A year of changes

Well, it's the last day of the year and I haven't posted much. It's been such a busy time lately: my father-in-law passed away, then we bought a new house and so there is a lot to think about and do.

As I reflect back, 2010 has definitely been a year of changes, some good (I lost weight finally!), some sad (my FIL's passing), some exciting (the new house).

I can't wait to see what 2011 brings us. So far I can predict that it will be great moving in the new house, even though it's in the same neighbourhood, it's still exciting. I'm looking forward to decorating.

I want to keep losing weight as my 42 lb weight loss so far has meant more energy and a renewed sense of confidence. I don't know why I waited so long to do myself this favour. To my amazement, I found out that while it's hard, it's not impossible!

I'm looking forward to blogging more and hopefully learning how to make my posts more interesting and insightful. I'm amazed at how the bloggers I follow manage to present their blogs in such a professional manner. I have still lots to learn, I'm afraid. Sigh! If you have tips and advice, I'll gladly listen!

I've already established some relationships through the blogosphere and discovering that there are quite a few kindred spirits out there. I hope we get to know each other better this year through our blogging adventures!

And of course, I'll keep sharing my finds on the Pyrex Collective. I didn't know until this year how much I love Pyrex and now I have close to 20 pieces! (That should be added as a fun change.)

I hope that 2011 brings a lot of good changes to all and that you all enjoy health, happiness and prosperity. And fun. Don't forget fun.

My Grownup Christmas List

As I get older, I find I want less and less for myself at Christmas. You learn instead to value the things that are really important in life: love, family, friends, etc. So, in that mindset, here is my Grownup Christmas List. Feel free to add your own Grownup Wishes!

I wish for:

- Yes, Peace on Earth, one can always hope!

- Religious tolerance.

- The abolition of discrimination in any way, shape or form.

- Everyone to have at least one excellent friend, the kind that even if you don't talk to everyday, you can just pick up where you left off, the kind who accepts you exactly the way you are, the kind that makes you laugh through your tears!

- No more need for orphanages, for every child to have loving parents, a good home where they feel safe and warm, where they are well nourished and nurtured.

- Ditto for animal shelters! And that every pet owner was as devoted to their pet as their pets are to them, that they would care for their furry friends from beginning to end!

- Everyone who can to give to a charity of their choice this Christmas, to spread some of that joy and abundance.

- Everyone to give green gifts in containers and wrapping materials that are repurposed and/or reusable, so that we leave less of a carbon footprint behind this Christmas. (Cookies in a vintage or interesting container from a thrift store, a beautiful old picture in a frame also from a thrift store, a vintage scarf or tablecloth, etc.)

- Everyone to in fact reduce the insane consumerism that occurs this time of year to instead focus on more important things (see above about giving to charity).

For some fabulous ideas on how to reduce waste this Christmas, I invite you to visit some of the blogs I follow. I'm so greatly impressed by some of them, their creativity knows no bound!

Celebrating Halloween without much enthusiasm and "I don't like it"

I am so sick with the most rotten cold I've had in years that this Halloween was more of a chore than anything. I carved the least creative pumpkin I've carved in years, didn't decorate much (I always decorate the day of), handed out candy without much energy.

Such a bummer to be sick, I have so much to do and had no energy whatsoever to do it. Somehow, by the grace of God, I still managed to accomplish a lot: grocery shopping and other misc. errands, laundry, laundry sorting and folding, tidying up, the aforementioned pumpkin carving and Halloween decorating, washing cat litter pans and washing the bathroom floor where the cat litter pans are kept. (This is in the basement, where my present foster cat family is kept: Mama and 6 seven week old babies who make a big mess, because, well, they are just babies!)

Today I am amazed at myself for doing so much. I was basically on auto-pilot.

At least I didn't have Halloween costumes to sew for little ones. I remember one Halloween staying up all night to finish not one but two costumes. You see, having 2 girls, my younger one would generally wear the older one's hand-me-down costumes, but at 3 years old, it seems the only words she knew were "I don't like it". She'd take one look at what I had cooking for dinner, and even if it was something she had never had before, she'd say "I don't like it". So when she saw the witch costume I had for her to wear that year, she said: "I don't like it". Also, back then I felt that I had to sew the costumes to be a good Mom. So off to the fabric store we went, we looked at patterns and she agreed to a clown costume. I started on a fairy princess costume for my oldest and the clown costume for my youngest. I was working full time back then, so I ran out of time and had to sew late into the night before Halloween. As if it wasn't enough I was working under pressure, the fabric for the fairy costume kept ripping up, getting me more and more frustrated and tired, my nerves more and more frayed. However, I did finish both costumes and I felt accomplished. The clown costume turned out so nicely. And all within budget! I couldn't wait for the girls to get up and see their costumes. My oldest loved her costume, but the little one took one look at hers and, you guessed it, "I don't like it". Overtired, I burst into tears. I told her she was wearing it anyway.

