Its alive.

So yeah there is lots to talk about costumes and dinner to start with. But the real news is that the littlest is crawling. I was standing in the kitchen doing dishes (an amazing feat in itself) when I notice that the little dude is definitely closer than he was a moment ago. And then there he goes. Right for the little waste paper basket. So yeah its everything off the floor time. That is until he develops enough understanding to be able to determine what he is allowed to do. I figure we have about 17 years give or take. Unfortunately, no crawling video. He won't perform on demand.

As for dinner and costumes it was a pretty good night in that department too. I made pizza for the first time in a while. Home grown tomatoes and garlic in the sauce. It was a little runny but full of that home grown love. 1 to 2 cups of whole wheat to white and the crust was still delish. The kids topped their own individual pizzas. Then they had to share because one came out first. Hey were are not set up for quantity here. Ours was a gypsy salami, orange pepper, mushroom and red onion affair. Very pleased with the over all effect.

Speaking of effects we had a vampire and a zebra roll out of here at about 5:30. Here they are with some buddies who they ended up trick or treating with. I have to say, walking along with the other parents and having the kids run around with their friends definitely increases their staying power. Note to self. If they ever go trick or treating again get more organized about working the friend phone tree.

Feels kind of nice to sit down and blog. Really haven't had much of a moment recently to just sit and catch the breath. Not that I don't have a tonne of stuff to be doing right now. Gonna be another hell raiser of a week and I have yet to start on the stack of stuff I brought home. But it has been a good weekend. Played with kids, raked leaves, gave the lawn a last mow, put away all the yard stuff, gassed up the car, went to the library, fixed the gutters. Yep feeling like a hero and its only Saturday night.

Speaking of Saturday night we just watched How to Lose Friends and Alienate People. That Simon Pegg turns up in the strangest of places. I rather enjoyed it. I was looking for a Romantic comedy to watch with the Mrs and it definitely fit the bill. However, not quite enough of a movie to actually have a conversation about afterwards. Just a nice evening together with the littlest on the couch between us.

17 years or there abouts. That should about get us there.

Bath Time.

Well its bubble bath tonight so I have a quick second to get a blog off. The Mrs. made some nimono magic this evening and accompanied it with a caesar salad. Delish.

Last night we went and saw this show. It was decent but the real story is the son on the way home. He was way over tired and after the kids got to meet the magician and get his autograph and a hand shake, I pulled them away and we headed out the door for the car. It was 9:30 on a school night. When we got to the car we had a fifteen minute stand off. Apparently I had pulled the son away before he got to ask his question (note: he couldn't come up with his question when asked) There was no way he was getting in the car without going back to ask. I tried my best but no amount of bluffing or logic made any difference. He was not coming home. So finally I just went around and got in the drivers side, sat down and closed the door. I was just looking for somewhere warm to wait. However, this wasn't how the son interpreted my action. In a really pathetic and dejected voice he walked back towards the building in front of the car and said, "I would come in the car if you asked me." He thought I was leaving him behind. It nearly broke my heart. I jumped out of the seat and said of course I wanted him to come with us. I spent the better part of the ride home and a couple of minutes after getting home explaining how important he is to me. Even now I feel a bit misty just writing about it. So I guess I just chalk another black mark up against my name.

I now have an answer to the question, "Where does our children's innocence go?"

We steal it from them one day at a time.

Remission.

In that I have been remiss in my blogging about dinner. First a quick strained smile. Interestingly, after downloading the pics I realised that two of the three meals I will present to you have the same guest in them, but first, more kid shots.The meal we will begin with is our almost thanksgiving dinner. This was last Monday. There was chicken roasted with assorted other stuffs. We had our local Japanese friend over. First there was a driving lesson (she passed her test on Thursday) and then there was some dinner. Good times had by all.Next up is my return dinner on Saturday night. It was yaki-soba grilled up on our teppan yaki. Big shout out for the wonderful wedding gift that keeps on giving. We grilled up a whole mess of noodles and vegetables. This was followed by some hot apple crumble with ice-cream and the jello and fruit mixture which the same guest provided. Gotta love guests.
This kid wasn't happy because all he got was breast milk and apples. Get used to it is all I can say.
So we finally make it to this evening. From conception to table there was a very short timeline on this evenings dinner. Basically at 3:30 we had no idea what we were going to have and by 5:00 everything was hot on the table. This included a shop for ingredients. The soup was a squash bisque (I saw bisque written somewhere recently and I liked the sound of it) with tomatoes and carrots. It was a little sweet for my taste but we served it with rice and the kids didn't complain for the most part. In my second bowl I added a few shots of tabasco sauce and the flavour literally exploded off the old flavo-meter. Definitely hit that nail on the head.We will see if my consistency stays spotty or if I turn things around on the old blog front. It seems my life has been a little too busy recently. I am sure it will calm down again soon. Say December 27th or there abouts. I won't hold my breath. Finally a shot of me and son. Serious, deadly serious.

