Sigh .. more snow. Another 10-15 cms. I dunno, but this is getting ridiculous. I'm beginning to wonder if Wiarton Willy is fooling us with this 6 more weeks until spring prediction.
My winter boots have been getting a pretty decent workout this year. I think we've had over 9 ft of snow this winter season so far. I heard there's more on the way.
Toodles,
Pudgy
February 7th - Chinese New Year
Jeff and I did not make any special plans for Valentine's day this year. It was very much a non-event for us. We don't need a specific day to declare our love for each other - in fact, setting aside a date for the occasion seems to make it less special .. less genuine. It means more to me that Jeff went grocery shopping on an ordinary day and picked out my favorite flavour of potato chips than to pay inflated prices for roses on Valentine's day. The latter is way too predictable. Okay .. I think you get my point. :) But we did spend the 15th making our Williams-Sonoma molten chocolate cake. My picture taking skills aren't as good as it used to be. But this was one pic that I liked. Our cakes were really good. We froze some of the cakes for future consumption. We also received lots of Valentine's day treats from Jeff's parents. I got my own tub of caramel cornflake balls!!! With all of these sweets, Jeff and I are going to have to hit the gym and play more badminton for cardio.Happy Chinese New Year everyone! Jeff and I wish everyone good health and happiness in the new year.
So far, it's been pretty fun being in Toronto. It was nice being with family and catching up with friends who I have not seen since our wedding - that was almost 2 years ago!)
I loved seeing my nephew Anson. He's got a skin irritation on one side of his forehead. He keeps scratching it and making it worse. :(
We also managed to make it out to Yorkdale to pick up a few things from Williams-Sonoma. That store is so overpriced! $24 for a mini spatula? I wanted one but the price tag made me put it down. However, the sale table was very attractive. Hehe ..
The snow has been unbelievable here. And I thought Ottawa was bad. Jeff and I helped my parents dig their driveway this morning. I couldn't have the two of them shovel all that snow - it was so heavy too! To thank Jeff for his effort, I took him out for breakfast at Skyway Jacks. It's a small truck-stop kind of breakfast joint with a pig as its mascot. It sure lives up to its slogan of "Home of the Healthy Portions". We could not find fruit of any kind (ie side of fruit, fruit with granola, fruit salad, etc) on the menu .. :) Luckily, we don't go there on a regular basis.
We are having our New Year's dinner tonight. We ordered a dinner pot from T & T this year. My mom wanted to try it so I figure I'll treat her to something different. It looks cool and it's got layers of dicon radish, black tiger shrimp, bbq pork, sea cucumber, black mushroom, etc. I'm getting hungry as I type this.
In a few days, we'll be heading back to Ottawa. I wonder what the weather was like there for the last few days. I hope we didn't get the same snowfall there. :(
After almost 2 months of being away from the gym, Double J (Jeff and I) headed to GoodLife yesterday. It was chest and biceps day. We did a simple routine to kind of ease our way back into it. Three sets of benchpress (yes, I do this too), three sets of flies on the machine (I think it's called a pectoral press?), three sets of standing curls, and 3 sets of preacher curls with free weights. After the weights, it's about 20 minutes of abdominals and 20 mins of cardio.
The Day After ...
Owwwwww! My body is in pain .. good pain. I know that after a few more sessions at the gym, it won't hurt like this. I love going to the gym but I'm not big on the cardio part. I much prefer tennis or ultimate frisbee for cardio.
Tomorrow?
Even though the body is in pain, tomorrow is shoulder, back, and triceps day. I'm soooo looking forward to doing melon crushers, more abs, and dreaded cardio. I really admire those who can run on a treadmill .. it requires some kind of coordination and I know if I got on a treadmill, I'd stumble and fall flat on my face. :) Not that it's happened before but I've seen it happen to others and I just think .. that could be me.
Toodles,
Pudgy - one of the Js.
It's been a while since my last post. Just a small update on what's been up since my last post.
Christmas in Edmonton
Jeff and I have spent Christmas every year in Edmonton since we got married - Chinese New Year is spent with my family since it's the equivalent of Christmas to us. More on that later ...
Due to the new house and work commitments, I haven't taken time off for a real vacation. My last real vacation was our honeymoon, way back in 2006. So I was looking forward to going to Edmonton and getting out of Ottawa. We had a great time there this year. I finally got to meet a few of Jeff's university friends and they were all very nice and welcoming. Mark and Asil were in town and they came through for us this year ... true Russian caviar all the way from Kyrgyzstan! This may be the last caviar we have as Mark is returning to Edmonton for good.
Christmas was a classic. It was a family affair and that's the way I like it. Turkey, stuffing, and Sharon's fabulous baking. It doesn't get any better than that.