Funny thing is, she let me put the costume and the make-up on without a word and toddled off to preschool without so much as a protest. This is when I realized that perhaps she was using that stupid "I don't like it" comment without really knowing what it meant or without really meaning it, in a way that only 3-year olds can do!

Believe it or not, this didn't deter me completely from making more Halloween costumes.

Well, enough time has gone by since then that I can laugh at the whole thing with my youngest, now that she's 16 years old! (Besides I know that some day, hopefully, I'll have my revenge with my grand-children!)

NEVER ASSUME!

A few years ago, when my daughters were little, we were at the oldest's first soccer game of the season and I started chatting with a man who was there with a smaller girl. I asked him if he was the grandfather, and he replied, somewhat offended, that he was the dad! Boy did I ever feel like I had my whole foot in my mouth! (From then on, my friend and I referred to him as "Grandpa", lol, but no to his face!)

Another time, I was picking my daughter up at a school chum's house. I knew the Mom vaguely and on that day, she was standing in the driveway with another lady. I said hi, then I said to her, "Oh, this is undoubtedly your mother, you two look so much alike!"

Well, the other lady replied in a very vexed tone ( and I don't blame her): "Mother?!!!? I'm her sister!!!"

Again, I had another taste of my foot...

Anyway, I was thinking about those hard learned lessons recently one day on my way to the animal shelter where I volunteer, and how it is simply better not to assume anything until you know more about someone or a situation.

It is strange how I recalled these two incidents that morning, because as life would have it, that hard-learned lesson would come in handy that very day.

A seemingly middle-aged lady walked in with a little toddler. She was interested in adopting a cat. My first impression was that this was a retired lady babysitting her grandson. But with my "never assume" lesson freshly recalled, I went instead on the assumption that this was her son. The worst thing that could happen was I would have a very flattered grandmother.

Good thing I did. When I asked her how old her little boy was, she replied "18 months" and didn't correct me by saying, "Oh, he's my grandson, not my son. But thank you!" I was very proud of myself.

As my daughter is fond of saying, "Never assume. It makes an ass of "u" and "me."

Life lesson well learned.

CUTENESS PAUSE!

This adorable cuteness pause has been brought to you by one of the kittens I am fostering. He is 3 weeks old here.

Of cats, nursing and how-to books

I am fostering a wonderful Mama cat for our local Humane Society. This is the fourth Mama we are fostering and I absolutely love it. These mama cats are usually strays or abandoned and by going to a private home rather than the shelter, they have a nice, warm, safe, quiet place to give birth. The kittens can then also get used to house noises and be socialized before going to the shelter to be adopted, once they are weaned.

I am still in wonderment over the whole process, even after four litters. I love watching the kittens nursing happily, while Mama lies there purring gently, also looking quite content.

Mama cats know exactly what to do. Nobody ever told them a thing, they just know. When they give birth, they cut the umbilical cord, they clean the kittens who somehow know to find their way by smell (their eyes being closed) to Mom to start nursing. Mom cleans everything up.

I also observed that Mom lies on one side to nurse, and the next time, she switches to the other side. How does she know to do that?

She didn't read parenting or how-to books. She didn't take birthing or breastfeeding classes. And, gasp, she didn't even consult a lactating expert!

Could it be that us humans have lost the ability to rely on our instincts and learn instead to rely on books to tell us how to do everything? It seems so if you walk through your local bookstore: there are self-help and how-to books for virtually everything these days. Same thing with information on the Internet. There's a website for everything. Information overload!

The kicker? There's even a parenting expert who wrote a book on how to learn to rely more on your instincts to raise your child.

My instincts tell me I don't need that book. So there.

Pet Peeve of the Month: Recipe Overload

You can basically buy magazines about anything these days. Today, at the book store for example, I saw a magazine completely dedicated to Poker. A whole magazine. On Poker. And there are magazines about knitting, sailing, racing, motorcycling, travelling, painting, sewing, gaming, computing and so on and so forth.

