Category: The Non-Writing Life

It’s My Liege’s birthday today. Yip-yip-yap-yap! Apparently, he was born ten minutes before midnight. Hmmm…. I wonder why it is that I know more people born on March 31st, all “just a few minutes before midnight,” than any other day of the year? Today is My Liege’s birthday, the birthday of my first best friend, as well as the birthday of a good friend from high school, the daughter of a good writing buddy, and the son of another writing buddy. Hmmm…

It’s a milestone birthday for My Liege, too. How many I won’t reveal, so as not to embarrass his Over-the-Mountaintop-and-Rolling-Down-the-Other-Side hide. Let’s just there’s a tombstone on his cake.

I wish I had a picture of him as a baby to upload, but I’ve been in major Family Responsibilities Mode since Friday, including a big family dinner on Sunday to celebrate The Passing of His Youth, and I’m too exhausted to take his baby picture off the wall, remove it from the frame, scan it, cut out his brother and sister, PhotoShop it so it’s not grainy as all get-out, then pop it into this post. Yes, I’m a bad wife. But I do happen to have a photo of our first Christmas together already in the computer, as a result of scanning dozens of pictures for a PowerPoint slideshow for my parents’ anniversary three years ago. Here we be:

Ain’t he cute?

Hard to believe Eldest Son is now older than either of us are in this photo. We’re both teenagers here. The time, she has flown.

I had to cancel all my appointments today, and I had a few, including very much needed chiropractor and massage therapy appointments. Luckily, other locals are as snowed in as I am, so I grabbed a couple of cancellations for tomorrow. There goes my first whole day of writing since Eldest Son came home for Christmas.

He made it back to university last night. Had some waits, but at least his flight wasn’t cancelled. If he’d traveled Sunday or today, I’m certain the flights would have gone down the drain.

I can’t remember this much snow in my life. I know we had very snowy winters in the early Seventies, but I was talking to a fellow dog-walker the other day who’s lived in my neighborhood for fifty years, and he says this is the snowiest winter he can recall.

How about you? Is the weather still going crazy in your part of the world? Don’t get me wrong, the snow up here is GORGEOUS, but I have books to mail and I haven’t been to the post office since before Christmas. I haven’t done ANY unnecessary driving. However, walking in deep snow in Sorels is great exercise, and my dog does love to walk, no matter the weather. At least I’m getting my exercise!

I received my first Christmas card yesterday, from Canadian friends now living and working in the States. I’m always shocked to get a card so early in December. I’m no grinch, but I don’t even think about things like Christmas cards until the middle of the month. Don’t get me wrong—our Christmas lights have been up for two weeks (but that was My Liege’s doing), and we’ll probably flag our tree at the local Christmas tree farm this weekend (but that’s because, if you don’t flag it early, they won’t have any left and we’d have to trudge into the bush and cut our own, which doesn’t seem right when they plant and sell them just down the road). Eldest Son is coming home on the 14th, so if we flag the tree this weekend, the day he gets home is the day we’ll go cut the tree. I know he’s looking forward to the experience, as it’s one of our family traditions.

That said, if he weren’t coming home from university, would I have my tree up before the middle of the month? Um, nope, not me. As a kid, if my mom didn’t have presents under the tree at least 10 days before Christmas, I’d panic. However, until a year or maybe two ago, since we’ve had kids I haven’t put ANY presents under our own tree until Christmas Eve. Eldest Son cured us of putting presents under the tree early before he was one, because of course he tried to open them. And it always seemed more magical to me to put the presents under the tree once the kids were asleep, then see their faces light up Christmas morning.

A friend of mine in the States puts up her tree Thanksgiving weekend. Is this a common occurrence? Thanksgiving decorations (if you decorate) come down, and Christmas ones go up? Who here is willing to raise their hands and admit they are holiday crazy? What are your family traditions that you look forward to every year? Getting the tree? Trimming it? (I’m actually not crazy about trimming it, but this year I remembered to buy new lights!!) (I marked it on my calendar last January so I wouldn’t forget).

Anyone name their tree? That’s our family tradition. I named the first Christmas tree that My Liege and I had before we were married (it was actually a big plant). I think its name was Mulligan. Don’t ask me why. That year, the year before we were married and were living in sin, I also bought a year-dated ornament, candy canes shaped into “1984.” So then of course the next year, I bought a “first Christmas together” ornament dated 1985. Every year since then I buy one new dated ornament. These things aren’t always easy to find, so some years I wind up buying a regular ornament and writing on the year myself. I’m especially partial to dated ornaments that allow you to insert a picture. I love seeing pictures of all my pets, past and present, and pictures of the kids when they were babies, then teenagers, etc., hanging all over my tree.

Today is my best friend’s birthday. Everyone, please wish a happy birthday to Sandorf Verster!

What sort of name is Sandorf Verster? Don’t ask me. Just because I dream up these nicknames doesn’t mean I know how or why or wherefore or rhyme-for they leap into existence.

All I know is that the name Sandorf Verster has been in existence for more years than I can count.

I’m also pretty sure that Sandorf Verster does not read this blog, so she can’t even give me hell for outing her AS Sandorf Verster in cyberspace.

Yes, I’ll phone her to wish her a happy birthday. No, I will not tell her I outed her.

No, you can’t tell her, either.

William “Duke” Procter
August 18, 1899 – December 14, 2005
Served: World War I, 1916 – 1919

Who do you remember today?

I visited a corn maze recently. Well, okay, in September. But I’m lazy, so I’m just getting around to posting the evidence now.

Have you ever gone through a corn maze? I haven’t. But My Liege and I happened to be near a spectacular corn maze a few weeks back, so I made him take me through it. Here’s an aerial view of the maze:

Cowahumungoid, huh?

Ten points if you can guess the province (or state!) in which it resides.

A hundred points if you can guess what wonderful city it’s near.

Two thousand points if you know what “BH” stands for.

Six million points if you can correctly identify the figure within.

Fine Print: Points are not redeemable for monetary or merchandisable value. Points are for your personal validation only and a shout-out in the Comments section, typed, I kid you not, personally and without assistance, by Cindy!

So, we parked near this maze and trundled our way to the tenty-thing. Now, I thought we’d enter the maze, get lost in under fifteen minutes, then screech for help to find our way back out. But no. The Maze Guardian informed us that we had to guess two sets of clues hidden within the maze, solve two puzzles as a result of finding those clues, and then, only then, would we win a prize.

I wanted that prize. I needed that prize.

The Maze Guardian handed us a map/drawing of the maze so My Liege could mark off the segments as we searched them (no way could I do that job—I’d have gotten us lost in no time) and I could correctly guess the clues as we happened upon them (seeing as I’m the brilliant one). It took 90 minutes to complete the maze and find all the clues! It was like running a partial leg of The Amazing Race. I loved it.

What the inside of a corn maze looks like:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What an exhausted writer nearly finished the corn maze looks like:

I won a can of Pepsi.