Kitchen Duty

  Did I ever mention I don't like to cook? It's a necessary evil but I'm not happy about it. Which is why we all eat the same food. No one gets special treatment, except for breakfast and really how difficult are eggs? I make one meal. If you don't want/like it then there is cereal. Which you will make yourself.

  Tonight it's spaghetti and meat balls. Very basic. Very simple. But we all enjoy it. The meatballs are turkey and the pasta is multi grain so somehow it's healthy-ish too. At least that's what I tell myself.

  My friends are adventurous when it comes to cooking. I'm always excited when I get an invite to their dinner tables. They actually use cook books, recipes and Pintrest. I look at the pictures.

  I always think I should try new things. But I really don't enjoy it so that hinders my attempts. Not that there have been many attempts.

  One thing I do like cooking are party foods. Appetizers and salads. The bigger the party the better. I make a mean rice and shrimp salad to go with the crab puffs. See I'm not totally lost in the kitchen.

  It's time to go and make some meatballs. Hmm....I hope I have some onion soup mix. 

  That's a kitchen "staple" right?

  Ang




  

Lazy Rantings

  I've been very lazy with this blog lately. I'm not sure why. It's not that I haven't had anything to say. Or that I'm busier than normal. I'm just, well, feeling lazy. That must stop.

  See I've found that when I get my thoughts out or vent I feel more at peace. With myself, my family and the world around me. I've come to enjoy that peacefulness. Today I mean to get it back.

  Let's start with the verdict in the Ghomeshi trial. Google it if you aren't aware of the details. It's pretty brutal stuff. I wasn't in the court room but I do know there are intricacies to the law that we aren't aware of, unless you have a law degree. While I'm not happy with the way the victims have been turned into the criminals, a judge has said he is not guilty on all charges. So sadly not guilty it is. But....

  The treatment of his female lawyer scares me. She is taking heat from women all over the world. For doing her job. Her job. Yes she could have not taken the case. Yes she could have stayed in the shadows. But these are the cases that send a career into another level of success. And while we don't know her reasons for taking the case we must accept that she had a right to take it. 

  If we want equality then female lawyers must take these cases. And rape cases. Defend child molesters and abusive husbands. All the horrible awful things men do to women and children. Like it or not. That's what equality means. 

 We are harder on our own sex than on the other. We tend to expect more from women than men. If that's the case then we are destined to be fighting for equality forever. 

  Ang

Hoppy Easter

  Happy Easter weekend everyone! I hope you are all enjoying the first real weekend of spring with family and friends. Maybe even a turkey. We, as a family, are enjoying a little too much together time.

  See Thursday was a "snow day" for the boys. This after a nine day break. So three days of school, five days off, four days of school then the weekend. Craziness. Too many days off. Too many days in the house.

  Now John is home too which brings the noise level up another notch. The boys seem a bit more rowdy with Dad in the room. Now if only they would all get along for more than two minutes at a time.

  With everything closed on this Easter Sunday our options are limited on what to do. But since we live in the nations capital we have "tourist areas" that are always open. Perhaps it will be warm enough to walk around there this afternoon. Fingers crossed.

  While you eat your chocolate and gobble your turkey remember to say a quick thank you for being alive. Look around your holiday table and see how blessed you really are. 

  Now to get the chocolate out of the chair. Oh the joys of the Easter bunny!

  Ang

Vroom Vroom

    I almost forgot. I wanted to tell you about the boys...all three of them.....favorite part of this past vacation. The thrills. The excitement. Wait for it. The candy apple red Mustang convertible. 

  That's right a car. We didn't need to spend all that money and time travelling. We could have just taken a car out for a test drive!

  We drove to Downtown Disney, or whatever it is they are calling it now. So as a surprise I rented a convertible which just happened to be a Mustang. Boy does it look pretty. The black leather seats. The highly polished red exterior. Gorgeous.

  Then you get inside. Well leather is hot. Especially on a hot day when the roof has been down for hours. And when you have people in the back, even little people, there isn't much room. What a hard job getting into it. And John, at six feet, was pretty darn close to the steering wheel.

  But hey it's a convertible and the sun is shining. So with big smiles we start off.  It's just a little over an hours drive. Quickly the kids realize you can't see an iPad screen with all that sunlight. And that the air is just as hot at 70mph as standing still. Don't forget the air conditioner is a waste of time. Not to mention the tangled hair.

  We do our shopping, a few Christmas ornaments and a mug, then head back to the ship. This ride is nicer. The temperature is nice. The breeze is cooler.  The sun has gone down some so you can see the screen again. Perfect. 

