its all because i washed it...

really. i should know better.

i thought, heck, the getaway vehicle could really use a wash, so i sucked it up and paid the $8.50 for a super duper wash when i got gas this afternoon.

and now its all nice and shiny. sitting in the garage. warm and toasty.

WHILE ITS SNOWING LIKE CRAZY OUTSIDE.

really. i should know better.

go figure. the second i take it out, its going to be even more dirty than before i washed it. just my typical luck. it looks pretty though. if nothing else.

went to heritage park yesterday for brunch and a wander of their 12 days of christmas displays, went with the whole darn fan-damily. so that included, my parents, grandma, sis, brother-in-law, their 3 munchkins, and us. and it was darn cold out. left the house early here to drop off dh's car to get the oil changed at the dealership first. and it was a BALMY minus freaking 25!!! my bones just don't do well in that.

so we bee-lined for the admission booth, scooted through the gates, ran down the hill to stand under the heater they have there, then ran the rest of the way down to the main street. ducked into what is the ice cream store in the summer to warm up before making our way the rest of the way to the hotel for our brunch. it was wonderful - homestyle, hearty, and filled us up for the rest of the afternoon. fresh bakery items, hash browns, eggs, bacon, sausage and french toast, pancakes and waffles. yum.

afterwards, it had warmed up sufficiently to wander around for a bit. took a look at the crafts and goodies they had on sale for christmas, the little ones threw snow around, went through a maze, and generally had a nice little walk. no, no pics, didn't feel like lugging the camera around in the cold, not to mention, i'm sure it would have just fogged up anyways.

from there, we went in search of tile to complete the downstairs bathroom. our plumber will be in next saturday to hook everything up. the kids are happy (as am i) and we won't have to go upstairs to piddle when we're watching tv! what a bonus!! LOL

friends and neighbours over last night for a pre-christmas visit. it was great - lots of laughter, the guys even got into a hockey game for a bit, wonderful munchie finger foods, and it was an easy clean up this morning.

and now its just late enough that i better get my buns in bed - off to the city again tomorrow. maybe even some success with getting christmas presents together!!

blizzardy blah!

oh the weather outside is frightful....

most definitely! had a quick roadtrip to vulcan, a small center about an hour south to do a sales call for one of the reps this morning. at this moment in time i am VERY glad i headed out at a decent time this morning, and that i'm back home now. it is snowing quite a bit, and on the way home it was white-out conditions in a number of places.

the downside at this moment is that i do have to go back in to the city for my final dental appointment to get the crown finished on one of my molars. i'm not much looking forward to the drive in a couple hours. we'll see what its like at that point.

i took my camera with me this morning on my way out, if only to stop at some point and take a few pics of the amazing hoarfrost that is hanging around on everything right now. but with the blowing snow, and the frigid temps, it just didn't happen. i think the worst thing about our weather right now is the lack of sunshine. if you can count on one thing, it is the crazy amount of sun we get, even in winter. but we've had cloud for pretty much the last week, and that sure gets alot of people down. i was hoping that there would be some blue sky this morning to get some great pictures. but it wasn't to be. oh well!

work has been super slow still. i'm going out about 2 days a week, but even at that, its only for a half day or so at a time. it sounds all good to get paid for not going anywhere, but at the same time, there's not alot of extra to go towards christmas shopping then either. and that kind of sucks too. who knows. none of us girls are getting much of anything by way of work right now, so at least i can say its not just me.

hope you're having a sun-shiny day! and if you are, could you please send some this way too??

it's all about being 12

tomorrow that is. my big guy is turning 12 - and he's quite excited about it all. he's one amazing kid and i am proud to call him my son. and because i wouldn't be a mom without embarrassing him to death - this is a goodie of him a few weeks ago when we were hanging out at my sister's house.
poor child. good thing he doesn't read my blog. or so i hope LOL

but seriously, this is a pic that shows off who he really is...
he's just a big teddy bear - gentle, sensitive, and loving. he's already got great practice with the little ones, and that is one amazing feat to get a young guy to tote around a baby (even a cousin!) for any length of time! good on ya man :) and happy birthday!

so another goodie from our visit with my sister - the b-man reading to the twin monkeys. he thought it was just great to have an audience all to himself. he read them stories while they both listened intently to him!
the cool thing was that b-man was reading them some of his favorites from when he was their age. they are by laura numeroff - and there are a few of them. i can't say which is the best of the bunch, but they are sure great for little ones at the pre-reading age. they can easily memorize the books, and then that eventually leads to them learning to read those words! very cool remembering those things about my own kids.

and a couple of housekeeping notes - the big guy has been working with the theatre group again in another production here. its a pantomime - basically a comedy that involves audience participation. the whole crew was out to see it over the weekend, including nana, poppa, mimi, auntie lisa, and auntie jenny who came up from cranbrook especially to see him.

also a big shout out to my buddy sam in georgia - have missed you guy! so happy to have heard from you today!

hope you're all staying warm - its mighty chilly here!

i just about piddled in my pants

listening to this one.... bear with me - i was laughing my behind off!! and even if you don't like ellen, believe me, its good!

Dave Matthews Band - Say Goodbye

and again...

so instead of laying there tonight... again... i'm up. might as well throw a bit onto the blog. what the heck.

windier than all get out today. and our recycle bin has blown away. funny thing b said to me as we were discussing it - "i can't believe it would blow away when there was so much stuff in it" HA!
the guy was by today to pick it up! good giggle either way. but our bin is still gone. maybe a quick drive down the street tomorrow is in order - i saw a garbage can that belongs to the neighbour behind us was in the walkway a few houses down. so maybe its around. the lid was under our next-door neighbour's truck. hopefully its not far.

went into the city this afternoon for a bit. dh had an interview late this afternoon, so we went and wandered the mall for a while. surprising how many people had the day off - this was the first time ever that dh got the day off for rememberance day. it was hot and crowded and my patience wore thin fairly quick - not something normal for me. we did find a new winter coat for j though. we've been looking for a while, and found one he's happy with. and on sale!

we had a quick stirfry dinner tonight of broccoli and beef, using the seasoning mix packet from the spice aisle of the grocery store. we were quite pleased with the results. it was yummy and quick!

j is in another play again with the theatre here. he was missed on the audition calls, and when they finally did call him, it was to be a second for a part, as well as a technical stage hand again as well. so he does have days that he is performing for sure, and is having a grand time as well. he really enjoys his time working with the theatre group.

well, i'm going to go and try to get back to sleep. hopefully its not too long a night again...

sleeplessness

i think that when you're pregnant, your body programs itself to require less sleep than usual. you're up every couple hours to pee, and whether you're actually fully awake, or more the stumbling type, you get accustomed to waking every couple hours whether you need to or not. then as a new mom, you struggle through the wee hours of the night, again, either fully awake or just barely stumbling through, to fetch that little one to you, feed and relax again into sleep.

and eventually, your little ones outgrow the need for you in the night. even my guys will very rarely wake me up if they are ill.

