"I like these cold, grey winter days. Days like these let you savour a bad mood." - Bill Watterson (the fellow that created Calvin and Hobbes) … [Read more...]
Mom Brain: The Mom List and How to Put it on Pause…
I have a list in my head. The mom list. It's a constant recitation of all the things I should be doing, the things that need to get done. It never stops. It never shuts up. I can constantly hear it nagging me, "Did you swap the laundry? You need to pick up milk. We're almost out of toilet paper. What can you put in the kids lunchboxes today? What are we having for dinner? … [Read more...]
What Gives It Away That You’re Not Truly Ageless?
I like birthdays, always have. I like getting older. I'm proud of my age. I'm not one to lie and pretend I'm forty going on twenty-seven. Yet when I look at my kids I'm often struck by the thought that I am the same person now as I was when I was five. In so many ways I feel the same. I still feel like me. Me at four, or me at forty, is still ME. My memories, my thoughts, my … [Read more...]
What You Write Into a Child’s Mind…
"I think of a child's mind as a blank book. During the first years of his life, much will be written on the pages. The quality of that writing will affect his life profoundly." ~ Walt Disney … [Read more...]
Welcome to a New Year of Opportunity…
"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and it's first chapter is New Year's Day."~ 20th Century Poet Edith Lovejoy Pierce … [Read more...]
Kicking My Invisible Pet Dog to the Curb with Finish Dishwasher Cleaner {Plus HUGE Contest Alert}
I have an invisible dog that lives in my kitchen. His name is Fido and he lives in my dishwasher. Or at least that's what it smells like. Seriously, my dishwasher smells like a wet dog. At first I didn't find the wet smell concerning, I mean my dishwasher is a big box that gets filled with hot water on a semi-daily basis, of course it smells wet. Then one day I realized the … [Read more...]
All I Want For Christmas is ME
Dear Santa, I think I've been pretty good this year. I might deserve a present or two. So let me tell you what I would like to see under the tree. N O T H I N G. All I want for Christmas is me. Me alone, all by myself, with my family nowhere to be seen. Seriously, dear husband and kids; please, forget about buying me knick knacks, earrings and other things I don't want or … [Read more...]
Every Who Down in Whoville
I've got a soft spot for these over priced Grinch Who Stole Christmas knick-knacks from Department 56. I didn't give in to the urge to but, but I did snap a few photos of the large and cool display they had set up at Bronner's Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, Michigan. … [Read more...]
Morning Shower, Best Way to Start Your Day?
Like many folks I prefer to take my showers in the morning, when possible. Quiet time to myself under hot running water, time to mentally prepare myself for what's ahead and organize my day in my head, what's not to love? Have you ever thought about how much your morning shower impacts the rest of your day? According to a new survey, after an enjoyable shower, Canadian women … [Read more...]
Coming out and declaring my secret love for Herbal Essences…
Here's a confession, I don't use baby shampoo on my kids hair. I've been to other people's houses with my girls on playdates and while I'm using the bathroom I've noticed the container of baby shampoo sitting on the side of the tub, or the primary coloured bottle of "kids" shampoo with the cartoon characters dancing across the label. Even when the girls would visit their … [Read more...]
On making the dreaded upgrade to Windows 10…
So last week I admitted to the fact that I bought a laptop a few months back, and that I named said laptop Fred. Fred is mine and mine alone. No one else is allowed to touch him. Not the kids, not my husband, no one. It is absolutely glorious being able to leave reminders and notepad files open strewn across my virtual desktop and know no one is going to close them without … [Read more...]
What’s in my Travel Kit? a.k.a. travelling with P&G
A few months back I was staying at a hotel on an overnight trip. I was packing everything up to head back home when I ducked my head into the bathroom to find half of the contents of my toiletries kit spread out over the hotel bathroom counter. As I unzipped the bag and started to carefully stack everything back inside I had a realization. Laid out on this counter … [Read more...]
Take the Pantene Beautiful Lengths #8or8 Challenge for National Donate Your Hair Day
If you've been following my blog for any amount of time you are probably aware of how much I adore the Pantene Beautiful Lengths program. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, that's the amazing program where Pantene has partnered with the Canadian Cancer Society to take donations of cut hair and turn those ponytails into real hair wigs for women battling cancer, which are … [Read more...]
May I Introduce You to My Best Friend, Fred? (or How the ASUS Transformer Flip Book Changed My Life)
Back in February, in what was pretty much the best early birthday present ever, my mother-in-law gave me money to buy a new laptop. I did my research, hunted around and ended up picking out this lovely ASUS Transformer Flip, which I decided on at least in part because of my experiences with the smaller ASUS Transformer T100 Intel has sent me earlier in the year (It's official, … [Read more...]
Coming from overseas to work in social care in the UK…
The following is a guest post. I actually have a friend who worked in the UK as a social worker for a while. That's where she met her husband. What a great way to see the world, right? Social work is one of the most varied and rewarding careers you can go into. Social work jobs are dynamic, challenging and diverse, and no two days are ever the same. However, despite this, … [Read more...]