Happy Heritage Day!!

As mentioned in this post from a year ago, I love the Heritage Day Holiday Weekend!  In its honour this year, I celebrated in the following ways:

-- Hosted the annual church ladies' backyard potluck supper, where I forced them to not only bring a dish from their heritage (or some other fun nationality), but also to have their picture taken wearing hats from other countries.

-- went crazy experimenting with several different recipes for said potluck.

-- attended the Heritage Day Festival with Son 1A, where we used up every last food ticket we had tasting samples from around the world.

-- served a Sunday dinner including dishes from eight different countries.  Admittedly, some of those dishes were small servings of leftovers from my earlier experiments.

And before I sign off, here's one last thing I'd like to do in honour of the Heritage Day Holiday:

--put together an international food quiz for anyone who might happen to read this post. (Which I realize might not be anyone, as it's been soooooooo long since I've lasted posted.)


DIRECTIONS:

Give yourself one point if you can name the dish.
Give yourself one point if you can name the country/area where this dish originated.
There is a possible 24 points.
Answers available at end of quiz.

Hope you got a high score!

Dixie

P.S.  After re-reading this post, I realize that it seems like I only love this holiday for the food.  That's not true.  I love the people.  I love the cultural performances.  But ....... okay, yes ....... I really do love the food!

Cat Got Your Tongue? And Your Last Nerve?

I'm currently not on speaking terms with cats.

Truth be told, cats and I have never really cared for one another.  But until recently we just stayed out of each other's way, and things were fine.  Things are different now.

Now it's all out war!



A few months ago Son #1B and his sweet wife purchased their first home.  When they made the offer to purchase, the house had that definite "new-carpet smell".   Their realtor pointed out that it looked like the sellers had also given it a fresh coat of paint.  It would be move-in ready -- just what they wanted.

By the time they took possession a month later, the new-carpet smell had worn off, and the stench of cat urine permeated the air.



For the first month, they worked hard washing and scrubbing with everything the internet promised would work.  No luck.

When the temperatures rose in the summer, so did the level of stench!  When the temperatures cooled off in the Fall, the furnace vents blew stinky cat air into every room of the house.

Stubborn Odors.  Stubborn Cats.  It's as if the cats stay up nights trying to discover new places to mark their territory.



The Mr. and I have travelled down to help out a few times.  It's been over four months, and it seems like all of us have done everything we possibly can to eliminate the smell.

--Linoleum washing with Nature's Miracle
--Wall washing with Nature's Miracle
--Wall washing with bleach
--Wall washing with vinegar
--Professional duct cleaning
--Professional fogging treatment for vents
--New sub floor in living room
--Steam cleaning of all carpets
--Professional chlorine gas bomb
--"Sealing" paint on cement floors
--"Sealing" paint on sub floors
--"Sealing" paint on several walls
--"Sealing" paint on wooden shelves
--"Sealing" paint in closets
--New drywall in worst areas
--Vacuuming of vents
--"Sealing" paint around vent openings
--Removal of non-essential wood and drywall
--Partial removal of stairs
--Removal of urine-soaked old carpet under stairs
--"Sealing" paint under stairs
--Re-building stairs
--Opening up of furnace ducts to clean out
--Opening up of cold-air return
--New furnace filter
--Ozone generators
--Activated charcoal
--And a myriad of essential oil diffusers

I've learned some new handyman skills, like how to lay sub floor, how to install drywall, figuring out the workings of furnace vents and ducts, and what a cold air return does.

And speaking of cold air returns, this is what we found when we opened it up:



Are you kidding me?  How can those items even fit through the slats of the cold air vent?  I wondered what kind of people had previously owned this home.  (I also wondered what would be found inside my cold air return.  haha)

But I digress -- back to the cats.  I wondered how a pet owner could tolerate their cats urinating wherever they felt like it inside their home.  Do they become so used to the smell that they don't notice it?  Or are they just as unhealthy as their cats?

A quick internet search proved to me that apparently cats really do conjure up different ways to torment their humans.







Okay, this last picture makes me re-think blaming the humans for the mountainous heap of junk in the cold air return.

Anyway, the good news is that the smell is finally getting under control.  YAY!!

Dixie

The first weekend in August -- at least in this part of the world -- recognizes one of my favorite holidays:  Heritage Day.

I love going to the Heritage Festival!