but then there are nights like last night. where i tried every "trick" in my book. counting, breathing, relaxing, to no avail. i know that i must have slept at some point. the last time i looked at the clock it was just before 7am this morning. but my brain did not revel in sleep. it was very much active and awake. and as such, today i was a sloth.

i spent the morning on the couch in the basement, watching a terrible movie with my youngest son, who eventually realized that i had dozed off and teletoon had a far more interesting movie on than was on tbs, changed the channel. the two of us peeled ourselves away from the tv around 11am, and i got myself into the shower.

then we had a baking lesson. my little b wanted to make butter tarts. i was half wondering to myself where he had even seen them to be wanting to make them (i'm thinking on our trip to costco yesterday... perhaps?) so i indulged him. i've had the tart shells in the freezer since last fall when i made a few batches for some reason or other. so that's what we did. he was so proud of himself, measuring and making sure we were following the instructions. and they turned out wonderful. even kikanue indulged in a couple that she pulled off the tray while we were downstairs after lunch. go figure. a doggie with a sweet tooth!

so this afternoon was more of the same for me. the tv on, but me dozing most of the programs away. dh and the big man had gone to the city this morning to fetch the shower stall and last 2 remaining doors for the basement. so the loaded them into the house, and then headed out to the garage for some male bonding time playing darts for the rest of the afternoon. little b went to play with a friend for a while, and then he also joined the guys outside. the good thing was dinner was easy tonight - costco pizza and a salad, followed by the butter tarts for dessert. a great saturday night dinner if you ask me!

so now, dh is snoring (he also didn't sleep well last night) and i'm awake. perhaps a little too awake for not sleeping last night. but i do need to get there. i'm thinking a little snog of something will help put me out for the night.

if there ever was a reason to be up in the middle of the night, a little one to cuddle would be the best reason ever. watching the alarm clock count the minutes just doesn't do it for me.

people are weird

like this morning - parked my car on the street in downtown calgary, no sooner had i put it in park, and some chickie smokes the front driver's side on the bumper. there was a casual "sorry - here's my info" like it was an everyday occurence for her. who knows! maybe it is! (i should have looked closer at her bumper - maybe there's more to see!) thank goodness it was only a scuff, dh buffed it tonight, and its all good now. phew. not even so much as a mark on the bumper.

and the odd interview i went to this morning. started out the other day with her calling me and grilling me. ok... i get that, not alot of time to chit-chat in a busy environment. and today, she wanted me to interview for a photo-copy sales position. um, no. not my thing. should have maybe asked a couple more questions on the phone the other day, but given how that went...

then went to work, and had to shake my head. two of us were working on a large display, and when we got there, i asked that our "contact" lady be paged to come down and meet us. more than an hour later, i asked one of the clerks if they could page her again, as we were part way through and i wanted to know where exactly she wanted the display, and she finally came down and told us that she wanted things done differently from what we had started. um hello? we've been here an hour! if she had come down when first paged, it wouldn't have even been an issue. whatever.

and that was quite enough of odd people for the day.

so looking to tomorrow - the boys are off school, so we're going in to hang out with the nieces and nephew in the morning for a bit, then i'll probably drop the boys off for a visit with their great-grandma and i'll go and get a bit of work done that was dropped in my lap tonight. then i'm sure we'll head to the mall, or costco, or something for a bit, then home for the evening.

a dear friend of mine called last night, haven't talked to her in ages. the last time we connected, she was in the midst of going to turkey for a month with her now fiancee and her mom, and then returning only to be moving shortly thereafter. that was the beginning of june. so found out last night that she did finally move a week or so ago, and is closer than she was - she had been in prince george, bc for the last 6 years. the kids are quite happy to hear that she is now in cranbrook, and we hope to connect soon for a visit, hopefully at christmas time at the latest.

funny how things can change, but also how fast time can go by.

it was a quiet week for work for me, but a good opportunity to work with a friend of mine that is also working for the same company. the nice thing is with her being around the corner, she'll drive in with me, so that makes it quite nice for the commute. we got some nice big displays set up this week, and the stores are happy with that.

food wise the last week, things have been somewhat usual. tonight was brats and fries and salad night - along with watching grey's, big shots and survivor.

but something we had the other night was definitely decadent, but downright delicious. so here it is:

shrimp and parsley... (oh yes, its good!)

4 lbs shrimp, unpeeled (check out the zipperback shrimp from extra foods/superstore in the green bag, 2 lbs per bag. got these ones last week, $18 for 4 lbs - so $4.50 a pound.)

1 cup butter
6-8 cloves garlic, sliced
2-4 bunches of parsley, depending on size - you need a good amount of parsley!! 2 bunches if their big, 4 if they're not
1-2 loaves of french bread, unsliced

ok, since this is one of those throw it in the pan recipe, its more method than anything...

turn oven to 250, place unsliced bread in, no foil, no pan, nothing. you just want to warm and freshen up the bread. put the biggest frypan you have on the stovetop, turn to med-high heat. add butter. in the meantime, slice your garlic, and as the butter has started to melt, put in the garlic. rough chop up the parsley, throw it in the pan. swirl around in the butter (it should be all melted now, but not sizzling). pour your shrimp over top, don't worry if they're not thawed out. it works just the same. cover, and let simmer for a couple minutes. stir. cover. repeat until all the shrimp are pink and cooked. remove from heat.

take the bread out of the oven, slice thick.

on your table you want to have spread out that day's newspaper a couple layers thick. set out a soup plate (the ones with the rim) and a fork for everyone, and napkin(s). put the pan of shrimp in the middle, and dig in. you'll have alot of liquid in the pan (this is NOT all butter the parsley absorbed that! - it's basically a shrimp stock) throw the shrimp peels on the newspaper, dunk your bread in the sauce and eat it with the parsley (yummy and good for you!), drink some good wine and just enjoy. we will also have a salad with this too, just greens and a light dressing is a good combo to compliment your dinner.

serves 4-5 hungry people!

missed it all...

taking any pics that is - we were just too busy having fun last night to take any pictures. but heck, we had a grand time anyways. dh dressed up as a crash test dummy, i was my usual witch, ds#1 was a roman god, and ds#2 was a crusader. all in all it was a great time :)

we had over 100 kids come for a treat last night - and it was quite funny with the older ones when i asked them if they wanted playdoh or a glow-bracelet. and interestingly enough, more of them wanted the playdoh! you're never too old is my thinking. costco had these mini playdoh's - 80 of the for $12 or something. so that made it reasonable, and my thinking is that the kids always get more candy than they possibly need, so something different is quite welcome!

dinner last night was a quick one - the kids were anxious to get going, dh was anxious to go hang outside on the porch, and for me, after a busy day, it was nice to just get something simple and hearty in our bellies. so we had a quick panini sandwich (plain cheese for b and i, pastrami and roast beast and cheese for dh and j) and a bowl of mushroom soup. gotta love it!

its been busy with work this week, and i'm quite glad that tomorrow is friday. looking forward to a not too busy weekend.

had an interesting job interview this afternoon with a placement agency. interesting in that the fellow i met with was someone that is on the same sort of wavelength as i am - that its not always the schooling that will make a person better for a job than another. we'll see where that goes!

so that's about it for an update tonight - i'm quite ready for bed, and need to be out the door early tomorrow morning.

it must be in the hoisin...

