tired mompoet haiku

ambliopia
lazy-eyed brain flop gives me
two tired points of view

question: will we make it through the second week of September?

mompoet - focusing, focusing

a week into september

The sun shines and I remember I dreamed of a woman, closing her right eye like I do when I am tired, to focus with just one, which is easier. Stereoscopic vision is not effortless, though some may say it is so.

A week into September and I have been eating healthy foods every day. I have resumed my exercise and regular pattern of waking and sleeping. I have watched less television this week. I still drink wine some evenings.

A week into September and I've paid the bills, filled in the forms, attended the first of several meetings and baked an extra lasagna for the freezer. I have not emptied the cat's litter box or cleaned the bathrooms.

A week into September and two elections approach. I will prepare for them this week: apply for an out-of-country ballot for the one and help my son register as a new voter for the other.

A week into September and the volunteering begins anew. There's a music parents meeting, and one for the poetry slam. There are Sunday school students to register, communion to serve and sandwiches to drive to the mission. Soon we will canvass for our candidate.

A week into September and the dog and cat barely notice the change. The house is empty by day now that we are back to work and school, but there are still sunbeams for basking, and the porch door stays open. The barbeque is still in use, and it's warm and dry for evening walks.

A week into September and we'll book a ferry today for next weekend's getaway to a house on the shore. Three days of pleasure with little regard for the busy days that stretch out ahead.

A week into September and the produce store is a riot of fresh bounty. I buy local peaches and new crop local apples, peppers, zucchini and eggplant - more than I can possibly cook and we can possibly eat, but it is so beautiful, I cannot resist.

A week into September and June, July, August leave only faint imprints. Both eyes open now I see the year ahead.

question: what are you seeing and doing a week into September?

mompoet - finding the groove

my week in a nutshell - a very short one act play

CROUTON OPENS

on a lettuce garden, decorated with bees. The MOM enters, carrying a laundry basket filled with unsharpened pencils.

The MOM: Oh look, it's Tuesday. The sun shines through the pillows and a new week begins. It is September and I am...

TURTLE, TRICYCLE, DUCK and BINGO DABBER (offstage, in a jumble of shouts): eeeee! horror! banana! electrolux!

The MOM: Does anyone need busfare? I have some tulips here in my hairnet.

Turtle stumbles onstage. Her chef's hat is on backward. She has a hot wheels car in one hand and a carrot peeler in the other.

TURTLE: Have you seen the cat? I think she finished the turnips without putting on a new roll.

The MOM: Good morning Turtle.

TURTLE: How can you say that? Where is your fence of compassion? You have crushed me to the pore! (throws the hot wheels car offstage, takes off her hat, and runs offstage, stabbing her hat with a carrot peeler) Bad! Bad! cat!

The MOM sighs and begins to arrange the pencils into a porcupine design in her hairnet. Still arranging, she walks to the mirror, stops to consider her reflection, and laughs.

TRICYCLE enters, dragging BINGO DABBER by the tail.

TRICYCLE: (to BINGO DABBER) You see? I told you it was your fault! The MOM always laughs when it's your fault. Now give me back my waffle clapper!

BINGO DABBER: Somebody help me! He thinks I took his waffle clapper but I didn't. How could I take it? I have no hands. All I can do is dab, dab, dab! (BINGO DABBER dabs a big dab of green ink on tricycle. The MOM turns and looks).

DUCK enters

DUCK: QUAK!

TRICYCLE: (wiping green ink off his handlebars) Well, if you didn't take my waffle clapper, then who did? I left it under the bread and now it's gone.

DUCK: QUAK! QUAK!

BINGO DABBER: Duck is trying to quell us something. What's up, Duck?

DUCK: QUAK! QUAK! QUACK!

The MOM: Hold on, I speak duck. I'll find out.

The MOM and DUCK engage in an exchange of quacking, flapping and bowing.

The MOM: Okay, thanks Duck. I'll tell them. (to Tricycle and Bingo Dabber) He says he ate your waffle clapper and your bread. But he will give them back to you if you tell him where you put his shoes.

DUCK: QUAK!

BINGO DABBER: Ducks don't wear shoes, and I don't like waffle clapper bread poop. Let's get him, Tricycle! DAB! DAB! (TRICYCLE and BINGO DABBER chase DUCK offstage).

The MOM empties the laundry basket of any remaining pencils and puts it upside down on her head, then shoos the bees away. After the bees leave, she sets down the laundry basket centre stage. She walks to the lettuce garden where she chooses three heads of iceberg. She takes the lettuce to the laundry basket, climbs into the laundry basket and sits with her eyes closed for a moment.

Duck, now covered with green polka dots, enters, and hops into the laundry basket with The MOM. They snuggle up and smile. Mom exhales slowly, then commences to juggle lettuce. Duck watches.

CROUTON CLOSES

tomorrow

• Andy and I return to our jobs after 2 weeks stay at home vacation.
• Alex begins college at Capilano College/University in the Film Production program. They have an "action-packed day" planned with instructions not to bring bags, and to dress comfortably. There will be live music, group activities, lunch and prizes. Sounds like an easy transition in to college life.
  
• Fiona begins grade 10. She goes to school for one hour, then will meet up with friends for lunch.
  
• We all have to get up very early in the morning.
• We will say goodbye to 7pm suppers, lazy sleep-ins, shorts and flip flops, sunscreen, the PNE, and an abundance of spontaneity.
• We will find our socks and begin to wear them again.
• We will join everyone else traveling by car and transit to work and school.
• We will enjoy the bounty of late summer peaches and plums, and be on the lookout for local new crop apples.
• We will feel the snap in the air on a crisp blue-sky morning.
• We will reconnect with the reassurance and richness of our regular lives, feeling refreshed and energized by the break from routine we have enjoyed this summer.

question: what turning points to you see in the week ahead?

mompoet - always something new to anticipate

mumps

There's a mumps outbreak in the metro Vancouver area. The public health authority is recommending booster shots for children, teens and young adults born before 1996, and returning to school (including post-secondary) in the fall.

You can get a booster at your public health office immunization clinic (call for details). There's one at the Poirier Rec Centre in Coquitlam on Wednesday, September 3, in the McDonald-Cartier Room from 5-7pm. It's free of charge. Or, you can go to your family doctor, who will also give the booster shot.

The Minister of Education announced that mumps boosters may be available in the public schools this fall, but if you don't want to wait to find out, you can go get it now. Just don't tell your kids that mompoet told you. I don't want it to be my fault!

question: why are all of my posts today about health issues?

mompoet - detecting a theme

wisdom teeth

Alex got all 4 wisdom teeth extracted on Thursday. He is recovering very well at home, and deciding whether or not to go in to work on Monday.

The oral surgeon did an excellent job. Alex was given IV sedation so he slept through the procedure, which took about 30 minutes. I waited in the reception area with other moms and grandmas. When he was done, I was summoned to the recovery room, which is down the hall and around the corner, and has its own discreet exit, so partially sedated, gauze-mumbling patients don't stagger through the waiting area and cause incoming patients to feel alarm.

We have been following the detailed instructions for pain relief, hygiene and a gradual return to eating chewable foods. Alex has been stuck at home all weekend, and is determined to go out today, although he's not sure if he's ready to drive the car. I have stocked up on yogurt and applesauce, and have been making a lot of pudding. I cooked the softest mainstream recipe that I know for our shared supper last night (cheese tortellini Alfredo).

