He's heeeeeere!

My nearly-nephew was born yesterday! I can't wait to meet him (they live 5 hours away, it'll be at least a few weeks), and I doubly can't wait to see photos (what, the new mom & dad have other things on their mind that sending ME photos? Pppfffttt....) but I am being very patient. Mostly I'm psyched that mom and baby are healthy and safe!

Yay, baby!

Excitement All Over The Place

So! There's lots going on in the upcoming week, and it's all exciting. Like...

Work
Our AGM/All Staff Meeting are today and tomorrow!  Today should be interesting, but it is tomorrow I'm excited about - we're presenting our Think Tank results! I'll write up a whole thing about them, but basically: they were a great idea, and we learned a lot. Hurray!

Think Tank: Mission Accomplished

 Babies
Still no news on the nearly-nephew front. Can't wait to meet him!!!

Hallowe'en
We don't usually do anything fancy, but kinda on the spur of the moment, we decided to go to the Great Pumpkin Charity Ball. Hubbub has a costume, and so do I (but it's a secret), and I'm pretty excited.

My first fancy Hallowe'en party!

Running
So, I'm training for the Resolution Run 10k, and it's going really well. I had an awesome solo run yesterday, and am running with a friend tomorrow and Saturday. Saturday we're going 4 miles - which is farther than I've run since last year. I'm looking forward to it (although boy howdy has it gotten cold out lately! I really need to get some mitts).

Not quite THIS cold though, thank goodness

Ballin'
We're going paintballing on Sunday!!! It will be my first time. I'm stoked.

Bump watch: Nearly nearly nephew edition

Guys, I'm going a little crazy with impatience here. A good friend is now overdue for her first little one, and I cannot wait for him to be born. Like, for the past two weeks I've been waiting with bated breath, and now that she's overdue??? Let's just say I can't imagine what it's like to be in her shoes right now, if I'm this nutso.

I just want him here, and for both of them to be safe, and healthy! Can't wait to meet my newest nearly-nephew... eeee!!! Babies!

Delicious Eats

Well, the latest culinary endeavours both come from Eat, Live, Run - what can I say, the woman knows what's she's doing! - and we'll definitely be making them again. (Probably.)

First up:  Homemade pad thai. That actually tastes like legit pad thai, rather than a pale imitator! (Even though the dish is pretty pale. Whatever, don't get picky with me!) It has some pretty authentic ingredients, like fish sauce and tamarind (I now know exactly what it feels like to be looking for something in the grocery store when I have no idea what it looks like. At least I was in the right section!). This is probably why it tastes surprisingly close to what you'd get from an actual Thai restaurant. Verdict: YUM. And bonus that the hubbub liked the tofu! He was pretty skeptical. We will definitely be making this again.

Her pad thai, not mine.

Next up, we have split pea soup. This is the probably making again recipe - only because we haven't actually had it yet. I made it on Tuesday evening (it takes a GOOD 3 hours to make), and froze most of it, but preliminary examination indicates that tonight's dinner should be YUM. It was really not labour intensive, the ingredients were pretty cheap, and it makes a large batch, so really - all signs point to "making again." As long as it is fairly yummy. Which it should be. (I'd chop up the carrots smaller next time though - rookie mistake!)

Again, not my split pea soup. Crackers are a good idea, though.

Running Wishlist

So, you probably didn't know this, but when I said I wanted to get back into some habits, that included working out regularly. Specifically, I wanted to get back into running (took a hiatus after a half marathon followed by a 10k last fall) and resistance training. The good news? I have, and I feel fantastic (sometimes tired. But mostly fantastic). I'm training for a 10k Resolution Run (yes, on the evening of Dec 31st) with a friend, and it feels great to be training for an event again. Yay! I learned last fall that I really like 10k-ish runs, so I'm really looking forward to this, and the training. Can't wait to get back to over-5k runs!

