Weekend of Nothing

You know what I didn’t do this weekend?  Much of anything.

In true Tara fashion, my version of “nothing” still meant I walked the dog until he was gasping in the heat (he doesn’t like the sun and functions best when it’s cold and dry – so close to the ground he is), triumphantly mowing the lawn all by myself (I started it up just like a lumberjack), seeing several friends for dinner, grocery shopping, and spending a day cooking.  In my jammies.

It was amazeballs awesome.  I loved every minute.

Aside from it being the first long weekend in THREE HUNDRED YEARS (or something like that), it was also the first completely single, unattached and free weekend I think I may have ever had.  I wasn’t staging a house, running for a ferry, packing, crying, unpacking, entertaining or doing anything I didn’t absolutely want to be doing, and I could not be happier.  Well, if I had another day off, I could possibly eek out a smidge more, but I’m happy all the same.

Here’s some photographic joy from the chick who never remembers to bring the camera anywhere (they’re all in the apartment or the back yard):

Thursday evening - smooches on the sofa

Aloof and unwilling subject

Sun bathing

Enjoying the mowed lawn - terrified of the mower when parked, but lazed on the grass and could easily have been mowed over...silly boy.

This weekend was brought to you by the Cactus Club (Thursday with Jenn and Christine and our mini-Sedin eye candy), Sarah (roast chicken and taboulleh (sp?) which I have re-created for myself, it was so good!), Erin, Martin, Baby Max and Maria (roast turkey and fixins’ (no VEGGIES!! HA!)) and my flannel pj’s.

Hope you all had fun, too.

On staring and being naked

Tonight is only my second night at home since Friday.  I took the dog and escaped for a restful weekend to the Sunshine Coast; I have a couple of friends housesitting there, and decided to join them for a few nights.  We reserved for the ferry, and that was the best $15 I ever spent – there was AT LEAST a 3 sailing wait behind me as I gleefully booted my way to the lineup.  It had cooled down from earlier in the week, so it wasn’t so hot that I was contemplating ripping off my clothes and fanning my armpits, so that was a huge relief.  Apparently Basset Hounds have a different gauge of the heat, because Baxter drooled, panted and basically leaked from all of his orifices for the entire journey.

He’s a bit needy on car trips.  If he’s in the front with me, which he was because the back of my car was filled with stuff I was delivering to my friends, then he spends the trip sitting and staring at me.  That’s all he does.  It reminds me of Man when I have to take him shopping, except Man doesn’t drool.  He stands nearby and just watches me while I shop and look at things.  I guess neither of them knows what to do?  In any case, it’s cute for about 10 minutes, then I feel like throwing a tantrum and instinctively start looking for boogers hanging out of my nose – why else would they stare?

My EXACT view for about 4 hours

We finally got to the house and easily settled into some cocktails (me, not Bax) and started to relax at the very quiet end of the road.  Bliss.

Saturday afternoon, my friend’s partner arrived home from a job he’d been working on, and it was hilarious because he greeted us in the front yard as we were picking some herbs and strawberries, walked into the house, and greeted us in the back yard a few minutes later as we made our way back to our lounge chairs, NAKED.  Ahem.  I’m not a huge nudist.  Sure, I sometimes stroll around the house a little in the midst of getting dressed, but I’m not truly naked very often.  This was a bit of a surprise, except it wasn’t.  B (my naked friend) loves to do everything in the buff, and that he and his partner have found this secluded paradise in the woods means he gets to be nekkid All The Time.

Truthfully, I wasn’t sure where to look.  I tried to be cool about it, but let’s face it, it’s like being in the locker room – I was a bit curious. I was encouraged to join in and strip down, but I just wasn’t feeling it.  Perhaps that’s another blog post all together…

That’s likely all I have to say about this.  I did request that he wear an apron while preparing dinner, but just embraced the nakedness.

The rest of the weekend was quite lovely; a bit of kayaking, an 8km run through the woods, some delicious meals and drinks, and many laughs along the way.  Bax and I stole away early (EARLY) Monday morning, and thankfully, the backseat of the car was cleared, so I wasn’t stared at on the way home.

Quick

It’s late.  I should be in bed.  I was supposed to leave Book Club early so I could be home early to get up early for my run.  This just isn’t going to happen.  I just need my sleep too much.  I will just have to squeeze 4.5 miles in tomorrow night before my meeting/work session in a coffee shop.

I can’t say I’m in love with being this busy.  You know what this means: bullets.

