I am who I am because of my mother. She was who she was because of her mother. The women in my family have a history of strong, independent women—who live, love and work with all they have!! I miss my mum every day but know she’s watching over Katie & I. My hope is that I will also be the mother & gramma that they modelled for me.
What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
I’ve always been a fan of the Rick Mercer Report so when my friends Josefina and Ed mentioned that they had an extra ticket to go to the live taping of the show…I said sure I’ll go! So yesterday I headed into the city to head downtown to go to the taping! 
We were pretty excited to head upstairs to our seats in the studio. The show is mostly clips that are taken the week prior… and then Rick introduces the clips in the studio…and also does a ‘headlines’ segment that makes fun of the different political news of the week. 
One of my most favourite parts of the Rick Mercer Report is that he always has a rant on something that is a political hot topic around that week… and they are filmed in this cool graffiti alley downtown Toronto. Below is the link to Rick’s rant for this taping!
After the show… I randomly snapped this photo and this guy photo-bombed me! LOL 
Yahoo! We had fun at the show… now to battle the cold outdoors to go have some dessert at Movenpick at Front & Yonge–can we say hello banana and nutella crepes? 
Thanks for the invite and fun Josefina and Ed… it was a blast!
So it turned out like I thought for the last few months… Milo’s starter was Kaput plus an immobilizing ring in the steering column (which sends the signal to the engine that the key is in the ignition—it was just sending a signal like 20% of the time)…hence why it only started once and awhile. After a few days in the shop…they had to order parts, I got the call that Milo was ready to pick up.
I thought it was all good…I paid my bill and drove home but then got half way there.. and realized my speedometer and odometer weren’t working… so back to shop I went. Seems like the mechanic didn’t hook them back up after replacing the starter! Luckily I caught them before they left for the night… so up went Milo on the hoist again!
Thankfully it was an easy problem to solve… hopefully nothing else happens for awhile.
…for awhile Milo has been having some issues. Nothing that major, just sometimes he won’t start. It started mid-summer…I took him to a garage in Lindsay. They checked out everything and told me he was fine. And most days he was ok… he’d start ok… but then others he’d make noise but not not the final switch to start. 
Last Monday I had him checked out a garage here in Brampton… they gave him an oil change and again…everything checked out a-OK. Even though all last week he continued not to start…and started to stop making attempt noises—just the lights would come on. But usually after a few tries he’d turn over.
Fast forward today… I was visiting a friend and it didn’t start. Luckily I have CAA…so called them and got towed back to Brampton. Tomorrow I’ll talk to the garage again, and hopefully I’ll have some answers. (But I’m almost 99% sure it’s a starter problem…. that’s just intermittent and hard to diagnose.)
Until then… glad this is the week my mum is visiting so I can use her car!
It’s been over a year since I have been living back in southern Canada. It totally has flown by so quickly. I was talking to a friend yesterday about all the changes that the last year has brought in my life.
August 18th, 2016
One downside about living in Canada’s Arctic is the crazy high cost of food..and the choices were so limited. Must admit the first few months it was hard to enter a grocery store because of all the choices. I worked with a dietician and did the hard work of changing so many different food habits! I hate “diets” and this wasn’t about ‘dieting’ it was to change habits for the long haul!
To be honest, some days I wanted to quit, but I kept at it… taking it one day at a time. Then found the balance place to still enjoy things I wanted to eat…but also making healthy choices. (Often having to re-boot…but that’s part of life right?) Along with the diet changes…I also started being more active. I’ve talked about my running and I also started yoga, but I’ll post more about that later.
Before: July 9, 2015 After: August 18, 2016
So yesterday I took a look at photos from last summer before I left Nunavut. They were taken on Nunavut Day (July 9th) by my friend Alison. I remember thanking her for snapping some of me…because often I’m just behind the camera. But part of me also couldn’t believe what I saw, I was not happy…and decided to do something about it. Hence, the healthier food choices and getting active.
Before: July 9, 2015 After: August 18, 2016
Over the year I couldn’t see the difference…it’s a head game that’s a hard one to break. Often you don’t see the real truth when you look in a mirror, instead you see a distorted view of reality. I’m not sharing this to get all kinds of ‘praise’ or anything…just sharing because sometimes just writing it and posting it makes it real.
Yesterday I was visiting my friend Michelle and we were chatting and I was like… sometimes I wonder why I even bother with all of this stuff, nothing has changed. She offered to take some photos so I could see a visual and match them up with photos from a year ago. She said sometimes that’s the only way to see it. So we took some photos and I matched them up side-by-side and I saw it…and it made me smile!
This last year has been quite the journey…one that is ongoing…but I can’t wait to see what the rest of 2016 brings.
