I’m taking a big step today. I’m a little afraid, because my addiction has become bigger than anything I could have imagined, but today I am quitting Buzzfeed. And Upworthy. And Trendify. And all other similar crack-like websites. Am I being glib equating these sites with crack cocaine? No, I don’t think so.
There was a time, in the not too distant past, that when you wanted to know what someone was doing, you had to ask them. The reality was that you could go days, weeks, even months without knowing that a friend had been to Hawaii, or met a superstar backstage, or got invited to that really cool thing you knew absolutely nothing about. Now, of course, that's simply not the case. You need only pull you up your favourite social media app to find all your friends, family, and strangers doing way more exciting things than you in real time.
I’m not sure why I’m so jaded when it comes to Valentine’s Day, but it’s right up there after Halloween as my least favourite holiday of the year. As someone who lives in the social media realm, the content passing my way the last month has been a steady barrage of pink and red and sexy Valentine’s tips, and on and on and on. As a content creator, I get it. You gotta give the people what they want.
I live in Ottawa. You might say that I live in museum central— we have 14 national museums to choose from alone. We're very lucky to have such an amazing choice of museums in our own backyard.
I love all of these incredible museums for three reasons:
One, they very often offer a hands-on learning experience for my kids—and for me too.
Two, they are a great way to spend a day interacting with my kids instead of staring at a screen and not talking.
Until recently, I thought United got a bad rap in the land of public opinion. I’d flown with them a few times and since there were no hiccups, I had no reason to complain. That all ended Saturday.
On our way home from Orlando, we checked in within five minutes and it seemed as if it would be clear sailing to Ottawa. To our credit, we were at the airport three hours early and were the first in line. Still, I gave the credit to United in a Facebook post. Happy travellers give rave reviews.
There's a scene in the movie The Matrix, where everything suddenly becomes clear for Neo—the protagonist of the story. He sees the world for what it really is—nothing but code. Computer code.
I'm a big fan of sleepovers. In fact, my girls have friends sleep over almost every single weekend. I'm often asked if I'm crazy. Here's the thing, though—I think sleepovers are part of the good stuff growing up, and I encourage them at every turn. I also have clear, consistent guidelines that I follow. Maybe that's what's keeping me on the right side of sane.
For the past week, I have been spring cleaning, with some home renovations thrown in on the side for good measure. Let me tell you, nothing like a little spring cleaning to open your eyes to the fact that you are drowning in stuff. I am so frustrated with time spent moving stuff, assessing stuff, sorting stuff, cleaning stuff and packing stuff up for when I might need it, that I just want to take a match and gasoline to my stuff. Anyone else feel that way?
