Achy Eyeballs

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult was a gripping novel. I had a hard time putting it down--it caused my eyeballs to ache from small print overload and too many tears. The ending completely stunned me. I was so surprised I actually flipped back a page to reread the 'shocking scene' just to be sure I was understanding things properly. I was and wow. Fabulous ending to a fabulous book.

Oddly enough I was in the middle of this fabulous find when I heard the term "Cord Blood Bank" on the radio. This was the first I had heard of storing your baby's umbilical cord blood. The cord contains loads of stem cells and proper storage means the ability to access life saving cells for your child if they ever need them. With the amount of focus on stem cell research today, the chances of major advances and improvements in the use of stem cells is certain. If you could store a double of each of your child's organs 'just in case' wouldn't you? This is the closest you can come to doing so at this point in time.

For those of you who are thinking HUH? Check out the Cord Blood Bank of Canada. It's a crazy world we live in!

Christmas is coming...

I was in a bit of a funk yesterday. again. This week was a rough one; I think it must have something to do with the time of year. Winter is just around the corner, days are getting shorter, winter is just around the corner... did I mention winter is just around the corner? I like the look of snow outside the window and I even like the smell of winter but there are three things I really hate: driving on snowy/icy roads, shoveling and being cold. Not ideal considering I live in Canada.

I detest being cold and I hate wearing socks so winter is definitely not my favorite season. Sunshine and bare feet are two things that make me very happy; unfortunately the winter means I don't get to experience much of either of these two things.

Of course there is one really fabulous thing about winter: CHRISTMAS! I absolutely love Christmas. What is it that I love? Well let me tell you.

Things I love about the Christmas season: Christmas trees, decorating, Christmas tunes, making presents, wrapping presents, making treats (cookies, chocolates, nuts & bolts), writing lists (i LOVE lists), driving around to checkout lights, Christmas eve, Christmas morning, Christmas traditions, old movies and so much more.

Too early to talk about Christmas? No way. I went shopping after work yesterday to try and boost my mood and it worked! I knew that because Halloween was on Wednesday the stores would be filling with red and green on the 1st and sure enough I was right. Usually it irks me that the stores force Halloween out the door and drag Christmas in so quickly but this year I've decided to embrace it. Why not stretch the season out as long as I can since I love it so much. It's way too early to decorate but it's not too early to start shopping.

I bought a few gifts for the kids yesterday. Check out these super cool invisible ink pens (there's a black light in the end of the pen that makes the ink visible) and this sweet 3D Drawing Pad. I love the store Write Impressions (uptown Waterloo). They get the coolest stuff ever!













I also snagged a princess dress up set for the little lady in our life. One can never have too many pairs of shoes. And seriously, what girl doesn't want a variety of tiaras and feather boas to choose from?

What to buy next?!

BOO!

Thankfully I'm in a better place than I was when I wrote last. A little more sane, at least for the time being. The silly philosophy paper is complete and I managed to do it while running to the door every 5 minutes to throw sugar at little people dressed in odd clothing.

Check out our nephews, they looked awesome! They were bouncing off the walls when mike and I went by to snap some pics and start their treat bags off.


Mr. Incredible and the Vampire Bat. Oh so scary yet cute at the same time. I tried to keep my coos of cuteness to myself and went with "Cool" and "Wow". Michael's muscles were hilarious. He's a little stick man like his big brother Gabriel so it was extra funny to see him with bulging biceps.




Loads of super cute kids came to our door. I love our neighborhood because there are lots of tiny little peanuts. I saw a handful of princesses and a pile of cute animals with big butts (the new tiny people costumes are so flippen adorable).

My mood improved immensely after a few hours of handing out junk to trick or treaters.
Yay for Hallowe'en!

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!

Blogariffic

So I'm looking for a little somethin somethin for a certain someone.
Could I be any more vague?
This could also be called procrastination considering I'm supposed to be working on an essay talking about whether war is ever justified. By the way, since I'm sure you're dying to know my stance on this issue, it is justified in some instances. Self defense baby!

Back to the point of this post. I stumbled upon a FANTASTIC little blog called
Rare Bird Finds and I believe I have found a little piece of heaven. There's nothing better than a funky cool unique gift (whether it's for me or someone else) and this site will certainly help me with my future shopping adventures. Super funktified.

I like your cake

This one's for you baby; Figured you'd have a laugh over the post title.

