PETA's Accidentally Vegan List

PETA put out a list of products that Accidentally Vegan and although not all of them are the most healthy, it's still very cool that they are animal free!

Farewell But Not Goodbye, Oprah!

Four thousand, five hundred and sixty-one episodes of Oprah aired over the years. Some may say "good riddance" but I have a deep appreciation for what Oprah  has brought to this world. I watched her on TV with my Mum and my Gran when I was a child and have always been inspired by her. She has been a force in so many of our lives. I feel like I understand her messages. We are all connected in a spiritual and divine energy and in order to appreciate this, you would have to be on that wavelength, tuned in, in sync, connected....however you want to envision it! Wisdom emanates from the heart while knowledge comes from the mind and Oprah possesses both. Every true Oprah fan would have seen the Farewell show by now. I was a mess watching it, and I watched it alone, late at night the way I wanted it to be. Just me, Oprah and a glass of white. The episode summed up the entirety of what she has been doing all these years..... her main lesson 'you are responsible for the energy you bring to yourself and to others as well as to every space you enter.'  What we do with our energy matters. What you put out in the world, returns to you.

About a month ago a long time friendship I had with a girlfriend was severed and I feel like I was broken up with. She'll never read this blog but to be fair I'll change her name.... for the this purpose I'll refer to her as 'Lisa' and if she does read this blog she'll know why I chose 'Lisa'! I knew in the weeks leading up to the night it happened that her energy was different. I tried to over compensate with energy I was pulling from other sources like my family and other friends but I could feel her deflecting it. Instead of validating the people in my circle, I stole from them to give to her. She wasn't open to receiving it and I was draining myself trying to connect to her. It was wasted energy. I even asked other friends to do what they could to open her up, ....I was desperate to save something that I couldn't reach. Our connection disappeared before I knew it. This was very new for me. Not often, but I've felt similar before in a few other relationships in my life. I eventually get to a point where I'm so drained from trying that I pull my energy back and give up....and when I do I often feel a sense of peace and calm, and grateful to myself for identifying that I needed to do that for my soul. When I begin to accept certain people are fading out of my life I'm ok because of that process. When I come to realize how much energy I put into keeping it together I have to re-think where I can spend that energy elsewhere and do good with it instead. And things usually come full circle for me when I do that.  As if there was a reason for needing to re-direct it. This friendship with 'Lisa' was different. I never pulled back. I was shut out instead. We spent sixteen years being friends and there was a lot of great energy swapped throughout that time.  She chose to re-direct her focus on a man who knows this energy concept, even if he doesn't realize he knows it, and has used it to pull her in. I'm sick about it. I miss her. When a picture of her pops up on my computer, I cry, and I don't want to but I do. When I drive past the restaurant we 'broke up' in I cry, and I can't make myself not cry. It happens to my heart before I can tell my head to just stop thinking about her.
I've been sad and drained about this for weeks but when I watched Oprah's Farewell show the other day, she reminded me I should be taking responsibility for how I'm spending that energy. It's not my fault she wasn't open to receiving it from me anymore, it's not my fault that it doesn't seem to bother her that we don't know what is going on in each others lives and it's not my fault that she can't balance her energies enough to make it all work. But it is my fault for holding onto the excess energy she deflected and not re-directing it. It's too much to hold onto and has been weighing me down.  It's full of anxiousness and desperateness right now, so I'll give it a detox then give it away to someone or something in this universe where it'll have a positive impact. It's what is right.
I'm going to miss watching the weeks worth of my PVR'd Oprah shows on the weekends, but her wisdom, knowledge that she's shared, vibes she's sent, empowerment, inspiration and more than I can even describe with words will stay with me forever and will always be felt in my heart.
Farewell, but not Goodbye, Oprah! xo

END:CIV Resist or Die WWW.ENDCIV.COM

My sister sent me this. Search Franklin Lopez on You Tube for interviews and information.

