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Wednesday, August 31, 2011

I've gone PINK!!

Hi Everyone!
It is that time of year again, on October 2nd, it will be CIBC Run For The Cure!  My sisters and I have participated for 10 + yrs with our team Sue's Crew, in honour of our Mom.

They are having a contest to decorate a pair of shoes to let everyone know who you are running for.  Coming up in September you are going to be asked to vote for your favourite.  I hope you choose mine:)!  I will let you know when voting starts but here is a preview of my shoes:

"Forever Young" if you knew "her" you would know why;)



Black Eyed Susans...


Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Daphne!!



Earlier today Daphne probably would have nominated me for "Bad Mommy of the Year!"  Why? because upon redecorating her room as a surprise while she was away, I threw out her Turtle. The turtle was given at school after she had been nominated for a Turtle Tribute (she had done the right thing and a teacher put her name in to be chosen for a tribute).  They are very special!!  Daphne had made a home for her turtle in a shoebox...well it was in her closet and I was "editting" her room so shoebox went to the recycle bin.  DUH the box was the turtle's home why would she not be in there!!! OOPS:(  Fast forward to today when I had to confess to D that I might have thrown it out. Oh the mama guilt! After 1 1/2hr of searching on the Net I could not find the turtle...thank goodness for Ms Akeson (Breton's Gr 3 teacher).  I emailed her and she is going to hook us up with a new turtle!!!! THANK YOU MS AKESON! (I will blog a photo once we have the new turtle)
 
Cedar Green!  Thanx to Andrew & Breton my co-painters


Daphne's "D" collection
 
Daphne first seeing her newly redecorated room.  She had been away for 3 days visiting Grandma & Grandpa!



Breton showing Daphne some cupcakes we'd also surprised her with!  They are from Sweet & Sassy (Arnprior)


Art project by Daphne!

Daphne!

Monday, August 22, 2011

Daphne!!

DAPHNE!

Hmmmm....

Subject: Fence @ Greenbank Park
------------------------
From: Robyn Smith <bretondaphne@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 1:40 PM
To: carol.valpy@ottawa.ca

Dear Ms Harder

I am emailing you concerning the fencing at Greenbank Park.  I know that a small child crawled under the fence and was nearly hit by oncoming traffic, during the week of July 17th .  If it were not for a quick thinking young man, who slid his car sideways (blocking oncoming traffic) and then was able to grab the child on the median, before the little one crossed into traffic coming in the opposite direction.  My in laws live on Knollsbrook Dr and have said that this fence has been damaged for years!!  Every week there is garbage pick up in the park by city employees and after this incident I know of at least one person emailing you with concern.  This other emailer has gotten no response from you.  I find it sad that when you lived in the area close to Greenbank Park, any concerns by residents was taken care of but now that you live elsewhere in Barrhaven this safety concern continues to go unaddressed.  Perhaps after the city employees are done cleaning up any garbage outside your office window they could proceed to the park and repair the fence.  I know full well that if your grandchildren were playing at the park something would have been done by now.  There probably would have been a new park resurrected too, considering that Greenbank Park still has a pressure treated wooden structure.  Maybe upon acknowledging this incident you could award the young man who basically saved that child's life, and have a photo op with them or you could have your photo in the paper when the fence is fixed or when the new structure is built.  I do know you enjoy that part of your job:)
Thank You for your time
Robyn Smith

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From: Valpy, Carol <Carol.Valpy@ottawa.ca>
Date: Thu, Aug 18, 2011 at 2:01 PM
To: Robyn Smith <bretondaphne@gmail.com>
Cc: "CR - Blackberry - Harder, Jan" <Jan.Harder@rogers.blackberry.net>, "Cheesman, Tom" <Tom.Cheesman@ottawa.ca>

Good afternoon Robyn;  if this happened on July 17th, why is this the first time we are hearing about it?  I had an e-mail from one resident asking if it would be possible to put a locked gate on the Greenbank side. If this is the same resident that you speak of, then the answer was given.  If not, then perhaps that person could resend their e-mail.  No, they don’t gate parks, especially as this is a walk-through for many residents.  It is up to the parents/care-givers to watch their children.  If the fence is in need of repairs I can certainly take care of that.  The garbage is picked up regularily and the grass cut as well.  I don’t appreciate nor do I understand your comment about where Jan lives and if she still lived in the area things would be done.  Her ward is much larger than that one area and all concerns are treated equally – regardless of where she lives.  Greenbank park is on a life-cycle program as are all the parks in the City and are checked on a regular basis for safety issues.  If you know of any with the playstructure, please let us know.  I will have our Parks Department fix the fence and have a thorough look through the park for any other issues that there may be. Carol Valpy,Constituency Manager,Ward 3 - BarrhavenCouncillor Jan Harder613-580-2424 ext. 30320   From: Robyn Smith [mailto:bretondaphne@gmail.com]
Sent: August 18, 2011 1:41 PM
To: Valpy, Carol
Subject: Fence @ Greenbank Park


