Dinner at DeLuca's

For dinner last night, Anna cooked.
Pizza with Ricotta cheese and Cacciatore sausage; bruschetta with Sundried tomatoes. "You gotta hava da sundried tomatoes becausa dey da beste."Pasta with Tuna Sauce. "Ya gotta usa de tuna ina oil becausa de flavour isa mucha better."This is not a very good picture of the delicious Veal with Mushroom and Pepper sauce and Potatoes with Herbs, Parmesan and Caciocavallo.I'm sure that I took a picture of the Tiramasu for dessert but I don't know what happened to it. You'll have to take my word for it that it was both beautiful and delicious.

Random Bits and Pieces

Went to church yesterday morning. I don't like religion, but I love going to church. The music, the videos, the sharing and the chatting afterwards is like balm to my soul. What a great community of people we have.

In the afternoon, there was an adults against the teens hockey game. The weather was gorgeous, the ice smooth and there were a lot of people out. There were a few guys, not part of our "group" who joined us. They had a blast too. Wes' glasses were the only casualty.

People are asking me if I've started packing yet. Truth is, I haven't. There really isn't much to do. We got rid of a lot of stuff when we first put the house on the market and the rest of the stuff is what we use.

Carolyn is doing great. As a matter of fact there is a good chance that she will acually go to full term! That is great news, especially considering that we thought this baby could very well have been born as early as Christmas. Carolyn has been taking great care of this baby. She'll be a good mom.

We are going to El Salvador in March for 2 weeeks with Habitat for Humanity. Should be a great time. Except if Carolyn goes overdue, this baby might be born while we're away! I hope she comes before we leave. It will be hard to be so far away with all the excitement and wonder of a new baby in the family.

I chatted for the first time in my life on facebook with Kristen last week. She's having a marvellous time in South Africa. What an experience for her!

I chatted on the phone with Michele last week too. It sounds like they are also having the time of their lives.

Tonight was Monday night dinner. Our numbers are dwindling with several family members out of the country and a couple away at school. The food and conversation is still good though.

I don't know how to end this dull, boring post so I'll just stop.

We've been talking lots about our move from this old house, to our new old house. While I'm excited and happy that we are finally getting on with our lives the change of leaving this place and moving into something else can be a little overwhelming.

Our plan is to share a house with my sister Michele and her husband Rob and their 2 sons. Rob and Michele already own the house and we plan to change it into 2 separate condos. This will require extensive renovations, while we live there. That's the overwhelming part. What do we take with us and what do we store? Where will we all live when Rob and Michele get back from their trip? I find that I worry more than I ever used to. I know that worrying about all of this will not help but it's hard for me not to obsess about this stuff. I used to be so easy going! I thrived on chaos. No more! Now I worry.

I know it will all work out and I can envision the time when I will be relaxing in my new home, acknowledging that it was all worth it and grateful for such a peaceful, beautiful home.

I'm also looking forward to living so close to my sister that all I need to do is walk up the stairs to borrow a cup of sugar, curry paste or some quinoa. She's got a lot of interesting stuff in her pantry.

Yes, it will all be good. I've survived some pretty chaotic times in my life and I know I'll survive this one too. Actually, I want more than to survive. I want to enjoy this time.

It's all in the attitude, isn't it?

Cooking Class

For Christmas, I got a gift certificate for cooking classes at DeLuca's, an Italian grocery/bakery/wine store in Winnipeg. Last night, Wes and I went to our first class. Mmmmm.

It was all pretty authentic Italian food. Most of the products they used had been shipped from Italy. And chef Anna was pretty adamant about what to use.

"You must use Italian anise seed. It's much better."
"Parmeggiana Reggiano is the best."
"Don't use half and half."

The Tortellini Bolognese Style soup was absolutely delicious. I think my favourite course was "Farfalle with Cream and Mushroom sauce." Ingredients are whipping cream, butter, mushrooms, garlic, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

There was no calorie or fat information with these recipes although all the fat was skimmed off of the broth for the soup. Good thing.

We are signed up for 3 more classes this month. Yum, yum.

Sold

What are we toasting you ask?

THE SALE OF OUR HOUSE!

Yvonne's been busy

Once everything is in place, I'll let you know what she's going to do with all these sweet things!

Black wool with penny buttonsOut of Africa

Vintage Quilt

Michele's Curtain

Chelsea' Idea

Wool with penny buttons

i just watched the inaugural address.

Wow.

