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Got him!!! One down! Who knows how many more to go… But the peanut butter on the trap worked! I was surpised we caught him down in the basement… considering the mouse poop was upstairs on the main floor under the laundry room utility sink!

Thanks for all your tips. Here’s to getting rid of the mice. Poor mouse!

“How To Improve Your Marriage Without Talking About It” by Patricia Love and Steve Stosny.

First of all, I’m totally surprised that I read this book in less than 2 weeks. I’m not that fast of a reader… and this one kept my attention. I didn’t expect to read a self help book, but boy am I glad I did!

I think this book is for everyone – whether you’re in a marriage or not. It’s about reconnecting. Reconnecting with your partner and reconnecting with yourself. You’ll find things out about yourself that you may be hiding. It’s time to heal. If we heal what happened to us in the past, we can move forward with the present. The biggest lesson for me in this book was that you can’t blame your partner for things that happened to you before they came around. Example: If you had a past relationship where someone hurt you, you can’t EXPECT that your current partner will hurt you. It’s like we manifest our own future by what we expect. (Use expect as your bonus code)

This book is about getting you back to where you were when you first met your partner. When you first started dating you had TIME for each other. You were connected. As time goes on, we get disconnected. You CAN bring it back.

I can honestly say I’ve seen a HUGE difference in the connection I have with my husband. Not only that, but a difference in the connection I have with my colleagues and friends. Don’t miss out on this book – and bring back the person you are and the values you hold dear!

Stay tuned for my next book selection. I’ll have it in a couple of weeks!

Note: (Platinum VIP’s you have until midnight Sunday Feb.1st to enter your bonus code)

Bedtime Battles – Calgary’s Child Magazine

It’s bedtime, and the nightly struggle has begun. The words, ‘but, I’m not tired” – echo through the house! If this battle cry is standard in your home, rest assured, you’re not alone. Here are some tips for establishing a bedtime routine:

• Decide on a firm bedtime, and provide and give your child a 15, 10 and 5 minute reminder that bedtime is coming up so they can finish up whatever they’re doing.

• Build in some quiet time before bed. Active play just before bedtime can leave children excited and hinders their ability to fall asleep.

• Develop a regular bedtime routine; this could include a warm bath, brushing teeth, reading, singing, or prayers.

• Often some time allowed for reading in bed will help settle your child down and tire them out mentally.

• Leaving the room while your child is still awake will help them learn to settle themselves. If you return every time your child calls out, this will be your new routine.

For more tips and information go to Calgary’s Child Magazine.

There’s the well-known greeting “kung hei fat choy,” which means, “wishing you happiness and prosperity.”

Happy Chinese New Year! We said goodbye to the rat. Today marks the beginning of the Year of the Ox.

The rat marks the beginning of a cycle of the animals in the zodiac. According to legends, the rat got on the back of the ox, the leader of the pack of animals. When the ox was near the finish line, the rat jumped off, ahead of the ox, to be the first. The big, strong and honest ox didn’t complain. He was happy to be second.

It’s written in the stars … The Chinese year of the Ox, is the sign of prosperity through fortitude and hard work.

I was born in the year of the Ox (use ox as your bonus code) as was Joanne Johnson from the morning show. Other famous people born in the Year of the Ox include Wayne Gretzky and the new President of the United States Barack Obama.

People born in the Year of the Ox are patient, speak little, and inspire confidence in others. They tend, however, to be eccentric, and bigoted, and they anger easily. They have fierce tempers and although they speak little, when they do they are quite eloquent. Ox people are mentally and physically alert. Generally easy-going, they can be remarkably stubborn, and they hate to fail or be opposed. They are most compatible with Snake, Rooster, and Rat people.

(Note: Platinum VIP’s you have until midnight Feb.1st to enter your bonus code.)

So I’ve been checking email after email! Thank you for your great response to my mouse problem. The most common suggestion is to set the trap with peanut butter… but here’s a few other suggestions…

Cathy says: “My husband grabbed the Yellow Pages and called the first name that he saw under Pest Control. It was Absolute Pest Control. They have been coming to our house now every 6 months for over 4 years. The owner’s name is Conrad. They do use poison but it is put in black boxes that cannot be opened unless you have a special tool. The mice go in the box, eat the poison and then die within a week. Not very nice but it was either them or me!!! Our little dog also cannot get into these boxes (nor can the 3 kids) so it was the best solution.”

Danica suggests: “Here’s what has worked for us. We also have kids and a dog so poison was not an option. We have found the snap traps to work the best and are cheap enough to throw out if you don’t want to empty it of the mouse! The best baits that we have found is something that cannot be licked off, we have used with success Reece’s Peanut Butter cups (the exterminator fellow said peanut butter, but the mice licked it off), chocolate chips and Riesen carmel candies. We found that they like chocolate and peanut butter. )”

Carmen is going high tech: “About the mouse at your home: I bought 5 years a go a small electric gadget (the size of a baby night light) in walmart, which you plug in your kitchen and basement and makes an extremely quiet beep that is too much for mouses and this keeps them away forever! (humans do not hear anything)I still have mine just in case the mice plan to come back! ”

And Gillian thinks Mickey needs a drink… “Beer in a bottle. They love beer and will be able to get inside the bottle but would not be able to get back out. Just a little bit of beer, not a full bottle. Hope this helps get rid of Mickey.”

Thanks everyone! I’ll keep you posted on the situation at hand! Be gone mice!

