Holy smokes, I did not notice how things slowed down over the summer. In July and August and even early September, I could carry everything I needed to remember and do in one pocket. Now I need a knapsack with extra compartments and tie-ons, and I'm cramming every corner full. Fortunately, I am remembering my amazing energy, creativity and optimism, and putting those into full gear.
Work at the office has geared back up. Fall programs have started up for the seniors and for the children, and everything is going well. I have some new staff members on my team, and it's great getting to know them, and making sure they are getting what they need for a successful start. Over the summer I interviewed for the job that I have been filling for 4 and a half years on an acting basis, and now it is mine permanently. Hooray! I don't have to wonder, every December, if I will be coming back to this work that I have grown to love. I am so happy, I might even re-organize the file drawers in my office. Whoah!
Things are getting busy at our church. I was elected to the Church Board in the Spring, and have just assumed the role of Board Secretary. We are preparing several events for the fall, including work towards transformation. As a congregation, we are moving towards a new, sustainable shape for our faith community. We lack the resources (people and money) to keep on going at our current location, just us. It's likely we'll join up with another nearby congregation to take a new shape altogether for both groups. I'm helping with the meeting and talking and discerning around that. By Christmas 2013, we should be on our way to something new, so this will be an exciting year. In the meantime, we continue our many ministries. I'm still leading the sandwich ministry group, making and delivering sandwiches to the downtown east side once a month. We are also preparing to host the homeless shelter again in November, this time at a new location, so I'll be driving out to Port Coquitlam a few frosty mornings in November, to make and serve breakfast and put away the beds and clean up after our guests go out for the day.
Shoreline Writers is moving towards publishing its 12th chapbook. It's hard to believe we have created so many books. Each one is a snapshot of where we have been as writers and poets that year. I am proud of all of them. I have just two poems for our 12th book, but I am helping to edit the work of 4 other members, so I feel like I am contributing to the success of the whole publication. I have been invited to be on a panel to discuss publishing at the Port Moody Library in October:
Get Published! Advice from the Experts
Port Moody City Hall Galleria
Saturday, October 20, 2012
2-4pm
Admission is free but you have to reserve a seat. Call 604-469-4577
A couple of days before that, Rosemary Nowicki and I will be performing our spoken word works at a fundraiser for the Elizabeth Bagshaw Women's Health Clinic.
Party Like it's 1988
Heritage Hall, Vancouver
Thursday, October 18, 2012
7-10pm
Tickets are $30. There food and a silent auction and a cash bar.
For more info about Elizabeth Bagshaw Clinic go here.
For tickets go here.
And, I have joined a choir. Here's info about that!
And finally, Andy's Mom's apartment has sold, so we have a couple of weeks to move everything out and have it ready for the new owners who will move in very soon.
Life is good. There's lots in my knapsack right now. I'll try to make time to pull bits out of the pack from time to time, spread them out on the floor and write a blog post about them. In the meantime, if I don't call you, call me!
question: what's in your pocket/satchel/pack this month?
mompoet - I love to go a-wandering along the mountain track...
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Saturday, September 15, 2012
at the lake with the ladies
It's our annual ladies away weekend. This year, we decided to come to Samish Lake, near Bellingham, Washington. We are in a lovely lakeside house that we rented for a few days. We have been hiking, swimming, cooking, eating, reading, sitting in the hot tub, playing cards and laughing.
Last night my friends surprised me with a much-belated 50th birthday celebration. They decorated the house with streamers and balloons and served supper with an "anything but a cup" drinking rule, so I had to drink wine from a gravy boat. That was fun.
We are having a luxurious time, reconnecting after a busy summer, and remembering how good it is to spend time together in a beautiful place.
question: where do you like to go? and with whom do you go?
mompoet - happy
Tuesday, September 04, 2012
warm beets and beet greens salad
While we were visiting with Pam and Dave on the Sunshine Coast, we got some beets at the Sechelt Farmers' Market. I used them to make this positively yummy lunch:
Here's how I made it:
a bunch of beet green leaves, washed and torn into small pieces
chopped red onion
chopped yellow pepper
coarsely grated carrot
ripe cherries, pitted and cut into chunks
handful of sliced filberts, toasted first in a skillet and allowed to cool
sprinkle of goat cheese crumbles
olive oil and balsamic vinegar (4:1 ratio) with salt and pepper to taste
cooked beets
Start first by putting the beets on to cook. I boil them in their skin, then slip the skin off at the end. Beets take a long time to boil - allow at least 30 minutes, even for smallish ones.
While the beets boil, you can prepare the other ingredients. Combine the veggies, nuts and cheese in a bowl big enough to allow for tossing. When the beets are ready, add the dressing to the salad and toss to coat the veggies with dressing. Then lay the still-warm beet slices on top.
It's very good, I promise.
I used filberts because that's what I could find at the tiny general store in Garden Bay. You could use other nuts or seeds. I used the cherries because I wanted something sweet. Other fresh or dried fruit would work too. I used the vegetables that we had bought at the market. I think you could vary this lots of ways. Make sure you keep the beet greens and the beets or you might have to give the salad a different name.
question: do you like beets?
mompoet - I love beets
a bunch of beet green leaves, washed and torn into small pieces
chopped red onion
chopped yellow pepper
coarsely grated carrot
ripe cherries, pitted and cut into chunks
handful of sliced filberts, toasted first in a skillet and allowed to cool
sprinkle of goat cheese crumbles
olive oil and balsamic vinegar (4:1 ratio) with salt and pepper to taste
cooked beets
Start first by putting the beets on to cook. I boil them in their skin, then slip the skin off at the end. Beets take a long time to boil - allow at least 30 minutes, even for smallish ones.
While the beets boil, you can prepare the other ingredients. Combine the veggies, nuts and cheese in a bowl big enough to allow for tossing. When the beets are ready, add the dressing to the salad and toss to coat the veggies with dressing. Then lay the still-warm beet slices on top.
It's very good, I promise.
I used filberts because that's what I could find at the tiny general store in Garden Bay. You could use other nuts or seeds. I used the cherries because I wanted something sweet. Other fresh or dried fruit would work too. I used the vegetables that we had bought at the market. I think you could vary this lots of ways. Make sure you keep the beet greens and the beets or you might have to give the salad a different name.
question: do you like beets?
mompoet - I love beets
Sunday, August 26, 2012
blackberries
We are on the Sunshine Coast, visiting with Andy's brother Dave and his wife Pam. Their home here is just beautiful. We are having a lovely time, exploring, swimming, cooking, eating and lounging and enjoying the beautiful view out over the ocean.
On Friday evening we went out for a walk after supper. We brought a bowl and picked blackberries along the way. Blackberry bushes are fierce, with thousands of slanted prickles. People try to keep them cut back, so you often have to perch on the side of a hill, or wade into the brush to get to the good berries. Then you have to find the ripe ones: All of the berries are black, but the ripe ones come off the bush easily. The sour ones hang on tight. So you have to shake hands with 50 blackberries to pick 20 good ones.
Here are some photos of our blackberry adventure, which began around 7:30pm and ended as the light was failing just around 9.
The reward? A brimming bowl of late summer sweetness. We gobbled them Saturday morning with our breakfasts.
question: do you pick blackberries?
mompoet - shaking hands with summer
On Friday evening we went out for a walk after supper. We brought a bowl and picked blackberries along the way. Blackberry bushes are fierce, with thousands of slanted prickles. People try to keep them cut back, so you often have to perch on the side of a hill, or wade into the brush to get to the good berries. Then you have to find the ripe ones: All of the berries are black, but the ripe ones come off the bush easily. The sour ones hang on tight. So you have to shake hands with 50 blackberries to pick 20 good ones.
Here are some photos of our blackberry adventure, which began around 7:30pm and ended as the light was failing just around 9.
question: do you pick blackberries?
mompoet - shaking hands with summer
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
fringeburger
Andy and I went to volunteer training tonight, for the Vancouver Fringe Festival. We're going to be ticket sellers for some Fringe venues. Here's the yummy burger that members of the Fringe staff team cooked up for my supper.
We're pretty impressed - not just with the supper, but with the organization and spirit we felt all around us. We know the shows are excellent. Now we're going to get an insider's perspective on the festival. We hope to see a bunch of shows too.
question: what's your fringeburger?
mompoet - I like doing new things.
We're pretty impressed - not just with the supper, but with the organization and spirit we felt all around us. We know the shows are excellent. Now we're going to get an insider's perspective on the festival. We hope to see a bunch of shows too.
question: what's your fringeburger?
mompoet - I like doing new things.
flusterbucket
Fiona has been in Toronto since Monday. I miss her a lot. I'm also very curious about what she's doing and how she's feeling. On the surface, I'm pretty calm about the whole thing. After all, this is an amazing experience for her. I'm sure it's stressful but it also has to be a wonderful treat to be immersed in what she loves to do, and surrounded by people who love it too. I am cool with that.
There is, however, evidence that I have been experiencing moments of extreme dunderheaded panic and bewilderment:
1. We left our house Monday at 4:45am, to get Fiona to the airport for 5:30 check-in. We parked at the airport. I got out of the car and checked in my purse for my cell phone. Guess what I found? The cordless phone from my kitchen! Um, I think I brought the wrong phone. So I took it out of my purse and stuck it in the console of my car. Then I forgot about it when I got home, but looked at it and remembered, whenever I was out in the car. On Tuesday evening I finally remembered to get the phone out of my car and back into my kitchen.
2. Tonight I was out with Andy at volunteer orientation for The Vancouver Fringe Festival. What a wonderful night we had! The training was excellent, and we're going to have a splendid Fringe experience. We got home and there was a message on our answering machine. It was a nice long message, and it was from Fiona! But the connection was so bad, her words were all broken up and we couldn't understand anything except, "Love you!" at the end. Darn it! I was totally disappointed and sad and wishing I could unscramble bad phone sound and know what she was saying to us. Blegh!
So now I just have to breathe out and acknowledge that I am jazzed about all this. There's nothing I can do but be calm and patient and try not to haul major appliances out the door. What will be will be.
question: did you ever wish you knew everything about everything right now?
mompoet - sigh...
There is, however, evidence that I have been experiencing moments of extreme dunderheaded panic and bewilderment:
1. We left our house Monday at 4:45am, to get Fiona to the airport for 5:30 check-in. We parked at the airport. I got out of the car and checked in my purse for my cell phone. Guess what I found? The cordless phone from my kitchen! Um, I think I brought the wrong phone. So I took it out of my purse and stuck it in the console of my car. Then I forgot about it when I got home, but looked at it and remembered, whenever I was out in the car. On Tuesday evening I finally remembered to get the phone out of my car and back into my kitchen.
2. Tonight I was out with Andy at volunteer orientation for The Vancouver Fringe Festival. What a wonderful night we had! The training was excellent, and we're going to have a splendid Fringe experience. We got home and there was a message on our answering machine. It was a nice long message, and it was from Fiona! But the connection was so bad, her words were all broken up and we couldn't understand anything except, "Love you!" at the end. Darn it! I was totally disappointed and sad and wishing I could unscramble bad phone sound and know what she was saying to us. Blegh!
So now I just have to breathe out and acknowledge that I am jazzed about all this. There's nothing I can do but be calm and patient and try not to haul major appliances out the door. What will be will be.
question: did you ever wish you knew everything about everything right now?
mompoet - sigh...
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
seniors' games
This week, 4,000 athletes will be in Burnaby for the 2012 BC Seniors' Games. As a staff member at a Burnaby recreation centre, I have been helping with preparations. I have seen our athletes practising and preparing for their competitions, and I have given my support to those who are volunteering to help organize and run the games. It's a huge undertaking. Athletes will come from all over BC to compete in everything from archery to one act plays. The youngest will be around 55 years old. The oldest will be in their 90s.
