Home Sweet Home

This is my home. It is a comfortable 4 bedroom house that has protected and raised my daughters. There are plenty of teenage stories and secrets hidden within these walls, as well as wonderful memories of Christmases, Easters, Thanksgivings, and graduations. It is at this home that we loved and cared for our 2 precious golden retrievers and it is here that both grew older and said good-bye to us. And now that my girls have grown up and care for their own homes, I have pondered the idea of selling and down sizing to a town house or condo. However, every time I think about it I just can't seem to make the decision. The girls still come home frequently so I want to ensure I have a room for each of them and their partners. They always come home for Christmas and love to come in the summer to enjoy the Okanagan. Also, I have the most wonderful neighbours who care about me and help me with things such as shovelling my gigantic driveway and watching my home when I am away. We have had lots of laughs over the years and I consider my neighbours family. They ask about my girls often and run outside to say hello when they come home for a visit. It doesn't get more neighbourly than that!!

The next picture is of Mission Hill and is located right across the highway from me...a 2 minute drive. Most of my girls have worked there and made great money. They were given a case of wine every month...yup...to which I thoroughly enjoyed. Those were the days!! I told the girls it almost paid their keep! LOL. If you haven't been to the Okanagan you should come and certainly go to Mission Hill. It is beautiful and they do great tours and wine tasting and have the most amazing dinners and entertainment there. I took my niece to the "Summer" play in which they served wine, cheese and crackers while watching an outdoor play.

The last picture is of the Okanagan lake and is taken from my belcony. It is actually closer than the picture shows. The view is amazing as our homes are all built on a hill so we don't have impeded views from our neighbours. Everyday I am thankful for my blessings, my home, my daughters, friends, and neighbours. No- I don't think I am ready to move yet...not yet.

Run for Rescues

Today I want to write about my precious daughter Jamie who has the biggest heart for animals of anyone I know. She is vegan for ethical and moral reasons, and she takes on causes such as the H.A.R.T. (humane animal rescue team) This is a non-profit organization committed to rescue stray, abandoned and unwanted dogs from rural areas surrounding Edmonton, Alberta and place them in permanent homes. They also provide programs that promote responsible pet ownership, and prevent cruelty to animals. On their webiste is a touching story called
"You Loved Me Once"
As a puppy, you loved me and welcomed me into your home. You bought me toys and you laughed when I did puppy things. We played together and you took me to fun places. Over time, we played together less. Then, you stopped spending time with me and left me in the yard. I wish you could have taken me to get my fur groomed. I wish you could have cut my nails so I could walk without pain. I'm sorry that I started to lose my hearing-I really wanted to hear you call my name.

One day a new person came to get me. She was smiling and gentle and took me for a car ride. I didn't know what to think. She took me to her house and introduced me to some other dogs. They were running and wagging their tails. She gave me lots of pets. She cut my nails, shaved off my matted hair and let me sleep on a big comfy bed.

I still don't hear very well, but I know that my foster mom is saying nice things to me. Even though you don't love me anymore, I know that I am loved. I am happy again.

This story represents what H.A.R.T. is about, and it was for this reason that Jamie decided to bring to light this amazing rescue organization. The HART organized a "Run for Rescues" to raise money. She trained daily to prepare for the run and gathered pledges. On August 20th Jamie, Donald and their dog Thor ran for the rescues. I am proud of her hard work and the money she raised. Above are the pictures of the run. They also had some fun prizes such as dog and owner look alike. You will see that Jamie's partner Donald won the look alike with their English Mastiff Thor!!

Remember the animals in your local area. Donate to your local shelters or humane rescue societies. Volunteer to walk, or supply bags of food, bedding, leashes, toys, or even kennels.

Giving Dogs a Wonderful Life

If you are a dog lover you will appreciate the stories of these 3 dogs. The white dog belongs to my daughter Simone and her partner David. He is a Great Pyrenees. The Great Pyrenees is a very old breed, and has been used for hundreds of years by shepherds, including those of the Basque people, who inhabit parts of the region in and around the Pyrenees Mountains of southern France and northern Spain. One of the first descriptions of the breed dates from 1407. In nature, the Great Pyrenees is confident, gentle, and affectionate. While territorial and protective of their flock or family when necessary, their general demeanor is one of quiet composure, both patient and tolerant. They are strong willed, independent and somewhat reserved, yet attentive, fearless and loyal to their family both human and animal.

