One Part Inspiration...

I read an article this week entitled "What Empty Nesters Wish Parents of Young Kids Knew".  I found it very interesting.  Although I no longer have children at home, it doesn't seem so long ago that I was in the throes of raising the family.  Some of the advice centered around taking the time to get to know your children - to play with them, to find out who their friends were and to pay attention to the chatter in the back seat of the vehicle while you were in the driver's seat. As I look back, I see I did many of the things on the writer's list. Even in the early years, I was very conscious of creating memories, and being a parent who was 'present'.  I didn't want to have regrets when the kids left home for not doing enough to be there for them.  I chose to be involved in my kids' lives in many ways.  For several years, I was known as the "cupcake mom" because I baked cupcakes for each of their birthdays with enough to share with th...

This: is my Self Thinking Stamp. I can hear you saying "What is a self-thinking stamp". I am glad you asked.  Here's how it went down: My phone transcribes voice messages.  It has some interesting ways of interpreting said messages. Sometime in December, I looked at my phone and saw this one: "Hello, Marin, this is Mary from Rico.  I have your self-thinking stamp here.  So...just let me know when you would like to pick it up". Just what I needed !  A Self-thinking stamp.  This will save me a bunch of time.  No more wondering what I should make for supper.  Or if I have paid the Hydro Bill this month.  My Self-thinking stamp will do it for me. If I have a big decision to make, I can just use the stamp and Voila!  My decision is made for me. Right at this very moment, my Self-thinking stamp is thinking that Marni needs some chocolate. And right after that, I predict it will be thinking that I should get away for a holiday...

I lament that in the age of technology, when contact is so instant, people can still be so distant. They confuse pressing 'like' on a Facebook status as having input into someone else's life.  Or they sit in the same room and totally block out the other person by looking at their phones or other devices. What are the answers to re-building relationship in a technological society?  I think the answers lie in the decisions we as individuals must make.  We must make deliberate efforts not to default to technological means such as texting and messaging as our only means of connection. In 2013,  I decided that I would make an effort to send actual snail mail letters to people.  I set no boundaries for myself.  I did not limit nor did I consign myself to an impossible objective.  I simply committed to writing a letter to someone, or send them a card, as I thought about them. In anticipation of this goal, I bought some note cards and put them in a con...

New Year.  New Beginnings.  New Chances.  Yes, it's that time again.  Time to review and renew. Time to yearn for the unexpected, the unattainable, the unimaginable. Some time ago, I determined not to make resolutions.  However, this year, I caved.  My husband and I made a game of it.  What did we want to see in 2015?  What were some of our dreams and ambitions?  We brainstormed.  And then we wrote them down. Late in 2014, I found a binder in which I had written down thoughts about themed birthday parties, filed interesting articles on household organization and finances, as well as cataloguing internet courses I had taken.  Also included in this binder were lists of Christmas presents for everyone from teachers to co-workers and family[starting in 1993 - and abandoned by 2006], menus for special occasions, recipes for various fun items, and inspirations for making gift baskets [one of my early yearnings was to start a 'Send A ...

It's time for my annual look back at the year that was. 2014   Boy did I ever underestimate it! When 2014 dawned, I thought - 'We don't have any major events to mark the calendar.  It's time to take a break - have a quiet year- coast for a bit. Why did I think that, you ask?  Well, 2013 had been a year of milestones - big birthdays, graduations, weddings, anniversaries.  We had run the gamut of celebrations.  As I said, it was a big year. I couldn't have been more wrong about  2014 .  Sure, we coasted, but it was more like a Roller Coaster. It was a year of celebrations.  It was a year of new beginnings.  It was a year of the unexpected. And so, in no particular order - here it is....(cue orchestra).....                                   2014 One of my favourite things about 2014 was the unexpected suggestion from my husband that we pl...