Happy Canadian Thanksgiving, The Elections, The Current State of Affairs, and a Life Update
Category: Life

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to all my Myspace pals!

I've got the turkey and my plans all ready to go.

Gobble gobble.

Speaking of great big turkeys,  I've been riveted, of late, to the political scene both in the US and Canada.

I will refrain, however, from comment

I have friends and family on both sides of the debate and would like to keep it that way.

I'll tell you, though, with everything going on, the PB and I are so GRATEFUL (apropos, I know with it being Canadian Thanksgiving and all) that we didn't sell our house and decided, instead, to stay put.

I swear, I am the most amazing fake psychic ever.

I had a feeling...

Grandpa can you hear me?

In other news, a wind storm knocked out our power this week for two days and people, I have a new found appreciation for the pioneers.

Not only because it's damn cold without electiricity, but because those folks would have had to spend a whole lot of needless quality time with their families.

I'm here to tell you, there is only so much Trivial Pursuit and Monopoly a body can handle without becoming certifiable.

Especially since the Poolboy quits if he doesn't get Park Place and Boardwalk.

That and the fact that I cannot be trusted as banker.

Good Lord I said it.

I cheat at Monopoly.





But all cheating notwithstanding, I'm still a domestic undivah, and I'm cooking up a storm this weekend.

Pop by for a visit to witness the fabulosity...

A Fabulously Good Life

www.fabulousgoodlife.com

Otherwise, not much is news :-)

Talk to you soon, see you on the blogs, and remember, it's all just stuff.

The important things in life are:

Your health, your family, and your closest friends (aka, the people you know in real life ;) Try not to take anything - least of all Myspace - too seriously.

As a recently detoxed person, I say verily - the world of cyber is only healthy in balanced and measured doses.

As for the rest...

In a changing and volatile world, hold tight to the things you know and are certain of.  The things we can't control,  we can't control, so let go.

All will pass.

When Mount St. Helen's erupted so many years ago, the lava destroyed everything in  her path. But now, years later, we see new growth, and the growth of flora and fauna that were not there before.

In the world of crisis intervention, we view crisis as "A Dangerous Opportunity"

Meaning that change and growth are very often the result of crisis.

Sometimes crisis is just what we need to propel us onward to the next level.

That's the way I look at the economy and other things going on.

I am a fatalist, and with all my heart, I believe everything is happening exactly according to plan.

It feels right that it's happening in Autumn... a large scale burning of the leaves...

Now is the time for the burning of the leaves.
They go to the fire; the nostril pricks with smoke
Wandering slowly into a weeping mist.
Brittle and blotched, ragged and rotten sheaves!

A flame seizes the smouldering ruin and bites
On stubborn stalks that crackle as they resist.
The last hollyhock's fallen tower is dust;
All the spices of June are a bitter reek,

All the extravagant riches spent and mean.

All burns!
The reddest rose is a ghost;
Sparks whirl up, to expire in the mist:
the wild Fingers of fire are making corruption clean.

Now is the time for stripping the spirit bare,
Time for the burning of days ended and done,
Idle solace of things that have gone before:
Rootless hope and fruitless desire are there;

Let them go to the fire, with never a look behind.
The world that was ours is a world that is ours no more.

They will come again, the leaf and the flower, to arise
From squalor of rottenness into the old splendour,
And magical scents to a wondering memory bring;
The same glory, to shine upon different eyes.

Earth cares for her own ruins, naught for ours. Nothing is certain, only the certain spring.

-Laurence Binyon

All will be well and all manner of things will be well.

Love to all.

Happy Thanksgiving.

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The Naked Truth About Swimming
Category: Life

Hey everyone!

Wow, it's been a busy week - thank God it's *almost* Friday. I have so much on my work To Do list right now I'm actually feeling kind of overwhelmed by it.

So today I'm going to jump right in and tackle a pile of things that need doing.

You know, so I can put my feet up tonight, light some candles and watch the s hour premiere of Survivor!! I am still hopelessly addicted to that show.

I also wrote a blog that I thought some of my friends on Myspace might enjoy called The Naked Truth About Swimming.

In other news, I bought my own domain name so that my blog is officially titled "A Fabulously Good Life" ... www.fabulousgoodlife.com

Pop by if you want to give it a read. Otherwise, have a great weekend and I'll see you on the blogs!

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From Lemons to Leaves and All Things in Between
Category: Life

It's just turned noon and I am still in my pyjamas. So what else is new? I know.

The PB arrived home from his doh doh dee oh dohing this morning with a breakfast biscuit from Tim Hortons and a new set of luggage for me!



