friday freefall, express organics

each week we get a bin of wonderful organics delivered to our door. it sure helps beat the february blahs, especially when we have been getting snowstorm upon snowstorm this winter. I was out on the road this morning, regretting having left the house when I realized how not nice the roads actually were.

so, now ... inside, safe and sound, planning our week's meals out of $35 of bounty. (and, yes, I do buy more groceries than just this in case you were worried)
I forgot to order more milk for my yogurt this week. hmmm. maybe jen could help us out. the drive would be worth it. it's GOT to be warmer down there ... isn't that where all this came from?

thursday throwback, one of the happiest days...

this day is one of the happiest days of my life. my brother got married this day, and neal and I truly agree it was the best wedding we have ever attended. evan was around 8 weeks old in this picture. for some reason, whenever I look at this snapshot, my eyes fill up with tears and I truly do not know how to explain it. evan is a wonderful boy, to be sure, but he was anything but an easy baby, so that can't be it. maybe it's just the "last baby" syndrome or something. anyway, I have been waiting for a thursday to put this up ...
happy memories

six word meme

I love it whensarah does this because then I don't have to think. honestly, my blog would have folded a long time ago if it weren't for her.

to start a six word memoir meme here are the rules:

1. Write your own six word memoir
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere
4 .Tag five more blogs with links
5. And don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

so here is mine :

one time around adventure ... pursuing passionately.

Archemedes' Principle, or How I KNOW that's the Canadian Side

This morning the boys are working their way through Chapter Eleven of our Cheaper by the Dozen Study Guide. Questions 7 and 8 are worded like this

Do some experimenting with a sink full of water, testing different objects to see if they will float or sink. Make observations using the Scientific Method: Research, Problem, Hypothesis, Experimentation, Conclusion.

Who was Archemedes? Do you know what Archemedes' Principle is? If not, then go on a "treasure hunt" to find out. (It will help you to think about the above experiment)

I had a link to this website, and Jonam moved on to here. The second site clearly features an animated image of the Canadian side of the Falls. Clearly. These are both really great sites and I guess I just thought you should know (especially the part about the Canuck Falls. If you don't believe me, ask R.C.)

first family day, 2008

today is family day, a brand new statutory holiday in ontario. that beats what happened on president's day four years ago, when we were rejected for the adoption of a little blonde haired boy who had already been spending every weekend with us for more than half a year. I think it will be good to have a new memory for february 18.

family day. not entirely sure what the government of ontario considers a family anymore, but I will gladly take what I can get.

we are planning a lego build off since it is ice and rain outside, then I have to spend some time memorizing for the upcoming production ... we are officially "off book" tonight, which means I have to call for a line and cannot have my script anymore. while nerve-wracking, it is good to get it over with. you have to be exposed to reality early or you use your script as a crutch. I have over 150 lines as maud tank ... that is where I stopped counting. I just didn't want to know.

thursday throwback, the boys

today is back to school for us and back to work for neal. today, tomorrow and then we have a four day weekend to look forward to. family day is the newly legislated statutory holiday. I still have a rehearsal that night, but at least we have the day to play together. most of everything will be closed in town ... good. I am relishing the idea of sleeping in and not having to be up early, out the door for HIGH Day.

I am also, unfortunately, looking forward to neal helping me figure out the best way to stop these boys from picking fights with each other and with me. talk about attitudes. I know we as homeschoolers spend an exorbitant amount of time together but you would think by now we would also know how to acquiesce. definitely have to work on that one.

started normally in "the good old days". this was around 1996. we rented a three bedroom apartment.

suggestions? (bearing in mind that one just turned thirteen and the other is only 17 months behind)

sometimes all we need is just a little reminder of how things used to be ...

on evan's third birthday. no one could have pulled these two apart (or understood half of what they said to each other for that matter) we rented a house from my brother's friend. great, huge backyard.

this is on evan's fourth birthday. we had just purchased our first home a few weeks prior to this day, July 2000. so far, arguing or no, we have not found any friend who sticks closer than a brother.

mandalas

I really did attend HIGH Day yesterday (kind of hard not to if you are one of the Directors but nevertheless) I just didn't have a chance to post any pictures. As soon as I walked in the door, Neal informed me that there was a message from my best friend (yes, I have two) who is visiting her family in Florence (a hamlet about half an hour from here) all the way from frigid Saskatchewan. She will never let me complain about the cold during our tea today. Never.

She and I have not seen each other since they packed up the family and moved out West almost 1 1/2 years ago. I miss her dearly. She even managed to have a baby in that time and today I am priviledged to meet her, though she is not my namesake. That dear girl is at home with her daddy and two other siblings. (I hope Jay is making out ok).

