Book Review: Before We Were Yours

13 Feb

I did that thing that pisses me off when other people do it. I got a book from the library that sounded good, didn’t just snatch it from the shelf but took the time to request it and then go pick it up once my name got to the top of the list. Then I bring the book home and…don’t read it. I Just kinda put it in a pile with other books I want to read and left it there. sigh.

Then when the book is due and I try to renew it only to discover I can’t because 22 other people are waiting for it I don’t immediately return it, I keep it another couple days and finally read it.

I get so irritated when I’m on a waiting list for a book and people have over due copies and yet, this week, that person was me. *rolls eyes*

On a good note, I read the book today and am taking it back tomorrow, so others can stop cursing me lol

On to the book review!

before we were yours

I can’t remember where I heard about “Before We Were Yours” by Lisa Wingate but I’m glad the book popped in to my radar.

It is a fictional story based on a true event, something I tend to find fascinating, well, if it is written well, which this book is.

The story is told in two timelines. We follow Avery in present day who is part of a prominent family, has her life all mapped out for her, she stumbles across what might be an old family scandal so she goes digging to find out more. Then there is Rill, her story starts back in the late 1930’s, she is the oldest child in a poor but happy family. All the children are taken to a Tennessee Children’s Home Society orphanage even though they aren’t orphans and experience horrible things over the coming months all while trying to figure out how to get back to their parents.

The story of Rill and her siblings intersects with Avery and her family in ways I won’t detail since I don’t want to spoil the story for you. Suffice to say you are left to do some detective work alongside Avery as you try to sort out the mystery, while suffering alongside poor Rill and her siblings as they go through things no children should.

Avery, Rill, and the other children and family members in this book are fiction, the orphanage, woman who ran it, and the way children were sold as commodities, are true. A woman named Georgia Tann ran a bizarre organization that flourished thanks to bribing various officials, having a large spotting network to help her find suitable looking children to kidnap, and the lack of regulation within the adoption system at that time.

It really is amazing, in a horrible way, what she was able to get away with for so long.

Despite how dark I am making it seem it isn’t a depressing book. It is an easy read, it all just sort of flows along. I liked a lot of the characters, even the annoying ones lol, I don’t want to discuss the ending because I don’t like giving spoilers but it won’t make you unhappy…probably…how would I know what ending you would prefer? 😉 lol

So there you have it, my first book review…hopefully I get better at this! 😀

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Chicken Pot Pie

10 Feb

Time for another recipe! Well…it was sort-of a recipe, more like recommendations of ingredients with vague comments about how to put them together lol

I wanted to try making Chicken Pot Pie, the kind with the biscuits on top, but had no idea how. So I did what I always do, I YouTubed and Googled and came up with lots of recipes but also lots of questions.

All the recipes mentioned needing whatever quantity of cooked chicken, but none of them said how to cook the chicken. Am I supposed to bake it? Grill it? Boil it? Why don’t these recipes start with “Step 1: cook the chicken in such-n-such a manner”? Won’t the chicken cook when it is in the oven mixed with all the other ingredients?

That was my main line of confusion, so then I did what I always do when confused by recipes, I emailed my mom. I basically sent her the questions I typed in the above paragraph with a desperate plea for help.

She took pity on me, probably while shaking her head wondering how I function as an adult when left to my own devices, and replied with the tidbit of information that chicken pot pie is designed to use up left over chicken, which is why the recipes don’t say how to cook the chicken.

Oops!

