Gary and Michelle

Well, it's all done - cake week is over. The wedding was beautiful, as expected. I'd heard so many of the details leading up to the event that it was exciting to see it all come together. I also had the opportunity to meet many of the wonderful people I've been hearing about all these years. And Gary just looked so happy! Rob and I had a great time and we stayed into the wee hours of the morning (or at least that's what I call wee hours of the morning these days). I danced to as many songs as I could convince Rob or Caroline to dance with me. I didn't chat with the bosses very much though. I sometimes (yes, I'm sure you'll find it hard to believe) am not sure how to make small talk when we're so far outside our 'normal setting'.

On an even more personal note, I think there's a chance this cake was my most successful. I actually hesitated to type that phrase because it's really depends on how you define success and each of my cakes has been special to me in some way or another. I wasn't as happy with the final product this time as I have been with others so that's not why I feel it was so successful. However, the level of difficulty was significantly higher than any of the others I've made and yet I feel that I rose to that challenge better than before. The process was much more under control than many other cakes as well. My timing is getting better, I'm more consistent, and I stayed calm and in control of much of the entire process. I stayed up past midnight only one night this week. I took a lot of notes to help inform future cakes AND I finished with enough time to spare that I got my hair done for the big event. As has happened before, I did have the hardest time getting the fondant on the cake. Rob helped and together I think we found a good technique. It was still about as frustrating an experience as anything (and Rob took many pictures during assembly but most of them are quite unflattering) but I think I'll be able to do even better next time. So, there was some swearing during the fondant rolling. There was a good deal of anxiety about how it would be received - even Caroline noticed me getting distracted and fidgety around 5 when it was time to set-up. So, there's room to improve even yet!

I've also been thinking since last night about working on a better logo and have been revisiting the idea of what the name of my business should be. The staff at the reception venue, the florist, and the wedding planner were all extremely professional and treated me with a respect that I felt difficult accepting, actually. One of the hotel staff actually said, while watching me pipe the branches on, that I was like an artist! I'm going to try to work on accepting the compliments a bit better. I will however accept compliments as to the fabulousness of my dress, hair, and make-up! Hee hee! (the other two in that picture are Caroline and Matt. Rob and I didn't get any pictures together, sadly. The exciting back story to the wedding and the cake is that the work I did on the cake earned us enough money to buy the camera with which Rob was taking all of these great shots!

Talk to you soon,

B.

Taking a Break

Just taking a break from cake baking right now. The last of the chocolate cakes is in the oven. I suppose I could use this time to do something else productive - like tint the flowers or something - but I'm kind of sleepy and it's 12:10 am. So, I'll stay awake and wait for it to bake but that's about as much of my attention as I can give to it right now.

Meanwhile, I'm doing some of the things that enjoy doing when I want to kill some time but can't really concentrate (or don't want to). In other words, I'm not knitting either.
- I'm watching late night tv, CSI specifically.
- Catching up on blog reading
- Scanning online knitting magazines (although I was pretty well caught up on my reading already)
- Dreaming of buying fabric from these new online shops I found: here and here.

Hope that you're all having a nice sleep!

Talk to you soon,

B.

Kickoff

It's the big kickoff this weekend - and I'm not talking about the beginning of the NFL season. Yesterday marked the beginning of 'cake week'. The week of non-stop wedding cake making extravaganza that leads up to the delivery of a wedding cake. For me, the big day is next Saturday and it's for Gary and Michelle's wedding. I've been working a lot this weekend. And I will continue working until the party starts next Saturday at 7pm!

As it stands now, most of the gum paste flowers are mostly finished. The ganache and blueberry filling are chilling as we speak. Tomorrow I need to finish up with the flowers, knock off a couple of batches of buttercream, and zest the 14 lemons. If there's any time after that, I'm going to pre-weigh the dry ingredients in preparation for the baking to begin on Wednesday night.

If I'm not around this week - you'll know why!

Talk to you soon,

B

Bean is a Skier?

We had the 18 week ultrasound this morning. It was kind of a weird experience. First off, it seemed strange that Rob wasn’t allowed in. I didn’t really like that so much and the technician wouldn’t really say why he wasn’t allowed in. Only that he could come in at the end to see pictures of the baby but that she had to take measurements first. She also explains – and chastises me somewhat for not having read the sign – that she is the technician and that only the radiologist can make diagnoses, decisions, etc.. which includes gender of the baby. We will find out nothing today. So, I’m lying there, I can’t see the screen and she’s got the wand moving all around my belly. She has some voice recorder thingy connected to the machine so that she can comment on what she’s taking pictures of. Her dialogue goes something kind of like this:

“Sagittal Plane. Cervix. Placenta. Head. Shoulders. Heart. Transverse plane. Head. Shoulders. Heart. Chamber 1, 2, 3, 4. Left Atrium. Flow to Left ventricle. Right chambers atrium, ventricle. Looks good. Baby is moving. Heart. Aortic arch. Looks good. Baby is moving. Head. Spine. Spine. Spine. Sacrum. Spine. Looks good. Urinary bladder. Looks good. Kidneys 1 and .. 2. Looks good. Gender area. Gender area. We’ll try again later. Femur. Tibia. Looks good. Right foot. Toes – 5. Looks good. Other side. Femur. Tibia. Looks good. Left foot. Toes – 5. Looks good. Gender area. Gender area. We’ll try again later. Head. Shoulders Baby is moving. Head. Shoulders. Nasal bone. Eyes. Lips. Jaw Bone. Cheeks. Looks good. Again Head. Shoulders. Right Humerous. Right Forearm. Right hand. 5 fingers. Looks good. Shoulders. Left Humerous. Left Forearm. Left hand. 5 fingers. Looks good. Baby is moving. Head. Saggital plane. Head. Transverse plane. Cerebellum. Cerebral Cortex. Corpus Callosum. Nuchal Fold. Looks good. Shoulders. Heart. Urinary Bladder. Kidneys. Cord insertion. Gender area. Hmm. I’m just going to poke here a second. Gender area. Hmm. Let me try another way . Hmm. Ok. Cord Insertion. Legs. Feet. Gender area. Nope.”

She calls in Rob to have a look and quickly scans through the same body parts again.

And finally “The baby keeps moving but always moving with the legs and thighs together. The radiologist will make the decision but there’s no good picture. He won’t be able to tell gender.”

So, it sounds to me like Bean’s gonna be a skier – perfect form – moving around with the knees and thighs held closely together.

There was one thing that was a little weird to me though. While she was waiting for Bean to open his legs, she was scanning my anatomy, looking at the bladder, cervix, uterus. During that time she took 3 pictures of my left ovary and corpus luteum and no pictures of my right. What does that mean? Is my right ovary missing? Is there something wrong with the left that required a photo? I won’t be able to find out now until my next midwife appointment, I guess.

Talk to you soon,

B.

More Baby News!

I thought I would be remiss not to mention that all those folks I have known this year who are pregnant have started having their babies. Of course, you all know that Dion and Karen have Adam now and that Dan and Carolyn have Thomas. The more recent additions are Liz and Tim's Graham and my cousin Dean and Shannon's Julia. The boys are definitely outnumbering the girls this year. So far, of the four of us pregger ladies at PushPull there are three boys (Graham who just arrived and the other two have known since their ultrasound although they haven't blessed us with their presence just yet).

Graham Bowker Meadowcroft
He made a late, but much welcomed, entrance to the world at 10:17pm on August 27th at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto and tipped the scales at a not inconsiderable 9 lbs 2 ounces. He and Liz are both doing well and are resting comfortably at St. Mike's.

Julia Margaret Huckla
Julia Margaret Huckla was born on Monday, July 30 at
10:03 P.M. weighing 7lbs 12oz.

Talk to you soon,

B.

I tripped

You know when you're first learning to ride a bike or jump rope or something, and you've just jumped your 10th time and so you say 'Hey look at me, I'm jumping rope", and then that is the precise moment you trip? Well, I tripped on the meal planning this week - just days after blogging about it.

