Share Your World – Week 39

Posted on October 4, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….I’m a little later than normal in answering this week’s questions

I think I’ve avoided answering Cee’s questions this week because I really had to thnk about the first two.

Did you ever get lost?

I don’t remember getting lost as a child. I remembering losing my little sister once when my cousins came over one day and we all went for a walk and returned without her. I think she was probably two or three at the time and I would have been four or five. It was a different world back then. She eventually came home at the heels of a very large policeman.

In the last 10 years I remembering going for a walk through the neighbourhoods around my school and seriously couldn’t find my way out of the maze of streets north of the school for what seemed like an eternity. Before you think I don’t have any sense of direction the same thing happened to a group of teachers who moved about in the same area for over an hour before they found their back to school.

Who was your best friend in elementary school?

I went to three different elementary schools and I can’t remember who my friends were in the first two. When my family moved back to Toronto when I was ten. I went to Parklawn School and I’d have to say that my best friends, who were also my neighbours were Debbie and Cheryl. Funny how both girls were never in my classes so I’d have to include Laurie, Karen and Marcia, who were in my classes, as my BFs as well. The last three stayed close friends all through high school and Marcia (who just passed away this year) was my room mate at university. Debbie was in my wedding party but we lost touch soon after her mother died. The one friend who I still see on a somewhat regular basis is Laurie.

Miss you Marcia.

Since the news television season has started in the US, list three favorite TV shows.

I don’t watch as much TV as I used to. Of the new shows, so far, I’m liking Gotham (surprise, surprise), How to Get Away With Murder and Under the Dome (although the season ended when the new shows started). I’m still a fan of The Good Wife, and Elementary and I’m a reality show junkie. The only shows that I can’t miss are Dancing With the Stars, Survivor and The Amazing Race.

If you were a mouse in your house in the evening, what would you see your family doing?

In my house, the mouse would see my husband on the chaise with his computer on his lap going between the TV and his computer screen. I would probably be at the kitchen table or in the living room checking my emails and writing a post or two for my blog. When there’s something on TV that I like I’ll join my husband in the TV room.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

This week I’m grateful for being able to spend time with my husband. It was his birthday on Thursday and we went to a concert together, sat together over coffee in a bistro, wandered around the ROM (museum) and then went to a restaurant for dinner.

Later today I’m looking forward to having the family over for brunch to continue celebrating my husband’s birthday.

Carpe Diem – # 574

Posted on October 3, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..today’s prompt is fire

Fire

Carefully layered

Paper, bark, leaves and kindling

Smoke bursts into flame

For more Haiku fire poems check out Carpe Diem.

Weekly Haiku Challenge #12

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..Ronovan’s prompts are creature and study

Through paint, pencil, pen

Mythical creatures appear

As I study line

Haiku – Psycho and Drive

Posted on September 22, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….this weeks challenge is to use the words psycho and drive in a Haiku poem

Driving through red lights

Rolling stops, excessive speed

The psycho is lose

*******************************

The constant drip, drip

drives against the window pane

sleepless, psychotic

*********************************

The car sits idle

while I search madly for keys

driving me psycho

*********************************

If you want to try your hand at haiku check out Ronovan’s blog.

Ready, Set, Done – Off To the Vets We Go

Posted on September 18, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..today’s Daily Prompt

Today, write about anything — but you must write for exactly ten minutes, no more, no less.

Three weeks ago we took our dog, Frances to the vet to have a couple of teeth removed. Two hours later and a bill for almost $800.00 we were informed that the x-ray showed a root floating around in her gums that our vet couldn’t remove so we were advised to see a vet that specialized in dental procedures.

The appointment was made, time off from work arranged and we drove to the hospital this morning. When we got there, in plenty of time for our appointment, we waited for almost an hour and a half before the vet could see us. She looked at the x-rays done by our vet and was a little concerned about the bone structure on the one side of Frances’ jaw but she couldn’t really tell what the problem was and could only make some educated guesses at this point.

When discussing our options, she said that if it were her dog she would probably wait and see and maybe start a course of antibiotics. She left us for a few minutes to write up the estimate if we chose to go the surgery route. When she returned she presented us with the estimate that ranged from $2000. to $2900. The option of going the medication route didn’t come up again.

We asked if we could have a few minutes to go over the numbers before making our decision. The dog wasn’t in any pain, there were no visible signs of stress or inflammation and she seemed content. What to do? $400. for meds or a possible $3000. for surgery?