Barak Obama's speech was one of incredible hope. I was inspired as were millions of Americans, I'm sure. He has a huge job ahead of him and people will begin to criticize him as soon as he opens his mouth on his official first day. But today, there is hope.

The benediction was also inspiring. The man who spoke it (I didn't catch his name) had such a vision for the world and for peace. If there were more Christians like him, this world would be a much better place.

The best part of the whole thing? After the speech, he turned to his family and Malia, his eldest daughter nodded her head and told him that it was a pretty good speech. I don't read lips but I could swear she said, "You rock dad."

Finally!

This past weekend, we accepted an offer on our house. It was a good offer and we are confident that the condition that is on the offer will be met before too long.

The people who bought our house fell in love with it as soon as they came through the front door. We saw them twice this weekend (!) because they wanted to show it to their daughters and then they wanted to be here while the home inspection was taking place. It is obvious that they love this place.

They need to sell their house before February 22 but we are confident that will not be a problem. It is a sellable house and the Winnipeg real estate market is still going strong. Not as hot as it was a year ago, but strong nevertheless. My gut tells me that even if their house does not sell, they will still go ahead with the purchase of this house.

Hurray! Eight months and almost 50 showings. Sleepless nights and then trying to remain optimistic. It's finally happening. We need to be out by March 29.

Many people have asked what our plans are for our next place. Michele owns a big, rambling old home in St. Boniface and we are splitting that house into 2 condos. Wes and I will own the main floor and basement, Rob and Michele will own the second and third floors.

After all the major renovations are finished, it will be a great place for us. In the meantime, I expect that there will be a fair bit of chaos in our lives for the next six months or so. Stay tuned for updates!

How cold, you ask?

Colder than the North Pole (-27C) and the South Pole (-26C).

The headlines in the local paper claim that the Arctic blast can't defeat Winnipeggers. Well, I'm pretty close to defeated, let me tell you.


Brrrr.

Adventure of a Lifetime

Kristen left yesterday for South Africa and things are mighty quiet around here.


The bedroom's a little too neat.

The Blackberry's been turned off for a much needed rest.

The schedule.

Family Photo

My dear sister Michele and her family have left Winnipeg for a trip of a lifetime. Much preparation has happened and finally, Monday morning they were gone. Jed the dog has been left behind and he is a little sad about that. I can't believe that for the next 6 months I will be the owner of 2 dogs. Imagine, in only a couple of short years I have moved from being a dog tolerator to a dog lover!

I will post some pictures for the benefit of Jed's family.

This is Jed's praying pose. He has been praying a lot. There are several possibilities as to why he spends so much time in prayer:

1. He wants his family home soon, safe and sound
2. He is concerned about the souls of the people he loves
3. He wants a doggy treat

We are trying to help Jed remember his praying trick but it has been very difficult to teach Dixie the same thing. So, when we practise Jed's praying, we practise Dixie's staying. Neither dog seems to notice a difference between the two words and they are both happy with the treats they get as a reward.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad

December 30, 1954 54 years later, 5 children, 5 children-in-law, 18 grandkids, 5 grands-in-law, 2 great grandchildren and 1 as yet to be born great granddaughter.

Phew! Quite a legacy, I'd say.

Christmas '08

Ahhhh....Just got home from our annual getaway at Pinewood Lodge. This has become a highlight of my Christmas holiday. This year we spent 3 days in the beautiful Whiteshell Provincial Park, cross country skiing, playing hockey, swimming and just hanging around. Every time I come home, I feel like I've been away for a week.

Christmas was lovely too. We had our own children here on Christmas eve and then had Christmas brunch with the extended family which is a new tradition that we started a few years ago.

Lovely, just lovely.

Here's my great-nephew Gavin having fun in the pool with his dad.

Some of our group of 20.No trip to Pinewood is complete without a few games of Monopoly.

Somebody wanted to view the house today. Christmas day.

Our agent wasn't able to contact us as we had our cell phones turned off and anyway, I would have said no way.

Is no day sacred anymore? I understand that not everyone celebrates Christmas but they must know that December 25 is a day like no other in our Western culture. I feel sorry for our agent because she's the one who had to deal with this today. She sounded tired when I called her.

I can't wait till we sell this flippin' house.

Advent: The coming or arrival, especially of something extremely important

This advent season I am anticipating 2 extremely important events. One is the birth of my first grandchild. When Carolyn's "incompetent cervix" was first discovered ten weeks ago, the hope was for the baby to remain in utero until 30 weeks. We are at 30 weeks now and we are thrilled that everything is looking very good and that our granddaughter seems quite happy to remain where she is now.