I'm glad that Alex made it through this young adult rite of passage with relative ease. This is something you have to do just once, then it's done.

question: do you still have your teeth of wisdom?

mompoet - still wise, but not in the teeth

The Wart Chronicles - Final Chapter (I hope!)

The last time I checked in about my plantar warts, I was trying duct tape and also going for freezing with liquid nitrogen at the doctor's office (weekly). While I did not notice any change in the size or appearance of the warts, they started to bother me less. Then life got busy, and I got distracted by other pressing concerns, so I stopped making freezing appointments, and just let the feet be. Over the past few weeks, the pain has crept back to the point that walking is distinctly uncomfortable.

I had not been to the podiatrist in probably 10 years, so I looked up Dr. Brooks' number and called, and got an appointment for the very next day. Dr. Brooks worked magic with his little blade, shaving away seemingly microscopic layers of skin. It didn't hurt (much) and I knew I'd feel much better when he was finished.

After about 10 minutes, the doctor was finished. He told me he thought he'd got rid of most of the warts. To be sure, he put on some medicine and covered each spot with a tough bandaid. I asked him if I'd need to go back to my regular doctor for any more freezing. He said no, because the warts are gone.

I walked out of the office feeling like I was stepping on clouds. No pain, except for a few phantom jabs that kept me awake for a few minutes the first night. Probably my feet were remembering what I'd been putting up with for far too long. And now I walk without limitation or ibuprofen as a crutch. I should have done this weeks ago.

question: do you ever postpone the obvious then wonder why?

mompoet - happy feet

carless NYC streets

My mom sent me this delightful link from the New York Times, and wondered, "Wouldn't it be nice if we did this in Vancouver?" I think so, definitely.

question: would you join in the fun?

mompoet - I would stroll

dreambly-peg

There's this big house that I dream about from time to time. Every time I dream it, we are just newly moving or moved in, and still deciding where to put things and which room will belong to whom and be used for what. It's a weird house, multi-leveled and situated on a steep slope, with large rooms, not all regularly shaped or laid out. The rooms also seem to have been built at different times, and in different styles, still it is all one house. Whenever I am in this house, I worry about being in one part of the house and being to far away from my family members and others who are in the house (guests, extended family, workers there to do renovations). Often in my dream I explore the house and find rooms that I did not know were there, and that are sometimes inhabited by people who I did not know lived in the house. Sometimes the rooms are frightening, like dark cellars and gaping decrepit halls, but in these dreams I am always looking for more rooms that we can use to live in, store our stuff, use for activities.

This time I dreamed that we were going through the house room by room, making an inventory of things that needed to be fixed. We came to one room that looked pretty good but all empty. I noticed a mark on one wall so I went to check it and discovered that the entire wall was made of poster-board like you buy for school projects. It was stuck to the wall studs with staples.

I also had a guest staying over in this dream, up at the highest level of the house, in an old-fashioned bedroom with bay windows. The guest said she had a lovely sleep, then departed. Then the bedroom expanded into a gymnasium and a stream of young people in gym clothing came in and began playing soccer. They were accompanied by a young adult coach. I spoke with him and he told me these youth were from another country and didn't speak English, and that they love soccer. The previous owner had allowed them to come in every day to play soccer in her house. I decided it was okay if the janitor who worked in my house (apparently I had a janitor working there) would help keep an eye out, and if the kids would not kick balls too hard at the walls or break anything. I asked to speak with them but they could not understand me and would not listen, so I kicked them out of the house and told them to come back tomorrow if they were willing to listen to the rules before they played.

Then I woke up.

question: what does this one mean?

mompoet - going places in my dreams, sometimes the same place, but always a new situation

damp

Our two weeks' vacation have not been very sunny on average. Lots of rain and cloudy days with bits of sunshine. These pictures were taken one day last week at about 2 in the afternoon, although it looks like about 8 at night due to the gloom.

We are making the best of it. It's still warm outside, and it's still good to not be at work, and relaxing with the kids before school begins. We would like a beach day or two, however. These will probably arrive on September 2. Oh well.

question: how's the weather where you are?

mompoet - rain on my flip flops

Last Week's Poetry Slam Reviewed

Here's a review of last week's slam. It feels good to hear a couple of my poems remembered and mentioned, and to know that we are still attracting new audience members who enjoy what we do.

question: have you been to the slam?

mompoet - liking this very much

pne again

We made our second trip this summer to the PNE, this time to see Fiona perform at the Festival Square stage with her Lindbjerg performing arts friends. This time we arrived at fair opening time, and had an earlier day, hopping from show to show, and ending up at Lindbjerg's 6pm performance.

We began with the pig races, or should I say "race." There was also a duck race, and a pig that trotted through a hoop and fetched at stick. It was good tongue-in-cheek silly fun, with 29 minutes of buildup, and 90 seconds of total racing (75 seconds ducks, 15 seconds pigs). About 250 people watched, inside the animal barn. This event continues to be controversial in a low-key way. While Richard, the MC, assured us that the pigs and ducks are happy, healthy and well-fed, some say that they run for food because they are hungry, and that's cruel. Here's a youtube link. What do you think?

Then we went to the Superdog show. Here's a youtube link for that. The show is as glitzy and hyper as ever. The dogs are so compelling with their energy and personalities, that it doesn't matter that the format stays pretty much the same year after year, with neon and glitter and pumped up pop music adapted to dog themes. New host Chase does a good job of keeping things moving forward, and whipping the crowd into a cheering, clapping, chanting frenzy, but I do miss Herb Williams, who retired a couple of years ago. Here's info about the once and present hosts. Several thousand people came to see the Superdog show, which is apparently the biggest draw of all of the shows at the PNE every year. I don't think the dogs were hungry. They are rewarded with favourite toys, praise and cuddles.

After the Superdogs, we saw the Flying Canucks. Five handsome young men jump off of platforms onto 2 trampolines and do gravity defying stunts, including wall-walking and freestyle ski and snowboard aerial tricks. It's a combination of gymnastics, cirque de soleil and ski hill fun, and did I mention, cute boys? No wonder this show is popular with teen girls. I wondered how soon it might become an Olympic event. About 100 people watched the Flying Canucks show.

Then we went to the Lumberjack show. It's pared down from the old days when they used to alternate with the demolition derby in the big pit arena just past the Mad Mouse ride. Still, all of the classic events were included: carving a chair out of a log with a chainsaw, swede-sawing speed competition, log rolling, pole-climbing and axe-throwing. Lots of burly-man lumber camp jokes spiced up the show, which was watched by about 500 people.

Next up was Wheels of Steel - ATV races, freestyle sport bike competition and BMX aerials. Every exciting moment was punctuated by bursts of flames out of a couple of centrally located flame-stacks. This youtube clip summarized it to perfection. A thousand people watched this spectacle.

Finally it was time to see Fiona's show, real kids and teens singing on the community stage in Festival square. We got there early and relaxed on our blanket with a bit of supper. Andy had a foot long hotdog and rootbeer. He said it was good, and good value. I had wonton soup from Vina Vietnamese restaurant and an ice tea. A bit more expensive, but yummy and nourishing. The Lindbjerg students did a fine 40-minute performance of selections from this year's productions of Peter Pan, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and Hairspray. It was a welcome change after watching several performances of running, chasing and shouting. No flames were thrown, either.

After the show, the kids went on a few more rides while we strolled around and looked at the prize home, which is lovely this year. We left before 8:30. It was a long day, and I think we saw everything there was to see. I found it a bit overwhelming, but it is the PNE and it was a lot of entertainment for $10 discounted entry fee.

