Be a Blood Donor
Be a blood donor. It’s in you to give.
*This is not a sponsored post. This is something that I truly believe in*
My uncle suffered for a year with lymphoma. In order to survive, and then prolong his life, he had to receive frequent blood transfusions.
A few months before he died, he said,
“If anyone wants to give me a present, they should go give blood.”
My aunt, ever the witty one, replied, “What makes you think anyone wants to give you a present!”
But, of course, we all did.
I had never given blood before. I’m not squeamish of needles because I have to get blood tests all the time for my thyroid condition. I had heard that women lose a lot of blood already and shouldn’t give. I had thought I didn’t have enough time. I didn’t know how to sign up. The list of excuses were long.
My cousin was home for a visit, and he convinced me to come along with him to give blood.
Let me tell you. The Canadian Blood Services is an efficient, well-oiled machine! It is organized, the people are so friendly which makes the process easy and not overwhelming.
Canadian Blood Services recommends that you make an appointment before you go.
Phone 1 888 2 Donate
or find a clinic near you online.
Even if you don’t make an appointment, show up at the door (with ID) and they will fit you in somewhere!
There are a few stations that you go through before you actually give blood.
Registration with ID. They will also ask you if you would like to rebook.
Iron test – I think this part hurts the most. They prick your finger and make sure your iron levels aren’t too low to donate.
Questionnaire – you go to a private desk where you answer several questions about your medical history. This is another screening process.
Before you go, you should have a look at their website to see if you qualify.
My friend was excluded for having lived in France at a particular time.
Meeting with a nurse – you will have your blood pressure and temperature checked. Also there is a series of questions about your medical and sexual history.
Giving blood – if you pass all the above tests and screens, you can give blood.
The donation process takes about 7 to 12 minutes. The room is full of qualified people to help you in case you feel light headed, or just want to chat to make the time go faster. I usually bring a book to read.
6. Rest and Replenish – Following your donation, you sit and rest for 5 minutes before heading to the refreshment area where you should eat something sweet and drink juice to bring up your blood sugar.
It’s that easy!
Here are some things you should know.
You have to be between 17-70 to donate.
- Before you go, don’t brush your teeth with minty paste or use mouthwash! I did once and it elevated the temperature in my mouth and I wasn’t allowed to donate that day!
- Wear a shirt/sweater that you can easily roll up your sleeves.
Plan on about 1hour and 15 minutes for your whole appointment
Please consider donating! There is always a shortage of blood supply and sometimes surgeries may have to be canceled.
Think of people like my uncle or my brother whose lives depended on blood transfusions.
It’s in you to give.
Jamberry
Fun with Jamberry Nails!
*This is not a sponsored post. However, Jamberry is providing a wonderful prize for one lucky reader!*
My sister said it best. My hands are tools.
Exactly.
This is why I never get a manicure. I sometimes remember to paint my nails with a clear polish, but find they chip and break so easily because they are my tools!
However, when Jan mentioned that I could sample some of her Jamberry Nails, I jumped at the chance. I had seen a friend and her 5 year old daughter wearing them. They are fun, colourful and durable.
Jan introduced me to the world of Jamberry Nails.
Apparently, Jamberry nail wraps offer the hottest trend in fashion. You can wrap your nails in over 300 different designs.
In essence, they are specialized stickers that stick on top of your nails.
They help keep your nails from breaking. They’re non-toxic, no latex or harsh chemicals, made in the US and vegan friendly. There’s over 300 designs – something for everyone! And they can be put on top of gel or acrylic nails!
The Jamberry Nails are said to last 2 weeks on your hands and 6 weeks on your toes!
Jan challenged me to the 7-day Challenge. For a week I will wear two Jamberry Nails and the rest of my fingers as nail polish and see how they stand up!
To get the Jamberry Nails on, it wasn’t too hard. Your consultant (like Jan) will teach you the process. Here are the steps:
Clean your nail to get off any oils. Use anything like rubbing alcohol, vinegar or black tea!
2. Cut the stickers to the appropriate size.
3. Carefully peel it off using a wooden cuticle stick.
4. Put the sticker under a hairdryer for about 20 seconds. The sticky side should be towards the hairdryer. This softens the sticker and makes it malleable.
5. Carefully place the sticker over your nail and rub all over to make it smooth.
6. Trim the sticker to the length of your nail
7. Put your finger in a plastic bag, wrapped tightly around the nail.
8. Put this under the hairdryer for about 10 seconds. It’s all about the heat and pressure at this point. You really need to rub them a lot after this. I also use a nail buffer to file the end of my nails to get rid of any rough edges to make sure they don’t curl.
9. Wait at least 4 hours before you do anything heavy-duty with water like having a shower or washing dishes.
10. Over time, if the nails started to curl or loosen, I would trim my nails, or use the nail buffer to keep them on.
I am not used to having colour on my nails, let along a pattern. I can’t stop looking at them!
With my Jamberrys on, I stacked wood, washed the dishes, dug in the garden, and generally used my hands as tools. My nails were still in perfect condition!
They stood up to the 7 Day Challenge!
Day 1
Day 4
Day 7
Once, when my nail broke underneath, I simply cut and filed the nail, and the wrap stayed perfectly on and in place!
I loved the nails so much that I hosted a party at my house with Jan and got a few more girls addicted to them as well. At the party, we each got to practice putting on a few wraps.
I got this note after the party from one of the girls:
Don’t judge me but I think I want to add on to my order.
Another friend went home and found she had a few samples given to her, and so decided to do her entire hand!
I actually had left my original Jamberrys on for the party – so I could see how long they lasted and how to take them off.
6 weeks later, other than nail growth, they were still in great condition.
To get them off, we dipped a cotton ball in olive oil and rubbed it over the nail. We used dental flossers to peel the nails off, and it worked like a charm!
And no damage to the nail bed – even after having them on for 6 weeks!
Now, I can’t stop looking at my hands!
If you are in the local area, you can book your party to try Jamberrys with Jan!
darjanloner@gmail.com; http://janloner.jamberrynails.net
Or find a consultant near you through one of these Jamberry chanels!
WIN WITH JAMBERRY!
Win a sheet of nail wraps courtesy of the Jamberry company! One sheet includes 2 manicures, 2 pedicures and a few accent nails.
This prize is open to anyone who lives in Canada or the US.
Enter daily until Wednesday, October 29, 2014.
Story Mobs
Join the Story Mob
Over the weekend I had the opportunity to have my second story mob experience!
What’s a story mob?
I’m glad you asked!
StoryMobs are where great kids’ books meet flash mobs with a dash of Mardi Gras thrown in.
The idea originated by two women in Ontario and the idea has spread across the country. See their website here!
Like other flash mobs, StoryMobs appear out of nowhere in an apparently spontaneous way, in a busy public space, at a (quietly) designated time and then disperse without any additional fanfare after they have finished.
Last fall, my family and I participated in a Story Mob in Wolfville, NS for the book Green Eggs and Ham. As you can tell by the pictures, we really hammed it up!
We had over 20 readers, with people coming in costumes and using props to help tell the story.
Even Wolfville Mayor Jeff Cantwell got in on the fun!
Here is a video snippet of the event. Can you find me?
This year we crashed Kentville’s Harvest Festival where we celebrated pumpkin people! There is even a book by local authors Sandra and Ron Lightburn called The Pumpkin People. This is the book that we read to the crowd.
Here are some of the pictures from the event.
This year, Daniel got to be one of the readers!
Authors Ron and Sandra Lightburn!
MP Scott Brison, Kentville Mary Dave Corkum and Pumpin People Mascot, Spike
Our story mobs are organized by Angela Reynolds who is the head of Youth Services for the Annapolis Valley Library. She made many of the props, divide the reading parts and flawlessly orchestrate the event. Here’s some information on how she did it.
If you connect with the StoryMobs group in Ontario, they will also hook you up with information on how you can start your own mob!
Grab some friends, involve the local library, and help make reading fun in a new way!
My Twin
Do you Have a Look Alike?
“Whatever the real truth behind doppelgangers, belief in the spirit double has instilled both fear and wonder in people for thousands of years.”
A doppelganger is someone who looks like someone else.
My three-year-old neighbour thinks I look just like Stella from the book seires by Marie-Louis Gay. What do you think?
Spirit twin? Long lost relative? Complete coincidence?
Whatever it is, I also have a real-live look-alike twin.
Photographer Francois Brunelle undertook an interesting project: hunting for look-alikes or ‘doppelgangers’ and setting out to shoot 200 pictures of couples who, despite not sharing the same blood, have strikingly similar faces. Check it out here.
I’m lucky that I didn’t have to search far and wide for my twin, as she lives in the same town, and she happens to be a good friend of mine!
Meet Heather.
I first met Heather through the school. Our sons are approximately the same age, and we have many mutual friends.
To make things more confusing, Heather and I have the same last name. However, hers is through marriage. It turns out that Heather’s husband is actually my 6th cousin.
I am related to him, and not to her, and yet we are the ones who look alike!
I don’t think we noticed the similarity right away, that is until strange things started to happen!
The first incident I remember, was when picking our kids up at a birthday party, my son ran to Heather instead of me!
Other funny things have happened to us, too.
One time, Heather was shopping down town. My husband’s colleague came up to her and began talking to her – launching into a big conversation. Heather stood there with a confused look on her face, until a mutual friend had to explain, “that’s not Laura!”.
It happens to me, too. When I walk through the school hallway, kids say to me, “Hi A’s mom!” I went to change my son’s medical records at the school and they said, “for A, right?”
“No! Wrong child! It’s Thomas!” I quickly had to correct before Heather’s son had the wrong allergies recorded!
“I saw on Facebook you went canoeing this summer!” No, that was Heather’s picture!
“You run the Valley Family Fun website!” No, that’s Laura.
We’ve gotten quite used to just answering… “oh, that’s Laura/Heather”. Or smiling and waving at everyone who thinks they know us.
It’s funny that when I finished writing the draft of this blog post I went to a school track meet. Twice in a span of 5 minutes: “Hi A’s Mom!” and “How will S do in his run today?” I had to remind her that I was Laura and my son was Daniel. Not S.
We haven’t quite worked out how we can use this to our advantage… yet! It’s just good to know I have a stunt double available!
As for who is the evil twin… we’ll let you decide!
Colourblindness in Children
Living with a Colour Blind Child
“Mommy, what colour is this? Is it orange?”
Daniel was about 4 years old when he asked me. The question really caught me off guard. He already had learned his colours, and he was far too old to be asking me what colour something was.
Then it hit me.
Daniel was probably colour blind.
Because my dad and his brother are colour blind, I always had it in my mind that Daniel might be.
Colour blindness, or colour vision deficiency, is the inability or decreased ability to see colour, or perceive color differences, under normal lighting conditions. Colour blindness is actually quite common.
Here’s a great explanation of colour blindness.
Biologically, How it Works:
Red/green colour blindness is passed from mother to son on the 23rd chromosome, which is known as the sex chromosome because it also determines sex. If you are colour blind it means the instructions for the development of your cone cells are faulty and the cone cells might be missing, or less sensitive to light or it may be that the pathway from your cone cells to your brain has not developed correctly.
If a woman has only one colour blind gene she is known as a ‘carrier’ but she won’t be colour blind. When she has a child she will give one of her X chromosomes to the child. If she gives the X chromosome with the faulty gene to her son he will be colour blind, but if he receives the ‘good’ chromosome he won’t be colour blind.
A colour blind boy can’t receive a colour blind gene from his father, even if his father is colour blind, because his father can only pass an X chromosome to his daughters.
So, I guess you could say it’s my fault that Daniel is colour blind! Well, thanks to my father!
In the Real World
My dad actually didn’t know he was colour blind until he was in junior high school. He had a job as a tomato picker and got fired for picking all of the green tomatoes and not the red ones!
We got Daniel an appointment with the eye doctor who had him look at certain images to see if he could see the numbers in the pattern. Like this.
Can you see the numbers in the dots? If so, you are not colour blind!
Overall, Daniel being colour blind hasn’t been a big deal. We sometimes have to correct him when he is colouring a picture, but he knows enough to ask first – especially when it comes to reds, greens and oranges.
Daniel says he can easily see the primary colours, but has troubles with brown and orange. He says it really doesn’t bother him, as he can read the labels on the crayons. He’s pretty confident about it, and has no troubles asking or explaining to people about his colour blindness.