LOL

well, tonight was another "test" dinner - we (oh, yes, it was I tonight - nobody else interested in cooking till it was all done... but i digress) had a ginger noodle soup out of that same cookbook/mag from last night. and that one had more hoisin sauce in it. we've almost killed 2 bottles in 2 nights. go figure.

before the recipe though, a few tidbits from my day.

i'm covering someone's route again this week, and man, he has some busy days. he has sales calls that need to be done before 10 am. now, that doesn't seem like a big deal, but today there were 2 to be done. and i need about an hour per store. so counting backwards from my time deadline, that means i needed to be in the city, at my first stop by 8am. and leaving from home about an hour before that if it wasn't rush hour. so that means leaving at 7am. and since i'm such a great morning person (NOT) that meant i was out the door at 7:30am. oh yes, 1/2 an hour later than i should have been, without counting the traffic. but you know, even with the accident that was just at the city limits for my access point this morning, i was still done and not feeling too rushed for either stop by 9:45. i figured i was doing well. the rest of my day went smoothly (until tonight - computer issues, but what else is new) so am hoping that tomorrow won't be too much of pain to get the computer working again.

i ran into a former co-worker today while i was out. she works at one of the safeway stores in the city that i was in today. she doesn't look too much different, and she still has the same sense of humor that i remember from 10+ years ago. so that was kind of neat :) she made my day - told me i look "fabulous". (mind you, when i knew her, i was still so fat from being preggo with ds#1)

what else.... met up with ds#2's teacher today. all the teacher's have been doing "pre-report card meetings" - a little less formal that a P/T interview, but really, how formal are those? went through some of b's strengths and weaknesses, and nothing was a surprise to me. the cool thing is that she is very gung-ho on working with the kids on their positives, and working with them to make the weaknesses not so bad either. i know b quite likes her, so that is a huge obstacle surmounted in itself.

ok, enough, i'm ready for bed... recipe time...

Ginger Noodle Soup

1lb ground lean pork
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup hoisin sauce
2 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
2 tbsp soy sauce
4 cups chicken stock
1 carrot,, shredded
1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
5 oz rice vermicelli
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup bean sprouts
4 sprigs cilantro

In saucepan, brown pork over med-high heat, stirring to break up meat. Drain off fat. Add onion, garlic, hoisin, ginger and soy sauce; cook for 2 minutes.
Add chicken stock and bring to boil. Add carrot and mushrooms; reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
Stir in vermicelli; simmer until noodles are tender, about 5 minutes. Ladle into soup bowls. Garnish with sliced green onion, bean sprouts and cilantro.

Makes 4 servings; 463 cal, 29g protein, 16g fat, 48g carbs, 3g fibre

From Canadian Living Make it Tonight mag, Fall 2002

only a couple things i fiddled with: grated the ginger and garlic with my microplane, so there weren't "bits" in the soup - my youngest doesn't like bits of ginger. added in the leftover beef stock from last nights dinner with the chicken stock - so it was more like 6 cups stock. it was all gone, so it must have been good. we also threw a splash of seasoned rice vinegar on it at the table- it could probably use a squish of a lime even, to cut the salty taste. (remember - sweet, salty, bitter, sour for asian food) that totally perked it up to our taste.

a little addiction

well, it was a good weekend overall - had a bit of a lazy day on saturday, got a nap in, did some scrapping, it was all good. sunday, got the "stuff" done for the week ahead, laundry, groceries, homework, yada yada...

so what about the addiction? well, i tell ya, we've become addicted to a sandwich. panini sandwiches. what that grill does to a couple slice of bread and some cheese is just heavenly. today when i got home from work, that's what i had. cheddar and roast beef and a bit of grainy mustard grilled to perfection. ds1 did the same thing when he got home from school. yum.

and that's also what ended up being for dinner last night - grilled panini rubens. montreal smoked meat was a steal of a deal at just 99cents for 100g at the grocery store yesterday, so dh and i decided they would make a great dinner. yum. i could eat a panini everyday LOL (my hips would sure pay for it though!)

so after an un-busy week last week, it was back to work early today. the person i'm covering for has a busy schedule, but on top of that, he sees a number of his stores early in the day - they need to be seen before 10am. that makes for early mornings for me this week. the good thing is that it also makes for a bit earlier time home as well, so i can't complain too loudly.

so on the menu tonight - we made hoisin beef noodles for dinner. on sunday, i tidied up my kitchen cart with all my cookbooks, cooking mags and various bits and pieces on it, and found a magazine from 5 years ago. told the kids to pick a couple things out of it for dinner this week. and we found the noodle dish for tonight.

Hoisin Beef Noodles
1 tbsp vegetable oil (i didn't use this!)
1 lb lean ground beef
3 cloves garlic
3 cups sliced mushrooms
2 carrots, thinly sliced
1 sweet red or green pepper, sliced
1 cup beef stock
1/3 cup hoisin sauce
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 pkg precooked chinese noodles (450g - the steamed noodles that are in the produce section)
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 cups bean sprouts
2 green onions, chopped

In wok or large skillet, heat oil over high heat; brown beef and garlic, breaking up meat with spoon, about 5 minutes. Spoon off any fat. Add mushrooms and carrots; cook over med-high heat until mushrooms are tender and liquid is evaporated, about 7 minutes.
Add red pepper, stock, hoisin; bring to boil.
Meanwhile, gently loosen noodles under warm water; drain and add to pan. Whisk cornstarch with 1 tbsp water; stir into pan and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 1 minute. Serve topped with bean sprouts and green onions.

