There may not be a single sign of Christmas in my house, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells of the season. Au contraire mes amis, I love a town done up in lights and all that crap. While Canada does Christmas well enough every year, I have to say this is [...]

Even though I don’t officially celebrate Christmas, I can’t escape it. The lobby of my building looks like a garland factory explosion and the stores are packed to the rafters with harried shoppers marching like zombies to the beat of the The Little Drummer Boy. That’s how I know it’s time to do my annual [...]

Breaking news: I survived a two day trip to the Arctic (aka Calgary). Oh of course I survived because the majority of my time was spent indoors discovering some top notch mental health services for children in Alberta. Plus, tagging along after amiable work colleagues and a superb working dinner at The River Café, how [...]

When I decided to leave Europe and return to Canada, my decision was based on specific criteria. Glorious Victoria, British Columbia, home of sea and mountain vistas; a charming town of enough people to make it interesting yet few enough to avoid big city fatigue. More importantly, a town that very rarely sees a Big [...]

Not long ago, my husband made an offhand, jokey statement so startling that I can no longer recall the context. All I remember is the phrase “because we’re fat.” It was the pronoun we that struck me. My first thought was speak for yourself doughboy, followed swiftly by you better sleep with one eye open [...]

Of course I’m well used to travel by now. What I am not used to is travel in the absence of someone to manage me. This is because Big Red a) loves all things to do with traveling and b) thinks I’m…what’s the word?…a doofus when it comes to this stuff. So over the last [...]

Sometimes I forget about that French adventure I had. It seems so long ago and so far away and then Bam! it comes rocketing back to me, sometimes in very fine form. If you’ve been hanging out here for a while or if you’ve read the goofy book, you’ll know about my fabulous neighbour who [...]

Doctors, an odd bunch. And I know of what I speak, I used to be one. Oh sure, we’re great at detecting the salient and subtle signs and symptoms in other people, but when it comes to ourselves, well, blinder eyes have never been turned. I finally sat face to face with my new physician, [...]

Most of you will remember that time when I lost my mind and ran off to France. Some of you have even read a whole book about it (and to those who haven’t read the book, I’m not talking to you until you go snag a copy). Many times now I’ve heard from people pining [...]

I’m married to a man with fiery red hair who goes by the name of McCulloch, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise when I say I’m a sucker for a Scotsman. I’m still waiting for him to hoist a sword and smash through the front door, shouting “Scotland is free!” à la Braveheart. Aye, [...]

By now, it’s safe to say that anyone who hangs out here is well aware that I’m tall. And, because I’ve been so since the day I was born, I’ve heard ‘em all: stretch, slink, how’s the weather up there, all the old standards have been rolled out over and over. I’m still amused when [...]

I’m up to my giraffe-woman neck in moving chaos, so not much to say at the moment, unless you want to hear about how it took me a full day to scour the cupboards of a tiny condo kitchen—a festival of filth and a parting gift from the previous owners. Honestly, what IS the matter [...]

So. Sex. I’m in favour of it, generally. I have to be—I’m a Newfoundlander, and my heritage dictates a level of sexpertise that far exceeds that of the average Canadian. We proudly take the top spot in the Maclean’s magazine Canadian sex survey just about every time they do it. What can I say? It’s [...]

With apologies to my dear mother, I do not like my name. I had initially planned to change it in the context of the anonymity of a new life in France. Oh I had visions of wearing a lot of black and introducing myself as Veronique or Juliette, but I got so sidetracked with conjugating verbs and [...]

I may have mentioned this before: I’m not good with water. I got seasick watching The Perfect Storm. I can’t even get in the bathtub with getting a little green around the gills. Transatlantic flights over dark oceans elicit eight to ten hours of white knuckles and flop sweat. Yes, this from a Newfoundlander who [...]