It's not too bad really. Last week went almost as planned. The quesadilla recipe from DinnerDaily was really good. Try it out if you get a chance. But.. instead of cooking at home on Friday night, we went out for dinner. So, the fish got bumped to Sunday night. Then, we were both out at meetings/games on Monday so we ate out again. So, we had the BBQ chicken, eggplant and squash last night. We're going out tonight for dinner with the ultimate team .. so no dinner tonight! Sigh. Here's the plan for what remains of this week:

Thursday - Cha siu chow fan (BBQ Pork Fried Rice)
Friday - Hamburgers (homemade), cauliflower au gratin, salad
Saturday - Spanokopita, roasted potatoes, veggie of choice TBD, today at the store

Are you still here? I thought that bit would have been boring enough for you to not keep reading! There is some kind of fun stuff going on. On Friday Rob and I are going for an ultrasound to hopefully find out Bean's physical features. They'll be able to tell us if Bean has 10 fingers and 10 toes, if he's got a big head, one leg longer than the other, and perhaps most interestingly whether or not Bean has a penis. If you want to know about the results, give me a call or drop me an email sometime after Friday. I'm not sure I'm going to blog about it, since I think a few people might not want to know. Even more baby news - I can feel some movements pretty regularly now. Usually around meal time: just before lunch and dinner. It's pretty fun. They aren't strong enough to be felt through my skin, so I'm the only one who can feel them, for now.

Talk to you soon,

B.

Meal Plan

About a month ago now, Rob suggested that we start planning our meals a little more ahead of time. I resisted strongly but agreed to give it a shot. I am now totally in love with the idea. I believe that Karen said, when I told her this story, that I’m a highly ‘routined’ person. I think it’s possible that she's correct but I don’t feel like I’m very ‘routine’. I usually resist actually, much like I resisted Rob’s suggestion. What I have been finding though, is that when I impose a bit of routine on myself, my world is more relaxed and more efficient and in general I think I’m happier. My brain is chaotic enough. Without the routine it just goes all to pieces.

So – back to the meal plan. Here’s what we’ve been doing. Sometime on the weekend, usually on Sunday, we plan out the dinners for the week. Dinners usually make enough leftovers for lunch so we’re good for lunch plus an odd sandwich here and there. Then, we go grocery shopping and buy what we need to make those meals plus a few extras for breakfast and snacks etc. So far, I’ve found that I have been getting more variety, eating more enjoyable meals, and getting dinner on the table faster than before. I’ve been using these two sites as inspiration: Dinner Daily and Epicurious (just yesterday though, they changed the site and now I can't find the BA Easy Week link I normally use). Also, Rob and I get an organic vegetable box delivered every other week, so the meals are sometimes based around what came in the box.

I also thought that it might be fun – if I can add it into my routine – to post about the meal plan. So, this here’s my first go at it. The meal plan for this week:

Tuesday – Barbequed sausages with honey mustard sauce, mashed potatoes, sautéed peppers and mushrooms (aka Bangers and Mash).
Wednesday – Green pea soup with mint and yogurt, fresh baked bread
Thursday – Bean quesadillas, salad with cucumber and avocado (haven’t decided on the dressing yet), boiled corn on the cob
Friday – Breaded and sautéed haddock, steamed rice with basil, some veggie yet to be decided
Saturday – Dinner at Dan and Carolyn’s
Sunday – Barbequed chicken thighs with ‘Canadian Club’ BBQ sauce, grilled eggplant, bread, and salad

Talk to you soon,

B.

Funniest Thing I've Ever Heard on an Ultimate Field

I went to watch Rob's team play last night. This is a team I've never played with so, I don't really know anybody that well. However, I'm pretty sure I've played against some of these guys for so long that I practically know them. The best example was Rob's team's sub for last night - Greg. Don't know his last name but he plays for Throw Les Vaches and seems like not only a great player but a great teammate as well. I've noticed every time I've played against him that he always plays with excellent spirit of the game as well as intensity and enthusiasm.

Well, last night during the game Greg said what is likely The Funniest Thing I've Ever Heard on an Ultimate Field. Here's the situation .. there's a guy on offence (GOF) who has just caught the disc in the vicinity of the endzone. Greg is marking him. GOF says 'I'm in'. Somebody on Rob's team is saying no. GOF says 'I'm in by that cone' .. which is likely either the stupidest or most annoying thing I hear on the ultimate field, but not the funniest. Here's the funny part - Greg's counting stalls like this "Stall 1..Stall 2.. Not even close 3..Not even close 4.. Not even close 5.."

Hee hee !

I giggled for a good while over that one!

(oh, not funny? I guess you'd have to be there!)

And yes - two posts in one day. Read them on different days or something, k? I just have lots of time to post today and who knows when that'll come again!

Talk to you soon,

B.

Kelly's at Crown School

My friend Kelly is a crown attorney. As far as I understand, every year around these time, all the Crowns, with the exception of a skeleton crew that runs bail court and I’m not sure what else, goes to London to get trained up on new topics, new laws, etc.. Since this is one of the only times, EVER, that Kelly gets to check email and blogs freely in the day or night, I promised her I’d write.

Today’s topic is – The Bean (who else?)

Rob and I saw our midwife this morning and got positive report. All is well. For those who like the ‘stats’:

Bean’s heart rate – 150 bpm
My blood pressure – 100/50
Glucose – normal
Protein – normal
Fundal height – 18 cm

And Esther says that she thinks I look great – a nice roundness (she doesn’t weigh me). She did an internal exam as well. Also lookin’ good! (Hmm.. perhaps that’s not appropriate blog talk?)

Otherwise, not too much news to report. I’ve really outgrown my clothes. I can wear anything that I normally wear if it happened to have an elastic waist or a draw string (in other words, my dance pants) and that’s about it. Time to go shopping for Fall!

Talk to you soon,

B.

Daycare

Rob and signed-up our Bean for daycare yesterday at lunch. In Toronto, the waiting lists are longer than a year now (I've heard around 15 - 18 months) so you have to sign-up to the waiting list while the person who will be going to the daycare is still in utero. Crazy, eh?

We are probably still pretty far ahead of the curve on this one, really, but we were far too scared to take any chances. The potential 'back-up plans' for what we could do if we didn't get into daycare before the parental leave was over were just extremely unappealing.

Anyway, we found two pretty nice spots both located about half-way between where Rob works and where I work. Truthfully, we'd planned on looking close to Rob's work and the fact that it's also close to mine was just a coincidence. There aren't any convenient daycares close to where we live so finding something close to work was the best option. What happens if neither of us are working in 2009 where we're working now? That's a good question! We'll have to reassess the situation if anything changes before then. I think we'll try to get on a waiting list at a centre close to home (even if it isn't the most convenient) just on that chance that suddenly downtown is really really inconvenient.

Talk to you soon,

B.

SYTYCD Season 3

I'm not sure that another season could pass without at least one or two comments about this season's "So You Think You Can Dance". So - here it is!

I GOT TICKETS TO THE TOUR ON SEPTEMBER 27TH!!!!!!

The show is in Rochester on the Thursday before Zodiac (an ultimate hat tourney). So, we'll either spend the weekend there for the tournament or head to one of the nearby state parks and do some camping.

Meanwhile, I'm really, really behind in the show. I'd only watched up to find out who made the top 10. Tonight is catch-up night and can I just say - HOLY @#$%! This season is so amazing! I thought so all along so far but tonight..tonight! Oh my goodness. I'm so happy I got tickets. These guys are so amazing. I have my favorites for sure .. and I just can't wait to see Sabra and Neil in person!

Can there BE any more !!!!

Talk to you soon,

B.

More Randomness

Because yesterday's meme was so much fun and since I have a bunch of things that I wanted to tell y'all about but none really consititute a post on their own, I'm writing up another 'random' post.

1. YESTERDAY I SAW EDWARD NORTON!!!! (from really really really far away but it was totally for sure, i think , probably him). I saw in the newspaper that Ed Norton and Liv Tyler are filming for a new The Hulk movie here in Toronto and in fact, right near where I work. Filming happens a lot around here, so I hadn't taken much notice of this particular crew until I'd found out that Edward Norton was there (!!!). So, yesterday, when I went to grab coffee I actually got to see a glimpse of the filming. They are actually using a space right beside my building. Edward Norton was like, 500m from my desk! Sigh. I tried to dream up some really good reason why I needed to walk by there, something urgent and convincing, but I couldn't. And there were a lot of police around. Not just the regular film security people but real TO cops working the security. It looked pretty tight. I took in as much as I could from my vantage point about 150 m away. I could see a tank, and some guys dressed in (what is apparent in real life if not on screen) fake army gear, and I'm pretty sure I saw a guy that looked EXACTLY like Edward Norton. It must have been him!