The 10 minute buzzer just went off. I guess you’ll never know what we decided.

For more Daily Prompts check out Ready, Set, Done.

Full Circle – Carpe Diem #3

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Mama Cormier

“Called ”Full Circle” … the goal is to write haiku with the twelve (12) words given. It’s a kind of word-whirl and you have to use the words given in the clock-wise direction. So every word has to come in the line of it’s place on the clock e.g. mirror you have to use for line one (1) and leaves for line two (2) and so on.”
I will give you twelve (12) words (for every ”hour”) one word. The goal is to write haiku using the words as given in the clock wise way.

Here are the 12 (twelve) words:

1. mirror
2. leaves
3. rain
4. butterfly
5. chrysanthemum
6. breeze
7. stars
8. clouds
9. ocean
10. daisies
11. cow shed
12. secret

The mirror reflects

the leaves falling from the trees

in the lashing rain

________________

Butterfly wings perch

amid the chrysanthemum

fanning in the breeze

_____________________

Stars glimmer above

Uninterrupted by clouds

the ocean shimmers

_____________________

Daisies grow taller

Around the broken cow shed

What secrets lie there?

___________________

To see more Full Circle Haiku or to join in the fun check out this post.

Share Your World – Week 36

Posted on September 11, 2014 by Mama Cormier

…..another great set of questions from Cee’s Share Your World

Do you prefer reading coffee table books (picture), biographies, fiction, non-fiction, educational?

I really enjoy looking through coffee table books but I love reading fiction.

What is your biggest fear or phobia? (no photos please)

I don’t know why but I have an unexplainable fear of bears. I’ve never encountered a bear and I don’t want to. Two years ago a family of bears swam across the bay to our island and have lived there ever since. I will not walk by myself through the woods anymore. Luckily the island is very large and very few people have even seen the bears but there is evidence that they’re around. I think my fear may have come from reading a book my aunt gave me over 30 years ago about bear attacks.

What is your favorite cheese?

I love all types of cheese. I don’t think I can just pick one. My favourites include old cheddar, brie and Emmenthal.

What is your favorite month of the year?

Right now I’ll say August. Usually it’s the best month to be at the cottage because the water has warmed up and the mosquitoes are almost non-existent. It’s also the month when I celebrate my anniversary and my birthday.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I’m grateful for all the help that I got from the parents and students who helped me organize the library. It’s not quite finished but it looks 100% better.

Next week I’m looking forward to getting together with friends from high school. Some of these women I haven’t seen in over 40 years.

Share Your World – Week 35

Posted on September 1, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….can’t believe that it’s already week 35…check out Cee’s Photography for more great posts of Share Your World or join in

Have your blogging goals changed?

I think they have. I started as an incentive to lose weight and record stories from my childhood. I still do a little of both but now it’s become a venue for sharing my art, photography, and life’s adventures and challenges.

If you were to perform in the circus, what would you do?

I don’t know why this came to my head first but I thought clown. I’m not a big fan of clowns but I do like to make people laugh.

If you could go back and talk to yourself at age 18 what advice would you give yourself? Or if you are younger than 25 what words of wisdom would you like to tell yourself at age 45?

I would tell myself to pursue my interests, take risks. I was very practical and played it pretty safe at 18 but I was also somewhat romantic and probably naive. My biggest piece of advice would be to put aside money for retirement and not touch it. I’ve been lucky to have a job with a great pension plan and to own a house in the city. Not everyone is as fortunate and sometimes I think we could have been better prepared.

What is your favorite comfort snack food?

My favourite comfort foods are ice-cream and cheese. Not at the same time. When I want something sweet it would be ice-cream and for my savoury moments it has to be cheese.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I’m grateful for a wonderful birthday week with family and friends. I spent the day with one of my oldest friends at the spa earlier in the week. My good friend L took me to the nail place and she treated me to a pedicure. My aunt and cousin sent me a beautiful bouquet of flowers, my sisters sent me gifts through the mail, my son called me long distance from the Netherlands, my daughters and I spent time together at the CNE, my husband cooked a magnificent meal for six of us and my dear friends at the cottage prepared a birthday lunch with cake done in the BBQ and gave me a set of beautiful earrings. WOW!

