When He's Done Playing Politics

I think Dennis Kucinich and his lovely wife should move to Canada. I swear, this is where he belongs, Canada is his long lost home. (Just like Ireland is mine! - More about that another day)

Cheers 2008

While I agree New Years Resolutions are bit of poo-poo; fodder if you will for the junk pile of broken dreams, I still try to put together a list of yearly goals. I try to ensure that my goals are manageable and to be honest, simple (otherwise I abandon goals shortly after instating them).

To that end; my manageable and simple goals for 2008 are:

1. Find a professional mentor (I recognize this is easier said than done but I imagine there are loads of leaders in the non-profit industry just aching for a young, energetic, dedicated protégée).
2. Start saving for retirement (I am a year and a half behind my goal of starting an RRSP; I had planned to start one on my 25^th birthday and that did not happen. I think I kept imagining that I needed an extra $500 to get started ; armed now with information I know that is not necessary so I will start one with whatever money I can throw together).
3. Increase my charitable giving (My goal is to each month eliminate an unnecessary purchase and donate those dollars to a charity of choice - I'm thinking $30/mon is more than do-able).

So that's the list; short, simple - highly manageable me thinks. Wish me good-luck people!

2 New Year's Resolutions that Made me Laugh

“I resolve to be self-aware enough to spot potential problems within myself and to begin to work on them immediately, without a making a public announcement or waiting to start the improvements on an entirely arbitrary date.” – Jen Lancaster

“My resolution is to take Prime Minister Stephen Bunnypants more serious this year!” – W. Russell

Timely...

The day after my last post my mother was admitted to the hospital...

Her illness and hospital visit reinforced all the reasons I want to have a child, reinforced the love and appreciation I have for my mother and father - my mother spending the holiday season in the hospital made me acutely aware of how precious our time with our family is; how lucky I am to have the ability to create family wherever I am; even made me appreciate my ability to someday have a child of my own....

My Mom is at home now for all who are wondering - she's stable and the family is waiting on specialist visits and answers - and in the meantime she will get all the time I have to give...

If Your Middle Name Isn't Corny - This May Not Be For You!

I have always wanted to be a parent – I love children, and I know I am not meant to be a teacher (I don’t have the patience needed to teach thirty-two ten year olds about photosynthesis so please do not suggest I become a teacher!), so being a parent seems to be the only hands on option available to me. While I may coach gymnastics, and love it, it’s not the same, even without a true understanding of what parenthood is I know it’s not even close to the same thing as raising your child….

The other competitive coaches at the gym tease me about the fact that I always have extra snacks in case one of the gymnasts forgets to bring something to eat. I’ll have pepper slices, granola bars, extra carrots stashed in my lunch bag ready for distribution when called upon. (And having that extra food has come in handy many times) That doesn’t stop Em and Marie from teasing me though and calling me the “little gym mom”.

On numerous occasions I have found myself in conversations about children in corporate networking circles. Gen Y’ers are genuinely interested in what their cohorts hobbies are, what their 5 year plan looks like, who wants to have kids, who never wants to have kids…so on and so forth. Because I have on numerous occasions been asked about my plans to have children I have put some considerable effort into understanding why I want to raise a child.

And here it is….

I want to be a mom because I think the best gift I can give to the world is to be a contentious citizen, who protects the environment, who challenges their government to be socially responsible, who protects those who can not protect themselves and raise others to do the same. Hilary Clinton talks about it, Up With People used to sing about it…it takes a village to raise a child. So I do my best to help my friends, family members, anyone I see struggling raise their child and someday I hope to raise my own child to be a good citizen who gives back all the kindness and love they’re afforded with. It's one of the best things I can think to do, bring kind, hard-working, dedicated citizens into this world, it's the least I can do....

What Am I Grateful For Today?

1) Coffee!
2) My new jeans...
3) Sue, the new coach at the gym....(I'm grateful to her for bringing new life to our competitive program, she's such a phenomenal coach...)
4) My large family - and how wonderful it is to unexpectedly run into some of them when out for brunch!
5) Christmas cards!!

Stevie Wonder = Prozac?

So Richard and I were on the highway in some brutal weather with over-zealous transports blowing by us and cars, we would have loved to have seen pulled over by the police, using the 401 as their personal closed-track. Driving in weather like that, with drivers so careless makes me decidedly anxious. I know Richard doesn’t care for it either so it was time to plug in the iPod for a little distraction.

Music is always a great way for me to pass the time, I get lost in “good” music, with it an hour trip feels like 15 minutes. This weekend I needed it simply to ignore the obnoxious drivers making me feel as though my life was in their hands. So we sang along at the top of our lungs, and as a whole enjoyed ourselves very much. We sang along to some Weezer, and some Counting Crows…and then my man Stevie came on and it was like the storm clouds parted and the rain had stopped, I sang “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” like my life depended on it and my mood lifted, I didn’t notice the cars around us, and it felt like we were on an open road with the sun shining and no cars or trucks in sight.

Yesterday’s road trip made me think about the healing qualities of music. Stevie Wonder is special to me, an uncle introduced me to his music as a child, on such a simple level I appreciated his joy then and now I appreciate his talent, his abilities, his gift as an adult. So much has been said and written about his genius so I won’t even bother trying to write about it here. But I will say that Stevie Wonder’s music makes me happier than the perfect pair of jeans ever could, happier than receiving a perfectly poured pint of cider, even happier than spicy tuna rolls make me. The smile his music brings to my face is the smile of a blissfully contented adult enjoying one of life’s most simple joys.

Thank you Stevie Wonder for being my mood-enhancer!