Category Archives: Uncategorized

Oct23

“WE DAY” INSPIRATION

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“WE DAY” INSPIRATION

Yesterday, October 22nd, WE DAY was celebrated at Rogers Arena in Vancouver. Youth from all over the province earned the right to attend and celebrate their actions towards changing the world.

It caused me to pause and reminisce to five years ago, as a principal accompanying some of West Bay’s Grade 6& 7 leaders to the first WE DAY in Vancouver. It was a powerful experience to hear from world leaders and ethical change agents immersed in making a difference in their communities and the world. Marc and Craig Kielburger (the co-founders of Free The Children) compelled the audience to become engaged activists with an awareness of global issues and the compassion to build a better world. The WE DAY… Read the rest

Oct21

Tidewater Book Festival for Independent Authors

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Tidewater Book Festival for Independent Authors

Last November, Vivalogue hosted its first Independent Book Festival in Richmond, British Columbia. It brought independent authors together to promote and sell their books, and provided excellent feedback from sessions with editors on their books. As well,  workshops provided  authors more information regarding the self publishing industry. Please watch the You Tube video from last year’s festival to see for yourself what the two day festival accomplished.

Raindance Book Festival 2013

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMRdP4Dk5nA&feature=youtu.be]

 

2013-11-09 4 RainDance

 

2013-11-09 3 RainDance

On Saturday, Nov.1 and Sunday, Nov.2, 2014 you are invited to participate in the Tidewater Book Festival for Independent Authors in Nanaimo, British Columbia. It promises to be an outstanding two day experience for self published authors, as well as for the public.  The authors will … Read the rest

Oct13

AN ATYPICAL THANKSGIVING

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AN ATYPICAL THANKSGIVING

I don’t know how your family celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving, but I’m almost certain it didn’t resemble the one I experienced this year.

Most of us conjure up a vision of an elegant, cozy, homey dinner of stuffed turkey and homemade pumpkin pie. The table set with autumn decor, a crackling fire adding ambience to the delicious, mingling aromas.

Of course nobody considers the harried cook in the over-heated kitchen frantically mashing potatoes, carving turkey, stirring gravy, and trying to have all the feast fixings laid out on the dining room table before it cools and congeals. Thanksgiving dinner pressure – that’s the real picture.

Well, wipe that image from your mind and conjure up, instead, a family of three couples: … Read the rest

Jul22

MENOPAUSAL TRAVELERS SLEEP DEPRIVED IN EUROPE

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MENOPAUSAL TRAVELERS SLEEP DEPRIVED IN EUROPE

You know you’re sleep-deprived when you’ve sat up the entire 9.5 hour night flight in an economy class seat. The two TYPE A travelers would have coped if they hadn’t started their journey with a 5:00 alarm to make a ferry connection first. And no one sleeps well when relying on one’s alarms going off, right? Certainly, arriving at the airport too early for one’s flight and hanging out in the airport for a number of hours, made for an endless day, before even taking off! … And so their story began.

The real fun started when arriving at one’s destination after being awake for 30 hours. Operating in a fuzzy, brain dead state, it only made sense we’d … Read the rest

Jul17

FRIENDSHIP-BUILDING in MIDDLE AGE

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FRIENDSHIP-BUILDING in MIDDLE AGE

After returning from a three-week adventure in Europe, our hostess sent me an email with the following German proverb:

“Came as a stranger and left as a friend.”

It couldn’t have expressed my feelings better.

When our travel plan to Germany and Holland was hatched, it was somewhat decided on a whim. My husband decided to circumnavigate Vancouver Island over a period of 4 weeks with three other sailors. The minute my friend (and sister-in-law) heard this, she pounced. She had a strong yen to return to Germany where she still had a best friend living. My sister-in-law had lived there in another life, back in the 70’s. She asked me at the right time (I had declined the year … Read the rest

Jul16

SUITCASE TRAVEL NIGHTMARES IN EUROPE

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SUITCASE TRAVEL NIGHTMARES IN EUROPE

DISCLAIMER: My travel partner has given me permission to divulge some of the more colourful journeys our overweight suitcases went on during our somewhat muscle agonizing adventure.

One has to ask, where were you when I posted my PACKING DILEMMA before flying to Europe? Someone needed to set me straight – BUT NOOOOO- you didn’t comment. I’m almost certain I would have listened…

Prior to embarking on our BIG ADVENTURE, my traveling partner and I talked almost daily for months about what we’d take (not what we SHOULD take). She’d tour my packing progress, and I’d check out her continuously changing clothing piles spread out in her spare bedroom. Our biggest decision we agonized over for weeks was what outfit … Read the rest

Jun1

PACKING PANIC

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PACKING PANIC

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One night left and it’s off to Europe for 3 weeks! Sounds fantastic, right? truthfully, the anticipation is actually killing me! Why you ask?
1. Procrastination- Tickets were purchased in Nov. (Plenty of time to set itinerary and get packed and organized for trip… Don’t you think?)
2. Traveling with another woman- (Significant collaboration regarding what to wear to the airport, what size of suitcase to take, decisions regarding suitable clothing choices, what host gifts to purchase and transport, … You get the picture, I know you do…)
3. Technology overload- how to communicate with only an iPad, making important CLOTHING decisions based on weather forecasts from weather ap, all bookings – flights, rail and hotels pre-booked on Internet… … Read the rest

May6

SECOND HONEYMOON? YOU JEST!

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SECOND HONEYMOON? YOU JEST!

I can’t stop chuckling, as I review some of our Caribbean Cruise holiday pictures that were taken back in February.  We had arrived at our last port, Key West, early in the morning.  It was a brilliant sunny day and I had awoken charged, anticipating a romantic walk down memory lane with my husband of 15 years.  That’s right, we had eloped down to Key West (I joined him from Vancouver and he met me from Toronto.) during March Spring Break.  I visualized us leisurely strolling arm-in-arm through the town, reminiscing about our wedding day (City Hall- oh, so quaint! NOT!), the ocean deck/beach for our wedding photos shoot (People hanging over the deck as we waded through the … Read the rest

Apr30

Literate Fur Kids

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Literate Fur Kids

As a novice gardener, I find myself continually dropping by nurseries these days. When I say novice, I mean it.  The following 3 photos demonstrate the progression from creating a raised garden bed, putting soil in the bed, planting the veggies and VOILÁ!  There are actual little plants germinating in that garden plot!  Simply amazing! Are you amazed?  Tell me you are!

garden Garden 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

veggiesCan you see those little veggies poking out of the soil…. hmmm …. I KNOW YOU CAN! Anyways, I have digressed. Is it obvious that I’m becoming a proud gardener?

So, as I was saying, I seem to be hanging out at a lot of nurseries these days and … Read the rest

Apr1

TEACHER LIBRARIAN ALERT: AUTHOR WORKSHOP

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TEACHER LIBRARIAN ALERT: AUTHOR WORKSHOP

Book Mary Laudien for Morning/ Afternoon Author Workshops 

Author Picture DSCN2250a

Mary Laudien is a retired International Baccalaureate World School principal from West Vancouver, B.C. She now divides her time between writing her Middle Grade Frenchie Series and volunteering as an International Baccalaureate Recognition Ambassador. Mary’s life long passion for KidLit makes entertaining readers with her own humorous novels such fun! Missing the day-to-day contact with students, author visits inspiring students to write powerful blog posts is an added treat. Mary believes in making a difference and encourages schools and book stores to fundraise with her novels to support their local SPCA.

All Middle Years Author Visits (appropriate for Grades 5, 6 and 7) include a prompt to provide a personal … Read the rest