Monthly Archives: April 2008

Learn-A-Word Wednesday: afflatus \uh-FLAY-tuhs\

Posted on April 30, 2008 by wendy| 2 Comments

noun:

A divine imparting of knowledge; inspiration.

Aristophanes must have eclipsed them . . . by the exhibition of some diviner faculty, some higher spiritual afflatus.
— John Addington Symonds, Studies of the Greek Poets

Afflatus is from Latin afflatus, past participle of afflare, “to blow at or breathe on,” from ad-, “at” + flare, “to puff, to blow.”

Gotta love those Romans! They manage to make a cousin of flatulent equate to divine inspiration. I double checked to make sure this wasn’t quoting Bickus Dickus somewhere.

I’m gonna make a new language in which “stinky” also means “orange blossoms,” “unprepared” means “perfect,” and “rejection” is the same as “infatuation.” Oh, and “svelte” means “pudgy.”

Yeah.

Got any new vocabulary you want to add?

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Posted in brilliant ideas, words

groovin’ on the conference vibe, or not

Posted on April 28, 2008 by wendy| 10 Comments

Thanks to the hubs donning his Mr. Mom hat, I went to this conference this past weekend.

I felt a rollercoaster of emotions:

Day One:
Wow. This is just great! These people are so talented!
I COULD be a professional author. ANYTHING is possible. Children’s books are AWESOME. I’m learning SO much! I have SO many ideas! I CAN fix my rough drafts! These editors will LOVE my stuff!

Day Two:
Wow. This is just great. These people are so talented.
I SUCK. These editors won’t get to page 2 of my stuff. This will NEVER work. I am SO screwed. How did I ever think I could? I won, like, NO door prizes. Zero. And they were not even giving away tote bags.

Day Three (home):
I think I had a high school deja vu, stretched out, over 48 hours. Is that a zit? Got any chocolate chip cookie dough? Tab?

My neck is sore from all the head-spinning.

Is 41 too late to be a professional soccer player? They make cleats for girls now, right?

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Posted in brilliant ideas, growth, scratchings

have you seen any mouses?

Posted on April 24, 2008 by wendy| 5 Comments

If you’re a mouse, our yard could provide you sanctuary or a death knell, depending on who’s around.

Dog just figured out we have a dual purpose wood pile/mouse house.

You smell sumthang?
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Think it went this way.
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Oh, good stretch.
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Walnut brain to tail: speed up. Mouse nearby.
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Man, it’s dark.
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I never saw if she caught anyone but her tail sure was busy.

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Posted in animals, Bainbridge Island, WA

Learn-A-Word Wednesday: busker \BUS-kur\

Posted on April 23, 2008 by wendy| 4 Comments

noun:
A person who entertains (as by playing music) in public places.

. . .a busker who simultaneously plays the drums, cymbals, bells and a mouth organ.
— Murray Bail, Homesickness: A Novel

Busker is from busk, “to seek to entertain by singing and dancing,” probably from Spanish buscar, “to seek.”

I have a busker on my hands.

She has these boots:
img_4095.jpg
Apparently, there is no way to walk quietly in them. If I hadn’t looked for myself, I would swear they have taps on the bottoms.

She kicks, prances, twirls, stomps, skips, a regular Savion Glover.

My busker has only gotten more showy since all passers-by praise these boots.

After all the IlikeyourbootsThosearecutebootsHicowgirlWhere’dyougetyourbootsThosearecool!, she’s never wearing any other shoes. Her feet will be forever triangle shaped.

If she’s going to keep at it, maybe she could carry a tip jar?

Do you have a busker? What are their talents?

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Posted in kid, words

what is YOUR job title?

Posted on April 20, 2008 by wendy| 13 Comments

While I’m at the eye doctor’s the other day, I had to fill out a new form on medical information since over a year had passed from the previous exam.

I’m looking at what I filled out before. No medicine allergies, no cataracts. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

Then I read, Occupation: homemaker.

ntl-ph0141-0332l.jpgHuh?

In my OWN handwriting. In 2006, that’s what I wrote. Not 1956.

WTH was I thinking? What medication was I on?

If that is, in fact, my job, I suck. My house is wreck. I hardly ever wear an apron. Let’s face it, I hardly ever clean, so who needs the apron? Even my pearls are collecting dust in their box, if that’s possible.

If I am supposed to be making a home, big or small, I also suck at art projects and home construction projects.

I’m in deep doo-doo in the “homemaker” arena.

How did I even manage to GET this job?

Oh, yeah. HIM.

Isn’t it better for us all to use the term “SAHM”?? It’s quick to write, although not to say. But those are the kind of trade-offs we SAHM’s have to deal with.

That’s right, mister. I am focused on my child, so don’t look at the state of my house!

My child DOES occupy me. She IS my occupation, such as it is. With no salary increases, no workers comp for my aches and pains, and no paid vacation. Heeeeey, I haven’t really had much vacation from this Kid, er, job for the whole four and a half years. That’s GOT to be a violation of something.

No?

I can only hope this job pads my resume nicely as a stepping stone to my next job which based on Kid’s tendencies I’m guessing will be. . .
.
.
PAROLE OFFICER.

What’s your current job title?

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Posted in growth, me-me-me, parenting

flowering attitude

Posted on April 19, 2008 by wendy| 4 Comments

Yes, it’s April. Which, in these here parts, means Skagit County Tulip Festival. It goes through the whole month of April.

Since the weekend forecast calls for rain and snow *sigh*, I thought I’d share some snaps from earlier this week.
dsc_0270.JPGThere were the usual brilliant colors.

dsc_0254.JPGNicely laid, row after row.

dsc_0215.JPGAnd the usual attitude from Kid. No cameras, Mommy! No pictures!

dsc_0201.JPGFortunately, the flowers didn’t talk back.

dsc_0257-1.JPGSome even seemed to grin for the camera.

dsc_0260.JPGKid grinned, too, as she ran away.

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Posted in events, outside, regional

Washington Ferry Alert: loose horse on board! Your help is requested! (UPDATED)

Posted on April 18, 2008 by wendy| 4 Comments

Be on the lookout for a renegade horse, similar to this only not as fluffy or clean:
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“Neigh” to her friends, she was last seen at the car video game area Thursday afternoon, pretending to play since she forgot her purse. Unfortunately, she failed to deboard the ferry when it arrived at the Bainbridge terminal.

More unfortunate, her tail, I am told, is perfect for twirling with small fingers at bedtime. And the curve of her furry back nestles perfectly under a small neck.

Washington State Ferry Lost and Found has been notified. We chew our nails while waiting for word.

Please pray for us (okay, mostly ME!). We may need counseling for all those stages of grief.

Unless I get Kid a new one. Do you think I should?

UPDATE: We found Neigh!! She actually DID make it off the ferry and into our house. Kid found her. How is it you can TOTALLY forget whether you carried something in or saw it anywhere? Next time a lovey gets chosen, I vote for BRIGHT RED fur!

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Posted in animals, Bainbridge Island, WA, kid