Halloween's Over, Thanksgiving is up next then it's Black Friday

What? It's still October 31 and the little ghouls and goblins are busily noshing their way through the mountain of candy they collected in the neighborhood and from the local merchants and you're talking turkey!

Thanksgiving Day in Canada is linked to the European tradition of harvest festivals. A common image seen at this time of year is a cornucopia, or horn, filled with seasonal fruit and vegetables. This represents the "Horn of Plenty", which was a symbol of bounty and plenty in ancient Greece. Turkeys, pumpkins, ears of corn and large displays of food are also used to symbolize Thanksgiving Day.

But, if you live south of the 49th then you've still got another kick at the bird as they say. (although I'm not sure who they are.) This year, Canadians celebrated back on the second Monday in October while the American Thanksgiving takes place on the fourth Thursday in November. The Friday following this holiday is called Black Friday and its an extremely busy shopping day and a holiday in many states.

Black Friday is one of the busiest shopping days in the USA. There are two popular theories as to why the day after Thanksgiving Day is called Black Friday. One theory is that the wheels of vehicles in heavy traffic on the day after Thanksgiving Day left many black markings on the road surface, leading to the term Black Friday.

The other theory is that the term Black Friday comes from an old way of recording business accounts. Losses were recorded in red ink and profits in black ink. Many businesses, particularly small businesses, started making profits prior to Christmas. Many hoped to start showing a profit, marked in black ink, on the day after Thanksgiving Day.

Regardless, they are holidays that are enjoyed by the entire family and lets face it any day off work is a bonus. 

Just make sure you don't get too caught up in the shopping buzz because even if its a bargain, it still has to be paid for eventually. Better to shop with cash and when you run out, you're finished shopping.

Happy Holiday and remember to give Thanks!

Halloween Safety Tips

 It's nearing that fun time of year when every little one and not-so-little one, starts thinking about which character they are going to dress as for All Hallows Eve. There's likely thoughts of huge bags of candy and treats to last them through the next couple of months of winter as well. It's a fun time but can be a dangerous time too.  Here's a few tips from my friends at Avery labels that are sure to help you and your young'uns to enjoy the festivities.

Halloween Safety Tips from Avery

Some of you have years of experience with the parental rigors of Halloween, some of you may be facing the waltz around the neighborhood with your little ninjas and princesses in tow for the very first time. Whether this is your family’s swan song or your inaugural ball, Avery offers up some timeless safety tips to help keep this year’s Halloween safe and fun for parents and children alike.

Costume conundrums

Let’s start at the very beginning. It all starts with a child’s imagination; little Suzy runs to you with eyes wide open with excitement and inspiration. A fairy princess is what she wants to be—for the third year in a row! Johnny is indulging in his fascination with superheroes, and Robbie comes out of nowhere with a desire to be a piece of fried bacon.

Whatever the artistic evolution of your children’s inner id, make sure they steer clear of injury and harm by keeping these costume guidelines in mind.

When buying costumes, make sure the clothes are fire proof or treated with flame retardant. Scrutinize outfits to avoid ill-fitting shoes and long hemlines that could cause trips and falls. Masks have long been a staple of Halloween outfits, but since they often limit or block eyesight they might not be the best choice, particularly at night. For safer options, try non-toxic face paints or fanciful hats that won’t obscure vision as substitutes.

Should you let your ghosts roam alone?

Wondering whether you should allow your kids to trick or treat alone? Take advice from the experts. The Mayo Clinic advises parents to accompany any children under twelve, so don’t let your younger children trick or treat without a trusted adult. For the older ones: establish a route, set a curfew and have them carry a cell phone to enable check-ins. Here are some guidelines to give them:

- Stay in a group
- Pick only the houses with porch lights on
- Never enter a home
- Never cut across yards or use alleys

Treats and eats

The zombies, robots and witches have come back successful from the hunt, and they’re anxious to compare their loot and chomp on some candy. Before the sugar explosion, examine their stash for choking hazards and any signs of tampering. Any spoiled, unwrapped or suspicious treats should be thrown out immediately. Homemade treats are deliciously tempting, but make sure they were baked by someone you know very well. For younger goblins, weed out gum, peanuts, hard candies and other choking hazards.

Don’t forget the pets

Pets may be forgotten in the melee of little monsters, but the constant knocking and doorbell ringing, the strangers at the door and the tempting bowls of candy can easily whip Fido into a fine frenzy. Take any pets away from the action to prevent them from chasing or biting a neighbor. Also keep in mind that chocolate is no friend to dogs and take care to hide the candy high enough to prevent your canine’s covert candy stealing.

Some final do’s and don’ts for a safe Halloween

DO:
● Get crazy with reflective tape. It might not go with the Yoda costume or ladybug ensemble, but liberally applying reflective tape to costumes or bags means instant visibility for your little goblin.

● Remember and obey traffic laws. In the excitement and festive spirit of the holiday, grown-ups and children alike can forget street safety. Use crosswalks whenever possible, look both ways before crossing, and stay on sidewalks as much as you can.

● Check your porch lights for burned out bulbs so visiting ghosts and pirates won’t trip or fall.

DON’T:
● Let your children get too close to luminaries or candles. While the kids are angling for the quickest route to the candy; it’s your job to make sure that the Jedi costume isn’t straying into the flickering flame inside your neighbor’s pumpkins.

● Allow kids to carve the pumpkins. Have them draw their design in marker or use Avery Sticker Paper to decorate their pumpkin. These stickers allow your child easy creativity without all the mess of a disemboweled pumpkin. If you choose to go old school with your pumpkins, leave the carving to the adults.

Phew! You’ve completed your primer on Halloween hazards, and you’re ready to take on one of the funnest holidays ever invented. Safe and fun wishes from your friends at Avery!

