Easter weekend.....

It will be a nice weather for the Easter weekend, I went out with flats on and hardly any snow on the sidewalks. I don't know if this trend will continue as I have seen the white stuff on the Weather channel, I think sometime next week.

I have plan of walking to work starting April 1 but will see how the weather turns out. While I was out Good Friday, a friend mentioned that it does not even feel like Good Friday. Before the stores would be all closed and it is not busy on the street.

The only day stores are closed during the year is Christmas day and even then there are some stores/business open on that day. How times have changed.

I don't know what we are having for Easter dinner but it will possibly be salmon. Usually I would have ham but nobody feels like eating ham this time around. Maybe we will just order pizza!!!

Crispyoatmeal cookies with nuts and raisins, I haven't baked this in years.

 

Mocha chiffon cake with chocolate frosting, have not baked this so I just wanted to bake and it turned out good, brought most of it to work and they liked it, moist and not too sweet.

 

I bought a box of mangoes with 8 of these big fruit from Peru and I made salsa which was so good, followed a recipe I saw online. These were so big, I can only eat half of it and save the other half, I brought them to work as my dessert.

 

I hope you all have a Happy Easter and enjoy the extra days off work.

 



Long weekend.....

Long weekend....after a very hectic week, I am ready to enjoy the long weekend. I slept in and had a light breakfast and just did nothing....read magazines and listen to music.

Then just before lunch, I had to do something for a family member and visited him for a while. I have to get him to do his will. He is legally blind in one eye and is in a home care facility.

After, I went to a Chinese bakery in downtown and bought few things. Last weekend I had baked a few things.

I brought them to work as I am trying to lose weight, not a lot but enough so I don't have to take insulin.

Moist and chewy chocolate chip cookies. I always try different recipes and see which ones I really like.



A change for the better.....

Well, after the really nasty snowstorm last Thursday where we actually got 27 cm of snow and we were sent home early, the weather has finally changed and it is almost like spring, sort of.

For once drivers adhered to the suggestion not to be out if you do not have to get out somewhere, that when they were grading my street which the main downtown street, there were hardly any cars out.

So last Friday, a friend and I went out for a bit of shopping and out for dinner. We decided to go to a new place which is close to where I live and I pass by it once in a while.

It's called Tiramisu and they offer pasta, pizza, panini and salad and desserts. I had the spaghetti frutti mare, pasta with muscles and prawns with pasta sauce. As usual I do not have pictures of it. My friend had penne with 3 cheeses and mushroom. Both dishes come with garlic toast.

The atmosphere is casual and there was a guy playing music but it was bit too loud. The service was excellent and we enjoyed our dessert, gelato in a waffle cone. I had the vanilla mango and Carole had the blackberry.

We did not find what we were looking for in terms of clothes but we bought some groceries while we were at the store. All in all, an enjoyable Friday night with a friend.

Spring...

Yesterday was officially the first day of spring. Today, it is back to winter. 10 cm of snow!!!! Two weeks ago, I could see signs of tulips and other spring flowers starting to come up.

It is just crazy, winter snow storm just south of us. I thought I could put away my winter boots and start wearing regular summer boots or shoes. But no, that is not the case.

I am so looking forward to my trip to California to visit my sister. From now on, I think I will plan my vacation during winter months so I can escape this nasty weather.

At least it is not -20!!!. I am posting this at work. It is 7:10 and I tried to miss the traffic and more of the snow as it has started right before I left home. And it will continue for the rest of the day.

I am hoping I don't need to get out of our building today.

The weekend is just around the corner, something to look forward to and I am going out with a good friend of mine tomorrow.

The most famous cover of Let's stay together...

While I was doing the post of songs covered by different singers/folks, I forgot to post this one.

 

President Obama's version though it is only very short.



A funny thing happened.......

At the office, most of the staff stay in for lunch especially female staff. This Friday, there were four of us having lunch and discussing turkey and how to cook it.

Our accountant who is Asian has never cooked a turkey before and so before this day, we were telling her how easy it is and when to take out the frozen turkey and how to properly thaw it.

We told her to google it so she knows the temperature and how long to cook it and whether she wants to cook the stuffing with it.

S told her she also needs a thermometer to make sure that the bird is cooked properly. So our new cook told a friend she needed to get a thermometer, the friend told her I will get you one.

The next day, her friend gave her the thermometer and she looked at it and was wondering if that is the thermometer.

When we were having lunch, she told us she has the thermometer but she thinks that this is not what she should use. And when we asked what kind, she said it was the regular household thermometer. At this time we were all laughing so hard and thought of all kinds of things that could have happened if she had used that thermometer. So we told her it is meat thermometer and we described it to her but finally one staff printed a picture of it online.

It was the funniest lunch room conversation we have had in a while. Tonight is her dinner and I hope she used the correct thermometer, I am sure she will as I went to the store with her after lunch to get a meat thermometer. And advised her just to get packaged ready to make gravy. I did not want her to get overwhelmed trying to make gravy.

Nasty weather.....

After all the nice, warm weather and no snow on the ground, now the nasty white stuff is all over us again. I know it is still March but when you have not had snow for a while it feels great.

The roads are really bad and I only drive 12 blocks to work and it is just plain nasty.

This is when I wish I live somewhere warm and does not get snow.

It is also darn cold and the wind chill factor in the next few days would be -23. Brrrr.....

That's it, just venting!

Music....different covers

I always have music when I am at work and I get more things done and it is not boring or too quiet. Usually I have sky fm and vocal smooth jazz.

The other day "Let's stay together" was plying and our accountant asked whose version was it. It was not Al Green and then I found out it was Seal who was singing.

Songs are covered by different singers and sometimes the original is not the best.
Here are 3 versions of the songs. Which one is your favorite?

Cover by Adam Levine

 

Original by Al Greene

 

Cover by Seal



Music...

While I was driving to work the other day, I had realized that my drive is now short that the distance to my destination is only one full song. I guess a song about 4 1/2 minutes long depending on whether I hit green or red lights on the intersection.

So on my drive home, I tested it and I was correct, one song and I was going down to my parkade at home. Mind you I only have two intersections with lights and it is a different way when I go to work because of all the one way streets in downtown.

I should just walk but I find it is still a bit cold and I hate walking with heavy coat, once I can just wear light jackets, I should be walking all the time. 

Two of the songs I was listening driving to work and going home.

 

Kelly Sweet's Raincoat

 

Matt Bianco's Hanging On

 



All is well.....

One or two of my friends have called to ask how I am and I guess it must have been because of my blog. I did not realize that I have not blogged in a while.

I have been really busy at work and this Friday, I had made sure I will try to clean up files and stuff at work and finally my desk is clean and just a little bit of filing and I am up to date and finally caught up with all I have left to do.

I believe I have run out of ideas to blog and sometimes I don't want to post very personal items. Although I have been busy and managed to bake and try new recipes, I have not taken a lot of pictures.

Maybe when the weather gets really nice, I guess two more weeks and it is officially spring, I will feel a bit better and get excited about blogging. I have done spring cleaning of my place and even rearranged my bedroom, first time since I moved here which is almost 4 years ago.

So I am just taking a bit of a break but will still post once in a while until I get my groove back.

Enjoy the weekend and set your clock ahead.