Busy, busy, busy

It was a great catch-up weekend. Friday I met some friends for a drink in the Entertainment District (on my way there I saw some university student pathetically high on something and totally abandoned by her friends. I really hope that taxi just took her home …).

Saturday morning, I met long-neglected friends Ryan and Isabelle for brunch at a crepe place. They brought their 16-month-old daughter, Audrey, who regarded me with suspicion for most of the time. She’s got the “stranger danger” thing down cold … but she was sooooo cute with her polka-dot tights and wide blue eyes! I hope to post photos later.

After having a savoury crepe (cucumber, hummus, peppers, artichokes, and about 8 other vegetables) and then a sweet crepe (strawberries, drizzled with chocolate sauce), I promptly went back to bed as soon as I got home and slept for two hours. Errands, 60 minute workout on the elliptical at the gym, laundry, fall back into bed. Thus went my Saturday night. Oh, my friend Wendy and I tried to get in touch by phone, but that didn't work out so well because of the time difference between Toronto and Wellington, N.Z. - but hopefully we'll be able to catch up for a "goss" really soon ...

Today was a little bit of work (several implementations, and I wanted to be available), some web-surfing, gym for another 60 minutes on the elliptical while listening to podcasts from The Hour with George Stroumbolopoulous, steam room, whirlpool, cooking, cleaning, blogging. There you have it!

So, friends and Internet vagabonds - now that I have anesthetized you with the details of my rather mundane weekend, help me live vicariously by telling me all the exciting things that you've been up to!

Headachy

I've got lots of material to blog about tonight, but I also have a headache. Guess which one wins?

God in the trees

DSC_0126
Originally uploaded by Noisypond.

I ache for this earth
I stopped going to church
See God in the trees makes me fall to my knees

- Nelly Furtado, "Te Busque"

Raisins

I have to tell you I am not a big fan of raisins in something. Raisins by themselves, in moderation, are perfectly fine, but I find oatmeal raisin muffins or raisin bran muffins disconcerting. There you are, eating a perfectly reasonable muffin when all of a sudden you hit a pocket of moist, chewy supersweetness. The contrast in textures and flavours in this particular combination disturbs me.

Glossette Raisins are simply gross. Maybe I should call them Grossette Raisins from now on. They are gaggingly oversweet. (Look, Glossette, don’t sue me, all right? The peanut ones are always gone first. I’m only saying what most people think.)

I have never been able to even sample a butter tart because the sight of all those raisins in some kind of sticky, sugary syrup, congealed in a cup of pastry, just makes my salivary glands hide at the back of my throat. I realize that this is not normal. But don’t bug me about it – it just means more butter tarts for you.

There are a few things in which I find raisins acceptable, if not even desirable. Granola, certainly, and oatmeal cookies absolutely. (I think both are chewy enough that there is less contrast between textures.) Raisins in trail mix are pretty good, especially if you have peanuts to balance out the sweetness, but I still feel that raisins are the lowly second cousin of the dried cherry, which delivers some sweetness but with a dose of tartness. Delicious!

But truly, raisins were created for raisin bread. Don’t ask me how raisin bread gets a free ride on the texture contrast rule, it just does. Raisins add just enough sweetness to bread that the whole thing becomes just a bit of a treat. But until recently, I thought raisin bread could only be bad for you, with all that white flour and the thin layer of sticky syrup across the top of the loaf. That is, until I found muesli bread.

Muesli bread, in this instance produced by Stonemill Bread, has organic whole flour, honey, flax seeds, cracked soy, rolled oats, sunflower seeds, poppy seeds – and raisins. The last two nights, after working out at the gym, I have celebrated my healthy lifestyle with a glass of V8 and some muesli bread, toasted and with a thin layer of peanut butter. Oh. My. God. Sooo good. Sex-on-a-plate good. (You may at this point, with a high degree of validity, tell me that I need to date more, but I stand by my statement. Also, I figure if you’ve read this much of a post about raisins, you might not be in such a great position yourself to give such advice. LOL)

So where was I? Oh yes – muesli bread is good, for the body, for your conscience, and for your taste buds. Seriously, folks, if you think you have to give up delicious food in order to be healthy or a vegetarian, think again. Try it out for yourself if you don't believe me. :)

Next post: popcorn!