Last night I attended volunteer training and accreditation. Now I have my name badge and T-shirt, and I'm ready to report to work on Thursday evening, when I will assist at a participants' social evening at Burnaby Village Museum. I know it's going to be a marvelous night for everyone. I am looking forward to seeing the athletes and volunteers who call our recreation centre home, and to meeting people from other parts of the province.
I hope that when I am 70+ I will participate in BC Seniors' Games! In the meantime, all the best to our Burnaby athletes and volunteers, and a warm welcome to everyone who is visiting us. Thank you for making 2012 BC Seniors' Games a success!
question: what will you do when you are 72?
mompoet - I'm not totally sure, but I bet I will be having some kind of fun
Last night I attended volunteer training and accreditation. Now I have my name badge and T-shirt, and I'm ready to report to work on Thursday evening, when I will assist at a participants' social evening at Burnaby Village Museum. I know it's going to be a marvelous night for everyone. I am looking forward to seeing the athletes and volunteers who call our recreation centre home, and to meeting people from other parts of the province.
I hope that when I am 70+ I will participate in BC Seniors' Games! In the meantime, all the best to our Burnaby athletes and volunteers, and a warm welcome to everyone who is visiting us. Thank you for making 2012 BC Seniors' Games a success!
question: what will you do when you are 72?
mompoet - I'm not totally sure, but I bet I will be having some kind of fun
Monday, August 20, 2012
playoff eyebrows
Andy and I are home from the airport this morning. We dropped Fiona off for her 7am flight to Toronto, where she will participate in Dorothy Farm, the next part of the Over the Rainbow competition. We will be thinking of her and wishing her well all week long. We don't know how much we'll know about what she is doing, as it is being kept quiet so as not to spoil the surprise for the TV show that will begin on September 16. I told her I will try to post my blog throughout the week, so if she needs a smile from home, it will be here for her.
Since she came home from callbacks in June, Fiona has been growing her eyebrows. The top 20 Dorothy contenders were asked to leave their brows alone until their return to Dorothy Farm. Fiona has beautiful brows, but I know it has been hard to let them grow. I told her earlier this week that I have been holding off on going to have my brows shaped while she has been growing hers. It's been a quiet act of solidarity, not having super neat brows while she has been managing her growing-out ones. I think she genuinely appreciated that.
Andy was in on the conversation. He mentioned that Alex, our son, grew a beard for hockey playoffs. He suggested that we, as a family, should grow playoff eyebrows. We could show our support for Fiona in the Dorothy competition by letting our brows grow bushy and wild. Those of us (ahem) who are susceptible to mono-brow could even let that happen. The more our brows grow, the stronger Fiona's chance of success.
I pictured us in a CBC TV interview, looking like a Cro-Magnon family. "Me McIntyre! Me support daughter!" That would beat "Go Fiona" t-shirts all to heck, now wouldn't it?
question: what do you do to show your support for someone you love?
mompoet - whatever it takes...
Since she came home from callbacks in June, Fiona has been growing her eyebrows. The top 20 Dorothy contenders were asked to leave their brows alone until their return to Dorothy Farm. Fiona has beautiful brows, but I know it has been hard to let them grow. I told her earlier this week that I have been holding off on going to have my brows shaped while she has been growing hers. It's been a quiet act of solidarity, not having super neat brows while she has been managing her growing-out ones. I think she genuinely appreciated that.
Andy was in on the conversation. He mentioned that Alex, our son, grew a beard for hockey playoffs. He suggested that we, as a family, should grow playoff eyebrows. We could show our support for Fiona in the Dorothy competition by letting our brows grow bushy and wild. Those of us (ahem) who are susceptible to mono-brow could even let that happen. The more our brows grow, the stronger Fiona's chance of success.
I pictured us in a CBC TV interview, looking like a Cro-Magnon family. "Me McIntyre! Me support daughter!" That would beat "Go Fiona" t-shirts all to heck, now wouldn't it?
question: what do you do to show your support for someone you love?
mompoet - whatever it takes...
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Barb's binary birthday
My sister Barbara was in town for her birthday. At her request, I baked a delicious lemon cake from The Moosewood Cookbook. It's actually called Sour Cream Orange Cake in the cookbook, but Barb has adapted it to a lemon cake, and it's her birthday favourite. I substituted lemon for orange, Limoncella liqueur for Gran Marnier in the syrup that soaks the baked cake, and baked it into two layer pans instead of a bundt, sliced the two layers to make four, filled it with lemon curd between the layers and frosted it with fresh whipped cream. Did I mention it is a birthday favourite? The cake was about a foot tall when I got finished, and everyone's eyes about popped out when we sang happy birthday. Here's Barb blowing our the candles:
Thank you to Fiona for snapping the photos. Thank you to Barb's and my Dad, for teaching us how to count up birthdays in binary, thus saving us many 30+ cake meltdowns. In case you are checking how old Barb is, please read from left to right from the birthday girl's point of view. Although Barb might tell you otherwise.
question: how do you express your age in binary?
mompoet: ON, ON, off, off, ON, ON this coming November (which is not a prime, and also symmetrical - oh well, there's always next year)
question: how do you express your age in binary?
mompoet: ON, ON, off, off, ON, ON this coming November (which is not a prime, and also symmetrical - oh well, there's always next year)
Thursday, August 16, 2012
catching up - BC Day weekend
This summer is going very quickly! I think I'm out of the habit of posting my blog regularly. The days just keep filling with lots to do and not so much time to reflect and record.
We had an excellent BC Day weekend. My sister Barb and her husband Kim and their youngest son Simon came from Cranbrook for a visit. They stayed with my parents, so we had some get togethers at their house including Barb's birthday supper, which is still in my camera, I think.
On Saturday we had lox and bagels on the porch, a traditional Ryeburn family breakfast (except in winter when we have lox and bagels in the dining room). After that Alex and Lukas took off to see Spiderman in the AVX theatre at Alex's work. Andy went to the beach. My Mom went to White Rock with a bunch of people to visit a yarn store then have a picnic. Fiona went to dance class. My Dad stayed home (well maybe he also went on a walk around Burnaby Lake).
Barb, Kim and I took the Skytrain into Vancouver, then walked from Waterfront Station all around the Vancouver waterfront and Stanley Park, to English Bay. Kim went in for a swim. Barb and I waded in. There were thousands of people at the beach, enjoying the sun and staking out spots for the fireworks display that would happen later.
We walked up Denman and had lunch at Number 1 Pho Restaurant. I loved my avocado milkshake.
As we continued down Robson in search of a birthday latte for Barb, we met some people selling "Gay for a Day" kits, in preparation for the Pride Parade. We bought some.
Then we found lattes at Cafe Artigianno on Robson. I had a birthday cake in the works at home, but I think these lattes tasted even better.
By the time we finished the lattes and caught the Skytrain home, we were tired! Mom and Dad took Barb, Kim, Simon and Alex out for sushi supper, but Andy and I decided just to chill with a quiet supper on our porch at home.
What a splendid day in Vancouver with my lovely family.
question: where would you go? what would you eat? who would you go with? if you had a day in Vancouver?
mompoet - full up with summer's goodness
We had an excellent BC Day weekend. My sister Barb and her husband Kim and their youngest son Simon came from Cranbrook for a visit. They stayed with my parents, so we had some get togethers at their house including Barb's birthday supper, which is still in my camera, I think.
On Saturday we had lox and bagels on the porch, a traditional Ryeburn family breakfast (except in winter when we have lox and bagels in the dining room). After that Alex and Lukas took off to see Spiderman in the AVX theatre at Alex's work. Andy went to the beach. My Mom went to White Rock with a bunch of people to visit a yarn store then have a picnic. Fiona went to dance class. My Dad stayed home (well maybe he also went on a walk around Burnaby Lake).
We walked up Denman and had lunch at Number 1 Pho Restaurant. I loved my avocado milkshake.
What a splendid day in Vancouver with my lovely family.
question: where would you go? what would you eat? who would you go with? if you had a day in Vancouver?
mompoet - full up with summer's goodness
Thursday, August 02, 2012
our family vacation
We had a super nice time. After our big adventure at Skookumchuck Narrows we decided to have a quiet day at the house. We watched eagles, played board games and barbequed steaks. It was great.
Nelson was a bit frightened by the eagles, and also by a couple of bard owls who whooted intermittently from the treetops, but he relaxed and enjoyed himself after a while.
Just before we left, we captured a family photo. I think we'll use it for our Christmas card this year. What do you think?
Oh yeah, we could be in a catalogue or on a calendar or something. Don't you think?
Seriously. It was a great vacation. We're home now, refreshed and relaxed and happy to have enjoyed a few days together.
question: what did you do on your summer vacation?
mompoet - feeling photogenic
Nelson was a bit frightened by the eagles, and also by a couple of bard owls who whooted intermittently from the treetops, but he relaxed and enjoyed himself after a while.
Just before we left, we captured a family photo. I think we'll use it for our Christmas card this year. What do you think?
Seriously. It was a great vacation. We're home now, refreshed and relaxed and happy to have enjoyed a few days together.
question: what did you do on your summer vacation?
mompoet - feeling photogenic
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
big strong water
Alex, Andy, Fiona and I walked to Skookumchuk Narrows today. It's an amazing place where strong ocean tides are squeezed through a narrow passageway, resulting in fierce currents and huge waves.
We watched kayakers riding on the waves and took lots of pictures. The Narrows are at the end of a 4 kilometer forest walk. Lots of people were there for the extra high tide. It is spectacular.
question: where do you go to look at the water?
mompoet - amazed by the force of nature
question: where do you go to look at the water?
mompoet - amazed by the force of nature
family campfire night
We are on the Sunshine Coast enjoying a family getaway. We're staying at the beautiful home of Andy's brother and his wife. They have a fire pit in their yard, so we had a marshmallow roast last night, and made s'mores.
After the campfire, we brought all of the s'more supplies in and washed off the marshmallow sticks. There are bears in the neighbourhood, and we don't want to have them nosing around the house at night. We didn't have any visitors that we noticed, but of course I dreamed about a mom and cubs browing around between the house and the deck, trapping us outdoors.
This is a heavenly place, campfire, absent bears, s'more-fueled dreams and all.
question: do you like s'mores? want s'more?
mompoet - happy
This is a heavenly place, campfire, absent bears, s'more-fueled dreams and all.
question: do you like s'mores? want s'more?
mompoet - happy
Sunday, July 29, 2012
worth the wait - nature's bounty in our garden
Here are the first 4 delectable fruit from our Sweet 100s plant, growing in a pot on our deck. We also have Early Girl, also in a pot. The two plants are about 6 feet tall and covered already in blossoms and green fruit. Bees and sunshine, do your work!
Andy and Fiona are out for the day, so Alex and I got to eat these, which is fitting. We are the tomato-lovers of the household. Alex especially loves the ones we grow at home. He talks about them all winter and asks when they will be ready as soon as we start with our plants in the spring.
I made bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches. To use these I would have needed a teeny-tiny loaf of bread and a piece of micro-bacon, neither of which I have, so instead I used regular-scale ingredients and gave the 4 tiny toms a place of honour as garnish tomatoes, speared onto our sandwiches with toothpicks. I wish I had taken a picture of the sandwiches, but they were so good we just ate them!
The garden down in the yard is looking amazing too.
I'm making a 19th birthday family feast for Fiona tonight. The rhubarb has been baked into a crisp, along with apple slices and blueberries because there wasn't enough to do all rhubarb. I think it will be delish, and a wonderful summer birthday cake alternative.
This is Andy's and my third summer of vegetable gardening in our back yard and on our deck. He plants, feeds, weeds and waters. I pick and cook. May and June were pretty discouraging but now that we have sunshine, everything is leaping up and and doing its exuberant best to catch up and grow, grow, grow. So I will cook, cook, cook. I do love summer!
question: how does your garden grow?
mompoet - two brown thumbs, but golden in the kitchen
I made bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches. To use these I would have needed a teeny-tiny loaf of bread and a piece of micro-bacon, neither of which I have, so instead I used regular-scale ingredients and gave the 4 tiny toms a place of honour as garnish tomatoes, speared onto our sandwiches with toothpicks. I wish I had taken a picture of the sandwiches, but they were so good we just ate them!
