wrap up another year!

crikey! bear with me as it's been 2 months since the last post. the longest break I've taken from writing (on the blog anyways) here's a flurry of some of the tales to tell and pics from our adventures in wrapping up 2008:

Here is Sasha up the hill of China Creek park (her day care in the background at bottom of hill) one of the best toboggan hills in the city! This was taken a few days into the non-stop snow we had for over a week.

Despite Sasha and I taking turns being quite sicky (one really bad week including fevers and many days here and there of leftover sniffles and coughs) we have managed to squeeze in a fair bit of family fun including another morning of swimming. One new years promise is to get her in a pool more often, maybe even for some swim lessons since many of the lifeguards I work with are eager to splash around with her :)

As always, we're pretty good at filling our time, but as we're in the rainy season - er...snowy season now! - we've also spent a lot of time just chillin at home. Sasha is so much fun to play with I'd say we're really enjoying this hibernation period! here are some random pics of her imaginative playtime. one of her fave things to do is bake cakes for everyone, setting up a skytrain, and put people down for naps after reading stories and changing her teddies diapers. so cute!




More Sasha update: since my last post she is officially 38 1/4 inches tall now. Still having fun with the potty training, and until we get a booster seat she's back in the high chair. In january she has a follow up appointment with the eye doctor and we'll see if the hour of patching every day is helping to strengthen the vision in her right eye. She becomes more and more articulate every day and constantly amazes us with her quick thinking. A very tough little negotiator...which I'm ok with as long as she's using her words and not screaming and flopping around, which she also does well when all else fails. lol

What else have we been up to? hmmmm. Right! Around the time of Mum's bday (for which we had a really nice night out for dinner at Provence restaurant with Penny and all her kids) we had a visit from Kelly who is Mark's cousin from South Africa. What a wonderful time getting to know her, and Sasha was quite taken with her (though this pic doesn't show it, teehee)



In comparison to all the stress at the end of last year between the move into storage and then our new home here in the co-op, and then my Grandpa passing away around Christmas, this year has seemed to be a pure relaxing time indeed. Though life is great with me, this holiday season will be touched by some sadness for all my loved ones dealing with the first Christmas without my Grandpa Herbert and also my Grandpa Jack who passed away last month. This has added to my procrastination on all things (such as this blog) while I mourn his loss. Losing 2 elders in less than a year (2 grandfathers) has had me deep in reflection the past few weeks, and reconnecting with all I've learned from witnessing over 30 funerals/wakes/memorials in my life. I wish I had been there with the Holland clan to gather in remembrance of Jack, but that branch of my tribe continues to be in my heart and thoughts knowing the loss they will feel with him gone. I am happy Sasha got to meet her great-grandpas before they passed away and am full of gratitude for all I learned from both of these men.

One thing most people hate about losing loved ones is the regrets that come about...all the "I wish I had said..." "I hope he knew..." "if only I had..."- this is one reason why I tend to express my gratitude so often (and I know some of you even think I'm a bit over-the-top sometimes) as I always want people to know what they mean to me in the moment...not to share what I value once you're gone! Well, since my last post I came across a big regret in my mind. When Peter passed away earlier in the fall I decided I needed to take action on this regret.

The guitar that I have, and have been kinda trying to learn to play over the past few years by pickin it up now and then, used to belong to Peter. Every time he saw me he'd ask "so how's the guitar playing comin along?" and he very clearly loved this instrument and wanted to hear me play it. Only he never got to hear me play it...hence my regret. So I have taken action on this and finally organized some lessons for myself to take my learning to the next level! Between two dear friends - Pat and Gord - I have had two lessons and learned very different things. (Pat had showed me a few things on the picket line last year and taught me a couple of good ol' protest songs) Now I have a few fun songs to play for Sasha, and thanks to Gord I now have music to play to one song I wrote a few years ago!

