RANDOM THOUGHTS - Being Friendly

I value good friends. Not because they agree with me all the time but because they know how to share their differences without getting all huffy and unreasonable. They know how to celebrate with me when times are good or help console me when times get rough.

My best friend is my husband. He knows how animated I can get if I am excited about something. He doesn't need to say much. He knows my heart, what matters most to me. He loves me and cares for me. I value this far above the price of rubies.

I have lots of friends. So many that I don't remember all their names. I admit, most of them are members of my church. It happens. When you move to different communities and you go to your new church building, you make new friends. I have moved a lot. Let's see, I have been a member of 2 branches and 17 wards, if I add my mission experience in Arizona.

I have taught countless children in various Primaries. I am now serving my third time as a Cub leader. I love to teach the children. They look up to you, count on you, and teach you right back! I understand why the Saviour said "Suffer the little children to come unto me, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven".

Yes, children can be naughty. But they are much more teachable than us adults. They know right from wrong quite clearly. I tested my class on that today and they passed with flying colours. It was part of today's lesson actually. It's too bad that in growing up they face such a changing world, one that is full of un-Christlike behaviour.

Our kids need to be strong if they are to withstand the pressures of our day and remain the good people they really wanted to grow up into. Their best defense is provided by parents who take the time to be a postive role model, spend time with them collectively and individually, and provide for their basic needs.

I have friends that are amazing role models to their teenage counterparts. I love their youthful exuberance. Last week the young women in our ward held a mock pep rally. It was so much fun to be there as a parent to my youngest daughters, young teenagers themselves now. They know that they are daughters of a Heavenly Father who loves them. This knowledge strengthens them when they are challenged in making right choices.

I love my friends. They come in all ages and sizes. We support each other, we grow in wisdom and knowledge together. What more could I ask of my friends.

BEAUMONT BUZZ - Museum update

In order to save the St. Jacques family home and turn it into a museum/visitor's center we will need to do some serious fundraising. We need to be able to pay for:

1. Moving the house
2. Construction costs for the foundation
3. Costs to bring utility services to the home
4. Costs for any necessary upgrades to the home

Anyone interested in making a financial donation to the project or providing in-kind services, please let us know. You can reach me at 780-929-8031.

RANDOM THOUGHTS - We Need Real Snow

I've been listening to the weather reports for B.C. lately. It has to be frustrating for the organizers to have all this warm weather right now. I like a warm winter, but right now it's just not the time!

The whole concept of artificial snow seems to work for the ski resorts so that they can stay busy. But it just may not be enough for the Winter Olympics in 2010. I am hoping some real winter weather blows in, and soon.

We had the Olympic torch visit us in Beaumont on January 15th. The school chosen for the official ceremony is right in front of my home. I went outside with my video camera about 45 minutes before the torch bearer was expected to arrive. People were already starting to line the street.

When the school kids came out to get into position along the ring road my camera was busy filming the excitement. When our special guests finally arrived the crowd that had gathered roared in delight. I had to step out into the roadway to try to take any more pictures. Everyone was craning to see where the torch was.

The speeches by our elected officials were impossible to hear over the crowd. But I did get some good pictures. And when it was all over and the various torch runners were reunited with their families, I learned that none of them were from Beaumont. I heard our chosen local representative will actually be doing their run in B.C. If I was them, I would stay there to watch the games.

RANDOM THOUGHTS - Health Care and Marriage

I just read an article today regarding the impact on married couples in the US when Obama's Health Care Reform goes through. There appears to be an increased cost for health care coverage if a couple is married as opposed to remaining single. The justification given is that you can't satisfy everyone.

If a couple makes $50,000 together and they are single, their health payments are at a certain level. If a couple is married with the same income it rises about $2000. I don't care how they try to explain the difficulty in establishing equity here, it's just another way that marriage is under attack. Couldn't they write in an exception that covers this?

True, maybe most couples will not base their decision to get married on the impact it will have on their health care costs. But to some, it may. I don't know if my theory is right or not, but don't married couples tend to have larger families? That is an area of concern when it comes to the financial burden of paying for hospital care when you have children. I have heard my American extended family members complain about the complications of arranging for insurance coverage for each child they have.

Single mothers in lower income brackets will be helped financially at a higher rate than all others. But single mothers making $50,000 will also have more assistance than the married ones. There's something wrong here. Single status and lower income appear more and more acceptable and supported through government handouts. How does the financial dependence created by government aid motivate people to improve themselves and rise above their situation? How does all this strengthen the family?

I believe in helping those who need help the most, but somehow things are getting out of whack here. What is the solution? I don't know. But I fear it will only get worse. Unless you have a health insurance plan included in your workplace benefits, this is going to be another drain of income on the backs of married couples.

On a side note, I wonder what the impact will be on gay married couples. Will the single life suddenly become more attractive to them. I'm sure this new health plan will include them too. So much for equality.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126281943134818675.html?mod=rss_Today's_Most_Popular

RANDOM THOUGHTS - Lost and Found

I remember the time I lost my wallet in downtown Edmonton. I was dropping off some fundraising dollars I had collected for an agency. I had my daughter Brenda with me at the time. I was carrying her in a special bunting bag I had made. When I got home I realized my wallet was no longer in my coat pocket.

