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MALEFACTOR

mal·e·fac·tor

a person who commits a crime or some other wrong.

synonyms: wrongdoer, miscreant, offender, criminal, culprit, villain, lawbreaker, felon, evildoer, delinquent, hooligan, hoodlum;

It’s OK to be a man. Not all men are bad, or have done bad things. It’s OK to love women, to think they can be smart, beautiful, and strong all at the same time. All the while, still a man.

My feelings on this sparked during a family life class for grade nine boys. I was an adult in the class working with a specific student and they had split the class into boys and girls. Each group watched this video that basically showed the many ways in which men objectify women. It was a good hour and thirty minutes long of this is how men treat and think about women.

I think not. At the end of the video I had male students approach me wondering if anyone really thinks like this anymore. It was as if they felt bad for being male. A malefactor perhaps. Like they were already guilty of treating women poorly by association and still only in grade nine. I wasn’t privy to the girls class but I am sure it made them feel victimized and a second class gender. A seed planted that men are the enemy and a progressive chip placed on their shoulder they will need to work harder than most men to shake off.

It also made me really question gender politics in my own life. I always knew women had it rough in some cultures but surely in Canada and the US women and men are treated fairly. I hate to say equal because, let’s face it, men and women are not equal biologically and for that reason there will always be inequality. I thought that feminism started as a movement toward equality and found that today it’s more of a right wing turn toward demonizing the male gender.

I came across this article on Buzzfeed Canada about the Jian Ghomeshi verdict titled I Hope The Ghomeshi Verdict Makes You Fucking Furious. It’s written by female writer Scaachi Koul and it really made me wonder how many women in Canada and the US really feel a deep rooted resentment toward males. Let me preface this by saying I didn’t follow all of this in the news. From what I understand of it the ruling was based on lack luster evidence and the word of the girls against Ghomeshi. I have no sympathy for Ghomeshi and if he hurt any of those women in any way I hope he gets his. Thankfully it’s not up to me and thankfully it’s not up to Scaachi Koul because it’s evident throughout the article that she’s on a manhunt for not just Ghomeshi, but men in general.

First she attacked the judge claiming that women knew what the verdict was going to be right from the start “because the (justice) system wasn’t built for us (women). It was built for the men it protects, the ones we try to expose.” She refers to the judge as “a cartoon sheriff from the ‘50s”.

Huh? Currently in the US 93% of incarcerated inmates are male. To further those stats I looked at the offenses committed and sex offenses ranked 4th on the list of reason convicted out of 13 possible offenses.

Although my favorite quote, and the whole reason I am writing my thoughts on all of this, just so I won’t forget this beauty of a statement…

Let your body crack wide open and fill the world with your anger because anger gets shit done. Male anger is turned against women and our heads are smashed against walls and our bodies are shaken and bruised; female anger activates and shoots up into the sun and forces change.

Yes, let’s promote anger instead of truth and rationale! Not Snips and snails, and puppy dogs tails, kind of anger but sugar and spice and all things nice kind of anger because that’s what little girls are made of.

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You can also read a more unbiased report on the verdict.

Winter Update

Ok, we have been hiding from you winter.

The kids have been busy with school and activities. Lexi is doing gymnastics (at Panthers) and dance this year. She is built for gymnastics and I am always impressed at her strength and natural ability. She tries hard and has fun there so what else can you ask for. I sometimes think she needs to be challenged more and the instructors look like they would rather be texting but I know I have a knack for the negative so I look past. Friday nights after a long week topped off with gymnastics Lexi looks forward to what I like to call “Foot Rub Fridays” before bed. Lex is also losing teeth like mad. Four this year already and one more on the way so that is exciting for her. I can’t stand watching Shan wiggle them out for her.

bday-baconWe just celebrated Lexi’s 7th birthday and this year she chose Montana’s for her family dinner. It was a good time watching her stand on her chair with the horns on and I got to pack in the all-you-can-eat ribs. Nolan also showed up and brought the birthday bacon too! Win win.

For the friend birthday we decided on a pool party so we booked the Canad-inns a little late and had all the girls out. Last year one of Lexi’s besties had to move and I was able to track her down for the party. It was really cool to see Lexi’s face when she saw her…and the hug, it was one of the best hugs I have ever seen. Big thanks to everyone who helped out that day and Michelle for doing all the hair after!

besties

Ashlyn is busy dancing and back in swimming. We called last minute for the swimming and ended up at Bernie Wolf pool. I’m not a fan but Shan says we are just there for a few months and it’s better than nothing. The instructors there make Lexi’s instructors look like Richard Simmons. I do see improvements in the pool though. At Lexi’s party Ash was fearless on the water slide.

