So its been 5 months!!!!

WOW!! Its been five months since I've posted in this blog. I am sure many of you have given up on me - hey - I've almost given up on it myself. I do have some good explanations for my absence - really exciting news actually.

Last May I was accepted into the School of Disability Studies at Ryerson University in Toronto!! It was a very exciting and nerve wracking time for me - as it had been over 10 years since I've been in school - EEEK!!!

In July I started my first course, "Re-thinking Disability" and it was intense, they jammed a semester full of work into a two week intensive course. I remember coming home my first day and having a huge headache - traveling to and from Toronto by train and then constantly being "on" all day - was draining. But I survived and learned so much!!! I also met some amazing people along the way.

Interesting things I learned and think others need to know.....

• Naming is a site of struggle - what we call ourselves and other is always personal. 
• The Disabled Community has been called many names - very rarely do they get a choice/voice in what they are called
• Next time you label or name someone - think about why and what your implications are in doing so!

I think the most important thing I learned in this class was the difference between the "Medical Model of Disability" and the "Social Model of Disability".

• The Medical Model teaches that Disability is a deficit - a dysfunction. It is something tragic, unfortunate and needs to be cured. Everything is a result of your disability - poverty, friends, work, social problems, etc.. One needs to look to medicine to solve the problems of their disability.
• The Social Model teaches that discrimination and lack of accessibility by society is the disabled biggest obstacle. The focus here is on barriers and that most problems in regards to disabilities don't stem from impairment but from lack of accessibility. 

I also learned new terminology I was not familiar with....

• Ableism - discrimination in favour of the able bodied (much like racism, sexism, ageism, etc)

This really was a great course and set the foundation for the rest of the program!! I would highly recommend anyone working in the field of disability to take this course. I've really only touched on a small part of the course - so much more to learn!!!


This Fall I am taking 2 courses - Mad People's History and Marketing for the Non-Profit Organization - both great courses so far!!!

What I've been up to....

The month of May was exciting to say the least.

At the beginning of the month (completely last minute) we booked a trip to Mexico.

It was crazy!!!! 

We had just over a week to get everything ready!!!

Kids off to aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

Well.... we did it!

On May 16 we landed in beautiful Mexico!!!

The Mayan Riviera to be more specific

Our resort:

The Grand Bahia Principe Coba

We had a great time!!!

I will be sure to share with you the scrapbook pages I create as well.

So we've been back a little over a week

Unpacking, laundry, and cleaning house had been my top priority

But then on Saturday... my son broke his arm while on the trampoline

We rush over to McMaster Childrens Hospital

I was so impressed with the service there.

Within 3 hours of arriving he had received blood work, xrays and was in the Operating Room.

It was a bad break and at first they thought they would have to put in pins

But luckily for us it wasn't necessary, him being so young and all.

The care at Mac was top notch - we are so fortunate to live so close to this amazing facility.

So that's been my month - a little fun and a little crazy.

I'll be back more frequently sharing pages, techniques and other fun stuff

Cheers,

Heather

And the winner is.........

The winner of "The Priests Graveyard" by Ted Dekker is.........(drumroll)...........

ALLY!!!!

Congratulations!!!!!!

The Priests Graveyard

Okay so maybe that is not the greatest title for this post - but it is a title of the latest book by one of my favourite authors Ted Dekker!!!

Here is the description that you can find on the book:

Two abandoned souls are on the hunt for one powerful man. Soon, their paths will cross and lead to one twisted fate.

Danny Hansen is a Bosnian immigrant who came to America with hopes of escaping haunted memories of a tragic war that took his mother's life. Now he's a priest who lives by a law of love and compassion. It is powerful men and hypocrites who abide by legal law but eschew the law of love that most incense Danny. As an avenging angel, he believes it is his duty to show them the error of their ways, at any cost.

Renee Gilmore is the frail and helpless victim of one such powerful man. Having escaped his clutches, she now lives only to satisfy justice by destroying him, regardless of whom she must become in that pursuit.

