MOMPOET Word from the 'Burbs

what I thought about menopause before it began (for me)

2012-01-22T13:14:00.000-08:00

Here's "Running Out of Eggs," as I performed it at the Vancouver Poetry Slam earlier this month. I wrote the poem about 8 years ago. Now I can say it's honestly true to life.

question: got any eggs?

mompoet - it's okay, either way

adjustments

2012-01-20T06:28:00.000-08:00

Ibuprofen - my friend in times of OUCH!

Massage - coincidentally had a massage at work appointment. Therapist worked on my low back, gluteal muscles and hip. Sounds like weak low back and inner thigh muscles may be park of the problem. Now it's my job to strengthen, stretch, assess how I stand and take the pressure off by being stronger, longer and better balanced. OK!

Not walking - I drove to work, then Alex took the car away for his evening shift at the theatre, then I took the bus home. Yay community shuttle! It felt weird. I kept looking out the window of the bus saying to myself, "I walk there. I walk there."

Icing and Heating - I have a frozen water bottle that I roll on the floor under my foot. It's dreadfully cold at first, then very nice. I also have a magic bag. I use it while I'm stretching my foot.

Visualisation - I have pictures in my mind of back muscles, bum muscles, leg muscles and the structures of the foot. I am picturing them all well and happy.

question: what do you do when you want to fix something that is inside you?

mompoet - healing my heel and soothing my hip

ouch! (I have the menopause foot)

2012-01-19T06:48:00.000-08:00

I was walking to work Monday morning when I began to experience pain in my left heel. I hobbled the rest of the way in, and discovered that my heel is somehow injured. I have a burning pain on the bottom of my heel, where I stand on it. Every step hurts. Over the next couple of days the pain got worse, then subsided, then got worse, then subsided.

I had heard about this, so I looked it up on the internet. I will go see the doctor, but it will take a few days to get in to see her, so for now, the internet and friends will help.

The internet suggests plantar fasciitis, which is an inflammation of the connective tissue where it attaches under the heel bone. It is caused/aggravated, by tightness in the tendons and ligaments inside the arch of the foot. Suggested treatments include, rest, icing, massage, stretching the foot and calf, and anti-inflammatory meds. You can also get a night splint or a sock that stretches the foot and calf gently while you are not thinking about it.

So I'm taking the ibuprofen, stretching, not walking 10 kilometers a day (starting today), and icing. As I post this, I'm rolling a frozen water bottle under my arch and heel. Feels good! I happen to have a massage appointment this morning so I'll ask for advice and help there too.

Lots of friends have had this. I have a generous offer to borrow the foot stretching sock from dear Cathy, and tons of encouragement from all around. The funniest part is that one of the senior ladies at my work (a retired registered nurse) said, "I don't mean to say you're getting old, Sue, but this injury is very common in women around menopause."

So it seems that part of being 50 may be a greater susceptibility to injuries or at least to inflammation or perhaps a lower pain tolerance. I will do what I can to get better because darn it, I like to walk 10 kilometers a day. I plan to do it for at least another 30 or 40 years.

Thank you to everyone for your encouragement, about my pain, my age, and my prognosis for deterioration. We are all deteriorating. We can do it with care, even with flare.

question: have you ever had a pain in your heel?

mompoet - ouch!

resume life as usual (for 3.5 weeks)

2012-01-15T10:03:00.000-08:00

We drove Fiona down to Seattle last night. She slept over at her college roommate's house there, and is in the air on her way back to New Jersey as I post this. We had an awesome 4 week visit with her, and while I know I'll miss having her here at home, I feel none of the wrenching sadness at separation this time. This is partly because Andy, Alex and I will fly to New York mid-February to see her perform in a musical at the university, so we'll see her again in less than a month. Then she'll fly home in March for Spring Break. More importantly, we know that she is very happy at Montclair, with her courses, her friends, her accommodations. She's in the right place, doing the right thing. This is exactly what she should be doing. While I'll miss her, I am over-the-moon happy to know that she is happy and doing well.

I have been enjoying 3 weeks of vacation, planned so I could be at home with the family over Christmas, and make the most of Fiona's visit. It has been lovely to have that stretch of time, with few commitments and lots of room for improvisation. Mostly I have relaxed and responded to opportunities as they have come up. This last week I have been available to tend to Fiona and Alex while they mostly rested up with bad colds. This isn't what I would have wished for them, but they've got through it okay, and I am glad that I've been here to help make them comfortable.

Tomorrow I will return to work. I've been around the office a bit while on vacation, because I've been going to the rec centre to work out. My wonderful co-workers have been taking care of business, but I'll have a bit of catching up to do, so I anticipate a hectic week. I don't dread returning. I love my work, and I'm going back very well rested. We'll celebrate Chinese New Year with the seniors, and start up all of our winter programs, and work on the brochure that advertises Spring and Summer sessions, and also work on our annual budget updates. I also have an Insights team session to facilitate, and an on-call week leading right up to the day before we fly to New York in February. I'm looking forward to all of it.

For fun, I'm looking forward to seeing Red at the Vancouver Playhouse next weekend. Then Andy and I have tickets to the Ovation Awards at the end of the month (that's the Vancouver musical theatre award night). On Feb 2, I'll be part of a wonderful birthday celebration for my friend, poet and author Irene Livingston. So many good things coming up!

While I'm not one to worry (much), I do have a bit of a laundry list of those going on. They are, in part, why I am looking forward to resuming my regular routine. Once I'm working again, I won't have time to waste on worrying. For the record, here they are: Did Fiona's suitcase weigh more than 50 pounds?/Will Fiona be allowed to carry her new ukulele on the plane or will they try to make her check it and put it in the cargo hold?/Will Alex's cough finally go away?/Will Fiona's ears hurt on the plane?/Will Alex be able to drive to work safely in the rental car that has only all-weather tires or should Andy and I drive him to work and back in Andy's car with snow tires?/Will snow make my Monday morning walk to work slow going so I should get up extra early?/Will I need to cancel programs at work Monday morning because of snow?/Where is my car?/Will I accidentally sleep in on Monday morning?/Will Fiona and Shannon have a smooth journey from JFK Airport to the university with all of their luggage in tow?/Do we have any more soy sauce in the pantry or do I need to buy some? Okay, when I start to worry about soy sauce you can see that things are really okay.

question: are you worrying about something today?

mompoet - teeny weeny worries, big happy life

winter colds

2012-01-10T10:01:00.000-08:00

Alex and Fi are both down with colds. Andy is back to work this week after a vacation interrupted by a few unexpected call-ins to cover for a co-worker. I am still home on vacation. I took Alex to the walk-in clinic last night when he spiked a fever after a week of up and down with coughing etc. Dr took a throat swab for culture but says it looks like just a nasty cold. I hope he feels better soon. I hope Fi feels better before she flies back to NJ on Sunday. In the meantime: books, magazines, ibuprofen, ColdFX, macaroni and cheese, hot apple juice with ginger and cinnamon. I can "mom" a cold, yes I can.

question: have you been a care-giver or care-needer recently?

mompoet - always both

3 weeks rocks

2012-01-07T13:30:00.000-08:00

It's Saturday afternoon. I'm lounging in my pajamas at the computer. Two of my three weeks of Winter vacation have passed. I timed it to be home until Fiona returns to university. It has been a lazy-ish, low-stress-ish vacation so far. Highlights:

Worked through the 23rd, did not stress about "getting ready for Christmas" but got decorations and tree up, a modest number of gifts bought, some cards out, what else is there?
Helped at the family Christmas Eve service at church. It was lovely as usual.
Celebrated the Eve after church with neighbours including grown up and almost grown up children. We stayed up way too late!
Celebrated Christmas day at Mom-in-law's then Mom and Dad's house. Nice, small, family time.
Saw a couple of movies - War Horse and Tintin. I want to see more movies before I go back to work!
Read a couple of novels. Fault Lines by Nancy Huston and Room by Emma Donoghue. I want to read more novels before I go back to work!
Lazed for one week then got back to workouts at the gym. I have time for spin classes when I'm on vacation. I love the intensity. I'm also visiting the weight room, so I don't miss my walks to and from the office too much.
Hung out with Andy, watched a few movies at home on DVD.
Hosted a mom and daughter footie pajama party and also a dress up New Year's Eve party.
Had my car stolen (still missing)
Saw The Sound of Music at Gateway Theatre in Richmond and Romeo and Juliet at the Tsawwassen Arts Centre. Learned how to spell Tsawwassen. Both were community theatre productions. Both were excellent.
Went to the Vancouver Poetry Slam, competed for the first time in over a year, came in third. YAY! I want to go to some more poetry slams and compete with some new poems.
Did not shop much, but bought an awesome stock pot less than half price after Christmas. Now I don't have to cook soup in a canning pot. Will cook more soup before I return to work.
Booked a trip to New York City with Andy and Alex in February. We'll see Fiona in a show at the university, and I'll introduce Alex and Andy to New York, and to our friends and family who live there.
Cooked and cooked and cooked. Yes, I love to cook!
Got new eyeglasses. I can see clearly now!
Went for lunch a few times.
Revived acquaintance with my twitter account - mostly copied facebook statuses to twitter feed
Celebrated our niece's 21st birthday.
Slept in and stayed up late. Weird for me!
Didn't do much house-cleaning. GOOD!

On the agenda for week 3 of 3:

Belated birthday day of adventure (my birthday) with Fiona. Will include Kitsilano and Granville Island.
Friend Michele's birthday celebration
More spin classes. Possible purchase of cycling shoes
Writing poems
Cooking, but not cleaning (much)
Haircut? maybe.

question: what did you do as the days slowly began to lengthen and the nights to shorten?

mompoet - three weeks rocks

butter chicken and roasted Brussels sprouts

2012-01-04T16:10:00.000-08:00

I'm having a really great vacation. I've been off work since Christmas Eve, and won't return to the office until January 16. Three weeks at home is really nice. At this point, it feels like forever since I started my vacation, and forever again until I must return to work. I'm enjoying time with the family and with friends and going out a bit more than I would if I was working. I am also really enjoying cooking. Here's how I make one of my favourite suppers. It's easy to make, satisfying to eat, and special enough to serve to company, AND it uses the little red pot. Perfect, huh?

Butter chicken begins with chicken. I use boneless skinless breasts, cut up into chunks. I cook them up in my little red pot, using just a bit of vegetable oil. For 4-6 servings I cook about a pound and a half of chicken in two batches. Cooked chicken and the juice that comes out go into a bowl on the side of the stove.

Next I chop up about 1.5 large onions or 2 medium ones, and saute these in the little red pot, using a moderate amount of real butter (about 1/3 cup). The rest of the recipe is really healthy, and the butter gives it the right to be called "butter chicken." Believe me, it's worth it.

Cook those onions in the butter for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile you can chop up some tomatoes. If you don't have tomatoes you can use some tomato puree or paste. I used three smallish tomatoes.

Now the magic ingredient: spice packet seasoning. I get these at my produce store. They have packets for Indian, Chinese, Indonesian and Thai recipes. So far I have found they are all good. I use two packets for this amount of chicken. Put the chicken and juice back in with the onions and add the tomatoes, the contents of the spice packets (kind of a wet paste of seasonings) and 2/3 cup each of yogurt and water. If you want to be decadent, you can use cream instead of yogurt. I prefer the tanginess of yogurt, and the sauce is rich enough just from the butter.

When you stir it all together it will be thick, then when it heats up, it gets quite liquidy. Never fear, it will thicken. Here's how it looks at first:

Leave it uncovered on medium heat. Cook it for about 30-40 minutes, stirring frequently, until the sauce is somewhat reduced and substantially thickened.

While it cooks, you can put some rice on, and also make some yummy roasted Brussels sprouts. Wash and trim as many sprouts as you want to serve. These are good reheated, so you can make extra if you like. Put them on a baking pan covered with parchment. Drizzle them with some olive oil and season with salt and pepper at least. You can use rosemary, or another favourite herb if you like. These are good with just about any flavouring.

Bake them in a 400 degree Fahrenheit oven, stirring once or twice, for about 15-25 minutes depending on the sice of the sprouts. If you're in a hurry, you can cut them in half before cooking. But you're in no hurry if you're waiting for that butter chicken sauce to thicken.

Look! The sauce finally thickened up and turned golden. The whole house smells delicious, and everyone is climbing the walls, ready for supper. And the Brussels sprouts?

They are perfect - cooked through but not mushy, with a few bits of roasted brown on the edge of each sprout. Don't miss the stray leaves on the pan. They are crispy and delicious. Crispy Brussels sprout leaves? Can you believe it? I think they are good enough to win over even a sprout-avoider.

Plated up, it looks like this. I was so hungry I didn't even tidy up the sauce splash on the rim of the plate. This is a wonderful warm and earthy combination for a winter evening.

Yum yum yum. Butter chicken. My new favourite comfort food, good enough for company.

question: do you like Brussels sprouts?

mompoet - Brussels sprouts remind me of the pictures of cabbages in Mr MacGregor's garden

new year's day brunch - eggs with veggies

2012-01-02T16:23:00.000-08:00

This is probably my favourite easy meal. I have actually posted this recipe before, but never with photos, so here it is, in all its glory. I eat this for breakfast, lunch or supper interchangeably. It always includes eggs and cheese. Those are the constant ingredients. Sometimes I serve it with a warmed tortilla (then I call it "tortilla and eggs"). Sometimes I add rice or potatoes on the side, if I'm serving it to a hungry eater. I usually eat it just the way it's shown in this post, eggs and veggies. The veggies can be whatever you have on hand. I try for an abundance of green plus at least 2 other colours. This dish has to be colourful.

Begin by chopping up some veggies. This time I used purple onion, red pepper, red tomatoes, green broccoli and green kale. Ideally I would have used yellow or orange pepper to add another colour. It seems redundant to use two red veggies, but red was the only pepper colour in my veggie drawer on New Year's Day, so there you go.

Chop up enough for one serving or more, but cook just one serving at a time. It takes a frying pan to make one serving of eggs with veggies. Heat the pan, add some olive oil and saute the veggies briefly. They'll cook some more along with the eggs, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

So now the veggies are beginning to cook and they're all lightly coated with the olive oil. Make a nest in the middle of the veggies and break in two eggs. I'm careful with this step because I like my yolks whole and soft. If you like the broken and firm, go for it! Top the eggs with some bits of cheese. I used Macedonian feta this time, but pretty much any kind of cheese works well, and you don't need much. Try your favourite and let me know how you like it. Oh, I sliced on some slivers of kalamata olives too.

Now plop a lid over the veggies. You can use a lid big enough for the whole pan. I prefer a lid just big enough to cover the food. It makes a tight little dome inside of which the eggs cook sunnyside (using the steam from the cooking veggies) and the veggies get cooked a bit crispy on the bottom. You can experiment with this part too, if your preference varies from mine.

For cooked whites, runny yolks and slightly-browned-on-the-bottom veggies, I give it about 3 minutes on medium high heat. You can peek and poke and decide when the eggs and veg are done to your liking. Then you just slide them out onto a plate. I like a little salsa on top. I had some leftover hummus that my niece made, which I served on some lavash crackers with a drizzle of olive oil.

With a meal like this, who needs to nibble the leftover chocolates from the New Year's party? Not me!

question: what do you like to eat the day after the party?

mompoet - May your 2012 be filled with everyday meals that taste like a celebration of goodness!

what we really did

2012-01-01T16:36:00.000-08:00

The New Year's Eve party began at 4:45 in the afternoon. Several guests arrived late because of the slow service during the seniors' special hour at Denny's Restaurant. Never mind, there was plenty of room in our fridge for leftover liver and onions, brought by those who did not have time to finish their meals. A festive bowl of Ensure meal replacement drink stood at the entry door, ensuring that one and all would maintain a life-sustaining blood sugar level throughout the evening.

We tuned in to watch that young buckaroo Dick Clark ring in the New Year in Times Square in New York, but were disappointed to find out that it didn't start until 10:30pm Eastern time, which is 7:30pm Pacific time (where we are) and so much to late for us. So we played Canasta instead.

After my husband spiked the Ensure bottles with a bit of sherry, we got frisky and decided to play the well-known seniors' party game, musical dentures. Everyone took their teeth out and plopped them in the punchbowl. I doled out cups of punch. Whichever pair of dentures you got, those were the ones you wore. We took photos. Hilarity ensued. When I get the film developed I'll photocopy the pictures and pass them around to all the guests. That should be in about March or April, because I didn't totally finish the roll. There's a couple of shots left which I don't want to waste, so I'll save it for the next time I take pictures, like Easter, then get them developed.

We had all just eaten supper at Denny's, so of course we weren't hungry, but of course there's never going to be enough to eat, so we all filled our plates up with the treats that everyone brought. Meals on Wheels must have delivered tilapia and peas this week, because there was a lot of tilapia and peas, plus a fruitcake that I think has been making the rounds for a couple of years. It was good that the food was soft because we were all working with unfamiliar teeth.

About 5:15 we put on party hats and got noisemakers. My neighbour Ethel says she doesn't need a noisemaker because her husband George makes a noise everytime he stands up or sits down in his chair. So George got ready to stand up and sit down a few times. Then we counted down 10-9-8-7... but we forgot the numbers a couple of times so it was a good thing we started early. We shouted Happy New Year sometime around 5:30. Then Gertie's husband Eric said, "WHAT?" because he had his hearing aid turned down because you would too if you had to live with Gertie. So anyway we had to count down again so Eric could hear it this time. Then it was almost 6 o'clock and we didn't want to miss Jeopardy on TV so everyone went home.

Dear young adult children, nieces and nephews, I hope that this fulfills your idea of how we OLD people celebrate new year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR (what???)

mompoet - not so very old

our new year's eve plans

2011-12-30T10:25:00.000-08:00

Andy and I are hosting this year. I think my email message to our friends just about sums up our plans, and puts it all in perspective:

So tomorrow is New Year's Eve. We will be ready any time from 8pm on. My niece says that this is a sign that we are OLD. People in her generation, she tells me, would never think of showing up at a New Year's Eve party at 8pm. I tell her that gives us 5 or 6 hours to party because we'll all be up past midnight after all. I say this with special emphasis because we are up past midnight probably only 2 or 3 times per year these days. She just rolls her eyes when I say this.

