The Omlette

So, I stayed at M.s on Friday night. In the morning (after a great wine-tasting evening the night before), her husband, J. made me an Omlette. Now, truth be told, I'm not a big omlette person - the brown cooked eggs taste freaks me out. He offered though, and I thought considering the long day ahead of me I should take the sustinance.

This was the. best. omlette. ever. Not just taste, but soooo fluffy - and NO crusty brownness! No icky burnt egg taste!! And amazing, amazing flavours. I tried to replicate it today and was successful in terms of the flavours, but not so much in terms of the fluffiness. So, here's how I did it:

Mix up 2 eggs, 4 egg whites (yes, it's a big omlette), salt, pepper, one clove of crushed garlic, about a 1/2 cup of chopped fresh cilantro and about a 1/2 cup of chopped fresh basil (Yes, they must be fresh).

Put that into an omlette pan, cover and let it cook for a while on LOW heat.

While that's cooking, saute up 2 mushrooms and a handful of spinach.

When the eggs are mostly cooked, but a bit loose on top still, sprinkle on about a 1/4 cup of part skim mozzarella cheese, cover and let it cook a bit longer. Then, put the mushrooms and spinach onto one half of the omlette, let it cook a minute or so longer (still on low heat).

Then, slide the omlette out and fold over one side.

Then eat. Lovely Thai inspired yummy, filling, healthy (besides the two egg yolks) meal that will hold you over for pretty much the whole day. Or you could split it with someone and have it be a normal size breakfast :-). I think the key is the combination of fresh basil, fresh cilantro and a clove of garlic :-).

Things...

I like about being home:
- Living with my husband (eating, sleeping, cleaning, anything).
- Being able to go to my gym.
- Having my "morning time" to watch the news, check email and have breakfast.
- Planning meals and grocery shopping

I am stressed about:
- My test today
- My case studies I've yet to make much progress on
- Tuition due dates looming
- My thesis proposal meeting on Nov. 10. This is my number 1 stress.
- The truck needing a tune up and brake inspection and likely new brakes and tires.

I am looking forward to:
- Catching up on work and school.
- Dinner with my husband
- Cooking something fun on the weekend
- DECLUTTERING on the weekend!!!

Goals for this week.

1. Do not let this cold take hold. Fight it with all I have!
2. Get to the gym at least once or twice.
3. Try to make some headway in the school and work stuff I'm behind in before going to the mainland on Thursday.
4. Eat lots of veggies and fruit (to help with #1).

In the next couple of weeks there are lots of bigger projects to be completed:
- Finish the slides for my thesis proposal presentation (Nov. 10)
- Finish at least 1 of my 2 case studies
- Finish creation of my portions of the workshop I am co-teaching in November
- Complete a research proposal paper for the actual course I'm taking (due Nov. 8)

And that's just school and the rest of life-related stuff! Doesn't even include school!

However, I just realized I'm at 560 hours for my internship for school, which means only about 200 hours to go. After that, only a couple hundred more for my Board Certification (as I have a bunch of hours from before my "official" internship). I can't wait to be finished my official internship, as the documentation for it is very time-consuming (and surprisingly significantly more intensive than what is required for board certification...).

Waiting for December...

Goodbye Summer

I made this salad, and the next day the pouring rain started. I think this salad was my goodbye to summer :-).

I made it as I found some beautiful local heirloom tomatoes at a local market, and I had lots of basil growing still to use before the weather got too cold and killed it. Normally, in this type of tomato salad, you use mozarella. But I came across Halloumi cheese at the store, had a vague recollection of having tried it before and loved it, and thought it would be perfect in this salad. It was SO good. I cut up tomatoes and basil, grilled the Haloumi cheese, cut it up and put it into the salad and added a little balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic and salt and pepper. The Halloumi cheese looks like this before it's grilled:

They're Married!

My little brother married a wonderful woman on September 3rd. I've just been waiting to get my hands on a good picture to blog about it! I'm so happy for them, and so happy to have a new sister-in-law who's so much fun :-) He's all grown up!

Studious Cat

Seriously - could she be any cuter? This is what happens when I try to study in the livingroom. She is laying on top of all my study materials...and a minute or so after I took this, while I was typing, she put her head down on my computer and snuggled up to it.

Maybe if I send this to my prof, he'll agree there was simply no way I could study and will erase whatever mark I get on todays test?

