On Saturday August 6th 2017 me and my family went downtown to a food truck festival. We drove downtown and we put our bikes in the car. We went to Auntie P**'s house first. My sisters and my dad rood their bikes to the festival. We had fruit slushies , poutine, Mac and Cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches , and Vietnamese noodle rolls.
Afterwards my mom and I drove back to Auntie P**'s house and my sisters and dad rode their bikes there. Then we loaded the car and all drove home.
M3
Tuesday, August 22, 2017
Monday, August 21, 2017
Pin Me!
I know I'm late to the game. Aren't I always?
I discovered Pintrest this summer. I've tried 2 recipes so far - quite successfully I might add. It's INSPIRING! I say "inspiring" because I browsed a few similar recipes I liked and melded them together to make something of my own. The first one was this awesome Kale & Broccoli Salad I put together. Here's the original pin (Autumn Kale Apple & Quinoa Salad) and here's my own take on it:
I basically took the recipe and added Broccoli, Carrots, and Purple Cabbage. I omitted the Goat Cheese, Cranberries and Nuts. I made the dressing exactly as instructed and made sure to mar the dressing in the salad for at least 1/2 an hour before serving. Voila. A to-die-for salad that suits perfectly the tastes of my family!
I recently took this recipe to a friend's dinner party and received lots of compliments - it doesn't hurt that the kale was fresh grown from my dad's garden! Give the recipe a try with your own variations - I'm sure you'll love it as much as we did!
Y.C.
I discovered Pintrest this summer. I've tried 2 recipes so far - quite successfully I might add. It's INSPIRING! I say "inspiring" because I browsed a few similar recipes I liked and melded them together to make something of my own. The first one was this awesome Kale & Broccoli Salad I put together. Here's the original pin (Autumn Kale Apple & Quinoa Salad) and here's my own take on it:
I basically took the recipe and added Broccoli, Carrots, and Purple Cabbage. I omitted the Goat Cheese, Cranberries and Nuts. I made the dressing exactly as instructed and made sure to mar the dressing in the salad for at least 1/2 an hour before serving. Voila. A to-die-for salad that suits perfectly the tastes of my family!
I recently took this recipe to a friend's dinner party and received lots of compliments - it doesn't hurt that the kale was fresh grown from my dad's garden! Give the recipe a try with your own variations - I'm sure you'll love it as much as we did!
Y.C.
Monday, August 14, 2017
Yokohama Sushi
Yesterday night my family and I went to Yokohama Sushi for dinner.
The service wasn't great. First, we ordered dinner on the i Pad that they gave us. They didn't have a lot of selection on their menu and the i Pad stopped working a few times. After we ordered, it didn't take very long to come. Sometimes they would deliver food to us that we didn't ever order and they looked like they were bored out of their mind. Whenever we waved them down or wanted to ask them something, they would always ignore us or tell us to wait and they would never come back.
The first item that came was Miso soup. At every other Japanese restaurant they fill the Miso soup, but at this place they only gave us a half bowl!! Then, as our other food came we found that the portions were SO small!! The tempura shrimp was almost half the size of other tempura! As we were finishing off of dishes and ordering some more, we found that a lot of the food didn't taste that good.
On our second order of food, we decided to get some noodles. We got soup ramen, fried and soup udon. When the ramen came there was barely any ramen actually in the soup, it was just soup and mushrooms!! The soup udon had no flavour at all and the fried udon was small so we got another one. We also got beef ribs during our second order. The beef ribs tasted okay, but it was very chewy and it didn't look very cooked.
Overall the dinner was okay, but the dessert is a WHOLE different story. We saved the dessert menu for after we finished our dinner to look at. They didn't have a wide selection just like the main menu. They had 3 types of ice cream and they didn't have VANILLA! Like honestly, what kind of place doesn't have vanilla ice cream. I was angry that they didn't have vanilla ice cream so I went to look for my next favourite dessert, a crème brûlée. Guess what?? They didn't have that either! Which got me even angrier than I was before. I ended up getting a chocolate mousse and my sisters & parents got mango ice cream, mango tapioca, a tiramisu, durian ice cream and ginger milk. I jut have to say that the pictures are false advertising. All the desserts were miniature size. The tiramisu was the size of a finger and the ice cream looked like a bouncy ball. The mango tapioca barely had any tapioca and looked like yellow-ish water. Then we have my chocolate mousse...the chocolate mousse looked like a piece of TURD!! In the picture it looked like a cup full of yogurt, but in real life...it looks like a small piece of TURD!!!!! The ginger milk didn't even come, but the other dessert did. I was so disappointed at their lack in dessert...actually I was disappointed in their lack of everything.
