My home email has been down since I got home from work. Boo-hoo. I finally phoned my ISP and I was greeted by a polite, but slightly testy voice recording saying...
We are currently experiencing techinical problems with some email accounts timing out and not accessible through webmail. Our techinicians are working to fix the problem. If you are calling regarding this technical issue, please hang up NOW!
Ok.
Apparently they've had a phone call or two already...
In the meantime I shall just keep hitting refresh. Sigh...
Friday, March 28, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to me! Happy birthday to me! Happy birthdaaaaaay...
Ok. So it's not my birthday.
I can still celebrate. Especially since hubby got me my birthday present early.
He bought me a brand new Mac Book Pro.
I've wanted a Mac for a long time, so this was so exciting. I'm typing this on my new laptop!
Of course, my hubby's ulterior motive is to give me more freedom to do my writing - specifically fiction writing.
So I guess I have no more excuses for not getting that book written!
Pending assignments: 4 (eek!)
Listening to: The History Channel
Ok. So it's not my birthday.
I can still celebrate. Especially since hubby got me my birthday present early.
He bought me a brand new Mac Book Pro.
I've wanted a Mac for a long time, so this was so exciting. I'm typing this on my new laptop!
Of course, my hubby's ulterior motive is to give me more freedom to do my writing - specifically fiction writing.
So I guess I have no more excuses for not getting that book written!
Pending assignments: 4 (eek!)
Listening to: The History Channel
Thursday, March 20, 2008
My latest obsession aka Eating healthy part one
I'm currently waiting for company to arrive. Actually, they won't be here for about another two hours and I've prepped supper as far as I can for now.
So I thought I would post about my lastest obsession - cooking.
The obsession started a few years ago when I got introduced to a weekly email menu. This weekly meal planner (with grocery list included) became the highlight of my week, as I couldn't wait to try the new and innovative recipes.
They were innovative in that they didn't use ingredients I was used to. Some of them used techniques I'd never heard of.
Eventually, I found myself substituting more and more ingredients and recipes on these weekly emails. And my family was less enthusiastic than I about the recipes.
Then last year I was asked to write a profile of cookbook author Sandi Richard (seen on Food Network's Fixing Dinner). Again I found myself inspired to try new things.
This time I was armed with her cookbook, The Dinner Fix, which contained many recipes with ingredients like garam masala, fengugreek, curry paste and (I've yet to try) lemon grass.
I loved her bent towards Indian and Asian foods.
I used many of her recipes and a few of my own favourites collected over the years to construct a six-week meal plan - including grocery lists.
Oh. My. Word.
It's become like a lifesaver for m! I refer to it constantly.
Plus, I'm finding my kids turn up their noses far less than they used to. Partly because the meal plan gives each of them a dish to create (or help create) for everyone else. They love that part.
And to make this health conscious mamma even more happy... we're all eating more fruits and vegetables than ever before. I even make salad several times a week!
Last weekend I realized I'd had no time to plan meals for the coming week and I was nervous, because I didn't have much time to dash to the grocery store. Imagine my relief when I pulled out my menu (with five nutrious, balanced meals) complete with grocery lists in a plastic sleeve. I took out a dry erase marker and checked off the things I already had on hand.
Quick as that I was off to the store!
When hubby came to me to suggest on Monday that we invite our friends over tonight I immediately panicked. Then I remembered what we were having. Mentally, I added another quick sidedish. And I realized a quick stop at the grocery store to buy fresh mangos and naan bread, and we'd be set. Instead of allowing my panic to rob me of a wonderful opportunity to get to know these friends, I immediately responded, "Sounds lovely."
So tonight we are indulging in one of my favourite Indian menus (so far anyway!)...
Chicken with butter sauce
Basmatic rice
Aloo Gobi (curried cauliflower and potatoes)
A recipe I call Chunky Salad (cucumbers, carots, red pepper, celery all marinated in Italian vinaegrette)
Naan bread
And for dessert chopped mangoes or blueberries on icecream.