2. On Tuesday, back at work from my vacation someone who knows me who works upstairs became the first to ask 'the question'. In as delicate a way as possible he inquired whether I was expecting. So, I guess I'm 'showing' enough that even people who don't know can kind of figure it out. Mind you, I was wearing a dress that made the round belly a bit more obvious (you know that green and yellow one I love that looks like curtains from 1973?)

3. Feeling a smidge concerned about my minimal calcium intake these I started drinking some milk this week after avoiding it for so very long. I do eat dairy but I haven't actually drank a glass of milk in years and years. So, yesterday and today I ordered a warm skim milk with honey at my coffee shop for afternoon 'coffee break'. It was much more delicious than I expected for some reason! And then it made me think about Judaism.

4. The caretaking services team in the building where I work have started a new campaign in the washrooms on hygiene. Signs are up in every washroom reminding people to wash their hands at every opportunity, to scrub for 15 seconds with soap, and to turn the taps off while holding paper towels. Then, they installed an antimicrobial rinse station outside all of the bathrooms. This makes me frustrated. I'm not sure I understand why it's become so popular these days to be germaphobic.

Meme

I’ve read a lot of knitting memes on all the knitting blogs that I peruse. They go around a lot. Of course, then, the 10 random things are supposed to be about knitting. Today I have been tagged by Kern to name 10 random things about myself. He of course was at the end of a line of tags from Kristin, Karen, and Gina. This, as Karen so helpfully pointed out when she was over last night, pretty much means that I will need to tag Kevin. So, Kev – you’re up!

8 Random Things About Me

1. Despite having started playing late (at 23) AND the first few years of play, I played somewhat reluctantly AND not playing this year, I still consider Ultimate Frisbee to be ‘my sport’ and was very excited and proud that the Canadian Ultimate Championship (held this year in Toronto) got a front page photo and mention in Metro today.

2. I could run faster this year (before getting pregnant) than I ever have at anytime before this year.

3. I have done secret, not entirely precise, annual speed measurements of myself over the past 7 or so years. Before that I didn't really run.

4. I consider dance to be an essential part of my soul.

5. I was on Tiny Talent Time on CHCH channel 11 when I was 10. I got to tell Bill Lawrence that I wanted to be a lawyer when I grew up (so that I could help people work through their problems) and got to do a commercial announcement: "Don't go away, Tiny Talent Time will be right back!"

6. If I'd known sooner that there was such a field of study as "food science" or "food engineering" I think I would have done that instead of this.

7. It often surprises me that I live in Toronto and surprises me more that I've been here for 13 years.

8. I lied to Ann during a game of Bohnanza on the weekend and I still feel kind of bad about it (I won the game, btw).

Talk to you soon,

B.

I spoke too soon!

More 'symptoms' of first trimester today. Yuck! I thought I was in the clear. Actually, it seems like every time I think I'm in the clear, I keep getting hit again. Maybe I should stop being so boastful?

I have had, so far, a number of typical first trimester symptoms. Two are a little too 'personal' to mention here, so I won't mention them (ahem!) but here are the ones that had the biggest impact (strongest, most frequent, whatever):

Nausea. No surprise. Everyone who's ever watched a movie or a tv show ever probably knows this one. I actually feel pretty fortunate, since I haven't been that sick. I've mostly been eating normally just in smaller more frequent meals. Nothing was really 'off limits though. And I kept the food down, by and large. I just felt a bit like I'd eaten a bad burrito for about 2-4 hours every day from week 6 to week 12.

Tiredness. Exhaustion more like. I slept about 12 hours a day every weekend for a while. And I was going to bed at 9 or 10 on weeknights. I didn't play any sports or dance or anything. I was very very tired. I didn't like being very very tired. It actually made me feel worse in a lot of ways than the nausea.

Weight gain. Also not too surprising. I started right away though. Some folks get a bit of a delay. Not me! I've been a bit too scared to step on the scales lately, so I'm not sure how many pounds I added but my pants are definitely too tight. I'm going to have to switch over to maternity pants any day now. Well, for the rest of the summer I'm hoping to get away with elastic waist skirts and some size 11 shorts! The 'good news' story though -- I've gained as noticeable amount of weight in my chest as in my belly. Hee hee! I haven't grown out of a cup size yet but I can tell that it's gonna happen.. any.. day.. now..

Spotting. Not as common a symptom but one nonetheless. And sadly, it's usually a sign that perhaps things are not going well at all. Added a lot of stress and quite a bit of panic when it happened. Again, I didn't get it too bad. And I probably should have just called Jenn (my friend who's an OB) to get her to calm me down. In the end, after a short stint at the hospital, we find out everything is fine.

Round Ligament Pain. Apparently there are ligaments that hold your uterus in place. Apparently when you're pregnant they can cause pain if you move too fast or something. For me, every once in a while I'll sneeze and get a brutally sharp pain there. Only when I sneeze, but not every time I sneeze. Can't find any correlation. At first I thought I was doing some damage or something. Nope! All normal!

I think I mentioned yesterday that most of my first trimester symptoms were subsiding. That's mostly true other than.. as I said.. today was bad. This morning I barfed. I barfed last Saturday morning too. These are the only two times that I've been sick to my stomach this whole pregnancy so far. And both were accompanied with absolutely no nausea. Just a weird kinda feeling like I might be sick. Can't figure out the possible trigger this morning. Unless there's something about my lasagna that The Bean finds particularly offensive! I sure hope that'll be the end of that though. It's not so fun.

A funnier symptom that's been more noticeable the past couple of days (and is supposed to appear around the 2nd trimester) - "Pregnancy Brain". Something about the hormones makes you forgetful/silly or in my case more forgetful/silly than usual. For example, I had to repeat a sample dilution 3 times yesterday at work because I kept making mistakes (like not labelling or mislabelling my vials before mixing them). This is pretty basic stuff! Oh well. I'm just gonna go with it. I'll embrace senility when it comes too!

And - as Karen points out - I forgot to answer a couple of other popular questions in yesterday's post. Rob and I have chosen to use a midwife for our delivery. Someone Jenn recommended, actually. Her name is Esther and she's really a lot of fun and very knowledgeable. We'll be delivering at East York General Hospital, which is the closest hospital to where we live and the only one that Esther practices at. That's Jenn's hospital too. I had been hoping for Women's College Hospital but the midwife clinic there snubbed me (but that's another story for another day).

We're off to Georgian Bay for a cottage long weekend tomorrow morning. Cannot wait to get out of the city!

Talk to you soon,

B.

I’ve been avoiding you..

It’s true, dear blog, I’ve been avoiding you. I’m so sorry. Don’t feel bad, you’re not the only one. I’ve kind of been avoiding some of my other friends too (like Ian!) and for the same reason. It’s just that all the really good stuff that’s been going on lately.. the stuff that’s mostly been on my mind or even peripheral really .. well .. I just haven’t been able to talk about it in a public forum. And it’s hard to even talk about anything else for fear that I’ll give away the secret. I’m such a bad secret keeper! Well, the secret’s out and I can finally talk about it!

I know that you can’t tell from that picture of me over there (courtesy of Karen Lew) but I’m pregnant. 14 weeks to the day in that photo actually (I’m 14 weeks and 4 days pregnant now). For those of y’all who have trouble with pregnancy math: that means that in non-doctor speak I’m actually almost 3 months pregnant and the estimated arrival of the ‘little Ho’ is January 26, 2008. And I know that you can’t tell from that picture over there but Rob and I are actually pretty bloody excited about it!

So, now that it’s finally out in the open I can hopefully keep you a bit more updated on what’s been going on and what’s ‘new’. For today though, I thought I’d answer the top 5 most common questions I get after I tell people the news.

Q1: Was it planned?
A1: Sheesh! Yes!

Q2: How are you feeling?
A2: On the whole, not too bad. I was feeling some pretty strong nausea from about week 6 to week 13 but nothing that’s prevented me from eating normally. And I can keep food down and everything. The biggest shock for me was just how tired I was (and still am a bit). Apparently growing a person takes a lot of energy. Growing a person, feeling nauseated AND dancing in the PushPull show was just about the hardest physical thing I’ve had to do (I’m no tri-athlete, you know!).

