The kids made us dinner last night. JJ and I went to swim our laps because the kids asked us not to come in the house because they were doing some Christmas stuff. I found this out while grocery shopping because Patty called me and asked me to come over and see her, when I told her that, although I miss her and would love to see her, this was not in the schedule of the evening. She told me to stay away from home. Helene called Patty to get me out of the way.
At any rate, JJ and I went to the pool alone. When we came home the kids had transformed the sunroom by dimming all but the Christmas lights (the tree resides in the sunroom) and had about 10 candles adding to the ambiance. The table was set in good china, lots of good silverware, beautiful wine glasses complete with white wine to start, and a bottle of red for after. It was beautiful. They really know how to set the stage. We are going to work on the food in the new year... For dinner we were to start with cream of mushroom soup, but they didn't read the instructions and tried to serve it to us in the concentrated version, albeit warmed. We graciously told them that we really didn't need a soup course.
For the main course there were steamed vegetables, just a little lukewarm, due to the fact that Helene had prepared this repast for 7:15 and we didn't come home until after 8. The veggies were accompanied by morningstar farms sausage - not my favorite, not even something I would eat. I had a lot of veggies.
Then we had a cheese course, where there was some awesome saint Andre with beautiful whole grain bread. Can you tell that this was my favorite course? All of this was followed up by the three "servers" joining us for dessert. Dessert was a buche de noel provided by Chris (our babysitter) and his girlfriend, Chelsea (I am assuming the chef). Chris was heading home to the UK for Christmas and this was his gift to us. It was beautiful and good.
JJ and I felt truly blessed to have such an evening and we are going to encourage the kids to make this a regular event. We will help them with recipes and shopping (trying to get the actual cuisine part on par with the presentation and service) and we will enjoy our 'at home date nights'. It was awesome.
Happy thoughts.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Cookies anyone?
No, I am not offering cookies. Unlike my idol Mlis, I do not have a wonderful kitchen full of scrumptious food and Helga waiting at the helm to clean. I have a problem and 156 cookies to make before Monday night. I am sure that I should also be looking to place each dozen in an attractive wrapper, making it totally appealing to both palate and eye. Oh God, what have I committed myself to?
I think that we have found the appropriate recipe and the kids are going to help. Fortunately, the tree is already up and decorated, and some Christmas cards have actually been written! So the family plan is to bake the cookies. This sounds good in theory, but I am oh so frightened of the actual outcome.
Now, I have simplified in other areas. I am no longer required to be driving to Toronto on Monday evening (after delivering said cookies), I have changed the meeting and made it local, so in effect calling the team members here and avoiding the inconvenience of having to drive. But I have thrown a little excitement in by booking my mother and myself on a trip to Paris for Thursday (12-21 for those who are paying attention) so I have to ensure that I am professionally up to date before then, and yes, I need to also ensure that all the holiday things are done, wrapped and properly labeled for my husband to know what to do, and to whom things go. Piece of cake, right?
OK, so getting my tookus moving and managing to work out at lunch time is not even a remote possibility at this time. I suppose that I could do it, but I have so little desire and lunching with JJ is so much more pleasant. The good news is that I do get to the pool often enough to not override me with guilt, except the guilt of paying for Curves and not actually going there - ah the promise of the new year resolution...
Gotta get an appointment with the hair dresser because I can't be seeing my chicks in Paris looking like a hag, although I have looked worse in the past and they loved me anyway. Wish me luck and keep me in your pleasant thoughts.
I think that we have found the appropriate recipe and the kids are going to help. Fortunately, the tree is already up and decorated, and some Christmas cards have actually been written! So the family plan is to bake the cookies. This sounds good in theory, but I am oh so frightened of the actual outcome.
Now, I have simplified in other areas. I am no longer required to be driving to Toronto on Monday evening (after delivering said cookies), I have changed the meeting and made it local, so in effect calling the team members here and avoiding the inconvenience of having to drive. But I have thrown a little excitement in by booking my mother and myself on a trip to Paris for Thursday (12-21 for those who are paying attention) so I have to ensure that I am professionally up to date before then, and yes, I need to also ensure that all the holiday things are done, wrapped and properly labeled for my husband to know what to do, and to whom things go. Piece of cake, right?
