Christmas!

Christmas was a bit stressful in my old hometown. There was a blizzard. Yes, a blizzard. In northeastern Oklahoma. A BLIZZARD.


And then, there was the not so added joy of my brother falling on the ice while trying to clear the snow from the car and breaking his knee cap. There was the no joy adding long drive to the hospital, the no joy there sitting around in the hospital waiting to see what's what, and then the long slog home and the joyous task of getting my poor percocet laden broken knee brother through the ice and up the stairs to his room! We made it!!!!!!

From there, though, all things being equal, Christmas kind of rocked. I got some great presents (OU Snuggie, oh yeah!) and everyone seemed to enjoy what I got them. My family was impressed by my 26 pound weight loss (oh yeah yeah!) and since my brother broke his knee we spent the rest of the time that I was home cooking meals and being home together. Which was awesome. I think it was a bit of a reminder for all of us to slow-down (though I am sure D wishes he could get going faster). Most of the time when I am home we end up spending so much time running around trying to fit in all the restaurants and shopping and stuff that we want to do, that we don't get to just hang out together. So this was a very mixed blessing, but also a really nice time with my family. (Silver lining, indeed.)

50th Soiree.

G's brother turned 50 recently and in his honour, his wife threw a lovely afternoon brunch at the Angus Glen Golf Club in Markham. It was attended by family and friends and we all had a really great time.

The food was plentiful. When we came in, there were mimosas by the glassful. They hit the spot after everything that had been going on the week before. (As an aside, I had been really sick the week before, requiring a trip to the hospital. It was a bit crazy, but all seems to be on the mend.) ANYWAY, the brunch started with some amazing cold salads including meats, green salads, pasta salads, and the like. Here's my plate...


I had a bunch of caeser salad, cheeses, meats, and tuna salad. It was fantastic!

For the main courses, there was a bit of breakfast and a bit of lunch. Eggs florentine, hash browns, bacon, sausage, roast beef, lasagna, mashed potatoes, and vegetables. I wasn't in the mood for breakfast and so went whole-heartedly for the lunch...


The meat was fantastic. Really soft and perfectly cooked. The mashed potatoes were totally amazing and I couldn't resist also grabbing some hashed browns. I also tried some of the lasagna. It was pretty meh. The tops of the lasagna were really stodgy and seemingly uncooked, but the underneath of the kind of not so good layer was fantastic. I seemed to have jumped over the veggies, but had a delicious lunch all the same.

A BBQ in the Pouring Rain.

G's brother and sister-in-law invited us over for a BBQ.

Let's get this straight right now. G and I live in a beautiful condo in beautiful downtown Toronto. We have tons of windows, great light, and for the time being, a sort of Lake Ontario view. We are as lucky as two girls have any right to be, and I love it. But. We ain't got no bbq. And in the summer, we miss it dreadfully.

So G's family invited us over, and we jumped at the chance. And when the weather turned grim, we kept going. Rain be danged, we are having a bbq!


There was lots of meat. Lots and lots and lots of meat.
Chicken...


Beef ribs...

And more chicken....

Yummy. We ate like royalty ...

So I had some chicken, beef ribs, salad, green bean salad, corn on the cob, and potato salad... It was really nice. G's other brother and sister-in-law came over and we just had a nice relaxing afternoon once the skies cleared...


I have to say, it's been a crazy summer. You wake up and it's bright and sunny. Then it pours down rain, then it's sunny again. The pressure has been up and down so much that I seem to be having a daily headache. But all this rain means everything is still very green, and we've not had many smog advisory days, which is a nice change.