Friday, September 30, 2005

Legal in Canada Already!!

Found this on Norma's blog, and even though same-sex marriage is legal in Canada (yay Canada!), I had to post it - very funny, in a thought-provoking way. Kind of shoots the anti gay marriage arguments in the foot.

So, without further ado, I give you Reasons Why Gay Marriage Should Not Be Allowed in America ...

1) Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, liposuction and air conditioning.

2) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

3) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

4) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

5) Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britney Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.

6) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.

7) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

8) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.

9) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans...

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Re-post this if you believe in legalizing gay marriage, or are happy to have same sex marriage legal already where you live.

And yes, I am of the opinion that same-sex marriage is a GOOD THING. 'Cause they're people, ya know?

P-e-o-p-l-e, not P-e-r-v-e-r-t-s. Take that, so called "religious right"! Phooey on you!

Bump in the Road

Hah! Gotcha! Not that kind of bump, not this time. Nope.

Yesterday (very early Thursday morning) I had just hit "Publish Post" when there was a knock on the door. Keep in mind that it was very early. Wearing robe and hair-standing-out-like-a-clown early. And dark. Really, really dark.

As DH was still in the process of dressing (he was all clean and shiny, but hadn't yet put on pants), he ducked into the bedroom while I looked all confused (who comes to the door at that hour? really?) and answered the door.

An older, somewhat panic-y blond woman blurts out that there is a "body in the middle of the street", and that I should call 9-1-1. Then, she bolts. Takes off. Runs. Gone into the blackness of the really early morning. In my pre-caffeinated state, I step out into the front yard, and can see a rather large bump in the middle of the road, a few houses down.

Well, a zillion scary things are going through my mind (she's got accomplices, and as soon as I step out to check on this body on the road, they're going to rob/rape/beat/murder me). Thankfully, DH is much more pragmatic. He gets dressed, pulls on a coat and his reflective safety vest, and goes booting down the street. As I stand barefoot on the sidewalk (in my fluffy white robe) I hear him yell "she's alive but really cold - call the cops!"

Yup, dialed 9-1-1, and got to tell the dispatcher that there was a woman laying in the middle of our street. She tells me there is a patrol car in our area already, and she will send him our way - within two seconds, he's turning the corner onto our street (at the other end). I wave to him, then point down the street to where DH (smart, that DH) has put his coat / reflective vest combo over the woman. As the RCMP vehicle approaches, there is a big glowing X on her, and DH standing between the car and the woman, waving his arms. He's good that way.

Realizing I'm cold and practically naked, I hustle my fluffy arse back inside, and wait. DH appears in less than two minutes. He apparently got her to respond, but when he first approached her, she appeared to be asleep! He had assisted the RCMP officer with getting the woman (who he described as really young, blond, and not at all coherent) into the vehicle, was thanked, then headed home.

We talked about it for a few minutes, then the man was off to work. Just like that. All over in less than six minutes.

Last night when he came home we talked again, and decided that the incident had taught us a few things, and helped us to realize others:

1. When it's dark and you're the only house on the street with lights on, you're going to get the (hopefully very rare) knock on the door.

2. DH acts and thinks really quickly before his morning coffee, whereas I don't (not new to me, but the first time he recognized that fact).

3. A "body in the road" has the capacity to be a teenager down after a night of drinking - but that doesn't matter. A person passed out in the road still needs attention.

4. Calling the RCMP was the correct, and only, feasible solution. Whether they took her to the drunk tank to dry out, or to the hospital to deal with hypothermia (it was a frosty morning), it doesn't matter. The proper authorities made the decision, and we were able to continue going about our daily routine once the problem was out of our hands.

5. Ours is a very small town. Having a patrol car in our area literally means just that. He was one corner away, and was dispatched to investigate and driving by me before I had a chance to check that my robe was closed (it was).

6. When DH told his co-workers about the incident, they managed to turn it into a joke. He's the only one married, and got teased all day with "How come the married one gets the hot young unconscious blond on his doorstep? Doesn't seem fair!" Apparently, men can turn anything into a joke.

7. The likelihood of either of us passing out in the middle of the street is far, far lower than it was when we were drinking our way through University. That makes us both happy, as where we live, it is below freezing for damn near half the year.

Yup, it was an interesting Thursday morning. And just in case, I bolted down my morning coffee as soon as it brewed. Because you never know when you're doing to be dealing with a crisis. Like a disappearing harbinger of doom. Or a hypothermic teenager asleep in the street.

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Signs there might be trouble ahead...

Hello. My name is Logan, and I am a knitaholic. I'm addicted to changing yarn weight. When my fingers tire of working with lace weight, I like to work my way up to Aran weight. When I've had enough of 5mm needles, I work my way back down.

