It's been a long week...

And it does keep going for a bit more.

I have been working quite a bit 

but have managed to have some nights and days off. 

Of them I have laughed. 

And laughed hard. 

Like when my significant other texted a friend. 

And started smack talking in a joking way. 

To find out that it was the wrong number,

Through a FaceTime chat. 

And of others I have cried. 

Wallowing a bit in self pity. 

But having my significant other listen to me. 

Hug me. 

And then attempt (and sort of) succeed 

in snapping me out. 

And then I have felt content. 

Having heart to heart talks with friends. 

Soaking in laughter and fun at a party. 

Enjoying dinner and brunch with family. 

Spending time alone watching movies,

Snuggled amongst blankets. 

I have a pretty grand life. And pretty grand people in it. 

I am lucky. And we are going to have a lot of fun!

Love

When life gives you pie....

When your day is long and really kind of sucks, buy yourself a huge pumpkin pie from Costco and eat every delicious ounce of troubles away. That's right. Every bit. And not once will you think it's bad for you!

Basketball fun

My cousin Kathryn was in town. So exciting to see her as it has been a couple of years. So what did that entail? A family dinner of course. Jimi and Cassie came by for a simple dinner with Egg Nog (Mark may have bulked up after thanksgiving. He he). And salmon, rice asparagus and caprese salad. Yum.

Then we heading to the u of a pandas basketball game against the varsity reds of unb. Coincidentally one of Kathryn's friends was here this weekend too, assistant coaching unb. Exciting.

So me and basketball never really mixed. Mainly cause the team sport thing I was never great at, lack of coordination and all. But going with this crew was quite fun:

- Mark intensely watching the game, chewing gum. Asking him what kind of coach he is and he said deadpanned,"I am the one yelling all the time, whether they are listening or not" (like the unb coach). This put Jimi and me in a fit of laughter. 

- Cassie making little mistake re. the game stating period, goal much to Jimi's dismay. I could totally relate Cassie. 

- Jimi making comments like, "this is intense, I want to get in there," and "get it in the hole!" As we cheered for unb really loud creating the fans for u of a to cheer louder. Too funny. 

- making word of the day, "buxom"

- having blizzards, yum 

- being with family and laughing about your family. 

 

Wonderful visit

Love

Thanksgiving

I am one lucky lady. Yes I did work all weekend and yes it was evening and yes I realize others had thanksgiving dinner while I was working. But guess what? I still got a celebration. 

On Saturday morning we went over to Wendy and David's for a thanksgiving lunch with Lawrence. I got to watch how to bacon aficionados cook bacon in two very different ways. Be warned to stay away from the kitchen as tongs may be used as weapons. I enjoyed gluten free waffles that tasted fabulous. And I got to have pumpkin pie for dessert. And I love pumpkin pie!

I then attempted to make another pie this weekend, a pumpkin on as I have said before I love it! But on thanksgiving Monday after I finished work I realized I forgot to buy some key ingredients. So off to the store again. Ahh. And pie made.  Even if I forgot again to double the recipe and the pumpkin filling was a little thin. He he. 

Then my long lost brother came for dinner tonight. We facetimed my parents and shared laughs and stories. We vegged on the couch like you would after a big meal (of chicken and potatoes). We joked and watched tv. 

Grateful

Love

Where have I been?

New York. Yes I think it is official. I have a slight obsession with that city. I love it. Everything about it. I don't know if I ever want to live there, but visiting is fantastic...maybe yearly...or at least every two years?  He he he.

This time around I went with Anita. Anita was not the type of traveller I thought she would be. At least when it came to New York. She wasn't interested in seeing every sight you could. Instead she wanted to shop and see plays. A girl after my own heart. 

So that is what we did. Shop. We, visited my favourite toy store, FAO Schwartz, where Anita made her sister a muppet....so exciting. And I enjoyed all the big candy. Too bad my suitcase wasn't big enough. We then trekked to Dylan's candy store to ogle at all the other wonderful sweet treats. And I may have dragged Anita to the M&M store to bulk up on coconut, raspberry and mint M&M's. 

 After the sugar coma we treated ourselves to some fantastic plays. Book of Mormon, controversial yet amusing. Avenue Q the anti-Sesame Street with puppets and hilarious songs. And my personal fav. Newsies. My favourite musical as a preteen come to life on the stage with fantastic dancing, songs and sets. Loved it. I may have danced all night....and the morning....and the afternoon....AND on the plane.

