Update

I guess I needed a break. I didn't realize it. But then all the sudden I wasn't posting anything here.

So...sorry about the sudden disappearance.

I have some ideas for future posts. I want to start up again. But not quite yet. I still feel kinda burned out. And there are lots of things I'm figuring out right now with work...and life in general.

Hopefully, we can meet back here soon.

Facebook status (in clerihew)

My clerihew for Perfectly Poetical Tuesday, complete with silly graphics...










Mark Zuckerberg
Thinks we're all from Suckerberg
'Cuz we trust our info to the monster he's created.
Why do we do it? Well...it's complicated.

Perfectly Poetical Tuesday: Clerihew

From LSL Buttons

Good morning! It's Perfectly Poetical Tuesday (#PerPoTues), and this month we're exploring the newer poetic form of the Clerihew – where you get four lines to poke fun at someone famous.

How to join in today:

1. Write your own clerihew (here's how), post it on your blog* and include a link back to this post.
   
2. Stop back by, link up and leave a comment.
3. Follow the other links and read some great poetry!

*If you don't have a blog, feel free to just post it in the comments and skip the linking.

Next PerPoTues will be August 10. The style will be Septet. Check back next week for more information on that (7/20).

For now, link on up! I can wait to read some clerihews! (Mine will be up later today.)

Birthday free stuff in Phoenix

Stop me if you've heard this one before. I sure thought I already did a post with birthday freebies, but I can't seem to find it. So when people ask me about fun free stuff to do on their birthday, I just keep sending out the same email with this list I gathered from a few different sources (see below for the two main ones). Thought I'd just go ahead and post the info here instead.

Many of these are Phoenix-area-specific, but maybe local business in your area offer something similar. It's worth asking!

Also, as far as I know, this information is accurate. Of course, businesses can change things at anytime.

Things you can do on your birthday without signing up in advance
(Just show your driver's license or other ID with your birthday on it.)

• Liberty Market, Joe's Real BBQ and Joe's Farm Grill each offer a $10 meal voucher on your birthday (can only be used that day). You can even go to all three! This is known as the Birthday Trifecta.
  
• Krispy Kreme - Dozen original glazed doughnuts. (Locations.)
• Harkins Theatres - Free bag of popcorn for customers. (Locations.) I couldn't find anywhere that still offered free movies on your birthday.

Things you need to sign up for online and/or print off before you go*

Free Meal:

• Black Angus - Sign up for the BA Prime Club, and they will email you a coupon when your birthday is coming up for a free steak dinner with purchase of another entree.
• Z'Tejas - Sign up and receive a $15 coupon.
• Genghis Grill - Sign up for their "Build Your Own Birthday" Program, and they will email you a coupon for one free bowl of stir fry.

Free Dessert/Treat:

• Cold Stone Creamery - Kids and adults can join the birthday club, and then print the coupon from your online account. Free ice-cream coupon can be redeemed seven days before or after your birthday.
• Jack in the Box - Print this coupon for a free dessert on your birthday.
• Baskin Robbins - Join the BR Birthday Club for a free scoop of ice cream on your birthday. (They will email you coupons for your free ice cream and a discount on cake 5 days before your birthday.)
  
• Sonic Drive-In - Sign up and receive a free treat (i.e. slush, tater tots, drink) on your birthday.

Not Food:

• Sundrops Nail Spot - Join the online club and receive a mini manicure on your birthday. Includes cuticle treatment, nail shaping and polish. Located: 3949 E. Camelback Road, Phoenix.
• Sephora - Sign up as a Beauty Insider and receive a free lip gloss trio. Stop by a Sephora store to redeem. In-store locations (i.e. Sephora inside JC Penney at Tempe Marketplace) may not participate.

Some of this info came from the following sources - check them out for more birthday freebies:

• Birthday Freebies in Phoenix, AZ
  
• Enjoy your birthday with some free goodies
  

*I signed up for some of these on my birthday last year, and still received discounts, although some of them came later.

Photos by D Sharon Pruitt, Pink Sherbet Photography.

What is a clerihew?

A clerihew is an awesome poetic form. Here is why:

• You get to be snarky.
• It's only four lines.
• Irregular/awkward meter and line length is encouraged.

This is a poetic form that doesn't take it self too seriously. It's meant to sound a bit off beat. You can write about someone famous or anyone you want to poke a little fun at. The first line can be composed entirely of the name of the person you're writing about.

The first two lines rhyme, and the last two lines rhyme (aabb).

Sound like fun? Get your snarkiness out in poetic form, and link up on Perfectly Poetical Tuesday (#PerPoTues) July 12.