Not bad for middle of the week fare by a working mama, if I say so myself.
All because of planning.
Which brings me to the point of my post...
Eating healthy doesn't come naturally to those of us raised in North America. We've been conditioned to believe we don't have the time or skill to prepare delicious nutriously sound food.
Instead we stuff ourselves with pre-package meals... things I like to call... non-foods. It might be edible, but the real food has been processed so much it's largely a chemical-ladened cocktail. And the nutrients we should be getting from our food get lost in the processing.
So what's the best way to eat healthy?
Plan. Plan. Plan.
It's not going to happen by accident. It's going to happen by purposeful decision-making and a commitment to doing more than opening a can or ripping open a package.
But I'll save that for another post.
So I thought I would post about my lastest obsession - cooking.
The obsession started a few years ago when I got introduced to a weekly email menu. This weekly meal planner (with grocery list included) became the highlight of my week, as I couldn't wait to try the new and innovative recipes.
They were innovative in that they didn't use ingredients I was used to. Some of them used techniques I'd never heard of.
Eventually, I found myself substituting more and more ingredients and recipes on these weekly emails. And my family was less enthusiastic than I about the recipes.
Then last year I was asked to write a profile of cookbook author Sandi Richard (seen on Food Network's Fixing Dinner). Again I found myself inspired to try new things.
This time I was armed with her cookbook, The Dinner Fix, which contained many recipes with ingredients like garam masala, fengugreek, curry paste and (I've yet to try) lemon grass.
I loved her bent towards Indian and Asian foods.
I used many of her recipes and a few of my own favourites collected over the years to construct a six-week meal plan - including grocery lists.
Oh. My. Word.
It's become like a lifesaver for m! I refer to it constantly.
Plus, I'm finding my kids turn up their noses far less than they used to. Partly because the meal plan gives each of them a dish to create (or help create) for everyone else. They love that part.
And to make this health conscious mamma even more happy... we're all eating more fruits and vegetables than ever before. I even make salad several times a week!
Last weekend I realized I'd had no time to plan meals for the coming week and I was nervous, because I didn't have much time to dash to the grocery store. Imagine my relief when I pulled out my menu (with five nutrious, balanced meals) complete with grocery lists in a plastic sleeve. I took out a dry erase marker and checked off the things I already had on hand.
Quick as that I was off to the store!
When hubby came to me to suggest on Monday that we invite our friends over tonight I immediately panicked. Then I remembered what we were having. Mentally, I added another quick sidedish. And I realized a quick stop at the grocery store to buy fresh mangos and naan bread, and we'd be set. Instead of allowing my panic to rob me of a wonderful opportunity to get to know these friends, I immediately responded, "Sounds lovely."
So tonight we are indulging in one of my favourite Indian menus (so far anyway!)...
Chicken with butter sauce
Basmatic rice
Aloo Gobi (curried cauliflower and potatoes)
A recipe I call Chunky Salad (cucumbers, carots, red pepper, celery all marinated in Italian vinaegrette)
Naan bread
And for dessert chopped mangoes or blueberries on icecream.
Not bad for middle of the week fare by a working mama, if I say so myself.
All because of planning.
Which brings me to the point of my post...
Eating healthy doesn't come naturally to those of us raised in North America. We've been conditioned to believe we don't have the time or skill to prepare delicious nutriously sound food.
Instead we stuff ourselves with pre-package meals... things I like to call... non-foods. It might be edible, but the real food has been processed so much it's largely a chemical-ladened cocktail. And the nutrients we should be getting from our food get lost in the processing.
So what's the best way to eat healthy?
Plan. Plan. Plan.
It's not going to happen by accident. It's going to happen by purposeful decision-making and a commitment to doing more than opening a can or ripping open a package.
