Birthday Boy

It was Husband's birthday on Saturday.  We both took Friday off in order to feel like we had time for some birthday celebrating as well as all of the usual weekend jobs.  Here are a few bits and pieces from our weekend.

Peanut Butter

Husband is British.  I have a British mother and was very close to my British grandmother so there are times when our upbringing and childhoods seem very similar.  We've been together for 6 years now so most of the time I forget the differences we had to deal with at the beginning.  However, about 2 years ago we were out with friends and everyone got discussing their significant-others' quirks and strange habit. 

I'm sure I told some story or other about Husband so he replied "Well, what's that strange thing you like to eat?  Peanut butter and.... jam, is it?"  Everyone else at the table cracked up.  It took us quite awhile to stop laughing.  Actually, whenever it's mentioned in front of Bestie she still laughs uncontrollably. 

You see, the Brits don't really get our love of peanut butter and it's because they've failed to understand that Peanut Butter just cannot handle being single.  Peanut Butter is always in a relationship and is its best self when presented as a couple.  Peanut butter and banana, Peanut Butter and honey, Peanut butter and chocolate (or nutella... yum) and the iconic pairing  Peanut Butter and Jelly.

So earlier this week I came across this Small Bird Studios free printable on her facebook page I knew I just had to print it off for Husband for Valentine's Day.  When you're married to a man who cannot handle mushy emotion then Valentines that mock are pretty much perfect!

Happy Heart Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone.  This post is not going to be a gushy, emotional letter to Husband.  Husband can't really cope with earnest. Seriously, I think it causes him physical pain. 

So instead I thought I'd use this day of love and romantic prettiness to talk about blood. One of my favourite things about this time of year is that the season of Hearts tends to bring with it numerous blood drives.  I don't know about where you're from but it seems pretty standard here in Canada that in February there are any number of opportunities to make a difference and help save a life by giving blood. 

Blood donation is a topic that is near and dear to our hearts (does that count as a pun?) since neither Husband or I can give blood.  Husband was a regular blood donor in the UK and would be able to give blood if we still lived there but Canada doesn't allow individuals who lived in Britain during certain periods of time to donate blood.  Certain things were more common in the UK so they screen for them whereas our system isn't set up to identify them.  So Husband can't give blood. 

I gave blood several times in my mid-20s before I moved to the UK.  When I moved back I went to give blood (the mid to late 2000s weren't a time they were concerned about) as before.  Was fine while giving blood, went to get my juice and cookies and fainted. This is highly uncommon but there are a few people out there who can't handle losing the small amount of blood that they take for donation.  I tried several months later and the same thing happened so the staff (who were awesome and spent crazy amounts of time putting my feet up and providing cold cloths and juice and such) told me I should find another way to support blood services. 

The majority of people are able to give blood and suffer nothing more than a little pin prick.  In return you get to know that someone dealing with a major health issue stands a better chance because you gave blood.  Before she eventually passed away my Grandmother was getting regular blood transfusions that helped to prolong and improve the quality of her life.  Plus you get free juice and cookies and other types of treats. 

To find out more about giving blood in Canada visit Canadian Blood Services.

Retro Winter

So it is Wednesday which is usually outfit post day. I like having that regular blog theme to depend on. The thing is, I spent all weekend at home.  I was still trying to kick the never ending killer cold and Husband was coming down with it so we didn't feel inclined to go very far.  Then there was the snow storm that solidified our decision.  No outfit photos were taken.  No photos of humans were taking.  I'm sure the pets did something funny and I'm sure i tried to take photos of the snow storm and failed (gusting winds are hard to capture).

I never did an end of 2012 outfit photo recap since we were busy with Christmas and then traveling and also, I had a lousy head cold then too (this is our second round with it... unimpressed).  So here are a few bits and pieces from outfit posts from this time last year.

Linking up with The Pleated Poppy for What I Wore Wednesday as usual.

Weakness

They can sense weakness and fatigue. 
They can tell when you just don't have the strength.
They can tell when you are alone. 
Then run rough-shod over you.
Husband was out at a meeting last night.  I was left alone and defenseless.

