~ Mignon McLaughlin

My second brother and I went in person to invite one of our relatives to his wedding. We printed more than 300 cards and took few of them everyday to deliver it to our relatives. It’s one of our traditional thing and we still follow it. We don’t prefer mailing the invitation card because people take that as an insult; they might call us and say that we didn’t respect them and didn’t care enough to pay a visit. The relative who we went to invite had an arrange marriage and have 2 children. His is name is Wil and his wife is not that pretty. I shouldn’t talk about appearance, but most of the people look for good looks when it comes to marriage.

It is very hard to find happy couples in our culture; even if it’s a love marriage. Doesn’t really matter what kind of marriage they had, couples start to fight right after they have children for their own. After seeing many failure marriages to others, I didn’t really believe in that sort of stuff. All the houses we went, people didn’t get excited about marriage due to their own failures, at least that’s what I think. But Wil seems to be happy for my brother. He started to talk about his marriage life. I didn’t pay attention to his words at the beginning, but after a while I was dragged into his uplifting speech about marriage. He started to share his secret of his successful marriage. He said “How things look on the outside of us depends on how things are on the inside of us.” Believe it or not our culture is double standard and always towards male domination. But Wil seems to be very forward in his thinking. He said that he never fight with his wife. Whenever they get into arguments even if they like it or not, he just stop talking and listen to his wife on what she is saying. He steps back and looks at the situation in other person’s perspective. When one of them stops and listen the other stop arguing and pay close attention to the underlying problem rather than clouded by the emotional breakouts.

When the problem is bigger, he takes his wife to a fancy romantic dinner and slowly reveals what it is that’s bothering him. In our culture, men or women don’t like to talk out loud in public. Without raising their voice they find solutions to the problem. According to him, clear communication is the tool for a successful marriage. Men say something and women understand it differently and vice versa. Since my brother or I didn’t have any experience about love or marriage that time. It was very useful to my brother on his upcoming marriage. I told him to pass the wisdom of marriage to future generations as well. No body in our culture goes to marriage counseling, they either fight everyday without getting divorce or one manages to sing along with another. Divorce is a cruel word to us, so they try to change their habits and behaviour to satisfy the partner.

Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half sorrow. Sharing your life with someone who cares the most about you is a gift. Every couple should know how to solve the conflicts without arguments.

“Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” ~ Aristotle

Well, I think it is better to take your loved ones to Galleries located in each city. You not only can learn the culture of that city, but also can enhance your intellect.

The NGC is located in Ottawa downtown. It is not that difficult to find the location. But it will be better, if you park your car and walk around the city than driving on the crowded one way streets.

NGC is located at 380 Promenade Sussex Street; and you can see a gigantic spider with eggs, outside the gallery. The National Gallery of Canada is one of the world’s well known and respected art institutions.

It was created in 1880 and has a great collection of works of art, both contemporary and historic. Shop at NGC has expanded collection of books and gift items that represent Canadian history.

Here are few of the exhibitions in 2008:

• Snap Judgments: New Positions in Contemporary African Photography
• Richard Hamilton Reflects: Prints 1963-1974
• Pascal Grandmaison
• On Reading: Photography and the Book
• A Selection of Photographs from the National Gallery of Canada
• British Drawings: New Acquisitions
• “Non Clamor Sed Amor”: The Toronto Art Students’ League Calendars
• Made in Kangiqliniq: Ceramics and Sculpture from Rankin Inlet
• Joe Fafard
• Lord Dalhousie: Patron and Collector
• Honouring Norval Morrisseau (1932-2007)
• Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts
• Dots, Pulses and Loops
• In the Shadow of the Midnight Sun: Sámi and Inuit Art 2000–2005

For More information visit: http://www.gallery.ca/english/index.html
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It is difficult to keep yourself calm when you are angry. Appropriate amount of anger is healthy and considered to be normal. But when it exceeds its limit, you may need to face many dangerous consequences. If you are one of the individuals who cannot control your anger, you have to find a way to channel your rage into a constructive and socially acceptable way.

Some people fear of upsetting others or themselves by expressing their anger, and they end up bottling up their rage. Some people take it out on their loved ones or on others when they shouldn’t. Both types are not healthy.

When you let your anger to bottle up, you might explode one day and you might be seen as a cruel individual to others’ eyes. Here are few steps that you can follow to channel your anger into a healthy way.

Some people talk to themselves out loud about that situation or about the person who made them mad to understand the reason for their anger. Although it isn’t such a bad idea than fighting, but these people might develop this as one their habits. When they do that in public, they may appear as unstable.

The better way is to write down the situation on a piece of paper to rationalize your anger. When you start writing the reason, the brain starts to process the information and this actually can help you relax your mood. You can make a good decision while you are relaxed, and you would know what to do to alleviate the situation without hurting others.

