Every parent thinks that their child is the brightest, most beautiful/talented child in the world.
I am no exception.
Seriously, my Coco is amazing.
But… even she couldn’t do this 
xo Wendy
One of the best gifts I have ever received was a “word of the day” calendar.
You’ve seen them. Every day there’s a new word you have (most likely) never heard of, along with it’s definition. I vowed to remember all 365 and to amaze and impress everyone with my improved vocabulary.
Clearly, that never happened.
I can only recall one of the words: Leitmotif. It means “recurring theme”, but to be honest, I am not even sure how to put it into context so this is the first time I have ever actually used it.
Today, I stumbled upon “25 Words You Don’t Know” on listverse.
I am going to do my best to work at least 10 of these into conversation over the next week. I can’t decide if this is going to be Really Impressive, or Really Annoying. Feel free to let me know.
25. Girn – To bare your teeth in anger and sadness
24. Yerd – To beat with a stick.
23. Dendrofilous – Loving trees enough to live in them.
22. Wamfle – To walk around with flapping clothes.
21. Ribazuba – Ivory from a walrus.
20. Franch – To eat greedily.
19. Nazzard – A lowly or weak person.
18. Cachinnate – To laugh noisily.
17. Sesamoid – Having the size and shape of a sesame seed.
16. Yerk – To tie with a jerk.
15. Mullion – A vertical dividing piece between window lights or panels.
14. Labrose – Thick-lipped
13. Misodoctakleidist – Someone who dislikes practicing the piano.
12. Hesternal – Having to do with yesterday.
11. Crurophilous – Liking legs.
10. Glabella – The space on your forehead between your eyebrows.
9. Fample – To feed a child.
8. Coprolalomaniac – Someone who compulsively uses foul language.
7. Onychotillomaniac – Someone who constantly picks his or her nails.
6. Glossolalia – Gibberish; babble
5. Gash-gabbit – Having a protruding chin.
4. Sneckdraw – A sneaky or mean person.
3. Hircine – Something that smells like a goat.
2. Wallydrag – A completely useless person.
1. Onygophagist – A person who bites his or her nails.
And just in case I end up being too Labrosed to use these properly, allow me this bit of Glossolalia to dispense of a few of them now. If it makes you Girn, I am sorry. If it makes you Cachinnate, well, you can’t Yerd that.
xo Wendy
…check out this awesome choir. I love this!!!
I tried, but unfortunately Iris Evans will not be appearing on our show to speak to her comments about working parents.
I did recieve a prompt return phone call as well as an email from Jason Maloney, Communications- Finance and Enterprise, with his apologies:
Hi Wendy,
Minister Evans has provided the below statement in follow-up to the comments that have been reported on in the media.
“Raising a child is the most important responsibility in our society, and my comments were a reflection of its importance to me personally.
“The references I made to parenting were in respect to a question about financial literacy and making sure children understand the value of a dollar. My intent was to point out that understanding money and finances starts at home, not in the schools. And I was specifically pointing out that my three sons have done a better job than I had in passing this on.
“I understand some people were offended by some of what I said. I did not intend to suggest there is only one way to raise a child. Having worked for most of my adult life while raising kids, I understand no situation is the same and that parents have to make difficult choices that are in the best interests of their children, and I applaud them for making these choices.
“I do believe that spending time teaching values and coaching their children as well as loving them is the biggest gift parents can provide. And I also believe that most parents do this.”
I would imagine that she and her staff have had quite the week after all of this…
On Wednesday, Finance Minister Iris Evans was in Toronto giving a speech on Alberta’s Economy to the Economic Club of Canada. Evans said that as a mother herself, she made it her mission to teach kids about money.
All good there.
Things went a little bit sideways, however, when she cited her own kids’ experience.
“They’ve understood perfectly well that when you’re raising children you don’t both go off to work and leave them for somebody else to raise. This is not a statement against daycare. It is a statement about their belief in the importance of raising children properly.”
Now, I am a working Mum. I have made a choice that I believe is in the best interest of my family, and I do not think that I am a lesser parent for it. I love my job, and am a fulfilled, engaged person because of it. I believe that this leads me to be a fulfilled, engaged parent, who is showing my daughter that there are many freedoms and choices that women today are able to make. My income will allow her to pursue some freedoms and choices of her own when the time comes.
If I had a job that I didn’t love, I might not work outside the home.
And that would mean that different sacrifices might have to be made.
But for our family, for now, this is what works.
