My trip to Chicago

The city of big shiny beans.
This is a very special person. I miss Teri.
This one too (Su).
I was so thrilled to see Amy...
My little brother Dave. Over the years he has developed a keen reflex of never being in the position where I could swing around and plant a kiss on his cheek. Notice the firm grip he has on my shoulder. Believe me, I tried.
The massive Christmas tree in Daley Plaza and the crane they're using to put it together.

hi again! sorry to those of you who check and have to look at the same old post over and over. really, if you want to know what i'm up to at any particular time, it looks like this: Monday- Friday:
breakfast, run to train, work workworkwork, run to train, get home, scrounge up some dinner, watch tv, go to bed, repeat. with a few variations. i know, i know, i'm the only person who is so unlucky to be overworked and not have spare time. that's why i'm writing this; i need some pity.

last weekend we added a new family member. we can't agree on a name yet, but i call her tiny. we went to a farm nearby and picked her out. don't blame me! pete wanted another cat! she adds more joy and laughter to our house.

i miss my girl friends though! some days i just feel like crying at odd times because of missing them!

In the last two weeks, I have had visitors both weekends. My parents swung by on their world offspring tour (well, they only visited 3 out of 4 of us). They were here for John and Johanne's wedding shower. Here is Johanne with her parents and mine. John came by the following weekend, and we hung out Saturday. Johanne works at a nifty little place called Supperworks, which services I am sorely in need of, so we went and partook. We came away with the main entree of 14 meals for Pete and I. Now all I have to do is add side dishes and voila! All in all, great to see everyone again!

Pears in September

A month now... I guess if there was one title for the past month, it would be: PEARS. We have a pear tree, and it was loaded!!! I gave away so many pears, to people who gave them to other people. I took them to church, work, neighbors and barbecues. I started getting worried that people would see me coming with more pears and hide! I made pear jam, chutney, crisp and sauce. I still have some but they're rotting. I think I have my mother's issue with throwing away food that's not rotten yet. Wait until it's rotting, I say! My compost heap is FULL of pears; our compost pickup guys got a big load of rotting pears last week.

The pears, incidentally were very delicious. It's not just because I think so; others told me so as well. I'm glad we have a pear tree. Not sure if I'm ready for it to be so industrious next year. But having to use up the pears before they rotted (some of them at least) made me get to work trying out new pear recipes.

I realized even more that I love cooking and baking, especially when it's something that comes from my own back yard. Oh to be a chef. I need a break from telling people how to eat. I would rather cook for them and make them pay me for it. People do better when you make healthy eating convenient, than when you tell them what to eat and what not to eat.

It's September... I remember the melancholy song "Wake me up when September ends." Not sure what it's about but it reminds me of Chicago in the fall. Grey Saturdays with wind blowing leaves across the sidewalks, and remembering what it's like to need a sweater after the long summer. I miss Chicago and all that that time in my life represents. Now I'm rambling because I'm tired!

My parents are coming up this weekend. We're busy cleaning; it helps knowing that by Thursday night the house has to look presentable. Daunting!!! After nearly 3 months in our home, it's still pretty messy!

Oh, and laundry NEVER ends. I was convinced that when I was single, it was all I could do to take care of myself. Now I'm married. ;P Having kids is out of the question! How do people do it?!?!?

Ah well, I hope it's not another month before I post again!

What would you do if you met yourself as another person (ie, Jill, meet Jill.) Would you have much to talk about? Would you like that person? Would you believe what they said? Would you want to hang out? Unless I freaked out and ran away, I think I would ask her how she was feeling. Would I get the truth? Then maybe I'd stand back and ask myself if her thighs were really all that bad. Maybe I could give her some hair and clothing advice, since I could see her from the side and back. Hanging out would be interesting. We could discuss all our insecurities and not feel judged. We could compliment each other without being narcissistic. Then we could do all the things we love to do, because they would be exactly the same! Hmmm... maybe I should clone myself.

My Garden; then and now pictures

My first ripe tomato. I won't pick it until it's reallllly red!!! Anyone want to come help me eat them?