Then she sent a recipe for chicken pot pie she has from a relative…

1 can mushroom or celery soup (Aunt Jude used one of each as she was making a 9 x 13 pan)
Cooked chicken, cubed
chopped onion, celery, mushrooms
frozen mixed vegetables, or left over veggies
seasonings
milk
Mix soup and small amount of milk in a large bowl. Stir in cooked chicken and chopped onion, celery and mushrooms, add frozen veggies (or a mix of frozen/left over veg) till you like the quantity. Pour into casserole dish, top with pastry lid. Bake at 375 for 25 mins, or until pastry looks cooked.
This is not a recipe!
This has vague measurements, and even vaguer details.  A small amount of milk? What is a “small amount”? When I asked her she said “until it looks right”. *rolls eyes*
And uh, hello, “seasonings”…what seasonings? Which ones? How much of each?
Some of us need a detailed road map when cooking and the above recipe was not that!
Not wanting to admit defeat I attempted to make the recipe, only smaller as I didn’t want endless left overs. I used one can of the mushroom soup, 1/4 of a can of milk, half a bag of mixed frozen veggies (Compliments brand, they are meant for soup so lots of celery, carrots, things like that), a bunch of shredded chicken that I bought from Safeway, and for seasonings I used parsley, oregano, basil, and jalapeno red pepper flakes…what can I say, I wanted a bit of a kick to the flavour.
The kick didn’t really happen, it is a bit bland but not in a bad way, which sounds weird I know. It actually ended up tasting fairly good, it isn’t pretty but oh well. It also isn’t some strongly flavoured dish but I don’t think it is supposed to be and maybe it wouldn’t taste like chicken pot pie if it was…deep thoughts to ponder on some other day lol
I didn’t make the biscuits, or give it a pastry top. I was going to make an individual biscuit using the two ingredient dough that has exploded in popularity all over the internet but was too lazy and didn’t lol I didn’t want to make the biscuits or pastry lid like on traditional pot pies because I thought they would get soggy after being on there for a while and since it is only me eating this thing I was betting on the leftovers lasting for days, and days, and then being frozen to last a little bit longer…and none of that made me feel confident in the biscuit life span. Go figure, I’m a bit of a cynic 😉
chicken pot pie
chicken pot pie 2
It turns out that the recipe that isn’t a recipe made a pretty good meal, that has fed me for daaaaays. Tomorrow will be my last serving of it and I’m gonna kinda miss it. I just might have to add this one in to my rotation of meals I make on a more regular basis…not that I actually have a list like that, but grown-ups seem to so maybe I should make a list…can putting “ordering pizza”on the top of a list like that count? Hmm…more deep thoughts to ponder… 😉

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FitBit Love

7 Feb

I have had a FitBit on my wrist for about 4 years now and I love it just as much now as I did when I first strapped one on. Maybe even more now, since I have a newer, snazzier, version than the one I started out with.

My first FitBit was a Flex, the one that is semi-water proof and the display shows 5 dots. The dots light up when you tap the FitBit to show you how many steps you have taken that day. I had my step goal set at 10,000 steps per day so each dot represented 2,000 steps. While it was good, all tech has it’s flaws. It could go in to sleep mode if you were pushing a grocery cart across a parking lot (from the bumps I guess), it often thought my chopping vegetables was me stepping (it was amazing how many more “steps” I got on days I did veggie prep! lol), and well, it only gave me limited information. For detailed info about how I was doing that day I had to sign in to my app, which yes ok, not like that is a big deal or even hard to do, but c’mon, I’m lazy, which ironically enough, is why I invested in a FitBit in the first place lol

That first FitBit, I had epic plans for it. I bought it a short time before I was going on vacation, what was going to be a very active vacation, and I couldn’t wait to see how many steps I could rack up while in Northern Wales. Well yeah, that didn’t work, because it broke after I had it for a month or so? I was so upset! I contacted FitBit to let them know it broke, actually I think I contacted them to ask what I could do to fix it, and by default let them know it broke. They gave me some things to try, that didn’t work, and then they did something awesome…they sent me a brand new FitBit Flex for free!

Talk about amazing customer service! 😀

I didn’t get the replacement FitBit in time for my vacation, but hey, whatcha gonna do? *shrug*

Once I returned from my trip my new FitBit Flex and I became inseparable. Literally. The only times I took it off were when I showered and when it had to charge. I even covered it in saran wrap and wore it when taking part in a muddy obstacle course and more importantly, when dragon boating. Well, to be fair, I only covered it in saran wrap when dragon boating if it was pouring rain, on non-rainy days I just made sure to wear it on the arm that didn’t get submerged into the water with every stroke of my paddle. Splashing I knew it could handle!

Two Christmases ago I took the Flex out of it’s wrist band and tucked it in my clothes, in what I thought was a secure spot, because I was going to my work Christmas party and the band was not what one would call fancy looking. I absolutely couldn’t wear it with my dress, so into my cleavage it went. Don’t judge, I’ve done it before and it worked great! That particular time it didn’t work out all that well and somewhere during the night I lost it. Sadness. 😦 I tried calling the party venue, left them multiple messages, describing what it looked like, but nobody ever called me back so I’m assuming they either (1) didn’t listen to their messages, (2) didn’t care, (3) didn’t find it and didn’t care if they told me that or not. Which fair enough, why should they care that I was stupid and lost my FitBit and was now frantically hoping beyond all hope it would magically re-appear in to my life.

