Plug Your Ears

or shove your head in the sand... if you don't want to hear me whining because here I go.

grrr. the font is all screwy in this post and I can't figure out why so I'm just going to to let it go... inhale, exhale, inhale....

I hate, let me be clear, I HATE philosophy. Did I write in earlier posts that I like it? Well I lied if I did. The course content is decent enough i.e. interesting to listen to and makes me think, but having to write about it sucks. Yes it's making me a more critical writer and yes blah blah blah. Animal rights anyone? Yes be kind to animals? NO you're wrong, animals have NO rights. Why? Because it's a hell of a lot easier to argue the NO side than the YES side and trust me when I say that because I have seriously considered both sides for a long ass time. I like meat. Do I want to eat stray cats? no but if I say they have rights then why shouldn't cows? Who cares? I agree.

I'm so articulate this evening. See what writing, and re-writing, and writing some more philosophical BS does to your brain? It's mush. I wish I could stick my head in the sand.

What really peeeees me off is that I'm likely going to miss out on Halloween tomorrow night because of this damn essay. Sure it's self-inflicted, I should have worked on it this weekend as I had originally intended, but that doesn't ease the pain of missing out on the little kidlets coming to the door. We're going to be "that" house on the street. Nooooooooooo!

"That" house is the house with all the lights turned off. When I was a kid I always thought that the houses with the lights off contained the miserable old trolls who were too cheap to spend money on candy. Never once did I think, oh those people are probably busy tonight, oh they're out with their kids or maybe they don't 'do' Halloween. Nope, I thought: "what jerks."

I'm typing a post on here rather than working on my essay right now because it's past 10pm which means no more essay writing. 9pm is my actual cut-off but I can sometimes push it. Tonight when the clock struck 9 I went downstairs to warn Mike that I was working late. He knows to come up and tell me to wrap things up if/when he hears random yelps of rage, screams followed by tears or things thumping against the wall: books, my head etc. I managed to self-regulate tonight and stopped working just as I was ready to slam my hand against the wall next to my desk (the first sign of jaime meltdown mode).

Hmmm... reading that over again makes me wonder if that's normal. I gently refer to it as a 'meltdown' while others may think the word 'psycho' is a better descriptor. At least I am able to stop myself before the top pops most nights.

What else did I intend to bitch about? Oh right: the frost. I've had to scrape my car windows for the past two morning and it sucks. I thought we might just skip fall & winter this year and move right along into spring. Guess I was wrong. Maybe a christmas tree will help ease the pain... ohhhh and christmas lights!! Michael are you reading this? I want christmas lights out front this year please and thank you. This weekend will be the perfect time to get those suckers up there--before it gets too cold. See what a post of complaint can do? I found something positive to clutch at, I bet your thrilled babe.

Final complaint and hopefully a motivator since it's in writing: I HAVE TO WRITE MY ESSAY FOR TEACHERS COLLEGE APPLICATION THIS WEEKEND.

Is it Friday yet?

Party Like Rock Star

Happy Birthday on monday to Jackie! We celebrated in style friday night - well maybe not in style but we definitely celebrated. I haven't been out to a club since the spring and today I'm thinking the same thing I think every other time we go out: I can't do it like I used to. This is probably a good thing, if I partied like I did in the good ole days I would be a haggard mess. Thankfully I don't and I'm not.

Went to Pho Dau Bo for dinner and it was yum yum yummy! Thai green curry for me because I'm a sucka for it. Their menu is just ridiculous, in a good way, I wish I could try everything and I wanted a soup so bad but you can't get more than one dish there unless you share or you'll end up wasting huge amounts of food. The main server was a lovely lady; the younger server was a foul little thing who brought our food, announced what it was and dropped it on the end of the table for us to hand out. When we told her who the dish belonged to she looked at us like we had 4 heads and huffed off. Teenage angst... it's a bitch.

We headed to Morty's for wings and beer after dinner. No let me rephrase that, Jackie and I went for the beer and the boys had beer and wings. How you can stuff more food in your face after eating a big ass plate/bowl at Pho is beyond me. Witnessed a nasty episode in the downstairs bathroom that reminded me why I needed to take 'er easy and not drink too much. ew.