When I tell my niece that we won't play beer pong this year, she is amused. "You played beer pong?" YUP! I say, but it's a year later and now we are OLD. So we are having a silly gift exchange instead. "Okay," she says, "I hope you get a nice gift." Then she kind of smirks.

So let's have a smirk-busting New Year's Eve. Andy and I will be ready for you as soon as the seniors' supper special is over at Denny's. We'll print up some songsheets for World War II song favourites, and we've hired an accordion player. We'll record New Year's in Australia and play it at about 9:30pm so we can all be home and in bed by 10. After all, we are OLD.

Seriously, 8pm onwards, bring a nibbly food to share, bring a wrapped gift or two - could be something good or something terrible or just something funny. Women, wear a nice dress or otherwise cocktail attire. You can keep your shoes on in our house if you like. Men, shirt YES, tie OPTIONAL, pants REQUIRED.

See you at the end of 2011.

sue

question: how OLD are you? and what are you doing for New Year's Eve?

mompoet - OLD enough to laugh at myself

honest mom, it's not there

2011-12-29T16:01:00.000-08:00

I was just going to sleep about midnight Tuesday when my phone rang. It was Alex, with panic in his voice, "Mom! Where's the car?" Alex had just come out of work at the movie theatre to find that the car was not where we had fropped it off for him earlier in the evening. I verified the spot where we left it and he verified that it was not there. "How many cars are in the lot?" I asked him. "Not many, and none of them is your car, Mom!" he assured me. It dawned on me that it must have been stolen. I told him to go back inside and wait, while Andy and I drove to the theatre.

Alex was right, it was gone. Some time between 7pm and midnight, someone made off with our rusty but trusty 1995 Honda Civic. I phoned the police and reported it stolen, then we drove home. In the morning, I called ICBC, then I called our friend Chris, who is also our insurance agent. Both the ICBC Claims person and dear Chris helped me feel a lot better. Apparently 9 out of 10 stolen cars are recovered within a few days. Usually only the door lock and ignition are broken. I'm just hoping that my car is found in one piece and deemed worthy of repair. If it's written off, I won't get much for it, then I have to buy a car.

In the meantime, ICBC pays for a rental car. I'm wondering how long I'll be driving it, if I'll get my car back, where my car is...

I picture it on a side street somewhere in Surrey. Somebody took it because they needed a ride home, or to a drug deal, or both. I'm hoping someone will notice the little old blue car that does not move from its place, and upon closer inspection notices that the door lock is broken and ignition wires are hanging out. They'll call the police, who will call the wrecker. Then they'll call me, and we'll see what happens next.

Talking to people I know, many have experienced this same crime. My neighbour even asked, "Is this the first time your car has been stolen?" So it's something new for me, but sounds like it happens and life goes on. I'm grateful Alex did not come out of work while the thief was breaking into the car. Part of me thinks maybe he wasn't meant to drive himself home that night. Maybe the car was stolen to put him out of the way of something else that wasn't supposed to happen. We'll never know, and I'm glad.

So I'll keep you posted. In the meantime. Look for a rusty little blue Honda Civic with a rear window shelf littered with L and N magnets. It's a good little car. It wants to come home.

question: has your vehicle ever been stolen?

mompoet - dude! where's my car?

my early Christmas gift from Alex and Fiona

2011-12-26T12:57:00.000-08:00

Alex and Fi went off to the mall the day after Fiona got home from NJ. Their tradition is to shop together for stocking stuffers for the family, and to give each other hints about presents for one another. They also help each other with wrapping the presents when they get them home. Fiona talked Alex into getting me one more photo for our bulging "Santa Shelf" in the living room, where I have all of the Santa photos from babyhood up, displayed in frames. When Andy and I got home from our errands Fiona suggested I check the Santa shelf for a new addition. I love it.

question: are they not cute?

mompoet - Alex asked Santa for world peace. Fiona said being home for Christmas was present enough for her.

Grinfrick the Atrocious Elf-Child Almost Messes Up Christmas

2011-12-24T14:37:00.000-08:00

A Christmas Eve story for you:
(Click on the first picture to make the text large enough to read. It's easy to click through after that.)

I'm sorry that this one is a little out of focus. I let Grinfrick handle the camera, and he was trying to be good, but he is a wiggly elf!

question: have you seen any turtles or reindeer yet?

mompoet - a good little elf

sanctuary

2011-12-22T06:17:00.000-08:00

I spent the first part of the longest night of the year at my church, helping to host the Commuter Sanctuary. At this hectic time of year, we are holding a space in our community for peace and rest. Everyone is welcome to come in, sit, listen to some quiet music, meditate, pray, or simply be. There's no structured service - no talking really, just a quiet space with low lights, candles, and blessed peace. It's every night this week, 5-7pm at St. Andrew's United Church on St. Johns Street in Port Moody. Sometimes, to find grace, or yourself, or peace, or all of these, it's best to stop.

question: when is the last time you sat in peace for more than a moment?

mompoet - enjoying stillness on the darkest night

all is well

2011-12-22T06:10:00.000-08:00

Fiona is back from university, with us for four weeks. We picked her up at Seattle airport Saturday night late, and got home with her Sunday morning early. I thought she was going to sleep for a few days, after her hectic last week at school, but she was up-and-at-'em, visiting friends, baking treats, Christmas shopping and going to work at the store where she worked all summer. Last night she made a delicious lettuce wrap supper for Andy and me. It feels like she is trying to get the most she can out of this time at home. I hope it is delicious for her.

I'm still working this week, wrapping up the things that need to be done at the office before the end of 2011. It's hectic but fun, with happy holiday spirits all around. Working at a senior's recreation centre at Christmas time is dangerous though: If I ate every cookie, candy and piece of cake that I have been offered these past 2 weeks, I would be wearing my Christmas pants for sure by now!

Starting Christmas Eve, I have 3 weeks' vacation. I have no plans whatsoever except to relax, be with the family, enjoy Christmas and begin the New Year refreshed and happy. I found out about a month ago that I will continue with my assignment at the seniors' centre - something that started out as a one year placement back in January 2008. This makes me very happy. I love working there, and know now that I am set to continue this through 2012.

So much is good in my life. My family is reunited and happy together. My home is warm and safe and comfortable. I love my job. I have great friends. I have enough energy and resources that I can share some with people in my community and causes that are important to me. I am well. All is well.

question: what's well in your world?

mompoet - wishing you well in your world

dear fiona

2011-12-13T22:10:00.001-08:00

four more days!

how to make granola at home

2011-12-12T06:06:00.000-08:00

I have been working on getting just the right combination of ingredients and technique to make a really yummy granola. Here's my latest concoction, which turned out very nicely.

Begin with a bigger bowl than you think, because you know how things are. I used several cups of large flake oats. You could add wheat or other rolled grains as well.

I cut the almonds from whole, unblanched, for a rustic feel. All of the nuts and seeds here are raw, because they will roast during the baking. Did I mention to heat the oven to 350F?

Here's where you dump in the nuts and seeds. Pictured: the almonds, pecans, flax seed, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds. If you find you have only toasted seeds, leave them out for now and add them after the baking, along with the fruit. Stir this whole lot together.

For about 10 cups of mixed grains, seeds and nuts, I used 1/2 cup honey and 1/2 cup canola oil. We had the creamed type of honey on hand, so I softened it for about 30 seconds in the microwave, then whisked in the oil. You want the mixture to be liquidy enough to distribute evenly through the dry ingredients.

Mix the honey/oil into the dry ingredients. You can stir it with a big spoon on combine with your hands to make sure every bit of grain, seed and nut gets honey-oiled. Spread it out on a large cookie sheet lined with parchment and put it in the oven.

You want it to get toasty but not toasted, so every 10 minutes take it out and stir/flip it with a spatula. You might want to do this more frequently near the end. Move the more-roasted bits from the edges and corners of the pan into the centre. Move the less-roasted bits out to the edges.

In about 30 minutes you know. It will be golden but not brown, and it will smell heavenly! Take it out of the oven, and add a generous handful or two of fruit. Shown here: raisins and dried cranberries.

Here's how I store it, in a plastic container with a snap lid. It will keep for a few weeks on the shelf this way. In our house it gets eaten pretty quickly. It's great for snacking, or eating with yogurt. It's even good sprinkled on top of a salad.

question: are you a granola-head?

mompoet - unblanched spell-checks to "blanched!"

in case you notice me jumping up and down and grinning uncontrollablly

2011-12-10T21:27:00.001-08:00

Fiona is coming home in one week. One week from now at 9:27pm I'll be waiting for her plane to come in at Seattle airport. I have been dreaming about her being here already. That's how much I want to hug her.

7 days. May face may break from smiling in the meantime. That would be okay.

question: who do you want to see right now?

mompoet - beaming like happiness to the googolplex power

easthill ladies shopping day on commercial drive

2011-12-10T11:04:00.001-08:00

Kirsi, Karen, Cathy, Doris and I headed out Friday morning for a day of lunching, shopping and laughing on Commercial Drive. It was partly to toast my 50th, and partly just for fun.

We waited for the bus together. It was a beautiful morning!

First stop: Lunch at Havana Restaurant. We sat out on the patio under a heater. It was warm enough even for some of us to take our coats off. We think this is a unique Vancouver experience for mid-December.

What a great place to relax!

We got a big pitcher of mojitos to go with our lunch.

We let the waitress order our tapas. We enjoyed yam fries, calamari, meatballs, short ribs, prawns and chips with guacamole and fresh salsa. We even ordered a second plate of calamari it was so good!

We gobbled it up in no time!

We visited a bunch of great stores. Everyone bought gifts for family and friends, and we each bought something for ourselves too! Here's my haul. I was glad to find a vendor selling the Hope In the Shadows calendar.

What better stocking stuffer for a 16 year old nephew than an inflatable beard? The cousins all joke on their birthdays that they have grown a birthday beard. Simon is the remaining one of the 5 cousins in on the joke to be waiting to actually be able to grow one. I think he will look like his Dad when he tries it on.

I was happy to find Carl Jung finger puppets! We call this pose, "Two Jung for beer."

With the day coming to an end, we stopped at Fet's restaurant for some Russel's Pale Ale. Karen got (and shared) this yummy warm apple crumble dessert. Mmmmm

Good bye Commercial Drive. See you again soon!

question: what's fun near your home?

mompoet - the luckiest, the happiest, and still two Jung for beer

the muffin recipes

2011-12-04T07:14:00.001-08:00

Here are the recipes for the muffins I served at my warm fuzzy birthday breakfast.

The instructions are pretty much the same for each ingredient list:

1. Heat oven to 400F and grease or paper-line a 12-cup muffin tin.
2. Mix the sugar and the wet ingredients in a bowl.
3. Add fruit or nuts if included in the recipe.
4. Dump all of the wet ingredients on top of the dry ingredients.
5. Stir them all into the dry ingredients as briefly as possible - just to barely combine. (Over-stirring makes tough muffins).
6. Spoon into the muffin cups and bake about 20 minutes - They should be golden on top and just springy when you touch the top.

Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins (adapted from Canadian Living Magazine March 2004)
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup vanilla, fruit or plain yogurt
1 mashed banana
1/3 cup veg oil
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup blueberries, frozen or fresh
3/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 tsp salt

Cranberry Oatmeal Muffins
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 cup vanilla or fruit or plain yogurt
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, each berry cut in half to prevent EXPLOSION!
1 1/4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
(I buy cranberries on sale at Thanksgiving and Christmas. You can throw the whole bag of fresh berries in the freezer and use it when you need it.)

Apple Walnut Muffins
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup veg oil
1 egg
1 Tbs milk or cream
1 1/2 cup fairly finely chopped apple
3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Topping - Sprinkle over before baking: 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 1/2 Tbs sugar

Pumpkin Orange Muffins
2/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup orange juice
1 egg
1/4 cup veg oil
1 tsp grated orange peel
1 3/4 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
Topping - Press gently into tops of muffins before baking: un-toasted pumpkin seeds

So if you make all of these, you will have 48 muffins. I took 40 to work, and they all got eaten by about 9:30am. Andrew, Alex and Lukas go the 8 that stayed home.

If you are feeding a smaller crowd, you could try the recipes one at at time.

question: what kind of muffin do you like best?

mompoet - In the Night Kitchen

post-birthday balloon carnage

2011-12-03T11:09:00.001-08:00

My co-worker Brenda and I popped the balloons in my office with scissors on Thursday afternoon. It was fun having an office filled with balloons but enough was enough. By the time we set out on our popping rampage, I had given away quite a few balloons to children passing my office on their way to the library or their preschool class. It was fun to watch them select their favourite colours. Some of them even waded in to the far corner to get just the right balloon. Still, there were tons of balloons left. I am sure there were more than 50 balloons in there. I guess 50 wasn't enough to actually fill up my office, so the balloon blowers kept going. Probably more like 100 balloons. It made a mess of balloon carcasses!

question: when you hear pop pop pop, does it sound like the end of a birthday to you?

mompoet - completely, happily, well-birthdayed

lotsa socks

2011-12-01T05:14:00.001-08:00

Combined with a few items that people brought into my office the week previous, here are my birthday presents from co-workers: 128 pairs of socks, 11 mugs, 3 pairs of gloves, 2 winter hats, 1 blanket, 3 shirts and 5 towels. Thank you, my friends, it's just what I wanted! These will go to the clothing room at the Tri-Cities Cold Wet Weather Mat Program, and to First United Church.

question: whose cup runneth over?

mompoet - mine, of course

cake!

2011-12-01T05:11:00.001-08:00

Mom made me a delicious birthday supper, featuring delicious scallops and a rizotto with tomatoes and green beans. Maia made a splendid salad.

Here's my favourite birthday cake from one of the Moosewood cookbooks. Mom makes it for me every year - mocha angel food. Alex took the photos. Andy made the editorial comment.

question: what's your favourite cake?

mompoet - full up with happiness and love

early morning birthday freebie, confusion at no extra cost

2011-11-30T18:49:00.001-08:00

Remember how I took the afternoon off work on my birthday, to go out and hunt for birthday freebies? Well, while I was frittering away my day, the clock was ticking on a deadline at work. I figured I could get it done and still have a nice afternoon off, if I went to work really early the next day.

I don't usually procrastinate, except for things I don't feel like doing. Okay, I always procrastinate for things that I don't feel like doing. This task was due Wednesday morning. It involved compiling the budget projections of everyone at work into one overall figure for our facility, and sending up the budget pipe. I knew I could do it, but I was a bit afraid I'd run into an obstacle, like forgetting how to add, or losing my ability to ask my co-workers to give me their numbers, or something like that. Procrastination is like that, isn't it? It's almost worse than actually doing the thing. Nevertheless, I procrastinated until Wednesday morning to do a job that was due in on Wednesday morning.

I woke up at 5:15am, 15 minutes before my alarm, and jumped out of bed. I showered, dressed, fed the cat, packed lunch, petted the cat, ignored the dirty dishes in the sink from the night before, and ran out the door. I arrived at Starbucks just before 7am. My procrastinating mind thought, "If you get a free coffee at Starbucks you will feel like you have had a treat that includes a nice energizing jolt of caffeine, and you will be able to do this task about which you have been procrastinating.

I brought my Starbucks free birthday coffee drink coupon (which I received in the mail the day before my birthday). At the counter, I ordered a breakfast sandwich (Starbucks breakfast sandwiches are actually very good, not too much bread, lots of flavour), and a skinny peppermint mocha. At Starbucks, or any coffee place for that matter, I usually order a small no-room Americano because that's what I really want. But when something is free, for some reason you want the big expensive one, huh? Seeing as I have been eating goodies for the past 2 weeks I decided to get a "skinny" big free drink. Procrastinating brains can also be a bit absurd. Give me a blobber-glob extra hot, no whip!

The lady at the cash register took my card and said, "Was your birthday really that long ago?" Somehow in my early morning procrastination-hazed thinking, I interpreted this to mean, "You were born many, many years ago, weren't you?" I managed to say, "HUH?!?" She explained that she didn't say "Happy birthday" any more when people gave her the cards because sometimes they told her their birthday was 3 months ago. Oh. Okay. So you are not saying I must be really old. Good. I told her my birthday was just yesterday, so she and the barista wished me a hearty "Happy birthday!"

I walked around to the side counter to pick up my drink. The barista plunked a skinny caramel macchiato on the counter. I asked her if it was for someone else, then she realised she misread the code that the cashier lady had written on the side of the cup. She apologized, and began to make me a replacement drink. I stopped her and told her that the skinny caramel macchiato sounded even better than a skinny peppermint mocha. I told her I wanted the mistake drink, really! I said something stupid like, "This is the drink I was meant to have this morning." Well, she said "Really?" and "Are you sure?" and offered a couple more times to replace the drink. Then she gave me a coupon for another free drink, any kind, any size.

Moral of the story: confusion can be beneficial

question: about what do you procrastinate?

mompoet - I made the deadline with an hour to spare and accurate adding and full cooperation from contributing co-workers. The breakfast sandwich was yummy, especially with the mandarin orange I brought from home. "macchiato" spell checks to these choices: machination, machinate, Machiavelli, machinist

Next time I go to Starbucks I will order a free, venti Skinny Machiavelli, and see what they give me.

pps venti spellchecks to many things, including Ventolin. Make that a Ventolin Skinny Machiavelli mmmmmmmm

free stuff on my birthday

2011-11-29T16:39:00.001-08:00

I knocked off work at 12, drove home to unload all of the socks from my car and change my jeans (ahem), then took off in search of free stuff on my birthday. I have a Starbucks free drink card, but I'll use that another day, having bought Starbucks coffee to go for the gang at work already today.

My first stop was Booster Juice at Sutter Brook shopping village in Port Moody. Booster Juice was my only free birthday thing that had to be picked up on my birthday specifically. Most of the coupons have a few days' flexibility before and after the big day. The lady at the store was named Paula. She was really nice when I told her that I have never been to Booster Juice before. I chose a mango hurricane smoothie, then she asked what booster I wanted. You get your choice of something to put in the smoothie. I chose something with calcium in it, seeing I'm 50 YEARS OLD. The boosters have no flavour, but add some kind of goodness to the smoothie, depending on what you want. While Paula made the smoothie for me, we chatted. It turns out our daughters graduated in June from the same high school. The smoothie was huge and delicious!