The garden down in the yard is looking amazing too.
This is Andy's and my third summer of vegetable gardening in our back yard and on our deck. He plants, feeds, weeds and waters. I pick and cook. May and June were pretty discouraging but now that we have sunshine, everything is leaping up and and doing its exuberant best to catch up and grow, grow, grow. So I will cook, cook, cook. I do love summer!
question: how does your garden grow?
mompoet - two brown thumbs, but golden in the kitchen
Thursday, July 26, 2012
dreambit deja vu
Walking home from work Tuesday, I caught a glimpse of real life that coincided with something that I experienced in a dream. If you remember this blog post, I have attempted to pedal a unicycle up North Road while carrying 2 suitcases in my hands. On Tuesday, I saw a fairly close approximation in real life.
I saw a man riding his unicycle northbound on North Road, towards Burquitlam Shopping Centre. He was carrying a satchel with a shoulder strap. It was tucked under his arm, so not quite the same degree of difficulty as my 2 suitcases, one in each hand - but still!
I wanted to ask him if he was going to Safeway to buy Lifesavers, but he was pedaling pretty fast.
I have never seen that before (except in my dream).
question: what does it mean when the least likely part of your dream appears in real life?
mompoet - I forgot to mention, the man was not wearing a bike helmet. Come to think of it, neither was I - in the dream, I mean.
I saw a man riding his unicycle northbound on North Road, towards Burquitlam Shopping Centre. He was carrying a satchel with a shoulder strap. It was tucked under his arm, so not quite the same degree of difficulty as my 2 suitcases, one in each hand - but still!
I wanted to ask him if he was going to Safeway to buy Lifesavers, but he was pedaling pretty fast.
I have never seen that before (except in my dream).
question: what does it mean when the least likely part of your dream appears in real life?
mompoet - I forgot to mention, the man was not wearing a bike helmet. Come to think of it, neither was I - in the dream, I mean.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
red pizza and green pizza
Thursday evenings in the summer, I work until 6:30. I came home and wanted to make something quick and really delicious. I had two bags of Iranian flatbread from Joes' Market, so I made our family's favourite pizzas:
Here's the red pizza ready to eat, and the green pizza still under construction. I had a Duke's Cider on the go, so I didn't mind waiting for the second one to get into the oven.
Red pizza is for Andy and Alex. They like pepperoni. Half of the pizza is just flatbread, tomato sauce, pepperoni and lotza mozza. The other side also includes chopped onions and green pepper. The flatbread makes an easy, thin, crispy crust. I cut it with kitchen scissors to serve it.
Here's the finished green pizza:
Yum, forgot to take a photo until after I served myself up a couple of slices. This is Fiona's and my favourite. It has pesto, chicken, kale, chard, goat cheese, parmesan and a little mozza. The kale and chard come from our garden this time of year.
I made a big veggie plate to go along with the pizza and we had the perfect supper by about 7:30.
question: what do you like to eat when you get home on the late side?
mompoet - good food is worth waiting for, especially if you have a Duke's
Red pizza is for Andy and Alex. They like pepperoni. Half of the pizza is just flatbread, tomato sauce, pepperoni and lotza mozza. The other side also includes chopped onions and green pepper. The flatbread makes an easy, thin, crispy crust. I cut it with kitchen scissors to serve it.
Here's the finished green pizza:
I made a big veggie plate to go along with the pizza and we had the perfect supper by about 7:30.
question: what do you like to eat when you get home on the late side?
mompoet - good food is worth waiting for, especially if you have a Duke's
babies
A few weeks ago, a pair of robins built a nest on a beam that runs underneath our outdoor deck. Soon, we noticed them flying in and out of the nest, carrying worms and insects. A week or so ago we got our first glimpse of little beaks poking out of the nest. We tried to give the family space and not disturb them. Whenever we went out on the deck or into the back yard, the parents would fly out to the fence and chirp at us, trying to distract us from the nest, I think. The neighbours' cats also discovered the situation. Fortunately, the nest is beyond their reach, but they have been lurking and keeping an eye out for an opportunity.
This morning, Andy noticed something on one of our deck chairs. We took a look through the window and here's who we saw:
Short-tailed little baby bird huddled under one of our chairs for an hour or so, then he/she flew up to the patio table then onto another chair.
Mama and Papa Robin were swooping and chirping like crazy. Baby chirped back. Then brother or sister bird landed on the railing. Before I could get a photo of the siblings, they took off and flew high into the cedar tree at Rhonda and Chris's house next door.
I phoned Chris to make sure the cats are inside. They are, and will stay there until we're sure the baby robins are good fliers. In the meantime, it looks like 3 babies and their parents are conducting flight school in our back yards.
question: did anyone get hatched or born in your neighbourhood recently?
mompoet - happy to witness this story unfolding
This morning, Andy noticed something on one of our deck chairs. We took a look through the window and here's who we saw:
I phoned Chris to make sure the cats are inside. They are, and will stay there until we're sure the baby robins are good fliers. In the meantime, it looks like 3 babies and their parents are conducting flight school in our back yards.
question: did anyone get hatched or born in your neighbourhood recently?
mompoet - happy to witness this story unfolding
Monday, July 16, 2012
everyone needs and ipad
question: do you have one?
mompoet - I do not, but I think I can mince garlic on my ipod touch
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
bc berries
Last Friday, Andy and I drove out to Port Coquitlam. We bought 2 flats of local berries picked that same morning. I made strawberry jam with them Friday afternoon. Our local berries are delicate, sweet, flavourful and red right to the centre. They are small, more perishable and infinitely more delicious than the berries that are imported 7 or 8 months out of the year from California.
I felt sad when I heard that the local berry growers are suffering because the stores and canneries are shunning their berries in favour of the big bouncy cheaper imports. Here's the story.
I understand that it makes business sense for the big buyers. It hurts the farmers and consumers. I hate to think that one day soon we won't be able to find yummy, BC farm grown strawberries during their short harvest in June or July. The farmer in PoCo said that last weekend was the end of the season for him. I hope he will be successful enough to continue growing the local berries next year, and in the years to come.
question: did you get your BC strawberries?
mompoet - raspberries and blueberries are coming soon!
I felt sad when I heard that the local berry growers are suffering because the stores and canneries are shunning their berries in favour of the big bouncy cheaper imports. Here's the story.
I understand that it makes business sense for the big buyers. It hurts the farmers and consumers. I hate to think that one day soon we won't be able to find yummy, BC farm grown strawberries during their short harvest in June or July. The farmer in PoCo said that last weekend was the end of the season for him. I hope he will be successful enough to continue growing the local berries next year, and in the years to come.
question: did you get your BC strawberries?
mompoet - raspberries and blueberries are coming soon!
permanent
I got my two new crowns on Tuesday afternoon. Right away, everything felt better. The new teeth are solid and firm, and the sensitivity that was dogging me with the temporaries has vanished. I ate a big crunchy salad at suppertime, with crunchy cold celery and crunchy crispy carrots and it was good!
The new teeth are smooth and lovely and feel exactly like real teeth only better. I don't have to go back to the dentist until my next regular checkup.
question: do you have any recent repairs? how did they go?
mompoet - fixed up good
The new teeth are smooth and lovely and feel exactly like real teeth only better. I don't have to go back to the dentist until my next regular checkup.
question: do you have any recent repairs? how did they go?
mompoet - fixed up good
Monday, July 09, 2012
a little bit too temporary
My dentist's office closes at 6pm, so I phoned the emergency number, which turns out to be my dentist's cell phone. He asked me to try to snap the temporary teeth back on to my tooth stumps. He did not say tooth stumps, he just said snap it back on, but I know what he meant. He said to come in tomorrow morning if it won't snap back on, and to call him back if I experienced any extreme sensitivity or discomfort.
So I sucked it up, buttercup.
The two fake teeth toppers would not snap back into place, so I put them in a small tupperware container to keep them safe. I took them out to show Fiona and Andy, who were less than impressed, and also to photograph them. They say there's a poem for every break-up, so there surely must be a blog post for every dental mishap.
I discovered that my yummy supper of eggs and vegetables could be eaten, even with stump teeth. It just took a bit longer because I chewed only on the other side. My tooth stumps are sensitive to cold liquids, but I discovered I can block them with the side of my tongue and sip with a straw through the intact side of my mouth. Heck, I even made frosty cold mojitos for Andy and me after supper.
I really want to look at my tooth stumps, so after I post this, I'm going to find a small mirror that I can hold up to my mouth and reflect over to the bathroom mirror. I promise not to take a picture of my tooth stumps and post it on my blog. There is a limit to what I will share.
My appointment to get the beautiful new permanent crowns is on Wednesday. I hope they are ready and can be put on tomorrow. Otherwise I'll be at the dentist's office twice this week. In the meantime, just call me Peggy the Stump-Tooth Straw-Sucker.
question: did your tooth (real or fake) ever fall out?
mompoet - snapping my gums and tapping my toes YEP YEP YEP!
overheard this morning
Child #2: Is it weird that I am about to eat a salad at 9:47 in the morning?
Mom: Nope, especially because your brother ate a cheeseburger at 9:15.
Child #2: Good, because I'm going to put chicken on it.
question: what do you eat for breakfast?
mompoet - feeling pretty conventional with my ryvita, cheese, strawberries and nectarine
Mom: Nope, especially because your brother ate a cheeseburger at 9:15.
Child #2: Good, because I'm going to put chicken on it.
question: what do you eat for breakfast?
mompoet - feeling pretty conventional with my ryvita, cheese, strawberries and nectarine
Saturday, July 07, 2012
sad missing, happy remembering
On Monday morning, Andy's Mom passed away. She had been in the hospital for a few weeks, getting stronger each day, then suddenly she was gone. We miss her very much. The service will be held this afternoon. Andy and Fiona worked together to make this slideshow.
question: how many moments stitch together to make up a life?
mompoet - reflecting
question: how many moments stitch together to make up a life?
mompoet - reflecting
Saturday, June 30, 2012
temporary
I am going to get two crowns.
Not like this.
Like this.
And oh, if only it was as easy and pretty as it looks in the picture. Well, maybe not with the gargantuan sanitized tooth decay shown in the adjacent tooth.
When you get to a certain age, you find out what's wrong with you. With me, it's a few things, but one of them is cracking up molars. Yes, I'm so funny I crack up my own teeth. HA HA! No, really, my 6 and 12 year old molars have been around for a long time. They all got amalgam (silver coloured) fillings when I was a teenager. Apparently amalgam fillings put pressure on the remaining tooth material which, along with the general pressure of chewing for 20-35 years, causes them to get tiny fracture lines. Eventually a fracture develops into a crack, then there's pain, then perhaps a replacement filling, but sometimes a crown.
On Wednesday I sat in the dentist's chair for 2 and a half hours while my lovely dentist and his kind and skilled assistant worked on two of my teeth, side by side (my teeth that is - the dentist and assistant sat across from one another, with me in the middle, with my mouth open). The dentist and his assistant removed my old fillings and put in new composite (white) fillings. Then they proceeded to grind away most of my two molars leaving what felt like stumps, but which had to be mostly fillings, jutting up from my tooth roots. For a little while I got to rest, so of course I poked around with my tongue and felt two peg teeth, waiting for lovely crowns to make them whole again. I should say that the poking was done with a half-frozen tongue, so my perception was a bit wacky. To clarify, only my tongue and face were frozen. My brain was a-ok. My brain was saying, "please let this be over!" and also, "this is very interesting and cool - how often do you get to have peg teeth? and to poke them with your tongue?" Fortunately, not often. But still, it was interesting.