Makes 4 servings; 544 cal, 32g protein, 23g total fat, 53g carbs, 5g fibre From Canadian Living Make It Tonight mag - Fall 2002

and, as always, my couple changes. i doubled this - and probably didn't need to. as i couldn't find the streamed noodles out here in booney-ville, i used another dry chinese noodle, which is probably why there was just so much. we needed to add a bit of hoisin and sriracha sauce at the table to make it to our taste, but ds2 liked it without adding anything. i also just mixed the cornstarch into the stock mixture as it was just easier.
overall - yummy :) there was enough for dh to have seconds, ds1 to have thirds, lunch for all 3 tomorrow, and took a 6-cup container to one of the neighbours for her hubby for his lunch tomorrow.

quickie

no, not that kind...

just a quickie note for the day.

have one cutie patootie kid with a new pair of glasses.

my eyes are healing well.

got to spend some time with my parents, grandma, sis and the nieces and nephew today, along with my kids.

it was a good day. especially dinner out.

yum.

tv thursday

well, things went well today - had a good morning at home. productive - spent some time on the phone, got a start on our summer holiday journal, and then went off to the city to get my parents. on the way got a phone call for another interview. so did a phone screen with a nice gentleman i've spoken with before on my way in. good way to spend my otherwise unproductive time in the car!

my parents were quite happy to be home, and i had a good visit with them before i came back to town. my grandmother was (i think) in her own way happy to see them home again. she's basically been on her own for the last few weeks, only because she refused to spend a couple days with us, or with my sister. so other than a few meals and outings, she's managed quite well. she did mention to me the other night that it had been a bit of a holiday for her as well.

when i got back home, and had dinner organized, got another phone call from the fellow actually doing the interviewing in the city for the call i had earlier in the afternoon. so i'm meeting with him tomorrow. we'll see what comes out of that. (disappointing news today - found out the job i "got" has been post-poned for the time being - january at the earliest. seeing as how it has taken 6 months now to get to this point, i'm just not going to hold my breath anymore.)

and then it was on to tv thursday.

thursday nights are big in our house. dh and i have missed only 1 episode ever of survivor. and grey's anatomy has been on my list since it premiered as well. add to that (this fall) big shots - and we have a full night on thursdays. i don't think i've ever watched as much television as i do this year. but none of the shows i watch are ones that i want to give up!

so what exactly is the line up? (oh yes, now we're off on a tangent...)
monday - nothing. unless we remember to watch the "new" ramsay's kitchen nightmares. i liked the british ones better. *sigh*
tuesday - pushing daisies. brilliant new show. love it. a little kooky, but fun, cute and what the heck, that guy is cute.
wednesday - private practice. gotta follow addison. although i'm really not liking this as much as grey's. or as much as i expected. its just a little too off the wall for what i expected it to be, and maybe that's the point with it set in cali. dirty sexy money. i love this one. love the characters, almost reminds me of dynasty - what with the rich and spoiled. but its all good. dh likes it too.
thursday - as already mentioned: grey's anatomy, survivor, big shots. grey's and survivor are self explanatory. big shots? well that one is just good. i think dh likes it just for the fact that he's starting to relate to these guys and their verge-of-middle-age-crisis thing. and the golf. its all about the golf. LOL
friday - men in trees. we were watching that one faithfully last year, and then sometime in the spring they started with reruns and we just haven't made a point of watching it since it started up again this fall. liked that one too.
saturday - no tv on this day!
sunday - desperate housewives. need i say more? wisteria lane, where you can just escape!

i think that about covers it.

so what was for dinner tonight? it was what has become our thursday night staple - homemade bratwursts, steak cut fries and a salad. its a no brainer - and everyone's happy.

including me. :P

the day off that i really took as a day off...

finally!

really and truly i took the day off. i didn't go anywhere. i stayed home. i scrapbooked. i had tea with a girlfriend and hugged her little one. i talked on the phone. but i didn't go anywhere and didn't do too much of anything. i even laid down and rested for a 1/2 hour. it was good. and needed.

so what to make for dinner on a day off? an easy recipe i found on bhg.com in their pasta section. easy, yummy, and best of all, i had everything to make it with at home. comments etc, to follow.

Bow Ties With Sausage & Sweet Peppers

serves: 4

Start to Finish: 25 min.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces dried large bow-tie pasta
• 12 ounces uncooked spicy Italian sausage links
• 2 medium red sweet peppers, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth or beef broth
• 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup snipped fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley

Directions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Return pasta to saucepan.

2. Meanwhile, cut the sausage into 1-inch pieces. In a large skillet cook sausage and sweet peppers over medium-high heat until sausage is brown. Drain well.

3. Stir the broth and black pepper into skillet. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Pour over pasta; add parsley. Toss gently to coat. Transfer to a warm serving dish. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition Facts

Nutrition facts per serving:

• Servings Per Recipe 4
• Calories 397
• Total Fat (g) 18
• Saturated Fat (g) 6
• Cholesterol (mg) 94
• Sodium (mg) 713
• Carbohydrate (g) 38
• Fiber (g) 3
• Protein (g) 24

*Percent Daily Values are base on a 2,000 calorie diet

ok, so very obviously, this has been cut and pasted for ease of posting.

what i changed - i added in a sliced onion for a bit of bulk. i used spaghetti noodles instead of bowties (only because i wasn't going to the store for noodles) and i used a can of diced tomatoes instead of the broth. i also had removed the casings completely from the sausage and just used the insides like ground beef.

what the men said - dh thought it was awesome, ds #1 had seconds, and ds #2 said it was too spicy (but he had also had a huge lunch, and then had a sandwich and snack after school before curling. so he probably just wasn't hungry). me? i thought it was definitely good. something easy i'll make again.

tonight's recipe

alright, well if it will get me blogging a bit more regularly - i'll post some of the recipes that i've tried over the last little while, starting with tonight's dinner.

now, fair warning, i am NOT a super health conscious cook. i make what i like, when i want, and don't pay too much attention to what is all in it. if i had to choose a "diet" i would go more low-carb, but not necessarily low-fat. i'll note any changes i made in the instructions, but other than that, whatever you do is totally up to you. i'll also let you know what the verdict was from the men on the recipe that i post.

first up:

Meaty Moussaka - Everyday with Rachel Ray mag, Sept 2007
4 servings, prep 30 minutes, bake 45 minutes

4 tbsp butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
salt and pepper
1 -8oz can tomato sauce
2 large eggs
2 tbsp flour
1 cup whole milk
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup ricotta cheese

Method:
Preheat oven to 350. In large skillet, heat 2 tbsp butter over med-high heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, 3-5 minutes. Add beef and cook until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in cinnamon and nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. Add the tomato sauce and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, 3-5 minutes. Pour into an 8-inch square baking dish and set aside.
In a medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs and set aside. In a small saucepan, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter over med-high heat. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking often, until the mixture is smooth, about 30 seconds. Slowly whisk in the milk until thickened. Lower the heat to med and stir in the cream cheese and ricotta; season with salt and pepper. Whisk on-quarter of the cheese sauce into the reserved eggs until smooth. Whisk the egg mixture into the cheese sauce in the saucepan.
Pour the sauce over the meat in the baking dish and spread evenly. Bake until the top is lightly browned and firm to the touch, 40 - 45 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes; cut into squares to serve.

Make ahead tips from Rachel- Chill: Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 days. To reheat, cover with foil and bake at 350 for 45 minutes, uncover and bake for 10 minutes more. Freeze: Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for up to 4 months. To reheat, discard plastic, cover with foil and bake at 350 for 1 1/2 hours, uncover and bake 15 minutes more.

