All Dogs Go To Heaven

If you have ever lost a pet before, I am sure you have had this hope for the pet.  Last week, our farm's sweet old  German Shepard passed away.  While at Lacrosse practice, one of the girls said to me "don't worry, all dogs go to heaven", and this sparked an idea for me.  

Dutch was the pet, a tan German Shepard with the sweetest personality and disposition.  My grandparents brought Dutch home 11 years ago, when she was already a year old.  That made Dutch 77 years old, in human years, she lived a good life.

Usually people multiply the dog years by seven to figure out how old the dog is in human years.  This can be deceiving however, because the actual age of a dog in human years depends on the breed and the size of the dog.  Usually, larger breeds live shorter lives and mature more quickly, usually considered senior by the time they reach five.  Medium sized dogs are senior around age 7, and little dogs live the longest, usually around 10 years old before they reach senior.

For a German Shepard, Dutch was a pretty good age when she passed away.  

I decided to do a little research on the German Shepard to learn a little bit about Dutch, as well as our other Shepard Dixie.

Dixie taking a snooze on bale, keeping warm off of the cold ground

German Shepards are often used as working dogs, and are usually the choice of dog for the police force.  They are courageous, keen, alert and fearless; as well, they are cheerful, obedient and eager to learn.  They are dogs who have a confidence, are serious, and clever.  To their human pack they are faithful and brave, they will not think twice about giving their lives for their humans.  

On our farm Dutch gave us an example of just how faithful the German Shepard are to their humans.  A couple of years ago my Grandma fell outside of her house and it took her a little while to get up.  While she was lying on the ground, Dutch never left her side, Grandma said she was licking her face, probably trying to comfort her.   Dutch was Grandma's dog, and she loved Grandma more than anyone.  Dixie also loves Grandma, and just the other day she jumped up, without putting her paws on Grandma, and kissed her on the cheek. 

I remember once when I was young, I got stuck in the mud out in the field behind our house and our previous German Shepard stayed with me until help came.  Another time when I was younger I had buried myself in a snow bank, and although I wasn't stuck, my German Shepard could see my feet moving in the snow pile and she dug furiously to get me out, ruining my igloo in the making.  Well, at least she was looking out for me.

Dutch has blessed our family with two batches of puppies.  When I say blessed, I mean surprised.  My father and grandfather would not have considered the puppies a blessing, they more or less considered them a nuisance.  In her first batch she had four puppies, but one of them died.  There was a tiny black one with a white stripe down it's belly, called Flash.  And two tan ones with black noses and paws called Rollie and Copper.  Lucky for me, my parents decided to let me keep Copper, the little tan female, but I had to give the other puppies away.  

Unfortunately, we live by the highway, and one afternoon a semi truck took Copper from us.  Thankfully, all dogs go to Heaven.

So, we got a Border Collie, Lady, to keep Dutch company.  When Lady turned two, Dutch surprised us with another batch of puppies, apparently the neighbor dogs really liked coming to visit our farm.  This time there were four puppies, two passed away, and we were left with two porkie little puppies, Diesel and Dixie.  Diesel and Dixie had the pure markings of German Shepards, both black bodied, Diesel with a white and gray mix of paws, face, and underbody, and Dixie with tan markings on her face, paws and under body.  I worked my magic and convinced my family that we should keep Dixie.  

Dutch and Dixie having some family time

Dixie loved being with her mommy, and some mornings if we let Dixie out of her kennel before untying Dutch, Dixie would push her way into the dog house with Dutch.  Dutch, Dixie, and Lady spent every day together, exploring the pastures, and partaking in their favorite activity of chasing the squirrel who always mocks them from high in the tree.    

Dixie

German Shepards love to be close to their families, and they need their people, they don't like to be isolated or left alone.  This trait is very evident in my German Shepard Dixie.  Dixie is the dog who is always smiling, always loving.  Since she was a puppy she has been very eager for attention and affection, from me especially.  My grandpa always says that Dixie is my dog, and I really started believing this when I moved away for school.  When I would come home on the weekends, Dixie would start to cry the minute she saw my car drive in.  When I opened my car door she would be right there and try to jump in onto my lap.  She would cry and shake her tail so hard that she would knock herself off balance.  Then, when it was time for me to leave again, she would sit outside of my car, and watch as I drove away, only to start the entire process over the next time I was home.  

