De retour

Hi guys! Yes I'm still alive, and we made it back from NYC safe and sound. We had a terrific time in The City! Hard to believe we left a week ago tomorrow! The flights were good and we actually arrived ahead of time in NYC. I'm going to leave it at that and post a few teaser shots of our trip as I still have a million and one things to do before the IT guys from work arrive here on Friday to connect me to the office... More soon!

Central Park in bloom - just below the Strawberry Fields


Poster for Armida - the opera we saw at the Met


Brad and our good friend Christiane in front of the Met


Me and Brad


I love this shot - String Theory comes to Katz's

Memory Lane

Hey gang,

How goes the battle? All goes good on this end. I hope I didn't freak you all out with last week's rather morose post! I truly wasn't all that sad or depressed, just a bit melancholy...

This past week has been busy and productive both at work and on the home front. We are still getting things moved around at home, switching bedrooms, moving art, and getting ready for my upcoming stint of working at home. Speaking of which, while I always knew it was to be a pilot project, I was think more in terms of months, whereas, I have since found out, that the bosses at work are thinking in terms of weeks! Nice. In any case, I'll take what I can get. They tell me if all goes well, I would be working at home on a full-time basis come September. But, for various reasons, that is a very big IF! Que sera, sera, I suppose. If the full-time teleworking doesn't pan out, I'll evaluate ALL of my options at that time.

In other news, spring is upon us in full force here in eastern Canada. The forsythia is in bloom, the grass is greening, trees are budding, and our rhubarb is up. It's great! I'm hoping we'll get some decent weather next week in NYC! We're getting very excited about the trip. I've made a couple of restaurant reservations (one here). I love the area around Columbus Circle, where this restaurant is! We're also going to taking in an opera at the Met (Armida with Renée Flemming) and a show on Broadway (Fela).

And for some reason or another, I've also been thinking about Mirla Castellanos! Ever heard of her? Probably not, unless you are from Venezuela or Latin America. She was a fave of my first partner, who was from Caracas. I listened to a lot of her music in the 2 and a half years we were together! The first song, Maldito Amor, was one of her big hits. I think she also did a version of Dominique a nique, but I can't find that on You Tube, so I've substituted. Perhaps it was another artist in any case...

De todas maneras, Javier, if you are out there, these two are for you! :)

In these times...

Sometimes, as a 5 or 6-year-old kid, I remember pulling a blanket or and afgan over myself and just crying. Not for any particular reason, just because of an overwhelming sense of sadness. I've been kinda feeling like that again lately. Again, not for any particular reason, just because, I guess....

I don't know if you know Joan Armatrading, but she's a great singer. She just released a new CD (This Charming Life) I think. One of my fave songs by her is "All the way from America", but it's hard to find online, so I give you these...

Dedicated to: Tiwonge Chimbalange & Steven Monjeza:


In These Times


Down to Zero


And I finally found a not too bad version of "All the Way From America"

Late breaking news!

Spring has sprung!

Have you heard? It's spring! Though today was beautiful, I prefer the winter we had to the spring that arrived last weekend! It's been cold and damp ever since. And it's supposed to go down to minus 13 C on the weekend! Jeez Louise! Enough already!

Our poor little rhubarb sprouts will catch a cold!

Hey gang. Not much new on this end, though I did receive my token for my computer yesterday that will facilitate my working from home!! Looks like it's actually going to happen! I know, I can hardly believe it myself! I have to keep pinching myself, but hopefully by this time next month, I will log on and connect to my work from home. Brad is estatic also! ;)

Other than that, we are still looking forward to our trip to NYC next month. And can you believe it!! Dame Edna has a new show on Broadway that we will definitely take in! Possums, I tell you! What luck!

Laters!

Bettye

Do you know Bettye? If not, please allow me to introduce you to her:

Somebody pick up my pieces...

So simple

This cute little video has been making its way around the blogosphere in the last few days. Perhaps you've already seen it. If not, here it is:

Resurfacing

Hey! Long time no see! It has certainly been a while since my last post! Hope you all have been keeping well!

Let's see... We watched a lot of the Olympics on our new TV. Shaun and Mary came over last Sunday for dinner and to watch the Gold Medal hockey game between Canada and the U.S. (We won - YAY!). And it was also Shaun's birthday, so we celebrated that as well. Our Paulie and Ron were over the night before that and we had a ridiculously good time with them, too. Georges and Barb came by last night for supper (pasta putanessca & raspberry pie) and a movie (Katyn, a Polish film about the massacre of some 12,000 Polish officers by the Russians in WWII). George is Polish and understood the film for the most part without having to rely on the subtitles.

Went down to see mom today and forgot to take her a piece of raspberry pie! I'm in her bad books now ;) She looked well and was feeling okay. My sister-in-law and niece dropped by shortly after I left apparantly and she had a good visit with them. I also found out today that I am a great uncle once again. My sister's daughter had a baby boy yesterday. Called him Abraham, can you imagine! Jersey. (We had a Minah bird called Abe when I was a kid, something dad brought home one day and thought we would like. (He, of course, had nothig to do with the cleaning of the cage or other bird maintenance - my mother could have shot him!). In any case, Abe learn how to cough exactly like my father, you would swear that he was in the house to hear this bird, and its other favourite lines were, "Going swimmin'" and "I wanna get out" - I taught him that of course!)

What else... We're still waiting on the delivery of our bed and bedroom set (they are making the mattress special order - so we can get it up to our 3rd floor where the master bedrom is). The snow is melting like crazy - another week of this weather and there will be none left (YAY!!). There are plants actually sprouting in our back yard, if you can believe it! This time last year, we had about 6 feet of snow on the ground if not more. I'm really digging being able to wear shoes while walking Kaiser in the morning and on my trek back and forth to work. I HATE winter boots!

