Gifts for Grandparents

I have just gotten back from driving around in the dark with my friend Kristi delivering some gifts for grandparents with Family Services of Central Alberta. For the last 4 years Family Services of Central Alberta (FSCA) has collected donations for gift hampers for those people in our community that may not otherwise get a Christmas gift. Some are grandparents yes, others are disabled or unable to work and shut in. Tonight we delivered 5 hampers to some deserving people. Last year FSCA had only 6 volunteers to deliver hampers and tonight there was 65 volunteers. WOW! This is a great experience for anyone. Take a couple of hours and be reminded of how blessed you really are. There are so many people that are lonely and hurting right here in Red Deer. Not just at Christmas but all year round. Although it can be difficult, it is important to be reminded that although we all have challenges, there are those close by that are not so well off.

Merry Christmas!!

What's your score?

A few weeks back I got an invite from someone to find out what my "Klout" score was. My first thought was "What the heck is a klout?" It didn't sound good. Was it an illness? Klout sounds like Gout and my grandpa almost lost his foot to that so klout, no thanks. Was it to score my sanity? Goodness knows that would be a bad idea. (sorry for the foolish rabbit trail)

Back to klout. Klout turns out to be an answer to my prayers. I am forever being harassed, teased and picked on by my family and friends because I spend so much "wasted time" on things like twitter, linkedin and (not so much anymore) facebook. I have pleaded my case trying to explain the importance of credibility and reputation on these sites and the benefits but sadly it gets me no where.

Now I have some backing. I have linked all of my social media accounts to klout and it has given me a score. This score measures how effective I am with social media and how much of an influence I am with my network of people. The score can be easy to increase at first (like from a 20 - 25 score) but it is a lot harder to move up (say from a 70-75 score) The Klout website says that the score is based on a 1-100 point system and that the average score is about 20.

So that my friends is Kout in a nutshell. I encourage you to use this tool to increase your credibility even if only to get you loved ones off your back for wasting time online.

Stay warm out there!

I'm No Artist

My job has taken me all over Central Alberta the past few weeks. I've been to Stettler, Lacombe (3 times), Sylvan Lake, Olds and somewhere between Olds & Didsbury at a sulphur plant. With all this driving I have seen many trains and lots and lots of graffiti. Every time I see graffiti I am in complete awe at the talent of these artists. I get totally inspired. Weird right? It makes me want to buy an expensive camera and go out and shoot all these trains and graffiti and make some sort of gallery display exploring graffiti... and I'm not even an artist.

Now the majority of people (local citizens, council, businesses, police) HATE graffiti. "It's vandalism" they say.

Graffiti is an art form. The people that create these amazing tags on buildings are artists and don't get any recognition for their art. Now I need to clarify here, I do not in any way support anyone spray painting other people's property. But what I would say is that there is a time and place for everything.

Let's look at this a different way for a moment.

WHAT IF? We as a community set boundaries and gave a venue for graffiti? Do you think it would still happen everywhere else?

WHAT IF? We allowed the street culture to express themselves at the local skate park with spray cans?

WHAT IF? By doing these things we were able to engage a segment of the population that is seen as negative and delinquent and gave them a sense of belonging to the community?

WHAT IF? Some downtown businesses that were all located beside each other allowed people to tag the back of their buildings and every month would repaint over it all so they could start again?

WHAT IF? This became an accepted art medium that the community could come together and enjoy and photograph?

What I am trying to get at is that if we want to be proactive about crime prevention, crime reduction, community engagement and the like, we have to start thinking differently about how we get to the end result.

Change is much more likely to happen with positive reinforcement than with negative criticism.

Just a thought.

Thanks Matthew

I have just come back from my 3rd funeral in 3 months. That's a whole lot of perspective in a short period of time. From each funeral there was a theme. Intentional of not, a theme emerged.I shared with you in a previous post about the first.

