swaggin' and sighin'

yeah, it's late... and i should try and sleep soon. i'm just not ready yet. usually, i'm watching a random series on surfthechannel. but, there just isn't anything that i want to watch right now. ok, not true. i would really like to watch either "community" or "head case". however, they aren't available in full series... just a few random episodes. so, instead i'm kinda watching jimmy fallon. and doing random internet searches. there is a good reason for that though...

see over there... you might have to scroll down. but, over to the side i have a link for "swag bucks", there is also something over there called a "swidget".

about a month ago, i was reading emily's blog who writes under1000permonth. she's broadened my view on saving money, interesting ways to be frugal, and making money doing something that we all do each day. ah yes. swagbucks.

pretty much all you have to do is sign up, and then use their search engine to... search. randomly you are awarded with "swag bucks" and after a while... they accumulate. once you have 45, you cash them in for $5 amazon.ca gift cards. or save your bucks for bigger gift cards, or for clothing... or whatever! i wasn't sure about this whole thing... but, i find myself searching for recipes, blogs, or when i'm helping siobhan with her homework all the time anyways so i figured it was worth a try. i signed up the 25th of october and i already have 44 bucks! you also get swagbucks from finding codes... and paying attention to the swagbuck facebook page.

i didn't know the best way to tell people about it. but, i figured this was a pretty good way. so, go on... sign up. and if you have any questions, just ask me! :)



other news. all the immigration paperwork was sent!! wooohooo!! it was received at the case processing center mississauga (CPC-M) on october 30th. which was way before my original deadline. i've been on a canadian immigration forum like crazy these past few days. everyone posts questions.. and always includes their time lines. from what i see... the average processing time for sponsorship is 21 days. even though the cic website says that it is 35. so, hopefully aderito and i will know whether or not i have been approved to sponsor him by november 20th. if i am approved... our case will then be sent to buffalo. where they will do extensive background checks, go over his medical check, and read through everything that we sent proving that our relationship is real, genuine and continuing. oh!! in the immigration forum, i asked whether as a sponsor i need a job or not. the response was that because i am sponsoring my husband, i am exempt from the financial aspect. i pray constantly that this is true. there is a system that is set up online that allows me to check and see where in the process they are with my paperwork... it's called ecas... i don't remember what it means. anyways... i am tempted to sign in all day long to see if they have even opened my case yet!! however... i will be patient. i will.

sigh.

the sugar bear.

i don't remember how it started. there must have just been a box of it in the back pantry. but, at the moment i can't get enough of kashi golean crunch cereal. it's offically the best i've ever had. there is a very specific reason why i feel so much love towards this cereal. it doesn't get mushy. unlike aderito, who soaks cookies in milk and eats it. i need my cereal crunchy from my first bite to the very last. kashi golean cereal stays crunchy. and it tastes like... sugar crisp. remember that cereal? apparently, it's only called sugar crisp in canada and in the states called golden crisp. after just doing a bit of reading about sugar crisp, it is said that 50% of it's weight is sugar. goodness. no wonder i liked that so much as a kid! kashi still has 13g of sugar per cup. but, i'm ok with that at the moment. after eating a cup of it i'm usually not hungry for hours. which is my kind of tasty crunchy cereal.

jobbing. it's like jogging, except you only use your fingers. seriously, i need a job so very bad. there are places that i've sent my CV to that i never thought i would. suzy shier?! yes. pumpkin patch?! yes. chicken factory?! yes. everywhere. i sent it out about 6 more times yesterday, and will again on monday when all the new jobs are posted again. there has been prayer without ceasing for a job... which i need... immediately.

there is loads of paperwork that needs to be filled out for immigration. it's almost there. monday i will finish the rest. put it altogether. look it over 3 more times. make sure it all has been photocopied 2 times. the thing is though. is that i need a job. they need to know that i am able to support both of us. even though, aderito could potentially work in bermuda for another 2 years. he makes amazing money there. i don't think that it is going to be difficult for us to find a job anywhere though. we are willing to go wherever a potential job needs us to go. preferably not anywhere northern... so, almost anywhere. in the meantime however, or i guess... as soon as possible, i need to work. agora.

