The #MENTALENERGETICS 1) There's the tamest wild thing is happening on here ....

http://meanderingsabout.blogspot.ca/

The Fort McMurry wild fires #1

My blog meanderingsabout are really sky rocketing up there.   I believe it was possible, and sensed I have the creative juices that flow through an energetic mind.  I haven't necessarily thought it could be me, but I imagined the coolest thing would be if the BIGGEST rock star GREATEST icon SMARTEST person globally EVER were to emerge?  

Maybe it was from KARMA when I was driving home from a medical appointment I became jolted and glued to what was happening in northern Alberta.

People and friends wanted to understand where you were situated in relationship to the fire.  The media and social media sights started to burn up for the cause (excuse any tastelessness but accept as a form of expression) of Fort McMurry.

You see, there was a story behind the story.  The cast had players that were HUGE.  What was the name of this live action thriller, controversial, not yet a movie fame?  

Oil.  Period.
I imagine that the world has been lambblasted  watching all the drama cropping up everywhere, touching everything, whatever we read or whatever we watch, there is this massive debate going on.  Which is better:  oil or the environment?  

Oil has been dancing around issues that until recently have been hidden in backrooms.  Amassing millions then billions for (per Ernie Sanders) are the top 1%of the top 10% of all the wealth in the world. 

They aren't always citizens, there are countries involved.  Think of all the distractions with a little blip on our radar called the "Gulf War".  Can you imagine the US United States of America was trying to protect its interest in foreign oil because their population rate was going so fast, they were worried that this big blog of consumers was going to far outweigh even food?

Unbeknownst to a greater part of the world's population and a fraction of the newscasters x viewers, there was this little province in the popular country of Canada.  Think:  the Beverly Hill Billies in Armani and Porsche instead (wink).  This cast of cleverly smart people recognized that this black gold was going to turn them and whomever they compete with into a big big engine for the world.  Causing wars, unrest, funding radicals, greed.  

In a really really small city in the far north of that blip on the radar called Fort McMurry.

One can imagine when the first old gold rush, how it happened?  I fella pans for a tooth that fell out after eating the bones off a bear, and his eyes catch on the glimmer of gold starting to appear.

How did that one guy, or was it a group of small guys, who decided to play hooky from the dangerous coal mines decide to say "to heck with it all ... I'm done!" 
That in itself is what triggered the greatest stampede towards greed.  Gold.

Fast forward 200 years at least, there is some experimentation and with certainty a discovery that could be larger than many of the countries in the middle east, combined, like Saudi Arabia, Qatar :: who were mildly amused by their bordering brethren, were engulfed in wars, violence, radicalism, greed, corruption.  Such naivete to think that they were immune.  

The United States tries to act heavy in the region.  Getting involved merely as a distraction to gain control of the oil.   Like the kid who's parent teaches him the oldest trick:  "Which hand is it in?"  A trick so timeless but fascinating until you figure out what the heck is really going on :: that person is passing the ball betweens his hands at his back, ease of being always ahead.

SOURCE:
 www.resiliance.org/stories/2015-01-13 http://www.resilience.org/stories/2015-01-13/tight-oil-boom-can-explain-only-part-of-drop-in-us-oil-product-imports

It backfired.  Apologies to reference to fires.
This little area imploded into a small northerly city where big big OIL companies were slithering around to see "thWAT is this best way to find" then hire migrant works, spread far away from their families across the country, made it a community.

WATCH:  what made you science? by Robert Redford, next

Then an almost unlikely retired actor named Robert Redford did a video on YouTube, long before it has the massive appeal it has today.  YouTube who could make instant stars out of the virtual sky.

Sir RedfordNOT was expelling the evil virtues of the oil that was called back and forth:  tar sands or oil sands.  He may have caught wind of the small controversy around this soon-to-be-city.  The indigenous crowd was speaking out loud, and getting louder, and then very quite noisy.  Their plight of losing heritage impacting cultural pursuits like hunting would disappear.

  In my fact finding mission, I will find out who is REALLY running the coup because it's not the employers, politicians, faith, fame we have long adopted to guide us.

Who are the greatest #INFLUENCES of our day?  See, this is simply an outlet to create a strong voice.  Those that climb up the #bestofeverything charts may become celebrities that all the other group belonged under :: actors, writers, bloggers, artists, musicians, directors, producers, media, television, radio, movies.

Whew, A three day weekend has sure been a treat.  You'd think I'd wanna just lay around ... mostly right but only in the mornings.

I despise those people who can fall asleep so fast then immediately jump out of the bed so early, do you to?