Ashlyn is also adjusting to the morning routine much better now. I think pre-school is making her less anxious and daycare this year is gold. We love her there. Saying that though next year we will have just one drop off and pick up at the school and that will be so much easier. After playing most of the day Ashlyn likes to come home and have some alone time. She takes care of her babies still and has been getting into the lego lots lately. She also loves coming for walk with Penny and I which usually turns into her climbing up and down the snow banks filling her boots with snow!

chewie

I am ashamed at how long it’s been since I have written. My new years resolution was to “do what I want” as much as possible. I know that sounds selfish but mostly it means to find time to do things I enjoy like writing and listening to music. I don’t mean the kind of listening you do in the car or while your cleaning the house. I mean really listening. I think it also goes hand in hand with not putting up with unacceptable shit and giving zero fucks. Wouldn’t you know just like every other get ripped NY resolution I have had it’s February and I’m just getting started!

Shan and I have been walking the dog lots. She does the morning and I go in the evening. It’s one of those things that is hard to get up for and hard to keep your pants on for at night. Between dinner, and getting the kids to bed there is no down time until 8pm. Penny is a high energy breed (we have decided part Ridge Back) and really needs to get out and run when she can. She is really turning into an awesome dog. She still has her things (like jumping up) but she is really good off the leash now and can chill out a little more at night now. She is a champ at the dog park and sometimes at night we meet up in the field to play with her friend Eva. So nice that she is so awesome with other dogs.

penner

Shan and I are getting away usually once a week too. Shan is playing soccer and I have the usual Nolan’s Hockey Sunday nights. Missed 14 weeks this year already with a pulled groin but have been playing the last 4 games and feeling much better out there. We are also both really involved in the Parent Council at Lexi’s school and taken on roles in the new inclusive playground development project. It’s another thing to add to the pile but we really love this community and want the best for all the kids who go to school here.

We did some really cool stuff this winter on skates and toboggans but now it’s time for the snow to go away. The kids are already talking about camping and we are already making plans and dreaming about what a summer might look like without house painting to do! Can’t wait, and I promise to post again before the snow comes back!

Lexi is 7

Well it’s been another great year for Lexi with so many great memories that I could barely keep the video under 25 mins. I understand those of you who aren’t able to stomach the cuteness for that long but there is a really dance sequence near the end you need to see! I might even Nay Nay a little.

Big Firsts for Lex

It’s been a summer of firsts for Lexi. First of all she couldn’t be more excited about losing her tooth. We had corn on the cob the night before so I am sure that helped but she couldn’t wait. She has another on deck too right next to this one. She left the cutest little note to the tooth fairy asking if she could keep it to show her grandparents. Sure enough she left a toonie and spared the tooth.

tooth

The girls and I go swimming a lot. With all the swimming they have done at Joel’s and the Y over the last year they have developed a real confidence in the water. So much that neither want to wear their “floaties” anymore. Sometimes it can be tough to accommodate them both at the pool when they want to do different things in different pools, or the deep end. We changed things up last week and went to Bonivital. Of course Lexi wants the slide in the deep end and Ash wants to collect duckies in the shallow end so I am going back and forth between them. The lifeguard gives me a warning that I need to be arms length of both of them in the pool. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, was basically my response. I convince Lexi that collecting duckies is fun and it lasts for about 2 minutes before she is asking me about the big slide in the lap pool. I told her that she would have to do her laps with a life jacket on and then keep it on to go down the slide. When she asks the lifeguard for confirmation we learn that she needs to complete one full lap with no PFD assistance. I honestly didn’t think she could do it so I told her to try swimming across the pool we were in to test it out and she flies across like it was no problem. The life guard encourages her to try and the next thing I know my six year old is in the deep pool swimming it’s entire length! She earned a wristband and a green light to use the big slide and diving platforms. Even better I didn’t have be arms length anymore!

I was super proud of her and better yet she was super proud of herself. On the way out she asked if they would remember her next time of if she would have to do her laps again. “We will remember you they said…but you will still have to do your laps again!”

Penny Peever the Rotti Retriever?

Most of you have met, or at least know that we have a new edition to the family. Since Vegas passed in January we have really missed having a dog around and have been kind of looking. After visiting with the Rattes this summer and being around their dogs it really hit home how much we wanted our kids to have a dog back in their lives too.

