How I Spent My Christmas...

For those of you who did not complete the Evelyn Woodhead Speed Reading Course...

1. After the 2007 experience in which 7YO - then 6YO - woke us up at 1:30 and we finally got up around 3:30, he was told not to wake us until 6. I heard him at 5:09 when he came to "see if we were awake." At 5:19 he came back to ask what time it was (he knows how to read the clock). I said, "It doesn't count if you wake us up to ask the time," but we got up.

2. Lo' and behold, Santa had come. From us, 7YO received Pokemon figures, a Star Wars-Transformers thing (that about put me in the nuthouse last night), Mouse Trap, a game for his DS, and a game for the Wii. The Wii, you may recall, had been purchased as "the big gift," a family gift. Santa brought a car that you can drive on the wall, on the ceiling...

3. We had a quiet morning, a nice breakfast, and P started cooking around 11.

4. Although it was fairly mild, we had a nice fire going in the wood stove. This is a "thank goodness" because, well, see #5 below.

5. At 3:15, when we were about 20 minutes from sitting down to dinner... THE POWER WENT OUT. At first I thought perhaps a circuit had flipped, though I knew this was unlikely. Nope. Power was out in the neighbourhood, and I don't know how far beyond.

6. P made gravy on the woodstove, got the brussel sprouts and stuffing hotter on the woodstove. Everything else had been ready and waiting to be served.

7. I went and found the trusty battery-operated Coleman lantern, cleaned it off, and put the batteries in. P put candles on the table.

8. Things to know - we rely on an electric well pump for water, everything in the house is electric, it gets dark around 4:30.

9. We ate. It was delicious. We put the pie on the woodstove to stay warm.

10. We couldn't do the dishes. We couldn't flush the toilets.

11. 7YO whined about all the things he could not do without power. A good learning experience.

12. We played Mouse Trap by lantern.

13. We went to bed around 8. The house was still warm. ICF + woodstove = fabulous.

14. The lights flickered on around 8:30... and then went off again.

15. The lights came on around 1:30 this morning.

16. We have power. I'm posting this in real time.

17. There's nothing magical about 16 so I'm adding 17 just to avoid a pattern.

18. I like even numbers.

There you have it! I would never have imagined that, after all we've been through, we'd sit down to our first Christmas dinner in the house, in Canada, together and have no power. But, we knew there would be power issues in the area and one of the reasons we wanted this particular kind of wood stove was because we could cook on it. I consider this a victory of sorts.

And now, on to Boxing Day!

Not so random thoughts...

and in no particular order.

1. It's snowing, again.

2. P is back - for good!

3. 7YO is beyond excited for tomorrow.

4. Our builder is the devil.

5. The devil is in the details.

6. An anonymous donor gave $1,000,000 to the folks in Burnsville, MN, mostly already poor, whose apartment complex was destroyed by fire. Those are the stories you like to see.

7. Al Franken is up by 46 votes in the never ending recount in Minnesota.

8. Another expat family has arrived. The folks at Alice in Canada crossed the border last night. Woo-hoo!

9. I love our wood stove.

10. I think we need to buy a snow blower.

11. We're starting to think that most of the people in New Brunswick are crooks.

12. We hope we're wrong.

13. Crazy as it sounds, Facebook and my blogger friends saved (some degree of) my sanity these past four months. Thank you!

14. I'm still able to get up from sitting without pain. Thank heavens for Cortisone.

15. I'm looking forward to a new year that is much less stressful than the past year has been.

16. We're trying to figure out what our next car will be. We're torn between a more practical vehicle for where we live v. a smaller, fuel efficient vehicle. Even if we could get our hands on one, we can't afford a hybrid SUV. Advice is welcome.

Okay, I have to go sequester myself and do some gift wrapping. Then it's one more run to the store before we hunker down for the holiday. Regardless of what you celebrate, or do not, best wishes for a wonderful winter weekend!

No Surprise

In a First, Gay Rights Are Pressed at the U.N.

