The only thing in my house that is not covered in dog hair is the cat.

As you can imagine, I vacuum a lot. I should probably vacuum a lot more often than I do, too. Sigh.

Housework in general is one of those confusing tasks in my life. I was taught as a child to do a job well and then it would stay done, but that doesn’t apply to housework. If you count cooking as a housework kind of job, then this gets even worse – do a good job, and everyone begs you to do it even more. Bah! I should’ve burned the first pot of macaroni & cheese years ago so that nobody would ever expect more from me.

I’m feeling a little gloomy today, I guess.

Fortunately, my chief mess-makers are now old enough to be mess-fixers. This is a good theory and I look forward to the day when I have it fully implemented.

Part of my challenge is that here at home, as I was professionally, I am an excellent worker bee but I never wanted to be in management. I don’t want to schedule a crew, I don’t want to train or conduct performance reviews, I don’t want to cheerlead anyone towards achieving their own goals and targets. I am not a motivator and I don’t want to have to fire anyone. I just want to come in, do my job, and then go home. But did you know? Parenting doesn’t fit this worker bee model at all.

Oh well, I guess we’ll all get there eventually. In the meantime, I thought it might be fun to share some fun vacuum-related happenings and random thoughts that breeze in between my ears while I vacuum.

My mind wanders when I vacuum. For me, vacuuming prompts “shower thoughts”, just a lot drier. Probably because between the noise of the vacuum and my deafness, I cannot hear anyone anyway, but at least when I’m vacuuming, no one talks to me. When the kids were little, they never stopped talking. Never. Never ever. So the roaring racket of the vacuum was a welcome hiatus from the nonstop chatter. 

Our dog Sammy was a husky/malamute cross who shed his double-coat at a rate of 6 to 7 kgs of fluff per day. (No, I didn’t really measure it. Who would do that?)

Alli, our German Shepherd, sheds less than Sammy did.

I have 50 times more hair all over the place from Alli, though. This is primarily because Sammy was the same colour as our carpet and I couldn’t see his pupper confetti so blatantly all over everywhere like I can see Alli’s black hair.

Having these goofy dogs is worth every bit of mess they make. Love is precious. This is probably true about my kids, too, but the kids make me a little crazier than the pets do so sometimes I can’t make up my mind. (Yes, I’m kidding. Mostly.)

Lots of people call the roly-poly dust & hair collections lurking behind furniture “dust bunnies.” My mom called them “dust buffalo”.

When my kids were toddlers, I didn’t want them running around loose while I vacuumed. This was important for some reason, probably a safety thing. So I’d line them up on the couch and they’d have to wait till I was done so that I could vacuum their toes – this was a big treat, and they’d wait and giggle and get all excited till I came along and ran the vacuum hose along their slippers. To this day, Mikayla will still stick her foot in the way so I can “slurp!” it with the vacuum so I guess it made a fun impression.

Rainbow: excellent for peach skeet shooting

I was once vacuuming in the kitchen when I heard a “clunk!!!!” and lost all of the suction power. I cleaned out everything I could reach or access in the vacuum but couldn’t solve the problem. I was convinced that something was in the hose, plugging up the works. Fortunately, that vacuum had the option (or weird design? Maybe you aren’t supposed to do this?) of connecting the hose to the exhaust port instead. So I did that, then opened up my kitchen door and aimed my hose outside. I flipped the machine on and shot a peach pit clear over my carport and into the neighbour’s yard! Vacuum issue solved.

Again, when the kids were younger, we made a big deal in our family about encouraging each other. So vacuuming was a great thing for a frazzled, depressed mother to do in my house because I had 4 kids sitting up on the couch, hollering “Yay, Mommy!!! Good job vacuuming!” I miss that.

Whenever I finish vacuuming the spare room and close the door, I always wonder if the cat ran in there and now she’s locked in. I always check; she never has. I will always double-check, though.

I mess up words quite often – I kind of remember the right one, but not quite – so I have occasionally called the lawn mower the “lawn vacuum”. Now that I consider how much dog hair I regularly deal with, maybe I should start calling the vacuum the “rug mower”?

