A glimpse into the future

I met our neighbour at the mailbox recently. She proudly introduced me to her one year old grandson sitting cutely in her car. She and her mother babysit him as she said her daughter has to go to work. She is about 60 years old and it made me think that this is a real possibility for M and myself in the future. I was initially delighted at the thought of a continued full life, but then on the other hand, when will we be free of responsibility? We already have aging parents and they won't live on forever, but coming right up theoretically are grandchildren.

Life is a delicate balance and I supposed one can't plan too much in advance! We'll just have to 'go with the flow'. Maybe it's time to plan a vacation.

You have to see this beyond adorable video 'Cat mom hugs baby kitten', I didn't know they did that. We are all God's creatures for sure.

Here's a story I found interesting, it talks about the lucky ones who make a lot of money from their blogs.

My Blog Is Also Paying My Bills

The Weekend

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

I walked to church yesterday. There was a threat of a thunderstorm but it didn't happen during the day. People were mowing the grass and trying to get their gardening done before the pending storm. They were offering free fair trade coffee after church so I had some along with a bite sized cinnamon bun. You could purchase coffee at $15 a bag or they had ordering instructions. I just bought a couple of raffle tickets for the upcoming summer festival.

L went to a party with some friends on the weekend. It seems the poor boy invited 10 people and more like 100 showed up. His parents were away. The place was a mess with kids all over the entire house. L's friend actually knew the boy and was trying to help keep things under control. There was no actual trouble, just tons of cars parked outside. We also went clothes shopping as she decided she needed business clothes for her new job! There were a couple of really good sales so we were happy (like 40 and 50% off the entire store).

K played a couple of tennis tournaments on the weekend. He didn't win any matches but had fun anyway and it was good experience.

Sunday Sketches - Red Fox

Welcome to Sunday Sketches hosted by Sophia. I did these red foxes from a photo I saw in a Canadian Wildlife email. Apparently they are found all over Canada.

Time to go see what everyone else did today!

Sweet Saturdays - Slimwich

Welcome to Diana's Sweet Saturdays! How about a low fat slimwich (vanilla ice cream sandwich)? It's delicious according to the kids, and only 130 calories.

Please visit the other participants to see what they did today, and won't you consider joining us?

Paint Party Friday - Parliament Hill

Welcome to Paint Party Friday hosted by Kristin and Eva. I saw a pretty photo in the newspaper, it was entitled 'flowers blooming on Parliament Hill, Ottawa'. This is my version.

Time to go see what everyone else did.

Tiffany Jewellery

I've been 'collecting' Tiffany jewellery (photos), lol, just for a visual treat. What do you think?








I found this recipe for Barbecued Garlic Ribs and it looks worth trying. It uses pork side ribs and you can also bake it in 30 to 40 minutes.

Body Butter

I have a good friend turning 50 soon, so I got her some body butter as a gift. There was a special on, and I decided to get one for myself! I'm guessing she would prefer a fruitier, apple flavour. I got shea butter and rosa mosqueta oil as pictured. It's great for dry skin and feels like such a treat.

We got a family invitation to a summer barbecue in July. Another one was being planned for mid-June, but we couldn't find a date good for everyone. This is modern life, busy lives. Speaking of busy, I think I mailed off my visa cheque without signing it! I hope I did. So much for efficiency.

Creative Tuesdays - Trees

Welcome to Creative Tuesdays. The theme this week is 'Trees'. Here is what I came up with. I snapped a photo in the neighbourhood and it was my inspiration.

Time to go visit everyone to see what they did today.

Long Weekend

We have a long Victoria Day weekend here. We moved L into her new off-campus residence. This is a photo taken in her new bedroom. Although she doesn't start school until September, she and her roommates have the place already. They will use it as a summer cottage I guess. L has a full time job downtown this summer, so she is busy.

Poor K had a discouraging math test last week. He didn't even want to drive when I picked him up, I thought he was ill. He has a learning disability and has to really work on the word problems. This lesson seemed a bit rushed as we approach the end of the school year. Things have been going fine up to this point. However, our motto is 'never give up' and we will keep plugging away.

On the good side we've been having spectacular weather this weekend, sunny and warm.


Here are some interesting videos to watch:

New Orleans 2 Japan

How to get rid of your jeep

Sunday Sketches - Droplets

Welcome to Sunday Sketches. This one is called 'Droplets', inspired by what else, a magazine photo!

Please go see what everyone else did today.

Sweet Saturdays - Cadbury Fruit and Nut

It's time for Sweet Saturdays. This large bar of Cadbury Fruit and Nut chocolate did not last very long in our house.

Time to go see what everyone else found sweet this week.

Paint Party Friday - Leaves

Welcome to Paint Party Friday! I took inspiration from this photography blog posting I happened upon. I hope you like it.

Let's go see what everyone else did today.

Jiffy Cinnamon Buns

K made this recipe at school and brought it home, so that we can make it. He says they are really good. We don't have a credit for the recipe unfortunately.