Q3: Will you find out the sex of the baby?
A3: We’re not quite sure yet. Rob definitely wants to know. I’m kind of on the fence. Whatever we decide, we’ll do it together though. None of this ‘one of us knows and the other doesn’t’ scenario

Q4: Is that why you quit the Board at PushPull for the upcoming season?
A4: No, I didn’t know I was pregnant yet when I quit. I had other good reasons for doing that. However, it does make things easier. I don’t think I would have been able to stay on the Board and manage a baby at the same time.

Q5: Does this mean you won’t be dancing next year?
A5: Nope. I’ve been thinking about it constantly ever since the end of season. I’ve talked to Rob about it and the Artistic Director and we think that I’ll be able to take on just a few pieces this year. Something that would require only one night a week commitment from Sept to Jan., that would allow a break from Jan. to April, and would be back to one night a week from April to June. I’m going to try to do more ‘footwork’ styles this coming year and maybe not so much in the way of jumping and rolling on the floor kinds of pieces.

Ok. I think that’s enough news for now. Updates later but soon!

Take care,

B.

P.S. – Dear blog. I know that I’ve fiddled with your html and that you’re kind of a mess. I’ll try to fix it ASAP. I just need to ask Kevin for help…

I fell off the truck

Hey,

So, umm, yeah. I think I've fallen off the truck. It's kind of like a wagon but much bigger and faster.

I haven't knit anything in months!

I'm still really really enjoying reading about knitting, looking at yarn, considering projects, etc. But I haven't actually picked up the needles in a very very long time. Not since that conference I went to at the end of April. And I have oh so many projects to work on! I'm not sure exactly what's come over me but there are at least a few others whose blogs I read who are having a similar problem. In last months Knitty (an online knitting magazine) there was an article dedicated to those times when we get 'stuck' and how to get 'unstuck'.

Truth be told, it's not just the knitting either. I haven't really done anything lately. I feel like since the show ended, it's like I fell down and just haven't gotten back up. I've been taking a little vacation from my 'normal' life. I've hardly even blogged or gardened or baked or or renovated or crafted nearly anything. I have been reading (re-reading the HP series to be truthful, in preparation for the upcoming film and book 7) and visiting friends. That's all. That's it.

Well, hopefully soon I'll get back on the truck. Or maybe I'll start by just climbing up on a bike or something (not quite so fast as a whole truck). In the meantime, bonne chance to all you folks who are still 'gettin' r' done'!!

Talk to you soon,

B.

We're NOT moving

(yes i know it's been near forever since i posted and i realize that an entire dance show is lots of material for posting so much so that i should have been posting daily but i didn't 'cause i was overwhelmed with the dancing but the dancing is over now)

So - Rob and I aren't moving. Betcha didn't even know we were thinking about it! Rob's been in the process of interviewing with a company in the US. They have a few sites so I'm not sure where we would have ended up but it was looking like we'd be going to Seattle. I told Christian, who of course was pretty darned excited about the prospect. I was really proud of Rob making it so far through what is known to be an extremely tough interviewing process.

In any regard, after about two weeks of sleepless nights fretting over the decision, Rob has decided not to continue pursuing a career in the US - or really even outside of Toronto for that matter. Robbie - I hope this means some more rest for you now!

Talk to you soon,

B.

Another Fun Weekend

Well, another fun weekend is almost past. Rob and I got to spend quite a lot of time together. On Friday, Rob and I hung out with Kevin and Susanna and when we got home discovered that a sparrow had found it's way into our house sometime that day. The cats weren't too interested in it, I don't think, but the little guy looked like he was injured. I'm not sure if his inability to fly was because of something the cats did to him or not. Regardless, I called Susanna for some advice, packed the sparrow up in a box with some water and set him outside. By morning he had found his way out of the box and was gone. Either that or something else 'helped him out of his box' - it's hard to know really.

Saturday was Nelson and Sarah's wedding - which was a blast. Rob and I had a great time and ate some great food, and did some great dancing. Rob even learned how to cha cha!

Today was another fun day of gardening. We got the rest of our plants in the ground or in their pots. So we're all set for the summer now.

Now it's nap time before I have to go to rehearsal.

Talk to you soon,

B.

Gardening is so satisfying

Rob and I just spent the last 3 hours working - or maybe puttering is a better word - in our garden. I find that kind of thing extremely satisfying. I think it's got all the elements for an excellent project. There's a planning and designing element at the start, choosing the flowers and shapes of the folliage. Then there's the physical part, digging and aerating and pulling. I get to have a little workout as I go. And of course, my favourite part: I get dirty. When it's all done, you have this fantastic 'finished product' that you get to admire for an entire summer.

There's still a bit more to do but we're almost done the planting and aerating. Soon, all we'll have left to do is some periodic weeding and watering.

Here's what we've planted:

- Day lilies from Steve and Ann's house along the fence we share with our neighbours
- Orange pansies in one of the containers in the front garden
- Pink impatients near the sidewalk
- A planter of zinias and million bells for the front door
- Hanging fuschia for the front porch
- A Japanese climbing perrenial for hte back garden by the fence
- Herbs for the planter Derek bought us (Rosemary, Basil, Oregano, Thyme, Mint, Dill, Sage, Savory, Parsley)
- Cherry tomatoes
- Full size tomoatoes (that I'm gonna try to grow upside down)
- Dahlias and pansies for the back garden
- 3 hostas and a fern for the front garden
- A collection of coleus for the big white planters on the back deck

As you can see, we've mostly planted annuals this year. And some basic ones at that. Our garder is really mostly full already. And we mostly have perrenials but they're quite unruly - since we didn't know what we were doing in the fall, we didn't trim back enough. We'll know better for next year. I've been learning a lot!

Talk to you soon,

B.

Tonight I Resigned

Tonight I submitted my resignation from the Executive Board of PushPull, effective - well, it's kinda vague - but essentially on June 12, 2007. I'll likely be helping out through the transition in the summer.

sad sad sad

B.

Getting Ready

I'm trying to get ready for Tampa this morning. I'm supposed to be packing. I don't pack well and it's stressing me out. I hate lugging around tonnes of stuff that I don't end up needing but I hate getting to somewhere and wishing that I'd brought something that I hadn't thought of. Finding an acceptable balance is tricky and I feel stressed about the whole the thing. I realize that this is neurotic. But, there it is.

So - I'm delaying the packing by blogging. Hee hee!

Well, back to it, I guess!

See you in a few days,

B.

Off to a good start

This week is off to a great start so far.

Yesterday I played ultimate on the beach and it didn't rain at all. It was warm, although a bit blustery. My team won and get this - I caught my very first CALAHAN!!** It was very exciting. I'm pretty sure my defender (who is one of Toronto's top female players) kind of let me have it, but still .. it was real and I caught it!

When I got home from the game, Rob was barbequing me a steak (all the more impressive given that the guy is a vegetarian) that I had started marinating the day before. He'd also prepared rosemary potatoes (baked), grilled eggplant, and baked (en papillote) green peppers, onions, and mushrooms. AND (yes there's more) there was enough leftover for lunch today!

Today, after my fantastic lunch, I went to the chiropractor to get my hip worked on. I've gained a good deal of mobility back and finally feel 'straight' more often than 'crooked'.

Tonight for dinner, I made myself a risotto with green peas and dill and steamed artichokes with garlic lemon butter - which I am currently enjoying imensely. AND there's enough leftover for Rob when he gets home and for lunch tomorrow!

What a great couple of days.

Talk to you soon,

B.

** A Callahan is a when a defensive player intercepts a pass from the offensive players and while so doing catches it in her own end zone of attack, thereby scoring a goal for her own team. It's usually a result of a strong defense (and strong wind?) forcing the offensive to move the play until they are trapped near or in their endzone. It's a rare enough occurrence that it usually only happens to people like Rob, Kevin, or Dion.

Who's that man?

I was out for dinner in my neighbourhood on Tuesday night for some chow and a PushPull meeting. The man you see pictured here, he was there. I'd heard that he lived nearby and I think I'd even seen him around before. But this time, this time - he talked to me!! None of the other 8 people who were there with me recognized him. Do you?

Talk to you soon,

B.