The bad news? I have managed to come up with a wish list of new running gear that I waaaaaant. Some of it I need (I usually knock off running outside when it gets chilly), but some of it is definitely on the "want" side of things. For example:

Running Sleeves: I've got friends who swear by them, and I see the appeal. Starting off in a long-sleeved shirt and pulling up the sleeves isn't the same! Downside: I think the season for wearing them will be rather short; I'm probably going to have to be in a long sleeved shirt/jacket fairly soon, so I'm not sure it would be worth buying a pair. Maybe if I could find a pair with built-in mittens...

I think I'd avoid white, though.

A foam roller: For sore muscles. This is something I've heard a lot about - some people LOVE them, some don't see the benefit. I think it could be good? I don't currently have access to one to be able to try it out. I wonder if you can return them if you don't like it.

I'd be able to practice my serious face!

Headband: Lately I've been getting ear aches when running coz my ears get cold, but I get hot when I run, so a tuque is out of the question. I think a wicking headband is in order!

That would work... sans snowflakes though.

Lululemon everything: Yes, Lulu is pricey. But the Lulu gear I have is so great. The quality is fantastic, and it's super comfy. I've got Lulu pants, tanks, and a hoodie, and get a LOT of use out of them. The gear is just a step up from other items... but the price, oh, the price... Well, a girl can dream, right?

Yes, please!

Not That I Don't Love Ikea

After yesterday's disdain of Manland, I'm actually pretty happy that there's a story in the Ottawa Citizen about the new Ikea in Ottawa - it is supposed to open on December 7th! I don't think I want to be anywhere near the madness for the first... month, at least? But I'm excited to have "the full Ikea experience." There's no mention of Manland, for what that's worth.

So excited it is the weekend, friends (or, almost). I'm STILL exhausted. I blame sleep debt, feeling slightly under the weather, seriously stepping up the workouts (first official week of training for the Resolution Run + increasing weights and reps during resistance training = tired!), and the grey weather. Ick. Tomorrow's a rest day, and Sunday's "long" run isn't long yet (2 miles. Piece of cake. Have I mentioned that I'm digging this training program?), so I'm planning on shaking off this lethargy over the weekend.

Need less of this.

And possibly making some split pea soup. I need to find some ham hocks, but I'll let you know how it goes.

Manland of Discontent

So, you may have heard about Ikea's Manland, a corral for bored manpanions who can't be trusted to tour through Ikea with their lady of preference. When I saw the video about it (see link above), I thought "huh. I guess that's interesting? I'm pretty sure that the hubbub would rather stay with me than play awkwardly with the other guys, though..." Also, the 30 minute time limit seems a bit ridic. Who can get through Ikea in 30 minutes? And why in the world would you want to get halfway through Ikea and then turn around to fetch your man from daycare, and subsequently drag him through the remainder of the store? Remember, this is a guy who can't possibly be expected to survive an Ikea trip sans tantrum, as established by the fact that you deposited him at Manland in the first place. Point: If your manpanion reacts to a shopping trip the way a 5 year old does, leave him at home. And then maybe get a new one?

When I showed the hubbub the video, he was pretty offended. He thought it was demeaning to men. Yesterday, the Globe and Mail agreed with him.

Honestly, going to Ikea is halfway to hanging out in a stranger's house to begin with (that being said, I do love the show rooms). You seriously need to leave your man in some creepy not-quite-living-room with strangers, because he can't manage to muster up an opinion on coffee tables and/or book cases? Yikes. (NB: in this case, yes, "whatever you like honey" is an opinion. I just think he at least deserves a preview of what he'll be asked to help put together, ya know?)

Now, if there were a ball pit, it might be a different story. Like, one where we play rock paper scissors to see who has to go shopping, and who gets to stay and play. (Except not actually rock paper scissors, coz I always lose to the hubbub. I swear he can read my mind!)

So jealous.

Happy Thanksgiving!

So, it was Canadian Thanksgiving this past weekend. My mom organized for the family to meet up at a rented cottage on Rice Lake, just outside of Coburg. The location was lovely; the lake and trees were beautiful; the cottage has lots of potential if it were maintained properly, but turned out to be a sketchfest.

