Friday Favourites

Happy Friday!

I happened to be near High Park one day this week and snapped this wintry photo of the ravine. We got more snow on Wednesday.  I think after this weekend it will start warming up and the melt will start. 

I just finished the book The Correspondent (reviews of my January and February books coming up on Monday) and then I got my own piece of correspondence in the mail! It was very timely.  This is from my former boss who hired me when I moved to Toronto, we get together about once a year. 

I put away our Valentines decorations and put up a few things for St. Patrick's Day. There is a shamrock banner there on the fireplace but it seems to be blending in in this photo.

Yesterday I mentioned my favourite easy breakfast was something from Tim Horton's so I thought I would treat myself! Bonus that Roll of the Rim has started.

Our trip is close enough that the first day is showing up on my weather app.  When we land in Brussels, it is supposed to be plus 13 degrees Celsius that day! 

Guess what we are doing this weekend - you guessed it, more skiing!

Linking up with Andrea.

Monthly Musings

 

1. Paper planner, digital calendar, or other option?

I use my Outlook work calendar for all of my planning, and Dave and I will use calendar invites to make sure we cross reference plans. We also have a wall calendar at the house so the kids can see what's going on too.

2. Meal planning, meal prep, or wing it?

I meal plan most weeks. Sometimes I will make a few things for meal prep, like egg bites or a lentil salad, but that's not my regular routine.

3. Do you choose your outfit the night before?

No. But as a way to pre-plan my outfits since I go into the office about three times a week I will wear pants one day, a skirt another day, and a dress the third day (in whatever order) but it cuts down on some of the thought about what I will wear.

4. Tips for managing laundry and ironing.

Well to start, I don't iron anything anymore, that's one way to manage it. My way of doing laundry is to keep everyone's separate, and do it once a week. I can often get E to put his laundry into the washer, but less success getting it in the dryer and folded.

5. Grocery shop in store or online?

I do a mix of both depending on how much time I have. 

6. Best tips for getting out of the door in the morning without chaos?

Get up in plenty of time and keep a regular routine. I know what I need to get done in the mornings and I set my alarm accordingly. I do feel like I take forever to actually get out the house, but it's not too bad.  The kids walk to school on their own and if I'm going to the office I'm not there when they leave, so that helps ;)

7. Share your easiest dinners for crazy weeks.

Things that are made with less than 5 ingredients - a pasta dish, meatball subs, quesadillas, or a tray bake. 

8. Best tips for keeping your house organized during the week.

Tidy as you go when making a meal, and do a quick vacuum afterwards. And keeping track of what is in that aforementioned calendar to know what is coming up.

9. Share your easiest breakfast.

Egg bites that were made ahead of time. Or to be honest, breakfast at Tim Hortons!

10. Share your best overall tip not covered yet.

Don't over plan, keep a night or two free of planned events where you can catch up on housework, homework, or just relaxing. Right now we have nothing on Tuesdays and it is always a nice reprieve to know you just need to come home and not go back out again.

Linking up with Patty.

What's Up Wednesday

 What we're eating this week...

Sunday - lasagna and garlic bread

Monday - salmon and lemon orzo pasta

Tuesday - tacos 

Wednesday - turkey burgers

Thursday - pork tenderloin with coconut rice

Friday - out 

Saturday - chicken pot pie

What I'm reminiscing about...

The loss by both Canadian hockey teams in their gold medal games reminded me of the Blue Jays loss in Game 7 of the World Series. As disappointed as we were for all of this, I ultimately felt good about the games the teams played and the excitement that came from watching. I have always been a sports fan and I'm always surprised that others aren't as into it.  I overheard a lady at the ski hill on Sunday morning "so is this the gold medal game?" Uh yeah!!

What I'm loving...

The little things that the kids are making with the 3D printer. I will have to do a whole post about the useful (and not so useful) things they have made.  

What I'm dreading...

Packing for our trip - it seems we will need clothes for early spring, including rain gear, and skiing. How many pairs of shoes and boots do I need!?!!