*Ok, so this is what I basically did, with the following exceptions:

Because i don't always follow directions well, and because i figured, heck, i have a whole tub of ricotta, and an 8 oz pkg of cream cheeese, lets just double the whole thing. So i did. There is now an extra meal in the freezer ready to pop in the oven on one of our crazy nights. Instead of a square pan i used 2 rectangular ones. So thinner layers. Whatever. It needs a good amount of salt to season (i don't generally add salt to anything, so that is a good indicator) i'm thinking 2-3 tsp of salt for 3 pounds of the meat mixture. When i made the cheese sauce, apparently i forgot all about the eggs. Goes to show you what happens when i'm trying to get dinner made in the midst of the mayhem of my children emptying the dishwasher and falling all over themselves to talk to me at the same time. Oh yes, and 2% milk instead of homo. But all in all, this was super. We had it with a green salad with Italian Parmesan and Herb dressing (Safeway brand, if you haven't had it, you gotta - its great!) No, there isn't any pasta. Or rice. But if you added a nice ziti or penne to this between the meat and the sauce layers you'd get Pastitsio. Another great dish. But we didn't miss the carbs at all. I also threw in a bit of Epicure spice Hummus mix. It needed a little something and that was just enough to make it great!

Rating? 2 thumbs up all the way around the table. So one full recipe in a rectangular 9x13" pan netted us: 3 helpings for dh, 2 helpings for ds#1, 1 helping for both ds#2 and myself, and a leftover corner for dh to take tomorrow. It doubled beautifully, and as I said earlier, I now have 2 dinners in the time of one! Gotta love that if nothing else!

who knew?

i am utterly amazed.

I

CAN

SEE.


for anyone that has eyesight that doesn't require correction, it is something that i think is very much taken for granted. and really, i took it for granted as well, that as inconvenient as it was, i could easily slip on my glasses, or pop in my contacts, and simple as that, see.

but after 27 years of having some sort of corrective apparatus in front of my face or in my eyes, i can see without having to try, mess around, or fumble in the dark. i open my eyes and there it all is in front of me.

and it is wonderful.

i won't say it was easy, because i had a really rough day after surgery on friday. i sent dh to get the car from the lrt station as 1/2 hour after the procedure, i started to hurt. and i couldn't keep my eyes open. so he went to get it, and fetched me from the office shortly after. even on the way home i didn't open my eyes even once. the drops burned, and i would have cried if i could.

but less than 24 hours later, at my post-op exam, i was seeing better than i probably ever have in my life. 20/20 from my left eye, and 20/25 from the right. a staggering improvement from being unable to see 2 inches in front of me other than blobs of color.

today was the first time i have driven since the operation. its going to take some getting used to - i had a bit of a hard time parking once i got home. reading is still a bit of a challenge, but i know that it can take quite a while for everything to sort itself out anyways. and heck, its only been 4 days, compared to a lifetime!

after being out today, i am somewhat glad of my boss' decision that i take this week off work. she wants to make sure that i'm well recovered before returning to work. this morning i was disappointed, but by mid-afternoon and being out with the kids, my eyes were begging for a little time off. so i'll take advantage of having some down time this week.


in other news, took the kids today for their annual eye exams. as expected, ds 1 still has the gift of perfect eyesight. ds 2, well, not so much. his prescription has changed, but with that comes a new set of eyeglasses for him this year. we found some fun and funky ones that we're both happy with, they should be ready in a day or two to pick up.

my parents will be arriving home again on thursday after the globe-trotting they've been doing for the last few weeks. they've been in croatia, bosnia, england and somewhere else that i have no recollection of what my mom had said. they had called a couple weeks ago to let us know they were having a grand time, and were enjoying their travels immensely. so i'll be fetching them from the airport on thursday, and pick up their molly dog from the kennel on the way.

here's a challenge for you - something that we've done over the last week or so. maybe its something you're interested in, maybe not, but what the heck - if it appeals, try it! ds#1 and i went through a bunch of my magazines that i hoard - make that "save for reference" - and as my favorites the last while have been real simple and rachel ray's everyday, they have some awesome sounding recipes in them. so we chose a handful and have been experimenting with them - and having some great results. we had a southwestern bean dish (like baked beans) in the crockpot, another that was a spicy bean and cheese burrito, a ginger/garlic shrimp with couscous, italian sausage and kale soup, and tomorrow i'm going to make moussaka. i've been liking having a few meatless meals, and i think with bulking up on the fiber and protein, we'll see a bit of a difference in the pant size again as well. (i'm slowly losing again after that blip from quitting smoking).

some good things? dh discovered he likes couscous (yay! i've always liked it but he can be a bit funny about some things!) we all enjoy the meatless meals more than i would have thought. dh (again) is a big meat and potatoes kind of guy. so this is a big step. ds 2, he'd rather not have meat if he didn't have to (although he does have a hankering for a steak now and then! LOL)

a couple of other recipes that are still on the list to make, are a sesame and hummus noodle dish, and fish recipe that has peppers and green onions in parchment paper. (there wasn't any fish i wanted to use the day i was shopping). so there's a bit of a dare for you.

and i'm going to challenge myself to get some stuff scrapbooked this week instead of just being a bum all week and not doing anything.

(and one last quickie - i heard back from another lady about "the job" and hopefully will have something in place in the next week or so. gah!! this waiting is killing me!!)

20/20

tomorrow i'm going to get my eyes done.

excited.

scared.

a little grossed out (these are my eyes, and i will be awake!!)

but mainly looking forward to the freedom from my dependence on contact lenses and glasses that i have had a love/hate relationship with for the last 27 years of my life. scary looking at it in those kind of terms. dh is taking the day off of work to take me.


will report back later in the weekend about how things "look" from my new perspective!

if i really tried

i could probably tell you all kinds of things.

like i finally got a call back about that job interview. and i got it. just no definite start date yet. *yippee* (just a little happy dance to throw in there)

like my dh thinks i work too much and don't bill enough of my time.

like we went to great falls, montana, for thanksgiving weekend, stayed in a super-duper-great hotel with an awesome room (that didn't smell like ass), was huge and comfy.

like my parents are away until the end of the month, they left last tuesday.

like my birthday is friday. and i'll be 35. *eek*

like my dh is sending me on friday to get an assessment done for me to find out about laser surgery for my eyes.

like the kennel i put the dogs in this past weekend will never get any more business from me. ever. (have you ever been bitten in the ass by a deranged poodle? need i say more??)

like my dad telling me i need to get a passport before he returns from holidays so i can go with him to palm springs the beginning of next month to fetch another car. (don't ask - apparently he's now the car-buy-and-sell-kind-of-guy never thought of my dad as a car salesman)

i think that's what i could tell you. there's probably more.

ok, so i know i just SUCK!

it's been since before holidays that i've posted. so i know that i officially suck.

i'll just give you a quick recap, and call it good.

- holiday was great. the room not so much - would have to give it negative reviews. it sucked. smelled like ass. and totally uncomfortable

- had that interview *FINALLY* that i was waiting for. 2 1/2 weeks ago. still haven't heard anything back.

- had a yearly review with my boss, got a good raise, a nice lunch, and a pat on the back.

- have trained 2 new people since coming home from holidays.

- have done 2 weeks of sales coverage, with another 3 back to back starting a week from monday.

