Thankful

Yesterday I joked that I was mostly thankful for the movie Pitch Perfect and chocolate almonds.

While there are shreds of truth in there (Acascuse me?), I am really most-thankful for my son, the ever-mentioned and ofetn hollered at Mascot, the rediculously cute guy that I have been calling my fella for the past 5 years, 3 months, and 28 days (or so), my dad, who now parents me from beyond (and sometimes in the form of a blue jay - long story), and my mom (aka Mumji), who's voice is what keeps me here*.

With those four out of the way, I can get on to the business of listing some of the random things that I am thankful for:

- My wonderful, carefully-curated collection of friends. I love them all to bits. Even the weird ones.

- My Group Power and Spin classes and all the energy that I get from them. The more I expend, the more I find is returned. Funny, that.

- On a related note, I am thankful for good health and a thick, shiny coat. And the ability to lift heavy things with enthusiasm.

- My job. As crazy as it can get, it is like an education and an experience wrapped in a blueberry pancake and served in a commemorative tote bag of chili.

- My sense of humour. Oh, lord... without it I think I would've gone bonkers by now.

- Irony. See humour.

- Aveda "be curly" curl enhancer. In a perfect world, highly effective, nice smelling hair products would flow from special taps in our bathrooms. Until we can make that happen (we should maybe get rid of world hunger first), there is this stuff.

- Clean air, clean water, farmers who grow good, clean food. And coffee. Cups and cups of coffee.

*Ok, wait...that's a Jann Arden lyric.

Say cheese!

There used to be a time that I could get the kid to pose for all sorts of photos. Even when he was at the age when he never stood still, I could get him to at least pause and smile for the camera.

Now that he's 16, this is the best that I can expect to get. Without bribery.

You have to look close. The lanky thing in a camp shirt. Right behind me, darting out of the shot. Yeah. That.

Don't get me wrong, it is a very nice picture of part of his torso and I am glad to have it. It's just that he's growing up so freaking fast - taller and bolder and stronger and more confidant. I'm not all that sentimental, but lately I have been feeling that if I don't capture the moment, I won't have anything to compare it to. Will I remember that sweet face when he returns from two months at camp next summer with a weird, patchy beard and hair hanging in his eyes*?

I guess that I should've known this would happen. There are approximately four photographs of me that were taken between age 13 and 18. Or, I should say, there are four photos in existence. I went through a weird time with my hair** in the 80s.

Scrolling through the photos on my phone just now, I guess I shouldn't really complain. I do have more than 4 current pics of the boy. And he's even smiling in a few of them. My days of cramming him into a big mixing bowl a la Anne Geddes are long gone, but I'll take what I can get.



*Ok, that one probably won't happen. The boy's hair grows out, not down. Like mine, it gets bigger instead of longer. At least there's no question of where he came from...

**Yeah, this is a recurring theme. Jacob can blame me for his curls, but I have never been able to figure out where mine came from.

Forget 50 Shades

 

I think I have found my perfect shade of grey - CoverGirl Outlast in Non-stop Stone. It's perfectly trendy, without looking trendy...and it's not quite the same colour as my car, so I don't look like I am trying too hard.

 

And I have also discovered that it is impossible to take a flattering hand picture. I tried gripping an object, but it reminded me too much of the old Consumers Distributing catalogue. (The ladies know what I'm talking about. Bow chicka bow bow.)

Good things come in big and small packages.

Friday: I have this thing about entering raffles...especially when they are for a good cause. Since I wasn't planning to participate in the Run for the Cure, I bought a few tickets for a raffle at the CIBC in Winnipeg Square. (That's practically the same thing, right?)

Anyway, I was just minding my own on Friday afternoon and, out of the blue (pink?), I got a call from a very nice lady telling me that they had made the draw and I had won! I went down right after work and picked up my prize - a very lovely pearl and silver bracelet (value:$110). How awesome is that?

Saturday: Christmas came a little early for us this year. Hot on the heels of her own kitchen reno, my mom sent us a brand new fridge! It's a GE bottom-mount and it is COOL. Both literally and figuritively.

The only thing "wrong" with it, according to the Mascot, is it's lack of giant cardboard box. Apparently, when he heard that we were getting a new fridge, he started fantasizing about making a box-fort. (I am assuming that, for boys, box-forts are fun at any age.)

Sunday: Two of my favourite things are pie and pizza. One of my favourite people is my friend Heather. On Sunday, my friend Heather had me over and fed me pie and pizza. In that order. She is the best.

In the words of the Mascot, "That Heather is quite a dame." That she is, kiddo. That she is.

Making a Splash

Thirty minutes before the start of my Aqua Zumba class, I was sitting in my car in the rec centre parking lot, trying to think up a plausable reason NOT to go. After 15 minutes, I decided to put all of my fears* aside and go inside. Gulp.

Once I was out on the pool deck, though, I realized that I was just being silly. The nine other gals who were assembled were having a conversation about bounce-testing their bathing suits. They were all in groups of twos and threes, but I managed to slip myself into the group and joined in on the giggles. This would be fun....right?

Right. But it wasn't just fun, it was FUN. Like, laugh-out-loud, splashy, silly, OMG fun.

The instructor did all of the moves on dry land (sometimes with the help of a chair), and all that we had to do was follow along. Or, at least, make our very best attempt. (It was our first class, after all.)

After many, many laughs, and a darn good workout, our 45 minutes were over. And, had there been a hot-tub in close proximity, we would've kept the party going.

*was I going to fall out of my bathing suit top and/or drown.

