and tonight...

So we had a buffet for dinner tonight - that's code for left overs and then a couple of deli items from Safeway... and I've got tomorrow nights dinner in the oven now - a pork tenderloin roast with potatoes, carrots and onions... tomorrow night will now be a breeze! hooray!

My chicken noodle soup wasn't bad in the end - but totally needed more seasoning after the initial recipe... so I'm not sure what was really missing... my chicken just wasn't 'chicken-y' enough.

And while I know my friends and family in Calgary are sad about -31 it is more of the same here - we've been locked into the minus 20's for a few days and before that we had all the snow and then it was super cold before that - this darn winter... me thinks the groundhog is going to sleep in on Wednesday... I would :)

dinner

Meatloaf - check
Home made from scratch chicken noodle soup - check
Mashed potatoes - check
Cream corn - check
Family....

So I've been building dinner all afternoon and now that it is dinner time no one is hungry.... awesome... oh well... guess it can all just sit and wait until there are hungry people...

sigh

:)

sunday...

Here is what we are up to this afternoon... first we are making broth... 

• 1 whole chicken rinsed
• 2 carrots, cut in large chunks
• 2 celery stalks, cut in large chunks
• 1 large white onions, quartered
• Ginger - a big chunk (like the size of a toilet paper roll - ok - 3/4 of that... then cut into four chunks)
• 1/4 bunch fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• Black pepper - about 10 turns on the pepper mill

And now... we wait for broth to be finished to transform into glorious soup!

2010 Torch Relay

Today is the day the torch relay came through Quesnel.  I can't believe a year has gone by since the events - it was amazing to be apart of the relay and then to get to go down to some games and events.

Pictures of the relay are here....
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=320069&id=651326140&l=544a87837f

Ps... is it really the end of January... really... really?

today is thursday

Cute boys - making mom's day!

Five moose - hanging out in a field - AWESOME

Steeped on Reid

So super lucky me - I won a bag of tea from the new tea store in Quesnel.  And since I want to share the great experience of trying new tea I took some photos...

A shot of the tea that I won - Pecan Pastry - that's right - no fat pastries - hooray! 

The fuzzy building in the background is actually where 

Steeped is located in the heart of Downtown Quesnel. 

Here is our fancy office teapot and all the great tea parts are going into our

little strainer... green tea, dried papaya and orange petals - oh, and pecans... yummy

All the happy tea parts hanging out - awaiting water

Note to self - line up hot tea kettle with teapot before trying to take photos....

I like honey in my tea and the great flavour - of, you guessed it, Quesnel honey, made 

a great match with the Pecan Pastry tea

And here you go - a finished cup - after steeping for five minutes - very nice!

Join the Steeped lovers on facebook and you too could win a bag of tea... 

*sigh*

I'm sorry I haven't been blogging much.  Too busy and nothing really exciting to share.
I watched an interesting workshop session tonight - I don't normally watch those online, but I've participated in two recently and really enjoyed them.  It was on being human and being connected.  What she ended up talking about was how vulnerability is the core of ourselves in both joy and happiness and also on the negative side of things for ourselves as well.

At the end of her presentation she made a few comments that I wanted to pass on.

1. Let yourself be seen for who you are - be authentic
2. Love with your whole heart even though there are no guarantees
3. Practice gratitude and joy - the power of thank you
4. Remind yourself that you are enough - as you are right now - you are beautiful, amazing, funny, you are what you need to be - do not be misguided by ideas of perfection.

And now - for a hot bath and some magazine reading... love to you!

xxoo

yes, it is

1) Today is National Coffee Break Day - our office is celebrating by having coffee breaks every 15 minutes

2) It is plus (PLUS) one in Q town right now - hooray!

That is all
xxoo

dinner

"Mom, I know all the swear words."

Um - that isn't really something to be proud of.

"Well I know them.  I know the 'n' word."

*in my head - great... that's awesome - crap... now to have that conversation*

Well what is it then.

*giggles*

"Well it is nerd."

Great....

"I also know the 'd' word."

*in my head - what the hell is the d-word... I start going through my on mental list*

"It's douche bag."

And so for the second time today I hear/see that word.  Maybe Kyle was reading Carmen's tweets :)

sleeping

This is a fur ball sleeping on his back - all four legs in the air... awesome....
Somebody had a long day.

while I'm writing letters

Dear Crack Users, Prostitutes, Pimps, Prostitute Users, Crack Dealers,

My alley and back yard driveway are not there so you can do your deals, drop off your whores, pick up your blow or crack or pot or 'shrooms.  It is not a turn around, it is a fire lane and my backyard - that is all.

You have two options - get a brain and realize that your life is worth more than drugs and prostitution or go away and die - please.

Thanks.

ape

IDIOTS

Dear stupid people who are driving like it is summer,

I would like to open this letter with a stern finger wagging and mad face pushed against my window - it snowed people - it snowed A FREAKIN' LOT!  SLOOOWWWW DOWWWNNN!!!!!!

I know you think your car is going to save your sorry ass when it rolls or hits another vehicle but it won't.  You are not superman, he-man, she-ra, my little pony or rainbow brite when you drive - you are a regular old stupid human and you should slow the hell down.

Thanks.

ape

shame

shame on you for waxing your child's eye brows - shame, shame, shame!
I'm not watching that crap anymore.. even out of boredom, which was the case tonight.

sleep

Last night Kyle asked to "spend the night" in Michael's room.  And so he did.

Tonight he asks to sleep in there again... and then 10 minutes ago I find out why.  He is being a detective.  He is trying to figure out why Michael is having nightmares.

"Mom" quietly

Yes

"I figured it out."

Ok, figured out what?

