just percolating...
Seeing the Aurora Borealis up in Canada's Great North has always been a dream of mine. (And Hubby's ... but his also includes winter camping, whitewater canoeing, and a whole bunch of other adventurous deeds.) So when I received an invitation from MJW Communications to a kick-off event for the Spectacular Northwest Territories Days at Ottawa's Winterlude in February, I immediately accepted. Normally, I go to these travel-writing/blogging events … [Read more...]
A loooonnng time back, I was dating a guy who proclaimed one day, "Stompin' Tom is playing this weekend. Let's go." I had no idea who Stompin' Tom was. But off we went to some little hole-in-the-wall bar in downtown Ottawa and we were treated to some of Tom's best songs. I had a fabulous time, and heard Tom perform a couple more times during the time I dated this boy. Now this boyfriend had unique tastes, so I just kind of figured that … [Read more...]
Sure, snow looks pretty. But that doesn't mean my skin likes it. Dry, winter skin is sort of a fact of life from December through to April in this area of the world. So I was definitely intrigued when I came across a Green Beaver line of lotion called "Apres-ski." I needed some new cream since I'd run out of my other stuff and our family has had a good experience with the Green Beaver Shampoo and Conditioner, so I thought I'd give this line a … [Read more...]
Back in October, I wrote a guest post on the PhD in Parenting blog titled "Bullying is Bad. Don't be a Bully." It started like this: It's not politically correct, but I'll say it: I'm tired of hearing about bullying. I feel like we spend a great deal of time as a society these days talking about bullying and the importance of teaching children that bullying hurts. I think children already know that bullying hurts. That's why children -- and … [Read more...]
In February of last year, my dear friend was told she had cancer. Bone cancer, to be precise. It was a blow out of nowhere. One day, she is fit and healthy and playing basketball. The next, she is being told she will need to have life-changing surgery on her leg and endure countless rounds of chemo. Once she got over the whole shock of it, she told me that losing her hair, enduring the seemingly never-ending sickness of chemo (aka "poison … [Read more...]
When I told you about my New Year's Resolution, I also said I'd tell you how I planned to achieve it. I have three steps in my success plan. #1: The FitBit My goal is to hit 8,000 to 10,000 steps a day. So, naturally, I needed a way to track how many steps I'm doing. For this task, I chose a handy dandy gadget called a FitBit (I bought the "Ultra" now replaced by the "The One"). I had been eyeing this fancy version of pedometer for a while … [Read more...]
It's a touch dusty around here. I know ... I know ... my stupid New Year's Resolution is totally interfering with my "me time" (i.e. blog time). I need to put in an extra hour of walking in at night to be able to hit those 8,000 to 10,000 steps. And then afterwards, I have a spurt of adrenaline that is nice but not nice enough to provide me with any creative writing juice that will keep me up past my bed time. Yet once I get into bed, I end up … [Read more...]
Stella is my 10-year-old daughter and on Saturdays, I let her rent this space from me because she thinks blogs are cool. It is her hope that her writing will appeal to kids her age as well as to the adults who read here too. For the intro to Saturdays with Stella, click here. source Fredrick Banting and the Great Idea: A Life Story You may have heard of Fredrick Banting, but not necessarily know what he did. You may not have even heard … [Read more...]
Stella is my 10-year-old daughter and on Saturdays, I let her rent this space from me. For the intro to Saturdays with Stella, click here. Ottawa is the capital of Canada so it is only natural that we have all the national museums right here. These museums are the best ones in the country and are the big cheeses of all the rest. In this post, I will tell you about my three favourites. The Canadian Museum of Nature is quite the impressive … [Read more...]
Dear readers, I am sharing this post because there has been a tragedy in my home town of Ottawa. The community has been hit hard and like most parents, I've been struggling with how to talk to my children about these three deaths. Krista Gray-Donald, a friend of mine who works with victims of violent crime, offered to put together some tips and resources for me. In speaking with her, she also offered to share this information here on Coffee … [Read more...]
