It's been a while...

Lots of milestones since I last blogged:

1. Became godmother to William Joseph. Spent 5 days in Berkeley CA where my brother and his family live and enjoyed very much the ceremony (which took place DURING mass, and was great) and the party aferwards.
2. The boys finished their first year of school here in Toronto. Alex has one more year before he heads off to university.
3. Alex got his first job, as a grocery clerk at our local No Frills. It's four blocks from home which is great, but he hasn't been scheduled for many hours yet. He's enjoying the paycheque though. He bought an iPod shuffle to run with and is suddenly hyper-aware of how much everything costs.
   
4. Alex is taking Driver's Ed this week. Yikes! How did that happen?
   
5. Michael got contact lenses yesterday.
6. We replaced five feet of our kitchen counter (a peninsula) that was damaged, and installed a new sink and faucet, and....wait for it....a new dishwasher. Our old one sounded like a jet plane and prevented conversation pretty much anywhere on the main floor of the house. The new baby is flush with features, and you pretty much have to put your hand on it to figure out if it is running. Yesterday, I ran the "Top Only" cycle after breakfast which saves water and frees up space to get the rest of the days dishes in by the evening.
   
7. I have started listening to a very inspiring audio book on decluttering (It's All Too Much by Peter Walsh). I gave away all my scrapbooking supplies to a (very grateful) cousin, and a pile of art stuff to Michael's art teacher. I listed a bunch of books to sell on Amazon.ca and give away on Book Mooch. I've got a long way to go, but it feels good so far.

Blogging may be light over the summer. Have a good one!

Another reason to love Jack Black

From last night's American Idol finale...

Another reason to love Jack Black

From last night's American Idol finale...

The real meaning of Motherhood

An excellent piece in honour of Mother's Day and the Mother of God.

The real meaning of Motherhood

An excellent piece in honour of Mother's Day and the Mother of God.

Three bags of shreddies

Well, shreddings. Three large garbage bags full, ready for recycling. I have wanted to tackle our filing cabinet ever since we moved and I finally got the kick-start I needed.

A couple of weeks ago I saw an item over at Uncluttterer on the FreedomFiler. It's essentially a system for managing household and/or small business files that is self-purging. I ordered the smallest kit that just comes with labels and instructions as I already had hanging file folders and a cabinet.

It arrived on Thursday and by midday Friday, our living room was awash in piles of paper to recycle, paper to shred and THEN recycle, old labels to throw away, and dust. By mid-afternoon today, I had two thirds of the cabinet purged, the shredding bags out on the back porch, the carpet vacuumed, and a basic system in place to manage our files.

I got rid of 10 years of tax returns, 6 years of bank statements and bills, pay stubs, immigration paperwork, user manuals and warranties for things we no longer own, etc, etc. It feels incredibly freeing to have all this empty space in the cabinet and to be able to locate important papers quickly without pawing through piles of out-of-date stuff.

I still have health records and the boys school and sports files to go through. Plus Z will have to deal with some of his bulging files full of financial and work stuff, old papers written in Arabic, and yellowing photographs from his childhood.

My ultimate goal is to get rid of our existing three drawer lateral cabinet because it's in our living room, is not attractive, and takes up too much space. There is simply nowhere else in the house to put it. I think I can get down to half the cabinet, which could then fit into a three-drawer standard filing cabinet that could be stashed somewhere unobtrusive. Or stored in some kind of attractive desk-type furniture thingy (maybe like this or this) in the study part of our living room.

Three bags of shreddies

Well, shreddings. Three large garbage bags full, ready for recycling. I have wanted to tackle our filing cabinet ever since we moved and I finally got the kick-start I needed.

A couple of weeks ago I saw an item over at Uncluttterer on the FreedomFiler. It's essentially a system for managing household and/or small business files that is self-purging. I ordered the smallest kit that just comes with labels and instructions as I already had hanging file folders and a cabinet.

It arrived on Thursday and by midday Friday, our living room was awash in piles of paper to recycle, paper to shred and THEN recycle, old labels to throw away, and dust. By mid-afternoon today, I had two thirds of the cabinet purged, the shredding bags out on the back porch, the carpet vacuumed, and a basic system in place to manage our files.

I got rid of 10 years of tax returns, 6 years of bank statements and bills, pay stubs, immigration paperwork, user manuals and warranties for things we no longer own, etc, etc. It feels incredibly freeing to have all this empty space in the cabinet and to be able to locate important papers quickly without pawing through piles of out-of-date stuff.

I still have health records and the boys school and sports files to go through. Plus Z will have to deal with some of his bulging files full of financial and work stuff, old papers written in Arabic, and yellowing photographs from his childhood.

My ultimate goal is to get rid of our existing three drawer lateral cabinet because it's in our living room, is not attractive, and takes up too much space. There is simply nowhere else in the house to put it. I think I can get down to half the cabinet, which could then fit into a three-drawer standard filing cabinet that could be stashed somewhere unobtrusive. Or stored in some kind of attractive desk-type furniture thingy (maybe like this or this) in the study part of our living room.

Comic Vision

Last Thursday, Z and I attended a fundraiser in support of the Foundation Fighting Blindness called Comic Vision. We attended with some business colleagues and had a very entertaining evening. It was downtown at Koolhaus, a little large for comedy, but it worked. There was some time for drinks and hors d'ouevres, a light meal, a live auction (although the auction items were all out of our price range, it was pretty entertaining to watch the auctioneer and bidding action), and then a series of acts by comedians. The highlights of the evening were Mark Walker, Meg Soper, and headliner Andrew Grose. Grose's act was spectacularly funny and I'd see him again any time.

A beautiful Beef Stroganoff

I'm not sure that I've ever made a real Beef Stroganoff before....perhaps only the kind that uses ground beef and canned cream soup, back in our grad school days.

We got some cremini mushrooms in our organic veggie box this week so I went trolling the internet for recipes. This one was an absolute winner. I made is as per the recipe except that I substituted double cream for creme fraiche as that's what I could find. The fabulous taste was well worth the somewhat finicky prep. It was met with raves by the rest of the household, and they only left me a tiny portion as leftovers for todays lunch.

This recipe will definitely go into my collection.

Comic Vision

Last Thursday, Z and I attended a fundraiser in support of the Foundation Fighting Blindness called Comic Vision. We attended with some business colleagues and had a very entertaining evening. It was downtown at Koolhaus, a little large for comedy, but it worked. There was some time for drinks and hors d'ouevres, a light meal, a live auction (although the auction items were all out of our price range, it was pretty entertaining to watch the auctioneer and bidding action), and then a series of acts by comedians. The highlights of the evening were Mark Walker, Meg Soper, and headliner Andrew Grose. Grose's act was spectacularly funny and I'd see him again any time.

A beautiful Beef Stroganoff

I'm not sure that I've ever made a real Beef Stroganoff before....perhaps only the kind that uses ground beef and canned cream soup, back in our grad school days.

We got some cremini mushrooms in our organic veggie box this week so I went trolling the internet for recipes. This one was an absolute winner. I made is as per the recipe except that I substituted double cream for creme fraiche as that's what I could find. The fabulous taste was well worth the somewhat finicky prep. It was met with raves by the rest of the household, and they only left me a tiny portion as leftovers for todays lunch.

This recipe will definitely go into my collection.

They can beg...

....but they won't be getting Grand Theft Auto IV (or any other GTA).

They can beg...

....but they won't be getting Grand Theft Auto IV (or any other GTA).

My classical education

Most of you know that I homeschooled Michael for Grades 4 and 5. It was a wonderful experience that I recommend to anyone with the desire, opportunity, and energy. Not only great for the student, but I learned a lot about myself that I didn't know before.

One of those things is that I actually like history. I have lived for a long time believing that I hated history. I didn't think I had a good memory, and it all seemed so dry. Well, my memory isn't good for lists of facts or disconnected stuff, but I have found that I actually like learning history, and that has opened up the vast realms of historical literature that I have in the past ignored.

I followed a classical approach to homeschooling as outlined in The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise. I can't go in to the details about the program in this post, but essentially you do a four year cycle, roughly covering Ancients (5000 BC-AD400), Medieval-Early Renaissance (400-1600), Late Renaissance-Early Modern (1600-1850), and Modern (16850-present). You do it three times, which takes you through 12 school years (grades). Each time, you look deeper into the period and read more complex literature. We did the first two years, using age-appropriate history resources and coordinating novels/literature.