My old blue vacuum often made a high-pitched ringing noise in the motor that sounded exactly like the phone ringing. I stopped & started so many times until I finally got that figured out.

Kenmore: tried and true

Years ago, one of our hamsters was a bit of an escape artist and would run around the townhouse, having a grand adventure. I think that Stuart Little was her hero. We only figured out where she’d gone because the cat wouldn’t leave the door to the under-the-stairs closet alone. After lots of exploration, we finally found the hamster – she’d crawled all the way up the vacuum hose and had snuggled up in the dust bag. Thank goodness we found her before we used the vacuum again! After that, and even though I was pretty sure we’d closed up all of the hamster’s getaway routes, I would count heads before I turned on the vacuum.

There’s an old cliché that “nature abhors a vacuum”, but I like mine. Yes, that’s a horrible pun and all out of context. No, I do not regret it.

~ 30 ~

Time for a little something…

Mike & I and the kids joke that we are all Pooh Bears: a little round and a lot loving. One of the things I especially like about Pooh is that he is always interested in the next snacking opportunity.

Earlier in my blogging career (last week) I decided that this was not going to become one of those rambling, almost useful recipe sites. Some of them are probably really good, but most of the ones I’ve come across have an enticing heading like “Delicious Dinner Ready in 10 Minutes” and then you get to the site and it’s all about “… when my college friends and I met for our annual Tuscan retreat, we enjoyed a sunset walk in the hills, and then…” and they’ve lost me.  I just need everyone to get to the point.

Oh.

Me, too. Ahem…

I do enjoy food, though. I like the whole process from planning to getting to making to serving & enjoying. Going grocery shopping is half treasure hunt and half math word problems come to life, so I’m loving that. I love to cook, to try new tastes and ingredients, to put something fun on a plate and make my family happy. A holiday get-together is typically my personal mission to put a spare 5 lbs onto each of my loved ones. My favourite thing to say is, “Hi! I’m glad you could come. What can I get for you?”

** Audience Participation Time**  

If I’ve ever made something for you, please comment and tell me what you liked & why. Or have you seen something I posted on Facebook and wished you could try it? Let me know.

Since I’ve been enjoying (sounds better than “suffering”) some chronic illness issues for the past couple of years, I don’t spend as much time messing about in the kitchen like I used to. It makes my heart sing when I get a chance to bang together some pots, and one or another of the kids will come along and hug me and say, "I’m glad you’re feeling better today. What are you making?”

To hit today’s post goal of “50 of something”, I’m going to share with you the following:

• My favourite 10 things to cook or bake
• My 5 favourite food shows to watch
• The best 10 things I’ve ever eaten out in the world
• 5 Times that I made something amazing
• The 5 worst things I’ve ever made
• 5 things I’d love to do that involve food
• 10 restaurants I will always say “yes!” to

My favourite 10 things to cook or bake 

Mario pull-apart cupcakes.

1. Roast turkey with all the trimmings: bacon stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, steamed vegetables, & cranberry sauce.
2. Birthday / special occasion cakes. Not that the cake is all that spectacular (and it often comes from a boxed mix) but I get a kick out of decorating something special for my kids. My efforts are definitely homemade and NOT professional but it makes us all happy and that’s the best bit.
3. Any BBQ team-effort, where I prep and then Mike grills. Maui beef ribs, teriyaki chicken and grilled potatoes are excellent choices.
4. Worldmark Guacamole. Fresh avocadoes, lemon juice, some signature Worldmark condo seasonings, and lob them all into a bowl, mash it all up by hand with a fork, and then devour it on everything from chips to grilled chicken.
5. Cookies. Especially chocolate chip, almond roll-outs, or shortbread.
6. Chicken enchiladas.
7. Sweet & sour pork.
8. Brownies.
9. Chicken or beef fajitas.
10. Stormy-day bean soup. It’s kind of a bean & ham chowder that suits the crockpot perfectly.

