My dearest friends and family,

Thank you so much for visiting today. There’s a lot going on in the world lately and I don’t know how you are responding to it. Are you drawn into this moment of history or are you minding your own business? Whatever road you are taking and wherever you live and call home, I hope you know we are better together. This post is a bit political so if you just want a great cookie recipe and hear a bit of music, scroll to the bottom. If you want to hear some of my thoughts and what has been happening around our household keep reading.

Whatever you choose, I’m happy you’re HERE!

February has arrived. The month of love. Winter if swiftly passing, although if you step outside today, you wouldn’t believe it as it’s minus 9 degrees celsuis. (15.8 Fahrenheit for my American friends) However you measure temperature, it’s REALLY freezingly, BRRRR, cold here. Yet, each day brings a bit more sunshine. Even on our our most frigid days I’m trying to remember we’re only a hop, skip and a jump away from our trees budding out in leaf and our flowers blooming brilliantly.

January flew by in a flurry since our kids were super busy in all sorts of activities. Last weekend we took our twin daughters to a basketball tournament out of town. They played one game on Friday night and easily won it. Before they got too big for their britches, I reminded them that the team they played against came from a town much smaller than our community. Hey context matters.

(Victoria (left) Kathryn (right) Their team is called the “Lakers,” and if you look in the background of their gym you can see a bit of the mural painted which depicts our Lake Monster mascot.)

The next game they played was with a school from a much larger community that ours. Also, I found out later that this particular school is known for their strong sports participation and they are often found at our Provincial play offs. Our girl’s basketball team is made up of ten girls, which is two lines. However, two of those ten are newbies. When and “if” they catch the ball, they look as if an Alien baby has accidently landed in their midst. Shocked! During one game I heard one of their moms yell out, “Dribble,” when their daughter caught the ball and had a stunned look on her face. (Having said that though, in every game they improve. They are valuable players!)

Also, I have to share our coaches philosophy that everyone gets the same playing time. (I love that!) That’s how you develop a strong team. Suffice to say, we really only have eight player who feel comfortable playing the game. With that context, I’ll take you back to the second game experience. This team was bigger. They had fifteen players, three full lines, and several of the girls were not only physically broader, but way taller than our girls.

Okay, back to the game.

Even though I was nervous, one always hopes the underdog (our team) has a shot, but early on my hopes were doused as the opposing team demonstrated a skill level superior to our girls. What made me sit up taller though was even though we were outmatched, our girls never gave up. They tried again and again to make plays and baskets, but by the last quarter they were down 15 to 50. A few of the opposing players were really tough too. I mean physically tough. We picked out a handful of them who shoved and pushed and once even purposely tripped one of our players.

Our girls had heart though, dug deep and played clean.

Then right in front of David and I, who were sitting centre court, about three bleacher seats up, we witnessed the opposing team’s, Number 25, viciously push our smallest girl.. This wasn’t a little push. This was a huge shove meant to hurt and take down one of our players. Also, Number 25 had this determined hate filled look on her face as she shoved with all she had. I was just so horrified that I yelled, “REALLY, really, you have to do that when you’re up 35 points!!!” Number 25 looked up at me and scowled. Her face was giving me the “FU” look. A foul was meted out, but when she went off the court I observed her two coaches giving her a big high five.

They had huge smiles on their faces.

I was disgusted.

Yes, I know basketball can be a rough game. It can get physical but this was above and beyond what I would call good sportmanship. I’m sure this team went on to win the tournament. Our girls came fourth out of eight teams. Victoria also won player of one of the games. On the drive home before our girls fell into a deep sleep, we rehashed the various games. We talked about this number twenty five player, and the general roughness and attitude of the coaches. We all agreed that winning at all cost wasn’t worth it.

Did this other team realize the optics? In the future whenever I think of this school I will remember this game and how they played.

Is that the reputation they want?

When our girls go out to play I always give them a pre game, mom talk on the drive. It goes something like this; “play hard, use your intellect as much as your skill. Be respectful of your coaches. Support your team with a positive attitude. MOST IMPORTANT, remember winning at all cost is not really winning.

