Oh sweet Sweet Corn Chipotle Soup

As I'm waiting for my crops to harvest (Farm Town) so I can go to the dog park, I thought I'd share what I'm having for supper.  

Yesterday I tried a new recipe.  It's called Dutch Macaroni and is full of vegetables.  The best part is Davin loved it and it makes tons: enough to eat some for the lunch the next day, and freeze some for a few more meals.

But, tonight I'm feeling a little bit on the lazy side.  

This is Sweet Corn with Chipotle Soup.  It contains a full serving a vegetables (ooh) and even has the Health Check symbol on it (ahh).  Campbells changed the packaging on this and for a couple of months I wandered aimlessly around various grocery stores hoping I'd run into this soup.  I was miserable.  Then I found out the changed the packaging and my life was back to normal again.  

I stopped off at the Bulk Cheese Warehouse after work today and picked up their fresh salsa and some tortilla chips.  I love their salsa and tortillas so much I will never buy them anywhere else again (please try them sometime).  I also bought some plain boring medium cheddar cheese and some Monterey Jack Cheese with Red Hot Chilies.   

This is how I prepared my supper:

I heated the soup in the microwave and then added shredded Monterey Jack with Red Hot Chilies to it.  I then took my tortilla chips and crumble them into the soup, kinda like you would with crackers.  Only the tortilla chips from Bulk Cheese are better; way, WAY better.  Finally, I added a dollop of sour cream to the top.  That's it-simple, and pretty good soup is turned into really great soup.

 I then melted cheese (half Monterey Jack, half Cheddar) on the chips and ate them with sour cream and salsa.  While the tortilla chips are great, I only buy them to eat the fresh salsa (its that good), but tonight I'm not sure if it's the salsa I like better or the Monterey Jack cheese- it has such a zing.  I might just have to have some more to make up my mind.  I do hope the full serving of vegetables and the heart symbol up there make up for all that cheese I ate.  

Facebook

I've been spending to much time on Facebook lately.  So much time in fact that I'm starting to construct my thoughts in the form of Status Updates.  So instead of thinking:  hmmm, I wonder why Angela hasn't phoned me back yet.  I thought:  Becky Schurman is wondering why Angela hasn't phoned her back yet.

Here's another one.  It kinda describes me in one line:

Becky Schurman: a laugh for every occasion.

I think when you start refering to yourself in the third person in your own thoughts, its about time to cut back on Facebook. . .  but just a teeny bit, I found this new game called Farm Town, and boy is it ever addicting.

A Tale Of Three Tails

Once upon a time there were three dogs.

A large dog, a medium dog, and a small dog.

The large dog had a a tail so long he held it up like a curlicue.

The small dog had nothin but a nubbin.

The medium dog, however, flaunted his finely feathered tail like a peacock.

And they happily sniffed each other at the dog park.

The End

A Road Trip Lament

Why or why Alberta do you hate me so?  This is the second time I've arrived in your province only to be received with the most ungracious welcome.  Did I not vow after my first visit, not to return until summer?

Why must you obscure my windows with snow and slush from speeding vehicles?  Why must you cover your signs with snow so that I miss my turnoff?  I merely wish to visit long enough to finish my business before retreating back to safe Saskatchewan.

Why must you subject my Subaru and I with your scorn and wrath?  Your brown slush incessantly battered my side panels leaving behind a thick coat of ugly brown pocked ice.  I almost weeped at the Husky Station when I had to chip away your hatred which covered my headlights and grill.

It is only when I turn around and head back to Saskatoon that the roads become clear, as if welcoming me back to my roots.

Saving the Earth One Memo at a Time

Tomorrow is Earth Day. and while I'd love to be a little more active in this environmental movement, instead I will be spewing out gaseous carbon emissions from my Subaru Forester as I drive to Calgary and back.  Sorry Earth-but the drive is necessary.

But I came up with an idea . . .