Ingredients

2 cups flour
2 tbs white sugar
4 tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 c butter or margarine
1 c cold milk

1/3 c butter or margarine
1c brown sugar
3 tsp ground cinnamon


Directions:

1. measure flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt into a large bowl.
stir with a large spoon

2. cut 1/4 cup of butter or margarine into the dry ingredients

3. add cold milk and stir the mixture to form a soft dough

4. place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead 10-12 times

5. use a rolling pin to roll the dough until it is approximately 12 x 12 inches

6. In another bowl, mix together 1/3 c of butter or margarine, the brown sugar
and ground cinnamon

7. spread this mixture evenly over the rolled dough

8. starting at one end, roll the dough and cinnamon/butter mixture up so that it
looks like a jelly roll.

9. slice into 1 inch slices

10. place each slice in a well-greased muffin tin with a cut side facing up

11. bake at 400F for 20-25 mins

yield 12 buns

Can you see the resemblance

My first thought was 'oh no'. But then a friend said it is obviously photoshopped, the colours have been altered and you can google 'Cinderella' to see the difference. Hmm.

Shayla's artwork and an inspiring story

Shayla sent me some of her lovely artwork. They look even better up close and in person. Thank you Shayla, it was very sweet of you.




This is an inspiring story from the newspaper yesterday:

Richmond Hill student, 16, discovers new hope for cystic fibrosis treatment

'Since winning the competition, Zhang says cystic fibrosis patients and their family members have been contacting him with stories of how the disease has affected their lives.

He said that one mother, whose 4-year-old daughter has cystic fibrosis, told him that up until now, none of the treatments has been effective.'

Vietnamese Lemongrass Baked Chicken

I wanted to try using lemongrass and found this tube of lemongrass paste in the supermarket which is great to have on hand.



We have fish sauce readily available in our supermarket, but you may have to go to an Asian grocery store to find it.



Then I located this delicious recipe on the internet which I simplified. I've already made it several times which must mean it's a keeper. I thought you might enjoy it too.

Vietnamese Lemon Grass Baked Chicken

10 chicken pieces (I use thighs)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks lemon grass, bottom 6 inches only sliced diagonally (or 1 tbs lemongrass paste)
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
2 tbs dark soy sauce

In a baking dish lined with parchment paper, mix all ingredients together.
Bake in 350°F (175°C) oven about 30 minutes.



And here's a joke for the day:

Sunday Sketches - Conception Bay

Welcome to Sunday Sketches! I did a sketch of Brigus, Conception Bay, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada. I saw a lovely photo of it in the newspaper recently and hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

Let's go see what everyone else did today!

Sweet Saturday and the Unknown Tree

I bought a package of these 2 bite butter tarts at the supermarket. K loves them. So do I. Happy Sweet Saturday! Let's go see what everyone else did today.




This tree appeared in my side yard a few years ago, and grew quite quickly. I have never been able to identify it, I even bought a couple of tree books and pored through them. It has a soft bark and the tree looks tall and thin in shape.

Paint Party Friday - Orchid and Vase

Thanks to Kristin and Eva for being such gracious hostesses week after week. What a great party. We've even survived a blog outage this weekend!

I saw this beautiful vase in the newspaper shortly before Mother's Day, it's made from lucite by artist Cec LePage. It inspired today's work.

Remember to check out the other Paint Party Friday contributions this week!

Blogger Outage!

Wow, I can't believe blogger has been out for so long, I felt a bit lost this morning, a bit off schedule! Hopefully, the problem won't recur anytime soon.

Here is some spring bloom I snapped yesterday, while out walking. Yes, it's that time of year when everything's blooming.

Goose

Blogger seems to have lost a bit of this post during a recent outage, so I'm re-creating it as best I can:

I took a photo of this lone goose walking around the mall last week. Well, I guess he could always fly back to the pond.



My mom and I have a doctor appointment today, just touching base, as we haven't seen him in awhile. Hopefully, he won't give us anymore tests to do.

I heard a man at the gym fell off his bike during spin class. The ambulance was there in 4 minutes. Hope he's ok.




And here's a display of pure courage (wow):

man vs moose in sweden (the original)

Lunch on the run

Here's my lunch yesterday. I was at a hardware store around lunchtime and there was a hotdog stand outside. I decided to have a german sausage on a bun with my favourite toppings for $4. That would be sauerkraut, ketchup, relish and (honey) mustard. I would normally share it, but I was alone so what could I do, I ate the whole thing!




Here's a funny video you might enjoy:

Kung Fooled

And can you believe they are doing this:

Newest CN Tower attraction: Take a walk on the outside

Creative Tuesdays - Purple

Welcome to Creative Tuesdays. This week's theme is 'Purple' and I decided to do a purple eye for the occasion. I had a few different purple ideas and shared them at Paint Party Friday and Sundays Sketches these past few days. One was a purple sunset and the other was Mother's Day orchids.

