easter monday – father and daughter day

i have to blog about easter but need to sort through the photos and upload them first.

i use to be more devoted to my photography – lately, i just haven’t been inspired. which is fine. when we go on our vacation this summer, it might hit me then. so a break is not a bad thing.

for now, i’ll blog just about yesterday. it was easter monday and while i had to work, doug and chaeli both had the day off. i wish i was with them, of course, but didn’t mind so much because when i got home, due to the lack of homework and the absence of the after work/school rush, it was a peaceful evening.

in fact, its what i look forward to during our summer months. there will still be the drop-off and pick-up with chaeli’s summer camp. but not having to dedicate time for homework makes a huge difference in one’s daily schedule. i look forward to the day where she’s doing homework more on her own, though i know (or predict) that we’ll still have to push her to just hurry up and get with it – the earlier she can get it done, the more time she has for leisure activities (this is what we’re trying to teach her now – it’s a never-ending struggle). and it’s not that i don’t appreciate the homework she’s given – obviously it has its value. but still – when you don’t get home until close to 6pm and you want your kid in bed no later then 8:30pm because she has to wake up around 6:30am the next day, it’s a very, very tight schedule.

this is when i get why it’s easier for one parent to stay at home. or why people hire a nanny.

thankfully, on days doug does not have to work, it’s made the schedule a little easier. for one, he will do the drop-off and pick-up. but still… the rush hovers over us. maybe not as greatly, but it still does.

anyway, yesterday was not like this type of day and i was very thankful of it. i had time to create an antipasto spread while we had some yummy, mixed spring greens, bococcini and procuitto salad (honey-lemon dressing) and some leftover roast beef from easter dinner. i sipped my red wine – one we bought last fall when doug and i went on a bit of a self-guided wine tour in the niagara region (aged for several months now, it definitly tastes better then the day we taste tested it) – and indulged our generous spread. no one was really served anything – all was just put in the middle and up for grabs by fingers both large and small.

doug also took chaeli to dim sum earlier in the day. i admit i was a bit jealous but at the same time, was glad to hear they did a father-daughter thing. just the two of them. in fact, they had a great day together which made me feel content. they have been spending some of their spare time painting miniature war game soldiers and yesterday, had enough to start a game (no idea how it’s played but it seems to involve rolling a dice and measuring out distances – this is doug’s geeky guilty pleasures).

it’s always a challenge to entertain a kid all by yourself and i admit i wasn’t at my best this weekend. friday was not so bad – chaeli and i went to the dog park then i treated her to mc d’s for lunch. we spent some time geeking out on sci-fi movies like transformers and star trek (2009 release). but on sunday, my stomach was bothering me and i had very little sleep the night before (late night + snoring husband) so she was left on her own with her nintendo while i took a couple of naps. doug made up for his by doing a lot with her yesterday.

prepping for a feast

we’re heading over to my parents’ place for out turkey coma-inducing feast.

to prepare:

yoga-x – if i’m going to eat, and believe me, i will, i need to get the metabolism going first

bake two pumpkin pies – smells good!

shower- everyone, including hobbes

give chaeli a light snack to hold her over for a late supper

pack:

• ingredients for stuffing
• ingredients for smashed potatoes
• hobbes’ dinner and treats

10 years of hiccups, maturing and love

while chaeli was with my in-laws for a week, doug and i had the perfect opportunity to celebrate the 10 years we’ve been together as a couple. in fact, that friday night – july 22nd – was the exact night when our relationhip went from platonic to romantic.

so, we went to kultura‘s, previously owned by roger mooking, famous for his chef-celeb status from the food network (i hadn’t realized when i made the reso that he sold it last december – menu is the same and food just as good, though).

it’s a shared/tasting menu. i actually found it funny while reading some reviews on restaurant forums/discussion group. people either loved it or hated it. but the critisizm was not on the quality of the food. the hate came from the prices. apparently, one commentor was disgusted that the waiter had to advise her and her dining partner to order two entrees per person in order to feel full. she stated that that was unheard of.

i guess some people do not do their research. otherwise, they would have learned that tasting menus have been around for awhile now in the foodie industry. and that kultura’s prices are actually quite reasonable when comparing to other restaurants with the same concept within our city.

anyway, this is what we had – both with our own glasses of wine (red for doug, white for me):

Appetizers

Salmon Poke
Macadamia Nuts, Sweet Soya Sauce, Lava Salt, Nori Cone

Antipasto Stuffed Naan
Roasted Artichokes, Black Olive Dust, Prosciutto

Pasta

Mushroom Orecchiette
Malivoire Pinot Noir Pear Chutney, Aged Cheddar

Mains

Stuffed Cornish Hen
Tempura Green Tomato, Miran Beur Blanc, Wild Mushroom Pesto

Anchovy Crusted Cod
Coriander Cream, Pickled Cucumbers, Ginger Purple Potato

Desserts

Chocolate Box
Flourless Chocolate cake, Caramel Foam, Chi Tea Ice cream

Beignets
Sake Blueberry Jam, Green Tea Ice Cream, Salted Chocolate Sauce

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 was 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
• wrap 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

weekend family fun

as mentioned before, i wanted a weekend just for the three of us. with so much going on, i felt a need to reconnect.

