I’ve not been in much of a writing mood lately. It happens sometimes. I’ve posted between 28 and 38 posts annually for the past six years. That’s 2-3 posts per month, but I go through phases where I bore myself. After a couple of weeks, my sister starts pestering me. “Where’s the blog?” I’m not sure why. She talks to me daily so it’s not like it’ll be full of news.
Juno and Ray still visit the retirement residence weekly and have regulars who look forward to their visits. Juno seems to enjoy being a therapy dog (and the edible perks that come with the job). Ray also curls a few times a week and plays in the occasional bonspiel.
I volunteer at the school every morning and I’m taking the second part of my Orton-Gillingham training. We’re learning about Latin affixes, breaking apart words like antediluvian. Not something my grade two kids are ready for, but maybe it’ll come in handy with my crosswords.
60@60 Item #48 – Meditation Sound Bath
The only new item on my 60 challenges list was attending a meditation sound bath with Ray. You lie on a mat while a meditation guide plays a set of crystal bowls. I’ve tried meditation a few times, but it’s not something I practice regularly. About a decade ago, I had an out-of-body experience while listening to crystal bowls. It was at the end of a yoga class during shavasana. The moment didn’t last long, but it was the closest thing to a state of nirvana I’ve experienced. I wanted to see what an hour with crystal bowls would be like.
I didn’t experience nirvana, but I loved how the vibrations filled the room and seemed to pass through me. I’d do it again.
Iron Chef Games Night
We were overdue for a games night, so Lorrie, Josée, and I spent an afternoon in Belleville. We sipped hot drinks at a cafe, while the guys stayed home and made us dinner. Here’s how this ‘game’ works, in case you want to try it at home.
- The ladies each go out and buy $25 worth of random groceries, but they can’t communicate about what they’re buying.
- The guys are provided the groceries and challenged to make a meal out of them.
- Ladies go out for a few hours, then come home and get served dinner.
Fortunately, these guys cook a lot and don’t follow recipes, so they came up with some creative ideas.
Our appetizer was nacho chips with a layered dip of cream cheese, red pepper, crushed black beans, and cheddar cheese.
Next course was a soup made with coconut milk, broccoli and red pepper.
Third course was rotini, with a choice of white or red sauce. The pasta was topped with grilled turkey sausage and/or tofu, with green beans on the side.
Fourth course was chocolate brownies on a bed of warm chocolate pudding, topped with bacon bits. Apparently ‘bacon makes everything better’.
Fifth course was blueberries in a melted hazelnut chocolate sauce. Yes, two dessert courses! These guys know how to make a meal!
Nick Update
Nick made the front page of Kingston’s paper last weekend for his efforts to ‘bring engineering to the 21st century’. No small task, as you can imagine (full article here).
Hope you’re all staying warm and cozy. It’s very cold outside where we are.
See? That wasn’t so hard.
And even after our daily touch points, I didn’t know you’d done a meditation sound bath!
interesting to see what the guys made with all the groceries, though I still don’t know how it’s a “game”. My guess is the girls are smarter than the boys and said, “hey, let’s play a game! You guys cook, we’ll go out and have some fun and then you serve us dinner!” Good “game” but I think it would be much more fun if you invited me. Especially for the two dessert part. 😬
Congrats on the article, Nick!
Karen, thanks for “bugging” your sister to write the blog. I look forward to it too. That’s a very interesting game, and I’m kinda surprised the guys are game for it. Do you switch around so the guys do the grocery buying and leave the women to make dinner? Nick is involved in some very interesting work at school. Congrats to him.
All three guys enjoy cooking. The guys suggested we reverse the roles in the summer and make it a barbecue. Should be interesting!
What a creative bunch of cooks! Sounds like a great meal. And congratulations to Nick, both for his work and making the front page!
The above comment was from Pamela & Tim. I thought that I was logged in, not sure why our comment was from “Anonymous”, if I can’t do this then I probably can’t be trusted with a drone.
Seems to be an issue for a lot of people. Not sure what the problem is. Makes a fun game for me to try to guess who the comments sounds like. In some cases, I can tell who it is from the IP address if the person has commented previously.
”Anonymous” = Pamela & Tim