Home Comforts

Ginger peach green tea with Matcha.
Curled up on my own couch in my own comfy yoga pants studying.
My cat crawling all over my studying and rubbing her head on my computer.
Unpacking all my toiletries!
Grocery shopping (still to come).
Cleaning.
Cooking.

I'm happy to be home for a solid couple of weeks. Right now I'm trying not to stress out about how behind I am in everything, and focus on studying for the test I have to write later today. The rest of the catching up will have to come later.

But right now, I'm happy to be studying on my couch, drinking tea, in my cat's company, and looking forward to dinner at home with my husband :-)

Incidentally...the title of this blog post is also the title of a great book: Home Comforts.

Just a few...

Just a few minutes to update my blog. I've been totally absent from it. But, I've been absent in general as I've been away from home so much lately for work. This weekend will be the last for a bit- when I get home on Monday, I'll be home for nearly 2 weeks straight, aside from day trips during the week to work on the mainland.

I had great plans to accomplish much today, as I have the day off, and am at a friends' house, who is giving me the use of her BEAUTIFUL office for the day (I worked yesterday on over here on the mainland and have a meeting tomorrow). I needed to go to Ikea to look for something for a client though. M. came with me, and though I didn't find what I needed for the client, I did find a whole new duvet cover/sheet set for our bed! I'm so excited to set it up. The sheets and duvet cover we have now is almost 5 years old, very very faded and sad. I also got the standard napkins and bits and pieces I usually get while at Ikea, a bedside lamp to match the one we already have, and a bin to store my assessment materials in (currently they are in a massive mess in giant Ikea bags in the truck). Of course, M. and I also had the uber cheap Ikea lunch before we shopped, as well as the cinammon bun before leaving :-).

Now I'm very tired, and it's 4pm!! But, I am going to sit down and try to get some of my ridiculous amount of back log taken care of, so that hopefully when I get home Monday night, I can just hang out with my husband...who I miss!

sad

This is belated news (I found out a week or so ago, but can't let go of it!).

Simi Sara and Dave Gerry have been fired from breakfast television. Simi is gone from city cooks too.

I know this is a bit sad, but they've become a staple in my morning routine. It's all wrong without them.

I've always been a loyal morning news person - it fits well as I am one of those people who needs to have time to have breakfast, check email, watch the news and take my time getting ready for the day. BTV has been my morning news show of choice for the last few years. Sad. they were SO good.

Gems

A few gems from my course readings this week:

"...we have grossly overemphasized the importance of simple possession. Neither happiness nor the survival of the group depends on the satisfaction derived from having things."
- B.F. Skinner from "The ethics of helping people."

"Solidarity is a willingness to make respectful common cause with the vulnerable, but for Farmer [another author], pragmatic solidarity goes beyond this by contributing through the active exercise of one's power and privileged status as scientist, scholar and/or practitioner toward ensuring that the rights of the vulnerable are honored, actively focusing one's work on relief of suffering in ways that are consonant with the vision of the vulnerable themselves."
- Mattaini, M.A. Editorial: Human Rights, Pragmatic Solidarity, and Behavior Science (2006). Behavior and Social Issues, 15, 1-4.

and

"Intellectual recognition is only a necessary first step toward pragmatic solidarity, that is, toward taking a stand by the side of those who suffer most from an increasingly hard 'new world order'"
- Paul Farmer, Quoted in Mattaini, 2006 (cited above).

The course I'm taking this semester is called Social Bases of Behavior and delves much more into the theoretical, philosophical and ethical realms of behavior analysis. Loving it!

The last summer weekend

Well I am home for two days now until we go to the mainlnad for my little brother's wedding on Thursday.

I was working in Courtenay last week, and we had a wedding to go to on Denman island on Sunday. So, D. took the train down from Victoria on Saturday and we spent the weekend in Courtenay/Denman.

It was a very long, exhausting work-week, as I started on the mainland on Monday, travelled to Courtenay Monday night, then worked looong days Tuesday to Friday. Friday night tbough, I went for dinner with my supervisor at a really neat restaurant called Locals.This restaurant serves only local products - everything from the veggies, to the wine, to the meat is grown and produced in the Comox Valley and th island. The food was scrumptious, and it was a wonderful dinner. I then had a wonderful, quiet sleep in morning on Saturday, had time to sort myself out, organize the truck and clean my dear friends house I had been staying in before leaving. I picked D. up at the train at about 1pm.