In the new year Gord will help me put music to the other song I wrote, and with enough practise some of you may actually hear me sing and play it for you some day soon. Can't even begin to express how great it feels to have music to play with my songs that have been in my head for years! 'Amazing' doesn't cut it. But for sure, I am full of desire to play my guitar now, and am not giving it up again ;)

Back to other things that fill our life with joy. We had more fun last month hangin with Gilly, Merlin and Rob and their new pooch. Wish we could get our families together more often, but with this group its all about the quality of the time! The pic of me being cheesy was taken by Sasha...gettin' pretty good with a camera, so we got her one of her own for Christmas :)





This year we also got to attend one of our staff holiday parties, and we had a great time celebrating with fellow Britannia folks. A good turn out (considering the roads were crazy and it was a Thursday night) with many of my favorite people from all over our community complex: board members, Info Centre, pool, library, programmers, instructors, child care staff aplenty - such fun and lots of dancing!! I didn't get oo many good pics, but here are just some of the fabulous people I love working with at Brit - and the band features one of our long time saver of lives at the pool - Steve on the bass! Great music, good food and a very late night as we partied after the party and got home around 2am...not a common occurance for us anymore!




some more pics of our winter wonderland: outside our front door, Sasha and Mark walking up the hill (snow is up to her waist!) and the patio...not a cozy outside room for us these days ;)



Christmas this year was a bit of a challenge due to the weather and the chaotic schedules of our busy clans. Before Cheyenne headed off to Winnipeg for the holidays, we had a gathering of my family at Tampopo sushi restaurant which was fabulous! here's a cute pic of Sasha and her big cuz sharing some mango ice cream, yum! and to your left a pic of her first attempt at eating with chopsticks (soon foregone for finger style instead)

due to the road conditions we didnt end up seeing everyone on Christmas eve as planned, but we look forward to a snow day in Whistler with our cousins and Tante early in the new year to finish our Christmas celebrations. :)

The weather created quite a drama to get the Whittams together this year. While Karli and her clan visiting from the states were here, we managed to get all the cousins (our kids and our nieces and nephews - 7 in all) in a room together for the first time ever in Sasha's life. The stars don't often align for all of us to get together at once, especially when we have Che with us. He never seems to be free when the rest of us manage to gather. This time I missed out as I was working, but am so happy everyone else saw one another...even though it turned to be a short and sweet visit. next year Heathen is recommending we have a big family fun day instead - and we are all over this idea!!

On Christmas eve we had the drama of getting to mum's in north van once again. Mark and I experienced a little instant karma really...after spending time laughing at comical efforts of drivers trying to get up the insane slippy hill outside our home, and digging and pushing each other out of piles...well, we ended up victims in our own comic tragedies trying to cope with the insane roads en route to Penny's and back home again.
Due to skytrain shut downs (trees falling on tracks and apparently no quick means to deal with it) and again the crazy roads which buses weren't able to cope with (perhaps Vancouver will now invest in some snow plows for next year, or solidify some contracts in advance to help clear more roads...any roads for that matter!) the trek there on the 24th was an adventure. Thanks to a pick up downtown by Heath it ended positively. Then, there was a power outage over night, but fortunately the power came back in time for lunch and the cooking of our festive feast!

Some choice pics from our holiday fun are the tree trimming here at home, opening stocking on Christmas morning, hanging with daddy by the warm fire, present time with family and playing some tunes on the piano.


In our attempt to get home I have another moment of drama to share with you all (the rest of our karmic payback) - the tale of Sasha trapped in the car for almost an hour on boxing day! After digging Mum's car out of the snow, getting unstuck a mere block from home, and finally making it outside our co-op, the automatic locking doors were closed behind Mark and Penny before they realized what happened. Below is a pic I took (from Sasha's bedroom window) of Mum keeping our poor tyke company while I was on the phone with the emergency rescue staff trying to get someone to come get her out. With the weather being the nightmare it was for the roads, the tow truck wasn't expected for a minimum of a 1/2 hour! We had traffic blocked for a time, and at least the car was running so she stayed warm inside while waiting. Many kind people offered help and one guy even shared some chocolate with us in an effort to raise our spirits...as always renewing my faith in the kindness of people. I was the one who really got upset as this wasn't the first time she had been locked in the car!! (bad deja vu just over a year later, but I was happy I wasn't alone to cope with it this time) Though Sasha got upset for a little while (after having an accident and wanting a drink) for the most part she stayed calm and in good spirits and handled it all like the brave little trooper she always seems to be. Kids are more resilient than us parents are, hehe. A wee bit on the clingy side the past couple of days...but otherwise a-ok :)