At the end of the procedure, the skilled assistant produced two "temporary" teeth made out of glue and sawdust or maybe silly putty and hairspray. She glomped them onto my peg teeth and I had to bite repeatedly on blue paper to make sure they weren't too high. Nobody like high teeth.
In two weeks, I will return to the dentist's office. At that time my lovely dentist and his skilled assistant will glue on two lovely crowns made out of diamonds and fairy dust and titanium and rainbows. They will match my other teeth perfectly only they will not be cracking up. I can tell my funniest jokes and slip on banana peels and other such hilarious hijinks, but the new crowns will not crack up.
In the meantime, there are rules: no sticky food, no super-hard crunchy food, no playing fetch with rebar rods, okay to floss in, but not back out (instead draw the floss out sideways from between the teeth). For those of you who know about my (slight) obsession with dental hygiene, you will know how difficult this is for me. Two weeks without a good thorough up and down floss back there is difficult for me. But I will survive. After all, the queen has survived. I can too.
And when it's all finished, nobody will know the difference, except for my dentist and his skilled assistant and my curious tongue.
question: do you wear a crown?
mompoet - temporary
Not like this.
Like this.
And oh, if only it was as easy and pretty as it looks in the picture. Well, maybe not with the gargantuan sanitized tooth decay shown in the adjacent tooth.
When you get to a certain age, you find out what's wrong with you. With me, it's a few things, but one of them is cracking up molars. Yes, I'm so funny I crack up my own teeth. HA HA! No, really, my 6 and 12 year old molars have been around for a long time. They all got amalgam (silver coloured) fillings when I was a teenager. Apparently amalgam fillings put pressure on the remaining tooth material which, along with the general pressure of chewing for 20-35 years, causes them to get tiny fracture lines. Eventually a fracture develops into a crack, then there's pain, then perhaps a replacement filling, but sometimes a crown.
On Wednesday I sat in the dentist's chair for 2 and a half hours while my lovely dentist and his kind and skilled assistant worked on two of my teeth, side by side (my teeth that is - the dentist and assistant sat across from one another, with me in the middle, with my mouth open). The dentist and his assistant removed my old fillings and put in new composite (white) fillings. Then they proceeded to grind away most of my two molars leaving what felt like stumps, but which had to be mostly fillings, jutting up from my tooth roots. For a little while I got to rest, so of course I poked around with my tongue and felt two peg teeth, waiting for lovely crowns to make them whole again. I should say that the poking was done with a half-frozen tongue, so my perception was a bit wacky. To clarify, only my tongue and face were frozen. My brain was a-ok. My brain was saying, "please let this be over!" and also, "this is very interesting and cool - how often do you get to have peg teeth? and to poke them with your tongue?" Fortunately, not often. But still, it was interesting.
At the end of the procedure, the skilled assistant produced two "temporary" teeth made out of glue and sawdust or maybe silly putty and hairspray. She glomped them onto my peg teeth and I had to bite repeatedly on blue paper to make sure they weren't too high. Nobody like high teeth.
In two weeks, I will return to the dentist's office. At that time my lovely dentist and his skilled assistant will glue on two lovely crowns made out of diamonds and fairy dust and titanium and rainbows. They will match my other teeth perfectly only they will not be cracking up. I can tell my funniest jokes and slip on banana peels and other such hilarious hijinks, but the new crowns will not crack up.
In the meantime, there are rules: no sticky food, no super-hard crunchy food, no playing fetch with rebar rods, okay to floss in, but not back out (instead draw the floss out sideways from between the teeth). For those of you who know about my (slight) obsession with dental hygiene, you will know how difficult this is for me. Two weeks without a good thorough up and down floss back there is difficult for me. But I will survive. After all, the queen has survived. I can too.
And when it's all finished, nobody will know the difference, except for my dentist and his skilled assistant and my curious tongue.
question: do you wear a crown?
mompoet - temporary
breathing out
The theme of June was anticipation. Side themes were suspense, curiosity and anxiety. Now that we are at the end of June we can at least see what some of the next steps are.
First of all, I got my job, for real and for permanent. I have a permanent job with the city, but have been acting in another job for 4 and a half years. This acting job is the one I blog about from time to time. I work as a recreation programmer at a community centre. My area is seniors' recreation. My "people" are 1000 members, 55 years and older, who come to the rec centre for fun, fitness and learning. The person for whom I was acting got another job recently so the job I have been doing was posted. I applied and interviewed for it and I got my job. Every job I have done with the city has been great, but this one is the greatest. I am very happy to know that I can keep going with it, without the worry of a potential end date. HOORAY! I can't wait to move into my new office. Oh...I am already there. YAY!
Second of all, Fiona will be continuing with the Over the Rainbow competition. She'll go back to Toronto in August as one of the top 20 performers from all across Canada. So in a way, we have replaced the anticipation and anxiety of "will she make the top 20?" with "will she make the top 10?" but I guess life is like that. And I guess we're all still in the same office at this point, cheering her on from home and knowing she'll have an exceptional experience, whatever the outcome.
Last summer seemed like it had to be the most anxious summer, with Fiona preparing to go to university. I thought, at the time, "Next summer will be so relaxed. We'll know just what we're doing." But I guess this is the way it is a lot of the time: working, waiting, wondering what's next. It's all good and really pretty delicious. I'll keep you posted.
question: are you waiting for news?
mompoet - anticipating
First of all, I got my job, for real and for permanent. I have a permanent job with the city, but have been acting in another job for 4 and a half years. This acting job is the one I blog about from time to time. I work as a recreation programmer at a community centre. My area is seniors' recreation. My "people" are 1000 members, 55 years and older, who come to the rec centre for fun, fitness and learning. The person for whom I was acting got another job recently so the job I have been doing was posted. I applied and interviewed for it and I got my job. Every job I have done with the city has been great, but this one is the greatest. I am very happy to know that I can keep going with it, without the worry of a potential end date. HOORAY! I can't wait to move into my new office. Oh...I am already there. YAY!
Second of all, Fiona will be continuing with the Over the Rainbow competition. She'll go back to Toronto in August as one of the top 20 performers from all across Canada. So in a way, we have replaced the anticipation and anxiety of "will she make the top 20?" with "will she make the top 10?" but I guess life is like that. And I guess we're all still in the same office at this point, cheering her on from home and knowing she'll have an exceptional experience, whatever the outcome.
Last summer seemed like it had to be the most anxious summer, with Fiona preparing to go to university. I thought, at the time, "Next summer will be so relaxed. We'll know just what we're doing." But I guess this is the way it is a lot of the time: working, waiting, wondering what's next. It's all good and really pretty delicious. I'll keep you posted.
question: are you waiting for news?
mompoet - anticipating
Saturday, June 23, 2012
radio silence (punctuated by rhubarb)
I can't tell you how Fiona did at her Toronto Over the Rainbow callback. I can't tell you anything about several other things we're waiting to hear about this week. I am bursting with curiosity and wonderment and walking around with lips zipped and question marks dancing over my head. All will be revealed in the fullness of time. In the meantime, I am considering a new career as a standup comic. Well, maybe a sit down comic. Well, maybe a sit down and go home comic.
Here are my two jokes, prompted by typos and misquotes I spotted this week:
Q: What kind of trail does a bookworm leave behind?
A: A paper trail!
BA - DUM - BUM!
Q: What kind of pedals do weevils have on their bicycles?
P: Flour pedals!
BA - DUM - BUM!
Q: What kind of pants do slugs wear in the garden?
A: Petal pushers!
BA - DUM - BUM!
Question: Now wasn't that better than no post at all?
mompoet - keeping my day job, yeah...
ps - Did you notice, that was three jokes? I have a special on today: buy two, get one free.
Here are my two jokes, prompted by typos and misquotes I spotted this week:
Q: What kind of trail does a bookworm leave behind?
A: A paper trail!
BA - DUM - BUM!
Q: What kind of pedals do weevils have on their bicycles?
P: Flour pedals!
BA - DUM - BUM!
Q: What kind of pants do slugs wear in the garden?
A: Petal pushers!
BA - DUM - BUM!
Question: Now wasn't that better than no post at all?
mompoet - keeping my day job, yeah...
ps - Did you notice, that was three jokes? I have a special on today: buy two, get one free.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
night at the track
My friend Linda and I went to Hastings Park last night. We had intended to bring our husbands, but tickets sold out so fast for our CUPE 23 Night at The Races that we had only 2 tickets, and our husbands really didn't mind.
We drove to the park and found seats in Silks Buffet. The supper was gorgeous - a great salad bar, prime rib, lovely seafood and pecan pie as my choice for dessert. mmmmm While we ate, we studied the racing form and tried to figure out how to bet.
Our first betting aid was the form itself, which contains a "picks" section - one horse race expert's guesses about which horses will win. There was also a man who walked around and gave us a sheet with his picks listed. There's lots of information there to help the uninformed know how to place bets and how to decide which bets to place. Linda and I paid careful attention to this good information then we followed our hearts:
At the end of the evening, Linda reported that we bet $22 on 5 races. While she kept track of our expenditures, I kept the winning tickets safe, so we could cash them all in at the end. What suspense! the cashier fed the tickets into her machine, and our winning amount increased and increased. We got up to $20 on the display, with one winner left - could we make it to $22????? Then we saw it, $24.60!!!! Woo Hoo! The cashier gave us our money so we could easily count it out and split our $2.60 winnings! We were euphoric. We could retire and live the life of luxury - maybe even buy our own racehorse! We drove home happy for a fun evening.
Then I woke up in the morning and remembered that one of the bets we had placed for our friend Diane, who sent us with $11 to bet on the first 3 races. One of her horses won, and we owed her $3.30. So Linda and I actually won $1.30 between us. I texted Linda the news. She replied. "You mean we can't retire?" Nope. I guess I'll see her Monday morning at work.
question: do you like the pretty horses?
mompoet - we left the dice and the cootie catcher on the table for someone else to use to win big like us
We drove to the park and found seats in Silks Buffet. The supper was gorgeous - a great salad bar, prime rib, lovely seafood and pecan pie as my choice for dessert. mmmmm While we ate, we studied the racing form and tried to figure out how to bet.
Our first betting aid was the form itself, which contains a "picks" section - one horse race expert's guesses about which horses will win. There was also a man who walked around and gave us a sheet with his picks listed. There's lots of information there to help the uninformed know how to place bets and how to decide which bets to place. Linda and I paid careful attention to this good information then we followed our hearts:
- bet on the grey horse - of course!
- roll the dice - we put stickers on a pair of dice and rolled them to decide by using the colour of the jockey's uniform. The dice also told us whether to bet win, place or show.
- cootie catcher - Linda made a paper fortune teller. We used it to pick the number of the winning horse, and whether to bet win, place or show
- my favourite number - at one point I loaned my racing form to somebody so I had no idea who to bet on in the next race, so I bet on number 5, which is my favourite. Number 5 won.
At the end of the evening, Linda reported that we bet $22 on 5 races. While she kept track of our expenditures, I kept the winning tickets safe, so we could cash them all in at the end. What suspense! the cashier fed the tickets into her machine, and our winning amount increased and increased. We got up to $20 on the display, with one winner left - could we make it to $22????? Then we saw it, $24.60!!!! Woo Hoo! The cashier gave us our money so we could easily count it out and split our $2.60 winnings! We were euphoric. We could retire and live the life of luxury - maybe even buy our own racehorse! We drove home happy for a fun evening.