PETA Ad Banned....? With actor James Cromwell

http://bit.ly/eyNuw4

Path Of Thorns Lyrics~Sarah McLachlan

I knew you wanted to tell me
In your voice there was something wrong
But if you would turn your face away from me
You cannot tell me you’re so strong
Just let me ask of you one small thing
As we have shared so many tears
With fervor our dreams we planned a whole life long
Now are scattered on the wind...

In the terms of endearment
In the terms of the life that you love
In the terms of the years that pass you by
In the terms of the reasons why

Through the years I’ve grown to love you
Though your commitment to most would offend
But I stuck by you holding on with my foolish pride
Waiting for you to give in...
You never really tried or so it seems
I’ve had more than myself to blame
I’ve had enough of trying everything
And this time it is the end...

In the terms of endearment
In the terms of the life that you love
In the terms of the years that pass you by
In the terms of the reasons why

There’s no more coming back this way
The path is overgrown and strewn with thorns
They’ve torn the life-blood from your naked eyes
Cast aside to be forlorn...

In the terms of endearment
In the terms of the life that you love
In the terms of the years that pass you by
In the terms of the reasons why

Funny, how it seems that all I’ve tried to do
Seemed to make no difference to you at all... 

....And This Time It Is The End (Path Of Thorns~Sarah McLachlan)

For a friendship that will be missed.

What Really Matters

It's bittersweet. We put my Grandmother into a home this weekend. It's a good thing for her, but not an easy thing for me to see happen. Over the last few years, it's become evident she cannot look after herself and it saddens me even though I know this is life. In her prime, Mary was a woman of the working world, a social butterfly and good little shopper. The Mary I've seen recently is just the opposite. She spends her time sitting in front of her TV, it's a chore to get her to dress and leave her place and material things no longer matter. It's the one part of her new surroundings that actually stunned me.... This woman spent her lifetime accumulating "stuff" and shopping for "things" and now, she lives in a small room with none of it. When I first walked into the nursing home, I went to her room but she wasn't there. I looked around and noticed she brought only what was most important to her, ....photographs of her family, her favourite quilt and her TV. Thats it. My Dad put some of her furniture in and nailed a few of her decorations to her walls so they aren't so bare and give her something familiar to be around but realistically she has nothing with her in comparrison to what she spent her life accumulating. I stood there for a few minutes telling myself this just isn't right, this just isn't her. I felt horrible that she has had to make this move and felt overwhemled that I didn't do anything to try to stop this from happening to her.

After walking around the home looking for her, I spotted her in the lounge. She had a group of ladies gathered around her as she spoke and in that moment I had a flashback of the Mary that once was. Mary was always the party organizer, "hostess with the mostess" type of lady back in the day and had plenty of friends. As I watched her in her new surroundings I noticed she had a glow about her that told me she was happy to be there and her very distinctive laugh carried out into the hallway (which is what made my sons recognize GG was in a room nearby!) She was delighted to see us, introduced us to her new friends (a few of them gentlemen!) and when we sat down just her and I for coffee she told me she likes it there and I don't need to worry about her. She had spark, she had life and she had happiness about her, so different from the Granma I was watching deteriorate in her own isolated house just weeks ago.  After only two days in this home, I have seen her spirit shine like I haven't seen in a lot of years.

My husband and I have always been more about "doing" than we are about "having" but this is definately an eye opener for us in really knowing one day we will leave it all behind. Life as I see it should be spent absorbing energies that fill us with positiveness because in the end the "stuff" won't matter ....but the life experiences, personal encounters and your overall well being will, and will empower your spirit to shine bright. And THAT is what really matters.

A Few Ways We Can Help End The Canadian Seal Hunt

Vote Green!
http://greenparty.ca/en/releases/17.04.2008

Sign the petitions
PETA https://secure.peta.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=2929
IFAW http://www.ifaw.org/ifaw_canada_english/join_campaigns/seals/index.php

Get Involved
April 28, 2011 http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=202087696489207
Watch for updates on demos in Toronto & Hamilton on Twitter www.twitter.com/jennjam

Search "Canadian Commercial Seal Hunt" to find out more on this horrific event.