Since our municipal election results became clear in november I am full of hope for Vancouver's potential in the next few years. Many of my friends and mentors are now members of our city council, school board and parks board and I intend to keep them full of awareness of their potential to create positive change. They have big dreams and it is nice to have leadership with ideas for alternatives to our local problems. But, as always, the proof will be in the pudding so they say. I was choked the last time progressives had power and let ego battles ruin it...not gonna let them get away with that behaviour again if I can stop it ;)

My focus will continue to be on public education issues in the new year, and with provincial elections upcoming in May, one new hat I will be wearing is as a member of the Coalition for Public Education. A group of provincial organizations which will try to influence public opinions on education issues in our province. I'm happy to be working with CPEN in this coalition!

Work will continue on the documentary. The feedback I received from the NFB after our november submission has been exactly what we needed to take our doc proposal to the next level. I gained a confidence boost hearing that they were fond of the idea (Kathy on the quest to spark national debate on the privatization of public education, and how much should we fear the notion that "our schools are up for sale"?) and what we are shaping is the visual aspects of what it will look like on film. Our team will be working hard to get the proposal ready for submission by March (when most funding agencies have money again, hehe) and we will continue filming, researching and networking as we go.

I have found my writing groove and after having my editorial on "Why your school trustee vote matters" published around BC in many community papers (and one paper had an editorial quoting my piece) I will be sure to attempt more of this in the new year. With my monthly newsletter articles I'm getting more practice at writing for deadlines too. You'd think I have enough to keep me challenged for the year to come...a pretty full plate of interesting things to learn and grow from...not to mention an adorable toddler - soon to be preschooler to keep me on my creative parenting toes! Gotta say I am still lovin life and lookin forward to all in store for 2009!!

Mark will have his hands full between his union executive, being a delegate to the Vancouver District Labour Council (VDLC) and now an official member of the board for our co-op as well! Sasha and Che will continue to be busy in their evolution of being, and our family will be sure to encounter many more ups downs and inbetweens. Seems I'll have more tales to share with you all...thank you for caring enough about the life of our family to read along - we love you!

To end our year with a ton of fun, Mark and I have a date night to see our fave artist Michael Franti at the Vogue theatre, and for new years eve we'll be having a multi-family party in our co-op common room! weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

I'll end the year with a couple of vid clips sure to put a smile on your face, and wish for all of you the peace of good health, fun with family and friends, and the security of food on your table every day in the new year!! cheers :)
Sasha sings "we wish you a merry xmas" while we trim the tree


"story time" - Sasha 'reading' from Sylvie & True by David McPhail

bounty of gratitude

fall continues to bring a bounty of things to feel gratitude for and another busy month to write about.

as always I'll start with the Sasha news: somehow, since the end of July, she has managed to grow another 4-5 inches and is now a whopping 37 1/2 inches tall! I've heard many times that we reach 1/2 of our adult height by the age of 2 1/2...which definetly puts her at over 6 ft when she's done growing upwards.

no surprise really, just insane that she had such a dramatic growth spurt. Long before her 2nd bday she was 33 inches tall and 33 lbs, which is where she was still at when she had her surgery...so that 4-5 inches happened in less than 3 months! probably explains a bit of the crankiness. ;)

around the same time we measured her height we also gave her the first hair cut. though her hair is not yet very long, we were tired of waiting for the glue to crumble or wash away. they said (when they glued her head after her little tumble in mid-july that landed us at the hospital) that the glue would dissolve in about 2 weeks. so...2 1/2 months later the chunks of glue are just creating mini dreadlocks which we can't comb through...and we cut out the glue chunks! her curls in the back are long enough that you can't notice the areas we cut out. Soon enough we'll be cutting bangs and doing an overall trim...but not yet!