What we've been up to...

Watching all of the Olympics and feeling good about ourselves as a country. Canadians, in case you missed it, check out CBC's montage reel on their Instagram page (@cbcolympics).

What I'm working on...

Just like last year at this time, I am trying to sort out some contract work before our March Break holiday. Since I will be in different time zone, and on the ski slopes, I'm hoping things settle down so I'm not feeling like I need to be doing work on my holiday.

What I'm excited about...

Baseball season will be here soon. With Q's tryout last week and another one this weekend I have run into a few parents and it is fun to reconnect with them. Dave went out with some of the baseball dads last week and I said we need a baseball moms' night out now!

What I'm watching/reading...

I'm watching Love Story, the JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette story (haircuts with serious supporting roles in that show), The Pitt, and random movies with the kids (all the Spidermans, and Dumb & Dumber). 

I am reading The Correspondent right now.

What I'm listening to...

The Crazy Stupid Love Rewatchables podcast episode, it really is one of my favourite movies. I need to watch it again soon. 

What I'm doing this weekend...

The boys are both going on school ski trips on Friday, then we will do our regular ski day on Saturday, and a race for E at Devil's Glen on Sunday. 

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

PDAC (Toronto's mining conference with lots of social events), the end of season ski banquet, our March Break trip to Europe to ski, Dave's birthday, and perhaps some melting snow!

What else is new...

I did not get around to sharing this photo last week, the kids made the pancakes for Shrove Tuesday.  This is a bit of a posed photo with E looking extra helpful, haha.

Linking up with Shay.

Weekend Recap

I disappeared from here last week because I didn't have much to say other than I was watching the Olympics!! Haha. But as much as I love them, I am fine with them being over now.  That chapter is closed.  The Gold Medal hockey games for the men and women were disappointing for us, of course, because I think both teams outplayed their opponents for most of the game. Getting beat by the Americans always stings a bit more, but both our men and women's teams played well and we are proud of them. Same with the curling, men with gold, but Rachel Homan's bronze is nothing to sneeze at. Okay, enough about the Olympics for now :)

If you didn't see it, check out the CBC's final montage, you can find it in their reels @cbcolympics on Instagram. 

Our weekend was filled with skiing again. 

On Friday night Q and I played a game of crib, as a non-screen time activity. He beat me.

On Saturday morning the temperature was pretty good, and although the snow started out a bit icy, it wasn't that bad of a day.  It was quite busy though so I only skied for a little bit after lunch.  

Our ski racers, ready for the day.  They got report cards last week and they got excellent marks, E especially has really improved this year, his coaches have made a point to tell us in person how proud they are of his efforts.

In line for first chair up the hill (and I got on the second chair).

Q and one of his buddies. They have a great time together.

E's ski group had their potluck after skiing and we hung out for a bit with them to enjoy some good food and watch the men's curling finals. 

On Sunday morning, we had a snowy drive up north. Dave dropped me and E off at The Heights for E's race and he and Q continued on to our hill.  I had the hockey game on my phone with an earbud in one year to listen to the game while I skied.  And Dave had brought the Apple TV box to set up the club room TV. It was kind of fun sharing the experience in different ways on the hill, as I updated people around me or noticed that others were also listening under their ski helmet.  When Canada scored the tying goal, I was on the chairlift with some other parents, so we cheered and yelled down to the people below the Canada had scored. 

Ready to race.

It's quite the drop from the starting gate down to the course.  I am so impressed by these kids that can just go for it. 

E ended up having a good race with 13th place.  There were a lot of DNFs and disqualifications for missing gates so he did well to put together two strong runs. 

We got home late in the afternoon and chilled out.  I even got the electric blanket back out, it wasn't that cold on the hill, but after being outside all day I wanted to be extra cozy.  

Weekend Recap

Our cold weather has cleared and we had three great days of skiing.  On Friday Q had a race at Mansfield and E had a race at The Heights. I went with Q and Dave took E.  

