Wuv, tru wuv

For flutter

Christine,

you are an extraordinarily couragous person with an amazing capacity for love and forgiveness. And this marriage business? It takes a lot of courage and love and forgiveness. It helps to pick a good partner, and Clay? He's a keeper. I wish you a lifetime of love. Things won't always be perfect, but you know that all too well. But you will be partners, forever, in this crazy life. Bless you.

And, in keeping with Emily's blog carnival theme that Mawigge is what bwings us togethah today, I give you this:


(when I got married - 15 1/2 years ago, my husband gave me that movie, on VHS, as my wedding gift)

Meeting Jen

This week fellow blogger Jen from a2eatwrite found herself unexpectedly in New Orleans for vacation (to celebrate an anniversary. Happy Anniversary, Jen and Dave!). I found myself unexpectedly not working. We found each other for a great day!

We started off at the sculpture gardens and New Orleans Museum of Art in City Park. The power went out right at lunchtime, so we made our way over to Parkway Bakery. The proprietor of the Bed and Breakfast where Jen and her husband were staying recommended it as having some of the best po' boys in town. I had never been before, but I have to say I agree. Yum.


We then went to the French Quarter where I showed them a few of my favorite galleries before pointing them in the direction of the Louisiana Music Factory and heading to pick up the May Queen from camp.

It was a great day. We talked nearly nonstop. Jen and her husband were quite friendly and interesting. Fortunately, I'll be moving near them in Michigan, so I know this time together won't be our last. Jen has promised to take The May Queen and I on a tour of fairy doors. Fun!

Hey good lookin', whatcha got cookin'?

I won a contest over at The Road Goes Ever On, and Kaye promised to make me an apron. I was looking forward to its arrival, but couldn't imagine the joy that awaited me when I opened the box.

First of all it was not one, but TWO aprons. She made one for The May Queen as well.And she made us each a "pot gripper," as you can see on our hands.

But that's not all.

They are REVERSIBLE. Check this out...


So cute! You must take a closer look...
She made the aprons to match my blog layout!!! I feel so special! Kaye put so much love and creativity into these, it just makes me smile. And look at the pockets....










(The May Queen doesn't know about the blog, but fortunately hasn't asked too many questions about the names yet. They tickle me to no end)

Thank you, Kaye! One of the best, most personal gifts I've ever received.

Now... what should we cook first?

Christmas Gift Shopping List

For MIL
Health

For SIL
Patience
Support
New Friends in a New Place

For MQ
Gratitude
Obedience
Joy
Faith

For Hubby
Peace of Mind
Confidence
Security

For Friend E
Patience
A New Job (With a big pay raise! and great benefits! and a good working environment!)
Time to enjoy her new baby

For Friend R
Her house to sell
A New Start

For Friend S
A healthy pregnancy

For Chrissy
A miraculous and clean bill of health

For Niobe and Creative Type Dad and Chantal and Furrow
Healthy babies

For ME
Time to relax and enjoy family
A clean house (and garage. and attic. and yard)
Hard drive data recovery (at least the pictures!!)

Do you think I can buy these things at the mall?

This post has been a Monday Mission. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write a post in the style of a shopping list. Join the Mission Impossible team by adding a link to your post in the widget below.



Join us next week, when our mission will be to write a post in the style of A Holiday Tune (inspired by Jeri's 12 Days of Christmas spin-off).

Wordless Wednesday: Daily Gratitude 11

(A gift from Kaye. Thanks, Kaye. I am grateful for you)

Winner

We have a winner for the Barbara Kingsolver books...

Rima of RimaRama.

send your address to me at pntdmaypole AT yahoo and I'll mail them out to you!

No one seems to have a Sees in their area? I know we had them in CA. Are they no where else? Speak now or forever hold your Sees.

Gifties and giveaways

I've received a few fun things in the mail this summer from other bloggers. Mad at Under the Mad Hat sent me a package that contained some candy and the best maple syrup I think I've ever had. That was earlier this summer and I didn't think to take a picture before I began consuming it all.

