Renaissance Woman

Alright, it's no secret that I don't like plastic. I refuse to take a plastic bag from the grocery store, I make my own laundry detergent because I don't like being responsible for the bottle, I buy powdered dishwasher detergent in a box. I also try to bake my own bread, tortillas, english muffins, bagels - because I don't like the plastic bags they come in. But I'm not perfect. The amount of plastic that comes and goes in this house in a year would be more than enough to kill a blue whale (literally). But today I watched a clip of Sir David Attenborough talking about plastic , and I realized that I really need to get back to my conscientious non-plastic consuming goals. You see, evey piece of plastic we bring into our lives ... every one ... is permanent. It lasts forever. And eventually it ends up in the environment - either in the birds at the landfill, or in the oceans where albatrosses feed it to their babies. (Take a look at this blog from another writer last ...

Is it really possible for a person to one day say "I could never live in Vancouver again. If I wanted to live in China or India, I would move there", and the next week go on about how the Legion in our little town is a horrible, racist organization that is designed to exclude First Nations? It made me think - am I that inconsistent? I don't think so. I do try to be true to myself and my feelings. We all contradict ourselves, but I try very hard not to. Obviously, however, some people don't try not to contradict themselves or don't even know they are doing it. I think it is a case of them not knowing themselves at all, not caring who they offend (or maybe actually wanting to offend), and maybe not really caring what they say as long as it gets someone's attention. Does she even realize how contradictory she is? Does she just say what she thinks her audience wants to hear? What makes a person say two such completely opposing things? And what would it be like t...

A couple of times now I've mentioned how I'm not eating sugar. 42 years of experimentation has shown me that I simply feel better when not consuming the stuff. It used to be that I could have a little, but it seems that with age even that has changed. I know that certain people out there don't necessarily believe that sugar is a hindrance to the immune system, and for many of you it may not be. Or your immune systems may be strong enough to fight through any ill effects, but I thought I'd share a little something that just came to me today through an e-mail from Dr. Mercola . Dr. Mercola is a medically trained doctor who believes in nutritional and alternative treatments for things. He has been on Dr. Oz and seems to be a really wise person. (He does have a lot of products for sale on his site, but I ignore that and just read his research - which is well cited). So here it is. The five reasons he states for having an impaired immune system (which you have if y...

If there is one lesson that a person should learn in their lifetime it is that of compassion. I'm not sure I'm there yet ... but I am trying. I recently posted a link on Facebook to a video made of a young man who found a baby hummingbird and nursed it back to health. It touched me. For one reason, most of the images we get of teenaged boys is of kids who don't give a damn - which is totally untrue. But the other reason it touched me is for the same reason that any story of true compassion between man and animal or between two different species of animal really touch my heart. Two souls being connected in a mystical fashion - it makes me more than content. And it restores my faith. This one about the friendship between the dog and the elephant is particularly good. As is the story of Owen and Mzee , the baby hippo and tortoise who bonded. Or the dog who risked his life rescuing kittens from a fire. And I particularly liked the one about the elephant seal who made f...

So, it is the cold and flu season. For those of you on Facebook, you followed my horrendous year last year - as I complained each and every time I got sick (including H1N1). I seemed to come down with a new cold every 3 weeks. I'm sure it wasn't quite that bad, but it felt like I was always, always sick. The fact that Daniel was in Grade 1 certainly added to the mixture. This year I've been sick once already - but not badly. And I've got another cold now - but, again, it isn't bad to this point. Bad enough that I'm going to go lie down with a cup of tea and a movie, but not nearly as bad as last year. What's the difference? Well, taking Vitamin D regularly and staying off the sugar certainly seems to be helping my immune system. But give it a few days. I might change my mind if this gets worse. My mood seems to be lifting a bit, though. And extra thanks to everyone who commented and supported me in the big blogs. Your input means the world. There is nothing ...

I've had a couple of people tell me that their comments weren't being posted. It has been set up so that after you post a comment you have to go back to the bottom of the page and type in a set of characters. But if you don't know to go back down to the bottom of the page, your comment won't be recorded. So I'll try setting it so that you don't have to type in the word. If I start getting spammed, though, I'll have to re-install it. I love getting comments, so please leave some. Sandi P.S. Written day after I changed the settings - and the spam has already started - but I can delete them, so that's good.

As I thought could be the case, my mother is finding my posts about depression difficult. And I don't blame her. I'm not being at all fair to her. It was not her choice for me to write this blog, and I didn't give her the option to ask me not to. Perhaps it would have been nicer to clear it with her first. For that, Mom, I am sorry. It can't feel good to have something so private broadcast over the Internet for anyone to see, and I really do understand how this could be difficult. When you've tried to keep something quiet all your life, having your daughter broadcast it to the world could feel like betrayal. But I want everyone to know that my mother was a really good Mom. And when you consider the personal hell she was going through at the time, she deserves to win a medal. No matter what, if we needed her, she was there. Even when she was feeling her personal worst. I could just as easily written about the hours I spent sitting at the end of her bed talking about...