Instead of using Post-it Notes, I'll just use my hand.  I will be reducing the amount of Post-It notes that get pitched, and my hand is reusable, I just need soap and water.  No more digging around in my pocket trying to find my grocery list, it's all right here!  

I'm not sure why I felt it necessary to remind myself I needed to: 1) put gas in the car 2) vacuum out the car and 3) wash the car.  It's a mere 3 items, and I always do these things before leaving on a road trip.  Maybe this lack of memory is because I stopped drinking coffee and quite frankly, I find the thought a little troublesome. 

New disease?

My son asked me the other day what kind of disease E-U-P-H-O-R-I-A was.

I don't know where he comes up with these ideas, but I like it!

Intent

Life has become so busy.  Months go by in a flash.  Seasons come and go.  Before you know it, another year has past.  When I was younger I use to play soccer.  I'd watch some of our midfields race the ball up the field.  One girl was so fast it looked like her legs were going faster than her body, she'd just fly up the field.  Pretty soon she was dictated by her momentum, she looked like she was on the brink of careening out of control.  I saw a kid last summer running down the side of a mountain in Lake Louise.  At first it was fun and thrilling to him, until he ended up going faster than his little legs could carry him.  He ended up biting the dusting and tumbling down until he stopped.  He just sat there crying.  

I think we can get so busy living life that we are merely living day to day.  Weeks, and then months go by.  And we sit there wondering, like the little boy on the mountain:  Where has the time gone?

I think that all this "business" in life is inevitable, but a some point we must sit back and ask ourselves: What is most important in my life?  We must live with intent or we will be wasting our time.  There are always a million and one things to do.  We will never get everything done that we want to accomplish.  There are always more things to do, things we can do better, and ways at improving ourselves, but in the end if we fill our time what what is most important, the things that don't get done won't matter.

Insipid

I read an article in the NY Times today called: I Hate my iPhone.  I was curious to see the reader responses and especially enjoyed one response which stated: "If you spent the same amount of time reading the very simple online manual for the iPhone as you did crafting the insipid alliterative sentences in this article, you would have been fine".

What a nice word, insipid, I looked up the meaning and found this:

Insipid

1. lacking taste or savor: tasteless

2.  lacking in qualities that interest, stimulate, or challenge: dull, flat.

Insipid implies a lack of sufficient taste or savor to please or interest

m.w.com

I decided I needed to build up my vocabulary arsenal so I could insult people in ambiguous ways and yet still remain innocuous.  That way I can avoid conflict AND have the last word.

I stopped by McNally Robinsons at lunch and picked up this cute mini journal set.  It contains 4 mini journals which sit in its own box.  I'm going to use these journals when I have new words to learn.  I seem to have developed a journal addiction lately.  I don't really need these journals, any kind of paper would have sufficed, but they are so cute, and with 4 volumes I'm sure in insult a few people and get away with it!

Dog Park Discovery

This is Max.  He's just found something at the dog park.  I think his tail looks like a question mark.  What has he found?

As he races towards me I see that he's found a ball left behind after the spring thaw.  A gross, dirty, broken tennis ball.  Who knows whose mouth it's been in before.  Yuck, I thought he was more refined, apparently he's not, just picking up any ol' ball he finds.

Max doesn't have anyone to play with him, but that doesn't stop him when he can pick up and throw the ball himself.

What's that he spys? Aha!  Why look!  It's a ball, imagine that!  I wonder how it got there?

There he goes- I wonder what he'll find next.

Coffee: Goodbye My Love

I love coffee.  I love waking up in the morning to the fresh aroma of a freshly brewed pot of coffee.  I add 2 cubes of Sugar in the Raw and enough half and half to get my coffee that perfect tan color.  I love going to Starbucks and ordering a Grande Non Fat Extra Hot Toffee Nut Latte or a Grande Americano Misto (I once dreamt my cousin made me an Americano Misto, but for some reason I never drank it and I ended up craving one for days).  I love meeting friends and having a great conversation over a nice, hot, yummy smelling cup of coffee.  I love trying out new beans and tasting the differences.  I love creating my own mixes using flavored beans from McQuarries, such as Snicker Doodle or Highlander Grog (love, love, love them both) and then mixing them with some type of medium roast bean.

