I recently took a trip down to my parents place, in Southern Ontario. Since my inlaws live up north, and my family is all down south, we make an effort to split the holidays each year, and swap which year we do Christmas with each family.
While I drove the wonderful six hours, Titan (my 103lbs American bulldog) snoring in the backseat, and Andre cat napping in the passenger seat, I was happy to listen to the festive Christmas station on the XM radio. I was finally getting in the mood of the holidays, because it's unavoidable when you hear 6 different versions of Rudolph the red nosed reindeer in an hour.
When I got to my home town, I thought "this is perfect, I'll finally be off the highway and be able to see the lights, snow, etc." The reality was, that the grass was green, it was 11 degrees out, and on almost every street, there were only a handful of houses decorated with lights. The shocking surprise, was it was already Christmas eve.
While I would have hoped that this was merely one street, and the rest was better, it wasn't. Every street, every road, every house I passed over the holidays, there was an average of 1 in every 7 that had lights or decorations.
The point I quickly realized, is that as a Society, we have begun to become so consumed with ourselves and personal lives, that no one could be bothered to decorate. "It takes too much time", "it's a pain taking it all down", "I don't want to pay the hydro bill", etc. are all the excuses we tell ourselves for why we don't do it. The reality is, that the people who are suffering the most, are the kids.
When I was small, I loved going to town to see all the Christmas lights, the decorations, the trees lit up. They reminded me of the season, the warm feeling of Christmas, and the excitement. Now, I'm horrified to know what kids think, because they see streets bare, and houses dark. Think about it this year for yourself, and tell me you didn't notice half the street without any lights on it.
While I was with my mom, she even admitted that she felt the need to bring back some holiday traditions soon, because she also felt that the lack of her tree, garland, and lights, made Christmas "just another day". I began thinking about it, and realized, she was right. When I was a child, we started Christmas after my birthday in November. It began after hunting season, with the hunter's ball. An evening of socializing, drinks, great food, and the company of my dad's hunting party and their families. They would joke nostalgically about the year of hunting, who fell in the river getting soaked, who missed the deer and hit that tree, and the ever illusive yet highly coveted mythical 18 point buck that they always saw, yet never got. The night would be magical, fun, and the beginning of "Christmas".
The Week my father would go hunting, we knew was the same week we could put up the Christmas tree, and the lights. The weekends that followed would include baking for the holidays, with a full Saturday of Cookie making, pies, etc. all in preparation of the week of Christmas. It was the time when we knew snow would begin falling, cousins and family would come over for cards and midnight tobogganing in the pasture with moonlight, and candles hung from the trees in mom's mason jars. We'd come back for hot chocolate, chips, veggies and dip, and a game of UNO extreme that would last until the late hours of the evening. We had Christmas Caroling, Santa Clause Parades, and large city light displays to go see while we drank hot chocolate.
On Christmas Eve my sister and I would have been up with family and friends at the house, after candlelit mass at church, and movies like the Grinch, and Frosty playing on the television, and card games, and laughing carried on from the dinning room.
When we woke up on Christmas morning, anxiously at 4am, because we barely slept and knew Santa had come, we would creep down the stairs and sit at the bottom, calling to our parents in our Pj's, asking them if we could come down, and if Santa had been there. When we got to come down, mom would let us take in the majesty of the presents under the tree, the lights, the stockings, and we could peek around and look at all the wrapping paper's, while she and Dad got coffee's and made breakfast. (The rule in our house was you had to eat breakfast before opening presents, because 90% of the time, we'd have eaten all the sugar in our stockings and then say we had sore tummies and no room for a proper meal, otherwise)
With coffee in hand, and a belly of waffles, eggs and bacon, etc. mom and dad would come back into the living room with us, and we would find a spot on the living room floor. Dad was the official present distributor, and mom would have a large garbage bag for the wrapping paper. We would each get a gift, and get to open it one at a time. The excitement filling us each time as we opened a present, and showed one another. We would slip into the bathroom to try on new Pj's, or shirts and pants. We'd be pressing the buttons on our toys to hear what they did, until Dad could undo the cumbersome ties that held them in place in their packaging. We would show mom what Santa brought and dance around the living room with excitement.