These highly specialized magazines target very specific audiences, who delight in being able to read and learn about something they are passionate about.

So tell me why then, every magazine ever printed in the world has to have recipes in it?

When I buy a decorating magazine, it seems fair to me that its whole content should be dedicated to decorating. Same goes for fashion. When I want to know what is the new in colour this fall, I don't want to know how to make petits-fours! I'm really not interested.

Yes, you know what I'm going to say next: if I wanted recipes, I WOULD BUY A RECIPE OR COOKING MAGAZINE!

I don't know why every magazine publisher thinks we're desperate for more recipes, but let me tell you, there is a gazillion recipe books out there, I think we're good as far as recipes go. Besides, everybody I've ever known ends up using the same tried and true 10 or 12 recipes over and over again.

So to anybody out there who is in the magazine business, take note. Stop using recipes as page fillers and give us more substance, more of what we're actually after. (I know, I know, what about all the ads, but that's a necessary evil.)

Magazine readers of the world, you don't need to thank me when your next issue of Cigars Monthly arrives in your mailbox, without useless recipes you don't want in the first place and more pages dedicated to your favourite subject. Enjoy!

The Business of Happiness

My daughter takes the bus to and from school, except when she has extracurricular activities, on which nights I pick her up. On the way, there are two school zones, not including her school's. School zone means a 40 km speed limit, which I respect, but infallibly, I'm always being followed by some annoyed idiot tailgater who can't stand it and pushes my rear end to go faster.

I ignore them.

And with good cause. Because I know that between the two school zones, there is also a fire station. And the parking lot of that fire station seems to be a favourite spot for speed traps, especially this time of year, when school starts.

So today, as usual, I was going at the speed limit and this tart was following me very closely, visibly annoyed and oblivious to the fact that the speed limit signs were flashing and, more importantly, there were countless little ones making their way home. A me, myself and I kind of ninipooh. Doesn't care about anything else around her.

And there it was. The dark police car at the fire station, with the officer clearly holding up a speed radar.

Hah. That'll teach her. I hoped that she would realize that I just saved her from getting a speeding ticket and that she would ease up being so close to my rear end.

Not so. Still self-absorbed, still oblivious. Hopelessly so. She kept tailgating me. (I was hoping the cop would come ticket her for that, but no such luck!)

Well, for all of you out there who tailgate me because I am going at the speed limit, particularly in a school zone, sorry this makes you unhappy, but guess what. I AM NOT IN THE BUSINESS OF MAKING YOU HAPPY!

And like I tell my kids when I'm teaching them how to drive, never mind the idiots behind you, just ignore them, BECAUSE YOU ARE AHEAD OF THEM AND THEREFORE YOU ARE IN THE LEAD!

Have a great day and watch for children.

A touching moment

This past Monday, our family was visiting the Henry Ford museum in Dearborn, Michigan. If you have the chance to go, this is a wonderful place filled with extremely interesting and important artifacts. I had never heard of this museum until a while ago and I am glad that we took the time to experience it.

One artifact in particular caused me to pause and reflect, and hopefully, it did for my daughter too.

The Rosa Parks bus is stored in this museum, along with pictures and other objects of racial segregation, such as drinking fountains with the words "white" and "colored". I had heard of these things but never actually saw any in person and it made me shiver to think this was actually all too real...

Then we boarded the Rosa Parks bus. An adorable little African-American girl was already sitting in the bus by herself. The guide of the exhibit points out that she is actually sitting at the exact spot where Rosa Parks sat to stage her protest. This little girl had obviously done her homework! I asked her if it was okay if I took a picture of her and my daughter beside her, to which she agreed. As I took the picture, I had a lump in my throat looking at these two young girls, black and white, happily sitting together on this famous bench and what this symbolized. Rosa Parks, I sensed, would have been pleased.

A if this wasn't an already powerful enough moment, the little girl's Mom then climbed in the bus and smiled when she saw where her daughter was sitting. She quickly proceeded to take her picture. I told the mom that I took a picture of her with my daughter and that I hoped she didn't mind, which she didn't. The mom then sat beside me and proceeded to tell me that Rosa Parks was actually her neighbour for years in Detroit! Rosa Parks actually knew the little girl on the bench! I had chills. What a serendipitous moment! She told me what a lovely, quiet, unassuming lady Mrs. Parks was. And when you see pictures of her, that's exactly what radiates from her: quiet dignity.

