Renaissance Woman

Hello to all of my loyal blog readers. I have to apologize for the seeming lack of posts this week. I've not been inspired to write anything. I have a new job at the Library (10 hours per week) and it feels like I'm going to have no time at all to do anything. When I think about it logically, that's silly. Ten hours per week never put THAT big a dent in someone's life, and I'm sure I'll adjust, but it's the first time I've had any regular work out of the house since before Daniel was born. So it's weird. By the way, how does ANYONE have time for ANYTHING when both parents work full time? I mean, really - where is the quality of life?? Like I said, 10 hours per week is really going to change my life. How does anyone do 40?? And, in particular, how do both parents work 40 hours per week and still maintain a connection with their children? How did our society decide that this was a good way to live? Somewhere along the line we all became focused on...

I was chatting with an Marie, American friend of mine who has never been to western Canada, a couple of weeks ago and she was wondering where we had actually traveled over the Thanksgiving (Columbus Day) weekend. So I thought I'd post a map and a few web pages for those of you who have never been up this way. In total, we drove 2100km (1300 miles) in 6 days. (By the way, this map is not the greatest - it doesn't have the major towns on it, but some of the little villages are named. I guess they were working with available space for names on the map, not size of community - but it gives you an idea). We live in Wetaskiwin, Alberta ( http://www.wetaskiwin.ca/ ) because my husband is currently the Acting Director, but normally the Head of Curatorial at the Reynolds-Alberta Museum ( http://culture.alberta.ca/museums/historicsiteslisting/reynolds/default.aspx ). On our first day of travel (in orange on the map), Noel drove me to a meeting in Lacombe ( http://www.lacombe.ca/ ), the...

"They fuck you up, Your mum and dad. They may not mean to, But they do. They fill you with the faults they had And add some extra, just for you. "But they were fucked up in their turn By fools in old-style hats and coats Who half the time were soppy-stern And half at one another's throats." Those are the first two (of three) stanzas of "This Be The Verse" - a poem written by Philip Larkin in 1971. The words are rather poignent, I think. My parents were not perfect. They both have their own issues and, as the poem says, their parents created a lot of those for them. But my parents gave me a great gift (in addition to the obvious gift of life). My parents encouraged me to think for myself, and to have my own opinions and beliefs. Debate would ensue if they wanted to challenge me, but they never told me what to think or believe - and never told me what I thought was wrong. I know for a fact that certain actions of mine in the past disappointed them (and I'...

(Note: this goes into further detail on a thread I started in the posting "books") Ah, the blog! Somewhere to voice my internal dialogue. What a relief. Here's what I think of at 4:30 in the morning when I can't breathe (from a cold) (you may be surprised): Some background: I grew up in a house with an atheist and an agnostic. As a child, religious exposure was occasionally provided by my grandmother (a member of the United Church of Canada) who lived 5 houses down the street from us. She wasn't preachy, and my parents allowed us to pursue whatever religous path we chose - even if it wasn't theirs (usually either pure science or Eric von Daniken-esque musings). So there were periods when I went to church with my grandmother. There were also times when I went to other churches with friends. But my enthusiasm with joining any church ended when I perceived hypocrisy or when one of the church's tenets did not sit well with me (for instance, I just can't g...