After we had finished, we would thank mom and dad for the things they brought us, and weren't from Santa. We would clean up the living room and all the presents, and play with the items for an hour or so. Then we would get dressed and get ready, going to my grandparents house for Christmas with the rest of the family. There was always lots of different food to eat and pick at, cousins to play with and show the things you got, or they got from Santa, and play with each others toys. The week would continue this way with visits from different family, more games and good eats. By New Years Eve, everyone would have seen one another at least once, and then we would have a New Years Eve Celebration to ring in the New Year, and cap off the entire week.
Christmas time was magical, energetic, and special. When it ended, you looked forward to next year, and the excitement it would bring again. However, that all seemed to disappear as time went on, and eventually it seemed to stop for a few years, when my grandmother (who loved Christmas and always made it special) passed away. The year after seemed to be one in which no one wanted to celebrate because she wouldn't be there, and slowly everyone drifted away. The Odd part was that the rest of the world seemed to feel this drift and disconnect too, and maybe it had for a while, because I could remember thinking it was slowly changing for the worse when I was a teenager. Ten years later, only five houses out of a street of fifty have lights. A week of laughter and cheer, has dwindled down to rushed visits with family all crammed in a 3 day period. The magic that was Christmas has become a consumer holiday of shopping and boxing day sales, all about numbers and financial margins for the whole of Society.
Sadly, I listened to a statistic on the radio while I drove, in which it said 58% of people would be working over the holidays, and out of the remaining people who were not working 78% would still be working from home or checking in on work. These statistics all having gone up between 10-20% from 2007.
Where did Christmas go? Better yet, Why did we ever let it go?
Next year, I hope you all think of this. Put up the lights, and the trees, and the garland. Spend time baking, and Socializing, drinking and playing games. Christmas isn't about the items, the shopping, the WORK. It's about taking some time off, and spending it with actual people, having fun, forgiving a year of stupid issues, and bringing people back together. The WORLD was happier at Christmas, and the only way to make that happen for the next generation, is if we stop thinking about ourselves, and once again remember the meaning of the season, be it Kwanza, Christmas, Hanukkah, whatever. Tradition has it's place in the world, and destroying it for children because we are too lazy, or our bosses are concerned about numbers, is a cop out. Make the time, and if your an employer of a large company, give as many people the time off as you can, because the work and the margins, are still going to be there on January 2, but your workers will be more productive and happy because of that one week they finally relaxed.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!
Monday, December 29, 2014
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Sausage, Carmalized Onion, and Date Pizza
While the title may sound unappealing, I've got to tell you that this pizza is AMAZING. While I was at my mother in laws house one Saturday, she decided to be adventurous and try this pizza as an appetizer. While some people may be turned off by the idea of it, and the combination of toppings seems irreconcilable with each other, they go together to make an incredible experience for your pallet.
My mother in law told me that a co-worker of hers, named Rinnada (my apologizes if I misspelled that) had suggested it as something new to attempt. The result, although admittedly not shared by everyone, was one I thoroughly enjoyed. The taste of the spiced Italian sausage mixed with the tangy barbeque sauce and the sweetness of the onions and dates, made this an instant favorite for me.
Try it out, and let me know what you think. Any pizza dough will do, different Barbecue sauces may add different flavors and experiences, and if your brave try the Gorgonzola (blue cheese). I for one will be honest in saying that I'm no fan of blue cheese, and went with mozzarella. The only other alteration I would suggest is that if you are using a store bought pre-baked dough (works absolutely fine), cut the cooking time down to about half.
Bon Appetit!
Recipe:
http://www.vintages.com/superstars/21/index.shtml?ontariowines
Day 2
Well this morning, readers, was interesting. So before I get into anything heavy, I decided we should all take a moment and laugh at my morning.
It was around 7:30am, I got up with the amazing man in my life, while he got ready for work. Last night I had parked my truck behind him, so I needed to move it out of his way, and send him off. We live in a very small rural little hamlet, with nice neighbors, a post office, and a variety store. With that in mind, I figured no one is going to be getting up real early, no one is going to see what I'm wearing, so no big deal.
I went out in my red and blue plaid Pj pants, black house coat (that is missing it's tie up) and my clunky beige Timberland hiking boots. (Picture it and laugh, because it's not as pretty as it sounds.) I started the vehicles to warm them up, brushed the 3 inches of fresh snow off, said my good byes to Andre, and then felt like an idiot when he waved to our neighbor across the very empty cul-de-sac. I wish that I could honestly say this was the worst thing my neighbor has ever seen, but it isn't.
So after my fiance leaves for work, I park my truck back in the drive way so the snow plow does not get annoyed, quickly shovel the spot in front of our door, and attempt to go inside. We have a numeric lock on the door, because I suck with keys, and if ever you have one I warn you that sometimes they stop working in the cold weather. Yep, that was it. The door would accept the code, unlock, but the lever would not move the latch inside to let me into the house. I was officially locked out.
Since I had been home most of the week, I had been very efficient. I had latched all the windows, and the patio door. I had locked up my shed, and tools for the winter, etc. I couldn't even call Andre to come back because I hadn't taken my cellphone off the nightstand while I was leaving. I was outside, both pets in the house staring at me through the door, thinking that I look like hell, and if I can't find a way in, I'm going to have to go to a neighbor to use their phone, shirtless, with a house coat that won't do up, and looking like someone from "the hills have eyes" who just got out of bed.
Thankfully, I found a basement window that I had forgot to lock, and could climb in through. I slid it open, got down on hands and knees, and began climbing in while the Cat decided that my toes looked like they needed to be licked and batted at. While I was half way through, I looked up to realize, my neighbor behind our house, is in his yard, watching me, probably because he thought I was a burglar. That is until he realised it was me, is smiling like he's about to wet his pants from laughter, and waves saying "Hi Adam. Locked out? all good?".
When I got in the house, I almost died laughing at myself. I looked like an absolute idiot, and yet I didn't care. It was funny.
That was when I realized, I couldn't remember the last time I laughed so hard. I had worked every day, including most weekends, for my career, over the past four years. I hadn't stopped, laughed, or even enjoyed myself in so long, that I couldn't remember the last time I had laughed like this.
So today, I want everyone to stop for a minute, and laugh. Whether its at me, or at something stupid you can think you did today, whatever. Stop and Laugh, because in honesty, it finally felt Amazing.
You know Andre is smart, and he made me watch an Oprah You tube video, which really put things in perspective earlier in the week for me. I know when you think you tube, your thinking "just another fad video that popped up." The truth is that Oprah, and let's be honest its wise if Oprah said it, made a good point. She said that there is no such thing as failure, and you need to relax. She pointed out that when you fail at something, or do something wrong in your life, it's the worlds way of telling you, that you lost focus, and got off track. The only thing you need to do, is sit, calm yourself, relax, and figure out where your path is again, so that you can get back onto it. (Watch the video clip)
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=796092163770905
Oprah's right, which is an understatement and the point of Today. I forgot how to laugh at the little things, how to have fun in the crazy crisis driven world I was functioning in. I needed to have a forced to resign to find that part of myself again, and to figure out new goals for myself. The largest regret I have with coming to this understanding of my life, is that I knew this once.
In College I had a teacher who taught our counseling class. She made us begin the lesson each day, by making every student talk about one perfect moment. One moment that was impacting, positive, and moving, from our week. She told us that every day we needed to find that moment, because there was a ton of despair, misery, and sadness in the world, and that people would show us that as a counselor. It was our role to find the positive, find that moment of Awe in our own lives, so that we could find it in theirs and help shed light on it for them.
So today, laugh. Find something, as small as it could be, that brought you even a moment of joy to your day. Focus on that moment, embrace it, and remember; "There are no mistakes" You have a supreme Destiny to embrace, and you simply have to find it."There are no wrong paths, failure is just that thing that is trying to move you in a new path." - Oprah
It was around 7:30am, I got up with the amazing man in my life, while he got ready for work. Last night I had parked my truck behind him, so I needed to move it out of his way, and send him off. We live in a very small rural little hamlet, with nice neighbors, a post office, and a variety store. With that in mind, I figured no one is going to be getting up real early, no one is going to see what I'm wearing, so no big deal.
I went out in my red and blue plaid Pj pants, black house coat (that is missing it's tie up) and my clunky beige Timberland hiking boots. (Picture it and laugh, because it's not as pretty as it sounds.) I started the vehicles to warm them up, brushed the 3 inches of fresh snow off, said my good byes to Andre, and then felt like an idiot when he waved to our neighbor across the very empty cul-de-sac. I wish that I could honestly say this was the worst thing my neighbor has ever seen, but it isn't.
