Tired both physically and mentally

Well, I was hoping to start up my post without having to complain but this morning dealt me a wonderful little bundle of rejection. It's my first time back at my regular desk in the office in just over a week. I was sitting at my desk, doing some work when one of my co-workers comes in. She's the one who seems to have something up her *ahem* when it comes to me. She comes around the wall (my desk is next to hers), she looks at me and makes this look (tight lipped but more of a "hmm" than a "ugh". I tell her "good morning!" and I get no reply, she doesn't even look at me after I tell her. Lovely! Then, later, she wants to chose a paint colour to go with some sample she has with her. Her friend comes around and sits at her desk, I ask if they're looking to find good matches "yes" so I start to push away from my desk "we're fine, we can do it", "ok then" "thanks". Not even 3 minutes later they were 4 girls looking at the colours and giving their opinions. I still wonder what I ever did for her to treat me like this. Did I somehow shit in her cornflakes not only this morning but every morning? Do I smell bad? I would seriously like to change where my workstation is and am considering perhaps asking if I can work in my studio more often - at least the warehouse people there are a lot nicer.

Ok, enough complaining. I promised recipes! A few weekends ago, I prepared 2 healthy dishes and thought I would share them with you (that means I liked them). I took them from the Oxygen glutes issue.

Tuscan-style tuna salad:
Makes 4 servings
2 x 6oz can chunk light tuna, drained
1 x 15 oz can white beans, rinsed
10 cherry tomatoes, quartered (I used regular tomatoes and cubed them)
4 scallions, chopped
2 tbspn extra virgin olive oil
2 tbspn lemon juice
1/2 tspn salt
black pepper to taste
*please note that I also added some left over coriander I had lying around in the fridge

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate until ready to serve!

I actually really liked this dish! It was amazing! I even gave some to Salem for his lunch and he really liked it too.


Stuffed roasted red pepper
Makes 2 servings
1/2 cup of nonfat or 1% cottage cheese
1/2 tspn minced garlic
8oz poached chicken breast*, chopped
2 whole roasted red peppers, canned or jarred - Please rinse them! I didn't and had to deal with a slightly pickled meal!
*I poached mine in chicken stock and herbs as I felt it would be too plain simply poached in water

1. In a small bowl, combine cottage cheese, garlic and chicken and stir until combined.
2. Distribute cottage cheese mixture inside pepper. You can serve warm (45 seconds in the microwave) or cold.


I also made mahi mahi but I don't have the recipe on me at the moment. It was quite good (my first time making something with this fish) and Salem brought the leftovers with him for lunch the next day. He said it was even very good reheated. :-)

I need to work on some pictures to post up on here. I haven't been at home much for a while and I'm all over the place at the moment. I just want to sleep.

Ramadan Kareem / Mubarak!

Well everyone, I would like to wish all my fellow brothers and sisters Ramadan Kareem! Yes, I know, I am posting a day late, but distraction was the key to getting through day 1 of fasting! I kept myself busy with 4 loads of laundry, praying and then a 2 hour grocery shopping trip with Salem.

Dinner was oh so very yummy!!! We had kibbeh, fatteh, hummus, lentil and bean soup, stuffed zucchini in a yogourt sauce, amareddine and tamarind juice. Later on, we had some apple tea with cinnamon and some nuts.

The weekend was quite crazy. I had supper with Mom on Friday, bought some more scarves and some shoes. I discovered that Commensal is just too expensive for my taste. I've only been twice and sure you get to try new things but it's just too expensive!

Saturday, I mailed out my package to my spoilee and I hope it gets there on time but with the holiday... er... not looking too good. Sorry!

Then off I was to Oka beach with Salem, Lama and Lama's friend Noura. She's a very sweet girl. We enjoyed the water, sand, sun and food. We even stopped off at a roadside stand where I got corn, Lama got berries, caramel and sucre à la crème, Salem got some apples and Noura got drinks for everyone. As if all this wasn't enough, we even went out clubbing at Moomba later on. I only got home at 3:30 am - boy was I pooped!