I have decided to embark on some self-study, roughly following the high school recommendations. I am going to start with the Ancients and plan to read:

• Bible: The Pentateuch (Genesis to Deuteronomy: dates btw. 1850 and 700 BC)
• Epic of Gilgamesh (c. 2500 BC)
• Homer, Iliad or Odyssey (not sure which one yet) (c. 850 BC)
• Sophocles, Oedipus the King (490 BC)
• Euripides, Medea ( 431 BC)
• Aristotle, On Poetics (350 BC)
• Bible : Book of Daniel (c. 165 BC)
• Virgil, Aeneid (c. 30 BC)
• Ovid, Metamophoses (c. AD 5)
• Bible: Corinthians 1 and 2 (c. AD 58)
• Josephus, The Great Roman-Jewish War (c. AD 68)
• Athanasius, On the Incarnation (c. AD 300)

There are more possibilities in the book but I've picked out readings which either I already own or were easily available to me. I will be using Spielvogel's Western Civilization as my history text book and am still awaiting it's arrival from Alibris as I managed to score a good used copy to keep my costs down.

I'm almost finished the Pentateuch and used the reading guides in my New American Bible Study Edition to give me some background, as well as A Catholic Guide to the Bible by Fr. Oscar Lukefahr that I got from Paperback Swap a year ago and hadn't cracked.

I've also been listening to a podcast from UC Berkeley that I found on iTunes. The course is called History 4A: The Ancient Mediterranean World and it's free. The first three lectures are missing (I think she decided to record the lectures at that point) and unfortunately, I missed the discussion of the Sumerians which will be useful for the Epic of Gilgamesh. The drawback of these podcasts is that I can't see any of her slides. And she's slightly disorganized, which makes listening a bit of a chore when I can't see what's happening in the classroom. As I said, it's free and interesting, and kills time in the car.

There are a ton of online (and offline) study guides for the works I plan to read, but I'm going to try to go without, at least somewhat, and let the works sink in to my brain on their own.

Sigh...TTC is on strike

Last night at midnight, our transit workers here in TO went on strike after rejecting the agreement that had been negotiated last week.

I don't know enough about the working conditions or the agreement to have an educated opinion about this labour action. But the strike was called with no notice, contrary to union promises of 48 hours, stranding hundreds of people in downtown Toronto last night.

So far today, I've spent quite a bit of the time in the car. I drove Michael to Japanese class downtown first thing this morning, and then picked him up at noon and drove him to Karate. Then picked him up after Karate and drove him to buy a glove for softball at school this week and then home. Normally, one of us drives him either to Japanese or to a subway station, and then he gets to karate and home on public transit.

There is talk that the city government will order workers back to work in a special sitting of the provincial legislature scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. That would put drivers back on the road for the weekday commute which, frankly and from a completely selfish point of view, would be nice. We have a great, if aging, transit system in the city and it is one of the main reasons we chose to downsize our house (and upsize our mortgage) to live in-town.

I do NOT want to schlepp my boys to school in grid-lock on Monday....

My classical education

Most of you know that I homeschooled Michael for Grades 4 and 5. It was a wonderful experience that I recommend to anyone with the desire, opportunity, and energy. Not only great for the student, but I learned a lot about myself that I didn't know before.

One of those things is that I actually like history. I have lived for a long time believing that I hated history. I didn't think I had a good memory, and it all seemed so dry. Well, my memory isn't good for lists of facts or disconnected stuff, but I have found that I actually like learning history, and that has opened up the vast realms of historical literature that I have in the past ignored.

I followed a classical approach to homeschooling as outlined in The Well Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise. I can't go in to the details about the program in this post, but essentially you do a four year cycle, roughly covering Ancients (5000 BC-AD400), Medieval-Early Renaissance (400-1600), Late Renaissance-Early Modern (1600-1850), and Modern (16850-present). You do it three times, which takes you through 12 school years (grades). Each time, you look deeper into the period and read more complex literature. We did the first two years, using age-appropriate history resources and coordinating novels/literature.

I have decided to embark on some self-study, roughly following the high school recommendations. I am going to start with the Ancients and plan to read:

• Bible: The Pentateuch (Genesis to Deuteronomy: dates btw. 1850 and 700 BC)
• Epic of Gilgamesh (c. 2500 BC)
• Homer, Iliad or Odyssey (not sure which one yet) (c. 850 BC)
• Sophocles, Oedipus the King (490 BC)
• Euripides, Medea ( 431 BC)
• Aristotle, On Poetics (350 BC)
• Bible : Book of Daniel (c. 165 BC)
• Virgil, Aeneid (c. 30 BC)
• Ovid, Metamophoses (c. AD 5)
• Bible: Corinthians 1 and 2 (c. AD 58)
• Josephus, The Great Roman-Jewish War (c. AD 68)
• Athanasius, On the Incarnation (c. AD 300)

There are more possibilities in the book but I've picked out readings which either I already own or were easily available to me. I will be using Spielvogel's Western Civilization as my history text book and am still awaiting it's arrival from Alibris as I managed to score a good used copy to keep my costs down.

I'm almost finished the Pentateuch and used the reading guides in my New American Bible Study Edition to give me some background, as well as A Catholic Guide to the Bible by Fr. Oscar Lukefahr that I got from Paperback Swap a year ago and hadn't cracked.

I've also been listening to a podcast from UC Berkeley that I found on iTunes. The course is called History 4A: The Ancient Mediterranean World and it's free. The first three lectures are missing (I think she decided to record the lectures at that point) and unfortunately, I missed the discussion of the Sumerians which will be useful for the Epic of Gilgamesh. The drawback of these podcasts is that I can't see any of her slides. And she's slightly disorganized, which makes listening a bit of a chore when I can't see what's happening in the classroom. As I said, it's free and interesting, and kills time in the car.

There are a ton of online (and offline) study guides for the works I plan to read, but I'm going to try to go without, at least somewhat, and let the works sink in to my brain on their own.

Sigh...TTC is on strike

Last night at midnight, our transit workers here in TO went on strike after rejecting the agreement that had been negotiated last week.

I don't know enough about the working conditions or the agreement to have an educated opinion about this labour action. But the strike was called with no notice, contrary to union promises of 48 hours, stranding hundreds of people in downtown Toronto last night.

So far today, I've spent quite a bit of the time in the car. I drove Michael to Japanese class downtown first thing this morning, and then picked him up at noon and drove him to Karate. Then picked him up after Karate and drove him to buy a glove for softball at school this week and then home. Normally, one of us drives him either to Japanese or to a subway station, and then he gets to karate and home on public transit.

There is talk that the city government will order workers back to work in a special sitting of the provincial legislature scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. That would put drivers back on the road for the weekday commute which, frankly and from a completely selfish point of view, would be nice. We have a great, if aging, transit system in the city and it is one of the main reasons we chose to downsize our house (and upsize our mortgage) to live in-town.

I do NOT want to schlepp my boys to school in grid-lock on Monday....

A bit of pomp

I had a lovely day yesterday, visiting with an old friend and her mother. Karen invited me to an event at her church. The Lieutenant Governor David Onley and his wife Ruth-Ann are members there and they had been invited to speak yesterday morning.

He has an inspiring story but talked mainly about the time around his appointment last summer and what it had meant for him and his family. His wife is a Christian gospel singer and she also spoke briefly and sang a few numbers.

The event was hosted by the church's pastor, and the morning opened with some gorgeous music by the HiMiG Gospel singers, a group from the Philippines who call this congregation their home base and act as the church's choir. The event wrapped up with a delicious hot lunch for 150 prepared by the pastor's wife.

A bit of pomp

I had a lovely day yesterday, visiting with an old friend and her mother. Karen invited me to an event at her church. The Lieutenant Governor David Onley and his wife Ruth-Ann are members there and they had been invited to speak yesterday morning.

He has an inspiring story but talked mainly about the time around his appointment last summer and what it had meant for him and his family. His wife is a Christian gospel singer and she also spoke briefly and sang a few numbers.

The event was hosted by the church's pastor, and the morning opened with some gorgeous music by the HiMiG Gospel singers, a group from the Philippines who call this congregation their home base and act as the church's choir. The event wrapped up with a delicious hot lunch for 150 prepared by the pastor's wife.

Food for Benedict

Lovely piece over at Bettnet.com on three meals served to the Holy Father. If you're a Catholic (or not) and love food, go and read (and salivate).

Food for Benedict

Lovely piece over at Bettnet.com on three meals served to the Holy Father. If you're a Catholic (or not) and love food, go and read (and salivate).

Commanded to love.

From the Jewish World Review: the answer to a question I've never asked is here.

Commanded to love.

From the Jewish World Review: the answer to a question I've never asked is here.

Like buttah....

We had a beautiful beef tenderloin for supper tonight. As I've posted before, my local grocer carries pastured beef from Beretta Organic Farms, and I can't say enough about our experience with this meat. When I purchased the tenderloin on Friday, the butcher said that this would be the best meat I'd ever eaten.

He was right.

I am not usually happy with meat prepped at home. In the past, I don't think that quality meat was (in general) made available to home cooks. My local grocer has rebranded itself as Loblaw Great Food and have made a number of changes in store layout and selection, including organic deli, butcher and dairy products, as well as lots of packaged organic stuff, interleaved with regular non-organic (i.e., not in a separate section of the store). I have been uniformly happy with everything I've purchased from the butcher, including beef, pork, lamb, chicken (whole and part) and bacon. The same farm also makes deli meat that I buy for lunches, usually Italian turkey breast and beef salami.

Back to the beef. I larded it with butter and put a couple of sprigs of rosemary under the string tie. As per The Joy of Cooking (Julia Child was mum on beef tenderloin), I preheated the oven to 500F and then reduced it to 350 as the beef went into the oven. Cooked to 120F. It rested for 10 minutes before we sat down.

The beef was incredibly tender and tasty. Dinner also included mashed potatoes, shelled spring peas, and broccoli, plus gravy made from the pan drippings. Mmmmm.

Z proposed banana splits for dessert, so while I passed on that, it was a delish finale to another great Sunday dinner.

Amazing Grace...a little history.

Amen.

Like buttah....

We had a beautiful beef tenderloin for supper tonight. As I've posted before, my local grocer carries pastured beef from Beretta Organic Farms, and I can't say enough about our experience with this meat. When I purchased the tenderloin on Friday, the butcher said that this would be the best meat I'd ever eaten.

He was right.

I am not usually happy with meat prepped at home. In the past, I don't think that quality meat was (in general) made available to home cooks. My local grocer has rebranded itself as Loblaw Great Food and have made a number of changes in store layout and selection, including organic deli, butcher and dairy products, as well as lots of packaged organic stuff, interleaved with regular non-organic (i.e., not in a separate section of the store). I have been uniformly happy with everything I've purchased from the butcher, including beef, pork, lamb, chicken (whole and part) and bacon. The same farm also makes deli meat that I buy for lunches, usually Italian turkey breast and beef salami.

Back to the beef. I larded it with butter and put a couple of sprigs of rosemary under the string tie. As per The Joy of Cooking (Julia Child was mum on beef tenderloin), I preheated the oven to 500F and then reduced it to 350 as the beef went into the oven. Cooked to 120F. It rested for 10 minutes before we sat down.

The beef was incredibly tender and tasty. Dinner also included mashed potatoes, shelled spring peas, and broccoli, plus gravy made from the pan drippings. Mmmmm.

Z proposed banana splits for dessert, so while I passed on that, it was a delish finale to another great Sunday dinner.

Amazing Grace...a little history.

Amen.

Grid-lock

[Update: Just heard that a tentative agreement was reached minutes ago...transit will be running at least for tomorrow.]

The Toronto Transit Commission has until 4 pm today to reach an agreement with workers. Or else the city's public transit will be out tomorrow.

The lads take bus/subway/streetcar to school and back each day, and so this will mean that I will need to get them to school tomorrow, in the midst of thousands of other in the same boat. We're not going into the heart of downtown, nor do we live in the suburbs, so the pain will be less than for many, but I do not look forward to venturing south in my car. I will likely drive them part way and then turn north towards home, and they can walk the rest of the way.

Z drives to the 'burbs for work so he should be against traffic, although I suppose all bets are off in this case. He needs to get to the airport tomorrow afternoon which will likely be much more of a problem. He has a limo booked, but needs to consider moving up the pickup time to allow for congestion.

This is a big city that relies heavily on our fairly decent transit system. There are some significant issues on the bargaining table (and some less-than-significant) but I can't help but feel selfish about it all at this point.

Grid-lock

[Update: Just heard that a tentative agreement was reached minutes ago...transit will be running at least for tomorrow.]

The Toronto Transit Commission has until 4 pm today to reach an agreement with workers. Or else the city's public transit will be out tomorrow.

The lads take bus/subway/streetcar to school and back each day, and so this will mean that I will need to get them to school tomorrow, in the midst of thousands of other in the same boat. We're not going into the heart of downtown, nor do we live in the suburbs, so the pain will be less than for many, but I do not look forward to venturing south in my car. I will likely drive them part way and then turn north towards home, and they can walk the rest of the way.

Z drives to the 'burbs for work so he should be against traffic, although I suppose all bets are off in this case. He needs to get to the airport tomorrow afternoon which will likely be much more of a problem. He has a limo booked, but needs to consider moving up the pickup time to allow for congestion.

This is a big city that relies heavily on our fairly decent transit system. There are some significant issues on the bargaining table (and some less-than-significant) but I can't help but feel selfish about it all at this point.

Liturgy and the Papal Mass

The blogosphere is reeling with discussion about the Papal mass in DC. I found Fr. Rob Johansen's piece excellent. A little exerpt:

We live in the age, as Mark Shea has coined the term, of "Generation Narcissus". Our collective motto as a society is "It's all about me." In liturgical terms, this translates to the "Self-Actualized Community Celebrating Itself in Its Okayness". In our pride and self-centeredness, we want to turn the liturgy around to focus on ourselves. As a priest I have encountered this in many ways. This attitude commonly rears its head in weddings. When, from time to time, I have had to say "no" to the unreasonable liturgical demands of some bride, I have heard the reply "but this is my wedding". To which my response is, "yes, it is, but it's not about you. At confirmation, graduation, and other special Masses, frequently the organizers try, in ways verging upon the silly, to concoct ways to "involve" all the confirmands or graduates, to give them all something to "do" in the liturgy, because it's "about" them.

Head over and read the whole thing.

Liturgy and the Papal Mass

The blogosphere is reeling with discussion about the Papal mass in DC. I found Fr. Rob Johansen's piece excellent. A little exerpt:

We live in the age, as Mark Shea has coined the term, of "Generation Narcissus". Our collective motto as a society is "It's all about me." In liturgical terms, this translates to the "Self-Actualized Community Celebrating Itself in Its Okayness". In our pride and self-centeredness, we want to turn the liturgy around to focus on ourselves. As a priest I have encountered this in many ways. This attitude commonly rears its head in weddings. When, from time to time, I have had to say "no" to the unreasonable liturgical demands of some bride, I have heard the reply "but this is my wedding". To which my response is, "yes, it is, but it's not about you. At confirmation, graduation, and other special Masses, frequently the organizers try, in ways verging upon the silly, to concoct ways to "involve" all the confirmands or graduates, to give them all something to "do" in the liturgy, because it's "about" them.

Head over and read the whole thing.

Catholics Come Home: Via CWN

Lovely piece....

Catholics Come Home: Via CWN

Lovely piece....

My poor second child.

I really feel sometimes that Michael gets short shrift in our family. I have come to understand that he is not a whiner, and tends to politely ask for things numerous times and then gives up. Unlike his older brother.

Part of this came to me when I realised that he had nary a complaint after his braces went on three weeks ago. He asked me for an Advil on the second day, and other than that, nada. No whining about the inside of his mouth. No complaining about what he can't eat. Nothing.

He has been asking to take Karate for months. Since before we moved to Toronto last summer. (Okay, so it's probably over a year.) On Saturday, we finally took him to the local dojo and got the deets. Yesterday, he went for his introductory session and first class, and loved it!

The place is great...clean and bright (even though it's in a basement) with viewing area for parents, four classroom areas, and a small closed off studio and a kitchen. Plus two offices and a reception area. All the staff were extremely enthusiastic and kind, and he is very keen to go the max of three times per week. We will probably sign him up for Monday and Wednesday evenings ... he can get to class on his bike when we're unable to take him. On Saturday afternoons, he can get there directly on public transit from his Japanese class downtown.

This will be great for his posture and stamina, and good exercise for this child who is not really in to team sports.

My poor second child.

I really feel sometimes that Michael gets short shrift in our family. I have come to understand that he is not a whiner, and tends to politely ask for things numerous times and then gives up. Unlike his older brother.

Part of this came to me when I realised that he had nary a complaint after his braces went on three weeks ago. He asked me for an Advil on the second day, and other than that, nada. No whining about the inside of his mouth. No complaining about what he can't eat. Nothing.

He has been asking to take Karate for months. Since before we moved to Toronto last summer. (Okay, so it's probably over a year.) On Saturday, we finally took him to the local dojo and got the deets. Yesterday, he went for his introductory session and first class, and loved it!

The place is great...clean and bright (even though it's in a basement) with viewing area for parents, four classroom areas, and a small closed off studio and a kitchen. Plus two offices and a reception area. All the staff were extremely enthusiastic and kind, and he is very keen to go the max of three times per week. We will probably sign him up for Monday and Wednesday evenings ... he can get to class on his bike when we're unable to take him. On Saturday afternoons, he can get there directly on public transit from his Japanese class downtown.

This will be great for his posture and stamina, and good exercise for this child who is not really in to team sports.

My Canada includes the CBC Radio Orchestra!

Go here to get informed.

Kathleen Rudolph, principal flute of the Orchestra, is a fellow alto in our parish choir. This morning, during our pre-mass rehearsal, she passed this link on to us as the main source for info and resources to mobilize classical music lovers in this country and abroad. She also made a speech at the Toronto rally on Friday.

My Canada includes the CBC Radio Orchestra!

Go here to get informed.

Kathleen Rudolph, principal flute of the Orchestra, is a fellow alto in our parish choir. This morning, during our pre-mass rehearsal, she passed this link on to us as the main source for info and resources to mobilize classical music lovers in this country and abroad. She also made a speech at the Toronto rally on Friday.

Music and Life - Alan Watts

Michael sent this to me. Too true. How did he figure this out at age 13?

Who're you gonna call?

Bark Busters!

Really. I can't believe that after one three-hour training session, there have been huge changes in our dear Wilson and his level of anxiety (read, barking).

The trainer came over Tuesday afternoon for our first session. The teaching (of me) part was short because their philosophy and methods are very close to that of Cesar Millan aka The Dog Whisperer, and I have watched pretty much all his shows. So I get the pack thing, the dog psychology stuff, and the notion of teaching by voice and action, not treats or physical discipline.

We started by working on getting Wilson to understand that he needs to be submissive to me. Then we dealt with knocking at the door and the doorbell. We did some outside work on walking and dealing with other animals he meets outside (lotsa work left to do here....Jana the trainer will bring one of her dogs in the future to help here). Then we did "distance training" which is teaching him to stay by my side even when he is distracted by things.

She recommended that we get a crate for him to use as a den when he wants to relax, so we picked one up yesterday and are just starting to get him interested in using it. That will take a while, but we're not needing to potty train or anything...it's more for his comfort and relaxation.

I have some practice stuff to do at home, and we'll do another training session with Jana in a few weeks. But it's freakin' unbelieveable how much of a difference this has made so far.

Music and Life - Alan Watts

Michael sent this to me. Too true. How did he figure this out at age 13?

Who're you gonna call?

Bark Busters!

Really. I can't believe that after one three-hour training session, there have been huge changes in our dear Wilson and his level of anxiety (read, barking).

The trainer came over Tuesday afternoon for our first session. The teaching (of me) part was short because their philosophy and methods are very close to that of Cesar Millan aka The Dog Whisperer, and I have watched pretty much all his shows. So I get the pack thing, the dog psychology stuff, and the notion of teaching by voice and action, not treats or physical discipline.

We started by working on getting Wilson to understand that he needs to be submissive to me. Then we dealt with knocking at the door and the doorbell. We did some outside work on walking and dealing with other animals he meets outside (lotsa work left to do here....Jana the trainer will bring one of her dogs in the future to help here). Then we did "distance training" which is teaching him to stay by my side even when he is distracted by things.

She recommended that we get a crate for him to use as a den when he wants to relax, so we picked one up yesterday and are just starting to get him interested in using it. That will take a while, but we're not needing to potty train or anything...it's more for his comfort and relaxation.

I have some practice stuff to do at home, and we'll do another training session with Jana in a few weeks. But it's freakin' unbelieveable how much of a difference this has made so far.

A good weekend isn't necessarily a productive one....

....but in this case, it was.

We've turned our basement bedroom, formerly my (virually unused) craft room, into an office for Z. So he no longer will have the bay window in our bedroom stuffed with a folding table, zillions of cables, books, papers, and other work detritus. I've suggested that he also move the exercise bench and free-weights into that room. Two steps closer to a spa-like bedroom!

Alex got some tutoring in Saturday morning, and he and Z made a chicken casserole for our parish ministry so he's feeling a little better about his Christian service hours.

Saturday night, Z, Michael and I went to see 21. While predictable in many ways, it was high energy and enjoyable. The fact that it's been #1 at the box office for two weeks suggests that the current movie pickings are pretty slim.

Sunday was choir practice and mass. We started rehearsing a simply divine work by Monteverdi called Stabat virgo Maria. Originally a madrigal, the sacred text was added later by Aquilino Coppini. It was like singing velvet and I plan to purchase it from iTunes today so that I can enjoy it further.

Sunday evening I roasted a chicken from Beretta Farms and enjoyed lots of our organic produce from our GEO box We had pureed parsnips and carrots, boiled potatoes, and cucumbers. Today I'll make some chicken stock with the remains for a hearty lentil soup this evening.

A good weekend isn't necessarily a productive one....

....but in this case, it was.

We've turned our basement bedroom, formerly my (virually unused) craft room, into an office for Z. So he no longer will have the bay window in our bedroom stuffed with a folding table, zillions of cables, books, papers, and other work detritus. I've suggested that he also move the exercise bench and free-weights into that room. Two steps closer to a spa-like bedroom!

Alex got some tutoring in Saturday morning, and he and Z made a chicken casserole for our parish ministry so he's feeling a little better about his Christian service hours.

Saturday night, Z, Michael and I went to see 21. While predictable in many ways, it was high energy and enjoyable. The fact that it's been #1 at the box office for two weeks suggests that the current movie pickings are pretty slim.

Sunday was choir practice and mass. We started rehearsing a simply divine work by Monteverdi called Stabat virgo Maria. Originally a madrigal, the sacred text was added later by Aquilino Coppini. It was like singing velvet and I plan to purchase it from iTunes today so that I can enjoy it further.

Sunday evening I roasted a chicken from Beretta Farms and enjoyed lots of our organic produce from our GEO box We had pureed parsnips and carrots, boiled potatoes, and cucumbers. Today I'll make some chicken stock with the remains for a hearty lentil soup this evening.

Loose ends are getting gathered.

Many things are finally coming together.

• My new laptop arrived yesterday and I've transferred most of my data over from my old one. It's a lovely thing, with green satin lid, large glossy screen, and Windows Vista which doesn't seem as bad as all the reports and, frankly, is not that much different from XP, at least in terms of the interface.
  I can't find my CD copy of Quicken though. I purchased it last summer when we arrived in Toronto and were living in the condo. I simply cannot lay my hands on it and I need it to transfer all our financial files to my new machine. I will do a detailed scour of the house today to try to locate it.
  
• I have been in touch with a behavioural therapist/trainer for Wilson. He's a doll in many ways, but he's got a lot of anxiety and is dangerously prey driven. That includes people, other dogs, small animals, and anything that deigns to come onto our property. Jana will come out Tuesday afternoon for 4 hours of training and we'll see how it goes. She's with Bark Busters and the organization has been recommended to us by multiple people. I just need to be able to have a plumber over without Wilson barking his head off for two hours.
• My car is scheduled for repair starting on Monday. The total (including rental) is about $1300....I've learned not to be surprised at how expensive it is to have a few scratches and dents taken out of a car. But that's why we have insurance. Because I wasn't at fault and got to the car to the Collision Reporting Centre within 24 hours, I don't even have to pay the deductible.
• I'm back on track with my cleaning schedule. I've flipped between Flylady and the Motivated Moms planner, and am on the latter these days. I like her system because it's slow and steady. A little bit every day and pretty soon the house is looking fine.
• Alex was all in a tizzy because he is behind in his community service hours for school, specifically for Religion class. He is a peer tutor for math and science but he hasn't had much business so doesn't have the requisite 20 hours. I have lined him up some tutoring with one of his cousins who's in Grade 9 and having trouble with math, and he'll start that tomorrow. He and his father are also going to make some casseroles as part of a ministry that our parish has, making meals for the Good Shepherd Centre. The parish provides the recipe and large aluminum foil casserole pans. Parish members make the casseroles and then drop them into the freezer at the parish on an on-going basis.
  

Loose ends are getting gathered.

Many things are finally coming together.

• My new laptop arrived yesterday and I've transferred most of my data over from my old one. It's a lovely thing, with green satin lid, large glossy screen, and Windows Vista which doesn't seem as bad as all the reports and, frankly, is not that much different from XP, at least in terms of the interface.
  I can't find my CD copy of Quicken though. I purchased it last summer when we arrived in Toronto and were living in the condo. I simply cannot lay my hands on it and I need it to transfer all our financial files to my new machine. I will do a detailed scour of the house today to try to locate it.
  
• I have been in touch with a behavioural therapist/trainer for Wilson. He's a doll in many ways, but he's got a lot of anxiety and is dangerously prey driven. That includes people, other dogs, small animals, and anything that deigns to come onto our property. Jana will come out Tuesday afternoon for 4 hours of training and we'll see how it goes. She's with Bark Busters and the organization has been recommended to us by multiple people. I just need to be able to have a plumber over without Wilson barking his head off for two hours.
• My car is scheduled for repair starting on Monday. The total (including rental) is about $1300....I've learned not to be surprised at how expensive it is to have a few scratches and dents taken out of a car. But that's why we have insurance. Because I wasn't at fault and got to the car to the Collision Reporting Centre within 24 hours, I don't even have to pay the deductible.
• I'm back on track with my cleaning schedule. I've flipped between Flylady and the Motivated Moms planner, and am on the latter these days. I like her system because it's slow and steady. A little bit every day and pretty soon the house is looking fine.
• Alex was all in a tizzy because he is behind in his community service hours for school, specifically for Religion class. He is a peer tutor for math and science but he hasn't had much business so doesn't have the requisite 20 hours. I have lined him up some tutoring with one of his cousins who's in Grade 9 and having trouble with math, and he'll start that tomorrow. He and his father are also going to make some casseroles as part of a ministry that our parish has, making meals for the Good Shepherd Centre. The parish provides the recipe and large aluminum foil casserole pans. Parish members make the casseroles and then drop them into the freezer at the parish on an on-going basis.
  

Car update

I had left a short note with my name and number on the windshield of the person who (apparently) hit my car on Thursday. I heard from the woman's son-in-law on Friday morning.

He was very polite and said that his MIL was very shaken up by the incident. And that she had no idea that she had hit me. He asked if he could come by and look at my car to make sure that it was in fact due to her, and indicated that depending on the estimate, they may choose to settle outside of the insurance. I told him that while I had already notified my insurance company, I'd give them the chance to settle that way. And that he'd better get in touch with the police because they were treating it as a "failure to remain".

He dropped by at noon on Saturday and (I think) was convinced that it was his MIL. He also told me that the officer at the Collision Reporting Centre said that the parking lot where I was hit is one of the highest incident locations in the GTA. Ooops. I had noticed that there was a lot of honking in the lot, and that cars were very tightly packed because snow removal had not been done properly and so the driving was very cramped.

I'll take it to the insurance-company-recommended body shop for an estimate on Monday and get back to my contact with the details. I'll run this by my insurance company as well.

Earth Hour festivities

Fun by candlelight last night.

Z took the lads snowboarding in the afternoon, although his back was too sore to join them on skiis. As soon as they got home we made some yummy pizzas with breadmaker pizza dough, organic salami, artichokes, feta cheese, black olives and mozzarella. By the time dinner was finished, it was time to kill the lights. We lit candles and played Scattergories for the hour. I had to take off my glasses and stick my nose right into my writing pad, and Z seemed to not be himself (ie., he lost badly), but fun was had by all.

Our street looked pretty dark except for the streetlights, so it looked like a good level of participation, at least in our neighborhood. Z and I crashed pretty soon after 9 and so I was up at 4:30 this morning, and threw a batch of egg bread into the machine for breakfast.

After having all the board games out last night, we decided to play a couple more this afternoon: Bioviva and Word Thief. I won the former and Michael won the latter.

Car update

I had left a short note with my name and number on the windshield of the person who (apparently) hit my car on Thursday. I heard from the woman's son-in-law on Friday morning.

He was very polite and said that his MIL was very shaken up by the incident. And that she had no idea that she had hit me. He asked if he could come by and look at my car to make sure that it was in fact due to her, and indicated that depending on the estimate, they may choose to settle outside of the insurance. I told him that while I had already notified my insurance company, I'd give them the chance to settle that way. And that he'd better get in touch with the police because they were treating it as a "failure to remain".

He dropped by at noon on Saturday and (I think) was convinced that it was his MIL. He also told me that the officer at the Collision Reporting Centre said that the parking lot where I was hit is one of the highest incident locations in the GTA. Ooops. I had noticed that there was a lot of honking in the lot, and that cars were very tightly packed because snow removal had not been done properly and so the driving was very cramped.

I'll take it to the insurance-company-recommended body shop for an estimate on Monday and get back to my contact with the details. I'll run this by my insurance company as well.

Earth Hour festivities

Fun by candlelight last night.

Z took the lads snowboarding in the afternoon, although his back was too sore to join them on skiis. As soon as they got home we made some yummy pizzas with breadmaker pizza dough, organic salami, artichokes, feta cheese, black olives and mozzarella. By the time dinner was finished, it was time to kill the lights. We lit candles and played Scattergories for the hour. I had to take off my glasses and stick my nose right into my writing pad, and Z seemed to not be himself (ie., he lost badly), but fun was had by all.

Our street looked pretty dark except for the streetlights, so it looked like a good level of participation, at least in our neighborhood. Z and I crashed pretty soon after 9 and so I was up at 4:30 this morning, and threw a batch of egg bread into the machine for breakfast.

After having all the board games out last night, we decided to play a couple more this afternoon: Bioviva and Word Thief. I won the former and Michael won the latter.

It's all about the vegetables.

You guys are gonna get totally bored reading about my adventures with vegetables, but I'm sure the thrill will wear off soon and I'll be back to whatever it is that I usually blog about.

I got a cabbage in my box this week. I can probably count on two hands number of cabbages I have bought in my life, so it was with some trepidation that I scoured allrecipes.com for some inspiration.

And voila....eggrolls! They were a big hit last night, and I had to pick up some more wrappers this morning to use up the rest of the filling. They used half my cabbage, some carrots, onion, celery, shrimp, and fried egg. I forgot to get bean sprouts so they were sprout-free. Seasoned with a little garlic powder and soy sauce, wrapped in store-bought wrappers and deep-fried. Yum-ola! There is just the slight issued of the frying smell that is now permeating our house, but, whatever. It will dissipate, right?

Tomorrow night, I will make Colcannon to use up the rest of the cabbage (along with the requisite potatoes). I found some organic nitrite-free bacon this morning so a smidge of that will go in to it as well! We'll serve it with a boneless pork loin roast, peas, and salad.

It's all about the vegetables.

You guys are gonna get totally bored reading about my adventures with vegetables, but I'm sure the thrill will wear off soon and I'll be back to whatever it is that I usually blog about.

I got a cabbage in my box this week. I can probably count on two hands number of cabbages I have bought in my life, so it was with some trepidation that I scoured allrecipes.com for some inspiration.

And voila....eggrolls! They were a big hit last night, and I had to pick up some more wrappers this morning to use up the rest of the filling. They used half my cabbage, some carrots, onion, celery, shrimp, and fried egg. I forgot to get bean sprouts so they were sprout-free. Seasoned with a little garlic powder and soy sauce, wrapped in store-bought wrappers and deep-fried. Yum-ola! There is just the slight issued of the frying smell that is now permeating our house, but, whatever. It will dissipate, right?

Tomorrow night, I will make Colcannon to use up the rest of the cabbage (along with the requisite potatoes). I found some organic nitrite-free bacon this morning so a smidge of that will go in to it as well! We'll serve it with a boneless pork loin roast, peas, and salad.

My car was dinged! And then the perp parked next to me.

Really.

I was parked in a shopping centre, mailing off our tax slips to our accountant and splurging on some new clothes. When I returned to the car and opened the door, I felt and heard a little "pop". I shut the door and noticed a bunch of scrapes and blue paint on my front fender and car door. And then I noticed the blue car parked next to me.

And then I noticed that his or her front bumper had scratches on it.

Yep. The guy or gal hit my car turning into the parking space and then just parked there.

So I jotted down the license, make and model and left a note on the car's windshield explaining the situation with my name and phone number. I totally forgot that I could have taken photos of the scene with my phone, including the scrapes on the other car. Oh well.

I decided to head home and call my insurance company for assistance. They directed me to my local Collision Reporting Centre where they took photos of my car. I told my story, wrote my story, chatted up the nice police officer, and left with the all-important accident report number. I called the info into my insurance company and they gave me the name of a good body shop near me and told me that my deductible was waived (because I got the police report within 24 hours, if I understood correctly.)

It's pretty minor stuff but annoying. I'll call the body shop in the morning and take my baby in for an estimate. I think that they deal directly with the insurance company so I won't have to deal with the financial side of things. But it's time away from other important things like house cleaning, reading, and knitting.

My car was dinged! And then the perp parked next to me.

Really.

I was parked in a shopping centre, mailing off our tax slips to our accountant and splurging on some new clothes. When I returned to the car and opened the door, I felt and heard a little "pop". I shut the door and noticed a bunch of scrapes and blue paint on my front fender and car door. And then I noticed the blue car parked next to me.

And then I noticed that his or her front bumper had scratches on it.

Yep. The guy or gal hit my car turning into the parking space and then just parked there.

So I jotted down the license, make and model and left a note on the car's windshield explaining the situation with my name and phone number. I totally forgot that I could have taken photos of the scene with my phone, including the scrapes on the other car. Oh well.

I decided to head home and call my insurance company for assistance. They directed me to my local Collision Reporting Centre where they took photos of my car. I told my story, wrote my story, chatted up the nice police officer, and left with the all-important accident report number. I called the info into my insurance company and they gave me the name of a good body shop near me and told me that my deductible was waived (because I got the police report within 24 hours, if I understood correctly.)

It's pretty minor stuff but annoying. I'll call the body shop in the morning and take my baby in for an estimate. I think that they deal directly with the insurance company so I won't have to deal with the financial side of things. But it's time away from other important things like house cleaning, reading, and knitting.

Veg-o-rama!

This first week of home-delivered organic veggies has been great! We've pretty much gone through everything except for the bok choy and an avocado. I boiled the beets last night and the boys loved them! Who knew? I'd never considered cooking beets for them, although I love beets. I just figured it would be a whine-fest. Not. The only disappointment were the Macintosh apples...they just weren't very tasty until cut up and made into apple crisp.

We've cooked up the left-overs from Easter over the past two days. Monday we had shepherd's pie with leftover lamb, gravy and mashed potatoes. With the addition of a side of red swiss chard (also a first) and some carrots in the pie, we had a great meal. Last night, I made lamb tikka masala and veggie biryani, and that finished up the lamb and carrots. Both boys are intrigued by the idea of using up leftover meat this way, and I explained that this was a way of life for my grandmother and her Sunday roast beef.

Michael has agreed to eat meat from Beretta Organic Farms since the animals are pastured, so I think I'll pick up a pork roast for next Sunday and cook it up with whatever yummy veggies arrive in our delivery tomorrow! These farms are supplying meat and cold cuts to my local Loblaws grocer so it is very convenient to eat this quality meat.

My computer finally died.

The screen, to be precise. And I've known it was coming.

I've owned this Dell Inspiron laptop for about five years and it's been great. I had to replace the motherboard (under warranty) just before I submitted my thesis (yak!) in 2004, and I'm on my second battery. It survived being in the trunk of my car when I was rear-ended outside of Charlotte, NC and came through with just a slight gap in the casing.

But a few months ago, the screen started to look pink at startup. Then one of the hinges on the top broke and I was only able to hold the lid in a couple of (open) positions, or else I had to lean it against the wall. Yesterday, my screen started going black 30-45 seconds after startup. Everytime. Plus my battery was wearing out. I.e., not worth repairing.

I had been toying with going back to Mac. Michael got one for Christmas and it's very sexy, but I have enough PC apps to make it a pain to switch, and there is always the possibility that I might go back to work, likely not into a Mac environment. So I pulled out the Consumer Reports back issue on laptops and sure enough, Dell is still near or at the top. I put in my order this morning and should have my new Spring Green satin-finish Inspiron 1720 (with matching soft case!) early next week.

I've been good about backing up all my files, and have made a list of all the software I will need to install when it arrives. I can still use my current machine if I plug it into Alex's monitor (which is what I'm doing now). So it should be straightforward to transfer all my data over our wireless network, right?

I'll keep you posted.

The end of a taxing effort

Yep...my taxes are done. Well, at least the part where you organize everything and fill out extensive online forms so that a professional can actually complete the return.

We have the services of an accounting firm, courtesy of Z's employer. Our taxes are complex, mainly due to our return to Canada from the US over the past year and a half. We have to file two returns, one for each country, and there are complexities that are beyond two mathematicians (Z and me) to handle.

On top of this, we neglected to update our address with our US mortgage company (for example), forgetting that they would need to send us a statement of mortgage interest for the year. Multiply that by 5 and I had to make a lot of calls.

Bottom line: the electronic files are submitted, the envelope of information slips is ready to courier to Vancouver, and the form disclosing all our Canadian bank and retirement accounts is ready to mail to the IRS (because, you understand, they need to know all this.)

This is the earliest we've had all this done in years, and I'm feeling pretty proud of it all. Taxes are one of those things that hang over your shoulders and play with your head until they're actually done. And being the domestic goddess that I am, I get to do it all!! Me! And my computer!

Veg-o-rama!

This first week of home-delivered organic veggies has been great! We've pretty much gone through everything except for the bok choy and an avocado. I boiled the beets last night and the boys loved them! Who knew? I'd never considered cooking beets for them, although I love beets. I just figured it would be a whine-fest. Not. The only disappointment were the Macintosh apples...they just weren't very tasty until cut up and made into apple crisp.

We've cooked up the left-overs from Easter over the past two days. Monday we had shepherd's pie with leftover lamb, gravy and mashed potatoes. With the addition of a side of red swiss chard (also a first) and some carrots in the pie, we had a great meal. Last night, I made lamb tikka masala and veggie biryani, and that finished up the lamb and carrots. Both boys are intrigued by the idea of using up leftover meat this way, and I explained that this was a way of life for my grandmother and her Sunday roast beef.

Michael has agreed to eat meat from Beretta Organic Farms since the animals are pastured, so I think I'll pick up a pork roast for next Sunday and cook it up with whatever yummy veggies arrive in our delivery tomorrow! These farms are supplying meat and cold cuts to my local Loblaws grocer so it is very convenient to eat this quality meat.

My computer finally died.

The screen, to be precise. And I've known it was coming.

I've owned this Dell Inspiron laptop for about five years and it's been great. I had to replace the motherboard (under warranty) just before I submitted my thesis (yak!) in 2004, and I'm on my second battery. It survived being in the trunk of my car when I was rear-ended outside of Charlotte, NC and came through with just a slight gap in the casing.

But a few months ago, the screen started to look pink at startup. Then one of the hinges on the top broke and I was only able to hold the lid in a couple of (open) positions, or else I had to lean it against the wall. Yesterday, my screen started going black 30-45 seconds after startup. Everytime. Plus my battery was wearing out. I.e., not worth repairing.

I had been toying with going back to Mac. Michael got one for Christmas and it's very sexy, but I have enough PC apps to make it a pain to switch, and there is always the possibility that I might go back to work, likely not into a Mac environment. So I pulled out the Consumer Reports back issue on laptops and sure enough, Dell is still near or at the top. I put in my order this morning and should have my new Spring Green satin-finish Inspiron 1720 (with matching soft case!) early next week.

I've been good about backing up all my files, and have made a list of all the software I will need to install when it arrives. I can still use my current machine if I plug it into Alex's monitor (which is what I'm doing now). So it should be straightforward to transfer all my data over our wireless network, right?

I'll keep you posted.

The end of a taxing effort

Yep...my taxes are done. Well, at least the part where you organize everything and fill out extensive online forms so that a professional can actually complete the return.

We have the services of an accounting firm, courtesy of Z's employer. Our taxes are complex, mainly due to our return to Canada from the US over the past year and a half. We have to file two returns, one for each country, and there are complexities that are beyond two mathematicians (Z and me) to handle.

On top of this, we neglected to update our address with our US mortgage company (for example), forgetting that they would need to send us a statement of mortgage interest for the year. Multiply that by 5 and I had to make a lot of calls.

Bottom line: the electronic files are submitted, the envelope of information slips is ready to courier to Vancouver, and the form disclosing all our Canadian bank and retirement accounts is ready to mail to the IRS (because, you understand, they need to know all this.)

This is the earliest we've had all this done in years, and I'm feeling pretty proud of it all. Taxes are one of those things that hang over your shoulders and play with your head until they're actually done. And being the domestic goddess that I am, I get to do it all!! Me! And my computer!

Easter Celebration

I sang at the Easter Vigil last night which was lovely. There was a good turnout from the choir and our cantor was magnificent. So I took myself off the roster for Easter Sunday mass so that I could prepare for our festive dinner at 1:30 today with Z's cousin and family, and our niece visiting from Montreal. The rest of my family went to the 8:30 mass this morning, and brought home some hot cross buns for a mid-morning snack to tide us over to our late midday feast.

Dinner was a lovely, relaxing meal, once all the prep was done. We couldn't fit all nine of us around our table, so we set up a separate table for the four teens in the family room.

We started with some proscuitto, salami, peppered pate, and salmon mousse with homemade crusty bread and a Pinot Grigio.

My first roast leg of lamb was a success. It was 3.5 kilos and I rubbed it with a mixture of seasoned salt, pepper, cardamon, dry mustard, and marjoram, stuffed a few slices of garlic into slits cut into the meat, and basted it with some melted butter and olive oil. Julia Child suggests sealing the roast by broiling it for 15-20 minutes, so I did that, and then roasted it for 2 hours at 350 degrees. We put some carrots, onions, and fennel around the roast and tossed them with Italian salad dressing. Other sides included creamy mashed potatoes and green beans sauted in butter. Gus and Elaine brought a Greek salad. We served this with a California Shiraz

For dessert, we had a traditional English trifle made with (homemade) pound cake spread with cherry jam and sprinkled with sherry, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, custard, whipped cream, and toasted almonds. And Nanaimo Bars. And Creme Caramel that Gus made and surprised us with.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon drinking tea and chatting, occasionally taking a stab washing a few dishes. Magali had to leave around 6 pm to catch her flight back to Montreal, and Gus and Elaine and their kids left about the same time. It was a very nice day, spent with family with some great food and conversation.

Easter Celebration

I sang at the Easter Vigil last night which was lovely. There was a good turnout from the choir and our cantor was magnificent. So I took myself off the roster for Easter Sunday mass so that I could prepare for our festive dinner at 1:30 today with Z's cousin and family, and our niece visiting from Montreal. The rest of my family went to the 8:30 mass this morning, and brought home some hot cross buns for a mid-morning snack to tide us over to our late midday feast.

Dinner was a lovely, relaxing meal, once all the prep was done. We couldn't fit all nine of us around our table, so we set up a separate table for the four teens in the family room.

We started with some proscuitto, salami, peppered pate, and salmon mousse with homemade crusty bread and a Pinot Grigio.

My first roast leg of lamb was a success. It was 3.5 kilos and I rubbed it with a mixture of seasoned salt, pepper, cardamon, dry mustard, and marjoram, stuffed a few slices of garlic into slits cut into the meat, and basted it with some melted butter and olive oil. Julia Child suggests sealing the roast by broiling it for 15-20 minutes, so I did that, and then roasted it for 2 hours at 350 degrees. We put some carrots, onions, and fennel around the roast and tossed them with Italian salad dressing. Other sides included creamy mashed potatoes and green beans sauted in butter. Gus and Elaine brought a Greek salad. We served this with a California Shiraz

For dessert, we had a traditional English trifle made with (homemade) pound cake spread with cherry jam and sprinkled with sherry, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, custard, whipped cream, and toasted almonds. And Nanaimo Bars. And Creme Caramel that Gus made and surprised us with.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon drinking tea and chatting, occasionally taking a stab washing a few dishes. Magali had to leave around 6 pm to catch her flight back to Montreal, and Gus and Elaine and their kids left about the same time. It was a very nice day, spent with family with some great food and conversation.

Easter Plans

My niece Magali has come from Montreal to spend the weekend with us. She's gone skiing with Z and the boys today, leaving me with lots of time to do some Easter cooking.

So far today, I've made

Granola (still in the slow-cooker)
Granola bars
Nanaimo bars (for Easter dinner)
Cream of asparagus soup (for today's fasting meals)

Still to go:

Pound cake for trifle (Easter dinner)
Pack up goodies from Easter bunny for Sunday morning

Tomorrow I need to buy the lamb and a few other things for dinner prep. We are having Z's cousin Ghassan ("Gus") and his wife and two teens for Easter dinner at midday on Sunday as Magali flies back to Montreal late Sunday afternoon. Our menu will be:

Antipasto (proscuitto with pears, pate, salmon mousse, homemade crusty bread)

Roast lamb, mashed potato casserole, green beans, beets(?), green salad (brought by Gus)

Traditional English trifle (made with pound cake, sherry, fruit, custard, whipped cream, toasted almonds.)
Nanaimo bars.

Fridge o' plenty!

We got our first delivery from Green Earth Organics (GEO) yesterday. During the winter, the pickings are pretty slim and (obviously) not so local. But this is what we got in our big plastic tote box:

4 honey tangerines
5 macintosh apples (ON)
2 grapefruit
blueberries
fennel
zucchini
baby bok choy
beets (QC)
carrots (QC)
avocado
yellow onions
green leaf lettuce
russet potatoes (ON)
broccoli
red chard

It's not enough produce for our family for a week, but we can easily supplement as we need to on our regular grocery runs. I am looking forward to experimenting with vegetables that I don't typically (or ever) buy. We put some of the fennel in our salad last night. I'm going to make the chard with Parmesan cheese and garlic as part of our Good Friday fasting meal. I have no idea what to do with the bok choy!

GEO posts the weekly list of produce on their website, so I can plan ahead. They also permit substitutions of up to four items so I may try to up the fruit-veg-ratio to satisfy my hungry teens.

Maundy Thursday: Mass Report

Choir call was at 7:00 for the mass at 8:00. I've been away the last few Sundays so haven't had the benefit of much rehearsal for the Triduum music, and we were only 9 (plus the organist) singing last night. But because most of our music was a capella, coupled with lovely acoustics in the church, I think we sounded okay.

The processonal hymn was When I Behold the Wondrous Cross. (I'm not sure why the title was changed from "When I Survey....". Maybe it's a Catholic thing?).

Father Larry gave an excellent homily that refreshed our memory on the significance of the day, particularly for priests. He also tied Jewish customs based on the reading from Exodus to the Eucharist.

During the liturgy of the washing of the feet, we chanted Mandatum novum do vobis ("a new commandment I give unto you) from whence comes the word "maundy". The was followed by an Ubi Caritas medly: the first verse arranged by Durufle for four voices (see it at YouTube), and the remaining verses from The Catholic Book of Worship III.

During the offering of the gifts, we sang I am the Bread of Life unaccompanied.

At the end of mass, during the procession with the exposed eucharist, we sang Tantum Ergo arranged by Durufle for four voices:

Tantum ergo sacramentum
Veneremur cernui,
Et antiquum documentum
Novo cedat ritui;
Praestet fides supplementum
Sensuum defectui.

Genitori Genitoque
Laus et jubilatio,
Salus, honor, virtus quoque
Sit et benedictio;
Procedenti ab utroque
Compar sit laudatio.

Amen.

or, in English:

So let us devoutly revere this great sacrament, and the old covenant may give way to the new rite. May faith grant assistance to the deficiency of our senses.

Jubilant praise, glory, laud, honor, and benediction be to the Father and the Son. Equal praise be to Him that proceeds from the two.

The procession was beautiful and the Blessed Sacrament was exposed at the St. John altar in the church. Oddly, at least for me, our parish appears not to have a monstrance. In our previous parish in Atlanta, we had a beautiful gold cross shaped monstrance in which the Blessed Sacrament was actually exposed. We also had a 24 hour period of adoration each week. Last night, the Body of Christ was in a chalice-type vessel with a lacy cloth laid over top. Considering that our parish is actually called "Blessed Sacrament", the apparent lack of a monstrance and the fact that the tabernacle is outside the sanctuary to the side of the altar, is all very sad.

Easter Plans

My niece Magali has come from Montreal to spend the weekend with us. She's gone skiing with Z and the boys today, leaving me with lots of time to do some Easter cooking.

So far today, I've made

Granola (still in the slow-cooker)
Granola bars
Nanaimo bars (for Easter dinner)
Cream of asparagus soup (for today's fasting meals)

Still to go:

Pound cake for trifle (Easter dinner)
Pack up goodies from Easter bunny for Sunday morning

Tomorrow I need to buy the lamb and a few other things for dinner prep. We are having Z's cousin Ghassan ("Gus") and his wife and two teens for Easter dinner at midday on Sunday as Magali flies back to Montreal late Sunday afternoon. Our menu will be:

Antipasto (proscuitto with pears, pate, salmon mousse, homemade crusty bread)

Roast lamb, mashed potato casserole, green beans, beets(?), green salad (brought by Gus)

Traditional English trifle (made with pound cake, sherry, fruit, custard, whipped cream, toasted almonds.)
Nanaimo bars.

Fridge o' plenty!

We got our first delivery from Green Earth Organics (GEO) yesterday. During the winter, the pickings are pretty slim and (obviously) not so local. But this is what we got in our big plastic tote box:

4 honey tangerines
5 macintosh apples (ON)
2 grapefruit
blueberries
fennel
zucchini
baby bok choy
beets (QC)
carrots (QC)
avocado
yellow onions
green leaf lettuce
russet potatoes (ON)
broccoli
red chard

It's not enough produce for our family for a week, but we can easily supplement as we need to on our regular grocery runs. I am looking forward to experimenting with vegetables that I don't typically (or ever) buy. We put some of the fennel in our salad last night. I'm going to make the chard with Parmesan cheese and garlic as part of our Good Friday fasting meal. I have no idea what to do with the bok choy!

GEO posts the weekly list of produce on their website, so I can plan ahead. They also permit substitutions of up to four items so I may try to up the fruit-veg-ratio to satisfy my hungry teens.

Maundy Thursday: Mass Report

Choir call was at 7:00 for the mass at 8:00. I've been away the last few Sundays so haven't had the benefit of much rehearsal for the Triduum music, and we were only 9 (plus the organist) singing last night. But because most of our music was a capella, coupled with lovely acoustics in the church, I think we sounded okay.

The processonal hymn was When I Behold the Wondrous Cross. (I'm not sure why the title was changed from "When I Survey....". Maybe it's a Catholic thing?).

Father Larry gave an excellent homily that refreshed our memory on the significance of the day, particularly for priests. He also tied Jewish customs based on the reading from Exodus to the Eucharist.