I would recommend that you don't come and try their food. Thank you for letting me take out my anger on you.
M2
The service wasn't great. First, we ordered dinner on the i Pad that they gave us. They didn't have a lot of selection on their menu and the i Pad stopped working a few times. After we ordered, it didn't take very long to come. Sometimes they would deliver food to us that we didn't ever order and they looked like they were bored out of their mind. Whenever we waved them down or wanted to ask them something, they would always ignore us or tell us to wait and they would never come back.
The first item that came was Miso soup. At every other Japanese restaurant they fill the Miso soup, but at this place they only gave us a half bowl!! Then, as our other food came we found that the portions were SO small!! The tempura shrimp was almost half the size of other tempura! As we were finishing off of dishes and ordering some more, we found that a lot of the food didn't taste that good.
On our second order of food, we decided to get some noodles. We got soup ramen, fried and soup udon. When the ramen came there was barely any ramen actually in the soup, it was just soup and mushrooms!! The soup udon had no flavour at all and the fried udon was small so we got another one. We also got beef ribs during our second order. The beef ribs tasted okay, but it was very chewy and it didn't look very cooked.
Overall the dinner was okay, but the dessert is a WHOLE different story. We saved the dessert menu for after we finished our dinner to look at. They didn't have a wide selection just like the main menu. They had 3 types of ice cream and they didn't have VANILLA! Like honestly, what kind of place doesn't have vanilla ice cream. I was angry that they didn't have vanilla ice cream so I went to look for my next favourite dessert, a crème brûlée. Guess what?? They didn't have that either! Which got me even angrier than I was before. I ended up getting a chocolate mousse and my sisters & parents got mango ice cream, mango tapioca, a tiramisu, durian ice cream and ginger milk. I jut have to say that the pictures are false advertising. All the desserts were miniature size. The tiramisu was the size of a finger and the ice cream looked like a bouncy ball. The mango tapioca barely had any tapioca and looked like yellow-ish water. Then we have my chocolate mousse...the chocolate mousse looked like a piece of TURD!! In the picture it looked like a cup full of yogurt, but in real life...it looks like a small piece of TURD!!!!! The ginger milk didn't even come, but the other dessert did. I was so disappointed at their lack in dessert...actually I was disappointed in their lack of everything.
I would recommend that you don't come and try their food. Thank you for letting me take out my anger on you.
M2
This is the turd I was writing about.
Being Bored Is Good For You
It is already 2 weeks into August and the summer is winding down for us.
Our last 3 summers seemed to follow a similar pattern. July has been reserved for camps while August is our lazy month - a time for the kids to have nothing scheduled, to learn to amuse themselves and to be bored. Please don't ask me to do anything with you - go figure it out yourselves!
I am embracing the whole idea of kids needing to be bored. The kids are learning how to be bored and then figuring out how NOT to be bored ON THEIR OWN. M1 & M2 are getting the hang of it. They'll find TV shows to watch, they'll read, look up crafts on the internet to do, and go out to ride their bikes or play basketball. I've even allowed M1 to make her own plans with her friends to meet up at the neighbourhood park - and I have to admit I'm enjoying the freedom it gives me and the independence & responsibility it gives her. We're still working on M3 - she'll have her moments where she can play on her own, but of course she'd much rather have us play a board game with her, do crafts together, or just keep her company.
We haven't really "vacationed" during the last 3 summers. Other than last year when we spent 4 days in our nation's capital, we've been doing a lot of local day trips. This year is really no different, except that we have booked a local hotel for a few nights later this month; a true "staycation" - hopefully there will be a blog or two on that later in the month.
And me? I continue to focus on my weekly appointments & monthly check-ups. There are bad days, and worst days, but there are still goods days in between. My family, my support system, is stronger than ever. Even my best friends, some who have had their own family, health, & work challenges to deal with this year, continue to check in on me & my family, send thoughtful messages & texts, think of us, and pray for us - as I am doing for them. We really do need each other - in the best, healthiest, most positive way possible!
Y.C.
Our last 3 summers seemed to follow a similar pattern. July has been reserved for camps while August is our lazy month - a time for the kids to have nothing scheduled, to learn to amuse themselves and to be bored. Please don't ask me to do anything with you - go figure it out yourselves!
