Tricia's Musings

Random Thoughts about life in general, living in the big city of Toronto



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I’ve got to scramble to get ready for a party this weekend

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I just realized that we’re going to a wedding this weekend. I’ve been in such a fog lately that I thought it was next weekend … but I was wrong … just three more days to prepare!

It’s a very formal wedding and I still haven’t decided what I’m going to wear. I’d better get busy! Chris on the other hand is wearing a black tuxedo with a purple patterned tuxedo vest. It looks good on him.

I’m jealous. It’s so easy for men to look good. Through on a suit and ta da – they’re done. Nothing like the work we women have to do to prepare for a big event. LOL

I am looking forward to getting out for the evening. I haven’t done much lately, so it will be nice.





Recovering from our big family BBQ

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OK, recovery mode – over!

As I mentioned last week my brother came in to town this past weekend (Vancouver to Toronto) for a business meeting on Monday.

It had been a long time since any of my siblings or I had seen my brother … close to two years! So naturally, along with his three and a half day visit to Toronto we needed to arrange some kind of family get together. We also had Chris’ parents coming into town to take Chris and I out for a meal on Saturday.

I’d only found out that my brother was going to be coming for a visit and would be a house guest last Tuesday or so … So we were in a mad scramble to 1. clean the house, 2. prepare for a family gathering and 3. figure out how we’d see the in-laws on Saturday as well!

There were lots of family emails going back and forth all week as we tried to plan for my brothers visit. Finally I came up with the idea of us having a backyard BBQ on Sunday that any family who wanted to come would be welcome to attend.

Now, I wouldn’t say our house was dirty … but we are in stalled renovation mode, and with a ceiling with slats nailed to it awaiting the tin ceiling we hope to put in … the house seems to get dustier quicker than it should. Not to mention the fact that our dog seems to be going through a heavy shed …

So I guess I started cleaning on Wednesday and put in a full day and a half on both Thursday and Friday! By the time my brother arrived I was exhausted … and I still had to get the food ready for the BBQ!

Luckily my brother is really easy going, willing to help out a bit and pretty much a perfect house guest! He happily tagged along on Saturday (after we’d gone out for a noon hour late breakfast with my husbands parents, picked my brother up at the airport and brought him back to our house) to the grocery store and beer store as we got everything we needed for the next days barbecue.

In the end I bought too much food! We were expecting a total of 13 people and I served Octoberfest sausages, Greek spicy Italian sausages (I know weird – made by a Greek butcher, but Italian flavor LOL), fresh corn on the cob, a green salad, potato salad and the food that my sister, sister in law and niece were bringing as well!

I guess my family aren’t big eaters … we only went through about 10 sausages, and 8 hamburgers and had about the same amount of each (not yet cooked thankfully!) left over. I’d also cooked 15 corn on the cob and only 7 were eaten … So Chris and I have spent the week cooking up and eating the sausages that were already thawed for Sundays party and finishing up the salads and desserts!

I guess for us it’s been a week long barbecue!

On Monday evening we drove my brother to his Airport Motel (he had an early flight the next day so it was easier for all of us if he stayed closer to the airport), and then we spent some time in his motel room having a last visit. By the time we returned home it as close to midnight and Chris and I were beat.

Actually I was exhausted by Sunday evening or truth be told after all that cleaning before the weekend has even begun! Darn Crohn’s disease … it just wipes you out. Monday I had a massive headache all day … probably from being overtired and well .. I had a few drinks on Sunday … and I don’t drink very often these days.

Tuesday and Wednesday were right offs as well … It’s only today that I’m starting to feel more like myself.

I’m sure that if I were healthy (ie no Crohn’s!) having more than a dozen visitors descend on our home wouldn’t have fazed me all that much … but considering my health it was quite a big task … one that I made worse with my insistence that the house be as clean as it could be.

Have you ever been totally wiped out after having a family gathering and at least one house guest?

Anyone else having a big family gathering or reunion this summer? We had a great time at ours (my oldest brother couldn’t make it, but the rest of the siblings were there).

I think I married Ned Flanders from the Simpsons – Help!

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Ok that does it. From this day forward my husband, Chris, is no longer allowed out in the neighborhood!

The problem? I’m married to Ned Flanders! (Simpsons) Really … I am.

There is simply no neighbor that he won’t stop and talk to. For hours at at times! I’d swear I’ve even heard him greet a few of our neighbors with “A hi diddly ho neighbor!”. Seriously, Chris is Ned Flanders.

Earlier today, while I was upstairs having a shower, Chris must have taken the dog outside for a walk. Just as I was getting out of the shower I heard Chris come in the front door and he yelled up “Are you done with your shower” and I said just about – still wanting to do some after shower stuff like dry my hair etc. He told me that the parking people and police were on the street next to us – where we’d temporarily parked our car to allow some new neighbors to get their appliances into the house next store. So he was going to find out what was happening and move the car. (As it turned out a van was blocking the drive way of some other new neighbors who were trying to move into their new house.)

He had just let the dog in without putting her in her crate so I hurriedly dried myself off and came downstairs to watch the dog for a few minutes until Chris came back. Midnights a good dog, but she can quickly get her self into trouble if she’s not watched!

He didn’t come back for over an hour. Maybe an hour and a half. In that time while I was waiting for him (and my hair was air drying itself) I saw him outside talking to our next door neighbor (the one putting in new appliances) and later when I poked my head outside to try to find him (and froze!) I could hear him around the corner talking loudly to some other new neighbors that were just moving in.

