Friday, March 27, 2009

A new home

I am finally moved and back on-line. I have to say, not having access to the Internet for so long has been a little refreshing. Not being able to waste time surfing the net and browsing sites forces you to find other, more productive things to do with your time. However, it isn't so much fun not being able to communicate with anyone so I guess being back on-line is really for the best.

Been in the new house for about 3 weeks and I love it. The neighborhood is great, the house is great and living here so far has been great. The first week we moved in the weather was amazing all week and I got to take full advantage of the tow path just outside our house. Long walks, peaceful runs and leisurely bike rides. Very nice. There is a pub two doors that has just re-opened and so far it has been nothing but a plus. It is great place to meet your neighbors and to take visitors when you have no beer to offer them at your own home. No noise and usually closed up by 11:00. The green outside our door is good for people watching and picnics and the backyard will be perfect for BBQ and entertaining. We have started on our vegetable boxes and pretty soon hope to have them full. The extra space makes such a difference and it is nice not to feel like Martin and I are tripping over each other all the time. We don't have a lot of furniture yet so the lounge doesn't get used a lot, but we want to hold out for the perfect items. I am very happy in my new place and I can't wait for people to visit!

I have also started volunteering at Kew Gardens which so far I really like. They really seem to value their volunteers and prepare them well for the role they ask them to do. It has also been a good reminder that although I liked my job in the corporate world, I should probably be doing something that helps make life a little better for other people. It's tough. I really liked my job but I kind of feel guilty for working in a corporate world and not doing something more charitable. I will have to think about this for a while.

I am almost done with the book I have been reading, A Suitable Boy and I highly recommend it, as it was recommended to me. It is very long but you don't mind the length while reading it and I am more than sad that it will be over soon. The other day it made me cry on a bus. I was embarrassed but still couldn't manage to put it away!

Friday, March 13, 2009

Moving Day!

Well, tomorrow is technically moving day but today I get to go pick up the keys to our new home! And then clean it :-( I don't know. I thought I would be more excited than I am but for some reason it hasn't hit me yet. Maybe when I get there and get to start making it ours I will begin to get more excited. Martin doesn't seem excited either (stress) so I think that is preventing me from getting excited as well. (how many times can you type "excited" in a paragraph?) Anyway, I AM looking forward to it and it is going to be really great and I guess I am in shock that the day has finally arrived. Since the day I first saw this house I have been telling myself not to get too attached, the likelihood of us getting it are small. And now we are moving in! Crazy! We are very very lucky people. Okay, now I am getting a little excited...

Thursday, March 05, 2009

What is going on

Thought I would write a catch up blog entry as I have been pretty lazy about sending e-mails and posting here. Funny, with all this time on my hands you would think all I would be doing is sending e-mails and trying to think of clever posts. I guess part of me feels guilty when I do things like that during the day. My new outlook on my time off is not to feel guilty about how I spend my time. I am just going to try try try and enjoy it.

I am in my sunny-ish bedroom right now finishing off the "chicken" pot pie left over from last nights dinner. I don't know if anyone else is a fan but one of my all time favourite things to eat was Marie Calendars chicken pot pie and since turning vegi I truly miss it. Given all the fake meat products out there and the afore mentioned free time I thought I would give a try making my own. The results are nothing short of delicious. I used a recipe I found on epicurious and tweaked it to be more Marie Calendar like and used fake chicken for me. I added fresh broccoli and carrots and used frozen peas as well as the ingredients the recipe called for (except I did use a regular puff crust instead of the dill one it called for). Yum-my. For a mid-day snack I might have a small sliver of the carrot cake I made, which is also delicious and was also made from a recipe from epicurious. So, as you can see, I am cooking/baking alot with good results! I enjoy making nice meals for dinner and I try to send the bake goods with Martin to work so I won't eat them at home. A piece of cake now and again won't kill me though!

When I am not cooking I am trying to exercise of some sort. I walk quite a bit and run at least twice a week with a couple of DVD work outs in between. I am sort of embarrassed to admit this but I bought this exercise DVD done by the host of big brother, who is well known here but probably not at home. It is actually quite entertaining-which I think is the most important thing for these type of regimes. Sometimes it is just too cold and miserable out to go for a run or walk or bike ride and it is nice to have something to do inside that gets my heart rate going and keeps me entertained as well. I like it so much I haven't even opened the pilates/yoga dvd I got. I also think it works, which makes it even better.

I am also in the process of packing. The house doesn't technically belong to us yet but we are scheduled to move in next weekend. I have a wall like barrier that doesn't allow me to think about life in the new house because something bad could still happen. Hopefully everything will be finalized in the next couple of days and we can start to get excited. Right now excitement is not an emotion that is registering. I know it is exciting, and I am excited to get excited, but not just yet.

Bad news is I still have not applied for my visa and until I have the visa in my hands I can't work. I have been having issues with the bank sending me the statements I need and the delay has been extreme. Once the application is sent I should hear back in 6 weeks. 6 weeks seems like a really long time from now and the idea of not earning any money until then makes me nervous. I have registered with some recruitment agencies but they won't even submit my CV in for consideration of jobs until I have the visa. But at least I have met with them so that the day it arrives I can call them up and tell them get going. Get me a job.

Hmmm, what else. Well, I will hopefully be volunteering with Kew Garden soon. I wanted to work in the actual garden but apparently they have plenty of those type of volunteers. Instead I might be working on a seed exhibition they are having. Should be a nice way to spend half a day a week. Our own little garden is coming along nicely. We have three sowing periods and the seeds from the first batch are doing quite well! I am still waiting for the peppers to come up but I can see them trying so should only be a couple more days. You can see them all below...












We are growing tomatoes, onions, peppers, basil, thyme, rocket, corn, lettuce, green beans, carrots and parsnips. We also hope to get some strawberries. And there are some flowers mixed in there. I can't wait until they all grow up and I get to eat them. Yum.
Well, the pot pie is gone now and I think I will try to go for a run while the sun is out. And then, carrot cake! Yay!