As the two of us were happily planning out a visit in our minds, I also received another phone call. This time it was a fellow actress wondering if the boys and I would like to come to her studio for an hour or so to create. Are you kidding me? You definitely don't have to ask me twice.

tres cool ...

as I left the house for rehearsals last night, I left three happy boy-types at the table, creating new mandalas. and, happily, today is another day ...

the first dress was kind of, well, kind of tight around the neck so sylvia found me this beauty. no smiling in the 1800's. sylvia is on the far left. in the middle are carol and her husband warren. he writes the murder mysteries, acts and does set work. carol writes historical plays, acts and directs. so much talent for such a small town. we are standing outside the council chambers waiting to enter and make our pitch. we are asking for $150,000 to fund the 150th anniversary of oil since our initial trillium fund was rescinded.
my dress weighs many pounds and was, literally, crafted out of old curtains. at least it didn't strangle.

and these are one of my favourite pairs of boots. true blue originals. soft as butter ... no exagguration

winded wednesday, town meeting

or maybe winded wednesday. this morning I actually got out of bed early so I could attend a meeting at 8:30am. I am on the committee for art in the park, 2008. each july in petrolia there is a weekend dedicated to the arts in our town. the problem is that there are a few vendors that are, um, "lifers" if you will, insisting on the SAME spot for their table of "art". I am not trying to be a snob here, but selling used benny hinn cassettes, sparkly dish towels or john deere dinky cars doesn' t exactly line up with my definition of art. so, tomorrow the new committee will endevour to put our heads together to devise a way to gently let the "lifers" go. painful as that may sound, the event is dying rapidly and unless we can breathe some serious new life into it, will go the way of the dinosaur. there is also the matter of the baby contest. just not sure we can claim new babies, beautiful though they are, as works of art either.

neal and I are in the process of designing a print for some t-shirts we hope will both promote the art weekend and keep it going. I will post some pictures of the design as soon as the committee approves it. I hope they like what we dreamed up.

then ...

these are our costumes for the afternoon, as we attempt to convince the mayor of sarnia that our town is indeed worth funding for the 150th anniversary of the first commercial oil well in north america. come on people, do we really need to beg? my boys and I are three of six pawns in this political predicament. hope we are convincing enough ...

untitled

no fire today ... the temperature is on the cusp of too warm. just about tennessee. (ok, maybe not but I was short on words). I went to a funeral this morning, to support a friend. one of neal's co-workers lost her daddy to liver cancer this week. I have never been to a catholic funeral before though many parts of it reminded me of my lutheran upbringing. the sky is befitting my friend's emotions. dreary is the tone, bleak the shadow in the parking lot. I can still hear the bells and smell the incense of the service. I was strangely un-moved by the ceremony. today I want quietude. for a lack of what to do next, I stopped on the way home to pick up a new tea for our shakespeare reading.

pannetone vanilla lemon.

all's well that ends well ...

poetry blog slam

apparently I have some more inner healing to do. when I read sarah's latest post (latest at the time of my writing this at least. I swear she can post more in one day than I can think of in one week) my first thought was "poetry slam, huh? I wonder how long til one of my poems gets slammed." strange the thoughts one can think when there isn't enough caffeine in the bloodstream yet.

one thing I know ... my favourite poem (ok, two things. I also know my favourite number). I have digested and fallen in love with much poetry, but this one for some reason will not let me go. It is raw and stunning and not exactly homeschoolblogger material.

michael ondaatje * the cinnamon peeler's wife

If I were a cinnamon peeler

I would ride your bed

and leave the yellow bark dust

on your pillow.

Your breasts and shoulders would reek

you could never walk through markets

without the profession of my fingers

floating over you. The blind would

stumble certain of whom they approached

though you might bathe

under raingutters, monsoon.

Here on the upper thigh

at this smooth pasture

neighbour to your hair

or the crease

that cuts your back. This ankle.

You will be known among strangers

as the cinnamon peeler's wife.

I could hardly glance at you

before marriage

never touch you

-your keen nosed mother, your rough brothers.

I buried my hands

in saffron, disguised them

over smoking tar,

helped the honey gatherers ...

when we swam once

I touched you in water

and our bodies remained free,

you could hold me and be blind of smell.

You climbed the bank and said

this is how you touch other women

the grasscutter's wife, the limeburner's daughter

and you searched your arms

for the missing perfume

and knew

what good is it

to be the lime burner's daughter

left with no trace

as if not spoken to in an act of love

as if wounded without the pleasure of a scar.

You touched

your belly to my hands

in the dry air and said

I am the cinnamon

peeler's wife. Smell me.