I'll Miss Your Smiling Voice

I've often joked about how you can set your watch by the morning routine of our court. The Catholic school bus comes a few minutes before ours and if you're out there just those few minutes early, you'll see little Melanie walking down her driveway and you'll hear Laurie, hidden by the trees on her front lawn yell out in a voice that is smiling "Bye Mel! I love you!!" Then as we make our way over to the bus stop, you'll see Larry and his dog Nugget come out of Rose's house with a cup of coffee in hand. He goes home and Rose, who is always dressed for success, backs out of the driveway, waving to us as she passes by. The boys who live next door to me head out right after her. Always. Dino drives past a few minutes later with his big work trailer attached to his truck and he and the young guy that works for him also throw a wave our way. Leila drives up around then and waits at the bus stop with us. Next Larry leaves in his truck, Maddie comes home from driving her kids to high school, the woman in the white crossover from the other court comes in to pick up the kids that go to the private school and thats usually about the time our bus comes, which is when you'll see Lauren racing to catch it. She almost misses it every day. Thats when you know it's 8:35am in the court.

Yesterday we lost one of neighbours. The court will never be quite the same. I sat up for hours last night with a bottle of wine in hand staring at her house across the street. She is probably the only one on this street that could pull off wearing a bikini while washing her car out front or manage to wear heels while walking the dog at the park. She's also so the only one who can evoke the feeling you get when you'd hear her say "Bye Mel! I love you!!" ....in that voice that smiles.  It's a sad day here in the court.  There is unbalance. The routine has come to a halt. Vehicles that should have left for work, didn't. The blinds are drawn across the street and there is a definite emptiness about her house today..... and it's just not right.

It's The Most Overwhelming Time Of The Year!

So I'm back from my annual Girls Shopping Weekend and have made a good dent in my list of who I need to buy for.... I should be be feeling ahead of the game at this point. Instead, the overwhelming, almost paralyzing feelings of Christmas preparation are hitting me. There are still cards to do & mail, gifts to wrap & some still to buy, a house to decorate inside & out with TWO trees to put up, meals to plan & dinners to host, events to be at etc etc etc. And this is all on top of what needs to be done on a regular basis around here like housework, errands, homework & kids activities. And when it's all over my family & kids will have more material things than they really need (but someone less fortunate might) and I'll have spent a small fortune that could have gone towards doing better in the world.  These are the motions I go through each and every year.

But I've made a decision. It's still early. It's December 1st and I have 24 more sleeps til Santa comes and that is my most favourite part. Although that might sound hypocritical to what I've just said about materialism, but it's not about what he brings. It's about believing in him and all the wonder that goes along with his story. It's the magical part of Christmas that only my kids can create for me and I'm unsure just how much longer I'll get to enjoy that. So, I've made the decision to do one thing at a time, delegate some of the wrapping to my husband and try to stay positive this season.  Afterall, it's supposed to be the Most Wonderful Time Of The Year! (I can do this!! Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming)

Crazy Sexy Life

Kris Carr is beautiful and inspirational. This article called The Secret To More Energy: Tap The Geyser Of Your Gifts is the reason behind my motivation today. Check it out on the Crazy Sexy Life site

Stolen Time

It doesn't happen very often, but everyone (except me, fingers crossed!) in my house is sick and has been for three days now.  It's times like these that I really get to see how unbelievably chaotic our lives are. Once an illness sets in, everything comes to a stand still and it becomes so very obvious that we run ourselves ragged day to day when we're feeling well. The kids have missed school and all their extra curricular activities, my husband and I have both called in sick to work and we had to cancel a dentist appointment and a family commitment for today. That time has been replaced with watching TV in PJ's, playing a few video games, lying on the couch, reading and talking. Yes, talking. I've spoken more to my kids these last few days than I have since they started back at school in September. It's actually pretty fabulous in a way, .... this slow down of events we're experiencing is giving me a chance to re-charge myself. Everything has come to a halt and we actually have time to be a family. (a gross, pukey, germ infested family but I'll take what I can get) Because they're sick, there aren't any expectations that I'm going to take them anywhere, buy them anything or do anything "fun". They're content with my homemade soup, Gravol and snuggles on the sofa. I'm loving that part. The laundry, the whining, the sounds of them all throwing up and the need to constantly disinfect I could do without, but otherwise I'm in a way sort of grateful for the time we've managed to steal away from the rest of the world these last few days. It's taken the chaos of catering to my sick family to appreciate the need to slow life down as we eventually slide back into reality.

Thinking of Dealing with Rokbar? Beware.

The note below was posted by my cousin @mcunclebuck on Facebook and he has asked his friends & family to spread the word about his dealings with Rokbar to save anyone else from the aggravation he's been through with them, so.... here it is and it's worth the read!

I'm writing this note as a cautionary tale to those of you who are thinking about working for Rokbar in Hamilton's Hess Village. After two months of being owed a month's worth of pay for my old weekly slot, I feel the time has come to warn all of you of the types of things that have happened to me and my dealings with that club.

I was hired by Rehan Mirza (i.e 'Rayz' .. their resident Dj/Promtions guy) two summers ago to MC and promote special events. It was he that negotiated my wage, and it was him that I was to submit my weekly payment invoice to. You see, the accounting department (Headed by John Nedelko) had requested that instead of being paid at the end of the night, I submit invoices that would be due in thirty days. It should be noted that In the two years I had worked there I was rarely paid on time in accordance with the payment schedule I had worked out with both Rehan (the one who hired me and negotiated my rate) and John (the accountant who prepares the pay cheques)...but I did eventually end up with the money owed. I was told by John that the owner (Denis Vranich) was required to sign off on my cheques. John would inform him of the invoices that were due to be paid, and Denis would direct to him which invoices to pay.

