Tuesday, May 31, 2011

I do Declare some shopping!


I have to declare some retail therapy...We are putting on a Teacher appreciation luncheon at the school and came up with the theme of Tea Party. Like they have at the Empress Hotel in Victoria. It's a garden tea party. So another Mom and I volunteered to decorate. Formal teas give out party favours. Found these sweet hot pink boxes and sage ribbon to put chocolates in. Michaels! And yes...made in China! So I got to looking around and they had the most gorgeous spring flower garlands for 60%! So I bought some of those too. Riffled through my sheets and curtains and found enough to cover one wall and putting white lights behind them. The garlands will hang off of the curtains. And what is right beside Michael's? Bed Bath and Beyond! Oh no! I just HAD to go take a look...gulp....and you guessed it! I bought myself a whole new bedding set....including 4 matching throw pillows, two sets of sheets and matching bed skirt and shams...all for $159! I have not had new bedding in 6 years so I figure I'd treat myself for my birthday...lol....And yes...Made in CHINA! UGHGH! I feel guilty but I'm so happy with it at the same time. My bedroom looks all grown up like now..lol....even the kids were like "Can I sit on the bed Mom?" LOL!

So in the next week I will be begging people to borrow their fine china tea sets, fine serving plates, linens etc to create this whole other world for the teachers. I'm also in charge of making mini quiches for 40 and am looking for recipes. I need to find side plates as well. Think Great Gatsby Tea Party and you get the picture of what we are trying to achieve. Wish us luck!

Hubby is home for a week and what did he decide he had to do? Build a tree house! UGHGH! That man cannot sit still for a minute. I thinks it's sweet of him but can I catch a break? Please! I just need some down time. Can't shake this cold and feeling really run down. I need some sun for more than a day I think...lol...

So we are now 128/151 days without retail....23 days of shopping for retail in 5 months. Good thing we are heading to the colonies in a while...no shopping there at all! LOL! I will be learning how to slaughter chickens this time....gulp! I want to do this though....it's important to know the process from beginning to end. If I'm going to eat chicken then I better have the gumption to look it in they eye and kill it. Maybe this will break me from meat for good. I'm also going to be learning the Bee business this time. That should be very interesting. I have asked to help in the gardens too. Will let you all know if I'm allowed.

Big Momma love to you all! XO

Friday, May 27, 2011

Baby raised without 'gender' sets off debate - CTV News

Baby raised without 'gender' sets off debate - CTV News


Is this really an issue? Sounds like the parents are loving and focused on the well being of their kids. I just think it's none of my business. What are your thoughts?

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

More GMO info from the Grand Delusion





Percy Schmeiser and his wife Louise are third generation farmers from the prairies of Western Canada in the province of Saskatchewan near the city of Saskatoon. They feel really blessed not only that his grandparents moved there, but by the fact that in Central Saskatchewan so many types of grain crops can be grown; pulses, oil seeds, in what the locals call God’s Country.

