Month: December 2010

A few of the great products from the PC Holiday Insider’s Report

So remember I got that great big box of goodies filled with PC Holiday treats a couple of weeks ago? It was followed up by two more shipments of goodies, each item wrapped and dated in the most delightful advent-style grocery calendar.

I’m pretty spoiled. I think this is the third — maybe fourth? — time the good peeps at President’s Choice and Hill and Knowlton have hooked me up with treats from the Insider’s Report. And to be honest? This batch was the best so far. BEST!! Not that I would ever dare to complain about free groceries, but some of the items in previous blitzes were head-scratchers to me, either things not to our family’s taste or things we couldn’t quite figure out how to use. (Don’t worry, nothing went to waste and whatever we didn’t use found a good home elsewhere.)

But the PC Insider Report stuff for this holiday season? OMG, delicious! The jumbo cashews and the Gourmet Belgian chocolates (!!) were huge hits around here. The 100% Hawaiian Medium Roast Coffee is just as good — maybe even better! — than my go-to favourite PC Great Canadian Coffee. The whole family voted two thumbs up for the PC Red Velvet Cheesecake. The PC Chocolate Fruit Fancies disappeared so quickly I didn’t even get a chance to try them! (They must have disappeared from the website, too. Couldn’t find them anywhere!)

There were lots of neat ideas for gift-giving, including two sizes of PC Baker’s Gift Loaf Pan, which I thought was a really neat idea. It’s a set of six cardboard pans that you can use to bake up some holiday treats (like maybe the yummy and easy-to-use PC Belgian Chocolate Square Baking Mix), and then give away without having to worry about the container. They even come with cute red ribbons! I’d love to show you the link to them, but no matter how I try to search for them I can’t find them on the PC product website. (This happened last year, too. Love PC products, but their website makes me insane.)

But I think my absolute favourite of them all were these drool-worth PC Mini Peanut Butter Melts. We’re on our third bag this month!! They’re delicious baked into muffins (Beloved’s specialty) and I can just imagine them in cookies, but I like to snack on them right out of the bag. In fact, maybe you’d better not try them. They’re crack!

Oh, I should mention, there were a few other non-dessert items thrown in. In fact, the Dine-In Tonight Slow Cooked Beef Bourguignon is on the menu for tonight — I’ve been itching to try this one. Beloved and Simon particularly enjoyed the PC Dry-Seasoned Rotisserie-Style Chicken Wings, although I must admit I slathered mine in a coating of hot-wing sauce. (When we order wings in a pub, I pretty much like to suck off the sauce and pass on the chicken, but that’s just me.)

President’s Choice has a lot of great new products for the holiday season, but my very favourite of all of them wasn’t even among the products I received. Have you tried the new Blue Menu Spicy Basmati Rice with Edamame? Again, drool-worthy. I buy this every single time I go to the grocery store lately. It’s great as a side dish to my super-easy five-ingredient chicken fingers, and a portion of the bag also makes for a reasonably healthy and filling quick lunch.

In all, we received 24 awesome products in three drop shipments, and there was not a single one we didn’t enjoy. Thank you very much to my friends at H&K for another fun season of PC Holiday joy — both for the terrific products, and for the great fun the boys had anticipating and opening each day’s grocery gift. And of course, the packing peanuts.

548:1000 Lucas and the packing peanuts - 2 of 6

A few clicks for a good cause

Remember when I promised I wouldn’t grovel for your votes in the Canadian Weblog Awards? Well, I promise, I still won’t grovel for your votes for the Canadian Weblog Awards.

But, if you’re feeling generous with your clicks this week, could you please take just a minute or two and help a wonderful Ottawa organization that needs some clicky love? Main Street Community Services in Stittsville is the kind of organization that you’ve likely never heard of unless you need their services — and then, you find that they’re a godsend. They offer help to the hardest-to-serve special needs children in the city of Ottawa, including programs and services like developmental respite, mentoring, social skills training, behaviour management, parent support programs, individual and family counselling, developmental play groups, and a social skills day camp known as Discovered Treasures.

