dream haiku

you told me your dream
red subaru two-for-one
gift in the telling

but I couldn't so I did the next best thing

Ever since I've got involved with the Vancouver Poetry Slam, I have wanted to go to a national/international event. Poets travel to these things to meet, compete, participate in showcases, hang out and absorb each other's presence, talent and friendship.

Being a working mom and wife with teenagers and a dog and cat and house, I have chosen not to go. If I ever made it onto a team, I'd go of course, but that's not likely at the moment, with all of the talented poets in Vancouver who dedicate a lot more time and work than I do to writing, performing and touring. I'm happy with my place in the Van Slam scene. I compete when I want to, volunteer, and even host once in a while. We have a growing pool of talented performers right here in Vancouver, so any time I go to the slam, I'm sure to hear new work from poets I know already and see new faces joining the scene. My friends in the slam community are probably the best thing about it. We are good people who well work together and have a lot of fun. Still, I'm jealous when poets head out on tour to perform at venues in other provinces or countries, and especially when they go to Nationals or the Individual World Poetry Slam - the big slam competitions that draw poets from all over North America and beyond.

So far I have satisfied my craving for poets from out of town by enjoying the feature poets who come to Vancouver from other cities to perform at our slam and other events. In 2005 we hosted the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. I met poets from all across Canada and Great Britain and heard more voices in one week than I thought I could in a whole year. That was good.

Also in 2005, our Vancouver spoken word community, organized in Vancouver Poetry House, decided to put in a bid to host the Individual World Poetry Slam in 2007. Our bid was accepted and we've been planning and preparing ever since. I guess if I couldn't go to Nationals or Indies, I could help bring them here to Vancouver.

Today is the day. Early registration and the Aboriginal and Last Chance Slams are this evening. The official competition begins tomorrow and runs through Saturday and there are daytime and late night showcases, even a skating party and ball-hockey game. And here I am, in the middle of it. As a member of the Host City committee I'll help make sure everything runs smoothly. I'll also get to meet more poets, hear more poems and find out what it feels like to be part of THE BIG SHOW! Sitting here in my pajamas at the computer it still doesn't feel real, but it will soon enough. Today I will run a few errands for the festival, then arrive at the festival hotel late-afternoon for a meeting and to help with registration. My plan is to soak up as much of this as I can, meet as many people as I can and have fun with my Vancouver friends, and all of the new ones I'll be making this week. At the end of it I can say, I have been to a national poetry slam event.

It's not every day that I get one of the things on my "I have always wanted to..." list. Today is one of those days.

question: did you ever find a way to do something that you thought was un-doable?

mompoet - lucky, lucky, lucky (oh yeah, and smart too)

dreamballs

I have been dreaming like crazy every night for the past week or so. So much dreaming that I can remember just bit of it, but I think the parts you remember are the important ones.

Here are some fragments:

I'm with my family, camping with friends. We go out for the day and return to find our tent and all of our belongings stolen. Where will we stay?

Andy and I invite two couples from the neighbourhood over for supper. Our friends are sitting in the dining room as we put food onto the table. We keep running in and out of the kitchen saying, "wait! there's more!" After about an hour of manic table-loading we discover that our friends have given up, left without saying good-bye, and gone for supper somewhere else.

The family is going on a vacation that we have planned for a long time. I took care of getting passports. I forgot to get one for myself.

It's late at night and nobody has walked the dog today. I take her outside, get in the car and drive around the neighbourhood with the dog sitting in the front seat. There. Now she's gone for a walk.

I have not dreamed any memorable surreal dreams for the past while, just these ordinary life gone slightly askew kinds of dreams. I've been waking up tired like I worked hard in my dreams to make things turn out, but things keep happening to frustrate my intentions or I make wrong choices and end up disappointed.

I think our dreams reveal to us how we are feeling about what's happening in our waking hours. They illustrate to us our response to our experience with some of our daytime thought-censors turned off. I'll have to think about these dream-bits and figure out what they're telling me. It could be central and important, or just some firing-off of reactions around the edges - like how my leg twitches when I'm about to fall sleep, taking the last few steps that I didn't take but meant to during the day.

question: do you remember your dreams?

mompoet - sometimes amused, frequently confused, always bemused

intensity

It's iWPS week, something for which we've been preparing for a couple of years. On Wednesday it will happen. By Sunday it will be over. It feels like just before a Christmas we have never experienced, and we're responsible for it going well.

