by Tish MacWebber | Aug 13, 2017 | Weekend Warrior
Here comes another weekend. I am relaxing with a bottle of wine on this fine Friday night. It is well deserved and has been in the wine rack for a while. I kept it so that when I wanted to indulge, I would enjoy it. I have, indeed.
What else did I do? I started an Orphan Black Marathon of season 5. It is the last season, and it ends tomorrow night. Oh, how bittersweet it will be.
Saturday will be a full on, all out Bouncing the House day. I need to get some cleaning done, and except for the washing of my delicates tonight while I enjoy the wine, I am falling behind in the housekeeping department, and I need to give it some TLC. My husband will be drafted with a “Honey do list”, and we will get some work done here tomorrow. Update: I am visiting a friend on Saturday, and I caught up with another friend while running an errand.
Sunday involves a volunteer event. I am working with the Boston Terrier Rescue Canada group again. I am an official volunteer, and we will have a booth at the Fredericton Pride Parade. I have signed on for the walking time in the parade because if I am going to be there, I want to get some exercise. Walking is good for me. BTRC needs fund raising by people like me to help the non-profit group rescue more dogs in need, foster them, and hopefully place them in homes where they will be adopted.
Volunteers ready to walk in the parade
These t-shirts are hilarious like the bandanas
Flags and phone covers and bling!
Magnets and information about the BTRC Recycling program
Bandanas for the dogs
One of the BTRC bandanas.
The chocolate cupcakes were delicious. They also had popsicles and pup-sicles!
Just like MasterChef! Hands in the air! All done setting up!
Action shot! There were a lot of people out, it was the best turnout ever for Fredericton Pride Parade day!
The Booth is ready for business!
Katie and Sally, all dolled up and riding through the parade in style!
I made it after walking in the parade.
I met some new volunteers today
Face painting success!
As a Catholic who believes in science and that the unexplained mysteries of how science and religion mingle will not be fully explained to me until I reach Heaven (which I sincerely hope to do, but realistically I expect to land in purgatory because nobody is perfect) I try to live my life guided by the church and the bible. That being said, I have spent many years in conflict with myself.
I have come to terms with how I am able to be friends with different people. That is the secret. They aren’t fat or skinny, male or female, black or white, young or old, gay or straight. They are people. And as people, we all have our own belief systems. Mine happens to be based in the Catholic Religion. It teaches us to love one another, and also not to judge. With these simple rules, I leave the rest to God. I am able to be friends with some wonderful, incredible people, and because I do not judge them, I think I am a better person for leaving the judgements aside and letting more friends into my life. Like I said, nobody is perfect, and when it is not up to me, I am free to be true to myself. I am able to open my eyes and see people as they are, people. Like me.
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Lynn showing her t-shirt and flag she wore for the parade
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Truck for the parade
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Ambulance for the parade
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After the Parade, before the Thunderstorms
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They must be at the start!
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People in the parade
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Fire in the parade
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People in the parade
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Matty & Me
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BTRC Group!
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BTRC group!
I don’t usually write about my faith and religion. I am not attempting to erase the past wrongs done by the Church, or by other Catholics. I am only responsible for myself and my own actions. I do try to be a good person, and live my life by example, with the 10 Commandments as my guide. When I think about the state of the world today, I feel concerned. I am not confident that humankind will survive the future of what might be. I decided to write about it because change is possible. It starts with one person. I am putting this out there and making it known that I do not tolerate evil, no matter what form it takes. Hatred is evil, and there is no room in my life for it. If I had my way, there would be no room in the Universe for it.
The weather is iffy for tomorrow. There is a chance it will rain, and maybe there will be thundershowers. Not the best forecast for a parade. It will happen, rain or shine. I will try to dress for any weather (that will be challenging) and my sneakers are the best I’ve got for walking. I am thinking about wearing something fun, in support of my friends. I don’t have a costume, like some people, but then I am an ally. It’s not about me. It’s about allowing people to be true to themselves and to celebrate their acceptance of themselves and each other. Together. The way people are supposed to be. United in a common cause and belief, in a peaceful celebration. I hope it does not rain on the parade.
It poured! There was a thunderstorm indeed, complete with rolling thunder and lightning. This happened after the parade, though. People packed up as quickly as they could and ran for cover. Imagine it, if you will. I went to the Fredericton Pride Parade, and I left all wet! A little (or a lot of) rain never hurt anyone.
Laughing in the rain!
YES!
Before heading home, we stopped at the Tiki Iced Tea Bar. Yes, it was shaken, not stirred, and wonderful!
The city has implemented a rainbow crosswalk downtown. I think it is nice, and living in such a diverse city, and country, it fits in very well.
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The rainbow crosswalk
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The other end of the rainbow crosswalk
Feeling the love after the rain at Fredericton Pride Parade, 2017
That’s a wrap for another weekend! I won today, but the house did not get bounced properly. I will say the weekend won Saturday, even though I still had a great time meeting up with friends, I did not accomplish what I set out to do. This weekend, it was a draw. What did you do this weekend?
by Tish MacWebber | Jul 30, 2017 | Weekend Warrior
Oh my goodness! I am busy, busy, busy this weekend! It is great to have things to do, but again there are too many choices to do EVERYTHING I want to do. As a result, I have been able to do some things, and I will write about that.