Legacy

Somehow, on Monday, there was a lot of talk about ‘legacy’. It started at work. We were having a very in depth discussion at work over lunch that touched on topics of religion, democracy, capitalism, social freedom, and the afterlife. At one point, the question was posed, ‘How would the world be different if no one believed that there was an afterlife? What if the life you get here on Earth is the only one and you don’t get a 2^nd, 3^rd, or 4^th chance? Would people focus more on what kind of legacy they left behind? What if the only way for your soul to live on is in the hearts and memories of the people you touch in this life? That evening, I was talking with Meredith and we also briefly discussed the concept of legacy and what that might mean. Is it tied to procreation and the continuation of your genes, values or ideals? What does a monetary legacy mean? Do you need to leave something behind that can be passed on to your children?

I’ve had two interesting emails this week from some friends that I haven’t seen in a really long time that might give me a hint about what kind of legacy I’ll be leaving behind. The first was from a fellow who I performed with in 42^nd street with the Yorkies back in 2004. I have to admit (sorry Greg!) that it actually took me a bit of time to remember who Greg was. I have a bad memory about these kinds of things. Greg reminded me of a story, still passed on to this day, wherein I had the fastest quick change of all time. I think I had about 2 or 3 bars of music to change from shorts and a button-up shirt to a skirt and feather bra. Well, Greg, sweet as he is, helped me make that costume change – bravely standing backstage and holding up my bra for me while I whipped off my shirt to change (every single performance)! Oh dear. This will be my moment of infamy, apparently.

The second message was from a fellow that I knew in undergrad. He directed SkuleNite (An Engineering Musical Comedy Revue) this past year. SkuleNite is the show where engineers write, direct, produce, and perform in a comedy sketches that also include music and dancing (which most often only add to the hilarity). I was involved with SkuleNite for a few years of my undergraduate career, primarily as a choreographer. I did dance for them once, in just one number, just for fun. In any regard, my friend the director tells me, and I have confirmed from other sources, that the term “Becky-face” is still alive and used well even currently during show run-throughs and notes. “Becky-face” is the eponymous term derived (I believe) in 1997 by Eric Moncrieff and is meant to describe that most cheesy of elated Broadway smiles best demonstrated by (ahem) myself. The term is often used in a directive and meant for inspiration: “Where’s your Becky-face?” or “Dave, you need more Becky-face in that tap number!” There are people out there who use the term “Becky-face” who don’t actually know “Becky”. This might be my moment of honour.

Talk to you soon,

B.

Feeling Spring

I've been feeling very "Spring" this week.

It started last weekend. I was feeling better, having recovered from my cold and had a really great weekend. It was one of those perfectly balanced weekends that has just the right amount of fun, relaxation, and productivity. And the weather was warm last weekend. Despite being grey you could really smell the earth thawing and the trees coming to life. There were worms on the sidewalk.

Then, I've had a really great week. Productive, positive, and generally successful. And dammit it was fun. Yesterday in particular was really great. I had an excellent day at work and then went to rehearsal. It was a swing reherasal and was pretty laid back. Afterward I went out to eat with Kelly .. and .. got asked to be a bridesmaid (bridesmatron?) !!!! I haven't been in a wedding party in a long time. Not since August 2000. What fun!

I've also been trying out some 'new' things. I joined both Facebook and Linked-in yesterday. I'm not sure I'm ready for this level of online networking but we'll give it a shot and see how it goes.

This morning, there has been spring cleaning in preparation for a guest who's coming on Sunday night.

Of course, spring also means showers and into every life a little rain must fall. In my case, it's raining in the ceiling. Blech! Rob and I discovered a wet patch in the ceilin on the second floor directly below our new bathtub and washer. Can you believe it?! Honestly, I just don't know how many more mistakes we're going to find. We called our contractor who says that the earliest he can get the plumber in is on Monday. All I can say, is that this bathroom renovation has gone on far too long.

Talk to you soon,
B.

Quilt!

Kevin sent me the quilt pictures last night. This is the quilt that was designed and assembled by Susanna and myself. It was my very first quilt and I would say it was quite a success. I really enjoyed my first quilting experience but expect it had a lot to do with the fact that it was a group effort. I think I will try some more quilts - they certainly are much faster than knitting a blanket that size - but I bet I will always think of this one as the most fun. It was really wonderful working with Susanna again.



Now, for the details of the quilt. I've heard that this pattern is called a modified courthouse steps pattern. We puchased fabric from A Quilter's Palette in Etobicoke and selected the sizes of blocks ourselves. We did the cutting with a fancy new ruler and cutter that my mum gave me for my birthday. After piecing the quilt, we drew where we wanted the quilting lines. Originally we'd planned regular lines an inch apart the whole way through the quilt. In the end we varied the space between the lines, adding an extra dimension to quilt. We used a clear thread for quilting which makes the quilting lines a bit tricky to see in the photos.

We quilted a star in the centre square and did some ditch stitching around many of the blocks (but not all). The batting is a 100% cotton, dense batting. It's not shown in the picture but on the back of the quilt is a cream coloured, waffled cotton (kind of bathrobe material). Su picked out the binding. I really wanted a satin binding because of the fond memories I have still of the satin binding on my childhood 'blankie'. Su bought some satin which she cut (crossgrain) and folded sort of like binding tape. I sewed in on with zigzag stitch.

Now the quilt is in it's home at Karen and Dion's house. It is anxiously awaiting the arrival of Baby Lew. Su and I both hope that he will enjoy the blanket for many, many years and will remember his aunties Su and Becky who can't wait to teach him some dancin' moves for when he outgrows his quilt.

Talk to you soon,

B.

Bellies like watermelons

It's official: nearly everyone I know is pregnant. Ok. I’m being hyperbole-icious. But really - it’s crazy. Pregnancy is more popular among friends and family this year than it’s ever been in any year prior. It’s even more popular than getting married ever was. Right now, at this very moment, there are 8 people I know who are pregnant (as far as I know). And I’m not even reaching here. These aren’t people like ‘my mum’s friends’ daughter’ or anything like that. These are people I like, people I care about, people close enough to me that I’m going to want to knit or sew something for their baby. All 8 babies! Oh my gosh.

It started to be obvious at Karen and Dion’s baby shower (which I’m still not talking about ‘til I get pictures of the quilt). There were 4, I think, 4 pregnant women including Karen. One of those women I don’t know that well, so I’m not even including her in my 8. Not to mention that the room was lousy with kids. There were kids taking naps, kids doing magic tricks, dancing kids, crawling kids, kids throwing snowballs. {As an aside - Really and truly the most perfect way to signal and celebrate the coming of a new child is to have a baby shower where kids are invited. The energy they bring is just awesome and it really feels like a celebration of children and childhood lemme tell ya}.

I have to admit, that I’m privy to some pregnancy information that is not quite yet public knowledge, so I can’t actually list everyone. But I do want to say, if I haven’t already and publicly to Karen and Dion, Nate and Shana, Dan and Carolyn, Liz and Tim, Jenny and Terry, Dean and Shannon, and the rest of you (you know who you are)*:

CONGRATULATIONS! I’ll knit as fast as I can but no promises. I still haven’t finished Nathan’s gift and he’s 8 months old now!

If there's anyone else out there who's got any big news that I haven't heard yet - better speak up fast and get yourself on the sweater list! Ok, well perhaps it'll just be socks or something...

Talk to you soon,

B.

* pregnant couples listed in order of due date from earliest to latest

I Haven’t Blogged In A While

I’ve been trying to guilt Kevin with my silence – telling him before, that until he emailed me the pictures from his camera of Karen and Dion’s quilt, that I just didn’t have any content to post. Apparently, Kevin doesn’t respond to a guilt trip the way I do. Then again, Kevin wasn’t raised by my mother …

Of course, lack of content is really more of my problem than Kevin’s. And frankly it’s a lie. I have lots to talk about. When have I ever not had something to talk about?

The thing that’s currently on my mind today is the dance class I gave today. It was an Adult Beginner Hip Hop Workshop given by PushPull. I prepared a lot for it and it paid off I think. I was happy with how it all came together. I think I’m getting better at it! I’m kind of into hip hop right now and would like to try learning some breakdancing. Not really downrock but toprock – popping, locking, gliding, that sort of thing. I even put together a great little CD of mixed Hip hop and R&B tunes that progress through a class pace. If you’re interested, lemme know and I’ll post them or email them to you or something.

