Seven Quick Takes Friday

1. Z had a tire blowout on the highway last night on the way home from work. For my Toronto readers, this was in the express lanes on the 401 near Avenue Road. He called home and I reminded him to call the CAA. They were there in 10 minutes and helped him change the tire. When I looked at the tire in the trunk this morning, I was shocked. There were two big tears on the side wall. I checked my files and our five-year tire warranty ran out yesterday, so I went into Canadian Tire this morning ready to rumble...but hey very happily replaced the tire without discussion. We were due to replace three of them anyway, so I bought the other two tires. This is the second tire of the four that have been replaced under warranty, so it was a great thing to have spent that $10 or whatever for the tire care.

2. The garbage strike is over! Pickup will resume next week and so we can empty our shed of the bags of recyclables that we've accumulated over the 4-1/2 weeks. We ended up taking some garbage and compost to the temporary dumps as it was getting stinky and bug-ridden.

3. I have been going to Curves for 3 weeks and have not lost a pound. I'm hoping that I'm putting on some muscle though. Will do a body-fat check and measurements next week to see, but I have to say it's kind of disheartening. I'm working out hard though, and am progressing in terms of difficulty on the machines, so I must be doing something good.

4. I have now read two books by Piers Paul Read. Terrific author and I don't know how I have overlooked him to date.

5. Alex got sick this week with a flu-like thing and missed a day of work. He should have stayed home on Monday but we thought it was a cold and so he just drugged himself up and went. Monday night he had a fever so he stayed home on Tuesday and slept most of the day. By Tuesday night he was feeling better, although tired, but he went to work on Wednesday and then went to s Muay Thai classs. Yesterday, he stayed out until after midnight, so I have to assume whatever it was, passed.

6. I have gone back to morning prayer using Sacred Space, the excellent online devotional offered by the Irish Jesuits. I light a candle by my computer and sit in silence. It's a good way to centre myself and collect my thoughts first thing each day.

7. Facebook has been a lot of fun recenlty and I'm finding myself posting stuff there that would normally make it here. Don't know that I'll give up blogging for good, but....

Seven Quick Takes Friday

1. Z had a tire blowout on the highway last night on the way home from work. For my Toronto readers, this was in the express lanes on the 401 near Avenue Road. He called home and I reminded him to call the CAA. They were there in 10 minutes and helped him change the tire. When I looked at the tire in the trunk this morning, I was shocked. There were two big tears on the side wall. I checked my files and our five-year tire warranty ran out yesterday, so I went into Canadian Tire this morning ready to rumble...but hey very happily replaced the tire without discussion. We were due to replace three of them anyway, so I bought the other two tires. This is the second tire of the four that have been replaced under warranty, so it was a great thing to have spent that $10 or whatever for the tire care.

2. The garbage strike is over! Pickup will resume next week and so we can empty our shed of the bags of recyclables that we've accumulated over the 4-1/2 weeks. We ended up taking some garbage and compost to the temporary dumps as it was getting stinky and bug-ridden.

3. I have been going to Curves for 3 weeks and have not lost a pound. I'm hoping that I'm putting on some muscle though. Will do a body-fat check and measurements next week to see, but I have to say it's kind of disheartening. I'm working out hard though, and am progressing in terms of difficulty on the machines, so I must be doing something good.

4. I have now read two books by Piers Paul Read. Terrific author and I don't know how I have overlooked him to date.

5. Alex got sick this week with a flu-like thing and missed a day of work. He should have stayed home on Monday but we thought it was a cold and so he just drugged himself up and went. Monday night he had a fever so he stayed home on Tuesday and slept most of the day. By Tuesday night he was feeling better, although tired, but he went to work on Wednesday and then went to s Muay Thai classs. Yesterday, he stayed out until after midnight, so I have to assume whatever it was, passed.

6. I have gone back to morning prayer using Sacred Space, the excellent online devotional offered by the Irish Jesuits. I light a candle by my computer and sit in silence. It's a good way to centre myself and collect my thoughts first thing each day.

7. Facebook has been a lot of fun recenlty and I'm finding myself posting stuff there that would normally make it here. Don't know that I'll give up blogging for good, but....

Summer's Sweet Slowness

I have recently discovered a wonderful blog at Abbey of the Arts. This week, the blogger is hosting a poetry party on the theme of "Summer's Sweet Slowness".

Here are the rules. Please join in if you feel so inspired!

The image to get us started is

Here's my entry.

warmth makes lids heavy

the book drops onto her chest

napping on the porch

Menu Plan Monday

Okay....it's been a while since I did this. But I just got back from my main weekly grocery shopping trip without having made a plan in advance, and so I need to sort out what to serve. I ended up shopping before planning because I dropped Michael off at the subway on his way to volleyball camp and there was a mall with a Fortino's just around the corner. So since I was there, I decided to just get it done. I really like this store....I don't usually shop at this store, but they have a large selection of natural and organic products including produce and health care, lots of interesting kosher foods, and more stuff on sale than in my usual Loblaws. I will probably start to go there more often.

Italicized items are what I picked up on the shopping trip.

Monday: Chicken scallopini with roasted asparagus and fried (leftover) brown rice.

Tuesday: Pasta with spicy sausage and tomato sauce (leftover from last week).

Wednesday: Baked salmon with spinach and cheese ravioli (purchased) and green beans.

Thursday: Cream of celery soup (to use up some limp celery), bread, caprese salad.

Friday: Cooks night off.

We also have some leftover rice and beans in the fridge, along with some Sri Lankan takeout. I will encourage the lads to snack on these items. I really need to go through my cupboards and work on using up some of the tins of beans and fish that I've accumulated over the past few months. I see tuna casseroles in my future.

Summer's Sweet Slowness

I have recently discovered a wonderful blog at Abbey of the Arts. This week, the blogger is hosting a poetry party on the theme of "Summer's Sweet Slowness".

Here are the rules. Please join in if you feel so inspired!

The image to get us started is

Here's my entry.

warmth makes lids heavy

the book drops onto her chest

napping on the porch

Menu Plan Monday

Okay....it's been a while since I did this. But I just got back from my main weekly grocery shopping trip without having made a plan in advance, and so I need to sort out what to serve. I ended up shopping before planning because I dropped Michael off at the subway on his way to volleyball camp and there was a mall with a Fortino's just around the corner. So since I was there, I decided to just get it done. I really like this store....I don't usually shop at this store, but they have a large selection of natural and organic products including produce and health care, lots of interesting kosher foods, and more stuff on sale than in my usual Loblaws. I will probably start to go there more often.

Italicized items are what I picked up on the shopping trip.

Monday: Chicken scallopini with roasted asparagus and fried (leftover) brown rice.

Tuesday: Pasta with spicy sausage and tomato sauce (leftover from last week).

Wednesday: Baked salmon with spinach and cheese ravioli (purchased) and green beans.

Thursday: Cream of celery soup (to use up some limp celery), bread, caprese salad.

Friday: Cooks night off.

We also have some leftover rice and beans in the fridge, along with some Sri Lankan takeout. I will encourage the lads to snack on these items. I really need to go through my cupboards and work on using up some of the tins of beans and fish that I've accumulated over the past few months. I see tuna casseroles in my future.

Seven Quick Takes Friday

1. I had lunch on Wednesday with a friend I hadn't seen since high school. That's 30 years, folks! It was great...we ate outside on a rear patio at Terroni on Queen W and chatted about mutual friends (most of whom we've lost contact with), the past, the present, and the future. I hope we'll get together again soon with another old friend who's also in town.

2. I stopped taking my daily allergy med last week as the pollen counts have been really low, but I've started waking up with headaches again, so I'm getting back on it. I know that my sinuses are connected to the migraines, so who knows?

3. Had a nice day away last Friday with a couple of university friends. Toronto gal and I drove to see Cambridge-Ontario gal, hoping to spend the day around her pool drinking Mike's. The weather didn't hold up, so we spent some time at the mall (including brow waxes for two of us), had lunch out, and then hung out in air-conditioned comfort inside. Her brother-in-law cooked us a lovely dinner. We managed to miss major rain storms on our way back to Toronto.

4. Bought a piece of gorgeous cotton for a summer skirt a month ago. Now I'm thinking that I want to wait until I drop a few pounds, which means I won't be able to wear it until next summer.

5. Our area is going to Smart Meters for electricity soon. This means that there are three different rates you pay for power, depending on the time of day, season (winter vs. summer) and weekday/weekend. The lowest rate is between 10 pm and 7 am, and all day Saturday and Sunday. The "off-peak" rate in summer is 7-11 am and 5-10 pm, so I've been trying to do a load of laundry every day before 11 am, which means I have to get it in by 8:30. I've also been trying to remember to program my dishwasher to run after 10 pm. I wish I had a place for an outdoor clothes line....

6. Our master bath toilet is leaking around the base. Dang. Z and I will try to install a new wax ring ourselves tomorrow so I'm off to Home Hardeware to pick one up later today.

7. I tried out a natural fruit fly trap that I read about on a homeschool discussion board. I put some apple cider vinegar in a glass and wrapped some plastic wrap over top, punching some holes through it. It seems to be working, although I had to move all the fruit to the fridge before they approached the cider. There are a dozen or so dead flies in there after a couple of days.

Seven Quick Takes Friday

1. I had lunch on Wednesday with a friend I hadn't seen since high school. That's 30 years, folks! It was great...we ate outside on a rear patio at Terroni on Queen W and chatted about mutual friends (most of whom we've lost contact with), the past, the present, and the future. I hope we'll get together again soon with another old friend who's also in town.

2. I stopped taking my daily allergy med last week as the pollen counts have been really low, but I've started waking up with headaches again, so I'm getting back on it. I know that my sinuses are connected to the migraines, so who knows?