Main Street Community Services has applied for a grant through the Aviva Community Fund. What is the Aviva Community Fund? According to their FAQ,

1. People like you share ideas to create positive change in their community
2. Canadians vote and the top 90 ideas compete in the Semi-Finals
3. Canadians vote for the semi-finalists and the top 30 make it to the Finals
4. Judges score and rank the finalists and the top ideas share the $1,000,000 Aviva Community Fund

You can read more about their proposal here, but in short, here is what Main Street Community Services would like to do:

If we were to be winners of the Aviva Community Fund our top priority would be to purchase a larger facility that would allow us to more adequately meet the needs of our current clientele, as well as providing us with the ability to extend our services to so many more people in Ottawa, Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec. With a new facility we could not only expand the current programs, but also increase the number of respite opportunities for countless tired and overwhelmed parents.

So how do I know about all of this? Mary and I are on the same parent council, and this is Mary’s story.

Main Street is the not-for-profit organization that is our lifeline in helping with our precious son Ty. He goes to a day program there, as do many other of the hardest to serve special needs children in the city of Ottawa. Additionally there are many children who go to after school programs and group therapies. As well, Main Street is so remarkable with their ability to deal with challenging children that they also have permanent guardianship of another group of children that live in some of their 5 respite homes (that are also open to families in need of help) .

I’d like to highlight that not only do the kind people of Main Street work with the children, they do so with empathy, caring, great thought to each individuals needs and love. More than once I’ve seen staff members cry over the success, and unfortunately also the struggles, of their charges.

Let me explain how Main Street changed our life:

Imagine that your child had extreme challenging behaviour. You’ve been kicked, threatened, hit, etc. woken at all hours, and to make matters worse, the school system and therapists were at a loss of how to deal with it, so you’re essentially on your own. You feel like an outsider in your community and don’t know where to turn. That’s how we felt 2 years ago.

Now, thanks to the incredible work of the angels/members of Main Street, we don’t feel so alone. Ty is learning in a program for 4 hours a day, and he spends a couple of weekends a month in a home where, we’re told, he’s a dream child! He loves going to his program, asks to go to respite and is learning to empathize with, befriend and even help others, and live in our world. On top of that, those that help him daily, recognize what a special kid he is and they love him almost as much as we do. Can you imagine our relief?

So how can you help. It’s so easy. First, register with the Aviva site by clicking on this link

http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf5532

For the next eight days simply go to the website and click on the big yellow VOTE NOW button, making sure you’re voting for “A Place of Our Own”. It would also help if you could get as many of your family, friends and associates to do the same.

That’s it. 8 clicks.

Our family thanks you, as does Ty and all the members of Main Street Community Services.

Mary only sent her plea out to a few friends via e-mail, but as soon as I saw it, I thought of my big, beautiful and generous bloggy community, and how they might like to lend a few clicks to the cause. Because? You’re wonderful like that.

You don’t have to be local, or even Canadian, to vote. You just have to care enough to toss a few clicks to help out an organization that helps families when they need it the most. Please take a moment to register and vote for Main Street’s “A Place of Our Own.” And then click each day for the next eight days. Such a small thing to ask, such an enormously worth cause.

Thank you!

The Great Christmas Tree Quest 2010

The alternate title of this post is “In which she becomes convinced that natural trees are the best possible option for Christmas.”

It was about -10C with the faintest hint of snow in the air when we headed out to Ian’s Evergreen Plantation to find our very first not-plastic-and-metal Christmas tree. Did I mention it was cold? Free hot chocolate and a bonfire helped to take off the chill.

The Great Christmas Tree Adventure 2010

So did running around like goofballs on the play sets.

The Great Christmas Tree Adventure 2010

We took a hayride just for the sake of taking a hay ride, but one of the staff told us the best pickins’ were to be found out front of the plantation.

The Great Christmas Tree Adventure 2010

It didn’t take long to find the perfect tree. I’d worried that this part would be messy, but Beloved handled it in a manly way. “Hey Dad, don’t poke yer eye out!”

The Great Christmas Tree Adventure 2010

The boys were fascinated with the whole process, including the free “Christmas wrapping”.

The Great Christmas Tree Adventure 2010

“We are ridiculously proud of ourselves for going into the forest and hunting down and conquering this tree!”

The Great Christmas Tree Adventure 2010

It’s a little soft because I maxed out my ISO at 1600, but there’s just not a lot of natural light to be had in December. And besides, Lucas and noise just seem to go hand in hand.

The Great Christmas Tree Adventure 2010

He’s almost tall enough to reach the top of the tree. How did that happen?

The Great Christmas Tree Adventure 2010

This? Is worth everything.

553:1000 The Great Christmas Tree Adventure 2010

So here’s my final thoughts about the natural versus artificial debate — now that I’m all professional about the formerly-live trees and all.

