My 15 minutes (or is it 15 seconds?)

by | Sep 10, 2008 | Uncategorized

Having my picture on the front page of the Christian Week won’t exactly make me a household name, but it’s kinda fun none-the-less. (Although my friend said that the picture makes me look like I’m now a bonafide “Missionary”. Ha!) In the “don’t believe everything you read in the media” file, though (not even the CHRISTIAN media), the article says I was in Bangladesh “helping to distribute rice after Cyclone Sidr.” Not true. The only rice I handled made its way into my own stomach. (With the exception of one plateful after maggots were discovered.)
Oh… and then there’s my poem that came out in the most recent edition of Rhubarb. I think if you click on the image, you can probably read it.

And in today’s edition of the Globe and Mail (a national newspaper in Canada), an essay by yours truly. You can read it here (at least for today – it might not work tomorrow.)

I have one other magazine piece coming out soon, but I’m not sure when.

So-and-so

by | Sep 8, 2008 | Uncategorized

Everybody’s got a few so-and-so’s in their life. You know who they are. It’s the person who always succeeds brilliantly in every area in which you fail. So-and-so has been making my life miserable lately with her “fingernails on a chalkboard” need for perfection.

So-and-so wouldn’t have wasted an hour watching mindless television last night (especially when it was a re-run she’d already seen) and certainly wouldn’t have left 2 loads of clean laundry unfolded for the children to rifle through this morning.

So-and-so doesn’t have a months-old pile of bills gathering dust on top of the microwave – she would have sorted them all and filed them away in crisp neat colour-coded folders. And none of the bills would ever be paid late.

So-and-so wouldn’t have forgotten to go through her daughter’s school supply list one last time, sending her to school without the paper towel, paint shirt, and ziplock bags.

So-and-so would have put the slow-cooker on HIGH on Sunday morning, so that when it was time for potluck, the potatoes in the stew would have been “al dente” rather than rock hard.

So-and-so wouldn’t let her children go to bed with their clothes on – she would ALWAYS have clean, folded pajamas lined up in the appropriate places in their dresser drawers.

So-and-so doesn’t show up at soccer games on rainy days without an umbrella or rain jacket. In fact, so-and-so would probably have extra umbrellas in her car for all the other poor slobs who’d forgotten theirs. Plus a couple of blankets to keep the players warm on the bench. And at the end of the game, she’d pull out rice krispie squares for all the players, with a few extra for their younger siblings.

So-and-so wouldn’t just have good intentions, she’d actually follow through and phone those people who are sick or lonely. She’d probably also bring them a casserole. And wash their floors for them.

So-and-so always stands up to bullies, speaks her mind even when it means risking her reputation, and never hears the words “avoids confrontation” on a performance review.

So-and-so never runs out of money before the end of the pay period, even in September when she has to buy school supplies and new indoor runners for three kids, pay lunch fees, pay soccer registration fees, and pay for music lessons with one pay cheque right after a family vacation. She would have been prepared and stashed money away for just such a rainy day.

So-and-so never feels awkward in a crowd and always knows how to make other people feel comfortable and relaxed. She can start a conversation with anyone and never hurts anyone’s feelings because they think she’s stuck-up and ignores them.

I hate so-and-so.

Speaking of China…

by | Sep 6, 2008 | Uncategorized

Sarah, one of my newest blog friends, is on her way to China to be united with her sweet little adopted daughter, Chen Jin Lin. I’m so excited for her! Why don’t you run on over there and wish her well?

And if you see Maddie emerging from a hole in the ground while you’re there, Sarah, be sure to send her home!

She was a skater girl

by | Sep 6, 2008 | Uncategorized

Conversation in our kitchen after school:

Maddie: Today me and my friends tried to dig to China. We didn’t make it to China, though. We made it to water. Pause. Tomorrow, I think we’ll make it to China.

A few minutes later…

Maddie: But… what if we make it to China, how are we going to get back to Canada?

Me: I don’t know. What do you think you should do?

Maddie: Well, I guess we’ll have to build a REALLY long ladder.

A few minutes later…

Maddie: Once we get there, I think we’ll organize field trips for all the other kids.

Me: So… why China? Why not some other country on the other side of the world, like India or Afghanistan?

Maddie: Duh, Mom. China is COOL!

Thursday Thirteen

by | Sep 5, 2008 | Uncategorized

1. I think I’ve sealed my nomination for “wife of the year” award. On my last holiday of the summer (last Friday), I crawled out of bed at 5:00 in the morning to go fishing with my dear husband. Yes, you read that right – FIVE O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING!

2. Here he is, just as the sun was rising over his “happy place” – his favourite fishin’ hole in the world. We’ve been visiting this place for about 16 years by now (since before we got married).

3. Speaking of which, we celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary while we were on vacation in August. We’re finally getting a chance to celebrate it for real in a few weeks with a romantic getaway in a cabin that’s so close to his happy place, we’ll probably spend some time fishing there again. But not at 5:00 a.m., or it won’t be MY happy place!

4. I like fishing, but it’s mostly because Marcel is fairly tolerant when I let him look after both of our fishing rods, and instead I do a couple of my favourite things – reading and wandering around taking pictures. I only managed to reel in one tiny fish, and then I passed the rods on to him. (Oh don’t I just look so wide awake? I can hardly believe I’m showing you this picture.)

5. Here’s me doing one of those favourite things after catching my token fish:6. If you’re looking for a good read, try “Twenty Chickens for a Saddle”. (Thanks, AP!)

7. And here’s one of my favourite pictures from the day of “fishing” – just before the sun burned off the morning mist:
8. In other excursions, in the last weekend of the summer, we finally managed to squeeze in a visit to my brother’s place (about 2 hours away) for pizza night. No trip to their house is ever complete without the cousins putting on a little parade after a visit to the dress-up box.
8. Why is it that EVERYTHING has to start up again in September? After a relaxing August, I’m just not ready for the crazy schedule of soccer games, music lessons, homework, and a little business travel thrown in for good measure. Can I go back to that lovely island off the west coast again?

9. Maddie’s comment after seeing one of her friends after a summer apart. “So, L has some blue hair now. It’s not every day you see someone with blue hair.”

10. The first day of school was fairly uneventful and relatively low stress in our house. Except for a minor meltdown over a forgotten pair of indoor shoes, and a tiny bit of stress over not knowing if a combination lock would work, the kids are all quite content and relaxed. Whew.

11. Why are there so many blasted mosquitoes around these days? Shouldn’t they have hibernated… or DIED… by now?!?

12. If I can’t get wife of the year, can I at least get mom of the year for watching soccer games on nights that are so blasted cold my fingers can barely function enough to zip up my third layer of jackets?

13. Okay, so I’m probably not wife of the year or mother of the year, but you can’t deny that I’m pretty darn lucky to be the mom of these three unique and beautiful girls: (First day of school photos, and I actually got all three of them – or at least the one that normally chafes at group photos – to cooperate long enough for a few pictures!)

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