my town today

Question: Howz your town today?

Mompoet - homebody walkabout slowdown....ahhhhh

for your friday pleasure - weebl & bob's fancy dance jamboree

It's not a cartoon. It's home-made dance videos sent in by forum members. Fun to watch.

question: would you ever send anyone a video of you dancing?

mompoet - wondering why people do this

Proud

*please note, this post has been corrected. I got one of the categories wrong when I posted originally.
Fiona won a scholarship in the Kiwanis Music Festival for Junior Ensemble singing. She shares it with her singing partner. She also won a medallion for best performance of a song from a movie, out of about 25 children her age. The presentations will be made at the honours concert later this month. Add to that, she was mobbed by adoring Cowardly Lion-crazed fans after Wednesday's school performance of the Wizard of Oz. Pretty sweet recognition for her work and talent. And all well-deserved.

I know you'll read this. Good job Fi!

question: isn't it a wonderful feeling to admire your own child?

mompoet - her biggest fan

More Africa

A funny, sad, revealing post from my sister in Eritrea.

question: Would you go, if you could?

mompoet - wishing I could

toot toot

Check out this video.

question: none for the time being.

mompoet - gotta go take a call

ps Thanx Dad!

wordless wednesday

tasty tuesday list of delicious

The Red Hot Chili Peppers tickets came in the mail. I profess not to worry about stuff, but I admit I was worried they wouldn't, that there had been a mistake or maybe someone stole them from my mailbox (!!!) but they came. We will have to carry oxygen for high altitudes, our seats are so far up in the stadium, but we'll be about eye level with the jumbo-tron, and the people-watching will be fabulous. I think I have worn out the new Peppers cd Stadium Arcadium, listening to it over and over. It is very good. I'm also listening to their music from the 80s and 90s and enjoying the progression. The concert's on September 14, so there's some more time to anticipate the fun.

Alex left his cell phone in his jeans pocket when he did his laundry (hey, that's delicious all by itself, my kids do their own laundry). Anyway, the phone went through a whole wash, rinse and spin cycle. Andy advised him to leave it to dry out for a week. Alex tried it last night. Guess what? It works!

I went to an Italian wedding shower on Sunday. My friend Kathy's son Robert is getting married this summer. Lucy, his fiancee, is Italian. I was maid of honour in an Italian wedding once, so I was prepared. The shower was at an Italian restaurant with 50 women. Everything was beautiful. I knew about the food part, so I ate only 1/2 of everything that was served to me, and made it through the meal while others who were uninitiated to Italian banquet eating dropped like stuffed flies around me. The food was delicious, but even more delicious? At our table there were six Marias! Maria, Maria, Maria, Maria, Maria and Maria...ahhhhh!

I saw the Da Vinci Code on Sunday evening with Alex and I actually liked it. It's been pretty much panned by the critics, but I decided to give it a try, and Alex was dying to see it so he could talk to his friends about it at school on Monday. If you watch it as a study of character and intention it's actually pretty good. What makes each person go? Oh! It was very good in that sense, or as good as a movie can be. As a thriller/mystery or compelling statement of a controversial theory, I'm not so sure, but I'm not much of a judge of such things. About people's stories I know, and it was good in that way. I also admire how Tom Hanks is okay with not looking beautiful. Good man.

Andy and I saw Fiona in The Wizard of Oz on Saturday. It was her "off cast" meaning she was playing a chorus part. The show is "double-cast" meaning each actor learns two parts, a main role and a chorus part. We'll see her playing the Cowardly Lion this coming Saturday. She is a star. We are so proud of her.

That's my delicious life so far.

question: what's good for you today?

mompoet - full of yummy

Garage Sale Impressions

Our townhouse complex had its annual garage sale this weekend. I unloaded a bit of junk, had a great visit with our old neighbour Neana who always comes back and sets up shop for the day with us. I spent only $2 (1 brand new propane tank for the barbeque and a brand new queen size bed comforter), and the potluck supper was great at the end of the day.

question: what's your best garage sale or thrift shop find lately?

mompoet - not a shopper but I love the weirdness of people buying each other's junk

I could get my "L" in real life

And now for an email from the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia after I tried the online practice "L" driver's test:

Congratulations on completing your practice knowledge test.

Here is your test summary:

You scored 88%. The passing score on the real test is 80%.

An analysis of your test results indicates that you need to focus

your study in the following subject areas in RoadSense for Drivers.

Chapter 3: Signs, Signals and Road Markings - Pg. 27; Chapter 5: See - Think - Do - Pg. 55;

Use your test notes to review the questions you answered and visit icbc.com to take the

practice knowledge test again.

The ICBC practice knowledge test is @: link here

Good luck!

**********************************************************************************************

Did you know that in setting insurance premiums, ICBC does not discriminate on the basis of age, sex or marital status?

question: why not try it?

mompoet - fair to middling driver, glad I don't have to start over again

Here's the Link for the Real Practice L Test

Can you get your L?

question: would we be able to get our licenses if we had to start all over?

mompoet - sharing the road

Trick Question Learner's Licence Driving Quiz

Alex and his 16 year old friends are speculating about the questions on the Learner's Licence Driver Quiz. They are positive that trick questions will be included. In their imaginations, it will look like this. Find out if you have what it takes to get your "L."

