Stampede!

Hello Everyone,

Ah, Stampede - I love you! 10 days of dressing up like a cowboy and eating way too much fried stuff on a stick. We went down to the grounds last night and had a lot of fun. Went on 2 rides - the swing tower and crazy mouse (small roller coaster with a 4 seat car that pivots. Said "Hello!" to the ducks, goats and sheep. Explored the Marketplace (As Seen On TV Heaven) and ate lots of unhealthy food. This year, it was my staple (deep fried mac & cheese)and I tried deep fried Oreos and deep fried Snickers.

Saw the fireworks and called it a night.

We'll check out the fireworks for the rest of the nights but I don't plan to go back down to the grounds. Even if you plan to be there only an hour or two and it ends up being a whole day and I have a screen door to build. It's a home & garden weekend for us.

Have a great day!

Catch up time

Hello Everyone,

What a crazy few weeks it's been. Close to finishing up training at work so I don't plan to be working late this week. We had a computer upgrade on Friday so I had an extra long weekend. I'm very proud of the fact I slept in until noon on Friday.

We installed ceiling fans in three rooms on the weekend. We can only open about a third of the windows on the main floor since someone sealed and then painted over jams. "Repair" work like this drives me crazy. So we have some fans that have already made a big difference and this week I'm building a screen door with the leftover wood in the garage. Handywoman Karen!

Wedding planning coming along. We have officially made some decisions. We're getting married Sunday, February 20th in Cancun. We're going to have a reception in Lethbridge about a month or so later (afternoon gathering) as well as something in Chesley later in the summer so you'll have lots of opportunities to tease Jerry about married life. I've been in contact with our wedding planner and she's set up a webpage so we can communicate with each other. She seems quite nice.

Garden is growning like crazy. Been eating lots of salad - radish & beet tops, spinach, swiss chard. Potatoes are just getting ready to flower so I may harvest them and do a second planting. We've got a few tomatoes about the size of a loonie now and lots of blossoms.

Jerry built me a new firepit using reclaimed brick. We're still working on the design but it did make great s'mores.

Just got back my first assignment for school and I'm very proud of my mark. Will need to really focus over the next two months and I'll have that course completed. It doesn't help that I don't care a lot about the subject (IT Help Desk Support), the computer knowledge is a bit higher than what I currently had (the course outline I had when I signed up was out of date) and it's summer. I have learned a lot (how to design a web page, some extra Excel formulas etc) but in hindsight, I wish I had known to upgrade my computer skills first. After all, I needed a computer course anyways so I wouldn't have been taking an extra course for nothing.

Stampede starts on Friday. Will go to the grounds on Sunday since if you get there before 9am, it's free admission.

Have a great day!

Susan

Hello Everyone,

I'm still have troubles uploading photos to blogger. I keep getting a bunch of code - any suggestions?

So, I have a link to Susan. Scroll down to my website links and choose "If I won the lottery...". Choose "Our Cycles" then "Classic Bicycles" then "Princess Sovereign".

Susan is my lovely lady from England, in hunter green.

The story behind the effort it took Jerry to get her.

We've sized each other before when I was looking at road frames so he already knew what size I needed.

He called the one bike shop in Calgary who sells Pashleys.
They didn't have any in green and weren't expecting any to be available until next year (most of them are black so green is hard to find).

Jerry explained why it was so important.

BikeBike made a few phone calls

Nobody had any.

BikeBike explained the situation.

A few more phone calls went out.

Someone managed to find the last green Pashley in my size in North America.

And now it's in our livingroom.

She's a dream to ride. So comfortable. Extremely manoeuverable (quick turns, good brakes etc). My arms feel so natural. And a crazy loud bell that sounds like a door chime (2 tones). I'll try to get pictures on my Facebook later this week.

So yes, I'm incredible spoiled and I know how very lucky I am to be with Jerry.

Have a great day!

Scroll down to my profile photo

Hello Everyone!

It's been a whirlwind lovely week.

Jerry proposed last Sunday afternoon. We had some friends over for lunch and then Jerry told me he had something to show me in the backyard.

I had thought maybe something new in the garden came up.

When I came out, there was a bicycle.

So I went jumping and bouncing over to it.