So phew! Here I am at home, enjoying a lazy Saturday, feeling like we did the fair just right. I'll be back next year for more of the same, I'm sure. In the meantime, there's a week left, if you haven't gone yet.

question: do you go to the PNE?

mompoet - oink, woof, jump, chop, zoom, tra la la, home sweet home

goodbye song for a friend who has turned away

Nelson is touring with poets

Last night, at the Vancouver Poetry Slam, Decatur Georgia poet, Stacie Boschma rocked the house with her performance. Stacie's poetry is the kind I like: direct and honest, telling stories about real-life situations, revealing truth and beauty with humour, intelligence and heart. She started out with "Freedom," remembered by many of us who saw her perform it at the Women's Showcase at iWPS 2007 in Vancouver, then segued to others including "The View from Gotham" (the Batman poem), "Pineapples," and "Love in the Key of Panda." Stacie was appreciated tremendously by the packed-house audience. We hope she'll return soon. In the meantime, I bought her CD, Happy Rainbow Poems from the Unicorn Petting Zoo and The Shout Rainbows EP.

I first met Stacie at iWPS07, where she performed and volunteered. We've been in touch by blog, email and facebook since. I was hoping we might get her to visit Port Moody, but she and her friends Hollin and Arrie had to leave their three beloved dogs in the US because they did not have the complicated paperwork required to bring the dogs across. So on Canadian performance days they have been border-hopping so as not to neglect their canine companions.

I have known Stacie to be a lover of animals since I met her. She has shown a special enthusiasm for our pet plastic rat, Nelson, who has travelled quite a lot in the past couple of years. I have told Nelson about Stacie, and he asked if he could come to the slam to meet her. You can imagine how excited Nelson was when I asked Stacie if she would take the rat on the road to share adventures with her and Hollin and Arrie and the dogs. He was grinning from whisker to whisker! So Nelson will be away for a time. We know he'll have a spectacular adventure, and we hope he'll write to us once or twice and maybe send a photo. We're grateful to Stacie for packing him along. I have told Nelson to be polite and not eat all of Stacie's potato chips (or if he does, to pretend it was the dogs).

If you would like to catch up on some of Nelson's adventures, here's a compilation of my Nelson blog posts.

question: where would you take Nelson, if you could?

mompoet - happy to see my gypsy rat doing what he likes best

our neighbour, the sun

NASA's astronomy pages for ordinary people just posted this article about "living with a star." If you were interested in the concepts shown in the fiction movie Sunshine, you'll enjoy reading the real story.

question: which atmosphere do you like better?

mompoet - wondering what it would feel like to crawl out from under the blanket

a bit more about Trooper

These are the guys who played at my high school dance. Come to think of it, I think it was actually a lunch hour "Sock Hop," but it might have been a dance. The difference was at the dances some of the boys dressed like KISS and some of the girls wore long dresses (me) and brought mickeys of vodka with tang crystals shaken in (not me). At the sock hops we just brought chocolate milk from the cafeteria and we wore star jeans.

question: do you remember?

mompoet - were we cool or whut?

PNE from the centre of the universe

Sometimes, when I attend a large event, I find a way to stay mostly in one spot, and get the experience from one vantage point. I find that I am less overwhelmed this way, which allows me to be more observant. I have also noticed that everything I need to do or see makes its way to the place where I am, and I have a full experience, even if I don't seek them all out myself.

Andy and I went to the PNE on Saturday. It was opening day, and also the day that Fiona and her friend Dani were set to perform in the talent show. The show took place at the Rogers Amphitheatre, the main outdoor stage at the fair. Fi and Dani did a wonderful job, singing a song from the musical, Wicked. They didn't win, but we were very pleased with their performance, and they were happy to be in the show.

After the show, it was supper time, so while the girls took off with some friends for a few hours, Andy and I looked around and found fair food for supper (pizza, mini donuts and root beer for him, Vietnamese salad roll, wiggle chips and ice tea for me). Fair food is unfairly expensive, but it's part of the experience. I brought a water bottle from home, and found places to refill it throughout the day, otherwise we would be paying $3 minimum every time we needed a cool drink on a very hot day.

We ate our supper at the Rogers Amphitheatre. By 6pm, the lawn was filling already with people grabbing spots for the Trooper Concert. The crowd was all ages and styles. Waiting 90 minutes wasn't hard because the people-watching was great. Luckily, we brought a blanket, so we could keep a bit of a spot for ourselves. Everyone was wiggling up tight on the lawn and the bleachers behind.

Trooper has been around forever. This local band played at a couple of dances at my junior high school in the early 70s, then went on to become famous in Canada and make a bunch of albums. They still have a lot of loyal fans. I wouldn't say that Andy and I are big fans, but we were curious, and thought a free concert would be a lot of fun, which it was. The show was nostalgic, jarring (I forgot about that song "Three Dressed up as a Nine,") and entertaining. The band played well, although the sound was a bit rough on and off through their 90 minute set, and there were a couple of overly-long solos that would have been refreshing if they were not so overyly-long. The overall impression I got is that Trooper is a bunch of old musicians, still able, very earnest about their work, and appreciative of their fans. After the show, they sat in a tent for over an hour, signing CDs and meeting fans.

After Trooper we took a short walkabout then returned to guess where? The Rogers Amphitheatre, where we spread out the blanket one more time and waited for the girls to rejoin us for the evening finale show, Rolling Thunder. This was one of the weirdest things I have ever seen: loud country music, dancing, lip-synching, huge trailer trucks with dancers inside them and on top of them, fireworks and big flaming torches that felt like they burned our eybrows everytime they flared, mechanical bulls and real lumberjacks sawing logs with chain saws. I am not exaggerating. Oh, there was a giant inflatable someone - lumberjack? Glen Campbell? I'm still trying to figure that one out.

For a fairly strange and wonderful day at the PNE, it was a perfect ending. We made it home by midnight after dropping off Fi's friends at their homes.

question: will you go to the fair this year?

mompoet - PNE tip for the year: The women's washroom downstairs at the Agrodome has no lineups (go in the front doors and turn left to go down to the lower level.)

more blueberries

I found one last bag of frozen berries from last summer, and made some scones for breakfast this morning.

elusive blue

My favourite, favourite, favourite summer fruit is the blueberry. It comes at the end of the summer, but not so late that summer's all the way over. There are still good watermelons available for a lovely watermelon and blueberry bowl at breakfast time (or anytime really).

Now that I'm on vacation, I want to go pick blueberries. Our favourite u-pick usually is open a couple of days each week, as the berries ripen. I phoned today, and found out that Thursday is the next day for picking. I'll plan to be there at 8:30 when they open.

I usually pick about 40 pounds of berries. We eat berries for a couple of days until we begin to turn blue, then I freeze a lot. Through the winter they are delicious in muffins, pies and pancakes. I also like to add them to apple crip.

In the meantime, I could not wait, so I bought a basket of blue at the produce store. We had berries at breakfast. No watermelon today, so I ate mine with cut up nectarine and prune plum (also in season) and peach yogurt with toasted almonds. A big bowl of yum.

question: what fruit do you seek in summer?

mompoet - collecting buckets for picking

With work like this, who needs a vacation anyway?

This is a photo of me at work the other day. Our summer kids camp was visited by the reptile refuge people. They brought some awesome lizards and lots of snakes. I have never held a snake before, so I was thrilled to have a cuddle with "Oreo" the California King Snake. He felt warmer and softer and somehow more alive than I had imagined. Every part of him was moving all of the time. He seemed to want the warmest, darkest corner at first, then he tried to get down to the floor. I just kept re-directing him to stay in my arms so he slid and curled and hung out with me for a few minutes. It was a very cool experience.

