Thursday, June 9, 2011

June already?

Whew, that was quick.

I just got back on Monday from my 10 year college reunion. While we were only there from Thursday through Monday, it was fun to see so many of our old friends, most of whom had never met our kids and we hadn't seen at all since we moved away 7 years ago. It was so strange to be back in the place we'd spent so much time, but hadn't seen in so long. So much has changed. They've built new buildings, many of our professors have retired. But some things haven't: we found all our old houses (on and off campus), we visited the zoo (a lot the same as I remember), and the summer weather was perfect: sunny and 75ish on Saturday. I realize that we were lucky, they've had an unusually cold year so far, but we were grateful for the reprieve the weekend we were there, particularly since we came home to oppressive heat.

The boys did very well. I was particularly impressed with how well the little guy did on his first trip to the West Coast. He adjusted fairly quickly to the time change and slept in the pack n' play with very little struggle. Of course, he didn't take much of a nap most of the days we were there, but I couldn't blame him there since we were often too busy to go back to the hotel room to give him time to lay down. My back reminded me that I was not used to carrying him around the majority of the day. He also voiced his frustration occasionally for not being able to move around. He officially started Army crawling a few days before we left, and he could not believe I wasn't going to let him down on the floor of the airplane to explore the passengers' shoes and carry-on baggage. Sorry, buddy, I think that's a bit too dirty for you. He is so funny to watch right now with his crazy wiggle/drag/contort movement. I describe it as either a baby zombie or that he's trying to breakdance.

We were also able to sing in the alumni version of the concert choir we sang in while in school. It was nice even though only one other member was actually singing in it during the same years we were. The other folks we met there were quite nice and we had a good time.

Perhaps one of the best parts of all was when we got home and we were all bone tired, and the boys actually had to be woken up Tuesday morning. The little one actually slept till 10:00! I was happy to have the extra sleep, and was glad they were able to catch up on some rest they didn't get while we were gone.

So, it's probably about time for another poetry challenge...what say you all to Paige's mom's idea of using the word verification as an inspiration for a poem? Let me know.

24 comments:

paige said...

ok - i'll be back later :)

Anonymous said...

I must have missed something. I can haz moar detales, plz?

cicely

Anonymous said...

Which belatedly prompts a Lolspeak Haiku:

Ceiling Cat watches;
He saw goggie that stoled the
Lolrus' bukkit.

cicely

Minerva said...

Hey Cicely! The idea Paige's mom had for a poetry challenge was to take the word verification "word" for posting a comment on this blog as your inspiration for a poem. They are almost never a real word, but they are very interesting. I love your lolspeak haiku!

Mimi said...

Forov.
Perfect nonsense
Unless
It is a contraction
For forever love!

Anonymous said...

"Kallibre".
Is it Greek?
Is it English-English?
Perhaps some mutant word,
Spawn of memetic hybridisation?
An alien's misattempt at communication?
Not even the etymologists know for sure....

cicely

Minerva said...

You guys are showing me up here, starting without me! LOL! I'll do mine soon, I promise...it's just too late to start anything now. I'll do mine tomorrow, OK? I love both of yours! 1,500 points to both of you, the extra 500 is for gumption. :)

mimi said...

Transition from college to LIFE,
Sorting detrius
Tossing remains of four years.
Thankful for family help
Until
Uh Oh ...
At the bottom of the laundry sack
moldsoc!

Anonymous said...

Antrice

Grammatical error or comical splice;
Superfluous 'n' added to "in a trice",
Unduly specific in ants' choice of rice.
Don't know where it comes from, so can't be precise,
So pick with a coin-toss or roll of the dice.

cicely

Mimi said...

Cicely, LOVE it! :-)

Anonymous said...

And (mutual admiration society), I thing your "moldsoc" is brilliant!

cicely

Minerva said...

You are both amazing. I have hit a small snag with mine: I don't have to enter a word verification to comment on my own blog. I will see if I can find another one. :)

Minerva said...

Tapist.
A devotee of dance?
Or a duct connoisseur?
Perhaps just a fan of
intentionally bumpy
pudding.

Mimi said...

Mmmm tapioca - and cute poetry! I love this challenge.

Anonymous said...

I agree, to both the love of tapioca and the fun of this challenge!
----

A word that has been lacking in our language, all this time
Meaning "judgement in the public; drumhead trial for a crime".
Ellide the "pr-" and "ial" and the answer is made clear,
And "prial" makes its long-awaited media premiere.

Anonymous said...

Oops. Forgot to sign it.

cicely

Anonymous said...

Gahhh!

That was the penultimate draft. Erase-and-replace with:

A word that has been lacking in our language, all this time
For "pre-judgement by the public; drumhead trial for a crime".
Ellide the "pr-" and "ial" and the answer is made clear,
And "prial" makes its long-awaited media premiere.

cicely (the self-exasperated)

Anonymous said...

This challenge has legs! I'm really enjoying it.
-----

Farmer Smith has failed
To keep up with his bills.
He goes out to the field,
But the cattle are all gone.

Mooerepo.

---
cicely

Anonymous said...

The kids are in a ruction,
The household just can't function.
Instead of "he-said, she-said"?
Just send 'em to the calmshed!

cicely

(Okay...so..."ruction" and "function" don't quite rhyme....)

paige said...

flathro on your way to timbucktoo,
flathro to see me too.
flathro my open window to see
if you can flathro to me.

paige said...

You're sweet,
andgee i love you.
i'm swoonin,
andgee you're mine.
Let's kiss -
andgee, real soon now.
The day is ours,
andgee, it's fine.

Anonymous said...

*applause*

The following is not a fluffy-bunny poem. You Have Been Warned.

---
Yellowly,
Mellogri
Discolors all your skin.
Then slowly,
Unholy
Dread itching will begin.

Flakily
Snakily
Skin peeling off in sheets.
Ache-ily
Bake-ily
The fever has you beat.

Scarily,
Glarily--
Your neighbors quail in fear.
Verily,
Warily,
They will not let you near.

Because of mellogri you die by stages, and alone.
The method of transmission, and the cause, are both unknown.
---


cicely

Anonymous said...

A shy bird with brilliant plumage, the orponwil lives entirely on the buds and stems of the dandelion plant.

In early spring the male begins scouting suburban lawns, searching for the most fertile, well-watered ground. Having selected his territory, he flies furtively through the crepuscular dimness, dropping dandelion seeds, hoarded from the previous year's crop, into the waiting ground where, camoflauged by the new greenery, the fledgling plants sink their long, nigh-immortal taproots deep into the earth.

When the fast-growing young plants have begun to raise their heads above the shorter growths of the surrounding grasses, the orponwil begins to judiciously harvest the crop, carefully drying and storing a portion of his gains against future need.

Later, when the first flower-heads have ripened, exploding into exuberant whiteness, he begins to gather the fluff, with which he builds a nest in an attempt to attract a mate. If successful, the movements of the mated pair, and later those of their hatchlings, will thresh the seeds free of the inedible, filimentous fluff. And so the cycle continues.
---
cicely

Minerva said...

you guys are on fire!! I love it! Paige, yours sound like they could be super cute song lyrics.
Cicely, your latest one sounds like a nature article and the one before that sounds like a Stephen King novel.

LOVE IT!!! A million points to all of you.

Incidentally, how d'you like the new blog layout? :)