- got the kids back to school with zero road bumps. b is actually loving school this year - maybe its going to finally be "the" year for him. he's never really liked it yet! (and i think he's connected very well with this year's teacher - definitely key for him!)

- my big kid is in junior high. wow. scary that he's growing up.

- been out golfing twice - once with the kids, once with dh, one of his co-workers and our usual golfing partner-the neighbour.

- quit smoking just after returning from holidays. that is a huge one. and probably the biggest reason i haven't been on the computer much. had to change habits as well.

- gained 5 pounds. see above.

- went to race city to watch cascar and stock car racing.

- started reading the new harry potter book.

- read books 1 - 10 of the stephanie plum series.

- we're toying with the idea of moving sooner rather than later. possibilities are (and yes, some sound a little bit crazy) houston, texas; belize; bahamas; ohio (and i already said NO to that one)

so there you have it. a month in fast forward!

and we're off!!

heading out tomorrow morning to nanaimo for just over a week. will return next sunday hopefully refreshed and rejuvinated from the vacation - needed for us all! hoping to maybe catch up with jennifer from scraptivity - hopefully we can co-ordinate!

the kids head back to school only a couple days after we get back. they're both looking forward to it - ok, who am i kidding? ds 1 is - he's the big geek. ds 2 - not so much. he'd rather be buried in his computer games and archie comics.

and me? looking forward to the routine of school days again. and maybe i'll find a little bit of productivity scrapbooking again. didn't get anything done over the summer. but i did take pictures!

have a good week - updates and pics when we get back!

picture post

and this is all there is - just pictures. a little bit of playing around in photoshop, some digi brushes, and i'm quite happy with the result of my just messing around on sunday morning.

the first series:

my neighbour's baby boy - at 1 week old. he's just too cute.




the next couple are pics that just touch my heart. my oldest son with my niece. she was born about 2 weeks before my neighbour's little guy - they couldn't be more different - she's just a little wee thing, with the sweetest little face. he's a bruiser - almost 4 pounds heavier than her already!


and after all we go through with my grandma, you know that she just loves to cuddle the little ones.

and a couple of goodies of one of my other friend's son and girlfriend. they are just too cute together! i caught them candidly when my friend said very quietly "i really need some pictures of them". still need to fiddle with these ones a bit, but i'm still happy with how they turned out.

relief

is on its way!! we're finally in for some rain - yippee!! we desperately need it, everything is so dry out here. we're still supposed to hit 27C today, but some showers through the day.

working quite a bit this week again. covering a sales route. good stuff :)

dropping the boys to my mom this morning for a visit, will pick them up on friday.

a quick round of golf is booked for after work today too.

have a good one!

august long...

sunday morning, halfway through the long weekend. sunflowers blooming outside my window. sun shining. whinnies of horses just a stone's throw away. the promise of a lazy day is here. its been a busy weekend so far - friday night had the neighbours over for dinner and a movie. lots of laughs, a great time! saturday morning dh went to work and the kids and i slept in, very much needed for me. we then headed off to walmart for a wander and a couple purchases, then met dh at the rodeo grounds for a wander. after that, it was home, i crashed out for a nap, then went down to a friend's campsite for dinner and drinks. this morning its quiet. and i'm liking that. we're supposed to be going for yet another bbq/dinner at a friend's later today, but haven't heard from them yet. will have to call here shortly and find out what's up. tomorrow morning we're off to rosebud for a round of golf with the kids. it's their first time out golfing "for real" so it should be an entertaining time.

enjoy your weekend!

there is a silver lining

in that storm cloud that sometimes hangs over me.

a few weeks ago i posted about that jerk that harassed me at one of the stores i work in. well, it seems that he has now given the store a written warning, and he has also gone after the company i work for and kraft as well. so, to make a long story short, effective immediately, none of us merchandisers are allowed to go into those particular stores any more to do our work. i'm thinking it will last all of a month before we're told to go back in.

why? the simple answer is because the service we provide is needed. the stores are going to be outraged that we will not be there to help them out. and what we do is a big PITA for them to complete - its a job that they don't want to do, so we do it.

so what is the silver lining? i'll be having more saturdays off for the rest of the summer. makes me happy :)

in the meantime, this week and next week, i'm covering sales routes for a couple of different reps. this is the part of my job that i love. i get to use my brain, and do something i really really enjoy. the crazy part is that it wears me out more than the physical stuff i usually do. i was ready for bed at 8:00 last night. but its a good tired.

and with that, i better get my butt in gear and out the door - i have a busy day today!

have a good one!

and this is what it looks like...

when you get your butt in gear and get your yardwork done!

we've made alot of changes to the yard this year, namely adding the lower deck right at the back of the house, as well as adding in the gravel to make the maintenance even less. (if only we could get the dogs potty trained, it would be simple!!) things that are still to be done: flowerbeds that match up the railing along the lower deck, and putting up the cedar to close in the bottom of the upper deck (no pics of that simply because it just doesn't look very nice with the clutter underneath at the moment!) i'm also wanting raised flower beds in front of the upper deck, along where the cedar is being put in to finish it off. that won't be until next year i'm guessing. just the amount of work we've done this year has improved things hugely! makes me happy!

oh, yes, and between the gazebo and the jurassic park plants, is the mini-pond. it's flourishing this year, doing very well aside from my crazy algae problem i'm having (because of no fish, too much heat, and too much sun), my lilies are doing awesome, as well as the rest of the miscellaneous plants that are in there.

thanks for taking a peek!

LOL

dragonfly bliss

this little guy was hanging out on my daylilies last night when i was moving the sprinkler around. i don't think i've seen as many dragonflies ever as i have this year. we have ones that are big enough to cart off with a small child, down to little ones like this. and the colors are spectacular too. blue, yellow, red, and all of them having a grand time catching the bugs that bug us! if we sit still long enough, and it doesn't take long with how many are hanging around, they will land on our toes or our fingers so we can get an up close and personal moment with them. i think that having the pond in our backyard, as small as it is, is a great lure for them. they are buzzing about constantly, dipping down to take a drink, and enjoy the cool that the micro-climate of the pond provides.

today: gotta make phone calls. to the vet, the dentist, hopefully receive a phone call about an interview, make a phone call about the offer i'm not taking, call the kennel to let them know about our additional doggie for holidays (we had booked before we got kikanue). need to take pictures of our alley - dh is going to town council about the issues that are going on. funny thing, its not our kids that we're worried about, its all the others on our block (and issues only because of one household that is causing big problems on our street). we're taking the kids to the driving range tonight, gotta get some practice going on! and i think that's about it. hopefully the sun will poke out today, its cloudy at the moment, but a welcome relief. rain last night :) and most of the night as well, its been far too long since we've had any.

have a wonderful day!

lost in the shuffle

it's been a busy week. what can i say?

finally feeling like i'm settling into the unscheduledness of summer - the way things should be.


