Thursday, November 28, 2013

Writer's Workshop - Pin It

You saw it on Pinterest ..... does it really work?

Some years ago,
I came across a Swedish pancake
recipe
and it became our Sunday tradition.
Every Sunday,
Ethan and I would make the pancakes together
and he'd slather on the Nutella.

So this past weekend,
our first in our new home,
Ethan wanted pancakes.
Unfortunately,
I didn't have any flour.
Scott suggested I make French Toast.
Ethan was excited about slathering
on the Nutella.
"You can't put Nutella on French Toast!"

And then I remembered seeing
on Pinterest
a peanut butter and jelly stuffed
French Toast.
If you can do PB&J
why not Nutella?

So I looked it up again,
and wouldn't you know it....
there's even a
Nutella Stuffed French Toast
recipe on Pinterest.
And it's super easy!
Even I can make it!!!

How easy you ask?
Well,
make yourself a Nutella sandwich,
or two, or three...

I cut them up into slices.
Grab some eggs, milk, vanilla and a tad sugar
(I used honey).
Whisk it together.
Drench each slice of sandwich
in the egg mixture
and place it on a greased
baking tray.


Bake at 200C for 8 minutes.
Then carefully flip them over
for another 8 minutes.

Enjoy!






Wednesday, November 27, 2013

The Hollow - Nora Roberts

In between moving into our new place,
having a swarm of fundis
(carpenters, plumbers, painters, etc)
fixing things in the house,
unpacking,
studying,
going to the gym,
and
fetching Ethan from school
I've found some time
to read!

The Hollow is the second part of
The Sign of Seven Trilogy.
And while the story continues
with our boys trying to find a way
to beat the Big Evil,
this is Fox and Layla's story.

Layla also possesses the gift 
of seeing the present
and Fox helps her learn to use and control it.
Unlike the men
who were part of this since the beginning
and Quinn and Cybil
who were friends before
Layla is the outsider.
Something brought her there.
She is still unsure of herself
and what the future holds.

I love Fox.
He grew up in a vegan house
hippies and all
but he loves his snacks
and processed food.
He's true.
He's there for everyone.
He puts others first.

Layla...
I don't know.
While she's the outsider 
in this group,
she seems to hold that against Fox.
She can't commit to him,
yet fully commits to other things.

Either way,
book 3 is up next,
and you know I'll be reading it!



Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Champion - Marie Lu

It's the year of trilogies.
And the conclusion of some.
Legend is one of those.
Champion brings the story of
June and Day,
of the Colonies, Patriots and Republics
to an end.

And it was a good one.

When we last saw of dear friends,
June and Day decided to save the Elector
and go against the plans of the Patriots.
June became to Princeps Elect
and Day learnt he's dying of a tumour.

Champion picks up months later.
June and Day have not been in contact for months.
Eden, Day's brother
is slowly getting better.

The Colonies have declared war
against the Republic.
And the Elector
wants June to get Day to help.
Confused?

I love how June continues to be strong in this book.
And even though Day's dying,
he's also just as smart and 
just as strong.
He's also torn.
Can he love the girl
that helped kill his family?
It's not easy.
For either one.
And these emotions
are what made this book
fantastic.


The Happiness Project - Week 36

It has been
officially
one week
since Ethan started at IST.


And he's been loving it.

He gets up early,
no complaints.
He's happy when I fetch him from school.
He's even ok 
with wearing a uniform again.

I was terribly worried 
that the transition would be hard on him.
Thank you 
to all the teachers,
friends
and councillors
that made Ethan's transition
smooth.


Happiness is having a happy
child.



































































Friday, November 8, 2013

Blood Redemption - Tessa Dawn

It's been awhile 
since I was in the company
of some bloodsuckers.
So I felt it was that time
once again.

And Tessa Dawn was happy to oblige
with the release of her fifth book in the
Blood Curse series. 

Meet Saber Alexiares.
He's mean.
Ruthless.
A killer.
A warrior in the house of Jaegar.
A Dark One.
He has been captured by the house
of Jadon
and sentenced to death by sunlight.
But something strange happens on the day of his execution.
He does not burn.
He does not die.
He has a soul.
It turns out that Saber
is really a Light One.
Eight hundred years ago,
he was kidnapped from his parents
and raised as a Dark One.

Vanya Demir
is an ancient princess.
An original,
sister to both Jaegar and Jadon.
She witnessed the blood thirst of her brother.
She has a deep sense
of duty.

Plagued by dreams of a fire-breathing dragon,
Vanya decides to visit her sister
in Dark Vale.

Saber and Vanya's path
collide with the presence of the
Serpens Blood Moon.
Vanya is Saber's destiny.
But he is a savage.
He has no emotion.
Yet, if they are not united within 30 days
he will suffer the Blood Curse.
Can she allow that?
Will he accept who he is?
What he is?
Can he be redeemed?