“Penny” was actually Apple but after much deliberation and a small poll orchestrated by Lexi it came down to Princess Dusty Face, Turtle, Seabass (Nolan) and Penny. Penny won.

We found Penny through the good people at the Brandon Humane Society. We knew we wanted and puppy and after many visits to the Humane Society here in Winnipeg we found that most of the dogs there were older and that puppies that did come in went quick. So we made arrangements to visit Penny’s litter and quickly fell in love with all of them! Shan even wanted to take home their mother (who looked a lot like Vegas) just from seeing her picture!

Penny seemed to stand out as a gentle pup and she made an instant connection with Lexi. Shan and I picked her up on our way back from Fargo on August 7 and she has since adjusted to her new home and family. We are still house training a little bit (the basement seems like a challenge) but she has had zero accidents upstairs in days. We even took her on her first camping trip and she did awesome in the camper. We are regulars at the dog park and she does very well off the leash and socializes great with other dogs. We have been working a lot on sit and stay commands and she is learning fast. She loves her walks and when she uses up all her puppy power she sleeps through child mauling and our crazy day to day. At night and when we are out she finds solace in kennel which she seems to really like at times just to have some alone time. I was worried about the nights but she sleeps solid through the night and seems ready to get up when we are. She walks right to the door to goes outside for a poop so she is learning. I think if we let her she would save it all up for Nolan’s grass just like the other night.

Best of all she is awesome with the kids. Ashlyn still needs to get comfortable with her but it’s not uncommon for us to find Lexi curled up with her on the floor petting her while she sleeps. Or fake sleeps perhaps.

YMCA Problem

Saw this in the Lance today and I was mortified. Not only because I have already written about how much I have to police other people’s kids at the Y on Fermor, but also that the Lance won’t or can’t write where this happened. “A fitness centre on the corner of St. Mary’s and Fermor.”; Grow some balls and just say at the YMCA on Fermor wherein lies an unsupervised play area where people are encouraged to leave there kids unattended while they work out. It’s not the first time either.

I also love the placement of the YMCA paid advertisement that nicely finishes this piece with…

“We never met a kid whose potential we couldn’t see.”

You could start by seeing that the play area is monitored at bare minimum periodically. I am sure one of your minimum wagers or bubbly volunteers could pop a head in there once every 10 mins to make sure everyone is wearing socks, the appropriate age, or not being molested. Please.

ymca

Parents don’t bring your kids with you to work out. It’s cruel, like leaving them in the car on a hot day with the windows rolled up. Bad stuff can happen. If your going to the Y watch them like a hawk or make sure someone else is. For God sakes bring some socks for them.

Yikes It’s August

This summer is flying by and it’s our own fault. We started right out of the gates with a trip to Thunder Bay to see the Rattes. We camped at Blue Lake on the way and I have to say it certainly lived up to the hype. The campsites were awesome, the facilities were awesome, the water was awesome, and the sunsets left us speechless (well some of us). Besides Lexi busting up her face on a giant candy necklace and the cost of camping these days it is certainly on our list of places to visit again!

blue-lake

Once we arrived in Thunder Bay it really hit me how much I was missing Vegas on this trip. Bella and Simba (Ratte dogs) made it clear how much I was missing the dog love this summer. As always we had an amazing (too short) visit with Paul and Melissa. Paul and I got to play some hockey together and our families got to do a little camping out at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. Big thanks to Simba for protecting us from that skunk and taking a huge ass blast of spray for the team. Driving you home and cleaning you up at 2am was the least we could do! We spent our last day visiting at Kakabeka Falls where we got some great family shots of all the kids. It was so nice to get all of the kids together this summer. they have all grown so much, and so fast. Big thanks to Paul and Melissa for being such great hosts, we had an absolute blast.

kakabeka

On the way home we stopped by the cottage in Sioux Narrows to break up the trip. Luckily we got to spend some time with family up there and just relax for a couple days. Josie and Ella left a big impression on our girls and Shan and I got to spend some quality time with Heather, Troy, and Auntie Barb. A great couple days at the lake but even though I had lot’s of fun with the girls in the water I sure missed chasing Vegas off that dock!

When we got home it was time for Ashlyn to have another small eye surgery. Nothing worse for a parent than seeing their child in pain. She was amazing through all of it and recovered beautifully. Who would have thought 10 days with no swimming could be so tough on a child! Thanks to everyone who wished her well.

