Memories Last Forever

I used to work in a clinic in Toronto that only dealt with patient's that had a phobia of the dentist. We had to work on them under a general anesthetic or with tranquilizers, followed up with nitrous oxzide. All this because of a bad experience they had as children.

I now make it a personal mission to make children's experience at the dentist a fun and postive experience. We have a ball. When I first started at this clinic I saw maybe one child every few months. I guess word got out. Now I see tons of them.

I love to have children draw me pictures. They put so much thought and effort in them to please me . The interpretation of them blows me away.

Below are a few examples......

















Emily(10)
The small print says To Maggie, you're great at what you do.

That made my day!


















Maria (8)(top left)
The bird has teewt, teewt coming out of it's mouth. It took me awhile to catch that one.

Jacob(9) (bottom right) The Milky Way, the moon has circles in it (swiss cheese).



I have a large operatory and sometimes have a family of four children in the room at the same time. They are on the floor coloring or asking questions that I try to answer to the best of my ability. :) I love their questions. I love children. (the nice ones)

I hope that when they are older they will look back on these visits with fond memories.

HOW COLD IS IT?

Cold enough to freeze your eyeballs. (You were perhaps expecting another type?) :)

Downtown Calgary

-26 degrees celsius
-45 with the windchill factor








It's only November, I can't even think what they have in January. Princess was telling me today that they pray to the chinook gods for warm weather.

CHINOOK
Warm, dry air mass that descends the eastern slopes of the U.S. and Canadian Rocky Mts. after having lost moisture by condensation over the western slopes. Chinooks occur mainly in winter. They sometimes replace the cold continental air mass over the western plains, causing rapid melting of snow and temperature increases as great as 40°F (22°C) within a few hours. Similar winds occurring in the Alps and elsewhere are known as foehn winds. The term chinook was originally applied by Oregon settlers to a moist Pacific wind blowing from the direction of a Chinook camp.

Princess is telling me this as I am sitting in the living room with my windows open. I told her Halifax is going to be downright balmy for her when she comes on holiday. It's funny because we both hate the weather here. The rain doesn't fall here, it swirls around you. It's humid in the summer(bad for the hair), and the winds, oh the winds.

Putting all that aside, I guess it sounds pretty damn good compared to Calgary.

All The Stores Are Doing It

Celebrating Christmas Way To Early.

Why shouldn"t we get "in the spirit of things too".

I don't know about you, but I'm making my list and I hope he checks it twice!!

This Santa looks like he likes naughty......................

Good Luck Or Misfortune??

Today I went shopping downtown. I thought I looked pretty good. I had on brushed cotton chocolate brown jeans, a mocha brown long sleeved skateboarder top, with a soft yellow fleece vest. I also had an Italian wool cloth scarf, brown, green and rust striped, wrapped around my neck. Accented with brown and rust, Italian leather loafers.

It was one of those days when all your stars are lined up and everything goes well. People in stores are helpful and pleasant. You find something you have been looking for for ages. All's right with the world. (Those sales people can either make you or break you)

Anyhoo, I was in this fancy dancy store when I happened to glance at my left arm. On it was something I didn't recognize at first. Was it food? Did I bump into something? NOPE!!

It was pigeon poop! On my arm!

Dress me up, can't take me anywhere.

BTW
My last post was rather personal. Blame it on the chocolate vodka and orange juice.

I Love This Painting

It is so how I feel.

Method To My Madness

My previous post had to do with a comment on a fellow blogger's post. It was in regards to sexual abuse. He suggested the punishment should reflect in gradations to the sexual assualt that occurred. I personnally don't agree with that.
Like insurance for example, if you lose a finger, leg , arm or whatever, you receive different amounts of compensation. ($)

In sexual abuse, you have to take into account who's doing the abusing. I was fondled(sleeping) by a person(relative) that was a father figure to me. It was more devastating to me than when I was raped by a friend's friend. This is a different time from the one below.

