Sunday, December 30, 2007

christmas 2007

merry christmas! i think we can still say it up until january, right? though i said it to someone accidently at church today and they laughed at me and said "happy new year." hmm...
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so as always, the shulba christmas took place on christmas eve. we tried something new - cooking food on stones. yes, marble stones with fuel under them like fondue... i was definitely unsure of how this would work and whether we'd be waiting a long time to eat but what better time to try them out on an evening you have no where else to be except sitting around with family chatting? and as it turned out, they worked great. they're quite fun. and healthy really - tiny portions of meat and vegetables? it was very good.


prawns were my favourite...i ate 17. so maybe it's not necessarily portion control...
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and then on to christmas morning at the macdonald household. we forgot to take pictures of us around the tree opening presents but we had a great time nonetheless. judy served up a great turkey meal and we remembered to take a couple photos then. (and i know you're wondering - but it's blueberry juice.) :)
and of course we gamed it up throughout the day. good times.
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hope you all had a great celebration as well!

Monday, December 24, 2007

poached eggs anyone?

this is just a little by the way...because i couldn't let this information pass by me without passing it on to all other egg poachers out there...

yesterday when i was on the treadmill, there were two tvs in front of me - one had the news on and the other had the food network. i don't know who picks these channels but i did not. anyways, watching the food network and some girl was making a breakfast meal blah blah blah and she was going to make poached eggs (you know, when you crack the egg into the boiling water and then take it out in 3 min) and these were her tips:

[wait, let's insert here that i make poached eggs all the time and the problem is that when you drop them in, even if you do it gently from a little cup or something, the white part spreads everywhere and doesn't cook with the yolk. you may not care but people who poach are feeling my pain.]

so the tips:

crack the egg into a little bowl or cup first. (i already do that)
turn the heat down a little so it's not crazy boiling when you drop the egg. (i already do that)
stir the water (whatever.)
add a tsp. of vinegar before adding the egg.

so yesterday and today? added the vinegar and WOW!!! HUGE difference! the egg doesn't fly all apart in the boiling bubbles - it stays together! you have to try it.

then the woman on the stepper behind me (who apparently had the remote) changed from the foodnetwork channel to the news. the SAME news that was on the tv right next to it. so now i had two tvs with the same thing on it while i finished my intervals. i turned around and looked at her to try to show that i was watching this egg poaching penomenon but she ignored me.

at least i learned about the vinegar.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

inspiration (or...you did what?)

so with the lack of blogging from people i know, i've had to resort to reading the blogs of people i don't know. on my google reader list i have been keeping up with these two blogs: Soule Mama and Wee Wonderfuls. two very crafty, sew-y, inspiring blogs. they make you want to be able to sew. seriously. so after a monh or so of reading...i've decided to do something about it...

i signed up for a beginner sewing class!

i know, its almost as shocking as me signing up for the triathlon (i said, almost) but i just think it would be so great to be able to whip up cute shirts or sew baby clothes for your friends' baby showers with the fabric that you get to choose. then i could learn to make quilts. the ideas are really getting out of hand.

so if you feel the inspiration with me, by chance, and want to learn to sew yourself...consider coming to abbotsford for 4 mondays starting jan 21 from 6 - 9pm with me. it's going to great.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

i saw it...

juno.

it was awesome. when it comes out in theatres near you - go see it.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

where can you see preschoolers singing, choirs rejoicing, skits like you've never seen before, all in one night? agassiz! see if the grade 3 4 5 class pulled it together and memorized all their lines in one week. come one, come all, to our christmas production wednesday night at 7pm. maybe if you're in the neighbourhood. haha. okay, i know, i know - you're not coming. but one year, i'll put out the invitation and someone will come and it'll be great. :) yay for jamie, judy, and tim for their faithful attending every year! see you tomorrow!

relax - it's just christmas shopping...

i started today. christmas shopping. after a long day at work, i went straight to winner's and wandered around. then to costco. then to walmart. then to the mall. then to future shop. and it was a great evening.

