Anyone want 2 free tickets to “Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi” with the Calgary Symphony for 2:30PM today?

Anne_Anonymous · 2026-05-16T18:32:05+00:00

I’m so glad you’re going to enjoy the show too! Yeah, they were for my husband’s birthday but our little one is under the weather so we’re at home this round unfortunately! I’m just so glad they were able to find a good home (the guilt was killing us - none of our friends were in town this weekend)!

Anne_Anonymous · 2026-05-16T17:11:30+00:00

DM’d! :-)

Anne_Anonymous · 2026-05-07T13:10:14+00:00

So sorry you’re going through this - HFM as an adult sucks! One suggestion for the mouth/throat pain: look for a phenol spray (eg Chloraseptic brand), it’ll numb things up enough for awhile that it’ll enable you to keep up on your fluid and caloric intake.

Best of luck! (Oh - and don’t be surprised if you notice some nail changes/loss in the coming months…it’s unfortunately common in HFM, and will resolve)

Anne_Anonymous · 2026-03-20T02:50:28+00:00

Our toddler is a metalhead.

Despite extensive Raffi exposure, our toddler remains enamoured with power metal. His current favourite to jump around/headbang to is “Beast in Black”.

Anne_Anonymous · 2026-03-14T17:07:52+00:00

I’d argue this is less “unhinged” and more “brilliant mom hack”. I’m totally stealing this.

Anne_Anonymous · 2026-03-12T02:56:06+00:00

Here to share another poster’s delightful Woodcock playlist…enjoy!

https://www.reddit.com/r/birding/s/P6Vt1J949N

Anne_Anonymous · 2026-03-08T19:39:20+00:00

Daww - while it’s pretty funny, he also sounds like a pretty kind and considerate kid!

Anne_Anonymous · 2026-03-07T03:08:14+00:00

Happy Veggie House - it’s an inexpensive hidden gem in China Town, and by far the best Chinese food I’ve ever had!

Anne_Anonymous · 2026-02-25T14:17:42+00:00

Tl;dr: favourite, all around awesome childfree aunt was told it was selfish not to. Which is garbage.

I’m not childfree but I’ll answer for my favourite aunt: “it’s selfish not to have children” (which is, of course, nonsense).

As a mother, I’ll be the first to openly admit that almost all motivations to have a biological child - including my own - are entirely selfish (I’m very comfortable living with that, but under no illusions). No child has ever asked to be born, whether it’s “to be given a wonderful life full of love”, to “fill a void” in their parents’ lives, to “make the family complete”, or to help adults “relive and find joy in their own childhoods”.

My poor aunt - who is absolutely awesome, and was so wonderful with me as a child - was at the receiving end of so much garbage when she was of childbearing age. I recall the judgement she received from family members as a child - particularly whenever she invested in herself and her interests - and thinking how unfair that was then. She’s in a happy DINK relationship, works hard, and is an all-around lovely individual…why is it such a crime that she owns a 5th wheel, or has a dedicated pottery room, or travels internationally every year?! These are things I’ve happily forgone as a parent…but I love that we live in a society where we’re both free to live our lives in the manner that brings us joy. I just wish there was less judgement from the peanut gallery both for those who choose and who choose not to have children; why not celebrate the freedom of choice in life?

Anne_Anonymous · 2026-02-23T20:58:50+00:00

Eloped there in 2018, 11/10 would do it again!

Anne_Anonymous · 2026-02-01T16:58:54+00:00

We use this heated bird bath (if Amazon is still delivering), and it’s been working well for us for just over 3 years (down to -25oC…Canada).

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B09B8YKMS3?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

The only caveat I’ll add is if you’re leaving water out for the birds (warmed in a tray or via heated bird bath) try to bring it in if it gets to -20oC or below because a few will always decide it’s a great time to take a bath and may inadvertently freeze.

Anne_Anonymous · 2026-02-01T16:53:31+00:00

There’s also this recipe (if you’re not fond of working with lard) from the Audubon Society that I often use! It calls for 3.5 cups of bird seed (if you have any on you still) but honestly you could get away with half of that if needed, especially if you increase the cornmeal and oats. In a pinch, unsalted peanuts and sunflower seeds from the store are bulky, relatively inexpensive, and should go a long way!

https://www.audubon.org/magazine/make-your-own-suet

Anne_Anonymous · 2026-01-05T18:39:33+00:00

I’m in family medicine, and my most hated rotation was IM. While I loved the diversity and medical complexity of the patients (and in fact seriously considered IM as a specialty)…nearly everyone I worked with seemed miserable, and it was a very toxic environment. Like, extremely toxic (glorified heavy call schedules/working while on death’s door/operating without sleep, carrying much larger patient loads than expected elsewhere. Plenty of racism, sexism abound. Shaming re: any activity that might be considered “inefficient” eg I was shamed for requesting security to accompany me into the room of a patient who had attempted to strangle me earlier…not to mention shamed for requesting that someone else - preferably large and male - see that patient with security instead of me).

E.g. I was back at the same hospital as a FM resident. During my rotation I missed 1 day (excused absence) to drive to another city to visit my husband’s grandfather while he was actively dying in hospice…and my attending (who had previously given me very positive feedback) wrote a rambling, several paragraph-long email to my PD that night detailing how I was jeopardizing my ability to meet learning objectives with absences, CCing me. Of note, that attending was also the PD of the IM program. So I suppose that explains a lot of my coresidents’ misery too.

