So long Facebook (for now)

Facebook has been a dismal place for quite a while. I was hoping it would improve after November 8, but alas, its only gotten worse. There is just way too much America on my Facebook and I just can't handle America right now. So here we are. I am going to try to revive this blog. But don't expect long posts on anything. My aim is to post Facebook style. Short posts. Mostly photos. Here's hoping the blogger app works well for posting photos. So here's to the rebirth! Ha!

Here is a photo of Amy tonight in her west African waxed cotton (ankara) dress. 3 going on 13! :/

My 20s: A reverse bucket list

A couple of years ago, a dear friend of mine turned 30 and created a 'reverse bucket list' of all sorts of things she'd done in her 20s. I loved the idea as a way to commemorate and celebrate the end of a decade and all the crazy and fun things she'd done during her 20s. So I decided to do the same thing. Of course, my list is nowhere as crazy, hilarious, and unbelievable as hers, but if you know both of us, that is to be expected. But alas, I made a list none-the-less - even if it's not as cool :D

So, without further ado - and in no particular order - I give you My 20s: A reverse bucket list!

-Push a greyhound bus out of the snow
-vomit in a garbage can on the street
-plunge into a frozen river (into a hole cut in the ice)
-ride the Wonder Wheel and Cyclone
-go snowboarding
-visit the Canadian parliament
-buy genuine cowboy boots and hat
-dance the night away with girlfriends at a club you frequented in your late teens (and feel really old)
-try punting in Cambridge
-attend a fancy Cambridge college dinner
-birth 2 beautiful (big) babies
-marry my college boyfriend
-eat haggis
-learn how to pronounce and spell ceilidh
-dance in a ceilidh
-evacuate a German hotel at 3am...with a 6 month old baby
-dance at a wedding until 4am...
-...with a 6 month old baby
-raft down a glacier-fed river
-drive over a median in a blizzard you didn't know was there
-witness the Montreal Fire Department set up a rope to cling to to avoid slipping while crossing an icy street
-learn the true meaning of bored to tears
-spend 8 weeks collating and binding reports
-work in NYC's financial district
-rock a sick baby to sleep
-see the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth
-see U2 and Arcade Fire live
-watch bulls get de-horned
-run through the streets of Coney Island in the winter at 2am looking for homeless people
-be so broke you can't even buy a pair of earrings at Claire's
-throw a karaoke party
-attend a temple dedication
-go to Hogmenay...and convince drunk men to give you their toques
-go snow tubing
-play laser tag
-eat at Junior's innumerable times
-visit more than 1/2 of Canadian provinces (AB, BC, MB, QC, ON, NL)
-invite a stranger from a flight to your parents' house
-go to Disney World
-wear a white (faux) fur cape
-witness a real live NYPD chase that ends with a small female cop throwing a large man to the ground
-call the cops on two thieves in a car plotting their next robbery teenagers getting frisky in their car behind our house
-take 2 small children on a non-direct flight by yourself
-take a tour of NY harbour on a 15' sailboat
-leave my 2 kids for a solo trip to NY
-learn to make chicken tikka masala
-spend over $5000 in one day at the dentist
-buy a house
-spend more money than you want to think about at Ikea
-fall in love with south Florida
-learn to drive
-learn to drive stick
-invest in a pair of Spanx
-make my own Junior's cheesecake
-learn how to cook an egg over easy
-Get stranded at a Wal-Mart in Edinburgh
-stay in a hotel room truly unfit for human habitation (I'm looking at you, Sigiorno Pitti)
-give in and get a Costco membership
-go on a road trip solo (twice)
-work in the same building as my husband
-experience -40* and live to tell the tale
-live and work in 3 countries
-become a Canadian citizen
-travel to the UK, France, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Austria, the Vatican, Mexico, Haiti, the Bahamas
-present data at NYC's city hall
-organize 3000+ volunteers, hundreds of police officers, and hundreds of DHS employees for an overnight homeless count
-survey drivers in the rural midlands (England) for a week
-buy a car
-finish my BA
-get a master's degree
-go skating at Rockefeller Center
-see the Metropolitan Opera perform
-go to a Messiah sing-along (and laugh hysterically through half of it due to your own poor singing)
-live with best friends in a "Friends"-style apartment (5 girls across the hall from 5 guys)
-get a custom-made wedding dress
-figure out how to get from EWR to Carroll Gardens for less than $5
-Go to a real live rodeo (twice)


Well, my 20s were great and I definitely have my work cut out for me in my 30s. It may be a few months late, but here's to the next 10 years!

