Go to the Water

Summer has finally arrived and we are sadly closing out the month of June. That means we are halfway through the year 2023. I think the most talked about thing this June has been the weather. The best way I know to describe the weather is to say it is "bipolar". We have already experienced extreme intense heat, wild and crazy storms and unrelenting wind.  June means the end of school and families will be making plans for holidays and activities to keep the kids entertained. Summer is so much fun and why does it have to zoom by in such haste?  I remember going to school in June. I guess trying to learn in an incubator will always stick with you. For those schools with no air conditioning the kiddos have already endured horribly high temps. When I was in Grade 10, parts of the high school burnt. The solution was to use the elementary school for high school students. The elementary students went to school from 8-2 and high school from 2-8. That is how we spent our last 2 months ...

During a conversation with a close friend the following comment just came out of my mouth, "life is about quality not quantity". It fit in with the conversation quite nicely, but it was one of those moments where I thought, why did I just say that. I liked the line, and I knew I needed to do more reflection, so here it is.  Quality vs Quantity is simply defined. Quality of life is the health, comfort and happiness we experience as an individual. Quantity is a term used to determine the expectations of an individual for a good life.  As everyone in Canada is aware, sadness struck in Manitoba, on June 15th, when 24 people boarded a small bus in Dauphin, to go the Carberry Casino for the day. While crossing the #1 highway, the bus was struck by an oncoming semi-truck. In the next few seconds, 15 lives were lost and 10 were forever changed. There has been speculation that the intersection is dangerous, and suggestions have been made to make it safer. The bus driver must of ha...

I am going to start this post with a google search of the word "efficiency". Basically, to be efficient you can achieve a goal with little to no waste, effort or energy. Resources are used in the best way possible; this includes money, manpower and equipment.   For some reason, over the last few years, I have found areas in the service world rather frustrating.  At times it appears that no one cares if you are standing in line or need help.  I think we have all had experiences where we have left phone messages, and no one calls us back. Some places are good, but often no call back.  My most frustration has been with Service Canada. I need to straighten out an issue and when I call, I have been told by their automated phone service the next available person will take one hour. It doesn't matter what time of day, waiting an hour is the length of time. There is no call back option so consequently, the issue still remain. When I recently experienced, not one, not tw...

I love the phrase "A Girl Dad". It was popularized after the tragic death of NBA, Kobe Bryant in a helicopter crash. He was the dad of only daughters, one of which died with him in the accident. A Girl Dad is used to refer to dads who only have daughters and is often used to capture the love between fathers and their daughters. Of course, this doesn't mean a Dad of both genders isn't a Girl Dad, it means they get a glimpse at being a dad for both sexes. A Girl Dad is exclusive to a family of just girls.  I was raised by a Girl Dad. I think my Dad would have loved to be known as a "Girl Dad". I have always said, "I didn't have a brother, so my Dad taught us so many things that would have been done by a boy".  I never ever heard my Dad say he wished he had a son. There is no doubt he thought it many times, but it never crossed his lips. In our world, he seemed pretty content just having daughters. At a young age, Kay and I learned how to "ch...

  I enjoy watching Master Chef, I especially like to hear the stories of how the contestants developed their passion for cooking. The following story for some reason touched me. A man shared that when his son went to his first day of school, he put a note in his bag that said, "you can do hard things". When the dad was getting ready to compete on Master Chef, his son wrote him a note which said, "you can do hard things". It started me to think about what the hard things are that we face in our lives.  I thought of what my friends and families have had to endure, the hard things they have had to overcome. Some that quickly came to mind are death of a child, spouse or parent, getting a life altering diagnosis, chemo, dementia, losing your home to fire, divorce or financial devastation. I realize the list could continue to grow and I encourage you to add your own hard thing.  I feel the hardest thing I have had to do was start my life over. For me it was a time of grie...

  I recently ran into an old colleague at the grocery store. She is one of the nurses I got to know quite well when I worked in the hospital with students. I always want to support nurses, as I am aware of the struggles, they must face each day they work. We spoke about how dismal, for lack of a better word, health care currently is.  My friend said that it has become so bad we will never get it back. She felt that at this point they would be lucky to maintain what they have, with the hopes of it not getting worse. Of course, we both agreed that covid didn't help, she stated that covid exposed the cracks and they are now wide open. It was heart breaking to listen to someone that loves the people she works with, loves her work, and is really a caring nurse, feel so discouraged.  Her words, "we will never get it back", kept ringing in my ears. I came away from that conversation with a mix of emotions. I am so grateful that I don't have to work in a broken system. The sy...

  I saw this quote on Facebook and just had to share it. It states, "90% of kids are struggling with mental health issues". My first thought was, "oh my goodness, how horrible". My second thought was, "how can I help?". I, of course, turned to google to gather more information to truly get a grasp on the situation. Sadly, this is what is happening for Canadian youths.   32% of children aged 11-15 show one or two symptoms of distress every week, such as headaches, trouble sleeping or stomach aches. 20% of youth report being bullied and the rate of frequent bullying continues to rise. 9 out of 100,000 adolescents aged 15 to 19 will die of suicide. With the Inuit young people, the rate is 30 times higher and is also higher among First Nations and the gender diverse.  Suicide is the second leading cause of death for youth aged 15-24 and the  leading  cause of death for children aged 10-14. 1 in 3 children are obese which presents serious risk factors both ment...

June is Pride month, with June 28th acknowledged as Pride Day. In Canada it is a celebration of the LGBTQ communities and to recognize their right to marry, to adopt and legal equality.   I recently heard a young man speak of the LGBTQ community as his family. He said he was a "G" in that community. He was making a plea for people to accept his family and to stop the violence towards them. His words impacted me, and I decided from that moment forward I was going to be more aware of this community. I needed to practice what I preach and embrace, "knowledge is power". I knew I needed to be more informed and to know better to do better.  I am not proud to say that I would stumble over the acronym.  I felt a good starting spot was to make sure I could smoothly say "LGBTQ" and to truly have an understanding what each letter stood for.     L stands for Lesbian.  The definition means a woman who has a romantic and/or sexual orientation towards other wome...