How cute are these???

I have a conference to go to next month in Quebec City and now I will be going in style.

Of course, the PB had no way of knowing that Ralph Lauren Featured red plaid in his collection for Fall 08 - but I did!



What can I tell you? The man has made an art of doh doh dee oh dohing.

And me, well I've been busy living The Good Life.

Stop by and  visit my last two blogs if you're looking for something to read...

Changing the Tears of August

The Lemon Blog

Otherwise, have a great weekend and I'll see you next week!

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Big Balls and Other Happenings
Category: Life

Hey everyone! Welcome to Thursday.

I'll tell you, I've been feeling great lately.

(thank God, because I was feeling LOUSY for the longest time)

Anyways, as soon as I'm finished this I'm off to the pool for a swim before work.

With all the good food like Chicken Spaghetti I've been eating lately, I've put on three pounds and want to nip that one right in the bud before it gets any worse. It's amazing how fast the weight just creeps back on if you don't keep track of it.

Thought I'd share my two latest blogs. In particular "Big Balls" because I thought my Myspace friends would get a kick out of it.

Here they are:

Big Balls

Spaghetti Chicken Casserole

Have a great weekend everyone!

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My latest blogs
Category: Life

Here are the links to my latest blogs...

The Things I Fear

The great Sour Cream Experiment

Pop by if you feel like reading!

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The Hair Bought his First Car!! Deleting friends, And Other Life Updates
Category: Life

As promised, just a quick life update here on Myspace to let anybody who cares know I'm alive and well.

Especially after the big pink lips dissapeared from my profile page - which, thankfully, I have gotten back.

I was doing a little housecleaning one night and realized that of the almost 2000 friends I had on my list, I only knew a handful. So I set to deleting. The problem is, I deleted my big pink lips, and inadvertently might have deleted friends who read my blogs but don't comment that much - so if you've been removed from my friend list and don't want to be, please accept my apology and send me another request :-) That way I'll know that all of my friends are actually my friends.

***
I've saved this one just for you guys. TH bought his first car!

LOL!! It's a 1980 Dodge Aspen - the same kind of car I made the PB park around the corner and down the block the night of the Glitterati party.

To The Hair, this thing is a sweet ride - and I couldn't be happier for him.



The interior's pretty nice too. He just bought himself new floor mats...



Other than that, life carries on.

I've been blogging pretty much everyday over on my new account and have been enjoying it very much.

My writing seems to have taken a turn toward the domestic and I'm just kind of going with it as that seems to be where my head's at lately. As happened here, a lot of my readers pop by in the morning over coffee and most days my blogs are ready to go pretty early (this because I'm a night owl and I post them at 12:01 before I go to bed :-)

Today's was a personal favourite. It started out as a recipe for English Muffin Pizzas, but as I meandered my way along, it turned into so much more.

Memories, Gratitude, and English Muffin Pizzas



Pop by for a visit, bookmark me, send me an email to ziggfoo@live.ca to subscribe or just plain take care.

I'll be back in another month or so to say hello.

Until then, I'm living The Good Life and loving every minute of it!

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Maven, Where Have You Been?
Category: Life

Because I've had quite a few emails this week asking where I've been, I thought I'd do an update 

I've done a few of these but not everyone has read them I guess.

So...

The 411

I'm still blogging regularly, just not on Myspace.

I'm on blogger.

Though I don't have the same kind of audience, after trying both sites this year, I find I prefer blogger. It feels more relaxed and I love the features - they're more blogger friendly :-)

I'm also doing more of the kinds of blogs I love to do but were never that popular on Myspace: Food, decor, inspirational, entertaining etc - all with my trademark Maven and the Poolboy flair

So that's me.

Otherwise, life is good.

This summer I've been a gardening, canning, cooking, and baking domestic goddess - and loving every minute of it!

Anyways, I'll leave this blog up for the summer and that way anyone who happens by and wonders where I am, will know.

I'll pop by in the fall to update again.

Until then, pay me a visit if you want to The Good Life. And follow the link out of Myspace.

*SMOOCHES!*

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The buying and selling of friends - I am an ADDICT
Category: Friends

I'm ADDICTED to the buying and selling of people as pets.

Which is hysterical since when the whole thing got started I thought it was the stupidest thing ever.

Who knew such an activity could provide so many hours of fun.

And then when somebody buys one of my people!!

Nina bought my Tralife  - but because she's fabulous, and pregnant and all, I decided to let her have him...

For awhile.

He will be back on my pool deck soon.

