cooking & dd

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I was out of town on business mid-week; when I came back, there was a big basket of goodies on my desk...yummy shortbread, strawberry candies, peanut brittle, pretzels, jam, caramel popcorn, chocolate-covered cookies, more...all wrapped up in cellophane and a bow. And a short note from Andrea...thank you, Andrea!!! :-) Doug and Amanda and Jeff thank you, too (I've been sharing :-)).

Doug has built an impressive tower out of the boxes of Smarties he brought to the office last week....there must be at least 30-40 boxes. Then he opened a bottle of white wine late Friday when Amanda and I were there; he also offered some to the Camp Creations people from across the hall (who visit and often say, "You guys always have such great snacks!"). I don't tend to drink a lot of alcohol, and was already feeling a buzz after half a glass. I don't think I got a lot of work done after that, but I definitely felt less stressed. :-)

Went home and microwaved a pork loin roast. It's a new product line offered at Loblaws; fully cooked main course dinners (meatloaf, beef roast, etc.) that just need a few minutes microwaving. I'm sure the processing sucks out any vestige of nutritive value in the meals, but they're great when Jeff and I are both too exhausted to cook and too hungry to wait for food delivery. After dinner, I stretched out on the couch while Jeff surfed TV channels...and the next thing I knew, it was morning and I was in bed! Jeff says I fell asleep on the couch and had to be coaxed to go to bed; I don't remember any of this, of course. I guess the week was catching up on me.

Jeff and I worked all day yesterday, then went out for sushi with Mark T. and Scott M. We had forgotten Fune was having their monthly all-you-can-eat buffet night (and was therefore full), so we opted for Yamase, our old hangout back in university days. Sadly, Yamase's service and ambiance has degenerated. Instead of comfortable booths with low lying tables where you had to take your shoes off, traditional-style, they had switched to cafeteria-like tables which were crammed together (obviously to get as many people into the room as possible). Service was incredibly slow, but it was obvious that they were grossly understaffed. After dinner, we went back home where I fell asleep on the couch again (I am so rude to guests!) while the others talked and played games.

Jeff and I had been planning to go to the cottage this weekend with Sara and Annie (and their parents), but gloomy weather forecasts convinced us to postpone the trip. :-(

UK Trip Highlight(s) Du Jour Lissa and Phil's fish and chips place During our visit, Lissa and Phil took us to one of their favourite fish and chips places (I can't recall what it was called, sorry). We had spent the day exploring the Tower of London area, checking out the Millennium Wheel (huge! sadly, not open to the public yet), touring on one of the famous London doubledecker buses. At the end of our day, we had fish and chips. It was wonderful to crowd into the warmth of the small shop (it was getting COOOLD outside!), inhaling mouthwatering fragrances, removing layers coats and scarves, excitedly discussing the days' events. The shop people obviously knew Phil and Lissa quite well as regulars. :-) Lissa ordered her usual, which was egg and chips. I copied her, of course, and also ordered mushy peas, a side dish that the others mocked me for. Mushy peas are GOOD! Hot and filling and wonderfully comforting on a cold day; I only wish I could get proper mushy peas in Canada. Maybe I should write a mushy pea song; then the Mushy Pea people might send some to Canada!