It wasn't all plays and shopping. We did check out Central Park on a beautiful 24 degree day. Performers, comedians, boat rides and baseball games all around. I love that place. So quiet in the middle of a big city. Along the walk (as that is the only way we got around, minus one water taxi ride) was grand central station, Madison square park, the flat iron building, the Statue of Liberty, the freedom tower, ellis island, St Patricks cathedral, the intrepid, Brooklyn bridge, Rockefeller square, Times Square, Macy's, Empire State Building and my fav the top of the rock at night. 

We did eat too. Sushi at Tao, Maine lobster at db bistro, pasta galore along restaurant row, Thai, pizza, pretzels, hot dogs, and Indian. Plus red velvet cupcakes, coconut cake...Yum.

And a visit to Hoboken, New Jersey to visit Carlos Bakery from Cake Boss. Sidenote for fans of the show. You will probably enjoy this. And props to giving front of the line service to locals as they are your loyal customers. Personally it will only be a one time visit for me. The wait was excruciating and I think with the amount of money probably made by them (we were seeing orders of approx. 50-100 $ a customer), they could organize a bit better and employ a few more. But the cannolis were amazing! But I digress....

All and all a fantastic holiday. With a bit of apartment madness from our renter as the neighbour complained about him and we may have received a subpoena on his behalf. But the place was what it was suppose to be minus those little hitches. Ha ha. 

And Anita was a great traveller. For a girl that has her camera always ready it was refreshing to watch Anita just take things in. She would pull out the camera every once in awhile but really liked to just look around and watch. Take in the memories. It was nice. And she was sympathetic to my struggles as I was having a bit of GI and cold issues the day before and a couple of days in (Sidenote I seem to always get sick a couple of days prior to leaving New York. All three times. Weird). Good times with a good girlfriend.

Overall I am grateful. 

My husband's project

While I spent my summer in the garage sanding, sanding and sanding some more, Mark spent his summer outside in the hot sweltering sun constructing his garden. As you could see it was a diamond in the rough. Myself having no vision whatsoever really had no opinions with regards to what he should do, shocking I know. So Mark headed to the computer for some research. 

In our lovely back we have a grassy hill that climbs towards the TUC. It was a pretty pathetic hill to tobbaggon so I didn't care what should happen to it. Mark thought of building a retaining wall to grow fruit, perennials, herbs, and some trees and shrubs. 

Our side of the house really had nothing except weeds weeds and more weeds. This is a to be continued project as it will be the vegetable garden and we moved in to late to grow any veggies. 

After a bit of research Mark started digging out the trenches sort of speak. First levelling out the ground and digging it out. Once that was completed he layed out road crush for the cement blocks to go down. 

And here they come. Let me say. It was a wonderful July day when I found out that the new driveway/garage that we had just acquired was out of use as two planks of cement blocks, a pile of dirt and a pile of road crush were now in the occupied spot. Sad times. But I was happy that no one tried to recruit me to do the project. Yes, the only victim was my brother. 

Once the cement blocks were in place Mark filled them in with road crush. To ensure the stability. Look at that hot beaming sun. 

And along the blocks was piping that had holes in it so that when it rains water won't pile up on the wall and push it over. Gravel to cover and hidden by dirt. 

After a while Mark derived a system with a ramp for the wheel barrel to drive up on and to unload the haul of dirt. Before the dirt was laid he ripped apart the grass that previously occupied the ground. 

Looks like it is almost done! Most days Mark chose to do this work in the evening when the sun was slightly going down.  Even though it was going down on that side of the house. But the days and nights were hot, plus the bugs. He he. I did not envy him but he was happy with his iPhone music and headphones. 

Side of the house did get weeding done and a mock layout of what will come. Stay tuned next years post. 

Now the fun part, for Mark. Looking for plants. He had his heart set on Alberta grown plants. I think he succeeded for the most part. Although I may have just picked flowers that caught my eye. He he. 

So once home he got some landscaping fabric, and poked holes to let the flowers, plants, grass out and stuck them in the cement holes. He is unsure how these will hold out next year but he has some proactive plans if they don't hold out. So far they are doing pretty good. More dirt may be needed in the back and a little sprinkler system to ensure they get healthier doses of water, but we will see. 

There is the whole wall in a nut shell. Ooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaa

And up top are some cranberry, Saskatoon, and other various perennials. I think there is dreams of pies in the future. 

And this future garden had two singular raspberry bushes for the future. Poor things all by their lonesome. But the food will be coming next year!

There you have it. Mark has been working hard and thus ends our busy summer. It will be nice to veg out in the winter. As I feel planting, harvesting, pickling and pies in my future. He he. Well maybe not the first two. 

Love

Just call me a....

