Due to SUNNY, WARM, DELIGHTFUL weather. WIN articles will be suspended for the weekend. Since awesome weather has been a rare commodity here lately, I’d like to take advantage of this time to get my garden in shape.

I will keep you posted…

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS

I apologize for not writing on Technical Tuesday. Due to technical difficulty, I was unable to publish. Make sure you come back next week things should be back to normal.

FLOWER POWER!

A good friend of mine has become very interested in the study of plants and herbs in terms of healing and preventative health. She is always willing to share her new learned information to me. I find this a bonus because she does all the research and I get the benefits. That and I get to decide which I find most interesting and pursue the information for the things that interest me most.

One of the studies has to do with Flower Remedies, specifically Bach Flower Remedies. So tonight I thought you might be interested in the web site with this information.

Each Bach Flower Remedy comes in a small vile and can be purchased at your local Health Food Store.

Enjoy the information, by the way, I’m using two of them, I’ll let you know if it works.

www.bachcentre.com/centre/remedies.htm

Money Mondays

$$$$DIALING FOR DOLLARS$$$$!

For those of you who are too young, that was actually a television game show.

Well just having gone out and spent $100. on clothes (my downfall I might add), I thought I would do my article tonight on how to save money. Like I’m an expert… NOT!

So while surfing the net and reading the different ways to save money I ran into this site. It is so cool. Thought you might be interested in it and hey you might even save some money and still have fun. Try it out!

Enjoy the evening!

www.savemoneygames.com

Spiritural Sunday

LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOURS

Ok well not literally, but when was the last time you said hello to them?

I am very fortunate I have awesome neighbours. My neighbours to the north of me make me feel like I am part of their family. I am invited to all of their family functions and this is very cool because they have a big family and there is lots of food and chatter and fun. These neighbours are always there when I need them and often I need them lots. A broken lawnmower, a leaky faucet, a fallen fence and help in the garden. I am so lucky they are there and I cherish them dearly.

My neighbours to the south moved here from England about 4 years ago, both are very hard workers but when I do see them, they are friendly and he especially loves to talk. I find them very interesting.

My neighbour to the east is letting his daughter stay in his house. He is an elderly gentleman and lives in town with his wife as she is in a home. But this neighbour comes out weekly to work on his property because he enjoys doing this. I really like him and find comfort in the fact that he likes to maintain and take care of the land across from my home.

I have two neighbours behind me. Both are friendly and have often told me if I needed any help that all I needed to do was just ask. One couple just had a baby and the mom was so excited to announce over her deck of the details of her new child… a boy by the way.

Most of the remainder of my little neighbourhood area are personable and very friendly. Our children have grown up together and we share a love for our homes, our families and our community.

Thing is, I know that if I ever needed their support they would be there for me. I know this because they have come to my rescue often... and this makes me feel safe.

One of the commandments in the bible says “Love thy neighbours”. There is credence in this saying trust me.

So the next time you see your neighbour drive into his garage, just give him a wave. Say hello, invite the family over for a BBQ. It’s good for the soul.

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE

BLOGGING

So, you want to know how to build a blog. Well, it’s pretty much easy. There are several blog sites and it is just a matter of signing up. Sites like http://www.wordpress.com/ or http://www.bloger.com/ or http://www.bloglines.com/ or http://www.livejournal.com/ and the one I started with www.blogger.com/start just to name a few.

All you have to do is log onto one of these sites and they pretty much give you step by step instructions for starting your own blog.

Blogs are a great tool to start if you have family all over the country/world. You can post pictures and write about your family’s daily happenings for others in your extended family.

Blogs are also good if you just like to write. Dianna Gabaldon, author of the “Outlander” series pretty much started her first book by posting parts of it on a local “message board” of author friends who encouraged her to pursue her writing and publish a book.

Writing is cathartic and with a blog you can go anonymous and people can from around the world can read your notes if they happen to run into your webpage. Because there are thousands of people out there daily that write, it would be like finding a needle in a hay stack.

I stared my own blog about three years ago and I have a small following of people who embrace what I like and encourage me to continue. All are friends, some close friends here in Calgary and some as far away as Ireland, Texas and Arkansas. My friends from down south have become special friends and I cherish their friendships as much as my friends here at home.

