New Fashion Trend

I was reading the newspaper on Saturday and noticed this fashion article with a picture of Madonna in combat style pants. Then I realized I've been seeing a couple of the instructors at the gym wearing this style, usually with one pant leg folded up to the knee. Have you noticed this fashion trend? I'm not one of those that keeps up with the latest looks.

Last night, I needed L's signature on a document. Of course, she happens to be out of town. So we realized I could simply scan the page and email it to her. She in turn, printed it, signed it and emailed it back to me. This is all about the wonders of technology! You don't even have to fax anymore. I felt sad that she's growing up so fast. Although I was a lot more sad when she first moved away to school last September.

She's so looking forward to turning 19 in April, the legal drinking age here. I'm just happy that we have blackberry smart phones and can send instant messages to each other at any time. And of course, there's Gmail video and Skype. M's worse than me, he almost expects daily contact. Well, we seem to have daily contact anyway, even if it's just a quick message or photo. In fact, here's a photo she sent us last week. She had made her first salmon dish and said it was delicious:




News

Flowers for Elton - didn't know Elton John loved flowers so much

Sunday Sketches - Snowdrop

Today, I decided to sketch a Snowdrop, one of the first flowers of Spring.

Please drop by the other Sunday Sketches participants to see what they did today!

None But the Lonely Hearts

I heard this restful, romantic piece on the radio yesterday and thought it was beautiful for the mood I was in. And the announcer just happened to name the song right after it played:

Tchaikovsky - None But The Lonely Hearts

K blares all the current pop music when he's with me in the car and it was a treat to listen to something peaceful for a change. I know I'll probably miss the blaring noise one day when he's grown up and I like Bruno Mars, etc.

M went to his first hot yoga class. It's an hour and a half session. He seemed to enjoy it except for the fact that there were only 2 men in the class including him. It is very popular with women. He said it is a young age group (twenties to early thirties). I had got him an introductory 10 lesson package from one of those group discount sites. Well, I told him we all need some stretching exercises for the body and it's good for flexibility. A friend had also recommended hot yoga to him. I don't enjoy yoga myself, too much stretching I guess, and I hate being upside down, etc.

L is about to register for her second year courses. March break for most elementary and secondary school kids starts the week of March 14th.

Classic potato leek soup

I just got this recipe from a Heart and Stroke Foundation newsletter and can't wait to make it. I copied it from this link.

Classic potato leek soup

Makes 6 servings

Everyone needs a fabulous potato and leek soup in their repertoire – well, this is it! The classic flavour is simple yet, wonderful.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

* 10 mL (2 tsp) vegetable oil
* 3 leeks, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
* 2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
* Pepper
* 3 large baking or yellow-fleshed potatoes, peeled and diced (1 L/4 cups)
* 500 mL (2 cups) reduced-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
* 500 mL (2 cups) 1% milk
* 30 mL (2 tbsp) freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions

1. In a pot, heat vegetable oil over medium heat. Add leeks, celery and 1 mL (1/4 tsp) pepper and cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until leeks are tender. Add potatoes, broth and 250 mL (1 cup) water; cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and boil gently, covered, for 15 minutes or until potatoes are soft. Remove from heat.
2. In a blender, in batches, or with an immersion blender, purée about half of soup until smooth, leaving half chunky. Return to pot, if necessary. Stir in milk; heat over medium heat, stirring often, just until steaming (do not let boil). Stir in lemon juice and season to taste with pepper.

Nutrition information per serving

* Calories 159
* Protein 7 g
* Total Fat 3 g
* Saturated Fat 1 g
* Cholesterol 4 mg
* Carbohydrates 28 g
* Fibre 3 g
* Sugars 8 g
* Sodium 95 mg
* Potassium 718 mg

Recipe courtesy of Dairy Farmers of Canada ©2011

Posted: March 2011

Laugh Often

I found this in an email with the caption 'laugh often':




I was at the bank yesterday ordering some new cheques. I commented to the teller how expensive they were these days $46.20 for 100 cheques. She said everything's going up, that she has noticed food prices are climbing stealthily. For example, she pointed out that a bag of chips may seem to cost the same, but the bag has become smaller. Then M was saying he heard they are doing the same thing with the cereal boxes, by putting less cereal inside! His point is that they are saying there is no inflation, but there sort of is.

News

Best and Worst Dollar Store Buys

Believe in Yourself

I found this in an email and thought it was a good one. The caption said 'believe in yourself':

Toronto had the gala red carpet premiere of Billy Elliot last night. Sir Elton John and his partner David Furnish flew in from L.A. specially for the occasion as David is the producer and responsible for bringing the show to Toronto. Apparently it is outselling the Chicago show, it is a popular production. It was exciting to watch it on TV because we saw the show last week, and Cesare Corrales was starring as Billy last night and he was the Billy we ended up seeing.

News

Opening night: Billy Elliot earns resounding cheers

Is diet pop really hazardous for the heart?

Don't worry, be happy and live longer: Scientific studies

Creative Tuesdays - Bedtime

Welcome to March! The year is just flying by but I'm so ready for Spring.

I found this beautiful bedtime image and decided to illustrate it for this week's Creative Tuesdays theme. I hope you like it. I've also started scanning my images in.






Please drop by the other participants to see what they came up with.