Then I woke up in the morning and remembered that one of the bets we had placed for our friend Diane, who sent us with $11 to bet on the first 3 races. One of her horses won, and we owed her $3.30. So Linda and I actually won $1.30 between us. I texted Linda the news. She replied. "You mean we can't retire?" Nope. I guess I'll see her Monday morning at work.
question: do you like the pretty horses?
mompoet - we left the dice and the cootie catcher on the table for someone else to use to win big like us
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
mr rogers
There's a re-mix youtube video of Mr. Rogers that everyone is watching these days:
I think it's okay, but I really prefer the original version of his songs. This one is a particular favourite:
I'm too old to have watched Fred Rogers on TV as a kid, but as a mom of young children I remember that Mr Rogers' Neighborhood was my favourite TV place. There wasn't a thing about the show I didn't like. Mr. Rogers' kindness and respect for all people, especially children, was exactly what I needed to give me the courage to navigate the world of stay at home mom. Mr. Rogers made it easier for me to feel caring feelings about the people around me, even on days when I was tired or discouraged or grumpy or afraid. Simplicity, humanity, empathy, respect. He modeled these for me and help me be more kind and brave.
To this day I still like to say, "When you were a little girl, did you want to be a ______?" That was one of my favourite Mr. Rogers sayings. Sometimes I just think it. Sometimes I really ask it. Recently I asked the cat, "When you were a little kitten, did you always want to be a cat?" Hmmm, I guess I AM special.
question: when you were a little boy (or girl, or kitten), did you always want to be Mr. Rogers?
mompoet - we are special
I think it's okay, but I really prefer the original version of his songs. This one is a particular favourite:
I'm too old to have watched Fred Rogers on TV as a kid, but as a mom of young children I remember that Mr Rogers' Neighborhood was my favourite TV place. There wasn't a thing about the show I didn't like. Mr. Rogers' kindness and respect for all people, especially children, was exactly what I needed to give me the courage to navigate the world of stay at home mom. Mr. Rogers made it easier for me to feel caring feelings about the people around me, even on days when I was tired or discouraged or grumpy or afraid. Simplicity, humanity, empathy, respect. He modeled these for me and help me be more kind and brave.
To this day I still like to say, "When you were a little girl, did you want to be a ______?" That was one of my favourite Mr. Rogers sayings. Sometimes I just think it. Sometimes I really ask it. Recently I asked the cat, "When you were a little kitten, did you always want to be a cat?" Hmmm, I guess I AM special.
question: when you were a little boy (or girl, or kitten), did you always want to be Mr. Rogers?
mompoet - we are special
Sunday, June 10, 2012
quick post link blog
I have a busy day today, so I'm going to post a link to a recipe that looks wonderfully delicious. Martha Rose Shulman's New York Times column, Recipes for Health, is always spectacularly wonderful and nourishing. Let me know if you try this recipe for Quinoa Asparagus Salad. I hope to serve it this week. But for now, I must get on with some projects that require my immediate attention.
question: do you think about cooking when you are not cooking?
mompoet - always!
question: do you think about cooking when you are not cooking?
mompoet - always!
Saturday, June 09, 2012
the big muck-out
There are so many things I would rather do than clean my house. Still, every 2 or 3 weeks I look around and say, "Ye-gads! how did it get like this?" Then I either have to do something, or go away for a couple of days. Today, I have to do something about it. But first, I will sit in my pajamas for 10 more minutes and post my blog. My friend Louise would call this, "positive procrastination," I think. That's when you are consciously procrastinating by doing something of value other than that thing which you have committed to do. Other forms of positive procrastination may include: tooth flossing, muffin baking, phoning a parent or friend who is owed a call, reading the serious sections of the newspaper, checking your bank account online, watching the weather report on the news and eating, if you have not eating in the past 3 hours.
After I complete this positive procrastination I will get dressed and clean up. I will be thinking about my original question (how did it get this way?) and understanding that I know exactly how it did:
My technique for cleaning up is pretty standard. I make a list and cross off the accomplishments as I make them. This gives a bit of validation for this work of cleaning, that is almost immediately undone as fast as I can do it (darn buildup!) I mix up small actions that make a big difference, like picking up the shoes and putting them back in the shoe rack in the closet, with big actions that make a small difference, like washing the kitchen, dining room, hallway and bathroom floors.
My least favourite chore is changing the kitty litter box. My most favourite is cleaning the bathrooms. Wow, it is nice to have a gleaming bathroom. It always goes more quickly than I thought, and WOW, what a difference! Good thing I do it every 2-3 weeks. In between, I might give a quick wipe to the worst surfaces and take out the trash. The real scrub-up actually only takes place every 2-3 weeks. So now you know my secret.
While I clean up, I prefer to have everyone out of the way. I like it when Andy goes out shopping or to work in the yard, so I can zoom around the house cleaning up without having him have to lift his feet or jump out of the way of the vacuum cleaner. I also really don't mind moving the kids' shoes, bags, papers etc., but I prefer to do it while they are not around, which increases the chance that they will come home and say, "Hey! what did you do with my tuba?" So I can say, "I put it in the tuba closet, Silly-Billy!"
My standard every second or third Saturday muck-out (which is about to begin as soon as I finish procrastinating) includes: bathrooms, floors (vacuuming and floorwashing), kitty litter, picking up, dusting, wiping end and coffee tables, putting out fresh candles and assorted other decor items, kitchen, windowsills, dining room table and computer tables. By the end of the day, the place should look and smell reasonably clean, and I will feel like I have imposed order on a little corner of my world, which is the real reason I ever clean at all.
So here goes nothing. Buildup, look out!
question: what do you clean and when do you clean it?
mompoet - clean, clean, clean
After I complete this positive procrastination I will get dressed and clean up. I will be thinking about my original question (how did it get this way?) and understanding that I know exactly how it did:
- People live in this house.
- People bring things into the house.
- People shed skin cells, hair cells, muck and guck from the outside world.
- A cat lives here too.
- We cook and eat.
- We wear clothes and sleep in beds.
- We use toilets and sinks and the bathtub/shower.
- We make trash.
- Other related organisms co-exist, living, eating, sleeping, shedding, toileting and procreating, mostly at a microscopic level.
- There is buildup from all of the above activities.
My technique for cleaning up is pretty standard. I make a list and cross off the accomplishments as I make them. This gives a bit of validation for this work of cleaning, that is almost immediately undone as fast as I can do it (darn buildup!) I mix up small actions that make a big difference, like picking up the shoes and putting them back in the shoe rack in the closet, with big actions that make a small difference, like washing the kitchen, dining room, hallway and bathroom floors.
My least favourite chore is changing the kitty litter box. My most favourite is cleaning the bathrooms. Wow, it is nice to have a gleaming bathroom. It always goes more quickly than I thought, and WOW, what a difference! Good thing I do it every 2-3 weeks. In between, I might give a quick wipe to the worst surfaces and take out the trash. The real scrub-up actually only takes place every 2-3 weeks. So now you know my secret.
While I clean up, I prefer to have everyone out of the way. I like it when Andy goes out shopping or to work in the yard, so I can zoom around the house cleaning up without having him have to lift his feet or jump out of the way of the vacuum cleaner. I also really don't mind moving the kids' shoes, bags, papers etc., but I prefer to do it while they are not around, which increases the chance that they will come home and say, "Hey! what did you do with my tuba?" So I can say, "I put it in the tuba closet, Silly-Billy!"
My standard every second or third Saturday muck-out (which is about to begin as soon as I finish procrastinating) includes: bathrooms, floors (vacuuming and floorwashing), kitty litter, picking up, dusting, wiping end and coffee tables, putting out fresh candles and assorted other decor items, kitchen, windowsills, dining room table and computer tables. By the end of the day, the place should look and smell reasonably clean, and I will feel like I have imposed order on a little corner of my world, which is the real reason I ever clean at all.
So here goes nothing. Buildup, look out!
question: what do you clean and when do you clean it?
mompoet - clean, clean, clean
Thursday, June 07, 2012
the mom burger
On Wednesday, the Kitchen Table volunteers at the seniors' recreation centre where I work made a barbeque lunch. They do this once every month from May through August. They sell about 70 tickets each time, to members of our seniors' centre. For $5, members get a fresh-cooked burger, potato chips, coffee or tea, and dessert. It's all cooked and served and cleaned-up after by volunteers. Volunteers even do the shopping. It's really spectacular. My staff team and I help in little ways, but it's really the volunteers' show. For example, once all 70 people are served and the volunteers are sitting down eating their burgers, we staff members serve up the dessert. My co-worker Brenda and I scooped about 80 bowls of ice cream and squeezed on chocolate and caramel sauce. Wait - 80! I think some people without burger tickets sneaked in and got a bowl of ice cream! Then the volunteers finished their lunch (including dessert) and they did the dishes and folded the tablecloths and wiped everything down and put everything away. They rock.
I was starting up the ice cream scooping, when one of our volunteers came over to fix her burger. Cheese, lettuce and tomato slices are served up by volunteers behind a table. When it's the volunteers' time to eat, the staff takes over and we serve up the toppings to the volunteers. This one volunteer came over and saw the scraggly, raggedy ends of cheese and tomato on the serving trays. She was ready to take 2 crescent moon slices of tomato and a dog-eared slice of cheese. I told her we have a plate of tomatoes and cheese and lettuce set aside for the volunteers so they will have toppings just as fresh and nice as the first person who came to the table. She said, "no, these are fine!" Well I had to tell her that I though she was taking the mom burger. She agreed, and we laughed.
The mom burger is the meal that is eaten by the person who cooks and serves - sometimes mom, sometimes someone else. Often it's the last piece that nobody else chose. It might be cold or dried out. Often it is eaten standing up, or in a rush, because the rest of the table has been sitting for a while. Maybe they are ready for coffee or dessert, or just to finish up and leave the table, and here comes mom with her scraggly raggedy mom burger. She says it's fine, but it can't taste anything like the yummy burgers she served up to the first to the table.
I wonder why we do this? I know we don't always do it, but sometimes it's the way. Even if people offer to help, sometimes it's easier just to keep doing the job and serve them up and get it done. Sometimes, by the time the food is prepared, cooked and served, it doesn't seem that yummy after all. Once you have looked at 70 hamburgers, you might not feel like eating a hamburger, especially with 70 dirty plates with bits of chewed burger and bun and tomato are waiting to be cleaned once you finish eating your mom burger.
I sincerely admire the Kitchen Table volunteers for the work they do. They make a lovely meal for a big room full of people who are mostly grateful and appreciative. I make sure, once they are seated, that they all quiet down for a moment and I thank the volunteers and ask everyone to thank them and give them a big round of applause for their work. Then they eat their mom burgers.
Thank goodness for volunteers. Thank goodness for those who take the time to express appreciation. Thank goodness we mostly take turns serving the meal and eating the mom burger. I hope all of those volunteers went home and had a very yummy supper served by someone else, or at least cooked and eaten in a leisurely fashion. If I could go to all of their houses and scoop ice cream especially for them, I would.
question: did you eat the mom burger?
mompoet - I brought a salad and ate it after I scooped the ice cream for all of the eaters
I was starting up the ice cream scooping, when one of our volunteers came over to fix her burger. Cheese, lettuce and tomato slices are served up by volunteers behind a table. When it's the volunteers' time to eat, the staff takes over and we serve up the toppings to the volunteers. This one volunteer came over and saw the scraggly, raggedy ends of cheese and tomato on the serving trays. She was ready to take 2 crescent moon slices of tomato and a dog-eared slice of cheese. I told her we have a plate of tomatoes and cheese and lettuce set aside for the volunteers so they will have toppings just as fresh and nice as the first person who came to the table. She said, "no, these are fine!" Well I had to tell her that I though she was taking the mom burger. She agreed, and we laughed.
The mom burger is the meal that is eaten by the person who cooks and serves - sometimes mom, sometimes someone else. Often it's the last piece that nobody else chose. It might be cold or dried out. Often it is eaten standing up, or in a rush, because the rest of the table has been sitting for a while. Maybe they are ready for coffee or dessert, or just to finish up and leave the table, and here comes mom with her scraggly raggedy mom burger. She says it's fine, but it can't taste anything like the yummy burgers she served up to the first to the table.