Blogs are informative and the subject written about are countless, there are blogs out there for new mothers, artists, mathematicians, and sometimes it is fun just checking the links from one blog to other blogs. You could spend hours a day just reading all the cool information out there.

One of my favourite blogs and one I check every Sunday is Post Secrets (see: http://postsecret.blogspot.com/ ) “PostSecret is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard.” It is very interesting.

My own blog can be found at: http://www.imwaitingincanada.blogspot.com/.

So if you have always aspired to be a writer and thought you didn’t have a venue for your talents, why not try blogging, you never know who might be reading it. Even your children can create their own blog.

Give it a try. It’s something for everyone to do.

Enjoy what’s left of your Saturday!

FUN FRIDAYS

A LILAC FESTIVAL

Looking for something to do on a weekend and don’t want to spend a great deal of money? Well there is lots happening in Calgary if you just dig around. There are a few web sites that open up to the happenings of the city. One of the better places is the site http://www.tourismcalgary.com/ if you go into their events calendar and place the dates you are looking for you will come up with a mitt load of information and happenings in the city. For example check what’s going on in the city this weekend…

http://www.tourismcalgary.com/e-cvb/coe/coeresults.cfm

This weekend is the Fourth Street Lilac Festival. OK it’s not exactly Lilac blooming weather but nevertheless I hear this gig is a blast. Fun for the whole family as they would say. In checking into more information about the activity I came onto this web site…

http://www.4streetcalgary.com/ and http://www.4streetcalgary.com/lilacfestival

What a cool site, it has all you need to know about the festival and more. There will be a parade and everything! I haven’t gone to the festival but have had friends who have and they say it’s lots of fun, also, lots and lots of people. But hey, that’s what makes things more adventurous right?

But if you’re not into roaming around the city, mingling with lots of fellow Calgarians and just prefer to cozy up at home, check the following movies out. My friend Sandra passed her picks along to me have a look…

The Notebook
Black Diamond - violent, but good
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Babel

That’s it for me. Have a great weekend and more than anything HAVE FUN!

TRAVEL THURSDAYS

SO YOU WANT TO TRAVEL?

This is one of my favourite topics. Travel.

I have traveled some in my life and to me it is always a way to gain a new perspective on the world. Living and or interacting with new cultures expands your mind and allows you to see that your ideas or views are not the only ones and I truly believe that the more you learn about others the more you learn about yourself.

There are many different ways to take a trip that start with cruising and end in trekking and I hope to cover all of them on Thursdays for I have many good friends who are diverse in their travel experiences and most certainly will ask for their stories. But because it is the first Travel Thursday, lets just talk about where one might begin to look when considering a trip.

All you really have to do is type in the name of a country or place you would like to visit on a search engine like Google and hundreds of websites will pop up but sometimes it is just as easy to start with your air fare. I like to go to the airline web page first and type in my destination to check out the pricing of the flight. I then check out sites like

http://www.itravel2000.com/

http://www.travelocity.ca/ca

http://www.expedia.ca/

http://www.ticketpilot.ca/

These are major booking sites that also give you an idea of costs and often have these companies have special package deals. I have used both the airline sites and the sites above and have had positive experiences.

I actually did a trip from scratch on the Internet. I booked my two-way flight, accommodation and rental car for a trip I planned in Italy in 2004. From start to finish I learned a great deal from my reading the informative web pages and everything ran smoothly, including the driving directions from the airport in Florence to the place I was to make my home for the 7 weeks that I stayed there.

One of my favourite sites is a wonderful web page especially for women traveling alone or with other women friends. It is called Journey Women and can be found at:

http://www.journeywoman.com/

It is jam packed with information and I refer to it all the time. In fact my next trip was booked through a web link I found on that site… but that’s for another Thursday.

Till tomorrow may you find peace and expand your horizons.

Wellness Wednesdays

DO YOU HAVE A COLD?

So, have you ever thought about the last time you got a cold? What were you feeling just before or around the time you started to get that soar throat.

