Short weekend in Toronto

I was in Toronto this past weekend.  I arrived Friday night around 7:15 pm.  I wanted to make it home in time for dinner with the family but unfortunately, I couldn't make it there by 6:30 pm.  However, I was happy that everyone waited for me to celebrate my sister Joyce's birthday.  I baked Joyce a dozen blueberry muffins.  I hope you like them!

It was really nice to see my family.  I haven't seen them in a while.  I particularly enjoyed seeing Chloe.  She's so cute.  She didn't cry when I held her - although she kept grabbing my hair.  Ouch!  :)

Karen and I drove out to the Hershey Centre to watch some friends play in the CPB badminton tournament.  We got there in time to watch Tim and Hon play.  There were nine courts of action that it was tough to watch everyone.  Sorry guys if I missed your matches.

When I left on Sunday, mom and dad loaded me up with groceries.  Even though there is a T&T in Ottawa, the prices are pretty crazy.  So when I'm in Toronto, I will pick up a bunch of things before heading back.

My next trip back will be in mid September.  I may stay a bit longer but we'll see. 

I took some pictures of family .. I'll post them next time for all to see.

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A Visit to Aunt June's

Two days ago, my sister and her family arrived in Ottawa.  They were on the last leg of their road trip and decided to make a stop in Ottawa to see me.  I was so happy to see them!  The arrived around 7:30 pm on Wednesday night and left this morning.

During their stay here, we toured the city a bit.  And what is a trip to Ottawa without going to see the new T&T?!  Haha .. they reacted just like my mom did when my mom was here.  Everything was way more expensive than in Toronto.  I watched my brother in law and my sister look at the prices for everything and just cringe at the prices.  It was kind of funny.  In the end, we bought a few things and that was it.  They did say that the next time I'm in Toronto, I should shop there and bring a load of groceries home.  I'm sure my mom will make sure that I do that too.  :)

The funniest thing that happened this morning.  As we were getting ready to leave, I heard this rustling noise of a plastic bag being crumpled.  My immediate thought was little Aiden.  You know how they always say to keep bags away from children?  I quickly went to see what was going on .. I let out a OMG!.  He found my bag of potato chips and he was lying on the floor with the opened bag and potato chips all over him.  He didn't eat the potato chips .. he just liked the crunching sound of the bag.  :)

They are probably home by now and I miss them already.  It will be different going home today and not have the squealing of two girls and a 9 month old boy.  Sigh. Come visit again.

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Wings After Badminton

Because of the long weekend, the turnout at badminton was pretty mediocre.  A few of my friends went to play anyway and we ended up playing for about an hour non-stop.  After badminton, we decided to head out to the James Street pub for All You Can Eat Wings for $10.

I haven't had wings since my university days.  And going for wings reminded me of those times.  :)  It was a lot of fun.  Good company, good food, and good conversation.  I ordered the medium wings and it came in a huge basket!  There must have been at least 15 wings in that basket and yes, I ate all of them.  There were a few differents flavours to choose from.  I went with the basic medium wings and after 3 or 4 wings, my lips started tingling.  Hehe .. I'm just not good with hot & spicy food!  :)  I can't imagine how hot the 911 flavoured wings are.

Where do you guys go for wings in Toronto?  Armageddon?

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Where did July go?

I've been pretty busy this month that I simply haven't had time to write in my blog.  Do you really want to hear about my chores and laundry duties?  :)  Didn't think so.  Haha ..

July came and went in a blink of an eye.  Where did the time go?  I find that I'm slowing down now - it could be the heat or it could be that I feel like I've been moving at 100 miles an hr that it's really time to slow down and pace myself.

Later this week, my sister and her family will be stopping by to visit me.  I have not seen my nieces in a while and I miss them dearly.  I think the last time I saw them was back in May.

As a heads up to my Toronto friends, I will be in town the second week of September.  Maybe we can get together for lunch?  I don't see myself coming back any time before that .. :(  Just too much stuff going on in Ottawa that requires my attention.  I will blog about that later - I promise.

I'm still playing badminton and training at the RA.  Some days when I'm not focused, I play like a beginner.  I am disappointed in myself when I have a bad night.  Last week, I could not focus and it frustrated me.  I prefer to play more consistently.  Everyone has been training for the CPB tournament in Mississauga next month.  The play at the club is more intense.  I simply cannot slack off.  Tonight is another game night .. I'm on my third tube of feather birds.  I go through approximately a tube per month.  Sigh ..

Anyway, wine picks for the month ..

Low budget white - the Santa Margherita pinot grigio.  A portion of the sales goes to fighting breast cancer.  You'll get a great wine and contribute to a great cause.
Low budget red - Concha Y Toro Trio Reserva (Cab Sauv/Shiraz/Cab Franc) 2008
Big budget white - Beringer Chardonnay 2008
Big budget red - Shafer One Point Five Cabernet Sauvignon 2006.

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StarCraft II - Finally!

Today is a big day, my gaming friends.

That's right.  The long awaited StarCraft II is finally out.  Yay!! 

Am I weird to be excited over a computer game launch?  :)

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Blog Permissions

I decided to limit access to my blog today.  I usually can figure who has been visiting my blog from my visitor list.  But recently, I had a visitor accessing my blog from Mont Royal, QC.  As much as I enjoy having visitors from outside of Markham and Ottawa visiting my blog, I usually like to keep my blog between me and my friends.

Thanks for your understanding.

June

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Baking with Blueberries

This weekend, I decided to tackle another item from my to-do list.  I had a couple of pints of blueberries in my fridge, some ramekins in my cupboards ... hmmmm .. individual blueberry crisps?  :)  I bought the ramekins for a reason and that was to make fruit crisps with them.  So tonight, I made two individual blueberry crisps.  They turned out pretty good - not bad for my first time.  I made a pretty thick layer of crumble topping because I find that sometimes I have too much fruit and not enough crumble.  The unfortunate part was that there is no ice cream in the fridge!!  :(  What is blueberry crisp without vanilla ice cream?  Oh well .. maybe tomorrow I'll pick some up.

The crisps inspired me to make big blueberry muffins for tomorrow morning's breakfast.  :)  They turned out very good too.  Very easy to make.  Baking is starting to become a hobby of mine.  Actually cooking in general is something I really enjoy now.

My Breville Smart Oven is like an Easy Bake Oven for grown ups.  When I bought it, I knew I would make use of it.  I've used it to make everything:  toast, pizza, chicken, ribs, salmon, muffins, cakes, cupcakes, and now crisps.  This thing is one of the best countertop ovens out there.  I am glad I bought it.

I have to start thinking about tomorrow's dinner/Monday's lunch.  I always make more so I have a lunch for work on Monday.  I am limited to non-seafood proteins when I have to pack a lunch.  There is a fellow at work who is highly allergic to fish.  He sits in the office across from me and apparently, the smell of fish would cause anaphylaxic shock.  :-O

Hmm .. I have beef tenderloin, ribs, and chicken in the fridge?  Hmm .. maybe I'll make barbequed ribs.  Yummmy.

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