Today is my last day at work until after Labour Day. We have 2 weeks of at-home vacation now. It will be good to relax with the kids before school/college begin, and work shifts from snakes and barbeques to full-on programs and events.

question: do you like reptiles?

mompoet - now I know that I do!

anniversary haiku

August 12, 2008


twenty-four years, love
today our bed fell apart
no superstition

just a card, I said
but not the one with dumb boy
dog and smart girl dog

I will fill your car
with chocolates for your drive
to work this morning

I give up I don't
know why love works for us I'm
just glad that it does


Happy anniversary sweetie. I can't believe how smart (and young) we were 24 years ago.

question: do you know why loves works?

mompoet - I'll never know so I'll just be glad

wirblblubnderwug

This week has been like a washing machine of unexplainable occurrences, near-misses and silly coincidences. Kind of like God's grab bag of "what next" all dumped out on the table. Looking back, it's mostly too trivial to mention and some of it personal (surviveable but confidential), but cumulatively enough to make me feel caught adrift in some kind of raucous rapids of WOO WOOOOO WOOOPS!

The highlight of weirdness that I can tell you about is Alex's first car crash. First of all, he is 100% okay, although his eyeglasses look like someone put them in the Cuisinart for a minute. He didn't bump his head, so we're not sure how that happened to the glasses, but it did, and luckily the lady at Lenscrafter was able to reshape them to nearly new, and he'll get new glasses this Fall anyhow.

Here's what happened: Alex had the car on Wednesday to go to a softball tournament hosted by his work. I took the bus to work, and was planning to walk home after, but just as I was about to leave, one of our senior ladies from the rec centre fell down on her way out to the car, and wasn't able to stand up. We called the ambulance, and I sat on the ground with her for about an hour waiting, while my co-workers brought ice for her injured wrist, cold water for her to drink (it was hot outside) and a blanket to lean back on. The ants were crawling and some little flies were biting us, and she was in a fair bit of pain with her wrist (which turned out to be broken), but we chatted and she kept remarkably good spirits while we waited for the paramedics to arrive. We even joked about what was worse - falling down or sitting on an anthill for an hour, as we suspected we might be at one point. By the end of that I didn't want to walk home, or ride on a steamy busy, so I called Alex for a ride.

Alex was heading out to pick me up when he was rear-ended. He and another driver were stopped, waiting to merge from our neighbourhood onto the highway when a third driver drove into the back of the car behind Alex, bashing car number 2 right into him. Kind of car bocce, I guess. The worst part is that driver #3 left the scene, and Alex and the other driver did not get her license plate number. Alex was shaken up but unharmed. Our car has some damage, which our insurance will fix. Driver #2 was driving a great big car that was not damaged and he is okay too.

The nice part of the story is that our neighbour was driving home from work, and noticed Alex by the side of the road. He stopped and helped Alex. He helped take down the other driver's information, then drove Alex home in our car. He even phoned his wife and asked her to pick me up at my office on her way home from work. This was just what we needed. It was such a comfort to know that Alex didn't have to deal with this stressful situation all by himself. And what a kindness to have my friend pick me up and bring me home to Alex, tired and worried as I was. We always say we have the best friends in the world living all on our street. This is just an example of the kindness that is shown to us by these friends. Thank you Wayne and Karen. You are the best.

I am grateful that this all turned out okay. I always think that a near miss is a special blessing. It's too bad it happened, but good that it happened the way that it did, and was not worse. Every time we stumble and fall into soft arms, I am reminded of this.

question: what has your week been like?

mompoet - counting blessings and ignoring mosquitoes

dum-poet

First real day back to work after my road trip today, and I am filling in for two weeks for my boss, who is now on vacation.

My first wondrous accomplishment as acting boss was to cancel this week's staff meeting. I decided instead of emailing everyone on the first day back after a long weekend, I would go say hi to people in their offices, and tell them the meeting was canceled. Everyone was happy to see me and glad to hear about the cancellation.

Then I got back to my desk and saw on my calendar that the staff meeting is next week. Oh my. So I sent out a group email saying that not only is there no staff meeting this week, but there's no staff meeting next week, when the staff meeting is actually planned to be held. I added to my message the idea that we might still want to have our usual pre-meeting potluck lunch, or if everyone's too busy to cook, I'd be glad to collect money and go get takeout. Even if we don't have a meeting, it will be good to have lunch together. Email replies-to-all in the affirmative began to trickle in, containing various opinions about what to have for lunch.

At this point, I realise that our lunch meeting is usually the second meeting of the month so it's not really next week, it's in..er...three weeks, at which time I'll be on vacation. So I send out a reply-to-all clarifying that next week isn't actually the lunch meeting, but let's have lunch anyways because everyone seems game. So far, so good.

Now there's a knock at my office door. My friend Alan Smith (not his real name) pops in to tell me that I accidently addressed the email meant for him to Alice Smith in the Finance Department at City Hall, and poor Alice has been forwarding silly lunch discussion emails to him all morning. He says it's no problem really, but from now on, could I please...

Shortly after my other friend, Richard Jones, (also not his real name) tells me that all of my emails meant to go to him have gone to his daughter, Betty Jones, who has a summer internship at the museum. She's been forwarding the lunch/meeting muddle missives to him all morning.

Very carefully I send out one last email, double-checking the automated address designations of each recipient, to be sure they're all going to the right people. I clarify: no meeting this week, no meeting next week, lunch next week. I quietly request RSVPs in person, or on a slip of paper in my letter tray at reception, then I turn off the computer for the day.

phew, I think.

But of course now everyone has to bug me. "Hey boss," someone says, "nice one! Are you inviting everyone from city hall to our lunch meeting?"

"Yes," I reply with as much dignity as I can muster. "And tomorrow I am going to email the mayor and ask him for his recipe for blueberry muffins. And the next day I will text message the director of our department, and tell him I have a two day rental on Superbad if he wants to borrow it for the second day, just so long as he takes it back to the video store when he's done."

Yes, that is why they pay us the BIG BUCKS.

question: did you ever stick your foot in it, extra deep?

mompoet - duh

Nelson's Trip to the East Kootenays

Nelson went on a road trip last week. While in Cranbrook he had a baby mouse which proves my father's contention that mice are baby rats. We left the baby in Cranbrook, mostly because Nelson is not very maternal, but also because the baby seems to have imprinted on my sister's cat, Mr. Kitty. You can see that baby is all furry from snuggling with his surrogate mom-cat.

haiku movie review - Mamma Mia

Pierce Brosnan should not
I repeat: should not, sing in
a movie again

corny love story
woman-power greek chorus
and spandex - good stuff

this one's for the moms
aphrodite lies waiting
for all who dare sing

question: did you see it?

mompoet - still giggling

I am back

It's August 4, and my 3-week experiment of writing just for myself is winding down. I have been writing my morning pages, and writing exercises and reading poetry and various other good stuff. I feel like my creative motor has been restarted, and lots of stuff is chuffing and belching out. I have decided to recommence regular blogging, but to put my own writing first. So if I skip a few days here and there, it's because I am turning to the blank page, looking inward, frolicking with my muse.