Thursday, November 7, 2013

Writer's Workshop - Wrong

Something you were wrong about.

I have spent a lot of time
thinking about this prompt.
And I mean a lot of time.
I think I finally came up with a story to share.
However,
I do not believe I was wrong.
I was mistaken.
Forgetful.
Confused.
Irritated.
But not wrong!

Ethan has an iTouch.
And now that he's learning to
read and write,
he's taken full ownership of his iTouch.

He's deleted songs
he once wanted,
and apps
he had begged for.
He even created folders for all his apps
and organised them in a way
that makes sense to him.
And him only.

He even downloaded YouTube
and started 
watching videos.
But as his spelling
is still a work in progress,
I've worried about him watching something
inappropriate.

So I took action!
I disabled the apps store on his iTouch.
This would prevent him from 
deleting anything without
first asking.
It also prevents him from adding
new apps
without my approval.

Somewhere,
between disabling it
and syncing it yesterday,
I forgot about this.

I recently purchased a few new apps
that I thought Ethan would like.
I decided it was time to sync his iTouch
to my computer.
It's been forever since I had last done it.
As I'm doing this,
I'm noticing the new apps are not loading.
And I can't figure out why.
And then I notice it.
The app store is GONE!
OMG!!!!

Ethan, did you delete the app store?
Are you sure?
Maybe when you were moving apps around
you accidentally deleted it?
Ethan you need to be more careful!

Yes, I blamed my child
(wait - this is not a bad mommy post
let's get back to topic).
I just couldn't
for the life of me figure out
what went wrong.
Suddenly it dawned on me....
It was not a what
but a who.

I was wrong!
It wasn't Ethan that deleted it.
It was I that disabled it!

Well,
I fixed it.
And so,
this does not make me wrong,
just in error!


Tuesday, November 5, 2013

The Happiness Project - Week 35

Anyone who knows me
will tell you I love Halloween.
Big Time!
Ethan and I even bought his costume
in May!


But this year,
with the move,
Halloween almost didn't happen.
I know!!!!

We left Lusaka before
Trunk-or-Treat
or even Halloween in the Hood
and we weren't sure
what was happening in Dar.

But then,
my friend Lara
 came to the rescue.


Lara,
a fellow Canadian,
loves Halloween
almost as much as I.
She was planning a kids party,
and when she heard we were moving
asked us to come to the party.

We were happy to oblige!

The house was decorated,


there was an abundance of treats




and even scary slime!



Even Scott enjoyed himself!



Happiness is Halloween with friends.

































































Sunday, November 3, 2013

Allegiant - Veronica Roth

I have no idea where to begin with this one.
I've loved the Divergent series
since the beginning. 
I'm not one of those people
who'll stay it's too much like
The Hunger Games.
It's dystopia.
It's hard.
It's sad.
It's an emotional roller coaster.
And I've enjoyed the ride.

Having said that,
Allegiant was a little disappointing.
Tris and Tobias
see the world they've known
crumble
and decide to head out of the city
to see what's there.
What they learn
is so much more.

The learn how the factions began.
They learn what it means to be Divergent.
They learn who they are
and not what they think, or have been told
they are. 

And somewhere in this new knowledge,
Tris continues to grow,
in physical strength
and mental strength.
But Tobias,
well, he changes.
He becomes weaker
and doubts himself.
And this was sadder
than the very sad ending.


Friday, November 1, 2013

Writer's Workshop - Confession

Hi, my name is Tima
and I'm a helicopter mum.

Now, I never set out to be one.
And for a while I denied being one,
but over the last few weeks,
I've discovered
I am one.
And I've come to accept that.

That's the first step;
right?

The realisation began last year.
Ethan and I were walking to school.
He was carrying his school bag.
I had my bag and his swim bag.
He had swimming afterschool,
and I didn't want him to loose it.
The routine was
after school,
he'd come see me,
drop off his school bag
and fetch his swim bag.
The system worked well.
I never worried about him loosing any bags.

On this particular day,
I noticed his friend G
was walking to class with his school bag
and his swim bag.
I turned to Ethan and commented
on his friend's Independence.
"How come you're not independent like G?"
I wondered.
And then I put his swim bag away safely
and realise it's because I haven't given him the chance.
Nor did I ever give him the chance.

Being a teacher at Ethan's school
also meant I'd stop by his classroom
at least once a week.
Granted, Ethan would be at a special
or break,
and it was a social stop,
I was friends with his teacher.
That just made checking on him easier
and less hovering.
At least that's what I told myself.

Ethan starts at IST on Monday.
And I'm a nervous wreck.
This is the first time
Ethan will attend a school 
and I won't be working.
What if he gets hurt?
What if he feels sad?
What if he's having a bad day?
I won't be there.

I'm a nervous wreck!!!