Trip to Toronto

I want to figure out and be able to make custom blog designs and layouts. I love doing digital scrapbooking so this really shouldn't be a huge leap yet for some reason I can't find out enough information on how to do it. BOO! Its the combination of the art and the programming that I like the idea of .... hopefully I'll figure it out someday.

So a few weekends ago, Mom and I went up to Toronto for two nights to go to Steve's Wedding. I've known Steve since we were babies and we were really lucky to stay good friends even when he and his family moved to New Orleans at the end of Grade 8. We had a great time, did some shopping on Friday after we arrived, met up with Step

h in downtown Toronto on Saturday before the wedding then went to a great wedding reception.

Steph and I at St. Lawrence Market

CN Tower

Steve and Jenn's First Dance as Husband and Wife

Steve and I

Easter

Somedays I think I need to get a life... other days I think I have too much of a life. I think it all works out in the end.... right?

Matt and I had a wonderful, quiet Easter here in Charlottetown. I did a big Ham and lots of veggies and it turned out really good if I do say so myself. The only huge downside was that on Thursday night, someone stole our license plate off the back of our car. So I had to report it. Then Saturday I was doing a quick errand when I got caught diving my car (with no plates which they told me I could do when I reported it stolen) and given a warning ticket. So for the rest of Saturday, all day Sunday and all day Monday we did not drive anywhere. It was gorgeous out, so it wasn't really a big deal until I realized I had to coach swim team on Monday at 5pm up at CARI (by UPEI) and I live downtown near the water..... took around 45 minutes each way to walk there and I only had one kid there to coach! Got a new plate yesterday (and was a few minutes late for work which as most of you know I HATE being late for anything) and then today I found 1/2 of the old plate on a neighbour's lawn. It was missing the last digit (2) and the registration sticker. I guess its okay that they only wanted the sticker and my old plate is not going to be used for some crime... right?

In other news I've joined the gym again. Since I'm subbing and getting random hours/days, I figured I needed something productive to do other than shopping, when I don't work. I joined last Thursday and have gone every day except yesterday (too busy with Work and getting the license plate stuff and band concert). My goal it to keep me moving so I try to do a day of cardio then a day of cardio and either arms/legs. For cardio I've been doing 20 minutes on the elliptical, 20 minutes of the bike and some swimming (normally 50 lengths of their 15m pool but today I only did 20 since I was tired and walked to/from the gym).

Oh! I've made Matt an icecream cake from scratch for his birthday tonight. I HOPE it turns out well...... it was a bit messy to put together. He specifically asked for one 'cause he knows I can have ice cream but not DQ cakes because the chocolate crumbs in the middle are made from wheat cookies and have gluten. I wanted to do curry for supper (one of his favorites) but the mix I normally use was sold out at Sobey's. I'm going to try the other Sobey's before or after swim team and hope they have it. If not I guess we can have leftover ham :P

March Break

So it is March Break and it is starting to feel like spring. I really do enjoy spring. The days are getting longer, the sun is nice and warm and strong. Watching the world come to life again. There are bits I don't like.... like the mud everywhere, but this year I have invested in a nice pair of rain boots. I love them. Got them at my current favourite store... Winners. They are nice and tall, brown and pink with polkadots of various other colours. Everyone who has seen them thinks they are very me. I couldn't NOT buy them for $25. Winners has been having a lot of really nice things or rather I've been finding all the really nice things there lately. I'm still rocking the dresses. I have so many.. oops. But they are so nice and comfy to wear but they look nicer than a t and jeans. Plus many can be dressed up for work with the right accessories.

Nothing really happening on the job front other than they are trying to hire french immersion teachers now. So I'm making up my cover letter and editing my resume. Subbing has been going okay - some weeks I've been getting a lot of work and other weeks hardly any. I'm glad this week is March Break, I had to have a tooth extracted on Monday and have been sore and swollen ever since. So I'm kinda glad I don't have to turn down work or have to explain to the kids why I don't want to be talking a lot.

