babysitting

Did some babysitting on Thursday. Annie came out into the front hallway to greet me, speedcrawling down the linoleum with a big grin on her face, looking like the Baby From Chickenpox Hell. Sara came running out as well, excited because her nursery school teachers had sent them home with Easter baskets full of chocolate and candy. I had brought Sara a tiny chocolate Easter rabbit (VERY tiny, since I knew her parents disapproved of too many sweets) but the ears had broken off while the rabbits was jostled around in my purse.

Had an enormously productive practice in the evening. We have a bunch of new songs that we wanted to work up for FKO, including: Silence and Memory (Titanic song by Allison), Battle On! (Xena song by Allison), The Truth Is Out There (X-Files song by me), Another Story (song by Allison and me), a cover of Stormy Weather (Jodi doing lead), and a new food song (by me). Also did some more work on our Interfilk contribution (an official Urban Tapestry Activity/Fun/Graffiti Book)...we're having a ton of fun working on this. :-) So far the book includes uncensored annotated photos, puzzles, a UT bookmark, poems, cartoons, lipstick (um, you'll have to see the book to fully understand), lyric/chord sheets NOT in our songbook, and of course lots of Fun Activities for the Whole Family. :-)

new bike

I have a bike! Well, almost. Jeff and I went to a place called Silent Sports in Richmond Hill and I bought a beginner's mountain bike. Unfortunately we won't be able to pick it up until next week, but we already have a mini bike trip planned. Jeff wanted to do the trails at Mono Cliffs, but I told him I preferred some nice easy FLAT trails to start off with.

After we ordered my bike, we had lunch at the same Pickle Barrel that Allison, Jodi and I normally frequent on Thursday nights. Then we went to the Martin Goodman Trail; Jeff went riding while I took a blanket, a book, and my Walkman and sat on the grass by the lake in the sun. In the evening, we went to see "City of Angels", which both of us quite liked. I bawled all the way through, of course (I am such a sap; I even cry at silly commericals like the Cantel commercial where the woman unwraps a Christmas present to find a phone from her dad...).

Had dinner at my sister's last night. Sara has a new picture up on the wall. I asked her what the picture was about (I've learned from experience that if I'm not sure, it's far better to ask straight out than guess).

Sara: It's a family of trees.

Me (pointing to the biggest): Is this the daddy tree?

Sara (nodding): Yes, that's the daddy tree. And that's the mommy tree, and that's the baby tree, and that's the aunt tree.

Me (extremely pleased): The AUNT tree? Well, I like that tree very much. (pause) Where's the uncle tree?

Sara: He's at work right now.

Annie's toddling now, sort of (she needs to be hanging onto someone's hands). Only problem is, she's so SHORT that you have to bend over and shuffle along behind her in a very awkward and uncomfortable fashion as she chugs ahead. I can't do it for long before my back starts killing me, but it does her make her so happy. She's learned how to say "HI" and "BYE", though seems to favour the latter even when she means "HI". I took her for a shuffle-walk yesterday and she yelled an enthusiastic "BYE" to anything that moved, including a next-door neighbour who turned around and gave me an odd look (Annie's voice is surprisingly deep for a 1 1/2 year old; I'm sure he thought it was ME who yelled).

ice-out

Jeff's at the cottage right now. Apparently the ice still hadn't gone completely off the lake by the time he and his dad arrived, and they had to portage along the shore. Of course (I married him, didn't I?) he brought a laptop computer along, and says he'll try posting in Blatherchat within the next day or so.

More blatherings later, probably. (I'm posting this at 2:35 a.m., just sent off the current issue of Inklings).

Thanks to Sherman Dorn for pointing out that Juliane's and Kerstin's homepage is at http://members.aol.com/katydhh/welcome.htm. And everyone please send "good copier day" vibes at Andrea! Sounds like she's been having a rough time of it lately. :(

spam

Got an interesting email yesterday. Am I correct in assuming this is a clever way of collecting advertising data?

From: whoiswhoiszz@sprintmail.com

Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1998 14:17:41 -0400 (EDT)

To: whoiswhoiszz@sprintmail.com

Subject: Who's Who

Status: U




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As a highly respected individual in your field of expertise, we believe
your contributions merit very serious consideration for inclusion on The
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To maintain the highest level of accuracy, we ask you to click on the
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to be evaluated for inclusion. ALL APPLICANTS WILL RECEIVE A FREE GIFT
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Office Of Public Affairs

Yesterday I babysat Annie while Ruth took Sara to her first movie: Barney's Great Adventure. Sara loved it, of course (she's a big Barney fan). Ruth didn't enjoy it quite so much.

One more day until FilKONtario! :-) Hope to see some of you there.

post-fko

Unfortunately I have a work deadline this afternoon so can't do a proper post-FKO blather today, but had to say that it was a very fun con. Really enjoyed meeting Katie and Ju (Interfilk guests from Germany). To K & J: thank you for the giant Toblerone bar! If we restrain ourselves, it might actually last more than one practice (yeah, right, who am I kidding? :-)) Anyway, more con details and a report from UT soon...

Also, we are extremely thrilled and happy to announce that we've been invited to be Guests of Honour at FilKONtario next year!!!