Wow, I can't believe that my last post was two months ago! My apologies. I've been working really hard to get this first draft of the thesis in. My supervisor gave me a deadline - and if I didn't meet it, I would have to pay for another term, just to do the oral exam. And I can think of a lot of other things I'd rather spend my money on! Right now I'm waiting for the comments from my committee members. If all goes well, I'll be able to file in a couple of weeks. Keep your fingers crossed.

Not much has happened since I last wrote...went to Calgary for a wedding (the sixth and last!) and that was fun...ran the half marathon and had a personal best...and had yet another birthday.

This year I got lots of cookbooks. Finally got the Re-bar one - Re-bar's a veggie/organic restaurant, a Victoria institution, really - and I've been flipping through that lots. The recipes can be a bit labour-intensive and sometimes they call for things that aren't normally in my cupboards, but hey, now I'm the proud owner of chipotle pepper puree and liquid smoke! One could always do with a little liquid smoke in their lives, I say...

One of the cookbooks I got - and this must have been a joke - is entitled "How to Win a Cowboy's Heart." It's this whimsical little book that features hand-drawn pictures of cowboys pulling on their boots, anecdotes from the ranch, and recipes like "Mess O' Greens," "Company Green Beans," and "Chicken-Fried Steak." The recipes are grouped in menus with names like "Hand Holdin' in the Parlour" and "Before the Barn Dance." I had a riot reading this book...can you imagine - a vegetarian cooking for a cowboy?! Well, I guess anything can happen. Maybe one of these days I will be in a gingham apron in front of a stove at the crack of dawn, cooking up a mess of grits - whatever they are! - for my man and some hungry hands. Suuure...