i'm back to working 4 days a week, but i did take the past saturday off to have a full weekend with dh and the kids. saturday we did some errands, had a swim in the pool, and just generally enjoyed the day. sunday we went out golfing with a friend, and had a great time at Akokiniskway in Rosebud. its not a far drive for us, only about 40 minutes, and a great little course to play. it was challenging enough for our friend, who golfs a good deal more than we do, but easy enough that we had a great game as well.

this little deer greeted us at the 8th fairway, and was kind enough to pose for a picture on the way by. just past the bush is the river that runs through the course, and she headed down that way after we passed by.


this was by far one of the more picturesque golf courses we've played on. well manicured, but also lots of trees and scenery to keep thing interesting.









this is dh and our neighbour friend that we head out to the course with. he's a riot to play a round with - always so complimentary, even on the bad shots! one of the "rules of the course" that we have seen posted elsewhere is to always be complimentary of your fellow players. encouragement is always a good thing. and, interestingly enough, i managed to tie with dh for the day! i did far better the second time around (it is only a 9-hole) but i was very pleased with myself!



by far, one of my favorite scenes from the day. after finishing the rather challenging uphill 8th hole, we had to cross the railroad tracks to head over to the 9th tee. its so quiet and peaceful out there, and not a busy course. we didn't have to rush, nor did we feel like we were playing too slow either. we're planning to take the kids out for a round there as well one afternoon, its reasonable to take them with us, and a good course to have fun at.




















and, as you can see, both of these guys are finding that golf can be fun. we took them out to the driving range the sunday before last, and they had a good time taking a whack at some balls as well!






we're working on getting these guys to use "proper form", something ds #1 is having a bit of a hard time with. he's a bit of a stiff kid as it is, so getting him to loosen up while taking a poke at the ball is a bit of a challenge.

and just a little bit of a funny face to end it all! i packed up the boys and a pal, and we went to riley park in the city last wednesday for a chillin' kind of day. the weather wasn't as co-operative as we would have liked, it was cloudy, but was still warm enough for the guys to splash around in the pool there for a bit.

gotta put a shout out for Vicki and the amazing RAK she sent me that arrived last week. a wonderful box of goodies, including a page kit of one of her designs, rub ons, ribbon, chipboard and other lovely things! now to just get some scrapbooking done. i had great intentions of doing something tonight - anything really, and i haven't done anything at all.

have a great week everyone!

you win some

and you lose some.

started my day out well this morning - got up and organized early as it was my housekeeper day (LOVE that lady!!). before it got well and hot in the house, i set out to get mini banana loaves in the oven, and then finish up the machine stitching part of the 4th cover for our outdoor benches.

and that's where the losing some started!

i measured (vaguely) and cut (vaguely) the fabric so i could make the cushion cover and get it stitched up in a timely manner. (why vaguely?? because i can't sew a straight seam to save my life, but i can get the job done LOL)

then i lifted up the cushion off the kitchen table...

and WHAM!

hit the light above the table and the blown glass cover came smashing down onto the table (my neighbour across the alley even heard it - she told me this evening!)

so, glass everywhere across the kitchen.

so i swept, jonah vacuumed, and then a couple hours later after another vacuum by my housekeeper, she was still finding bits of glass when she washed the floor.

now the search for a new light. or maybe not. we are going to be renovating the kitchen/living area next spring, and i can live with it for the moment. so it could wait for now.

so, from there i still did end up having a good day. finished up my ATC cards for the S! swap, they're quite cute, but not what i had started with in the first place. will scan and post a pic tomorrow.

also, got the bottles taken back to the depot. $30 is not a bad bit for a 20 minute trip.

then out to the country to a friend's for a coffee and to pick up her son to hang out with bailey tonight for a sleepover and tomorrow we're off to riley park in the city for a fun day. its a bit more of a little kid's place, but nice nonetheless. lots of big trees, and water. can't ask for more!

our yard has really come together in the last couple weeks. will make an effort to take pics tomorrow and get them posted. there's still a few more things to get done, a few of them will be worked on this weekend, but won't be too much of a difference overall compared to what we started with the beginning of this summer.

and yes, i did get the cushions finished today. and they're awesome if i do say so myself :)

music to my ears

its so quiet you can hear a pin drop.

its that quiet in our house this morning. i think everyone was just exhausted from the heat yesterday. right now, being up earlier than the rest of the crew, i have a good cross breeze going through the house. it is lovely.

and last night, searching for a song by jesse cook, i found this site, RadioCanada2, and there is a live to radio concert that is just beautiful. i've heard his song, "It Ain't Me Babe" performed with Melissa McClelland, a number of times, but never caught the name of it until yesterday. its gorgeous. if you have the time, just click on the play all tracks button and have it go for you. if not, you can listen to just that song.

sometimes the CBC can surprise a person!

have a great day, stay cool! we're off to the driving range with the kids in a bit to hit some golf balls. good times!

now, i wouldn't want to argue with a "pretty lady"

oh yes, these words were spoken to me this afternoon while i was at work.

by a lovely gentleman who attacked me for doing my job.

and then pulled out his little book and showed me the "rules" that he enforces.

and then proceeded to berate the store staff for "allowing" me to do my job.

after a rather heated discussion with the store staff and myself, escorted me out of the store to ensure that i was, indeed, leaving the premesis.

i'm sure he got the shock of his life when i got into my mercedes and drove away. you can stick your smarmy butt into your datsun from 1970. "pretty lady" indeed!

asshole.

i'm getting a letter together to forward to his boss. about his sexist attitude and completely rude and out of line harassing behaviour.

stuff that one in your rule book buddy!

sometimes i wonder

if its just me.

so i went for that interview yesterday afternoon, and they have changed their minds on what they are planning on doing. so i interviewed for a totally different job, and i don't want it. i turned it down the last time as well when i was offered it.

bummer.

kind of ticks me off too - why would they ask/advertise to interview for a position, and then change what the plan is? doesn't make any sense to me. they have a person from another province now doing what i was supposed to be interviewing for. as she already has this job function, they added it to her list, and in 2-3 months another person will then have the opportunity to "move up" into that function here. that's the catch i guess, take a job you may not want in the hopes that you can move up. and with no guarantees, i wouldn't want to move. same shit, different shoe.

bah.

on another note -

my parents get home tomorrow, and for my guys its not a minute too soon. they have really had a tough time with grandma, she's seriously losing it. i really hope that when i get old, i don't do what she is doing to our family. between my parents and i, we thought that she would do well with the kids. she has always been great with them, and they were looking forward to the time they were spending with her. not so much now. she's really laid it on thick this last week - all kinds of guilt trips, and just being plain not nice.

take for instance this: the sewer was backing up. not hugely, but enough that there was gunk coming up the outlet in the laundry room, and in the one bathroom (shower and tub) downstairs. so i talked to my dad, and he said, yes, please! call the city! get them to come out and fix it! (hello!?? there is gross stuff coming up!!)

what does my grandma do? FREAKS OUT. why? because someone was coming to fix it!!