By Neil MacFarquhar
Published: December 18, 2008

An unprecedented declaration seeking to decriminalize homosexuality won the support of 66 countries in the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, but opponents criticized it as an attempt to legitimize pedophilia and other “deplorable acts.”

The United States refused to support the nonbinding measure, as did Russia, China, the Roman Catholic Church and members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. The Holy See’s observer mission issued a statement saying that the declaration “challenges existing human rights norms.”

The declaration, sponsored by France with broad support in Europe and Latin America, condemned human rights violations based on homophobia, saying such measures run counter to the universal declaration of human rights.

“How can we tolerate the fact that people are stoned, hanged, decapitated and tortured only because of their sexual orientation?” said Rama Yade, the French state secretary for human rights, noting that homosexuality is banned in nearly 80 countries and subject to the death penalty in at least six.

France decided to use the format of a declaration because it did not have the support for an official resolution. Read out by Ambassador Jorge Argüello of Argentina, the declaration was the first on gay rights read in the 192-member General Assembly itself.

Although laws against homosexuality are concentrated in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, more than one speaker addressing a separate conference on the declaration noted that the laws stemmed as much from the British colonial past as from religion or tradition.

Navanethem Pillay, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, speaking by video telephone, said that just like apartheid laws that criminalized sexual relations between different races, laws against homosexuality “are increasingly becoming recognized as anachronistic and as inconsistent both with international law and with traditional values of dignity, inclusion and respect for all.”

The opposing statement read in the General Assembly, supported by nearly 60 nations, rejected the idea that sexual orientation was a matter of genetic coding. The statement, led by the Organization of the Islamic Conference, said the effort threatened to undermine the international framework of human rights by trying to normalize pedophilia, among other acts.

The Organization of the Islamic Conference also failed in a last-minute attempt to alter a formal resolution that Sweden sponsored condemning summary executions. It sought to have the words “sexual orientation” deleted as one of the central reasons for such killings.

Ms. Yade and the Dutch foreign minister, Maxime Verhagen, said at a news conference that they were “disappointed” that the United States failed to support the declaration. Human rights activists went further. “The Bush administration is trying to come up with Christmas presents for the religious right so it will be remembered,” said Scott Long, a director at Human Rights Watch.

The official American position was based on highly technical legal grounds. The text, by using terminology like “without distinction of any kind,” was too broad because it might be interpreted as an attempt by the federal government to override states’ rights on issues like gay marriage, American diplomats and legal experts said.

“We are opposed to any discrimination, legally or politically, but the nature of our federal system prevents us from undertaking commitments and engagements where federal authorities don’t have jurisdiction,” said Alejandro D. Wolff, the deputy permanent representative.

Gay-rights advocates brought to the conference from around the world by France said just having the taboo broken on discussing the topic at the United Nations would aid their battles at home. “People in Africa can have hope that someone is speaking for them,” said the Rev. Jide Macaulay of Nigeria.

********
United States: Nay
Canada: Yea
Mexico: Yea

But, hey, let's keep in mind that the only two countries that have not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child are the United States and Somalia. The rationale of the United States? That it could mean international law might trump U.S. state and federal law and the rights of parents to make decisions about raising and educating their children. Read into that however you wish.

Peace Fellowship

I just felt like posting something positive about a recent college graduate...

"Recent Hamline University graduate Sarah Houghton has received a prestigious Rotary World Peace Fellowship, one of just sixty awarded worldwide, and one of thirteen awarded to students in the United States, which she will use to earn her master’s in international relations from International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan.

The Rotary Foundation awards up to 110 Rotary World Peace Fellowships each year, including sixty master’s degree fellowships and fifty professional development certificate fellowships. Rotary World Peace Fellows are chosen from countries and cultures around the globe, and selection for the master’s degree program is based on the strength of an applicant’s undergraduate degree, the relevance of their post-graduation work experience, and their anticipated ability to have a significant, positive impact on world peace and conflict resolution.