My Whole Life

I believe our Whole Being looks something like a pie shape and is made up of many different pieces, created by our passions. I think some people try too hard to find themselves in order to feel as though they "fit in" to a specific category or type of person and I kinda think they've got it all wrong. We're naturally drawn to certain people, music and other things in life.. When we focus on the things we love, we flourish and it contributes to the person we are as a whole. If we continually add positivemess into our lives, the negativeness will be easier to digest when it comes our way. It's all about balance.
Some of my greatest passions in my life are my family, my children. They fill me with light and absolutely amaze me each and everyday. I couldn't ask for a better husband or father to my boys than Chris. He keeps them in line while tolerating all that a good Daddy should tolerate. He loves us with all his heart.... and it shows. When I think about my kids or look at them, I'm amazed that we contributed in creating such beauty in this lifetime already. If I raise them right, they will do good things for our world.... the possibilities of what they can accomplish are limitless. I'm not sure if I can even describe in wordes how that makes me feel. But it's another piece that fills my pie proudly!
I like most people. Not all people, but most. There are strangers and aquintences who pass through my life who make my day right through conversation, gestures or vibes, but I have friends who have the capability to actually make my soul smile. When people intentionally or unintentionally drain energy from me I have an awareness about it and so I can handle it before it gets too low. All of these people, negative or positive, play a part in making me whole.
I'm drawn and facinated by things that other people may never aknowledge. These things lift my spirit, clear my mind and give me the piece of the pie that I'd say is driven by desire. It's an appreciation for a deep breath of fresh air on a warm sunny day knowing I need to contribute in everyway I can to save this planet so our future generations can experience that too. It's the joy I feel in watching someone play the guitar and know that I am capable of learning it too. It's the sense of willingness I experience when I think about people who are less fortunate in this world and knowing I have it in me to make a difference for them somehow, someway in this lifetime. It's knowing how to get a little crazy and have fun but with style and grace. There is always a desire to stay classy in all that I do. Doesn't mean I actually do this all the time, just means it's what I strive for. It's also about standing up for what I know is right and doing all I can to stop what is wrong such as child/slave labour, animal cruelty and so very much more, but in a way that I can be taken seriously. There is negetivity that can surround desire as well and so through my experiences I've learned ways to deal with it.
This wholeness as I know today will expand as I grow but the lessons within the pieces won't change. Everything I do, everyone I've encountered, every place I've been to, have all contributed to where I am at right now....And I really like where I'm at right now. I love my Whole Life.

Just My Boy & Me

Like most families, we had a chaotic weekend of working, grocery shopping, kids hockey, kids parties etc etc. My youngest, Callum had to make a hard decision on Saturday on whether he was going to the birthday party of a very close friend or his year end hockey team party. He chose the hockey party with the promise to make it up to his buddy and missed out on all the fun that goes along with birthdays and movie theatres. His older brother went and saw Diary Of A Wimpy Kid 2 and for two days had been rubbing it in Callum's face. On Tuesday night, Carter was invited to yet another birthday party meaning I had the opportunity to take Callum to the theatre to see the movie he missed and so desperately wanted to see. It was a typical mad rush to get Carter to the Lazer Tag place and time getting to the show but we made it and even had time to spare surprisingly. I didn't really think through ahead of time what this time with Callum would look like but as I sat there with him waiting for the film to begin, it occurred to me I don't think I had done something like this, one on one time with him in a really really long time.  We get so caught up in the everyday chaos that I seldom get an opportunity to do something with just one of my boys at a time. I spend a lot of time with my kids, but it's usually with them plus a half dozen other children we take along with us, or the two of them together. All of this was flooding through my head as I watched his little face beside me talking away about another movie he had seen on March Break, and about another movie he wants to see that is coming out. He eyes were so big and wide with excitement, his laughter came straight from the toes and his energy was infectious. I could feel myself light up as this all dawned on me. He was super cuddly during the movie and I definitely let him away with acting a bit babyish, but he is my baby. In that moment of time I realized I need to experience that one on one time more often with each of my kids, for all of our sakes.