Blog or white ... because it never is.

  1.  Donated money 2.  Shared Links on Facebook 3.  Donated time to organizations in support of Ukraine 4.  Painted Art and sold art via online auctions and donated proceeds 5.  Participated in rallies in support 6.  Boycotted companies still doing business in Ukraine 7.  Asked questions 8.  Collected donations 9.  Emailed elected officials 10.  Put Ukrainian flags on front doors/cars 11.  Were decent human beings I have awesome friends.  We can all do something.  It all helps.  Keep being awesome.  

  I was pretty together this week and pre-made his lunches to take to work.  It is strangely satisfying.  It feels like a win in life when you do something ordinary but it somehow feels extraordinary.  That is one of the legacy of the last two years.  We looked for wins in life.  We couldn't do so many of the things we may have wanted, so we started looking for the extraordinary in the ordinary.   It seemed like a big win to me.  A hot lunch.  No need to worry.  No need to spend money.   He liked it but he just liked it.  But, then, he put hot sauce on it.  He really liked it.  He told me it was awesome.  I was pleased and since I had some as well knew he was right.  It did need hot sauce to give it a little kick.   We both like hot sauce.  Just saying that makes me giggle a little.  We both like hot sauce.  It is funny because of where we came from.  I was raised on e...

  A wedding officiant in Kitchener turned away a same sex couple this past week.  I don't know why this happened.  I would like to think this wouldn't happen in Manitoba.  In Manitoba, in order to be an officiant, you must attest that you would not turn away a same sex couple approaching you to perform their marriage.  There haven't been many weddings since the pandemic started.  My guess is that most officiants in Manitoba wouldn't turn away Martians if they wanted to get married.  Most officiants just want to be part of a special day no matter whose special day it is.   It is sad that this is still happening.  It is sad that this is making the news, even if it is just a small mention.   That's it.  Can't believe this happened.  Can't believe it made the news.  This is 2022 after all.  

  The end of a quadrennial always means a fleury of activity for curling rosters.  In this case, it also means the end of Team Fleury.  Some people call it "silly season".  It is all about competing in the next Roar of the Rings, trying to get to be Team Canada at the next Olympics.  I usually enjoy speculating with my fellow fanatics.  This year, not so much.   It has sort of been ruined for me by a certain Third who took some "personal time off" the night before the Olympic Trials and that "personal time" had nothing to do with Covid19.  The same third was cut from another team a couple of years before just before the last two events of the season.  During the Brier, the player was interviewed and would not comment on his "personal time" off other than sometimes bad things happen in life and you just have to shake it off.   Yes, bad things happen in life.  For example, you get a disease or you get into a car accident or ...

  Perhaps the province of Manitoba has evolved, but there was a time when mental health services for older adults only involved assessments and recommendations based on those assessments.  Other than medication and supportive counselling. no talk therapy was provided to older adults.  The thinking was that it was not a good use of limited resources.  The thinking was that older adults are too entrenched in their thinking and behaviours and don't have the capacity to change.   Well, my husband and I are a little younger than the older adults they were referring to but we also are not spring chickens.  Recently, I have seen evidence that even us can evolve and change.   My example is relatively ordinary.  I have had the kind of life that for the most part things came easily to me.  Just recently, I became aware that I usually give up when something becomes difficult.  Unrelated, I have been experiencing a minor health complaint. ...

  We started keeping gratitude journals this year.  I highly recommend that you do this one year.  You can start now, it doesn't have to be at the start of the year.  The beauty of keeping a gratitude journal is that you start noticing things you may not have noticed and you also start turning tiny irritants into blessings.   For me, what has been most profound is that I have recognized that most of my problems have been "first world white people" problems.  We have all changed during the pandemic.  One of the things for me is that I have struggled with my racial identity.  On one hand, I am also embarrassed to be caucasian.  On the other hand, I love my parents and their stories and I am proud to be from them.   Doing the gratitude journal has made me appreciative of many things that I may not have paid attention to.   Last night, Venus and Serena Williams attended an Award Show and wore matching gowns.  No comm...