Summer is a good time for this. I just took a spur-of-the-moment week off and drove up to Cranbrook with Alex. It's been 3 years since I visited my sister's home there, mostly because she was out of the country for a couple of years, then she returned this time last summer so we left her and her family to resettle before arriving as stay-over guests. We've enjoyed several visits here, but it's not the same as when we go there. The thirteen hour drive across the south end of our province was a nice time to talk with Alex alone. We got onto topics like "who is God?" and "the nature of fear." When you are hurtling forward in a car together it's just easier to open up and talk about big ideas and feelings. Once we got there we had a great time. I took my writing and reading stuff and found time each day to do some of each. Mostly we just enjoyed the company of our loved ones. The cousins had a great time together, and we visited Silverwood Theme Park in Idaho, where I rode a wooden coaster that is now my second-favourite in the world. This is not my video, but it does represent the experience pretty well. I like the design of this coaster. You pretty much reverse in a big loop halfway through, and travel back parallel to your original path. Much fun.

Aside from that we have enjoyed celebrating Fiona's birthday, Alex receiving his high school transcripts (yes, he has graduated from Grade 12), and lots of fun in the sun around town. Now I'll sign off, and post a few photos of Nelson's East Kootenay adventure, under a separate heading.

question: have you taken a break from your routine lately?

mompoet - coming up refreshed and energized

curious correlation?

Just coming up for air for a moment. The non-blogging, non-facebooking experiment is working. I am reading and writing again. I may extend for a week or two, but I'll let you know.

In the meantime, I have been watching my statscounter account to see how people will stop reading my blog while I am not posting, but my modest "hits per day" is exactly what it has been for months, posts or no posts. This, to me, is very strange. I thought maybe people would go away, then return after the advertised come-back date of August 4, but it doesn't seem to matter. I am pondering the whys and wherefores of this.

No more from me now for a week or two longer. But you can still check in, especially if you wish to help me maintain this state of wondrous perplexedness.

question: what do they see in it?

mompoet - in reruns only, for now anyway

less for the world and more just for me - for a while (a blog sabbatical)

I realised on Sunday that it has been 3 months since I wrote Artist's Way morning pages. I also realised that I halted my progression through the Artist's Way program at precisely the same spot where I halted last time I tried the program. Since reading this same chapter earlier in the year, I have studiously avoided morning pages, exercises and artist's dates. I skipped out on the last group meeting and even went so far as to lose (or perhaps bury) my copy of the book. This can't be a coincidence, so I looked for clues.

The chapter upon which I stopped is, interestingly, the shortest chapter in the book, and in some ways the simplest, at least so far (I could not tell you about chapters 8-12). My stumbling block chapter is Recovering a Sense of Connection. It deals with

• listening (to the inner voice and the world around me)
• perfectionism (as a cruel self-censor)
• risk (as something we take when we dare to just do it and not worry what people will think)
• jealousy (as a map of what we really want, and a guide to what to do about it)

The chapter did not stop me. I stopped when I read it. I think I did not want to risk moving forward. What a dope! (I thought) Do I think I will flunk the Artist's Way? (well, maybe) Maybe I am all tangled up in perfectionism, afraid to risk going with my creative impulse, worried about the audience when I could be listening to what it is I have to say, then going and doing something with it.

I also haven't been writing stories or poetry. I have this bottled-up frustrated feeling like so much wants to come out. But when I sit down to write, I erase and erase. I catch whisps of inspiration but when I jot them down and look at them later, they seem hollow and stupid.

I have decided to give myself some time to be stupid, stinky, meaningless and clumsy. I will write morning pages and poems and stories and writing exercises. I will dare to be awful and crappy and inane and redundant and silly and lopsided. I will do this by writing only for myself for the next three weeks. That includes my blog, and my facebook page. I'll still check in and read, but I won't publish anything for anybody. All of my writing will be for me. That way it can be as awful as it wants to be, and it won't matter. I won't need to re-read, rewrite, think about what people will think. I'll just write.

So I'll say goodbye for now until August 4. If I get itching to indicate what I'm up to, I may post a photo (I am not blocked for photography), but no words.

Thanks for your understanding my blog friends. Please return in August. In the meantime if you're thinking of me, send me an email or phone me, or write something really awful and mail it to me, just to reassure me that I am not alone in my muddle.

Here goes. 3...2...1...gone

question: will you think of me fondly?

mompoet - going to listen and be brave and awful for 3 weeks

ps I borrowed a copy of The Artist's Way from the library - HAH!!!

balcony garden haiku

I water flowers
at seven-thirty AM
in my pajamas

summer cooking haiku

barbeque lid lift
heat waft grills my mascara
tarantula eyes

viral happiness

Thanks Mom, I do love it. I hope that Fiona does too.

question: where would you dance?

mompoet - dancing in my dreams

the meaning of blimp

Sometimes synchronicity reveals itself right in your face. Today's example:

In our staff meeting at work, we discussed whether we want to continue renting a helium tank. We use the tank to fill festive helium balloons for promotions and events. The consensus is that the tank rental and refill are not worth what we are paying, so it will be returned to the supplier. A discussion ensued about what to do with our big supply of balloons and the contents of the nearly full tank, before we return it. How do we have a helium balloon "blowout" to use up the gas that is ours? Somebody suggested "Danny Deckchair" for the summer day camp kids (okay, it was me). Someone else suggested completely filling a squash court with helium balloons (okay, me too that time - I can't help it if I take imagination vacations during staff meetings). Someone else (not me this time, really, but I liked it) suggested we have a "helium voice" staff meeting next month.

Later in the same meeting, the programmer for the weight room announced that all of the old free weights (iron dumbells and barbells) will be replaced with new ones some time this year. The old weights are past their re-saleable life, but will probably be taken away by the supplier of the new weights, and likely recycled.

These two discussions were only vaguely connected in my mind, and I suppressed the image that they prompted. That was all there was to say about that, or so I thought.

On the way home from work, I heard about this in the news. The meaning became clear to me. We can use the helium balloons to float away our old weights. Small dumbells will need only a few balloons. Barbells will need a dozen or so at each end. The big weight plates from the leg press machine will need to be sent up singly, each with 50 or 60 balloons. What a sight it will be. I just hope nobody is standing underneath when they fall to earth. Scrap metal salvagers will find treasure bombs littering the landscape. An inflateable boat or two might be sunk, and a bird shall surely fall from a tree. On second thought, I guess maybe it's not such a good idea.

question: do you see the connection?

mompoet - BANG!

the wart chronicles - week three

The sun is shining and everything is growing, including my warts. Yes, that's plural. It seems that they are colonizing my feet. There are 3, or more precisely 4, because one has two roots, so it is technically 2 warts growing together. Oh yay, a conjoined wart. There's the big one that first got my attention, plus two smaller ones on the other foot, or should I say three on the other foot. Wart-ever.

I saw the doctor again today for more deep freeze treatment. This time it was lovely doctor Mitha with an office full of photos of babies that she has delivered. My doctor works in a group practice so if he's not in, or if he's all booked, I can always see another doctor, which is very convenient. This wart treatment regime is giving me the chance to meet all of the doctors in the office, and allowing them all to meet me and my warts. They are all kind and considerate and businesslike, and get the freezing done quickly. It stings pretty bad on the second foot because there's no callus protecting them. The first wart needs some pumice action before the next freeze, according to doctor Mitha. She says this will make the treatment more effective and reduce the number of visits that I have to make before the wart gives up and dies. Some more wart facts:

Freezing works, but the average is 6-8 visits before the wart is killed. (I have gone for 3, so I guess this is going to be a summer project.)

The most common place to catch the wart virus is the shower at the gym or the swimming pool. (I think I got mine at the library or the art gallery.)

Once you have warts a couple of times you are supposed to develop immunity. (Tell that to my warts.)