if you don't let yourself get too uptight about 10 person line or the fact that you had to park far away from the door and then walk in the rain - it's not so bad. i'm definitely a "wander till you find something you think they'll like" kind of christmas shopper. sometimes i have some pre-shopping ideas but most often i don't. i think it's less stressful. i'm not really looking for anything...just looking.

so if you still haven't started your christmas shopping, take a deep breath and remind yourself that giving is about the thought - not the amount of money. there's nothing that any of us NEED so it's all a little bit extra and that should be fun to shop for. smile at the people behind the counter because no doubt they're stressed and if you're shopping for someone who's hard to buy for, costco has a great deal on movie tickets. :) just so you know.

happy shopping.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

for sharelle...


biggest mandarin ever.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

no juno?

i have been waiting for the movie juno in great anticipation ever since i saw the preview at some other movie. it has my favourites, michael cera and jason bateman, and looked great (in that artsy, film festival way that makes some of you not want to go see it). tonight, we were excited to go see it since i'd heard it was out in theatres.

I CAN'T FIND IT!

in a deeper search on the the juno website i found that there are some free screenings over the next couple weeks. only ONE in vancouver on wed. dec. 19 at 7pm. if you live in vancouver, i suggest signing up for free tickets at 5th ave cinema - find more details on the website. also, you edmonton-ites also get a couple free screenings. but alas, i cannot go because it's our christmas program at school that night. sigh. but i guess we can go another night. :)

Saturday, December 08, 2007

oh the propaganda

in case you don't buy 12-packs of diet cokes, i thought i should let you know some very interesting facts that are now written on the side of the box:

"Refreshing. Uplifting. Hydrating? It's true. Research shows that all beverages contribute to proper hydration. That means wether it's your first can of the day or your afternoon pick-me-up, Diet Coke helps you stay hydrated throughout the day. So stick with the Diet Coke taste you love. Your body will thank you for it."

who's buying this (the words above, not the diet coke itself...i'm buying that.)? your first can of the day? your body will thank you for it? oh man. too funny.

calorie counter...

i found a site that you can type in all the ingredients of a recipe and it will calculate how many calories, fat, fiber etc is in each serving.

http://www.calorie-count.com/calories/recipe_analysis.php

just in case any of you were wishing you had such a tool.

Friday, December 07, 2007

you've heard the ads...

but will 10,000 songs on our phone really give us joy this christmas?

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

the clock is ticking...

as we come down to christmas vacation, it also means the christmas program and this year...i'm at a loss. two years ago i searched and searched for a skit online that could accomodate 22 kids. one year ago, i wrote a skit. this year? i'm out of ideas.

HELP! Au Secour!

sooo...any ideas for a clever skit? any links to skits? anyone already written a christmas related skit with 16 parts and at a grade 4 reading level? haha.

no but seriously - i need a premise for a skit so that i can write one.

Monday, December 03, 2007

some time on your hands?

so you know when you have a little time to kill and you're on the internet but there's nothing new on facebook or the blogroll? what do you do? i hate to admit it but sometimes i play yahtzee online. so today, i'm having a snowday! school was very unexpectedly cancelled (unexpectedly because agassiz never seems to cancel) and there's a few minutes until something on tv comes on.

so...i went to the yahtzee page. and i get this blank screen with this message: this page is unavailable due to excessive traffic. sorry for the inconvenience.

excessive traffic? so what? doesn't one want excessive traffic at their page? anyways...now it's gone and i'm sure i could find it elsewhere but i liked this version. and i really should find something more useful to do with me time. ha.

what do you do with your spare minutes on the internet...i'll be needing some new ideas.

Sunday, December 02, 2007


Saturday, December 01, 2007

does anyone else feel like this?


so once december hits, christmas shopping is on for me. however, i tend to find lots of things that i'd like. but you're not allowed to buy them because you're shopping for others. so...despite this rule, i bought myself a christmas present today. augh. i hate people like me. but anyways...what do you think? it's real leather even though it looks a little shiny in this picture. worth keeping?