Saturday Confirmation

What my world looked like ten days after getting engaged to my knight.

Yes, I do still exist... And there will be more posts someday.

I just realized that my last post was, again, a week ago. I will catch up to myself someday- really! I will!! I have about 3 or 4 half finished or just barely started posts that I have been working on when I get the chance, but between a very busy toddler and a very demanding infant... I'm a bit slow in the office. And of course groceries... laundry... babies... all come before fun blogging.

So.... in case anyone was wondering... I'm still here and there will be action eventually... Promise!
G'night.

Clues

My computer just crashed on me and I hadn't had a chance to save the three paragraphs I already started for this post, so I get to start over. Grrrr!

As I was saying.... <saved> If anyone noticed that my last post was exactly a week ago, here is the reason why: Monday and Tuesday we spent in Kelowna visiting Sir's grandparents and fishing (more on that later), Wednesday I did my weekly cleaning, gave the kids baths and got everything ready for meeting, and Thursday and Friday were spent frantically collecting and sorting tons of stuff to sell at the yard sale that we hosted today (more on that later too). <saved again> So, now that I'm completely exhausted I get to look forward to a mysterious getaway that Sir has been planning. It's scheduled for next week which brings me to the point of this post. <saved>!

Since PC was expected to be born right around our 3yr. anniversary and ended up making his arrival just 12 days before, we decided to postpone our celebration until the end of September. Even though it's our anniversary, I'm not actually getting to make any contributions to our getaway plans this year. Sir insisted on planning it all by himself and has been thoroughly enjoying torturing me with clues THAT DON'T MAKE SENSE AT ALL with the previous ones!!!! <saved>

Last night was the last straw when I got my 8th senseless clue. I decided that I definitely had blog-worthy material on my hands. Of course many heads are way better than just one so I will gladly welcome all comments with ideas and possible suggestions as to what my mischievous knight is up to! So.... off to the clues! <saved again just to be safe>

Clue #1.
"It's going to have a Hot Tub" This is a good thing in my mind since the last time we went on a getaway I was pregnant and wasn't able to just roast away in a hot tub. Instead I had to get out for 15 minutes after being in for 10. So I had something nice and relaxing to look forward to.

Clue #2.
"It costs $$$ a night" I won't tell exactly what the amount was, but it's under $150. Now I was thinking... 'wow.. it'll be nicer than the getaway I planned' and started looking forward to a relaxing and comfortable vacation.

Clue #3.
"We have to drop Dolly off no later than 8:30 a.m." Hmmm.. we have to catch a ferry...? or it's quite a ways away so we have to get an early start...? Catch a flight? Who knows... at least his torture was starting to work.. I was getting curious.

Clue #4.
"It'll have two stories - both ours" Now I was really getting curious.. TWO stories??!!! A cottage? House of our own? But with the price... I started to wonder if it wasn't quite as fancy as I had previously been thinking it could be. A rented train car? Why not make a wild guess?!

Clue #5.
"Don't worry, it's stationary - as in 'doesn't move'" Oh. There goes the train ride theory. So much for that. I think that clue shouldn't count as a clue though because it was only in response to my audibly guessing the train car idea.

Clue #6.
"Make sure to bring the Baby Monitor" I knew we'd be taking PC... after all, what good is a getaway if I'd be uncomfortable and have to pump milk as well as worry about both kids, but a baby monitor?? How big is this place? Is the baby going to have his own room?

Clue #7.
"We're going to pack the grill" The grill?? 25 lbs of cast iron? So we're making our own food... okaaay.... there goes the pampered hotel room illusion. Back to square one... I have no idea where we're going.

Clue #8.
"Our host is a Captain and his wife" I'm thinking... A Captain?? as in Sea Captain? or Army Captain? or is the guy's last name Captain? Will we be going on a cruise? Nooo.... that would be more expensive than the $$$ from Clue #2. How about... are we hiring a yacht? probably not... that's probably more expensive and wouldn't have room for a hot tub anyway... What are we doing for this getaway???!!!

So again I'm back to square one.... and we're leaving in less than a week! I'm really going to kick myself when I find out what this vacation includes and when all these clues fall perfectly into place! Aaaggghhh! Oh well, I am enjoying the anticipation even if I don't really want Sir to think that. ;) Have fun detectives!

<SAVED!>

Richmond's J. N. D.

At the end of the summer, nineteen years ago, the Richmond assembly welcomed another baby boy. Then, although the number of children increased by ten (through adoption, relocation or birth), there were no more boys born until this summer¹. The baby boom this year turned out to be 75% boys. I don't have a close up of the little girl yet, but here are the boys in age order. Although Sir and I had PC's name chosen from the very beginning, we didn't disclose it until we announced his arrival. Chasm and HisLady said they decided on Bob's name once they saw him (they had a few other names that are still unknown to the rest of us) and Doc and Bashful announced early on what Baby D.'s name would be. In real life and by age order, these three boys' names first initials spell out J.N.D. I thought it was kind of interesting.

¹ Sir has all sorts of complaints about the above statement - "It wasn't Richmond back then and there were boys born, but they aren't here anymore... which would mean the 10 is wrong too" . He would point something like that out, but I don't have first-hand knowledge of any of that, so I'm just going to ignore it for now. Nineteen years sounds more impressive.

