Go to the Water

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. One in eight women will receive the diagnosis of breast cancer in their lifetime. That is a staggering statistic.  The gals from the "Waves of Hope" have just exploded with activity. Awareness is what "Waves" is about. First up was the "Run for the Cure". The way these women go for it, it was of no surprise that they were the top fund-raising group at the event.  Three days later several members were special guests at the Manitoba Legislation. They were witness to the discussion of a Bill, regarding the self-referral age for mammograms. This Bill had been discussed many times and plans were to lower the age to 45 years by 2025. The Waves group had gathered signatures on petitions. They were added to an overwhelming number of petitions presented to Legislation to consider. The petitions indicated that the people wanted a better result for women than what was proposed. Following a discussion, Bill 221 was passed late

The story of the white buffalo at Sioux Valley Dakota Nation began in 2009. The community was gifted a white and brown buffalo from the Assiniboine Park Zoo. The calves were born the year before at the zoo. Several First Nations communities were considered to receive the young buffalos, but it was Sioux Valley that was selected. The gift of two buffalos, one being white was a gesture of friendship, recognizing the significance of the animal to the First Nations people.    A white buffalo is rare and are born one in one million. They are also sacred. The white buffalo is rooted in the spiritual beliefs of many Native American communities. They are considered a symbol of hope, peace, purity, and abundance. It is believed they have great spiritual power, in that the white buffalo is connected to the Creator and the natural world.  It took six years before the community welcomed the first white buffalo. This calf was the third white buffalo in Manitoba. A white buffalo is born tan, with wh

I have written posts about books before, and here I am again. Quite odd for someone that rarely reads a book. I think when it comes to reading there are two questions: "do you like to read" and "do you read". The answer for me would be, I like to read but I don't read. I would never be one of those people that has a book on the go all of the time, or maybe even more than one book. There are a variety of reasons that I do not class myself as a reader. I am not a sitter; you have to be able to relax in order to remember what you are reading. When I do read, I deeply immerse myself into a book. I have such a vivid imagination, I become the person I am reading about. I have to be in the right space to read.    When I say to people, "do you read?", people know exactly what I mean. It is like a universal language. I always question them on what they read. The answers are interesting. Many people say, "I read anything", others say, "I like book

I am never sure if I like making rules for myself, or I feel more focused following the rules that I make for myself. I find if I am ready to follow my rules, it works better to make them. I got a beautiful journal from my cousin, and I have been keeping it for a special occasion. That came on October 1. Summer is over and I just had an Aunt Joan talk with myself and decided, I needed to grab onto some focus. My focus can be wild and uncontrollable from time to time, so making it mind is a task in itself. I felt the need to name the activity, and I came up with "October Objectives".  My objectives come under the titles of daily, weekly and within the month. I know winter is the next season to arrive. I want to establish a good routine before the snow is everywhere. It is a fact that you have to do something 22 times before it becomes a habit.  Daily:  1. Take supplements. I don't take any prescription medications, but I do have a cupboard full of supplements. I know I nee

Every Wednesday afternoon when I volunteer, I get to organize an activity. This idea came from one of the clients. She suggested to give everyone a blank canvas and to start by painting something on it. We then passed it to the next person, and they added something, and it would continue on around the table. This is my canvas that came back to me. What a simple, yet powerful message that I knew was what I needed to receive.    I will never be one of those people that needs to gain weight. I can't even understand the concept, but many have this struggle. I do know what it feels like to judge myself because of my weight. It is very easy to sit in judgment of how we look. To look in a mirror and say, "you look good girl, you got this", is something we need to say more. I have come to realize that if I am wearing something I love, I create more self-love. I just bought a $10 dress at Giant Tiger. I love that dress; I loved how I looked in it and I loved myself in it. It gave

Yesterday we celebrated my Mom's "90th" Birthday. If she is any indication of what being 90 is all about, it isn't going to be so bad. Mom loves conversation full of fashion, food and family. She dresses sharp everyday with matching jewelry, often Fifth Avenue. She loves her iPad and can manage her phone to talk or text. She lives with other seniors and enjoys their company. She has been a widow for 18 years; she has endured losing her home to fire and relocating to another town when she was 88 and a massive heart attack at 89.  Mom didn't want a public celebration, but it was a celebration none the less. It started the week before and I am sure we will cherish the memories forever. Nothing could have been more perfect than how we celebrated Mom.    I had planned for 4 years to do this on Mom's special milestone birthday. I asked people to get involved in "90 Cards for Carole". That certainly made for a fun week of anticipating the mail drop-off. It

                                                   Amazing Race Canada is over for another season. The winners were two female wrestlers, Katie and Taylor. They won in their own hometown of Edmonton, Alberta. They were the second all female team that have won Amazing Race. Their manta and message to young girls was, "Strong is Beautiful". They wanted to prove to girls, especially girls in male dominated sports that the sky is the limit, anything is possible.  I had a revelation in Penticton at the festival. I realized that we have no measure of our strength until we compete. Competing doesn't always mean winning, it means pushing yourself past limits you never thought you could. The wrestlers were an example of pushing themselves to go from nearly being eliminated to winning the show. I love the following descriptors of woman that are emotionally and physically strong.  I feel today's young women have more of these characteristics as opposed to the way it used to be. 

It is a fact that we have 50,000 thoughts go through our heads  each and every day.  Now if you have a mind like mine, we probably pass 50,000 by noon. I found this an incredible piece of information, one that has very little use.  I have never thought about this before, but it only makes sense. A  male is a Peacock, a female is a Peahen. Even though I have this new knowledge, I am pretty sure I will continue to call both male and female birds, Peacocks.  The average single senior income is $31,400/year. That works out to about $2616/month. A Supplement is offered for those that have an income less than $29,000. Supplements are also tax free. Those that paid in, will receive Canada Pension Plan and Pensions from other sources. Even with all of these sources of income, many seniors are nowhere near $2616. Some seniors have prepared for retirement by investing, some have not. I never realized what a huge transition it would be to start to use investments. To turn the process of investing