What will you do to further reconciliation?

This photo features what the Canadian Oath of Citizenship SHOULD say if the government passes a bill to update it to meet one of the points in the Truth and Reconciliation's 94 calls to action

Here's a link to my opinion piece that came out today on the CBC-Manitoba website:

'What will you do to further reconciliation?' Canadians need to act on MMIWG inquiry's calls for justice

I wrote this piece in response to being asked this "What will you do' question. In responding, I was reflecting on how all the inquiries seem to request  many similar things from the people and government of Canada... And few or none of the-totally valid-points are being dealt with properly or promptly in response.

(In other--less important-- household news, it's Shavuot, my kids have had way too much ice cream this weekend, and they also did very well at their first piano recital.  There's a lot going on, all at once-as usual- at my house.)

Famous? For all the wrong, buggy reasons...

Long story short, a colleague of my husband's is a science writer.  She wrote a good article about ticks in Canada and Lyme disease, and it came out today.  Here's the link:
Ticks creep into Canada...

Famous?  Infamous? The article leads with my name.

The other part of this post is an apology.  Canadians, I am sorry if you tried to follow my Amazon.ca links and they all failed for you.  I know why now.

A while back, I was told by Amazon, hey!  We see you are an 'affiliate' in the USA!  You can do this in Canada, too.  What's that?  Well, it means that when I link to my books on Amazon, it gives me a few cents each time a person clicks through and purchases one.  This was something I was signed up for by my publisher, no kidding, in 2009, when my first book came out.  It earns very little, maybe enough for me to purchase a single paperback book every year or two.  (We're talking less than $10US!)

Some people use these to place ads on their sites and generate income.  I never did that, I have never been into monetizing things, although I did figure that if I was recommending a sale on Amazon?  I might use the link so I could afford to purchase something myself as well. 

When I saw the option to include Canada, I jumped at it.  However, according to the affiliate folks, I had to 'qualify' with a certain number of sales in a certain time frame. I asked my kind professor if he would use the link to purchase stuff, thus making sure it worked.  He did, and I put up the affiliate links online for you, too, on occasion.

I was told that no, those purchases had not counted!  I could not refer relatives or friends through the link, that didn't qualify.  (And yes, all the while, the elementary school was asking us to peddle cheese, coupon books, and other fundraisers TO family and friends...HUH.  Go figure.)

So, Canadians, although I am now a citizen and live here, I apparently do not qualify!  A few days ago, I got a note that said this, in part:

We are writing to notify you that your Associates Program application has been rejected and you will no longer have access to Associates Central.

This action was taken because we have not yet received qualified sales activities from your account.  As a reminder, Accounts that have not referred three qualified sales within in 180-days of sign-up are automatically rejected.

You are free to reapply to the Associates Program at any time, but we recommend only doing so if your website receives consistent traffic.

So you know, I consider blog readers my friends, and I know some of you are my family, so even if I re-applied, they wouldn't count those clicks.  If I link to anything in the future, and it goes dead for you, Oh Canadian compatriots, I am sorry.  I tried--oh, I tried! -But I was rejected.

This seems a little bit like being famous for contracting Lyme disease. :)  I wasn't clever enough to remember my tick bite (I've had a lot of them) or to get a bulls-eye rash, nor was I good enough at soliciting sales from strangers.  (Dear readers, I'm glad you aren't strangers!)

Famous?  So definitely NOT.

Running for Harry

Harry the dog: 2004-2017.
Harry died on Friday, September 29th.
Rest in peace.

Harry was a laidback, playful, loving and opinionated member of our household, much like his namesake, from the movie "When Harry Met Sally."  To read more about our beloved bird dog, you can find him throughout many of my blog entries.

While caring for Harry, who died last week at 13.5 years old, after suffering from lymphosarcoma, we found ourselves becoming Canadian in many ways.

On September 26th, the Professor and I became Canadian citizens.  We're now dual citizens (US & Canadian) as our twins were all along, since they were born in Canada to parents who are U.S. citizens.  Or, in their words as they explained it to a vet tech friend at the animal hospital,
 "On Tuesday, Mommy turned Canadian."

On Friday, I went to school early to pick up the boys to be with Harry. We all wore orange for Orange Shirt Day to support reconciliation, because every child matters.

I participated in the boys' Terry Fox Run, which helps raise money for cancer research.  I walked, holding hands with several kids who needed a breather as we went around the school fields.

Every kid wore a sticker.  This is what one of my boys wore.

Thank you to everyone who has ever laughed at Harry's antics here on the blog, or played with him in person, or greeted him at our front door---for helping us celebrate Harry's life.  We miss him very much.