But I'll save that for another post.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Back in the saddle
I am preparing right now to do something I haven't done in a long, long time...
write.
Like in a freelance sense.
I write every day for my job, true, but it's completely different when it's just for me.
I have been contacted by four different editors recently asking for stories.
How nice.
To be wanted. Missed possibly.
Not that I've turned down work since starting my job, but there just wasn't much room for freelancing anyway.
The adjustment to almost-but-not-quite-fulltime work and all the crap that followed... like lice, not once but twice, grandma getting sick and passing away, all the craziness they call Christmas, followed by Richard getting sick, then me having an allergic reaction, and then Logan getting stitches in his head...
Yeah, freelancing wouldn't have fit in there. Good grief, sleeping barely fits in there!
But now I'm feeling at a better rhythm and adding freelancing sounds like a welcome adventure admist the normalcy my life has managed to achieve. In truth, I've been itching to get back at it for weeks now.
Since my job has started, for instance, i've honed my skills in my latest passion/obsession: mealplanning and cooking.
I'll have more on that in a later post.
Pending assignments: 2 with what sounds like 2 or 3 more on the way!
Listening to my space heater because it's rather chilly in our basement.
write.
Like in a freelance sense.
I write every day for my job, true, but it's completely different when it's just for me.
I have been contacted by four different editors recently asking for stories.
How nice.
To be wanted. Missed possibly.
Not that I've turned down work since starting my job, but there just wasn't much room for freelancing anyway.
The adjustment to almost-but-not-quite-fulltime work and all the crap that followed... like lice, not once but twice, grandma getting sick and passing away, all the craziness they call Christmas, followed by Richard getting sick, then me having an allergic reaction, and then Logan getting stitches in his head...
Yeah, freelancing wouldn't have fit in there. Good grief, sleeping barely fits in there!
But now I'm feeling at a better rhythm and adding freelancing sounds like a welcome adventure admist the normalcy my life has managed to achieve. In truth, I've been itching to get back at it for weeks now.
Since my job has started, for instance, i've honed my skills in my latest passion/obsession: mealplanning and cooking.
I'll have more on that in a later post.
Pending assignments: 2 with what sounds like 2 or 3 more on the way!
Listening to my space heater because it's rather chilly in our basement.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
What the crap?!
Okay... did Tillman take leave of his senses?
Quick check his coffee, cuz I think someone slipped a little stupid in his cup of joe.
Tomorrow, Riderville will officially confirm that Kerry Joseph... so lovingly referred to on this blog as KJ... will be packing his bags and leaving for the Argos.
What the heck? Did he like the city so much when he won the Grey Cup there, he decided to go back...?
Seriously... what is up with that?
Granted we do get a first round draft pick, a running back and some other dude...
But... but... for KJ?
I ask you, are three players of dubious caliber worth giving up the league's MVP... the most athletic quarterback in the CFL? ... the man who rallied the troops through thick and thin and... dare I say... aside from Kent Austin himself was probably one of the main reasons Saskatchewan fans will celebrate Christmas November 25th from now on?
I don't even know what to say.
It's just so sad...
Quick check his coffee, cuz I think someone slipped a little stupid in his cup of joe.
Tomorrow, Riderville will officially confirm that Kerry Joseph... so lovingly referred to on this blog as KJ... will be packing his bags and leaving for the Argos.
What the heck? Did he like the city so much when he won the Grey Cup there, he decided to go back...?
Seriously... what is up with that?
Granted we do get a first round draft pick, a running back and some other dude...
But... but... for KJ?
I ask you, are three players of dubious caliber worth giving up the league's MVP... the most athletic quarterback in the CFL? ... the man who rallied the troops through thick and thin and... dare I say... aside from Kent Austin himself was probably one of the main reasons Saskatchewan fans will celebrate Christmas November 25th from now on?
I don't even know what to say.
It's just so sad...
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Clearing the rubble
I'm back!