I was so upset I posted to social media about having lost it and someone I have never met, who lives on the other side of the country, said they had just upgraded their FitBit and no longer needed their Flex and get this, they sent me their Flex for free! With the band and charger and dongle!

People can be amazing sometimes. Absolutely amazing. 😀

When it arrived in the mail I was so incredibly grateful that I immediately sent them a Thank You card with a gift card inside. I mean wow, who does things like that not just in general but for someone they never met? Blows your mind a little doesn’t it?

Then another amazing thing happened, for Christmas that year I received a FitBit Alta as a gift from my parents. I had been wanting to upgrade but couldn’t justify or afford the cost and they knew this, so being the awesome parents that they are, that is what they bought me.

So now I had my replacement Flex and a new Alta. For a while I thought I would wear the Alta most of the time but swap out to the Flex when dragon boating but that didn’t really pan out. Instead the Alta and I became best friends and inseparable and now it only comes off my wrist when I am showering or charging it.

Then a crisis!

This happened…

fitbit flex

The strap broke! NoooOOOooo!

I wasn’t even doing anything interesting when it broke, the silicone part just came off of the clip part that attaches to the actual tech part of the FitBit Alta.

Travesty! The horrors! What was I to do??

Well I’ll tell ya what I did, I went searching for my crazy glue hoping I could fix it only to find my crazy glue had become a solid mass, I mean what, did it glue itself to itself? So then I started tucking the tech part in to my sock / boot / waist band / pocket (depending on what I was wearing) because I couldn’t be without it but I didn’t know how best to carry it around. I was constantly worrying it would fall out and I wouldn’t notice and then I’d not only not have a wrist band for it but I wouldn’t have the Alta at all! *cue the dramatic music*

Being the broke person that I am I chose to order a knock-off band from eBay instead of forking over $40 for a real replacement from FitBit and boy did I regret that. It didn’t fit as well, it was different material and not as comfortable, it was starting to give me a rash, just not good things.

So I did what I did last time I had a problem, I emailed FitBit and told them what happened. I didn’t ask them for a new band, I was past warranty and didn’t think that was right. But I did tell them the circumstances under which the band broke, and how it wasn’t fixable, and now I was wearing it tucked in my boot, and maybe they should look in to the problem because if this is a product flaw they may want to address it.

I got a very polite response asking me for some more information, which I provided, and then I got an even better email from them saying I was past warranty but sometimes rules are meant to be broken and they were going to send me a replacement band anyways!

This! This is why I love this company and will keep buying their products! Well, this and the fact that I love their products lol

Not only did they send me a replacement band they sent me the newer version of the band, so instead of a clip type closure it is a, umm, I don’t know what the type of closure is called, it is like a belt or a watch closure…here lemme put a picture in to show you what I mean…

fitbit band

See what I mean? My closure is like that, only my band is black, like I’d ever buy it in baby pink. 😛  lol

Now, my Alta and I are back to being inseparable…on my wrist, not in my boot! 🙂

Here is a link to the FitBit Alta that I have on Amazon…in case you are interested in getting one yourself!

http://amzn.to/2E6jwaY

 

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Dragon Boat Swag

5 Feb

In honour of my dragon boat team’s training season officially starting (we had our first practice of the season this past Saturday at 9am) I thought I’d share an etsy store that sells dragon boat related swag that I love.

Disclaimer! My friend created this shop, and designed everything in it, and arranged for all items to be locally made, so I maaaay be a tad biased…but! I can guarantee you that if I didn’t know her, and I stumbled on to it by fluke I would still love it! (And for the cynics out there, no I am not getting paid to tell you about her shop *rolls eyes*)

Here is a link to her shop:

https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/DoodledeeCreative/items

Or if you are on etsy and want to search for her shop it is DoodledeeCreative.

So far I have bought this key chain…

dragon boat keychain

Which I absolutely love! LOVE! It is hand made, adorable, and well, functional I guess, but something doesn’t have to be functional to be loved by me lol

I want oh so many of the t-shirts she has listed but I am one of those weirdos that lives on a budget and I don’t have a lot of extra money floating around to buy things solely because I want them. Le sigh.  Doesn’t mean I’m not planning on buying some of them as the season progresses though, so be warned, you’ll be reading posts throughout the year filled with me sharing my excitement over a new piece of dragon boat swag.

