Good Eats!

No this entry isn't about anything that I've cooked or baked lately but instead about recipe ideas for this weekend. I realized I haven't been cooking lately, especially during the weekends when I cook the most. Maybe it's cause I've become lazy or fell into the comfort of eating out. Whatever it is, I've put cooking on the back burner (like my kitchen reference, "back burner"?).

So I write today, before I head off to ultimate (which I don't think will happen cause it's REALLY cloudy out) to see if anyone has any recipes they want to share with me. I know people out there read my blog so don't be scare to leave a comment. So what if you happened to just stumble on to my blog by mistake, things happen for a reason and maybe you have an awesome recipe you've been wanting to share with someone but never had the chance! Well now's the chance!. And if I like your recipe or in the likely case, I only have one recipe suggestion, I'll do my best to cook it that weekend and blog about the success or the failure. Just don't give me a recipe that require me to get wild boar or anything like that, although I'm sure wild boar tastes great!

I'm gonna go and see if I still want to go to ultimate tonight. We've started to play outdoors now so gotta be mindful of the weather. Plus I tweaked my left ankle at work today some how and now it's hurting. Boo-urns!

If I have time, I'll blog again tonight but if not... don't forget to leave your recipes down below in the comment section!

Holy Thunderstorm Batman!

I'm trying to think of how to start this entry to reflect the title "Holy Thunderstorm Batman!" Maybe it's cause my mind is half on this entry and half on the television screen. Currently watching "Income Property" on HGTV. I love this channel among other channels. I just wish it was in HD but what can you do... "suck it up princess" as one of my coworkers would say (well I guess she would be my immediate supervisor as shes the senior therapist).

So back to the title of this entry. During lunch today, a bunch of us were talking about the old Batman t.v. show movie, starring Adam West, came up and how hilarious it was. I'm pretty sure whoever the writer was for this show was high or under the influence.

Batman: The Movie... THE original Batman movie? No way! I must find this and watch it... and laugh my pants off! Or maybe I'll turn it off cause it's boring... we won't know until I track down this movie! My new mission: Find the Batman: The Movie and watch it! Do I dare accept it? Hell yeah!

Well that's how the title came to be that welcomed you to tonight's blog entry... plus Grande Prairie got hit by a massive hail/rain thunderstorm that lasted a whopping 5 minutes! (I have no idea how long it actually lasted).

What a Weekend!

Long time no blog! It's been awhile, huh? Anyone miss me? No? I didn't miss you guys either. Ok maybe I did a little bit... but don't tell anyone!

So it's been a pretty full weekend for me this weekend. Started off with volunteering with a Greenathon. Ran by the Rotary Club, picking up garbage around the city with Grade 5's and 6's. The day started really early but the morning sun and the crisp morning air was well worth it. It felt like waking up in the morning while camping. You unzip your tent and take in that first breath of fresh cool air and as you walk around under the morning sun listening to the birds singing, you just know it's going to be a good day.

The two kids that I was assigned to were pretty good. We each took gigantic industrial strength garbage bags and went to town... literally. We were responsible for cleaning up the area next to the railroads. Fortunately the railroads were on the other side of the fence, phew! Garbage bags filled up quickly and as I looked back to the area were we cleaning I was amazed by the difference from when we started. Who knew a dozen or so students and a bunch of adults could make such a difference in just couple of hours.

So that was Saturday.

Sunday morning... my body was playing payback. I knew bending over to pick up garbage for hours was going to have its side effects. No pain no game, right? After telling my body to get back into shape, I went to see a friend run her 8K run. I promised I'd take picture and a promise I kept. Not sure how good the pictures turned out though (I do know actually)... I thought they could've been better. Maybe I should take some photography classes but I digress. That was the morning and in the evening few of us went to see the final night of the Reel Shorts Film Festival (short films). It was the Best of the Festival night. I'm sure all the films were great but they played the top 7 films and they were all worthy of their nominations.

So now I sit here blogging while thinking of going to sleep. You know summer is here when the window is open but your apartment still feels warm making sleeping a pain in the arse. That would be the main reason why I just roll around in bed trying to get comfy, kicking my sheets with the fan circulates the warm air. Definitely not looking forward to it tonight! Oh and did I mention how DRY it is here?!

I better go since it'll probably take a good hour or two to get comfy enough to fall asleep.

Don't know when I'll be blogging again but until that time... peace!

Stall 1, stall 2, stall 3

It's Wednesday! That only means one thing... ultimate frisbee! Didn't really feel like going today cause of the weather and the snow but it didn't snow as much as I thought it would. It was cold though! -20C without the wind. Here I thought winter was almost over but nope! Throw me a bone here... where's the sun so I can wear shorts, flip flops, go for bike rides, take pictures of nature without freezing my fingers off or go for walks to the store. That's what I get for living up in northern Alberta where it snows during the May long weekend! I know, right? Back in Ontario people go to the beach and go camping during May long weekend. Oh how different it is across the country.

So anyways I went off on a tangent. I made myself go to ultimate and it was so worth it. Note to self though, "don't eat so much dinner or eat after ultimate!" I thought I was going to die, stomach cramping, heavy breathing... oh the pain! It took me a good hour to get my second wind but by then it was almost game point for night for the other team. Crap! I'll definitely have to eat little, maybe just a snack and eat afterward and see how I feel during ultimate.