I have had a million warts over the years, including a horrible encounter with flat warts (about 25 or 30 of them) on my forehead when I was in university. That was really yukky. I think warts love me and my mutatable skin cells.

I am keeping these warts covered and wearing the flip flops in the shower for the protection of other people more than for me. This is something I do not want to share.

I feel like a rock on the beach, only with the barnacles on the underside, and those inside out. I'm sure I'll get over it. In the meantime, I think I will name them: Hortense, Oliver, Daniel and Henrik. Hortense is on the right foot, the others on my left.

Well now, I must go introduce Hortense to the pumice stone.

question: wart do you think of all this?

mompoet - sorry to impose my papilloma on my readers, but I thought you should know

technology is dangerous

I must learn to use the new phone system at work before I am fired.

We got voice over internet phones a couple of weeks ago. They mostly work okay, but not all the time, and their functions are all different and complicated. I hit a snag with voicemail that was funny only because nobody caught it (I hope).

Our old voicemail was such that if you made a mistake while recording your outgoing message, you could just stop and record a new message and it would automatically record over the previous blooper message. The new system does not work like that. I have caught on to this mostly, but not on Monday, when I recorded my message just before leaving work for a Canada Day holiday.

I was late coming in on Wednesday, so I called my own phone to see if I could figure out how to check messages from away. I did not get so far as to do this because of what I heard:

"Thank you for calling bla bla bla ....I will be back in the office on Wednesday July...uh...uh...second? OH (PART OF A BAD WORD)!!!! click. Thank you for calling bla bla bla...etc."

The new voicemail stops when you tell it to. Then when you record again it tags on your new recording at the end of the blooper one. The result was me, leaving an outgoing message which included a mean voice blurting a partial F-bomb before cutting out, then restarting a proper and professional polite message.

There I was, away from the office, sweating that the mayor or someone was going to call me and hear my uncharacteristically coarse greeting and think "Gadzooks! Is that who's looking after the seniors' programs over there?" I quickly phoned my friend and co-worker Linda and begged her to speed over to my office and delete and rerecord a new outgoing message, which she did. When I got in to work, she reassured me that the message light was not on when she went in to fix the outgoing, so I hope that means nobody heard my crude blooper. Either that or they heard it and hung up in horror.

I will be more careful in the future.

question: did you ever say what you shouldn't have?

mompoet - be careful, very careful, what you record

jam weekend

I bought 45 lbs of perfect strawberries on Saturday. Fiona helped me make a lot of jam.

question: have you tasted the berries?

mompoet - full of good berries

porch haiku

just the smell of a
tomato leaf in the sun
is enough for me

bus trail

The quickest way to the bus stop near my house is a 60 second walk straight up the hill on a dirt path through the trees. It's close to vertical.

question: do you have a local shortcut?

mompoet - hiking to transit

everyone succeed day

When I woke up on Thursday morning I felt excited about "everyone succeed day." I had committed (on a prompt from our personal coach, Christina) to try to live a whole day actively wanting everyone I meet to be successful.

I was not sure how I would do this, but took my cue from our conversation about coaching and listening. I know that I don't know what each person sees as "success," and I know that my job is not to find out exactly what this is for every person I meet:

me: Hi, my name is Sue, before I get on this bus, will you please tell me what your vision is for your own personal success in life? I plan to ensure that it is fulfilled, before my ride is through.

driver: Sorry, this bus is full. (doors close)

I decided that I would simply try to be present for the people I spend time with. I would give them my full attention, try to listen at a higher level, and avoid imposing my own agenda while listening. Maybe this would somehow lift them, even a little, and possibly clear any obstacles to success that I might unconsciously pose in my interactions with them.

My husband left for work at 4:30am, so I didn't have a lot of interaction with him first thing. I think I told him I love him, and I hoped he would have a good day at work. There would be time later to be there. 4:30 is time for sleep for me.

My son got up in the morning to go to his very last Grade 12 Provincial Exam. It was also his very last day to be at the school, pick up his report card, and maybe say good-bye to a teacher or two. When he first got up I missed the boat on being present. I felt a bit rushed, almost ready to leave for work, and trying to fix a quick breakfast for him while I packed up. He seemed pokey and distracted and I wondered if he'd make it to school on time for the exam. While I had the dog out for a short walk, I organized my thoughts. Pokey and distracted is not unusual for my son, but he doesn't always act that way. What was going on? I wondered. As for my time constraints, it would not be the end of the world if I arrived at work a few minutes late. This was more important.

So I came back in with the dog, and found my son sprawled on the couch eating cinnamon toast. I asked "How are you doing?" He told me he felt nervous, but he didn't know why. My agenda for him was bumping around inside my head, but I told it to sit down. I was not letting it out right now. I asked a few questions, "What do you think it will be like today?" "What's happening for you right now?" He didn't talk a lot, but I watched his body language, and he seemed to relax a bit. He ended up talking about what he was going to do after the exam (go see a movie with a friend) and we joked a bit about embarassing tearful farewells with teachers. I think he felt that his feelings were acknowledged. I left for work feeling better connected with him. I was five minutes late. Nobody at work seemed concerned.

At work all day, and at home in the evening, I tried to stop, drop and listen when people were talking to me. I realised how much I usually multi-task - holding conversations while shuffling papers or loading the dishwasher or cooking, for example. I think this is okay, but it was a good experience to try just not doing it for one day. On ordinary days, I think I can exercise better judgement about what conversations need me to totally stop and listen, and which interactions can withstand a bit of shuffling. There are even times when two people doing a task together can talk more freely than two people sitting still. I decided to be more conscious about this and more intentional with my choices.

When I stopped and listened, people's faces changed. I'm not sure how much of them was really changing in response to my attention, and how much was my perception changing because I was really focussed on them. I think it must have been a mixture of both. It will be an interesting exploration to pay attention to this and experiment with it a bit. I wonder what I will notice about people, and how much I will be able to tell from my observations. This aspect of listening piques my curious interest in people's experiences and ways of thinking and understanding things.

I did receive a couple of good insights by paying attention. For example, I paid attention to a group of ladies at the recreation centre where I work. Their fitness teacher had a minor accident on her way to work, and we had to cancel the class. I relayed the information that she was okay, and another staff member was on her way to help her, and give her a ride home. The ladies stayed at the centre, had a coffee, and talked in an unusually animated fashion for about half an hour. I stuck around and listened mostly, wondering what was happening. Then my co-worker returned. I listened to her describing how she had heard about the accident and driven to the location to assist. I tried my listening skills, and watched and listened as her tension seemed to unfurl itself, then subside - in her tone of voice, body language, and pace of conversation. Near the end of our conversation she said, "Those ladies really care for their instructor, you know."

The light went on for me. The ladies were staying because they felt so worried about their instructor. They needed to be together, and possibly distracted, while they were feeling this way. I went back to the coffee room to check in with them. I found the right time to share the story my co-worker had just told, and to reassure them that we knew for sure that their teacher was okay. Now the ladies uncurled a bit. Their faces brightened and their voices grew softer. I stayed and listened while they talked about their feelings of relief, and how they hoped their teacher would be back soon. Soon they finished their conversation and headed out of the centre. I thought about the things I had noticed. Attending gave me a clue to what was going on. Instead of just managing the situation, I tried to be more curious about how people were experiencing it. I think it resulted in a better experience for the ladies, my co-worker and me.

That made me think of what is meant by "wanting people to succeed." If success is measured by how far an interaction goes to fulfilling the intentions of the people involved, then this was a success. The coach-like behaviour we discussed on Wednesday opens the door for this to happen.

