embarrassed by the memories of my own words...

I spent this weekend in Port McNeill, on the northeast corner of Vancouver Island, with my brother and his wife and their 6 week old baby, my mother, my two oldest kids and my good friend Bobbi.  There are so so many memories. 

Road trips are so fun.   As we left home, I desperately tried to find the kid's favorite song (Rat-a-tat-tat - Seventeen), but I could not.  Dave has always been the one to play it and I simply couldn't remember either the name of the song or the name of the artist.  I couldn't help but think that if I were Kathy, I would have had several playlists of their (or at least MY) favorite music. I am not Kathy.

We stayed with Bobbi the first night.  Because Bob can get frantically food stressed, we spent that night making Calzones, packing granola bars (that she made), fruit, chocolate, and veggies for our lunch the next day on the road to Port McNeill.  Her forethought and care for us made our trip divine.... I WILL make those calzones again one day.  oooooooo weeeeeeeee, they were oh. so. GOOD.

We got to Port McNeill with a pretty great, uneventful trip.  A lot of laughs from the kids.  We were all anticipating a lovely trip.  Seeing your brother with his newborn baby is amazing.  I am awe-struck, both by her beauty and his.  His gaze upon her melted my heart and made me see a side of him I never expected. I loved every second watching him, watch her.

8AM our first morning there, my brother and his wife took us crabbing.  With my newly bought fishing license, and their newborn in tow, on a wet rainy morning we braved the elements and set out to catch some crabs.  The sky was gray, the temperature a little chilly, but the excitement and newness of hunting for crab took over my being.  We got there a little late, and the kids were not thrilled to hike through the tide pools and mud flats through sea-weed and kelp, but  we hiked to the edge of the exposed shore where the water lapped our boots and threatened to breech the sides of our boots.  We searched and searched, occasionally finding a female and males under 6 inches, but none that we could feel good about taking.  At last I was walking towards our party almost ready to give up (which is NOT in my nature) and I found a male belly up on the top of the seaweed.  Thrilled, we used a stick and plopped it into a bag.  I am convinced that perhaps my brother and his friend Chris dropped it for me to find (probably knowing they would have a hard time getting me off the beach if I didn't find one)...

I cooked that crab, cleaned it, cut it and shared it for lunch.  Oh baby. Fresh Crab. No. Butter. Needed.
My brother's friend Chris then brought over several of his catch that night.  He caught 20 in all.  We feasted. 

The next day, we visited the Salmon Hatchery in Port Hardy and the Whale Interpretive Centre in Telegraph Cove .  Both of these places were amazing.  The kids and I ate up all the information they gave us.  Especially the whale centre.... there was one guide there who was just amazing with the kids. They loved Anna.

It was all pretty great. Until at the whale centre Wesley closed some gate, probably not even realizing there was a tiny little yappy dog behind it.  He scared the dog, and well whether he meant to or not, the owner's response was a little over the top... he yelled at Wes and then turned to me and said, "Is that your boy?!  Lucky for you my little dog isn't a killer", to which I replied, "Lucky for you, I'm not".  It shook me for the rest of the day.  Did I really say that?  What did Wes really do?  Was this man actually being reasonable? Was I?  I don't know.  But Bobbi turned to me and said that she chuckled a little at me.... and perhaps even if Wes was being mean to his dog there was probably a better way for this man to go about getting the result that he wanted.

We left this morning.  It was a LONG drive back.  The kids were argumentative, restless and NOT the best travel companions.  We made it to Vancouver by dinner time, so before dropping Bobbi off we headed to a restaurant, where Wesley promptly locked himself in the bathroom.  Yes.  He was freaking out, and hearing him freak out my eyes started to leak... I calmly tried to get him to unlock the deadbolt, as I searched for other ways to get him out.  The hinges were on his side of the door.  The doorknob had neither a keyhole or the kind of hole that we all learned to jimmy when we were in elementary school.  The doorknob also did not have screws in it to remove from the door....

He's still in a panic.  I'm about to lose it as the server comes over to "help" and see what the commotion is all about.... she's talking in sentences that ARE REALLY NOT HELPFUL.
She says, "It's a deadbolt"
and I'm all, "yep, got it"
"it's really sticky"
"yah think?"
"it's up pretty high"
"super helpful lady thanks, WHAT ARE YOU ACTUALLY GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?!!"