This is how Dixie sits whenever I leave home

German Shepards come with health problems, and these were evident in Dutch as she started to get older.  Just this past winter, I could start noticing the stiffness in her hips when she was running with the other dogs.  German Shepards can also have blood disorders, digestive problems, bloat, epilepsy, chronic eczema, dwarfism and flea allergies. When I think about all of the things that could have been wrong with Dutch, I am very grateful for the healthy, and fairly long life that she lived! 

Dixie is always smiling

I hope that this article has informed you a bit about the German Shepard.  If you are interested in learning about your dog to the same depth that I was able to learn about mine, check out this link Dog Information.  All you have to do is go to the site and choose your dogs breed, and you can research all about them!

Good luck researching and happy Monday! 

<3 Sam

A Family Affair

So I am sure everyone is familiar with the term "Spring Cleaning".  Most of you probably cringe at the thought. But trust me, you don't have it that bad.  On the farm, we take "spring cleaning" to the next level.  The entire family gets involved.  Grandma and Grandpa, Mom and Dad, Jessica and I, and our dogs even take a role.  Last year I got off easy and got to skip the cleaning extravaganza because I stayed in Edmonton at University to take a Spring Course.  I don't know what I was thinking when I didn't sign up for one this year, quite obviously I wasn't thinking at all.  My sister however conveniently had Volleyball Nationals this week so instead of helping out around the farm, she gets to hang with the team in British Columbia.  Unreal.

Grandpa, me and Dad after vaccinating the cattle!

I figure that the easiest way to fill you in on just what has to be done around this place come spring, is to make a list for you!

• Seeding our crops



Dad getting the Harrows ready to hit the field

• One of the first things that happens around the farm in the spring is the seeding of the crops.  Most of the calves are born by the beginning of May, so we then turn our attentions to the fields.  There are many steps involved in planting a crop, and it is actually quite a lengthy process. 
<-- This is my dad harrowing!
• 
  
• In the fall, after the harvest, some farmers cultivate their land.  Cultivating works the ground, breaking up the dead crop on the top of it and mixing up the soil, leaving clumps of dirt.  Some farmers on the other hand go with a zero till method.  These farmers leave their fields alone after harvest, and may spray a herbicide on the old crops a couple of weeks before seeding.  The idea of "no till" farming doesn't disturb the soil as much as a cultivator, thus preventing seeds from old weeds being brought to the surface, as well this leaves the topsoil - the six inches under the surface of the ground- from being disturbed.  Not disturbing the topsoil usually makes for a more efficient soil, with less erosion and more soil moisture.  Farmers that choose to use the "no till" method need to have an air seeder, which my family currently does not have, but has been seriously considering purchasing.  So until then we still cultivate our ground.
•   <-- cultivating
• Fertilizing- some farmers fertilize in the fall after harvest while others fertilize in the spring right before seeding.  My family fertilizes our fields in the spring before we seed.  This allows the fertilizer to be broken down in the ground over the entire growing year.  For farmers that fertilize their soil each year this method often works well because the fertilizer that is put on the field one spring, is broken down all summer, fall and winter, and will benefit the soil for the next spring.  Lime, phosphorous and sulfur often take longer to break down in the soil, so if it is your first time fertilizing the ground, it is wise to do these fertilizers in the winter so that the soil is ready for seed in the spring.  Nitrogen and pottasium don't take as long to breakdown in the soil so they can often be added in the spring before seeding.
• Harrowing- harrowing is used to spread out the dead plant matter, manure, and soil that has been left on a field.  If a field was cultivated in the fall, harrowing is used to smooth the topsoil and spread any of the previous year's crop around in preparation for the new seeding.  Harrows also help to smooth, remove weeds and aerate the soil.  Once we finish with the harrows, as seen in the video above, then we can get seeding.
• Seeding - to seed a field we use a drill.  We pour seeds into the top of the drill and this drops them into the ground as we drive over the soil.  My dad has installed GPS systems in our tractors.  These GPS systems steer the tractor, all we have to do is turn the wheel at the end of the field.  This system is a more efficient way of seeding because it prevents us from going over top of the parts that we already seeded, preventing us from wasting seed, and therefore saving money, time, and fuel.
• <-- Seed Drill
• Harrow Packing- Once we are finished seeding, we go over the soil with a harrow packer.  Pretty much the same thing as harrowing, in fact you use your harrows, just with an added piece.  We pack the ground and level it out after the seeds have been planted
• <- Harrow/Packers
• Grass Cutting
• What a thrill.  I am sure everyone knows how brutal cutting the grass the first time of the year is and it isn't fun.  The grass is always full of dust, and various branches and rocks that have blown onto the lawn during the winter.  What makes grass cutting even worse out on the farm is the fact that our lawn is a couple acres large, and we also take it upon ourselves to cut the ditch in front of our house.  Not the greatest time ever.  I personally don't mind cutting the grass because we have a nice, new ride-on lawn tractor, and since it takes a couple hours to cut the grass, I wear a bikini and get a nice tan!
• Raking of leaves and twigs