With self-prognosis and a new Club I've introduced :: the Mental Energetics.  That is going to be the people who boost me out to the top.  The Mental Energetics attract information faster than any algorithms and dense with in with class, charisma, charm, cuteness and caring :: so genuine to who they are, they seem quite rocklike solidity one minute and exuberant by voice (oral, written, video'd, +Geoff De Weaver tweeted liked, clicked on  

Once again, I drift on to another tangent that may have more insight than the rest of so many blogs.  You see, there is one incredible, massive, borderless, bulliness-free, motivational, victimless or crook free, that attract those traits in others:  not boastful merely gregarious, not mathematically, scientifically, or technically savvy.

This is simply crazy.  People are writing pledges to being good dog-owner/adoptors like this!!!  As if we were all to write a Dog Pledge, we can return to humanity and be humane again.  If we can set aside our differences by just writing a New Dog pledge.  In this pledge you will admit what needs to be worked on and what is well on its way beyond progression.  

I will look for more pledges and continue to post them here too.

Pledge for New Dog Adopters

by Petfinder

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Tags: Adoption, dog-adoption, Dogs, pet-adoption

SUE STERNBERG

• I pledge to make a reasonable commitment of time and effort, and to affect scheduling and lifestyle changes in order to make this relationship work
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  Photo Credit: Thinkstock
  I pledge to make sure my dog is not exposed to the elements of weather without proper shelter, shade cover, dry ground, access to fresh water and at least 1 hour of loving companionship and play a day (I understand this is a minimum and will strive to keep the dog with me as much as possible and treat him/her as an important member of my family)
• I pledge to provide appropriate and timely veterinary care for the life of my dog
• I pledge provide my dog with the proper nutrition for optimum health, and to keep my dog the proper weight, neither obese nor emaciated
• I pledge to keep this dog indoors at night, and to include him/her in the activities of the household while we are home, as much as possible
• I pledge to keep my dog groomed and free of external parasites and matting (particularly behind my dog’s ears, under his elbows, his tail and thighs)
• I pledge to spay or neuter my dog, if he/she is not already
• I pledge to give my dog ample aerobic exercise daily, and make sure that at least three times a week he gets to run and play and get tired out
• I pledge to provide my dog with mental stimulation in the form of either play, interactive toys, training, or off territory leash walks, DAILY
• I pledge to provide my dog with enough training and/or behavioral management so as to enable him to be a welcome part of my community, or managed safely
• I pledge to provide my dog ample outlets for his instincts (such as off territory leash walks/running, opportunities to sniff and explore the natural world, agility training, trick training, fun and rewarding obedience training, play with other dogs, etc.), so that he does not feel constantly frustrated, or develop behavioral problems because he is neglected or under stimulated
• I pledge to provide a home in which my dog clearly knows there are certain rules to which I will insist on and he can count on
• I pledge to provide my dog with enough toys to satisfy his urge to chew
• I pledge to get professional help if my dog has or develops behavior or temperament problems, and, if safe, to manage my dog carefully so as not ot endanger the people and other pets in my community
• I pledge to do everything I can to keep my dog from becoming a nuisance in my community
• I will not allow him to run free/out of my control, chase cars, bicycles, children, etc.
• I will seek professional help to get my dog to be quiet, or keep him quiet both when I am home and away, so as not to disturb my neighbors
• I pledge to “scoop poop” from my dog when off my property, so that my dog and other dogs will always be welcome in public
• I pledge that if I have to move residences for any reason, I am aware that finding housing that accepts pets can take longer than average, but that I will commit to moving with my dog, as I would move with a member of my family
• I pledge that if, for any reason, I can no longer keep this dog, I will not abandon this dog, and
• I will return the dog to the shelter (if required) or leave ample time to find a new, appropriate home, tell the new owners truthfully all the dog’s behaviors, good and bad, and follow up occasionally to make sure the dog is safe and content

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• MORE IN NEW DOG ADOPTION

  

  Adoption Checklist

  Bringing home a new pet is much like bringing home a new baby. Get prepared with this new adoption checklist.
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PRETTY pedi PENNIES

A lot going on ...
Just like you, I have a lot going on.  Even though I am now an empty nester, it doesn't mean that my times has completely freed up.  What, with long phone conversations, text marathons, keeping in touch with your kids is easier than ever.  You just have to take the time to speak in the language.  Which tends to be "facetime" through smartphones (exclusive to Apple), texts back and forth or messages on Facebook.  One longs for the time when we were all sitting around the kitchen table.

Add to that, we have careers or jobs (depending on your outlook) which can leave us beaten and tired by the time we get home, as we age our energy seems to diminish.

On top of that, we're suppose to squeeze in exercise and only cook the most healthiest of meals.  Who has times for going for a manicure pedicure?  I sure do my best!