I see the frosted window in the top of the door and BLURT OUTLOUD, "I'M ABOUT TO BREAK THE GLASS IN ABOUT TWO MINUTES"

and then I calm down a little, ask Wesley with tears welling up in my eyes (and no doubt streaming down his face) to "please, use ALL HIS MIGHT, and pull that deadbolt across"

He does.  He did.  He's out.


We ate. Dropped Bobbi off at home and drove ourselves home. (Never-mind that I needed gas and waited until the last Abbotsford exit when my tank was on the emptiest of EMPTY, got to the pumps and the power at ALL the gas stations had gone out....)  We're home. That's all that matters. Home.

A cake made with butter that's been used for sucking up to men for centuries: Boterkoek

Apologize today.  You won't regret it.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup butter 
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
• 1 egg, beaten (reserve 1 tsp)
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• sliced almonds, for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. In medium bowl, mix together butter, sugar and almond extract.
2. Add beaten egg except for 1 teaspoon.
3. Sift flour and baking powder, and add to bowl, mixing with wet ingredients.
4. Put dough in greased 9 inch pie plate.
5. Mix the reserved 1 tsp of beaten egg with 1 tsp of water, and brush over dough.
6. Sprinkle with sliced almonds, if desired, it looks pretty.
7. Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes or until done (firm to the touch). This is a dense cake, but should be soft on the inside and hard on the outside, but not too hard!

cleaning out my nostrils... not so hard... they've got good instincts

I finally finished sanding the oldest dresser in the history of time.  I almost gave up.  I started about a month after we moved into the new house... which was... wait what is the date today? TOMORROW. We moved in a year tomorrow. Crazy.  I started it, got 3/4 of the way through or more and then abandoned it in the car port with the rest of the JUNK out there that we weren't sure what to do with once we moved.  This is me. Saving money. Without a dresser for a year. ENRAGED that I have no place to put the stretched out clothes I wore while 4X pregnant with the little critters that inhabit my home.

It's old. It's solid wood and it's big.  It was free from Dave's sister in the first place.  Worth trying to salvage right?  It was green (no offense Paulina, it was a nice colour, just chipped, thick and time to come off).  Unfortunately, there are no before and after pictures; none that I am going to go digging for anyway.)

All I can tell you is that my nostrils are going insane.  One of them is half bleeding.... and they are just overall IRRITATED with me.  WITH ME!  The nerve.  How did I work on this project for a couple months last summer?  I spent 1 hour working on it today (that's all it took to get it done folks... yeesh when will I learn to complete things?!), and my body is physically hating me right now. Revolting in so so many ways.   Why do I choose to do things like this? Who am I? Seriously.

Now that the piece of crap is sanded. Now what? Paint it? Stain it?  Give up now completely?  I don't know. I kind of hate the thing right now. 

 

So give me your votes.  What? What do I DO now?!
Run to the nearest IKEA and buy the first thing I see?

I am in HUGE lawnmower trouble.

I wanted to help Dave (ok... myself, I wanted to help myself to Dave...) The guy gets home from work and... mows the lawn.... first thing. I hate it.  I want his time. I don't want his time on a lawn mower.  Today the weather was, well... not raining.  I wanted to be outside.  I saw the long grass in the back and thought, "Perfect, I can do this for him and forget all about the jobs that need to be done inside the house.... I want to be outside!"


Two rounds.  Not even two rounds on that ride'em lawn mower and it was smoking.  Good grief, I should have paid attention when it shut off automatically the few times that it did on the first round.... but no... I  pushed it, and all of a sudden, all I saw was SMOKE billowing out from under the tractor. Oh shit. What the Vegt have I done?  Dave is going to be sooooo choked at me. so choked.  I decided to leave the mower right where it was.  Nope. Not. Going. To. Touch. It. Again. So, I called him.... turns out, he's on his way home RIGHT NOW.  I don't have to agonize over my punishment or penance, whatever.... I'm going to find out RIGHT NOW just how bad it is.

 Oh shit. This is not good.

 Boterkoek (Dutch for Buttercake) my peace offering.

 He takes it.

And is sooooooooo annoyed with me. He thinks he'll have to take it away to get fixed.  Turns out I had the blades on FAR TOO LOW, for one, second, the "grass" I was trying to mow is like 7 inches tall... woopsies.  Third, I probably ran over something that I shouldn't have.

Lawn-mowing FAIL.  He'll never ask me to do it again. Oh. Wait. He didn't? Nevermind.

Organic Produce?

