A Good Week

This is truly a good week to be a Canadian. 

The Toronto Blue Jays are in the finals for the first time in ages.  They may or may not go all the way but it’s still something to be proud of.

The Montreal Canadiens have won their first seven games of the season – a record - and we are all on a “bleu, blanc et rouge” wave (their logo colours).

We are also riding a great red wave having just given Liberal leader Justin Trudeau a majority government in Monday’s election.  After almost ten years of Stephen Harper’s style of Conservative government, it’s about time for a change.

It has been a long campaign during which Mr. Harper showed his true colours in American-style attack ads and divisive tactics; all of which backfired on him as they are very un-Canadian.  This week Canadians stood up and let him know that his catering to the rich and to oil companies as well as his fear mongering ways are not what we are about here.  Voter turnout was higher than at any time in the last twenty years and Mr. Trudeau’s victory was decisive.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether he can keep all of the promises that he has made but I have high hopes for him.  The fact that he has a majority government to work with is a great start.  The first promise that I look forward to seeing happen is his promise to appoint a gender-equal cabinet.  It’s about time we see that!

The fact that he is also a Montreal Canadiens fan is just icing on the cake!

(source: Montreal Gazette)

Kathy

aka Proud Montrealer/Quebecer/Canadian

Eight lines for the Writer's Workshop

A few days ago, our very own Mama Kat, whose Writer's Workshop this is linked up to, posted the pic below on Instagram announcing that she is now a great-aunt.

(source)

My first thought was "she can't possibly be old enough to be a great-aunt; she's younger than me!"

Then I stopped to think about it.

I have a 23 year old niece who (obviously) is of child-bearing age......

The two who will one day make me a great-aunt

And a 25 year old nephew who (obviously) could get someone of child-bearing age pregnant.....

OMG I AM OLD ENOUGH TO BE A GREAT-AUNT!

Not that either of them is planning anything...........that I know of.

Somebody please get me a freaking drink!

Kathy

Ready for a new season

I am absolutely more than ready for the change of seasons. 

First of all, the heat of summer can just bite me! I hate being sweaty and become a very cranky lady sometimes.  We’ve been having a bit of an “Indian” summer here and I’ve been cursing the thermostat.  I mean, really, 29 degrees Celsius on the eighteenth of September! It crazy, I tell you!!  (Thankfully it’s gotten better since then)

Also, this summer has been a really weird couple of months.  It started with my mother’s death at the end of June and the fallout from that and continued at work with my coworker fighting cancer.  He went into the hospital on July 9 with complications, leaving us worried about him as well as covering his job at the office. 

Sadly, he lost his battle with the disease last weekend leaving the entire office in a very odd state all last week; between shock, sadness, fond reminiscing and looking forward to celebrating his life with an “Irish wake” at his favourite bar on Friday night.

RIP my friend

So, yes, my summer season has been bookended by two deaths with plenty of stress and worry in between.  Is it any wonder that I’m glad it’s over? 

When my two weeks of vacation came at the end of August, I literally turned myself off and did nothing.  Okay, not nothing, but close to it.  In two weeks, I read seven books, played endlessly on my iPad, went to lunch, did a bit of shopping and made sure the kids had binders and pens to start school.  My to-do list?  It didn’t even get touched!  There are many things that should have been done but I didn’t bother with them and I don’t feel the least bit guilty about it.

When I got back to work, all of my coworkers commented on how well-rested I looked and they were right; I was.

Now I am looking forward; as they say, “onward and upward”.  Don’t ask me who “they” are cuz I’ve got no clue but “they” have the right attitude.  Bring on the good health, cooler weather, my favourite scarves, my pumpkin chai latté and comforting crockpot dinners! 

That’s not too much to ask for, right?

Kathy

Impulsive

(Source)

Above, you see the definition of the word impulsive.  That pretty much fits......

I can be a very impulsive person when it comes to spending money.  Thankfully, I’ve managed to get my spending under control to the point that my impulsiveness doesn’t surpass my budget anymore but parting me with my spending money is not hard.

Those sale displays right where I walk into the grocery store stop me every time.  Never mind that, most of the time, they contain nothing that I NEED; just what I want.  “Oooh, we haven’t had that in a while”.  Consider me sold.  I rarely take my teens grocery shopping with me anymore.  I’m bad enough on my own without them popping up next to me with Nutella/Gatorade/cake mix/ice cream/fill-in-the-blank-here saying “Mom, please!”  Yeah, twist my rubber arm kid!

It’s not just the grocery store though.  I am almost physically incapable of walking past the book store without stopping to see what’s new.  Walking out of the store without a new book in my bag is a massive feat of self-control which I rarely accomplish.  My kids laugh at me when I decide to stand strong and go by without going in.  I literally go by with my gaze averted chanting “I will not go in, I will not go in…….” because I know that if I do go in, I’m a goner.

I’ve gone into places like the grocery store and Walmart with the best of intentions and even a list to stick to but I never quite manage it.  There’s always something on sale or cleverly placed at the end of an aisle that catches my eye and, before you know it, it’s in my cart as if by magic.

I’m the same way with big-ticket items too.  Once I decide that I want/need it and I have the (“extra”) money, that’s it.  I’m not one of those people who spend ages comparison shopping, reading endless reviews, watching the flyers for impending sales.  No, once I decide I want something, I will go online to see where it is available, read a few reviews just to be sure and then off I go to make my purchase.  There are no weeks or months of agonizing over it for this girl. 

That’s how I ended up with my new phone.  I had a tax refund burning a hole in my pocket just when the new Samsung Galaxy S6 came out.  The reviews were good and I REALLY wanted it.  It was very impulsive of me but I don’t regret it one little bit.

That’s one thing that I’ve been lucky with so far; most of my impulse purchases – big and small – tend to work out well.  My first thought tends to be the best call for me.  It’s only when I start second-guessing myself that I mess it up.  Maybe, sometimes, the impulsive urge is just our intuition kicking in and saying “Yes, that’s the right choice” and we just need to trust it.  At least that’s my theory and I’m sticking to it!



Kathy