mothers day and may...

already the beginning of may...
where did april go?

i feel like i have been all over the place.

did i tell you that i went to children's writing workshop
and how absolutely fantastic it was!
i left feeling excited and inspired and full of ideas...
there was a lot of talk around the process of writing your piece
then going back through and marking "scenes"
then using those markers to create storyboards...
and i found that this made me feel really excited...
like i could picture it coming together.

i also went to another workshop this weekend on
writing to surprise yourself...
the basis of this was the use of prompts
{which i love} and different tools you can use when
 you are just getting started or
feel stuck...
i came away from that one also excited and inspired...

other than that, the weekend has been busy
with family get togethers
and birthday partys
lots of card making
and going through old photo albums
and sharing lost stories...
meeting new relatives
and watching my kids interact on their own
so grown up, so capable...
ice cream and onion rings at the dairy bar
garden shopping and plant pruning...


things have been good, very very good...


and now i am looking forward to my first photo sessions of this season
as well as this e-course...i can't wait {squeal}
and to an upcoming workshop with this author
and a chance to meet this blogger...


may will be sweet, i can feel it in my bones.

number 70 of my mondo beyondo grande life list....


70.  hear margaret atwood read.

and i have.
i have finally seen her in person,
in a beautiful theatre
with my best friend beside me
and gilt ceilings and
a boy/girl band of two playing tori amos-like piano
with smatterings of an accordian.

and it was as amazing as i had ever hoped.

she read from oryx and crake...
she was funny and witty and tiny and
it took my breath away when she came onstage
this woman whom i have identified with
so many times,
always wondering if its because she is canadian
or female or a little odd...or was it that combination of all
three that made me read so many lines and
say..."that is me...that is me right there...in those words...
in that line..."

one of my favorite lines of hers was
"she is on the edge of being drunk, she is bitter."
oh...how often i recognized myself in that sentence.

so hurray to diminutive whirlwind powerhouse voices
and hurray to crossing number 70
off my list...
:)

no poem today...instead i am random and inconcise...

easter is over
the long weekend done
back to work in the morning...

i am happy and quiet and full of solitude tonight
and tangible silence
{but wordy in my own head}
{if that makes sense}

{i feel like posting but i don't feel like talking}

i spent the day today just hanging with my 15 year old
bright and shiny girl...talking and napping and
giggling and sharing...and it was good.

the laundry didn't get done
and neither did the dishes
but i wouldn't have traded this afternoon
for any amount of money...

these small moments of
imperfect and unexpected connections...
these are the moments
that i guard and i steal and i hoard
like tiny bits of sweet sunshine
for the days that feel like the rain
will
never
ever
go
away
and i will never be warm again...

and then she surprises me
by leaning in close,
by lingering after supper to share stories,
by tickling and crawling into the bed
between her dad and me
to watch silly chocadooby videos on his iphone...

and i'm warm and happy and basking in her sunshine smile.