I wonder why we do this? I know we don't always do it, but sometimes it's the way. Even if people offer to help, sometimes it's easier just to keep doing the job and serve them up and get it done. Sometimes, by the time the food is prepared, cooked and served, it doesn't seem that yummy after all. Once you have looked at 70 hamburgers, you might not feel like eating a hamburger, especially with 70 dirty plates with bits of chewed burger and bun and tomato are waiting to be cleaned once you finish eating your mom burger.
I sincerely admire the Kitchen Table volunteers for the work they do. They make a lovely meal for a big room full of people who are mostly grateful and appreciative. I make sure, once they are seated, that they all quiet down for a moment and I thank the volunteers and ask everyone to thank them and give them a big round of applause for their work. Then they eat their mom burgers.
Thank goodness for volunteers. Thank goodness for those who take the time to express appreciation. Thank goodness we mostly take turns serving the meal and eating the mom burger. I hope all of those volunteers went home and had a very yummy supper served by someone else, or at least cooked and eaten in a leisurely fashion. If I could go to all of their houses and scoop ice cream especially for them, I would.
question: did you eat the mom burger?
mompoet - I brought a salad and ate it after I scooped the ice cream for all of the eaters
happy happy foot foot
I walked home again this evening. Not a bit of pain. Both days I drove to work in the morning because I needed the car for a work meeting during the day. Each day, one of my amazing and wonderful children came to my office and took the car away, so I could walk home.
So far no foot pain. Just to be sure, I am stretching and massaging, and I won't walk for an hour tomorrow. I want to keep this good foot feeling.
question: could this be recovery?
mompoet - happy happy happy
So far no foot pain. Just to be sure, I am stretching and massaging, and I won't walk for an hour tomorrow. I want to keep this good foot feeling.
question: could this be recovery?
mompoet - happy happy happy
happy foot
I walked for one hour yesterday, all the way home from work. My foot felt fine. It feels good this morning. this makes me very very very very very very very very very very happy. VERY.
question: what's good for you today?
mompoet - thinking about car-free commuting once again
question: what's good for you today?
mompoet - thinking about car-free commuting once again
Sunday, June 03, 2012
haiku
three same-dressed students
June - too cool for flip-flops - Ugh
Ugg Ugg Ugg Ugg Ugg
question: what are the girls wearing on the way home from school in your neighbourhood?
mompoet - not quite ready for flip-flops in these parts
June - too cool for flip-flops - Ugh
Ugg Ugg Ugg Ugg Ugg
question: what are the girls wearing on the way home from school in your neighbourhood?
mompoet - not quite ready for flip-flops in these parts
dreambit
I'm scheduled to facilitate an Insights workshop Monday morning. Thoughts about this must have invaded my dream...
I am at my office, packing up my gear for the workshop. I get a phone call from my Insights mentor. Actually, it's a video call. She looks strangely like someone from a movie set in the 1950s, but that's okay because it's a dream. She tells me, "It's good to have some of the mini Halloween packs of Lifesavers candies when you facilitate. You can hand them out to the people in the class who you especially like." I'm okay with this, because coincidentally, I am going to meet with the group at Burquitlam Plaza, a nearby shopping centre, and there's a Safeway there. I tell myself to go to the Safeway and get the Lifesavers before I meet with the group. So I go down to the carpark, which is not the parking lot outside the community centre where I work, but the underground parking at Northgate, another shopping centre which is really close to my office. I take my 2 suitcases of facilitation notes, props and other assorted gear with me and hop on my unicycle, which is stored in the carpark. At the top of the car ramp, turning out to the busy 6 lane street that leads to Burquitlam, I think to myself, "It's going to be tricky riding my unicycle in the rain all the way to Burquitlam, especially carrying these 2 big suitcases in my hands. So I turn around and go get my car. End of dream.
Interpretation? There's a lot about safety in this dream (Safeway, Lifesavers), but all in unreasonable terms. I would never pick favourites in a facilitation group and give them special treats. Even if I do have treats, they have to be more imaginative than candies - lots of facilitators do that! So maybe this is about building up unnecessary expectations and precautions and safeguards - being anachronistically sweet, for example? Trying to carry a heavy load solo when that's not the best choice (symbolized by the unicycle and suitcases)? I think the dream is telling me to get real and get on with what's really important, and not try to do everything the hard way.
question: have you had any unicycle dreams lately?
mompoet - subconscious speaking!
I am at my office, packing up my gear for the workshop. I get a phone call from my Insights mentor. Actually, it's a video call. She looks strangely like someone from a movie set in the 1950s, but that's okay because it's a dream. She tells me, "It's good to have some of the mini Halloween packs of Lifesavers candies when you facilitate. You can hand them out to the people in the class who you especially like." I'm okay with this, because coincidentally, I am going to meet with the group at Burquitlam Plaza, a nearby shopping centre, and there's a Safeway there. I tell myself to go to the Safeway and get the Lifesavers before I meet with the group. So I go down to the carpark, which is not the parking lot outside the community centre where I work, but the underground parking at Northgate, another shopping centre which is really close to my office. I take my 2 suitcases of facilitation notes, props and other assorted gear with me and hop on my unicycle, which is stored in the carpark. At the top of the car ramp, turning out to the busy 6 lane street that leads to Burquitlam, I think to myself, "It's going to be tricky riding my unicycle in the rain all the way to Burquitlam, especially carrying these 2 big suitcases in my hands. So I turn around and go get my car. End of dream.
Interpretation? There's a lot about safety in this dream (Safeway, Lifesavers), but all in unreasonable terms. I would never pick favourites in a facilitation group and give them special treats. Even if I do have treats, they have to be more imaginative than candies - lots of facilitators do that! So maybe this is about building up unnecessary expectations and precautions and safeguards - being anachronistically sweet, for example? Trying to carry a heavy load solo when that's not the best choice (symbolized by the unicycle and suitcases)? I think the dream is telling me to get real and get on with what's really important, and not try to do everything the hard way.
question: have you had any unicycle dreams lately?
mompoet - subconscious speaking!
Saturday, June 02, 2012
over the rainbow
Fiona is going to Toronto!
CBC TV is running a competition to find an actor to portray Dorothy in a production of The Wizard of Oz in Toronto. On Friday, they held auditions in Vancouver. Fiona made it through to the Toronto callbacks. In mid-June, she and Andy will go to Toronto, where she and about 100 other actors will participate in callbacks, in hopes of moving on to the next round.
I was at work when my phone rang. Fiona and Andy told me the good news, and I burst into tears. Apparently I wasn't the first to do so. Andy told me he had his fingers crossed for about 40 minutes as he waited outside the audition room, and he was being careful not to stand on a crack on the floor tiles. He said, "I just had to do everything right to hope that Fiona would get through." When Fiona and the camera crew emerged, even though she was hiding the ticket behind her back, Andy knew she got it, and he burst into tears. "I'm an emotional guy," he says. The whole thing is being taped for a TV show. When they get to the ten finalists, there will be a live TV show with audience voting through the Fall. I'm guessing golden ticket Fiona and crying Andy will be part of the regional auditions episode.
We are so proud of Fi for doing this. I'll keep you posted. Meantime wish her well in Toronto later this month.
question: where do your happy little bluebirds fly?
mompoet - already there
CBC TV is running a competition to find an actor to portray Dorothy in a production of The Wizard of Oz in Toronto. On Friday, they held auditions in Vancouver. Fiona made it through to the Toronto callbacks. In mid-June, she and Andy will go to Toronto, where she and about 100 other actors will participate in callbacks, in hopes of moving on to the next round.
I was at work when my phone rang. Fiona and Andy told me the good news, and I burst into tears. Apparently I wasn't the first to do so. Andy told me he had his fingers crossed for about 40 minutes as he waited outside the audition room, and he was being careful not to stand on a crack on the floor tiles. He said, "I just had to do everything right to hope that Fiona would get through." When Fiona and the camera crew emerged, even though she was hiding the ticket behind her back, Andy knew she got it, and he burst into tears. "I'm an emotional guy," he says. The whole thing is being taped for a TV show. When they get to the ten finalists, there will be a live TV show with audience voting through the Fall. I'm guessing golden ticket Fiona and crying Andy will be part of the regional auditions episode.
We are so proud of Fi for doing this. I'll keep you posted. Meantime wish her well in Toronto later this month.
question: where do your happy little bluebirds fly?
mompoet - already there
Thursday, May 31, 2012
I love this neighbourhood
I pulled into my carport about 6:15 this evening. Bowen and Tristan, the boys who live next door, came running over to my car and stood outside my door, waiting for me to get out. Bowen was so excited I could barely make out what he was saying but I understood he wanted to come look at something. "Tristan taught me!" he kept saying.
So I follow Tristan and Bowen over to their mom's car. She's laughing and saying, "I was just standing here texting, and I looked up to see THIS..." I look over, and Bowen has just opened the trunk of his Mom's car, then he jumps inside the trunk. "Do it!" he shouts at Tristan, who shuts the trunk, closing Bowen inside.
POP! The trunk opens. Bowen jumps out grinning, and shows me a handle inside the trunk that you can use "to escape if a robber puts you in the trunk and drives away - so you can get out! AND IT GLOWS IN THE DARK!" The only thing more fun than witnessing this is imagining how Tristan taught Bowen this neat trick. They had to both be inside the trunk. I wonder who closed it that time?
Anyways, the boys want to check my trunk next, so we go back to my car, and I pop the trunk. Unfortunately it's full with my emergency gear, so nobody gets to jump inside it. We find the glow in the dark handle. Bowen instructs me about what to do if I get stuck in the trunk. He is totally serious about this, but also spinning with excitement at his discovery. I assure him that if I ever fall into my trunk, and the lid falls closed, I will pull the handle and escape from my trunk (I don't want to put a robber in my version of the story). Then the boys scamper back to their house. Tristan and Bowen's mom is smiling that mom smile that we all do. "Good job, Mom," I say. Tristan overhears me and corrects me, "I taught him," he says. "Good job, Tristan."
question - do you know about the glow in the dark handle for escaping from the trunk?
mompoet - don't fall in the trunk!
So I follow Tristan and Bowen over to their mom's car. She's laughing and saying, "I was just standing here texting, and I looked up to see THIS..." I look over, and Bowen has just opened the trunk of his Mom's car, then he jumps inside the trunk. "Do it!" he shouts at Tristan, who shuts the trunk, closing Bowen inside.
POP! The trunk opens. Bowen jumps out grinning, and shows me a handle inside the trunk that you can use "to escape if a robber puts you in the trunk and drives away - so you can get out! AND IT GLOWS IN THE DARK!" The only thing more fun than witnessing this is imagining how Tristan taught Bowen this neat trick. They had to both be inside the trunk. I wonder who closed it that time?
Anyways, the boys want to check my trunk next, so we go back to my car, and I pop the trunk. Unfortunately it's full with my emergency gear, so nobody gets to jump inside it. We find the glow in the dark handle. Bowen instructs me about what to do if I get stuck in the trunk. He is totally serious about this, but also spinning with excitement at his discovery. I assure him that if I ever fall into my trunk, and the lid falls closed, I will pull the handle and escape from my trunk (I don't want to put a robber in my version of the story). Then the boys scamper back to their house. Tristan and Bowen's mom is smiling that mom smile that we all do. "Good job, Mom," I say. Tristan overhears me and corrects me, "I taught him," he says. "Good job, Tristan."
question - do you know about the glow in the dark handle for escaping from the trunk?
mompoet - don't fall in the trunk!
because
Because the yogurt container foil lid had a sharp edge I have cuts on two of my fingertips. Because I have cuts on my fingertips I put bandaids on them. Because I put bandaids on them, I have big, awkward fingertips. Because I have big, awkward fingertips, I am having trouble typing with accuracy. Because I am having trouble typing with accuracy, I am making a lot of mistakes. Because I am making a lot of mistakes, I am taking a long time to enter my blog. Because I am taking a long time to enter my blog it seems beside the point to say that the yogurt was really yummy, and I make excellent granola. Yes I do. But if my fingertips were cut earlier I would make granola with bandaids or blood in it, which is not excellent in the least.
question: what was that about?
mompoet - because I am so slow typing, I can't tell you
question: what was that about?
mompoet - because I am so slow typing, I can't tell you
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
ate
Why was six afraid of seven? Because seven eight nine.
