Oh Canada!

I'm back from my weekend excursion to Canada, aye!?!

While I wasn't really looking forward to going simply because I was busy and didn't want the hassle of flying right now, I'm so glad I did. I got to spend time with family that I hadn't seen since my wedding three and a half years ago, got filled in on old-school family gossip (lets just say it's weird when you find out your grandparents were normal people with normal marital problems just like everyone else) and got to spend time in Windsor again, the city I used to spend so many summers in as a child.

Oh, and then there was the food.

See, my Great-Aunt Ann is one of those little old ladies that tries stuffing food down your throat as soon as you walk in the door. Everytime I entered the room she was trying to feed me. Oh, and she's Slovak. Since no one else I know cooks Slovak food anymore, I just couldn't pass it up. I mean, how often do you get homemade cabbage rolls that are actually delicious? Not often. Here are a couple of meals I had.

Dinner #1
homemade Slovak pastries and pecan tarts
sausage, cheese and crackers
cabbage rolls
fried chicken breasts
perogies (yum!)
salad
bread (white of course)
beer

Dinner #2
pizza with sausage and ham
cabbage rolls
perogies

Dinner #3
turkey
stuffing
gravy
ham
sausage
mashed potatoes
sweet potatoes
corn on the cob
roasted vegetables
salad
marinated tomatoes and cucumbers
bread
cranberry sauce
creme brulee
pita bread with hummus (don't ask where that came from, but I'm also Lebanese, so it seemed normal)

No, it was not Thanksgiving or any other crazy Canadian holiday, this is just how my family eats up there. Of course there are six people that live in that house, but still, I remember there always being that much food around even when it was just my Aunt Ann living alone.

The best food however was...



Ahhhh, Coffee Crisp, possibly the best damn candy bar in all the world. Is it really as good as it seems, or is it just because I can only get it in Canada, therefore only eat it once every 5 years? Who knows, I brought a bag home with me just to make sure.

Needless to say, I feel like a cow. I did manage to fit one nice run in on Saturday morning. There is a great bike path right up the street from my cousin's house that runs along Riverside Drive. I had a comfortable run in a mildly humid, overcast day with a great view of the water and some beautiful homes. When I later tracked the run on Runstoppable, I realized I ran 5.94 miles in 59:32. Here's my path.



Not too shabby. I stopped after about 3 miles at a bathroom in the marina to get a drink of water and stopped my watch, so I got a few minutes of rest in there before I headed back. But it was definitely a much better run which leads me to believe that I'm not as bad at running as I thought and it just may be the humidity causing me troubles. What a relief.

Anyway, the trip was great and flying was completely hassle-free. Here is a view from the flight home.



Then I came home to this.



Fun. And on the one-year anniversary of Katrina too. People were freaking out. The media was on a hurricane scare-frenzy since there have been no storms during what was suppoed to be, "the busiest year for hurricanes" so far. Cars were lined up down the streets an a feeble attempt to get gas before the storm and folks were just getting mean. Thankfully tonight though the storm broke up and has passed over us and we will have power for one more week. At least until another one rolls through.