Favourite things

Somebody sent this to me via email today:

It wouldn't be funny if it weren't so true... Julie Andrews turned 69 and to commemorate her 69th birthday on October 1, actress/ vocalist Julie Andrews made a special appearance at Manhattan 's Radio City Music Hall for the benefit of the AARP. One of the musical numbers she performed was "My Favorite Things" from the legendary movie "The Sound Of Music."

Here are the actual lyrics she used:
"Maalox and nose drops and needles for knitting,
Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,
Bundles of magazines tied up in string,
These are a few of my favorite things.
Cadillac's and cataracts, and hearing aids and glasses,
Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses,
Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings,
These are a few of my favorite things..
When the pipes leak, When the bones creak,
When the knees go bad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel so bad.
Hot tea and crumpets and corn pads for bunions,
No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions,
Bathrobes and heating pads and hot meals they bring,
These are a few of my favorite things.
Back pains, confused brains, and no need for sinnin',
Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinnin',
And we won't mention our short, shrunken frames,
When we remember our favorite things.
When the joints ache, When the hips break,
When the eyes grow dim,
Then I remember the great life I've had,
And then I don't feel so bad."

Ms. Andrews received a standing ovation from the crowd that lasted over four minutes and repeated encores. Please share Ms. Andrews' clever wit and humor with others who would appreciate it.

Well, I'm not quite in that category yet so here is my "middle aged" version of my favourite things... feel free to add your own verses!

Sleep ins and unbroken sleep in the night,
Laughter and singing and kids that don't fight,
Occasional chances to have a wild fling,
These are a few of my favourite things...

Dinners with chocolate and wine in clean glasses,
Undies that hold in the wobbles and flounces,
Dresses that make me feel fit for a king,
These are a few of my favourite things!

When the kids whine,
when the cat pukes,
when the day goes bad...
I simply remember my favourite things,
And then I don't feel so drab.

Family that helps out with odd baby sitting,
Thighs that are covered to hide all the pitting,
Husbands that stick with you through PMT,
These are a few of my favourite things...

Good books and coffee and time to enjoy it,
Crafty activities and scrapbooking friendships,
Fellowship and faith that gives my heart wings,
These are a few of my favourite things!

What that bill comes,
when the tea burns,
when I'm feeling sad..

I simply remember my favourite things,
And then I don't feel so bad.

:-)

Holiday Antics

Enjoy the show! I've captioned the photos so you know where and what they are. Naturally, DH's 286 photos are far superior to mine, but they don't have people in them. :-)

Even though the weather turned to custard the week we were away *aside: this always happens to us* we managed to do quite a bit. DS managed to complete two 2 hour walks so we were very proud of him. Towards the end of the week though he was saying, "No more walks Daddy okay? No more walks." So on Friday we stayed back at the bach and I caught up with an old school friend who lives in the area.

I managed to lose another kilo - yay for me! Only 3 more to go before I reach my goal.

We stayed in Turangi in a bach from the Holiday Houses website. It was a good little bach, very simple but served the purpose. Most days we spent out and about in Tongariro National Park. DH had several places he wanted to photograph - most of them involving water and streams. The Mangetepopo tragedy was rather high in my mind but fortunately most of the places he went were not in the risky category.

We visited the Tree Trunk Gorge, Pillars of Hercules, Waikato Falls, Taranaki Falls, Mangawhero Falls, Waitonga falls (where Gollum eats the fish from the Forbidden Pool in LOTR) as well as Lake Rotopounamo and Lake Rotokura. I really wanted to have a swim in the hot pools at Tokaanu but we didn't get time.

DH did a lot more on the Friday and one morning when I stayed back with children at the bach. However, he did lose his lens cap in the Rangipo Desert which caused me to taunt him with this:

In the Rangipo Desert
Covered in sand
Lies a languishing lens cap
Dropped by Rod's hand

Alas for the lens cap
For now it is lost
Rod'll have to replace it
At significant cost.

I might add that this is not the first lens cap/piece of photographic equipment that he has lost or forgotten to pick up or dropped off the side of a precipice.

Maintaining Innocence

Your loud squeal of delight
"Mummy the bumblebees made some 'joas!"*
My throat closes in laughter, and I fight

Telling you of mingling pollen with stigma
Thrusting pollen tubes joining acquiescent ova

For now "Yes" I say
"The bumblebees help"
Revelling in joyful simplicity today



*fejoas

Violent Thoughts

Oh Slug!
Whose moist supple body
insinuated itself through a slender gap
secretively slipping on a mucusoid path
furtively

Oh Slug!
No welcome moonlight
revealed your rasping radular
ravaging my hopeful harvest
of cucumbers

Oh Slug!
I will relocate you, expose you
on this crevassed concrete
for some tightly feathered
blackbird's snack