That brings us to now. I am one in a long list of people owed money by this club. Luckily, I am not one of those owed thousands of dollars...but some are, which makes this even more troubling. I have tried countless times to collect what is owed to me. Rehan Mirza has told me countless times that I am 'Not to worry and I will be paid'...but when I questioned John (the accountant) about a previous bounced cheque issue, I was told that Rehan has no information or say on the accounting or payment dealings of the business. I find this very disturbing as Rehan is:

A) the one hiring people and negotiating their wage

and

B) Telling those owed that they are one of the top people on the list to be paid next..and other things of that nature.

I went to the offices of the bar and spoke to John and Joanne (another worker in the office) about my concerns and was told that my only recourse is to speak directly to Denis (the club's owner) about it. An idea that I would love to pursue, however not one person is willing to give me his contact information. When I told both of them that I had only met Denis once, moments before he was carried out of his club from intoxication. I was met with laughter, and again told they weren't able to help me. As the accountant (John) explained, he has informed Denis that this money is owed, but Denis will not give the authorization to prepare a cheque.

I have continued to try and contact John to inquire about a possible timeline for payment, but he now refuses to reply to my emails, and it looks as though I will have to take legal action.

So to those that are being contacted by Rehan to work for that nightclub, beware. There are a laundry list of broken promises and owed money, and the club's own accounting head has told me (and others) that Rehan has absolutely no say on who gets paid and when. That sole decision falls at the discretion of the club's owner, and he refuses to sign off on payment for myself and others owed significant money.

Will this same saga happen to you? It's possible that it wont..but I felt it in the best interest of others to warn you of what many are dealing with.

Thanks for Reading.

Edit: I want to make a point of saying that this is no way directed at any of the other staff at the club. A great group of people work in security and behind the bar there, so please do not take the actions of those named above as a reflection of the rest of the employees.

Sharing Our Knowledge~The Kid Friendly Way!

I received a really cool email last week and it had a link to a So Nice contest on $5000 Towards A Better Organic World so.... I entered! I actually had a really great entry ready to send when I was distracted by my kids and LOST it!! I quickly put together another one which doesn't nearly have as much passion about it as the original but thats all part of how the life of a mommy works! My idea relates to sharing our knowledge with the youth of today in hopes of creating a more organic world tomorrow. Even if I don't "win" this contest, it's something I just may look at implementing one day anyways.... Check out the contest on facebook and if you're not entering yourself, then vote for me!

The Reality Of Our Kids Food

My kids will tell you they love tofu or seitan. They will tell you they like healthy foods such as broccoli and beans. They only people I find who are surprised when they say things like this are adults. I've actually heard someone in my family say "Little boys aren't supposed to like salad!" Whaaaat?? Other kids are curious to know what some of that stuff is, whereas the parents can't believe I would actually feed my kids these things and tell them what they are. "Your kids know it's soy and they still eat it?" This makes no sense to me. Why do we hide from our children the reality of food? (And when I say "WE" I definately don't mean "ME") Why aren't we honest about what we're feeding them? Do they not have a right to know? As a society we flat out lie to these kids. We want them to be sheltered from the knowledge of the mechanics of our food before it hits the table, so we hide it from them. To talk about the torture the innocent animals endure before being brutally slaughtered is just "not right" according to most. Instead, we serve up that scallded alive, pumped full of steroids chicken in fun spaceship shapes and sell dead cow that lived all her days as a dairy slave until being murdered for hamburger meat, in boxes labeled "Happy Meal". How ironic. Parents I know will try to get veggies into their kids diets by hiding it in foods they do like (I'm totally guilty of having done this once or twice) however they neglect to put a small amount of that food on the side of the plate so it's visable and use it as a teachable moment. If we don't do this the kids will never be able to identify with these foods going forward into adulthood in a healthy and positive way. We as parents don't trust that we can tell the kids the vegetable they just ate is called SQUASH because maybe they've heard others accosiate with it in a bad way at some point, scaring them from giving it a chance. I know parents who say "Shhhh....Don't tell her there is spinach in it, ...she won't eat it!" Its absurd. I'm not claiming my kids like every healthy food out there (and I certainly don't like it all either) but my boys know the truth about the foods they are offered. They have a want to eat the things they know have vitamins in them, that will make them big and strong. I'm not afraid to tell my kids what something is or whats in it and they've learned to make good food choices at very young ages as a result.... There's no reason to hide it from them in my opinion and there are benefits to sharing this knowledge with them, ....just sayin'.

Vegetarian Ingredients Substitution List

I was browsing the Vegetarian Times site today and came across this Ingredients Substitution List which is awesome if you want to make something Vegan or Allergy Free.

Compassion and the Individual | The Office of His Holiness The Dalai Lama

One Of My Favourite Pieces On The Dalai Lama Site

Compassion and the Individual | The Office of His Holiness The Dalai Lama

Nonsense Wakes Up The Brain Cells

"Nonsense wakes up the brain cells. And it helps develop a sense of humor, which is awfully important in this day and age. Humor has a tremendous place in this sordid world. It's more than just a matter of laughing. If you can see things out of whack, then you can see how things can be in whack." ~ Dr. Suess
As quoted in "Author Isn't Just a Cat in the Hat" by Miles Corwin in The Los Angeles Times (27 November 1983); also in Dr. Seuss: American Icon (2004) by Philip Nel, p. 38 Wikiquote