What has she been busy with? Well, I know she’s been playing the role of mostly-single-parent to her 3 really active kids a lot lately as her hubby has been traveling for business. I can’t imagine how hard it is to manage everything this gal has on her plate without him, but she does it. And knowing that her kids are thriving means she’s doing it really well, too!

While J-B and I are still active with our other singing group, our main group Main Street has been on hiatus the last few months, and will be for a while more. It’s a transition time, and we have a number of things we need to work out before we can get back into it. ShaMoo has found a very exciting musical partnering with our guitar-playing friend Paul, and together they have been exploring new opportunities that have been delighting them both! Maybe she’ll post some of their performances on Brain Fart if we encourage her, folks!

I’m really happy to have ShaMoo here for a guest post. It’s been over a year and way too long since her last one!

Stepping Back in Time

So who doesn’t love a trip to a well crafted museum to see how things were done “back in the day”? You take a look at all of the set-ups and think to yourself “Wow, how did they ever get by without our modern conveniences?” Living in our current time, we’re surrounded with all sorts of lovely things to help make life easier, make communication faster, and just in general, help us to get by. Of course, much of this stuff we could *really* do without, if push came to shove… but isn’t it funny how much you come to rely on technology, and integrate it into nearly every aspect of your daily life, and don’t quite realize it until you don’t have access to it?

I’ve been thinking a lot about this as Schmenkman and I have been planning our up-coming summer vacation. This year we’re taking the leap and driving out to visit our families out west (about a 36 hour drive, non-stop… but believe me, there will be stops… oh yes, there will). Now, first let me make one point abundantly clear: The province and cities where our families live are every bit as technologically advanced as the big city we live in now. The difference lies within the houses of our parents, where we’ll be staying while there. The more primitive of the two would be my parents’ home. They live in a very large city and have a beautiful home in a wonderful neighborhood, but within five minutes of us arriving for a visit, I usually start to get the shakes. You see, my parents don’t own a computer. That’s right… no computer. This, of course, equals no internet, no WiFi, no (*gasp*) e-mail… If they need information on a particular restaurant, or some such thing, they will actually consult the pre-historic relic they call a “phone book” and then proceed to use something called a “land line” and make an inquiry to whomever it is who answers the device (sounds like a real person, but in this day and age?? It must be an android of some sort.) When we’re at home, my iPod Touch-that-wishes-it-were-actually-an-iPhone is practically glued to my hip and gets consulted for nearly everything… I’d be lost without it (especially now since my laptop is completely out of commission with a brutal virus), so you can imagine how twitchy I get with this type of blackout. Usually within a couple of days I can adjust to this lack of contact with the outside world (and Google Earth tells me that a Starbucks has just been built two blocks away from their place… can I get a woot woot?!?), but I’m starting to brace myself now; regardless, I may need a twelve step program.

Now Schmenkman’s parents, compared to mine anyway, are light years ahead. Not only do they have a computer, they are connected to the internet, and my mother-in-law is even on Facebook! For her recent birthday, my father-in-law bought her a fancy-pants new smart phone, but since she refuses to keep the thing turned on, it is pretty much useless. In fact she called me at home the other day to say “Thank you so much for that text you sent me; I’ve been meaning to call you to talk about it”… No, no, NO! We don’t CALL, we click REPLY!!! Sigh… I digress. Anyway, the technological advances in their house are sold short by the fact that they have dial-up internet… OH. MY. GOD. “Hey Schmenkman, I’m gonna go check my e-mail; I’ll be back in two hours or so”, is pretty much how that conversation typically sounds. However, since they live on a farm, a half hour drive from any sort of civilization, there’s always abundant time to wait for homepages to load.

So, what I’m trying to do, in the time remaining before our trip, is to prepare myself for the complete and utter relaxation that will come with being disconnected from the internet. Not having to reply to e-mail, or feel the need to check our bank accounts or investments online. Actually remembering the feel of a newspaper in my hands, rather than checking out the Globe and Mail’s iTouch app. Picking up a phone and speaking to people on it instead of just sending a message and checking it off of my mental list. Yep, that’s what I’m doing. Well, that and mapping out each and every free-WiFi location in my parents’ neighbourhood.

ShaMoo

No really, let me tell you.

Back in March, I set up a blog for the Main Street-ers to collaborate on. They’d been hanging around here for a while at that point, submitting haiku faithfully every Wednesday, and generally doing it just to make me happy. That’s how they roll, and why I love them.

I digress.

