Toronto: Raccoon Capital of the World

You’ll often hear people say that Toronto has two seasons: Winter and Construction season. Let’s add a third…Raccoon season. If you didn’t already know, Toronto has been labelled “the raccoon capital of the world” next to Chicago and New York City. How lovely!

It’s funny how we get upset and complain when these nasty creatures knock down our green bins and eat our garbage. We do everything we can to stop this from happening by adding locks or using bungee cords to secure our green bins.  C’mon folks! Really? Raccoons are smarter than that.

Last Thursday, Mayor John Tory unveiled Toronto’s new and improved green bin. They’re twice the size of our current one with locking lids and latches. If approved by City Council, these monstrous bins will be distributed later this year/early next year.

Guess how much these new bins are going to cost us? Thirty one million dollars! What’s the point when these raccoons are eventually going to figure out how to open them? Don’t underestimate these furry creatures. 

I can think of two solutions to solve our raccoon problem. One, have a zero raccoon policy like Japan. They trap 10,000 raccoons a year and kill them. Or two, put your green bins out in the morning before heading to work as opposed to putting them out at night. The latter would save our city $31 million dollars and save you from cleaning up after them.

What solutions can you think of to solve Toronto's raccoon problem?

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The Great Escape

Washrooms are not just for brushing your teeth, washing your face or taking a bath. Washrooms are a great place for reading. They’re the last place people will look when trying to find you. Washrooms are what I call The Great Escape.

Being the oldest of five, my Mom was always on my case about watching my siblings.  The only time I would protest was when I was in the middle of reading a book.  I had a hard time putting down the latest Baby-Sitters Club book or Sweet Valley Twins book or anything written by Judy Blume. The more I had to watch my siblings, the more I longed to find a room in the house where I could escape with my book without my Mother or siblings finding me within seconds.

I must have been 9 or 10 when I started taking my book with me to the washroom. I would lock the door, do my business and sit on that toilet until my behind hurt. While all of this was going on, I could hear my Mother asking my siblings where I was.  No one knew. Forty-five minutes would pass before someone would try to open the washroom door.

 “I NEED TO USE THE WASHROOM!" one of my siblings would yell.

 “GO USE THE WASHROOM DOWNSTAIRS” I’d yell back. “I’M READING!”

I read a lot of great books and not so great books in that washroom.

Twenty-four years later, I still find myself heading to the washroom to read. There’s just something about sitting on the toilet with a book that I find comforting. The washroom will forever be my Great Escape.

Where do you escape for some peace and quiet?

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Tipping on Take-Out Orders

Last week I was craving sushi. I decided to head out to one of my favourite sushi joints and order take-out. Since I rarely keep cash on hand, I had to use my debit card to pay for my order. To my surprise, the debit machine asked me to enter a tip amount. I must have stood there like a dummy for a good minute before I entered in a dollar amount.

 Is tipping on take-out orders a new thing? 

I’m not quite sure what service I was tipping for. Maybe it was for the cook preparing and packaging my food. Or maybe it was for the cashier putting my order into a bag with a couple of napkins. Or maybe it was for her keying in my order. Or just maybe it was for her offering me a cup of tea while I waited for my food.

After reading several articles,  tipping is not mandatory when it comes to take-out orders. Tipping should only be expected if dining in at a restaurant. 

The next time I order take-out at this restaurant or any other restaurant and the debit machine asks me to key in a tip amount, I’m going to key in a big fat zero. I will not dish out my hard earned money to someone that is just handing me a plastic bag with my food order. 

What are your thoughts on tipping for take-out orders?

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Household Chores

My blood boils every time I hear husbands and wives complain about household chores. Husbands refuse to clean. Wives refuse to mow the lawn. Taking out the garbage is supposedly a “man’s job” and doing laundry is supposedly a “woman’s job”. Why are we still classifying household chores based on gender? The last time I checked it was 2015 – not 1950.

Gone are the days when women stayed at home to raise a family and maintain a home. With both parents working, both parties should be pitching in to do household chores.

Household chores should be discussed prior to getting married to avoid disappointment later on.

Parents should be teaching their children to be well rounded and self sufficient human beings. Mothers should be raising their sons to be able to cook, clean and how to hem their pants. Father’s should be raising their daughters to mow the lawn, pick weeds and how to change a tire.

Can you imagine if parents did this? Children wouldn’t think of certain household chores as a “man’s job” or a “woman’s job”. They would view it as a job that just needs to get done.

It’s time to throw away this backwards way of thinking where household chores are concerned and start working together as a team to get them done.