The Schmeisers, like hundreds of thousands of farmers all over the world, were using their canola (oilseed rape) seed from year to year and developing new varieties suitable for climatic soil conditions on the prairies. Percy had also been the Mayor of his town for over thirty years, a member of the provincial Parliament and an active member of agricultural committees representing his province on new agricultural policy, law and regulations for the benefit of farmers.
In 1996, the Canadian Federal Government and the US Government gave regulatory approval to four genetically modified (GM) crops: soya, corn or maize, cotton and canola. At the time not all GM crops in Canada were herbicide tolerant except for Monsanto’s Roundup Ready canola and soya, both resistant to the company’s herbicide Roundup. The US Government had also approved Bt cotton and Bt corn that has the added GM toxin from Bacillus thuringenisis (Bt). The Canadian government were fully complicit in allowing Monsanto to develop GM crops on Government test plots and research stations in return for a royalty on every bushel of GM crops sold.
Monsanto versus farmer
In 1998, two years after the introduction of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Canada, the Schmeisers received a lawsuit notice from Monsanto which said that they were growing Roundup Ready canola without a licence from Monsanto and that this was a patent infringement. Monsanto had a patent on a gene to make GM canola resistant to the glyphosate herbicide in its formulation Roundup. This came as a complete surprise to the Schmeisers who immediately realised that all their research and development on canola over the past fifty years had been contaminated by Monsanto’s GMOs. They felt that they had a case against Monsanto for liability and the damages possibly caused to them, and that was the beginning of [1] Schmeiser’s Battle for the Seed (SiS 19). And 10 years on, the Schmeisers have been invited to London to tell their full story [2].
The Schmeisers stood up to Monsanto’s claims of patent infringement in the Federal Court with just one judge and no jury. The pre-trial took two years to go to court in which Monsanto claimed that despite having no knowledge of Percy Schmeiser ever having obtained any GM seed, he must have used their seed on his 1 030 acres of land because ninety-eight percent of the land was GM contaminated. And, because the Schmeisers had contaminated their own seed supply with Monsanto seed, ownership of the Schmeisers seed supply reverted to Monsanto under patent law.
Monsanto owns all crops or seeds contaminated, the court ruled
The Court ruled after a two-and-half-week trial that it was the first patent infringement case on a higher life form in the world. The Judge’s ruling and Percy Schmeiser’s name became famous overnight:
·It does not matter how a farmer, a forester, or a gardener’s seed or plants become contaminated with GMOs; whether through cross pollination, pollen blowing in the wind, by bees, direct seed movement or seed transportation, the growers no longer own their seeds or plants under patent law, they becomes Monsanto’s property.
·The rate of GM contamination does not matter; whether it’s 1 percent, 2 percent, 10 percent, or more, the seeds and plants still belong to Monsanto.
·It’s immaterial how the GM contamination occurs, or where it comes from.
The Schmeisers tracked down the source of the contamination. It was their neighbour who had planted GM crops in 1996 with no fence or buffer between them. Nevertheless, the Schmeisers’ seeds and plants reverted to Monsanto, and they were not allowed to use their own seeds and plants again, nor keep any profit from their canola crop in 1998.
The Schmeisers appealed against the ruling, and after another two years, it was upheld by the Federal Court of Appeal judges even though they did not agree with all the trial judge’s statements. The Schmeisers believe that the case should have been thrown out of Court and not upheld. After having lost the two trials costing them $300 000 of their own money, Percy took the case to the Supreme Court of Canada. He was warned that there was only a very small chance that the case would be heard; but was granted a second leave of Appeal by the Supreme Court of Canada.
Schmeiser raised important questions during the Supreme Court Appeal
The Appeal was good news for the Schmeisers, but in the meantime Monsanto had brought another lawsuit against them for $1million in legal costs, fines and punitive damages. Monsanto said that the Schmeisers were recalcitrant and that they wanted a million dollars from them. For good measure, Monsanto brought a third lawsuit against the Schmeisers to seize their farmland, farm equipment and house, in an effort to stop them mortgaging their assets to pay their legal bill.
Percy Schmeiser effectively raised several important questions at the Supreme Court Appeal:
- Can living organisms, seeds, plants, genes, and human organs be owned and protected by corporate patents on intellectual property?
- Can genetically modified traits invade and become noxious weeds that then become resistant to weed killers and become superweeds? (The answer was obviously yes, as these are now all over Western Canada and almost the rest of Canada, see below.)
- Can the farmers’ rights to grow conventional or organic crops be protected, especially organic crops?
- Can farmers keep their ancient right to save their own seeds and develop them further if they so desire?
- Who owns life? Has anyone, either an individual or a corporation, the right to put a patent on a higher life form?
On the important issue of “Who owns life?” the Supreme Court ruled in 2004 that “Monsanto’s patent on a gene is valid and wherever that gene arrives in any higher life form they own or control that higher life form.” That was considered to be a major victory for Monsanto at the time, but is a decision that has come home to roost in the form of corporate liability for GMOs. Percy explained that if a corporation own and control a higher life form and they put it into the environment where everyone knows it cannot be controlled or contained and co-existence is impossible then the corporation should be liable for the damages done to an organic farmer or a conventional farmer, as well as for the negative impacts on biodiversity.
Despite strong recommendations by the Supreme Court for the Parliament of Canada to bring in new laws and regulations on patents on life and the rights of farmers to use their seed from year to year these issues have yet to be addressed to date. In the US, Monsanto has filed lawsuits against at least ninety farmers.
Monsanto’s contamination no benefit to farmers, the Supreme Court ruled
