Inspired by Sara's post here, I decided to write my own 400-word tribute to the things I love.  Sunrise over Calgary I love where I am in my life's journey, and that I can look back with peace at the decisions I have made that brought me here. I love the battlescars I have earned on that journey, for they serve as reminders of just how very strong I can be. I love the memories I have made, that I have so much sunshine on my path in and that my future is still so full of promise and... More »

Years ago I gave up making New Year's resolutions, but the turning of the calendar can be a good time to reflect on the past and set goals for the year to come. I haven't always done so in a conscious way - mostly because I felt it was a bit, well...hokey. I preferred to take on my personal growth in a more organic way: when the opportunity or -- indeed -- necessity for introspection and change arose, I would embrace it willingly. But to specifically set aside a certain time to SET A GOAL? That wasn't me.Over the past... More »

It was a year in which I would have preferred many things not be remembered. And yet: when I look back over my photographs, I find many moments that are most decidedly worth remembering. Here's hoping that all of you find a similar cache of good memories from 2011, and that you make even more moments to look back on with fondness in 2012.With love,KathMy favourite photo from 2011... More »

You've been through some tough times with me here these past few years. My mother's illness and death, the breakdown of my marriage, my return to full-time work and moving to a new home with my girls. I would say it's been like a roller-coaster, only it hasn't. For the longest time, it was like nothing other than an uninterrupted free-fall. If I thought I had gone as low as I could, it seemed I would only fall further. I felt, at times, as though my luck had left me and I thought that maybe I had used up all... More »

Something is wrong with my kids' bones. Really. When she was only three, my youngest broke her arm at summer camp, and then her leg while skiing with the family. And last night, my older daughter broke her arm. While tobogganing. And I wasn't even there!So yeah, you can just call me fracturemom. It's not a title I relish, but in the grand scheme of things, a fracture is a pretty simple thing, as I have now learned for the third time in my life as a mother. After a visit to the emergency ward of the Children's Hospital, you... More »

Dear Mom,It's been nearly three years now since our last, wonderful Christmas together. The best of the best, as you called it. This year, the whole family will be together again. But without you. It's going to bring back a lot of memories. It's going to be wonderful and festive and joyful. And there's going to be a huge hole. A hole you would have filled with your presence, your love, your calm and nurturing spirit. My sisters and I will try to fill the gaps...Dad will too...but we know that it's not the same.When we open our Christmas crackers... More »

Well, I don't know about where you are, but in these parts, it's pretty clear that winter's on its way. As I drove into work this morning, the temperature was a bleak and shivery -6C. And during my weekend errand runs I was treated to sights of holiday decorations that put me in mind of those wonderful Coca-Cola commercials, remember the ones? With the animated polar bears all having fun, then settling down and drinking a cold Coke? Yup, those iconic ads have been around for a few years now. Coke and the polar bear go waaay back.  In fact,... More »

I have thirteen - count 'em, THIRTEEN - pets. Now, granted: ten of those pets are fish, but still. Thirteen pets, by any standard, are a lot. So perhaps when I introduce myself I should say, "hi, my name is Katherine and I'm an animal lover." I don't really mean to joke about it, because I do take my role as pet owner very seriously. My daughters and I invest a lot of time and care into our pets, and it's not just our own domesticated animals that we care about. Each year we invest money over the holidays to... More »

I often catch the first few minutes of CBC Radio One's The Current on my way to work in the mornings. Just the other day, Anna Maria Tremonti interviewed Gloria Steinem in her series on Gamechangers (both women I greatly admire, by the way), and the bit of the conversation I heard was about young women's reluctance to call themselves feminists. (Specifically, I believe Steinem was referring to a talk given by Stanford Professor Michele Elam, called "The New F Word (Feminism) and Beyond: Gender, Race, and other Classroom Unspeakables".)It really got me thinking, because I remember feeling that way... More »

I have this thing, where my brain retains all manner of seemingly useless information (at the unfortunate expense of forgetting time-sensitive things like, say, deadlines or appointments) seemingly indefinitely. I can remember stuff I read in OWL magazine as a ten year-old, or visualize pictures from old encyclopedias and National Geographic magazines in my grandparents' basement. It's a skill that has earned me somewhat of a reputation, either as an insufferable know-it-all or the go-to person when a slippery trivial factoid is needed. Seriously: my sister has been known to phone me long distance during a dinner just to settle... More »