Comfort Table

Celebrated Mother's Day yesterday, so today I was able to spend some time hanging around in the kitchen. A strange weather day, so I thought I'd make some cold weather comfort food, specifically a sort-of healthy mac and cheese.  By sort-of healthy, I mean slightly less deadly than normal. Used whole wheat pasta, 1% milk, and strong cheddar, which meant I could use less. Some Worcester sauce, Dijon mustard, smoked paprika, and there you go! Recipe to follow (amazingly, it's not online!)

Friendly People

We just got back from our annual trip to Eleuthera, Bahamas.  This year we spent the entire week on Harbour Island, in a beautiful house we rented, Chatterbox. I love HI  more each time, because I learn a little bit more, and I meet new people each time we go.

Home of Friendly People. This sign didn't survive last year's hurricane :(

Welcoming pineapples

We had the good fortune of bringing several friends with us this time.  I feel privileged to be able to show a place I love to fresh eyes, and I think I can report that everyone had a great time. Steve, our frustrated chef, made sure we ate well even when we weren't eating conch from the shacks by the water, or in sophisticated  restaurants like Rock House or The Landing. He bonded with the fisherman, who hooked us up with fresh trigger fish and snapper. The local grocery depot, the Pigly Wigly, supplied the rest.

Not affiliated with the chain stores...

View to the harbour from next to the house

We hired a boat, and a wonderful captain, Duke, to take us on a ride around the island, and to the neighbouring settlement of Spanish Wells.  First off, Duke took us to see amazing starfish and turtles, which swim much faster than I would have imagined!  Duke is a Brilander, and had lots of inside information on where to go, and even gave us a tour of some billionaires' houses at the north of the island (well, from the water).

Duke, our captain and guide

Entrance to Chatterbox

Chatterbox was a really lovely house, and ridiculously well situated.  Literally 10 seconds from the porch to the Pigly Wigly.  Go the other way, and we were 30 seconds from the Harbour.  It was a whole 6 minute walk to the Pink Sand Beach, however ;)

And a word about the Bahamas:  Some ignorant types seem to think the entire place is one big Atlantis resort.  Well, it's not.  The Bahamas is made up of 700 islands.  The Out Islands are known as the Family Islands, and it's easy to see why.  Bahamians live there, raise families, and entertain visitors. If you think the Bahamas are "white bread", and you're too cool to step foot there, that's fine.  The Friendly People on Harbour Island and elsewhere won't miss you or your negativity, and the rest of us will have a much better time without the sneering posers anyway.  Friendly people rule, whether in the Bahamas or at home.

Thankful...

... for friends, always. And for the fun I have had traveling with various friends.  It's not always easy (for the other people), but it always ends up being loads of fun.

Around a table in Piegaro, Umbria, Italy Seriously good times.

My Whiteness, Explained.

Meet archaeologist Neil Oliver.  I know nothing about him beyond the great accent and the oddly enticing long hair, but for some reason, I'm intrigued in a way I am not when, say, David Starkey is blathering on about Henry VIII...

Yeah, he wears a kilt in one episode.

TVO just finished airing his series A History of Scotland, which I found truly fascinating- I love history, and I am amazed at how much I didn't know about Scotland.  There were 10 episodes in the series; the first 8 were about the English invading and the tough Scots battling them back, but on the bright side, the armies had different outfits each century, so there's that.

I am fascinated on a personal note, as well.  My pallor was  destined by the collection of European immigrants that showed up in Canada and intermarried. My mother's grandparents were from Scotland and Denmark. The other side of my family was no help in adding some tone to my skin; I'm a Bruce on my father's side- his first two names were Robert Bruce, if that helps paint the picture.

Could have been a picture of sheep!

Anyway, this series makes me want to visit the land of my ancestors.  It would be fun to spend some time around other people who are also the colour of Liquid Paper.

