This move is no different from any other. In terms of the actual physical process, (knock) so far, things have gone relatively smoothly (/knock). Our household furniture and effects have been safely packed away and are currently sitting in a storage facility somewhere between our point of origin and our final destination. The one thing that didn't go smoothly, and which has therefore snowballed to ensure that other things won't go smoothly, was that we were not able to negotiate door-to-door closing dates.

You see, The Powers That Be who decided it was time for us to go firmly believe that they can exert their will not only on us, the movees, but also on anyone we might encounter during the relocation process; for example, the people buying our old house and the ones from whom we must buy our new house. Apparently, probably through some sort of a Vulcan mind meld, we should have been able to convince the young family leaving their suburban townhome to pack up their lives a full month-and-a-half earlier than they had originally wanted to. Either that, or we should have been willing to walk away from that house (the one suitable home within our price range in this ridiculously overpriced city) and find somewhere else to live, or refuse the only offer we received on our previous home because the closing date those buyers wanted was too early. This clearly illustrates that The Powers That Be have no concept of the realities of realty in the off season. You take what you can get, both buying AND selling. As a seller, there weren't a lot of buyers out looking. As a buyer, there weren't a lot of properties for us to choose from.

And so, Capt Mike, the puppies, and I bit the proverbial bullet and ended up with a lag time of 15 days between closings. At most we thought we'd have to shell out a few hundred bucks for storage. Little did we know it would cause a ripple effect that could potentially cost us close to $10 000.

You see, we have a portable mortgage with TD Canada Trust. We got a portable mortgage specifically because The Powers That Be insist you make every reasonable effort to do so given the nature of our ever-relocating lifestyle. We figured it was worth doing, since it theoretically meant that even if we had to move in the middle of our term, we'd be able to port the mortgage to a new property and avoid paying any penalties or interest differentials. Notice my emphasis of the word "theoretically". You see, despite having a portable mortgage, and despite porting it to the new property, TD Canada Trust charged us $10 000 in interest differential on the closing of the sale of our previous home. We got a cheque from our lawyer for $10 000 less than we had expected. We have $10 000 less to put towards our downpayment for the property we're closing on in a little over one week. I don't know about the average reader of this blog, but let me tell you that $10 000 isn't exactly chump change in the Saedighverse. Capt Mike and I can hardly go rooting around between the couch cushions in the crummy apartment for that kind of cash. Needless to say, I am a little anxious.

Since last Wednesday, when we noticed the discrepancy, I have been in contact with most of the employees of the TD Canada Trust branch in Quinte West several times. They have repeatedly assured me that we were charged this penalty in error because the system didn't understand why the two closings weren't simultaneous, and that we would be reimbursed. Unfortunately, no one is able to tell me when we will be reimbursed or how we will be reimbursed. No one is able to give me any assurance whatsoever that those funds will be available to us in some form or another to put towards the downpayment we have to hand over to our lawyer on December 30th. That's next Thursday. It's currently December 21st. Christmas and Boxing Day fall on the weekend, so Monday and Tuesday are bank holidays here. If this isn't sorted out before Friday, we're going to have to do some extremely creative financing to cover the shortfall and have a cheque ready for our lawyer in time.

All that to say that once our term is up on this unportable portable mortgage, Capt Mike and I will never again be customers at TD Canada Trust.

As I was saying, we're in the process of moving, and because our closing dates don't quite match up, we're staying in a short-term, furnished rental unit. It's a crummy apartment downtown, and they've used the term "furnished" quite loosely. We have three mismatched plates, 7 mismatched glasses, 1 giant glass bowl, the world's smallest non-stick frying pan, and a smattering of assorted spatulas, spoons, and utensils. It is, for all intents and purposes, a crummy kitchen, not unlike the ones Capt Mike and I each had when we first met.

But just because you have a crummy kitchen, that doesn't mean you can't still be an adventurous, health-conscious cook. Thus, I give you our most recent recipe creation: Chorizo and Brown Rice Stuffed Mini-Peppers

Stuffed Mini-Peppers

1 bag President's Choice miniature bell peppers (approximately 12 peppers)
1 hot italian or chorizo sausage, uncooked
2 cloves garlic, peeled and diced
2 cups cooked brown rice, cooled
1/2 cup reduced-fat feta cheese, crumbled

1. Preheat oven to 300 F.
2. Wash peppers and remove tops to make 12 tiny bowls. Set aside.
3. Remove sausage from casing. Cook in non-stick skillet over high heat until cooked, about 5 minutes, seasoning with garlic to taste.
4. In a large bowl, combine sausage, rice, and feta. Mix well. Spoon 1 tbsp of mixture into each pepper shell. Place in a non-stick baking dish.
5. Bake until peppers are tender, approximately 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

Yields 4 servings. Pairs nicely with a mixed green salad.

