3500 Steps

Today was another gorgeous day so I told myself that I really ought to go for a walk. I hate walking alone but I really would have felt guilty if I hadn't taken advantage of the sunshine today. I am better at getting some exercise if I can some how track it or have some sort of result to see at the end of things. A pedometer is perfect for me. The one I have tracks the number of steps, distanced walked and calories burned. Everything I could possibly keep tabs on after a walk! So off I went....feeling a little strange walking on my own but I just keep my head up and went as fast as I liked with no little voices telling me that they were tired. That part was very enjoyable. I did our usual loop in our neighborhood which took me about 40 minutes. I was all excited to see my results when I got home but they were less than stellar. Really! Just under 3500 steps taken, 237 calories burned and 3.16 kms walked. Not quite the workout I thought I was doing! I bet that didn't even take care of the Corn Flakes I had for breakfast.

I Love this Place!

Our corner of the province has been basking in wonderful sunshine the past few days and there is a lot more in the forecast. After a very stormy winter so far this is a much needed reprieve. Everyone seems a lot cheerier on a sunny day too. There hasn't really been much to post lately. The past week was just the usual work, soccer, etc etc...life! We had a nice weekend enjoying the outdoors as much as we could fit in. Two really long walks went a long way in giving our lazy selves a bit of a work out. My parents returned from a two week holiday in Mexico early Sunday morning. They look tanned and well-rested and by all accounts had a great time. I hope we can return in a few years! Yep...heaps of excitement going on here. Let's see...what else? Chad has a nasty cold. That isn't really anything new for him. He came home from kindergarten today and proudly announced he had almost used up a whole box of Kleenex. Super. Nathan is sitting here watching 'The Sound of Music' which is the second time in one month. It was a favorite of mine when I was a kid too! I had planned to make some blueberry muffins and oatmeal cookies tonight but am out of eggs. Okay, now I am rambling....I hope my next post will be a tad more exciting!

Wonders Never Cease!

My bachelor brother had us over for supper tonight.....I think a first! He made us an amazing Thai stir-fry that was so delicious. I seriously pigged-out! It had cabbage, chicken, peppers, carrots, bean sprouts, and all kinds of delightful spices and flavours. For dessert there was chocolate cake with ice cream...yummy. Thanks Andrew! Some lucky lady needs to snatch him up :)

Enough about food...onto my current dilemma. I am going skiing in a few weeks with Nathan as part of a school trip. I need advice about my equipment. It is OLD. Tres old. Old as in I bought it in the late eighties. I foolishly thought it would be good enough for the slopes still but when I took my stuff in to get tuned and adjusted the guys at the shop practically laughed in my face! Due to the age of the bindings and insurance liability they won't adjust them but they did wax and sharpen my skis. Now what do I do? Ski on these relics and hope I don't kill myself with bindings that may or may not let me go if I fall? Or do I rent some skis? I am an intermediate skier and don't do crazy stuff but all the skis now are the new 'S' shape skis and maybe they would be easier on my old body that my 'straight' skis. I don't know what to do and would love to hear any advice from any of you skiers out there!

Triumph!

I beat Keith in a round of Scrabble this afternoon....he usually wins so this was a great change. I love word games and crossword puzzles and all things to do with letters. I definitely have inherited this from my dad's side of the family. My grandma was a great Scrabble champ!

These tulips were given to me last week by my dinner guests and now they are drooping. I really enjoy having fresh flowers on the mantle...they make the house look so pretty. Too bad they don't last longer!

News Alert

Attention Winners/Homesense shoppers! If you frequent these stores as much as I do, you'd better go over your credit card statement with a fine-tooth comb. Apparently some hackers have gotten into the database at their head office and has gotten all debit/credit card numbers for 2006 and 2003!

How interesting that yesterday I discovered that someone had taken a trip with AirCanada courtesy of Keith and I.

Very vexing!

Comfort Food

I was feeling domestic today. Homemade italian herb bread and a hearty beef stew. The men of the house were most pleased!

Snow for us....round five?

Now, we are very used to grey wet winters in our corner of the planet, not white ones! Once again we woke up to a lovely blanket of snow this morning. The schools were open though so we made the trek to the far corners of the city to our school in the country.

This is about half a block from the school

Most of the route to school is through main roads and highways but the last stretch is a long country road with a HUGE hill and very deep ditches on each side. It's this part that makes a parent white knuckle the steering wheel! We made it! I always say a little prayer of thanks for that. Anyhow...once we got there the principal told us to please turn around and go home. The forecast said it would snow most of the day so picking up the kids later on would probably asking for trouble. She didn't need to tell me twice so we turned around our trusty car and made it back. The boys and I decided to take their new sled out for the morning. This neighborhood has two wonderful parks with steep hills that are perfect for sledding....we tried them both! I am very out of shape and was huffing and puffing up and down those darn slopes! We came home and shovelled the driveway and by this time we were quite wet. That means only one thing.....hot chocolate! It's been a great day so far and I hope this snow doesn't melt too quickly but the forecast does call for some warmer temps in the coming days. We'll just enjoy it while we can.

A Lovely Sort of Friday

I rarely get Fridays off. Somehow I seem to always be scheduled to work. It works out well since it's Keith's day off and that's one day we don't have to deal with daycare for the kids. But I was off today and what a treat! After dropping off the kids at school, K and I had a quick breakfast at Timmy's and then ran to the lab so K could give up some blood. He's had some vaccinations for work and they need to see if they 'took'. After that we hit our favorite store...'Home Sense'. Perfect for a house with bare walls and owners on a budget! I love it when K comes with me as he has a great eye for ideas and patience to dig thru their often very full shelves. This was our 'find' today!

And then to hang it up! Thank you Keith! Now, just to do something with that hideous drapery. Any economical suggestions????

It's a chilly night and I've been settling down in front of the fireplace with a cup of herbal tea and a book. Not an exciting Friday night to many but I could not be more content!

Snow Surprise!

My kids were very excited to see this out the front window this morning and then when I told them school was cancelled things got a little crazy! Yeah for kids....boo for grown-ups still having to go to work!

Pleasantly Plump

Anyone else NOT on a post-Christmas diet?

 

She's not 'all that' in the kitchen

Here I was making a cake. I had just added the flour to my batter and I guess I was day dreaming about my lovely morning/afternoon shopping with Kori sans children...pure bliss! Anyhow...I had meant to switch over the lever to lock the machine in the down position but instead cranked the mixer onto HIGH speed. POOF! Flour....magical flour every which where. This is a photo after I had cleaned up the splattered batter. I thought it was a blog-worthy moment.

 

New Years Eve

It's practically written in stone that we shall spend Dec 31st with Keri & Dave and Kori & Roger or a combination there of! It's been so long that we've been doing this that it's hard to imagine doing anything else :) We had a low key yet completely enjoyable evening. One of the wonderful aspects was that we had all managed to make other arrangements for our kids. Our kids are all old enough to need minimal supervision but it's still a different atmosphere when they aren't there. We took advantage of this by taking a nice brisk stroll after our Chinese food feast. It was cold and refreshing and a great idea. We played plenty of Cities and Knights and for once didn't over indulge on the food. Are we getting smarter or what?!
I think we got home around 2:30....time flies when you're having fun! Thanks guys for a great evening!