Writer's Workshop - Pin It

You saw it on Pinterest ..... does it really work?

Some years ago,

I came across a Swedish pancake

recipe

and it became our Sunday tradition.

Every Sunday,

Ethan and I would make the pancakes together

and he'd slather on the Nutella.

So this past weekend,

our first in our new home,

Ethan wanted pancakes.

Unfortunately,

I didn't have any flour.

Scott suggested I make French Toast.

Ethan was excited about slathering

on the Nutella.

"You can't put Nutella on French Toast!"

And then I remembered seeing

on Pinterest

a peanut butter and jelly stuffed

French Toast.

If you can do PB&J

why not Nutella?

So I looked it up again,

and wouldn't you know it....

there's even a

Nutella Stuffed French Toast

recipe on Pinterest.

And it's super easy!

Even I can make it!!!

How easy you ask?

Well,

make yourself a Nutella sandwich,

or two, or three...

I cut them up into slices.

Grab some eggs, milk, vanilla and a tad sugar

(I used honey).

Whisk it together.

Drench each slice of sandwich

in the egg mixture

and place it on a greased

baking tray.

Bake at 200C for 8 minutes.

Then carefully flip them over

for another 8 minutes.

Enjoy!

The Hollow - Nora Roberts

In between moving into our new place,

having a swarm of fundis

(carpenters, plumbers, painters, etc)

fixing things in the house,

unpacking,

studying,

going to the gym,

and

fetching Ethan from school

I've found some time

to read!

The Hollow is the second part of

The Sign of Seven Trilogy.

And while the story continues

with our boys trying to find a way

to beat the Big Evil,

this is Fox and Layla's story.

Layla also possesses the gift 

of seeing the present

and Fox helps her learn to use and control it.

Unlike the men

who were part of this since the beginning

and Quinn and Cybil

who were friends before

Layla is the outsider.

Something brought her there.

She is still unsure of herself

and what the future holds.

I love Fox.

He grew up in a vegan house

hippies and all

but he loves his snacks

and processed food.

He's true.

He's there for everyone.

He puts others first.

Layla...

I don't know.

While she's the outsider 

in this group,

she seems to hold that against Fox.

She can't commit to him,

yet fully commits to other things.

Either way,

book 3 is up next,

and you know I'll be reading it!

Champion - Marie Lu

It's the year of trilogies.

And the conclusion of some.

Legend is one of those.

Champion brings the story of

June and Day,

of the Colonies, Patriots and Republics

to an end.

And it was a good one.

When we last saw of dear friends,

June and Day decided to save the Elector

and go against the plans of the Patriots.

June became to Princeps Elect

and Day learnt he's dying of a tumour.

Champion picks up months later.

June and Day have not been in contact for months.

Eden, Day's brother

is slowly getting better.

The Colonies have declared war

against the Republic.

And the Elector

wants June to get Day to help.

Confused?

I love how June continues to be strong in this book.

And even though Day's dying,

he's also just as smart and 

just as strong.

He's also torn.

Can he love the girl

that helped kill his family?

It's not easy.

For either one.

And these emotions

are what made this book

fantastic.

The Happiness Project - Week 36

It has been

officially

one week

since Ethan started at IST.

And he's been loving it.

He gets up early,

no complaints.

He's happy when I fetch him from school.

He's even ok 

with wearing a uniform again.

I was terribly worried 

that the transition would be hard on him.

Thank you 

to all the teachers,

friends

and councillors

that made Ethan's transition

smooth.

Happiness is having a happy

child.

Blood Redemption - Tessa Dawn

It's been awhile 

since I was in the company

of some bloodsuckers.

So I felt it was that time

once again.

And Tessa Dawn was happy to oblige

with the release of her fifth book in the

Blood Curse series. 

Meet Saber Alexiares.

He's mean.

Ruthless.

A killer.

A warrior in the house of Jaegar.

A Dark One.

He has been captured by the house

of Jadon

and sentenced to death by sunlight.

But something strange happens on the day of his execution.

He does not burn.

He does not die.

He has a soul.

It turns out that Saber

is really a Light One.

Eight hundred years ago,

he was kidnapped from his parents

and raised as a Dark One.

Vanya Demir

is an ancient princess.

An original,

sister to both Jaegar and Jadon.

She witnessed the blood thirst of her brother.

She has a deep sense

of duty.

Plagued by dreams of a fire-breathing dragon,

Vanya decides to visit her sister

in Dark Vale.

Saber and Vanya's path

collide with the presence of the

Serpens Blood Moon.

Vanya is Saber's destiny.

But he is a savage.

He has no emotion.

Yet, if they are not united within 30 days

he will suffer the Blood Curse.

Can she allow that?