The other important event that I am anticipating is the death of a friend. I suppose the word is usually used in a way that suggests looking forward to something good, like the birth of a child. Gerald's death is inevitable. Unless a miracle happens, this will be his last Christmas on this earth. I do not anticipate the kind of miracle where he will suddenly jump out of his bed, completely healed. But I do know that when his time comes, he will be in a place of joy and light, where there will be no more pain or suffering. Good for Gerald. He will finally be in a place where he belongs, where he will feel completely at peace.

Birth and death. Joy and suffering. Hope and loss. And in the middle of it all, we live and try to make sense of it all.

I wish you all a very blessed Christmas.

If you'd like to read something that was published in the Free Press about Gerald, look here. For the website that several of his artist friends created on his behalf, click here.

Following in her mother's footsteps

That's my girl!

Poor Heath and Deborah Campbell. It seems that a local New Jersey grocery store denied a request from Mr. Campbell to include the full name of his son, Adolph Hitler Campbell on a birthday cake.

The Campbells are requesting people who disagree with their choice of name to "get their heads out of the clouds and have a little tolerance."

Fortunately, the local Walmart came to the rescue and complied with the request. I guess little Adolph was happy that he got his cake but I wonder what he'll think of his name once he learns the truth about the monster that is his namesake.

House Still for Sale

Yup. It's still for sale. Yesterday we got our first offer and we just couldn't accept it. I know this was the right decision and I feel good about it but still...

Wes has a feeling that it will be sold by Christmas.

I really hope he's right.

Busy cooking today.

Random Thoughts

I'm sitting at Alisha's house watching Gavin while she's at an appointment.  Gavin's crawling around like he's on a mission and is also becoming quite a ham.  I figured I'd have a busy morning with him.  Well, he's sleeping so there's really not much for me to do.  I hope he wakes up before Alisha comes home.  I'd like to spend a little time with him.

Yesterday I visited with an old friend, a second cousin actually, who is in Winnipeg visiting her daughter.  We figured that it was probably more than 30 years ago since we saw each other but it seemed that the years melted away as we updated each other.  There's something about family, even when it's "once removed", that makes conversation easy.  I'm looking forward to seeing more of Ella and her Winnipeg family.

Kristen comes home on Friday!  I am so looking forward to seeing her!  She's taking along a few friends, who will stay overnight and then fly home on Saturday.  She may  also be taking along some unwanted visitors-bed bugs.  Seems that some of the kids picked them up while in Vancouver.  I will be doing lots and lots of laundry before anything comes into my house on Friday night.  Yuck!

The house is still on the market.  We have had about 35 showings without an offer.  I'm usually okay with it all but it is getting tiresome.  I will be glad when things are settled.  Wes has a feeling that it will be sold by Christmas.  I hope he's right. 

I have stopped watching the news.  I am so sick and tired of the politics that is happening in our country that I cannot watch anymore.  This is no longer about the economy.  It is all about power and political posturing and I am sick of it.  

I am loving taekwondo.  There is no stress reliever like kicking a bag.  It has been about 8 years since I quit and I am amazed at how my body remembers what it is supposed to do.  I thought I had forgotten many of the moves but it has taken me only a couple of months to get back to where I was.  

We are still having our family dinners most Monday nights.  For the last few weeks after dinner we have been playing Christmas carols.  A piano, 2 violins and a cello.  That is music to my ears and a good way to end this boring, random post.

A New Blogger

Please welcome to the world of blogging...Carolyn, the wife of my son and mother of my as yet unborn granddaughter

The Quilt

I may not have been blogging much but I have kept myself occupied. This is the quilt top that Kristen and I started several months ago. I finally finished it today and hope to find someone to quilt it before too long.

I like it because it reminds me of Kristen; cheerful, random with lots of personality.

Still There

...but Dixie's getting jealous.

He Moved

Jed's been over for a week and a half. If his family is wondering how he's doing, let's just say he is feeling very much at home.

Thursday Thirteen

I woke up crabby this morning so I thought I'd better write a Thursday Thirteen of things I'm grateful for. Hopefully it will get me out of this mood...