Huh wha? Nobody else get it? Good! It's an inside joke and very rude of me to start things off this way isn't it? oh well.

My big bro John's wife Sarah turned 35 on September 24th!

I should note that Sarah is John's one and only wife. Re-reading that sentence (above the pic) made me laugh, it sounds like I was clarifying which wife I was referring to.

We celebrated on Wednesday because it was the earliest we could get everyone together.
My monkey of a niece Neve started pre-school last week and had her first run in with the law (pre-school laws that is) Wednesday afternoon. She and another peanut were kicking each other under the table, the other kid was pulled away and smarty pants Neve slid down on her chair and kept kicking. Atta girl! just kidding! Have I mentioned that Neve is two and a half? She knows what she wants, when she wants it and how she wants it and isn't afraid to tell anyone. I asked her if she likes the teachers and she told me that she liked one but not the other. Guess who was the one disciplining her earlier that day? ha!

The amount that this child talks blows me away. Those who know me know that I can talk for hours on end and I think it's safe to say that I was even chattier as a child. I'm getting the impression that Neve is a second generation Jaime. She has so much to say she can't get it out fast enough and then gets frustrated when her words are jumbled up and unintelligible. I don't know how many times she was told to "slow down" by one of us in hopes of lessening her frustrations with herself and us. Silly rabbit.

On our wedding day - a shot of Neve playing quietly. Imagine that!

Neve is also learning the art of persuasion. She begged me to stay and play with her when I said it was time to go. She pulled on my arm, whined, made me chicken nuggets (aka a rock) in her little kitchen, told me she loved me, changed the subject, suggested that Uncle Mikey (aka Fred) go home without me and finally resorted to trying to entice me with guilt by proclaiming "I fed you!" (referring to the rock nuggets). I adore that little girl!

So the cake was made by yours truly. I have no trouble admitting it certainly isn't the prettiest thing I've ever made; far from it actually. I love to bake but don't "do" cakes usually. The adventures of the ladybug cupcakes inspired me. It's a boxed sucka so you might say I cheated but it tasted damn good so call me names if you must!
There are a few things I'll do differently next time:

1. I'll cut the top of the cake off so that it doesn't look like the thing is lopsided. My brother asked me if I made the cake myself - smartass. What gave it away?
2. I'll put more jam in between the layers. When I was slathering the raspberry jam on top of the base I thought that I was using too much. I didn't consider the fact that it would be absorbed into the cake. Definitely liked the touch of jam though! YUM!
3. I'll use 'real' cake decorating thingos. I resorted to using a baggie with a corner cut off and although it worked it wasn't ideal and I think I cut too much of the corner off because the 'stream' was pretty thick.
4. I'll make my own icing. I cheated big time for this thing. Next round I'm going to make Grandma's amazing icing. I'll post the recipe following my attempt.

And that's that.

Girlie Goodness & Yummy Treats too!

I meant to post sooner but I'm drowning in chaos right now so whateva. Better late than neva.

Where do I begin?

The Girlie Party was freaking fantastic!
Becky & Mir threw another phenomenal event - how the hell are they going to top it next year?

Here's a shot of the two beautiful hostesses during our final preparations Saturday morning.
The cottage was PERFECT! Waaay bigger than I thought it would be.
I'm thinking it might be a contender for our cottage week with Jess & Colin next year.

I only knew a few of the ladies but as usual the girls were amazing and super easy to get along with - Mir & Becky wouldn't have it any other way.
If you suck you certainly won't be attending the GP. It's for fabulous Chiquitas only. The first three pictures below are thanks to Missy and they're proof of the fabulousness that took place.

Only Truly Outrageous women would find themselves dressed in prom dresses and pjs walking down the street on a saturday afternoon.

Or jumping up and down on the beach and ending up with a perfect picture on the first attempt.

This here is only part of Becky's prom dress collection - she hunts for these fabulous finds at only the best prom dress shops: Value Village and other stellar Thrift shops.

If only I had a sound bite of lil Becky's laugh. It really should be found next to the definition of the word giggle. It's PERFECT and makes me smile whenever I hear it. I could be a block away and hear only the tiniest tinkle of her giggle and I would still be grinning from ear to ear.
It is truly one of my most favorite sounds in the world!

Oh! And we're local celebrities now! No seriously, a woman who works for the newspaper took a pic of us to put in the paper. How funny is that?
Not only were we giggling but we had people smiling all around us.
Why doesn't everyone dress in prom dresses and feather boas on Saturday afternoons?
The world would be a happier place... let's stick G.W. in a prom dress and see what happens.