i also realized, though, that doug and i are really in need of a weekend alone. it may not happen until the end of february but i’m looking forward to it. i’m wondering if my parents will be brave enough to take on both hobbes and chaeli. or my aunt and uncle might take hobbes just because they are more experienced with him. i don’t know – i’ll have to see.

it was a good weekend though i wish i started it with my cold completely gone. i think it is gone now but i still woke up a bit stuffed up in the mornings and finding myself still needing lots of tissue on saturday.

a lot of our plans were somewhat reversed but in the end, that turned out to be better!

friday night, doug and i got to watch ‘the last air bender’ while this was the 2nd time chaeli saw it. i know it got realy horrible reviews. i’m guessing the acting was  pretty much the reason. but to be honest, doug and i liked the concept and the action enough – we’re hoping that he will continue with the trilogy. in the end, though, i could see a lot of kids liking this movie.

saturday morning, chaeli came with me to the supermarket and helped me shop. i must say, it’s great to have her at the age where she can go fetch a plastic bag for me, open it and hold it on both sides while i fill it with produce. chaeli also got a chance to pick out her own valentine’s day cards. she chose iron man for the boys and tinker bell & fairies for the girls  in the class.

in the afternoon, we went to that indoor dog park up north. fun but i’m not sure how often i will go back. it’s definitely a cool place to visit on a very cold day where both chaeli and hobbes need to burn some energy. but because the business was new, they do not have a huge clientele for the play sessions just yet. however, the owners, a nice, young chinese couple, own three dogs themselves. they also invite family friend’s to bring their dogs for the afternoon. plus, there are also some dogs there for grooming – while they wait, they get to run around in the big room as they promise a cage-free grooming services as well.

in the end, there were eight dogs, including hobbes. it ended up being a fun time, especially as the couple were very nice to socialize with.

saturday evening, doug roasted what ended up being our most successful roast beef (i splurged and bought the best prime rib roast), accompanied by neeps, tattie and of course, haggis. doug had his scotch and i was kicking myself for not having a chance to go out and buy some irish bailey (since i’m not a scotch drinker). it wasn’t so much for having some during dinner, as i had some red wine with our robbie burn’s day feast, but it would have gone beautifully with my midnight bath later on that night.

after dinner, as it was late, we ended up watching ‘might joe young’ since it was on tv. i’ve been meaning to get chaeli to watch that movie – it’s one of my favourite disney family movies. just as i suspected, chaeli welled up a bit at the end when she thought joe wasn’t going to make it. she’s been much more emotional about sad endings or moments in movies. but she’s also starting to learn how to cope with these emotions. i think it’s hard, now that she has hobbes, to see animals suffer.

today, being sunday, isn’t always ideal for any fixed plans. it’s now 9pm and i’m still needing to make chaeli’s lunch for tomorrow, my own food for work, as well as fold laundry. still, chaeli and i had time to practice her words for next week’s spelling test and then later in the afternoon, we all played jr. monopoly – twice! i have to admit that the junior version is much faster. because it can’t drag out like the original monopoly, you don’t need to reserve a whole evening. is it wrong that as an adult, i think i might prefer the children’s version?

we also carved out some time for chaeli to write her very first letter to her penpal – who happens to be our friends’ niece in s. korea. i think it will be good for both girls – not just for them to practice their english language, but also to cultivate the art of writing letters and practicing their social skills.

anyway, for start, chaeli would talk about something about herself and then in turn, ask her penpal the same question in respective to the subject. for example, chaeli would state her age and then ask her penpal for her age. or she would talk about hobbes and then ask her penpal if she had any pets. and so on – alternating statements of herself with the respective question. it just basically ended up being how chaeli decided the form of her letter should be – i suppose it’s a good start. and she also included a v-day card for her penpal. i’d better  make sure to mail it off early this week!

day 2 – hockley valley

and so this is hockley valley:

hockley valley

hockley valley

and this is hobbes on the way to our hike:

where are we going?

we’re now just chilling out before making our wedding anniversary dinner – steaks, potatos, brussell sprouts with thick bacon cubes and of course, red wine. afterwards, it’s popcorn and dvds.

here’s the rest of the photos  from today:

hockley valley 2010 photo set

random update

i finally got hobbes a grooming appointment. going in, i was dead set against a ‘full service, spa, treatment’. it just seemed to include more then we needed. and starting at $50? no thanks. but i was fortunate enough to get their first-time puppy special. for $18.99, he’ll get a tooth brushing, a trim, some grooming and nail clipping.

the nice thing about going to petsmart is that everytime we visit, hobbes gets some socialization for sure. today alone, we met a cocker spaniel, a chihuahua, a maltese, this german-sheppard mix and a very large and very hairy and very big, 150lb newfoundland dog. of course, all hobbes saw was ‘big dog’ when she approached to sniff him. thankfully, she was very good-natured so hobbes did not feel all that threatened (just a tad cautious at first – but who can blame him?)