My 5 favourite food shows to watch

1. Dinner Impossible, with chef Robert Irvine
2. Chopped
3. Beat Bobby Flay
4. The Urban Peasant, with chef James Barber
5. Iron Chef

The best 10 things I’ve ever eaten out in the world 

(in no particular order)

1. The delicious meal that our friends Elsa & Douglas prepared for us while we were in Indio, CA. I’m not fluent in Spanish, but I think that “carne asada” means “I love you”. Yes, it does
2. Osaka’s Special For Two – a little bit of everything to share with Mike at our favourite Tepanyaki restaurant in Vancouver. If you go, be sure to ask for Johnny or Roland to cook for you.
3. A 2-pound lobster at a fancy restaurant in Disneyland. Ridiculously overpriced but the yummmmm!!!! was so worth it.
4. Roast beef and chicken cutlets, mashed potatoes, gravy & veggies, with pineapple upside-down cake for dessert, served at the Samoa Island Cookhouse (near Eureka, CA). Amazing meal served family-style, looked homemade (no pretense) and tasted like my grandmother made it all. Mmmmm! Liam even had seconds on the cake.
5. Crab with ginger and green onion sauce, at Mr. Ho’s restaurant in Burnaby.
6. Candied salmon on a fancy green salad at some restaurant up in Whistler.
7. Anything savory or sweet at Crepe Breton, which sadly is no longer operating in Vancouver because the owners retired and went back to France full-time. (Crepe Montagne in Whistler is an excellent substitute.)
8. Clam chowder we found at a little restaurant somewhere in Monterey Bay, CA. Even better than the goodies offered on San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf.
9. Anything on the menu at Mary’s Pizza in Santa Rosa, CA.
10. Calamari with tzatziki dipping sauce at Kyllo’s in Lincoln City, OR.

5 Times that I made something amazing

1. Catered dinner for Dave & Terry’s 30^th Anniversary: I made my own plan just like Chef Robert Irvine would have done it, and prepped & served a backyard buffet for about 40 people. Appetizers, salads, sweets & savory bits, and my crowning achievement was serving crab in ginger & green onion sauce as the main course. I cooked 24 crabs in 12 batches, complete with fresh sauce, all from scratch. It turned out better than I could’ve ever hoped.
2. Christmas Eve fondue extravaganza. A variety of seasoned meats sizzled in oil, plus assorted sausages & bread cubes dipped in hot cheese. (This was a fancy splurge that Mike & I did a couple times before we had kids. The idea of an open flame & hot oil anywhere near children is scary.)
3. I served fresh deep-fried wontons at a church picnic. I did all of the prep at home and then took my propane-fired turkey fryer to the park. Mikayla teased me that even at a picnic, I found a way to hide in the kitchen, but it seemed to me that everyone came by to see me. Several times.
4. Hosted a burger & dogs barbecue (plus salads & desserts) for all of Metro’s youth workers. A college’s travelling singing team joined us, plus a few neighbours and friends who saw all the tents and stopped in to see what was going on. Then the rain hit and I ended up with my Mom watching a moving with all the little kids down in the basement while everyone else squished into the living room and we all sang. One guest sent me a ‘thank you’ note because I served bacon on the burgers; my kind of guy!
5. The open-house, “thanks for helping us!” buffet we served for everyone who helped us move out of Noel and into Briar. My new kitchen is big, and I lined the acre of countertops with crockpots and filled the island with pick-up goodies. My favourite bit was the bacon-wrapped chicken bites. I should make those again…

The 5 worst things I’ve ever made

The only good thing to say about any of these is that I have not repeated the same mistakes.

1. Chili con Carne, when I put rosemary in the sauce for some unknown reason.
2. Seafood Chowder, when I mistakenly used sweetened condensed milk instead of evaporated milk.
3. Carrot muffins, with a package of muffin mix that was way, way past its best-by date.
4. Fresh bread, with yeast that had expired and soured. No, not the good kind of “sourdough”. More like rancid.
5. The first steak that I ever barbecued and served to Mike. Rare meat shouldn’t ‘moo’ when you serve it.

