Feel the Fear

October 16th, 2008 by LB, under Yackadactyl. 3 Comments

And do it anyway. 

That’s where I’m at right now.

Great Expectations

October 10th, 2008 by LB, under Yackadactyl. 6 Comments

It was the best of times.  It was the worst of times.  It was the summer of Green Gables.  It was the summer of White Gables?

 

What the hell?  Sometimes things are not what they you think they are going to be, and such was our trip to PEI.  First of all Green Gables is actually white.  A fact which was not easily assimilated by my daughter.  Secondly, visiting Green Gables turned out to be all about me   She wasn’t the least bit interested in having her picture taken in front of the house that was not as it was supposed to be, nor was she enthused to walk down Lover’s Lane, of find the Haunted Wood.  Perhaps it had something to do with the day before….

In true Loewen pee-in-a-cup -road-trip style we started our day in Cape Breton, somewhere on the Cabot Trail.  We woke up early and squeezed in two hikes before lunch, even though Shark would have been happier curled up on some bench somewhere with a good book.  We drove to the PEI Ferry on the Nova Scotia Northshore, only to find that one ferry had broken down and our chances of getting on the next one were slim.  This would be fine, except I had tickets to the Anne of Green Gables musical in Charlottetown.

“How long does it take to drive around?” I ask.

“About three hours.”  Perfect,  we roar off and after about 20 minutes I realize we need gas.   I go to ask directions, only they tell me its 6 hours to drive around the link.  Shit, I think, and we roar back to the ferry.  Only now we’re way further back in the line up.  Turns out they stop taking cars only two cars ahead of us.   We would have made it the first time, but who wants to cry over spilt milk, so I go in ask how long they think it takes to drive around.

“Four hours,” they tell me.  So we’re off at Mach Two along the beautiful winding country roads of Nova Scotia’s northern shore.  It was spectacular, even as a blur.   The only trouble is the timeline is so tight, I don’t dare stop and get food.  Its about 3:30 in the afternoon, and we haven’t eaten lunch.   I must have failed Parenting 101.  Onward…..

The show starts at 7:00 and we roll, well fly, into Charlottetown, famished at 7:10.   Parking illegally, we run to the theater and are ushered into our seats.  Ahh, I think, thank God, we made it and we haven’t missed much.    I’m worried though that when the lights come on we are going to be sitting there in hiking gear and everyone else will be dressed to the nines.  I’m so hungry that at some point the rumbling in my stomach takes over.

The minute the intermission is announced we bolt out and find something to eat as well as a steamed milk for Shark and a huge tea for me.  Wouldn’t you know it though, as we try to get settled, my tea spills over Shark’s foot and she is screaming.  I’m pretty sure it wasn’t hot enough to burn her, but I’m sure it hurt, so we run out the bathroom.  Can you believe though some lady stops me to inform me I am leaving spilt tea on the floor?&%$%#.  Some cold water and ice and we’re good to go – back into the theater, late, by flashlight.   We finally found our hotel room at about midnight.  I guess maybe I didn’t pass Parenting 102 either.

The next morning we set off to fulfill my childhood dream, which I actually was thinking was all about Shark when…..

 

I spot lots of blue smoke and the screech of burning tires.     Screw Anne of Green Gables, my childhood dream is to be the woman in the black tank top that throws down her arms to signal the start of the race.  Can you see her in the cloud of smoke above?  I was positively green, unlike the gables of aforementioned house, with envy.  Honestly, Shark had to ‘drag’ me away.  In the end though eved she had to admit the racetrack was the highlight of PEI, which isn’t exactly what either of us expected.  And I’m not so sure about Parenting 103 either.  Sigh

Women Building Futures

October 6th, 2008 by LB, under Yackadactyl. No Comments

Like all the truly great things in my life, including parenthood (for which I am eternally grateful), and my twenty year fitness career, my foray into education was an accident.  I had no idea it would become something that I would become passionate about from the very core of my being.

I was completely ignorant about the levels of literacy in our communities, and others across our country.  I had absolutely no idea of the profound affects of distinct levels of privledge in our society, and the insurmountable barriers they create. This statistic illustrates.

Today in Alberta 45% of Aboriginal Women live in poverty, or right at the edge, at a time when Alberta is experiencing a skills shortage in an industry that pays workers some of the highest wages.

Women Building Futures is a registered charity that supports women, from all cultures, to be successful contributors to their families, their communities and to the workplace. They operate a trades training facility for women, which includes family friendly housing.  If you want to be inspired check out the the two minute video. Their job placement rate is a whopping 95%.

This is education as it should be.

Karma

October 5th, 2008 by LB, under Shark Tales. 6 Comments

Shark and I are moving.  After years of lamenting the weather, we’re off to the warmland, the Cowichan Valley.  We’ve been sorting and purging lots of stuff, and its been an absolute blast.  Shark spent a good part of yesterday morning sorting through two bins of Polly Pockets.  How did we get so many?  She then headed over to the neighbor’s house where she presented the collection as a gift to three sisters.  That, and the scooter she doesn’t ride anymore, and a huge assortment of kid’s movies.  They said it was like Christmas – better than Christmas even, and Shark was beaming.

