Rounding up September 2012

1. READ

• Dear Canada: No Safe Harbour: The Halifax Explosion Diary of Charlotte Blackburn, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 1917 by Julie Lawson (Sophia)
• Dear Canada: Days of Toil and Tears: The Child Labour Diary of Flora Rutherford, Almonte, Ontario, 1887 by Sarah Ellis (Sophia)
• Geronimo Stilton: The Search for Sunken Treasure (read to M&G)
• Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants by Dav Pilkey (read to M&G)
• The Bonehunters (#6, Malazan Book of the Fallen) by Steven Erikson (Neil)

Walking to school.

2. WATCHED & LISTENED

• TV
  • CFL football/Rider games (Neil)
  • Bones (N/K)
  • Master Chef (N/K)
  • Funniest Home Videos (girls)
  • Arrested Development (the pilot) (N/K)
• DVDs/Movies
  • Tooth Fairy (M/G/Kim)
  • Marmaduke (girls)
  • Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3 (M/G)
  • Hotel Transylvania (Sophia at Southland with a friend)
• Podcasts (K)
  • Dishing Up Nutrition
  • Balanced Bites
  • The Dave Ramsey Show

New school shoes.

3. EVENTS & OUTINGS

• Laurel took the girls to Avonlea where they walked from the golf course to Dunnet Park with their grandpa (thanks Laurel! this helped us get more work done in the basement)
• Neil and I picked up dinner from Wok Box one day and Mucho Burrito another - both times due to working hard in the basement and completely neglecting to plan meals (or clean the kitchen)
• Neil went to some Rider home games
• Neil took the girls and a friend of Madeline's to a couple Rams football games
• I attended four set-dancing classes - I'm really enjoying this session; love the time and location, too (very close to my house) - worked on Connemara, Clare Lancers, and Cashel sets
• my manager took me out for breakfast one day - I chose Denny's because I love their Ultimate Skillet
• the girls ran in the QCM Mini Marathon - Sophia was in the 11-17 age group, while Madeline and Georgia were in the 5-10 group; I also ran/walked with the younger girls - it was fun; we'd love to do it again! The weather was perfect and the girls received very nice participant medals (M was so proud of hers, she wore it to school the next day)
• I went for a walk with my manager at White Butte Trails over lunch hour one day
• we attended Meet the Teacher night at the school - all of their teachers are great; Georgia's is a first-year teacher and she's super organized and enthusiastic :)
• we all attended an Irish Club BBQ/potluck where we enjoyed visiting with friends and meeting some new immigrants from Ireland - we took a quinoa salad
• I went to a Jockey clothing party at Laurel's
• all three girls had occasional playdates at friends' houses
• we went to Marble Slab Creamery for a treat on my birthday - I really enjoyed my pomegranate ice cream with raspberries
• the girls and I walked in the Terry Fox Walk with their entire school, which raised over $3000 for the cause - gorgeous day for it - 27C on the 28th!
• 12 activities with Mom in 2012:
  • Georgia chose to go swimming and to the library at the Sandra Schmirler Centre
  • Madeline chose to go swimming at the Sandra Schmirler Centre
  • Sophia chose to play badminton at the Fieldhouse (my first time playing badminton in over 25 years; we kept trying to improve our rally and made it to 46!)

Walking to the Queen City Marathon from our house (about 7:40 am).