In 2004, the Supreme Court ruled that in the case of patent infringement the Schmeisers owed no money to Monsanto because they did not benefit by being contaminated by the GM genes. Furthermore, they had not used Monsanto’s patent because they had not sprayed the Roundup herbicide on their canola crops. However, both parties had to pay their own legal bills. The Schmeisers legal bill was over $400 000 and Monsanto’s was over $2 million.
In essence, Monsanto had used Percy Schmeiser as a test case to see how far they could exercise intellectual property rights (IPR) over farmers’ rights. “At one point, Monsanto had nineteen lawyers in court, I had one. Talk about intimidation,” Percy said.
No longer able to grow canola in their fields for fear of infringing Monsanto’s patent, The Schmeisers began research into yellow mustard and started cultivating 50 acres of land in preparation for planting. In the autumn of 2005, they noticed canola plants growing despite not having been seeded in those fields for many years. They brought in witnesses and tested the plants by spraying Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide on the plants. Monsanto claim that any green plant that is sprayed with Roundup that does not die must contain their patented gene. When the Schmeisers plants did not die they realised that Monsanto’s canola was in their fields again.
The Schmeisers contacted Monsanto and asked them to remove the canola plants from their property. Monsanto took samples of the plants that confirmed they were their patented variety and two days later Louise Schmeiser received a fax from Monsanto containing a signed release statement which was blackened out in parts. Louise refused to sign it and insisted that Monsanto send her the unexpurgated document. Monsanto sent what was essentially a gagging order on the Schmeisers from ever telling anyone, neighbours, and the press about the terms of settlement, or ever taking Monsanto to court again for the rest of their lives no matter how much Monsanto contaminated their fifty acre parcel of land with GM canola.
Victory for Schmeisers and farmers at last
There was no way that the Schmeisers were ever going to sign a statement like that and give up their freedom to a corporation. Monsanto said that if they refused to sign then they would not remove the plants. The argument raged backed and forth; the Schmeisers said they will remove the plants themselves and Monsanto wrote back saying we wish to remind you that the plants that are on your field are our property and you are not allowed to do with those plants what you want. The Schmeisers said get your property off our property, you’re trespassing! Monsanto said only if you sign the release form.
The Schmeisers wanted the plants off their land before the pods ripened and the seeds were dispersed into the field. They hired the neighbours to help remove the plants and notified Monsanto about what had been done and Monsanto sent another fax saying that you can’t do what you want with those plants. A bill was eventually sent to Monsanto by the Schmeisers for $640 to pay for the neighbours help to clear the field. Monsanto refused to pay the bill unless Percy signed the release statement. This went on for about a year so the Schmeisers made a decision to go back to Court amid media reports about the new dispute. The judge in the small claims Court agreed with the Schmeisers and sent Monsanto a summons. Percy said, “We then had a billion dollar Corporation in Court on a $640 bill and you can imagine the publicity that got in Canada.”
In March 2008, the case went to trial and when the judge came into the Court room Monsanto got up with a cheque in hand to pay the $640 plus $20 costs. “I’ll never forget that $20 costs!” Percy laughed. “It was a great victory, not only for ourselves, but for farmers all over the world because it has set a precedent where a corporation has accepted liability for contamination and clean up costs”, he said. Percy Schmeiser had become the first farmer in history to successfully counter-sue Monsanto for liability over damages done to his seeds and crops by Monsanto’s GM crops.
GM in Canada – lessons learnt
Thirteen years ago when GM soya and rapeseed was introduced in Canada (and in the US) the Corporations and Government told farmers that GM would increase yields, be more nutritious, use less chemicals, and feed a hungry world. Now we will always have a sustainable agriculture, they claimed. The Canadian Department of Agriculture figures states canola yields have decreased at least ten percent and soya at least fifteen percent [4], but worst of all, farmers are using three to five times more chemicals because of the GM superweeds that have developed. The reality is that the nutritional content of all crops are down fifty percent of what they were before GMOs were introduced and now we have less yields and more chemicals used, exactly the opposite of what Monsanto promised.
Percy Schmeiser said, “Once you introduce GMOs, believe me the days of organic farmers are over, the days of the conventional farmer are over, it all becomes GMOs in a matter of a few years.” In addition, he said, there is no such thing as containment, you cannot contain pollen flow. It doesn’t matter if contamination is by seeds blowing in the wind, or by bees, or by farmers transporting their seeds to market, or so on. Ultimately, farmers, growers and consumers will no longer have a choice because despite Monsanto’s promise that farmers will have choice, they won’t because it’s absolutely impossible for organic and conventional farming to co-exist with GM crops.
Mountains of contaminated produce that cannot be exported
Canadian organic farmers can no longer grow canola and soya crops organically. The seed stocks of those two crops are now totally contaminated by GMOs, which cross- pollinate into other market garden crops from the brassica family. Percy describes the devastating effect GMOs have had on Canada’s markets, as a nation reliant on exporting eighty percent of what it produces. The markets for rapeseed have shrunk to primarily exporting to Mexico, the US and Japan, Canada is now sitting on a mountain of canola, not one bushel can be exported to the EU. Furthermore, Canada’s honey markets throughout the world have been lost because of GM contamination.
Schmeiser is also concerned about a new wave of GM crops in Canada called “pharma-plants”. There are six major types of drugs now being produced by GM plants, including prescription vaccines, industrial enzymes, blood thinners, blood clotting proteins, growth hormones and contraceptives, all known to be much more dangerous than conventional drugs (see [5] Biologicals’, Wonder Drugs with Problems, SiS 42) What if somebody has had major surgery and then eats food contaminated with genes from a plant manufactured to be a blood thinner? Or what about a pregnant woman who eats food contaminated by genes from a plant that is manufactured as a contraceptive? These are just some of the worrying implications of pharma-plants, along with containment and co-existence.