It is a well known fact that a cold is a virus and the only way a virus can be spread. I’m no medical doctor but I do know that when I have pushed myself to the max, or am super stressed or have not been eating well I am more susceptible to a cold. Often I can feel one coming on and really try to think it away, or at least eat lots of vitamin C and drink lots of fluids and sometimes it’s not as bad or lasts for just a day or so.

“More than 200 different viruses are known to cause the symptoms of the common cold. Some, such as the rhinoviruses, seldom produce serious illnesses. Others, such as parainfluenza and respiratory syncytial virus, produce mild infections in adults but can precipitate severe lower respiratory infections in young children. Rhinoviruses (from the Greek rhin, meaning "nose") cause an estimated 30 to 35 percent of all adult colds, and are most active in early fall, spring, and summer.” (see: http://www.everydayhealth.com/publicsite/index.aspx?puid=f5b7bef4-b34c-42d6-9959-fcb796d3c0d0&p=2 )

I’m no medical doctor but I do know that when I have pushed myself to the max, or am super stressed or have not been eating well I am more susceptible to a cold. Often I can feel one coming on and really try to think it away, or at least eat lots of vitamin C and drink lots of fluids and sometimes it’s not as bad or lasts for just a day or so.

Personally, I try to stay away from the drugstore cocktails. Chugging back a cup of “Neo Citran”, when I was in university and needed instant sleep after hours of coffee to keep me awake enough to study, although horrifying in thought and deed, seem appropriate at the time. The thought of filling my body with that stuff, even if it is to get a good nights sleeps, away from coughs and aches only seems to prolong the agony in my mind.

I try hard to act in preventative ways to avoid the cold period as Dr. “Skip” writes about in his article “Colds, How to know… What to do…” (see: http://medicalreporter.health.org/tmr1096/carstensen.html)

These other sites give you similar ways to avoid picking up the virus.

http://www.pioneerthinking.com/coldandflu.html http://www.eightprinciples.com/

So tonight as I suffer through a cold I got because I let too much stress get in the way of sleep and good food intake, I am sipping on my lemon tea while eating chicken soup and crunching on a couple of vitamin C, just before I go to bed early!

Take care of yourselves out there, it is well worth it and you are more than worth it!
Peace!

Technical Tuesday

PAINTING A ROOM

So today I am going to write about painting a room. My house is about 12 years old give or take a couple of years and there certainly is much that needs to be attended to. One of the things on the list is painting the house, inside that is.

Now I thought that I would tackle doing part of it myself and have decided to try and do a small area like my bedroom to start. Never having painted a wall before I thought it best to get some instructions on just how to do that. So of course I go to the internet and find out all sorts of information.

So you do have some options here. If the thought of painting intimidates you, you can always call a local house painter. Now you could ask at Home Depot or RONA/Revy or Totem and they may be able to suggest someone. Or you could check these web pages below.

http://www.fivestar-painting.com/

www.CertaPro.com/Free_Estimate


http://www.collegepro.com/

Also check this site out:


http://www.gopro.ca/painting/manufacturers//paint//catalog.htm


But if you choose to challenge yourself then you have a few options. You can go to your local hardware store (Home Depot, Canadian Tire, RONA/Revy and or Totem being one of many), and go to their paint department. Their staff should be knowledgeable enough to help you decide just what you need when it comes to the type of paint, tools and instructions you need. Or go directly to the paint manufacture show room and they will also be able to help you.

Or you can check out several “How To” web pages as the ones I have placed below. I personally like the one with the video because it actually shows you how to roll the roller.

http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/package/1,21861,1056968,00.html

http://www.paintquality.com/diy/content/howtopaint.htm

http://www.helpwithdiy.com/painting/painting_interior_walls.html

http://www.benjaminmoore.ca/howto/painting101.aspx

http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/paintroom/paintroom.html

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-paint-a-wall


Later on I will do a blow by blow on just how well painting my bedroom went. Till then, I’m off to do more research and to pick out a colour.

Money Mondays

Emotional Spending

One of the great benefits to doing this web page is finding out all this fun information. When I thought what I might do for today’s “Money Mondays” I remembered a friend of mine talking about how she shopped to ease her pain or sorrows. While the thought of buying new articles is rather invigorating, the flipside to that is paying for that article(s) and usually it is through a credit card payment.

