Not long after becoming a parent I realized the hospital forgot to send home a blue print along with my daughter. My husband and I were on our own. Suddenly this newborn was putting our theories on parenting to the test. That was just the first month. And like most new parents, just as we thought we mastered one stage, we had to adapt to another.

The Internet has greatly influenced how organizations advertise their job openings and locate potential candidates to fill them.  Companies may use the Internet as a recruitment tool.  You can use the Internet to visit a company's web site, find their job postings, and explore how the organization guides you to apply for an opening.

  "Every man looks at his woodpile with a kind of affection."  Henry David Thoreau, author of Walden and Civil Disobedience, wrote few more charming sentences than this one.  The man and his woodpile, modestly iconic, suggest a life of pleasurable striving in a homespun utopia -- or so I imagined during an adolescence given over to the teachings of this nineteenth century transcendental hippie.

Okay, I'll admit I have a problem. The stack of Pottery Barn catalogues beside my bed will attest to the fact that I am slightly obsessed with home decorating. Not a day goes by when you won't find me reading about, discussing or shopping for home decor. Drives my husband nuts!

We've all got incipient spring fever this year, after the January and February (and March) winter blasts.  But Olympic fever is just heating up, and it promises to be hot, indeed.  Presses are already running overtime producing fiction and nonfiction books, DVDs,  e-books and even music featuring the Olympics:  its history, politics, and individual Olympic champions,  for adults and children.   

Help clean our Thames River on Saturday, April 19th. All along this heritage river in London and other communities, people like you are pitching in to pick up trash. It's a great way to give back to our community! Last year, over 1800 people worked together and cleaned up 200 km of this waterway. The list of clean-up sites in London are

No matter how many times you’ve watched home decorating shows on TV, the thought of painting can still be unnerving. And sadly, most of us don’t have Colin and Justin waiting in the wings to perform a free intervention so we’re left to choose between hiring a contractor or tackling the job ourselves.

Before you DIY ask these questions:

Realistically, how long will this project take?

Raising a family is a joyous journey, though for many our daily responsibilities rarely allow us to truly connect with one another.  Finding time to enjoy each other's company can be tricky, especially while we are rushing through morning and evening routines, for instance.  We may all be home together at these times but we are too busy to engage in anything meaningful past exclaiming , "Oh thank goodness it's hot-dog day!" , or "Don't forget to put out the garbage!"  Meeting around the dinner table for a sit-down meal and a good catch-up, regularly comes far and few between. 

When we do find some family-time we realize we may not actually get along. 

Usually as the days get longer and the light gets stronger my thoughts turn to seed-starting and such.  But this year, with winter showing no signs of backing off, I'm immersed in my favourite indoor past-time, knitting.  What a resurgence knitting has had in the last few years!  I can remember as a teenager learning to knit with Paton's yarn and patterns, and a few treasured pattern books inherited from my mother.   But after discovering Elizabeth Zimmerm

On Thursday, March 27, from 7-8pm award-winning Canadian author Mary Swan is coming to the Central library to do a reading! Mary has won the 2001 O. Henry Award for short fiction. She will be reading from her new book called The Boys in  the Trees. A book sale and signing will follow. The library can provide you with 2 hours of validated parking in the Citi Plaza during library hours.

Check out her new book below!