Cirque weekend

I don't know why it seems weird to smell popcorn as I enter the souvenir/refreshment gauntlet tent but to me, Cirque Du Soleil is not circus...it is theatre with acrobats. Seriously now, I feel as though I should dress in my best artist finery, just as I would when entering the Geary Theatre or the Opera House, although thankfully those theatres seats are normal sized, while the seats for this touring show are squeezing more bodies into the spaces, making physical contact with your neighbors inevitable. (Just the thought of this being a seat on a long distance flight sent a cold sweat over me...big time) Oh, I digress...popcorn makes it a circus but Corteo is theatre. I was so moved by this performance, I guess because of the theme; the death of a clown, whose friends and fellow performers come to wish him bon voyage and happy days in Paradise/the Afterlife. Saints, sinners, kids jumping on beds and angels galore...it was just what I needed to put music and color to the things that have been going on in my peripheral vision for months. Let's just say that it was hard to leave the artificial world and come home to the peripheral vision making the curve into my line of sight. Meltdown.

Never fear, I am better now...ready to face the world again with a grin and a fist full of color. We had a nice time yesterday morning, hanging out in Walnut Creek at a coffee shop (not the Marge slinging burgers and pie kind, the overpriced coffee kind) listening to our friend Ace Batacan play his guitar in an intimate setting. I am sure that the regulars were taken aback at the interlopers filling the seats but they just had to get over it. It was good to see Ace and his wife and some other Prophane diaspora and his playing soothed the morning beast.

Now, on to work/play. I finished the last of the two pound, 5 ounce project of Petroglyph merino for my lovely New Jersey client and immediately began work on the second half of her order, two pounds of Biffle in Deep Sea. It is photographing very turquoisy this morning but you can get a good shot of where I hunker down during the long spinning bouts, here with my top all stripped up into speedily spun balls...yup, there is 2+ pounds of fiber there.

I took a shot of the yarn in the works but as I said, it is photographing a little too blue this morning, in this light. You'll get an accurate read when the yarn is done and ready to wing east.

Lined up after this project is a two pound bag of Emerald City Biffle, which needs to go bye bye to Southern California and THEN Tom's buddy Richard will get his earthy Yak. Like planes lined up on the runway, so are the stacks in line for the spinner. Sounds like a soap opera catch phrase...

We've got the turkey and all of the other prescribed food and will have a house full on Thanksgiving. The daughter is coming down from Folsom to hang with us and true to her form, she is making two desserts! She is a true superwoman. These days, for something like this...I open the freezer door and whistle for Mrs. Smith. Nope, my very pregnant daughter is going to bake up a storm and we are very lucky for it because she is a terrific cook! Our son the chef is probably just going to EAT, while our future daughter-in-law is making a yummy butternut squash lasagna. Just writing it down brings my shoulder stress down to normal...hey, there are other cooks helping out. YIPPEEEEE!

I hope that you and yours, here in the States, have a peaceful holiday. Perhaps the Knitter's car magnets will show up this week (here is a picture to refresh your memory)

The suggested retail is $7 but I am going to sell them for $5 and the $1.50 profit from each one is going into the charity bucket. I have 48 coming, 9 are spoken for already and if you want one, just email me and when they come in we will do the transaction.

Update. The Daughter just came back from her Ultrasound, the one prescribed by the OB from hell...the doctor who drops scary stink bombs and then walks out of the room. Anyway.......the baby is just fine and cooking nicely and yes, he sure is a boy. He is currently 6 pounds 8 ounces and will be just the proper size for his exit from his slender mama when he turns to make his descent. For now, he is just hanging out and chillin'. WHEW. That dumb doctor really scared TD, which in turn scared ME...any wonder that I have been A LITTLE STRESSED OUT? All better now. Go on with your day...nothing to look at here. :o) mutter mutter mutter.

Comments

[elizabeth]

Glad dd is doing well! Got to keep 'em healthy! It sounds like a feast at the Souza house. Thanksgiving is my favorite day. I can't think of a Thanksgiving that I didn't have a load to be thankful for. I hope you and yours have a great one:-)

[Helle From Denmark]

Ohhh, i love blue colors. And is that......is that Elektra i can see laying there, in a small basket. It sure looks yummy......DROOOOL! I will get a spinning corner one of these days......with a rocking chair.....not a old fashion.....but i sure look forward not to have to set everything up, everytime i wants to spin....but just can sit over and do what i want to do!!

He...just wait dear Lisa.....when you become a grandma.....sorry, i like that word.....then you will burst into tears!!*GRIN*

[AlisonH]

I always found the way to get a baby to come was to become committed to doing something else for a particular day near the due date. (Ssshhh, Alison...) Anyway--could you consider another car magnet spoken for? Thanks, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving, y'all.

Which reminds me: my son just got back from two years gone. He was, among other things, teaching English to Haitian refugees, being fluent himself in Haitian Creole. They asked him what the plural form of "you" was in English. He quickly thought about it and realized, well, this IS southern Florida, and told them, "You" for singular, "y'all" for plural. I'm sorry, but a Haitian Creole accent saying y'all is hysterically funny. As my French is, I'm sure, to a Frenchman--I once said to a friend from Paris that I needed a haircut, but hair and horse are really close, and I used the wrong one... Yup. I needed to cut my horses.

May all your family's communications be wonderful during your holidays.

[Helle From Denmark]

*LOL* Alison......that would be very expensive to cut your "horses". They do have a lot of "hair"!*GRIN*

[Lisa S]

Yes, Alison, you are down for a magnet. I just finished a book where Creole was a part of the language the author used. It is The Dew Breaker from Haitian native, Edwidge Danticat, the author of Breath, Eyes, Memory.

I am glad that your son is done with his commitment and can now toss himself into the rest of his life. Now, perhaps he can help you make a Thanksgiving dinner for too many people...I guess that he probably went from ironing a cheese sandwich to making gallons of food with nowhere in between. Welcome him home for us.

I feel safe enough (why, I have no idea) going to the dentist this afternoon because I have been informed that the baby is still upright and lounging. Good deal...I can get one or two more things done. Too bad I can't ignore a broken tooth, eh?

[AlisonH]

You remember about his ironing a cheese sandwich between foil in the freshman dorms?! (Just don't get it on the ironing board.) Really! Cool! Yeah, he came home after a bike accident--good thing he was already re-enrolled in college, so that he was covered under our insurance--he had ACL knee surgery last week. He's doing really well. Never complained once about it; though he did say, he won't ever retire to Florida. Too many hurricanes. As for food, cooking up 600 Salisbury steaks for the Red Cross shelter in a night--give him a turkey any day, he can handle anything now.

Thanks for the book recommendation; I'll have to go read that one. I loved Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder, about the Harvard doctor who set up a hospital in Haiti. Powerful.

[Tom]

I know what you mean about Cirque du Soleil - the first time I saw them in Santa Monica a million years ago (their first tour) I clapped so hard my hands were sore for a week afterwards. There's something inspiring and wonderful about seeing humans being so creative and inventive with their bodies and the way they dress them and move them.

Isn't it interesting how their fire ignites ours.

[CarolineF]

Glad they confirmed the baby is just fine. He sounds like a REASONABLE size too, unlike these 11 pound turkey-sized babies Americans seem to turn out. Did they already know it was a boy? if so, what is his little name???

Have a good feast on Thursday. We are supposed to drive 45 minutes to eat with a friend but they're predicting SNOW for Thursday so we may end up roosting at home with macaroni and cheese.

[Kerry]

I would like the recipe for the butternut lasagna, please. I am a new butternut squashaholic and can't get enough of the stuff.

I've got pies again this year - I usually make The Big Three - apple, pumpkin & pecan - but pecans for the pie would be $20!! Yikes. Two pumpkins this year.

[vanessa]

lisa, i hope the baby is due soon, then he'll be a wonderful sagittarius :-) happy turkey day!

[AlisonH]

Kerry-got a Costco near you for those pecans (~$8/2 lbs)? Hey, everyone--happy Thanksgiving!