More ABBA For Everyone!!!!

Well, maybe not Pierce Brosnan. He looks good and has a lovely speaking voice, but he should leave the singing to others.

Saw Mamma Mia this evening, and I loved it. Amazon and I had made plans to go see it, and plans evolved into dinner before the movie. With her husband, Mr Slamuri, joining us. Poor Mr Slamuri. He had to listen to Amazon and I giggle and laugh (apparently loudly) throughout the movie, and not only did he have to endure Pierce's strangulated vocalizations, he was treated to Amazon and I (and several other women in the theater) singing along with Donna and Sophie!!!

May I just say that I love ABBA, and have ever since I heard Chiquitita at my aunt and uncle's in the late 70s. That song reminds me of Vancouver Island and those two weeks I spent there every time I hear it. My friend Sarah and I would roller skate in her basement to ABBA, and bounce on her trampoline, singing along to Angel Eyes, Take a Chance On Me, and SOS. Our grade 8 play even used ABBA songs as a soundtrack, including Does Your Mother Know and Money, Money, Money. I have many favourite songs, one of which is The Winner Takes It All. I would listen to it (and a few other moody selections, like The Name of the Game and Knowing Me, Knowing You) in my grade 7/8 angst (crushes, "broken hearts", fights with friends), and wallow in the melancholy (yes, I still enjoy the melancholy). But never before have I wept like I did watching Meryl Streep perform that song. My God, that woman is amazing. She looks phenomenal and we all know she can act any part, be anyone. I don't know why I was so surprised by her singing. Wow. And she has that whole acting ability behind her to totally sell the song. She emoted! I wish I could emote a fraction as much as she can. Even if I had hated the rest of the movie, it would have been worth watching just for that 3 minutes. Obviously, that isn't the case - so go see it (but don't say I didn't warn you about 007, Emeritus).

*Also, Christine Baranski - she can really sing, too!!

Totally Hilarious

Both Medusa and Luckybuzz had such interesting posts, so of course I had to do it, too. Get your own at The Lazy Bloggers' Post Generator

Abject apologies I just remembered I have not updated this since people stopped clapping and Tinkerbell died... You would not believe the fairy dust I have to clean up. But I'm sorry you'll just have to take my word for it..

I am overwhelmed with silk ropes, soaking in the tub, just generally being a nuisance to anyone unfortunate to cross my path, my day is a magical flight from the second star on the right, straight on to I am begging my kid to go to sleep or so help me God that kid will be decorating my wall, 'Duct tape still life'. I am beyond drunk most of the time. it will be fun fun fun till they take my TBird away.

I send you kisses I will make more of an effort to blog more often until the nice men in the white coats come back. Seriously! Unless of course the pool with the cocktail bar is heated!

Music Lessons

A couple of weeks ago, Bugle Boy and his lovely girlfriend, Rosa, came over for dinner. Corwin had been asking to try Bugle Boy's trumpet, so he brought it over . . . along with a French horn, a trombone, a full size violin, and Rosa brought her oboe and cor anglais. Clara tried and tried, but couldn't really get a sound out of anything. She did play her own violin, though. Corwin, on the other hand, shocked the hell out of Bugle Boy by not only getting a good sound on the mouthpiece but getting notes out on all three brass instruments. Here are a couple of photos - one of Corwin playing trombone, and the other of Bugle Boy showing Corwin proper French horn positioning.

Beyond the Pond

Well, not too far. Hubby and the kids went camping last week from Mon-Thurs. They had a great time, even though on the Tues I got a call from Corwin, who tearily told me he missed me. Turned out he was overtired and had a little upset tummy (all day in the lake can do that). They arrived home exhausted and grubby (not too grubby), but they can't wait to go again. I got some stuff done around here, and worked at the bear place, and went out for wings with Amazon and a couple of other friends. Overall, a good mini break.

We had Hubby's surprise party last Sat. Boy, was he surprised!!! (esp because his birthday was on Father's Day). The kids knew all about it, and didn't breathe a word. Small moment of panic when I was supposed to make potato salad and fruit salad on Fri, and take it to Senate Woman's (she would take it to the party), then pick up the cake and take it to my parents'. Well, turned out Hubby decided to take Fri off as well!!! Thankfully, my SIL Kat offered to pick up and deliver the cake, and Senate Woman covered the salads. Thank you!!!! A good time was had by all. Here is Hubby's pond cake!




