I conveniently put aside all of the work piling up for me at home and spent the afternoon at my Grandma’s farm.

It was a rainy, cold afternoon. Autumn has definitely arrived. Georgia loves to play with my Grandma’s Swedish horses and Grandma doesn’t mind.

Then again, who gives a hoot about rain when there are real horses outside. Georgia climbed this fence on the look out for the ‘baby horse’ Great Grandma promised was waiting outside.

It wasn’t until we made our way through the barnyard and climbed another fence that Georgia finally spotted the wee filly! She was excited.

HURRY Mom!

It’s now that I should tell you that Georgia loves animals, but animals don’t always love Georgia.

Today was different.

Today, we called her the horse whisperer!

MK xo

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This fabulous red box arrived late Friday afternoon! A happy client sent me a gift!

It was big and heavy and thank you God … it was full of cookies.

Moist, delicious, chewy, heavenly Cookies by George

They were so VERY good! Especially the Spiced Ginger!

I bet you can’t guess which ones the kids loved the best?

Good news, they ship all over Canada and the USA.

MK xo

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Disclaimer: At least 36 cookies were devoured in the making of this post. This is not a paid post. I just really loved these cookies and you might too.

I decided to make my own (inspired by: Simply Frugal):

Ingredients:

* 1 can of sweetened condensed milk
* 1 1/4 cups milk
* 3 tsp vanilla

Mix these three together in lidded container. Shake. Enjoy! Keeps in the fridge for up to two weeks.

FYI: I am well aware that this is still not a ‘health’ food, but I like that I now recognize the entire list of ingredients –> milk, sugar, vanilla

Vs.

INGREDIENTS (International Delight brand that I used to drink):
(Non-Dairy Product) Water, sugar, palm oil, corn syrup, contains 2% or less of each of the following: Sodium caseinate* (a milk derivative), dipotassium phosphate, natural and artificial flavors, mono and diglycerides, sodium stearoyl lactylate, carrageenan, salt.
*Sodium caseinate is not a source of lactose.

Contains: Milk.

MK xo

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Georgia’s first day of kindergarten. We’d actually picked out a really cute denim dress and ‘jeggings‘ for her first day. She woke up and dressed completely in pink (before I could stop her)!

After the obligatory (and very cute, if I do say so myself) first day photo and a couple of runs back into the house for forgotten items Georgia and I headed to school (walking of course).

She seemed quite grumpy and sullen for the first block or so, but I put it down to first day nerves. Then out of the blue,

Georgia: Mom, do you know what meet me means?

Me: Meet me? Yes, meet means to get together with some one and …

Georgia: NO! Meetme, do YOU know what it means?

I was racking my brains … meetme, meetme, meetme … what is she trying to say?

Me: Meetme, I’m not sure what meetme is. Do you mean –> Meet. Me?

Georgia: Yes, Meetme!

Me: Yes, Meet means to get together with someone at a certain place and time … and …

Georgia: NO! Like when I say, Mom, MEET ME in the front yard! Do you understand what that means?

{I don’t recall, but apparently when she ran in the house to get her coat, I was given strict instructions to ‘meet’ her in the front yard (which doesn’t include the sidewalk!), and she was upset that I’d started walking without her!}

SHEESH! Apparently, six feet past the end of the driveway is NOT the front yard!

Needless to say, I began to see the benefits of leaving the wee tyrant in the big bad school and going home to enjoy a morning of lecture-less peace!

She wasn’t the least bit bothered by the idea either.

MK xo

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There are a ton of great recipes in this book (170+ pages) from health food bloggers around the world.

Go –> HERE to download!

I found out about the great opportunity thanks to Simply Frugal (helping you save money in Canada). I love Simply Frugal!

MK xo

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I was going to write a post and show you her first day of school photos (I took several). I wanted to show you how damn cute she looked (she wore skinny jeans from h&m!).

I was going to tell you how I heart-sick I felt leaving her there (I was). About how worried I am that my baby isn’t going to be just mine anymore, that she was going to be molded by her school mates and her teacher …

And then I remembered, we’re talkin’ about Georgia here! HA!

