Friday, January 31, 2025

Friday Favourites

 


Happy Friday! 

This was Q's hair when I picked him up for the Y on Monday. I guess sweaty head under a touque will do that!

I made swiss chard on Monday and had to get a photo of the beautiful colour of the stems. 

I checked the cameras on Tuesday to see when the kids were leaving for school. This is the moment after Q threw a snowball at E. E says "that went in my boot!' and Q says "oh sorry!".


I made this pretty soup for dinner but it actually didn't have that much flavour. I used the Campbells brand of pho broth, will need to add something else next time.


A few other highlights from this week - drinks at King Taps on Tuesday with a colleague, shoveling snow on Wednesday morning, looking up things to do in Paris, and watching The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King with the kids.  The lighting of the beacons is my favourite part!

Hope you have a good weekend, we made it February! 

Linking up with Andrea and Erika.




Thursday, January 30, 2025

Monthly Musings


1. What do you do to stay warm in winter?
A couple of things to recommend - the long underwear from Uniqlo.  Their Heat Tech line with different levels of warmth is great. We all have them for skiing, and I will also wear the leggings under other pants if I'll be outside for long periods of time.
Also recommended are the Super Puff mittens from Aritzia.  My hands are never cold when I wear them.

2. Favourite wintertime activity?
I have to say downhill skiing, but really it's anything active outside where you may be cold, but dressed appropriately, so when you come inside you feel accomplished for having been outside enjoying the winter, not just surviving it. 

3. Any different beauty routines in winter?
More cream - I got the Ouai St. Bart's Moisturizer for Christmas and although I will use it year round, there is something extra nice about the smell in the wintertime. 

4. Skating, sledding, or skiing?
Downhill Skiing!

5. Favourite winter recipes?
French Onion Soup, Sausage Carbonara, and Stanley Tucci's recipe for Pasta e Fagioli

6. Favourite winter hot beverage?
I don't really branch out from coffee, but when we are skiing I will often add a packet of hot chocolate to it.

7. Best winter memories?
Skiing at Mont Sutton in 2022, skating on outdoor rinks, and watching the kids ski race.

8. Coldest day that you remember?
I have a few memories of being so cold - walking to class in Fredericton, skiing at Mont Tremblant in 2013 where we questioned our life choices, and skating at Ontario Place in 2017.    

9. How are you practicing self care this winter?
Getting massages.

10. Flannel sheets - yes or no?
We don't have them. They are cozy but Dave finds them too hot. 

Linking up with Holly and Patty.

 

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

What's Up Wednesday

 


What we're eating this week...
Sunday - Pasta and meat sauce
Monday - Rotisserie chicken, roasted sweet potatoes, swiss chard
Tuesday - Noodle soup (sort of like Pho)
Wednesday - Tacos
Thursday - Meatball Subs
Friday - Pizza
Saturday - Dinner out in Huntsville

What I'm loving...
We have been having awesome ski weather so far this season.  Last year we had several warm days, but this year has been awesome.  Just the right level of cold, and continuous fresh snow.  I don't mind the cold when we are bundled up and it makes skiing more fun when you're not worried about the conditions. 


What I'm dreading...
Honestly, the next four years. I know that a majority of the people voted for Trump so good for you, but I'd really like for you to keep him to yourselves without him getting any ideas about Canada.


What we've been up to...
Working out in the mornings, trying to eat well during the days, and driving the boys to their activities at night.  And then skiing on the weekends. 

What I'm working on...
So I mentioned before I've booked a trip to France in the Spring but need to actually work on booking our accommodations. It is easy to get overwhelmed!

What I'm excited about...
Although I would love to be heading to warmer climes for March Break, we have instead booked a few days at Mont Tremblant.  We will get to ski with some friends which is always a highlight of any ski trip. Next year we are thinking of expanding our horizons to skiing in the Alps! 

What I'm watching/reading...
We are watching Severance and Pop Culture Jeopardy, Mr. Beast on TV.  And we are making our way through the Lord of the Rings trilogy. 

I'll share my book review for this month next Monday.

What I'm listening to...
I know I'm late to the party on this one, but I've been queuing up the 10 minute All Too Well lately. I am determined to learn all of the words.