I decided it was my lunch. After I enjoyed the free birthday smoothie, I went to the mall and claimed my free birthday bubble bath at Sephora. Here it is, photographed at home in front of the beautiful roses that Donna brought me.

I also bought myself a Smashbox lip gloss. A nice treat, not free, but hey, it's my birthday.

Before leaving the mall, I bought myself 2 pairs of running shoes at Sportchek. Eating all of these lovely free birthday treats, I'm going to need to go to the gym a lot! And there was a BoGo at Sportchek. To bad they don't give you free shoes on your birthday. Now that would be nice. I like to keep one pair of shoes in my locker in the gym, and one at home, so two pairs of identical shoes works great for me!

By that time I was ready to have a mid-afternoon treat, so I went to Marble Slab Creamery for my free ice cream cone. Get a load of this coupon. I think it expired a long time ago!

Holy smokes! It expired 49 years and 51 weeks ago! I asked the man at the store if he would still honour it. He laughed and said yes. I guess he gets that question all the time. At Marble Slab, you choose your ice cream flavour and 1 or more "mix ins," then the man at the store squishes the mix ins into your ice cream on a marble slab. I chose red velvet ice cream, mostly because I have never eaten red velvet ice cream before. My mix in was pecan bits. Mmmmm

While I at my gooey red ice cream with pecans in it, I read a People magazine. I don't usually buy People Magazine, but hey, it's my birthday, and don't you want to know what happened to Demi and Ashton in their FINAL DAYS? Besides, I like to take a People Magazine and put silly captions in it with little stickies, then leave it somewhere for someone to find and read. It's fun.

I think that's all of the freebies I can fit into one day. I'm quite sure I won't get to all of them, but it's fun to know what's available.

Hey, did anyone see me on Breakfast TV this morning? I sent my own picture in to "Celebrations," then Andy sent one in too. So if I got on, you should know I sent the one of me smiling angelically with the Moody inlet in the background. Andy sent the one of me oogly-googling at a pitcher of beer.

question: did you get anything for free today?

mompoet - free is a very good price

I have to admit this

2011-11-29T16:35:00.001-08:00

When I sat down on the floor of my office to pose for this photo playing with balloons. I split my jeans. Not up the back, just a little horizontal split off the inner seam. They were snug, and fairly worn but I didn't expect that. Just thought I should let you know in case this ever happens to you. Look, she's 50, she sat on the floor and split her jeans and she is still smiling. If this ever happens to you, it's okay. Life goes on.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

question: did you ever have an embarrassing moment in a room full of balloons?

mompoet - busting with happiness

my splendid 50th birthday (so far)

2011-11-29T16:14:00.001-08:00

I decided to take the lead on my birthday at work, because I love birthdays so much, and I love my work friends who do so much for me every day. A couple of weeks ago I sent out an email that said, come to my "warm fuzzy birthday" at 8am on November 29 in the conference room. I'll bring muffins and coffee. Instead of a present, please bring a pair of socks for the homeless shelter.

I showed up at my office at about 7:45 with a couple of boxes of coffee from Starbucks and some yummy food. When I opened my office door, look what I found!

My office had been balloon bombed overnight. This was actually the second surprise. My friends brought me a cake the day before my birthday and surprised me with it. I guess they thought they'd get me back for planning my own birthday! Along with a yummy cake and a great card, they gave me two journals: The Happiness Project 5 year 1 sentence a day journal (cool!) and a larger book called "My dysfunctions" in which I am prompted to write: Why I am dysfunctional today. There are inspiring quotes by neurotic and odd celebrities, and a place at the bottom to check off what will make it better, with icons for smoking, booze, pills or intravenous drugs. Hmmmm. Well, I know my workmates feel comfortable telling me what they really feel!

So back to this morning. I waded through the balloons to drop my coat and purse, then I set up food and drinks for my friends.

I made 4 kinds of muffins, and will, I promise, post the recipes here soon. Soon people began to arrive. I had asked them to dress in something warm and fuzzy, and most did. They also brought socks, as well as some mugs and towels.

I was wearing my housecoat and slippers, but I had to keep taking off the housecoat because I am 50 years old and I am having hot flashes - GOOD TIMES!

Then my friend Belinda gave me a big wrapped up gift box "from all of us at work." I opened it up and guess what?

It had about 80 pairs of socks inside! I am going to count to be sure, but I think I have more than 100 pairs of socks to give to the shelter. If you look back up at the friend pictures you'll see that Robin gave me 2 dozen long-stemmed socks, wrapped like a bouquet.

So I decided to work in my office with all of the balloons. I went back in and found that there were 50 pencils, all different kinds and colours, each with a poetry quote attached.

They were on the floor, on my desk, on my chair, in my boots, everywhere! I recognize the handwriting - thank you dear friends Louise and Robin! I will enjoy reading the quotes and writing with every one of the pencils, perhaps in my dysfunction journal? Certainly in my happiness journal.

Then the ladies of the Garden Club came into my office and sang happy birthday and gave me a card and this beautiful bouquet that they made.

Oh my gosh, I have never felt so much love and fun in such a short time at work. What a wonderful morning. It was so good, I took the afternoon off.

question: did the people you know ever double-triple-quadruple what you hoped for?

mompoet - grateful for the people at the place I call "work"

monolingual

2011-11-27T12:08:00.001-08:00

I got my birthday email from RW&Co clothing company today. Unfortunately it was all in French, which is totally perplexing to me because I speak only English. I feel embarrassed to admit this. People all around me speak French, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Arabic, Tagalog. I speak English only. So I could not understand the instructions about how to get my 25% discount at RW&Co for my birthday.

I could make out that the offer is for 3 days before and 3 days after my birthday, and for my birthday itself, I think. Fortunately, when I logged onto the RW&Co website with my ID, there was a birthday message, and a link to print out the birthday offer en Anglais. I also checked my account settings and switched to communication in English.

question: in what language do you speak birthday?

mompoet - un seulement

blizzard

2011-11-26T16:36:00.001-08:00

Andrew and I went out grocery shopping this afternoon. On the way home we stopped at Dairy Queen where we used my "welcome to the blizzard club" email coupon to get on free Blizzard with the purchase of another Blizzard. I treated my sweetie to a medium size caramel nut roll Blizzard, which he pronounced "delicious." I chose a mini size cappuccino skor Blizzard. I always choose cappuccino skor, because I know if I choose something else it will be good, but I will say, "darn, why didn't I get a cappuccino skor Blizzard?"

A mini Blizzard is just about the right amount of Blizzard. I qualified for a mini, small or medium, and Andy suggested I could have got a medium and eaten the equivalent of a mini, then given the surplus to him. According to Andy, a medium Blizzard is not quite enough Blizzard.

question: how much Blizzard is enough for you? and what flavour?

mompoet - free is a very good price

lots of emails and coupons for free stuff - and not only for my birthday

2011-11-26T11:15:00.001-08:00

I have been signing up online for mailing lists that offer free stuff for your birthday. So far I have received a couple of birthday offers and also a few welcome offers, which make me wonder, will I also get a birthday something in the next few days? If so, I'll have double the fun!

Here's my recent batch of goodies:

10% off at the GAP (welcome offer)
10% off at Old Navy (welcome offer)
Free mini, small or medium Dairy Queen Blizzard when I buy a medium Blizzard (welcome offer)
Free muffin at Mmmmuffins (welcome offer)
Free Baskin Robbins ice cream cone (birthday offer)
(not pictured) Free ice cream cone at Marble Slab Creamery (birthday offer)
(not pictured) Free 20 oz or smaller Julius or Smoothie at Orange Julius when you buy one of equal or greater value (welcome offer)

My favourites are the ones where you just get something free. Ten percent off, are you kidding me? And a bo-go (buy one get one) is somewhat chintzy too. Maybe the birthday offers from those places will be better, but somehow I don't think so.

I'm going to dive into the book and find out what else before it's too late (like Tony Roma's restaurant, where it takes up to 8 weeks to process your birthday registration, so we'll try that for my 51st birthday maybe).

To me, the real treat is finding out all about this stuff. I doubt that I will be able to consume all of these treats within the time frame of expiry dates. So far none of them requires me to claim my freebie on my birthday, except for Sephora, I think. So I can spread out my consuming of birthday treats. When you add the "welcome" offers it will be nearly impossible to cash all of them in. I'll keep you posted, and of course, post photos.

question: Is a bo-go really a gift? or a come-on?

mompoet - not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, but if the horse's mouth is open, I will look!

free stuff - the book

2011-11-24T06:16:00.001-08:00

I am reading Steven and Lina Zussino's ebook, Free Stuff on Your Birthday for Canadians. It's packed full of things you can get for free, with offers organized by province and type of goods or service.

For most things I have read about so far, you have to subscribe to an email list online, and get a coupon. I have been signing up, and my inbox is filling up with confirmation and welcome emails. I have even received a few coupons.

Here are some of my experiences so far:

I have signed up for a Beauty Insider account with Sephora. I expect to receive an email inviting me to print a coupon for a free birthday cake bubble bath. That will be nice!
Baskin Robbins Ice Cream sent me a link to a coupon almost as soon as I signed up. That was speedy and welcoming! The interface on the Baskin Robbins website is a bit intimidating. Rules are clearly noted (don't make a mistake filling in the fields because your name on your coupon must exactly match your name on your ID that you must present to receive your free ice cream cone). Also, if you make a mistake filling in a field (like the format of your postal code) the field turns blood red! That's very alarming. It seems a bit overbearing for the sake of preventing someone scamming an ice cream cone, but maybe it is a problem. Even funnier, the web page that tells you where stores are located told me that 152nd Street in Surrey, and Dewdney Trunk Road in Maple Ridge are each 1.1 kilometer from my home in Port Moody. So I think I'll walk to one of them after supper tonight. I know the ice cream cone will be delicious, but I think BR needs some help with their web design.
Bruegger's Bagels/Mmmuffins Canada just sent me a coupon too, just for signing up. I wonder if I'll get another one for my birthday? Then I can treat a friend to a muffin!

So far I have mostly found food offers. Most of these are carbohydrate-rich foods, which I do love. Comfort food for your birthday is a good thing. Still, I wonder, is there any free sushi or salad out there? I'm going to need some after all of the muffins and ice cream. Oh well, maybe I'll just sink into a birthday cake bubble bath and forget all about it.

question: have you signed up recently for any email lists?

mompoet - looking for free stuff for my birthday, and having fun with the hunt

for my 50th birthday, the best price is FREE!

2011-11-23T21:06:00.001-08:00

Last night on CTV News there was a story about getting stuff for free on your birthday. I found the website for the book they talked about in the story. I have decided to try to get some free stuff for my 50th birthday. I'll blog about that later. Today I have the story of my first birthday freebie of this year, my Red Robin Restaurant lunch.

Red Robin is a hamburger restaurant. There's one across the street from the community centre where I work (just past the Creative Nails store and Huku Ya Sushi restaurant).

I must have signed up to be on the Red Robin email list at some point, because I have received a birthday email from them each year for a couple of years now. It says, "You get a free burger for your birthday!" It's a nice offer. You don't have to go on your actual birthday, and it's good for a chicken or beef or fish or veggie burger of which there are many versions and varieties. You don't have to bring a friend or buy a beverage or show ID. You just have to show up and eat your burger. Here's what the coupon looked like when I opened the email in Eudora and printed it. Red Robin even accepted it scramble-printed.

Being not very much of a burger person, I invited Alex to take me out for lunch. We go for lunch together every couple of weeks, and take turns paying the bill. It was Alex's turn, so this made for an easy and cheap lunch-pay for him, seeing as one lunch was free. Also, Alex is a burger person. So he ordered the burger, which was also okay with Red Robin (a friendly, flexible Robin it is!) Here is Alex, with the birthday burger.

It was a nice big burger with a healthy pile of fries. At Red Robin they give you fry refills, but Alex declined. He said the burger was very good. Here's a picture of me, with my salad.

Oh dear, Alex, I said, "Take a picture of the salad and me." I meant, "Take a picture of me and the salad, or everyone will think I was wearing a party hat, or maybe a narwhal costume, and trying to hide my tusk outside of the frame!"

That's better. See how happy I am now? And isn't that a huge salad? I don't know if they give refills on salads. I bet nobody has ever asked. You need a snow shovel and an extra 15 minutes to eat that salad. So I talked while Alex ate his big burger very fast. Then Alex talked while I worked on that big old birthday salad. We even remembered to calculate the tip on the value of the meal before the burger was subtracted. And nobody sang happy birthday. Thank goodness. I would have stood on a chair without even being asked, but Alex would have crawled under the table. Bless Red Robin for its wise restraint.

Red Robin free burger gets 50 birthday candles out of a possible 50, for its faithful sending of birthday emails year after year, the early arrival of the coupon (a week and a half before my birthday), its flexible redemption policy, and its big salad and big burger with no fuss.

question: what is your favourite burger?

mompoet - Oh Look! I just got an email from Baskin Robbins reminding me to get my free birthday ice cream cone!

happy birthday to us

2011-11-22T06:40:00.001-08:00

Andy and I both have November birthdays. One of our favourite ways to celebrate is to go away for a weekend. This is our present to each other. On the weekend we went to the Sunshine Coast for a couple of days. The ferry leaves from Horseshoe Bay.

It had snowed a bit the night before, so it was really beautiful, with snow on the hills above the inlet. The ferry ride is about half an hour. On the way we saw a rare and wonderful sight: about 200 dolphins were leaping out of the water all around the boat. Everyone crowded to the windows to watch. It was simply spectacular. The dolphins jumped singly and in pairs and trios. It seemed to go on and on. What an amazing beginning to our weekend away!

We arrived at the cottage at about 5:30pm, so it was already dark. We brought flashlights, and made our way down 84 stairs to this lovely little place by the sea. Most of the houses in the area are up the hill, and you walk down to the water. This one is special. When you sit in the little living room or look out of the bedroom windows upstairs, all you see is water.

We had a very quiet weekend, mostly hanging out in the cottage. We enjoyed the hot tub, which is also right on the beach a few steps away from the cottage. Here's the view from the hot tub.

We cooked some simple meals in the cute little kitchen.

And we sat out on the deck to watch the sunset. It was cold, but wine and a blanket made everything just right!

We did do a little adventuring. Here we are on the jetty at Roberts Creek.

That was Saturday. After Roberts Creek we went to the Lighthouse Pub in Sechelt. Andy bought a few "break-open" tickets and won $150 on the first door of the first ticket.

The cottage has no internet and no cable TV. I was able to tune in local news on the tiny TV set to get civic election results Sunday morning, and we watched a couple of movies that I borrowed from the library at home: Seven Year Itch and Gods and Monsters. Both very good.

We brought home granola from Wheatberries Bakery, to mail to Fiona in New Jersey. We also brought home a great feeling of relaxation and memories of a very sweet time together.

question: do you have a place you like to go to?

mompoet - happy birthday to us!

ps about Caesar salad

2011-11-06T17:29:00.000-08:00

My friend Michele and I have a variation called "Squeezer Salad." It lacks the croutons, but who cares? because we eat it only when we are camping. First, put the dressing into one corner of a medium-sized plastic bag. Use a twist-tie to partition the corner and keep the dressing in its own little compartment until you are ready to mix. Put the torn up lettuce into the remaining larger section of the bag and seal the bag. Carry the bag to the beach. Bring some grated up cheese and ground pepper in another bag or small container in your pocket. When you get to the beach, find a nice place to sit. Release the dressing from its compartment, keeping the main part of the bag sealed. Shake the bag to combine the lettuce and dressing. Open it carefully and add the cheese and pepper. Close and shake again.

If you are smart, you will have remembered to bring forks. If not, you can eat it with your fingers. You are camping after all. Open the bag and dive in. Watch the sunset. We know you remembered to bring wine.

question: does it get any better than this?

mompoet - pragmatic omnivore

super quick and easy home-made Caesar salad

2011-11-06T17:23:00.000-08:00

It's a rare night in our home when everyone wants to eat supper at the same time. Usually we have 3 out of 4, but the odd person out still needs to eat (earlier or later). I have found ways to power-cook something very quickly before one of us leaves for work or a meeting, and also to make "Part 1 and Part 2" dinners so everyone enjoys something reasonably fresh and tasty, regardless of start time.

Tonight I served/will serve pasta with tomato vegetable chicken sauce. I am not posting up the recipe for that. Maybe another day. I will post the instructions (not really a recipe) for the super quick and easy home-made Caesar salad that accompanied/will accompany the meal. (Alex ate supper at 4pm before leaving for his evening shift at the movie theatre. Lukas, Andrew and I will eat around 5:30 or 6.)

I should begin by saying that Caesar salad is a bit of a treat at our house. I mostly serve mixed green salads with a variety of whatever is fresh, and I favour made-on-the-spot olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dress my salad. Caesar is Alex's favourite, and it's also a salad I can be counted on to make on the first Sunday of the month. This is a sure thing because we celebrate Communion at our church on the first Sunday of every month. I volunteer to prepare the elements for our Communion service. We use a loaf of french bread, cut into cubes, and Welch's Grape Juice. Did you know Welch's was invented to a provide a non-alcoholic juice for Communion? I kid you not. All of the juice stays at the church, but I bring home the leftover bread cubes which provide the inspiration and starting ingredient for super quick and easy home-made caesar salad.

Begin with a bowl full of bread cubes. You can use whole grain or white, whatever you have on hand. Day old is better than very fresh. It need not be blessed, but it's kind of nice when it is. Use a big bowl. In fact, use the bowl that you will use to make and serve the salad. You'll see why later.

Now melt a glob of butter or margarine, or use olive oil if you prefer. Whichever way you go, you should add a big clove of garlic, squeezed through your garlic press.

If you don't have garlic, or a garlic press, or if you want it to be really super quick and easy, you could use Watkins Spice Oil. It tastes just the same as freshly squeezed garlic, but for this recipe, the real garlic has another advantage. You'll see later.

Pour the melted butter (or oil) with garlic over the bread cubes and stir it all up to coat the bread.

Then put the croutons on a pan and bake them at 350 for about 10 minutes. I use the toaster oven unless I already have the big oven going with something else.