I think I have been sexually molested more than your average person. Always when I have been sleeping(4 or 5 times) or incapacitated. I was remembering today how I was a victim of date rape. It was a blip on my memory radar. There was this guy that liked me but I wasn't interested. One nite my girlfriend's??? and I were out partying and the next thing I remember I was waking up in this guy's bed. He slipped something in my drink, I would never have been there under normal circumstances. The last thing I remembered was being in the bar.

I have survived these situations by telling myself that they might have abused my body but not my soul. My body is only a vessel.

"The body is mortal, but the person dwelling in the body is immortal and immeasurable."
- Bhagavad Gita

What really gets me, is that I'm not "out there". No sexual innuendoes, no overt clothing,
I was just a really sweet, nice person.

On The Lite Side

Adam was hanging around the garden of Eden feeling very lonely.
So, God asked him, "What's wrong with you?"

Adam said he didn't have anyone to talk to. God said that He was going to make Adam a companion and that it would be a woman.

He said, "This pretty lady will gather food for you, she will cook for you, and when you discover clothing, she will wash it for you.

She will always agree with every decision you make and she will not nag you, and will always be the first to admit she was wrong when you've had a disagreement.

She will praise you!

She will bear your children, and never ask you to get up in the middle of the night to take care of them.

"She will NEVER have a headache and will freely give you love and passion whenever you need it."

Adam asked God, "What will a woman like this cost?"

God replied, "An arm and a leg."

Then Adam asked, "What can I get for a rib?"
Of course the rest is history......................

Show and Tell

It's not really fair to tell you my story and not show what I look like.

This is a picture of my friend and I just before I left Toronto. I don't like getting my picture taken so I don't have many.

That's me on the right.

Gone Fishing

The lady of rant is not around today so I am going to write in her place.

Yesterday was a pretty cool day. The weather was gorgeous, 20 celsius. I have started doing at least one thing each day that I have been procrastinating on. Today I went to the gym. I joined this gym a year ago last april. BUT I never went once. Each month I said, oh, I'll go next month. Well, the year came to an end and they renewed me and debted my account without my permission. I called and explained, the guy said no problem and told me if I ever wanted to join again to let him know. Maybe he could work something out.

I went in yesterday, the guy was gone but the new guy looked up my records and said sure, let's work something out. I was expecting knocking a few bucks off my memberhip.
He said, "how does this sound"? We'll give you a free trial membership for six months, upgrade you to the high end (membership) , then we'll sit down and talk again in six months.

Sounded pretty damn good to me! The high end you get all the fancy stuff and pampering.
I told him I was pleased and it was more than I had anticipated.
He said it was because I didn't demand anything or have that attitude.

Today's mission. Go out to dinner with my older sister that I have been putting off for ages.

Two Mints in One

I really have two separate personas.

The confident, funny, intelligent one.
And.........the introverted, sad, lonely one.

When I moved here to this city, I had been on antidepressants for about two years. I didn't have a physician, so I went to a drop in clinic for my meds until I found one. I found one that was close to work and asked him how much longer I could expect to be on them. I'll never forget his answer. "Probably for life", he said. That freaked me out so much I took myself off them.(Gradually of course). Well needless to day, that wasn't one of my best decisions.

Well, then I got another Dr. and this one seems to be more compatible with me. The only thing is that here, the Dr.'s are so busy, they don't have the time to spend with you. I bascially tell my doctor what I think is best and he gives it to me. Just because I'm a professional, doesn't mean I'm your equal. I know about teeth for gods sake, not my mental health.

I do know how I feel, and that is how I monitor myself. Great diagnosis technique huh?
Common sense.

I took this week of to assess myself and start some sort of therapy. This blog is going to be part of it.

The Real Me

No more fluff and pretending to be happy. I'm not. For five years now, I have been in an abyss. I want out. Now.

Starting today I am going to use this blog as my personal therapy. I can't get any medical help in this god forsaken town so I have to do it myself.

Commenting on someone else's blog yesterday about abuse made me realize this is what I have to do. Vent, rage, let it all out what I have been holding in for years.

This will not be reading material for anyone looking for happy thoughts, so I suggest you move on.

MY HERO

THE SWIFFER


If this thing lived and breathed, I would MARRY it!!!