5 things I’d love to do that involve food

1. Eat my way across Greece. I want to try everything in small, family restaurants.
2. Go to an American country fair and try the crazy treats they serve there.
3. Prepare a prime rib & all the trimmings dinner for my Metro friends and family.
4. Make crepes properly at home with a real crepe stone.
5. Spend a summer of “date-nights” checking out food trucks and trying stuff I’ve never had before.

10 restaurants I will always say “yes!” to

Kleftiko: slow-roasted lamb, Greek style

Again, these are in no particular order. 

It was hard to only list 10.

1. White Spot. Bring on the BC beef burger with sweet potato fries.
2. Mr. Ho’s Wonton House. Best dry garlic ribs on the planet, and their salt & pepper squid is fabulous. All the veggie dishes are knock-outs, too.
3. Osaka Tepanyaki. Even the bean sprouts are fabulous! The mustard sauce and the ginger sauce are two things that I hope grow on trees in heaven.
4. Pink Pearl. Get as many people together for dim sum as you can, so that you can literally try one bite of 100 amazing things.
5. Sushi Garden. Mmmmm, so many little bites of yumminess, including gomae (cold spinach & sesame salad)
6. Vassilis Greek Taverna in Burnaby. “Kleftiko” is Greek for “I love you.” Trust me on this.
7. Bubble World. Okay, technically not a restaurant but a beverage place, but a peach & watermelon slush with mango jelly is filling like a meal. And they’re that good.
8. American Domino’s pizza. They have the garlic crust. (Seriously, Canadian Domino’s, get it together!)
9. Mongolie Grill in Whistler.
10. Crepe Montagne in Whistler.

Well, now I’m hungry.

~ 30 ~

Billboard’s Top Song for July 9th

Every July 9^th, from 1969 till now.

To compile the following list, I used Billboard’s Archives online. I started out with their “Hot 100” entries, and then switched lists as noted when I felt the different categories more accurately reflected my taste in general.

Having now completed the list, I’m sitting here and wondering if I’ve learned anything. I guess I’m having a “what was my point?” moment. Hey, let’s get to the point of the list with a bullet-pointed list:

·         These top songs were not chosen by me, but by the USA purchasing public who voted with their dollars at a cash register. If you added in Canadian data, I bet that the list would be 99% the same except for some Neil Young, Bryan Adams and Tragically Hip songs.

·         Each song listed was the #1 in its category on July 9^th of that year. One thing that I learned is that most people bought better music on the weeks immediately prior to or following July 9^th, because wow! some of these are clunkers.

·         Popular music has sure changed over the years. You can decide for yourself if that’s good, bad, or inconsequential. I think it’s a lot more difficult now to say which genre a band belongs to – everything “crosses over” now from rock to country to alternative to pop. That’s confusing in some ways but I also like that a band can just make their music as it suits them and they’ve got the freedom to switch around. Today, nobody would bat an eye at Bob Dylan for plugging in his new guitar. Besides, nobody goes looking for an album in a particular section of the music store anymore (Google it, kids) so it doesn’t matter where you file anybody.

·         Society’s standards for what you can or can’t say out loud in public have been trashed. Not that older music was cleaner necessarily, but rock albums in the ‘60s and ‘70s probably weren’t in the hands of 4-year olds either and a cuss word was either “bleeped” out by the radio station, or the band would release a “radio” version that was cleaned up for the public.

·         You know what? I have no point. This was just a fun exercise in pop culture. Enjoy!

1969: In The Year 2525,  Zager & Evans

This song is a loopy look way into our future, stretching all the way out to the year 8510, which is when they figure God will finally come back for Judgment Day. Okay then.

1970: The Love You Save/I Found That Girl, Jackson 5

1971: It's Too Late/I Feel The Earth Move, Carole King

1972: Lean On Me, Bill Withers

Ohhhhhh, Bill Withers!!!!! I knew nothing about this artist till 2018, when I heard “Grandma’s Hands”. What a voice!!! My high school graduation grand march included Club Nouveau’s remake of Lean on Me and it was okay, but the original is so much better.

1973: Will It Go Round In Circles, Billy Preston

Well, it was 1973 so you probably released this on a record, Billy… so yes, it will go round in circles. Unless someone’s playing an 8-track, which does some kind of tape-looping thing which isn’t technically a circle.