More clerihew info and inspiration:

• The Word of the Day is clerihew.
• Clerihew on Wikipedia (examples)
• The Media Drome: Clerihew
• How to Write a Clerihew Poem

Poem/illustration by mr lynch. Here's another one from him, but it was over my head.

A quick update

I'm going to have to postpone the aforementioned "What is a clerihew?" post a day or two. Or three.

I really wanted to get it up today, but I'm still kind of recovering from the emotional drain that was last week plus three migraines in six days plus work has gotten even busier. I say that not to complain, but just so you know where I'm at. (Some of you wonder.) And so that you know that I haven't forgotten about you - or poetry - and I'll be checking back in soon.

The things you could never plan for

There are events we anticipate, plan for, prepare for in advance – maybe days or weeks or months ahead of time. And then there are the other things that come up unexpectedly and cannot be ignored. They are suddenly there, in front of you, leaving you gasping for air with no choice but to stop and rearrange your life as best you can, or, rather, watch as your life rearranges itself before your eyes.

This Saturday, a friend of my family, who we've known since he was just a kid, will be getting married. The invitations went out weeks ago. Ours mistakenly went to my parents-in-law (the Hubs was named after his dad), but, eventually, it made its way to us – hand-delivered by my father-in-law on his way home from work – and we all had a good laugh about the mix up.

But news doesn't always come in carefully selected stationery. Sometimes it's too urgent. I received a text earlier this week telling me that some of my parents' closest friends, friends from another part of their life, who I've known as long as I can remember because they were friends before I was born, just lost their youngest son. I haven't seen him in years, but we all used to play together as kids. He was about the same age as my younger brother – so, mid-twenties. And now he's gone. And I can't imagine what his parents and siblings are going through.

My parents will have house guests this week – one here for the funeral and the other here for the wedding. I went over the other night to help them get ready and brought dinner, because I didn't know what else to do. I guess it doesn't matter what life throws at you – people still need to eat and something always needs cleaning. And, during times like these, we all just take care of each other the best we can. Isn't that what everyone does?

Today, it was a voicemail. Mom's voice was steady, but something told me that when she said "call me back," she meant it. Over the phone, she delivered the news that her Uncle Bud just passed away. When her voice started to waver, we talked about something else. And then we went out to lunch. There's just too much going on right now to process it all. But people still need to eat.

As I was typing this, the Hubs finished his take-home exam for seminary. He came down with a big grin on his face and announced, "One class down, only 23 to go!" (only! 23!)

For now, we have I have my evenings with him back. And on Saturday, we will dress up and go to a funeral in the morning and a wedding in the afternoon. Mom will be checking on flights to Colorado. Everyone will still need to eat, and we'll all just keep cooking and cleaning and working and planning and dealing with the things you could never plan for. And, of course, taking care of each other the best we can.

Amazing What You Learn - in triolet form

Earlier this week, I tweeted "Amazing what you can learn when you ask!" Then I thought "hmmm...that may be a good beginning for a triolet this Perfectly Poetical Tuesday! And here it is...


Amazing What You Learn

Amazing what you learn when you just ask –
Things you never thought you'd know!
Find out facts or get help with a task –
Amazing! What you learn when you just ask
Also might be more than you wanted to unmask
About someone's health or life or personal info.
(Amazing what you learn when you just ask,
Things you never thought you'd know.)

Perfectly Poetical: Triolet

From LSL Buttons

So here it is: June's Perfectly Poetical Tuesday (PerPoTues) with the theme of Triolet.

How to join in today:

1. Write your own triolet, post it on your blog and include a link back to this post.
2. Stop back by, link up and leave a comment.
3. Follow the other links and read some great poetry!

A few other notes:

• My poem post is scheduled to show up after this one.
  
• If you're spreading the word via Twitter, feel free to use hashtag #perpotues.
• If you don't have a blog, you can post in the comments here and skip the linking part. :)

Next PerPoTues will be July 12. The style will be clerihew. That's another new one for me, but I'll tell ya all about it next Tuesday (6/15).

For now, on with the triolets!

On the menu: getting hooked

Last week's cooking ahead experiment was a huge success! Sunday afternoon I made a plan, organized my ingredients, went to work...and then cleaned up the giant mess I made. During the week, I had minimal meal prep - and less cleanup, as well! I think I'm hooked.


So, on the menu for this week...

Monday: Quinoa casserole (trying a new recipe with quinoa, carrots, onions, mushrooms, corn, black beans and vegetable broth)
(Perfectly Poetical) Tuesday: Cilantro chicken with rice and fruit salad
Wednesday: Rodeo stew
Thursday: White Bean and Tuna Panzanella with veggies
Friday: most likely heading to an Ignite Phoenix viewing party and eating there.