This week, 72 performance poets will come to Vancouver to compete for the title of Individual World Champion. A few hundred audience members each day will enjoy the shows. Our little committee of six people has planned, prepared, promoted and even sold all of the tickets. We'll be joined by about the same number of people from PSi - the big Poetry Slam organization that puts together this tournament and the summertime "Nationals" for slam poetry teams. Together we will make the tournament and surrounding festival events happen.

I feel energized and mostly confident, thanks to this great team I'm working with. We did it once before in 2005 at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. This festival is almost like a second baby. We know what we've got ourselves into this time, and what we want to do differently and the same as last time. We also know it will be overwhelming - stressful and wonderful simultaneously, and that every one is different, no matter what you do.

I have most of the week off work to rest up for late nights, and run around doing errands during the day if I'm needed. There are daytime shows on Thursday and Friday and a skating party and ball hockey on Saturday afternoon. Saturday night will be finals night followed by a party and I know I'll cry. This baby flies out the window before the light of dawn Sunday. In the meantime, I'm ready to enjoy the show, meet lots of great people and see/hear/feel poetry like I never have before.

question: are you coming?

mompoet - boggled in a good way

my favourite gizmo

I don't much like many gizmos. I do have a palm pilot with a keyboard, and this home computer that I'm using to post my blog works pretty well too, but I don't go out searching for more gizmos just for the sake of gizmos.

The one gizmo that has totally blown me away is my braun 3D electric toothbrush. We bought it when Alex got braces, which was about 2 1/2 years ago. I'd never used an electric toothbrush before but I do like to brush my teeth. a lot. There's something about smooth, clean, fresh-tasting teeth that is very nice. Anyway, within about a day of getting this thing I was sure I could never live without one again.

Here's a yahoo video of someone explaining why he likes the braun 3D. I agree with everything he says. I'm also glad he didn't do a demo. You just have to try one for yourself.

The best part? Our friend Robin bought it for us. It was on sale at Costco when we were on vacation, so I gave her the money and she bought it.

That has to be the world's best gizmo: clean teeth + I didn't shop for it myself + still works fine after 2 years plus. Even better than my palm pilot. Definitely better than my cellphone. Probably wouldn't trade it for a computer, but I would have to give that some hard thought before I could be sure.

I know I mentioned a bread machine in a previous post. I do have that. But Andy bought it. I just went along with it, although I'm the family bread-maker so I'm the one who uses it. I did nix the rice cooker and the juicer, although we do have a waffle iron and a microwave. And a wine corker, and a really nice garlic press, but those are low tech and necessary for a minimal quality of life. They also contribute to the need for a good toothbrush.

hmmm now I want to brush my teeth.

question: what's your favourite gizmo?

mompoet - procrastinating

haiku movie review

the delicate art of parking

open the window
enforcers are people too
local gem with heart

question: did you see this?

mompoet - I like little movies with big heart

if you buy neither feminine hygiene products nor individually-portioned yogurt, you can skip this post

I hate to shop. For anything, anywhere, ever.
But, I have discovered an all-time ultimate hateable shopping experience. And not just one, but two:

Feminine Hygiene Products

"pads" to be specific
Did you ever try to find a specific product in the huge array of items available? Did you try to do it when your perception and judgement were clouded by pms? It's nearly impossible, even for a level-headed and experienced consumer. First you have to locate your preferred brand, which narrows it down to about 18 linear feet of shelf-space. Then you need to make a bunch of other combination and permutation decisions: light, medium or heavy protection? scented or unscented? wings or no wings? long, slim or normal? monogrammed or generic? (I made that one up) and now the latest choice: with or without a personal wipe attached to each pad for a "shower fresh feeling every time." YAAAAKKK! To make it more complicated, the manufacturers change the package and labelling about every 2 months so even if you memorize what colour and what picture, you won't find what you want.

Then there's Yogurt

First you find your brand. Then you choose from: no fat, low fat or "creamy." Then you have to decide on sweetener - natural, sugar, artificial, no sweetener? Then there are the multi-paks of 3 flavours that you or your kids like plus one that everyone hates, thus the heap of "vanilla-pumpkin-loganberry" yogurts at the back of the fridge that came attached to the strawberry, and blueberry and raspberry ones that everyone likes. They all look the same and they all have weird names like "Source" and "Svelte" and "Swoop" and "Sinus" (I made that one up).

By the time I find pads and yogurt and make it home I'm a wreck. Could we possibly just give up on these products and live happier lives?

question: does anyone know why these products are marketed to confuse?

mompoet - not a good shopper at the best of times, terrible when I'm pmsing and needing to buy lunch food for my family

anniversary joke

Brian at cycle class told us a joke. I'm telling it here in honour of my Mom and Dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary, which is on Friday, February 2.