The downside is that I don’t think the class helped me get over my cold at all. It felt good to sweat-it-out but my cough is pretty bad now. I’ve been sick for a good 4-5 days. I only started taking my herbs yesterday (‘cause I’m a slacker) so it’s likely gonna take a while to get me feeling better. I’ve been using this time off of work to remember how miserable being sick is and why I do need to chill out once in a while. I’ve noticed that my stress level has been quite high the last few months, little things bothering me, not sleeping as well. I don’t think I’ve been too much busier than usual but I could use a bit more tranquility. I foresee the next few months being good for that: lots of dancing and ultimate and very little worrying.

Oh yeah and my hip and foot are feeling a bit better. I’ve been seeing the chiropractor/massage therapist about them and getting treatment on my hip. She thinks that excessive inflammation and scar tissue could be fixed with about a month of treatment. The foot, well, she says there’s not too much that can be done about it other than to take it easy. My feet, you see, are freakish. They’ve always been freakish. You can’t always tell by looking at me but it’s true. As a child, I had to wear orthopedic shoes. I’m knock-kneed and pigeon-toed by nature but have mostly conditioned myself out of it over the years. Plus, my arches are extremely low – the transverse arch being the most ‘fallen’ and worse on my left side than right. And can you guess the leading causes of bunion development? You guessed it – knock-knees, pigeon-toes, and fallen arches. So, of course, I’m also starting to develop a bunion on my left toe. Hence, the pain when I jump on my feet a lot. The treatment is normally orthotics but for me, the pain only occurs when I’m dancing and you can’t really wear orthotics in dance shoes or with bare feet. The result is that I just need to live with it and ice whenever I can. Oh, and continue to avoid high-heeled, narrow shoes like the plague!

So, that’s my current health report for ya! I’ll post about the fabulous baby shower (no humility here) Susanna and I threw for Karen and Dion after I get the pics from Kevin (hint, hint, Kevin!)

P.S. - Bear with me through some blog template changes

P.P.S. – Kevin has a blog now in which he’s introduced his friends who blog: Karen, Kristin, and Gina. Kern and I aren’t hurt in the least.

Talk to you soon,

B.

Random Wednesday

Grab a coffee or a tea or bevvie of choice, sit back and relax. It’s a long-winded, randomly winding one today.

1. Have any of you seen the latest television ad from “The Gap”? I just saw it last night. It’s Claire Danes and Patrick Wilson dancing to “Anything you can do, I can do Better”. Claire Danes can dance! She’s really, really good. He’s not bad but she dances circles around him – both literally and figuratively. I looked up her bio on IMDB and it claims that she began training in modern dance at the age of 6. Wow .. it shows!
2. You know who can’t dance? Those girls from the latest disaster of a reality show “The Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll”. The candidates have to demonstrate sex appeal and confidence while proving their ability to sing and dance. As near as I can tell, the girls are so focused on the first two tasks that they can’t really devote any time to practicing the singing or the dancing. One of the “potentials” is even a dancer for “The Knicks” so her dancing was ok but as soon as she had to sing and dance at the same time, it all fell apart. They are so bad that it actually kind of makes me appreciate the real Pussycat Dolls. I wonder if they sing and dance at the same time or if it’s all lip synced so they only have to do one thing at a time. Well, at least they’re sexy!
3. There wasn’t very much sexy dancing at Trafalgar24 this past weekend. I took Friday off to participate in T24 this year because I had so much bloody fun doing it last year. T24 is a 24 hour play creation event (and in my case, musical creation event) organized as a fundraiser for the Driftwood Theatre Group. A group of 10 writers comes to Trafalgar castle at 8pm on Thursday. They are assigned a location, a cast (well, the number and whether they are male and female), and a sentence. They then have 10 hours to write a 10 minute play that takes place in the assigned setting, with the assigned cast, that includes said sentence. At 8am on Friday morning the cast and director arrives. Each play gets assigned a director and the cast who have 10 hours to rehearse it. At 8pm on Friday the plays are presented to an audience, who moves from location to location around the castle. Some PushPull dancers were invited to participate as the ‘dance talent’ in the musical number. There was a lot more to learn this year so it was kind of tiring. But still tonnes of fun! The musical this year was about a fellow who was so out of touch with technology that he couldn’t get a job anywhere because he couldn’t relate to anyone. It’s sort of ironic. There was a vocal percussion piece that the dancers got to perform. My line was “R.O.T.F.L.O.L.”. All of us dancers were in a lot of the show and were also invited to sing in parts. I noticed how as dancers, it sometimes feels like the actors are just there to fill in the story between the big dance numbers. And I could definitely tell from the ‘leads’ that it was clear to them that the dancers were just there to provide some backdrop for the actors. Ah, how egocentric we are! It was nice to spend the day on my feet instead of on my butt.
4. You should have seen the two butts at my soap making class on Saturday. I learned how to make fair-trade, organic soap using natural fats, essential oils, and lye. I learned all about the whole saponification process and how to make it work for me. I went with my friend Caroline to the class, which was held at Nathalie-Roze’s studio. There were only 4 people allowed in the class. The other two were a mom and daughter team from Uxbridge who are farmers and were really, really, into the fair trade part of the program. I’m all for being a green treehugger whenever possible (hence, attending an organic soap making class) but found it disappointing that these two were directing somewhat condescending and a bit know-it-all-ish comments toward Caroline and I because we’d deigned to bring our Starbucks to class. Also, the mom thought I looked “frightened” at the talk of using dangerous chemicals (12N NaOH) which bugs me only because I don't like people presuming that they know me. Sheesh! Despite the lecture from the farmers the class was a good one. I think once the PushPull rehearsals are over, I’ll give it a try at home.
5. Sunday’s PushPull rehearsal was crazy busy for me. I’m learning 4 new pieces this month. That’s a lot for a slow-learner like me. The creative director had to do some crazy cast shifting around because of a few exciting turns-of-events which meant the duet I was choreographing got cut and a modern piece I was in is also gone. To make it up to me, she put me in two new pieces .. the end result being that I’m in 11 pieces this year plus the finale. That works out to be about half the show. I’m ecstatic that I can be as involved as all that but it will be a lot of work. I suspect endurance training through ultimate will be a big help this year too. I’m afraid of getting to the end of the show and not performing as well as I could because I’ll be tired. I’m going to spend the next 2.5 months trying to make sure I take extra good care of myself so that I can be ready to dance my feet off for the June show.
6. First order of business in taking care of myself is to go to see the doctor about my feet and my hip. I’ve had this recurring hip and foot problem for about a year and a half. It’s not terrible or anything, which is why I’ve ignored it and I’m still not clear whether the two are related or all. Anyway, I sometimes get a pain in the first metatarsal on my left foot. I get it after every ultimate game in the summer and usually when rehearsals get busy in the spring. So far, ice and the occasional anti-inflammatory keep it in check but after all the dancing this weekend, I had pain even walking on Monday. The hip problem never goes away. I’ve lost some of the movement in my left hip. It kind of locks and clicks and won’t rotate the way it should but it’s not painful. I’m guessing that I’ll need orthotics for the feet and a regime of massage therapy and exercises for the hip. I have an appointment with a chiropractor/sports medicine doctor tonight to get the scoop and just hope that I haven’t left it too late.
7. I also wonder what effect going to see the doctor tonight will have on my mild phobia/hypochondria. I think it’s a very mild form of monopathophobia: I have a fear of developing arthritis. Somewhere inside there’s this little irrational voice that is convinced that any day now I'm going to go to the doctor and they're going to look at me and say, "Yep. You've got arthritis. No more dancing for you." It’s kind of funny that this is one of my biggest fears. It used to freak me out if I crossed the street and a car stopped “too last-minute” – not that I’d die but that the bumper would take out my knees and I’d have to have artificial joints put in and not be able to dance anymore. In the summer, I crunched my toe pretty badly and cried to Rob for a good 30 minutes out of fear that this was it – this was the stupid thing that would mark the beginning of the end. Entirely ridiculous, I realize but there you have it. Let’s just hope the saner part of me will prevail and this sports medicine guru can fix me all up and have my joints working well by June!

Talk to you soon,

B.

All sorts of News

I have all sorts of news for today. Are you ready, ‘cause I’m going to have to itemize it?