Like many of us, I am open to ideas that can help me do things faster and simply without too much fuss.  I fell prey to the commercial by Amope that showed us how easy it would be for us to buy their products and presto :: dry skin begone and stylin nail shapes are done.  (At least that is what the advertisement shows).

I was at my best escape mode at Shoppers Drug Mart with a super busy weekend ahead, which didn't lend itself to up to 2 hours for the mani pedi treatment.  So, I saw, I bought, to conquer the home treatment via the miraculously portrayed Amope.  I rationalized that a mani/pedi would cost at least $100 before tip and the finger pedi was $50 and so was the larger foot pedi -- a wash money wise ... right?

Right.  Well, I got one thing right anyhow.  I only opened one package first and kept my receipt handy.  Not that I wasn't committed to allowing it to work, it was just that I'm a fool for always (a good habit mostly) tossing in the packaging into the recycling box along with receipt.  Then I don't always try it right away.  Then if you go to get a refund, you usually have neither packaging nor receipt, only to discover that it had a 10 day return and you took until day 14!

This time it was a covert operation:: try one first and if it is as miraculous and easy as we're informed to believe, then easy peasy, just open the next one and get on with it.

This is the first one I opened and the only one I tried.

I was very disappointed in the results.  I don't have hard nails which could cause a challenge.  I just didn't find the Amope all that fantastic.  In fact, the quality file that I already had did a better job -- at a fraction of the cost.

This is the one I didn't even try, returned unopened for refund.

Lucky for me, I took the receipt, packaging with one not even open back to Shoppers Drug mart for a full refund the next day.  Immediately afterwards, I went for a pedi.  It seemed that it cost mere pennies for the pedi after the Amope episode.  

I did a cost comparison and the pedi was cheaper than Amope (I know, I know, it is suppose to be used numerous times to reduce its cost, but not for me).  With a salon expert, my feet were soaked, I could fashion watch the other patrons for entertainment, and the roughness was gone, nails filed and squared, a massage on my calves and feet and a beautiful spring color adorned.

So don't bother wasting your time buying the Amope unless you're simply too fascinated not to.  If you do, keep the packaging and receipt close by and take it back the next day you decide it will end up another gadget that collects as junk in your beauty cabinet.

I am going to begin writing about beauty products, good **** (as the top on the beauty meter) and bad $$$$ (as a waste of money).

No brainer on this one::  Amope launches my first official review as the worse $$$$ (as in waste of money).

$$$$

www.amope.ca

www.amope.com

Even their website CONTACT US is lame.  It only had a Customer Service Number and no comments, feedback or email capability.

I can share the review on Amazon and begin a board called "WASTEofmoney" on Pinterest.

****

I look forward to writing more reviews particularly about the treats that I find are BEAUTY'S BEST FIND (which I already have a Board on Pinterest for)

the dance of gratitude

Isn't this so true?  
For me it is  relying on a calculator. I force myself to do long hand arithmetic we were taught in our

earliest school years, just after forming the art of

 handwriting instead of printing.


A week ago, I received a handwritten card with a 

lovely note from a lady I spent time with at the

MAC counter at Nordstrom at Chinook Center

(Calgary).  She recalled a few of the major points

we discussed and how I inspired her.   She said 

nothing self-promotional nor about any 

upcoming events or sale.  Beautiful.  Wonderful.

Thank you notes

Is a basic skill that I know of only one person in 

my sphere who does this constantly.  Every time

you receive it you feel special, when you read it

you glow.  


Why don't we do more of that?

We already know how much joy it can bring yet

we don't get around to doing it.   I think I am 

going to try to do something along that line.

I have a package of notecards

 which I could put to great use.  I am a lot like

everyone out there.  I get busy with work, my 

off-time is spent writing here, and of course 

spending time with hubby and family.


Events like Mother's Day allow

us the opportunity to call and send a card,

sometimes even send flowers or a gift.  I know

my mom isn't picky, and chatting on the phone

to her is one of her favorites.  

We seldom pick up the phone 

without a purpose in mind:  inviting someone 

somewhere, following up an email, confirming

an invitation.


What about the none times?

Writing a brief note, saying you were thinking of

someone, crediting them with a memory you 

just thought of or simply to say you were think-

ing of them.

How about that?

No event, no reason, no RSVP, no invitation, no 

specific thank you.


Just to say hi!

A brief note, a thought is what I want to do.  

There are more than the dozen my card supply 

has, that I would just like to say "how goes it?"


What about an email you say?

