walking home from the bus on an autumn afternoon

chest compression

I recertified my CPR A (adult single operator) and Emergency First Aid this morning. That means I met with an instructor and a group of other people who were already trained but our certificates were near expiry, and we did the quick refresher course (in our case 3 1/2 hours, including breaks) to get the updates, be sure we can still remember how to do it, and receive our certificates.

CPR changes a bit every time you take it. Recently a switch has been made to simplify it for lay people (not nurses, lifeguards or ambulance attendants) so that the rescuer doesn't waste any time worrying about the finer points of the protocol, but instead gets to the job at hand, operating as effectively as possible. One change is that for any age of victim, the chest compressions are now 30 compressions to 2 ventilations (breaths). As for compressions per minute, there's a new trick to get that right.

For my job, the certificate is good for two years. It's a bit of a nuisance to recert, but I am always relieved to do it and shake the cobwebs off. I have not yet needed to perform CPR on a real person, and my first aid encounters have been relatively minor and straightforward. So between training sessions, the first aid and CPR knowledge I have is not generally practised. I count myself fortunate for that. But now, I am refreshed and ready.

question: do you know CPR?

mompoet - staying alive

BONUS - This is a video that the first aid instructor recommended to us - real video of a person who has drowned and is revived by lifeguards using CPR and a portable defibrillator.

me and my taste in art

Your result for What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test...

Balanced, Secure, and Realistic.

Impressionism is a movement in French painting, sometimes called optical realism because of its almost scientific interest in the actual visual experience and effect of light and movement on appearance of objects. Impressionist paintings are balanced, use colored shadows, use pure color, broken brushstrokes, thick paint, and scenes from everyday life or nature.

People that like Impressionist paintings may not alway be what is deemed socially acceptable. They tend to move on their own path without always worrying that it may be offensive to others. They value friendships but because they also value honesty tend to have a few really good friends. They do not, however, like people that are rude and do not appreciate the ideas of others. They are secure enough in themselves that they can listen to the ideas of other people without it affecting their own final decisions. The world for them is not black and white but more in shades of grey and muted colors. They like things to be aestically pleasing, not stark and sharp. There are many ways to view things, and the impresssionist personality views the world from many different aspects. They enjoy life and try to keep a realistic viewpoint of things, but are not very open to new experiences. If they are content in their live they will be more than likely pleased to keep things just the way they are.

Take What Your Taste in Art Says About You Test at HelloQuizzy

i am soooo smooth (in another life)

Today I thought I was doing okay fumble-wise but after lunch, everything fell apart. I sat down at my desk to listen to my voicemails and my ink pen splooged black guck on my fingers and I got it on my white t-shirt (smooth #1). Then I went over to the coffee bar to check if everything was in good shape because our afternoon volunteer was out on our bus trip to the goat dairy farm. While I was making a fresh pot of coffee I took one of the yummy speculaas cookies that our morning volunteer brought in. I walked back to my office with a mug of coffee and the tasty cookie. At my office door I realised I did not have enough hands so I held the mug in one hand and the key in the other and held the cookie delicately (or so I thought) in my teeth. It took just a moment or two to open the door, but while I did so, lots of spicy brown drool dripped over the cookie and onto my white shirt, adding to the smoothness already established by the black ink smudge (smooth #2). Noticing this I rushed to put the mug and coffee down on my desk, simultaneously inhaling some of the light crumbly bits of cookie. So now I'm walking as fast as I can across the lobby to the washroom, choking on cookie crumbs and trying to get to the bathroom where I can sponge off my shirt (smooth #3). Then I came out of the bathroom with a wet shirt, partially cleaned off, eyes and nose still streaming and needing to explain to people what happened (smooth #4). Fortunately, that's as bad as it got. And the cookie was still yummy when I got back to my office (the part that I actually ate, as opposed to the part that I partially inhaled).

question: do you ever know that you are the dorkiest of the dorks?

mompoet - I am too, with great frequency and lively gusto

this is karen g and sean and me at the end of the slam on Monday

this is an overseas ballot in the US presidential election

this is neana getting ready to burn her mortgage

some week

I just realised that I haven't posted a blog in a week. It's not that I have nothing to say - I've just been overwhelmed with stuff and also with snot. I have a cold and I seem to be the only slowed-down thing in a speeded-up world.