Speaking of which, Tralfie, T Squared , and I have been in a battle over the Poolboy.

Of course the Poolboy had absolutely no idea - but when I told him the other night he was owned by The House of Thruple again - it piqued his curiousity.

"What do you mean owned?" says he.

So I explain the whole game to him.

And he asks "How much am I worth?"

I tell him.

Then he asks "How much are you worth?"

I tell him.

He cries "Bullshit on that!"

I explain... "That's why you're the Poolboy ;) Now... fetch me a drink."

LOL!

Carry on.

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While I Was Busy Making Other Plans
Category: Life

The PB and I live in a small city. The kind of place where you can go to the mall or a grocery store, and almost always run into someone you recognize or know.

Prior to moving here, I was in Montreal, which was one of the biggest, loneliest places I've ever lived.

And not just because of the language barrier - my neighborhood was predominantly French - but also because of the population.

Strange isn't it?

That places with an abundance of people are often the ones that feel the most isolating.

That's the way it was for me in Montreal.

I lived there in the late 1980's - back in the days when the tv show Cheers was popular, and I can remember sitting in my apartment waiting for old episodes to come on in re-run just so I could hear the theme song.

I too wanted to be where everyone knows my name.
















They say be careful what you wish for.

Because the things we long for are often not the things we plan for.

The secret desires we keep tucked in the backs of our minds and our hearts while we go about the business of sensibly plotting the direction of our lives, are the things that get overlooked and discounted much of the time.

But John Lennon was ultimately right.

It's been my experience that the things we truly, deeply, long for often fall into place when the time is right - providing the things we pine for are in sync with our destiny.

I know this firsthand.

While I was living in Montreal, I was incredibly unhappy.

But I had no plans to leave  because I couldn't see any way out.

This was the path my career had taken. I had worked harder at becoming a member of the RCMP than I'd ever worked at anything in my life - mostly because I was such a square peg in a round hole, but also because leaving at that point, would have felt like the ultimate defeat.

Not just because it was the RCMP, but because my track record up until then hadn't been particularly shining.

Remember, there was a point in my life when I was a Dupree.















That interesting, yet haphazard friend who just can't seem to get his life together.

I couch surfed, moved around, and changed jobs so often in my early twenties that getting into the RCMP was not only something to be proud of, it was akin to a miraculous event.

Which is why, at the ripe age of 23, in my role as second worst police officer in Canadian history, it was gut wrenching to realize that there was no way I would ever survive a career in law enforcement.

First because it just isn't acceptable to apologize to the bad guys while reading them their rights, and second, because after running over my partner's foot with an unmarked car, or thinking "Cool! This is just like on tv," as I chased a drug dealer down the hall during a really big bust, I realized it was only a matter of time before I killed someone - or they killed me.

In other words, there wasn't a place for my kind of fabulosity in serious police work.

And on a  sunny day in October, 1989, I finally came to my senses and walked out of the RCMP detachment at C Division in Montreal for the last time.

I never looked back.

At almost the same time, my step father Marv was leaving his own career in law enforcement.

After 30 years with the RCMP and then later with Canadian Security Intelligence, he was retiring.

And for whatever reason, he and my mother decided to stake their claim on Vancouver Island.Which is where I came for a visit after packing up my life in Montreal and hitting the road.

I drove clear across Canada in my Honda prelude with absolutely no idea where I was going or what I was going to do with my life.

And for longtime readers, it was on that journey that I happened to bump into my friend Rob at the hamburger joint.

It was on that journey that I saw him for the last time.

But here's the thing.

Every so often, and especially during times of crisis, we are gifted with moments of clarity that tell us we are on the right path.

And on my passage out of Calgary, as I hit the Rocky Mountains, I was gifted with such a moment.











I had no plans. I didn't know where I was going, what I was doing, or where I would end up, but in that moment, I knew I could trust the highway to take me exactly where I needed to be.***

"I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floatin' around accidental-like on a breeze... But I think maybe it's a little of both, maybe both are happening at the same time."- From Forrest Gump














What do you think?

Are you living the life you planned, or did the breeze take you places you never thought you'd go?

As always, Enquiring Minds want to know!

23:59 - 158 Comments - 157 Kudos - Add Comment

Hey Mave! What’s for Dinner?
Category: Food and Restaurants

As many of you know, I am a die hard Foodie.



I love to think about, cook, create, taste, smell, and eat food.



Which, given the unfortunate circumstance of my genetic makeup, has proven to be quite the challenge. 

Because as much as I love and adore food - my relationship to it hasn't always been positive.

