Category Archives: Opinion

5 Canadian Stereotypes

Opinion, , , , , , ,

If you were unaware, yes, I am a Canadian. And being a Canadian there are many many stereotypes that come along with it. Just like other countries have their own we are no different here. Some of them being more outrageous than the next. While some of them do in fact have some little bit of truth to them. If you want to check out the first 5 stereotypes that I talked about you are more than welcome to read them in this blog post here. Now let’s talk about the next five that seem to follow us around no matter where we go.

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We All Live in the Middle of Nowhere
While there is a lot of people who do live in the middle of nowhere there are also a lot of people who live near or in the cities. For me, I am only 30 or so minutes if not less (depending on traffic) from Halifax. I never wanted to live in the middle of no where because that would be more travel for things. There are plenty of people who live further out because they enjoy that lifestyle. That being said, I don’t think there is any more people living further out than another country. It may seem that way though due to the fact our country is so large and much of it is forests and places that people really do not live. Like up north where there are people living there, however the number of them there is very low.

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There’s Nothing to Do
This count not be further from the truth. Sure there may not be everything and anything you want like other countries but there is plenty to do here. If you live close to a major city chances are they have nearly everything you could imagine. Even if you live far from the city they normally have heritage buildings or museums that you are able to go to also. If you know where a lake or pond is than chances are in the winter time you have a pair of skates and are skating there, provided the ice is thick enough and it is safe to do so too. And if you are close to the city there are probably specific activity places for kids, adults, parents, teens that you will be able to see. There is plenty to do in Canada as long as you have some idea what you want to do and where you want to do it at!

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We Live Solely on Poutine
Before I begin, know that as I write this I have already written a blog post about how I do not like Poutine and how it is overrated. Though I will say poutine is very popular across the country it depends on how it is made. Quebec obviously has the best poutines due to the fact they are French, poutine is French.. You get it. They actually make it with cheese curds which is the proper way. The further east or west you venture from Quebec they seem to just use mozzarella cheese which is not the same. Believe me, As someone who has been with a fella who is Quebecois for the past 10 plus years I hear all about which poutines are the best and what is wrong with the worst ones.

Everybody Speaks French
This is such a misconception when it comes to Canada. In fact, there is only one province that is primarily French and that is Quebec. New Brunswick, respectfully is bilingual and other provinces such as Nova Scotia has communities of people who speak french like the Acadiennes (Which my grandmother is). Most people in the country would have taken some French classes in school but if they never pursued it further they would probably have lost what little they did know. French is a language that I learned as an adult and only because my in laws speak it so it opened up a whole new level of communication with them. However, the vast majority of Canadians probably do not know much French in terms of conversations.

We Love to use Duct Tape
I think this is debatable as some people I am sure love using duct tape however I think it depends on the project. Have I seen people get injured and grab the duct tape to wrap it up? Yep. Have I seen someone put more then they should back on to their car with duct tape? Of course. That being said I don’t think I would really judge and say that Canadians use duct tape more than another place though. While I am not saying that it does not have many, many uses for just about anything under the sun, I just don’t see people absolutely LOVING duct tape like the stereotype may be. But if you do love it, You just might be a fan of Red Green.

There you have it, five more stereotypes that have been de-bunked (kind of) when it comes to Canadians. I, of course cannot speak to all of them since I am only one person, however living here for my 30+ years on the planet as well as in 2 vastly different provinces I guess I consider myself able to let you know which of these have any shred of truth.

Are there any stereotypes from the country you live in?
Which are they and are they completely false too?

Let me know in the comments below! I would love to read all the different ones about where you are from!

Why Garlic Fingers Should be More Known Across Canada

Food, Opinion, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

If there is one important fact that anyone should know about me, it is the fact that one of my top three favorite foods is garlic fingers. I know some of you who are not on the east coast of Canada may have 0 idea what garlic fingers are and that is okay. I am about to tell you what they are and maybe even influence you to try to make it a big deal where you are living if they are not already. Not to mention, you can easily make them at home if you know a simple recipe for any type of pizza dough too. They dont even take that long time wise to make if you even include the raising of the dough too.

Image from http://saltwaterdaughters.com/east-coast-honey-garlic-fingers/

If you don’t know what Garlic Fingers are, they really are quite simple. You take pizza dough and roll it the exact same as you would a pizza. Instead of sauce you put a garlic butter on it. Sometimes you can use store bought however if you prefer to make something fresh with garlic and butter and herbs yourselves that does get the job done just as well too. Then you put mozzarella cheese on. You can also add bacon for example, our old neighbors actually would put bacon and pineapple on it also. Then it gets baked and is doughy and crispy goodness. And super greasy depending on how you like it too. I prefer to even have the dough half baked because I really like the dough to be just that, doughy!