So here's my story, or at least the parts I can remember:

Thursday evening I went to see Gigi at the Shadbolt Theatre in Burnaby. My friend Robin got tickets as an early birthday treat but couldn't make it because of an injury (she's on the mend now, thank goodness) so she encouraged me to give her ticket to a friend. My friend Wendy and I saw the show. It was put on by Applause Musicals in Concert. I think it's such a cool concept and was such a wonderful performance (as was Saturday in the Park with George, which I saw last fall) that I think I'll have to get season's tickets for next year - or maybe the remainder of this year!

Saturday afternoon was shelter volunteer training. Our church is hosting the Cold Wet Weather Mat program for the month of November, so it's time to gear up. Going for the training brought back a lot of good memories of last winter's program. I'll be a team leader this time for the morning shifts that I work. I am looking forward to it. It's nice going in without apprehension and anxiety, like I felt the first time around. I know now that it takes courage to help but also to come in and accept the hospitality that we offer. Sitting down over a hot breakfast with the guests is a good opportunity to bridge some of the gap that separates us from our neighbours who don't have a permanent place to live. I learned and grew from last winter's experience, and expect to do so more this fall. I have also learned that cooking scrambled eggs is a form of prayer.

I worked Saturday night - something new for me - at an Oktoberfest Pub Nite organized by the Social Committee at the seniors recreation centre where I work. My co-workers and I helped the ladies prepare and serve a bratwurst meal to 72 guests. There was a singalong and trivia questions and strudel for dessert. It was hard work and also lots of fun. It also made for a short weekend. I came home around 10pm pretty tired. I asked Andy if I smelled like a weiner. He was very considerate and said, "not that much."

On Sunday, I attended church, and helped the Sunday school kids decorate gingerbread people for next weekend's bazaar. The kids love doing it, and they come back the following Saturday and buy the gingerbread people. The proceeds go to help support the two overseas foster children who are sponsored by our Sunday School.

After church I met up with my friend and former next door neighbour Neana, who was celebrating the end of her mortgage. She lives in a cute condo just a couple of kilometres from our place, so we're still in touch quite a lot. She invited 25 friends to S Restaurant on Queen's Street in Port Moody for a Sunday brunch. It was my first time at S, and I discovered that it is lovely and luxurious without being imposing. I'll definitely go back there. It was great to meet some more of Neana's wonderful friends. She knows people from all walks of life, from her work as an actor, a hotel bartender, and as a high school drama and English teacher. After we ate, we went outside to the patio and Neana actually burned her mortgage. Hooray!

After that, I even had time to go to Shoreline at the Port Moody Arts Centre for the second part of the monthly meeting. We are close to publishing our next chapbook, which looks very nice indeed.

After that, I think I crashed. Then I woke up. I cooked supper and made apple crisp too. Cooking gives me energy and peace.

Monday I was so excited! My friend Karen Garrabrant was in town from Decatur, Georgia, to feature at the Vancouver Poetry Slam. I haven't seen her since iWPS in February 2007, so it was about time! We had some supper together then went to the cafe. Karen's set was wonderful. She betrayed not a stitch of the nervousness that she says she feels every time. Her poet voice is one of strength and compassion, laced with love and humour. The poems she performed were about characters so real they inhabited the stage with her as she spoke. At the same time, they were about every one of us who listened. I have read some of them over again, along with others, in her chapbook, and I'm glad to have them to keep. They are like Karen: smart and beautiful and layered and direct and knowing about love. Besides being a great poet, Karen organizes the Cliterati reading series and the Art Amok Slam in her city. And she works at Emory University Library. She is one of my heroes.

