mrrnice2

Here are best wishes for a Happy Birthday and for a great year ahead.

Mixed feelings indeed I am am sure RG. However this has been something that you have been working towards for a bit, so it must feel good to have that transaction behind you. That's always a good thing, to be able to cross things off of the list. :)

Sometimes words only mean exactly what they say and sometimes the words don't carry alternate meanings or subplots. One only need look at the number of nominations on Megs initial post from men and women alike to see the wisdom in her post. This CERB world is a world based on respect. We as clients have, as evidenced in post after post, received the utmost respect from the women. Our privacy is respected, the secrets that we divulge are kept confidential, our little idiosyncrasies are dealt with, and this is all done in a professional yet caring way. We as clients should assume the same obligations and give back to the women what they so freely give to us. For me and for many of us that is an easy thing to do. Whether it be luck or good fortune I have had the opportunity to meet some amazing women, many of whom have shared some very personal things from their 'real' lives. I treat those things and that opportunity as a sacrosanct privilege, and it has done nothing but caused me to have even more respect for the ladies involved. There are many other threads on CERB where there is discussion about relationships and friendships that develop between clients and SP's. It does happen but those things are not the norm nor should that be something to be expected or assumed. Should it go that way, then we as clients have an assumed obligation to let the woman be the one to broach it and not the other way around. If it happens then awesome because one can never have too many friends. Meg with her usual wisdom has simply brought forward a little reminder that we can all carry with us as we travel through this sometimes confusing world of CERB.

I have finished reading the book and I am so pleased to say that it ended with at least a ray of hope and promise for both Jules and Baby. The basic premise of the book is based I am certain in an all too real scenario for many children in our society. I am not one who wishes to sweep things under the rug, even though topics such as this are difficult to hear about. In the real world I have no illusions that this sort of story is based on a reality for far too many children. It would be easy to use this book to get off on a tangent about the real world roles of social services, rehabilitation centers, drug abuse treatment and the like. My experience with these, and even here in little rural PEI I have had too much experience with them, these are very difficult and complex issues. The fabric of our Canada is interwoven with a social services system that is overwhelmed, a court system that is bound by the rights of the parent, at times to the detriment of the child, extreme and utter poverty, a privilged stratum and then every other group in between. Our social workers are doing a thankless job and their caseloads are so large and so ultimately stressful that the burnout rate for those professionals is extreme. The book has brought me back again to that reality, the one that I saw when I was working and became so frustrated with while developing a sense of helplessness or even at times hopelessness. I guess having this reminder at my concious level again is a good thing. This next statement about the book may cause some discussion. In reading this book it has simply reinforced a stereotype that I have about Canadian arts and culture. Whether it be film or fiction it seems as though we dwell on the sad and abject subjects rather than the uplifting and purely entertaining. I know I have tended to stay away from Canadian authors for this reason and unfortunately this book choice has not made me think differently. All of that being said, this has been my first ever experience in a book club of any nature and the process and the contributions so far have been fascinating. I am looking forward to reading more contributions. MN2

From some of the organizers of last Junes East Coast social in Halifax, we wish you all a great evening tomorrow. I can virtually guarantee that some of us East coasters will be there for your next one hopefully in December but many of us will be there tomorrow night in spirit! If you've gotten a spot, be sure to be there and everyone give Angela a big East coast hug for us! Maybe we will see some more of you with us next year!

The rain has stopped, we escaped Hurricane Leslie here, the sun is out and I am cutting grass full out while managing to get a last coat of paint on one more side of my workshop. Going out to dinner with a friend this evening who I have not seen for a while and will catch up an all that is going on around me that I sometimes don't notice while I am off in my own little world.

Just looking at the early polling gives me an indication that even if one considers people being partisan, there is parity in the CFL. There have been so many close games this year that it is exciting to watch, and in some ways is more exciting than NFL.

Don't we all love those dreamers from Toronto! :)

That cake must be mostly for Lee as Old Dog is now eating healthy stuff like whole grains and veggies and fruit and maybe even tofu. :) Right Old Dog? Washes it all done with low fat chocolate milk too. Hey, if he goes to the social he will be a cheap date. LOL

I love the CFL, but I love the NFL as well. As you say, good football is good football! The CFL and maybe the NFL this year as well appears to have parity, and as the say, on any given Sunday one never knows who will come out on top. I am a serious Alouettes fan and if we look West, sorry Emily, but you can't help but go for Saskatchewan, the team with the best fans in the league. Now when Atlantic Canada gets its team, and surely that has to happen, I will be a season ticket holder. Hey, maybe Emily would go to a game with me. She is an Atlantic Canadian now. :) For the time being, Go Als Go.