A weekend of culture... sort of.

Friday
Part of my job is doing really cool things, like going to street namings and flag raisings. On Friday night, we took part in Culture Days by "officially" opening the Listening Lights on Market Avenue. I was afraid that we wouldn't have many people out, but we ended up attracting a nice little crowd. (Thank you, Twitter.) And I didn't even mind working late or hanging out in the rain.

After the opening, we wandered over to Bannatyne for a pizza at Corrientes. My half was amazing - arugula pesto, smoked salmon (for authenticity, please pronounce the L in salmon), sunflower seeds, goat cheese, red onions, and a fresh arugula salad on top. Seriously nom. My fella had something with chicken. I think. Too busy eating.

Saturday
The first part of the day was pretty typical - Starbucks, Costco, the gym, more grocery shopping, more Starbucks - and, come to think of it, the second part was pretty typical, too - dinner, movie, SNL. The bestest part, other than discovering that my T-fal ActiFry makes perfect wings, was watching The Iceman. I had to watch with one hand over my face, but it was so, so good.



Sunday
After a fun class at the Reh-fit, I hopped on my bike, collected my fella, and embarked on a big River Heights adventure, which, of course, included beers at the Grove. I had a big, yummy toasted wheat beer...followed by a big, toasty nap. Perfect.

And, of course, Sunday night's big event was the finale of Breaking Bad. It, too, was perfect.

I heart donuts.

Did I ever tell you that I have this thing about finding random hearts in nature?

I'm not sure if a Tim Horton's box can be considered "nature", but I was delighted when this little beauty showed up in my office today. And, the best part? It was an old-fashioned plain - my favourite.

Weekends are delicious.

When it comes to tucking into a big bowl of noodles, one of my very favourite things is the Spag Boo at Cafe Carlo and one of my fella's favourite things is the Fett Chile at Cafe Carlo. (See? We're a match made in heaven!) To avoid the chance of ever getting bored with the Boo/Fett, we try to limit our visits there to once every several months, or until the cravings get too strong.

This weekend was one of those "can't wait any longer" times, so we made our resos for Saturday night and started fasting.

As usual, the service was endearingly pokey and the food was fantastic. Due to some glitzy re-branding, my beloved Boo is now called "Mediterranean Spagattini", but it was just as good as ever. So was the bread. <--- joke="" p="" private="">
On Sunday, we decided we'd better venture out on a healthier persuit, so we packed a picnic, loaded up the panniers on my bike, and headed for a sunny spot in Omands Park. It was a beautiful first-dau-of-fall. And the sandwiches were pretty good, too.

 

Socks, rocked.

Things that rocked my socks this weekend:

Friday night was absolutely perfect to join the "Canola Girls" for an elegant little fall supper. Of course, in true Canola-style, we were shuttled out into the middle of somewhere (a farm close to Newdale, MB) and treated like royalty. Dinner was prepared by the amazing MJ Feeke from Benjamin's in Selkirk and I have no problem admitting that I went for seconds on the veggies...and potatoes and salad and bread. We also had the chance to take part in a frank and open discussion about GMOs with a real, live farmer and someone from Monsanto (I know!) It was great to see the gang again and I was more than just a little jealous when the Be Well campers got on their bus and headed for the Barn in the Bush.

Saturday night, my fella and I put on our dancing shoes and went to the Pyramid Cabaret for Factory Reset Redux. The event was both a fundraiser for two community AIDS organizations and a tribute to former Happenings DJ, Eldon Ross. (Oh, how I loved Happenings.) The music was amazing, as I expected it to be, but it was seeing all the familiar (yet slightly older) faces and dancing 'til two that made my night.

 

On Sunday, I started to panic about the number of bikeable days left this year, so I grabbed the chance to take Norma Jean out on a loooong bike ride. Instead of my usual "to the park and back", I decided to go out to Assiniboine Forest and then out to the Perimeter via the Harte Trail. The trail is fine, packed gravel and winds along an old railway bed. For most of it, you have farmland/forest on one side and houses on the other. (That being said, the semi-urban setting is still pretty rural; I even saw a big deer wandering down one of the side streets!) The whole adventure took a couple of hours and I managed to put another 34kms (round trip) on my bike.

Honourable mentions: scrambled eggs, bagels and sangria for breakfast on Saturday (followed by a 2 1/2 hour nap...lol) and pizza made with fresh dough from Deluca's. Twice.

Vive le Weekend!

Things that made me ridiculously happy this weekend (in no particular order):

The 4th annual Winnipeg Tweed ride. This time, with 100% more fella! We had a blast winding around Wolseley, Assiniboine Park, and Wellington Crescent before heading downtown for a picnic on the lawn at Dalnavert.

My first drink in the Palm Room at the Fort Garry Hotel. I ordered a Kir Royale, because why wouldn’t I?

Laying on a blanket in Assiniboine Park. Also, sitting on a lawn chair in Assiniboine Park. (Ever notice that you feel guilty for laying around the house doing “nothing”, but a simple change of venue makes it perfectly acceptable?)

Finding my favourite brand of Oatmeal at Costco after months of being forced to eat icky porridge oats. Where did it go? Dunno, but I’m glad it’s back.

A Random Act of Saskatoon Pie. Thanks, Heather!!

Being the meat on a Shel/Susie sandwich at the 100 MileDinner. So many laughs, such good food. I also got to take home the centerpiece because I had the “worst seat in the house”. We also got a shout-out for adding to the "cool factor" of the evening.