Grandma's pile explosion right after the match got tossed in

• My family's yard and my grandparent's yard are only separated by a small group of trees and a ravine, so every year we help them out by picking up the twigs that fall from their large trees onto their grass as well as sometimes cutting the grass for them.  Just yesterday my Grandma decided it was a good day to rake the dead branches and leaves off of her grass.  So my mother, father, grandma and I worked diligently to pick up the old vegetation.  This is always an interesting process.  As soon as there is a pile placed on the driveway, my grandma takes it upon herself to light the pile.  This year the twigs just weren't dry enough to start the pile, so she added a small dose of gasoline.  Small is an understatement.  When my mom threw the match on the pile we had a slight pyrotechnic show, once again.  I desperately wanted to roast marshmallows, but apparently I still had ten million more hours of work to do so my mother wouldn't let me. 
• Corral Cleaning 
• With  a couple hundred head of cattle moving through the corrals quite frequently, it is important that they are cleaned out so that manure and other dirt or bedding doesn't pile up in them.  A manure hauling company is hired for a day to remove the piles of manure in corrals that my grandfather has pushed with the loader tractor.  This year, once the snow melted and everything started to dry, my grandfather was busy at work, even in the pastures, fixing ruts in the dirt which were the cause of a very long and snowy winter.  We want to make sure that all of our corrals and pastures are clean and safe for cattle to live in.  We love our animals, and we work hard for their protection and healthy living.
• Cattle Vaccinations, Brandings & Castrations
Lady (the Border Collie) working. Notice how my father and our neighbor, Lorne, never really touch the animals or get to close, they try to let Lady do all the work.  By staying calm and not getting impatient, Lorne and Dad can keep the cattle slightly less stressed, which also creates less problems for them!
• All three of these things happen in the spring, and it often takes the family and a couple of neighbors to get it all done!  If you check out my "All Things Agriculture" link you can learn all about castration.  My family hasn't had our branding/castrating yet so stay tuned for a story on that.  Just yesterday we did however give all of our cows shots.  After the cows calve, we treat them all for IBR, to prevent the disease from affecting the herd.  IBR - Infectious bovine rhinotracheitis - is a disease which occurs in the air passages of the head and the windpipe and can cause inflammation of the vulva and vagina, and can cause abortion in cattle.  If a cow is vaccinated while she is pregnant, it will also increase the chance of her aborting.  Because of the chance of abortion, we vaccinate all of our cattle with IBR in the spring, after they have calved and before we let the bulls out to decrease the chance of the cattle aborting.
• When you bring the cattle into the corral to vaccinate, you have to first separate the cows from the calves.  This is probably one of the hardest parts about vaccinating because no mommy's ever want to leave their babies.  So, while one person opens and closes the gates, usually two other people work in the mix of the cattle, sending the mama cows to the gate and keeping the baby calves back.  Once the cows are separated from the calves, we split the cows into smaller groups, and send them down the runway where they line up head to tail.  This is where the cows are given their shots.  Just a quick shot in the neck.  It is fast when you have four or five in the run at once because you can just walk down the line and give them all their needles effectively.  My job is to bring four more cattle up each time one of the lines gets done.  I have to work the gates and make sure that there are always four ready to be put in the cattle run so that we can work as quickly as possible.  Cows kick.  Everyone knows this and everyone wants to avoid it.  This is why I find that being calm with the animals, and just trying to direct them using your body motion and the way you walk towards them is the best way of handling cattle.  When the cows are treated stress free, the process often moves quicker and the moms can be more quickly reunited with their babies!  
• Our dog Lady plays a big role in the operation each and every time that we sort cattle.  Lady is our Border Collie, and being with the cattle is her life.  With her help we can always quickly bring cattle up to somewhere we want them to be.  Lady loves to ride in the tractor with Grandpa.  When Grandpa opens the gate and honks the horn of the tractor, Lady knows to move the cows away from the gate.  She then lies by the gate and makes sure that nothing leaves the field until Grandpa is out of the field with the tractor and is able to close the gate.  Check out the video above of Lady at work!!
• Garden and Flower Beds