1. The sunshine
2. A warm house, clean and clutter free
3. The music theory group- Chelsea, Tim, Sean, Micah and Joey
4. Playing Christmas songs with Chelsea and Tim (and Micah, if he ever comes home from PEI)
5. My kids
6. Wes
7. The "Artist Date" I had with Yvonne last week
8. My new slippers


9. Peppermint flavoured green tea
10. The butter keeper that I bought in Chicago
11. The soup sock I'm using to make stock. It is an amazing little thing.
12. Monday night dinners
13. Reading material of all kinds

In my very first post, back on April 13, 2005, I promised the following four things to myself and to my faithful readers.

• I will do my best to avoid spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.
• I will post as frequently as possible or when I am moved to write something.
• I will try my best not to embarrass my children-even though that's almost impossible.
• I will not try to be too deep or profound. Otherwise, I may not write anything!

I think that I have been mostly successful in these 4 things. Blogging has been fun for me and I've met some interesting and funny people over the past few years through this blog. But I haven't posted much these last few months. I'm not sure why but I seem to have lost interest. Maybe my life is just too ordinary and mundane. I don't have many cute kid stories. My kids are all still cute to me but they're all taller than me, some are smarter than me (I won't tell you which ones) and they just don't do as many cute things as they used to. The international students often gave me good fodder for stories but they have moved back to Mexico and Brasil. The dog is still around and provides entertainment for us here but I haven't felt like writing about her either.

Reading my old posts recently inspired me to try to start posting more regularly again. I would not have remembered some of the things that I wrote about if I had not posted. So, my faithful readers (and I think there may be a couple of you left) I will try to post a little more frequently. This blog may bore you but then again, you don't have to read it.

At the very least, my grammar may improve if I write a little more. I lost the cord for my camera to download pictures so that has also reduced my posting options. Hopefully I'll find it before too long and you will see pictures from our recent trip to Chicago.

Tomorrow, I'll try a Thursday Thirteen or maybe a Thursday Three. We'll see.

Another Birthday

Happy birthday Eric!

This picture was taken last year so imagine Joey and Eric looking just a little older.

Halloween #2

For those of you who are scrambling today to get the costumes finished and trying to get something healthy into the tummies of your ghosts and goblins, take heart. One day you will be like me, trying to decide where you'll be going out for dinner tonight in order to avoid the trick or treaters who might come to your door.


Except for the birth of Kristen, Halloween holds few sweet memories for me.

I am SO GLAD I don't have to dress anyone up tonight, except for myself.

Halloween

Halloween is not usually the first thing that pops in my mind when October 31 rolls around, even though it's all around. For me, October 31 is the day that I can celebrate the birth of my fourth child. She's 20 today.

I keep reminding myself that she's 20. I can't believe that my baby is 20. I no longer have teenaged children. They are all in their 20's. Where did the time go?

Kristen is on the road today, travelling from Alberta to Vancouver with the rest of her "Outtatown" team. She's having a great time and I think that she will say that the year she turned twenty was one of the most memorable years of her life. I think she misses home a wee bit but she has always been very adaptable which makes being away a little easier for her than for some.

Happy birthday my schatje.

The Road Trip Continues

We left Chicago on Sunday morning and drove to Minneapolis. Chicago was amazing. We had a wonderful time. The Flemish house was the absolute best place for us to stay-beautiful, comfortable and in a very cool part of town. It was also within walking distance of downtown.

All we did in Minneapolis was to stay in a cheap, crappy hotel. I suppose we were spoiled by the luxurious Flemish house in Chicago but when the washcloth looks like Dixie got to it, you know you're in a cheap place.

We stopped at a lovely cafe in St. Cloud, called the the Meeting Ground. If you ever find yourself in St. Cloud MN, you must stop there. We also discovered an absolutely lovely quilt shop and happily spent some of our hard earned money there.

Now, we're in Fargo, at the Radisson. No more cheap hotels for us although this one is pretty reasonable, especially with my CAA discount. We'll go out for dinner in a little while and then tomorrow morning, it's back to real life in Winnipeg for us.

This has been a fabulous road trip for us. And we still like each other.

Pictures will come once I get the camera out of the car.

Day 2

Another lovely day in Chicago. I woke up at some point in the night, hearing rain and lots of it. By morning it had stopped and we actually saw the sun by late afternoon.

We walked to the Art Institute and wandered around there for a few hours. On the way back, we came upon this famous sculpture, "Cloud Gate" or more commonly known as "The Bean" or "That Big Shiny Thing in Millenium Park." It is very cool. One thing I like about outdoor public art is that you can touch it.

We passed by some places that I thought Tim

and Kristen

might appreciate.

This evening, for dinner, it was wine and cheese purchased from an amazing little shop that we happened upon called Pastoral Artisan Cheese. Mmmm.

