should have jumped in

but i seem to be rather attached to my phone. i think he takes pictures like this every once in a while to show me how addicted to the thing i am. i promise i looked up from time to time to see a barge go under the bridge and to people watch.

i will miss driving down to the bridge to watch the kids jump off the side, into the swirling, freezing cold current of water, scramble back up the rocks and repeat.

i've never actually jumped myself but neal has, back in the day.
it's apparently against the law yet there's always a crowd waiting their turn.

maybe if i was twenty years younger ...

packing

i'm not even going to try to make a connection to the word swim for this post. i just thought my cat looked super cute, so i snapped a picture. im in the middle of packing, so cut me some slack.

my head is swimming

i hope i'm
creative enough
strong enough
empathetic enough
a good enough friend
giving enough
educated enough
open enough

going to make a difference

irritation

What is your biggest pet peeve?

well ... i have a few. apparently i keep most of them shelved, though, unlike SOME PEOPLE who i live with!

it seems *i* irritate those in this shared dwelling fairly often. imagine that. like when i hang things on doorknobs. huh. or "forget" to put new rolls of toilet paper in the cupboard. usually bites me in the butt first anyway, so i fail to see the importance, really.
or when i leave clothes in the washer
or conveniently "forget" to start cooking at a good time so we have to go to the grocery store and purchase new foodstuffs or have to go out to eat.
tragic.

or the fact that i won't call to order pizza. barb knows. i.just.don't.
that's why i had kids, right?

or when i say i'll be somewhere then change my plans when something else comes along that also sounds like a grand idea. and i don't always apologize for it.

wow.

i really *am* irritating

not in my mouth

when i first started blogging with this month's theme of swim i wasn't entirely sure i could come up with enough stuff.
was.i.wrong.

seems like every time i start to write a post lately, it has water or aquatic parts to it, even if i don't intend it to.
tonight was no exception.

see, we had a rather impressive storm out in these parts on saturday night. i only know this, really, because i was sitting in a pub eating chicken wings and drinking orange juice when it started to get a little windy. no big deal ... the pub is at the lake so it's normal for the weather to be slightly exaggurated (must be what draws me). i was INside the restaurant, talking away happily with a friend i hadn't seen in about a year when i noticed the people on the patio were looking over the water. not to be outdone, i looked, too.

i saw nothing

then neal pointed out the two funnel shaped clouds, hovering over the lake but not touching. crazy. then the rain came. pounding, driving, should.be.hail.in.there. rain. everyone OUTside had to suddenly bring their foodstuffs in, where there was a serious lack of seating. i still didn't really think much of the storm cause i knew it would pass soon enough and we would get back to the movie set where neal and our friend were acting in possibly the second cheesiest movie yet made. (kudos to my friend for being in the MOST cheesy movie ever. i watched the trailer today. wow. he should not tell any more people)

well, it has been both speculated and confirmed by a well respected farmer in the area that a funnel cloud did, indeed, touch down, taking five hydro towers and 22 utility poles out. there were also assorted chickens and sheep killed but no count was available. anyway, we came home from filming to find our boys sitting on the livingroom couches, surrounded by lit candles. our power had gone out around 8pm and did not get restored until after 2pm the next day.

why do i tell you all of this? well, first of all, because i didn't think i could get away with posting yet another picture of me at the lake, though that is what i did after i finished work for the day. second, because neal convinced me that the meat in the upper part of our fridge ... that terribly small freezer section ... was still crystallized and was, therefore, fine. i am fairly certain i suggested, calmly, that the ice crystals were, in fact, only on the packaging, and not encompassing said meats. i was overruled.

let's just say that the next time i come in contact with salmon that tastes and smells more like sausage, i will know better.

swim night again

we scored tonight for sure ... waves ... and lots of them.
i know they look weeny in the picture but trust me, they weren't. the undertow wasn't too bad, which is a good thing, cause we like to ride them as far back into shore as we can. when the undertow is strong, you get sucked under and held for a long time. makes what is supposed to be fun turn kinda scary pretty quickly.

the sun shone long into the evening and we had the entire beach front to ourselves (mostly cause this beach is private, but still).
last night was great, just me and my oldest, even though i came out of the water with a seaweed bathing suit underneath my real one.
sick
and totally worth it

this beach is nicer, even though it's maybe only a five minute drive down from the public one and it is usually all sand. because of the big storm saturday, though, there were pebbles for the first few feet. no big deal.
i had a blast