And then there was the food! One of my favorite parts of the Girlie Parties is the silly amount of phenomenal food that makes its way to the table. Everyone is encouraged to bring something to share with the other ladies and because we're girls more often than not the sharing items is FOOD. Check out this spread:

YUM!

Oh and there were a few things to drink as well...

Delish!

Check out the amazing cupcakes that I helped Mir put together - so easy to make and mega yummy. I had to eat one eventually just so people would dig in, that's the problem with pretty treats, nobody wants to ruin them!

This idea was thanks to Martha Stewart. So cute and such a hit!
This adventure in cupcake decorating has definitely got me interested in trying out some cake decorating. Just what I need, a hobby involving chocolate.

Oh and there was the fantastic fruit salsa and cinnamon chips! So yummy!
I don't have a picture so I'm borrowing the one from Allrecipes.com

Annie's Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips
snagged from www.allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS
2 kiwis, peeled and diced
2 Golden Delicious apples - peeled, cored and diced
8 ounces raspberries
1 pound strawberries
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons fruit preserves, any flavor

10 (10 inch) flour tortillas
butter flavored cooking spray
2 cups cinnamon sugar

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, Golden Delicious apples, raspberries, strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar and fruit preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Coat one side of each flour tortilla with butter flavored cooking spray. Cut into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle wedges with desired amount of cinnamon sugar. Spray again with cooking spray.
Bake in the preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes (Mir found that 5 minutes was enough). Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit and spice mixture.
DELISH!

And the topper to all of this fabulousness (and trust me when I say I could go on and on and on about the food that was there)...

Orange Jello Shots

A bit of a pain in the arse to make but OH... MY... GOD. So good. They taste like creamsicles. Mmmm!

The original recipe idea came from the Surreal Gourmet but we didn't make them as potent as he did and we made a double batch. This is how we made them:

Ingredients:
A pile of oranges (I think we used 15 oranges in total but I might be off on that - i know, not very helpful am I?)
2 packages of orange Jello
2 cups of Vanilla vodka
2 cups boiling water

Directions:
Be patient! This can be a slow process and it's a bit messy.

1. Slice oranges in half. Using a spoon, scoop out all the flesh and divider pith. Reserve.
2. In a medium bowl, add Jello and boiling water. When Jello has dissolved, add vodka. In other words follow the Jello package directions but replace the cup of cold water with a cup of Vanilla Vodka! (that's a cup per package so in case you've eaten a bunch of shooters before reading this that means 2 cups if you make two boxes like we did).
3. Pour liquid Jello into orange halves. Mir came up with the idea of placing the halves in muffin tins so that they would be held steady - brilliant!
   
4. Refrigerate for appx. 4 hours, or until firm. To serve, slice each half into 3 wedges.
   
   Eat 'em up!
   
   

Please note the fab backdrop. That's just a handful of the 100 balloons Leslie, Missy and I filled with air from our lungs on friday night. (Ok jaime give credit where credit's due: Mir blew up a handful of them too)

And the final thing to note today is the craft table! Only at a GP could you request that each guest personalize a mug upon entry AND only at a GP would every girl be thrilled to do so!
We each took our Krunk Cup home with us so not only did it act as our chalice for the evening but it was a sweet souvenir too!

It definitely looks better in reality. This picture has terrible lighting but you get the jist.
Isn't it tacky?! Love it!

And that is that.
The countdown is on... I can't wait for the 6th Annual Girlie Party!
What am I going to wear?!

What to wear?!

The 5th annual Girlie Party is this weekend and I'm leaving it until the evening before my departure to sort out what I'm wearing!! EEK! What is a girl to do?

Call on the drama queen for help that's what! Tanya what the hell should I wear?! Here is what I HAVE decided on:


Basically my head is sorted out but my body is up in the air. not literally, i just don't know what to cover it with! The theme this year is Totally Outrageous and I have to wear something I can sleep in, or at least be comfortable in for a long ass time. I've managed to wedge my way into my Prom dress believe it or not (yesssssssssss! let's pretend it doesn't stretch... a lot) but although my full body sequin look is pretty freaking outrageous (i look like a peach mermaid) I'm not sure I can pull it off for the entire day/evening. Thoughts?


I'm stoked for this weekend! Miranda & Becky know how to throw one killer party and this one will surely be taking the cake. We're off to a cottage in Wasaga for the weekend - I'm honoured to be one of a few who will be heading up tomorrow to prepare for the arrival of the others - I think there is a grand total of 25 girls which is, well, OUTRAGEOUS.

The invites for this years festivities are the best yet and believe me the invites for the past few years have been simply fabulous: tiny sleeping bags & pillows with the invite tucked inside; flower pots with bright flowers and the invite on a tiny post (this one was handed to me while I was dancing at a club - such a great surprise); pink pillows with little pockets sewed on them to hold the invitation and... oh no I'm going blank... I'll have to think on the other two!

Point being the invites from past years are out of this world and as hard as it is to believe, the girls have outdone themselves this year. The invites were sent out attached to letters that looked as if they came from a credit card company. At the bottom of the fabulously worded letter to the "valued lady" was this card (minus the pink background) :

Front & Back




FABULOUS!









LOVE IT!

Oh the games to play and fun to be had!! A giant slumber party oozing Pink Pink and more Pink! I can hardly contain myself!

I'll be back on sunday or monday to report on the trouble and fun. Mike's hoping I'll have pillow fight pictures to share with him *insert eye roll here* because you know that's what the girls do at a girlie party... after the jello wrestling of course.

I meant to give a montreal update before this but I've been sick all week and haven't felt like doing much more than absolutely necessary!! Short rundown is that we had a great time but I don't think I'll plan a quick weekend trip to Montreal like that again - felt like I spent all weekend in the car. ick.

Gotta run!! Wish me luck with my get-up dilemma!

I am slow-ly go-ing cra-zy 1-2-3-4-5-6 switch

Every term I think to myself - a fresh start, I'm going to take it easy and not overbook my time so that I have less stress and more time to breathe. LIES, all lies. There must be some sick part of me hidden deep inside that I'm not aware of that likes torture.

Whatever. The point is I'm a busy busy girl and it's only week one of classes and week two of work. Lots of reading, lectures and assignments coming up and those will be squeezed into weeknights because our weekends look crazy for the next month. The good thing is that our weekends are filled with fun stuff so although I might look like a zombie for the next month I'm going to have a damn good time earning those bags!

Here's a sample of stressed out me:
Ha! This shot taken by the amazing mike makes me laugh. I laugh even harder when I see the whole shot which you won't see here unless my sis (in-law) Joanne gives me permission to post it. Can you believe we were doing a birthday dance? Well we weren't.

We may have been dancing to Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (believe it or not) or possibly an Irish tune. Mom M's birthday was this past Monday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY - so we hosted the family birthday dinner last Saturday. I lucked out when it comes to in-laws, oh yeah and that husband of mine was a fab find too! I love my Irish family to bits - they know how to have a damn good time.

I spent Sunday recovering.
As you can see I was very stressed out.

This weekend we're off to Montreal, heading out at 5pm tomorrow and returning sometime Sunday. Looking forward to seeing Jackie! Mike is coming too and he's planning on tossing himself down Mount Bromont alongside Colin and Ian. Sounds like a good time. Sense the sarcasm? Seriously, it's a big ass mountain, they're insane.

Simple Things

As I've stated in two of my posts this week: 6am sucks. I should say that 6am-630am sucks to be honest about when I actually drag my butt out of bed, I do well on Mondays but by Friday I'm pushing my luck and end up running around like a chicken with its head cut-off trying to pull myself into a semi-presentable state for work.

The positive thing about my ridiculously early departure time of 7am(ish) is the sunrise. I pull out of my driveway and head east for one block and it's a fantastic way to start the day. The sky always looks amazing because the sun is still low -- cotton candy skies greet me on many mornings. This past Thursday the sky was particularly pretty and although I was running behind I zipped back into the house and snagged the camera to grab a quick shot. Not the best pic but I didn't have time to waste so whatever! Sometimes it's the simple things in life that make my day.

Glub, glub rectangle

Well it's a damn good thing I didn't create a cooking blog like I originally considered because it would be a nearly blank blog. Mike & I aren't starving, I just haven't made a whole lot recently that would deserve a pic and a post.

This one is really for Tanya. I'm being a good girl and making my lunches for work more regularly this year. It's one of my 'school years resolutions' - hopefully I don't break it. So I made a tuna casserole last weekend, cut it into 8 portions and froze the individual portions. Easy peasy lunches. That's the key to me keeping this resolution, I have to make my lunches in advance because there's no way I'll be doing it in the morning, 6am sucks bad enough without adding an extra task to my morning routine. Anyways, Tanya is trying to behave herself and make her lunches too so I brought her in a sample of my casserole. UGH, why does the thought of me making a casserole make me feel ancient? It's the word, I don't like it. casserole. Maybe I should come up with a new word to replace that one, I don't even like the way it sounds in my head when I read it. Let's go with rectangle. A "glub glub rectangle" -- the modern woman's tuna casserole. There we go, problem solved.

Sorry, back to Tanya. She liked the rectangle and wants the recipe so here we are. I'm a dork and knew I would end up posting this so yes I took a picture of the rectangle and trust me when I say it tastes better than it looks. I'm posting the pic taken from the side because the one taken from above makes the rectangle look a bit like dog puke. Yum.

This is a weight watchers recipe - 6 points per serving if you cut it into 4 but I knock it down to 3 points for 8 servings. Small servings this way but for lunch it's perfect with a salad.


Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup medium egg noodles
2 onions chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 green, red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
2/3 cup thawed frozen corn kernels (i use canned)
1 small can cream of mushroom soup
2 cans chunk light water packed tuna, drained and flaked
1/2 cup fat free milk (I use 1%)
2 tbsp parsley
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
3-4 drops hot red pepper sauce
2 slices whole wheat bread made into crumbs
4 tsp grated Parmesan
2 tomatoes, sliced (I don't use these when I'm freezing the rectangle-the tomatoes get mushy when thawed and heated and it's nasty)

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350; spray a shallow 2qt. casserole with nonstick coking spray. Cook noodles according to pkg directions; drain.

2) Meanwhile, spray a large nonstick saucepan with nonstick cooking spray. Saute the onions and celery until tender crisp, about 2 minutes. Add bell pepper, mushrooms and corn. Cook, stirring, until tender, about 5 minutes longer. Stir in the soup, tuna, milk, parsley, pepper and pepper sauce. Remove from the heat; stir in the noodles. Transfer to the casserole.

3) Sprinkle with the bread crumbs and cheese. Top with the tomatoes if you're using them. Bake until crumbs are golden brown and crisp, 15-20 minutes.

Back to reality and not pregnant thank you very much

First day back to the grind yesterday and two words can describe my thoughts regarding my return to work: 6am sucks. I'm tired, have suffered two sicko headaches and am feeling the nasty woman in me stirring and it's only day 2. I'll have to figure out how many days until next summer vacation, that should cheer me up. I usually pay attention to the number come march break but a friend of mine will have it sorted out already so I'll find out from her and let you know since I know you're dying to hear when poor me will be released for my next 2 month holiday. muah ha ha ha ha. evil you say? yep.

Tanya picked me up yesterday and the first thing I said to her (following our unison groan of self-pity) was that I wore the wrong shirt for the first day of school. Someone posted on our school message board that a mystery person is expecting and bonehead Jaime decides to wear a shirt that makes her look pregnant on the first day back from summer holidays. Dumb dumb dumb.

The first person I saw inside the school told me I was radiant (aka glowing), I replied with "thanks but I'm not pregnant". He tried to backpedal but it was too late and I assured him that I wasn't insulted because I was wearing a puffy shirt that could easily be mistaken for a maternity top and knew how it looked. Throughout the day two other teachers came straight out and asked me if I was pregnant - both of them were bubbling with happiness when they asked, big ass grins plastered on their faces. oh boy. The finale was a lovely woman coming up to me to congratulate me following the staff meeting. Argh.

The good thing is that I recognized my mistake before I walked into the school; if I had NOT realized that the shirt I wore could be mistaken for a maternity shirt I would have ended the day with one very bruised ego. Rather than being insulted I had a good giggle about it.

The moral of this story:
If you are having a crap day and want people to be nice to you tell them you're pregnant. When I announced I was engaged people looked genuinely happy for me but just by looking pregnant I had colleagues bubbling with happiness, grinning from ear to ear and rushing to congratulate me.

Shh it's a secret!

I'm thrilled to be in my good friend Tanya's Creative Writing class this year - well technically the student I work with is in the class but since I attend class with her I'll be there too - Tanya stumbled upon this very cool mini-movie that is linked to a super cool blog titled PostSecret. I think her idea of having the kids in her class create a postcard is a fabulous idea! Maybe I'll send one too... what will I write? Well I'm certainly not telling you - it's a secret silly.

The End of Harry Potter

This is me while reading the final Harry Potter. Notice I'm smiling? Well if I had a pic of me the next day I would not have that same smile on my face because I was in mourning. Sound ridiculous? Maybe so but it's true.

The series was complete and I was depressed. I had been warned that I would feel that way but didn't think it would hit me like it did. For the past 7 years I've looked forward to the next book in the Harry Potter series and now there is no more 'looking forward'. Of course the book was phenomenal and Rowling tied up all the loose ends but I am still wishing there was more. What an amazing author J.K. Rowling is!

I am going to hold off for awhile but it will be interesting to read the series from start to finish once more now that I know how it ends. There were so many webs woven by that woman and they all untangled in such an amazing way! What I would give to live in her mind for a day. I so wish I could write like her, to have a small portion of her imagination even.

I was able to pick up a book by the end of the first day of mourning and that certainly helped me get through my grief. Kite Runner was an excellent book and I'm looking forward to reading A Thousand Splendid Suns written by the same author. I knew nothing of Afghanistan's history prior to reading Kite Runner except for what the media has chosen to feed us since 9/11 so I definitely learned a thing or two from this sad story.

I also read Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult which was a good summer read. Sucks you in and makes you wonder while not making you think too hard. Only a few characters to keep in mind and although it involved Wicca and teenage girls it didn't dive too deeply into it (this would have turned it into The Craft in my mind and I can watch the movie if I have a screaming desire for teenage witches turned bad). Highschool teacher wrongly accused of nasty things begins a new life in Salem Falls and a witch of a girl (get it? witch) starts round two of hell for the poor guy while he falls in love with the small town diners owner who has a closet full of her own skeletons. Not too difficult to guess the ending but fun getting there anyways!

Cotton Candy Skies, Scabs and more...

This stellar picture taken by Mike pretty much sums up our week in Wasaga. Jessy described one sunset as 'cotton candy' and it wasn't even the one in the pic above that she was referring to. This phenomenal view was from the front of our cottage. Beachfront and beautiful! I spent 5 days parked on a comfy chair gazing at the lake while reading and crocheting - believe it or not I am 29 not 69. Jess & I were like too little old ladies dropping our books long enough to have a laugh, a glass of wine, a snack or a swim and then back into our own little worlds we went. Heavenly. I love vacationing with Jess - some days we sit for hours barely speaking at all and other days we yap all day long - the perfect friend to relax with, no expectations but fabulous company.

The boys did what they do best: threw themselves down Blue Mountain wearing full body armour on 50 lb bicycles. Crazy. They were in their own little heaven with the mountain being just 20 minutes from the cottage. Nobody was damaged too badly this trip - some new scabs to add to the scab cake (a sick inside joke) and a few temporary purpley green tats. Not too bad considering they're flying down a mountain of trees. Freaks. Colin says that Mike outbiked him on a couple days this time round so my husband is one happy guy - he's only been tumbling down moutains for a year now and I'm happy so say that it seems as if he's 'got it' now. A broken collar bone (that was due to dirt jumps and he's had enough of those thankfully), some stitches and too many bruises/scabs to count - he's still going strong and has come lightyears with his biking abilities so obviously he's found something that he loves (next to me and music of course) so I'll grin and bear it and pray to the great samsquanch that he stays out of the hospital for the rest of his biking days.


We took one trip to Collingwood with the boys so that we could check out the village at Blue Mountain, visit the Scenic Caves and hit the water slides. We had a yummy lunch in the village and then took a gondola up the mountain - what a view! I really can't believe my husband chucks himself down that 'hill' on a regular basis.

Scenic Caves should be called Rip Off Caves. They were neat to see but certainly not worth the $18 buck a person entry fee. We didn't make it to the waterslides because the rain and thunder came so everything shut down at Blue. Jess & I headed back to the cottage and spent the remainder of the day curled up in the cottage reading books.

I really hope we end up at Wasaga for our yearly vacation again next year. I love that place. The beach is extra wide and the water is shallow for what seems like forever! 5 sandbars and clear water = happy jaime. Shortly after arriving at the cottage Mike said that the beach reminded him of Jamaica and I agreed 100%. The layout of the land was just like Whitehouse where we spent our two week honeymoon - with us being set in a bay. The sunsets were nearly as good too! So many childhood memories were stirred up while sitting on our perch overlooking the beach this week; when Mike and I have our own wee ones we'll definitely be taking them there for family vacations.