A man was being interviewed about his long and successful marriage. The interviewer asked, "You've been married to your wife for almost 50 years. What's your secret?" "Well," the man answered, "You have to be really nice to your wife, and do something extra special on your 25th anniversary. For example, I took my wife to Paris on our 25th." "Oh, that's very nice of you," said the interviewer, "What do you plan to do for your 50th?" The man answered, "I think I'd better go back there and bring her home now."

question: I wonder why my parents chose February 2? Are groundhogs especially romantic?

mompoet - I know, I know, it was a Saturday, and Valentine's Day was not. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

I'm back

BOING
BOING
BOING
I was not boinging on Monday - I still felt like crap.
I can't even remember Tuesday. What happened to Tuesday?
I made it to the gym Wednesday morning, and again today, Friday. And I liked it. I intended to take it easy but I didn't. I felt too energized to go slowly.
I woke up at 3:30 Thursday morning thinking "Cripes, I set the bread machine timer wrong - I can smell it and it smells done!" (It was not done, it had just finished mixing the dough and I was smelling yeast all the way up from the kitchen, through the bedroom door and under my quilt.)
I woke up again at 4am Thursday morning, and instead of saying, "Oh yeah, I can sleep some more, zzzzz..." I said, "Why isn't it morning yet? What's taking so long???
I am jazzed, definitely and completely.
Air tastes good, water tastes good. I want to chase something.
I have had 3 good hair days in a row.
I like my butt.
Well, there, now that's probably too much information, but you get the idea. I think I have finally shaken the smothering ennui that wafted in with this bad head cold that I have been fighting since before Christmas.
I am interested in the world again and want to do something about it.
Yay! I missed my zest. I'm glad it's back.

question: do you know this feeling?

mompoet - it's a good feeling

some of the good press about iWPS

I just found out that we have pretty much SOLD OUT THE SHOW!!! Oh, there'll be a few tickets at the door if any of the venues are not filled by passholders, and maybe even a spare pass or two if all of the will-calls don't come to call. But we're sure to have packed houses, jumping with poet energy and the most remarkable performances we have ever seen.

Here's a story in the local news that tells what it's all about.

question: have you got your tickets?

mompoet - flying close to the sun

Haiku Movie Revew

Inspired by Stephen's post (which was inspired by another blog - you can follow the links).

Kinky Boots (warning - contains spoiler)

steel-shanked pink sex shoes
factory saved, true love found
niche marketing rocks

question: what have you seen that you can tell in seventeen syllables?

mompoet - thinking about haiku barbeque assembly instructions

like this

watch

when you are sad

don’t cry salt-cracker tears into your gumbo
or slug-track your sleeves with someone else’s glue
don’t pop a cork into your blowhole, then hop up and down until you implode
don’t pick up a stick to snap the piñata that’s been mocking your misery

try something else unrelated
like building your very own HOV lane rangoli
with marigold mandalas and asymmetrical heaps of coloured rice
just moments ahead of the serious onset of concrete mixers
or maybe just an unfortunately paced SUV
it doesn’t matter

draw a duvet on the sidewalk and fall into it
pull it up around your elbows and let the feathers tickle your tarantula
look the sun square in the eye and ask it to explain photosynthesis
then laugh and say, “Yeah right, like YOU know anything about it!”

calculate a sonata for kazoo and cantaloupe
play it backwards and listen for the secret meaning
challenge cause and effect to an umbrella wrestle
use a mental detector to find your inner rubber chicken and take it for a gallop around the pond

understand that beauty and sadness are both absurd as sardine smiles
arbitrary as antelopes
that they have an uncanny knack of showing up in clumps like stray gnus
always at the wrong place and the wrong time
without reservations, and inappropriately dressed

it’s likely that none of this will help you feel better
so what? try something else
you can be sure the same thing that didn’t work yesterday
won’t work today
you might as well enjoy some silliness while you wait for next geranium candelabra to arrive

wordless too (except for some yelling and crashing)

watch

(almost) wordless wednesday

laughing always makes me feel better

Oh my, laughing does feel good. I just cackled loudly enough to alarm my children. Check out Lazy Daisy's blog for a list of song lyrics re-written for people "our age."

question: what do you think is funny?

mompoet - I like funny

better is a relative term

I think I am starting to feel better. I still have this yukky, snorky, coughing, dripping cold that has sapped my energy for almost a month. I lack energy and creativity. I'm getting things done, but not feeling satisfied with my accomplishments. I mostly want to sit there and look out the window.

