The *New and Improved* Taco!

Remember back in February I told you we had a dog trainer for Taco? You can find a blurb about it here.

Well I am happy to say that a few months later, after a few training sessions with Grasshopper Dog Training, Taco is no longer pulling on leash and is coming back to us when we call him! We also have a ton of information on how to prepare ourselves and Taco for baby. I absolutely LOVED our trainer's style. What sold me on her first of all was that she had worked in a zoo with wild animals, so I figured she would have no problem with our docile and friendly Taco. Then when we first met her she was very open and shared so many ideas with us. I think my favourite part was that there was always a follow-up on each training session with reminders of games to play with Taco that made it fun for him and for us to practice. Also, her philosophy on dog training about positive reinforcement made the whole experience a very positive one. We would praise Taco when he did things well, and ignore (and/or correct) him when he didn't. If anyone is having a hard time with their dog's behaviour I highly recommend Grasshopper Dog Training! Oh and this is my very sincere opinion, I was not compensated in any way and was not asked to write this review, I'm just really really really happy with the results!

I blame it on the pregnancy/baby

I don't even know which one is more politically correct. I guess blaming things on your unborn child is kind of unfair, since he/she doesn't have any way to speak up and argue. On the other hand, blaming the pregnancy makes it sound like I'm possessed by some odd ailment, well I guess in a way I am... but let's get to it shall we? I went grocery shopping yesterday, as I do every Monday, and this is (among other things) what I came home with:

You need to know a few things in order for this to make more sense. We had four buckets of Hagen Daaz ice cream from last week, so it wasn't all purchased yesterday (but really, why did I feel like I absolutely needed two more? They were on sale, but still...). Now, most importantly, I am not a sweet tooth. Whenever I snack, I have chips, Cheetos or popcorn (popcorn is my all-time favourite). When was the last time I ate popcorn? I can't even remember! That's how long it's been. This is why I'm blaming this on the baby. Why else would I be craving sweets so badly that I feel the need to buy three boxes of cookies and have six buckets of ice cream on hand? I'll be going for my gestational diabetes exam in a few weeks... if I keep this up I don't know if I will be more or less at risk!

Weekend in Belleville

We set out on Friday night around 5:30pm and were making good time, but there was a HUGE crash on the 401 that delayed us so we arrived late (at about 10:30pm). Friday night we chatted a little and head to bed.

Saturday morning, I was greeted by beautiful LJ who is now 2 years old! She is such a sweet toddler who showed me all of her toys and even shared some with me! She also sings and dances just like her mother! We went for lunch at a cute little French style café and had amazing food. I ordered a ham and cheese quiche, chocolate croissant and a decaf latte while my husband had a chicken salad sandwich and chocolate tartlet. Everything was delicious!

Back home we watched the World's Figure Skating championship and went for a walk around the neighbourhood. We had a scrumptious Mexican-style lasagna for dinner, which we ate in the beautifully decorated dining room. Later on we watched Life of Pi, which I really enjoyed. I couldn't get past the second chapter of the book, but I think it was because the events in the book weren't in chronological order and I found it too confusing. The movie was beautifully done.

On Sunday we went to church to see A's father sing with his band. The same band had played at their wedding and I even recognized a few songs! It was a beautiful service and it was nice to see A's parents again! We headed home right after that. It was a short and sweet trip, but oh so nice to see dear friends again!

Friend visit

My friend C came to Montreal for a visit this week. It was great, and what made it that much more special was that we hadn't seen each other since we were both teaching in Puebla, Mexico three years ago, so we had a lot to catch up on!

Monday morning I went to pick her up at the bus station (which is newly renovated and very nice) and we had a coffee there at the Presse Café. After a stop of at home to drop off her bags and for her to have a shower (her bus had been delayed so she spend a long night, part of which was slept on a floor!), we went to L'Anecdote, which I have just discovered recently. It is a cute little diner near the community centre where I volunteer teach English to immigrants once a week. She had her first real poutine and enjoyed it, actually her exact words were, "It's fries, gravy and cheese... what's not to like?". We then walked down Saint Denis street, across the Carré Saint Louis (which they are renovating) and along Prince Arthur. We continued on Saint Laurent all the way down past ChinaTown to the Old Port. After all of that walking, our feet were sore and our bodies cold, so we stopped at Tim Hortons where I introduced C to the wonder that is the 'Roll up the rim to win' contest. Unfortunately we did not win anything, though I have to mention I have won a free doughnut and a free coffee this year! We walked down through Place Jacques Quartier to the water and watched the big ice sheets go by. C was impressed because she had never seen frozen rivers before (she's from Texas).

We then went home, go the dog and walked to the Atwater market. I'm just realizing now that we did a bunch of walking that day! After that we stayed home and relaxed, though. My husband came home from work and we ate burritos and played the Train game, which Paul won.

