7 Quick Takes (Vol. 5)

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We survived Easter, barely. Holy Saturday was hard. I was really sick, Walter was still sick, and David had committed to doing one of the readings at the Easter Vigil, which at our church takes place before dawn on Easter Sunday (so 5am this year), and was sad that he was going to have to get up in the middle of the night to spend Easter on his own. But we had our Easter miracle -- a kind friend sent David home from the Vigil with a batch of homemade hotcross buns, so we had a special Easter breakfast. I sang Walter the Exsultet when I put him to sleep on Saturday which made me feel somewhat connected to the church universal, and by Sunday afternoon Walter's digestive system had sorted itself out and I was able to keep food down. By Monday we were able to make it to our favourite gastro-pub, The Old Spring, for Easter dinner. So it was very different from usual, but it ended up being a special family time nonetheless. And I am really enjoying being able to sing songs with "alleluia" in them to Walter again!

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On one of our last days in Cambridge we took a family walk into town. After a few hours of walking we'd burned off our pub lunch & afternoon coffees, so we decided to pick up a snack from the sausage cart. It led to a conversation of the different types of hotdog/sausage street foods we've had in various places:

- BC: we don't buy them on the street, but you can get a really good kosher smokie from Costco. It's not specific to BC, of course, but we only eat them there.

- Alberta: The climate isn't really conducive to street food, and we couldn't remember ever consuming a hotdog in the province... that said, we were able to sample lots of delicious Ukrainian and Mennonite sausages at the Old Strathcona Farmer's Market so I guess that counts.

- Ontario: hot dog venders on Toronto street corners. We loved their corn relish, and the ability of the hot dog to help create sobriety between leaving university events & reaching home.

- New York: we went for the big guns and decided to try an authentic American chilli hotdog at Nathan's Famous on Coney Island. It was sad. I don't think we'll ever do it again. The pizza was much better.

- Berlin: Currywurst!! This is our favourite so far -- German wurst topped with "red sauce" and loaded with curry powder, served either with a roll or with fries. So good.

- England: sausage-in-a-bun. If it weren't for Germany this would be my favourite. Sausage in a bun just has a better taste than the hotdog and for some reason doesn't feel as dodgy. Nice floury bun, nice hot sausage, and lashing of diced onion & chilli relish. It was good.

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David and I are sort of splitting the end of my maternity leave, except he doesn't get any pay to stay at home and look after Walter. It just means we can have an income again :) Anyway, Walter spent my first week back at work enjoying himself too much to nap. David says it's like Walter can't believe I would leave him & David unsupervised, so he feels he needs to cram in as much fun as possible. My first day gone, Walter laughed hysterically every time David went near him and wouldn't sleep at all. I'm really glad that they're getting this special time together and it's made going back to work so much easier.

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Since it's still Easter for us Catholics, I'll post these now: my family is Ukrainian and my Gramma's house is full of the Ukrainian Easter eggs that she & her sisters made back in the day. Last time I was at Gramma's I was able to sneak some pictures:

Easter meets Christmas!

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On Sunday I took David & Walter to Peacock's Tearoom to celebrate my annual raise. I've been trying to take David there for over a year so I was thrilled that our high tea lived up to every expectation. Although it's not quite as romantic as taking tea in an apple orchard, the food was superb and the gigantic list of loose leaf teas made our day. The English certainly have a knack for making a good pot of tea and whenever I am back in North America I lament the horrid, semi-flavoured water that passes for tea most places. Walter got to join in our tea time fun by eating crumpets & jam. He went a bit berserk and by the end of the meal he had jam all over his face & feet (having finished his meal he decided to suck on his toes) and bounced on my knee with the most devilish expression of glee on his face.  

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Walter's been crawling since 7 months and is, as predicted, getting into everything. He climbs & pulls himself up quite easily, so he can effectively get around most barriers. The funny thing is that when he is tired he seems to forget that he is mobile. The other day he crawled away from me, down the dark hallway, and then sat there sobbing because he was on his own in the dark and couldn't figure out how to get back to mummy!

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I've gotten my first 'normal' paycheque for the first time in about 6 months. This meant I could do the mature and responsible thing and create a household budget. I even used an excel spread sheet and figured out how to get the cells to do the math for me. Unfortunately, a pretty & functional spread sheet doesn't equal a pretty final result. So it's time to sit around and count my blessings (which is perhaps what people mean by that irksome '#firstworldproblems') rather than feeling we're still best neighbours with the Have Nots :) There's too much hope put on instant gratification, but waiting another month or so for a day-trip to London should only serve to remind me that I should be grateful I live close enough to London to make it a day trip! Still, for the present I think I am best served by continuing to read books in the vein of Little Women and The American Frugal Housewife, which will teach me to bear this season of tightened belts with the grace & composure of someone who does not need to find their happiness in lots of material freedom.

 

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