Friday night right after work I had to get groceries for the house and a party I was invited to on Saturday. There was a potluck, and I like cooking. My friend was having a party at her house, and so the first thing on my to do list Saturday morning was to get the chocolate macaroons aka frogs aka mud pies aka haystacks made and in the fridge to set. I have finally mastered making them with cashew milk. At least I hope it wasn’t a fluke. I also used butter, white and brown sugar, vanilla, cocoa, oats and unsweetened coconut. Other times I have made double batches, and they never set properly. They stayed gooey and had to be licked off the wax paper as they wouldn’t come off cleanly. Still delicious, but messy. Sometimes I goof up on the timing and end up making chocolate granola. But the ones I made yesterday had that perfect consistency, they were slightly granular, just past the gooey stage, but not dry or crumbly. I am quite proud that they turned out so well.
As soon as I had them in the fridge I took the chicken I was marinating in Kraft Greek Feta and Oregano dressing. Yes, I was going to be at a BBQ, but I wanted MY prep work to be as close to finished as possible. I then popped to the store for a last minute beverage run. I had bought myself some rum and key limes but needed the mix. I got some Zevia Cola to mix, and some Gatorade G2. (That is my anti-hangover trick these days, and it seems to work really well!) I needed more coffee, so I decided to grab two of my favourites, Folgers Black Silk and Kahlua flavoured coffee. I tried the Folgers Intensely Dark, as it comes in the larger boxes, but it doesn’t compare to the Black Silk. So I had to buy 2 smaller boxes, at least they were on sale.
Rushed home to keep cooking. I made the biggest batch of Greek Pasta salad I have ever made, as the hubby was wanting some for home too. That was to go with the chicken that was in the oven. While I was boiling the pasta, I picked up small pasta shells on Friday night, I started cooking the ground beef to prep for the hot nacho sauce. It is hot off the stove hot, not spicy hot, and goes so well with nacho chips. This recipe can be made with soy ground meat replacement for vegetarians. I packed the rest of the ingredients, and the pot to cook it in. At this point, my host was starting to get ready to pick me and another friend up to go to the party. That was AMAZING! I had enough time to get everything done and packed before he was here.
We had a wonderful time. We had food, snacks, drinks, music blasting, we played Backyard Yahtzee and had a BBQ. I am a little sore from the 2.5 games of Backyard Yahtzee.
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Action shot!
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I got Yahtzee!
We did have to call interference a few times. My friends have dogs, and one of them would steal a wooden die every so often. We’d get it back, and allow re-rolls if needed.
When it was time for cake, we surprised the birthday girl with a minions ice cream cake. She didn’t even know we snuck it in earlier at the start of the party. She got some presents, and cards, and it was a nice time. For those of us that stayed after dark, our host made a nice fire in the back yard fire pit. We gathered around it and just enjoyed the quiet, watching the flames and the fireflies.
Today started off with a little slower pace. I went to an afternoon matinee with a friend. I am now finishing this story, in the company of another blogger, we are visiting and writing at the same time. I am going to be visiting another friend after supper. In the meantime, there are dishes and laundry to be caught up on. This has been another busy weekend, and from where I sit now, I think I won this round! What did you do this weekend?
by Tish MacWebber | Mar 25, 2017 | Weekend Warrior
Well, look at that. I made it to another weekend. It is unplanned, as of yet, and that could be dangerous. In terms of making the most of my weekend off, that is.
Looking around, I can get overwhelmed at the amount of work I still need to do. But just looking at it won’t fix that.
So I have to make a list. It will be for both days, as I never seem to finish the list I make in one day, so I’ll be realistic. Then I will pick some small things to get me going. It is motivating to cross things off of the list.
Eggs and Avs (THM) A nice filling breakfast. I love poached eggs, but you can fry them if you prefer. I love this quick, healthy breakfast on weekends.
We do have to run errands today. So I’ve filled the Overthinkin and Coffee Drinkin mug to sip my coffee while I Brunch and write. Tomorrow I’ll need to prep cook, and my husband doesn’t know it yet, but there is a package of bacon for tomorrow’s breakfast. He wouldn’t eat this with me, but he loves bacon and eggs.
I am still struggling with the cleaning challenge. I feel like this weekend might be when I get back on track. I set the goals at the start of the year, and I intend to keep them. But where to begin? I am overwhelmed by a number of things to do on an exponentially growing to do list and underwhelmed with the energy to attack it. How do I fight my way to doing instead of dreading?
The lists and music are the answer. Even if I take an hour to make the list, it is a start. Do I write down everything, share it with my husband, and tackle it with him? Will we bicker if we tackle the same thing together? Sometimes that happens. If we are both working in the kitchen, there is not a lot of space when we are doing the dishes. My kitchen is deceptive. It looks spacious but has very little cupboard space. I have had to be creative in what I have and where I store things. I have a bookcase, an open pantry, and a large standing shelf with a door on it.
This is the final result of the only thing I really accomplished in the first year I joined the Cleaning Challenge. I need to tidy it up this year, but for the most part, it is still in good shape, and just needs a good dusting job. It is my Open Shelf Pantry.
We have often talked about how to get more efficient storage in the kitchen. We are planning to get some furniture “someday” at Ikea. It will be mostly to set up the living room, but the kitchen will get a boost too. It will happen, it is hard sometimes to make do and stay motivated, but it is what it is.
This afternoon we went to get our taxes finished up. Done for another year. We then made an afternoon trip of going to two local SPCA animal shelters. We are starting to think about getting our first dog, and saw a lot of cats too. We will get another cat too, someday, but we needed a break, after having been a cat only home for so long.
This evening we went to visit some friends. It was nice to get out and socialize as a couple with another couple that we are friends with, but haven’t been to visit in quite some time.
Another productive day outside of the house. I will have to work really hard tomorrow to catch up. It can be done. It will be done. It has to. I hope the energy is still with me tomorrow. The house needs a bouncing!
