One Part Inspiration...

Those of you who read this blog regularly. might know that profound thoughts occur to me in the oddest places.  One of them is the dentist chair.  It is a spot where I am acutely aware of my surroundings - my senses are heightened.  It may be because my adrenalin is rushing through my body, ready for the fight or flight syndrome.  I will describe them in terms of the five senses for our purposes today.  Or " The Five Schlenches"  which is what I sounded like after three rounds of freezing. Sight:  My dentist`s office looks out (from half-way up the window because the bottom half is blocked out by etched glass) onto the freeway.  I found this strangely calming.  I allowed myself to be mesmerized by the off - ramps, the on-ramps, the small cars, the big cars, the semi-trucks. Mostly I just wished I was on that highway myself, rather than sitting in the chair waiting for my dentist to pronounce certain doom on my back molar. And then there i...

SIGHHHHHHHH.  It's been so long since I posted.  SIGHHHHHHH.  What have I been doing???  SIGHHHH.  I don't know.  Just a lot of bits of nothing that have been grabbing my attention with the tyranny of the non-urgent? We made it through Grade Eleven Socials and English, my son and I.  I learned tons about Canadian History and have used so much of my newly-remembered knowledge in my groups -  where the people I interact with every day lived the history we studied.  I got myself a celebratory decoration in honour of my efforts.  My husband took care of getting my son something to mark this milestone.  Every evening, I dodge remote controlled helicopters in the family room - as they learn how to fly them and land them.  My twenty-something son texted at midnight on a Tuesday not long ago to tell me he would be home in 16 hours.  It has been lovely having him around - and I guess that accounts for s...

I DO NOT LIKE HALLOWEEN Sam I am. It has nothing to do with the cultural taboos.  It's about the costumes.  There are some longstanding memories of trying to come up with a costume idea which would wow the judges and make me a winner.  It never worked.  And now, I am forever scarred.  At the boarding school where I lived, there was a tradition to invite various and sundry parents, teachers, board members and just about anyone who was breathing to come to the costume parade.  Everyone would ask everyone else "What are you going as?" The competition was fierce, to think of the most original costume and then spend days (or our older siblings would in my case) creating it, in the hopes of winning the contest.  I don't remember what the prizes were.  I just remember not winning.  A lot.  In this picture, I was "Sally" of the "Sally, Dick and Jane" books.  You can tell I'm having the time of my life. I re...

A long time ago, I started a post called "What if it's just weather."  I never finished it.  I think I realized that weather does more than happen.  It affects us.  In this part of the world, we are not dealing with the extreme weather that others are, but I have to say, that ours has been very strange for the past several months.  It has been unseasonably cold.  I have tried so hard not to make a point of the way the weather has been, but it has been hard to miss the impact of it. This morning, my husband looked out the window, as we were enjoying breakfast and said "Looks like you'll have a nice day.  The sun is out".  Famous last words.  Two hours later, I looked out the same window, to see the black clouds rollong in.  Two minutes later, the hail.  I took a wee video of it just to prove that I wasn't seeing things.  Ten minutes after that, the sun was back out.  Then the clouds....yo...

I'm not really sure why I need a new password when I open a new account or join a social network or get a new bank card. I mean, I do understand that a password is what keeps me 'safe' from fraudulent use. But, please, I am begging you! I am having such trouble remembering my passwords, and keeping them all straight! Couldn't I just please, pretty please, use the one that actually sticks in my brain? When I was growing up, we used a simple lock to keep us safe. Or a key. I remember feeling anxious about the fact that I would have to remember the numbers for the lock in order to get into my locker. " How in the world would I be able to remember four numbers?" And how would I be able to dial them in every day in the right order? " By the third day of school, it was old hat, and I laughed off how silly I'd been to be so anxious. But this password world is a whole new game. I can't use the same password twice. I have a lot of cards. And ...

Should you walk across the threshold of my place tonight, you might be tempted to wonder what in the world is going on. There's paper all over the desk - testament to homework projects and course selection sheets, updated account balances of various trips being taken in the next few weeks. Valentine's Day leftovers poke through the paper with the residual enjoyment that comes from knowing that loved ones wanted to let me know they were thinking of me. The kitchen counter is topped with the file drawer which is being used to collect the receipts, which we will need in order to send our annual love letter to Revenue Canada. A box labelled "Sunkist" holds the leftovers of a trip to Costco. Over in the dining room, cardboard and paper is strewn everywhere as my #1 son works on a school project. He is constructing playdough people in animated forms and taking pictures of them so he can make a movie of the history of the Russian Revo lution. The laundry room is piled high...

