Journey & Adventure

June is upon us, but the weather is still cooler than normal.   Maybe global warming does have something to do with it, or maybe it’s just because I live in Canada and Mother Nature hates me. I’m still faithfully plugging away at my jewelry making, shows and online sales, but I have to say I’m getting slightly tired of it.   Lately, I’ve experienced a few shows that have left me wondering why I bother.     I’m not planning on giving it up any time soon, but I think I need to re-evaluate what makes me happy to make and not just make what people will buy.   Because in all honesty, people are picky and you can’t please them all.   I’d rather please myself. Let’s talk about food.   Do you ever get in a food rut and get tired of making and eating the same thing every week?   I’m in a food rut right now.   I like to try new recipes, but my family can be “selective”.   I can typically please either The Boy or J, but not usually both tog...

It's Canadian Thanksgiving on Monday here in Canada and that means: A long weekend; Fantastic weather. Sunny and warm is what the weather people are saying; Local county fair should make for some great junk food fixins; and of course... Turkey and all the trimmings. On Tuesday, I will commence the self-loathing but until then...have a fantastic weekend!

It's Canadian Thanksgiving on Monday here in Canada and that means: A long weekend; My dad is in town visiting. I haven't seen him in 3D in over 3 years, so I'm excited for that; Fantastic weather. Sunny and warm is what the weather people are saying; Local county fair should make for some great junk food fixins; and of course... Turkey and all the trimmings. On Tuesday, I will commence the self-loathing but until then...have a fantastic weekend!

No matter how you pronounce it – they are delicious!   Yes, things are sooooo boring in my life at the moment that I’m actually writing about tomatoes.     Are they a fruit or vegetable?   Friend or foe?   Who cares?   I love them.   Tomatoes are now “in season” here in Canada and I’m lucky to live in the heart of farm country, with easy access to fresh local produce.    I eat at least one tomato at every meal and know it’s time to cut back on the tomatoes when I start getting canker sores in my mouth from all of the acid.   Yes, I love them that much…   I actually consider myself a bit of a tomato connoisseur and can usually tell how good they will be by smell alone.   Yes, I admittedly sniff my way through the produce department.     Loser?   Ummm, yes.   But you probably already figured that out already by this post alone.   ...

We picked up The Boy from school on Friday and within 20 minutes of being home; he asked to borrow the truck so he could go out.    During the entire ride home, he complained about the food in residence and that all he could wait for was a home cooked meal. On Saturday, he waited long enough for the home cooked meal, but by the time the dishes were in the dishwasher, he was making plans to go out again. On Sunday, he blessed us with his presence for approximately 6 hours and then you guessed it – gone again, but this time he didn’t bother hanging around for the home cooked meal.  I guess the novelty had worn off.   This morning I awoke to find three additional winter coats and pairs of boots in the front closet.  I’m guessing we were the only house left with enough food to feed them all.   College boys are just like pigeons...or vultures – they go wherever the food is plentiful. Ahhh, it’s gre...

Have you ever have one of those weekends when you happen to over-indulge and then Monday sneaks up on you like the bitch that she is and suddenly you emerge from the fog of excess and are thrown upon self-loathing and despair?  Yeah, this Monday is like that for me.  I can’t pinpoint where exactly it went horribly wrong, but I suspect it started on Friday morning when I stopped at Tim Horton’s (the Canadian equivalent of Dunkin Donuts) and proceeded to order a toasted bagel with butter and extra cheddar cheese.  Lunch consisted of a baked potato with cheddar cheese and bacon from Wendy’s for lunch.  Something about the goodness of cheddar... As Friday rolls on - pre-dinner drink or two can’t possibly be harmful right?  How can something as good as rum punch be loaded with so many calories?  In my defense, dinner itself was full of healthy choices – BBQ chicken breast, rice and salad.  Yeah for me! ...

I started to pack for our holidays on the weekend, which if you are keeping track, is only 19 more sleeps. I know it may seem too soon, but believe me when you are a scuba diver; you have a lot of crap to round up and sort out, so timing is important to success of the mission. Don’t ask me how it happened, but for some reason this year and many, many previous years, I have been in charge of packing not only for myself, but J too. For the most part, the arrangement works out well – he hauls everything up from the basement and piles it into the spare room. I just have to sort it all out and make sure we have all the essentials. The challenging part is getting everything into as few suitcases as possible, while keeping it under the weight restrictions imposed by the airlines. Not an easy task, but it can be done. The key is to take only the essentials and nothing more… Here are the some of the essentials… The Suitcase. I prefer the Heys 4WD model – it’s lightweight to begin with, d...

When I arrived at work this morning, I was happy to find a tray full of bagels and muffins waiting in the lunchroom for me (well maybe they weren’t ALL for me…). I’d be happier if I wasn’t suspect of management’s sudden generosity with the gift of doughy goodness. I’m happy today is Friday. I’d be happier if it was 4:30. I’m happy that it’s a long weekend in Canada . It’s Thanksgiving on Monday. I give thanks for turkey, potatoes, gravy and pie. I’m happy that this weekend also happens to be the start of Oktoberfest in my region. I give thanks for schnitzel, beer and the polka. I’d be happier if I actually knew how to polka, instead of fl ailing and spinning about wildly yelling “E-I-E-I-E-I-O”. I’m happiest knowing that no one else actually knows how to polka either. I’m happy that my in-laws are hosting Thanksgiving dinner. I’d be happier if the in-laws would use paper plates or at least purchase a dishwasher so I wouldn’t have to help manually wash the di...

After 5 long months, it was finally time to have my snow tires removed today. Yeah! I can't tell you how GREAT it feels to know that the snow has finally moved on - at least for another 6-7 months. In celebration of Spring, I'm heading to Dairy Queen for a Blizzard. Would that be considered ironic?