Finally it has happened to me

Another random thoughts article, from my random thought-y mind. Last night I got to go out for dinner with my husband for the first time in almost a year. Maybe longer I don't remember. It's really been that long! It was our 4 year wedding anniversary on Thursday September 16 and every year since we started dating almost 10 years ago *yikes* we've been going to The Keg for our anniversary. This all started February 3 2002, as that was our first anniversary ever. Say it with me, awwwwwww. And since I love to ramble I'll share this little ditty. We started going to The Keg, as stated, in 2002. When we got married in 2006, we went to The Keg for our February anniversary but then had to wait ALLLLLL the way until September 16 2007 again. It was brutal.
Usually I order the BBQ chicken and ribs. It's so amazing and moist and....I'm getting hungry! We received some cash from my husband's mother for our anniversary and decided to put that towards dinner, and my husband said that if I liked I could get a lobster tail or crab legs. I was so excited as I'm never allowed to eat these foods because of the price. Plus I was excited to just go out for dinner in the first place.
WARNING: another ramble. My husband was constantly going to Alberta for work within his company starting August 2009, for only a week at a time, and we didn't get much time together. I wanted to go out for dinner but we just couldn't afford it. I was already pregnant, starting end of June 2009, literally immediately after I returned home from an almost 3 week trip to Ontario to visit family with my 9 month old son (now 2). My pregnancy continued, our dinners out drought continued. My husband went away to Alberta for an undecided amount of time while I was 9 months pregnant with our 2nd son and I told him, when you get back we are going on a date before this baby comes. Finally, after 1 whole month of him being gone, his flight was scheduled for March 20 2010. He left February 21 2010. My c-section was scheduled for March 26 2010. We planned on going out for dinner and possibly a movie, having 1 whole week together to mentally prepare for our arrival and just get a few little things done around the house. March 20, 2010, 7:30am, my water broke. My husband was still in Alberta. We didn't get our dinner.
Since my youngest, 6 months old tomorrow, is breast-fed, we haven't been able to leave him for substantial amounts of time. Now that he is getting a little older he is easier to leave for about 4 hours at a time. And since it was our anniversary, we planned this dinner for a very very VERY long time. My husband was perfectly okay with going on Thursday evening, however his work schedule is so up in the air I didn't want the added stress of him not being home in time for us to go and just enjoy our meal. I changed our dinner to September 18, Saturday. In a way I felt bad going for dinner that night as it was my sister's 30th birthday as well because I felt like my dinner was overshadowing her birthday in my mind. I tried to reassure myself that I was the only person that wouldn't think that was silly.
Anyways, my Mom came over around 6pm and we went to The Keg for dinner as my mother shooed us out of the house so she could have some alone time with the boys. We waited for a long time to get our table, almost an hour, which in a way irks me because we only go once a year so I think we should be allowed some VIP status. However, maybe that's the reason we don't get VIP......we're not regulars. Not in any way, shape or form. We got a seat at the bar first, where we mulled over what to get. I was looking at the martinis, the margaritas, then IT caught my eye. "MOJITO" I almost yelled at the bartender. Sprite though, no club soda. Yuck. It was soooo amazing. I drank it on an empty stomach, not smart, but did pretty well. I explained to the bartender that I became addicted to virgin mojito's during my first pregnancy so he asked me a few times how I liked it. Perfect, was my response. And I wasn't lying.
We were seated after some time at the bar in a great little corner seat. I used to not be such an introvert but I think my husband has rubbed off on me as I've become quite claustrophobic over the years. We loved our seat, it was perfect. For us, for our evening. I ordered a glass of white zinfandel and we waited with great excitement over our warm quartered bread and butter. Yes, we do need to get out more. After mulling over the menu a little, which we had already done at home, Ken ordered the chicken with roasted red pepper sauce and I ordered the creole chicken. The creole chicken had scallops and shrimp on it, satisfying my appetite for some seafood. I just couldn't order the lobster. It was $30+!!! I can't justify paying that much. We decided to order some alcohol instead of seafood and I'm quite happy with the substitution. After dinner we phoned my mother who said everything was fine and then we headed to the casino. We dropped $5 each on roulette, poker, and random slots. We lost it all but that's okay. We did win a few times but then just kept playing. It was fun and that was the point.
So, I can finally say I had my dinner out and it was a success. No more babies until I get at least one more dinner out.