She really wants to do everything "by myself!" including most of the pees on the big toilet now. yes...still some accidents in the world of potty learning, especially those poops, but overall she seems to be mastering it. Even when we were at a birthday party for Luisfelipe (which I have no pics for? how did that happen? forgot my camera, d'oh!) she said I gotta go and went on the big toilet no problem. Poor Mark has not had such luck, for some reason she has decided to make it extra challenging for daddy. at least she enjoys helping to clean up her accidents! ;)

Sasha is certainly a little taurus bull in personality (and she is showing a bit more of this at child care we've been hearing), but I still think she has a good dose of the gemini (which she might have been if she had stayed in til the due date!) so while she continues to challenge us with her bossy side, she is balanced in being a very sweet little helper too. in the garden she likes to 'help' the worms find new homes. hehe. The garden ended up producing a one edible tomatoe and 1 cucumber, as well as many zucchine (before tehy collapsed from their own weight over the edge of the tier, lol) a bounty of parsley and herbs, and many valuable lessons learned for our garden next year!! fabulous!


She is also sitting in the big chair now instead of in her high chair (though we really need a booster seat, she is actually big enough to eat over her plate at the table!) Should continue to keep family meals interesting as she is still mastering the art of 'table manners' but once she moves on to something 'big' she doesn't want to go back. Thanksgiving at Penny's was pretty much her last meal in the high chair, as well as more time with our beloved Whittam clan. Sarah is the cousin Sasha has seen the most in her life and she is a little shadow to her big cuz which is cute to watch when we all get together.

At her last appointment with eye doctor she did great as always, and even did one of those 'look at the objects and letters on the wall' tests (helpful she knows her alphabet and has a huge vocabulary) and she could identify things at a very small level, which means her vision is pretty good with the glasses on. We will have to start patching her left eye for an hour a day to help the right eye work a little harder. The concern is a deterioration of her vision in the eye that got lazy. So, she will have another follow up about every 3 months or so until the vision problem is corrected or stabilized. She may end up with glasses for life, or may not. at this stage it's still hard to say so we'll just go with the flow and do what we can to help her vision develop a little better. Her next appointment is in january so we'll update her vision progress in the new year.

Speaking of vision...many folks we know are running for city council, parks and school board in the upcoming municipal election Nov 15th. Being progressive 'lefty-types' these friends are all on the ballot for COPE, Vision and Green parties...which has our phone ringing an awful lot, hehe. Aside from the phone calls it also means a flurry of social fun. Mark went to a Vision fundraiser dinner with his CUPE 391 comrades. Pictured below is one of his new exec members Todd, (on the right end) who has given the union political action committee a much needed breath of fresh air and enthusiasm! Todd is well known for many things, but the biggest is probably his "Gung Haggis Fat Choy" (Toddish McWong's Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner)
This pic is from the COPE campaign office opening, which just happens to be 4 blocks away up the hill! and features Ellen Woodsworth and David Cadman who are seeking votes for city council, and Jane Bouey who is running for school board (and I hope they all get elected!!) Last weekend Mark and I got to boogy together with some friends at the COPE fundraiser which was a party at the WISE hall, one of fave places to see a good band you can dance to! (thanks to a last minute offer from granma! excellent!!)

Mark will be volunteering some time leading up to the election, and I will likely lend a hand on election day too. But otherwise I've been plenty busy with my other hats...and here's my update on that side of life:
The PEPpers have produced a leaflet (actually a bookmark) to spread our endorsement of the COPE/Vision school board candidates to help build awareness on this awesome group of individuals who want to work collaboratively, and collectively have an amazing array of valuable experience! The bookmark was a fun example of productive work that can be done through email dialogue in a day, as finding time to bring people together gets really challenging during campaign times.

The Charter for Public Education Network held our AGM and now have a couple of new board members I'm excited to work with! I wrote an Editorial for CPEN, and am working with our web developer to revamp our web site again.

More writing I have been doing is for the co-op newsletter which has had a pretty strong focus on democracy the past couple of issues, hehe. But I keep it non-partisan...I'm all about trying to inspire people to be actively engaged (not tell them what to think), in our co-op and our community and so far have been getting a positive response for the writing I have shared. If I'm ruffling any feathers I haven't heard about it...yet. teehee. Since we moved in I've done the cleaning of the common spaces a couple of times, helped clean the trashed apartment of a tentant evicted a couple of months ago (literally took a handful of people a few weeks to tackle the disaster she left behind, yikes!) among other chores to lend a hand, so the newsletter has just become another means of participating doing something I love - writing and creatively trying to inspire more partipcation from others (like most co-ops there is about 30% of the people who do all the work!)

