Remember The Days

Remember the days when the soldiers had fought,
A lot of young people they seemed to have taught.
They taught us that we deserve to be free,
They fought for people like you and people like me.
They went to war and risked their lives,

And left their daughters, their sons, their wives.
They taught us all about like and love,
Those soldiers are now the bright stars above.
Remember the days when the soldiers had fought,
Me I know...they surely have taught. 

 

A poem I wrote in grade 7!

Hallo...what?

Last night my mom and I took my little cousin Trick-or-Treating. As a kid Halloween was one of the best days of the year. At school we would do our work in the morning as scheduled, but in the afternoon we always had a Halloween party! Everyone in the class would bring an array of snacks, we’d all get dressed up in our cute little costumes, and then we’d watch a Halloween movie. This happened until at least grade 6, if not later. After the school day was done, my friends and I would always hit up a few houses for candy on our way home to drop off our school bags, re-adjust our costumes, grab our heavy duty pillow cases, and head out the door. To be honest, I went trick-or-treating with my mom most of the time, even as I got older. She’s a fun lady that mother of mine. Sometimes my friends would join us too, but my mom always wanted to be part of the fun. She’d always be nice enough to make sure the people handing out candy knew that her son was at home and couldn’t come out because he had a cold, and people would always give us extra candy for him.

I’m an only child.

Nearly all the houses on every street had some sort of Halloween decorations, and there were always a handful of houses that went all out with flashy lights, sound effects, and scary monsters that pop out at you from behind the bushes. My mom would always try her best to get us to the really good parts of the city who hand out full sized chocolate bars, big bags of chips, and cans of pop. I remember going home 2 or 3 times in the middle of our journey, to empty my pillowcases so I can get more goods. I’d say having 5 sacks of candy makes for a successful Halloween night. I remember being able to trick-or-treat until about midnight, sometimes even 1 in the morning, which was perfectly fine because school was always cancelled the following day!

Fast forward to Halloween 2012.

Last night was nothing like I’ve just described. I barely saw any trick-or-treaters out and about, which may have had something to do with only 6 houses per block (if that) with their lights on. We started about 7:30pm and apparently that was a late start. Some of the houses we started off with gave us the last of their stash, as they were nearly out for the evening. Now I don’t think this was because they had a ton of little monsters at their door, but more because they likely bought one small bag of candy and figured that would do the trick. Some simply stopped handing out candy because there was only a trick-or-treater every half an hour or so, if not longer.

As we walked from one house with lights to the next, which was about 18 houses away, I asked my cousin what she did at school for Halloween. You know what they did at her school? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! No dress up. No party. No movies. No Halloween sing-alongs….nothing!

What’s going on? Is Halloween being phased out? Do people no longer believe in Halloween fun? What is it?

I loved Halloween as a kid, and I’m disappointed that this generation is not getting the chance to enjoy it the way I did. I feel like they’re getting ripped off BIG TIME! Some people have serious views about not participating in Halloween festivities, but what about everybody else?

So tell me folks, why do you think kids aren’t as excited about Halloween as they used to be? Why did people stop handing out candy? Why don’t parents take their kids out anymore? What happened to the school parties? Halloween dances? Costumes?

While you ponder, please enjoy this video of the sweetest halloween house, ever!
(Watch for at least 2 minutes to get the full effect)

My Deepest Apologies

To all of the sheltered young boys and girls of Winnipeg, I want to apologize on behalf of your parents for babying you and not allowing you to have any real life experiences; for making you think that living  in one area of the city, makes you a better or more deserving person than those living in all other areas; for making you believe that as long as you hide behind your white picket fence or the golden gates of your community, that no harm will come to you; for making it hard for you later down the road when life hits you in the face and you don’t know how to retaliate; for making it likely that you too will raise your kids to be a snob to any neighbourhood that isn’t theirs. 

I’d like to take the time to let you know that you don’t live in Beverley Hills, or Paris, or in Uptown Manhattan. You live in big small town WINNIPEG! Regardless of the area you claim, you still live in a city that many people outside of this country haven’t heard of, and have no interest in going to. You still live in a city often referred to as the murder capital of Canada, a city where people get mugged, a city where people are homeless, a city where bad things happen, regardless of the area.

 I’m not saying Winnipeg is a terrible place to live in, as a lot of great things happen here! All I’m saying is that regardless of who you are, where you live, and how much money you think you have, we ALL live in the same city. I’m sorry you were brought up to believe that your postal code makes you part of Winnipeg’s elite, as one day I’m sure you will be in for a rude awakening when you find out you’re not. I’m not suggesting you take a stroll through the streets of downtown  alone at 3 in the morning (mind you, I’ve done it many times and I live to talk about it), I’m merely suggesting that you step out of your comfort zone for a day or two, and see what your city has to offer. As I said, many great things happen here in ALL areas of the city, and me being the nice person I am, just wants to make sure you have the opportunity to enjoy being a true Winnipegger :)

Winnipeg, MB

A Backyard & A Baby

Lately, every time I see a cute baby, or a toddler in the most adorable outfit, or I take a stroll down the toy section at Walmart, I think about how much I want a cute and adorable baby of my own to shower with gifts and clothes for little people. Back in my teen days I’d planned to start having kids by the time I was 25. I’m 24. No kids. 