The marvelously crafty Louise at Potted Frog sent me this fabulous summer banner she made, which I won in a giveaway she was having. It's so cheerful in my living room, and oddly enough the kitten hasn't attacked it (it hangs low enough that I feared it would become and toy and I would have to find a new home for it).

Magpie Musing drew my name in a little pay it forward meme, and she sent me a garlic baker, some homegrown garlic, and an antique drink muddler.

(please excuse the weird shadow.
I'm too lazy to take another picture)

The garlic isn't shown because I've already baked it. Yum. I was delighted when I opened the surprise package. I've always wanted a garlic baker, but never enough to actually think to buy one when I was at the store. And now I have one. Yum. I still have to make a drink so I can use the muddler. Hmmm....

There don't seem to be any rules to this pay it forward meme, and so I'm going to pay it forward with some things I found around my house while cleaning and organizing. I'll send two packages... so indicate which one that you're interested in, and I'll pick one blogger for each package. If you win you can start thinking of a creative way to pay it forward.The books are The Bean Trees and Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver. I picked them both up at different thrift stores and read them this summer, and LOVED them. I would love them to go to someone who would enjoy them as much as I did. Also, there is a coupon for a pound of Sees candy. I almost hate to give away chocolate instead of eating it myself, but there are no Sees near us. So if you have a store where you can use this gift certificate (no expiration date), it will do you far more good than it is doing me sitting around my house.

I'm back

Did you miss me?

Nothing has really changed, on this blog or in my situation, but after some discussion The Big Guy and I have decided that the blog is not likely to factor into this fiasco one way or the other, and so here I am, public once more.

(incidentally, I'd like a new bloggerific name for The Big Guy, if you have any ideas)

Thank you, my blogging community, for always being supportive, for being willing to lovingly and respectfully disagree, and for listening.

(for those who had no idea I had left... I went private for about 20 hours)

Shakespeare's Pants

I'm reading a little book called Stop in the Name of Pants and there's a Romeo and Juliet Pants reference, and so, in honor of everyone's favorite Pants Superstar, Alejna, I give you the sort of thing that keeps me awake at night:

Shakespeare's Pants

What PANTS through yonder window breaks?
-Romeo and Juliet

How low am I, thou painted maypole? speak;
How low am I? I am not yet so low
But that my nails can reach unto thine PANTS.
-A Midsummer Night's Dream

To PANTS or not to PANTS, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The PANTS and KNICKERS of outrageous fortune,
Or to take LEGS against a sea of troubles,
-Hamlet

Out, damned PANTS! out, I say
-MacBeth

Once more unto the PANTS, dear friends, once more
-Henry V

All the world is PANTS
-As You Like It

If PANTS be the food of love, WEAR on
-Twelfth Night

If you PANTS us do we not BLUSH?
-Merchant of Venice

Lord, what PANTS these mortals be!
-A Midsummer Night's Dream

Two PANTS both alike in dignity
-Romeo and Juliet

Ay, now am I in PANTS; the more fool I
-As You Like It

SOME PANTS, SOME PANTS, my kingdom for SOME PANTS
-Richard III

Et tu, PANTS?
-Julius Caesar

If we PANTS have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended
-A Midsummer Night's Dream

What are your favorite Shakespearean Pants?

(by the way, in England pants are not the things that cover your legs, but rather, your underwear)

Two

Hey! It's my blog's second anniversary (birthday? blogiversary? whatever you choose to call it) today! It's a full fledged toddler. The terrible twos are upon us.

Leave me a nice little anniversary (birthday? blogiversary? whatever you choose to call it) message and I will choose someone to receive a small little writerly present (I'm giving away something on my own anniversary (birthday? blogiversary? whatever you choose to call it!) It's madness. I know). I won't reveal what it is, but I promise it's not head lice. Shudder. (If you've read that previous post you'll know I could use some uplifting words right about now.)