Tuesday I had my supervisors' course at work. Right now we're studying labour relations which is very interesting. Being a union member and a supervisor at the same time is a unique challenge. The work we're doing together is helping me understand a lot. The best part is sharing experiences and insights with my co-workers in the program. I'm learning about other departments and work cultures and making some new friends.

Later Tuesday I mailed my US election ballot. That felt good. It looks like Ohio, where I last lived and where I vote, will be important in determining the outcome of the election, so it's important that I vote. Heck, no matter what, it's important that we vote.

Wednesday was pretty special. Poetry House hosted a workshop about sexual harassment. It turned out really to be about sexism more generally. Poetry House Directors and some members of the slam community attended. The topic was a sensitive one, as we discussed our own feelings and experiences with sexism in our lives, and specifically at poetry events. We looked at it from the point of view of organizers, artists and audience members. There's a lot we can do to help our community and performance scene be safer and more respectful, without squelching freedom of expression. The workshop provided a good starting point. I admire the courage of those who attended and trust that we will move ahead with what we have begun to explore and consider.

Oh yeah, earlier in the day on Wednesday, we had a New Members' Tea at the Rec Centre. We welcomed more than 50 new members with a small ceremony and tours of the centre. Volunteers interpreted the welcome speeches into Persian and Cantonese so it was kind of stop and go talking, but everyone seemed to get the idea. Thank goodness that the 2 Korean ladies who attended understood English pretty well. Next time I'll find someone who speaks Korean to help out too. That's the first time I have had the experience of a multi-lingual simultaneous interpretation while I spoke. It was a good experience.

On Thursday I spent a few work hours at a Seniors' Health and Wellness Fair at another Rec Centre. Mostly I chatted with people who came to the table where I gave out information about wellness programs at the seniors' centres around Burnaby. It was good to meet some new people and find out what they like to do in their leisure time.

So now it's finally Friday and I'm pooped. Dad met me at my office and we went for lunch. Yummy tempura udon for me and seafood udon for him at the Japanese restaurant across the street. I like having my dad to myself sometimes! Now I'm home, and ready for pajamas, but first I'm going to empty out the fridge and clear the top of the stove because tomorrow they are going OUT! Our friend Tom is renovating his kitchen and will give us his stove and fridge tomorrow. To him they are old, but to us, they are much newer than the ones in our kitchen now. Getting the old ones out and the new ones into our kitchen will involved hauling heavy appliances up/down a flight of stairs, so I'll be glad to be out of the way at the church bazaar, helping to sell those gingerbread people and running the cupcake walk. Then there's a costume meeting for parents who are sewing for Lindbjerg's Into the Woods (that'll be me) then I think I can come home and stop, yes stop, for the rest of the day.

Sunday morning I'm doing my CPR and Emergency First Aid recert from 8:30-12:30, then I think I get to STOP again.

So that was my week. I still have a cold but it's not any worse than it was when I began, and I have done a lot of fun and constructive things in the meantime. I'm coughing into my elbow and washing my hands, so I'm doing my best not to share the virus.

If you made it to the end, thanks for reading this. I will try to post shorter stories more frequently for the coming week. Actually I'm hoping my life will happen in shorter stories for the coming week. That will be nice. I like the stopping part, especially when it involves pajamas.

question: run run run as fast as you can?

mompoet - you can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man

we won

Dawn Black has been re-elected as Member of Parliament for New Westminster-Coquitlam-Port Moody. Election day was exciting. We knew it was going to be close, and were optimistic but not sure of the outcome until the votes were counted.

I worked at one of several phone banks around the riding. My job all day was to phone people who were identified as supporters, and encourage them to go vote. I answered lots of questions about where is my poll? when is it open? what do I need to take for ID? Can I register at the poll? And I put in requests for a few volunteer drivers to take voters to the polls. I worked in a room full of volunteers with about 10 phones. Some volunteers were phoning specific language groups, other where phoning in general, like me. As the day went on, our phone bank coordinator received updates from our volunteers at the polls, who were keeping track of the voter numbers that had come in, so we know who had voted and who we still needed to come in. Then we phoned those people, some of them 2 or 3 times if we didn't reach them at first. Up until about an hour before the polls closed, we phoned and phoned.

