the power of ten

i haven't been sleeping well. a lot of tossing and turning. each time this happens, i blame it on chuck. i am an expert, champion, award winning sleeper. therefore, if i am not sleeping well, it's obvious something is wrong with that man.

in the course of my his sleeping problems, i woke up sunday, 10-10-10 at 3am from a dream, that i can't remember, except for two phrases:

"as the bird flys south, it isn't always for winter."
"as the flower grows, so do its roots."

does wolverine also get mysterious messages from beyond inside his head? is that just crazy people? crazy, religious people? guru kid on recess? confucius? i think i'm channelling confucius. so, i'll keep you posted.

then we went over to chuck's aunt's house for lunch/awkward hugs and FOUR hours later, it was suggested we play a game. out came encore! basically, you have to think of a song that contains the chosen word. someone will choose a color, then turn over a card, then read the word for blue. if the word is "free" you can start singing "free falling" by tom petty, as long as you know six words from the song. 

during the game i remembered i had played it before with my family. my aunt mary, my grandma tulip, my mother, sister and brother had played it long, long ago. if you've ever asked anyone who's played games with the becky family, you've probably been told we're cheaters, and when i say we i mean, of course, not me. they're all cheaty cheaters who cheat. i on the other hand am a saint. with some sort of moral code that prevents me from descending to their level, while they can see me.

so! we're playing the game and my aunt's team, which included my grandmother who, let the record show, was a devout catholic and never cheated but also knew the words to the song "the lusty month of may!" in camelot which my aunt blatantly butchered for her word, "spring." she somehow squeaked that one by, but cut to a few songs later when the word "alligator" came up. the hourminuteglass is flipped, my aunt's team is flabbergasted, time is running out and she starts singing, "cleeear the table.... alligator...... alligator. [pause while making up more words] ....cleeeear the table alligator..... my dear! [second round's faster, more confident] cleeear the table alligator, alligator. cleeeear the table alligator, my dear!"

we all look at her. she's calm, cool and collected, a little smug.*

i looked over at my mother who's face is red with incredulity, her cheeks bulging with barely contained laughter; once she catches my eye, we both can't stop laughing. my aunt, however, keeps her cucumber façade in place and has since garnered the support of her team, who, despite of my grandmother's look of slight disapproval, are willing to fight for their made-up song and very real and crucial, possibly game winning point.

from that day forward, my aunt sang that song ever time she was involved with table clearing but we all knew, she knew it the most, that she was a cheaty cheater. and a lovely human being.

*can't say smug without "and there's our smudgeness."



in other news, my twitter friend, @sparklymegz, asked me to let you know about her very cool do-goodery opportunity to help with researching epilepsy. check it out, do your do-goodery.