The shopping in Edmonton is always great - with one less tax, it's much better to shop there than in Ontario. I held off on shopping for most of the year and saved my real shopping until I was in Edmonton. Jeff and I stocked up on jeans and I bought slacks/pants for work. Being the shorty that I am, I have to get every pair of pants hemmed so they are still sitting in the closet as we speak. Sigh.
I need to point out that if you are ever in Alberta, you have to try the beef. It is truly the best I've ever tasted. I've had steak in Ottawa and nothing compares to Alberta AAA.
The Big Thaw
Shortly after our return, we had some nice mild temperatures. It was much needed. Our 7' high drifts are now knee high. I hope it stays this way until the end of winter. Oh who am I kidding? I'm in Ottawa and it's only January .. what are the odds? :)
Chinese New Year
Our next trip to Toronto will be in early February. I'll be happy to be with my family for Chinese New Years. The last time I was in Toronto, was for Ka and Corrie's wedding. Haven't been back since. I miss Toronto ... sniff sniff ..
Kudos
My buddy Damien recently told me that he was engaged! Congratulations D & A! I've known Damien for many years .. he's always been a great friend and I'm so happy for him.
Unlike everyone else in Southern Ontario, we didn't get hit with that much snow. Jeff and I didn't see what the big deal was. We woke up and looked outside our backyard this morning and it was so pretty. :) This is our back neighbour. He had a fancy stone deck built over the summer. Can you see it in this picture? It's completely covered in snow!!
As mentioned in my previous post, Jeff and I laugh every time we look outside the front of our house and see the walls of snow separating us from our neighbours. No, we aren't anti-social but there is no where to put all of this white stuff. We shovelled our driveway again today and when we walked out, we were knee deep in snow. I hate to say this but I think it's time to get myself some real winter boots. Yeah, I don't have boots .. nor do I have proper winter gloves. Jeff keeps nagging me to get boots and gloves but I never look for them when I'm at the mall. Come to think of it, I haven't been to the mall in a while. I'm waiting for West Edmonton Mall .. the Mall of all Malls. :) Just a few more days and I'll be in shopping heaven.
BTW, we got 40 cms of snow .. shovelled twice .. and the walls of snow are minimum 7 feet high. Did I mention that we are running of places to put this stuff??
Toodles,
Pudgy and Puffy.
P.S. This is a view down the street from our house. It's a little dark but it hasn't been plowed yet.
Christmas is a few weeks away but we have been preparing for it since November. :) Finally I've had time to give everyone an update on what we've been up to. Let's see ..
Decorating our Home
We were at Costco when we found this wreath. Jeff really liked it and wanted to buy it. He was hesitant because we both had to agree on it before we made the purchase. I'm not a big Christmas person .. but even I have to admit, this wreath was cute. There were two to choose from and I kinda like the other one better because it was Santa and Mrs Claus sitting in the hoop. But Jeff picked the one with the reindeer instead .. ok, does this make *me* the reindeer?? :P I definitely don't want to be the guy with the beard. :) Nevertheless, it was only the beginning of our holiday decorations.
Next was the tree. Our hunt for a tree took a while. The one we originally wanted was sold out at Costco but we found a nicer one at Canadian Tire. This 7.5 ft tree almost didn't fit in my SUV but luckily, the Canadian Tire wasn't far from our home. Once we got it home, we couldn't wait to put it up. Jeff picked out the tree and I picked out the colours to decorate it. It took us less than 3 hours to get it all ready to go. It looks so cool .. very Christmas-y. In case you can't see it from the photo, the colours are silver and purple. Our house is very neutral and I wanted the tree to stand out .. so I picked purple as the punch of colour. It's too bad that we are unable to share our tree with family and friends .. who wants to drive out to Ottawa? Anybody?? <sound of crickets>
Snow, snow, and more snow
Okay you Toronto folks .. 10 cms is not a lot of snow. We got 40 cms once and we still shovelled it off our driveway and made the trek into work. In fact, we've been getting 5 to 10 cms every day. I'm gonna have take a picture of the walls of snow outside our home .. I'm sure you'd get a laugh out of it. We laugh every time we look outside.
Ka and Corrie's Wedding
Last weekend was the big day for Ka and Corrie. Congratulations guys!! The wedding was a blast. I was the "dai kum" for their tea ceremony. While I was getting ready at the hotel, the nervousness started to set in. I was soooooooo nervous. The last time I conducted a tea ceremony, it was last October for Jonas and Sharon's wedding. I was super nervous at the start .. I didn't want to mess up in front of the parents. But after handing out a few cups of tea, the nervousness subsided. I found that the key was to not look at the audience - just focus on getting the job done. In the end, I felt I could have done a better job. I don't know why .. but I think I could have done better.
Nevertheless, we had a lot of fun. I was happy to be a part of the big day. BTW, I love taking pics of FUI - friends under the influence. Hehehe .. 
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