Late in the day, Alex joined me. He had a midterm, and needed to go vote. Then we went out to a polling place to scrutineer the count of the votes. There were other volunteers there from our party. They had spent all day watching, checking numbers, and staying in touch by phone with the phone bank. Each one of us watched a ballot box being opened, then observed the count to make sure everything was done correctly. The elections workers were careful and thorough. When they were finished, one of the volunteers at our site phoned the numbers back to the campaign office, where we were keeping our own tally.

The polls closed at 7pm. By 9pm it was apparent that Dawn had won - by about 1,300 votes. She arrived at the victory party to cheers, hugs and handshakes. The place was packed with happy, tired and relieved supporters. Dawn's husband (who drove people to the polls all day) and her sons and grandchildren (including 5 week old twins) were there. It was a very happy time. Dawn made a victory speech, thanking her election team, volunteers, family and community, and promising to continue to represent ordinary people in Ottawa. The kitchen table has been the motif of the NDP campaign across Canada (as opposed to the boardroom table). It was a kitchen table moment when she spoke to us.

I'm delighted with the outcome in our riding, less so for all of the country. I would have like more NDP wins, but we do have MPs all over Canada this time, which is great. I feel proud to have been part of such an honest, energetic, heart-ful and successful campaign. I am head-over-heels happy that Alex volunteered with me. Watching him watch the ballot count last night was a crowning Mom moment for me. He has helped with campaigns before, but as an adult, he may now participate fully, and it looks like he will.

question: how was election day for you?

mompoet - tired, happy, triumphant

post phone-bank dream

I live in my house but the deck is my the deck from my parents' house. I look out the window onto the deck and there is my friend's dog - a loveable, bouncy, pit bull cross. I go outside to greet the dog and he wants me to chase so we do that for a while, in the back yard. Then I say, "Stay here," I am going to phone your people to come get you.

Now I can't find my friend's phone number. I look through our family phone book, my cell phone, my PDA, file papers from the writers' group we attend. I can't find or remember the number. In the meantime, the dog is leaping through the air, up from the back yard, higher than the deck, over the fence over and over, in and out of the yard. I hope that he will stick around and be safe until I can reach my friend to come get him. We can't let him inside the house because our dog is inside and they would "chase" inside and things would get broken, including our own dog, possibly. She is pretty old.

Finally I go out to look for my friend, walking up and down the street. I'm still hoping her dog is safe as it bounces in and out of my back yard and leaps over my new deck.

question: what does that mean?

mompoet - dog gone it

campaign volunteer

I wish I had more time to help on Dawn Black's campaign. Last week I was scheduled to do an evening of phoning, but I had to work at the last minute. Between work and family stuff, it has been a very busy few weeks.

So when I got a facebook message inviting volunteers to come out to some sign-waving appearances on Sunday afternoon, I jumped at the chance. Alex was available too, so we both went down to the corner outside of the Arts Centre and hoisted signs and waved and hooted. There were about 20 of us there, including Dawn. We got lots of honks and thumbs-up signs from drivers, so it felt good.

I'll help out all day on election day, which is the most exciting day to volunteer. Alex has a mid-term, then he has to go vote (his very first time), but he'll join us at the victory party. Yes!

question: did you ever stand by the side of the road and invite people to honk?

mompoet - liking orange and green better every day

dead poets' slam

This year's Dead Poets' Slam will be held at Thundering Word, rather than at the Poetry Slam. Here are the details:

Sunday, November 2
8pm (sign-up at 7:30)
Cafe Montemartre on Main Street

Poets will dress up as their favourite dead poet and read/recite their works. Feature poet is the (very much alive) Ukelele King, Ralph Shaw.

