http://www.lite959.com

On May 3, 2009, an army of Calgarians – many with their beloved dogs – will join together for the Paws for a Cause Walk (use Paws as your bonus code) to raise money to continue the battle against canine cancer. The special walk is part of a series of similar events taking place across Canada and every dollar donated helps in the quest to find more and better ways to deal with this terrible disease, which has a profound impact on a family dealing with the loss of such a loyal and loving animal.

RAISE FUNDS AND EARN GREAT PRIZES!

Gift Baskets for top fundraisers – 1st, 2nd and 3rd
1st, 2nd, 3rd prizes for dog and children games
Gift Bags to first 100 online registrants per location

Registration starts at 11:00am, the walk begins at noon.
Find registration forms here:
http://www.pawsforacause.ca/

*Dogs must be on leash.
*There will be two trails to choose from, a 2 km trail, and a 4 km trail.
*Water and Hot Dogs will be available at the event.
*Washroom facilities and water are available on site.
*You may park in Parking Area J, L, or M, which are all closest to the Snowy Owl shelter, and the start and end point for the walks.
*Picnic Tables and BBQ pits are available for use.

Driving Instructions: To North Glenmore Park: From Glenmore Trail SW, take Crowchild Trail South ramp and turn left onto Crowchild Trail SW then turn right onto 66 Avenue SW for about 2.5 km and the park entrance will be on the left.

Pathway Fun – Calgary’s Child Magazine

The potential for family fun is endless on Calgary’s incredible pathway system. Here are some tips to make sure everyone has a great time.

Make sure you all properly wear CSA, ASTM, or Snell approved helmets, bring along water, and make sure you have the right sized bike. Don’t forget your wrist and elbow protectors and knee pads if you’re in-line skating. The maximum speed limit on Calgary pathways is only 20 km per hour, reduce your speed for weather conditions and busy pathways.

When you are introducing the pathways to your family, choose a route that is flat, quiet, and straight. Plan the distance according to your child’s fitness level, with over 375 km of pathways to choose from there’s a choice for everyone. Washrooms and a playground along the way are a welcome break.

Teach your child pathway etiquette, stay to the right, ride single file, obey the signs and notify by bell or voice when passing.

As your child gains experience add some hills, twists and turns and distance to your route. Soon they’ll be passing you.

For help on planning your adventure pick up a Calgary Pathway and Bikeway Map.

¨ Bike Riding Family

¨ Helmets

¨ Bells

¨ Water Bottles on bike

¨ Other riders going in other direction or passing on pathway

More evidence pets (use pets as your bonus code) are paying the price of the slumping economy.

The Calgary Humane society tells the herald, the number of pets being surrendered has at tripled since last year because their owners say they can’t afford them any more.

Adoption rates are also down and the facility’s starting to feel the squeeze.

The city’s animal control officers have also noticed more animals being abandoned.

In one case, a pregnant shih-tzu was found wandering along a roadside with a collar — but no ID.

The Meow Foundation is also getting calls from those fearing they can no longer afford to take care of their cats.

Bylaw officials and the humane society are saddened by what they’re seeing — and just hope pet owners do the right thing by their animal — and take it to a shelter instead of just abandoning it.

Here’s the bowl I painted for the Calgary Food Bank. It’s part of an annual event called the Empty Bowl Benefit. It’s for a great cause to help the Calgary Food Bank. The live online auction will end on Friday, May 1 at 4pm. Click Here to bid on my bowl to help the Calgalry Food Bank.

Some of the finished works of art will be on display at Petro-Canada Centre, 111 5th Ave SW, until next Thursday, April30th, thanks to the generous people at Brookfield Properties.

Thank you for supporting the Calgary Food Bank! Your support changes lives.

Here’s a description of My Bowl…

I think I thought I was an Ukrainian Easter Egg. Not sure why I thought this would be easy… but it took FOREVER! My bowl is titled Pysanky.

Pysanky is Ukrainian for Easter Egg. Legend has it that as long as pysanky are decorated, goodness will prevail over evil throughout the world. With this “Empty Bowl” you’ll bring new hope, new life and prosperity.

(Use Pysanky as an extra bonus code for this week – you have until midnight Sunday April 26 to enter your word)

Happy Earth Day! Today’s the day to be friendly to your Earth! One of my New Years Resolutions was to stop using plastic bags and use reusable ones instead. (plastic is your bonus code) So far I’m at 50% of the time. I forget them either at home or in my car!! And too lazy to go back to get them! I know I know! I’m sorry. I’m going to try harder!!