But I do feel better.

Better, like The Globe and Mail is better than the Province
Better, like vanilla pudding is better than jello
Better, like vacuuming is better than cleaning the cat litter box
Better, like a hangnail is better than a nosebleed
Better, like junkmail is better than a telemarketer
Better, like a hole in your sock is better than a hole in your underpants
Better, like maybe some day in the future I will feel like saying


BOING!

but not yet.

question: are you feeling better?

mompoet - accepting in degrees what I would prefer to receive as a unit

Where to go?

Two important meetings are scheduled for February 7
1. School meeting (the continuing process of fighting to keep our neighbourhood school open)
2. Transit meeting (talking to City Hall about the new light rail transit planned to come down our main street and the safety concerns around a busy intersection near the high school)

Growing and shrinking. They're natural processes, but complicated, and negotiable.

question: which would you attend?

mompoet - heart in two places, at least on Feb 7

how much news is too much?

A murder trial begins today in BC Provincial Court. Already we have read and heard details of the lives and disappearances of the women who were killed and the anguish of their families. So far we have not heard much about the life of the accused, Robert Picton, or his family. Soon we will know more than most of us need or want to know.

The trial is predicted to take over a year. It will be in the newspaper, and on radio and TV every day. Journalists from around the world are here report about it.

I have decided to consciously minimize my exposure to the news about this trial. Knowing all of the details of the crimes and the daily court proceedings will not help me be more compassionate. The lives of the women who were killed will still be lost. Their families will still grieve. At the end, maybe justice will be served. I don't know.

I do know that if I soak up the details and envision the horror and sadness of the stories that make up this case, I will be sadder, more discouraged, less optimistic. So I'll skip the pages in the newspaper, tune out the tv and radio, and focus on other things. I know we'll have to talk with this kids about it, so I'll need to have a basic idea of what's going on. I just don't need the salacious details that I know will be the focus of media coverage.

I am not ignoring the awfulness of the crimes, just choosing not to participate in the media frenzy. In the meantime, I will try to keep doing what good I can in the world, to support safety, dignity and care for all people.

question: have you thought about how you will manage your knowledge about this case?

mompoet - sad and determined

Talking with (Almost) Teenagers about God

I led Sunday School today at church, for the pre-teen group, which happens to be all boys. I mostly use discussion, and this day the actual teenagers were all sleeping in at home or staying upstairs for the service, so we got the cool little "Teen Followers" den to sit in, with comfy couches and throw pillows (emphasis on "throw"). We started out talking about what's been happening during the week, how is "back to school after Christmas" treating them etc. We had quite a colourful discussion about movies they have all been to see (Jackass 2 on dvd and Borat in the movie theatre, it turns out). I invited them to explain to me what 11 and 12 year old boys think is funny, and that was a funny conversation in itself. Somehow I successfully segued into today's conversation topic, which was "what does it mean to be part of the body of Christ?" Somehow the magic happened, and in between tossing pillows and cracking up laughing, they engaged in an interesting conversation about whole bodies and incomplete bodies, with reference to the individual's body, the world and universe and our own church community, and how it connects to the idea of Christ's body in communion and the world today. I thanked the boys at the end of the hour for their good conversation and told them truthfully that I had learned some things from them. This is such a cool age to work with when you catch them in a receptive moment. They are smart and insightful, with strong instincts and developing altruism. They are idealistic and justice-oriented, and if you're lucky, they'll tell you, and each other, about it. I'm always shaking a bit in my boots when I go in to teach, not being an expert on the Bible or religion, but I think it ends up being to my advantage. There's not much I can teach them that they're not already figuring out themselves, so we take the journey together. The scriptures reading and the curriculum are a helpful guide, and my Sunday School Coordinator is wonderfully supportive and resourceful. But mostly it's the kids. Thank God for the kids.

question: have you talked with an 11 or 12 year old lately?

mompoet - boggled by brilliance (and a bit too much information about Borat)

Vancouver is about to explode with poetry

Here's a link to our website.

This has been in the works for the past couple of years. A small but mighty Vancouver Committee has teamed up with the people from Poetry Slam Incorporated to put on a Slam Poetry Competition like we've never had here before. Lots of free day and late night events, and a festival pass for just $35 Canadian.

I can hardly wait!

question: what are your plans for Jan 31-Feb 3?

mompoet - getting ready to help host the "Indies"

Gosh, now I really want an iPhone

Watch.

Thanks for the link, Dad.

question: do you want an iPhone?

mompoet - I miss the time when we didn't carry our phones in our pockets

Sundance

Oh, would I ever like to go to the Sundance Film Festival.