Do you believe that certain household chores should only be done by a man and a woman?

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My Happiness Project: Communication

My Happiness Project continues.

For the month of March, my resolution was Organization: to keep all areas of my house tidy at all times – especially my kitchen. I think I did a pretty good job in maintaining a clean home last month.

I also challenged myself to follow a weekly schedule. That was pretty much a hit and miss. Some days were better than others.

I created a meal plan for the entire month. I bought groceries and spent a lot of time cooking. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.

Health and fitness wise, I completed another month of the 30 Day Squat Challenge. I survived my first month of Boxing Boot Camp. I gained some arm strength after completing the 30 Day Arm Challenge. I’m hoping to ditch P90X by mid month and head outdoors to jog, walk and roller blade.

This month I’ll be focusing on my core muscles. After taking an extensive break, I’ll be signing up for Belly Dancing classes again. I’m also going to do the 30 Day Abs Challenge.

For the month of April, my resolution is Communication: to talk more and text less.

I remember the days when I would spend endless hours on the phone with my friends. Then I got a cell phone. Conversations were replaced with texting.

Two years ago, I called my cell phone provider and asked them to add unlimited texting to my plan. Last month I received 611 text messages and sent 464. Absolutely ridiculous! My goal is to cut those numbers in half.

To my friends -  if you text me, then you obviously have time to talk to me. Get ready for a phone call. Let’s return to the good old days – even if it’s only for a month.

I’m also going to set aside one evening a week to call family and friends.

I get a lot of complaints that I don’t return phone messages, texts or emails in a timely manner. Honestly, sometimes it gets so overwhelming that I tend to shut down. I’m going to make an effort to return all messages within 24 hours. I think that’s fair.

For the past few years, I’ve been meaning to write a Will. Whenever I think of Wills, I tend to associate them with elderly people. With more young people dying today, we’ve got to protect our families and assets. This month, I’ll be meeting with my Primerica Representative to create my own Will.

What resolutions have you made for this month?

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My Dad is a Survivor

Dear Daddy,

This past weekend, I asked our family and friends to use one word to describe you and explain why they chose that word. I chose Survivor. Here’s why.

In May of 2000, you had the biggest scare of your life. You were diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma cancer. 

When you told us, I thought you were joking.

I was confused. You were the healthiest person I knew. You exercised on a regular. You ate right. You took care of yourself. I couldn’t understand why God would allow this to happen to you.

Every night that you spent lying in that hospital bed, I lay in yours begging God to spare your life.

Prior to your diagnosis, we didn’t have much of a relationship. We barely exchanged words to one another other than “Good Morning” and “Good Evening”. If you survived this hurdle, I knew this couldn’t continue. Things would have to change.

I remember visiting you in the hospital and couldn’t help but cry. You had lost so much weight. You were so weak. I wanted nothing more than to see you get better.

I’ll never forget the dream you shared with us while you were in the hospital. In your dream, you had the choice to either choose life or death – you chose life. God granted your request and fifteen years later, you're cancer free!

During the past fifteen years, we have become the bestest of friends. You have stuck by me during the most difficult seasons of my life. You are the first person I call when I have a decision to make. You showed me that you are never too old to try something new. You taught me to never give up.

Thank you for raising me to be the woman I am today. Many of the things I have accomplished thus far is because of you.

As we celebrated your 65^th Birthday this past weekend, I was awe as I listened to those who paid tribute to you. The amount of lives you have impacted in 65 years is out of this world!

Daddy, thank you for being a Godly example of what a Man, Father and Friend should be. May God continue to bless you with good health and allow you to see many more birthdays.

Love Always,

Monique

What word would you use to describe your Dad and why?

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Ten Million Dollars

Remember the song “If I had a million dollars” by the Barenaked Ladies? How many times did you dream and make lists of what you would do with that kind of money?

Today, a million dollars is nothing but peanuts but what about ten million? Still not a whole lot but take a few minutes to imagine what you would do if someone gave you that kind of money.

Creating my list wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be but here it is:

1) Pay my tithes and make a substantial donation towards my church's new building.

2) Pay off all of my debt.

3) Put money aside for my retirement.

4) Put money aside for my children’s education.

5) Pay off my parent’s mortgages and any debt they may have.

6) Move into a brand new house with an oversized kitchen and backyard.

7) I would open my own music school and bakery – Chapters and Starbucks style.

8) Take a vacation for a year. I would spend two months each in Italy, Spain, Paris, Australia, India and South Africa.

9) Send my parents and siblings on a vacation of their choice.

10) Invest what’s left.

What would you do if someone gave you ten million dollars?

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