I love packing up grocery items to donate to the food bank.

I love riding the shuttle with other suburbanites into the city.

I love watching multi-cultural performances.

I love sampling as many ethnic foods as my ticket purchases will allow.

I love talking with people from so many different countries.

I love walking around the huge green space in nice weather.

I have even learned to love the sudden thunder showers that force everyone to run for cover in the nearest pavilion and squeeze tightly together with complete strangers.

And I love that my family are good sports and willing to take ridiculous pictures with me!

Dixie

Alphabetically Speaking....

So, I've been slacking in the blogging department.  And I'm not happy about it, but what can I say?

A  lot has been going on these past few months.
Because I've been involved in a few extra things.
Costumes have taken up a lot of my time:
Designing costumes from scratch,
Embellishing costumes I already had, and
Finding new costumes at second-hand stores.
Gardening -- or at least trying to keep my garden alive!
Healthy -- trying to eat less and move more.
Ignoring Facebook.  
Jack-in-the-box.  (Had to make two of them for Showbiz Kids.)
Kissing.  (Trying to pay a little more attention to The Mr.)
Live plays -- one of my favourite things to do!
Meetings for Trek and "The Berlin Candy Bomber" play.
Noticing.  (Trying to be more observant to the needs of others.)
On-line searches for crafts, props, costumes, clip art, gifts, games...
Pioneer plans for Trek -- games, vignettes, dances, music, firesides.
Quiet times -- asking and listening for God's direction each morning.
Reunion planning.  One for The Mr.'s parents, and one for us. 
Square Dance Caller -- finally found an available one for Trek!
Travelling away with The Mr. to some of his church assignments.
Uncles and Aunts.  (The Mr. and I have travelled to four funerals.)
Value Village -- searching for costumes is now the new normal.
Washing dishes by hand.  (The dishwasher is ridiculous!)
Xeroxing a lot of scripts, minutes, agendas
Yard Sales -- looking for "pioneery" items for Trek.
Zzzz -- always wishing I could get more sleep!

Dixie

Uncle Jim and Longing for Home

On Monday morning I received a phone call from my sister-in-law asking me if I was coming to Uncle Jim's funeral the next day.  What?!!?  I didn't even know he had died.  How could I not know this?  My brother, who keeps me informed of anyone from my home town who passes away -- even people I've never heard of -- neglected to mention that my own uncle had died several days earlier!

As the only remaining member of my dad's family, I knew I wanted to attend his funeral.  A couple of hours later, after a last-minute oil change, and a quick stuffing of things into an overnight bag, I found myself on the road making the six-hour trip to my home town.

My Uncle Jim had not been well for the past several years, so his passing was not only expected, but I suppose could be considered "a blessing".  Because of this I wasn't really expecting to shed any tears as I entered the church building where his funeral was taking place.  WRONG!!  The minute I saw the printed program, I was in trouble.  The tears started flowing, and they wouldn't stop for the next several hours.

The youthful picture of Uncle Jim on the program was immediately recognizable.  It was the same picture that hung on the wall above the piano at my grandmother's house for as long as I can remember.  Uncle Jim was in the middle, my dad was on the left, and Uncle Bryce was on the right.  I always loved those three pictures.

The table on one side of the guest registry displayed a few items that symbolized things that were important to him.  As I looked at those items, I was reminded of my dad and my grandparents.  More tears!

On the other side of the guest registry was a tv playing a slide show of pictures from Uncle Jim's past.  My own family -- in our growing-up years -- were featured in some of these pictures.  Again with the tears!  When my sister-in-law found me, I think she was surprised to see me in tears.  I explained to her that all the pictures and mementos were making me nostalgic, and I guess I was homesick for my past.  Apparently far more homesick than I realized.

My dad died about 35 years ago, and my mom has been gone for over six.  I haven't lived in my hometown for over 38 years, and it's been 40 years since I last stepped foot in my grandparent's home.  It would only make sense that I would be homesick, right?

As I stood in line to enter the room where people were meeting with the family, I noticed a few familiar faces of townsfolk from when I was a girl.  These faces were now attached to aged and frail bodies.  It brought on other memories of growing up.

When I entered the room to meet with my aunt and my cousins, I felt my eyes stinging again.  Several of these cousins had moved far away, and I hadn't seen them for many, many years.  We hugged and talked and hugged some more.  It was WONDERFUL to spend time with them!

During the funeral, as the biography of his life was given, I cried a lot more.  I was a little embarrassed, and hoped that no one was noticing how emotional I was.  But I couldn't help it.  As I listened to the eulogy, I felt so close to my past that it just made me cry.  And cry.  And cry.  Who knew after all these years that I would have such a longing for my home and roots?  Who knew I would be so attached to people and things I hadn't even thought about for decades?

This whole situation has given me pause to reflect.  If this short return to my hometown was so awesome, I can only imagine how glorious it will be like to return to my heavenly home!  I'm looking so forward to it.

Although I'm content to wait a few more years!

Dixie

National Popcorn Day

On Friday I read in the paper that it was National Popcorn Day.  This brought the biggest smile to my face, and I knew that I would definitely be celebrating this special day!

I LOVE POPCORN!!!

The Mr. and I were already planning to see a movie that night, so adding popcorn to the mix was an obvious next step.  Except that for us, it really wasn't that obvious.  You see, when we go to the theatre, we have usually just eaten supper, so we try really hard to resist eating more food.

But since it was National Popcorn Day, we decided to forego supper, and eat the popcorn instead.  What a brilliant plan!  It's a win-win:  I don't have to make a meal and I get to eat popcorn.  Why have I never thought of this before???

When I arrived at the theatre I was so excited.  Who knew the promise of theatre popcorn could make the evening out so much more enjoyable?

I chatted with a couple of cute teenagers who were on a date.  They were eating their free popcorn -- provided to everyone with a SCENE card -- in honour of this special day.  They told me they weren't even going to watch a movie, they just came for the free popcorn.  I knew they were kindred spirits!

To make the evening even more perfect, I brought my own milk.  Nothing tastes better to me than popcorn with a glass of milk.  Mmmmmm!

The only downside to the evening was that I forgot to bring a large plastic bag so I could dump the "butter-on-the-top-only" popcorn into the bag and give it a good shake to mix it up.  Oh well, I'll remember it for next time.

Dixie

P.S.  Note to self:  get a SCENE card!

It's In My Calendar

I'm a pretty boring person.  The Mr. is, too, for that matter.

We like routine and order, and we're pretty good at it.  Every Monday night we get out our calendars and make plans for the coming week.  Everything we will be doing is written into the schedule -- in ink.  

It works for us, but I realize that would drive some people crazy.  In fact I believe it drove our two oldest daughters crazy when they were teenagers.  A common conversation on Monday nights back then went something like this:

Daughter #1:  "Oh, come on Mom.  I don't know what I'm going to be doing on the weekend.  Can't we just be like normal teenagers and wait and see when Friday night rolls around?"

Although I can appreciate this line of reasoning, it can sometimes drive me crazy!  For example:

* When I try to schedule an appointment to go visiting teaching, and the woman says, "I don't know if I'm going to be home that day or not.  Call me that morning and I'll let you know."

* When it has been decided within a group of people that we will always get together the 2nd Tuesday of every month, and the day before one person says, "Oh sorry, I didn't know we were having it that day.  Can we change it to another day instead?"

* When I'm in charge of something that involves the co-operation of a lot of people, and I painstakingly make sure that everyone knows all the details and what is expected of them, and near the crunch day someone says, "I didn't bother to write it down so I didn't know."

Ugh!!

Daughter #2 recently described me as "mentally committed".  I realize that almost sounds like I should be living in an insane asylum, but what she meant is that once I've committed to something, I will always remember it, and base my other plans around it.

I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

Except when it comes to spontaneity.

Recently we took a trip to attend our niece's wedding festivities (which we, of course, had listed on our calendar months in advance.)  We were given last-minute instructions for a change to our arrival time, which left us with a few hours to kill.  After a short discussion we decided to go to the mall and begin our Christmas shopping.

When we arrived at the mall, however, the parking lot was full, so we ended up parking near an entryway at the back that we didn't even know about.  When we walked in the door, we were surprised to discover that there was a movie theatre there.  But what was even more surprising was that we decided -- on a whim -- to take in a matinee.

We have never done that before!!  It was exhilarating!!

I could hardly stop thinking about the fact that we had done something spontaneous.  It was great!  I decided that I need to do that more often.

It's now on my calendar to be spontaneous.

Every 1st and 3rd Thursday.

Between 1 and 3 pm.

Dixie