Here are some interesting facts about plastic bags… from reusablebags.com

Top Facts – Consumption

Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute. Billions end up as litter each year.

According to the EPA, over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually. (Estimated cost to retailers is $4 billion)

According to the industry publication Modern Plastics, Taiwan consumes 20 billion bags a year – 900 per person.

According to Australia’s Department of Environment, Australians consume 6.9 billion plastic bags each year – 326 per person. An estimated 0.7% or 49,600,000 end up as litter each year.

Top Facts – Environmental Impact

Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food.

Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photo degrade – breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways and entering the food web when animals accidentally ingest.

As part of Clean Up Australia Day, in one day nearly 500,000 plastic bags were collected.

Windblown plastic bags are so prevalent in Africa that a cottage industry has sprung up harvesting bags and using them to weave hats, and even bags. According to the BBC, one group harvests 30,000 per month.

According to David Barnes, a marine scientist with the British Antarctic Survey, plastic bags have gone “from being rare in the late 80s and early 90s to being almost everywhere from Spitsbergen 78 degrees North [latitude] to Falklands 51 degrees South [latitude].”

Plastic bags are among the 12 items of debris most often found in coastal cleanups, according to the nonprofit Center for Marine Conservation.

What?? My how our language has changed… first there’s facebook and now twitter. Oi! It’s hard to keep up. I do facebook and blog… but still haven’t found it in me to send tweets (tweet is your bonus code) to twitter… I’m confused!

Oprah Winfrey sent her first `tweet’ during a taping of her television talk show.
The audience cheered as Winfrey typed `ASHTON IS NEXT’ on a laptop Friday morning and sent the message on the social networking site Twitter.
Winfrey was welcomed onto the site with messages from George Stephanopoulos, Ellen DeGeneres, Jimmy Fallon and Shaquille O’Neal. She noted that Ashton Kutcher had one million `followers’ on the site, surpassing CNN, and spoke with the actor over Skype, an Internet communications service.
According to Twitter, Winfrey already has 75,000 followers, which are people who have requested to see her tweets.
Later in the show, she added tweets of thanks for the welcome and updates about her dog getting its rabies vaccine.

Meet my son – Mr. Evil Knevil! He’s fearless. (Use fearless as your bonus code). This is a picture taken after he fell off of a bridge toy at his daycare. The daycare workers ran to catch him… but he was too fast.

My son is now 21 month old and fearless. He’ll jump off of anything. He trusts that you’ll catch him! How long is this going to last? I’ve met other boys his age, and they’re not as courageous as my son… where does this come from? If you have a boy who will attempt anything… let me know how you handle it!! I’m going to have a heart attach before he gets his first stitch!!

Any advice – christina.rowsell@rci.rogers.com

I decorated my first Ukrainian Easter Egg this weekend. I bought a kit and away I went. 3 broken eggs later and tada! My first egg. (Use egg as your bonus code).

It is pretty hard the first time around. You need a steady hand and patience. Ukrainian Easter Egg Decorating has been handed down through generations of Ukrainian people. The Easter Eggs are known as pysanky. With the advent of Christianity, Easter Eggs symbolized the Resurrection and a promise of eternal life. Legend has it that as long as pysanky are decorated, goodness will prevail over evil throughout the world.

People who grew up with sisters (use sisters as your bonus code) are more likely to be happy and balanced.

Experts quizzed people about their lives and found sisters can make a family more open to discussing feelings and the influence of girls was particularly important after a distressing family event – like divorce.

The study suggests a brother can have the opposite effect and there likely isn’t as much open communication in the family.

The Eyes Have It!

Vision plays an important role in helping children adapt to the world
around them.

The first time to start caring for your child’s eyes is during the first weeks after birth, when vision skills first begin to develop. You can help your child perfect these skills and prevent vision
problems from affecting their lives by following these steps.

Catch problems early by being alert for signs such as an eye turning in or out, frowning or eye rubbing.

You can help develop your child’s vision and tracking skills by hanging a mobile on your baby’s crib, keeping toys within your baby’s view and talking to your baby as you walk around the room.

Vision problems among the very young are generally uncommon, however if you suspect a problem seek an early professional evaluation. Every child should have a through eye examination before age three and again before entering school.

Visit Calgary’s Child Magazine for more tips.