Thank You

One of the things I've realized is how blessed I am to have so many different people in my life.  Over the past month I've had a lot of conversations that have centered around my ideas, my plans and my hopes for the future.  In my conversations I have found out that I have more in common with a lot of people than I ever thought I did.  I have found that talking to people who may not share the same values, perspectives or be in the same place in life as me still gave me great insight into my ideas, plans, and endeavors.  I just wanted to say that I value and appreciate all the ideas, advice, and different perspectives which have been given to me.  I feel so blessed by the many people who have given me encouragement, support and have cheered me on in everything that I have decided to undertake.  So, if I have had a conversation with you in the past month or so, this thank you is to you.

~b~

Weekend Retreat

I spent the weekend at the Shekinah Retreat Centre with a bunch of people from church.  Despite my misgivings of no cell reception and no internet access I was assured I would have a lot of fun and indeed I did.  The weather Saturday was gorgeous and I managed to get a few good photos out of the gadzillion that I took.  I enjoyed good discussions, great coffee and spending time getting to know people a bit better.  I think someone said it best when they said our biggest concern this weekend was deciding which game to play next.

 We stayed in Timber lodge and I included this picture because apparently all these beams have been constructed in a certain "style" or something like that.  The space is amazing with high ceilings, wood beams and windows everywhere.  

I spent some time Saturday afternoon reflecting over previous journal entries I had made these past couple of months and as I sat there, I could here so many musicians playing their guitars, or the piano, or other instruments in various areas of the space.   It was wonderful.  The espresso was wonderful too, but I will save that for its very own post.   Because it was just that awesome.

~b~

4 Things

1- Meh

This has got to be one of my favorite responses.  It's so ambiguous and ambivalent and it really means nothing at all.  

 2- Clean


My coworkers have bought the book Clean.  It's basically a 21 day detox program for you body and entails shakes for breakfast, soups for suppers and a meal at lunch.  No red meat, no carbs, no sugars, no caffeine.  If they can last the week, I just may try it out but for now all their talking has made me eat more vegetables, cut down on caffeine, and start drinking tea, and that is good enough for me.

3- I'm disinclined to acquiesce to your request.  

This is one of my favorite lines from Pirates of the Carribean.  I've always wanted to say that to someone. 

4- This weekend


I'm headed out of the city this weekend and I'm looking forward to getting away.  I was hoping to buy The Immortal Life of Henreitta Lacks (Rebecca Skloot).  The book is about history, racism, medical ethics, and scientific research and commercialization.  I couldn't find any in bookstores so I guess I'll have to wait.  Meh.

~b~

A Recipe for You

I'm sharing this pizza dough recipe with you because as I said before it is Absolutely Fantastic and Amazing.  Or something like that.  I made Double Pepperoni for the boy, because it's his fav.  I love Blackened Chicken with peppers, minced garlic, tomatoes, sweet onion and feta cheese.   You can find my blackened chicken recipe HERE.

Here's the recipe:

1 cup lukewarm water or beer

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp quick acting yeast

1 tsp salt

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

2.5 cups flour

Mix water (or beer-try Guinness), sugar and yeast in a bowl and let the yeast rise for 15 minutes.  Add the salt and vegetable oil and any seasoning you might want to add (I like adding Italian).  Stir.  Add flour and mix.  Knead on a floured surface until the dough is not sticky anymore, but still feels moist.  Cover and set in a warm place for at least 30 minutes.  Roll on a floured surface and place on a lightly greased pan.  (I sprinkle a Stoneware Large Bar Pan with cornmeal and then roll the dough out).  Add toppings and cook at 425F for 10-15 minutes.  

~b~

Captain Highliner

~b~

VD

It seems like a lot of my friends on Facebook are changing their profile picture to include their significant other.  I thought it would be fun to do the same.  I debated on who include as my significant other.  I did meet a really great guy at Old Navy a little while ago:

He was so nice and kind.  He was quiet and a good listener.  And the best part about him was that he liked to hold hands.  But it never worked out, he was a little too quiet for me.

