Our FI Nest

 Dear Mr. MLA, You were elected to represent the people of my area, even those that didn't vote for you. That is how our government works. So I want to add my voice of issues that are important to me and ask: Are you listening? And how are you representing me? I want my parks and mountain tops protected. I do not want these sold off for coal development, destroying the water for all those downstream. That is not worth 400 insecure jobs over 20-30 years. We all know the mining will be halted as prices decrease and those workers laid off.  I want safe schools for our kids. I want contact tracing to work. Contact tracing failed before Christmas break and is still showing 50% or more of unknown origin. My children were determined to be a close contact and we never heard from AHS. What are you doing to make sure all close contacts are notified by AHS? What are you doing to ensure it is safe in the schools? What are you doing to address ventilation given the fact that Covid 19 for all in

 Anyone who knows me, knows I'm a massive Jalie fan. A year or two ago they did a series on Jalie basics and how their patterns are the building blocks of a wardrobe. I was thinking of this as I sewed up my 15th (? not sure of the actual count, but it's been many) pair of sweat pants from Jalie 3355 . It got me thinking about the best value patterns and this one is definitely up there, especially if you have kids. I thought it would be fun (well, rewarding for me to see all my projects in one post) to showcase all I've done with this pattern. And I haven't actually started to modify it or colour block it as I've seen others do. Once I start that, the possibilities will be endless.  5/6 of the versions I sewed for back to school This pattern has been a staple of my oldest's back to school wardrobe since he started school. I've tended to make him about 3-4 pairs a year. I don't actually have photos of all of the versions and some he has since outgrown or b

My 3 year old in a fit of rage last night claimed Christmas has covid! Christmas is cancelled!  Even he gets it. The UCP have let this virus get out of control and continue to blame it on personal responsibility. I’ve stayed home, I’ve cancelled get togethers for months, I wear a mask every where I go. There is not more I can do than keep my kids home from school, but they need school.  What have you done to protect your constituents? What are you doing to prevent the spread of covid in our businesses and schools? What are you doing to protect our hospital capacity?  I’m honestly curious. People are sick and dying so one would guess you’d be very busy taking care to represent all your constituents. Please let me know how you are ensuring my town is safe, because it’s very hard to tell from here. 

Recently I was filling out a survey for work on what is required for a resilient workplace. In this context they are looking at how adaptable we are to change. However it got me thinking on how resiliency applies to my personal life, especially in face of a pandemic. Resiliency seems to be a good descriptor of how we can face stressors in our lives. How we can stay calm in the face of adversity.   I had to look up the official definition as I’ve created my own in my head that just seemed to fit. It is the “capacity to recover quickly from difficulties”. That’s even better! To bounce back from life’s challenges.   How much resiliency I have in store fluctuates day to day. Some days I have lots. This shows up as my patience, my ability to brush off minor frustrations, my ability to face challenges. Other days it’s lost by 10:00 am.   Much of this pandemic, faced with trying to work from home with three kids under 9 has left me feeling drained, exhausted, not able to keep up with my norma

 Back in January 2019 I stated one spending goal was to reduce our grocery spending. For 2019 we did fairly good and reduced our average monthly spend from $741/month in 2018 to $717/month in 2019.  I'll call that a decent win given the constant talk of the price of groceries increasing and the fact that we are a family of 5 with growing kids and increasing appetites. We don't scrimp and eat well. I do try to prepare a balance of vegetarian and meat meals and cook from scratch most nights.  Now 6 months into the covid19 pandemic and our food (and take out and alcohol) budget has increased greatly. As of August we are averaging $891 per month. We have almost reached the total spending for last year this month.  It's interesting to analyze it, but I'm not going to be that hard on myself. The first weeks when everyone was stocking up on goods back in March I did a bit, but mostly our regulars and nothing extravagant. The stress of the lockdown after a week and I was crav

I feel like I'm at the start of a Covid Life Crisis. It's likely just the anxiety around feeling like I've made the worst bet in sending my kids back to school. Have I risked their long term health with unknown future complications so I can continue to work?  Our provincial government is doing very little to ensure the safety of kids in the schools. To date they have only provided 2 masks and hand sanitizer. Both of which have yet to arrive as the first week of school finishes. We are fortunate in that the school my kids go to is small, both kids have classes around 20. Many classes here are facing 30-40 students which is greatly above the capacity allowed for 2 m distancing.  Today I have my first day off with no one home. I initially felt bliss to have a quiet house. Excitement to get some things done. Now it's anxiety or guilt, or some combo of the two. I don't know. I'm starting to question aspects of life that before seemed certain. Is this what I want to d