1974: Rock The Boat, The Hues Corporation

My dad & I would sing along with this tune every time it came on the radio. Not that it’s a great song, but we’d harmonize and goof around with it and Dad had a great time changing the lyrics on the fly. We’d laugh so hard!!!

1975: Love Will Keep Us Together, Captain & Tennille

1976: Silly Love Songs, Wings

1977: Undercover Angel, Alan O'Day

1978: Shadow Dancing, Andy Gibb

1979: Ring My Bell, Anita Ward

1980: Coming Up (Live At Glasgow), Paul McCartney And Wings

(starting with 1981, Billboard offers “Mainstream Rock” as a category, which is a lot more relevant for me)

1981: The Voice, The Moody Blues

1982: Eye Of The Tiger, Survivor

1983: Every Breath You Take, The Police

Ahhhhhhhh, from the album “Synchronicity”. Not a dud in the bunch. My mom actually bought me this album on cassette right when it came out and it lived in my Walkman, 24-7.

1984: Dancing In The Dark, Bruce Springsteen

1985: If You Love Somebody Set Them Free, Sting

1986: Secret Separation, The Fixx

I guess these guys weren’t just a one-hit-wonder with One Thing Leads to Another. Who knew?

1987: Don't Mean Nothing, Richard Marx

1988: Roll With It, Steve Winwood

(starting in September 1988, Billboard’s Archive offers “Alternative Rock” as a category, which is definitely a relevant refinement)

1989: So Alive, Love And Rockets

My friend Wendy decided she loved this song because it was about a brunette instead of the typical blonde. That’s as good a reason as any, I guess. This was a decent album but I liked their older, quirkier stuff better.

1990: Way Down Now, World Party

1991: Kiss Them For Me, Siouxsie & The Banshees

This song was written as an ode to Hollywood star Jayne Mansfield, who also starred in a movie with Cary Grant that had the same title. Thanks, Wikipedia!

1992: Friday I'm In Love, The Cure

I like The Cure’s music. But some of their song lyrics are the textbook definition of “inane” and this one is their second-worst for me. Their all-time loser? Love Cats. Without doubt.

1993: Pets, Porno For Pyros

“My friend says we're like the dinosaurs, Only we are doing ourselves in, Much faster than they ever did. We'll make great pets!”

1994: Fall Down, Toad The Wet Sprocket
Love the band name? They took it from a throw-away line in a ‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus’ skit.

1995: Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me, U2

I have a hard time with U2 and I don’t really know why. Maybe it’s because their musical style changes so much and I cannot decide if they’re being ground-breaking artists or cash-lucky chameleons. But then bands like AC/DC or Bon Jovi, whose every album sounds just like their every other album, bug me just as much, so who knows?

1996: Pepper, B******e Surfers

I cannot in good conscience print the band’s name, and they were awful anyway, so you’re missing nothing here. I think they sold well just because kids wanted to leave the album cover laying around and horrify their parents.

1997: Semi-Charmed Life, Third Eye Blind 

Sing it!!!  “doo-doo-doo, doop-de-doo-doo!”

1998: Iris, Goo Goo Dolls

This song can still have me in tears in under a minute. Beautiful, heartbreaking piece.

1999: Scar Tissue, Red Hot Chili Peppers

This one topped the charts from June 26-October 15. I guess you’d have to ask an actual fan of the Chilis if it’s their “best” song.

2000: Kryptonite, 3 Doors Down

Yes, if you go crazy, I will still call you Superman. What makes you ask?

2001: It's Been Awhile, Staind

Huh, how ‘bout that? I always thought this song was done by Nickelback.

2002: By The Way, Red Hot Chili Peppers

Again, massive chart dominance from June till September. Just not my thing.

2003: Seven Nation Army, The White Stripes

As good as this is, check out the re-do by Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox featuring Haley Reinhart. Sweet!

2004: Slither, Velvet Revolver

I’d like to know if their band name was any kind of homage to Lou Reed.