If you have tile, hardwood floors and a dog that sheds.....this is a godsend! It's the answer to all my prayers. (not that I was really praying) :)





Brooms and dust mops (ugh... gross), don't quite get the job done .

This little miracle worker has cloths (wet or dry) that you just throw away. No fuss no muss! I think I must have been living in a cave or something because it has apparently been around for years. Anyway, I bought this today and I'm as happy as can be.

Funny how something so simple can make you so happy. I'm a tidy person, and I love my Rosey but.....the dog hairs were getting to me. Also, I HATE dust!!!!!!


PS I also got one of those sticky thingy's that roll and get the hair of your clothes.

Can you tell I'm a newbie as a dog owner?

Nova Scotia’s children are about to get a safety boost, as the province kicks off a campaign to raise awareness about a new law requiring kids up to age nine to buckle up in booster seats.


Beginning Jan. 1, anyone transporting children under the age of nine, unless they’re more than 145 centimetres tall, or four-foot-nine, will be required to make sure those children are properly secured in an infant seat, child seat or booster seat.

"Compared to using a seatbelt alone, booster seats have been shown to reduce the risk of severe head injuries and other severe injuries . . . by up to four times," said Dr. Natalie Yanchar, medical director of IWK Trauma Care.

My Query

What about adults who are under four-foot-nine?

Hell, they're out there driving the gawd damn vehicle!!!!

Rosey's Birthday Party
For her birthday dinner, Rosey dined on
Gourmet Homestyle Cowboy Cookout.

This was made with tender chunks of beef, sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans and granny smith apples.

It must be real good because she wouldn't even look at me when I was taking her picture. (no matter how hard I tried) :)

Dreams and What Do They Mean?

For years I have a reccuring dream and last nite I had it again. I have to go to the bathroom. It's always the same..... I'm at a party or club and have to use the public toilet. The facilities are less then pristine, in fact down right filthy. Every stall is either taken or overflowing with shit.
Sometimes the floors are flooded with urine and I'm trying to tiptoe around the mess. The toilets are also raised in the stalls, like on a pedestal.

Princess says she has the same dream. In hers, she once peed in the sink because of the condition of the toilets. I have yet to haul my ass up to the sink, but then again, she is more creative than me.


Tomorrow is Rosey's birthday!!

FYI
INQUIRING MINDS WHO WANT TO KNOW!!!

A WEE PEEK UNDER A SCOTSMAN'S KILT...

Tacky? Or poor taste?
I'm a Sagittarius, what more can I say..........

Either way, on Wednesday I went to a travel agency to pick up tickets for Princess. I REALLY want her home for Christmas and wasn't taking any chances on last minute shite.

The agent I was dealing with was pleasant, and we got into a conversation about Ontario. I mentioned I was from Toronto and she said she was from Penetang, Ontario. Well......I then started to tell her my only knowledge of Penetanguishene was the psychiatric mental institution there.
An orthodontist, down the street from our offfice woke up one morning, and came out of his house with guns blazing. He shot his three small sons and his wife. His wife and one son survived. They sent him to Penetanguishene for five years and then he came home to live with his wife and one remaining son. I'm still baffled about that one. Jeesuz, wasn't she afraid?? I would be!

Then, I told her about one of our patient's. Ralph, an eighteen year old boy who woke up one sunday morning, shot his mother in her bed, then slit her throat. He also got sent to Penetanguishene .

The agent sitting next to my agent was listening, and must have thought I was crazy. She kept looking over and was shaking her head. I don't know what gets in to me, but .........I just talk about stuff that I have experienced and I find relevant to the conversation.

In my mind anyway. Maybe I shouldn't be so explicate, some people might not appreciate it.

PS All my stories are true, I couldn't make this shit up.

One of The Perks of My Job

I meet so many people thru my job and the fascinating history that goes along with them.

