Katr, the love of my life, the apple of my eye, the Baileys in my cereal, turned the big 4-0 on Sunday! There was much carousing throughout the week, with Dufflets cake and big-as-your-head margaritas and delicious dim sum brunch and, of course, the glue that holds it all together - comedy Powerpoint slides.
I feel like a heel for not blogging about it (and thus missing the last day of NaBloBlowMe), but I have a chance to redeem myself!
Because Katr and her blog (MyNameIsKate.ca) have been nominated for not one, not two, but THREE blog awards (or, as I now call them, "gwards". Because it amuses me)!
So if you want to give Katr the "gift of voting" for her birthday (and I know you do!), here are the links:
- Best Career/Professional Blog category in the Canadian Blog Awards
- Favourite Company or Business Blog category in the Best of 604 (Vancouver) Blog Awards
- Canada's Influential Women in Social Media
If you're feeling REALLY generous, you can vote for me in the Best Humour Site category over at Best of 604 - or, if you're feeling vindictive, you can vote for Monica's hilarious blog, Dose of Lunacy, in the same category (thanks for nominating me, Monica!)
Speaking of gifts - we make an effort to give charitable gifts every year, but this year, with everything being totally fucked, we decided that we needed to step up the charitable gifts and step down the hilarious but useless crap we don't need gifts (such as antlers for the dog or a solid silver fruitcake caddy). So here's some of the stuff we're looking at.
I love the World Vision Canada gift catalogue. Who wouldn't want to give someone the gift of goats? Obviously, there are plenty of other non-livestock gifts in the offing - clothing, school books, medical supplies, mosquito netting, blankets.
I'm a little jealous though - in the US World Vision catalogue, they have ducks for real cheap. If you're in the States, get ducks!
Personally, I've got my eye on an alpaca, but they're pretty expensive. Anyone want to go in on an alpaca with me? Knitters? Let me know.
With so many people losing their jobs and homes and being forced to downsize, pets are being dropped off at shelters at alarming rates. The BC SPCA has a great site called Pawsitive Gifts where you can sponsor the shelter stay of a cat, dog, rabbit or...OTTER!! That's right. You can sponsor otters at the BC SPCA. Pretty cool.
Being a lover of food, I'm always a big fan of the local Food Bank. Around this time of year, some food banks have deals with other businesses where they'll match your donation, so check it out. Also, Miss 604's food drive reminder recently included some Practical Suggestions for Food Bank Donations from raincoaster.com, which are really excellent. Kraft Dinner - not a good choice for the food bank!
Speaking of food, the lovely Kimli from deliciousjuice.com is participating in the "Cans for Comments" food raiser - leave a comment on her blog and she'll donate a can of food. I don't think she'll let you choose the can though...I asked.
Kate's friend and bag collaborator Steve, from carbon-neutral Rainbrooke Bags, gave us carbon offsets from CarbonFund.org - which is awesome, given how often we seem to fly places. Thanks for the fabulous gift, Steve!
I know I've only scratched the surface here and we're always looking for other great ideas - so leave your own gift suggestions in the comments!