Now, not all garlic fingers are created equally. Some are different than others. Some have thinner dough, not garlicky enough butter, not enough cheese or bacon when asked. My personal favorite is a really doughy crust. A very garlicky butter but I’m not a fan of excessive use of parsley. Sparingly is fine but sometimes it can be over powering. I don’t mind herbs in it but it depends on the day because an overpowering herb can ruin a garlic fingers. I also love double the mozzarella cheese too. Bacon I will get occasionally however it really just depends at this point. Since moving back home from Quebec and enjoying garlic fingers again I really have not ordered any that did have bacon on it though. If I could I would have garlic fingers ever day however that is unrealistic so we may order in once a month.

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Some places have it, however not all places are the same. That is for sure. Even places that I loved growing up are different now and not as tasty. For example, Pizza Hut doesn’t have Garlic fingers but they do have garlic bread sticks. They are more of a herb version and while still good they are not the same. Domino’s does have a garlic fingers as we were able to get it in Quebec (Not everywhere has Garlic fingers as Ill explain later) however they tasted generic and just place gross. The best garlic fingers I have found is the little shops that are only around the towns or a one and done place. Not the huge franchises.

As I mentioned before, I feel like this is more of an east coast dish since when we made it to Quebec there was nearly nothing in terms of Garlic Fingers to be found. Domino’s did have some but only for the reason that Domino’s is across Canada so I believe it was clearly a menu item that was just everywhere. However the small pizza places we tried in Quebec to explain what they were didn’t make them right. Even though they did have garlic butter for their garlic bread when they had pasta dishes though. Never had we found a true Garlic fingers like we did when we moved back home.

Now you may be wondering, why do you love them so much isn’t it easier to just find pizza around instead of this? You may be right but I surprisingly enough don’t like pizza! That is a whole other story for another day though. For some reason growing up I just loved garlic. Naturally i would also grow to love these. It was a fairly inexpensive treat that my mom would also make. Instead of buying them she would make them on smaller pie plates so that if I wanted one and she was at work I was able to throw it in the over from the freezer and it was just that simple to make. It was something that i looked forward to regularly though which was also great.

If you aren’t feeling up to making the dough there is plenty of substitutions that you can do also. I use the Pillsbury pizza dough from the can with garlic butter and a cheese of choice. I also prefer the Pizza Delight brand of garlic fingers. Dr Oetker has their version, which does have a lot of herbs but I do enjoy it occasionally because I can add some extra cheese to my liking and just throw it into the oven.

So with that being said, I will die on this hill that garlic fingers is such a great food it really should be known worldwide. If it was as popular as pizza was or is than I think people would really get an understanding on why I love it so much. Though with age I have developed heartburn from eating it, nearly every time I still tell myself it is worth it! It is something that I hope to even get my two son’s to enjoy when they are big enough. Not to mention also it is a great opportunity for them to help make since who doesn’t love to get messy in the kitchen too!

Are Canadians REALLY That Polite?

Opinion, , , , , , ,

Obviously this is going to be a very subjective post since it really in all honesty is where you go in Canada. Just like any other country in the world there are usually nicer people in different places than others. I, someone who grew up on the East Coast found that people are incredibly nice compared to say people in Quebec. However that could be me being bias because I really did not enjoy myself there.

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Around the world people are always talking about how polite Canadians are, eh? Well you may be in luck, a lot of us are just that polite. I am talking about the people who would hold the door open for a line of people, or maybe they are someone who opens the door prematurely and you are still half way across the parking lot. My uncle was visiting for the first time in over 10 years a little while ago, He lives in Quebec. Even he stated he needed to go back to Quebec because the people here were too nice! Which I had to laugh because that is something that I do love about Nova Scotia is how nice and polite the majority of people are.

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I say this with love because there are many many places around the country where there are people who are not so nice or have some sort of hate on for the world and that is totally okay for them. Even places around Nova Scotia have some haters so to speak.

Some examples I would like to mention that you rarely see around the globe (And if you are from outside of Canada and have seen or heard of them PLEASE comment and let me know!) are like this. And I mean that seriously, some things happen here that I always wonder if they actually happen anywhere else in the world or if it just happens here!

Sometimes when you are paying for Tim Hortons, people depending on where normally smaller towns will have a pay it forward line up. This is where someone in the beginning has just paid for their order and they offer to pay for the one behind. Does not matter the price or does not matter how many they just offer to pay. To keep it going the next person would do the same until it finally stops and you can see how far it goes. Another thing I have seen as well is people who have maybe 50 dollars and they will give it all to the cashier and say to pay for as many people behind them as possible til it runs out.

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Another instance I found fascinating and did not find it really that interesting until i had moved to Quebec and came back to Nova Scotia was how talkative people are. When we had moved back I was nearly half way through a pregnancy. Any where I had gone in Quebec people barely talked with anyone outside of who they were with which is very strange. Having moved back the first place I went was a doctor’s office for the walk in clinic to get the proper paperwork to be able to have a OBGYN follow me for my pregnancy. Just waiting to see this doctor there were a few people that I had struck up a conversation with. This also falls into the categories of people who pump gas and talk across the pumps to one another. My dad was notorious for doing this when we were younger and nearly every time we would ask who it was he would say he didn’t know. Even something as small as waiting for the same bus with someone and talking about the weather is something that happens quite frequently here I would thing too!

