Karma

I totally beleive in the power of karma especially after reading this recent Story about a young Calgary Flames usher who held the 50/50 ticket for a season ticket holder when he had to leave the game early. His offer if he won, was that he’d split the winnings! That 50/50 was $27,000 and now this 19 year old plans to put it towards education!

Karma comes in all shapes and forms and it hits you when you least expect it. Just a few weeks ago my mother was trying to figure out what to do with her old washer and dryer that she was replacing. They both worked and she wanted to try and get some money for them, at least enough to cover the delivery of the new set to her house. She posted them for sale on local classifieds sites with no bites. The date was quickly approaching when she needed to have them removed and decided to just post them for free. A very nice man and his wife arranged to come pick them up from their basement as their’s just stopped working and they needed something right away. Here’s where Karma comes to play!

My mom knew this man looked familiar, turns out earlier in the summer my step-dad was having trouble opening his shed door in the driveway due to a hole in the ashphalt. A couple of houses down there were some contractors replacing pavement and he asked the foreman if he could have a small amount to fix the hole. This man did even better and brought a couple of wheel barrows up and smoothed it out for him and didn’t ask for a dime. That foreman was the same man who came and picked up the washer and dryer from my mom! I asked her afterward if she was upset that she didn’t didn’t get any money for them to cover the delivery charges and she said, “Nope this was an even better feeling to know that what goes around, comes around”.

One of our new Bloggers Melissa is going to be writing about up upcoming adventures in Giving Back and I have a feeling that she’s going to have a lot of positive energy and Karma coming her way this year!

Litterless Lunches

Last week in the city of Saint John it was Waste Reduction Week. One of the initiatives for kids was to encourage litterless lunches, and they held a contest where kids could enter how they make their lunches litterless. I told the C-Man and Mr. L about it and helped them enter on the City’s Website. Well Ciaran’s name was drawn! He won 1 hour ice time at a city arena and a $60 gift card to Pizza Hut! Both boys birthdays are in less than 2 weeks so the timing could not be better!

I must say that I’m pretty proud of my litterless lunches this year. In the summer I picked up these plastic storage containers from IKEA for under $5 and the smaller ones are the perfect sizes for snacks in the boys lunches.

I’ve also cut-down on prepackaged foods and snacks and have not only given the kids a healthier option but also it’s saved a lot of money. Muffins and banana bread have been some of their most requested snacks. I also buy larger containers of yogurt and freeze a tiny bit overnight in a reusable container then add a little more to it the next morning so the yogurt stays nice and cold for recess.

The boys also have a milk program at school but tend to drink it at recess so they use their Thermos Funtainers with cold water in them for lunch.

I’m pretty happy to say I’ve only used plastic wrap or baggies less than a handful of times! So we’re doing our little part of reducing waste, what are some things your family does?

A Hockey Mom is Born!

Mr. L had his first hockey practice today and I have to admit I was really nervous for him. I was worried that he would see that the other kids may be a little more skilled than himself and want to give up. Instead just the opposite happened, he persevered and just kept getting back up! I could not have been more proud of him today.

Here’s a quick video of my little Mr. L’s debut practice. I will remind you that this is only the second time he’s ever been on ice, he’s never even rollerbladed! What a trooper!