The Plan.

So, to make a long story shorter - I started my degree in January of 2007. Normally, people start the degree in September. Typically, it is structured so that you take 2 courses (6 credits) per semester. So, I was 2 courses behind the cohort who started in September 2006. The school wonderfully allowed me to start a semester late (rather than waiting till the following Sept.), and the plan was for me to catch up to the cohort if I could by taking an extra course during 2 of the semesters.

Of course, thus far, I haven't done this. It didn't sound like it would be a problem. But, I've just discovered that due to the way courses are offered, my option is either to a) catch up to my start group by taking extra courses, and actually be done a semester earlier than I'd planned, or b) essentially take an extra year to finish my degree.

So, after some deliberation, I've decided to go with option A and catch up. This is exciting, as it means I'll be done all course work and internship by the end of this year (Dec 2008), but a bit anxiety-proking as it means taking and paying for 21 credits over the next two semesters. So, the plan is, so far:
Internsip and one course during the summer.
Internship, thesis and another course in the fall semester.

Then, if I manage it I will take the spring semester next year to finish off my thesis in time to do my oral defense in May 2009. Just over 1 year from now. Wow.

So, it will be a lot of work, but I think I can put the push in for two semesters to get myself caught up and finished most everything a semester earlier than planned, and a year earlier than I would be able to if I don't take these two heavy load semesters.

So there it is. I'm excited to be at least planning my last two semesters. That being said, I should probably try to get SOMEwhere with my coursework for this semester before it ends in a few weeks. lol.

My cat plays hide-and-seek.

Yes. My cat plays hide and seek and it is the most hilarious thing I've ever seen. D. Started it with her. He would hide behind a wall or around the corner, then jump out when she got close to him. Now, she does the same thing. She was just running around upstairs like a maniac, so I went up to see what all the fuss was and turns out she was just super hyper. So I decided to play a game of hide and seek (really more like peek-a-boo). It's hysterical! Now that I'm trying, I don't think I can quite explain it...ah well. Funny.

Comfort food involving Kale?

Brunch today:

Home made Polenta topped with:

About 1 1/2 cups Kale,
About 1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 clove garlic
About 1 tbsp minced red onion
salt
pepper
about 1 tbsp tomato paste mixed with some water
All sauteed together until the Kale is wilted, and veggies are soft.

I put this on top of home made polenta (yes, my obsession continues).
And sprinkled some hot sauce on top.

mmmmm......

This was the first time I've used Kale. It was really good. I love the color of Kale -it's such a nice rich dark green color. Looks nice with the polenta and mushrooms :-).

Tastes good too.

I know...this is a bit weird to be eating at 10am. Ah well.

My husband.

I love how well my husband takes care of me and puts up with my baby-ness when I'm not feeling well. I'm lucky :-).

Spring in Victoria

This is a beautiful tree in our back yard. One of my favorite things about Victoria is the beautiful blossoms blooming in spring.

I'm hoping to soon post the progression of my little garden plot. Our landlords have very nicely given us permission to use a rather large raised bed. Right now it's still full of rocks, so hopefully today I'll get out there to rake out the rocks and lay down the topsoil. I know very little about gardening, but will give it a shot! I've been reading about needing to test the soil PH and possible put down lime?? I may need to visit a garden centre to find out about this.

Carrot soup and another good recipe site.

My new favorite recipe website is FatFreeVegan.com . I've been using recipes from this site for a while, but am finding it especially useful now that lent has begun, and I'm still trying to eat healthfully. It's so easy during lent to end up eating nothing but carbohydrates (bread, bread, more bread), but I think with this websites help, along with my "Everyday Vegan" cookbook and the Moosewood cookbook, I should be able to manage to eat properly.

Last night I made this AMAZING carrot soup. It is mostly a recipe I got from AllRecipes.com, but I merged it a bit with one from FatFree Vegan.com. I had SO many carrots and potatoes and onions from my most recent Spud orders, and thought soup would be a good use for them :-). What I came out with was the following:

Carrot Soup

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 large onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
6 large carrots, sliced
8 new potatoes, quartered
3 cups vegetable broth
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1-1/2 teaspoons curry powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 Can Coconut milk
2/3 Cup water.

