Nobody Cries At Bingo: Newest book on my wish list

Last year, fellow Edmonton writer Dawn Dumont was nominated for the Alberta’s Readers Choice Award. Her book, Nobody Cries at Bingo makes fun of her misadventures during her younger years on the Okanese First Nations reserve in Saskatchewan. For a province that has 31 bingo halls, locals can’t seem to get enough of the 75-ballContinue reading “Nobody Cries At Bingo: Newest book on my wish list”

YEG Workshop: Finding the Unique in Your Family Story

 Finding the Unique in Your Family Story: a summer-time writing adventure.       How do you write a lively and fascinating family memoir?  How do you draw  and satisfy readers from in and outside the family?  What particular issues arise when writing family stories? Both the instructors of this workshop, Caterina Edwards and Jean Crozier, faced Continue reading “YEG Workshop: Finding the Unique in Your Family Story”

2012 Holiday Newsletter

  The main news this year was the arrival of Andre Barrett Pagnutti on April 17. We named him for my paternal grandfather, André Chenail, and my maternal grandmother, Shirley Barrett, and tried to encompass his French-Canadian, British, and Italian heritage. We’re also embracing his aviation connections as you can see in this photo! FromContinue reading “2012 Holiday Newsletter”

Survival of the “Feetest” in Toronto

On a recent trip to Toronto I was able to get together with a good friend from my undergrad years at McGill University, Katie Reed. We met at her shop, Sole Survivor, in Kensington Market. Katie, who is 28 years old, has owned and operated this cobbling business for two years. As a young woman,Continue reading “Survival of the “Feetest” in Toronto”

A Week of Waiting Rooms

This past Sunday, September 6, 2009, my wonderful mother-in-law, Dawn Kenny, passed away. Last November this upbeat, energetic woman was diagnosed with an exceedingly rare form of cancer, cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer) at the age of 48. There has been no shortage of exclamations from friends and family: “It’s so unfair!” “How can it be?!”Continue reading “A Week of Waiting Rooms”

The Metcalfe Genes and Training

For those of you who don’t know, my mother is a super-hero: she is an incredibly good researcher and advocate who can clearly and concisely get her point across on paper and in a meeting. Since I was a child, she has used her gift to right wrongs and keep people (like me) safe fromContinue reading “The Metcalfe Genes and Training”

The votes are in: The Masked Avengers have won!

We are two days away from the American election and it’s getting pretty exciting. The local middle schools here in Green River, WY have already held their mock elections, participating in the National Student/Parent Mock Election Day. The elections were pretty close, but the Republican McCain/Palin team won at both schools (161-103 at one andContinue reading “The votes are in: The Masked Avengers have won!”