TWO Months from Today

Where has the time gone. Remember way back in April when this little idea was born. And then it grew and we got soooo excited and everyone tried to figure out how they could swing it. And then we started hearing people from all over the world wanted in and the excitement grew. Then there was the disappointment of those who weren't able to make it happen this year.

Does it remind you of waiting and hoping and praying for lapband surgery. Well this time a bunch of us will not have to suffer pain (although those little pain pills were kind of nice). The B.O.O.B.S are meeting in Chicago in 2 short months. Yes, I said

CHICAGO!

Just two months from today! Bloggers from all over the world will be converging on the windy city for a weekend of fun, laughter and comraderie. Exhausting. But we will get through it. I think we need another weightloss challenge (hint, hint Kristen). I wonder how much weight I can lose so you don't think I am fat! I know you are all thinking the same thing. But it doesn't matter. We get it.

I wish I could meet every single blogger out there but alas this is just our first group hug. I know there will be many more. And no one will be left out. I promise. We will have lots of "face time" with each other and many of us are in the walk or run on the Saturday morning. I'm walking the 5k so I hope there are others who will sign up and keep me company or just be there to give me a sweaty high five at the end.

I have been thinking about how we can just order a couple of appetizers and be happy little campers. We'll let Drazil eat all our leftovers since she will be all buff from her current eating regime. The organizing team is doing an amazing job and we admire your drive to make this happen for complete strangers. Go B.O.O.B. organizers. We heart you.

One more Chicago comment. I hope my roomie (Robin) is getting excited to meet me. She is a trained life saver so we might just need her! Heck, I hope everyone is getting super excited to meet me!

And last but not least today, I started following some newbies. Please go visit them and give them some support. You know the old pay it forward type of support. Here are a few of them:
A to Z
Amaris
DeeDee
I can do this
LJ
Seeing in Colour

TWO MONTHS! Can you feel the excitement!

No More Yakking

I am alive an well and not hovering over a sink. I saw my doc at 3:30 on Wednesday and he removed 0.15 cc from my band, a few drops. I can drink ok and also had chili last night for dinner AND a bowl of frozen yogourt. No pain, no stucks, no yakking (thanks Maria for that term).

Today I have been able to finish a yogourt and am now eating some paté and crackers. So far so good but I am full after about 1 ounce. I think I am still a bit swollen so will stick to soft and mushies for another day. If I still can't eat solids I will call the surgical clinic next week in Mississauga since I will be visiting Hamilton for a few days. We are also planning to take a short trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake, the center of wine making and wine tasting in Southern Ontario.

Just wanted to mention, I updated the section on "sliming" from yesterday's post to mention something Tina brought up. You don't have to be "stuck" to slime or PB but it is just as gross. And Caroline left some other great suggestions so please read her comment.

Lastly, I will announce that I am now 174.6 pounds. My DH weighs 173 lbs so I am almost smaller than him. Next month for sure! I also changed my goal weight to 154 which is much more realistic. I think it is a reasonable weight and if I go lower it is just icing on the cake (ok guys, we need a new expression). I will post some pictures and measurements next week after my vacation. I promise.

Sliming, Stuck and PBing, Oh My!

I decided I had to comment on Gilly’s post on Monday. One line stuck out: “I've spent a lot of time on blogs reading about sliming, and PBs and stucks...and I think that most of us seem to think it's the hallmark of being successful with a band. But I'm not sure it is.” -end quote-

As someone who is sliming and PBing and getting stuck, I will categorically state for all those newbies (and everyone else) that it is NOT success to have this happen. In fact I consider it a failure to properly use the band. I have been miserable for a few days now and have an un-fill this afternoon (just an itty bitty bit). When you spend the last two evenings vomiting, that isn’t normal. I don't want to be bulimic. I have no idea how this band got so tight. I was fine for 5 weeks and then on Sunday was barely able to keep anything down. By Tuesday, I could only tolerate liquids and when I started having problems with applesauce, I knew things weren’t right. Let me tell you, it is extremely difficult to have a rousing conversation with your new manager for half an hour when you are in pain and feel like you want to barf all over her shoes!

