• family

    My Top Five Family Christmas Movies

    December 5, 2013 - By 

    This time of year we love to take the afternoon or evening and watch Family Christmas movies together. Are you the same way? There’s something super festive about watching Christmas movies together as a family. If your family is at all like mine, then Christmas is a great opportunity to snuggle, take a break, pop some popcorn, and plan a movie night. Who wants to go out after eating all that turkey? I’d much rather cuddle and watch something fun before Christmas too. Wrapping presents and decorating the tree is always a good time to share a special movie. In…

  • family - Health

    Five Things NOT to Say When a Friend is Grieving

    September 10, 2013 - By 

    GRIEVING Four months ago my mother passed away unexpectedly fast. Hearts broken, we moved through our days barely breathing at times, bursting into tears at the cemetery as we chose our mother’s plot, falling asleep spent. The words “Beloved Mother” on a spray of roses and every childhood memory unravelled at my feet. Sobbing, we set foot inside a flower shop to buy the last flowers we might ever gift her with and hope the florist weighs how much we loved her, translates it into colours. In the last few weeks, tears have come and gone, sometimes with clear triggers…

  • Travel

    Bruce County Travel – Exploring the Bruce

    August 19, 2013 - By 

      All the summers of my childhood were spent with my Mom and brother on the beaches along the Bruce Peninsula. They were leisurely Bruce County summers spent sunning ourselves, swimming, growing.   Exploring Bruce County Travel Attractions  From the time my kids were little, we maintained the Bruce County summer tradition. This year, before we headed up to the beach for a week at a rented cottage I checked out a few web sites to see what was new and what we might add to our week. Tweens are fun to travel with and mine have been visiting the…

  • Giveaways - Health - parenting

    Win $25 K for Your Park – Kraft Celebration Tour #KCT

    June 1, 2013 - By 

      It might not have made front page news, but the day they unveiled Mayor Norm Jary Park in Guelph, the world shifted just a little bit for my brother and I. First of all, we had our pictures in the local daily, The Guelph Mercury (local section). That in itself was an event – and pretty cool for a grade schooler. I recall the photo opp with the mayor. I think I might have been nine or so standing in the background and my little brother was cute as a button perched atop a slide. Aside from the school playground…

  • family

    What You Miss Most When A Loved One Dies

    May 23, 2013 - By 

    After a loved one dies the things you miss surprise you. Small sucker punches all day long to the heart. They creep in the week after the funeral and you think I had no idea I would miss that.          Sensory Things After a Loved One Dies Of course you miss her smell, and it is visceral, the way you seek it, find it lingering on her shirt, a blouse, a blanket, even on a pair of sunglasses. That was my Mom. That was how she smelled and I never really noticed it until right this second.…

  • 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.…

  • family - Health - special needs - Travel

    Five Ways to Save Money on Summer Camp #MuskokaWoods

    March 13, 2013 - By 

    Dear Mom: Remember last month when I reminded you all about how we needed to book my summer camps now! Well, I am really hoping you did that Mom. I want to get into the same overnight summer camp I did last year with my BFF. It was the most fun event of my entire summer. Oh I enjoyed Canada’s Wonderland too, but nothing will ever top staying up late, crafting all week long, singing songs and making my own dolls and then swimming in a lake and sleeping on bunks away from home. My counsellors were incredible. In fact,…

  • the changing face of family
    Health - Parenting

    What is the New Normal #FamilyDay? #ohip4ivf #onpoli

    February 18, 2013 - By 

    On Family Day I wanted to spend my one thousandth post talking about family and the new normal and the changing face of family. Today, people will spend the day with their children, or their parents. Some may celebrate new births, a few may go out for dinner, sledding or to the movies. In our family we often take the afternoon to go skating on Family Day. It’s a fun tradition here at our house, one my daughter reminded me of today.  I spent a lot of time thinking about family here lately, and policies that impact family. On Family…

  • family_day_AB
    Health

    On the Eve of Family Day #ABHC4IVF #ABPOLI

    February 15, 2013 - By 

    Updated – for Family Day 2017 On the eve of Family Day 2013 I asked infertility patients a question. The answers were emotional and many were heartbreaking. For those who do not yet have a family many holidays are reminders of loss and grief and health care struggles. That could change if Alberta started to fund IVF in the province. There are currently in 2017 four provinces funding the procedure. Alberta is not yet one of those provinces.   A couple of short weeks ago I asked the question on Generations of Hope Facebook page I help manage. The question was this:…

  • family - Health

    Five Triggers of Alzheimer’s Disease #Health

    February 5, 2013 - By 

    This year was a hard one. We have been doing our best to help my mother manage her diagnosis of dementia. Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease are heartbreaking and it can be devastating to watch. As words disappear and memories start to fade your loved one, can often end up being explosive. It’s not uncommon at all and is completely understandable. Over the last couple of years I have noted numerous Alzheimer’s Disease triggers. Here’s a bit more about what Alzheimer’s Disease triggers look like and how to cope. Alzheimer’s Disease triggers This past year was, at times, a glorious mess.…