This most recent passing was a very dear friends' brother. Matthew was the youngest of 5 children and the only boy. He was killed by an erratic driver in the Crowsnest Pass last Saturday. He was 27.

Matthew's life was not easy by any means. He suffered with chronic pain and migraines from a previous car accident. In spite of that he lived his life in a way as to have no regrets. He loved the people around him whole heartedly. He forgave immediately. Everyone in his life didn't have to guess his feelings because he told them all. Even his young nephews spoke at his funeral because in their words "Uncle Matthew would want me to tell people how I feel." His young nephews told me "We know that uncle Matthew loved us more than anything" WOW. It is unfortunate that it usually takes a tragic event for people to have their "wake up call".

I have been called many things in my life... including lame and cheesy because I have affirmed and told people how I feel about them. I also have lived my life making friends and family my top priority before work, volunteering or any thing else. The bottom line is that I would rather you know how I feel about you now while you are alive then say nice things as you lay in a casket. If that makes me cheesy then so be it.

So to Matthew's family, thanks for raising a son that was such an example to so many. As spoken at the service, his legacy will go on with each person that knew him that outwardly show more love and feeling to those in their lives.

A life taken too soon. Rest in Peace Matthew!

Cool Beans!

So it has happened again... my favorite Red Deer coffee shop was broken into and vandalized over night. This is the 3rd time since opening this summer that Traptow's Cool Beans has been broken into. Small businesses are what make a community unique. Without them we become generic and boring. The spirit of community is evident in our downtown with small businesses like Cool Beans, places like Sunworks and City Centre Stage & The Scott Block theater.

Owning a business is no easy task. I saw a tweet from @reactionmike yesterday that said "an entrepreneur is a self-employed person working 16 hours a day to avoid working 8 hours a day for someone else." So True Mike.

Kevin & Becky and their family work so hard 7 days a week to keep Cool Beans open. I know they are feeling tired and a little let down by this latest vandalism.

So this is a call to action. Tomorrow, Saturday 17.. I want everyone who lives in Central Alberta to send a message to Kevin and Becky. I want you to kick it old school and when you go to Cool Beans tomorrow (yes.. I want you to physically go there and order a coffee and maybe some chocolate root beer cake) and bring along a card or poster or something that tells them that we as a community appreciate them and their contribution to making our downtown unique!

Then I want you to tweet with... I love @Coolbeansbus because... (and give your reason).

We cannot as a community be successful unless everyone in the community feels supported.

Show your love! I will be a Cool Beans at noon to show my love... hope to see you there!!

Beth

A Life Lesson

I had an interesting day yesterday. A close friend of my husbands family passed away a few weeks ago. As they were from Newfoundland there were lots of people that came to pay respects to our friend Randy. We loaned his wife and family our holiday trailer for family to stay in so they could all be together.

Yesterday we went to pick up our trailer and as we sat with Randy's wife Marilyn she said some very big things that I think we all need to consider as we walk through life.

Randy and Marilyn were married 48 years. Quite an accomplishment these days. They did absolutely everything together. They very rarely left their farm without each other and spent every day being and doing things together. It is a beautiful story really, the love they had for each other right until the day Randy died. It was like the honeymoon lasted all those years. They respected each other and never overlooked an opportunity for a hug, or a squeeze and a "You know I love you right?"

Marilyn explained that loosing a spouse is different for everyone. People with jobs, friends, hobbies all have those things after the death of a spouse. They have support and things to continue to do. Marilyn didn't have those things. She retired to a farm near Ponoka and didn't make friends. Who needs friends when you have such a wonderful husband right?? Wrong. Marilyn feels like she has nothing. Everyone can go on living and the center of her world is gone. Her advice to us was make friends, find hobbies and interests outside of your spouse. Create a life so that when your kids leave home or you loose your special someone you still have pieces of the puzzle that can still be intact while you work through the emotions of loosing a big piece of your puzzle.