**Warning**: The following may be too graphic for some readers. Reader discretion is advised. And please don't take this as any sort of medical advice. This is how I see some of the definitions that have become common in the banding community and is just my opinion:

Stuck: you are merrily chewing away and swallowing with no problems. Then wham an ache happens, then a pain and you know that if you take another bite you will vomit. Your first instinct is to “wash it down with a big gulp of water”. Resist the urge. It WILL NOT help. In fact you will feel worse and most likely a projectile of water will come spraying from your mouth. This can go on for hours and is sometimes followed by:

Sliming: At this point the small amount of food you just ate is not passing through the band. But your mouth continues to produce saliva. Lots and lots of saliva. It is like the taps have turned on. It feels like a cup of saliva is being produced every minute, so spit it out. If you keep swallowing the saliva and the food hasn’t passed through the band, you will then enter into the stage called sliming. Basically, whatever is above the band will now just float out of your mouth. Sometimes your stomach will react to this assault and you will heave. Sometimes it is food. Sometimes it is slimy saliva and sometimes it is just foam.

Update with info from Tina to add: Slime can also happen if you over-eat. If you eat one or two bites too much the food takes up all of the space in the pouch and esophagus. The natural saliva that is excreted to work the food through then builds up on top of that food and causes you to slime. See her full comment below. In other words, you don't have to be "stuck" to slime or PB.
If you were stuck, beware. At this point the lining of your stomach is swollen and can possibly be obstructing the inside opening of the band. Some people feel a lump at the back of their throat and sometimes heartburn. DO NOT eat or drink or you will repeat the sliming or move into the next stage:

Power Burping of PB’ing: What actually is a PB. For me it means a burp and food/liquid comes up. You know when you get to enjoy your previous bite of food again. My theory is that the lower stomach has some air in it. When the band is blocked with food, some air escapes and pushes said food up the esophagus. For some there is a great burp. Others just little burps. Sometimes it feels like those Pop Rocks candies that kind of pop in your mouth. I see it as a good sign, that something is passing through the band. By now you are probably praying for relief but for some of us with “sensitive” stomachs we move into:

Vomiting. Oh yes, been there done that lots of times. When I was pregnant I was nauseated and vomited for most of the first 5 months. In my mind it is the worst sensation ever. Which makes me wonder if my stomach is just “sensitive” to any trigger. A full vomit means the entire stomach contracts and stuff comes up. If you have kids you know exactly the type of stuff when they have stomach flu. When I hear that some people never have this problem I am so envious. But vomiting doesn’t always help because by now the band compresses the upper stomach and when it is irritated the stomach lining gets inflamed and swells, blocking the opening even more. There have been times when I wasn’t even able to drink liquids or swallow my spit. Crisis. You are blocked and nothing is going down. If the swelling doesn't abate you will probably need an un-fill. A bit or a lot depending on your doctor.

I would like to pass on some of the things that have worked for me:

1. Chew, chew, chew your food until it is pulp. And then chew some more.

2. Pay attention to every bite of food (I wasn’t thinking when I was scarfing down the applesauce and was stunned when the pain hit). Don't get distracted and swallow before you have completed #1.

3. DO NOT try to eat or drink anything to push the stuck food through the band.

4. After the episode is over, gently drink some liquids (water, tea, coffee, milk, juice). If the stuck/PBing went on for a few hours, you should stick to liquids/purees for at least a day to give the swelling a chance to go down. Try to rehydrate yourself and gradually work your way up to solid foods.

5. If you continue to have pain, wait it out without eating or drinking anything for a few hours (or overnight in my case).

6. If you have heartburn try sucking on a TUMS (although this seems to induce vomiting in me!) or another antacid. Note: if you still can’t swallow your saliva, hold off until you can. If saliva isn’t going through your band, nothing else will.

7. Prop yourself up on multiple pillows. I also find it better to lie on my left side. I think the way my band is placed, the pouch seems to open up a bit and drain. I usually have little burps as fluid passes through.

8. Always carry Ziplock bags, napkins or Kleenex to spit into. I have just found that those Sanitary bags they put in the bathroom are actually waterproof so scarf a few of them to carry with you. During my worst episodes, I stand over the sink and just spit or sit with an opaque glass as a spittoon (gross I know, but I warned you at the beginning).

9. Papaya enzyme has worked for some, but I have had limited success. I found it just created more acid reflux and then vomiting. I have also not had any success with aspirin or Tylenol.

10. Do not watch any food shows, especially Guy’s Big Bite or Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. The vast quantities of food will make your stomach feel even worse.

And last but not least:

Know that you won’t die. Come on, most of you got through childbirth. If you don’t feel better after a day or two, call your doctor. Chances are everything is ok, but there are some who have had a slipped band, or erosion (both rare). Most times an un-fill is needed. In some cases they do a complete un-fill to give the band stoma and pouch time to heal but in most cases they only need to take out a little bit of fluid.

What can make the band tight: Who knows. I had a 0.1 cc fill on June 9th. I was gradually losing about half a pound a week and then on July 18th, over 5 weeks later began to have problems. The only thing that changed is that I started working out with my trainer and she had me doing a lot of abdominal crunches—I like to think of these reasons so I don’t have to do crunches. I was enjoying about ½ cup to 1 cup of solid food every four hours and didn’t feel hungry in between. I was truly at my sweet spot. When I noticed I had dropped 5 pounds in 5 days, and could only drink liquids, I knew something wasn’t right and I needed to call for an un-fill.

So getting back to my first statement. It isn’t a right of passage, or a cool thing to have sliming, PBing or stuck episodes. I so envy those that have been free of them and still continue to lose weight. So thanks Gilly for bringing this out in the open (I know she loves being mentioned in posts!). If there was an award for most stucks/PBs/slimes, I would be in contention for winning. But the pain isn’t worth any award. Really.

Right now I have about 4.5 cc in my 10 cc band. I will let you know how I feel after getting 0.1 to 0.2 cc of fluid out. BTW, that is a drop or two.

BYOC Friday!!!!! ♥♪ Bring Your Own Craziness ♥♪

It’s give your brain a break Friday – BYOC! A whole blog entry ready for the taking….just copy and paste the questions into your blog and answer away. It’s our way of getting to know new and old bloggers a little better! Enjoy!

1. What’s the oddest diet you have tried? Or which ones have you tried and were any successful? The oddest was the Cayenne Pepper and Maple Syrup (Jess did that one too). You drank this all day. Got hungry, lasted two days, didn't lose any weight. The only successful weight loss was through the diet drugs in the 90's. But someone had to go and get some incurable problem and they took it off the market. Jeesh. What's death when you can be skinny! (JK)

2. Do you prefer baths or showers? Showers almost daily. I can't remember when I last had a bath in a bathtub.

But we do have a hottub in the backyard and we use it a lot. Especially in the winter when you can lie back and look at the stars. It saved my marriage! Well it helped, because we would go in the hot tub and talk (get your minds out of the gutter please. It was a family hot tub). We couldn't pull out a book, or turn on the TV or be interupted. So we had to talk or just sit and stare at each other. My hubby did fall asleep sometimes. I guess my constant babbling lulled him to sleep. Drazil mentioned how she has a bath with her hubby every night and they talk until the water turns cold. With a hot tub, the water never gets cold so everyone should get one.

3. What is your favorite breakfast food? Two fried eggs, over easy, brown toast, sausages and crispy homefries. With a glass of OJ and coffee. But I also love Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls. You know the pack where you whack it on the counter and it springs open. Love to make them, but can't eat them anymore.

