One girl's opinion

With what seems like the whole world focused on the US presidential election for the last few weeks,

the topic of American football should fit right in.

 

Americans.   Love.   Football.   Period.

 

I get it.  Well, I don't get the love of football, but I do get a country's love of sport.

Canadians love hockey.

 

We do have some kids football teams in the big city, but we don't have near the emphasis on it that our south of the border friends do.  I mean having a high school stadium?? We're lucky if we have a couple of soccer goalposts in need of paint and a baseball backstop

 and bit of green grass showing on the brown.

And the parents, most of them, of the soccer, rugby and basketball players do turn out to watch a game.  Hockey is a little different, everyone likes to watch a good hockey game and when my son played in the Northern Winter Games in 2006, the arena was standing room only.

 

Anyhow, this isn't about high school football,

but about a 9-year-old girl playing on her big brother's football team, amongst older kids. 

 

She's good.

She's fast.

She's tough.

 

 

And as much as I agree that women can be involved in any sport

I'm just not sure about this one.

The article said she's 60 pounds and the heaviest kid is 150 pounds. 

That's a hell of a weight difference.

 

The problem, as I see it

Is not necesarily a girl playing on a guys team

We have girls mixed in the the guys in our house league hockey teams

and even the odd one on the rep teams.

 

I think that they miss out on the "locker room camaraderie"

But they love to play.

Therein lies the hitch

 

This little girl evidently loves football.

Nothing wrong with that.

But how far will she be able to go?

Do they have ladies football in the States?

For all I know, they do in which case this is a moot point.

But in a few years, she'll end up with no where to expend her energy and talent.

And that's the shame of it.

 

Sure, she may get hurt playing with the boys

Any contact sport can hurt people

But 9 and 10 year olds can still be quite similar

when it comes to holding their own and the quicker ones can outrun the heftier ones.

A slight boy would be the same situation as a 60 pound girl

for now.

 

In a few years, those boys and girls will be growing into teenagers

where will she be then?

She may still be one tough girl

and able to outrun most of the guys

And if she still plays

Good for her.

 

I am just unsure about this whole issue.

Maybe, if she has leadership qualities, she may want to start

a ladies football league.

Or maybe she'll lose interest

 

Anyhow, I just wanted to sort this one out through my head and onto (paper)

But I am still as undecided as I was before.

 



just a reminder......

Did those of us who needed reminding to remember to not forget remember to change the clocks???   Or did we forget that we were reminded to remember? 

Ghosts of Halloweens past

1974

 

 

 

1977

 

1993

 

 

1995

 

1996

 

1997

 

2002

 

 

 

2004

 

2006

 

Happy Halloween to all those who still have the kids, or the enthusiasm, to celebrate!



Hands across the World

 

 

In my work as a "work from home medical transcriptionist"

(although we are now called "health documentation specialists" - more politically correct?")

I work for a transcription company in Australia.

 

This company has hundreds of transcriptionists all over the world,

separated into groups, or "families" depending on the facility we transcribe for.

My group is called "Powerful Paeds" as we transcribe for a children's hospital.

 

Anyway, through a wayward comment last week

someone mentioned where they live, someone else mentioned where they live,

and so on and so on.

I thought it would be neat to make a map and post everyone's locations

so I requested everyone to share their locations.

 

This is how it turned out.

 

Now, what I would like to do is add my blog friends to it,

maybe with pink strips of paper or something to differentiate y'all from my coworkers.

 

It's amazing how small the world has become.

I remember when I got my first computer and actually corresponded with someone from another country in a chat room.

It was so exciting

Now, its a way of life

 

I am reading a book right now where the main character in England writes a letter to someone in Australia, and mentions that by the time it gets there a month will have gone by

and the news will no longer be news, or even truth.

 

There are an awful lot of things that I think were better

"in the olden days"

But communication is not one of them.

 

 (picture credits here and here)



Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!

I did not get sick

Hockey went great

We even won

We named our team the "Grey Goose" (don't ask!)
 

I wasn't stiff the day after but today my legs feel like I was riding a horse

At the beginning of the second period I thought I could easily lay down on the ice

 and die of exhaustion
 

I had some spectacular falls...thank God for all that padding
(and I don't only mean the gear)

and why can't I stop quickly enough without crashing into the boards anyways?

Looking forward to next time.

 

 

The turkey went off without a hitch

and now I have a fridge full of cold turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, carrots and brussel sprouts

Not to mention the apple pie that didn't get touched because everyone wanted the pumpkin pie

 I may have to eat those left overs and work doubly hard next week on the ice!!

 

 

(both of these pics are actually from last year, but you get the drift)



No, no, no, no, no!

 

I cannot get sick right now

 

I will not get sick right now

 

Positive affirmations

 

 

My throat has had this nagging feeling

and my ears are begging me to insert a sharp instrument and scratch

 

I cannot get sick

 

I am alternating between drinking hot echinecia  echinacea tea with honey

sucking on Vitamin C tablets

and popping Halls

 

I cannot get sick.

I simply won't allow it.

Body, if at any time you were going to listen to me,

Listen to me now.

 

Hockey starts tomorrow night

and I need to cook a turkey dinner on Tuesday

 

I cannot, and will not, get sick!!!!

 

 



Harvest Gold

 

What images does the term "harvest gold" conjure? 

 

Most likely something like this:

 

Or this:

 

 

"The family that drinks together stays together??"

What were they thinking?

 

Anyways, the harvest gold that I have in mind

is much more pleasing to the senses:

 

 

 

Few can resist the Autumn.
And...
This season with changes upon them.
Few can resist,
The picturesqueness...
Of the Autumn.

With the color of the leaves turning bright,
To their delight.
Red and yellow with orange in sight.
From Sunrise until twilight.

Few can resist the Autumn,
When...
Autumn falls.
And...
Few can resist the Autumn,
When...
Autumn calls.

Few can resist the Autumn.
Hoping that Summer stalls.
Few can resist the Autumn.

Winter, Spring, Summer and again the Fall.
Few can resist,
The picturesqueness...
None at all.

modified from a verse by Lawrence S. Pertillar