If you know me, you know that one of my most favourite brands (next to Nike and [new] Under Armor [though they spell it wrong ] is Coke.

Our house is revving up for the Olympics in February.  We’ve got our calendar of what’s on when.  The boys are talking about what their favourite winter Olympic sports are (hockey and snowboarding top the list).

And me, of course, I love all that and the advertising.

So, Coke is out of the gate first with one of my most favourite ads of all times.  I’m so very proud to be a Canadian (not just today - but always).  We are a hockey family through and through.  Our littlest one already yells with as much enthusiasm as he can muster, in his toddler voice:  “cores” and puts his arms up in the air!

This great ad is not only highly watchable, relevant and on-target, but wonderfully Canadian.

Thanks Coke!~

Scores!

I have just heard the news that my nephew was in a horrible car accident.  The car was going very fast, around a sharp corner.  The driver lost control and my nephew was thrown out the passenger-side window, several feet from the car.

The good news:  he’s alive and able to walk.

The bad news:  he has suffered serious brain injury and is recovering in hospital.

By the grace of God (and his Guardian angel) he is alive and not a quadriplegic.  Really.

The other person in the car had their seatbelt on and suffered a minor concussion.

Over the course of the last few days, I have wept for my nephew and how this injury and life-altering experience may affect him in the days, weeks, months and years to come.  And my heart  has gone out to his wife and young children.  She is a strong woman, who is handling all this right now with a strength and spirit that is amazing, but the time will come when all that has happened will really hit her.

I am thankful to the doctors and emergency teams that helped him and I am thankful for his guardian angel.  When he’s feeling better, I’d like to smack him (though not on the head) for not wearing his seatbelt.  This was a close-call.

* Please * buckle-up:  yourself and your children.  Do it all the time.  Do it properly.  Do it today.

“Unbelted occupants of a motor vehicle can, in essence, become projectiles in a collision, seriously injuring themselves and others. In almost 60% of all car accident fatalities, the victim was not wearing a seat belt” (  Source ).

If this isn’t enough, here is some additional information:

Statistics - U.S.

My 9-year old son is now playing competitive MD level hockey (yes, I still have mixed feelings about this - but that’s for another post / another day).

In town, since they started the season they are undefeated!  Wow.  That’s super-awesome …

However, they go to an away-tournament over the holidays and it all comes crashing down.  They go from undefeated to badly-defeated.  And, my son is one of the two goalies on this team.  (yikes to be the mom-of-the-goalie … again - another post / another day

I went into the dressing room after the game.  I’m thinking I’ll hug him and tell him all kids of wonderful mother-sentiments … he takes one look at me and says “I don’t want you in here.”

Hmmm … ok … ummm … that’s not what I was expecting at all.  So, in the time it takes me to

I can remember as a teenager, I made up long (long) lists of resolutions - things that I was going to do better in the coming year.

Then I went through a period of:  no resolutions.  Just live life.

Now I believe that a new year is definitely a chance to reflect on a few things:

• what’s working well
• what’s not working well (and may need some tweaking) and - most importantly -
• what am I thankful for

I typically pause at least daily, to be thankful for the many gifts in my life - not the least of which, of course, are my hubby, kids and the fact that I live in Canada (yes, I think this is a big one).

I actually made a resolution of sorts, last fall which is really *really* working for me.  I hug my kids all the time (and smooch their beautiful faces too) but I decided that when I hug them, I will no longer “let go” first.  You would be shockingly surprised at how long people will hug, if you don’t break-it-off first.

Try it out.  See if that’s working for you.  I bet it will.  And you’ll be happy you did.