4. What’s your least favorite word? Yes, Dear. In that dismissal tone of "I'm really not listening, so go away".

5. Repeat question…make someone a Superstar for a day! OK, I just highlighted two people above. I caught up on a bunch of blogs last night and tried to comment a lot. I guess one that stuck out this week was Amy. She posted about how different she eats now with the band: tiny little bits of food. Got me realizing how little I actually eat now and how I miss those big bites.

Well folks, have a wonderful weekend. It is hot and hazy around here so some cold drinks are on ice just waiting for the day to end. Gotta get back to work now!

Missing Big Bites

Amy posted that she doesn't gorge anymore. She said: "I'm often amazed by how little I eat. I mean, really, really little amounts of food. And I don't starve to death, despite what I used to think would happen if I didn't gorge at every meal."

I've been thinking the same thing about the big bites of food that I ate pre-band and it makes me a little sad. I thought I would miss food but really I miss taking a big, ol' humongous bite of a burger or submarine sandwich or a hunk of pie or cake. It just can't be done. My last little fill was over a month ago. I'm at ~4.5 cc in my 10 cc band and am tight as all get out. And maybe that's why I am craving those big bites. I don't want the food, just the big bite. It's sort of the same when we were on the pre-op liquids—I wanted that chew.

But then I started wondering if I should just take a great big bite, chew it and then spit it out. But I won't swallow. Because it sure ain't going through the band.

BYOC Friday

BYOC everyone! 5 questions - some funny, some serious - we answer in our blogs to get to know each other better and to ease our fried brains on Fridays!
1. Love or money? High salary or job satisfaction? Love and job satisfaction. But money is kind of nice.

2. What is your favorite time of day? Saturday morning, sipping coffee and reading the paper. Remember I have no little kids at home.

3. Do you have a will? Did you tell anyone your wish to be kept alive or not? Both hubby and I have a will. I want to get them updated and get some Powers of Attorney written in case either of us is incapacitated. I don't want to give the government any extra money or powers if we die intestate (without a will). Our current will has the kids being taken care of by their aunt and uncle until they are 18. Since they've reached that age, it doesn't apply anymore, but when they were little I thought I should let them know that if anything happened to mommy or daddy they would go to live with Aunt K and Uncle B. They didn't ask any questions but a few weeks later one of them asked when they were going to go live with Aunt K and Uncle B. They love these two people and seemed a bit sad that they wouldn't be able to do that unless we both died.

4. Repeat question. Pick one thing for one day you'll do next week that aids in your physical or mental health. I think I will not make goals. But I will go to the gym since I missed my trainer last night.

5. Repeat questions. Make someone a superstar for a moment...whose comment or blog stuck with you this week and why. Today, Stephanie made me cry and can use a lot of support. I hope you go visit her and leave a comment. I was also inspired by Drazil's post about running. I even copied and saved it so I can repeat it often:

…But it doesn’t Matter
Adopt a new mantra –about life. The mantra is to add “but it doesn’t matter” to the end of everything. For running it goes like this. You might say or think “it’s going to rain today” – ADD “but it doesn’t matter.” Or “I didn’t get much sleep last night….but it doesn’t matter.” Or “I don’t think I feel like running today…but it doesn’t matter.” In life you might say “I don’t think life is fair…but it doesn’t matter.” “I don’t think Bob likes me…but it doesn’t matter.” Etc. Etc.

The theory is – life just *is*…but it doesn’t matter….do what you have to do anyway. It really doesn’t matter if it’s raining – you can still run. It really doesn’t matter if life isn’t fair – you can still live like it is. Nothing matters enough to make me quit or to make me stop learning, growing, thriving and loving. It’s basically a way of taking every excuse for every single part of your life and saying “yah, but it doesn’t matter.” – so get up and get going.

