Stella Garcia Photography

I found out that United Way Ottawa was organizing a “Seeing is Believing Tour” through Twitter.  The twitter invitation said that the tour was open to ALL of those with an interest in seeing positive change in the community and that it wasFREE.  From the description of the participants they were looking for I decided that I could be included in the “I care for the community I live in” category, so I quickly registered online and signed up to go on the bus tour!

I didn’t know anybody else who would be on the tour, but I had been looking for ways to approach United Way and offer volunteer for them, so what a better way to do this then at one of their events, right?

All that I knew before going on the actual tour was that a group of like minded people would be going on a bus tour to two community organizations where we would be able to see firsthand how United Way has helped change people’s lives – for the better. But I didn’t actually know which projects we would be touring.

On Wednesday, November 3^rd I headed out to the United Way headquarters equipped with my camera and a whole lot of enthusiasm!  All the participants were very kind and friendly. Most were talking and typing on their smartphones throughout the tour. Twitter was flooded with updates from most of the participants who were using the hashtags #UWtweets.  We visited the Carling Family Shelter (formerly Bayshore Hotel) and the Boys and Girls Club on Pinecrest where we got really great guided tours of the facilites and learned how United Way Ottawa helps these organizations change the lives of so many people in our community.

Due to privacy issues we weren’t able to take photographs during the tour. So you’ll just have to get on the next“Seeing is Believing” bus tour and see for yourself. Please stay tuned for the following blog posts where I will write a detailed account of each of the facilities we visited.

Thank you United Way for the opportunity to get to know you better and congratulations to everyone involved in the organization of such a wonderful event! A special thanks to Beau’s beer for supporting United Way and giving us a chance to sample your brews after the tour was over; it was a perfect way to wrap up the day.

As I watched the snow flakes fall outside my kitchen window in Ottawa over Halloween weekend, I realized that I am not prepared yet!

When you grow up in Mexico it is not uncommon that you directly relate wearing winter coats and snow with Christmas.  So as soon as I see snow flakes, my mind automatically thinks about Christmas!  As I saw what my husband kept describing as “fluffy rain”, I realized that I am not prepared for Christmas yet! The plane tickets to visit the family for the holidays have been bought, but I seem to be behind in one area; I have not given any thought to holiday cards!

Regardless of your spiritual and religious views, December (for most people in this country) is a time for sharing gifts and good food with close family and friends. It is also a perfect time to share good news and send loved ones greetings.  It wasn’t too long ago that most of the holiday greeting cards were dropped off by the mailman. Sometimes they included a picture, always some stories and lots of love. Nowadays with electronic communication people are not necessarily sending physical cards through the mail, it seems that most are sending their love through the internet.

So I think we will go with the trend and send our best wishes through facebook, twitter, and e-mails, but somehow that doesn’t seem special enough to me.  I want to do something more, maybe upload a video on Youtube or create a cartoon with your own personalized message on www.xtranormal.com.  I guess it all depends on what I can convince husband to do!  So even though I am still not sure HOW we’ll be reminding our loved ones that we are thinking about them at Christmas time, I am sure that somehow we will.

Now if we can only get the right picture ……. more on that later!