Fellows are recognized as future leaders in promoting national and international cooperation, peace, and the successful resolution of conflict throughout their lives, in their careers and through service activities.

Houghton, who majored in global studies and East Asian studies at Hamline and speaks Chinese and Spanish, hopes to dedicate her career to fostering peace and world understanding by addressing the roots of poverty in struggling countries. Currently, she is serving as director of a water project in Bolivia, also funded by Rotary International. There, she is working with engineers and craftsmen to provide clean water to Bolivian families who have highly contaminated wells.

Houghton graduated summa cum laude from Hamline University in 2007. During her time there, she received an independent research grant to study in China, where she spent time as a grant and publication’s translator for NGO Women’s Legal Aide and as a English teacher for CCTEC Engineering Company, Ltd. She also spent time as a math and reading tutor for elementary school children, was a Model United Nations teaching assistant and president, participated in mediator training, was a student orientation leader, and took a leadership role in several diversity efforts and events on campus. She received a host of awards at Hamline, including the Global Studies Student of Year in 2007.

“My professors at Hamline were instrumental in pushing me academically, mentoring me and helping me to reach my post-graduation goals,” Houghton said. “I chose Hamline because I liked the combination of the small school in a big city. I was impressed by the academic programs, student activism and the access to mentorships, due to the small student-to-staff ratio.”

An active volunteer with a number of nonprofit organizations, Houghton currently serves as ambassador for Etta’s Comedor de Niños, a community center she helped to found in Bolivia. She has also volunteered as a kindergarten teacher at an orphanage in Bolivia, helped out at a Minneapolis food shelf, and spent time as a language camp counselor at Concordia Language Villages. Houghton hails from Ishpeming, Michigan and graduated from Negaunee High School. Her parents, Bruce and Katherine Houghton still reside in Ishpeming. They met each other at Hamline University, where they graduated in 1974 and 1972, respectively."

Not bad for someone who is about 23, if that.

Update on the Knees

As some of you will recall, I've had one hellacious time with my knees this year. On or around 10 July I went to the after hours clinic, since I don't have a family doctor. She wrote a referral to an orthopedic surgeon and said to take ibuprofen. Sometime in early August I called the ortho to see what kind of wait we were looking at. The woman on the phone said 18-24 months. Longer story short, I got an appointment, for today, with an ortho in Calais, Maine. It's about 90 minutes on a good day, meaning clear weather and no border wait.

This morning 7YO and I went out to wait for the bus. It is always right on time, 7:30 sharp. At 7:32, I came to call the school closing line. BTW, they've had two closures in the last two weeks. Turned out, the schools were open, but the buses were running an hour late. So, off we went. We had to do the trick of shifting to first to make the first two downhill corners to the main road, Carlisle Road. Then, we slid a tad and I noticed cars a way down that had their flashers on and were crawling. So, I did the same. We made it to the school - the street of which was well sanded. The principal and the two teachers I spoke with looked at me like I was clearly insane to think of driving to Maine. Practically, and stupidly, in tears, I said, "I've waited four months for this appointment, I can't cancel it." I had some extra time so I knew that I could go slowly. It's all secondary roads.

Off I went, at about 8:00, but only after hearing that 18 cars had slid off the aforementioned Carlisle Road. I took it very slowly on 105 and was reassured by those being equally as cautious. After a while - it was supposed to be creeping its way toward 10 C (50 F) today - people picked up the pace, even passing me on a double yellow line. I was supposed to be at the office at 9:15 for a 9:30 appointment. Fortunately they are on Eastern time so I actually had 2 and quarter hours to make the trip. At 9:18, their time, I was sitting at the border. I arrived at 9:20. Whew! They had a sign, "If you are 15 minutes late you will have to be rescheduled." I would have sat down and cried.

I only waited about 5 minutes - after the 10 minutes it took to get me set up in the computer. The LPN, or whatever she was, took some more history and the ortho came in at what was probably about 15 minutes later. Let's even say it was 10:00. Hold on to your hats. I was with him for 45 minutes. I never even got that kind of time with my primary care physician doing a "complete" physical!