96 percent of Americans have taken advantage of U.S. social programs

96 percent of Americans have taken advantage of U.S. social programs

The money shot of this article is the Craig T. Nelson quote : "I've  been on food stamps and welfare.  Did anyone help me out? No."  I wish I could go back in time and un-watch those lame Coach reruns.

June

I see I didn't manage to post anything in June.  It was a busy month, in mostly good ways.  I spent the first day of June in Paris, in an apartment near the Eiffel Tower with my mother, and I spent the last day of June in a hotel room overlooking Niagara Falls with my boyfriend ( I worked in between there, don't worry!)

Paris was, as it always is, wonderful.  It was a special treat to take my mother, who had never been there before.  I was last in Paris 8 months ago, at the tail end of a trip with friends that started in Rome and wrapped up in Paris.  I have done most of the touristy things, but was happy to do several again, for mom's sake.

We rented an apartment, since we were there for 8 days, and we would have killed each other in a hotel room.  Also, she snores.  She will probably come on here and deny it, but she does.  So does my boyfriend, but where you are allowed to kick your boyfriend in the middle of the night, and force him to roll over, one is generally expected not to do so with one's mother.  I figured separate sleeping areas would be the best solution.  An apartment really does give you the feeling of being a resident, if only for a short while.

I chose a place in the 7th arrondissement, as it is fairly quiet, and well connected.  The building was probably 19th century, and it was just what you'd want.  We were on avenue de la Motte Picquet, near Invalides, but also very near the Eiffel Tower and rue Cler.  It was a breeze to walk over one of the nearby bridges and be on the Champs Elysees, or to go the other way and be in Saint Germain des Pres.

We had amazing weather- much hotter than one expects in Paris.  I brought several outfits that I simply couldn't wear, but luckily had some skirts and sandals.  This week, I'll post some stories and things I learned, but for now, here are a few photos.

Our 'hood.

Mummy waving Hello

Mummy at the Flore

 

Morning Routine

A clock in Brussels... not too useful!

I have never been a morning person.  Literally never.  As a kid I didn't want to get out of bed; by my last year of high school, when people saw me at school before second period, they'd greet me in the hall with "What are you doing here?".  It didn't get any better in university.  For some reason I took a Psych 100 class at 8:30 AM in first year.  I went so infrequently that one day I decided to call the professor's office because I had an inkling a mid-term must be coming up.  It was that afternoon.  You can imagine how well I did, but at least I learned never to take a class before 10.

I even maintained some level of comfort with an early job at a bookstore; I made my own hours, so I often scheduled myself for 10-6:30 or 12:30 to 9.  I miss that... I don't miss the flimsy paycheque, however.

As I advanced (a bit) up the corporate ladder, the ability to sleep in has slowly evaporated.  Despite that, I still get to sleep in longer than most people.  I don't have kids, and my commute is an enviable walk of 15 to 20 minutes.  No traffic jams or public transportation to deal with, just the occasional downtown crazy homeless person.  A small price to pay for extra sleep!

The thing is, I have always envied Morning People.  They seem so together, so organized.  While they are calmly reading the paper and having a healthy breakfast, I am scrambling to find matching shoes and counting the toothpaste I swallowed as a breakfast food.  How do I become one of them?

Ideally, I'd like to get up about an hour earlier, which would give me enough time to hit the treadmill and eat without having to do it over the sink.  

I picture something like this:

6:30 Wake up, have water with lemon

6:40 Get on treadmill

7:10 Hit the shower

7:40 Have breakfast

8:15 Leave for work

This seems ridiculously easy; I'll bet 99% of the (5) people who read this get up by then.

For comparison's sake, here's my typical morning:

7:20 Hit snooze button

7:30 Hit snooze button

7:40 Turn off alarm but still don't get up

7:45 Jump out of bed in a panic and run to the shower

8:15 Leave for work with wet hair.

Surely this can be improved upon.  If anyone reads this, and has somehow managed to change from a Night Owl to a Morning Person, please let me know how!