doug has a practical class today so he won’t be home until 5pm. since i knew he would be gone for most of today, i treated this morning like any other morning. yup – crazy me woke up at 5:30am to workout. i know it sounds insane to the rest of the sane population. and during the last quarter of the workout, i definitely questioned my own sanity as i moved on to what would be over 100 reps of push-ups by that point (not consecutively, mind you). but then i also immediately thought, “ah! now this is nice. husband, child and puppy are all asleep. it’s almost like i have the place to myself.”

i’m very lazy today. and i know i should bundle chaeli up so we can take hobbes for a walk this afternoon. i will… but i think now that it’s just after lunch, i need a small cat nap while she plays on the computer.

for lunch, i bought a cheese loaf fresh from the bakery, as well as a french baguette, which i plan to have tomorrow for lunch with some pate and wine. it’s not healthy, but i’m totally craving bread these days.

here we go again

it’s that time of year again – facing the daily grind after labour day weekend.

while i’m ready for a change of season, i’m slightly saddened to see summer end.

having said that, i have plans for the fall. or more to the point, the fall weekends. we have a very short autumn season here. the leaves change into beautiful shades of red, orange, and yellow. but… with a blink of an eye, theses colours seem to go as fast as they come. so, for about five to six weeks, it’s important to plan our weekends well.

i do plan on a couple of hiking trips. we always seem to get one in – this year, we’re aiming for two. with a possible 2-night stay over the weekend up in the northern penensula of bruce trail. another hike will probably be close to the niagara area. and of course, here is always some local trails nearby.

as usual, we’ll head out to the green belt to visit a farm (usually to pick a pumpkin for halloween). this will normally be our last fall adventure.

to start, we’ve got chaeli’s first week in grade one this week, followed by a smoked meat bbq party we’ll be hosting this saturday.

i’m sure, before we know it, christmas will be just around the bend.

two things

i'm not pregnant.

i got my period yesterday morning.

two weekends ago, chaeli was staying over at my parents' place. and doug and i were being careless. since then, it was two weeks of waiting – another week and i would have done a home pregnancy test.

the truth is that i'm very relieved. about two years ago, we decided that if it hadn't happen by then, it won't ever happen. and since it didn't happen, we were content with the notion that it was never meant to be.

anyway…

this period came in good time. not that it was something i've been stressing about. but it was one thing slightly and gently nagging at the back of my mind. having the issue resolve itself put me more at ease for last night's bbq party we hosted for good friends. doug grilled chicken thighs and drumsticks – marinated in this dijon-rosemary recipe i found years ago. he also bought both pork ribs and beef ribs – smoked the two. it made the men very happy.

we had, i would definitely say, a fantastic night.

the laughs and talks for me, were like one of those nights i'll always cherish when i look back on. it felt good. thats probably the best way to describe it. and of course, as always, i felt blessed to have such long-time friends.

it really does make a difference in one's life. it made me feel… wealthy.

Read and post comments

bottling wine, robert downy jr. and carnivorous dining

we had ourselves an adult weekend while chaeli stayed at my parents' place.

doug and i ended having a pretty fun-filled packed day on saturday:

• woke up early and did power90 intervals – was planning on going to a bodyflow class but felt more tired then usual. so i skipped the extra class.

 

• grocery shopping on my own – i get it done faster by myself AND we don't buy any more then we need because doug's not there to add to the already planned list (which he planned with me the night before).

 

• afternoon appointment to go back to the wine place – bottled 30 pinot noirs and 30 chardonnay's. i worked it out – it only cost us $5.50 a bottle. and it's yummy!

 

• took an afternoon snooze – a luxury in itself.

 

• 

  Iron Man 2 (Two-Disc Special Edition)

  went to see iron man 2 – not bad. probably not as good as the first one but seriously, i don't expect much from these movies. i was entertained the way i wanted to be – it was worth the movie ticket. plus, with my recent dream about tony stark/robert downey jr., it was DEFINITELY worth the full price!

 

• doug cooked me this fantstic meal at home – rib grilling steaks, home roasted fries seasond and sprinkled with parmesian cheese and boiled white carrots. we had planned on eating on the patio with candles, but it had rained not too long before – everything was too wet.

 

• [insert what parents do when the kid is not around - yes, tmi to explain fully but you get the picture]

 

• 

  The Blind Side

  i asked doug if he wanted to see another movie on demand. so we chose to see the blind side. it was a good movie. i did enjoy it. but… oscar winning for best female actress? really? not to say it was bad acting… but there must have been more well-deserved acting from last year. i suppose the movie was geared towards a more family-oriented audience. it was a feel-good movie. they basically grazed over some of the darker, hardship areas of big mike's past. it was worth the $5.99 – but i'm glad i didn't pay a full movie ticket price for this one.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend