P is for Photos

You thought more posts were getting less and less wordy?

The three of us in a kaleidoscope

lacrosse in small-town Alberta

Can't decide what shoes to wear

Original art by my friend's daughter, Kate

My kitchen without a stove

Affiliating to the Junior team

 

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O is for Oragami

You’ve probably noticed that for the last few days, I’ve been kinda phoning it in. It’s cause of the boys. They’re home.  For summer. All the time. They never leave. And the only time they get up from the couch is to walk past me and ask what I’m writing and what I’m doing and looking over my shoulder and though I’m somewhat sure that they’ve found my blog, I’m certainly not advertising it if they haven’t. Anyway, hopefully soon they’ll both have jobs and I’ll have my space back to babble on and on like I do.

 

I don’t know what it is about little bits of paper but I love folding them. My origami skills are pretty basic so it gets pretty boring making the same things all the time, though. I found a website that shows me how to fold more stuff (http://www.origamispirit.com/) and sometimes I spend far too much time there.

 

 

Going to restaurants with me is a treat. Straw and chopstick holders become roses, coasters become boats, paper placemats (sometimes I don’t go to fancy restaurants) become cootie catchers or boxes. If there’s a lull in the conversation, you can just watch me fiddle with tiny bits of paper.

 

 

My cousin hates tiny bits of paper. She thinks their dirty. Poor girl had to spend a week in Boston watching me fold gum wrappers into birds.

 

 

Why do I do it? What’s it good for? I don’t know and nothing really. But I like it and it gives me something to do sometimes when my hands are bored.

 

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N is for Netflix

About six months ago, I finally buckled and we got Netflix. Previously to that, our local carrier offered us some movie channels for only $6 a month. Sounded good so we got them and watched a few movies and then suddenly all of the movies on those channels became really lame. Like the Hallmark movies the W channel plays at Christmas kind of lame. I’m not sure what happened there, but I’m guessing it had to do with licensing and other legal-sounding things. But lame is lame so I cancelled them and got Netflix.

 

I’m a TV watcher. So are my kids. I will never be one of those people standing up there on my soapbox talking about how I rarely watch TV or how I don’t even own a TV. Cause I do own (more than) one and I watch them. Particularly in the evening when I’m settling in and decompressing from my day.

 

Netflix has been the greatest thing to ever happen to our TV. I’m discovering shows I’ve never even heard of and others that I’ve always thought I might like but didn’t watch from the beginning so it was too late to start.

 

Right now, because the boys are now on summer holidays, they are watching Top Gear. It’s a British show with these guys that like cars. And they drive them around. I may not be selling this show very well but only because I think it’s stupid. Some shows are just boy shows.

 

My favourite show so far has been The United States of Tara. It’s about this lady living in the suburbs with her husband and kids…but she has multiple personalities. It is fascinating, not just because she is different than the rest of us but because the actress that plays her plays all these personalities really well. I definitely recommend this one.

 

Lately I have been watching Being Erica. I started watching this one weekly on TV when it first came out and really enjoyed it, but for some reason didn’t watch the second season. Boy, did I miss out. Yet another recommendation.

 

The boys and I have been watching Arrested Development together. I’ve seen the first three seasons but it was a while ago and I’m enjoying sharing it with the boys. I cannot wait to get to the new season. And so I leave you with:

 

 

M is for Mythology

I took a class in college about Greek Mythology. It was amazing class, not just because the material was interesting but also because…let me back up.

 

There was this kid in my class. He was youngish, like right out of high school. Turns out he’d actually been homeschooled but that isn’t the point. He was young and awkward and people really wanted to be nice to him but, and I can’t stress this enough, this kid was the most annoying person in the history of time. He was boring and never stopped talking which would have been fine if he had anything interesting to say. When a teacher asked if there were any questions, he always did. And they were stupid questions. Like he’d learned somewhere that if someone asks if you have questions, you’d better find a fucking question to ask. And in his quest to sound intelligent, he often interrupted whomever else was speaking with his own thoughts. It was hard to be nice is what I’m saying.

 

Anyway, the instructor in Mythology would walk into class, turn out the lights, throw on the projector, talk for the entire class while showing the appropriate slides then leave. She explained everything she needed to explain and left. She never asked if anyone had questions. She never gave him a chance to be annoying. I think he tried once, in the beginning, to engage the teacher in his own conversation but she shut him down. And it was AWESOME!