This because food loves me right back.



As in baby got back.

People there is a five star restaurant that says "Open all Night" residing just north of my ass.



And over the years I've invited my fair share of burgers, fries, and mayonaisse to the table for dinner.

Not necessarly in that order.

However, in the immortal words of Diana Ross:

I'm...

Coming...

Out!



(and the blue goose shall ride)

Over the last three months I've been on a journey to get healthier - both in the way I think about myself, and in the way I think about food.

I've lost twenty pounds, reclaimed my love for swimming and jogging, bought a whole new wardrobe (including shoes), changed up my hair, and in the process, changed up me.

Or rather, uncovered me.

The me of me.

The person I always knew I was, hiding underneath 25 years of stress, second guessing, and feeling like I didn't quite measure up.

I don't feel like that now.



And in the process of uncovering myself, I rediscovered my passion for food, and life, and good wine, and family, and friends and...

Well you get the gist.

So I decided I'd like to share some of my recent food finds here - introducing you to recipes that are easy, super healthy, quick, and delicious.

Since January, I've been trying to eat less red meat and incorporate fish into my diet a few nights a week. Especially fish like salmon which is full of Omega 3 fatty acids (so good for the heart).

The following menu can easliy be prepared for a weeknight dinner. It takes as long to put together as it takes to sip a glass of red wine.

Best of all, the potatoes can be prepped in the morning for easy roasting later.

So ask me...

"Hey Mave, What's for dinner?"

On the menu tonight:

Amazing salmon, lemon roasted potatoes, easy arugula  salad,  and  homemade foccacia bread.

Amazing Salmon



One large fillet, with or without skin
1 clove garlic, chopped fine
1 1/2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
1 lemon, zest of
1/2 lemon, juice of
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus
additional oil, for greasing baking pan

Prepare a baking or roasting pan by lining it with foil and brushing it with olive oil.
 
Preheat broiler.
    
Mix together all remaining ingredients except fish into a well-blended paste.

Place fish skin-side down (if it has skin) on baking sheet, then spread seasoning over flesh.
 
Broil fish at second rack away from heat for 5 minutes or less, just enough to sear flesh but not burn herbs.
 
Lower fish to 3rd or 4th rack and lower oven heat to 325°F Bake for 10 additional minutes, or until fish is cooked through in the thickest portion.
  
Serve with Lemon Roasted Potatoes and Easy Arugula Salad

Lemon Roasted Potatoes



These crispy golden brown potatoes add zest to this dinner.

8 Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed (about 4 lb/2 kg)
      1/2 cup (125 mL) lemon juice
      1/3 cup (75 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
      3 cloves garlic, minced
      2 tsp (10 mL) salt
      2 tsp (10 mL) dried oregano
      1 tsp (5 mL) pepper

In large pot of boiling salted water, cover and cook potatoes until slightly tender, about 15 minutes. Drain and let cool. With paring knife, peel off skins if desired; cut into wedges.

In large bowl, whisk together lemon juice, oil, garlic, salt, oregano and pepper; add potatoes and toss gently to coat. (Make-ahead: Cover and refrigerate for up to 8 hours.)

Arrange potatoes on parchment paper-lined or greased rimmed baking sheet. Roast in 400°F (200°C) oven, turning once, until tender-crisp and most liquid is evaporated, about 40 minutes.

I usually turn my broiler on toward the end of cooking and  sit the potatoes under that to really brown and crips them.

Easy Arugula Salad



4 cups young arugula leaves, rinsed and dried (you can use green leaf lettuce in a pinch)
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil or extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 large avocado - peeled, pitted and sliced

In a large plastic bowl with a lid, combine arugula, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, oil, vinegar, and Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover, and shake to mix.

Divide salad onto plates, and top with slices of avocado.

Fabulous (and easy) Focaccia Bread



2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup mozzarella

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, basil and black pepper. Mix in the vegetable oil and water.

When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Punch dough down; place on greased baking sheet. Pat into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Brush top with olive oil. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese.

Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.

***

People, there's only one way to describe this meal:

Oh mama!



Or papa.

(Grandpa can you hear me?)

Anyways, that's a little foodie blog from yours truly. Let me know if you try any of the recipes. I have lots more I want to share.

And in the meantime, think on this...

Our lives are a direct reflection of the choices we make, and everyday holds the opportunity to start again.

Whoever said "life is what you make it" got it right.

No matter what the circumstance, you still have the power to choose how you will react, and how you will think.

Here's wishing you a day filled with positive choices, happy moments, and great food!

Until next time...

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