What's Up Wednesday

What we're eating this week...

Sunday - Stir-fry veggies, rice, spring rolls, and dumplings

Monday - Pasta and Meatballs 

Tuesday - Chicken, Carrots, Baked Potato

And the rest of the week is a mystery, I have nothing planned!

What I'm reminiscing about...

I get to travel to Lima Peru in March for a work trip.  Dave and I visited Peru in 2012 (see posts about that here and here). Although I will only be there for a couple of days, I am excited to get a feel of that city again.

What I'm loving...

My new ski goggles.  I'm not sure how I got along before but I'm very spoiled now. I have a lens for cloudy weather and a lens for partly sunny. I may have to get a third lens for full sun. 

What we've been up to...

Putting our house together slowly but surely.  I haven't been able to share many photos yet, other than our closet but I think next week I should be able to show you more.  More furniture has arrived and our window blinds were finally installed this week.  

What I'm dreading...

We still have a few things to get fixed up in our house, including the basement repairs to the flood damage we had.  It just means the dust will return, although it should be a fairly short project.

What I'm working on ...

Setting up our summer schedule. I have Q's camps most all set, and E will do some golf camps.  They are both registered for baseball (t-ball for Q) so then I just need to figure out soccer. We have booked our first camping trip for Canada Day weekend but need to decide if we will do another trip. 

What I'm excited about...

We have a ski trip planned for March Break. We are going to Quebec again but this time to Tremblant.  We can ski at Mt. Tremblant but will also try a couple of other hills, and maybe even some dog sledding!  We went to Tremblant years ago and all I remember is that it's very cold there, but hopefully that means good snow conditions, even late in the season.

What I'm watching/reading...

We are not doing a good job of watching TV lately.  We have had some early nights and the rest of the time we are watching sports it seems.  We did watch the new Wonka movie and the new Trolls movie.  Wonka was okay, but I don't care for Timothee Chalamet.  Trolls was way better!

Tomorrow I was share my January books, but currently I am reading The Palace Papers.

What I'm listening to...

I was never one who needed white noise to sleep but lately we have gotten into the habit of putting rain sounds on at night.  Spotify has a playlist "10 hours of Continuous Rain" so I will put that on and set a timer for an hour and then it turns off.  (But now I'm paranoid this will show up in my Spotify Wrapped favourites.) 

What I'm wearing...

Our winter has not been very cold and so far I've only needed to wear my big parka one week.  It does mean I'm getting to wear my new raincoat more often than I thought I would be.  I love having a nice raincoat that fits and does a good job of keeping me dry. 

What I'm doing this weekend...

More skiing.  Q's team has a potluck on Saturday and E has a race at The Heights on Sunday so that makes it a bit different. 

 

What I'm looking forward to next month...

Valentine's Day, ski events, a long weekend, and a work trip to Timmins.

What else is new...

We always tell the boys to get dressed before coming down in the morning and get their breakfast. We have been lax on letting them play games before school, but as long as they get ready first, then they can play if they have time left.  The other day they were up playing games before getting breakfast, so I came down and told them to eat.  Then I had go back upstairs for a minute and when I came down I could hear Q asking E what cereal he wanted and he was getting breakfast out.  It doesn't happen often, but it's nice to see them being helpful.

Linking up with Shay

Weekend Recap

Friday was a welcome sight last week!  I stopped in at the liquor store before I picked up Q and I was buying what I thought was a pretty standard order (2 bottles of white wine, 2 bottles of red wine, and 8 beer, plus a bottle of Campari).  We don't drink all of this in one weekend, but we like to have a variety.  The cashier says "oh are you having a party?" No, I am not.  I did not appreciate the judgment from the liquor store cashier of all people!! 

I bought the Campari so I could make Negronis. This was delicious and a great way to kick off the weekend.

Skiing on Saturday. It was warmer but the snow was in pretty good condition, even despite the rain they had during the week.

We caught Q on one of his runs.

Lunchtime, rosy cheeks and all.

Dave volunteered as a parent helper with Q's group in the afternoon.