Directions:

Heat oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook stirring often until onion is translucent. Add carrots and potatoes, and cook for just a few minutes to allow the carrots to sweat out some of their juices.

Pour the vegetable broth into the pot, and season with ginger, curry powder, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until carrots are tender.

Puree soup in small batches using a food processor or blender, or if you have an immersion blender, it can be done in the soup pot.

Add one can of coconut milk and 2/3 cup water. You can reduce the coconut milk and replace with water, or eliminate it completely to reduce the fat/calories, but it's sooooo good with the coconut milk :-).

Reheat soup if necessary, and serve. Makes 12 cups, 1 cup per serving.

Nutritional Information per 1 cup: 245.6 Calories, 8.0 grams fat, 0 cholesterol, 944.2mg sodium, 40.6g carbs, 6.0 g dietary fibre, 5.0g protein, lots of required daily vitamins and minerals.

It is a super tasty soup. I also made this mock-pumpkin-maple cream cheese thing there was a recipe for on FFV, which is pretty tasty, as well as a beet-carrot cake. Unfortunately I think I put the cake in the wrong kind of pan and it didn't cook through. Also, I think my whole wheat flour may be too old or something.

Rejuvinated

D. has been working on the mainland for the last week. I had to work on the mainland Friday, then had a meeting in Van. on Friday evening, and had to work in the morning on Sat on the mainland.

Friday was a VERY long day, as I took the 7am ferry over (which means leaving home at 5:45am), worked all day till about 3pm then drove straight out to Van for a somewhat..hmm necessary but perturbing work meeting with good potential (i know...confusing). I went out for dinner with a number of colleagues after the meeting, and that was definitely rejuvenating. Being on the island it is easy to feel isolated, and I don't get many chances to connect with colleagues. It was a great dinner out.

The best part about the day was that it ended with seeing my husband! Since he had the hotel all weekend for work, we stayed at the hotel and had a COMPLETE mini-retreat. It was excellent. We literally spent the whole time (that I wasn't working) relaxing, ordered in a Massive sushi feast, which was excellent, as sushi is twice as expensive here in Vic so we rarely have the sushi feasts we used to when living on the mainland. We slept so much, had so much good, relaxing time together and even ordered room service for breakfast!! I don't think we realized how badly we needed some good quality time together until we had it. It really did feel like we were much further away than we were, and really managed (amazingly) to forget about the rest of the world for a couple of days. Now, sadly, I'm home without him - he's on the mainland for another week. But that makes me all the more thankful for a wonderful weekend with him. I love my husband :-). (At risk of an Internet version of PDA).

The Big Give

I just finished watching (I think) the first episode of "Oprah's Big Give." Okay, let me preface this with a few things.

1) Yes, I know, Oprah is making LOADS of money off of this show.
2) I know, it is mostly a brilliant marketing plan for a TV show - it combines both the "reality" TV thing, with the extreme home makover, emotional, make-you-cry-every-time "reveal" angle.
3) I AM one of "those" people who cries at the end of almost every episode of extreme home makeover,

All that said, I think, if you're going to make loads of money off of a reality show, this is the most "ethical" way to do it. Lol.
I love that in every episode, at least 3-5 people/families/groups in need will be helped. I like that it shows what can be done with detemination. That it spotlights people and causes and issues that are important. I am a sucker for this type of thing....that said, this one episode did cause me to think about what can be done. To think about all those things I want to see happen, and think about the reality of what is needed to make them happen. There are goals and dreams I have about ways I want to "give back." Strong convictions I have about certain issues...and I will keep watching. Mostly because this show, at the very least gives an insight into the strategy, management and sales skills necesary to make those types of dreams a reality.

ANYhoo....as I mentioned above, I KNOW that this show is primarily a business enterprise. It is being produced to make money. Oprah's "persona" is being used as a marketing tool to bring in more viewers, and to make even more money. But, being that there are LOADS of reality/big reveal shows out there preying on our guilt of consumption...I think that this one may be one of the more beneficial ones to watch :-).