We're also looking forward to another trip to the Big Apple. We're going on April 15, so just over a month now. We're going with an old friend (a female university professor from France originally) and have rented an apartment for the 4 nights near SoHo. I've been researching restaurants like mad on the Internet, and I already know that we'll be going back to one of the places we went to last year, Aroma on 4th Street - such a great place! Feel free to give some recommendations!

A few quick pics before I resubmerge:

Pizza Pizza


Sid the Kid! (And yes it's me who has his stick and gloves!)


Jasper: "When's that pizza gonna be ready anyway!?"


Team Canada goalie on the left, Luongo or something, he's very cute!


Jerome Iginla - winning smile!

Stop Callin'

Hey guys,

Been another busy week. We went to our good friends Shaun and Mary last night for a potluck with Don and Mar and our new back door neighbour, as it turns out. It was a great time. Don and Mar took homemade maple ice cream, and an anti-pasto dish with peppers and onions (very yummy both), and I took the date/pecan pie, which went went perfectly with Don's ice cream. Coleen (the new back door neighbour (who knew Shaun and Mary beforehand) took some yummy Brie and blue cheese. A good time was had by all. Shaun and Mary made a great Ceasar salad and a vegetarian lasagne. We all had a great time and we watched some of the Vancouver Oylmpics on TV afterwards.

Speaking of TVs, Brad and I had somewhat of a mid-life crisis last week and we went out an bought a new 42" flat-sceen high def TV with Blue Ray and sound system, a new king size bed (yes we are going to try sleeping together again after all these years!) 2 night stands, a dresser, and the stand for the TV and god knows what else! And that is on top of the new garden door we are we are having put in and the new air-tight fireplace insert that was installed last week! Enh... It's only money and you can't take it with you! It will be extremely nice for me not to have to vacate my (old) bedroom when someone comes to visit, which my sister from Alberta will be doing in a couple of weeks (en route to Saudi Arabia - finally, perhaps - (I'll believe it when I see it!)

In any event, baked salmon and potates for supper tonight (our usual Sunday fare).

And I'll leave you with Lady Gaga at the Brit Awards, which took place earlier this week. Say what you will, I like Gaga. At least she writes most of her own stuff, unlike Madonna, with whom she is being compared.

Happy Belated Valentine's!

I can't believe it's already the 16th of February. Seems like days pass now like minutes used to!

Not a whole lot new with us. Brad and his dad had a good ski trip in Maine. It was cold for the first bit, but generally good skiing. They got back last Wednesday, and on Friday, Brad and I hooked up with Shaun at our usual watering hole for an after work tipple. After drinks, we kidnapped Shaun for supper at a nearby restaurant, before heading over to Shaun and Mary's to watch some of the Olympics Opening Ceremony.

By and large, I thought the Opening was great. Measha Bruggergossman, the big-haired gal who sang the Olympic Hymn, gave a terrific performance. We've seen her perform many times as she is from our fair city. And I'm sure we'll see her again in the months and years to come on the classical stages and concert halls around the world.

And k.d. lang - Wow! She just gets better as she ages. Her rendition of Leonard Cohen's Halleujah was inspired. She always does an amazing job with that song - much better than Cohen himself, in my opinion.

Our Saturday was fairly quiet and we both did our usual weekend chores: groceries, laundry, walking dogs, and cooking. I made an unbelievably yummy Medjool date pecan pie, the recipe for which I snagged here. It's very easy to make and is fantastic! The perfect ending for our Valentine's Dinner, which started with smoked salmon and parmesan toasts - the bread, the butter, the salmon and the cheese all combine under the broiler to provide the ultimate taste sensation: crunchy, soft, salty and sweet all at the same time! We then moved on to seared scallops with celery, basmati rice, and homemade guacamole. As I mentioned, we finished the meal with the date pecan pie and a half bottle of Chateau RIEUSSEC Sauternes 2002, which I had picked up in Montreal in November. It, too, was incredibly good ($45/half bottle good!) with strong floral notes and the slightest hint of pine (the tree, not the sol!).

Here are a few pics:

Whine, bitch, moan, complain.... Repeat.

Well, as the title of this post suggests, I have been in a somewhat negative mood of late. Mostly, I think, it's a bad case of the winter doldrums. Though we thankfully haven't had a lot of snow lately, it has been bitterly cold and windy for the last week or so. The low minus 20s C and minus mid-teens C for the most part. Ugh. I've had enough already. And we still have the rest of February and all of March to get in. I really, really, really want to go South somewhere, but as I said before, I think, it's not financially feasible this winter. Next winter, come what may, I am going someplace warm for at least a week in February.

I think it was Jim (over at gorgim - link in the sidebar) who once posted about his dislike of wearing a winter coat. Sorry Jim, but the coat is the least of my dislikes surrounding winter :) For me, it's the winter boots (big, heavy winter boots that one has to wear when one has two dogs that need walking in all kinds of weather), and the long johns that have to be worn almost daily. Not to mention the hats and the gloves. Then there are the slippery sidewalks (or the sandy sidewalks after the city sidewalk plows go over and spread sand, which makes it a lot of fun cleaning off the dogs' paws in the porch after their walks), the slippery streets - caked with snow and ice. The barren, leafless trees. The short days, which thankfully are getting a smidgon longer now. Ugh again!