Being a good sport is the sign of a true winner.

Victoria above with the t shirt she won for being best player of the game and the tournament she won it in

(below is a video I took of one of our girls first games earlier in the season. It’s in our gym and you can see a bit more of our lake monster in the background. Victoria is (number 12) the one grabbing the ball and getting 2 points. Kathryn (number 8) is right behind her giving her some support afterwards) That’s me cheering too!

It was getting dark when we started driving home from the tournament. The girls huddled together under a big fleece blanket and fell asleep like they used to do when they were little babes after a big day out. I was glad they were sleeping when we started climbing the mountain pass. Snow was driving hard towards us and while David didn’t say so at the time, he later told me he was having a hard time seeing the edge of the highway.

At the top of the pass we saw a semi truck jack knifed in the ditch on the opposite side of the highway. It was touch and go there for about one hour. I was hardly breathing. I was holding onto the edge of my seat and praying hard. Finally, we started down the other side of the pass and the snow started to let up. By the time we hit the valley no snow was falling at all.

When we walked into our house at last I just said, “thank you to God and my angels”

Throughout that trip I kept thinking about the airplane/helicopter accident in Washington (and the medic plane crash in Philadephia too) that had killed so many beautiful people only days before. Among them, so many talented young figure skaters. That tradegy just made me cry. What made me cry even harder though was the speech during a White House press conference Trump and his incompetent, unqualified, unkind, administrators, gave shortly after the crash. The fact that he brought DEI (Diversity/Equity and Inclusion) into the aftermath of this tragic loss made me mad. So mad!

Did he think of the optics? Did he realize he and his team just appeared hate filled? During his election he and his supporters would wear those red hats that said, “Make America Great Again.” Is this his idea of GREATNESS? Having no compassion for those who had died in the accidents or the families grieveing their loss. When he was talking about DEI etc, they were still searching for their bodies in the Potomic.

Nothing was more obvious to me while listening to this news briefing that America has lost her North Star of morality and good ethics. Where was the compassion? At least her chosen leader didn’t exhibit any. I was absolutely appaulled when Pete Hegseth, (the new Secretary of Defence) said, from now on only the BEST and the BRIGHTEST would be in command, I was thinking, “how in the heck did the Republicans confirm your appointment?” A former Fox T.V. host with a horrid past!. For that matter, how does someone who is not only a felon, a convicted sexual abuse offender and a businessman, who has bankrupted numerous companies, become the President?

If the new administration represent America’s best and brightest, I’m genuinely concerned for their future as a country.

ANYHOO…..SORRY for my mini rant but yeah, when we decided to travel out of town on wintery roads, those accidents were on my mind as were the reaction to those crashes from the President and his, shall I say it, “goons.”

When we woke up on Sunday safe in our beds I was still saying thank you. David made the kids waffles with berries and we turned on the news. That’s when we heard that President Trump, the “Make America Great Again” guy, had announced he was placing a 25% tariffs on all our exports to the States. (10% percent for our oil and energy products) We knew he’d threatened this move many times during his run for office. I think many of his MAGA supporters thought tariffs on another country meant it would hurt us.

They loved that! (this tells you a lot about the people who voted him in)

So yeah, that’s how we heard he was really going through with it.

As I watched the news, all I could think about was how much he was like Number 25,.

He wants to win at all cost.

People like this are bullies. They get their power from fear.

If you want to read the definition of a bully; “a person who habitually seeks to harm or intimidate those whom they perceive as vulnerable.”

Hmmmm….sounds about right.

What is the profile of a bully?

“Research finds that bullies have a distinct psychological makeup. They lack prosocial behavior, are untroubled by anxiety, and do not understand others’ feelings. They exhibit a distinctive cognitive feature, a kind of paranoia: They misread the intentions of others, often imputing hostility in neutral situations.”

What do you think? Does that sound like the current leader in the States?

And you know where bullies get their energy? From fear, and attention. Are we going to give him that? I’m thinking not, and that I need to stop watching the news! At least the biased news.

Anyway, back to our little household.