  • It was not nearly as much work as I thought it would be to go out and cut down our own tree. Tying it to the roof, also something I’d dreaded, was a non-issue.
  • I was also pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to find a perfect tree. I’d expected to have to settle, but there were many, many great trees to choose from. Ours is perfect and full and lovely.
  • It’s easy to underestimate the size of a tree in the forest. Using Beloved’s 5’11” height as a yardstick, I was aiming for 6 1/2′ to 7′ tall. I thought we’d settled for one on the small side, but it very nearly reaches the ceiling. Did I mention it’s perfect?
  • I’m really glad we went the extra mile to actually head out into the wilds to cut our own tree, instead of just getting one from the corner lot. It was definitely worth the effort, and made the whole experience a memorable adventure.
  • I Swiffered up needles not once, not twice, not three times but FOUR times in the first four hours. I expected some needles, but yeesh! Beloved, who had expressed early reservations about the mess and amount of care required of a natural tree based on experience with them during his childhood, could not resist throwing in a few “I told you so!”s, even though he does admit to liking the final product very much.
  • The boys, who to my surprise were strongly advocating the purchase of a new artificial tree, also agree unanimously that this is the best! tree! ever! (I hope we have not set the bar too high for future years!)
  • The glorious and festive tree smell that everyone goes on about? Meh. Smells kind of like my grandfather’s car from the mid-1970s. Not bad, but not quite what I was expecting.

All in all, we definitely made the right choice and found the perfect tree. Another successful example of living my life according to the will of the bloggy peeps! 😉

Today’s cautionary tale brought to you by the letter F, for furnace. And failure. And f*ck.

So here’s my nickel’s worth of free advice for you.

When your 19 year old (but only two months old to you) furnace starts making odd squeaky noises when it starts up, you should not ignore it. You may wish to ignore it, especially if you are in the midst of a newly identified mould remediation project which will cost you in the neighbourhood of $2,000, and a sump pump replacement that will cost you $1975, and the laying of new carpets which will cost you $1,300, and electrical work that will cost you just shy of a grand, and the ripping out and replacement of the basement shower, to fix the cause of the mould problem, whose cost has not yet been addressed, all of which makes December an incredibly expensive month already. Not to mention the $975 for snow tires. You may try, as we did, to deceive yourself into thinking that “Well, maybe that’s just the noise that a nearly 20 year old furnace makes.”

That would be a mistake. Because when you come home from work on a Friday afternoon to find out that your furnace has died, the labour costs to replace the blower (not, as you were so desperately hoping, the heat exchanger, that was replaced 10 months ago and still under warranty) will be double the rates they would have been if it were not Friday night.

So. That’s water, electricity, air and heat. That just about covers it, don’t ya think? Wait, don’t answer that question. I’m afraid to ask what else there could possibly be.

The good news is, at least I don’t have to lie in bed at night, listening to the nauseating squeak of an obviously ailing furnace and fretting the worst, right?

Enjoy an “olde fashioned” Christmas in Manotick this weekend

Looking for a great way to kick off the countdown to Christmas? Why not come on down to Manotick this weekend and enjoy the village that has completely captured my heart?

Manotick Olde Fashioned Christmas

On December 4 and 5, the village transforms itself into a Christmas village with horse-drawn carriage rides, a crafter’s market, breakfast with Father and Mary Christmas, strolling carollers and yes, a Santa parade. There’s also a Victorian penny sale, face painting, pictures with Santa and a family Christmas party with games and crafts. Seriously, can you imagine anything more delightful? And the weather should be perfect, cool but clear and perfect for hot chocolate and apple cider! Click this link for a .pdf with the full schedule.

If you do come out to Manotick, make sure you check out some of the great little shops and businesses. There’s My Toy Shop, a great little independent toy store, and The Gingerbread Man — a bakery that specializes in, you guessed it, gingerbread cookies and houses. Yum! And don’t miss the Manotick Village Butcher for locally grown, sustainable and ethically raised meats that are completely affordable and cut to your specification.

So you know I love Santa parades, right? We find one to attend each year. But this year, the boys will actually be participating in the Manotick Santa parade, riding in their school float. I don’t know who is more excited, me or the boys! Stay tuned, I’m guessing there may be a photo op or two to be had! 🙂

Find Red!

