Sandwich in a Bowl

Now you may think that sounds disturbing... pause for a second.... and hear me out.
Okay so here is the thing... I love a good ham sandwich with cheese and perhaps a dill pickle. Well about 4 years ago I found a recipe for ham and cheese soup. I thought it sounded weird...but not as weird as the dill pickle soup. (I have not tried that one)
When I made this soup... it had gluten and dairy (two big no, no's for me now) So I thought it was off the menu. However I tried making it again today... imagine if you will a yummy bowl of soup that tastes like a ham and cheese sandwich. Ummmmmm I would have taken a picture to share but as I was hungrily spooning food into my mouth. So really as you can tell there really was no time.  It was rich and creamy and dilly and hammy and cheezy.... oh my...
You may now think to your self how did she pull it off without the evil.. ahhh hemmm sorry I mean gluten and dairy.
Here is how there is this yummy cheese replacement stuff and I have learned that almond milk is creamy and delicious not to mention if you want to thicken sauces and gravy ... sweet rice flour is amazing....

Put those all together and you get YUM!!
I am now on the hunt to create gluten free bread bowls... and if my stove was working (long story and a ranty one at that) I would make some... I have a french bread recipe that should work... but I will have to let you know...

Okay so it is late and really you should know that I am just thinking about the leftovers and thinking they would make a great snack.... so that leads to a no direction rant with many words that have added "y" on the end.


The long and the short of it is this... just because you have allergies or food intolerance does not mean you have to live with out a sandwich in a bowl.

till next time... enjoy your tomorrow

Rain drops are falling....

in my KITCHEN....
Yup you read right... sorry folks this is not a sunny post of sillyness...
I have a very real and bucket filling problem.... the rain that is soaking the grass is now soaking my kitchen...

There are little drippy sounds coming from my kitchen.... I was thinking I should write or re-write a song... that would make me feel better I think....
here it goes

ahhhh hemmmm... la la la la la....

rain drops are falling in my bucket...
I guess it's better than my floor
it makes it wet
opps just stepped into a puddle
rain drops are falling in my house they keep falling
and its worrying me....


pretty good hey?? No?? oh well it is the best I have :)

Till next time... enjoy your tomorrow

A Million Little Hugs...

Okay now a million may be a stretch.... but yesterday I went to school to visit my students for the first time since I left on medical leave...  as I was walking into the school.... I was spotted by some sharp eyed students... and nothing warms your heart like hearing a chorus of little voices " Miss Mackin is here... Miss Mackin... Miss Mackin...Look it's her it's Miss Mackin!!"

Then I received many little hugs and many questions often being asked right on top of the others.... "Miss Mackin... are you sick?...You don't look sick??... are you coming back... I missed you... you have not hugged me in a long time....are you married?? Did he take you away??..

I received much love... little love big love... even a smile or two from some JR high students...

It was wonderful and exhausting all at the same time. I was able to read some books to the students.... we read "woolbur" and "Charlie's Superhero Underpants" we talked and shared stories...
And just for fun we tried to pronounce my soon to be new last name... oi... that was different.... I think Relkooo was one of favorites. :)

I learned a lot yesterday... 1. I am really not ready to go back (tired after 1 class YIKES) and 2. I love my job....

Ohhh did I tell you?? No I guess I did not as you are just reading this... they wrote me a poem... and it went like this...

Miss Mackin

I always love to hear Miss Mackin sing
she always makes such a zing
We like it when she teaches art
and always makes us feel smart
Miss Mackin asks us to dance
when we have ants in our pants
her jokes are very funny
she makes each day feel sunny.

We love you Miss Mackin!!
We Miss you!!

It was so very cute.

Well I should let you all go... if you need some hugs the fastest way to get one is to give one...


Till next time... enjoy your tomorrow

Confession Time

Now some of you may already know... and right now some of you are speculating... it would be interesting to know what you are thinking right now....
Deep Breath Here we go..... I Charlotte bought a box set of John Wayne movies FOR MYSELF!!....

Not what you were thinking?? Ohhh sorry... but you know it can be a little interesting to tell people about my love for one John Wayne movie in particular. Yes I will admit that I bought an entire box set for one movie.... but you need to understand... I plead with you to understand.... "North to Alaska" is never in a box set.... never I say... and there it was in costco... sitting there waiting for me.... taunting me... so I picked up the box and looked at Mr N and said.... ahhhhhh (accompanied with little kid dancing feet and possibly some mild excitement based giggles and bouncing in a circle) then looked at the price (which was one dollar more than amazon was selling the ONE movie for..... you see I may be strange but also fiscally responsible in my obsessions. Are you proud??... no??.... a little embarrased to know me?... you see that last one is a normal reaction....

Now for those of you who know you could skip this part .... but I thought I would confess to the rest of the world that I have watched this movie so many time that my VHS copy now has entire sections that don't work any more.... so the DVD had to come home with me.....

Now Family types who are reading this may now be saying "Charlotte why do you need to buy the movie when you can and have recited the entire thing??)
My answer to that is...... How can you expect me and Granddad to watch it over the phone together if I don't have a copy without "snow storms" in the middle??

For the rest of you who don't know..... Every time my Granddad and I get together... (much to the dismay of some family members) We watch it together... and quote it... and sing along...
And when this movie comes on or one of us has the need to watch it we call each other and co-ordinate tv channels or queue up our copies and just know that we are watching it together....

So you can see.... why it was a NEED not a want....

In the spirit of true confession.... this is not the first John Wayne box set that I own... You may now question why you love me... but you just know that you can't do with out me and my awesome randomness....

till next time... enjoy your tomorrow

Anyone for a dance party?

So as some of you may know I love to dance.... (however I am not really good at it) but I dance with passion and wonderful creativity. 
When I am at work (grade 2) we would have weekly dance parties (I use them as some of my government mandated daily physical activity quota for the little ones) and I would play DJ as well as dance along with them. The cool thing about grade 2's is that it does not matter how crazy you dance. They love it.... and they follow along....

However as I am sitting a lot on my couch.  So there are not many dance parties... not that I have the energy for one at this point....  
But there needs to be some dancing..... okay everyone.... crank up  some music... and 1...2...a 1..2....3....go
Dance.... Dance...Dance... Dance... *jazz hands*
are we dancing??? Cause I know I am :)

It was  a great dance party thank you so much for coming....

Till next time ... enjoy your tomorrow....

Blissfully Random...

I have come to the realization that just because I think something would be fun... the world may just think it is random. Case in point... yesterday there was a moment of sunshine... Mr N and I were walking into a sports store (did you know they have those cause I sure didn't) and they were playing a fun song on the loud speaker... for all you math people and those who know me well here is an equation for you....

Question: Charlotte + Sunshine + Love of her life + good music= ????

Answer: Dancing in the parking lot... enjoying the giggles and random looks from strangers.....

ahhh really does it get more blissfully random than that? Well we are talking about me here... so.... I am guessing this is not the most random thing you could ever think of me doing.  But it was awesome.

My new idea is to share my bliss with others... so I say... Get up.. and today do something random... enjoy the funny looks of those around you!! (boy am I bossy today)
here are some possible options....
1. dance to the music out side of a sports/hockey store
2. smile at a grouchy person
3. put a random note on someones desk at work (appropriate and non harassing)
4. skip... while the person beside you is walking
5. encourage a car dance party... (for ideas on moves youtube "car dance party Moscow style")

there are many more ideas... but for one blog entry it may be overwhelming.

Till next time... enjoy your tomorrow

Amazing People = Amazing Adventures

Lets start out by saying... I am truly blessed by the people who are in my life. I have some amazing friends. What spurred this post is that my two amazing bridal girls just spent two whirl wind days walking and shopping and walking and walking.... they let me take breaks (cause I need them I get so tired these days) They "forced"me to eat and drink water.... they supported me and helped me gather some of those special little touches that make a bride feel like a million bucks. As I sit here I am still amazed at all the things that got accomplished and that Rea can do it all in flip flops. A quick list of what we found (with out to many details as I am keeping some things as suprizes for MR N)
in no perticular order....

1. Breakfast (ohhh that's a good one)
2. bridal flip flops (for when my feet decide they hate me)
3. the girls found their shoes... funny story... I told the girls as long as the colour matched I was fine with what ever shoes they wanted and we soon discovered they have much different taste in shoes. But then at the last shoe store we went to... there they were a beautiful pair of shoes that they BOTH liked!!
4. Bridal girls... little purse
5. Bridal girls... dress
6. tried on my dress and made the final payment (LOVE IT)

7. Bridal Jewelery
8. bought some lovely blister band aids (that I needed ASAP if not sooner)
9. booked first and final bridal fittings
10. bought some pretty things ;)

then we laughed and talked the way only people who know you well can :)

And just the day before all that started some other of my favorite girls and I got together ... played with a baby and started cutting things for invitations :)
troopers those ones that is for sure.... again... I would need to rest and they would rest with me :) made me eat my veggies... and drink water... ummm water I really like drinking water.


To all the amazing people that have touched my life and helped me grow.... I thank you.... you are amazing...

Till next time... enjoy your tomorrow....