Unfortunately, Simone's dog didn't have such a wonderful start in life. He was rescued by the Richmond Animal Protection Society from a family who left him in a cage in their garage and almost starved him to death. He was turned in by a kind neighbour and the family then released him. God bless the neighbour. Simone and David adopted him 3 weeks ago. His name was Meatball and Simone and David changed it to Kermode (great white bear). He is 1 1/2 years old - born in December 2010. He has gone from a dingy garage to living in a penthouse in Gastown, Vancouver. Kermode rides an elevator and has a HUGE patio deck to lounge on everyday. We lovingly refer to him as the "penthouse dog". He goes for long walks and plays at the park with other canine friends. He is gaining weight and wags his tail all day. Kermode loves balls, kongs, and dirty socks. Welcome to the family Kermode!

The next dog belongs to my daughter Jamie and her partner Donald. He is an English Mastiff. The English Mastiff was founded in Britain. A very old breed, it was depicted in Egyptian monuments as early as 3000 BC. The breed fought alongside the British soldiers in 55 BC. Caesar brought a pack of Mastiffs to Rome where the dogs were put on display as an arena gladiator and forced to be in fights with human gladiators, lions, bull baiting, bear baiting and in dog to dog combat. They later became popular with the peasants in England where it was used as a bodyguard, protector of wolves and other dangerous predators and as a companion dog. In the eighteenth century the Mastiff was described: "As a lion is to a cat, so is a mastiff compared to a dog. "It is believed that a Mastiff came to America on the Mayflower. Later more were imported. Like most breeds by the end of World War ll the breed was almost extinct in England. Dogs were imported from the USA and Canada and are once again well established in England. Some of the Mastiff's talents include: watchdog, guarding, police work, military work, search & rescue, and weight pulling.

Jamie's dog is named Thor. He is two years old and was born in November. He was bought in Saskatchewan when he was 8 weeks old. He loves to cuddle, sleep and sleep and sleep and suntan. He loves his daycare and once he gets over his fear of dogs and people he loves them - or as Jamie says "puts you on his list" and loves you forever. He loves to eat bright colored socks!! And is a mommy's boy. He has a wonderful life living in Alberta in the country. We lovingly refer to him as the "country dog".

The last dog belongs to my daughter Melody and her husband Scott. He is part German Shepard and part Husky. The German Shepherd Dog is a breed of large-sized dog that originated in Germany. The German Shepherd is a relatively new breed of dog, with its origin dating to 1899. As part of the Herding Group, the German Shepherd is a working dog developed originally for herding and guarding sheep. Because of its strength, intelligence and abilities in obedience training it is often employed in police and military roles around the world. Due to its loyal and protective nature, the German Shepherd is one of the most registered of breeds.

The Siberian Husky (Russian: Сибирский хаски, Sibirskiy haski, "Siberian husky") is a medium-size, wolf-like, dense-coat working dog breed that originated in eastern Siberia. The breed belongs to the Spitz genetic family. It is recognisable by its thickly furred double coat, sickle tail, erect triangular ears, and distinctive markings. The other part of his breed is Husky which are an active, energetic, and resilient breed whose ancestors came from the extremely cold and harsh environment of the Siberian Arctic. Siberian Huskies were bred by the Chukchi of Northeastern Asia to pull heavy loads long distances through difficult conditions. The dogs were imported into Alaska during the Nome Gold Rush and later spread into the United States and Canada. They were initially sent to Alaska and Canada as sled dogs but rapidly acquired the status of family pets and show dogs.

Unfortunately- Melody's dog Wiser didn't have a happy beginning to his life. He was found as a stray near the reservation at Fort McKay. He was taken to the SPCA in Fort McMurray and is believed to be about 2 years of age. Melody and Scott rescued him May 22 and gave him the birth date of August 4. Wiser (his name when they got him) loves people but is learning to trust dogs. They think he had to fight other dogs for food when he was a stray. He has a wonderful life in Fort McMurray and enjoys a soft bed, huge yard and long walks with his family. He loves his toys and kongs and spending time with his new family. He is gentle and healthy and happy.

These are the lucky dogs. I encourage everyone thinking of getting a dog as a companion to consider rescuing a dog from the SPCA or humane societies. They have so much love to give and deserve a happy life. I am proud of my daughters for their loving hearts and how well they treat their furry kids.

Time to Reflect

This picture is the clock in Gastown and it offers the time to reflect.
It was an amazing summer. I left my conservative life in my conservative little city to take an adventure to the big city of Vancouver for 6 weeks in order to begin my doctoral degree. Now...those who know me understand why this was such a big deal. I like to eat the same breakfast each morning, have the same routine, I have worked at the same hospital for years and will most likely work in the same nursing instructor position until I retire. I take the same route to work each day, and walk the same paths when taking my dogs out. I decorate my house exactly the same way every Christmas (right girls?). So-the thought of leaving all my comfort and routine to go to the city and rent a house, use the transit system, sky train,and find my class at UBC- not to mention beginning a new and very challenging doctoral degree- almost sent me running for Ativan!!

