Merry Christmas - 2008 - Happy New Year!

Christmas is a comin',

our snowshoes are on the rack.

We'll soon be wearing golf shoes,

& we ain't a lookin' back!

So when the temp hits 80, we will think of you with cheer!
We'll both sit back, some beer we'll crack.

...Hope you have a great New Year!

Cheers,
W & D!

Road Rage

It's always a joy running the four lane route from the city to the lake.

Hubby's rolling along not so fast in the fast lane.

Lights illuminate the backs of our heads. A truck is almost glued to our license plate.

Uh, hon, you might want to get in the middle lane...?

What for?

Well...that truck looks like he's gonna run us over. It might be prudent...?

If he wants to get ahead, he can go around us!

Well...how 'bout you pull over one lane, let him through....?

I'm driving in this lane cuz the middle lane closes down up ahead.

[yeah, in 3 or 4 kilometers...the truck careens around us on the right as we lollygag in the fast lane. I'm sure a saw a finger behind the muddy windshield]

Well...if he'd been doing this to you, you'd probably be mad as Hell. You hate people who do what you're doing. You were probably giving that trucker road rage...

Why the Hell do you always criticize my driving?

I'm not criticizing. I'm just asking. You'd do the same to me if our seats were reversed.

Silence reigns as the radio plays "Joy to the World!"

I Am Harper

Sung to the tune of "I am Woman"
-Words and Music (and apologies to) by Helen Reddy and Ray Burton

I am Harper, hear me roar
My seats? Too many to ignore!
And I know too much to go back and pretend
cause I've heard it all before
Down there on the Commons floor
No one's ever gonna try to take me down again

CHORUS:
Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
So Canada's paid the price
But I'd do it all again
If I have to, I can do anything
I am bilingue (bilingue); I am très partisan (partisan); I am Harper

You can bend but never break me
'cause it only serves to make me
More determined to achieve my final goal
To stay in power long, yes longer!
Still a bully, but less stronger
since coalition's burnt a hole deep in my soul

Oh yes I've screwed up big
But it never was my fault
Yes, Canuck's'll pay the price
But look how much I gained
Cuz I have to, I can face anything
I'm getting grey (grey); I wear my sweater (vest); I am Harper

CHORUS
I am Harper, watch me grow
See me standing toe to toe
With Steph, Jack, Gilles and good old Mike Ignatieff
But I still run the PMO
With a long long way to go
Until I make Canadians understand


While the economy goes to Hell
I will quit, my dear Michaelle
If you don't prorogue the Commons when I say
I've bought time til January
When things will get even more scarey...
No, I'm not wrong (wrong); I'm not Obama (Obama); I am Harper!

An Ode to Joy

Only in walking a dog who's been pent up for a while, can one truly enjoy a freezing, windy but sunny day. T and I pull on our woolly socks, wrap ourselves up the eyebrows, then pick up Spencer who is beside himself with joy at our coming to take him out for a walk. He stands still (sort of) only to have his little red coat and halter put on. Then we're off. Him looking like Santa's dog (all red and white).

When Spencer pulls you around the park and almost off your feet, you know it's been awhile since he's had a good run. And the snow. There's barely enough to cover the grass but it's enough for rolling in, and roll he does in doggy ecstacy! His head, his back, his belly. He licks it. He can't get enough then it's off on the run again. He outruns his nose, which stops immediately at an interesting scent but his body swings around as it receives the signal to stop a second later than the nose. You gotta laugh at his shenanigans.

We gingerly step out on the ice of the lake. Is it solid? How strong? I throw a big rock; it bounces off the ice. We step out and skate around, entice Spencer to skate a bit. He's not sure about this lack of sure footing.

We revel in his joy and enjoy the day so much more because of it. Our laughter chuffs steam in the cold, wintry air. Life is good.

Metronome

Yes, I need a metronome. Keeping time is just another element to piano playing that adds to the challenge. Especially those tricky little eighth notes! I have a built in "beat" on the old organ so I make do with that but maybe one of those new fang-dangled metronome is what I need. They're no longer triangle shaped with the old tick-tock thingie: they're like little cell phones, for Heaven's sake. And you can program them with different beats and different beat sounds. Oh how we love to complicate simple things.

And the music is getting more complicated. Now, we've got the foot pedal introduced (as if just playing the notes wasn't hard enough, now I have to think about what my feet are supposed to be doing). Who invented piano playing anyway? Now, comes tricky beats. Now we're on notes that push fingers from five to seven. Didn't know piano players had 14 fingers, didja? Well, we do. Thumbs and baby fingers have to work a little harder than the others - they each gotta extra notes (poor things, especially the little baby fingers). They gotta stretch!!! And stretch they do. Who knew you could have lactic acid build-up in the muscles of your fingers!!?? Sheesh. But I am learning. The songs are getting a little trickier. This week's challenge is "Blow the Man Down" and how I'm working on blowing that one down. It sure isn't easy. But it's coming.

The next big challenge is the Christmas concert. I'm not concerned (yet) about what I'll have to learn to play...it's getting over being the biggest in the class. OK, I'll admit it. Not only the biggest, but the oldest. Ok, not only the oldest but the one with the grayest hair. Not only with the grayest hair but with the most flatulence. Awww, do I HAVE to do the Christmas concert?????