fall isn't my favourite month. i appreciate the leaves, how beautiful it all looks. i even have this strange affinity towards it... in my head i think that if i was to match any season it would be fall. it makes my red hair seem to flame, and my fair skin glow. yet. i don't really like fall at all. i have a theory however as to why i might feel this way. "the fall of freddie the leaf: a story of life for all ages". after my dad died, someone... probably a grief counsellor gave my mom this book. it made sense, i was 12, erin was 9, and jim was 8. a book was a very good way to explain death when adult words don't make sense. but, this book is about freddie and his leaf friends. they are born in the spring, grow big and strong in the summer, but when the fall comes they all die. that's it, the life cycle. leaving me, for the rest of my life to resent fall a little bit. fall, my kindred in colour. every year when autumn comes... i find myself watching all the little freddies drift onto the ground, i sit looking out the window watching freddies blow across the yard. i'm already looking forward to spring.

kelly is going to be here soon. we are going to bake pumpkin scones. i made them about a month ago, and it's time to bake some more... i've missed them. my mom and i bought ourselves scones from starbucks last week. they were wretched. the scones we once looked forward to driving and buying, we no longer think about. only the delicious homemade ones. mmm. i'm also excited to hang out with kel. she's a pretty cool chick!

not me monday...

during my obsessive blog reading over the past month... i've decided that my absolute favourite new one is mckmama. seriously, how could a blog about a family with 4 small children all under the age of 4 not be incredibly entertaining? and, as i could only imagine being a mother of so many small children you would occasionally have to do things you would have never imagined as a childless adult. in mckmama's words this is why "not me monday" had a purpose... "born out of my desire to admit some of my imperfections and reveal a few moments i'd rather forget. you may find it therapeutic to join in and do the same thing!"

this is the first monday since i've been been following her blog since i read it from the very beginning. so, i thought that perhaps i should participate. you know, clear the air... and get out any possible antics that i most definitely... did not do!

my mom, siobhan and i went on an excursion to the grocery store. we needed just random bits of stuff for thanksgiving dinner. you know... parchment paper, baking soda, icing sugar, bread for stuffing. while my mom was off looking at the bread. siobhan i did most certainly did not sneak in a huge tray of cream cheese iced cinnamon buns into the cart... and say nothing at all until my mom noticed!! why would we want something so delicious and tasty as that... when we are going to have thanksgiving dinner the next day?!

my mom invited a few extra people on thanksgiving. they brought along with them loads of food. a pumpkin pie, marinated cheese, and a broccoli casserole. later on in the evening when asked how much i enjoyed the broccoli casserole i most certainly did not lie... and say that the broccoli casserole was absolutely delicious. who in the world would lie about broccoli? in casserole form?! not me!

after enjoying thanksgiving dinner... i was in the kitchen cleaning up the many bowls, plates, glasses and pieces of silverware... on the way over to the dishwasher i most definitely did not allow my sister's bulldog ruby lick the potatoes, turkey, and gravy off the spoons!! noooo way! i would be in so much trouble if i ever did something like that!!

mckmama is right! it does indeed feel good to get all that stuff out in the open!

comida ... estilo português!

i'm a total and utter blog reading addict. seriously. i don't even remember how it started, or why it started, or where in the world i've been finding all these blogs to read! but, when i do find a good one... i go all the way to the beginning and just read. and read and read and read. until i've caught up, and then can just follow day to day. i suppose it's cheaper than buying new books... and when it's about real people... it makes it even more interesting. i'm pretty excited to follow the new blogs, and see where they all go next. i know that emily from under1000permonth is going to have a baby any day!! umm... kristi from poopinginpeace has 3 young girls, and just wants to be able to poop in peace. mckmama has 4 small children all under the age of 4... you just never know what might happen next with the mckfamily! the red pen, who writes itotallyforgotyougohere, lost her boyfriend a few months ago in a plane crash... and is bravely blogging through her grief. the pioneer woman, dooce, amalah, and jorge are all really cool too... and all make me laugh! which i very much appreciate.

so, now you know what i've been doing. i felt like it would be nice of me to tell you... seeing that i said that i would post more "tomorrow". and well... that was quite a few tomorrows ago. sorry about that. i'm still going to tell you about the food of randomness that i ate on sao miguel.

