We spent the morning cleaning the house. Which was enlightening. At one point I said "I can't believe the floor is so dirty. I just vacuumed it, like, two weeks ago!" and Damian said "Hmm, yes, that's the thing about dirt. It's like the entire world is made out of it or something."

The reason for the house-clean - besides the modicum of self respect that is gained from not going "eew" whenever you run your hand over a surface, I mean - was because I was going to have some of my favourite women over for a potluck to celebrate International Women's Day. That, of course, is just a flimsy pretense, I just got the idea to invite a bunch of women who I knew would all enjoy each other's company. And what better day to do that?

I've known, in my life, many wonderful people, but I am one of those folks who is kind of shy when it comes to actually initiating friendships, the kind where you go for coffee or lunch and chat. I get nervous about it, and chicken out. But as I get older, and busier, I've discovered two things. One: friendships don't make themselves. And two: it's worth going out of your way to make connections with people. Because people are neat.

Hence the potluck. I finally have a house in which to entertain, with enough room to actually swing one or (maybe) two cats! But then, as the morning wore on, the weather started weathering. And it just didn't stop weathering. It weathered and weathered and - as of this post - it is still weathering. The snow is now over the second step, the wind is howling, and little ice pellets are hitting the windows. It's nasty.

So I cancelled the potluck, but not before Damian and I vacuumed the cobwebs out of the stairwell ceiling and removed all the bird feathers and cat fur from the study, and raided the couch cushions for loose change, and swept stray cat litter out from under... everything (how does that happen? Cats are filthy, filthy animals) and, well, the bathroom... Don't even talk to me about the bathroom. But clean! Things are! It's kind of nice, even if nobody else gets to see it.

So we spent Saturday watching a (fabulous!) remake of The Count of Monté Cristo, instead of hanging out and eating lasagna and drinking wine, which was definitely second best, but still pretty good. And as I sat on the couch doing graphic design on my laptop and watching Jesus get into some great swordfights, I occasionally looked around and said to Damian "Gosh, it's really... clean... in here," and he would say "Yeah. It's so ... weird."

Note to self: maybe try vacuuming more often.

Over at the BirthPangs Blog, there is a short post about the vote that's going on today to curtail a woman's right to choose here in Canada. The background is involved, but basically this is a move by the right to classify a fetus as an "unborn child," against whom any criminal act is prosecutable. Like, for instance, murder...

The Conservatives swear up and down that this law is only meant to apply to a criminal act against a mother who is pregnant. In that case, harm to her that causes harm to her unborn baby is more punishable by the law than harm against any standard-issue non-pregnant woman, making some of us more valuable than others.* Even if they're not trying to open a back door to abortion criminalization, this legislation is still very bad. But, obviously, it is a back door.

What is remarkable about the latest Conservative shenanigans - this legislation, the censorship/tax credit legislation - is that the Liberal opposition's rhetoric is still managing to paint this government as a harmless, do-nothing minority. Well, they're doing things, things that are just sliding by in the media without much of a to-do. They have a fundmentalist Christian agenda, and they're trying as hard as they can to work it into the fabric of our legal and policy-making systems. And somebody has to stand up and oppose these assholes, before they ruin our country.

* There are already laws that prohibit forced abortion, which are a reaffirmation of a woman's right to have control over her body. Unlike this law, which treats pregnant women as an incubator.

UPDATE: Sadly, an NDP member voted yesterday in Parliament for Mr. Epp's Bill-C434. I am very disappointed in Peter Stoffer, and will be writing a letter expressing my disappointment with a vote that clearly goes against the NDP's policy of equality and choice for women.

This morning I attended a breakfast hosted by OPSEU to kick off International Women's Week. There was croissants and fruit and ... most importantly ... COFFEE.

I'm not a morning person. Really, not. And this morning was especially exciting, because it was icy! With the freezing rains! And I forgot my wallet! But it wasn't just me. The bus driver was blinking sleep out of his eyes, and I got the impression that, as long as I didn't have three heads and thus require him to wake up enough to be concerned, that I was welcome to hop on and ride for free. Just don't make any loud noises, OK?

When I got there, late, because I can't catch a bus on time to save my life, I spent an hour with several wonderful women and men who all shared the common cause of believing in women's rights in Canada. We heard a lovely speech from Sister Pauline Lally of the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul about the state of inequality that women in much of the world today face. Then I gave a nice little speech pointing out that, despite what Stephen Harper's Conservatives said when they cut funding for women's rights advocacy, we had not achieved equality for women here in Canada either.

Then there was more coffee.

So, happy International Women's Week, folks. I'll end off with an excerpt from my speech:

Equality is fundamental to our future as a nation. We’ve come a long way, but not all the way. We’ve made a lot of progress, but we haven’t crossed the finish line.

So let us use International Women’s Week to remind us about women’s issues, and carry those thoughts into action in our daily lives, in our homes and at our workplaces. Women’s equality is part of a fair and just Canada ... and, with hard work and constant vigilance, we will achieve equality for women in Canada and around the world.

Cheers.