On top of the cold outside, I've had a bad cold inside. After just nicely getting over the cold I had over the holidays, I picked up a new one that has been hanging around for at least 2 weeks now it seems. Mostly in my sinuses and nose, but I've been coughing a bit as well and just generally feeling miserable and sorry for myself. I think - I hope - I am on the tail end of it. I blame that gall darn H1N1 vaccine I got back in November! It's been years almost since I've had a bad cold, and now this year already I've had two. Oh woe is me! I know. I'll stop bitching now! :)

In other news, Brad and his dad left this morning for a 4-day skiing trip to northern Maine (Saddleback Mountain). They should have a good time and good snow conditions. I'm minding the fort and the dogs. I'm taking Monday off just to give myself a bit of a treat. I'm running down to mom's tomorrow to have a visit and get her stocked up. She's been doing quite well lately, though she too is complaining of the cold. She's on blood thinners, which makes her mind the cold even more, I think.

Our friends George and Barb are currently in Washington, D.C. Ha! They are getting a blizzard there this weekend. They are supposed to be flying back tomorrow, but it remains to be seen if they'll be able to get out as planned. Barb sent me an e-mail this morning saying that the whole city had basically shut down and that they were hunkered down at their hotel with a team of college basketball players. Hmmm... One could imagine worse fates!

So, gentle readers... Please think warm thoughts and send some positive energy my way! Hasta pronto!

Dios Mio!

Has it been a week already since my last post? Jeez. Ca passe vite!

It's been a rather uneventful week with the exception being that last Monday I learned that I might be able to start working from home come March! OMG! Needless to say I am thrilled, and Brad is doing his best to be act like he's happy for me! Haha.. He has been working from home for many years and has grown quite used to having our place all to himself during the daytime. Oh well. I'm sure we'll manage somehow! I live for the day when I no longer have to take the bus to the opposite end of the city and work with many of the morons that I do. Speed the day, I say!

It was VERY cold here this morning - around minus 18 C, but it has been warming up all day and we're supposed to get rain tomorrow and Tuesday. Ugh. I HATE rain in the wintertime.

Got down to see mom for a while this morning. She looks good and has no major complaints. Long may it last!

After I got back from mom's I made an Indonesian Peanut Soup and the lentil salad with sun-dried tomatoes and feta. Brad made Shaun's special spinach salad to take out to his father's tonight for a good-bye party for one of his neices who is going back out West. I am actually starting to feel like crap (sore throat and stuffed up sinuses), so I am sitting this one out.

Here's the recipe for the Indonesian Peanut Soup:

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 or 2 jalapenos, seeded and minced
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons minced fresh lemongrass*
4 cups water
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1/3 cup chunky peanut butter
1/4 cup ketjap manis**
2 tablespoons lime juice
1teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Method:

In a large saucepan, heat the oil. Add the onion, garlic, jalapeno(s), ginger, and lemon grass and sautée for 4 minutes. Add the water and bring to a simmer. Cook for 12 - 15 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat and add the coconut milk, peanut butter, ketjap manis, lime juice, and dried seasonings and cook for 5 to 10 minutes more over low heat, stirring frequently. Stir in the cilantro. Yeild: 6 to 8 servings.

* Ketjap manis is a thicker, sweeter Indonesian style of soy sauce.

** I use chopped zested lemon peel, as good fresh lemon grass is hard to come by here. Works great!

Have a good week peeps!

Busy Weekend

Phew! Sunday evening already! The weekend literally flew by. Started off with drinks with Don and Mar at a nearby hotel, as there was a gas leak at our usual haunt. Was good to catch up with them as I had not seen then since New Year's Eve. Brad was at his dad's and Shaun and Mary couldn't make it. Georges and Barbeara are doing their yearly purge, i.e., no drinking in January, so I didn't even try to contact them... (Let me know if your off the wagon, dudes, and we'll fit something in next week!!)

It's been basically a slow weekend with nothing much on the go. I went swimming both last night and tonight, which felt great! I'm definitely in the mood to drop some unwanted pounds and get in better shape. Tomorrow, I'll bike and then swim again on Tuesday. I have to get in shape for NYC in April!

We had our usual baked salmon, baked potato, and veggies for supper tonight. But I also made my Thai tofu and zucchini curry this afternoon as well as a large batch of rice. Yesterday Brad made homemade beans and a bean salad. So we should hopefully have little cooking to do this coming week both for lunches and suppers.

We continue to be horrified by the situation in Haiti. If you haven't already made a donation, please do so. I made an initial donation to Doctors Without Borders on Friday and will probably end up giving more. We have so much here and take so much for granted, the situation in Haiti is humbling. There but for the grace of god go we all....

Have a good week amigos!

Here's some eye candy and incentive!

Haiti

Just a quick post to express our sadness and horror at the incomprehensible destruction and chaos in the wake of the Haitian earthquake. The magnitude of the devastation is truly overwhelming.

Brad knows one of the Canadians still listed as missing. Though they had never met in person, they had frequent work-related telephone and e-mail conversations. He had sent Brad some pics of Haiti and the work he was doing there. He had been home for the holidays and had just returned to the island nation on Tuesday, the day of the quake. We hope he is still alive and our thoughts and prayers are with him, his family and with all those suffering in Haiti.

Please send what you can to the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, or other worthwhile NGOs that are providing relief to quake victims.

UPDATE: Very, very sadly, we have learned that Brad's colleague was one of the casualties of the Haitian earthquake. By all accounts, he was a terrific guy - devoted husband and father of 2. Our hearts go out to his family and friends.