Totally stealing this from here. I thought it was so good I had to share.... makes it simple.  Keeps me from wasting my money...
When should I buy organic?
These foods are referred to as "the dirty dozen" - they're the fruits and vegetables most likely to have residue from pesticides, and they're ranked in order from most to least toxic. This is where buying organic has the most benefit.

• Peaches
• Apples
• Bell pepper
• Celery
• Nectarines
• Strawberries
• Cherries
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Grapes
• Carrot
• Pears

When is it okay to save money and buy conventional produce?
These fifteen foods are the cleanest in the produce aisle - they're the ones least likely to have harmful pesticide residues on them when you buy them. Get them organic and/or local when you can, but here's where you can feel okay with saving money by going with conventionally-grown produce.

• Onion
• Avocado
• Sweet corn
• Pineapple
• Mango
• Asparagus
• Sweet peas
• Kiwi
• Cabbage
• Eggplant
• Papaya
• Watermelon
• Broccoli
• Tomato
• Sweet potato

This is just a guideline to get you started. It may not always be convenient for you to buy or get access to organic produce, but do your best. Otherwise, take the initiative and explore the local produce options in your area. Choosing local sometimes outweighs the cost of shipping organic food from across the world. Local farms and farmers' markets are booming with abundant produce in various communities. Find out which ones are closest to you and get to know your food. Ask as many questions as you need to get the answers you want!

Common Sense, but it's not Common.

We're trying to make a difference.


Since Christmas I bought a clothes drying rack on sale at MTF, the local clearance and damaged goods outlet.  I paid 15.99 for it.... half the regular price.  Great I thought, this should make a difference.  I should be able to set an example for my kids... and actually DO something; show them how to make a difference rather than just talk about how we need to reduce our consumption.  I have used the clothes drying rack almost exclusively since then, putting a load in my dryer ONLY when something is needed right away.  I can count on one hand how many times I have used my electric dryer since Christmas.

Why? Why would you do that Kristi? You must have a crazy amount of laundry to do with 4 kids & a husband who works a labor job.  Yes. Yes I do. But when we talk about reducing consumption of power and a host of other things I don't want to be one to just talk about it.  We grew up talking about it, the importance of it, the benefits of it, and yet, I can't recall anyone, not my parents, not my teachers, not anyone who actually translated it into actual living.  We say the world is headed to horrible places because of our lack of restraint, because of our consumption... but who's actually making a practice of doing something about it.  I'd like my kids to see it.... if their futures are to be compromised, I'd like them to at least KNOW how to do things differently.  I'd like them to know how to raise an animal, collect an egg, grow a garden, dry a shirt. Seems like common sense, but I don't need to tell you.... It is not common.

Sure, some of us have switched all our light bulbs.... with the promise that it will make an impact both in the world and in our pocketbooks.  Here's the thing though.  Your household dryer uses MORE energy than all the rest of your household appliances put together.... so you'd think this would be the one appliance that would actually make the biggest difference if we used it less.  I decided to find out.

I'm sure I'm probably saving the world, but I haven't noticed much of a change in my Hydro Bill.

Turns out, Hydro has a threshold quota of power use.... we get charged a certain HIGH amount for the first portion of that threshold, no matter how small.  If we use MORE than than that initial threshold of power, we aren't charged much more at all for it.
BC Hydro's Advice on Drying Clothes
Really? 45$ a year? come on! Surely we are saving more energy than that?! Look at the 'quick facts' section of that link.  The money savings does not keep in step with the CO2 Reduction.... it should. In fact, go down the list of all their energy saving tips.  None. Not a single one of their CO2 reducing tips translates to compensate you in a fair amount in savings. Incentive indeed.
Is this backwards? I mean, schools have been teaching for years and years to use less power, to reduce our consumption, and yet the incentive is taken away.  Don't they have this messed up?  Shouldn't we be charged  small amounts for that first bracket of power use? If we go over THEN we should be charged a higher amount to coincide with the amount of power we use?    It doesn't make sense to me. 

I'll continue to dry my clothes on that rack.  I still want to do things differently. I want my kids to see me take some action that steps in line with the things they learn at school.  At least I'll  know I'm actually saving energy even if it doesn't make it back to my wallet.... heck... I'll even make the cost of that drying rack back again. That's good right?

On a Dark and Stormy Night

I just heard thunder. Oh boy! Do I need another reason to break this out? 
 
Dark and Stormy

Tall Glass full of ice.
1 1/2 OZ Goslings Black Seal Rum
Top up with Ginger Beer
Squeeze in and garnish with a wedge of lemon
Stir & Tuck In

 Thank You Anthony for this one.