Seriously. There were 3 bedrooms downstairs (where we has planned to, you know... sleep. Instead we dubbed them "the murder rooms" and avoided at all costs). But the whole basement smelled of mold, and the walls were black with mildew. Thank goodness there was a bedroom upstairs, and the large living room could accomodate the air mattress my uncles (serendipitously) had with them, the fold-out couch mattress we hauled upstairs, and the couch. It was like a big slumber party all weekend! Which was kinda fun, but I didn't end up sleeping well. The place was dirty, had no silverware, had the creepiest animal skin rug I've ever seen (we think it was some kind of crazy hyena?) and we weren't actually sure that the water was drinkable (thank goodness we had lots of wine, right?) But everyone survived, and had fun. We definitely made the best of it. I think that this series of texts from Sunday sums up the weekend nicely:

[Family is in town shopping; hubbub and I return to cottage after breakfast with some friends, and put turkey in oven]
Sister: There's a badger in the green rough tote
Sister: *baster
[Interlude: I attempt to baste the turkey]
Me: Turns out the tea towel is highly flammable... If you guys were to come across some over mitts...
Sister: I lit the towel on fire this morning too. There's oven mitts hanging on side of cupboard on right side of sink, above coffee maker.

And then when we got home, we made turkey stock, pickles, and yogurt. Not surprisingly, I'm pretty wiped today!

Just Finished Reading - My Year of Meats and Dignifying Science

Hi friends -

Holy wow, it has been a busy week. Am I EVER glad that I took tomorrow off... I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving weekend! I've got a whole stack of X-Men comics a friend lent me a while ago, and I really need to get on that... which I will be doing now that I have completed the last of the Kat Rosenfeld list!

Ruth Ozeki's My Year of Meats was the Rosenfeld book I liked the best... and it was also the one I had the hardest time getting into. For some reason, the opening scene just wasn't doing it for me... but finally, I got into it, and I loved reading the story of these two women. And also, am seriously considering going organic in the meat department... but that's another conversation. Be warned, though, there's some pretty graphic, albeit brief, depictions of a slaughterhouse towards the end of the book. It was so good though.

Next up is Dignifying Science, "the second in a series of books done in comics form telling true stories about scientists. This book features famous women scientists including Marie Curie, mathematician Emmy Noether, physicist Lise Meitner, DNA researcher Rosalind Franklin, biologist Barbara McClintock, primatologist Birute Galdikas, and Hedy Lamarr. Yes, that Hedy Lamarr...her story will surprise you!"

It was good - I liked the graphic novel approach - but I have one major complaint about it, which is the lack of context for the stories. I felt like each chapter was aimed at someone who already knew about the scientist in question, so I was often lost. I discovered an appendix at the end which gave some historical/contextual information about each scientist - I really think that they should have put this as an introductory page before the story. I would have gotten more out of it that way, and suspect others would have, too! Nonetheless, I have borrowed other graphic novels by the same author from the library, and am looking forward to reading them (and have a hold on the one about Feynman - I expect that to be a hoot!)

Yes.

So. Grey, cloudy day here, chilly day in the office (I have a space heater on!), and it took a while to wake up, but my Monday is looking good, and I've got high hopes for the week! Hope you do too!

1. Unclutterer has a post about mise en place while cooking. I'm a big fan, especially for new recipes. It helps avoid doing the "oh crap, I don't have that essential ingredient" in the middle of delicate recipes, and makes the whole thing more enjoyable.
2. Speaking of cooking, we had excellent culinary adventures last week. I made a whole roasted chicken, and then we made meatballs, and then we made broth from the chicken carcass. Tonight, it'll be home made chicken soup... and it's perfect weather for it, too!
3. Our first pre-AGM Think Tank is this afternoon! In 45 minutes! Going to finish some stuff, grab a coffee, and head to another one of our libraries to help facilitate it. So excited!
4. Last week was the Week of Contracts. This week will also be the Week of Contracts, only it is shaping up to also be the Week of Excellent Negotiation Results, which I am eminently pleased about.
5. This week is also a Short Week, followed by a looooong, family and cottage a turkey-filled weekend, which I am looking forward to.

Ready, set, cook!