Starlight was fun fun fun! We shook our thangs all night long and it was awesome. Funk & 80s was on the menu so I was a happy girl. You know that's the one thing about my 'rave days' that I miss most - dancing! Damn I was in good shape back in the day, that was accidental exercise though, I didn't do it thinking about it being exercise, I did it because it was a good time!

Ended the evening with an entourage of people taking a trip to our place, some serious(ly drunken) air hockey games took place. Overall it was a stellar evening but unfortunately Jackie had a rough ending to her birthday celebration - why do people feel the need to help others celebrate their birthdays by purchasing them shooters? It rarely ends well!

Odds & Ends

In 10 minutes I'm going to look like this:
Yeah right, I'll be 18 with awesome cheek bones and a super cute shorty cut - I don't think so. I will be Feria #45 French Roast aka Deep Bronzed Brown.

Every time I do this to myself I plan to write down the brand and colour number and every time I forget; so hip hip hooray for me for being so damn clever. A blog post I can't lose.

This is going to be a short post of random bits. Time flies when you're waiting for a new head...

I ran over my first animal today and it was not a fun experience. I hit a squirrel, the thump thump was followed by my own gasp of horror. I saw him coming but it was at the very last second. Poor little guy. My guilt increased when I realized the first thought that went through my head was 'thank god it wasn't a cat'. Oh well, what can you do? Damn squirrels should be taught by their mothers to look both ways before crossing the street.

Here is the reason why I dread the thought of running over a kitty:
Our princess looks like one doped up pussy cat in this shot - ghetto girl turned princess is what she really is. Mike rescued her from a trailer park in Detroit; she's hardcore yo.

I have a serious obsession with the sky this year. I've tried to snap approximately 8.5 billion shots of morning skies using my cell phone while driving to work since the beginning of September, they've all turned out crazy blurry. Eventually I will actually leave my house early with a real camera in hand and will take care of bizness.

Tuesday evening I snapped these sweet skies from our back deck. Cotton candy pink goodness!



I'm off! Time to rinse.

Oink, Oink - Fly Little Piggie, FLY!

That's it damnit, I'm tired of feeling like a pig and it's time to do something about it once and for all.

Now please don't leave me any comments telling me that I'm "just perfect the way I am" or that I'm "not fat". I know I'm perfect and I know I'm not fat. Feeling like a pig does not mean that I think I look like a pig and just to set the record straight: looking relatively thin does not mean that one is healthy. There are lots of unhealthy thin people and lots of healthy thick people. I'm not going to ramble on much more about this but it's one of those things that drives me crazy, "Oh you're fine, look how skinny you are."

I want to make it very clear that my use of the word PIG has nothing to do with size. Just because someone is obese does not mean that they are a pig. I chose pig for me because I feel like one: lazy, unhealthy (come on, they'll eat ANYTHING including a human being if you fed one to them - ew) and awkward.

The other reason I'm going with the pig theme is because "exercise and Jaime" go together about as often as "pigs and flying." Not impossible but it takes a whole lotta effort and happens rarely.

Now before you ask I'll answer the question that is on your mind: when do pigs ever fly?
My reply: I have very little doubt that some kid has flung a pig (a small one) across a barn yard somewhere in the world recently. I'm not saying I agree with it but really... if you lived on a farm and your mother told you that you would be allowed to... let's see, "stop going to school forever to become a pro wrestler 'when pigs fly'" wouldn't you head on out to the pig pen and see what you could do to help make that dream a reality?

Point being, it's time to make those damn pigs fly. I'm declaring publicly (to the 4 people that might read this anyways) that I am going to start exercising. For real this time. I figure seeing it on my blog is the motivator I need. I'll post when I actually do something physical and then I can weep in shame if I look back over a week and have no posts stating that pigs have flown. Hold me to it dammit. If I don't make pigs fly at least twice a week then please consider poking me with a stick or at the very least say no to chocolate when I ask for some.