Sunday cookin' with Jeff and Brad

Hey guys! Wassup? Been a busy Sunday here in eastern Canada. I did stay in bed though until almost 9:00 a.m., which was very nice. After walking Kaiser and feeding both dogs, I gobbled down my half grapefruit for breakfast, checked my losing lotto tickets - twice! - just to make sure, and gathered mom's stuff together and headed down to her place. It was bright and sunny here today, but very cold, minus 15 C and windy. Brrr.

When I arrived at mom's she was feeling a bit under the weather, but she looked fine. I later came to find out that she had misunderstood the gal who had taken her blood pressure earlier in the day... Mom thought she had heard 123 on the bottom (systolic, diastolic, I'm not sure which the bottom No. is). In any case, no. The gal later told us that it was 123 over 90something, which is really good, especially for my mother.

I pursuaded her to go out and have some lunch even though she didn't want to. They had chicken noodle soup, most of which mom ate, but later complained that the chicken must have died of old age, it was so tough. Jersey... She's a hard old gal to please! The place was absolutely beautiful there today with the bright blue sky and frozen lake. I keep telling mom and her fellow geriatric inmates that one day soon, they will have to don their skates and rip some lines on the lake! They nod and smile, as if I'm the one who's out of his mind.

After a little somethin somethin this afternoon, I finally got a chance to make a new soup that I've been wanting to cook for a while now. It's a tomato and Israeli couscous potage, which, as it turns out, is really is delicious. Here's the recipe and a pic:


Tomato Soup with Israeli Couscous

2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, diced
6 cloves of garilc, roughly chopped
20 oz can diced tomates
6 cups vegetable stock/broth
2 or 3 sprigs fresh mint, chopped, or a pinch of dried mint
1/4 tsp ground cumin
cayenne pepper, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

In a large sauce pan, simply stir fry the onion and carrots until softened (about 10 minutes).

Add the spices, half the garlic, tomatoes, vegetable stock/broth, and couscous.

Bring to a boil, add the remaining chopped garlic, reduce heat, and simmer for about 10 mintues. Throw in the chopped cilantro and let sit for at least 10 minutes. Ladle into bowls and serve. Serves 6 to 8 easily.

Yum! Here's a pic of the finished product:

Slapshotolus!

First off, Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all had a great holiday and that 2010 is treating you well thus far! My cold hung around the whole time I was off, but I still managed to have a good time and the break from work was needed and enjoyed. We hosted a New Year's Eve party for some friends and neighbours and it was very festive with the Christmas tree still up and a fire roaring in the fireplace.

Now it's back to the grind and the rest of winter. I think the US and Europe are actually having a harder time of it than we are here in Canada. It's been almost springlike here for the past few days with temperatures hovering aruond the freezing mark and no snow or rain for over a week. There's still a lot of snow on the ground, though, and we'll no doubt get a lot more before the winter's over.

I'm really wishing I was in Saint Lucia or some other warm place, but with the painting of the house, replacement of the runner on the stairs, and other expenses, I don't think a trip South is in the cards for this year, anyway. Unless, of course, I have a big lotto win! Tonight's Lotto Max jackpot is $40 million, so wish me luck!

Speaking of winter, the Olympics will be getting underway next month in Vancouver. For the first time ever, I believe, there will be a Pride House in the Olympic Village - a place for gay and gay-friendly atheletes and fans to get together and socialize. I think it's a great idea and I hope it's a success. One of the centerpieces at Pride House will be a sculpture of a naked hockey player called, appropriately enough, Slapshotolus! Word on the street is that a Montreal Habs player posed for the work - I'm joking, of course, but it certainly is a provocative piece that's bound to cause a bit of a stir. And you have to admit that hockey ratings would probably go through the roof if players were similarly attired! They'd likely have to institue some new rules about high-sticking and being off-side! And instead of power plays, there could be power bottoms - Oh, the possibilities are endless!

All of the pics I've seen have been a version of the one below, so no word yet on whether he's cut or uncut! Without further ado, then, I give you Slapshotolus!

Happy Boxing Day!

Hey all... I had every intention of doing a few posts before Christmas, but you know how it goes... One thing leads to another and before you know it, Christmas Day has come and gone... And here we are at December 26, or Boxing Day in Canada.

We had a HUGE scare last week with one of Brad's nephews having a terrible accident while snowboarding. He fell and hit his head (sans helmet) and had to be rushed to the Regional Hospital in Saint John. He was within minutes of dying, according to the doctors, but they operated and removed a blood clot, and he was home in time for Christmas. A true Christmas miracle! One of his eyes is still not opening properly, but the docs are confident that it will basically heal itself and he'll be as good as new. He was a very lucky 17-year-old, and we are all lucky that he is still with us.

Other than that, we had a good holiday, going to Brad's dad's place on Christmas Eve and then to his sister's for the big dinner yesterday. Unfortunately, I developed a heck of a Christmas cold, and have not been feeling great, especially yesterday and today. We were supposed to go to mom's today, but I felt wretched when I got up (after an almost sleepless night), so we decided that Brad would go down on his own and deliver mom's gifts. I certainly did not want to expose her to the cold that I have. Don and Marlene had also invited us to their place today after visiting with mom, so Brad is going to keep up that end of the deal as well. He decided to take Jasper with him and do some snowshoeing out at Don and Mar's before returning here later this evening. Jasper will have a ball!

Brad gave me two new watches for Christmas - a very nice regular one to wear every day and a waterproof one that I can wear when I go swimming. The strap of my old waterproof watch broke a couple of weeks ago and I hate being without a timepiece on my wrist. I gave him all of the books on the Canada Reads selection this year as well as one entitled 24 Walks in Paris, which will hopefully come in handy when we are there next fall with Brad's sister and brother-in-law.

