Category: Extra-Ordinary

The Daily EO: March 18th, 2013

For a couple of weeks now I was pretty certain I was going to enter the Vancouver Sun Run this year.  That was until I found out it is 10K not 5K.  I’ve never run 10K, I’ve moved 10K certainly.  I’ve run 5K, and I have run/walked 7K.  I have walked 17 km continuously and I’ve worked several 12 hour shifts serving that included only one 15 minute break.

So, can I enter the Vancouver Sun Run?  And run/walk 10K?   I have not got enough running in for the last month for a variety of reasons, so I am nervous.  The race is only 30+ days away.  Can I be physically prepared for such a race?

Even as I type this, it for some reason seems to be a bad idea.  I asked Emile if he would do it with me, and he said – unfortunately – that he would.

I just checked the balance of our bank account – we can afford it.

March 18th, 2013 Extra-Ordinary:  Running out of excuses, we are now registered.

The Daily EO: March 17th, 2013

Today is my mother’s actual birthday – St. Patrick’s Day.  So after an hour at the downtown Vancouver parade, we heading to Burnaby to have lunch with more of the family.  My grandpa loves Me-n-Ed’s pizza and it is right near by his place, so we decided pizza was the place to go.  The six of us shared 3 large pizzas and one order of nachos with only 3 slices to take home for leftovers.

As tradition dictates, we visited McDonald’s for dessert where we purchase Shamrock Shakes for dessert.  When they asked which size, my mom said “Large” without remembering the super size epidemic that swept North America.  So, we were left with 6 gigantic shakes that were tasty in their bad for you way.  So full, yet so shamrocky and delicious at the same time.

After such a large lunch the followed by some ridiculous amount of shake we started to suffer the ill effects, but I the most:

Shamrock Shaked
Shamrock Shaked

I should also tell you that I almost killed Emile earlier that day when I brought the truck of our hatchback car down upon his head.  Given we didn’t have any pain relievers in the restaurant, he proceeded to drink quite a few non-green beers to dull the pain.

March 17th, 2013 Extra-Ordinary:  I managed to drag my Shamrocked ass off the floor and drive my nearly concussed husband home.  No-one ate dinner that night.

The Daily EO: March 16th, 2013

We celebrated my mom’s birthday today.   She was born on St. Patrick’s Day several years ago, but Saturday night seemed like the night to go for a lovely and restful dinner.  We tried out a new place by our place – Lily Mae’s – which billed themselves as French Comfort Food.

Paris to me was not comfortable – as much as I loved it there, it was much more chicness that I could only aspire to.  French to me means fussy, detailed, precise and exclusive.  So, I didn’t know what totally to expect from this new restaurant.  The French I encountered in Paris were only so welcoming to me – a tourist with very little French skills.

But the restaurant we visited was straight forward, charming, friendly and precise in service, rules and food perpetration.  A perfect combination comfort and French.

March 16th, 2013 Extra-Ordinary:   Add a little bit of North American comfort to the French ways and you get a boeuf bourguignon to write home about (or at least to blog about).

I’m going back to get the bacon apple caramel cake.

The Daily EO: March 14th, 2013

I didn’t celebrate my First “blogoversary”, because in my mind, it didn’t count.  I set out to write daily and so when my 1 year anniversary came up, I hadn’t written a year’s worth of posts – thanks mainly to December 2012 month off.

But this is my 365th post and that seems a milestone that I should acknowledge in some way.  I am doing it by changing my theme from “Chunk” to “Superhero”.  I know – it’s a thrill a minute around here.  I am too value-conscious to even consider premium or custom designed blog sites, so I am sticking to basic WordPress ones.

My selection was limited by the fact that I have a font particularity that distracts me from content and I didn’t want fish, or babies, or worms, or anything else like that (I am not a fish, baby or worm blogger).  So, if you have a serif font, or a cutesy graphic I can’t use it to publish.

So, hold on to your socks and hats people, here you go – new format for a new year.    Next I might polish the cutlery.

March 14th, 2013 Extra-Ordinary:  365 posts and I still have something to say.  You must be right – I am opinionated.

The Daily EO: March 12th, 2013

When was a kid Grandpa and Grandma would visit and always bring fruit from the Okanogan.  I’ve told you this before and I also told you of my love of Macintosh Apples.   I have always preferred Macs, Spartans and Granny Smiths above all others especially Delicious Apples.  I am not sure what it is about Delicious apples, but I don’t like the yellowish flesh, the mealy mouth feel, the thick skin and the flavour seems not appley to me.  So when ever I see those tell-tale bumps on the bottom of that dark red apple, I pick up a banana instead.