Have a great weekend everyone. I'm off to another cottage for my birthday party (yeah, I know, my birthday was in March, but this is the first time we have been able to plan a get together!). I'm down another 2 pounds to 177 and am thrilled to pieces. The wine is chillin' for that feat!

Kids Meals at IKEA

I am working late while a new application is released. New job means making sure everything is hunky dorey. My building is across from IKEA and someone mentioned in their blog about craving an IKEA hotdog. Of course this got me strolling over to the store telling myself "Do NOT try to eat a hotdog!". Food has not been going down so well and I have had a few stuck episodes in the past few days so have been taking things real easy. I wonder if it is the heat. We have been 35C (92F) for the last few days with a humidex taking us over 100F (38C). So glad for air conditioning.

Back to IKEA. I wandered through the store and ended up at the cafeteria. I decided to order the kids plate of meatballs, which is 5 meatballs with tomato sauce and a lovely mound of mashed potatoes. It did say for those under 12 but I guess they thought I had a kid stuffed in a chair in the back. Tasty little bites and now I am stuffed. What a difference from a year ago, when I could have polished off the plate of 20 meatballs and pasta. I'm thanking the band. I have been stuck at 179 for 2 weeks now and am hoping my weight drops tomorrow.

I've also been keeping up with my trainer, although she took it easy on me yesterday since I had a stomach ache from being stuck on Monday night. I didn't tell her about the band. Only that I had a hiatus hernia repair last February. Anything to get out of doing crunches. But we worked hard on arms and shoulders and legs. I even tried the rowing machine and love it.

Hope you all have an enjoyable evening my lovelies.
 

Hasta La Vista Diabetes

Way back at the beginning of January I posted some of the reasons why I was getting the lapband. I saw it as my last chance to lose weight to reduce all the crappy health problems I was heading for, especially Diabetes.

Well today I saw my family doctor and my blood tests are looking good. Last January, my blood sugar was starting to go up and I would probably have been on drugs by now if I hadn't lost the 30 pounds and cut back on the refined carbs. Today, my blood sugar is perfect and so is the HbA1c test which measures a person’s average blood glucose level over a few months. So I do not have diabetes. This is really an SV (Surgical Victory) since my weight would never have gone down without the band.

My doc also said my liver enzymes were getting better (probably because my fatty liver is losing some of the fat that keeps it from working properly). The only downside is that my cholesterol is still higher than normal and my BP has only dropped a bit. He's giving me 4 months to see if we can do something about the cholesterol but I think it runs in my family so I may be on drugs come the fall. I hope that by losing another 20 pounds and continuing with the exercising, I will see some improvement too. I am happy though because this means I have greatly reduced my risk of NOT dying from diabetes related health problems (which was how my dad died).

I hope you will see my story and know that by losing weight you will be avoiding all these health issues that started to pop up after I turned 50. Staying healthy is the best thing I can do for me. But I also want to look and feel good and wear cute clothes. I want to be able to climb a hill and feel like I'm on top of the world. And I want to live long and prosper (look at this cute baby making the sign of Spock!).

That is my wish for all of you. What you are doing now is saving your life. Really.

Sometimes numbers really do tell a story.

BYO-F-C….That’s Bring Your Own *Freaking* Crazy

BYOC is 5 little questions – some funny, some serious – that we answer to get to know each other better and it’s a free blog topic for when our blog brains are fried before the weekend! Feel free to join us! Post the questions and answers in your own blog!

1. Where were you on September 11th? I was at work. At first we listened to the radio and then found a boardroom with a TV. Stunned and shocked were all I remember as they replayed the planes crashing into the towers and then watching them collapse. It didn’t matter that I was not American, this event defined a Western world pulling together to fight terrorism. When they announced that all American Airspace was closed, planes coming in across the Atlantic from Europe were diverted to land in Canada—at airports in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Quebec. Stories were that thousands of flights landed in a 3 hour period. September 11th, 2001 was also my sister’s 50th birthday and my parents 52nd wedding anniversary. But I am old enough to also remember exactly where I was when:

• President Kennedy was shot in November 23, 1963. I was in grade 2 and the teacher announced it right after recess on a Friday afternoon in November.
• First Steps on the Moon on July 21, 1969. We stayed up late on a hot, muggy night watching Neil Armstrong take that first step.
• Space Shuttle Challenger exploded in January 28, 1986. My son was just 3 months old and I remember standing in the family room stunned as I watched on the TV, the white smoke tail in the sky.
• Princess Diana killed in a car crash on August 31, 1997. When I opened the paper that Sunday morning, I sobbed for the woman she was and the boys she left motherless.

2. What is your idea of fun? If given the chance to skip work/life for an entire day, what would you do? (assume you’d be by yourself). I would have a pedicure and shop in some quaint gift stores.

3. How many blogs do you follow? 136
Do you read them all or just your faves? I read almost every one that comes up in my Dashboard.
Do you comment a little, a lot, on all? I try to comment a lot especially to those that leave comments for me. I usually only comment on blogs that I follow and if you follow me, I try to follow you (some followers do not have links, so I can't find them). If you follow me and I don't follow you, please leave me a comment and I'll come visit you. I also follow blogs which I find interesting but because they have so many followers it would be rare for them to be able to follow so many blogs.
Have you ever unfollowed someone because of something they said or you didn’t like their blog? No one has ever said anything weird or strange. Well except for Drazil who told me she wouldn’t comment for 2 weeks because I said I would stop following her. Here is my public apology—I will never un-follow Drazil and I am sorry if she thought I ever would. Never ever piss her off. She has powers you know. She will curse you and leave Sheniqua to sit on your hips.
Do you routinely unfollow and why? Yup. I unfollow blogs who have not blogged in months. I keep a few blogs around in hopes that they will eventually come back on line because I miss them.

4. Repeat question. Pick one day and one healthy thing you’ll do for just that day next week. I’m such a no-goal kind of gal. If I actually set a goal, I miss it and feel terrible. I guess it goes back to all the failures in the past. I am getting better though. But let me throw out this one: I am going to drink Sangria today and enjoy it immensely. I will also enjoy a BBQ at a cottage tonight and not care that I bought a lovely Pecan Pie to taste for dessert. No guilt, no regrets. Because this is life with the band.

OK, I will match Drazil and Carmen and drink 65 ounces of water on Wednesday. Does it matter that I always drink that much water EVERY day (and sometimes more)?

5. Repeat "Make someone a superstar" question. Whose blog or blog comment stuck with you this week and why?

I laughed at Jen’s post about Elephant Butt. But Joey made me really realize how hard we are on ourselves. Her brother asked her to look at a picture of herself when she was little and ask herself: "Would you say all of those bad things to her? Would you tell her she isn't good enough?" I’ve been critical of myself for years and yet when I look back at some of my old photos, I now see a different person.

And Gilly—it was just published in today’s paper that Wonder Woman is trading in her hot pants for leggings to make her more modern. You’ll have to update your picture.

Well that’s all folks. I’m off to a friend’s cottage til Sunday so will catch up on the blogs tomorrow. To my American friends: Have a fantastic Independence Day. I’ll be sure to celebrate too.

It's a Celebration of Canada's Birthday, Eh!

Today is Canada's 143rd Birthday so I am celebrating. My hubby just got back from a 50 km bike ride to Parliament Hill in downtown Ottawa where he enjoyed the crowds and festivities. Tonight is a big fireworks display. I hate biking and I also hate crowds, so I decided to celebrate by opening this lovely 750 ml bottle of Niagara Riesling (and yes I have just poured the last drops into my glass). I am enjoying it immensely. I threw in the ml just so I could confuse my American friends. Right now things are a bit fuzzy which makes it hard to convert to Imperial units. But lets just say, I am also joining in an early celebration of Independence Day on July 4th. Anything for a party I say!