I have all of next week off, which I am very much looking forward to. Hopefully I will be able to ditch this awful cold very soon. I keep filling myself with vitamin C and Dristan. We are having some friends and neighbours over on New Year's Eve to ring in the new year.

2010 - Can you imagine! Just two more years to go until 2012!

More soon, I promise, including the long-awaited post on Brad's bike trip from Ottawa home.

Merry Christmas all, a bit belatedly, but better late than never! :)

Here's a little Regina Spektor. Wintry and a little melancholy, which fits my mood perfectly today ("and darkness spreads over the snow like ancient bruises"):

December madness...

December has to be busiest month of the year. So many things going on, so much to do. Gifts to buy, cards to send, parties to go to, parties to hold. Concerts, cooking, and generally running around like mad. That has been my December experience, anyway.

And the last few years I have had to do all of mom's stuff for her as well: cards and little gifts she buys for friends, family and the gals who look after her at the home. And after her move back in May, I finally got aorund, sometime in September or October, to changing her address with Canada Revenue (the tax guys). It wasn't all that big a deal, typing up a sheet with her relavant information on it, getting her to sign it, and then faxing it off to St. Johns, Newfoundland. I thought that was it. Then a few weeks ago, she received something in the mail, which she thought was from Revenue Canada, asking for her to update her address with them. When I finally get a hold of the sheet and call the number indicated, I realize that this one was from Service Canada (the ones from whom she gets her Old Age Security and Canada Pension). Argh... And the only way to change her address with them is for her to talk to them directly on the phone and answer a few skill testing questions so they can determine that she is indeed the person they are talking to. So to make a long story short, I have to take Friday morning off, go down to mom's get Service Canada on the line (it's a toll free number with something like 18 options to choose from, which she would never be able to do on her own), and then have her change her address with them. And hopefuly that will be it!

And then there's the snow to shovel and the slippery sidewalks and the dogs that get dirty and wet in the slush and the morons at work and the morons on the bus (hacking and coughing, and sneezing their heads off). And the short days, the line ups at the post office and grocery stores, and the list goes on and on...

I'm really starting not to like December very much. I'm counting the days down to the 23rd, after which I will at least be off work until January 4 (using just 4 vacation days!). And I did get to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas the other night. Why that Cindy-Lou Who could put a smile on the face of even the grumpiest of souls!

Happy Christmas!

Sorry, but I couldn't resist this over-the-top display of ... jeez... I don't know what it is a display of, but it totally cracks me up! Would have been nice if they could have used a Christmas hymn, tho!

Amazing Grace Techno - Computer Controlled Christmas Lights from Richard Holdman on Vimeo.

Painting Woes

Hey all... Once again I apologize for not blogging much of late. We've just been incredibly busy and are now in the process of having the inside of our house painted, all save a few rooms. Everything is upside-down and dusty, but the finished produce will be worth it I think. Since we moved in here 5 and a half years ago, we've only painted the top floor master bedroom, which had been an awful burnt orange colour that neither of us could stand. So we had that done fairly quickly. The rest of the house was mostly a light beige colour, which we really didn't mind that much, so we left it ... until now. We're having the trim and the baseboards done in a white glossy oil-based paint and the rest in an off-white called Moroccan Sand. It's looking really good so far, with the den and Brad's office basically done, though I think the office might need another coat tomorrow. The guy who's doing it is very good, fast, and clean. It would take us forever and a day to get the job done. Hopefully, he'll be finished by the end of the coming weekend, if not before. Now we're going to have to get all new furniture and window treatments to match the new look!

In other news, we had a great potluck dinner party last Saturday at Don and Marlene's place in the country. There was a "Christmas in the Village" day going on the same day, with a lot of the shops and galleries putting on special selections of their wares and goods. Don and Mar also participated, setting up a stand to sell their honey and homemade soaps. It was a very nice time despite the rainy cool weather. And dinner was delish, as always.

On Sunday, after going down to visit mom, I went to a special public clinic and got my H1N1 shot. It didn't hurt a bit on Sunday, but yesterday, I really felt like crap - sore arm and every joint in my body aching. But today, everything is back to normal and I feel fit as a fiddle. I even went for a swim after work. Something I have to do more often as well as spending a lot more time in the basement on my stationary bike... Perhaps there's a reason my Skinny Saturdays have fallen by the wayside lately!

In any case, I'll leave you with a few motivational pics!

Cheers amigos!

The Road

Can't wait for this film to be released. Brad and I both read the book this fall. It's by Cormac McCarthy, the same guy who wrote No Country for Old Men and others. It stars Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee as the son. It's very dark and intense, much like the book. It opens on Friday, November 27. Here's a sneak preview...

48

Yup. That's me. 48 years old today. Approaching the big milestone, but not quite there yet! I've had a lot of calls, e-mails, and cards from friends and family - Thanks guys and gals! No big plans for today. We're going out to see Paranormal Activity tomorrow with Shaun and Mary and are having dinner on Friday evening with Paul and Ron. Hopefully a quiet weekend to relax and savour my dotage!

Good News Sunday

Hey all... We had a bit of good news regarding my brother a few days ago. The chemotherapy seems to have done what it was supposed to and the docs are very pleased and optimistic. That is not to say that he is out of the woods just yet, but thus far, the progress has been as good as it can be. I talked to Earl for a few minutes yesterday on the phone and he was tired and quite weak, but that is certainly to be expected. Hopefully we'll know more next week and hopefully the news will continue to be good.