• I am quite pumped (and am refraining from starting this tonight!) to revamp my coaching website to a blog format rather than a formal website.  This means it will be free, I can edit it allllll by myself, and it will be easy to use.  Did I mention that it will also be free?  Well it will.  Ta-daaaaaaa!
• I really need a new playlist to run to – I am starting to anticipate the songs, dread some of them, and sing along a little too easily, even when it’s on SHUFFLE.  Sheesh.  Time to figure out iTunes again…
• The long weekend is going to be glorious: sunshine, me, relax time, all sponsored by Sangria.
• We are out of dog cookies, which means I have to find time to pick some up tomorrow.  Super.
• I am a mere 2 lbs from a grand total of 30.  There’s a whole post brewing about that.
• Am thinking of a 30 day challenge of sorts for June: 10,000 reps (can be core, different body parts, whatev).  Am thinking of inviting everyone who will listen.
• What is with the recent baby boom?  I have heard about 5 babies arriving in the past week, with several more to come in the next 6 mos or so.  It must be in the water…
• Am getting a little tired of people insinuating that my life will somehow have more meaning once I have a baby.  I think my life is plenty meaningful right now.  I have big things to do, thank you very much
• I will likely blog about that at some point as well.
• The entire lower mainland smells like a farm, as in, raunchy chicken manure.  Sadly, so does my foyer, and I think visitors think it’s the dog.
• Did I mention the weekend is coming?  Gawd.  Can’t bloody wait.
• Am thinking about swearing on the blog.  Thoughts?  I mean, I’m like a truck driver in real life, why sensor?
• It is SO time for bed.  Big day tomorrow: strategic meeting all day, run, dog-cookie-buying, run, dog walk, meeting, website creating.  Can hardly wait.

‘Night.

Perfection

I am a star.  I made not one, but two loaves of bread today.  The first was this super-easy beer bread, courtesy of the Catskill Kiwi (seriously, it takes me longer to clean the prep bowl that to make the bread and it goes perfectly with a nice soup or stew for dinner) and the second is an Irish Soda Bread from my Canadian Living Cookbook that I have had for years and have thoroughly loved.  I first tried soda bread at a friend’s house, it was from Uprising Bakery (just off Commercial Drive), and found I couldn’t stop thinking about it.  I bought my own loaf a week later, and then came across my very own recipe.  I am hoping it turns out – it’s still in the oven right now.

Irish Soda Bread

What you need:

4 c flour

1/4 cup sugar (I might use honey next time)

1 tbsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

1 3/4 cup buttermilk

What you do:

Combine flour, sugar, b powder, salt and b soda; mix thoroughly. Cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs.

Beat together eggs and buttermilk.  Add to flour mixture all at once, stirring with a fork to make soft dough.

Knead lightly on a floured surface about 10 times. Form into ball, place on greased cookie sheet and flatten to 8″ round.

Cut a large “X” about 1/4 inch deep on top of loaf.  Bake in 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until golden brown and tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Now it is time to continue the Sunday List of things to get done.  I started the day with a quick hike, then made lunch and had a nap and finished up my laundry, and now it’s time to clean out the big cold garbage can fridge and get food for the week.

Listy Loo Weekend Goo

Yay!  It’s the weekend!  Here’s what’s happening at Chez Big Life:

• dog walks, lots of ‘em.
• Sarah and Zoltan’s Wedding!
• Dinner Date with Man
• Hike with Lovely Katesy, avoiding the Sun Run
• 3 mile run
• 8 mile run
• grocery shopping
• cleaning the house
• cooking for the work week – no more not eating lunch for me!
• Coaching work, coaching work, and a little more coaching work.  I have my eye on the prize.
• Sleeping, napping, and dozing.

Sounds like bliss.  What are you up to?

I will never write sentences again

• it’s Monday, and and as they go, it wasn’t bad.
• I tried something new with my yogurt today: added ground flax and bee pollen along with my slivered almonds, raspberries and steel cut oats
• there was a a lot going on and it was pretty good.
• I actually looked in the bowl and said “Wow, there’re sure a lot going in in there!”  Hm
• We had fish for dinner.  
• I am supposed to be doing my coaching work tonight.  
• I am sure I will get to it at some point, even though it might be midnight when it happens.
• I guess I can sleep when I’m dead.  At least we will have fresh flax seed cookies to eat in the meantime.
• Tomorrow night we are having balsamic chicken and brown rice and peppers.  And cookies.
• I meant for dinner.
• I spent the weekend getting ready for the week and completely forgetting to call people that I love or do anything fun.  It is shitty that life keeps getting in the way of what I really want to do. Like make phone calls. Or achieve some freaking balance.
• And have time for coaching, so it doesn’t feel like yet-another chore I have to cram into the evening before collapsing in a heap under the covers.  
• My poor, unlucky, husband.  Heh, heh.
• I think that Linda is my hero, especially after this post.  I wish I lived in her neighborhood so I could stalk her  bring her flax cookies and become her friend.
• I am trying to find a weekend to go visit my friend Anne.  I wish I could go tomorrow, but again, the JOB is in the way.
• *sigh*
• I have babies on the mind lately.  I have several pregnant friends, some not pregnant anymore (so sad) and I am getting excited about when I might get to have one, too.  A baby, that is, hopefully not a miscarriage.
• All in good time.  I have work to do that will keep me busy until the fall.  Yes, the fall.  I will obviously be announcing any developments in the local papers.  
• The basset hound has sighed loudly several times, which leads me to believe that something dramatic is going on across the room.  I must investigate.  And try to do some actual marketing work for my practice.  As soon as I finish making the cookies.