About now, you are probably asking, "What is so darned super quick and easy about making your own croutons? Croutons can be bought at the grocery store, ready to go, in a box!" My answer is that I have always made my own croutons because they are about a googolplex times tastier than store croutons. Once, at a restaurant, my kids encountered some commercially-made croutons and they did not know what they were! Home-made croutons are large, irregularly-shaped, a bit crunchy and a bit chewy, butter/olive-oily, and fragrant with real garlic. Store croutons are sad, hard little nuggets of salty yuk. So even though it takes time (not that much really), my super quick and easy caesar salad recipe features home-made croutons.

While the croutons are baking, wash the lettuce. Romaine is the traditional lettuce of Caesar salad. It's really the best choice because it stands up to the weight of the dressing, cheese and croutons, and its mild flavour and crispy-fresh texture is just perfect with the rich and garlicky coating and accompaniment. Some people tear their lettuce, then wash and dry it. I prefer to separate the leaves, wash them and spin them whole, then tear them. This way I get two chances to inspect them for any bits of soil still clinging, and if it's romaine from the garden, I can double-check for the little baby slugs that love it almost as much as Alex does.

It's November, so this romaine is from the California. Here it is, torn into chunks, and thrown back into the bowl that was used to coat the croutons. The beauty of this arrangement is that you don't have to wash two bowls later, AND the oil/butter and garlic bits left behind in the bowl make the salad even yummier.

This is an Alex-sized portion of lettuce. I saved the rest to mix up fresh later, just before supper time for Andrew, Lukas and me.

Stir in the dressing. Here is where I take my short cut. I could coddle an egg, chop some anchovies and get all fancy, but nobody at my houe would notice, and something about real Caesar salad dressing gives me a tummy ache, although I do notice the difference, and love it so. It just doesn't love me. So I use Kraft.

A quick substitute for bottled Caesar dressing is a glob of mayonnaise with a splash of Italian dressing. You could use home-made Italian and make it a halfway short cut, if that makes you feel better. We always have Caesar dressing on hand because Alex puts it on all of his salads.

By now the croutons are ready. Throw in a handful (still warm from the oven is heavenly) and stir the salad up together, distributing the dressing and croutons throughout.

Plate it up right away. Caesar shouldn't sit. Top with fresh grated parmesan cheese. (See, no shortcut here. Pre-grated jarred parmesan is pretty much as awful as store croutons.) Grind some black pepper over all. Serve.

That is a dinner plate full of Caesar salad, the right amount for Alex, the Caesar salad lover. Sometimes I make this and serve it with grilled chicken. It's good with salmon too. Alex gobbled it up while the pasta cooked, then he ate the pasta, then he went to work.

Now I will go boil up some more pasta to go with the sauce that has been bubbling away for a couple of hours, and I'll mix up another super quick and easy Caesar salad for the three of us who are not going to work tonight.

question: how quick is quick? and what's worth making from scratch?

mompoet - if you have a shortcut to Caesar dressing that doesn't give me a tummy ache and can be prepared while the croutons bake, please drop me a line

what happened to Fiona's Halloween care package #8?

2011-11-06T16:47:00.000-08:00

So asks Mompoet's Dad. The answer is that the sock monkey ate care package 8. Fiona really didn't miss anything, because it was mostly yarn and fluff.

question: can you be counted on to count without skipping?

mompoet - apparently I cannot

halloween care package part 9

2011-11-01T06:16:00.000-07:00

This is the last installment, some Halloween night pics from the neighbourhood. I hope you had a great first New Jersey Halloween, Fi.

I really needed a tripod to take a photo of the moon and the street at dusk. It was a very cool night!

Karen was feeling groovy!

More fun with shaking the camera!

Tristan was Harry Potter. Bowen was Mario. Chris was "Lord Baldemort." Rhonda loves them all.

I was very excited to find out that Kirsi was a BANANA! Luckily for Kirsi, sock monkeys eat only yarn and fluff.

Coulson loved Frankie singing thriller.

Nolan dressed as Dedmau5. I thought this was him so I asked if I could take a photo, then a voice said, "do you think I'm Nolan?" Oh well. I didn't see Nolan after all, but he wore a costume like this, only it had a red head. I should have known Nolan wouldn't wear an American Eagle hoodie.

Kirsi made these cool jar-o-lanterns with orange tissue paper and glue.

Of course, Dad lit fireworks at the end of the evening. Sol had the fog machine and other contraptions going in his part of our carport. I baked brownies and served coffee to the parents. I think we got about 150 trick or treaters, which is not quite as many as usual, but lots anyway.

question: how was your Halloween?

mompoet - Okay November, bring it on!

halloween care package part 7

2011-11-01T06:01:00.001-07:00

Everyone dressed up at work. Linda wore your cow costume. The seniors loved it. Diane is a zombie artist. The first thing we did was carve pumpkins for the annual staff jack-o-lantern contest. Our pirate pair did not win, but we think they were pretty wonderful anyway.

That's Krizstina, who works with us, dressed as a flower garden. It was fun day at work. Funny thing though, I wore the sock monkey costume to Extra Foods on the way home from work. Only one person out of probably 100 people had any reaction at all. Everyone else just ignored the fact that I was dressed up, even the cashier. Maybe they thought I was just shopping in my pajamas and a really weird hat, with a sock monkey in my bag and a tail sewed on? I don't know!

question: what if you wore a disguise and nobody noticed?

mompoet - people are weird (and I'm not talking about us!)

halloween care package part 6 - pumpkin seeds

2011-10-31T06:25:00.000-07:00

I scooped lots of seeds out of two of our 3 pumpkins. I soaked them overnight in salty water. This makes it easier to detach the remaining bits of pumpkin string.

I seasoned them a bit, then put them on a cookie sheet in a 350 oven. About 30 minutes later we have a lot of yummy seeds ready for munching.

question: what's your favourite Halloween treat?

mompoet - cooking for the spooky season

halloween care package part 5 - my costume

2011-10-30T21:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, so Dad has gone to bed, Alex is at work, and I Lukas is studying. Besides, I won't torture him and ask him to take a picture of me in a sock monkey costume that I made out of pajamas, a toque and work socks sewed into a tail and ears. I'll wear this to work tomorrow and get a picture there.

I hope you like it! I am loving it.

question: whose momma is a monkey?

mompoet - OOOO OOOOO ahhhh ahhh eeeee!

halloween care package part 4

2011-10-30T21:25:00.000-07:00

Pumpkins! I carved them on Sunday while Dad cooked supper.

The first one I cut open had a bit of rot inside - YUK!

Poor Jack - got a wooden spoon stuck in his eye!

The second one was nice and fresh. I saved the seeds from this one and the third one.

This is pumpkin number 2 - a classic triangle eyes and nose and jaggedy mouth.

Pumpkin number 3 just had the most wonderful stem and ridges that looked like eyebrows, so I flattened one side a bit and carved it that way.

Here they all are, lit up on the back porch to make sure they are of sufficient quality. They'll go out in the garden in front of the house on Halloween night.

question: do you carve pumpkins?

mompoet - lanterns made from pumpkins are tremendously wonderful

halloween care package part 3

2011-10-30T21:20:00.000-07:00

This is the third installment of my blog care package for Fiona at university. This is the best way I can think of to send you a bit of Halloween at home.

Our neighbourhood continues to be decorated.

When we drove past the neighbours' house I thought someone had some kind of trouble with spelling. The banner seemed to say "AP ALWE." But up close, I get it.

This is a cool creepy spider. Think how scared they'll be when they open their kitchen window for a bit of fresh air and THAT crawls in!

This is just really cool and tasteful. I like it very much.

Remember when all of the cherry trees were severely pruned in the springtime? Most of them came back, but this one is the exception. It makes a splendid Halloween tree, don't you think?

I'll take some spooky photos in the dark Halloween night and post them. Just thought you'd like to see things getting ready.

question: isn't preparing for Halloween half the fun?

mompoet - looking around the neighbourhood for spooky stuff

halloween care package part 2

2011-10-30T12:11:00.001-07:00

Fiona, you woke up to a few inches of snow in New Jersey. Amazing! I hope you are having some fun with it, and keeping safe and warm. Here in Port Moody, it's foggy this morning.

Here's some more detail in the carport. I wonder if you like the orange spider webs?

Dad was pretty ingenious about skeletons. The plastic glow-in-the dark skeleton lost its head, but he used the skull in its place.

Everyone's favourite is still the flaming pumpkin. Here's a natural shot, then some shaking up the camera fun.

SPOOOKY!

More to come. We're carving the pumpkins later today - GOOPY!

question: Are you dreaming of a white Halloween?

mompoet - blogging west coast spookiness to Fiona in New Jersey

halloween care package - part 1

2011-10-29T18:54:00.000-07:00

I did not send Fiona a Halloween care package because I could not think of anything to put in it that wasn't junky or disposable. Instead I am posting these photos, partly for fun, and partly in place of a care package. Hey, Fiona, here are photos of Halloween at home. Tonight - getting ready on Saturday:

Three big pumpkins are waiting on the deck, ready to be carved. I will carve them tomorrow. So far Dad, Alex and Lukas are not jumping up and down to help with the carving. I am sure they will all be happy to eat the pumpkin seeds, though.

Dad decorated today, while I was out at the opera with Grandma and Grandpa. I am so glad that he does this wonderful and creepy job. What you can't see is the orange spider web all over the carport ceiling. I told Dad you would not like it if you were home. He said, "I know."

Of course, Phil Haig dropped off a bag of Halloween candy. YUM YUM! What would the weekend before Halloween be without a bag of Phil Haig Halloween candy?

Tomorrow I will sew my sock monkey costume. I'll show you when it's done.

Happy Almost-Halloween!

question: what is the best thing you ever received or sent in a care package?

mompoet - sending love in images

learning to use my camera

2011-10-24T06:07:00.000-07:00

Michele and I took an photography course on Saturday. We met in a coffee shop in Fort Langley with our teacher Lesley of Lesley Ann Photography, and one other student. I was excited at the prospect of walking around Fort Langley and taking photos of some interesting things and places, but it turned out to be different, and even better! Lesley helped us find out what our cameras could do, and explained to us what that meant, then we went outside and tried it. She talked mostly about light, and how it makes a good photograph, and how we can work with it, even in the automatic modes on our cameras. She told us that we could become better photographers by practising 10 minutes a day with our cameras, and suggested an approach to do this. So now I'm excited about learning more about photography. Watch out for some photos coming up!

After the workshop, we met up with Andy, and Michele's husband Brent, and we went to the pub for supper then to Michele and Brent's place for a while. It's been a super busy year for all of us, and too long since we've spent an evening together. It was very good to re-connect. It was a good day, with good friends.

question: what was old and new in your weekend?

mompoet - recalibrating my pace

for fiona - the raptor is here

2011-10-21T17:26:00.000-07:00

I think it's a good thing...

question: anything hatch in your neighbourhood?

mompoet - zilla-happy

sausage poem

2011-10-16T15:36:00.000-07:00

At our writing workshop weekend before last, my Shoreline Writers friends and I wrote a sausage poem. We passef a sheet of paper around the table. Each person wrote one line, then folded the paper over, and told the next person what the last word was on that line. The next person wrote a line beginning with that same word, then folded the paper, passed it on, etc. We agreed to write to a theme "Get What you Want," inspired by a newspaper clipping. Here's our poem:

Get What You Want

Whatever you like, you can get what you like.
Like it or not, too much to ccount.
Count the times when the clouds have parted,
Parted in haste - only to regret.
Regret is what I felt when I sniffed the perfume,
Perfume of garlic welling up from your lips,
Lips lie lightly on the object of desire - where do yours lie now? and how?
How, who, what, where - important to know.
Know that every bird flying high must soon crash to earth.
Earth with its enless promise of lore revived.
Revived were my plans when I got home from vacation.
Vacation is what you get!

question - did you ever write a sausage?

mompoet - it ended up making a ring

Tosca Cafe

2011-10-15T22:24:00.000-07:00

I saw Tosca Cafe today at the Vancouver Playhouse. It was excellent. It's the story of a cafe in San Francisco from the time of the First World War to the 80s, and the owner of the cafe and all of the people who come into the cafe, and their stories. It's conveyed completely in dance and movement, no dialogue at all. It's about 1 and 3/4 hours without intermission, but it seemed like 25 minutes. It was beautiful.

The music is from the ballet and movies and popular music of the different eras. The dancing is ballet, modern, jazz, disco. There's some beat poetry too. Dean Paul Gibson is splendid as the cafe owner. Rex Harrington is beautiful in a bunch of different roles, and Peter Anderson is a genius. That is all. Oh, Annie Purcell plays the orphan. She made me cry.

I like the Playhouse season because it always has things that stretch my imagination and invite me to look at something new, or a new way of doing something that's been done before. Tosca Cafe is an excellent start to the season. Lots of performances left - go see it!

question: how would you tell a story without words? and how do ballet dancers fold and extend their bodies in such a marvelous manner?

mompoet - full up with richness and beauty

some good things

2011-10-15T22:14:00.000-07:00

Some good things appeared this week. They were small but very nice. First, on my walk to work Tuesday morning I met 3 deer standing just behind the fence of the Petrocan plant. This gorgeous guy with antlers was closest, with 2 others close behind.

The next day, I was walking to work again, and I glanced across the street at a high fence. POP! a knapsack flew over the fence and landed in the grass. Then I saw one hand, and another, then a head and a foot, and somebody clambered over the fence - a student on the way to school, no doubt. I know it's probably a very ordinary occurrence, a shortcut like this, but it's the first time I've observed it happening. It was nice.

Then, on Friday, a baby. When somebody walks around the corner unexpectedly carrying a baby, it's like a wolverine or a unicorn just strolled into the room. In this case, it was my co-worker Adriana, carrying Marisa's baby. Marisa was visiting the office for the first time with her two-week old son, and Adriana had taken him upstairs to meet the ladies in the seniors' coffee lounge. Oh my goodness, a two week old baby is a marvel. I got to hold him until he got tired of rooting around on his hand and wrist and really needed mum back. That was nice plus!

Three good things in one week. I think there were more, but these were the little gems that stuck with me.

question: what is remarkable in your day to day?

mompoet - noticing and appreciating.

for Fiona: Thanksgiving snowballs and salmon streams

2011-10-09T17:42:00.000-07:00

Here are two photos for Fiona, who is celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving with a college residence floor-full of Americans. Please use these photos to further confuse the Americans with untrue stories about life in Canada.

These photos were taken in Canada, on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend 2011 - Today, to be precise. Say about them what you will. Very little is likely to be true.

question: do we live in igloos and catch salmon from the creek with our bare hands?

mompoet - Canadian, eh?

good things

2011-10-08T10:45:00.000-07:00

This week has been full of good things...

some stellar suppers at home (if I do say so myself) - I took the Greek Chicken Skewers recipe from Thrifty Foods that Cathy showed me, and translated it into a dish with boneless, skinless chicken thighs done on the George Foreman grill. I served it up with tzaziki, roasted garlic potatoes, home-made Caesar salad, pita bread, mmmm. Another night, I cooked a sockeye salmon fillet in parchment and served it with roasted yams, butternut squash puree and green beans. Something about fall weather makes me want to cook homey good food.
these led to some stellar lunches - I love leftovers! The leftover pita made good pocket sandwiches, with mixed greens and feta cheese and the leftover chicken. Reheated yams and potatoes are probably even better than first time around.
Alex and I went to a screening of Peace Out at the Vancouver Film Festival. It's a film directed by one of his university profs, about energy production in the Peace River Valley in Northern BC and Alberta. The film looks at how we produce hydro power, natural gas, nuclear power (yup, there's a proposal for a nuclear plant in northern BC), and the Alberta oil sands. It was entertaining, informative and thought provoking. It made me want to go home and turn off all of the extra lights in the house and notch down the furnace. If you haven't heard about "fracking" yet, please look it up. Also, imagine an open pit mine larger than Vancouver Island, covered in toxic residues from oil extraction. That would be the oil sands.
Niece Maia and I saw Next to Normal at the Stanley Theatre. It's gorgeous and gut-wrenching at the same time. This is a musical about a family whose mom has bipolar disorder. It's billed as "The feel-everything musical," and I think that's accurate. Fiona and I just missed it on our first trip to New York (arrived the day after it closed), so I'm glad I got to see this local production, which is top-notch. It's strong in every aspect, but I was particularly struck by the performances of Matt Palmer as doctors Fine and Madden, and Eric Morin who plays son Gabe. Maia and I had a good evening together. We even got into Vij's restaurant for gorgeous Indian food before the show.
Excitement at work. I am preparing to lead my first Insights training session at a workshop for 80 to 90 co-workers (gulp!). I'm getting some great help from my mentor at work, and all kinds of exciting ideas are bubbling up. I know I'll lead a fine session, and once the first one's done, it will be less intimidating. Even now, it's more exciting than it is intimidating, and that's good.
some good couch time with the family - we are catching up on The Big Bang Theory season 4 (now that season 5 is underway). We've watched our way through the first disc of the 4th season, enjoying some episodes a second time around, and seeing ones we've missed. The Big Bang Theory is the one show everyone in our family agrees is good. Nephew Lukas agrees, fortunately, and is being brought up to date thanks to our dvd collection of past seasons.
tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes - Thanksgiving weekend and I'm still picking ripe, fresh tomatoes every day. I love growing tomatoes on my porch.
mIpod - I keep finding out new fun things I can do with my new little iPod touch. I watched a TV show without commercials the other day, downloaded the word game Moxie, caught up my NPR podcast collection and listened on my walks to and from work, and used the BC Liquor Store app, which is really awesome. The only thing it doesn't do is pour you a glass of wine.
emails and texts with Fiona - we are truly delighted that she is having such a wonderful and successful time at university, but also that she is staying in touch with us. We are sending letters and packages, but also enjoying texts, phone calls, skype calls... We miss her, but we are in touch throughout each week. It's good.

This has been a lovely week. It feels like we are settling nicely into our new "normal." I love my family and being at home, and enjoying all the richness of our community and the people all around me.

question: what good things have come your way this week?

mompoet - definitely thankful

what if they held a community art event and somebody came?

2011-10-03T06:09:00.000-07:00

This weekend was "Culture Days" in BC. I took part in a few community art events as part of the celebration. Friday night at work, my co-workers Diane, Shelley, Anna and I hosted a tile mosaic workshop. Along with members of the Seniors' Society at the rec centre where I work, we are developing a community art project for the park just outside. About 16 tile mosaic dragonflies will be installed in the pavement around benches and planters. The first half dozen mosaics were created Friday, by community members who dropped in to arrange tile bits. Parents, children and seniors all came in to fit the jagged little pieces into the dragonfly shapes. Shelley and Anna, our artist facilitators, preserved the arrangements with clear sticky film before they took them away.

