Is it more to Offer Happiness

Happy?

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What Almost every Woman Wants, maybe

I found this great site while reading tweets. follow this awesome and realistic advice, and weight will melt away like snow people on a warm spring day.

Kindess Week

We all have it in us to be kind. Indeed, smiling at a stranger can mean so much to them if they feel invisible.

This is kindness week in Ottawa - get out and show the kindness in you to others. Don't stop after the week is done, because the kindness you give will always come back to you.

More than Roses, Chocolates, and a Hallmark Card

February 14^th is fast approaching. Love it or hate, it is a day reserved for romance. A day lovers, unless they want to be sent with their pillow and blanket to sleep on the couch, are planning that perfect Hallmark evening.

Right off the start, I have to tell you I’m not a fan of Valentine’s Day. Call me killjoy. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love roses, chocolates, and being wined and dined, but not if it is out of obligation. I don’t think my husband should be reminded or pressured to be romantic.

I said to my husband, when we first married that I don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day, so save your money. But I also said, being the considerate person that I am, if he did, or was expecting something from me, I would be pleased to get him something special to recognize how special he is to me. After all, just because I didn’t want anything, does not mean he should go without.

A good relationship is about communicating with your partner your expectations clearly without mixed messages. When I say I don’t celebrate this day, I mean it. I’m not secretly hoping he surprises me with some sort of romantic gesture, or buys me flowers and chocolate. Hmmmm I love chocolate!

Oh, I digress. Romantic gestures I believe ought to be heartfelt and sincere, but most of all spontaneous. Otherwise, how romantic can they really be anyway?

However, those everyday things we do for one another are pretty darn special. I never have to put dishes in the dishwasher after a meal. The garbage and daily newspapers magically disappear, and I’m not sure where it goes. Gadgets, iMac computers, iPods, ebooks, headphones, wand scanners and all manner of wonderful gadgets appear in brown paper wrapping in the mail. Sometimes it is for him, and sometimes for me.

My computer is always updated with the most recent programs. My iPod is always filled with more applications than I know how to use. As good as a Mac is, I know it doesn't do this on its own. When I travel, my iPod playlist is waiting with music that makes me smile knowing he selected it specifically for my listening pleasure. Occasionally, I get in my car and the gas is topped up, and washed. And who walks the dog in the cold dark late night? Not me!

What I enjoy the most is when he cooks for me, not much in his repertoire, but I think having a meal prepared for you is one of the most romantic things a person can do for you.

The really big thing though, is the TV room. Although the TV room was designed by him for him, he always lets me watch what I want, even if there is a game on. That is some special gesture! However, I suspect he really wants me there. Why else would he buy a massage chair, and place it the best viewing space especially for me!

Meanwhile, for those of you who are celebrating Valentine’s Day, have a wonderful time. I’ll be spending the evening at home with my family. It might be nice to nibble on chocolates while I catch up on movies while getting a massage in my special chair. Or maybe, I’ll let my husband catch up on Battlestar Galactica, or Lost, I don’t know, is there a hockey game on?

Happy Valentine’s Day all!

Sick Day

It is nothing like a snow day. No jumping around, no playing outside, no games, no energy.

I caught a cold virus from someone, but I won’t be pointing a finger at anyone. Who know where I picked it up, this is after all, flu season. In order not to be guilty myself of transferring this cold virus to people at the office, I decided to stay home.

I find it hard to rest; I keep thinking I should be doing something. So, I emailed the office and got them to email me the report I was working on. I completed it through the sniffles and tears. Why does our eyes tear when we have a cold, terribly annoying. That just makes everything else run.

Because I’ve feel I was somewhat productive I decided I should take care of myself and get the healing thing going on. I began by having a nice long shower. There is nothing like hot steam to clear the nasal passage. Then I prepared myself some ginger and honey tea. Easy to make, I cut up the ginger and place in a boiling pot with cinnamon and honey. I’m not much of a neoCitran kinda of gal, I don’t like the way it makes me feel. I prefer old tried remedies, ginger tea, and rest.

I must be feeling better, here I am blogging… ah, now I must clean all the surfaces I touched especially this keyboard.

Do you know what collects the most germs? Yip, the keyboard and mouse.

How Many Friends Do We Need Anyway?

A couple of weeks ago I was listening to Holly, a contestant winner of “Almighty” on a local radio station. She had to undertake a number of tasks to collect $25,000. One of her tasks was to eliminate over 360 friends from her friends list on the social network Facebook and reduce it down to 20. She did it, but at what cost? She got $1,000 to do this task, making her deleted friends worth less than $3.00 each. The question is whether she will keep her friends’ list to the few “real” friends.

This got me thinking: how many friends do we need anyway? People join numerous social networks, Myspace, Facebook, WAYN, and Second Life, to name a few.

I’m not immune to this internet phenomenon, I have a Facebook account, two blogs, and a Twitter account. I’ve helped create Facebook profiles for the techno challenged, and have watched them take baby steps and then leaps and bounds adding friends, applications, photos, all with great confidence. I started my Facebook profile initially to keep in contact with my family members in other cities, and that opened the floodgates to others, long lost friends, old classmates, recent friends and just random people. When I began using Facebook, I made a mental note to myself to keep my friends list to 100 but it is getting increasingly difficult to adhere to it.

I think I need to establish a set of social network friends criteria. Do I set a limit on how large my friends list should be? Do I eliminate people I’ve accepted as friends when more desirable friends ask me to be their friend, and what about family: are they friends for life? Should I explain to friends I’m considering deleting what I’m about to do to them? How do I explain it? How would I characterize and streamline my friends? Should I keep those who are in contact with me on a regular basis, those who seem interested in me personally? What about people who just like to be my friend but never ask me how I am doing, or express any interest after the initial contact? Most of all, in my effort to connect with my friends, my pet peeve is people who don’t answer emails. How many chances do I give them to answer my email before deleting them from my friends list?

What about me? Am I a good friend? I think so. I take interest in my friends, inquiring about their wellbeing, commenting on their wall, emailing them occasionally. But honestly, not all the time. What is the social network friendship protocol? Are these networks really about collecting as many friends as you can? Do they or don’t they operate on the same social rules as “real life” friends? Do other social networks operate on a different basis?

Follow. My new interest is Twitter. I see Twitter surpassing other social networks because it does not require much effort and it is satisfies our need for immediate results. It lets us connect with people who have the same interests, check out their blogs or websites, easy.

It is about networking in a real sense. (see stephen Fry) People you connect with are not called “friends” but rather the relationship is defined as “followers” and “followed.” So what are the rules for relating to your followers? Or those you are following? It can seem like a kind of friendly stalking, but with the consent of the stalked. Or it is possible to remain a “lurker.” Maybe these relationships are more similar to business acquaintance and the more followers the better.

I’ve noticed people can have anywhere in the tens of thousands of followers on Twitter. How do they keep up? Or do they? Do they have an obligation to keep up? The traffic must be an amazing tool for businesses.

Indeed, the world is flat.

How does our affiliation on social networks define who we are?