I survived the remainder of the month which included several trips to the doctor and an afternoon spent in the emergency room with my son while he got two stitches in his head.
So far things seem to be returning to a semblance of normal.
Right now we're in the midst of a study on Nehemiah in church. And I have to admit I am really enjoying it.
I got to thinking about rebuilding in my own life and how it can parallel the story of Nehemiah's efforts to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
Despite all the heartache and the past failures, Nehemiah convinced the people of Jerusalem to give it one final shot. They get organized, they have a plan, they have a fearless wise leader, they're ready to dry their tears and begin the work. In spite of their brokenness they found hope in his words.
I can't imagine how good it must have felt to see the progress as they went.
The first order of business was clearing the rubble. You can't build on top of unsteady crumbled walls, you've got to scrape away the rubble and find a solid, firm place to plant the foundation.
I thought of my own life and my efforts to rebuild... they've kind of started and stopped over the past month.
But it does start with clearing the rubble that I've clinged to...
... the discouraging words I still hear in my head from an old teacher, friend, or relative whose message of was clear: you're not good enough.
... the message of a culture who tells me in every medium possible day in and day out that my value should be measured by how I look and what kinds of toys I own.
... the pain of past failures... the writing career I've never quite succeeded in launching, the novel I'm never brave enough to write, the many failures in understanding and motivating my rather complex, high maintenance son, the educational goals I've never accomplished.
... the perfectionism that robs me of enjoying the NOW and sucks the fun out of everything. Life will never be perfect, I should stop expecting it to be and learn to be ok with "good enough".
Rubble. It's everywhere.
It's easy to feel as overwhelmed as the Jews as they looked at miles of walls and chunks of charred wall that had to be cleared away. They must have looked at their own two hands and thought the task was impossibly huge. Like where's a backhoe when you need it?
But they weren't alone in their task. They had each other and they had a heavenly father cheering them on, too!
It's good to know He's there when we need him. For the big projects and the little stuff.
I survived the remainder of the month which included several trips to the doctor and an afternoon spent in the emergency room with my son while he got two stitches in his head.
So far things seem to be returning to a semblance of normal.
Right now we're in the midst of a study on Nehemiah in church. And I have to admit I am really enjoying it.
I got to thinking about rebuilding in my own life and how it can parallel the story of Nehemiah's efforts to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
Despite all the heartache and the past failures, Nehemiah convinced the people of Jerusalem to give it one final shot. They get organized, they have a plan, they have a fearless wise leader, they're ready to dry their tears and begin the work. In spite of their brokenness they found hope in his words.
I can't imagine how good it must have felt to see the progress as they went.
The first order of business was clearing the rubble. You can't build on top of unsteady crumbled walls, you've got to scrape away the rubble and find a solid, firm place to plant the foundation.
I thought of my own life and my efforts to rebuild... they've kind of started and stopped over the past month.
But it does start with clearing the rubble that I've clinged to...
... the discouraging words I still hear in my head from an old teacher, friend, or relative whose message of was clear: you're not good enough.
... the message of a culture who tells me in every medium possible day in and day out that my value should be measured by how I look and what kinds of toys I own.
... the pain of past failures... the writing career I've never quite succeeded in launching, the novel I'm never brave enough to write, the many failures in understanding and motivating my rather complex, high maintenance son, the educational goals I've never accomplished.
... the perfectionism that robs me of enjoying the NOW and sucks the fun out of everything. Life will never be perfect, I should stop expecting it to be and learn to be ok with "good enough".
Rubble. It's everywhere.
It's easy to feel as overwhelmed as the Jews as they looked at miles of walls and chunks of charred wall that had to be cleared away. They must have looked at their own two hands and thought the task was impossibly huge. Like where's a backhoe when you need it?
But they weren't alone in their task. They had each other and they had a heavenly father cheering them on, too!
It's good to know He's there when we need him. For the big projects and the little stuff.
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