Raring to go!  It was great that Q had just been at Mansfield the weekend before because he knew his way around and was comfortable on the t-bar.

I skied with some other moms and took a spin down Ferris Wheel.

It was very comfortable out on the patio for lunch.  

Q enjoyed his race and had a lot of fun with his buddies and did some extra runs after the podium ceremony.

Meanwhile Dave was set up at The Heights to watch E.

We met up at the hotel in Orillia that evening and had dinner at Montana's.

Saturday was Valentine's Day and I had a few chocolates for the boys when we got up that morning. It was a very enjoyable day out on the slopes with the temperatures hovering around zero. 

We headed to Apres Ski at Quayle's Brewery again with some other ski race families. 

Sunday was another great day and the snow was pretty perfect. 

Dave was coming up on the chairlift after lunch and I was waiting for him

Watching Q do a few practice runs. 

We got home on Sunday night and watched the replay of the dual moguls to see Mik the King with Canada's first gold of the Games. Go Canada!

We had no plans on Monday as it was a holiday (other than a birthday party for Q to attend) so that meant we slept in, made waffles, watched the Olympics, and did a little reading. And E and I cleaned his room and washed his sheets. Dave and E also got workouts in.

It was a nice weekend and I can't believe February is half over. Spring will be here before we know it!

Friday Favourites

Happy Friday! We have an extra-long weekend - no school for the boys today and then a holiday on Monday. We are kicking it off with ski races for the boys (and possibly some slope-side work for me and Dave!).

But a few serious things to talk about today. First, the school shooting that happened in Northern British Columbia this week. What a tragic thing to happen, I have said this before, we send our kids out into the world and hope they come home safely at the end of the day, you never know what will happen so love your people and hold them close. I know as tragic as it is, the community of Tumbler Ridge, like other communities that have had to deal with heartbreak, will come together and support each other. Canadians are strong people and we look after one another. 

Second, James Van Der Beek's death is very sad for me. I was a huge Dawson's Creek fan, huge, and although I ended up on Team Pacey, Dawson was the star of the show and someone I "spent" so much time with. Cancer is just the worst!

And this isn't new this week, but with Catherine O'Hara's recent death, I was reminded of the lovely tribute song that Noah Reid (Patrick from Schitt's Creek) did for her when she was receiving the Governor General's Performing Arts Award. We often wait until someone has died before doing something special for them, so it was nice that she got to enjoy this performance of Joni's Mitchell's A Case of You and feel the love.  You can watch it on YouTube here.

Now, moving onto a few highlights from our week.

Q doesn't love to go swimming lessons, but he keeps going each week and we proud of his efforts. Only a few weeks left! We are mostly of the opinion that if you have signed up for something, you need to finish it. He will get a break from swimming lessons in the spring and summer and maybe by the fall he will feel better about it.

My new sweatshirt! Perfect for this weekend of skiing and when we go to Europe.  Bonus it was half price when I ordered it!

E has a slalom race today but hasn't had much slalom practice this year since their first two races have been GS.  So he asked to go to Wednesday night training to get some runs in. I was happy to oblige and we headed up there together. (Dave and Q had baseball.) The training was great for him because the course was set for the OCUP athletes (more competitive stream) and it was a good challenge for him.

I was there for the night skiing with lit up trails :)

On our way up we listened to Season 1, Episode 1 of Serial, the very first podcast I listened to. You remember, it was about Adnan Syed, convicted of killing Hae Min Lee back in 1999.  I thought E might find it interesting and he did, but only the first episode was available and if we want to listen to more we need to subscribe. I may do that so we can listen to the whole season.

I love a holiday themed cookie so I picked up a couple for the boys' lunches yesterday.  

And of course the Olympics have been a big focus but I am really struggling with this time difference. I want to see everything live but I have this pesky job that I need to go to and then I find out who has won before I get to watch it for myself and nothing is a surprise! GAH!! We need them back on the west coast of North America so I can see everything. 

Hope you have a good weekend!

Linking up with Andrea and Erika

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.