4. RECIPES TO REMEMBER

• Cinnamon Honey Yogurt (my recipe: 500 ml Greek ~10% mf plain yogurt, 1 cup kefir or a lower-fat ~3% mf plain yogurt, 3 Tbsp unpasteurized liquid honey, 2 tsp cinnamon) - yum!
• Grandma Mantay's Cucumbers & Sour Cream (cucumbers, salt, vinegar, sour cream)
• Chocolate Coconut Cookies (grain-free)
• Turkey Stock (The Healthy Home Economist) - simmered for 24 hours
• Potato-Leek Soup (The Big Book of Soups & Stews)
• Turkey (Noodle) Soup (with potatoes instead of noodles)
• Southwest Quinoa Salad (Quinoa 365)
• Avocado drizzled with EVOO, balsamic vinegar, S&P
• Vanilla Steamer (my recipe: 2 cups milk, 2 Tbsp sugar (1 coconut/1 regular), and 1/4 tsp vanilla)
• Alton Brown's Oven-Roasted Broccoli (without bread crumbs) - best broccoli ever!
• Probiotic Lemonade (Wellness Mama)
• Kombucha (green tea + lemon grass) - love it!
• Taco Cabbage Soup (family recipe)
• Sauce Mornay (The Joy of Cooking) - cheese sauce for cauliflower
• Bison Broth (Traditional Foods) - simmered for only 10 hours b/c the liquid disappeared too quickly; we'll use a crock pot next time (in fact, we're doing a second broth with the same bones in a crock pot right now)
• Ensalada de Granada (arugula, garlic, olive oil, sherry vinegar, pomegranate seeds, S&P; from the TV show, From Spain With Love)

After the QCM Mini Marathon.

5. GIFTS

• Shauna gave Sophia a pair of track shoes (spikes)
• Mom gave me a SCOBY
• for my birthday, I received some lovely cards, artwork from the girls, messages on Facebook, phone calls from my brother and Grandma M, and a nice dress top from Laurel

Biggest spider we've ever seen in our back yard (body was dime-sized).

6. SPECIAL PURCHASES

• Netflix subscription
• NomNom Paleo cookbook app for the iPad - great recipes and info
• Minecraft Pocket Edition for the girls' iPods - they love this open-ended building/creative game
• three more shelving units for the basement (large, medium, and small)
• new backpacks for Sophia and Georgia (which they have to pay for because we have lots of backpacks they could have used)
• white Rider jersey for Neil - purchased at the new Roughrider Store's door-crasher sale; bonus: he entered a raffle and won a very nice, framed Roughrider print
• iTunes gift card and 24" monitor from AirMiles (free!)
• 15" MacBook Pro (with Mountain Lion) - my old iMac went to the kids and they're loving it! I use the laptop and monitor together - so happy to have two screens now (like I've had at work for years)
• Magic Trackpad - I needed a mouse and decided to go with this instead - it's pretty cool!
• 22 cu.ft. Kenmore refrigerator with French doors on top and pull-out freezer (nice!) - to replace our 15-year old 22 cu.ft. KitchenAide that stopped working - very unexpected purchase. Boo.
• used ringette girdle for Madeline
• Jockey pants, jeans, and sweater for me

Painted by Sophia around 2005 (was in our basement; now recycled).

7. HEALTH

• Georgia had a Holter Monitor, and we assume all is fine b/c we haven't heard from anyone
• I went for lab work (from my annual checkup in August) - no news is good news
• started taking cod liver oil (inconsistently)
• made kefir for the first time (and then about once a week) - cultured for 24 hours (with a starter product; still looking for real dairy kefir grains)
• made kombucha for the first time - cultured for 7 days
• made turkey bone broth
• made bison bone broth for the first time
• Sophia had a mild cold (or seasonal allergies?), and Neil had a bad one

The start of tasty turkey broth.

8. ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• I labeled the girls' school supplies - with their help, of course (4.5 hours!)
• Georgia did her music homework and practiced at least 5 times a week
• filled out a gazillion forms and cheques coinciding with the start of school and activities
• Neil and I worked very hard in the basement! It's looking great, but I can't say we're finished because there are still many boxes of stuff we haven't sorted/purged
• sold several more things on UsedRegina and donated some things to Community Living
• moved the new refrigerator into our house (and the old one out) - painful! thankfully, our young neighbours helped us get the fridge off the back of Neil's truck; the whole thing was challenging and a ton of work to squeeze into a weekend
• cleaned the carpet in our basement - I'm impressed with how well the RugDoctor worked - what a difference!
• made a bunch of furniture changes in our dining room and living room - moved in: round dining room table (from Laurel), oak bookcase (from basement), computer desk (from basement), bedside table (from S's room); moved out: rectangular dining room table (to garage), tall wood cabinet (to basement), wicker storage unit (to basement)

Walking with the girls' school in the Terry Fox Walk. Gorgeous weather!