  As we were driving back I could easily see what the appeal of the convertible was. But I'll never buy one. 

  Ever.

  Ang

Travel

  Yesterday, before I heard about the terrorist attacks in Brussels, I was sent an "After Cruise Survey" by Norwegian Cruise Line. I filled it out on-line then went about my business. Not until later did it hit me that one of the questions was quite relevant for the day.
  
  I'm paraphrasing here so bear with me....Does the current climate of terrorist attacks cause you to alter, cancel or prevent you from travelling? 

  Of course I said no. In fact, truthfully, it never really occurred to me. We don't tend to travel with the kids to areas of civil unrest. Or to places where kidnappings of tourists are a clear risk. But it never occurred to me that I could, or should, consider a cruise ship a place for an attack. 

  Naive? Maybe. Cruise ships go to touristy areas. They go to places where the people want, and need, your tourism dollars. A quick swim with the dolphins or a bus ride through their historic sites. At least that's what the North American cruise lines do. I always feel safe in these places.

  But why do I have no fear of travel? I'm sure the people who were waiting for flights or the subway in Brussels yesterday were thinking they were safe. Is it because it's not a daily fact for us here in Canada? Maybe. Probably.

  Perhaps I should worry more. Hmmmm....now that I see it in print I know I'm wrong. I shouldn't. We should continue to travel. We should continue to take the common sense precautions that all travelers should .....no walking down alleyways at night, stay together, don't travel to war zones...the basics. Once our lives are dictated by the terror around us the terrorists have won.

  Ang

  ***Remember....this is small group of radicalized people. A tiny, minuscule faction of people. This is not a religion. This is not a religion. This is NOT a religion.***

  

  

  

Scams

  Social Media here in Canada has been flooded with warnings of scams involving credit cards, bank accounts and Revenue Canada (our tax agency). These scams are so good in some cases that even bank officials are hard pressed to find the errors in the emails sent out. And somehow these con artists can make your call display show Government of Canada or the bank. Very sophisticated.

  In the past week I've had two bizarre encounters. The first was a phone call from the fraud department of our credit card company.  Very politely the man told me John's card had been compromised and a new card would.....well I didn't let him go any further. I calmly said I'm not falling for your scam and after calling him a few choice names I hung up the phone. 

  Then I started thinking. What if it was true? He hadn't asked for any information. And John was out of town. What if it was for real and he couldn't use his card for travel? Did he have his work card with him? Thinking I should be proactive, I called the company myself. After explaining the situation, I was transferred to the fraud department where a very nice man told me that yes in fact John's card had been compromised and they would be needing to send him a new card!

  Figures. After passing on my apologies to the man who initially called, I arranged for a new card to be sent out.  The bank said it never calls...except the fraud department. Lesson learned but still I won't ever give out any information to anyone on the phone. Which leads me to today......

  Another phone call. This one from Revenue Canada. Again my radar is up. I tell the very polite woman that I'm not answering any of her questions and just as I'm about to hang up she quickly says this happens all the time and I should call the 888 number from their website and she will leave a note on my account to show she is legitimate.

  Again I'm not falling for it. But then.....I start to think. What if this is for real? Deja vu my friends. So I call the toll free number and explain my situation. Again I speak to a very nice person who agrees better safe than sorry. After an unending stream of questions he informs me that yes I had been contacted by a department within CRA. 

  Figures. Not once but twice. I'm the only person the "people who never call you" call! So while we all need to be careful about scams we also must be aware that sometimes we need to call the institution back...just to be sure.

  On a good note Revenue Canada wasn't calling to say I owe them money! 

  Ang

I Knew It!

  Yesterday was the first morning back in reality. No more sleeping in or staying up late. No made to order breakfast served in the sunshine by someone with a smile on their face. Nope it was reality all around us. Cold. Snow. Boots. And worst of all....early mornings.

  Boy was I surprised when everyone got up without quarrel. Into the shower without a harsh word. Downstairs and dressed in record time. Smile in place. No complaints about the breakfast. As perfect a morning as we could hope for in our house on a Monday. 

  Sigh.....then this morning happened. Everything I had braced myself for yesterday came true today. The level of grouchiness was off the charts. Slamming doors and loud voices were the music of the morning. I'm not sure but there might have been steam coming out of the roof there was so much bitterness in here.

  But that hour is over. Both boys have made the long walk to the bus. And now the house is at peace. The walls sighed a little when the last one walked out. Fingers crossed they get over it by the time three o'clock rolls around.

  I'm going to need a second coffee this morning!

  Ang