"With his long johns on Pa went out creepin'..."

Whoohoo for prompts!

A lover of blogs and a true sufferer of writer's block, I LOVE websites that ask me fun questions. National Blog Posting Month is a website that provides tools for people that are looking to post more regularly (and become the next great thing). They also say they offer "moral support, inspiration, and camaraderie" for those involved in the blogging community. Gives it a formidable hue, no? I'm not going to sign up for those camaraderie things because that sounds...scary but I will willingly take their hints and tips towards better blogging.

The last prompt posted was "What childhood belonging do you still have in your possession?"

Though I desperately wish it could be my fuchsia dinosaur stuffed animal from my toddlerhood that mysteriously disappeared with nary a trace, I have only my baby blanket that my great-grandmother crocheted for me. Tucked in the Porcheron abyss of a crawl space are still things like my 'quiet book' (AS IF I needed any help with that) and my 'prayer pillow', things that will make me squeal when I have poop-sack, beanheads of my own. Mom, three points for you for being a sentimental mama. No woobie capes, but my blanket is folded and duck taped into storage with a crocheted robe from the same grandmother, one of my dad's mega soft t-shirt that he laundered to a suede finish flipping houses (that I also think my mom tried to throw away many a time) and a vintage beige clutch I filched from my mom when I was in high school and never gave back.

Seriously, what. Cutest lobster EVAR.

Hope your halloween was deliriously cute.

Summertime, Summertime, Sum-sum-summertime

Muchachos!

The smell of sunscreen. Drippy condensation on

the rim of every cup. Sleeping without covers. Crisp, juicy watermelon. Dewy skin. Hair frizzy from the pool.

Summer is here.

After probably a month straight of overcast, muggy, um disappointing weather, we have had almost a we

ek straight of almost insufferably beautiful sun. At work, every time someone walks through the sliding doors and a sultry gust of humid hotness dances in, everyone in the produce department hovers around the thermometers and the sprouts, biting their nails, 'Oh God and what about the mushrooms!". And at the end of the day, they are just mushrooms and we STILL get a wicked summer.

Matt and I hiked the Chief on Wednesday which was soooo fun! Matt's still sore and walking like he pooped his pants. My legs aren't too sore but I still have sore, burned shoulders. We hit the peak on one of the hottest days we had had so far this summer and man did we feel it. Dipping down into the trees each time from the three peaks was a cool blanket on us.

We did the Squaw trail up the East (I thiiiink it's East), which is essentially a straight scramble up the side of the mountain. And we ran it. Of course we did, because we're first born, type-A, no-I-swear-I-can-do-it-heart attack people. But that was literally what it was like the entire way up.

We met some nice people, (and when I say 'met' I mean we borrowed a match from them or we offered them a bandage or a cigarette as they whimpered to catch their breath on the side of the trail)

and couldn't have had a better day for it.

This is Matt toying with the wildlife. It's like Hammy from Over the Hedge. Once you find high-fructose corn syrups, you can't go back.

We easily did it the hard way up AND down. The side with the peaks had all of these narrow channels, ladders

and chains (it was very BDSM, granola-style of course) and so taking that way down, when gravity's on your side and all was at times slightly... top heavy.

There is my wiiiiiidle husband way out there. The forests out here on the West Coast are powerful and dense like fur. And they are of a size that I have never seen before. The Golden Spruce, which is one of my favorite books ever, is written about the old growth forests on the West Coast, particularly the Pacific Northwest. John Vailant write about the trees in a way that takes my breath away, especially when you're in the midst of them.

This summer is a magical time and it's only just getting started. More sunburns and frizzy hair to go!

Love is a temple, love is higher law...

May day! I just found out that 'May' is named after the Greek goddess of fertility, Maia, with May being associated with Spring and renewal. Growing up in Calgary, where the ground doesn't thaw until long after the May long weekend, I never really understood why. But after an hour long walk through habitat preservation in short shorts and flip flops, now I do. And Georgia O'Keefe seemed an appropriate addition here.

Matt and I just came off a week long fast from media, booze, wheat and sugar. (And when I say 'just', I mean about a week ago we finished and we've been filling in the extra time with TV and beer.) We took the time to work through the Purpose Driven Life (because I think we're the only Christians alive who haven't read 'the most successful Christian book of all time!') and this book called the Assertiveness Workbook. It was really cool to shut out certain things and really immerse ourselves in prayer and journalling, things that we always say we wish we did more of but were always distracted by other things...like beer. And watching TV for free!

Anyways, the Assertiveness Book was crazy helpful. It helps you to really identify what keeps you from being assertive, if that's something you struggle with. And since we read it, looking around, most people do. It starts really cool conversations with people too. It has made me far more patient with certain people that I was really struggling with. To understand, in the same way that I mismanage my feelings and frustrations sometimes, they do as well it just manifests itself in a different way in their personality.

And in regards to 'I want to work on a farm', I found the coolest organization! WWOOF, World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, is an organization that will link people who want to volunteer on organic farms or smallholdings with people who are looking for volunteer help. The volunteers don't pay any room or board and they then volunteer for them. I found it on We Like it Raw and found this gorgeous and very delightful video on Hawaiian Kava. "...breath it in so you have the smell of the land in your nostrils and in your being... lift it above the point of your manifestation and acknowledge your intention."

And on the fun side, I wanted to put together a list of my top ten 'repeatable' songs. These are the ones that just don't cut it listening to it just once. In no particular order:

1. Anthem by Emancipator: My sissy lovely just told me about these people and they are sooo cool. It totally would be Arielle who would tell me about it, her kind of music, but it is chill music that makes your creativity come alive and wander.

2. One Love by U2 and Mary J. Blige: When I was merch bitchin' with Rik and MJ, I remember MJ putting this song on as we were coursing through the Rockies. Such talent coming together in such a cool way.

3. Ghostwriter by RJD2: When we're closing at Bub's-Granny-Buns sometimes we'll just put this song on repeat and bliss out while we're doing monotonous stuff like polishing glass and counting croissants. Makes it seem fun.

4. Pretty Lies by The Dudes: I discovered The Dudes when I was painting last summer and being totally blown away by the fact that they are not only Albertan, but totally awesome. He's got the greatest voice...

5. El Tango de Roxanne from the Moulin Rouge Soundtrack: This is a brilliant soundtrack and despite the fervency and lack of temperance of certain drama kids at a certain point in time, this soundtrack will never fail to capture me. It's like Emancipator, makes my creativity wander.

6. Doubting Thomas by Nickel Creek: This is my favorite song. Ever. It supercedes any other song I've ever heard for meaning. I remember Matt listening to this song and saying it 'landed repeatedly on the anvil of his soul'. And so I married him.

7. Disease by Matchbox Twenty: Seems a strange follow up to Nickel Creek but 'hell on wheels in a black dress' makes it for me. I listen for that line alone.

8. Out of the Woods by Nickel Creek: I know, repeat offenders but I'm still putting them on here because I do what I want. The harmonies these people produce give me shivers and this song takes me back to Early 2007. And I'm not going to put 'You are Loved' by Josh Groban on here. I'm just not.

9. Beau Sommeil by Rik Leaf: This is so hauntingly beautiful and meaningful to me.

10. You're a God by Vertical Horizon: "Still learning things I oughtta know by now..." This song has been a favorite since I was in elementary school, hilariously enough. So it MUST be a good song if it has lasted in my strange mind since then.