Onions
Tomatoes

Carrots

Well, it's been two months since I last posted. This house has kept us pretty busy and tired. But it's coming along! And of course we have to watch the Olympics every night! Of course...

Work has been very busy! Our company keeps growing and hiring new staff is something that lags behind a lot. No real complaints though. I take the commuter train to work now that we live 2 blocks from the station. I am blissful at how much better my commute is now than before... The commuter train is above ground and goes through a big wooded part of Toronto that I guess is protected because it's quite convincing that you've entered the wilderness. I can stare out the window, or read a book, or do my makeup if I'm running late, or take a nap with my mouth hanging open, and wake up to the passengers across from me looking slightly embarrassed.

I guess I'd better go take some pictures of the house and garden as the look now. I'll post them right away. *cough*

We bought a house!

It's a semi-detached. I call it half a house.
Our lovely back yard. This was taken on our first trip to check it out.
Finally, a vegetable garden.
I think I look quite flexible here.
Garden photos, in no particular order. My sister came, we had a great weekend.
Back at the apartment I had started a few seedlings.
Random instertion- our one year anniversary, and the flowers Pete got me.



We closed and got the key on our first wedding anniversary! We'll be moving in by the end of the month, Lord willing. Right now we are waist-deep in renovations. We spend hours upon hours inside Home Depot and Rona... trying to find what we want amongst mind-boggling options. It's hard to pick up one tile and know how it would look all over a room. However, we've made many choices, and the tiles are going in. Last weekend was spent in the garden with my sis and hubby. Ahh... my glorious vegetable garden. It's tantalizing because we still live a good 30-45 min away from it (in traffic), so I only get out there on weekends. But it's not like I need to water. The weather took notice of my poor neglected garden: it's been raining every other day, practically.

we took a trip...

the mewer wanted to come too.
this is the house we bought. just kidding!!!
a great tree.
an awesome big waterfall in a park in pennsylvania. and my tiny husband.
weeeeeee...
yes we were there! we kept driving around but couldn't find dunder mifflin.
paula and adam

I am taking the Canadian RD exam tomorrow. Somehow, I am pretty apathetic about it. Lately being a dietitian has seemed very wrong and unrewarding. The nagging thought that I wasn't cut out to be one keeps persisting.

just finished watching the movie Grease, which was on tv. only caught bits and pieces, but it does such a great job of getting that feeling across. the feeling of being young and hopeful for what lay ahead, mainly in the realm of boys... but you know? the excitement of falling in love and having someone who takes your breath away.

Our cats have their own way of getting along.

Catalina weighs 7 lbs and Crabman weighs 12. Not really a fair fight! (Yes, we weigh our cats.)

Ramblings on Dreams and Reality

I just want to express my deep admiration for those of you who are doing what it takes to fulfill a dream. It takes courage. To dream, never mind the chasing. What do you have if you don't have a dream, they say.

I don't know if I have a dream... but I have a lot. That's a whole 'nother story. Maybe a dream is something that is born inside you. I am more of a realist. I dreamed as a kid, too much probably. When the real world reared up and hit me (starting in 7th grade), I determined that I no longer wanted to be ignorant of reality, which at the timed seemed mostly ugly. Keeping up with reality... paying attention, surviving, has taking a lot of energy over the years. Maybe if I'd let myself be a little more dreamy (if that's even possible) I would have a dream.

Maybe I just like security too much. Ya, I think that's the one. Now I feel pretty secure, and I'm happy about that. I have a steady job and no debt. So does my hubby. Knocking knocking on wood. We look at houses. We talk about having kids some day. We talk about staying healthy by exercising and eating right. But following dreams, that conversation is harder.

First of all, to dream, you have to be like a sniper, shooting down all the reasons-why-not before they destroy the dream altogether. It also helps to have an attention span longer than a gnat's because dreaming takes TIME. Then you have to be willing to take risks. I don't consider myself a risk taker (I did get married though). Then you have to work like heck and not worry about regrets, something I constantly work on!

That is my tutorial on how to dream. Do not take this post to mean I am going to give birth to a grand dream. But... I hope I don't kill it if one pops up for some reason.