Sometimes doing a physical exercise can help you relax and release the tension in you. Don’t bottle up the rage; it is more dangerous. You can do intense physical activities such as kick boxing or other sports. Some people mediate, or do aerobic exercises to keep them loosen up.

If you are person who eats to comfort yourselves, you can do so in a healthy way by eating low calorie healthy food; don’t eat junk food. You could eat fruits and yogurts than chocolate and ice cream.

Sometimes charity works also help you forget the anger when you start to see yourselves as a fortunate one. You start to forget your own problem and channel your thoughts and actions into a positive way.

If you are one of those people who need external help to deal with the anger, it is a good idea to go for counseling. They can provide specific information for you to vent your rage.

People who fly into a rage always make a bad landing. ~Will Rogers

Joy is one of nature’s greatest medicines. Joy is always healthy. A pleasant state of mind tends to bring abnormal conditions back to normal. ~ Catherine Ponder

Hamilton, Ontario is located at the west end of the Niagara Peninsula and the Lake Ontario wraps around most part of the Hamilton. One of the easiest access points for the lake is located at Longwood Road North, Hamilton. I usually go with my friend during the lazy evening times. We walk on those trials until we get tired; then we set on one of the wooden benches and talk for hours and hours. Sometimes, we don’t even say a word when we are absorbed by the wonders of the nature. Looking at the sunset while feeling the blowing breeze on the skin is an unexplainable delight. This can only be felt by being there at the moment and there are no words to describe the feeling of inner joy that can be gained from the quiet evening.

If it’s chilly outside, we buy coffee at the closest Tim Hortons and take it to the lake point. We sit and drink until the last sip of that Steep Tea double: double is done. While kids play with their pets, skate boards, frisbees and rollerblades, parents sit there and listen to the birds’ chirping. Trails are filled with the ancient maples and oak. Lake is filled with geese and goslings. I am very lucky to live close to this lake and spending every great evening at the lake was a gift.

I’m sure that you can also find a spot close to home where you can spend your evenings peacefully and quietly. Going out in the evenings after work for few minutes or hours to places that you enjoy the most is very important activity in life. Bring that into a habit and start spending every single day joyfully because at the end you are born to collect nice memories not just money.

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Veterinary Acronyms
CSTO - Cat Smarter Than Owner
HBO – hit by owner
PU - paws up (dead)

Love is the most important thing in life and it is the most important word in any language. Everything talks about love. Thousands of magazines, movies, songs, book of literature and philosophy; we see the importance of love everywhere. Falling in love is a primary psychological need. Everyone crave for attention; everyone wants someone to love them and care for them. But few of us are lucky to find love in the fast moving world.

Each of us expresses our love to someone in different ways. We can do anything for love. For love, we can climb a mountain, cross an ocean, can lift up a car, and can fall from sky. When there is no love in life, mountains become unapproachable and an ocean becomes un-crossable.

A man without love becomes an empty vessel waiting to be filled. Learning to love each other is crucial for happiness. Isolating someone from others is devastating to the human psyche. That’s why marriage has been designed to meet that need for intimacy and love. That is why ancient people refer husband and wife as “one flesh”.

Try to find long-term relationships when the time is right. You won’t regret it.

When you love someone, all your saved-up wishes start coming out. ~ by Elizabeth Bowen

Children make you want to start life over. ~Muhammad Ali

I went to visit my brother and his family on one of those winter days. Since I couldn’t take my nephews outside due to the snow storm, I ended up spending my time on watching Cars (2006) cartoon movie with my nephew who is only 2 ½ years old.

In one of the scenes the hot shot talking race car named “Lightning McQueen” fell into mud and mud went into his mouth. My 2 ½ old nephew was so absorbed by the movie and he took part as one of the cartoon characters in the movie. He started to spit all over the living room thinking that mud went into his own mouth. Oh god… I should have video taped that scene to show it to his parents.

He is a funny kid. I couldn’t control my laughter. Only when the car comes out of the mud, he stopped spitting.

Children are fun to hang around with. They always do something that reminds us that they are still kids. By watching them to do whatever they do, give us the joy.

Keep laughing. Even if there is nothing to laugh about, laugh on credit. Always keep your mind worry free.

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. ~St. Augustine

The best part of the road trip is actually preparing for the trip and the traveling itself; not the destination. When you take a road trip, it’s better to avoid driving along the highways for a long time. You can take local roads for a change. It actually helps you to bring the road trip spirit up. You will be more relaxed and enjoy the view while roaming. Both passengers and the driver will enjoy the break from highway. So it’s a good idea to figure out few exits and local roads as part of your trip.