Notice the use of the phrase "work my way" - intentional. Right now, I have the following projects on the needles:

1. Lace weight - a scarf (Christmas gift)
2. Shetland weight - a hap shawl (for me)
3. Fingering weight - a scarf (Christmas gift)
4. Sport weight - a stole (yup, for me)
5. DK weight - a scarf (testing a pattern I wrote)
6. Aran weight - a scarf (Christmas gift)

Notice any trends? Yup, this will be the Christmas of hand knitted scarves.

Also, please note that I can change from lace weight to Aran weight in ONLY SIX STEPS. I kill me.

Oh, and Deborah? You must be clairvoyant - within a week of your email, your guess was bang on. Yup, pregnant again. Am having blood tests every second day to follow my hormone levels, and an ultrasound on Tuesday (October 4th). We will wait and see how long it takes this pregnancy to end. Bets anyone?

We're really looking forward to this next miscarriage, as it will OFFICIALLY move us from "difficulty conceiving" to "spontaneous recurrent miscarriage", which is really what we should be getting treatment for. So, things are looking up, as we will finally be getting the right kind of help on the pro-creation front. Yippee!

Could I be stress knitting?

Sunday, September 18, 2005

What my Dad did this Weekend

First, consider this - what do you hope to be doing when you are 60, on a sunny but windy autumn weekend (in Alberta, Canada)?

You might have thought reading a great novel, enjoying a walk with the spouse and the dog, spinning the slots at a casino, or taking in some live theatre or a symphony event. All of these seem to me to be reasonable things for a 60 year old to do on a brisk Saturday in September.

Hell, I did two of them (reading, and enjoying a walk with spouse, sans dog) myself - great ways to spend time as the days grow shorter and the temperature drops.

My father, however, had different ideas. Yesterday, while I was reading and/or walking in the fall woods, he was . . . fracturing his tibia while avoiding a collision between a man in a catamaran and himself, windsurfing. Yup, Dad spent the first part of Saturday windsurfing on a chilly Alberta lake, and the second part in emergency, having his fractured leg prepped for surgery.

I just got word that he came through the surgery well, but is now the proud owner of a plate and some pins. He will be joining my younger brother in the list of family members who always set off the metal detectors at airports. Dad may be released as early as Tuesday, so long as he takes to the crutches and pain killers well.

I wonder how long until he is back on the windsurfer? Because he just started taking windsurfing lessons at age 57 - until then, water sports for Dad had consisted of margaritas on the beach, and cursing a misplaced umbrella during a heavy rain. Now he owns a sail and a harness.

Also, he has always wanted to learn to hangglide. Maybe when he's 70...

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Love & Loathing in my Basement

Warning: Those of you with a weak stomach for serious stash collecting should turn away now. Anyone who purchases "just enough for the project I'm starting now", run for the hills. This post is about STASH. Serious friggin' STASH.

Yesterday, I went and picked up the mail for the first half of the week. No, we don't get house-to-house delivery here - we have to schlep up to the local Canada Post Office, which is (oh, so conveniently) only open between 9:00am and 5:00pm, Monday through Friday, with a four hour window on Saturday (10-2). Seriously.

In the mail, along with the usual assortment of flyers and junk, was the latest Hancocks of Paducah catalogue. While I'm not really a fan of their online shop (poorly organized IMHO, and slow service), I do love their catalogue. So, when I got home and had put away the last of the groceries, I brewed myself a cup of Dilmah tea (thanks Carla!) and sat down on the couch to peruse.

Yummmmm. Page after page of glorious colour. Amazing textures. Incredible groupings. Ahhhh (insert Homer Simpson sound and drool effect here).

Then, as I flipped through again, marking my favorite fabrics with a pen, I began to notice a trend. So I put down the catalogue (step away from the catalogue), did something else for a while (laundry and dishes - always there in a pinch), and gave it all some time to sink in.

Okay, clean clothes and dishes done, back to the catalogue. Yup, there it is again. Time to face the music. I marched myself downstairs, and opened the door to the incredible mess I call my Stash. Stepping over the piles and bags of yarn, working my way around the really-good-bargain picture frames and roll of Fast2Fuse, I began to search my fabric stash storage shelves.

Sneaking suspicion confirmed. During the summer of knitting rather than quilting, my quilting fabric stash, while not changing, has matured into --- a collection of my favorite fabrics. The stuff I marked as delightful in the HoP catalogue? More than 90% of it is already in my possession, and just waiting to come out and play.

I love my stash. My stash terrifies me. It needs organizing. And more shelves. Okay, fine, just the yarn part needs organizing and shelves. See how organized the fabric stash is? I love my stash.

Monday, September 12, 2005

Napping + Nature = Good

This is where I have spent most of today (with brief stumbles about to blog, do laundry, and knit on the balcony). Note the presence of a Peanut, the home-made quilt, and the messy multitude of pillows - all essential for a day of serious nappitude.

