I am so very proud to be a part of the committee for our upcoming HomeLife Charity Golf Classic on May 25, 2012. We are helping to raise funds for Canuck Place Children's Hospice.

For those of you that don't know what they are all about, Canuck Place provides care for children with life threatening illnesses...when the hospitals can no longer meet their needs.

Canuck Place has been open since 1995 and was the 1st of it's kind in all of North America. They offer a great support to not only the children but their entire family, during a time when they need it the most.   

Visit their website to see what they are all about http://www.canuckplace.org/

I have written about Kade McBurney before and was once again reminded how important it is that we are helping to raise funds for Canuck Place as Kade and his family live in our community and have greatly benefited from the care at Canuck Place.

http://mcburneys.blogspot.ca/

If you are interested in golfing or sponsoring our tournament, please visit our website for more information. Or, feel free to give us a call. Every little bit counts!

http://www.homelifegolfclassic.com/

How is it that a Canadian baby's Australian parents are stuck with a $1,000,000 hospital bill?  

An Australian couple were vacationing here in BC and had insurance coverage, but the fine print did not cover a baby or care for that baby. So when they delivered 3 months prematurely, the baby needed care for 3 months before being able to go home. Thus incurring a $1,000,000 bill....

What I don't understand is this baby now has dual citizenship, thus making the baby a Canadian. As Canadians we have the right to free medical care, this should be afforded to the parents for their baby. Perhaps if they were not adequately covered for themselves, then charge them. But these costs were the baby's, and the baby deserves the same free medical care, just as the rest of us do.  

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1153421--australian-couple-gives-birth-to-million-dollar-baby?bn=1

I would love to hear your thoughts on this issue.

I had the pleasure of meeting the founders of "505 - Junk" Barry Hartman and Scott Foran. A couple of young entrepreneurs that came up with a sound business plan that has now turned into a thriving junk removal business.

I was impressed by their honesty and professionalism. They have fair pricing for the work that they do with no hidden fees. I personally like the fact that they look to recycle and donate as much as they can, instead of just unloading everything into landfill sites.

I would gladly recommend them for all your junk removal needs for inside and outside jobs around your home.

Take a peak at their site to learn a little more about them.

http://505junk.com/

"One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" and "Mr Brown can MOO!...can you?"

Okay by now you've probably guessed I'm talking about Dr. Seuss, thought I would keep today's blog light.... :) Who doesn't like Dr. Seuss books. We've all grown up having them read to us, then reading them to our kids. Everyone has their favourite. So many have been made into excellent children's movies, wish my girls were younger to give me an excuse to go see the new movie coming out - "The Lorax", looks like it should be a good one!

"One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" and "Mr Brown can MOO!...can you?" are my 2 favourite Dr.Seuss books and in honour of what would have been Dr. Seuss' 108th birthday, I thought it might be nice to share which were my favs and see what everyone else chose as their favourite.

If you're trying to remember his books I found the official Dr. Seuss website that showcases them all. For those of you with little ones they even have some fun little online games for them to play. 

http://www.seussville.com/#/books

What's your favourite Dr. Seuss book?

In case you hadn't heard BC teachers voted to go on strike for 3 days next week starting on Monday.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/03/01/bc-teachers-strike-bctf.html

Tell us what you think about the strike and how it will affect you and your family.

This Saturday is the official release of the new Mosaic duplexes in the Hillcrest neighbourhood. I had the opportunity along with my colleagues to view them last weekend. I am very impressed with not only the design of the duplexes but with the quality of workmanship that they provide in all their homes.

The unique qualities of these duplexes are their vaulted cielings giving the home a spacious feel and most importantly the master bedroom on the main.

http://mosaichomes.com/properties/hillcrest/

The First time Home Buyers tax credit that BC government announced earlier this week, will help to make the purchase of a new home a little more affordable.

Give us a call today and we would be happy to work for you in the purchase of your new home.

Only 3 days left to purchase your RRSP's to go towards your 2011 taxation year. Here are links to 3 of our major banks offering advice on what you need to do!

Please give us a call and we would be happy to put you in touch with the contact information for investment professionals we know and trust.

RBC

http://www.rbcfinancialplanning.com/RBC:C6ykk6wWAAwACnCmYcQAAADi/RP-maximize-RRSP-opportunity.html


TD bank

http://www.tdretire.com/


Scotiabank

http://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/0,,9,00.html

Last time I will talk about my hubby and his birthday...:)

My eldest gave her Dad a 3 month subscription to www.ancestry.ca and the 1st night he tried it he couldn't figure out how to unlock information. But once he did we couldn't get him to put it down. He stayed up into the wee hours of the morning a few nights this past week discovering some very interesting facts about his family and my family's history. Amazed at how far back he was able to go.

My husband was a history major in university and someone who has always loved learning about the history of our great country. You can only imagine how much fun he was having learning about his own history. With technology today and how much information he was able to find, it is quite fascinating. He was able to trace part of his family back as far as the 900's and my grandmother's side back to the 1700's. We had people think it was a cash grab and that there was no way we would find actual correct information but we have found actual birth records and data that we can connect to some of the information we already had. Each time we add something new more hints come up leading to even more history being discovered. He has discovered so much information it will surely take him a few months to sort through it all.