Friday evening I made vegetable broth, the quinoa casserole and the sauce for the cilantro chicken. I had already made (and froze) a couple batches of rodeo stew as part of last week's cooking frenzy. Thursday's panzanella is really simple to throw together.

And, just like that, we're ready for the week.

Celebrating beginnings

Yesterday was the last day of the Hubs's first seminary class. All he has left to do is a take-home test.

Then he'll be taking the summer off and is planning to hit the books again this fall.

And, I'm sure there will be plenty of books to hit. There definitely were this quarter!


Yesterday also marked 7 years since our first date. (7 years!) We went out last night - nothing fancy, just burgers and movie - but we had a great time.

And we have a lot to celebrate.


****

Yep, photos by me. Including the grainy one I took of the Hubs yesterday without enough light. Oh well.

On the menu: cooking ahead

I did some serious cooking today, friends.

But before that, I mapped out a menu plan for the next couple weeks. Here's what's up this week...

Mon: Barbecue at my cousin's house
Tue: Cheese and basil polenta with tomato-basil sauce (which I didn't get around to making before). Green salad on the side.
Wed: Salad greens with cucumbers and mushrooms, topped with cranberry-walnut-marinated chicken and Parmesan cheese. Maybe a little olive oil for dressing.
Thr: Empanadas (Did I mention we got them practically perfect last time? Wondering if they'll be just as good this time.) Rice on the side.
Fri: winging it



This afternoon I made cabbage slaw (that's what my cousin requested I bring to the family get-together tomorrow); the polenta (which is ready to go in the oven) and the empanada filling (which just needs to be put into a pie crust, folded over and popped in the oven at the same time) are chilling in the fridge; I cooked the chicken for Wednesday's salad; and I made a couple big batches of rodeo stew. (One for next week; another one for whenever.) I don't think I've ever prepped that much food in advance. I'm kinda proud of myself. So even if my week is really tiring, dinner each night is already almost ready. It's a good feeling.

How about you? Do you have a menu plan you'd like to share?

Questions about food: natural peanut butter

As the title would suggest, I have some questions about food. So I'm starting a little series, just in case you know the answers. (Ok, so far, I have two questions in mind, but that still counts as a series, right?)


So, first up: natural peanut butter. The Hubs and I recently bought a jar of natural, nothing-but-roasted-peanuts-and-salt kind of peanut butter.

We kept it in the fridge and stirred it before using it. It tasted pretty good, but the consistency was weird. It started out runny and gross-looking. Then, near the bottom of the jar, it got all clumpy. It was hard to get out of the jar and a little tricky to spread.

What's that about? Did we not stir it enough each time? Is natural peanut butter always like that? Is it just the brand (in this case, Trader Joe's)?

We actually just bought another jar, because we wanted to give it one more chance. But, this time, we want to get it right!

What do you know about natural peanut butter?

Photo by amanky.

What We Found at the Library: Prayer and thankfulness

It's been awhile since I've had assigned reading. And then, this spring, there were three books (not including poetry) that I was supposed to be reading at once. Not for a grade. And not exactly mandatory. But still.

It started when I signed up for a book club through the women's ministry at my church. You pick a topic/book from a list (as well as a second and third choice - just in case), and they put you in a group with 5-7 other women who chose the same thing.


Right about the time I heard back which book club I'd be in (topic: gratitude) and that we'd be starting right away, my small group leader decided we should discuss a book at our twice-a-month meetings.


Not long after that a third book came my way, but that is another story for another What We Found. Suffice it to say, it was all a little overwhelming.

So even though the Hubs and I try to avoid buying many new books, we found ourselves purchasing Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy for my book club and A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World for our small group the same week. (We actually couldn't find them in the library.)


In the end, it was really neat to be reading Choosing Gratitude and A Praying Life at the same time. The topics meshed together beautifully: giving thanks in all things and praying continually. Being thankful for what you have and praying for what you need. Expressing gratitude for others and lifting them up in prayer. Sometimes I have trouble remembering what I read where.

Both books were honest, insightful, practical and focused on the deep-rooted attitudes behind our actions, rather than just overwhelming you with a big checklist of Things You Must Do.

I recommend reading them both. Maybe even at the same time - or at least one after the other. My book club has even talked about reading A Praying Life in the near future.

What books have you found at the library - or your local bookstore - lately?

The Mystery of the Disappearing Kittens

Because I know some of you will wonder, here's the stray cat update. We went outside one day last week, and they were gone. No sign of Grizzly Bear or the kittens anywhere. We think maybe when the air conditioning went on, it scared them away.

You'd think I'd be glad about that. But, really, I'm not.

As I recall...

