Great website for local foods!

With all the controversy lately over so many of our foods (even those stating "Product of Canada") coming from China and uncertainty about their quality control and food safety, I have been highly aware of food labels lately. Many of them do not say where they are from and apparently, there are no regulations about this. Apparently, if a product's packaging is made in Canada but the food inside comes from China, they don't have to tell you that- because part of it (i.e. the packaging) is from Canada, they can say "Product of Canada". This is so shady! I am really hoping that this changes some time soon. In the meantime, I'm trying to do what I can to decipher the ever confusing world of food labels and buy local Canadian (or even American) products when possible. To take it even a step further, I heard about this great website this morning and wanted to share it for anyone interested in supporting our local farmers/producers- it's all about foods produced right here in NS!

http://www.selectnovascotia.ca/

Check it out for places to buy local products, recipes and tons more! I hope you find it as interesting as I did! :)

Canada's Criminal Justice System SUCKS

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/854908.html

A story in the newspaper today caught my eye and I want to take a moment to comment on it.
You all may or may not have heard that a few nights ago, a lady working a back shift alone at a Petro Canada was sexually assaulted and had her throat slit. It’s very sad to hear that she is in critical condition and may not make it without permanent brain damage caused by her injuries. The man who assaulted her was recently released from prison for many similar assaults. He had served his time and was let out of jail.

This article is about how the province is looking at back shift jobs and how they should be examined to determine if the employees are at “risk” if they are alone. Well, personally, I think this is great that the government is expressing a concern for the safety of the people in these jobs, but I think they are using this “concern” to divert attention from the real issue here. The man who committed the crime was KNOWN to have a history of this violence. He had gone to jail for it in the past. And yet, here he was walking free to commit this crime. Maybe we should be looking at our criminal justice system, examining these people who commit these serious crimes- violent crimes- BEFORE letting them out of jail. Sure, he served the time he was supposed to. But, did anyone evaluate him before he was let back out into the public to determine if he was a danger? And if they had assessed that he was, it wouldn’t have made a difference. I mean, it seems like every other week someone is out of jail and the paper or TV news is reporting that he is out and has been labeled as a “risk to re-offend”. This is especially true of people who commit crimes of sexual assault. There is something seriously wrong with this picture. If someone sexually assaulted someone, was found guilty and served time for it, and then at the end of their sentence the authorities know that they are a risk to re-offend, then they should stay the hell in jail! Forget their rights! What about the rights of the innocent victims? You let a guy out of jail who you KNOW will very likely re-offend, and then he does- well how do you explain that to the little girl or boy whose life is destroyed by the sexual predator, or the family of this poor woman who just had her throat slit and will never again be the same? These people have rights. They have the right to feel safe from these creatures whom our society doesn’t have the balls to put down like the dogs they are, so they should at least be kept locked up, away from the innocent lives they have or could destroy!

THAT is the real issue and our government should stop pussy-tailing around and do the right thing! We need some serious changes here!

A Not So Fun Canada Day

I am glad we didn't go anywhere this weekend after all. My little Ella has her first ear infection, a cold, a high fever (that seems to have come down this afternoon) and is not feeling well at all. What a rotten way to feel, the poor thing! We've been very busy this weekend with all the cuddling, consoling and getting fluids and medicine into her. Hopefully, the antibiotics will kick in real soon and she'll be back to her happy, playful self!

Canada Day Weekend at Home

We ended up not going away after all. I woke up this morning feeling pretty lousy. Not as bad as I have been feeling, but definitely not well enough to travel and party all weekend. To make matters worse, Ella and Tony seem to have come down with this flu now, so it looks like our summer is getting off to a rocky start.
I was going to just stay home today, with Ella not feeling well, but after a morning of her whining and crying (the poor little thing), I decided it might be better to get out for a drive. That was a great idea, as Ella got well over an hour of sleep in the car- an hour she wouldn't have gotten at home. Tony and I enjoyed the scenery as we drove out to (and past) Peggy's Cove and looped around back to civilization. We then stopped at Jungle Jim's for some late lunch. That is where we realized Ella's fever was back and even higher so after a bite to eat, we headed for home. Here are some pics of my feverish, but good-spirited baby girl, and us having lunch.

Ciao!

To Go or Not To Go....

The Canada Day long weekend is upon us. For me, this is my last long weekend to spend having fun before I am back to "full time" at work. I want to do something fun, and there are certainly lots of fun options available to us! The problem is...I am sick. I seem to have come down with a flu-like stomach bug that is wrecking havoc with my insides right now. We have a tradition in our family of travelling to Advocate Harbour (where my family is from, and where most of my family IS)- a huge group of us usually camp on Cape D'Or (the most BEAUTIFUL place on the planet!), have some drinks, campfires, food, tons of fun! We of course, will be staying with my grandmother over night, rather than camping this year- I just don't feel sleeping in a tent would be a great experience with a 1 year old. IF we go. I really want to go down and see everyone, and so Ella can see everyone and vice versa. If only I didn't feel like crap! I think I am going to play it by ear and try to make the trip. Hopefully, I will feel better by the time we leave tomorrow.

OK, that is enough whining from me. On a more positive note, here is a picture I took yesterday of my two favourite people! :) I just love it! Ciao for now and I hope everyone has a super happy Canada Day weekend!

A Picture Perfect Day!

Here are some pics of Ella both at home and during our "outing" today! Diana and I took the girls, Ella and Daniela to get their photos done at Superstore. We will have the pics tomorrow and I can't wait! I was expecting Ella to be crabby by the time we got there (especially after the wait to get in) but she was a very good girl. She is so happy all the time lately - the opposite of last month during the teething! :)

Oh, for anyone who doesn't know this story already, Daniela is Ella's best little friend. The two girls were born on the exact same day, only seven hours apart!

My BUSY baby!

I can't believe it but my little Ella will be turning ONE tomorrow! Where did the year go? Here are some pics from this morning! She is keeping Mommy busy chasing her around with the camera, rather than preparing and cleaning for her birthday party later today! :) Oh well...she is too cute!