Just for the record: I went to aqua aerobics last night - 15 minute ab class followed by 45 minutes RunFit (deep end). I pulled my toe while doing the rapid flutter (don't ask) and it was totally worth it. That's right ladies and gentlemen, you read it here: PIGS HAVE FLOWN.

Good Vibes

Beautiful pic thanks to the fabulous Tammara from Tamm's Photos

The most amazing woman I know, my mom, has been crazy sick for the past week: spiked fever, vomiting, exhaustion and really bad shakes. Two late night trips to the hospital with all you can eat fluids via IV were part of her voyage. Between trip one and two was the 'unknown period'. The doctor told her there was an infection somewhere in her body but that he wasn't sure where; he also told her that it was possible they would never know where it had been. This freaked me out a bit - I wasn't panicking by any means but it certainly got me thinking - what if they can't find the infection and it just gets worse? It was during the second visit that results from the first finally came in and we found out that she has a kidney infection. Yay!! It stinks that she is having to deal with this but it's easily treatable.

My mom is the woman in my world who I love and respect more than anyone else. She is creative, intelligent, kind and so funny. I strive to be as fabulous as she is! I can't imagine my world without her and would greatly appreciate it if she would avoid getting sick so that I don't have to deal with nasty thoughts creeping into my head. That being said I would also like her to get it through her relatively thick, yet beautiful, skull that it's okay for me to worry about her - she has spent the last (almost) 30 years worrying about me so it's only fair that I reciprocate.

Thankfully mom is on the road to recovery! It's going to take some time though so please send some positive healthy vibes her way! I love you mommi!

Sushi from scratch

Girls night last night was a damn good time. We made sushi and Saki margaritas! Mmm mmmm good. I've had Saki before and didn't really like it; margaritas are usually not my favorite thing to drink either - tequila is meant to be drank in shots with the purpose of getting a) drunk or b) your drunken friends off your back and stopping the squeals of "Come on! Just do one!" (in other words giving in to peer pressure). BUT replacing tequila with Saki in margaritas makes one phenomenal drink! I really, really, really liked them! We used a bottle of margarita mix, a bottle of Saki and crushed ice - super simple.

The sushi was delicious and way easier to make than I thought it would be. Tina waited for us to arrive to make it so that I could see how it was done. It was time consuming but simple and I'll definitely be creating my own at home - lunches are going to become way more interesting. Yum!

We made a variety of rolls using the following ingredients in different combos:
rice (obviously)
crab
smoked salmon
baked salmon (yum!)
red peppers
cucumber
avocado
cream cheese with wasabi

Absolutely delicious!

Freaks

Mike and I are convinced that one day we are going to have beautiful babies; we are also convinced that they are going to turn out to be some very odd little nuts. Through hysterical laughter Wednesday evening mike gasped: "How the hell did I find someone as weird as me?"

EC the kitty was so disgusted with our peels of laughter that she jumped off the couch and sat on the living room floor with her back turned to us.

I love the fact that on a regular basis we laugh until our insides ache. the stupidest thing will start our train wreck of fun. Ever try clenching your teeth together, plastering a big ass smile on your face and talking without moving your lips? Try it, it's funny.

Oh baby baby!

Look how freaking cute she is!!
Cara's baby shower was a great success - I'm not bragging, just pointing out a fact. Amanda and I pulled together a fab party and we couldn't have done it without Cara's mom. She made all of the fabulous asian food, including yummy sushi, and opened up her beautiful home for us!

The heart shaped cupcake in Cara's hand was made by yours truly. Nina (cara) loves carrot cake so I made carrot cupcakes. YUM! The recipe I used was from my 'book of fav recipes' which was created at my wedding shower; all of our guests contributed a favorite from their collection to create a book of yumminess for mike and I.

I'm not a huge carrot cake fan but I absolutely love this recipe! There was only one left at the end of the party (the one cara is holding in the pic) which tells me that it must be a sign. I'm right, she IS having a boy. Oh and just to clarify: yes there was one that said "GIRL?"

Pam's Mega Moist Super Delish Carrot Cake

In a large bowl beat well:
4 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 cups oil

In a second bowl sift together:
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Stir dry ingredients into moist.

