A Patriotic Hobbit

Hey Humble Readers!

Happy Canada Day! 

The Great White North is celebrating 145 years of being a sovereign nation, and I'm so proud to be a Canadian. 

We are known to be a quirky bunch up here.  I know that I'm no exception.

Yes, I say 'eh', and no, most Americans don't use it in the right context, even when they're mocking us.  No, I don't say 'aboot', I say about.  Some Canadians do have funny accents (but hey, have you ever talked to someone from Maine?  Their accent is just as funny!), and we tend to laugh at ourselves a little bit easier than other countries... in my experience anyway. 

Answers to other rather ridiculous questions that I have gotten over the years about my beautiful country...

• No, we don't live in igloos.
• Yes, we do have indoor plumbing and electricity. 
• Yes, it gets hot here.  It can easily break 100F in July and August.
• No, our national bird is not the mosquito.
• No, polar bears and moose don't wander down the streets of our cities and towns on a regular basis.  At least, not in most towns.
• Yes, we have a standing army and navy.  They have played key roles in almost all international conflicts that have taken place over the last 145 years. 
• Yes, we get summer.  And the only place you can ski in July is on a glacier on top of a mountain.  But you'll likely need a helicopter to get there. 
• Yes, our money is colourful.  We like it that way.  (And it in no way resembles Monopoly money)
• Yes we tend to say 'sorry' a lot.  We're a polite bunch, mostly.  Except for when someone refers to our country as cute, adorable, or quaint.  Then we get cranky.

And as a nation we most certainly love our beer.  Personally, I'm not a big beer drinker.  I prefer wine or coolers, but I do know a good beer when I taste it, and most brands of Canadian beer are far better than any of the mainstream American beers.  (Kokanee is the exception that proves the rule... blech!) 

The guys in this video have come up with a way to show their patriotism along with their love for beer. 

I give you 'The Canadian National Canthem'!  Enjoy!

People I Wouldn't Want To Be Today

Hey Humble Readers...

I know it's been another bit of a stretch since I posted, and I will give you a personal update soon, but there are some things that I have rattling around in my head today that I really want to talk about.  I have scheduled an Ginevra's five month update for you guys for tomorrow, some come back to see some pics and hear how our wee sweet girl is doing these days.

*****
From tuning in to some of the news agencies based in the US, I know that certain recent events are taking up most of the air time.  And due to this, I'm sure that many of my friends south of the border aren't aware of some major changes in the Canadian political landscape that came to fruition last night. 

Now, I'm not really that into politics.  I vote my conscience, and pay attention to the major decisions and changes coming out of Ottawa, but that's about it.  So my opinions are just that... opinions of a curious hobbit.

Yesterday was our 4th time going to the polls in 7 years.  Our government has had to run federal elections pretty much every two years since 2004.  This has been due to the fact that no one political party has won a clear majority of seats in the House of Commons.  So, whenever a major issue comes up, like the annual budget or whether or not to bring our troops home from Afganistan, the other three official national parties would threaten to bring down the government with a no-confidence vote.  You can imagine how difficult it has been for our elected officials to get anything done in that sort of climate. 

Well, finally, that's all changed.  Stephen Harper and the Progressive Conservatives won a clear majority in yesterday's election and are chomping at the bit to get back to work.  But it was an historic election for more than the first majority government in 7 years.  Not the least of which... Elizabeth May, the leader of the Green Party has won her party's first EVER seat in the House of Commons. 

Here are the people I wouldn't want to be today... and the reasons why...

Michael Ignatieff - (former) leader of the Liberal Party, the man who called for the no-confidence vote in parlaiment at the end of March, that triggered this election.  This morning he woke up to the knowledge that not only did he not win his own riding, and thus lost his seat in the House of Commons, but that he lead the Liberals to the worst loss in this country's history.  Since 1867, the Liberals have either been the governing party or the official opposition.  Now they are just a small group of 32 men and women, who are shaking their heads and wondering how it got to this point.  Iggy has stepped down from party leadership, and it's unclear what his future will be.  Not only has he lost his seat in the House, and his job as party leader, but he also has lost his house in Ottawa. (In Canada we have an official residence for the leader of the Official Opposition.)

