Let's Look - How we are turning into our parents

Linking up with Shay and Erika for Let's Look Wednesday.

Today we are talking about ways we have turned into our parents. A few things immediately sprung to mind, but I'm sure I'll be reminding of others when I read the other posts in this link-up. 

I like to do crossword puzzles like my mother and grandmother.

I am interested in different birds I can hear or see and will consult my bird app to identify ones I don't know.

I sing in the church choir like my mom did and appreciate various types of music.

I have an urge to take photos of beautiful flowers, trees, and skies, but I do try to limit them. First, how many flower photos does one actually need, and second, the photos often don't really show how pretty the original scene can be. 

I am concerned about food safety and always making sure food is cooked properly, raw meat is cleaned up, and throwing out old food that could be contaminated.

I can't think of anything specific, but there are times when I catch myself moving in a certain way or making a gesture and I realize it is something my mother does. 

Weekend Recap

 On Friday I walked with Q to school in the snow. It doesn't usually work out for me to walk with him when I am working from home, but that day it did so I took the opportunity. 

That evening I finally got out a few of our Valentine's decorations.

Q had a fun ski race on Saturday morning.  We decorated his helmet with some stickers and a heart headband. 

It was another very cold day, probably the coldest of the season due to the wind.  Warming up at lunchtime. 

Then a little photo shoot before going back out for the afternoon. 

E waxed his skis when we got home for his race the next day. 

I made some Costco frozen pizzas and brought them right downstairs on the board to eat. With some Olympics in the background, it was a great evening. CBC does a great job of making all of the sports available for streaming so if you miss something you can watch the entire coverage later. We were watching the men's downhill here.

On Sunday morning we went to Mansfield for E's race.  It was another very cold day. I opted not to ski but Dave and Q got out there and helped to run coats for our racers. 

The firepit in the sunshine was a warm spot.

Getting ready to race, taking off his snowpants. 

Staying warm with the capes.

Most of the U16 team at the podium ceremony.

After lunch the boys did a few more runs, including on Ferris Wheel, named after my cousin Bruce. 

Q fell asleep in this position, looks pretty uncomfortable to me!

We love to cook for a theme, so we made nachos for the Super Bowl. The nachos were good, the actual Super Bowl was a bit boring. As for the half time show, it looked like it was a good time and I can appreciate it meant something to a lot of people, but it wasn't my favourite only because I didn't know any of the songs. Love that Pedro Pascal was hanging out though!

I think this was our last really cold weekend!

Sharing Our Lives - Binge Worthy Shows

Happy Monday! I am linking up with my blog friends today for the Sharing Our Lives series. February’s topic is Binge Worthy Shows.  Here are some fairly recent shows that I think are worth your time:

The Summer I Turned Pretty

Emily in Paris

Dept. Q

The Pitt

White Lotus

Derry Girls

Fleabag 

Ted Lasso

Abbott Elementary

These are all easy to watch shows with delightful characters. Even after watching them once, I will often upload a few of these episodes on my iPad when I need something while travelling. 

Linking up with  Adrienne, Dara, Jen, and Joanne.  

Friday Favourites

 

We had a pretty normal week to kick off February and for that reason I didn't take many photos, but here are a few favourites from the week

New sneakers for E.  He has gym this semester and needed actual sneakers, not just his Jordans. His school offers freshly cleaned gym clothes each day, he just trades in his set of shorts and a t-shirt for a clean one. 

Sephora order for me.  I had some gift cards from Christmas so I replenished some things but also treated myself to some shampoo from one of my favourite brands, Ouai. I find it's a good idea to switch up shampoo every once in awhile. 

Q has a fun ski race on Saturday and they are supposed to dress up with a theme, and this year it is Valentine's Day.  Dressing for themes is actually not one of my strengths, but I picked up some heart stickers from Dollarama and hopefully they will stick to his helmet and that will do the trick. 

The Olympics!! They officially kick off today with the opening ceremonies, but I have already been watching the Mixed Doubles Curling.   

Our neighbour is going away for a few weeks and brought over their snowblower for us to use while they were gone.  I'm actually hoping we do not have to use it, but if we do, it will be a great help. It is battery powered and the same brand we have for our lawnmower so if we like it, we may get our own. 

I had dinner with some law school friends last night.  One of them is visiting from New Brunswick, and it has been a few years since I saw her last, and the other one I see more often as she lives in Toronto.

Linking up with Andrea and Erika.

Weekly Menu

Some weeks seem easier than others so I continue to share these weekly menus in case you're stuck and can use some inspiration. 

