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This is my blog. A blog that is rarely used. I am, though, inspired to write when I get around the WordPress Community, which is very ironic. The only reason I have a blog is because my husband is one of the many talented faces behind the Core Team that makes my blog’s platform better. So, over the last decade as we have attended WordCamps so he could speak and meet with his colleagues, I too have fallen in love with the community. The people are so caring, friendly, and so very much fun. I have come to consider some of them my closest friends. I look forward to seeing them and spending quality time outside of camp with them. I now can’t imagine life without them.

Toronto….

Is an eclectic place of people, food, architecture, and shops. I don’t think I can come for a visit and not find something to new to look at, eat, or entertain me.

This recent trip I found a lovely pub The Queen and Beaver. The atmosphere was quite cozy. The den is upstairs where they play the rugby games and have the bar, and the first level is the main dining area. I visited the pub for brunch and was not disappointed. I ordered buttermilk pancakes with brown butter maple syrup. The pancakes are also served with a scoop of house made chunky peanut butter ice cream.

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When I ordered the pancakes I did not know that I was about to change my life. I also did not realize that I had been eating my pancakes wrong my entire life. The pancakes were crisp on the outer edges and fluffy and light in the middle. When their warmth mixed with the nutty chill from the ice cream and the caramel of the maple butter, it was like a symphony hitting the crescendo perfectly all over my tongue. The chef has designed these pancakes so perfectly, as to ruin you, so that you will not want to eat pancakes anywhere else.

I also visited Via Vai for dinner with some of my husband’s colleagues. This experience was not as great as my brunch one was. My husband and I split the heirloom caprese salad. It was lacking seasoning and needed more basil. However, the tomatoes were fresh as was the mozzarella. I ordered the duck pappardelle. The noodles were house made and very well done. The duck ragu that the noodles sat in was very bland, unless you had a piece of duck in that bite. The sweet peas were lost in this dish and had no identity, they seemed to be thrown in more for color than anything else. The duck had a sweet, tangy taste that was something akin to peking duck, but the rest of the ragu was like eating steamed, mashed tomatoes, which I am not really fond of. We ended our meal with tiramisu, which was very pleasing to the eyes. There were two scoops of the Italian desert on the plate along with blueberries, raspberries, and a piece of dark chocolate. With each bite I am reminded why espresso, lady fingers, and marscarpone play so very well together. Adding a fresh berry in a bite helps all the flavors explode on your palate. Our dessert was the highlight of the meal but it took the staff nearly two hours to get us to that point. I also had to ask three times for water which I finally received at the end with the tiramisu.

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The art at Via Vai was bold and colorful. You can feel the movement in each piece. In my opinion the style of their art is dated for an edgy restaurant, but that is all subject to the consumer of the art.

I also had the pleasure of stumbling into Snakes & Lattes.  It is an oasis for geeks (even you closeted ones), who love games and gush over the sight of expansion packs for Munchkin (Pick me, pick me). Or perhaps fifteen different types of trivia games, Dominion variations, forms of Settlers of Cattan, etc. There are walls and walls of games that are made just for the curious, competitive, intellectual fan-person. There is a small cover charge for unlimited game play of 3,000 plus games. What more could you need?…Caffeine! And they have plenty. The cup of joe that you receive is very well brewed and the milk is steamed expertly. The espresso tasted as though is was well roasted with deep peaberry flavors. I am saddened that I did not have more time to spend, to lose myself in the world of competition.

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I really enjoyed my time in Toronto. It was fun trying to figure out if we were going to take an Uber or walk to places. Sometimes the deciding factors were if we could all fit in the car (the guys did get to feel what is was like to be in a clown car) or was the traffic going to make us so late that we were going to miss the event all together. I am sad that my time with this city was so short this time around but I look forward to my next city and what it might bring.

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In a recent message our lead pastor asked, “what makes us angry?” He made a good point that a lot of people out there would respond with, “someone talking on their cell phone while driving,” or “people taking to long at a green light.” I instantly thought: someone who takes advantage of other people. That includes people who use people for their own gain or people who are just so selfish that they can’t take other people’s feelings into consideration.

I recently had to sit back and watch some very dear friends go through a rough time. About a year ago they had the chance to make new friends, which had in the past used me and tossed me away like trash. I didn’t feel that it was my position to tell them anything bad about their new friends, so all I could do was sit back and wait. When my friends, who would give you anything you need and doing anything for you, were so rudely taken advantage of all I could do was sit there with them and be hurt. My heart broke for them, I ached. I can’t image how people really can’t see what damage they do to others when all they do is use people for their own gain and selfish needs.

I just finished reading “As You Wish” by Cary Elwes. a great mini-bio on the making of the The Princess Bride.  He takes us through his journey of becoming Wesley, meeting the cast and crew, and how they too have become attached to this beloved film just like so many of us have.  Elwes tells tales of how they accommodated for André’s size when riding off into the sunset on four white horses or his back problems and not being able to hold three people on his back.  Elwes also tells of being “thrown” out of the sound stage, along with the director (Rob Reiner), and being replaced with his dummy for laughing too much during Billy Crystal’s Miracle Max scene.

I found this book a delightful read.  It also made me fall even more in love with the story and the characters.  I do hope you pick yourself a copy.

This is the loneliest time in my life. I thought that I would be okay with only having my husband as my only lifeline to humanity. I have gone into a very low dark place in my life.
I do not know how to explain it. I like to be at home by myself but I also like to have to have friends that call to say ” Hey, how are you? Wanna grab lunch today?” I really miss the community that we had in AZ. I understand that my husband works at home and that he needs to have his time to get his projects done but he is my only friend here in OK. When he tells me that I talk to him too much or that I need to leave him alone. It makes me go even lower into my darker hole.
I really need some sunshine in my little cave. I would love to fine some relief.

We have decided to school X at home this year.  It has been three weeks since school started.  I am split on the decision weather it has been the correct choice.  Schooling a forth grader is a full time job and I already have two part time jobs.  Aaron and I, split the classess with Julie (Aaron’s mom).  That was an tremendous help.  And yet, with how my body is, I still can not keep up.  Hopefully, something will give.

For the last 3 weeks we have been helping some friends of ours with moving their restaurant.  When they first planned the move it would only be closed for 3 days, it ended up being closed for 20.  They were having real trouble with their staff being reliable and trustworthy.

We helped move out of the old space, we ended up being there for 14 hours.  We have also helped almost everyday from the time we drop off X ’til 1 or 2 in the morning.  During this time I have become a professional floor stainer, tile installer, and many other things.  They also allowed me to use my design skills.

Aaron and I really enjoyed being able to help our friends.  They were not close friends but now that they have seen that we are here for them when they need us and all the time we got to spend together I think we have made a great lasting relationship.

Here is my question for you….would you do it?  We have had many people ask us if we are getting free food for a year, coffee drinks for life, etc?  I reply “we enjoy helping our friends, why would we want anything in return.”

I just recently turned 30.  For most people that is the end of their youth or their party years.  If you ask Xavier, I am now an adult.  If I am now an adult how come I have been paying a mortgage for seven years, have medical bills up to my eye balls, and have an eight year old?

I am looking forward to seeing what I am going to find in my 30’s…perhaps they will find a way to make my nerves communicate with my brain properly.  Perhaps my son will become neat and clean ( a mother can dream), or maybe I will drop my past and realize that the future can be bright.  I have so much I would love to do if I am healthy enough, travel to Europe, see Uganda, meet the people that I regularly help serve in my missions work in Haiti and Mexico.

I don’t know what my 30’s hold but I can tell you one thing if they are anything like my 20’s they will not be boring.