Superweeds now ubiquitous in Canada, requiring supertoxic herbicides
Superweeds have evolved from conventional canola plants that have taken on the genes from three or four companies selling GM canola that has cross-pollinated and ended up in one plant. It had become established in Canada by 1996 (so quickly that horizontal gene transfer was suspected as having been involved, see [6] What Lurks Behind Triple Herbicide-Tolerant Oilseed Rape?, ISIS Report). Percy warns that superweeds are ubiquitous throughout Canada in wheat fields, barley fields, cemeteries, university grounds, towns, and golf courses. He said that all these people that never even grew GM canola have this new expense of trying to control it, and this is responsible for the massive increase in the use of chemicals to control the superweeds.
One third of Canada’s insecticides, herbicides and pesticides are used in Saskatchewan, which has the highest rate of breast cancer and prostate cancer in Canada. “We’re killing ourselves with the chemicals we are using and the chemicals are more powerful and more toxic than ever before,” Percy says. He warns that Roundup herbicide is now four times stronger than it was in 1996. Roundup is bad enough as new research reveals (see [7] Death by Multiple Poisoning, Glyphosate and Roundup, SiS 42); the new type “24D”, contains 70 percent Agent Orange, and is being used on the prairies to combat superweeds. The adverse health effect of Agent Orange in Vietnam is common knowledge and could explain the major health problems, environment damage and loss of biodiversity in Canada.
Monsanto’s culture of fear
Monsanto is perpetrating a culture of fear and intimidation in Canada in an effort to gain control of the seed supply, and ultimately the food supply. It was not easy to stand up to Monsanto. Percy said, “They tried everything to break us down mentally and financially.” His main fear was the harm that they would do to his wife and family. Monsanto employees would sit in the road in their vehicles watching us all day long when we were working in our field, he said. They would sit in the driveway for hours at a time watching Louise Schmeiser when she was working in the garden and then phone her and say “You better watch it; we’re going to get you.” Monsanto would then phone their neighbours and say if you support Percy and Louise Schmeiser we’re going to come after you and do the same to you as we’re doing to them. Monsanto offered $20 000 worth of chemicals to the Schmeisers’ neighbours if they would say something negative about them in Court.
Percy warns farmers about Monsanto’s “Inform on your neighbour” policy for a free gift such as a leather jacket or chemicals. He said when the “gene police” arrive on contaminated farm land threatening the farmer and his wife with a court case, what do you think goes through a farmers’ mind? You have a suspicion about your neighbours; it breaks down the social fabric of rural society, farmers’ relationships, farmers not trusting one another, farmers scared to talk to each other about what they are seeding. We don’t know how many thousands of farmers they have done that to. But by 2004 at least 30,000 farmers were paying royalties to Monsanto in Canada [8]. As a former politician, Percy thinks this is the worst thing that has happened with the introduction of GM crops, a whole new culture of fear that Monsanto has been able to establish on the prairies of North America and Canada.
If Monsanto can’t find the farmer at home they go to the municipality office and get the farmers address and extortion letters follow. Percy has collected a lot of letters that farmers have given to him that say: “We have reason to believe that you might be growing Monsanto’s GM rapeseed without a licence. We estimate that you have so many acres. In lieu of us not sending you to court send us $100 000 dollars or $200 000 dollars in two weeks time and we may or may not send you to court.” Can you imagine the fear of a farm family when they receive this letter from a billion dollar Corporation? The letter ends, “You’re not allowed to show this letter to anyone or we will fine you.” One farmer’s wife sent Percy a letter from Monsanto because she was at her wits end. Her husband had four heart attacks and she pleaded with them to put her in jail. Monsanto replied, “We don’t want to put you in jail lady, sell your farm and we’ll let you go for half the money.” This behaviour is ruthless and if Monsanto can victimise farmers in First World countries such as Canada and America, it is a given that they will do this in many countries all over the world.
No new GM crops for Canada
In Canada food is not labelled, and campaigners have protested to find out what’s in their food by demanding labelling. The National Farmers Union has warned farmers not to buy Monsanto’s GM seeds because of their aggressive attitude. The Government has been unsuccessful in introducing any new GM crops such as wheat, rice, flax, and alfalfa because there was such an uproar by the people who have seen the damage and don’t want any more GM crops. Schmeiser said, “If we’re trying to stop them in the US and especially Canada, why would you want to introduce them in the UK and Europe?” He believes that now the Corporations have lost the ability to introduce any more GMOs in Canada they have turned their attention to other countries in the world. He compared this dominant strategy with the sale of agricultural pesticides and chemicals that have been exported wholesale to Africa and Asia once the North American markets were saturated.
Percy said we do not know if you can ever recall out of the environment a life form that you put into it. And in relation to GMOs, what are we leaving for the future? We are at a fork in the road. If you go the GM way, this is what will happen; if you go down the other fork, you will maintain good food, safe food, and your environment. “I don’t think any of us want to leave to the future generations our environment, our soil, our water, our food, and our air full of poisons, none of us want to leave that,” he concluded. Percy has five children, fifteen grandchildren and two great grandchildren and that is why the Schmeisers have taken such a strong stand because they want to leave a legacy of safe food, water, air and soil.
[link to www.i-sis.org.uk]
GM crops will dominate and take over most of the surrounding farmland. As this happens this style of extortion from Monsanto will continue. I am hoping more farmers will fight back against this Evil chemical company who thinks they produce food.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Make sure brain is engaged before...