I am not a big fan of credit cards, never have been. It use to be, when they first came out that you had to have a good job and substantial money in your bank before they would approve you as one of their lenders. Now, pretty much anyone can get himself or herself into debt and at 19-20% interest no one has to wonder why the dividends to those who own bank stock is the reason why these companies and please think of it in this way, banks are companies that are making money for their stock holders, are the richest institutions in our country.

It’s a lot easier to use a credit card because it is money we don’t see we have used until months end, and even then it just seem like a different part of our money intake /output for it is never really money we see in our hands until we have to pay the bill. Then that is a whole different story. If we have been spending money we don’t have, then it is robbing Peter to pay Paul.

We think that we are off the hook somewhat by paying the minimum payment but that is just how the banks want you to feel because while you are paying the minimum amount, they are charging you each month you don’t pay the full payment 19-20% interest rate on the full amount. So in some cases it’s like you are just paying the interest rate every month and your bill never really gets smaller.

Now really think on this people, loan shark, banker, doesn’t matter, either way they are taking your hard earned cash and that to me is the price we pay for borrowing through those institutions.

Now there is some positive to credit cards. For instance, many offer deals through points when you buy products on their card. This is only beneficial to you though if you pay your card off every month. This takes great discipline and organization of your bank funds.

While searching for web pages to help save money I found two that I thought would be of interest to you. One is simply called “Save Money” and it has all sorts of tips on how to save and spend safely. It is a Canadian site and I think it has some interesting and helpful information on it.

www.taxtips.ca/save_money.htm


The other is site on emotional spending. Although it is an American site it does have some pertinent information on it that may help you understand and over come the urge to spend when you are feeling you need an emotional boost.


www.moneycentral.msn.com/content/Savinganddebt/Savemoney/P118762.asp

Have a great Monday and see you tomorrow!

Spiritual Sunday

"YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE FRIENDS!"

I think one of my favourite quotes is one by Ralph Waldo Emerson and it goes like this…

“A Friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of Nature”

Those of you who know me know that I am most appreciative of and recognize the loving value of my friends.

People come and go from our lives all the time but a true friend is there with you in heart even if he or she is not in physical body.

My friends have helped to shape the person I have become. Their support and love and objective (and not so objective) opinions have kept me grounded or at least tethered to firmer ground during times when I felt I was walking blind. Each one of them had their own unique contribution to my life and when I am with them I feel safe.

All of my friends have been mentors of sorts. All my friends I consider kindred spirits, some friends, soul sisters (brothers), all of them teachers. They have empowered me and encouraged me to be all that I can be. All of them are loving people and I feel so honoured that they have chosen to share their lives with me.

My friends have helped to expose the beauty in me and for that I am forever grateful to them.

Those of you who have close and loving friends know just how important they are to your spirit.

I have two books about friends I’d like to suggest for reading. The stories are very inspiring they both about two friends and what one has to teach the other.

Both books were given to me by one of my best of friends.

The first book is “Tuesdays With Morrie” by Mitch Albom.

The second book is “The Way Of The Peaceful Warrior” by Dan Millman

“The most I can do for my friend is simply to be his friend. I have no wealth to bestow on him. If he knows that I am happy in loving him, he will want no other reward. Is not friendship divine in this?”

~Henry David Thoreau~

Something For Everyone Saturday

Since this is “Something for everybody Saturday” I thought I would talk about hockey. Hockey???? You say!

Yes, well the Ottawa Senators won the Eastern division and will be going to the Stanley Cup. It was a very exciting game. I was a great hockey fan when I was a young girl and always played goalie for our street hockey team. I remember thinking that it would be cool if girls could play hockey but back then that was almost blasphemy in the days when girls were only meant to play with Barbie dolls. Now, Canada has their own woman’s team and they win Olympic medals! Whod’a thought. Check out www.nhl.com if you are interested in following Ottawa to the Stanley Cup or if you don’t know what the Stanley Cup is but are interested in knowing!