This is my coffee cup collection.  I like to pick the mug I'm going to use depending on my mood.  For instance, if I have a hankering to get outta town on a trip, I use the great big mug in the middle, its from Vancouver Starbucks and is a picture of Stanely Park.  You can even see my dorky Periodic Table of Elements mug towards the end.  Below my collection is my "Coffee Bar" which holds my coffee maker, grinder, special measuring spoon, and various containers which hold my precious beans.  (for some reason I feel like Gollum when saying that)

 . . . my precious . . . 

So a while ago I had been really really sick and had no inclination to eat or drink for 3 days. During my illness I spend some time reading about Lent.  I have never observed Lent and have no clue what this religious observance is about.  I figured it was about eating yummy pancakes and then giving something up for 40 days, except maybe on Sunday?   While I was recuperating I read an interesting blog which offered the idea that it's not what you give up (using your own strength, perseverance, determination, etc), rather its about reliance.  The idea piqued my interest.

I really had no intention of not drinking coffee, but I had realized that 4 days had gone by and I hadn't had a single drop of coffee.  By the time I was feeling better I was still weak and the thought of a strong cup of coffee scared my stomach.  Out of sheer curiosity, I decided to keep going. . . . .

. . . . So now it's been 14 days.  I had thought I wouldn't be able to function the entire day without a cup of coffee.  But I did and and I can and you know what?  I feel great!  Not just great, I feel fantastic!  I have been having the best sleeps I've ever had.  I don't toss and turn at night, I could probably just slide out of bed in the morning and my sheets wouldn't look slept in.  I don't have to hit the snooze button 4 or 5 times before I get out of bed.  I don't feel like I'm internally vibrating when I try and take a nap.  I feel less emotional and more focussed.

So I'm saying goodbye to coffee with the help of my good friend James Blunt:

Goodbye my lover.

Goodbye my friend.

You have been the one.

You have the been the one for me.

If anyone is still reading this incredibly long post, check this out:  Storyville: The Truth.  It's a pretty funny mockumentary about coffee beans.

Oh Spring!

I love my neighborhood.  It's so peaceful and quiet.  There are less cars and more people out running and biking and walking their dogs.  I live close to some of my favorite stores like McQuarries and the Bulk Cheese Warehouse.

My neighborhood reminds me of camping, with the small quirky houses (cabins) and the tall mature trees (forest), and the birds singing from the trees (nature), and the lake, just steps from my doorstep:

Things That Make Me Happy

I was having a discussion with my son about whether or not money can make you happy.  So I decided to figure out what made me happy.  Not the kind of happy which makes me laugh, because, really, anything can make me laugh, but the kind that moves my heart.  

This is what I came up with:

• I love watching my dog run at the dog park.  He has long lanky legs and he trots and he gallops, and he bounds and he romps all over the place as he investigates.  On the way home he sticks his head between the head rests of my car with a deliriously stupid, I mean, happy look on his face.
  

• I love listening to my son talk.  He sings musicals as he brushes he teeth, about grenades, and guns, and torpedos.  He tells the dog he should hurry up and wash the dishes before Mom wakes up.  He says words like facetious, and eucalyptus (he use to pronounce it: ECHO-PLATUS).
  

• I love when I see people being kind to others without ever expecting anything in return.
  

• I love being outside and experiencing that "moment".  When nothing about me matters, but everything around me is amazing and beautiful and glorious. 

• I love waking my son up with kisses.  His cheeks are so warm and he will try to retreat under the covers so he can be left sleeping peacefully.  If I am lucky I will get to see one dark pupil peering out at me behind his cute squinty eye, before it disappears all together.
  

• I love seeing that smile on someone's face the instant they see you.  The smile from the recognition and enjoyment of who they see, and which only lasts until you can return their smile, or they can pull up their guard.