2005: Best Of You, Foo Fighters

2006: Dani California, Red Hot Chili Peppers

Okay…. I think I’ve cracked the code here. July 9^th is a summer date, and RHCPs must massively appeal to surfers on the beach because “stick to your strengths” and all that. How else are there 3 Chilis songs on this list so far and nothing from Pearl Jam nor Nirvana?

2007: What I've Done, Linkin Park

Knowing anything at all about the life and death of singer Chester Bennington will break your heart.

Gregg DeGuire/WireImage

2008: Pork And Beans, Weezer 

Their “Buddy Holly” song is better. Well, maybe not… I just liked its video. With the sound on ‘mute’.

2009: New Divide, Linkin Park

(from here on, I don’t think I’ve even heard of the bands, much less listened to their music. But I’m nothing if not thorough so let’s continue…)

2010: Lay Me Down, The Dirty Heads Featuring Rome

2011: You Are A Tourist, Death Cab For Cutie

I give these guys full marks for having an original band name.

2012: Gold On The Ceiling, The Black Keys

2013: Sweater Weather, The Neighbourhood

Bonus points for “irony” in the song title for a summer release in the northern hemisphere.

2014: Fever, The Black Keys

This seems to be a popular band. If the Black Keys one day score a cover or ‘tribute’ band, would that group be called The Sharps & Flats?

2015: Dark Before Dawn, Breaking Benjamin

2016: Bored To Death, Blink-182

I didn’t know these guys were still going.

2017: Feel It Still, Portugal. The Man 

As opposed to “Portugal. The Country”? Would any of us have actually been confused on that? We all kept our heads on straight for Asia, Europe, America & Kansas.

2018: I Feel Like I'm Drowning, Two Feet

Try flapping your two arms, and good luck getting back to the beach. Everybody there is singing Red Hot Chili Pepper songs at the bonfire.

2019: Hey, I don’t know. I researched all the others at https://www.billboard.com/archive/charts, not with a crystal ball.

~ 30 ~

Music. Gotta love it.

I think we all live with some kind of soundtrack running non-stop in the back of our minds. From a peaceful tune whispering around back there during calm moments, all the way up through the spectrum to something thrashy & thumpy when we’re agitated. This can’t just be a “Kim” thing.

When I was brainstorming for how to approach this introspective project of pure vanity & ego called “blog”, I found that many of my ideas centered on music. (Feel free to score them as you see fit.)

Sample Ideas, in no particular order:	0 = Totally Stupid, Never Do This 10 = Yep!!! Start Now!
List the Top 10 for each year, 1969-2019, and add some personal anecdotes, political context, and random ramblings.
My favourite hymns.
Popular song lyrics that I’ve been singing incorrectly for years.
Write one post entirely using only song lyrics.
AM Radio: Singing in the Truck with my Dad
Dyslexia, or Why I Cannot Wrap My Musical Head Around My Useless Hands at the Piano.
Compile my personal Top 50 songs, and wax philosophically on why each is memorable to me.
Best concerts I’ve ever attended / Concerts I wish I could attend.

So you get the idea, right? But here’s the challenge as immediately voiced by my handsome husband: “What would that do to your Christian testimony???!!!!!” He’s got an excellent point. I have struggled on this very point so many times that it would make your head spin at a moderate to quick tempo, 4/4 time.

Hold that thought…

If I’m going to have any credibility or self-respect in anything I publish, then I will be honest. (If you were expecting one of those sappy, “isn’t my life so fabulous”, inspirational & uplifting blogs… umm, keep moving, friend, ‘cause there’s nothing for you here. My life is fabulous except for when it isn’t, my greatest moments of inspiration are probably more along the “don’t try this at home” lines, and uplifting? Hmmmm. How are you with dark, gallows humour?)

So here’s the war that I’ve battled within myself for the past week: do I completely avoid discussing music because it’s spiritually awkward for me, or do I throw that caution to the proverbial wind and let rip with whatever song, lyric or tune that has had a significant effect in shaping who I am and how I’ve seen the world over the years or offers a poignant insight into how I think?