As someone like me who is in fact chatty when it comes to people I was super relieved to be back in a place where that type of communication actually happened. I don’t remember a time when I was in another province where someone would actually keep a conversation going. Sometimes you can try to get one started or making small talk in a grocery store line up however it was quickly met with a word or two and a short answer and almost a snub where they obviously did not want to keep on conversing!

Like I mentioned before, I think a big issue is where you may have traveled in Canada to see who is the friendliest. I think we also get the stereotype depending on where we travel in the world. A big part of this I think is how our country as a whole handles world matters. Not that we really get our nose into anything but a lot of the times we will go towards these situations just to have our flag seen but we aren’t there to get involved so to speak. We just want to kind of be a buffer.

So really, Are we that polite? Well on the East Coast I would say that the majority of us are. Also small towns may have really nice folks there too however you may get the flip side and find some not so nice folks there too. Quebec I find folks to not really be super nice and New Brunswick they are pretty nice if they are English speaking and if they are French well, That may be a different story! I have heard that some spots on the West Coast may not be as friendly though.

I would like to point out that just because people are polite or kind does not mean they will be that way if you make them mad either. Don’t mistake politeness for being a push over either. A lot of people are in fact polite but they will snap back if you want to push them to the point of no return (okay maybe not that far but you get it)!

From a Stoned Mom

Opinion, , , , , , , , ,

As I write this it is a few days before 420 and well, obviously being a mom I have to be creative. I smoked a roach before writing as it is Sunday morning and my spouse is watching our boys while I catch up on per-writing blogs for the months ahead. As you know (If you follow the blog for a while!) that I tend to save titles of blogs and then I slowly write and schedule. By bulk writing and scheduling it makes my life as a mom of 2 boys that much easier and gives me far more free time.

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Enough about that fluff let’s jump in!

From a stoned mom. Some life advice maybe? Maybe some good jokes (Just kidding!) or maybe just talking about how wonderful you are (maybe).

First I think the most important thing to do is to become a free spirit. I know this was something that I never really did until I was in my 20’s. Growing up as a stoner and in school where I was not as memorable as I would have liked to be. That being said, I am so thankful that I am this person now. I like to be a dreamer. The world needs more dreamers. Whether you are 3 years old or maybe you are 18 years old you should know that you are unique and you are incredible. If you are a parent you should be encouraging your kids to use their imagination.

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Creative play is just that. Being creative. Encourage using skills and tools to express themselves. Also know that in this day and age there is no right or wrong way to teach your children, some are visual learners and some are more constructive learners or maybe even more traditional. Not everyone needs to learn the same way and if they did the world would be pretty boring right. Another thing to remember is that sometimes people like to learn certain subjects one way and then another way for other topics too. There is many ways for children to understand.

This probably goes without being said but BE CHILL. There is so much that people say about parenting and that would be that time flies. When I had my first son I felt like time was moving so fast. I turned around and he was already 6 months old and next moment he was a year. Time passes so fast when you have a kid. Now that being said, I have 2 now. I did not think it was possible but time is actually FLYING past. At the time of writing this we are a few days shy of my youngest being 5 months old, next month we need to start feeding solids! That is how incredibly fast time is flying. If you are uptight and time passes this fast your mental health will suffer. Relax and take in every moment. I swear my kid says whats that to so many things and just the other month he was barely even saying anything. Life is too short to have everything perfect and be obsessive about any aspect of it too.



Keep lines of communications open. I would like to think that as a teenager it was hard for me to express myself to my parents. They are great people don’t get me wrong but sometimes it was hard for me to really tell them what was happening in my life. As a stoner mom I would like to think I would be the opposite of that. I would like to believe that when my son’s are growing up that I would be able to have that conversations with them whether it be about sex or weed. Currently weed is legal in Canada with the age of maturity however that doesn’t mean teens are allowed to smoke it either. Keeping lines of communication open can be so very challenging and I am not even in that part of my parenting journey either! I just hope that when the time comes I will be able to make sure that everything that needs to be said to prepare my children for making a smart decision is there and that they know if needed they can always pick up the phone and call me.

Call me crazy, but maybe because I am a bit buzzed on this roach I smoked before writing this, but I would like to think stoner mom’s or even parents, as long as there is some sort of balance, we can change the world. The hardest part is you want better for your children. Does that mean that I want to be high all of their life, no. I do enjoy getting high because I like to and always have. I smoke occasionally in the day when my oldest naps and youngest also naps but eventually my oldest will not be napping so I will have to be that luxury till they are older. I am relishing in these moment and also still making sure that I am able to keep myself. Becoming a parent changes a person. Whether they would admit it or not. And just like people have their drink at the end of the day or their glass of wine, my smoking a joint is the same thing. I even talk about it here where there is what seems to be a double standard to smoking at the end of the day vs drinking at the end of the day.