let's see... well. we didn't go out to nearly as many restaurants as i was hoping. however, aderito's mom made many different traditional acorean dishes. unfortunately, my portuguese is equivilant to that of a 2 year old. there are some words, that i must think are very important and i can still remember them! however, they aren't going to help much at all. i do remember what we ate in restaurants though!

the second night on the island we walked down to the beach... the beach has been named 'praia vinha d'areia'. which, from what i understand mean vineyard sand beach. anyways, the restaurant we went to is called praia restaurant cafe. it was beautiful! i had asked aderito about the seafood many times... and he always said that we would eat lapas. and, so we did!! they were... cooked. the taste was a combination of an oyster and a clam. squeezing fresh lemon made the lapas very palatable!

i may have mentioned this in the past... but, i turned 30 in portugal. i went into this vacation with fairly grand expectations for my birthday. loads of ideas of where i wanted to go, what i wanted to see... where i absolutely had to eat! however, what i wanted... and what ended up happening were two completely different things. the day after my birthday was my niece matilde's baptism. so, the week leading up to it we cooked and prepared and got ready for the baptism festivities (i spent a week planning, cooking and preparing for my wedding... and i'm fairly sure that they spent waaaay more on this baptism than aderito and i did on our wedding!). the day of my birthday i spent quite a bit of time sweeping and then peeling 100lbs of potatoes. it was a blast. in the evening i managed to pull aderito away from it all... and asked nicely if we could please go out. alone. without family and children or potatoes. i just wanted to relax with him. so, we went back to the praia restaurant cafe. i had a fresh cheese and tomato salad... and delicious baby clams in a lemony broth. oh yum! i think that one of the reasons i wanted to go back to the same restaurant so quickly was because they start off your meal so well! they call it, couvert. which in english just means cover charge. but, when in portugal it means a delightful dish filled with various bits of food to get your palate ready...

fresh cow's cheese (usually make just the day before), fresh butter, tuna (which is canned just down the beach), and black olives... in portuguese. azeitonas pretas. this was E2.50... not too bad!

there was always fresh fish (peixe, in portuguese) available. vila franca do campo is fairly well known in sao miguel for being a fishing town. mae natalia (aderito's mom) made something with fish every night. sometimes it was a tasty potato and cod (bacalau) casserole. one time we had these little fish... they were really crispy and salty... they tasted so good. but, i had a stomach ache for 3 days after. oh yes, mae natalia made tuna rissoles... they are like perogies, filled with tuna, coated in bread crumbs and fried! oh my! aderito and i both requested that we eat them our last night there! one afternoon after going over on the boat to see ilheu vila franca do campo (a very small island just off the coast), aderito and i went to a restaurant (restaurante o jaime) that over looks the fishermen's boat launch and enjoyed super fresh swordfish (espadarte). i've had swordfish here in canada, and it was always kinda tough. i don't know if it was because of the extreme freshness... but, it was unbelievable!

one of the first things i noticed while on sao miguel was that there are picnic areas everywhere. each of these areas has about 5 cement barbeque pits. most of aderito's family all got together for a picnic the last week we were there. there was loads of food!! we grilled potatoes, pork, sausages, hamburgers... and my favourite: sardines! i don't have any pictures of the actual food cooking... however, one when they had just started the fires... aderito is happily whistling and building, and little jonas loved the fires... and would not stay away!!

lastly... queijada de vila franca do campo. little cakes that are only made in vila franca do campo. apparently people (including me) have tried to make these cakes... but, there is no possible way to recreate them! i brought back 2 boxes, and dissected them... and tried to figure out what the ratio of butter:sugar:flour:eggs could possibly be! i have no idea. i tried to find recipes online... there are none in english! and the portuguese versions are well... in portuguese and when i've attempted to translate... the outcome was nothing but sad. i don't get it... i tried to translate the one recipe i've found... i'm pretty sure that it's telling me to make cheese. however, after eating many of these little cakes... i can assure you... there is no cheese!

aww... aderito was so excited about these cakes!! he had told me about them the first christmas we were together... and then returning to bermuda there was a box of the cakes from his mom. it had been a year since he had any, so he was so happy! so, at christmas last year... i decided to show him my mad portuguese translation/baking skills... and whip up a batch of what i thought was queijada de vila. aderito was very sweet, told me that they were good. but, that they were most definitely NOT queijada de vila.

i made sure to take a picture of him outside the building. ugh... how adorable is he?!

the above picture is of the little cakes... after they have been baked. before they get a heavy... and i mean HEAVY dusting of icing sugar. mmmm....

whoa. i think i pretty much covered the important food events. i think that the only other extremely good eating experience was the pineapple. however, i was so pumped to eat it... that i forgot to take a picture. they are not like the pineapples we get here in canada. there is almost no acidity to them at all!! which is strange... because the soil on the island is highly acidic. perhaps, that doesn't effect the pineapple. also, most of the time the pineapples that arrive in canada (or at least ontario)... have travelled from quite far, and are never at thier ideal ripeness. oh the pineapples. next time, i'm definitely bringing some back!

well... i think that this concludes the food portion of my acorean adventure.

what could possibly be next?!

back from the island...

it's really late. and i should just go to sleep. but, the past few nights i've closed my eyes... and started thinking and thinking and thinking. so... perhaps a good 'ol post will get whatever is in my head out... and then sweet sleep will arrive quickly.

yes. i am back. i made it... all the way to the beautiful island of sao miguel and back! i don't even know where to start... or what to say about my time there. honestly, i kind of felt like we took off in toronto... and landed on an entirely different planet. i don't know if it was the everyone around me speaking in portuguese... and i only understood a handful of words. or, if it was the really narrow roads... the complete lack of vegetables... or, that children and babies were NEVER expected to be buckled into their car seats... and said car seats were never buckled into the car.

it was a gorgeous island. i was enthralled with the scenery when we were in cuba. but... sao miguel... was waaaaay more beautiful. it was green. and the buildings were so white. the hydrangeas were the most insane colours... blue, red, purple. the sand was black. aderito's friend down the road grew bananas, pineapples, limes, incense... i hadn't ever seen fruit in it's natural growing state!! especially pineapples. seriously... i had no idea how they grew until joao opened the door to the pineapple greenhouse... i was amazed. and slightly embarrassed by both my excitement... and by the number of pictures i had taken of a pineapple. i took over 1200 pictures during the 4 weeks we were there. and when i got back, and put them together... i was still a bit disappointed... and felt like there was a whole lot of the island i didn't capture.

it wasn't a quiet island. nope. loud. very loud. for various reasons. every day started with 3 different vehicles letting it be known that they were coming... they were outside your house... and they were leaving and going onto the next street. i think that the fruit/vegetable man came first. honking and playing music. then the bread man came... honking and playing music. and then the tinker... well... the man with the housewares, clothing, whatever-else-you-may-need. yes, he honked too... played music... and once in a while over is loud speaker announced that he had boxers! and socks! in portuguese! this was all before 9am. everyday. then because it was summer vaca... the nieces and nephews arrived shortly after the honking vehicles were gone. and the accompanying mothers. this was just all at his house!! when we left it was noisy everywhere too...

i was pretty excited when we finally agreed to rent a car... if only for a few days. i wanted to go somewhere!! i wanted to explore!! i wanted quiet!! i wanted to drriiiiive! so, we took the bus (which every time made me crazy pukey) into ponta delgada. i had asked for a compact car. for 2 reasons, my car is little... i'm used to little cars. and because the roads are so small, and right up against buildings. was the car that we picked up small? nope. it was huge... a european made ford focus station wagon... diesel! geez. i immediately decided that i was not going to be intimidated! i was going to be just fine. unfortunately aderito... turned into a very nervous old lady. he was so nervous... that he refused to speak to me while i was driving. we drove plenty. all the way around the island in one day. 8 hours of driving. with his mom... and niece patricia. the next day we went out and about by ourselves. with very little talking... the exception being aderito telling me that i was driving too close to the his side of the road. oh, and telling me to slow down. i'm fairly certain that unless i was going downhill i usually drove at about 40km/hr.