like come on lady. poop in the house is a good thing? seriously. gross.

and all it took was 5 minutes, and it was fixed. man.

i sure don't envy my mom. it all seems to be getting worse and worse. told my kids they have permission to put me in a home if i ever get like that.

i think next time my parents go away, they need to hire a grandma sitter.

party's over!

it's amazing how much stuff we can jam into the small bit of weekend that i get!

friday night we ended up having various neighbours over for cocktails, and chatted into the later hours of the evening.

saturday, i worked, then headed off to pick up the boys and my grandma to go babysit my sister's twins for a few hours. so the boys and i got the little ones down to the park for a bit, came home, ate dinner, gave the twins a tub, put them to bed, and jonah and i headed out for a quick hunt for golf clubs which turned into a 3 store trip and 2 hours. back to my sister's, she arrived very shortly after, and i packed grandma and the boys back to my mom's. i headed home from there and was finally home about 11pm.

this morning (even though i had the chance to sleep in!) i was up before the alarm at 7am. coffee? check. email? check. then off to the shower and out the door for a round of golf with dh and a friend. from there we came home to let the dogs out for a quick piddle, then out the door again to another friend's for a visit and dinner.

phew.

done.

another whirlwind weekend is over!

good news is i'm working tomorrow, "the" interview at 6pm, then should have tuesday and wednesday off. wednesday is a ladies lunch with my boss, her admin assistant, and one other gal that is on our team. so in some ways, not a day off, but not a work day either.

its all good.

but the party's over! LOL

when its hot hot hot...

you gotta stay cool, cool, cool! check out that temperature!! (the time is wrong) 36.7C. freaking hot!

but for that you need one of these:


yes, this is my new sweet ride!!

i got it yesterday - woohoo!! it is alot of fun to drive, just getting used to the blind spots and such. dropped my parent's off at the airport late yesterday afternoon, and from there returned home with this amazing vehicle. there are more buttons to push than you can possibly imagine, along with the amazing leather interior and creature comforts that are all included. it has an actual thermostat on the controls, so i know that i'm not being too outrageous setting the a/c at 26 when its so hot out there. separate controls in the back seat give everyone a chance to cool off, so its not just the front seat that gets cool! and for those cold winter mornings, there are even seat heaters.

i managed to sell my van on tuesday afternoon, for what i think was fair, just under $2K, so that got it out of our hair before we even needed to try to flog it elsewhere. dh was happy as well, especially when i got the cash in hand that day.

in other news, the interview i had the other morning went well, waiting to hear about it, but i'm sure i could have it if i want. it comes with a $5.50/hr raise and car allowance (i do get mileage now, but that works too) and full time hours with no weekends. downside? full time hours. we'll see. i'm guessing i'll hear about it either tomorrow or early next week.

i also have one more interview on monday afternoon. that one to me may make more sense as it will be more flexible in my hours, full time as well, but it's supposed to be 80/20 - 80% out at the various stores and 20% at home. through the summer i could probably sort it out to work 6 hours out a day and the remainder at home, with weekends off again. there will be some extra travel as well, with it supervising all the employees of the company in alberta, but they are talking about splitting it in half in the not so distant future only because of the sheer size of the territory. i would love that job, it is really something that would be a good position for me. no, its not sales, but it is a step up, and not lateral as with the previous one (even though with that one the money is better - but does that make up for less flexibility?)

and my dear doggie is back - some of you may know that she disappeared on us in a totally panicked moment when the fireworks were going off on canada evening. someone found her north of town, still frightened, and very sore from her extreme escape. she's still got slightly sore paws, but she is moving alot better and is very happy to be home.

that's it, that's all for today - i'm off to find a cold beverage, and have a little relax before dh gets home from work in about 45 minutes. sushi is on the menu for dinner tonight - totally looking forward to that! (not to mention that its not something HOT to eat!!LOL)

happy summer holidays!

well, today is the first official day for the boy's summer holidays. and i'm off to work, so just a quick post...

have been running 6 ways from sunday this week, and looking forward to having 2 days off in a row. i have a busy day ahead today as well - a stop in chestermere, then an interview, then 3 more calls and stop and pick up the patio set i found the other day. then home. hopefully it won't be too long a day.

the boys have their day planned out as well. its supposed to be a hot one today, so they'll head off to the pool this afternoon after lounging the morning away. funny how getting b up for school in the morning is like pulling teeth, yet today, not having to go, he's up earlier than when i try to get him up for school. LOL

have a happy friday!

grade 6 celebration!

Last night was the farewell and awards ceremony for the grade 6's at Jonah's school. He did very well, finishing at the top of his class. Yes, he's a nerd, but we love him all the same! He got the award for the top Social Studies mark in his grade, and was congratulated all around.

These two fantastic ladies have been a huge part of his life for the last year. Kudos to them for helping him grow and learn and have fun while doing it all!


This is one of the men in his life that I know he'll remember for the rest of his life. The school principal. He has been an amazing role model to all the kids in the school. And this was his last year, he is retired after Friday! I know that he'll be missed!
And man, has my little Donut boy grown. He is more than a head taller than the rest of the kids in his grade, he is even taller than me now!

Congrats to my grade 6 grad!

busy weekend...

well, its been a weekend. i worked most of the day yesterday, and came home after picking up some awesome steaks for dinner. unfortunately, the weather wasn't wanting to co-operate. so rene suggested we head back into the city for vietnamese for dinner. i drove through that storm on my way home, and saw some spectacular lightening on the way. there were even a few times that it hit the ground! thankfully it was a good distance away.

during the trip back in i had a little nap, and well needed. it had been a late night before, and getting up early, then a good busy day of hefting boxes around almost made that quick nap a necessity at that point!

while we were in the city, we noticed the sky was just black looking eastwards to home. it was quite the storm going on, but we weren't too concerned. arriving home, there was hail everywhere! a few of my perennials in the back by the pond have taken a beating, but all in all, not as much damage as there could have been.

i got a good sleep in this morning, and after messing around on the computer for a bit, i got the carpets cleaned in the living room and hallway. amazing what comes out of that carpet. just gross!!

from there i had a shower, then cut both the boys hair, got most of a layout done, a thank you card done, tidied up the kitchen, got dinner organized and had a quick trip over to walmart just to get out of the house for a bit.

jonah's managed to find himself a couple of lawn-cutting jobs for the summer, so he did one this afternoon, and he'll have a few more to do by the end of the week. he's quite excited about the prospect of earning some decent money this summer. awesome for an 11 year old! he's already planning on saving for a new bike, as well as having spending money for holidays in august.

tonight another crazy storm just missed us. on the weather website, it was reporting nickle sized hail and severe thunder and lightening. it was interesting looking out the front side of the house and seeing blue sky and sunshine, and looking out the back at a threatening sky and hearing the thunder booming. bizarre weather!

some new music tonight - bare naked ladies. easy. that's what i'm looking forward to for the summer. a little bit of easy. enjoy!