Free Bus Tickets

For the past two days I've been hanging out at the Washington King County court house in downtown Seattle, waiting to find out if I've been selected for jury duty. Tomorrow I'll be told if I'm one of the chosen ones! In the meantime I've heard lots of different views from the prospective jurors - ranging from "there's no way... I can take this much time off work/be home in time for Shabbat/ be responsible for judging someone else", to "I hope I'm chosen... I'd like to do my duty/learn about the judicial system".
At the moment my opinion is somewhere in between. I served on a jury four years ago and the three different summons I've received since then have left me wondering what is really meant by random selection. Still if I'm selected I look forward to a greater understanding of Lincoln's words of/by/for the people, not to mention my perks, like free bus tickets and a $10 daily stipend!

Colourful Creations

Char's painting post with Oliver was perfectly timed with an activity I did with Caleb and Julian. We used food colouring and a bit of milk to mix colours together. The boys had a really good time. We mixed red, blue and yellow milk, and then mixed a little of each of those to make green, purple and orange. Then we mixed all of those together to make brown. Or 'chocolate' as Julian liked to call it. At the end we put cheerios in the orange milk. We made a baking soda volcano too. With the twins I don't think mom's ready to take on Easter eggs or paint, but milk is a little more my speed. The boys had fun with it!

Spring has sprung

These flowers are called snow drops and they are the first to bloom after winter. Since it has felt like a very long winter for me, I almost jumped for joy when I came across them on my walk today.




I love Mary Oliver. She writes these horrid nature poems which I would normally hate except somehow she manoeuvres around clichés like a poetic wizard. (well, I think so anyways.)

Spring

Somewhere
a black bear
has just risen from sleep
and is staring

down the mountain.
All night
in the brisk and shallow restlessness
of early spring

I think of her,
her four black fists
flicking the gravel,
her tongue

like a red fire
touching the grass,
the cold water.
There is only one question:

how to love this world.
I think of her
rising
like a black and leafy ledge

to sharpen her claws against
the silence
of the trees.
Whatever else

my life is
with its poems
and its music
and its cities,

it is also this dazzling darkness
coming
down the mountain,
breathing and tasting;

all day I think of her –
her white teeth,
her wordlessness,
her perfect love.

~ Mary Oliver ~

He's a genius!

Running with the rain

This long weekend, in honor of President's day, Mom and Dad and Rach made the trip from Seattle to join us for some LA fun. We have a few traditions. Breakfast at Juniors is one, and the Rachel Lindsay Run is another. (Meliss was invited but opted out to nurse her littlest ones.) We got to the beach early and it was raining. A rarity in LA. The sand was nice and soft, and it was kind of sweet to have the whole place to ourselves. It was beautiful to look out over the ocean, and I think I got a taste of what one of my favorite canadian heroines may have experienced living on an island on the ocean. We looked off into the water and the horizon was forever away without even a boat or surfer in sight. Although we're on the pacific end, maybe Anne Shirley had a similar sight out East. We ran back and forth along the shore between the beach houses and the water, and enjoyed the lapping water and blustery wind. I think our canadian spirits pushed us through the otherwise undesirable weather. On the way to the beach we had discussed an idea Meliss had read, the '365 project,' where you take one picture a day for a year. Here's ours, we decided we will take the project on until next Feb 16. It is yet to be determined in what mode the pictures will be captured and journaled, but here is the first- Blog style.

Random life events

So here are some totally random photos from our camera. Inspired by Melissa's recent post on the Puente blog I feel motivated to be more....preserving. I don't know if that's the right word but anyways that's Jord and Oliver on Jordan's 30th birthday.
This is the Aberdeen Music Hall where I took Oliver for a children's show. The beginning was so exciting for Oliver and then as the show progressed the floor and chairs infront became more exciting to him. I'm glad we went. The below pic is Oliver seated for the show (it's the only one I have.)

Oliver likes the idea of puzzles. He likes puzzle pieces and he likes putting all of the pieces back into the box. (we have different ones that are age appropriate but this one has cars on it.)
This was our blue Christmas without you. It wasn't really so blue I just wrote that because of an Elvis song that popped into my head probably inspired by the blue hue of this photo.

Gigi and Bopa

Meet the new G&G: gigi and bopa to the great-grands. They stayed at a timeshare in Anaheim and then met us over the weekend to spend some time close by. We sure loved having them with us this past weekend. Their very presence was a beautiful thing. I can't believe how lucky we were to have them here. Thanks for coming guys!! We can't wait to stay with you in July for the family reunion!

Thanks everyone

Thank you all for the birthday wishes.

This year it turned out that I had to go to Birmingham for the week of my birthday! It was kind of weird and unfortunate being with a bunch of people you don't know on your birthday and it ended up being pretty bad timing for a proper birthday celebration. So it was good to come back and see all the birthday wishes on the blog - thanks everyone!

Sne-jo

Well Snej the fateful day has arrived and I haven't any pictures to post. I don't think I have anything that is really great on my computer but I will scour through it tomorrow to see if I can show my appreciation through some sort of visual image.

I hope that you have a fantastic birthday and celebrate it in fantastic fashion. This day has made me think of one of the more recent memories that I have which I hold dear and that is when we were together in Edmonton for Christmas of 2006 and we were both itchin to play some shinny. Woozie and Goo came with us for a little while but soon retired but you and I stuck together to teach the neighbourhood kids a thing or two until well into the late evening. I think we finally left the rink around 12:30 or 1:00 and we were playing adolescents (you know to help boost the self-esteem). I enjoyed the times that we have to be together especially now since they happen so rarely. Being able to play shinny was great I wish you all the best on your very special day and hopefully we will talk to you sometime soon.

Happy Birthday Jordie

Been thinking about you all day Jordan! Welcome to the mellow, wonderful world of 30s! You are the best brother a sister a could ever hope for. Love you tons and wish we could hang out on your big day! xoxoxooxoxoxox Meliss, Ian and the gang ps. I love that you are the only one with a normal expression in this photo!

Sne-he-jo!!

Happy Birthday! I'd hike a mountain with you in Switzerland or somewhere else again! It's always fun to be with you- you are a great brother! Love you!!
Linds :)

Birthday Boy!!

Happy Birthday Jordan!

30 years is such a milestone and I wish I could be with you to celebrate and relive some happy memories - Hairy the Pet Caterpillar in Portland, Curious George in Pleasantview, street hockey in Belgravia, bottle blond hair in Brander, wedding in Cardston, graduation in Oxford and hiking in England with a lil guy who looks just like you!

We were so happy to welcome you into our family 30 years ago and now we're so proud of all the great things you've accomplished.
Thank you for being such an outstanding son!

Love you, Mom

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JORDAN!!!!

Happy 30th Bday Snej!


I wish I could be there to celebrate with you! I miss you and love you lots!
Love, Woozen

Happy 30th Snej!

Happy Birthday to a man of many talents!

World Traveler

Accountant

Hockey Player

Dado

Happy 30th! The best is yet to come.
Love Dad

Sickness in the morning, and in the afternoon, sickness in the evening underneath the moon.

Well, this picture pretty much sums up my state of being for the past two months. I hate the first trimester of pregnancy more than anything else I can think of. I am so happy to be able to report that my sickness is lightening up and I now only feel really sick in the evenings. This morning I woke up feeling really happy and I was so fun with Oliver as we got ready to go to playgroup. We both had a great time at playgroup and thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon nap. Funny how the harshness of life allows the good times in life to be wonderfully augmented. Simple pleasures seem so, larger than life, amazing in my life right now.