Big, Big World

Big, Big World
Originally uploaded by *Sakura*.

Firing on more cylinders these days

Tonight I worked out at the gym and did 60 minutes on the eliptical machine. Sixty minutes!!!! I kept myself preoccupied by watching "The Biggest Loser" (generally one of the most motivating shows I've ever watched) and listening to podcasts by Mike Lipkin, a motivational speaker I heard - perhaps experienced is a better word - back in February. I recommend his stuff, but warn you his manner of speaking is a little ... caffeine-inspired??? Oh well, his podcasts are helping me internalize a few truths about setting goals and developing disciplines in order to achieve objectives.

One of the points in the podcast I was listening to was to list out what you've learned and achieved in the past year. Achievements are more difficult for me to point to (but definitely possible, thankfully), but the lessons I've learned in the past year have been legion.

A year ago, something happened that really ripped the rug out from under my feet. I went through shock, denial, anger, resentment, indifference, etc. to slowly building back my confidence and - faith, suprisingly- through some unexpected avenues. I never would have believed "Black Friday" could have led to all that I've gained. I'm not thankful that "Black Friday" happened, but I'm deeply grateful for the forebearance of certain people and for the opportunities that have allowed me to heal and grow.

It feels good to be back.

Boardwalk-building

DSC_0046
Originally uploaded by Noisypond.

This past Saturday, I participated in something very cool – the building of a boardwalk in a conservation area. I think there were 50 – 60 people involved, all organized by the Credit Valley Conservation Authority (CVCA).

When we got to the worksite Saturday morning, we saw that a good start had been made to the boardwalk; the CVCA had worked with high school students the previous day to get lumber brought into the area, and most of the underlying structure for the boardwalk had been laid out, and in places was even nailed together.

In a short time, TOC members and CVCA technicians, along with a large group of Korean hikers and other members of the general public, completed the skeleton of the boardwalk, and then we systematically started nailing the top pieces along it. There was a lot of work, and yet it progressed extremely quickly. Everyone was so dedicated and hard-working that the folks from the CVCA could only shake their heads in disbelief.

It happened so fast that it seemed someone had a rolled-up boardwalk somewhere and with a flick of the wrists just snapped it open.

What a sense of accomplishment and teamwork!!! It truly is one of the best things I’ve ever done, and with a fantastic group of people.

We had a dog named Skipper once, but he didn't do this!

Via CuteOverload.com ...

Harassing Perkin

It's okay son, the MacDonalds people have left.

It's okay son, the MacDonalds people have left.
Originally uploaded by ricmcarthur.

Disparity

There's an oak tree in my neighbourhood that I adore. To the best of my knowledge, it is the only oak tree around for at least a block. These are two leaves, found within a few metres of each other. How did they come from the same tree? Based on what little I know about oak trees, I can't imagine how or why the leaves on a single tree could be so different in size and shape.

Tonight a friend is working through why her babies died while other women go on to be gloriously pregnant and have healthy babies, even twins. I have no answer for those questions either.

But that's okay.

In praise of mundanity

Is "mundanity" a word? I've gone to the gym again tonight (Woop woop!) but now too tired to look it up ... surely I get points for blogging anyway? :-D

The last few days have been blissfully uneventful: no dealing with crises or spats; I'm getting lots done at work; I'm slowly getting back into shape and able to spend more time on the eliptical machine each day; I'm starting to read all those books I recently bought; I'm connecting with long-lost friends and keeping tabs on current ones via Facebook; I'm flirting with poison ivy while communing with nature ... Nothing earth-shattering, and that is why I'm enjoying it so much. Now it feels like I can be more proactive rather than constantly reacting and scrambling. It's a great place to find myself once again.

I don't know how long it'll last, but I'm learning to live in the moment, and I'm so deeply grateful for this one.

Pieces of nature

On Sunday, I drove out of the city to find nature. Here is some of what I found.

