I Can Ride a Motorcycle!

Hello Everyone,

I just wrote my motorcycle knowledge test and passed. Yippee!!!

What this means is I'm a beginner so I can ride a motorcycle as long as I'm with someone with a full motorcycle license. The next step is for Jerry to get his so we can both register for a motorcycle class. When you take classes here, you get to use their motorcycle for the exam. And don't worry, no riding for me until I take the safety course.

Our seedlings are doing well. There are 2 tomatoes ready for transplanting into pots and several more that will be ready next weekend.

We have Telus tv getting hooked up on Sunday. It'll be interesting to see how well tv works through phone lines but we'll give it a couple months. They had some good promotions on and it'll mean 1 bill for phone, internet and cable.

Have a great day!

Happy Anniversary to Me!

Hello Everyone,

Today is my 6th Calgary anniversary. Lots of things happened since then so here's a comparison

Hair - short, and short although today it's in a faux hawk
Pets - none, cat & rabbit
Relationship - none, Jerry
Living arrangements - none (but will be apartment hunting), in a lovely rental house
Job - nope (but will be looking), yes and in an established career now
$ - 2 weeks to survive on, still in debt but there's light at the end of the tunnel

I do love Calgary. It's given me a lot and there's an interesting feel to it. I like the big blue skies and that the mountains are nearby.

Have a great day!

New Haircut

Hello Everyone,

I got my hair cut on Tuesday and I love it. It's really short and my inspiration was Carey Mulligan (a British actress). It's rather versatile. Yesterday I had it worn close to my head whereas today it's in a faux-hawk.

Jerry has no idea so it'll be a surprise when he gets home. I had told him I was dying my hair this week but it's still brown. May dye it red next month.

Have a great day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hello Everyone,

I have my green scarf on and wore my green jacket to work today.

Jerry's up in Edmonton again this week. Starting to get use to the new routine, although I don't like it. I hope this is his last long stint up there. He'll still need to go up a few times a month but I think it's only for a day or two.

The party went well. Food was delicious. My favourites were the chicken pastry and the lamb tagine. Oh, and the rocky road candy but it's one of my favourite desserts. It looked like everyone had a good time and Jerry enjoyed himself.

I tried out my new bike trainer on Sunday. It's rather difficult to use. They're rollers so you really have to concentrate. On my first try, I couldn't let go of the wall because I was too wobbly. I tried it again last night and could do a few minutes at a time with both hands on the handlebars. It will be a really great workout once I get the hang of it.

Jerry had to get a new bike on the weekend since he cracked the steel frame of his old one. While at the bike shop, I got to test ride a Pashley. This is one of my dream bikes. They're made in England, very old-school and feminine. What a difference it was compared to riding Calli! I didn't have to stretch to be comfortable with the handlebars, I was a lot more upright, easy to shift. So maybe next year I'll have enough $ saved up.

Hope you have a great day!

A tiring week

Hello Everyone,

With Jerry in Edmonton all week, I've been doing all the prep work and shopping for the party (with 15-20 guests). I'm rather tired but satisfied with my progress. I have one dish to make tonight, cleaning tomorrow morning and the rest of the food to be made in the afternoon. Here's the menu:

Snacks
pistachios
bissara (fava bean dip) with pita and fresh veggies
sour almonds
dates

Salad (served at room temperature. I think they use this word to mean sidedishes)
hezzu m'chermel (caramelized carrots with sweet paprika)
matisha mhassela (spiced tomato and honey coulis) - it's a palate cleanser
zahlouk (eggplant and tomato salad)
mselalla (orange and olive salad)

Main Dish
b'stila b'djej (chicken pastry)
tagine bil berkok (lamb with prunes tagine)
Moroccan couscous with chickpeas and peppers
harissa (North African hot sauce)

Drinks
pomegranate and orange punch
byob

Dessert
birthday cake (chocolate with a whole bunch of candles)
butter tarts
rocky road candy

Since you don't use silverware with Moroccan food, there will be lots of pita bread. The Persian store nearby was great for picking up some things and I got a great deal on lamb at the Halal butcher on the other block. I was able to find all my ingredients within the stores nearby.

I made the harissa Wednesday night and the b'stila b'djej last night and this morning. It's in the freezer until the party. You just need to add an extra 10 minutes to the baking time. My first time playing with phyllo. The cake and rocky road were made last night. The cake's in the freezer and I'll ice it early Saturday afternoon.