Here is me and my significant other.  We've been together for a very long time and our relationship has steadily grown stronger. A while ago I discover that a little Half and Half and Sugar in the Raw has taken our relationship to a new level.  I now wake up each and every morning looking forward to spending the first minutes of each day with the love of my life.  

I could have also included my iPhone or my Macbook Pro as my significant other, but coffee eventually won out mainly because we have been together for so many years.

I also decided to join the group: Can this Onion Ring get more fans than Stephen Harper and the group: Can this Pickle get more fans than Nickelback.  I don't even like onion rings or pickles but I thought I should start voicing my opinion about things instead of always trying to be nice and amicable.  And Facebook is definitely the way to do it.

Happy Valentines Day and/or Singles Awareness Day.

~b~

Amazing Appetizer

I'm not sure why I have to alliterate food names and descriptions, but that's not what this post is about.

I just wanted to share with you a really great appetizer.  I guarantee you that it will be quickly snapped up and eaten at any party you bring it to.

The picture isn't the greatest, it was taken at the end of a really long night, and I realized there was only 3 left:

The original recipe name is called Super (Appetizer) Bowls and can be found on the Tasty Kitchen Blog.  Besides being quite delicious, they are really easy to make, but look fancy.

All you do is cook ground turkey (I used pork) with minced garlic, ginger, green onion, and soy sauce.  And then add them to the wonton wrappers which have been baked into the fancy shape.  And finally add a dollop of wasabi mayo.

Yum!

~b~

Fantastic Friday

I took the day off today, and while I hate taking days off and not going anywhere, I'm glad I did today.  This friday was fantastic.

I met a friend at Souleio for breakfast, I had some sort of egg in an english muffin, she had a panini with organic peanut butter, pecans and raisons, it was delicious.

I then headed back home, quickly started Ryan's Absolutely Fantastic and Amazing Pizza Dough (that's really not the name, but it should be).  And then it was off to pick up the Fabulous Princy Paulose.  Somehow we ended up at Calories for coffee, soup, and dessert.

But my favorite part of the day was the reuniting of the three loudest laughs on the Spinks 2nd Floor.

And now it's time to eat some pizza and watch the 3rd Season of Lost.

~b~

Where I'm At . . .

I always feel a little bit insecure when I write these personal posts, but I'm going to write it anyway and then hit Publish Post, before I can stop myself.

Earlier this week I was asked the question:  Where do you see yourself in 5 years?  I have to admit, I gave a pretty lame answer.  Mostly in part because I honestly don't know and I didn't want to throw out a bunch of buzz words that sound good, but mean nothing.  It is this exact question that I have been wrestling with for the past couple of months.

To tell you where I'm at right now, I have to start at the beginning.  Without getting into too many details, the beginning started way back when I was a young single mom-to-be who was determined to not be just another statistic.  That statistic that if I "kept" my son I would most likely not have a university education or even my grade 12 and I would likely live on welfare for the rest of my life.  So you could say that the past ten years for me has been my response to not being just another statistic.  And it has been a reflection of my determination to being a good mom and providing a great home and life for my son.

I did this by working hard to establish myself by pursuing my education and advancing myself through my career.  At the same time, I raised my boy into the son I love today.  And I lived my life to the fullest by traveling, making great friendships, and by just having fun.  Just over a year ago I finally accomplished my goals that took so long for me to achieve.  I have a diploma, a university degree, and a great job that pays my bills and gives me some stability.

I then spent the better half of last year sleeping and recovering from burnout.  And when I emerged from hibernation I set out to discover all the joys that you can pursue when you have your whole evening to do whatever you want to do.  I started blogging and just writing in general.  I bought my d90 and have loved learning how to become a better photographer.  I started making fancy meals and appetizers, and baking, because making food for people makes me happy.  And I started to figure myself out a bit.  Things like what makes me really, truly happy.  What motivates me, what gives me my excitement and energy.  I started to think about how I wanted to live my life and what kind of legacy I wanted to leave behind.

