Sabbatical Sendoff
Because I am kind of masochistic, it wasn’t enough to just move our stuff in one day, oh noooooooo, I had to commit us to having a party the same day!
Michel and I need to send out a HUGE THANK YOU to our friends that helped us move in the morning (Sue, Shane, Brett, Heather, Kris and Chris). They made short shrift of our belongings and helped us fit most of our worldly possessions into a 10’ x 15’ room!
Once we were done, we had about 1.5 hours to set the house up for all our guests but considering there was next to no furniture in the house, it was pretty easy to do and made it easy to fit everyone in the house as Mother Nature wasn’t cooperating that day.
It was great cooking for everyone (something I really enjoy and the reason I long for an open concept house) and everyone seemed to love the chicken so here is the recipe from Epicurious:
Grilled Chicken Breasts with Spiced Yoghurt
2 1/4 cups plain yogurt (18 oz; preferably whole-milk)
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
6 skinless boneless chicken breast halves (2 1/4 to 2 1/2 lb total)
1 cup small fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoons minced shallot
Whisk together 1 cup yogurt, 2 tablespoons oil, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, salt, and spices, then add chicken and turn until coated well. Marinate at room temperature 20 minutes.
While chicken is marinating, prepare grill for cooking. If using a charcoal grill, open vents on bottom of grill, then light charcoal. Charcoal fire is medium-hot when you can hold your hand 5 inches above rack for 3 to 4 seconds. If using a gas grill, preheat burners on high, covered, 10 minutes, then reduce heat to moderate.
While grill is heating, whisk together remaining 1 1/4 cups yogurt and 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice and salt to taste.
Grill chicken (discard marinade), covered only if using gas grill, on lightly oiled grill rack, turning over occasionally, until just cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes total. Transfer chicken to a platter.
Toss together mint, shallot, and remaining tablespoon oil in a small bowl. Drizzle chicken with yogurt sauce and top with mint salad.
2 1/4 cups plain yogurt (18 oz; preferably whole-milk)
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
6 skinless boneless chicken breast halves (2 1/4 to 2 1/2 lb total)
1 cup small fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoons minced shallot
Whisk together 1 cup yogurt, 2 tablespoons oil, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, salt, and spices, then add chicken and turn until coated well. Marinate at room temperature 20 minutes.
While chicken is marinating, prepare grill for cooking. If using a charcoal grill, open vents on bottom of grill, then light charcoal. Charcoal fire is medium-hot when you can hold your hand 5 inches above rack for 3 to 4 seconds. If using a gas grill, preheat burners on high, covered, 10 minutes, then reduce heat to moderate.
While grill is heating, whisk together remaining 1 1/4 cups yogurt and 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice and salt to taste.
Grill chicken (discard marinade), covered only if using gas grill, on lightly oiled grill rack, turning over occasionally, until just cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes total. Transfer chicken to a platter.
Toss together mint, shallot, and remaining tablespoon oil in a small bowl. Drizzle chicken with yogurt sauce and top with mint salad.
Kris has a friend named Howard who joined us. Howard travels quite a bit via boats, ships, etc. and we wanted to mine his experience for gems of information that may have related to our travels. He was very interesting to talk to, however, in retrospect; it was the wrong event to try and pick his brain about this form of travel because we were so busy hosting, cooking, etc. As he was on his way out of the party, Howard stopped in the kitchen and he, Mark and Michel has the opportunity to talk about their shared passion……….military history! Oh, if the boys had only known earlier that Howard was into military history, I am sure they would have found a quite corner and spent the night talking. I think it would have been better to have gone for a quiet drink or coffee with Howard but hind sight is always 20/20.
There were several moments while I was in the kitchen when I could hear everyone laughing and having a good time. I know everyone thinks we are going to have an amazing adventure and I totally agree but………. it was during those moments at the party that I realized what I would be missing during the year and there was an ache in my heart. I won’t have those moments for a year and although I am going to endeavour to keep in touch with everyone, I won’t be able to maintain the same kind of contact I had by living in Calgary. I will have regrets about missing all the day-to-day moments and events in everyone’s lives. Please, please, please keep in touch and tell me what is happening in your lives. I always tell Rob that the intimacy of good friends comes from sharing what everyone thinks of as the mundane moments in life. The big events have binding power but it is the small moments that are the real glue!
I am going to miss all of you and am looking forward to coming home.