Mmmmmm wine.......my first foray into change

Before I had my first son I liked to have a glass of wine before bed every night. My favorite is the one to the right - Sawmill Creek Shiraz. I have this super large green-tinted wine glass that I would fill to restaurant size, as in barely even half full, and take an hour to drink it while I read a book or magazine in bed. Well, I don't think it's actually a wine glass, more of a goblet. But it's my wine glass and I love it. It's different and it was sold individually so it's one of a kind. Just like me! I tend to magnet towards different and odd things. But enough about the glass.
Once I first thought I was pregnant I told my husband I think I should stop drinking my nightly glass of wine. He, like usual, said "Do what you want!" But of course, said if I think I'm pregnant, that I should probably follow my feelings. I missed my nightly glass of wine so badly. This shiraz, to me, is the best wine in the entire world. I can never actually remember what it's called and always refer to it as the one with the "black label." Black as in the label that says shiraz is black. However, I went to the liquor store tonight and double checked the brand, which turned out well because I felt like writing this post tonight and my memory for the name of my favorite wine didn't dissapoint me this time. I've tried a few different wines like painted turtle, naked grape, peller estates and an Australian one that I can't remember the name of right now, just as samples or at people's houses. I ended up not being pregnant for another month.
After I had my son it was the end of summer and I love to drink wine in the fall. Especially since the wine I love is heavy. I bought a new bottle and it took me a very long time to drink. I think between my first and second sons I went through just over 1 large bottle (1.5 litres). Since my second son was born I rarely drink at all anymore since I'm nursing and I can't handle my alcohol. But, it is fall, so I'm looking forward to enjoying a glass of wine here and there and I want to try out different brands of wine.
The description for Sawmill Creek Shiraz is as follows: "This Shiraz is a full-bodied wine. The flavours of black cherry and dark plums combine with a hint of pepper and light oak on the finish to deliver a powerful wine." The words that catch me the most is black cherry, pepper and oak. However, my husband and I went to the liquor store tonight as he wanted some beer for the weekend. On Saturday nights we like to sit outside on the patio after the boys are in bed and enjoy a drink and some conversation together. I still had 2 coolers left in my fridge from a month ago so I decided I wanted to purchase a bottle of wine but I wanted to go to a different label and try something different.
I went Chilean. I know I've had a Chilean wine before and liked it. The one I bought is called Cono Sur and it's a Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz. The description on the back is: "This vigorous, deep ruby red blend is a compelling, fruit-forward wine. Notes of blackcurrant plum and cherry combine with slighter traces of leather, vanilla and a delicious earthy, toasted finish." I had a small sample of it and I have to say....I'm moving on. It's a good wine, I will enjoy it, but it's not as rich and oaky as the shiraz. I think it's the cab sauv part that makes it fruitier. Keep an eye on future postings and let me know if you have any wines to recommend!

Pot Roast simplified

Ok I finally have a little time to sit down and do a few posting. Oh who am I kidding - I've had a lot of time to write a few postings but I've recently become addicted to.......farmville *sob*. Yes, sad little farmville on facebook. So when I'm on my computer, working usually, my spare time in between phone calls is spent plowing seeding and harvesting on farmville. Yep. Anyways.....I think I posted on my facebook status that I would post about this roast that I made the other day so here goes. It was unbelievable easy. One thing you'll learn about me is I rarely use measurements when it comes to seasonings. The only time I do is if I'm baking because you can really ruin something bready or pastry like if you use the wrong measurement. When it comes to dinner, however, I find it easier just to tailor everything to your own taste. I'm obsessed with garlic and NEVER repeat NEVER use the amount of garlic that recipes say to use. I always use more. I should do a posting on just garlic. I already know its benefits just from personal knowledge but maybe a research posting should be done....hmmmm.....

Ingredients:

1 top sirloin roast
1/2 cup worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
baby carrots
onion, chopped
garlic cloves
celery salt
pepper

Directions:

Place beef in the slow cooker.
Drop baby carrots, onion and garlic on top, as much or as little as you like. It's just for flavour anyways.
Sprinkle pepper and celery salt on top of the roast and veggies, again as much or as little as you like. I used a lot of celery salt.
Mix the worcestershire and BBQ sauces together and pour over all.
Turn slow cooker on low for 8 hours.
Serve roast and enjoy!

SOOOOO excited!!!!!