Gilles Duceppe - (former) leader of the Bloc Quebecois, the Quebec Separatist party.  He also had a really rough night last night, losing in his riding, and watching his party lose official status on the national level due to the loss of all but four of their seats in the Commons.  This is a very significant event, as it has been almost 20 years since the Bloc first entered the national political scene.  The fact that the vast majority of Quebecers have voted for national party representation rather than their regional independence-seeking party marks an amazing shift in thinking in Quebec. 

Jack Layton - leader of the New Democrat Party.  (In Canada we vote differently than the US.  My ballot yesterday only had four names on it, the four candidates that were running for Parlaiment in my riding in central Alberta.  The party which wins the most seats becomes the governing party, and the leader of that party becomes our Prime Minister.  We vote more based on the party rather than on the individual representative.)  Layton's NDPs effected a huge upset yesterday, gaining more than triple the number of seats in the Commons than they have ever had in the party's 50 year history.  They are now the Official Opposition.  The thing is, five weeks ago, no one, not even the NDP themselves, expected this kind of an upset, and they've been caught off gaurd with their incredible success.  As of this morning the NDP has a ton of new seats, filled by a lot of very inexperienced Members of Parlaiment.  Heck, four university students, including one young man who's only 19 years old, were just elected!  And considering how much of their inroads were in Quebec, not all of these new MPs speak French... YIKES!  And let's not even talk about parlaimentary procedure.  Talk about scrambling to get everyone up to speed! 

All in all, it was the most interesting election day we've had in a long LONG time, and we are going to be seeing repercussions of this for a long time to come, good and bad. 

Sometimes Moms Just Know

Hey Humble Readers...

Yesterday was a pretty blue day for me.  My heart was (and still is) hurting for WiseGuy, and I was feeling pretty low emotionally.  So it was a huge blessing when I got an email from my mom last night that made me laugh my ass off.  She sent it because she thought I needed a giggle, and I want to share it with you all, because laughter brings so much healing.

Keep in mind that this is a Canadian joke.  I don't mean it to be insulting to anyone, and it could easily be told the opposite way and be just as funny... maybe  ;)

Condom Emergency

The largest condom factory in the States burned down. President Obama was awakened at 4 am by telephone.

"Sorry to bother you at this hour, Sir, but there is an emergency! I've just received word that the Durex factory in Washington has burned to the ground. It is estimated that the entire USA supply of condoms will be gone by the end of the week."

Obama: "Oh damn! The economy will never be able to cope with all those unplanned babies. We'll be ruined. We'll have to ship some in from Mexico ."

Telephone voice says, "Bad idea... The Mexicans will have a field day with this one. We'll be a laughing stock. What about Canada ?"

Obama: "Okay, I'll call Stephen Harper and tell him we need five million condoms, ten inches long and three inches thick. That way, they'll continue to respect us as Americans."

Three days later, a delighted President Obama ran out to open the first of the 10,000 boxes that had just arrived.

He found five million condoms, 10 inches long and 3 inches thick, just as requested... all colored with red maple leaves with small writing on each one:

'MADE IN CANADA - SIZE MEDIUM'

Friday Night Lite

Good evening Humble Readers!

Due to the fact that I am beat beyond compare (first day back at work after my stay-cation and it was smokin' busy), I am not going to post the long thought-provoking post I had intended.

First and foremost... I was very impressed with your attempts at translating my confusing Canadianism. ('Hey, pass me a serviette... I just spilled my poutine on the chesterfield and I don't want to use my toque to clean it up') While no one got it all correct, Alana was closest. The actual trasnslation is... 'Hey, pass me a napkin... I just spilled my french-fries-with-gravy-and-cheese on the sofa and I don't want to use my winter-knit-stocking-cap to clean it up.'