This is what has been happening outside while I've been napping. Nature has made the leaves all bright and obnoxious, but in a lovely, lovely way. The clouds boiling about behind the mountain are staying over there (good clouds, well behaved clouds). Immediately above casa de Logan is sunshine, which is doing all it can to make the golden leaves even brighter. Nature turns on the high beams.

Home Again and Resting

I posted my last blog August 30th, and today is September 12th. Where have I been in the days in between? Well...

Since I left Blogdom on August 30th, I have driven 3,300 kilometres, slept in eight different beds (two were crashing with family, the rest were motels), eaten in countless restaurants (fine, I just didn't count), and seen the colour of the poplar leaves turn from rich lush green to translucent gold. It was a long, but lovely, trip.

Day One (August 30th): Drove from home (Grande Cache, AB) to Bob and Sandra's (the in-laws) in Langley, BC (11.5 hours drive time - not including stop and rest my numb butt time).

Day Two: Drove from Bob and Sandra's to the Vancouver Airport where I picked up Mom, Aunt Carla, and Carla's husband Adrian. Drove them to their hotel in Richmond. Drove back to Bob and Sandra's.

Day Three: Picked up Mom, Carla and Adrian in Richmond. Took the ferry from Tsawassen to Sidney, on Vancouver Island. Found motel just outside of Victoria. Drove around, found the Butterfly Gardens (which we all enjoyed).

Day Four: Drove from Victoria to Nanaimo, stopping on the side of the highway once to stare up at giant maple trees, and then taking a side detour to avoid a snarl in traffic. Put feet in a picturesque lake. Found motel in Nanaimo, and stuffed ourselves silly with really good seafood (really fresh seafood, too).

Day Five: Drove from Nanaimo to Campbell River, with brief side trip to a mining museum in Cumberland, and a stop to take photos of the ocean end of a logging operation, culminating in a raid on a wild blackberry patch that left us all with purple stained fingers and mouths.

Day Six: Dropped off Mom, Carla and Adrian for their trip to see Grizzly Bears doing what grizzly bears do (no, not sh!tting in the woods - catching and consuming salmon during the salmon spawning run). They saw 10 grizzlies! I napped. Staying in Campbell River again.

Day Seven: Drove to Powell River, then caught three different ferries for a scenic (but slow) trip back to Horseshoe Bay in Vancouver. Got a lot of knitting done while waiting for ferries, and while riding on ferries. Took the TransCanada Highway through Vancouver (only way to go), and found a crappy motel in Abbotsford for the night.

Day Eight: Drove from Abbotsford to Chilliwack, where we gassed up and had a real Canadian breakfast (bagels at Tim Hortons). Drove to a rest stop near Hope, where Adrian took over behind the wheel. He did really well considering he is used to driving on the other side of the road (from New Zealand). He spelled me until Kamloops, where we stopped for lunch. I then drove until Valemount (a long day of mostly driving, as opposed to Day Seven's long day of mostly waiting for ferries).

Day Nine: Drove from Valemount to Home!!! In between, we stopped at Rearguard Falls (definitely worth the quick walk), Mount Robson (best on a sunny day), a few roadside turnoffs in Jasper National Park, and had lunch and did some shopping in Jasper. Total distance: 2,400km

Day Ten: Got up really early to drive to Edmonton with my husband (who had been working, so was alone at home the entire length of my road trip) and my Mom. Dropped Mom off at her vehicle, and went to the doctor. Spent the night with DH's brother and new sister-in-law.

Day Eleven: Drove home (4.5 hours, and the addition of an extra 900 or so km to the total). DH went off to work for the afternoon. Did some housecleaning, grocery shopping, laundry, etc. Really, really, really tired, but still have Carla and Adrian here, so the company was good. Mom and her husband (Horst) arrived around 4:30pm. Things got lively.

Day Twelve: Hung around the house, all reading or watching TV. Six adults in the house, but things were pretty quiet and relaxed (we were all bagged). It was cloudy and raining most of the day. Weather cleared up early evening, so I took Horst, Carla, Adrian and DH up to the Sulphur Gates, then out looking for animals. Yes, I left my Mom home alone - but she was manning the phones (and a good thing she did - my older brother Dan got hold of her and they planned activities for the next day). On the way back, we had critter encounters with four mule deer, one bull elk, and numerous female and young elk. Adrian and Carla were thrilled (they had begun to think we'd been lying whenever we talked about the local wildlife).

Day Thirteen: Mom, Horst, Carla and Adrian packed up and left, heading for a reunion with Dan. DH and I went into blah mode. I started, but did not finish, a humungous pile of laundry. And, I thought about cleaning house, but chose not to.

And, that brings me to today - Monday, September 12th. DH is at work. I'm tired. I napped on and off all day, basking in the silence. I love company, and enjoyed the time with family, but man oh man, I'm out of practice. I did get some knitting time out on the balcony this afternoon, enjoying the gorgeous fall colours and snow on the peaks across the valley. Now, I'm off to bed. Again. Or, maybe a bubble bath. In blessed silence.