I still managed to get a sunburn.... you know you're white when...) I was ready to pop a bottle of pills and end it all. Or fly somewhere else...

Like New York! Currently visiting Kana and Brad for a week. We were in the city Sunday and Monday but they are back to work today and I'm resting and trying to get better. Went to see Priscilla on Sunday, did a bit of shopping and hit some of the sights. Yesterday was the MoMA and then brunch at the Sunburnt Calf (which serves unlimited food and booze for $18). Was planning to go back to the city by train on my own tomorrow, but will see how I feel. It's kind of embarrassing and inconvenient to have major coughing fits every couple of hours. Definitely want to have one more day in the city before I leave. Even though it makes me feel like this....

Okay.... maybe I was exaggerating because I knew my picture was being taken.... but Times Square truly was too much for me to take. Complete sensory overload. I felt like I was going to have a seizure from all the flashing signs.

ever wonder what your pets do when you're not at home?

Not us. Our dog does chores. Like sorting the laundry.

tell me what you think

I haven't been looking for signs, but in the last month they've been finding me. What do you think these mean?

• On the bus going to an R2 meeting (R2 being the consulting firm who produced a report for the libraries, which the staff were invited to comment on). Glance over, and graffitied on the window is "R2".
• On the bus heading home. Have a leg wax booked for first thing the next morning. Car in the parking lane has the license plate "WAXY".
• O is driving me to work. I got up at 5am to read an article on music and the black power movement of the 60s, with heavy emphasis on the Black Panther Party. Truck pulls up beside us with "Black Panther" in big letters across the back window.
• Getting ready for school. Will be presenting an article in class by Sandke. CBC is on and the radio host starts interviewing a local farmer with the last name of Sandke.
• Today, O was driving me to work. Was complaining because my eye won't stop twitching. He says his mom used to tell him that meant he was going to come into money. After work, I have a phone message telling me that I've been awarded a scholarship that I didn't apply for, on the recommendation of my prof.

There are more things like this that have happened, but it took me a while to start putting them together. Friend's wife says it is the universe telling me that I'm in the right place. Pondering that. Any other ideas? Massive coincidence perhaps?!?

rice pudding and gin

Yep. That's what I had for dinner.

Usually when people ask me what I want to do for a living, I reply "philanthropist!" Just to be funny. Today, that answer would be "wealthy recluse." OMG - I never want to have to deal with the general public again!!! Which is impossible of course, unless someone would like to buy me my own island.

On my island, I'll also be a complete luddite. Which means y'all will have to come and visit me if you want to be in touch. But since my island will be warm and sunny, you'll want to come.

Did you guess that I spent the last two days dealing with a crazy person (I mean that literally, she's a psych patient - and if that doesn't sound very respectful, trust me, she wasn't respectful either) and our IT department? Since I couldn't get any work done on the computer, I might as well spend my time getting yelled at. Right?

If you think I'm just complaining, go check out this article: Librarians 'suffer most stress'

Plus..... I got my passport photo done. Holy rude awakening. Apparently, my best days are behind me and I'm getting old. Scratch that.... I am old.

But in happier news, I walked home from work today and it was lovely. The winter of my discontent may finally be coming to an end!

the forecast in september

Was for a "classic Canadian winter." And that is exactly what we are getting. Has been a frigid January and we have piles of snow. So much, in fact, that we are running out of room in our tiny yard to put it. We really need to get some of the weight off the garage roof and we are having the snow taken off our house roof (hopefully soon!) but where is it all going to go?!? Spring forecast, unsurprisingly, is for flooding.

T - if you're still missing snow, I'd be happy to send you some. We've got plenty to spare!

And for comparison....

The back yard in December

The back yard today (fence is 6'6")

I Hate Shaw

I started receiving biweekly junk mail (addressed to my name) from Shaw trying to convince me to switch to their awesome cable/cell phone/internet package. I'm not interested in switching since it isn't really more awesome than what I'm already using, and I'm definitely not interested in continuing to receive junk mail. I call them and ask to be taken off their mailing list. They agree. I get more junk mail. I phone again. They say they can't do it over the phone and that I have to send a fax. They provide a fax number. I'm like, "Wha--?!? Why?" Why is it up to me to spend my time and money to get them to stop wasting paper and bugging me?

I do not send a fax. I begin returning the junk mail with a note asking to be taken off their mailing list. They continue to send me mail. I continue to return the letters. Finally I add a note that says something like, "The longer you disregard my explicit request to be taken off your mailing list and continue to send me junk mail, the less likely it becomes that I will EVER have ANYTHING to do with ANY Shaw product."

And now I'm receiving the same junk mail addressed to Current Occupant.

"Well played, Shaw" you might think. Except the chance of me being their customer has dropped to zero. And them ain't just words. I hold long and deep consumer grudges. Right The Brick?

Resolutions for 2011

1. I will keep my head above water financially. As much as I'd like to chuck work and go to school full time, I'm going to be responsible and look for ways to fund my education that do not include massive student loans. Currently working on a fellowship application. Also getting my credit card down to $0 and then keeping it there. Or at least trying.

2. I will not be in a constant state of laundry. Wash, dry and put away!!! The last bit is the part I typically have the most problems with.

3. I will complete the Master Gardener course. Dammit.

4. I will remember birthdays before they happen. This is a last minute addition after I missed a Jan 4th birthday. *sigh*


5. I will quit complaining about a certain person so much. If you're reading this, then you are not that person.

6. I will get back on the exercise bandwagon. Goodbye 10 lbs I've gained since August! Seriously.

back to eating on a budget

Broke again. Since this happened around the same time last year, I'm blaming December. The whole holiday season is so expensive. Not just buying gifts, but all the eating out, drinking wine, making cookies, traveling to visit loved ones...

So here we are. Eating on $20 each a week until the end of February. That's right... 8 whole weeks. Went a bit over budget this time because we miscalculated. Thinking we had enough money to cover raisins, I threw a tub of them in the basket. Organic no less. And then I ran to the corner store and bought $10 maple syrup for our pancakes. Thought we had some in the fridge, but turned out we didn't and the pancakes were already in the pan. Still... this put us at about $60, which is about $20 less than we usually spend.

Menu for the week looks good:

• Risotto primavera
• Baked lentils, steamed carrots & mashed potatoes
• Refried bean quesadillas with wild rice
• Tofu stir fry
• Some kind of soup using our slightly wilted veggies
• Omelette
• Getting taken out for birthday dinner (yay!)

Lunches will be leftovers and/or salads. Breakfasts will be oatmeal (with raisins, of course) or cream of wheat. A healthy and relatively cheap way to start the New Year!

One Month

My garden - October 23, 2010

(close-up of beautiful eggplants)

Same garden - November 27, 2010

summer pics

the amazing phish burger from boon

boys at minnedosa with something in the pail

ahhhhh....

creaming my sister at aggrevation

...and then getting creamed

wild saskatoons

wild raspberries

big sky

big sky at dusk

fifth lily

Got caught in a torrential rain on the ride home, coupled with 100km/h winds (seriously) and lightning. It hit when I was about half way home and ended about 10 minutes after I got in the door. Ahhhh...

Was feeling pretty exhausted by the time I dried off. And mentally exhausted as well, since it was just a bit of a stressful ride. But when I went out the check the mailbox and saw that the last of my lilies had bloomed, my whole day brightened.