It's Cooooold Outside

The last week has been cold. Really, really, really cold! We've been dealing with temperatures in the -20's, plus wind chills of -27 to -30.

Every morning, I bundle myself up. I don't own long johns, so I put tights on under my work pants. I put a hoodie on over my regular office clothes, and then I layer on a scarf and my ski jacket. I've been carrying a tuque with me, but I prefer the hood of my coat.

I am also surprised by the people who are not as bundled-up as me. And shockingly, there are a LOT of people who are not dressed properly! I see girls wearing leggings, or flats without socks (it is snowing out, people!). Men wearing hoodies instead of coats. Teenagers shivering on the street corners while they wait at bus stops...

I can understand being unprepared for a surprise day of cold weather... But after a week of frigid temperatures, you'd think people would adapt.

Here are some things I recommend on a cold day.

1) If you have to go outside, get yourself a cute toque!

2) Carry some money for an impromptu Starbucks Hot Chocolate.

3) When you are cozy at home, stock up on some "Hussy" books (a term coined by my wonderful husband!) Tom relentlessly makes fun of the covers of these books because they are so ridiculously cheesy. I chose this cover in particular because if you look closely, you can see the heroine has three hands. One on the ground, one on her side, and one clasping the heroes hand.

4) It is also prudent to have some warm blankets on hand. I suggest the As-Seen-On-TV Snuggie. "The Blanket That Has Sleeves!"

5) And don't forget your four-legged friend! Snuggies come for dogs too!

6) Or maybe... Just MAYBE if you are hardcore enough... If you are really, REALLY serious about keeping warm... You will invest in this... A fleece adult onesie. If you have a onesie... I salute you.

Keep warm, everyone!

Uninvited Guests

The new year is upon us, and with it, Tom and I have some uninvited house guests.

These pests answer to the name of Drosophila Melanogaster. They are also known more commonly as... Fruit flies.

Sneaky little bastards!

I'm pretty sure they hitched a ride into our house in a box of mandarin oranges or on a bunch of bananas. And while we've had the occasional fruit fly in the past, they always seemed to die out pretty quickly on their own. We keep a clean kitchen, so I don't think there's much for them to live off of. But these fruit flies have been more resilient, and highly annoying.

In general, I find fruit flies (along with lady bugs) to be one of the least offensive insects. They don't have creepy multiple legs like spiders or centipedes. You can't hear them buzzing around like flies. They don't leave itchy welts like mosquitoes. They aren't spastic like moths around lights and flames. They don't scurry around like ants.

Scurrying is a huge problem for me. Beetles scurry (gross). And even though cockroaches aren't a problem in Canada, they also scurry (double gross). Thinking about ants scurrying brings me back to June 2007 in Australia. I was in Cairns for a friend's wedding, and we were staying in a pretty nice resort/hotel. One day I was enjoying (i.e. gorging) on some gummy candies, but didn't completely finish the bag. I rolled up the bag and put it on my nightstand for later consumption. A few hours later, there was a line of tiny ants marching in and out of the bag of candy. I was like every ant-raiding picnic cartoon you've ever seen! I don't think I ever told Ashley about that... I was sharing the room with her, and it was too disgusting to discuss! Guess she knows now!

Or perhaps the most disturbing example of scurrying...

A few months ago I was doing laundry. I was laying out some sweaters on the floor in our spare bedroom to dry, when I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye. Looking closer, I saw a giant spider sitting on my sweater. Granted, spiders don't get that big in Canada, but this was the second largest Canadian spider I'd seen.

I picked up a shoe and some paper towel. I urged the spider off my sweater, and at the right moment...

SMASH!

I nailed that spider!

But wait!

What were those little things scurrying everyone? I smashed the spider! Didn't I? Didn't I?

It was worse than anything you could have imagined! There were dozens of tiny baby spiders scurrying around everywhere. In addition to the baby spiders, there were also spider eggs. I guess that's why the spider was so big... It was a pregnant momma spider.

I vacuumed that room again and again and again.

It was three days before I could go back into our spare room.

Anyway.. Fruit flies.

Yesterday I was particularly pissed when one retarded little bug decided to commit suicide in my glass of water. Just a few days earlier, another had decided to take a dip in my cup of tea.

Last night I tried to make a fruit fly trap. I left some white wine vinegar in a bowl out on the counter. According to the various websites I've read, usually that works. But this morning the bowl of vinegar was untouched.

I've only seen one fruit fly today. Usually I see about 4-5 of them floating around in confusion. So maybe that means they really are dying off on their own.

These house guests have worn out their welcome.

I just know I don't want to find any more floating in my beverages!

What the New Year Will Bring

2010 has been an incredibly busy year.