"Well Michael is having nightmares and it is because of the sounds in his room."

blink, blink

"There are sounds in his vent - I can hear them because I'm sleeping beside it and every time there is a loud vent sound he moves in his sleep."

um... well when the heat comes on the vent makes sounds

"ok, but it is why Michael is having nightmares"

ok... well thanks for the (pause)

"advise"

yes, thanks for the advise...

good times
good times

cheese, I hate thee

I thought - I can have pizza... sure it is topped with lovely dairy, but I haven't tried in a while.. so why not... wrong-o - soooo freakin' wrong-o - my guts are killing me and I feel like my heartburn is going to explode out of me 'alien' style!  roar - why can't we be friends - why can't we be friends... 

Help... my readers with kids - Michael is having nightmares - it seems like every night - it is awful... he doesn't say what the dreams are about and I told him a few nights ago that I snuck into his room and stole his nightmares and that I threw them outside... they then froze and can't come back.  I don't know what else to do now.  Tonight he cried and cried because he says he misses me - I don't know where this came from.  It is almost like we got some great time together over the holidays and now we hardly see each other - it sucks... sucks!  Funnier still is that Andy had a nightmare last night and grab me in his sleep - scaring the crap out of me - ah.. but I'm use to his scary antics.

Good times!

meh

Day old homemade sushi is blah!  I made too much last night and we tried to have it again tonight and it just blah - super honkin' blah!  Our guests last night brought dessert and so the boys powered through the rest of it tonight.

Habs scored

It snowed again - so we now have a real snow base in the community - if the weather isn't too terrible tomorrow we will head out for some sled riding... but I hear it is supposed to be minus 10 or colder - blah.

and the Habs score again
TIED!!!

Ok I'm not a Habs fan but I like Canadians winning.

7 billion people

This is a promotional video for National Geographic on their year long review of the earth holding 7 billion people - but it has some interesting facts and information and I thought you might enjoy it...

a weekend

blah

I'm full of the blahs.

That is all...

love to you - happy friday...

if you need something to do tonight - google has set up a map to show mass animal deaths - as a result of the 5000 birds dropping out of the sky... http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=201817256339889828327.0004991bca25af104a22b  - I know - that should totally kick off your weekend and make your life better - ha.... sorry - it is just where I am tonight.

What do you think happened to those birds and fish...?

devil, thy name be max

I know... he looks cute and loveable... and he might be - if he didn't destroy everything in the house.  This week he has hit the garbage twice and destroyed it, chewed the arms, legs and head off a storm trooper, and eaten a brand new power cord.

He goes a day of being a saint and we start to believe that he is a good dog... and then he pulls another trick out of his bag and reminds us that really he is a lunatic and will eat/destroy any thing...

And... since Paula announced on Facebook tonight... let me also congratulate her and Dean on their pregnancy - fantastic news and we are so happy for both of you and can't wait for your babies arrival.

doing my part :)

Ahhhh so it snowed here... about a foot... yep... it is  a lot of snow - but we totally needed it.  We need snow for next summers crops, so bring it on... that said when the forecast is dead on and we all know there is snow coming it makes me laugh that our city can't seem to get it together to plow.  You see I know, right now, that I'll be lucky if my street gets done before the weekend. Why?  Well there is more snow due tonight/tomorrow and they'll just re-do the main streets - if they do them.  So tonight we shovelled the driveway and the road to ensure we could get out tomorrow.

good old gandalf

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”

clam chowder

Tonight we made clam chowder - Kyle asked me to make it... and then ate none of it... instead he wanted more lasagna.  Ah... well - such is life.  He then grabbed a couple of cookbooks and picked out meals for the rest of the week - there are 20 post-it notes out with meal ideas and plans...  my little chef...

And tomorrow our associate chef turns five... there are meal and cake plans out already.  Grandma and Grandpa dropped off a giant chocolate cake for tomorrow though, so I guess we will make a cake for the weekend.

food

Tonight was lasagna and to liven things up I cooked an extra two pieces of lasagna noodles and used cookie cutters to decorate the top of the lasagna.  Despite my attempt at getting my fussy eater to try out the pasta he simply ate around it - he ate all the meat/sauce but didn't want any pasta... he did eat the garlic toast, so that is good... plus some cucumber... so we are getting there.

What tomorrow night.. ah... well we will see what chef kyle and his assistant want.  Michael asked to look at a cook book tonight to think about what he wants to make for dessert tomorrow night.  woohooooo - me thinks it will be something to do with chocolate :)

iron chef kyle

Inspired to create something fun for dinner Kyle came up with the following:

Chocolate Raspberry Fruitness

1 tbsp raspberries (frozen/defrosted/added a little sugar)
2 tbsp raspberry jello
2 tbsp light raspberry mousse
1/2 slice of raspberry loaf, crumbled
repeat

Top with a frozen raspberry, garnish with berry pocky and a chocolate stick

Enjoy!

Comments tonight:
"If I sold this recipe to a restaurant I could make a lot of money"
"I'm going to use this recipe when I'm on Iron Chef and it is raspberry night"

So Kyle took care of dessert and Michael made rice, eggs and garlic toast.

Hooray for helpers :)

1/1/11

Nose... still in tacked, however, still sore.  This morning (5am ish) I trashed my baby toe on the corner of my bed as Michael requested I come to his room.  I was so tired that I ignored the pain and went to sleep - wicked.  It didn't tear the nail completely off, but it is gross.

Now Michael decided to wack himself in the face with the stick while we were out adventuring this afternoon - awesome... he has two really nice welts right under his eye.

And now?  Well I'm going to make sloppy joe's and then hang out for the rest of the day. Cleaned the kitchen - finally - and want to tackle a different room tomorrow.

Happy 2011!  Couple more days off - hooray!