We have walked miles and miles and enjoyed every minute of it. This is a great city and the people are incredibly friendly. Tomorrow should be another stellar day.

Our Road Trip

I could write about all the stuff we're doing but I'll let Michele do it for me.

We're Already Taking Pictures

Carolyn, baby and the 2 grandmas.

Must update. But what to say? Not much has happened around this place lately. I am looking forward to a road trip with my sisters to Chicago. The last time we went away together was about 12 or 13 years ago so it's about time, wouldn't you say?

I won't post anything for about a week but that's pretty normal for me these days anyway...

Bye!

Thanksgivng 2008

Most of the time, I find myself wishing that this house was already sold and we'd be preparing to move into something smaller. This weekend though, with 8 of Kristen's friends and another 20 or so for dinner, I was grateful that we have a house big enough for everyone.

When they saw this shower, the young people saw a wonderful photo op.

Happy Thanksgiving

50 things I'm thankful for, in no particular order:

a warm dry house on a cold wet day
family
friends
a big house that makes it easy to have 8 extra guests for a whole weekend
enough resource to be able to feed them all well
good food
wine
apple juice
socks that stay up
slippers
a yet to be born grandchild
peace
democracy
books and people with whom I can discuss them
music
the piano
this computer
laughter
my faith community
the ability to practise what I believe without fear of persecution
the opportunities to practise tolerance
new underwear
stuffing and gravy
hot water
good coffee
vacations
my bicycle
comfortable jeans
the dog
2 ovens so that we can cook a stellar Thanksgiving dinner for almost 30 people
the digital camera
my ipod
my most amazingly comfortable bed
a place to go when I can't sleep
the changing seasons
the people who lent us their mini van this weekend
wes. we make a good team

the dog cousins who always provide us with a good laugh

potable water

sisters with whom I who love to cook
the colours of fall
the saturday crossword puzzle
brand new babies
adorable toddlers
public health care
good, strong coffee
taekwondo
good health
a pain-free back
outdoor walks

What Did You Do this Weekend?

We had 8 of Kristen's friends here and these are some of the things they did...

Kristen was home for dinner on Saturday evening. Along with the other 29 people of Site 2, South Africa, she spent the weekend in Winnipeg in what she referred to as an Urban Plunge. She worked with an organization that has had a presence in Winnipeg's downtown for a number of years and it seems to me that Kristen and her new friends have already had their ideas and beliefs challenged. She told me that after spending time in this Urban Plunge, her preconceived notions of homelessness and the disadvantaged have changed. It is neat to see her willingness to learn and grow and to be open to having her thoughts and ideas challenged.

I asked her if it seemed strange, being home on Saturday night while everyone else in her group was together someplace else. She told me that it felt like they were her family, her community. I understood what she was saying and acknowledged that it was a good thing.

And I felt the apron strings unravel further.

It is all good.

A New Dream

When I joined a Taekwondo club about 10 years ago, I thought I'd get my black belt by the time I was 50. After 2 years, I had to quit for various reasons and so the dream fizzled out.

A few weeks ago, I met someone who had been a member at the club and told him about my plan, how I was one year beyond 50 and how I had never reached the goal. His response to me was, "Why don't you make a new goal for yourself?"

And that my friends is what I'm doing.

Tomorrow I start.

I'm a little nervous.

Who Doesit?

Most mornings when I come downstairs, this is what I find...

I don't know who is responsible but here are the suspects:

Wes

MeEric

Dixie the dog

Laughing and Crying

We had a wonderful time, celebrating Wes' birthday. Lots of laughter and joy. Old friends and new. He had the opportunity to do something crazy. How fortunate.

It was only a few days later that we heard some devastating news. A dear friend has just been diagnosed with a serious brain tumour. We are waiting to find out more but the prognosis does not look good. He is only 50 and should have many more years to live, enjoying his wife, children, grandchildren, extended family and friends.

If you are a praying person, please pray for Gerald. Pray for a miracle.

Happy Birthday Wes!

We celebrated a milestone in Wes' life on Saturday.

Watch the video to see what he did to usher in his 50th year!

Oops

We thought they were coming on Thursday night so imagine my surprise on Wednesday when the phone rang and it was Wes' dad, wondering if anyone was coming to the airport to pick them up.

They are both fine and have forgiven us.

Our home (Winnipeg) to Lockport, 23.8 km.
Average speed: 18 km per hour

Time in the saddle: 1 1/2 hours

We DID let a little rain stop us today.