horsemen
tunics
sheilds
spears
dummies
saxon swords
stupid human spray painting wingnut
ketchup in the eye
blood on the ground
fire smoke and clanking

and they did tell all their friends! now there's at least 100 of them in the house. we've been having a heat wave here and so we leave the windows and doors open at night. (screens are not common in europe.) at least they keep the kids entertained. but i have to say when they hitch a ride on your leg, and they are not shy, it's a little creepy at first.

we are currently rationing water. not allowed to fill paddle pools, water grass, do laundry...try explaining that to your kids. how come we're not allowed to run under the sprinkler mommy? why isn't there enough water? when will we have more? ominous. and to think the favorite national pastime is hosing off the driveway. what will we do?

today we are entertaining ourselves indoors with Tom and Sally our new grasshopper friends. they hop and we squeel with delight and chase them all over the house. we are currently at the vet. Sally is very fun. she likes being thrown up in the air and toted around on your arm. she's 3 cm long. tom is a little smaller and he is quite lethargic at the moment. he prefers to chill on top of the magnifying glass. time for the cruise! don't jump in the ocean Tom. land ahoy! waves ahoy! we think they're going to tell their friends about the free rides. super cool. and Sally is the mommy. the mommy is really the captain but she just lets Tom say ahoy in front of his mates. a mommy can be a captain you know.

today i went to Superman Returns and was very offended. it reeked of propaganda and horrified my children. this was done on purpose as to emblazon their young minds with the injustice that some would hope will cement their value system in christian martydom and create future heroes for god's army. yuck.

did anyone else get this?

maybe i should pull this post too.

let's wait 10 minutes.

birds singing. time for bed.

there is this great big orange moon out there and it has been keeping me awake for a week. this new philosophy of manifesting positive thoughts is being tested on day 2. the theory being that energy spent dwelling on/trying to improve/overcome negative situations ie; money problems only attracts more money problems. has something to do with quantum physics. instead one should think about how grateful they are for what they do have and focus on all the money they can visualize themselves wanting. by this rule, my style of blogging is seriously challenged. already i feel myself wanting to express the extreme frustration of having friends who just don't get that the 15 bucks they borrowed and didn't pay back REALLY WAS my gas money for the month. but i won't. or that tonight we learned that the reason dh hasn't heard anything about this imminent hot job is that the guy who interviewed him and was all 100 reasons we want to hire you, is now C.O.O. for another company. SHIT. yes, universe here come my negative waves. take them and turn them into something good. NOW!

A la Belle Fontaine

a great day prowling the woods yesterday. turning over a new leaf i decided to bring along the dinosaur and take a few pics. it did pretty well considering it's technical limitations and the fact that it tumbled out of my pack and down a rocky cliff well before we arrived at the falls. and here, after a few magnificent shots of this ancient mystical place, i dropped it again. splaash. an offering. and what do you do when you drop something into a fountain? you make a wish! in my minds eye: an amazing new camera on it's way by the end of the month.

share a secret?

http://www.thesecret.tv/home.html

in the woods

what did you do today?

life's a bowl of cherries

...courtesy of our lovely backyard cherry tree...who's had a haircut and asked not to be photographed until it's all grown back...an understandable request

more melodramatics

coff-ee... in the morning... makes me happpy...

so relieved that the door was locked last night and did not have to share the bed with the whole family. after three sleepless nights i am human again. locking my puppies out of the room is not something i like to do BUT. i am such a shrew when sleep deprived.

one year of blogging gone by.
all in all, a positive experience.
one that has kept me from some insane act of violence throughout The Crisis. Lurking Doom no longer so scary and i have accepted that a change would do me good.
actually, we will probably stay here as a good job seems to be bobbing around in the fog close by. can't say no to a good job.

bye-bye baseball caps and unusual circumstances.
hello suit and tie.

silver lining: husband looks hot in italien suits.

cloud: i am done with this place. no future at 40 here. my torch-making, barn crawling days would seem to be finito. due to the absence of an industry. happy reunions in the local pubs all end in the same chime "get out of dodge, baby. it's all over" and my greying compadres recount their plans of b&b's near Budapest or Cape Verde or back to Ireland or Berlin. I say good-bye to friends who shared wild times and take the testimony away with them to be forgotten. leaving this land barren and bank-ridden.

over. baby.

and so, where i was once panicked about having to leave, i kind of have to wonder if this isn't worse. no universities here=no further qualifications=time waste=no real job=no pension=total dependance on husband=not a good thing=will devise a plan

so this year's blogging will probably be about The Plan.

how not to fade into housewife oblivion. so tempting yet so deadly.

school's out. YEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

into organized mommy mode.

tv off. cabinet locked. key hidden.

front door open. back door open. crazy energy stampeding through them both. out. in. out. in. outinoutinoutinoutinout ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

rules! structure! plan!

but otherwise things seem to be going my way.

and.....hubby may FINALLY have a job. a real job. as in a REAL job. i am so crossing my fingers. makes it hard to type.

project wise...have been assigned organisation of club Thanksgiving dinner. i'm a regular society lady. freak. me. out.

if leading a bunch of kids in feild games doesn't get you out of your funk, nothing will.

point form ADD report:

1) i have become too goal oriented and forgotten how to play
2) people think i'm a teacher
3) i could be a teacher
4) kids prefer duck duck splash to name games
5) crowds scare me
6) my husband is a great guy to have around and keep things light and he still has an uncannny way of catching plates as they drop - go team
7) my teenage daughter needs leadership training : summer camp would have been good for her
8) my teenage daughter loves softball and had good time despite the grumpy start
9) i'm thinking about starting a kids craft class
10) dreamcatchers are crowd pleasers
11) god's eyes are not that simple for 5 year olds
12) schedules are made to be ignored
13) always prep every inch of string you need in advance
14) never leave the glue unattended
15) forget the pool if you are a volunteer
16) use suncream
17) i am not the only canadian woman to suddenly realise i've spent half my life in a foriegn country
18) must curb reclusive behavior and seize the day because it's way more fun