3. Had a nice day away last Friday with a couple of university friends. Toronto gal and I drove to see Cambridge-Ontario gal, hoping to spend the day around her pool drinking Mike's. The weather didn't hold up, so we spent some time at the mall (including brow waxes for two of us), had lunch out, and then hung out in air-conditioned comfort inside. Her brother-in-law cooked us a lovely dinner. We managed to miss major rain storms on our way back to Toronto.

4. Bought a piece of gorgeous cotton for a summer skirt a month ago. Now I'm thinking that I want to wait until I drop a few pounds, which means I won't be able to wear it until next summer.

5. Our area is going to Smart Meters for electricity soon. This means that there are three different rates you pay for power, depending on the time of day, season (winter vs. summer) and weekday/weekend. The lowest rate is between 10 pm and 7 am, and all day Saturday and Sunday. The "off-peak" rate in summer is 7-11 am and 5-10 pm, so I've been trying to do a load of laundry every day before 11 am, which means I have to get it in by 8:30. I've also been trying to remember to program my dishwasher to run after 10 pm. I wish I had a place for an outdoor clothes line....

6. Our master bath toilet is leaking around the base. Dang. Z and I will try to install a new wax ring ourselves tomorrow so I'm off to Home Hardeware to pick one up later today.

7. I tried out a natural fruit fly trap that I read about on a homeschool discussion board. I put some apple cider vinegar in a glass and wrapped some plastic wrap over top, punching some holes through it. It seems to be working, although I had to move all the fruit to the fridge before they approached the cider. There are a dozen or so dead flies in there after a couple of days.

Seven Quick Takes Friday

1. It's my birthday week! I turned 49 yesterday and got many calls, emails, and Facebook messages, which was lovely. Z has been tied up at a business thing all week and so we are putting off the birthday dinner to the weekend (although I did take the boys out for sushi last night as I didn't think it was right to have to cook on my birthday, regardless!)

2. I have come out of the closet regarding my bouts with depression, and two months ago began a regimen of antidepressants which has markedly improved my mood, reduced the incidence and severity of my migraines, and got me off the sofa and reasonably active again.

3. I have returned to Curves. I was a member for a year in Atlanta, and then joined when we first moved to Toronto. As I started to sink into depression last year, I stopped going and pretty much reduced my exercise to daily walks with Wilson. Now that I'm feeling better, I've got to get back in shape, and so had my orientation/first workout on my birthday yesterday. My new mantra is "Fit by Fifty"!

4. The boys are getting along much better now that Alex is busy working at a day camp and socializing with camp and school friends in his off hours. We hardly see him these days, which has calmed down the drama-level at home.

5. My mom gave me a very generous birthday gift and so I am deciding how to spend it. I'm thinking new workout clothes and a new winter coat, as the one I have is too big (!) and not full length. I also need winter boots that look appropriate with a skirt (ie, full length.)

6. I have been hearing Vivaldi's Gloria everywhere these days. As background music in a TV documentary, on a DVD about Pope Benedict XVI, on a couple of YouTube videos, and on the radio. I sang it in a concert before Christmas so I always sing along with the alto line.

7. I have picked up tix for Herbie Hancock and Lang Lang at Massey Hall for Z, Michael and I. Michael is a huge fan of Lang Lang and this should be a great concert. I also got tickets to the National Youth Orchestra Concert in Toronto which will feature a piece composed by Michael's tuba teacher, Rob Teehan.

Seven Quick Takes Friday

1. It's my birthday week! I turned 49 yesterday and got many calls, emails, and Facebook messages, which was lovely. Z has been tied up at a business thing all week and so we are putting off the birthday dinner to the weekend (although I did take the boys out for sushi last night as I didn't think it was right to have to cook on my birthday, regardless!)

2. I have come out of the closet regarding my bouts with depression, and two months ago began a regimen of antidepressants which has markedly improved my mood, reduced the incidence and severity of my migraines, and got me off the sofa and reasonably active again.

3. I have returned to Curves. I was a member for a year in Atlanta, and then joined when we first moved to Toronto. As I started to sink into depression last year, I stopped going and pretty much reduced my exercise to daily walks with Wilson. Now that I'm feeling better, I've got to get back in shape, and so had my orientation/first workout on my birthday yesterday. My new mantra is "Fit by Fifty"!

4. The boys are getting along much better now that Alex is busy working at a day camp and socializing with camp and school friends in his off hours. We hardly see him these days, which has calmed down the drama-level at home.

5. My mom gave me a very generous birthday gift and so I am deciding how to spend it. I'm thinking new workout clothes and a new winter coat, as the one I have is too big (!) and not full length. I also need winter boots that look appropriate with a skirt (ie, full length.)

6. I have been hearing Vivaldi's Gloria everywhere these days. As background music in a TV documentary, on a DVD about Pope Benedict XVI, on a couple of YouTube videos, and on the radio. I sang it in a concert before Christmas so I always sing along with the alto line.

7. I have picked up tix for Herbie Hancock and Lang Lang at Massey Hall for Z, Michael and I. Michael is a huge fan of Lang Lang and this should be a great concert. I also got tickets to the National Youth Orchestra Concert in Toronto which will feature a piece composed by Michael's tuba teacher, Rob Teehan.