At first glance, it seems very easy. I have a techno-problem. I will contact customer service. They will solve the problem. Onto the next crisis. Unfortunately, this is assuming too much. Apparently, there no such thing as customer service. Not any more. I will bet you ten-to-one , that when a call is made about the telephone, hydro, credit card bill, and I actually talk to a person, not a machine, they are on the beach in Puerto Vallarta , waiting for their para sailing turn. If I send an email about a problem with techno-gadgets, I get a friendly message with an answer, which isn't an answer at all. Real Customer Service Representatives (C.S.R's) no longer exist. I can no longer expect my problems to be solved. I have become fodder for jokes around the water cooler. Let's just take the telephone as an example. All I wanted to know, was the possibility of getting a new phone number and keeping it over the next few months while we move around the city. Or, in other words ( ...

So many new things have crowded my mind this week. It has left me having some pretty crazy conversations inside my head. Here they are in no particular order, because I am too overwhelmed to categorize them. " Man, there's a lot of paper used in the pursuit of knowledge. I can't possibly read all that stuff and retain it ." " Every sector of learning has so much to know. I can't possibly be expected to figure it all out ." " Wow. Look at that. Another load of paper stapled together - this one is highlighted with the key points that I am to learn and execute. That's not going to happen anytime soon. " " By the time I learn this job, it will be over ." "Y ou know what I'd like about now? A cup of tea and a chance to do what something familiar. Something I know how to do, because I have been doing it for so long, that now I'm just tweaking it to suit the occasion. ""I 'm never going to be able ...

I went outside one day a few weeks ago and discovered this was a compressor tree. I have been watching it ever since to see what kind of fruit it would bear. This weekend, the fruit was ripe. And there was a lot more fruit on it than I had seen at first. I've never had a compressor tree before. I wonder what kind of jam it will make?

"M" is for the million things she gave me "O" means only that she's growing old "T" is for the tears she shed to save me "H" is for her heart of purest gold "E" is for her eyes with love-light shining "R" means right and right she'll always be Put them all together they spell MOTHER, a word that means the world to me. (Eddy Arnold) If you were born after the Second World War, you may not know this song. I was born after the Second World, War, and the reason I know it is because of my job. In one of my groups, I thought it wuold be fun to compose our own words to it. So we decided to make each letter a phrase that mothers would say. M - is for "Make your bed this morning". O- is "Only one day at a time". T - is "Time to eat, then brush your teeth dear." H - is 'Home is where the heart resides". E - is "Eat your veggies, and you'll grow tall". R - is "Run you...

I don't know if you are anything like me, but I find myself stopping at the "CLEARANCE" bins. I sift through all the items looking for a deal on my favorites. Truth be told, however, I like to find new and exciting options in the bin just for the fun of trying out a product without paying top price. Such was my experience a little while ago when I found this item. It was marked down from$4.97 to $3.99 and promised "sheer moisture". Not only that, but I was also given the assurance that it was "advanced care". I'm advancing. So I thought I would try it out. So I picked up a bottle, took it up to the cashier, and gave it a whirl. As a consumer decision goes, it was a good one. The moisture was just as sheer as it promised. The minute I put it on my hands, the at-once cooling effect and the rapidity that it dissipated into my skin was truly amazing. The smell was light and airy. It was like going out into a spring breeze. This product seeme...

Huh? I felt like my ears were not working today. Everything my co-worker said to me sounded like something else. In my workplace, it is common to have folks who can't hear what you are saying. I'm just not usually one of them. I thought about how frustrating that must be to constantly have to decipher what someone is saying. At least this is temporary. ( No, not, Tickle Mary. TEMPORARY). Although you can have some great stories out of it. I have a couple of favorites. One is the doctor who met an elderly patient of his on the street. He saw Mr. Jones far away and wondered about the pretty little thing who was on his arm. " Well Hello Mr. Jones " said the doc. " You must be feeling better ". "Sure am doc. I took your advice. I got cheerful and I have a a hot mama". The doctor was taken aback. "That's not what I said. I said " BE CAREFUL, YOU HAVE A HEART MURMUR ". And the other one I like is from my sister. Her h...

I love Maxine. You know the one I am talking about? Yep, this one. To me, she's like the "Dr. Phil" of cartoons. She says it like it is and if you don't like it, she could care less. A little while ago, I sent a card to a friend who was having a hard day. On the front of the card, Maxine is going to share a diet tip that has never failed. On the inside it says "Buy bigger pants". I love that. Part of me would like to be like her. Never mind towing the party line. Say exactly what you think and don't worry about what other people think of you. I think I tend to be like this most with my kids. And they have become a little Maxine-like themselves at times. For instance, when they were very small, we went for a family drive and decided to drop into Mickey "D's for a treat. We told them they had a choice - drink or an ice cream. Son #1 chose a drink. Then as we drove away, he realized that the ice cream looked so much better and he wanted the...