I had sleepless nights as I tried to figure out how to minimize the anxiety and fear. As each day got closer I wanted to change my mind and back out of the program, but somehow the thought of getting my degree was stronger than the fear. I decided that a 50 year old woman shouldn't be so afraid of life. It was time to try new adventures and branch out. So- with determination and lots of prayer, I arranged to rent an apartment (my daughter actually took care of that), register for the courses, pack my belongings and with a big smile left Kelowna for the big city at the end of June.

All went well until I arrived in Chilliwack and got caught behind the big mud slide. The rain was coming down in buckets and a very wet police officer informed that I would have to turn back and go another route via Hope. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? Obviously this man does not know me. I only know one route to Vancouver...I had no idea how to take another route. I must have looked like I was about to cry as he kindly had me follow a semi going to Vancouver. Thank you God! I made it to Vancouver 2 hours later than scheduled but proud of myself for finding my way.

Simone and I went over to Victoria on the June long weekend and my family surprised me with a 50th birthday party. All my girls were there and so was my mom. I had a wonderful time -thank you for my special birthday weekend. I brought my big 50th balloon home on the ferry and got lots of "happy birthdays" from strangers!! So I started my adventure in style!

Okay-next adventure...finding my way to the UBC campus, getting my student card, bus pass and finding my classroom. Thank goodness for my daughter Simone. She has the patience of a saint. We found everything together and got my passes so one more wonderful accomplishment!! I then settled into my new apartment and figured out how to open the doors with a fob instead of keys.

Simone invited me to a BBQ at her condo in Gastown and gave me directions to take the bus and sky train and then where to walk to arrive at her place. Yup-any guesses as to who got lost?? I got off the sky train and turned right instead of left (thanks to a ...helpful woman on the sky train) and walked for what seems like an hour and suddenly I was staring at the ocean...hmmmm that was NOT Gastown from what I could remember. The panic set in and I frantically called Simone -saying and I quote "WHERE AM I"? "I DON'T KNOW WHERE I AM"!!! I was near tears and poor Simone panicked and asked me to look for landmarks. I said there is an ocean!! So- with lots of patience AGAIN- Simone came and rescued me. Oh-the adventures. But on a positive note-I never got lost again going to her place.

I had the time of my life in Vancouver after I settled in. The people are crazy, funny, sad, scary, friendly and everything in between. The transit system was a learning experience (see my previous blogs), school was amazingly difficult and yet wonderful, and most of all I learned indepedence, joy, and a sense of peace. At 50 years of age I found myself. I actually think I could live in Vancouver!! Amazing eh?

I also spent more time with Simone than I had in a long time. She is funny, sensitive, loving, kind, generous, an amazing cook, knows absolutely EVERYONE in Vancouver and loves her mommy! She took me for the most wonderful massages, pedicures, manicure, lunches, walks and shopping. I will never forget my summer with my precious girl!

I went to Victoria several times to visit Danielle, Bridget, Brandon and my little lovey Emily. I loved every minute of visiting, walking and cuddling my grandbaby. Thank you girls for being who you are!!

After finishing my 2nd course, I packed up and drove back to Kelowna. I had a certain amount of sadness, but also joy knowing I was going back to great friends, a job I love, and my home. Yes-my home! Nothing is greater than returning home after being away.

Thank you God for one of the best adventures of my life!

Class Presentations

As our 2nd class comes to a close, one of our assignments was to present an ethical dilemma from our work place in the form of a presentation. It was so interesting to hear all the different dilemmas as well as watch the various presentation styles. The pictures above are a sample of the presentations. Jeannie is the one in the Alex Trebek costume and involving the class in a game of Jeopardy. And although it was a lot of fun- it also made us think about the correct ethical concepts to match the questions. Well done Jeannie...and I would have won if I hadn't shot my mouth of so quickly giving the wrong answer!! LOL but well done to Susan for winning.

The other picture is Cathy G who also gave us an excellent presentation. My goodness we are a smart bunch!! What made them so successful was the input and support we had from each other along the way as well as the question and answer session. During this session we shared with our small group about our work place ethical dilemma and they offered suggestions, which ethical concept would be most appropriate and also what direction to take to complete our presentation and paper. I remember thinking - what can I offer anyone - I can't even remember half the concepts, but I was wrong. It is amazing how much knowledge is solidifying itself in our brain. We were all able to blurb out of our mouths tons of intelligent information (LOL). So-there is hope for all of us!!

The last assignment for this course is the 5000 word paper that incorporates the information from the presentation into a more detailed analysis and solution. Okay cohort...stop procrasting by reading this blog and get writing!!

Mom's The Word-Remixed

I was in Victoria August 5-7 and went to see an amazing play called Mom's the Word-Remixed. I have to blog about it because it was seriously one of the funniest plays I have seen in a long time. The picture above is the stage of the play (we couldn't take photos during). This play is about 5 women who talk about motherhood and discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly of raising children from pregnancy through to the raging hormones of menopause. They say everything we said in our heads but too afraid to voice.