Now before you start freaking out about the fries-with-gravy-and-cheese... yes, it is a heart attack on a plate, but it's DARN good! No, you can't use cheese sauce or fake cheese of any sort... it has to be real cheese, preferably cheese curd. And while it is french-Canadian in origin, the best poutine I've ever had has come from Chinese restaurants. And if you don't think you'd like it, that's just fine... all the more for me!

I think that's all I've got in me tonight, folks. I'm watching football with my beloved and I swear the ball their using is covered with olive oil, both teams are fumbling that much. I would love to be a fly on the wall in the BC Li.ons' locker room at the half... their coach's head is going to explode! Go Roughri.ders!

I hope all of my friends south of the 49th parallel have a fun and safe Independance Day!

Show & Tell: O Canada

Good Morning Humble Readers! And happy Canada Day!

In honour of my country's 142nd birthday, I am going to give you some cool Canadian trivia. (Btw, I am very proud of the pic of our flag... it took me more than 15 shots to get one I liked.) So...

• The name Canada comes from a Huron-Iroquois word (Kanata) which means settlement or village.


• Tim Hortons (the quintessential Canadian fast food chain... coffee and doughnuts) out sells the golden arches every year, earning us the nickname of the Timbit Nation


• Canadians have invented a lot of stuff including... basketball, five pin bowling, pacemakers, ginger ale, Trivial Pursuit, Superman, zippers, velcro, standard time, the electron microscope, the Canadarm, snowblowers, and IMAX


• Canada has the second largest land mass in the world, but the smallest population density


• In the entertainment world, Canadians are known for their comedy... Jim Carrey, John Candy, Mike Myers, Michael J. Fox, Dan Akroyd, Dave Foley, Tom Green, Phil Hartman, Eugene Levy, Rick Mercer, Howie Mandel, Andrea Martin, Leslie Nielson, Colin Mochrie, Rick Moranis, Martin Short, and my personal favourite, Shaun Majumder.


• In Canadian history, we have an equivalent to Paul Revere... her name was Laura Secord, and she warned the British of an impending attack by Americans during the War of 1812, and the Brits were able to win the battle (and ultimately the war). Also, during the War of 1812, Canadians managed to burn down the west wing of the White House (not one of our best moments).


• The Hudson's Bay company once owned more than 10% of the surface of the earth.


• The following statement is generally considered the most confusing thing a Canadian can say to anyone in the english-speaking world... "Hey, hand me a serviette because I just spilled my poutine on the chesterfield, and I don't want to use my toque to clean it up." (10 hobbit points to any of my American friends who can translate ;) )

I hope all you hosers out there have a groovy Dominion Day... enjoy your bbqs, beer, and fireworks! I know I will, eh...

And don't forget to head over to Mel's to check out what the rest of the class is showing this week!

Kreativ Blogger Award

My lovely bloggy-friend, Alana, over at Alana-isms has honoured me with this award.

I'm not sure that I qualify as a creative blogger (mostly I just whine a lot) but I am grateful to have an opportunity to write about some of the things that I love.

So here's how it works:

1. When given the award, you write about seven things that you love.

2. Pass the award to seven bloggers that you love, and be sure to tag them and let them know they've won.

Seven things I love: (in no particular order)

• My Beloved: I never ever thought that I would find a man who would be able to love me with all my foibles. He is sweet, sensitive, and smart (not to mention sexy!). He's even cute when he's snoring on the couch (like now). He raves about my cooking, even on the bad experimental days, and he does the dishes. He longs for babies as much as I do, and understands when I have sad days.

• My Job/Books: Not many people I know who work in retail love their jobs, but I do. I have worked in retail book sales for almost 10 years, and honestly I don't think I could have made it through that long if I didn't love my work. And what's not to love? I get to be around books all day, I get to talk about books all day, I get to work with people who (for the most part) love books, and most of my customers are book lovers too. I get a great discount (which feeds my addiction) and I am exposed to a lot of great titles and authors that I probably wouldn't otherwise have found. Yes, I can gripe about crappy days, like everyone else, but really, give me a crazy Saturday at Christmas-time and I'm in heaven.