Here's an article about Steve Buscemi. One of my favourite actors.

I am now officially procrastinating by blogging, so I will list the rest of my favourite actors (male only - I'll think about female actors another time), and also my non-favourites. Then I will go to work (maybe).

Favourites besides Steve Buscemi

Tim Robbins
Ed Harris
Edward Norton
Michael Caine
Anthony Hopkins
Gary Busey
Rob Schneider
John Candy (I miss him)


Used to like them but not so much anymore

Gary Sinese
Robert DeNiro

Un-favourites - not that they're bad, I just don't get what all the fuss is about

Brad Pitt
Russell Crowe
Hugh Grant - okay, he's bad. I call him "Mr. Stammer and blink." I don't think he acts. I think he just shows up as Mr. Hugh Grant and that's old now.

So now you know that I can be kind of mean when I'm procrastinating. I will now stop, and go to work and be nice, but on the way I'll stop by the video store, return Absurdistan and find something else good.

question: what do you do when you are procrastinating?

mompoet - clickety click

Another movie

I stayed home this morning and watched Born in Absurdistan, an Austrian movie made in 1999. It's about two couples in Vienna whose babies are switched at the hospital. One couple is deported to Turkey and the other couple (the husband is an Austrian immigration official) go to Turkey to find their baby. It's lightweight and romantic, but makes some good points gently. The director uses a device of re-playing some scenes more than once, so you see the action from a different point of view. This is really effective and is, I think, the main point of the movie.

There's not much on the web about it, but you can read a negative review here on IMDB. I found the review almost as entertaining as the movie.

Without spoiling the outcome, I'll say that the ending of this movie is not realistic, but satisfying anyway. I viewed and enjoyed it as social commentary, which I prefer to have served up with curiosity and playfulness. This is a loveable movie, but not silly. I fell for the characters and the situation, and enjoyed the outcome. I recommend it, definitely.

question: what movies have you seen lately?

mompoet - enjoying my new year's resolution

not either, but better

butter and silk
yup
mmmmm

question: is it possible to make more space to move around inside your body?

mompoet - glidey insidey

treatsy

hee hee ha ha, I get a massage! Tomorrow is Wellness Committee employee massage day at work. I'm going first thing in the morning before I go to my office. When I arrive there, I will either be sparky and invigorated like a purple pipecleaner, or molass-easy and pretty un-productive for the rest of the day. We'll see.

Oh yeah, before that I'm going to get the oil changed in my car, I wonder if it will be like a pipecleaner or a chair full of goo? hopefully neither.

tra la la

question: did you ever get a massage at work?

mompoet - it's not as ookey as you might think

speaking (or not) of froot

link

wordless

A quiz for Sunday

Quizbox still isn't talking to the new blogger, but you can take my new Apathy Quiz right here (if you care).

question: do you care?

mompoet - I am a cotton-head and I still care

They are trying to close our school again

A few years ago the School Board did a "consolidation" of elementary schools. In response to declining enrolment, they reviewed 8 schools and closed 3. I helped lead the campaign to keep our mighty little neighbourhood elementary school (about 180 children, kindergarten to fifth grade) open.

Now they're at it again. Numbers are down further, and projected to continue to decline. Our little school is about 80% occupied, but the bigger school near by could easily absorb all of our kids with room to spare. Alex and Fi are now in secondary and middle school, so we don't have anyone enrolled at the elementary any more, but it's an important part of our community that we support wholeheartedly. If it closes, our neighbourhood will lose one of its anchors.

There's a meeting at the school Monday night. Stakeholder will present to school district staff who will write a report that will come out in February, recommending which schools to close. I'll be at the meeting to give my love and support to the parents who are leading the charge this time. It doesn't feel so hopeful this time. But still we can hope.

question: did you ever fight to keep something that was important to you?

mompoet - heavy-hearted

this is the cold that

never ends
yes it goes on and on my friends
somehow you started sneezing it
not knowing what it was
and you'll continue coughing it
forever just because
this is the cold that never ends
yes it goes on and on my friends
somhow you started snotting it
not knowing what it was
and you'll continue snorting it
forever just because
this is the cold that...

question: got kleenex?

mompoet - don't catch this if you can help it!

craving

Campbell's tomato soup (with spinach added). I got both at Safeway on my way home last night. Most of the household are chicken noodle people, so we usually don't have tomato on hand. Now I got me a 12-pack (soon 11).

question: what's your comfort food?

mompoet - that and white cheddar mac and cheese - "President's Choice" - hopefully not GW

frozen solid

Crack Head

It snowed here Wednesday, and froze overnight Thursday. I have been avoiding driving during rush hour and at night. I know I can get around, but why add one more vehicle to the slipperiness out there? We get so little snow and ice here, a couple of days of re-adjusting schedules does not hurt a bit.