 This one attempted to crawl into my dinner and when I wouldn't let her stalked around the counter tops and the stove looking for left overs. I was required to carry my plate with me when going to remove her because if I left it unattended her brothers would have finished it off.

This one knocked over the garbage can and managed to retrieve the chicken bone from the bottom.  Why was the chicken bone not in the compost?  Well, they'd manage to get to the compost bin and I'd be forced to take it outside. 

This one assisted his brother with the garbage can caper.  He also chased his sister around and tried to jump on her head.  Then he convinced his canine sister to chase him around to give him an excuse to climb on my shelves of knick-knacks.

This one mostly watched the kitty cats who were being highly entertaining.... and maybe chased Spock just a little bit but he did ask her to do it.



I tried chasing the cats when they were messing around by the garbage bin but they just stared at me from under the table.  I am not scary. I am the pushover.  It is official.

Ginger

We are still fighting colds at our house.  Mine has settled into a highly annoying sinus headache and a bit of fatigue.  Husband is unfortunately at the stuffed up, sore throat stage. This weekend husband offered to make up so cold-kicking ginger tea which I'd completely forgotten about since my head cold experience over the holidays.

While we were in Montreal between Christmas and New Year I had a lousy head cold (pretty much exactly like this one... sigh).  On our last day we were meeting up with friends for brunch but had some time to kill and went in search of somewhere to have tea.  It was insanely cold so Husband steered me into the first open place we found.  I was iffy on it from the outside and so sulked at him slightly since I was looking for a chain where I knew exactly what to order in case there were language issues.  Turns out Husband had chosen a fabulous local vegan spot and it's just unfortunate we didn't have time to eat there as well... next trip.  They had a wonderful, extensive (and English) tea selection.  I had yerba mate for the first time in years and Husband ordered their ginger tea.

Husband has since made ginger tea which was grated fresh ginger root steeped in hot water at our house.  This time he upgraded the healthy cold-kicking properties by adding lemon and honey.  It's a warming, soothing, sinus clearing cup of happiness. 

Now if only we could make it in gorgeous iron kettles like they had.  Husband looked at some lovely ones at a local tea store and I know he'd love to have gotten me one but I told him they were too expensive.  Maybe some day.  For now I have ginger tea and head ache medication.

White Out

When Hurricane Juan came through Atlantic Canada (quite a few years ago now) I was living in Europe and missed it.  When White Juan, the blizzard came through I was... living in Europe again.  So when the media started naming the snowstorm coming through I was fairly skeptical.  We get a lot of snowstorms here on the east coast of Canada.  I figured that we were just under our usual number so they were needing something to talk about.  This one wasn't even predicted to have the amount of snow that we got between Christmas and New Years.

Here's the thing,  I've never seen a snowstorm with this much wind before.  I woke up to the house shaking and thought "here we go again" because last week we had a major rain storm with a great deal of wind and lost a tree out front.  The back yard was littered with branches and the odd bit that blew in from the neighbourhood.  I got up to find we still had power and therefore running water (well system uses an electric pump) and noticed the wind was blowing in the opposite direction from the last storm so we're likely to have some trees come down in the neighbourhood that survived the last one.  We should be fine from that direction though.

I headed downstairs to let the pets out.  Our three cats and golden retriever spend the night in our utility room.  It's a room that some might describe as a laundry room except that about 1/3 is dedicated to laundry facilities and the water heater and tub sink and the other 2/3 are dedicated to pet stuff.  It's a fully finished room with paint on the walls and a lino floor. It's 10 x 17 and has 5 cat beds (yes we only have 3 cats, we like to give them choice) as well as a shelf for food and water bowls for each cat and then the dog bed, bowls and toys on the floor. 