Last Saturday morning she packed her suitcase and dressed (partially) and decided she was going to her sister’s. Have fun I thought, but it was only about 9 a.m.’ish and I knew her sister wasn’t picking her up until about 6 p.m.

I glanced at her as she opened the front door.

Me: Hey you can’t wear that! You need pants.

She argued as she wrangled a large suitcase through the front door.

Me: That is not a dress … wait come back … you look like a hook …

Me: Wait come back …

Me: No really come back!

Me: Seriously Dude, you can’t wear that. I can see your panties!

Me: Yah, I know they just like bathing suit bottoms, but that’s not a dress and that isn’t your bathing suit.

Me: You really need to brush your hair. Are you dancing?

Me: No, I can’t hear the music. Are you listening to me?

Me: You’re not coming in are you?

Me: Are you?

Me: You look great in that DRESS and you rock those boots! Enjoy your weekend …

So yeah, now I’m kind of thinking –> Hey teacher! Good freakin’ luck lady! You’re gonna need it!

MK xo

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A couple of weeks ago, Georgia got out of bed about midnight and wandered in my room and woke me up to tell me, something REALLY important. “Mom in three weeks there is a new show on TV about the Cat in the Hat, and I want to watch it!”

SERIOUSLY!? Go to sleep child! Sheesh!

A couple of days later I was asked if I’d be interested in seeing a preview. Ah, yeah!

Life’s funny that way …

Georgia was lucky enough to get a preview dvd of the first two episodes.

Voiced by award-winning actor Martin Short, Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat guides friends Sally and Nick – with a little help from the Fish, Thing 1 and Thing 2 – on fun-filled adventures where they make natural-science discoveries, from how bees make honey to why owls sleep during the day.

Just what does she think about ‘THE CAT IN THE HAT KNOWS A LOT ABOUT THAT!’? Well let’s just say, we’re watching it for the 3rd time (TODAY!). She likes it A LOT.

I enjoyed it too! I love Martin Short (voice of the Cat in the Hat). The graphics are excellent and true to the original books. I love that it’s science based.

Great job PBS! Don’t forget, THE CAT IN THE HAT KNOWS A LOT ABOUT THAT! premieres Monday, September 6th on PBS KIDS.

MK xo

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Nevertheless, I have zucchini! The plant is massive and there are dozens of zucchini on it. So YAY for zucchini!

Have you seen my Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread recipe?

The tomatoes may or may not make it, depending on how long the weather holds.

Manitoba

and

Roma

I have two pumpkins the size of quarters, but I think they may have a chance, as they don’t mind the cold weather as much.

Make that ONE pumpkin, I think the other one died.

I have onions, but I haven’t a clue how they are coming alone and don’t want to check and risk pulling a half grown one. I think they too can survive some autumn weather.

Those aren’t weeds amongst my onion, they’re herbs. If you believe that … well, I have some ocean front property in Arizona for sale.

On a different note: I don’t deserve this camera. It should be confiscated. Ignore all the noise in the photos please, I forgot to change the ISO after taking pics of the kids with sparklers in the dark. Really, someone come and remove the camera from my possession.

NEXT YEAR! Next year, I am going to put those seedlings in the ground in late May like I am supposed to.

Did you grow a garden this year? How’d it go?

MK xo

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By the time I had a chance to photograph this, the loaf had been destroyed by the kids. They LOVE this recipe.

Preheat oven to 350 f. Spray a 9x5x3 loaf pan with nonstick spray.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups shredded raw zucchini (2 small size)

1 cup granulated white sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened )

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients together well in a large mixing bowl. Once mixed add to 9x5x3 loaf pan.

Bake for 65 minutes.

Remove from oven, allow the loaf to cool. Remove from pan, slice and serve.

Enjoy!

MK xo

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Have I ever mentioned that I love my iPhone? Well I do, enough to venture into a stranger’s basement suite to get it fixed when Apple tries to rob me of $229 to replace a piece of glass worth less than $5 (I know it’s worth less than $5, because I purchased one from China!), however, I am getting off topic.

Last Friday afternoon after the attempted robbery rip-off at Apple I tweeted:

My good twitter buddy @Antof9 suggested:

Please note the part where she so rightly tells me –> (just make sure “authorized”). I didn’t listen, I never listed, just ask my mom.