I attended a candidates meeting at Britannia one night for potential park commissioners and school board trustees. Becasue of my volunteer time on the Kensington association board, and having worked in a few community centres across Vancouver over the years, the Parks Board is of interest to me. But of course I was there to hear some answers from the school trustee wanna-be's. I'm pretty sure I know where Vision and COPE stand on things, so this was also an opportunity to hear from the NPA which is the more business minded party which leans more to the right. If you really want my thoughts on where they stand I'll share them with you, but I'm not into writing them here for my loyal audience of 12 mainly in ontario!

Regardless of whether I agree with policy tactics of certain parties I do have a great respect for people who put themselves out there to seek election to any office. A few of the NPA folks I have met I actually like too (gasps!) It's just not my style to have an enemy image of everyone I disagree with. I can't move forward in anything with that mindset. Besides, campaigning can suck the wind out of you no matter what side fo the fence you are on, and the amount of work can be overwhelming. (though the workload is heavier for those who actually research things before passing motions on policies and voting on them) Not entirely sure I'd like to do it. Though many have said I should consider it, for the moment I like being an agitator and facilitator from outside the system ;)

Anyways, the biggest news revolves around the documentary. Flick recommended I attend a DOC BC event called 'Meet the Producers' where there was a panel of folks from different media outlets (NFB, CBC, CTV, Knowledge, Vision, APTN) and an opportunity to learn about who was looking for what and how much they had to spend on it. Proved to be very interesting and a perfect first entry for me into the documentary world. Helped me lose my anxiety I had been building inside over the 'whole new world' unknown to me. After hearing what they all had to say the person I felt drawn to introduce myself to was a producer from the NFB. So I shook his hand and told him about my project. He said the next proposal deadline was nov 1st...

so after a few days to pull together everything we've done in the past year, on Nov 1st we sent in the proposal for "Educate Me!?" to the NFB!! ack! feels amazing and insanely nerve racking to have it out there...being reviewed by the production committee...who will meet and determine whether we make the final cut and are worthy of an invite in for a creative meeting in two weeks! breathe Kathy...breathe...


Thankfully over the same weekend we submitted the proposal I had good distraction for my nervous energy and lots of positive vibes from friends to keep me afloat. We did our annual foray to Shannon and Ryan's as they always do their house up amazingly and invite folks to come give out treats with them. I didn't get any good pics from their house (please send me some!) but here is a pic of Sasha in our last minute costume change attempt to work with the genie hat and vest she decided to wear last minute. lol. she keeps me on my creative toes...and in case you can't figure it out from this pic she chose to be a genie girl. She went from turtle, to pumpkin to genie in one day. nice to have options, hehe.

I also had time with friends for a ladies nite of wine and cheese at Kristina's (6 doors down is a perfect walk after that one to many glass of vino, haha), as well as a visit with our friend Sean we haven't seen since our road trip last summer. Sasha was over the moon for Sean and was totally giggly and playful. she led us all in a percussion jam session, and had us laughing hard when she kept asking "what do you want to sing?" only to reply "the wheels on the bus, right?" or "old macdonald, right?" so funny :)

a couple of cute pics from our adventure walk to play care

We have exerienced a touch of sadness since my last post as two wonderful people we knew have passed. The first friend we lost was Jolly who is a beautiful and joyful woman who died suddenly while on a journey in China. Mark will miss most the radiant smile she graced upon everyone who knew her at the library. And soon after, Peter who is a beloved friend to the Whittam clan, passed away from a sickness that finally overcame him. Both of these people left an impression on us we will never forget, and they leave behind a legacy of kindness that Mark and I mourn the loss of.