----------
From: Robyn Smith <bretondaphne@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Aug 19, 2011 at 7:11 AM

Good Morning Carol

Thank you for a quick reply to my email.  I was not speaking of gating a public park.  There is part of the fence that is lifted, when standing in the park, on the left side.  It is at the corner where the chain link meets the wooden fence of a resident.  Yesterday some zip ties were placed to secure the fence.  So thank you for that.  We will see how long that lasts.  I will have the person who emailed you after the incident in July to re-send their email.  And as for the comment about how quickly things were done when Ms Harder lived in the Greenbank Park area, I am only quoting the residents who live in that area and who took their votes elsewhere last election.
Again thank you for taking care of the fence.
Robyn
--
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From: Valpy, Carol <Carol.Valpy@ottawa.ca>
Date: Fri, Aug 19, 2011 at 8:33 AM

As it turns out Robyn, approx 300 feet of fencing had been on order and you may very well see them installing it today. Carol From: Robyn Smith [mailto:bretondaphne@gmail.com]
Sent: August 19, 2011 7:11 AM

Thanx Carol I am aware that they are there doing something to the fence.
Robyn



 

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Dear Ms Harder
 
I am emailing you concerning the fencing at Greenbank Park.  I know that a small child crawled under the fence and was nearly hit by oncoming traffic, during the week of July 17th .  If it were not for a quick thinking young man, who slid his car sideways (blocking oncoming traffic) and then was able to grab the child on the median, before the little one crossed into traffic coming in the opposite direction.  My in laws live on Knollsbrook Dr and have said that this fence has been damaged for years!!  Every week there is garbage pick up in the park by city employees and after this incident I know of at least one person emailing you with concern.  This other emailer has gotten no response from you.  I find it sad that when you lived in the area close to Greenbank Park, any concerns by residents was taken care of but now that you live elsewhere in Barrhaven this safety concern continues to go unaddressed.  Perhaps after the city employees are done cleaning up any garbage outside your office window they could proceed to the park and repair the fence.  I know full well that if your grandchildren were playing at the park something would have been done by now.  There probably would have been a new park resurrected too, considering that Greenbank Park still has a pressure treated wooden structure.  Maybe upon acknowledging this incident you could award the young man who basically saved that child's life, and have a photo op with them or you could have your photo in the paper when the fence is fixed or when the new structure is built.  I do know you enjoy that part of your job:)
Thank You for your time
Robyn Smith

Friday, August 12, 2011

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Robyn’s Randomness

Here are a few items to share.  They are random but I thought they would be kinda interesting.  Life changing?  Maybe notJ
Conditioner:  Not just for your hair, I use it when shaving my legs!
Love hydrogen peroxide for my ears.  I am somewhat obsessed with cleaning my ears.  Also recently found out that rubbing alcohol is good at drying up ear stuff.
Hummus mixed with your favourite pasta is so good and quick.
Magnifying mirror.  Anyone who knows me, knows the brows need regular grooming and getting them waxed can become expensive (every 2 weeks!) so my magnifying mirror is awesome for helping me find those pesky out of place and out of control brow hairs.  Also helps find other out of place hairs, ahhh the joy of getting olderL!
Love Story-as I put this together I am watching it.  I have never seen it before.  I love Ali Macgraw’s hair, character and even her clothes.  You could wear it all today and be oh so stylish.  I have just started the movie and I know it is a tear jerker…I am home alone tonight so I am prepared for it, Kleenex at the ready.
Favourite Summer Snack:  POPCORN from scratch.  We put some olive oil in the pot, approx. ½ cup of kernels and shake it over the heat (med. High) and voila popcorn!
An ice pack for illness.  I HATE throwing up whether it is do to a nasty bug or self induced so I place an ice pack somewhere on my body.  All my focus goes to the extreme coldness.  When I get use to it I place it somewhere else until the feeling of nausea passes.  It works most of the time.