Later that evening, Corwin started feeling yucky - headachey, tired, etc. He had a bath, and slept until 10 am the next morning. He was still not feeling hot on Sun, had a nap in the afternoon. Monday morning? Feverish a bit. I kept him home from camp to recover the rest of the way, and Clara headed off to day camp without him. She came home grumpy and headache-y. Hubby and I had a big talk with both of them - they NEED to drink water during the day, LOTS of water (Clara had maybe consumed an ounce, and her juice box - hello, dehydration). Anyway, she was totally fine this morning, Corwin is a bit stuffy, but fever-free and both headed to camp today. I am about to go get my hair cut and coloured (goodbye grey!!), but will leave you with a little photo essay of my garden.

Backyard Oasis

Yes, once it was finished I started dreaming of a bigger one (hell, that happened when I was still digging, let's be honest). But overall, this one turned out okay. An it will allow Hubby to see how awesome it is to have a little piece of cottage country in the backyard, and it's way cheaper than an actual cottage so . . . hopefully a bigger one will follow in a few years.

RBOC - Catch Up Edition

Seems I have been a big slacker in the blogging department lately. And man, there is a lot to catch up on. I'll try to get up to date with minimal wordiness

• Recital went well. The Pie Jesu from the Rutter Requiem went smoothly in the first half, but I was more concerned about Un Bel DI, my Madame Butterfly opera piece. I actually impressed myself. I can't wait to hear the recording. And I even had gestures to go along with my emoting!
• Father's Day was the following Sunday. It was also Hubby's 40th birthday. Hubby didn't want a party, didn't want anything, blah blah blah. So . . . we had my parents and his family over for Father's Day lunch, and also to celebrate his birthday. My parents had a little surprise for him when he woke up (his nickname in undergrad was Mr Penguin, and I did this at his parents' house when he turned 21):
  

• The end of school went well for everyone, although Corwin was upset for the last couple of weeks because he loves his teacher and is going to miss her - the usual, it happens every year.
• Canada Day (July 1) was fun. Hubby and I took the kids and Beck downtown, and we wandered around the billions of people. We saw the Snowbirds do a flyover, and also two CF-18 Hornets (woo hoo!!). After dropping Beck off at another friend's, we went swimming in our neighbour's pool. Then we took the kids to my parents' place as they were leaving early the next morning for Great Wolf Lodge for a few days. Hubby and I had been invited to a Canada Day party at Weasley and CF's apartment, but since it was mid-week and Hubby had to work the next day, I went alone. It was fun, and we walked the few blocks to see the fireworks. which were amazing as usual.
• I got some stuff done over the next couple of days while the kids were away. And I also vegged and slept in - decadent!!!!
• On the Saturday, we installed the pond. Yes, pond. We gave Hubby a pond for his 40th. Since his parents sold their cottage a few years ago (long story, and much bitterness), I thought it would be nice if we made our backyard more cottage-y, and we were missing the water component. The kids thought it was a great idea because they wanted to keep the tadpole and the froglet that their classes had been watching transform. Well, Lily the froglet is now a full-fledged frog, and Pebbles is a big tadpole with legs. The digging was wicked (we had to us a pickaxe for part!), but we got it dug. It was a pond in a box kit, and it was a flexible formed pond. Never again - the flex liner that is just a big sheet would be so much easier to work with. And then we were placing the rocks. Which we collected from the construction near my parents' place. Hubby has no patience and was just sticking them randomly around. So on Sunday, the family went to Lac Philippe for a beautiful sunny day. And I stayed here and worked on boulder placement ALL day. Then I had to drain the pond and refill because I had gotten so much dirt in that it was crazy. It's looking pretty good. We got a few plants on Monday, and I will get more today. Pictures to follow. Problem is? I have decided that this is the kind of pond I really want. Maybe in a couple of years . . .
  
• On Monday I saw James Taylor at Bluesfest with Daisy. It was a great show, and a perfect night for an outdoor concert.
  

• This week was really hot and humid. And Corwin was grumpy and miserable because of it. He loves being outside, but the heat was really getting to him. On Wed, I was going to take them to the beach but it was overcast and thunderstorms were forecast. So I took them to see the awesome Kung Fu Panda. Yesterday, the humidity had broken and it was cool and beautiful in the morning. It stayed cool-ish all day, but we went to the beach and had fun anyway.

That's it in a nutshell. Time to get ready for work at the bear place. And that means getting the kids to my parents' place. Eeesh.

It's July!!!!!

So, Happy 4th to all my southerly neighbours!! And Happy Belated Canada Day to my fellow Canucks!!!

I'm off to dig in the garden again - since it's not actually raining today.