At home in the evening I tried to be more attentive to my husband and children. I think I was most successful with my husband. I noticed a lot of distractions around us: the hustle to get dinner cooked and served, the noise of computer and TV, demands of evening chores. I suggested that we run an errand together. He suggested we bring the dog and take her to the park. We ended up going on an impromptu date, dropping a salad at the church and taking the dog to the off-leash park, and we talked. I tried to engage my higher-level listening skills to really hear about his day as he was telling me (not my picture in my mind of what it was like). He seemed more attentive to me, in response. This made me think about how level of attention can be a "norming" function. If one person is being attentive, the other person or people tune in and get that way too. I've noticed this before, but never thought of it in the context of wanting people to be successful. This was another insight for me.

Perhaps the most fun was my stranger-beam that I invented. I walked to the bank and the grocery on my lunch break. Everyone I saw, I beamed my good wishes for success to them. It was like a secret charm that they didn't know about but I was thinking. Maybe I looked a little goofy. Probably they didn't notice, but maybe they picked up a warm or happy vibration as we passed.

I was tired at the end of the day, and wondered if I'd paid attention to my own self too, as I had resolved to do when I took on this assignment. Then I remembered when I stopped for a snack mid-afternoon because I noticed myself feeling a bit low. I also remember doing a self-check at the end of the day, adjusting my tense shoulder posture and listeninging to my breathing (slow down!) and thinking, "what am I thinking about?" just before I left the office. At 5:15 I opted to walk home instead of taking the bus. I phoned home to say I wouldn't be home for another hour because of this. Walking relaxes me and makes a gentle transition from work-me to home-me. My family was okay waiting a while for me to arrive. When I got home, I was greeted by the lovely smell of the barbeque, with supper on the go. Work seemed like a long time ago.

I am not sure if what I did made anybody more successful. But I realised that wasn't the assignment. The assignment was to go through my day wanting everyone I met to be successful. By using a strategy of acknowledging the people around me, I know I made a difference in my interactions with the people in my day. That was a success for me.

Thank you Christina, for this interesting assignment. I felt challenged and energized by it. I will think about the things I discovered and carry some of that into the days to come. I hope your "everybody successful" day was good too.

question: if you wanted everyone you met to be successful, what would you do?

mompoet - taking things in and thinking about them

an assignment

I attended a group coaching session today. It's part of the leadership program I am taking at work. This time there were four of us meeting together with our coach Christina. We reflected on our experiences with our course work so far, and our fear of the unknown and tasks that make us feel unsure of our capacities. I realised how close we have become as students working together in the course. This closeness, along with Christina's coaching skills, enabled us to have a pretty intense and open 2 hour talk session.

We talked about our individual responses to feeling fear, the experience of worrying and how we handle it, how to listen at empathic and intuitive levels and how to ask powerful questions. We discovered that we share common feelings in work and social situations where we are called upon to behave in a coaching manner. We're learning coaching skills ourselves, as well as benefiting from the coaching we are receiving.

Christina asked what it would be like if everyone in the world wanted everyone else to succeed, and behaved accordingly. If everyone was open, genuine and supportive with one another - wouldn't that be something? Then she asked if anyone would like to join her in spending one whole day of wanting everyone else to succeed. So I'm going to try tomorrow. I'm not sure what it will look like or feel like, but I'm going to try.

I know that I can't make everyone succeed, or even know what success means to the people I meet. I do know that this is not something that I can decide. With the people I am close to at work and at home, I can be curious, open and genuinely supportive of what they are saying, feeling and doing. I think I'm this way a lot of the time already, but it will be interesting to be intentionally so. For the people with whom I have short encounters, I will try to do something, even if it's just a feeling of awareness and respect that I have while I am interacting for the moment. Maybe they will feel it, or maybe not. I'll know it's going on.

Mostly I will try to tune in to my intuition about what people are feeling and saying. I will also try to listen to myself, and figure out what I am feeling in awkward or intense situations. It will be a day of exploration and experimentation.

If you see me or talk to me tomorrow and I seem weird, please go along with it. I will probably be feeling weird, and I'm going to try to embrace that weirdness. And if you talk to me about something that is important to you, I will likely listen like you have never felt me listen before.

Wish me luck!

question: have you tried any assignments lately?

mompoet - wondering and wondering

my new un-favourite word

It's warm outside, finally, and the weather reporters are now obsessed with just how warm it will be each day. So it's back:

tempeture

As in "Tempetures today will go as high as 22 degrees inland, then cool to about 15 overnight."

Temperature has 4 syllables. I guess they are cutting back (rrrrrrr). This annoying word trend is evident on most local TV news shows, but not currently on CBC radio. I have not listened to the other radio stations to check. This is annoying enough already.

I know that you probably don't notice it, and even if you do, it probably does not bother you, but it bothers me.

question: does it bother you?

mompoet - it's it's driving me insane

the wart chronicles - end of week 1

My foot has hurt less this week than last, even though I have been walking everywhere. I think it's psychological. Now that I know it's just a wart, it is minimized in my mind (exept when I obsess about it on my blog and refer to it in my facebook status line). The plantar wart is still there, and just as big. I got it frozen last Saturday with liquid nitrogen at the doctor's, then wore duct tape over it all week. This morning I took the duct tape off. The only difference that I have noted is that it is smelly under the duct tape. Really smelly.

Here's wikipedia's thoughts on plantar warts.

And here's ehow's advice.

I just might write a poem for my wart this week.

On the practical side of things, I will return to the doctor for another jolt of foot-freeze, and also reapply the duct tape. By the way, don't eat that partial potato in the fridge. It's not very nice.

question: do you know a cure?

mompoet - visitor in my shoe

wordless wednesday

dreambit

I am in my car. I sit in the backseat. Two preschool-age kids sit in the front seat. I realise that the car is moving backwards very fast. The kids are calm. I am mostly calm. I say, "See that pedal down there? (brake) Can you reach it?" Kids can't. I say, "I am coming to the front seat now." Car is speeding faster and faster. Kids are calm. I am not. I get in the front seat, take the wheel, apply the brake, shift to drive. Now driving forward on the wrong side of the road. Big truck coming. Truck transforms into gathering of women from Bountiful (a polygamist community in eastern BC). They are walking around the car. Women are calm. I drive slowly, respectfully. Child in car asks, "Who are those ladies in dresses?" Alarm rings. 6am. I wake up.

question: what dreams do you dream?

mompoet - REMembering

the wart chronicles - the beginning

On Saturday the doctor told me I have a plantar wart. It is on the ball of my foot below the base of my big toe. It hurts like a something-or-other with a very bad name and evil intentions. It hurts when I walk. It hurts when I rest. It hurts when I eat ice cream. It hurts when I sneeze. It hurts when I talk about it. It hurts when I ignore it. Ibuprofen helps a bit. A lot of ibuprofen, a little bit.

Doctor zapped it with liquid nitrogen on Saturday. I will go see the doctor every few days and get more liquid nitrogen. If it's like my university experience with the same problem, it will be lot of time and a lot of liquid nitrogen before this thing goes away.

In the meantime, I will try duct tape. Here is an article explaining one foot-person's experience with plantar warts and the duct tape saviour.

I will chronicle my wart war. There may be photos. There will be vivid descriptions. If you don't like it, just avoid the posts with "wart" in the title. That's your warting, or warning, as the case may be. Warting, this post is about the wart.