(For those scoring along at home, that last paragraph right there was one massive run-on sentence. I am compositionally ashamed but will leave it in, as-is, to serve as a beacon of humility should I ever develop a swelled head over my spectacular written works. Also, I just made up the word "compositionally".)

Having now carefully, prayerfully considered this whole “what should I post re: music” issue, I am rock-solid on these points:

1. Anything that I say/write/share publicly must somehow glorify & honour my saviour, Jesus Christ.
2. Anything less than the absolute truth is a waste of time. Mine & yours. Also, see rule #1.

So here is how I’m going to proceed with my Music topic in general: I’m going to share a few Great Musical Moments of Kim that were important to me along the way, and then… you get to decide for yourself how you’d like to take it.

If a future post includes some lyric or a band’s name, I’m not necessarily promoting it nor condemning them. I’ve made many personal decisions to put aside groups or musical genres that I used to enjoy because I believe in scriptures promoting music as a means of worship only. And I certainly don’t want to provide a stumbling-block playlist to anyone who struggles or is extra conservative with their personal musical choices. However, glossing over or omitting completely anything musical in my posts feels dishonest to the point of being icky & needing soap. Plus that launched a whole ‘nother train of thought regarding free expression and censorship, but that’s a bunny trail for another day.

Note to self: an enlightening if thoroughly embarrassing future post could be all about assorted spiritual issues I’ve waffled back & forth on as I’ve matured. If I’ve matured. When I mature. Oh, you know what I mean.

“I sing because I’m happy,

I sing because I’m free,

For His eye is on the sparrow,

And I know He watches me.”

~ Charles H. Gabriel

~ 30 ~

“Why were your kids late to school this morning, Kim?”
(originally posted to Facebook, May 2019)

Well, I’m glad you asked...
It’s not as simple as just saying that Mike drove them today 😉
And everyone was ready to go on time.
But then.... *The Mouse was Found in the Pantry*
😳
One little grey mouse ran for its life from the pantry and down the front hall, until it hid behind some boxes. 
Katie jumped up onto a kitchen chair, in case the mouse ran back toward her. The other kids milled around, trying to see where the mouse was hiding. 
Since Alli the Dog was already out in the backyard, Mike cornered the mouse and — now here’s the goofy part — he dispatched Mikayla to scoot upstairs and return with Jojo the Cat. (Cat & Dog don’t get along that well yet.)
Mikayla held Jojo, who was meowing her intense displeasure at 1. being woken up, and 2. being dragged downstairs, and then she aimed poor Jojo at the mouse. Mike poked behind the boxes, the mouse booted it, and Jojo was supposed to chase & catch the mouse.
Easy, right?
No.
Jojo hit the floor and ran like mad to escape the whole situation. In her defence, she’s an excellent mouser on her own and in Mike’s defence, he sincerely thought that the cat would be a much more willing participant. 
Meanwhile, the mouse disappeared into the pile of boots near the front door. Back by the kitchen door, Alli was looking in and probably wondering why nobody invited her to the party. Jojo was hiding under the couch in the school room. Katie was still up on her chair, the rest of the kids were standing around laughing, and I just watched quietly from the sidelines, wondering if we’ve all lost our minds.
Eventually, the mouse took off for the laundry room and Mike set a couple of spring-loaded traps in the pantry & the laundry room. Then he & the kids all piled into the Jeep and headed for school.
Just another day.

~ 30 ~

Today’s life lesson:
Deal with stuff when it comes up. Procrastination is not your friend. 
(originally posted on Facebook, November 2018)

I went to the bank this afternoon and replaced my debit card. I’ve known for several weeks that I’d lost/misplaced/donated-to-the-wind my debit card and that I’d need the thing sooner or later, but I just didn’t feel like dragging my antisocial carcass to the bank. There was no unusual card activity (I checked online) and I gambled that if I could barely remember my PIN#, it would be highly unlikely for someone else to guess what my elementary school pet’s maiden name was. 

So I did nothing about it.

“But how did you survive without cash?”, you might ask. Or you might already know that I haven’t carried cash for years. I either put my purchases onto a rewards-earning credit card or I bat my eyelashes at the handsome husband and he pays for whatever we’re doing out in the world. I also tend to use magical Internetty store app things that I’ve loaded onto my phone, where the account balances miraculously top themselves up every few coffees. 

