Day 156 (May 5th, 2010): Heather's Birthday Party

Today was our friend Heather's birthday party.  Actually her birthday was on May 31 but we celebrated today.  We went out to our favourite Korean BBQ restaurant and totally pigged out!  It was so good.  We all overate.  Then we went back to her place and had a fire in the backyard.  Her parents brought out an ice cream cake that was also really delicious. It even had a side of styrofoam, lol.  The styrofoam that the cake is set on kept sticking to the bottom of each piece when it was cut.  We did alot of story telling around the fire and had alot of laughs.  Then we headed inside for a "Boys vs.Girls" game of Cranium.   Girls Win!! YAY!!!  Cranium is always good for some laughs too.  We had a great time.  Thanks for the invite Heather, we were so glad to share your day with you!!

Day 155 (May 4th, 2010): Change of plans.......

Today we had planned on going garage saling.  On my way home from work I saw a couple of signs for sales so my plan was that I would get home, make supper and we could head out after we ate.  That didn't really work out.  I had taken a whole chicken out of the freezer in the morning and was going to cook that for supper.  Then I remembered that I saw Bobbie Flay (Grilling expert on The Food Network, he is also on Iron Chef America) cook a chicken in a way that I had never done before so I decided to try it out.  I took the backbone out of the chicken and flattened it out.  Then I put some herbs in olive oil (he used butter but that doesn't comply with my healthy eating) and brushed them on the outside of the chicken and some under the skin.  Then I put the whole chicken on the BBQ over high heat until the skin was golden brown on each side.  Then I moved the chicken off direct  heat and finished cooking it on the BBQ.   The chicken turned out great!  However, by the time we headed out to the garage sales it was almost 8:00 and they were all shut down for the day.  So, our "different thing" for today was cooking chicken a new way (that rhymes, hee hee).  Here's another rhyme for you "BOBBIE FLAY SAVES THE DAY".

Day 154 (June 3, 2010): Aimless Walk

Today we decided to both go for aimless walks on our own and see where we got. The idea of this was just to take some time to ourselves and clear our minds. I had to work late tonight so I did my walk in the morning before I went to work and Ken did his in the evening when he got home.


Here are some photos of my journey:

This is the view leaving my house and walking north towards Saskatchewan Drive.

I wandered down Saskatchewan drive and "surprise", I ended up at our community garden, one of my favourite places. 

The beautiful tulips and Iris'

The white fabric is over one of our plots.  We have spinach, radishes, onions, turnips, beets and lettuce growing under there.

This is the view of our other plot.  So far we just have corn growing under the fabric.  On the right hand side where the empty space is we are going to plant our tomatoes but they are still growing in our house.

Just a view of a few people's plots.

This plot belongs to an elderly gentlemen who gardens with us.  He always has such nice lettuce.  He gives us a couple of plants every year.  He saves his seeds from year to year.

This is a flower bed on Saskatchewan drive, overlooking the river valley and downtown.  I was walking on the opposite side of the street so I didn't get a close up picture but it was still pretty.

My last major stop on my walk was "End of Rail Park".  This is one of those little gems in our community that we sort of take for granted.  We usually just walk past it but don't spend much time in it.

You used to be able to go in this caboose but then some people started living in it.  They started a fire in it and damaged it.  I believe it was the Stratcona Parks and Playground Redevelopment Society that restored it and now it is boarded up but it looks great!

Ken's Journey:

I was a little worried when Mel had told me that we were going to go for an aimless walk for I usually have somewhere to go and I have not gone for an aimless walk in a long time. It turned out really well and I would like to go for one every day.

So I walked out the door and went north on 100 st. and ended up going by the school and turning right down this alley just after 85th ave.

Next I walked down the ally and stopped and smelled some lilacs.

Then I was behind a school and there was  a magpie hanging out on a bike. I wish I had bought that slingshot!

I really enjoyed this. It was only about 10 minutes long but it was really great.

Day 153 (June 2, 2010): Tim Hortons Camp Day

Today we went to Tim Hortons and bought a coffee to send a kid to camp. Actually, I had a peppermint tea and Ken had a chocolate milk but I did give a donation to send a kid to camp because neither one of us drink coffee. I am glad that our fun activity today helped someone else out too.

Day 152, (June 1,2010): Survey

Today we did an online survey to test our knowledge of festivals in Canada.  I got 50% and I can honestly say that the ones that I got correct were mostly guesses.  Ken got 70% and said that his were guesses too but he was very excited to beat me in this challenge, lol. Here is the link:

http://weekendliving.sympatico.ca/Home/articles/canadian_celebrations_coast_to_coast.htm

You should try it out. It is only 10 questions so it doesn't take long at all.  Thanks to Ken's Mom, Betty-Lou for sending us this one.

Day 151 (May 31, 2010): New TV

Today we got a new tv, and we didn’t even have to buy it. One of the Boys and Girls Clubs was giving away big screen tv’s because they are getting new ones. We didn’t know what it would be like but Ken was told that it worked so we thought, what the heck, we’ll take one. I came home after work and there was this MONSTER tv in my living room. It is actually too big for the setup in our living room but there isn’t really a different way that we can set up the room due to the doors to the balcony and the main door to our apartment. Anyway, when I got home I began hooking up all of our electronics to the new tv……we have too many electronics! We were on a bit of a time constraint because we wanted to watch the hockey game tonight on our new tv. We missed a bit of the first period but we watched most of the game. The cats were so funny through all of this. They were very curious about this big new thing in their living room and then once we started watching TV, so did they! Thor started chasing the puck on the big screen and actually smashed his face into it when he tried to eat the puck. It is going to take awhile to get used watching this huge tv, right now I feel like I need to turn my head from side to side to see the whole screen.

Day 150 (May 30,2010): New Hair!! and doing a favour

Ken took this picture for me of my new hair

Today I went and got my hair done.  When I lived in S.Korea I got my hair, nails, waxing etc. etc. etc. done all the time.  I totally pampered myself because things were so affordable.  When I got back to Canada all of that pampering came to a screeching halt!  Even now when I "pamper" myself it usually doesn't cost me money.  For example, when I had the facial, mani and pedi awhile back I had won that gift certificate in a weight loss contest.......or when I go for a massage I claim it through my health benefits at work so I get the money back.  I have a hard time giving up the cash that it takes here in Canada to pay for all of these wonderful services that I used to have done.  So, I suck it up and go to Supercuts for the cheap hair cut about every 4-6 months (I know, I really should get my hair cut more often but I never know what I want to do with it, so I just let it grow!) and if I get a "hankerin" to dye my hair I usually do it myself for about $12.00 rather than spend the hundreds that it will cost at a salon.  Anyway, today I decided on a whim to get my hair dyed at the salon. I was just there for a cut but it was slow and the lady had time so we decided to dye it.  I hate that it cost so much, and I probably will just dye over it with a "box" hair colour when it starts to grow out but I do like the way it looks.  Why does it have to cost so much?????


Today I (Ken) went and looked at a used 5th wheel for my brother-in-law Trent.  It was a 14' propane heated trailer. It was in really good condition. I was not sure what to look for due to the fact that I have never really been around trailers at all. Trent just told me to check for leaks and wear.