The Great Scuffle Epiphany of 2013

Scuffles are something my mom has made for Christmas since I can remember. My aunt also makes them. If you are not familiar with them, they are irresistible little cinnamon roll ups of sweet devilish goodness. I started making them a few years ago and because there are one of Jack's favourites I keep trying. You see, my mom and aunt are experts. Their scuffles are always so much moister and more uniformly shaped than my sad little experiments. People, what I am saying is I got big shoes to fill. I haven't even attempted perogies yet. Hold me.

Last year when I lamented at how dry my scuffles were, my mom suggested I bake them at a lower temperature. Guess how I remembered that this year? Not with my spidey senses, oh no, it's because I wrote it on the recipe card. I am magic like that.

I went to yoga after supper and while lying in final resting pose (savasana)I had an epiphany on how to make the shape more uniform. Don't try this at home folks. The last thing you are supposed to be doing in savasana is thinking about what you are going to do later. I am a rebel at yoga. Leah (aka my yoga instructor), don't read that part. Oops, probably should have mentioned that sooner, eh?

Edited - Leah said the following:  "That is what is SUPPOSED to happen.  Clear the crap and clutter in your mind through the postures and conscious breathing. And then a better and more concise thought process occurs. My work here is done."  

Here is what came to me:

So because I can't roll out a uniform circle to save my soul, my epiphany was to make a uniform circle using a plate.  Huzzah!! That way, when I cut the circle into slices like pizza (the prop department failed to take a picture of that part - they are so fired), they are all the same size.  More or less.

It totally worked!  They are much closer to the same size and they are so much moister.

Now if I just hadn't made them with real milk and butter, I could actually eat them.

(Why I did that is a whole other post that involves Jay and I in Jamaica in less than 2 months and wanting to not look like someone spread cottage cheese on the back of my legs.  Stay tuned, I know you can't wait for that.)

June, the Rest of the Story and Well July too

Another month gone, another birthday celebrated.  Kamden turned 8 and we celebrated in between his end of the season flag football and soccer tournaments.  He slept really good that weekend as you can imagine.

We almost had a tornado too.  Nothing touched down but we had these really neat clouds (Mammatus clouds) which only appear after a tornado type storm.

Pretty neat and much less frightening than the cloud I was driving towards that looked like it was forming a very large funnel.  It didn't, thank goodnesss.

I also prepared for and passed the practical portion of my personal training certification.  It's all done, I am certified and on ward ho.  It was stressful but so worth it.  I am looking forward to this new addition to my life.

I also bit the bullet and traded in my Blackberry for an iPhone.  I was skeptical but I am a full convert.  I just couldn't believe how much better it could be but it really is.  Email and internet are 100 times better and makes my work use of the phone so much easier.

And the camera kicks my Blackberry camera's butt to Portugal.

I got all dudded up to go out and celebrate my birthday with a good friend.  Also a busy friend.  It took us two months to find a day that worked for both of us.  Life is full and busy and good.

And we laughed till we cried.  Twice.

There ain't nothing better.



And that brings us to July.  The weather has been unbelievable and on the weekend we hit the beach to enjoy it.  We ran into Jack's good buddy from school and the boys got a tube ride out of the deal.  Living less than an  hour from about a dozen beaches is something for sure.

It's been a great summer so far, here's to the rest of summer.

Winter Fun

Summer Recap

Summer. Blink and it's over, just like everything else in life. We fit in some serious fun, as usual.

First stop, Radission, SK, the scene of much of Jay's childhood. Above you will see him showing his boys the living quarters of the hotel his family owned. We were on our way to a wedding and happened by so we stopped and naturally I shot 50 or so photos. See Flickr for more.

While at the wedding, the hotel had a fabulous water slide. I let you be the judge on whether it was a good time or not.

This is serious business, this water sliding stuff.

Candy buffet, at wedding, sign Kamden up. Also of note, the fact that he tossed and turned for 3 hours in the middle of the night unable to sleep. Sugar high, much?

Did I mention that I am also training for a half marathon mid-September? Did I also mention that I have been nursing my usual IT band injury?

Given that I have posted a grand total of twice since June, I guess not eh? What can I say, weekly 2 hour runs take a good chunk out of a person's free time.

A few weeks ago, I wasn't so sure my leg was going to cooperate but now, after my daily regime of stretching, icing, foam rolling and glute exercises coupled with weekly massages, I can now say for sure that I am going to make it to the race. Making it through the race, well, that remains to be seen.

We fit in a couple trips to the lake too, one with Jay's family where I tried water skiing for the second time. This time, I was successful. What a rush that was! Then we headed up to Jan and the cabin my parents co-own for some fishing and tubing.

Kamden caught three fish one night and was all about trying again the next morning. He was pretty cool under pressure, very fun to watch him reel them in.

Naturally, I taught him everything he knows, including the ability to exaggerate just the right amount when re-telling the story of the big catch.

And my boat driving skills have improved a great deal, as you can see in the above noted picture. At one time, I launched my niece right out of there.

Her response?

Do it again Aunty Kami!

So much fun and so many memories, it's been a perfect summer.