A couple of weeks ago, I got a really fun pitch. I have to say, I get so many news releases and pitches and one-pagers these days, that I barely have time to scan them, let alone reply or take action. But every now and then, one pitch stands out. This was one of them. The subject line said, “If you like chocolate, you might like this.”

One gold star for an interesting, informative and USEFUL subject line. I can tell it’s a pitch, but it’s got potential. So I read the e-mail, and the author has taken the time to at least skim my blog. He tells me his wife reads it and loves it. Note to PR folks: compliments will get you everywhere! You know what else gets you in the door? Colloquial, personal style. And? Free chocolate. So how could I resist a pitch like this? “So we are doing a blogger outreach program for M&Ms and would like to send you samples. That means chocolate. Like, lots of it. And most people love chocolate AND free. And almost all love free chocolate.”

Of all the pitches I get, maybe ten or twenty per cent of them ask me for my mailing address, so they can mail me a free sample of something. And of those, I am willing to share my address with about five a year. This was one of those times.

About a week later, I got a fun box in the mail. I wish I’d taken a picture, but it was chaos that night. The package was excellent! The outer box was all decorated with maps of Toronto, and the inside box was a 12 inch red square box shaped like a giant red M&M. And it was filled? With M&Ms, of course.

I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but they’re running this amazing cross-social-media online contest called “Find Red.”

Help the gang find Red by locating each of the 3 locations in the City of Toronto where Red is hidden at FindRed.ca. Find clues at high-traffic check-in points around the City of Toronto and scan participating M&M’S® product barcodes* using your iPhone or Android to find even more clues. And look out for posters of the M&M’S® characters with QR codes in the downtown core of the City of Toronto. Find and scan one to reveal a Community clue in the “Clues” tab above for everyone to use.

Fun, eh? It’s a really clever promo. I love the whole concept, and I wish I’d had time to blog about it before. There are still three days remaining if you’ve got some time on your hands. FIND RED!

You think I’m funny? You think I’m FUNNY! *squeee*

Beloved will tell you, there is no living with me right now. Not since I found out that Postcards from the Mothership was shortlisted as one of the five finalists in the Humour category of the 2010 Canadian Weblog Awards.

2010 Canadian Weblog Awards

Did you catch that? The HUMOUR category.

*swoon*

Humour! I mean, I was so honoured to be nominated in the Best Written category. I love to write, and yes, I think I can string a few words together with occasional panache. And well, my raison d’être is pretty much Family and Parenting, so of course I was honoured to be nominated in that category. But to be nominated in, and then shortlisted in, the Humour category? Funny is something I aspire to, something I am never quite sure I have managed. Something I am genuinely delighted to be acknowledged for.

I’ve written before about how much I admire Schmutzie‘s efforts in putting together the Canadian Weblog Awards. She’s done a fantastic job reinventing blog awards to make them relevant, and more than just a clicky popularity contest. (Did you get that clever play on words? Clicky, like the keyboard, but cliquey, like the social thing? Cuz apparently I’m FUNNY!)(See? No living with me. Poor Beloved.)

If you haven’t had a chance, click on over and check out the finalist shortlist in all the categories. It reads like a who’s who of the Canadian blogosphere, all the blogs you should be reading if you aren’t already. I’m so happy to see blogs and bloggers I adore like Kids in the Capital and Julie and Amy and Andrea and Tanya and Annie and Kimusan and tonyphoto/drool and XUP and Thordora and Cheaty and Kate and Emma and Laura and … and ALL of them. Holy cats, there’s a lot of bloggy goodness representing here!

But wait, there’s more!

First of all, you’ll be delighted to hear that I am not about to recruit you into a clickfest of voting for me. Because there is no voting with the Canadian Weblog Awards. Isn’t that awesome? The whole thing is juried. I love that! There are so many contests I bypass on the Interwebs, because I truly hate the “vote for me” things. I know, I know, I’ve schmoozed you into doing it for me many times over the years, but I’ve always felt vaguely icky about it. So I’m doubly honoured to be shortlisted based on merit, however subjective and ethereal that might be, rather than by how many votes I can mobilize.

So now there’s a second round of juried review, and the first, second and third place finalists will be revealed on January 1. Um, wait a minute. Does that mean I have to be funny for the entire month of December? The insane month of December, rife as it is with school concerts, holiday parties and mould remediation? Yikes. That may just be the stress that tips me over into the abyss.

Then again, humour has always been my coping mechanism of choice. As long as the Universe keeps up with its antics, there should be plenty of “might as well laugh as weep” moments in the coming weeks!