I like to talk....REALLY? LMAO! Seriously have been inflicted with the chatter box all my life to the point that my Mom's mom got me a HUGE poster that said "Make sure brain is engaged before putting mouth into gear"...LOL! I'm so not kidding. I have this crazy energy and this crazy mind that just thinks and reads and ponders and thinks....It's WHO I AM! I was born to think and share and repeat! I can't help it..lol...the trappings of my brain are full of useless and nonsensical data...trivia should be an outlet for me but I'm far too busy sharing the shit I know..LOL!

But it gets me into trouble....have a debating background and was raised that way anyway...my parents always taught me to dig deeper into a news story..never trust the source! Not that they were crazy ANTI government or anti anything...it was just think for yourself kind of stuff. So I go on FB or Twitter and someone posts this or that and my mind right away goes...Hold on a minute....is it true? When was this article posted? Who did the reporting? Is it tabloid? Who is the writer? Etc...etc...etc....and then with the issue presented I ALWAYS have a view! I read so many publications a day you would think I was a reporter....it's insane! It gets less and less as the boys get older and stay up later but I am up to 40 a day as of this date. FREAKY eh?

Not really as my Mom taught me how to speed read. I can read the Province in 10 minutes cover to cover including sports. I have not taught my boys as I feel this can lead to ME! Insatiable news junkie....blog junkie...but if they want to know I will teach them. So I can get through most of MY news in 2 hours and learn a HELL of a LOT! And on every subject.