I'm trying to figure out who to be this year. Last year I was Marcel Marceau. The year before I was Emily Dickinson. Now I must do research. There are many dead poets, but recognizable ones are hard to find. I'd like to be a girl this year. There will be lots of Sylvia Plaths, and I am older than that. hmmmmm

question: If you were a dead poet, which dead poet would you be?

mompoet - pondering impersonation

continuing to demonstrate a preference for prime numbers

At my ten thousandth blog visit, I announced that I had "one with five zeroes." My Dad, who does not need a PhD in Math to notice, but has one anyway, pointed out that ten thousand has four zeroes. I will add that he did this in the most gracious and friendly way.

It is a good thing I am a blogger and not a mathematician, or an accountant, or a zero counter.

A zero counter I am definitely not. And I guess that 4 is the new 5.

question: did you notice?

mompoet - going to check my toes now

the baby

Michael David is getting stronger every day. He is 8 days old now, out of the incubator, waking up more often and for longer, and learning to breastfeed. He is demonstrating that he knows how to do all of the stuff that a baby needs to do.

It's likely he'll stay in the hospital just a few more days, and if all goes well, he and his Mom and Dad will fly home on Wednesday.

Did I mention that he is wonderfully beautiful? He has lots of dark brown hair, brown eyes and a lovely little face, and fingers and toes...I even saw him cry, and his gums are cute.

We are all so grateful and relieved that his is well and will be able to go home and be in his own house with his brothers and sisters very soon. We are also grateful that we got to spend these early days with my brother Mike, and his wife Emily while they have been here with him.

Baby Michael, next time you visit, please bring your whole family and we'll meet you at Stanley Park, ok?

question: what is it about a baby that makes everything else seem not important?

mompoet - love, love, love, that's still all there is

the election

In just over a week we will elect a new government in Canada. Well, it's possible that we'll elect the same old government all over again, but I'm thinking it will be at least somewhat different.

Alex and I have been volunteering to help re-elect our favourite candidate, MP Dawn Black. I have done a few evening shifts of telephone canvassing, and Alex has done some data entry. We delivered fliers in the pouring rain one Saturday too. I've booked election day off work. That's the most exciting day to volunteer - either at the poll or in the office. I can hardly wait.

Dawn's a wonderful community advocate and serves as the NDP's defense critic in parliament. She has worked on issues of women's equality, fought for the rights of army reservists serving in Afghanistan, advocated for federal funding for public transit and worked to get federal funding to help with seismic upgrades to local schools. I'm pleased to work to help re-elect her.

Alex will vote for the first time in this election, now that he's 18. He has been involved as a volunteer in previous federal and provincial elections and is very interested in politics and social justice. It feels good to share this enthusiasm with him, and to know that he is choosing to take an active role in the life of the community and country.

question: have you read the lawn signs?

mompoet - vote vote vote - just vote (and volunteer if you have time)

one with five zeroes

I just passed my ten thousandth visitor on my blog's visit counter. Thank you to everyone for making me feel like what I have to say is ten thousand interesting.

Looking at my statscounter site, it seems like a couple of people have looked up this page today via google images.

This page also had a visit today (maybe because it is posted on my facebook page), or maybe because someone is contemplating mounting a production...probably not the latter.

Someone enjoyed this blog post full of slightly less than random links today. In fact, it appears to be my most popular post of the past 500. I'm not sure why.

My visitors must be speed readers (or speed daters) because about 67% of my recent visits are shorter than 5 seconds long. Oooops, not that interesting, I guess.

I can see that people have visited from all over the world, mostly flicking through my site on google searches, but also visiting from my favourite faraway blog-friend locations like The Cook Islands (hi Kristene) and Singapore (hey Imran) and Virginia (how's the grandbaby Daisy?) and Ottawa (hiya Pearl) or Alberta (thank you for helping me meet so many bloggers, Carol). Others I can only guess at because I do not know how to decode isp addresses. It's just cool to know that whether I'm baking scones or ruminating on the meaning of life, someone is reading it, or looking at the pictures, or at least flicking by.

question: what's more interesting: pie, absurd family narrative or lemon pound cake and dogs?

mompoet - I'll never know, but I am touched and grateful

us too, please!