i know for certain that it was amazing seeing aderito in his... natural environment. watching him interact with his 4 sisters. watching him play and laugh with all his nieces and nephews. being there as he was reunited with old friends... and the rest of his enormous family. as much as i was occasionally frustrated that i didn't understand what was being said around me... it was nice for our roles to be reversed. he had to translate to me what was going on, what the menu said, where were we going next, why his sister just punched the other sister in the head. yes. that really did happen. he was just so relaxed. being with him on his home turf magnified a very generous side... there was only one homeless man that i saw on the island. he always sat along the water in ponta delgada... close to where the bus picks people up to take out of the city. everytime we saw this man, aderito asked when our bus would come and be sure to give him a handful of change. very sweet. i suggested that because the man was never wearing shoes that perhaps we should buy him a pair... aderito informed me that he doesn't like shoes. huh. ok. oh yes... for the entire time that aderito and i have been together, it's been pretty clear that he doesn't really like conflict. but, seeing him with his sisters, and mom... totally confirmed that he was the peacemaker. there was loads of family conflict that went down while were were there. aderito always made sure that after whoever was fighting, each side was ok... that they had their side heard... and to let them know that they just needed a few minutes to calm down and everything would fine. there was plenty of opportunity to see how much aderito babies and children. there were so many times when adults would gather and chat... aderito was generally with the kids... kicking around a soccer ball, flying them around like airplanes... or walking around the house trying to get 1 month old matilde to go to sleep. if matilde was laying down on our bed napping... aderito would usually tiptoe in, lay down and take a nap with her. oh goodness. no more talking about aderito and babies... my ovaries are getting itchy.

let's say to be continued for now.... i'll post a few pictures tomorrow... and perhaps tell a story or two...

ohhh... and and the food!! i can't forget about the food!

see you... in september...

the time is almost here...

tomorrow, aderito will land in toronto. and we will start our 5 weeks together.

ahhhhhhhh.....

(that was a sigh of relief)

i'm ready to spend time with aderito. i'm ready to hang out, watch movies, walk random places, laugh, go to the market, kiss, take pictures, and just be with him. It's time.

saturday night, we fly off. landing in ponta delgada at 7:20am on sunday. aderito's sister... paula and dana will pick us up... at off we go to vila franca do campo... to stay with momma natalia for 28 days.

i'm going to try my very hardest to keep a blog while i am there... i'm not too sure about the internet situation, so... i'll post them when i get back...

or, after aderito flies back to bermuda... until christmas.

we waited 199 days this time...

94 will be nothing!

how many days?

ugh.

aderito and i are going a bit nuts.

we miss each other so much. 6.5 months apart. actually... 189 days apart to be exact. it's offically too much. 4.5 was managable. we were both ok... held our shit together fairly well. the extra 2 months added to it... is making us both a bit intense. it makes me cry. a lot. it makes him super cranky. i've had enough.

i'm trying to keep my mind busy. i went through all aderito's clothes, and packed all his stuff. then packed our shoes, baby stuff for my sister-in-law's new baby girl (who's name i still don't know... why can't men remember these very important details?!). i packed all the clothes that i have bought to take with me... and a lot of other stuff. we are about 80% packed. i have a bunch of appointments in the next week... haircut/highlight, sugaring, manicure, pedicure. that should keep me pretty busy.

i made a decision this summer to not tan. even though i had tons of time on my hands to do it. i've started getting freaked out a bit more about skin cancer. but, i didn't want to land in portugal being super white. so... well... i've been using self tanner. i'm not even joking. and, i like it. i did some research, and aveeno continous radiance was what i decided to try. it was a very good call!!! i love it! except for the smell. it's not as bad as most self tanners... but, it's not pretty. so, i've been using it mostly at night. i don't look whitewhite... and don't look orange. just like i've spent a bit of time in the sun. perfect.

oh! yes... and if you haven't went and checked out the pioneer woman's TASTY KITCHEN site, you must! it's a lot of fun... a lot of really good recipes. i check it out often throughout the day... because it's updated with new pictures and recipes often. i've added a few of my favourite recipes. most recently, a recipe for cherry clafoutis souffle. i had a whole lot of cherries. i had heard of a dessert called cherry clafoutis in the past... but, didn't know for sure what it is. so, i googled. it's like, vanilla custard with cooked cherries in it. it wasn't quite what i wanted... so, i used the recipe... but, whipped the whites and folded them in... making something closer to a souffle. the finished product? amazing! i will have to remember it again next cherry season.

ok. 10 sleeps to go.

we all need to pray that the time flies by.