Author: Cindy

I'm irritated because my posts won't publish.

A Time for Lasts

Last night was Youngest Son’s last band concert. Every year his high school jazz and concert bands (he plays in both) stage a show at the local performing arts centre (yes, I spelled it the Canadian way for this occasion). It’s always quite an evening, full of song (as in singing), excellent music, and a lot of fun. Every year the graduating students band together (little pun) and buy their teacher a goodbye gift. He’s truly an exemplary teacher. I don’t know how he does it. Year after year, teaching those little cretins. Then picking up his saxophone to play with them in the jazz band. Very cool. In my opinion, it takes a certain sort of soul to become an exemplary teacher, and my hat is off to all of you out there who do it. This teacher has been with my son and most of the other kids graduating this year since grade seven, when he also taught part time at the elementary school to get the kids interested in music. That’s six years of teaching the same kids band. I know Y.S. has grown and developed a lot thanks to this teacher.

So, last night it was finally Y.S.’s turn to be among the band grads. They gave their teacher a podium that one of the students had built in woodwork class, and they’d had all their names engraved on a placque for the base of the podium. And it struck me…the last band concert…a few weeks ago the last band trip (a “Magical Mystery Tour,” where the kids literally did not know where they were traveling until they neared their destination, and we parents did not know where they were going either until after all the students had boarded the bus)…Y.S. is studying for his last few tests…next week my last child graduates high school…the following week he writes his last provincial exam (province-wide standardized tests for university entrance).

It’s hard not to get choked up when you’re faced with a lot of sentimental lasts. Twelve years of school rush by so quickly. It doesn’t seem that long ago when he was attending his first Kindergarten class…walking to school for the first time without me…then the first time without his big brother…then the first this and the first that…well, you know how it goes.

After he graduates, he’ll begin a whole new slew of firsts as the generous, ambitious, hopeful young man he has grown into. But, for now, he’s still my little boy in my eyes, and I’m soaking all the joy I can from the lasts.

Motherhood Hats

I’m going crazy helping my two sons organize their college and university educations for September. So no blogging today, not when writing is taking a back seat to Mom Putting on Her Guidance Counselor Hat. Gah, I can’t remember juggling university schedules being this complicated back in the day. Of course, when you’re in Arts, you have some leeway in your course selection. Can’t get into American History? Try European History instead. Believe me, after helping two boys through this jungle and negotiating it myself, I’ve come to realize how much leeway Arts students have compared to Science students. Youngest Son wants to major in Geology and needs to take specific courses in his first year across the board. However, we live in a town where both the local college and the nearest university (next town over) are both small enough that, between lecture and lab courses, we are facing big scheduling conflicts. Cross your fingers that things work out. If you don’t find me around here for a few days or I’m just posting links to other places on-line, you’ll know why. The Mom duties must come first. Then the writing. Then the blog.

However, I do have a treat today. Yesterday, Avery Beck answered my call for the Cutest Baby MeMe. Hop on over to her blog and have a gander at the very, very, extremely cute baby picture of her son. I can’t get over that smile. He’s definitely in the running for Cutest Baby.

If anyone else wants to play, check yesterday’s post. Give me a baby picture to link to tomorrow!

Cutest Baby MeMe

In honor of Dadbert’s birthday yesterday, I’m starting a meme. Anyone with a blog can play. Here’s how it goes. I’m posting a “Cutest Baby” picture on my blog. I’m not tagging anyone. If you want to play, here are the rules:

  1. Post a “Cutest Baby” picture to your own blog.

  2. Link back to my blog (or the blog of whomever/wherever you first see the Cutest Baby MeMe…you know, after they get it from me.)

  3. Include a link to your “Cutest Baby” picture in the Comments trail of this blog post, so I can easily hop over and ooh and ahh over the baby picture. In return, I expect you to ooh and aah over the picture I’m posting.

  4. Explain why you think the baby in your picture is deserving.

  5. The baby in your picture can not be you.

  6. The baby in your picture must be a relative.

  7. Repeat the rules on your blog if you want others to pick up the MeMe.

Ready, Set? Go!

dadbaby.jpg

I’m nominating Dadbert (naturally). Why? You have to ask? Look at those lips!! That cute little Three Stooges hairdo! The year was 1932, maybe 1933, depending how old he is in the photo (I’m guessing he was around six months, which puts the photo date around December ’32 or January/February ’33).

Dadbert is deserving of “Cutest Baby” because he has a perfect “Depression Era Pout.” I’m not sure, but looking at the picture, I think it was taken by a professional, but we’re talking 75 years ago, folks, so that’s ONE DARN CUTE BABY.

Show me yours!

Tell Me Tuesday

Today is Dadbert’s birthday. Happy birthday, Dadbert!

