Frank.

Picture Kate Winslet in Titanic, on that make shift raft wood waking up realizing her love is a heavy block of ice and also an anchor so she says all raspy and whispery :

 "Jack .... Jaaack..... I'll never let go Jack." 

And then she lets go.

That's how I talk to Frank sometimes.

He's an aloe plant. 

Yes, I name my plants.

That's the least I could do before I kill them.

I got him from my folks place to give to a friend. Re-potted him and watered him.

Then he started to get all wilty. So I figured I'd water him more. Nope that made him worse. So I googled that.

Ohhhh rotting root. Ok so cut that out, add new cactus soil so he should be all clean and dandy right? Nope. It's been 3 weeks.

This is his present state:

Centre leaves are good but the rest are brown and dry and wilty.

I finally had to give my friend the news.

Despite my efforts.....

Frank is dying. 

(Oh and that's Shorty in the back ground, she's not doing to hot either, darn it.)

Stinky stanker Pepe le pee-yew.

What do you do when you smell something stinky and can't get away from it at that moment ?

Stop nose-breathing and mouth-breathe right? 

I can't help thinking then, that the stinky stuff is going into my mouth, covering my taste buds and into my stomach and I'm ingesting it. Affecting yet another one of my 5 senses. 

Ugh. Gona dip my nose into those mini brownies to recover now...

Flub

When you wake up and your abs are in pain from the workout the day before, and you look down and the flub is still there.... You wonder pain AND flub .... Is it all worth it? (See no hanging "when" statement)

Hershel's farm

He may have been killed off in Season 4, but his company lives on, to supply you with the finest quality zombies... 

That's right nana!

Well she's not my nana actually.

And I never say nana anyways. 

It's Lola.

I was sitting in my doctors waiting room yesterday and I over heard the convo of an  elderly lady in a wheel chair ( with really good orthopedic shoes I may add) - maybe 85ish and her daughter maybe 60ish.

They were talking about so in so from wherever and what he was doing then that topic finished and there was silence.

Then, after a bit.....

Lola: Are you hungry?

Daughter: no not yet, but we can go for lunch soon after you see the Doctor. 

Lola: okay.

Daughter: Did you want to go to lunch?

Lola: yes 

Daughter: are you hungry? 

Lola: I could do with an ice-cream cone. 

Yep, Lola, that's my kinda lunch too!

Ice-cream :)

Sweet jewels

Ever pass over those scrawny looking small oranges that have that skinny dull thin rind (that you know is not good for peeling) and are kinda soft, the ones all bunched together in the orange mesh bag? Not so grand looking huh? 

Do not pass them over.

It's that season for sweet and delicious freshly squeezed O.J! 

(My morning ritual as of late)

How do I like my eggs?

Ummm..... in a cake.

or

fertilized.

Ok, fine,  just in a cake with lemon curd.
And candles. Or sparklies.
With fresh flowers on the side.


Thanks.



 :) love this quote.

Striving for a life of gratitude....

Gawd today is a beautiful day!!
(Bitter sweet and in flux for other reasons but still, dang day, you gorgeous!)

My bike ride up the Don Valley path and down to the Park and Canary district included a great phone convo with my dear old HS friend.

Been keeping in touch with him every now and then lately since he happened to call coincidentally at a hard time in my life. Him and his wife recommended a workshop thing to try the other day and they were checking up on me. How very sweet!

Sometimes I can be taken back by the thoughtfulness of some people. 

I'm so very thankful for the friends (and family of course) that I have. 

I don't know how people could do it,

this thing called life,

without people like these in their life.

Life gets pretty much chaotic and to find and keep friends who truly care, no matter how often you keep in touch or not, is a blessing in itself.

I was thinking how I wish there was more of these kinds. To surround my self by and maybe drown in their goodness. Maybe then, it would be like having a stealthy shield against anyone else who could hurt you. 

Sunshine shower !

I love being showered by sunshine in the morning!!! 

Travel Summary log

To anyone else it could sound like gloating, as I have seen on many a dating online profile.

But I sat down tonight, feeling glum about things in general, and I just started to think about what sticks out in my mind about my travel adventures or just adventures in general.

This is what I came up with. Thinking back it makes me happy. Pretty darn thankful.

Climbed through a rushing waterfall in a cave in Semuc Champay, stood inside a warm pit formed by the active volcano Pacaya, petted wild baby stingrays in the Caribbean sea cangejo caye, witnessed the sunrise from atop an ancient Mayan pyramid in Tikal while listening to howling monkeys, superman ziplined in Arenal, canyoning and rappelling in La fortuna, saw spider monkeys trecking through rainforests in Monteverde, saw sloths slowly moving through the trees and monkeys stealing my cookies in Manuel Antonio,  snorkeled off a traditional Philippine fishing boat in Boracay, ate the best gelato while sitting in Piazza Navona, took a nap under the sun on Spiaggia del Fornillo, learned to make real italian tomato sauce from scratch at Buca del Bacco hotel, waved at Pope John Paul II less than 10 ft away in St. Peters square on Easter Sunday, walked on the Columbia icefield glacier, saw the peak of Mt Robson while riding through the rockies, Got to see Grouse mountain grizzly bears play in the snow and put my feet into the warm sand on the Spanish banks all in one day, got to take a bath in Algonquin waters while camping in Canisbay, fell into the rapids in the Ottawa river, Tried ski skates down Breckenridge Mountain, jetskiied into the Bermuda triangle,  climbed on my knees up the steps of Pontius Pilate's palace, got to hold a baby alligator in the blue bayou, saw the Toronto skyline from miles away on a hangglider, got all my dead skin cells scrubbed off me in a jimjilbang, took a couple steps into North Korea, skinny dipped for a few minutes in the Atlantic Ocean, went topless on a Toronto beach.

