A Pilgrimage of Sorts

I’ve had the great fortune of travelling to many parts of our beautiful, blue planet– and even though I think everyone should have an opportunity to see the great cities of the world – the places that have resonated with me have been off the grid.

Tomorrow I leave for the Queen Charlottes, a place I have dreamed of for many years. Even though I’ve been there before, I’ve never made it to the islands remote, sacred places. This time will be different, as I will spend the next four days on a sailboat. Navigating through deep cold waters, listening to the stories of raven, finally making my way to Gwaii Haanas.

My travelling companion is my friend and colleague Carla - I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I’m bringing the flip - she will be my muse. She is bringing the wine and I’ve been given the task of ensuring we have drugs for motion sickness, now’s as good a time as any to find out of we have a propensity for sea sickness.

Other isolated places I dream of visiting; Galapagos, Easter Island, Patagonia, Antarctica, Bhutan ( a country that decided to do away with gross national product, focusing instead on gross national happiness), Tibet, the Hengduan Mountains of China (birthplace of the flower), Finland.

Real Life Super Heros

The Dream


The Reality


Tom once commented that my true talent is the ability to calm ailing children and animals, sitting quietly with them for hours when necessary. I don’t want to brag or anything, but he does have a point.

When I was a little girl, I used to pretend to be a super hero and imagined what it would be like if I could fly, had x-ray vision or could make myself invisible. It didn’t take me long to figure out that my future didn’t include a stint as Wonder Woman.

Tom’s observation made me think about real life - if we are always looking for thunder bolts and lightning - we risk missing the true gifts that life often gives us.

Many of my friends also have hidden gifts. For example:

Suzanne – has the uncanny ability to spot wildlife from miles away, without the use of binoculars.
Carla – who can name the children of any living celebrity. I’m not kidding, you can’t stump her.
RL – who has really fast drying hair. His wife and daughters are quite envious of this skill and swear it’s dry before he even leaves the shower.
Janice – who can do anything with a stalk of rhubarb, including; bake a cobbler, dye a dress, grind it into a paste and hang wallpaper
Maggie – who can make herself as unobtrusive as a stealth bomber when it comes to sneaking food. This week alone we caught her eating half of a chicken taco and most of Tom’s breakfast smoothie.

Ignorance is Bliss

My brother David has moments of great wisdom. Like the time I told him one of our parents was pushing my buttons, he pointed out “who better, after all they installed them.”

Lately, Tom has figured out a new way to manipulate me. By constantly pointing out the size of my carbon footprint, he can guilt me into just about anything. Once he realized what a powerful tool this was, he took it one step further and started some deep research.

Trust me folks, in the past few months I’ve learned more about my impact on planet earth than I ever thought possible.

Apparently it doesn’t matter that I recycle, buy local organic products and walk to work – all one has to do is look in my closet to realize I’m doing serious damage to our planet Earth. According to Tom (and the NY Times), the average person only needs 4 pairs of shoes - owning any more is like giving mother nature the bird.

Like they say, once you know better, you do better. Since I have enough shoes for every man, woman and child living in Uganda, I’m may have to seriously reconsider the importance of buying yet another pair of Jimmy Choo's.

Damn you Tom, hasn’t anyone ever told you "Ignorance is bliss?

Pug Cam #1 - Intruder Alert

This morning Tex and Maggie have been barking like crazy, driving us absolutely crazy. Silly me, I thought they were at war with the neighborhood crows. It wasn't until I looked at the video from the pug cam that I figured it out. Just goes to show, you really can't judge until you've walked in someone's shoes.

Bad Baby

Like all families, we have our morning routine. As much as it pains me to admit this, I like watching “Bringing Baby Home” while I get ready for work. The thing is, this little habit of mine drives Tom absolutely crazy.

I used to watch CNN every morning, but at some point I decided starting my day with all that doom and gloom might not be such a good thing. It’s not that I want a baby, that certainly isn’t my motivation. I just like watching families living in the moment, when everything is still possible.

As much as Tom hates the show, it’s usually not an issue, as most of the time he's still fast asleep when it's on. The scary thing is, the other morning my reality show and his dream world collided.

The pugs and I were upstairs watching an episode about a couple who just gave birth to a little girl named Michaela. I must have had the TV volume cranked, because at that very minute Tom was having a nightmare. In his dream he had given birth to a little girl named – you guessed it – Michaela. I’ll spare you all the details, just imagine a cross between Rosemary’s baby and Dameon and you get the general idea.

Oh well, tomorrow morning the pugs and I are going to stick to Mighty Mouse cartoons.

Heaven Help Us

There’s a school of thought that associates the decline of society with our recent move from the front porch to the back yard. Think about it - one day you’re on the front porch, waving to the neighbours– fast forward a few years and you’re in the backyard, sunbathing in the nude, not even sure who lives next door.

I have to confess, one of my biggest fears is that I will end up living in suburbia. Just to clarify, I can handle charming little neighbourhoods. What I can’t handle is living in a place where there are miles and miles of identical houses. How could this be anyone’s dream? And what about the new trend of the gated community? Let’s just build a fence to keep the barbarians out while we’re at it.

We live in the middle of a big city. We have no fences or gates, and the neighbours can peer into our kitchen and living room (if they wish). Yet, the other day while taking Tex for a walk, Tom reported that a huge river otter sauntered out of the bushes and walked right past them (silly Tex was totally oblivious).

Sure we could use a spare bathroom, there’s never enough storage space and our neighbour is a nosy garden Nazi, but I love where we live. No suburbs for me.

Monica Takes Flight

My friend and colleague Monica - doing her best Moulin Rouge imitation - at an event we hosted in LA.

Does It Make Me Look Fat?

I got my first glimpse of the new Canadian Olympic uniforms on my friend Pheobe’s blog. At first I thought this was her idea of a joke. Miss Pheobe is known as a fashionista with a wicked sense of humour. It wasn’t until I tuned into the local news that I realized she was serious.

So the uniforms are a little out there, I’m okay with that. Let’s be honest, didn’t the fun go out of the Academy Awards once everyone started letting stylist's dress them? I personally think the world is a much better place when we can look forward to the odd fashion disaster.

I also like the fact that they make a bold statement - not only am I a world class athlete who can kick your ass, but I’m also comfortable with my sexuality – and if this doesn’t work out I can always start a career as a hip hop artist or might just be the next big kung fu star.

Food, Glorious Food

I'm not a big fan of beauty pageants, but I do appreciate their camp value. Who can forget the Miss America who was asked what she would do to change the world. Instead of mentioning world peace or a desire to end global hunger, she wanted to be able to eat anything and everything without gaining weight. A woman after Maggie's heart.

This is War

My friend and colleague Ray sent me the following cartoon. The irony is both Tom and I love the New Yorker........maybe we've been reading it just a little too long.