The Highway of Heroes is the stretch of the 401 so renamed as it serves as the last leg of the final journey home for members of the Canadian Forces who have given the ultimate sacrifice. It stretches from Trenton, Ontario, to the Don Valley Parkway in Toronto, Ontario.

It turns out that because of the size of my termination package (again, it's reasonable, but it's hardly a windfall), I will not be eligible to receive EI benefits until August 7th, 2011. Yes, you read that right: 2011. If I happen to become employed during that time and subsequently leave that position voluntarily (such as, say, relocating to accompany my spouse), or if I happen to become a full-time student in a program that is not recognised as part of the Career Transition Assistance program, I will not be eligible for benefits at all.

I am thus bewildered as to why the program is called Employment Insurance. If my house burned down the day I also happened to win at Bingo, would The Co-operators refuse to settle my claim until I'd spent my jackpot on new roof beams?

So, Saedighites, it has been an eventful few months. I am no longer a civil servant, nor am I on any of the local occasional teaching lists. I am Mistress of My Own Domain. I am now a self-employed Freelance Editor. It's an exciting (and somewhat nerve-wracking) prospect. Gone is the security provided by union-negotiated cost of living increases, vacation pay, and Continuing Employee Status. We are now entering a new era of self-promotion, marketing, and networking.

As my first act of self-promotion, I invite you to take a look at my new business site. It's a work in progress, so thoughtful feedback is welcome.

Couscous Salad

1 cup whole wheat couscous (I use President's Choice brand)
1 cup boiling water
1 cup fresh Italian (flat leaf) parsley, chopped
4 Lebanese/baby cucumbers, sliced
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved (or 4 plum tomatoes, chopped)
4 green onions, chopped
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil

1. Pour dry couscous in the bottom of a large mixing boil. Add hot water, stir, cover, and let stand for 5 minutes.

2. Fluff moistened couscous with a fork, then mix parsley, tomatoes, onions, and cucumber.

3. Dress with the lemon juice and olive oil, and toss to coat.

So far this week, I've been feeling a little exotic. Capt Mike hates lamb (unless it's ground and spiced beyond the point of recognition), so I decided to take the opportunity with him away to indulge in some lamb chops.

Spiced lamb chops with minted peas

8 fresh lamb chops (~1.5 lbs)
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp olive oil
3 shallots, finely diced
2 cups peas
1/3 cup fresh mint, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Mix together turmeric, cumin, and coriander to create a dry spice rub. Press into chops, both sides.
3. Brush a non-stick skillet with olive oil. Sear chops in pan, 2 min per side. Remove to a non-stick baking sheet, and continue cooking in oven for 5 min (or until desired doneness).
4. Remove excess grease from skillet, and sauté shallots until soft. Stir in peas, and cook through for 4-5 minutes. With the back of a wooden spoon, mash peas slightly as you stir them. Remove from heat, stir in fresh mint. Serve immediately alongside lamb.

Additions may include homemade tzatziki sauce or couscous salad (recipes to be posted later).

I don't know if you are real people, robots, or hyperintelligent insects bent on world domination, and I don't really care. I don't know why you come in waves, why for months you ignore my blog only to deluge my comment sections with unsolicited ads later, and I don't really care about that either. It takes a little time to delete you and go back and close my old entries to commenters, but if that's the price of blog maintenance, it's not so bad.

However, I do have one request to make of you. If you are sentient (insect or humanoid), please click on the ads to the right of the screen when you do stop by. It's the least you can do, and I need a new summer wardrobe.

Sincerely,

Saedigh

Broccoslaw

1/2 bag of President's Choice Broccoli slaw (or similar product)
1/2 cup raisins or plain "Craisins"
1/2 cup low fat sour cream
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp chopped walnuts

1. To make dressing, combine sour cream, vinegar, and pepper in a large bowl.

2. Add raisins, walnuts, and slaw mix. Toss well to coat evenly with dressing.

Yield: Approximately four 1 cup servings

We had this last night with turkey meatloaf (a recipe for another day?), and couscous. The raisins give a nice hint of sweetness, so you don't have to add sugar to your dressing. The amount of dressing is just enough to coat the slaw without making it soggy or overly creamy, like you might find at your local chicken shack. Any leftover, undressed slaw mix can be used to make more slaw, or can be cooked up in a convenient stirfry. I'm using our leftovers tonight to steam up to accompany some garlicky, broiled salmon.

