according.to.kim

Highlights of the week

• watching and listening to Madeline play tunes on the keyboard from her MYC book. This past week, she especially enjoyed playing Ode to Spider Fingers (Ode to Joy). She also learned a little piece at her friend's Halloween party and another one from Bronwyn, and she's been practicing those the past couple of days. I love that Madeline is eager to learn piano!
• reading Little Women to Sophia and Madeline. We really enjoyed this book as well as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which we finished a couple of weeks ago. After finishing Little Women, we started the seventh Nancy Drew book.
• making some fake blood very quickly (from corn syrup, red food colouring, and cocoa powder) for Madeline to wear around her mouth for her vampire costume. I thought it looked quite realistic -- and gross! Madeline said it tasted good, but she only used it on Tuesday for her Sparks Halloween party because she didn't like how it felt on her skin.
• creating a layout about Georgia's wonderful smile, just for fun. Most of the scrapbooking I've done lately has been for BPS classes -- and I love that they really push me to get pages done and do things I might not do otherwise -- but it was extra fun to simply pull out some recent photos and play.
• attending the Saskatchewan Communications Expo on Thursday and Friday. I thought this conference was put together very well and I enjoyed excellent presentations from Joe Williams, Tod Maffin, and Terry O'Reilly, as well as several other media and communication professionals.
• learning that my eyes look very good inside and out, and my eyesight has not changed in the 3.5 years since they were last checked (I didn't realize it had been so long). I was told my vision is exceptionally good with my corrective lenses -- 20/15!
• finding two things I had misplaced. One was a magazine which isn't a big deal, but it was bugging me because I had thought of it several times over a few weeks. The other was my favourite silver necklace -- much more important! I knew I had taken it off at my dance class on Tuesday (I usually leave it home) but could not remember where I'd put it. I checked every nook and cranny of the bags I had taken to dance several times, but somehow I missed it. A few days later, I found it in my purse. Yay!
• making and eating toasted pumpkin seeds. Here's what I did this year and they turned out great: rinse pumpkin seeds; spread on a cookie sheet; place in oven for 10 minutes while it's warming up to 400 (to dry the seeds); then, drizzle with 1 tbsp. olive oil (for 1.25 cups of seeds), sprinkle with a generous amount of chili garlic sea salt and ground pepper; toss to coat; spread evenly on cookie sheet; bake for 10 minutes at 400; stir; bake 5 minutes at 400. Perfect (and a touch easier than boiling the seeds in salted water).
• hearing about the two Halloween parties Sophia attended Friday night and the one Madeline attended Saturday afternoon. Like Cheryl, I'm glad other parents are organized enough to plan these things for their children -- and then include my children in the fun!
• taking the kids to visit Grandma Louise for a bit on Saturday and then taking them trick or treating. I like going out with them. The girls were really good at shouting "trick or treat!" this year, and none of them were shy about going up to the door or holding out their bags (unlike previous years). Plus, the weather wasn't too bad this year. We were out from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.
• getting some pretty good pictures of the pumpkin carving, costumes, trick or treating, and so on. It's amazing how much taking photos increases my enjoyment of these things. This year, Sophia was a gypsy (thanks Mom for making that awesome dress for me 30 years ago!), Madeline was a vampire (same outfit as last year), and Georgia was a very cute monkey.
• snacking on some Halloween candy (especially chocolate bars). I don't usually eat a lot of candy, but I indulged quite a bit this weekend. And so did the girls. I'm always amazed at their capacity for continuous candy consumption! My philosophy is 'let's get this overwith as quickly as possible' and my girls are very happy to oblige.
• having Lou, Donna, Laurel, and Bronwyn here for supper on Sunday (after Lou, Neil, and I made about 75 lbs of deer sausage*). It was nice to get together, and it had seemed like a long time for me since I missed Thanksgiving dinner.

*This is a tremendously big job... grinding, mixing, cooking/tasting, casing, smoking, packing for the freezer, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning... Thank goodness for Lou's help; we certainly could not have done so much without him! I appreciate the end result, but I have to say I was very sick and tired of washing raw meat off things by the end of the day. Neil and Lou also made about 30 lbs of bison sausage today while I was at work. I'm so glad that's done!

Our jack-o-lantern

Neil took this photo and I thought it was pretty cool.

He and the girls selected this free pattern ("Sharpie" from SpookMaster) and carved our pumpkin this morning.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween! We did. (I'm glad it's over for another year!)

Highlights of the week

• enjoying my dance class after missing a week. I'm working on four dances. Four! That's almost too much for my brain. A four-couple ceili dance that I can't remember the name of right now, Ita's Reel (soft shoe), a treble reel (hard shoe), and now Blackbird (hard shoe). And I still work on my dances from last year, especially Slip Jig (soft shoe) and St. Patrick's Day (hard shoe) 'cause I definitely don't have them down.
• seeing the girls' school photos, although Madeline needs a retake. Sophia's are very nice.
• buying a nice winter jacket for Sophia with an HBC gift card I ordered from Airmiles. Love that!
• getting the whole front yard raked and the leaves picked up -- finally. It was really bugging me to have the leaves sitting there on the lawn, too wet to deal with for most of the month.
• working on the layout assignments for Ali Edwards' Yesterday & Today class. I can't believe I almost didn't take it. I think the layouts are brilliant, and it's been great to use some old photos and get more childhood memories documented. Fresh from doing Me: The Abridged Version, I felt like, "enough about me! I want to scrapbook about my kids now!" but I think these Yesterday & Today layouts are totally worthwhile. I will definitely have ME covered in my scrapbooks, and then I can focus on my girls, vacations, and Neil (I want to do something with his childhood photos, too).
• going to a fall supper at L&B's church. The food was really good (especially the homemade rhubarb pie I had for dessert!) and it was nice to have supper with Laurel and Bronwyn.
• seeing the girls enjoy decorating our house for Halloween last evening. They had so much fun. I put their Halloween artwork from past years up on our bulletin boards (taking down old artwork in the process), but they did everything else. We now have fake spider webs and spiders all over the place, which we've never done before. I had bought the web stuff last year for Sophia's costume.

An all-time favourite

Freshly scanned. 1975.

Highlights of the week, part 2

• receiving big heartfelt hugs from my kids Thursday morning. So nice! They had gone to Avonlea on Sunday, so I hadn't seen them for almost four days.
• attending my coworker's retirement lunch at Beer Brothers on Thursday. I'm happy for Susan, but sad to see her go! Work won't be the same without her.
• seeing the end of Madeline's stomach illness Thursday. (I can make a highlight out of almost anything!) In case you didn't see my status update, she threw up at the optometrist's office while getting her eyes checked in the afternoon. I wasn't there, but feel very sorry for everyone involved! She was quite ill for almost nine hours, but then her stomach settled at 12:30 a.m. and she slept the rest of the night. I'm so glad no one else came down with this bug!
• getting some fun photos of my girls at the Pats game on Friday night. Sophia sang O Canada with her school- mates before the game, and both Sophia and Madeline enjoyed sitting with friends and cheering on the Pats. Georgia totally loved being at the game, too. I don't think she was bored for even a minute!
• giving the girls Ugly Dolls that I bought in Las Vegas (at F.A.O. Schwarz in the Forum Shops). I gave Sophia Winkolina, Madeline Trunko, and Georgia Gato Deluxe, and they love love love them! I'm so glad. Only Sophia had heard of Ugly Dolls before b/c one of her friends has one. (I had seen them on the internet previously.)
• enjoying the beautiful weather on Saturday afternoon while I took the girls around our neighbourhood to sell Girl Guide Cookies. We sold 2.5 cases that day, and now have just two boxes left. :)
• going to Weyburn on Sunday to visit my Grandma Mantay and celebrate her 90th birthday. It was great to see her and I think she is doing very very well for 90! Grandma was expecting us because I had called her last week, but then we kind of surprised her with a little party. My mom brought a birthday cake about 30 minutes after we arrived, and two of my aunts from Weyburn, and my sister-in-law, nieces, and nephew from YG all came along a few minutes later. It was nice to see everyone! (Wish my brother could have been there too; he's still in Australia.)

October 12 of 12

 

Here are my photos from October 12, the day I traveled to Las Vegas. What a great coincidence for me! While I was en route, Neil and the girls were having Thanksgiving dinner in Avonlea (second row, second photo). I ate supper at a place called Beijing Noodle No. 9, inside Caesars Palace. The last one is a self-portrait in my room, just for fun. Otherwise, I think the photos speak for themselves!

Highlights of the week, part 1 (Vegas edition)

