This Week in Canada...

I appreciate weeks like this one. Not incredibly busy, like September was for us, but enough to do that you feel accomplished.

Monday, Rylan brought home his Interim Progress Report. I think he's pretty proud of his grades so far. He was definitely surprised. He has a B in three subjects: English 10, Health and Fitness  - which is a personal fitness/training class. (more about school later ) and a B in Food and Nutrition.  He has a C in Learning Strategies, but mostly because his quiz was taken Monday and didn't go into the grade average. However, these are just progress reports, so we will see how the rest of the semester goes. 

Tuesday, Vince and I had to run to the bank and decided to grab a bite to eat while we were out. In the same plaza as our bank is a Japanese place called Mi-Ne. (check out their Google pictures here!) We walked in, opened the sliding bamboo and paper door, and were surprised to see little private walled booths with sheer curtained doorways along the outer wall and open booths in the center - such oriental charm!  The menu for lunch was huge, and not knowing much of what I was ordering (Kinsman was a bit lacking in the Asian Cuisine department) I decided to stick with a simple maki special, with miso soup and salad, and some tea. It was very good, so fresh, and the portions were very large. (read - awkward to place delicately in my mouth with my clumsy chopstick hands) 

Wednesday, we had Nona over for dinner and Vince made homemade meatballs, with beef, pork and veal. With the delicious meatballs, we had spaghetti squash, pasta, broccoli, and a little vino. (First we make the meatballs - then, we have the wine!)  Ida brought Vince a few jars of sauce with beans in it. It must be pretty delicious, because he hustled them off to the basement fridge, and I'm not even sure what they were!  Whenever Ida visits, we have to have a look at the garden and she takes a handful of parsley and some oregano, a little tomato or so. Mid-October, the garden is a little skimpy, but she did get a nice bunch of parsley, which she said they cook with eggs and make a parsley frittata. (The car smelled wonderful when we took her home that evening.)

Thursday, Henry went to the groomer. Canada agrees with Henry. There is always someone home and if not, there's another dog to keep him company. He seems pretty happy with the companionship and a yard to run in. Consequently, he seems healthier. He used to chew the fur on his legs. I always thought it was an allergy, but since he's been here, his fur has filled in (and his tummy size) and it got to the point where he needed a brush and trim. He loved it.  After we picked him up, it was so nice outside, I took a long lunch and helped Vince in the yard. We have been trimming trees and cleaning up the lawn, prepping for winter.  It felt so nice to be outside doing gardening "stuff". Living in a rented  townhouse and apartment, I really missed having a yard and gardening things to do. I gave myself a blister trimming branches, but it didn't matter. Beautiful day!


Tonight, I've got a pot of Mom's Vegetable Beef Soup simmering, and Gabe made some fresh bread before heading off to work in the bakery at Walmart. The guys have a PA day (a day off for students) so Rylan and Quin have been gaming all day. Tomorrow, we have a bit of a construction project going on. Adding a loft space to the garage for storage. I'm going to try and empty a few more boxes and get my dishes out of storage. What do you have planned?

Talk soon,

Jennifer