Domestic goddess. Some thing quite remarkable happened this week. I didn't go back to school. And all those fall things that I had wanted to do for the past few years...I did. 

You know what I am talking about. You go to the market and you see all the fabulous BC fruit. It's ready for a pie. Or you see those itty bitty cucumbers and you think I really wish I could find the time to pickle. But then you start the semester and the assignments are due in one week and a midterm is doing in three and then all of sudden it's snowing out and you need to buy Christmas gifts. 

But not this year! With mom/Grammies little trick of making pie crust I did a second attempt of a pie, this time peach without mom's presence. And it worked. And it took all my restraint not to eat all the pie in one sitting at that moment, but to freeze it for company at a later day. 

Next attempt was the pickling. I had never done it ever. Sterilizing jars. What's that. Well thank goodness for google and the power of the Internet. And Casey and parents. (And a bit of Martha). Jars canned and popped with market veggies of carrots and cucumbers. Yum. Hope they taste good!

Love

It was fun

As summer vacation wound down I was lucky enough to have a visitor. It was our very first stayover company in our new place. My mom.

When she first landed all I wanted was her not to see the place before I got home from work. I know selfish me but I was just really excited to show off our place to my family and I wanted to be present. He he. So Mark took her on a tour of Edmonton, because she had never been here before. Ha ha. But I got my wish and could show it off. 

I have to say. It was lovely to have her around. And I think she enjoyed it too. There was loads of space for us all to roam about. And mom got in daily walks while I was at work. She may know West Edmonton Mall better than I do. 

We got to shop, visit Aunt Elizabeth, go to Calgary, the market and then another market. Visits to the grocery store, quilt store. Make pies and learn how to really roll out the perfect pie crust. Explore our neighborhood, visits with moms friends and trips to the library. Movie dates, rental movies and hanging out in our pajamas. All and all a fantastic first visitor. 

Love you mom!

So glad I met you

I worked a job and met you.

You seemed quite quiet and shy when I first introduced myself. 

I wasn't sure what to make of you. 

But I was deceived. 

You told me to come closer by the wave of your finger. 

And then gave me a "wet willy" in my ear. 

Then proceeded to laugh hysterically with snorts in between.

That was when I knew you were trouble and 

We were going to get along marvelously. 

I would prank you on occasion. 

Pretend to take your shoes, or your lunch kit. 

But I never would get away with it. 

"Tell Anita" was your response. 

And then giggle in your hands. 

You loved life. You were a doer and up for most anything. 

I remember we both went for a walk to the grocery store. 

We were in fits of giggles trying to maneuver your chair. 

On top of that we were both frazzled in figuring out what to buy. 

"O my gosh!" You would cry. 

You were a wonderful artist. 

Drawing and painting to your content. 

Always there to sing in karaoke. 

Do any scrapbooking or baking. 

And you were an excellent fighter in our water fight wars. 

I feel you are gone too soon. 

You will be sorely missed in many people's hearts. 

In your short life you have achieved so much. 

The most important is what you have taught all of us. 

That anything can be done even when all obstacles are against you. 

I am so glad that we met. 

That we worked together. 

Shared joy. 

And that I can truthfully and honestly call you my friend. 

Love you. 

Picture love in August

Where have I been. Visiting with my lovely mother! It was so fantastic to have her here. But that will be another post in itself. I thought I would at least end this month with the fun I had and pics I took. So here we go!

This was our BBQ in the rain with the hot sun and the sun showers that occurred afterwards just as Mark started the fire. It still makes me smile. 

Mom is in town. Yay! The day after she landed we headed to Calgary to visit my great aunt. Afterwards we made a short stop to the mall as we never realized until after we left that it was rush hour and I didn't want to drive. So we found a hat store and had fun. Doesn't my mom look so cute in fascinators? I definitely couldn't pull them off. Lol. 

I found a hat myself that I kind of fell in love with. Mark says I look like little Bo Peep. So be it. 

Jimi jam and mom looking at ipad jokes pre market time. 

Us at the St. Albert market. Kind of my new favourite market. And we bought quite a bit. However the bags I was carrying were a bit flimsy and I dropped one of the canned goods that was bought. 

However Jimi Jam came to the rescue and went back and bought some more. Sweet heart!

That night mom and Jimi and Cassie went to a movie. Mark and I decided to check out "what the truck" at Louise McKinney park. Talk about amazing food from a truck. We fell in love with Phillysteak sandwich and Mac bites. Yummers. I think it's safe to say that our summer has been all about the food. 