... there's just something about me and water

flashback

i hope i haven't already posted this picture. it is one of my all time favourites. it's going back some thirteen or so years. taken at ipperwash beach, by my father in law. my two beautiful boys. seems like just yesterday they were
this small
this limited
this content

yet time moves on, and well it should.
i'm glad they are growing
i'm glad we are moving so they can have more opportunities
i'm glad they are mine
for as long as i get them

wordless weekend

my first

the other day neal was at the mall, returning something that didn't fit the tallest kid who lives here with us. he wasn't sure how to preface his story at first ... does he call the person who helped him a girl or a lady? he said he was pretty sure she was "my" age (which is a slightly different age than his)
pause
i think he was scared for a minute, wondering what my response might be
i gave him the stare then suggested he go with "girl"

as it turns out, she asked him about one of his tattoos, which, according to him, never happens. see, i get asked about mine all.the.time. but that is likely because i'm a GIRL (just to clarify) and i think girls are generally easier to approach, as strangers. also because i have been told on that part of my half sleeve resembles either a beard ... ok, wow ... an alien (that was funny, margie) or a monster of some kind ... because that is exactly my style.

in any case, he told her that it's a technical design of the original blueprint for a 45 record insert. it is very cool if i do say so myself, but i get what he was saying. unless you are of a certain age bracket (or have very hip parents who have a record player and play 45's now and again for both amusement and to educate your children) you wouldn't have the slightest clue what a 45 was, let alone an insert.

it reminds me of the time neal was talking to one of his co-workers about the dukes of hazzard and she said i think you are wrong. i'm going to go home tonight and watch the movie so i can prove it on monday.
yikes
i am getting older

well, it got us talking about old records, cause the "girl" at the store told neal that the first 45 she ever bought was embarrassing ... the tide is high, by blondie. neal was pretty sure his was by t-pau. (and most likely cause she is a red head). it only took me a second to recall mine, including the day i bought it.

i remember watching american bandstand every saturday with my brother. sometimes we even watched soul train. i'm pretty sure we hopped on our bikes when it was over and rode to good old elgin mall where, at dr. disc, i handed over my hard-earned babysitting moolah for this:

and, now, i so wish i had been as cool as the girl at bluenotes.
and if i look half as good as debbie harry does now, when i'm her age, i don't care what you call me.

if i had a pool

... i would so relish the cool water, but, alas, i am far too lazy to even think about maintenance so a pool owner i doubt i will ever be.
and in lots of ways, i prefer swimming in the lake anyway. i don't even care about the e-coli warnings. never used to matter when i was a kid.

my babysitter would take me to the lake on a regular basis, treating me to mackie's fries and orange aide. i seem to remember that it was her grandpa or someone closely related that opened mackies in the first place. swell guy, whoever he was. i love their special sauce, too. don't care what its made of, kerrie ... can't sway me. it was a ritual of summer.

this is so totally and completely, hands down, my most favourite season of all. i can never get enough of summer.

i love the things that summer brings

i remember day camp counselling, late night swims, camping out on the sand overnight, talking till dawn, eating toasted tomato sandwhiches and drinking swiss mocha coffee. my best memories are all from summers. summer just always feels real, and right
summer renews my faith in a lot of things
summer restores what winter tried to take away

i will even admit to reading an article in cosmo stating that men desire more intimacy in summer (july to be presise). huh. i should poll my lady friends and ask if they concur

i'm kind of guessing that with this heat wave, they could care less
... unless they have a pool ;)

bucket list?

my boys had the pleasure and privilege of working just.one.more.time with the infamous nancy keys, here in town. i know we are all going to miss young company, now known as lambton young theatre players.

having my kids in theatre has opened their eyes to so much more than even i anticipated. they are polite, can speak easily in groups, and have little trouble addressing a crowd (especially if they can make the people laugh). they have had to memorize lines, co-ordinate schedules, do a lot of thankless, behind the scenes grunt work and put their best foot forward regardless of their audience.

putting on a poker face is also a useful skill (thank you ever so much to colin doyle for teaching them how to play. the other missionary families in png appreciated it immensely when my boys tried to pass the skill on), as is stomping as a group, wearing bunny ears well and making it appear as though your off-key choral singing was all part of the plan.

hot

... no, not me ... this week. it's been hot (i love it) and it's supposed to get hotter by thursday. not anywhere near as humid as we had it in png, but still very worth mentioning.

i had the best weekend of my life in as long as i can recall this past friday, saturday and sunday. barely slept just so i could let it linger as long as possible.


