The Daisy Field

For those who know me well, you know that my family has been struggling alot in the last few weeks.    On August 17th my mother was diagnosed with Breast cancer  and that started this horrible ugly ride that we have been strapped into since. (photo: Joel A Rogers) I got the text to call my mom while I was at a week long camp up on the sunshine coast, I took my phone and sat down on one of my favorite beaches staring out into the beautiful sun hanging over the ocean surrounded by trees.   Behind me I could hear the girls laughing and enjoying the program I had planned for them.   I took the news like a good women in our family does - Strong and Optimistic.  When I hung up the phone  I put my face in my hands and I cried.   I cried in fear, I cried for my mom, for my dad and I just let it wash over me. The wierdest thing happened as I cried, a long haired hippy guy with no shirt on appeared on the beach (wie...

So here we go, what happened to the summer?  Apparently I worked through it LOL. My weekenights are slowly filling up with Choir, School, District Events, Area Events and somewhere in there I need to remember to fit in date night each week with my lovely and ever patient husband! My calendar has gone digital, my files have gone cloud and I even found my GGC name tag.    What sort of things do you do to keep on track during the busy months? For my faithful readers in the Vancouver Area, if you want to sign up as a leader or district guider you can always email me!   Depending on which role (or if your as silly as me...how many roles) you take on, your commitment can be a few hours each month or week.   We are of course always looking for leaders who want to fill in for leaders who are sick or who want to be ratio leaders for camps and events.   Its a great organization to volunteer with and you can make a significant difference in t...

Today I lost my lunch buddies and was on my own.    I could sit in the cold office reading my book or go for a walk and see what happens! I mentioned to our HR person that I didn't know what I wanted to eat and that I may just wander until something appeared and inspired me, she told me I MUST go try the "Taco Truck".  She told me which direction to start walking in and I vaguely remembered passing by Howe and Cordova late one afternoon and seeing a "Taco Truck" packing up.   When I arrived at Howe and Cordova I was met with this lovely sight: I ordered the Calle Trio which is 3 corn tortilla's with your choice of meat and salsa.    It comes with black beans, rice and salad for $9.50 ; I also ordered a bottle of water for $1.   The staff are quick, efficient and clean, and I was impressed by how quickly my "non-fast food" was done. A plus for this food truck - they take debit and credit cards, but I had cash and left ...

As many of my long time blog readers will know and anyone who has been unfortunate enough to ask, I am very passionate about the West Memphis Three Case.   For those of you how don't know, these three young boys were convicted of murdering three 8 year old boys in Arkansas.   The main piece of evidence was a confession taken from a young boy unrepresented after 12 hours of interrogation in which he supplied information that was not even close to what happened.   There is a gap in the taping and after that you hear Jessie being lead through the testimony and police correcting him until they get the "right" info. I learned about this case in an intro to policing class when we talked about false confessions (or maybe it was criminal law I forget) but I was so intrigued by the facts presented in class I had to go and read more.   I spent HOURS and HOURS over many days pouring over the public records and reading the "evidence" against the boys.   I wa...

boy that sounds bad huh...well in a way it is!    I remember in highschool we regularily threw around phrases like "your such a ____" and you can fill in the blank with the 3 letter F word....or the 6 letter R word!!    It was something we just never thought about, I mean everyone said it right??   As I grew up it became less of a "your such a ____" and more of a "that's so _____" and in popped that 3 letter G word. I have ALWAYS hated racial slurs and have fought a losing battle with elder members of my family to stop using them.    They think its a joke and like to whip them around when they can to get a rise out of me! A long time ago I dropped the F and G words from my vocabulary because it was no different than any of the racial slurs and because I have many LGBT people who have crossed my path who I love and adore! One day it just clicked for me that what I was saying was TERRIBLE and hurtful and no worse than what ...

Today was a big day for us....West Coast Area Girl Guides hosted a booth at the Vancouver Pride Festival. The response we received was overwhelming!    People were so happy we were there and we heard over and over that it was long over due.   Many people were surprised to see us and to hear that we are an inclusive organization.  I was moved by many stories of LGBT people who had taken part in Guides and Scouts as children and who felt it made a huge difference in their life.    I was deeply saddened by one woman that we talked to who long ago had been kicked out of Guides for being lesbian.   One of my favorite moments was when three young women walked by and slowed down and one girl turned to the other and said "wow...Girl Guides love gays!"   I just wanted to give her a huge hug! I also met a sweet young man who had grown up in guides and credits it as being one of the saving graces in his younger years.    We had a...

Okay I was super skeptical at first....but I kept hearing about Kale Chips!   I thought...man I don't really like kale on its own so why would I like it baked in the oven and how will this replace potato chips?? Well to tell you the truth it wont replace potato chips but it did make a super yummy melt in your mouth (literally by the way melt in your mouth!!) snack that is a good source of fibre. Here is how I made them: Preheat the oven to 325 rip the kale leaves away from the stem (thats the really bitter part) - I recommend bigger versus smaller pieces! Spin, pat whatever you like to do...just make sure the kale is dry make your oil mixture - mine was olive oil, sesame oil, hot oil and fresh galic dip your fingers in the oil and then massage the oil into the leaves. Lay the leaves on the try and make sure they do not overlap. sprinkle with sea salt and garlic pepper. Put in oven for 5 minutes pull out and flip over leaves put back in oven for 4 or 5 minutes...