But it also makes me less sensitive sometimes...a clinical approach to news CAN lead to indifference. I can be really insensitive at times in my response to a post. Not to hurt on purpose but to make a point...without thought to the person making it. I debated Muslim clerics for some time about their defence of a young girl at age 9 being married off to a man at age 60..and one pointed out this was 6 hundred years ago and that we have Bountiful...GULP! Talk about eating CROW! Not that I support the Bountiful compound but he sure was right that it still exists today and right here in our own back yard....

So I just wanted to share that I am a VERY political person....I live and breathe it but I am also really fun...according to my friends. I'm sorry if I offend but it never is on purpose...it's just my opinion that comes from a very active and inquisitive mind.

And NO shopping! Hanging tough with that but have a long list and need a day to peruse the thrift stores for it.

Chatter Box Momma love to you all! XO

PS? I think knowledge gives me power...power to think...to decide...to debate...to fight! But remember...I still have those down times....terrible reality TV and now Glee! Love that show...lol...

TheStar Watermelon ‘landmines’ burst on China farms

TheStar Watermelon ‘landmines’ burst on China farms

Sunday, May 15, 2011

It's that time!



My Mom and Dad 3 years ago...with my Grandma who was 89 at the time. Fast forward 3 years and we have lost Mom and Grandma has broken her hip and has slowed down immensely and my Dad has prostate cancer. Holy SHIT! What a difference in our lives and it has made me reflect on mine in so many ways. Add that dear friends have had serious health issues and have come close to not surviving. Add friends of friends have passed away so young or have had debilitating health issues that they will never recover from.

So...I am finally having a Will done up! YEP! It's so irresponsible that we have not done so yet...having 4 kids and we just have not. At first it was the question of who would take the kids? Asked one in the family and they flatly refused...lol....I can't blame them...4 boys to raise is A LOT to ASK. My parents were older so we felt they were not an option. His family is mostly Hutterite so the kids were not welcome as they were "outsiders" and so we waivered for some time. Now that the boys are older and have developed a very strong bond to my brother and his wife Nikki we have all agreed that they will take over if something happens. I feel good about that decision as Nikki is so loving and kind and my brother won't take any teen aged disrespect lightly and will encourage sports. Ron and I agree that the bond between my brother's family and our family is strong and that they would thrive if something happened.

It feels so odd to be "planning" my death...lol....called a lawyer and she made me feel like it is just a process and to not dwell on the end...had me laughing..lol...(have her number if anyone is interested). The thought of not being here for the family that I LOVE so much and work so hard for is so surreal but I have a responsibility to ensure that they are taken care of without the drama of the unknown. We are clearly not rich people but with life insurance the kids should be taken care of well. Even writing that makes me sad....planning a will is not easy. I get why people put it off for so long....why I put it off for so long.....but am now at a point in my life that I GET IT!

Please please make sure you have a Will...make sure your people are taken care of. I wish I could say there are no surprises and that good health lasts forever....but it doesn't. I remember my Aunt Val's dear friend Steve who was a marathon runner who had a massive heart attack running the Sea Wall at Stanley Park...he was 41. So vibrant and strong and FUNNY! That was 22 years ago....I didn't get it then...but I sure do now.