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So if you are a teenager or kid reading this, I would be questioning where your parents are! And why is a blog with this popping up on anything you are doing, is the parental controls not strong enough? And if you are a parent also know this, whatever you are doing, is enough. You are the best parent you can be. Can we be better? Yes. But we won’t get there overnight and we wont get there dwelling on what we could be. We are able to change and we are able to show growth in the process too. We are fully able to keep ourselves, be a parent, and balance whatever the world throws our way!

Why Sending Christmas Cards is becoming a lost art

Opinion, , , , , , ,

Sending Christmas Cards every year was something that I never really understood growing up, which I am sure a lot of people may not have understood either. You knew it was coming because if your family participated in the whole Christmas Card exchanges you would slowly but surely see them invade whatever space you had. For my mom, she put them on the walls however as we got older she would have a little card stand that she would put them on in the center of the table. My grandmother would put them on her walls but around the door frame in the living room as a sort of decoration as the holiday season would go on. Christmas cards is a great way to get in touch with loved ones near and far to update them on the year ahead. Before we had moved away for a number of year sin Quebec we never really were Christmas Card people. Now that I am older though, and even though moved back home, I still enjoy making up cards for my friends and family and putting in a little update about our house to them as well too. Letting them know that we are thinking about them and they are missed over the season.

For many reasons though, through the years I do believe the art of sending Christmas cards is starting to slow die off. One of those reasons being technology. In today’s day and age so many people are able to send an email to a loved one instantly instead of having to wait til it goes through the proper channels it needs to and postal services. Not to mention you run the risk of things also getting lost in the mail which at the holidays is something that is completely possible and does happen regularly. You can send anything via the internet also. Therefore sending gifts can be difficult. For me, I always would send my present to loved ones in a box to each home. Call me old fashioned but I like to wrap them myself instead of just sending it to someone also. With the advances in technology there is nearly no reason to use a postal service regardless of where you are living except maybe for sending important information to a government agency that requires you to sign and physically send papers back.

Price may also be a deciding factor. Maybe you are someone who live away from home or in a totally different country. In order to send a letter it may not seem like a lot of money, however if you are sending physical gifts or larger ticket items the price can be pretty costly. I know for myself sending a parcel from Quebec to Nova Scotia and another to Alberta for a few years would be a hundred or so dollars. That is not including insurance as well because they do say when you insure your parcels they typically take more care of your package because they don’t want to pay for the contents if by chance they do get lost. I know that is something my mom has always told me to do whenever she herself sent parcels and we did the same thing when we all lived away from home and had to send things back and forth home. Does it help, I really cannot say if it does but it seems like a great thing to do though regardless. You never know if your parcel might be the lost one til it is too late. Of course though there is things that people send that are irreplaceable however at least a tag of being insured could help the company better take care and hold some accountability.

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Another issue people may have is timing. When you send a letter you really do not have a whole lot to worry about maybe if it was going across the world however in the same country letters and things are pretty routinely able to be sent within a week or so. That being said, parcels need a lot more planning in order to be sent. I know one year I had sent one to both places in Canada and surprisingly enough my one going to Nova Scotia (Way closer than Alberta in comparison to Quebec) made it a lot later! There was no real rhyme or reason on the distance and why it took so long but I sent both the same day towards the end of November and was starting to get worried that one would not make it in time for the holidays! Thankfully it did but it was still nerve wracking to say the least.

With all that being said, you may think I am against sending Christmas Cards or parcels. I am far from it. Remember when you were a kid, or even older and how excited you would get when you mailed a card to someone or received one back. There is no better feeling in the world to feel that way. I know growing up nothing was more exciting than checking the mail around holidays or your birthday even if there was no money or anything just to see that someone took the time to find a card, sign it, mail it, and send it to you to show that you were worth a few moments to them. There is something that is just more personal than shooting off an email or even opening one up that I want to keep that tradition going for friends and family. Even if I don’t send any cards or anything for the rest of the year due to life being so hectic the holidays are a great way to take that extra moment of reflection to show people and update them about what is new as well as showing they are worth the time.

Do you continue to send Christmas cards to friends and family over the Holidays?

Are you someone who regularly sends letters or cards through the year too?

Let me know in the comments below if you too are a fan of this tradition even though technology is making it a lost connection building tool.


3 Reasons Why I am Glad I Stopped Selling Scentsy

Opinion, , , , ,

I think the vast majority of people have fallen for some sort or multi level marketing company. You know what I am talking about where you order some type of kit, you then have to sell so much product within certain time frames in order to keep your status, and host parties with friends. Does Tupperwear, Younique, Scentsy or Epicure come to mind? I know I was also someone that fell for this. At one point i was selling for 2 companies at a time which you are strictly not allowed to do. Companies do not want to know you are using their customers to build another business because you are supposed to be all in for the company not growing your business with multiple companies.

If you are unfamiliar with what Scentsy is I will explain. Scentsy is a fragrance system that you can have for your home, backpack, care etc where it produces Scentsy with no flame. Remember when our parents were older and had the tart warmer where you put wax above a candle and it would melt to produce a scent. This is basically the same thing however instead of a flame it is a light bulb of various watts depending on the warmers and you would plug in and turn on that would melt wax to fragrant your home. There is so many fragrances also that you are bound to find something you like. They also have plug-ins similar to glade as well as products for your car that you hang on your rear view mirror to also produce scent.