Hope you enjoyed the information. Happy Halloween.  Dave

I met Scrapbooking the other day and its pretty cool.

I had known about scrap booking for some time now but thought oh that's cute. It's a nice pass time for ladies with an artsy crafty leaning to while away their spare time. How wrong was I? The industry is huge and has evolved from simple cut and paste paper, letters, pictures to sophisticated pieces of artwork in both real or hard copy and lately digital form and there are 1000's of people doing it.

For those of you unfamiliar with the hobby you need to understand a bit about it. Here's a brief description from http://www.scrapbooking101.net

What is a Scrapbook?

A scrapbook is simply a decorated photo album that also preserves the stories behind the photos (called journaling), it can also hold memorabilia (tickets, certificates, letters, etc.). You might have a family album as well as smaller theme albums for vacations, home improvement or a baby’s first year. Some scrapbookers create an album for each family member.
By using acid-free and lignin-free papers and adhesives, photos can be preserved beautifully and safely. The papers and accessories available now give us lots of creative options for doing more than just filing photos in an album—scrap booking is a creative hobby!
It’s really all about getting those photos out of shoeboxes and attics and into albums where they can be seen and shared. Best of all, no experience or expertise is required—it’s as simple as cutting and gluing.
Are you looking at those big boxes filled with photos, wondering how you’ll ever get around to all of them? Where to start? It’s best to begin with your most recent photos.
If scrapbooking seems like a monumental task, don’t worry—it’s really not. All you need are a few basic materials and some ideas.

I believe its much more than this. It is an avenue to let your creative juices flow, armed with all manor of tools and resources that are available from craft houses, shows and conferences, other scrap book fans and on the internet of course.

By Mathew Anderson

I was introduced to it by Marlie, one of my daughters, who has been participating for a number of years. She is big time into digital and now my grandson Mathew has taken it up as well. He's into music in a big way and expressed that interest by creating this piece on the right.

Marlie has done some really cool stuff and has one entered into a contest to see who of the designers gets to stay in a virtual Granny's Attic Survivor. She did a beauty about autumn. Hope she gets to stay in. You can find more about it at http://forums.gingerscraps.net/forumdisplay.php?485-Scrapping-Survivor-Season-3-*Grandmas-Attic*

Another cool thing I found was that there is a local celebrity living not far from where I am in north-eastern Alberta. Her name is Jackie Ludlage from Elk Point and she's a co-founder and editor in chief of the magazine Canadian Scrapbooker available in hard copy or online. http://www.canadianscrapbooker.ca She and her co-founder partner Kathrina Doyle who is the publisher have an amazing resource for anyone who scrap books or is contemplating getting into it.

In fact, here's a web video from the folks at Canadian Scrapbooker about using rub ons featuring Jackie Ludlage. Enjoy.

Over the next little while I'm going to bring you examples and contact links that will provide you with a huge list of resources so that you can experience the fun and creativity of scrap booking or scrapping as many call it. Hope you'll find it interesting. Enjoy. Oh, by the way, I'm hooked on scrapping now.
Dave

New Premier Designate Alison Redford will be on a Fast Track

Premier Designate Alison Redford

With the promises made leading up to her selection as leader of the PC party of Alberta, Ms Redford will have to fast track to provide the changes that the voters are expecting.

Doug Horner

The first of course is to select a caucus that supports her ideas and policies and will follow through on those promises. A little carry over isn't too bad so I see Doug Horner being at the table. Not so sure about the likes of Snelgrove or Danyluk who are considered part of the old boys group. Morton would be political disaster while Orman if he can win a seat might be a interesting addition and would add a businessman's sense.

$100 Million in Cash!

She 's also going to have to dig deep in the treasury because she promised to give back the $100 million bucks back to education. Within 10 days! Maybe that can be extended to start from the time she's sworn in because if its from the time of the declaration that she won at two a.m. this morning then the clock is running.

Here's a little side bar, now that  Premier Ed's security detail has switched over to look after AR, who's looking after Ed? Do they just cut him loose and hope nobody bothers him or is there still a watch dog to keep the crazies away. Sure hope so because there are lots out there.

Vote/Info/Vend Kiosk

Another side bar. How best to speed up the voting and counting process? This province is supposed to be full of innovators who bring new technology to the market every day. How about electronic voting - on line or at mall kiosks.  Buy your membership on-line or in person. Each membership has a unique number. Use that number as a pass word to cast your vote, once you're done, the number is recorded and prohibited from casting another vote until the switch is flipped for the next one. This would eliminate a number of problems to wit:
1. Allowing members to vote no matter where they are. (We turned people away from our polls because they didn't reside in this constituency. They had a card but rules said NO). Think of the people who live in Edmonton but work up in Ft Mac -- couldn't vote there. Thousands of votes lost.
2. Would eliminate the need to find volunteers to spend all day staffing a poll. Not a problem in the city but tough in rural areas.
3. Would eliminate local association having to foot the bill for rents, food and refreshments, signage, stress.
And finally, the terminals could remain in situ after the elections for people to use to find direction in the malls, email their government reps with questions, suggestions or complaints, register as voters or download memberships and it could be all financed by selling ads on the screens or pay per click or pay per action links to sponsor web sites.   A little bit of blue skying there but I believe it is possible. You might even be able to make a 3B partnership out of it to get the system financed and operational.

In any case Alberta politics as we know it or knew it is about to change. When the election shoe drops in the next 12 months or so we'll have two intelligent, articulate female leaders going head to head and Dr. Raj as the spoiler. Oh yes and we'll have Mr. Mason and Ms Notley in the mix as well. By God it'll be fun to watch. The media will have 100s of story lines a day and hopefully we'll have something that's good for the people of Alberta.