Zucchini R Us

For the second year in a row, our garden is growing really well! We have three kinds of potatoes, two kinds of beets, beans, carrots, radishes, herbs and, of course, zucchini. Gardening experts recommend thinning out your zucchini plants to three. However, four of the seedlings were doing so well that I kept them all. As you can imagine, My garden looks beautiful with all the big green plants and the orange-yellow flowers that adorn the flourishing zucchini plants.

Today, one of the zucchinis was getting so big that I figured that I had better pick it. So using about one-eighth of the zucchini I was able to grate the required two cups for for a new recipe - Zucchini Brownies.

I see many zucchini recipes in the future - zucchini Parmesan, sauteed zucchini, almond zucchini cake, chocolate zucchini cake, zucchini loaf, orange zucchini bread, orange chocolate zucchini cake, zucchini muffins, etc., etc. I am hoping to make many friends and neighbours beneficiaries of my bountiful zucchini plants. Some may receive baked goods while others will have the opportunity to have whole zucchini's of their own.

Be sure to check back for a selection of the best of the recipes!

My Life as a Model

Today, for the second time in my life, I had the opportunity to participate in a photo shoot. Oh yes, I was a model. I had a coyote pelt wrapped around my shoulder, stood in a teepee and examined some beautiful handcrafts. I smiled ever so slightly, pretended not to see the camera and tucked my hair behind my ears so they could see my face better. I am a star.

Ghosts of Roommates Past

Tonight, my wonderful hubby and I had a chance to go out for dinner to celebrate the birthday of one of my fabulous former roommates. I haven't seen this girl in years but when we met with a bear hug it was as if the time passed was nothing. I was reminded of how much I totally loved living with this girl. She was so kind and fun with a ready smile and laugh - the kind of person who always made you feel good about yourself.

That got me thinking about the places I've lived and the roommates I've had. From the time I moved to Alberta in 1998 until we got married in 2006 I lived in seven places - apartments, townhouses, houses and even a summer in a mobile home! Between those seven places I had over 20 roommates. Lest you think that I was so difficult to live with that I drove them all away, let me explain that some of the places were shared with two, three, four or five roommates. Six girls, four bedrooms and two bathrooms is not always fun! However, rent and less than $150 a month was a pretty good thing for a student : )

Some roommates I lived with for as little as a couple of months and others were roommates for years. Some people I lived with more than once and at different times in different places.

As I think about those years, there were definitely some very fun times! I really enjoyed almost all of the roommates I had and am still friends with the majority of them : )

I learned so much from my roommates and I love all of the memories. All the same, I'm glad to have a permanent roommate now.

To all of you former roommates that read this - I love you! Feel free to share your memories (but only if they make me look good!)

Good Friends (warning: mushy thoughts below)

Sometimes people close to you just know when you need a phone call, e-mail or hug. And sometimes the don't : ) It doesn't seem to matter if you see them every day, every year or even less.

I am blessed to have good friends - when we are together we can laugh, joke, rant, and talk about the important and not so important things. Some are friends for sharing stories, discussing politics or religion, trading books, learing new recipes or share dessert. I love that I have friends who are a lot like me and friends who are very different from me. I learn from them all and I think they help me to be a better, smarter, kinder, more talented, well-rounded etc. person.

Mostly, it is great to know that my friends will read these somewhat cheesy words and will try not to tease me too much about it.

Becoming Smart...at home

We have apparently reached the stage in our lives where we have become consumed by home renovations. It's all we think about, it's all we talk about and it seems to be where we spend all of our money.

Hours upon hours are spent choosing paint colours, looking at carpet samples, and considering all of the toilet options. I think that all of our date nights in the past couple of months have been to home improvement stores. Oh yes, we make get around - Totem, Rona, Home Depot - we equally share our time and money : )

At any rate, we are finishing the basement and doing minor renos to the main floor of the house. All of the credit has to go to my wonderful hubby who seems to be able to do anything. As for me, I pick the colours.