November brings the cool and damp rain of the fall, and around Remembrance day seems to enhance a sense of loss for all that was and all those lost. But this November, though a touch of solemn will linger within us for a while, brings much to celebrate as well. America is soon to have new president and a tremendous achievement has been reached in civil society south of our border. Amazing and inspiring that Obama won the election...now the proof is in the pudding. He'll never be able to make everybody happy with the conditions he is inheriting for his term in the oval office, so the job will be hard...but according to him "Yes We Can!" go for it! I'm enjoying the vibe of hope that seems to have spread with his victory!

By months end, in BC we will have new municipal governments, in our community we will have a new board for our co-op (likely with Mark as newly elected member-at-large), and I will have found out whether my doc idea is going to the next stages of development with the NFB. wow. next post should be a good one!
...the power of positive thinking, teehee :)

Two clips to check out this post: one of Sasha and her balloon


then check out Che on the open mic stage at Uketoberfest playing "Can't Buy Me Love" on his new ukelele, with back up from his buddy Jim. Guaranteed to make you smile :)

family fun weeks aplenty

we've been having so much fun lately I haven't had time to write! we are one happy family (though in this pic Sasha looks a bit in awe from the waterfall) after a fun filled week of quality time to end the summer, and continued good times throughout september! :)

to write a full story recap on the past 5 weeks would just take too long, and I know none of you have time to read it all...so here is the summary, along with many pics, to fill you in on all we've been up to:

our family fun week (last week of august) started off with a camping trip to Klahanie campground with Kristina, Thomas and Keyan. The manager of this campground (across the highway from Shannon Falls and The Chief) is a family friend to the Whittam clan, and Rick set us up on the perfect site for the kids to play for a couple of days! Right beside a small creek, a pond, and a river Sasha was in water play heaven. Even the day it rained from 4am to 5pm...that just meant puddles to get soaked in too...we quickly gave up trying to keep Sasha dry! lol

we had a good blend of wet and dry, we ate superbly well, there were adorbale bunnies everywhere, and to say we were entertained by our neighbours is a huge understatement! the kids bonded (she talks about him all the time, and once "baby Sasha" to Keyan, he now calls her "Sasha my friend", awwwwww) as did us grown ups, and we very much look forward to the multi-family camping trip we're planning for next summer! :)





it wouldn't have been a family fun week without Che and we were happy to see him for a couple of days. Here are a few cute pics of our cozy time at home on rainy day. The stroller is a new obsession for Sasha and a spontaneous find, along with her new baby doll, during a family exursion to the Sally Anne.


love this pic of the Karma cat sandwich, teehee

Another family adventure was to Brit pool to finally take Sasha swimming! Karen is one of my fave guards to work with, and she is a big Sasha fan. Took her a while to like being in the water on her own (though in nature you can't stop her) she was a bit frightened by the big splashing fountains. this was something we all enjoyed together, and will be doing a lot more of!!


Another great event we went to was Justice Rocks where Sasha boogeyed and we caught up on what's new with some our fave groups around town. Pivot Legal Society rocks for fighting for the justice of all, and pulling together a great family event!



Here's a few more pics of hanging around the home and the 'hood. The playground at one end of our co-op (Sasha on the slide) is soon to be replaced, along with the green space on the other end. much like the upgrades occuring in all of the green spaces within walking distance of the Olympic athletes village....


which we got pictures of on our granville island ferry adventure day. with Science World, and the village-to-be only about 15 min away, we took the ferry from there to Granville Island and back again one day. she loves the boat rides so we are happy to have this so close to home! She was very into playing with the ropes, and didn't really notice the huge development as we passed. (one which is shaping the whole neighbourhood around us.)



wonderful to have some quality time with our sassy Sasha



these 2 are pics Sasha took.


the first weekend of september we had a block party for our co-op and the 3 buildings across the street. total blast and we had over 100 people pop in throughout the potluck event. street hockey, chalk and bubbles, yummy bbq buffet and dancing in the street! Sasha and Keyan were joined at the hip and had such fun with all the other kids that came. amazing!




Amie (who Sasha loves since she babysat for us) and her mom Martha, along with Vic who is our co-op DJ, live across the courtyard from us and are fantastic neighbours! These ladies know how to dance and gave us some tips on the Cha Cha and other latin dances.