Monday - Baked chicken breasts with lemon pepper spice, roasted potatoes, and frozen carrots and corn. 

Tuesday - Baked Beans on Toast. I am reading a book set in Ireland and in the book they ate this meal so I added it to our menu. It is such a cozy meal and everyone enjoyed it.  I added some bacon and we topped it with crunchy fried onions and parmesan cheese.

Wednesday - Orecchiette Pasta with Sausage and Broccoli. This meal was so simple, only four ingredients and I whipped it up in no time. 

Thursday - Tacos. I posted about how we do taco night back in 2021 but nothing has really changed although we will more often buy our salsa instead of making it.  (I'm actually going out for supper with friends, lucky me!)

Friday - Turkey Meatball Subs. Another favourite meal in this house. I bought ground turkey this time and I'll just use a bottle of pasta sauce, topped with provolone cheese. If I have time I was also planning to roast a spaghetti squash I've had sitting around for awhile and I'll eat my meatballs on that instead of the bun. Not that there is anything wrong with the bun but I need to use up that squash!

Gratitude Journal Prompts

Continuing with my Gratitude Journal prompts, a few each month: 

4. Write about a teacher that made a positive impact on you.

I was very fortunate to have some terrific teachers when I was growing up.  From Grade Primary to Grade 5 my school had one class per grade so there was never a question of which teacher you were going to get, you knew them. Then in Grade 6 we had a new school with three classes per grade but I was lucky enough to have Mr. McIntyre from my original school.  High school of course had multiple teachers and I have good memories from so many classes and teachers. Mr. Seegmiller taught us Latin after school, Ms. Spencer had a poetry club for some of us and taught my favourite class, English, Mr. LaPlante took us on a class trip to Moncton, Mr. Haliburton taught me law, really inspiring my career, Mr. Theriault was my math teacher and I changed the way I made my eights based on his method (and then he very sadly died when I was in Grade 10), Mr. Thompson was our Industrial Arts teacher (and I still have the tables I made in that class) and also taught Driver's Ed, Mr. S. Pippy was our gym teacher and soccer coach, and his father Mr. N. Pippy was our vice-principal and was always keeping his eye on us.  These are just the ones that spring to mind right now, I know there are many other good memories that come up in different situations. 

5. Write about a past experience that you are grateful for.

Anytime I get to travel somewhere I am grateful. I am grateful that I have the resources (time and money) to visit different places, family and friends that like to travel too, and a Canadian passport that is welcomed all over the world. Living in Toronto also helps because of our international airport with direct flights to many destinations. And I'm also grateful to come home at the end of our journey.

6. Write about the season that you love the most.

I love summer the most, I know that I should appreciate every season for what it has to offer, and I do, but summer is just the best! I was born in June in Southern Ontario and so I think that is why I have always enjoyed the heat. I love the local fresh fruit and vegetables, the opportunity to ride my bike and go swimming, watching baseball (live or on TV), golfing, getting some fries from the canteen at the park, sipping a cocktail or glass of rose on a patio, needing to only think about shorts, a tank top, and sandals to wear, working from home in the backyard, farmer's markets, camping, road trips, so many things to enjoy that are specific to summertime.  (That all being said, I'm not wishing away winter, I will enjoy the snow and cold while it's here and then appreciate summer all the more when it arrives.)

See questions 1-3 here

Weekend Recap

The word to recap this weekend is COLD.  We had temperatures around -25 degrees Celsius starting in the mornings on the ski hill and "warming up" to about -15.  The sun helped when it was out, but it went away on Friday and Saturday afternoons. Despite that though, the snow conditions were perfect and we had a great weekend.  But because of that cold, I didn't take my mittens off for many photos!

I took the day off on Friday to take Q up to a ski race at our home hill. They had some skills competitions in the morning and the race in the afternoon.  Q had a great time and didn't get bothered by the cold (too much!).

We were happy to get home and cozy warm under the electric blanket! E had school that day and Dave was working so they heated up dinner for us when we got home. 

On Saturday we had another cold day of skiing but warmed up with après ski at Quayle's Brewery with some other families.  

So pretty there.

We were spending the night at the hotel for the weekend.  We got back from Quayle's and ordered pizza to our room so we didn't need to go back out.  It was nice to relax and I was in my PJs and in bed shortly after we ate our pizza and we all got to bed early. 

A beautiful crisp Blue Bird day.

The lunch schedule for the kids was combined that day so E and Q got to eat together. 

We got packed up after race training was over and had a nice drive back.  We tidied up and I watched the first two hours of the Grammys. I was entertained, even with all of the commercials, but couldn't stay up for the whole thing.