The wart will become my parasitic twin until it expires, then it will be dead mutant skin cells, transformed to host a virus, then expelled, perhaps by liquid nitrogen, perhaps by duct tape. And now for some photos of people who have probably never had warts.

one and two

three

four

and some who definitely have had warts

one

two

three

four

question: do you know of the duct tape remedy? do you recommend it?

mompoet - wart warrior (just now imagining Angelina Jolie putting duct tape on Brad Pitt's wart)

commencement ceremony

Alex's class of 360 students graduated from high school this weekend. The commencement ceremony was held at the Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver. It was a long evening (3 1/2 hours) but beautifully done. My Mom and Dad came with us to watch the first of their grandchildren cross the stage in cap and gown.

Alex won a bursary from the Parent Advisory Council at the school. This was a delightful surprise for him and for us. It feels great to be recognized, and the $500 will help toward first term tuition.

Here are some of the photos. I'll have a few more soon.

question: where did you have your commencement?

mompoet - proud mompoet

limpy the wart foot

I have a 6 ibuprofen a day foot pain. It has hurt for several weeks. I have been ignoring it (except for the taking ibuprofen part). I have continued to go for one-hour walks and pedal the bike and generally hop around like a busy person. My only concession has been to wear lower, cushier shoes lately, and to keep my slipper habit going at home because barefoot hurts.

Turns out, it was a good idea to keep the slippers on. I have a plantar wart, right on the big round part of the ball of my foot, at the base of my big toe. When I step down or push off, or just sit very still, it shoots arrows of pain through my foot and makes me cringe and squeak.

I have had a plantar wart before. In university I had one. The doctor at the campus medical clinic diagnosed it, and got me to attend the "wart clinic." Every Thursday morning, the nurse would go up to the chem lab and get a big container of liquid nitrogen. All the warty people would sit in the waiting room, waiting for their turn with the wart nurse, who would apply liquid nitrogen to their warts. This is called "cryosurgery" or surgery by freezing. The cold does not kill the wart, but it irritates the surrounding tissue sufficiently that a blister forms and the wart is displaced. I remember, a big limpet-shaped chunk just fell out of my foot one day, leaving a cone-shaped dent. It felt marvellous, and made me realise that having a wart in your foot (in, not one, because it points in, not out) is like having a rock in your shoe that won't move.

So I wonder why I waited so long. I should have recognized it.

I guess I was busy imagining that I had foot cancer, or that I had permanently damaged my foot by wearing high heels once to frequently (oh vanity), or that the doctor would say, "no exercise for a month" and I wouldn't want to hear that because I love to pound my feet, move and push. Also, I have been very busy, and whenever my foot reminded me that it needed help, I was away from a phone. Then when I had a quiet moment, it would rest and feel better.

So today the doctor put liquid nitrogen on the wart. It seems that they have it at my doctor's office all the time. No need to congregate at a certain time with other warty people (although it was fun to imagine striking up a conversation with, "So, you got warts too...how many and where are they?") I will soon be rid of the wart and the pain. And the doc has referred me to a place that makes orthotics because he says the prevalence of calluses on my feet indicates that my walking, running and pedaling are uneven, thus putting more pressure on these spots that I should.

If you see me limping, you'll know why. It's just the human papilloma virus making a limpet-shaped tumour upside down under the skin of my foot. Nice visual, huh?

question: do you have a wart?

mompoet - papilloma spell-checks to "pillow case"

the sun came out for about 5 minutes yesterday

and I'm still running, running, running. It has been a time of running, this school year-ending time. Alex finished classes yesterday, Fiona will finish next week. We have had 2 awards nights, a dance recital and general busy-ness all around. Tonight is Alex's commencement ceremony. Sunday afternoon we'll have a small lunch party for him with family and friends.

Everyone is fine and happy. I watch for the sun to come back. Mid-June and we still haven't eaten a meal on the deck.

running and running and running - will the sun make me stop?

question: when and why do you stop?

mompoet - wondering

two good ones at the video store

If you missed them, they're at the video store. Two extraordinary movies about real love:

The Savages

and

Lars and the Real Girl

I hope you like them.

question: are there any good movies out there now?

mompoet - I missed Son of Rambow - drat!

If you like youtube and/or weezer, you will enjoy this video

fret and fuss

I am famous for not worrying (much). I sleep well, and instantly. I work hard to make things go well, but when they don't, I find a way to deal with it. I do not crane my neck to watch for the bus. The bus will arrive when it arrives, whether I turkey-gawk for it, or relax and just be there.

So when do I fret, I notice it. And I'm fretting now, over some small but important things:

• when will I get over this low-grade cold? I don't like feeling 86%. I like 100% (prognosis - unknown)
  
• will Alex get his high school commencement ceremony night off work? He asked for the night off a long time ago, but was told that the schedule for that date wasn't ready, then he asked again earlier this week, and too many people in his department already have asked for that night off. He's working on a solution with his manager, but still has not been promised the night off. (prognosis - it looks pretty good he thinks. we'll know for sure on Wednesday)
• is my car okay? It's making a sound underneath like when the toaster oven vibrates and rattles. I talked to our mechanic today and he reassured me it's probably an exhaust rattle which can be fixed for $0 to $30. I'll take the car to him one day this week for an actual look and fix. (prognosis - Monday or Tuesday this will be taken care of)
• will the kids make the school year end transition okay? It's time for final exams, awards ceremonies, dance recital, then suddenly nothing, no school for two months. Intellectually and from experience, I know they'll be fine, but I always think that the transition is a difficult one for them - work work work, study study study - STOP! (prognosis - get over it mom. They have handled it before, and they will be fine again this time)
• why am I losing things? This week I lost (and found) my umbrella and two sets of work keys - the keys to the building and the barbeque keys. All are found, safe and sound, but I don't like it when I lose things. (prognosis - you are losing things because you are distracted. Find your focus and you will be more consistent with putting things away where they belong, and bringing them with you when you take them out of where they belong)

With so much going on in the world, you'd think I'd fret over something of consequence, but here I am fretting over things like snot and keys and exhaust rattles. I guess I don't really have anything to worry about. But still, I fret. Luckily not frequently.

The fret storm will pass.

question: do you fret?

mompoet - what a waste of energy

movie talk

I was chatting with my friend Lynn on Sunday, and I told her how Alex said that the movie theatre was much easier to clean up after Indiana Jones opening night than it was after the opening of the new movie Sex and the City.

WARNING - MOVIE SPOILER INCLUDED IN THIS DIALOGUE

Lynn: Oh! I saw that movie this weekend!

mompoet: I never watched the TV show, so I'll probably skip the movie. How did you like it? Is it worth seeing?

Lynn: Yes, we liked it. I don't know about that part with the aliens, though. And the fire ants were really scary. I had to close my eyes.

(mompoet is picturing one of the Sex and the City girls dating an alien, then being eaten by fire ants)

mompoet: Really!

Lynn: I can't stand parts like that. But it was exciting and full of action. I wonder if he does his own stunts.

(mompoet thinking that this is a bit easier to reconcile with her idea of the movie but still...)

mompoet: You're talking about Indiana Jones, right? I thought you meant Sex and the City.

(Lynn and mompoet laughing)

question: what do you talk about when the person you are talking to is talking about something else?

mompoet - partially disconnected, but still trying

gag 1 and gag 2

First, from the Legislature.

Then, from Prince Edward Island, to UBC Biodiversity Museum.

Here's the beginning of the whale story, to catch you up if you haven't heard.

Question: which kind of gagging is better for the Province of British Columbia?

mompoet - I'll take the stinky blubber any day