Salmon Recipe

A couple of weeks ago, there were some requests for a Salmon recipe that Sir found online and we served to guests at one point in time. I decided that I would post that recipe since there might be others who didn't see my responding comment. This version includes the changes that we've made as well. It is best served with rice.

Poached Salmon with
Mixed Seafood Cheese Sauce
Serves 6-8

• 3-4 lbs Salmon fillets
  
• 1½ c Chicken broth
  
• 2 stalks Celery
  
• ½ Onion

Cut celery and onion into large pieces (3+inches). In a large skillet, simmer chicken broth, celery pieces and onion slices. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Lay the fillets (skin up to avoid dryness) over the vegetables, tucking the tail end under and continue to simmer until done through, about 30 minutes. Make sure it is flaky and done all of the way through by separating the fish with a fork. If it is still bright orange, simmer longer. Meanwhile, make the sauce.

The Sauce:

• 4 Tbs Butter
  
• 4 Tbs Flour
  
• ½ tsp Salt
  
• 2 c Milk (preferably whole)
  
• 8 oz Monterey Jack Cheese
  
• ½-1 lb Miscellaneous Seafood (shrimp, scallops, crab etc.)

In a large saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour, stirring constantly. Cook for about 1 minute, then gradually add the milk. Heat through but do not boil. Once hot, gradually add the cheese and stir until it is all melted. Add the mixed seafood, heating gently until the sauce is hot and the seafood is fully cooked.

Remove the fish from the skillet. Drain and cut the vegetables into smaller pieces and add them to the sauce. Serve the fish and sauce separately as some like more sauce than others. Enjoy!

Blue Box Laugh!

This is a picture of our Blue Box.... well, maybe not ours since it was stolen, but rather a picture of one from the Surrey Recycling website.

Ok, here's the laugh. Last week I took our porch-full (really, I'm hardly exaggerating here) of recycleables to the recycling center. They refund you between 5¢ and 20¢ per item (originally paid as a deposit) depending on whether it's a can or a clear plastic bottle. I walked away with over $20.00 as well as the many label-less (thank you, Sir) and American items that were rejected. These 'rejects' completely filled our blue box to heaping and as a result, I put it out with the trash this week.

The following day, before the garbage and recycling trucks came around, I had to take the car out somewhere. As I backed out of the driveway, I noticed that our blue box was gone. When I got out to investigate, I realized that only the box and the refundable looking items were missing. All of the non-refundable appearing things that were at the bottom of the blue box were scattered on the ground beside the still full garbage cans where the blue box had once been.

I got a laugh out of imagining the theif's disappointment when trying to get a refund as bottle after bottle and can after can was re-rejected! The blue box still hasn't been returned, so now we have to request another one from the city of Surrey. Oh well, at least I got a fair bit of amusement out of the experience and we still don't have recycleables taking over the porch anymore!

Two Months Old

Here is PC at two months... well, actually two months and a couple of days since I didn't get to the camera right on the two month mark. He was really 'hammin' it up during the photo shoot, but this was the only shot I was able to get with him smiling at the camera. Most of the time he was trying to grin at me over the silver box I was holding!

Then I did a quick search and pulled up a picture of Dolly at the same age. I found it was kind of a neat comparison, so the decision was made to include that photo too, since others might find it as interesting as I did.

Pantoum Practice

I couldn't resist giving the Pantoum a try. I first noticed them on SAJ's blog a few days ago and then again on Gramma's more recently. Here's my first attempt at a Pantoum composition. It was way past my bedtime when I wrote it, so I'll blame any mistakes on that. :)

A Friend Unfailing

by LadyCsanyi
There is a Friend Unfailing,
He is everything you see,
For the soul that's ailing,
He says, 'Come unto me.

He is everything you see,
His heart is filled with love,
He says, 'Come unto me.
Come, dwell with me above.

His heart is filled with love.
With tender interceding,
'Come, dwell with me above.
Hear His voice still pleading.

With tender interceding,
He has everything to give!
Hear His voice still pleading.
Believe and thou shalt live!

He has everything to give!
For the soul that's ailing,
Believe and thou shalt live!
There is a Friend Unfailing!

Hebrews 9:27, John 3:16, and Acts 16:31

Annual BBQ #4

Our summer barbecue on Saturday turned out to be a huge success this year. Perhaps it was a bit easier this time because we've managed to pull it off a few times in the past. We had 42 people, counting our little family of four... I thought that was pretty good since at least 14 people who would normally have come were absent.We cooked up 94 shish kebobs of marinated pork, green/red/yellow peppers, onions, mushrooms and grape tomatoes as well as 40 steakette burgers. Thanks to our many guests and their contributions, the meal was completed with bags of chips, pop, cookies, salads, fruit, and vegetables & dip! The weather even cooperated in spite of the 'possible showers' forecast and ended up being sunny and rather warm! We have much to be thankful for. And to top it off, there were enough leftover skewer ingredients that I was able to make an easy stir-fry for the All-Day-Meeting lunch the next day!

After we ate as much as we possibly could, we had a hymn-sing followed by a short bible reading that started with Galatians 4:1-2 and Hebrews 12:9-11. Then, as it started to get dark, our guests gradually departed and the clean up process began. I guess one of the nice things about having the bbq a little later in the year than usual this time was, although it felt really late, it was only 9ish when everything was done!