Good for you, Rosa Parks, for fighting to solve problems in a calm, pacific, non violent manner. Good for you for having the courage to stand up, or in this case, sit down, for your convictions, for your rights and for the rights of others. You are on my list of heroes and I suspect, on my daughter's as well...

Garden of sharing

I have talked about my garden already, how it is somewhat an expression of who I am. I need to add that it is also a reminder of my friends, an extension of their lives into my garden.

Anybody who is into gardening tends to share. Their plants overgrow and need to be divided in order to keep the garden light and airy. That's when friends exchange plants with each other. I have many plants that were given to me and I remember who gave me every single one of them.

I lost my friend L. last year to breast cancer. Among other things, we shared a love of birds and flowers, beautiful gardens, nature, etc. However, ours was a complicated friendship and in the last few years of her life, we had fallen out. I had hoped that we would resolve our issues some day, but that day never came. I was perhaps a little too honest to her liking about her shortcomings as a mother and as a friend and she made it clear to a mutual friend of ours that she did not want to see me again.

During her last days, under the influence of heavy painkillers perhaps somewhat mixed with the lucidity of a dying person, she asked her son why I wasn't coming to see her. He replied: "Don't you remember, Mom? You had a fight." She said: "We did? Oh, please tell her I'm sorry."

I couldn't go to the funeral. I couldn't bring myself to. I carry a lot of sadness and a lot of guilt still from our falling out and it weighs heavily on my heart. I did however write a long, heartfelt letter to her family to let them know that I still cared and still valued our fourteen years of friendship.

I also told them about how every time I was in my garden looking at the phloxes and the black-eyed susans L. gave me, I thought of her and how these flowers were really a way for her to live on.

Then there's M., my wonderful friend and neighbour. M. gave me hostas, ferns and other flowers. M. was an avid gardener who tended to her gardens with great care and perfection, which in itself was a true reflection of the military training and discipline she had received while in the Royal Air Force.

Unfortunately, last summer my dear friend M. suffered a debilitating stroke that left her confined to a wheelchair. Her husband and her had to sell the house and move into a condo to accommodate her wheelchair. No more gardening for her...Now, there is a young couple living in their house, and they could care less about gardening. The whole thing is slowly getting overtaken by weeds and their big dog is trampling over all the plants. So sad.

Before M. and her husband moved out, I asked if I could take a few plants with the promise of taking very good care of them: a giant Blue hosta which was M.'s pride and joy and a lovely vintage rosebush which blooms its little heart out well into fall, which they both cherished.

In hindsight, a very smart move, as these gorgeous plants would now be neglected. Now safely tucked in my garden, I cherish and appreciate them every day, and keep that wonderful connection with my dear friend.

My neighbour S. on the other side, gave me her surplus hostas too. These hostas look totally different from the ones I already had, so it adds interest. She also gave two gorgeous rosebushes because at the time, her children were very young and she was scared that they would hurt by the thorns. These rosebushes remind me what a caring mom and a caring person she is!

And finally there is my friend J. who gave me a few pretty columbines, and to me, they are a perfect reflection of her: they are colourful, charming, vivacious and hardy.

Like my circle of friends, all these elements come together to form a harmonious vision, and I revel in their company and love every one of them, thorns and all.

I think he's all right?

So my oldest daughter works at a café to pay for university. Most of the time she enjoys it enough, but she is learning a lot about human behaviour and how to deal with people and their manners, or lack thereof.

You wonder why some people have no manners? Well, she witnessed it first hand. After a lady customer placed an order with a lot of demands (this much coffee, this hot, with this much hot water added, etc, etc.), she sends her six year old boy to the counter while she watches from her table.

My daughter: "What can I get you?"

Boy: "Glass of ice."

My daughter: "Glass of ice please!"

The mother: "I think he's all right."

I think he's all right? What kind of comment is that? Twenty years ago, the parent would have boxed that kid's ear. While I'm not condoning physical punishment, I would have never let my kid get away with this sort of behaviour, six years old or not! Six years old is certainly old enough to have manners. Heck, Barney sings to two year olds about manners.

What kind of lessons is this mother teaching her kid? That he can make demands for free stuff from an overworked, underpaid young girl and not even say please and thank you? He's on his way to become a totally self-engrossed, self-entitled jerk. Just like Mom!

Clearly, he's not all right.