And when I opened the door to the utility room a cold gust of wind blew out at me.  The back door which I always lock and bolt every night had somehow blown open. There were 3 inches of snow in our boots by the back door and in Sadie's food bowl and a fair amount of slush on the back door mat.  I ran to shut the door (which my sock covered feet are still not pleased about) while trying to count furry heads.  I had the two oldest cats and the dog but not the baby of the household.  The others all had grown up experiences of being homeless, but we rescued Spock at 5 weeks and he has no sense of danger ever.  He thinks everything and everyone is awesome.

I start frantically checking the rooms closest to the utility room while alternating between calling for Spock in a "I'm totally reasonable so of course you should come see Mama" tone and screaming for Husband who was still in bed in a "I'm completely losing it and also my feet are soaked with snow and they all could have died" tone. Spock came trotting down the stairs after I'm sure mere seconds wondering what all the fuss was about and why breakfast hadn't materialized.  Husband followed not far after to find me quite a wreck.

So I got to spend the time between 6:30 and 7:15am emptying snow out of boots and putting them in various places to dry, piling dog bedding and towels in the wash and scooping snow into a bucket and then throwing it out the door into the wind.  Not a single pet shows any indication that they remember the incident.  Spock bounced around trying to play with snow balls and at one point the golden retriever tried to carry the snow bucket off to her bed in the tv room (we have one dog and three dog beds... and she still often prefers to lay directly next to a dog bed).

I figured I've earned a nice cup of tea... which I just realise has been steeping the entire time I've been typing this.  We'll see if it's still drinkable.

PS. You know I was traumatized if there isn't a photo of the snow in the utility room.  Here's a glimpse of what it normally looks like.

Sequence

I know many a blogger out there struggles with husbands who roll their eyes at the thought of taking outfit posts or photographing food or just generally documenting every aspect of your lives.  The thing is that I was a nut for photographing everything long before I started blogging.  Husband knows this and seems to like that blogging gives me an outlet for it.  This weekend while opening my card and gift from my parents Husband insisted on photographing the entire sequence of events, capturing a rather odd series of facial expressions.

My gorgeous new Christopher Kan wallet/clutch from Manchester Shoe Salon here in Saint John to match the purse I've shown off on the blog a few times now.

Juggling

I'm having one of those weeks where I feel like I'm juggling a variety of mismatched objects.  Juggling mismatched objects is much harder than juggling identical balls.  I know this because I juggled briefly in university.  By that I mean I had a few friends who were good fun who took juggling quite seriously so a one point I tried juggling while mostly sitting around hanging out.  The friends on the other hand eventually worked their way up to juggling things like fire (had to get special permission from security to be allowed to do that... bet you couldn't get permission these days). 

Anyway,  the point was not actually juggling.  The point was (and is) that I have quite a few very different projects on the go right now.  This week I managed to launch an initiative at work that I'd been work up to off and on since last June. That's had me scurrying some this week.  Plus I'm giving a series of workshops at work.  Plus the regular stuff that I do.

I've mentioned before that I'm a member of the Canadian Progress Club Ignite.  We're a group of women who volunteer and fund raise in order to help women and children in our community.  Having taken a break over the holidays we're now back into things full tilt.  We have volunteer activities coming up and some fun socials.  We're also giving away a cute pair of purple earrings to a lucky fan of our facebook page. Plus we're putting together a fabulous basket of goodies to raffle off next month. 

Then of course there's looking forward to a long weekend with Husband once we make it through this crazy, tiring week. It's nice to look forward to a weekend spent entirely around here.  No rushing off somewhere else or putting lots of time in on the road.  Instead we're seeing some friends and having a birthday dinner with my parents and enjoying a massage that will be covered by my health benefits (hurray free massage!).

It's fun to feel there are so many things going on.  I love having lots of things to plan and organize.  On the other hand I would like a couple of early nights! I had to bow out of step class early the last couple of times because I'm just feeling slightly woozy and drained. 

Snow Stroll

Taking a bit of time to enjoy one of the days where we had nice, fluffy, snow and relatively warm temperatures (this time of year sitting right around freezing is delightful considering what it can be like).

One of Sadie's favourite things to do is to shove her head as far into the snow as possible. When she comes up she usually has a little pile of snow sitting on her nose for several minutes.