• family

    Breathing Through Grief

    May 14, 2013 - By 

    These were the trees outside my Mom’s retirement home one short year ago. Today, they are starting to bloom again, but she will never see them and that shatters my heart. Same for the tulips and the flowers and the robins in my yard. I am not sleeping well, or doing anything else well right now. For those of you who don’t know, my Mom passed away suddenly May 5th. Her funeral is already a bit of a blur.  As for me, my chest hurts, my appetite is gone. I haven’t taken a true breath in almost two weeks. I move…

  • infertility

    Canadian Infertility Awareness Week #creatingfamilies

    May 13, 2013 - By 

    One in six. Staggering really. One in six couples in Canada struggle with infertility. Until this past year,  when we took to social media in droves and started sharing our stories, few were even talking about infertility in our great country. Progress comes fast sometimes courtesy of twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and various other social media tools. Now, we are talking and tweeting and sharing stories. We are building awareness and education. So this year during Canadian Infertility Awareness Week May 19 to 26th we are encouraging people to build our messages. Make a difference. Blog for social good and help…

  • Health - infertility - Parenting - parenting

    Memories on #MothersDay #ABHC4IVF #ABPOLI

    May 12, 2013 - By 

    This year marks my 12th Mother’s Day.  That is nothing short of a miracle for me. I mean motherhood itself is often thought of as miraculous and wonderful, and a little bit magical sometimes too. But when you wait, and struggle and pass through the sad hallways of infertility hoping and banking on science, faith, community services like Children’s Aid, and friends to help you through to the other side well, then you know that when you get the honour of actually being a mother, it will be magnificent. Twelve years ago I had my own mother to share Mother’s…

  • family

    For Grandma – on #MothersDay

    May 11, 2013 - By 

    Yesterday my daughter asked me if we could keep the messages on the phone from Grandma so we can hear her voice. And I cried. Not knowing it would be the last time we might hear her, I erased them all last week. On Sunday my mother, their last living Grandmother, passed away unexpectedly.  I will miss a million things about her this weekend. My first Mother’s Day without my Mom. Today we buried my Mom, listened to tributes from her sister-in-law and brothers. And my brother and I both found strength to say a few words about a great…

  • Giveaways

    Tip Top Shoe #giveaway

    May 8, 2013 - By 

    Are you a shoe gal? Are shoes your babies? Do you baby your shoes? Well, Tip Top shoes has a great solution to help protect your heels. Tip Top Shoes are the invention of experienced wardrobe stylist and shoe collector Kelly Lyles. Lyles was style consultant for many years with various brands, magazines, TV outlets, record labels and celebrities. Her idea was born when she noticed her Chanel boots had a crease in the toe. Not that I ever had a Chanel pair of boots, or ever will, but I empathize with this nasty boot affliction and have had same…

  • family

    But I Am Not Done with You Yet

    May 5, 2013 - By 

    In the end, you think about the many times she danced through the living room holding the cat, with those tiny cat antlers it used to hate. The times she dressed at the vanity in her room draping jewelry on and your eight-year-old eyes thought it was magic. You dreamed she was beautiful and then wished years away so you could grow fast forward. You asked her to twirl. She did and spun you around. She held your hand and said I love you and then she gave you a kiss before heading off to the dance with a friend.…

  • Health - parenting - special needs

    Camp Memories #MuskokaWoods2013

    May 4, 2013 - By 

    Summer Camp is Awesome from Muskoka Woods on Vimeo. When I was a child I was shy to the point of being extremely socially awkward. I loved school, but was your classic tightly wound overachiever. My mom was a teacher and had summers off so there was never really a great need for us to be signed up for activities all summer long. We were beach babies, my brother and I, and we went to cottages every summer of our lives. We still do. But, one year, my Mom, a single parent and grade two teacher on a very limited…

  • family

    Five Social Media Lessons Learned From My Clients

    May 2, 2013 - By 

    Some of you know my job has evolved rapidly over a period of several months, from blogger for hire, to social media consultant and community manager. I love that social media strategy challenges me every day. I love many of my clients and am extremely passionate about what I do here. I started out on this path with a love of social media, pure enjoyment from tweeting, and a keen love of writing. I have moved on to understand marketing and public relations, and government relations too. Many of my clients have taught me a lot about best practices for…