The rest can be done throughout the day on Saturday. Dinner isn't until 6 or 7 so I've got lots of time. Jerry's home tonight so I may ask for prep help since he's better at evenly chopping things. And he'll know what else we can make early and then just reheat. For a proper "feast", you do several courses so I can separate things out a bit. Generally it's snacks, salad, b'djej (it's like a free-form meat pie), tagine (similar to a stew, often made in a tagine, which is a wide pot with a cone-shaped lid), an extra main meal course like roasted lamb but I don't think we have enough people to warrant the extra course, couscous and then dessert. I made enough of the chicken pastry so the non-lamb eaters (silly people) won't starve and the couscous and salads are all vegetarian. Everything will be labelled and translated. I'll put the matisha mhassela on Chinese spoons (flat bottom) with an almond on top on a tray. It's the only dish one eats with a spoon and this way it's already in serving mode.

The food is very interesting. Lots of unusual spice combinations but all ingredients we had in our cupboard.

So I'm rather tired and the furry family is out of sorts. My routine is out of wack with Jerry gone and the party prep didn't help. I think he has one more week up there and then back to Calgary. I will be very happy next week when I can put the house back together and get back to my schoolwork. I need some quality cuddle time with Whiskers, which I do while reading my textbook. Mike is eating some wet food finally. I give it to him at night when he's "super hungry - Mom, why aren't you giving me treats". He gets dried in the morning. I have to watch him though because he's like a dog - will gobble his food so fast that he makes himself sick.

We have 2 tomato sprouts so far. I'm hoping the rest will show up in the next few days.

I'll let you know how everything goes. Have a great day!

Free Cereal

Hello Everyone,

Go to www.kashi.ca and ask for a free sample of cereal. I'm eating mine today. There are no strings attached and you also get a $2 coupon for one of their regular sized boxes.

I did this last year when they had a promotion for their granola bars. They sent me a coupon to get an entire box to try out for free.

I like this company.

Have a great day!

What a weekend

Hello Everyone,

Felt much better by mid week so was up for a busy weekend. Jerry got home Friday night and we met at an acquantaince's work going away party. Saturday we had a toddler for the day. Friends of ours has an adorable toddler and they haven't had proper couple time in months. The toddler sleeps with Mom and Dad is stuck downstairs. Needless to say, after a while friction and lack of communication starts to wear on a delicate situation.

So, Jerry and I told them we were kidnapping their child for the night.

He was very well behaved and we basically took him on our errands. He likes running around our house (since it's one big continuous circle), wanted to play with Whiskers, Mike hid, Blackie the fish is fascinating and shredded paper is super cool to dump all over the place. He wasn't tired around bedtime (9ish) so we had quiet time until 11. At that point, we put him in the stroller and he was out in 2 blocks. Into the spare room he went until 3:30 when he woke up with sore teeth. After 1/2 hour of crying (pain rather than parents), he calmed down and I was able to get some medication into him. Main problem is Mom breastfeeds and that just wasn't an option. Finally at 6am we put him back in the stroller and he was asleep after a walk around the block. When we returned him shortly after noon, the house was a mess and we were exhausted. But he had fun and he is an interesting little person. Definitely made us think though whether we want to have kids or not. It was a lot of work and responsibility.

We met up with his parents at a flea market and I picked up a fabulous antique folding rocking chair. It's small - Karen sized, no arms and has a wicker seat and back. $40 - which I thought was a great find.

The house has been somewhat put back together. Jerry's back in Edmonton this week. It's his birthday on Wednesday and we're going to celebrate on the weekend. A party with Morrocan food. I've got a good cook book and there's a persian grocery store nearby that I can pick up some extra items. I'm rather excited. Morrocan food is ideal for sharing and is well suited for a party.

As we were tidying, I discovered Whiskers ate the telephone electrical cord. So we need a new phone. I'm going to call Telus tonight to see if I can cancel my phone but add TV. For the few times I use my phone, I think I'll go to a voip pay-as-you-go. I'll price out the options.

A busy week ahead of me - meal planning, cleaning the house and studying. Have a great day!

Feeling ill today

Hello Everyone,

Woke up feeling ill (nausea, chills,bloating, headache etc) so I took a sick day. Slept for a couple more hours and started eating some food. So far I've had cereal, yougurt (felt only so-so after that), crackers and now I've got some ginger ale. There's a bug going around work so I thought I should stay at home in case I had it too. Now I think it may have been something I ate since although I still feel a bit nauseous, all the other symptoms are gone.

Jerry had to go to Edmonton for the week for work stuff. He's one of the minority shareholders up there and they're having some issues. He's up there to help straighten stuff out.

We did a double date on Saturday. We biked over to Chuck-E Cheese to play and have pizza, then went to a movie. We saw "When In Rome" which actually was rather cute. As long as you go in knowing it's a romantic comedy, you'll find it sweet and funny. Pricewise, it cost the same amount to do each activity - mostly because we got the kid's popcorn deal. It's one of the best deals if you only want a little snack - kid's sized drink (which is actually kid's sized), a small bit of popcorn and a kinder egg, all served in a little cardboard tray so you don't spill it all over the place.

Have a great day!