I started a new job with a new team.

I hiked 47km, carrying everything I needed for four days in a backpack.

I spent two weeks in the tropics-- first Hawaii, and then Moorea in French Polynesia.

I made new friends.

I married my best friend.

I gained a new branch of family.

I cheered for my oldest friend as she packed up her life and moved to Vancouver.

I found myself in some bizarre circumstances... Who is that skeleton, and why is Jeff wearing that cap?

And even MORE bizarre circumstances...

My 26 years have taught me that a New Year will bring many new things

This year I expect...

A new baby niece in February. My 2 year old nephew will soon have a baby sister. If you ask him, he is not interested in having a baby sister. But he is very excited to have a "Big Boy" bed with car sheets.

A much anticipated visit from a friend in Toronto.

A second attempt at cross-country skiing. I'll try not to hate it as much this time.

A road race. I'm going to do one this year! I'm not sure about the distance yet, but this is the year!

More than anything, I expect this New Year will bring many, many surprises. I am certain I will be prepared for some of them, but undoubtedly, many will catch me off guard.

Good luck to everyone in 2011!

Surviving Boxing Day

Boxing Day is always a bit of a conundrum. I love shopping! But I hate crowds... But I LOVE shopping! But I hate crowds... Usually the shopping wins out.

And really, who actually likes crowds? As a result, my mom, sisters and I have a plan. We arrive early, and leave early. Last year we arrived at the mall at 9am, and were gone by 11am. We hit a few key stores, got our stuff, and got out!

This year I didn't have anything in mind that I wanted to get, except a few new sweaters for Tom. But after receiving not one, not two, but THREE e-mails from my favourite store, RW & Co. declaring, "First time ever... Take an extra 50% off during Boxing Week!" I was completely (and successfully) brainwashed by their advertising campaign.

RW & Co. sales ad.

This year... It was SO BUSY.

When I arrived at the mall at 8:30am (it opened at 8am), the parkade was practically full. There were people everywhere! Parents with kids, teenagers, mom's with gigantic strollers, elderly people... Everything was busy. Lululemon had a line just to get into the store! RW & Co. was crawling with people. After waiting 15 minutes for a change room, I then waited 20 minutes to pay for my lone shirt. Then I waited 45 minutes in a line at Banana Republic! There were only four people running cash registers, and the line literally wound all around the store.

The line at Old Navy snaked back and forth about four times (as seen below). But thankfully there were 8-10 cash registers running, so the line moved fairly quickly.

Crazy Old Navy line.

It was definitely busier this year than it was last year. As I drove away, there were security guards and police directing traffic!

I feel a little shell shocked, and I'm not entirely sure if all the waiting in lines was worth it. Perhaps next year I'll go shopping during Boxing Week rather than specifically on Boxing Day.

Heh. I say that now... But come next year, I'm sure I'll find myself waiting in lines again...

Happy Shopping!

A Twist on Tuna

A few weeks ago I was signing out of my Hotmail account. When you sign out, you are automatically re-directed to MSN.com, where you are bombarded by flashy ads, trashy headlines and other interesting tidbits. For example, todays headlines are, "Whaaa? Stars who stay the stupidest things" and "Hilariously ugly Christmas sweaters." On that particular day, I happened to notice a link claiming to contain all the tasty casserole recipes from your childhood.

I haven't eaten a casserole in over three years. My mom used to make the occasional casserole, but they were not a regular in her meal repertoire. I remember I always enjoyed her Tuna Casserole. I think it was probably because she would crush a bag of plain old Dutch chips and let us sprinkle them on top of the casserole to give it a little crunch. Don't diss it 'til you've tried it!

Anyway, remembering my fondness for casseroles past, I decided to give a Mediterranean Tuna-Noodle Casserole recipe a try.

Mediterranean Tuna-Noodle Casserole

With Special Thanks to Martha Stewart

(http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/mediterranean-tuna-noodle-casserole)

Ingredients:

1/3 cup olive oil, plus more for baking dishes

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1 pound wide egg noodles

2 red bell peppers (ribs and seeds removed), thinly sliced

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

5 cups whole milk

4 cans (6 ounces each) tuna in olive oil, drained

1 can (14 ounces) artichoke hearts, drained and thickly sliced

5 scallions, thinly sliced

1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan

Directions:

1. First, I preheated the oven to 400 degrees. Then I make a gigantic pot of wide egg noodles. I halved this recipe, and I still used a full bag of egg noodles. There were a LOT of noodles. I cooked them 2 minutes less than the box recommended so they would be al dente.

2. Then I used some olive oil to cook my sliced bell peppers. I sprinkled some salt and pepper on them. It wasn't necessary to cook them long. Just 4 to 6 minutes, until they turned tender.