You can stop at each cities along the way and take few minutes break; remember! Reaching the destination is not that important; traveling should be fun as well. You should plan the trip very well; otherwise you will be frustrated. Having a GPS helps a lot, but taking a city map or province map will come handy most of the time.

My friend and I planned to take a road trip to city of Ottawa from Toronto on one of the summer weekends. The distance between the two cities is almost 456 km and takes more than 5 hours of continuous driving with the speed of 100km/h. I made list of most interesting places that we wanted to visit in Ottawa. I wrote down the addresses for those place, map and hours of operation, contact information, admission and other specific details about the places of interest; and made a reservation at Holiday Inn a week earlier.

We left from Toronto around 7am, and we had coffee and a breakfast at 8:30 am. We hit the road earlier so then we can arrive earlier than getting burnt in the afternoon sun. We arrived around 1 pm and parked the car at a parking lot located in Metcalfe and Queen Street. Luckily parking is free on weekends.

We walked in the downtown area to find the places that we suppose to visit. It was a fun day. If you are one of those people who love to drive, you can go road trip with your family. You have control over your time and places where you want to go. If you take a bus or any other transportation, you don’t have any control over it.

Here are few tips that you need when you plan to take a road trip:

Preparing for the trip:

• Gather maps, brochures and guides of the itineraries; and make your hotel reservations 2/3 days earlier than the arrival.
• Always keep your phone, blackberry fully charged; keep the chargers with you in case of emergency.
• If it is a rental vehicle, understand the discount privileges. Are they charging for number of days that you are renting or are they charging you for how many kilometers you drive? If the deal is based on number of kilometers it is not a good idea for a road trip. ( when we rented a car, it was based on the number of kilometers and at the end we had to pay lot more than we expected, so keep that in mind)
• If it is your own vehicle, check to make sure everything is fine. Check your lights, signals, radio, fluid levels, belts, tire pressure, spare tire, wiper blades, and filters; and prepare an emergency road kit.
• People usually take candle, lighter, flashlight, blanket, First aid kit, some sort of cutting device in case of emergency, duct tape, tool kit, gloves, extra shoes, 2 gallons of water and towel as their emergency road kit.
• Take enough healthy snacks which needed while driving (fruits, carrots, cookies etc.); keep blanket and pillows for passengers; wear comfortable shoes and clothing; and take books that you like or song CDs that can uplift your spirit.
• Stop every couple of hours to relax and stretch.

Have a great summer road trip. Take every opportunity to explore the wonders of the world. Go out there and there is always lot to see. Collect your wonderful memories.

Remember! Our job in this world is to be happy and make others happy. Write your own experiences, don’t just read them from books.

My friend and I went to his sister’s house located in Toronto Ontario. He just bought a white hyundai accent 2008. It’s very small in size. When we were about to leave their house, his sister came to the door to say good bye to us.

She saw the car and said “this car looks like a white chicken in my yard”. I started to crack up. She is right. It does look like a big white chicken for some reason. Since my friend likes his new car a lot, he is kind of irritated by his sister’s sarcastic comment. For his defend he said to his nephew “Josh… Look closely for big white eggs after I move the car and give it to your mom.”

They are very funny family I thought. Sometime it won’t sound funny to you, because you have to be there at the moment to feel the tensed up situation to feel the humor.

Funny things always happen in families and are told to others for many years repeatedly. Making your guests and friends laugh by telling your jokes is a good way to spread the joy.

That why the wise people say “Seven days without laughter make one weak”

There is a breath taking exotic butterfly conservatory located in 2500 Kossuth Road, Cambridge, Ontario, and it’s called “Wings of Paradise”. They are open 7 days a week from 10am to 5 pm. They have 2000-3000 live free flying butterflies on exhibit with other birds and living insects.

The place is filled with tropical rain forest plants. There is a small waterfall packed with variety of fishes and turtles; and the view was magnificent. I went there on one of those hot summer afternoons and I really enjoyed that day with full of inner peace and joy.

They also have other exhibits of bugs, bees, butterflies and other insects. It is one of the best places to visit with your families and friends; especially with small kids.

If you really want to go somewhere quiet and peaceful, this is one of those places you would love to visit again and again. If you want to get married in one of the tropical countries, you can choose this place as well. “Wing of Paradise” also has facilities for arranging receptions, wedding ceremonies and wedding photos.

You get to play with those free flying butterflies; and most of the visitors hold those beautiful multi coloured butterflies to take pictures. It is pretty amazing to see how we humans construct the habitats of those insects and attract people to view them.

Going into the woods to get a sight of a butterfly is not possible for those who live in developed countries, but at least having a great collection of exotic species are very fascinating to get a glimpse of. If you are one the nature admirer, you would love to visit this place.

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