We've had some really horrific and tragic bike accidents in our city as of late. People have always commuted to work by bike in Ottawa, Canada's capital. In fact, I distinctly remember my father biking to work every day from our family's westend home in the suburbs to downtown. But, now more than ever, we need more cyclists. The environment needs it, our bodies need it, and our children need the role-modelling. Unfortunately, our city … [Read more...]
The Joy of Reading: The Lion, the Witch and the Bathrobe
May 24, 2010 by 19 Comments
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 that is beautiful has taken place recently. When it comes to reading, Stella is now “Mommy’s little girl.” Just as the … [Read more...]
On feeling itchy
May 17, 2010 by 11 Comments
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 I? Ah yes, I was at a vernissage. Which is the opening of an art exhibit and it's the fun part because the artist is there … [Read more...]
The Spring Haircut
May 14, 2010 by 12 Comments
My children were both long over-due for haircuts. And Spring felt like the time for it. It's an errand that I had kept moving down on the list until this week. I had an hour's space between after school and when we would have dinner that I thought I'd use this time to strike this task off the list once and for all. So, I piled both kids into the car. Stella, my seven-year-old, was not pleased. To her, getting her haircut is about as … [Read more...]
I’ve got a good mother
May 9, 2010 by 1 Comment
The lyrics from Jann Arden's song "Good Mother" have been ringing in my heart and mind all weekend. I like to use these kinds of pre-fab holidays as an opportunity to count blessings ("blessings" is a word I use simply for lack of a non-religious alternative). I'm feeling very grateful. Thanks Mom! I love you. xoxxox *************** Good Mother, by Jann Arden I've got money in my pocket, I like the color of my hair. I've got a … [Read more...]
Business Casual
May 7, 2010 by 9 Comments
I watched the movie Wall Street this week. Do you remember it? It was an Oscar-winner from 1987, directed by Oliver Stone and starred Michael Douglas as an incredibly wealthy but unscrupulous trader and Charlie Sheen as a young, desperately-eager-to-make-it-big stockbroker. I wanted to remind myself of the movie and its plot because a sequel is on its way. To be released in September, the sequel also stars Michael Douglas as the same … [Read more...]
This makes me happy …
May 1, 2010 by Leave a Comment
... so I thought I'd share it with you! What can I say, a group of university, baseball-wearing guys singing Lady Gaga's Bad Romance really makes my day! Check it out. On the Rocks is the University of Oregon's all male a cappella ensemble. … [Read more...]
Thinking aloud about envy (with Andrea)
April 21, 2010 by 6 Comments
Just as I happened to be reading an article titled "Envy at Work," my friend and fellow blogger Andrea at A Peek Inside the Fishbowl published a new post titled "Thinking aloud about envy." The article I was reading had initially intrigued me because envy isn't a common topic for Harvard Business Review, or business research in general for that matter. Also, I work in the area of organizational change management and I wondered if envy played a … [Read more...]
Confessions of a Former Gleek (part 2)
April 20, 2010 by Leave a Comment
In the first season of Glee, I found that Will (aka Mr. Shuester) shared many of my feelings of lingering doubt … Why did I never chase my dreams? What might have happened had I actually auditioned all those years ago? Now, let me tell you, I did not relish the thought of being like Mr. Shuester. Quite the contrary. He seemed like a loser. A wanna-be who just never made it ... [please click here to continue reading!] You won't want to miss … [Read more...]
Recipe for a Wonderful Evening
April 16, 2010 by 3 Comments
1. Call up a good, true friend that you haven't seen lately because the mundate elements in life keep stealing all your time. 2. With only one day's notice, ask that she join you for an evening out. 3. As you step into the car pulled up at your driveway, you can already feel that the mad rush to get dinner and homework completed early was worth it. 4. Darkness starts to set-in fully as you drive from your outskirt homes to the city, all … [Read more...]
Confessions of a Former Gleek (part 1)
April 14, 2010 by 1 Comment
I get an uncomfortable mix of emotions when I watch certain things. A ballet performance. A theatrical play. And the hit television series Glee. I imagine other former gleeks take pleasure in watching these things. But me? It teases out raw, bittersweet feelings... [please click to read more] … [Read more...]
