Concubines-r-Us!

Tannis and I were invited by our friends Tim and Karen to a bellydancing show at the Marlborough Inn. This was one of those days where you have no control over what is going on. There was so much potential for a fun night here, but unfortunately it never panned out.
As always it is nice to see friends and meet people. But unfortunately it sometimes has to happen at locations you hate being. Like running into an old friend at the proctologist, I suppose.
The evening started nicely enough. My wife looked fantastic, we had a babysitter, there was promise of adventure.
Unfortunately the evening left little opportunity for table talk as it was mostly wall to wall dancers. So once seated and the show underway, you didn't communicate much until you were leaving some 3 hours later.
That's right...3 hours of Indian music. It was like a coast to coast cab ride. The MC was horrible. I was ready to go across the room and kill her. But unfortunately I was being blinded by the asshole photographer. The dude was taking double flash photos every 20 seconds. And he was sitting directly across the room from me. Grrr.
It would have been nice to have been able to visit a bit more with Tim and Karen, etc. But that never worked out. As I understand it, Karen was none too impressed with the execution of the show either. Too bad, seeing as she made the effort to invite so many friends and family there.
The best part of the night was going out for a drink with Tannis afterwards at the Yellow Dog Pub. Nice little neighborhood joint right behind the Burton Cummings theatre. I hope to go back there for a meal some time. Tannis and I finished the evening with a nice drink before we went home.

Recipe-White wine sauce

Here is a simple creamy white wine sauce that has had good reviews. I haven't tried it yet, but will post it here so I don't lose it:

INGREDIENTS
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup white wine
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried parsley
DIRECTIONS
In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, combine the cream, wine, flour, salt and parsley. Stir all together bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low and simmer until thickened.

Reviews say that the sauce is a little bland. So I think I'll add some basil or garlic.

En Suite...tout finis!!

Yay! The en suite is finished! And it looks fantastic. I took as much time as I could while Tannis was away visiting Angie to work on it. The kids kept themselves pretty busy, and they seemed to enjoy the outings to Rona...all 48 of them.

I made an executive decision on the toilet. It is a low profile unit with a real sexy look. Yes, you heard me. I just used "sexy" to describe a toilet. Tannis was initially concerned it might gag on some larger ...erm... deliveries. But I have put it through vigorous field testing and it has passed with flying colours.

I also changed the wall colour to a darker shade. This also turned out to be a good decision. I find it to be a very calming colour. It really looks nice against the white fixtures as well as the darker cabinets. Painted the bases and casings a shiny white and boy, does it look good.

Had some trouble with the sink drain, though. That was a tough one. Leaks were coming from the old plumbing, not the new stuff I just put in. It either happened when I tried to unsolder it, or when I cut the old plumbing to remove it. We finally had Andy, the housekeeper who was once a plumber, come in and fix it up. Being so close to the wall, I had alot of trouble figuring out how to fix it. Andy took care of it though. Except when he left, he was in such a hurry, he forgot to tighten the compression fittings, so it leaked like crazy! Tannis greeted me with the news of the leaks when I got home from work, but when I found it was just the compression fittings needed tightening, I was pretty relieved.

Now everything is together and looks great. Now to take care of the basement. It was a mess before I started the bathroom...

Abandoned

...not really. Tannis has gone to B.C. to visit Angie, Chris , and their son. I have forgotten his name, so I'll call him Felix.
This will hopefully be a good trip for Tannis. She could definitely use the break. On her way there she stopped in Calgary to visit her sister for a dose of abuse and judgement. That should be fun.
I have been going like mad on the bathroom renovation. I would like to get it done before she returns, but I know I am kidding myself. Won't be long now. Ready for paint! Woohoo!

MBGA 2nd Birthday Event

Had a fun night at the latest MBGA Pub night. This one was at Tavern United. Methinks we are going to run out of pubs soon. No matter. We can set our sights on taverns, bars, lounges, speakeasies, cabarets, and any other watering holes that will take our business.
One of the highlights of the night was a pre-celebration drink served up by Q! A unpretentious mead. Not without its charm...sort of like Q! himself.
Sadly the service left a bit to be desired. I have heard stories of inuit hunters who will stand motionless for 12 hours straight on the unsheltered ice braving the elements in the hopes of seeing the telltale bubbles of a seal coming up for air. These guys have nothing on Burchil. Burchil was wishing he had packed some trail mix to tide him over while he waited for his nachos.
There were a couple of unfortunate no-shows, but all in all, the event was very well attended. Especially for a Monday night. Looking forward to the next one.

Renovations....YAY

Currently I am trying to renovate the en suite. En suite is French for 'shitty little bathroom'. I had no idea how much we relied on this thing. Every morning I find myself making extra trips from our bedroom to the main bathroom because I forgot some portion of my ablutionary regimen.
It is going to be awesome. Tannis has surprised me with her choice of fixtures...pleasantly surprised. Nice dark wood with white fitures. Combined with a mocha coloured paint on the walls and we should have a pretty nice room soon.
Brooke and Mitch were really helpful in the work. Not because they worked really hard and made my job easier. But because they had fun using my hammer to smash the old drywall and pull out nails. Mitch even replaced the door handle almost single-handedly. Soon I'll get Brooke going on the plumbing. Woohoo!
I really wanted to either fix or replace the floor. But it is in pretty good shape. And Tan says she'll fix up the grout. So maybe it'll be ok after all.