Foster Parents
We had great news on the Monday before we left. Dawn from FRFA (Feline Rescue Foundation of Alberta) found a volunteer to take the girls. April seems really nice and is definitely cat friendly as she has 12 of her own cats (most of them rescued) and has agreed to foster the girls to give Dawn some time to find another house where there are not so many cats. From talking with April, she seems to be quite involved in the cat world as she is working with cat organizations around North America to better the plight of cats in general.
However, dropping the cats off at April’s was not a happy experience! My poor babies had a rough day as they had to go to the vet to get shots and then to April’s. I didn’t get to say goodbye the way I wanted to because as soon as I set them down, they scooted under the bed to hide. I am clinging to Sandi’s words of wisdom…….have faith that April is taking good care of them and loving them and they are better off than if I had had to put them down. I just hope they forgive me when I go to pick them up in a year.
I want to give a plug for FRFA (http://www.frfa.ca/) to all my cat friends. I can attest that they seem to be more interested in saving cats that the Meow Foundation. The Meow Foundation would not help me because they were too worried about potential litigation if they found a foster parent for my girls and something went wrong. So, if any of you support these types of organizations, I would encourage you to support FRFA over Meow Foundation or the Calgary Humane Society. FRFA really cares about cats.
And So the Adventure Begins!
However, dropping the cats off at April’s was not a happy experience! My poor babies had a rough day as they had to go to the vet to get shots and then to April’s. I didn’t get to say goodbye the way I wanted to because as soon as I set them down, they scooted under the bed to hide. I am clinging to Sandi’s words of wisdom…….have faith that April is taking good care of them and loving them and they are better off than if I had had to put them down. I just hope they forgive me when I go to pick them up in a year.
I want to give a plug for FRFA (http://www.frfa.ca/) to all my cat friends. I can attest that they seem to be more interested in saving cats that the Meow Foundation. The Meow Foundation would not help me because they were too worried about potential litigation if they found a foster parent for my girls and something went wrong. So, if any of you support these types of organizations, I would encourage you to support FRFA over Meow Foundation or the Calgary Humane Society. FRFA really cares about cats.
And So the Adventure Begins!
With the house finally empty and clean (a day late) and the girls securely ensconced with April, we were ready for our adventure to begin.
We had some not great news the day before we left…….my Aunt Betty was in the hospital and very ill. As a kid, she was my favourite aunt – how could she not be – she was the wild one and always seemed to be having fun or had great stories to tell. She has been fighting emphysema for many years and it is getting the upper hand. So we changed our plans a bit and drove to Regina so we could go visit her in the hospital. She seemed to be in good spirits but I noticed she was winded several times during our conversation and seemed tired by the time we left about 30 minutes later.
We also got a good visit in with Uncle Butch and Aunty Sharon. They stay with us once or twice a year when they head West to see Aunty Sharon’s parents and it is always nice to catch up. The older I get, the more I am valuing family and friends. But when I think of family, I am usually concentrating on my parents and siblings and this trip has gotten me to thinking about the wonders of extended family.
Carman, MB
We had some not great news the day before we left…….my Aunt Betty was in the hospital and very ill. As a kid, she was my favourite aunt – how could she not be – she was the wild one and always seemed to be having fun or had great stories to tell. She has been fighting emphysema for many years and it is getting the upper hand. So we changed our plans a bit and drove to Regina so we could go visit her in the hospital. She seemed to be in good spirits but I noticed she was winded several times during our conversation and seemed tired by the time we left about 30 minutes later.
We also got a good visit in with Uncle Butch and Aunty Sharon. They stay with us once or twice a year when they head West to see Aunty Sharon’s parents and it is always nice to catch up. The older I get, the more I am valuing family and friends. But when I think of family, I am usually concentrating on my parents and siblings and this trip has gotten me to thinking about the wonders of extended family.
Carman, MB
After Regina, we headed straight to Mama and PapaLou’s. It is a wonderful feeling to pull up the driveway of home (even though I have never lived in this house). We spent our Sundayin typical Murray fashion – PapaLou put us to work! Steve and I cleaned our car – it has not been this clean since I bought it 11 years ago! I am sure the car is going “Aaahhhhhhhhh”. Poor Michel got the harder job of helping Papa dig up a tree stump and a trench to deal with keeping the water off the driveway.
I think we will have a quiet week working with Mom and Dad as next week is busy with events (no hints, you will just have to wait until I write about them!).
I think we will have a quiet week working with Mom and Dad as next week is busy with events (no hints, you will just have to wait until I write about them!).
when are you coming to Montréal ????????
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