See, at every race regatta and festival there are always booths set up selling tanks, and tees, and various pieces of swag, all related to dragon boating. Don’t get me wrong, they are great, but there isn’t a lot of variety and it doesn’t take very long to have one of every quote that you like on a shirt, and just because a new season has rolled around doesn’t mean the companies bringing those items to the festivals have come up with any new great quotes. I mean sure, sometimes they do, but mostly you’re seeing the same things year after year. Kinda gets old, ya know?

But D’s shop is original, it is designs she has come up with, new quotes and images on the tees and tanks and stickers, it is the opportunity to buy something not everyone has. Plus, the little bamboo key chain can go with me everywhere, so I can show off my dragon boater pride whenever I want lol

So yeah, if you are a dragon boater, or know a dragon boater, or are curious about dragon boating, I highly encourage you to go check out her shop. You can spoil yourself, spoil that special dragon boater that is in your life, enjoy buying something you know is an original design and is made in Canada, all good things people! Good things!

Paddles Up! 🙂

 

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A New Cookie

1 Feb

A found a recipe for a cookie I wanted to try and oh boy were they a hit! I made them for someone at work as a going away present (so she got all the really pretty ones lol) and the rest I gave away, most of them to other people at work and some to my landlords.

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It’s actually a pretty easy recipe, which I will put right here…

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:

1 Cup Butter

2 Cups Sugar

3 Eggs

2 tsp. Almond Extract

4 Cups Flour

1 tbsp. Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar

1/2 tsp Salt

Cream together the butter and sugar until blended.

Add in the eggs, mix well.

Add in the rest of the ingredients.

Don’t panic! The batter will be very thick!

Add in a few drops of red food colouring and stir through for a pretty pink colour. You don’t want to over mix at this point, you want the batter to have pink swirls in it, not be entirely pink.

Cover and chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Roll into balls and place them on a greased cookie sheet. Flatten the balls slightly before baking. Or do what I did and use your snazzy new cookie dough scoop (think ice cream scoop) so your hands don’t get messy and your cookies are all the same size.

Bake in a Preheated 350 degree oven for around 10 to 12 minutes. Careful, they burn easy! (not that I’m speaking from experience or anything 😉 )

Once removed from the oven, glaze the cookies with the following glaze recipe, make sure to do this while they are still warm.

1 Cup Powdered Sugar

1/2 tsp. Almond Extract

1 to 3 Tbsp. milk

1 to 2 drops red food colouring – you want a pretty pink glaze

When making this glaze, if it is quite thick, add more milk or if too runny, add more powdered sugar, until you get it to a spreading consistency.

I don’t recommend topping with sprinkles, I tried that and they melted, making the cookie look like it had smeared drops of blood in the glaze (I used red sprinkles) lol When I tried topping a different cookie with sprinkles, once it and the glaze had cooled a bit, it was too late and the glaze wouldn’t hold the sprinkles. Finicky little things!

The recipe makes a huge amount of cookies, I burned one entire tray (oops!) and still ended up with more than I knew what to do with.

My dough ended up thicker and a bit dryer than the mixture I saw in the original recipe, and because of that my pink swirls ended up more like pink dots, which taste wise is fine, they were still good. But looks wise, could use improvement. I didn’t take in to account change in atmosphere, humidity, etc, when making the cookies. Next time I might make them a tad less dry so I can swirl the colour, see what result that gets me.

The cookie itself has a lovely soft middle with a slight crunch on the outside. The addition of the almond extract in both the cookie and glaze is what people love (I think), because it is different and not the flavour you are expecting when you bite in.

I think it would be a great cookie to make if you needed something to give away, say in a cookie exchange, or for presents, or even to take to a gathering, because it makes so many, isn’t overly sweet, and is pretty. 🙂

Aaaaand because it is always important to give credit where credit is due here is a link to the YouTube video where I got the recipe from…

 

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Instant Pot: Sweet & Sour Chicken

30 Jan

Cooking! Once again with the cooking. sigh. When will I be rich enough I can pay someone to do this for me? 😉

I bought an Instant Pot in November, it took ages to get to me thanks to WalMart’s slow delivery, but that’s fine because though I wanted it, and had vague but great plans for it, I had no idea what I wanted to cook in it.