It was a good turn out tonight. If anyone in Grande Prairie, Alberta wants to try ultimate frisbee come to the Leisure Centre on Wednesdays at 8:30PM. I know its late but it's worth it, I promise! So see you next week at 8:30PM. Bring a white and dark shirt and lots of water cause you'll need it.

Time to hit the sack soon! I am exhausted!

Hello March!

As I'm trying to write today's blog my eyes are slowly closing. Maybe I shouldn't start blogging so late at night. Maybe I'll try blogging earlier tomorrow. Tune in tomorrow!

To give an update from yesterday's blog entry, the Cree resident who passed away and had their body kept at the facility for family and friends to come and view (Cree tradition/ritual) for mourning wasn't there today. I guess the family took the body back to the reserve? I'm not sure and I didn't want to inquire about it at work. And lets just say with the unit back to normal with normal amount of odd behaviours. Yes there are still odd behaviours that I see on a daily basis. Works keeps me busy with all the "things" going on around me. If you were a fly on the wall... you would have a blast! Just bring the popcorn and drinks cause you will be thoroughly entertained. I do not kid when I say entertained.

Ok my eyes are about to say "heck with this, its time to rest!" so I better get going before my brain shuts down too and I start to write things that don't make any sense at all. That would be one funny blog entry.

Tune in tomorrow folks.

p.s. - I'm not going to edit this entry so excuse me if there are spelling mistakes and/or grammar mistakes.

What a Day

Hope everyone had a fun filled weekend! I know I did. I was invited to a theme party on Saturday, a Purple Party. Who invited you are wondering? Well let me tell you. I go to a small town once a week to do assessments, check up on the recreation assistant and recreation aid and take care of any recreation related business/concerns. So it happens that one of the SLP (speech language pathologist) recently moved here from Manitoba for work. That's who invited me and how we met. I didn't know I could tell so much in one sentence. Anyways, she wanted to throw a theme party after seeing a bunch of people all dressed in white for a birthday party at the bar one night. It was an interesting offer so I said I would come. Who am I kidding, I never have plans on the weekends but I had to make it seem like I wasn't desperate to hang out with people on a Saturday night. :P It was nice to meet new people and drink with other people. I hate drinking alone!

So the theme of the night was purple, hence the Purple Party. I was looking through my closet and I realized I have nothing purple. Time to head to the mall! I was surprised at how many purple shirts there were at different stores. Lucky me! It was a good party for sure. Everyone was talking with everyone, everyone had at least one piece of clothing that was purple, and the hostess did a good job planning and organizing. We decided to head to a bar afterward and that was... something else. I felt like I was back in university and crammed like sardines cause everyone wanted to be inside or close to the door cause it was freezing outside. Not to mention, the average age was probably 20... give or take 2. Just getting inside, I had to wait for people to leave so they could let new people in. I can't complain cause there was no cover charge or charge for coat check.

The bar was packed and the music was decent. Your typical dancing music. The crowd that went from the party found a section where the pool table was, few steps down from the main area so it was pretty much like having a VIP section for us. People playing pool, dancing, drinking... for some people a little too much. I spotted couple of people sitting and their heads dropping. The same guy actually lost his jacket, well he didn't... it just wasn't at coat check. I wonder if they found it cause it was coooooold! Damn the wind hurt, especially when the wind carries snow and hits you in the face.

That was my weekend... well just the Saturday. Sunday I went to a baby shower for one of my coworkers who recently had twins. The twins are so cute! A boy and a girl. It was good to see my coworker again and was good to see she was doing well. IVF is a wonderful thing.

Work was work. Another Monday.  It's crazy how every culture has different traditions when it comes to dealing with deaths. One of the residents passed away in the early morning and he was of Cree background. I didn't know this until I looked it up but the Cree hold a 4 day mourning period where family and friends come visit the deceased and share stories to one another. You would think they would put the deceased in casket but no he was just in bed sheets up to his shoulders. It just looked like he was sleeping. I only know cause I was walking passed the room to get to my unit and I was wondering why there were so many people around this room. I was thoroughly surprised to see him just lying there so peacefully and people around him. Now if they hold this for 4 days... I just can't see that being approved by the managers of the facility. A lifeless body left alone in bed for 4 days without being prepared... I just can't imagine how the body will look or the smell. The residents on the unit were already acting unusual and I don't want to think how much more unusual the residents can get.

The things I encounter at work. It's definitely a learning experience. I am going to miss this resident who passed away. I used to do my best to speak Cree to him and learn but he would just laugh at me while repeating the words I probably butchered. He was a fun man to be around, even though near the end of his life he didn't look well physically, I knew inside he was still doing ok cause I could make him smile and sometimes laugh when I would greet him in Cree every time I saw him. R.I.P.

I wasn't going to blog today but I knew if I didn't I wouldn't do it tomorrow or on Wednesday and it'll just become a bad habit. So here I am blogging to keep it going for another day. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Pay Day

Yes! It's pay day! In about an hour, the balance of my bank account will increase only to see it decrease again after bill payments. Argh, why are bills so annoying? Can't live without them and can't live with them. Actually I guess you can live without them. In that case I better cut back on internet, cable television, cellphone, car payment... OR I can just win the lottery. How great would that be! Wishful thinking, wishful thinking.

If anyone has any other ways to save money... leave a comment.

Short blog today.