In less than a week I will be co-hosting an event that is near and dear to me, The Gratitude Tea. Now in it’s third year, the event is an afternoon tea in celebration of the inspiring people in your life.

Attendees are encouraged to bring the person who has had a positive affect on their life to the afternoon tea service and share a short story of their influential guest.

All funds raised will go to Dress for Success Toronto, a non-profit organization that provides career development to low-income women.

The event includes: afternoon tea, silent auction, live music, specialty vendors and other surprises!

Drink tea, give thanks and be merry at the 2011 Gratitude Tea.

http://gratitudetea.com/

#GratTEA11

It has been one year (Aug 3) since my mom died. It has been a wild one but a challenging one as well. Not just the challenge of learning how to grieve, or move forward but learning how to grow from this situation and try to turn some of the negatives into positives.

Looking back at this past year, it’s remarkable I was even able to do anything at all, considering in the first three weeks since the event took place, I didn’t even want to feed myself.

I was able to get back into a normal routine and I think being able to focus on work again really helped me put things into perspective. I can’t say I was too productive at work though, because my mind was thinking about a million things…what to do with my mom’s house, where will my sister and I live? Can I afford a mortgage or a downpayment?

Despite all the worry in my head, I tried not to get caught up in all the grown up stuff I had to take care of and made it a priority to have fun, see friends, treat myself to getting my nails done and the general stuff that would make me happy and distract me from all the negative emotions I had.

If I also did not have the support of my boyfriend I may have probably had a much tougher time coping.

I feel I accomplished a lot this year. I was still able to host another WordCamp Toronto, change jobs – which is somewhat of a scary prospect in challenging times and I was able to put on a charity fundraising event in honour of my mom, now an annual event called The Gratitude Tea.

The best thing I’ve learned from this year is that friends are really important. They will cheer you up when you’re feeling down, take you out for dinner to distract you and remind you that everything will be okay. More importantly, life will go on.

I am my mom’s legacy and I know she would be proud knowing my sister and I picked ourselves up after tragedy and continued to look forward. She was a self-made woman and I try to live by her example everyday.

Here’s a video treat I put together for people who knew my mom. It was taken at my sister’s graduation in the spring of 2009. You can hear in the video that my sister is telling me to put the camera away but I’m glad I didn’t listen. It’s the only video I have of her in recent history.

I have posted a few comparison photos, so you can decide for yourself.

As some of you know my mother, Carol Richardson passed away last Monday at the age of 48.  She was tragically killed in a plane accident in Muskoka shortly after take off. Her companion Jack Lawrence was also killed in the accident.

This is a very hard time for us but I wanted to acknowlegde my mother publicly because a lot of people have been asking how I’m coping and I would rather share my thoughts instead of keep them to myself.

My mom was the best mom anyone could ask for. I knew she loved my sister and I very much and devoted her life to raising us. It is because of her that I am able to remain strong through this terrible time.

My mom lived life to the fullest and would tell us how much she was proud of us at every moment she could.

We will miss her terribly but with great friends, family and an amazing support network, my sister and I will be just fine.

Thanks for listening,

Melissa

The obituary from the Toronto Star

I have come to the conclusion that if I want my teeth to be white I shouldn’t drink coffee two times a day.

If you would like to try these strips for yourself, click on the link and receive a special discount off your first box. www.listerinewhitening.ca/refreshinglyfree

A Toronto Marketing company has hooked me up with a Listerine Quick Dissolving Strips Starter Kit and 30 samples to hand out to all my friends.

I will update you with my progress in the next week or so.

My boss recently decided to start “Yearbook Thursdays” in our office. Everyone was asked to bring in their old high school yearbooks, no matter how embarrassing they are of you.

Last week was our kickoff week. We began in chronological order, starting with grade 9. Of all the grades to have a bad yearbook photo taken of you this grade was probably it.

If you’re like me, you began high school in the ninth grade. Coming from the same school that I attended for seven consecutive years, being forced into a new, much bigger school was very intimidating. Everyone was trying to make a good impression on each other, eager to show off those cool new clothes you bought from The Gap, or at least you thought they would be cool at the time.

Now looking back at how awkward I was, those new corderoys from Jacob Connexion I bought for the start of the school year, weren’t as hip as I thought they might be.

Grade nine for me was definitly an awkward time, hence the painful yearbook photo to go with the awkwardness of being a young teenager. However, if you looked your best when you were fourteen, then what do you have to look forward to? Being awkward was all about growing up and evolving into something better. If you don’t have those growing pains then it can’t make you the strong, beautiful person you are today. So now I look back at that grade nine photo, laugh and remind myself how far I’ve come and think it can only get better from here.

Cyberspace is an amazing concept. On the inernet, we can pay bills, get answers to questions instantaneously and communicate with people on the other side of the world. The invention of the internet has also lead to the invention of virutal worlds and online games.

Unlike regular console games which are controlled by a limited number of players at one time. MMOG’s or Massively Multiplayer Online Games can handle hundreds of thousands of players simultaneously and therefore must be played on the internet. 

Games like World of Warcraft, Everquest and Second Life have become increasingly popular in the last few years. The reason for their mass appeal? These games are virtual worlds where players can make new identities, interact in real time with other players from around the world and live out their wildest fantasies. 

The problem is however, that because these games require the players to spend a lot of time in these virtual worlds, gamers can become addicted and neglect priorities in the real world like their jobs, their families and friends and even their hygiene and diet.

The movie Second Skin directed and produced by brothers, Juan Carlos Piñeiro Escoriaza and Victor M. Piñeiro III premiered last night at the HotDocs International Film Festival in Toronto. The film explores the subject of online games and the consequences of playing these games. In the film, we are introduced to a number of people, all with fascinating stories. The Ft. Wayne Boys are the first group of friends we meet in the film. They live together, work together and game together for up to 40 hours a week. Another couple we meet in the film are Heather and Kevin who have met each other in the virtual world and meet for the first time in person during the film. Another subject who we meet is Dan, who shares with the audience his struggle with gaming addiction, which he compares to that of alcohol, drugs or gambling. The subjects may live in different parts of the country and have different stories to tell but they are all connected through their love of virtual gaming.

I think it’s fascinating how anyone can become so involved in the game. Maybe that’s my bias though, I am not a huge fan of video games so I don’t see their appeal, but I understand how some people may like it. Maybe a person who works in a mundane 9-5 job would be attracted to having another life in a different world? Or if you have ever wanted to become someone you’re not, then the games allow you to create your alter-ego. Maybe you have always wanted to be a warrior or princess and this is your chance to explore what it would be like to live that way.

Second Skin has a second screening on Wed. April 23 at the Isabel Bader theatre. For more information visit www.hotdocs.ca

Some people who have chosen not to participate are against the idea of turning off their lights but think about when the power does really go out and we do not have any of the luxuries we take for granted. This Saturday may be a mock black out but it will teach us a lesson in conserving energy and show us how much we do rely on electricity, so we shouldn’t be wasting it.

Watch this video on Earth Hour.