Almost there.

So we got back from K-town today and my race has been run. I did not break the 40 minute barrier. I managed to hit 40:48 with something of a death mask on my face at the end. Chach had a good chuckle I think. I feel like I ran a pretty good race. I was running negative splits with some other guys who also were planning to do under 40. Then at about 5K they dropped their splits and I didn't feel like I could stay with them. If I had I think I would have cracked way earlier. As it was I felt pretty slow between K 7 and 8. Then I tried to pick it up but by K 9 I was feeling brutal. I managed to kick home maybe the last 3-400 meters but by the time I hit the final accelerator I had already hit 40 minutes.

On the positive side:

Full training cycle without getting injured. Even when I kicked it up in the last three weeks and started doing intervals.

Personal best time for a ten K.

I had a bit of a cold (not enough to make a difference but it still soothes the pain)

Came tenth in the field of 10 K runners. (this was a surprise)

On the negative side:

I am pretty sure I have some achilles tendonitous that will have to be attended to before getting back into it.

I still haven't broken 40 minutes.

That was pretty grueling and I will have to work even harder next time.

All in all I would have to rate this running season as successful. It was nice to see chach and her man there. Others were missed but we are back at the coast in two weekends, October 23rd is the Friday night. We are free for dinner both Friday and Saturday. I don't want to push my luck but maybe Ritchy would be up for round too. We could order in or potluck it so that it isn't so much work. Saturday should be a good day of hanging out. We are going to try and find and indoor playground to go and play at. Possibly in a mall, any ideas let us know. We will be heading home after dinner on Saturday. Busy busy busy.

Chili and Chees Bread.

Well no mystery here. That is what we had for dinner. It was the vegetarian chili and here is what I did right. I sauteed the onions on 4 and had some finely diced carrots in with them. Once these were starting to brown I added two cloves worth of minced garlic but not so fine it was mush. Also added about 8 diced small mushrooms. This was sauteed further. Next I added a can of crushed and a can of diced tomatoes. For seasoning I added one tablespoon each of cumin, coriander and chili powder. I added maybe five tbsp of vinegar and a generous pour of molasses. Probably a tbsp of salt and a bunch of shakes of pepper. Next up were the beans, one brown in tom sauce, one black and one kidney. Finally, some finely sliced celery stalks with some home grown green peppers and eggplant. I had turned it up to six when I put the tomatoes in and now I turned it back down to four. 20 minutes later down further to 2. 20 minutes later turned it off and let it sit.

The cheese bread was a store bought crusty french loaf, split down the middle. I mixed margarine with crushed garlic and spread that on both loaves. Then I covered them with slices of cheese and baked them at 400. This also pre-heated the oven for the wife's pumpkin pies. But that is a story for another day.

Back to the main course, this was the vegetarian chili I always plan to make. It is the vegetarian chili I like. Lots of flavour. I am amazed at how often I am unable to make it. Practice practice practice I guess. I would have added a bunch of jalapenos or chili peppers if the kids weren't eating it but that is my life right now. Some day my food will be spicy again. Probably right around the time I am told by my doctor not to eat spicy food.

Tofuesday again.

well we managed tyo get bsack on the tofu wagon today. the mrs also made her mint bean salad. with a little miso soup on the side it was great. love out.

Back in the Saddle

...once more. Wow now there was a break. Life has gotten pretty hectic and there just doesn't seem to be any time anywhere. We were away for about four days and so I do have that natural excuse. However, life is just really really busy. This week should prove to be no better and the week after that will be a little nutty. The third week on is going to be crazy but the week after that ends in a weekend where I don't leave town at all. Asides from Halloween it should be a nice weekend of catching up and getting the garden ready for an ice rink.

While we were away I managed to take one picture of the kids. Here are the three of them basking in the electric glow of a television. I am now dealing with the discussion of why we don't have cable. Seven years, it was a good run. I wonder how long I will be able to stick it out. Fingers crossed.On the food front last night we had beans and rice. I crafted the mostly jalapeno salsa on the right. It was hot. The Mrs. whipped up the rest, while I ran around doing all the things that need to be done when you get back to town: Cross the border for gas, pick up our fishes from the fish sitter (Status Report: All fishes still alive), go get milk and veggies. Then it was dinner and off to work to get ready for today. Which thankfully is now in the books. Tomorrow is another day. Parent teacher interviews and Annie practice. I am booking rooms for anyone who plans to come and see the show, Thursday the 26th of Nov.