Personal style: Sacrificed at the altar of family
April 3, 2010 by 22 Comments
![a_view_of_our_tent_trailer[1]](http://www.julieharrison.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/a_view_of_our_tent_trailer1.jpg)
Most of the folks in our circle started out strong. We wouldn't sacrifice our personal style just because we were starting a family. Hell no! Just because we'd be parents didn't mean we'd have to give up our sense of "cool." But, one by one, we've all slipped into family-dom. Some jumped in whole-heartedly, while others -- like my husband and I -- tried to hold on stubbornly to as much as we could. Here are some flashing signals that you … [Read more...]
Sharing stories
March 29, 2010 by 5 Comments
There's been a great deal of interesting and intelligent debate -- as well as some yelling, screaming and posturing of course -- about woman and blogs as of late. In one situation, some "mommy" bloggers were put under the academic microscope, while in others, the mainstream media snickered at mothers and their interest in blogging and, strangely, pronounced that women didn't blog, only men. People I know who don't read my blog often ask me … [Read more...]
I’m still thinking about hyper-parenting
March 23, 2010 by 6 Comments
Hyper-parenting. You might remember that a little while back, I wrote a post sparked by the CBC documentary Hyper Parents and Coddled Kids. And I'm still thinking about it. The whole concept of hyper-parenting is never really far from my mind, actually. It's something that I consciously, actively want to avoid doing to my children. And yet, it seems we live in a world where hyper-parenting is almost becoming the norm. Or at least that's how I … [Read more...]
The Winter Resolution series: Bush party! (shhhh … pass it on)
March 7, 2010 by 4 Comments
When I was a teenager, every so often word would spread that a "bush party" was going to take place on the weekend. Unlike the "house party" which took place at some poor unsuspecting parent's home while they were away, a "bush party" involved no house, just a location in the woods somewhere. The two types of parties still shared some commonalities -- no parents, underage drinking and police showing up. The last item on the list being why the … [Read more...]
Extra! Extra! Read all about it …
March 6, 2010 by 3 Comments
Good morning! If you don't normally buy an Ottawa Citizen newspaper, pick one up today to support not only your local paper but this caffeine-needy writer! In today's Travel Section, I have two articles for your morning coffee: #1: What a woman wants: how hotels can cater better to women business travellers and a list of hotels going all out to do so. Women entrepreneurs interviewed for this piece are Penelope Trunk of Brazen Careerist, … [Read more...]
Destructive cycles (+ ticket giveaway to blood.claat, a play @ Ottawa’s GCTC)
March 5, 2010 by 10 Comments
She's a 15 year-old kid in a school uniform. And she's just given birth to a baby conceived through violence. That is her story. But it's also the story of her mother. And her grandmother before that. This is a cycle that's fairly common in Jamaica, according to a 2006 Unicef report: Approximately 20% of births are given by adolescents. In other words a child gives birth to a child in one out of 5 births. Had all teenage pregnancies been … [Read more...]
Excuse me, but you’re stepping on my Canadian pride
March 3, 2010 by 14 Comments
An open letter to Canada's Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney: I don't ever remember a time when I did not feel proud to be a Canadian. It's similar in fierceness to the pride I've always felt for my family. It runs right to the core. I drink my Double-double's at Timmys, I buy my backpack from MEC and I bite my nails to the quick when Canada's hockey team is in the Olympic finals. But these are just outward expressions of … [Read more...]
Maybe a puppy wasn’t such a bad idea, after all?
March 3, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Last year, we lost Riley. Riley was our family dog. The puppy my husband and I adopted the summer we moved into our first home together. We had Riley for five years before any children came along. And in total, we had Riley in our lives for a decade. For anyone who’s had a pet, you know what kind of grief I’m talking about here. And my seven-year-old daughter Stella took it hard. She grieved. And then her grieving turned into a guilt-inducing … [Read more...]
Olympic dreaming? Not a chance.
February 17, 2010 by 62 Comments
In a world where parents are increasingly beginning to question the benefits of overscheduling their children in organized activities, the Olympics reaches right into a parent’s heart and makes you want to fire up that mini-van and start signing cheques. Almost. {read more} … [Read more...]
That was kinda sucky, wasn’t it?
February 13, 2010 by 12 Comments
I hate to say it, for fear of sounding unpatriotic, but Canada's opening ceremonies for the Olympics was kinda, well, sucky. Starting with the snowboarder entry that was cheesy and far too long. In fact, most of it just seemed like it went on too long for its own good. So much so that when K.D. Lang launched into crooning her melancholy lyrics: Your faith was strong but you needed proof You saw her bathing on the roof Her beauty and the … [Read more...]
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