Another thing to consider in this balancing act called life.

When Pigs Fly

I have a friend who will remain nameless. He has been encouraging me to make my blog posts more personal so here is one for ya.

I have a confession to make. I HATE animals. There I said it.Don't JUDGE ME. I have hated animals for 15 years. So considering that I am not 15 years old clearly at one point I DID like animals. But then something happened. Something so horrible that somewhere inside without even realizing it I made an unconscious decision that I would never care for an animal again.

Here is the story....

When I was 17 my boyfriend at the time got me a puppy. This puppy was a golden lab cross. I named him Snoop Dog. I loved Snoop more than anything and just a few weeks after I got him I came home from work and he came running down the stairs to greet me and I ran him over with the truck.... Wow.. that was even hard to type. Ya, I ran him over. I was DEVASTATED! I cried for days and it was horrible. It still hurts just as much as it did back then... ok I'm crying now.. thanks ...

Fast forward to this month. I met some friends through my hubby that breed long haired chihuahuas. They have like 4 or more dogs in the house and the first time I was there I was NOT comfortable.. (Remember I hate animals) After going out there a couple of times and holding the new puppies (cause seriously I'm not an ice princess and who can resist a cute puppy... it's like holding a baby and then giving it back to it's sleep deprived mother and getting a good nights sleep.) I started to like them. But I wouldn't tell anyone.. not even my husband... I mean I have an image to uphold right?

Anyway... since last weekend all I have thought of is if I could see myself with a dog... and not just any dog... the dog that I had named at the farm. I named him Bean. (as in coffee bean). But when I facebooked my friend to see if he was sold she told me that a lady from Calgary wanted him. Funny enough I sat in front of my computer and wept for Bean. The puppy that had softened my heart after so many years. He was going to someone else. Our friend said that a new litter of dogs had just been born and I could pick one of those if I wanted...

Here's the thing.. it's not about getting A puppy... it was about getting Bean..... and if I can't have Bean then I don't want a dog.

So here is my news.... I am getting a puppy. And his name is Bean. And I love him...

But you will never hear me say it out loud... so don't ask.

Old Boy's Club

On the weekend I went snow shoeing and out for dinner with a large group of ladies. (Smart, educated, passionate, movers and shakers shall we say.) During dinner we got into an interesting conversation about politics in Alberta. Although we all come from different political backgrounds, the consensus was the same. We rant and rave about voter turnout. We blog and talk about why it is so important to vote and wonder where this apathy comes from when it comes to electing our leaders.

Everyone at our end of the table agreed, that people are apathetic to the "Old Boy's Club" that IS politics. The majority of our leaders fit most or all of this criteria
1. Male
2. Over weight
3. Balding
4. Over 45

What is sexy and glamorous about that?? People want to be inspired. Talk is cheap. We don't want a health minister (or any other minister for that matter) telling us to be healthy or preaching a message that they, themselves personally don't follow. We live in an age of people worshiping people (celebrities) and when we think about our leaders, having the brains to do the job isn't cutting it anymore.

The conversation during dinner then turned to Wildrose Alliance leader Danielle Smith. Nobody could dispute that a young, healthy, female under the age of 45 wasn't the best choice for a party leader. Although most of the ladies didn't agree with policies of the party, their selection in a leader says something. They are more engaged with a younger demographic.

People want leaders they can relate to. They want leaders that are engaging and they want to feel like their opinion matters. Look at Nenshi in Calgary or Melissa Blake in Wood Buffalo.

When Ed announced last week that he was stepping down my first though was to an author and MLA Doug Griffiths. He's a small town guy making ripples with his speech and book "13 Ways to Kill Your Community". I blogged about his book a couple of months ago. Here is a guy, under 40, takes care of himself, uses social media to engage with younger people and clearly has his heart in the right place. He is the kind of guy that you are naturally drawn to and WANT to follow because he inspires people. I may not agree with all that the Conservative Party has to offer, but Doug makes me WANT to follow him. He has that charisma and energy that is rare.