I work at a recreation centre for people who are 55 years old or older. I have so much fun there, it's hard to explain how much fun I have.

Last week was "Active Aging Week" in BC. I have a whiteboard easel outside of the coffee room that I use for announcements and reminders (eg. 3 spots left in the belly dancing class that begins next week - register today). On the whiteboard, I put up one of the Active Aging Week posters, then I used my multi-coloured whiteboard markers to write a note that said that the seniors at our centre get active every day with...then I listed all of the activities they do: badminton, floor curling, carpet bowling, tai chi, yoga, fitness class, tennis, belly dancing, tap dancing, etc.

I came in one morning and someone had taped on a hand-printed note, "Whist, Bridge and Cribbage too." I took this to mean that at least one of our members was concerned that I had left out their favourite card games when I listed the active pursuits in which they engage.

So now Active Aging week is over. I took down the old poster and message. Then I posted a picture of Albert Einstein and I got out my multi-coloured white board markers. I put up a note saying that the members at our centre exercise their brain power and mental agility with...and I found out we have just as many mentally and socially engaging activities. I included the card games of course (canasta and 500 also), along with Spanish lessons, Mandarin lessons, book club, ethnic cooking, crafters, mah jong and a whole list of other good things. The best part is that the members organize and lead most of the activities themselves. I just write colourful signs to celebrate the fact, and occasionally make a pot of coffee or fetch the cd player.

question: do you like your favourite activity to be recognized?

mompoet - rub my belly

love springs up

and does backflips
and scoops out chunks of my breathing so I stop
and say YESSS!

and that barely explains what it feels like, you just have to feel it

On Saturday, my brother Michael and his wife Emily gave birth to their fifth child - a beautiful boy named Michael David (for my brother and my Dad).

Baby Michael had his first ride in a helicopter from his home in northern BC to the big hospital near where we live. His mom and dad came too. Baby is fine, but will spend a few days here in the land of Grandma and Grandpa R. and his Auntie Mompoet, before he goes home to stay with his brothers and sisters and Grandma and Grandpa C back up north. Right now, he's doing fine, and is spectacular and perfect in every way.

Auntie Mompoet has never visited the Neonatal ICU before today. That's where all the babies are who need a little extra help during their first days and weeks. It feels like a safe place, with lots of moms and dads and sweet babies, and plenty of nurses for everyone. Baby Michael has perfect fingers and toes and beautiful skin tone. He's not quite chubby, but there's meat on his bones and he looks deliciously squeezeable and tempts nibbles and belly zurbers, but those will wait for a bit.

We are all so grateful to meet this special baby - my parents' tenth grandchild. I suspect he will remain "the baby of the family" and he has had a very exciting and dramatic start.

I talked a lot to God this weekend, and found God in everything and everyone around me. Now I see God in this little life. Less and less the man in the clouds, more and more every living, breathing, pulsing bit of being in the world, all connected by love.

Love, love, love
That's all there is, and all there needs to be.

question: none for today

mompoet - eyes open in wonder

random equinox thoughts in haiku form

youtube makes me sad
I still miss Mr. Rogers
kind, wise sweater-heart

my husband's gumboots
are just right for dog walking
but they eat my socks

black bean soup and bread
fresh from the bread machine
let's stay home tonight

the carpenter called
he'll rebuild our porch next week
good-bye petunias

that big old bird's nest
will lift with the next harsh wind
and fly to Kansas

I saw a squirrel
fall off a roof this morning
drunk on acorn juice

children ride their bikes
through leaf-swirls and rain puddles
flinging wide wheel spray

this equinox knocks
hurry up nights, get longer
bust up the balance

question: how are you with the fall falling?

mompoet - thinking petunia actually counts as 4 syllables but oh well

sometimes the hardest part about being a mom is not helping

Alex has a paper to write for school this week. He's at college now, studying film production. So far, his assignments have been short, sweet, expressive and non-stressful, but now he has a three page analysis to write, based on a movie of his choice.