So after my fiance leaves for work, I park my truck back in the drive way so the snow plow does not get annoyed, quickly shovel the spot in front of our door, and attempt to go inside. We have a numeric lock on the door, because I suck with keys, and if ever you have one I warn you that sometimes they stop working in the cold weather. Yep, that was it. The door would accept the code, unlock, but the lever would not move the latch inside to let me into the house. I was officially locked out.
Since I had been home most of the week, I had been very efficient. I had latched all the windows, and the patio door. I had locked up my shed, and tools for the winter, etc. I couldn't even call Andre to come back because I hadn't taken my cellphone off the nightstand while I was leaving. I was outside, both pets in the house staring at me through the door, thinking that I look like hell, and if I can't find a way in, I'm going to have to go to a neighbor to use their phone, shirtless, with a house coat that won't do up, and looking like someone from "the hills have eyes" who just got out of bed.
Thankfully, I found a basement window that I had forgot to lock, and could climb in through. I slid it open, got down on hands and knees, and began climbing in while the Cat decided that my toes looked like they needed to be licked and batted at. While I was half way through, I looked up to realize, my neighbor behind our house, is in his yard, watching me, probably because he thought I was a burglar. That is until he realised it was me, is smiling like he's about to wet his pants from laughter, and waves saying "Hi Adam. Locked out? all good?".
When I got in the house, I almost died laughing at myself. I looked like an absolute idiot, and yet I didn't care. It was funny.
That was when I realized, I couldn't remember the last time I laughed so hard. I had worked every day, including most weekends, for my career, over the past four years. I hadn't stopped, laughed, or even enjoyed myself in so long, that I couldn't remember the last time I had laughed like this.
So today, I want everyone to stop for a minute, and laugh. Whether its at me, or at something stupid you can think you did today, whatever. Stop and Laugh, because in honesty, it finally felt Amazing.
You know Andre is smart, and he made me watch an Oprah You tube video, which really put things in perspective earlier in the week for me. I know when you think you tube, your thinking "just another fad video that popped up." The truth is that Oprah, and let's be honest its wise if Oprah said it, made a good point. She said that there is no such thing as failure, and you need to relax. She pointed out that when you fail at something, or do something wrong in your life, it's the worlds way of telling you, that you lost focus, and got off track. The only thing you need to do, is sit, calm yourself, relax, and figure out where your path is again, so that you can get back onto it. (Watch the video clip)
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=796092163770905
Oprah's right, which is an understatement and the point of Today. I forgot how to laugh at the little things, how to have fun in the crazy crisis driven world I was functioning in. I needed to have a forced to resign to find that part of myself again, and to figure out new goals for myself. The largest regret I have with coming to this understanding of my life, is that I knew this once.
In College I had a teacher who taught our counseling class. She made us begin the lesson each day, by making every student talk about one perfect moment. One moment that was impacting, positive, and moving, from our week. She told us that every day we needed to find that moment, because there was a ton of despair, misery, and sadness in the world, and that people would show us that as a counselor. It was our role to find the positive, find that moment of Awe in our own lives, so that we could find it in theirs and help shed light on it for them.
So today, laugh. Find something, as small as it could be, that brought you even a moment of joy to your day. Focus on that moment, embrace it, and remember; "There are no mistakes" You have a supreme Destiny to embrace, and you simply have to find it."There are no wrong paths, failure is just that thing that is trying to move you in a new path." - Oprah
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
The Beginning... of the rest of my life.
Good Morning Everyone,
I should catch you up on a bit of history to begin. The past few weeks have been extremely stressful with personal changes that I didn't expect. When situations like this occur, there's no amount of stress, anxiety, and depression, that a Manic Depressive like myself, can self inflict when desired. Life with Depression is like having a little monster in your head telling you every one of your worst fears on a regular basis.
I however, strive to defeat that monster daily. So I needed a lot of support to be able to overcome him. Today is one of the first where I can honestly say, I'm winning that battle.