Today I attended day two of "Training in your Department - Make it Stick," an in-house training course put on by the City, my employer. There are 20 of us in the course, all learning how to do a better job of on-the-job training with our staff teams. I also want to learn tips and techniques that will be helpful for my Insights facilitation.
Our homework for today was a "triad teach-back." We had to prepare a 10 minute lesson for two other members of the class, teach our classmates something, then share feedback. Lia, who works at the ice arena, taught us how to properly size women's ice skates. I learned that most people wear skates that are too large, and that properly sized skates are safer and help you skate better. Lia brought some skates for us to try on. I fit the size 7s. Go figure! Cindy taught us how to make excellent paper airplanes, then we got to throw them around the room. That was fun! I taught Amazing Math Tricks - how to reckon 9 x 1 up to 9 x 10, using your two hands, and also how to multiply any two-digit number by 11 without using pencil or paper. We had a lot of fun teaching and learning together, and all of our lessons were well-prepared and presented.
Which brings me to eight, or ate. I will have to learn a math trick for 8, but I guess I'd better not try on any size eight skates, or any nines either, because the sevens eight nine.
question: what can you teach in 10 minutes?
mompoet - look out for seven, he's still hungry
Today I attended day two of "Training in your Department - Make it Stick," an in-house training course put on by the City, my employer. There are 20 of us in the course, all learning how to do a better job of on-the-job training with our staff teams. I also want to learn tips and techniques that will be helpful for my Insights facilitation.
Our homework for today was a "triad teach-back." We had to prepare a 10 minute lesson for two other members of the class, teach our classmates something, then share feedback. Lia, who works at the ice arena, taught us how to properly size women's ice skates. I learned that most people wear skates that are too large, and that properly sized skates are safer and help you skate better. Lia brought some skates for us to try on. I fit the size 7s. Go figure! Cindy taught us how to make excellent paper airplanes, then we got to throw them around the room. That was fun! I taught Amazing Math Tricks - how to reckon 9 x 1 up to 9 x 10, using your two hands, and also how to multiply any two-digit number by 11 without using pencil or paper. We had a lot of fun teaching and learning together, and all of our lessons were well-prepared and presented.
Which brings me to eight, or ate. I will have to learn a math trick for 8, but I guess I'd better not try on any size eight skates, or any nines either, because the sevens eight nine.
question: what can you teach in 10 minutes?
mompoet - look out for seven, he's still hungry
Monday, May 28, 2012
my awesome mother's day card
question: did someone make something for you? or did you make something for someone?
mompoet - kuuuuu...
Sunday, May 27, 2012
garage sale
Our community garage sale took place this weekend. We didn't sell anything this year, but we had lots of fun prowling around looking at what our neighbours had to sell. I bought a couple of things. The pictures tell the story:
Karen tried to get me to buy these glasses. I said no thanks but I did accept the King Kong coffee mug. Karen gave it to me for free. I can't wait to show the seniors this one at coffee time!
I really liked this chair that our Adam and Stephanie had for sale, but no room in our home, alas. Andy bought 2 Samsonite suitcases from them for $5 each, but he wouldn't pose for a photo.
Lola, who is 5 years old, was selling lemonade. That's her little brother Coulson, helping. Andy and I each had a glass each, a wonderful refreshment for just 25 cents each.
And this is my big find of the day. Six beautiful wine glasses for $12. I looked them up online and found out I really did get a good deal. On the other hand, they are available through other suppliers.
Later in the day we had our traditional neighbours sitting outside to have a drink and enjoy the beginning of the summer. It was a lovely day!
question: do you sell or shop at garage sales?
mompoet - enjoying the annual exchange of stuff we don't need, for stuff you don't need
Later in the day we had our traditional neighbours sitting outside to have a drink and enjoy the beginning of the summer. It was a lovely day!
question: do you sell or shop at garage sales?
mompoet - enjoying the annual exchange of stuff we don't need, for stuff you don't need
Saturday, May 26, 2012
szechuan search - New Spring Restaurant (or Spring New Restaurant)
We are on the hunt for a Chinese restaurant to replace our beloved Capitol Hill Szechuan, which was recently bought by a new owner and now has a new chef and is newly not our favourite restaurant.
Today Andy and I ate lunch at New Szechuan Restaurant or Spring New Szechuan Restaurant. It's very close to our home and had decent reviews on Urban Spoon and Dine Here. There was no lunch special at 2pm on a Saturday. We're not sure if they have one at other times. We ordered hot and sour soup and spicy szechuan chicken, plus a bowl of steamed rice.
The soup was quite good, with a nice balance of sourness and peppery-hotness. It was generously loaded with tofu, barbequed meat and small shrimp, as well as a variety of julienned veggies. At $6.95 our big bowl provided 6 small serving bowls of soup. I guess we were hungry because we consumed 3 helpings each. The chicken ($9.95) was fresh and piping hot with fresh, crispy stir fried onions and green bell peppers. Instead of the fresh hot green pepper slices we are accustomed to at Cap Hill, this szechuan chicken was heated up with chili oil in the sauce and abundant small red dried peppers. And it was hot! We like it, so that's in its favour. In both the soup and the chicken dish I detected a little bit of fermented black bean. This must be a signature of the chef, as I am not used to this ingredient in these dishes. It added some complexity and not overpowering.
The service was friendly, and the restaurant is plain-looking but clean and bright on the inside. There are 3 big round tables and several smaller rectangular ones, all with plastic disposable table coverings. The tea was jasmine, and large glasses of ice water were provided as soon as we asked. At 2pm on a sunny Saturday we were not alone. Four other parties ate lunch at the same time we did. There was a mix of Asian and European-ancestered customers, including a young family, a table full of 20-somethings, and old people like us. ahem.
We decided that this restaurant is worth another visit to try some more of the dishes on their menu. The three tables with Asian customers were served what looked like hot pot on an ornate burner-type stand. I'd like to give that a try. We are not jumping up and down like we would if we found the New Capitol Hill, but this place has potential. We'll also look around at other options.
question: where do you go when your favourite chef mysteriously disappears?
mompoet - craving favourites
Today Andy and I ate lunch at New Szechuan Restaurant or Spring New Szechuan Restaurant. It's very close to our home and had decent reviews on Urban Spoon and Dine Here. There was no lunch special at 2pm on a Saturday. We're not sure if they have one at other times. We ordered hot and sour soup and spicy szechuan chicken, plus a bowl of steamed rice.
The soup was quite good, with a nice balance of sourness and peppery-hotness. It was generously loaded with tofu, barbequed meat and small shrimp, as well as a variety of julienned veggies. At $6.95 our big bowl provided 6 small serving bowls of soup. I guess we were hungry because we consumed 3 helpings each. The chicken ($9.95) was fresh and piping hot with fresh, crispy stir fried onions and green bell peppers. Instead of the fresh hot green pepper slices we are accustomed to at Cap Hill, this szechuan chicken was heated up with chili oil in the sauce and abundant small red dried peppers. And it was hot! We like it, so that's in its favour. In both the soup and the chicken dish I detected a little bit of fermented black bean. This must be a signature of the chef, as I am not used to this ingredient in these dishes. It added some complexity and not overpowering.
The service was friendly, and the restaurant is plain-looking but clean and bright on the inside. There are 3 big round tables and several smaller rectangular ones, all with plastic disposable table coverings. The tea was jasmine, and large glasses of ice water were provided as soon as we asked. At 2pm on a sunny Saturday we were not alone. Four other parties ate lunch at the same time we did. There was a mix of Asian and European-ancestered customers, including a young family, a table full of 20-somethings, and old people like us. ahem.
We decided that this restaurant is worth another visit to try some more of the dishes on their menu. The three tables with Asian customers were served what looked like hot pot on an ornate burner-type stand. I'd like to give that a try. We are not jumping up and down like we would if we found the New Capitol Hill, but this place has potential. We'll also look around at other options.
question: where do you go when your favourite chef mysteriously disappears?
mompoet - craving favourites
Friday's post now, Saturday's later
I meant to post this last night, but ended up going over to Kirsi's house for a visit. So now it's Saturday morning. Oh well...
Overheard at our house (hint, the internet police is a main character)
Me: Hey I.P.!
I.P.: (from behind closed bedroom door) What?
Me: Have you seen our dental floss? It's not in the drawer in the bathroom.
I.P.: Oh, I have, I'll give it to you.
Me: What were you doing with it?
I.P.: I used it to measure my bed.
Me: Oh. Well, don't bother rolling it back in. Throw out the stuff you used to measure your bed and and will use new to floss.
I.P.: Ok
question: What do you use to measure your bed?
mompoet - ?
Overheard at our house (hint, the internet police is a main character)
Me: Hey I.P.!
I.P.: (from behind closed bedroom door) What?
Me: Have you seen our dental floss? It's not in the drawer in the bathroom.
I.P.: Oh, I have, I'll give it to you.
Me: What were you doing with it?
I.P.: I used it to measure my bed.
Me: Oh. Well, don't bother rolling it back in. Throw out the stuff you used to measure your bed and and will use new to floss.
I.P.: Ok
question: What do you use to measure your bed?
mompoet - ?
Thursday, May 24, 2012
rhubarb time
It's not ready yet in our gardens, but there's lots of fresh rhubarb at the veggie store right now. I love to bake rhubarb pecan muffins and rhubarb crisp. My friend at work offered these Rhubarb Dream Bars at a meeting recently. She included some blueberries along with the rhubarb. They are really yummy.
question: do yhoubarb eat rhubarb?
mompoet - mmmmm!
question: do yhoubarb eat rhubarb?
mompoet - mmmmm!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
searching for szechuan
Our favourite Szechuan Chinese restaurant of years and years and years has changed its owners and chef and is no longer our favourite. Capitol Hill Restaurant in North Burnaby has been our family's gathering place for family lunches and suppers for as long as I can remember, about a dozen years I guess. Their fresh, consistent and brilliantly delicious food at reasonable prices made them a winner. I even took my work friends there. City employees know their food. They nicknamed Capitol Hill, "the Ly Thai of the North," which is fine praise indeed.
So now my family is searching for another good Szechuan restaurant. We crave the intensity and variety of a perfect hot and sour soup, the dark allure of spicy sauteed green beans with minced pork (or not, for our outings with vegetarian friends), spicy squid that makes you remember that fried food doesn't have to be gloopy, and hot pot with eggplant and tofu good enough to break the heart of anyone who comes home from 2 years in Africa, only to find the staff at the place they dreamed about has gone on holiday for 2 weeks. (That actually happened a few years ago, and we still talk about it.)
We have decided to go out and try a few places. We'll know it when we find it. Suggestions are welcome. Please make them good. Here are some things we are not looking for:
question: where do you eat Chinese food?
mompoet - wok-deprived
So now my family is searching for another good Szechuan restaurant. We crave the intensity and variety of a perfect hot and sour soup, the dark allure of spicy sauteed green beans with minced pork (or not, for our outings with vegetarian friends), spicy squid that makes you remember that fried food doesn't have to be gloopy, and hot pot with eggplant and tofu good enough to break the heart of anyone who comes home from 2 years in Africa, only to find the staff at the place they dreamed about has gone on holiday for 2 weeks. (That actually happened a few years ago, and we still talk about it.)
We have decided to go out and try a few places. We'll know it when we find it. Suggestions are welcome. Please make them good. Here are some things we are not looking for:
- sweet and sour anything
- lemon chicken
- brown sauce that tastes exactly the same on everything
- crispy wontons
- limp vegetables
- diced chicken (that's just my bias because it reminds me of food that comes out of a can)
question: where do you eat Chinese food?
mompoet - wok-deprived
May 22 the second - or, I owe you one
Dear Internet Police,
I was busy yesterday. So I didn't blog. Thanks for pointing that out.
