BACK TO REALITY

I'm back to work tomorrow. Back to 6:30 am alarms, bag lunches and routine. I'm bummed. I wish I could stay on holiday for - oh - at least another six months. Or that's what I believe. In reality I would probably get bored and be dying to get back to work. Right? I have to believe that. It's just that I so love taking my time waking up in the morning, or jumping out of bed the minute the sun hits my face through the open window to rush outside and water the garden - pull some weeds or pick the veggies. My choice. Nice to have one. That's what I like about holidays. I like not having anything I have to do and being able to sit and read a book, or snooze in my lawn chair, or go for swim, call a friend, go for a walk, etc, etc......

Most people think we school secretaries get the whole summer off. They're always so surprised when I tell them I work in the summer time. Sometimes it's actually so busy it's hard to even get a short break in the summer. This year I got 2 weeks. No wonder I'm not ready to go back.

Once I do get back to work, though, and reality actually sets in and school starts, the routine will start to flow and I'll actually find it oddly comforting. I know it. Life's been this way for me for almost 20 years.

Maybe part of me is apprehensive because I'm going to a new job. But I think it's going to be a good change! Working in an elementary school from 8-2:30 for the same $$ as I made in my previous job at the highschool working 8-4pm sounds wonderful. And the job is easier, quieter in a lot of ways. I've done it before, so I do know what I'm talking about and what I'm in for. It will almost be like still being on holiday! Right?

FRAMPTON IN VICTORIA!

So we had a great time in Victoria! We managed to book a B&B last minute at Scholefield House on Vancouver Street. The house was built in 1892 and has 10 foot ceilings, antique furniture, etc. Try this link http://scholefieldhouse.com to check it out if you want. We stayed in the King Suite which is the large bay window on the upper floor that you can see in this picture. The room has a wood-burning fireplace, a king size bed, lovely antique table and 2 chairs set in the bay of the window where Don & I relaxed with a drink and nibblies when we arrived. The host, at my request had recommended and booked a dinner reservation for us at Cafe Brio on Fort Street; a short, five minute walk from the B&B. The food was outstanding! They have a 3-course chef's menu for $28/person so we went with that: appy we chose was hearts of romaine with a lovely, light lemony dressing; for our entree Don had the steak, which was beautifully seasoned and cooked to perfection, and I had the pasta special which was Rigatoni with mussels and veggies in a beautiful, light sauce; dessert was creme brulee for me (yummy) and Don's was zapaplotsky or something like that which is some kind of custard, over fruit with 2 small biscotti-like sticks. We shared a bottle of Lindeman's Bin 65 Chardonnay (excellent white wine, reasonably priced) and a peppertini. If you like pepper, or anything spicy you've got to try this one! The waitress told us they infuse the vodka right on premise with black peppercorns. It's finished with a spicy green bean (she gave us 2 because we were sharing ;-) Fabulous! We bought a bottle of Vodka and are going to try making our own! It would make a fabulous caesar, too! I can't wait!

After dinner we walked (2 blocks) to the Royal Theatre for the concert. We had fabulous seats - on the aisle, 4 rows from the stage! When we arrived the opening act had already started: Shaun Verreault. He's one of the dudes from Wide Mouth Mason who's venturing out on his own with a one-man acoustic presentation. Don bought an autographed CD - the daggerlip sketches.

THEN the main event! Peter Frampton. Frampton Comes Alive! "Baby, I Love Your Way" and "Do You Feel Like We Do?" to name only two of the late great 70's hits I remember. When it came out in the later 70's the ALIVE album was the biggest selling album of all time. The guy is an icon. The guy is a phenomenol guitarist! I was glad we had the seats we did, so close to the stage because as we watched him play we could see the myriad expressions flow across his face and see how he feels the music. He is the music. His fingers fly!

I remember him from the 70's era as a really cute guy with long, blond, curly hair..... I was a little disconcerted when he came out on stage. Smallish, balding, gray - haired fellow that looks like he could be MY dad. But, he has a real twinkle in his eye, a good sense of humour and the guy can still totally rock out on that guitar! We were just a bit disappointed in that most of the concert was instrumental. Apparently they are promoting a new instrumental album slated to come out in a few weeks. He only sang 4-5 songs. But as I said - the music is still incredible. I just prefer music combined with lyrics, myself. I think I might go out and by the ALIVE CD. It really was and is incredible - check it out!

FRESH Salsa Recipe

My own creation - as requested by Nette ;-))

Chop:
4 cups tomatoes
1 large green pepper
1 large red onion
1-3 jalapeno peppers (chop very fine - seeds and all! - taste test to desired heat)
1 bunch cilantro (about a handful)
1-3 cloves garlic, pressed or chopped very fine (optional)

Stir together and serve! Presto - it's fabulous and all your friends will think you're amazing - they don't have to know how easy it is! ;-))

If you want to can it for storing and using later:

Substitute the red onion for yellow or white and add 1 small can of tomatoe paste then heat, stirring often until the mixture reaches a boil. Reduce the heat and pour into hot, sterilized canning jars then process in hot water bath for 15 minutes. You can easily double or triple the recipe for larger batches.

Enjoy!

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I'm looking forward to a fabulous weekend! My brother called yesterday and they have tickets to a concert in Victoria for tomorrow night that they can't use. We've booked a room at a really nice B&B and off we go! Hurray! What a nice end to my 2 weeks off (I hope ;0) We're going to see Peter Frampton. Anyone every heard of him? He was popular when I was a teenager and I know my brother really liked him - it's probably going to be pretty nostaligic. Watch for an update on how it was in a couple of days! ;-))

Paradise

Yes, It's just another day here in Paradise. This is the last weekend of my "holiday" the sun is out - the lake is calm and instead of laying at the beach, or cruising in our speedboat I'm sitting home - working in the garden - pulling weeds - cleaning house. What's wrong with this picture?

Yes, it's been a great 2 weeks off. Freezing green, yellow and purple beans until the freezer's bursting, and now the tomotoes are starting to ripen. I've made and canned 2 batches of slasa already, and it's just the beginning. Yesterday I harvested some of my herbs - parsley and loveage, dried and bottled it. It makes me feel so smart to do that. I'm going to try drying a bunch of stuff and putting it all together in a savory blend for seasoning soups, stews, roasts: parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.......

But before I start on that, I think maybe I should finish weeding the back garden, and maybe I can convince Don that it's a good idea to get out on the water while the sun is shining!

Gotta Go!

This is a picture of me taken by my daughter last year when we were on a mother & daughter get-away in Victoria, BC The view is of Esquimalt harbour. I'm trying to figure out how to get the picture onto my profile. Isn't learning something new fun?! ;-))

Well, I don't really know what I'm doing, but my daughters write these blogs all the time and I thought I'd give it a try.

One thing I've learned is that it's a good idea to be careful what you write. I just signed onto my daughter's blog and I hadn't looked at it for quite a while. I guess maybe she was kind of banking on that because she said how much I drive her crazy, etc. etc. Huh. Weird. Did she want me to read that?

No harm done really. I'm not really hurt. Well, maybe a little bit. I guess I know I drive her crazy. She drives me crazy too sometimes. But do you have to put it out there to the world like it's a negative thing? I guess that's what bugged me about it. She's telling people I don't know, that don't know me. What will they think?

If she's bugged why doesnt' she talk to me about it? Maybe we could come to a better understanding of each other and work through our feelings and quit doing the stuff that's bugging each other and know each other better and have a better, stronger relationship.

It's hard when you're used to being the Mom or the Kid and then the kid grows up. How do you re-define the relationship?