At Locals I had a glass of Ortega from a winery called Beaufort Winery. It was so wonderful, I googled them when I got home. It turned out the winery was in Courtenay, and this weekend was the last weekend they were open for tasting. So D. and I decieded to stop in there to do a tasting. It's a wonderful little winery. They have a nice picnic area, and provide cheeses and other snacks that pair wel l with their wines. You can then buy a bottle of wine and snacks and have a picnic there. The cheeses are natural pastures cheeses, which is in the comox valley as well. We tasted some other wines and bought a few bottles. In general, in the comox valley there seems to be such a community focus - and a much greater focus on buying local than elsewhere.

Saturday and Sunday night we stayed here. The Old House Village was a beautiful place to stay, and was such a treat. We did a "stay and dine" package the first night and had dinner at Tomato Tomato. The food was great as well.

The wedding on denman island was beautiful on Sunday, and we had one more relaxing night at the hotel before driving home yesterday.

Overall, it was a wonderful way to find a mini-break in the midst of such a crazy month. Despite the fact that it was only 2 nights, it felt like a real break. I HIGHLY recommend the comox valley for holidays, and the Old House as a place to stay!

New Hair!!

I called to make a hair appointment today, and found out that my old stylist, who has given me the absolute BEST cuts I've ever had, who knows my hair and what I want, and who moved to London right before my conference (panic!!) is back in town!! So, I was able to get my hair cut by her today, and I am so glad she's back!! Here's the new do:

So close!

I just registered for my last 12 credits of my Master's degree. August 25 will be the beginning of my last semester!!

Which sounds a bit more exciting than it is, as I'll still need to be finishing off my thesis after that semester, and sit for the board exams. But, it's very close. 

Ongoing

Last 5 days: Camping! We camped at China Beach which is beautiful, but cold. We set up in the rain and dark at 9:30pm on Thursday night, then promptly went back to Sooke to get another blanket Friday :-). The trip was great - lots of walking, LOTS of good food, and we had some friends come and visit us on our last night there which was great! I'm so happy they made the trek out from Victoria with their little baby girl! I got a) baby time, b) friends and c)camping all in one night :-).

Yesterday: Arriving home, unpacking and airing everything out, then cleaning and putting it all away again. Yummy BBQ'd salmon and roasted potatoes. Our traditional last night of camping meal is salmon and potatoes cooked in the fire in foil packets, but since we came back a night early we hadn't had it yet. So, we put them into their foil packets and onto the BBQ. So good!

Today: Brunch with my BIL and nephew - turns out they were on the island this weekend and came for brunch. It was a lovely lazy morning/afternoon lounging on the patio having coffee and visiting.

Tomorrow: Catch-up on everything day. Thesis proposal, work, research, studying for exams...all of the above.

Then: Onwards to the rest of crazy August. On the mainland for work Friday, wedding on Saturday, then out of town for work for 4-5 days, then back to the mainland, home for a week, then back to the mainland, then out for work for a week again, then a wedding, then another wedding!! Crazy! I am very happy to have found one week of weekdays that is distinctly un-booked thus far. Very thankful for that.

Pictures of the camping extravaganza to come :-)

AND I am getting very excited about my brother's wedding coming up soon!! So good!

Holy Humous

There is a brand of humus made in Victoria called "holy humous." It is hands down the best humus I've ever had, except possibly for the humus at Andrea's restaurant in Langley.

Humous is so easy to make at home that I normally scoff at buying it, but I have never gotten my humous to taste quite this good. Anyhoo. Today I made a wrap for lunch with the humus, spinach, tomatoes, and a bbq'd veggie dog (which I have also become a big fan of). Super yummy lunch.

And I think that's all for today. Except that I am possibly in danger of becoming a nerdy aerobics fanatic. I just love the classes. Maybe I'll get a body suit, head band, and start feathering my hair . What do you think, pink leotard? lol! Anyways...after a couple of weeks now I'm starting to get the moves mostly down, and my body is moving more easily so they are even more enjoyable. I've been to 2 classes this week in addition to 1 hour long work out at the gym itself. So good! I have not lost 1 pound, but am not too concerned about that, as I am feeling much better and can tell my body is getting stronger :-).

I heart summer

I made pasta with fresh basil, oregano and parsley from my patio tonight. Fresh bread from Cobbs and a glass of wine and it was lovely. I love fresh herbs and veggies in the summer.