I’m looking forward to using my new Jawbone Up (a gift from my family) to record my fitness and sleeping patterns and learning some new songs on my ukulele from the ukulele book that my sister sent me. I’m also looking forward to going back to school (believe it or not) to catch up with my colleagues and meet my new students. Getting the library up and running is number one on my priority list. I just hope I get some help doing it.

My broken birthday cake. It didn’t travel well on my husband’s bike.

Share Your World – Week 34

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….more great questions from Cee’s Photography

What is your favorite smell? What memory does it remind you of?

My favourite smell has to be cinnamon. I love the smell of Christmas baking. Another smell that I really like, especially in a perfume scent is lemon or a citrusy smell. It reminds me of a perfume my mother always used to wear, 4711 or Tosca.

Name a song or two which are included on the soundtrack to your life?

The songs that come to mind are Let it Be by the Beatles and Your are the Sunshine of my Life by Stevie Wonder. The later was the song that my husband and I danced to when we were dating and on our wedding day.

Do you play video/computer game? Which one(s) or most recent?

The only game I play on-line is Scrabble. I’m addicted. I play with my sisters and a few good friends.

Which of Snow White’s 7 dwarfs describes you best? Plus what would the 8th dwarf’s name be? (Doc, Happy, Bashful, Sleepy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey)

I think I’d be Doc, the voice of reason. Although not perfect and often mixing up this words, Doc is kind and keeps the other dwarfs in check. If there was an 8th dwarf his name would be Techy because in today’s world the dwarfs would need someone who can tinker with modern technology.

Photo courtesy of: http://statici.behindthevoiceactors.com/behindthevoiceactors/_img/chars/thumbs/char_17116_thumb.jpg

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I’m grateful for a nice weekend at the cottage with my husband and daughter, A and her partner, J. We finally had decent weather. I’m also grateful for everyone’s help getting the outhouse properly set over the new hole and that it is no longer sitting on an angle but is perfectly level.

This week I’m looking forward to having lunch with my friend, AB and going to the CNE with my daughters. I’m also looking forward to celebrating my birthday on Thursday with my family.

Share Your World 2014 – Week 33

Posted on August 18, 2014 by Mama Cormier

….check out Cee’s blog for more posts about Share Your World

Do you believe in ghosts?

I do actually. I strongly believe that a ghost stood by my bed years ago. I woke up and screamed. My poor husband woke up but didn’t see anything. I’ve always felt that the ghost was my mother and that it was a warning to me. Our son who was 19 at the time wanted to travel to Mexico and hitch hike through the country by himself. I begged him not to go and told him about my ghostly visitation. He reluctantly agreed and later confessed to me that he crossed the border for one day and felt very uncomfortable and that my fears were probably somewhat justified.

Irregardless of your physical fitness, coordination or agility: If you could play any sport professionally what would it be? Or if you can’t picture yourself playing sports, what is your favorite sport?

If I were to play a team sport it would be volleyball. I’ve always loved the game. I don’t even know if there are professional volleyball teams. If not I’d choose baseball. If I were to compete in an individual sport it would be rowing. When I turned 50 I joined a group of women and learned how to row in the 8 man boats and then the 4 man. I loved it.

Do you prefer long hair or short hair for yourself?

Even has I get older I prefer my hair on the longer side. I’ve worn it really short and very long and I like it somewhere in the middle. The notion that long hair makes you look older doesn’t hold true for everyone. I have an oval face that lends itself to lots of different styles but when I look back at my photos of myself I like the medium length cuts best.

If you were on an small island, who would you want to be with? And where is it? How big is it?

If I were on a small island I would want to be with my husband. It would have to be somewhere warm and with lots of resources to build a shelter, make fire and of course have drinking water. The size of the island wouldn’t matter as long as it had interesting places to walk and explore. How long are we staying on this island, anyway? Is it inhabited or not? I may have to rethink these answers.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am grateful for a wonderful weekend with my husband. We celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary. Even though the weather didn’t cooperate we ignored the rain and enjoyed each other’s company (check here).

This week I’m looking forward to no more doctor’s appointments for awhile and going back up to the cottage with our daughter A and her partner J. This may be the last time I go up before school starts. I haven’t decided if I’m going up for the long weekend. If I do it will be for only a day or two to partially close the cottage. Every year I say I’m going up in the fall and then I don’t until it’s time to close it up for the winter. Maybe this year will be different.