I already owned the domain, and it was sitting there unused, so I figured “why not?”. My friends have wonderful stories – the three of them have had (and continue to have) some fantastic adventures in their lives, and I love to hear about them. They have a lot to share, and I want to share them with you! So I set it up and did the big reveal to my darling friends ShaMoo, J-B, and Knarf shortly after.

There was a resounding sound of… silence. A few nervous smiles. Finally I believe it was J-B who said “You know it ain’t gonna happen, Jenn… right?” No matter, I had faith they’d come around. Eventually. It has taken a while, but I persevered and didn’t push them. Well, didn’t push them hard, anyway. More of a passive-aggressive poke every so often, when the subject arose. A while ago I started moving their haiku posts over to the other blog. It only took them… what? 2-3 weeks to notice? ;)

I knew ShaMoo would be the first to come around. She’s guest posted here several times, and I knew it was appealing to her! She snuck one in last month when her in-laws were headed her way. You know, I don’t think she even did it to shut me up make me happy, either. She’s a natural, my best friend. Last week she slipped another one in, and then the cheeky gal wrote the boys to issue a challenge!

Alright boys… consider this a challenge. I’ve just posted my second non-haiku entry over at brain fart… I’m on fire!!! Haha…

Who’s next?

Big hugs,
ShaMoo

See, if there’s one thing our group is (besides being the best of friends, and fantastic people all-around), it’s competitive. Knarf wrote back quickly to say “oh no, it’ll have to be J-B, I don’t like what I write…” blah blah blah… and only a couple hours after that wrote again to announce he’d put his very first blog post up! I giggled. I texted ShaMoo (who was camping)…

“Knarf Blogged!! Knarf Blogged!!”

I was very excited. I definitely tee-hee-hee-ed out loud. If I hadn’t been alone at the time, I might have even gloated, but I was, so I didn’t.

Ok, J-B, it’s all on you now, Sweet Pea! What pearls are you going to delight your fans and readers with? We know you’re full of it. Errr… stories, charm, and wisdom that is.

Folks, there was one other monster I’ve created. Probably the one I’m most proud of, which of course is natural since I grew her myself. You remember how excited I was when I posted this video? Hubby and I went away for a few days last week to Thunder Bay, and when we came home, it was to a totally different Wee One. This new Wee One was doing the front AND back crawl! This new Wee One was leaping into the water unassisted… and even better? This new Wee One was DIVING! I’m not kidding! All along, she’s been learning all of this just by watching us from the sidelines. She has always known how to swim; she just didn’t know it! We spent the afternoon in the pool with her on Friday, and she was swimming along side me in the deep end, torpedoing under water, and having the time of her life.

Wee One; nouveau mermaid!

Impromptu tickle fests with my sleepy-eyed kids on my giant king-size bed, a quiet moment with my husband, singing with my friends… little things.

I don’t need extravagant gifts, flowers, accolades or awards. I don’t need people pounding me on the back for doing what I’d be doing anyway, recognition or not.

No, it’s the little things that make me happy.

Things like having J-B, ShaMoo and Knarf participating in our weekly Haiku… You too, of course, but getting them involved was not an easy feat. I never thought I’d see the day when incredibly busy, poetry-shy ShaMoo would take a moment to count on her fingers and shoot some sweet thoughts my way. Really never thought J-B would ever start frequenting my blog, or write the gorgeous (and steamy) haiku he’s been coming up with lately. In fact, he [for whatever reason] makes a point of telling me just about every week that it’s not high on his priority list. Funny how he still manages to show up and leave something wonderful, though, isn’t it? I am pretty sure he enjoys and looks forward to it more than he’ll ever admit. Knarf – well, no surprises there. Knarf is a huge romantic, and his poetry reserves are bottomless. Plus he and ShaMoo have this incredibly funny rivalry going now, that pleases them both to no-end. Bottom line though, they all do this because they know it makes me happy. It pleases me to know that I’m worth spending a few moments on every week.

Today I cut a bouquet of lilacs for my kitchen table. What makes this such a wonderful and noteworthy thing for me is that this is the first time since I planted these lilacs that all three of them have bloomed. Two of them I planted 7 years ago, and another one 3 years ago. Every spring as all the trees start to bud and get ready to bloom, I wistfully inspect these 3 for any sign of flowering. The tiny one had a single bloom on it last year. I didn’t even cut it because it was so hard-won that I wanted it to last as long as possible! This year with our early spring, I was so excited when all three of them showed signs of flowering! The older ones now have tons of blooms, and the little one has a few. Just getting a light whiff of their heady scent makes my heart soar.

Little things.

What little things make your heart soar?

