.:shy:.

first e-book purchase, easter feast and sunday dog park

i know - what a weird thing to get excited about. especially since i'm probably one of the last on earth to have purchased a novel in it's digital format. and it's not that i've never read a digital book - i've gotten several from the library in the past but at the time, i had to read it on my computer. which wasn't exactly mobile. and this is my first purchase - through kindle-amazon, to be exact.

but still, i'm happy. happy to have discovered that it was $5 cheaper then the print version, happy to have it available on my ipad, happy to support the earth by going paperless in one more area and happy to be reading a novel by an author with mad writing skills.

so yesterday, i downloaded alice munro's too much happiness and was able to start reading it last night. i mentioned in my previous post that reading was one thing i really missed and am hoping to bring back. the last time i finished a book was sometime last july/august.

as for the rest of the weekend (and no, the above was certainly not the highlight), it went very well.

friday was rainy and uneventful. but the rain couldn't have come at a better time as i spent all day indoor to clean and prepare any food preparations for the next day (at least anything i could make ahead of time). doug had to work but as it was a holiday, it wasn't very busy. he started work at 6am and was able to be home not too long after 2pm. i was so tired by the end of the day - while chaeli and doug stayed up to watch a movie, i fell asleep around 10pm (not too long after they inserted the dvd).

saturday was busy - there were a lot of cooking and setting up the table and giving chaeli a head to toe and last minute cleaning/organizing... but i managed to get whatever i could get done in time to do a bit of yoga. which meant that this week, i was able to do yoga twice - yeay!

my family and one family friend from japan (he was able to get his company to transfer him back to canada), arrived after 5:30pm. the friend is here to get things settled (i.e. finding a new home) so that he can move his family over as soon as school for his two teens is done with. the earthquake and radiation scare made the decision to move back pretty simple - no hesitation what-so-ever. it will be nice to have them all back here.

our easter menu this year was a great success. everyone had seconds (and some had thirds). in the end, we hardly had any leftovers which was a good sign (they loved it and we made just enough to be filling without creating very little room in our fridge for the next few days).

sunday morning, we slept in. all of us. chaeli didn't come get us until 9:45am which shows how tired she must have been. in fact, she was so tired, she had forgotten about the egg hunt until we reminded her. after that, it didn't take long for her to hurry us all downstairs where she began finding treats and little easter gifts scattered everywhere in the living/dining room.

it was a challenge this year to hide everything - we had to take into account that hobbes is a great sniffer. but it turned out that hobbes so tired that all he wanted to do was curl up on the couch and snooze with all the egg-hunting excitement going on.

after our traditional, easter sunday brunch, we did the egg colouring and then went out - we took hobbes to a dog park not far from my parents' place and then visited with my parents for a couple of hours.

once again, i was exhausted. doug and i started to watch 'salt' and i fell asleep mid-way. which is becoming my thing. in the past year alone, i have watched the first half of movies way more then any movies from beginning to end. i have a collection of movies i have yet to finish. how sad.

our 2011 easter menu:

deviled eggs

bacon-wrapped enoki mushrooms

salad bundles

herb-marinated roasted lamb

• rosemary, oregano and thyme: all fresh and finely chopped
• olive oil
• garlic
• salt & pepper
• basically mix everything and rub all over lamb
• warp with seran wrap and marinate in fridge overnight
• slow roast/grill on low heat

roasted vegetables

• red potatoes, halved
• big chunks of carrot and parsnips
• brussells sprouts
• toss veggies with olive oil and dry herbs (oregan and parsley, for example)
• roast in oven

pistachio cheesecake

things i miss doing that i want back in my life

reading. oh how i miss always having a book on hand. it's been months since i've read a book. and really, it's my quest to start reading again as the summer months approach.

i loved using the library and still hope to take books out. but the reality is that unless i take a book out that's not on hold (i.e. popular books), i won't have the chance to finish it before i have to return it.

i may resort to purchasing books through kindle-amazon - digital books. if the price is good and it's a popular book i really want to read.

blogging. of course, i still blog but it's not as often as i like. but i want to get back to posting at least once a week. blogging has always contributed to me creativity and to not get this outlet as frequently as i use to saddens me.

traveling. unfortunately, this is one area we won't be able to afford doing for awhile. but i think it's important that we do one or two weekend get-aways. just for our own sanity. i'm not placing this high on our list but it's definitely something not to be completely ignored.

hiking. the weather is getting warmer which means we'll be taking more walks and hikes on the weekends. yeay! it wasn't just the exercise it gave all of us, but a chance for us to explore different trails and towns outside of our city.

yoga. i do do yoga, but not weekly like i want to. in fact, there was a time i did it twice a week and it felt great! so i'm going to try and squeeze it in at least once a week, on top of my other workouts.

the one thing i have had more time for is working out. for the past couple of months, i have found a way to introduce it back into my life - on a more consistant basis. it's not perfect and sometimes, it needs to change week to week in order to fit it into my busy lifestyle, but i'm happy that i'm at least doing something.

so here's to the end of winter and all the things i hope to do!