Stir in:
2-3 cups finely grated carrots (yay for food processors)
2 cup crushed pineapple
optional: 1/2 cup chopped nuts and or 1/2 cup flaked coconut (I used the coconut and strongly reccommend it - yum)

Place in greased 9 x 13 pan
Cook at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes

Cream Cheese Icing
Cream together:
1/2 cup butter softened
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese softened

Add:
2 cups icing sugar (and a small amount of milk to thin if necessary)

EAT!

I finished my crocheting project - it was a blanket for Cara and she really liked it. I'm a bonehead and forgot to take a picture of it so I'll ask her to snap one for me and I'll post it later. Funny, besides Cara's Chuchi the only handmade gifts she received were crocheted blankets made by myself and two other friends who are 29 - weird. My explanation is that it's because our clocks are ticking so creating things for babies is replacing the actual baby making itself.

I nearly forgot, thanksgiving numero deux was excellent last saturday, I've had enough food now to last me until christmas. Thanks for a fabulous meal mom!!

I brought a yummy cauliflower casserole that is super quick and mega delicious to my parent's thanksgiving. My girlfriend Tina made it at her cottage this summer and it was to die for. She named it perfectly:

Guaranteed to Make Anybody Eat Cauliflower Casserole
1 Cauliflower
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup Mayo
1 cup parmagano (or sub 1/2 with Asiago - I did this and highly reccomment it)
1/2 cup grated cheddar
1 clove garlic
S+P
Breadcrumbs or cornflakes to top

Cut and steam cauliflower for about 5 mins
Mix everything else together and pour over cauliflower in casserole dish.
Bake @ 350 for 20 minutes (uncovered)

Note: If you double the recipe mix half the sauce with the cauliflower and then top with the rest.

SO YUMMY! No pic but you can use your imagination. Picture mega cheesy cauliflower casserole.

Final thing to say today - I LOVE our cleaning lady. What the hell was I thinking? Why didn't we hire someone ages ago? Less stress = happy jaime.

In Memory of Trevor

This was our first Thanksgiving as a legal duo, aka. husband & wife; it was also the first time we hosted a turkey dinner. I'm thrilled to say that it was a great success! It was a super yummy meal and I'm pretty damn proud of myself for pulling it together. The only real 'oh shit' moment was when I went to baste trevor (the turkey - yes I named him, why wouldn't I?) and realized my baster was busted. Thankfully my sis-in-law Joanne lives only a few blocks away so I flew over there and snagged hers.

Here's me just before our guests arrived; lookin' calm cool and collected. Check out trevor, he was one damn good looking bird.



Here's a close up of trev:

I know I'm a dork but really I couldn't help taking his picture. My first turkey *sigh*. No doubt in 20 years I'll be wishing I never started cooking turkeys. How any damn birds will I have roasted by then? ugh.

Joanne shared her turkey tips with me - thank you to Maribel, the Food Diva, for passing her wisdom along to Joanne - trevor was moist and his skin was cooked perfectly. Oh and the gravy!!

Big thanks go to Bridie & Joanne for helping out by taking care of the appetizers, stuffing (oh my god you have no idea what stuffing should taste like until you've had Bridie's) and dessert. I'm surprised we managed to eat dinner after stuffing our faces full of cheese, veggies, crackers and olives; and we could have fed a small army with the amazing trifle Joanne made. Yum!

Oh! And the turkey cupcakes! Another Martha Stewart moment but this one was thanks to Joanne. Check them out - super cute!


Hilarious!

You can visit Martha Stewart's website for directions. Coconut covered marshmallows are used for the heads according to Martha but Joanne couldn't find them so she actually coated each marshmallow in icing and then rolled them in graham cracker crumbs. That's patience I don't have but mmm they were good.

The food was fab and everyone had a good time. We ended up having an air hockey tournament in the basement after dinner. Our nephews are big enough now that they can play and it won't be long before they'll be kicking my butt, hopefully uncle mike's too, it's time to pass on the title of El Supremo!

Here's the fam posing pre-dinner:



We have Thanksgiving dinner with my side of our family tomorrow; more turkey, more mashed potatoes, more good times!