Catching up today, I post this make-up blog on the topic of time-shifting. I hereby declare this blog-space to be May 22, not May 23, in the time of blog. While this is unprecedented in my blog practice, it is related to past practices in my real life.
When I was a teenager, my sister had a bunch of friends over for a sleepover in our basement. These girls were all good girls, serious students with busy lives. Several of them had piano lessons and other such stuff on Saturday mornings. My sister and her friend played a trick on them. She and her friend woke up early and set the clocks, and their friends' watches, ahead by an hour, then they woke their friends, all in a fake panic. "Look! OH NO! you missed your piano lesson." A hilarious freakout ensued. My sister has many friends still from this time, so I think they must have forgiven her.
More recently, about 10 years ago, we celebrated New Year's Eve at our house with family friends. One family has a girl who was 3 or 4 years old (Hi Emma!) I remember that we counted down and shouted Happy New Year at 10pm, so that family could go home at a decent hour. It was fun opening the door and shouting into the street, banging pots and pans, two hours early. Our neighbours must have thought we were nuts, or at least seriously confused. We celebrated our 10pm New Year with as much gusto and enjoyment as the real midnight one. Then two hours later, we did it again, with all who remained at ur house for the rest of the evening. That was one of our best New Years.
On New Year's Eve two years ago, we did the opposite. This time we were at a neighbour's house, again celebrating with families. Everyone's kids are young adults now, and one son had to work until just before midnight (Hi Alex C!) This time, our host used his PVR to record the New York Times New Year (which actually happens 3 hours before our New Year) until our last guest arrived. Half an hour later, when Alex C arrived, we played the recorded New Year, and celebrated together, so everyone could be there for the shouting and the kissing and the champagne popping.
The other night, at a family dinner, we were discussing how my niece's birthday this year will fall on the last day of the world as we know it, according to the Mayan calendar. Funny, my niece's name is Maya. Now did that make shivers go up and down your spine? We're not seriously worried that the end of the world will happen on Maya's birthday, but we did get to wondering: Will it happen at the same time all over the world? (the end of the world, I mean, not Maya's birthday) or will the world end one hour at a time as it arrives in each time zone?
So there now, Happy May 22nd! I mean it.
question: Have you ever time-shifted?
mompoet - besides recording or watching your favourite TV show on another time zone's network affiliate, I mean
I was busy yesterday. So I didn't blog. Thanks for pointing that out.
Catching up today, I post this make-up blog on the topic of time-shifting. I hereby declare this blog-space to be May 22, not May 23, in the time of blog. While this is unprecedented in my blog practice, it is related to past practices in my real life.
When I was a teenager, my sister had a bunch of friends over for a sleepover in our basement. These girls were all good girls, serious students with busy lives. Several of them had piano lessons and other such stuff on Saturday mornings. My sister and her friend played a trick on them. She and her friend woke up early and set the clocks, and their friends' watches, ahead by an hour, then they woke their friends, all in a fake panic. "Look! OH NO! you missed your piano lesson." A hilarious freakout ensued. My sister has many friends still from this time, so I think they must have forgiven her.
More recently, about 10 years ago, we celebrated New Year's Eve at our house with family friends. One family has a girl who was 3 or 4 years old (Hi Emma!) I remember that we counted down and shouted Happy New Year at 10pm, so that family could go home at a decent hour. It was fun opening the door and shouting into the street, banging pots and pans, two hours early. Our neighbours must have thought we were nuts, or at least seriously confused. We celebrated our 10pm New Year with as much gusto and enjoyment as the real midnight one. Then two hours later, we did it again, with all who remained at ur house for the rest of the evening. That was one of our best New Years.
On New Year's Eve two years ago, we did the opposite. This time we were at a neighbour's house, again celebrating with families. Everyone's kids are young adults now, and one son had to work until just before midnight (Hi Alex C!) This time, our host used his PVR to record the New York Times New Year (which actually happens 3 hours before our New Year) until our last guest arrived. Half an hour later, when Alex C arrived, we played the recorded New Year, and celebrated together, so everyone could be there for the shouting and the kissing and the champagne popping.
The other night, at a family dinner, we were discussing how my niece's birthday this year will fall on the last day of the world as we know it, according to the Mayan calendar. Funny, my niece's name is Maya. Now did that make shivers go up and down your spine? We're not seriously worried that the end of the world will happen on Maya's birthday, but we did get to wondering: Will it happen at the same time all over the world? (the end of the world, I mean, not Maya's birthday) or will the world end one hour at a time as it arrives in each time zone?
So there now, Happy May 22nd! I mean it.
question: Have you ever time-shifted?
mompoet - besides recording or watching your favourite TV show on another time zone's network affiliate, I mean
Monday, May 21, 2012
seriously, it is NOT May 21
Fiona asked me yesterday why I have not been blogging. She checks my blog every day. I told her that I think I have been preoccupied with other people's stories, which are not mine to tell in this blog. With other people on my mind and in my heart, I have not taken the time for introspection and thus not produced anything to tell the blogosphere about what's going on with me. I also told Fiona that I will blog every day for one week, and thus get back in the habit. I told myself that I will stick to my guns and not tell other people's stories. So I guess that means I have to look at and think about myself. Hmmm...
I have 2 shows coming up weekend after next.
On Saturday, June 2, from 4-445pm, I will perform with the Thundering Word group at the In the House Festival. I'll be on with Bill MacNamara, Rosemary Nowicki, Bryant Ross and Fernando Raguero. It will be a wonderful hour and 45 minutes of poetry and storytelling. The In the House Festival takes place in houses and yards in East Vancouver. You should check it out!
On Sunday, June 3, from 3-5pm, I will perform at Poetic Justice. That's at the Heritage Grill on Columbia Street in New Westminster. I'll be on with Eileen Kernighan and Vincent Gnitt. Poetic Justice happens every Sunday. It's a lovely reading series with a wonderful following of poets and enthusiasts.
So now I have to choose some pieces and prepare them. For me that means memorizing because I like to perform, rather than read, my work. So, if you see me walking sideways down the road, talking to myself, you'll know what I'm doing. Speaking of sideways walking, my foot is feeling a lot better, but that's a topic for another day.
Talk to you tomorrow!
question: Where's the most interesting place you have seen a performance?
mompoet - getting ready for In the House and Poetic Justice
I have 2 shows coming up weekend after next.
On Saturday, June 2, from 4-445pm, I will perform with the Thundering Word group at the In the House Festival. I'll be on with Bill MacNamara, Rosemary Nowicki, Bryant Ross and Fernando Raguero. It will be a wonderful hour and 45 minutes of poetry and storytelling. The In the House Festival takes place in houses and yards in East Vancouver. You should check it out!
On Sunday, June 3, from 3-5pm, I will perform at Poetic Justice. That's at the Heritage Grill on Columbia Street in New Westminster. I'll be on with Eileen Kernighan and Vincent Gnitt. Poetic Justice happens every Sunday. It's a lovely reading series with a wonderful following of poets and enthusiasts.
So now I have to choose some pieces and prepare them. For me that means memorizing because I like to perform, rather than read, my work. So, if you see me walking sideways down the road, talking to myself, you'll know what I'm doing. Speaking of sideways walking, my foot is feeling a lot better, but that's a topic for another day.
Talk to you tomorrow!
question: Where's the most interesting place you have seen a performance?
mompoet - getting ready for In the House and Poetic Justice
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
crabwalk
Who is that woman doing the grapevine down the sidewalk at 8:15 on a Wednesday morning? Oh, it's just me. Never mind.
I am in month 3 of recovery from my foot injury. I did not ever imagine how long this could take or how limiting it would be, but I'm on the mend with lots of care and work. I highly recommend NOT getting plantar fasciitis. It's good when you don't have a burning hot knife stabbing you in the heel all day and sometimes in the night.
I hurt my foot on January 16, my first day back to work after a 3 week Christmas break. It was icy out, and I was wearing grippy things on the bottom of my boots as I walked to my office. I'm guessing I altered the way I put my foot down because of the grippy things, which triggered the injury. I'm pretty sure it was waiting to happen already. It's in my left heel, and my left knee and hip have been hurting on and off for about 6 months. Everything is connected to everything, as I have been learning.
Soon after injuring my foot, I went to New York for a week. I gobbled ibuprofen, kept a frozen water bottle in the hotel fridge for icing whenever I was in the room, and toughed it through a week in a city where you just have to walk all day long. That's how it works in New York.
When I got home I began working on my heel. I got soft orthotics, started a three month stretching program, saw a massage therapist, stopped walking (that was the hardest part). Slowly, the pain has been subsiding. Slowly I have been able to do more on foot. I now have the stetchiest, most massaged feet and calves of anyone I know. I own a foam half-roller, a grid massager and a half-ball. Want to crack up your 21 year old? Ask him to "throw Mama her half-ball." I slept for many nights in a tensor sock. In fact, the sock went to New York with us and helped me make it through "walking with a red hot knife in your foot" week. (ps Andy says the tensor sock is NOT sexy.)
Which brings me to walking the grapevine down the sidewalk at 8:15 on a Wednesday morning. My wonderful massage therapist gives me homework. One of my assignments is to walk sideways whenever I can. Her precise words were, "You know the stuff that soccer players do on the sidelines? Do that!" So I've incorporated sideways walking into my routine. I'm now walking part way to work. I just get off the bus a little early and walk the rest of the way. And part of that way, I walk sideways.
If you drive past me and see me walking sideways, please be kind. Don't honk. If you want, you can roll down your car window and shout, "OPA!" Otherwise, I don't want to hear about it.
question: what did you ever do to help yourself mend?
mompoet - OPA!
I am in month 3 of recovery from my foot injury. I did not ever imagine how long this could take or how limiting it would be, but I'm on the mend with lots of care and work. I highly recommend NOT getting plantar fasciitis. It's good when you don't have a burning hot knife stabbing you in the heel all day and sometimes in the night.
I hurt my foot on January 16, my first day back to work after a 3 week Christmas break. It was icy out, and I was wearing grippy things on the bottom of my boots as I walked to my office. I'm guessing I altered the way I put my foot down because of the grippy things, which triggered the injury. I'm pretty sure it was waiting to happen already. It's in my left heel, and my left knee and hip have been hurting on and off for about 6 months. Everything is connected to everything, as I have been learning.
Soon after injuring my foot, I went to New York for a week. I gobbled ibuprofen, kept a frozen water bottle in the hotel fridge for icing whenever I was in the room, and toughed it through a week in a city where you just have to walk all day long. That's how it works in New York.
When I got home I began working on my heel. I got soft orthotics, started a three month stretching program, saw a massage therapist, stopped walking (that was the hardest part). Slowly, the pain has been subsiding. Slowly I have been able to do more on foot. I now have the stetchiest, most massaged feet and calves of anyone I know. I own a foam half-roller, a grid massager and a half-ball. Want to crack up your 21 year old? Ask him to "throw Mama her half-ball." I slept for many nights in a tensor sock. In fact, the sock went to New York with us and helped me make it through "walking with a red hot knife in your foot" week. (ps Andy says the tensor sock is NOT sexy.)
Which brings me to walking the grapevine down the sidewalk at 8:15 on a Wednesday morning. My wonderful massage therapist gives me homework. One of my assignments is to walk sideways whenever I can. Her precise words were, "You know the stuff that soccer players do on the sidelines? Do that!" So I've incorporated sideways walking into my routine. I'm now walking part way to work. I just get off the bus a little early and walk the rest of the way. And part of that way, I walk sideways.
If you drive past me and see me walking sideways, please be kind. Don't honk. If you want, you can roll down your car window and shout, "OPA!" Otherwise, I don't want to hear about it.
question: what did you ever do to help yourself mend?
mompoet - OPA!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)