'Sunny' Calgary

This apparently was a storm of note.  Not that we realized it at the time - no tv or radio on to give us pertinent info - so we simply watched as Mother Nature entertained us with her capricious fury.
Next day we drove to Home Depot and noticed branches and piles of leaves crisping in the hot afternoon sun.  We discussed the storm with a cashier who told us that they and all the customers had been huddled at the centre of the store because of tornado warnings.  Tornado....whaaa??!
Okay.  Radios or tv on next time.

Sunshine,lollipops...and chalkboards

At long last my chalk pastels get to see the light of day again.  I think I'll try to do more of this.  Of course I managed to turn it into minimum wage - perhaps that's my hidden super power...no matter what the job pays I can somehow reduce it to $8 to $10 an hour when all my time is factored in.  Oh well.  I have had a few situations where that wasn't the case and I didn't go below $20 an hour. 

The next step is to compose my own sign for Hutson Artworks in chalk and start getting my work out there.

Alrightie world...here I come.  And this time I mean it.

Splitting

I went to see TwinB's former doctor here and I learned a new term: splitting.
Update 07/17: when I looked up 'splitting' in regards to BPD it refers to the black and white thinking typical of the disorder...and I already knowed that so I don't know what the doctor was talkin 'bout.  Must be something but I suspect it goes by a different term.
I was in there to find out how to access files that could be sent to Alberta so's the kind folks who work with Persons Of Challenge could get her on the AISH.  (assistance for the severely handicapped)  She doesn't need them for any income supplement at present but it would be nifty if they could cover her $200 a month meds and to step in if she relapses at some point.  The doctor agreed that she really should have some ongoing mental health care and that he would find notes and assessments that would prove her eligible.
Her one stipulation was that it not include borderline personality disorder and after a lengthly debate he was able to assure me that he could swing it in the bipolar direction...which he considers a more stigmatizing label, oddly.
As he glanced over her history he noted that borderline PD had been suggested as far back as 2000 which would have been her first hospitalization.  He listed 4 features they'd identified to support this, though it wasn't applied to her since she was only 14 and no firm diagnosis is normally made till age 18.
One of the terms he mentioned was this 'splitting' thing which is where the professionals don't all agree on the diagnosis - splitting the team - so they view the patient as being disruptive even though they're not present. 
How convenient.
If someone decides you have BPD and someone else thinks they're on the wrong track well that's just more proof that you have it.
*smacks forehead*

Oh Canada!

Here's the Luso Canadian float rocking out to some Portuguese tunes.  Despite the forcast for showers we received absolutely perfect weather!  July 1st is our 'big day' here in Kitimat and it's a great place in which to spend it.  Could barely move when I got to the later festivities at Riverlodge.

One of the Spirit of the Kitlope dancers sporting a blending of cultures look.

There's our 'Duaniki' in blue!  'Ours' as in Mount Elizabeth Theatre where he volunteered as a tech through his entire high school years and then this past year while he was waiting to arrange entry to BCIT. 

The final number of the performance was The Friendship Dance - one of the dancers graciously granted the little girl at her side the opportunity to particpate and to truly celebrate the genuine spirit of the dance.  Got me a little choked up!