The process for choosing who will win is top secret, perhaps more complicated than choosing a name for our cats, but probably not as complicated as choosing a new pope. Regardless, you'll know a winner has been chosen when you see white smoke coming from the chimney...

A Midspring Blog's Dream

I was having a hard time coming up with something to cast. I haven't been reading much since I spend just about every free reading moment with my current script. I was thinking I was going to have to pass on this Monday Mission. Then, this morning, in the car... inspiration. What else should Painted Maypole cast but A Midsummer Night's Dream??? Perfect. I think we'll go for an all female version (I saw an all female production of 12th Night once, and it was awesome! Besides, it used to be all men back in Shakespeare's day, so why not turn it on its head a bit? Yippee!) I haven't had as much time to mull this over as I'd like, but these are my initial thoughts:

Character descriptions stolen from sparknotes.com. My casting choices follow the descriptions.

Puck - Also known as Robin Goodfellow, Puck is Oberon’s jester, a mischievous fairy who delights in playing pranks on mortals. Though A Midsummer Night’s Dream divides its action between several groups of characters, Puck is the closest thing the play has to a protagonist. His enchanting, mischievous spirit pervades the atmosphere, and his antics are responsible for many of the complications that propel the other main plots: he mistakes the young Athenians, applying the love potion to Lysander instead of Demetrius, thereby causing chaos within the group of young lovers; he also transforms Bottom’s head into that of an ass. Alejna from Collecting Tokens. Her playful nature and love of language should make this a perfect fit. Plus, surely we can find some business for her involving pants.

Oberon - The king of the fairies, Oberon is initially at odds with his wife, Titania, because she refuses to relinquish control of a young Indian prince whom he wants for a knight. Oberon’s desire for revenge on Titania leads him to send Puck to obtain the love-potion flower that creates so much of the play’s confusion and farce. Jen from One Plus Two.

Titania - The beautiful queen of the fairies, Titania resists the attempts of her husband, Oberon, to make a knight of the young Indian prince that she has been given. Titania’s brief, potion-induced love for Nick Bottom, whose head Puck has transformed into that of an ass, yields the play’s foremost example of the contrast motif. Mad, from Under the Mad Hat. Years ago Mad and Jen married via the internet and the Just Posts were born. I think having the two of them united, and sparring, on stage would be worth the price of admission.

Lysander - A young man of Athens, in love with Hermia. Lysander’s relationship with Hermia invokes the theme of love’s difficulty: he cannot marry her openly because Egeus, her father, wishes her to wed Demetrius; when Lysander and Hermia run away into the forest, Lysander becomes the victim of misapplied magic and wakes up in love with Helena. No Mother Earth. She wouldn't be afraid to be fawning.

Demetrius - A young man of Athens, initially in love with Hermia and ultimately in love with Helena. Demetrius’s obstinate pursuit of Hermia throws love out of balance among the quartet of Athenian youths and precludes a symmetrical two-couple arrangement. Emily R from Wheels on the Bus. Because she recently offered to come and kiss me.

Hermia - Egeus’s daughter, a young woman of Athens. Hermia is in love with Lysander and is a childhood friend of Helena. As a result of the fairies’ mischief with Oberon’s love potion, both Lysander and Demetrius suddenly fall in love with Helena. Self-conscious about her short stature, Hermia suspects that Helena has wooed the men with her height. By morning, however, Puck has sorted matters out with the love potion, and Lysander’s love for Hermia is restored. Niobe from Dead Baby Jokes. Because she once confessed to me that, being small and fair, she has always identified more with Hermia.

Helena - A young woman of Athens, in love with Demetrius. Demetrius and Helena were once betrothed, but when Demetrius met Helena’s friend Hermia, he fell in love with her and abandoned Helena. Lacking confidence in her looks, Helena thinks that Demetrius and Lysander are mocking her when the fairies’ mischief causes them to fall in love with her. Um... ME, of course.

