Oh Bees!

So, just to be clear, I am not a beekeeper.  I know nothing about bees, or how to look after them.  But eventually, I'm going to have to learn because my husband is in the process of becoming a beekeeper and he promises that he's going to drag me along with him!  (Willingly, of course!)

Unless you've had your head under a rock for most of this year, you will have at least heard about colony collapse and bee die-off and how everyone seems to be pointing their fingers at seed grain (corn, soybeans, wheat) covered in pesticides as the #1 culprit.

Once again, I am not a beekeeper; I am not a biologist; I am not a farmer; I really haven't done any research into this; my husband's bees have been unaffected by this whole thing; and in all honesty, I don't know what's going on, or who to believe.  But this sure is happening:

The OBA (Ontario Beekeepers Association) has started a petition to right out ban Neonicotinoid (the pesticide in question).  Their petition can be found here.

In response to this petition, the GFO (Grain Farmers of Ontario) have started a similar campaign asking the government to not be too hasty in their decision because there's still a lot of research to be done.  Their view on things can be found here.

Both organizations make reasonable arguments, but for now, I think I'll just sit on the sidelines and watch things unfold.

So, I've noticed that I've had 74 visitors to my blog over the last month, and I've not written a darned thing!

We went on vacation last week; rented a ..um... quaint/rustic/authentic(?) - ok! So it was a beat up, run down crappy little cottage!  But we had a lot of fun!

Seriously though, it was a cute little cottage, in a great place where we had a bunch of visitors coming and going all week. We played on the beach, went for walks, visited a museum, did some shopping, dinner out, etc, etc, etc

I value yearly family vacation.  It's something my family has always done, and it's something I plan to continue doing with my own family - even if I have to drag them kicking and screaming!  Time spent together is important.  Even if it's forced.

One thing I did realize though, it's freaking exhausting!
I was very glad to get back to work today for a bit of a rest!

Back at it

Today was my first day back to work.

I've been fielding a lot of questions lately that go something like this: "aren't you going to miss that cute little boy of yours?".

The polite answer of course, the MOM answer, is "of course I'm going to miss him, but he's going to somewhere familiar, so it won't be so bad".

The real answer, the one I keep to myself because it makes me sound like a terrible parent, is "are you freaking kidding me?!  I can't wait to get out of the house by myself and be a real human again!"

I donno... People seem to think I should be spending the week crying at my desk.  Nah, not going to happen.  I love my kid to pieces; he's pretty much - well, no, he IS the cutest kid on the planet, and happy and cuddly and fun.  But I don't miss him.  I know where he is; I know he's safe and having fun.  I don't need to miss him.

Zombie Apocalypse

Dave's nephew turns 7 tomorrow.  He is zombie crazy, and this happens to be 'Emergency Preparedness Week' (just a coincidence), so I put together a Zombie Apocalypse Survival Kit for him.

I'll admit, I don't have a creative thought of my own in my head; I found the idea on Pinterest.  The original can be seen here: http://pinterest.com/pin/161285230377749032/



So, first off, I went to the dollar store and spent $10 on candy, (his mother can thank me later), and also picked up a wooden box.

Then I made up some labels for the candy; the sort of thing you might find in a survival kit

Then, using words like 'zombie', 'survival kit', 'survival gear', I searched the internet for some extra decorative stuff.

Interesting to note: the CDC (Center for Disease Control) has an entire section on their website devoted to preparing for a Zombie Invasion.  ...it's a lesson in emergency preparedness for kids, but still, it's pretty cool.  You can find it here: http://www.cdc.gov/phpr/zombies.htm

REI (like Mountain Equipment Co-op, but in the States), also had a very helpful infographic that I printed out:  http://www.rei.com/features/infographics/zombie.html  They suggest packing a cast iron pan both for cooking with and whacking zombies - good advice!

 Wrap up the candy; throw in a new water gun and some glow sticks...

 The Zombi-fied picture came from everyone's favourite cable Zombie show: AMC's The Walking Dead.  You can find the app to 'Dead yourself' on their website.  Decorate the box, and pack it all up:

A few bloodied, dirty hand prints on the box, and we're ready to rock and roll!

Hope he likes it!