To Mask or not to Mask 

 So it’s been a couple of weeks since the mask mandate has been dropped, but really hasn’t!

I’m not just going to jump off the deep end or get negative about it.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed but some people are still wearing them.

I’m still wearing my mask at work, as well as my husband, while he is at work and my children often wear masks at school when necessary.

When I leave my home, I bring my mask with me just in case I need it, the common question I have now is “ Do I need a mask?”

I have been thinking about this for quite some time!

The other thing that I have been thinking of as well is, “ What is life going to be like after Covid is gone?” 

As the weather changes, “ How do you see your family dealing with the new changes?

Are you looking forward to going back to that favorite spot that you frequent before covid came to be?

What about those playdates, or social gatherings that you had.

There are so many questions within the next step of Covid, as well as having a normal life again after.

If you look at it, we’re slowly moving in the right direction but, still being cautious while we are out with the public.

This brings me to this thought, when my kids are out in public they have the automatic sense of wearing a mask, but realizing that it is not necessarily needed, it’s become second nature for them.

I thought I could find some more information about this topic, so I went to Google about the topic, but I came across a news article from CTV News about the mask mandate and how we still have to wear masks in hospitals, long term care settings and in conjugating areas, which I think is a great idea.

I have come to the conclusion, that my family and I will wear our masks when we are out with the public to stay on the cautious side of this pandemic, as the numbers are slowly coming up.

I would like to leave you with this old saying that has stuck with me “ It’s better to be prepared, than not to be prepared at all!”

In other words, it is better to have that mask than not to have one at all.

Stay safe my friends!

Slava Ukraine

Slava Ukraine

I recently experienced something, that I have never experienced before!

I’m talking about the Ukraine Vigil, that was held on the front lawn of

St. George's church on Sunday, March 13, 2022.

As this small group of people stood there under a grey and lightly

snowing sky, as well as a damp evening, we listened to different

people offer prayers and many stories to help with the

reflection, thinking of the Ukraine people fleeing the bombing of

their country and their home.

As we received a candle and lit them, we stood and listened to a

piece of instrumental music called Slava Ukraine from

Marcus Paus, it was beautiful!

As that song was playing, I kept thinking about all the families

that have been displaced and walking along the road with just one

bag of belongings. We then heard the Ukraine national anthem,

I was getting all choked up!

As a Mom and having my girls there, I just kept on thinking of the

fathers that had to say goodbye to their wives and children and

had to join the front lines, and the women and children

traveling to a different country to start a new life, not knowing if

they’ll see their sons, brothers, and husbands ever again. Then, my mind went to all of the children that have been orphaned, I feel so distraught.

Since this war has started, I have heard and seen, so many

stories about families fleeing the country, as well hearing about

pregnant mothers giving birth in bomb shelters or even in an

underground subway station. It just blows my mind that this is happening right now. As people came up and offered prayers and spoke, I just wanted to go up and hug them, and say “ We’re here to help!”

But really! While my youngest was standing there with her candle all I

could think of was what questions she would have for me after the

vigil was over, and she had a pile of questions, such as “ Mom

how can I help the little children of Ukraine?”

As things were progressing, the vigil was moving and to me I felt

very moved emotionally about the whole program. With my family and friends there, I felt a sense of closeness yet somberness.

When President Volodymyr Zelensky has spoken about his

country he had said some powerful stuff and I want to leave you

with a quote from him.

“When you attack us, you will see our faces. Not our backs, but our

faces.“

Source: https://quotepark.com/authors/volodymyr-zelensky/

Slava Ukraine

Fresh Start!

Happy Belated New Year!

As I was getting my children and husband ready for school and work this morning, I was thinking in the back of my head, what I should do with my day?

I thought, it’s my day off, I could do the mom thing and clean the house and prep dinner, but that was already half done. 

 

I was really thinking about it and there was this feeling that I had, it felt like an old friend coming back to say hello again! It was blogging for the family ministry at St. Georges!

 

So here in my peaceful house, I am starting a fresh page for this year, and I am going to be blogging about my experiences as a Mom and family and sharing it on the family ministry blog. 

