Osborne House Fundraising Calendar - Now Available!

Warning: Vanity Post !

Now available at The Foxy Shoppe, is the ' Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful ' 2013 Calendar!  A project organized by the beautiful Pamela Fox, the $20 calendar is being sold as a fundraising project for the local Winnipeg women's shelter, Osborne House

I was so pleased to be asked to model for this calendar and am proud to say I am officially Miss March 2013, so you will enjoy 31 full days of seeing me in your kitchen, or bathroom, or gym locker.
Actually, please DO take me to your gym locker, as it's probably the only way I'll regularly get to the gym.

All funnies aside, it's a beautiful gift for only $20 that will help support women and children whose lives have been uprooted due to domestic violence.

Winnipeg is Better Than Chocolate: The Foxy Shoppe Calendar Launch Gala - FREE!!

Winnipeg is Better Than Chocolate: The Foxy Shoppe Calendar Launch Gala - FREE!!: November 23, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm The Foxy Shoppe 87 King St. Join us for great fun and a wonderful local cause!  100% profits goin...

Guys, Tosca Reno's following me!!

The great thing about Twitter is the ability to follow celebrities, hear what they're doing, who they're doing it with, and what they're eating for lunch; the bad thing is, those celebrities can follow you back.

Today Tosca Reno's bot started following me, at least I pray it's a bot, and not actually Tosca Reno, because quite honestly, she's pretty intense.  Don't get me wrong, this isn't the first time I've been followed by a fitness and nutrition expert.  I'm a very popular target for those folks.  I'm like an alcoholic that has not yet hit rock bottom, but the helper types and shake sellers circle me online, ready to help me make that transition into clean living.

I'm not 100% healthy, but I'm not ready to eat kale.  What category of person does that make me? It means I'm in denial, probably like about 95% of people.  I eat broccoli spears, then I eat a brownie. Some might call that life balance, and some might call that lunacy.

So what does it mean to be followed by Tosca Reno? Will she comment on pictures of my lunch? Will I start being influenced by her low carb days? Can I still make jokes about her dom/sub relationship? ( If he says, ' good girl ' to her one more time..... yeesh)

I guess she figured the best defence was a good offence, but c'mon Tosca, how can I poke fun at you if you won't leave the room?

p.s. Chocolate-dipped bacon at the Fort Garry Hotel!

Stairs

Time for my stair-climbing workout!

I have made many decisions standing on a flight of steps: kiss him or just walk behind him quietly, for example!

I'm really glad I kissed him.

Stairs are the perfect metaphor for getting where you want to go:

you have to focus or you will fall and hurt yourself

no one cares how fast you get there as long as you're not blocking them

keep looking up

one step at a time unless you're quite fit

there are many people happy to see you rise, even if you're ahead of them

Go climb some stairs, people! It's 2012, how high can you go!

Puff Puff Pass

This post appeared online at http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/scene ; Farpoint Films and CBC created a half-hour documentary called ' Cultural Secrets of Winnipeg', and my friend Angie Lamirande ( http://www.popsportsent.com ) asked me to take part in it.

If you see me with a Cheshire cat smile on my face it’s because I have a little secret. You see, the only thing that makes me happier than having a little secret is sharing my little secret. That’s why I was so excited to try out the Firefly Shisha Bar on Ellice Avenue; not only
was it not very well-known, but it felt a little dangerous and if I may say so,
slightly illicit for a suburban Mom. Truth is, I am not a stranger to the
hookah; I’ve actually had one in my own home for over 20 years, but never used
it. I valued it for its beauty but doubted its utility; sort of like Kim
Kardashian.

While still in university, I met my future husband. His bachelor pad décor
had the usual elements: the homemade futon, the questionable nude photography,
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9YvKPbTiPSvTnAWWDSbF_hr3Wpt0YGEiE9ScivJmwK0a0MFXF5mMBvuHrCZuL9roopMWZNyy9heHg8lH7vOANiLdVeuTvVDwq6W4i7Ph21eiaNB5_O2VPU7T0Zdsmb972g0nuhyda4gV1/s640/richard_avedon.jpg),but
,but something else stood out: a large brass vase with several hoses
attached. He explained that it was a gift from his world-travelling parents; it
was from Saudi Arabia and it was called a hookah. Middle Eastern families would
lounge together and smoke, he told me. Then I asked about the rather large
black leather horsewhip also hanging from the hookah. He said the whip was not
really for family activities in that same cultural sense. I stopped asking
questions but I felt immediately jealous; the best souvenir I ever received from
my parents had been Mexican jumping beans . Surely this new boyfriend came from
quite elegant stock; either that or he was the biggest druglord in Portage La
Prairie .

After getting married, we moved across the country and the hookah always
came with us. We viewed it as a conversation piece at a time in my life when
the rest of my art pieces were IKEA prints and questionable nude photography.
Less exotic times ensued; three kids in four years made us slightly dull.
Somehow those risqué art pieces disappeared over time, but we always kept the
hookah.

As I relaxed on the leather lounger and admired the colourful murals, the
owner of Firefly set up the hookah with a chocolate-mint flavoured shisha and
ignited the coal for me. When I sipped my first smoke, I was surprised at the
smoothness. As a nonsmoker I assumed this smoke would be irritating but it
wasn't; I inhaled and exhaled over and over , feeling calm and enjoying the
flavour as well as the novelty of the experience. I would love to tell you I
made perfect smoke rings all evening but in all honesty, I mainly looked like an
extremely civilized and relaxed dragon. I was happy to share the exp[erience in
front of the cameras but also look forward to returning with some friends, if
only to blow a smoke ring in honour of my old brass hookah.

Texting, Texting, Things Just Got More Interesting

I'm about to hit send on a very simple text : " have a good first day", smileyface

This is bonding time with a 15 year old boy, and I'll take what I can get.

What are the chances I get a return text? Zero to nil, but that's okay. I said my bit, he knows I am out here caring about him, and that's the point.

I should interact with more people this way, expecting less and giving more! From now on I'm treating you all like 15 year old boys. Get your stinky feet off the table.

Back Off!

I think it's time for our family to learn to meditate, or build a vision board, or have a family meeting... or..

We've all had trouble making decisions. Should we buy a different house? Should we buy a new vehicle and replace one or both older models? Should we get new kitchen appliances? Should we buy a cottage? Should we keep investing in this stinky market? Should I stay blonde? Should I cancel cable and teach my sons to work the land?

In the end we've all chosen to take a deep breath and not freak out. Nobody's dying, we're all making our way in the world and this new dishwasher is wonderful.

I'm taking a lesson from this Kenmore: no need to rinse and scrub, just jump in and start washing. No time like the present!