Thursday, August 14, 2008

Boar Sighting!

For my loyal readers (that's just me), I had to alert y'all. I had another boar sighting. This time just a mother and baby, in the middle of the day, crossing the street.

AT A GREEN LIGHT!

They waited. Even the animals follow the rules here.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Writing Excitement

I love a new idea. I love a new story. I love how a fresh idea builds in my head. It pokes and pulls in my mind until I actually get a physical rush as the story lines and plot come together. Sometimes, the idea never quite manifests itself on paper--never quite comes together in PB form. Those stories I have to drop, bury, so I can get on with other ones. Then I tried something new. I started to write down a new idea in chapter form—and it’s pouring out of me.

Tentatively entitled, ‘Lukas of the Lake’ it’s an environmental mystery of a fantastical nature. I’m so excited that I have no trouble sticking to my 1000 words a day and often surpass them.

It’s nice to wake up every morning with an adrenalin rush and bang out a chapter. I know I’m in for months of revising. And I’m sure I’ll hate every word as I wrestle with my critique group’s advice, but at the moment, I’m cruising on the natural high of a story coming together.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Easy-Bake Dreams

We're deep enough into summer holidays that it's necessary to add some distractions to the day. We've already seen the TWO children's movies at the theatre, paddled in the backyard pool (spicing things up periodically with a variety of sprinklers) and hiked through all the nearby parks, woods and hills. Did I forget the blueberry picking? Despite this schedule, there are still a few more weeks of relaxation left.

Time for some ingenuity. The Easy-Bake oven is a surefire winner. With 3 boys, I own the Queasy-Bake oven, complete with spooky light-up skull face. It's green, not pink, as it should be. Instead of fluffy tea cakes with creamy icing, we make moldy, oldy cake and crunchy bone cookies.
I used to have one; avocado green range. Mine never worked. Not knowing much about electronics at the time, I never noticed it was a 2-bulb jobby. One was out. It didn't matter. I ate half-cooked, sloppy cakes and thought I was the belle of the party.

The dream remains the same. Half-cooked, fingerprinted, runny cakes are devoured with pride. Self-baked and gourmet decorated. Great summer fun! Heck, the cleaning-up fills half a day at least!

Friday, July 25, 2008

OBAMA, OBAMA, OBAMA!

It was a beautiful night! The cloudless sky a rare treat, the crowds jubliant and the beer tents busy. To Americans back home the party air in the Tiergarten surrounding Obama's speech may have seemed disrespectful or perhaps, shallow.
But beer is the norm here, even at a pre-school gathering (although, just the parents are served). And Germans know how to keep a crowd in order. The police are calm, the rules implicit and the weapons at the ready. The crowd was there to hear Obama.
The stage was set, but would Obama mesmorize? Obama in Berlin
I'm not a political analysist or even a journalist. But in the words of my 8-year-old, "I liked to listen to him even though he used some big words."
That is Obama's charm. His voice is soothing, his words intelligent, at times fiery, but his posture and tone never arrogant or combative.
He is a politician people will listen to. They may not agree with him, they may not like him, but they will listen. This is the most we can ask for in a world leader and certainly much better than we have now.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!


We'll be celebrating with a BBQ and Canadian Beaver cupcakes. Why are we all proud Canadians? United, not only by beer and mosquitoes, but an attitude....Canadian Living Magazine.
 

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