Food For Thought

Hello friends: my whole eight or so internet folk who are reading. Plus let’s not forget my one reader from Italy (yet again – ciao! send food!)

Well firstly I have to apologise for my last number of posts being on a more somber note. With the sickness of children and myself I was wee bit down but never fear I am back to my angst ridden self.

This post is going to be a jumble of thoughts but things I feel like getting off my chest. Stick with me.

There are certain turns of phrase that are sending me around the bend. For example if someone says, “I have a bone to pick with you” you know you are in for bad news. Next time I hear this I will quickly reply, “well I don’t condone picking bones so I’ll speak to you later, bye bye!” The WORST. I mean the absolute worst has to be when a person starts a statement with, “no offence, but”. At this point you should brace yourself because you are about to be offended. It will always be a criticism of some sort and it will be bad news. I really think people should work on their tact because I am all about tact. Why put somebody’s back up when you want them receptive to hear something? It’s akin to saying, “hey I’m about to really piss you off but please be nice about it.” Um no. Not really. Okay that rant is done - for now.

Today was one for the books as for work I went on a tour of a construction site and had to wear huge rubber boots and a hard hat. The site was impressive and the project was very worthy. If the foundation’s money were mine to spend I would have given everything we have. I am the only employee of a large, private, family foundation. It’s a great job in that giving money to worthy causes is highly satisfying. It is challenging in that I report directly to a board of directors. If there is a mess up, it is mine and mine alone. I have to prepare very carefully for every question that can be volleyed at me at a Director’s meeting. These Directors are no light weights either. We have finance people, lawyers, a university chancellor, a national paper contributor, a hospital consultant, a professional fundraiser and board experts. They are great people individually but can really scare the hell out of an employee who must answer to them as a group. I’m not complaining. I love my job and have been at it for ten years now but when confronted with that breadth of knowledge it can be overwhelming.

As a cap to my earlier mentioned construction tour, we visited another of their sites that was amazing. It has a food bank and a community kitchen that serves lunch three times a week and breakfast three times a week (for free). The kitchen has over two hundred volunteers that are mostly the people who avail themselves of the food bank and community kitchen’s services. This place also gives out information on all community services that the neighbourhood provides and holds things like flu vaccination clinics etc. The food bank doesn’t just have the standard fare of packaged food but also has fresh veggies and fruits and are able to cater to individual cultural and religious needs. I was humbled. The poverty in North American cities is not so easily seen. Families on social assistance are not visual. Often very nice looking homes serve three families instead of one.

I had lunch there with a bunch of people who can’t afford a decent meal of their own. Either that or they are so isolated by poverty that a meal with neighbours would be a high point of their day. All the food at was organic. We had beef stew with couscous, mesculin salad and excellent bread. I had conversations with a number of people at my table. This particular neighbourhood has many Brazilian, Portugese, Irish and Caribbean families. It was so interesting to see how much we all have in common. The way a meal draws people together is truly astounding. I will try to champion this cause to our board and try to keep this particular organization in their field of vision.

Wait a second, I haven’t been snarky at all during this post. Damn these excellent do-gooder organizations, they make me the kind, gentle person I want to be. Bah! Wait give me a second, I’m sure I can find something to bitch about. Oh yes, my poor parenting skills. Henry had a bad afternoon. In the last number of weeks he has become particularly mouthy, and seemingly deaf. It’s been driving me, Thomas and our lovely daytime Nanny around the bend. Where did this come from all of a sudden? When I got home our Nanny was distressed. The teacher had commented on his lack of attention in class yesterday and he was quite monsterous at a playdate last friday. We aren't parents that let things slide. I've been hoping that this can be attributed to the time change or some friend at school but as you know, you can't control your child's behavior when they are at school or you are at work. I felt like a failure. Henry and I had a long talk and decided to come up with a secret code word that would remind him of his slipping behavior. If after that he was still mouthy, he would lose a pokemon card for a month. This might not sound like a big deal but GOD this kid is into pokemon so it is the best currency we have to deal with. Also may I just add, I hate pokemon cards with the burning fire of a thousand suns. Damn you pokemon people, damn you.

Okay - I have to go to work so if I post this with errors then - sorry sorry sorry! I'll fix it later.

Also a bunch of you are sending me lovely emails about the blog, which I love and appreciate - but the comment box is there for that purpose too and you can do it anonymously if you want. Also you can agree, disagree, tell me to get my head out of butt. It's fun! Y'all can even engage in some fighting matches which I would think would be highly entertaining!