 

I just love it when January comes around every year.  I think, “how can I make myself better?” How can I make something that I was excited about last summer and work it into getting back into the workforce after being off for four years? So, when I sat with my family in our home, watching the ball drop on New Year’s Eve, I was thinking, I want to let go of 2021, to concentrate on 2022, and make it a positive year.

 

 Taking time and being a family and experiencing neat things in and around Grey County and sharing them with other families. Some moms are standing up and clapping saying, “thank you!” Some are probably saying “Oh Good! You’re back! Where did you go over the last bit? Well friends, I am back, and I want to share the love of family ministry with you and not leave you in the dark or just not write at all. 

 

So I have made a fresh start, by writing some more about different topics that come to me from time to time and trying to make this blog successful. I hope that this has made you think about your own fresh start. It might be something within yourself or around your home or with your family. Stop and think about this because I certainly have been lately.

 

I always love to hear from people about their thoughts and feedback on different topics, or something that would be interesting. Let me know if there is something in particular that you would like me to write about. Here’s to new beginnings in 2022!

Caylee

Back to School and Covid

Well it has happened! The kids are back to school! Some parents were happy to see their child(ren) going off to school and able to meet up with their friends and meet their new teacher, and having those minor academic goals ready to set for their classroom. But wait that was pre pandemic era! This year has been a little more complex! For some parents, myself included I was waiting to hear the details for the 2021-2022 school year at the beginning of August, but there really was not much, all I kept hearing was that the government was using the same protocols before the kids went to online classes. But a week before my girls went back to school, we received a letter from the principal that every child had to have a Covid screening done every day before they came to school. (Simple enough!) I am not trying to vent, or trying to be negative, but it is really starting to scare me that, sometime, somewhere during the flu season, they are going to say “ School age children will be doing their schooling online for the rest of the year!” There goes the mental health of our children, because they are separated from their teacher that they may be getting along with and their classmates. I can tell you, my girls were not happy day in and day out that they were not able to see their peers, as for my oldest, it was especially hard for her because she was an introvert, and being in the classroom brought her out of her shell. I do have to make a point, as we are going into the fall season and that is typically flu season, what is Covid going to be looking like? Are we going to be back to square one, where the kids are online and learning? Or will the kids have a normal school year? As I was taking kids to school this morning, I noticed that the primary kids have big red dots to stand on for social distance, as well they are coming outside at the end of the day and staying with their groups until they are dismissed by their teacher, which I think is a great idea. I thought I would share a few ideas for you, to help with Covid: 

• I pack in my daughter’s backpack a pencil case size so she can put her masks in it and when she gets home they go directly into the wash. 

• When the kids come home they wash their hands before and after snack. 

• For the home life I wipe down the high exposed areas, (door knobs, counter tops)

 

• As for the air I put my home diffuser on with some citrus scent, to help clean the air. 

• Most of all ......sleep 

I could go on, but these are just a few things that I do between my house and the kids and I thought that I would share them with you, from one parent to another parent! Friendly help from one parent, to another!

Can We Make Another Person Happy?

The last couple of weeks have been really busy!

In our household we have been busy with our house, trying to get at least one family trip, in (we went to the Toronto zoo), and now trying to get the kids ready for school, which has been a little chore in itself.

As that has gone on for the last little bit, I kept on thinking about different topics, but the one that came to me the other day was this; “Can we make another person happy?”

I know I am tackling a big topic here, and there might be different sides to this. I thought about it for a couple of days, and finally came to the conclusion, let’s write this out.

Google and I have become good friends lately with different definitions and explanations of what different words mean, but this one I thought really hit home.  Well, the good news is: No one and nothing can cause you to be happy. In fact, people and things don't cause happiness at all. It's what you think about those other people and things that determines whether you feel happy or sad. ... Just as money can't make you happy, other people can't make you happy either (resourced from Google search)

As I was writing this, I found a blog post that says there are actual ways to make someone happy, which is called 24 quick ways to make someone happy! www.positivityblog.com 

Some of these ideas are pretty good, for example:

• Opening the door for someone

• Giving a smile 

• Picking flowers

Just to name a few...

Let’s look at a relationship. Can we make our spouse happy?

I came across a short youtube video the other day about this topic. It was a video with Will Smith, and this video really made me think about marriage and what I have now.

Here is a quote from Will Smith about this;

   

"You can make a person smile. You can make a person feel good. You can make a person laugh. 

But whether or not a person is happy is deeply and totally and utterly out of your control"

This video will make you think. The link is Will Smith “You can’t make another person happy” on You tube.

I, once in awhile like to sit down and watch one of his movies, and the one that hits home with me and this topic is “The Pursuit of Happiness”

After reading the pros and cons, and watching that video so many times, I have come to the conclusion, that yes you can make yourself happy by surrounding yourself with friends and family that you can trust, as well you can make someone else happy by just doing the little things for them.

So I ask you, Have you made someone happy today?

Finding Joy!

I was sitting one afternoon, here at my house and as I was knitting away on a project, my brain started to wander in different directions. One thought was, “What should we have for dinner?” and the other thought that I had was, “We should really have a bonfire

Then another thought just came to me! It really stumped me!  This is what happens when I start knitting; it seems like a hobby hazard. I put down my knitting and I had to think about it, a really long time; it actually made me think for a couple of days.

Have you ever had that problem in some sort of way?

As you are reading the second paragraph, you are probably wondering what I am  talking about. Well this topic has popped into my mind a couple of times during the last little while.....Finding your joy.

So as I Google this topic, it comes up with the results, there are the typical questions, that I see in the results, such as .....

• How do I find my joy?
• What does it mean to have joy?

Let’s look into these questions.

For the first question finding joy is simple, you can stop worry. Put self-care into your routine, surround yourself with positive people and most of all appreciate the little things in life. As for what it means to have joy, In its broadest sense, Joy means having feelings of great pleasure and happiness. (Referenced from the Google questions.)

Let’s look a little further into this and see what I can find.

I have been looking around with Google and seeing what it says about this topic, I have read little sections here and there that it could be a physical thing, or just a small thing. I have also come across different quotes from a website called www.success.com, which is a blog. 
I have a few that I like, such as ;

“Find joy in everything you choose to do. Every job, relationship, home… it’s your responsibility to love it, or change it.” —Chuck Palahniuk

As well, “Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.” —Mark Twain

 “Joy is the holy fire that keeps our purpose warm and our intelligence aglow.” —Helen Keller

As I am looking through the quotes about finding joy, I thought I would see what quotes came from the Bible;

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” The Good News: Hope and joy go hand in hand. “For you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.” Romans 13:15

So, throughout my busy day, I find a way to take a few moments for either a self-care moment or I find some sort of crafting thing to bring me joy.

So my question to you is: What brings you joy?
 
 
 
 

 A love letter to Owen Sound

Hello Owen Sound!

I know I have been radio silent for the last 18 months due to COVID, but along with everything, and everyone we are slowly reopening our doors, and quietly saying “We are here!” I am going to try to do the same thing.

Owen Sound, I am sending you this love letter to say how wonderful it is to see our local shops starting to reopen, and receive customers back in their stores, and to start seeing our lovely restaurant s and cafes to opening as well, I was surely enjoying it, while sitting at city hall square and watching the people going in and out of the shops throughout the day.

I love this time of year, where you can just step out your door and visit one of the many beautiful scenic parks around Owen Sound, or just jump into your car and there are many different parks outside of Owen Sound, such as:

• Hibou Conservation Area
• Ainslie Woods 

We cannot forget about the many walking trails, those twists and turns, throughout our wonderful city. There is a peaceful trail along the harbour that leads you to a beautiful body of water, where you can sit and enjoy the calming lap of the waves; Georgian Bay is so peaceful and brings a sense of wonder. 

When I am able to, I love to go kayaking and see what is out there and how peaceful the water can sometimes be. Georgian Bay, you give off a secret sense of calmness when I step foot in the water, it is almost like you are taking all my problems away!

With upcoming festivals, finding a way to have covid restrictions in place, Owen Sound, the tourists that came up before will once again be back to see our lovely city.

Before COVID, my family would travel to other areas and when I would tell people that we are from Owen Sound, I would often hear  “ That is a beautiful area!” 

Whenever I come over that Highway 6 and 10 hill coming from Rockford and see the escarpment and the bay slowly coming into view, to see the bay, it just warms my heart, and it tells me that I am home again.

So I have to say, Owen Sound, with every season that changes, you have out done yourself every time!

Come and enjoy the city with me!

Written by 

Caylee Lingard