I noticed some interesting birds that I wanted to observe, so I wandered off the trail and knelt in some grasses - obviously not thinking at all - and then, minutes later, saw everywhere around me all sorts of three-leaved plants that were definitely not clover. Crap! Was it poison ivy? I couldn't tell, so I took this photo for later reference:

Later, after using the genius that is Google, I was pretty confident that this was not poison ivy (poison ivy does not have serated leaf edges like this plant does). I haven't broken out yet either, so I think I'm safe. Whew!!!

Here is a photo of a massive tree (a maple, judging by the leaves around it), which aren't so common around the GTA these days, unfortunately. My hiking poles, placed for comparison, are set to 110 cm (sorry, too tired tonight to do the conversion for you Yanks - just start using metric already, won't you???) :-D


Final exhibit tonight is this feather. It is about a foot long (sorry, I was raised near the U.S. border - I randomly crisscross between metric and Imperial. I also never know how I'm supposed to pronounce "Z" [Is it "zee" or "zed"???]). I'm not sure whether it's from a wild turkey or a grouse. Maybe it's even from a hawk? Anyone know???

Visuals

Today, I took a CPR refresher course taught by a musclebound firefighter. He had my full and undivided attention for three whole hours. LOL And yes, I did get to put my arms around him - to practice the positioning for the Heimlich manoeuvre.

Since that experience obviously addled my brain for the rest of the day, I'll leave you with a photograph I took a while ago:


Sweet dreams! ;->

What if they wanted to bulldoze Stonehenge to build a road?

Okay, it's not Stonehenge, but another site, of equal or perhaps greater cultural and historical importance, that is set to be destroyed. For a road. That could be built elsewhere. For less money.

The site - or series of >100 sites, actually - is Tara in Ireland. It is older than Stonehenge, older than even the Pyramids in Egypt. You can learn more:

Video - be patient around the first minute. The bit about the carvings and the ramparts is important background information.
Hill of Tara
TaraWatch

I have signed the online petition to do my small part in trying to stop this destruction. You can too.

On one hand, it is about a particular place of unique and special value. On the other hand, if Tara can be destroyed, what's to protect other internationally important places - cultural or ecological - from those who think only of profit?

Late-night blog

Tonight is Sleep An Extra Hour for Free Night. Don't forget to set your clocks back an hour. Bliss!!!

Also, unrelated, a fascinating article (at least to me, as I know little about Tibet) that discusses the tightrope the Dalai Lama is walking trying to keep the loyalty and patience of his own people while trying to negotiate with an intractable China re. the future of Tibet. The Dalai Lama is desperately trying to avoid armed conflict. And I thought I had responsibilities and pressures!

Making time

Tonight was, I think, the fourth time I've been to the gym this week. Yay me!!!!

The last few months have been so crazed for one reason or another, but this week, I finally started to get things back on track. It was hard at first (heck, it was hard going there tonight), but it's getting easier.

That said, blogging this week has been tricky, as I am truly worn out!

Now I need to keep up my workouts at the gym, blogging, cooking healthy foods, keeping my apartment tidy, reading, meditating, journaling, volunteer work ... :-S

Speaking of being worn out ... LOL

Cleaning, interrupted

I've made a good dint in the piles of papers, books, junk mail, etc. that have slowly been taking up space in my bedroom (nibbling away at my psyche). However, it's bedtime again, and my bed is covered in stuff through which I do not have the energy to sort.

Oh well - I guess it goes back to a messy pile on my dresser until the weekend. :-S

In unrelated news (though equally as uninteresting, I am sure), I wish I had a video camera, because I could show you a demonstation of pure joy. You see, yesterday I brought home an empty cardboard box from the office so I could put stuff away in it, and it took about 0.0001 seconds for my cats to claim it as their toy. Seriously, Sabrina in particular is in raptures over it every time I go near the box and she can jump in it. Children on Christmas morning can't show more glee than this cat towards this cardboard box. What is the magic? I wish I understood. But I'm glad it makes her happy. :)

Watch this video!

Fall cleaning

No real post today, sorry. I've been busy throwing crap out. Back tomorrow! :)