It finally got opened a week ago and there were so many warnings in the box, in the book that came with it, on the actual device, that I almost boxed it back up out of fear that I would kill myself if I tried to use it. If anyone could do it…

Instead I washed it, put it in the cupboard, and tried to figure out what to cook in it first. After much scouring of the internet for recipes I decided on Sweet and Sour Chicken. See, while the Instant Pot can be used in a whooooole bunch of ways, I mostly wanted it for it’s slow cooker settings. I owned a tiny slow cooker, because I am single and don’t need a massive slow cooker, but the tiny slow cookers are lame in that they aren’t programmable, so you have to be around to turn it off when you want it to stop cooking which means I could never set it and go to work, or practice, or wherever, because I wouldn’t be home in time to turn it off and the food would over cook.

This adorable 3 quart Instant Pot however, has all the bells and whistles, while being a small enough size for my needs. Yay!

Because I was still half convinced I was going to either (1) make it explode or (2) experience recipe failure, I picked an easy recipe to try.

I bought one of those Club House slow cooker packages and for the most part did what it said to do.

Club House Slow Cooker Seasoning

I kind of guessed how many peppers would make the measurement required, same with the onion, aaaand the celery lol I ended up using three peppers (one red, one yellow, one orange – cause I liked the colours), one red onion, three or four celery stalks (can’t quite remember), one can of corn kernels (drained), and one can of pineapple tidbits (not drained). Oh, and instead of chicken thighs I used chicken breasts, I believe I put four or five in there, but that is because they were tiny.

Except for the guessing on measurements for the vegetables I did everything else exactly as described on the back of the seasoning package. After much googling I learned that “low” on a slow cooker equals “normal” on an Instant Pot, so I set it for 8 hours on normal, oh so slowly backed away, quickly begged the universe to let this work, and went to bed.

Whoever decides to try a new recipe, in a new kitchen appliance, for the first time, when it is a meal you are taking to share with friends, is either very sure of their cooking abilities or an idiot. I’m pretty sure you can figure out which of those applies to me lol

When I checked it in the morning it was perfect! The chicken was tender, moist, perfectly cooked, the veggies were cooked but still a bit firm (which is how I like them), and the sauce was delish. I took the chicken out, cubed it, put it back in and mixed it all around, then left it on the “warming” setting until I was ready to put it in a container and take it to the get together I had made it for.

People loved it! It also made a huge amount, so I am grateful I took extra and sent people home with left overs, there is after all, only so much sweet and sour chicken a girl can eat in one week lol

I’m glad I started with such a simple meal, makes me think maybe the next dish I make in there will work out also!…maybe…

sweet and sour chicken 2

Warming up left overs…

sweet and sour chicken

Aaaand a close up, cause why not?

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Meatloaf…Of A Sort…

17 Jan

Does it still get to be called meatloaf if it isn’t, say, quite a loaf shape? Or any shape…

Deep thoughts to be pondered over here tonight.

When I was home at Christmas I took a pic of my mom’s recipe for meatloaf. I don’t know why meatloaf gets such a bad rap, my mom’s is really good. She was kind enough to make it when I was home and when her back was turned I took a pic of the recipe and smugly thought I could recreate it for myself anytime I wanted.

I really should know better by now. *rolls eyes*

The only thing I swapped in the recipe was Panko instead of bread crumbs, though it turns out mom actually uses wheat germ (not sure what that is, so I know it isn’t in my cupboard!). Other than that I did everything the recipe card said.

My cooking ability being what it is the meatloaf turned in to a red in the middle, setting off my smoke detector twice, mess. Oops?

Before the hour of cooking was up I heard sizzling sounds, the liquid from the meatloaf was spitzing over the edge of the loaf pan and sizzling. I started to freak out, what if it caught on fire or something? So I put a cookie sheet underneath the loaf pan to catch any flying liquid and then nervously sat staring at the oven for the remaining 15 minutes wondering if the cat and I were far enough away to not be harmed if it blew up. When the timer went off I took the loaf pan out oh so carefully (so as not to spill all that liquid that magically appeared…seriously, what is that? I used extra lean ground beef!), poured out the liquid, hastily put everything down so I could wave my oven mitt under the smoke detector to shut it off…fyi, there was no smoke so I don’t know why it went off. Then I cut in to the middle of the loaf, took a peek and swore because oh man so much red still left in there.

Obviously my oven’s 350 degrees is not the same as my mother’s oven’s 350 degrees.

I put it back in for another 20 minutes, nervously hovering and peeking through the window in the oven door…cause ya know, that’ll make everything work out better lol. When the 20 minutes was up I pulled the loaf pan out, poured out more liquid, waved the oven mitt under the smoke detector again, swore a bit louder this time, cut in to a different part of the meatloaf, discovered pink (which is a downgrade from red, so better I guess…), and put the whole thing back in the oven. sigh.

When I next pulled it out I had gotten smarter and put the oven fan on high so yay for no more smoke detector going off! I cut the meat loaf in a new spot, by this point the poor thing was in pieces, and thought it looked cooked through. Finally!

Totally got ahead of myself though. When I put the spatula in and pulled up a piece the bottom half stayed in the pan. Ok, fine, so that first piece won’t be pretty, that’s all good. Um, yeah, all of the lower half of the loaf stayed in the pan because while the top half became meatloaf-esque the bottom half did not. It was more uh, ground beef with some stuff mixed in it that I wasn’t sure was totally cooked.

I was fed up by this point so the upper half of the loaf got pulled out and put on a plate, the lower half that did not choose to take form got put in to a frying pan where I cooked it a bit longer, juuuuuust in case…hey now, no judging, nobody over here is wanting food poisoning thanks.

So this is what I ended up with…

There was more of the meatloaf that was sort-of loaf shaped, it just didn’t make it in to the picture because I’d already admitted defeat and put it in a tupperware container. I have been told the ground meat on the left would be good in a chili, I was thinking of using it as my breakfast protein for the next couple days and tossing some in with some scrambled eggs, or making a wrap or something…

The meatloaf that is sort-of loaf shaped is slowly being eaten. I ate some as-is and it was good. I also made a cold meatloaf sandwich and it was good then also. So, the flavour is right, the meat is cooked, it just didn’t take shape the way it would have for my mother.

I’m thinking maybe I had too much in the pan. It was quite domed above the edge of the loaf pan, but I thought it would be ok because my mom warned me it would shrink down, so I thought maybe it was supposed to start high…I’m now realizing that logic may be flawed and perhaps I should have either (1) used less meat (in my defence I used the amount specified in the recipe) or (2) split the mixture into 2 loaf pans.

It would be nice if these simple, logical thoughts, came to me while I am cooking, instead of the day after. 😉

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A Little SUV Maintenance

11 Jan

Ok yes I know that as a vehicle owner I am supposed to have a maintenance fund set up for when I need work done to my suv. I don’t have one quite yet, it’s more like I have a general emergency fund and if something happens to my suv I pull from there. I don’t like it, but it’s what I’ve got for now.

The other week a guy pulled up beside me at a red light and motioned for me to roll my window down. When I did he told me my right brake light was out. I was on my way to work so couldn’t really do anything about it then but once I took time to think about it my general thought was:

“Shit. How much is this gonna cost?”

I knew it would cost a stupid amount if I went to a shop because of labour charges, but when a vehicle needs work that’s what you do, right? You take it to a shop?

Except, what if you don’t?

What if you go internet sleuthing, find some instructional videos that show you how to change the brake light on your suv, hit up Canadian Tire to buy the $7 light bulbs, and change it yourself?

Well, then you would have done what I just did, and be filled with a happy little feeling of pride.

And yes I know, feeling pride because I changed my brake lights (apparently if you change one you should change both so I did both) is a silly thing because it turned out to be dead easy, but I don’t care. Car maintenance is soooo not my thing but today I managed it.

I think this deserves a happy dance…

happy dance

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Receipt Checker

10 Jan

I don’t know about you but until last year I’d go shopping, take the receipt, stuff it in my purse where it would get crumpled down at the bottom and stay there until I got annoyed with it and threw it out.

Receipts

Last January I started budgeting. And not in a vague sort-of not researched type of way. Oh no, I did massive research, read books, watched YouTube Videos, read everything on Gail Vaz-Oxlade’s website (re-watched a bunch of her tv show episodes),  and pestered my parents multiple times a week with questions, sort of way. Hey, if you’re gonna do something, might as well do it right!…or to the best that you’re able cuz oh wow was learning how to budget a frustrating experience. There were a bunch of mistakes made, things I could have done better, a decently large learning curve to navigate but I did eventually manage to navigate it. I learned from my mistakes, took notes so I knew what I wanted to change for 2018, and overall think that starting this whole budgeting dealio was a solid choice.