News tidbit ONE (the boring news)
I’ve decided to apply for eligibility to write a professional exam given by the Society for Clinical Research Associates. I have to demonstrate 2 years of professional experience in the field of clinical research in order to be allowed to write the exam. The next exam date that I could go to is here in the city in a month and a half. I’d have to study and would be required to get an 85% to pass, I think. It’s a 3 hour exam of all multiple choice questions. I’ve been told that it’s a lot like the PEO exam – as long as you study, you’ll do fine. If you haven’t studied, you’re basically up the creek. Anyway, first I have to see if I’m eligible. Fingers crossed!

News tidbit TWO (the news about work)
The big Bossman announced company-wide raises today! Everyone got the same, fixed percentage increase. Those of you who know my situation, can appreciate that it’s about time. And given the current state of the company, it really seemed inevitable. I don’t want to be unappreciative either, because it really is great to get a raise. It is however, what I would consider the bare minimum that they could do for us in light of everything that’s been going on.

News tidbit THREE (bathroom news)
The bathroom is very close to completion. So close, really that what’s left is minor enough that it could stay this way for months and I wouldn’t care. The washer and dryer were installed the last weekend of February and we’ve been putting them to good use all week. We even finally got around to washing all the towels and bed linens which we’d be waiting for our own laundry system to do. Rob and I and the house smell all springtime fresh, I tell ya! The system we bought is really nice and I’m happy with its performance so far. The installation was good enough that vibration is pretty minimal. Something about the structure of our house means that when the washer is in it’s fastest spin cycle – you can’t feel it at all while standing in the bathroom next to the washer but the couch on our 2^nd floor shakes just slightly. Certainly, not as bad as when I lived across the street from the Welland canal and had ocean liners driving by my front door! So, with the washer and dryer installed, that means that all the fixtures are installed and working (sink, vanity, toilet, shower, tub, laundry) the lighting and electrical work are all done, the slate floor has been sealed although Rob and I want to put one more coat of sealer on it. The room is entirely painted (Benjamin Moore OC-9, Ballet White). And just this past weekend, Mike came in and finished off the frame for the counter area and to install the permanent shower curtain rod. What’s left now is the less urgent and cosmetic stuff. The drywaller needs to come back to our house to patch up the holes that were created by the electrician running wire everywhere and to fix the weird piece of drywall by the bathroom window. We need to go and pick up the stone for the counter and get that installed. And then we want to hang our towel rods, medicine cabinet, mirror etc.. What’s left, really, is mostly our responsibility – other than the patchwork and that feels better to me - I'm more comfortable with getting things done on my own schedule than someone else's. When the contractor takes the rest of his stuff out of the house, I can finally clean the guest room and get it set-up for company too. So, it’s all coming together. I think that Eve and Harry might come to Toronto to visit over March break, so I’d like it if the contractor would get his tools out of the guest room before then .. but hey – can’t ask for everything!

I'll write more soon,

B.

Thanks Cynthia!!

Rob's mom is in town this week to stay with her sister (Bat Yi) who's going through a bit of medical work. When Rob picked her up at the airport yesterday, she passed along a present from Cynthia to me. And this is what I got - isn't it fabulous!!!! I LOOOVVVVEEEE IT!!!! Thanks Cynthia!

Sadly, I wasn't able to meet the MIL at the airport yesterday, I had to stay home and look over the shoulder of our contractor. Somebody has to keep things in line, apparently. While Rob's mom is here, she won't be staying with us, she needs to keep her eyes on Bat Yi but I think we'll be having lunch with her next week. I'm hoping to ask her about some Cantonese phrases that I want to learn. In particular, I want to better be able to prounce my name and to be able to order this chicken dish I like (bak tsi gai) and one other phrase of her choosing. We'll see how it goes.

Talk to you soon,

B.

Thundersnow

Ok..I know I'm being a bit of a copycat but this is just incredible.

Never in my whole life had I ever experienced thunder and lightning during a SNOW storm but now twice in the span of 7 days, that's exactly what I've seen. It's crazy. There is a serious storm happening outside my window today. It looks almost like a sort of hail/snow that's falling - in buckets - from the sky. It's been going steadily for almost an hour and is nearly what I'd call whiteout conditions. According to my Firefox weather updater, the wind is travelling at 8m/s in Toronto, although, I'm pretty sure that downtown here around the buildings it's whipping much faster. And then, just now, a blinding flash of light followed quickly but rumbling, rolling thunder. Really, it's something quite remarkable.

According to this website, there really is a weather phenomenon called Thundersnow and according to David Schultz, only 0.07 percent of recorded snowstorms include thunder and among recorded thunderstorms, only 1.3 percent of these storms in cool seasons feature snow.

In other news, it has also been estimated that approximately 75% of all Canadians think that talking about the weather is interesting.

Talk to you soon,

B.

Lasagne

I made a really good lasagna when Cynthia was here and I thought I'd share the recipe. Rob claims it was one of the best he's ever eaten and so also wanted me to document what I did so that I'd remember for next time.

For me - this lasagna is a good balance between speed and result. It's not as time consuming as preparing sauce from scratch, making a bechamel, and using fresh pasta but it tastes better than many of the other 'quick' varieties. I have, of course, included a meat version and a vegetarian version.

Mixture 1a: The Meat mixture
1lb ground beef
1 cup or red wine
½ can of Hunts tomato sauce, roasted garlic
chili flakes, oregano, salt and pepper to taste

- Saute the ground beef until brown. If you haven't used a lean ground beef, drain off some of the fat. Stir in the wine and tomato sauce and heat until the sauce is reduced (the fumes coming off the pan don't smell like alcohol). The mixture should be decidedly saucy. If it seems at all dry, add either more sauce, more wine, or a bit of water.
- Stir in chili flakes (I used about 2 tsp), oregano (I used about 1 tblsp), and salt and pepper to taste.

Mixture 1b: The Vegetarian Version
1 large eggplant, sliced in 1/4 inch slices
2 tsp salt
1/2 can of Hunts tomato sauce, roasted garlic

- Toss the eggplant with salt and drain in a colander, over the sink, for 2-4 hours
- Mix the tomato sauce with the eggplant (make sure it's saucy)

Mixture 2: The Mushroom mixture
½ white onion
3-4 portobello mushrooms
2 cups button mushrooms
2 cloves garlic
2tblsp olive oil
½ can of Hunts tomato sauce, roasted garlic flavour
1 cup or so red wine
oregano, salt and pepper to taste

- Saute the onion and mushrooms with the garlic in the olive oil.

Mixture 3: The Cheese Mixture
1 container (2 cups) ricotta
½ box frozen spinach
1 egg
½ cup of grated Parmesan cheese

- Mix all together in a bowl

1.5 boxes of lasagna noodles

Assembly
Layer in a deep 9x13 in pan:
½ cup Hunt's tomato sauce, roasted garlic flavour
Enough noodles to roughly cover the pan
½ of the meat mixture (or half of the eggplant mixture)
Enough noodles to roughly cover the meat mixture
Remaining ½ of meat mixture (or remainder of eggplant mixture)
Enough noodles to roughly cover the meat mixture
The mushroom mixture
Enough noodles to roughly cover the mushroom mixture
The cheese mixture
Enough noodles to roughly cover the cheese mixture
1/2 cup of sauce, spread over the noodles
1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese, covering the top

Cover with foil and bake at 350 F for an hour. Remove the cover and bake another 10-15 minutes until cheese is golden and bubbling.

Talk to you later,
B.

Alvin Ailey! Alvin Ailey!

The world renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre is performing in Toronto this weekend and I’m going to see them tonight! Rob bought me tickets for Valentine's Day! Can you tell how excited I am?! Just look at all the exclamation points!

I had the opportunity to see the company perform only once before, when I was living in Zurich. You remember that story, right? No? Well, you see – Alvin Ailey was touring all around Europe. I tried to get tickets but they were both very expensive and sold out quickly. The week they were in town, I met a friend at the gym for a game of squash over lunch and happened to notice that the gentleman standing next to me also trying to purchase a day pass had an Alvin Ailey backstage pass clipped to his bag. I casually asked him if he was one of the performers, and found out that yes, in fact he was. He was at the gym to warm-up and train a bit on their day off. Well, I practically gushed all over the guy. I congratulated him A LOT on obtaining a position with such an illustrious group. And, I offered to help him with his difficulty in communicating with the gym staff by forcing my (bilingual) friend to translate for him, as I repeated everything that was being said. Can you picture this? Awe-inspiring-dancer-guy says, “Can you ask them how much it would cost just for a day pass and if they’ll sell me one”. And I say, while elbowing my friend “John, John, ask them how much a day pass costs”. And John says something in German, and the counter lady says something in German, and then John says “It’s 10 marks an hour” and so I say to the AIDG “It’s 10 marks an hour”. And on it goes. You can see that it was really good that I was there, right?