He chose No Country for Old Men, rented it from the video store and watched it again, then sat down to write. He had notes from his instructor on the expected elements of the review, as well as a sample review, written by another film student in a previous semester. He asked me for help, so I sat down and looked at the instructions with him, and discussed how he might collect and organize his thoughts before writing the review. Then I did the hard part. I walked away.

He had a hard time beginning, and shouted suggestions and ideas to me for the first few minutes, and I tried my best to be encouraging but leave it to him. At the same time, I was feeling excited about the project. I love movies. I love that movie. I would love to write a review of that movie, but I'm not taking the course. I went downstairs and did laundry. For a long time. When I came back upstairs he had 2 pages divided into the main sections of the review, with bullet points under each topic. He was going to the internet to find background info. I warned him not to quote wikepedia or imdb, just to go to the most reliable sites he knew to check facts. The review needed to be about his own response to the film - not what someone else said that sounded smart. Then I walked away again.

As Alex began typing the review from his notes, he called out to check how a word was spelled, then another. I told him, "Use creative spelling." I'll help you check spelling when you have the whole thing written. For now, just write, and don't let spelling stop you.

I told Andy, "I'd like to watch that movie again. Do you want to watch it with me?" Smart man, he said, "No. not tonight." Well he knew that if I watched it I would be even more tempted to point out something to Alex and ask if he noticed it, or what he thought of it. I realised the time for me to watch it will be after Alex hands in the paper.

A while later Alex was telling me how tired he felt, and maybe he should stop and do more work tomorrow. I encouraged him to talk to himself and write down everything he says - just get some words on the page and you'll get rolling. Then I walked away again. He began to work at the keyboard.

When I went to bed at ten, Alex was typing like crazy. I think he's doing fine. I can't wait to read what he writes. He can do it, and I can not do it. Yay for both of us.

question: did you ever have a time when helping was not helpful?

mompoet - not helping, like a good mom doesn't

a beautiful weekend

The ladeez and I enjoyed our 7th annual September getaway on the weekend. Everything was just right. We're already thinking about next year.

question: do you have a special getaway with excellent friends?

mompoet - blessed

school morning mom haiku

pancake PhD
Masters degree in hugging
my warm diploma

question: who did you see off today?

mompoet - learning curve

wondering if the large hadron collider will destroy the universe before I get back from my weekend away

On Wednesday, physicists at the The European Organization for Nuclear Research turned on their particle accelerator, touching off a process that will reveal new information about the nature of the big bang that happened at the very beginning of the universe.

Critics predict that this will produce a black hole that will swallow first the earth, then the rest of the universe, like everything has been turned right side out since the beginning of time, and now this experiment will cause everything to turn inside itself and consume itself into nothing. Some people are waiting in dread of this moment.

Fortunately for us, we have the internet. Defective Yeti's Matthew Baldwin linked this site, which provides constant updates for those of us concerned, and wanting to know: has the large hadron collider destroyed the universe yet?

question: do you think it's safe to make plans for Monday?

mompoet - still right side out, as far as I can tell

tonight

I pack for a weekend away, and do a bit of pre-escape house cleaning.

Looking forward, I envision the ocean, the sun, a lounge chair on a deck above the bay, music, wine and relaxation.

Looking back I wonder how the first two weeks of September seemed so long but passed so quickly.

At this moment, I smell like cat urine. How is it that the cat box, the room that the cat box is in, and everything about me after emptying the cat box smells like cat pee, but the cat does not?

question: where are you in your head right now - tomorrow? yesterday? today?

mompoet - I empty the darn thing every week, honest

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