Yard maintenance can mean different things to different home owners. I recall going to a home in central Nanaimo in which the home owner advised that his yard was “naturally and organically landscaped and maintained”. When I got to the house, I was amazed that weeds could actually grow to the height of an adult male and grass could still be yellow and dead when it is as high as your waist!! Needless to say, a gentle discussion did take place in which I had to tell the proud home owner that simply doing no maintenance to a yard did not constitute marketing comments that included “meticulously and sustainably landscaped yard with organic products add immense value to this home”!

Growing up, I used to idolize the “Leave it to Beaver” shows on the old black and white TV we had - with the picture-perfect family that I would close my eyes and imagine myself having. My mom was very ill when I was a child, and was constantly in the hospital undergoing surgery after surgery. My interaction with my mom was limited to those fleeting moments when she felt well enough to let me sit with her, before having to go back into the hospital. She did not live to see 34, and the child in me grieved for a long time the fact that I never really had much time with her. I would enjoy going over to my friends’ houses and watching their moms scold them, make a fresh batch of cookies, bandage a bloody knee, or tell us to get outside and play. I think that I was angry for a long time, since I felt “cheated” out these ordinary experiences with my own mom.

The island nation of Nauru boasts just under 10,000 citizens and is located near Papua New Guinea. At one time, this small island boasted the world's highest income per capita due to the massive exporting of phosphate. Naurans were so wealthy that some residents would have luxury cars such as Lamborghinis sent over to the island - with nowhere to drive them! As Naura's phosphate amounts rapidly declined, substantial amounts of phosphate income were invested in trust funds to help cushion the transition and provide for Nauru's economic future. As a result of heavy spending from the trust funds, the government faces virtual bankruptcy.