Watermelon Tap - Yummy

As is our tradition we have a little BBQ in the backyard. This year we decided to "tap" a keg - aka tap a watermelon. My sister and her husband gave me the idea as they did it camping this year. Hollow out the watermelon, strain the meat - we cheated and used our juicer. Took no time at all. Mix liberally with your poison of choice - in our case Vodka, then stick a hose bib (aka spigot) into it and voila - a keg of watermelon. Dena decided to add a creative touch and carve a face into it.

We were wondering what to do with the left over meat after you strain or juice the meat. It's basically waterless meat. We decided to freeze it and make watermelon ice cubes.....

Cheers everyone and Happy Labor Day!

More Routine - Except Really Old....

Back a very long time ago - Junior High I think we called it in Thunder Bay I went to a school that was just for Grade 7 & 8. This was a big deal for me because I moved out of "grade" school to the big times. We were required to purchase a lock for our locker. I'd never had a locker and we didn't really have much money so it seemed a big deal to get the money for the lock. The lock I received was a Dudley lock. These are Made in Canada.

I use this lock still today and even though I'll go years without using it the combination never leaves me. 54 - 34 - 6 Amazing what sticks in your head for over 30 years isn't it? I dug it out of the garage this morning, dialed in my combo and viola - open sesame. A little stiff but still completely functioning.

In my research to link to Dudley I was pleasantly surprised to see them still around (I mean it was 30 years ago) and they are going strong. We didn't have a bunch of cool colors to choose from! My how things have changed.

Routine....

There is something to be said for routine. I admit it, I'm very attached to my morning routine. I realize that I need to break out of it because some parts of it are not healthy, aka the diet red bull and zone bar for breakfast..... But on the bright side, I'm starting to implement a new part to my routine - making my lunch. We'll see how that goes.

Part of my morning routine just appeared one morning about a year ago. That was the addition of Leonardo the Standard Parking night shift guy. I get to work just before 7 am and each day there is Leonardo to greet me with a big smile and a buenos dios seniorita. He tries (and doesn't always succeed) to teach me a couple Spanish words but always with a smile. I used to bring him the paper every morning way back when we actually received one.

Back in July I was surprised one morning to see that he was gone. There was another fellow there and I didn't even receive a look let alone a smile. I was sad. A couple days later I finally asked the surly fellow where Leonardo was. He was on vacation. I was happy that he was coming back. Two weeks later he is back and all is right with my routine again. He brings a smile to my face and will often wash away any crankiness that LA morning traffic may have brought on.

When I came back from my vacation he welcomed me and said he missed me. We chatted as there was no one behind me on the ramp and it turns out that we both had taken our vacations in Edmonton. What a small world we live in. Try to remember today that random acts of kindness to strangers can develop into an important part of their day. A smile can change the world for someone. Smile.....come on, you know you want to.