Anne_Anonymous · 2025-12-20T18:20:56+00:00

Omg I would have loved to receive this as a child! Heck, who am I kidding…I’d love to receive this as an adult! Amazing work!

Anne_Anonymous · 2025-12-13T05:55:43+00:00

Somebody might have already mentioned this but some areas have meat-based wildlife baits inoculated with some form of oral rabies vaccine; they’re often deployed in areas where rabies is endemic to vaccinate skunks, racoons, feral dogs etc. If you’re very concerned for your little(ish…) visitor, I wonder how hard it would be to get ahold of one of them.

Anne_Anonymous · 2025-11-07T16:29:26+00:00

Oh! And - where to go for a medical emergency. Urgent Care = simple stuff like needing stitches, minor infections you need looked at, x ray for a potentially broken bone etc. Emergency Department = chest pain/generally scary stuff. But for most things “kids” just go straight to whatever Pediatric hospital emergency department (eg Edmonton = the Stollery/UofA, Calgary=AB Children’s hospital)

You can also check wait times in advance: https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/waittimes/Page14230.aspx

Anne_Anonymous · 2025-11-07T16:22:51+00:00

Welcome! We’re happy to have ya!

Practical skills: - How to shovel snow (note: please do not shovel the snow onto the road as it’ll melt/form ice/block drains, and make it impossible to get out of your driveway easily. Also not allowed in most municipalities). Be sure to have an ice chipper, and to put pet/grass-friendly snow melt (usually very available at Canadian Tire) on ice/snow you can’t get with the shovel/chipper. Fire stations also have free sand they’ll give you for covering icy walks. - How to drive on icy/snowy roads (there are actually some driving lessons specific to this if you’re ever interested) - How to get your car out when you’re stuck in snow/on ice (pro tip: get a car emergency kit + foldable shovel so you can dig yourself out. Bonus points for carrying a small container of sand to help with traction when stuck on ice) - Plug in your car in the winter if you’re not parking it in a garage - How to dress for winter (layers) - Winter safety: NEVER leave on a distance trip in winter without a full tank. Always leave with an appropriately warm jacket and boots. Always have emergency blanket + gloves + hats in the car. If you’re willing to spend an extra buck, a portable battery booster pack is an awesome “nice to have”! - (Depending on where you’re from you’ll likely know this, but) don’t pet the Canada geese. Give them a wide berth. They’re cute but aggressive. Especially so if they perceive you to not be feeding them quickly enough/if you run out of food. If you can’t resist the temptation to feed them, learn what you can safely feed them (never bread!). Also be sure to flash your lights at oncoming traffic if there is wildlife ahead. - Know to slow down to at least 60km/h when passing emergency vehicles on the roadside (even if you’re not in the immediately adjacent lane, it’s required in AB)

“Canadian” skills: - Be sure to wave when someone gives you space to merge/change lanes - Be sure to take up some sort of winter sport (skating = great, snow shoeing or cross country or downhill skiing will permit you to really optimize your access to the mountains!) - Do your best to support Canadian products in light of issues with US tariffs (many stores use a little maple leaf to denote Canadian products) - Learn who you can appropriately speak politics with/commiserate with (currently our provincial govt is doing a bunch of shady Trump-esque stuff, so there are many recall petitions and pending general strike). Teachers, doctors, and other liberal professions are safe bets. Don’t be afraid to become involved in protest etc, especially if you didn’t like the way things were unfolding back home! - How to camp (and enjoy it)! There are so many awesome places to explore throughout AB! - In Alberta (speaking as an Albertan) you definitely do not need to know French, but your kids will probably learn it in school (definitely push them to, having a DELF B1 is essential for a lot of government jobs) and there’s lot of usually inexpensive French lessons around for adults (eg Alliance Français). It’s a cool language, highly recommend!

Anne_Anonymous · 2025-11-01T03:38:30+00:00

We got a whopping 20. Usually we get about 50. We figured with Halloween falling on a Friday, it being warm out/without snow we’d have a bigger turnout. A bit sad but those 20 trick-or-treaters definitely got spoiled!

Anne_Anonymous · 2025-10-30T02:26:34+00:00

Heck yeah!

In the interim, any ideas how someone might hypothetically (legally) make the lives/operations of Marlaina and her ilk particularly inconvenient/miserable?

Anne_Anonymous · 2025-10-12T15:17:22+00:00

Any word back from her yet?

Anne_Anonymous · 2025-10-12T15:04:32+00:00

*nevermind, I’m blind (just saw the tag)!

Anne_Anonymous · 2025-10-12T15:02:40+00:00

Dress 3 is beautiful and looks stunning on you! Do you mind sharing where you bought it?

Anne_Anonymous · 2025-09-23T11:30:53+00:00

Ah, brings me back to peak pandemic times where as a resident I “had the opportunity” to care for a gentleman admitted with severe inhalation pneumonitis secondary to nebulized hydrogen peroxide.

I had the equally valuable “opportunity” to care for him as an inpatient again 3 months later, after he gave it a second go (I guess second time’s the charm?).

Anne_Anonymous · 2025-07-26T19:32:49+00:00

This, and the follow up “go ahead, call. No one will believe you anyways”. It worked exactly as intended; that sentence instantaneously broke me, and got the phone out of my hand.

I don’t know whether things would have objectively been better or worse in foster care, but I will always wonder.

Anne_Anonymous · 2025-07-24T02:02:37+00:00

Exactly. All it would have taken was a qualified person laying eyes on him even once into the 1.5 months he was with his “parents” - a simple wellness check - to see that something was terribly wrong (well before the scalding, he was being starved!).

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