Update From The Great White North

Hello my friends…..I would say I am back but I really haven’t been gone. I have been busy with life. I spent 4 days in the mountains with 3 very good friends. We went from home to Jasper on to Banff then to Calgary and it was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. We had snow or snow flurries every day and it was a true winter wonderland.


Last week I had to prepare for a speech which I presented yesterday before 300 people, I didn't mind as I am use to public speaking. For several years I have sat on two Boards, these were appointments made by the Provincial Government and for the most part I have enjoyed my position even though at times I have found the responsibilities to be a burden. You see I don’t like judging people, not good at it don’t want to be good at it. The only reason I continued is I know I am fair and able to see hopefully each side of the story. Yesterday was my last speech, it was a good day but today I feel relieved and satisfied that I have finished and someone new has been appointed in my place. I have never spoken about this part of my life, for a couple of reasons, first it was a political appointment and secondly we dealt with confidential material. Oh it wasn’t life or death situations but the decisions we made - made a difference to those involved. You see our Board heard appeals when residents felt they were treated poorly or unfairly. It could have been someone appealing their house taxes or someone wanting their medical supplies included in their monthly supplements or just more money for snow suits for their children. We heard and seen many sad stories, in fact not one hearing was a happy case really but I had accepted the appointment so I like to think we did a thorough and fair account for everyone who came before our Board. There were 3 of us on the Board; we all finished as of yesterday after several years together. Each Board consisted of 2 professionals and a lay person. Our Board had a lawyer, social worker and I was the lay person. One has just recently gone from lawyer to judge, something he has worked at and wanted for a long time now, the other is slowly losing her battle with cancer and I am so proud of her. Not once did she let her illness sway her opinion or keep her from completing her appointment, and even though we all had empathy for everyone we made our decisions on facts and circumstances. I learned so much sitting on these Appeal Boards, the first being that the world is not black and white; there are many, many grey areas. Too many are so quick to criticize others without walking in their shoes. I thank God for each lesson I learned but not for the unfortunate circumstances which taught me. We had a provincial coordinator who would inform each client of our decision within 10 days of their hearing. Our addresses and phone numbers were kept confidential for safety precautions and if we had a client whose file was red flagged we had security sitting just outside the hearing room. There were times we had to travel but we always went together. Hearing rooms were booked at the convenience of the client. I will miss my time with my co-workers and also the people I met holding this position but it is time for someone else to do this. Our lives are meant to change even though most of us dislike change……now it is time to get back to some serious volunteer work although the per Diem's and mileage checks will be missed I'm sure....lol

We have had a real Artic freeze this past week, and everything is covered in snow, but that’s okay after all it is November in Alberta and it is suppose to cold and snowy. Right now it is -23 with light snow falling.

We are watching the semi finals of the CFL today, sitting beside a warm fire. I have a ham baking in the oven and I am so happy to begin a new chapter in my life……..Life is good people!

Have a great week, sending big hugs to all of you........:-)