Egeus - Hermia’s father, who brings a complaint against his daughter to Theseus: Egeus has given Demetrius permission to marry Hermia, but Hermia, in love with Lysander, refuses to marry Demetrius. Egeus’s severe insistence that Hermia either respect his wishes or be held accountable to Athenian law places him squarely outside the whimsical dream realm of the forest. Erin from Woman in a Window. To make her play against type.

Theseus - The heroic duke of Athens, engaged to Hippolyta. Theseus represents power and order throughout the play. He appears only at the beginning and end of the story, removed from the dreamlike events of the forest. Sarah from Slouching Past 40. I think she'd look great on Flutter's arm, and seems quite powerful to me.

Hippolyta - The legendary queen of the Amazons, engaged to Theseus. Like Theseus, she symbolizes order. Flutter. Doesn't Flutter strike you as an Amazon Queen? I would love to see her strutting around all powerful.

Nick Bottom - The overconfident weaver chosen to play Pyramus in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Bottom is full of advice and self-confidence but frequently makes silly mistakes and misuses language. His simultaneous nonchalance about the beautiful Titania’s sudden love for him and unawareness of the fact that Puck has transformed his head into that of an ass mark the pinnacle of his foolish arrogance. RimaRama. I have no doubt she would be willing to be just a silly as the part requires.

Peter Quince - A carpenter and the nominal leader of the craftsmen’s attempt to put on a play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Quince is often shoved aside by the abundantly confident Bottom. During the craftsmen’s play, Quince plays the Prologue. Bon from Crib Chronicles. Bon is such a beautiful writer that frankly I want to hear her stumble and bumble her way through the prologue. He he. Bloggers revenge.

Francis Flute - The bellows-mender chosen to play Thisbe in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Forced to play a young girl in love, the bearded craftsman determines to speak his lines in a high, squeaky voice. Mary G from Them's My Sentiments. Since we can't do the bearded man thing, I think it would be great comedy to see the lovely older Mary G play at the young girl.

Robin Starveling - The tailor chosen to play Thisbe’s mother in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. He ends up playing the part of Moonshine. Kaye from The Road Goes Ever On. Did you see the wedding dress she sewed? Tailor, indeed!

Tom Snout - The tinker chosen to play Pyramus’s father in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. He ends up playing the part of Wall, dividing the two lovers. J from In the Gutterr. Gutter... wall... um.... there's a connection there, I'm sure.

Snug - The joiner chosen to play the lion in the craftsmen’s play for Theseus’s marriage celebration. Snug worries that his roaring will frighten the ladies in the audience. Heather from I Can Fly, Just Not Up. Let's get her away from making costumes and onto the stage.

Philostrate - Theseus’s Master of the Revels, responsible for organizing the entertainment for the duke’s marriage celebration. Beck from Frog and Toad are Friends. Because we all know Beck is a great organizer of entertainment!

Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Mote, and Mustardseed - The fairies ordered by Titania to attend to Bottom after she falls in love with him. (in no particular order...) JCK from Motherscribe would be a lovely fairy in fishnets (and have you checked out her series on Feminism? Very interesting.). Kat from Seeking Sanity. Because I am totally tickled by the idea of a pregnant fairy. I think we would make Amelia from Crumbs a singing fairly (maybe she'll bring her daughter along, too. They can sing duets!) Magpie from Magpie Musing. Because we need a fairy with blue hair.

Whew!

Participate in Monday Missions by casting your own project (play, movie, poem, short story, children's book, whatever!) with your own choices (bloggers, your family, famous actors...) and post a link in the widget below. This fun idea comes to you courtesy of No Mother Earth, who cast bloggers in a book she was reading.



Join us for our Future Monday Missions!

5/11- song titles. See how many song titles you can jam into one blog post. In high school my best friend and I used to write stories this way all the time. It passed the time in our boring classes. I had the idea when I was on a streak of titling all my blog posts with song lyrics. I have to say, I am rubbing my hands in glee over this one.

5/18- a discussion between characters/bloggers/historical figures. Mad did this brilliantly, and I thought it would be fun to imagine a conversation between characters from different sources.