The technicolour status updates were a misguided attempt to raise breast cancer awareness...at least according to the Facebook Forward most people received early on directing them to post their bra colour...that's right, their bra colour...as their status update. Classy, no?

The poorly written e-mail hoax masquerading as a viral marketing campaign urged the Facebookers as follows:

"Something fun is going on... Write the color of your bra in your status. Just the color, nothing else. And send this on to ONLY women no men. It will be neat to see if this will spread the wings of cancer awareness. It will be fun to see how long it takes before the men wonder why the women have a color in their status.....LOL!"

Which brings me to the Things That Bother Me:

1. The term "raise cancer awareness", and variations thereof
I think most people are pretty aware of cancer. It's hard not to be. We learn about it in school, and L.D. had leukemia on Degrassi. We're aware. Rather, shouldn't we be raising awareness of the risks of cancer? And ways to lower them?

2. E-mail forwards

Ninety-nine times out of one hundred, if a subject line starts with the letters "FW", it goes directly in my junk mail folder. Your key fob can't unlock your car via cell phone, the word "shit" is not an acronym, no one wants to sing the Canadian National Anthem in any languages other than English or French at the Olympics (and they only play an instrumental version anyway), and I am now pretty sure that the Canadian Cancer Society prefers donations over status updates. Stop believing everything you read on the internet! Except, of course, what you read on this blog.

3. Facebook status updates with WTMI

I don't want to know the colour of your underwear, I am not a pervert, prevert, or any other kind of vert. I barely pay attention to the colour of my own. I also don't care to know what you ate for breakfast, what colour the puke/discharge is, or whether or not you're thinking about taking a trip to Walmart unless you're ironically reworking a quote from Old School.

There. I feel a lot better now, having gotten that off my chest. And no, you're still not finding out what colour it is.

For those of you unfamiliar with fennel (the vegetable, not the seeds in jars in the spice aisle), it has a VERY mild licorice flavour, and looks kind of like dill sprouting out of the tops of celery that are sprouting out of the top of an onion. It is a great accompaniment to Italian sausages, fish...and chicken, which is why I chose it.

Fennel au Gratin

2 fennels bulbs, trimmed of their stalks (the "dill" can be reserved for seasoning)
1 cup low-sodium chicken stock
2 large shallots, finely diced
Salt and pepper to taste

Béchamel sauce:
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cup milk
pinch nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup goat cheese (chèvre) or similar soft, mild cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Remove any tough outer parts of the fennel skin, and cut bulbs in half lengthwise, then cut each half into 5 or 6 wedges.

3. Place fennel in a medium saucepan, and cover with chicken stock. Season with fennel dill, salt, and pepper to taste. Bring stock to a low boil, and braise fennel until tender, about 12 minutes.

4. Drain fennel and set aside.

5. Lightly brush a shallow baking dish with olive oil. Scatter shallots in bottom of dish, and arrange braised fennel in a single layer over shallots. Cover with tinfoil, and bake for 10 minutes.

6. Prepare béchamel sauce: melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour with a wooden spoon until smooth. Remove from heat, and slowly whisk in milk, making sure no lumps form. Place milk mixture back over medium heat, season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper to taste, and stir until mixture reaches a boil and begins to thicken. Remove from heat, and mix in goat cheese until melted.

7. Remove fennel from the oven, and pour the béchamel over it in an even layer.

8. Broil dish under high heat for 5 minutes, or until béchamel becomes bubbly and light golden on top.

Cranberry Pumpkin Loaf

2 1/2 cups canned pumpkin (note: NOT pumpkin pie filling)
1/4 cup of butter, melted
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 pinch salt
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup dried cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Fold together pumpkin, butter, egg, vanilla, and sugar.

3. Sprinkle baking soda and salt over top of batter, mix together.

4. Mix in ginger, cinnamon, and flour until all dry ingredients are moist.

5. Fold in cranberries.

6. Pour into greased loaf pan, and bake for 1 h.

Give me the scorn of the stars and a peak defiant;
Wail of the pines and a wind with the shout of a giant;
Night and a trail unknown and a heart reliant.

Give me to live and love in the old, bold fashion;
A soldier's billet at night and a soldier's ration;
A heart that leaps to the fight with a soldier's passion.

For I hold as a simple faith there's no denying:
The trade of a soldier's the only trade worth plying;
The death of a soldier's the only death worth dying.

