Keo's

I went out to Keo's for supper last week with a friend.

I ordered Phad Thai.  If you have never had Phad Thai before - go to Keo's and try some, it is simply delicious.

This is called Miang Kam.  You pick your ingredients from the plate, add a bit of sauce and then use the lettuce as a wrap.  You could choose: tomatoes, fresh lime, peanuts, shaved coconut, onion, ginger root, and some other unidentifieable ingredients.  It wasn't what we expected it to be, but, hey - its always interesting trying out something new. 

If you have never been to Keo's (its on Broadway) you are missing out, they have a really great menu of Thai food, and it is definitely one of my favorite Broadway restaurants.

It's Hard to Believe Snow is in the Forecast

A Simple Saturday

Today I was feeling rather lazy and I didn't really feel like leaving the house.

So after leaving the house and picking up next weeks groceries and my son from his sleepover (shouldn't they be called awakeovers?), I decided to putter around the kitchen putting my groceries away and taking the time to clean and chop up all the veggies I had bought.

This week I'm making something I call Vegetarian Chili.  It's basically a mish-mash of vegetables and beans and chili powder, its super easy to make and my son asked for thirds the last time I made it- yessss! It's delicious and healthy, what could be better?

I decided to check on my son.  He appears to be sleeping although he could be faking.

Nope, not faking, he really is sleeping.  

Hmmm, I'm slightly jealous, must be nice to be able to have a nap at high noon.  And what were they doing at that sleepover?  That poor Mom.

This is the Handy Scraper from The Pampered Chef.  I love using it when I'm doing a lot of chopping, it makes transferring all those vegetables so easy and quick.

And this is what my dog Max is doing this fine Saturday afternoon. 

 Hmm, again, slightly jealous, having a nap, on MY bed.

Back to the veggies. 

I use to buy the pre-washed lettuce in the bags because I thought I would have no excuses to not eat my veggies.  But they never lasted much longer than a few days and I always ended throwing the lettuce into the garbage. 

I've started to buy the "regular" lettuce.  After washing the lettuce I chop half up and leave the lettuce in a bag which I will then use for my wraps and sandwiches in my lunches.  The other half I stuck in a Tupperware Fridgesmart Container.  These Fridgesmart Containers are amazing at keeping produce and extending their life.  

I went to check on the boys again.  Now my son is in MY bed, the dog must have scampered off to the couch.

This is pretty much the result.  The tomatoes in the green bowl are going to be used in a recipe called Pastor Ryans Mexican Lasagna.  It's delicious, but I can't make it yet because I need to scour the grocery stores of Saskatoon looking for Salsa Verde.  

The other bowls contain all the vegetables I will be using for the Vegetarian Chili.  I've separated them out because they will require different amounts of time saute-ing (not sure how to add the accent acute to that word) in the skillet.

I think I might have gone a little over board on the vegetable chopping today.  No worries though, once I've sauted all the veggies I can use them as a base for a variety of vegetable-twisted recipes.

Here's the boys again.  Now they are BOTH in my bed.  

Looks like they've had the right idea all along, I think I'm going to join them.

Tittles and Diacritics

Today I learnt that an "I" can't really be an i, and a "J" can't really be a j without its tittle.

What's a tittle you ask?  (and even if you don't ask, I'm going to tell you).

A tittle is the small dot above the i and the j, it's used as punctuation or as a diacritic.

And this is what a diacritic is:

Who knew these funny symbols had a name?  I think they give so much character to the letter.  

The accent acute and the accent grave look angry.  (Why am I writing this backwards you ask?  Because I learned about these in French, who happen to say things backwards and for some reason I say accent egg-u)

The cedilla looks very exotic.

The accent circumflex and the tilde look like mustaches.

And that folks, is the end of the todays lesson.

A Year in Review

Since its the end of the year for university students, I thought I'd look back at things that have happened to me since I finished taking classes full-time last year.