Reason number one why I stopped selling Scentsy is the fact that they kept increasing the prices. This product was no longer affordable to the average household in my opinion. I loved that anyone could really get products if they wanted however it became harder and harder to for lack of a better term, convince, people to pay the increased price for a wax bar which was once $5.00 Canadian to now as of writing about $8.00 each. That doesn’t include all of the licensed scents because they work with Disney or the NFL which are a touch more expensive and not eligible for any discounts typically. It also is hard when you have big box stores such as Walmart or Wheatons here in Canada that also have wax to be warmed for a far less price however again have a wide range of scents for anyone. Then you have the increased price of the warmers themselves and the branching into personal care products and cleaning which also increased in prices.

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Secondly, there is a deadline in the amount of money you needed to make in order to continue to have the status of Scentsy consultant. This was typically putting in an order every 3 months essentially a party order. At the time I sold this was about a $340 order which was before taxes (Obviously) and then you would receive different party rewards essentially. The thing is that this had to be PER one month. You could not get orders through the 3 months, it had to be one whole order. Which didn’t make sense due to the fact some people don’t always order at the exact same time every single time 3 months rolled around. Then you have the pressure of having your higher up person who you signed under continuously wondering how you are doing because it is a reflection of themselves plus they get bonuses for how hard you work. It is extremely hard to also not pump your own money into this to stay active due to the fact once you become inactive you are unable to sell the product again for a year (at the time I sold). And finally, you were technically not allowed to do deals publicly. You had to do them under the table and in DM`s or private groups. That way everyone was supposedly selling the same thing for the same price which we know is not true and we know that here is a lot of people who do cut deals with regulars to get in orders and make more money. This also goes back to at one point they had free shipping, they then changed it to pay for shipping, and as of now they may or may not have free shipping or you pay for it. None the less these changes were not great.

And lastly, time. The amount of time you continuously spend trying to build your customer base is insane. There is a lot of customers who you would get randomly when their main consultant is out of what they need or they were looking for something specific that they did not have. What sucks is that people are not always loyal to someone. Whoever has the best deal the people go to. You spend time promoting and trying to pull others in that at what point. You have nearly no payback for it. As I mentioned above, the one party you needed every 3 months. You would make about 60-80 dollars off of that party. Is that worth the amount of time you put into actually growing your business? No. You never get your stuff back. Not to mention the market for many of these MLM (Multi Level Marketing) companies, Scentsy being no exception, is that they are majorly over saturated because the consultants are given the hope of gaining some financial freedom where more often than not they end up spending more and more money on products that they are stuck with at the end of it all.

This being said, am I still a customer of Scentsy? Yes. The thing is I only buy it twice a year, In the summer time and again in the fall to stock up on scents. I very rarely, if ever buy any warmers because truth be told if you actually looked on Amazon you can find the exact same warmers for a far less price tag than you normally would pay. In fast some are even below the price Scentsy sells it for also. I do like their scents because they have a wide range though it really is hit or miss there are a few that also do not last as long as I remember. The feeling that they leave in my house though when we warm them has memories of our first home and so on. So for that, I do enjoy using the products. I don’t however buy the bells and whistles so to speak, the car products or the cleaning or laundry. Those are just not worth it to me.

Have you ever been a consultant and quit one of these companies?

Is there something you continue to use but you dont believe in selling it anymore?

Let me know in the comments below, and know you are not alone in this either.

Vaccine passports, Why they are good

Opinion, , , , , , ,

This is going to be a very controversial blog post. I know there is going to be a lot of people that share how I feel. I also know that there is going to be a lot of people that do not share this opinion also.  And that is alright. This is my personal opinion.

Recently, many countries around the world as well as provinces in Canada have adapted a mandatory vaccine passport. For people who do not know what this is, this is a system whether be paper, electronic or whatever that you show different places in order to get in. This is not for essential services but it is for places of recreation or luxury. Some of these places include dining in a restaurant (Curb side or take out you are not required), using a gym facility, a concert or a hockey game, and things of that nature. Basically places you do not need to live.

So where is the controversy? A lot of people who are apposed to the vaccine passport are claiming that this is infringing on their rights as a Canadian. Saying this country is free and with the mandate it is being compared to “Nazi Germany” (Not a term I agree with on any level. Then you have people who are unsure whether or not to get the vaccine because Bob from high school who failed 3/4ths of his classes before he dropped out has been posting some pretty scientific information regarding the vaccine *Wink wink* and why you should not trust scientists or government officials.

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Then you have me. I, like many other Canadians in many other provinces with these mandates, support the use of a vaccine passport. I would like to state, for the record I am 31 years old. When I was 18/20 and taking the Human Services field for college I had to prove that I was up to date on vaccines. Such as tuberculosis, hepatitis, etc. The use of a vaccine passport is NOT new by any means. The difference is we now have the backyard professionals doing Facebook research trying to spread lies and conspiracies around which we know how information, whether true or false, spreads on the internet.

