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Happy Halloween!

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Hubby and Stella have crafted up three jack-o-laterns for tomorrow night. While past years' pumpkins have featured dinosaurs, Webkinzs and Pokemons, this year's current favourite creature is The Angler Fish. … [Read more...]

Douglas Coupland as a Massey Lecturer? Cool.

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Past Massey lecturers have included Stephen Lewis, a crusader in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa; R.C. Lewontin, a pioneer in evolutionary theory, genetics and molecular biology; and Ursula Franklin, a respected feminist and research physicist. And this year? Douglas Coupland.   [Read more on why I just couldn't miss this ...]   … [Read more...]

I survived Brownie camp

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You know how after all the participants on the Survivor television come together and reunite for the final show and you can barely recognize them because they have showered, brushed their hair and gained the weight back from the lack of food on the island? That's how I feel right now. Except for the brushed hair. Oh, and the losing and gaining weight thing. Other than that, I look exactly like a Survivor finalist. And that's because this … [Read more...]

Today is World Osteoporosis Day: Should I Care?

I know, I know ... there are so many causes with "days" that it's hard to keep track. (And kind of makes you want to dismiss them altogether.) But I was sent some information on osteoporosis that peaked my interest and made me want to look into it a bit more.  Before I share it with you though, let's define osteoporosis. It's a condition that causes bones to become thin and porous, decreasing bone strength and leading to increased risk of … [Read more...]

Suicide prevention and the “It gets better” campaign

*** Important: If you are thinking about suicide or experiencing a crisis right now, don't wait: Call 9-1-1 or go to your nearest hospital emergency room. There are professionals available who can give you immediate help. *** I've been deeply moved by the recent movement "It gets better." In response to some recent high-profile teen suicides, Dan Savage, a well-known writer and openly gay man, sparked a tremendous viral video campaign in … [Read more...]

The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Packing Lunch

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Call me crazy, but there's something almost soothing about packing children's lunches ... all the little containers, and bite size bits, snugly tucked into a brightly coloured lunch bag. And yet, this does not translate at all to the act of actually packing a lunch for myself. There are countless good, solid reasons for me to pack a lunch: there is no convenient lunch spot near my work, buying lunch is expensive, I need the time to work-out … [Read more...]

Sometimes the best birthday present for your Mom isn’t a present afterall (or a night out in Ottawa: Allium restaurant and Lynne Hanson CD-release concert)

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Lately, I'm finding it tough to pick out gifts for my Mom. It's not that she's picky or hard to find things for ... it's just that I feel like she already has the things she really wants. With all four of her birds out of the nest, she has the freedom to buy the things that catch her eye. So for her birthday this year, I decided that I'd take her out for a night on the town. To come up with ideas, I did what now comes natural to me -- I asked … [Read more...]

And my Canadian heart smiled

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I received an email the today that made my Canadian heart smile. It was from a good friend who remembered my blog posting titled "Excuse me, but you're stepping on my Canadian pride." This post, from March 2010, was an open letter to Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney. The guide for new citizens to Canadians had finally be given a re-haul (it had not been updated since 1995). But not only had this revised version of the … [Read more...]

“Old fashioned” party games

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I've told you about this year's birthday pinata (here goes the mighty angler fish!), but I have yet to tell you about the actual party. Generally, birthdays around here have gone like this: one casual gathering with the family over a BBQ plus one birthday party just for the kids. I don't know about you, but I'm not all Martha-Stewart-let's-have-a-birthday-party kind of gal. In fact, I am all for forking out large sums of money to avoid having … [Read more...]