Hot enough for ya?

The air conditioner broke down. Right when the heat wave started. Of course. Then the dishwasher broke down. Of course. I say of course because that's how these things go. Murphy's law and all that.

So for the past couple of weeks we have been doing hot sinkfuls of dishes in the sweltering heat, with sweat pouring down our brow. And I'm feeling sorry for myself because I can't seem to tolerate the heat. It makes me (even more) miserable and grouchy.

On days like these, I can't help but think about my grandmas who had to live like that, all while wearing girdles and raising 11 and 16 kids, without microwaves, freezers, automatic washers, dryers or other modern day conveniences. During the depression no less.

They are my heroes.

The new dishwasher arrived today, promising to be even more efficient than the old one. The new air conditioning unit arrives tomorrow, also to be more efficient.

Tomorrow night, I will fill up the dishwasher, turn on the air, and go for a refreshing swim. I will sleep so well! It will be grand.

And from that moment on, I promise to be more appreciative of all my conveniences, in memory of my grandmothers, two amazing women who accomplished so much with so little.

Not right now, though, I'm too hot to be bothered.

The Middle T.V. Series

I'm in love with this new T.V. series. Check it out when you get a chance. This is a sitcom about a very average North American family, a mom, a dad, 3 kids. So far, nothing special and yes, there has been a lot of sitcoms about average North American families before, but this family is the most realistic T.V. family I have seen. None of that Cosby family or Leave It to Beaver perfection. These folks are it. They hit the average family nail dead on the head. Perfectly. Eerily. Eerily because the dialogue is so real, it sounds like the writers are standing under our kitchen window listening to our banter while we do dishes and taking note. This family is us, we're them. Well, we don't have a weird grade one kid with the ability to read at a grade 25 level (so brilliantly played by the adorable Atticus Shaffer, a kid with a great name and a great future), but the rest of the family? Yup. As close to imperfection as us. Even their house is decorated like most of us do, in the mishmash fashion of odds and ends accumulated over 20 years of marriage.

And then there's the title. It stands for Middle America, Middle of the road, Middle class, whatever spin you want to give it. This family doesn't pretend to be at the top or even at the bottom. It's in the middle. In other words, average. It doesn't pretend to be something it's not and that's why it rings true for us. The parents are tired, they cut corners, but they try hard and they mean well. It sums us up so beautifully.

Great cast, great writers. A rare little jewel in the somewhat tarnished crown of television, a crown so overloaded by mediocre reality shows these days.

NOISE!!

Unlike many people, we don't own a cottage. My husband and I decided long ago that we had enough maintaining one house, we didn't see the point of driving 4 hours somewhere to go clean another house, lol! So, instead, we have turned our little backyard into an oasis of peace. Pool, two-tiered deck with a nice table and chair set for eating al fresco, and outdoors chairs, sofa and coffee table on the lower deck, a great place to lounge in the shade, read a book or sip a cocktail. A plethora of shade trees, evergreens, shrubs and flowers complete the peaceful scenery.

On week-ends, if it is a nice sunny day, we plan carefully so as to run all errands in the morning, so we can enjoy the afternoon outside, including the dinner menu on the barbecue. A mini-vacation if you will.

We swim, we read the paper or a magazine, then we cook dinner and finally sit down to enjoy it.

And that's when it starts.

The lawnmowers, the weed whackers, the hedge trimmers. It's like the neighbours see us sit down and at the first bite, wham, they fire up their power tools. Why is it that the retired neighbour decides to mow his lawn at six o'clock on a Sunday night? Why is it that the housewife next door, the one that doesn't work but still has a nanny decides to trim hedges right as we're having a celebratory birthday dinner with family, on a week-end? Why is it that the neighbour two doors down decides to start building his deck as I am about to take my first bite of strawberry shortcake of the year?

Grrrrrrrr!

So much for my oasis of peace.

A little word of advice to all who read me. Be thoughtful when you're planning to work in the yard. Not too early in the morning and certainly NOT during dinners, especially if your neighbours are having a barbecue.

Well, unless it's the divorcee neighbour who lives behind you, who has obnoxious drunk parties for her teenagers at which she outdrinks all the kids, parties that last til the wee hours of the night with total disregard to all the neighbours, who has sex in plain sight in her hot tub while we're entertaining (more on that another day). Then you have my permission.