Saturday afternoon I went over to The Burnaby Arts Council Gallery to visit Diane's show about community art. Diane has visited Cuba and Louisiana to facilitate art exchanges between children and families in Burnaby and those places. She has also collected art made by children here, to send to children in Haiti. I looked at art samples and photos from these projects and talked with Diane about her experiences and insights. I also made some art myself - a great part of the show!

Sunday evening, Shoreline Writers' Society hosted a "Writing Playshop" at a cafe in Port Moody. Our members were the only ones who showed up, but we had a good time. We did get two little boys to make storybooks, then we did some writing ourselves. It was low key and fun for us to write together in a public place. It reminded me that I'd like to include writing together in our monthly meetings.

question: how artful have you been lately?

mompoet - 3 days of art in the community - nice

Dear Mrs Maloney

2011-09-30T22:33:00.000-07:00

Thank you for teaching me the easy way to peel an apple, and also how to sew a zipper into a dress or a pair of pants, contrary to the instructions in the pattern package and definitely more neatly and accurately. These skills have walked with me through my days of many apple-peelings and dozens of zippers put in, fruits and frocks both handily completed with a minimum of waste and fuss.

Thank you also for your steadfast love of a dying art. When I came to Home Economics 8, mine was among the last of your all-girl classes, automatically assigned to 5 months in the kitchen and 5 months at the sewing machine, to learn the high school version of womanly arts. The boys got 5 in the auto shop and 5 in the woodwork shop, I think. That was the way it was.

Mrs. Maloney, I remember your smartly tailored dresses, worn with nylons and heels to every class. They matched the outfits worn by the women pictured in our textbooks (copyright 1957). These women brandished feather dusters and fierce smiles as they put the finishing touches on home sweet home in the moments before the man of the house arrived from work. While the rest of our teachers wore polyester pantsuits and platform boots, you alone kept a proper appearance.

Mrs. Maloney, why did you make us write a 5 step plan for every dish we prepared in your kitchen? I recall that it took us four classes to prepare for hot cocoa and cinnamon toast and one to cook and eat it. I can't remember ever cleaning up after, although we must have. Your counters, sinks and stovetops gleam in my memory, providing me with a standard that was and still is impossible to live up to in real life.

I remember the blouse I sewed in your class - a demonstration garment of epic versatility. It had buttons and buttonholes on the front and a zipper on the back - a blouse that allowed the wearer to enter from the back and exit from the front, or vice-versa. In the construction of one blouse, I learned about standard garment closures, quick escapes, and how to very nearly split a shirt into two separate pieces.

Dear Mrs. Maloney, forgive me for snickering at you when you reminded us in class to "trim the hairy ends" of our seams. Accept my apology for calling you "Moldy Maloney," and gossiping to my friends about you. The rumour was that you were widowed, your husband killed by the same pearl onions and peas in cream sauce that you taught us to cook once we had mastered hot cocoa and cinnamon toast. I realise now that you were not so very much older than we were. It cannot have been easy being our teacher. I hope that Mr. Maloney (past or present tense) appreciated you more than we did.

Dear Mrs. Maloney, most of what I learned in your class, I have forgotten. But the zippers and the apple peels stuck with me, and remain useful to this day. Because of you I know the magic of scotch tape and machine basting, and the fact that quartering and coring are best done before peeling, at least for people who want to make a pie in fewer than 5 days.

Dear Mrs. Maloney, when I heard that you died, I was grown up, with a real home of my own. I wondered if you remarried and had children. I thought about how how you must have felt perplexed every day at the indifference of your students. I wondered how you felt when the school district split your dying art nearly in two, and how you felt about the new names and new books for "Foods 8" and "Textiles 8," and the arrival of boys in the kitchen and sewing room.

I hope you weathered the storm of the 1970s. I wonder if you ever wore jeans to school, and if you found at least one student who appreciated you, hairy ends, 5 step cooking plans and all. I wish I could tell you that I do now, even if I didn't then.

Thank you, Mrs. Maloney, for your legacy. Every muffin, pancake and pie I have ever made is partly thanks to you. Every costume I sewed has been easier and tidier because of what you taught me. I have never again constructed a button-front zipper back blouse, but if I have to, I know how.

Thank you for being authentically you, for making an impression that has lasted. Thank you Mrs. Maloney. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

question: did you have a Mrs. Maloney?

mompoet - not her real name

writing playshop

2011-09-29T21:01:00.000-07:00

It's Port Moody Festival of the Arts time. The Shoreline Writers' Society will host a writing playshop on Sunday from 5-7pm at Cafe Divano 101 Klahanie Drive in Port Moody. It will be a fun evening for adults and kids. Drop in any time from 5-7pm to write playfully and have some fun with words.

question: how do you play?

mompoet - wordfully, wordfully

vitameatavegamin

2011-09-23T06:28:00.000-07:00

When I was a little girl I loved this sketch from I Love Lucy. Fiona's friend reminded me of it the other day.

question: what's your old favourite?

mompoet - remembering

the flowers I never got

2011-09-17T07:59:00.000-07:00

Friday afternoon, I'm finishing lunch at the pub in Sechelt with my friends. We're here for our annual women's weekend. My cell phone rings, and I see the number on the display is my office in Burnaby. I answer, and a voice says, "Does your husband know where you are?"

I figure out it's my co-worker Diane. She explains that I have just received a huge, HUGE, bouquet of flowers. Didn't my husband know I was not at the office? Did I want them to phone him to pick them up and take them home? Hmmmm, my husband does give me flowers, but usually in person, and he knows I'm not at work today. I ask Diane if she will read the card. It sounds like there is a small crowd near the phone, all curious about the flowers.

"They are really nice," Diane said, "birds of paradise even. This has to be an expensive bouquet." Then she tells me that the flowers are from my sister. The card says, "Happy birthday Sis, love Debbie." I start to laugh hysterically. I have a sister, but her name is not Debbie, and it's not my birthday.

"Did you check the address?" I ask.

"Oh."

It turns out the flowers are for someone with my first name and a last name similar, but not the same. It's a name I'm frequently called by accident, but it's not my last name. The address and postal code are correct. The phone number is for the library next door, and the office title is for another city department - not the rec centre where I work.

Diane asks me if I want her to take a photograph before they send the flowers away. YES PLEASE!

Diane emails the picture to me, with a note saying that someone from the real flower recipient's office is coming over to pick them up.

question: can a gift be just as much fun, even if it's for someone else?

mompoet - even better, I think!

eggplant dip by the sea

2011-09-16T08:47:00.000-07:00

So here I am in a big house by the sea with some of my favourite moms. It's out 10th annual September weekend away together. We have a limited roster of activities when we go away:

-wear pajamas
-cook and eat
-drink wine
-go for a walk
-read a book
-talk
-laugh
-drink wine
-wear pajamas
-repeat for 3 days

Thursday evening everyone arrives with appetizers for a coffee table supper before we head for the hot tub. I was lucky enough to come in Thursday afternoon, so I prepared my appetizer here at the house.

My friend Diane gave me this recipe for eggplant dip about a month ago. I have cooked it four times already. It is SO GOOD!

You begin with a big beautiful eggplant. They are delicious right now, and inexpensive. Wash it, then score the skin so it doesn't explode in the oven. Is that an old wives' tale? I have heard of - seen in fact - exploded baked potatoes. I suppose an eggplant could also explode. Score it well and thoroughly, please.

The eggplant goes in a hot oven (I set it for 425F), for about 40 minutes. You will know it is ready when it kind of collapses. This means the flesh is cooked and falling away inside the skin.

Do you like eggplant? I know that a lot of people do not. I think a lot of people who have never even tasted eggplant do not like it. Perhaps it is because cooked eggplant flesh is not usually very attractive. Here's what's inside that eggplant when you take away the skin:

Suspend all judgement about whether or not this is beautiful. It's going to be delicious. Chop up the eggplant flesh into small chunks, and also chop up some garlic (3 cloves in this case).

Heat 3 Tbs dark sesame oil in a skillet and saute the garlic for a minute or two, then add the eggplant and saute it together for a couple more minutes.

Whisk together the sauce, and stir it in to the eggplant mixture. Stir fry a minute or two longer, then remove from heat and stir in 4 or 5 big leaves of fresh basil, chopped.

Sauce
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbs brown sugar
1 Tbs rice wine vinegar
a good squeeze of rooster chili sauce (Diane's recipe calls for minced serrano peppers)

Here's what it looks like, served up with a sprinkle of sesame seeds. It's good on almost anything, but I like it with sesame ryvita crackers.

It really does taste wonderful. My thanks to Diane for the recipe, and to nature for the wonderful goodness of eggplant. Thank you to my friends for sharing a lovely meal and a wonderful weekend, and to the sea, for its constant presence and yearly reminder of good things that last.

question: do you like the awesome aubergine?

mompoet - eggplant afficionado

monday in NYC

2011-09-10T10:58:00.000-07:00

Monday was cloudy with a chance of thunder showers. I put a folding umbrella and light jacket into my handbag and headed out into the muggy day. The hotel shuttle took me to the Walmart Super Centre, where we had picked up most of Fiona's res stuff on our first day in NJ. The alarm clock ipod dock had not worked for her, and needed to be returned. Funny, she set it to go off her first morning in residence and it didn't. She and her roommate were almost late for freshman orientation that morning. They tried again the next morning, and confirmed that it still didn't work, so Fiona gave it to me and I took it back to my hotel. On Thursday morning I had my first opportunity to sleep in. Guess what? At 7:15am the clock started to alarm, inside the box, on the emergency backup battery. It took me a couple of minutes to figure out what was making a noise. NERTZ! stupid alarm clock. Well, I was up early after all.

Back to Monday. The nice lady at Walmart gave me a store credit because we couldn't find the receipt for the alarm clock. We can use it at any Walmart in the US, so we'll take it to Walmart in Bellingham where they sell cheap Smart Pop microwave popcorn and also cheap beer. The shuttle picked me up and I got a ride to Secaucus Junction train station, where I grabbed a train into the city. I connected to the subway near the train station, and rode it down into Lower Manhattan. The subway is amazingly easy to use and always full of people, so it feels safe. All of the city maps have the subway lines and stops clearly marked, and google maps will tell you which train to take and where to transfer if you're planning your trip ahead of time. Here's a picture of the above-ground part of a subway station near Times Square.

The only thing I didn't like about the subways is how hot the underground stations get in the summer. It's like waiting in a pizza oven. The trains are air-conditioned so it's a relief when you get inside. They take you swiftly to wherever you want to go, and there are local and express trains.

I took the Staten Island Ferry out to see the Statue of Liberty. The ferry is free, and passes very close to the island where the statue stands. The boat was full of visitors who crowded along the statue side of the boat to snap photographs. At Staten Island we all got off, then raced up the ramp to re-board for the free ride back to Manhattan. When I have more time, I'll go find out what there is to see and do on Staten Island.

Battery Park is right beside the ferry dock, so I walked through part of the park next. It's a very large park, which deserves another day's visit. I found a quick, healthy outdoor lunch at an unfortunately named food stand, jumped on a kids' playground toy that made xylophone sounds (much fun) and looked at memorials for those who served in the Second World War and Korean War.

To the north, I could see the Freedom Tower under construction at the World Financial Centre. I follwed a pedestrian walkway up to the World Trade Centre site. All along the way there were new parks and playgrounds and small scale people-friendly places, even a community garden just steps from the site of the 9-11 calamity and the memorial and new development that is being built. At the World Financial Centre I entered a walkway that took me around the perimeter of the memorial site. You'll see it all on TV and in the newspaper this weekend. Two huge reflecting pools stand in the footprints of the towers, with waterfalls going into them and a treed plaza surrounding them. The new buildings form a quadrangle around the outside. Their mezzanine lobbies are open to the public to walk around and view the memorial site.

The people there were all quiet. The mood was very reverent and sombre. I'm glad I saw it, and I left feeling kind of emptied out. My thoughts were of the people who died and those who lived through the worst day of their lives here. I was also processing my goodbye to Fiona the evening before, and my impending journey home. As soon as I got away from the site, I found a place to sit on a bench and I phoned Fiona at the university. She was having a very good day, meeting the remaining students from her class who were arriving and moving in. She had gone for a workout at the gym which she says is wonderful, and was getting ready for her first floor meeting in her residence. I wished her well on her auditions the next day, told her how much I love her, and said goodbye from New York - next call will be from home.

After all that I needed cheering up, so I headed back to midtown to the friendliest, happiest, loveliest public place that I know in New York. I'm not talking about Starbucks either. Bryant Park is a place that Al showed us when we visited in January. I hung out there for about an hour and just watched the people. I also visited the most lovely public bathroom in the world. It's just as nice in the summer time as it is in the winter.

Bryant Park revived my spirit. I had thought I was going to grab takeout and return to the hotel for supper, but I was feeling regretful that Fiona and I did not have time to squeeze in a visit to Yum Yum Thai restaurant, so I took myself there for a very nice supper.

Then I went back to the hotel to relax, pack and get ready to go home. It was really a very nice day, exploring New York City 100% by myself. In case anyone wonders if I was really there, I did snap a photo of myself in the restaurant bathroom, using my new ipod.

question: where have you explored all on your own?

mompoet - Goodbye New York. See you again soon I hope.

saturday in nyc

2011-09-07T07:11:00.000-07:00

After a manic week of travel, arrival and multiple, sometimes overlapping obligations and commitments, Fiona and I each took a day to ourselves. She stayed at the university, slept in and explored campus with her roommate. I went sightseeing, then met up with my Aunt Barbara..

I took the subway up along 8th Avenue, then walked through Central Park to the side where the Metropolitan Museum of art is. The park is a gorgeous, peaceful oasis full of people. It's funny to see so many runners all in one place that you have to wait to cross the street as if they were driving cars!

I spent the morning at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I knew it was going to be big and beautiful, but I could not have imagined how big or how beautiful. I will surely return to this lovely place and try to just take in one or two exhibit areas at a time. My survey style visit was overwhelming. Another surprise for me was the number and variety of artifacts in the museum. Besides paintings and sculptures they have musical instruments, furniture, dishes and glassware, and fixtures from heritage buildings. The other part that was astonishing was the attention to detail and the variety in styles of exhibit and other public spaces. Even the stairways are beautiful. Every room is designed and arranged to complement the works in that room. There are some standout spaces like the big sunny glass-roofed courtyard in the centre of the main floor, and the rooftop garden. I think my favourite find though was in the Egyptian exhibit. In one gallery there were miniature dioramas from a king's tomb. They illustrated life in ancient Egypt. I found them fascinating.

After my museum time, I got lunch from a food truck, and lounged on the stairs of the museum with a few hundred other people, enjoying some music and watching the crowds drift by. Then I was off to meet Aunt Barbara.

I have never met my aunt before. My Dad's family was reunited after many years of him not knowing his 2 half-sisters. I'm grateful that we now have this connection. There's lots of catching up to do! Aunt Barbara and I met in Times Square, and went on The Ride. It was a lot of fun! After that, we went out for supper. Aunt Barbara's father was my paternal grandfather. I never met him, so I wanted to ask Aunt Barbara about my grandfather, and about her growing up. She was gracious in answering all of my questions. She brought photos of herself and my Aunt Lucy, her sister, as little girls, and a photo of my grandfather. We had a good time together, talking and getting to know one another.

I made it back to the hotel around 10pm, full up with impressions and emotions. I don't know if I have ever taken a trip so rich and so demanding all at the same time. I'm glad for the opportunity, but found I needed quiet time each evening to process the experiences of the day. I went to sleep full up with new ideas and experiences.

question: have you ever had a reunion?

mompoet - a day of beauty and connection

shows

2011-09-05T18:45:00.000-07:00

There is a lot to do and see in New York, but the top of Fiona's and my list is Broadway shows. Fiona is the expert who has guided me to see a lot of wonderful productions. Our dream coming to New York this time was to see The Book of Mormon. Never mind that it is sold out for months to come, we wanted to see it. They have a lottery for 22 discount tickets at each performance, so we showed up and put our names in and did not get drawn. But we also lined up 3 hours before showtime in the standing room queue. Two hours before the show they sold a couple of dozen standing room tickets, and we got 2. They are very inexpensive ($27 each).

We went away until showtime. Fiona shopped at Colony, the best place for sheet music and books. I found a place to sit, knowing I wouldn't be sitting for the next two hours, and called home to say, "Hey, I'm going to Book of Mormon. Pinch me."

We went into the theatre just a few minutes before curtain and were instructed to wait in the lobby or at the side until 2 or 3 minutes to curtain. I went to the bar and brought a double sippy cup of white wine. At Broadway shows you can take candy and drinks into the theatre. The drinks are in sippy cups. I saw a man pay $27 for scotch on the rocks in a sippy cup. Just before curtain time, we took our standing room positions along a railing behind the back row of the orchestra seats. I dropped my purse at my feet and clutched my sippy cup, ready to enjoy the show.

I knew the songs already, having listened to them on a download that Fiona got a few weeks ago. The show was awesome. It's totally vulgar and irreverent, and also smart with beautiful music and great performances, and a tender heart. It was a surreal thrill seeing the show on our first night in the city. It was amazing.

After the show, Fiona left with her friend who also got standing room, to meet her roommate who was at another show. I grabbed the train back to my hotel. What a night! What a show!

Later in the week we saw Follies, starring Bernadette Peters. I saw a local production last fall with my mom in Vancouver. The Broadway version was thrilling. I love, love, love Stephen Sondheim. Bernadette Peters was splendid, as were all the others in the cast. Astonishing music and a show so smart and tender and real. After the show, Fiona and her friends waited at the stage door where they met Bernadette Peters. Amazing.

I am so lucky to have the opportunity to see these performances. A lot of people don't ever see one show on Broadway, and I've seen more than half a dozen. One day, I hope I'll be coming to see our daughter on the stage. One day, I know I will.

question: have you ever stood up for a show?

mompoet - standing up with my sippy cup

university

2011-09-05T06:05:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of pictures taken at the university.

During the week, the train runs from the university (that's the train station in one of the photos) to New York City about hourly. It's a 35 minute ride. On the weekends students take a half hour bus ride. Fiona's res building is old school, built in the 60s, but that means it has spacious rooms. She shares with one roommate, and they have a view of the Manhattan skyline out their window. Eighteen thousand students are enrolled, so it's a big place, but the freshman musical theatre class is just 21 students, so a small group.

It's a beautiful campus full of friendly people. Fiona is going to love it here.

question: what school is your school?

mompoet - old school, new school, good school

family visits

2011-09-05T05:56:00.000-07:00

Just a couple of photos here, mostly so my family at home can see my family here in NY and NJ. Here are Al Riggi - a friend who feels like family; Aunt Barbara, Dad's half-sister; and Andre, Sophia and Isaac, our little cousins, grandchildren of Dad's other half-sister Lucy. This trip has been so full with experiences. Meeting and reuniting with family has been a wonderful part of it. It's good to know Fiona has loved ones close at hand while she is living so far from home.

question: what family do you have nearby today?

mompoet - love is everywhere

update

2011-09-04T19:22:00.000-07:00

We made it to New Jersey just fine, and Fiona's at university. Our trip here was not exactly as planned. When we got to Charlotte on Monday night, we found out that the Amtrak rail line was underwater at Trenton, NJ, so our train trip fromPhiladelphia to Newark was cancelled. I got on the phone in the middle of the night and booked a rental car at Philadelphia Airport. Fiona and I drove from Philadelphia up to Montclair, with a stop at Walmart in Secaucus on the way to pick up her bedding and other stuff that she had ordered online. We made it to the university around 6:30pm and met her roommate and her roommate's mom, and bless them at the residence, they allowed Fiona to move in that night even though we arrived a couple of hours late. The girls' room is quite spacious, with a wonderful view of the Manhattan skyline and the Empire State building out their window. They stayed up and got it all set up that first night. It's really cute. Their suitemates (2nd year students) will move in this weekend.

I got a chance to meet some of the other moms. One of them has started a Montclair MT Moms facebook group, which is nice. Fiona has been spending her nights in her new home while I go home to the hotel each night. We've been running errands and visiting friends and family who live in the area. There's also been time for sightseeing and shows. We saw Book of Mormon on Thursday evening, and Follies this afternoon. Fiona and her friends met Bernadette Peters at the stage door.

My days visiting the university campus help me know that it is a good place where Fiona will be safe and welcome. The other students who I have met are lovely young adults. We are leaving her in a good place.

I have one more day before I fly home. Fiona and I said goodbye this evening. We'll talk on the phone but I won't see her again until Christmas. I feel sad, proud and confident. This is the beginning of Fiona's adult life, and a new shape for our family.

question: have you been on a journey of change recently?

mompoet - saying goodbye (we made it!)

hurricane week at university

2011-08-28T14:38:00.000-07:00

Fiona and I were scheduled to fly to Newark today, in time for her to check in and do orientation, placement testing and registration at university. Our flight was canceled due to Hurricane Irene, and it took us a couple of days to get new travel arrangements that we hope will get her to school on time.

We'll fly out of Vancouver tomorrow morning on a hoppity-skip journey around the US, spend a night in Charlotte North Carolina, and ride a train from Philadelphia to Newark where Fiona's room mate and her mom will pick us up and drive us to the university. This intricate plan depends on everything working at 4 different airports and one rail line, so we're crossing our fingers and hoping for the best. Whatever happens, we'll be on our way, and progressing as best we can.

I'll check in and post a blog after our arrival. From the news on TV and the internet, it looks like many towns in New Jersey have been hit by bad flooding, and power is out all over the place. Charlotte and Richmond (both stops along our way) have also been seriously affected. Please think of us in the next couple of days.

With all this in mind, we're aware that our troubles are minor compared to those of families who have lost loved ones in the storm or experienced damage to their homes and businesses. It's easy to say it could have been worse, but we know for some it is pretty awful even so.

So we'll try to be ready for anything, and travel with patience, curiosity and compassion. It will be a trip to remember for sure.

question: what's left behind after the eye of the storm has passed?

mompoet - counting our blessings and trying to take nothing for granted

it could be heinous - the evil underpants theory

2011-08-26T22:42:00.000-07:00

Well, not actually evil underpants. Underpants are inanimate and intention-less. I should say evil underpants sender.

So maybe the underpants are laced with anthrax or they are armed with an underpants bomb or at least the larva of a big, creepy insect. I am safe from the first two hazards if I do not take the wrapper off the underpants. But if it's the third, well, when it hatches, surely it will chew its way through the wrapper, climb up the stairs in the middle of the night, crawl into my ear while I sleep and burrow into my brain. I will become an underpants bug zombie and lurch around with a vacant look in my eyes, and a pair of underpants on my head.

I hope this is not true.

I palpated the package to get a sense of whether it contains anything besides just underpants. I could not feel any lumps or irregularities that might suggest an object hidden inside the underpants.

Maybe the underpants are programmed to activate a hypnotizing hologram. I'll be eating breakfast and the hologram will pop up and hypnotize me and coerce me to commit crimes, like running up and down the street with underpants on my head, switching my neighbours' mail to other people's mail boxes. Petty underpants crime.

Probably none of these scenarios are true, but it's interesting to imagine that they might be so.

question: what is the meaning of these underpants?

mompoet - ginchy-la-la

another possible explanation

2011-08-26T05:48:00.001-07:00

In case you missed the original account of my Chinese ebay underpants, please read my post from a couple of days ago. I received a package from China containing a pair of Calvin Klein men's boxer briefs. I didn't order them from anywhere, and I don't know anyone in China, so their origin is a mystery. It's most likely that someone made a shipping label mistake, BUT there are other possibilities.

Possibility #2 - Scam or Robbery

The underpants are a trap or a setup. I will soon receive a letter apologizing for the mistaken delivery and requesting that I return the underpants by mail to the sender. I will also be asked to write a cheque for $10 thousand dollars to assist the sender with liquidating assets from the recent merger of the Chinese Calvin Klein underpants factory with a can opener factory (just wait for the products that come from that place). I will be promised a windfall of $14.7 thousand dollars for my trouble.

OR

I will receive a letter apologizing for the mistaken delivery, and advised to keep the underpants. The letter will contain 4 tickets to the baseball game as a gift in recognition of the confusion that this mistaken delivery has caused. While my family is out at the baseball game, my house will be robbed. The robbers will leave the Calvin Klein underpants but take everything else.

question: do you think these are nefarious Chinese ebay underpants?

mompoet - benign to sinister in 30 seconds

the simple explanation

2011-08-25T05:45:00.000-07:00

Someone in China sells lots of different things on ebay. At some point, someone in my house has ordered something from this seller (like maybe an ipod cover). My name is in the computer database that this person uses to print mailing labels. A week or so ago, someone else ordered underpants. Seller mistakenly clicked on my address to print the mailing label. I have received the underpants in error.

Follow up story. Underpants-orderer is waiting for underpants. When they do not arrive, he/she will contact the seller to inquire about the underpants. Underpants seller will reply that he/she has mailed the underpants in mid-August. Buyer will query again after another week. The underpants still have not arrived. Seller will re-send the underpants, suspicious that buyer is scamming. Buyer will think that seller is pseudo-shady and never order underpants from him/her again.

Alternate follow-up. Seller will realise his/her error and send the replacement underpants immediately. This will be good if he/she gets the address right this time. He/she may contact me to say, "Did you receive the erroneous underpants?" Now that would be interesting. I wonder what I would do.

The underpants remain in my home, original wrapper unopened. I don't have any urge to return post them, partly because it would be expensive, partly because the address is in Chinese characters. A friend pointed out that the postage is probably worth more than the underpants.

question: is the simplest explanation the correct explanation?

mompoet - not always

my chinese ebay underpants

2011-08-24T20:43:00.000-07:00

On Monday, Fiona phoned me at work to ask if I had ordered anything online. I told her not that I know of, but maybe someone else did, and it came addressed to me because everyone uses my paypal. She said there was a package. I told her it was okay to open it. She said thanks and we ended the call.

A few minutes later, I received a text message:

It's Calvin Klein underpants from China.

I texted back:

men's or women's?

She texted:

Men's boxer shorts.

I texted:

Oh, that explains it. I always order boxer shorts from China on ebay.

When I got home I examined the package and its contents. It's a styrofoam box - two halves with a cavity inside. They were taped together for the mail. The label is mostly in Chinese characters.

I wonder who sent them and why? I have a few theories, but that's a story for another day.

In the meantime...

question: what do you think happened?

mompoet - my chinese ebay underpants are my mysterious wonderment

quinoa bowl craving

2011-08-06T17:48:00.000-07:00

Fiona and I went to the Poetry Slam on Monday. It was her first time, my umpteen bazillionth, but I still put up my hand when host Ms. Spelt asked, "who has never been to a poetry slam?" I think if I didn't do it, I would be lying. We arrived early at the cafe, anticipating a lazy supper. (The men folk were in Las Vegas, eating juicy burgers and watching Penn and Teller make someone's cellphone ring from inside a dead fish.)

We split the yummy big salad with vinaigrette dressing. Fiona ordered the grill cheese sandwich and gave me the pickle (GOOD!). I ordered the quinoa bowl - something I have not seen on the menu before. Things were getting busy at the cafe, but we weren't in a hurry. A few minutes after the server took our order, the manager came to our table and informed me that they were out of quinoa, and asked would I be okay with a rice bowl? I said okay. Now, I do love the cafe, but out of quinoa? Unless they had truly emptied their last big bag of uncooked quinoa, I cannot imagine how this could happen. Quinoa is not Peking Duck. It is a fast cooking grain. If I was a restaurant and I ran out of quinoa, I would bloody cook some more quinoa. But that's me. I am not a restaurant. I am a polite customer, not wanting to hassle anyone for their shortcomings.

The rice bowl and grill cheese come soon after. The server told me that the manager said "Thank you." The rice bowl was good, but I had been looking forward to quinoa, which is not waffles from scratch, or sachertorte, or lobster or fresh cut flowers, or even brown rice but a fast cooking grain that can be prepared in 20 minutes tops. I wondered what was the story, but got an inkling later in the evening, when the cook spontaneously lobbed a raw mushroom from the open kitchen area, hitting a poet while he adjusted the mic stand. It was not a friendly gesture. Perhaps there was a moratorium on cooking any more damn quinoa for the poets and their audience? I still love the cafe, but now, I wonder...

The next night, I got home from work at about 6pm, needing a quick supper. I was still thinking about quinoa, so I cooked some up. It took about 17 minutes. The grilled vegetables took a few minutes longer, but, as they say at the Poetry Slam, "It was WELL worth it."

The Veggies

Cut into bite size pieces enough veggies for however many people are eating. Cut a few more and you'll have some to take for lunch tomorrow. They're good cold or reheated. I used

zucchini
Japanese eggplant
crimini mushrooms (cut in half)
red bell pepper

Toss the vegetables in olive oil and whatever seasoning you like. I have a pot of fresh rosemary growing on the deck, so that's what I used.

While the veggies are cooking, you can cook the quinoa. Here we go (watch out for flying mushrooms).

The Quinoa

Combine in a pot:

1 cup pre-washed quinoa
1 1/2 cups water
pinch-let of salt

Put the pot on a high-heat burner. When the water boils, stir the quinoa, turn the heat to low, and clamp on a tight lid. Cook for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, take the pot away from the heat, fluff the quinoa (I know you always wanted to be a quinoa fluffer) clamp the lid back on and let it sit for 5 minutes.

The 5 minute waiting time is a good time to pour a glass of pale ale, or a second one if you enjoyed one during the cooking.

When the veggies come off the barbeque, you can toss them with a splash of balsamic vinegar if you want tang. If not, they're good with salt and pepper, because the rosemary and garlic are nice and aromatic all by themselves.

Put some warm quinoa in your bowl. Put some veggies on top of the quinoa. Put a bit of feta or goat cheese on top of the veggies if you eat dairy. Look, the Poetry Slam hasn't even started yet.

This is a yummy combo that can be adapted to whatever veggies you have on hand. If you're barbequeing, just add the tender ones last. You can get a barbeque basket at any good cook-store. If you don't have a barbeque basket, you can stir fry the veggies.

question: what is your current (or constant) craving?

mompoet - a well-nourished cook is a happy cook

kohlrabi

2011-08-04T05:57:00.000-07:00

I love every vegetable I have ever tried (so far). At our tiny, overflowing produce store there are still several that are new to me. Kohlrabi is one of them. It's pale green colour and weird shape have never suggested delicousness to me, and I've not seen a lot of recipes for this particular plant. Last week I decided to try it.

An internet search revealed that it's a cruciferous vegetable (related to broccoli, cabbage, brussells sprouts) that tastes "like the stem of broccoli." I bought one, and tried it raw in a salad and cooked with eggs and in a pasta dish. It does taste like broccoli stems, which I happen to LOVE! So now I have a new vegetable, which looks weird, has a funny name, and is delicious.

question - Most descriptions online say that kohlrabi looks "like Sputnik." I wonder how they described it before 1957?

mompoet - KOHLRABI BAY-BEE!

robot seals in japan

2011-08-02T21:52:00.000-07:00

question: would you like to cuddle a robot seal?

mompoet - antibacterial fur

would you still be my friend if...

2011-07-30T21:55:00.000-07:00

question: would you?

mompoet - I hope so...

Grouse Grind

2011-07-30T10:45:00.001-07:00

Fiona and I hiked the Grouse Grind on Wednesday. It was the first time for both of us. The Grouse Grind is about 3 kilometers of nearly vertical trail, with 2,800 feet elevation gain. It just goes up, up, up and up some more. We made it, and we're not even stiff after the hike. It sure felt sweet to get to the top! Hiking back down is not allowed, and I think it would be pretty scary even if it was allowed. We took the gondola back down. We'll definitely do this again!

question: do you like to hike?

mompoet - hiking (almost) straight up!

fiona's birthday kayak

2011-07-26T08:48:00.000-07:00

Fiona and I went out for a couple of hours on Monday, kayaking from Rocky Point. It was a great way to celebrate her 18th birthday. Fiona has canoed in the inlet with school, and we've both been out on boats for Golden Spike Days tours to Pacific Coast Terminals, but this was our first time on kayaks. I think a kayak has to be a near perfect way to explore a marine environment. It's quiet, swift, agile and low to the water. You feel like you blend in. We saw mom and baby harbour seals and an eagle perched on a log boom. The inlet seems much larger when you are drifting out in the open. The shoreline is totally different from the water, too, especially up close.

Rocky Point Kayaks did a great job of outfitting us and providing the brief instructions we needed. The pictures tell the rest of the story.

question: do you like to go out on the water?

mompoet - a happy adventure for a happy day

kitchen tools

2011-07-25T10:11:00.000-07:00

Our kitchen is small, with less cupboard and counter space than it might have. Some time A.U. (after university) we'll remodel it, but for now we just have to be careful not to accumulate too many dishes or tools. I store infrequently used tools and ingredients in our basement pantry, which also helps.

Two of my favourite tools are two of my smallest tools. My lemon reamer and my citrus zester live in the drawer with our silverware, taking up hardly any space. It's a crowded drawer, nevertheless, so I have a rule: don't lift or shake the silverware tray. We have the standard, divided tray with a place for forks, knives, spoons and a couple more for etceteras. The tray doesn't take up the whole drawer, so there are also things around the edges: an ice cream scoop, carrot peeler, etc. Sometimes it's hard to see what you are looking for around the edges, and it's tempting to lift the tray and let all of the items slide to the centre, thus spreading out for better viewing. The trouble is, it's then impossible to replace the tray without taking all of the "side" items out first. This is something that nobody wants to do, so we end up with a tray tipply-floating on a sea of clanking sliding corkscrews and pie lifters. I'm not a neatinik nor an organizational stickler, but I do not like a wonky sliding silverware tray. So I have this rule (I don't have many): don't lift or shake the silverware tray.

I put these tools (and a few others) to use on Saturday. First, I marinated some chicken. The recipe is from Thrifty Foods website. Look up Greek Chicken Skewers. It calls for chicken breast fillets but they weren't on sale, so I just cut some regular skinless boneless chicken breasts into strips, and marinated them in fresh lemon juice and zest, olive oil, pepper, garlic (I'm not terribly fond of my garlic press, but that's another story), and paprika. While the chicken soaked up this goodness (and partially cooked in the lemon, like ceviche), I prepared the potatoes.

I boiled up a pot of new potatoes. No need to peel these yummy little babies, so my carrot peeler stayed in the drawer. Just give them a gentle wash, making sure any spots of dirt remaining from the field are removed. They take about 10 minutes at a full boil to get tender. I put the hot potatoes into a casserole with olive oil and Montreal Chicken Spice. Then I broke the potatoes up a bit, and tossed them in the oil and spices. I put them into the oven at 400 for about 40 minutes, turning once while they baked.

Next, the corn. I peeled and rinsed it, and broke each ear in half. It was so fresh that the kernels exploded when I broke the corn. Good thing I wear safety glasses in the kitchen. The corn goes into an even bigger pot, with a lid on top, and about an inch of water. It's going to steam, rather than boil.

Time to heat up the grill. We were out of propane for our barbeque on the deck, so I got out the trusty George Foreman machine. We use it almost every day, so it lives in a kitchen cupboard, even thought it takes up a terrible lot of space.While the chicken was cooking, I checked the potatoes. I assembled salad and turned on the stove for the corn. I put out condiments and set a bowl of fresh English peas out at the table for a casual appetizer.The corn cooks quickly. Once it came to a full boil, I gave it about five minutes. Good thing the skewers cooked quickly too.Oh my, the potatoes looked great. They tasted even better...I forgot to take a picture of the whole meal, ready and plated. It was just too darn good to stop for a photo. I served the chicken with tzatziki, and put out sunflower seeds and craisins with the salad for those who like some sweet and crunch with their greens.

The whole meal took just over an hour to prepare and serve, and it was a huge hit with the family. After supper, Andrew and Fiona made good use of another one of my favourite kitchen tools: the dishwasher. I enjoyed a nice glass of wine out on the deck.

question: what are your favourite kitchen tools?

mompoet - employ them, enjoy them, and cook with love and appreciation

harry potter

2011-07-22T06:08:00.000-07:00

Last night Alex and I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. We had a wonderful experience. It was a very good movie, for sure, but more importantly, we had the memories of our Harry Potter book and movie adventures before it.