Oia!!

I shouldn't expect much,

Because then,

I will be pleasantly surprised and impressed! Right? Right?

But I can help getting so excited !

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

I live for things that take my breath away.

It already has, and I'm not even there yet!

JOHNNY REID - MISSING AN ANGEL - PNE - 2009

Remembered this guy again. I used to love his old songs. Seems like such a wonderful man.

Over all good guy, genuinely kind-hearted. Sometimes you can take kindness for granted until you give all your kindness away to a person who is not, only because you believe so much in them, and it changes you, breaks you. I think he is Scottish Canadian. Like that he still has a bit of his accent. Kinda cute too, reminds me of my favorite Golf instructor.

Not much into country.... but he's the

Only country singer that I like.

A kind guy I know introduced me to him by the song "Thank you". LOVE LOVE.

light weight

Went to the gym yesterday.
Realized that no matter how tough I would like to be,
or how strong I would like to be,
I'm still pretty much a light weight ...... :(

Guess I shouldn't expect 107 lbs to stand too much ground.

Held a pad up for my partner for him to punch.

hold it up to your chest, they said, it will help you, they said, less impact, they said....

well....

I went flying back and got the wind knocked out of me a bit.

Dammit!

I had better results holding the pad in front and hitting his punches with it.
The space absorbed the impact.

So.... to conclude.......

its better if I just don't ever get hit!

Gotta practice running.


-------

Despite my insides, today looks beautiful outside!

And old Blue Rodeo songs just top it off !

menudo

meh....

• cubed pork
• carrots
• potatoes
• raisins
• onions
• garlic
• pickles
• peas
• chick peas
• NO ginger
• green and red pepper
• bay leaves
• soy sauce
• (tomato sauce??) duno meh

Afratada

• green peppers
• red peppers
• carrots
• peas
• chick peas
• chicken
• potato
• small amount ginger
• onions
• garlic
• bay leaves
• tomato sauce (half can)

Sinigang - yet to try

• pork - boil for 1 hour, remove water add new water , continue to boil
• 2 tomatoes, green , red
• tiny amount of ginger
• 1 onion
• 1.5 lemon 
• 2 tsp salt
• eddo
• veg

can use tamarin paste, not the sweet kind. or rubarb

Mucho hombre!

Talking to a patient of mine this morning about traveling.

She said that she always gets nervous when she doesn't know the language.

I guess I've been pretty lucky for the most part... Either they speak English as a second language or I have a friend with me that speaks the language or a guide that speaks it.

I told her the only time I really noticed it was my time in Guatemala.

After our volcano hike tour they dropped us off at a spa. My friend went to her massage and I was to do a water circuit .

That day wasn't too busy except for a group of about 10 Guatemalan men. (Men at a spa, ha I know what you are thinking). 

I was trying to tell the lady at the towel counter to change the time of my circuit because I didn't feel comfortable with the group.

When she stared at me with a blank look on her face was the only time the language barrier on my trips hit me.

It really forced me to find the words (my Spanish book was in the locker).

Mucho hombres

....Is all I remember saying, then shaking my head and pointing to the top of my wrist (I take it to be the universal sign for Time -apparently she didn't wear a wrist watch, another blank look (kids these days) so I pointed to the clock on the wall)

I got through it and the lady and I had a mutual understanding laugh. 

You would think, in other circumstances, mucho hombres would be quite welcome!

Apparently I chatted it up with a cute one who spoke perfect English (he went to school in the states), they were a bunch of teachers enjoying their day off.

Dress up

I have not worn a dress in a long while. 

Time is passing and I need to get all prettied up.

Wearing scrubs all day takes its toll on my confidence.

Not to mention I haven't slept much lately. 4-5 hrs of sleep ? And restless? Not good. I'm aging at an alarming rate because of it.

My eyes are burning and sore and I have a steady full headache behind my temples. Joy Joy.

So I went online to get inspired by dresses ... Looked on H &Ms website.

Really? Did I miss something? 

When did floor length curtains become a thing with dresses ? 

Hideous ! 

Yes!

"What would you wish for, if you knew the answer was YES!"

This quote makes me happy. 

Protect me.

"That's what you do when you love someone, you protect them." - Caleb, Quantico. 

F U Mr. Shui, f.u.

Dear Mr. Feng Shui,

Everything in my condo is in pairs.....

Except for me.

You got some explaining to do....

Sincerely,

Me.