Diorama

We're in the midst of doing a dinosaur project with Chaeli. She has to draw/paste an image of the dinosaur, write a short verbage about it and then create a model scale, 3D scene of its environment. Which I have learned is called a diorama.

I actually wouldn't have believed 'diorama' is a real word had it not been for this homework assignment. In fact, I actually feel silly everytime I have to say it out loud.

Anyway, I found a realistic lineart of her favourite dinosaur online, printed it out along with a coloured image for her to see so she could get an idea of what colours to use. With the use of a dinosaur book, Wikipedia and the rest of the internet, we were able to write some facts such as where it was from, what it ate and about its size and body structure.

I would have suggested to include the fact that most archeological findings indicates that it probably had been a species that lived alone, but one finding foud a herd of 20 or so fossils which may prove that it was a herd forming species at least in its juvenile state...

But then I figured the teachers might think I did too much of the work.

Anyway, my kid happened to pick the Euoplocephalus, a well armored herbivore from the late Cretacious period.

And the main reason she picked this dinosaur was because: 1) it wouldn't eat her since it doesn't like meat; and 2) it was well protected from those other scarier and bigger dinosaurs that freak her out.

Meanwhile it took me a whole weekend to learn how to say, "Euoplocephalus."

naked hobbes

poor wee hobbes.

with all the matted mess that became his fur, all they could do at the groomers was shave it all off.

hobbes came back to us half the dog he use to be. he was pretty depressed and timid for the first couple of days. it actually reminded me of when he first came to live with us - constantly sticking by our side.

he's also been sleeping with us - but i'm not sure if that's for comfort or more because now that he's not covered with thick fur, he doesn't get over-heated like he use to.

one afternoon, while i snoozed on the couch, he actually curled up in a tight little ball and napped on my tummy the entire time.

i'm totally taking advantage of the extra cuddle-time!

escaping the politics

i haven't blogged much because i've been overworked and pretty much stressed out. and while i'm tempted to vent about all the silly politics that's been going on around me, i'm more inclined to just put that aside so i can write about other things in life.

besides, after doug came home last night from his evening class, we stayed up until midnight, discussing all the issues i've been facing at work. and trying, where possible, to come up with a solution.

since our country weekend get-away, hobbes has come back extremely matted. and while we did try to detangle the furry mess, it was just impossible. at least impossible to do it without causing him pain. since then, it's only gotten worse as he scratches and gnaws at them, making each knot bigger and bigger.

we spoke with our groomer and she basically said that when dog reachs this point, the only they can do is give them a shave.

it's time to change the style anyway. it will prepare him for the warmer months. it's still cold in the mornings and evening so we may need to invest in a doggy sweater. honestly, something i've never imagined getting for a dog but now i see why it may be necessary.

chaeli's 2nd report card came in today. for her core subjects (math and english), she did about the same as far as grades, with one new section graded in english (novel study) and two new sections for math (data management and problem solving). in total, there are now 6 sections graded in each core subjects. she received mainly B+ (high 80's) and some A- (low 90's). we were pleased because the comments were all positive and while the grades did not change much, the material did - much more comprehensive and difficult then in the first term.

what was also nice was to see that in all other subjects, she received from A- to A+, with an exception in science (B+).

i had to laugh when i read that her one A+ was in computer studies. i made a remark to doug, "yeah, i'm not worried about her grade in computer class - it's somewhat inherited."

as for me, i was more into the comments this time then the grades. and am learning that the teacher's comments shed way more light then a mere letter or grade.

anyway, chaeli was totally eager to see her own resutls. i let her read it at the back of the car on the way home the day we receive the report card in her folder at school. all i could hear was exhasperated whispers of "YESSSS!!!" from the back as she went down the list of grades.

there are about 3 more weeks of doug's two-nights per week classes and it's a major countdown for me. the long winter on top of a lot of things happening for work for me, has made the mid-week and half of the weekends where he gone, pretty tough. he's tired, i'm tired... and the crazy thing is that part of my frustration is that i can not work late either tuesdays or wednesdays which are usually the days that are more optimal for me to work late. i've been working late fridays instead and then bringing home work.

who wants to work late on fridays and over the weekend when they can get it over earlier in the work week?

so it's a bit ironic... i'm countding down to the weeks where i can work late on those two days which is a wierd thing to want to do. but given the option, it's the lesser of two evils.

country road, take me home...