I began reading the Potter books out loud to Alex and Fiona in the 90s when they first came out. I remember the excitement of diving into the wonderful world of Hogwarts with them. When we found out they were being made into movies we just couldn't wait to see them. When Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone came to the theatre, I remember we bought opening day tickets in advance (a first for us). I took off work early and grabbed the kids from school. Alex was in Grade 6, Fiona in Grade 3. We raced to the theatre to get good seats. We were enchanted. I remember we stopped at McDonald's on the way home, for a late supper.

Ten years and 8 movies later, a week after opening night, Alex and Fiona picked me up at work. Alex had seen the midnight opening screening at the theatre where he now has a part time job. Fiona had seen it a couple of days later. Both bought tickets online in advance and drove to the theatre themselves. Alex was ready to see the movie for a second time, with me, so we dropped Fiona off to have supper with friends and went to the pub for beer and wings before the show. We weren't in a hurry because our seats were reserved this time. We pulled into the theatre parking lot about 10 minutes before show time and walked right in to the best seats in the place thanks to Alex who bought tickets a few weeks before, when they first went on sale.

Watching the movie, and seeing Harry, Ron and Hermione grown up and finished with their Hogwarts days was happy and sad all at the same time, like thinking about our kids, and how they are also at the brink of their adult lives. It's the right time for all of it, though. I'm happy to have enjoyed the parallel Potter experience with these two great kids. I'm glad we still like to see movies together, and that they have jobs and can drive themselves to movies with their own friends now. I especially like beer and wings better than McDonald's, and reserved movie seats are the best thing since beer and wings.

question: did you take the Potter journey with anyone special?

mompoet - good-bye Harry, hello new adventures of real life

seniors' lip dub

2011-07-15T07:34:00.000-07:00

I first saw this on the wonderful Cameron Seniors' Society website. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

quite possibly the perfect food blog

2011-07-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

I just love this blog. I hope you do too.

My friend Cathy sent me a link a few weeks ago. The recipe was awesome and the blog so lovely that I bookmarked it and have visited again and again. I love the photographs and simple instructions. Pam, the blogger tells about what inspired her to make each dish, and also how her family enjoyed eating it. A perfect recipe for a cooking blog if I ever saw one.

question: which blogs do you read?

mompoet - well, besides the obvious

before you leave for university

2011-07-13T20:45:00.000-07:00

(the poem that I wrote for Fiona's commencement day)

sixty-five days (by my count) until the date on the airplane ticket
sixty-five days
for you
like a bowl of brightly coloured stars
blazing with promise

for me, like so many things I want us to do

before you leave for university we must
sit on the porch in the deepening dark
watch an electric storm slice the sky
shiver under a blanket
smell ozone
and talk about the dog
remembering how we fed her peanut butter from a spoon
to calm her fears during storms like these

before you leave for university we have to
put on a Barney CD and sing along in the car at the top of our lungs
you will remind me how I dropped your Baby Bop cake frosting-down in the carport
I will remind you how you were sure Barney lived in a tool shed at the campground in Osoyoos

we need to go to the library together
I won't make you join the summer reading club this year
but we can still take out a book on tape
and listen together at bedtime

I want you to build a fort in the living room one more time
invite me inside for a picnic supper
insist that I sit just there, just so
kick me out, fix up the blankets
and call me back in for cheerios and tea

before you leave for university
we need to go shopping together
we'll go to Galloway's to get ingredients for granola
(I want to send you away with enough granola to last until you come home at Christmas)
you don't have to ride in a baby backpack at the store, or chew on a dried apricot while I shop
but we will ask for fresh peanut butter from the peanut butter machine
and if you want, I'll buy you the smallest bag of smarties they will sell us

we need to go to the bookstore and buy your last-day-of-school book for the very last time
we need to try on bathing suits without freaking out
and bras without having to spell out B-R-A so nobody else will know what we're buying
we need to go to the grocery for water chestnuts and iceberg lettuce
then go home and make lettuce wraps for supper
yes, we can use the food processor this time, even though I like when it takes a long time
for us to chop up the vegetables

before you leave for university
I want us to go for a swim at our pool down the road
then come home and watch a dvd of My Girl in our pajamas
we will eat microwave popcorn
and I'll explain to you why we named you Fiona and not Vada Sultenfuss
although Vada Sultenfuss is a fine name too

I want us to go to ABC Family Restaurant for breakfast
I promise this time not to lie to you about the coffee creamers being milk cups for elves
I want us to fly a kite in Vanier park
I want to go with you to Maplewood Farm one more time
I promise this time not to let a pony bite your toe
besides, your toes have grown, so they definitely do not look like grapes any more

speaking of toes
before you go away to university I want you to paint my toenails
a new shade called “I will be fine”
I will paint yours a colour called “come home soon”

then we must dress up and go to the theatre to see a play about someone else going away
and someone else coming home soon
and pretend for a while that it's really a story

for now, let's bake some muffins
blueberry would be perfect
let's count the berries out like a bowl of brightly coloured stars
share them like promises
gobble them like there's no tomorrow
like where you are going they don't have blueberries
like I'll never eat another blueberry so long as we're apart

before you leave for university
make sure to taste the sweetness of every day, every day
tomorrow is “I will be fine”
the next is “come home soon”

question: will you say good-bye to someone this summer?

mompoet - come home soon

good things this weekend

2011-07-11T05:53:00.001-07:00

Well, the photo is actually from last weekend, sitting on the lawn at the Golden Spike Days festival, but it evokes the same feeling that kept going this weekend.

Nothing momentous this weekend, just a bunch of nice, small, happy things:

Off work early Friday, I met up with Andrew and went for lunch at Golden Pita, a gem of a place across the street from my office. We shared a fattoush salad. I had a falafel, he had a donair. mmmm
Annual screening mammogram Friday afternoon. Good because of the good it does and it was quick and easy. I like to call it my "annual screaming mammogram," but it's really not like that at all.
Potluck supper for the ladeez on Friday evening at Myrna's. Happy 50th birthday Karen! I had to step out for a few minutes to pick up Fiona from her new job. We went back to Myrna's together for Karen's cake and gifts. That was really nice.
Sleeping in on Saturday morning, then eating breakfast on the deck. I did a bit of house cleaning and read this awesome book, recommended to me by Fiona.
Attended Andrew's work barbeque at his boss's house on Saturday afternoon. It was very relaxed and friendly. A great group of people and an awesome meal, cooked by Andrew's work friend Ed.
Got home early from the party. No kids to pick up later because they shared the car and drove for one another. Went to bed early (thinking I sound old when I say that's a plus!)
Church on Sunday all about Matthew and sowing seeds on the path, in the weeds, in the rocks and in good soil. Good thoughts and a meeting after to plan for our minister Julie's holiday coverage. I'll lead worship on August 7.
Coquitlam Farmer's Market after church. I found some local strawberries, right at the end of the season. Phew! almost missed my chance to make some jam for the coming winter.
Lunch on the deck. I love our deck!
Walk around the neighbourhood with Andrew in the afternoon. We once walked these streets every day with the kids or the dog or both. Now we tend to go elsewhere for our walks. We have a great neighbourhood for walking. There is no such thing as a flat walk near our hillside home, so good exercise too.
An afternoon spent in the kitchen making supper (taco salads), rhubarb crisp and strawberry jam.
Watched this lovely video before bed. Thanks for the recommendation and the loan, Diane!
Thought I was going to have to stay up to pick up Fi from the outdoor movie at Rocky Point Park, but she got a ride home so I had time to cozy in and read a bit more before sleeping.

It was a lovely weekend.

question: did you have a good one?

mompoet - hope so!

yummy foods of summer part 3 - big summer salad with citrus dressing

2011-07-09T11:22:00.000-07:00

It's July and everything is growing. Fresh vegetables are easy to find, cheap or free depending if you have a garden or know someone who does. Right now I have a bumper crop of kale, and a decent supply of lettuce and fresh herbs. Tomato plants are a riot of blossoms with friendly bees promising to do the work that needs to be done. Beans, peas and beets, planted late due to our chilly spring, are also jumping up out of the ground, playing catch-up with the kale.

I was lucky on Friday to receive a huge bag of leafy green lettuce and heart-breakingly fresh spinach from my friend Brenda at work. She's house-sitting at a home with what sounds like a half acre of lettuce, which she must harvest and distribute regularly. I am delighted to help by taking some (er lots!). Friday's bounty inspired a big, simple summer salad which I made last night for a pot luck supper. My recipe includes instructions for preparation and finishing just in time for the meal.

The dressing is made from a recipe passed along by another work friend, Stacy. I made the big batch and have been enjoying it as I need it, as it will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge.

The amounts are mostly estimates. Make lots or a little, depending on who is eating, what you have on hand, and whether it's for a side dish or a main course. Fresh salad keeps overnight if you set it aside and dress only what you plan to serve right at the moment.

Big Summer Salad with Citrus Dressing

The Vegetables
lots of green leafy lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
as much fresh spinach as you can get, leaves separated
chopped red onion
chopped yellow bell pepper
chopped orange bell pepper
sliced mini cucumber
chopped tomato (or halved cherry tomatoes)
fresh asparagus, lightly steamed and cut into chunksPut all of the vegetables in a big bowl. Make sure there's room in the bowl to toss the salad just before serving.

The Add-Ins
toasted, unsalted pumpkin seeds
shaved fresh parmesan cheese
For a potluck, put these into small containers and nestle them on top of the vegetables in the big bowl.

The Dressing
1 Tbs lemon zest, finely grated
1 Tbs lime zest, finely grated
1 Tbs orange zest, finely grated
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/3 cup fresh orange juice
pulp from the fruit that you juiced
1 cup olive oil
1 mint leaf, finely chopped
1 basil leaf, finely chopped
1 Tbs honey
salt and pepper

Combine all of the ingredients in a shaker container. Shake well to emulsify before pouring. For the potluck salad, pour off a smaller container, seal with a lid and nestle it on top of the veggies. Put a big lid on the big bowl and go to the party. Bring salad lifters and a lovely salad serving bowl too.

Finishing – Just before supper is served, toss the toppings, dressing and salad together in the big bowl. Gently move it into the lovely serving bowl. I meant to take a picture of the finished salad, but it was too yummy and was eaten lickety crunchity split!

question: what's your favourite thing to put in or on a fresh salad?

mompoet - sharing what's in my own back yard and gratefully accepting all of summer's gifts

yummy foods of summer part 2 - rhubarb pecan muffins

2011-07-04T22:35:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure I've posted this recipe before, but it's so easy and so yummy, here it is again.

2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chopped pecans plus 12 pecan halves
1 egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp grated orange rind
3/4 cup orange juice
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh rhubarb

Combine all of the dry ingredients (except for the pecan halves) in a medium-sized bowl. Dump the wet ingredients, including the rhubarb, in on top and stir just until combined. Spoon into a greased and floured muffin pan. Put a pecan half on the top of each muffin. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

question: dhubarb you like rhubarb?

mompoet - mmmm mmmm mhuhbarb!

yummy foods of summer part 1 - lemon mousse

2011-07-02T12:57:00.000-07:00

My sister Barb amazed us with this tangy dessert when she came home from a year of au pairing in France. I have kept this recipe for a lot of years, and still love it. It is intensely sweet and tangy. You need just a small serving to instantly go to lemon heaven.

250 ml of lemon juice - 8 or 9 fresh lemons, juiced
grated zest of 1 lemon
4 eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup flour

Mix the egg yolks and sugar together in a cold saucepan. Stir in the flour until it's all smooth. Stir in the lemon juice and zest. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until it reaches a low boil and thicken up to a beautiful lemon curd. Set aside to cool.

When the curd is cool, beat the egg whites in a large bowl. Fold the curd gently into the beaten egg white until just combined. Spoon into serving cups and chill for an hour or more. If you are tansporting it, you can chill it in a covered dish, and spoon it into serving cups when you're ready for dessert.

Makes 6-8 servings

I served it on Thursday evening with a few fresh raspberries and a little puff of unsweetened fresh whipped cream beside each blob of mousse. It's really, really good.

question: do you have a mousse in yer hoose?

mompoet - loving the sweet and the tangy all together

wave at the bus

2011-06-29T08:04:00.000-07:00

question: do you wave when your kids leave for school?

mompoet - can't wait to read the blog, starting at day one and working all the way up to day 170

fruit platter

2011-06-21T21:12:00.001-07:00

l
Fiona requested that I bring our family's special celebratory fruit explosion to the parents and grads party on Saturday afternoon. While we waited for the limousine to arrive we snapped photos, chatted with parents we've known since middle school and watched the grads pin on boutonnieres and corsages, blow bubbles, eat cupcakes and ham it up for the cameras.

The watermelon explosion was decorative, tasty, and evocative of the jumble-bang of emotions that accompany such milestones as the grad dinner dance for parents like me. I hope you like the photo-explanation of how to make one of these big food sculptures. I have no explanation for how to make a child so wondrous as ours. We just got lucky, I guess.

question: when your heart bursts with love and pride and bittersweet prickly longing, what fruit would tell the story?

mompoet - melonblueberrystrawberryBOOM!

grad

2011-06-21T21:06:00.000-07:00

Saturday night was Grad Dinner Dance, otherwise known as prom, otherwise known and the culmination of 13 years of going to school and now it's over and we're going to have a very wonderful and fancy party.

Here are a couple of photos of the part of the celebration where parents were welcome. Fiona says she had a wonderful night. She got home about 6 in the morning. I think she will have happy memories for a long time.

question: how do children grow into adults so quickly?

mompoet - I blinked my eyes and it just happened

what we carry, what we keep

2011-06-19T17:01:00.000-07:00

I'm not very sentimental about "stuff." I like to keep memories, photographs, written descriptions, stories to tell again and again, but not so much souvenirs, certificates or other memorabilia. I don't even have my high school yearbooks any more. That's how little I feel like keeping "stuff."

But when my Dad emailed me to tell me he was going to let go of his old daypack, I knew that I wanted to have it. Here's the email he sent me, my sister and my niece a couple of months ago:

My ancient Millet day pack The lightweight waist strap (not heavy-duty enough to allow for significant transfer of weight from shoulders to hips) has come loose where it was repair-sewn to own side of the pack, and its mirror image is about to come loose where it too was repair-sewn a while ago. Your mother has expressed extreme disinterest in fighting with it any more. So I went to MEC and paid $40 and bought a new pack which is fine and should last another 40 years.

The old pack is, except for that strap, durable as hell, as evidenced by the fact that I got it in I think 1969. I think I paid nearly as much for it as for the new one, and those were 1969 US dollars (at REI in Seattle). If I had a dime for every circuit it has made of Burnaby Lake, never mind where else it has gone, I probably could have paid for the new pack. It has a top flap with zipper pocket where I kept useful things one might want in a hurry like toilet paper and soap, or, on those rare days that it was sunny enough to warrant taking them, my sunglasses. The main part of the pack is just one huge cavity, big enough for my backpacker's Coleman stove, two or three 1 litre Nalgene water bottles, lunch, and lots of clothing for warmth and rain protection. I have gone on one overnight fast-and-light trip using it (slept in my down parka and down pants, no sleeping bag or tent). It has attachment points for crampons and for an ice axe.

If you want the thing it's yours. I could give suggestions for how you might be able to repair the waist strap attachment, though your mother has doubts that my ideas will work. Or you could just snip off the remaining strap; as I said, the strap provides very little transfer of weight away from the shoulders so its main use is stabilization, to keep the thing from swaying from side to side.

It's ugly and dirty and smelly; the dirty and smelly can be fixed, but after over 40 years of use, you're stuck with the ugly. Let me know if you (or one of your kids) want it.

Dad

I picked the pack up from my parents' house and tossed it in my closet. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. I just didn't want it to be thrown away. This is the pack that my Dad has always worn when we've gone for hikes, from the time I was a little girl. A week or so after I brought it home, Fiona was looking for a prop for one of her students' plays. She needed something that looked like an old-fashioned parachute pack. Presto! The day pack had its stage debut, looking very much like a parachute for a nefarious cat in the musical Honk. After that it went back into the closet.

I decided to take it out today for Father's Day. Dad's and my tradition is to go for a "sushi walk," partway around Burnaby Lake. We stop at Piper Spit for lunch. I bring sushi. Dad brings his Coleman stove and makes miso soup and tea. We enjoy some time together in a beautiful place, with a yummy lunch, and this time, memories of a good old daypack and all of the places it has been.

So I guess I am sometimes sentimental about "stuff," when it's the right stuff, that is.

question: do you have anything that you like to hang on to?

mompoet - good old red daypack

one more thing

2011-06-18T07:44:00.000-07:00

My friend Irene send me an email the evening after the riot. Here's what she said about something that happened earlier that day:

I was in to buy some Red Rose tea from Fred at the Minimart . (I was thinking people are just going about their business and nobody cares) Waiting by the counter for Fred to wait on a woman, I said in a kidding voice to the young guy standing next to me, something like, "Well I guess you had fun tearing up the place downtown last night." He didn't laugh but started talking right away about how what they did made him feel ashamed. The woman started talking too and Fred was REALLY mad. He said I bet they just get a slap on the wrist. He said they should come from places where the cops just go bang bang and you're dead. He's from Iran. Everybody seemed to have it on there minds but people don't seen to bring these things up. I came to the conclusion that all the people "going about their business," have it very much on their minds. Somehow that was a relief to know that.

question: what do you think about when you are going about your business?

mompoet - we should talk to our friends

what if we don't win?

2011-06-17T05:45:00.000-07:00

As I walked home from work Wednesday, I wondered about that. What if we didn't win the Stanley Cup? Would people be able to manage their disappointment? We all found out on Wednesday evening as events unfolded. Cars burned. Stores were looted. Several thousand people participated, to a greater or lesser extent, in a awful outpouring of wild, destructive anger. At home, we watched our televisions with mounting dismay, disappointment, embarrassment. We had all hoped that the Olympics had taught our city how to manage a big street party. We wondered, "If the Americans had won the Olympic gold medal hockey game, would this would have happened then?"