Grandpa and Grandma, working in the garden

• My mother and Grandma share a MASSIVE garden.  I can't really complain, because I do love the fresh vegetables and fresh raspberries, but I don't particularly like working in the garden.  With spring, the garden and the flower beds need to be cleaned out and planted in preparation for the summer.  With the garden, my grandpa always has to rotatill it the soil to prepare it for the seeding.  This breaks up the dirt and whatever dead plant matter may be on the surface.  As well, this works to get rid of some of the weeds.  The weeds growing in the flower beds need to be pulled out and new flowers put in their place.  And then comes the seeding of the garden.  Grandma, the garden supervisor, is always very proud of her garden and her plants, so she takes her time deciding what should be planted where.  Sometimes it takes quite a few hours to get the entire garden planted! If you want a garden and live in the city, it is still possible!  Why not have a raised bed garden in your backyard, or try one of the community gardens! If you want some tips on planting a garden, or if you're from the city and want to know how you can have a garden, check out this site - Canadian Gardening

So there you have it folks.  Just a little idea of just what we on the farm do for spring cleaning.  It's quite a lot, and the work can be long and hard, but I wouldn't give it up for the world.  I love where I live, I love what we do, and nothing could change that!


Thanks for checkin' in!!


<3

Mommy Mayhem

Today is a day to celebrate mommys everywhere.  And that is exactly what I did.  I woke up early this morning so that I could write a nice card for my mom, just a small way of letting her know just how much she means to me.  I won't get onto a long explanation of just how fantastic my mother is, because it would take me a lifetime to explain it, and I have much to say in this blog.  All you need to know, is that I have the best mother in the world, as I am sure many of you would say about your own mothers.  My mother is amazing, she works so hard to give my family the best life ever, and she always tries her very hardest to help others out.  She's genuine and sweet.  I love my mama. 


Now onto the other mamas.


I woke up early this morning to head to the Ponoka Community Golf Course where I spent the morning serving numerous moms at the special Mother's Day Brunch.  It was so nice to see so many families out with their mothers, happy and thankful for what they do.  I think that is what should happen.  Quite often, especially in the case of my mom, mothers spend 364 days of the year putting their kids first and running around after their kids, today should be to honor them, even though I know they deserve so much more. 


When I finished my shift of serving tons of mommy's, I was greeted at home by both of my Grandma's, my aunt and her family, and my mom.  It was so awesome to be able to honor all the important moms in my life, all in the same place.  I love family time more than anything in this world.


But enough about my mommys, I have so many more for you to meet, and many more that we need to honor.


First come the cow mamas.  On our farm we have roughly 200 mommy cows that we calve out each year, starting in late February and usually going to the end of May. (Note: when I say "calve out" I mean we breed 200 cows so they then have their babies on the farm.  A cow giving birth is called calving, so when we talk about calving and our number of cows we say "calve out").  Today we had to honor 200 mommy cows as well.  When talking about cattle, the mother is called a cow, the father a bull, and the baby a calf.  But it doesn't stop there!!! Female and male calves have different names too!  A female calf is called a heifer, and this name stays with them until they have their first baby.  A male calf is born as a bull, however, you have probably often heard the term "steer".  A steer is a bull calf that has been castrated (aka lost his manly parts, or testicles).  If you want to know why we castrate calves check out the "All Things Agriculutre" tab tomorrow, and I will feature a story on why we do what we do, I can promise it will be nutty...  On our farm all of our male calves become steers, and I will explain why that is in the story so check it out!
Mommy cows usually spend most of their career making babies... well actually, that is their career.  The minute they stop making babies they usually get sent to the auction mart.  On our farm the cows usually spend roughly 9 months being pregnant, and they usually have their first calf when they are 24 months of age.  After calving the calves are most dependent on their moms from birth to about three months old, for beef cows that is.  Dairy calves are usually taken away from their mamas at a day or two old.  Poor babies.  We usually wean our calves (separate them from their moms) in eary October, when they are anywhere from 180 - 210 days old, 6-8 months.  By the time that the calves are weaned the mama cows are already bred again.  Mama cows usually get bred two to three months after they calve! 

So now that you know all about the cattle, and the mommy cows it is time to introduce you to more mommys on our farm!


Dutch and Dixie - Our German Shepards
Dutch is our oldest dog on the farm and at 12 years old she has had two batches of puppies, Dixie being one of her babies.  Dutchie was a good mama, and she loved having babies so much that one spring she stole a couple of baby kittens from the barn and put them in her dog house to stay with her!  Dixie was also a mommy on our farm, and although her puppies were all given away, she was still a good mommy!  
A mother dog is called a bitch (not meaning to swear, unfortunate title really) and a father is called a dog.  The babies are called pups, and boy are they cute!
Dogs have a gestation of 9 weeks, approximately 63 days, and the pups rely on their mother the most during the first three weeks.  At 7-14 days their eyes open and they begin becoming more independent.  Puppies can be weaned from their mothers between 3 to 8 weeks after birth. 

The puppy is Tucker, he is Dixie's baby, and Dutch's grandson.  Dixie is the dark brown German Shepard lying on the grass, Dutch is the lighter German Shepard sitting up, and Lady is the Border Collie, the dog who thinks she is human.  The father is the neighbors dog, we would never say it to their face, but the puppies were an accident.

 The cool thing about mother dogs is that the same litter of puppies can have different fathers!  Female dogs are capable to conceive each time that they get mated!  Half of the litter can look like one dad and the other half the other dad!  Try explaining that one to the husband, hunny I swear some of the babies are yours!

These three puppies were out of the same litter, all belonging to Dixie.  This shows you that yes indeed puppies can have different dads and still be born in the same litter.  Zoe and Tucker were born with short tails, short hair, and Mia had long hair, and a long tail! Crazy!

And now for the kitties!
It seems as though every year our cats are the most active mommys around the farm.  The cats teach their babies all about being independent and fending for themselves, cats don't really need to rely on humans, domesticated or not.  A male cat is called a Tom cat, and a female a Queen.  The babies of course are kittens, and I can honestly say baby kitties are one of the cutest baby animals in the world!  Mother cats spend 63-65 days in gestation, and the babies are usually weaned by five weeks of age.  Just like puppies, the kittens are born with their eyes closed, and their eyes open between 5 and 8 days.  Kittens were the light of my life when I was little, "kitty" was my first real word!  I used to spend hours in our hayloft every minute I was home in the hayloft playing with the baby kitties and watching them attack one another and play all day and then curl up with the other kittens for a snooze.  A big bonus to living on the farm is being able to have baby kittens every year and then picking from the litters the two or three that I want to keep before we give them away to the neighborhood farms!

Ducks!
A male duck is called a Drake, a female is called a Duck, and the babies are called Ducklings.  A few years ago a wild duck made a small nest under a spruce tree in my grandma's yard.  If we ever went out there we could see her out there tending to her eggs.  Watching baby ducks follow their mama around is such a site to see!  The duck has to worry about so many little babies at once, and Jon and Kate thought they had it bad!  Just watch the video I posted in my blog a few days ago, and you can see the determination of the mother duck while she gathers up her babies that have been swept away in the wind!  