Yesterday afternoon our daughter and two friends went sledding at the neighbourhood park. It has spectacular hills, and they have the new foam core super-slipperly sleds. I was delighted that 13 year olds still want to go sliding at the park.

About an hour after they went out, they returned. Fiona looked a bit strange, and told us that she had crashed into the metal pole on a chain link fence surrounding the tennis court that sits at the bottom of the hill. I asked for details of the crash and asked the usual questions to assess if she might have a concussion: dizziness? nauseau? let's see your eyes, headache? I asked her friend if Fi lost consciousness at all, and it sounds like she stayed conscious, although she did not remember the moment of impact. I decided that we'd better watch her and also wake her up a couple of times during the night in case it was a concussion. First aid: hugs and "I'm glad you're okay."

Red Neck

Then Fiona noticed that the back of her neck was red with dried blood. I checked her scalp and found a pretty impressive cut. So her friend went home, and Fiona and I drove to the hospital.

Numb Skull

Luckily Emerg was quiet when we got there. The doctor froze the area, cleaned it up and put 7 staples in to close up the cut. Back at home we had a late supper (Andy took over cooking when we determined a trip to the hospital would be necessary) and some ibuprofen. The headache felt better and Fi phoned her friends to tell the story.

I'm glad it wasn't worse, and I'm proud of how brave she was. Getting staples in your head can't be anybody's favourite thing to do! The staples will come out in a week and there may be a small scar, but it will only ever show if she decides to shave her head.

In the meantime, we have a healthy crackhead, red neck, numbskull kid. The night-time drive wasn't even so bad. Funny how your perspective changes when your child needs help.

question: did you ever get stitches or staples?

mompoet - still dispensing hugs as needed

weeeeebl

New cartoon from weebl & bob.

question: are you allergic to cat pants?

mompoet - Once I had a bird hat but it flew away

Jan's Tree at Night

It snowed so much than Andy and I each shovelled twice. When nighttime came, the neighbours came out to do one last clearing of their driveways. It was like a party out there. There were kids and babies, moms and dads. Shovels were shared and war stories told of the drive to and from work during the day. Most of the Christmas lights on our houses are out now, but our neighbour Jan has left her tree lit up. I'm glad.

question: did you every have a party by accident?

mompoet - marvelling at winter's surprises

I know it's Wednesday, and I'm supposed to be wordless, but geeeee...

I'm just looking at the new Avon catalogue, and I would like to award Avon the prize for the purplest prose ever.

Here are some luscious samples:

be...tempting eau de toilette
A breathless floriental bouquet
(floriental? I guess that's better than Afghantabulous or Venezualianted but still...)

be...tempting bath products
A captivating collection that goes from the bath to the boudoir, and everywhere in between
(like the hallway? the towel closet?)

Good Luck Purse Charm (jewelry for your purse)
Jade-like focal stone teamed up with green pearlized beads and lucky charms (horseshoe, clover and elephant) on a silvertone chain, Lobster closure
(Gotta have one of those lucky lobsters on my purse charm, yup!)

Ultra color rich lipstick
Avon's Intuitive Technology reads your lips and self-adjusts the creamy richness
(artificial intelligence applied to lipstick? Read my lips!)

I also learned that I need to get the static out of my eyelashes, and that I can buy special teabags made just for soothing tired eyes. ($5.99 for 10 teabags)

Avon has a lot of good products, and some excellent values, but some parts of the catalogue are a bit over the top. It makes for a fun read! I once thought it would be fun to write copy for a greeting card company. Writing for Avon catalogues would be fun too, but I might get myself into trouble.

question: have you read anything purple today?

mompoet - fuschia, mauve, aubergine

wordless wednesday

the spider

My friend Irene sent me this You Tube link. You may think you have seen this before, but watch the whole thing!

question: if you were a spider, which spider would you be?

mompoet - scurrying 2-legged back to work today (caffeine spider?)

New post from the Eatburns in Eritrea

There's a new post up at the Eatburn Chronicles - Chrismas, New Year and our niece Maya's 16th birthday!

question: did you ever give your shirt to a guaza tree?

mompoet - missing them and laughing at their adventures

don't you hate when this happens

After having a cold for a week, your nose is so fragile that you itch it (on the outside only - honest) and you get a nosebleed. Then for the rest of the evening, even though you have the frequent and urgent need to sneeze, YOU MUST NOT SNEEZE (unless you are far away from other people and have previously wrapped your face up in tissues, and even then it's bound to be a mess). Especially DO NOT SNEEZE NEAR THE RICE KRISPIE SQUARES THAT YOUR DAUGHTER IS MAKING TO PACK IN HER SCHOOL LUNCH TOMORROW. I REPEAT: STEP BACK FROM THE RICE KRISPIE SQUARES...aaa AAAA aaaaaaaCHOOOO! Oh bother.

question: too much information?

mompoet - here's more, once, on the way to a day of llama treking (almost to the trailhead) I had a giant nosebleed sneeze in the car that completely airbrush coated the whole front of my white sweatshirt, so I just turned the darn thing inside out and got on with my day

ps - Never sneeze on a llama, under any circumstances, even if you don't have a nosebleed

it's a bird, it's a plane it's...

superducklings! Check this link to my guilty web pleasure - Cute Overload.

question: do you not love the tiny winglets?

mompoet - wallowing shamelessly in anthropomorphism

this is what the poltergeist brought back

Here's the CD that I have found again. I have been enjoying it on my last few long drives to and from the theatre for Fi's shows. I wonder why listening to something new always reminds me of something old. This has sent me scrambling for the Beatles, the Kinks and (I think) the Clash. I must also now find a copy of this CD's predecessor because the reviews all say it's even better.

question: heard anything good lately?

mompoet - everything is connected to something else, especially in the listening part of the brain

today is the fulcrum

between holiday and every day. The kids go back to school today. Andy, despite his awful cold, has been working through the holidays. When I booked my days I decided to keep "the first day back" just for myself, so I return to work Tuesday instead of Monday. It's delicious to have just one more day before I return to the routine of every day.

Three weeks has been remarkable. I'm thinking about what I did on the first day of my vacation, and it seems like ages ago. Having the kids out of school for a whole week after New Year's Eve has also been great. We spent relatively little holiday time building up to Christmas, and most of it relaxing afterward.

I think this is the laziest, most relaxed vacation I have ever taken. We did not go anywhere. We did not tackle any major projects. We even had relatively few social commitments. It was mostly spontaneous. Fiona's show went well, and even the driving to and from West Vancouver was nice (except for that night that the roads were flooded and my car made a weird noise every time I made it wade through a puddle, then we saw a car identical to mine stalled in the middle of the highway - very reassuring).

A lot of things I thought I would do I did not do. A couple of things I didn't think of I did do. Getting sick was a definite negative, but I'm getting over it, and I was less stressed to be sick on vacation than I would if I was missing work and not being able to get the kids to their activities and regular responsibilities done.

I think I can go back to work tomorrow and say, "Yes, I am ready again." But I'm not going to think about that today. Today I will enjoy one more lazy day.

question: did you ever enjoy a planless vacation?

mompoet - recommending it

in honour of team canada juniors and the vancouver canucks

Will it Blend? 3 hockey pucks in a blender.

question: don't try this at home?

mompoet - thanks dad

schnuzzle is duzzle

Better and better

Yay! Hooray! I made pancakes today!

You still don't want to sit next to me on the bus (cough, sneeze, snort, snuffle) but I'm feeling great compared to the last couple of days.

I got up early and drank coffee and undecorated the Christmas tree. This is a job that I usually do not like to do, but it was okay this time. I'm sad to see those coloured lights go away, but I can turn on our little white patio lights that we have on the deck year-round, so I don't go cold turkey on twinkling stuff in the dark. Today I was supposed to get up, get dressed and take Alex out for a long practice drive but it's snowing! So we're still all in our pajamas at half past noon, and I made pancakes and waffles for the kids for lunch. I'm still eating that citrus salad (I made a really big batch). Maybe it's the secret to my recovery?

Next I will put away all of the Santa pictures, which I display in a bookshelf every Christmas. It's fun to look at the kids growing up with Santa. I have all of my usual pottery and candles and vases and stuff in the boxes that I took the Christmas ornaments out of, so I just switch them back. I'll say goodbye to the ceramic nativity set, the crystal bowl full of fake red apples and gold-painted pinecones, the dried pomegranates (my big find this Christmas). Dried pomegranates are about 1/3 the size of fresh ones and hard as rocks. They are really beautiful though, displayed in a simple china bowl with some nuts. The dog found them when I first put them out, and tried to eat one, but gave up. I'll put away the candles that smell like cranberries and almond biscotti (the ones that we didn't burn up over Christmas). I'll put away the advent candles - almost burned down anyway. I'll get out some gorgeous blue and pearly stuff, and new table runners and mats. The house will seem bigger and cleaner and more open. The snow is an inspiration - all clean and white and fresh.