We have a mouse. Not at Lite 96… at the Rowsell house. I found the little pesky rodents poop under the utility sink in the laundry room cupboard. So now what? We need to find it! But how?

That’s where I need your help. Set a trap? Poison? Here’s the problem, we have an 18 month old child and a dog. I can keep my son and dog away from the traps by locking up the cupboard the trap is in… but is a trap good enough? My husband thinks we should put poison outside. But I told him the neighborhood cat might get into it… and what about all the wild rabbits. ARRRRRRGGGG!

What do you think? If you have any ideas on how to get rid of our mouse (use mouse as your bonus code), PLEASE email me. christina.rowsell@rci.rogers.com Help!!! The last thing I want in my house is a mouse. Dirty dirty dirty!!!

(Note: Platinum VIP’s you have until midnight Sunday Jan 25th to enter your bonus code)

Calgary’s Child Magazine

Going out for dinner is the easiest way we know to tame the “What’s for Dinner” battle cry. A night out at a restaurant can be a big treat for everyone in the family. Here are some of Calgary’s Child Magazine’s favorite restaurant survival tips.

Identify family-friendly restaurants in your area — does it have a children’s menu, high chairs, booster seats, crackers and crayons available?

Breakfast and lunch are an ideal time to introduce your children to restaurants and teach them the rules. With lower prices, and faster service, it’s often easier to enjoy a successful outing
Take along a coloring book, a small quiet toy to play with or a book to read at the table. Some inventive parents we know pack a special restaurant bag with toys and treats that only comes out at the restaurant.

Hungry children are not patient. Eat a half an hour before your child’s regular dinner time to reduce fussing. Ask your server for crackers while you are waiting for your meal.

I hope that helps. For more tips visit Calgary’s Child Magazine.

Apparently it’s Blue Monday! It’s that time of year where we’re supposed to be affected by the weather and the post-Christmas Blues… and experts say it’s a worse Blue-Monday this year because of the recession. The doctors say a cure is family, friends and exercise!

Here’s how I look at it… you can go on with your life having your glass be half empty… but it’s better to see it half full. I’m sure you’ve heard that saying before. But it’s soooo true. You are in charge of how your day will go – even if it’s going to be a tough day. You can wake up in the morning and say “I’m going to have a great day”. Or you can wake up and say “Oh crap, this is going to be an awful day.”

I’m reading the book “How To Improve Your Marriage Without Talking About It”, and I have to tell you – I’m 2/3rds through it – and I’ve learned some very positive things that I can use with my everyday life. It’s how we see things and how we react to it. For example: If you see men as insensitive and uncaring – that’s what you’ll hear from them. It’s because you see them that way – and you’ll only hear negative, insensitive and uncaring things from them. BUT if we can change our perception of them – we’ll hear caring and more sensitive things…

The same goes for your day – if you say “today is going to be amazing. I’m going to get all my work done and come home to a happy house”… the chances of that happening are far better than if you predict your day being miserable. It’s like all this bad news we hear everyday – we can either dwell on it, or we can find the good news in all of it. It’s not easy – but as our parents told us with piano lessons or ball practice – “practice makes perfect”.

Good luck – and enjoy your day. You deserve a good day! Heck – here’s to a good week! Okay – why not make it for the rest of the month – dare I say – have a good year!!! Take away the blue (that’s your bonus code blue) and put back the sunshine!

(This of course may not apply to clinically diagnosed depression… please seek the advice of a doctor if you think you are depressed.)

Note: Platinum VIP’s you have until Sunday Jan.25th to enter your word.

This morning with Don, Joanne, and The Coach they played the Mom Song. Here it is for some fun while you work. (Use morning as your bonus code)

Note: Platinum VIP’s you have until Midnight Sunday Jan.18th to enter your bonus code)

On Sunday I headed to Chapters in Shawnessy to find the right book for my new year’s resolution. And I spent 3 HOURS THERE! What! Well, it started off with my son playing in the kids section, as they recently renovated it. There’s a Thomas The Train set up there, and a big tea cup for the kids to play in. After about 45 minutes, I put him in his stroller to find myself the right book. Shortly after I put him in the stroller, he was out. So I him sleep for a couple of hours while I strolled the store.

This gave me the time (use time as your bonus code) to find the right book. I thought this is the perfect opportunity to explore a new type of book to read. I’m usually into Non-Fiction books about people’s lives… but I read the covers and tabs of fiction books, romance novels and murder mysteries. Nothing popped out at me. I almost bought one from the true crime section… but then I saw a book in the self help section. I heard about it on Oprah and from my friend Sig Taylor. “How to Improve Your Marriage without Talking About It.” By Patricia Love, Ed.D., and Steven Stosny, Ph.D. My first reaction to the title was “ya right”. There’s no way you have a marriage without talking.

WOW! I’m only 21 pages in and can’t believe how true it is. So far it’s everything we already know – men and women are very different!! Duh! But when it comes to “talking” both men and women do it differently. It’s in our makeup as a male or female. Ladies, how many times does your husband/partner roll their eyes when you say to them “honey we need to talk”. If anything it makes matters worse!!! Ladies we can talk until we’re blue in the face – and we still won’t get our point across.

Right now I think this “not talking” may be hard for me to grasp… as it’s what I do for a living. I’m good at talking… maybe it’s time to listen.

So… my first book of 2009 is “How to Improve Your Marriage without Talking About It”. I’ll keep you posted!

Now… I just have to make the time to read it.

Note: Platinum VIP’s you have until midnight Sunday Jan.18th to enter your bonus code.