What came first? The Chicken or the Cook?

In Toronto I have decided to try and learn some new things. Dental hygiene and teeth aside I have decided to try and make myself slightly more domesticated. This involved a 2 for 1 sale at Metro, a new found desire to be able to cook as well as a 1950s house wife, and the newly 4 whole chickens I purchased. Well 3 of them now reside in my freezer I took the first one as a chance to practice my new found art of channelling Julia Child and my inner chef. Can you tell what movie I may or may not have watched recently? Anyways I soon learned I needed to invest in a pan and a rack and a few other odds and ends. Though it was slightly stressful and took far longer then the 1 hour the internet recipe had promised me, the results were not disastrous. Henrietta (so I named my chicken) was ever the loving bird and joined me for dinner. I waited a few days before I posted this to ensure that food poisoning did not find me, and now I am assured I am still healthy and alive! So voila! Here is Henrietta in all her glory! (And aside from bragging that I made my own gravy from the drippings… the meal… was amazing!)

Fresh out of the oven!

I have never carved before so I was excited it came out so flawlessly!

And my yummy dinner!

A Sandbox Day

Today has been sort of a rough day. I won’t elaborate on the various things that all seemed to come together to collapse every hope and dream I’ve had for myself over the next few weeks, but will simply leave it as a day I wouldn’t much want to repeat.

(Saw this on the internet and it reminded me of my brother's cities)

It makes me think about the sandbox. My father built one for my brother and I when we were little and it was an amazing place to play. I always loved to come to the sandbox and see all the amazing cities and tunnels that had been built. Then to relieve my stress I played Godzilla and crushed them all. The only problem was I was never the one to build the city in the first place. Dexterity was not my greatest concern at 3 years of age. My older brother would always return to see his hard work and toil spoiled by his younger sister of 5 years.

(Another from the internet.. who doesn't love city crushing?)

The point of this memory is that not only was it a carefree time for me, but one of great adversity for Jason. So many days I wish that I could go back to being younger and not have to deal with what seems like the weight of the world, and yet there is a time when we are all going to have to deal with it. Jason kept building the cities no matter how many times they got knocked down. And taking a page out of my 3-year-old-self’s book, there’s nothing I couldn’t conquer then, so why let it change now? Especially when you have God’s help.

Oh Milo Where Art Thou?

We have been subjected to it before. Ads and campaigns that lead us to note the similarities in physical characteristics between us and our pets. I never figured Milo and I looked much alike, but I have noted similarities personality wise. Its a chicken and the egg question - does us living together for years make us like each other, or is it that we just possess these qualities naturally?

I have been super busy with school and haven't given much attention to Milo lately. Two days ago I came home and he tried for 2 hours to get my attention. Finally he peed on my curtains. I know I deserved it, but was still annoyed. Musing why he does sadistic actions towards me I reflected my own immature behaviour. When my wonderful boyfriend wasn't picking up on my subtle hints that I was annoyed one day, I may or may not have tossed water on him while he was taking a nap. I assure you he was just as annoyed with me as I was to Milo. Neither the cat nor I came out ahead in our actions.

But personality also shines through. I can never believe how much Milo tries to talk to me. When I moved to Toronto and my mother put him on the phone I cried as he meowed his complaints of her sub-care (according to him) and what I would like to assume was his perpetual missing of me. Now that he's here, when I come home from school, he comes to the door and tells me (what I assume is in excessive detail) all about his day. I would complain about this non-stop banter, but there is the realisation of just how much I like to talk. The only difference is I have technology (such as my lovely blackberry) and friends (including those in different time zones) to aid me in my excessive need to communicate 24/7.

The list can go on and on, but the third thing I would like to note is how much we both dislike our current living situation. Toronto (as fun as it could potentially could be) renders us lifeless. Living here and going to school has deprived me of the joy of my social life, old friends, and my boyfriend. Milo is also feeling the crunch. He no longer has the freedom to spend his days outside catching rats and taunting birds; he doesn't get to walk to the park and see the new sights; and worst of all: he left his life-partner "Spiffy" behind. (Yes, Milo is a homosexual and its quite alright thank you very much)! .. (and no, we don't have that in common)... (Although... we could put another common interest as men...?) Anyways moving on...  We have decided that living in an apartment may not be all its cracked up to be, and at least for us, living right down town in the city.. well... we can do without.

Currently he's beside me having some sort of nightmare and growling in his sleep.. I wonder if his are of his teeth getting extracted and of gingival mutilation? ..No.. we probably don't have that in common either.. At least we both know at the end of the day we can curl up together and find some comfort that we still have each other.

Christmas in the Creek

A very merry Christmas to everyone! (Or whatever your preferred holiday is). I had a very busy holiday break in which I headed back to beautiful British Columbia to the sweet little town of Cache Creek. There I got to spend an amazing vacation with my boyfriend and his family.

There were many fun activities to keep us busy! Everyday was a hockey game on their frozen pond out back, sadly I am a figure skater and am still learning to skate in hockey skates. (Which I finally have my own pair! Hurray!)

Two days in a row we set out cougar hunting and I learned how to identify different tracks and how to determine if they were fresh or not. On the third day Mark and I didn't go and that was the day they caught the cougar. (Lucky for me as I'm still not willing to witness any shooting). It was amazing how many fires were built while we were out there too! The second day was more fun because Mark drove us on the quad and everything looked like a perfect winter wonderland.

Day 1 Cougar Hunting: Blaze and Anika driving the truck

Hounds waiting for the hunt

Starting one of several bon fires

Jake chopping down a tree

Tracks

Day 2 of cougar hunting, beautiful nature views on a quad

The next adventure was snow mobiling in Revelstoke.. but getting there wasn't without its difficulties...

Flat tire on the trailer

Getting the truck ready

Luanne getting pumped

Big oops...

The truck almost went over the edge

4 sleds piled on top of each other.. and surprisingly little damage

Rhett and Brent thought it was pretty funny

But despite everything we finally made it!

Just a little chilly!

Back at the house Jhett fights and cries like no tomorrow while being put into his snow suit.

Until he realizes he gets to go play in the snow!

NYE hot dog and marshy roast

The big bonfire

Blaze hunting for more marshmellows

New years day: Clay pigeon shooting

Leah and Blaze

The Flett Family and a few plus ones :)

So that has been the last few weeks! Now I'm back in Toronto with Milo working hard to finish semester two... Only 5.5 weeks left till I get to go back to Vancouver! I can't wait!

The older I get the more I notice I am turning into my mother. Albeit modern technology has me typing on a computer instead of the traditional pen to paper (which I am still a strong activist for I'll have you know). Never the less here I am as a younger protege in a robe and pjs with my cup of tea thinking of life's musings. As a perpetual sojourner of Toronto my time in this big city has been brief yet unending. 8 months here and 11 more to go. Its amazing how often it sounds like a prison sentence when I say that. But its more like purgatory then prison. Waiting for life to change its course.. yet again. Dental hygiene school is my life, and I seem to have developed my family's strange fascination and lust of teeth. It has also made me a slight workaholic in this fast paced city. When I was in Vancouver I longed for change. Any change. Something different then the city I had been moved to in grade 4. Now here I am. My wish granted. And no matter how many friends I make or how busy I make myself, I'm still left thinking of my friends at home. But even when I go home things won't be the same. I find life has a sneaky way of doing that - changing things while you're away. Some faces have left, others have just changed. And here I am trying to discover who I want to be in the midst of it all. Well at least life isn't boring... Milo (my trusty cat since I was 8 years old) has come with me and we are set to take on life's adventures together.