Eating our tacos al pastor - picture courtesy of C!

Tuesday we went to the museum of fine arts. I hadn't realized that almost all of it is free! We spent nearly three hours there looking at various expositions from old religious paintings to modern art to Canadian art, it was very interesting! We then headed over to have lunch at La Matraca, which serves authentic tacos al pastor. It was delicious and it was also so great to reminisce about our time in Mexico. We then walked around the McGill campus, the underground mall, and Saint Catherine street towards the Place des Arts, where the festivals happen during the summer.

We got home and took the dog for a short walk around the neighbourhood where I showed C the church I sing at on Sundays. I then had to take off for my Statistics class, but my husband and C had dinner and watched Modern Family.

Overall, I'd say the trip was a huge success. I feel like I was able to show C the highlights of Montreal. The only downside was the temperature wasn't so nice, it was cold and grey. I kept telling her the city changes in the winter and summer. The summer is especially a nice time to come because of all the festivals and activities that happen downtown.

First Family Bike Ride

Yesterday in Montreal it was +6C and sunny, which after a long winter meant people flocked outside to enjoy the sun. We were no different and went on a wonderful bike ride, our first of the year and our first with the dog! We bought Taco a special harness and a special anchor for the bike from http://www.thedogoutdoors.com so he could ride safely and I think he really enjoyed it, but he is seriously tired today!

Cedar River Camp

Ladies and gentlemen, we have found a gem! The cabin we stayed at over the weekend was fabulous in so many ways! It was the perfect half-way point from my sister-in-law's family and our family to meet at, it was beautiful, peaceful, clean, and very luxurious in terms of cabins (remember I am used to staying in cabins with no running water or electricity, so this was like a 5-star hotel to me!).

We both arrived at the same time on Friday night (9pm). The owner came by to make sure everything was OK, and we chatted for a little bit and went to bed pretty early.

Saturday morning we had a great breakfast of eggs, bacon, beans, and toast. We then went for a walk. First we walked to the owner's house (across the road) to borrow a sled and ask if it was safe to walk on the snowmobile path. With a sled in hand and our minds at ease, we started out along the snowmobile path. We used Taco's new harness to have him pull our nephew in the sled! It was really funny to watch them, my nephew especially loved the sled. I was impressed at his enthusiasm when he went really fast down a hill! Lunch was sandwiches and in the afternoon we played Scrabble. I am very sad to say I lost (pretty miserably) and that the two non-native English speakers won the game! We then decided we'd head to the nearest town for mass at 4pm. We all got into the car and... got terribly stuck! It took about an hour, over ten tries, shovels, planks, and a lot of muscles (from very nice snowmobilers who happened to be passing through) to get us out! Needless to say, we didn't make it in time for mass. Instead we drove around for a little bit and took in the beautiful surrounding lakes and mountains. We had burgers for dinner and then played Trivial Pursuit 90s edition, which we thought would be easier than the original, but some of the questions were really obscure!

Sunday we got up, had some healthy granola and packed all of our stuff. We were worried that the second car wouldn't make it up the hill, but it made it no problem - a trusty, rusty, old Toyota! We went to mass and then to lunch at a super cute sandwich shop called Eats and Sweets. We parted ways and went home with some great memories.

Here is some free advertising for the cabin we loved so much: http://www.adkbyowner.com/listings/VR5393.html

And the cutest picture from the trip:

Homemade mayo - NOT!

I realize the title to this blog post is super nineties. I guess kids these days say something else. Anyway, today was the second time I've tried to make homemade mayo and ended up with a gooey mess. My friend and my brother have both showed me how to make it and I follow their instructions step by step, but it just doesn't seem to work out!

The first time I tried, I used extra virgin olive oil. BIG MISTAKE! It tastes horrible! I also made a huge batch that I ended up throwing out, and I don't like being wasteful, so this time around I figured I'd make a smaller amount. Also, since last time I had a lot of liquid, I was able to make it in the blender.

This time around, I started playing the egg yolk in the blender and the liquid went to the bottom so the blender was useless. Then I started adding canola oil and whipping it with a fork, as my brother had showed me. After whipping for about 15 minutes, my arm was tired and my mayo looked like this (right).

I added more oil, kept whipping and then added lemon juice and salt to make it tastier and 10 minutes later ended up with a nice strong right arm, and this (left). I don't know if you can tell here but it is actually runnier than when I started. Urg! So I threw out another batch of mayo and for the moment am returning to store-bought mayo because not only do I prefer the flavour, but the texture as well!




This isn't just a rant though. I will leave you with a few beautiful pictures I took this week, since we got quite a bit of snow!

Here's a better view of the tree I was talking about a few posts ago