But when Danny and Renee's paths become inexorably entangled things go very, very badly and neither of them may make it out of this hunt alive.

Judge not, or you too will be judged

Here is a review I wrote for this book:

WOW!!! The Priests Graveyard has everything you want in a great suspense novel. This book will captivate you from the first few pages and lead you on a journey that ends in a twist!! Ted Dekker has create...d characters that have lived wounded lives, and in this novel he shares with us how they go on living. You may question if you would have made those same choices and I think that's what Dekker wants - he wants us to question or motives - are they driven by love or hate? This book will take you into the mind of a priest who loves and yet seeks justice, and a woman wounded seeking revenge.

Is this book dark? Absolutely
Is this book about love? Absolutely
Will this book make you question your motives? Absolutely

Is this Dekker's best work?
I am not sure if this is Dekker's best work - I think that is still to come, or maybe has come in the works of...."The Circle Trilogy", "Three", "Adam", or "Blink"

Is this Dekker's darkest book?
I don't think so....I think that Dekkers previous works "Immanuels Veins", "The Bride Collector", and "Bonemans Daughter" were darker.

This book is going to be a great addition to my library and I can't wait to share it with others!! Enjoy!!!

So now its......

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!!!

I will be personally be giving away one copy of "The Priests Graveyard" to one lucky blog reader.

All you have to do is leave a comment telling me who your favourite author is!!!

That's it!

I'll be drawing names on May 2nd - a week from today!!

Have fun!!!

Please be sure to leave me a way to get in touch should you win.

Either email, login name, signature.....

As you can see by my collection of Dekker books I'm a serious fan of his writing!

Chalking Inks....

I love Chalking Inks!!!

They add so much interest to a page.

I have used them on many of my pages lately and thought I would share some of my favourites.

In these Halloween pages I wanted to create some sort of Mummy Wrapping  - the chalked edges gave the "wrapping" that extra bit of detail too make them looked aged.

In this Hockey page I added the chalking inks  to the title as well as the hockey stick.

I am really pleased with the how the tape on the hockey stick looks distressed, all from using chalking inks.

I had fun making this Ninja Turtle Hat for my son and the page turned out cute too.

I used the chalking inks on the title.

The possibilities are endless with chalking inks!

 You can use them on embellishments, photo mats, titles, and more!!!

Pirate Party!!!

Last week, my son had his first "real" birthday party. When I say "real" I mean, that it wasn't just family, cousins and aunts and uncles, but children from school were invited.

We planned for the birthday to be at the end of March and my son was so excited.... well the day of the party was a snow storm and school was cancelled. For a few hours I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to have the party or not....  lucky for me all the parents were still willing to drive their kiddos and the party went on as planned.

The birthday party was Pirate themed and it turned out to be really fun!

As the children arrived they were given a pirate bandana to wear.

We played games and each of the children decorated a treasure chest.

Then it was time for food and cake!!

Everyone loved the cake, and I was pretty pleased with how it turned out too!

We opened gifts and then went on a treasure hunt!!

 I read clues aloud to the children and they would search around the house to find the treasure (loot, candies, small toys) and then everyone would put their "treasure" in the treasure chest they had decorated and go on to the next clue. This was a huge hit!!!

I am so glad that everyone enjoyed themselves.. now I have to plan a "Princess" party for my daughter next month!

March Break

So last week was March Break and lots of exciting things happened.

It was a crazy week, I had an extra little kiddo all week while friends of ours went to Jamaica.

I know.. NICE!!!!

As much as I would have loved to have been in Jamaica we made the best with what we had and a good week was had by all.

We went to an indoor playland...

Walked some trails...

Fed some ducks...

and visited the library.

We also had some eventful things happen.

My son learned to ride without training wheels!!!

My daughter was potty trained!!!

AND

I got into University!!!

I will be working on my Bachelors of Arts in Disabilty Studies.

I will be starting part-time this coming summer.

Exciting

Nervous

So that was my March Break week.

On the agenda for this week:

Pirate Birthday Party for my son

Scrapbooking Retreat for me