I was very unhappy about the situation. I had to cancel my credit card, get a new licence, the whole ball of wax. Life went on. And then one year later I had a phone call from my bank, the downtown branch. Someone had found my wallet and they wanted to return it to me. It matched my description and my money was still there too! Unbelievable.

How did it stay lost for so long and then find it's way back to me? I remember trying to hold the fundraising kits and Brenda at the same time. I imagined that I must have dropped it in the building elevator, into some sort of crevice. Then a year later, while getting serviced, someone found it and brought it to the closest branch of my bank. It was my only explanation.

Well, last night my middle daughter called to report that her wallet had been stolen while she was working. Now she had no driver's ID, credit card, OneCard/bus pass ... how could she prove who she was to get them replaced? She had cancelled her Visa card right away so that was good. But she still had books to buy for one of her new university courses.

I agreed to meet with her this morning and to bring her birth certificate with me. I would vouch for her, they could use my proven identity to do that, if they wanted. It meant a change in my plans for the day but that was easily arranged, which is another reason why I love being a stay-at-home mom. And it felt like this would be a good learning experience for both of us.

Shortly before leaving the house I had an unexpected phone call. Well, actually the call was for my daughter. The young lady on the line said they had found her wallet, just outside the Strathcona Hotel and merely a block or two from both her home and her job. So I called and told her the good news, and where she could retrieve it. Wow, can you believe that? What timing!

TIME FOR FAMILY - Recording our Memories

This is going to be shorter than my usual Time For Family column. I don't want to forget this. I got a wonderful idea this morning that I should visit with one of our local seniors and see if she would be willing to let me record her memories of life in Beaumont in the early days. [I am also working on trying to save her family home and use it for our very own museum. I talked about that yesterday in "Beaumont Buzz"].

I thought it would be great to add her voice to a power point display of life in Beaumont in the early 1900's. It could also be embedded into the current Beaumont History Webpage. My daughter Brenda and I have discussed working together to get the site upgraded in the near future. Combining Marie's voice with thought provoking images of days gone by - wow, that would be an awesome presentation.

I have so many other ideas on preserving and sharing our history that I can't seem to focus on much else these past couple of days. It's my impression that I'm on to something BIG!

BEAUMONT BUZZ - St. Jacques House

This morning I attended the BBA (Beaumont Business Association) breakfast with Denis Hinse. He is a member of the Beaumont Lions Club and he thought it would be a great opportunity to let people know about the historical project I am working on right now. I tried to be brief but fortunately there was a lot of interest and so I had a number of questions to answer. As a result we now have a new member of our historical society and one business that offered to help us with the project. Awesome.

Our goal is to save the oldest building in Beaumont and we have a very short time to do it. The home was built by the St. Jacques family back in 1912 so it is 98 years old. This property and others adjacent have been purchased for a future development. As with any investment there is pressure to make it profitable so the two remaining homes that are still standing need to be removed to allow the development to go ahead. In short, they are to be demolished.

The residence is located right next to St. Vital cemetery, is still occupied by the family, and therefore the home has never been left vacant. My brief visit last year gave me the impression that it has been well cared for. In order to save the home we need a place to move it to. The new owners are generously willing to give it to us for free if we can remove it "in a timely manner" and assume all legal responsibility for it. Town administration has been helping us to decide on three possible town sites to move it to. Our favorite site by far is the Lion's RV/Gerry Patsula Park.

Our vision is to make the facility a multi-use project. It could serve as a home museum/town visitor's center/artistic showroom/ community center/nature center. Right now we are working on developing a partnership with the Beaumont Agricultural Society and the Beaumont Lions Club. There are a lot of details to sort out to make this dream a reality. I discussed the project with the Chair of the Artist's Association yesterday and she was quite excited about it's potential and suggested we call it "St. Jacques House".

One question from today's gathering brought up a valid point. Who exactly will run the facility? I had assumed that since it would be on town property it would have to be their responsibility. It would be used to promote town history and could serve as their visitor center. But maybe we should look at this in a different way. Maybe this should be under the control and ownership of local community groups, in partnership with the town, and enjoy tax free status ;)

All I know is that we need to work on this quickly. Once the ground has thawed and spring is upon us the demolition preparations will begin. This is going to need the support of many people, community groups and businesses, as well as the Town of Beaumont.

Won't it be nice to have something to showcase when the 2010 Communities in Bloom judges come to town? If you would like to be part of our team, just comment below or phone me at:

780-929-8031 (home) or 780-932-8031 (cell)

RANDOM THOUGHTS - Dr. Who Tearjerker

Well, it's happened. David Tennant has performed in his last Dr. Who episode. Boy, it was a good one. After watching part one I could hardly wait for the conclusion to air. And considering the good folks in England get it first I was feeling very envious of them.

It's interesting, I never realized before this that there are probably a lot of great shows and actors in the world who I know nothing about. If we didn't have this bond between the BBC and the CBC I doubt I would have ever heard about the series. That's because we don't subscribe to cable TV.

I find Dr. Who is to the British like Star Trek is to North Americans. And I love both because the episodes are more often than not very creative as well as thought provoking. And I am not ashamed to say, I love it when good conquers evil. I do believe that life is very much like that.

So if you haven't seen seen what all the fuss is about yet I encourage you to look into it. If you are like me, you'll love it. Allons-y!