Who are you?

I think I've mentioned before that I was adopted into a Polish/Scottish family.  My mother was Polish and my father is Scottish.  I, on the other hand, am of Native Canadian heritage.  Describing my background has always made me feel uncomfortable because I don't actually know what the politically correct term for the Aboriginal Peoples of Canada is.  Am I First Nations?  Am I Native Canadian?  I know I'm not Indian.  I am Ojibwe...Anyway, I have a Certificate of Indian Status which enables me to receive a portion of sales tax off of purchases.  In order to receive this rebate, I must show my status card when I am paying for my purchases.

I went to use it today, and the girl who was cashing me out, kept looking at the card and looking at me.  She puts the card down in front of me and says, "You aren't allowed to use someone else's card".  I know I look different, but there is some resemblance between me and the picture on the card.  So I have to explain to her that I am using my card and my appearance has just changed over the past year.  She looked skeptical so I showed her my driver's licence and health card as well.  She looked genuinely shocked and blurted out, "OMG! What did you do?"  I'm used to getting this reaction from people I know, but not so much from strangers.

I know that this says I am an Indian, but even I know that
"Indian" is not politically correct!

My job requires that I sometimes attend court to support and assist clients.  I went to court a couple of weeks ago and got the same type of hassle when I showed my work ID to get into court. Usually I just flash my ID at the Court Services Officer and they let me through without searching me.  This time, I was searched and told by the female guard that I looked great, but needed to get a new ID picture taken so that this didn't happen every time I came to court.

Today I sat in a training all day that included several people I haven't seen in many months, and some I haven't seen in over a year.  One person in particular kept staring at me, then would look away when I noticed him looking at me.  He never approached me except to say hello, but I could tell he wanted to make a comment.  Sometimes I just don't feel like giving people the "in" they need to say something about my appearance.  Today was one of those days.  It was raining and miserable and I wasn't feeling accommodating at all.  One of the trainers did approach me to tell me that she started running in the summer and heard that I was also a runner.  I smiled at that because she called me a runner...and someone told her I ran, not just that I lost a bunch of weight! She has also fallen head over heels in love with running.

In my Lucky number 13 post, a couple of people commented that they hoped I wouldn't stop blogging once I reached goal.  Blogging has become such a part of my life that I can't imagine giving it up now.  My story's just begun.  Maintenance is a whole new chapter that I look forward to sharing with anyone who wants to keep reading.  Amazing that you even want to read about my boring life!

Tomorrow is a potluck at work. In the past I have always made pierogi casserole.  It's similar to pierogi, but made in casserole form with lasagna noodles, mashed potatoes, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese and a ton of butter and onions.  It's an incredibly rich, carbohydrate and fat drenched dish.  I made it for last year's potluck but didn't eat any because I had already started my lifestyle change.  This year I contemplated making it again, but decided instead to go with ratatouille.  I shouldn't be encouraging others to eat bad food especially if I have nothing positive to say about the dish.  Lets face it.  It's a heart attack waiting to happen! There will be enough "bad" choices at the potluck that I certainly don't need to add to them.

I'm also on snack for team meeting tomorrow morning but my team won't make out quite as healthy.  With having to prepare the ratatouille (which is in my slow cooker as we speak) I'm taking the easy way out and bringing chocolate chip banana bread and cranberry lemon loaf from my freezer.  I'll be eating my hard boiled eggs while everyone else enjoys my home made baking.  I'm good with that because any time I feel the struggle start, I pull out my phone and look at the picture on the left (I keep it on my phone as a deterrent), and my desire to eat crap goes right away. Go figure!

July 2011

October 2012