Here are some experiences which I would have never guessed would happen to me this year:

I rode a horse on my birthday.  I also threw myself a birthday party (which I never do): we went bowling.  

I went on a road trip to Banff and Calgary with two friends from school and had a really good time.

I discovered that Chinese cooking can be more potent than pepper spray.  Quick- open the window -ACK!

I planned a suprise 30th birthday party for a good friend of mine.  It was so fun planning and sneaking around!  I also learnt I am a horrible liar.  (This is why I could never play poker).

I  went to a surprise 40th birthday party- complete with gag walker.  Those 40 year olds really know how to have a fun time!

I figured out, a little to late that what I really love doing is synthetic chemistry. 

I started a blog and have realized I love blogging: writing blogs, reading other peoples blogs and taking pictures, for my blog.

I have realized the importance of authenticity and being true to yourself.

Thoughts from my Trip

I love road trips and driving on the highway.  I'm not sure if its the endless highway, the passing landscape, the open sky above me, or simply following along the yellow lines, but I always come away with a deeper understanding of something.

While I happen to love road trips, I absolutely hate passing.  However, I really don't like following other cars, they slow me down, and I like to be in front, ahead of the pack.  This means it is necessary for me to pass from time to time.  

Now, when it comes time for me to pass, I start to worry.  What if a car hits me headlong?  What if I can't pass before a car reaches me?  What if I get stuck passing when the solid line comes?  What if I misjudge the speed of the oncoming car?  What if I floor the accelerator and my car doesn't pick up fast enough?  Phew, it begins to wear me out.  I have let a few bad experiences govern my emotions, which now makes me feel worried and anxious the moment I realize I am bearing down on some car.  I could be kilometers away and spot a vehicle far ahead, and the worry and anxiety will begin.

So as I was driving I realized that it was pointless to start worrying the minute I spotted a car far off in the distance.  So I stopped.  I just wouldn't look at how far the car was away or how fast I was approaching it.  Instead I looked out the window at the sky and the clouds and the trees and the fields and the farmhouses.  I cranked the radio and sang my heart out.  I enjoyed the present, being in the moment.  Because as soon as it came time for me to pass a car something different always happened.  Sometimes the cars would slow down and turn off the highway.  Sometimes I got lucky and passed a few vehicles at a time.  Sometimes there was a lot of oncoming traffic and I would have to wait awhile before I could pass.  At one point I realized that a semi was barreling towards me on my side of the highway and there was no way it was going to be able to pass in time.  So I just slowed down and pulled off towards the side of the road.  And later I realized, in a detached sort of way, that I had just encountered my worst situation and I realized that at that moment I didn't panic or worry, I just reacted and kept driving.

And then I realized that I don't just worry about passing cars, I worry about everything.  What will I do this year?  Should I move?  If I do, will I find a good place to rent?  Where should I go this summer?  But really, even if any of these decisions will be made, they aren't happening now, because they are in the future.  Worrying and trying to plan for things in the future can be futile, especially when I won't know what my circumstances or situation will be when it is time to make a decision.  It seems so obvious, now.  So I think I'd rather live more in the moment and enjoy all the little details which make me happy, because when I am worrying my mind is elsewhere and I can barely see the little joys within my day.

LMAO

Okay, I have a confession:

When I first started texting I had to learn a whole new language:  LOL, JK, BRB, TTYL

I get it: LOL means laughing out loud, BRB means be right back.

Maybe I selectively have some sort of dyslexia, but for some reason, in my mind I thought LMAO was lame-0.  I'd always send my friend some text that I thought was kinda funny, and she'd reply: Lmao. 

 In in my mind I would think: huh, I thought it was kinda funny, its not lame at all.  After several relies of Lmao, I started to send fewer and fewer texts.  

I think it took about a year of me thinking my texts were lame, before I finally checked out the Urban Dictionary and found out the real meaning. . . turns out I was kinda funny after all.