Mom, Dad, Laura and Sebastien are coming up this weekend for a visit. Dad's birthday is on Sunday and he wanted us all to be together. I did offer to go home to Halifax but he decided to come up. They will come up on Saturday and we're going to go to Sims Steakhouse and Oyster bar for supper. They wont be staying at our place (too small for that) but will be staying at the Delta which is right downtown and only a few blocks from our place. It should be fun.

I love my family, I really do. But.... I'm getting sick and tired of them ALWAYS going "How are you feeling.... oh I/someone I know found this website about being gluten free"..... I'm the person who has celiac. I'm the person who has to live this. But you know what? For me, it is NOT hard. I don't miss bread. I really don't. I like to cook. It is easy to cook "traditional" meals with veggies and some sort of meat. They are naturally gluten-free and taste so yummy and tend to have leftovers. Its not like our meals are boring. I make spanish rice, chilli, Roast Beef (and stew from the leftovers), I've learned how to make gravy without flour. Stir fry's are good as long as I use a gluten-free Soya Sauce. I've finally found a good gluten-free pizza crust. Taco's are gluten free (as long as I use the hard shell kind). My food is healthy and natural. I love fruits and veggies. I'm making smoothies. I'm not starving like my Mom seems to think. I'm feeling good as long as I read the labels. I'm not wasting away... if anything I'm gaining weight since I LOVE food so much.

Impatient

I believe that everything happens for a reason but I'm getting impatient.
I want a full time/permanent job. I want our own house. I want Matt do be done this project and to be able to spend time with me instead of working 18 hour days and all weekends.
I am so fortunate to be getting a fair amount of work. I keep getting it at one of two schools which means I am getting to know the staff and students at these schools. I'm also making an effort to work on my french and to improve it. I'm getting into the habit of watching french tv when I'm home. Even if most of it is english shows that have been dubbed, it is still good practice. I'm also getting good at not only understanding what is going on but this week I've professed to the point where I can watch/listen to french tv while being on the web (perez, facebook, etc). I also have noticed an improvement in my french.... just on friday I was teaching grade 1 french immersion and at the end o the day the kids were colouring hearts to make a valentine's day wreath. I went over to check with one kid and said "ahhh vous avez cree une suite, rouge, rose, rouge, rose, rouge, rose" but all I could think afterwards was "wow my r's were really rolling and sounding good!" Oh also.... grade 1 french immersion, on a friday, of a week with mostly indoor recesses due to it being too cold out results in kids bouncing off the walls..... I mean grade 1's bounce on a good day but holy moly were they wild! I love it but by the end of the day, I was exhausted!!

I've also realized recently how much I LOVE cooking and baking. I don't try to do super complicated things, but still I do enjoy the time I spend in the kitchen. I don't have the luxury to be lazy anymore - as most "fast" foods contain gluten. I have to cook from scratch. Recently I've learned to make chilli, and tonight I made a pork roast for the first time. I've done pork chops but never a pork roast. I did it in my slow cooker which I love for doing roasts and chickens. Tonight's was a bit dry but that was because i forgot to put potatoes in the pot, so the stuffed potatoes took 40 minutes to cook in the oven. I've had great luck this winter in making applesauce from scratch. Not only is it pretty healthy, but it makes the apartment smell good AND is good hot and cold. I've also been trying to eat a lot more fruits and veggies for snacks/lunches. So far it has been working well although I feel weird to pull out my lunch and have an apple, an orange, some grapes, some carrots possibly some strawberries. I wont say I've given up on making a good gluten free bread, but have decided to do it on my time, instead of forcing myself to do it in order to have sandwiches for lunches. Rice cakes work well for a carb (which I do seem to crave) and the plain ones are good with bruchetta mix. I've still not tried to do my own flour mixing when doing gluten free baking , but have a few in the cupboard that I want to try to use. I've been keeping with mixes as I feel they have better turnout rate.... although really its only been like 50/50 at the moment. I also have learned that I need a few more basics for my kitchen.... like a dutch oven and a proper round cake pan.... you should see me using my corningware to make a cake :P It works and that's all that counts.