So let me go and leave your safety behind me;
Go to the spaces of hazard where nothing shall bind me;
Go till the word is War -- and then you will find me.

Then you will call me and claim me because you will need me;
Cheer me and gird me and into the battle-wrath speed me. . . .
And when it's over, spurn me and no longer heed me.

For guile and a purse gold-greased are the arms you carry;
With deeds of paper you fight and with pens you parry;
You call on the hounds of the law your foes to harry.

You with your "Art for its own sake", posing and prinking;
You with your "Live and be merry", eating and drinking;
You with your "Peace at all hazard", from bright blood shrinking.

Fools! I will tell you now: though the red rain patters,
And a million of men go down, it's little it matters. . . .
There's the Flag upflung to the stars, though it streams in tatters.

There's a glory gold never can buy to yearn and to cry for;
There's a hope that's as old as the sky to suffer and sigh for;
There's a faith that out-dazzles the sun to martyr and die for.

Ah no! it's my dream that War will never be ended;
That men will perish like men, and valour be splendid;
That the Flag by the sword will be served, and honour defended.

That the tale of my fights will never be ancient story;
That though my eye may be dim and my beard be hoary,
I'll die as a soldier dies on the Field of Glory.

So give me a strong right arm for a wrong's swift righting;
Stave of a song on my lips as my sword is smiting;
Death in my boots may-be, but fighting, fighting.

--Song of the soldier-born, Robert W. Service, Rhymes of a Red Cross Man, 1916.

I know it's been a while since our last correspondence, but I thought I should drop you a line this year as my Christmas Wishlist is a little more specific than usual. Not that I don't still need lots of black socks, but there are a couple of other things I've had my eye on for a while now, and maybe your elves can hammer a few of them out (or at least locate some good deals via a third-party supplier).

1. A BOSU ball and some free weights (8+ lbs)

Between walking and (or) running with the dogs everyday, I am getting lots of cardio. However, my strength training has been suffering. By the time I am done a full day's work, have exercised the dogs, cleaned the house, and folded some laundry, the last thing I want to do is haul my butt to the RecPlex to do weights. A BOSU and some weights would be a great addition to a home mini-gym, and would certainly complement the treadmill we plan on buying with next spring's tax return. :-)

2. A Front Door

Our front door is wooden and doesn't seal particularly well. It also has no window, rendering our front hallway a little dark and unwelcoming, despite the robin's egg blue walls. A steel door with a small window would be a great way to keep out the cold and let in the light.

3. Landscape Fabric

You and I both know I didn't inherit Dad's green thumb. I know you and he didn't always see eye to eye when it came to stocking etiquette, but you have to admit--the man can garden. I think the thing I hate most about gardening is the never-ending task of weeding. As a result, our backyard this year was a total eyesore. I can't let that happen again, and I think that some weed control landscaping fabric might help me to stay a little more on top of it...at least until ragweed season.

4. New Make-up Brushes

I've had the same blush brush for 5 years now, and the bristles are falling out. I don't wear blush often, but now when I do, I look like I am growing a beard. I would also like separate brushes for powder, blush, eye shadow, and highlight.

5. Music
I don't remember the last time Mike or I bought a CD, but given that my iPod nano seems to be on its last legs (the play/pause/power off button no longer works), I think CDs may still be the way to go. Here is a short list of who I've been listening to lately:

Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Bat for Lashes
Kitty Daisy and Lewis
Joy Division / New Order (both)
The Flaming Lips
Lady Gaga (she's great to run to, in the comfort of my own headphones)
Metric
The Weakerthans
Pearl Jam

6. Books

I don't know how much time I will have for reading this year, between work, working out, and doing homework for my French courses, but you can never go wrong with a good book.

The Greatest Show on Earth - Richard Dawkins
Half-broke Horses - Jeanette Walls
The Complaints - Ian Rankin
Still Alice - Lisa Genova
Demo a Day Books for Chemistry and Biology (I lost my Demo a Day for Biology, and apparently it is now out of print. :-()

7. A J. Crew Double-cloth Carlin Thinsulate Coat in Wild Blackberry

I think I might be a medium, but let's go with large to make sure I can wear sweaters under it. :-)

I think I've held up my end of the bargain so far this year, but rest assured I will attempt to maintain my status on the "nice" list for the remainder of 2009 and well into 2010. I will also make sure Vixen gets her parsnip and isn't harassed by Zeppelin while your sleigh is parked out in the back yard.

Say hi to the wife and elves for me.

Sincerely,

Saedigh