Staycation in Calgary

This summer, we've decided to staycation. We're going to stay close to home and enjoy the brief, but beautiful blue-sky Alberta summer. We've taken in some history at Heritage Park, visited the adorable pandas at the Calgary Zoo, gotten soaked on the log ride at Calaway Park and eaten our way through the Calgary Stampede with its many fun carnival food offerings. And we're only getting started! So much to see and do in Calgary! Check out my insider's guide that I wrote for Hostelling Internation Canada. 

Indigenous students encouraged to pursue engineering

June 21 marks National Indigenous Peoples Day. It's an important day to celebrate and acknowledge our Indigenous neighbours and community members, and a small step on the path of truth and reconciliation. The road is long, but the more we engage and continue to listen and learn about one another, the closer we will get to a place where true equality is possible.

As part of that process is hearing and sharing stories about Indigenous peoples, including this one that I wrote for Innovation.ca about efforts at Queen's University to get more Indigenous students to pursue engineering--a field where they require far greater representation, especially given that Indigenous communities are increasingly involved in the proper management of Canada's natural resources.

Radon Gas...It's Literally Killing You Softly

Illustration by Taryn Gee via Avenue magazine

A few years ago, my hub and I found out our house had high radon gas readings. We knew it wasn't a good thing, but we also didn't have the time or resources to really deal with the situation. We shelved it for a while, but we knew we had to tackle it, given that radon is the leading cause of non-smoking-related lung cancer. Especially since we have kiddos, we had to do something. Our radon-mitigation journey was a crazy one--documented here for Avenue magazine--but one we don't regret. (Thanks to Avenue for nominating this story for an Alberta Magazines award; didn't win, but was a finalist! Yay!) Please please please have your home tested for radon!

Back-to-School Blues

Istockphoto via TodaysParent.com

It's currently -20, but it's a big improvement on the -30 we experienced over the last couple of days! Winter is in full effect! It's hard to believe we are already into February. Seems we just celebrated the holidays and the kids just went back to school. That back-to-school transition can be tough after a break, especially after a long summer. (Although right now, I'd definitely trade for summer!) I wrote about this restraint collapse phenomenon for Today's Parent.