Anyway, AIDG asks me if I’m a dancer and of course I can only reply “I try”. So, then he asks me if I’m coming to the show and I have to confess that I’m not, ‘cause it’s sold out. SO THEN HE OFFERS ME TWO FREE TICKETS… IN PRODUCTION ROW! I’m pretty sure by this point was a quivering mess of meltiness. I sent him a bouquet of flowers to say ‘thanks’. The show was the following night and it was spectacular. The theatre was so small, the dancing so powerful, and the costumes so beautiful.

Incidentally, the German speaking counter lady had figured out, mostly from my freaking out, that somehow this guy was famous. She asked my friend who he was, since she clearly didn’t recognize him and was worried she was missing something. John said, “Some dance person. I don’t know. I guess he’s popular in Canada”. It was Vernard Gilmore.

I can’t wait to see the show. Tonight, the company will be performing “Night Creature”, “Solo”, “Love Stories”, and “Revelations”. Each of the three shows they’re doing while they’re here will include “Revelations” and then a collection of other pieces from their repertory. I think Susanna is going to more than one show so she can see more of the pieces.

Time to get ready for the show!

Talk to you later,

B.

Good News and Bad News

The Good News - today my favorite inventor is Russel James Slayter. He invented insulation. Since our contractor put the insulation back in the ceiling of our bathroom, effectively closing the hole to the roof on the third floor, the house has warmed up another few degrees! Also, in case I didn't mention it before, the shower has been function since last Wednesday! It's still exciting.

The Bad News - Rob and I got the flu today. We both had to come home early from work. I'm not sure who we caught it from. The prominent symptoms seem to be extreme GI distress (both upper and lower), fever, and aches. I'm not sure what the incubation period is on this one, but if I saw you on the weekend - LOOKOUT!

The Other News - EQ3 called to tell us that our couch will be delivered on Saturday. As predicted, it will arrive the day after Cynthia's last night here. That's ok, I suppose, since we wanted it so that she could sleep on the futon in the guest room (the new couch is going in the den where the futon is now) but the guest room is where the guys have been leaving all of their construction stuff. Sounds like the bathroom will be done just in time for the construction stuff to be out of the way, to move the futon upstairs, to put the couch in the den. And all of that is gonna happen right after Cynthia heads home.

Talk to you soon,

B.

The Perfect Engineering Problem

I think everybody who reads this know that I studied engineering in undergrad. I have said before that the only real thing that is taught in engineering is how to solve problems and make decisions; the rest is just the context or perhaps some additional tools (like calculus) that might help obtain or ascertain information to help you make the decision. It is Gary's opinion that no engineering problem has only one solution but that the best solution boils down to optimizing resource (time and money) use while developing the most effective system. Most agree with him and also state that often, if a mathematically optimized solution cannot be developed, decision analysis must be applied in order to determine the optimal solution, thereby making a selection.

The opinion that I've been cultivating, is that the perfect engineering problem (the ones real engineers can't wait to get their teeth into) is one in which meets the following criteria:

• There must be more than one possible solution to the problem
• Decision theory and/or a decision matrix must need to be applied in order to find an optimal solution
• There must be many unknowns, or variables for which there is limited data involved in determining the optimal solution
• The criteria included for optimizing must be rational enough to pass as a measurable entity, but include enough subjectivity for the measured result to encompass bias
• Only one solution can be implemented and there is no method for measuring, after a selection has been made, if is performing better or worse than the other selections, thus preventing the use of feedback to inform future decisions.

You see, in this way, there is just enough information available to make some reasonable estimates about the optimal solution but not quite enough objectivity in criteria selection to definitively make a choice. This allows the engineers to spend much time and energy trying desperately to measure differences and nail down the criteria arguing amongst themselves about how to do it, so that they can support the decision they've already made by instinct in about 10 seconds after hearing about the problem in the first place, thus creating an environment of debate that could last decades. Even better, since after making the choice, there is no way of measuring whether it was the 'best choice' – the debate continues, mostly uninformed and mostly full of bias.

I'm pretty sure that choosing a heating method for your home is one of the perfect engineering problems. I bet it gets even more perfect when the decision is not between various heating systems but in fact, which fuel to use to power your heating system. The added bonus here, of course, is that ascertaining operating costs requires 10 year speculations about the costs of energy, a market so risky it held the rise and fall of Enron. I'm also pretty sure that the market is so competitive right now that the cost of the available fuel systems is almost irrelevant when compared to how the system is used. By that I mean, that choosing the right fuel type (natural gas or electrical) might save me or cost me something like $1 a day but choosing well how I use the system (turn the heat down when sleeping and when away at work, keep the temperature inside a few degrees closer to external temperatures, insulate well, use high efficiency windows and doors) could save me or cost me something like $10 a day. And lets not even get into the environmental impact of the various options.

So to summarize and in conclusion – I'm tired of this stupid decision. There's not enough clear, unbiased information available to make the decision (despite having consulted industry and government and NGOs) . In fact, there are just far too many variables and far too many unknowns to determine the best choice (even environmental groups aren't sure which is less offensive). And since there isn't one clearly good system, nobody really wants to make informed choices they just want to continue supporting their own bias and world view. So forget it. I don't care. Gas or electric. I give up! You guys go fight it out for a while (yeah, you at the Ontario Energy Board and you too Mr. Electricity)!

Meanwhile, I'm going to sit in my minimally heated house, feeling proud of myself for reducing greenhouse gases by reducing energy use in my home. I'm only heating about 2 or 3 rooms right now, how many tonnes has that saved this winter?

Ok .. that's it. I'm calling Rick Mercer.

Talk to you soon,

B.

My Bathroom, a Work in Progress

The bathroom renovation was supposed to be finished on Friday but it’s still not done. Of course, a person should know that these things always go over the scheduled date but I was hoping so badly that it wouldn’t happen.

There have already been few bumps and I suspect there will be a few more to come. My biggest complaint is really that we’d get offered a choice, like for example, how high we want the tile to go up the wall (to the ceiling, above the shower line). We’d make a decision (the shower line with a cap tile). And then we’d get home to discover that the tile is all the way up to the ceiling. If the guys are gonna do whatever they want anyway, why bother asking our opinion? It’s very frustrating. Then, there’s this shower pan that the washer and dryer have to sit in. It has a drain in it so that if our fancy new front-loading washer has a leak, it won’t cause permanent house damage. I don’t think it was designed properly, because I don’t think we were on the same page as the tile workers and our contractor, nor were they on the same page as one another. Everybody had some bit of information that the others needed that just never came up during conversation. So, you find out things after it’s too late to change them.

Anyway, what has been done so far is coming together. I’m pretty happy with how it looks so far. The tile is all down and should, by tonight, have grout. The accidental, extra holes in the drywall have been patched. There are vents in the proper place, outlets and light boxes in the proper place. I think we’re still gonna need another visit from the plumber and electrician, though. I’m told that we should be able to shower tomorrow or Thursday morning. Still no word on when the rest of it will be finished but my contractor is working pretty hard on it.

As I’m sure you can well imagine, I’ve handled the entire experience calmly, with grace and poise. Ha! The delay in getting it finished, the “no end in sight” of the project, the accidental cutting off of most of our heat, the fact that I’m (apparently) still not quite over the break-in (armed with the knowledge that there are very often repeat break-ins a few months after you’ve replaced all your stuff), and the kicking in of my car mirror by some random guy when I was at rehearsal, and that pole in the parking lot that came out of nowhere yesterday, and my necklace that broke this morning when I was toweling off (at Kevin and Su’s ‘cause I don’t have a shower), and the fact that work was busy, and I have a houseguest .. well .. let’s just say that I’ve been kind of high-strung and a bit whiny and probably not too fun to be around. Clearly, I am still a work in progress too! Poor Rob!

Talk to you soon,

B.