For Example:

Yesterday
(Let me try to get this straight)

I had this lovely lady in yesterday (eighty-five years young). Her father died when she was a little girl and her mother had to care for her and her sister all alone. She (her mother) went from a clerk at Eatons, to a receptionist in a doctor's office, to the social secretary for the lieutenant-governor's office. (She served under 5) She was there when Queen Elizabeth, still a princess, paid a visit to the province. I won't mention who, but a very important premier's wife attempted to speak to the princess at dinner (under the influence of alcohol) and the princess stared straight ahead, hearing nothing. Protocol says that you don't speak to royalty until they speak to you.

Her son(my patient) is an English Professor at a Canadian university, her daughter-in-law is a playwright that received, "The Order of Canada" this year. She was there and says Michaelle Jean made them feel like they were in her home.

I'M NOT FINISHED YET.........

Her aunt, (her mother's sister) was Mabel Bell's secretary. She was asked to help with a party Alexander was having, entertaining men from the British Admiralty, interested in his Hydrofoil, HD-4.

Never mind all that, she ended up getting engaged to one of the men and they were to be married in London. Her own father couldn't make it, so Alexander Graham Bell gave her away at the wedding.

How cool is that?

On The Other Hand.........

Princess e-mailed this to A.. , who in turn e-mailed it to her parents, and they are not the least bit impressed with Princess.......


A truly Canadian Apology to the USA, courtesy of Rick Mercer from This Hour Has 22 Minutes, CBC Television: (2003)

On behalf of Canadians everywhere I'd like to offer an apology to the United States of America.

We haven't been getting along very well recently and for that, I am truly sorry. I'm sorry we called George Bush a moron. He is a moron, but it wasn't nice of us to point it out.
If it's any consolation, the fact that he's a moron shouldn't reflect poorly on the people of America.

After all, it's not like you actually elected him. ( Remember dated 2003)

I'm sorry about our softwood lumber. Just because we have more trees than you, doesn't give us the right to sell you lumber that's cheaper and better than your own.
It would be like if, well, say you had ten times the television audience we did and you flood our market with great shows, cheaper than we could produce.

I know you'd never do that.

I'm sorry we beat you in Olympic hockey. In our defence I guess our excuse would be that our team was much, much, much, much better than yours. As word of apology, please accept all of our NHL teams which, one by one, are going out of business and moving to your fine country.

I'm sorry about our waffling on Iraq. I mean, when you're going up against a crazed dictator, you want to have your friends by your side.
I realize it took more than two years before you guys pitched in against Hitler, but that was different. Everyone knew he had weapons.

I'm sorry we burnt down your White House during the War of 1812. I see you've rebuilt it! It's very nice.

I'm sorry for Alan Thicke, Shania Twain, Celine Dion, Loverboy, that song from Sheriff that ends with a really high-pitched long note.

Your beer. I know we had nothing to do with your beer, but we feel your pain.

And finally on behalf of all Canadians, I'm sorry that we're constantly apologizing for things in a passive-aggressive way which is really a thinly veiled criticism.
I sincerely hope that you're not upset over this. Because we've seen what you do to countries you get upset with.


Please don't shoot the messenger. :(

You Couldn't Make This Story Up

Princess tells me I would really like this friend of hers that she has met in her program. A.. is from California and says it like it is. She is over six feet tall and quite a force to be reckoned with, I gather.

Anyway, she was going to school in England at the time. She was studying in her apartment one day and outside there was a traffic jam with no one going anywhere. One particular motorist would not let up blaring his horn. NONSTOP.

She finally came out, went to his car window and explained that this was her home and she was trying to study, would he please lay off.
She walked away and as she did, he laid on the horn louder.

She went inside and came out with a pen and paper, went behind his car and started writing.
He then started looking nervously in his rear view mirror and asked what she was doing.
"I'm taking down your license plate and I have a friend who will get your address, then I am going to go to your home and blare my horn outside for as long as you have outside mine", she replied.

He then called her a " f**king c**t.

He had his two female children in the backseat of his car at the time.

A.., leaned in the passenger window (remember she's six feet tall) and said to the girls, "don't ever, ever, in your life, let a man call you a c**t".

Daddy didn't have anything to say after that.

PS If there's one word that I hate, it's that. Princess knows this and is why she shared this story with me.