Roomba Kitty

I love this video... I think that it's the tail dragging behind that cracks me up the most.

Trader Tuesday : Grilled Summer Pasta

This is our favourite summer recipe to cook on the BBQ. It tastes amazing and makes wonderful leftovers, which never last very long!

MARINADE

¾ Cup olive oil

½ lemon juiced

2 TBSPS dried basil or oregano

Salt and Pepper to taste

(we often use just pre-made grill spice for vegetables for the marinade, and I don't think I've ever put lemon juice on it...)

VEGGIES

1 yellow pepper seeded, cut in chunks

1 red pepper seeded, cut in chunks

1 orange pepper seeded, cut in chunks

1 medium sweet potato, thinly sliced (Pre-cook in microwave until 50% done) (we often leave out the sweet potato... it's yummy, but also kind of a pain. We replace it with more peppers, usually... green ones are good.)

1 red onion, sliced

2 zucchinis, sliced

Prepare:

1 bag of fusili pasta (cooked)

1 cup goat cheese, chopped

1 cup FRESH basil, chopped

1 cup field tomatoes, finely diced

¼ cup pine nuts, toasted (Do not burn the pine nuts. Burnt pine nuts are bad for a marriage. The first time we made this recipe together, I burned the pinenuts, much to my husband's distress. Then he burned the pine nuts the next time so badly that they left little pine nut shadows in the bottom of the pan. I felt vindicated and probably gloated quite a lot.)

Mix together marinade and Veggies. Grill Veggies on a hot BBQ until soft and slightly charred.

Mix while hot with cooked fusili, goat cheese, fresh basil, diced tomatoes and pinenuts. Serve and garnish with freshly ground black pepper.

Revelling in the Quiet

Solomon went very, VERY well. We had a terrific house, and all the musicians - orchestra, choir and soloists - performed wonderfully well. I'm so proud of what WH has accomplished with this concert... what a rush the whole experience has been.

We have spent the rest of the weekend moving around very quietly and without a lot of motivation. We didn't get dressed yesterday until 3pm, and are having a quiet afternoon today with the Grey Cup, trying to get caught up on some of the work that we haven't had time to focus on in the last couple of weeks.

I think that the cats are grateful to have a little attention.

Back to the regular grind tomorrow, which will be just fine. Prep for Messiah is well underway, and at least one other Christmas gig, as well as early work on our spring concerts.

And, of course, my day job!

We're Hanging in There

This week is unbelievably busy.

Yesterday, we picked WH's parents up from the airport in the morning, and then WH had his first orchestra rehearsal for this Friday's production of Solomon. This morning, we were up at the crack of dawn to get to a promotional TV shoot for the concert at 6am, and now (10am) WH is doing a radio interview. Then we're rushing home to catch a phone call from the local paper, grab some lunch, hopefully find a bit of a nap, and then the orchestra and soloists rehearse from 2 until 4:30. Then home for a quick dinner before orchestra and choir rehearse tonight from 6:30 until 9:30.

WH teaches first thing tomorrow morning before we rush off to do another TV promotion, and then I think we have the afternoon quiet before our dress rehearsal in the evening.

There are no rehearsals on Thursday, but I have to go to a meeting in the morning, and then a grant application workshop in the early afternoon. One of our soloists is giving a master class at Colourful U. in the afternoon, which we both hope to get to, and then we are planning to make reservations somewhere for the cast of soloists for supper.

On Friday, I think that we are going to be very quiet and very relaxed so that we are full of energy for the concert in the evening!

I took this week off work and I'm very glad that I did. I wouldn't want to be missing all this excitement! Having WH's parents in town is wonderful, because they are taking care of a significant amount of the food preparation for us, so we're not having to worry too much about getting fed!

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For those who asked about the car break-in: WH lost an old iPod and a bunch of spare change, and they punched in the lock on the passenger side, so we'll have to get that fixed. So it's a pain in the butt, but at least they didn't break any windows.

Witnessed in the Police Station This Morning

... where WH and I were filling out a report about a car break-in.

The gentleman in line in front of us was, apparently, visiting the police station to see how he could have his samurai swords returned to him. The swords had been taken from him two years ago by the police in an incident that also involved a tasering.

Police Officer: Did you get tasered because you were carrying the swords?
Guy: No, I got tasered because they asked me to put down my weapons, and I told them that they weren't weapons, they were educational tools.
Police Officer: Actually, they're weapons.
Guy: With all due respect, they're not weapons.
Police Officer: With all due respect, get the hell out of my police station.

Then there was a lot of yelling. The police officer was a lot louder at the yelling, so the guy left. But not before leaving a multi-page hand-written manifesto about his right to have his swords back.

Ah, Saturday morning in the community station.

Cartoon

From Time.com...

Wednesdays

Wednesday evenings are my evenings at home on my own. WH is in rehearsal tonight, but when he's not rehearsing, Wednesdays are his curling night. (If you're not familiar with curling, read here. Curling is awesome.)

Because I'm in rehearsals most other nights during the work week, Wednesdays are my night to get business manager work done for Chamber Choir, get caught up on house work, cook a nice dinner, cuddle with the kittehs, knit, cross-stitch, chat with friends, play Word Twist etc.

And it's my night to watch crime shows on TV! Well, actually, first I often watch America's Next Top Model, although lately, I've found that the show has gone from Endearing-Stupid to just Stupid-Stupid, so I've stopped seeking it out. But I have started watching Criminal Minds again, as well as CSI NY. I'm especially fond of Criminal Minds, if I can get past the fear factor.

So now I'm going to get back to it!