Seeing as I had a 1 cm hole in my phone and I wasn’t willing to pay $229, I decided it was a grand idea and Googled –> Edmonton iPhone Repair.

I dialed the first listing that came up –> iEnstein iPhone Solutions. He quoted me $60 and said, I could head right over. I did have a twinge of worry on the way over, he wasn’t “Authorized” like Antof9 had suggested, but then figured, “who the hell cares, it’s $60 and the phone is useless to me right now”. I figured the worst he could do was ruin the phone, and it was already ruined.

I wasn’t sure at this point if it was a residence or a business, but it became obvious as I looked for the address, that it was a residence, a pretty nice home actually … (photo here)

I have to say, that at this point I was a little bit leery, but mostly I was picturing a teenager fixing iPhone screens for spending money (he’d sounded very young on the phone), and went ahead and rang the doorbell.

As I stood on the front step waiting for the door to be answered, the gate to the backyard opened 6 to 8 inches and a man who looked to me to be in his late 20′s early 30′s poked his head around and asked me to come around the back. I went as far as the gate and stopped. I can’t tell you why exactly, but I was uncomfortable. I didn’t want to go around the back of the house with him. It wasn’t the way he looked. He was neat and tidy, sort of handsome. He wore clean, ironed clothing. He was friendly, but it felt wrong.

It’s hard to explain, but he looked like life hadn’t been easy for him, like he was living rough (even though he was clean, neat and polite). I noticed his teeth were quite decayed, it didn’t jive with his clothing and neat haircut.

He may have sensed my hesitation, because he said, “You can come in and watch me fix it, or you can come back in 20-30 minutes.” I was relieved not to go in, and relieved not to have to explain that I was uncomfortable. His landlord came out of the front of the house just as I was leaving. Dustin introduced him and then, Georgia and I left.

We returned about 30 minutes later. The landlord was in the driveway chatting with a neighbour in the next yard. I parked in the driveway, got $60 from my purse and locked Georgia in the car. I wasn’t really worried anymore, but I wanted to get it over with and I still felt like I shouldn’t take Georgia in the house with me. I was happy to see the landlord.

The landlord was chatty, and insisted I go on down (to the basement). I was torn, do I leave the kid in the car, do I bring her in? Just then, a pretty young woman came up out of the basement, wearing a medical scrubs (like a dental assistant or nurse). I recognized her from my dentist’s office. I assumed from their friendly tone (wrongly assumed –> she’s married), that it was his girlfriend, and I totally relaxed and told myself I was being silly. I went down into the basement and watched JP (Dustin Paxton) finish fixing my iPhone. His suite was super neat, very clean and sparse. Even his tools were in neat rows. I noticed that as he used each one, he put it back precisely in it’s row. I remember thinking, that if I were that disciplined my house wouldn’t always look like a hurricane hit it.

He was friendly and smart. We chatted about SEO, and Facebook. I told him I’d recommend him to my facebook friends. He promised to treat them as well as he’d treated me. I chided myself for being so spooked earlier on!

This morning when I took my boy to the dentist, Cathy the pretty dental assistant who was coming out of the basement before me filled me in on our friendly neighbourhood repairman.

Dustin Ward Paxton, 30, was wanted by Calgary police on charges of aggravated assault, forcible confinement and sexual assault for alleged attacks that happened over a 15-month period, starting in December 2008. He was also wanted by Regina police on charges of aggravated assault for alleged attacks that happened between March 15 and April 16 this year.

edmontonjournal.com August 26, 2010

Read more: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Alleged+torturer+finally+nabbed/3441096/story.html#ixzz0xqrxWd6r

Before and after pictures of the victim Dustin Lafortune:

Dustin LaFortune before (left) and after being dumped at a Regina hospital in April. Photograph by: Facebook/Screengrab, Facebook

I’m horrified that I sat and chatted and laughed with a man who may be responsible for something like this. Then again, I am relieved that I ‘knew’ something was wrong, that my ‘gut instinct’ works. I am determined that from now on, I’ll listen to that ‘gut instinct’ and not battle with myself to silence it.

MK xo

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