You know what I was doing? I was foolishly assuming that every vendor on the planet was ready to accommodate my digital financial needs.

Hold that thought...

I’m on a bit of a “take my business to small businesses” kick lately. (Except for coffee at the Odd-looking Green Mermaid Planetwide Chain; I’m keeping that franchise going. But I digress.)

Hold that thought, too...

Also, my favourite hairdresser semi-retired and moved a while back so I’ve been avoiding getting my hair cut. Over the past year or so, I’ve grown my bangs out 3 times. This is not a fashion & style choice; this is squarely on my lack of enthusiasm for finding a new hairdresser. 

When desperation and hair-induced blindness have driven me into a stranger’s chair, I’ve just randomly wandered into Faceless, Nameless Franchise MegaCuts at the mall and hoped for the best. 

So... yesterday, I realized that my grey roots were probably longer than the faux blonde split ends, and something needed to be done. Something serious, involving scissors and chemicals being wielded in the hands of a professional. 

As I was walking down the street towards my darling daughter’s school, I spotted a hair salon. The sign at the front door advertised reasonable rates and I thought, “Aha! Try this local business, and see how it goes.” Five minutes later, I was the proud owner of a shiny new hair appointment for the next morning (today, if you’re scoring at home.)

Spoiler alert: I’m delighted with my cut and the colour is great. The lady doing the work owns the shop and clearly does excellent work. She even took my friend in as a walk-in and gave her an awesome trim. 

Furthermore, this sweet woman was gracious enough to let me leave her shop — without paying! — because I couldn’t pay without cash or a debit card.

(Let me emphasize that I am NOT complaining about her not offering credit card use. I am 100% the weak-link in this story. I fully understand that a small business has to count the cost of those options.)

Immediately after leaving her shop, I booted my embarrassed butt to the bank and replaced my debit card. I then used said shiny, new card to withdraw sufficient cash so that I could return to the salon and be certain that I could pay. Could you imagine how appalling it would’ve been to get there and have a problem with the new card? Not a risk I was willing to take!

Now I’m sitting quietly, enjoying my paid-for hairdo with a clear conscience. When I walked back into her salon, that sweet lady greeted me with a smile and again was so gracious about the whole situation. A situation that wouldn’t have come up at all if I’d just dealt with my missing debit card when I first noticed it was gone. 

Lesson learned.

I feel much better with my hair looking like I’m actually trying to take care of myself, too. And yes, I have bangs again. All that exposed forehead was adding years to my youthful face. 

Finally, as a treat for the nice stylist and especially to thank her for her kindness today, I tipped appropriately and I gave her a gift card to a local café just down the street from her salon. Did I mention the “support small business” kick?

~ 30 ~

The Launch of The Blog by The Writer

The blog of a thousand words begins with a blank screen, a cup of coffee, and a lot of excuses to go do something else. Anything else, even housework, but anything other than actually act on this idea that anyone would be even slightly interested in my thoughts.

Let's face it, my thoughts are not very profound (usually) and probably pretty weird (frequently).

But  my 50th birthday is coming up, which is a milestone that prompts a lot of reflection and introspection, and a couple of good friends suggested that I should share some personal trivia as the day approaches. Their request appealed in equal parts to my vanity and their curiosity, so here we all are...

This first post has no meat in it but don't leave yet! If you want to stay connected to my ramblings, please follow/like/sign up or whatever it is we do with blogs. I'm still working out the mechanics here; be patient.  **Update: the column to the right should have an email subscription thingie**

Here's a little teaser to keep you coming back ~ future postings will include exciting stories like:

• my favourite vacation moments (including that one where I wondered if I'd be diving off a yacht in the  middle of the night)
• coffee, and why no one wants me to live without it
• employment: the best, the worst, and how I made $$$ getting covered in blue ink
• funny stories about Mike (because I have a blog and he doesn't!)
• my hobbies, and how I do them without swearing too much
• ...{your suggestion here; I take requests}...