The other good news is that the poltergeist has loosened her grip on my stuff. When I'm tired or stressed or just for no reason at all, I have this thing that takes my stuff away, then returns it to totally obvious places where I have looked. The P.G. has taken my cell phone, my keys, clothing, books, movies, money, jewelry, event tickets. Invariably these lost items turn up (eventually) in precisely the place where I searched for them, so I know they were really gone. The most extreme time was when the P.G. took my house keys for one whole year, then returned them to the pocket in my knapsack where I always keep the keys, exactly one year later. I looked in that pocket a dozen times. It was a big set of keys and a small pocket, used only for keys, and it was empty for a year, then POOF there were the keys again. That was a couple of years ago. This time it took my season's tickets to the Playhouse, my favourite sweater, and a CD I had just bought and not even listened to all the way through. That was the last week of November. My tickets showed up a couple of days before Christmas (on the table beside my bed). The CD showed up yesterday (in my nearly empty briefcase which I have cleaned out and searched a couple of times since I lost the CD). Now I need my sweater. But I'm sure it will turn up. I just have to talk to the P.G. and tell her that I'm tired of the game and I want my stuff back. P.G. is full of mischief and also annoying, but usually she's telling me I need to make a change. Having a really good rest is the change I needed this Christmas. I'm convinced that getting sick and really resting - flat out - brought back my music. Now I just have to enjoy these last few days of holidays and figure out what I really want to do, and my warm, smooshy, beige marshmallow knit sweater with the zipper on the front will come back.

question: did your stuff ever disappear and reappear?

mompoet - give me back my sweater now, please

maybe not so fast

Are you supposed to get sweaty just sending emails?

mompoet - creeping back to the couch, but with a book this time so I must be on the mend

when you have the energy to complain online with a specific list of deficiencies

you are probably feeling better.

question: how are you today?

mompoet - coming out of the viral fog

how sick?

• I have checked email only once yesterday and once today.
• I watched TV all day yesterday and today.
• That included daytime TV.
• I have not read anything except email.
• There are piles of things all around the house and I don't care.
• I am not interested in coffee.
• I think Tyra Banks and Maury are mildly interesting and might even have some social value.
• I know all the new commercials before the kids do.
  
• I do not want a glass of wine.
• I wore pajamas to sleep last night.
• I have postponed Macbeth.
• I got Andy to return my videos and I did not ask him to bring me more.
• Snot is my destiny.
• The dog has been waiting 3 days for me to take her for a walk.
• I have not taken any photographs for a week.
• We might keep the Christmas tree up until Valentine's Day. Who cares?
• I am tired now so I am going to watch more TV.
• The dog wants to go for a walk with me, but otherwise is in heaven. Ditto the cat. They like it when I am still.
• Husband and kids are getting tired of it, but are being very kind.
• I have a hard time following through on
  

question: did you try this cold that's going around?

mompoet - yukko blukko

resolution?

Lazy Daisy pointed me to the random resolution generator:

In the year 2007 I resolve to: Reunite the Spice Girls. Get your resolution here.

Happy New Year Daisy!

Happy New Year everyone. Try not to make any resolutions today. Make them tomorrow or last week. If you have to make one. Make it randomly.

question: would anyone like some citrus salad?

mompoet - making citrus salad, not resolutions (thanks mom and dad for the 10 lbs each of grapefruits and oranges!)

happy new year

This is me with my husband, who has more than 1,000 pieces and is much better than schnuzzle. Thanks for the photos Cathy!

mompoet - happy

quite often, it's more fun than you think...

This morning I can not talk. That's okay. Last night was so much fun! Myrna knows how to throw a party, and just when you're having so much fun, she says "Let's have more fun!" So after swallowing helium and talking about resolutions and scaring all of the teenage boys at our family gathering down to the basement, she comes up with this crazy plan and she needs a helper. Well, that would be me.

So while the other moms and dads have regular fun, Myrna and me, we put pantyhose on our heads and sneak out around to the back of the house and creep up the the basement patio doors to scare the boys. That was fun. Only the boys just kind of looked at us then continued watching their movie, and they locked the door so we couldn't get back into the house. That was actually so funny it was fun too. Then we came back inside and resumed having regular fun.

question: do you like my hat?

mompoet - my hair actually looked better after I wore pantyhose on my head - go figure