We have lots of tomatoes, 2 peppers and a couple of squash growing in our little garden! Can't wait for them to be ready to eat. Our summer squash plants have SO many blossoms on them - seems they will be producing a lot!

Organization

Well well. This afternoon, we got quite a bit accomplished. D. and I sorted through piles and piles of bills and documents and filed them all. Every last one. The filing system isn't exactly pretty, but everything has it's place. We re-organized a chunk of the office - I used some baskets to store books in to make my desk more manageable. And, D. set up my old old laptop (seriously, like 7 years old) on my desk so I can use it for word-processing (thesis/work) with my flash drive. This is SO good, as I have been having a very hard time working in D.'s space, on his desk on my thesis, school and work stuff. The old laptop is painfully slow for internet, and if more than one application is running, but for just straight-forward word documents it's okay. This will help me SO much during this "blip" while my laptop is in the shop. I just keep telling myself that when it comes back it will be shiny and new, and have a new battery and other things.

I made an "interesting" dinner tonight. It turned out okay. We had prawns in the freezer, so I made a cliantro/oil/garlic/etc marinade/dipping sauce for them. Marinaded them, then grilled them on the bbq - so good! I also made a red cabbage salad of sorts, loosely based on a couple of recipes I found online. Just the cabbage with a dressing made with garlic, lime juice, coconut milk, salt and pepper and I can't remember what else. It was good though. I then attempted making a wacky curry-coconut rice dish. Had it occurred to me before starting that really what I was making was risotto, I'm sure it would have gone better! I just dumped rice, half water and half coconut milk and a scoop of curry paste into a pot and put it on to cook like normal rice. Of course, it dried out due to the coconut milk (needed more water if I did that) and burned. However, I was able to salvage it by adding lots more water, carefully stirring (so as to not disturb the burnt rice), and adding at the very end some (I know weird) maple syrup. What I came out with was a pretty yummy curry/coconut risotto of sorts. Anyhoo, it was a make-it-up-as-you-go meal, with all the expected side trips. In the end it was pretty good though :-).

My August

I am having anxiety about my August. I just emailed a friend with our schedules for August so she can plan when to visit and there really isn't much time. Here it is :
August 9 - wedding on the mainland.
August 10-14 - I am out of town for work
August 15-16 - we are likely both going to be out of town.
August 23-24 weekend - Probably going to be the bachelorette party weekend for my Brother's wedding.
August 25-29ish - Likely I will be out of town for work again.
August 31 - Another wedding to go to
September 5 - my brother's wedding!

How did it get so booked up? How is there already not one weekend in August we can go camping or something; and not one weekend we'll even be home I think!? Let alone taking a few days off. And there's only 2 weekends left in July and they are the only ones in July we'll have been home!

CRAZY. Maybe we'll have to try for a few days off in September after the wedding. Holy Moly.
I shouldn't whine - we scheduled all this stuff (okay, I scheduled all this stuff) and It's all good stuff, so....I just know the summer will be over, and we will have done no kind of holiday or even weekend activity the whole time. That makes me sad. The last time we had a full week off was our honeymoon I think.

But, everyone goes through these crazy times. There will be an end, I'm sure :-)

Back at it

I just joined up a gym for the first time. It's an all women's gym, which is nice, and it works out cheaper than going to drop in at the rec centre. This membership includes gym stuff of course, but also a full fitness/nutritional assessment, and I can go to any of the 20 different classes, including some yoga, aerobics and step, weight training, and spinning. I'm most excited about the inclusion of the classes, as at the rec centre these always costed extra. And I really like going to classes.

So, yay! Hopefully I can make full use of it :-).

Gardening

This was our garden before...well this is actually after D. weeded it. Unfortunately, we let it sit long enough that the weeds grew back and we had to weed it again! But, now, we have a garden:
We planted tomatoes, red, yellow and green peppers, cucumbers, yellow summer squash and spaghetti squash. We also got a good selection of herbs that are in a pot on the patio. Yay! We had a nice day going around to three different nurseries, and then for lunch at Fish on Fifth. Fish on Fifth is a great casual restaurant! They have a great menu, including.....wait for it....deep fried mars bars, cheesecake, ice cream, pickles, macaroni and cheese and many other things! We only tried the pickles (kind of like zucchini sticks), but I'm thinkin' we'll have to return for the mars bars and cheesecake ;-).
This is not my doing - this is one of my landlord's plants - there are several stalks like this and it practically glows! It's gorgeous!