I need you, but not just for your money...

PUH-LEASE

Help me support the fight against cancer by pledging me for my participation in the Canadian Cancer Society Relay For Life.

The Canadian Cancer Society Relay For Life is an overnight non-competitive relay that celebrates cancer survivors and pays tribute to the lives of loved ones. It involves teams of 10 people who take turns walking, running or strolling around a track to raise money to support the work of the Canadian Cancer Society. Funds raised help the Canadian Cancer Society fund the most promising research projects in the country, provide information services and support programs in the community and advocate for public policies that prevent cancer and help those living with it. Help me support the fight against cancer by pledging me for my participation in the Canadian Cancer Society Relay For Life.

Thank you friends. I'm doing this for my friend Alli, who passed away from Hodgkin's Lymphoma this past spring. She'll always always always be close to my heart for being hands-down the strongest, bravest, best hug-giving, brightest smile-spreading girl I'll ever be lucky enough to know. I sure do miss you Alli.

Things that make me happy (not by any means a conclusive list)

• making Valentines with heart-shaped doilies
• walking through the farmer's market
• my new tea-steeping ball, and my new Rooibos tea
• Montreal style bagels and Winnipeg cream cheese
• library books
• apple juice
• mushy Shreddies
• a tidy living room
• sunny days
• rainy days
• snowy days
• windy days (as long as I don't have to go anywhere)
• lightning and thunder nights
• tin rooves or thin cottage rooves
• Balderson cheese
• Lanark county maple syrup
• the Tay river
• the mighty Bow river in the summer
• rollerblading, as dorky as it is
  
• mail
• 1 cent postage stamps
• old post offices that don't have computers and use lots of stamps instead of printing a label for packages
• bluegrass music
• actually pretty much any kind of music
• CKUA
• most kids
• baby giraffes
• puppies
• swimming hippopotami
• books about hippopotami
• children's books
• making art with kids
• watching t.v. (certain shows)
• the folk festival
• fresh fruit of any description
• pie
• ice cream cones
  
• tarpaulins
• camping
• marshmallows
• mountains at the end of the day before the sun goes down and they are kind of pink in colour
• snow
• snowboarding
• tobogganing
• skating outside at night
• writing letters at coffee shops
• polaroid photos
• seashells
• sea turtles
• penguins
• crayons and colouring books
• new bottles of lotions/creams/shampoo, anything really
• taking lessons
• taking off in an airplane
• backpacks
• life cycles
• laughing
• smiles from strangers
• talking on public transit
  
• blankets

Making my footprint a little smaller?

Last night I signed up for 'Greenmax', the program where I pay an extra $6.50 a month so that my share of the Alberta power pool comes from wind-generated power. Cool. Here were my questions, if you have any answers I would really appreciate it...

1. why should i pay extra for energy that is free? it just blows around until we harvest it....
   
2. why should people have to CHOOSE clean power rather than dirty (coal/nuclear/...) and
3. shouldn't somebody just say this-is-where-we're-going-so-deal-with-it and we're all going to chip in a bit extra to deal with the investment this is going to take to develop
4. why didn't somebody send me a brochure about this? i signed on for paperless billing *you know, to save the trees* but as a consequence nobody told me i could also save hunks of coal because i don't get those annoying inserts with paperless billing (a pro and sometimes a con)
5. why isn't everybody doing this?
   

Oh so relevant, and entertaining!

After 2+ weeks of vacation I should have some exciting stuff to write about, hey? So here are some highlights, none of it terrifically exciting but all very significant for me:

• Christmas turkey, stuffing, cranberry, sweet potato, potato, carrots......
• Christmas eve with Ed's family
• Christmas morning stockings!!!!!
  
• seeing all of my family on Jack and mum's side, and introducing the whole crazy/lovable lot to Ed
• seeing how much Sarah and Darren's boys have grown up and getting to play with them on snowdecks in the back field (nearly cracked my head open!)
• meeting Sarah's new puppy Tessa, the one-eyed-wonder
• pie
• Volver with Penelope Cruz (i don't normally love her but she's quite good)
  
• tea everywhere we went
• Night at the Museum in IMAX
• shopping in Toronto, how overwhelming and wonderful - new sneakers
• sleepovers with JohJoh, tarts from the Brazilian bakery and Bringing Up Baby
  
• visits with Michael & Ryan, oh how I miss the debates over where we should go for dinner!
• Children of Men - MUST SEE (but be prepared to be stressed)
• visits with Belinda and Merlin
• seeing Palmieri again at the AGO
  
• being home again...

*sigh* It's always so unfortunate when holidays come to an end. I feel like I have all these grand plans for how 2007 is going to be the greatest year ever... and then after 6 hours at school yesterday prepping and cleaning I feel a bit deflated, to be honest. Nevermind. I will be consolidating a somewhat airy-fairy list of resolutions, nay, goals for this year and I may or may not post that soon.

In other news, George Bush is, as he always been, a huge doofus. Go here: