I Think I'm Ready For This

My bag is packed, I'm pretty much ready to go...

Thomas and I are heading out tomorrow morning for Saskatoon. His road trip is over, so he's back to work on Monday, and I'll be meeting Randall, who's been at the AGM in Melfort this weekend.

I think I've done everything I wanted to get done before I head out for a two week holiday: the birthday party thank you cards have been written and delivered/posted, the softening bananas have been made into muffins, the books have been chosen, the porridge and pancake mixes have been mixed and bagged, the breakfast and lunch have been packed, the clothes and socks and drugs and hair appliances and whatnot have been sorted and found to fit in the duffel bag, and although I didn't get the garden dirt raked smooth I did get the dead stalks and leaves cleared out of the rhubarb......the house plants have been watered and the coffee has been ground for the take away cups in the morning...

I think I'm mostly ready.

I feel a little un-ready, but that could just be the busy month I'm coming off of, or the fun wedding I've just been celebrating. Or the fact that everything seems to fit in just one bag. It's unusual for me to not have several grocery bags besides the duffel for clothes etc., and the cooler bag for the gluten-dairy free food, but besides the extra knitting bag, that seems to be it. 

So... as I sit here in a house that is quiet except for the delightful crickety sound of the recently awakened frogs and what might be some ducks in a nearby pond, I'll bid you adieu for a bit. I may not get to my Scrabble, Words With Friends or DrawSomething games while I'm gone, but I'll do my best to find a wifi signal every once in a while so I don't get too far behind. 

Cheers.

Happy (finally!) spring!

Fifty Is Just A Number

The thing that is most intriguing about this year, is that it's easy to percentify everything.

"Percentify"= to evaluate or clarify by means of mathematical calculation in order to give a percentage value to an event or situation.

Yes, I know, I just made that word up. It's okay. It's my birthday. I'm allowed.

For example: I am 50. I have been  married for 28 years this year, therefore I have been married for 56 percent of my life.

Or: I have four children, and have been a parent since I was 24, therefore I have been a mother for 48 % of my life.

When your life numbers 50 years, it's too easy to NOT percentify everything!

How about... I have lived in a Field/the country for about 30% of my life. I've been a driver of motor vehicles for 68% of my life. I've been able to read for 90% of my life. I've had hair for 100% of my life. I've played the piano for 88% of my life. Had a pet dog - 36%. Been a big sister-98%.

It's fun!

Happy Birthday, me.

Happy percentification!

"Percentification"- the act of assigning a percentage value to an event or situation.

Again, it's my birthday. I'm allowed. I promise to stop making up words tomorrow.

Maybe.

And Let Them Continue

Yesterday was a good day. Not exactly as planned, but good.

We have a bad habit, out here in The Field, of starting the day with a plan to evacuate said Field, and then being tired out before we begin. Some days we just stay home and chill out. Some days we get as far as Wetaskiwin or Camrose, and leave the big city alone.

Yesterday I proposed Ponoka, and so it was.

I really like Ponoka- I think as a whole, it's my favourite little town within a 1/2 hour radius of The Field. Camrose has a great downtown, and if you want a Big Box Store, that's the way to go, but as a whole, Ponoka is a really nice little prairie town.

Ponoka also has a couple of fabulously fun thrift stores and an awesome used book store. Although we ended up having supper at Wendy's, (which is great, as far as I'm concerned, because they have some delicious salads, and their meat and chili is gluten free, so for fast food, they have a lot of options for the gluten, dairy and soy free eater), I scored a set of 15 Martha Grimes "Richard Jury" mysteries, as well as a delightful L.M. Montgomery book that I don't think I've read, and a little "50 Card Games For Children" book. Fun times ahead in this house! I'm loving "Magic for Marigold", and I'm only on the 2nd chapter.

Tonight I've got a Mushroom Cream Hamburger thing going on, with a pot of water boiled up and ready for the rice vermicelli. There's a bowl of strawberries from my Secret Prayer Sister at church sliced up and ready for ice cream (for him) and the gluten and dairy free angel food cake I made for me. YUM!

Tomorrow is looking like a regular type day, for the most part. I didn't get any of the MOPS prep done today, so I'll have to do that all tomorrow. I might have a breakfast or lunch date, and I'm planning roast chicken breast and sweet potatoes for supper.

'Cause I'm sure you all want to know :)

Yup. So far I'd say the birthday week is going well. As soon as I sign off here I'll go stir the pot again, and then crack open the Avon and check out the orange watch I ordered...

Cheers!

Let The Celebrations Begin

So, it's my birthday this week...

A not-so-insignificantly-numbered birthday...

I will be glad when the week is over- not because I have any particular qualms about turning 50, (because after all, as I speculated the other day, I don't expect to live to be 100, so I'm not middle aged. I'm actually well past middle age...) but it's a busy week.

Husband and I are heading into the city pretty soon to do whatever I want to do today. *which, for the record, is NOT my favourite kind of day... too much pressure... but I'll do my best to think of fun things to do...

I think today will include a meal at Doans Vietnamese restaurant and a stroll down Whyte Ave., with some poking about in the second hand book shops and maybe a coffee break at one of the myriad Second Cups or Starbucks establishments along the way. It also needs to involve a pit stop at Safeway on our way home to get the supplies for this week's MOPS, as well as any other birthday-type treats I feel so inclined to pick up.

Tuesday looks like it will be a "home blessings" kind of day, to borrow a phrase from a Ladies' Retreat friend. Laundry, some cleaning, and the initial prep for the snack at MOPS.

Wednesday, the actual birthday, will (hopefully) have a few happy interruptions from children and  the granddaughter, as well as making sure everything's ready for the big event of the week...

And that would be MOPS on Thursday morning, followed by Reflexology in the afternoon and a big birthday party Thursday evening.

I feel a little sheepish to say that I'm rather looking forward to Friday, which has nothing on the calendar except baking some cookies for a fundraiser on Saturday; since I enjoy baking cookies and have figured out the ROKU thingy on the kitchen TV and can find the Netflix movies... I think Friday has the potential to be a particularly lovely and relaxed day.

One day at a time, right?

And today is quickly slipping away, so I should go brush my teeth and apply a spot of makeup and get the show on the road... although it sounds quite nice and calm in the other room where Himself has Classic FM queued up on the internet radio...

And, we're off....

Have I Mentioned That These Are Delicious?

One of last year's best gifts was a pair of cookbooks that my Husband bought me from  Babycakes NYC. Gluten, dairy, egg and soy free recipes that have brought new joy to this baking-deprived individual. Not that I need  it, necessarily... but wonderful, nonetheless.

I've been on a brownie kick for a couple of weeks. It's probably not a good thing that I can bake up a batch of these little beauties in about 20 minutes, from start to finish, but it's a delicious thing.

The dozen I made yesterday to enhance a tea date with my friend are all but gone- being eaten and freezer stashed, so I whipped up a fresh batch to bring to the Ham and Turkey Bingo at the Angus Ridge Community Hall tonight.

Yum.

I suppose I should go rustle up something as a prelude to dessert...

I HEARD IT IS SPRING

I DON'T QUITE BELIEVE IT YET

NO GREEN, TOO MUCH SNOW

It's A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood

Because we have some beautiful neighbours who make beautiful, gluten and dairy-free German bologna.

God bless the Hutterites. They do make good meat.

And I must say that was the best bologna sandwich I've had in a year. Well, it was the only one, but it was possibly the best ever ever.

Happy day.

In spite of the gloomy snow.