So if you look at previous posts you have seen my attempts at pies. This time I has a mom and she showed me my Grammies secret to making crust that doesn't stick to the counter top. Amazing. More amazing walking to our local market and picking up fresh blueberries for the said pie. And it was good. I had it for breakfast every morning till it was gone. He he. 

Family together. Cassie and Jimi came over for lobster rolls. Had to snag a mother son pic. 

And of course a mother daughter one. 

Carleen came over for supper. Fun times. We were set to make the homemade perogies that we bought at the market (I wasn't lying about the food). But when we took them out of the fridge they stuck together. Ugh. Because Carleen is so lay back and chill frozen perogies it was. Plus dessert. And  giggles and maybe one shot. "Nick nick nick nick". 

Last night. Wendy and David came over for a bit of firepit fun. Mom really wanted to have a firepit. Unfortunately we waited till the last possible day and it was not as enjoyable in the wind. But we had our dogs that Mark and mom cooked. Lol. 

Fun memories. And it is possible to write more as I will later. But enjoy the pics of August!

Love

It's war

So yesterday was epic. And by that I got epically wet. 

Mark was watering the plants and innocent little me went to say hi, or bug him, minor detail. Mark then proceeds to soak me with the hose. 

Well, I never...

I go inside and proceed to wait. To wait for the perfect moment. Mark goes outside to take care of weeds in the front. I sneak to the back unravel a bit of the hose and run towards the front. The hose kinked. Darn it!

The fight was epic but he got the hose from me. Not before I kinked it and headed for the second hose. 

Ha ha. Could it be. The possibility of an all out war. 

Well it was. But it was a sad pitiful war. Mark somehow wrangled that hose from me and I couldn't get to them and kink them and I got drenched. Soaked. Whatever other word you could think of. By two hoses! 

Game on Mark. Game on. 

Revenge will happen. Sleep with one eye open. 

Love

And kitchen complete part two.

My husband is a minimalist. This is in contrast to my business. So I have been trying very hard not to plaster all of our walls with numerous amounts of pictures, just a few here and there. Cut to the dear kitchen that I just completed one of the pieces of furniture. 

Mark insisted that the buffet would look best by the fireplace. I have to agree but the wall then looked off to me as We had one big piece of furniture on one side and a smaller one on the other. I don't know why but it was not balanced and very off putting to me. 

Then I remembered these wooden frames I bought about four or five years ago. I had intentions of using them in our apartment but funnily enough all the walls were covered (so I may have had a problem but I am toning it down). I bought fabric that matched the wall and the painting and stretch it over the frame, nailing it on. Again I see flaws but I did it not buy it a run of the mill store so it has heart. He he. 

Next I got out the trusty level, a tool that I love. And nailed the work onto the wall. And tada! The kitchen is no longer off kilter. Ha ha. 

I also put a friendship quilt that Casey made for me on the other wall. I figured friends and family socialize and have fun in the kitchen so it was meant to be.

Kitchen complete. Now the eating shall commence. 

Love

It's finally done

So here is what happened.  We moved and I went on Pinterest. My first mistake. I pinned tons of things to do this summer. Piece of cake. Pinterest makes it look so easy. I should have all these projects done in a two weeks right?

Wrong. But one is done and although I see some flaws I have learned a lot. What I took on was this beauty. 

I call it a buffet cause that is what my parents called theirs. Holds all our nice things. The hitch is that we had dark cabinets in the kitchen and this kind of stuck out more than I liked. So I perused some websites and decided to start the process. 

I bought a little sander at Home Depot and sanded away. And then did some more. And more. What was taking so long? I started to read up on it more and people said if the cabinet had a veneer it just needed a 240 grit. I scoff, he he. Maybe my sander and hands were not powerful enough but I just couldn't get it to the grain. I used 80 and then 120 to smooth it out but I found the process painstakingly long as one shelf took me two hours to do. Ugh. Maybe I need more patience. He he. 

Mark's Uncle John and Aunt Marie came by for a family dinner one day and suggested I try a chemical sander. At this point I was willing to try anything. So I bought a scraper and this little product. 

So I went away at it. Smoothed it over all the furniture. Waiting for approximately 3-4 hours and scraped it off.

So what do I have to say about this. It is messy. Seriously. And it can take a bit of time to shave off all of the product. But it works. Really well. And it cut my time to doing four shelves in one hour. I did go over all of the surfaces with the sander to make sure it was all smooth and even. Cleans everything right up. 

So the next part was to clean it all off and apply the stain. The hitch. The first product I bought basically stained the wood the exact same colour I just sanded down. Aaaaaaahhhh. So I searched for this gal's blog. She is my hairdresser and decorator extraordinaire. I knew she had done her kitchen cabinets so I looked up the product and used it.