It's been a rainy, dreary day here. We caught the tail end of tropical depression Ida, I think. It rained like a a son-of-a-gun when I was driving down to mom's this morning, but now it's tapered down to just a bit of drizzle and fog. The warm temps that come along with it are nice. And it's supposed to be sunny all week here with temperatures in the high single digits Celcius. Not bad at all for November here.

Which reminds me, happy birthday Marlene! Her birthday was on Nov. 13. And mine is just around the corner on the 18th. The big 4-8 for me this year... Where oh where does the time go?

I leave you with a couple of teaser pics from Brad's bike trip... One day next week, I am going to hand him the keys to the blog and get him to do a post about his trip from Ottawa back home... Stay tuned...

Nineteen

Hey all! We made it back safe and sound from the beautiful city of Montréal. We flew up Friday at suppertime, caught a taxi to our hotel, checked in, and then caught another taxi to Milos on Parc Street. It was our first time there and we had a delicious meal. It's a little pricey, but worth every penny. We both started with the crab cakes, which were very yummy, full of crab meat and little else. Then we both also had the grilled halibut as a main, which was also cooked to perfection and very tasty. For dessert, I had the Galaktoboureko, and Brad ordered the Loukoumades. I have to say that Brad's dessert was incredible! Lightly fried greek dough balls drenched in honey - thyme honey from Crete. They were spectacular. (If we hadn't recently bought 12 jars of honey from Don and Marlene, we would have picked up a botle at the restaurant - $60 a pop!) I also ordered a glass of greek dessert wine and Brad had a port to finish off the evening. The service was very good as well, as we were served by very sexy Kostas, a Greek guy in his early twenties with a smile and a bottom to die for! After our great meal, we walked to the nearest metro station and rode back downtown and headed to one of the strip bars for which Montréal is famous. We stayed well into the early hours and spent too much money - well, I spent too much money on the boyz... But what the heck. It's a once a year thing!

Next morning we had breakfast at the hotel, which is included in the price, and then we took the metro to the Atwater Market - a terrific spot with lots of different food shops. I picked up some Israeli couscous and a bottle of olive oil from Spain. Across the street was one of the bigger SAQ liquor stores, so we popped in there and picked up a few bottles that are hard to find at home, including a white port. We then made out way back to the hotel and dropped off our purchases before heading out on foot to meet good friend Maurice for lunch at L'Evidence. It, too, was a great spot and it was good to sit down and catch up with Maurice. After lunch, we hopped in Maurice's car and drove to a Middle Eastern bakery and then to a Greek bakery. This was Brad's wannado, and he picked up lots of yummy pastries, some of which we are still eating! We then went to the Jean-Talon market, which is similar to Atwater, only bigger and, in my opinion, better! The weather was gorgeous, sunny and warm. Maurice then dropped us off at the hotel, where we changed for dinner at Le Piedmontais, a cozy French/Italian resto very close to where we were staying. After another good meal, we made our way to Place des Arts where we saw Mozart's The Magic Flute opera. It too was very good. It finished around 11:00 p.m., and we were both too tired to do anything except head back to the hotel and get a good night's sleep.

The following morning, we again had breakfast at the hotel and then checked out and headed over to our friend Lynn's, who lives in Westmount. After tea and a chat, we went with him to an open house to look at a condo he was thinking of purchasing downtown. We then wandered all over downtown and the Le Plateau district on another sunny and warm fall afternoon. We made a reservation along the way at La Prunelle, a cosy bring-your-own-wine spot. After walking around and shopping a bit more, we found a liquor store and picked up a couple of bottles of wine to have with dinner. Another fine meal later, we were back on the street and headed for the strip club once again - hey, I had to bid my boyz adieu! Sunday was women's night at the place, and it was a completely different atmosphere with all the squeeling gals.. We didn't stay that long and soon caught the metro back to Westmount, where we retired for another good night's sleep.

We had breakfast at Lynn's the next morning - November 9 - our 19th anniversary as a couple! Brad and I then went out and did some shopping in the 'hood. I picked up a new backback - mostly to carry all of our purchases back home in, some soap from my fave Westmount shop, and a new cookbook. All and all, a productive morning. We also picked up some kalamata olive bread and a loaf of sun-dried tomato bread to bring home with us as well as a couple of sandwiches to eat at the airport. Our flight home was uneventful and pleasant, except for this very loud gal from France who was seated directly behind us and who did not shut up for the entire 1 hour 10 minute flight! Man, I wanted to slap her!

So that was our weekend. I had yesterday off and got a lot done around the house and a lot of errands done about town. Today is a statutory holiday in Canada (except for Québec), so tomorrow will be my first day back to work. It has been a great little break. And a 2-day week, I think I can handle at this point. It's been another gorgeous fall day here and we've both been busy outside raking and bagging leaves and I cut down the old raspberry canes and fertilized the patch.... Will no doubt be sore tomorrow!

Nothing new with respect to my brother. He's finished his chemotherapy and it's now wait and see if is normal blood cells make a rebound.

Been a while, so here are some fellas!

One Crow Sorrow

A little poem I concocted mostly on my bus ride to work this morning. It's based loosly on an experience I had in junior high or high school. Fortunately, in my case, time stopped. For just a split second.

One Crow Sorrow

Supper
Gobbled down
Too fast.

She was about to ask
if he wanted seconds
But distraction intervened


A bird flew by
Very quickly, too close
Outside the window
Cawing an avian warning:
Slow down.

Though no one spoke Crow.

She looked back
but he was gone
The screen door slammed
signaling his exit.

He flew down the driveway
onto the road
Peddling without thinking
Biking by rote.

He really didn't see it
The pulp truck
Coming out of no where
Too fast.