Today I got my hair trimmed. I have found a great place to get my hair done. Sometimes it’s hard to find a good hair salon but I have to tell you, this place rocks! There is this positive energy that seems to fill the place, you feel the moment you walk in the door. Something about the place is just so totally upbeat. If you’re looking for a good place to get your hair done (women and men) check it out… www.fairlyvanilla.com

Looking for something to do with your kids? Check out this web page…
www.calgarykidz.com

Well this Saturday will be short and sweet as it is a long weekend and I was up late last night watching “What The Bleep Do You Know?” www.whatthebleep.com

Check in tomorrow for Spiritual Sunday.

Let the Idea Grow

"Watching a 3D movie with a friend or loved one."

Well it’s Friday and all week long I have been so excited thinking about the possibilities of this idea of “WIN”.

Since I haven’t set up a web page yet I decided that I would have a theme for each day and write or pass along information to get it started. So Monday will be Money Matters, Tuesday will be Technical Tuesdays (my idea is to get you to ask questions from computer inquiries to how to change a washer on a faucet), the theme for Wednesdays will be “Wellness”, Thursday I will start writing on travel experiences, information and references, hence “Travel Thursdays”, Friday will be “Fun Fridays”, just fun things from stories to fun things to do in and around the city. Saturdays will be “Something for Everyone”, and that will be just about anything. Sunday will be devoted to the SPIRIT and information, stories and references to help and empower the spirit.

So my dearest of friends, I know that you are all so diverse and awesome in your wisdoms and I encourage you to please participate with ideas, stories and information you believe may be helpful to pass along, male and female included. Those of you who have my home email address please pass on your comments, notes, letters to my “shaw.ca” address and anybody else out there who thinks they have something valuable to offer please leave a comment anytime you wish.

So seeing as it is FRIDAY… FUN FRIDAY, a fun way to spend your Friday evening could be invite your dearest of friends, or gather the family to watch a fun, romantic, exciting, DVD movie. Make sure you make lots of popcorn, and make sure there is lots of love and laughter in the room… Have a great evening all!

“You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result”.

~Mahatma Gandi~

Instructions for a DIVA party

On my 51st birthday I held a "DIVA" party for my girlfriends.

See: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandygirl/sets/198148/ for pictures.

The prerequisite for entering the party was that you had to wear a hat, or gloves or a boa.

The meal had a theme… DECADANCE. Each woman was in charge of bringing a specific entrée. It started with an appetizer of artichoke dip and deep fired lasagna, from there we had French Canadian Onion Soup, Greek Salad, Boeuf Bourguignon as the main entrée with assorted exotic vegetables and Canadian Wild Rice. Dessert was a Magnificent raspberry cheesecake. And later on we drank wine and ate Bernard Callebaut Chocolates (see: http://www.bernardcallebaut.com/users/folder.asp )

I made each girlfriend a booklet that had all sorts of information from the meaning of their names, a numerology forecast, links to websites of interest. I asked them to give me 5 of their most favourite songs and made a CD (set of two actually) for each of them with all the songs on it. I wrote a long page of what they meant to me and how grateful I was to each unique one of them and presented each of them with a DIVA/GODDESS ring. From there we played a DIVA game of which we told all our secrets and then proceeded to make Diva wands. Each lady brought their pj’s and stayed over night as we were having too much fun drinking wine and laughing… I just knew no one would want to go home. The next morning I made them all a decadent breakfast.

You too can create your own DIVA night. All you need is a little imagination and some awesome girlfriends!

If you want to know more about the DIVA night, just send me an email at Canadian1st@hotmail.com.
Sandy

An Embryo

It has been a dream of mine for quite some time to create a place for women in our community to go when they needed support. Support on all levels whether it be emotional, financial or just where to go to learn how to fix a tap.

My ultimate dream would be to create a facility that includes a wellness centre, café, bookstore and resource centre. It would also include a travel shop. A big dream yes, but for me anything is possible.

This past week I was with a group of women whom I found to be rather inspiring and who also felt not only was there a need for such a network within our community/province but who also said they would support me in whichever way they could to get this project going.

I think we shall start small and within Calgary or just articles of interest from women within the area and watch how this will evolve. I plan by the end of the year to have a webpage set up and secure and filled with great stories and tid bits of information for us all.

It’s for women but I am sure men will also find it interesting. From Heath to Travel, lets see this dream come true!