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Thursday 8 September 2011

Twitter has changed me




I am very blessed to have such an amazing circle of people that I connect, engage and interact with on Twitter. In fact it's not one circle it's many interconnecting circles. I have a circle of local people I know, people I've met at "tweet-ups", people I follow strictly for entrainment, a handful or celebs I follow, the PPD Army (women who have or survived Post-Partum depression, my cancer circle, my thyroid peeps and my thyroid cancer friends. Of course these are just a handful of the circles there are many other more subtle ones and some people fall into more than one of these categories.

Twitter has brought me many things, but none more important than friendship and an understanding my who I am at the core. It's brought me people who have helped me, knowingly or otherwise. It's brought me a lot of laughs and even some tears.

When I can't sleep I can turn to the #ZombieMoms who will keep me company.

When I need a laugh I'll usually get one from a "cancer-girl", a "sly pig", someone who's "evolved" or someone "quirky" or some sage advice from an "old baker" perhaps even some words of wisdom from an "Auntie", or guidance from someone who "whispers at souls" it's there 100%

I don't even have to ask for it, it's already right there in my twitter stream.

Because of Twitter I met a woman who invited me to be on her TV show, forcing me out of a nearly 2 year hiding. Once meeting her and the others that day I felt alive again, after dealing with my cancer for so long and hiding behind it for nearly as long. Those women were kind, endearing and above all very very encouraging and inspiring. They were people I needed to get back to living. I am thankful because now I am living and enjoying life more than I ever have.

Twitter has allowed me to witness many amazing things such as the outpouring of love and the pulling together to raise funds when a twitter friend and her husband lost their son. We in a way, went through that with them. To this day I will never see Elmo without thinking of their family and how much their son loved him. I always smile a slightly sad smile. Collectively the many people who know them online or in real life, pulled together to help them raise money for Zach's Dream Room. Thanks to the a remarkable little boy and his inspirational family along with the social media masses, word of this story spread like wild fire! The goal, originally set at $25 000 seemed very ambitious to me. Imagine the overwhelming joy that was felt as that goal was reached and the goal was increased to $35 000. Currently they have broken that goal, and are over $40 000.

When a friend recently lost her husband the compassion was phenomenal. Her anger and confusion over why he was stolen from her resulted in some very emotional tweets and we returned with the most thoughtful messages of reassurance, encouragement and sympathy. Once again reminding me of how strong a community of social people can be when focused on the same cause.

A member of the PPD Army was recently hospitalized and upon learning of this flowers were sent to let her know she was not alone. She had a whole army of people pulling for her to get well. Once again the reminders of how important she is and how much she is wanted and needed was amazing. She is out of the hospital now and working through things but she's not doing it alone, she hasn't been forgotten as old news. People are still rooting for her and sending their beautiful tweets to her.

What it all boils down to is that one tweet CAN change the world, or make a huge difference in someone's life. I think you get the idea. If you are not on Twitter this might help you to see why so many of us are, and how we've found relationships. The only downside I have is the fact I didn't sign up sooner.

In the next couple of weeks I'll be celebrating my 1000th follower. For me that's HUGE!

If you are on Twitter and would like to follow me click here: @hippofatamus

New gadget!

I want to introduce you to someone I follow on Twitter @BalanceMyLife and the woman I was tweeting with was Kenda, but the trio of ladies (Kenda, Kelly & Kerry) have got a pretty cool thing going on over at Balance My Life. Two main things I love about the site are; 1, they are Canadian! Yay! and 2, they are not just telling you how to balance your life, they are right there with you doing their best to balance their own lives and sharing there tips, and tricks with you! Plus in addition to that they have specific sections on there site including LIve, Work & Family! But wait! There's more! They also have a section dedicated to Events and one for some amazing contests!

Speaking of contests let me get to my point of this post. About a month ago I clicked to follow them on twitter and at the time they were running a contest to celebrate 2000 followers! I know right? Holy smokes! That's a lot of followers, proving they're clearly doing something that people love. It turned out that I was the 2000th folloer and had won a prize! I was pretty excited to find out the prize was a Kobo e-reader!!

Last year when they first launched I was in line to buy one for my Dad for Father's Day. After my dad was diagnosed with severe carpel tunnel and trigger finger, making it difficult to hold a book, and almost impossible to flip a page. He has always had a strong love of learning through reading so my sister and I decided it would be the perfect gift. But it was so perfect that after I opened it, charged it and set it all up for him it pained me to put it back in the box, wrap it up and give it away! Secretly I wanted one too but one was not in the budget for me.

