Wilting, wading, and Waldo'ing

We've been in the midst of a heatwave that slowly built up over the last week.  The hottest day was a balmy 38 degrees celsius with a humidex of 48!  Needless to say, it was a little warm. 

I have mentioned before that I don't do well in the cold.  Unfortunately for me, I don't do well in the heat, either.  I know, I know.  It's annoying.  Just call me a human chihuahua.
This week has been trying, to say the least.  I've been doing my best to not complain, seeing as I hate winter more than any heatwave, so I've been doing my best to beat the heat.  Here's what I suggest:

1.  Invest in a good water bottle that keeps ice from melting quickly.
My friend, Bridget, got a water bottle from a little eco-store in our area called the Ninty-ninth Monkey.  It's from a company called ThinkSport and it's AMAZING.

 I can put ice and water in it first thing in the morning and still have icy water late at night.  Plus, there's bonus points from your nephrologist if you plunk it down on her desk with a loud, unintentional clang.  She couldn't miss it..  it's huge.  See?  I DO take care of my kidney :-P

2.  Get a 10 foot inflatable pool for your backyard.
I didn't think I'd like it at all since it's not heated, but 35+ temperatures took care of that.  It's a great way to cool off, even if my dad now feels sympathy for killer whales in theme park pools.

3.  Break down and finally swim in the giant lake that's on your doorstep.
This weekend I officially became the person I used to be flabbergasted by.  I used to go down to the Lake Ontario waterfront all the time, and think that the people who were swimming in it were crazy/insane/loco.  But this weekend I didn't care.  When the humidex is soaring in the 40s, all logic goes out the window.  And it was FUN.  I felt like a kid again.  (Even with the nuclear power plant being RIGHT BESIDE us)

Another thing we did this weekend was WHERE'S WALDO?  My friend, Jon, bought a Waldo suit, so we went around getting some WHERE'S WALDO? type of photos.  We got stopped in a grocery store due to "policy violations" but it didn't hamper our fun.  I won't post any of the photos since it's going to be a surprise.  It was funny to watch him marching around trying to find good shots, though.  Eric tailed him closely, much like the theme park costumed characters with their bodyguards.

The quest for the pink slipper

There are times when I would love to return to a certain point in my childhood and relive it (with the ability to return to the present, of course).

I was thinking today about how I have the inherent ability to kill all plants even with research and much effort to give them everything they need.  The only plant that I've been unable to kill is a tall palm that my mother gave me.  I think this is due to the fact that it can regenerate itself no matter what the damage.  In fact, you can cut it off and the stump will regrow.  If you take the top that you cut off and stick it in soil, that will grow a new tree too.  Like I said, impossible to kill.

My grandmother has an amazing green thumb.  She can grow anything from seed, bulb, clipping, or seemingly nothing.  And she was able to do this in Newfoundland, which has a growing season of about 2 months..  the rest of the year consists of imminent snow, snow, and melting snow. 
I have envied her for as long as I can remember.  When I was awaiting the birth of my sister, my family stayed with my grandparents.  It was a long, cold winter in my mind and I remember watching Nan water and care for her many plants.  I wanted to grow one of my own from scratch, not realizing the time frame involved.  The two of us then planted an apple seed that I eagerly checked on everyday.  I was disappointed day after day until finally I noticed a tiny twig in the center of the pot.  This twig was about one centimeter tall.  I remember being so excited.  Looking back, I believe that the twig was put there on purpose.  What better way to appease an impatient 4 year old, eh?

When I was 11, my family lived in the same "town" as my grandparents.  I use the word "town" generously as there was only a handful of houses, about 30-40 residents, a post office, and a corner store that was always closed when the soap operas were on.  Because of the lack of entertainment and/or friends, I soon learned how to be independently entertained.  I climbed trees, went for long walks in the woods tracking foxes and rabbits, monitored the local frog pond's pollywog progression into mini-toads, dug up a LOT of fool's gold, hand fed Grey Jays, and much more.
One day my grandmother mentioned wanting a certain flower for her garden.  It was a Pink Lady's Slipper Orchid.  She told me a funny anecdote about the time she stuck her finger inside one once and there was a bee inside.  I was fascinated.  And I was determined to get it for her.

You're MINE!