My mom had me at a young age, and although it can be tough to raise a kid when not too long ago, you were a kid yourself, mama Jennings did a great job with me. She played music for me before I was born, read to me every night, spoiled me with mountains of Christmas gifts, taught me how to bake cookies, made crafts with me every weekend, made homemade videos with me, the works. I loved having a mother who was younger than my friends’ moms, because it made me feel closer to her, and I swear...we always had more fun, guaranteed! So I guess my longing to be a young mom came from the bond I had with my own mother. Makes sense.

You know what else I’ve been wanting lately? A brand new house with a big backyard. All my life I’ve lived in an apartment, and have never really had the full experience of living in a house. The main reason I want a house is so I can have a backyard. As I kid I would always garden with my grandpa, and it was something I learned to really enjoy. I guess my wanting for a house can also be seen as symbolic. Having a house would (hopefully) mean that I had a successful career with stable income, and someone to share my home with. 

The backyard of Natasha Koifman, Founder of NKPR INC.

(I know there's no garden...but I still love the ambiance)

I’m sure all of these things will come in due time, but as per usual, I tend to get a bit anxious about certain things. As I mentioned, I’m 24, and I know people say that’s young, but the years seem to be flying by. There are so many things I want in life, and I just hope I’m around long enough to enjoy the things I’ve worked for.

My 600 Pound Life...

...is what I watched earlier this evening after I came home from the gym. It was airing on TLC and was followed by, My Half-Ton Mom, and Obese and Pregnant. Apparently TLC runs their programming in themes.

I’ve heard about the show before, and have seen clips previously, but I’ve never sat down and watched an entire episode. The one I decided to watch today was 2 hours long. It featured a woman who was once over 600 pounds, who underwent a number of surgeries to remove fat and skin from her body. She went from being over 600 pounds, to being 157 pounds. By the end of her weight loss she was definitely smaller, but had a lot of loose skin hanging from all areas of her body. Even with surgery, you can only loose so much excess skin.

The reason I sat and watched the entire episode is because there was one point where she got down to the exact same weight as myself, but still looked pretty big. 

She and I definitely have different body types, and because she weighed hundreds of pounds more prior to being my current weight, our bodies looked very different. But it got me wondering...am I big enough to be on one of these shows?

Once she got to my weight, she still had a ways to go. 

I’ve been a big girl ever since I was a kid. I was always bigger than my friends, and usually wasn’t able to have that fun childhood experience of wearing each other’s clothes. My weight bothered me every once in a while, but it never seemed like too big a deal (no pun intended). 

Although I was overweight, I always had a big group of friends, and was usually pretty active. I was on the volleyball team, the badminton team, and loved to play intramural basketball at lunch time. I did hate running laps in gym though, but most kids did. Being overweight never stopped me from doing what I wanted to do, and living a normal life. On T.V. and in movies they always had the character of the “typical fat girl eating lunch in the bathroom, no friends, and getting bullied,” ...that wasn’t me. And I wasn’t going to let that be me. A boy or two would make a rude comment here and there, but I dished it right back out in record time, and they stopped. Nice try boys. But Charmaine doesn’t play those games. You’ll have to try it on someone else (but it’d be better if you didn’t).

My point is, I’ve always been a bigger girl, and for the most part, I’ve been comfortable with it. Maybe even too comfortable. When I look into the mirror I don’t see a “fat girl.” I would never call myself fat. I see a voluptuous young woman with great curves, a body in proportion, and booty that looks fabulous in a pair of jeans with bedazzled back pockets. I’m not afraid to wear a short dress, a tank top, or a bathing suit at the beach. 

What I am afraid of is having a heart attack, or having a blood pressure so high that no amount of medication will fix it. I’m afraid of not living long enough to develop a career, get married, buy my first house, or have kids. I'd hate to deprive the world of my adorable offspring. 

It’s great that I’m comfortable and confident enough in myself to look this way, but I need to take care of my health. I was born with a heart murmur, which is fairly common, but it’s something that usually goes away into early adolescence. My doctor said it’s something we can look into, but only after I lose weight. Last year I dislocated my knee and called an ambulance because no one was home, and I couldn’t move. When they came (they were cute by the way) they took my blood pressure and it was 210 over...some number. Anyway, it was scary high and when I got to the hospital, they were more concerned with my blood pressure than with my knee. I was more concerned with walking, but hey, I’m no doctor.

I’m taking two medications for my blood pressure and it is going down, which is good. But do I want to be taking medications the rest of my life? The only thing that will permanently bring it down is a healthy weight-loss. It’s been 24 years and if I want to live for 76 more (I plan on living until 100), it’s time for a change. I don’t want to get up to 600 pounds, I don’t want to have fat and skin surgically removed from my body, and most importantly, I don’t want to die today. I’m too young, too funny, and have too much to live for.

 I mean, I haven’t even met Zac Efron yet. 

Seriously....look at him...

My future husband