Taking my cue from Big Daddy (who writes about Dubai) I thought I would give you ten facts about Canada that you might not have known...

1. Canada became a Confederation in 1867 which basically meant it became independent from England (not really, but it makes it easier to describe). The impetus for this was the American Civil War. We drive on the right side of the road, unlike other British colonies.

2. The Queen of England is also the Queen of Canada. She is our head of State but is really only a figurehead. Our government is a Parliament run by a Prime Minister and his elected government that make laws and such. Currently we have a Conservative government similar to the Republican's in the US, Conservative in the UK. The Governor General is the representative of the Queen when she is not in Canada. Lizzie II came to visit us this year and everyone is in awe of her. We respect and admire her stoicism but many want to completely cut off the monarchy and make Canada completely independent. We write British English which means we spell things like humour vs humor, colour vs color and favourite vs favorite. Spellcheck can be a horror. And we say Zed (Z) instead of Zee (Z).

3. The Beaver is our national animal (nuf said). The Maple Leaf is a symbol of Canada and is part of our flag which is two red stripes on a white background with a Maple Leaf in the middle. I know most of you saw our flag when we won gold in Olympic Hockey (and many other events).

4. The official languages of Canada are English and French which means the Federal Government must offer services in both languages. French is spoken mainly in Quebec but they want to separate from Canada because they do not like the English. The federal party representing Quebec in the Federal Government is the Bloc Quebecois whose mandate is to seek separation from the rest of Canada. I do not speak French which has hindered any advancement in my job (I work for the Federal Government). Montreal, Quebec was named after the mountain it was built on, Mont Royal.

5. We have oil which is why the USA want to stay friends with us. We were tremendously excited when Barack Obama became President and worry about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Our economies are joined at the hip and when things are bad economically, it affects all of North America. We can travel unrestricted to Cuba and know that travel restriction for US Citizens will ease in the future. The Cubans are warm and caring people and I hope you will visit if you can.

6. I don't say "eh" but the rest of the world thinks we do so I have to keep up the illusion. I still don't understand the "aboot" (referring to about) so will have to have a word-off when we get to Chicago. Sally and Roo will be first up!

7. Canada abolished slavery in 1834 and many Black Americans escaped to Southern Ontario in subsequent years. I was recently moved by reading "The Book of Negroes" by Lawrence Hill: (U.S. Title: Someone Knows My Name). It documented the life of a women captured in Africa and brought into slavery in the US and then resettled in Canada. A difficult read but a moving story.

8. Canadians are fighting the "War on Terror" in Afganistan and we have lost 150 souls. Canadians fight beside Americans, Brits, Australian and many other troops. God bless all the soldiers from all countries who are currently fighting and for those that have given the ultimate sacrifice with their lives.

9. Ottawa is the capital of Canada and I live here. The Rideau Canal (pronounced Re-Dough) was dug from Kingston to Ottawa to allow a supply route to fight off the Americans who might attack us in the 18th century. We won the War of 1812 against American invasion. I am sure they finally figured out they really didn't want to live in a cold country.

10. We don't live in igloos. Really. The average summer temperature in Ottawa is 20C-40C (70F-100F). Winter is from -30C to + 10C (-22F to 50F). I love fall when the leaves change to multiple colours.

OK just one more:
11. We have free healthcare but it doesn't cover everything. I had to pay for my band. And we pay for healthcare through our taxes. Everyone is covered even if you are homeless. We have employer funded health insurance for things like dental care, glasses and prescriptions. But if we need surgery, we do not pay. If we need to see a doctor, we do not pay. If we are in an accident and are put in ICU, we do not pay. We are not communists or socialists (not even sure what these mean). We sometimes need more doctors and nurses and technicians so if you know someone who wants to live in a great country tell them. We gladly accept all immigrants.

So another July 1st has passed. And my bottle is empty. So sad. But I did promise to celebrate July 4th. BTW, one on my most favourite movies was Independence Day! I think I will have a little plateau this week.