On March 20 of this year, the day we went in for my immigration interview, two things happened. The first was that I forgot our passports at home on the kitchen table. I had a folder that contained documents that we needed to bring with us to share with our attorney, relationship proof (greeting cards, photos, etc.) sitting on top of that, and as the cherry on the immigration proof pile, our passports.
Not Much Rejoicing Over the Bloody Weather
The weather here has been ridiculous. We seemed to have skipped winter altogether and have gone straight from fall into summer. It’s been rewminding me of a couple of scenes from Monty Python’s Search for the Holy Grail. New England is supposed to be rainy this time of year, not plaguing us with 30°C (86°F) weather! So… there has not been much rejoicing over the bloody weather:
And: Continue reading
Kitchen Experiments #1
I took chicken out yesterday morning for dinner and I didn’t have a clue what I was going to do with it. I had no plan whatsoever. You’re always supposed to have a plan. All I knew was that it was too hot to do out of the fridge thawing and we were out of prawns and that the only thing that would thaw by the time dinner time rolled around would be a boneless, skinless chicken breast. Now, I do a lot of experimentation in the kitchen. My husband is a great test subject. I’ve decided to share these experiments and whether they actually work or not. Continue reading
Introducing Writing Services!
I have been involved in doing website copy, writing informative articles, ghostwriting, editing, proofreading, making simple graphics, and various other website related work for about 15 years and I’ve been offering services in most of those areas for at least a decade on a freelance basis. Most of my work has been done via word of mouth or as a third party writer hired as a freelancer by various companies. Now that I am allowed to work again (thank you Work Authorization!), I have decided to put my services out there for anyone who comes looking. Continue reading
Gender Specific Possessive Pronouns Need to Make a Comeback
I am working on a writing project at the moment and I have come to the conclusion, once again, that I am going to make every effort possible to try to move back into using “his”, “hers”, and “its”, instead of “their” to encompass all three. That’s my goal, anyhow. I know I have a few friends who are feminists who may get upset by this. I know a couple of other women who will be livid because they were of the group who worked toward gender-neutral language. Now, I can sort of understand the issue, but as someone who works as a writer, albeit sporadically, I don’t have to like it. Continue reading
May Will Be a Fantastic Month
I may be being overly optimistic about May, especially since April is barely a week over, but it is certainly stacking up to be a good month. I’ve started working again- just a small, third party writing job creating articles for a company that re-designs websites for various clients. However, it’s still writing and I do enjoy it! I’ll be working on getting a regular job, as well, over the next few weeks so May should start me off with a possible new job. The first week of May will see the 25th wedding anniversary of one of a favoured uncle and aunt. And while both of these things are a cause for excitement, reflection, and general happiness, I find myself extremely excited about the release of a game. Diablo III is finally within my grasp! Continue reading
Asian Style Beef Tenderloin Teriyaki Wraps
Finished Asian Style Beef Tenderloin Wrap
We finally found a store (an Asian Grocer) that carried rice flour wrappers for different types of Asian style foods, such as wontons, dumplings, and spring rolls. I was experimenting a few years back with the large square wraps that are used for spring rolls and came up with a recipe similar to this one, only using chicken. I made that a couple of nights ago and Chris said a number of times while eating that they were delicious, really good, and a number of other pleasing compliments. I had some wraps left over and I’d taken out the beef tenderloin with the intention of making some Roman Stew, but decided to cut up the pieces even smaller and make a beef version of the chicken teriyaki wraps. I’ve been meaning to document a “walkthrough” for anyone interested in step by step instructions for some of these recipes, so… here we go!
Continue reading
Ancient Roman Style Beef Tenderloin (Filet Mignon) Roast
I really liked the spices and flavour in that the Ancient Roman Stew provided so when it came time to cook up one of the tenderloin roasts I’d cut off of the last whole beef tenderloin (filet mignon) we bought, I decided to try them out on it.
Temeraire Makes a Great Return in Crucible of Gold
My husband and I have both been reading Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series and we’ve been quite pleased with its characters and imagery. The idea that dragons provided integral air support during the Napoleonic War with England and the rest of Europe is an interesting one for both of us. Temeraire is a dragon without equal- or so it was thought until a little ways into the series when it was discovered he is of the rarest of all Chinese Breeds, a Celestial. We’d been waiting for a while to be able to read the new installment in the series, Crucible of Gold. Beware… there may be a few minor spoilers in the text to follow, but no major plot points. Continue reading
Fifty Shades of Something Else
I was, once again, at a complete loss as to what to read next. I read too fast and sometimes it’s a problem. A friend of mine said that I should check out this Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. I grabbed the books and started to read them. Three days later, I was finished and thinking about the ideas, the plot, and the overall feel of the books. As someone who has had many dealings with BDSM and the community in which it lives, breathes, and thrives, I found that I was sort of annoyed with some of the ideas presented in these books. Some of us have jokes about “internet dominants” and the character of Christian Grey initially struck me as one. Continue reading