Seems like there have been a lot of recalls the last few years, doesn't it? If it's not tainted peanut butter or questionable produce, it's lead-paint laden toys or faulty baby slings.

In fact, March's SlingRider recall prompted one baby carrier manufacturer to take a look at the numbers and create this sweet infographic* illustrating which baby products were recalled from January 2009 through April 2010.

(*P.S. Dontcha just love infographics?! Numbers are so much better when they have pictures to go along with them.)

What is a triolet?

As I mentioned last week, the style for the next PerPoTues will be Triolet.

This is new to me, too. The fun thing about this poetic form is that it includes a couple of lines that repeat. So, although it technically only has eight lines, you really only have to come up with five.

Here's the line-by-line break down. It helped me to color code it, and, hopefully, this makes sense to you too...

line 1: Come up with something that bears repeating!
line 2: Come up with something else.
line 3: Rhymes with line 1.
line 4: Repeat line 1.
line 5: Rhymes with line 1.
line 6: Rhymes with line 2.
line 7: Repeat line 1.
line 8: Repeat line 2.

So the rhyme scheme you end up with is ABaAabAB (capital letters are repeated lines).

Information and examples:

• The MediaDrome: Triolet is where I discovered the form
• About.com has a clear, concise explanation with history and links to examples
• Poetry Form - the Triolet despite the unfortunate font choice, this page has some good tips on how to come up with a triolet

I noticed that several sources stress changing the meaning of the repeated lines, but I don't always see how this is true in the examples given. So, as always with PerPoTues, how strictly you follow the form is up to you.

****

Photo by Candida.Performa. I thought it was a good fit because of the title ("Triolet Rouge") – and because of the repeating lines. Get it? Stripes? And poetic repetition? Repeating lines? Nevermind.

Straying

A stray cat had kittens in our backyard.

In case you're thinking, "Didn't that happen before?" The answer is yes. Different cat, same problem.

There is a whole feral cat community that lives in our neighborhood. The Hubs and our neighbor Danny recognize them all, occasionally feed them (the Hubs secretly sneaks them food because he knows I disapprove, but he always ends up confessing later on), worry about them during the hot summers, and discuss whether there's an organization that (as rumored) will come pick up stray cats and get them fixed. Danny has also given most of them crazy names like "Cowboy" and "Orangey" (not to be confused with either of the two Orangey Juniors).


Whenever we see a cat in our backyard, we chase it out with water. So why a certain brownish feline named Grizzly Bear (incidentally, the sister of Polar Bear, who is all white except for her gray nose) decided to have her litter in between our wall and some bicycle tires is beyond me.


But here's where it gets really weird: I'm suddenly really attached to these kittens. Yeah, me. Ms. Just-Leave-the-Cats-Alone! I really wanna keep one. Which is ridiculous for several reasons, such as the fact that our landlord said no pets. And I'm allergic to cats.

They're just so tiny and cute. Teensy little bundles of adorable. And I want to take care of all of them.

Even though (supposedly) I'm a dog person.


Photos: I took the first two photos, and the Hubs took the last one.

Life in poetry (or is it poetry in life?)

The first time I read Making Food. Eating Food's "bear with me" post, I was impressed with the way the writing just flowed so beautifully. When I happened back by later, I found a poem nestled within the paragraphs.

So this is my PerPoTues Found Poetry entry. The original writing is by Chanelle Richardson; I just poemized it.



life.

you might be familiar with it.
the way it
changes everything,
sneaking around corners
with the unexpected–
sometimes even
with delightful surprises.
never predictable,
always crazy–
crazy good–
but crazy nonetheless.

oh, life.

Perfectly Poetical: Found Poetry

From LSL Buttons

Welcome to May's edition of Perfectly Poetical Tuesday (PerPoTues)! The second Tuesday of each month I invite you to write a poem based on a certain style, because I believe that every life writes a poem.

This time our theme is Found Poetry.

How to join in today:

1. Find an excerpt from an article, text on a street sign, a quote from someone famous or other printed matter that's not a poem – and make it into one! Post it on your blog and include a link back to this post.
2. Stop back by, link up and leave a comment.
3. Follow the other links and read some great poetry!

A few other notes:

• My poem post is scheduled to show up after this one.
  
• If you're spreading the word via Twitter, feel free to use hashtag #perpotues.
• If you don't have a blog, you can post in the comments here and skip the linking part. :)

Next PerPoTues will be June 8. The style will be triolet. I learned about that on MediaDrome and will be explaining what it is next Tuesday (5/18). Be sure to stop back by!

In the meantime, enjoy some poetry!

UPDATE: I don't know what's up with Mr. Linky, but feel free to just post the link to your Found Poem in the comments. Thanks!