• going to Las Vegas for a couple days to attend a workshop. It was fun to go and see the spectacle of Vegas once again (I was last there in 1998 for my brother's wedding), and eat some great food, but I must say that I don't desire to travel often for work -- without my family. I really wanted them to see what I was seeing! I'm really glad I got to go though. I hadn't traveled for work for 10 years (previously, Ottawa and Winnipeg a couple times).
• attending the NN/g Usability Week conference and Content Usability workshop at Caesars Palace. The workshop was pretty good; I learned some useful things (although not a huge amount, perhaps because I often read about usability anyway). There was another workshop (re: brand tone of voice) that might have been more valuable to me. Fortunately, I was able to get the book from that one. The conference itself was very nice. Breakfast, lunch, coffee, and snacks (am & pm) were supplied and everything was wonderful! For example, the morning break included yogurt parfaits with fresh raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, and granola, and the coffee bar had whipped creme, shaved chocolate, cinnamon sticks, and more. No plastic dishes or cutlery either.
• savouring the quietness of my hotel room. This is too rare for me not to enjoy it!
• walking along the strip, and within the Fashion Show Mall and Forum Shops, on Tuesday evening. Las Vegas is such a sight to see! I do love seeing all the lights, fountains, waterfalls, and so on. People watching was fun, too. (Some people wear bizarre things!) I didn't do any gambling, and I decided against seeing a show since my time was very limited and there's much to see for free anyway. Instead, I chose to spend money on a pair of shoes for myself and Ugly Dolls for my kids.
• eating a meal at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill within Caesars Palace. This was a real treat! I had an Amstel Light beer, three kinds of bread with butter (set on the table, gratis; the jalepeño bread was especially yummy), Cornmeal Crusted Chile Relleno with Roasted Eggplant + Manchego Cheese with Sweet Red Pepper Sauce + Balsamic Vinegar (entree), Chorizo-Goat Cheese Tamale with Thyme Butter (side dish), and Blackberry-Mango Crostada with Blackberry Coulis + Vanilla-Blackberry Swirl Ice Cream (dessert). Yes, I was stuffed after all this! Every bite was wonderful -- especially the Cornmeal Crusted Chile Relleno. Absolutely one of the most amazing things I've ever eaten.
• getting home safe and sound Wednesday night. I don't mind flying, but some flight delays had me feeling a bit uneasy and helpless. My flight from Denver to Regina was delayed a couple of times due to the plane having mechanical problems in Wichita. I think they actually changed the plane in Kansas, but then they announced the flight was weight restricted because it was carrying extra fuel -- just in case we couldn't land in Regina (due to weather) and would have to turn around and go to Great Falls, Montana for the night. Huh?! I was so happy when we finally landed in Regina! (just before midnight, two hours later than scheduled)

All Washed Up!

I love this video! I've been meaning to post it for awhile.

To read some background and/or see a larger video screen, go to http://www.crucialskills.com/2009/09/all-washed-up/

September 12 of 12

I made sure to get my September page done before October 12, and I just finished it last evening. Deadlines are good! September 12 was a nice day for photos. To sum it up, I tidied up the back yard in the morning, and in the afternoon we visited the McKell Wascana Conservation Park and then Dutch Growers, a greenhouse in our neighbourhood.

I'm taking photos for 12-of-12 again today. I mistakenly tweeted that this is the second month in a row that I won't see my kids all day on the 12th. Just realized that it was August, not September! For today, I have asked Neil to snap some pictures of the girls when he goes to Avonlea to get them (and have dinner with them). Otherwise, I should be set for a good day of photos. Heading to Las Vegas this afternoon!

Highlights of the week

• attending a reading information night for parents of grade one students. I thought the presentation about reading to children and about the La Roue reading program used in French immersion was interesting and valuable. They didn't have this session when Sophia was in grade one.
• eating homemade pumpkin pie after Neil received a whole pie at school! Sophia's teacher made pies to share with the grade three class on Wednesday. There were two or three pies left over and she gave one to Neil to thank him for the supervision he does at lunchtime. (Unfortunately, Neil doesn't like pumpkin pie but the rest of us do!)
• attending a presentation on Gen Y by Jason Dorsey. His talk was funny and engaging. The almost two-hour presentation flew by. It was interesting to hear more about generational differences.
• going out for coffee with my manager and coworkers to celebrate my 15th anniversary at SaskTel.
• watching the slide show for lesson two of Ali Edwards' Yesterday & Today class, and getting excited to do the first layout which requires scanning in some old photos. Good thing I got my scanner working again last month!
• looking through some photos from my childhood. I'm very glad I had obtained some albums from Mom in the spring (or last year?). I do need to remove a lot of photos from magnetic albums and that's going to be quite a bit of work. A winter project, I think.
• selling the last of the washable diapers. So happy that's done! I had 35 for sale (15 of ours and 20 of my sister-in-law's), and it took seven weeks and four buyers to sell them all. I had posted on UsedRegina.com and Kijiji. All the buyers came from UsedRegina.com.
• finishing Me: The Abridged Version (MeTAV) in both paper (almost) and digital. I decided to create a digi version for backup purposes and to share more easily; plus, I don't have the right letter stickers for my paper version yet. (If you have access to my Shutterfly share site, you can access my MeTAV album from there.)
• getting September photos selected and uploaded, and completing my September 12-of-12 page. So glad to have those monthly tasks done! It feels good to be caught up once again.
• checking in for my flight to Las Vegas online. Web check-in = awesome! Yes, I have not flown since this was an option. I'm pretty excited to be going on this trip and attending a full-day training session on content usability (i.e., writing for the web). It's a topic in which I'm very interested.
• enjoying the lovely supper Neil made for me last night (Sunday) while the kids were in Avonlea (thanks to Neil's parents who took the girls to stay overnight and have Thanksgiving dinner today!). He made grilled turkey breasts, lettuce salad, spaghetti squash, and smashed potatoes (they're baked, then squashed and drizzled with olive oil, salt, and pepper, then baked again for a few minutes). Yum! This was my Thanksgiving dinner.