I won't bore you with the whole deal, except to say that after actually listening to me - something that the two doctors I saw about my knee in Saint Paul (one acronym: HMO) failed to do - he said that while I did have "very mild" arthritis in my knees, the real problem was Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome. Reading this site I was, like, "Duh?!"He freaked me out when he asked about some things (e.g., Can you bend your thumb all the way down to your arm? Answer: Yes, in my non-arthritic hand.) He said I had "loose joints," said something about collagen, and said that, judging by my history (e.g., I rode 1600 bike miles in the summer of 1998, did the Breast Cancer 3-Day - 6o miles - in 2004 and 2005, have always done a lot of load bearing activity with, shall we say, an extra load?) I have simply trashed my knees. This all combined with being knock-kneed (I always thought it was just fat), a complicating factor.

So, he patiently went through a list of about a dozen options (e.g., do nothing, ibuprofen, heat/ice on up to surgery) and told me what he did (exercise) and did not (MRI) recommend and why/why not. We decided on a cortisone shot in each knee. He would have done my shoulder - which he said is likely a pinched tendon - but didn't want to do three shots and I opted to focus on my legs since they have been soooooo bad.

Then, having talked about the fact that I am paying out of pocket (I still have US health insurance, but it's a $2300 deductible), he said that he wasn't going to charge me for the shots. Huh? Wow. I don't know how much the office visit will be because contrary to the sign which demanded payment, they said they'd send a bill. I opted not to even ask. Ignorance is bliss - until bills and payday.

After picking up some milk (US$3.14 a gallon instead of about US$6.44 a gallon, adjusting for litres/gallons and the $), which we go through like there's no tomorrow, I headed back. The roads were great on the way back. 7YO was having a blast at a friend's house. Thank you, R, thank you!

My legs are a bit sore, but I can already tell a little bit of difference in how they feel when I get up from sitting. He recommended straight-leg lifts to work on my quads, but no leg extensions; ibuprofen, heat/ice, avoid stairs (which I already do when I can), weight loss (of course) and come back in four weeks. We discussed Synvisc, at about $1100 a knee. If the cortisone and dropping some pounds doesn't help I will consider it. At least then my deductible will be done and anything else for the year is covered at 80%! I just can't keep being so immobile if there is a good option.

So, that's the latest. Someday I'll get a call from the guy here. And, I'll go. Who knows what will be happening by then and I wouldn't want to pass up the opportunity to get in the door.

Oh, the really - is this ironic or coincidental? - thing is that on the way to Calais, the Fredericton CBC did a segment on the problems with the after hours clinics. Apparently, even though they post hours, e.g., 6-10 pm, people have shown up at, say, 9 to find the doctors gone. Turns out that the after hours' doctors are volunteers who come after their "day jobs." They have the right to limit how many people they will see or go home if there's nobody waiting. That was interesting to learn. Needless to say, health care here is in serious crisis. Then, I heard a segment about a pediatric nurse from here who has been living in the UK. She wants to come back, but they want to require her to do all kinds of training in areas in which she has no interest (e.g., psychiatry). She's going to come back and fight them.

As always, there you have it!

Reminders

Yesterday, 12 December, would have been my cousin's 53rd birthday. I say "would have" because Lisa died in July 2001. Her eldest daughter was several weeks away from her 15th birthday. Her younger daughter had turned 13 that March. Lisa was a successful business woman and her husband was and is a nice guy, also successful in his work as a hospital administrator. She had the "picture perfect" life - slender, non-smoker, great family, beautiful home... She was first diagnosed with breast cancer. It looked like she was going to be a survivor, but then she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Even with such an aggressive disease, they were ready to write up her success when things took a turn for the worse. Ultimately, she lost her battle with cancer.