Remembering their childhood

Thomas, holding up my Costco card: How come we never go to this place anymore? Me: Because our membership expired Thomas: Can we pay for a new one or do they not let us? Me: We could pay for one but I don't want to Thomas: I forgot what this place is called Me: Costco? Thomas: Yeah, Costco. I want to go there! Me: You want to go to Costco? Thomas: Yes I want to get some free food!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thomas at dinner, upon seeing french toast on his plate again for the 3rd time in 3 days: That agaaaaaain? Me: Yep, sorry Thomas. We don't have any other food. Thomas: Why don't we get any food? Next morning.... Me: Ok you need to get dressed so we can go to the grocery store Thomas: I don't want to go! We can have french toast again!

Overheard

Hey guys! Look how long it's been since I posted! Who cares. Let's move on. The only reason I am posting today is because I overheard something today that both breaks my heart and makes my blood boil just a little bit. And I have to say something. To respond. But I don't really know this person and have no way to really respond. So consider this post a yell into the dark void. That is what I'm calling it, anyway, because I'm pretty sure no one will read it ha.

Anyhow, I heard this woman relate overhearing members of the young women's presidency in another ward talking about what anti-depressants and anti-psychotics they were on. She then added her commentary "why are these people in the YW presidency?!"  [I HATE overhearing this sort of comment when I have no way to respond without seeming overly aggressive and like I was eavesdropping.]

It makes me both sad and angry the way mental illness is stigmatized in our North American culture as well as Mormon culture. As Elder Holland put it in his talk in the last general conference, "...neuroses and psychoses, ... genetic predispositions and chromosome defects, ... bipolarity, paranoia, and schizophrenia[:] these afflictions are some of the realities of mortal life, and there should be no more shame in acknowledging them than in acknowledging a battle with high blood pressure or the sudden appearance of a malignant tumor." THANK YOU! Do you honestly believe that someone who is depressed should not have a calling in YW?  Or was it the possibility of psychosis that was really over the line? What other health problems should prohibit one from serving and teaching the young women of the church? If you, as a YW president yourself feel that way, maybe you shouldn't be in the YW presidency. If there's something YW don't need more of, it's unrighteous judgement. There's enough of that in junior high and high school already.
I am sure this woman didn't think she was making an unrighteous judgement. She probably didn't think about it at all, in fact. Because it's just so commonplace in our society to write off people who suffer from mental illness. And that's why it breaks my heart for all those out there who do suffer from unseen stigmatized illnesses and life experiences. Working with people experiencing homelessness in one way or another over the past 8 years has certainly made me very aware of these issues.I just hope that we can move toward a more loving and inclusive culture, especially in the church. Like President Uchtdorf said, there is room for everyone in the church, even those who suffer from mental illness.

MRI

MRIs are pretty great. Aside from having to lie in a coffin sized enclosure for a substantial amount of time, it's not that bad. No one touches you, no needles are involved (unless it's a contrast MRI...), and you can stay fully clothed in your very own clothing! No hospital gowns required. Hooray!

Enough Empty Words

I'm not sure how much more of this talk regarding the shooting in Colorado I can handle. It is seriously infuriating. Like Roger Ebert (of all people...random) said, "The endless gun control debate will begin again, and the lobbyists of the National Rifle Association will go to work, and the op-ed thinkers will have their usual thoughts, and the right wing will issue alarms, and nothing will change. And there will be another mass murder."  I'm not sure I could have said it better.

Everyone and their dog has something to say about the shooting, and how their hearts go out to those affected by it. What a load. If you really cared about it, you would get on board with getting rid of licenses for handguns. And take them away from people who have them. Compensate them with money. Trust me, it will cost society less in the long run. But Rachel, you say, that's simply un-American! You're a traitor! I'm confiscating your passport!  {well fine, at least I won't have to file my US taxes for the rest of my life}

Yes, sometimes murders are carried out using long guns. But most of the time, it's handguns. Take away the freaking handguns! It's really not that complicated. All this "sympathy" is just empty words. And I'm sick of it.

There are mentally ill people and gangs and drugs everywhere.  Sure, guns don't kill people. People kill people. People with handguns, specifically. No one without access to a handgun ever shot someone with a handgun. Keep your long guns. I really don't care. Defend yourselves against the government (ha! as if that's what ya'll use them for!).

Edmonton was dubbed the murder capital of Canada last year. The city has a population of 750,000 and they had 47 murders. It was scandalous. Toronto has had 80 homicides this year - the number is so high it's on the national news nearly every night. Windsor, Ontario - just across the bridge from Detroit hasn't had a murder in more than 3 years. It's not Canadians' renowned friendliness, cold weather, and lower disparity between rich and poor that is keeping this number down. It's the lack of access to handguns.

So if you're thinking about sending out condolences to the people affected by the shootings in Colorado, or any other shooting carried out with a handgun, please don't. You disgust me. Call for change or keep your mouth shut.

Yeehaw! {or, as they say in Calgary, yahoo!}

Why DO they say yahoo instead of yeehaw in Calgary anyway? It's weird. I want all things cowboy to perfectly fit my city-girl invented stereotype. Oh well, I'll have to let that one slide.

Stampede has arrived! Pancake breakfasts, free BBQs, and lots and lots of cowboy hats!

Anyway, last Friday, mom, dad, Thomas and I went to opening day at the Stampede. [If you want to teach your kids more about the Stampede (and get an annoying song stuck in your head for the next month), watch this video.] Dave joined us after work and later we ditched Thomas. There are lots of nay-sayyers out there (in Calgary) when it comes to the Stampede, but you know what? It was awesome!

We got to the grounds right around 11 when it opened and lined up to get rush seating for the rodeo. Then we checked out farm animals - pigs and piglets, chicks, cows and calves, horses, donkeys, sheep, and more cows. Thomas LOVED it. He was too scared to pet the chick, but the real live cows inspired him to finally MOOOO. He even invented his own click-clacking to mimic the horses' hooves (Clydesdales whose shoulders were probably 6').

Then we grabbed some lunch (BBQ food and pancakes are pretty much the official food of the Stampede) and headed to the rodeo where we got to check out bull-riding, steer wrestling, calf roping, bucking horse riding (is that what that's called), horse dancing (I think it's similar to the thing ol' Mitt's horse does - just kidding, it was cooler than that). Oh and how did I fail to mention that mom and dad got to sing O Canada again? Anyway, it was awesome. There was a rapid change in weather from scorching hot and sunny to pouring rain - but luckily that happened during the intermission and we only missed a few minutes of bull-riding in the second half as we waited out the rain inside.

After the rodeo, Dave came and met us and we went to see Superdogs. It was pretty special - doggie high jump, agility courses, tricks, loud music, and bright lights. Mom and dad might not admit it, but they loved it. And so did Thomas. Good times.

Then we dropped Thomas off with Dave's parents, grabbed some dinner (more hamburgers - what else?), and headed to the grandstand show. The first half of the show is chuckwagon races, where drivers with  their teams of 4 horses pulling a small wagon do a figure 8 and one lap of the track. The second half of the show was ... well what WASN'T it? Cirque-du-soleil type performers, singing, dancing, story telling, native dancing, country singing, lights, pyrotechnics, and on and on. The whole show was about 3.5 hours. Ear plugs might have been nice, but we all had a great time. I've posted more photos on facebook since it's so much easier to post photos there.

I know this post has been thrilling. I hope you're not asleep haha.