Tenderizing red peppers.

Then I added the flour to the peppers, and continuously whisked in my milk. The recipe called for whole milk, but I used 2% to make it a tiny bit healthier.

Whisking sauce.

3. In the meantime, I had chopped up the can of artichoke hearts while generously sampling the chopped up products. You have to make sure that the artichoke isn't poisoned, so sampling it is a very important step. It's an added bonus that artichoke is so delicious! I also added some black kalamata olives to the recipe.

Non-poisonous artichoke hearts and olives.

4. Then I mixed everything in with the sauce. That included noodles, artichoke, olives, tuna and chopped onion (because I forgot to buy scallions at the grocery store). I mixed everything thoroughly, and added some more salt and pepper to taste. Then I poured the entire mixture into a 9 x 9 pan, and discovered that that was not big enough. I had to put some overflow into a loaf pan. Even halved, this recipe ended up making 6 servings! Then I smothered the surface of the casserole in parmesan cheese.

Cheese smothered casserole.

5. The last step was to bake the dish for about 20 minutes. I took mine out a little early (after only 16 minutes), because it was already golden-brown, and bubbling away.

Golden bubbly results.

Recipe success!

Tom suggested that next time we should add more olives. I agree. You can never have too many olives.

Nom nom nom!

Have You Seen This Phone?

I have been cell phoneless for the last week. Sometime on Tuesday afternoon, I noticed my cell phone was missing!

I remember texting Tom on Monday as I was getting on the bus. I do that every day to tell him which bus I'm on so he can get on the same one a few stops down the line. I remember after I sat down I was holding the phone in my left hand and holding my book with the right. I often hang on to the phone so that I will actually hear or feel the phone vibrate if Tom calls or texts me back. There have been many times when I have shoved the phone back into my purse, and then missed a call or text because I'm totally oblivious to everything going on around me when I start reading.

Unfortunately, I don't remember what happened after that. Did I leave the phone on the bus? Did I put it in purse? Did it fall out somewhere else? I have no idea. I left a message on the Calgary Transit Lost Property line, but I haven't heard anything back. I can't find the phone at home, at work or in our car. And unfortunately, the battery is dead-- so it goes straight to voicemail when I call it.

It's not really a big loss. It was a cheap phone, and as I've discovered over the past five months, not a very good phone. It has excellent battery life (I only need to charge it once a week), and I liked the full QWERTY keyboard, but you have to unlock the touch screen at least four times when you are checking voicemail, and sometimes when I make calls, all I hear is a high frequency screeching when the line connects. The biggest pain is that I've lost all my contact numbers that were stored on the phone.

Eventually I'll buy a new phone. In the interm, I've reactivated my old chunky flip phone. I don't mind. I love this phone! This Samsung was my Ol' Faithful. I used it for over four years and never had any problems with it. Plus, as an added bonus, it has most of my contacts in it-- with the exception of missing a few new numbers.

I've been trying to decide if I'll get a Smart phone. I'm hesitant to do so, because I don't use my phone too much anyway. My plan has 200 minutes (which I have never, in four years, gone over) and 250 texts (which I have never used all of). I also pay about $35/month. I like the idea of being able to check my e-mail, or of carrying my music on the phone as well. But I can check my e-mail at any other computer, and I already have an iPod. So... Is it really worth it?

I will continue to mull this over.

Let me know if you have any suggestions or recommendations for a new phone!

100+ Cookies

As far as I'm concerned, the warm and fragrant smell of gingerbread is the smell of Christmas. Gingerbread is a precursor to decorated trees, wrapped presents, snow, hot chocolate and turkey dinners.

Today, Mallary, Jill, Christina, Jasmine and I spent the afternoon rolling, baking and decorating gingerbread and sugar cookies. We had over 100 cookies-- they just kept coming off the pans!

Multiple cookies cutters maximize production!

Dozens of cookies stacked in a pan.

More cookies on the cooling rack.

In the past when I've decorated cookies, I've always used store bought tubes of icing. This year, Mallary wanted to make use of the bags of icing sugar taking up room in her cupboards. She made icing in her stand mixer, and we created our own colours with food colouring. Red turned out as pink, orange turned out a little peachy, and blue and green were shades of pastel.

Mixing up icing.

We spooned icing into Ziploc bags and piped icing from them. We used Smarties, Swedish Berries, Gummy Bears and sprinkles to decorate.

Evil Santa.

A plethora of colours.

Tom and I have already gorged on the cookies I brought home. Those were some tasty cookies! I'm sure they'll be gone by the end of the weekend.

An excellent start to the month of December!