So we are still without retail therapy after the last update...whatever that was..lol...Going to see a movie called the Clean Bin Project...about a couple that tried to reduce their garbage impact for a year. Can't wait! And had a lovely friend drop off a copy of "Get Real" by Mara Rockliff.  It's a FANTASTIC read and I highly recommend it. All about what and where the things you buy comes from. It made me sad and mad....Pardon my writing...I'm so darn tired from landscaping....yet another post as I am in AWE of the work ethic. You got to love it to do it...seriously. I do it because I love my friend recovering from surgery...and hope for her quick recovery so I can go back to NOT digging up trees. LOL!

"Getting it" Big Momma love to you all! XO


Tuesday, May 10, 2011

I ain't 20 Anymore! Ouch!

As you can see I have been a hiker most of my life. That pic was taken in 1994...I was 24 years old and in the best shape of my life! Still a "big" girl but strong as an ox and not afraid of much at all. Fast forward 16 years and I have the middle aged "pains"...you know the ones...the ones that happen when you get off the couch to go pee...LOL....the ones that strike mid stride for no reason...the ones that haunt you the next day after a long physical day. My knees are screwed from figure skating and various other sports. I have arthritis in my hands, knees and ankles....and now suspecting my hips...LOL.....OYVEY!

I look at the younger me and wish I could tell her to ENJOY IT! I had no clue as to my physical power and endurance and in retrospect wish I had taken the moments to embrace it and reflect on the youth of my body at the time.

I have begun working for a landscaping company. My friend owns it and she just had major surgery so I offered up my help. OMG! 3 hours of bark mulch hauling up a ramp in a tiered garden and I HURT! I can barely bend my fingers and my knees are SCREAMING at me! LOL! And I hike almost every day....what the hell? Granted back breaking labour has not been my forte..lol....I am an accountant and desk and mind work are what I do but I didn't think my body would protest so much! LOL! Sat in the hot tub with Joe for 25 minutes...which was actually really fun as he is such a character....he had me laughing and just enjoying his company..then I had to get out.....OUCH! Didn't work...I hobbled to change and hobbled back to the couch...lol...and I have to do it all over again tomorrow. At least I already have callouses so my hands won't bleed....LOL!

So here I am a middle aged wreck...How did that happen? LOL! I will suck it up buttercup and do it all over again tomorrow because a promise is a promise and my word is my word.....but I really hope like hell we get a wicked rain storm and I can stay home and jump in my sauna to ease the aches...LOL! I accept I'm not 24 anymore but MAN! Wish I had appreciated it more. My Mom always said you will never be more beautiful or vibrant or strong as you are right now...and she was RIGHT! So I am thinking I will never be more beautiful and vibrant and strong as I am right now! This May 10th, 2011. And I will get up and be the best I can be tomorrow...and be grateful that I can.

Last score was 112/125 but I have to declare a day of colony clothes shopping. Got some really cute capped sleeved shirts and cotton pants at Reitmans. And I do have to get Sam a new pair of shoes...how do the sides blow out like that? I mean REALLY? What are you DOING my son? And Hubby bought a pressure washer retail...that I am in charge of setting up and using...hahahhahaha...that should be something to watch...maybe I should sell tickets to a comedy show and give the proceeds to the school...lol....

So the new score is 110/132....22 days of retail in 5 months....good grief! That SUCKS!

Hurting Big Momma love to you all. XXOO

Monday, May 9, 2011

Body issues and why they SUCK!