And time continued
No nano intercession; skull cracked.
Temporal reality ending
Dislodged; repealed.

He could have eaten more
His legs were hollow, or so they said
But he wanted to get to practice
Rushing
Too fast.

Maybe next time; next life
He'd know better.
Learn Crow. Realize...
Seconds matter.

Quick update

Hey guys, just wanted you all to know that we got down to see my brother yesterday. He looked not all that bad at all (much better than I thought he would) and he seems to be in fairly good spirits. I think he's holding up better than I would be in his shoes. He was in a large private room, but another brother e-mailed me today saying that he had been moved into another room, which I doubt is private... By Wednesday, I think he will have received all of the chemo and it will no doubt start to take its toll. In the meantime, we are all hoping and praying for the best. After our visit, we just came home. The restaurant we were going to have lunch at did not open until 4:00 p.m.

We'll be in Montréal this coming weekend... So Maurice, if you are reading this, we hope to hook up with you for lunch on Saturday.

Take care, guys.

Indulge Weekend - St. Andrews

Hey gang... I finally managed to get some images uploaded of our weekend in St. Andrews with Paul and Ron. They are below in no particular order... It's been a warm and windy day here today with showers threatening. Supposed to rain tonight and be a mix of sun and cloud tomorrow. I doubt that we'll get many trick or treaters tonight. We bought a few treats just in case. I raked most of our front lawn today, bagging the leaves and using the bags to bank the house around our sunporch. There is no basement under the sunporch and just lattice work from the bottom of the floor to the ground, so putting the bags of leaves on the outside by the lattice really makes a difference in keeping the house warmer.

We decided to visit my brother tomorrow, if he's up for a visit. We'll try to get away fairly early, visit my brother, and have lunch in a popular seafood restaurant in Saint John. I'm sure he won't be wanting many visitors next week when he will be feeling the full effect of the chemotherapy. And we are going to Montréal next weekend as well. Just a quick long-weekend jaunt to see an opera and check out life in the big city. We'll have a few good meals as well - in part to celebrate our 19th anniversary! It's officially on November 9.

Here's the pics!

Very typical Canadian fall scene - Road hockey! Dude is getting some practice shots in before the others arrive


View from the Kingsbrae Inn - the last stop on Saturday afternoon's wine trail


Local chefs in a competition Saturday morning. They had $20, 20 minutes to buy things at the market, and 20 minutes to come up with their concoctions: 20/20/20


Our room at the Inn.


One of the rooms upstairs, which will hopefully be occupied by some of our friends next year!


Our dining room. The propane fireplace made it very cosy at night!


Another room upstairs


View from our balcony at low tide


One of the stops on the wine trail. Brendan, the guy in the red shirt on the left, was quite a character. We ran into him several times over the course of the day and evening on Saturday... Super nice guy, but he does have his... um... issues. He manages a popular seafood restaurant in Saint John ;)


Dudes! Let's get this show on the road! Brad, Paul, and Ron in front of our place just before we set off on the wine trail


View of the back of our place. Our deck is on the bottom right. The patio, right on the water, was ours to use as well


Bread at the market


Veggies at the market


The Inn where the chef competition was held on Saturday morning.

Some bad news

Hey guys and gals. Sorry again for not updating the blog very often. There's been a lot going on lately. I tried last night to upload some pics from our Indulge weekend and from Brad's bike trip, but I was unsuccessful. We have a new computer and I think the pics are in a place that Blogger can't grab them from... I'll get that problem solved on the weekend.

Our family has also had some bad news recently. One of my brothers (Earl, for those of you who know him) has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia. The doctors told him that without treatment, he would have about 3 weeks to live. He just turned 61. Hopefully, they have caught it just in time and he will pull through. He's undergoing intensive chemotherapy designed to totally wipe out his immune system. Hopefully after that, his normal blood cells will rebound and he will be okay. If not, there is not a whole lot else they can do for him... It's been a big shock for all of us. He seems to be holding up well and is in good spirits. He has yet to feel the effects of the chemotherapy, though, I fear... In any case, we are all thinking positive thoughts and hoping for the best.

Will publish some pics on the weekend. I promise!

First Snow!

Yes, it's true... I'm still ticking away here and have not fallen off the planet! Just haven't had the time or energy to post much lately...

As the title says, we had our fist snow here today! Ugh... No real accumulation so far, but they are calling for up to 10 cm tonight. Way too early for that! It's supposed to warm up and rain most of the weekend, so it won't stick around in any case.

Brad, Paul, and Ron and I had a great time this past weekend. We went to the Indulge Festival in St. Andrews. Brad and I drove down on Friday afternoon and we met Paul and Ron there. Our accommodations were really top-notch, basically the bottom floor of a renovated older home with a full kitchen and dining room, 2 living rooms, and large baths. And no one was staying in the two rooms upstairs, so we had the whole place to ourselves. We had a superb meal on Friday night at Europa restaurant. Saturday morning we went to the market and then grabbed a bite for lunch and set off on the wine trail. We meandered from location to location (art galleries, small shops, inns, etc.) and sampled nice wines and various nibbles along the way. The weather cooperated nicely, too, and it was a spectacular fall day by the ocean. We went to the Extravaganza evening at the historic Algonquin Hotel, which proved to be a lot of fun as well. Back at our abode, Brad turned in at the relatively early hour of 1:30 or so, and Paul and Ron and I stayed up solving the world's problems until almost 3:30 a.m.! We started Sunday morning off with champagne and truffles at a little shop down the street, then sat down for a real brunch at a place nearby. The weather was overcast and cool, so after lunch we headed back to our pad and had a rousing game of scrabble beside the fireplace. Then it was time for wine and cheese and eventually supper - roasted potatoes & fried haddock. All and all, it was a terrific weekend and we'll probably all go back and do it again next year.