Little did I know that they don't just grow all over the place all willy-nilly.  I searched HIGH & LOW for that ridiculous flower.  I didn't have the internet at my fingertips at the time, nor a public library, so I had no idea where they grow, what time of the year, or anything at all!  After a while I decided that these flowers did not exist in our area, so I switched to transplanting wild multicoloured foxgloves to her garden (yes, they are weeds.  I know this now.  I did not know this at 11)  One day I was traipsing about in the woods quite far from home when I saw a dense wall of foxgloves.  I climbed the hill and fought my way into the middle of the bunch in order to see a pretty white one that I had not gotten for my grandmother yet.  I was staring up at it and thinking of how to get it back so far when I looked down to see how hard it would be to transplant.  Low and behold, there it was in all it's glory.  A Pink Lady's Slipper.  I ran home as fast as I could to grab a pail and spade.  I then dug it up and planted it in the middle of Nan's garden.  I can only imagine that she was a little sad to see this pretty little orchid in it's poor condition after it ran into me.  I'm also pretty sure that it promptly died as a result of my haphazard hacking of it's root system.  Come to think of it, I think all the foxgloves died too..  and they're WEEDS.

Turn it off!!

I left the oven on the other day.  All night.  My husband then told me that I could've burned the apartment down, all the while putting on his best impression of my father.

My dad was very insistent on turning everything off while I was growing up.  He still is, but I don't hear him anymore since I no longer live with him.  He has a mantra that he practically chants on his way out the door:  "Make sure you turn off and unplug everything.  And turn down the heat.  Make sure the doors are locked.  Did you turn off the curling iron??"
We have to unplug everything because appliances will blow up.  Heat is expensive.  We will be home invaded, tied to chairs, tortured, and shot if the doors aren't locked.  As for the curling iron...  that is something we haven't done in maybe 10-15 years, so I don't know why it's on the list.

He does have a point in some cases.  There was a rash of violent home invasions in our general area several years ago.  Also, gas prices are soaring, so why not save on the heating bill?  He and my mother do insist that they've known people who's TV exploded.  I'm not sure if they remember their names or not, but it happened!

His fear of fire has probably been honed by my sister and the few days of torture that she put him through when we first moved into our new house 12 years ago.  My sister was not yet fully trusted with stove top elements or the big oven, so my dad compromised and bought a toaster oven.  Not much damage you can do with those things, right?  The day after he bought it, I was sitting on the couch when my dad started yelling in the kitchen.  Suddenly he ran by holding the toaster oven over his head, flames blazing out of it.  He somehow managed to get the back door open and flung it out onto the snow-covered deck.  We then watched it in silence as it finished burning the remnants of the taco shells my sister had been "browning".  He then ranted and raved a bit, before returning it to the store and telling them it was defective.
Fast-forward to the next day.  My sister must've had another craving for toasty taco shells because she was at it again.  And once again it was flung out into the snow in a dramatic fashion.  One more "defective" toaster oven was returned to the store, and my sister was at once banned from using it without his supervision.

oops

Poor dad.  The stresses involved with having kids.

For the record, I may have left the oven on overnight, but last week my husband left a giant candle burning overnight.  There was little left of it in the morning and somehow it didn't burn through the tabletop.  Which one's worse??

Why was it so good??

Wanna know one of the best and worst parts of travelling to other countries?

Finding something you love.

I was lying here on my couch watching "Outsourced" when I got the munchies.  And the first thing that came to mind was a Korean snack that I ate quite a bit of while I was over there.  I guess you could call them chips.  They were thin, crunchy potato sticks that came in two flavours:  red and green.  I guessed that one was plain and the other a little onion-y.  The onion one was so good that I'd find excuses to eat them.  I think what made me love them so much was not the flavour, but the crunchiness.  They were crunchy enough to be annoying to other people, but not hard enough that they would break your teeth.  MMm.. love.
But guess what?  I have not seen them since leaving.  Nor does my husband remember what they are called.  I have not heard of any currently-in-Korea bloggers talking about them, nor have I seen them on any food websites.  So that's what makes it the worst part of finding something you love.

I also fell in love with this particular scent of Johnson&Johnson's baby powder called "Blossoms".  I have a small bottle that I brought over with me that I only put on on special occasions.  Every time I use it, I get an explosion of memories of my husband's grandmother's house where I was staying.  It is also hard to find online.  BUT, the good news is that my husband's cousin just came here from Korea and he brought me five bottles!  Enough to last for a long time!  I even gave two bottles to my mom and sister.  But now I'm half afraid that if I over-use it, I'll lose the memories associated with it.

aw grandma :)

There was also an excellent restaurant that my roommate and I would frequent late at night.  It's called Country Chicken (촌닭) and it is so good.  Crispy chicken bites and rice cakes in sticky hot sauce.  Served with white rice to take the edge off of the heat.  Delicious!  My husband has made this for me a few times, but there's something about the real deal.  I miss it!

Do you have anything that you would LOVE to have right now but it's unavailable where you are?

Ah, enough reminiscing already.  Time for bed!

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Update:
My amazing Sherlock Holmes husband found that snack.  He has never heard of it nor seen it before.
It's called 눈을 감자 - Let us close our eyes.