My dad used to have trouble with some of the traffic lights – knowing what was red and green! However, he recited a poem: Stop on Top! That is, until they started putting some of the traffic lights horizontal!
My dad often has trouble matching clothes. This is why his entire wardrobe is blue! He could easily see blue, and knew that everything would coordinate!
There are a few jobs that he won’t be able to do. Some areas of industry, transport services and the armed forces don’t allow for people with colour blindness for safety issues.
And who knows the funny stories that will result. When he gets older, he may have happen to him what happened to a friend of ours. This colour-blind friend bought a car with a pinstripe on it. His friends started making fun of him for having a pink stripe on his car. But, it was fine for him, as he didn’t see it as pink!
Do you have anyone in your family who is colour blind?
Beyond Intelligence
Beyond Intelligence: Secrets for Raising Happily Productive Kids
By Dona Matthews and Joanne Foster
In a perfect world, each child’s well-being is paramount. He aspires to achievement and fulfillment, and he gets the guidance, nurturing, and support he needs to realize his aspirations. He grows up surrounded by a positive peer group, and learns to manage negative influences and difficult feelings. He experiences challenges and learning opportunities in a range of areas, sometimes working collaboratively with others. His knowledge continues to grow, and his interests continue to deepen. He works on the edge of his comfort zone, constantly stretching his mind in directions he finds exciting. His confidence develops as he sees himself achieving successes in areas that he values. (p 225).
This is the premise of a new book, Beyond Intelligence by Dona Matthews and Joanne Foster. Both women are highly qualified in the field. Dona has a Ph.D. In child development and has worked with children, families and teachers for over 20 years. Joanne has a Doctorate of Education in human development and applied psychology.
Together, they have years of experience helping families, schools and educations.
All of this makes them experts when it comes to raising happily productive kids!
Beyond Intelligence is a book for parents and educators that looks at how we can help create environments that are conducive to learning.
Each of the 10 chapters is about a different concept related to developing your child’s intelligence. Concrete examples from their case files are used, and backed up with research in the field.
Topics include:
What is intelligence?
How do we measure it?
Intelligence and creativity
Decision making about schooling
Raising Children to Thrive
Overall, I really enjoyed reading Beyond Intelligence. I have a degree in psychology, so naturally gravitate to these types of books. I also have two boys who are incredibly smart and have a love of learning. I, of course, want to keep this passion alive and help them to thrive as adults.
By reading this book, it confirmed a lot of things that I am already doing with my kids, and convinced me that I should keep along the same path.
I also learned a few new things. Here are the highlights:
1. A newer way to look at intelligence is about doing intelligent things in certain situations, rather than being exceptionally smart.
2. Praising children for being smart is actually detrimental to their learning. Instead, praise them for what they accomplish through practice, study, persistence and good strategies.
3. You cannot predict a child’s potential achievement. Learning is a gradual, open-ended process, and an individual’s potential cannot be accurately measured, much less predicted.
4. There are 9 recorded types of intelligence including spatial, linguistic, logical/mathematical, bodily, musical, intrapersonal, interpersonal, naturalistic and existential. Not everyone is intelligent in all areas. People thrive in different areas of intelligence. EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT.
So, what can we as parents do to best support the development of our children’s intelligence, creative, resilience, character and well being?
Here are a few things that I learned:
1. Expose children to many kinds of opportunities for playful exploration, both on their own and with others
2. Let children discover and become themselves while you provide steering assistance when the road gets twitsty.
3. Don’t over schedule or over program your child.
4. Don’t entertain them when they are bored. Give suggestions, but ultimately let them come up with ideas themselves.
When you do the best you can do to support and encourage development, you maximize the likelihood that their abilities will emerge in their own time.
The most common theme that I picked up on was to be a role model.
“I can’t tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it myself.”
Model an interest in continuing education, in problem solving, in taking challenges.
You are the best example for your child.
I highly recommend picking up a copy of Beyond Intelligence and think about how you can apply the ideas in your family. You will find yourself growing as well!
Enter to win a copy of Beyond Intelligence by Dona Matthews and Joanne Foster! Enter daily until the draw date of October 9th. Pick up/delivery in the Annapolis Valley.