During the liturgy of the washing of the feet, we chanted Mandatum novum do vobis ("a new commandment I give unto you) from whence comes the word "maundy". The was followed by an Ubi Caritas medly: the first verse arranged by Durufle for four voices (see it at YouTube), and the remaining verses from The Catholic Book of Worship III.

During the offering of the gifts, we sang I am the Bread of Life unaccompanied.

At the end of mass, during the procession with the exposed eucharist, we sang Tantum Ergo arranged by Durufle for four voices:

Tantum ergo sacramentum
Veneremur cernui,
Et antiquum documentum
Novo cedat ritui;
Praestet fides supplementum
Sensuum defectui.

Genitori Genitoque
Laus et jubilatio,
Salus, honor, virtus quoque
Sit et benedictio;
Procedenti ab utroque
Compar sit laudatio.

Amen.

or, in English:

So let us devoutly revere this great sacrament, and the old covenant may give way to the new rite. May faith grant assistance to the deficiency of our senses.

Jubilant praise, glory, laud, honor, and benediction be to the Father and the Son. Equal praise be to Him that proceeds from the two.

The procession was beautiful and the Blessed Sacrament was exposed at the St. John altar in the church. Oddly, at least for me, our parish appears not to have a monstrance. In our previous parish in Atlanta, we had a beautiful gold cross shaped monstrance in which the Blessed Sacrament was actually exposed. We also had a 24 hour period of adoration each week. Last night, the Body of Christ was in a chalice-type vessel with a lacy cloth laid over top. Considering that our parish is actually called "Blessed Sacrament", the apparent lack of a monstrance and the fact that the tabernacle is outside the sanctuary to the side of the altar, is all very sad.

Dinos and Darwin

The boys and I headed downtown to the Royal Ontario Museum today. Z and I had purchased a membership a few months ago but had never been back. With the boys off on March break and the dull grey rainy day, it was a perfect opportunity to take advantage of our free admission. We left the car at a park 'n ride lot and took the subway to avoid paying downtown parking.

The fabulous ROM dinosaurs have recently been re-exhibited after the mega-reno that the museum recently underwent. It's a wonderful collection and a very impressive display that moves smoothly from dinosaurs through modern plant and animal life.

The other exhibit we saw was called Darwin: The Evolution Revolution. It was an interesting amalgam of his scientific pursuits and personal history of his life and times.

Michael also spent some time in the Asian galleries. He is a Japanophile, and is studying Japanese on Saturday mornings at a downtown school.

It has been challenging to find outings (like this) that engage our (now) teenage boys, and today the ROM delivered.

Dinos and Darwin

The boys and I headed downtown to the Royal Ontario Museum today. Z and I had purchased a membership a few months ago but had never been back. With the boys off on March break and the dull grey rainy day, it was a perfect opportunity to take advantage of our free admission. We left the car at a park 'n ride lot and took the subway to avoid paying downtown parking.

The fabulous ROM dinosaurs have recently been re-exhibited after the mega-reno that the museum recently underwent. It's a wonderful collection and a very impressive display that moves smoothly from dinosaurs through modern plant and animal life.

The other exhibit we saw was called Darwin: The Evolution Revolution. It was an interesting amalgam of his scientific pursuits and personal history of his life and times.

Michael also spent some time in the Asian galleries. He is a Japanophile, and is studying Japanese on Saturday mornings at a downtown school.

It has been challenging to find outings (like this) that engage our (now) teenage boys, and today the ROM delivered.

Food, glorious food.

I've been on a steady path to more healthy family eating, really since I left the work force when we moved to Atlanta. I have been progressively cooking more from scratch, and wasting a lot less food by menu planning and creative management of the fridge and pantry. All our bread is homemade, and has become a staple at every meal, helping to fill the bottomless pits that are teeneage boys.

After reading Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, my relationship with food has taken yet another spin. It is a convincing argument for local, organic, small-farm sourcing of as much of one's food as possible. I had been considering joining a CSA for a couple of years while we were in Atlanta, but never got around to it. Today I signed up with Green Earth Organics and will get a box of (to the extent possible in each season) local/organic produce delivered to my home on a weekly basis.

I just picked up a copy of Pollan's most recent book In Defence of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. Whereas The Omnivore's Dilemma focussed on food production practices, this one looks at nutrition fads/fallacies/claims and proposes a rational approach to deciding what and how to eat. He is a great writer and very inspiring. And he wants me to switch back to butter! (This is one area that I have flipped back and forth on a half a dozen times over my adult life: butter-Becel-butter-Becel.)

The vegetarian in the household has okayed the occasional ingestion of pasture-raised meat and my local Loblaws is now carrying meat from Beretta Organic Farms which fits the bill for him. So I'm looking forward to a home cooked roast or steak every once in a while. Not to mention a leg of organic lamb for Easter Sunday dinner (although I'll need to go to a butcher to get a fresh one.)

It's been five weeks...

...of distraction and confusion. So no blogging.

The lads are in their second and final week of their spring break. We did a little circuit of Kingston, Montreal, and Ottawa over the past week. In particular, we wanted to visit Queen's University, a potential destination for Alex in a year and a half. It's the school where Z and I met, and we both remember it with immense fondness. He invited his former thesis supervisor out for a drink and caught up on all the department comings and goings.

Alex really likes the campus and town and Queen's is very high on his list of potential schools. He had been heading for Mathematics (like his ma and pa) but is now considering the Math and Engineering program that is unique to Queen's (in Canada).

We spent some time in Old Montreal, and visited our niece Magali who has come to Montreal from France to work for a (French) company. She lives in Boucherville and will spend the Easter weekend with us here in Toronto.

We also visited Saad, a cousin of Z's, along with his wife Dima and two young sons Phillip and Andrew, who I hadn't seen for years.

In Ottawa, we stayed with my mother and spent time with my sister and her family. Even though her children are younger than mine, it's great for them to spend some time together. My mom has a pool in her condo building and it's a great way for them to hang out together. My sister and I got some time to chat in the hot tub while the men-folk managed the children in the pool.

We got home last night, picking up Wilson from the kennel on our way in to town. So today's been laundry and groceries and taxes.

But it's good to be home.

Food, glorious food.

I've been on a steady path to more healthy family eating, really since I left the work force when we moved to Atlanta. I have been progressively cooking more from scratch, and wasting a lot less food by menu planning and creative management of the fridge and pantry. All our bread is homemade, and has become a staple at every meal, helping to fill the bottomless pits that are teeneage boys.

After reading Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma, my relationship with food has taken yet another spin. It is a convincing argument for local, organic, small-farm sourcing of as much of one's food as possible. I had been considering joining a CSA for a couple of years while we were in Atlanta, but never got around to it. Today I signed up with Green Earth Organics and will get a box of (to the extent possible in each season) local/organic produce delivered to my home on a weekly basis.

I just picked up a copy of Pollan's most recent book In Defence of Food: An Eater's Manifesto. Whereas The Omnivore's Dilemma focussed on food production practices, this one looks at nutrition fads/fallacies/claims and proposes a rational approach to deciding what and how to eat. He is a great writer and very inspiring. And he wants me to switch back to butter! (This is one area that I have flipped back and forth on a half a dozen times over my adult life: butter-Becel-butter-Becel.)

The vegetarian in the household has okayed the occasional ingestion of pasture-raised meat and my local Loblaws is now carrying meat from Beretta Organic Farms which fits the bill for him. So I'm looking forward to a home cooked roast or steak every once in a while. Not to mention a leg of organic lamb for Easter Sunday dinner (although I'll need to go to a butcher to get a fresh one.)

It's been five weeks...

...of distraction and confusion. So no blogging.

The lads are in their second and final week of their spring break. We did a little circuit of Kingston, Montreal, and Ottawa over the past week. In particular, we wanted to visit Queen's University, a potential destination for Alex in a year and a half. It's the school where Z and I met, and we both remember it with immense fondness. He invited his former thesis supervisor out for a drink and caught up on all the department comings and goings.

Alex really likes the campus and town and Queen's is very high on his list of potential schools. He had been heading for Mathematics (like his ma and pa) but is now considering the Math and Engineering program that is unique to Queen's (in Canada).

We spent some time in Old Montreal, and visited our niece Magali who has come to Montreal from France to work for a (French) company. She lives in Boucherville and will spend the Easter weekend with us here in Toronto.

We also visited Saad, a cousin of Z's, along with his wife Dima and two young sons Phillip and Andrew, who I hadn't seen for years.

In Ottawa, we stayed with my mother and spent time with my sister and her family. Even though her children are younger than mine, it's great for them to spend some time together. My mom has a pool in her condo building and it's a great way for them to hang out together. My sister and I got some time to chat in the hot tub while the men-folk managed the children in the pool.

We got home last night, picking up Wilson from the kennel on our way in to town. So today's been laundry and groceries and taxes.

But it's good to be home.