I have a pretty significant bruise where I sprained my ankle. It’s gotten a few oohs and aahs around the office, and that’s saying something, seeing that I work in a hospital.
It’s brought to mind a few other major bruises that I’ll always remember… Continue reading
Posted in General
Tagged ALS, broken nose, bruises, Funny, Harry Potter, humor, humour, kids
A friend of a friend received a new heart yesterday. Let’s call him Paul.
Paul has a young family and is a fit and healthy guy. A few months ago, he started to feel sick and began having some trouble breathing. A virus was attacking his heart causing myocarditis, damage and swelling of heart tissue. He was in heart failure.
Paul fought off the virus but there was just too much permanent damage to his heart. He could regulate things with drugs for a while but he needed a heart transplant. They got the call Thursday night. Continue reading
Posted in General
Tagged accident, buckle up, car crash, Family, heart transplant, organ donation, seat belts
Lord of the Flies (1990); movie adaptation of William Golding’s novel
Generally, I believe kids need to be left alone to play, without interference from adults.
On our side of the block, we have a total of seven boys between the ages of 5-9. (Take a moment to contemplate what this means in terms of noise.) We, the involved parents, let the boys work through their issues and only step in when someone gets hurt, either physically or emotionally. Even then, if it is minor, they are usually able to sort things out on their own.
This isn’t because we’re lazy — although it is a royal pain to have to stop whatever you’re doing to be the referee — but by sorting out their own disputes and bruised feelings, they learn how to compromise and make amends.
A few days ago, a recent empty-nester across the street told The Husband how much she enjoys sitting on her porch watching our group of boys. She specifically commented on how well they arbitrate their play and how quick they are to ensure injured parties received remediation.
As my boys get older and more involved in team sports and group activities, these skills are becoming more and more important. From the sidelines, I’ve seen them join a team where they knew no one and quickly make a place for themselves. I’ve also seen them welcome a new kid into a team and help them find their bearings.
It might sound like I’m bragging, which is not my intention, so allow me to add some counter-balance; I’ve also seen my kids act like complete assholes. Continue reading
Posted in General
Tagged Behavior, behaviour, civilized society, discipline, Family, kids, Lord of the Flies, Parenting, Playground, rules
I was feeding BDM’s cat on Friday and stuck around for a few minutes to give him some company. He is such a lovely and appreciative kitty. I was so moved by his felinity, I was obliged to capture the moment for posterity.
I’ll admit that I’m exaggerating the momentousness of this encounter, but I’m trying to set the stage.
Continue reading
The boys are in a great summer program that keeps them busy with a variety of activities. Every Tuesday is beach day. Today they hopped on the Metro Transit and headed to Chocolate Lake.
Much to ET’s dismay, this is not Halifax’s Chocolate lake.
Image: Making Fiends
Posted in General
Tagged beach, chair umpire, Health, heat, heat stroke, kids, officiating, soccer, tennis
Using a publishing platform such as WordPress makes blogging so easy, and there are lots of features that make it fun. As I wrote in this post, I love to look at the statistics and track which topics are popular and where my readers are coming from.
By this, I don’t actually mean where in the world they are coming from but rather, where in the internet they are coming from. But, while we are on the topic of geography, I actually can see the countries of my readers and that is super cool. So… Continue reading
Posted in General
Tagged bird penis, birds, blogging, duck penis, Funny, search terms, Social media, visitors
In high school, my girlfriends and I were obsessed with the movie Dead Poets Society. I’m not sure if that was because we wished we had a teacher like Robin Williams or a boyfriend like Ethan Hawke… perhaps both. Continue reading
Posted in General
Tagged Birthday, Carpe Diem, Dead Poets Society, Funny, Nova Scotia, Pebble Art, Relationships, Sharon Nowlan
Dear pimples,
We have been together a very long time. I mean really, since Junior High you and I have been almost inseparable. Do you remember when we first met? I do. In fact I still have that grade 8 school picture when you were peeking out from under my bangs. Boy, that was a bad perm!
I was also looking at my university graduation picture the other day and saw you. I had forgotten you were there that day. In fact, you were right there for all the major times in my life weren’t you? We even travelled the world together. You particularly enjoyed those long flights to Australia. For some reason, that recycled cabin air really brought out the best in you! Continue reading
There is frequently a “pro-life” group praying on the sidewalk outside my workplace… why do they get to claim that term? Why do I have to be “anti-life” or “pro-death”? And if I call this group “anti-abortion”, that makes me sound like I’m “pro-abortion”, which I’m not…
Can you tell what I’m rambling about today? Continue reading
Posted in General
Tagged abortion, Family, Ohio Senate, Planned Parenthood, pregnancy, Right to choose
As a follow-up to my post “Music today… grumble grumble” I’d like to direct your attention to this extremely funny article from the Onion. It was published on June 27th but I didn’t see it until tonight.
Eminem Terrified as Daughter Begins Dating Man Raised on His Music.
“Honestly, I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do here. How am I supposed to let Hailie go out with a guy who says I was a huge influence on him and all of his friends?”
“And his parents let him listen to it?” Eminem continued. “What kind of house was that? I don’t even want to think about what kind of people they are.”
The Onion is an American satirical news website that parodies traditional newspapers by using a layout based on the American Press. It is always good for a few laughs.
Escaping Elegance 