A blog full of memories
Am republishing this story because my friend hadn’t read it yet. Originally published 26 December 2006. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My sibling, Redd, has been bugging me for over a year to post this story about hand sanitizer and outhouses. It is a fairly embarrassing story, but I thought–since it was on my list of things to do …
I am driving to the Yukon with my Dad. We have time to talk in the car. I ask him, “What made you laugh when we were kids?” He paused and thought for a moment. “Well, when Natoline was just starting school, she came home one day and said:” “We were learning about babies today. …
…and sometimes in September.” I am sitting in the kitchen, chatting away rather comfortably (I think) in French to Ludo’s parents. And I see the quizzical looks on their faces. Just fleetingly, but enough that I question my choice of the word “culotte”. I was telling them that the Yukon is quite warm in June, …
We went to a soirée des courges (Hallowe’en) at a friend’s house on Saturday night. I notice that Hallowe’en in Switzerland is refreshingly absent from the stores. Maybe the commercialism was refreshingly absent because we still showed up to a friend’s house for pumpkin soup. Cheese, wine, de la viande sechée–and pumpkin soup. Mmmmmm. Our …
A few weeks ago, I installed Tweet Deck on my computer. I search for fellow bloggers and social media fans and just interesting people in general. I have an ongoing search for Lausanne and Valais. One morning I see a tweet flutter by: “On to Lausanne by train today… http://bit.ly/aid14.” I wonder who is arriving …
“Can I bring you something?,” he asked on his way out the door. “I can’t think of anything.” “Are you sure?” I stop and think a moment. I’d bought a butternut squash at the market on Saturday because I’d wanted to make butternut squash soup. I have a favourite recipe from my Looney Spoons cookbook. …
This is going to be a bit of a lame post as I haven’t been writing lately. But I have been busy. I am trying to consolidate my life — one step at a time. Today, I am the proud owner of YukonJen.com — the domain name AND I host my site myself. Up until …
I made this appetizer for a neighbourhood deck party last night. It is simple, but effective. cherry or grape tomatoes marinated mozzarella balls fresh basil lime juice cracked pepper As usual, I left it to the last minute to make. I should have got my tomatoes from Dan, the tomato man last Tuesday at the …
I can’t tell you how exhausted I am. As most of you know, I’ve been traveling–since May 15. Hard to move around all the time. Fun though. Family. Friends. Fun. Now I am back in Healdsburg at the moment. Collecting myself as I get ready for the next chapter of my life and I thought …
After a day exploring Zermatt and the Matterhorn, we arrive Thursday evening at Caprice du Temps, my friend’s family’s winery. The next day, they have their portes-ouvertes for their clients at their winery. His brother (the winemaker) pours the wine. His god-father mans the cheese under the heat. They explain, this meat – this viande …
I emailed my friend in Switzerland when I first bought my tickets to France. I can’t believe I just made this commitment, but I’ve just booked tickets to Paris. Arriving 01 June 2009 and leaving 30 June. My nephew is graduating 06 June in Juno Beach. My parents fly out of Frankfurt 09 June 2009. …
Vicky and her family (husband Pete, daughter Nadia, and son Alex) live in Sixt Sur Aft just north of Redon in Bretagne. I spent a week with them, catching up on sleep, rest, and life in general. We had a good laugh, great food, and a few outings. The day I arrived at Vicky’s, a …
After 48 hours or more of traveling from Calgary to France, I arrived in Caen on the train. I got off the train and saw my mum poking her head up and down searching for me in the arriving cars. MY PARENTS were expecting me on this particular train and were waiting on the platform. …
I headed on up to Red Deer to crash at my cousin’s and prepare for my European trip. I got to help her out with some wedding preparations –which I completely enjoyed. As we were creating her purple centerpieces for the tables at the reception, she looked at me and asked: “Jen, do you think …
Have been traveling for a bit–since May 15th actually. My friend from Yellowknife came down on her motorcycle and helped me pack up my studio in Healdsburg and we hoofed it all the way back to Alberta in my tiny car. Nothing really interesting along the way except , well…I liked Oregon. I particularly liked …
Am going to be travelling over the next few months. This morning when I woke up, I thought of something I could do to make things a little bit easier while I was away:
Hi Mum, I know you are leaving for Switzerland on Tuesday, and I’m pretty pleased with myself that I remembered to get you a card for Mother’s Day. But there is no time to send it, so–I’m posting it for you. Does this really exist??? I know Dad would make one for you if you …
I have been occupied lately. Trying to make big life changes. Can’t really write about them yet, but I will. In the meantime, I’ll tell you a joke my mother told me the other day. I think my dad called me up to see how I was doing and then put Mum on the line …
I spent three days last week with my Mum and my sister Nat in Vancouver. We rented a car. My mum originally counseled me not to rent a car: “There’s a lot of traffic Jennifer. A lot of traffic. And there will be all of these one-way streets. You don’t want the bother. We’ll use …
I made a crock pot last night. It didn’t take much time, and it cooked while I was trying to work on my Intuit project. It was easy, and delicious. Chopped vegetables in the bottom. I had carrots, red potatoes, celery, and a turnip in my crisper. I chopped until I felt good about the …
My dad phones me up later in the week. He’s disappointed. “Those sheets are defective.” “Defective, Dad?” I ask. “How can sheets be defective?” “There’s no Ken more in the bedroom.”
My dad pops up on video Skype. Whenever he logs onto the computer, he checks email, then he checks to see if I’m online. If I’m online, he clicks and dials. “Onscreen!” I mimick every time I answer the call. “Onscreen!” Click. And my dad’s video appears. “Jennie.” He’s laughing. He’s usually laughing. “Jennie. Your …
What do Bridget Jones and I have in common? We’re both single, 30-somethings. Singletons I believe she calls it. I don’t live in London. But I do live in Healdsburg, California. Not quite the same thing, I know. She chronicles her love life, her obsessions with alcohol and cigarettes, and just general life commentary. I …