I'm 30!

It hasn't hit me yet. I don't have time to be hit. I go to work, come home, find food, go to bed, get up and go back to work. The last two weekends Pete and I have been out of town.

On my birthday, Pete took me to a lovely restaurant called Michael's on the Thames, in London Ontario. The atmosphere was relaxed, unhurried and cozy, and I got serenaded with an accordion, no less! The food was spectacular. They make certain dishes right in front of you. Like Caesar salad, and peach flambe, complete with big flames and all. It was awesome...

Now to get myself organized again. Eating healthy is a huge challenge when working full time! I wonder why it is so hard to follow my own nutrition advice. If only my clients knew how much better than me they are eating... well some of them anyway.

I must be off to bed. I have never felt the beginnings of a sore throat whilst still recovering from a cold... winter is killing me. I need a break!

I think the older I get, the more of my own flaws I become aware of... These days I have been noticing a lot of them. The problem is I tend to dwell on things a little too much. I will find myself feeling bad about something I've long since stopped thinking about and it takes me a minute to remember why I'm feeling bad. Remarkable, huh? I have to remind myself that I've been forgiven by the only person who really matters. But it doesn't stop me from wanting to be a little more perfect.

I also find myself missing small town America, not to mention just plain old country side. There is a dearth of that around here. Lots of "semi-detatched" houses, meaning sandwich houses, stretching for miles and miles into the suburbs. Or should I say kilometres. I miss just taking a weekend to drive to Lawrenceville and have a rural experience, spending every waking minute with friends and family to sooth my nerves before heading back to the big city. I miss the friendliness of mid-westerners, the camaraderie of knowing people and being part of a community. At the same time, I want to feel at home here and I want to like it here. I just think that's going to take a little while.

My job has been great. I like the fact that I work hard and come home, not trailing a ton of work and stress behind me. I like my co-workers. They hail from all over the world. So do my patients. We get regulars from England, South Africa, Bermuda and the US.

I miss speaking in Spanish. I miss horchata, salsa fresca, Lake Shore Drive... I miss my old co-workers (not my old job, mind you!) I miss just hanging out with my girlfriends in the Chicago apartment or out at a restaurant. I am sounding very pathetic. Bear with me! I am just slowly realizing the changes that have happened in the last year. Things don't hit me right away.

Maybe I should dwell on what I don't miss: my old job, seeing Pete only once a blue moon, spending lots of time alone, living on a very loud street, annoying neighbors; can't really think of anything else though!

Well that's it in a melancholy nutshell. I am feeling a little blue.

My office and the views therefrom...

Notice the CN Tower peeking out?

Not much new here. Still like my job though! And I got a new office that's bigger, and has a view of the CN Tower peeking out from behind another building. Since we're on the 15th floor, it's pretty windy, so when it snows it looks like a regular blizzard out there. Kinda cool! The commute is getting long. I miss the Chicago trains that are mostly above ground until you get downtown. You get a good sense of the neighborhoods you are passing through. But it's probably less hassle for everyone else if the train is underground! Here the subway only peeks out twice briefly, before diving back underground. Probably a good thing cause it makes me read. People regularly eat and drink (coffee, usually) on the subway here.

AAhh who knew I would end up living in Canada? Sometimes I still find it hard to believe. Like every time I type "fiber" into my notes at work and the computer corrects me because it's really spelled "fibre". What?!?!?! And "centre" and "colour". Gah. I also really miss Reggaeton, the Puerto Rican music so popular in Chicago.

Home for New Year!

Me and my man. One of the few pictures in which he is not purposely making a weird face.
Frosty Fauna, somewhere in Michigan.
Crossing the Wabash River on the Wabash Cannonball Bridge, which used to be a train bridge. You have to pay a $.50 toll if you're going from Illinois into Indiana, but on the way back it's free. No this is not the only way to my parent's house, ;P but we think it's fun.
Our family picture. We were all freeeeezing, so instead of try for a better picture, we said good enough and ran inside!
Dave.
John, holding one of the hugest, fluffiest, friendliest cats I've ever known.
Paula and Adam.