I am embracing the whole idea of kids needing to be bored. The kids are learning how to be bored and then figuring out how NOT to be bored ON THEIR OWN. M1 & M2 are getting the hang of it. They'll find TV shows to watch, they'll read, look up crafts on the internet to do, and go out to ride their bikes or play basketball. I've even allowed M1 to make her own plans with her friends to meet up at the neighbourhood park - and I have to admit I'm enjoying the freedom it gives me and the independence & responsibility it gives her. We're still working on M3 - she'll have her moments where she can play on her own, but of course she'd much rather have us play a board game with her, do crafts together, or just keep her company.
We haven't really "vacationed" during the last 3 summers. Other than last year when we spent 4 days in our nation's capital, we've been doing a lot of local day trips. This year is really no different, except that we have booked a local hotel for a few nights later this month; a true "staycation" - hopefully there will be a blog or two on that later in the month.
And me? I continue to focus on my weekly appointments & monthly check-ups. There are bad days, and worst days, but there are still goods days in between. My family, my support system, is stronger than ever. Even my best friends, some who have had their own family, health, & work challenges to deal with this year, continue to check in on me & my family, send thoughtful messages & texts, think of us, and pray for us - as I am doing for them. We really do need each other - in the best, healthiest, most positive way possible!
Y.C.
Friday, August 4, 2017
The Future Is Now
Today I read about "Harry Potter & The Cursed Child" opening on Broadway. Previews start March 2018. Hopefully it'll be a long run, and if London, England was any indication, anyone wanting tickets better be buying them months in advance. The same has been happening to the musical "Hamilton" over the last couple of years - tickets are sold out half a year in advance. Unfortunately I won't be buying tickets. I don't know what I'll be doing or where I'll be - I can't fathom planning anything that far out.
I get envious of friends who tell me about their vacation plans. Especially the ones who take months or years to plan for the big once-in-a-lifetime trips. Or booking fabulous cruises a year in advance to get the best deals.
Don't get me wrong, I do think about things. Sometimes I think about how I would celebrate milestone birthdays or anniversaries. And like all parents I picture my children graduating from high school or university. Of them getting married and having children of their own.
But I wouldn't DO any actual planning...
I hate not being able to plan anything.
I hate not being able to plan for the future.
I live day to day. Week to week. Right now the only things I'm planning for are these endless hospital visits & doctors' appointments - until when? I keep telling myself it's good that I'm still here. That it's good I've made it another month. That I can still be treated. That there's still something to keep me alive. But I don't just want to be alive. I want to LIVE.
I may get judged for not being grateful and for not appreciating what I already have; that there are so many people sicker and worse off than I, and what they would give to trade places with me. I know all this. I really do. I tell myself this everyday. I see what a wonderful life I have everyday. But today...I want to see a future.
Y.C.
P.S. I have to give credit to Uncle Pepe for the title "The Future Is Now". He used to have a T-shirt that the Big Oh made fun of all the time. I couldn't think of a title for this blog - and then this just popped in my head (I don't know why but it made me laugh).
I get envious of friends who tell me about their vacation plans. Especially the ones who take months or years to plan for the big once-in-a-lifetime trips. Or booking fabulous cruises a year in advance to get the best deals.
Don't get me wrong, I do think about things. Sometimes I think about how I would celebrate milestone birthdays or anniversaries. And like all parents I picture my children graduating from high school or university. Of them getting married and having children of their own.
But I wouldn't DO any actual planning...
I hate not being able to plan anything.
I hate not being able to plan for the future.
I live day to day. Week to week. Right now the only things I'm planning for are these endless hospital visits & doctors' appointments - until when? I keep telling myself it's good that I'm still here. That it's good I've made it another month. That I can still be treated. That there's still something to keep me alive. But I don't just want to be alive. I want to LIVE.
I may get judged for not being grateful and for not appreciating what I already have; that there are so many people sicker and worse off than I, and what they would give to trade places with me. I know all this. I really do. I tell myself this everyday. I see what a wonderful life I have everyday. But today...I want to see a future.
Y.C.
P.S. I have to give credit to Uncle Pepe for the title "The Future Is Now". He used to have a T-shirt that the Big Oh made fun of all the time. I couldn't think of a title for this blog - and then this just popped in my head (I don't know why but it made me laugh).
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