The reason I'm not going to send an email is

because it is to say hello.  Nothing else.  No

response required.  Maybe they'll stand it up

on their desk in their office as an emblem of

gratitude.  For me to have memories shared

with them.  For them to see how important

they are.

I already send Holiday cards

I used to be one of the first to have my cards

written, addressed, stamped and out the door at

the end of November, plenty of time for the

holidays.  


Tit-for-tat

Makes me wonder how many have scaled back 

sending greeting cards altogether?  Sending an

email instead?  Yeah, right, those little inboxes

that only remind us of work, duty, and too many 

we barely stop to read as we glance through the 

subject line.

No cheating allowed

If you are going to go ahead and do this, you are

forbidden to write a family chronicle newsy 

copied letter that you slip in.  That is not the 

point.  


No event reminder

You are simply going to buy a dozen or six (how-

ever many the package includes) and send an

individualized, personalized note to a few some-

ones whom you would like to know they're 

important, you're thinking of them.

You just want to make their day

and may end up making your own for days to 

come.  Passing on kindness, gratefulness and 

friendship has little to no cost.


Don't keep track of how many you send

versus how many respond (like some may do 

from greeting cards).  


Pay it forward, the old way

is what some may say.  That's fine if you need to

label it or accuse me of recommending some-

thing ageless as time.  That's not the point.

I already know of a few whom I will 

send one to (for examples):


* to our bank manager who worked with us who

   changed our mortgage payment date that is so

   much easier to track.

* a new dental office that gave me the greatest

   service with a gentle dentist who I will return to


Those are only a couple but I hope you get my drift.  Send a card with a note to brighten someone else's day and it just may give you some rejuvenation and 
good-hearted spirit as your reward.

I have used images of dance from my Pinterest board Dancereta to share their beauty with you.

Your get away with anything day: for Moms

Mothers Day Fun

Moms, it's your day:  you officially get to look however you want (facials beware) say, share or post whatever you feel like without recourse from kids who get all bent out of shape because they absolutely forbid you to post or say anything that could draw attention to them or embarrass them.

A free pass
You have a forgiveness card that expires by midnight today.  For starters, I am going to begin with a rant.  Logging on I see Google's image for the day and I stare in horror :: how can a Mother's Day image have dad's tassled shoes? Horror.

Google gasp
How could they?  I mean seriously.  Any respectful, fashionista mother is a clothes horse and shoe-a-holic.  What a big booboo that is beyond kissing better. Yes, we've come a long way from being Betty Crockers in the kitchen.  We're a force to be reckoned with if you dare threaten her family and be beneath respectful to her and her kin.  

Google could have at the very least posted a pair of flip flops.  If they had gone out of their way, they would have found a pair of tasteful sandals that would make any lovely lady of motherhood drool over.  

Official "guilt free shopping day"
Ohhhh, one in every color day!  I hope mothers uniting at least finish reading this commentary before rushing out to do embrace their guilt-free shopping day.

Mom's Brag Book
Ok, Moms, grab that brag book and start posting those photos of your kids, brag about their accomplishments and let er rip!  Today is your day to get away with anything day.  What the world calls "Mothers Day" is your day to be who you want to be, do what you wanna do and say what you wanna say!

Have your say ::
I'm darn proud of my kids, just like each and every one of us.  Some days they challenge me while others they give me bursting pride that I could be responsible for creating such wonderful human beings.  Amazing how some of that nagging and guidance pays off.

My son inspires me every day
I was robbed of a normal celebration when he was born.  The nurses and doctors scattered and fussed over the minute he was born.  Imagine having your newborn with needle marks in his head because they wanted to figure out what was going on.  He was born with a rare genetic diagnosis that even specialists couldn't quite predict what life he would have unfold.
A hole in his heart, physically unique footprint, along with a number of other concerns.

Imagine bursting onto the motherhood front and you had to ramp up your protectiveness ten fold, when he was starting sniffles meant you were heading for the emergency department, having heart surgery at 13 months old.

Paul Brandt
Kyle taught me that the cup is always half full.  You should never dwell on what ifs and feel joy at all the what as.   During one of those emergency trips to the Children's Hospital in Calgary, he was treated to the rare care of a male nurse of all things.

What was even more miraculous was this nurse had just won a singing talent contest in Nashville, Tennessee.  Paul has gone on to be the greatest Canadian country artist of all time and  to this day (think Juno, think megastar).   Paul gave a gift to a scared young mother, his spirit and humor.  I remember him sharing things about himself that I share with fondness.  One revelation being that he was actually born named:   Paul Rennée Belobersycky on July 21, 1972 (age 43).