Now, and all of last year, I take the receipt, write down in a tracker the date of the purchase, what I bought, how much it cost, and I would deduct it from my running tally. Yeah, I became that person.

Today I went to Wal-Mart for some stuff and when I got to the checkout I thought the total was high but didn’t think to question the cashier cause, well, why would I? When I was home, comfie in my sweats, and happy in the knowledge I didn’t have to go out again, I was checking my receipt as I wrote the expense in my tracker (because yes, I’m still that person!) and to my surprise there were two items at the top of my receipt I didn’t recognize.

Now, sometimes the short description on a receipt is not easily translated in to the item you bought but this was a tiny purchase, I only bought 6 things, though this receipt said I bought 8. That and all the other items clearly said what they were and I knew I bought those things.

I had been charged $14 and change for two things I didn’t buy.

Not cool.

I called Wal-Mart, the phone rang over 30 times (not even kidding) and when I finally got a person and told them what happened I was told to call back in ten minutes.

*rolls eyes*

I called back in ten minutes, I stopped counting the rings at 50 but I didn’t stop calling, I just let it ring, and ring, and ring and finally someone picked up. It turned out to be the same lady I spoke with earlier so at least she knew what the problem was.  She asked me a couple questions about the receipt and told me if I came back in tonight she would fix things.

Not gonna lie, I was torn between staying home cozy in my sweats or going back out for a refund of $14 but the cheap side of me won out and on went real pants, up in to a pony tail went the hair, and off I went.

Sure it’s only $14 but every dollar counts, especially when you are budgeting and you know where that $14 should be going…like next weeks groceries!

So lesson learned, take a look at the receipt before leaving the store to not only make sure I wasn’t charged incorrectly but to save me having to change out of my cozy sweats and back in to public appropriate clothing. Really, it’s all about comfort in the end lol 😉

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A Bakewell Tart…Maybe?

15 Dec

So there I was in Surrey (long story, don’t ask!), driving along when out of nowhere I saw the holy grail…A British Shop! Technically it is called Sherlock’s The British Store, their website is http://www.TheBritishStore.ca I haven’t checked out the website yet but trust me, I will!

I immediately pulled in to their cramped little parking lot and started the inner pleading of “cheese and onion pie, please have a cheese and onion pie, don’t get your hopes up they’ll have a cheese and onion pie, oh pleeeeease have a cheese and onion pie”

Then the pleading stopped because I entered the shop and it smelled heavenly. Fresh baking. I love the smell of fresh baking. Mmm!

Not only did it smell amazing I was staring at all the yummy treats my cousins in England take for granted and I miss oh so much. I basically ignored the section with magazines, paper weights, and the like and focused solely on the food lol Priorities! 😉

I mostly just wandered, trying to prolong the possible devastating news that they don’t have cheese and onion pies but eventually I had to wander my way over to the bakery counter and what do you know, they had cheese and onion pies! *happy dance*

There were three in the display case and not many people in the shop so I felt it was safe enough to keep wandering and guess what I found? Frozen cheese and onion pies! Which seems a practical purchase to me, after all, shouldn’t one at all times have a cheese and onion pie in the freezer as an emergency meal? Yup, they should. I knew you’d agree.

Grabbed a frozen cheese and onion pie, started my way back to the bakery area and saw this…

IMG_0289

It had a sign with it’s name, which I have forgotten, but I think it is called a Bakewell Tart? At least that is what my internet sleuthing is telling me, though I don’t know if I feel that is correct…

Regardless of the name of it I was positive it was something I liked, even though if asked I wouldn’t have been able to describe the flavour or texture of it to save my life. For purely scientific reasons, to make sure I was correct in thinking I liked it, that tart came home with me.

For science people!

The science proved conclusively that my memory is right and it was sooooooo good. Mmm! It tastes like almond, and has a cake type texture in the middle. I could have done without that weird cherry on top but whatcha gonna do? Maybe I’ll remember to pick it off next time. If there ever is a next time, Surrey isn’t exactly next door…which I want to be sad about but it is probably safer for both my wallet and waistline that this shop is far away from me lol

 

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