We had a long talk about the pending tariffs during our Sunday dinner. Even though our kids are only 13 and 15 they demonstrated intelligent thoughts and insights regarding the political situation in the States and how it may impact our country and the world. Also, their oldest sister is with us currently. She is well educated, and contributed in her own intuitive way to our converstation. During our dinner I wondered if they would look back at this moment in history, like I did when I was their age, and the Watergate affair was happening with President Nixon at the time. What I find interesting however is we covered those events in our Socials class when I was in grade eight. I can remember our teacher getting us to research what was happening and we had a debate where we all learned a lot. When we ask our children if they talk about anything going on currently in their world or particularly in the States they said it’s only “crickets,” from their teachers.

Times have sure changed!

Our children tell us that they do have classmates that think Trump is Great. They think our Conservative, Maple Magas are great. I’m sure they are learning these views from their parents and social groups.

I guess this is another reason we encourage our children to obtain a University Education where they can become critical thinkers. I want them to learn about history, sociology, psychology, science, to name only a few important studies.

The next morning the kids went off to school and while I was cleaning up from breakfast and folding a load of laundry I watched the news. (I know, not the best use of my time) Tariffs were the only thing people were discussing in Canada and in the States. What I was encouraged to see was Canadians were unified in their “Hell No,” thoughts and we were coming together. It reminded me in so many ways of our girls recent basketball tournament.

While watching the news…..

.

I heard some of our snowbirds who travel down to Florida and Arizonia for the winter were putting their condos on the market or coming back home in their motor homes. Others were cancelling their vacation trips planned for the States and choosing Mexico, Spain and Portugal instead. We certainly won’t be going to Disney World now!! Also, our son’s jazz band is planning a trip to Idaho this spring and sadly we told our son, “sorry, but we don’t support countires who bully their own people, not to mentiion put tariffs on friends.”

The tariffs hadn’t even begun and all over Canada people were sharing what to boycott and what to buy. For instance, no to Florida oranges and orange juice and yes to Okanagan apples. No to American alcohol and yes to Canadian beer and wine. And for those of you American readers, we dont all live in a cold climate up here….ha…. we happen to live in a hot and arid valley that grows amazing grapes. Wineries are everywhere. Also, I hear although Kentucky Bourbon is lovely, it’s now being shunned. Even more since it comes from a RED State which voted the DJT into office.

In our own household, ever since Trump was elected we’ve stopped shopping at Walmart, which is an American chain. Their reputation in our books got even worse when they were some of the first companies to get on the anti DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) bandwagon. Also, when I saw Steve Bezos standing in the front row at Trump’s inauguration I told my family we were done with Amazon. Ever since Covid we’ve been big Amazon purchasers but no more. Hey, the same with Mark Zuckerberg. I used to check my FaceBook daily but I’m done with that now and I’m going to figure out how to delete my accounts (I have two)

We are also down on anything Elon Musky related; Tesla, Twitter/X, SpaceX…..let’s just say Billionaires who just want more money and power are not in our most liked list. Especially when they go into the Treasury Department with their tech muskrats and shut down USAID which helps the poor and sick all over the world. (btw, if you Google the web site for this group, it’s currrently been deleted….so yeah, anyone who would hurt the innocent and needy in the world is not only a bully but is evil)

So yeah, we were digging in for the long haul.

Then Tuesday came. The Stock Market in the States started to plummet and Trump and his, “NOT the BEST and the BRIGHTEST,” caved. The tariffs are now paused for 30 days.

I could go on and on with regards to my feelings towards the new U.S. administration but in the blink of history this will go down as a low point for the United States, if you can call them that, as I’ve never seen a more divided country. They are facing a constituional crisis at the moment and I believe a coup is happening in Washington right now.

You know what’s really fascinating though, here in Canada ever since he signed that Executive Order to put tariffs on our country it’s maybe caused a reverse effect to what he was expecting.

Did we cower in fear? Hell No!

We are now, more than ever, TOGETHER! Happy together! And you know what else, while he hates DEI, we are a country built on diversity, equity and inclusion. Although we aren’t perfect up here and we’ve cause generational trauma to the indigenous peoples, they’ve taught us how to be better people and I’d like to think we are viewed as a good people in the world.

