I'm Back!

Woohoo, I'm back. Now I get to unpack, and pack up again for Skate Camp!

I deleted all the useless posts from Canada...

Never have I seen so much MSG in a country. Every instant-food-item in Canada had MSG in it! Wonder why...

Vacation!

Tuesday is the start of my vacation in Canada! I leave really, really early that morning, and I dont get there until Wednesday. (I'm going to Nova Scotia, and then to Prince Edward's Island)

This means that I wont be able to post at all since I wont have internet access!!

I should be back by the 28th, maybe a little before, I'm not totally sure.

And then, on the 30th I go to camp for 2 weeks, and I wont be back until the 11th!

I might be able to get internet access there once in a while, but I am not sure.

SO, I probably wont be posting at all for about 4 weeks!! Last time I did that (when I moved back in April), my traffic was still pretty good so no big worries.

Bye bye for now!
Allie

Colors!

Remember how momma always said to put colors on your plate? She was right!

Different colored fruits and vegetables have different nutrients. You should eat at least 2 or 3 different colors at all meals. Here are some suggestions, some are ordinary, others arent, and maybe some of them will remind you that they exist!

Red:
apples
strawberries
lingnonberries
red bell peppers
raspberries
radishes
red leaf lettuce
cherries
tomatoes
guava
watermelon

Orange:
oranges (who would've guessed?)
Citrus fruits (tangerines, nectarines, clementines, etc)
orange bell peppers
carrots
peaches
cloudberries (Finnish specialty, the season is almost over!!!!)
squash
cantaloupe
papaya

Yellow:
bananas
yellow bell peppers
lemons
dandylions (quite good!)
squash
golden delicious apples
pinapple
corn

Green:
green bell peppers
broccoli
lettuce
avacados
chilis
zuchini
green apples
scallions
chives
celery
honeydew melon
grapes
peas
pears
asparagus
cucumber
stringbeans

Blues/Purples:
blueberries
burberries
rowenberries
eggplant
black cherries
"red" onions
pomegranates
acai
grapes

Browns/Tans/Whites:
potatoes
brown rice
cereal grains
mushrooms
cauliflour

Dogs - Intuitive Creatures

During the last few days, I've noticed my "smart"* dog, Oreo has been acting a little different.
As some of you may know, my aunt (who has lived with us for the last year and a half), died Sunday after a long stay in the hospital.

Oreo has been much more subdued. She also has spent lots of time trying to be very close to people. She's been curled up on the floor on top of my feet, and lying across my lap while on the couch.

Besides that, my feet have been licked countless times, something she only does when I'm crying or when she has done something wrong.

I must say, dogs are very intelligent and intuitive creatures. I'm pretty sure she knows something has happened. She's been sniffing the couch in the spot my aunt used to sit in and then curls up and sighs.

Why does this happen? Scientist know that dogs have keen senses of smell. When something is not normal, our bodies release chemicals. Dogs can smell some of these natural chemicals. If you are female and have a dog, have you ever notice that you get sniffed over more when you have your period (start menopause, start menstration?)

There have been some instances when the owner gets sick with cancer, and the dog will sniff them over and whine and pine more than usual. (I heard about this a couple of years ago)

Also, another amazing dog story is about a diabetic man who's dog saved his life.

"Using their keen sense of smell, the animals can detect abnormalities in a person's blood-sugar levels.

The dog periodically licks Weaver's nose to take her own reading of his blood-sugar level. If something seems off to her, she will paw and whine at him."

The link to the story is here.

Oreo's done a great job of cheering me up, and I think she knows that! My favorite pose? When I'm sitting on the Laz-E-Boy and she jumps up and sits on my lap with her head tucked under mine. (Note that she is 80lbs!!)
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* the other dog, Sebastian is a boy, and doesnt have that much upstairs. He gets erections over food. And then he looks down and tries to bite his "stuff" without realizing it will hurt. He does this at least three times a week.

Absence + Updated +

Well, the time came this morning. It was peaceful, just like she wanted it to be. She didnt know what was happening, and our family is very content with that.

Thank you all for the comments and emails of support, I appreciate it so much.

As I said in the original post, I probably wont be on very much. My time will be consumed with many other things in the days and weeks ahead.

If I am online, I will mostly be talking on AIM with my friends to help me feel better. I will try to get some BlogExplosion surf credits while chatting so I can get some traffic to this site.

Nothing sucks more than coming back to a blog when a lot of your regular readers are from traffic exchange sites and your site has no more credits.

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The remainder of the post concerns the Dessert Recipe Contest
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The recipe contest deadline is indefinate. There is no way I can do it in the near/immediate future. I dont really know what I'm doing for vacation (July 17-29), but I will probably be away from part of that. I'm definitely going to skate camp (July 30-August 11).

Sometime I will impose a deadline (with at least 1 week notice). Between now and then you can be perfecting your recipes! You may send them in early, as long as its not during my vacation or camp. Hotmail sometimes puts things in Junk that really arent, and my Junk folder autmatically empties every few days or so.

Please remember that you can only submit ONE (1) entry per person.

Bye for now,
Allie

Almost over

The submission time for the Dessert Recipe Contest is almost over!!

So far I've only gotten 1 submission! It ends on the 8th!!!

I'm leaving in less than 2 weeks, I need to make all the recipes and test them!

Please enter ASAP.

I might extend the deadline, but sooner is better.