Is that a good thing, I wonder? My family and friends certainly know where they stand with me, but sometimes I think maybe I’m too much of an open book. Is a little mystery a good thing? “Familiarity breeds contempt” crosses my mind. I’m pretty sure those closest to me don’t need to know everything that crosses my mind. They probably roll their eyes when I start going on about how I’m feeling about every little thing.

Most bloggers are the type to let it all hang out though, so I guess I’m in good company?! What do you think, dear readers? Do I share too much of myself without thinking it through?

Feeling a bit introspective today, as you can probably tell. I’ve made a bunch of changes in my life recently, and most of them are working out really well. My eye surgery… notsomuch. Yes I know you’re probably getting sick to death and bored to tears hearing about it. I’m sick of whining about it too! But… it’s all-consuming for me. Literally. I’m really struggling with it, and this past week has been especially trying. The contacts Dr. Dipstick thrust into my eyes on Monday have screwed me up beyond belief. I can see my monitor a tiny bit better (which isn’t saying much), but everything else – and I do mean everything – is distorted. I’m seeing double, which is just so much fun I can’t tell you. This morning I burst into tears in the middle of doing a mundane task, and sat there blubbering like a child for the better part of 10 minutes. So glad I was alone… didn’t need Wee One to witness my meltdown. I’m just so frustrated. It’s still too early to take any action (and thanks for all the comments, commiseration, and suggestions, but I really do need to wait) and they tell me things may yet get better. I really don’t think so, and suspect I’ll be going through the surgery again come August or September. I dread it.

On a lighter note, I had the group over for dinner and rehearsal on Wednesday. Everyone brought something, and it was awesome. It was so nice to have them here! Love them to pieces. We really have so much fun together, and J-B makes the best pork tenderloin on the planet. No, I’m serious. I have great recipes for tenderloin, but his blows mine out of the water. Best part? He shared the recipe with us! What a sweetheart. ShaMoo made fab grilled veggies, and Knarf brought enough sweets to fatten an army, including a dozen cannoli because ShaMoo gave him a strong hint earlier in the week (“Frank, I want cannolis!!”) J-B also brought a really nice bottle of wine, and Knarf brought a gorgeous bottle of ice wine, which we didn’t end up drinking, but will be having this week when we join our accompanist and his lovely wife at their place for our next rehearsal. Just so happens that his wife recently had a BIG birthday, and we want to mark the occasion!

We stood around the island in my kitchen and did our rehearsal, which was also fabulous. Definitely a night where we were all “in the zone”. Sublime.

Having these wonderful people in my life makes bad things like my eye issues easier to bear. They know that, but it bears repeating.

We found out on Friday that we’ve been hired to perform at a Street Festival in June – this is a big thing for us! Our largest paying gig to date! This one day festival gets literally thousands of visitors. We’re very excited. We have one next weekend too – a community carnival – in another city. I just love having things to look forward to!

Since I’ve arrived at a bright spot in an otherwise morose, disjointed post, I am going to hit publish and get on with my day. I hope yours is going well!

P.S. if you’re on Blogger, and find I’ve suddenly disappeared from your “followers”, don’t panic! I’m still following you, but I cleaned out my old, unused/unwanted Blogger profile. You’re now properly in my Google Reader is all. :)

Yesterday, I finally got all my ducks in a row, and bullied no, coerced managed to get the Hubby to agree to go with me. So we packed the dog and Wee One up and off we went. Umm… I might have forgotten that Hubby broke his toe the other day. What a trooper!

Ok, Knarf was right – it was a gorgeous forest. Only… we managed to get lost within the first 20 minutes in the bush. We were trying to find the water falls that were in the middle of this forest, but we took the wrong trail. And then we took another wrong trail. And BOY was it muddy in some areas! We climbed over fallen trees and huge boulders to get around the biggest mud pits, but Sadie plowed right through, adding about 15lbs of mud to her coat in the process. Fortunately there were creeks to cross, and most of it was washed away…

All around us, the most delicate wildflowers were growing in abundance – how amazing that something that small and delicate could thrive in a dense forest, and push its way through inches of decaying leaves!

No matter though, we had a great time and managed to find our way back to where we were parked without too much trouble. Never did get to the falls, but I think we were on the right trail towards the end of our trek when Wee One started to complain that her legs were sooooo tiiiiired!

So we turned back. Next time we’ll have a better idea of where we’re going!

Sadie sure is getting old – she did really well, but I knew she’d pay for it later, and this morning I had to help her get her back end off the floor so she could use the potty (ok, the grass in the back yard).

I think the four of us from Main Street are going to hit the trails this coming week, with a kid or two in tow. What a hoot that will be!