And then Jerry came over and handed me a ring and said, "and there's a ring to go with it."

Awwwwww!!!

Yes, so I jumped up and down, did lots of giggling.

Oh, and yes, after he gave me the ring our friends made him get down on one knee in the wet grass to do it properly.
So, the ring is a proxy ring until we find the right one. He had been looking for one "for a while" but didn't find anything that was just right. And then he found it outside his office on Friday. It is a very pretty ring and I love the story behind it.

So, nothing decided yet. Initial plans are a destination wedding in February. And then a reception in Lethbridge and in Chesley. I get really stressed when planning events and organizing things so I like the idea of not having anything to stress over. We can combine the wedding and honeymoon for about the same price as a nice wedding in Calgary. I also think it is very suiting to start our marriage in a new place, unknown to both of us, so we have opportunities to explore and build our life together.

So, that's enough mushy stuff for now. I made Mom wait a week before telling anyone since I wanted that time for everything to sink in. And it was nice to have that time for Jerry and I to talk about what we want.

Have a great day!

My birthday

Hello Everyone,

Spent the weekend in Banff. We climbed Mt Rundle on my birthday, although we couldn't summit. Photos still acting up so check out Facebook for my photos.

Garden planted tonight, based on the moon phase. I trust it more than the star phases. But there's a chance of snow tomorrow and/or Friday so they may need to be covered.

Anyways, rather tired.

Have a good night!

This is why I haven't been posting...

Hello Everyone,

So, still having issues with uploading photos. So, they're uploaded on my Facebook page.

Winter's back :-(

Hello Everyone,

After a gorgeous April, we have snow in May. A bit accumulated on the ground overnight. Roads slushy. Crazy wind for the past couple days. Although we desperately needed the moisture, my front step plants are all in our diningroom. For some reason, I'm not able to post my photos - I'll try later today.

We got the frames for our boxes built on the weekend. We have 3 more to do (they'll sit on the current frame to make our deep boxes). They're protected with a mixture of bees wax and baby oil. So far, water is beading on them.

Have a cough that's been hanging around for a week or two. A good chunk of the office has had it.

Our KitchenAid arrived yesterday! It was a Christmas present (and it took us a while to decide what we wanted). Shiny black with I think a 475 watt motor. I just know it looks pretty and it made great pizza dough last night with little mess. Jerry was giddy. I love the Shopping Channel.

Have a great day!

Um, yeah...

Hello Everyone,

We had some free time last night and decided to watch a movie. Our fabulous PVR (and 1 free month of extra perks cable) let us watch Twilight. For those of you who are fans of the movie and/or book, please stop reading this post now.





That was one of the most horrible movies I've ever seen! And I've seen some doozies - friends of ours have a crazy B movie collection and this ranked up there in bad movies.

Dialogue - It sounded like it was written for text messaging. 1 line sentence. Long pause while they stare at each other. 1 line sentence. Another long stare. 1 line sentence. A pissed off expression. 1 line sentence...

Cinematography - So, there are a couple times it looks like the director was trying to make a dramatic scenery shot. S/he failed miserably. And that's pretty hard because the location itself was quite pretty.

Special Effects - Jerry and I burst into laughter each time Edward ran through the trees. And what the **** was up with the body glitter in the sun? Yes, I've read the books and body glitter just didn't cut it for me.

Hair - ok, the ongoing additions Jerry and I had (to make the dialogue more interesting). Take every sentence that Edward says and add "...with my eyebrows". It was driving me nuts! The colour tones didn't work. And the big hair was just plain funny. While flying through the trees, I asked Jerry how much pine gum got in his eyebrows. His answer was none, because it was all in his hair.

So yeah, Jerry is a saint for being in the livingroom while I watched this movie. And he only slept through about half of it because I kept waking him up for funny parts. About the only good thing I can say about it is at least it didn't cost us a movie rental.

Proud Kitty Mom

Hello Everyone,

I'm so proud of Mike - he did great at the vet yesterday. The new vet is 5 blocks away so I put him in his harness and we walked for a bit. But he's not good at the leash thing so I then put him in my canvas bag. There were 2 noisy roads that scared him a bit.