My fiance, and soon to be husband (yep, I'm a straight acting, as normal as possible, gay man), was the person who pulled me through the thick of it and put things in perspective. He told me, losing my job was just a new beginning. He reminded me that when I finished University and then College, my sole goal was to work for Child Welfare. I wanted to be a Child Protection Worker, and make a change in the world; I had achieved that to already.
For the past four years I dedicated my life to my job. The point my fiance made was that in achieving my goal, I threw myself so far into my work, that I didn't have a life outside it. I hadn't read a good book, watched a television series, gone for a nature hike, cooked for pleasure, etc. in so long, that I had forgotten how much it all centered me.
My soon to be husband, Andre, reminded me that I was missing out on life, and I was burnt out from it. So going forward, he reminded me I needed to balance myself better by doing what I enjoyed, and take this time and opportunity to set new goals for myself. He was right.
So today, after getting myself to a new frame of mind, I'm working on moving forward. I've finally read a new book, based on a movie I actually want to see; "Interstellar" by Christpher Nolan. The book is good, and has some interesting, and theoretical quantum mechanics to think about, however I finish it still wanting more. To be honest, the book is adapted from a movie screen play, so understandably it's very short. The problem with that, is that you wind up with a thousand questions; for example, how did earth become unsustainable? What year is this supposed to take place? What is "the blight" in reference to crops? etc. I think Nolan made a great starter series with this; however someone could make this the next best selling novel series if they put some time and effort into it.
Ladies and Gentlemen, if you like a good book, then check this one out and let me know your thoughts. I think it could be an awesome movie (graphics look amazing), and I also think it could do so much more.
See you all tomorrow.
I should catch you up on a bit of history to begin. The past few weeks have been extremely stressful with personal changes that I didn't expect. When situations like this occur, there's no amount of stress, anxiety, and depression, that a Manic Depressive like myself, can self inflict when desired. Life with Depression is like having a little monster in your head telling you every one of your worst fears on a regular basis.
I however, strive to defeat that monster daily. So I needed a lot of support to be able to overcome him. Today is one of the first where I can honestly say, I'm winning that battle.
My fiance, and soon to be husband (yep, I'm a straight acting, as normal as possible, gay man), was the person who pulled me through the thick of it and put things in perspective. He told me, losing my job was just a new beginning. He reminded me that when I finished University and then College, my sole goal was to work for Child Welfare. I wanted to be a Child Protection Worker, and make a change in the world; I had achieved that to already.
For the past four years I dedicated my life to my job. The point my fiance made was that in achieving my goal, I threw myself so far into my work, that I didn't have a life outside it. I hadn't read a good book, watched a television series, gone for a nature hike, cooked for pleasure, etc. in so long, that I had forgotten how much it all centered me.
My soon to be husband, Andre, reminded me that I was missing out on life, and I was burnt out from it. So going forward, he reminded me I needed to balance myself better by doing what I enjoyed, and take this time and opportunity to set new goals for myself. He was right.
So today, after getting myself to a new frame of mind, I'm working on moving forward. I've finally read a new book, based on a movie I actually want to see; "Interstellar" by Christpher Nolan. The book is good, and has some interesting, and theoretical quantum mechanics to think about, however I finish it still wanting more. To be honest, the book is adapted from a movie screen play, so understandably it's very short. The problem with that, is that you wind up with a thousand questions; for example, how did earth become unsustainable? What year is this supposed to take place? What is "the blight" in reference to crops? etc. I think Nolan made a great starter series with this; however someone could make this the next best selling novel series if they put some time and effort into it.
Ladies and Gentlemen, if you like a good book, then check this one out and let me know your thoughts. I think it could be an awesome movie (graphics look amazing), and I also think it could do so much more.
See you all tomorrow.
Welcome!
Firstly, I would like to start by thanking you for reading my Blog. I can't tell you where this will lead, or what will happen, but I hope you enjoy it.
While a lot of people write blogs to vent, and ramble about their horrible experiences in the world, I don't want to do that for you. I want to write a positive, and thought provoking Blog of the good things I see and learn everyday.
Enjoy, and I welcome the feedback, so feel free to comment.
While a lot of people write blogs to vent, and ramble about their horrible experiences in the world, I don't want to do that for you. I want to write a positive, and thought provoking Blog of the good things I see and learn everyday.
Enjoy, and I welcome the feedback, so feel free to comment.
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