Saturday, May 29, 2010

James Taylor and Carole King

Last night I went to the Air Canada Centre to see a concert with two old favourites of mine.  Carole King and James Taylor.  I had such a great evening listening to the two of them singing.  Carole had a cold or sore throat, and was rather raspy throughout, but I loved it anyway.  They were the most gracious entertainers and genuinely thanked the audience for their applause.  The other thing I found quite touching was the fact that all the performers applauded their peers for their performances after each song.  So cool.


Here is a video that I recorded:

Friday, May 28, 2010

Meredith

I dropped by the gym yesterday to say a final farewell to my trainer, Meredith.  She has been a good friend helping me out with both my exercise and my diet.  She is returning to her native Prince Edward Island to work in her other field of expertise, nutrition.

Good Bye and Good Luck Meredith

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Victoria Day Breakfast.

I woke up yesterday and decided I should have a good breakfast to celebrate Victoria Day.  Here in Canada most of us refer to this as the May two four weekend.  No one really understands why we call it Victoria Day, well we know it is supposed to be Queen Victoria's birthday, but why??  We just enjoy the day off and watch fireworks.  So now I will start a new tradition and make myself a big breakfast instead of the usual green smoothie variety.

Here I have scrambled eggs with a little onion added in, cucumber, tomatoes and a gluten-free bagel.  That bagel looks good right?  It was and I appreciate the fact that I finally found some at the grocery store.  However, $7 for 5 bagels is a sin!

Here is the mug of tea I finished off my breakfast with.  I seldom drink black tea anymore, since I only really drink it with milk and I'm trying not to drink cows milk now.  Once in a while I buy a 250ml container of skim milk just so that I can have a cup of tea.  It just doesn't taste the same with Almond milk.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Curried Carrot Soup with cornbread Croutons

Iris over at The Daily Dietribe, suggested that her readers adopt a gluten-free blogger.  So of course I am choosing my favourite blogger who produces amazing food, not only taste-wise,but she takes delicious photos of her food. Gluten-Free Goddess Karina Allrich always makes her food so appealing, not only from the ingredients that she uses, but her writing style is so succulent that you just can't help but to be enticed to try out her recipes.

The first recipe I tried was her Cider Roasted Vegetables. To die for. 
Then I tried the Warm Quinoa + Spinach Salad with Grape Tomatoes.

I loved the Focaccia with Garlic and Tomato.


For Christmas dinner in 2009 I made the Vegetarian Shepherds Pie. and served it to my friend, who is neither vegetarian or gluten-free.


This picture is of the latest dish I made. Curried Carrot Soup with Pan Toasted Cornbread Croutons. (Except I didn't pan toast the croutons!)
I served it to a friend after a great spinning class.  We were ravenous and ate it with extra cornbread, followed by yoghourt, strawberry muffins and fresh strawberries and blueberries.  We finished off with a cup of herbal tea.  Delicious.  My friend joked about the fact I say I hate cooking, and yet every time I feed her it tastes great.  That is really thanks to Karina.

My next dish is that I am dying to try out is Baked Grape Tomatoes with Basil and Cornbread Crumbs.

Sunday, May 09, 2010

Logorama - animated short


Logorama from Marc Altshuler - Human Music on Vimeo.

Jack Stafford at C'est What

An invitation was sent out to all Toronto Couchsurfers encouraging them to go to C'est What and listen to Jack Stafford sing.  He is a couchsurfer too, and is on tour spreading his music around.

I dropped by and chatted to a few other couchsurfers, and enjoyed the 2 sets of music played.

A sample can be heard here:
www.thejackstaffordfoundation.com

Thursday, May 06, 2010

Meningitis Septicemia

Meningitis is an inflammation of the lining of the brain and it can be caused by several different germs.  Some are bacterial and some are viruses.  Meningitis caused by a virus (viral meningitis) is generally less serious.  The bacterial germs can cause septicemia (blood poisoning or infection of the blood) as well as meningitis.  Anyone of any age can get meningitis or septicemia and the tow illnesses can occur at teh same time.  If the illness is diagnosed early and treated quickly, most people recover completely.


Bacterial meningitis is quite rare, but can be very serious.  There are three main types, named after the germs that can cause the illness.  The three types are:

Meningococcal
Pneumococcal
Hemophilus influenza type b (known as Hib)


Immunization against Hib infection is now possible.  Children are immunized at two, three and four months - at the same time as diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus and polio.  If you do not remember your child being immunized, and he or she is under four, you should contact your doctor.


Each year there are over 2000 cases of bacterial meningitis in England and Wales.  This figure is lower that it was because of the success of the Hib vaccine (the most common type of meningitis in children under four used to be Hib).  The meningococcal germ is now the most common cause of meningitis and septicemia in all age groups.  Young people and adults also get the pneumococcal form of meningitis and septicemia.


The germs that cause bacterial meningitis are very common and live naturally in the back of the nose and throat.  Coughing, sneezing and kissing spread the germs, but they do not live for more than a few seconds outside the body and are not easily passed from one person to another.  People of any age can carry them for weeks or months without becoming ill.  It is only rarely that they overcome the body's defenses by entering the blood from the throat causing meningitis or septicemia.  You cannot get the germs from water supplies, swimming pools, factories or buildings.


People with meningitis or septicemia usually have a rash which can be anything from tiny red spots to larhe blotchy bruises.  If you press a drinking glass against their rash it will remain visible through the glass (whereas rashes that occur with most other infections will fade or blanch).  Their skin may be pale and clammy, even though they have a fever.


Besides a rash, the other symptoms that may be found in cases of meningitis are: fever, vomiting, severe headache, still neck, dislike of bright lights, impaired consciousness or excessive drowsiness.  The symptoms of septicemia are similar, though the rash is always present; the headache is not so severe; a stiff neck and dislike of bright lights are not usually found.


If you are worried someone may have meningitis or septicemia you should seek medical help immediately.

Fabulous Flower

I took this photo 4 years ago, at the green house in Allen Gardens.  Love these colours.

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Busy Doing Nothing

My life has been a bit confusing and mixed up in the last few weeks.  Things have happened to me that I cannot explain, and I have been accused of something that isn't very nice.  I am at this time not at work, and I don't know when I will return.  I can't really get specific on the details as there is are investigations going on.

So the trick has been to keep myself busy so that I am not overwhelmed with negative thoughts, and obsessing with what the outcome may end up being.

I decided that it would be a great idea to go back to my personal fitness trainer, Meredith and work with her a couple of times a week.  This has been a great help.  I go up to her condo and use the gym there.  It is much more personal, cleaner and comfortable.

I am also doing a little shopping here and there and spending far too much  money.  But what's wrong with that?  I bought a great pair of rubber boots to wear in the rain, some clothes, and scrapbook supplies.


I got my hair cut and went back to having highlights.  In order to make it look natural, Telli my hairdresser had to give me high and low lights.  It turned out quite dark, almost my own hair colour.  She also wanted to make my hair a little healthier, as there were quite a few split ends.  So she cut it quite short.  So at this point I am not much in love with my hairstyle and colour.  Thank goodness it grows!


I have been to a few events with MeetIn.  I saw Grease a few weeks back, then more recently I saw Burn the Floor.  I thought this dance show would be great as some of the dancers were from So You Think You Can Dance.  However it was quite repetitious and at times boring.  I was expecting the dances to tell a story, but it lacked there somewhat.

I have been out for dinner a few times, and a lunch here and there, more money spent!  But it is important to surround yourself with friends while your life is taking you on an unknown path.  I was at a wonderful restaurant for lunch on Sunday, Bar Mercurio on Bloor St. W.  They have gluten-free desserts.  Lots of them.  I am going to have to go back to try each and every one of them.  This could potentially become my first date meeting place!!

I went to get an ultrasound of my shoulder and they ended up doing both shoulders.  I have to wait until next Friday to get the results.  But yesterday at my weekly physiotherapy appointment my therapist Sabrina at Athletes Care told me that the scan shows tears on both shoulders.  She had initially thought it was just an impingement, but realized after a number of treatments that there must be more.  So I'll find out from Dr. Edelist what the treatment will be.  Sabrina doesn't think surgery is an option as the tear is only partial on each side.  So it's likely that it will have to continue to be medication for the pain and physiotherapy.

I participated in a great scavenger hunt a few weekends ago.  There were about 4-500 people who met at Nathan Philips Square, and we got into groups of about 8.  My group were mostly couchsurfers.  We had a blast finding all the stuff.  We broke up into smaller groups to get it all done.  2 hours later we returned to Nathan Philips Square to discover that we came 12th after the scores were totaled up.



I met a friend at Ed's Ice Cream shop for a well deserved treat.  I usually get cappuccino and raspberry, they are my favourite flavours.  While there I saw my friend's photography pieces on display in the shop.  Very cool, literally, they are photos of ice sculptures.

My good friend Beatriz celebrated her birthday on April 30, so I got her a ticket to join me at the show Burn The Floor.  She enjoyed it, but also said it was a bit repetitious.  After the show we went to the Pickle Barrel, and ate some food with a few others from MeetIn.  I spent almost a week on a mini album that I made for Beatriz's birthday present.

Now we are here in May, and I need to find new things to do. May 1st was National Scrapbook Day, so I spent a large part of the weekend completing challenges offered by My Pink Stamper.



I am planning on joining a few people to make a few cards.  My Stampin'Up demonstrator, Caroline holds classes for stampers every month.

I have had a few hours sitting in the sun, reading and relaxing, but that gets boring quickly.

So if you have any ideas of how I can keep busy, let me know.