Sunday was horseback riding with Lama and Noura. Everything was going great until Noura fell off her horse while galloping. She had a pretty bad fall but she's fine (thank God!). Once back in the city, I had a Labour Day barbecue to attend at Aunt Lise's. The food was good as per usual, but with every family reunion, it is more and more apparent that I have next to nothing in common with my family, namely my cousins. It does make me sad in a way, but not sad enough to make me change myself to be closer to them. I'm sorry, but I do not agree with their lifestyles and their decisions. Then again, they probably don't agree with some of my decisions.

I was most dissapointed when my cousin Katie and my godfather (my father's brother) left without saying goodbye to my father, his wife, Salem or me. I feel really bad for my dad. He always calls his brother for his birthday but his brother never calls him for his. Another uncle left without saying hello but chances are he was busy with one of hsi 3 grandkids. At least his wife said bye to everyone. This breaks my heart a bit... a bit for me, but mainly for my dad. :-(

This week will be a longer one... adjusting and all. But so far, so good! :-D Subhanallah!

Of fleece and swaps

Yes, I know, I know, it’s been over a week since I’ve posted. May I offer my sincerest condolences to you in these hard times. How are you dealing? It’s ok, everything will be alllllright.

Alright, lets move on to business!

I’ve had a bit of a busy week, but I’m not complaining about it (well, not at the moment).

Last Wednesday, we had (what I would cosnider) one of the largest knitting meetings I’ve ever been to. Quite strange really. Usually attendance at knitting meets drop off in the summer but for some reason, we ended up being about 15 people in all (they just kept coming!). Basically we took over the whole terrasse at Java U on Monkland (thank you guys for putting up with us – I hope you made out with a lot of cash and tips!). Did I ever mention how much I love the staff over at Java U (on Monkland – I can’t speak for the Westmount staff - YUCKO!). We had a very rowdy time and I only got home at 10:45! Woopsy poopsy!

The weekend was fairly quiet: I made my first ever attempt at strawberry rhubarb pie (2nd attempt at a pie) and strawberry rhubarb compote. SUCCESS! But, next time I will prebake the pie crust for just 5 minutes. Salem liked all my experiments so I sent him home with some things (half the pie and some compote). A big thank you to Tante Lise for helping me out with the strwberry:rhubarb:sugar:water proportions for the compote. MMmmmmm....

Oh, a mini lesson I learned on the weekend and would like to share with everyone: NEVER DRIVE TO OLD MONTREAL ON A FIREWORKS SATURDAY!!! NEVER!!!!! It’s impossible to find parking! I highly suggest you walk, bike or metro it in. I also suggest people try to Core Sundae from Ben & Jerry’s – very sinful and full of calories. Thankfully Salem got it while I got the light fudge brownie making my ass not expand quite as much. Score!

And now, for something completely different: Fleece!
Upon Janet and I’s arrival at Ariadne on Sunday, I found a table covered in, yes, sheered sheeps wool! Oh wow! Also on the table: carding brushes and combs. Well, I spent the next few hours brushing out bit of dirt, grass and countless other things out of the wool, and prepped it to be spun. Yes, I do think I am catching the spinning bug. God help me! I e-mailled Molly-Ann yesterday, asking her when I could set up an appointment (and asking aslew of other questions) to learn how to use the spinning wheel. And the addiction begins!

Of swaps: I have decided to organisea secret pal swap (much like Secret Pal 12) for those of us who missed out on/didn’t know about the swap. It’s for Montreal knitters only and it’s fairly short (only 6 weeks). Just a little something to give us all a little taste of what these swaps are and to enjoy the coming of packages in the mail (yes, finally, something other than bills!). The swap officially starts on Thursday as soon as I send outthe assigned partners and ends in early September. I hope everythign will go swimmingly and that no one will flake out. I must admit, I am getting quite excited! :-D

Henna and Preggo news: I went to my friend Lea’s place last night (my preggo) to do henna on her stomach (my first time). I did have quite a bit of fun and finally got to see what happens when a baby moves around. No, he’s no longer kicking, he is shifting all over the place! So weird but so cool! She’s due in a week and a half but I really hope he comes early for her sake (poor girl feels like the top of her stomach is bruised and he keeps pushing his feet up against her ribs). I must admit, seing all that movement last night (I even taped some on my camera), makes me really look forward to my turn – someday Caroline, someday. God, I’m turning into such a sappy woman!