Will he accept who he is?

What he is?

Can he be redeemed?

Writer's Workshop - Wrong

Something you were wrong about.

I have spent a lot of time

thinking about this prompt.

And I mean a lot of time.

I think I finally came up with a story to share.

However,

I do not believe I was wrong.

I was mistaken.

Forgetful.

Confused.

Irritated.

But not wrong!

Ethan has an iTouch.

And now that he's learning to

read and write,

he's taken full ownership of his iTouch.

He's deleted songs

he once wanted,

and apps

he had begged for.

He even created folders for all his apps

and organised them in a way

that makes sense to him.

And him only.

He even downloaded YouTube

and started 

watching videos.

But as his spelling

is still a work in progress,

I've worried about him watching something

inappropriate.

So I took action!

I disabled the apps store on his iTouch.

This would prevent him from 

deleting anything without

first asking.

It also prevents him from adding

new apps

without my approval.

Somewhere,

between disabling it

and syncing it yesterday,

I forgot about this.

I recently purchased a few new apps

that I thought Ethan would like.

I decided it was time to sync his iTouch

to my computer.

It's been forever since I had last done it.

As I'm doing this,

I'm noticing the new apps are not loading.

And I can't figure out why.

And then I notice it.

The app store is GONE!

OMG!!!!

Ethan, did you delete the app store?

Are you sure?

Maybe when you were moving apps around

you accidentally deleted it?

Ethan you need to be more careful!

Yes, I blamed my child

(wait - this is not a bad mommy post

let's get back to topic).

I just couldn't

for the life of me figure out

what went wrong.

Suddenly it dawned on me....

It was not a what

but a who.

I was wrong!

It wasn't Ethan that deleted it.

It was I that disabled it!

Well,

I fixed it.

And so,

this does not make me wrong,

just in error!

The Happiness Project - Week 35

Anyone who knows me

will tell you I love Halloween.

Big Time!

Ethan and I even bought his costume

in May!

But this year,

with the move,

Halloween almost didn't happen.

I know!!!!

We left Lusaka before

Trunk-or-Treat

or even Halloween in the Hood

and we weren't sure

what was happening in Dar.

But then,

my friend Lara

 came to the rescue.

Lara,

a fellow Canadian,

loves Halloween

almost as much as I.

She was planning a kids party,

and when she heard we were moving

asked us to come to the party.

We were happy to oblige!

The house was decorated,

there was an abundance of treats

and even scary slime!

Even Scott enjoyed himself!

Happiness is Halloween with friends.

Allegiant - Veronica Roth

I have no idea where to begin with this one.

I've loved the Divergent series

since the beginning. 

I'm not one of those people

who'll stay it's too much like

The Hunger Games.

It's dystopia.

It's hard.

It's sad.

It's an emotional roller coaster.

And I've enjoyed the ride.

Having said that,

Allegiant was a little disappointing.

Tris and Tobias

see the world they've known

crumble

and decide to head out of the city

to see what's there.

What they learn

is so much more.

The learn how the factions began.

They learn what it means to be Divergent.

They learn who they are

and not what they think, or have been told

they are. 

And somewhere in this new knowledge,

Tris continues to grow,

in physical strength

and mental strength.

But Tobias,

well, he changes.

He becomes weaker

and doubts himself.

And this was sadder

than the very sad ending.

Writer's Workshop - Confession

Hi, my name is Tima

and I'm a helicopter mum.

Now, I never set out to be one.

And for a while I denied being one,

but over the last few weeks,

I've discovered

I am one.

And I've come to accept that.

That's the first step;

right?

The realisation began last year.

Ethan and I were walking to school.

He was carrying his school bag.

I had my bag and his swim bag.

He had swimming afterschool,

and I didn't want him to loose it.

The routine was

after school,

he'd come see me,

drop off his school bag

and fetch his swim bag.

The system worked well.

I never worried about him loosing any bags.

On this particular day,

I noticed his friend G

was walking to class with his school bag

and his swim bag.

I turned to Ethan and commented

on his friend's Independence.

"How come you're not independent like G?"

I wondered.

And then I put his swim bag away safely

and realise it's because I haven't given him the chance.

Nor did I ever give him the chance.

Being a teacher at Ethan's school

also meant I'd stop by his classroom

at least once a week.

Granted, Ethan would be at a special

or break,

and it was a social stop,

I was friends with his teacher.

That just made checking on him easier

and less hovering.

At least that's what I told myself.

Ethan starts at IST on Monday.

And I'm a nervous wreck.

This is the first time

Ethan will attend a school 

and I won't be working.

What if he gets hurt?

What if he feels sad?

What if he's having a bad day?

I won't be there.

I'm a nervous wreck!!!