We’ve decided to nix the garage sale.  This is way more fun.

Dressing Like a Dork

September 26th, 2008 by LB, under Yackadactyl. 1 Comment

Yep, that would would be me.

Yesterday I wore something I hadn’t worn for a long time. 

“Mum, I really like that outfit.  It looks really good on you,” says Shark.

“Aw, thanks Shark.”  I respond smiling.

“Yeah, not like that other stuff you wear”. 

I wasn’t sure what she meant.  Until today.

I have been running around all week at what my assistant calls warp speed and we ended up finishing off Friday afternoon with a lesson on how to get our ultra exciting videoconferencing up and running.  It was all good until we got it going and somehow when I saw myself on big screen my little half sweater (you know the ones) looked….. well, it looked dorkish.  I was having one of those what-was-I-thinking moments, amplified by the chai tea stains I acquired while trying to get acquainted with my new stainless steel mug.

Sigh.  Thank God its Friday. Tomorrow the sweater will go to the Thrift Store and hopefully find its way into someone’s Halloween costume.

Home is where you hang your hat…

September 16th, 2008 by LB, under Incessant Obsession. 1 Comment

I love my brother Dave.  He is truly one of a kind.  He rode his bike from Inuvik, which is pretty near Tuktoyuktuk, to Los Angeles for a fish.  He cycled the 10,000 km range of the Pacific Salmon to raise awareness of declining stocks.   That’s a lot of hours on a bike saddle, and an entire year of living in less than a tent.  See, a tent is too heavy for a bike trip of this magnitude, so Dave had a fly and two tent pole’s he’d rig up in an X formation.  That’s not really even an abode.

Dave lives by the premise, ‘if its more than I can fit in my truck, its too much stuff.’    He knows that home is not a place, a house, or any kind of posession.  So, a few years ago, my brother John and I knew we had found the perfect birthday gift: a small wooden picture frame with a hook for keys, and a hat, on the bottom.  Since then Dave has resided in many different places, but always I see this little gift with the two old pictures we put in it, right by his front door.

I don’t quite get this yet.  I want to get it, but I am still learning from my bro.  I’m looking for my own little hat hook.  Thanks Dave.

Eve Ensler on Sara Palin

September 16th, 2008 by LB, under Yackadactyl. 3 Comments

I do not consider myself a feminist.  Maybe mostly because I don’t like labels.  Nonetheless, I think Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues is brilliant and something every women should see or read.

I feel the same way about this commentary she wrote on Sara Palin.

The Brest Day

September 6th, 2008 by LB, under Yackadactyl. 1 Comment

It really was the best day and the brest day.  It was the best day because after a June, July and August where recorded temperatures averaged 12 degrees, today’s sunshine and warmth were a much needed gift.  And so like people on Haida Gwaii do, my friends and I headed to the beach with our kids.  We discovered that pretty much every single one of us had had a mammogram this morning.

I bring this up, not to draw attention to our anatomy, but rather to let you know this was done through a mobile screening unit, and so if you are not on the list, sign up.  The equipment comes up every fall in a van from Nanaimo, and the crew sets up shop in the hospital.   Your records are kept, so that baseline comparisons can be done every year.  The funny thing is none of us got a call, but instead had to drive through town and see the van.  You can sign up by calling 1-800-663-9203, and yearly mammograms are recommended for all women over the age of 40. 

Fortunately, Somethings Don’t Change

September 4th, 2008 by LB, under Incessant Obsession. No Comments

Here’s me and my young cousin, only he’s not so young anymore…

 

He’s 25, 6′ 5, plays rugby, has a girlfriend, a univerisity degree and a career.  Its seems such a short time ago he was the three old I took care of.  The same three year old who swallowed a screw, stuck a ball bearing up his nose, and cut his head open while he was in my care and his parents were in Greece.

 

Here we are this summer after a run together and a cooling off swim in the chuck.  He’s telling me about how he just had staples removed from his head, broke both legs, at various times, and mucked up his ankle.  The best part is we still enjoy each other’s company.

It was the last summer of the girl…

September 4th, 2008 by LB, under Shark Tales. 6 Comments

 

In fact the girl seemed to dissappear somewhere in the middle of the summer.  She left home with me in early July, but somewhere in August I found myself driving along the Cabot Trail with a young woman in the front passenger seat, and its taking me a while to get used to.  Here is she is at the campfire at my Aunt and Uncle’s looking oh so serious.

Her and I have been sorting through her stuff, passing on dollhouses, barbies, tea sets and more.  While I love the adult she is growing into, I can’t help feeling a little sad passing this stuff on, remembering the Christmas mornings when so much of it arrived.  I know its cliche, but where did the time go?