We talked a little more about getting a dog this summer and it wasn’t long before we were reaching out to a rescue in Brandon. We took the girls on a day trip to see the pups and instantly fell in love. You can expect a new addition to this family before the summer wraps.

Speaking of new additions…HUGE congrats to Joel and Jen who welcome Kevin William Grant to their family. I could not be happier for them and look forward to sharing this new chapter with them. Hard to believe Joel and I have been friends since we were five years old. Now we are both married with kids and still close as ever. Seems like only yesterday we were jumping ramps on the front sidewalk on Handyside. Now this…

ash-kevin

This week we just got back from our second visit to Sioux Narrows. This time was more of a Ramsay reunion to celebrate the life of Shan’s grandparents. In what might have been the most beautiful ceremony I have ever witnessed the family said goodbye in the middle of the lake on a barge. To see all of Ramsay siblings and generations of children that grew up spending summers at that cottage all together for this moment really put a lump in my throat. So glad to be a part of it.

In between painting the house and everything else Shan and I are off again this weekend to Fargo for a couple nights just the two of us. It will be nice to catch up with my wife. The following weeks when we get home will be filled with painting, birthdays, camping trips, and potty training!

Granny’s Buns

Granny Phillips used to make these for me on request. I love her, and I love them.

  • 2 cups flour
  • 4 tsp or 20 ml baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp or 2.5 ml salt
  • 1/3 cup of lard or butter
  • 2/3 cup milk
  1. Sift flour.
  2. Cut lard or butter into flour.
  3. Add salt and baking powder.
  4. Stir in milk and mix.
  5. Knead that dough – 4 more times than you think.
  6. Flour surface and rolling pin and roll out on clean flat surface.
  7. Once your dough is rolled out butter that sucker up like butter is on sale.
  8. Coat with brown sugar and cinnamon and smooth out with your palm.
  9. Roll into a nice toit log and cut into individual buns.
  10. Place on a parchment covered cookie sheet and bake for approx 15 mins at 350.

Sometimes I make some icing to drizzle on top while they are still warm so it’s more like a glaze when it cools. Just icing sugar, milk, butter, corn syrop, and some color if desired. A little vanilla or almond extract is a bonus.

Positive Approach

I feel like I have been carrying so much weight these past few months. No, it’s not that Five Guys kind of weight (well that too) it’s life weight. Things revolving around work, money, the kids, my wife, my family, and the future. Lot’s of things that I feel like I can’t control…things that are controlling me. I’m working hard to take some of those things back and it’s really started with being more positive about things and distributing that life weight.

One article I read that really made sense to me was The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by blogger and author Mark Manson.

In my life, I have given a fuck about many people and many things. I have also not given a fuck about many people and many things. And those fucks I have not given have made all the difference.

The more I read, the more it made sense. As a parent I am constantly doing my best to ensure that my kids give less fucks.

What we don’t realize is that there is a fine art of non-fuck-giving. People aren’t just born not giving a fuck. In fact, we’re born giving way too many fucks. Ever watch a kid cry his eyes out because his hat is the wrong shade of blue? Exactly.

Someone took away your toy? Not what you wanted for dinner? Other kids not sharing? You got called a bad name? It seems from birth we start building or should I say tearing down the emotional intelligence to D.G.A.F.

If you are offended by the word “fuck” you may not enjoy this article. I sure did.

Pumpkin Soup

Got this one from the kitchen of Mrs. McCann at School!

  • 1/2 cup or 125 ml diced onion
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1/3 cup or 75 ml butter
  • 1 1/2 cups or 375 ml cooked pumpkin puree
  • 2 tbsp or 30 ml of sugar
  • 1 tsp or 5 ml salt
  • 1 tsp or 5 ml pepper
  • 1 tsp or 5 ml curry
  • 1 tsp or 5 ml nutmeg
  • 1125 ml (almost 5 cups) chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup or 125 ml heavy cream
  • 1 tbsp or 25 ml chopped parsley
  • Pinch of nutmeg
  1. Chop onions and garlic. Gently brown in butter in the soup pot.
  2. Once onion is browned add cooked pumpkin.
  3. Add sugar, salt, nutmeg, pepper, and curry.
  4. Slowly add chicken broth and heat thoroughly.

  5. Just before serving, turn off the heat and add the cream. Do not boil.
  6. Ladle into bowls and garnish with chopped parsley.

Sometimes I leave out the nutmeg and add a little more curry to taste.