OK, so getting my tookus moving and managing to work out at lunch time is not even a remote possibility at this time. I suppose that I could do it, but I have so little desire and lunching with JJ is so much more pleasant. The good news is that I do get to the pool often enough to not override me with guilt, except the guilt of paying for Curves and not actually going there - ah the promise of the new year resolution...
Gotta get an appointment with the hair dresser because I can't be seeing my chicks in Paris looking like a hag, although I have looked worse in the past and they loved me anyway. Wish me luck and keep me in your pleasant thoughts.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Pearl Harbor Day
Wow, it has been forever since I have taken the time to update this. So here I am at the end of the calendar year, wondering when I will find the time to decorate the house, finish the holiday shopping, bake 13 dozen cooking (Mlis, where are you?) and oh yeah, work! So in order to be super productive what do I do, I start working on a new post to my blog... That will get things done.
Dad has started dialysis and although he does not want to go, has not been to difficult. I heard that today was not a good day getting him to his appointment on time, but I keep telling my mom and brother that we cannot accept the responsability. He owns the issue. We can only be there to transport him back and forth and to remind him that he needs to be ready at a certain time. It's all very easy for me to say that as I sit at my office or in my kitchen, I don't live with the issue 24/7.
He is just as depressed as ever, even more so since his sister passed away at the end of October. He really doesn't see the point in life and has on numerous occassions asked why we don't just let him die. He makes it sound so simple, like he'll lay down one night and just not wake up. It's all very confusing and way to much of a decision for any one person to have to deal with, and my mother is trying to deal with everything (a not so good situation for her heart).
Mom is still in recovery from her relapse of congestive heart failure this summer. She has not been back to her old self and tires very easily. Her spirit is much better, as long as we don't talk about dad...
As for me and mine, we are running through the weeks with school and swimming and work and wine. We remember our month at the vineyard and it seems like forever ago, but the thought keeps us motivated for next summer. Karantes is absolutely breath taking and I dream of spending more time there, but that is a far away dream because we have children to raise and obligations to fulfill. It is a nice dream though, and a good thing to keep us on track.
Today is a Philippe's birthday and Christine's birthday. I spoke with Philippe's family today and have wished him a great day, but I haven't talked to Chris in years, but I still think about her and pray that she is happy and healthy.
That is the update. Maybe with a little thought I can learn to be a little more reliable with the info, at least it will help me remember what I am doing.
Dad has started dialysis and although he does not want to go, has not been to difficult. I heard that today was not a good day getting him to his appointment on time, but I keep telling my mom and brother that we cannot accept the responsability. He owns the issue. We can only be there to transport him back and forth and to remind him that he needs to be ready at a certain time. It's all very easy for me to say that as I sit at my office or in my kitchen, I don't live with the issue 24/7.
He is just as depressed as ever, even more so since his sister passed away at the end of October. He really doesn't see the point in life and has on numerous occassions asked why we don't just let him die. He makes it sound so simple, like he'll lay down one night and just not wake up. It's all very confusing and way to much of a decision for any one person to have to deal with, and my mother is trying to deal with everything (a not so good situation for her heart).
Mom is still in recovery from her relapse of congestive heart failure this summer. She has not been back to her old self and tires very easily. Her spirit is much better, as long as we don't talk about dad...
As for me and mine, we are running through the weeks with school and swimming and work and wine. We remember our month at the vineyard and it seems like forever ago, but the thought keeps us motivated for next summer. Karantes is absolutely breath taking and I dream of spending more time there, but that is a far away dream because we have children to raise and obligations to fulfill. It is a nice dream though, and a good thing to keep us on track.
Today is a Philippe's birthday and Christine's birthday. I spoke with Philippe's family today and have wished him a great day, but I haven't talked to Chris in years, but I still think about her and pray that she is happy and healthy.
That is the update. Maybe with a little thought I can learn to be a little more reliable with the info, at least it will help me remember what I am doing.
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