30 Things - #3

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#3 - Describe your relationship with your parents.

First my Mom.

My mom and I very close and outside of Sean I think she knows me better than anyone. My Mom has always been there for me no matter what. I enjoy her company. She's easy to talk to and though we have our disagreements I know I can tell her anything. We are alike in many ways but I think in more ways we are different and I think that is where our disagreements come from. Regardless, I wouldn't trade her for the world, she's not just my mom, she's my friend. My kids adore her and she adores them. I feel so lucky that they are able to enjoy a relationship with their grandmother.

Now my Dad.

My Dad was a quiet man. He kept to himself. He was the observer and would only offer his opinion once he'd fully assessed the situation. He was funny, really funny and could always make me laugh. His humour was sarcastic and timely; not knock knock joke-ish. My Dad was a realist; he saw things for what they were and didn't sugar coat things. He was a no bullshit kind of guy. I tend to think I'm a lot like he was.
My Dad and I weren't close in the traditional sense. We didn't share the same interests - though for a couple of years in the 90's we went to a lot of baseball games together and I suspect that just as much as I sometimes found it hard to talk to him because of that, he probably felt the same. But I respected him, loved him and admired him. I enjoyed his sense of humor and nothing made me happier than seeing him and my kids play together. My favorite picture of him is this one

It's Connor giving Papa a kiss. 
When Emily was about 5 we had a computer game called Barbie Explorer and my Dad would take Emily outside to play their own version of it, running around the backyard and the side of the house on an adventure.

I have been blessed with two wonderful parents who made me who I am. I couldn't ask for more.

Oh Canada!

Today Canada celebrates her 145th birthday and to mark the occassion I am bringing you my annual "everything you ever wanted to know about Canada and more!" post. Forgive my bias, your country is fabulous too, I'm sure, but Canada really is the best place on Earth.

Canada is home to nearly 35 million people. With  9,984,670 sq. km of land we've got lots of room to spread out.

Canada's dominion was July 1st, 1867. We became a self-governing colony of the British Empire. Canada had 4 provinces at dominion: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The remaining 6 provinces and 3 territories joined Canada from 1870 until the creation of Nunavut in 1999.

Our money is colourful and is often referred to as monopoly money by others. We like it though. Our $1 and $2 are coins, not bills and are commonly known as the Loonie and Toonie respectively. The $1 coin has a picture of a loon on it, hence the Loonie. The $2 coin followed a few years later and was nicknamed the Toonie as a play on words. (We Canadians are a fun people!)

The Royal Canadian Mint struck it's last penny on May 4th, 2011. It cost 1.6 cents to make 1 cent. Not really economically feasible. So while we can still spend our pennies, no more will be made.

The rest of our bills are  $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 (we did have $1000 bills as well though I've only ever seen them once and they are no longer being printed or are in circulation) 

Our bills are slowly being fazed into being made of a polymer compound rather than cotton fibres. Yep, plastic money. We rock!

 Alright, enough of the boring stuff. Now the fun stuff....

Famous Canadians include: Howie Mandel,  Kim Catrall, Matthew Perry, Ryan Gosling, Alexander Graham Bell, Tommy Chong, Barry Pepper, Shannon Tweed Simmons, Donald Sutherland, Joni Mitchell, William Shanter, Ryan Reynolds and, of course, the Biebs.

We do not live in igloos but something uniquely Canadian is the term 'raised bungalow' which is it exactly what it sounds like, a bungalow that is raised so that the basement is actually above grade.

Our national/federal law enforcement agency, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, do not ride on horses through the streets and wear the funny red outfits (called Red Serge) Those are their dress uniforms and they drive cars. They do have horses however for the most part they are only used for the muscial ride. I've only actually seen an RCMP officer maybe 15-20 times ever. Most larger cities have their own police force as well as provincial police.

While Canadians do have a unique accent (and within Canada there are many unique accents - try speaking with a Newfoundlander) we do not say things like 'oot' (out) and 'aboot' (about).  We do often say 'eh' and that one particular word can have up to 25 meanings.
There is an old joke that goes like this....

"How did they name Canada? The letters were thrown in a bag, and the first one to be picked was 'C' eh?, then 'N' eh? and finally 'D' eh?"

Because you see, above all else, we Canadian's have a fantastic sense of humor and have no trouble laughing at ourselves.

Happy Canada Day, eh!