The big thing happening with vaccine passports, at least in Nova Scotia is that in order to do your normal recreational or luxury activities you must have a proof of vaccine for your 1st and 2nd shots for covid-19. That being said. Doctors, or grocery stores, or certain things that are deemed essential are not included in this list. Not even shopping is on that list. The things on the list requiring proof would be concerts, hockey games, bowling, activities for children (Parents who are unvaxxed are unable to take children to these places since children unable to get vaccinated follow their parents status), or sitting down in a restaurant but you can get take out if you wish. The people who are freaking out about this are the ones who are not thinking about the greater good of humanity or society but looking out for themselves. No one is being forced to get vaccinated. If they want to choose not to these are some consequences. Just as many many things in life also have based on decisions.

For me. I agree with this 110%. I think if you look at some of the excuses that people say why they wont get the vaccine some are cop out answers. I personally have a family member who will not get it. These are the excuses for why they will not. “The vaccine is only approved under the emergency order in Canada. It is not authorized” which now it is. Another is “we do not know the side effects because it has been around for only a year and you need 3 years in order to know side effects at the minimum”. Sure, but the type of vaccine that the covid shot is classified as has been around for many many years and is not new. Another reason when I stated they would not be able to go to the gym or they would not be able to enjoy their bi weekly dinner dates eating in a restaurant their response was “I have a treadmill at home so I don’t need the gym, and we are able to get take out so we wont need to eat in.” They also added that “This wont be forever it will only be for a few weeks”.  Anything that I had said was met with data from 6 plus months ago. And the fact is, when it comes to anti covid vaccine people I do t think any information could change their mines because anything you say with proving information simply is met with outdated or plain false data from the weirdest websites out there.

I think the passport will persuade people who are on the fence to get the vaccine also. And even though yes, you can still get covid even being fully vaccinated, the chance of being hospitalized is drastically decreased and your chance of spreading does decrease, even if it does not 100% prevent the spread. There is so many benefits that outweigh the few side effects or few flaws. For me, I was hesitant because being pregnant we wanted to wait til further into pregnancy. I got both vaccines towards the end of the 2nd trimester and the beginning of the 3rd trimester. Because I also needed to get a whopping cough vaccine I had to make sure that I planned and  timed it right. As for my spouse, being a father of a young toddler and a newborn in a few months, it was a no brainer for him to want to protect us because he is the sole income in the family and has to be out in the world more than we do. Does that mean we live in fear? No. But we will be doing everything we can to protect our family, even if that includes cutting out family members temporarily til they follow science and not Joe Blow from the corner store.

What do you think about vaccine passports?

Is there a vaccine mandate where you live?

Let me know in the comments below! I would love to hear your stories!

Confessions of a Realist

Life, Opinion, , , , , ,

If you want to know the true definition of Realist here it is:

That was taken directly off of google by simply typing in “Define Realist”

And if you haven’t already gathered based on these posts and blogs that I am in fact a realist. I can be pretty blunt I can be pretty rough around the edges, and I can have have a strong opinion also too. Here are some of the confessions that I have for being a Realist.

I can come off extremely blunt. Part of this reason is because I am blunt I guess you could say. I dont believe that I should be sugar coating things when it comes to my opinion. The only time I will end up sugar coating things is MAYBE when I am talking to my grandmother, who is over the age of 80 and well, sometimes sugar coating things can be a little bit easier than the reality of it all. I think when it comes to giving my opinion, giving it bluntly or thinking about it realistically is the best way. Obviously I won’t be as harsh if someone was asking me about whether or not an outfit looked good on them. I would be honest but in a kind way, and not in the white lie tell them it looks good sort of way either. I have the strong believe that if a person is coming to your for your opinion it really is in the best interest to give it to them straight, even if they don’t like the answer that you have said.

Which comes to the next point, Friends sometimes come and go because they cannot handle the truth when it comes to being a realist. I am honest and I am logical with opinions and when it comes to viewing things (Most times because we all know that people also can think on their feet and want to have things done right away even if it is not the best ideas..). Friends sometimes ask for opinions and when you give it to them straight they aren’t sure how to react or are not willing to except an opinion even if it sounds harsh. Most times, as a realist my intentions are not to be mean or hateful. Someone asks my opinion, I give it to them, they are unable to handle it, and thus starts some mini war between friends where one gets a bit snotty and aggressive towards me. Which then, I have to explain what I meant though normally the statement “If you couldn’t handle the truth why ask?” comes out. This is especially true among friends who are discussing relationships. Someone is in maybe a crummy relationship, They ask their friends for an opinion even though they know they are not going to like the response, and then they go back to ignoring the opinion and letting it happen until they are actually ready to end the relationship and then they comment about how you were right all along.