Now, thanks to these ladies I have one! It's beyond easy! Even getting a book into it is is a breeze. Right now I started out with one book. "The Help by Katherine Stockett. I'm still reading it and really enjoying it. Though now I have a few more lined up for when I finish it!

Wanna see this beautiful gadget?





Wednesday 7 September 2011

The comfort food continues

Now that some chilly weather has hit us I am really feeling like the heart warming kind of meals that everyone craves when it's cold outside. Yesterday was a "Hearty Chili" that is perfect as a vegetarian chili, but we add a pound of lean ground beef to it.

Today it was a flattened chicken rubbed with herbs, and roasted on a rack in a pan with baby carrots and baby red potatoes. Roo was home when I was getting it ready so she was my little kitchen helper and I must say it was a blast! She's learning to love food, and is more willing to try new things if she's had a hand in making it. She thought this chicken was "adorable" because when flattened out well the breasts resembled a heart shape!! She's so girly!

I was super excited to be serving from a platter at the table. A good old fashioned family dinner! Imagine how my head spun around and I lost it on my son after he announced he wasn't joining us for dinner since he wasn't hungry. What?? How in the heck is THAT possible?? He's a 6 foot tall, growing 14 year old who is constantly eating or asking to be fed! When he kept going on about not being hungry I caved, but only a bit. I told him he didn't have to eat, but he did HAVE to join us at the table. Love having myself a frustratingly typical teen.

So, since I know this is a visual world we live in, how about some photos.

Flattened chicken and veggies all ready for the "sauna"

Roo posing with the dinner she helped to make!

Our final product! Roasted chicken and veggies, wild rice and stuffing (yup, it's Stove Top in case you were wondering!)

Roo anxious to get some on her plate!
Reviews from the family:

Roo: "yummy, I love my heart chicken!!!"

Hubs: "This is great, and I even like the rice. Hope there's enough left for lunch tomorrow."

Aussie: "Mind if I take some more, it really *is* good!"

You see, my son, who claimed not to be hungry just didn't think he'd like it and he was sitting there with no food staring at ours. Hubs made him try a bite at that was the end of the "hunger strike" He heaped up that plate with everything but the rice. He still wouldn't try it.

It was another successful family dinner in our household!

Tuesday 6 September 2011

Comfort Food


Dang, it's c-c-c-cold outside! And with the sudden drop in temperature I am feeling like jumping full swing into hearty comfort food. One of the things I love most about Autumn are the dinners I make!

This is what's for dinner in my house. Or course I took a small sample for lunch!






Hearty Vegetarian Chili

1 1/4 cups coarsely chopped onions
1 cup chopped sweet red pepper
1 cup chopped sweet green pepper3/4 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped carrots
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tblspn chili powder
1 1/2 cup quartered mushrooms (I don't add them... ewww)
1 cup cubed zucchini
2 can tomatoes (28 oz), undrained
1 can (19 oz) 3 bean mix
1 can (19 oz) red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (12 oz) kernel corn
1 can tomato paste
1 tblspn ground cumin
1 1/2 tspn dried oregano
1 1/2 tspn dried basil
1/2 tspn cayanne pepper (or to taste)


Spray a large saucepan with non-stick spray. Add onions, green and red peppers, celerey, carrots, garlic and chili powder. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until vegetables are softened (about 5-6 minutes)

Add mushrooms and zucchini. Cook and stir for 4 more minutes. Add tomatos, rinsed beans, rinsed chickpeas, corn, cumin, oregano, basil, tomatoe paste and cayane pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

You can also add cooked ground turkey,chicken or extra-lean ground beef (both drained of fat before adding) if you want a meat version. I personally add 1 pound of extra-lean ground beef.

If you try it, let me know what you think!


Saturday 3 September 2011

A new look

Today I have spent some time cleaning up the look of my blog. The design I had prior was all about eye candy, bright colours and whimsy. Have a look in case you don't remember (You had seen it right?)




I wanted to tone it down a bit without loosing beauty. I have selected a few designs I really like and decided to start with this one.

I'd really like your feedback, and feel free to be honest. I'm trying to make it nice to look at for my readers and me since I look at it often.

Did you like the old one?
Do you like the new one?
Do you think both are a complete miss?




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