Halfway Gone

Another of my scenic early-morning shots here...this is what Quidi Vidi looked like at 5:30 this morning. The hue du jour was orange instead of pink this time. Amazing. It's been quite an action-packed day, starting with walking the lake at dawn. The kids went to Vacation Bible School at a nearby church (not our …

Requiem for a Piraka (or, Mommy Killed Vezok)

Meet Vezok, "the Beast." He's a Piraka. If that doesn't give you enough background, Vezok is essentially a Lego monster. He bears a striking similarity to one of the beasts of Daniel and has the ability to shoot deadly zamor spheres. He is also capable of being assembled, disassembled, and re-assembled in a new configuration …

The Waste Land

(If you think this blog entry seems a little more -- coherent, perhaps, a little more cosmic and thought-out than my usual ramblings, there's a reason. Today's blog is my entry in July's Blogging for Books contest, as hosted by the fabulous Joshilyn Jackson on her blog. If you're a blogger, check it out! Thanks …

Moments to Remember

There's an old old song my dad used to sing when I was growing up -- apparently it was originally performed by The Four Lads -- called "Moments to Remember." It's a great favourite with high-school reunions and such, since the lyrics reflect on a series of 1950's style happy-young-folks-hijinks which the singers can look …

Morning Has Broken, Apparently

An odd thing has happened to me this summer. It's probably a sign of encroaching old age, but for the first time in my life I have become a morning person. I find myself waking very early -- around 5:00 a.m. -- and not being able to get back to sleep. I've known a lot …

Summer Afternoons

You may have caught this already, but I totally, completely, and absolutely love summer. Newfoundland summer is short and unpredictable, so basically I endure 46 or more weeks of lousy weather for the sake of 6 or so weeks which will contain scattered days of pure delight. One thing I will say for our summers …

Oh My (Gosh), I Woke Up With a Snake Tattoo!!

First up, I should confess that the title of this blog is not only censored, it's completely inaccurate. As I neither drink, nor do drugs, nor suffer from multiple personality disorder (as far as we know), I am unlikely to ever wake up in the predicament of the young woman in the Amanda Marshall song. …

Random ChildMoments

Most unusual question addressed to me so far today (while I was asleep):"Mom, have you seen my robotic arm??" (You'd think I'd remember if he had a robotic arm, wouldn't you?)In other random parenting observations, lately I've noticed the kids are paying far too much attention to song lyrics. Since we entered the world of …

Shameless Self-Promotion, Part One

There are so many lovely summery things I could be talking about today. Like yesterday afternoon when I took the kids to the outdoor pool for the first time this year, or this morning when I walked around the lake to the accompaniment of a glorious pink-and-orange sunrise. (Sunrise...who knew? Do they put this on …

Weekend at the Cabin

As I predicted in my last blog, we are back from the country with flybites, slight sunburns, and adventures to report. We are very fortunate to have unlimted use of my parents' cabin, about 45 minutes outside of town, what friends in more upscale places would call "lakefront property" (we call it "on a pond"), …