 

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L is for Letters to Mom, Lost, Lacrosse, Last Names, and Lamp

Remember Friday Fives? And then remember when I was going to bring back Friday Fives but then I posted once and you didn’t hear from me again for a couple of months. Well, I’m not bringing it back or promising anything, but it is Friday and I have five things to say is all I’m saying.

 

1. Letters to Mom

As discussed previously, Twin B has been practicing his left-handed writing in the Letters to Mom notebook. His writing has gotten a lot better in the last three weeks; it’s impressive really. His left-handed writing is better than many people’s dominant-hand writing (I may or may not be talking directly to Malison here.)

 

I have learned other things about Twin B over this process too. I’ve learned that he is unflaggingly logical. I’ll ask him questions like if he got to choose an alternate time in history to live, when would it be or where do you see yourself in ten years and he cannot answer. Something in his brain will not let him consider using his imagination to pretend an alternate life. It’s an interesting observation. I’ve also learned that he really dislikes people hurting each other, he’d rather have seasons than one long summer, and he wouldn’t change any action that he’s ever made because he doesn’t have any regrets. Oh, and when I asked him what band he would most like to be the singer for he said “Nirvana, cause they could use one.” Dark humour: the Starlight family way.

 

2. Lost

I am a champion at getting lost. I could be driving somewhere I’ve driven to a million times before, accidentally take a wrong turn, and end up in a different city. My kids can count on one hand how many times they’ve driven with me that didn’t include an illegal u-turn. I’ve always tried to sell it as an adventure.

 

And I think I’ve done my kids favour. Most people, when they’re lost, get really stressed and snappy. You can only talk to them in a certain tone of voice (softly but not condescendingly) and only if you’re telling them the right directions otherwise you should just shut the fuck up. I’ve taken the stress out of getting lost. BECAUSE WE’RE NOT STILL LOST. Every single time we’ve taken a wrong turn or driven to an opposite address or couldn’t find the entrance to the parking lot has ended up with us finding our way and then later getting home safely. They know this because they’ve lived it and it has made them better drivers (despite all the illegal u-turns).

 

Twin B just went to pick up a friend for the first time. She told him she lived behind the 7-Eleven and so that’s where he went. There are four 7-Elevens on that street (it’s a long street, but still a little excessive). He called telling me where he was and the address he was trying to get to and I gave him directions. Then he called again when he took a wrong turn after that. He sounded weary, like he was looking forward to getting to his destination at some point today, but he did not sound stressed.

 

You’re welcome boys.

 

3. Lacrosse

It is the time of the year when I cannot wait for this sport to end. I’m tired of showing up at every practice to complaining and being ignored. I’m tired of the inevitable drama that always surrounds a group of parents working towards a common goal. And I’m tired of holding off on making any plans before I know the practice and game schedule. We are in the final stretch; playoffs start this weekend and then a tournament on the Canada Day long weekend. And then that month without sports can begin!

 

4. Last Names

My boys have a different last name than I do. I used to have their last name but changed it back to my maiden name when I was in school so my degree would use my name, not my ex-husband’s. Occasionally people, usually my kids’ friends, will call me Mrs. X and mostly I just answer to it because it’s easier. But my kids and their friends that know better have a huge problem with this and will tell that kid my last name but that they should call me [Lily] or Your Highness. I have trained those kids well.

 

They also tell people I’m 27.

 

5. Lamp

 

 

Stay classy, San Francisco

 

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K is for Kick in the Ass

Summer is finally here. So far the weather hasn’t really participated in the summerish of it all but it can’t stay rainy and humid for months at a time, can it? Summer is marked by the boys being done school. And they’ve finished their last exams and they’re done. Grade 10 is over. Neither of them had their best year academically, but they both enjoyed the new school and neither one dreads going back after a couple of month’s rest.

 

This year they’re considering getting jobs. But the thing is that neither has ever applied for a job and they’re both a bit nervous to start the process. So they are considering and thinking about it and really mulling it over.