I would think probably one of the best gifts he's ever been given, hands down!

If you are interested in finding out about your family history, check out you never know you might be related to royalty!

 www.ancestry.ca

The other day I was talking about my husband turning 40 this past weekend. For his birthday I took him to see the play "Calendar Girls" performed at the Arts Club's theatre Company's Stanley Industrial Theatre on Granville in Vancouver.

Many of you may remember Helen Mirren's phenomenal performance in the film that came out back in 2004. It is the true story of a small group of women from the Women's Institute who were raising funds for their local church by posing tastefully and subjectively nude for a calendar. 

This whimsical British comedy was just as good as the film and had the audience howling with laughter. Their performance was very impressive as these brave actresses of all ages bared it all.

There is still time if you haven't yet seen the production as they are here until February 26th, for more information on this play and others visit the following site:

http://www.artsclub.com/20112012/plays/calendar-girls.htm 

We have always enjoyed going to see theatre productions and only just discovered the Art's Club theatre, I guarantee we will be back again.

For those of you that weren't aware of it the BC government came out with their provincial budget today and it held some interesting things for 1st time home buyers and seniors.

There will be a temporary one time refundable tax credit of up to $10,000 for 1st time home buyers purchasing in a newly constructed home. The credit will be calculated as five per cent of the purchase price of the home up to a maximum credit of $10,000. This should help to boost new home sales and encourage Buyers that were thinking of waiting until the HST is fazed out in 2013 to purchase sooner rather than later. This credit will only be available to those who have entered into a Contract of Purchase and Sale after February 20, 2012.

The budget also includes a BC Seniors Home renovation Tax Credit to help seniors over the age of 65 years old allowing them the flexibility to remain in their home. This credit is for Seniors whether they own their home or rent as well as for people living with seniors in their home.

This past weekend my husband turned 40 and he wasn't too happy about it. Somehow 30 came and went without much fuss, but 40 seems to have so much more meaning....why?

I teased him saying he's joining a new club that I am not allowed to be a part of...and that's ok with me! :) 

I always say you are only as old as you feel, I certainly don't feel old at 37 and cannot imagine that 3 years is going to make that much difference. He seems to think that I will be upset when the time comes for me. I truly don't think so.  The definition for "over the hill" is past one's prime, I am thinking that I haven't even reached my prime let alone heading past it.

It's funny how time does fly, feels like only yesterday that we were married and started having children. I still look at people in their 20's and think I'm not that much older than they are....comes back to, you are only as old as you feel. :)

I do remember as a teen and even into my early twenties thinking that 40 was old. It really isn't though as I am approaching my 40's I am thinking how very soon my husband and I will be starting a new chapter in our lives. My eldest will be heading off to University before I even turn 40 and my youngest will only be 2 years behind her. When I look around at many of our friends who decided to start their careers and travelling 1st that now have small children, I am guessing many of them are feeling old. Chasing after little ones now, I would imagine is a heck of a lot more exhausting. We wouldn't have traded having a family young for anything. We have our whole lives ahead of us to travel and see the world.

Now ask our teenage girls if we are old...of course they'd answer is yes! :)

Live life to it's fullest and I am sure youthfulness will always be a part of you.

Which brings me to my question - is 40 truly over the hill? What do you think?

An aside....as I was writing this I had to save and set it aside before I posted this blog. In the mean time I was on facebook and came across one of my favourite Vancouver colleagues Ian Watt and his blog post for today was along the same lines and thought I would share his blog with you. 

How Old Would You Be If You Didn’t Know How Old You Were?

http://www.ianwatt.com/

I come back to my earlier comments which are very a-propos...I would be 28, although I am much more confident and comfortable with myself today than I was back then. :)

Every morning as I get ready for work my husband has the Ellen show on TV in the background and Thursday's show caught our attention for 2 reaons. 1st of all Ellen shared the story of a fellow Canadian in need of a double lung transplant. The second reason it caught our attention was because a member of our family actually became an organ donor almost 2 years ago now. Organ donation is something we feel very strongly about!

Ellen discovered Helene Campbell after seeing the video Helene sent to Ellen looking for her support in promoting awareness for organ donation. To see the video she sent and to learn more about Helene and her fight for others as well as herself visit http://www.alungstory.ca/

Ellen was captivated by this young woman's request for help because she wasn't asking for herself she was doing it to help others.

It doesn't take much to register to become an organ donor. 

As I mentioned we also have a story about a member of our own family, who donated his kidney to his best friend back in the summer of 2010. It is rare to find a match within your family and friends....but incredible to find a match within your own best friend. My brother in-law saved his best friends life and will always have that honour. There really is no greater gift, than the gift of life. 

Not everyone can become a living organ donor, but EVERYONE can become one once they have passed away and the only way to guarantee your wishes are honoured is to register. So please register today to help save someone's life...you never know when that life could be your own or the life of someone you love.

Will you register today to become an organ donor?