9. DISAPPOINTMENTS

• my old computer (iMac) quit working and I had to get it repaired; it needed a new power supply (but I'm happy it wasn't the hard drive)
• still not finished with the basement - but we're getting there! We've done so much work and the improvements are HUGE; I just wish it wasn't taking so long
• still did not work on July or August photos - ugggh

Water line break in front of our house - 1 of 3 on our block within 2 weeks.

10. GOALS

• did not process last month's photos - again
• backed up the computer
• almost cleared my collection basket once
• cleared my email inbox (<20) 1/4 weeks
• no scrapbooking :(
• took our family photo - quickest, easiest one so far!

11. NOTEWORTHY

• the girls started grades 1, 4, and 6! For the first time, all three are in school full days; they're all happy with their teachers and classmates
• Neil is doing lunch supervision at the girls' school again this year
• two children (brother and sister, grades 1 and 5) started coming to our house before and after school 2-3 days a week (in addition to our niece who is here 5 days a week)
• Neil started looking for additional part-time work
• the girls resumed Irish dance classes - we're at the studio 4 times a week now - one class/week for each of them, plus Sophia and Madeline have an extra technique class together (Laurel is still taking Sophia to class with B, which is a great help to us!)
• Sophia started playing trombone in the school band - we've had some challenges with the required 20 min/day, 6 days/week practice schedule, but it's getting better
• Sophia worked very hard decorating a mat for her desk at school - her artistic talents amaze me!
• Sophia spent quite a bit of time with a new classmate who just moved here from Saskatoon - at her house and ours - one day they made very elaborate hats for Wacky Hat Day at school
• Sophia and Madeline participated in Cross Country (M's first time) with two practices before school and one after-school meet every week for 5 weeks - it was great to have friends pick them up for practices (so Neil and the other children didn't have to go anywhere until 8:45)
  • 1st meet: 5th (S) and 25th (M) - both were pleased!
  • 2nd, 3rd, and 4th meets: M was in the top 50 each time, while Sophia didn't run or finish (didn't feel well, stepped in a gopher hole, had trouble breathing)
  • 5th meet: 19th (S) and 53rd (M) - more breathing trouble for S; we don't know what the problem is, and she's frustrated (she has no trouble running continuously in practices)
• I was enrolled in 30 Days of Lists and BPC's Big Idea Festival (free), as well as Twelve at BPC (all year), and kept up with the reading/watching of content, but I didn't do anything with it - saving it for later!
• we picked up a small desk from Neil's cousin (originally from the Clarke family; hand made a few decades ago) and put it in Sophia's room for homework
• the Modular Storage container was picked up - I'm glad I rented it; it really helped us transition stuff from our house to other people, charities, etc.
• I resumed working every second Friday after 17 consecutive Fridays off; I certainly appreciate that I can do this with my job!
• a water line broke under the city-owned sidewalk in front of our house; the sidewalk is now gravel, but will be replaced
• a little dog, Yogi, stayed at our house on weekdays (work hours) for two weeks - the girls love having him
• my Dad became the Mayor of Yellow Grass (by acclamation)! I updated the Wikipedia page :)
• I completely disconnected the girls' TV for a full week - they actually played some board games during that time
• I turned 42! every birthday is a good birthday
• all three girls started playing Mathletics, an online program for which their school is registered, and they really like it
• we had infiNET (high speed Internet over fibre) installed at our house - our speed went up about 3MB for the same price
• through work, I enrolled in a free university-level course, Gamification, and completed the first 5 (of 6) weeks (lessons, quizzes, written assignments, and evaluations of 5 other students' assignments)
• we have a healthy supply of tomatoes (now picked) from our huge potted tomato plants