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Not everything is bad when it comes to being a realist. I know that I have been told I am a realist and thanked many times for giving my opinion on things. Sometimes friends or family see things in the worst light possible. As a realist, I sometimes also give a positive spin on to a problem also. Again, sometimes people don’t want to hear a positive spin on something because they want to wallow in self pity and look at the situation as a bit problem but that isn’t always the case. There can be a positive outcome if you only look for it. Though I will have to admit, there are many times that I find myself trying to look at my own problems this way but struggle with seeing it that way. Normally I will ask my boyfriend who I would say is also a realistic to some extent who gives it to me straight and normally I also do not like what he has to say because it disagrees with what I have to say. But I get over that pretty fast (Sometimes anyways!)

I dont think there is enough realist in the world today. I think we are in a world where people would rather have everything sugar coated and brushed over so that when a real trauma happens they are unable to cope with them. People are willing to be “people pleasers” and by doing so they are harming others because they are living in this fantasy world. Not everything is rainbows and roses, in fact it rarely is! If there were more realist in the world I think people would be more able to cope with stressful situations like being declined a job interview, rejection from a relationship or friendship, tough financial decisions they might face also. When we caudal people through their entire life they believe that nothing bad will happen. Giving someone a realistic approach will better help children grow up also (In my opinion). Maybe that is why my mom always asked us “If we were bleeding or on fire” When we would call her at work for stupid things we wanted to do which we knew we were more likely allowed or not allowed to do but we still wanted to put her on the spot anyways.

I know for me, I will never stop being a realist. If people don’t accept that about me, well than they don’t. But I refuse to believe that I should change my way of thinking to please people. Not to mention, I am way to old to be playing games with people. If you are prepared to have an honest answer, I welcome anyone to ask anything to me. If not, well, don’t ask!

Do you consider yourself to be a realist?

Or are you someone who tends to sugar coat everything when asked different questions or your opinion?

Let me know in the comments below, I am curious to see just how many realists there is here!

Domestic Violence Double Standards – Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard

Hard Subjects, Life, Opinion, , , , , , , , , ,

For anyone out there who may not get it, Domestic Violence does not choose one gender. Though as much as the media would like to portray, or even movies and things, Domestic violence is “known” to the world as something that a man does against a women. I know, this way of thinking is very barbaric and something that is a very old way of thinking. In fact, you might not hear about the reverse domestic violence because men might feel ashamed or scared to speak up for having folks call them weak. This also goes for relationships that are homosexual, inter-racial and the one everyone knows and associates as the heterosexual ones.

Domestic violence does not have to be physical. A lot of people think that physical is the top however there is multiple ways domestic violence can be classified. This can be from mental and emotional abuse, financial abuse, isolation is also a part of this too. There is an assumption that when someone says they have dealt with domestic violence that they have been beaten when in fact a lot of people who have had mental and emotional abuse can be just as damaging as the physical wounds as well. Another misconception that people have about domestic violence is that if it is physical you have to be able to see something. That is not necessarily true. Just because you do not see the bruises or marks does not mean it didn’t happen.

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This brings me to the title of this blog. Johnny Depp and Amber Heard have been an on going case in regards to domestic violence. The big story here is that there was domestic violence in the relationship. Who was the instigator in this? Well that is up to a judge to decide however the evidence is pretty damming against Amber. There is things such as recordings showing the courts that Amber is the one at fault when in reality Johnny Depp being a man is the one to blame. Or so people think. As time went on Johnny Depp was removed from movie roles for the allegations what have been made against him. This includes being removed from the Fantastic Beasts franchise as well. Now, You might be asking yourself, what happened to Amber? Nothing. She was not removed from any type of role what so ever. I won’t go in to much details on the court case as I would like you to base your opinions for yourself and not be swayed by my opinion.

The problem here is that when you think domestic violence you automatically assume it is a man against a woman. To say it bluntly, this is the year 2021. There is MULTIPLE ways that domestic violence can occur. It can be man on man, women on women, it can be a women on a man also too. The double standard when it comes to domestic violence and how it is viewed is so skewed that we often are clouded by what is happening based on what we think should be happening. Domestic violence knows no boundaries and it does not discriminate against any type of person.

As a society, we need to stop this one way of thinking. There is a huge stigma when a man comes forward with domestic violence allegations and stigma around what type of person they are. Often they are called weak or similar names. They are made to feel small and they are not normally supported. There is a reason why a lot of domestic violence goes unreported especially with the opposite sex or different relationships because they are often swept under the rug or brushed off by different people.

This goes back to the age old question people pose “Well if it was that bad, Why couldn’t you just leave”. Which is both insulting and misunderstood. When in an abusive relationship regardless of age, sex, religion, or race, you really dont have that option. Sure you may be thinking about it more often than not, but with the isolation aspect of domestic violence you mean have many fears leaving, and if there are children involved that makes it even more challenging to leave.

We must change the way of thinking that there is no specific way domestic violence occurs. If we were to understand that it can happen to actually any person on the planet and not bash anyone for coming forward maybe there would be more reports of such. We need to stop belittling folks who put themselves out there and who are survivors of domestic violence instead of making them suffer in silence. The faster we open our mind of thinking the quicker everyone will benefit from this.

