Snow day

I am at my in-laws sitting in front of the fire blogging, and am SO happy to be exactly here. I am on the mainland for work...yesterday I took the 7am ferry over and worked all day, then stayed at M.'s last night. We had great sushi and tried to watch a movie but I kept falling asleep! I had a long sleep but woke up with a big headache and feeling a bit ooky and snuffly! It had snowed a lot overnight and was still coming down hard. Being that I am a) directionally challenged, b) a nervous Vancouver driver now (dang that Victoria driving experience!), and c) not a seasoned snow driver I decided it was best to call off the work I had scheduled for this afternoon in Vancouver. I managed to make it out to my in-laws though, so the trek to Van will be easier tomorrow. I used the 4-wheel drive on our pathfinder for the first time though, and it was GREAT! I also got to break in the new skookum (sp?) windshield wipers.

I'm very thankful to be not working today. Only just now is my headache starting to clear...I've had lots of water and tea and vitamin C and echinaccia etc...I really don't want to get sick!

I'm seriously annoyed that Facebook is down though!! I realize now how addicted I am!!!

So here's to a snow day :) And only 2 more days of work left till I have some time off!

On the move....

We're moving back to the mainland. March 1.

Just so you know :)

I'm travelling a lot to have enough work...and that's not working for us. And our family is on the mainland (and many many friends). So, we've made the decision to move back - I will have lots of work there (so much I"ll probably regret this decision later!!) and we'll be close to our family and friends.

Brrrrr!

Seriously - it is SO windy, and SO cold!!! Okay...for Victoria. I know, we're wimps on the west coast. But, I swear this is at least as windy and cold as it was in MA in the winter..if not more so!! Our office is really cold. So I have yoga pants and a sweatshirt on, one blanket over my legs, antoher over my shoulders, fleece slipper-socks on, and a cup of steaming tea. And I'm still cold!! I do kind of like it though b/c it feels Christmasy. And makes me want to bake.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Okay, well at our house, not so much "look" a lot like Christmas. We haven't gotten to putting up decorations yet, and probably won't since I leave for the mainland Friday or Saturday, and Daryl will be heading over on Tuesday and we won't be back till the new year. I've been feeling a little sad about no-decorations and the fact that we haven't done much Christmas preparation due to busy schedules, but today sort of remedied that.

But, it is feeling a little more like Christmas though because:

a) Today was a snow day. Church was cancelled, and there is lots of snow out.
b) It's really really cold!
c) I baked today. Not entirely successfully though. I made these really yummy spicy chocolate shortbread-type cookies. Most of them burned however. Sigh. I also have shortbread dough in the fridge ready to make.
d) We went to a Christmas dinner at D.'s Nana and Papa's place. It was super yummy and very festive.
e) We wrapped all the presents we've bought.

So, now I have 5 days to get everything ready for before I go leave for work. I have quite a bit of out-of-the-house work this week, so it will be a busy week trying to get everything done. On my to-do list this week is:
- Finish my last case study.
- Finish my last set of case notes and internship hours verification.
(Note: Once these tasks are complete, I will officially be done ALL my coursework AND my internship!).
- Pick up some groceries so I can eat lots of veggies this week!!
- Make a hair appointment and go to it :)
- Make (if possible so last minute) an appointment to get new orthotics made and go to it :).
- Finish buying presents
- Wrap the remaining presents (they all have to go with me when I leave).
- Bake the shortbread.
- Make peppermint bark for small presents.
- Deep clean the house (all the deep bathroom cleaning, floor cleaning, etc) as we have guests staying with us after we get back (which we are SO excited about).
- Prepare all the things I need for work this coming weekend.
- Write cards and mail (I'm still debating whether I'll get to this or not).
- Do the paperwork and admin generated by my out-of-the-house work this week.
- Get to the gym. I only went once last week and am feeling a bit sluggish. And soon will be away for over a week and won't know how much I"ll get to work out.

I'm thankful I made a big pot of veggie chili last night and I have butternut squash soup in the fridge, so I'll have those for quick-ish meals this week. I'll just pick up some salad stuff for lunches and should be all set.

Okay, now I'm a bit stressed out by that list. I think I can get at least 5 or 6 things done tomorrow when I get home from work.

But soon it will be Christmas Holidays! This will be the first time in at least a few years that we've been off work, together for this long. It will be more than 10 days I think!!! I'll probably do some work while off and may have a meeting or two while on the mainland but it's mostly a real break!!

Detox never tasted SO good!

I just made these two recipes. They were in the most recent issue of Food and Wine. This was the first time I'd bought this magazine, and it's a great magazine.

Here is the Kale and Avacado Salad recipe. This is super filling. I think I could half the amount of avacado and still feel satisfied :). This was my brunch today. So yummy.

Here is the Lemony Quinoa Salad recipe. This is SO yummy and refreshing. Quinoa is the super grain. The serving size is a bit small on this one. So, it may be best either doubled, or plan to have it with a green salad or something. I doubled the recipe and will eat it as a snack later on.

What I love about both of these recipes is that they are fresh with no processed foods, and they are both vegan/fast friendly so are perfect for this time of year. I'm about to go enter them into sparkpeople to see what the nutritional information for vitamins and minerals is for them...I'm sure it will be great.

Can you tell I have two case studies to finish and a pile of work to do? Why else would I blog twice in one day :)

Butternut Squash Soup

I made this roughly based off of a recipe in Cooking Light. In their recipe you were supposed to roast the squash first with the Garam Masala and oil etc...I just did it all in a pot, and it turned out SOOOOO good. I forgot how good butternut squash soup is!!

Saute about 3/4 of a chopped onion, 2 TBSP olive oil about 3 medium squashes (chopped), about 1-2 TBSP of Garam Masala and a couple of pinches of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper for about 5 minutes.

Add 2 chopped apples and about 2 TBSP maple syrup (you can add the syrup earlier...I can't remember exactly what point I added it in at). Saute for another few minutes.

Add about 5 cups of vegetable broth (or till everything is covered with broth).

Simmer all that until the squash is soft, then blend with a hand blender or blender/food processor in batches (I just use my braun hand blender). Taste and season with more salt/pepper/maple syrup etc if needed.

That's about it. So good!! Sorry, didn't get a picture :(