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January 2009I have an interesting evening in store
Hello Bloggers, You might ask yourself why I am posting a picture of me wearing a rather unattractive, shapeless garment? And then, if I was going to put such a silly thing on, why would I post it? Well, tonight I will be going to my very first live hockey game. Don would have been very happy if I had agreed to go earlier, but I’m not a big hockey buff and it seemed like it would be a waste of a good seat. Also, I don’t like it when they engage in fisticuffs. When it happens on TV and I happen to be sitting with Don I take a bathroom or snack break. I don’t understand why they have to have the fighting? If they didn’t pull off their helmets and start slugging away at each other, I’d be quite happy to accompany my husband to the games so he wouldn’t have to buy single seats and sit by himself with nobody to high-five when the Canucks score. Will used to go, but as much as he loves Don, he got tired of having to go to all those games. But tonight, I go. Why? You might ask. Well, remember when I blogged about how we were all going to go to Cheryl and Vern, my old neighbour’s home for dinner? We got snowed out. Emily arrived via plane, Dave managed to make it over despite the snow, but the night before we were to make the journey, the snow picked up and there were blizzard warnings, roads closed, high winds. To go was not a possibility. So, we made alternate plans. Vern knew that Don liked hockey and he didn’t know that I was squeamish about possible pummelling on the ice and I wasn’t about to enlighten him. I felt way too bad about having to cancel the big family get-together the day before. “That sounds wonderful!“ I said. And it does. I’m looking forward to seeing them and if it means I attend a hockey game, so be it. Who knows? I might find I love it. My sister Becky used to go to hockey games. She said it was real fun. She had a big cow bell that she would ring when the Canucks would score and they would bring snacks and eat them. I might love attending hockey games. The roar of the crowds, the tasty treats. Wouldn’t Don be happy. Posted by Meg Tilly on Saturday, January 10, 2009 in Chewing the Fat Oh my…I just took a peek at my daughter’s blog and then as a last minute go-to-bed procrastination, I idly clicked on my stats counter page and got a jolt of embarrassment at how many people have come to visit my blog today when I was planning on sneaking upstairs to bed without saying hello. “Hi everybody,“ I say rather sheepishly. “Better late than never.“ I spent the day with Karen. We were belatedly celebrating her birthday which was a couple of days ago. We went to the art gallery which was having a feminist show called Wack or Mack or Twack or something like that. I have to say, I was underwhelmed. I was hoping to be blown away by amazing, fabulous, strong art that pulled at my soul and gut and made me proud to be a part of womankind. I wanted to be impressed and humbled. I wasn’t. I was grateful that Karen had a similar reaction to mine. Nothing worse than going to an exhibit with someone who in in raptures about something that you think is a self-indulgent massive wank-off. You have to walk around and gaze for hours at stuff that has them spewing sonnets in the artist glory, and if it’s a really good friend, you don’t want to ruin their good time by letting them know how utterly pretentious you find the stuff. Don and I have finally worked out how we have to do the art gallery/museum stuff, because we have VERY different tastes as to what rocks our boat. We do the floors separately. I like to sweep, walk through, expecting nothing and letting certain pieces grab me. Then, once spoken to, I go closer and take it in. It’s sort of like when you’re dating and you finally meet some guy that your friend has been waxing lyrical about, saying the two of you would be a perfect match, etc. And this guy, on paper he sounds great, but when you meet him… nothing. Or sometimes, your brain is saying, wow, this guy is great, fabulous, wonderful, and your gut is screaming, RUN! And you don’t know why. Or sometimes, he’s nice, you get on. He is a genuinely nice person, but he doesn’t smell right. It’s like you have to hold your breath and breathe shallow around him. Not that he smells bad, he’s just not right is all. That’s what a lot of art is for me. If I find one good piece that moves me, in an outing, it’s a good day. If I discover more? Fabulous. You never want to go to an art gallery with me. Or the movies for that matter. I am WAY to particular about movies. Mostly, I don’t go anymore because I find most of them around as enjoyable as cleaning out a filthy chicken house that has been left to stew in it’s juices for two weeks. Lovely. I bet you’re glad I decided to blog today. Anyway, after the uninspiring (to me) exhibit, we had a lovely lunch, a great girl chat and a doggie drive home. No… the dogs weren’t in the car, but the memory of them was and Molly went crazy when we got back to my house because she could smell them on us too. Don said she wouldn’t stop crying when Karen and I left. Because she associates Karen with her two dogs and a happy romp in the park. Molly couldn’t believe that we left without her. Howled inconsolably. Which did not make for the most conducive work environment for my sainted husband. Posted by Meg Tilly on Thursday, January 08, 2009 in Chewing the Fat home againWill’s friend is staying over and they are down in the basement jamming. The guitar is squealing and the drums are vibrating my feet. I know it sounds weird, but I’m going to miss having all this youthful energy in the house. Don’s watching the Vancouver/Edmonton game. He’s quite excited because we just walked in the door from a date night and on the way back in the car the radio said the score was 0-0. He flopped down on the sofa, flipped on the TV and score-score-score-score, in just a few minutes. Canucks 3, Edmonton 1. The husband is happy. Matt Sundin hasn’t scored, but that’s to be expected since it is his first game back. I wonder if he wants me to make him some popcorn? I just asked him. He said, no, he’s very full. Wow. This blog posting is even boring me. I’d better go. Sweet dreams everybody. xo Posted by Meg Tilly on Wednesday, January 07, 2009 in Chewing the Fat Yay Emily!!My wonderful, clever daughter, Emily just informed me that she won The prize money awarded for the first and second prize of this poetry contest is awarded annually from funds contributed by Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Gutterman as a memorial to their son. The terms of the bequest stipulate that the prize poems “shall exemplify the new, the unusual, and the radical.“ What a lovely way for the Gutterman’s to honor the memory of their son. I can’t even imagine the heartbreak of out living one of my children. Anyway, I think Emily was a very good choice. I’ve heard some of my daughter’s poetry and let me tell you, it definitely is new, radical and unusual! You know what, maybe they should add heartbreakingly beautiful to that list and thought provoking and wry and exquisite. Because Emily’s poetry is all of those things. But hey, I’m happy that she was chosen for… ahem… FIRST PRIZE! Eeeeee! Emily was so funny. We talked on the phone for quite a while about this and that, and then right before I hung up, she mentioned it as an afterthought. AN AFTERTHOUGHT! Good gracious. And then I had to wiggle the information out of her. She was probably nervous that I’d post it on my blog. Heh…heh… TA DA! Here it is folks. Hey, I’m wondering if I can convince Emily to let me post the winning poem on my blog? It’s a long shot, but I’m going to give it a go. I’m smiling SO big right now. Love you, Emily. xo Posted by Meg Tilly on Tuesday, January 06, 2009 in Junior World HockeyDon and I are watching the Gold Metal Juniors World Hockey Championship game. Canada versus Sweden. I kind of like the color scheme. It’s really easy to tell the two teams apart with the red, black with white flourishes for the Canadian Team and then pretty sky blue and bright yellow for Sweden. Don had our whole day organized around this event. I made us some clam onion chip dip and am sitting here with him, blog to you. Canada is leading 1-0 after the first period which has just finished, so that means Don will have a 15 minute break to chat and gaze at me lovingly, so I’m off! I’ll write more in the next period. Oh… never mind. He just switched the channel and is now catching up on the Pittsburgh - NY Rangers game (2nd period P-0, NY R-1) I guess the loving gaze will have to wait until after the hockey is over. The chip dip was really good, but now my mouth tastes of onions. It makes me want to go upstairs to the fridge and get myself some more. I am going to finish this blog, then I’m going to read my Richard Russell’s Remarks to see what he has to say about the markets. Yesterday he had a picture of a bull in the left hand corner. Kind of gave me a little jolt. I got used to seeing that snarling bear in that spot. Oh hey, and for all of my bloggers who are a little nervous about debt, or how they are going to manage things in the upcoming year, Suze Orman is going to be on Oprah on Thursday and whoever tunes in will be able to download a free e-copy of her new book, 2009 Action Plan: How to keep your money safe. I like Suze, have read quite a few of her books over the years. They really helped when I was first trying to handle my own finances, because they were written in a way that was easily accessible, in terms I could understand, and they didn’t make me break into a sweaty panic attack. I find she writes in a way that women can understand. That being said, it is really important, that you never take anyone’s advice absolutely. If I had taken all the advice from all the investment books that I have read, I would be a h__l of a lot poorer than I am right now. It’s not that the people that write these books are trying to screw the poor well-meaning people who buy their books. They really believe what they are writing. However, nobody knows everything. When making an investment you always need to check with your belly, look at the upside and the downside, know yourself and only make investments that you understand and feel comfortable with. And if someone is trying to sell you something that doesn’t make logical sense to you. DON’T do it. Maybe later you’ll understand it and feel comfortable doing it, or maybe it was a stupid investment and the person who was trying to talk you into it, would get a big commission if you said yes. That’s how a lot of people got into this mortgage/foreclosure mess. Trust your gut. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Also, I imagine Suze is going to talk a little bit about what’s coming down the pike via the credit card companies. Pay attention to what she says about this! Don’t hide your head in the sand, because I have read about this coming credit card storm from many very reliable sources. And believe me, it’s coming. Figure out what you need to do so everything doesn’t collapses around your head. Phew! I didn’t know I was going to go on a financial rampage. I’ve really been trying hard not to. I better sign off. Love, Meg xo Posted by Meg Tilly on Monday, January 05, 2009 in Oh good LordMore snow. Lots of it. Sigh. I’ve shoveled more snow in the last couple weeks than I have in my entire life. It’s pretty, but come on now, we’ve done pretty. Lets get back to practical boring old grey rain. And that poor little old white haired lady that I gave a ride home from the supermarket yesterday when I saw her skidding along the icy walkway clutching a bag of groceries to her chest. I was worried that she might think I had a nefarious plan, because I was wearing gloves and I didn’t know her from a hole in a wall. But I was worried she was going to break a bone so I stopped and offered her a ride. She was happy. Didn’t think I was a murderer. Hopped in the car without hesitation. Maybe she could tell I wouldn’t hurt her from my face. She chatted the entire drive to her house. She normally likes walking. Does it for exercise, but with all this snow we’d been having, she had been house bound. It’s too dangerous to drive, but it’s scary to walk. “All that ice you know. I’m scared I’m going to fall. Break a bone. I hate it that I’m scared of that. It’s not my way. I’ve always been a brave, unafraid sort. I know it’s hard to believe,“ she said confidentially, leaning a little towards me. “Looking at me now, but I used to play hockey.“ “Oh my,“ I said. It was hard to believe. She looked so fragile, with her small little body, tiny bones and her snowy white hair. She seemed the kind that would have been more comfortable petting a baby kitten. But she was telling the truth. It was shining out of her eyes over the rims of her wire rimmed bifocals. I bet she’s happy she made the long dangerous trek to the store yesterday, waking up this morning to all this thick snow. “I had to hold on to greenery, to get down the drive,“ she explained, when I’d stopped my car at her driveway and was waiting for her to finish talking and exit the car. “That’s how slick the driveway is. I must have looked a sight. I am hoping the sun today will melt the last of the ice though. That would be nice.“ Guess not. Maybe I’ll drive by her house and see if she needs anything the next time we go to the store. I think her husband has passed away, because she didn’t mention him, she never said “we” or “Alfred” or anything like that. She was very sweet. Posted by Meg Tilly on Saturday, January 03, 2009 in Chewing the Fat Shared vision
“Sure,“ I replied breezily. I had no idea Rebecca Ephrain was going to put me on the cover or that the photos were going to look so cute and the article Pamela Post would write would be one I’d enjoy reading. Thanks so much to the whole crew who was responsible for pulling this together. I had a good time and it’s looks great. Posted by Meg Tilly on Thursday, January 01, 2009 in Chewing the Fat the start of a new yearNew Years Eve was fun. I wore a lace black dress that Jenny had given me in one of her closet clearing binges. I even put in contacts and applied a dab of makeup. Don thought I looked pretty so that was nice. We got to the restaurant 25 minutes early, so Don and I stayed in the car in the underground parkade and discussed further various options and the pros and cons of a family situation that I got an email about right before we left. We didn’t come to any resolution, as I wanted to offer to ride in on my white charger and save the day, when in all probability the person I wanted to save, didn’t want or need saving and especially by me. Don was worried and didn’t want me to get hurt again. When it was five minutes until we were supposed to be at the restaurant we got out of the car, agreeing to leave the previous conversation in the car to mellow. The restaurant was filled with tons black and gold balloons with trailing curling ribbons that draped across peoples shoulders and faces making the most polite banter seem like a party. Although I have to say, it did make me a little nervous when those trailing ribbons were floating precariously close to the candles burning on the table. My knife had butter on it, but I tightened up the curl in the ribbons that were flitting over the candle flames by using the handle of my fork. Not the most party animal thing to do, but I couldn’t stop the image of the flame catching on them and racing up to the ceiling to explode the balloons that covered every inch of the ceiling and the all that fabric and erupting in a ball of flames. The place was crammed and even though we were pretty close to the door, I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to get out. Enough of my neurosis, back to the party. I think I did pretty well, was able to pass as a party animal to all but the most observant bystander. When we arrived most of the group was already there and well on their way to nirvana. Big hugs from Rog and Jim that made me really happy that we came. I don’t know what it is about those two but they really have that special ability to make people feel loved. Joy was there as well, looking very dapper in her tux. I wish I had a tux. It would be so much easier when one had an event to go to. Guys have it made when it comes to evening dress as far as I’m concerned. Oh, and here is a happy January 1st surprise! Don was in his writing room, and I was not. So I visited my New York Library tiara ... AND SOMEBODY PUT IN A BID! Yay! I was so surprised and excited and pleased. Somebody liked it. (I wish I could make a little picture with me wearing a happy grin and wings floating me up to the ceiling.) So, that’s a real happy something. Even if nobody else bids, my tiara will have a home! Thank you, who ever you are. And the teen library program thanks you as well. xo Posted by Meg Tilly on Thursday, January 01, 2009 in |
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