Sometimes, like this evening, simply playing my guitar for myself and totally relaxing.

Congrats Lee on your 2000th post! Maybe you can fly to Toronto and share this with Malika. :)

Good luck to you tomorrow Boomer with the eye surgery and kudos to Angela for helping you out as well. Having met Angela socially, and having seen and heard how she seems to be the big supporter and helper for so many of the women of Cerb, I am not in the least surprised that she has offered to help you out in this way. Yet another example of what a fine community of people that this is.

I am three quarters of the way through the book now. Yes I am going very very slowly because truthfully I am not enjoying it at all and in between reads of this book I am reading things that I do enjoy. "Cerb is a recommendation board so if you don't have anything nice to say....Please don't say anything nice at all." In the context of this thread I am presuming that sentiment does not apply. I have yet to arrive at the denoument but to this point the story content I continue to find disturbing. I am very cognizant that I personally avoid sad situations in fiction because one comes across enough of them in the real world to fill that niche for me. I also realize that I could be accused of being the ostrich and burying my head in the sand to not see what is going on all around me. So I am certain that there is an education component in this novel that for some may involve information that they were not aware of previously. On a more literary level, I find the writing to be choppy and disjointed and perhaps more serious study is required on my part but many of the little 'stories' that Baby recalls seem to be disjointed and do not seem to follow a thread or to me, serve a purpose - other than to demonstrate her confusion as she evolves and is forced from being a little girl to a very premature adulthood. I shall persevere and I hope that I shall be more positive in my next contribution. Am I all alone on this or way off base? I am especially interested now to read some other perspectives.

Heavy torrential rains for 24 hours plus, the edge of Hurricane Leslie yet to come and my basement is flooded. I waded through water well over my ankles. I got my sump pump up and running this morning but lots of my leftover winters wood is floating down there. I guess though that is a good thing about a century old Island farm house with a clay basement floor. It will dry out!

Laughing. I posted a reply in the wrong thread! Deleted it here.

For me I believe that the answer would be an unqualified yes. I can say with certainty that years ago when I was younger and far more insecure that the answer would have been an unqualified no. At that time, the concept of monogamy was deeply ingrained and sad to say as well, I would have had a hefty dose of possessiveness. Today, with me being a new me, I believe that I could fall in love with someone who is an SP and that would include fully supporting her choices. THAT is a very significant and personally enlightening feeling to have. I have given much time to personal questioning on the topic of polyamourism, and as time has gone by I have accepted it as a viable and reasonable choice should one wish to make it. I was going to say that I would be committed to that choice, but therein lays the underlying Catch-22 I believe. My sense is that those who embrace polyamourism are far to willing to simply 'move along' rather than stay and work on that relationship. I am still trying to work that one out in my head. I expect that Novenmber will weigh in on that statement. :) That all being said, on a personal note I cannot see myself in another relationship of any romantic nature. Friends and GOOD friends, both in and out of Cerb have become very important to me and for that I am ever so thankful.

Have a very Happy Birthday mistert.

How to get to Mars. A very cool video. http://www.youtube.com/embed/XRCIzZHpFtY?rel=0

Sorry that I shall miss seeing everyone this time around, but I am thinking about Christmas. Hope that you all have a blast.

I like Angela because she went out of her way to do something for me today that shows her kind and generous spirit.

I am more than lucky in the 'what if's department, but at times one does wonder. What if I had not accepted that blind date so many years ago that ended up being the meeting that changed my life and gave me an amazing partner for so many years. Would I have met her anyway, under other circumstances? What if I had not accepted my job in PEI, not ever having set foot in the province before I started work. Would I have ended up here anyway under some other circumstance? What if I had not stumbled across Cerb so coincidentally? Would I have met some of these amazing people who have helped me so much in the last two years anyway under other circumstances? I have a good friend who believes that every meeting with someone is predetermined and happens for a purpose. It is not predestiny but rather what one does as a result of those meetings that determines ones course in life. I wonder........ For me, no what if regrets at all. :)

Wishing you Old Dog a speedy recovery. You know of course that your many CERB friends are with you through this setback. Take care of yourself my friend.

I am now just over half way through the book and I am developing some strong feelings about it. I certainly shall post what I feel but am hoping to hear from some others before I add to what I posted previously. I guess I can say at this time how it emphasizes for me what a privileged background I had while growing up.

It is the first week of September and for many that brings a return to school and further educational opportunities. I am always excited when I hear about those who have chosen to work on further college education, their first degrees or for many, Master's degrees and beyond. To those people who have chosen to pursue this path, I wish you a successful year filled with meaningful course work and and hope that you seize the opportunity to bring your ambitions closer to fruition. Best of luck to all of you.