Sod Story and ApriApple Muffakes

The angry note on the tree had seemed a little unreal. Really?  Someone just took the stack of sod in front of Fran's house?

I read it earlier in the week and thought little more of it until yesterday heading home - there was a "congregation" on the sidewalk. 

Fran, Erica, and Prabhdeep were talking and I get closer and say hi.  "So, what's up?"

Fran declares the mystery has been solved!

She'd been sputtering mad, explaining to another neighbour, Sukh, how their contractors had over-ordered sod for their landscape job, and then before they picked it up for a refund, someone had stolen it!

"I took it."  Sukh explained how he thought the pile, lying in the boulevard, was being thrown out.  He used it to patch up his backyard. 

"Oh, that Sukhie, " Fran laughed.  So it was all a misunderstanding.  And Sukh, with all his charm, was in back in the good books.

I'm glad everyone could laugh about it and that robbery wasn't rampant in the area.  But it does makes me think twice about claiming what I think might be someone's garbage... How awkward it could have been!


More baking experiments to use up the apples: Combined with apricots and somewhere between the texture of a muffin and a cake.  Maybe "Apricot Apple Caffins" would be a more appropriate name (though "muffakes" do at least warn you that they're not what they seem)... if I try to make them again.  

Where's there's smoke...

... there's rain putting out a fire.

Catherine came over to teach us how to start a fire in our fire pit.  The branches and leaves we collected cleaning up the yard were going to be put to good use!  (Below: Paul in a box.)

She started off with newspapers, two dry logs (left by the previous owners), and a match (from Ken and Sophie's wedding).

She added some small sticks to the center of it, and sat down to relax and enjoy.  The Brownies had taught her well! 

But, before it could become a roaring success, the sky clouded over, started raining, and put it all out.  Well, as long as the don't protest at the house warming, Fire Mistress Catherine should have things under control.

For her efforts, she was treated to my latest experiment: Rhubarb peach muffins.  They were o.k., but probably won't make another appearance any time soon.

 Together, we flipped through and marveled at the DIY books I borrowed from the library.  I was filled ideas, but of course, there was also a nagging in the back of my head: Where to find the time? 

Well, later that night, I decided to start on that t-shirt rug. But, Coconut, um... got tangled in it.  Silly giant curly lamb.

An apple (and some insurance) a day...

I've been thinking about life insurance.  Dad's been bugging me pretty much since I graduated.  With all these crazy health issues lately, it seems this is the right time*.  I've been talking to an investment advisor, and she lined me up for a medical.  The lady who took my blood samples and filled out the medical questionaire was a doctor from the Phillipines before she immigrated to Canada.  We had a nice chat, and I was only mildly embarassed to be telling someone I barely knew all the these details.  I got over it. 

Later, Catherine met me at Erik's and we did some catching up.  I attempted another apple muffin recipe (my latest obsession) while she played cool videos from the web. 

Apples were peeled to a Japanese anime theme song with dozens of different versions (men dressed as the anime girls doing the theme song dance, one woman doing the dance in different locations around Japan, many many people doing the dance in a parking lot...), ingredients measured and mixed to OK Go (Do What You Want - Wallpaper Version), and baking to Night on Bald Mountain (Fantasia version - prompted by my reference to Paul's choice of The Rite of Spring on my "mixed tape")... and then repeat!

By the time Paul came to meet me, two versions of apple muffins were cooling and ready for a taste test.  It worked out well: Catherine liked one, Paul liked the other, I was getting them to eat (some) fruit!  Success!

* Well, actually a little late if any of these things had been serious, but thankfully not. 

Half Baked

Good news: Made it into TA core!
Bad news: I'm teaching a class... with Don.

I under estimated the time it takes to do baking, again. There's creating the mess, and then there's cleaning the mess... Oh, and then actual in-the-oven baking time.

Paul and I started early afternoon, putting into motion my grand plans (originally for the apples from his tree), to the store bought substitutes (when the former were found wormy).  But we didn't finish in time.  A mess left in Erik's kitchen, with only half the muffins baked, we ran down Whyte Ave.  Beth was waiting at the bus stop for me. 

Beth and I take the bus and made it to the TA practice on time.  There, however, some my anxieties were confirmed.  Earlier in the week, Don had facebook messaged me: We're teaching the class together, on Wednesday nights.

NO! That cannot be.  I'm not ready to be talking into a microphone again. 

But on arriving to TA training, there was no more denying it, I'm to teach Newcomer II and Pre-Bronze... and it's going to be with Don. 

O.k. Don's an amazing dancer (both Beth and I spotted that during the tryouts) and confident, so I have no doubt he'll be knowledgable and able to hold his own, maybe even carry the class (since I've been out of the loop for so long).  But I felt he didn't respect my boundaries.  He was super-huggy (grabbing me into a hold when I didn't feel like hugging someone I just met), AND kept squeezing my hand in jive in a very uncomfortable way, even though I kept re-adjusting our handhold, AND I think he's laughing at me. 

Maybe I'm worrying too early (and being paranoid). 

The rest of the training session, though with no dancing, was already quite interesting.  We filled out paperwork (which seemed mostly the same as before [a slight change in benefits - no DSAB membership]), and voted for a TA Representative.  Between the two candidates, I found that our group was divided.  Not that it was necessarily the TAs' decision, but did we want the club to focus to be on competition and technique or fun, social aspects?  In the end the fun, social focus representative won.