1. What is never allowed when you are not turning off your hazard lights?

parking beside a mailbox
turning left from a one way street to an unmarked divided restricted lane
eating fried chicken and applying mascara while singing "Row Row Row your Boat"


2. Backing up without looking over your shoulder is never not prohibited when:

you have a stiff neck
you have not neglected to forget to collapse your umbrella
your underwear is on backwards


3. If you hear but don't see or see but don't hear the absence of an emergency vehicle you must:

cease stopping and refrain from yielding until you see or hear something real
pray but not out loud unless you have brushed your teeth recently
call home on the cell phone and ask your mom if she hears or sees anything


4. Which is the most worstly prohibited driving mistake?

de-constigulating in a hubris zone
artriculating in a non-artriculating interflange
gorgloning at any time


5. If you drive over a cat, what is your best next move?

drive under a dog to make it even
whatever you do, don't tell the cat
apply for a class 4 licence so you can become a school bus driver when you graduate

Congratulations, you have survived the Learner's Licence Driving Quiz. Here's what your score means:
1-5 - You have neglected to fail at passing. Try again.
6-10 - Have you considered faresavers?
11-15 - Provisional "L" for bumper cars only.

And remember, everything I have told you is a lie.

how to get it out of your head

To remove an unwanted song from your head, sing O Canada! (preferably out loud, but you can use your judgement).

O Canada! is the sorbet (or, for my dad SHERBERRRRRRT) of songs. It cleanses your brain of any bad song that won't go away. Try it.

question: ring ring ring ring ring ring ring?

mompoet - bananaphone....O Canada!

in case wordless wednesday is just a bit too quiet for you

bananaphone

question: ring ring?

mompoet - repetition is for emphasis

wordless wednesday

sewing some more

One more night of Munchkin Stitchery before tomorrow's dress rehearsal. Actually, I'm sewing a sherbert-green dress, but they don't have a lot of female munchkin images on the internet. Oh well, you can see some of them in the background.

Question: Do you remember the song from this famous scene?

mompoet - (hint) We represent the......

breathing

I’m working on breathing
Breath has the power
To power my words
Give life to my thoughts
Transform awkward impulse to song

Singing teacher says
“Fill the belly. Support your notes. Breathe strong. Breathe control.”
But I can’t tell,
Will I ever find enough air
To express the breadth of
Whatever this is
Ballooning to bursting
Inside?

Or will I suffocate
Before I can expel the truth?
And upon collapsing
Reveal an emptiness that will
Rob all oxygen from the atmosphere
Deprive those I love the best
Of the breath they need
To sustain their own songs?

I’m floundering
Gasping
It should be wet here
Bottomless
Instead, I’m drowning in my car
Windows cranked tight
I saturate myself with sound
Race from one idea to another
Windows closed tight
But music leaks
Leaves a trail behind me

The music that fills my chest with something good for now
Numbs me to the knowledge
That most of these thoughts are harmful
Toxic if inhaled and held for too long
Music that leaks
Despite windows closed tight
Leaks like sweet marinade
Follow me
Follow me

Singing teacher says
“When you have learned the breathing
The song is the same
Going out
Coming in
It’s one fluid exchange”

It should be wet here
I’m driving in a snow globe without a bubble
My ears are full so I can’t tell
Are you there?
Bring me air
Resuscitate me
We will drive and drive and drive
Until
Like breath
We disappear.

mompoet - breathing

the porridge

This is the porridge recipe that I use. I was eating it when I broke my tooth, but I don't blame the porridge. It was my tooth's expiry date, no matter what I was eating.

It comes from a CBC radio breakfast contest a long time ago. It's very good:

ARTHUR'S PORRIDGE

4 cups wheat bran

3 cups rolled oats (largest flakes)

2 cups Triticale flakes

1 cup barley flakes

1 cup wheat flakes

2 cups cracked oats (Scotch Oats)

2 cups cracked wheat

1 cup whole barley (Pot Barley)

1 cup whole oats (Oat Groats)

1 1/2 cup flax seed (BROWN variety)

Mix thoroughly all grains in a large container. Fill plastic bags or wide-mouth jars with the porridge mix. I make a gigantic recipe (quadrupled or quintupled, and store the bags in the freezer).

TO PREPARE (per serving):

Boil one cup of water in a pot. Add a pinch of salt, a small handful of

raisins (dried cranberries are good too) and 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the porridge mix.

Stir a couple of times, put lid on pot, then immediately remove pot from high heat and place on another element at lowest heat and let this stand undisturbed for approximately five minutes.

This is good with brown sugar and milk or with my personal favourite: plain yogurt and home-made strawberry jam.

Thanks Mom, for digging up the recipe when I couldn't find my copy.

I hope you will try this recipe, and don't worry about your teeth. It's good for your teeth.

question: what did you have for breakfast this morning?

mompoet - breakfast matters

summer is soon

And I have passed through the portal of equinox funk to loving the light again. It always happens this way, but every year I dread the transition. phew. It's done. I even wore shorts yesterday, and I bought some new summery-salmon toe varnish. The Victoria Day long weekend begins tomorrow, and with it the official lounging in our carports season of neighbourly suburban drinking on the street while our children play hockey and ride bikes. It's one week to the giant garage sale and first mega-potluck of the outdoor eating-together season too. I've begun watering plants in the morning, and walking the dog without putting on a coat. Now I'm ready for summer. Bring me summer!

question: what's your favourite time of year?

mompoet - guess I better shave my legs, huh?

neighbour haiku

the oven was not
left on but you can call me
anytime to check

question: who has your keys?

mompoet - once my neighbour went inside my house and brought my bathing suit to the pool when I ripped a hole in the butt of the one I that I wore to the pool in the first place

wordless wednesday