Virgin: Really? A girl in a tree?

Hey! My boss has a great post over at  Laggylife’s Blog, so pop over and read it first, then come back. I started a comment for her post, but it got tooooo large, so I migrated it here! GO! Then come back! Virgin is a very clever marketer, but as Laggy says, marketing and advertising [...]

Christmas correspondence from Ukraine

From: tessa To: jacquelyn Sent: Wed, December 30, 2009 4:24:16 AM Subject: Hi! Hello! Myk and I are in Kiev right now, checking our e-mail. Luka would die not having internet at a house! No games or anything. It’s really beautiful here, and not as cold as I thought (so the jacket is warm enough, [...]

“Santa isn’t psychic.”

“Santa isn’t psychic, that’s why you have to send him your Christmas wish list. That’s why I put in the real names and the numbers of the Lego sets I want. And I mailed it. Or at least I asked Tessa to mail it. He could never, ever keep every kid in the world’s order [...]

From the mouths of babes: a 15-year-old babe this time

My Graydon, my son, my cancer kid, my challenge. He is very, very bright, leading me to have as one of my mantras during meetings with helping professionals, “Use your smarts for good, not evil.” At a school re-entry meeting on Thursday (yes, to need a re-entry meeting at school, one must have been turfed [...]

Weekend revelation: shopping list 101

Just a quick note off the top, following on what I wrote yesterday. On my listserve for parents of cancer kids, a parent posted an article that really resonated with me. It isn’t specific to parents of kids with cancer, but parents whose kids have struggled with any near-death illness or accident: the article isn’t [...]

A sign of the times (from the mouths of babes)

Back in a former life we ate out, a lot. I dined out professionally, and when I wasn’t paid to eat out, I happily paid my way myself. When Tessa and Graydon were in their formative years, they ate in restaurants—with menus, waiters, bread plates, dessert forks and Shirley Temples—a lot. Then things changed, and [...]

Plain language 101

An ad for a skin lotion on the telly. The word: moisturization. I double-dog dare you to use this word today! ———————————————————————————————————————  Want to win a full-size Pure Unscented Body Wash, Pure Unscented Body Lotion and the Organic Olive Oil Pure Unscented Soap? All you need to do is answer one of my questions in [...]

What Mummy wants for Christmas #1

Luka came screeching into the kitchen yesterday— “Mummy, Mummy!! The thing you need for Christmas is on TV RIGHT NOW!” He’d been trying for days to remember what it was that he saw in an ad that I HAVE to have for Christmas, so I dropped the pot I was washing and ran to the [...]

Plain language 101

“We expect rationalization of underperforming restaurants will ultimately contribute to improved profitability, and improve sales performance at our remaining restaurants nearby.” This quote is attributed to Don Schroeder, president and CEO of Tim Hortons Inc. Eegad! Translation: We’ll be back on track with the rest of the stores when we shut these down. (Tim’s is [...]

From the mouths of babes: wot the !!*%%!

Limping in from the car last night, Tessa, Luka and I carried/dragged between us two backpacks, three bags of groceries, a dance bag, one happy puppy, one cup of coffee, one cup of tea, two purses and a briefcase-type-thing. As we jostled for position on the porch, I said, “Get out of the way, you [...]