Just when you think we're taking one step forward...

When I first heard that sexual education was going to be extended to start teaching first graders in Ontario I was happy that we're FINALLY getting this right. All research shows that teaching sex-ed to children, as long as it is age sensitive language, has highlighted time and time again to reduce the likelihood of teen pregnancy and it also has been researched that earlier sex-ed leads to later sexual debuts than not providing true sexual health information. Yet here we are, 2 days later taking those two steps back. By taking back the proposed plan to include grade one for sexual education, it not only is an injustice to those children, but it also tells people that homosexuality, sexual orientation, masturbation, and all the other topics the conservatives and religious groups don't want children educated on, are wrong. It just saddens me that there was that glimmer of hope that maybe we'd start doing something right on the sexual health front that we are so far behind in.....but alas no.

Favourite Balcony TIme of Day

I LOVE sitting out on my balcony! Last summer when I was staying in Ottawa for the summer (alone for much of it), I decided to wrap Christmas lights around it so that even at night I could sit out there and chill, or drink with friends and still be able to see each other but more importantly our drinks. For the first month of the summer I didn't have a job so I pretty much spent my days as a "housewife". I would wake up, shower, eat breakfast and have my morning tea (I don't drink coffee, it makes me feel all weird) on the balcony, then I would open a bottle of wine and clean the apartment while drinking (this "drinking" will be a trend, you'll see); when the place was clean I'd grab my book and sit on the balcony with my glass of wine reading till I'd inevitably get tipsy and need to stop reading cause I'd start getting a headache and the words would move. I'd then watch tv or just chill, till my friends were done working for the day and I could hang out with them, or my partner at the time would invite me to some event or fancy dinner like one of The Real Housewives of Ottawa. I still use the balcony a lot, WAY more than any of my roommates, but I don't use it quite the same drunken way anymore (not that I don't drink, I just don't drink on the balcony anymore lol). I now drink my tea out there and will chill reading or talking on Skype with friends in other cities. But my favourite thing to do is people watch! I live on a one-way street that has a pretty steady flow of people and car traffic without being crazy busy. There's a half-way house three doors down and a children's daycare across the street. And as creepy as it sounds...my favourite time of the day on the balcony is around 5:00pm when the sun's still out and it's still nice; I'm usually on Skype of Facebook chatting, but my main distraction is the parents picking their kids up from daycare. I play the game "guess which kid belongs to that parent" and I must say I'm not too bad at it! hahaha. I know, I know, this all sounds uber creepy. But it's so entertaining! Not only is it prime people watching time, and I can entertain myself with stupid games, but it's also the time when the noisy, bratty kids leave my street and I don't have to hear them screaming and playing anymore.....till tomorrow when they'll wake my up in the morning regardless if the windows and doors are closed or not. I love 5:00pm balcony time, cause it's my creepy, fun way of saying bye to the ankle-snappers who cut short my sleeps too often. Oh, how I'm going to miss this balcony time when I move.....although I imagine it'll be nice to not be woken up by banshee screams in the morning.