Friday Easter Dinner...

another part of recreating Easter with my substitute family was having an Easter dinner...which was quite a lot of fun, despite the fact that we waited over an hour for the ham to actually be done (note to self: DO NOT trust the package instructions, and next time, factor in some extra time).

here's the guys peeling carrots & potatoes...(yes, that is a chess board between them, they were doing that at the same time)

since us "newly weds" had never made a ham before, we asked Henry to do the honors and carve the meat...

here's some evidence of the amazing table we set:

(aka: tischbild)

easter eggs!

Well, Easter is one of my favorite times with family, but since we stayed in Manitoba this year, I decided that I could still have fun at Easter and do it with substitute family. So, Jen & I dyed Easter eggs! It was a lot of fun even though we didn't actually coordinate a hunt. Actually it was slightly distasterous, since I dumped over the purple dye and it poured into my lap. Everything came out clean in the wash thankfully!

melting...

Well, I got my dreaded Corp Fi exam back today, and of course my exam was at the bottom of the stack, so I had a whole slew of butterflies in my stomach by the time I finally got it. Anyway, the class average was 52%, and I got 71%! I am quite happy with that mark, especially considering I didn't have time to finish the exam, and simply colored in random bubbles for about 10 multiple choice questions.
I've only got 4 and a half weeks left of classes! I can't hardly believe I've completed another year of school. It really feels like spring around here, lots of snow melting and sunshine. It's pretty nice, accept that there's so many puddles everywhere. I was going to walk home from the post office yesterday, but thought the better of it as I watched walls of water shower over the side walks from passing cars. I look forward to getting out and walking soon though. I might even walk to school, it should take about 30 minutes to do that.
Life is pretty uneventful these days, so I don't have much to tell you, I'll share our plans for the summer months with you later, when they are a little more finalized. Michael and I did go to a concert (as part of my Music class), it was incredible. check out the website of this group, called the Montreal Guitar Trio: http://www.trioguitaresmontreal.com/en/news.php
We got our computer fixed (thanks Ray!) and I managed to get the Festival pictures off before we reformatted, so I'll share them with you now...

Some pretty detailed snow carvings...

If you had the cash, you could pay for an
overnight stay in an igloo!

Who knew that yerba would ever become a money maker?

We didn't quite fit...

love/hate relationship with my computer...

Sorry there isn't more pictures. I didn't take the time to load them right away, and now my computer is dead (at first it wouldn't even stay on, now it's on, but it won't do anything!) and I have to wait to get the pictures from my Dad again, since I lost the files on my computer. (grrr) So, more pictures another time, and hopefully another post too. The past two weeks, since the Festival have been really crazy, I had a very aggravating group project, and the scary CorpFi midterm (the one where the class average is usually around 40%). From now until the end of the term should be a little more sane, so once I get the computer back I'll try to let you know of anything new that's going on out here in the 'Peg. Actually before I sign off, one thing. We've had some wonderful mild weather, around the -5 to 0 degrees range for a couple of weeks. Well, this morning is was -25 and -40 with the wind chill. Yikes! The even more disturbing thing about it is that it's super sunny and the birds are chirping, so it sounds and feels like spring (because I'm either squinting or wearing sunglasses), but it's still bitterly cold! The weather out here sure plays games with one's mind!

birthday boy!

ran into this picturess and thought I would add them in...

that was my first ever banana cream pie, that I made for Stuart's birthday!

Festival du Voyageur

At the entrance of the Festival du Voyageur

Well, reading week ended with hanging out at the Festival du Voyaguer with my Dad. Not that you'll see a picture of him, because he is of course behind the camera. It turns out that -10 which seemed to balmy when I waited for the bus, feels much colder when you spend several hours in it, but we did have fun.
I thought I'd also inform you of what did and didn't get done from the long to do list for the break. I made jam (strawberry, blackberry & apricot), and I made buns ( a lot of them, I gave some away). I also managed to get income tax papers in order, only to discover that I am still missing some receipts, sigh. And that's all I got done. I did do some homework, but avoided the stuff I really should have been working on, Corporate Finance.

i'm a softie...

Well...I decided to give in because it was really really cold and Michael doesn't have anywhere warm outside to sort lights (and it's been around 30 below for several weeks), and they are full of pine needles, not something I wanted to have him do inside. I haven't actually set a new date, but if this mild weather keeps up then I don't think I'll give too long of an extension, maybe 2 weeks (only because there are things on the "honey-do" list for him this weekend). So, there you have it, I'm a softie--but not forever. Hope I haven't disappointed any of you, thanks for your input!

learning to cut hair...

Hey, just thought I'd share this picture with you. Michael bought clippers a while ago, and our friend Wendy (who has her own salon) came over to teach me how to use them. Since then, this is the second unsupervised haircut. The first one things got a little tense, I used the wrong guard, so Michael's hair was shorter than planned. This time I used the right guard, and I managed to not have any very obvious holes. Now I just have to figure out how to get his bangs done right!

too soft...

Hi! I need your help with something. Michael had almost forgotten about the lights deadline, but he was reminded in an email we got from a friend, who commented about the lights. Anyway, he asked me for an extension because it's been so cold, too cold to be outside sorting them out (it has been around -30 before windchill for a couple of week, with wind it's dropped as low as -45). Our garage is not insulated, so it's just as cold in there as it is outside (I store my baking in there to keep it frozen). What do you think? Do I give him an extension or not? :) Post a comment, tell us what you think!

reading week...

Hey folks! I am finally taking a little break from the strictly scheduled hours of student life. I just finished baking cookies, which is something I do for fun & relaxation (hard for some of you to imagine, I know). Anyway, cookies are done (and I'm quite proud of myself for only eating one warm fresh cookie) and the kitchen is cleaned up. I have all of next week off from school, good old reading week! (they should really do this in the fall term too, but apparently we have too many long weekends in the fall) I have a lot of grand plans, so I'll list them for you: bake buns & maybe bread, make strawberry & blackberry jam (have had berries in freezer since before the move), make another kind of cookie (I always have this goal to have several kinds in the freezer at once, but it never happens, I like to do short stints of baking, so I only make one kind at a time, and when I get around to doing it again, the other ones are usually gone), make a couple of cards for occasions I know are coming up, write a couple of letters, get income tax papers together, tackle a couple of boxes or organize one of the hall closets--do some kind of organizing or unpacking project. I think the I'll start with putting up the wall sconces and shelves I got for Christmas, unpack all our books and actually fill bookshelf with things that belong there. Does that sound like a long list for one week? Yeah, I think so, especially since I do have some school work to do as well. Anyway, now that I've told you, you have permission to ask me about what I actually accomplish. My dad is coming out at the end of reading week, to hang out for the weekend. We don't even have any home reno projects for him to help with this time, so we're actually going to do fun stuff, check out Festival du Voyageur. I'll try and make sure that we take pictures!