First and foremost, thank you Kal for our great new banner and for posting these great pictures of Academy Road Live - especially since I left my camera charging in the basement of our store! You can see I really did have a great time!!
That being said, am I glad Saturday is over! Not that I didn't enjoy it - I did - but it was long and action packed and it was very nice to FINALLY get into my garden to plant all my veggies and mow my lawn - it's amazing how fast grass grows when it only rains!!
Saturday started with Academy Road Live, a street-long celebration. The sun was shining, the kids were laughing, it was a great day!! It was really nice for me because I got to interact with our customers, something I don't normally get to do because I work behind the scenes. I got to do my favourite thing - talk about ingredients!! It was great fun and really nice to hear everyone saying such great things about our products - I felt like a proud mama!
We were there from 10 - 5 then raced home to get ready for my brother's social. 
For those of you outside Winnipeg, a social is a Winnipeg tradition that is used to raise money for different events. It's like a great big party - we rent out community centres, bars, etc. You pay for a ticket, get to see old and new friends, have a few drinks, and can win some AMAZING prizes!! All of this is put on by people or groups looking to raise some money. It's a very common thing for soon-to-be brides and grooms to do so they can raise money to help pay for their wedding. Sports teams put them on to raise money for equipment, tournaments, etc. You get the idea, right? Anyway, it's great fun and someone always walks away with some great stuff! Tiber River donated two big baskets of products - my friends won both of them - so much for spreading the word!! My sister won a BBQ, and an amazing picture by our friend Jason Poturica! He's an incredibly talented photographer and I'm green with envy that she won it and I didn't!! The food was amazing! We feasted on perogies, sausage, ceasar salad, cheese buns, fruit, and chocolate dipped strawberries - Yummy, yum yum!! This is my mom, my sister and I selling tickets at the door.
We all had a wonderful time, some of us won great prizes, and we ate like kings and hung out with our friends - how awesome is that?
But, even with all the fun, I was happy the night was over. Sunday was spent outside, chilling in the heat - it was great! Today I will continue working on our business plan and our training manuals. Not all that enjoyable, but necessary! Michelle is back from Calgary and I'm anxious to hear about her trip. I think she's come back with two new contracts for us - WOO HOO! Way to go, Michelle!!
LIFE WELL LIVED TIP #8 - Do something you are proud of. This may sound cheesy and you may be scratching your head saying huh?, but let me explain. Last year I had been complaining to Tom about mowing the lawn. I had no problem with his mowing abilities or how often he mowed, I hated the pollution that I knew he was causing every time he mowed our lawn. We had an old lawn mower that you had to pull the string a hundred times before it would come sputtering to life, so once it was started, it was never turned off! I wouldn't go near it with a ten foot pole which meant I wasn't going to be mowing the lawn anytime in the near future. So, for Mother's Day, Tom bought me a push mower. I have to say it's one of the best presents I have ever received (seriously!!) because I feel good everytime I use it. It's far too easy to use - you just push it! You can stop whenever you want, start again, change directions, whatever. It's easy and I'm not contributing to pollution anymore.
A few weeks ago I bought a composter. My first one and I'm very excited. Until this past winter, I had been saving my compostables for a lady who did vermi-composting (with worms). Any fruit, vegetable, coffee grounds, tea bag, bread, etc. I would put into a bag in my freezer and saved until her pickup date. Well, without notice, she stopped coming. So, I'm going to start my own composting. Not with worms, just with sun. The point I'm trying to make with these examples is this - every time I mow the lawn or compost my food, I feel good and I feel proud. I feel like I'm actually doing something positive and I take great joy in that. Imagine how much nicer my day is when I start it off by doing something I'm proud of. Imagine how much nicer your day would be if you did something you were proud of doing. Imagine carrying that feeling around with you, spreading it's warmth and power into other areas of your life.
What makes us proud is different for every person. It may be helping someone in need with advice, food, money, whatever. It may be doing something small for the environment. It may be switching from white bread to brown or multi-grain. Whatever it is, feel PROUD about it. Bask in your action. Don't minimize it - magnify it! You will ike yourself a little bit more, and it will move into other areas of your life. It's a simple thing but it can have far-reaching effects. Imagine our world with people who did things they were proud of!
Be proud of yourself and your day. Enjoy!!
LOVE socials!
true manitobans do.
i think it's great that you got a push mower, very eco-friendly of you.
with all the natural ingrediants you use in your products, it's great to know that you are composting the waste!
can i ask where you got your composter? usually the city sells them once a year for $25 at community centres, but i haven't seen an ad for it yet.
have a great monday!
Posted by: Shayla Vokey | June 04, 2007 at 08:12 AM