lee's things

Bread thief

2018-10-25T11:24:00.002-04:00

What are the odds that Disney will sign Hugh to play a live action Aladdin?

Doodle by Lee. The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.

Is there a minimum or not?

2018-10-23T06:44:00.000-04:00

Found in a recent promotional email.

Self care anywhere

2018-10-22T14:42:00.005-04:00

Recently, I've noticed four quick to implement self care strategy themes that keep recurring (or I keep noticing) in a variety of sources.

Whether you're working "The Secret," seeking wisdom from Louise Hay, working on your Sincero "Badass," becoming an "Available Parent," or striving for a "Four Hour Work Week" these are common nuggets of advice that one can take action on in the moment, at any time and in any place.

Find something, anything, about which you can be grateful.
Stay in the present moment, in lieu of dwelling on the past or worrying about the future.
Believe that you can achieve your goals.
Breathe. Breathe in. Exhale. Repeat.

To download a mini-booklet with these prompts, look for the links below the doodle.

Doodle by Lee. The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.

Download your "Self Care Anywhere Prompts 8 page mini booklet":

Practise template (PDF)
Booklet template (PDF)
Document bundle (both the practise and the booklet templates in a single PDF)

Instructions for folding 8 page mini booklets:

From Instructables "How to make a one-sheet-of-paper book"
From the Simple and Easy Projects YouTube channel:

Michael Buble duet with 15 year old boy

2016-04-28T17:09:00.000-04:00

This video has been around for a while, but it still makes me happy!

Mabel's Labels camp packs!

2016-04-22T11:12:00.000-04:00

"Can I go to sleepaway camp this year?"

"Of course you can Sweetie."

In my head: Doh! Summer's coming up fast and I don't know what the kids schedules are going to be. And they need new summer clothes and swimwear and sandals. And labels! We're almost out of labels for all of this stuff!

Thanks goodness for Mabel's Labels!

Mini name stickers are dishwasher / microwave safe and UV resistant labels are not only great for lunch and snack containers, they're also fabulous for electronic gadgets, notebooks, pens, markers, and all the little odds and ends. For bigger items, they also have equally wonderful (just bigger) name stickers.

Tag-mates™ are clothing labels that are washer / dryer safe and best of all stick tight to clothing labels without ironing. Some of the clothes are worn and faded, but the labels are still going strong! (Of course if you really want iron on labels, they have those too!)

Growing feet mean new shoes, sandals, and boots too, which means new shoe labels are in order.

To help you save some money, they offer fabulous combo packs.

This year, Mabel is offering two brand-new label combo: a new “Day Camp Labels Pack*” and a new “Sleepaway Camp Labels Pack,**” available until the end of July.

We placed our order on Saturday, after lunch. Ordering the Sleepaway combo was easy-peasy:

Customize your label text, icon, and colours in the lower right.

You can see what your labels will look like in the upper left.

You can even pick single colour designs too, just click on "solid" in stead of "multicolour":

We settled on this "foxy" design:

Guess what arrived in the mail on Wednesday?

And it was filled with lots of crunchy label goodness:

Everything was perfect!

Thank you Mabel's Labels for your continued awesomeness!

*Day Camp Label Pack : Designed especially for kids heading to day camp, this brand new, value-packed collection of UV resistant, waterproof labels and tags has everything needed to designate items like clothes, footwear, backpacks, sports gear, lunch boxes, and more, and avoid mix-ups and lost items at busy day camps this summer. Personalize them with names and fun day camp icons.

MSRP: April early bird price: $17.99; then $19.99 through July; www.mabelslabels.com

Available: April 5 to July 31 only!

**Sleepaway Camp Label Pack: This value-packed collection of UV resistant, waterproof labels and tags is designed especially for everything that goes to sleepaway camp, such as clothes, footwear, toiletries, swim gear, life jackets, and more. Personalize them with names and fun sleep away camp icons.

MSRP: April early bird price: $35.95; then $39.95 through July; www.mabelslabels.com

Available April 5 to July 31 only!

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Disclosure: I received free labels to allow me to write this review.

Things that bring me joy

2016-03-18T09:39:00.003-04:00

If I were to get rid of everything I own that doesn't bring me joy, I'd have to spend a fortune buying back a bunch of things I need!

Doodle by Lee. The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.