Thai it cuz it's delish!

The first night I began to really search out blogs was the night I stumbled upon one of my absolute favorites: Posie Gets Cozy. I wish I could have just a tiny bit of Alicia's lovely style. I love her pics, the set up of her blog, her beautiful creations, the way she writes, I could go on and on: she's fabulous! Some people just have a knack for putting things together in a way that is perfectly perfect.

I found this wonderful blog accidentally. I was actually looking for a green curry recipe and Google eventually led me to Posie Gets Cozy where I found a recipe that sounded and looked amazing! And that ladies and gentlemen the point of this post: after 7 months of visiting the recipe and thinking to myself "I should make that," I finally did it. Thank you Alicia for sharing Susie's Green-Curry Shrimp recipe with us! It was a hit with my girl Rebecca - she was home for Thanksgiving weekend and friday was our catch up night. It was the perfect dish for a girls night in.

Susie's Green-Curry Shrimp

1 large clove garlic, crushed
1 large shallot, minced
1 yellow onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced (no ribbing please! — red parts only)
1 head broccoli florets
1 lb. shrimp, peeled and divined (used chicken instead - one less purchase)
1 Japanese eggplant, sliced then cut into quarters (left out - not at my grocery store)
2 cans light coconut milk
1 T. green curry paste
1 c. frozen peas
1 small can bamboo shoots (julienned)

I actually halved the recipe because only two of us were eating; there were lots of leftovers!
Next time I would add a wee bit more green curry paste and some red pepper flakes; I like the spice! Served it over jasmine rice and YUM YUM! The pad thai that you see on the plate was certainly nothing to brag about - it was a boxed mix by Thai something or other (i can't remember the name but I'll check at the grocery store and post later) - Rebecca liked the noodles but I wasn't happy with it at all. I prefer the 'scratch' recipe I use from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry. It's delish and pretty easy to throw together. Next time I'll be more ambitious and make that pad thai along with the curry - I was saving time on friday and unfortunately I tasted the time saver. Oh well, nothing a bit of red wine couldn't cure.

Seeing Rebecca was wonderful! I miss her so much and I wish there were less miles between us. It hurts less now knowing that she is across the country than it did in the beginning (thankfully! heart ache is no fun) but it still blows. I have given up feeling sorry for myself to spend that energy feeling happy for her - she is an amazing woman and one of the women in my circle who I admire most - Vancouver is extremely lucky to have her and she is thrilled to be there so who the hell am I to rain on her parade. No pun intended (rain, vancouver... get it?)

I really do have a jawdropping circle of women in my life, in looks, personalities and abilities... but that I will save for another post. I still need to talk turkey and babies!!

not now though - next study break.

Spic & Span

I'm so happy I could burst! First of all I found a fabulous site that makes me smile. The picture above is from explodingdog.com and it is just one of a pile of funny, quirky drawings by sam.
I actually did an image search for 'cleaning' because of my original happy moment today hold on a sec and I'll share and this super cool pic popped up. It lead me to sam's site and made my day even brighter.

Now, the reason for my search. We hired a cleaning lady!! She is the answer to my insanity, or so I hope. I'm overwhelmed with work and school and life in general so my expectation is that Margarita will save the day. Well, at least part of the day. We're not total pigs but we aren't the cleanest people on the planet either and I'm just too freaking busy with work and school to do it all. I couldn't be happier! She starts next thursday! Hip Hip Hooray!

My other happy bits: Rebecca & Cara arrive on Friday! I have a whole evening with Rebecca - i have her all to myself! I miss her like crazy and I'm itching to see her. And then there's Cara Nina and her baby bump. I'm crunching up my shoulders in anticipation... I can't wait to touch that tummy. I hope the baby is moving already! maybe it's too soon?

Thanksgiving dinner is on Saturday and it's my first time hosting a turkey dinner! uh oh. I'll report on sunday and will hopefully have pics of a nice tanned bird to share. I'll simmer them in wine so they'll think it's fabulous even if it isn't. Happy Gobble Gobble everyone!