- some stellar suppers at home (if I do say so myself) - I took the Greek Chicken Skewers recipe from Thrifty Foods that Cathy showed me, and translated it into a dish with boneless, skinless chicken thighs done on the George Foreman grill. I served it up with tzaziki, roasted garlic potatoes, home-made Caesar salad, pita bread, mmmm. Another night, I cooked a sockeye salmon fillet in parchment and served it with roasted yams, butternut squash puree and green beans. Something about fall weather makes me want to cook homey good food.
- these led to some stellar lunches - I love leftovers! The leftover pita made good pocket sandwiches, with mixed greens and feta cheese and the leftover chicken. Reheated yams and potatoes are probably even better than first time around.
- Alex and I went to a screening of Peace Out at the Vancouver Film Festival. It's a film directed by one of his university profs, about energy production in the Peace River Valley in Northern BC and Alberta. The film looks at how we produce hydro power, natural gas, nuclear power (yup, there's a proposal for a nuclear plant in northern BC), and the Alberta oil sands. It was entertaining, informative and thought provoking. It made me want to go home and turn off all of the extra lights in the house and notch down the furnace. If you haven't heard about "fracking" yet, please look it up. Also, imagine an open pit mine larger than Vancouver Island, covered in toxic residues from oil extraction. That would be the oil sands.
- Niece Maia and I saw Next to Normal at the Stanley Theatre. It's gorgeous and gut-wrenching at the same time. This is a musical about a family whose mom has bipolar disorder. It's billed as "The feel-everything musical," and I think that's accurate. Fiona and I just missed it on our first trip to New York (arrived the day after it closed), so I'm glad I got to see this local production, which is top-notch. It's strong in every aspect, but I was particularly struck by the performances of Matt Palmer as doctors Fine and Madden, and Eric Morin who plays son Gabe. Maia and I had a good evening together. We even got into Vij's restaurant for gorgeous Indian food before the show.
- Excitement at work. I am preparing to lead my first Insights training session at a workshop for 80 to 90 co-workers (gulp!). I'm getting some great help from my mentor at work, and all kinds of exciting ideas are bubbling up. I know I'll lead a fine session, and once the first one's done, it will be less intimidating. Even now, it's more exciting than it is intimidating, and that's good.
- some good couch time with the family - we are catching up on The Big Bang Theory season 4 (now that season 5 is underway). We've watched our way through the first disc of the 4th season, enjoying some episodes a second time around, and seeing ones we've missed. The Big Bang Theory is the one show everyone in our family agrees is good. Nephew Lukas agrees, fortunately, and is being brought up to date thanks to our dvd collection of past seasons.
- tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes - Thanksgiving weekend and I'm still picking ripe, fresh tomatoes every day. I love growing tomatoes on my porch.
- mIpod - I keep finding out new fun things I can do with my new little iPod touch. I watched a TV show without commercials the other day, downloaded the word game Moxie, caught up my NPR podcast collection and listened on my walks to and from work, and used the BC Liquor Store app, which is really awesome. The only thing it doesn't do is pour you a glass of wine.
- emails and texts with Fiona - we are truly delighted that she is having such a wonderful and successful time at university, but also that she is staying in touch with us. We are sending letters and packages, but also enjoying texts, phone calls, skype calls... We miss her, but we are in touch throughout each week. It's good.
This has been a lovely week. It feels like we are settling nicely into our new "normal." I love my family and being at home, and enjoying all the richness of our community and the people all around me.
question: what good things have come your way this week?
mompoet - definitely thankful
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