Once upon a time, I was an adventurous girl. I travelled with a backpack, I slept in forests unknown, and brought big souvenirs home from countries that I loved (my hubby!). I look back at photos from those times and I don’t recognize that girl at all. Not one bit. If I look around, I can see that most of my fellow [...]
Archive for the ‘Learning’ Category
Like a girl
I grew up in a household that did not tend abide by gender stereotypes. Both of my parents pursued careers. But both of my parents also spent time at home as full-time caregivers. In some ways, I was aware that not all households were like this. That not all Dads took their girls outside to learn to throw a ball properly. [...]
Some fellow travel bloggers I’d like you to meet!
I’m really thrilled to be hosting a guest post tomorrow by Julie Henning of Road Trips for Families! But let me back up a little in order to introduce her … While I was at BlogHer, there were “Birds of a Feather” lunches that we could join. I dropped into a seat at the “travel” table and met some really cool [...]
I don’t see sleep anywhere on this BlogHer agenda
I started up this blog just over a year ago as an outlet for personal writing — the kind of writing that doesn’t take place during my work day in corporate communications. I envisioned it as my own little creative and social sandbox for my free time. But what I didn’t realize then was just how much I would enjoy playing in [...]
BOLO: faces behind blogs
Not long back, I wrote a post which shared my excitement in being able to hear the voices behind blogs. In it, I noted that many of the blogs I read include a photo of the author, so the voices were going to be the big draw for me. Well, I was wrong … my dear Ottawa bloggers and their [...]
Camping lesson #1: If there’s no nature, it’s not worth it
In an attempt to bring ourselves back into the camping spirit now that we have children, we bought a pop-up tent trailer this spring. I admit that we swallowed our pride when we parked it in our driveway. It really put a damper on our camping “street-cred.” Just as we defiantly swore we’d never buy a minivan just because we [...]
Commercials are bad for my mental health
Lately, I have found myself watching commercials more consciously. And it seems that pretty much everything about me is simply not good enough — not my skin, my body shape, the way my house smells, or even my own role in my family. This constant barrage of criticism can’t be good for my mental health, can it? Even though I [...]
I’m breaking my chain letter rule to share with you the story of a “female Schindler”
I’ve got a confession to make. You know when you sent me that email chain letter that said we would all have bad luck if I didn’t forward it on? Well, I deleted it. And that one where if I didn’t send it on to my seven dearest friends, they would never know how much I cared? Deleted. That internet [...]
What makes a novelist, a novelist?
Here I am with Joanne Harris, author of one of my favourite books Five Quarters of the Orange but most famously known for her novel Chocolat, which was made into the Oscar-nominated film with Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche. I recently had the chance to hear her read from her latest offering blueeyedboy when she came to Ottawa as a guest for Writers [...]
One year of blogging
This month marks my first-year bloggy-versary. When I first started blogging one year ago, I didn’t — and couldn’t — have known what to expect. But BOLO left me feeling very optimistic about it all. It seems that blogging is one of those things that, like becoming a parent, you just have to do it order to really understand it. And although [...]
What I learned about Ottawa this weekend
This weekend I had the good fortune of attending the Odawa Festival of Aboriginal Culture. I’d like to learn more about Canada’s Aboriginal cultures, so I jumped at a suggestion from a friend to attend with her and her family. (Everyone — Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal — is welcome at these events.) One of the first things I learned is that Ottawa has [...]
Bike safety: More than just a helmet
Keeping your children safe while biking requires more than just making sure they’re wearing a helmet. Give yourself a refresher course on bike safety.
The Joy of Reading: The Lion, the Witch and the Bathrobe
For as long as I can remember, it’s been common for people to observe that Stella is “Daddy’s little girl.” They don’t mean that he spoils her, but rather that she just loves to do whatever he is doing. And as a result, they have now cultivated a mutual passion for the outdoors that is really beautiful. But something else [...]
On feeling itchy
On Friday night, I went to a neighbour’s vernissage. (I like using this word “vernissage” because it makes me seem all cultured-up, doesn’t it? Okay maybe not. But I still like it! I used it with my brother on the weekend, but he didn’t seem half as impressed as I was. “Verni-what? What word are you using?”) Um. Where was [...]
Skin cancer doesn’t happen in Canada, does it?
When you live in Australia, as we did just recently, you very quickly realize how seriously they take their sun protection. The combination of a light-skinned population with prolonged sun exposure leaves Australians at real risk. The risk is so high, in fact, that according to its Cancer Council two in every three Australians will develop skin cancer before the [...]






