But . . . every time I asked myself: Where do I want to be in 10 years?  I didn't have an answer.  And it's not for a lack of initiative.  It's a lack of direction and vision.  I have always been the type of person to not settle for mediocrity.  I'm competitive and I want to be the best at whatever I do.  I know I have this intrinsic drive in me that will make the necessary sacrifices to get to what I want to accomplish.  Because I am like this, I do not want to spent the next part of my life chasing the wrong goal.  I do not want my time and energy and life to be wasted on chasing the wrong thing.

So, to be honest, I don't have an answer to the question.  For a while it bothered me that I was wasting so much time by not setting out to achieve something, so I set mini 6 month goals which are finishing up soon.  If I could sum up last year it would be:  when you do nothing, nothing will happen.  And so this year I have started trying new things, and making little changes.  I believe that regardless of whether I'm heading in the right direction or not, trying new things will ultimately provide me with just the clarity I need.  And I feel that any step I take now just might put me on the cusp of the next big thing.

~b~

Kisses and Disses

DISSES

I decided to write a Kisses and Disses post because early last week my bank declared a cheque I cashed staledated.  After phoning to inquire, I was told the cheque had been dated as 2004.  So my first diss was for my bank, until I received the cheque back in the mail and it was in fact dated 2004.  So I guess this is disses to me - for cashing a bad cheque.

Also, disses to me for the crappy cake I tried to make for a co-worker for his birthday.  For picking out a cake mix instead of baking something fabulous from scratch.  For going out instead of baking in the evening and not starting till after midnight.  For thinking it took only 15 minutes to bake.  For trying to make the middle bake by adding tinfoil and ripping off a huge chunk of cake.

And for breaking the cake in half trying to get it out of the pan.

I think this is the saddest looking thing I have ever baked.  I hope my son enjoyed the cake.


KISSES

Kisses to my coworker for her random act of kindness and for her compulsion to initial and sometimes initial and date things.  I'm pretty sure I will spend the rest of my life crossing things out with a line, and then initialing and dating everything.

Kisses to my son's guitar teacher.  I really appreciated how easy going, flexible and adaptable he was because it made it so much easier and enjoyable for my son to learn.  Plus he said fascinating stuff like: "the frequency of the harmonics" or "the power chord is also called the root 5th chord".  I really have no idea what any of that musical stuff means, but it sounds pretty cool.

Kisses to my friend, for wearing sexy pants and making me laugh.

But wait, it's even sexier from the back:

I'm not really good at this disses thing.  I just dissed myself.  So rather than fall further into the pit of self-deprecation I think I'll just call my next post on this subject: Kisses.  

~b~

The Seven Days of Ang

I just realized that I have spent every single day of the week hanging out with the same person.

So I'm gonna call this week: The Seven Days of Ang.

To celebrate this, I thought I'd make some appies and bring them over to the get together tonight.

One of the things I made was Pico de Gallo.

I'm pretty sure I could have used my Punchy Smashy to chop everything up quickly.  But I love to dice things.  Except maybe the jalepeno peppers which is making my thumb throb right now.  

Here it is, all mixed up:

So easy!   I recommend eating this with Nachos bought from the Bulk Cheese Warehouse.

~b~

Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match . . .

This weekend I introduced two people who have very similar personality's.  It was like introducing the male version of a person to the female version.

The male version was my older brother.  The female version was a friend of mine:

I have to admit, I was kind of nervous when I mention this to my brother.  And I was definitely nervous about mixing two different areas of my life.  Crown Royal helped me get over this.

I ended up having a great night and I have to say, I was impressed with my brother.  Really impressed.  He met up with me and three friends who he had never met before.  He paid for drinks and paid for pool.  He was peppered with questions, he made jokes.  He laughed with us, and he laughed at us.  And at the end of the night he even drove everyone home.  What a gentleman.  I wish all guys would be generous, easy going, and considerate all the time and not just when they were trying to make a good impression.  

Regardless of whether my introduction goes anywhere or not, I'm looking forward to more fun filled nights with my girls.  

Fun nights involving: luggage demonstrations, pink crocs, stolen medical gloves, grape throwing into mouth contests, and falling on the ground, but not getting up.    

~b~