I would never presume to tell another family how to run their household. It is absolutely none of my business to do so. My Mum stayed home with us. I loved it. Some of my girlfriends are stay-at-home parents. Some work outside of the home. If I put all of our kids in one room, I guarantee that you would not be able to tell whose kids were in which scenario. They are all happy, healthy and well-adjusted (as well as loud, crazy and chaotic… everything that children are.)
And that’s where Iris Evans has created a problem for herself.
It’s not that she made the wrong choice in how she raised her family.
It’s that she has presumed the right to tell other families how to parent “properly”.
We recieved hundreds of emails this morning, some agreeing with her statements, many more disagreeing with her stance.
Iris Evans has issued the following statement:
“If it came across as if I was undervaluing them as parents, that’s totally wrong and I would apologize for that, I certainly didn’t intend that.”
We have invited her to come on the show Monday morning to clarify her statements.
I hope she comes.
But more importantly, I hope that parents everywhere know that it doesn’t really matter what she or anyone else thinks. Just keep making the best choices you know how, and remember that in the end, we all just want the same thing. We want our kids to have every opportunity we can afford, and we want them to know that they are loved.
The rest is details.
xo Wendy
I have been accused of being old-fashioned, but I like to think of myself as more of a “purist”.
I like people who say what they mean, and mean what they say.
I like eating food that has been prepared simply, so that I might taste, and appreciate each individual ingredient.
And, I like listening to music that has been stripped down to it’s basic elements.
I want to hear the guitar, the sax, the horns (heck, even the cow bell if the occasion calls for it!)
That is why it is always such a treat when we feature a live band on the show.
Our audio genius, Phil Desroches, does a wonderful job of making the most of the acoustics here, but let’s face it, it’s still a television studio and not a sound stage. So we can hear very clearly and very quickly if a band is all sizzle and no steak.
My appreciation of this “pure talent” harkens back to my youth. My parents exposed us wonderfully to a wide assortment of musical styles and genres, and this would teach us about the history of an era as well as provide us with great entertainment. I think an appreciation of good music (although I cannot sing or play an instrument to save my life) is one of the greatest gifts they have given my siblings and I.
Saturday nights were “Oldies Night” at my house. We would listen to songs from my parents’ youth and learn a bit about them as actual people (beyond our Mum and Dad). What a revelation!
A band that was certainly part of the rotation on Saturday nights was The Searchers.
Now I may be the only 36 year old who knows all the words to their songs, but everyone in the studio had their toes tapping when they stopped by to perform two of the hits that made them famous.
What a treat!
I wish my family could have been here to share the experience with me, but it doesn’t really matter.
Because in my head we were all together wearing jammies and eating popcorn in our wood-panelled family room, listening to the Saturday Night Oldies.
Hope this brings back some great memories for you too.
xo Wendy
I can’t count the number of times someone has commented on the hour we have to be up to do this job, and has asked me how in the world we do it. To me, the answer is very simple. I meet some of the world’s most fascinating people, and learn something new every single day. I don’t know a lot of other people who can say that, and it is all the motivation I need to stop hitting snooze and head to the station for another day’s adventure.
Meeting Deepak Chopra was a thrill and and honour for me.
I think his messages of Peace bear repeating, so I have included the interview in full below.
Here’s what went down at the Oliver Square McDonald’s yesterday…
before the battery in our camera ran out.
It’s probably a good thing that you didn’t see the rest, our hearts were in the right place but we were most helpful away from the food and greeting folks at the front door
Ryan and I had the opportunity to spend an afternoon with a wonderful group of people.
Thanks again to our guests, we had a great afternoon and really appreciate their contribution to the Sun Christmas Charity Auction. United Way, Sign of Hope, Christmas Bureau and the Stollery Children’s Hospital were all grateful recipients of their donation.
I wanted to take this opportunity to remind everyone that there are plenty of worthwhile charities who could really use your help right now. The recession is hard on everyone, but especially on those organizations who rely on donations to continue doing their good work. We tend to think of places like the Food Bank, Bissel Centre and Win House around the holidays, when we are in the midst of conspicuous consumption ourselves.
But these folks need our help year round, so if you have a spare dollar, or some gently used clothing, please consider making a donation. You’ll be so glad to think that something you no longer need can ease the need of a fellow Edmontonian.
Plus, you can often get a tax receipt, and don’t you wish that you had more of those as you scramble to get your return completed in time?
xo Wendy