I fell asleep Wednesday feeling changed. Sure, the excitement of the buildup through the hockey playoffs was gone, replaced with disappointment and resignation. We did lose, after all. But the stronger feeling was an overwhelming sickness about humanity. How could we be so awful and uncontrolled? How could the good people - enforcers and bystanders - not have prevailed? How could anyone commit such acts boldly, cheerfully almost, in full view of video cameras? I thought of images of young men and women not so very different from my own kids. The news reporters said that some had been planning the riot before they came downtown earlier in the day, but there were lots of ordinary looking people. They looked like people who had just showed up and joined in. They were throwing heavy objects through store windows, running inside and grabbing makeup and mannequins, dancing crazy dances of rage and alienation, or slinking out with proud/sheepish mix-mash looks on their faces.

Thursday morning I woke up numb and sad. "We'll get over this," I thought. But it will take a long time. "What will people think of us? What will we think of us?" I didn't fully realise how sad and upset I was until I heard the news on the radio on my way in to work. Thousands of people had signed up on Facebook, and were coming downtown to help clean up the city, wear the Canucks colours in pride not retaliation, do acts of goodness and contrition. I sat in the parking lot at my work and cried in the car.

All day we went through our routines, the same but somehow more subdued and unsettled. One of my co-workers came in a little late to work. She had driven downtown to help pick up trash before coming in to the office. The seniors at the rec centre talked about fear and shame. Was it safe to go downtown? Who could have done this and what did we do wrong not to stop it? We talked about the cleanup too. This helped everyone feel better. Later at home, I talked with my family about it and we absorbed the images on the news.

Citizens with rubber gloves and brooms and garbage bags from home. Messages of hope and healing inscribed on the plywood covering a store's busted out windows. May all of these signify a power greater than that wielded by the car burners and store looters on Wednesday evening. In every crowd, there are instigators, eggers-on, observer and recorders. Let's find our places in our own mob of kindness and rightness, get on with business as usual, and know that we are changed by this. It's our choice how so. I hope it's for the good.

question - what's your part?

mompoet - hugging my children and talking about it with my friends

shhhhh

2011-06-17T05:43:00.000-07:00

Fiona told me that she and her friend Sonora have always wanted to have "a sleepover on a school night," since middle school even. Today is the last full day of high school classes for them, ever. So last night, Sonora slept over. They made popcorn and watched a movie. I baked brownies for them, and left them sleeping on the living room floor. So they had their school night sleepover. Just in time.

question: what did you do just before time ran out?

mompoet - watching the passage

vegetable deliciousness

2011-06-15T06:03:00.000-07:00

My friend Julie (aka Cathy) posted a link to my facebook site. Julie and I (aka Julia) like to cook French food together at our annual women's weekend in September. I looked at the recipe and just could not wait until September. In fact, I thought about it all day at work. By break time I was resolved to try it right away so I ran across the street to the amazing Joe's produce store and picked up the few simple ingredients. I carried them home in my backpack and made the vegetable tian for supper when I got home. It is very nice.

question: do you ever obsess about a food?

mompoet - I love food

still working on the crow situation

2011-06-13T06:04:00.000-07:00

Baby Crow (it appears that there is just one) perched on the fence right beside the walkway for a while on Friday, causing Mama and Papa Crow to intensify their aerial attacks on innocent passers-by. Our boss, Cindy, did some research on crow families, and found out that parent crows typically attack from behind, and that an umbrella is one good defense. Dave made a new sign, accordingly. I like the image that he borrowed from Alfred Hitchcock's movie.

On Saturday I went into the rec centre for a workout. Baby Crow is flying farther, so the trio was at another corner of the building when I got out of my car. I could hear a big commotion, but it was far enough away that I felt safe to walk into the building without my umbrella.

question: how long does this last?

mompoet - CAW!

corvids overhead

2011-06-10T06:18:00.000-07:00

Outside of the rec centre where I work, at the end of the parking lot where it meets the walkway to the entry door, two crows have nested in a tree and produced a bunch of baby crows. Yesterday, it was time for the babies to learn to fly. Mid-morning found them out of the nest, lurching, flapping and popping around in some undergrowth below a tall cedar tree. Mama and Papa Crow alternated flapping down in the bush with the babies and perching on low-hanging branches just overhead. Whenever a two-legged creature walked past the area of the baby crow flight training, Mama and Papa would shout caws of warning, "Get away!" "Don't mess with our babies!" "Can't you see they are learning to fly?" If the two-legged creature persisted in walking from the parking lot towards the pathway that goes to the entry door of the building, Mama and Papa crow flew through the air and dive-bombed the pedestrian(s). This included people like me (direct hit to the right shoulder by Papa - I think), senior citizens using walkers and canes, and Moms with small children and babies. Don't think you can fool a crow with a baby stroller. Mama and Papa Crow know that two-leggers feed mashed crow to their babies. Correction: mashed baby crow.

So what do you do? One man stood in the middle of the mayhem, waving his arms and yelling back at the yelling crows to go away. This did not work.

Since it it the rec centre, and a public place, and safety is important, my co-worker Dave was charged with putting up a sign to at least warn people of the hazard of passing through the crow family's flying school area. Dave showed me his first draft. It said, "Attention Patrons: Please make room for baby crows." I told him I thought that was a bit obscure and did not actually address our purpose of a warning sign. It sounded more like one of those signs on the bus, admonishing people to give up the seats near the front door to elderly passengers and people with disabilities.

Dave offered to let me make a sign. I printed out my version that said "LOOK OUT for crows protecting their babies." Dave suggested "LOOK OUT for crows, as they are protecting their babies." I told him that was too many words. Dave conceded and used my wording on several copies which he printed out and posted in various places adjacent to the parking lot. My favourite was on a sign post just at the end of the lot, directly under the nest tree and only a few feet with from underbrush where the babies were hopping and flapping. When people stopped to read the sign, they stood directly between Mama Crow's low hanging brand and Papa Crow's low hanging branch. It think it actually increased the number of direct hits by crows to people.

I hope those babies learn fast. That was enough excitement for one day.

question: what's growing in your neighbourhood?

mompoet - witnessing the fierce humour of nature

unexpected party

2011-06-08T05:48:00.000-07:00

It's the end of the program year at the seniors' recreation center where I work. Groups and courses are winding down. We'll still have things happening over the summer, but several of our activities are taking a break for summer, to make room for the children's day camps that call our facility home in July and August.

The English as a Second Language students and teachers organized a party on Tuesday. I knew they were going to do this, and I expected to stop in and share greetings and best wishes. I didn't know that I would be given a place at the table and included in the festivities.

This had to be the most unusual and delightful surprise. We joined the group in singing songs in English and Chinese (well, we hummed along to the Chinese), and my co-worker Linda and I were called upon to make speeches (easy) and to sing songs for the group (not quite so easy). Then we all played a game. We had to pass a ball around from person to person at the tables. When the music stopped, the person holding the ball had to stand up and answer a riddle. The Chinese seniors heard and answered their riddles in Mandarin. Linda and I received translations, and tried to understand well enough to make a guess. Of course Peter, one of the teachers, made sure each of us received the coveted ball, so we had our turns. I could not make out what the riddle was - something about skin, hair and float, with lots of pointing to my arm. I guessed, "apple?" NO! with lots of laughter. "Say comb," Dina, the leader of the group told me. "Okay, comb?" YES! and more laughter. I won a pair of rubber gloves with fancy cuffs. Then I had to sing, or dance or do an act. So I told the story of Mr. Wiggle and Mr. Waggle, to save them listening to me singing again. I think the seniors like it.

We had lovely snacks, including some steamed buns with fish in the middle that Dina made for us at her home. We thanked everyone for inviting us, and were thanked by everyone. It was a lovely surprise.

question: what delights have surprised you recently?

mompoet - "banana?"

my day so far

2011-06-05T13:11:00.001-07:00

Waking to a room filled with sunshine and happy remembering of a good night out with friends and our team winning the hockey game. Springing out of bed to prepare coffee and enjoy apple, nectarine, yogurt and the granola that I made last night. Emails, facebook, cutting up a crusty loaf for communion bread. I leave early for church, knowing I have to pick up a round loaf for the communion service (none at Extra Foods yesterday). On the way, I realise I have left behind the juice, so I go to Thrifty's where I know I will find both bread and juice. Outside Thrifty's a rack of garden plants, including some gangly gallon tomato plants for just $3.99. I choose one and scoot into the store. The tomato rides in the pull-along plastic basket and I clutch the bread of life under one arm. Why is it always so hard to spot plain old Welch's? Cup of blessing snugs up in the rolling basket beside the gangly tomato. In the lineup a man is juggling a clutch of helium balloons and a bunch of things for the birthday party. His cellphone rings, sending him back up the aisle for a few additional items. The cashier secures his balloons to the checkstand for the time being.

It's beautiful out. People cruise the sidewalks in shorts and sundresses. Lots of dogs, kids, sunglasses, flip flops. Someone turned on the switch for summer, and we are ready. I take my tomato plant into the church and leave it in the lounge, to stay cool. I am greeted by the early-arrivers who are here to set up for the service. Svend is making coffee, Pat is getting the sound system working. James is plugging in the laptop. Julie greets readers. Now I'm taking out the ewer and chalice and getting Julie's special chalice from her office. Its earthy style belies an incredible lightness - must be porcelain. The bread goes onto clean white cloths on shining platters, juice goes into the ewer, with leftover to the kitchen for the kids to drink at coffee time.

Amy is leading a quick choir practice before the service. The singers sound wonderful. We are indeed a small but mighty community at worship. I finish setting out the elements on the altar table and go to set up the sandwich offering basket for people to see as they arrive for the service. Friends arrive and greet one another. I check in with Julie about the reading she's asked me to do.

At the start of the service we have announcements. I stand up and ask if anyone would be willing to miss Wednesday's hockey game to make sandwiches. Lots of laughter, and I know we'll always have enough people and enough food to make 100 sandwiches. Next, the lighting of the Christ candle. Jacqueline, Leigh Anne and one sweet little girl light the candle together. Funny how a girl can look like a tiny fairy princes, but jump down from the altar platform with the weight of an elephant and sprint like a rabbit back to her pew.

After the service and coffee time I drive home. My flip flops from last night's party are outside my front door, left there kindly by hosts Doris and Dave. How did I come home last night without my outdoor shoes? Inside, the kids are up. Alex's playoff beard is really beginning to look like a beard. Andy has already left for a day at the beach. Fiona's friend Natasha is visiting for the day. They are doing all of their favourite things from past years, except now Fiona can drive them both to the store when they realise we are out of mac and cheese. Jesse is outside with mom Kirsi, packing his gear into her truck for the grad camping trip. He says that prom and aftergrad were a lot of fun. Bowen comes out of his front door to ask his mom for help with his costume. I think it's a ninja. Chris says it's Darth Vader. Rhonda corrects us, it's batman. Bowen, five years old, specifies "Night Time Batman." He puts on the mask and I can see, it is indeed.

I make a big salad and a cup of coffee, grab Saturday's paper and head for the porch. Sunday in the almost summer, pretty sweet, so far...

question: what are you doing today?

mompoet - blessed

music night

2011-06-02T06:40:00.001-07:00

Last night I attended the music concert at Fiona's school. Despite it being Game 1 of the Stanley Cup hockey finals, the theatre was packed with friends and family. We heard music played by two concert bands, an orchestra, a strings group, and two jazz bands. The concert choir and vocal jazz group sang.

Between performances, two of the music students gave us updates on the progress of the hockey game. At intermission they announced that our Vancouver Canucks won the game, beating Boston 1-0 in the final half-minute of play. HOORAY!

The musical performances were excellent. Each concert band had about 60 students in it. The two music teachers observed that participation in music programs usually drops off when students reach their senior year, but there has been a steady increase in participation by Grade 12 students over the past few years. When the seniors lined up on the stage at the end of the evening to be honoured, they filled the stage from end to end. And from the number of grade 11 students called up for awards, it looks like there will be an even bigger crowd next year!

The evening was a long one, finishing at 10:30. I left with Fiona, knowing that's our last school music concert. What an exciting time it has been, seeing these students from middle school up to graduation. Some will continue their music studies in university. Others will go on to other things. It was very special to be with them all for an evening of music and celebration.

question: did you play in the school band? sing in the choir?

mompoet - glad for the music and the students and teachers who make it

in which kale becomes your friend

2011-05-31T19:57:00.000-07:00

Most people think kale must be awful and hard and bitter. I don't know why, although I once thought this too (before I tried it). Perhaps it's the dark green, crazy-curl leaves. Maybe it's the fact that we also use it for ornamental planting (thus eating it is like eating your Christmas tree or a cactus). Maybe it's just the sound of the name. Kale sounds like shale, which is a rock, and it begins with a very hard "k." But many beloved foods have similar names. We don't scoff at cake, or ale, which share sounds in common. Haddock and smelt are perfectly well-accepted even if they sound like the punchline to potty jokes. Oh kale, why art thou reviled so grievously?

Kale, if you have not tried it, tastes kind of like broccoli. It's milder than Brussels sprouts and springier (but NOT tougher) than lettuce. It can be eaten raw or cooked. It's easy to grow around here. It is lovely.

I concocted this simple warm kale salad last night, and loved it so much that I cooked it again tonight. I served it up with some baked yam cubes. These are seasoned with a bit of olive oil and Montreal chicken spice then baked for about half an hour at 400 on a cookie sheet. Cookie. Now that has two hard "k" sounds but we don't think of cookies as tough or bitter. Perhaps it's because they rhyme with nookie, so we think they must be equally delightful.

Warm Kale Salad with Pumpkin Seeds and Feta

about 1/2 cup of sliced or chopped red onion
about 1/2 cup of chopped red bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 big leaves of kale washed and ripped into chunks (about 6 cups loose measure)
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup toasted unsalted pumpkin seed kernels
olive oil

Warm the olive oil in a large skillet or wok. Saute the onion and pepper for a minute. Add the kale and garlic. Saute 2 or 3 minutes longer, until kale brightens in colour and looks shiny and cooked (just). Toss in the pumpkin seed kernels and mix through.

Serve garnished with feta cheese.
Serves 2 people for supper, 4 as a side dish.

Cook that, eat it up, and tell me that kale is anything less than wonderful. You will love it so much you might even name your first born child Kale (if it's a boy) or Kaley (if it's a girl).

question: do you like kale?

mompoet - please try it before you decide

making space

2011-05-30T07:17:00.000-07:00

Our nephew Lukas will come to live with us in the fall, so he can attend university near where we live. It's kind of nice that Lukas will arrive around the same time that Fiona will leave - daughter out, nephew in, somehow preserving the balance of things.

We are preparing a room for Lukas. It's in our basement, with nice access to the rec room which has a couch, tv, dvd, video games etc. Alex hangs out there a lot of the time now, so we picture the two cousins down there when they want to relax. It's big enough to invite a couple of friends over, even.

The room that will be Lukas's bedroom has been used for storage since we bought our house 20 years ago. We are now in the process of getting everything out of there, so we can move in a bed, dresser etc. Andrew and I tackled this project first on Friday evening. I pulled stuff out of the room, and Andrew took some of it to the dumpster that was in the complex for garage sale weekend. More stuff was labeled and taken to the carport for Saturday's sale. The stuff we want to keep will have to find new storage space around our house.

Storage displacement area #1 is the attic, so next I climbed into the attic and Andrew stood outside. I passed him boxes of stuff to take out of the house, either for dumping or for sale. A couple of boxes he decided to keep, so we re-atticed them or he took them somewhere else (not sure where). I managed to clear enough space to put the camping gear into the attic.

My next projects are the carport shed, the furnace room and the laundry room. All of those spaces contain things that we can give or throw away, thus making space for the rest of the stuff to come out of Lukas's room. Everything we need to keep will find a space, and we'll get rid of some junk and make better organized piles of the rest of it.

I wonder now if it would have been more efficient to start with the displacement areas (clearing the attic, shed, laundry room etc first) then tackle the room in the basement, moving things from there directly to their new spots? On the other hand, exploding the basement bedroom first started us on an un-pausable trajectory, because everything is a big mess right now and we want to get it finished. Working back to front might have given us greater opportunity for procrastination. Also, working the way we did, we managed to make best use of the dumpsters while they were here, and given our time available to work.

The room looks pretty awful right now, just half-cleared, really dusty, horrible curtains and the wires coming in from outside the house for our phone, internet and cable tv. Andrew has plans for making that work. I'll get on the curtains and we'll do a clean sweep and wash down once everything is out. We've offered to let Lukas choose the paint colour and help with painting if he likes. We have a bed and a dresser and there's already a nice closet in there.

Soon we will forget it was ever a storage room. We're excited to have Lukas coming and pretty pleased to know we actually have space in our house to make a new bedroom for him. Our whole home will be a bit lighter and cleaner too, for the effort. At least temporarily.

question: have you done any spring cleaning?

mompoet - amazed at what we keep

a poem for sunday

2011-05-29T07:41:00.000-07:00

I wrote this poem for church today. It's a response to today's scripture reading: Exodus Chapter 17, verses 1-7 (the story of Moses finding water from a stone).

water from a stone

in days of dust and longing
feet cracked and dry
from miles of desert
weeks of walking, trusting, carrying a load
of who knows what to who knows where

in nights of restless turning
craving rest, craving peace, craving answers
pondering in the long blank stretches of
darkness
pulled taut as skin near breaking
could it really have been so bad?
are these promises
once robust with rightness
now only hollow dust-shimmer illusions?

heart quarrels
doubt rumbles
replays of story fragments
endings lost in endless re-telling
reason not evident
regret everywhere
regret echoing
feet cracked and dry, accusing
you chose this path
tell us, what now?

heart hardens like sand granules
vision blurs
faith tested
detested
this desert too long and dry to admit hope
heart thirsts for proof of love

* * *

in the pale soft hour of waking
dust of days, agony of nights
cast off like rumpled bedding
dawn touches these feet
tired and cracked with days of walking
God whispers assurance
green fields
fat cattle
children smiling
heart splits again
this time with sweet remembering
a coin in a pocket
a favourite song
the name of an old friend

in days of dry despair
I will be closest to you
heart's quarrels will not displace me
when you push away with all your might
I will hold you most near

tired feet find freshness of the bank
river runs where no river ran before
where rivers have always run

heart and promise reunited
dust of the desert
sluices from between tired toes
tells again the story of love

question: how is the journey going for you?

mompoet - reminded of the river