Dadbert is my new blog nickname for my father. I call him Dadbert quite frequently, and it’s more respectful than “Old Man,” which is another of my nicknames for him, so I decided it made a better blog nickname for He Who Gave Me Life than Mon Pere. Also, Dadbert doesn’t require an accent. So Dadbert it will be. Live with it. 🙂

What’s the news in the blogosphere? Writing or non-writing? From writers or non-writers? Myself, I had a bit of a tough writing week last week. Oh, I made progress, but every single sentence was like pulling teeth. Can I blame it on Mercury Retrograde? Or hormones? Or both? I think I will. However, now the hormone cloud has lifted, and the writing is moving along much better. In fact, I’m nearly to the NaNoWriMo mess of already drafted scenes for this project. I’m so close, I can breathe on them. I’m so close that I’ve started re-reading the NaNo scenes to ensure they and those I’m writing now will still bridge to each other. And you know what? I think they will. This gives me no end of joy. You mean there was a purpose to my NaNoWriMo experiment? I should know more next week.

Now, I open the floor to those brave enough to comment (yes, ye Commenters are a brave lot). What’s going on in your neck of the woods? Any news to share? If you have no news and you just want to give me a pat on the back, I won’t stop you.

Oh, and come back tomorrow, because I’m starting my very own MeMe! One big difference, I’m not tagging anyone. Participation in Cindy’s MeMe is strictly voluntary. So if you don’t come back, you don’t get to see what it is. And wouldn’t that be a shame?

 

SATC, The Movie

Eldest Son took me to see Sex and the City, The Movie yesterday—a belated Mother’s Day present. How would I describe it? “Predictable but fun.” (Yes, you can quote me). If you’re a fan of the series, it’s worth seeing in a theater, although it is “waitable” (as in waiting to rent the DVD). I didn’t want to wait, though, because I figured by then I would have heard all the spoilers.

I read an interview where Michael Patrick King (the writer) said he didn’t want the movie to feel like 3 back-to-back episodes of the series, but, um, that’s pretty much how it feels (okay, it feels more like 4 back-to-back episodes). That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though. Here we have some very well-loved characters, and there’s only so much Mr. King (good name!) could do with them without alienating his fan base. I give the movie a thumbs-up. Should they make a sequel? Definitely not. The movie provides a nice nightcap to the series. But I don’t need to get drunk.

The funniest part of the movie? “The Charlotte.”

The tenderest moment? “The Bridge.”

IMO, anyway. If you’ve seen the movie, what’s your take?

There’s a cute “Match Your Man” quiz on the Sex and the City, The Movie website. Look in the bottom right hand corner. I took the quiz, and it looks like Harry is the best match for My Liege. Well, I’ve been married to the guy forever, so that makes sense. 😉

You want spoilers? I got spoilers! I’ve formatted them in white font, so if you DON’T want to read spoilers, whatever you do, do NOT highlight the following paragraph. Highlighting the following paragraph WILL reveal the spoilers.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you…

Spoilers:

  • Carrie and Big get married

  • He breaks her heart first

  • Charlotte gets pregnant

  • Steve cheats on Miranda

  • They get back together

  • Samantha leaves Smith

  • They don’t get back together

  • The girls are all happy and together at the end.

Bite Me

Until last week, I’d never read a vampire romance. I’m not prejudiced against the sub-genre—I’m squeamish! The Gremlins movies keep me up at night. So I always figured I’d find vampire novels scary. Guess what? I don’t!

mulvany_wicked.jpgAm I the only reader this late to the genre? This is where I confess that because of my squeamishness I wouldn’t have picked up SOMETHING WICKED if fellow Looney Binner, Catherine Mulvany, hadn’t written it. (What’s a Looney Binner, you ask? Loooong story). I’m so glad she did write this novel, though, because I thoroughly enjoyed the story.

Here’s a blippy:

When investigative journalist Regan Cluny travels to the California desert to find out why reclusive millionaire Charles Nash is financing an archaeological dig, she’s attacked by a gang of vampire bikers. The bikers leave her for dead, but Nash comes to her rescue. He’s shocked to see the puncture wounds on her neck, even more shocked to realize she’s the image of his beloved Katie, a woman who’s been dead for over a century. Like Regan’s attackers, Nash is a vampire, tied to the bikers by a vicious blood feud that dates back to the Civil War. He’s tried to keep a low profile while searching for the legendary Font of Miracles, but the bite on Regan’s neck tells him his past has caught up with him. And this time he’s not the only one at risk. Because of her resemblance to a dead woman, Regan’s in danger, too—not only from the bikers, but perhaps from Nash as well. The attraction between them is a powerful force. If he can’t control his baser urges, she may find herself face to face with…something wicked.

Yum-yum.

Does anyone have other vampire romances to recommend? (Not that my TBR pile needs to get any taller, but you know how it goes…)