out of the mouth of babes ...

" I know what skin your friend is in " , this says my 5 year old after I told him one of my teammates he didn't know had supported me at a triathlon , "which ?" " Brown " , he said feeling immensely proud he had deciphered a sight unseen puzzle . Lessons are caught rather than taught ?

By the way I do black , yellow and white as well .

highly recommend

This past Saturday , the entire family went out to Philly to see the Morris Arboretum . My teenage son wanted to know why two and a half hours to see gardens? I'll tell you what I told him , it's good info
for you as well -

1. Quality time
2. an excuse for a daytrip out of town
3. maybe one of the last nice weekends in summer before the chill
4. very creatively designed and laid out gardens including a tree exhibit , garden railroading ( extensive )
5. and an opportunity to do some family photos ( although we didn't know that till after )

So saying it's not cheap , cost us close to $50 for the two hours we were there and we saw about 75% of the gardens .
But then again not everything can be measured in dollars and cents ...

The many faces of english

As a person who is interested and fascinated by languages , I have always lamented my immigrant parents choosing toronto over montreal as their landing point . By this time I would have been hopefully trilingual . As english is the universal language of commerce and diplomacy , english could well have been my second or third rather than mother tongue .

But honestly how many would trade the complexities and subtleties of english for any other language . It takes a lifetime of immersion to understand American vs Caribbean vs African english for example . So many different contexts.

Here's one that made me smile recently found in an ethnic paper - "Blab it and Grab it". Definately an international play on the spiritual american version , - "Just name it and Claim it".

hostage in hyattsville

Well never a dull moment . Almost met a thief head on over M&M 's . Left work around 1 48pm to get something to drink and something sweet. Several police vehicles in the parking lot . An afternoon patient
mentioned that somebody had been robbed ( or attempted ) . I left got what I came for and was allowed
back in , although minutes later everyone else was blocked as they brought the canines in and a dozen other
cops with heavy duty artillery . Kind of surreal . It's what you see on the news , if you're inclined to watch it.



Thank God we have cameras all over this place ( five story building we share with churches and a driving school ) , the cops were able to note that he came in but never left ( and that less than ten minutes after I
took the elevator ) . So we were herded out again and waited about half an hour longer in the parking lot
when we heard the triumphant , ' we got him , he was on the fifth floor - right above us '.

Those of us with a modicum sense tried not to look at him as we reentered or have him eyeball us either . Those who did got a piercing stare back , I know they are going to be haunted or cursing their curiosity tomorrow , when they come back ...

Dr H is sorry that he wasn't able to get in a piece of the action - ' crazy dude '. The hostage? - a driving instructor was in a locked room with him the entire time . Scary !

Angels were watching over all of us double time today .

p.s. for some , I am passing on the triathlon this weekend...

The OshKOsh Report

By now all 30,000 plus persons are now back safely I trust in their hometowns somwhere around the world . What an exciting time for Pathfinders , parents and fans who turned out in record numbers in Wisconsin last week. It was my first time and as there's always a story behind a story ( backstory if you please ) , mine is that I got stranded in Chicago the day before and almost didn't make it all the way . Don  / husband( from now referred to as my beloved )advised me to come home . Good thing I didn't listen to that piece of advice , otherwise I would have been reading someone else's blog about Osh .

Most  touching moments : The pantomine with the winking eye performed  by a gloved  Asian pathfinder group - awesome ; the cross in the clouds - no words to describe

Never to be forgotten : Port a Toilets and hand sanitizer a very beautiful and talented Esther

Lifesavers : Nurse who pronounced Jet alive and well after a visit to the first aid , the lady who got me a ride back to Chicago

Most Fun : 'yellin' my head off while teaching due to BMX and Double dutch competition , but honestly I had a blast , pin exchanges

For those of who have never met a stranger it was the time of our lives , including running into old friends some from yesteryear .


See you all , God's willing 2014 , Forever Friends ( Featuring Daniel ) , same time ( almost ) , same place.

By way of introduction

Hi Everyone:
Welcome to my official forum for the profound , mundane , hilarious and spiritual . I have been told that anything and everything goes . So stay tuned , more to follow.

And for those who don't already know who I am - Yvette Weir Gladstone - I consider myself a multicultural , dentist and speaker / author . With a number of interests and hobbies too numerous to share at the moment ... Wife of 15 years to same man ( hey , that 's almost a record) and mother of three Jet , Gabrielle and Joel.

Now you can stay tuned !