Where in the World is Saura

We celebrated a very warm and delicious Thanksgiving meal yesterday. I squeezed by with a few minor disasters and one very good roasted chicken. I had to go with the chicken as I only found frozen turkeys in the supermarket, but it was really good. Along with the bird, I made stuffing, gravy from the bird juices, and peas cooked with alittle chicken fat (believe me, there was not a lack of butter and fat in this meal). My first disaster was putting condensed milk in the sweet potato casserole, which then became the dessert: a sweet potato crumble served with vanilla ice cream and strawberries. So the first disaster was averted, but the second disaster couldn’t be mended. As I took the brussel sprouts (with a bread crumb crust, Alan’s favorite) out of the oven to the table, I lost grip of the dish and they fell to the carpet. Saura didn’t see that as a disaster since she’s been eating the spoils for two days now.

Continuing on the topic of food, Alan and I broke out the grill for the first time this spring/summer. We had the best tasting sausages (aka “saussies”) I’ve ever had. We bought them fresh from the butcher (raw, none of that pre-cooked stuff for us!). We loved them so much we went back and nearly wiped them out of the rest, and had them bagged seperately so we could freeze them and thaw as needed. I’m definitely ready for a summer filled with barbeques and beer, mmmmmm.

Lastly, here’s a pic from Doreen’s graduation ceremony where she was the recipient of the Award of Excellence and the Dux Award. Pictured from left to right: me, Al, Doreen, Linda (Doreen’s sister), and John (Linda’s husband).

Rock Garden, Hagley Park

I am officially done with studying until February, so…Woohoo! I felt relief that was almost equivalent to finishing the MCAT’s after these New Zealand university exams. They are held in a “standardized test” style where you go to a lecture hall and proctors give the exams instead of your teacher. And they are strict! I had to go to the bathroom during my first exam and I had to hand one woman my student ID and another physically escorted me to the bathroom, like we can’t be trusted! Over the two days, I wrote for three hours on each exam to the point where I thought my arm would fall off and we were actually expected to back up our arguments with cited sources. Thats pretty tough when you don’t even know what the questions are going to be, but its over and I’m pretty sure I passed.
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