Today, 13 December, I found out that a colleague found out yesterday that she has cancer. From her Caring Bridge site -

"Several months ago (August of 2008), she started experiencing back pain. After an initial MRI, she was told she had a fracture in her vertebrae. For several months Deanna diligently wore a brace to heal the fracture. The past two weeks, the fracture, however, got worse.

On December 8th, Deanna had another MRI and at the doctor's request, a subsequent biopsy of the lower back. She was admitted to the hospital on December 10th because the biopsy had come back malignant. She was admitted by the Spinal doctor, but the Oncologist quickly became involved. It turns out, the bone in the vertebrae had weakened, and had fractured because of the cancer within the back.

After a CT Scan, the news became worse, and that it was not only in the back, but had also gotten to the pelvis, with a couple spots on the lung. Because the form of cancer appeared to be estrogen based, the breast was still the likely culprit. This had not been verified. The doctors still needed to verify the source as the breast, so an ultrasound and biopsy of chest was proposed, and conducted on Thursday, December 11th."

On the 12th they confirmed that the cancer originated in the breast. She has started Tamoxifen and begins five days a week radiation on Monday.

Deanna is a successful academic, adored and respected by students and colleagues, alike. She is involved in her field - religion - locally and nationally. Like my cousin, Deanna's husband is a good guy. Like my cousin, she has two girls, 9 and 12. I am just stunned by the news. This is someone who is not overweight, doesn't smoke, is a vegetarian, gave birth twice (a factor related to breast cancer), etc.

Please keep her in your thoughts. Thanks.

Friday, Friday, Friday

Still working on getting settled. I won't go into the absolute and continuing nightmare of the house as eventually I'll have to wherewithall the update the other blog. Rather, I want to mention a few of the good things that have been happening...

The doorbell rang on Tuesday evening and it was one of our neighbours. They live across the street and a few houses down. She and her teenage daughter had come calling - with a Christmas wreath for our door and the daughter's "card" for babysitting. A sitter right across the street? Score! We chatted for close to an hour. That was a really nice welcome.

The next evening 7YO had his school's Christmas Concert. And, yes, it was a Christmas concert, even including a few less secular tunes like Away in a Manger. That was really weird. It was a great event, but weird to have it be explicitly Christmas oriented. BTW, the school has about 100 students and the auditorium at the high school was close to SRO. I guess it's really one of "the" big events of their year.

The next day 7YO got his gerbils, Brownie and Zipper. He didn't touch his DS or turn on the TV at all. Today, he did watch a DVD and, I think, played a little DS, but all of sudden he'd yell, "Gerbil break!" and go running to his room to visit them. He's having a blast.

Since her arrival last week, P has been cooking up a storm. We've already had ginger carrot soup and butternut squash soup. This evening we had a delightful supper of pumpkin curry soup, spinach salad, and roasted garlic w/ warm baguette. Yum. Let me tell you, immersion blenders absolutely rock.

Earlier today we stopped at the craft show - lots of very good local artisans. Alas, we don't know where we're going to put what we already have so we left empty handed. But, it was fun to look!

Tomorrow we plan to get our Christmas tree. To get to the main road from our house you go down our street (only one direction as it is a dead end), go down another street (only one direction as it dead ends at the turn to our street), and get on a road that takes you to the main drag. At the bottom of that road is the home of a fellow who sells trees. So, we can get one right here in the neighborhood. Then it's off to the farmers' market, of course.

Sunday will involve a lot of baking as I'm taking cookies to the department party on Monday. And, for me, it might involve a lot of shelf hanging. We can't put any more things away until I finish the closets.

P leaves on Wednesday. As soon as I drop her off I'll be on my way to Halifax to pick up a friend from high school at the airport. We met in French class in 1970. yes, we've known each other for 38 years!! Yikes!! She'll be here through Sunday. So, things are busy. Somewhere in all of this I've got to do more work for the course I'm scheduled to teach beginning in January.

It's getting cold. They're talking snow this weekend, but probably not much. Fortunately we should have a garage by the middle of the week. Again, weather permitting.

That's the latest from merry ol' Fredericton.