we just got back from a country weekend getaway - friends of ours invited us to stay with them in a town two hours away from here.

they live on a fairly large property with the backyard leading to a forest - cross the dirt road and we also were greeted by a river.

they had over 70 maple trees on their property tapped, saving a couple to tap when chaeli got there, just so they could show her how it was done. i thought that was pretty special. even if you go to a very rustic maple syrup farm, the trees are already tapped and collecting the sap. so for chaeli to see the production happen from start to finish was very cool. in fact, it was cool for me because i had never seen that myself!

they gave us a huge jar of syrup to take home with us - we're very lucky. store bought maple syrup is heaven. local maple syrup is even better. but this jar? it comes with memories of the whole, entire weekend which we will always remember for years to come.

on top of all that, we were pampered with good food and wine, which even a daily cocktail as the sun started to set. i got a chance to try a grasshopper for the very first time. i know it's quite a dated cocktail but i've always wanted to know what it tastes like - damn good!

both chaeli and hobbes got a lot of fresh air. hobbes went nuts because we let him off leash pretty much the whole time. he's now sleeping after going non-stop for the past couple of days.

what a great way to end our march break.

am dim sum, pm irish stew

considering we've had the week to relax, as usual p, our week ended up being jammed pack.

yesterday, a bunch of mepy girlfriends and i got together for lunch. it served a dual purpose - the kids got a few hours playdate and i got a chance to meet up with some girlfriends whom i haven't seen in 2011 yet (i had to miss out the last two gatherings).

this morning we had dim sum with family and now we're about to have a traditional irish stew with fresh potato bread for st. Paddy's day. doug is going to have Guinness. i'm not a fan of it so i'll stick with wine.

not starving at "starving artist"

We're sitting here at Starving Artist (http://www.starvingartistbar.com/) after the most delicious waffle and espresso brunh I have ever had. I got the potato waffle benny - first time having waffles with potatos in it and first time having benny on a waffle rather then the traditional english muffin. Definitely worth the experience! We're now going to another dog park to expend some puppy energy.

ahh... the art of lounging

i didn't wake up to workout as early as i wanted to. i think i woke up at 8am and just lounged in bed with my ipad for 45 minutes before getting up and heading downstairs for my p90x workout (chest/back and ab-ripper-x). we've just finished brunch and i'm now sitting in the living room, listening to some asian-inspired electronica/deep house while i blog. chaeli is still finishing up her meal, doug is taking his turn on the ipad and hobbes is curled up behind me so that he's wedged between my butt and the back of the sofa.

this is living!

as soon as we're done our coffee, food and geekiness, we're going to get dressed and head out. the sun is shining and the winds are down - it's still chilly but truly beautiful outside. we'll head out to a dog park for a couple of hours. maybe take a light stroll as well.

first march break... as an adult that is

when my colleagues asked me what i was doing next week, i told them, "oh nothing... just taking march break."

sounded weird but truth be told, i have never taken march break off before. chaeli has always been in a daycare setting so doug and i just continued on with work. and leading up to this year, i was dreading it. dreading having to take the one week off where all other parents and kids are off. and really - to try to keep chaeli busy on my own? as much as i love her, it didn't seem appealing to me.

well, when this week started to approach us, i was so looking forward to it (especially if we get good weather). the bonus is that doug also took the week off. and now that she's seven, she's pretty self-sufficient. in fact, she helps us out whenever we need help (and with tasks that she can safely do on her own). plus, we're not at all planning to go to any of the tourist traps. we'll probably see a movie but we're hoping to try out a couple of restaurants and do some hiking. and a couple of dog parks are probably in the mix, too. no doubt, we'll be taking the subway downtown to do a bit of walking as well. which reminds me, i have to find out if dogs are allowed on the subway. i think they are outside of rush hour

today is saturday and it's my semi-vacation day only because doug is at a workshop during the morning and half of the afternoon. i've also just spent my morning cleaning the house just to get it over with.

i've learned in the past that every two weeks is the ideal to give the whole house a nice disinfecting scrub and dusting. it's easy to maintain if i do it every two weeks. when i'm really busy, i might let it stretch to three weeks. this would be rare, though. and at three weeks, i notice that it's just a little bit more tougher to get the grind out or dust collected with a simple sweep.

with me being sick and work being so busy (among life just being chaotic), i've left the house for a month without anything but some quick spot cleaning. i can't remember when i last did this - maybe a couple of years ago or more?

anyway - wow. not something i want to make a habit of. most surfaces needed to be wiped down twice just to get the grime and dust off. it just takes twice as long. no thanks. not to mention we had to live in that condition for a couple of weeks.

but... of course, it couldn't be helped. i just really want to get back to my regular cleaning routine now.