Paul is lending his celebrity to help victims of the Fort McMurray wild fires, retweeting stories, offering other support.  Have a listen to this song that epitomizing the evacuation of this northern oil city:

Today, Kyle is known for his eternal optimism.  People, peers, teachers all exclaim: "I love Kyle" whenever his name comes up.  

Genetics aside reKNOWN 
One would think that a kid with those kinds of challenges, experienced bullying, had life saving surgery, and limitations physically galore, disrespected by employer with only $12.25 an hour after 8 years of service.  

Genius reSOUNDing
Kyle has found the voice for the #Mellennial generation.  He has the knack for seeing something and sharing it because it hit his coolness radar.  

Queer
Mostly oddly are unique and queer:  in a way that only the 80s gurus know that queer meant cool at that time in our lives.  So strange to discover that a word my generation resonated by would be exhumed to mean something so discriminatory and offensive a word :: eh?

I digressed again ::
I get sidetracked by an insight that is so profound I digress.  Let the mind sing and churn out only the "bestofeverything" :: #bestofeverything ::

Appreciation ::
It so easy to fall in love with Kyle :: the love that is universally channeled by motherhood :: sisterhood :: friendship :: cousin :: brother :: when Kyle gets something or anything, he has the magnetic gift of appreciation.  

Appreciation is something you can mimic enough that you start to feeling it from deep inside.  Emerging a guru who's spell you fell under :: Kyle, @flamesboy4eva get sidetracked by an insight that is so profound I digress.  Let the mind sing and churn out only the "bestofeverything" :: #bestofeverything ::

A strong conscience 
If there is anything that shows the story behind the story is one person who will emerge:: +Kyle S who has this seemingly giant perception radar on what is horribly unfortunate yet all too apparent in our society:  #corruption :: if there is any drum to bang on, Kyle has the uncanny knack for exposing it.  He took the guidance of a mother's continued nagging, repeating and repeating:  do not complain about your government if you're not prepared to do your civic and democratic right to vote.  Fond memory I recall is a discussion amongst my children on a warm summer's day ::

I would always begin with a celebratory atmosphere based merely on a whim :: hardly a birthday or annual event to create such excitement :: where I would set up the table on the patio, put up the Umbrella, in anticipation of the mere pleasure of having company.

Keeping them curious
Politics was something I started talking with my kids early about.  It is funny looking back at how each of them have convictions or causes that resonate within each of them :: feminism, corruption, mental health :: began at those early spirited gatherings.  I wouldn't have known of any secret motherhood ingredient I was giving my children :: keeping them curious.

Regardless of whether they could vote being that it was a good decade away, they were encouraged to have a voice on what is wrong with this world?  The earliest memory of Chantal was the detail I went through with gut-wrenching honesty, the list of items retrieved and inventoried on a list that was to go back to school the next day :: my very first, and maybe the first environmentalists of the #Millennial generation. 

Charitable causes the norm
Imagine my pure pleasure and surprise that should give her a pass for having a home that cared about its planet.  That is because coffee grounds, vegetables, fruit rinds, peelings, soup, meat, gravy, moldy bread, sour milk, burt something, failed recipe, were always put garburator  to work.   The cans were rinsed in a Rubbermade bucket (long before the engenius inventor of a blue recycle bin, talk about explosive idea for this generation to the next).  I am definitely sure that it was before plastics were recycled except milk 2 litres recycling at bottle depots.  That was before grade schools asked for donations of buckets for crafts and pop caps for charitable causes were even considered BTW (twitter-ese for 140 characters or less).


A louder voice
These open ended hearty discussions were encouraged and embraced.  Looking back now, I see how it could boost Kyle's confidence that his opinion mattered and was his purest gift ::  if there is a cause that is because of corruption, you will not hear a louder voice.

Good stock
Kyle is at the front of the line recognizing the attributes he inherited from his parents :: from me he says my outgoing friendliness and optimism :: times at least a dozen.  From his father, a work ethic, financial responsibility, and commitment.  And just this Mother's Day Kyle is confidently sharing the gifts he received from his stepfather named "Rob".  He said it was his sarcastic, dry humor.  That, and the fact that they both seem to like the same games and are gamers together. 

Talk about wisdom
If you are having trouble communicating with your Millennial sons, and the admitted desire to want to reach out and connect, you should try the ingredient that Rob and Kyle have discovered :: you can't go merely through the motions however.  You have to dedicate yourself like you have never before to find a way you will enjoy gaming with a world to uncover. 

It is a secret world
Where escapism meets participation via gaming.  A social (perhaps hidden) personality who had more to give and share by unmasking imagination and team work.  Where the testosterone is checked at the door.  Where men could safely become men and male examples rise to the top.  


To be continued ...... (daughters beware)