Lazy Saturday

So today is Saturday, January 2, 2010, a palindrome if you write it this way 01/01/2010 (same backwards and forwards!)
Matt and I had a lazy day, although it did not start that nicely for me. See Matt is a night owl and loves to sleep in, so since he has been on vacation, he has gotten into the bad habit of staying up way too late and sleeping most of the day away. Since vacation is almost over (boo!) he decided to start setting his alarm for earlier times to get him into the habit of getting up before noon (good idea for work, right?). So this morning as I've decided to go back to sleep since I'm battling a cold, his alarm goes off at 10am and keeps going off for a long, long time. Of course then I couldn't get back to sleep and he is dead to the world. Go figure. At noon I finally went to get him up and moving as we had a few errands that we wanted to do today. Nothing really big or serious. I wanted to go to the Mall to pick up a few things and he needed to exchange a video game from ps3 to xbox and we needed to go get a few things at the grocery store.
After that we came back and I watched some of the Torchwood/Dr Who marathon on Space and made some hodgepodge Chilli - I stuffed it full of al kinds of veggies and ground beed and beans and such. It was so good for supper. Plus there are lots of leftovers. So now we have beef stew leftovers and chilli leftovers for this coming week. I love leftovers for supper during the week... just heat up and go! My weeknights tend to be quite busy with swimteam and such that not having to worry about what to make or being able to make it quickly is certainly a plus. Also with all my food issues, knowing for sure what is in my supper is also good to know.
I had some pictures to post but I'm being lazy and don't want to go into the next room to get my camera cable, so they will be posted later.
Hope everyone is nice and bundles up at home. It is only really windy here but there is the chance of snow/rain/ice..... seriously I enjoy the weather way too much! :P

Welcome 2010

It is the first day of the new year and I am looking forward to what the fates have in store for me.
2009 was a memorable year and while I would not change anything, I am glad it is over.
I started the year by wanting to take a photo each day... that only lasted 30 odd days. I started substitute teaching. I had pneumonia, I was luck enough to get two contracts teaching at two different schools, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, I knit my first pair of socks, I went to Florida and Disney with Matt, started speaking french again, had my first summer off as a teacher, started taking and loving yoga classes, and severely sprained my ankle.
There are so many things that are going to happen in this next year and I'm sure the year will fly by as quickly as the last. I do have some dreams and hopes for this coming year.... to get a full time permeant placement, to hopefully go on a fun trip, to maybe even get a new car and possibly apartment. As for resolutions.. I don't really have any. I want to continue putting myself first with my diet, exercise and wellbeing. I want to continue to eat healthy (which isn't really a choice but a necessity.... No Barley, Rye, Oats or Wheat due to Celiac and limited Milk and eggs due to slight intolerance/allergy).

I've been having some trouble with gluten-free baking. I'm okay with the everyday cooking but its when I try to make bread or other treats that I am having some troubles. In "normal" baking, gluten (found typically in your flour) is what gives viscosity and extensibility to the dough. If you have added yeast (say for bread) then gluten allows for the carbon dioxide bubbles given off by the yeast to be trapped, making it rise. After baking, gluten stabilized the final shape of whatever you are baking. This makes gluten free baking hard. You have to use various different types of flour (corn flour, rice flour, tapioca flour, potato flour, etc.) So far I've been experimenting with different brands of mixes (think like a cake mix). Some have turned out alright but others.... well not so good. I find the dough can be really sticky and hard to work with when mixing or shaping into a loaf of bread or into biscuits. Most have turned out in the end pretty edible but not great and nothing like the "real" thing. Oh well.
I was very lucky to be gifted with a lot of gluten free products for christmas, mixes and such, so I can't wait to try some of them.