I do the grocery shopping in our home because I actually like grocery shopping.  Emile does most of the dinner cooking and I do lunches.   It seems to work well for us because Emile gets home earlier than me and the best grocery stores are out by my work.  When I make a grocery list – unless I need specifics – I usually write “fruit” and”Veggies”.  I am not sure why I am compelled to write that – because if I know I’ll remember what fruit to buy, why don’t I think I’ll remember to buy fruit?  Hmmm.  I’ve not thought of this before.   Well, reflection for another time.

Anyways, as you can well imagine when I buy apples, I buy my preferences.  Macs – if they aren’t end of season, Spartans if they look good or Granny Smiths (because they taste to darn good with sharp cheddar or peanut butter).  I eschew any apples with bumps on the bottom.  No thank you!  I assume if they have bumps on the bottom they are related to a Delicious and I can’t take that risk.    I’ve never considered apple selection implications on Emile until for some reason I went rogue in the apple aisle.  My normal selections weren’t looking that good, so I picked up some Gala, Pink Lady’s and Ambrosia apples for that week.   I figured Emile would have to make do with these until better stock was in place.  (incidentally, I threw them all into the same bag, cashiers hate me)

When it comes to the lunches I make, I really like feedback.  No, strike that, I really like appreciation.  And so Emile does his best to say “hey, liked my lunch today”.  He came home on rogue apple week and said “I really liked that apple you packed.  One of the best in a long while”.  Wha?!

March 12th, 2013 Extra-Ordinary:  “Bumpy” apples get added to the rotation – but just not Delicious, I am not sure if I could actually take paying money for them.  All this time, I have been thinking only of myself and protection from Delicious apples and Emile has been suffering.

 

The Daily EO: March 11th, 2013

I had great goals of not letting these blog entries pile up this week and my resolution resulted in  . . . well, like I didn’t make a resolution at all.

And though I have blogged about not been too tough on myself, sometimes I think I am not tough enough.  It’s funny how outside pressures to do something work towards a goal are often much more powerful.  Why is that?  We are born inherently selfish and somewhere along the line other people’s opinions matter more.  Be polite, consider other’s needs before your own, be kind.

March 11th, 2013 Extra-Ordinary:  It’s not okay to let my friends and colleagues down, but its okay to let myself down?  No don’t think so.  I need to blog and floss more regularly.

The Daily EO: March 10th, 2013

Gosh, there are some days that I do miss my life in Huntsville and Ontario.  I don’t regret our decision to move and I am glad we did, but Huntsville was home for a long time.  There it doesn’t rain much, where there is free parking all over the place, homelessness and abject poverty are not common and close friends still reside.

I snuggled in today; secretly glad it was overcast and windy out, because I didn’t want to go any where anyways.

March 10th, 2013 Extra-Ordinary:  Just because you have no regrets, doesn’t mean you don’t miss what you’ve left.

The Daily EO: March 9th, 2013

Like most Vancouverites, Emile and I enjoy walking the Sea Wall.

So often we make our way down there – winding through the tourists – and walk the sea wall.  Saturday was a particularly gorgeous day – and we spoke frequently about how spring is so much better when you don’t have to go through the melt.

Often I’ll run along the sea wall and I feel like I belong here.  Running in my Yoga jacket with my iPhone.   Yes, I’m that girl.  Running along.  There she goes. . .

Anyways, we enjoy walking and talking down the sea wall.  Our route almost always takes us around the outside of the Vancouver Convention Centre with the Water sculpture.  Located there is a restaurant called De Dutch.  Emile – being Dutch – and I always talk about finding out what a Dutch restaurant serves but have never been.

We finally made it on Saturday morning.  We laughing reviewed the menu as Emile told me stories about his mother’s cooking.   The traditional luncheon meal at Emile’s house is a piece of bread with ham and a fried egg on it.  He told me it is actually called an uitsmijter as listed on the menu.  He remembered his Dutch when he ordered a Boer’s Breakfast.  His Farmer’s Breakfast featured all the regular morning offerings and included a large Dutch Pannekoek (pancakes).  Dutch pannekoeks are somewhere between a regular pancake and a crepe.

He bit into his pannekoek and stated “There is that tang.”  Emile started to tell me about stories from Holland that I had never had.  His dad’s mom made Emile and his sister pannekoeks for breakfast when they were in Holland.  Not cereal on most mornings like at home, but his Oma’s pannekoeks.  Made without a mix, and without a recipe probably just like her mother before her did.

The next morning Emile tried to reproduce his Oma’s Dutch pannekoek.  He called home to ask his mom how to make them.  Her side of the family wasn’t a pannekoek home and his dad was no help.  Afterall, he only just ate them.  A first attempt using an internet recipe was heavy, dense and lacking the tanginess.

March 9th, 2013 Extra-Ordinary:  A unexpected memory from breakfast and the beginning of a quest for a Dutch Pannekoek recipe like his Oma’s.