I hear cottage dwellers have pretty much the same problems too, though. Jet skis and speed boats disturb the tranquility of the lakes and they have their share of rowdy drinkers too.

At least I don't have to drive four hours to get there and maintain a second house. So I guess I'll keep enjoying my backyard. It's not always all bad all the time. We steal whatever moments of peace and quiet we can.

Have a great summer, all!

Cat person or dog person?

Most people claim to be either a cat person or a dog person. For as long as I can remember, I have loved animals, in all shapes and forms, with the exception of spiders (but that's an entirely other post). I feel a deep empathy for them, and I feel guilty about the way the whole of mankind treats them. It is their world too, but we feel we must reign supreme over them because we are supposedly much more intelligent and much higher beings. Huh. We cage them, we tame them, we make them work for us, all in an attempt to feel superior. We are polluting their world, we are infringing more and more on their territories and distroying their habitats because we are so selfish. Just look at the offshore oil leak. Who can forget the pictures of majestic pelicans reduced to an oiled covered blob?

Well, I feel we owe animals big time. Especially dogs and cats and other domesticated pets, who get bought, then abandoned at the first sign of a problem. I volunteer at a shelter, so I have heard it all. I see so many animals come in, who in spite of being abandoned and even abused, still look at you with loving eyes and still trust humans. How remarkable. This one cat in particular would literally give all the volunteers hugs, while purring ever so loudly. And so many dogs, who wag their tails as soon as you walk into sight!

They could be bitter, but they choose to forget and to continue trusting. I adopted a cat who was abandoned in a cardboard box in a parking lot, very pregnant. She was bounced around until she ended up in my foster care, but not before being exposed to a cold like virus. As a result, all the kittens (8 of them!), who were born healthy, caught her virus, but being so little and defenseless, they all died, one by one. We went through a roller coaster of emotions, from watching the miracle of their births to seeing them wither away...I hate her previous owners for first of all not spaying her, then letting her roam outside and get pregnant, and then, as if that was not enough, abandoning her for being pregnant even though it was their fault!

Well, guess what. She is the best cat in the world, she purrs so loudly you can hear her through the house! Their loss. Our wonderful gain.

We also have a cute little dog who has a personality as big as the sky. We adopted her at eleven weeks, She is now eleven years old, and there are no sad story about her, just a good loving, normal life, which is the way it should be.

So when you ask me if I'm a dog person or a cat person, I reply, "I am both". We don't have to choose. You're allowed to be both, and you're even allowed to be an all emcompassing "animal person"!

So go ahead. Love an animal. Love them all.

"To err is human, to forgive is canine." - Anonymous

Garden Eden

I love walking in my garden. It's not big by any means, it's not glorious, it's deeply flawed like me, but on any given day, if I'm feeling stressed, a little walkabout has the power of grounding me (no pun intended!). I breathe in the smells, I take in the pleasing visual textures, from the various shapes of the leaves to the many hues of the petals and, like magic, the stress dissolves away. There's something satisfying about watching the plants grow and evolve and know that you and nature (mostly nature) had a hand at creating this.

My younger daughter has no interest in gardening. She claims that when she'll be older, she will live in a condo and make sure there's no garden to take care of. She doesn't know it yet but this will change. I remember I could care less too at her age. You could not have paid me to look at plants. I tell her we'll talk in ten years.

And I'm always sad when winter rolls around. I hate being cooped up inside. I like the windows wide open and fresh air streaming through the house. I have house plants but I just don't like them the same way as I do garden plants. Maybe it's the fact that it is so cyclical that makes me like the garden so much. If it was static and year long, I would get bored. Maybe it's the fact that it evolves constantly. As much as I dream of living in a warmer country, I think I would get bored of cultivating cacti. I need the variety, the constant change. After all, variety is the spice of life.

To my first time!

There. I did it. I finally decided to start a blog. Queen of procrastination here. Well, procrastinating over. Here I am.

This blog is going to be about everything and nothing. Therefore the title "De tout, de rien", which is French for everything and nothing. I want to talk about anything that catches my fancy at any given moment. About my experiences. About how I feel. About how other people make me feel. About things that are fair or unfair, as the case may be. I want to be able to voice my concerns, my opinions, my views, my thoughts. I want to be able to bitch about all the injustices of the world and about all my pet peeves. And Lord knows I have a few of those!

Anyway, I hope you follow me on my blogging journey and that I provide you with some food for thought or, at the very least, some entertainment.

To my first blog ever!