At that point I was ready to tell him to bring the cell phone with him from now on whenever he went outside for just “a minute”. I mean, this has been going on for years! I forgot to suggest it though.

So we get to this evening. I’m not feeling so hot and Chris suggested we get some take out food for dinner so I wouldn’t have to cook. (see he’s not all bad! LOL) He even took the cell phone with him when he went to take the dog for a short walk and then was going to take her with him when he went to the restaurant to pick up our food.

Well … that short dog walk was about 45 minutes! Yep, he was talking to neighbors again. He did manage to find one with a new puppy so at least Midnight got to play with another dog while he yakked. He had the cell phone with him but he didn’t turn it on! I tried calling to tell him what takeout food I wanted as I’d changed my mind, but that was a no go.

When he finally came back to start up the car and drive to the restaurant he discovered that the car had about half an inch of frost INSIDE it! Probably his hot breath condensing on the glass from when he moved the car earlier.

So now the dog is inside with me keeping warm and he’s finally off to the restaurant to pick up our take out food.

Now keep in mind that it’s absolutely freezing outside today. This is a guy that can stand outside talking with people for over two full hours today at -13 Celsius (8.6 F), but really -20 Celsius (-4 F) with the windchill! Now that’s cold. Think of how much time he spends outside talking on nice days?

Anyone else married to a “Howdy Neighbor” talkity talk kind of person that you always seem to be waiting for? Or do you have a friendly talkative neighbor who might be quite a bit like my Chris?

Don’t get me wrong. Chris is a great guy and everyone he meets seems to really like him, but it’s kind of frustrating on my end when I’m waiting for him to come back so I can serve dinner, go out shopping or simply dry my hair after being asked to quickly leave the shower! Arghhh!

Paying for a night out on the town

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Wow, I’m starting to slow down in my posting quite a bit aren’t I? It hasn’t been the best week for me. My Crohn’s has been acting up – the worst of the symptoms … bleh …

I think I might be feeling so bad this week because Chris and I went out on Wednesday night. His sister was in Toronto for a quick Government related course and then she was going back home on Thursday after a test for the course and then well .. as I said in my last post she and her husband were moving to a new house on Friday (with Chris’ help).

Anyway … when Chris came home on Wednesday we drove off to meet his sister at her hotel in the lovely section of Toronto called North York. Uh huh … she was staying in a Novotel and she was waiting for us in the bar.

That wasn’t the best idea! She’d already had 5 Cosmopolitans while she waited for us! Once we got there she talked me into having a Cosmo and Chris tried out a new beer. Chris and I were both hungry and while we tried to talk his sister into going down the street to the Baton Rouge restaurant for a meal we were snacking on some kind of pretzel/ beer nut/ cracker mix.

In the end I had three Cosmos and my sister in laws tally came to 8 cosmos all while sitting on these weird modern furniture style bar stools at the bar.

By the time we got to the restaurant my sister in law was of course too drunk to eat. She ordered appetizers but only had a nibble. I wonder how she felt the next day? LOL I guess I’ll have to give her a call and find out.

I wasn’t feeling so good even by the time we got home. I don’t drink much anymore, so three pretty much pure alcohol drinks were enough to make me pretty tipsy, but unlike my sister in law I did at least eat half my dinner before getting the rest packed up into a doggy bag.

The drinks, the snacks that I ate and probably the dinner that I had all combined to make my Crohn’s act up worse than it has been for a while. Yes I should have known better, but you can’t be good all the time. Even people on a diet cheat every once in a while right?

Hopefully I’ll be feeling a little better in a few days. Maybe not though. My Crohn’s just seems to be getting worse and worse as each week goes by … maybe Wednesday night isn’t even what caused this latest flare … who knows.

BTW it’s Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada so Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians!

Thanksgiving and other favorite holidays are just around the corner

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The remnants of Hurricane Ike passed through Toronto yesterday evening and through the night and now that all of that weather has passed it’s quite cool here today. Brrrr

I guess it’s obvious that the cool weather we’ve been experiencing this month has got me thinking about Autumn and Winter. I want the warm weather to last a little longer, but it doesn’t look like it will. Perhaps instead of thinking of the cool weather I should be thinking about some of my favorite upcoming holidays? It certainly won’t be long before we’ll be celebrating Thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas!

Thanksgiving and Christmas are my favorite holidays. Most likely because it almost always means a big family get together.

When I was a kid we used to always go up to our cottage to celebrate Thanksgiving. Now that I think it about it does seem appropriate to celebrate Thanksgiving surrounded by beautiful natural scenery.

We’d always cook up a feast for Thanksgiving – Turkey, sometimes a ham, sometimes wild partridge, mashed potatoes, gravy, and lots of vegetables such as peas, glazed carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, cranberry jelly and of course, my favorite, Pumpkin pie!

The large table that sat at least 14 people would always have hand crafted Thanksgiving ornaments and of course beautiful Thanksgiving flowers in the center.

All this reminiscing is making me long for Thanksgiving … but oh … won’t that mean we’ll really be into the cool weather by then? Ha, I can’t have it both ways, can I? Perhaps this year I’ll hold a big family Thanksgiving get together.

Have you thought about your Thanksgiving plans yet?

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