Shout out to technical forums!

2016-03-10T14:33:00.000-05:00

Thank you to everyone who contributes to technical forums.

I would especially like to thank poster Michael and participant Thomas77 in this six year old thread "Win7 Pro x64 bit HP LaserJet 3015 driver problem" on the Microsoft forums.

This is good advice that's good for versions of Windows even beyond 7:

Try to install printer driver with the following method:
1. Click Start, click Control Panel and double click Devices and Printers.
2. Click Add a Printer.
3. Select "Add a local printer".
4. Select "Create a new port". Choose "Local Port" as the type of the port.
5. In the box "Enter a port name", type the address as the following format.
\\ [IP address of the host computer]\[The Share Name of the printer]
Then click Next.
6. Choose the correct driver in the driver list. If no available driver, click the button Windows Update, wait for the process finishes and then look for the driver again.
7. Finish the installation.

Happy people embrace impermanence

2015-06-20T10:33:00.001-04:00

In the article "7 Habits Happy People Have (But Never Talk About)" they mention that among other things, happy people embrace impermanence.

Happy people recognize life is a balancing act between holding on and letting go — and they're comfortable releasing things that no longer serve them.

Holding on and letting go. Push pull. Contract relax. Yin and Yang. Life is definitely a balancing act!

Doodle by Lee. The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.

Competence vs willingness to help

2015-06-18T07:00:00.000-04:00

And so it goes with children ...

Doodle by Lee. The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.

Two more favourite things

2015-01-17T09:59:00.002-05:00

Two more favourite things put together. Richard Wiseman - esque creativity and Neil Patrick Harris come together in an Oscars commercial:

X Company trailer

2014-12-26T09:24:00.001-05:00

Remember Flashpoint? It was co-created by Toronto's own talented Stephanie Morgenstern and Mark Ellis.

Watch the trailer for their latest project, on the CBC YouTube channel:

Origins of the NORAD Santa tracker

2014-12-24T10:49:00.000-05:00

From NPR:

This Christmas Eve people all over the world will log on to the official Santa Tracker to follow his progress through U.S. military radar. This all started in 1955, with a misprint in a Colorado Springs newspaper and a call to Col. Harry Shoup's secret hotline at the Continental Air Defense Command, now known as NORAD.

Shoup's children, Terri Van Keuren, 65, Rick Shoup, 59, and Pam Farrell, 70, recently visited StoryCorps to talk about how the tradition began.

Read more.

Two of my favourite things

2014-12-20T10:34:00.000-05:00

Weird Al and magic together. What's not to like?

From YouTube:

[via iTricks]

On having a grateful heart

2014-12-09T18:57:00.002-05:00

From the Elephant Journal:

By now, most of us have heard the news: grateful people are happier, healthier and generally more fulfilled.

And while these are all really great side effects of gratitude, for me, one of the coolest things about gratitude is the way it affects the heart. The heart creates an electromagnetic field that expands up to five feet from the body. Its electrical field is 60 times stronger in amplitude than that of the brain.

Studies show that when people cultivate positive feelings, the heart’s frequency changes and its waves become smoother and more consistent, while anxiety or stress caused waves to be shorter and less organized. Though most positive feelings were capable of affecting the heart in this way, researchers noted that gratitude changed the heart’s rhythm more easily and faster than any of the others.

Read more.

Mabel's cyber sale

2014-11-30T08:18:00.002-05:00

From the Mabel's Labels Twitter feed:

Now is a great time to stock up on labels! Get our top selling items for up to 50% off :) pic.twitter.com/zYlbqfiboU
— Mabel's Labels (@mabelhood) November 30, 2014

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Disclosure: I'm a Mabel's Labels Buzzmama and I receive free products for my involvement in the program.

Richard Wiseman: How to be more creative in seconds!

2014-11-23T08:46:00.000-05:00

Interesting idea from In 59 Seconds YouTube channel:

Inspirograph

2014-10-16T13:07:00.001-04:00

In case you were looking for something to keep you unproductive for the rest of the day, have a look at Nathan Friend's Inspirograph, an online version of the classic Spirograph.

Blessed

2014-10-14T14:06:00.004-04:00

"Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting."
― Elizabeth Bibesco

Doodle by Lee. The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.