When we got there, the room was filled with cute dogs. I had no idea how Mike would react. I went over to the far side where there were no dogs and set him down. After about 5 minutes, he seemed ok so I picked him up and we sat in the corner - between a cat and a dog. The cat wasn't feeling well so I don't think Mike saw him as dangerous. And the 2 lap dogs were very well behaved. After about another 5 minutes, he settled down on my lap.

He acted very well mannered. He only hissed twice - both at dogs who came over to say, "Hello!" And the rest of the time he just laid on my lap, getting petted.

And the vet said he was in good health. We got a sample of food to help clean his teeth and he didn't say anything about teeth cleaning. The last vet really pushed it but it's super expensive and I have concerns about it. He got his outdoor shots too.

Yep, a very proud mom.

On the weekend, he had his first opportunity to roam in and out of the house. It was quite warm so we kept the back door open throughout the day (we were doing yard work on the weekend). The back yard has a high fence that he doesn't realize he can jump on top of yet. He really enjoyed himself. He even chased a squirrel - went bounding across the yard like a golden retriever. And he pounced on bugs (but I don't think he actually caught anything).

Have a great day!

Looking forward to the weekend

Hello Everyone,

Ah Fridays - and I'm having my counterpart run the payroll today. I've got a number of things to do so it means I won't be extra rushed.

Slow going with my assignments. I have 4 parts to do and I've only finished the first one. But it involved creating a website and I'm quite excited about how it turned out. It's super simple in design but I figured I did pretty good for my first try. I have a power point presentation to finish tonight and then the other two assignments on the weekend.

I have the last of the indoor jiffy pot planting to do. Very excited about that! I think we're building boxes this weekend since our roommate is home to help us with transportation. There are a couple things that can go in now (Swiss chard - yum!) but I don't know if we're also getting soil yet.

We didn't get hit with that crazy winter storm. Jerry's family was affected though and got snowed in. It was just really windy here. The forecast shows a lovely weekend.

Made a super delicious roasted butternut squash soup from Barefoot Contessa's cookbook. I picked up some Afghani naan from the Persian store nearby and it made a very filling meal. There are condiments that go with it but I was too impatient. Jerry added a bit of lemon juice for complexity and once we blended it, he also strained it into the pot to get an even texture.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

4-6 servings

Ingredients

3 to 4 pounds butternut squash, peeled and seeded
2 yellow onions
2 McIntosh apples, peeled and cored
3 tablespoons good olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 to 4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
1/2 teaspoon good curry powder

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Cut the butternut squash, onions, and apples into 1-inch cubes. Place them on a sheet pan and toss them with the olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Divide the squash mixture between 2 sheet pans and spread in a single layer. Roast for 35 to 45 minutes, tossing occasionally, until very tender.

Meanwhile, heat the chicken stock to a simmer. When the vegetables are done, put them through a food mill fitted with the medium blade. (Alternatively, you can place the roasted vegetables in batches in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add some of the chicken stock and coarsely puree.) When all of the vegetables are processed, place them in a large pot and add enough chicken stock to make a thick soup. Add the curry powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Taste for seasonings to be sure there's enough salt and pepper to bring out the curry flavor. Reheat and serve hot.

Have a great weekend!

A Mellow Weekend

Hello Everyone,

I was in a stay-at-home mood this weekend. We did a bunch of gardening stuff and planning. We have our garden area staked out in the yard and will build our boxes in the coming weeks. There will be 11 4'x4.5' boxes. At least, that's the bottom floor area and once you consider the thickness of the walls, it'll be about 4x4.

It's all very exciting. Our kitchen table has little seedling (mostly tomato), which makes me happy. We're hoping to have enough harvest to provide our tomato needs for the year (we use a lot of canned tomatoes), and a good supply of beans, carrots, potatoes, squash and parsnips. We have other varieties too but this will be our main focus. We've had good luck in the past and since we're growing from seed, it's fairly economical. We're still having expense from the initial seed purchase, soil and wood supplies but we should have enough harvest to offset the costs.

Jerry was in a cleaning mood this weekend so I curtainly wasn't going to stop him. He did a major bathroom cleaning (including the walls) and he treated the floor in the livingroom. A mixture of oil, vinegar and I think something else but since Jerry was doing the mixture, I didn't ask.