I'll post some photos - both of our weekend and Brad's 9-day bike trip - in the days ahead. Stay tuned...

Just because!

The things you find surfing YouTube! Thought this was kinda cute...



Was just talking to Brad, and he'll be home tomorrow. He was meant to be home today, but he had a flat tire yesterday that slowed his progress, and he was already running a bit behind schedule. But he's back in the province and should be home by lunchtime tomorrow. I hope he's ready for a good ... ummm ... meal! ;)

Went to Georges and Barb's for dinner last night. Was a great meal (thanks Georges!) and I took an apple pie for dessert. When I got home, I tried to watch an episode of True Blood, but the GD DVD went all wonky at the very end of the episode. Jeez, that pisses me off when that happens! I'll wipe it off and hopefully have more luck tonight. I have just one more episode to watch to finish off Season 1.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian readers!

"Vous avez dit Ludmila"

I posted this quite a long time ago, but it definitely deserves a replay. Hope you can understand the French!

It's raining, It's pouring...

Man... I'm glad Brad isn't biking in the weather we've had here last night and today - It's been raining hard most of the time... Kaiser hates the rain, so he got an abbreviated walk this a.m., but Jasper got the whole nine yards... And we were all soaking wet when we were done.They are both sound asleep as I type this. Nothing like dry sleepy dogs!

Went down to see mom this morning, just before their lunch, so I ended up staying and having a cup of tea while they ate. She was very pleased with the flowers and the other treats I took her. And she looked great. The best I've seen her in a while. And she wasn't even complaining about her arthritis, despite the miserable weather, which always makes it worse. Hopefully some of my other siblings will pay her a visit this afternoon - she was certainly expecting them to, but alas, I have my doubts...

You know it's raining hard when I don't even want to go out to buy my lotto tickets, but I did force myself, as I had to pick up some tofu as well for the Pad Thai I am making for supper. I'll post the recipe for it sometime soon. It really is delish. And you could certainly make it with chicken or shrimp as well.

I watched Breach last night, one of the films we've received from Rogers that Brad has already seen. It was good. About the snagging of a mole in the FBI who was secretly working for the Russians for many years. A true story, apparently, though I hadn't heard anything about it before.

Perhaps Brad will read this tonight chez Maurice, perhaps not. In any case, Baci amore. I miss you! Happy (and safe!) biking!

Addendum: Ugh... Now my left eyelid is smarting from jalapeno juice... Though I washed my hands several times after cutting up the jalapeno, a bit of it must have remained.. Oh well, better my eyelid than someplace lower on my body, which has happened before in the past whilst making Pad Thai!

Now, I'm going to light a fire and put an some opera (probably Snegurochka - a far cry from the YouTube vid below), which was a song from Breach. It's incredibly schmaltzy, but it's for my sweetie, who should soon be in Montréal for the night...



And here are few arias from Snegurochka (The Snow Maiden), which Brad and I saw at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in 2006:

Skinny Saturday 61 - The Bachelor Edition!

Well, it's starting to cloud over a bit here, but for the most part, it was a spectactular fall day here in eastern Canada. After walking the dogs, I met Shaun and Mary at the farmers' market. They had to pick up some local ingredients for a book club pizza super tomorrow night, and I had to get a few things as well: baklava, organic carrots, fresh cranberries (for a yummy Nantucket cranberry pie I make), eggs, and some kindling. After market, I came home and made a quick shopping list for the grocery store. Usually, I make the list and Brad does the shopping, but this week, of course, I had to go to the grocery store myself. Ugh... I now remember why Brad took over that duty a couple of years ago... People are generally idiots - leaving their carts in the middle of the asile, banging into you, and coughing and sneezing all over the place.. Eeek. And just touching those carts is often enough to make you want to run home and take a sonic shower! In any case, I got the job done and came home, unpacked, scrubbed thorougly, and then ran a few other errands. In my travels, I also picked up a travel brochure from a local travel agency - with or without Brad, I am definitely heading south for a week next winter!

Tonight for supper I'm going to have leftover Chineese take-out from last night (Shaun and I hooked up for drinks yesterday and I didn't feel like cooking anything when I got home), but tomorrow, I'm going to make a Pad Thai, a dish I love and haven't made in ages - Brad sure can't eat it!

I'll head down to see mom tomorrow at some point as well. I bought her a dozen red roses and some special treats for her birthday, which is next Tuesday. The big 8-9!

Till soon, amigos mio..

It's official - I'm a bachelor for the next week or so!

Brad got away yesterday. He took a bus to Moncton and then a train to Montréal and on to Ottawa. He should be in our nation's capital by now. Hope he was able to catch some zzzz's on the train. The dogs and I slept in till 9:00 a.m. this morning, then I took them each for a walk, after gulping down some coffee. I decided to take the day off on vacation. I've had a pretty productive morning. After breakfast, I loaded up the car with our redeemables and took them to the redemption centre. (Growing up Baptist, that name always sounds a bit funny to me!) Then I came back and vacuumed out the car, something that has needed doing for a while now. I also did a load of laundry and now have to grab a bite of lunch. Brad's supposed to call to let me know that he (and the bike) arrived in one piece. Will probably meet the usual suspects for drinks after they finish work. We'll maybe got out someplace for dinner as well. I'll have to remember to tape Coronation Street, so I can watch it when I get back...

Hasta pronto, amigos!