Well, it's time to go see what everyone else did this week.

Sunset at the North Pole

Someone emailed me this beautiful photo entitled 'Sunset at the North Pole'. I don't know if it really is, but I enjoyed it anyway.



Hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day. L made me a pretty watercolour card and got me some watercolour pads and an acrylic pad on behalf of the family. We had lunch with M's mother and some of the extended family members, then we took some gifts over to my mom's later in the afternoon. K drove us to a nearby Starbucks for their half-price Frapuccino promotion. I think my mom was a bit nervous, but she declared him a confident driver. It was really busy at Starbucks, but we all love the whipped cream topping on the drinks.

Later that evening the four of us decided to go to a Japanese restaurant that L really wanted us to try. She had been there with some friends recently. The bento boxes were really good and we couldn't finish all the food. I watched the rest of the Amazing Race Finale while the others went to play some tennis. It was a full day.

Sunday Sketches - Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day and welcome to Sunday Sketches. I did a purple orchid arrangement largely because Creative Tuesdays is having a purple challenge and I got carried away trying a few different ideas. I thought I would share this one here for Mom's Day.

Time to go see what everyone else did!

Sweet Saturday - Cookie Dough Drizzle Cake

We recently got this cookie dough drizzle ice cream cake from Marble Slab creamery. L requested this for her recent birthday. It is to die for. OMG. Happy Sweet Saturday.

Please visit the others to see what they thought was sweet this week.

Paint Party Friday - Purple Sunset

First of all, look what was waiting for me when I got home yesterday! Lovely gifts from Heather of Rose Hill Designs. I had guessed where she was on vacation recently.
Thanks Heather, you made my day. And that lovely mug will remind me of Sophia too. I will also enjoy the Starbucks gift card and your New Year ACEO is precious.




Now it's time for Paint Party Friday! I did a purple sunset, largely because the next Creative Tuesday challenge is 'Purple' and I got carried away trying a few different ideas. So I decided to use one of them for today's PPF. Hope you like it.

Let's go see what everyone else did today!

Vegetable Planters

I took this photo at a local grocery store. Don't these planters look good? They look like lettuce and spinach.





We received a 2011 Census form in the mail yesterday. The difference is that it's online this year. When I finished it, I realized we must have received the short version which is fine by me! One year we got the long one, in the days when they sent a printed copy. You still have to option to request a printed copy if that is your preference.

7 Random Things

I was recently tagged by Lenoracle and since I haven't done one of these in awhile, I thought I might share 7 random things about me.

1) I'm a type A personality and a worrier. Everything has to be done right away.

2) I'm a food lover, all kinds (within reason). I probably wouldn't try snake soup or insects.

3) I've been to Paris and loved it.

4) I have 3 sisters and 1 brother, all younger than me.

5) I'm an Adam Lambert fan.

6) I have a Math degree.

7) I studied French at the university level, as I liked languages.

And there you have it! I won't tag anyone, but feel free to join in if you would like!

Think Big

I saw this photo in the newspaper the other day and thought it was a really good ad. What do you think? That little acorn will become a big oak tree! How's that for thinking big?




The internet was very slow yesterday, traffic was up due to Osama Bin Laden. A friend told me the lack of any cell phone or internet communication from his Pakistani compound drew suspicion in this day and age. And of course, the jokes started up immediately. Did you see this one?

Back Home

Well L is all moved back home for the summer. She turned 19 recently and had the 2 best celebrations of her life so far. It seems to keep getting better every year, lucky her. One celebration was with her university friends (20 or so of them). She's thrilled to be of legal drinking age. Then she celebrated at a restaurant with a bunch of friends here. Apparently the whole restaurant ended up joining in to sing her a happy birthday.

M, K and I had settled into a more peaceful life while she was away. It's a bit busier now with L back home. Not to mention there are a pile of bags in the basement filled with her stuff from school. At the same time, it's great to have the family back together. I know she also has to adjust to a different lifestyle and she and her school friends miss each other already.

We had a lovely dinner out the family of one of her roommates when we went to bring L home. They are a nice family and we all got along. So now we've met all her future roommates.

In other news, it's election day, and Canada chooses a Prime Minister. Although this has been eclipsed by the news that Osama Bin Laden has been killed.

And I learned, interestingly, from Marlene yesterday that 'There is a very strong Russian Influence in Alaska, especially Sitka. They import Russian art and the lacquered pieces are beyond gorgeous. I was delighted to find these wooden dolls while there. I also purchased a Ukrainian Egg Painting Kit in Juneau.'

Sunday Sketches - Canada Goose

Gosh, it's May already.

Welcome to Sunday Sketches! I drew another picture from my Canadian Wildlife magazine, it's a Canada Goose. They are all over the roads at this time of year, even to the point of stopping traffic.

Well, time to go visit everyone else to see what they did today.