I have school work to do this week. Done my reading for part 1 so now I have my practical assignments to do. It should be a bit of a challenge so my evenings will be full. I'll be glad to get this first assignment done though so I can see how the marking works and what they're looking for.

Have a great day!

Crazy church service

Hello Everyone,

I don't know how I do it, but I seem to be very good at finding crazy church services around Easter. I have a deal with Jerry that he only has to attend church twice a year with me - Christmas & Easter. He's pretty good natured about it (grew up in the Lutheran church).

So, the negotiation this year was Good Friday vs Easter. Since we were hoping to snowboard on Sunday, Good Friday it was. We wanted to find a church midway between Calgary & Lethbridge so we'd make it to Easter lupper (who serves turkey dinner at 2pm?).

Lots of small towns and although they had churches, most didn't have website and none of the websites mentioned a Good Friday service. So, I came across a local newspaper with an invitation:

"Experience a re-enactment of Christ's Tomb on Friday, April 2 at 11 a.m. at the Fort Macleod Alliance Church."

Sounds exciting! Neither of us had any clue how you re-enact a tomb or who the Alliance church was but we had an address and a time.

So, we show up at the church.

When you opened the front door, there were two legionnaires (complete with skirts and spears) who "guarded" a door made up to look like two rocks. Already it looked more interesting than most services I've been to.

They opened the "rocks" so we could "pay our respects" at the tomb. The next room had no lights but tea lights marked the path with a mummy (Jesus) on a raised section of the "cave". A bit creepy but it did answer how someone re-enacts a tomb.

Then we headed into a perfectly normal sanctuary. Rather pretty with candles along the sides. Then we saw a hooded figure near the front who looked like the grim reaper without his sycthe.

But still, things were going pretty normal. They had an overhead projecter with a counter so you knew when church was going to start "The church service will begin in 2:09 minutes" etc. I was curious what would happen when it reached 0:00 but no exploding graphics or anything like that.

It was a modern service, lots of youth participation and songs.

Then there was the sermon.

Ummm, yeah.

All of the Good Friday services I've ever been to had a sermon that talked about the cruxifiction. This one was about how the world was filled bad things, like Hitler, because mankind didn't place all of their faith in God. And the pastor tried to show this using a cut up piece of paper but he didn't have enough sticky tack so the bulletin board looked funny and he needed help holding up the paper. And that all the people who didn't place all their faith in God were going to hell. And yes, he spelled "hell" using the pieces of paper. Both Jerry and I were rather confused what he was talking about since he rambled off on these odd tangents and nothing really made sense.

Things went back to normal with a hymn.

Then communion came along.

I suspect this sect of Christianity places a strong emphasis on communion and the affirmation of "accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal saviour" (the phrase was repeated numerous times in both the sermon and communion". So a couple weird things came next.

The communion came from a fountain (yep - I thought that was cool). But, it was one of those glowing fountains you see at weddings. So, when they turned it on, it glowed blue and purple before the grape juice started flowing out.

And then the oddest invitation for communion I have ever heard.

1. Everyone who had accepted Jesus into their heart was welcome to take communion
2. Everyone who hadn't shouldn't take communion because they'll be taking all the sins of the world and putting it on themselves.
3. So, if you weren't ready, nobody would judge them (as the minister scans the congregation)
4. And then the first 2 steps were repeated a couple more times
5. And then a moment of prayer, for those people who hadn't accepted him yet. That way they could do it in prayer and then take communion.

So Jerry and I look at each other and try to figure out if we were allowed to take communion. Since both of us had been confirmed in churches, we figured it would be ok.

And then the service had a perfectly normal ending.

And they didn't charge us for the grape juice or bread.

And we escaped as quickly as possible.

Mmmmm

Hello Everyone,

I went to Purdy's today to pick up chocolates for Easter. I found one named "Whiskers", which I thought would be very appropriate for Jerry. While there, I decided to try Pink Hawaiian salt caramels.

Wow

Imagine a yummy square of thick caramel, covered in a rich milk chocolate. Then sprinkle little bits of pink salt on top. It's an amazing combination.

Just wanted to make you hungry

Have a hoppy Easter!

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!