The next day we split up to different hills.  Dave and E went to Glen Eden in Milton for a race and Q and I went to our regular hill.  The conditions at the race were less than ideal.  Milton is basically Toronto and we don't have any snow here and it has not been very cold.  I was actually surprised this ski hill had snow, let alone was hosting a race.  

This is not E, but you can see the snow has some brown patches.

It was a tough race with lots of DNFs and Disqualifications.  E DNF'd his second run which was too bad.  He said the snow was not great and he spun out on one of the top gates. 

He looks great though!

The reason why I didn't get around to posting anything yesterday was because I was enjoying my Sunday evening so much, I didn't want to break away and get the laptop out.  We had football on the TV, the boys were playing iPad and Lego, and I was working on the puzzle. We were disappointed that Detroit lost. I guess we will cheer for KC, my mom likes "Patrick" (as she calls him, they are friends, haha) so I'll support them. 

Friday Favourites

Happy Friday! Another winter weekend is in the cards for us, however with warmer temperatures than last weekend.  

As many of you know I am a faithful listener to Peter Mansbridge’s podcast “The Bridge”.  This month he has been asking his listeners to write in with an answer to a question.  For the first few weeks the question required a bit of thinking but this week it was an easy one: “What is your favourite part about winter in Canada?” I decided to write in and he read my letter! (It was at about the 13:00 mark.) There were so many good letters and I would recommend listening. 

This is what my letter said:

Q dutifully studied for his geography test this week.  He said he did okay so we’ll see!

I had E make the salad dressing for our meal on Monday.  We make @earthyandy ‘s OG dressing and it was a good one for him to start with.  Instead of Dijon we used some special Kozlik’s Mustard, the fig and balsamic and it was a good substitution. 

I sometimes wonder if I derive benefit from social media, particularly Twitter, but then I come across shares like the one below, and I can still see where it’s not so bad.  This came at a good time when I read it on Thursday morning, I had been sitting in my chair for a couple of hours without moving, tsk tsk!

A friend of ours is going to Jamaica next week and they are staying at the resort we went to in 2017.  I found this cute picture of the boys, how little they were!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Linking up with Andrea and Erika.

Monthly Musings

 

Linking up with Holly and Patty for the first Monthly Musings of the year.

1. How do you take care of yourself in winter?

 I keep bundled up. I am a firm believer in boots, a toque, mittens, and a good coat.  If you're not properly dressed for the weather, you will be miserable and will probably catch a cold.  If I start feeling a bit sick, I make myself a hot toddy and get to bed early.  We also sleep with a humidifier in our room.

2. How do you fight the winter blues?

I embrace winter instead of hating it. We took up skiing as a family hobby and that means I look forward to cold and snowy weather because it means skiing!

3. Tips to making your living space cozy?

Slippers and rugs on the floor.  The fastest way for a space to become uncozy is cold feet. As part of our renovation we actually got insulation (that's right, our 100 year old house didn't have insulation before) so that means the living room in particular is less drafty on the floors and now I actually want to hang out in that room in the winter.

4. Suggestions for fun wintertime activities.

I love an outdoor fire in the winter.  Whether it's a firepit in your own backyard, or one that is at an outdoor public area, there is something wonderful about being warmed by a fire.  Seek this out.  Bonus points if you can roast some hot dogs or marshmallows. 

5. What are your exercise routines in the winter?

I keep up with the same sort of routines on the Peloton (cycling and weights), but I also ski twice a week.  I try to incorporate more leg workouts into my routine to help with that skiing. 

6. Best tips for restful sleep?

When I can't sleep it's usually because my body is too sore, so if I'm feeling that way I will take an Advil before I go to bed.

7. Favourite warm beverage?

I really just like a coffee.  When we are skiing, I will add a packet of hot chocolate as a treat. 

8. Best winter skincare tips?

At night I use the Summer Fridays Jet Lag Mask at night and the La Neige Lip Sleeping Mask.  We also keep hand lotion and Blister in the car so we always have it available.

9. Flannel sheets - yes or no?

I do like flannel sheets but Dave does not so we don't have them. 

10. Favourite winter pajamas?

I wear the same pajamas all year round but I will sleep in my Barefoot Dreams sweater if I want to feel extra cozy.

Random Wednesday Things

Three things about each of us at the moment:

E

1. E got this sound machine/alarm clock for Christmas.  It has features for different coloured night lights and sounds for falling asleep.  E likes the fire crackling sound and uses it every night. 

2. E has had his phone for a few months and although he does like to play games on it as soon as we get in the car (which we are discouraging him from doing) he isn't as attached to it as I had feared.  It is very nice to be able to get in touch with him when we need to. 

3. He says he is improving each week with his skiing.  It's great to see him enjoy a sport and try at getting better.

Q 

1. As the younger brother, Q gets to do a few things that E had to wait to do.  For example, Q has been playing Zelda on the Nintendo Switch. He still needs some help reading the prompts, and beating some of the bad guys, but he is enjoying it. 

2.  When we went to Disney World in October we bought a Wicket stuffy, the Ewok from Return of the Jedi and Q has been especially attached to him lately.  He brings him in the car when we go to skiing and has used him as a pillow to nap on a few occasions.

3. He has had a few tests lately and this week we are helping him study geography, they need to know the continents and oceans. 

Me

1. I am a new convert to Athletic Greens or AG1 (which you will have heard of if you listen to any podcast!).  I got the starter kit for Christmas and am on the subscription plan.  It's supposed to give you more energy and I think I can say that after a month I do feel like I have more energy.  I am still tired at night time, but seem to get along well during the day.

2. I've also been putting collagen in my coffee since Christmas. I read it takes 8 to 12 weeks to notice a difference, so we'll see.  I started it because it seemed like the thing to do for a woman my age. And I just picked the same brand that my friend was taking.

3.  I saw Jamaal Magloire again yesterday.  He is a former Toronto Raptor (and Canadian!) and now he's one of their coaches.  Seriously I think I've seen him 3 times around my office downtown and when I went to Miami he was on our flight.  I see him more than I see actual friends of mine that work downtown. 

Dave

1. Dave is back on ski tuning duty.  Last year he bought all of the equipment so he could tune and wax our skis at home.  He picked up a few new tips at the workshop the ski club did last weekend.

2. He is gearing up for his first golf trip of the year next month. He's going to Miami which should be a nice treat for February. 

3. After being "project manager" for our renovation, he's now in procurement as he tracks orders for furniture and rugs. 

Weekend Recap

We had a wintry weekend!  No school for the kids but Q went to the Y for the morning.  He wanted to show his friend his sunglasses but he hadn't arrived yet, so I took a photo and sent it to the friend's mom so she could show him.  E was at home and I had him make some muffins.

We drove to Huntsville and could not get over the snow they had up north. It was so pretty!

We stayed at the Hidden Valley Resort and checked out their pool.  It was too cold for me to go in, but the boys had a dip.  One of E's ski teammates was there too.

Then we met a few kids and their parents for dinner.  I missed one of the, he had leaned back and I didn't notice he wasn't in the photo until later.

It was a cold morning but E was ready to go. 

Team meeting at the top.

E is on the right with the white helmet.

A view of the race course from the bottom

And from the top.  I was helping to run coats (meaning I skied the racers coats down the hill since most don't wear their coats for the race, but they need them as soon as they are done, especially in -15 degrees Celsius).

E arriving at the top for his second run.

He's at the far right, lining up to race.

The person in front of him fell, so that meant E had to redo his second run.  He ended up in 16th place overall, his best race yet!! 

After that we had lunch and I decided to do a few more runs on my own. 

After the medal presentation we went back to our hotel room and relaxed.  It was so nice!

Meanwhile Q and Dave had driven to our regular hill for Q's race.  

We went out for supper in Huntsville that night.

The next morning we got up early to drive to our regular hill.  It was such a pretty drive.

A perfect day for skiing.  We were warmly bundled up and not bothered by the cold and we really enjoyed the snow conditions. 

We arrived home around 4:30 and got everything put away.  We watched the football game and played Monopoly and then early to bed for all of us!