Keira-anne.com

My weekend has been divine. Yesterday I spent many hours sleeping in, then after finally deciding to shower and “pretty myself,” I took the boys on a two-hour trek to Yaletown for new shampoo and conditioner for me and a little sumpin’ for my favourite monkeys. Word to the wise: Barking Babies is a bad idea. A knock to the pocketbook and half an hour later, we walked out with honey/peanut butter dog biscuits, doggy granola bars, yogurt-dipped dog cookies and a new squeaky lamb for each of them. The toys weren’t intended, but when I picked them up off the shelf, Benji jumped up and grabbed it with his teeth. “Well, I guess I’m taking two of those…” I said to the girl. However, it’s rather precious because rather than playing with his lamb like Casey, Benji has a tendency to drag his lamb into the dog bed and wrap it with a blanket and proceed to cuddle.

The rest of the day was completely uneventful, as a power outage knocked out our electricity to well into the night, and it wasn’t until midnight that I finally ordered a pizza and threw on Season 1 of ‘Oz.’ In case you were wondering, it’s a ridiculously fantastic series produced by HBO that aired between 1997 and 2003.

Today was the day I’d been waiting a long time for, being that I got together with some great people for a great cause. The 2008 Bowl For Big Brothers Classic welcomed a pared-down version of ‘Team Blogger’ at Xcalibur Lanes in Surrey. The five of us on hand enjoyed two hours of 10-pin bowling in the dark. Despite the fact that I’m not the biggest fan of cosmic bowling, I’ll rarely pass up the opportunity to bowl. But why let me bore you by telling you about it? Here’s a few snaps of the action. The rest can be seen in my Flickr set.

A huge thank you to everyone that donated funds to Big Brothers of Vancouver on behalf of ‘Team Blogger.’ Unfortunately, only 50% of us were able to make it out but I know the whole team feels it’s an extremely worthy cause that supports many Greater Vancouver youth who so desperately need this program. All in, we raised over $1,000, all thanks to you!

The Full Throttle Slopestyle Competition is coming very soon (this weekend, in fact) to Mount Washington. Come out to watch skiiers and boarders strut their best stuff on the slopes. Skiiers, your day is Saturday, while the snowboarders take over shredding duties on Sunday. Whether you’re riding, two-planking or just hanging out to take in the sights, I’m pretty sure it promises to be a fun and exciting weekend.

If I’m a little m.i.a. (?) over the next several days, it’s no doubt for very good reason. The fourth annual Northern Voice conference invades Vancouver, kicking off with a launch dinner tomorrow night at a “secret” location, followed by Moosecamp on Friday and the actual conference on Saturday. Click the moose for more information.

Lastly, but certainly not least, I found myself the quintessential and all-too-necessary little black dress last night. How I never discovered Bebe sooner is completely beyond me. Stay tuned tomorrow for dollface pictures of your humble narrator shimmied into the satin sleeve.

P.S. I am so addicted to Jugo Juice

It’s always amazing the difference a day makes. True, my knee is more purple and more sensitive to the touch, but the dull ache from the inside has subsided and yesterday’s events have started to fade from my memory a little bit.

First off, I want to thank all of you who wished me well through comments, e-mails and even blog posts. You have all been so encouraging, and it’s good to know that there are people who love and re-instill faith. Can’t nobody get me down!

Secondly, the Ski For MS was a huge success this year, and all donations in, the event raised over $21,000. I’m beyond disappointed that I wasn’t able to participate, but I thank all of you who helped out to support this excellent cause.

All that being said, I believe a hot bath and more episodes of South Park are calling my name.

I’ll make this short, sweet and to-the-point (or at least try)…

I got a lil’ haircut on Friday after work. Not much, but I’ve decided to grow my hair way out. I want mermaid hair. I want it to be soft, blonde, silky and just long enough to hide my sweater kittens when walking around in my panties. Did I say too much?

I had a very adventurous Oma. She loved spending time with her grandaughter. Some of her favourite times to herself were spent sitting on the patio on warm summer days watching the hummingbirds dance around the yard. She baked the best rye bread known to man. Her lap was always prime seating for storytime. I loved to make her beautiful by going through her make-up box and putting way too much lipstick on her - usually about an inch in all directions outside of her lip area. She was so loved.

Not long before I came along, my Oma was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system — the brain and spinal cord. The disease attacks the protective myelin covering of the central nervous system, causing inflammation and often destroying the myelin in patches. In its most common form, MS has well defined attacks followed by complete or partial recovery. The severity of MS, progression and specific symptoms cannot be predicted at the time of diagnosis… there is no cure. [source]

Many of the adventurous things my Oma liked doing were no longer options for her. Much of her time was spent house-bound, so it was crucially important that my family and I were all around much of the time. Though her prognosis wasn’t hopeful from the beginning, she lived vivaciously for many more years after her diagnosis until finally succumbing to the disease when I was in my early teens.

On Sunday, February 17th, Mt. Washington and the Investors Group are sponsoring the Ski For MS on the slopes of this girl’s favourite mountain. The event is designed to not only help find a cure for multiple sclerosis, but also to support those currently living with this disease.