What I'm wearing...
Cozy clothes, especially my new sweater from Uniqlo.

What I'm doing this weekend...
Skiing on Saturday at our normal hill, and then an overnight in Huntsville, and a race for E at Hidden Valley.  Muskoka is always a winter wonderland.

What I'm looking forward to next month...
More ski races for the boys including a couple of weekends away.

What else is new...
With Dave's new job, he is going into the office a few days a week, and this overlaps with my days in the office, so the boys need to get themselves out the door for school.  We make sure they are up and dressed and breakfast started before we leave, and then there are two timers on the Google Home to prompt them out the door.  They are doing well with this new responsibility!  Also with Dave and I both downtown, we sometimes get to ride the subway together which is nice.

Linking up with Shay.


Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Weekend Recap

I may sound like a broken record but we had another fun winter weekend.  The Polar Vortex lifted (is that what a vortex does?) and we had some milder temperatures by Saturday.   But it was still nice and cold for a good day on the slopes. 

This was the pinky sky that we enjoyed on our drive up to the ski hill on Saturday morning. As usual the photo doesn't do it justice. 

We were nice and early and on the first few chairlifts up the mountain and got some first tracks. 



We saw Q doing some race training. 

After a full day of skiing we headed home.  Dave got out the ski tuning gear to work on the boys' skis to get them race ready for Sunday. 

We watched the World Cup Downhill from Kitzbühel.  It was so fun to watch and even more exciting to see two Canadians on the podium! 


Then we went out for dinner at Queen Margherita Pizza, and Dave's parents were here for the weekend so of course they came with us.

I ordered a new pizza for me (La Scala), and it was delicious.  I may order it again and not go immediately back to my regular order (Giovanna).

The next day was a divide and conquer day - I took E to Glen Eden in Milton for his race, and Dave, his parents, and Q went to The Heights (across from Horsehoe Valley) for Q's race. 

Almost ready, minus my hat!


There we go!


We had a beautiful day in Milton.


A slightly different day up North. Snow squalls all day.

The Glen Eden "lodge" left a bit to be desired, a far cry from the private Heights :)

I set up to eat my breakfast and wait for some other parents to arrive. 

Snowy Dave.


Sunny Sarah

Stopping in before his race.


Enjoying the outdoor fire.


Ski moms.

One of the parents took some awesome photos of all of the racers.  E looked great in his new suit. 



For his second run he had to borrow his teammate's poles since someone else had grabbed his. They had different guards on them, so it was a little strange, but he still put up a good time.  (And then he quickly found his poles with another teammate afterwards, who had taken them by mistake.)



This is Q's group doing course inspection for their race. Q is 7th from the left.

We all arrived home around 2:30 which is much earlier than we usually get home from skiing, and it was nice to have the extra time. I did a workout and made supper, and we watched the football. Sorry to see Buffalo lose!







Monday, January 27, 2025

Random Thoughts

As we finally get to the end of this long month, I am collecting some random thoughts:

It has been a tough few weeks (months, years?) of upsetting news stories, and it can be overwhelming at times. I know a lot of people say they do not pay attention to the news or current events because of this. I believe however that it doesn't serve us, personally or as a society, to ignore things that happen.  I know it can be overwhelming, we are inundated from all kinds of places, and the headlines are always so dire and hyperbolic.  Instead I think we just need to find a couple of news sources that we trust and just limit our exposure to that sources.  My sources are Peter Mansbridge's podcast The Bridge, The Globe and Mail newspaper website, and sometimes CBC's The National. Just over the past week I've stopped logging into Twitter as I just don't trust what comes across there, even when I've curated who I follow.  Also my home page on my work computer was automatically set to a news headlines page, and I've changed it because the stories were just not worthy of my time.  (I did keep Twitter in case I need to know anything about the subway.)
There is a scene from A Real Pain, the Jesse Eisenberg movie, starring Jesse and Kieran Culkin where Kieran's character gets really upset that people are ignoring what is going on.  It made so much sense and I cannot even try to recreate it here.  If you've seen the movie you may remember it.  But it expressed what I was trying to say above. The whole movie is good. 