 

But today their mom said “Enough!” And I personally drove Twin B to the movie theatre and made him practice what he was going to say and told him that the manager will understand that he’s nervous and not think he’s a bumbling idiot and told him to get in there and just do it. Go ask for that application form. And he took a big breath. And he got out of the car. And you could tell as he was walking up to the entrance that his heart was beating a mile and minute. And he reached for the door and pulled. And it was locked. Dammit.

 

Turns out he can just apply online anyway. Which he will do later today.

 

As for Twin A: he’s a little tougher. Because he does need money; they have a vehicle after all. And besides paying for gas they also have to pay for where that vehicle takes them…to 7-Eleven for Slurpees, to McDonald’s for grease, to Dairy Queen for ice cream. But Twin A gets one month every year where he is not immersed in a sport. He goes and goes and goes all year and is not so sure about having to spend that one month going some more. But he’s decided if he can get a job that has a lot of flexibility then maybe he could commit to that. So he went on a fast food website to apply and it said something about a career at this fast food place and he gasped “I don’t want a career there!” That’s ok Twin A, you can just have a summer job there.

 

Soon I will have a couple of employed people living in this house. I hope it’s before my birthday.

 

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J is for Jingle Jams

It’s game time! I’m going to set my iTunes to shuffle and tell you about the first five songs that come up. (J is a tough one you guys. I just have nothing to say about jogging or jungles so this is what you’re stuck with. You certainly don’t have to read it if you don’t want. Obviously it’s up to you. But maybe you’ll find a new favourite song so maybe you just give it a chance for once. Geez.)

 

1. We are Never Ever Getting Back Together by Taylor Swift

We here in the Starlight family like T. Swift. We like to sing along with all her songs. On our most recent trip to San Francisco for a lacrosse tournament, we spent most of our time with a couple of other families. One of the families brought their 20-year-old daughter who is on summer break from University. One day she turns to me and says “Are you the kind of family that just burst into song at random moments?” Yes, yes we are. I like that about us.

 

 

2. Mull of Kintyre by Wings

X loved bagpipes. So do I; my dad used to play them in a marching band. My parents hired a piper to pipe us back up the aisle at our wedding; X cried. When the boys were small and couldn’t get back to sleep, this was his go-to song to sing to them. I don’t always think nice things or have good memories when it comes to X, but he was mostly a good person who loved his kids.

 

 

 

3. Keep Breathing by Ingrid Michaelson

In recent years, I have tended toward a more mellow sound for the most part. I also really like to sing along with this song. The song itself is only 17 lines long and six of those are “All we can do is keep breathing” so the memorization of the words didn’t take too terribly long. Plus it reminds me that all we can do is keep breathing, though you really have to read between the lines to find that message.

 

4. Hurricane by Lisa Loeb

When I was a teenager I listened to a lot of The Cure and The Smiths. I also had my head half-shaved. (It was the 80s though, so one half was shaved and the other half was backcombed and sprayed as big as I could get it.) I tried to give off the illusion that I lived an alternative lifestyle because I didn’t want to look and be like every single other girl in the entire school. It worked, sometimes too well as people often found me intimidating. Behind closed doors, I also had a collection of Corey Hart, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Menudo, Beastie Boys, Duran Duran, LL Cool J, Prince, Twisted Sister, and Def Leppard. I was all over the place.

But Lisa Loeb, her music reminds me of my shaved head and my first boyfriend and my first job and having Mr. Sub every day at lunch and learning to drive and talking on the phone for hours to people I just saw and playing basketball with my brother in the backyard and baggy pants with cinched ankles and coloured mascara.

 

5. Levitate by Hadouken!

Sometimes I like my music to be loud and fast. There is a drum solo in this song that I find impossible not to take my hands off the steering wheel to air drum.

 

Did I cheat? Did I just press forward until I found a song I liked? Yep. Sure did. I broke the rules to my own game. It’s only fair though, because a lot of the music on my iTunes is the boys’ music. I have Disney and the Spongebob Squarepants movie soundtrack from when they were young and all kinds of bands I’ve never even heard of from more recently. Children of Bodom? What the hell is that? Does Avenged Sevenfold sound like a band I would listen to? How about Black Veil Brides? My parents banned metal from my house when I was young; I obviously have not done the same.

 

There is no natural end to this post. It just keeps going on and on. Sorry.

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