The following weekend was another one full of social fun! taking advantage of the beautiful sunny days we: had dinner at Shannon & Ryan's on their backdeck one night; had Darcy and Teresa over for brunch the next morning; Sasha opened her first pack of panties and decided she needed to wear all 6 pairs at once, lol; and then we enjoyed a potluck bbq gathering with our co-op in the courtyard! Che played grill master, and then played with the older kids while Sasha played with Keyan and the younger ones. (both enjoying the park one last time before the new one starts being built) Mark and I had more time spent on building relationships with our neighbours and had great fun once again :)



the last 2 weeks we have been very much focused on one thing - toilet learning! Sasha is a big fan of wearing underwear and continues to have many successes...and quite a few accidents here and there as well! patience really is the virtue in this time ;)



we also squeezed in a visit with Monica, Cheyenne and Dean up in Whistler one day. awesome quality time with our cousins, a wonderful meal, a river we had a hard time keeping sasha out of and a great road trip!

Along with all this fun September brought back the school year...meaning Che has begun his grade 9 year, and I have put on my education hats again (took 'em all off for the month of august to simply rejuvenate and enjoy time with my family and friends)

Since my last post The Peppers (Vancouver Public Education Project) wrote an open letter to Premier Gordon Campbell and Education Minister Shirley Bond regarding the school capital funding policy choices when seismic upgrading needs are long overdue and critically needed in some districts. Published in the Vancouver Sun, the Courier and other papers, our open letter contributed to a big debate on a controversial announcement to pilot a project with 2 schools in the Premiers own riding, while seismic upgrades and infastructure needs are overlooked around the province. And we have been successful in getting COPE and Vision Education committees on the same page, and 4 of the Peppers are on the ballot for school trustee in the upcoming municipal election in November! wooohoo!

For CPEN (Charter for Public Education Network) I joined the president of our board, Mike Zlotnik, on a journey to the Cowichan Valley district for the campaign launch of Eden Haythornthwaite. A key organizer of CAPE (Community Allance for Public Education) and an incumbant trustee, Eden is a woman I admire tremendously. She is a passionate and articulate trustee, who has held herself accountable to those who elected her and she is a role model of the kind of trustee I would strive to be - open, honest, hard working advocate for the needs of her district, including community success at stopping the closure of 4 schools! Sorry to gush, but her passion and the love of her community is contagious and I've been a fan of hers for a while. At the public forum I gave my 5 minute history of how the Charter came to be (my all time favorite story to tell) and Mike gave a talk on "The Charter for Public Education - A Vision of a World Not Yet". A fantastic day of meeting new people and reconnecting with others, and Mike and I had lots of time to dream big visions for education on our ferry rides...



For "Educate Me!?" Tanya and I are now joined by Flick Harrison to broaden the Saucy Side productions team. I am super stoked to have him on board for the documentary as he has great ideas and a wealth of experience to contribute! we've had a couple of meetings (one a night out to get to know each other, and we have in common a love of live music at the Railway Club) and he's given thoughtful advice for the further edits of the proposal. Now we are looking for a prouction manager and executive producer...

the cronic headpain that has plagued me for more than 2 weeks is finally subsiding. and I published my first attempt at the co-op newsletter which felt great to get done! Che wrote a story that Mark and Alec have been serializing every other month since January, and I had been contributing articles every other month as well...but the whole newsletter gave me a new creative challenge to rise to which I found quite fun.

On Mark's bday I did the worm composting workshop at teh City Farm with Alec and we now have some worms eating a portion of our compostable waste. neato. Then to celebrate that night we went to see Burning Spear at the Commodore which was a great reggae show as always! Happy birthday babe!

we continue to live la vida loca and love it. The teachers at Sasha's child care have told me she is sweet, compassionate and enthusiastic and we would agree!! though she reserves her most stubborn side for mom & dad, teehee

so...i think that about covers it. for now ;)

happy thanksgiving is soon upon us, so I send you positive wishes and many hugs of gratitude for family and friends to spread around in these crazy stressful days of market turmoil and instability...hope you are well!

Video clips for this post are of Sasha pretending to be on a boat ride on the patio, and Che playing his version of Tears in Heaven on the ukelele for your listening pleasure :)