I love nonfiction, and Gretchen Rubin’s “The Happiness Project” is one of my all-time faves. It recounts her year-long journey to become happier, with month-by-month goals, and every time I read it, I feel like I’m visiting with a friend. I chose this book for our book club’s next selection, and have threatened my fellow […] Read more…
Do you have a child between the ages of 9 and 11? I’d love to get some input for an article I’m working on about disciplining kids in this age group. What “little kid” discipline techniques don’t work anymore? What behaviour issues begin to crop up at this age? What strategies work well now? Do […] Read more…
As the original Bachelorette, Trista Sutter found love on reality television with Colorado firefighter Ryan Sutter. Still happily married after ten years, this mom of two (son Max is 6, daughter Blakesley is 4) has recently published a book, “Happily Ever After: The Life-Changing Power of a Grateful Heart”. It isn’t a memoir (though she does […] Read more…
Christmas is my holiday because of my mom. For as long as I can remember, she has made it special with tunes playing (Kenny Rogers/Dolly Parton and Roger Whittaker), treats mixing (Sweet Marie bars and butterscotch marshmallow squares), fire burning (okay, Dad gets credit for that one) and fun wrapping (there were always codes on […] Read more…
On Wednesday morning, six moms bravely descended upon my classroom to assist with the Grade 3 Christmas Craft morning. Here’s what we accomplished (with my new Mariah Carey “Merry Christmas” CD playing in the background – my first teacher gift of the year – and the Holiday Yule Log video playing on the SmartBoard. I […] Read more…
Preface: My “adventures in freelance writing” posts are intended to be “self help” for those aspiring writers who may be less experienced that I am, but will likely fit more into the “humour” genre for those pros who have been around the (writer’s) block a lot more often. Feel free to chuckle at my many […] Read more…
So, how’d you sleep last night? If your answer is “Oh, it was a full eight hours, uninterrupted, and I woke up this morning feeling fantastic!” then you don’t need to the read the rest of this post. But please leave a comment and share your secret! For the rest of us, a good night’s […] Read more…
Perhaps you’ve already heard of NOVICA, one of the leading fair trade artisan websites, but I was just introduced to this gem of a site a couple of weeks ago. NOVICA works with National Geographic to give talented artisans around the world a place to express their artistic talents and provide access to the world […] Read more…
As a regular “viewer” of The View, I recently decided to read the memoir “Audition” by Barbara Walters. It’s a fairly large tome, at around 600 pages, but since I had hours to sit at the LASIK clinic, I made it through in no time. In the book, the now 86 year old Barbara details […] Read more…
As the daughter of a French teacher/die-hard Habs fan, trips to Montreal were a family tradition growing up, and my brother and I have tons of memories of the hotels, restaurants and of course hockey games that made up our childhood visits. This past weekend, we went back as one big (well, there are ten […] Read more…