Home Alone?

This long weekend, I was home alone. Jeff was in Edmonton visiting my in-laws while I stayed behind. I couldn't go because I could not afford the time off work. I was a little nervous about staying in a city where I don't know anybody but it turned out okay. I spent a bit of time cleaning but most importantly, I spent time doing things I wanted to do and eating whatever I wanted to eat. No, it wasn't a weekend of Doritos and Pepsi. :) Ever since we moved, it's been non-stop go-go-go. Even short vacations were stressful because you knew you had to come back to a mound of laundry or yard work to do.

The most enjoyable thing I did this weekend? Listen to music for hours while doing chores and singing at the top of my lungs. I don't sing in public but I enjoy singing. Weird, eh? :) Time goes by and stuff still gets done. I don't get stressed out .. tomorrow is another day so if it doesn't get done today, no big deal. To be able to recapture the fun was satisfying. I hadn't done that since I moved out of my parents home. Next time you're at home, I highly recommend doing that. :)

Jeff returns tomorrow night .. and life will go back to the way it was before.

Toodles,
Pudgy

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A Week in Toronto

Last week, I was in Toronto for a week. Jeff was on course while I was on vacation. It was a great vacation for me because I got to spend time with friends whom I have not seen since my wedding day. I also got to see my family and spent lots of chat time with them. Even though I talk to them on the phone almost everyday, it is not the same as talking to them in person.

Everytime I am in Toronto, my desire to move back grows. Ottawa is nice but it is rather boring when there are no familiar faces here.

Finally got to see Corrie and Ka's cozy condo. The place was very nice. They were such good hosts! Kendrick can make a fine chicken and potato dish - it turned out great even though they substituted the tomato paste with tomato sauce. Luckily I drove my car. When any of Ka, Kendrick, or Jeff is involved in a dinner party, you know there will be some serious boozing. I've never had ice wine before but the stuff that Ka had was tasty. Thanks again for having us over. We had a fabulous time. (Oh and congratulations to V & S on their engagement!)

The surprise news of the week came during the Friday lunch group meal at Ala Kitchen. Finally .. yes, finally .. Ka and Corrie are engaged! You should have seen my jaw drop when they said the wedding date was December 2007. If you guys need any help, we are there for you. We owe you guys big time for being such great help at our wedding.

And lastly, my sister Joyce turned the big 3-0. She doesn't look a day over 20 though. Too bad she wasn't able to visit us during the Civic Holiday weekend. But we understand, she's carrying precious cargo .. :)

Toodles,
Pudgy

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Pink Cupcakes

After an afternoon of mowing the yard (front and back!), Puff and I decided to cap off our evening by doing something we've (ok .. I've) been meaning to do for a long time ... make cupcakes! My sister is coming to visit over the Civic Holiday weekend and I wanted to throw her a mini-baby shower - she's due in October. Instead of buying or making a cake, I decided to try my hand at making cupcakes. I dunno .. maybe by making cupcakes, if it goes wrong, it won't feel like one huge disaster .. just a bunch of small oopsies. :)

We made both the cupcake and the frosting from scratch. The cake was a vanilla cupcake. I love the smell of vanilla cake baking in the oven. The sweet smell just fills the kitchen. For the icing, we prepared a raspberry buttercream. The pink colour you see, is not food colouring. I have to admit, buttercream is easy to work with but difficult to maintain .. after all, it is butter and in the summer, it will melt or change (darkens) the colour of the buttercream. Puff and I are weird folks .. we don't stock candy at home. But I manage to dig up a box of Easter Smarties and topped each cupcake with a smarty. <rant>Okay, I know you're thinking "Ewwww!! Smarties from Easter? That was *how many* months ago??" We just don't go through candy that quickly. Besides, we all know chocolate doesn't rot that fast. :) And I promise when we do make the cupcakes for the shower, they won't have Easter smarties on them.

</rant>

This was the end result of our creation. I think vanilla worked best because they make the pink frosting stand out.

At the last minute, I remember we bought shredded coconut for the top .. they looked snow capped. Not bad for a first-time cupcake maker, eh?

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Bad Mosquito Bites

For the last few years, I've developed some kind of allergic reaction to mosquito bites. Small bites turn into big red, swollen areas. Just on Sunday, I was bitten three times - one on each calf, and one on the foot. Within 24 hrs, my foot got swollen so badly I could barely bend it - making driving quite difficult.

I didn't have anything in the house to put on it so I went with the chinese method of White Flower oil (aka - bak fa yeow). It helped prevent the itch and brought down the swelling a bit but it's still pretty bad. The two on the back of my legs are the size of a baseball and hot pink. I have a medicinal stench now but hey, it works. :)

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The Big Move

The big move happened just two weeks ago. Moving isn't fun. It started on a Saturday morning. The three movers loaded our stuff in their van and headed over to the new house. It was rainy and all we could think about was our brand new carpet ... will the move make a mess on our new carpet?

The move took the whole day and at the end of the day, I swore that I would never want AMJ Campbell to move our stuff again. We ended up with a few damaged items - cracked glass on some picture frames, broken mugs, a broken lamp, and a missing leg from our coffee table. Luckily our wine glasses all survived.

With almost all of our boxes emptied, it actually feels like a home now. Our favorite room is the kitchen - cooking with gas rocks! I highly recommend it to you foodies out there. I promised Joyce Ng that I'd post a picture of our kitchen with all of our appliances in place. So here it is ..

At the bottom is a pic of some wine bottles. We've been separated from our wine for around 6 months. All bottles have been saved .. even the Chateau Latour. :)

The place isn't completely ready for visitors but if you don't mind the clutter, drop by and say hi.

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Houston, we have equity.

The day has finally come. My new title is 'homeowner'. I got the keys while Pudgy was at work. We met up after work and headed over to our new 'crib' with a few items in hand. Pudgy said that the first time we enter the house, we need rice and a new broom - rice for something to eat and a broom to sweep out the evils and dust. ;-)

(Look my Ma - keys, broom, and rice!! :))

This is me - christening the powder room. Hey .. when you gotta go, you *gotta* go.
Our dream kitchen - sans appliances. Those will be coming later. I'll post a pic when everything is in place.
Our 'great' room. June's gonna have a tough time cleaning those windows. Hehe - just kidding. Is she going to read this?

Anyway, it's been a long 6 months but it was worth the wait.

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How do you make Kraft Dinner?

Odd title for a post, eh? Well, we are officially poor now. :) We will be feasting on Kraft Dinner every night now .. does anybody have a good tips on how to spice up KD? :) We handed over our savings, first born, and right leg for the house today. I don't know if I feel happy or anxious or overwhelmed. I've waited a very long time for this but to see my savings go in one short poof .. it definitely is bittersweet.

I've been stressed out to the max this month. I can't wait to just sit down and relax. Tomorrow we get the keys. I don't know if I can sleep tonight but I'll try.

Toodles,
Stressed Out Pudgy

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