... now reality must set in.

i loved the dragonfly and the casino and walking at dark
i loved feeling free as a bird for just.one.night.
and now i have these most amazing memories. the kind that if i tried to write them down for you wouldn't do them justice.
so i'll just look again and again at the pictures that were taken of some of the moments and the rest i'll keep inside.

followers

as a side note, for some bizarre reason, my followers list disappeared a while back and I have tried to figure it out multiple times, but ... yah.

so, I just wanted you to know that I did not remove you, or hide you or anything of the sort. you just disappeared on me, randomly, and hopefully you all will return, just as randomly, and all will be well with the world again.

so so good makes my head swim

one of my favourite stores of ever

sinking feeling

i already know i'm a freak because i have heard it said to me so many stinking times. people generally use nicer words, however, such as:

ha ha ... nerd
you're so funny
you are seriously weird
wow, you're eccentric
you are such a spaz
the word I would use to describe you is bombastic (personal fave)

today was no exception. all day i had the sinking feeling that i was forgetting something i was supposed to be doing; somewhere i was supposed to be. i got lots of phone calls but no one scolded me so that sort of set my mind at ease.

i checked my email frequently and answered anything important. that's a first.

facebook messages were replied to, also ... i think

the door even got knocked on once but it was a friend so i had to emerge from my bedroom where i instinctively ran to hide. she didn't mind my pjs and streaked mascara one bit. sadly, i think she's gotten used to it, especially if she shows up before 11 am.

i'm not ashamed. i will have to change that, however, as my hours at work were altered now that school is no longer in session. somehow i have to make myself hear the alarm now, two whole days each week.

for, like, four.weeks.in.a.row

wish me luck.

sink?

this little guy either fell out of the tree or got kicked out. don't get me wrong here, cause i loves my boys, but some days ... let's just say if the bird got kicked out by mama, i understand.

a lady in town who frequently nurses wee animals back to health came and got the bird. hopefully he survived. the sun was smokin hot that day, and his eyes weren't always open. i felt better when she came to get him, even if he is "just" a starling.

swimmingly swell

today I got my first chance to wear my vintage 1950's dress in public. the jacket part is just so stinking cute I couldn't leave it off, even though it felt like a sauna out today. I love singing with my sisters and am going to miss it something terrible.

art in the park was fantastic. great feedback, nice variety of vendor items, super entertainment and the best back to back weather we've had yet.

I've been going non stop since I got in my car early tuesday morning, and tomorrow is full, too. I missed a friend's happy anniversary celebration this afternoon (50 years for neil and jesse!) and was too tired to attend a lamb roast tonight

but

I've got a smile on my face and I don't think it's leaving any time soon.

things went swimmingly

what a great week so far. driving was fairly uneventful, except of course the first cut off to waterloo had to be closed literally less than twenty feet away from where I needed to turn.
and so was the second one.
the third exit was so remote and hilly I could have sworn I was in the foothills of good ole tennessee. I even had to dodge numerous piles of fresh horse droppings since the road took me through amish country. would have been really breath taking if I hadn't already been driving close to three hours at this point.


I stayed with a very close friend for the couple nights I was in town. perfect. we got to eat at a favourite restaurant of ours, sat out on her front porch with some tasty beverages and other friends, slept super well, enjoyed a night walk for some tea and spent time just being able to talk, talk, talk. I felt so calm the days I was there ... I was so sad to leave.

my course was fantastic. I learned tons and even got to speak tok pisin in the last five minutes, seemingly out of nowhere, as I discovered one of the level I's, over from Seattle, is soon leaving for PNG. I took a chance and asked him a question in tok pisin and with super wide eyes he happily answered back!

the drive home was fine, also. perfect weather and not too many slow drivers to make me crazy. mcdonalds was, as usual, mouth-wateringly amazing for the first third then completely vomitrotious for the last. I have no idea why I keep trying to win myself over when I know this is exactly how it's going to go. creature of habit, I guess.

tomorrow commences art in the park ... early.

sink or swim

I'm off to school again tomorrow for a real quick course and, very conveniently, have a day off in between classes. most excellent.
hello springrolls with a very close friend
hello waterloo

wordless weekend

swimwear

so i was in a parade yesterday, in grand bend. don't think i've been on a float since i was like three. my mom bought me some weeble wobbles after that event. i remember playing with them in a store window. no idea why. that's just what i remember. i do admit to having an active imagination (and personality to match).

this float was like a last hurrah, singing in one of marion kernoghan's shows, wearing another of her vintage fashions. mine was a late 1800's silk bathingsuit. ironically, i was wearing a bikini underneath.

sisters by choice serenaded the crowds from the main street to the beach and back. it was pretty crowded, as usual, and even though it was stinkin hot, it was a good time. we sang: alexander's rag time band, boogie woogie bugle boy, in the good old summertime, sentimental journey, at the hop and our own rendition of oh canada.
i'll miss it
huge

*as a side note, while my legs do really go on forever, i am not that much of an amazon as it would appear in this photograph. i'm just in the foreground.

swimming ducks

so the town allowed us to write on the sidewalks, to advertise the events coming up next weekend in town. this one is for the rubber duckie race.
let's just hope it doesn't rain.