I chose espresso for my colour as you will see. And it worked just as she described it. I did about four coats overall. And loved it as it has a nice sheen to it too. My only issue was my painting technique may not always be the best as I had some drips that escaped and dried. Grrrrrr. I need to apply a thinner coat next time I believe. And because I had a cat and no matter how hard I cleaned I still found strands of hair at times. He he. He is permanently etched in my furniture. 

New hardware after that as there was no way I was going to paint the wooden knobs. 

I then applied grey scrapbook paper on the back to match the back of our kitchen wall. And maybe hide some mistakes. He he. This was not before I put glittery silver paper on it and Mark said in his "I am not going to insult it directly but I am making it known I don't like it" voice of "oh it's sparkly". The next morning I looked and it did look like a giant disco ball. Grey paper it is. 

Obviously I did all this before putting all the things back in. But I wasn't smart enough to take the pictures. 

And here is the finished product. And I like it. 

So what do I have to say about the next projects. I need a break. Really. I am thrilled with the result and am eager to do another one.  Maybe next year as I want to do it in the garage it can get a little colder in the later months. Plus the car wants the garage back. He he. 

So this is my big DIY for this year. This is the reason that I will not be doing the half marathon as I can barely get past 11 km and I have to double that in two weeks. Sigh. But it was worth it. And the kitchen is back in use. 

Love

Steak in the sun, banana boats in the rain

The title was set...

By the dinner companions. 

Corn, steak, and potatoes on the BBQ. 

Salad, pre-made. 

And the sun beating down. 

Very hot hot hot. 

Dessert by the fire

S'mores with oatmeal cookies...

(Watch out they may burn if left too long.)

Banana boats...

And thunder in the background. 

Then rain. 

And then a downpour. 

All in the presence of good company. 

Good laughs. 

Good times. 

Mark and I are getting the hang of this hosting thing. 

Love

Here is the blog post, Jimi

Lets talk about my husband

I talk about him at times on this little diddy. I was driving in the car and heard a song and thought of him. It was a song that he downloaded before it became radio play. And it is a really good song. A socially aware song. And then I got to thinking how much I admire Mark.

You see I am the type of person who seeks out entertainment to escape. Sometimes I have guilty indulgences that I find fun to watch. On the other hand Mark looks for entertainment to inform. Shows that don't strive for conflict. Songs that don't have messages that are undesirable. He tries very hard to be socially conscience of what is out there. 

I am not saying one way is right or wrong. But I am in awe of things that Mark finds and likes. Because really they are good things. Like this song. 

Love

Oh marathon training i.e. motivation where are you?

I had a really good day today. And the day before that and that. I get to spend my days with Mark while he is on summer break. We have been eating good meals. Enjoying our porch. Sitting in the sun. Going for walks at night. It has been pretty fabulous. And I have loved every minute of it. 

But...

I kind of forgot about this marathon that I signed up for in less than a month. 

Now you may be wondering. Well Tracey. You do have the day to train. Absolutely. But then I decided to do a side project with one of our furniture pieces. And what I thought would take a week (oo Pinterest you deceptive site you) is now working on two months. 

Sigh. So I am writing this in hopes of motivating myself for the next month. If not I may not make the marathon alive. ;)

But I can at least say that I have had a most excellent summer being with someone that I adore and love. Wink wink. The other project....the jury is still out. 

Love

july's month in pics

i used to be so good about taking pictures but i am finding myself getting a little off track. alas. here are a few of this month...some may be from repeat posts!

 Mark and I redeemed our cooking class gift that we received from Wendy and David at Christmas. We made Jamaican patties, Jerk Chicken and Johnny Cakes and so much more. Lots of fun and delicious eats!

We took a drive to the greenhouses and I couldn't help but notice how beautiful the canola is with the dark clouds in the sky. 

First green onion cake of the summer at the Taste of Edmonton. I later went on to have about three or four...;)

 We went with Mark's mom and they had the candied bacon on a stick. So fun.

 Met up with the girlies after the K-days parade. Casey had to leave cause of work but I hung out with Jeaninne and little P.

Cheese!

Something Mark and I have really been enjoying is exploring the outskirts of our neighborhood. Especially the river valley on this side. The bugs can't keep us away!

Happy Anniversary to us! Delicious meal!

 Is it love or exasperation? Or a bit of both? tee hee

 Berg Lake Trail on the bridge right before Whitehorn

 Beautiful flowers, wild and all.

 Hottie! At Tabbagon falls.

love