A while ago, I was online playing a word game with a friend. We were leaving messages about how we weren't that good at these games. But she figured it was good to challenge ourselves to keep Alzheimer's at bay. I wrote back something like "Yes, the middle aged brain can play tricks on you sometimes". She replied, "Who's Brian?" That's when I looked at the messages and realized that I had typed B.R.I.A.N. instead of B.R.A.I.N. It was weird because as I was typing it, I realized that I had typed it wrong and actually went back and deleted it and typed it again. I think it was serendipitous. Now I have middle-aged Brian to blame for just about anything. Like the other day when I made a pot of tea and poured myself a cup before I realized that I hadn't actually put a tea bag in. That middle-aged Brian ! He just keeps tricking me. Middle-age Brian gets you to do strange things. He makes you open the fridge and put your shoes in it. Or he lets you ...

How many words a minute can you type? In today's world, it doesn't matter so much, but "back in the day" when I took those typing classes ("The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy fence"), if you didn't type at 80 w.p.m. you might as well pack up your bags and go home. I loved it when we were given the puzzles to figure out (type 8 spaces and 4 "X") - they were so much fun. It was a little like a counted cross stitch. Only back then you couldn't erase anything so your little puzzle of the alligator might turn out to have some unwanted "X" opposite from him because you didn't count enough spaces before you clicked the "X". (Just a note - I've also tried counted cross stitch, but it turns out I can't count so I gave it up for Lent). Nowadays when I watch my children type, I am amazed how fast they can go without their fingers on a.s.d.f.j.k.l.; ... but there they go just chatting with their friends doing the ...

I admit it. There are days when I do things that could be classified as rationale for sending me to the home. I'm not talking about my family home. I am referring to "the home". I say and do things that quite frankly scare me. The other day, I was at work and my co=worker was wearing brown cords. I looked at them and realized that we had matching pants. " Oh dear ", I thought to myself " now I am going to have to phone her if I want to wear my cords so that we don't look like we are in uniform ". (You have to understand that we were in a meeting at the time and it wasn't appropriate to find out whether we'd bought them at the same place. I saved that for later. I should have saved it all together. ) After the meeting, we went our separate ways before I could say anything to her about my thoughts about a potential uniform-type look we had. A bit later, she was walking down the hall. So I called out to her " Hey! You and I have matching...

Raise your hand if you are confused. It's Spring! No, hang on a second. It's the 25th of December! The buds are out in full force. Then why do I have my parka on? Time to sweep out the garage. What is this snow shovel doing out? Time to dig out the t-shirts. Better layer it with some heavy-duty sweatshirts! I bought a bike the other day at a garage sale. I wonder if I should get snow tires for it? I don't know about you, but I have been noticing that the weather has been a bit menopausal lately. Cold, hot, hot, cold. How's a girl supposed to know how to prepare? Fuzzy slippers to keep warm or sandals? Make a fire or get out the iced tea? Honestly. I am so confused. Can someone please advise me what to do? I'll be cuddled up with my hot water bottle. (With the window open for some fresh air)

So, today I was teaching piano. Many of my students like to preview the songs they are going to play. It was the last student of the day. She wanted to hear some songs out of her not-yet used book. I played through them. One was "I Say A Little Prayer For You". She made the comment. "This reminds me of my best friend's wedding". I turned to her immediately and said "You know, it's also on the movie "My Best Friend's Wedding"....have you seen that movie". She nodded. She is a kind-hearted person. Bless her for not pointing out to me that she had been talking about the movie. As one of my bosses used to say "When your brain stops working, don't forget to turn off the volume".

Jesus said to them: "Who do you say that I am?" They replied: " Thou art the Holy Second Person of the Blessed Trinity who hath vouchsafed unto Thine people, justification and everlasting felicity by virtue of Thine efficacious substitutionary atonement." And Jesus said: "What?" Once more Jesus said to them: "Who do you say that I am?" They replied: " You are the eschatalogical manifestation of the ground of our being in the kerygma of which we find the ultimate meaning of our interpersonal relationships. And once again Jesus said: "What?" And a third time Jesus said to them " Who do you say that I am?" They replied: " You are....PRAISE-THE-LORD.......my ...HALLELUJAH- sweet Savior...SAY-IT-BROTHER..who has filled my...JUST-LIVING --FOR JESUS...life with floods of heavenly...THERE'S-SOMEONE -HERE-WHO-NEEDS-A-BLESSING....prosperity, joyous peace...YOU-COME-NOW-WHILE-WE-SING- THAT-CHORUS- AGAIN-....and lovely love....