• The Colour Red: I have always loved red. My wedding dress had red trim. I carried red tulips. My new glasses are partially red. My hair looks best when it's red. My bedroom is a deep deep (very romantic) red. My couch is red. Sensing a trend yet? It's the colour that I look best in. The only bummer is because of our dress code, I only get to wear red to work in December.

• Broadway Musicals: This love has been a long and slow-to-develop love. I loved watching the old movie musicals when I was a kid (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, anyone?), but then slowly got away from it in middle school. When I was in college, a friend talked me into watching 'Into the Woods' (the original cast) and I was intrigued. I had the soundtrack, and would occasionally listen to it over the years. Then a few years ago, a friend got involved in musical theater. This around the time of the release of 'Rent' as a movie... and well... let's just say I was a goner. "Wicked", "The Producers", "Hairspray", "Mama Mia", "Sweeney Todd", "Fiddler on the Roof", "Music Man", and "West Side Story" are all on my playlist right now. Guess why I want to go to NYC?

• School Supplies: Hi, my name is Mrs. Gamgee and I'm an addict. I'm addicted to buying pens, pencils, notebooks, markers, paper... anything that could count as school supplies. There's a line in "You've Got Mail" that I love... about bouquets of freshly sharpened pencils. I'm not allowed to shop at an office supply store unaccompanied. I will go nuts and buy a lifetime supply of blue pens. One of my goals in life is to own an old-school fountain pen, the kind where you have to fill it from an ink pot.
  

• Odd Canadian Music: Ok, so this one is on the list because I just found my Captain Tractor cd and I'm totally stoked. There are a lot of great Canadian bands out there that people outside of Canada have never heard of. Most of you have probably heard of Barena.ked La.dies (guess who's heartbroken that they broke up?), but have you heard of Moxy Fruvous (check out "King of Spain") or the aforementioned Captain Tractor ("The Last Saskatchewan Pirate")? Even groups like the Rankin Family, the Irish Rovers, Great Big Sea, and the Irish Decendants... they all fall into that bizarre melting pot that is fabulous Canadian music.
  

• Cooking: I love cooking. I love trying new recipes. I have to differentiate between cooking and baking, though. I am not a big fan of baking. You have to be too exact. Cooking is a release for me. I can be creative and most of the time things turn out (we won't talk about the chicken noodle casserole incident of 2002 or the beef & rice skillet that was just plain ookey from last month). I tend towards mostly mediterranean flavours, although I am hoping to branch out into thai sometime soon.
  

And now for the seven blogs that I love... (so hard to pick just seven)

• Lindsay at Destined to Be An Old Woman With No Regrets: She makes me think. She makes me laugh. And I am living vicariously through her pregnancy!
• Eve at Infertility Rocks!: Sarcastic and spirited, her posts are never dull and always chuckle-inducing. She's bravely considering IVF (check out her RE 'dates') and is open about her worries.
• Liv at Can You Imagine: You can't help but enjoy her peaceful attitude and positive outlook about her upcoming IUI and life on the road to baby.
• Katie at Isn't TTC Supposed To Be Fun?: She's going through a rough time right now, dealing with the loss of one of her babies-to-be. But her hopeful heart shines through her sadness.
• Mr. Shelby at Two Peas Waiting For Our Pod: I've just really started reading his blog after the last couple ICLWs, and it so great to read about the IF journey from a guy's perspective.
• Bunny at Bugaboo Envy: She's out to catch the 'baby flu' that seems to be going around :).
• Country Girl/City Girl: Humour, sarcasm, and the ability to laugh at themselves and those around them... and be serious when it's called for. Totally smurfy!
  

And of course honourable mention would go to Alana!