NICE! The back fat hanging...LOL! I have been 125 lbs and 248 lbs...and either way I was SCREWED! I eat or I starve...I worry about it ...or I worry about it...EXHAUSTING! I'm fat and wish I were thinner but I sure as hell am not living off of cucumbers in vinegar ever again...and sure as hell not being so fat I had rolls on the back of my neck.....I think I broke the FAT quotient! LOL! Just fat enough to be considered fat but thin enough in the legs and arms to not be considered obese...LOL!  WOOHOO! Like any one should even CARE! What the hell is wrong with our society that women are SOOOO concerned with their bodies that they will permanently injure themselves to be thin or be obese? It's insane!  
Hello! It's our bodies and our minds and our CHOICE! I can hear it now...Susan is back on the choice bandwagon again...lol....YES..YES I am! You can starve yourself or exercise until uber thin or you can eat and eat until you need to sit in a chair to sleep or you will die...FOOD is a drug and the ONE thing we as Westerners can control...and do we EVER! J Lo looks so good....ummm...botox and the best trainers in the business! Even Victoria Secret models are photo shopped...I don't know about you but if they have to touch up the super model bikini model then I'm FUCKED! So why even bother? I hike...I play with my kids...I do the odd workout...my hubby loves me...my kids love..well...most of the time...so I think I hit the jackpot of balance in body issues....until I bought undies!

That's right..thinking I'm all secure and all that and will pick that package with that size and all is good...brought them home..washed them and put them on...HUGE UNDIES! My ass was floating in these things..lol..and they were falling down...I was pulling up...not a good picture of a middle aged woman pulling up her gaunch over and over...LOL! I guess I do have body issues and I see myself bigger than I am.....And I know where it comes from...

I was abused as a child and in my mind if I am bigger then I can defend myself..it's that SIMPLE! Have done the counselling thing and have come out the other side and know where this comes from....I didn't think I struggled still with the balance of past and now but I guess I still do...I mean really...it's just panties! Hello?

So I will buy new ones and look at myself honestly in the mirror before I go....and measure..lol..but to all of you out there struggling with body issues...it gets better! It gets to a point that you can laugh at yourself and know where it comes from....you will never forget the hell as to WHY but you will get to a point as to SO WHAT! And tell WHAT where to go!.....

XXOO Big ASS pantie MOMMA love to you ALL!

Friday, May 6, 2011

Just SQUISH them!

This is my Joe...after he had run the 800 m at the district track meet...his FIRST time at an event with so many people and the pressure to be perfect! I was a mess in the morning...lol..seriously! He and I talked about what he should eat and what he should wear....it seemed all too much for my Autistic boy and I worried and I'm sure he felt that...my worry...they get it all!...the smarty pants of human emotion yet they show only what they want....its amazingly wondrous to see but at the same time a curse for them....they get it but they don't SHOW it! Until they break down from the pressure of it all..and then it ain't pretty...it's a full scale melt down... 
He ran the 400 in the morning...he was there an hour early and they ran a half hour late. To a person with autism they are looking at the clock and getting all worked up that they are not on time....that he even waited that long then competed is AMAZING! The anxiety and the unknown to him...a person that lives 24/7 with extreme anxiety was able to remain calm and get in line and listen to the starter and then compete ...All those that have an Autie are duly impressed. It's so hard for them to enter into a new situation and all those people and all those sensory overloads....I think about me entering a dance club with the top 40 rap crap...it makes me CRAZY....now add every part of your body acting on that..the hairs on your arm...the tips of your ears...the nerves in your toes...every part of your body AWARE of the surroundings.....like nails on a chalk board over and over again...now THINK! Now MOVE! Now CONTAIN your emotions. That is my Joe...his every day...he lives with the outside world seemingly attacking him and has to learn to function with it all day...every day...but he DID IT!

That wonderful 10 year old boy FOUGHT like hell to overcome his anxiety and competed TWICE! He fell apart after the first and came back to do the second....he just did. His EA called me and said he is too distraught to do the second run...then she called me 10 minutes later and said he is GOING! I was with Dad and he and I raced up to the school to watch......and Joe DID IT again! He got in line for half an hour and got up to the start and listened to the starter and started running at the whistle....two full laps around and he never stopped running....came 8th...and walked off huffing and puffing and posed for pictures!...LOL!

I'm in AWE of my boy! The strength to overcome all that anxiety to do it TWICE! When life gives you lemons you squish them...that is how a person on the ASD spectrum thinks...you are not at the lemonade stage yet..it's always the next step first...squish them!

Today Joe squished them...and then some!

Proud Momma of an ASD boy LOVE to you all! XXOO