After a duck lays her eggs she usually spends about 23-28 days sitting on them before they hatch!And then the cute ducklings appear and can stay with their mother their entire life in the flock, but usually are done relying on their mother at 12 weeks.

Chickens!
A male chicken is called a rooster, and many people wake up with him.  A female is a hen, and a baby is a chick.  Chicks are often raised in incubators (a warm lamp used in place of a hen) and are raised away from their mothers when on farms.  Hens normally sit on their eggs for 20 -22 days.  If you have ever had the chance to hold a chick, or touched a chick, you will know that they are one of the softest baby animals ever!  Their little feathers are like silk, and they are cute little balls of fluff!

Pigs!
Piglets are the babies.  Another one of the cutest baby animals in the world... If you're sensing a trend, yes, I do believe that every baby animal is the cutest in the world.  It just depends which animal I am seeing at the time.  A mother pig is called a sow, and a father a boar.  Some animals stay cute as they age, I tend to feel that pigs are not one of those animals, they lose the cute.  A pig has a gestation period of 112-115 days and the babies can usually be weaned from 14 to 28 days old.  Mama pigs can have anywhere between 8 and 14 babies, imagine looking after that litter, that mama's house must be a pig sty... :)    

There are many more animals out there that I would love to talk about and inform you of, but I am just a little out of time and don't know how much more you can handle reading, so if you have a question I would love to check it out for you and write you a story about it!!


I hope you enjoyed the special "Mommy Mayhem" edition, now enjoy the rest of your day with your mommys!!


<3 Sam

Wisdom Week

With so many things happening in the past couple of weeks, I realized almost everything that I did had something to do with wisdom, in some sort of way.  Having just finished my second year of University exams, I really didn't expect to be using just as much wisdom as I had the past couple of weeks.  
Wisdom Week:

Lady sharing a little bit of her wisdom with baby Spice

Foster baby wearing a fur coat of the foster mama's original calf

Brittney and her twins before she had to give one up

1. Upon return home from school and the big city on the 20th of April I was once again able to spend some time outside with my father, and the cattle.  I was reintroduced to just how wise my father was when a calf on the farm died suddenly.  Usually when a baby calf dies we try and foster a calf from a set of twins onto the cow to prevent the cow who's baby died from drying up.  Unfortunately the only set of twins available at the time were from my cow Brittney.  I wasn't the happiest girl in the world when my dad informed me he was using one of my calves.  Granted, it is much easier on my small cow to raise one, but she's too cute when she has two!  So I accepted the fate of my calf and went out to help my dad.  If you are not familiar with farming and the protocol of fostering a calf it may surprise you when learning the steps that we have to take to foster.  From the minute they are born, cows know the scent of their calves as well as their calve's voice.  In order to foster a calf onto a mother cow we need to make sure that she thinks it is her own baby, or else often times the mother cow will kick the calf when it tries to suck.  So our baby calves have to sport fur coats, crafted by my dad, so that their foster mama will take them.  These fur coats are not your ordinary fur coat, and a sad story is behind them.  When a calf passes away, we cut the fur off of the dead calf, making a little fur coat for the foster calf.  This allows the foster mama to smell the scent of her own calf, allowing the new foster baby to eat.  It is always sad when a calf dies, so we try to help the mama cow out as much as possible.  It takes much wisdom from the farmers to know what to do in so many unique situations. 
2. On Monday the 27 I started my first day of work at the Ponoka Golf Course.  As a waitress you need to know the menu that you will be serving inside and out, so my wisdom was put to the test as I tried to memorize the complete menu within minutes of being there.  Thankfully the course wasn't open yet and only a few patient customers came for lunch!
3. And then came the Wisdom teeth.  For any of you that have experienced having your wisdom teeth removed, I am sure that you question, as I do, just why they are called wisdom teeth.  To be quite frank, I feel these "wisdom teeth" are the most useless and annoying teeth in the human body.  Since all four of my wisdom teeth were conveniently impacted in my gums above my other back teeth, the dentist told me they would have to operate.  So my mother drove me to the city on Wednesday the 27th of April where I met my fate.  I remember laying on the bed while a nurse checked my blood pressure and prepared me for the anesthesiologist.  When he did arrive, they attached the iv to my arm, and started to inject a substance that he referred to as the "nighty night" drugs.  I got three words out of my mouth before I was out.  The next thing I knew I was in the out patients room, with an oxygen mask on and five nurses busying themselves around me; as well as four less teeth.  In all honesty, I feel that I used no wisdom when I agreed to have them taken out; who knew that over a week later, I would be sitting here, writing this blog, having not eaten a real meal for 9 days because of all of the small blisters in my mouth, and being 5 pounds lighter.  I guess if you're looking for a natural way to lose weight, get your wisdom teeth out.  I warn you though, it's a painful price to pay.
4. The National Election Campaign.  As if the week hadn't already been full enough, then came the elections this Monday.  I was somewhat disappointed with all of the parties this year as it seemed that there was not a great deal of discussion about agriculture.  It also seems that more and more the election campaigns and commercials put on TV focus on putting down all the other parties, telling the viewers just what it is that the other parties are doing bad at, and not telling us what they advertising party is going to do for us.  It seems their tactics are to put down all the other parties and they often miss the part where they are supposed to inform us of what they will do for us.  I was expecting that Alberta would come out with strong representation for Conservatives, as it seems this is always the case, they seem to care the most about the West.  Since I am of legal age, I decided I should let my opinion be heard, so I headed to the voting station with my grandparents.  Since I had never voted before I had to bring two pieces of ID with me.  No problem.  I grabbed my driver's license and my passport, or, what I thought was my passport.  Little did I know that my younger sister had also got a pink passport case while I was gone to school.  When the ladies handing out the ballots looked at my passport they stated "It seems you're underage Jessica".  Wow.  I guess getting my wisdom teeth out really did affect my wisdom.  Thankfully the ladies working the booth knew my family and were personally friends with myself so I was allowed to cast my vote! Now all I can do is pray that the Conservative majority government takes a stand and directs and protects our country in a way that will benefit the people in it.  I read a quote on Monday on Facebook that said "If you wear a poppy on Remembrance Day then you should have two minutes in your day to use our right to vote, the freedom that so many people sacrificed their lives for".  This is so true.  We wear a poppy to remember the people that died to bring our country freedom, so shouldn't we show them our appreciation by voting when they died for that freedom.  I also think that giving the NDP's as many seats as they got was a positive.  Because they are new to the position of main opposition, they will have a great deal of expectations to meet in order to stay at the place they are, so I think this may encourage them to promote change and to work hard in the constituencies that they have, some Canadian government progress would be greatly appreciated!  Thoughts??  
5. Finally, not regarding Canada, but instead the United States, the death of Osama bin Laden.  I have heard many different views on the issue and I still stand unsure of how to feel about his death.  At first I was happy that those thousands of families were getting their revenge.  But then as people started celebrating I read a post by one of my friends and I soon started to question if this really was a wise move for the States.  Her post had said "I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people.  I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so that they can live- Ezekiel 33:11".  This made me think... were the American's using their fullest wisdom when they killed Osama, or were they so caught up in the thought of revenge that they weren't thinking quite as wise as they should have.  I have been reading many viewpoints on the issue, and there are a few things that I don't understand.  They put the body in the ocean before any proof was given to the public, so how can we totally beleive they actually caught him? I just finished reading an article from Indiawest.com.  In this article they say that Al Qaeda is planning a series of retalitory terrorist attacks out of of their lost leader, as well, to demonstrate to the world that they will not be weakened by the absence of a leader.   So you tell me... was it a good idea to kill him, even though we were making some progress in the war on terrorism.  If you want to read the article for yourself the link is http://www.indiawest.com/readmore.aspx?id=3247&sid=1

So there you have it.  My wisdom week.  I look forward to hearing your comments!!

<3 Sam