One hilarious scene involved a mother with her toddler at the local pool. They were changing after the swimming lessons and little "Johnny" was told to sit and drink his juice bix while mom got dressed. There was a makeshift change room and as predicted (we have all had this happen), little Johnny bolts out of the change room while mom is yelling for him to come back. Oh course he does not and the next scene is mom running buck naked out of the change room to get him. She actually ran out buck naked!! The audience screamed and laughed as she ran across the stage. Thought I was going to pee my pants laughing!!

Another funny scene was talking about teenagers and how at 13 years of age they think mother is "stupid". At 14 they think their mother is a stupid bit@%, and by 15 they think their mother is a stupid fu$@*ng bit&@. Absolutely hilarious!

No matter where you are on the parenting spectrum - or have a mother- the play is filled with laughter and relief as we are all in it together! I highly recommend seeing it if you can. My girls, Bridget and Danielle, loved it too and related to the discussions of childhood and teenagers. We had a great discussion after.

The Importance of Being a Good Teacher

One more week of school and then I am finished the 2 courses for the summer. The first course of my Ed program was called "Doctoral Seminar". In this class we learned what education means and what is educational practice. Sounds simple right? Oh noooooo...not in a doctoral program! It was fascinating to see how different ethical and moral perspectives of education drive how we teach and how it affects students.

We conducted educational profiles with a partner. We were to ask our colleague about their school experiences. This was very enlightening to find out that the common theme from each group was that school was a bad experience with unkind teachers who were thoughtless in remarks or actions. I can attest to this as I had a terrible school experience. I was strapped for being left handed and writing messy, I was strapped for asking a question (which was very respectful), I was strapped for falling asleep in class (I was in grade 1). Others had similar experiences. I commented that this is the reason I like to teach. I don't ever want students to be treated as unkind as I was. I go out of my way to be compassionate and caring. Many others in our group said the same thing. This class opened my eyes to the importance of teaching and how it can affect people the rest of their lives. We can all remember our favourite teacher can't we? And we can all remember the mean and uncaring teacher as well. Teachers have a lot of power!!

Our second course is called "Ethics and Leadership". I went into this class groaning a bit thinking it might be a bit boring. Well-I was wrong. It is engaging and I have once again learned so much. We are learning about the various ways to look at ethical dilemmas using frameworks such as the ethic of justice, ethic of caring, ethic of critique etc. We take each of these ethics and unpact them looking at articles and case studies. We have daily group discussions to fully understand what each ethic means to our teaching practice. Very fascinating. We have a big project to complete. It is looking at an ethical or moral issue at our place of work and then using our new found ethical definitions-we review, critique and ultimately look for a solution to the dilemma. These are to be true issues within our work place. By learning how to critique and solve issues using these tools we can continue to work through issues throughout our career. How great is that?

We had a group question and answer session today. We discussed our ethical dilemma with our group members and they offered suggestions and helped determine which ethical framework would be best for us to use. So, with my pages and pages of notes from my group members I will start my assignment. Just so you all know...the assignment is 5000 words (yup) and has to be done within a week. Ahhhhhhh

Hope you enjoyed a day in the life of a doctoral student. It is very interesting, hard, stimulating, tiring, and a wonderful experience.

Celebration of Lights-Vancouver 2011

This is the 2011 Battle of the Champions -- includes the past 3 competition winners putting on their best show to win the championship title. The pictures above are from the first competitor China with "China Storm" on July 30. I can't believe how beautiful the show was. My cohort friend Cathy- invited me to watch from her condo- we had a clear view and I was thrilled by the excellent view. I am sure that the next show from Spain's "Odyssey" and then Canada's "Then and Now" will be equally as spectacular!!

I found a poem about fireworks that I would like to share. Happy Celebration of Lights everyone!!

“Fireworks” by Amy Lowell

You hate me and I hate you,
And we are so polite, we two!
But whenever I see you, I burst apart
And scatter the sky with my blazing heart.
In spits and sparkles in stars and balls,
Buds into roses— and flares, and falls.

Scarlet buttons, and pale green disks,
Silver spirals and asterisks,
Shoot and tremble in a mist
Peppered with mauve and amethyst.

I shine in the window and light up the trees,
And all because I hate you, if you please.

And when you meet me, you rend asunder
And go up in a flaming wonder
Of saffron cubes, and crimson moons,
And wheels all amaranths and maroons.

Golden lozenges and spades,
Arrows of malachites and jades,
Patens of copper, azure sheaves.
As you mount, you flash in the glossy leaves.
Such fireworks as we make, we two!
Because you hate me and I hate you.