My quest to use safer cosmetics is progressing slowly (but surely). In contrast, changing over the family's shampoos and conditioners can be done in one quick and easy swoop. Since day one, I've been more careful to read ingredients on the products I used with the kids, so I've had some years to try quite a few brands. … [Read more...]
Wondering what Saturdays with Stella is all about? It is a column written by my 10-year-old daughter, which was first introduced here. Now have you ever had an argument with a friend about whether dogs or cats were better? You're not alone. I used to be a dog person because we had a big black dog with a white stripe down his chest. I was only a dog person because I had never really interacted with a cat before. Then one of our … [Read more...]
Back in 2010, I received an email that started like this: My name is Brennan and I am a fourth year student at the University of Ottawa and co-founder of a local start-up called Avitu. In a nutshell, Avitu is social and community driven online advertising platform and ad management tool. For the past 4 months myself and my two classmates (both software engineering students at UofO) have been incubating out of Shopify in the Byward Market trying … [Read more...]
For a second outing during our Ottawa staycation (you can read about our first outing here), we decided to head up to the Gatineau Hills for a cross-country ski. It would have actually been a sin not to go cross-country skiing with all of the snow we had over the Christmas season here in Ottawa! Everywhere around us, as far as one could see, the world had a bit of a magical gleam to it with mounds of fluffy snow hanging upon the tree … [Read more...]
Hello! I’m back again! I can not express how happy I was to see how enthusiastic you all were about my new column! (My mom and I have agreed that we will post by noon every Saturday.) I have a topic I hope you will find interesting! I’ll tell you what, if you live anywhere that has a handful of kids (it’s an expression, because it’s pretty hard to carry kids in your hand) and a few yards full of snow, I can guarantee there will be a ton of … [Read more...]
Okay, so my niggling feeling that the lamps, no matter how much I liked them, were not "right" for the space was confirmed LOUDLY by all of you yesterday! haha ... I love getting your opinions -- you guys rock! One thing was communicated clearly -- I need bigger lamps! In particular, Giulia recommended the sizing to be as follows: "If going for a shade you need something bigger, the top of the lampshade should hit where the the top of your … [Read more...]
Like most folks, our home decor projects are moving right along at a snail's pace. But I do have (perhaps) one small piece of progress: Table Lamps for the Bedside Tables. If you didn't catch the original post, Hubby crafted bedside tables for us that are a combination of sleek and rustic. The room has nothing else in it yet except for the master bed, which is constructed entirely from the dark wenge wood you can see above, and a … [Read more...]
What is it about the turning of the clock that makes us want to change ourselves? Well, perhaps not "change," but improve or enhance. I think it must be the feeling of "starting fresh." Like all dieters tend to do by starting their diet on a Monday rather than, say, a Wednesday. I am a failure at resolutions. I'm not being self-deprecating. This is a fact. I know this because I recorded my 2011 New Year's Resolutions here on the blog. These … [Read more...]
Hi, readers! I’m sure you know that this is not my mom. This is my own little column I will be updating it every Saturday as the title suggests. This is a great opportunity for kids my age to have a weekly column to read that is written by a kid their age. This article is to show how a kid thinks about a broad selection of topics. Sometimes I will talk about simple kid pleasures such as realising it’s a snow day to finally being let outside after … [Read more...]
Our family was visited by not only Santa, but the stomach flu over the past few days. As a result, our Christmas dinner was delayed from December 25th to today. 10 adults and 4 kids will be arriving in a couple of hours! It will be so nice to have everyone here. We have the new dining room table set up pretty for all the adults, and a separate "kids table" for the four cousins (I always loved being at a kids table when I was a kid, didn't … [Read more...]
Hubby picked up a lathe from one of the local second-hand sites and turned these wooden ornaments. I hope the recipients find them as charming as I do. … [Read more...]
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