5/25- a "What I did on my summer vacation" essay. Yes, before summer vacation.

Red Socks

For Alejna

and her Red Socks

(a page from Olivia Forms a Band by Ian Falconer, a recent favorite of MQ's. As we were reading it at bedtime tonight I thought "I have to post this for Alejna!!")

And throw me a little love this Monday, when your Mission (should you choose to accept it. please, please accept it) is to write a post in the style of a May Day song or poem. I'm totally being greedy here. Help me celebrate the impending May Day. We are dancing around the Maypole, you know. (To see the festivities from last year's May Day click here. To see the May Day crown I made with my own little hands and gave away last year and to read a May Day poem by Tennyson click here. To learn why I celebrate May Day and to get a plan for a May Day party, including links to crafts, songs and more click here.)

Rumble in the Jungle

I wrote a few weeks ago about sending school supplies to a small preschool in the jungle, the school where Jen's lovely daughter M is currently learning more than her ABC's. Many of you responded with donations, thank you. I plan to get something shipped in the next day or two, so if you thought about donating and have not, now is the time! E-mail me at pntdmaypole AT yahoo DOT com if you would like my paypal account for easy and safe online donations. (also, if you've sent her some supplies already, if you would let me know WHAT you've sent, I'll try not to duplicate stuff)

If you're a reader of Jen's blog, you know she's having a rough go of it right now. I, for one, am looking forward to sending her a little love via the USPS.


AND... I have just learned, today is Jen's Birthday! Go give her a little birthday love!

Monday Missions return: can you hear the theme music?

The lovely Chantal at Two Hands Full gave me this fun award:

(thanks!!)

Saying... "I would like to pass on the Brillante award to: Painted Maypole - I am looking forward to the return of Monday mission"

Which seems like the best possible introduction to my announcement of the return of Monday Missions.

What is a Monday Mission you ask? Well, every Monday I give you a STYLE suggestion for your blog post. If you choose to play along, you write a post in that style, come back here and let me know, and I'll link to all the participants (I suppose now is the time to figure out why Mr. Linky doesn't seem to like my new blog design, and if I can get him to work again. If not, I'll be pasting links in for ya'll). Basically, the style suggestion is a jumping off point, a challenge to get us writing in different ways than our usual posts. It's not a contest and there's no hard and fast rules; people have been known to take their posts in some fun and surprising directions. Sometimes they are just a complete break from the normal blogging topics, often people use them to share current information in a new and fun way. They can be funny or touching or technical. You can play along whenever the mood strikes you, or never at all. No pressure.

I try to announce the upcoming month of missions so your brain can get working, post reminders about the upcoming mission on the end of a Friday or Saturday post, and get mine up late-ish on a Sunday to get the ball rolling.

So... without further ado, I present to you the September Monday Missions (Back to School edition). Your missions, should you choose to accept them, are to write posts in the style of:

9/1 - A letter from the teacher

9/8 - A course description

9/15 - A class syllabus

9/22 - A badly written essay (inspired by Bea's post about the things that drive her nuts about the essays she has to read)

9/29 - Notes taken in class

(a fun side note about the Mission: Impossible theme song. When I was in college and living in the dorm, every night after dinner my friend and I would exchange a look. One of us would then start off "singing" the M:I theme song, and we would go racing through the cafeteria, hiding behind tables and scurrying through doorways, to the ice cream chest. We'd grab an ice cream sandwich and scuttle back to our seats. Mission: Accomplished)

Goodies Galore - and The May Queen's debut as a photographer

There was about a 2 week window last month where it seemed I was winning all sorts of drawings and such at blogs across the nation, and I've gotten some great stuff! As I said last week, I've been remiss in posting about it in my NOT AT ALL LAZY summer blur. But I am trying to put that right, because really, you gotta check out the loot. How did I get so lucky? And why didn't I buy a lottery ticket while the luck was hot?



In all honestly, pretty much everything I won was for The May Queen, so maybe SHE should have bought the lottery ticket, although I don't believe that's legal. I could have let her pick the numbers, though, like my grandparents always did with us.