The destruction caused by the fires in Los Angeles is just so sad to see, and since many of the homes destroyed were in an affluent area, it makes you think about all of the artwork, custom furniture, premium linens, expensive purses and shoes, and all of the other things lost in the fires.  It really makes me think what is this all for?  We work so hard to make our houses homes with all of the things made to our liking, curating our collections of whatever is important to us, but then it can just disappear in an instant.  I know fires are not new, but I've been thinking more about this lately because we have heard from lots of people that lost those "fancy" things.

Is "tush push" a new concept in the NFL? I have heard it multiple times in each game in the past couple of weeks but I really can't remember hearing it before.  It sounds like one of Ducky and Bunny's failed plans from Toy Story 4, iykyk.  Or maybe it's just Baader-Meinhof. 


Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Happy

I’m copying Peter Mansbridge’s prompt for this week - he has asked the listeners to his podcast “The Bridge” to write in with what makes them happy.  It has felt a bit heavy lately with the fires in LA, the inauguration of Donald Trump, the resignation of Justin Trudeau, and the general dark and cold of January.  I probably won’t write into the podcast this week, but wanted to do my own post about things that are currently bringing joy:

Going skiing - we are so fortunate to go, and the boys are such great skiers now. 

Having a trip to plan - Looking forward to travelling to Paris in the springtime (cue the song!)

Drinks with friends - whether it’s a beer or coffee, it’s so nice to connect with people 

Cooking - I made pasta e fagioli last night, using Stanley Tucci’s recipe, it’s such a comforting meal.

Listening to the boys practice their music - E is learning Glycerine on the guitar, as per my request, so neat to hear him play it.

Putting on cream - with my skin so dry, it feels nice to slather on some moisturizer






Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Weekend Recap

We had a mini-ski holiday this weekend.  I mean, we always go skiing but this time we spent two nights at the hotel and got to do a few extra things with our weekend. 

Q had a ski race on Friday so we packed up and drove to the hill that morning.  There was no school, but Dave and I had to work so we brought our laptops and headphones for phone calls and emails throughout the day.

E was one of the forerunners for the race (they go ahead to lay a track down and ensure timing is working).


Two different courses, the racers did both.


Our racer!  He ended up mid-pack which is pretty good.  There were some skiers from the escarpment (Alpine, etc.) and they are pretty good!


After the race and medal ceremony, we drove over to the hotel to check in.  After a quick rest, we went back to the ski hill for some night skiing.  We never have time or energy for night skiing so we took advantage of our overnight and went. It was so fun to be under the lights.




We spent some time by the outdoor firepit (my favourite thing in winter!)


and the boys got some Beaver Tails.


After that we went to Boston Pizza for dinner. 

On Saturday morning we went skiing for a regular training day.  It snowed most of the morning which meant we were all soaked! 


Stopping to see E come down the slalom course.


I posted this on my Instagram stories, spotting your kid in the lift line like they are a celebrity.  We call out his name and wave, but he's playing it cool and pretends he doesn't hear us ;)

E is the one in the middle of the photo - blue helmet, black jacket and pants, white boots


After training wrapped up we went over to Quayle's Brewery.  We have been wanting to go here since we joined the racing team, three years ago, but never found time to go.  This weekend was the perfect time to go. It was so great! We need to go back.



Two other families joined us and the kids played games while the adults chatted.  They have a few food items like pretzels, mac & cheese, and flatbread.  Everything was tasty.


Trying out a flight.


We brought some beers back to the hotel with us, but the paper bag they were in gave out just as we were going into our room.

After we got back to the room, we didn't leave.  No one was that hungry after the brewery snacks, so we just ate a few things we had in our room, and watched TV.  

On Sunday we were back at the hill for a cold morning.  We had made sure that everything had dried out from the day before and we had our warmest layers on and it wasn't actually that bad.  Warming up at lunchtime. 


Dave and I were finishing up for the day and then we saw Q and his friend so we hopped on the lift with them for one more run.

We got home in good time, stopped by the library to pick up a book for E to read for class, and then got everything tidied up.  We were happy to watch Buffalo win their game!! Bring it on Kansas City!