I just wanted to share my excitement! I went to a bridal shower yesterday for my soon to be sister-in-law...sort of.... (my husband's brother's fiance) and I won a prize! It's the greatest prize EVER!! First I'll share how I won it. Well, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law won with me, but me and one of my SIL got the 2 prizes available for this game. For those of you who know me, should know I'm a shoe-in for this game. It was called famous couples through the ages. For someone like me who is obsessed with Hollywood I figured I'd get pretty good on this one. I'm 27 (not for long) my SIL is 45 and my MIL is 65. With our ages combined we cover 3 whole generations and got 100% on the game. We were the only ones who got 100% it was awesome!! One of the hostesses brought 4 gift bags out and told us to pick 2. I was looking at one pink bag, but, being me, picked the neon yellow one. Inside was a......drumroll........COOKBOOK!! This cook book is called As Fresh As It Gets Everyday Recipes from the Tomato Fresh Food Cafe. I'm super super excited to check out the recipes from this book and I'll be certain to post them on my blog. I read a bit of the beginning of the book so far and it says that it uses fresh local food to create the recipes. Upon reading some of the recipes I can see that this holds true. The first section, breakfast, has so many great looking recipes and there isn't anything in there that I wouldn't make. Again, sooooo excited!

The dirt on DIRT

As promised, I am finally reading magazines again. I finished reading my Canadian Living June 2010 issue and started on my Today's Parent June 2010 issue. Within a few pages I found an article that confirms everything I've been saying for years - using excessive anti-bacterial soaps sprays and sanitizer just makes you sick. I'm a big advocate of playing in the dirt, not worrying about a little cat hair around the house, some dust.....basically not making your house and life sterile. My house has 3 cats 2 children and one husband and no lysol sprays.
Here's the article:

Playing in the muck like little piggies just might make kids healthier. Researchers studied piglets raised out doors, indoors and in solation, where they were given daily doses of antibiotics. Turns out the dirtier the pigs, the more healthy bacteria they had: 90 percent of the gut bacteria in the outdoor group were of the type that, among other things, is thought to help fend off food-borne infections like E. coli. The indoor and antibiotic-fed pigs had "good bacteria" levels of roughly 70 percent and 50 percent, respectively. Plus, the pristine pigs, were thought to be more allergy prone. Hey kids, time to make mud pies!

Wendy Haaf, June 2010 Today's Parent

All Fall

Today I've just decided to write a quick little blurby. I'm up way past my bedtime, but I'm not working at 6am tomorrow so I've decided to just hang out a little bit. It's only 11:25pm so far so I still have time. Plus I had an amazing 2h nap today. As the summer season draws to a close and the fall season starts, I'm excited to get into all things fall. Fall is my absolute favorite season in the entire world!! To me, fall means sweater season, hot ankle booties or shooties as I like to call them, crock pot food, blankets, and....wait for it.....snuggling snuggling and more snuggling! Now that I have 2 extremely handsome sons I have so many choices of people to snuggle with! Or just a bigger group. My just-turned-2 year old is getting snugglier now and I think it may have a lot to do with the new baby and the fact that he wants in on the action when he sees us snuggling with the baby but I don't mind. The more time I get to spend with my boys intimately the better. Fall also means lots of blankets on the bed and hot showers. I just finished reading the last book in the twilight series and I have to say I'm quite dissapointed. Although the series was rather far-fetched enough with vampires and werewolves and the like, the reading was interesting and addicting. The last book, Breaking Dawn, took me forever to read. It just didn't hold my attention. However, the end of my book also means the return of articles! Yes, I am actually going to start posting articles finally! I am backed up to my June issue of Canadian Living and I just received my October issue in the mail. Yep, June. And I also have the June issues of Today's Parent and Parenting to read too. I'm quite OCD when it comes to the way I do things. I eat my food so that I always save the best for last and I read my magazines in a certain order. If my order gets messed up I won't read the magazines until I have the next one in line all ready to read. For example, if the next one in order goes missing I WILL NOT read the next one in line until I find the one that's supposed to be in line. Of course I have to use OCD loosely as it is a very serious disease for some. Anyways I feel like I'm just rambling as I've already emailed 2 friends that I was overdue to email and usually I'm sleeping by now but instead I'm writing and watching TV. And now that my youngest is almost 6 months old I'm getting a little more free time to myself and have time to write in my blogs. Tomorrow's fall dinner is a big dissapointment, just Costco lasagna and the best garlic bread in the whole world, also from Costco. Maybe I can figure out how to recreate the garlic bread and post it........keep in touch!