• family travel
    active family travel - family - Health - Parenting - parenting - special needs - Travel

    2015 Family Travel Reflections: Or That Time I Found Myself Crying as We Set Sail #travel

    January 4, 2016 - By 

    I am standing on the deck of a massive cruise ship tearing up when I realize 2015 might have been more challenging than I ever admitted. Sometimes this family has to stop, drop everything and hop on a cruise ship, or visit an island resort. Family travel is as crucial to us as getting the flu shot, or getting vaccinations, or filling the fridge with food. I know every parent has moments and most parents also deserve a big fat vacation occasionally. Parenting is hard work and when you have a job outside of that, it is also exhausting. Now add demands of…

  • personal goals
    active family travel - family - Health - parenting - Travel

    Personal Goals – My Word of the Year for 2016

    December 27, 2015 - By 

    It’s that time of year again, the time to set some personal goals. When December 31st approaches and another year has gone by, the lists start populating your twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook feeds fill up with reflection posts. That tends to cause some degree of nostalgia for the year gone by. I mean right now it feels like everyone is sharing their: Top Ten Posts of 2015 or Top Five Celebrities of 2015 and so on. Motivation Every year for the past few years here I have chosen a word to symbolize my year and my professional and personal goals…

  • male_infertility
    family - Health - parenting

    Male Factor Infertility – What You Need to Know #Health

    December 26, 2015 - By 

    When it comes to infertility issues, a lot of people don’t realize that almost half of all infertility issues are male factor. It’s true: 40 % of infertility is male factor. 40 % is female factor and 20 % is undetermined causes, or unexplained infertility. Male factor infertility affects 1 in 25 men, so it pays to know what it is and how to combat it. Some Facts About Male Factor Infertility What is It Male factor infertility can be related to a few different causes. Birth defects can sometimes cause male factor infertility. Occasionally men are born without ability to…

  • cold sores
    family - Health

    How Do You Tackle Cold Sores? #Abreva #ColdSore #GetReal

    December 23, 2015 - By 

    Winter is here. For my daughter and me, that means one thing – colds, often accompanied by by cold sores. Every winter, my daughter and I both get cold sores. They pop up at least once every cold and flu season. It’s horrible. They hurt sometimes and they look awful. It even pains me to see my daughter with that cracked, chapped lip cold sore every year. It looks like it hurts, but my sporty daughter is not super on top of tackling them at the outset. After years of this though I am on top of it and luckily we’ve found some ways to limit them as…

  • Ontario_IVF_funding
    Health - infertility

    Ontario’s IVF Funding Program Makes a Merry Christmas for Infertility Patients #IVF4ON

    December 23, 2015 - By 

    Ontario’s IVF Funding Program It’s a hopeful and Merry Christmas for Ontario infertility patients. Ontario’s promise to create an IVF funding program became reality this week with the announcement that 50 clinics throughout Ontario will now be offering a funded IVF (in vitro fertilization) cycle. That’s a Happy Holiday announcement for the many infertility patients in Ontario who have been struggling to access affordable infertility treatment necessary to help them start a family. It’s been several long years since a group of Ontario infertility patients, called Conceivable Dreams, started advocating for reinstatement of IVF funding. With Ontario’s IVF funding program there…

  • family - Health - parenting

    6 Female Fertility Facts You May Not Know

    December 17, 2015 - By 

    How much do you know about your own fertility? Chances are some of these female fertility facts will be new to you even if you consider yourself to be well informed. Female Fertility and Infertility is something we don’t seem to ask about or inquire into until there is a problem. Let’s change that. If you’re trying to have a baby, you need to know these female fertility facts. You may know some of these, but all of these female fertility facts can give you a better chance of making a little bundle of joy without so much of the worry and…

  • hot_flashes
    family - Health

    Five Easy Natural Ways to Tackle Hot Flashes #Health

    December 14, 2015 - By 

     Menopause changes everything. But it doesn’t have to be horrid. Menopause generally occurs between the ages of 40-50 years old and it is basically a big hormone shift that causes all sorts of side effects including hot flashes. I remember my Mom and her friends talking about hot flashes. They sounded bizarre to a kid at the time, and now it’s my friends talking hot flashes. Hot flashes are basically just an episode of when you get really hot and begin sweating profusely, they come out of nowhere and they can feel awful! Sometimes these hot flashes last for just a couple…

  • light bladder leakage
    family - Health

    Five Winter Fashion Trends to Embrace – Looking Fabulous Even With Bladder Problems #LBL #ad

    December 10, 2015 - By 

    I’ve been discussing LBL and various facets of it for a few articles now. This is part 3, the final portion of a series about light bladder leakage, a medical issue that impacts far too many women. In the first post about LBL I talked about travel strategies for women with LBL and ways to embrace travelling with support and a few easy travel tips. In November I talked to author and positive living expert Barbara Hannah Grufferman about ways to discuss LBL with a loved one. Today I’m tackling fashion because it’s the season to get dressed up and 2016 is…

  • common cold
    Health

    5 Common Cold Myths and Misconceptions

    November 28, 2015 - By 

    The common cold is the scourge of people everywhere. It’s hard to keep away from it, because there are so many strains in so many places. It’s also difficult to prevent and alleviate the common cold, as I know all too well this week after having spent a week working from bed. UGH! Cold and flu season are dreadful and I find as a person with Crohn’s Disease I really have to take extra precautions to not get sick. There are so many myths surrounding colds. Will you get a cold if you don’t wear a hat? What if you catch a…

  • Health

    Light Bladder Leakage – Q and A with Positive Living Expert Barbara Hannah Grufferman #LBL #Health #ad

    November 16, 2015 - By 

    This is the second in a series of posts about light bladder leakage and the impact it has on women’s health physically and psychologically. This month I interviewed positive aging expert Barbara Hannah Grufferman, author of The Best of Everything After 50 : The Experts’ Guide To Style, Sex, Health, Money and More. 1. What kind of psychological impact does Light Bladder Leakage have on a woman?  LBL can affect women in many aspects of their lives, making them feel as though they are ruled by their bladder leaks. Over half of Canadian women under the age of 55 experience some level of anxiety…