Further more, we aren’t going to “bend the knee” in FEAR, which is what bullies thrive on. No we are not going to let the lower energy of fear remain with the bullies and allow our love for our country and others guide us.

And one final thought before I share my White Chocolate and Cranberry cookie recipe with you, is a video I hold close to my heart from Kamala Harris who said, “the strength of a leader is who you lift up, not who you beat down.” I guess that says it all. Why the American people didn’t vote her to be their leader, I will never know. Was it because she was a woman? Was it because she wasn’t white? Whatever their reasons, I hope they are happy with the leader they have. Sadly, I know many Americans do not resonate with who is in power right now and to those I say, get out and fight for what you believe in. Be happy Together!!! Here are her inspiring words;

Beautiful words of lifting others up.

That is the Strength of a LEADER! and while Kamala may not be in power right now in the States, I’m holding onto her words. I hope you are too!

In my small way, that’s what this blog is about. And feeding you. HA! Last week my sisters and I had a video chat and as we were talking I was pulling these cookies out of the oven. My oldest sister Bonnie asked for the recipe so my dear sis, this is for you. Also, I wrote this post for ALL my friends and family. I’ve been keeping my feelings close to my chest ever since the election. I haven’t wanted to talk politics. I haven’t wanted to give it energy. I frankly have been so sad and let down by the people who voted Trump into office.

I keep asking myself why they didn’t see who he was. Maya Angelou said, “When a person shows you who they are, believe them!” And if they truly heard the hateful things he was always saying, why would they vote him in. Especially the Christian people. I will never understand how a Christian who follows Christ’s teachings about loving your neighbour and giving to the needy, could vote for someone who talks about rounding up illegal immigrants like they are animals or putting tariffs on your allies. (What I find most hypocrital is when the so called Christians wear crosses at their necks and talk about rounding up illegals or evicting the people from their own communities, “Gaza.”

There must be something so horribly broken in these people. Maybe they have generational hatred which they haven’t been able to work through. Whatever the case, there is no excuse for spreading hate and racism in the world. Especially after the horrors we witnessed during the Second World War with the Jewish people.

But I’m not going to dwell any longer in this place and give it energy. We need to rise above it and remember…..

Love overcomes everything.

Let’s make some cookies and go out into the world and share them. Take a plate to your neighbours. Talk to them. Find out what their views are. Find your community of like minded people. We are happy together when we lift each other up. Hey, and if you stay around to the bottom of this post, you’ll be able to listen to a bit of music. Our kids playing “Happy Together,” during another difficult time in history, our Covid pandemic which taught us a lot about how important it is to stay together to keep people safe and healthy.

White Chocolate and Cranberry Cookies

Ingredients

11/4 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar

1 1/2 margarine or butter softened….I use 3/4 margarine and 3/4 butter

2 teaspoon vanilla

3 eggs

4 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ginger (AMAZING!)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 to 1 1/2 cups white chocolate

1 to 1 1/2 cups dried cranberry

Optional: Pecans or Walnuts to top the cookie

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degree F.

In a large bowl beat both sugars and butter until light and creamy.

Add eggs one at a time. Mix well. Add vanilla

In a medium bowl, Add flour, baking soda, ginger and salt. Mix well.

Add flour to the sugar and butter mixture.

Stir in the chocolate and dried cranberries until well combined.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoon onto a ungreased cookie sheet.(2 inches apart)

Top with pecan or walnut.

Bake in 375 degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes….I make my cookies larger so they take 12 mins until they are golden brown.

Yields 6 dozen….they freeze beautifully but boy they taste good frozen and they don’t last long!!!

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Below: A Flash into the past~ our kids, Will, Kate and Tori playing, “Happy Together,” (during our homeschool Covid year)

A final word, for my American friends, and I know I have a few who have followed this blog, if my words resonate with you and you are feeling fearful…… please stay strong, you are not alone. Find your people. Use your voices. Walk in peace sharing your views. Talk to your officials. I will be praying for you and our world.

Thanks again for visiting today.

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope