sara's birthday

As Sara blew out her birthday cake candles on Friday, I had a flashback to when my sister was still pregnant with her. Jeff and I used to kneel beside Ruth, avidly watching the surface of her stomach bulge and ripple. It was better than watching Aliens (and without the gross bits, too).


I remember how small Sara was as a baby, how strange it was to see my little sister holding a baby of her own. I had pretty much zero experience with babies, and was terrified about holding Sara...what if I dropped her by accident? What if she broke? I remember the first time I took her for a ride in the stroller by myself, my white-knuckled grasp on the stroller handle, the surge of panic every time she made a noise.


I remember rocking Sara to sleep, the damp warmth of her head on my chest, breathing in her milk-baby fragrance. What would she be like as a teenager, I wondered? Rebellious and wild like Ruth? Easygoing and a model daughter like me? (stop laughing, Ruth)





Our friend Scott Dixon is staying with us until tomorrow. Yesterday, we went to see Planet of the Apes with Scott Murray and Parki. Highly disappointing flick; I had been hoping for something more from Tim Burton.


Went to Bombay Palace for dinner last night with Jeff's dad and his girlfriend, and our friends Harry and Jean from New York. After dinner, they visited the apartment to check out my harp. We'll be going on an overnight canoe trip with Harry and Jean next weekend in Algonquin Park.


I've been spending most of the past few days finishing up the hiking trip menu, and doing experiments/taste tests with the dehydrated ingredients. So far, dehydrated dinners include chicken with mushrooms on rice, couscous, fruit & nut curry on rice, Huron stew with dumplings and cornbread, beef jerky stew with dumplings. Desserts: fruit cobbler, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, cake, pudding, chocolate bars, cheesecake.


I'll be spending most of today putting together meal packages to take on the trip, but will be taking a brief break to see Jurassic Park III with Jeff and ScottD. We have free passes, and are hoping that it will be better than Planet of the Apes (fingers crossed).


Hey, I've registered debbieohi.com! I'm going to make some "My Life In A Nutshell" t-shirts, and needed a shorter URL.





Today's Blatherpics:


- Sara as an infant.


- Sara and I having a tea party (without tea) at Wasaga Beach.


- Birthday cake cutting at Sara's birthday party on Friday. She turned 7.

Feel free to suggest a daily poll question.


Today's Poll:



Have you ever walked out in the middle of a movie? (because it was so bad)

New iBook!

Woohoo, I have a new iBook! Trading in my old Powerbook today. So far the transition of data from my old to new laptops has gone pretty smoothly, thanks to Jeff. The iBook is lighter than my old computer, cost less, and has a smaller screen. It's also more powerful and has more storage space. Go figure. From the advertising, it looks like this model is being marketed mainly to students.


One motivation was switching was because I plan to work on my writing out of my home office as much as possible. I find being online too much of a temptation ("just gotta check e-mail one more time"). When I'm home, however, I can hook it up to my big monitor and work as usual.


I've named my new iBook "Samantha". Was tempted to name it "Samwise", but this time I wanted a female name.


At this point, I can't recall exactly how many computers I've had over the years. As I've mentioned a long while back, my first computer was a TRS-80 Model I (upgraded soon to a Model III when they came in stock). Then came the Commodore 64 and a long series of Macintosh computers.


Got back yesterday from the cottage. Our friend Scott D. arrives later today, and is staying with us for a few days before we leave for the cottage again. I'm going to ask Scott to do a Guest Blathering, but I suspect he would rather have chopstick splinters shoved beneath his nails first (he's not the Blathering type).


Hey, any of you on ICQ? My number is 70032255.





Today's Blatherpics:


- Me and my new iBook.


- Michael Cecutti with a model airplane, on Wasaga Beach.

Feel free to suggest a daily poll question.


Today's Poll:

Did you ever have to use punch cards when programming? (if you don't know what punch cards are, just pick 'NO')

dinner with the gibsons

[Update July 24: I pick up my new computer today! Hopefully the conversion from old to new will go smoothly, and I'll be able to get back online tonight.]


We're at the cottage with my sister-in-law, her boyfriend, and our niece Brittany. My mom-in-law was here as well, but had to go back to the city this morning.


With a child at the cottage, activities naturally tend to differ from when Jeff and I are up here along. They included:


- Cookie experiments: Brittany and I were cookie scientists. We mixed together a basic oatmeal cookie recipe, and then I laid out a number of small bowls filled with different ingredients such as butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, chocolate powder, marshamllow bits and whole marshmallows, and Smarties. I told Brittany she could add whatever she wanted, and then we would stick the experiment in the oven and see how it came out. Not surprisingly, the cookies ended up very high in extra ingredients and low on cookie dough, but it was a lot of fun. :-)





- Body Art: I bought a Body Art kit at Chapters last week. It came with five coloured waxy crayons which drew easily on skin (and washed off with water and soap), and a booklet of design ideas. Brittany and I took turns drawing on each other. Afterward we jumped into the lake to wash off.





- Singing: Brittany wanted to hear the Hockey Monkey song over and over and over again. I also taught her the Alligator Song I learned from Sara.


- Swimming: Ginny, Larkin, Brittany and I swam to Peary's Island (about 300 metres). Brittany was in her lifejacket. It was the first time that Brittany and I had swum that route...I've been somewhat paranoid about trying before since the water is pretty deep. I had aimed to try later in the summer after I had more practice (I'm starting to swim laps at the cottage), but there's nothing like the peer pressure from one's five-year-old niece to provide extra motivation. :-)


Unfortunately Brittany started feeling ill near the end of the day, and ended up nauseous with a fever. Larkin suspects she had been coming down with something already.





In the evening, we went over to Dan and Helen Gibson's place for dinner. Dan Gibson is the creator of the Solitudes record label. His company was the first to market recordings of nature sounds for consumer enjoyment, and also the first -or one of the first- to set up listening stations in stores so that consumers could hear samples of the recordings before making a purchase.


After dinner (Ginny, Larkin, Rick, and Brittany decided to head back to our cottage, but Jeff and I wanted to hang out longer), Dan played me some of his piano compositions. Unfortunately I had forgotten my flute; we sometimes jam together for fun. Their cottage piano is fairly ancient, originally from Mowat Lodge and likely played by Group of Seven painter, Tom Thomson. It's definitely a piano with its own personality (like my Underwood typewriter!), with a few keys that refuse to work.





Jeff and I secretly hope to be like Dan and Helen when we're older (Dan turns 80 next year). They both seem so happy, still very much in love, and have more energy and enthusiasm than a lot of people I know. We plan to visit them in Toronto later this year...I'm going to bring my flute and harp. Dan's been learning how to play flute recently.


We finally leave as darkness was beginning to fall. Paddling quietly across the lake in our canoe, Jeff and I can still hear Dan playing "Algonquin Rain" in the cottage behind us. On the other side of the lake, the fiery glow of the setting sun is just starting to fade on the horizon.


Everyone has already gone to bed by the time our canoe gently nudges the dock. Jeff and I have a sauna and a quick dip in the lake. As we float in the cool water, we can hear the loons calling to each other in the darkness, their cries echoing across the lake.


Today's Blatherpics:


- Brittany paints my toenails, picks a different colour for each nail. We are using a set that Annie and Sara got me as a gift when I was in Philadelphia. Each bottle has a picture of a different Looney Toons character.


- Giant cookie by Brittany, just before we put it into the oven.


- Cartoons I drew on Brittany's legs with a Body Art craft set.


- Dinner with Helen and Dan Gibson. Larkin's boyfriend Rick (who is also chef at Oasis) cooked pickerel...yum.


- Dan plays his newest composition for me.

Feel free to suggest a daily poll question.


Today's Poll:

Have you ever taken piano lessons?

sanctuary

[Update 10:02 a.m.] Thanks to those of you who suggested more info about the Japanese peso I had displayed in yesterday's Blatherings. It seems that the Japanese printed a peso currency when they were occupying the Phillipines during WWII. From our friend Andrew:



"The official currency of the Philippines is the 'Peso'. During World War II, the Japanese invaded the Philippines and occupied it from 1941 to 1945, installed a puppet republic, and issued currency in various denominations of centavos and pesos.


Here's a picture of various bills from someone's currency collection:

http://www.pillowrock.com/ronnie/mphilippines.htm


I don't think it's very valuable but it does look in good condition. You might want to check."


"Also see: http://www.open.org/~billnix/


japanese peso?

(Added Sept.1/2004: Thanks to all those who have sent me info about the Japanese peso. From "beeeemer": "The Japanese Peso was created by the Japanese during WW11 as currency for the Philippines." From Bob G.: "I know what the Japanese Peso is. It is a carnival novelty from the States from the 40s or 50s. At least, that's what I was told. I have a '5 Peso' note."

From Joseph M.: "I was stationed in the Philippines in the early 1960's and have one of these pesos. It was Japanese invasion or, if you will, 'occupation' money. It is in English and Japanese because English was and still is the main language used there." Jim sent a link to other Japanese invasion currency and Donella sent another link to Japanese pesos.

Thanks to everyone for their help!)

-----------

Leaving soon to visit Reid and Luisa at Wasaga Beach, so only a short Blather today. While going through some old coins left to him by his grandmother, Jeff found the odd currency above. Neither of us can figure it out. Any out there have any ideas? Click on the image to see a larger version.


I've updated the OVFF site so that the message board link works (sorry about that). I still haven't heard word about the Pegasus voting ballot, so may not be able to post it since I'll be out of town for most of the next couple of months...could someone please make sure it is posted in the OVFF message board if I'm not around? Thanks kindly.


After Wasaga, Jeff and I will be going to the cottage to visit with our niece Brittany. Depending on how active she is (i.e. how zonked I am in the evenings after she goes to bed), I may be posting Blatherings during that time. Our friend Scott will be visiting from Ireland when we get back.


My Blathering and e-mail schedule over the next few months is likely to be erratic and will depend on how much free time I have, and what type of Internet access I have, if any. I'll have my laptop in most cases, but may not be able to get online. As long as I can get to an Internet cafe, however, I can post brief Blatherings. I've already looked up the locations of Internet cafes in Tokyo. :-)







Today's Blatherpics:


- Japanese peso? (click to see enlarged image)


- Sara, during our Wasaga Beach trip.

Feel free to suggest a daily poll question.


Today's Poll:

If you're on the beach, would you rather be swimming or lying in the sun? Choose "yes" for swimming, "no" for sunning.