Even hollywood has this backward way of thinking, that is obvious if you watch and keep tabs on the Amber Heard and Johnny Depp case. The public was so quick to jump down and think Johnny Depp was the abuser here because a women couldn’t possibly be the abuser, that he lost a lot of what he worked hard for only to have the case slowly unravel and show that it is not always as simple as one might think in these situations.

I sincerely hope that you brush up on this case, It really is mind blowing how quickly people were to point fingers and how the evidence that is coming out is pointing them in the opposite direction. People assumed that something like domestic violence is a yes or no answer when in actuality there is a lot of maybe, and sure in the mixes too.

Have you followed the Amber Heard and Johnny Depp case?
What are your thoughts with Domestic Violence and the double standard that happens when situations arise for this?

Let me know in the comments below. I would really like to hear your perspective on what is happening and even ways that you think might be able to change the way the world views these.

Struggles of an Over Thinker

Hard Subjects, Opinion, , , , , ,

If you are someone like myself that normally finds that their mind is going 100 miles per minute you will know the struggle that I have when it comes to life. If you are someone who is pretty relaxed and doesn’t over think things than this may be an eye opening experience to see how others minds work. There are a few things when it comes to this that are beneficial and others that are a bit challenging. Though overall, for myself anyways I think it can be more challenging than anything!

I over think EVERYTHING. I like things to be a certain way, I like things to be my way, and I like to dream BIG! I would say that I have so many ideas that it can be frustrating to get everything done. I don’t know how many ideas I have had when I was growing up that a lot of the things never went super far due to over thinking things or coming up with another “better” (at the time) idea to move on to also! Let’s jump in to some of the problems it can cause over thinking things.

One major problem I have with being an over thinker is the multiple ideas and no where to start or execute them. I have had so many ideas when I was growing up and one of the best ideas I had that I never followed through with was when I was a teenager I wanted to build a milk carton boat. I saved up all the milk cartons we had so that I could sail across the lake by my parents house. When I went on a grade nine trip my mom ended up throwing them away (She was a hater of ideas, just kidding!). Sometimes I have so many things on the go from over thinking things it can be hard and I often get down on myself for not doing things. Right now for example for the time writing this I have ideas that are about this blog, trying to get multiple blogs written to take me through to September PLUS bonus blogs so that when we move I don’t have to think about the consistency, I am thinking about the home renovations and what I want to do for those, I am thinking about the book I am in the final editing process and hopefully will publish soon, as well as mini short story horror compilations that I would like to put out but need to write and have the chapters written in a book also too, and on top of that being a mom and streaming too! Over thinking things especially for me can be challenging and a struggle because I often get over whelmed.

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I am sure even if people are not over thinkers a lot of us can relate to over thinking when it comes to friendships. If someone hasn’t returned your messages or something you may automatically go to that dark place in your mind where you think that you did something wrong. Then you go back through all your conversations where you think and wonder if there was something that you may have said or done that caused this. You wrack your brain for a long time or until you hear from this person only to find out that it had absolutely nothing to do with yourself. I do this quite often and have been this way for a very long time. It can be super hard to keep friendships or keep your own sanity when you over analyze things you may or may not have done. The only thing you have to realize as well too, and I know I often forget this myself, when we are talking online which we do more often than not now a days is that you cannot tell someone and their intentions based on texts. Maybe someone was offended by what you said when the intentions were not there. Or maybe you think the person was mad at you and you now think about it all day when really they were not mad at all. This is something that I regularly struggle with and am working on trying to not over think interactions with friends. It is hard to do.

Lastly, I know a lot of us can also relate to this, for sure, over thinking before you go to bed! I know across Facebook or any social media you can see the memes pop up here and there about a photo where something or someone is in bed, and they are ready to sleep only to show a clock at 3am and whatever the subject is, laying there wide awake. This would be me. I know before you come at me, yes limiting the screen time before bed will help. I do this and have cut back. But that still doesn’t change anything sometimes when you can’t turn off your brain! I used to bring my tablet to bed, now I only bring my phone. I try to only watch a couple satisfying videos on YouTube as I find it makes my eyes tired. Once we move I anticipate that I will probably read more because I will have my own side of the bed again (currently it is next to the wall and I have no room for a lamp!) which will be nice to have the space. As much as you can say stop thinking about things, it really is not that simple and as hard as you try to have a clear mind it just doesn’t happen that way. What is worse, is being pregnant and waking so much for the washroom during the night, sometimes I will wake up, and think about something else and it starts the cycle again where I am again over thinking things and unable to sleep.

Regardless if you are an over thinker a lot of the times like myself, or someone who occasionally over thinks things. The struggle is real. Finding some solution to easing your mind (unless you embrace it like I try to do sometimes!) it really can be hard and anyone who does not know how it feels to relate to this.

Are you an over thinker like myself?
What are some things you do to help ease your mind when you feel over whelmed?

Let me know in the comments below as I would love to hear ways you cope with this!