This week the May Queen has been enjoying taking pictures with her brand new Discovery Toys Slide and Shoot Digital Camera, won in a mother's day drawing from the fabulous Susie J.

She instructed my husband to tickle me so she could take a picture. My husband more than willingly obliged.
She thought it would be fun to get a picture of me first thing in the morning. Ack. She took pictures of her toy creations.

However, the cat remains her most constant and reluctant muse. Yesterday I heard her insisting "Shakespeare! Look at the camera!!!"



There's no flash on the camera, and the resolution isn't good, but there's no question that she's having a ball with it. She loves that she can wear it around her neck and take pictures all she wants. We admittedly haven't played with the software that came with it... maybe when we come back from vacation. Speaking of vacation, this will be great for her to have on vacation, and she's really looking forward to taking her own pictures. Oh, and it's pink. That was a high point. Here she is checking out her latest shot.
(FYI - the price listed on the box is 39.95, which I think is steep for a camera with such low quality. You can get cameras with much higher pixels and a flash and a zoom, etc for not much more than that, but it is really nice to have an easy to use camera for her to start off on, and maybe once she gets used to this and gets better, I'll pass my old camera on to her. Plus, it does come with software, which, as I said, we haven't played with yet.)


This adorable barrette was won from a drawing at Jen's review site. As promised it was both adorable AND stayed in The May Queen's super slippery fine hair. And it sparkles. (don't mind the green hair. That's from swimming every day at camp. But here's a tip: cover the hair in tomato sauce and let sit for 10-30 minutes, wash hair and... NO MORE GREEN! How did people learn these things before google, I ask you?) You can't see the barrette in this picture very well, but she is wearing it. I couldn't pass up a chance to show her off with her daddy. And yes, the family resemblance is scary. She has my pointy chin, but otherwise looks nothing like me.

And finally, on our road trip I hope to read this book to The May Queen. Magpie had an extra copy, and passed it on to us. When I opened the package the picture on the cover instantly brought back memories of reading it as a child. I hope reading it on our road trip creates some fond memories for the May Queen. It is all ready to go with a bookmark I made just waiting to hold our place.

Thank you all very much! During a very busy and hectic time it was great fun to open the mailbox and find your goodies there!

The New Pants Network

All Pants, All the Time

We had such fun at Christmastime with our All Pants Christmas Carols, that we've decided to bring to you a complete lineup of Pants Television Programing. So pull on your Lazy Pants, park yourself on the couch... and enjoy!

The All Pants Lineup

News Pants
The Today Pants
Live with Pants
48 Pants

Game Pants
Pants of Fortune
Pants or No Pants
The Newlypants Game

Soap Pants
As the Pants Turn
The Young and the Pantless
Pants Hospital

Classic Pants
Leave it to Pants
I Dream of Pants
Lost in Pants
Everybody Loves Pants
Pants and the City

Comedic Pants
Desperate Pants
Ugly Pants
Saturday Night Pants
How I Met Your Pants
Two and a Half Pants

Dramatic Pants
CSI: Pants
Pants Anatomy
Cold Pants
Bionic Pants
Pants and Sisters
Dirty Sexy Pants

Reality Pants
Celebrity Pants
The Biggest Pants
Dancing with the Pants
Pants Swap

*******

This Post is part of the Monday Mission, which was to write a post in the style of another blogger. I chose the list-loving, Pants Patronizing Alejna of the fabulous blog Collecting Tokens. (Check out the link at the top of this post to see her list of Pants Christmas Carols!). Write your own homage to another blogger, and paste your link in the widget below:









And be sure to join us next week, when our mission will be to write a post in the style of an awards acceptance speech. You'll have just watched the Oscars (right? I mean, don't we ALL watch them?) and surely you've been practicing your own speech in the shower for decades. For the Oscar or whatever award YOU dream of receiving. Will you be humble or boastful? Who will you thank? Who will you forget to thank? Will the music cut you off?