Who knows what the next year or two holds for Alberta and politics. All I know is that unless the "Old Boy's Club" transforms itself ... we will be complaining about the same things 10 years from now and that gets old and boring really fast.

Do me a favour and encourage more women and younger, passionate male leaders to get involved and change our political landscape.

Out of the Tap

Yesterday I attended (for the first time) a community workshop put on by the Red Deer River Watershed Alliance. When I got the invite through a friend on facebook my first thought was "That's odd.. why would THEY invite ME to a meeting about water? " Mine was a last minute decision to attend and I am sure glad I did. I was a little nervous however, wondering what kind of people attend these sort of things.

Water is a very complex issue I have learned. We all use it and we all expect it to be there when we need it. A banner at the event read " A healthy watershed provides the triple benefits of human, ecological and economic health" Once I considered those three things I realized that this goes way further than what my knowledge base was on the subject.

After some brain storming of challenges that we face in regards to water the group of 70 or 80 that were in attendance broke up into smaller groups to brainstorm further. I joined the Agriculture, Forestry and Oil & Gas group. In my past I have lived and worked on a farm, worked for a pulp mill (my dad is also a forester) and we benefit through my husbands job in the oil and gas sector. So although I am not an expert in any of these areas I felt I could relate better to this group then the others.

Here are a few common threads that came out of this workshop

1. Decisions today are being made based on 30 year old data. New data is required to manage our watershed.
2. Guidelines for conservation need to be the same for everyone (urban, rural, industry)
3. We need to stop finger pointing, blaming and deflecting who's responsible for use and pollution and begin to work together (individuals, corporations and governments) to implement solutions.


One thing that came through loud and clear is that people are tired of attending community workshops and public consultations with predetermined outcomes that they feel end up going no where. The best case scenario is that the end report will go forward as suggestions to our government but unfortunately they are under no obligation to read, listen or even begin to make changes. I can appreciate the frustration of those in attendance. Nothing is worse than sharing input, only feel that it is being heard by def ears.

I have to believe that by donating my time to this and other initiatives that ask for public input that some how, someway, I am making a difference to my community.

Thanks for the invite Rene. You have opened my eyes to this complex thing we call water.

Changing My Mind

I have just finished reading Margaret Trudeau's Autobiography titled "Changing My Mind". It was recommended to me by my pal Kim Berube and without much thought I picked it up.
As I chatted with my dad one evening I mentioned that I was reading this book and got to listen to a 5 minute rant on why Pierre Trudeau was bad for Canada and bad for Alberta. Breath dad... it's just a book.

Now considering I am in my early 30's I do not have a memory of the years that Pierre governed Canada and whether good or bad I think we need to learn from the past and from others in order to improve our country and ourselves. Back to the book.

It was not what I had expected (pleasantly). I need to say that I now have a lot of respect for Margaret for sharing her journey of mental illness and I have compassion for her children for what they went to over the years.


10 things about Margaret that are worth mentioning

1. Born and raised in Vancouver
2. Was a "drama queen to say the least"
3.Her life's motto was "Passion over Reason" Pierre's was "Reason over Passion"
4. She was a flower child in every sense of the word - sex, drugs & rock and roll
5. She has battled bi polar disorder her whole adult life
6. Was crucified by the media
7. Margaret was 28 years younger than her first husband Pierre
8. She was the mother of 5 children
9. Her son Michel passed away tragically in an avalanche in November 1998
10. She now works with WaterCan. A registered charity dedicated to providing clean water to the worlds poorest people.

These are just a few highlights of the book. I encourage you (regardless of political party preference) to have a read and open your mind to the idea of mental illness and what it means for the person living it everyday. For those that suffer everyday with bi polar disorder and your families, I hope that this book can be a source of inspiration and strength as you continue with your journey .