life and death and rollercoasters

Today's pic was taken in a motorboat at the cottage, when my sister and her family came to visit. Sara is wearing her Camera Face. It's almost impossible to get a picture of her now with a normal expression...she insists on putting on her Camera Face.

Speaking of my sister...it's her birthday today! Feel free to send her birthday greetings!

re: chili. To D. Glenn Arthur: I like my chili medium spicy, and thanks so kindly for the offer! I'd love to try some vegetarian chili sometime. CINNAMON. That's what I forgot to add to my chili. I usually end up throwing in whatever sounds interesting, and I do like cinnamon. I've never added chocolate to my chili, though some friends (Lloyd and Yvonne Penney make a WONDERFUL chili, often available in consuites at some Toronto cons) do.
To Joel Polowin: yum, must try that sometime! For those who haven't checked Blatherchat, his recipe is at
http://www.cyberus.ca/~jpolowin/recipes/chili.htm.

re: musicals. I've never heard of "Chess", but now I'm really intrigued. Hope it comes to Toronto. Oh, yes, love "Little Shop Of Horrors"! Never saw "Guys and Dolls" but hope to someday.

Annie: I wanna hear that Winnie the Pooh filk!

Had a good practice last night, polished up some of our repertoire.

I can't get my Pilot to HotSynch anymore. :( :( It hotsynchs until it reaches the DateBook, then times out. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd be eternally grateful.

Went to the Ontario Science Centre yesterday afternoon with Ruth and my nieces. Sara showed me around one of the new sections, "The Science Of Thrill Rides". By the time we left, I was feeling pretty nauseous. Yes, practically every exhibit and ride had a "Barf Warning" sign, but how could I say no to Sara, when she was so excited about showing me stuff? I am so weak. The worst one was where we sat in a small dark room in a roller coaster car, and you could push a button to indicate which of six roller coaster videos you wanted to see. Sara wanted to see all of them, of course. It was pretty realistic...they had fans blowing at the right times, and you really did feel as if you were in the roller coaster. I ended up shutting my eyes through most of it. Sara found this fascinating.

"Is your stomach not feeling well, Auntie Debbie?" she asked politely.

"That's right, Sara," I replied, my eyes still shut. "So I think I'm just going to keep my eyes closed for now."

"It doesn't bother ME!!!" she'd say happily, and turn her attention back to the screen.

On the way home, Sara and Annie sat in the back seat in their carseats while Ruth and I chatted a bit. Out of the blue, Sara asked, "When am I going to die, Mommy?"

Ruth only hesitated for the briefest of moments before answering, "Not for a long, long time, Sara."

Sara seemed to think about this. Then she said, "I hope Grandpa's still going to be around then."

Sometimes I really wish I could see inside that 4-year-old brain of hers and find out where this stuff comes from...