Things I never knew about the Salvation Army

2014-10-13T13:56:00.000-04:00

From the Chicago Tribune:

Dear Readers: Here is a Paul Harvey broadcast from December, 1979. Several readers have sent it to me, and I think it is well worth printing during this holiday season.

AND A NEW PAIR OF SHOES

How would you like a job-long hours, hard work and low pay? You may have to settle in Atchison, Kan.-population 16,000. You will be paid $100 a week before taxes. You and your wife will have to live in a dingy one-room walk-up.

And one pot of soup will have to last four days.

But there is a fringe benefit: You get a new pair of shoes. And in those shoes you can walk from here to Eternity.

You are a single girl. How would you like a job in Chicago?

Be sure before you apply because you will not work in an immaculate skyscraper office in the Loop. You will work behind a shabby Skid Row storefront patronized by winos and cockroaches and whores, and the depraved and the diseased and the desperate. There will be rodents and more cockroaches.

But you will get a new pair of shoes-and guaranteed security here and forever after.

I set out to figure out why anybody would enlist in the Salvation Army.

Read more.

Productivity vs lists

2014-10-11T11:35:00.001-04:00

Doodle by Lee. The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.

Recommended daily amount of snark

2014-10-03T12:19:00.002-04:00

From Matt Risley's Twitter feed:

Teacher asks a class to try writing a haiku. Child responds with snarkiest haiku ever. (via @reddit) pic.twitter.com/YE0VHDQDa8
— Matt Risley (@spliggle) October 2, 2014

Speaking of Rube Goldberg machines

2014-09-11T10:01:00.000-04:00

A light, prism and mirror Rube Goldberg machine as a commercial for a Japanese high-speed optical internet service. Amazing.

Leclerc's Ice Bucket Challenge: Rube Goldberg Machine!

2014-09-01T08:43:00.001-04:00

One of my favourite ALS Ice Bucket Challenge videos. From Canadian Eric Leclerc.

Mabel's Labels are back to school essentials for me

2014-08-09T08:46:00.000-04:00

It's that time of year again. As hard as I try to ignore all of the advertising, in store promotion, and my calendar, there's no denying that the school year is looming around the corner. With a new school year comes new school stuff. Stuff that needs to find its way home for the rest of the year.

I'd first assumed that we'd outgrow name labels when the kids hit the age where they can recognize their own belongings. Apparently not. As they get older, things get shared. Lots. Things like clothes with best friends. Things like geometry sets. Things like snack containers. Enter my friend Mabel!

We're going to need some Skinny Minis™ by Mabel's Labels. These dishwasher / microwave safe and UV resistant labels have outlasted some of our lunch and snack containers. They're fabulous for stationery supplies and especially for food containers.

Tag-mates™ are also on our list. They're washer / dryer safe and best of all stick tight to clothing labels without ironing. Some of the clothes are worn and faded, but the labels are still going strong!

Growing feet mean new shoes and boots too, which means new shoe labels are in order. Some Teeny Tags™ will round things out nicely, to tack onto pencil cases, lunch kits or backpacks. (I may place a separate Teeny Tag™ order personalized with an ICE (In Case of Emergency) phone number to hang off clothing for use as personal identification. They also double as great ID for kiddos who are too cool to wear 411 Wristbands.)

It looks to me like I'm in the need of their Ultimate Back to School Combo!

Post by Mabel's Labels.

If your kiddos are too cool for Mabel's fun designs, they can graduate to the snazzy new Stylish Scholars Combo.

I should also add that their customer service department is one of the best I've had the pleasure to deal with. They go above and beyond to make sure you're happy with your order.

You all know that I'm a huge fan of Canada's own Mabel's Labels. I've been writing about them here since 2007 and I was a direct sales agent with them prior to that. So it shouldn't be a big surprise that Mabel's Labels Ultimate Back-To-School Combo is on my list of things to get before school starts.

Ordering my Mabel's Labels is one back-to-school task I actually look forward to doing!

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Disclosure: I'm a Mabel's Labels Buzzmama and I receive free products for my involvement in the program.

A wise person once told me this

2014-04-23T14:17:00.001-04:00

"Never compare your insides to everyone else's outsides."
― Anne Lamott

Doodle by Lee. The code for this doodle and other doodles you can use on your blog can be found at Doodles.