How can you help? The concept is simple: you sponsor your favourite snowboarder (um, that’d be me…in case you were wondering) by donating the the MS Society of Canada and I ride from morning ’til afternoon for a fantastic cause.

I can’t think of a better or more fun way to honour a really stellar lady!

There are two ways in which you can donate: click here to make a secure online donation or e-mail me (keira at keira-anne dot com) to arrange for a cash donation.

Donations of $20 or more are automatically issued a tax receipt - please include your full address and correct postal code.

Rebecca excitedly asked me this morning if I’d be willing to bowl for a good cause. Truth be told, I’d be willing to bowl for just about anything, but bowling for Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver sounds like an even better idea.

Mentoring programs help kids reach their full potential by heightening self esteem and enabling them to make healthy decisions.

Studies indicate kids with mentors perform better academically, display improved personal relationships and are less inclined to use drugs and alcohol as teens.

Together with a few other bloggers (myself included), Rebecca has formed ‘Team Blogger’ in the 2008 Bowl For Big Brothers Classic. The idea of getting together with good friends to throw the balls around for a good cause is something I can most definitely get on board for.

On a dreary weekend in March, we’ll be hitting the lanes at either the Commodore in downtown Vancouver or grabbing a skytrain to Xcalibur in Surrey (I think - we’ll confirm at a later date). There are two ways you can be a part of the festivities:

1) Join ‘Team Blogger’ on the lanes! We still have five spots open but I am quite sure they’ll fill up fast! Click here to join the team - just search for ‘Team Blogger’ or ‘Rebecca Bollwitt.’

2) Donate! That’s the entire point of this bowl-o-rama, so click here to securely sponsor me online or e-mail me directly (keira at keira-anne dot com) if you’d prefer to make a direct cash donation.

Why donate?

Proceeds from The Bowl for Big Brothers Classic support Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver’s quality mentoring programs by funding volunteer screening, training and monitoring of friendships as well as fun activities for Bigs and Littles.

P.S. Becky, are you sure I can’t bowl in my bikini?

It’s Sunday morning and the weekend has quietly come to a near-end. I’ve been awake with Charley and my mom for an hour or so; Rebecca and my aunt are both still fast asleep. Before I pack up my backpack, here’s my weekend wrap-up and a few note-worthy things worth mentioning.

After a full and head-first day of snowboarding on Friday, Becky and I were both incredibly and unbelievably sore on Saturday. After finally peeling ourselves out of bed, we headed into town excited to visit the Atlas Cafe for lunch. Much to our disappointment, the joint was closed for renovations so we opted for pancakes, eggs and bacon at the Early Bird Cafe instead. It was just the energy motivation we needed to get in a full day of shopping. I am very happy to say that we both made major scores on some very cute clothes.

And so, after a lazy evening of home-baked pizza, popcorn, pie and ‘Failure to Launch,’ we both geeked out for a bit before heading to bed slightly after 10 p.m. Our evening was about as eventful as that of the boys who were taking part in NerdCamp, hosted by Vancouver’s top blogger, Duane Storey.

My feet have been soaked through almost all day. Today Chelsea and I walked in the Gulu Walk to raise awareness for children in northern Uganda. Chelsea’s long had a passion for Africa, and I was stoked to give my support to a friend and also to a note-worthy cause. Despite the fact that I did this mostly for awareness and not so much monetary support, I was still able to muster up one financial contribution. So to that person, and you know who you are (as do I), I thank you so much. It was the sweetest thing of you to do and I’m very grateful to know that I have friends with great hearts.

My favourite part of today was probably my favourite thing about time spent with Chelsea. Having people in your life that feel so strongly about the same things you do in the same way and share a value system so similar to your own is such an amazing blessing. We spent a lot of time talking about the very thing we were doing today to bring awareness to something that is all-too-often overlooked, but were also quick to point out that charity really does begin at home. I hold strong to the idea that if we helped out our neighbours, our brothers and smiled at those on the street rather than pretending they don’t exist, we’d be so much better able to help others around the world. It’s as I said to Chelsea, “how can I help you with your broken arm when my arm is gashed open too?”

What else did we talk about? We talked about moms and how grateful we are for them. Much like the fact that I don’t have a father, she’s got an absentee dad and so our mothers have been everything for us as we grow into women. It’s important to understand how important we are to our mothers, how much it means to them to know that even though we’re now adults, we still need our moms. And we do. I need my mom and I always will. Chelsea’s fortunate enough to have a mom now living nearby, but I adore the chance to go spend time on an acre in the woods to see mine.

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The other day, someone left an anonymous comment on my blog asking a simple question: “What do you understand the true meaning of love to be?” That’s a loaded question, to say the very least.

I’m not really sure I can fully explain what I understand the true meaning of love to be. I know that as I grow, become older and experience more in life, my definition of love will change, snowball and take different shapes. However, there are some aspects to real love that will remain solid while others are fluid. Love sometimes means choosing to love those that you do love. Love means offering forgiveness and forgetting. Love means sacrificing something you want for the benefit of someone you love. Love also sometimes means being “selfish” and standing up for yourself in order to love yourself. Love means keeping someone’s best interests at heart. And sometimes love is undefinable and something we can’t understand. Sometimes it’s actually not a choice, but it’s the best thing in my life.